Castlevania Haunted Castle Three is a freeware platform game that was the only member of the huge Castlevania saga that was originally created for the arcades. It was later ported to the DOS running personal computer and also the Playstatin 2. It is a single player game that was both developed and published by Konami. Other notable titles within the series include Super Castlevania IV and Vampire Killer. This was a turn of the century game.
Castlevania Haunted Castle III once again stars the intrepid hero, Simon Belmont.
Dracula kidnaps his soon-to-be bride, Selina, shortly before the wedding is to take place, and Simon will have to brave the haunted castle in order to rescue her. The ancestral home of the count is comprised of a total of six levels and will offer the user some very stereotypical undead enemies, such as zombies and skeletons, as well as other oddities like fishmen and hunchbacks.
The enemies available are directly related to the weapon that Simon is able to wield. When he begins to encounter tougher foes, he is able to switch his weapon from his bare fists to something a bit more fun like a sword or a spiked mace. He can also pick up items that will give him
other powers such as bombs, boomerangs, stopwatches, crosses and torches. These are considered subweapons and the gamer needs to collect hearts in order to have enough power to use the subweapons.
Each of the levels in Castlevania III: Haunted Castle features a unique boss character at the end that will give Simon a good tussle. The bosses are classic horror monsters of legend, such as Frankenstein’s monster, the Medusa, and naturally the evil Count Dracula at the very end. Each level has its own themes, some of them will be recognized by fans of the series. Many of the levels seem to reflect the nature of the boss creature that waits at the end.
Beyond the overall good game play, Castlevania III was well renowned for an awesome soundtrack. It featured some very catchy beats and tunes that could definitely be considered earworm songs, and many of them were also found in other members of the Castlevania stable because they were such hits. The graphics were also very pleasing. No gamer will be disappointed in the morbid but vivid backgrounds and the look of the baddies that assault Simon throughout the course of the game. Simon himself is the stereotypical Renaissance dude, familiar to fans of the series. Overall, this is a great game from start to finish and will offer pleasing aesthetics as well as entertaining play.
