Castlevania: Valiant Guardian

Castlevania: Valiant Guardian is an integrated progressive Castlevania spinoff slot game for the Concerto Crescent.

Plot[]

This game is a spinoff of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness and depicts Hector's quest to defeat Dracula. He first takes the road to Dracula's Castle with his Infant Fairy, where he fights bats. He then enters the castle's gates and is greeted by Dracula, who tells him "To you, I bequeath eternal darkness" and laughs. While sitting on his throne, Dracula then summons his minions. In order to reach Dracula, Hector must first defeat Skeletons, a Golden Bones, a Final Guard and then the Wyvern. Hector then faces Dracula. The final battle with Dracula is depicted in more detail in the sequel game, Castlevania: Ring of the Heavens. This game parallel's Trevor's similar quest in Castlevania: Labyrinth of Love.

Gameplay[]

Starting game[]

Before starting the game, the player should select an amount to bet per line (the game is available in fixed 20, 30, and 40 line configurations) that is used to determine the amount of line winnings, plus a mandatory extra bet (+10 - blue, +20 - green, +30 - yellow, +40 - orange, or +50 - red), which is used to make it more likely that the player gets a Jackpot.

A board with a path to Dracula's Castle (Jackpot Feature) is visible before starting the game with Hector placed at the first (lower left) position. During the Castlevania Feature, Hector has the opportunity to move on the board. If he reaches Dracula's Castle, the Jackpot Feature begins and the player has a shot at winning the Mini, Major, Mega, or Maxi Progressive Jackpot amounts seen at the top of the screen. Five warp circles can be found on this board, which, if activated, would warp Hector to the corresponding colored square space, making it more likely that he can reach the Jackpot Feature. These warp circles are each lablled with a different possible amount of extra bet (+10, +20, +30, +40, and +50). Setting the amount of extra bet activates all warp circles labeled with that amount or lower.

Once the minimum required bet has been met between the line bet and extra bet (70 credits for a 40 line configuration machine), the player can start the game.

Normal play[]

Symbols[]

Normal

Special

Jackpot feature

Regular payouts[]

Match 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 (Wilds can substitute for any symbol and normally don't appear on the first reel)
- 9, 10, J, Q: - / 5 / 20 / 100
- K, A: - / 5 / 25 / 100
- Harp, Money Bag: 2 / 10 / 40 / 150
- Dragon, Final Guard: 2 / 20 / 50 / 250
- Julia: 2 / 25 / 100 / 500

Free game feature[]

When three or more Green Gems appear anywhere on the reels, different reels are used, expanding the number of rows from 3 to 9, and the player is awarded a number of free games (8 for 3 symbols, 12 for 4, or 25 for 5). During these games, all pays are on 120 lines, regardless of the amount of lines initially played. A rendition of "Beginning" is played in the background during this feature.

Wild feature[]

The Wild Feature will activate at random times (more frequently during free game play). The wild symbols will enlargen to take up multiple rows on the reels, where they can be used as wilds for any row they appear on. Wilds also appear on the first reel, allowing Wild matches to be awarded, which have the highest payout of any matched symbol.

Castlevania feature[]

Whenever a Hector wild symbol appears (more frequent during the Free Game Feature and Wild Feature), energy is released towards the jewel that encases an Infant Fairy. Occasionally, that energy will cause the jewel to crack, releasing the fairy and the Castlevania Feature begins. Hector can now start moving on the path to Dracula's Castle, while a rendition of the "Bloody Tears" audio track is played. The player is presented with four different colored hearts, each which has a different range of numbers of spaces that Trevor be can be randomly moved. A green heart can move 1 to 9 spaces. A blue heart can move 4 to 6 spaces. A pink heart can move 1 to 12 spaces. A player then selects one of these hearts and the the number of spaces the character will move is randomly selected within the range for that heart and is revealed, the heart is removed from the supply, and the player moves that number of spaces. If he lands on a blue circle, he will be taken to the blue square space. If he lands on a gold circle, he will be taken to the Jackpot Feature space at the end of the path. When he has finished moving, a bat will fly at him, which he will slay. He is then given a random reward, which could be credits or additional colored hearts. Landing on a blue circle space will cause Hector to warp to the blue square space. If he has any hearts left and he has not reached the end of the board, he can take an extra turn by selecting one of the remaining hearts. If he reaches the final Jackpot Feature square, he will enter Dracula's Castle and the Jackpot Feature will commence.

Jackpot feature[]

When the Jackpot Feature starts, the castle draw bridge is lowered and Hector enters it. He faces off against Dracula, but Dracula summons three waves of enemies before he can fight him directly. A rendition of "Vampire Killer" is then starts playing in the background. Hector must first defeat a few skeletons in each wave and then defeat a tougher boss of that wave. Defeating the boss of each wave will secure winning a progressive jackpot prize.

During combat play, a special single row and five reeled slot spinner appears, each which contains three symbols, a null symbol (-), an attack symbol, and a damage symbol. Hector will attack the enemy, dealing it damage, whenever an attack symbol appears on a real. The enemy will attack, dealing Hector damage whenever a damage symbol appears. The reel that the damage appeared on will then be crossed out. Once all reels have been crossed out, the Jackpot Feature comes to an end, Dracula laughs, and the remaining enemies vacate the combat area. Trevor is left to collect a treasure chest containing the highest progressive reward he had earned though.

The first wave of enemies appear at the start of a Mini Chance. These consist of 4 regular skeletons that can be mowed down with a quick sword swing, followed by a tougher Golden Skeleton, which is still dispatched in a single spinning sword strike. Upon its defeat, the chest at the end is now guaranteed to be at least a Mini progressive reward, and a Major Chance begins. This wave consists of 3 more skeletons followed by a tough Final Guard. Defeating this enemy brings the total reward up to at least a Major progressive reward and then a Mega Chance begins. 2 more skeletons appear, followed by a giant Wyvern. If this is defeated, the reward is increased to a Mega progressive, and Hector then faces Dracula during a Maxi Chance. If Dracula is defeated, he is awarded the Maxi jackpot.

Videos[]

Main article: Castlevania: Valiant Guardian/Videos

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Trivia[]

Even though Julia Laforeze does not appear in the actual game, a portrait of her is used as an icon in the reel sections.
A lighthearted arrangement of Bloody Tears can be heard whenever Hector advances on the path toward Dracula's Castle.
The title Valiant Guardian may be referring to the Infant Fairy, whose release marks the beginning of the Castlevania Feature.

Related products[]

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness - The original game this slot spinoff is based on.
Pachislot Akumajō Dracula: Lords of Shadow - The previous Castlevania slot game made
Castlevania: Labyrinth of Love - A follow up to this game in a similar style featuring Trevor Belmont vs. Dracula and his minions.
Castlevania: Ring of the Heavens - The next slot game featuring Hector vs. Dracula.
Castlevania: Warrior of Darkness - A similar slot machine available in Australia.