Unlike Castlevania's sequel, called Simon's Quest, Castlevania 1 does little to explain lore during gameplay, as the title is primarily a 2D side scrolling action game where Simon makes his way through several levels until he finally meets Dracula himself for the final boss fight. Each of the levels prior to Dracula has their own unique boss, which are fun to fight, albeit somewhat frustrating for the inexperienced player. 
            Although many video games of the ancient past were not necessarily designed to actually get beaten, Castlevania was obviously designed to be finished by the player, albeit the main game is equally as frustrating as it is challenging in some areas. Good news for series fans is that the Castlevania Anniversary Collection comes pre-equipped with the ability to let players save their game at any given moment, and then load the save at any time they wish. The save feature is not mandatory, and folks are more than welcome to try whipping their way through the action all the way to Dracula himself, and if the game is beaten a single time, there is a new game plus that is unlocked of which is more challenging than the original playthrough. If Castlevania fans really want to channel their inner massochist, they are more than welcome to try claiming a speed running world record on the new game plus, although I would recommend folks adopting the simple yet powerful concept of "just saying no".