Customer Reviews

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off: This is NOT the Nintendo Entertainment System title. Don't be fooled by other reviews--there are no RPG elements to this game whatsoever.

Two years after The Castlevania Adventure was released in 1989, GameBoy owners were rewarded for their continued faith in the series. After that lackluster title, Konami decided to fix a couple glaring problems, and the result is Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge.

jumping was a terrible issue originally, as the majority of player deaths were caused by jumps requiring exact positioning of jumps (usually, jumping as Christopher's heel looked to be the last thing on the ledge). The other "cool" idea, that of whip DOWNgrades after being hit, has been toned down with a modification that makes this less common (only certain enemies can produce this effect on your character now). The inclusion of this system is more than made up for by the inclusion of special items; you now not only have the ability to fling those cool mystic fireballs but get a special item now: an Axe or Holy water if you're playing the U.S. version (in the Japanese, the useful Axe is replaced, oddly, with a holy cross that works like all other Castlevania boomerangs). This leads to another good replacement: those silly coins found in the obligatory candles (possibly a move to freshen the scent of the original's levels) from Adventure now hold the hearts which we KNEW you'd like to have back. No game feels too much like Castlevania without hearts that double as spare bullets. Items hidden inside blocks have made their return as well, with the familiar pork chops and other things found inside ledges over doors and such.

Tellingly, the soundtrack has improved. The standout theme from Adventure's stage one, "Battle of the Holy," is still competitive with tunes from Belmont's Revenge, but imagine the WHOLE soundtrack composed of similar titles (we do know the names, but only because the Japanese version's sound test includes the names). The length of the soundtrack is about the same as that of Castlevania 3, with 24 unique songs. This compares quite favorably to Adventure's selection of 13.

Graphical details are improved; while Adventure's details are very good and solidly constructed they don't quite match those of Belmont's Revenge. Here, the generic feel and drab corridors of Adventure are scrapped for tiles that are, well, interesting. Different "castles" have their own themes, and the graphics reflect this quite well.

Enemies are still rather silly looking, but more interesting in looks overall. Fans of opening up floors with the explosive eyeballs from Adventure will certainly be slightly disappointed that their creature is gone. Still, bosses such as the dual goat statues with spears more than make up for the lack of cheap rotated sprite based enemies. Much of the other relatively poorly drawn...stuff...found in that other game has been replaced here to great effect. The frogs are quite annoying, but the game doesn't focus on them: you have everything from skeletons to beefy looking Iron Dolls (rather Japanese looking suits of armor).

The game's progression is a breakthrough on the GameBoy: for the first four stages, you can choose what "castle" you wish to visit first, and your stage select screen changes to reflect this until...well, I'll leave this up to you to discover. It's sufficient to say that the level progression system is the most interesting of any Castlevania outside of Castlevania 3 (if you discard games that allow you to walk and teleport about a larger overall map).

This game IS the highlight of the original GameBoy's library. Challenging yet balanced, I firmly believe it is superior to Metroid 2. If you're building an original GameBoy game collection, this must be one of your first games.

For those of you who do not know, with Castlevania, you are a vampire hunter, fighting dark creatures, bats, wolves, grim reapers in the hunt for Dracula. This game is the second in the castlevania series, but it adds so much more to it. Its not just straight ahead monster whipping, you pick up items, weapons, and use your brain to make it in the game. After defeating Dracula in the original game, this is now a quest that will take you all over a fantasticly dark world in search for the five parts of the slain Dracula. There are several challenges, and secrets throughout the game, some of the secrets are so difficult it will have you playing for years looking for them. This is also the very first game ever for Nintendo games to incorporate the night and day routine. When night falls nothing is safe, the towns flood with zombies and the enemies are twice as difficult too!

In 1991, Konami released the sequel to 1989's Castlevania Adventure on the Game Boy. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge was much improved and better than the first game because it addressed most of the issues that plagued Castlevania Adventure. While the sequel isn't perfect, fans of the series quickly pointed out that it is worthy addition in anyone's gaming collection. It sold well enough so for those who were fortunate to play this game will tell you it's also one of the better Game Boy games at the time.

You control Christopher Belmont who returns for the sequel as you guide him through 4 castles and then gain access to the final castle and to do battle with Dracula. This time around, you get to choose the order of the 4 castles you must battle your way through, each with its own theme and traps. Your whip is once again your primary weapon and once it's fully powered up, it can launch fireballs in the direction you swing it. Like the first game, you can pick up weapons to arm yourself, eat pork chops to refill your health and collect hearts to rack up ammo for your weapons. You can earn points to get extra lives but if you use all of them up, your game ends and you can either continue or write down a password to continue where you left on the next time you play.

The PROS: One of the good things about the first game was it had good graphics and music for a Game Boy game. Belmont's Revenge blows that game out of the water in both of those areas. The sound effects are good and the controls for the game are still as good but rigid as before. This game fixed the issues the previous game had: no more super precise jumping, hearts now act as ammo, more weapons were added to this game and only certain enemies that you touch have the power to downgrade your whip. Plus, the game is a couple of stages longer which rounded up to be a more satisfying gaming experience.

The CONS: It's still a one player affair but that is how Castlevania games are anyway. Your character still moves like molasses. Also, Castlevania II is harder than the first game and so is the final villain, Dracula. He was a real hard ass compared to when you faced him in Castlevania Adventure.

Many fans will quickly tell you to pick this game up instead of the first one simply because it felt more like playing the NES series. So if you like Castlevania games and have a working Game Boy/Game Boy Advance, this game belongs to be in your Game Boy collection.

This was the best Castlevainia on the Gameboy period. Awesome gameplay, some new tricks and great graphics for the time. Lots of fun!