Castlevania Legends
Encyclopedia
Castlevania Legends is the third and final Castlevania
title released for the original Game Boy
. It was released in Japan
on November 27, 1997 and in North America
on March 11, 1998. Its original Japanese
title is .
The videogame has enhancements for the Super Game Boy
.
A player starts with three lives, after which the game is over, but a player may continue from the beginning of the last stage they were in. There is also a Hit score showing how many enemies have been defeated in each stage. Striking candles will often cause items to appear. The game does not make use of any sub-weapons, unlike most other Castlevania titles, and relies heavily on the use of magic, which is another unique feature. The magic system used relies on five "Soul Weapons", including Flame, Ice, Saint, Wind, and Magic. Hearts are used as currency to acquire weapons. Sonia can also enter a "Burning Mode", where she becomes invincible
, moves faster, and has more powerful attacks, though this power can only be used once per life or level.
who seeks revenge against his father Dracula. After Dracula's defeat, he swears to Sonia that as long as there is evil in the world, he will be resurrected, and in response she swears her family will always defeat him. The game was also the first game in the series timeline until Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
.
called the game one of the Game Boy
's cult classics despite the portable systems limitations. Gamespy
called the music "disappointing", as the previous two Game Boy
Castlevania games were highly praised for their music.
Longtime Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi
removed the game from the series time line because it conflicted with the plot line of the main games. He has stated that "Legends remains something of an embarrassment for the series. If only that development team had the guidance of the original team of the series."
Castlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
title released for the original Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
. It was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on November 27, 1997 and in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on March 11, 1998. Its original Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
title is .
The videogame has enhancements for the Super Game Boy
Super Game Boy
The is a 16-bit adapter cartridge for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the Super Famicom in Japan. The Super Game Boy allows game cartridges designed for use on the Game Boy to be played on a TV display using the SNES/Super Famicom controllers. When it was released in...
.
Gameplay
Wiktionary
Wiktionary is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158 languages...
, moves faster, and has more powerful attacks, though this power can only be used once per life or level.
Plot
The story begins in Transylvania in the year 1450, Sonia Belmont, who in the game (not the series timeline) is the first Belmont to confront Dracula. She also meets AlucardAlucard (Castlevania)
, better known as is a fictional character in Konami's Castlevania series of video games. His first appearance in the series was in the 1990 Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, but he is best known for his role in the critically acclaimed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, released in 1997.His...
who seeks revenge against his father Dracula. After Dracula's defeat, he swears to Sonia that as long as there is evil in the world, he will be resurrected, and in response she swears her family will always defeat him. The game was also the first game in the series timeline until Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, released as in Japan, Europe, and Australia, is an action-adventure video game developed by Konami for the PlayStation 2 console. Belonging to Konami's Castlevania video game series, it is the first installment of the series on the PlayStation 2 and the third to...
.
Characters
- Sonia Belmont is the protagonist of Castlevania Legends. At the age of seventeen she lived in a remote part of TransylvaniaTransylvaniaTransylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. She was born with special abilities that allowed her to sense the presence of physical and spiritual beings, and was taught how to use a whip by her grandfather. It is not explicitly stated whether the whip she uses is Vampire Killer or not.
- Within the castle, she encounters AlucardAlucard (Castlevania), better known as is a fictional character in Konami's Castlevania series of video games. His first appearance in the series was in the 1990 Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, but he is best known for his role in the critically acclaimed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, released in 1997.His...
, the half-vampire son of Dracula. She had met him some time before and it can be inferred from their dialog that the two had formed a romantic relationship. Alucard was intent on dissuading Sonia from her goal, planning to stop his father alone. When Sonia would not yield, he challenged her to a battle to test her abilities. After she defeated him, Alucard was confident that Sonia could overcome Dracula and he went into a self-imposed sleep. Sonia defeated Dracula, and spared Europe from his evil influence for a time. Sometime after Dracula's defeat, Sonia bore a child who "would carry on the fate and tragedy of the Belmont family, and the bloodline of dark ways." The child would grow up to fight Dracula again and become a hero.
- Sonia was one of the confirmed leads in the Dreamcast game Castlevania: Resurrection, up until that game's cancellation.
Reception
IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
called the game one of the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
's cult classics despite the portable systems limitations. Gamespy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
called the music "disappointing", as the previous two Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
Castlevania games were highly praised for their music.
Longtime Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi
Koji Igarashi
, also known simply by the nickname IGA, is a Konami employee and one of the producers of the Castlevania video game series. He is best known as the assistant director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, his first major involvement in the Castlevania series , also known simply by the nickname...
removed the game from the series time line because it conflicted with the plot line of the main games. He has stated that "Legends remains something of an embarrassment for the series. If only that development team had the guidance of the original team of the series."