In earlier times, peace and prosperity reigned across the land, and no-one thought to question their good fortune or fear for the future...

     Then, in the middle of the 19th century, a dark shadow spread across Wallachia, Transylvania, home to many a vampire legend. The spirits of the depraved and corrupt had roused the king of evil from his enforced sleep of 100 years...

     Shapeshifting into a bat, a wolf, or coils of mist, he stalked the land...

     Seeking the dark and shunning the light, he cursed the gods as he hunted...

     Damned to eternal life, he sucked the blood of one young maiden after another...

     Count Dracula, Lord of Darkness and Master of the Castle of Death, had arisen again...

     The peace and prosperity of the people utterly destroyed, a black cloud of despair spread over the land. Evil beings roamed through the towns, and those who refused to pledge allegiance to Dracula died horrible deaths.

     It was then that two warriors came forth, called by fate to hunt down the Lord of Darkness and deliver the people from his evil...

It was inevitable the our famed series would have to one day earn its 3D stripes, and in 1999, the honor fell upon Konami Computer Entertainment of Kobe (KCEK), a division of the main company. Thus, Castlevania 64 is the first series' title to enter into the world of three dimensions. Though there were many promises made as to the quality of the finished product, only few were delivered upon. Regardless, what remains is a rather unique take on Castlevania-style gameplay in its first 3D venture.

At your disposal are two characters, two Belmont-derived heroes whose missions are yours to clear. They are Reinhardt Schneider and Carrie Fernandez, who command their own tools of destruction but utilize all of the same magical items. You can take control of either hero and guide him or her through nine of the twelve stages, which come in two types: Those that offer straightforward room-to-room action, and others that feature free-roaming areas whose puzzles must be solved through exploration. Though they cover most of the same terrain, both characters' missions have exclusive two areas that branch out from stages three and five. Therein, you must deal with each character's main instigator, sporadic and erratic boss appearances, and finally the game's major villain.

Castlevania 64's gameplay runs on a day-to-night timer, which determines good or bad endings depending upon how long it takes to complete a respective mission. This works to supply a sense of replayability, but that may or may not be a good thing. In addition to the regular mode, there's also an easy mode that can only be played up until stage five; otherwise, clearing the game in the regular mode under a certain condition unlocks a "hard" but complete mode.

Japanese Version
- The Japanese version doesn't have any changes in its mechanics or story, but there are the usual name deviations. Most notably, Carrie's last name is different; here it's "Belnades," the establishment of which tells us that her bloodline actually descends from Sypha Belnades from the earlier Dracula's Curse. Also, as a result, the enemy known in the U.S. version as "Carrie's Cousin," who's described as a recent "castle invader," is actually meant to be Sypha herself, resurrected by Actrise in her attempt to engage in both antagonism and mind games. Refer to this page in the Heroes' Evolution section for more details.
- When you save your game via a white jewel, your data is saved to the game's cartridge rather than to a controller-inserted memory card.

European Version
- The European version is titled simply "Castlevania," continuing what was Konami's standard practice for games released in the continent. Since some series titles were released either late or not at all, Konami must have felt that it needed to continually reestablish the brand and do so in the simplest terms. For this reason, Konami of Europe saw fit to leave off the subtitles and present them to customers as starting-off points.

Soundtrack

Links
Music Files: MP3 and MIDI
Soundtrack Release: Japanese Soundtrack, European Soundtrack and Castlevania Best Music Collections Box
Game Credits: Available

Lesser Enemies

Bosses

Dracula Forms

Supporting Cast