Re-release Information

(1) 2007: The PS2 version is re-released in Japan under the Konami the Best series

Manual Story Description

                                                 Prologue                                                 

1476, Valachia
A great war raged between Dracula and humanity. Just when it seemed that there was no hope for mankind to prevail, out of the darkness and despair, a champion arose -- a true-blooded vampire hunter named Trevor Belmont.

Belmont and his comrades triumpantly slew Lord Dracula -- a truly glorius victory for all. However, the evil one did not pass from this world in silence. With his final words, Lord Dracula left a demonic curse that enshrouded all of Europe in misery and torment.

Ravaged by hideous plague and dire famine, the people's hearts turned black and murderous. The weak were slain without pity, while the land was pillaged and scourged without remorse.

Three years have passed since the deat of Lord Dracula -- and the invocation of Dracula's Curse.

                                                The Story                                               

Take control of the devil forgemaster Hector, who is seeking vengeance for the death of his beloved Rosaly. Falsely accused of witchcraft, she was burned at the stake in a sham trial orchestrated by Isaac, another devil forgemaster still loyal to Dracula's forces.

Before you can make Isaac pay for his sins, you must journey across the cursed land of Valachia and make your way to Dracula's Castle. Along the way, hordes of terrifying friends lie in wait, attempting to make each battle your last. It will be a tough battle, but by harnessing the power of the Innocent Devils and weapons that you create along the way, vengeance may finally be yours.

Objective/Overview

Quickly following the release of Dawn of Sorrow, the more traditional GBA entry, is Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, which has a couple of distinctions. Primarily, it's the series' fourth foray into the three-dimensional realm. It's therein, engine-wise, a direct follow-up to 2003's Lament of Innocence. And it's most intriguingly a storyline sequel to Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, whose very own Trevor Belmont makes a guest appearance as a recurring supporting cast member.

Our hero, though, is a man named Hector, a devil forgemaster who betrayed Count Dracula three years earlier. You must take control of Hector and guide him through ten areas of Valachia to hunt down the game's antagonist--Isaac, a fellow forgemaster and former friend who blames Hector's betrayal for Dracula's defeat at the hands of Trevor and friends. (There are hidden areas game-wide where you can battle special bosses, but traveling these paths is optional.) The action is seemingly free-roaming but in reality controlled through the areas' sheer size. Hector starts with only a short sword, with which he can execute combo attacks, but if he hopes to survive, he must enhance his overall ability using the game's RPG system: He'll gain levels through the earning of experience; he'll learn new techniques through the finding of special artifacts; he'll thanks to his combining ability don weapons, armor and accessories for increased statistics; and he'll lengthen his meters by finding max-up symbols. Otherwise, he'll locate and nurture through stages of evolution a selection of "Innocent Devils," which fight by his side and help in combat and act as means for further accessibility. Also, as is his other aforementioned specialty, he can forge new armament by combining elements (which are collected in special rooms, stolen from enemies, or found after their defeat), equipment or combinations thereof.

After finishing the game by defeating the real ultimate evil, more options will become available: (1) You can play in "Crazy Mode," which is the game's "hard" difficulty. (2) By entering a warp room (assuming you've beaten all of the game's bosses), you can access the "Boss Rush" mode for a marathon boss battle. (3) You can play as secret character Trevor Belmont (in the vein of Leon Belmont) through a similar-but-undeterred mission; he, too, can partake in the "Boss Rush" fun. And (4) you can through the "Boss Rush" mode collect the Music Box, which on the title screen enables the "Sound Mode" where you can listen to the game's many music tracks.

For the Xbox version: Some of the system's games have in common a feature that will display subtitles in Japanese if the system's browser is set to "Japanese." Curse of Darkness is a beneficiary of this treatment. (Thanks to Sam Mills for this information.)

Multiplatform Differences

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness marks the series' first true multiplatform release (the computer versions of Castlevania and the Saturn version of Symphony are more reworked ports). And since the consoles have certain specifications, noted strengths or weaknesses as compared to their competition, there are differences that should be noted. For instance: The Xbox is widely known to be a much more powerful, more efficient machine than the PS2, which for Curse of Darkness means that the Xbox version's graphics are higher in resolution, and its load times are much shorter if not nonexistent.

From correspondent Sam Mills, who has experience with both versions: "The Xbox version has a small mistake; it uses the Japanese spelling of Belmont ('Belmondo') in all of its subtitles. The vocalization of said names is correct, but their spelling is not.

"Another feature in the Xbox version, which is common among Xbox games, is the use of subtitles, which will actually appear in Japanese if the system's browser is set to 'Japanese.' Though it's a small difference, it shows that the Xbox is the more versatile of the two."

Japanese/European Differences

The obvious difference is that Trevor Belmont is instead called "Ralph Belmondo," as he was in Dracula's Curse and according to Japanese series' canon. The game's music composer, Michiru Yamane, even makes light of the name-difference on the U.S. version's Sound Test menu.

However, in question is the release status for the Xbox version. Says contributor Protogem: "Curse of Darkness was not released for the Xbox in Japan. However, there is an Asian release with Japanese region-coding and Chinese characters featured in the cut-scenes, as used to dress up what is merely an American version of Curse of Darkness with subtitles."

Soundtrack and Credits

Soundtrack
Opening and Ending Themes: 1 - Prologue of Fate | 2 - Green Serenade | 3 - Prologue ~ Endless Sorrow ~ | 4 - Epilogue | 5 - True to Your Dreams
Area Themes: 1 - Abandoned Castle - Curse of Darkenss - | 2 - Baljhet Mountains | 3 - Garibaldi Temple | 4 - Garden in Garibaldi | 5 - Mortvia Aqueduct | 6 - Mortvia Fountain | 7 - The Forest of Jigramunt | 8 - The Cave of Jigramunt | 9 - A Town Called Cordova | 10 - Waltz of the Weary Chair Room | 11 - Eneomaos Machine Tower | 12 - Catacombs of Grief and Sadness | 13 - Aiolon Ruins | 14 - Aiolon Cave Temple | 15 - Infinite Corridor | 16 - Dracula's Castle
Battle Themes: 1 - Followers of Darkness - The First - | 2 - Followers of Darkness - The Secons - | 3 - Belmont, The Legend | 4 - Followers of Darkness - The Third - | 5 - Insane Aristocracy | 6 - Visitor in a Silk Hat | 7 - Legion and Nuculais | 8 - The Dark Holy Man | 9 - A Toccata into Blood Soaked Darkness | 10 - Metamorphosis into Abyss
Miscellaneous Themes: 1 - Flattery with the Secret Arts | 2 - Devil Forging | 3 - Encounter with Innocent Devil | 4 - Encounter with a Certain Witch | 5 - Sarabande of Healing | 6 - A Man Who Knows Too Much | 7 - The Man Who Destroyed Dracula | 8 - A Mysterious Warning | 9 - Those Who Desire the Resurrection | 10 - The Siblings' Sad Destiny | 11 - The One Who Manipulates Time | 12 - The One Who Manipulates Time - Last Part - | 13 - Isaav Versus Trevor | 14 - The Power of a Hunter | 15 - Reviving Dracula's Castle | 16 - Julia's Advice | 17 - Confrontation - The First - | 18 - Confrontation - The Second - | 19 - Dracula - The First - | 20 - Dracula - The Second - | 21 - Proboscis Fairy | 22 - Pumpkin's Holiday | 23 - Scarlet Fine

Links
Music Files: MP3
Soundtrack Release: Official Soundtrack and Castlevania Best Music Collections Box
Game Credits: Available

Other Characters

Lesser Enemies: Skeleton (Lv.1, 9 and 38), Executioner (Lv.2, 26 and 47), Ghost (Lv.3 and 11), Merman (Lv.4, 15 and 35), Spirit (Lv.4, 19 and 32), Skeleton Blaze Lv.5, Fenrir (Lv.5 and 10), Blood Skeleton (Lv.5 and 75), Zombie (Lv.5, 26 and 42), Cockatrice (Lv.6 and 46), Lizardman (Lv.6 and 23), Wizard (Lv.6 and 8), Orc (Lv.7 and 14), Armor Knight (Lv.7 and 15), Efreet (Lv.7, 11 and 45), Flea Man (Lv.7, 40 and 75), Cyclops (Lv.8, 47 and 75), White Dragon (Lv.10 and 38), Dead Fencer (Lv.12 and 30), Dead Baron (Lv.12 and 32), Lesser Demon (Lv.13 and 23), Bone Soldier (Lv.13, 18 and 38), Blaze Master Lv.14, Slogra (Lv.14, 37 and 45), Phantom Sword Lv.15, Spectral Sword (Lv.15 and 47), Thief (Lv.15, 21 and 32) Fishman (Lv.16, 35 and 45), Ectoplasm (Lv.16, 22 and 37), Dark Warlock (Lv.17 and 42), Gaibon (Lv.17, 34 and 45), Wolf Skeleton (Lv.17 and 23), Frost Dragon (Lv.19 and 39), Thunder Dragon (Lv.20 and 40), Basilik (Lv.23 and 46), Sniper Orc (Lv.24 and 30), Assassin Zombie (Lv. 24, 34 and 44), Vassago (Lv.25, 34 and 41), Red Ogre (Lv.25, 48 and 75), Great Armor (Lv.25, 35 and 46), Skeleton Rider (Lv.26 and 45), Ghoul (Lv.27, 42 and 75), Thunder Demon (Lv.27, 38 and 43), White Gravial (Lv.27 and 43), Frost Demon (Lv.28, 38 and 43), Lizard Shaman (Lv.28 and 43), Death Ripper (Lv.29, 40 and 75), Flame Demon (Lv.31, 38 and 43), Rapid Sniper (Lv.31and 40), Iron Gladiator (Lv.31 and 47), Gi-Lee Lv.31, Necromancer (Lv.31 and 35), Harpy (Lv.32 and 46), Armored Sprinter (Lv.33 and 44), Undead Lord (Lv.33, 38 and 43), Wight (Lv.35 and 36), Skeleton Trooper Lv.35, Jin (Lv.36 and 45), Blaze Phantom (Lv.39 and 44), Unicorn (Lv.39 and 44), Amduscias (Lv.39 and 44), Final Guard (Lv.42 and 75), Evil Core Lv.42, Duke Mirage and Golden Bones
Bosses: Crazy Armor Lv.9, Wyvern Lv.14, Skeleton Diver Lv.24, Minotaurus Lv.30, Isaac Lv.34, Saint Germain Lv.37, Trevor Lv.40, Dullahan Lv.49, Isaac Lv.50, Death Lv.51, Legion Lv.52 and Nuculais Lv.53
Dracula Forms: Dracula and Dracula's Ghost
Supporting Cast: Isaac, Julia Laforeze, Trevor Belmont, Zead and Saint Germain

Character Lists

Lesser Enemies | Bosses | Dracula Forms | Supporting Cast