Castlevania: Legends
Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya
Initial release: November 27, 1997 (Japan)
Platform: Nintendo Game Boy (with Super Game Boy features)
Alternate title: Demon Castle Dracula: Dark Night Prelude (Japan)
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| images c/o Mobygames |
The Game Boy trilogy of Castlevania games have something of a deservedly mixed reputation. The first game isn't exactly my favorite, though I really liked the second one. We can forgive them their trespasses for being very early titles in the venerable old DMG-01's lifespan, but I don't think there's any forgiving Castlevania Legends, somehow an utter disappointment on every level. You would think one of the very last games released for the old gray brick would look and play better than its predecessors, but nope!
At first glance, it's a pretty basic Castlevania game in the classic style. You can move right or left, jump, hit things with your whip, and so on. So far, so standard. But a few minutes of play will reveal that this game falls far short of expectations in the wake of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night or even just any of the games released earlier in the decade.
Your
character, Sonia Belmont, moves slow and attacks slow. The classic
subweapons exist only as collectibles; instead you get a new power for
every boss you defeat, not all of them useful. The small screen makes
dodging enemies difficult; unresponsive controls do not help. The soundtrack is really bad — not as bad as the infamously broken soundtrack for the Game Boy version of Mega Man II, but bad enough. The Game Boy is capable of fantastic music (The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a good example) so this is inexcusable.
As usual with classic Castlevania, the plot is fairly non-existent, but it tries to present itself as an origin story for the Belmont clan’s battle with Dracula, with Sonia as the matriarch. Unfortunately it falls flat, especially in the face of Lament of Innocence 6 years later, which at least as far as Konami is concerned supplants this game in terms of canon. The most galling thing is that Sonia Belmont, the series’ first female character to be the sole protagonist (previous games had a few women as secondary playable characters) only starred in this game. She was supposed to be in a Sega Dreamcast game, but after the failure of Castlevania 64, that project was quietly canceled, leaving this game to be her only appearance. She deserved better.
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| Super Game Boy |
Legends was released towards the tail end of the Nintendo Game Boy's lifespan. As such, Konami added a few additional features for the Super Game Boy. Nothing too special; it adds a little bit of color tinting that changes up based on what level you're on, has a nice new frame or two, but otherwise there's very little to improve the game aesthetically.
As the first game developed in-house by Konami's Nagoya studio it leaves a lot to be desired. As far as I can tell, KCEN mostly existed to be Konami's dumping ground for crappy Saturn ports, sports games and a few licensed titles nobody cared about. Legends is likely their most famous game. What a legacy to leave behind.