Medusa
It's Medusa that starts out as stone
in this game. She comes to life, laughs at you a few times, and starts to
attack by throwing snakes onto the floor--them trekking along the ground--this
while she moves back and forth unpredictably. If you can time your jumps to
avoid the snakes, she won't be too much of a problem.
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Castlevania
& Vampire Killer
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I can't imagine why Konami made her
a giant head in this game--but this is what she looks like. She also lacks
her ability to turn people into stone (which she regains in the later games).
The only power she does have is to throw out little snakes from her head.
The real danger is avoiding contact with her, as she takes up a lot of space
while floating about.
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Castlevania
III:
Dracula's Curse
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Nintendo Power
refers to this as "Sentinel Man," but it's probably safe to call
it a mistake on their part. Regardless: She fires out little circular beams
(gazes) from her eyes that turn you into stone if contact is made, and she
throws little stalking snakes onto the ground. If she does manage to turn
you into stone, she'll take out her bow and arrow and fire a shot your way.
It won't break the stone-held hero in half (as it did in Clash of the Titans),
but it's still heavily damaging. Medusa is only a mid boss in this game, so
ducking and wailing on her will get the job done.
This form finally resembles the true
image of Medusa, but it's too bad that she's a real a pushover. She comes
charging out like she's ready for a fight, but then she backs off and starts
slithering forward and back near the edge of the screen; from there, she'll
throw little guided snakes onto the ground. If your attention shifts, she'll
catch you off guard with a circular beam that'll turn you into stone; chances
are, however, you will have killed her before she even gets the chance.
Elizabeth Bartley summons Medusa to
attack you when you reach the castle in England. Medusa attacks in a specific
pattern: (1) She'll spit a short-lengthed, wavy flame forward for a time.
(2) She'll attack with a longer flame, only this one will be lowered down
to eye-level [like a drawbridge-lowering effect]. (3) A long tail whip. And
(4) She'll take several short, stalking dashes, with claws extended.
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Dracula
X: Rondo of Blood
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In this adventure, Medusa is nothing
more than a pawn in Shaft's game. She's called upon as part of a set of four
bosses. She has the stone glance available to her, and she also adds the ability
to shoot out sets of spinning, homing-in snakes--in threes. She also employs
a jumping tail-whip attack. This is perhaps the strongest Medusa has ever
been in a Castlevania game.
She's a bit more physical in this game.
She retains her ability to shoot out a stone glaze that'll temporarily turn
you to stone, and she can also loop three snakes in your direction while either
on the ground or in the air. Most painfully, she can whip at you with her
tail--this, too, while both in the air or on the ground. Her air attack is
different in that she spins around before unleashing this nasty tail-whip.
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Castlevania:
Symphony of the Night
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Medusa isn't as typical a foe this
time around, as most of her offense is reliant on the sword. It'll be your
mission to avoid her fierce overhead swipes and get in your licks. At any
time, Medusa will use her powerful glaze in order to turn you to stone, where
you'll be susceptible to devastating damage--mostly, she'll send two crisscrossing
lightning blasts to rudely knock you out of that state. Her shield is
protective, but it doesn't help much--in fact, it should be ineffective against
a foe who stays in-close.
They tried in this game. They really
did. Medusa doesn't have any notable powers this time, but she's quick and
fights with a sword. Unfortunately, she's only a mid boss, and they put a
safe spot to the right of the room, making her a pushover yet again. She does
fly off the screen in head form when defeated, though--probably Konami's way
of saying that Legends was the origin of the pesky Medusa Heads.
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Castlevania:
Legacy of Darkness
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Medusa shows up in the underground
waterway. She'll always begin by throwing three or four snakes onto the ground
to distract you. Her most frequent attack is to wind up and unleash a spinning
tail-whip. If you strike her enough, she'll take out a shield and block your
attacks, continuing with her own. If you strike her even more, she'll take
out her bow and fire arrows in threes. As you get deeper into battle, she
can project her vision into a ray, trapping you in a base of stone if you
get caught in its path; she'll tail-whip you out of that state. Late in the
battle, she'll begin disappearing from site by becoming a cloud formation.
While she can't harm you in this state, she can reappear quickly with a surprise
attack.
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Castlevania:
Lament of Innocence
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It warms the heart to see Medusa return
to giant-head form all these years later. It's almost a nice bit of continuity
in her evolution since it predates the original Castlevania. Medusa
has a number of attacks at her command: She can command the snakes on either
side to lunge forward as a sort-of snake punch; she can also do this with
both sides in succession for a one-two punch. She can rise into the air and
spill a trail of her poisonous blood to keep you away. She can also rise into
the air to drop a plethora of smaller snakes onto the ground to overwhelm
you. She can, of course, project beams ("Turn to stone!") from her
eyes that can temporarily turn you to stone; if successful, she'll roll herself
into a giant ball and rebound around the room, a random number of times, to
damage you heavily. Finally, when her energy is low, she'll command large
stones ("Damn you!") to surround herself before firing them toward
you one after another. There are two differences in "Crazy Mode":
She'll do the snake punch in seven-step combos, and she'll do a stone gaze
as part of the stone-throwing attack.
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Castlevania:
Portrait of Ruin
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Medusa, one of three gorgon sisters,
returns to two dimensions in her most recognizable form. For her fans, it
was worth the wait, as the doomed snake woman is arguably at her offensive
peak. There are in total five separate maneuvers in her arsenal: Her arms
morphed into snakes and thrust forward, she'll rush in with a stalking dash.
She'll extend her exceedingly large snakey frame to wave along the ground
and temporarily remain in place so that the arches protrude and continue to
damage heroes. She'll release from her head a flurry of gold stone-inducing
Medusa Heads. And, as a paired attacked, she'll unleash her stone gaze, which
will render an obvious effect on heroes looking her way, and she'll then transform
into a large snake, vanish from sight, and then come in with a surprise cobra-like
charging snap.
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Castlevania:
Order of Shadows
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While it's surely not the hideous snake-woman's
most powerful form, it's certainly one of the more stacked in terms of abilities.
Particularly, Medusa is more agile than ever before, able to leapfrog the
hero for a more evasive approach. The sword isn't for show, as Medusa will
never hesitate to plunge it into Desmond if he decides to get too close. Present,
also, is her ability to fire out from her eyes a beam which upon contact will
temporarily stone the hero, who will be increasingly vulnerable. Rounding
out the assault is Medusa's ability to use her head--that is, to command a
group of Medusa heads to wave forward and generally crowd the area.
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