I'm a video game reviewer and big fan of the Castlevania franchise.  Of course, when the import of the new Castlevania game became available, I had to have a copy right away, despite the fact that I can't read Japanese.  I thought I'd throw together a guide to getting through the game, to help both import owners with the translations and US owners with the tougher parts. This started in April 1997 as a one-page sticking point place where everyone could help out. I realize that it's a bit disorganized, but that's what happens when things start one way and explode.

The Japanese version includes a music CD with some of the greatest video game music ever composed, lifted from all the games in the Castlevania franchise, and a beautiful book of the production artwork from Nocturne/Symphony of the Night. The Japanese version is available now (check the rec.games.video.sony newsgroup to buy it), and, with the help of this strategy guide, extremely playable even for the Japanese illiterate (like myself).

Be advised, however, Americans need a mod chip for their PlayStation or they have to use the swap method to be able to play this game. DON'T E-mail me about this... check out this Swap Method FAQ.

Regarding the US release of the artwork book and CD:

They were free promos for people who pre-order the game.  Electronics Boutique had both the artwork book and music CD, while Babbages & Funcoland had just the music CD.  Unfortunately, EB screwed up their allocation royally and many purchasers never got their stuff, but, instead, they got $5 off the game.

Konami has recently confirmed that there will indeed be a Saturn version of SotN.  It's coming very soon in Japan, and Maria, Richter and Alucard will be playable from the main menu.  There will also be two new areas:  Underground Gardens and Poisonous Plant Ridge, as well as new items.  The catch: There are no plans to port to the US.  As of May 1, when this site stopped the presses, the Saturn Dracula X had been delayed just a few weeks before shipping.  There's no word on release date now.

There's a Nintendo 64 Castlevania coming, as well:  Video was shown at the Tokyo Toy Show.  Looks to be a Mario 64-ish take on Castlevania, and is currently titled "Castlevania 64." Also, Konami has just announced that there will be a new, third Castlevania GameBoy game coming in February, "Castlevania Legends."

If you've got a PC Game Boy Emulator, you can check out the ROM of the import of "Castlevania Legends," courtesy of the folks at the Castlevania Dungeon.  This is a great site for Castlevania fans, so check it out!  If you need more information on emulators (this is a free way to play all of the NES Castlevania games and even the Genesis "Castlevania Bloodlines" for free on your PC), check out Paul's Emulator Pages.

Back to the matter at hand:  I don't want to ruin the game for anyone, but this site has gotten way too large to think about designing so that you can only access certain parts in a certain order. I implore you to only use this guide as you find extremely necessary, at least until you've beaten the game. The only one you'll be cheating is yourself, of the enjoyment of playing this fantastic game (which, granted, may be a bit too easy... and this strategy guide may make it WAY too easy).

This latest Castlevania adventure has been compared to Metroid:  The castle is one, big, non-linear world that you can explore at random.  You'll find certain instruments that will allow you to get into new areas of the game, dozens of weapons and power-up trinkets and secret areas galore.

Of course, you control Alucard, son of Dracula, last seen in Castlevania III:  Dracula's Curse.  Alucard has at his disposal many weapons, armor, capes, trinkets and spells.  This guide is for people who have the game and are stuck, however, so I'll just dispense with the intro and move right into the strategy guide.

These are all the spells I've been able to find.  Once you use a spell, it's listed in your spell book (once you obtain the first item, see Item List). If you get to a certain point and haven't found a spell, you can buy the spell book from the merchant.  Save your money... use them from here.

R: Right, L: Left, U: Up, D: Down, F: Forward, T: Toward

R, L, U, D, square:  A mist attack travels around the screen and hits your enemies. MP: 5

U, D, DT, T, square: Dracula's signature 3-ball flame.  Hold up while he's casting the spell to shoot the two lava balls instead.  MP: 15

L, LU, U, UR, R, squre: Alucard becomes red for a moment, during which he absorbs the energy from the enemies he attacks. MP: 10

L, R, RD, D, DL, L, R, square: Powerful burst that drains the energy from your enemies and draws it into you.  This will also destroy walls.  MP: 50

U, UR, R, RD, D, square:  MP: 20 The red "up" means "hold." If you hold "up" for a few seconds, then do the rest, this spell creates four spirits to attack your enemies.

As the Wolf: D, DT, square: Lunging bite. Thanks to Sebastian for this one.

As the Bat: Hold X, U, UL, L, DF, D, DR, R, release X: The bat goes shooting across the screen, attacking everything. Thanks to Ben.  This is seen onscreen with question marks (?) before and after the spell. You can also use this going the other direction, of course.

With the Sword companion: D,DF,F,UF,U hold for 2 sec, D+square: the sword will get close to the screen, say something, spin then damage all enemies on screen. Thanks to Joel.

With the Staff Weapon: square + circle + triangle: According to Erik:  The staff weapon (power 35, if i remember correctly) can be used to cast spells when equiped with a shield. just press the two attack buttons and the backdash button at the same time. Different shield combinations give different spells.. some are protection.. some raise attributes.. and i've found two that do damage.. one notable one (so far) would be the skull shield. it casts a spell that takes off about a third of magic off my bar and casts a lasrer beam that does multiple 100+ damages. Thanks Erik!
 

With the Shield Rod: Square and Circle (with Shield Rod and any Shield equipped) unleash a variety of spells, depending on which shield you've equipped. See Page 7 for more information on shields and a picture of the Shield Rod.

Down, Toward, square: This will activate special spells with many of the weapons, including lightning bolts, sword throwing and teleportation. Thanks to everybody who told me about all this stuff.

Back, Toward, square: According to PM, most two-handed weapons allow this special stroke that makes Alucard charge with the weapon, causing extra damage.

Jump, DT + jump again: Alucard does an attacking kick. Victor thinks you need an item to get this to work (perhaps that's the winged card).

Press and hold L1,L2,R1 R2 and with them held, press SELECT and START together: The game will reset itself at the title screen and is a whole lot quicker than reboot. Thanks to James.

A helpful hint for those non-Japanese speaking import players:  In the save area (makred on the map by red rooms), select the right option, then push UP and select the left option, and you'll be given two new options, one that ends with a 1 and one that ends with a 2.  This enables you to save the game to a new file on either memory card, rather than rewriting.

I was actually asked in an E-mail where the save rooms are.  This is clearly getting out of hand... people are asking me questions before they've even played the game.  In any case, you'll see rooms with a large ball, really the only polygon image in the entire game, spinning around.  Stand under this ball and push up, you'll get the save option.  Press square to save the game over your current one on your memory card.

These numbered problems correspond to a map below. Again, a warning: Do not scroll down past #19 if you don't want to see a complete map of the castle.

1.Blue Doors and Bug First and foremost, there's a bug in the import Dracula X: A door that makes the game crash when you enter from a specific side. If you encounter this problem, don't worry.  You'll be able to enter the room later from the other side, and the bug will disappear.  I imagine it will be fixed in the US version.  Meanwhile, at the same point on the map, and in other areas, there are blue doors that block your progress.  You can't pass through these until you obtain a blue pendant from the merchant.  It's the first item on his list.

2.The Merchant The merchant's extremely confusing, especially for those of us who don't speak Japanese.  Here's what I've been able to figure out, from his main menu: 

1. Allows you to buy items.  The item you're considering appears on his table.
2. Allows you to buy (and sell) rings.
3. Instructions for fighting bosses.  Kind of a waste of money, I never found any to be real problems.
4. The Monster Dictionary.  For a translation, check Page 5.
5. This is a series of selections that leads to Japanese dialogue.  Not available until you beat the final villain and return.  Thanks to Jeff, who tells me that a Japanese associate of his told him this is "Free Conversation" with some of the voice stars of the game.(US version note:  This has been replaced with the "Background Music" option in the US edition)
6. Leave

Item Name	Price	Effects/Notes
Blue Pendant: ‘Open Door’ * Important *	$500	Allows you to Open all the Blue Doors
Potion	$800	Restores HP
Serum	$200	Cures Poison
Uncurse	$200	Eliminates ‘Curse’ status
Hammer	$200	Cures Petrification (with Fairy activated)
Magic Missile	$300	1 time use
Knife	$300	1 time use
Boomerang #		1 time use
Magical Ticket	$500	Teleport back to the Merchant (cool shortcut)
Sabre	$1500	weapon
Mace	$2000	weapon
Damascus Sword	$4000	weapon
Leather Shield	$400
Iron Shield	$3980
Velvet Hat	$400	defense
Leather Hat	$1000	defense
Circlet	$4000	defense
Iron Breastplate	$1500
‘Steel’ Breastplate	$4000
Diamond Breastplate	$12,000
Reversable Cape	$2000
Elven Robe	$3000	Helps hide in forest
‘Order Made’ (System)	$30,000	For System Menu, can ‘pick colors’
Medal	$3000	Adds +1 to Offense And Defense
MAP of the Castle	$103	* Definitely a must buy ^_^ *
Pearl Ring #		Holy Power
Magician’s Book - "Dark Metamorphosis" #		Spell-- you don't have to buy these spells, just do them once to activate them.
"Summon Spirit" #		Spell
"Hellfire" #		Spell
Duplicator #	$500,000	Makes one-of-a-kind items limitless. Not available until you beat the final villain.

# These items become available later on, after you progress further in the game.

Please note: This is the order that they are in the first time you see the Merchant; some items after they are bought will ‘disappear’ and thus the Order of the items might be ‘thrown off’ a little. Also, please excuse the rough translations of these items. Enjoy.

Finally, several people have pointed out that you get an increase life item by doing the super jump under the merchant: D, U, jump.

From Chris:

I noticed that someone on your page mentioned the trick about using the super-jump underneath the old man in the library.  The first time you do this, it does indeed give you a life power-up.  But here's the trick, and I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you have A LOT of magic power.  If you continually use this technique of bouncing the old guy up in the air you can get some different items.  One thing to be careful of is that you need to jump continually without letting Alucard touch the ground, and you don't want to plow the old guy's head into the ceiling either.  Keep the jumps low and consistent, bouncing gramps of the floor just a little bit.  If you continue this, (often it does take time) and your luck is relatively high, you should be able to get these items (not necessarily in this order).  The rare ring (often mistranslated as the Leia ring), the Axman's armor, and the Dracula armor.  The only unique one of these is the Dracula armor, and it's not even that great, but if you get it early on, it makes a nice temporary suit of armor.

3. Wolf Transform In order to obtain the wolf transform from inside the elevator shaft, hit the mechanical object a few rows above you, then return and the shaft will open. As the wolf, a double-forward will make you dash, and you can jump higher on stairs.  Later, the triangle button will allow you to swim.  For spell moves using the wolf, see the spells section.

4. Bat Transform This is where the bat transform is located, through a grate.  You can't obtain it until you find the mist (see #18... but try to find it yourself first!).

5. Falling Bridges/Difficult Stairs This is a tough leap to make before the bridges fall out from under you.  The wolf has a fast dash (which seems to work when you press twice in the same direction). You'll need to use it, combined with his jump, to make it across the bridge.  On the second part, jump just as you're about to cross the bridge, then again as soon as you land. The wolf's jump will also enable you to get up the high stairs in the room with the gears.  When running up steps, for whatever reason, the wolf can jump extra high.

6. Gears There's a door with a gate over it that seems impassable in this room.  You'll need to his all the gears on the wall in this and the previous room, and you'll hear them "clunk" when you hit them.  Keep hitting each one until you hear them "clink" instead of "clunk."  You'll hear the difference. Once they've all "clinked," return to the door and the gate will be raised.

7. Wooden Bridges  The skeleton guys throw flaming barrels at you.  Maneuver so that they explode over the wooden bridge and it'll collapse, offering you passage to the area below. The skeleton guys won't appear until you hit a switch all the way west (left) of that corridor.

8. Room of Darkness You'll need to either use the mist to get through this room or the bat's sonar (that's what that weird stuff the bat shoots is). At the other end, you'll be able to turn on a light and you'll see the spikes.  This leads to a purple armor, the "spikebuster" armor, which allows you to walk across spikes. This is also listed on the map on page 3.

9. Hidden Area I strongly recommend you keep the fairy on at all times (she's one of the book items you receive), as she points out hidden areas to you, like this one. Break through the ground and drop down to find a lake. The first time I got there, I found a huge, impassable door.  Later, when I returned, the boatman was there and he opened the door for me.  This leads to...

10. Moving in Water The snorkel is located here, and it'll allow you to move underwater without getting hurt.

11. The ClockThere are six passages out from the clock room, only two of which are accessible at first.  The upper middle passage can be taken with the bat or mist 2 power. The upper left passage opens every minute.  The upper right can be opened with the stopwatch weapon, which is always very easily found to the right or left screens.  The final area can only be accessed when you're wearing both rings from Maria (they both have the same name), found in the "Nightmare" and in area 13.

12. Corridor of Spikes You can't get through here until you have the spikebuster armor.  It's very important to do this before you beat the game.

13. Ring from Maria You'll need this second ring from Maria, in addition to the one from the Nightmare, to wear in the clock room to gain access to the final battle. For exact locations of both of these rings, check the map on Page 3.

14. Hidden Area Use the demon by activating one of your spell books, and he'll push this button to move that wall for you.  Special thanks to Goh Woon for help with this.

15. Hidden Area This secret area, in the ceiling of the coliseum, was pointed out to me by Mike K.  The 50-point spell, an axe or the super mist will all break through the wall. Thanks again!

16. Hidden Area Thanks to Ed for pointing out this secret area.  Just hit the ground with an advanced weapon to drop down.  The fairy may point it out to you, but be careful because there are TWO secret areas right next to each other (I missed the second one).

17. Double Jump  There's a blue pendant here which grants you the double-jump.

18. Mist Transform Here's the location of the mist item.

19. Hidden Area Okay... many people are having problems.  Check out the map below.  Look at the hidden area 19.  The room that you enter it from has four entrances, right?  Upper left, where you come from when you start the game, lower right, which is a blocked wall until later, and upper right (forget the passage in the ceiling for now). When you *first* enter, from the upper left, you'll come across a big rock.  If you hit the rock, you get a turkey.  However, once you become more powerful, you can keep going through that rock to create a passageway all the way through. NOW... if you turn into a wolf and run through this rock, a passageway on the lower left wall *should* open up.  That's how I did it.  Other people have E-Mailed saying it doesn't work, other people have said it worked after 20 tries, other people say they had to use the bat, or the wolf one way and the bat back.  I don't know... it's the same as the whole playing as Richter thing... it works for some people and doesn't work for others.  More info as it's available.

20. Inverted Castle See Page 2 for information on how to reach the Inverted Castle and a map of sticking points for it.

Last Chance to Leave
Before Castle Map!!!
Sticking Point Map of the Castle

Red blocks are save points, yellow are warp points.  For a more complete map of the game, including item locations, bosses and power-ups, go to Page 3.

Here's a complete list of all the items (as in 'Got an Item' items; i.e. abilities) read it from top to bottom (first is top left, second is top right, etc.)

Soul of Bat Enables you to turn into a bat (press r1 button)

Fire of Bat Enables you to fire fireballs when you are a bat (press attack button)

Echo of Bat Enables you to send sonar waves when you are a bat (press triangle button)

Crazy Echo Makes the bat's sonar wave longer

Soul of Wolf Enables you to turn into a wolf (press r2 button)

Power of Wolf Enables you to run faster (tap right or left twice and hold down) Using this method you can break walls by crashing into them

Skill of Wolf Enables you to swim when you are a wolf. (hold triangle button and press left or right)

Mist Enables you to turn into mist (press l1 button)

Power of mist Enables you to stay mist for as long as you like

Gas Cloud Instead of turning into mist you will turn into a yellow gas cloud that damages enemies.

Materialize Cube Makes pick-ups appear from candles and flames when you hit them

Soul Orb (a.k.a.Candle) Displays the amount of damage you inflict with each attack

Float Boots (a.k.a. High Jump Boots) Allows you to jump 5 times higher (press down, up, then jump button)

Flight Stone (a.k.a.) Double Jump Pendant Allows you to perform a double jump (press jump button while in the air)

Holy Symbol (Snorkel) Prevents water from damaging you.

Book of Enemy Names Records the names of enemies you encounter and displays them on the screen *This is actually translated as "Fairy Book," but, since I designed my map with "Fairy Card" listed as "Fairy Book," it's just too confusing to actually list this item by its proper translation.

Unlock Jewel Unlocks locked doors

Mermaid Statue Summons the boatman to bring you across the water vein (lower right hand corner of first castle)

Essence of Bat Summons a bat to help you fight enemies *Listed as "Bat Book" on my map.

Essence of Ghost Summons a ghost to help you fight enemies (referred to as "Skull Book" on my map because the ghost is a flaming skull)

Essence of Fairy Summons a fairy to heal your health and status and to point out secret areas

Essence of Little Devil Summons a devil to help you fight enemies *Listed as "Demon Book 1" on my map.

Essence of Sword Summons an intelligent sword to help you fight enemies *Listed as "Sword Book" on my map.

Essence of Halfling Summons a "half" fairy to heal your health and status and to point out secret areas. *Listed as "Fairy Book 1" on my map.

Essence of Nose Goblin Summons a "nose" devil to help you fight enemies *Listed as "Demon Book 2" on my map.

Dracula's Heart Immunity from Curse

Dracula's Tooth Increases your STR+10

Dracula's Bone increases your CON+10

Dracula's Ring increases your INT+10

Dracula's Eye Increases your LCK+10

Thanks to Shadeless and Davin "The Raven" for contributing to these.

Thanks to Gia for putting this together for me, listed in the same order:

Soul of Bat Transform into Bat

Fire of Bat Shoot Fireballs as Bat

Echo of Bat Use radar as Bat

Force of Echo Attack with radar waves

Soul of Wolf Transform into Wolf

Power of Wolf Run swiftly as Wolf

Skill of Wolf Special move as Wolf

Form of Mist Transform into Mist

Power of Mist Extends Mist transform time

Gas Cloud Transform into poisonous cloud

Cube of Zoe Causes items to materialize

Spirit Orb Shows enemy damage

Gravity boots Wearer can jump high

Leap Stone Wearer can do double jump

Holy Symbol Protection while underwater

Fairy Scroll Displays enemy's name

Jewel of Open Can open locked blue doors

Merman Statue Summons the oarsman

Bat Card Summons "Bat" familiar

Ghost Card Summons "Ghost" familiar

Faerie Card Summons "Fairie" familiar

Demon Card Summons "Devil" familiar

Sword Card Summons "Sword" familiar

Heart of Dracula 1 of 5 Treasures. Avoid Curse

Tooth of Vlad 1 of 5 Treasures. STR +10

Rib of Vlad 1 of 5 Treasures. CON +10

Ring of Vlad 1 of 5 Treasures. INT +10

Eye of Vlad 1 of 5 Treasures. LCK +10
 

From Soo Yu Shen:

When you first start the game, there is a way to keep all of your belongings from being stolen by Shaft. To do this, you need to use the 99 luck name code. Start the game as usual but in the room after point #19 and before shaft, there are 3 wolves. Kill all of them and stop at the end of the room. Unequip some of the items so that only the sword, cape & necklace remain. At this point, your defense should only be twelve. Turn back & kill the first wolf. At the second wolf, stop in front of it so that it will lunge at you. If done correctly, you will 'fly' past shaft & into the next room.

You can't pause & equip back your armor at this point. To resume the game normally, save your game or go into the next room.

Nick got this bug to work, but warns that you can't, at any point, return to that room where Death is, or he'll take the stuff. You can go all the way around and access the entrance through the ground water vein, however.

I have 200.6% of Dracula X complete.  If you've reached a room I haven't, it should be easy enough to tell by looking at my map.  Let me know and I'll add it to the page for everyone.

The only thing I think we really need at this point is *verbatim* translations of some of the dialogue.  Of course, you'll get full credit.

As you can see, I've worked pretty hard on this page.  Please don't take any of the images from this page, or copy directly any of the text.  Just wouldn't be very fair.

Here's a list of winners since I started the page, and CLEAR examples of questions NOT to E-mail me with:

• Where is this item located? (Considering that I have a map that tells you everything).  The one I get most commonly is, "Where is the Spikebuster Armor."  If you want a laugh, click RIGHT NOW to the map on Page 3.
• How do I find the Nightmare? (ditto)
• How do I get to the second Castle? (And that's covered on Page 2)
• What does this do? (And I have Pages 7 & 8 that document almost *everything* in the game)
• Can you E-mail me your maps or images?
• Can I copy information from your FAQ, which obviously has taken a lot of hard work, and put it in mine?
• How do I play as Richter?
• How do I save?
• Why don't you do a FAQ for Final Fantasy VII?
• How do I beat something in Dracula X for the SNES?  Or Castlevania II: Simon's Quest?
• I've got 99.6% and can't find the rest... I beat Richter, but it didn't give me anything.
• I found this really cool sword, but I don't know the name, or where I found it, or what it does, but please put it on your list.
• Can you send me the music CD?
• This is great, but can you re-capture all of the images on your page so they look better?

Seriously, though, I have gotten all of these E-mails and I thought people might find this amusing.  I'm not using any names to embarrass people, but, for the record, I do not respond to things like this.  If you E-mail me with a question and don't get a response, it's a clear sign that the answer is on the page, because I like to talk and I respond to everyone with valid questions and suppositions.

Let's hope Konami makes more Castlevania games.
since October 1, 1996.
Over 160,000 Castlevania fans to this site only since April 11, 1997
Please sign my guestbook

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