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. Many characters and elements introduced for the first time in Castlevania III would become mainstays in the series.

Storyline
Joining Trevor Belmont in his mission to defeat Dracula are three new playable characters: Sypha Belnades, a young witch with poor physical attack power but powerful magic spells at her disposal, Grant DaNasty, a fleet-footed 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 (a.k.a. Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes), Dracula's rebellious 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 doesn't take another character with him at all. Alucard appears in several subsequent Castlevania games, as do Sypha's descendants (Carrie Fernandez and Yoko Belnades).

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. This chip allowed for the use of multiple PCM samples to be used as instruments for the in-game music, here primarily featuring the sound of a synthesized string section. See: Multi-Memory Controller.
 * Unbelievably, none of the religious content was removed in the North American release. NOA seems to have given the Castlevania series an exemption.

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.
 * Dracula's final form in this game is of a statue intended to resemble Sumerian demon Pazuzu.