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Castlevania Legends review

Game: Castlevania Legends
Platform: Game Boy
Genre: Action (Platformer)
Developer: Konami
AKA: Akumajou Dracula: Shikkoku Taru Zensoukyoku (JP)

Reader review by ratking

Date unavailable

Castlevania Legends is a disapointing game in my mind, but in no ways is it bad. My problem is that it is not much better than Castlevania Adventure which came out around 5 years before. But, as with almost all games, it has it's good and bad points.

STORY (8/10): This game has a stronger story then many of the Castlevania games, but the story does leave much to be desired. The story is about the first of the Belmont family {Sonia} that goes out to destory Dracula. On the way she meets, and must fight her close friend Alucard, who appears in other Castlevania games as a major character, and various other creatures on her way to dual with Dracula. With most series this story sounds weak, but Castlevania is not about stories.

GRAPHICS (4/15): These graphics strongly remind me of Castlevania Adventure. The blur problem is gone, but the backgrounds leave much to be desire (I believe these are worse than Castlevania Adventure) and the actual graphics of the enemies and Sonia are also very similiar to their early counterpart. These graphics are depressing, and for the time period it was made in, it leaves much to be desired.

SOUND (5/10): Another category that I deem not to be of Konami's skill. The sound is good, but there is not that peice of music that sticks in your mind like the Clock Tower in Dracula's Curse or the Tower of Execution in Legacy of Darkness. Once again there are reasonable sound effects of the whip, and the vanishing of an enemy, but nothing spectacular.

GAMEPLAY (30/40): Gameplay is not bad at all. Once again there are no subweapons that Castlevania fans have grown to love, but they do play a role in finding them to change your ending. Sonia is easy to control, and it does not have the fault of Castlevania Adventure in the jumping. They also added a burning mode that give you invincibility, which is very helpful. You may also gain spells of healing or fire. The levels require much fighting, and in this one there are 6 levels. There is much fun to be had, specially sense there is also a save system, so you do not have to play all at once.

CONTROLS (5/10): You still can't change direction in midair, and the burning mode and whip are sometimes slow in response. Not of the best Castlevania value, and I believe outplayed by Adventure in this category. Sonia still moves slow like her great-grandson did in the earlier gameboy games, so the controls leaves much to be desired.

REPLAYABILITY (4/10): Once you beat it, you will probably put it down for a few months, but if your like me you will later on try to beat it all in one sitting, or just play it through for old time sake. This game is not chuck-full of replayability, but it is doable.

DIFFICULTY (4/5): For a Castlevania game this is strangely easy. It is partially difficult at points, but in the end you will breeze through it. This is, in my mind, the easiest of the Castlevania games.

OVERALL (60/100): This game is not as bad as the rating shows, but it is depressing if you compare it to Castlevania Adventure. The sound leaves MUCH to be desired, and it is a little to easy for my liking. The spell system also does not compare to the usual subweapons, and the burning mode seems to be a little cheap. But if you are into Castlevania games, like me, Castlevania Legends is a game you should pick up.

Rating: 6.0/10

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