Of all the three Castlevania games on the Gameboy, Belmont's Revenge is by far the best one, and it's only second to Dracula's Curse when it comes to 8 bit Castlevania games(Yes. It's that good).
What makes this game so amazing? Well, the fact that every element on it is done right.
Of course, as a Gameboy game there's nothing particularly impressive about the story, but I have to give them credit about the tension added of Crhistopher fighting his own son. It gives Dracula an even more evil edge. Bonus points for using Bach's Chromatische Phantasie in the battle too.
It's the level design where this game excels. It's pacing is marvelous. Never has a Castlevania game made such an adequate use of vertical level design, and it's all to the SUBLIME implementation of ropes. They never are built against the capabilities of the player and offer fresh ways to challenge the player and keep the platforming interesting(between the moving threads of spiders and chains changing directions, there's always something to keep you busy without being overwhelming). They just outclass stairs any day of the year. Even more bonus points for increasing the replayability by allowing you to choose the first four levels' order.
The graphics are rich and detailed, nearing even Scenery Porn (for what the Gameboy can output at least) with some ridiculous amount of detail (The Backgrounds in Plant Castle have animations that could go unnoticed, but were put anyways. That's real passion for the job). And of course, the music is delicious to one's ears. It has the gothic edge Castlevania soundtracks should have yet is incredibly energetic.
Overall? PLAY THIS GAME. It's surely harder to find nowadays, but it deserves and needs more love.
VideoGame THE Champion of the Gameboy Trilogy
Of all the three Castlevania games on the Gameboy, Belmont's Revenge is by far the best one, and it's only second to Dracula's Curse when it comes to 8 bit Castlevania games(Yes. It's that good).
What makes this game so amazing? Well, the fact that every element on it is done right.
Of course, as a Gameboy game there's nothing particularly impressive about the story, but I have to give them credit about the tension added of Crhistopher fighting his own son. It gives Dracula an even more evil edge. Bonus points for using Bach's Chromatische Phantasie in the battle too.
It's the level design where this game excels. It's pacing is marvelous. Never has a Castlevania game made such an adequate use of vertical level design, and it's all to the SUBLIME implementation of ropes. They never are built against the capabilities of the player and offer fresh ways to challenge the player and keep the platforming interesting(between the moving threads of spiders and chains changing directions, there's always something to keep you busy without being overwhelming). They just outclass stairs any day of the year. Even more bonus points for increasing the replayability by allowing you to choose the first four levels' order.
The graphics are rich and detailed, nearing even Scenery Porn (for what the Gameboy can output at least) with some ridiculous amount of detail (The Backgrounds in Plant Castle have animations that could go unnoticed, but were put anyways. That's real passion for the job). And of course, the music is delicious to one's ears. It has the gothic edge Castlevania soundtracks should have yet is incredibly energetic.
Overall? PLAY THIS GAME. It's surely harder to find nowadays, but it deserves and needs more love.