Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

"Dracula's Curse" redirects here. For the 2002 film known in some regions as "Dracula's Curse", see Dracula (2002 film). For the 2006 film, see Bram Stoker's Dracula's Curse.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
North American box art
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	JP / NA Konami EU Palcom
Director(s)	H. Akamatsu
Designer(s)	I. Urata
Composer(s)	Hidenori Maezawa Jun Funahashi Yukie Morimoto
Series	Castlevania
Platform(s)	Nintendo Entertainment System, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	NES JP December 22, 1989 NA September 1, 1990 EU December 10, 1992 Virtual Console PAL October 31, 2008 NA January 12, 2009 JP April 21, 2009
Genre(s)	Platforming
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E PEGI: 7+

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, known in Japan as Akumajō Densetsu (悪魔城伝説^?, lit. "Devil's Castle Legend"), is the third and final Castlevania video game produced for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was published by Konami in Japan in 1989, in North America in 1990, and in Europe in 1992 (sometime after the European release of Super Castlevania IV). It was later released on the Wii Virtual Console in the PAL regions on October 31, 2008, in North America on January 12, 2009 and in Japan on April 21, 2009.

The plot of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is a prequel to the original Castlevania (much like the earlier Game Boy game Castlevania: The Adventure) set a few centuries before the events of the original game. The game's protagonist is Trevor C. Belmont, an ancestor of the original hero Simon Belmont.

Gameplay

Castlevania III abandons the action-adventure game elements of its immediate predecessor Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and returns to the platform game roots of the first Castlevania title. Unlike Castlevania, however, Castlevania III is non-linear: Trevor, the main character, can be assisted by one of three possible assistant characters, and after completing the first level, and at several other points throughout the game, the player is given a choice of two branching paths to follow. The player can obtain multiple endings depending on the choices they make throughout the game.^[1]

There are two main routes through the game's fifteen stages. The second stage is an optional excursion for picking up one of the three partner characters, and the main branch occurs part way through the third stage. Each route contains total of nine stages (ten if the player takes the optional second stage). The upper route takes the player across the lake to the main bridge, entering Dracula's castle through the front gate, and is generally regarded as the easier of the two routes. The lower route takes the player through a series of underground tunnels and cavernous areas, eventually scaling the cliff side below the castle, and is generally considered more difficult than the upper route. The lower route also features one short branching section of its own at stage 6. The two paths converge in the main hall of the castle.

Plot

The year is 1476, and Count Dracula has started to ravage Europe with an army of monsters. The Belmont family of vampire hunters, once exiled from Wallachia, are called into action by the Church. They feared the Belmonts' "super-human" power, but with Dracula menacing to swallow Europe in darkness, they are left with no choice but to call Trevor Belmont, current wielder of the Vampire Killer Whip.

Joining Trevor Belmont in his mission to defeat Dracula are three new playable characters: Sypha Belnades, a young sorceress with poor physical attack power but powerful elemental magic spells at her disposal;^[2] Grant DaNasty, a pirate with the ability to climb on walls and change direction in mid-jump (a rare ability in earlier games of the series); and Alucard, Dracula's son, a dhampir with the ability to shoot fireballs and transform into a bat. Trevor can be accompanied by only one companion at a time. If he chooses to take on another he must abandon his current companion. And the player can "spiritually transform" between Trevor and his ally with the "select" button. Both Trevor and whoever is accompanying him share the same health meter. The ending of the game differs depending on which companion Trevor has with him at the time, or if he does not take another character with him at all.

Characters

Trevor Belmont is the forefather of Simon Belmont. He, equipped with his whip, has left on a journey from his village to seek out and defeat Dracula at the top of Castlevania.

Grant DaNasty is a pirate turned into a ghost by Dracula. When beaten atop the clock tower, he becomes an ally. Grant has many abilities that break the mold of most Castlevania characters.

Alucard Tepes is the son of Dracula, although by blood he is only half-vampire. After his human mother was murdered by the townspeople, Alucard hid himself away from the prying eyes of society. He hopes he can help defeat his father so that his mother can forever rest in peace. Alucard's main skill is the ability to turn into a bat.

Sypha is a vampire hunter. She was encased in stone by Dracula's minions.

Development

Besides just the different name in Japan, Akumajō Densetsu, the Japanese version has several other differences. Most notably, the original Japanese version contained a specialized "VRC6" microprocessor chip. The game's audio programmer, Hidenori Maezawa, assisted in the chip's creation. This chip added two extra pulse-wave channels and a saw-wave channel to the system's initial set of five channels. The majority of the music combines the channels to imitate the sound of a synthesized string section. The VRC6 chip also provided smoother animation for sprites. Western versions of the NES didn't have the ability to support external sound chips, so the North American release replaced the VRC6 with Nintendo's Memory Management Controller (MMC) chip, specifically the MMC5 model. The MMC5 chip lacked the extra audio channels, and the game's music had to be downgraded to comply with the NES's standard five channels. Some of the percussion instruments were also slightly changed, even though the low-quality PCM channel was no less capable without the VRC6 mapper.^[3]

Other changes differed in the gameplay or graphics. Instead of using a stabbing dagger, Grant throws daggers as his main attack. Some enemies do less damage in the Japanese version, and had their sprites changed for the Western releases. Some instances of nudity on the enemies were also censored. The Japanese version had slightly different backgrounds in many stages, and had special effects not seen in the North American and European releases, also due to the lack of the VRC6 chip.

The North American and PAL versions have several hidden features that can be accessed by entering a certain name for the player, which include starting the game with 10 lives (by entering the name, "HELP ME"), the option to start the game with any of the three spirit partners, and to access the second, more difficult quest. These features are not present in the Japanese version.

Audio

Akumajō Dracula Best Vol. 1
Soundtrack album by Kinuyo Yamashita, Kenichi Matsubara, Yoshinori Sasaki, Jun Funahashi & Yukie Morimoto[citation needed]
Released	September 23, 1998 (Japan)
Genre	Video game soundtrack
Length	1:04:00

Soundtrack Disk 1

# Japanese title (Romanization) English title Length 01. 遥かなる凱旋 (Beginning) -悪魔城伝説より- Beginning -from Akumajō Densetsu- 3:22 02. 血の涙 -ドラキュラIIより- Bloody Tears -from Dracula II- 1:18 03. 新たなる決意 New Determination 6:01 04. 決死の対戦 Desperate Battle 6:21 05. ラルフ危機！ Ralph's Crisis! 3:36 06. 暗黒と緊迫 Darkness and Tension 4:17 07. 地下からの脱出 Escape from the Underground 2:30 08. 最期の戦い The Final Battle 7:52 09. エンディング Ending 2:30 10. Message of Darkness (ネーミングBGM) Message of Darkness (Naming BGM) 0:42 11. Within these Castle Walls (城BGM) Within these Castle Walls (Castle BGM) 0:44 12. Bloody Tears (昼の道BGM) Bloody Tears (Course of Daytime BGM) 1:05 13. The Silence of the Daylight (昼の街BGM) The Silence of the Daylight (Daytime Town BGM) 0:58 14. Dwelling of Doom (館BGM) Dwelling of Doom (Mansion BGM) 0:59 15. Monster Dance (夜のBGM) Monster Dance (Night BGM) 0:58 16. Last Boss (最終ボスBGM) Last Boss (Last Boss BGM) 0:37 17. Game Over (ゲーム・オーバー) Game Over (Game Over) 0:05 18. A Requiem (エンディング) A Requiem (Ending) 1:59 19. Underground (ネーミングBGM) Underground (Naming BGM) 0:30 20. Prologue (スタート・BGM) Prologue (Start BGM) 0:08 21. Vampire Killer (城内潜入BGM) Vampire Killer (Breaking into the Castle BGM) 1:15 22. Starker (塔BGM) Starker (Tower BGM) 1:14 23. Wicked Child (屋外BGM) Wicked Child (Outdoors BGM) 2:06 24. Walking on the Edge (地下BGM) Walking on the Edge (Underground BGM) 1:43 25. Heart of Fire (ドラキュラ城本館BGM) Heart of Fire (Dracula Castle Main Hall BGM) 2:12 26. Out of Time (時計台BGM) Out of Time (Clock Tower BGM) 1:21 27. Nothing to Lose (最終ステージBGM) Nothing to Lose (Last Stage BGM) 1:33 28. Poison Mind (ボスBGM) Poison Mind (Boss BGM) 0:32 29. Black Night (最終ボスBGM) Black Night (Last Boss BGM) 0:57 30. Voyager (エンディング) Voyager (Ending) 0:56 31. The Silence of the Daylight (Town Stage BGM) 1:14 32. Bloody Tears (Street-day time-Stage BGM) 0:49 33. A Requiem (Ending BGM) 1:36

Reception and legacy

Nintendo Power listed it as the ninth best Nintendo Entertainment System video game, praising it for its strong improvements over previous entries in the series.^[4] A 1991 Captain N episode (Return to Castlevania) was based on this game. In 2005's Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, the game featured Trevor Belmont as a playable character.

Animated film

An animated Dracula's Curse movie is in development, and may be split into three parts. It is being written by Warren Ellis, with art direction by James Jean.^[5]

References

1. ^ Jeremy Parish (2005-10-26). "Hidden Gems". 1UP.com. p. 2. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3145017. Retrieved 2011-04-14. 
2. ^ Parish, Jeremy (December 20, 2008). "1UP's Retro Gaming Blog: The Scariest Part of Castlevania III". IGN. http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8978417&publicUserId=5379721. Retrieved 2009-01-15. 
3. ^ Parish, Jeremy (January 2009). "The Konami Sound". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis Media) (236): 94–95. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172388. Retrieved 2009-12-10. 
4. ^ (Magazine) Nintendo Power - The 20th Anniversary Issue!. Nintendo Power. 231. San Francisco, California: Future US. August 2008. p. 71. 
5. ^ Justin McElroy (2007-05-07). "Warren Ellis planning on three Castlevania films". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/07/warren-ellis-planning-on-three-castlevania-films/. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 

External links

• Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse at MobyGames