Gamers
familiar with the Castlevania legacy will know that it was the vampire hunter
Simon Belmond that defeated the evil Count Dracula. Their paths crossed once
again when Simon found out that he was cursed and had to go on another quest to
destroy Dracula's body parts. Castlevania 3 goes back a lot further though and
takes place 100 years before Simon's birth.
Count Dracula is at full power and
terrorizing the country with his army of darkness. This time it's Simon's
forefather, Trevor Belmond who has to save humanity. He'll need all the help he
can get though and during his adventure he will meet up with other characters
to help him in his quest. Ghost Pirate Grant DaNasty, fellow hunter and mystic
warlord Sypha and even Dracula's forgotten son, Allucard are willing to lend a
hand once you find them. It's still going to be a long hard journey but history
has shown who the victor will be.
Excellent as Castlevania 2 was the
nonlinear, sprawling levels wasn't everyone's cup of tea. Konami has realized
this and made some adjustments but didn't abandon the idea altogether. Now
there are a total of 17 possible levels but you won't be playing through each
and every one of them. Instead you'll have to make a choice between two levels
every so often and this choice will determine what hazards you'll meet up ahead
and which ally will join up with you. This gives the game some replay value
while still keeping the levels engrossing.
In terms of gameplay Castlevania 3
is very similar to the first game. Levels are filled with tricks and traps
while the enemies come at you thick and fast. You also have a strict time limit
and only three lives at your disposal. There are passwords and continues when
you die but you'll start from the beginning of the stage so don't think you can
abuse them like in Castlevania 2. Even the restart points for when you lose a
life is few and far between and it's frustrating to die during a boss fight and
then having to replay halve the stage just to get back to where you were. The difficulty
has definitely been upped since the previous game so once again it's a game of
skill and reflexes.
The graphics in Castlevania 3 is
pretty damn good and besides the varied and imaginative stages there are also
loads of creepy critters to bash around with your trusty whip. While the first
half of the game covers your journey to the castle through swamps, woods and
even a sunken city once you reach Dracula's abode things become very familiar. Owners
of the first game will play through it with a smile of nostalgia on their face.
As far as the music is concerned I probably don't even have to mention that
Konami has once again crafted one of the best soundtracks on the NES.
Great as
the game is if you disliked the previous titles then this probably won't sway
your opinion. Controls take some getting used to and the difficulty alone will
give people gray hairs. The three new characters add some cool new touches to
the series and bring a little variety to the platform formula. If you are a fan
of the Castlevania series then this is obviously essential for your collection
but even if you've never had the urge to grab a whip and go slay some vampires
Mr. Belmond might just convince you otherwise.
[9]
No comments:
Post a Comment