Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Game Boy) Playthrough

Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge, released by Konami for the Game Boy in 1991, is one of the most impressive improvements from one sequel to the next on the system. While Castlevania: The Adventure suffered from sluggish movement, frustrating level design and the absence of several series staples, Belmont’s Revenge fixes most of those problems and delivers a genuinely strong portable Castlevania experience. Rating: 8.5/10 Set fifteen years after The Adventure, the game once again stars Christopher Belmont. Dracula has returned and taken control of Christopher’s son, Soleiyu, forcing the aging vampire hunter into another confrontation with the Count. The story remains simple, but the father-and-son angle gives the adventure a little more weight than its predecessor. The biggest improvement is the gameplay. Christopher still moves more deliberately than Simon or Trevor Belmont, but the controls are noticeably tighter and more responsive. Jumping feels more predictable, enemy encounters are better designed around your movement speed, and the game rarely feels unfair in the way The Adventure often did. The whip can once again be upgraded, eventually gaining a projectile attack, but taking ordinary damage no longer constantly destroys your progress. Sub-weapons also return, with Holy Water and Axe available in the North American version. The Japanese and European releases replace the Axe with the Cross. Hearts serve as ammunition, bringing the handheld game much closer to the traditional Castlevania formula. Belmont’s Revenge also features an unusual structure. The first four areas—Crystal Castle, Cloud Castle, Plant Castle and Rock Castle—can be tackled in any order. Each has its own visual identity, enemies, hazards and boss, giving the game considerably more variety than its predecessor. Once all four are completed, the final sections of Dracula’s Castle become available. The level design is easily one of the game’s greatest strengths. Konami makes heavy use of ropes instead of stairs, but surrounds them with far more interesting situations than before. Moving spike walls, collapsing platforms, scrolling rooms and environmental traps constantly change the rhythm of play. Some areas still demand memorization, yet the challenge usually feels deliberate rather than cheap. There is also a password system, an important addition for a portable game. Instead of having to complete everything in one sitting, you can resume after clearing stages, making the adventure far more convenient to play in shorter sessions. Boss battles are another substantial improvement. Most have clear patterns that reward observation and positioning rather than simply forcing you to trade hits. The difficulty increases sharply toward the end, however, particularly during the encounters with Soleiyu and Dracula. These fights demand considerably more precision than the earlier stages and provide the game’s biggest difficulty spike. Graphically, Belmont’s Revenge is excellent for a 1991 Game Boy release. The environments are detailed and surprisingly atmospheric despite the monochrome display, while large sprites and distinctive backgrounds help each castle feel different. It is one of those early Game Boy games that demonstrates how much could be achieved with strong art direction rather than technical spectacle. The soundtrack may be even better. Hidehiro Funauchi’s music is among the finest on the system, with tracks such as New Messiah and Psycho Warrior giving the stages far more energy and personality than you might expect from the Game Boy hardware. The music alone makes several areas particularly memorable. There are still some weaknesses. Christopher remains relatively slow, rope climbing can occasionally feel awkward, and the limited selection of sub-weapons means combat never becomes especially deep. The game is also fairly short once you know the stages, and much of the first half is surprisingly manageable before the difficulty suddenly rises near the end. Even with those limitations, Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge is a huge step forward from The Adventure. Better controls, smarter stage design, memorable bosses, strong graphics and an exceptional soundtrack transform the basic concept into something that finally feels worthy of the Castlevania name. It may not reach the heights of the best NES entries, but among original Game Boy action-platformers, it remains an easy recommendation.