The Game Boy Castlevania titles are a fascinating glimpse into the history of the franchise. The first of the trio, The Adventure, is heavily criticised, but it’s worth remembering that it was released even before Castlevania 3. The inspiration it could draw from was the discordant grouping of the first game, the confusing adventure that was Simon’s Quest, the odd semi-port that was Vampire Killer for the MSX, and the poorly received Haunted Castle arcade game. While it was wrangling with that diverse mix of influences, it also had to deal with the troubles of new hardware. The Adventure wouldn’t just be the first in the series to be on a handheld, it was the first game Konami ever developed on a mobile platform. It would release just six months after the Game Boy itself did, and all those factors lead me to believe that The Adventure had a difficult development. At least, that’s how it seems from the clunky controls, lack of features, and even its story. It claimed Christopher Belmont was the first of the family to fight Dracula, when the Castlevania 3 team would release their game about Trevor Belmont being the first only two months later. If there’s a game that completely embodies the growing pains of the franchise, it might just be this one.
Meanwhile, Belmont’s Revenge turned out much better. It was released a comfortable two years after Castlevania 3, and it’s apparent the developers had more time, more experience, or both. The controls feel much better, there are more features and levels, it’s a competently-made entry all around, even if it still feels limited by its hardware. It’s representative of the time that Castlevania games got into their flow, with the following mainline titles being Castlevania 4, Rondo of Blood, and Bloodlines, which each refined the formula to its peak in their own unique ways.
That brings us to Legends. If you played all these games in a row, or just mentally grouped them as “the Game Boy games”, its release date may seem a bit shocking. Adventure came out in ‘89, Revenge came in in ‘91, but Legends released all the way in 1997. It would release eight months after Symphony of the Night, and as such, would be the first time a classic-style Castlevania would try to mix in the exploration and story of the new format. However, what that ended up being within the limitations of the Game Boy hardware was a few times you could decide to either go left or right, with one of the two giving you an optional item that contributes to the true ending, and the other railroading you to the end of the level. You also get two cutscenes in the entire game, one with the new sexy Alucard, and one with the contemptuously beautiful Dracula. Powers similar to Alucard’s magic have been introduced, replacing the standard subweapons with innate magic like healing, stopping time, and damaging all enemies on screen. You can also go into a burst mode once per level, which boosts your damage and makes you invulnerable temporarily. The intention may have been to give players more tools to work with for more complex action, but that didn’t exactly pan out. Stopping time costs five hearts, but a full heal costs twenty, so there’s no point in using the time stop unless it allows you to clear a gap, or if using it four times would save you more than an entire health bar’s worth of damage. The burst power is so strong that you naturally save it for bosses, and it lets you defeat them by standing in place and mindlessly whipping. Overall, it’s probably the easiest classic-vania, with the bats that attack directly from above being more of a threat than all the bosses combined. While that’s emblematic of the game’s lack of balance, it also makes the game hard to hate. There aren't any frustrating levels, it has the smoothest control of all the portable games, it has a stylistic polish the others don’t, and it actually communicates a nice little story, even if it’s the third (or possibly fourth) time a Belmont was considered the first to fight Dracula.
This little Game Boy Castlevania journey I accidentally went down in the last couple weeks isn’t one I would necessarily recommend to everyone, but I definitely had a lot of fun looking at how they embody the series as a whole. The dark times, the good times, the shift in styles, the confused canon, the way you can tell the developers realized they made a horrible mistake by saying Dracula only came back once every hundred years, it’s all here. If you’re still hanging on as a fan of this abandoned series, I would say beating all three is a fun and enlightening little quest, but otherwise, it’s better to experience what they represent directly, by playing the big highlights like Castlevania 1, 4, Bloodlines, Rondo of Blood, and Symphony of the Night.
Meanwhile, Belmont’s Revenge turned out much better. It was released a comfortable two years after Castlevania 3, and it’s apparent the developers had more time, more experience, or both. The controls feel much better, there are more features and levels, it’s a competently-made entry all around, even if it still feels limited by its hardware. It’s representative of the time that Castlevania games got into their flow, with the following mainline titles being Castlevania 4, Rondo of Blood, and Bloodlines, which each refined the formula to its peak in their own unique ways.
That brings us to Legends. If you played all these games in a row, or just mentally grouped them as “the Game Boy games”, its release date may seem a bit shocking. Adventure came out in ‘89, Revenge came in in ‘91, but Legends released all the way in 1997. It would release eight months after Symphony of the Night, and as such, would be the first time a classic-style Castlevania would try to mix in the exploration and story of the new format. However, what that ended up being within the limitations of the Game Boy hardware was a few times you could decide to either go left or right, with one of the two giving you an optional item that contributes to the true ending, and the other railroading you to the end of the level. You also get two cutscenes in the entire game, one with the new sexy Alucard, and one with the contemptuously beautiful Dracula. Powers similar to Alucard’s magic have been introduced, replacing the standard subweapons with innate magic like healing, stopping time, and damaging all enemies on screen. You can also go into a burst mode once per level, which boosts your damage and makes you invulnerable temporarily. The intention may have been to give players more tools to work with for more complex action, but that didn’t exactly pan out. Stopping time costs five hearts, but a full heal costs twenty, so there’s no point in using the time stop unless it allows you to clear a gap, or if using it four times would save you more than an entire health bar’s worth of damage. The burst power is so strong that you naturally save it for bosses, and it lets you defeat them by standing in place and mindlessly whipping. Overall, it’s probably the easiest classic-vania, with the bats that attack directly from above being more of a threat than all the bosses combined. While that’s emblematic of the game’s lack of balance, it also makes the game hard to hate. There aren't any frustrating levels, it has the smoothest control of all the portable games, it has a stylistic polish the others don’t, and it actually communicates a nice little story, even if it’s the third (or possibly fourth) time a Belmont was considered the first to fight Dracula.
This little Game Boy Castlevania journey I accidentally went down in the last couple weeks isn’t one I would necessarily recommend to everyone, but I definitely had a lot of fun looking at how they embody the series as a whole. The dark times, the good times, the shift in styles, the confused canon, the way you can tell the developers realized they made a horrible mistake by saying Dracula only came back once every hundred years, it’s all here. If you’re still hanging on as a fan of this abandoned series, I would say beating all three is a fun and enlightening little quest, but otherwise, it’s better to experience what they represent directly, by playing the big highlights like Castlevania 1, 4, Bloodlines, Rondo of Blood, and Symphony of the Night.