Vampire Killer, known in Japan as is a platform-adventure video game released by Konami for the MSX2 computer on October 30, 1986. It is a parallel version of the original Castlevania, which debuted a month earlier for the Famicom Disk System under the same Japanese title. However, the MSX2 version was localized first in Europe and thus, was published without the Castlevania branding that the franchise would start using abroad in 1987 when the NES version was released in North America (where neither Vampire Killer nor the MSX2 platform were released). Like in Castlevania, the player controls vampire hunter Simon Belmont, who ventures into Dracula's castle armed with a mystical whip inherited from his father, in order to slay the evil count. Gameplay While Vampire Killer shares the same premise, soundtrack, characters and locations as the original Castlevania, the structure of the game and its play mechanics differ significantly from its NES counterpart. Like Castlevania, Vampire Killer consists of 18 stages, with a boss encounter at the end of every third stage. But in contrast to the linear level designs in Castlevania, Vampire Killer features more labyrinth-like stages, requiring the player to not only seek out the exit to the next stage, but also the skeleton key required to unlock it. Due to the hardware limitations of the MSX2, Vampire Killer uses flip screens instead of scrolling. The game can be played with a keyboard or a game controller. Items and weapons can be obtained not only by breaking through candle stands and certain walls like in the NES version, but also by purchasing them from merchants hidden throughout the castle or by unlocking treasure chests using keys. Simon's default whip can also be replaced with one of four weapons: a chain whip, throwing daggers, an ax, and a cross - the latter two function both like a boomerang and must be retrieved on their return path if the player wishes to preserve them. There are also four items that Simon can carry with him similar to the sub-weapons in the NES version: a map which shows his current position and the location of the exit (can only be used three times by pressing F2), holy water (used by jumping and then pressing left or right in mid-air), an hourglass (which temporarily paralyzes all enemies by pressing down after jumping) and one of two types of shields. Heart points are