Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (
Japanese:悪魔城伝説
Akumajō Densetsu, or
Legend of the Demon Castle) is the third installment in the
Castlevania series of
video games. It was published by
Konami in
Japan in
1989 and in
North America in
1990. In
Europe it was published by Palcom Software , in
1992. It was the last game in the franchise to be produced for the
Nintendo Entertainment System.
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is a prequel to the first two games in the series, featuring Simon Belmont's ancestor, Trevor Belmont. According to the game's instruction manual, it takes place 215 years before the events in Castlevania I and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. Many characters and elements introduced for the first time in Castlevania III would become mainstays in the series.
The original Japanese version contained a specialized music chip which was removed in the American release, meaning the sound effects of the former were far superior. The fan translation community has responded to this and retranslated Castlevania III. See: Multi-Memory Controller.
Joining Trevor Belmont in his mission to defeat Dracula are three new playable characters: Sypha Belnades , a young witch with poor physical attack power but powerful magic spells at her disposal, Grant DaNasty , a fleet-footed pirate with the ability to climb on walls, and Alucard (a.k.a. Adrian Fahrenheights Tepes), Dracula's rebellious 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, and the player can switch 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. Alucard appears in several subsequent Castlevania games, as do Sypha's descendants (Carrie Fernandez and Yoko Belnades ).
Castlevania III abandons the adventure game elements of its immediate predecessor and returns to the platform game roots of the first Castlevania game. Unlike Castlevania, however, Castlevania III is not strictly linear: after completing the first level, and at several other points throughout the game, the player is given a choice of paths to follow. The choices made by the player in these circumstances can have a profound impact on how the game unfolds. There are fifteen levels in total.
Playable characters
Screenshots
Packaging artwork
External links
