Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge

An adventure you can really sink your teeth into.

JP release: 12th July 1991
NA release: 10th August 1991
EU release: 26th November 1991
AKA: . Dorakyura Densetsu II (Japan)
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Total! UK Magazine Review: 90%
Platforms: Game Boy, Game Boy Color
Version Played: Game Boy Color

This Game Boy Castlevania follows on from the first game and features an actual plot, something the first game lacked, especially outside of Japan (where the main character’s name was never mentioned so people thought it was Simon), with the text scroll actually being in the game. It carries 15 years after Christopher Belmont has defeated Dracula (the first time the name was mentioned outside of Japan, even though he was mentioned in the manual of the first in Japan) with his son, Soleil, performing a ceremony to gain the powers of a Vampire Hunter, but Dracula managing to interrupt it and turn Soleil into a demon to revive himself.

Now, this game still had localisation issues, with Soleil’s name being incorrectly translated to “Soleiyu”, although this was fixed in the Konami GB Collection colour version (the version I’m playing), with more natural sounding dialogue for the one scene that has it. Other than that, it’s the same game as the original, so that’s the version I’m playing, similar to The Adventure.

This one plays much better, with the game being much faster and far less clunky. Jumpin doesn’t feel like there’s a delay and using your whip doesn’t cause a period that prevents you from jumping. There’s still a heavy focus on platforming and, while I wouldn’t say it’s easier, it feels much fairer and more like deaths and falls are your mistake rather than the game going wrong or just playing tricks on you.

At the start of the game, you get to pick which level you start off from four different castles with different themes. The challenges you face also have a distinct feel, such as one that uses ropes a lot and another using spike traps (but they move back and forth instead so you can time things instead of just having to rush immediately). The combat also feels much better, and you can upgrade the whip to shoot fireballs, which is satisfying.

The enemy I hated from the first game, the Punaguchi (little mounds that shoot out bouncing projectiles) are back, and these are the only ones that can downgrade your whip. However, they’re a lot fairer to deal with as you can get to locations that let you hit them without being forced to take a hit – there was only one location where I had to wait a bit too long for an opening. Because of this it feels like a much better game.

The Adventure was Konami trying to get Castlevania working on the Game Boy, while Belmont’s Revenge is them actually creating a handheld castlevania while understanding how much the Game Boy is capable of.

Fun

When you first play Castlevania 2 it seems quite a challenge and sure, parts of each level are incredibly hard. But the fact that you have unlimited continues and can play any of the first four castles means that you can practise all the really hard bits before trying to play it right the way through.
Andy, Total! UK Magazine #5

Remake or remaster?

A ReBirth version similar to The Adventure would be amazing. Even just the colour version added to the Anniversary Collection would be good.

Official Ways to get the game

The Game Boy version is available in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection.