Transition Rooms (unofficial name) are safe spaces, free from enemies or traps, typically found within Dracula's Castle, that separates two areas on the same map. In earlier games, they were used to provide adequate time for the console to load the next area the player would explore, preventing interruptions in the playthrough. While later games still include these rooms, they are now used primarily for aesthetic purposes, as modern consoles and media can load assets much more quickly.
Generally, Transition Rooms are simple, symmetrical, utilizing dark tones, with no music playing. Most games also use a single model for each map or sometimes for the entire game.
Game specific information[]
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse[]
In this game, Transition Rooms act more like stage selectors, and each room is different, unlike later titles. After completing specific stages, the player is allowed to choose between two paths, Trevor Belmont is shown in the room at the bottom of the screen while a map appears at the top, indicating the route the current selection will take the player to. When only one route is available, the map is shown larger, and Trevor, along with his companion, walks automatically from one side of the screen to the other through a black background.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night[]
This game introduced more freedom of exploration compared to the classic series, popularizing the metroidvania term. As such, Transition Rooms now allow the player to return to the previous area. Furthermore these rooms now allow the player to move freely, change equipment and use recovery items.
Two models are used, one for the normal castle and an upside-down version for the Reverse Castle.
Transition Rooms feature the letters "CD" on the top accompanied by an icon of a disc, informing that the next area is being read and loaded from the CD-ROM, which is the original format this game was released on.
