Topic: Castlevania Legends - The Right and the Wrong

[Claimh Solais]

Alright, so I decided to give Castlevania Legends a runthrough today. I went through Light Mode, and now that I beat it, I have another "Pros/Cons" list coming.

THE RIGHT
-The controls. Already at the start of the game, you can tell how much more smoothly this game plays compared to the previous two Game Boy entries. You have controllable jumps and the ability to walk while crouching.
-The difficulty. It was hard, but not frustratingly hard. And points of the game were easy, but not too stupidly easy.
-It had cutscenes. That's really a minor thing, but it was pretty cool that they added in multiple cutscenes (although Belmont's Revenge did have one). There were also multiple endings.
-The graphics. While not the best, most of the graphics were pretty nice, considering the system the game was on. And if you're using a Gameboy Color (which I didn't), you get some bits of color added in. Alucard's sprite was pretty cool to look at in action, and not to mention Death looks badass in this game.
-The sound. The music in the game was pretty good, but what would you expect from the older CVs? Lords of Shadow? No. Not surprising, this game has a better sound track. There's even Bloody Tears and Vampire Killer thrown into the soundtrack. The sound effects for the most part where pretty good.
-Burning Mode. It was cool, but I activated it by accident... How exactly do you do it? ^.^
-Minibosses. A really cool feature that needs to be added if they make anymore ClassicVanias.
-Trap rooms. Whip the wrong candle or walk into the wrong area and you'll be stuck in a room with a large amount of monsters.
-Anime art style. A bunch of you who aren't familiar or don't quite remember the old games will think "EWW. ANIME ART. DOS AND POR SUCK CUZ OF THERE ART" or some stupid statement like that. First off, DoS and PoR are good games. Second off, yes their art does suck. But that doesn't mean Legends's does. The anime art here is actually rather cool, and Sonia looks badass in all the pictures provided in the manual, as well as the picture after the narration (note that her ingame portrait sucks, however).
-Hidden stage in this game. Cool feature.
-Pixel perfect jumps. This must be included more in future installments cuz... Let's face it. It's realistic.

THE BAD
-The graphics. Belmont's Revenge had better graphics than this game by far. I don't get why they weren't as good in this game.
-The action gets kind of stale after a while. No subweapons was a pretty stupid idea. Instead they were turned into collected items to gain the best ending. In their stead are pretty decent magical spells which most took up more hearts than necessary.
-Ridiculous enemy placement. Honestly, the enemy placement was terrible. A good majority of the time an enemy actually decides to move from it's spot, it's when they're right above you, making it unnecessarily hard to dodge them. Fortunately, however, this makes for a higher difficulty level, which is something I appreciate in this series. (See how conflicted this statement is?)
-The story was pretty shoddy. Had a Twilight-esque feel to it (or should I say... Twilight had a Legends-esque feel to it? Haha!). I thought the love story between Alucard and Sonia was... rather dull and unnecessary. I also didn't like how Alucard was kind of out of character. He doesn't seem like the type to "test one's strength".
-While a lot of the graphics were cool, a lot were bad also. Sonia and Alucard seriously looked like they had a balding going on. That is not a good thing. A lot of the enemies were dull and uninspired, like the black specter-thingy in the first stage or the Gergoth-wannabe that comes out of the floors later on in.
-Sonia has the same hit grunt as Simon and Trevor. She sounds like a dude.
-Still no stairs. Just ropes and chains.
-While no boss life bar adds onto difficulty and makes the battles more intense, in a game like this it's kind of needed. Sometimes the battle will go on and on and you don't know if you're really doing damage to the boss or not. I, for one, thought the bar marked "B" at the bottom was the boss life bar at first and thought, "OMG WHY AREN'T I DOIN ANY DMG?! OMGWTFHAX" until I killed the boss.
-The levels were too unnecessarily long. What makes it worse is that the songs are rather short, and the level design was pretty bland in comparison to Belmont's Revenge, which came out before this one. Not to mention enemies respawn once they are offscreen, so they'll attack again if you accidentally pan the camera back to their spawn point.
-There isn't much replay value in here. You either have to be a bat fanatic or feel like going for the hidden subweapons sitting around to get a bonus ending that isn't really worth it.
-The same problem with the previous two games. Sonia could really use a workout to move a little faster. Luckily, if you're using an emulator rather than an actual Gameboy like I was, there are plenty of speed hacks out there in order to make the main character walk a little faster.
-Pixel perfect jumps. Those are TOO HARD.

So this is all stuff that I pointed out to myself while playing the game and watching videos. I also went through a few player reviews and picked a few things out, or got reminded of something I might have forgotten.

PROS/CONS :: 11/12

The cons are only one higher than the pros. So it's no biggie.

OVERALL THOUGHTS?
Castlevania Legends is actually a rather great game. While I much prefer the origin story in LoI more than this one, at least this story has a more reasonable origin story to the Belmont family than LoS. The gameplay is fluid enough, too. While there are tons of flaws in this game, it still stands as playable and pretty fun.

RECOMMENDATION?
I recommend anyone who hasn't played it to play it. Unless you're one of those guys that is obsessed with MetroidVanias and doesn't even give ClassicVanias a chance. Then shame on you.

Thoughts?

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OLDER REVIEWS
Akumajou Dracula X Gekka no Yasoukyoku (Saturn)

[Flame]

The anime style in legends was good yes.

Because there is a difference between the shitty digitized anime style used in PoR and DoS,(ESPECIALLY DoS, PoR had a more unique am=nime style which i somewhat enjoy) and the awesome 90's era anime style. Sonia just looks boss.

But the plot was real bad, and even shittier for what was supposed to be  aprequel and ORIGIN story for the Belmonts.

"Oh some old count makes a demonic pact and grampa gets killed, s she takes his whip and decides to get revenge."

I mean, it sounds more like something from any OTHER mainstream game, and would makes sense like that, but as a prequel it answers absolutely nothing, especially where the damn whip comes from, or who Dracula Is. they justd escribe him as some random old count.

I mean, this isnt even "Dracula" from the book.

It also made Alucard Trevor's daddy. he is INCREDIBLY out of character in that regard, not at all in line with the Alucard who went into eternal slumber to rid the world of his cursed bloodline.

[Claimh Solais]

The anime style in legends was good yes.

Because there is a difference between the shitty digitized anime style used in PoR and DoS,(ESPECIALLY DoS, PoR had a more unique am=nime style which i somewhat enjoy) and the awesome 90's era anime style. Sonia just looks boss.

But the plot was real bad, and even shittier for what was supposed to be  aprequel and ORIGIN story for the Belmonts.

"Oh some old count makes a demonic pact and grampa gets killed, s she takes his whip and decides to get revenge."

I mean, it sounds more like something from any OTHER mainstream game, and would makes sense like that, but as a prequel it answers absolutely nothing, especially where the damn whip comes from, or who Dracula Is. they justd escribe him as some random old count.

I mean, this isnt even "Dracula" from the book.

90's anime was the shit. Dragon Ball Z was the shit. Saint Seiya was the shit (or was that the 80's?). PoR's art was cool to an extent, but a lot of it was irksome.

The plot to Legends? Sort of good. At a few points. But otherwise, TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE.

It also made Alucard Trevor's daddy. he is INCREDIBLY out of character in that regard, not at all in line with the Alucard who went into eternal slumber to rid the world of his cursed bloodline.

ALUCARD: "Man, I had no idea you became so powerful, Sonia. Now I must sleep. We'll never meet again because I am a couch potato and I don't wanna leave my house."

^That's what it made Alucard sound like.

[uzo]

Do you realize you placed the same items in pros and cons, with contrasting reasons for their placement?

"It wasn't frustratingly hard."
"AUGH enemy placement was frustrating!!"

"Pixel perfect jumps, we need more of these."
"AUGH I hate pixel perfect jumps!"

Etc.

[Claimh Solais]

Do you realize you placed the same items in pros and cons, with contrasting reasons for their placement?

"It wasn't frustratingly hard."
"AUGH enemy placement was frustrating!!"

"Pixel perfect jumps, we need more of these."
"AUGH I hate pixel perfect jumps!"

Etc.

The "It wasn't frustratingly hard." was meant for the difficulty. "AUGH enemy placement was frustrating!!" was for the enemy placement. Do those count as the same thing? If so, I'll fix it.

"Pixel perfect jumps, we need more of these." and "AUGH I hate pixel perfect jumps!" are on purpose.

[X]

Even with all it's flaws, I still hold Legends above LoS and LoI.

[DragonSlayr81]

90's anime was the shit. Dragon Ball Z was the shit. Saint Seiya was the shit (or was that the 80's?). PoR's art was cool to an extent, but a lot of it was irksome.

I think 80s and 90s anime art(hell, anime in general) was better than most of crap nowadays. I think the animation was better, too, and I'm not just talking about OVA stuff, but the TV stuff too. Then you look at some of the stuff out now and, damn, it's just like they aren't even trying anymore.

I think the art used for Legends is far superior than the game itself. You could even say that it was wasted on the game. Sometimes you get games like that, where either the character designs or music rocks, but the overall games suck. Such a waste. There should be a rule that, if you got art and music that good, they should get one "do-over" and be featured in another game to redeem themselves. That's how I feel about Sonia, in general. Great idea to make a female Belmont, but to be the pre-Trevor Belmont to start the whole "thing", no. I still think Sonia would've been far more important, had they made her the mother to the Morris clan(the Belmont daughter who marries a Morris, and passes down the Belmont blood into the Morris clan, becoming the vital ancestor to John and Jonathan Morris).

[Claimh Solais]

I think 80s and 90s anime art(hell, anime in general) was better than most of crap nowadays. I think the animation was better, too, and I'm not just talking about OVA stuff, but the TV stuff too. Then you look at some of the stuff out now and, damn, it's just like they aren't even trying anymore.

I agree with you there. Except most of the remastered versions have better animation quality (well DUH, it's remastered). Like have you ever seen Akira's remastered edition with Johnny Yong Bosch playing as Kaneda? That was some smooth stuff there.

But yeah, look at all the old anime from the 80's and 90's. It's waaaaaaay nicer than all the stuff being delivered nowadays.

[Flame]

Anime art nowadays has to be INCREDIBLY unique to be of any real interest. otherwise its just... meh

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Actually it's never 'quite' stated that she's Trevor Belmont's mother, outright.  Many people assume this (and it can make sense).  There's just nothing that outright explicitly says so.
In my opinion, it would be REALLY cool if she started the Lecarde family in the same way.  Think about it.  The Lecardes have some kind of ties to Alucard (Alucard Spear, unusually similar last name) and hail from a different land.  It wouldn't be farfetched if Sonia, when exiled (Belmonts were exiled since after Leon and all the way until Trevor) from Wallachia, moved to Spain and started her own clan and honored Alucard with a last name that was similar.

If you check the ending text, it never says anything about her being Trevor's mother, but it does say that her descendants will carry both her heroic Bloodline, as well as 'the bloodline of dark ways', which implies Alucard's powers.  While it can be argued that this 'could' make Trevor's powers have something to do with this, it 'could' also be that he is more of a cousin to this bloodline.  Of course, Trevor's powers ARE pretty supernatural... it could be as speculation says.  But some people really have a bug up their ass about mixing Belmont blood and Fahrenheit/Dracul blood for some reason (it's really stupid to think this, as the game blends bloodlines as if they were Margaritas... mmmm... Margaritas...).

Fast-forward to the future and you have Belmont/Fahrenheit descendants helping Belmonts using powers that are unfamiliar or unwieldable to Belmonts, like how Eric, Stella, and Loretta do.  Also, tragically, Lecardes seem to attract problems with Vampirism, such as Eric's girlfriend becoming a vampire and his inability to save her, or when his own daughters become vampires and he cannot save them either.

It would be a very good story plot point... all it needed for it to work would be one line in Sonia's best ending.  "This new bloodline.... is the Lecarde clan!" (dun dun Dunnnnn!).  That's it!  But alas, it's up to us fans to put this together.  It's just not expanded upon by Konami at all.

[Claimh Solais]

Actually it's never 'quite' stated that she's Trevor Belmont's mother, outright.  Many people assume this (and it can make sense).  There's just nothing that outright explicitly says so.
In my opinion, it would be REALLY cool if she started the Lecarde family in the same way.  Think about it.  The Lecardes have some kind of ties to Alucard (Alucard Spear, unusually similar last name) and hail from a different land.  It wouldn't be farfetched if Sonia, when exiled (Belmonts were exiled since after Leon and all the way until Trevor) from Wallachia, moved to Spain and started her own clan and honored Alucard with a last name that was similar.

I actually thought about this, too. I mean, it could be possible. Minor thing, but did you notice Eric's also blonde? (until they, for some reason, gave the family blue/purple hair in PoR) That can't really say much, but it's possible.

If you check the ending text, it never says anything about her being Trevor's mother, but it does say that her descendants will carry both her heroic Bloodline, as well as 'the bloodline of dark ways', which implies Alucard's powers.  While it can be argued that this 'could' make Trevor's powers have something to do with this, it 'could' also be that he is more of a cousin to this bloodline.  Of course, Trevor's powers ARE pretty supernatural... it could be as speculation says.  But some people really have a bug up their ass about mixing Belmont blood and Fahrenheit/Dracul blood for some reason (it's really stupid to think this, as the game blends bloodlines as if they were Margaritas... mmmm... Margaritas...).

So yeah, if you put it the way you do, Trevor is only related to Sonia like... in a cousin way, and thus Legends can... sort of, be considered canon still. (The thing I didn't like was Trevor being Alucard's son, I don't mind a Belmont/Dracul blood-mix).

Fast-forward to the future and you have Belmont/Fahrenheit descendants helping Belmonts using powers that are unfamiliar or unwieldable to Belmonts, like how Eric, Stella, and Loretta do.  Also, tragically, Lecardes seem to attract problems with Vampirism, such as Eric's girlfriend becoming a vampire and his inability to save her, or when his own daughters become vampires and he cannot save them either.

The Lecarde thing makes sense, but the others who had these powers that were helping the Belmonts are all descendants of the Belnades bloodline. And it sounds to me that Eric's just one unlucky bastard, but your point makes a lot of sense.

This is quite a stretch, but look closely at the second screenshot on the top row in the topic post... Doesn't Sonia look kind of like Lisa?

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

The Lecarde thing makes sense, but the others who had these powers that were helping the Belmonts are all descendants of the Belnades bloodline. And it sounds to me that Eric's just one unlucky bastard, but your point makes a lot of sense.

Charlotte Aulin is not a Belnades descendant, and neither is Maria Renard, or Shanoa/Albus.  The only Belnades/Fernandez that have actively helped are Sypha, Carrie, and Yoko.  Everyone else who has 'helped' cannot be lumped into 'Belnades'.  I don't know where you have heard that from, or if it's just your own conjecture.

[Nagumo]

I think the "Charlotte is a Belnades" thing comes from IGA. I'm pretty sure because I didn't believe it either at first, but then I read it was true. But yeah, it's pretty lame and unneccessary.       

[Claimh Solais]

Charlotte Aulin is not a Belnades descendant, and neither is Maria Renard, or Shanoa/Albus.  The only Belnades/Fernandez that have actively helped are Sypha, Carrie, and Yoko.  Everyone else who has 'helped' cannot be lumped into 'Belnades'.  I don't know where you have heard that from, or if it's just your own conjecture.

Sorry, I mis-spoke. I completely forgot about Charlotte. (I wasn't talking about Shanoa and Albus cuz they don't necessarily help the Belmonts) But yeah, a lot of people before kept talking about Maria being a descendant of the Belnades clan so I just went with it.

[Flame]

I thought Maria Renard was related to the Belmonts?