used not only as ammunition for the holy water and hourglass (each requiring five hearts per use), but also as currency for merchants. There are other items that provide more auxiliary effects such as increasing or decreasing the prices of items sold by merchants, temporary invulnerability, increased walking speed and jumping height, and health recovery. After defeating a boss, Simon will start the next stage without any of his previously-accumulated equipment, aside from the number of hearts and the map (if it has not been used up already). The player starts the game with only three lives and with no way to gain extra lives. There are no continues, unless the game is played with the Game Master cartridge in the second slot. Playing with the Game Master will also enable the option to select the stage and the number of lives to start with, as well as the ability to skip screens. Reception Time Extension placed Vampire Killer fourth last on its list of ranked Castlevania games. It was described that it "is a rather unusual attempt to expand the original game in new and interesting ways, and proves that right from the beginning, Konami was clearly aware that Castlevania was a franchise which could easily evolve beyond its action-platforming origins. The problem is that this attempt to create a sort of action-RPG hybrid is badly undone by its non-linear structure (which involves searching looping levels in order to find keys) and the MSX2's infamous inability to handle smooth scrolling – screens 'flip' from one to the other when you reach the edge of a room. It's an interesting historical footnote, but beyond that, Vampire Killer isn't worth the eye-watering price the original version now changes hands for." Legacy Released the same year as the linear Castlevania, Vampire Killer is credited with laying a foundation for the more open-ended metroidvania format. Notes References 1986 video games 1980s horror video games Castlevania games D4 Enterprise games MSX2 games Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games Virtual Console games for Wii U Metroidvania games Single-player video games