Castlevania: Legacy Of Darkness

This game Is One of The Best Castlevania in the series !!!

YOU MUST BUY CASTLEVANIA LEGACY OF DARKNESS !!!!! ^_^

Its an awesome. scary game, I LOVE it, Yet it still manages to scare the hell out of me, Never mind the Graphics, So what? The Music is simply amazing, And I Recommend this to anyone, Especially to those who like adventure games with a hint of horror.

If you think about it, being a vampire is quite a sad state of affairs. The story of Dracula is a tragic tale of love and honour gone hopelessly wrong. If, instead of being spurned by his country and his god, he'd had a hero's welcome then he'd probably be at home with his missus, putting his feet up and eating some oven-baked garlic bread, rather than roaming Transalvania biting the necks of innocent bystanders. There's no time for sympathy now, though, bloodsucking is a crime of the highest order! Castlevania - Legacy of Darkness is out on the N64 and someone's going to have to serve the pointy-toothed old bloke a big helping of stake and chips.

The title was initially to be called Castlevania: Special Edition because it is simply a restructured, development of the original, rather than a brand new game. The action takes place in the same landscapes and buildings, only they have been reworked so things that may have been rubble in the first game are now standing erect. We have been taken back eight years before the time covered in the first adventure and this time the avenger is a man/werewolf called Cornell. Our Dogboy's sister, Ada, has been kidnapped by some higher evil and to add insult to injury they've burnt down his village, just in case he decided to watch TV instead of trying to find her. Cornell must use his hound-like powers to sniff out his sister and rescue her from the clutches of Dracula himself.

Once you have completed Cornell's mission you then have the option to continue and play as three other characters. Henry is a demon-hating scallywag, rescued by Cornell from evil beasts as a child. His mission is to save children from the horrible demons inhabiting Castlevania and return them safely home in a set amount of time. The two final adventurers are Reinhardt and Carrie, the original characters from the first Castlevania. In order to complete the game fully you must beat Dracula with both of them. The different missions are set at different times in the Castle's history and new puzzles and quests mean that the game is really four mini games in one package.

The game is crawling with monsters of all shapes and sizes. Some of them are so easy to kill that they are really just there for effect, but a lot of them have powers that mean they are a lot harder to dispose of than you might first assume. Lizardmen, skeleton warriors and vampires approach battle in an upright fashion, using swords and hands to finish you off. There are even more mystical characters in the game that use magic powers and spells to block your way, and Medusa is probably the most infamous of the lot. She's known for her snake-effect haircut and also the ability to turn men to stone. The other monsters range from harpies (winged women with fatal feathers) to Queen Arachne and are imaginative and challenging to beat.

Acquiring vital items is an important objective in the game. The list of things available is vast and, aside from the usual health, weapon and keys you will need to find, includes some things that are specifically designed to battle vampires. Holy water and crosses are available, as are helpful purifying crystals that heal you if you are bitten by a vampire. Sun and Moon Cards are available from Reynon the Salesman (who appears when you find a contract on the ground) and are used to summon or banish a sunset - useful if you're surrounded by blokes with big teeth! In order to buy these invaluable assets you must find cash that can be found by searching in barrels and other containers or dropped by your enemy after you've polished them off.

There are enjoyable elements to the game that make it worth a look even if you've not played the first in the series. The monsters and weapons are imaginative as is the plot and the missions that the characters have to deal with. The sound is great, eerie and suggestive and accompanies the monster slaying action well. Some of the animation is great - look out for the sun setting and rising and your transformation from man to wolf.

Unfortunately there are annoying flaws in the game that hinder gameplay. The auto-aim function works well to a point but then lets you down at the most inopportune moments - usually when you are about to get mashed by a beastie. The controls are cumbersome and also slow up your progress. It is difficult to pull off real precision moves, which means that falling off things and having to start again is an annoyance you could well do without. Camera angles are also another factor that stops you from having a clear run at things; if you are just left of a post, for example, chances are when you swing around to look at something all you will see is an expanse of wood.

How much you enjoy the game depends very much upon whether you really liked the original or if you've not played it at all. Even though the game has all new scenarios, characters and puzzles it is still set in exactly the same context as the first and you could get sick of the sight of the same old scenery. If you are a fanatic then you'll probably be glad of the new additions and if you are a N64 owner that, as yet, hasn't played the game then it could be a good little title to get your teeth into. At the end of the day the game is a blast-through adventure with a few cool surprises along the way and as long as you remember to switch off your console before sunset you should get through it alive.