Legends is most notable for being made non-canon despite being intended as the origin story of the Belmonts in the series' main timeline. Sonia was also meant to be reappear in Castlevania: Resurrection before that game's cancellation.
It wasn't included in Konami's Castlevania Anniversary Collection, but Nintendo did eventually include it in the Nintendo Switch Online Service in October of 2023.
This game provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Sonia, the sole playable female Belmont. Also the sole female lead in the series until Shanoa in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia a decade later. She would have also appeared in Castlevania: Resurrection for the Sega Dreamcast, had it not been cancelled.
- All There in the Manual: Sonia was born with mysterious powers around the same time that Dracula first arose as the prince of darkness, and was trained by her grandfather. The game takes place when she's 17.
- Babies Ever After: The best ending reveals that she was pregnant, and her newborn child will continue the Belmont legacy. That would most likely be Trevor, of course.
- Bat People: The first stage boss is a large bat/gargoyle thing.
- Canon Discontinuity:
- Early Konami-published timelines officially dated the events of the game as around 1400 or 1450, but it was removed in later versions at the request of Koji "IGA" Igarashi when he became producer of the series. His reasons for doing so is debated among fans. The current Origins Episode of the original series is Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, which is set even earlier in 1094.
- Curiously, Nocturne of Recollection, a radio drama released around the same time as Judgment and set after the events of Symphony of the Night, suggests Lisa was executed before 1450 (there is a flashback to the year 1448 where a younger Alucard and his servant Lyudmil are reminiscing about Lisa), but Nocturne itself has a dubious standing within Castlevania canon.
- Chest Monster: There are some candles that hide monsters in them.
- Continuity Nod: She can't use them herself, but the secret items needed for the best ending are all of the subweapons from previous Castlevanias.
- Double-Meaning Title: Its original title, Dark Night Prelude:
- First, it follows the Musical Theme Naming from the period (e.g. Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night/Nocturne in the Moonlight), since a prelude is also a musical composition.
- Secondly, a prelude is also an introduction to an event. The game was originally intended as the first game in the Castlevania chronology, depicting the beginnings of the rivalry between the Belmont clan and Dracula.
- Empty Room Psych: Legends has several moments throughout the levels where Sonia can be locked into a trap room and forced to fight through a gauntlet of enemies to get out again, with nothing to show for your efforts except wasted time and whatever life/hearts you lost to the monsters.
- Expy:
- Sonia is similar to Doris from Vampire Hunter D, a blonde woman who uses a whip and allies with the eponymous D, who is a half-vampire like Alucard. Note that Vampire Hunter D actually predates the Castlevania series by about three years.
- In addition to the above, Sonia's design visually resembles Cammy from Street Fighter II.
- Fighting Your Friend: Dracula's estranged son Alucard features as a stage boss in his third appearance in the series. Apparently he and Sonia got very close (leading to Wild Mass Guessing about the paternity of her child) and he shows up to dissuade her from fighting his father since he's going to do that himself. Sonia doesn't back down, so they end up fighting each other. After he's defeated, he leaves to hibernate until he's awakened in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
- Magic Knight: Sonia uses magic in battle while wielding the tried and true whip. Namely, she can stop time for a few seconds, heal herself, shoot an projectile in front of her, and use two breeds of Smart Bomb.
- Multiple Endings: There are two different endings, a short, standard one, and an extended one that is seen by obtaining all five secret items in the game before finishing it.
- Secret Level: The dungeon area, which can be found by whipping a certain candle in Stage 5 to open a secret passage.
- Super Mode: Once per life per level, Sonia can activate "Burning Mode", which makes her invincible and powers up her whip for a limited time.
