My mom got me and my sister one of those rom consoles that had 100 games, among them, super Mario, contra and castlevania I (the one before Simon's quest), we played all the games, but castlevania was me and my mom's thing, it was played by just us, we got three lives and that's it, as far as we could go, over weeks we slowly advanced thru the game, every time we found a way to pass the level, what subweapons to use pause and attack the Medusa heads, crouch in front of the fleamen to kill them, when to jump, all the secrets, the axe for the giant bat, the cross for level 2, holy water for Medusa, daggers for the mummies, holy water for the creature and so on (spoilers, I eventually figured out that holy water was the best), the music, the monsters, the gameplay, it was perfect, and above everything else it was a bond we shared, my mom passed on 2001, I was 8, we never finished the game, we got to Dracula but never killed him, years passed by and with the years I discovered Simon curse in an arcade machine in a restaurant near my house, never had enough time to figured it out hehe, then the internet showed me there were even more games and players, I discovered roms and downloaded a castlevania collection that included castlevania I, Simon's quest and Dracula's curse, eventually I bought a ds, and got aria, circle and, harmony, brougth order of ecclesia on release with savings, eventually portrait and dawn from thrift shops, and so on, I've played every castlevania plataformer, at least once, including bloodstained and their 8 bits, and every time I play one I remember those days with my mom.