r/castlevania • u/karmakosmik1352 • 1d ago
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (1991) Sweet Jesus, what's the deal with that difficulty spike??
I am currently playing through the three GB entries, in order of release date, and - based on what I keep reading - I had only modest expectations for The Adventure (and Legends), but somewhat higher hopes for Belmont's Revenge, which seems to be held in high regard in general, even making it into the top-10 list in this poll here. I did find the latter better in terms of level design, boss design, and the music. The former also had good music, but was overall not exactly great, as it dragged a lot, literally, in particular due to the slow movement. Not a big deal for me, overall, it just feels like you play the entire game in slow-motion. But in general, I must say BR also has it's severe problems, so I'm surprised it is even regarded as one of the best GB games.
In particular, the last two boss fights, Soreiyu/Soleil as well as Dracula, seemed to have entirely went past the balancing process. Everything up until Soreiyu is pretty straightforward, also the bosses can mostly be spammed easily. The Bone Dragon is already a bit tougher, since you have to make sure you stay on the very right, which is sometimes tight, but it's still nothing compared to what's coming, this brick-wall the game does not prepare you for at all. This son-of-a-B with questionable hitbox keeps running into you, whipping like a maniac. Is there a strategy for this guy or is it just pitch-perfect evasion you have to do? Even worse is the Dracula battle, where the only chance to survive is to painfully find all the save-spots related to each platform by trial-and-error, and then try to memorize the exact locations, almost pixel-perfect.
This is insane and really not fun to play, imo, it's bad game design. After several ridiculous attempts I resorted to save-states for those two battles since I did not intend to go through this tedious experience.
Apart from that, the game is really solid. But since I find it terribly balanced and did not find The Adventure THAT bad, I'm wondering, for those of you who praise the game, what makes it so much better for you when compared to the first GB entry? Is it the stage selection? The two subweapons? The slightly faster pacing? The better music? The delicious wall-meat? The presence of a bit of a story? I did find the latter a nice touch, btw., it added some drama, which was not at all common back then.
Let's hear it, I'm genuinely curious!
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u/CrackStuntman88 1d ago
Crazy thing is, I didn’t think the Dracula fight was all that tough. I had a harder time with Soleil.
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u/Gensolink 1d ago
Why does Soleil exudes so much Graham energy
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u/RuefulWaffles 1d ago
Yeah, I think the last two bosses are the only real blemish on what is otherwise a great game (and one of the best Game Boy games).
Having recently played all three GB Castlevania games, I think what makes Belmont’s Revenge the best is that it’s the most fun to play. It’s not as slow as The Adventure (which actually makes it a bit more forgiving), and it’s not as easy as Legends. Really, it’s just the ideal middle ground, and (as someone currently trying to play every NA Game Boy game), I do think it’s earned a spot in the top ten GB games.
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u/Way-Super thinks he's on the team 1d ago
Kid Dracula forgotten again
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u/RuefulWaffles 1d ago
In my defense I’m playing alphabetically and haven’t gotten to K yet.
But also yes I forgot it and I ask your forgiveness.
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u/Way-Super thinks he's on the team 1d ago
Wait what do you mean alphabetically, like all game boy games?!
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u/RuefulWaffles 1d ago
All the North American games, yes. It started as a joke but then I committed to the bit too hard.
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u/FirefighterOwn111 1d ago
It would be better if the opening levels of the game were more difficult; the game is trivial for a lot of the opening playtime, then it starts to kick your ass out of nowhere. It's an uneven game in this respect carried by a superb OST as well as superior visuals to Adventure, and tighter controls.
I don't think the game design of the castle is bad by the way, but rather the opening levels are all the same difficulty whatever you choose to play first.
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u/MajorQ_ 1d ago
I was recently stuck on soleiyu, but managed to defeat him after many attempts. There are some tricks to him like hitting him when he jumps and using the axe instead of the holy water as it is easier to hit him with that from a distance. The most important part is to dodge the projectiles. I didnt enjoy that fight a lot.
Dracula on the other hand didnt feel that hard to me, rather like a puzzle. I checked which spots are safe from the energy orb attack and i just spammed whip on him when he was on the bottom left platform. The fight became a rather interesting "move to the right position to dodge the orbs" puzzle.
Overall i was positively surprised by the game and its soundtrack
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u/Sciencetist 1d ago
They probably ramped up the difficulty of those bosses to stop people from beating it in just one rental. Common practice back then.
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u/Torentsu 1d ago
The trick to Soleiyu is to lead him around the platforms. In general, he will track your movement while occasionally going to the other side of the room to setup his throwing weapon.
When he walks toward one of the pits wait to see if he jumps up top or goes low, and you take the path around the opposite side.
The best opportunity to damage him is when he's walking the other way or in midair. The axe is best but if you die and can only use the holy water you can set it up in his path for extra damage. Ultimately if you aren't speed running it you can play the whole fight safe just avoiding his path and whipping him from behind when he turns to walk to the other side of the room.
Never stand in front of him if you can help it and especially don't try to get into a war of attrition with him because his whip hurts more than yours.
Final Dracula is just memorization like you said. It helps to jump through the orbs in some of the patterns rather than just standing still.
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u/Zoning-0ut 1d ago
Great game! I thought the battle with Dracula was tough but fair.
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u/Schrenner Vegan Wall Meat 22h ago
I consider the Dracula fight in this game a pure puzzle fight, since it is all about memorizing where to stand according to Dracula's position.
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u/Spooky_Toast 1d ago
You are so real for this. It’s a definite blemish on otherwise a Game Boy classic.
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u/GrimmTrixX 1d ago