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This hack could be interesting if it weren't unbalanced. The first level is very simple, this isn't a problem because this hack could be a simplified version of CV. The second level is as simple as the first but for some unknown reason in this level you fight the same boss of the first level, that is a giant bat. In the third level start the real problems because this level is much harder than the others and the level boss is (drum roll): the Death (no comment). The fourth level is very simple... No, it's better to say totally free of enemies except for the boss that is: Dracula! (WTF!?). The fifth level is as difficult as the third, so it must have a very strong boss... the boss is Medusa (the weakest boss of the game). Now the better part: during the final level you must fight Dracula (again) with two giant bats AT THE SAME TIME! I've finished the things to say, so I leave with my vote that is 2/5

I had a blast with this one! It's definitely harder than the original, so keep that in mind, but the intensity is part of what makes it interesting. You'll fight later bosses earlier than normal, find yourself in a tighter hallway with medusa heads and axe knights, and even jump your way through a veritable Alfred Hitchcock movie. Admittedly, though, subweapons are sparse, and the game doesn't do a very good job of giving you what you need.

The actual levels are where this hack shines, and Fan Edition is a great name for it; this game is a clear love letter to Castlevania Platformers. You start out in a graveyard right out of Simon's Quest, and you enter what seems to be a reconstructed version of its final castle. It seems a little ho-hum, but it picks right up with its gorgeous purple second are. The third area is a lovely nightscape, reminiscent of Dracula's Curse, with a long bridge that reminds me of Phrygia from Battle of Olympus. Perhaps my favorite area is the fourth one, which uses town graphics from Simon's Quest, but has a blazing orange backdrop of grass and mountains that do well to mimic the first stage of Rondo of Blood, and having an impromptu Dracula fight there creates a really neat atmosphere, especially for how dead and empty the town is. I'd recommend this to someone looking for a new challenge or even just a new experience with the original Castlevania.

This hack seemed kind of interesting at first, with all the CV2/3 graphics, but that seems to be the only cool factor of this hack. The main problem is, aside from the cool graphics choices, it's very bland, like almost all CV1 hack out there.

You actually fight the vampire bat in both stage 1 and 2, which I just don't understand... and the first two stages are also really easy, but then stage 3 really picks up in difficulty, and then you're fighting the GRIM REAPER!!! That's another issue; the difficulty is really unbalanced, and constantly feels like it's going up and down, abruptly without reason or warning.

Stage 4, from what I remember, was extremely easy, and extremely brief. It also had the Simon's Quest village atmosphere, which felt extremely bland. I never got past stage 5, partly because it was hard, and mostly because I didn't care enough. I was sick of it at that point. The first two levels were too easy, the 3rd level was too much of a sudden increase in difficulty to not be disoriented, and the fight with the Grim Reaper was very frustrating. You'd think that having 6 hits would make the fight a million times easier, but I somehow find it HARDER! (I always thought that having the platform in the middle of the battlefield was annoying, but apparently I was wrong all these years, apparently for some reason, it makes the fight much easier... I don't get it).

The hack is meh. What else do you want me to say? I'm getting really sick of reviewing all these crappy Castlevania 1 hacks, but you know what? Somehow I'm going to find myself not stopping until I've reviewed every last one of these stupid CV1 hacks... just you wait...