With the Castlevania franchise celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, the fan-favorite platforming game has featured an installment on virtually every major console across its history, either in a brand-new release or digital re-release or compilation. A pair of games in the franchise that have not been remastered or re-released since their initial launch are both from Castlevania‘s first major foray into 3D gameplay on the Nintendo 64.
While the original 1999 Castlevania title on the N64 is widely seen as one fo the franchise’s weakest entries, it paved the way for the much improved and often overlooked follow-up Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, which is still well worth any Castlevania fan’s time to revisit.
After over a decade of 2D, side-scrolling gameplay, Konami decided to bring Castlevania into 3D as many classic gaming franchises had upon the launch of the N64 in 1996. What resulted was 1999’s Castlevania, which has since taken on the fan moniker Castlevania 64 like many of its contemporaries on the Nintendo console.
While a modest critical and commercial upon its release in January 1999, reception to the game has steadily worsened over time, from its clumsy platforming sections, poor camera controls and uninspired gameplay. Konami itself would revisit Castlevania 64 with a more complete version of the game in Legacy of Darkness, released just 11 months later in December 1999, incorporating concepts and material planned for Castlevania 64 but discarded to prevent delays to the game’s release date.
Legacy of Darkness is set in 1844, eight years before the events of Castlevania 64, as the man-beast Cornell ventures into Dracula’s castle to rescue his adoptive sister Ada and prevent the resurrection of Dracula. Completing Cornell’s story unlocks the story of Henry, a boy whom Cornell rescues in his story, which takes place concurrently with the events of Castlevania 64 in 1852.
Now a young man, Henry returns to Dracula’s castle to rescue several children before they are sacrificed to resurrect Dracula. Completing both Cornell and Henry’s stories effectively unlocked Castlevania 64‘s Reinhardt Schneider and Carrie Fernandez campaigns, albeit featuring slightly remixed level design and with certain elements from the original game streamlined for spacing on the N64 cartridge.
Legacy of Darkness is an all-around improvement on the gameplay mechanics and visuals introduced by Castlevania 64, boasting better graphics, new enemies and portions of the levels while providing Expansion Pak capabilities to enhance the game’s resolution and textures. While some issues with the camera and platforming persisted, Legacy of Darkness offered more gameplay variety, not only between its four protagonists but also with Cornell boasting a human and werewolf form in his own campaign. Though excised material like cutscenes and Castlevania 64‘s haunting opening are missed, the remixed elements make for a much more intuitive experience with Reinhardt and Carrie’s campaigns.
Following Legacy of Darkness, Castlevania wouldn’t venture back to 3D gameplay until the 2003 game Castlevania: Lament of Innocence for the PlayStation 2, which similarly saw a more muted response from the fanbase along with its 2005 successor Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. There is a strong argument that Castlevania simply works better in 2D, but Legacy of Darkness proves that, given more time and space to work with, Castlevania could effectively make the jump to 3D while more fully taking advantage of the N64 hardware’s technical capabilities. Legacy of Darkness may not make it on many fans’ best-of lists for the franchise but it remains an under-appreciated entry well worth the reappraisal.
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