I'm just about done with playing every game in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. Here's the penultimate title on my journey. BACKGROUND:
As I've already mentioned, I didn't know Castlevania had games on the Game Boy prior to Castlevania Legends, but the fact that Castlevania: The Adventure got a sequel is even more surprising to me. SUMMARY: Indeed, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge is a sequel to Castlevania: The Adventure, as it follows Christopher Belmont some time after the events of the first GB game. Dracula is back (surprise, surprise), and for his latest evil scheme, he kidnaps Christopher's son Soleil (Soleiyu in the original text) and turns him into a demon against the hero. Once again, it's up to our main Belmont to save not just the day, but also his son. When it comes to gameplay, Belmont's Revenge is largely identical to its predecessor, but with notable improvements and changes. You have the same general controls (only more responsive), the same whip mechanics (except you don't lose the upgrades when you get hit), and much nicer-looking visuals (like more detailed level elements and more polished sprites for the enemies). The music is still solid overall, which is great. Although the fireball whip is still a potent weapon here, it's not the only tool in your arsenal this time around. The holy water and axe sub-weapons make their return in this game, and they function the same way as they do in the original games. They're actually decently useful despite the overall versatility of the fireball whip, as you can reach troublesome enemies with them. Because sub-weapons are back, hearts are back to functioning as ammo in this game (unlike in the previous game, where they heal you). In that sense, this game is a little less forgiving on healing, but the iconic hidden wall chicken does make a return to make up for it. The game has six total levels (two more than last time), and it also takes the novel approach of letting you tackle the first four in any order you like. Each level overall is decently long, has a distinct theme, and features a lot of returning mechanics and enemies from Castlevania: The Adventure. As far as level design goes, I feel like there are more instances of tricky enemy placement and less sections where you just mindlessly walk forward, and I liked the handful of new gimmicks they introduced (like the spiders whose web you can use as climbing rope, and the occasional branching path). There are also a few new enemies and bosses, with the latter getting a bit creative with stuff like some sort of weather wizard, a giant bone dragon, a two-stage fight with an armored warrior and its unarmored form, a duo of demonic statues, a multi-headed monster, and even a fight with an evil Belmont (this technically is a thing in Dracula's Curse, but it's not a copycat fight since Soleil has unique attacks). Some of them are pretty easy, while others have some tricky attack patterns to navigate. The sub-weapons shine here as well, as some fights are way easier with the axe or holy water. The main difference between the international version and the Japanese version is that in the latter, you get the cross as a sub-weapon instead of the axe. I didn't mess around with the Japanese version for long, but I feel like the axe's arcing trajectory is more useful than the cross (which just goes horizontally, albeit it does have great range) given the many situations where there are enemies overhead. VERDICT: Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge is a welcome improvement from its predecessor, smoothing out the control issues, touching up the graphics, adding more stages and boss fights, and offering more options by bringing back sub-weapons. I felt more engaged with the overall level design this time around even if it was still relatively easier than other titles thanks to the effectiveness of the fireball whip. Plus, the game as a whole was more memorable between the whole story with Soleil Belmont, more inspired bosses, and a few unique platforming gimmicks. I had way more fun with this game, that's for sure. If you'll play just one of the Game Boy Castlevania games, I feel like this is the one to try. I think it showcases the unique elements of Castlevania: The Adventure better thanks to its overall better controls, has more interesting bosses and levels, and gives you more than just the whip to play with. I'd argue that Castlevania Legends is still worth a gander because it has unique mechanics and a cool cameo, but if you want a game that is engaging in terms of difficulty, Belmont's Revenge is the way to go. - end -
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
June 2024
Derryck
|