Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse -- Stage 6, Alucard

And then last but not least, we check back in on Adri--I mean Alucard, still trudging about through the catacombs, which apparently lead to the basement of Castlevania, how do you like that? I guess the defiant son didn't really go all too far from home, just settling for camping out in the basement of pops's house. Oh well, it's his first time fighting with his old man, I guess we should cut him some slack.

Strangely, the first stage to actually count as being a part of the castle comes out to be easier for me than the ones that are only leading up to their entrances. Although, to be fair, it is a rather tame stage besides the single instance of mummies and all the platform-riding, both of which Alucard could actually avoid completely if I wasn't so stingy as to force him to conserve his hearts.

I would like to point out that failure to crouch for the platform ride just past 2:45 will scrape you right off your perch as you get hung up on a wall.

I just wish that in addition to remembering that, I would have remembered that only Grant is short enough to get away with ducking an axe...even Alucard's magical non-hitbox head (also seen here with the spikes just moments earlier) can't save him from that.

Also, for the numerically inclined, Alucard is handy for pointing out how much "HP" regular enemies have, since he has attacks that deal out the bare minimum in terms of damage, needing six shots to take out an Armor Knight (the little harmless patrolling guys with the spears they never seem to use), four for an armored Skeleton Soldier, two for a Blood Skeleton (although interestingly enough, they only ever resurrect themselves with one hit left), and a whopping EIGHTEEN hits for a Bone Pillar. I heard an interesting tidbit that they actually only required ten in the original Japanese version of the game, but it's not like that is of any consolation to our heroes.

And it looks like it's finally boss time...hey now, wait a minute, we know this guy (or rather Syfa and the OTHER Trevor know him)...he really gets around, if he can be both here and in Syfa's Stage 5. At least it's somebody tall enough to take all of Alucard's fireballs at mid-range. I actually didn't intend on using Alucard for fighting bosses, but I just started firing and though to myself, what the heck, I'll try it. I honestly expected him to fail badly, especially after all the hits he took when the battle had only just begun.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Castlevania
• III
• Konami
• NES
• 1990
• Trevor
• Belmont
• Adrian
• Alucard
• Fahrenheit
• Tepes
• Dracula
• Vampire
• Killer

[Overhazard]

You're right--for a slow guy, he really gets around. It was neat to see you whittling away at his health as he was creeping ever closer.

[YuuGiJoou]

I'm not exactly 100% sure that he actually stops creeping closer...but it's definitely reasonable enough to expect to beat him before he crosses the whole screen anyway.

The falling bits of the ceiling are dangerous enough that you'd want to finish the fight sooner rather than later...although the little "alcove" that I found to be free from debris (except when it gets hurled personally in my direction) was perfect for a long-range combatant like Alucard.

[BaronGrackle]

(reads the description) Also, there's something particularly epic about seeing a fight between Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster. Which is basically what the boss fight looks like.