Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse | |
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Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse[a] is 1989 platform game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third installment in the Castlevania video game series and a prequel to the original Castlevania. The game follows Trevor C. Belmont, an ancestor of Simon Belmont, as he gathers allies and travels the country of Wallachia on a quest to defeat Dracula.
Dracula's Curse was released in Japan in 1989, and in North America in 1990, and in Europe by
Gameplay
Castlevania III abandons the
There are two main routes through the game's sixteen stages, which are referred to as blocks and are broken down into several sections. 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 a 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, while the lower route takes the player through a series of tunnels and caverns, leading to a climb up the cliff face below the castle. 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
Joining Trevor Belmont in his mission to defeat Dracula are three new playable characters:
Development and release
Besides the different title, Akumajō Densetsu, the Japanese version has several other differences. It contains a specialized
In the Japanese version, 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 censored, and religious iconography was pared down. The Japanese version has slightly different backgrounds in many stages, and has special effects not seen in the North American and European releases.[4]
The North American and
It was released in Japan on December 22, 1989, in North America on September 1, 1990, and in Europe on December 10, 1992. The game also received a Windows release on November 16, 2002.
It was 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. It was released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in the PAL regions on April 17, 2014 and in North America on June 26, 2014. It was released on the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan on April 16, 2014, in North America on June 26, 2014 and in the PAL regions on September 4, 2014.[citation needed]
It was later released again as part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection for
The Famicom version was made available to western audiences for the first time as a bonus update to this collection a month later.Reception
Japanese game magazine
In a retrospective review,
IGN placed Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse 5th on their list of the Top 100 NES Games.[17]
Former Castlevania producer and developer Koji Igarashi cites Castlevania III as his favorite game in the series, noting the sound and setting as the reasons. Shutaro Iida, who was a programmer for the GBA and NDS games and director of Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, also said it is his favorite in the series, and cited the special sound chip in the Japanese version as the reason why.[18]
In other media
The 1991 Captain N: The Game Master episode "Return to Castlevania" was based on this game.[citation needed]
An animated Dracula's Curse movie had been in development since 2007 with writer
Notes
References
- ^ "Akumajō Densetsu" 悪魔城伝説 [Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse] (in Japanese). Konami. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
- ^ "VRC6". NESdev Wiki. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
- ^ "Akumajo Dracula Famicom Best музыка из игры". Game-OST. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
- ^ a b "Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse/Regional Differences - The Cutting Room Floor". tcrf.net. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
- ^ "Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra". GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 2015-09-12. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
- Nintendo Life. Archivedfrom the original on 2016-07-30. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
- ^ Oxford, Nadia (2017-07-17). "Konami's NES Box Art: So Good, So Bad". VG247. Archived from the original on 2023-12-17. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
- ^ Barder, Ollie. "The 'Castlevania Anniversary Collection' Is Now Out And It Is Gloriously Good". Forbes.
- ^ Allgame. Archived from the originalon November 15, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
- ^ a b "Bi-Weekly Famicom Tsūshin (Famitsu) - No. 91". Famitsu (in Japanese). January 5, 1990. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
- ^ Steve (July 1992). "Castlevania III: Dracula's Quest". Total!. No. 7. pp. 38–39. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
- ^ "100 Best Games of All Time". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 100. Ziff Davis. November 1997. p. 126. Note: Contrary to the title, the intro to the article explicitly states that the list covers console video games only, meaning PC games and arcade games were not eligible.
- ^ "Nintendo Power – The 20th Anniversary Issue!". Nintendo Power. Vol. 231, no. 231. San Francisco, California: Future US. August 2008. p. 71.
- ^ Turi, Tim (2012-04-04). "Ranking The Castlevania Bloodline". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
- GamesRadar. 2012-04-16. Archivedfrom the original on 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
- ^ Workman, Robert (2011-09-27). "Happy 25th Birthday Castlevania: The Ten Best Games in the Series". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
- ^ IGN Staff (2011). "Top 100 NES Games". IGN. p. 5. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Archived from the original on October 25, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ Knezevic, Kevin (2017-06-23). "Symphony Of The Night Designer IGA Talks Bloodstained's Delay And His Favorite Castlevania". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
- ^ Justin McElroy (2007-05-07). "Warren Ellis planning on three Castlevania films". Joystiq. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
- ^ Trumbore, Dave (August 25, 2015). "Super Violent 'Castlevania' Animated Series Coming from Producer Adi Shankar". Collider.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- US Gamer. Archivedfrom the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
- ^ Elfring, Matt (March 5, 2020). "Here's What's New to Netflix in March 2020: Castlevania Season 3, More Movies, TV Shows, and Originals". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (May 13, 2021). "Castlevania: Season 4 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2022.