But in Castlevania there isn't that grave of a penalty for missing a jump. Pit of spikes? I got life. Mario at least made you pay more than half the time for a ed up jump. Sonic...well near the end it was one huge pay back.

You don't even need to jump that often in castlevania. I would say besides the clock tower there are very few jumps. Just a bunch of stairs to climb up. I don't really remember too much else. The newer ones are anything but a platformer.