DESCRIPTION

One of Konami's most popular franchises makes the leap to 3D with the release of Castlevania for the Nintendo 64. Journey back to the 1800s, where evil is said to lurk within the deep recesses of Wallachia, Transylvania. Choose between two characters brave enough to investigate it: Reinhardt Schneider, descendant of the fabled Belmont family, and Carrie Fernandez, a 12-year-old girl trained in the martial arts.

Each character has two standard weapons to battle the undead forces; Reinhardt carries a whip and short sword for close attacks, while Carrie fires magical projectiles and wields two blade rings for hand-to-hand combat. Either character can also find and use one of the following special weapons: knives, crosses, axes or holy water. Depending on whom you select, there are alternate routes with two different endings per character.

Additional items to collect during your adventure include chicken and beef to restore health; bags of gold; weapon power-ups; healing kits; cure ampules to treat poison; purifying crystals to rid curses; and both moon and sun cards, which can turn days into nights or vice versa. Time plays an important role since you'll only be able to perform specific tasks at certain hours, and enemies will appear in greater numbers during the night!

The 96-Meg Castlevania features four camera views (normal, action, battle and boss) and a total of fourteen 3D stages (though not all can be seen by one character). You'll begin the game in a rainy forest filled with skeletons as you make your way toward Dracula's castle, where you'll scale walls and towers, explore courtyards and dungeons, and venture inside the chambers of the Count himself. Battle large boss creatures, leap across platforms, avoid traps and solve different puzzles until you finally fulfill your destiny as vampire slayer! ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide