Castlevania, the masochist edition
The gameplay is old school action platforming as you progress from stage to stage, much like the first Castlevania. New this time are different routes you can take and other characters you can use. These characters each have their own special powers. There's a pirate who can jump further and climb on ceilings. There's a sorceress who uses powerful magic spells and a vampire who can turn into a bat and has a fireball attack. You meet these characters in certain stages and can only take one of them with you. During the game you can switch from you main character, the whipcracking Trevor Belmont, to the other character by pressing the "select" button.
The game is merciless from the start. Trevor can take a couple of hits, but when he falls in a hole you loose a life. When you get hit by an enemy like the flying Medusa-heads you bounce back a little often resulting in instant death. Also the staircases are dangerous. You have to get used to pressing the d-pad up otherwise you walk right past them, resulting in instant death.
The game has a password-system so when you get tired of dying you can always come back for more the next day.
The first Castlevania i finished in a day, this took me a week. When you play a stage log enough, eventually you can play it with your eyes closed and you'll get there. Thankfully nowadays you can look at you-tube videos to see how it's done and to see where power-ups and stuff are hidden.
Once i got to a certain point in this game i found myself obliged to finish it because of all the effort i put in the previous stages, but having finally beaten Dracula, i must conclude the first Castlevania was more fun.
This game is for Castlevania die-hards only.