Yet another Konami Game Boy game that makes me question if it was even tested. There are so many moments where the level design and enemy placement are so constricted, moments where enemies spawn right on top of you, and moments where enemies will instantly aggro as soon as you enter a screen that I swear you have no choice but to take damage. This is also the first Castlevania game I've ever played where the timer killed me. How the hell are you going to make levels with an emphasis on openness and exploration and not give me enough time to even finish them? Better question: how the hell are going to make such levels and have so many of the alternate paths lead absolutely nowhere? And why in FUCK would you hide a level needed for the true ending behind something so utterly illogical?

The subweapons are pretty much worthless except the one that maxes out your HP, but that combined with the Burning Mode (which I often activated by accident because the controls are so dick) makes it possible to tank every boss after it's accessible. The bosses themselves are already pretty embarrassing, especially the Death fight, but when you add these elements to the mix, they're completely trivial. It all comes together for one of the easiest frustrating experiences I've ever had, if that makes any sense.

This is surely better than The Adventure, but it's far from exceptional. I really don't know why it exists, but Konami's decision to pretend it doesn't may be the best one they've ever made. I'm going to follow their lead.