Amph Dracula's Curse: Castlevania & Castlevania: Nocturne [Netflix]

(alternate title: "When a Vampire Comes Along, You Must Whip It.")



So, after a (thankfully abandoned) attempt by Paul Anderson to make a Castlevania movie about 12 years ago, and then James Wan 4 years later, the property has come around again for another adaptation attempt, this time by Dredd/The Grey producer Adi Shankar (who also produced the various "bootleg universe" fan films like Dirty Laundry and Power/Rangers) and Adventure Time producer Fred Seibert. The entire series is written by Warren Ellis.

Believed to be a violent animated series aimed at adults 9comparisons have been made to Akira and HBO's Spawn), it will be an adaptation of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse from the NES (a prequel to the original two games). The show will have two seasons of 4 half-hour episodes. The first season hits Netflix in 2017, the second in 2018. Musically, it is expected to feature the "heavy metal electro guitar vibe" of the early games (smart move, given how classic some of those themes are. One has to assume there's zero chance of "Bloody Tears" not appearing in some form or another).

For those unfamiliar with the game's storyline premise, it centers around the centuries-long conflict between the Belmont Clan and Dracula. Trevor Belmont (ancestor to the protagonist of the first two games, Simon Belmont) is called upon by the Church (despite the Belmonts having been exiled) to help stop Dracula and his army of monsters from conquering Europe.

He is able to summon/transform into (depending on how one interprets the game mechanic and differing translation material) three allies to help him: Sypha Belnades (an elemental witch protected by the Church), Grant Danasty (a thief) and Alucard (the half-vampire son of Dracula).


And because no Castlevania discussion is complete without linking to some of the (approximately) twenty katrillion metal (or electronica) remixes of tracks from this series:

 

The Van Helsing comparison is amusing, given that the name Belmont has about as much association with "killing Dracula" at this point.

 

The Mode 7 rotating tunnel rooms of that game are still disorienting to this day. It makes otherwise traditional platforming so much more challenging.

(jump to 3:11)

 

Yeah, even when you strip away the retro nostalgia, there's something about the SNES color palette (and, I'd add, it's audio style) that produces something truly wonderful.

 

Not that I recall or can find on a google/IMDb search.

 

Dracula' Curse was also 8-bit, though admittedly I've actually never played it myself either (it really was all about Simon's Quest back in the day, wasn't it?), even though the introduction of Alucard was obviously notable.

C3DC has also been notable over the years for the difficulty in emulating it properly due to a unique sound chip in the cart. This is one reason why the original game cart isn't compatible with (or doesn't play back properly on) a lot of modern third party NES retro consoles.

 

It's on my eventual to-do list (I'm planning a full NES library play through eventually). But I have played I, II & IV and am still slowly playing through the GBA Castlevania double-pack (with Aria of Sorrow and Harmony of Dissonance) on and off again over the past 11 years (still on Aria), with a still-unopened copy of the DS Portrait of Ruin waiting in the wings.

 

Hey now, don't be dragging Zelda II into this. Z2 was hella hard and perhaps near-impossible without a Game Genie but it was still a great game.

My only problem with Simon's Quest was the odd plot objective. Dracula was dead but you had to find his scattered body parts so he'd come back to life... so that you could kill him again? That always threw me off.

 

Oh, don't get me wrong, ALTTP is still the high watermark of the franchise. But Z2AOL did a lot for the series and greatly expanded its mythology and game language and set the tone for how that world was perceived.

I'm a little biased, right now, though, because I was doing research on Z2 for a storybook/game guide project I was illustrating as a holiday gift to go with a Z2 download for some kids (to match one I made for Z1 for them last year), so I have a renewed appreciation for the game.

But, even back in the day, there was something compelling and fun about playing Z2 even though you knew you'd never beat it.