I'm giving this one a 4.5/5 because the version I finished was Vampire Killer (the Japanese version) since the way limited continues work in the American version turned me off immediately after realizing how they worked and struggling up to Stage 4 where I saw the password kept my (lack of) lives and continues.
If you don't want to play with savestates, reloading passwords a lot and overall having to go through so much trial-and-error to complete the stages without enough mistakes that cost you valuable lives later on, I HIGHLY recommend you to play the Japanese version.
You still get "continues", but the passwords are given when you run out of them, and they will put you at the start of the stage you died at with all lives and continues refilled, so its merciful like Super Castlevania IV/Rondo of Blood instead of demanding like American Contra Hard Corps. And boy, you'll need that mercy when you get to Stage 5 and 6.
That aside, very creative game (specially for a Castlevania) and Iron Blue Intention slaps. Was pretty fun to go JOHN MORRISSSSSSS with bigger sub-weapons and whip swinging.
Might play Vampire Killer's expert mode one day (which is equivalent to Bloodlines's normal mode, but password system is unchanged), or maybe play thru Bloodlines with states, but for now I'm content with what I got here.
If you don't want to play with savestates, reloading passwords a lot and overall having to go through so much trial-and-error to complete the stages without enough mistakes that cost you valuable lives later on, I HIGHLY recommend you to play the Japanese version.
You still get "continues", but the passwords are given when you run out of them, and they will put you at the start of the stage you died at with all lives and continues refilled, so its merciful like Super Castlevania IV/Rondo of Blood instead of demanding like American Contra Hard Corps. And boy, you'll need that mercy when you get to Stage 5 and 6.
That aside, very creative game (specially for a Castlevania) and Iron Blue Intention slaps. Was pretty fun to go JOHN MORRISSSSSSS with bigger sub-weapons and whip swinging.
Might play Vampire Killer's expert mode one day (which is equivalent to Bloodlines's normal mode, but password system is unchanged), or maybe play thru Bloodlines with states, but for now I'm content with what I got here.