The history of Castlevania: The Game Boy Games

The Game Boy Games

Castlevania Adventure
Legend of Dracula in Japan
Released: 1989

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Legend of Dracula II in Japan
Released: 1991

Castlevania Legends
Legend of Dracula: Dark Night Prelude in Japan
Released: 1998

The Basics

Oh, look. Our little Game Boy is all grown up! Who would have thought that up against school yard bullies like the TurboExpress, Sega Game Gear, and even the Atari Lynx, our little greyscale portable would grow up to be so big and strong. Well, no doubt, it's because he ate his vegetables - and because Konami developed three Castlevania games for the system: Adventure, Belmont's Revenge, and Legends.



Only two of the three Game Boy carts continue the Belmont storyline. In Belmont's Revenge, you are Christopher Belmont out to save your son Solieyu. In Legends, you play the very first Belmont, Sonia. In Adventure, you go after Drac; no Belmonts in this one. These games are small, mostly due to the Game Boy's memory limitations, but they look great and play well, even if they are incredibly difficult.

Walk-throughs
Castlevania Adventure - You travel through a forest, a cave, a tower of traps, and Dracula's Castle, jumping on ledges and climbing on ropes. It's really short, but maddeningly difficult, especially with all the giant eyeballs that roll at you in level 2. Along the way, you battle a mecha knight, a mole, human bat, and Drac.

Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge - You battle through four castles - air, rock, crystal, and planet - in any order, dodging knights, bats, and something that throws daggers and looks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Once you finish all four castles, you enter Drac's lair. In the end, Christopher and Solieyu look on as a castle crumbles.

Castlevania Legends - There are five stages in Legends; six if you count the secret stage. You, as Sonia, travel through a forest, a library, a clock tower (yes, another clock tower), the inner halls, and Drac's cave. The secret level splits off from the cave. Standard fare for bosses, except Alucard appears in the inner halls to, perhaps, test Sonia fighting capabilities before she battles Drac. (Remember, Alucard is Drac's forgotten son who helped Trevor in Castlevania III.)

The Weapons
Castlevania Adventure - None. Good luck. You can, however, upgrade your whip into a chain, then a flame-throwing chain.

Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge - This one had most of the same weapons as other Castlevania games: the axe and holy water being the most prevalent. You can also upgrade your whip to a chain.

Castlevania Legends - After you defeat a boss, you're given a "soul power, a kind of special weapon. You can use a soul power to heal yourself, freeze an enemy, and attack everything on screen.

Japanese Versions
No differences in the Japanese versions other than the obligatory titling and type changes.

Final Thoughts
The Game Boy Castlevanias, while popular, were quite difficult. The most apparent problems were slow and unresponsive jumping and uneven collision detection. In some portions of Castlevania Adventure, for instance, you had to put nearly your whole body over the edge of some platforms before you could jump to others safely. In Castlevania Legends, it sometimes seemed like molasses stuck Sonia to the floor. You pressed the button - then jumped. Not good for timing.

The question is: Did many Game Boys survive the frustration? Only our landfills know for sure.

The history of Castlevania: The Game Boy Games

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