Castlevania Legends

Castlevania Legends is the third and final Castlevania title released for the original Game Boy. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1997 and in North America on March 11, 1998. Its original Japanese title is Demon Castle Dracula: Dark Night Prelude (悪魔城ドラキュラ漆黒たる前奏曲 Akumajō Dracula: Shikkoku Taru Zensōkyoku).

Storyline
In 1450, the Dark Lord, Dracula, reached the height of his power, having undertaken a dark transmigration from his human body which gave him the power to rule over all that was evil. He began to send out armies of the undead to conquer the nations of the world one by one.

However, in the province of Transylvania in Dracula's own homeland of Romania, there lived a girl named Sonia Belmont. From her earliest days, Sonia had been gifted with unusual supernatural powers, including the ability to see spiritual beings unnoticed by most. She was always taught that her powers must be used for good, and she was trained by her grandfather to fight with an heirloom whip.

At the age of 17, Sonia set out to find her true purpose. She met the enigmatic Alucard, the prodigal son of Dracula, who was just beginning his own campaign against his father's madness. The two remained with one another for some time, and it is suggested that they fell in love. However, Sonia learned of the full extent of Dracula's evil from Alucard when he told her of his plan to fight his father, and after a time she left him to find her own way to the Dark Lord's castle.

Once Sonia arrived at the castle, she battled through an array of challenges until she reached the castle's throne room. Here she met Alucard, and the two were equally astonished to see each other. Alucard did not want Sonia to be involved in the battle against his father because he feared for her life, and because he felt it was his own duty to deal with the transgressions of his bloodline. However, Sonia's determination to fight on was ferocious, and Alucard could tell that she would not back down. So to assure himself, he challenged her to a battle. Once she had pushed him to his limit, he conceded that her power was greater than he had known, and bid her a final farewell. He then entered what may have been the first of his long periods of sleep.

Sonia went on to fight and defeat Dracula. As his monsterous dragon-like form began to burn away, he warned her that victory was not so simple, and that as long as there was evil in the world, he would continue to rise again and again. Sonia countered by stating that as long as the Belmont bloodline existed, Dracula would rise only to be defeated again.

Not long after, Sonia gave birth to her child, believed by many Castlevania fans to be Trevor Belmont. Trevor is also rumored to be the son of Alucard, though this is considered unlikely by many due to the basic incompatibility of Belmont and vampiric blood. It should be noted that the game itself never explicitly says that Alucard was the father of Trevor, or that the child was, in fact, Trevor.

Sonia's sound defeat of Dracula created great fear amongst the people of Wallachia and Transylvania, and though they had been spared slavery and death, they chose to exile the Belmonts. The Belmonts left behind some of their kin to watch in secret for Dracula's return, and they would continue to answer the calling of their bloodline.

Note: The storyline from Castlevania Legends has been retroactively removed from the official Castlevania'' timeline. For more information on the removal see the Castlevania timeline article.''

Gameplay
Because this game uses the same engine employed in The Castlevania Adventure and Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, Sonia controls almost exactly like Christopher Belmont, including her ability to shoot fireballs from the whip when at full power, and the ability to climb up and down ropes rather than using stairs.

The game has two difficulty levels, Normal and Light. In Light Mode, Sonia's whip is always at full power. In Normal Mode, she must collect crystals to power the whip up through three different levels.

The first of Sonia's powers is known as Burning Mode. Once per level and life, Sonia can enter Burning Mode (press both the A and B buttons simultaneously) to become completely invincible until a gauge at the bottom of the screen runs out. This technique is extremely useful against bosses.

Sonia can also unlock powerful Soul Weapon abilities by defeating boss creatures. Soul Weapons consume hearts and are chosen from a menu by pressing the Select button during normal play. Sonia's Soul Weapons are as follows:


 * Wind: Grants the ability to temporarily stop the movement of all enemies except bosses. Uses 5 hearts.
 * Ice: Completely restores Sonia's life gauge. Uses 20 hearts.
 * Flame: Unleashes a powerful burst of energy that harms all enemies on screen. Does not affect bosses. Uses 5 hearts.
 * Saint: Sends a wave of energy slicing through the air in front of Sonia. Uses 1 heart.
 * Magic: Completely destroys an enemy on screen, except for bosses. Uses 5 hearts.

Sonia cannot use the trademark sub-weapons of the Belmont family and their allies, but she can find all of the classic items hidden in various out-of-the-way locations in the game. The items Sonia can find include the Dagger, Cross, Holy Water, Axe, and Pocket Watch. If she finds them all, the game's full ending is revealed.

Stages
The stages of Castlevania: Legends:


 * 01. The Graveyard
 * 02. Castle Halls
 * 03. Clock Tower
 * 04. Castle Keep
 * Bonus Stage: The Dungeon
 * 05. Inner Den

Bosses
This humanoid bat is an artificial life form created by Dracula's alchemists. It can fly about the arena and attacks Sonia with its brute physical strength. Once a great dragon of legend, it was slain by Dracula and then resuscitated in a zombified form to serve him for all eternity. It is a very large boss for a Game Boy game, and attacks Sonia with its searing flame breath. Death has always been Dracula's greatest ally, even in his earliest days as the Dark Lord. As usual, he attacks using his giant razor-sharp sickle. Alucard awaits Sonia in the keep of Dracula's Castle, where he will test her strength. If she can defeat him, he will allow her to face his father in his stead. The Dark Lord himself is the final test that Sonia must face. In his first form, the battle is waged in the castle's throne room. He will teleport between several locations and will attack with Hellfire each time. In his second form, which is considerably more difficult, he transforms into a giant dragon-like demon whose body is filled with tormented souls. The head of his body is the target, and it moves between several locations in a set pattern. The player must quickly determine the head's pattern and move Sonia accordingly to successfully dodge all of Dracula's attacks. There are also two pits in the room which must be avoided at all cost.
 * Stage 1 - Creatures Bat
 * Stage 2 - Death Dragon
 * Stage 3 - Grim Reaper
 * Stage 4 - Alucard
 * Final Stage - Dracula

Music
Most of the music of Castlevania Legends was newly composed. However, the first stage notably has a modified version of Bloody Tears as its background music, and the final battle's background music begins with a quote from Vampire Killer.