Castlevania III (NES)

I don't have much experience regarding classic Castlevania. I finished Castlevania Bloodlines and Castlevania IV but that's long time ago. So i thought to myself "Let's play Castlevania 3 (1989) on nes!". 

Or also known as Akumajou Densetsu. For my playthrough here, i play the translated version made by Vice, instead of the direct US version because it has gone through some changes that feels worse than the original. Everyone that played this game should know the plot. But if you're new to the game, here's the story.    

It's 15th century. Vlad Tepes or known as Vlad the impaler lives in Transylvania. He revived Dark Gods and used their power to make terror in nation of Walachia. At that point, he turns into Dracula as we know. The church sent an army to stop Dracula but to no avail. Then they decide to give the mission to defeat Dracula to famous Belmont family that know for the holy whip "The Vampire Slayer". The Belmont family is gone because everyone afraid of their power. But finally, Pope find one of them: Ralph Belmont in JP version or Trevor Belmont in US version.

Sounds like the usual story of Castlevania. But there's detail that feels different. If i'm not mistaken Dracula is revived in every iteration, most of the time. In this game, Dracula has just transformed from (not quite) ordinary human Vlad Tepes. This also means this game takes time before the event of the first Castlevania.     

 

As soon as i start new game and enter my name for some reason, this opening plays where aforementioned Ralph/Trevor Belmont does some prayer despite the bad weather. He should do that in better place or at least place with some roof, just saying.

 

So off he goes on his journey to defeat Dracula. The control is generic for classicvania (popular term for classic Castlevania). D-pad to move left/right or ascend/descend stairs. "A" button to jump. "B" button to whip in facing direction. The whip reach quite long but Ralph/Trevor Belmont can't swing it fast enough like how Hart swing his lightsaber in Vice Project Doom. Also like in classicvania, items can be found by destroying candle or any other source of light with fire. So don't hesitate to break any lighting apparatus along the way.

 

Knowing Castlevania, you should know that there's bats that eager to headbutt me out of platform. It's understandable that you think of medusa heads. But there will be the time when we will find those flying wretches. Soon.

 

See the bastard on the center of top hud? I'm still in first level and i already encounter bloody medusa head! For those who is new to Castlevania, medusa heads are the staple flying enemies in the franchise. They're the series' special and also well-known for their annoying behavior. They fly in sine wave-like form. Actually most flying enemies in this game fly in same pattern but the medusa heads are the most obnoxious. You think you can predict their movement and can counter it with your whipping. But it's easier said than done. You also need to calculate the time when Trevor can actually draw his whip after pressing the button. And if you miss, there's some time before Trevor can actually draw his whip for next time. By the time he manage to draw his whip for second time, he already get hit by medusa head. To put it simply, it requires very precise timing on whipping to defeat the blasted severed head of the Greek mythology creature.

One simply can think to alter the whipping with jump. But you see that transparent platform? It will turn upside down if you land on it after jumping which makes you fall to lower level. I think this brick that may look like ice cube filled with orange syrup can ease my pain in this early grueling platforming section.     

I really need something to refill my health. I'm dying here. Instead i find rosary that can kill all enemies in this screen. Actually, it's quite helpful here because in this section there's unlimited zombies.    

Finally, i found the signature wall chicken here. It was there but i immediately pick it up because i really in need for it so you have to take my word for it. You see that single block in front of me? There used to be pair of it, and i have to destroy one of it then i can get access to this section. Next i have to destroy this 2 particular block on the wall right here. This area is inhabited by gremlins (or flea man in other version) that aggressively hopping to me. You have to watch out for them to get the wall chicken safely.  

Not far from there is the first boss. It's just animated big skeleton with ox skull for his head. Also armed with shield and arming sword. He's very eager to get close on me and he's quite durable. Meanwhile i'm fragile and must rely on keeping distance with him. I can make use of this platform. He can jump on it, sure. But he need some time to walk around it. When he's on top of me, i can throw axe at him for extra hit on him. I forget to tell you about the signature sub-weapon. It's activated by holding up on d-pad and pressing "B" button. You can find various sub-weapon upon destroying candles, such as: knife that flies straight or the ever reliable axe that flies diagonally. Using sub-weapon will costs heart that you can find -again- upon destroying candles. I know that there's no meaningful penalty for overusing sub-weapon except i don't get extra score points at the end of the level. But i tend to be afraid using it thanks to my unreasonable stingy instinct.

What's different from other Classicvania is branching path after finish a level. The path that you choose will be highlighted in the map. If there's skull symbol on the highlighted route, that means there will be boss fight at the end of level you choose.

Apparently i choose a clock tower and there's swinging pendulum that i have to use to transport to next area. Wheeeee!

Because this is Castlevania game, the clock tower naturally filled with medusa head and spikes. One of those gits get me good. Demoman_negativevocalization03.wav

I wish there's always wall chicken inside of secret hole on the wall. But that's not the case here. This roman numeral "2" icon is power up that allow me to unleash sub-weapon twice at the time. Normally, i only allowed to have 1 sub weapon active at the time.

The boss of this stage is this big man that love to climb on ceiling. Everytime he get hit he falls down and try to climb on ceiling again. Axe is certainly great sub-weapon for this boss fight. I say that this boss is much easier than the first boss. Soldier_DominationScout10.wav

The big man turns into this lad and he offers to help me. Without much thinking i accept his offer. Sniper_cheers02.wav

 

The stage doesn't end there. You have to descend the clock tower and luckily there's no boss fight this time. This stage maybe serves as training level for Grant the acrobat here. As hinted from his mutated form, he can climb ceiling and wall by simply holding direction button in proper context. For example: to cling into ceiling, after jumping and reach for it. Hold the "up" button. Then you can proceed to move left/right by pressing left/right on d-pad while keep holding "up" button if not he will falls like a sack of cement. His jump is higher than Trevor Belmont but with bit reduction on horizontal reach. Grant is the only playable character than has control over his jump unlike other who has no jump control akin to Arthur in Ghouls n Ghosts.

Here's the main reason why i choose translated JP version over official US version. In this version, Grant's main attack is knife throw akin to knife sub-weapon but cost no heart at all. Conversely, you can't find knife sub-weapon when you play as him. While in US version, Grant's main attack become knife stab with pitiful range but has faster attack rate. I say that's not worthy change.

It goes without saying that there's more playable character than Trevor and Grant but we will talk about that later. By the way to change character, simply press "select" button. Both characters shared their health and heart counter, but not sub-weapon.   

Another feature of Grant is he's slouching which mean he has smaller hitspot. I instinctively crouch when top bone pillar shoots fireball to dodge it, but that's not working as Trevor. It works as Grant though. However, Grant takes more damage when get hit than Trevor.

 

This junction is very important because it leads to 2 other playable character and you can only choose one of them here. I think the bottom route is the hardest route to Dracula's castle. So let's pick the top one for now.  

 

I hate this jellyfishes. They burst 4 smaller ones when i kill them. Those small jellyfishes are hard to hit. But sometime the jellyfishes drop heart instead of the usual behavior reproduction. Medic_sf12_badmagic05.wav        

 

The boss level is Cyclops and i can only hurt him in the very eye. That makes sense, though. It's very painful to receive whip's slash or knife throw right in the eye. He has 2 attack pattern: 1) Slamming his hammer straightforward. He need some time to pull it out of the ground so there's the chance for you to hit him. 2) He walks in place for awhile and later run over you quickly. To avoid this attack, you have to retreat to upper block on either side. You can wait for opportunity to hit him after he slam his hammer or you can be lazy like me. Play as grant jump on the block on either side and keep chucking the knife. Eventually, it will hit him enough time to kill him.

 

After defeating the one-eye giant, the center statue got struck by lightning and Sypha free from her statue prison. She like to offer me help on my journey but i will refuse that for this time because i want to finish the game with my bro Grant here. Don't worry, i will take her next time.

 

Next stage is ghost ship and you can expect lots of undead around here. When i destroy this particular candle, it drops this potion that will makes me invincible momentarily. Demoman_taunts07.wav  

 

Apparently this ghost ship is filled with Dullahan for some reason even though regular skeleton will be more appropriate with the theme here. This undead git "camping" near the base of the stairs. I try to be smart by activating clock sub weapon that freeze all lesser enemies on the screen. I still get hit by him even though he's frozen in time but at least i don't get knocked back to the pit.

 

This 1up (that was inside of a candle) and only Grant can take it. He can get in and out of that platform thanks his ability to climb ceiling and wall. Scout_cheers05.wav

 

Grant can also deal Medusa very easily. Climb ceiling and chuck knife from above. She can do nothing about it. Yes, she try to adjust her aim higher but not high enough to reach me. Scout_beingshotinvincible05.wav

 

With Medusa defeated, the stage is not over yet. On further part of this ship, there's this seesaw platform. It's quite harder to use than the normal fixed platform. These seesaw platform reminds me something.

Contra - Hard Corps (Sega Genesis)

It reminds me of that spinning pole on first level of Contra - HardCorps. Both of the things shows us the capability of Konami to make rotating object in 2D platformer game. Good for them, i guess.

 

If not for that steering wheel, i forget that we're in ghost ship. I feel relieved because of it. Grant's ability to climb wall is proved very useful here. If you stuck as Sylpha or Trevor, you have to descend to bottom area to move further. But if you can play as Grant, all you need to do is climb that wall near the steering wheel then you can proceed to Boss area very easily.

 

The boss is a ghost. I mean it was until it possesses the inhabitants of left coffin which is a pair of mummy that like to throw their bandage around. To deal with them safely, Trevor should go to one of corner, crouch and start whipping rapidly.

 

After the mummies defeated, the ghost start possessing the next coffin which contains...oh for God's sake! It's the Cyclops again. Lame! You know what to do, Grant.

 

It's another section long stairs. I find glitch where if i change character right after last step of the stair, Trevor raise his leg as if he step on invisible stair. This is air walk in literal sense, i think?

 

Oh, great! Another series of stairs section. I say that i'm not a fans of stair mechanic in Classicvania. Plus this section falls down on every few second. I don't know what happen if the bottom border touches me but i'm pretty certain that it leads me to instant death. Good thing i brought Grant.  

 

Then i encounter the stage boss: Frankenstein's monster. He's cheerful chap. He like to stomp around making debris fall down from ceiling and he also like to throw debris. Those debris kind of random to me. Sometime i can get hit 1-2 times. But other time i always get hit by them. With my current health, i doubt i can win damage race against him. I couldn't find wall meat on previous rooms. But lo! I found one from destroying that floating block! Why they put it on the boss battle's room? Sacrilege!

Then i load state before the boss battle. The fight feels so much easier that i know where can i get the wall chicken. The Frankenstein's monster keep smiling as i whip him to death. God bless him.  

 

Next stage takes place in ancient ruin full of water. It could be the ruins of Atlantis. Maybe i could find legendary Atlantis treasure but alas! Only Mermen that i can find here.

 

Here's the example of tricky section. You start at the upstairs. If you descend the stair like civilized git, bone pillar's fireballs will burn your leg while you stuck at the stair. What's the solution then? Ignore the second stair and jump to bottom floor then you can get ready for the bone pillar. But you have to take account of stuck in landing animation for split second after jumping from big height. I forget to tell you that you can whip the fireballs that come out from the bone pillars. Also they shoot the fireball 3 times in a row before they can actually do that again. The key to success in this game is to know rhythm of enemy's attacks.

 

The boss is 2 bone serpents that spew streams of fire. What's with every evil creature in this game able to breathe fire, huh? Including the most aquatic creature: merman. Anyway, Trevor is better in this boss fight because his whip can pass through the flame straight into their weakpoint: mouth. Any projectile can't get through that flame breath.

 

Look, what i found here! A numeral "3" icon that allow me to use sub weapon three times in a row! Demoman_sf13_influx_small02.wav

Soon, i notice that the multiple sub weapon power up disappears if i pick different sub weapon. That quite sucks.  

 

The boss stage is the previous ghost that possess 2 mummies and Cyclops. But wait! There's another coffin that contains this big goat demon. He does quick jump twice before he jump then levitates a bit. That longer jump is your cue to move to other side when necessary. After every longer jump, he spits fireball that can be whipped. He's not bad.   

 

Next stage is...isn't this the 2nd level in first Castlevania? Long corridor entrance filled with zombies also with pillars and ragged curtain. But the thing that amazes me more is the "Vampire Killer" music kicks in! Engineer_cheers05.wav

 

I don't think this crumbling blocks section is in the 2nd level in first Castlevania. Or maybe i was wrong. To be honest i never played Castlevania 1, i only watched people play it. As much as i love the axe sub weapon, i think i want to change it into holy water. I heard it's great against Death.

 

Would you look at that! It's death himself. I didn't know i would meet Death so early. That was wild prediction. Death flies around and pause whenever he pleases, not attacking me directly. But i still get hit if i touch him. Obviously with robe reeks of death, no mortal should touch him or smell his robe. It smells like tons of sulfur and dead rats. Horrible! Anyway, his main method of attack is to summons 4 scythes that later tracking at you general position. More often than not, those scythes spawn inside of blocks and they're blend quite well with the blocks! You can whip them or to be more accurate you have to. Because a hit from them can eliminate your health by 25% of you max health! Meaning, 4 of them and you will die! I think Death's physique contact deal more or less same damage. It seems holy water is not good for this Death fight because he likes to fly away from the ground thus hitting him with holy water (that later turns into holy fire if make contact with floor or wall) is not easy or efficient. I can utilize this floating block as landing spot for the holy water but that's still difficult. It seems my tip is outdated. Holy water does wonder against Death, in Castlevania 1 but not in here! I should stick to axes.  

 

However, Grant has axe sub weapon. The fight turns well but Death has 2nd form after his health depleted completely. He turns into giant smiling skull and he flies around and around. By that i mean he like to fly in circular pattern. It seems death has border space manipulation ability like Yukari Yakumo's because he can flies through border and appearing on the other side. I say that in his 2nd form, Death is less difficult to deal with probably because he moves slower and more predictable. Sometime he spits 1 destroyable scythe but that's not so threatening. One thing that quite bothers me is: when i defeat him, he just disappears without any explosive or burning effect like other bosses. So disappointing!

 

I don't like this Dracula's garden rooftop. To many Harpy-Gremlin squad units here! Naturally, you shouldn't let the gremlins pile up and you better kill them as soon as they dropped but it's not as easy as it sounds. Axe sub weapon should help you a lot here.

 

This section is full of instant kill devices: bottomless pit, spiked crusher, and spiked plat. Quite often i get killed by the crusher because the spikes has bigger hit spots that they looks. Soldier_negativevocalization01.wav

 

Normally, you have to go through opposite corner for stair that leads you up then you can go to that exit stair on the top. Not to mention that the water will make you move slow and also filled with mermen. Also there's crows ready to harass you. Or if you have grant in your team, you can tell him to climb the ceiling and move up to next floor like what i did here.

I wondered who's the stronger opponent than Death who's supposed to be penultimate boss before Dracula. Disappointingly, it's just doppelganger. They have capability of what the character that you currently play, can do. Do note that they will change if you change character. In case of Grant, the doppelganger love to throw axes. I have range advantage with knife throw. Moving on!  

It's another clock tower interior section again. Lovely! [Elizabeth Tower-sized sarcasm]

 

Good. Another platforming section with pendulum. Wheee!

This is it, Ladies and Gentlemen. The great stair that leads to Dracula's chamber. It's so iconic with background of crescent moon and clock tower in yonder. You probably know this from either Castlevania 1 or Castlevania - Symphony of The Night. However i ruins the crucial moment by playing as Grant. I know it should be the Belmont that ascend the stair but i like to be different. :p

Behold! It's the Dracula himself! He gets up from his throne like what he does in Symphony of The Night. No "What's a man? Miserable pile of secret!" dialogue here, unfortunately. I notice he has different attack pattern from usual "randomly teleport and unleash fireballs from his cape" routine. He shift randomly with shadow clone effect akin to Rolento from Final Fight. He raises his wand, 2 fire pillar rise that most likely to make you trap in small area then he raises bigger fire pillar as the main attack. I think he's the opposite of Death. Death deals huge damage but he's relatively easy to hit, Meanwhile, the fire pillar deal less damage but you most likely trapped within the fire walls thus you have hard time to hit Dracula's head with the whip. I know Grant's knife throw can make the job done easier but you shouldn't forget that the main premise of Castlevania: some Belmont whipping Dracula's face with the legendary " Vampire Slayer" and for God's sake i will stick to that no matter how difficult the process here.

 

Unsurprisingly, Dracula is not immediately down after i deplete his health completely. His health is come back to the fullest and he turns into this flying abomination. This is not what Dracula looks like so he's all yours, Grant! Because that thing is flying, axe works naturally great here. You have to destroy all faces on that thing to defeat it. The faces vomit blood to hurt me. Gross! I take back about the overuse of fireball. 

 

Here's Dracula final phase. He turns into muscular eagle monster. Random 2 pairs of block, fly around. Obviously, you have to use them as platform to give enough height to attack his head. The monster attacks you with laser from either his hands or his eyes. The laser always fired at low angle. Hah! I know what this reminds me of.

Super Ghouls n Ghosts (SNES)

Sardius (or Samael in JP version) from Super Ghouls n Ghosts has quite the same modus operandi with that last form of Dracula. There's some difference though. Sardius spawn flying platforms with no cost of player. Well, maybe he means to bait you to his omni-directional laser. While Dracula takes some floors that naturally become temporary bottomless pit, hoping you will fall to it.

 

After enough knife/axe to Dracula's head that make serious permanent headache, he decides to die and his castle crumbling down. Trevor and Grant instantly teleport manage to move to safe place, watching the Dracula's castle falls. Trevor stand still with proud even though he didn't deliver the final strike on Dracula. While Grant still shivering from fighting Dracula  judging by the look of him hold his arm in fear. Now that the evil is vanquished, Grant can rebuilt his village. By village, i mean that one specific clock tower. Imagine a clock tower as dense residence. People there should get used to walk on gears and pendulums. Lest the clock is turned off, they have to deal with periodic noise. Suck to be resident of top floor without elevator/lift facility. Also spikes everywhere, including near public restroom. But the rent is cheap, though. Knowing that village rebuild is tedious, Trevor immediately bails out because he's not willing to help Grant at all. The ungrateful git.

Ok. As i have said before that there's other extra character besides Grant. Picking different character also allow you to get different ending. How thoughtful of Konami. Anyway, here they are:

Sylpha   

 

We've met Sylpha before. Her main attack is magic staff smack. Decent range for melee attack. Probably longer than US version Grant's knife stab but i haven't confirmed it yet. Her magic staff has bit more area thank to her angled swing. That makes up for her lack of range. It's useful to hit incoming flying enemies at close distance. The main feature of Sylpha is her sub weapons. They're not the usual knife, axe, or holy water. They're replaced with: 1) Fire magic, that blast a long flame at medium range. 2) Ice magic, that shoot snowflakes around her that freeze enemies. While frozen, they can be killed with one smack of her staff. 3) Lightning ball (or maybe bubble) magic, most likely the best magic that she has. It shoots 3 relatively-reliable homing balls.  

The ending is arguably the best. It implies Trevor and Sylpha will form a happy family. Hey! Belmont's bloodline has to pass on next generations, you know?  I'm not sure what the text means by "She hides her true form". Is it bad to be blonde in that age? I don't know.

Alucard    

 

If you take the swamp level, you will meet Alucard eventually. But you have to fight him first before recruit him, like Grant. Alucard's moveset is akin to usual Dracula's routine: teleport then shoot fireballs. But unlike his father, Alucard telegraph his teleport by transforming into flock of bats instead suddenly vanish into thin air. What? You didn't know Alucard is Dracula's son? The name is quite given. Alucard is "Dracula" in reverse. Although i know that fact first by playing Castlevania - Symphony of the Night.

I can tell that the first incarnation of Alucard is pretty lame unlike the long hair lad like we use to know. Alucard is taller than Trevor, meaning he has bigger hit spot but i notice he can duck under high fireball unlike Trevor. Alucard's main attack is throwing small magic sphere within limited range. His main attack can be upgraded with power up much like Trevor. Fully upgraded attack is 3 magic spheres. 1 goes straight and the other goes diagonally. He doesn't have any access to sub weapon, except the magic watch. He use the heart reserve to change into bat that can fly anywhere but if he get hit, he will forcefully turns into human form. To change into bat. Simply hold down direction and press jump button.

I warn you that Alucard's route is more difficult in my opinion. It's filled with even trickier platforming section. But it's all worth it if you manage to bring Alucard to the final boss. It's much easier to hit Dracula's head here with the magic balls than with the whip.

 

My goodness. Alucard is pretty taller than Trevor. He should be NBA Athlete. I'm sure he get the talent for Basketball. I'm not sure why Alucard shock. Is it because he can't believe that he has capability to defeat Dracula or he lacks of sympathy/heart to do so which makes him evil too?

 

Surely, you can go in solo but why would you want that? The main feature of this game over other Classicvania is the ability to play character besides the Belmont. Besides the ending is kind of sad. Trevor needs friend. God damn it!   

Konami's Castlevania 3 (1989) is solid classic Castlevania with addition play as 3 extra character. One can argue that this game is the prototype of Bloodstained: Curse of The Moon. It gets what you expect from classic Castlevania. The key to success in this game is to know the correct timing, knowing when to jump, whip, crouch, and walk. There's certain rhythm/pattern to it. As opposite to Ghosts n Goblins that filled with more randomness. Personally, i prefer GnG because player's main attack is initially straight projectile whereas in this game (and in other Classicvania) is whip slash that feels more complicated in execution because you have to take account on range and swing speed. I can see why people prefer Castlevania and to some extent antagonize GnG. My main problem with this game is the mechanism on stairs. I can't jump into and out of it should the need arises. Activating sub-weapon while i'm on the stair also problem. Most often than not i just walk ascend the stair instead of activating sub-weapon. I really need extra distance provided by the sub-weapon to deal with incoming flying enemies. Or i need axe to take care enemies that "camping" on top floor. The basic problem of stair is: if you don't hold up or down on d-pad, you will clip through it and often leads to unexpected fall to oblivion! Most of that stair problem can be found on ladder on GnG, but at least ladder takes less space than stair also Castlevania 3 doesn't shy to give you stair sections. Dozens of them! And most of them are accompanied by either "camping" ground enemies or flying enemies with wavy flight path. Medusa heads are the worst because they move the fastest. Bat's flight plan has the most shallow peaks. The winged skeleton is kind of bizarre. Its flight plan has shallow bottom amplitude but steep top amplitude. GnG adopt simpler "health" system: armored, naked, then lastly dead. So you are allowed to take only 2 hit before dying. But you can get armor with the virtue of randomness upon opening chest. On the other hand Castlevania 3 (and other classicvania) adopt more complex health system. It allows you take more than 2 hit depends on attack you get. Various attack yield various damage power. But the wall meat is hidden in fixed particular wall which means the healing feels more rare. Sorry if i ramble about the difference between Castlevania and GnG too much. I get carried a little there.   

 

Anyway, this game is like your typical Classicvania with addition of more character and branching paths. Trevor works like other Belmont and he's the only one that allowed to have Cross sub-weapon because he's devout Christian. Grant can throw knife for free (or stab with his knife in US version. Very lame) and climb ceiling and wall to gain access to shortcut on some section. Sylpha can swing her magic staff with slight angle but lacks of range compared to whip. Her sub-weapon is powerful magic. Alucard shoot magic projectile and has ability to transform into bat that cost heart for every second while in bat form. The bosses are boring except for smiling Frankenstein's monster, Death, and Drac himself. The music are pretty good. Some are forgettable while other are top notch. I was surprised to hear "Big Battle" ost while fighting Dracula. I know it from Castlevania Circle of The Moon. The sound effect is standard good.

Certainly, Castlevania 3 (1989) get my recommendation. Because i immediately approve any home console game with unlimited continue even though i like GnG more. But again, it's just matter of personal preference. If you're big fans of Castlevania or classic platforming game, go for it! If not, well. Try play it! It's not bad. But quite hard, sure.