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Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse Game Review

Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse is a 1989 platform video game developed and published by Konami for the NES. It was a return to form for the franchise.

The second Castlevania game remains a polarizing entry for the series due to its overwhelming RPG elements, but the third entry that was released three years after the original brought that classic platforming gameplay once again to the foreplay and both fans and critics were content. It now remains one of the best regarded entries in the series and I thoroughly agree with that shared opinion.

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Simon is gone, but Trevor Belmont is now the protagonist. The two are almost indistinguishable to me in terms of looks and abilities, but the main innovation that this game added is the extended number of playable characters. You see, after you defeat a couple of bosses, you get the chance to choose or discard that new character. If you choose to get it, he or she becomes playable, which may prove helpful in certain areas that require diverse tactics and weapons.

Alucard is obviously the most important character in terms of the plot as he is Dracula’s son who proves to be his father’s undoing, but as a fighter, he is weak and his fireballs are imprecise. Sypha fares better and she is rather interesting, but clearly the standout has to be Grant, a pirate who is so nifty that he was a fantastic choice to pass certain areas due to his amazing climbing abilities.

The game features multiple endings depending on the characters taken on your journey and the paths being chosen as well. Yes, this game actually makes you choose your own path, making this one of the most groundbreaking NES titles when it comes to its open-ended approach to gameplay. It leads to greater replay ability while the unpredictability of the paths chosen made for such a fresh, unexpected experience. I personally went down the swamp and forest paths.

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The game has sixteen stages overall, but my route had ten itself. Of those ten, easily the best one is the second stage with the strikingly unique clockwork mechanism. The first one is overly easy while the last couple of stages are way too hard, though the water mechanism was very well realized, but obviously very difficult. The swamp and the cave areas were among the most interesting visually speaking.

As for the bosses, they are just as hard as the first game’s bosses, some are even more difficult. The last couple of the bosses are ridiculously demanding, requiring from me to use save states once again in order to beat them. That’s not a sign of good gameplay mechanic and difficulty curve is I was made to cheat basically.

Both of the Skull Knight bosses are very easy. Evil Flame is forgettable while Vampire Bat is the first solid boss in the game. Frankenstein’s Monster is solid, but surprisingly not all that difficult. Possessed Grant Danasty and Cyclops are both among the best bosses as they are very well balanced in terms of mechanics and difficulty curve.

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But Death as this grim reaper boss is so damn hard as was the doppelganger who of course behaves like your avatar, but is even stronger and faster. Beating him requires a lot of dodging and running away basically. And of course Dracula is absolutely insane! There was no need for a three-part boss this late in the game. Actually, the first two parts aren’t insanely difficult as you can beat them fairly easily if you are careful in your moves, but the final section was truly maddening as it required a lot of jumping on platforms and evading the monster’s attacks while the platforms beneath you are vanishing all at the same time.

I honestly do contend that the last boss cannot be beaten without save states at least by the majority of players. This was the biggest reason why the game wasn’t as amazing as it could have been, but still the length being extended by at least half from the first entry was commendable. Couple that with the open-world approach of paths taken and you’ve got a very replayable, investing game that stands the test of time with flying colors.

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The world building is even better than before, though the score in Castlevania III is inferior to the first game. But the graphics are mildly improved and the animation of the characters and the bosses is particularly inspired and detailed, surprisingly so for such an old game. The level design is also stupendous throughout and the variety of levels from outdoors to indoors was quite impressive. I just wish that it were easier.