Name Entry Screen

The Name Entry screen or Password Select screen is the screen that you enter your name on and/or password just prior to starting to play. It allows you to save your progress through the use of a game save or a "password" that can get to where you were before. You can also enter special modes or cheats by selecting a particular name or password.

Castlevania
The original Japanese Famicom Disk version of Castlevania had a name entry screen allowing you to save your progress, which was saved to disk's memory. The style of the name entry screen was reused and enhanced in Castlevania Chronicles.

The NES version of the game did not have this capability, so no name entry screen exists for it.

The Japanese Famicom cartridge version did not have a name entry screen, but allowed you to select Normal or Hard mode before starting the game.

The Amiga, IBM, and Commodore versions of the game required you to enter a special password in order to play the game, which is contained in the manual, which is used to enforce copy protection. After entering the password, you are given the option to "Start a new Game" or "Continue a Saved Game", which picks up from the last time you saved the game after quitting the game. There is only one saved game at a time.

The first Japanese cell phone game let you select the "rules" of the game. The second cell phone game (also available in North America) has a Stage Select, a Difficulty level select (easy or normal), a mode select (Original or Alternate). Alternate mode uses subweapons instead of the whip, allows you to change your subweapon at any time, starts you out with 50 hearts.

Exact ports of the Castlevania game let you save your progress through the external interface and return to exactly where you left off, but do not change the menus.

Vampire Killer
Vampire Killer lacks a name entry screen and does not let you save your progress or continue. A hidden level select is available using Mega Rom cheat device.

Haunted Castle
There is no way to save your progress in the arcade game Haunted Castle. While there are no menu options for alternate modes of play, entering three additional quarters prior to starting the game will quadruple the size of your life bar. You will not be able to perform any continues during the game though.

Simon's Quest
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is the first Castlevania game that allows you to save your progress using a password system. You can either start a new game or enter a password which was given to you after you lose all your lives and choose not to continue. The password is a series of letters that can be used to reconstruct what items you have and where you died. It does not save the number of hearts that you had, as you lose all your hearts when you run out of lives.

The password screen used in the Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania and Contra computer ports is slightly different than the NES, as it removes all the vowels. Save states used for the NES are not compatible with the ones used in this port.

The Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (LCD Handheld) and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (LCD Watch) spinoffs of Simon's Quest do utilize passwords.