The towns are your only source for safety, and even they can be dangerous at times. People walk about, back and forth (an interesting life), giving you clues, real or false. You can also enter some houses and break through the walls inside of them, buying all kinds of items in the process. When it does become night, all of the people retreat to their homes, since zombies roam the streets, and you will not be able to enter the church or any other buildings. The only other dangers in towns are the watery pits sometimes located on either side--so taking wild leaps to a level below is not always wise. The towns include: Jova, Veros, Aljiba, Alba, Ondol, Doina and Yomi.

The churches, found in towns, are your only means for energy replenishment; however, the churches can only be accessed during the daytime. Once you enter a church, approach the priest and let his words of encouragement, "rest here for a while," heal your wounds and revive your energy meter. Unfortunately, not all of the towns you'll cross will have churches, so if you get stuck with one energy bar as it becomes nighttime in in a church-less town, with enemies swarming all around, you're toast.

All of the woods in the game look exactly the same, despite the trees changing colors. No one section of the game is really associated with any enemies, so you can run into all kinds of foes here. The only exclusive enemies in the woods are two of the mutated variety--wolfmen and freddies. Among the woods you'll cross: Veros, Jova, Denis, Aljiba, Sadam, Debious and Dora. One woodland area by Dracula, Dora, is a dead end, but there's a hidden set of stairs to escape should you go this way by mistake. Most woods contain the following marsh land: Belasco, Joma, Denis and the Jam Wasteland.

There are a couple of bridges scattered throughout the land--named, appropriately, East, West, North and South--all of which will feature fishmen jumping up from the water below, usually in the most convient locations. There are almost always skeletons lurking about, too, clogging up the small platforms between the gaps. The only real detriment here is your impatience--mainly getting knocked into the water by an unexpected fishman as you take a wild leap. The bridge leading to Dracula's castle is different in that it contains no enemies.

These marsh pits are probably the most difficult of obstacles you'll have to face. There's no way around it: You're going to have to dive in and trek across as quickly as you can, taking out some enemies along the way. Some are short, others are really long--the longer ones requiring a lot of energy to make it by in one shot; however, having laurels makes it a whole lot easier. The enemies you'll find in marsh are Mud Men, Ghastly Leeches and Slimy Barsinisters. Other enemies, like Two-Headed creatures and wolves, might surround them. The main marsh areas are Belasco, Joma, and Denis, found mostly in the wooded areas.

During your journey, you'll travel through a couple of these cave-like areas, abandoned buildings and baron wastlelands. Caves and mines are usually populated by the likes of bats, ghostly eyeballs, skull heads and skeletons. Two of the game's more powerful items, the Mystic Flame and the Flame Whip, will be found in areas such as these--some of which are maze-like in the vein of the larger mansions. The caves include: Dabi's Path, Aljiba Lower Road and Wicked Ditch.

There are only a handful of these scenarios in the game. They're normally inhabited by zombie hands (seen right) and slimes. The graveyards seem to only serve one purpose--this involves throwing garlic to summon spirits that will give you special items. The graveyards later in the game use tombstones as obstacles, and they're inhabited by stronger enemies like Mummy Men, Vultures, Ravens, etc. The three main graveyards you'll cross are Camilla Cemetery, Storigoi Graveyard and Vrad Graveyard.

Sooner of later, you're bound to run into a seemingly unpassable body of water. At first, some of them may mark a dead end. But after finding a crystal powerful enough, ducking by the bay for more than 5 seconds will make some water float in place, revealing secret underground passages that will allow you to continue the quest. Also, it's by a river that you'll find the Ferry Man; he'll take you to one of two possible locations, depending on if you possess Dracula's heart. The lakes include: Yuba Lake, the Dead River and Uta Lake.

These are the focal points of the game, as you must traverse these maze-like mansions to locate the five body parts of Dracula. The enemies inside include armed skeletons, knights with spears, slimes, gargoyles, spiders and bats. Also located inside two of the mansions are the game's only two bosses. Finally, a man conveniently selling oak stakes will always be there; the stake can then be used to break the orbs containing the parts of Dracula. One mansion in particular contains a lost soul who's giving away laurels--take advantage of this. The mansions include: Berkeley, Rover, Laruba, Bodley and Brahm's. For more on the mansions, click on "Mansions" at the bottom of this page.

The castle is in ruins from when you, Simon Belmont, last journeyed through it in Castlevania. The place is completely abandoned, so you can concentrate without enemies bothering you. You'll need your holy water to break through the rubble--the many bricks that block the way--and make your way to the castle basement. It's not too difficult to find your way through, in any event. You'll find a ceremonial room hidden below the main halls (as in Circle of the Moon). In here, you'll burn Dracula's five parts in a big torch pot and then fight the man himself.