This game is the final Castlevania game released on the NES and it is the most polished and best looking of the bunch. It is also ungodly difficult to play and if you can win this one you are a true gamer. The Castlevania trilogy is one of the hardest trilogies for the NES, probably only coming in second to Ninja Gaiden, but it is close. If not for the way too easy Castlevania II, I would probably give this one an edge, but then I have never played the third Ninja Gaiden so for all I know it makes that series the definitive winner. This Castlevania adds a couple of new wrinkles while staying truer to the first game than the second one did. All the RPG elements introduced in Simon's Quest are gone for the most part and in are paths to choose and characters to select to assist the main character on his mission. That mission is, of course, to destroy Dracula!
The story is a prequel to the first and second games and if you have the right character in your party, you witness the beginnings of Simon Belmont. Here we follow Trevor Belmont as he must endure the Transylvania countryside and Dracula's fiendish castle in order to restore peace to the land. He will not be alone, however, as a sorceress who hunts vampires, an acrobatic thief and even the son of the unholy Dracula will aid you on your quest. Granted it is a matter of what path you take that decides who will be your partner in monster killing. I ended up with Alucard, Dracula's son. The game play is side scrolling and pretty much follows the controls of the first game. The main difference is the use of the select button which now changes out Trevor with one of three comrades.
So this is the best of the three NES Castlevania games in my eyes, however, it is not as good as either Super Castlevania IV or Castlevania Dracula X for the SNES or even Bloodlines for the Genesis. It is a bit too hard as well. During the final stage you have not one, not two, but three forms of Dracula to kill and this is a bit overkill as the first two forms are incredibly tough. The third form is not to bad, but by the time you reach it, you are going to be extremely low on health. It is so amazing how hard the first game and this one is in the original trilogy, I think they should have toned down the difficulty in these two games and added it to the second game. That one is a walk in the park by comparison.
The story is a prequel to the first and second games and if you have the right character in your party, you witness the beginnings of Simon Belmont. Here we follow Trevor Belmont as he must endure the Transylvania countryside and Dracula's fiendish castle in order to restore peace to the land. He will not be alone, however, as a sorceress who hunts vampires, an acrobatic thief and even the son of the unholy Dracula will aid you on your quest. Granted it is a matter of what path you take that decides who will be your partner in monster killing. I ended up with Alucard, Dracula's son. The game play is side scrolling and pretty much follows the controls of the first game. The main difference is the use of the select button which now changes out Trevor with one of three comrades.
So this is the best of the three NES Castlevania games in my eyes, however, it is not as good as either Super Castlevania IV or Castlevania Dracula X for the SNES or even Bloodlines for the Genesis. It is a bit too hard as well. During the final stage you have not one, not two, but three forms of Dracula to kill and this is a bit overkill as the first two forms are incredibly tough. The third form is not to bad, but by the time you reach it, you are going to be extremely low on health. It is so amazing how hard the first game and this one is in the original trilogy, I think they should have toned down the difficulty in these two games and added it to the second game. That one is a walk in the park by comparison.