At last, at last...finally...you have entered the lair of the sharp-dressing Demon himself. Take Nintendo Power # 18's advice, and "Prepare for the fight of your life!" Vladmir Tepes, known also as 'The Impaler', is the Ultimate Evil responsible all of the goings down in Dracula's Curse. He even had a freakin' CURSE named after him. So next time anyone tries to give you guff, just say "DRAK YOU!!!"

No matter how many times the Belmont family and their relatives manage to slam him, he always returns For Great Punish. Must be some kind of boffo fetish or something... o_0 If you're not paying attention to the destructive CastleVania Legends, and who is in 1990, then it is here, in the 1400's, that Count Dracula arrives for his first terrorish attack. Here's how to defeat this bad boy!

Trevor C. Belmont (solo): When you're packing heat to Drac's throne room, be sure to pick up a Battle Axe and have it charged up with the Triple Threat token. Here's how to deal with his first Dracula Battle Barely Perfect strategy... When Dracula stands up, be sure to shuffle some feet, because when he raises that almighty scepter of his, two spikes of fire will rise from the stony floor, trapping you between them. Now, if you had been hustling, you would have been given a lot more breathing room between the flares, that also includes more room to aim your axes at his head. When Dracula raises his wand again, MOVE! A HUGE column of fire will erupt where you last stood! Good thing you moved. If your location is good, you can try to hurl more of those blades at his head just as he lowers his arm again. As the fires dissipate, Dracula will teleport across the room with some kind of Ninja tactics he makes us aware of. Keep moving, avoiding the fires, and lobbing axes at his head. With the final blow, Dracula's body BURSTS, his head rises and multiplies...

Back in 1991, I was 10 years old, and seeing something like this in a Nintendo game was uncalled for, so you could imagine my amazement when I first saw this extremely weird clump of heads hurling on me... I'm still trying to figure out whether or not those are brains or snakes on top of its central head.

BIG BATTLE plays as Dracula reveals his next sinister form, whom I've come to call "Heads" for pretty...yeah...pretty obvious reasons. What this horrendous mess will do is float around the room (first to the right side, then bouncing off the side to seek you out), blood pouring from its gaping maws. It's a large target, so you don't want to be in a bad corner of the locked screen when Heads approaches. Don't come into contact with the invulnerable blood or its splashes either, as the poisonous muck may cost you your Warakiyan Well-Being.

As it always floats for the right edge of the screen at the start, begin with an all out assault with whips and Battle Axes; you just might take out a head or two. You've gotta love the scream they make. The aim for this round is to incapacitate each piece of the cluster, and if you bring enough force to the table, the embarassed creature will break apart at the seams, its pieces instantly bursting into fire as they crash to the floor.

This is the last straw. If you think you've seen all there is to Dracula, you'd better think again. From the shadows emerges an enormous kneeling, winged beast, which proceeds to fire lasers from its evil eyes and wicked claws! The aim of the beams are set once either the eyes or hands flash up, so do some hustling beforehand in order to make each of his shots count less. You've got to have some Battle Axes in tow, so send those blade-babies up to his head and take him out!

There will also be pieces of the floor levitating around the room. If your Heart of Stone count is at the 0s, dare to hop on the passing platform and whip Dracula upside the face! But like I said, it's best to use your Warakiya War Item, and while confided to the left side of the room.

GOOD LUCK!!!

With Grant: Grant can help you alot because he am very fast. Well, if you've got the reading skills of a Third Grader, you probably had that figured out back in Stage 2. Everything Trevor can do, Grant can do faster, so it's better for Trevor to pack Holy Water and let DaNasty do the axe'n of questions.

  
Left: Trevor punishes Heads with a holy cocktail.
Right: Sky-high (okay, maybe 4 feet up) attacks, courtesy Grant.

Hustle and leap, hurl and dodge, and once Dracula pops apart, switch to Trevor and put some serious heat on Heads; you should have been able to take out his lower halves by the time he'd drifted to the other side of the room. Once Heads goes sky high, however, it's time to bring back the reinforcements, and Air Grant will send those Battle Axes First Class style!

  
Left: I just LOVE Dracula's extremely PISSED expression as he's coming apart...!
Right: Unlike Super CastleVania IV, this does NOT happen when you hit the 'statue'.
I just adapted that from what I saw at a Japanese CastleVania site to keep its real form a surprise. ^_^;

Once Heads has been herbed, it's once again time for Grant to clean up. DaNasty's a nimble little thing, so if you syke out the laserfire, you should put away Count Wackula in no time.

With Sypha: Everyone seems to put down Sypha because she is the 'weakest', however, if you have her pick of the red Flame book, available right in front of Drac's face in a candle that contains a wimpy Dagger for Trevor, you can prove those infidel netheads wrong once and for all! Sypha can finish off Dracula quite efficiently and with few scratches if you're doing it right.

You know Drac's drill by now, so simply walk up to him, get as close as you can, and just as soon as those spires of fires arise, start spouting some flames in his face! There's no jumping required! As noted by my friend Jason, Syph's flame licks out and curls up, brushing by Drac's chin, dealing out the damage! Hustle as usual and repeat giving Dracula a taste of his own tricks. It's revenge time!

You'll have Heads licked (in 1997, it would read off innocent enough...in 2002, it just sounds wrong, and very suggestive) if you keep on with the Flame Tongues. Tag Trevor and his Battle Axes if Heads gets too high for Sypha to 'fire' at.

For the Gargantuan Demonica, you can go about it two ways. You can either have Trevor do cleanup from the safe perch on the left, or you can have Sypha attempt a full facial assault with the flames by hopping on those tricky platforms. Like Mark Hammil said when he and Wedge battled AT-ATs at Hoth, "Watch that crossfire, boys!"

Fade Drac, and the day is saved...SYPHA STYLE!!!

With Alucard: Well, Alucard's primary weapon is just about useless, but if you would like to play Soap Opera with Alucard and daddy, feel free to flick off those ineptly-named Balls of Destruction for 12 minutes. Otherwise, refer to my Trevor tactics and have Alucard take care of Big Drac's last energy bit for the Huge Upset.

The below finishing move was prescribed in 1997 by Sheldon Kooper, and does not exist in either the American, Japanese, French, Spanish, or Dizknee versions of CastleVania III: Dracula's Curse:

The above technique is NOT present in CastleVania III Dracula's Curse.

Lucas Goodman, one of DCTP's first friends, graciously wrote in 'round late '97, early '98, with this tactic for Trevor, armed with Battle Axes:

I finally got Dracula's Curse a couple of days ago and I beat it yesterday. I have a strategy for Dracula's three forms. On his first form, stand three blocks away and whip him three times, standing as close to the fire column as you can. When the big one starts, get out of the way! Repeat 'till he's dead.

On his second form, whip while he's on the ground, and use the axe when he's in the air. He's a wimp, and he will die in no time.

On his demon form stand in the corner and jump and throw axes. Be sure to be in distance to hit him.