Massive improvement from the first Castlevania: better controls, the game runs better, incredible soundtrack, difficult but fair and the addition of new playable characters is genius.
In terms of visuals and performance, it's really impressive for the FAMICOM considering how bad the first game runs most of the time.
All-in-all, great game.
In terms of visuals and performance, it's really impressive for the FAMICOM considering how bad the first game runs most of the time.
All-in-all, great game.
(My review seems like it got duplicated for some reason, no idea what happened...)
Castlevania 3 and this version of it feels like a modern game when you don't play on normal, you have the boring easy mode and the frustrating hard mode squeezed into the game for the sake of existing and with very little effort. I expected this to be a more balanced version of Castle 3, but they made this way too easy, your whip is faster and you take less damage, some enemies seem to have less HP too I guess, anything else is a small change or something I didn't notice.
I just quickly breezed through the game feeling like a TAS, which isn't exactly what these games are about, I didn't plan any of my attacks like you do in other games, I just saw an enemy, killed it, and moved on, sometimes I just damage boost myself because it didn't matter, the whip being faster and your defense being higher just made this game too easy, I died very few times and only one of them wasn't from pits, I was so used to killing everything with ease that I didn't put much effort into a few of my jumps. Would've been better if either the whip was faster or if you took less damage, but not both at once, or maybe it's just impossible to make this game good. I just quit out of boredom, at least the original made me put some effort into the game to progress, rather than:
walking forward
attacking
walking forward
spam attack at a boss with even more ease than the original
yawn
a million stairs
yawn
repeat
Castlevania 3 and this version of it feels like a modern game when you don't play on normal, you have the boring easy mode and the frustrating hard mode squeezed into the game for the sake of existing and with very little effort. I expected this to be a more balanced version of Castle 3, but they made this way too easy, your whip is faster and you take less damage, some enemies seem to have less HP too I guess, anything else is a small change or something I didn't notice.
I just quickly breezed through the game feeling like a TAS, which isn't exactly what these games are about, I didn't plan any of my attacks like you do in other games, I just saw an enemy, killed it, and moved on, sometimes I just damage boost myself because it didn't matter, the whip being faster and your defense being higher just made this game too easy, I died very few times and only one of them wasn't from pits, I was so used to killing everything with ease that I didn't put much effort into a few of my jumps. Would've been better if either the whip was faster or if you took less damage, but not both at once, or maybe it's just impossible to make this game good. I just quit out of boredom, at least the original made me put some effort into the game to progress, rather than:
walking forward
attacking
walking forward
spam attack at a boss with even more ease than the original
yawn
a million stairs
yawn
repeat
So I instead decided to play the Japanese version of Castlevania 3 instead of the original for this marathon and yeah man this ost is fucking baller. Definitely recommend playing this version for that alone, but it also just balances the difficulty to that it's not as frustrating as the North American release. The partner system is the main gimmick of this game and it's great, I love the characters we have (except Alucard) on display here, Grant is a great projectile based fighter, and Sypha nukes enemies with magic, and Alucard is... well he doesn't do much until Symphony of the Night. Just give him a few years to get his beauty sleep and he'll be peak.
When I first played this version, I was so burnt out by the American one that I just used save-states, so I couldn’t notice any of the difficulty changes. On replay, I beat this game legit and GODDAMN is it better.
The American Castlevania 3 was so hard that it became a slog to play, while this game is a lot more fair. It’s still the hardest of the trilogy, but it’s never really hard (except stage 9). It’s an absolute delight to go through. The final boss is a bit too easy though.
Man, I hate localisation changes.
The American Castlevania 3 was so hard that it became a slog to play, while this game is a lot more fair. It’s still the hardest of the trilogy, but it’s never really hard (except stage 9). It’s an absolute delight to go through. The final boss is a bit too easy though.
Man, I hate localisation changes.
I still don't know what they were cooking with the western version changes like "yeah dude let's add randomly spawning enemies to precise platforming sections and increase the amount of damage you take and gimp character abilities and overall just make it play worse". This is the definitive version, no ifs or buts - it just sounds and plays better.
É um jogo estupidamente velho, e ainda assim de algum jeito ainda é bom até hoje. Não sou saudosista de jogos antigos não, esse é inclusive o único jogo do NES que eu joguei e sei lá eu acho ele bom até hoje, envelheceu bem.
Castlevania 3 and this version of it feels like a modern game when you don't play on normal, you have the boring easy mode and the frustrating hard mode squeezed into the game for the sake of existing and with very little effort. I expected this to be a more balanced version of Castle 3, but they made this way too easy, your whip is faster and you take less damage, some enemies seem to have less HP too I guess, anything else is a small change or something I didn't notice.
I just quickly breezed through the game feeling like a TAS, which isn't exactly what these games are about, I didn't plan any of my attacks like you do in other games, I just saw an enemy, killed it, and moved on, sometimes I just damage boost myself because it didn't matter, the whip being faster and your defense being higher just made this game too easy, I died very few times and only one of them wasn't from pits, I was so used to killing everything with ease that I didn't put much effort into a few of my jumps. Would've been better if either the whip was faster or if you took less damage, but not both at once, or maybe it's just impossible to make this game good. I just quit out of boredom, at least the original made me put some effort into the game to progress, rather than:
walking forward
attacking
walking forward
spam attack at a boss with even more ease than the original
yawn
a million stairs
yawn
repeat
I just quickly breezed through the game feeling like a TAS, which isn't exactly what these games are about, I didn't plan any of my attacks like you do in other games, I just saw an enemy, killed it, and moved on, sometimes I just damage boost myself because it didn't matter, the whip being faster and your defense being higher just made this game too easy, I died very few times and only one of them wasn't from pits, I was so used to killing everything with ease that I didn't put much effort into a few of my jumps. Would've been better if either the whip was faster or if you took less damage, but not both at once, or maybe it's just impossible to make this game good. I just quit out of boredom, at least the original made me put some effort into the game to progress, rather than:
walking forward
attacking
walking forward
spam attack at a boss with even more ease than the original
yawn
a million stairs
yawn
repeat
Melhor jogo de nes
It's been a few years since I've last played this game.
I would play it again for this review, but... considering how difficult this game can get... yeah, I'm working with my memory for this one, folks.
So, when I played Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse back in 2019, via the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, I specifically remember playing the Japanese version, because it's easier.
There's no bullshit enemy damage outputs in later stages, Grant has a better default weapon and while the HELP ME code doesn't work anymore, the checkpoints in the final stages compensate for it.
In spite of that, Castlevania III (or Akumajou Densetsu, as it's known in Japan) is still a really hard game. So hard that I remember just not having much fun by the end of it, even with the difficulty being easier in the Japanese version.
There are a good amount of things I do like about this game though.
One of which is that you get multiple playable characters that you recruit as you go along. While it's unfortunate that I can only select one partner at a time, all three rock in their own ways.
Grant (in the Japanese version, at least) has a throwing dagger as his default weapon, and that's awesome for taking down threats at a distance! He also can cling onto walls, even upside down! And he has fluid mid-air control, unlike Trevor. I don't understand why they'd limit that to just him, but I digress.
I only played as Grant in my playthrough, but from what I've seen, Sypha and Alucard looked to be fun in their own right, especially since Sypha has a lot of magic at her disposal and Alucard can temporarily fly in his bat form.
There's multiple pathways you can choose after you beat a stage, as you can go to either one stage or another, giving the game more replay value.
And the stages are just very varied in general, with great background and an awesome soundtrack, especially in the Japanese Version, with the VRC6 sound chip that it had, adding more instruments to the mix!
But even with all of that stuff going for it, Castlevania III just became too hard by the end, and in a way that Castlevania I, I don't think ever reached.
Approach with caution.
I would play it again for this review, but... considering how difficult this game can get... yeah, I'm working with my memory for this one, folks.
So, when I played Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse back in 2019, via the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, I specifically remember playing the Japanese version, because it's easier.
There's no bullshit enemy damage outputs in later stages, Grant has a better default weapon and while the HELP ME code doesn't work anymore, the checkpoints in the final stages compensate for it.
In spite of that, Castlevania III (or Akumajou Densetsu, as it's known in Japan) is still a really hard game. So hard that I remember just not having much fun by the end of it, even with the difficulty being easier in the Japanese version.
There are a good amount of things I do like about this game though.
One of which is that you get multiple playable characters that you recruit as you go along. While it's unfortunate that I can only select one partner at a time, all three rock in their own ways.
Grant (in the Japanese version, at least) has a throwing dagger as his default weapon, and that's awesome for taking down threats at a distance! He also can cling onto walls, even upside down! And he has fluid mid-air control, unlike Trevor. I don't understand why they'd limit that to just him, but I digress.
I only played as Grant in my playthrough, but from what I've seen, Sypha and Alucard looked to be fun in their own right, especially since Sypha has a lot of magic at her disposal and Alucard can temporarily fly in his bat form.
There's multiple pathways you can choose after you beat a stage, as you can go to either one stage or another, giving the game more replay value.
And the stages are just very varied in general, with great background and an awesome soundtrack, especially in the Japanese Version, with the VRC6 sound chip that it had, adding more instruments to the mix!
But even with all of that stuff going for it, Castlevania III just became too hard by the end, and in a way that Castlevania I, I don't think ever reached.
Approach with caution.
Difícil pra caralho. Recomendo a todos!!!!
foda pra caralho
Castlevania 3 (Akumajou Densetsu) is one of those games I kept seeing people talk about but never really tried. My extent of Castlevania knowledge was 1 & 4 (never beat either). I went with the Famicom version with an English Translation patch because HOLY FUCK the music in this game is so good. The VRC6 sound chip makes this soundtrack so legendary.
I really think the gameplay loop & level design is vastly superior than what I played of 1. However, unlike 1, this game is hard. Really fucking hard. Holy shit is this game hard. Some of that difficulty comes from the right place & the wrong place. I still don't like how your character gets knocked back after getting hit, and enemy respawns are still annoying, but I will say some of the enemy placement does add interest to the level design, and it kept me on my toes.
I didn't really get much out of the multiple characters, but that's because I only unlocked Alucard. I didn't use him much, but I feel like he'd be one of those characters I'd use more if i really knew his potential. I mostly just kept playing as Trevor (Ralph) Belmont.
I did like a lot of the levels, but the last few started to piss me off a little. The one with the blocks slowly dropping down was just fucking shit. That level sucks ass. The last level wasn't much easier but it didn't waste my damn time at least. I will admit I did cheat a little bit towards the end, but mostly because of how fucking ball bustingly hard this game gets by the last few levels & I didn't want to waste my time playing the same shit over and over again.
The fight with dracula drags on way too long too. The first phase is pretty fucking hard, the second phase is a joke and the third phase is....okay, i guess? I don't really think 3 phases was necessary.
Overall? Pretty good. Something I'd probably go back to in years time, and I'll def keep listening to the music. It def shows its age a little bit but I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit. Maybe next time I beat it I'll do it completely legit
I really think the gameplay loop & level design is vastly superior than what I played of 1. However, unlike 1, this game is hard. Really fucking hard. Holy shit is this game hard. Some of that difficulty comes from the right place & the wrong place. I still don't like how your character gets knocked back after getting hit, and enemy respawns are still annoying, but I will say some of the enemy placement does add interest to the level design, and it kept me on my toes.
I didn't really get much out of the multiple characters, but that's because I only unlocked Alucard. I didn't use him much, but I feel like he'd be one of those characters I'd use more if i really knew his potential. I mostly just kept playing as Trevor (Ralph) Belmont.
I did like a lot of the levels, but the last few started to piss me off a little. The one with the blocks slowly dropping down was just fucking shit. That level sucks ass. The last level wasn't much easier but it didn't waste my damn time at least. I will admit I did cheat a little bit towards the end, but mostly because of how fucking ball bustingly hard this game gets by the last few levels & I didn't want to waste my time playing the same shit over and over again.
The fight with dracula drags on way too long too. The first phase is pretty fucking hard, the second phase is a joke and the third phase is....okay, i guess? I don't really think 3 phases was necessary.
Overall? Pretty good. Something I'd probably go back to in years time, and I'll def keep listening to the music. It def shows its age a little bit but I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit. Maybe next time I beat it I'll do it completely legit