The Famicom/NES version
As far as gameplay and challenge is concerned, I have to say it's not a terrible game. Some confusing puzzles and a ton of secrets hidden behind fake walls and other antics make this game either very frustrating or more enticing for the gamer that likes a challenging experience. To others, it might seem a bit unforgiving. One big complaint I have about the difficulty is the first boss: the sprite is pitch black, and so is part of the background it moves in. How can you identify its patterns when you can hardly see it? Otherwise, I really like some elements like being able to stomp through platforms and the way special weapons work, which surprisingly got worse in the 16 bit versions...
A lot of people have complained about the music in the Famicom/NES version, which I personally disagree with. If I say the music is good because Jeroen Tel (a legendary C64 composer and a tracker hero) is behind it, it might sound of me as being a whiteknighting groupy, but I will go into detail about why I like it so much; using only the two pulse wave channels for most of the in-game music, leaving the triangle and noise channels for sound effects, the composer milked the resources to the most in my opinion, also applying automated duty cycle changes alla C64 in the pulse wave channels. As much as some people find, particularly, the Nighttime Theme 1 to be "a mess of 8-bit sounds" (as said by overrated AVGN), it admittedly spooked me when I first heard it.
The graphics are fantastic. Even in the 8-bit console many of the sprites and background/foreground tilesets looked like they could be part of a 16-bit game. Granted the sprite of Jonathan Harker looks kind of "cartoony" in this version and the way he runs and flails his arms and legs when falling off a high distance are a bit funny to look at, the level design showcases a fantastic art direction. One thing I'm not sure if I would complain about though, is that the whole game has kind of a sepia tone to it, otherwise blue when nighttime and when levels' elements "awaken" in daytime levels.
No narrations and not a single look inside the Vampyre book make cutscenes a tad bit disappointing, even when you beat the game, all you get to see is Dracula lying in his sarcophagus. Plus, some of the music tracks that I really liked are apparently unused; even what in the European version is the title theme, in the American version doesn't sound at all, ever.
I would personally give this version a 4/5. If I would dare change anything from it, that would be the main characters' sprites (so as to give him a less cartoony look) and the first boss design... And maybe add text in the cutscenes.