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. 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 the third game in the Castlevania Timeline, 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 in 1476. Many characters and elements introduced for the first time in Castlevania III would become mainstays in the series.

Storyline
The year is 1476, and Count Dracula has started to ravage Europe with an army of monsters. His sole purpose is to exterminate mankind, extracting his vengeance upon humanity after the death of his beloved wife Lisa, mistakenly executed as a witch for preparing medicine to help the sick.

The Belmont family of vampire hunters, once exiled from Wallachia, are called into action by the Church. They feared the Belmonts' "super-human" power, but with Dracula menacing to swallow Europe in darkness, they are left with no choice but to call Trevor Belmont, current wielder of the Vampire Killer whip.

Joining Trevor Belmont in his mission to defeat Dracula are three new playable characters: Sypha Belnades, a young priestess (initially believe to be a young priest; her decidedly-feminine status is only revealed in the end of the game if it's she whom Trevor defeats Dracula alongside) with poor physical attack power but powerful magic spells at her disposal; Grant DaNasty, a pirate with the ability to climb on walls and change direction in mid-jump (a rare ability in earlier games of the series); and Alucard, Dracula's 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, or if he does not take another character with him at all.

Trevor and his companions cross the Transylvanian countryside, defeat Dracula's minions, and eventually defeat the Count himself. Once his father is defeated, Alucard goes into a self-induced slumber, unable to cope with having fought his father. Moreover, he realized that his own power could pose a potential threat to the world. However, he would awaken in the late-eighteenth century when feeling the absence of a Belmont when Dracula was revived by the dark priest Shaft. Grant DaNasty oversees the reconstruction of Wallachia after the battle is finished. Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades end up getting married once peace is restored in the region (according to the Castlevania Time Line included with Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin).

Alucard appears in several subsequent Castlevania games, as do Sypha's distant relatives (Carrie Fernandez, Charlotte Aulin, and Yoko Belnades).

Character Gallery
See Also 

Villains
See also Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse Bestiary

Gameplay
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.

Version differences
Besides just the different name in Japan, Akumajō Densetsu, the Japanese version has several other differences:


 * Trevor Belmont is known as Ralph Belmondo in this game.
 * Instead of using a stabbing dagger, Grant throws daggers as his main attack.
 * In the American game, each enemy takes away the same amount of energy when the player is hit. But as the game progresses, damage taken from enemies increases. Instead, in the Japanese game, each enemy takes a different amount of energy away from the player. Many believe this factor makes the Japanese game easier.
 * On the final stage, after losing to Dracula, instead of starting back at the level's second section, the player begins right outside of Dracula's keep. This is another factor said to make the Japanese game much easier.
 * The word font is different between versions, with the Japanese version using the same font as Castlevania.
 * The female statues in stage 8 are partially nude in the Japanese game. Just like Super Castlevania IV, statues were clothed for the American releases.
 * The hunchbacks in the Japanese game are hopping gremlin creatures like in Super Castlevania IV.
 * Several enemies are colored different, have altered sprites, or have slightly different attack patterns.
 * The original Japanese version contained a specialized music chip which was removed in the North American release due to lack of expansion-chip support on the American hardware. This chip added an extra two square waves (each with eight pulse width settings instead of the standard four) and a sawtooth wave.
 * Unbelievably, none of the religious content was removed in the North American release. NOA seems to have given the Castlevania series an exemption. The cross present during Trevor's prayer is slightly different, however.
 * The final form of Dracula is more challenging in the North American release. He fires the 'laser beams' more often, and they are both longer and launched in a greater variety of directions than in the Japanese version.

Trivia

 * The fan translation community, finding the Japanese version of the game superior (especially in the sound department), retranslated Castlevania III.
 * Fake zombie versions of Trevor, Sypha, and Grant would fight Alucard in the reverse castle of Symphony of the Night, and later fight Jonathan Morris in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin's Nest of Evil.
 * Dracula's final form in this game is of a statue intended to resemble Sumerian demon Pazuzu.
 * Project 51 Productions has gotten the rights from Konami to create movies based on Castlevania. Their first project will be a direct to DVD feature covering the story of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.  Scriptwriting the movie will be comic genius Warren Ellis with art direction by James Jean who has also worked on comics among other things.  More information can be found at their production blog: CastlevaniaDraculasCurse.com
 * First game in the Castlevania series to use the familiar "items and grid" password system.

Related Products

 * Akumajo_Dracula_Best_Vol._1 - Contains the Dracula's Curse Original Soundtrack
 * Akumajo Densetsu: Genuineness Vampire Hunter - Gamebook featuring descendants of the four playable characters in Dracula's Curse
 * Dracula's Curse Animated Movie - Western animation in the works based on Dracula's Curse
 * Castlevania (film) - Film in the works that according to an early script is based on Dracula's Curse
 * Castlevania I - This game is considered the game-style successor to the original Castlevania game. It is also a prequel, albeit one set two hundred years earlier (American manual erroneously says 100 years)
 * Castlevania: Curse of Darkness - PS2 Sequel to Dracula's Curse
 * Castlevania: Legends - Game Boy Color non-canon prequel to Dracula's Curse

Related Pages

 * Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse Bestiary