Castlevania Video Marathon: Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES) (Trevor only - One life run) Part 1

First and foremost this game feature several playable characters. You start the game with Trevor C. Belmont. On your road to the Dracula's Castle you can team up with several other characters. Having different teammates allow you to explore levels (since some parts of them are only available for certain characters) and also see different endings. Also, as some sort of remain of CV2 style you can choose your path after some levels. It adds tonnes of replayability to the game. Now about graphics. CV3 tries to do two things at the same time - to look like CV1 and be prettier. That said, its quite a hard task, since CV1 unique looks was a product of NES graphical limitations and time when the game was released. Said limitations created an unique look for the game, that was very natural and very distinct. CV3 tries to emulate it and add some new colours and schemes. However, it doesn't look that good. Graphics has advanced in 4 years since release of the CV1 and game looks like designers always struggling to stay in the style dictated by CV1 appearance. The result is strange and sometimes less then pretty. Sometimes levels look like a mish mash of different colours and strange palettes, as if graphical artist loose his senses. Music not so unique as in previous entries. It seems that american CV3 uses the same sound engine that was used later for the majority of the Konami games realesed on the NES in the begining of the 90s. So, I constantly hear familiar notes from Zen Intergalactic Ninja, TMNT TF and Batman Returns here and there. It doesn't mean that music is bad, its just not that good as in previous two games. I believe that abundance of levels played a negative role here. Controls or rather physics undergone slight changes. Trevor is fast, almost like certain Ninja Gaiden. In CV3 controls are so light, that they feel almost weightless sometimes. It could be quite uncomfortable during jumping and fighting. Another big problem is ducking and striking at the same time. In the past, when player made a strike while ducking and at the same released "Down" button, character made a low strike and only then stood up. In this game, as soon as you release "Down" button, Belmont immediately stands up and continue his strike animation. It is very inconvinient during battles with certan enemies that should be attacked while ducking. Especially with Axe Armors, when they throw ground axes. It takes some time to use, and it still feels quite uncomfortable in the later playthroughs. Gameplay is traditional for the Castlevania. Difficulty was upped a notch. As is general speed of the game. There are much more platforming than in two previous titles on the NES and it looks like developers took few notes from CVA, adding some timed segments, where Belmont must escape some danger. By the end of the game, I sometimes caught myself on the thought that I don't feel like playing a Castlevania game. I felt more like I am playing some sort of CV1 hack or something like Ninja Gaiden. It has something to do with the level design and general mood I believe. The game is all around the place with the atmosphere, constantly balancing on the verge of loosing it. Some of the levels are pretty uninspired. Not something special, like you will expect from Castlevania series. Coupled with strange looking levels, that sometimes look like they could belong to any generic action game, there is sometimes feeling that I play some other game, and not the Castlevania game. It is not a bad game, by any margin. But in the end, it's just not Castlevania that I like.