Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse actually takes place hundreds of years before Castlevania, having you play as Simon's ancestor. There are also multiple routes you can take through the castle.

Sound Test
At the title screen hold A or B (or both), then press Start. The sound test was designed to fit at the bottom of the Japanese version's title screen; the routine wasn't altered to take the larger title screen of the US version into account, and displays it over the copyright text as a result. The European version does a better job of not displaying anything over anything else.

Debug Menu
Game Genie code sets memory address  (a global event/menu index) to  when beginning a game, which is one byte higher than normal and hence allows access to the debug menu.

This also starts you off with no extra lives, but your first 100 points will instantly give you a 1up.

Controls:
 * A - Increase value.
 * B - Decrease value.
 * Select - Move cursor.
 * Start - Begin game.

Options 1, 2, 3
This allows you to choose which stage, act and screen you want to start out on. For a full list of every room, see the Notes page.


 * : Stage 1-01
 * : Stage 2-01
 * : Stage 3-00
 * : Stage 4-0A (after the second flight of stairs)
 * : Stage 5-0A
 * : Stage 6-0A
 * : Stage 4-01 (starts you off in a wall, unable to move)
 * : Stage 5-01 (after the first flight of stairs)
 * : Stage 6-01 (after the first flight of stairs)
 * : Stage 6-01 (the cave area)
 * : Stage 7-01
 * : Stage 7-0A
 * : Stage 8-01
 * : Stage 9-01
 * : Stage A-01 (after the autoscrolling part)

Option 4
This allows you to choose which partner you start out with:
 * : Nobody
 * : Sypha
 * : Grant
 * : Alucard

Build Dates
At the end of the PRG ROM is a text string identifying the date on which that version of the game was compiled. A similar ID is found in many other Konami games.

"MAST" means it's the "master" version of the game, and the numbers represent the date. The Japanese version was originally a Sample ("SAMP") version built on October 7, 1989; the US version was built at some point in 1990; and the European version was built on January 17, 1992.

Title
The Japanese release is quite barebones, while the US release had a longer copyright. The game start and option were placed below the copyright and arranged vertically. European releases places them between the copyright and disclaimer. The game's logo were pushed up slightly due to the longer copyright text.

"Palcom Software" is a Konami subsidiary that used to handle PAL conversions; this is noted on the game's European release title screen and the disclaimer, which replaced the Konami logo on the Japanese and US title screens.

Music
The Akumajou Densetsu cartridge uses Konami's VRC6 memory mapper chip which, in addition to bank switching, also supports three additional sound channels. When the game was brought to the US and Europe, it was made to use Nintendo's MMC5 chip instead, and the music was altered to make up for the loss of the additional sound channels.

Intro
The clouds above Dracula's castle during the intro scroll after the frame is centered on screen in the Japanese version. They remain still in Castlevania III.

Grant's Dagger
Grant DaNasty's dagger attack was modified for the US and European releases. In the Japanese version, Grant's normal attack acts exactly like the dagger subweapon: Grant throws a large dagger across the entire screen. This does not consume hearts and can be used while clinging to walls and ceilings. Only one of these daggers can be on screen at a time.

In the US and European versions, Grant's normal attack is a stab with a small, hand-held dagger which he cannot use from walls or ceilings. The dagger subweapon has been made available to him, which replicates his attack in the Japanese version but consumes hearts. The subweapon can be paired with the double and triple shot powerups, which allows Grant to have up to three thrown daggers onscreen at once.

Second Quest
In the international version, some enemies have new graphics and behavior after beating the game once.

Medusa heads become flying skulls with a very erratic and unpredictable flight pattern.

The zombies in the main hall-stage get some stylin' robes like they had in the original Castlevania. The emerging from ground sprites went unused as this enemy only appeared in the main hall of the castle.

In certain rooms, the knights become stronger, gaining a shield and learning to attack with their spears.

Censorship
Castlevania III managed to slip a lot of religious imagery under Nintendo's radar, but all of the game's nudity has been censored. Some graphics and palettes have also been improved.

The nude statues seen on the name entry screen and password screen have been given dresses and their shading has been updated. The vines that were originally on the statues were removed. Castlevania III also uses a much more stylish font than Akumajou Densetsu. Amusingly, the opposite went on to happen in Castlevania IV.

The same also applies to the nude statues at Block 8-01 in Dracula's Curse.

The cross in the intro scene originally had a "glowing" effect surrounding it, which was removed in Castlevania III.

Medusa lost her female characteristics in Dracula's Curse.

The leftmost statue where you meet Sypha and the similar one where you fight the Bone Dragon King received additional clothing. Interestingly, a statue depicting the same woman does appear in headless form on the first stage of the game, but that one was left unaltered in the international release.

Other Graphic Differences
The thrown holy water sprite was replaced with the one from the original Castlevania, which has a black outline.

The zombies were almost entirely overhauled for Castlevania III. The emerging from ground sprite was completely redone.

The toads get more spikes and look angrier in the international versions. Only the Akumajou Densetsu toads flash when they're attacking.

The Eyeballs are less bloodshot in the international versions.

The Mummies were overhauled in the international versions, dropping the zombie pose completely. Their projectile was also redrawn.

The ghoul rabbit's sprites were replaced by those of the fleaman enemy from the original Castlevania, which behaved identically. The jumping frame was also updated, but went unused in Castlevania III, and in fact appears to be a leftover of an earlier redesign.

The Bad Bat boss' palette was also changed. In Akumajou Densetsu, the Bad Bat will flash with the player's colors when hit, whereas the Castlevania III one flashes with its own designated palette when hit.

The Leviathan boss received a complete graphical overhaul and a modified palette in Castlevania III.

In addition, his fireball attack was changed:

In the Japanese version, Leviathan spits two smaller fireballs in any direction. In the international version it was changed to three bigger ones which travel in an arc.

The Water Dragon bosses in Akumajou Densetsu can breathe flames downward, and hold the attack longer no matter the direction. Their Castlevania III brethren can only breathe flames directly forward. The graphics of both the dragons and their flames were also updated.

Trevor switched his shaking hands between regions in order to fix some very awkward handshakes with Grant and Sypha (Alucard also had to be redrawn as a result).

Note that the Cyclops' boss area (Sypha's screenshot) in the international versions added two more blocks above the void located at the bottom right corner so it not looks like the characters walk in the air when leaving the stage. Also, for some reason, one of the cracks below the pyramid-like structure in the background was replaced with a skull.

A few segments of the Murky Marsh received a graphical overhaul - the backgrounds were changed and received a different palette along with added rays of light shining through from above. The mud was also given a different texture throughout the stage.

The Catacombs' palette in the early part of the stage was changed in the international version.

The Deadly Towers' spiky platforms received a different palette in the international version.

The coffin doors for the bosses at the Haunted Ship of Doom do not open proper like similar coffins in later stages in Akumajou Densetsu. This was fixed in Castlevania III. Also, international versions removed one safe spot by adding two more blocks above the void located at the bottom right corner, making the battle tougher as the bosses can now walk to the end of the screen.

In Block 5 on Sypha's route, a few blocks were removed from the bottom left corner where Frankenstein's Monster enter the room in the international release. This was probably done in order to not make it seem like he walked right through the blocks. The background was slightly altered as well.

The bottom left and right blocks where you fight the Mummies, Cyclops and Leviathan on Block 7 were removed from the international release in order to make the battle a bit tougher.

The boss room in Block 7 on Alucard's route was treated in a similar manner. Two blocks were removed from the bottom left corner and two were added in the bottom right corner.

The room where you fight the Doppelganger in Block 9 were also changed in the international version.

Credits
"Sypha" was changed to "Syfa" and "Ralph Belmond" was changed to "Trevor C.Belmont." The filename was also repositioned.

Alternate Credits
The alternate credits were rearranged and updated with the NES-staff and the original FC-staff received a special thank you. The titles were also updated with lowercase characters.

Other Changes

 * Damage in Akumajou Densetsu varies between enemies. Castlevania III changes this and makes enemy-to-player damage increase as the game progresses.
 * The second-quest and starting-ally passwords do not work in the Japanese version. The ten lives "HELP ME" feature was another addition to the international release.
 * Item placement are slightly modified in Castlevania III, and some extra candles are added.
 * Hitting consecutive enemies with subweapons in Castlevania III do not make a scoring noise (akin to picking up a money bag) like they do in Akumajou Densetsu, a regular hit noise is heard instead.
 * Dying at Dracula's Room in Castlevania III will boot you all the way back to the room below the pendulum room. Akumajou Densetsu resets you at the last flight of stairs before Dracula's Room instead.
 * The boss mummies shoot out their shards in a wavy manner, while Akumajou Densetsu boss mummies shoot theirs high and low.
 * In the Japanese version, Skeledragons and the Bone Dragon King can be damaged by weapon contact anywhere rather than just the head.
 * There are timing differences in some of the enemies' patterns and attacks.
 * The Bone Pillars' fireballs travels much faster in the international version.
 * The pendulum room before meeting Dracula is free of enemies in the Japanese version, in the international version they added bats.
 * Dracula's teleportation is much faster in the Japanese version and his final form's beam attacks are much shorter than in the international release but sometimes travel in directions not seen in the international version.
 * Alucard's bat-form consume hearts much faster in the international version.
 * The Eyeballs and the bone-throwing skeletons have sound effects for their respective attacks in the Japanese version.

European Release
While the European release is similar to the US one, there are some subtle differences between both.
 * The damage system follows the US one, except that the damage will be a block less in the earlier stages. For example, getting hit in the first stage will take off two blocks of health in the US version and one in the European version.
 * The stopwatch lasts a second longer.