Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse -- Stage 4, Syfa

Well, how about that? I guess those statues weren't just for show...or maybe just this particular statue wasn't for show...I don't actually know, but it kinda makes me wonder about the broken ones standing nearby...is that what the cyclops does with its free time between beating up on reckless passerby?

Then again...I wonder how a human statue is created by a cyclops...maybe Medusa (or Medusa Heads, as are far more common in Castlevania games) lent him some assistance so he wouldn't be quite so bored...but then again it must have been the cyclops's doing, because defeating him caused the enchantment to be broken. Very odd, no matter how I look at it.

Anyway, here we have another ally in the fight against Dracula. Rejoice, because Trevor was getting kinda lonely from having not visited Grant in the clock tower. I guess Syfa (or Sypha as later games would Romanize the name) must have either been completely aware of the fight while trapped on that pedestal or just happened to assume that the person that was nearby while the cyclops was not must be responsible for the stone effect wearing off.

I've...spent entirely too long thinking about that small exchange, I suppose.

"Oh boy, that Syfa...such a firm handshake and such supple hands...must be what happens when you specialize in magic, what with all the book reading, you've got to take good care of your hands," I imagine Trevor to be thinking to himself...no reason, I'm just being silly.

Anyway, as far as allies go, Syfa is...easy to overlook. Honestly, the attacks are really short range, they're as weak as Grant's, and Syfa takes increased damage without any of the benefits of mobility that Grant gets.

On the other hand, Syfa has very quick attacks and a certain broadness of stroke with which to hit enemies at differing heights (something Grant and Trevor cannot do for the most part)...what I assume is a short staff, because Syfa's real strength lies in the use of powerful subweapons.

Syfa's subweapons are completely different from Trevor's. Where there would be a Dagger or Axe subweapon, Syfa finds a red spellbook, granting the ability to expel an extremely long-range and high-potency jet of fire, making for a very useful spell indeed. The other subweapons are even more lucrative, if you can believe it...but they only appear where Trevor would find Holy Water or a Cross, which unfortunately are placed quite sparingly.

The problem with subweapons that are incompatible across characters is that if you trigger a switch to your inactive character, the item will disappear immediately, as that character cannot use it. So, unfortunately, if you want a specific weapon, you either have to break everything and hope that you don't "waste" a perfectly good subweapon for your other character when something falls out that wasn't what you were looking for.

Anyway, enough about that, there's evil to fight! Notice on the map of upcoming area that apparently our heroes are climbing aboard a ship...and that said ship has TWO skulls on board, meaning there will be a boss at the midway point and a boss later on after that. Just wonderful, really.

You'll have to excuse me for letting Trevor do all the fighting, though...because he's got the Holy Water, and I know I've mentioned it before when I was playing the original Castlevania...but it's easily my favorite subweapon, and these ground-based bosses were just begging for it...and in this game, all subweapons besides the stopwatch only cost a single heart to use!

Actually, kinda strange, but the boss of this stage is also the boss of the previous stage...with an opening act of a boss from the original Castlevania.

Very odd, but I'll be sure to only complain a little bit. You can see that this arena was a bit more favorable for deploying the Holy Water, which is good, since it probably really stung the guy's eye...that'll teach him not to follow us around in coffins like that, it's just creepy.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Castlevania
• III
• Konami
• NES
• 1990
• Trevor
• Belmont
• Syfa
• Sypha
• Belnades
• Dracula
• Vampire
• Killer

[Overhazard]

I knew it! The yellow flooring crumbles as you step on it. I also thought Syfa was a woman until the game asked if you want "him" to join you.

Whoa, some of the platforms change colors when you switch between Trevor and Syfa.

[YuuGiJoou]

Later stages will only provide you with the cue that the otherwise normal bricks will crumble when they actually start to crumble as you stand on them.

Syfa's sprite is actually a recolor the generic cloaked old man townsperson from Castlevania II.

The platform color changes are definitely a technical limitation for when you swap the characters with dissimilar palettes, while every other color on the screen remains the same. So certain platforms will change to become Syfa/Trevor/Grant-colored.

[brnleague99]

@Overhazard I always thought Syfa used magic to hide her true sex until she was sure she could trust Trevor.