Castlevania: Legacy Of Darkness

Written by Eric Morgan  on June 26, 2000

Review: The way it should have been the first time around.

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Castlevania has been around since the NES, and although many people would disagree, Konami's attempts to bring Castlevania from a 2d to a 3d environment went well. The Legacy of Darkness is what the first N64 Castlevania should have been like. LOD includes two new characters, along with Carrie and Reinhardt from the first N64 game, plus Konami has added new levels to the game.

The visuals in this game have been greatly improved from last years Castlevania. The graphics look more crisp and smooth than the original, but there still is a lot of fog in the game. It's sad that there can't be anything good said about the camera angles. The camera angles have been improved somewhat, yet, some of the problems that existed in the last Castlevania are still found in LOD. The video clips in this game are done very well, especially Cornell's opening scene. There are still slowdowns in the games framerate, just like the original.

The audio in this game is great and it really sets the mode for this type of game. The sound effects also do a good job at helping to set the mood, although a lot have been reused from the original, they are still very well done.

This gameplay is, in my opinion, very addicting. You can tell, the feel of the game has improved over the first Castlevania on N64, but its not worth buying again if you already own the first one. Although, if you are a fan of the first one in renting it, you should know, the gameplay is much more addictive and the controls have been adjusted to suit you a little better.

Castlevania: LOD features the Expansion Pak, which allows for a High Rez Mode, but the framerate will still suffer. A memory card is needed, or you will not be able to save your progress. I would have liked to see the game make use of the rumble pack, but unfortunately it does not.

The replay is very addicting, like i said before. The fact that you have to beat one characters scenario to unlock other characters does add to the reply value of this game, but after a while the levels get repetitive, and you may have to force yourself to sit down to beat every characters scenario. This game will most likely start collecting dust in a corner after a couple of weeks, but you will want to take it out every now.