Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Nintendo, 1990)

The Castlevania series has been known for being great for being an awesome 2-d side scrolling action adventure where you play a determined vampire hunter. Castlevania 2 made the mistake of being like a half assed action RPG. Castlevania 3 however returned to the classic formula of having linear stages, but this time you have multiple paths on the way to Dracula. Also, depending upon the path you choose you meet new companions who will join you on your journey. You can meet up with three other companions, Alucard, Grant or Sypha. They will join you after you beat them or the boss where they reside. The gameplay is simple, you have a whip, it is upgradeable and you get many different sub-weapons which can be fired by pressing up and the attack button. The best feature of this game are the stages... there are a TON of them. The number of environments is amazing, and the level design is very good. The music is fantastic and eerie, perfect for the atmosphere. This game however is very tough though. There is a password system, but if you want to get through the final stage and beat Dracula you better be a veteran player. This game will beat you down big time. If you have patience and expertise though you will eventually triumph. This is a fun but tough game.

Castlevania III abandons the adventure game elements of its immediate predecessor and returns to the platform game roots of the first Castlevania title. Unlike Castlevania, however, Castlevania III is not strictly 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 paths to follow. The choices made by the player in these circumstances can have a profound impact on how the game unfolds. There are 15 stages in total.

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.

This is another one of those games that I wish could have 6 stars instead of five -- for several reasons.

What is NOT to love about this game?! It has everything -- earth tone graphics, dark driving music (my favorite soundtracks are Level 2 -- the clock tower level, and Level 5, the Alucard level), better play control (than in Castlevania 1), and the challenge is just right. The replay value alone is worth playing for years to come, especially because you can choose some non-linear paths.

If you wish to beat the game the easy way, you would probably want to skip the clock tower level and acquire Sypha the white mage. MY preferred way of beating this game is going through the clock tower level and picking up Grant then trading him for Alucard (Dracula's son) later in Level 5. I then like to go through the water pillar level but it gets frustrating after you halfway beat the bone boss only for the water to rise so you have to hurry up if you wanna beat the whole level. Alucard is then useful in the final levels because he can fly (considering you have at least 5 hearts)!

Level 8 is cool because the updated soundtrack is reminiscent of the very first level in Castlevania 1. Your doppelganger can be frustrating to beat unless you have Sypha (you can kill your clone easily with the flame spell).

So what are you waiting for?? Take this game home already if you don't have it, you will be glad you did.

I've got this on the NES and it's a great installment in the series. On the downside I think some of the graphics are a bit confusing at times and it can be hard to work out which parts of the screen you can walk on and which ones you can't. I also don't think the level design is as inspired as the original Castlevania. Still, there's some great levels, some great enemies and some truly brilliant graphical touches in places. Worth a flutter if you're a Castlevania fan but if you're after your first Castlevania experience, go for number 4 as that's just mind-blowingly good compared to the NES games.

The Castlevania series usualy is about simon beltmont and thats it but in this one you play as tevor belmont, alacard, sypha, and grant and it is a go laod of fun for any nintendo fan as well as just all gamers. And I think it is lots better then the new castlevania games like the one on the ps one Syphony of the night it is also better then castlevania Jugment and Dawn of Sarrow