Almost everything about this is spot on. The castle is an unbelievably atmospheric location, Alucard oozes coolness and flair, the graphics are so immaculate that they're still impressive to this day, the combat is smooth and the music is abolutely incredible. So why almost spot on? Well, first of all, the balancing is all over the place. The first two to three hours or so are really hard but with some exceptions, everything after the phoenix boss is a cakewalk. The bosses, for me, range from really garbage to just ok, with the worst one by far being Galamoth, whom I cannot imagine anyone beating without cheese or very specific items or both. I know I said the combat is smooth, but it's not perfect. The fact that any hit at all knocks you back was fine in classic Castlevania games, but not one like this where you get like half a frame of invincibility, many enemies do not telegraph at all and the screen is regularly filled with projectiles. I'm not saying it makes the game hard, just really maddening sometimes. Finally, the inverted castle as a whole sounded way cooler in concept than it actually was. Since you can go just about anywhere with the bat and mist, there is no regular "Metroidvania" incentive to come back to places where you can't progress yet. Additionally, the music is not nearly varied enough in the inverted castle, and many of the areas are either really empty or disappointing, with little to no reward for exploring them. Still, this game is a true marvel that, not only because I love Metroidvanias, had me drooling all the way through the first half and some of the second.