Castlevania: Legends

Castlevania Legends
North American box art
Developer(s)	Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya
Publisher(s)	Konami
Director(s)	Kouki Yamashita
Designer(s)	Tsukasa Hiyoshi
Programmer(s)	Yoshiteru Yamaguchi
Artist(s)	Kazunobu Uchida
Composer(s)	Kaoru Okada Youichi Iwata
Series	Castlevania
Platform(s)	Game Boy
Release date(s)	JP: November 27, 1997 NA: March 11, 1998 EU: 1998
Genre(s)	Platforming
Mode(s)	Single-player

Castlevania Legends, released in Japan as Akumajō Dracula: Dark Night Prelude (悪魔城ドラキュラ 漆黒たる前奏曲（ダークナイト プレリュード）, Akumajō Dorakyura Dāku Naito Pureryūdo^?) is the third and final Castlevania title released for the original Game Boy. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1997 and in North America on March 11, 1998. As with many Game Boy titles after 1994, Legends has some enhancements when played on the Super Game Boy.

A player starts with three lives, after which the game is over. A player may continue from the beginning of the last stage they were in. There is also a Hit score showing how many enemies have been defeated in each stage. Like other Castlevania games, striking candles will cause items to appear. However, unlike most other Castlevania titles, the traditional subweapons are replaced with five unique magic spells called "Soul Weapons". Hearts are used as currency to acquire weapons. Sonia can also enter a "Burning Mode", where she becomes invincible, moves faster, and has more powerful attacks, though this power can only be used once per life or level.

The story begins in Transylvania in the year 1450. In the game (although not the series' overall canon), Sonia Belmont is the first Belmont to confront Dracula. She also meets Alucard who seeks revenge against his father Dracula. After Dracula's defeat, he swears to Sonia that as long as there is evil in the world, he will be resurrected, and in response she swears her family will always defeat him. The game was also the first game in the series timeline until Lament of Innocence.

IGN called the game one of the Game Boy's cult classics despite the portable system's limitations.GameSpy called the music "disappointing", as the previous two Game Boy Castlevania games were highly praised for their music.Game Informer's Tim Turi felt that the game was lacking especially compared to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.