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The "Boss Rush"
Mode
To unlock this
mode, a sort-of side-quest for Hector, you must finish the game after defeating
all of the game's boss creatures, including the secret bosses Legion Lv5.2
and Nuclais Lv.53, which are fought in succession in the Garibaldi temple
in its hidden area reached with the assistance of a Devil-type I.D. (If
you don't defeat them, first, the mode will not appear after you complete
the game by defeating Dracula.) After the credits roll, you'll have to save
your progress onto the memory card. When
you select to play your mission file again, you can access the "Boss
Rush" mode by entering into any warp room and selecting the "Boss
Rush" destination from the warp menu. What
then begins is a long marathon, successive battles against all of the game's
bosses, who in certain cases have received stat increases to match what's
likely to be a high-level Hector. Unlike those in the GBA titles, this is
an actual part of the game and not a wholly separate mode, so you'll be taking
along all of your Innocent Devils, items, advanced fighting moves and so on,
as is, while maintaining your level status. Still, it's best to stock
up on healing items beforehand and visit Julia's shop to take possession of
your most prized Devils.
The order is as follows: Crazy Armor
Lv.9, Wyvern Lv.14, Trevor, 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, Nuclais Lv.53, Dracula and Dracula's Ghost.
There's no time to rest--once you enter
onto the field of battle, the battle begins immediately. Once you defeat a
boss, it'll drop two potions of varying potentcy; otherwise, after certain
battles, a blue energy field will appear and will if they enter into it completely
heal Hector and his Innocent Devils. If there's something you need to use
or equip, the time to do it is now, before you enter the ambient blaze that'll
take you to the next boss. When you've defeated the final boss, Dracula's
Ghost, your best time will be recorded, and you'll be transported back to
the previously entered warp room. You can save these stats by going to a save
room, and you can then go back to play the "Boss Rush" mode to compete
against yourself for a better time.
The Boss Rush mode is also accessible
to secret playable character Trevor. After destroying all of the game's bosses,
as you did with Hector, and then completing the game and saving it, you can
use the very same warp rooms for a boss-battle marathon. There's only one
minor difference: Since he can't collect items, the potions received after
defeating a boss will automatically restore his energy if he touches them.
Sound
Select
The Konami Sound Test returns once
again for your listening pleasure. As a reward for completing the "Boss
Rush" mode with Hector, you will find upon your return to the selected
warp room a music box, which will be there for the taking. After saving your
game again, there will a "Sound Select" option available on the
title screen. From here, you can listen to all of the game's tunes with little
messages from the composer listed in a window below.
Secret
Bosses
In addition to the twelve bosses encountered,
you will find hidden two secret bosses. The bosses in question are Legion
Lv5.2 and Nuclais Lv.53, which, for the sake of convenience, are fought in
succession in a previously inaccessible area of the Garibaldi Temple. In order
to locate the bosses, who nest in area's basement, you must from the temple's
entrance travel to its far-left corner and pass under a grating with
the assistance of your Devil-type I.D. While there is no storyline reward
for defeating them, their separate defeats are a must if you hope to unlock
the "Boss Rush" mode; also, both bosses.
Freeing
Pumpkin
Within the sixth floor of Dracula's
Castle lay the final the final Innocent Devil holding chamber, sealed off
by a low-lying wall that can only breached using the Magic Circle ability
of a Devil-type I.D. However, the forces within this room aren't too eager
to let go their captive. To break the seal and release Pumpkin, the final
ID type, you'll have to come back to this room and strike the egg with a Pumpkin
Mace, to get which will require some work on Hector's part. To do so requires
the crafting of both a Piko Piko Hammer and one Pumpkin Head, which when combined
will form a Pumpkin Mace. (In order to learn the combinations and locate the
materials, please visit the Curse of Darkness weapons
page). When the weapon has been obtained, just return to this room, strike
the pumpkin-egg, and then proceed to wonder why you even bothered.
The
Tower of Evermore
The Tower of Evermore is home to many
of the game's more advanced enemies, who you'll probably want to add to your
bestiary. To reach the Tower of Evermore first requires the clearing of the
Tower of Eternity (the 50-floor tower found in the Forest of Jigramunt). If
you look into the distance upon reaching the tower's top, you'll see another
that looks just like it; to reach the far-off tower, first line Hector up
so that he's facing the tower; you'll then need (a) a running start and (b)
the assistance of a Wingosaurus, an evolved bird-type I.D., and its Long Glide
ability. If done correctly, you'll land on Evermore's top and will then work
your way down through 50 floors of pure hell. After clearing all floors, the
base of the tower will break open and allow you to exit to the tower's home--the
villa area of the Garibaldi Temple. From here, with an entrance now available,
you can re-enter the tower and battle the most desired enemy, the Golden Bones,
a resilient enemy that drops Miracle Eggs.
The
Moebius Brooch
The Moebius Brooch is the reward received
for clearing "Crazy Mode" (see "codes" for how to unlock
this mode). More speficially, the brooch will then appear in Julia's shop
for your purchasing pleasure. Equipping the brooch will empower your Innocent
Devils, whose heart-totals will be set to infinite and result in no loss of
power for any special moves used.
Musical
Chairs
Hector will during his quest notice
a number of chair types placed innocuously in certain castle areas, with the
highest concentration of those found in Cordova Town's bizarre "chair
room," which you'll just know is the source of something. If you
can locate and have Hector sit in each and every chair (twenty-three in all)
found game-wide, it will unlock in the "chair room" a special chair
that will signify the completion of the side quest. This whole process has
no bearing on the actual quest. Check the Curse of Darkness weapon
page for chair locations.
Beyond
the Barriers
It's inevitable that you'll find yourself
in a position where a desired path is blocked off and there's seemingly no
solution to the impasse. It's likely, then, that it's one of those scenarios
where you'll need the help of a certain type of evolved Innocent Devil and
more urgently its special attacks. Below are some of those scenarios:
- Blood Skeletons in the Baljhet Mountains:
Return to this area after corralling a Mage-type I.D. and evolving it
into a Nautilus Rod. Upon sight of a Blood Skeleton, the floaty mage will
automatically gravitate toward it and zap it away to another dimension.
- Cracked floor in the Forest
of Jigramunt: Found
at one of the forest's dead ends is a cracked floor that you can break
through using the "Hip Press" ability of a Golem, which is the
evolution of a Battle-type ID
- Statues in the Forest of Jigramunt:
Within one of the forest corridors is a collection of statues (aligned
as if set up like bowling pins) that blocks a doorway. Evolve yourself
an Iytie out of a Battle-type ID and use its "Shoulder Ride"
special power to plow over and eliminate the statues.
- Vine-covered door in the Aiolin
Ruins: The viny obstacle
can be cleared away using any of the Mage-type I.D.'s fire attacks.
- Long distance in the Infinite
Corridor: In one of
the corridor's branching paths is a jump that's too long for a normal
or Bird-type-I.D.-assisted-Hector to clear. By evolving it into a Wingosaurus,
learning with it the "Long Glide," Hector will be able to make
the distance.
- Heavy hatch in the Infinite
Corridor: This door
seems like all others of its kind, but your Battle-type ID still won't
be strong enough to open it. To have it reach the appropriate level of
strength, evolve it into an Ironside or a Juggernaut.
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The
Codes
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Play As Trevor Belmont:
It's
pretty clear by now that Konami likes to provide its fans with a secondary
character whose mission is no-nonsense compared the main character's.
This
time, Koji and his team allow you to unlock and play as Trevor Belmont,
who was thought to be only as a supporting-cast member who appeared
twice as a storyline boss. To
play as Trevor, complete the game with Hector, wait through the credits,
and then save your game onto the memory card. Now
start a new mission and enter "@Trevor" as your name. You'll
skip past the usual intro, and the game will begin with you in control
of Trevor at the entrance to the Abandoned Castle. Trevor controls similarly
to Hector, but there are significant differences. For the easiest description:
Trevor's fighting style is reminiscent of his forefather Leon Belmont,
star of Lament of Innocence--and not surprisingly since Curse
of Darkness reuses its game engine.
 
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Trevor's mission is of course less restrictive than Hector's, he, too,
must travel to all areas and defeat the allotted bosses
before battling Count Dracula in Castlevania's keep. Hector's mission
required the use of Innocent Devils for the breaching of heavy shutters
or low-lying grates, but for Trevor is provided instant access thanks
to the removal of barriers, easy shutter access, and special warp pads
that allow him to pass through certain walls. However,
he has some restrictions and other general differences: (1)
He can't access an inventory screen, which means that he can't collect
items, weapons, armor, or Innocent Devils; and Julia's shop services will
be cut off. Such items simply won't be there, replaced by meter-ups or
minor items like potions; when
he touches an item, it'll take effect automatically. (2) He doesn't gain
fighting abilities (since he already has all necessary moves, like the
guard and guard-dodge), and his statistics are at first low;
to cure this, he'll have to collect the HP-, MP-, attack- and defense-ups
that replace the normal items. Also, he receives for defeating bosses
parameter-ups, which increases the whole of his statistics. (3)
In place of the "Trevor" boss, encountered twice, is a Trevor-based
doppelganger (as not to create a universe-destroying paradox). (4) There
are no story elements to his mission. (5)
He receives his own ending, however abbreviated, for defeating Dracula.
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Trevor is your traditional series'
hero, and his arsenal is typical of the Belmont clan. His main weapon is the
Vampire Killer whip, with which he can execute a series of combo attacks,
this by inputting random taps of the "attack" and "finisher"
buttons (which you can see mapped out in the soon-to-be-added weapon page).
In addition to the power-up items, Trevor will increase his attack power by
finding new whips (or relics that add special properties to the Vampire Killer),
which are hidden within the ten castle areas:
- Flame Whip:
Found in the Balijhet Mountain region near the Wyvern boss.
- Wind Whip:
Found on the unassuming second floor of the Garibaldi Temple.
- Circle Tip:
Found near the entrance of the Mortvia Aqueduct.
- Ice Whip:
Found in the Forest of Jigramunt corridor near its bowling-pin alingnment
of statues.
- Thunder Whip:
Found on the Eneomaos Machine Tower's second floor, past a breakable wall.
- Abyss Whip:
Found in the Aiolon Ruins behind the vine-covered door.
- Holy Whip:
Found in the Infinite Corridor in the room housing a large crystal.
- Square Tip:
Found in the basement of Dracula's Castle.
He wouldn't be a Belmont without an
assortment of sub-weapons, and it just so happens that he's brought some along.
Available at all times to Trevor are the five traditional sub-weapons: The
Dagger, the Axe, Holy Water, the Cross and the Stopwatch. Trevor can switch
between the available weapons and enhance them using the family's inborn "crashing"
ability, which when using it to bolster sub-weapons eats away at a larger
consumption of his heart meter, which is filled and maintained through the
collection of big and small hearts.
The Crazy
Mode: This
is Curse of Darkness' obligatory hard mode. After completing the game
with Hector and saving your data onto the memory card, start a new mission
and enter "@Crazy" as your name. You'll now play a tougher mission
where the enemies are stronger and more numerous, and you can only collect
five of each item in your inventory. After defeating a mission in "Crazy
Mode," you can return to Julia's shop and buy the elusive " Moebius
Brooch."
The Moai Statue:
Curse of Darkness
continues trend that started back in 1997 with memory-card connectivity between
separate games--Symphony of the Night and Metal Gear Solid.
Following more with the recent connectivity between series-only games, Aria
and Dawn of Sorrow, you can locate in Curse of Darkness a Moai
Statue if you have on the currently inserted memory card a Castlevania:
Lament of Innocent save. From the game-starting position in the Abandoned
Castle, turn south and follow the winding path, along the mountains, that
leads to a small field that will now house the Moai Statue.
