Classic Castlevania

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

If�Ritual of the Night�is a spiritual successor to 1997’s� Castlevania:� Symphony of the Night, then�Curse of the Moon�is the spiritual sequel to 1990’s�Castlevania III. It features the same multihero gameplay, locales, and even visuals. Crafted under the watchful eyes of former series producer Koji Igarashi,�Curse of the Moon�is a spectacular game that uncannily channels Konami’s storied series.

Taking its cues from� Castlevania III, you start out as demon hunter Zangetsu. In the rst few stages, you’ll get to save and recruit three other characters: the cursed protagonist Miriam, the demonic antagonist Gebel, and the alchemist Alfred. All of them play differently enough to make them unique and fun.

Miriam has a long reach and a very high jump (similar to Simon Belmont from� Castlevania), while Gebel (who looks and plays like a mash between Alucard and Dracula) can turn into a bat and y. Alfred uses magic, while Zangetsu is the strongest with the most useful secondary weapons.

Once recruited, you can switch between them on the y. If somebody dies in the stage, they won’t be available until the next stage or until every other playable character dies. Though you can get them back, I found that the risk of dying spices the game up, forcing me to constantly switch out characters to safeguard them, and making sure they’re only used in advantageous situations.

Still, I personally found Zangetsu and Miriam to be my favorites. Alfred and Gebel are great characters but highly situational, while the other two can do well against pretty much everything in the game. However, picking up the other characters is purely optional. In fact, to view all the endings you’ll have to skip on the rescue

and kill them in di erent playthroughs.

Relying on just Zangetsu and his default skills does make the game challenging. However, if you kill and consume the other characters’ souls, Zangetsu learns new skills such as a double jump. To get the best ending, you’ll have to recruit everyone and then replay the game in Nightmare mode.

Nightmare starts you with all three characters save for Zangetsu unlocked. While most of the game remains the same, the nal stage is completely di erent. There are individual trials for all the characters, as well as an alternate nal boss. This true ending is what leads to the main Bloodstained game when it releases.

Expect the same tight gameplay in Curse of the Moon as in any great 2D platformer. While the game doesn’t have any of Castlevania’s infamous ying Medusa heads, it does have similarly annoying enemies that loveto knock you o a moving platform or interference with your jump. There’s even a Casual mode with innite lives and no knockback.

Other than that, the game’s pretty much Castlevania under a di erent name. You progress from left to right, climb up and down ladders, ride moving platforms, and the like. There are multiple routes for each stage, accessible only to certain characters.

All of the stage bosses are great but some, like Stage 1’s train or Stage 4’s two-headed beast, are just plain fun to ght. Getting familiar with their attacks is a step you’ll denitely need, as there’s a Boss Rush mode that unlocks when meeting certain conditions. While Curse of the

Moon does have multiple ending and modes, most of them have you replaying the same eight stages. Getting the di erent endings requires multiple playthroughs all the way from the rst stage, and by the third time around I was already bored out of my mind. I love the game, but I recommend taking breaks in-between playthroughs to prolong your enjoyment.

The 8-bit visuals are incredible, with the same kind of color palette

you’d expect from an ‘80s NES game. Combined with a fabulous score—which

Castlevania composer Michiru Yamane contributed to—and you have a terric homage to Castlevania III.

Now it doesn’t really matter if you’re a fan of Castlevania. If you enjoy a good platformer, then you’ll denitely want to get Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. It packs everything you’d want from the genre, and its budget price of $10 (Steam version) means it’ll barely dent your wallet. I honestly can’t recommend the game enough.

An Instant classic. Pretty much the best thing you can spend $10 on.

Studying boss routines and attack patterns are the key to victory.

Don’t get too full of yourself, or you’ll nd yourself knocked o your high perch.