It’s been quite a while since Leon Belmont had to fight a vampire, but now in 1450, the fallout of those events have come to a head: Count Dracula has returned to drown Transylvania in darkness. But the Belmont family still lives, and now all these years later Sonia Belmont has arrived to save the land from the Prince of Darkness.
Welcome to Castlevania Legends, the first Game Boy Castlevania game! It… really shows. It’s a bit barebones compared to what you might be used to from some of the console games, but it’s not terrible. It’s just got some strange design decisions, stiff gameplay and a strange difficulty curve. That being said, the music is amazing, having both good original pieces and remixes, so it’s not as rocky as it could be as the first handheld Castlevania. It’s also important to note that, at the time, this was supposed to be the first canonical game in the series, with Sonia being billed as the first Belmont to fight Dracula. But Lament of Innocence came out, and also Iga said the game was non-canon, so technically this is a separate timeline entirely. But that won’t stop me from willing Sonia into canon myself!
Sonia has entered the castle, which means the difficulty has only just begun to ramp up. But being the entry hall, it should still be a breeze compared to what comes later. And like all entry hall stages, I’m sure the boss is just a big bat.
… Wait, we already fought a weird bat person. So who’s this gonna be, then?
Sonia has arrived in… the Clock Tower? Wow, already? Well okay. And, uh the boss today is… seriously? He’s not the penultimate one? Man, Dracula did not have a good handle on his strongest assets back in the day.
Sonia continues her way through the castle, and this time around she’ll be meeting an old friend. Said friend wants her to go back so he can fight Dracula instead, but Sonia has the ability to turn invincible at a moment’s notice. Sonia must prove that she is definitely the better candidate for beating up a vampire if she wishes to continue, which should be easy given the aforementioned invincibility.
Sonia has made it to the Inner Den of the castle, where Dracula awaits. However, there’s still a bit more work left to do. There is one more sub-weapon left unclaimed, and it turns out there’s a secret path to the castle’s dungeon. With the convenience of future Belmonts at stake, Sonia takes one last detour to the depths of Castlevania.
All items have been collected, and almost none of Dracula’s minions remain in Sonia’s way. It’s time for the Belmonts’ first actual showdown with Dracula! … And I still maintain that nobody can tell me it’s non-canon.
And with that, Castlevania Legends is finished. @moderators , this thread can be put in completed LPs now. But, like, spookily. Because it’s Halloween.
