4/5 ★ – SingleActionArmy's review of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.

Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse Part 3 of my Castlevania series review (If you have the time, I would recommend reading my review for the first Castlevania game before reading this review, as I draw from it quite a bit. If not, that's okay. :D) Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse is one of my favorite NES games. It holds a special place in my heart as, as of this moment, the most difficult game I’ve ever beaten. Dracula's Curse puts on a clinic in what makes a good sequel, the good aspects of the original game are retained while adding new concepts that give it a distinct identity from its predecessor. Some of the issues of Castlevania 1 are fixed, some still remain, and other new issues are present with the addition of new content. In this review I’ll go over what I love about Dracula’s Curse, what issues the game has, and what changes could be made to improve the game. Dracula's Curse keeps everything that made the original Castlevania great, including but not limited to, the tight but committal controls, awesome aesthetics, amazing soundtrack, clever level design, unique enemies, brutal but fair gameplay, I could go on and on. Everything good about the first Castlevania is present in Dracula’s Curse, so I'd rather focus more on what Dracula's Curse added that's good. To start, this game is one of the most technically impressive games on the NES. There are lots of moving and complex backgrounds that run behind already complex stages and enemies. Multiple enemies, candles, and stage hazards will all be present with minimal amounts of lag. Rounded platforms are found throughout and are pulled off very well, with some even moving. Non-rounded moving platforms are also very common, with very fair hitboxes. There’s also plenty of auto scrolling, flying enemies, and water resistance that are all done very well. All of this is done with little to no added lag. Technically, this game is superb. What is probably the most memorable addition to Dracula's Curse that most players remember are the total of 4 playable characters. While you start the game as Trevor, you can add one extra party member to switch out as at any moment. A player can pick from Spyha, a vampire hunting mage, Grant, a pirate thief, and Alucard, Dracula’s son. Each different character has a different fundamental play style, with their own unique weapons, subweapons, and abilities. Certain levels are also designed around respective side characters, which leads into another big plus of this game. Until level 8 you can choose your path and play different levels. These different levels are where you find the different characters and also where you can find their respective stages. This variety of characters and stages is phenomenal. All the characters play amazingly and are all incredibly fun in their own way, have their own strengths and weaknesses, and add a lot of replayability to the game. Their respective stages are different from any other stages found in the NES trilogy, and give each character a chance to really show off what makes them unique. Dracula's Curse is much longer, and much more difficult than Castlevania 1. For reference, I beat Castlevania 1 in 2 days, and spent around 4 or 5 on Dracula’s Curse. The enemies that were chosen for Dracula's Curse are much harder than the original, both doing more damage and being harder to kill. Most enemies either have a lot of health, or have movement and attack patterns that make them hard to kill. For example, in Dracula's Curse there are hardly any skeletons, but there are lots of ravens, skull pirates, bone towers, and knights. Platforming is tighter and requires you to be more precise, while adding more variables such as moving platforms, flipping platforms, crumbling blocks, flowing waters, auto scrolling segments, and a lot more staircases. Stages feel like marathons, and run you through the mud until you memorize every enemy, every pattern, and every platform. This game demands perfection to get through, and will put you through a marathon of hell to get there. I understand why some wouldn’t like this, everyone has their preferences and sometimes you don't want to rip your hair out when gaming, but for those who are up for a challenge, Dracula's Curse is an almost perfectly crafted challenge that’s as big as they come. One big issue Dracula's Curse has that’s much more prevalent than any Castlevania before it is stages and levels that will easily one shot you by knocking you off the stage. Especially in the later stages, your health bar can feel irrelevant at times because there are so many opportunities for you to get knocked off the map. This can make certain levels more than unforgiving. Some stages feel unfair and bordering on dishonest simply because any mistake will lead to a loss of your entire life. This can also make certain parts of the game very discouraging. Another big problem of Dracula's Curse is the lack of checkpoints, lives, and porkchops. Along with this, every stage is looooooong. Stages, and the levels that make up entire stages, are all longer. More levels in each stage as opposed to just 3 per stage in the original, and levels are a lot longer. However, there are still usually just two, sometimes three, checkpoints per stage, and there are just as many lives in 3 as there were in 1. Pork chops are pretty easy to find early on, but in the later stages they are few and far between. I like the long stages and the inclusion of more levels, however the lack of checkpoints, lives, and health can make some stages grueling and discouraging, especially because one simple mistake can cost you a life. Bosses, for the most part, feel fine and balanced. Some bosses are very long, either because of their patterns or because they literally consist of having to kill multiple full fledged bosses. However, subweapons like holy water and the cross, and the supporting characters (especially Sypha) can melt bosses. So I feel like bosses are fine overall. One boss that sticks out in my mind as being a little much are the dual dragons, since one hit from them will knock you off the map and kill you instantly, but they have random patterns. Dracula has 3 forms, which makes him the toughest boss by far, simply because of the length. While his first two forms aren’t bad by themselves, his third form is very tough. His third form also offers, again, yet ANOTHER opportunity for you to fall off the stage. This segways into what I want to talk about next, changes that could be made. I think Dracula's Curse is an amazing game, and could be made into a nearly flawless game with a few changes. These changes would be to… Add more checkpoints throughout each entire stage. Add a checkpoint before Dracula, and leave it there after game over. (I know the Japanese version has this, and both of Dracula Curse’s predecessors had this, I don’t see why Dracula's Curse shouldn’t have this either) Add more pork chops, especially in the later rounds. Remove some of the excessive one shot potential from falling off the stage. I’m not saying to remove it entirely, however Dracula's Curse has an excessive amount of levels where there are so many opportunities to fall through the floor. Just tone it back a little bit Extend the platforms a little bit on the dual dragons boss Overall, I love Dracula’s Curse. It is one of my favorite platformers, and one of if not my favorite NES game. It is the hardest game I’ve beaten, and even if I beat a game harder it will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s a technical marvel, has amazing and memorable characters, and is the pinnacle of the NES Castlevania experience. I give this game a ⅘.