“It feels like 1986 all over again.”

May 24, 2018 1:58 PM

'Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon' summons 8-bit 'Castlevania' charm [Engadget] “Players will be able to toggle between four characters on the fly: Zangetsu, a sword-wielding demon slayer, fearless whip-bearer Miriam, sly alchemist Alfred, and Gebel, a misanthrope who for some reason, has undergone crystal transplant surgery. There'll be multiple stages with a ravenous boss awaiting at the end, but once defeated, potential new allies can join your team and boost your chances of survival. Another interesting feature in Curse of the Moon is its leniency; where kicking the bucket normally would have resulted in repeating previous sections, recruited allies can now take your place.” [YouTube][Game Trailer]
posted by Fizz (19 comments total)

The title line bugs me, because it's clear that Curse of the Moon is modeled after Castlevania III, not the original.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:01 PM on May 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

*looks at Mac desktop; sadly shakes head*
posted by kewb at 2:04 PM on May 24, 2018

And yes, I know the main game is coming to multiple platforms.
posted by kewb at 2:04 PM on May 24, 2018

*looks at Mac desktop; sadly shakes head*

I haven't tried it personally, but according to a forum post, it "works fine using PlayOnMac"
posted by aubilenon at 2:19 PM on May 24, 2018

I vaguely knew this was happening, but didn't realize it was out today! It's going onto my 3DS as soon as I get home, so thanks for that.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:24 PM on May 24, 2018

SCREAMING. There goes my weekend.
posted by supercrayon at 2:26 PM on May 24, 2018

Upward diagonal whipping? I'd like to see those medusa heads try to stop me now.

I only played for like 3 minutes at the end of my lunch break but apparently this game has weapon points that are unlocked by hitting lamps, different coloured lamps unlock various secondary weapons/attacks. I cannot recall if old school Castlevania was like this, it's just been that long since I've played. But I'm intrigued by this mechanic.
posted by Fizz at 3:08 PM on May 24, 2018

Inti Creates sure has a knack for making retro throwback tie-in games for Kickstarter games that I wind up more interested in than the Kickstarter games, don’t they
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:37 PM on May 24, 2018

modeled after Castlevania III, not the original.

According to this piece, it "perfectly recaptures the essence of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, which are generally viewed as the high points of the linear installments of Konami's classic Castlevania franchise". Sounds like an instant purchase on the Switch for me.

Between this and Mega Man Legacy Collection (the first six 8-bit Mega Man games) coming out this week, the Switch has me in full retro gaming bliss.

Ikaruga also comes out in a few days, but that's another matter entirely. I don't want to fling my Switch across the room and break it.
posted by naju at 4:08 PM on May 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

"Bloodstained"? "Curse of the moon"? I was really expecting this to involve menstruation in some way.
posted by The otter lady at 4:23 PM on May 24, 2018 [6 favorites]

In case you were wondering if they'd be at all coy about being Castlevania with the serial numbers filed off very lightly obscured, the first level will disabuse you of such silly ideas. It's still fun, but damn, that's not subtle.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:22 PM on May 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

but damn, that's not subtle.

If it's not broken....
posted by Fizz at 7:52 PM on May 24, 2018

STTOPUSIN8BITASLAZYSHORTHANDFORABITPIXELLY8BITGAMESDIDNOTLOOKLIKETHAT
posted by GallonOfAlan at 10:20 PM on May 24, 2018

It’s not quite as careful as shovel knight, but this one really commits to the 8 bit aesthetic pretty hard. It looks better than the nes could have managed, but not by much.
posted by Proofs and Refutations at 1:25 AM on May 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Yeah, in this case they are very much aiming for the NES aesthetic.
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:44 AM on May 25, 2018

Any idea of the difficulty? I adored Castlevania, but adult fingers are slow and stupid. I'm currently making my way through Celeste, but there are several stages where I've had to resort to the cheats to continue. Even with the cheats, I had something like 700 deaths in the hotel.
posted by Eddie Mars at 7:15 AM on May 25, 2018

The game is noticeably easier than any of the NES Castlevanias, but there are some nasty platforming sequences. Checkpointing is pretty generous, and "casual" mode removes possibility of running out of lives and being sent back to the start of the level. It does have the classic Castlevania jump that has a fixed trajectory that can't be changed in mid air though, which can take some getting used to.
posted by Proofs and Refutations at 7:25 AM on May 25, 2018 [2 favorites]

Easy mode has infinite lives and makes it so getting hit by an enemy doesn't knock you backwards (so, no Medusa Head -> bottomless pit frustration). Not a complete cakewalk, but definitely more friendly for casual play.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:25 AM on May 25, 2018 [2 favorites]

It's hard to believe that making this whole game was just a stretch goal from the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night kickstarter, and that game looks pretty appealing as well. Now if only Konami would do this same sort of pseudo-reboot for the Contra series as well.
posted by subocoyne at 4:06 PM on May 25, 2018 [2 favorites]