What I love about the late 80s in video gaming history is that almost so many sequels to now established franchises were some major departure from the original title. Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros., Zelda, along with Castlevania of course.
I hated this game the first few times I played it. I cut my teeth with the franchise on Symphony of the Night, then went back and played some of other early games, and by the time I tried this it felt different and wrong. A few decades of playing unending iterative sequels makes the heart grow fond for different and wrong.
To start, there's actually quite a bit that carries over from the first game and Vampire Killer: The gameplay controls are virtually identical, the music is still amazing, and the general presentation is still the grim medieval setting. Gone are the eponymous castle, and all but two bosses.
The game reverts to the non-linear style of Vampire Killer as it sends you on a quest to collect Dracula's bits, which in and of themselves act as item upgrades. It also introduced a day/night cycle as well as multiple endings depending on how long it took you to resurrect and kill Vlad again.
While I really do now like that the game tried different things instead of throwing you right back into another castle, it did stumble with the lack of bosses, some bad English translations, and stages that by the nature of the game scenario felt more repetitive than those of the linear first game. I still think it's laudable that they veered off the easy path and a title worth playing if you've enjoyed other games in the franchise.
I hated this game the first few times I played it. I cut my teeth with the franchise on Symphony of the Night, then went back and played some of other early games, and by the time I tried this it felt different and wrong. A few decades of playing unending iterative sequels makes the heart grow fond for different and wrong.
To start, there's actually quite a bit that carries over from the first game and Vampire Killer: The gameplay controls are virtually identical, the music is still amazing, and the general presentation is still the grim medieval setting. Gone are the eponymous castle, and all but two bosses.
The game reverts to the non-linear style of Vampire Killer as it sends you on a quest to collect Dracula's bits, which in and of themselves act as item upgrades. It also introduced a day/night cycle as well as multiple endings depending on how long it took you to resurrect and kill Vlad again.
While I really do now like that the game tried different things instead of throwing you right back into another castle, it did stumble with the lack of bosses, some bad English translations, and stages that by the nature of the game scenario felt more repetitive than those of the linear first game. I still think it's laudable that they veered off the easy path and a title worth playing if you've enjoyed other games in the franchise.