Castlevania: The Adventure

Castlevania: The Adventure was the first Castlevania game for the Nintendo Game Boy. The game is known in Japan as Akumajō Densetsu, which translates to English as The Legend of Dracula. It was released in Japan on October 27, 1989 and in North America on December, 1989.

In 1997 the game was re-released once again for the classic Game Boy as part of Konami GB Collection Vol. 1. The compilation featured Super Game Boy utilization and a picture frame. The collection was released in 2000 on the Game Boy Color, with new four-color schemes added to each stage of the game. It also became available for download on special flash RAM cartridge through the Nintendo Power service in Japan.

The original version of Castlevania: The Adventure became available on the 3DS Virtual Console in 2012 in Japan, Europe, and North America.

Overview
Castlevania: The Adventure was the first game in the series to be released for the Game Boy, as well as one of the earliest games to be released for that system, as such many elements from its console counterparts had to be compromised due to hardware limitations. This resulted in The Adventure having many unique characteristics which, aside from other games released for the Game Boy, have not been before or since in the franchise. A major difference from its predecessors is the complete absence of sub-weapons. Due to this, candles no longer drop hearts which act as ammunition. Instead, they drop gold pieces which increases the total high score. The whip can still be upgraded two times - the first time a chain whip, second time to shoot fireballs - but receiving a hit from an enemy decreases its power a level.

The iconic diagonal stairs are not present, being replaced by ropes. Also, almost the entire enemy cast of The Adventure is completely unique. Notable ones include the sickle throwing Night Stalkers, rolling eyeballs, and the fire spitting Punaguchi, a role usually fulfilled by the traditional Bone Pillars.

Something which is noticeable very quickly is that the game moves very slowly, as well as the protagonist Christopher dropping abruptly after making a jump. This requires for precise timing when whipping or making jumps. Whether this is in order to reduce blur on the Game Boy screen or due to technical issues is unknown. In total, there are four stages, albeit very long ones. The game starts out in an outside area with woods and graveyard, followed by a trip through a cave, and the last two stages taking place in Dracula's castle. Being developed for the Game Boy, The Adventure features minimal backgrounds and details. The first stage features a mountain backdrop and gravestones, and the second stage features stalactites. The fourth stage contains the most detail, containing chandeliers and arched pathways and widows.

Unique level ideas include falling platforms which quickly need to be traversed before they fall down into an abyss, descending ceiling traps which require to quickly destroy a mechanism to deactivate, and an auto-scrolling area where spiked walls are quickly closing in from below and from the right.

Through the stages, there are hidden rooms that can be found (often without any indication that they're there). For example, requiring climbing to the top of a rope and through an invisible wall, or jumping on an invisible platform and up to a rope hidden in the wall. In these rooms, health restore items, 1-ups, and coins can be collected.

Music
The soundtrack of the game was composed by S. Fukutake, Norio Hanzawa, and H. Funauchi. The music of this game has been commercially released several times as part of CDs like Akumajo Dracula Best 2 (1991), Castlevania 20th Anniversary Deluxe Music Collection (2006) and Castlevania Best Music Collections BOX (2010). Some of the tracks are rearranged and featured in CDs like Dracula Battle Perfect Selection Vol. 2 (1991) and Dracula New Classic (1992). The theme of the first game Battle of the Holy was later remixed for the Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth and Contra ReBirth OST (2010).

Storyline Confusion
When The Adventure first came out, it was released as a sequel to Castlevania II: Simon's Quest in North America. The back of box states has a description which suggested the game was a follow-up to Castlevania and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest for the NES. None of the text on the box, manual, or in-game mentions the name of the hero of this game and it was assumed to be another adventure of Simon Belmont. The official Game Boy Nintendo Player's Guide also "confirmed" that the hero was Simon Belmont, and he was named such in a magazine ad.

When this game's sequel Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge was released, which had a more developed plot, it was realized that the hero of The Adventure was not Simon, but rather, a new character no one in America had heard of - Christopher Belmont. It was still figured that The Adventure was a sequel, however. The American manual for Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse had placed it to be 100 years before Simon's time (it states "The time is 100 years before Simon Belmont's birth.") and it was also stated that Trevor was the first warrior Belmont (it says he was the "origin of the Belmont Warlord Chromosomes"). With Dracula's 100 year cycle already established, this game was reckoned to take place 100 years after Simon's games and Christopher was considered a descendant of Simon.

In Japan, however, it was always clear that this game featured Christopher Belmont and took place ages before Simon's time. The Japanese manual for the original Castlevania mentions the "Legend of Christopher" and Simon was considered the heir to Christopher's legacy. This game was created to tell the story of this legendary warrior. In Japan, Christopher Belmont was considered the first Belmont to face Dracula.

For a time in Japan, both The Adventure and Dracula's Curse were considered to be the "first" fight against Dracula and to predate the original Castlevania by 100 years. One of the staff members of Dracula's Curse revealed in an informal manner on the Japanese forum 2ch that the he intented the full name of the game's protagonist to be Trevor (Ralph in the Japanese version) Christopher Belmont. The manual only uses the intial "C." instead of his full middle name. The staff member then went one to state the "Christopher" from Dracula's Curse was the same person mentioned in the Legend of the Hero Christopher. This meant The Adventure and Dracula's Curse were mutually exclusive prequels to the adventures of Simon. When IGA created his timeline, he corrected this discrepancy by placing Dracula's Curse 100 years before The Adventure, which itself was 100 years before Simon.

Legacy
Castlevania: The Adventure has a direct sequel that continues the battle between Christopher Belmont and Count Dracula titled Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge. It also received a comic book adaptation from IDW Publishing titled Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy. Furthermore, its story is retold in Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth, with new stages, bosses, and enemies. Homages to The Adventure include the item Bullet Tip (Christopher's Soul in the Japanese version) in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, which allows Juste Belmont to shoot projectiles from his whip like Christopher, and the game over music in both Belmont's Revenge and Harmony of Dissonance is the same jingle heard in The Adventure, but using different synthesized voices.

Related Pages

 * Castlevania: The Adventure Bestiary
 * Category:Adventure Locations
 * The Adventure Inventory

Related Products

 * Akumajo Dracula Best Vol. 2 - Contains the original soundtrack for this game.
 * Game Boy Nintendo Player's Guide - Contains stage maps and original enemy artwork for this game.
 * Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge - The game boy sequel to this game.
 * Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth - A reimagining of this game for WiiWare.
 * Castlevania - This game was made as a prequel to the original Castlevania game, describing the legend of Christopher that was first mentioned in the Japanese manual.
 * Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - This game was initially released in America as a sequel to Simon's Quest and was presumed to feature a third battle between Simon Belmont and Dracula (until Belmont's Revenge came out).
 * Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy - An American comic book adaptation to this game.
 * Castlevania Best Music Collections BOX - Contains music from this game on Disc 1.
 * Famitsu Dracula Densetsu Guide - A Japanese guide for this game.

External Videos

 * Speed Run on Easy Mode