Castlevania Reviews - Castlevania Adventure II

Castlevania Adventure 2: Return of the Chrismeister

Generally getting much better reviews than it's oft-reviled predecessor Castlevania Adventure, Belmont's Revenge is a fun one. It's no picnic in the difficulty factor either though, some of this one can get pretty tough. Released for GameBoy in 1991, Konami must have heard the ticked off fans complaining about the stupid one-hit-you-lose-your-whip-upgrade-deal. In this one, you still lose the upgrades with hits, but it takes a pungachi hit, so it's not nearly as annoying. Also, there are not really any insanely difficult jumps like in Castlevania Adventure. The plot of this one involves the rescue of Christopher's son Soleiyu, who has been kidnapped by the still alive Count Dracula. This one takes place in 1707, 15 years after 1692's CV Adventure. Here's a look at what Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge has on the plate.

Gameplay: The coolest aspect of this one is the ability to choose your starting location. There are 4 castles at the beginning of the game, and you can choose what order you take them on before getting to Dracula. The 4 castles are: The Cloud Castle, The Plant Castle, The Rock Castle, and the Crystal Castle. The Crystal Castle is probably the easiest for the beginner. As mentioned earlier, the loss of whip upgrades by hits does not happen as often in this one. The whip upgrades in this one are same as Castlevania Adventure:

The Leather Whip

The Morning Star (Vampire Killer)

The Flame Whip (Flame-shooting Morning Star)

There is a password feature in this one as well, plus they are easy to remember--only 4 characters.

Difficulty: Yes. It is difficult at times. A whole slew of enemies in this will chafe your willy. Look out for the Balloon Pods. Those jellyfish lookin' bastards don't split into smaller versions of themselves in this one, but rather they steal ALL of your hearts at one touch! Also, the eyeballs that roll around all over the place are a real bitch, the Pungachis return and they still suck, the toads that leap around in the Rock and Plant Castles are a pain, and the skeletons who chuck bones at you while hanging from ropes are a real bother too.

Some of the bosses will give you problems at first when you are still figuring this one out, like the Angel Mummy in the Plant Castle, but Dark Side at the end of the Crystal Castle is very easy, and Kumulo and Nimbler at the end of the Cloud Castle has a definite pattern you can pick up without too much trouble. Dark Side tries to zap you with her rain cloud while disappearing and reappearing. Kind of like the Water Magician in Bloodlines, who I think holds the title for lamest Castlevania boss.

Chris: What the hell are you supposed to be? Darkside: Booga booga

Overall: Nicely done. After the inigma that was Castlevania Adventure, ( which I like, I just hate the jumping and whip-sapping ), Belmont's Revenge was a little calmer in the areas that CV Adventure was enraging everyone with. Also, as per the norm in Castlevania games, the music is great. I particularly like "Ripe Seeds", the Plant Castle background music. For a hard rock/gothic rendition of Ripe Seeds, check out the CD "Dracula Battle Perfect Selection". You can order it, and many other great Castlevania soundtracks from gamemusic.com. (They are all listed under "Dracula".)

Also, you can download tracks of the CD's from the Dungeon. On that musical note, (no pun intended) you see one of the many cool features of Belmont's Revenge. A welcome addition to your Castlevania collection, if you can find it. If not, there are always the roms out there, but I must warn you that playing it on the key caps of your computer make it much harder unless you are extremely coordinated, but perhaps this is true for all roms.