The N64 Weapon Selection

Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness is the game that Castlevania 64 should have been. For the most part, since Legacy basically becomes Castlevania 64 following the exploits of Cornell and Henry Oldrey, both titles share the same basic items. Cornell's mission in Legacy contains more in the way of sequence-initiating inventory, but the inclusion of such items doesn't change the game's dynamic in any way. This page is broken up into four sections: (1) Items shared between games. (2) Items exclusive to Legacy. (3) Individual lists for both games' key types. And (4) Legacy's variety of sub-weapon power-ups.

 

Shared Items





Morning Star
Morning Star symbols act as power-ups for all four characters'
main weapons. Reinhardt's whip in 64 powers up two levels, maintaining its regular form; however, in Legacy, the whip
transforms into a chain whip and then into a flame whip. Carrie's homing ball, Cornell's energy scythe, and Henry's bullets all
maintain form but simply boost in potency.





Moon Card
Manipulating time will be a recurring objective for our heroes. A
moon card can only be activated in the daytime, and it'll magically
move time forward until the clock reads 6 p.m. (considered to be the start of nighttime). Using a moon card will usually serve to
remove a seal from a door sporting a moon symbol.





Sun Card
Conversely, sun cards magically move time forward to 6 a.m., and
they can only be activated during the nighttime. Likewise, sun cards will primarily be used to remove seals from doors sporting sun symbols. Playing with time is a dangerous thing in regard to
Reinhardt and Carrie's missions because theirs are
affected by the meeting time quotas; skipping 12-hour periods at
a time can really add up.





Roast Chicken
In their struggles, vampire hunters need to maintain their energy,
and roast chicken will help provide a small boost. By munching down one helping, 50% of a hero's energy meter will be replenished.
Since the alternate option for food is pretty costly, it'll be important
to have plenty of roast chicken handy. Such poultry can be purchased from Renon, or it can be found hidden in the environment. The
latter option is certainly more convenient.





Roast Beef
Roast beef will provide an even larger boost, as 80% of a hero's
meter will be replenished. Since bosses later in the game tend to
pound on the heroes continuously, roast chicken just may not
suffice, and it will be crucial to some roast beef handy. When purchased from Renon, it's an expensive delicacy, so it'll instead
serve the player well to search diligently and uncover hidden
helpings, however infrequently they appear.





Med Kit
Med kits are a rarity, but they're the best source for energy replenishment. Using a med kit will restore a hero's energy meter to its maximum capacity. Med kits can be purchased from Renon, but
the price may be too much to bear. As it is with like-themed items: It
would be a great benefit to instead locate a med kit that's otherwise hidden in the surrounding environment; though, med kits are
surely the most well-hidden of the bunch.





Purify Crystal
It's just a given that you'll have to fend off many forms of vampire during your journey. All vampire types have one common power:
The ability to sink their teeth into a hero and vampirize him or her.
When vampirized, a hero's mobility will be greatly hampered, and he
or she will slowly suffer until full-fledged vampirism kicks in and
the game is over. By using a purifying crystal when the status reads
as "vampire," the condition will cure and the status will return to "normal."





Red Jewel
By the mid-1800s, it seems that the Belmonts and their
descendants began using crystals and gems in place of the usual
power-bearing hearts. In this instance, at least, the heroes' sub-weapons are now powered by a jewel form that comes in two sizes: Small jewels that are worth five apiece and larger ones that are
worth ten. Jewels can be uncovered by whipping away certain structures or by destroying enemies (which is a more
random process).





White Jewel
White jewels are not collectible. Rather, you'll find them spread throughout the respective stages, laying around in obvious locations. By simply kneeling down and grabbing at a white jewel,
the hero's mission progress can be saved to the memory card. It's important to save the game frequently because all items collected
after a previous save are at risk. After dying, you have two options
via the white jewel: You can continue from the last save point with
the inventory intact, or you can restart the stage with nothing.





Green Jewel
There's only one green jewel to be found, and it's hidden on the first stage of Castlevania 64, in the Forest of Silence. A single difficult
(or "more difficult than usual") jump will be your passageway to this rare gem. It serves no use to your current mission, true--but once
it's stored in your inventory and saved via a memory card, you'll be allowed to access the game's difficult mode after the normal
mission's completion.





Cure Ampoule
Due to the existence of venomous enemies, a cure ampoule will be
the perfect insurance policy. This vial of liquid is your only means
for curing "poison" status, which drains your health periodically. You'll begrudgingly attain poison status if you allow certain enemies
to grab onto you, if you come in contact with toxic liquids sprayed by insect-like creatures, if you're subject to lizard man breath, or if vampire Charlie Vincent's dark holy water finds its mark.





Money Bag
Once used solely for increasing heroes' point-totals, money bags
now exist for the sole purpose of serving as currency. You'll find money bags--rendered in multiple colors that signify their different
values--by whipping away certain structures or by destroying
enemies (which is a more random process). You can then use this stock to purchase items from Renon's shop. Though, it's important
not to spend too freely because greed comes with a price--mainly
extra mileage en route to Dracula.





Nitro
During the heroes' trek through the Castle Center, they'll find their travels hindered by blockades--two walls featuring large cracks.
You'll need two items to break through these walls, one of which is magical nitro, an explosive liquid. You'll find nitro on a top floor, and you'll have to use it in two separate instances: One container will be placed by a nearby wall, and the other must be carried down several floors--with limited mobility, lest an explosion will be ignited--where it'll be placed by a more protected (magically sealed) cracked wall.





Contract
When you first find a contract in the Villa, Renon, the demon salesman, will appear to you and offer his services in a most unique
way. Thereafter, you'll find contracts spread throughout the
respective stages, laying around in sometimes tricky locations.
When a contract is then accessed, Renon will appear with his
briefcase full of goodies. All basic items will always be available in limitless reserves, and you can keep buying as long as (a) you have
the money and (b) you don't already possess ten of a given item.





Mandragora
You've placed magical nitro near the base of a cracked wall, but it hasn't exploded? Well, you'll need to travel to the Castle Center's bottom level--to its laboratory room, specifically--to find some mandragora, a root formula, which must be used in conjunction
with magical nitro if an explosion is to be caused. By placing mandragora next to active nitro, a cut scene will be initiated, and the wall will be momentarily demolished. Unlike its explosive
counterpart, this root formula is not dangerous to hold.





Key
Many of the doors throughout the castle and its surroundings will be locked, and the keys to such entranceways, not surprisingly, will be hidden somewhere nearby or at least within the stage's vicinity. (It's somehow related to a wise man's theory: "Dracula likes putting
things in candles that can kill him.") There are multiple key types
that can be found game-wide; locations and descriptions for key
types can be found elsewhere on this page.

 

Legacy Exclusive





Winch Lever
On the game's second stage, the Castle Wall, the heroes' path to the Villa via the direct entrance will be blocked by two gates. In order to raise the two gates, the left and right towers must be traversed, wherein switches must be activated to raise the two separate gates.
One switch, however, is revealed to be lever-less; the winch lever associated must be found near the Castle Wall's second level if you hope to active the switch and raise the second gate.





Crest Part A
Cornell must collect two crest parts in order to open a sealed door within the Villa hedge maze. The first, Crest Part A, is located two doors north of the maze's entrance, atop the elevated gazeebo-like structure. Simply slash away the elevated structure and collect this part of the stone emblem.





Crest Part B
The second crest is a little more difficult to locate: Crest Part B
rests atop the Villa's fountain, but it's contained within an orb that can't be shattered without the assistance of a certain item. Once collected, Crest Part B can be used in conjunction with Crest Part
A to form a whole crest that can be outfit into the sealed door's engraving, which will force it to open.





Rose Brooch
That "certain item" used to break the orb containing Crest Part B
is the Rose Brooch. The brooch rests within a small caged garden in the Villa hedge maze (the garden's door can only be opened by
finding and utilizing the thorn key). Once inside the garden, the brooch can be found by investigating one of the surrounding structures. Take the brooch, climb to the fountain's top, and use it
to crack the orb.

 

The Key Types

While both titles share most of the same key types, it's sometimes only superficially so. This is due to differing design within the stages that both games share. To alleviate confusion, I'll present two separate lists. The first table represents the keys from Castlevania 64; each hero has his or her own path to Dracula, so some keys are only accessible to one or the other. The second table represents Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness.

Castlevania 64

Key Name
Location
Used
Left Tower Key
Castle Wall: After dropping down from the right tower, it rests in a candle on the second floor
Opens the left tower near the stage's entrance
Archives Key
The Villa: Found in a vase on the second floor of the Villa mansion's first large room
Opens the far-north door of the Villa mansion's second floor
Storeroom Key
The Villa: Found in a vase in the Villa's ghost-haunted living room on the second floor
Opens the door immediately left of the Oldrey bedroom
Copper Key
The Villa: Given to you by Mary Oldrey after you bring her son to safety
Opens a locked door in the Villa hedge maze that leads to the stage's exit
Chamber Key
Castle Center: Given to you by the mutated lizard man on the stage's fourth floor
Opens the door the mandragora room on the stage's bottom floor
Science Key 1
Tower of Science: Found in a candle in a room guarded by turrets
Opens the double doors that leads to the surrounding halls
Science Key 1
Tower of Science: Found in a small room room (in a set of three), guarded by a single turret
Opens the way to the stage's machinery room
Science Key 1
Tower of Science: Found in the machinery room by working past a deadly production system
Opens the door the leads to the stage's exit route
Execution Key
Tower of Execution: Found in a sarcophagus on a hidden ledge on the stage's third floor
Opens a locked grating that leads to some power-ups
Clock Tower
Key
Clock Tower: Found in the stage's very first room, in a candle hidden near some gears
Opens the locked door in that same room
Clock Tower
Key 2
Clock Tower: Second room, guarded by a pillar of bones in a small indent right of the locked door
Opens the locked door in that same room
Clock Tower
Key 3
Clock Tower: Found innocently at the bottom of the stage's third room
Opens the locked door high above in that same room


Legacy of Darkness


Key Name
Location
Used
Left Tower Key
Castle Wall: After dropping down from the right tower, it rests in a candle on the second floor
Opens the left tower near the stage's entrance
Deck Key
Forest: Found atop one of the ship's back-most masts; you must rotate both of them first
Opens the deck door that leads inside the ship
Archives Key
The Villa: Found in a vase on the second floor of the Villa mansion's first large room
Opens the far-north door of the Villa mansion's second floor
Rose Garden
Key
The Villa: Found in the Villa hedge maze
Opens the door to the Villa mansion's small rose garden
Storeroom Key
The Villa: Found in a vase in the Villa's ghost-haunted living room on the second floor
Opens the door immediately left of the Oldrey bedroom
Garden Key
The Villa: Given to you by Mary Oldrey in her request that you save her son, Henry
Opens the gate to the Villa hedge maze via the mansion's back exit
Thorn Key
The Villa: Found in the Villa mansion's small rose garden only at the stroke of dawn
Opens the circular caged area found deep in the Villa hedge maze
Copper Key
The Villa: Given to you by Mary Oldrey after you bring her son to safety
Opens a locked door in the Villa hedge maze that leads to the stage's exit
Wall Key
Outer Wall: Found in a candle on a ledge--the area right beyond the first lift you ride upward
Opens a nearby door that leads to the next part of the stage via a lift
Chamber Key
Castle Center: Given to you by the mutated lizard man on the stage's fourth floor
Opens the door the mandragora room on the stage's bottom floor
Art Tower
Key 1
Art Tower: Found inside the door-set found right at stage's start; ride moving platforms to get it
Opens the first set of double doors to the north of the stage's start
Art Tower
Key 2
Art Tower: Found inside the door-set found left at stage's start; dodge rail cars to get to it
Opens the second set of double doors beyond the first
Control Room
Key
Tower of Science: Found within the room guarded by ceiling-attached machine gun guards
Opens the door labeled with the Roman numeral VI
Clock Tower
Key A
Clock Tower: Found in the stage's very first room, in a candle hidden near the leftmost gears
Opens the locked door in that same room
Clock Tower
Key B
Clock Tower: Second room, guarded by a pillar of bones in a small indent right of the locked door
Opens the locked door in that same room
Clock Tower
Key C
Clock Tower: Way atop the stage's third room, found by climbing the first set of rotating axles
Opens a locked door to a lift that leads to the second part of this large room
Clock Tower
Key D
Clock Tower: Same large room, near the gear-set left of the fallen Ada's position
Opens the locked door in that same room
Clock Tower
Key E
Clock Tower: Found outside in an indent along the giant clock's hands
Once back inside, it opens the first locked door you'll cross

 

Sub-Weapon Boost

Legacy of Darkness features an interesting quirk involving the use of sub-weapons. If you by chance locate and collect a sub-weapon that matches the one already in your possession, the number "2" will appear in your sub-weapon box. If the same sub-weapon is collected a third time, the number "3" will appear, and the sub-weapon will now be afforded a special power. This applies to the games' four characters. Below are screenshots and descriptions of the level-3 sub-weapons in action.

The Dagger
Holy Water
Any dagger thrown will immediately become enflamed and see an increase in its destructive power
The holy water will crash onto the ground and generate a huge explosion, which will linger long and engulf enemies
The Boomerang
The Axe
The boomerang's power will see a boost in longevity as it can now track down and strike multiple targets--sometimes repeatedly depending upon the enemies' power-levels Nothing will change as far as the axe's flight pattern, but its landing is to be feared: That is, lightning will crash down at its impact point and electrocute all enemies within range

 

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