Castlevania: Belmont's Curse
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse
Ambitious, aggressive, and accomplished, Belmont's Curse whips out some of the best Castlevania highs you can experience - but technical issues and some awkward controls means it can all end in bloody tears if you're not careful.
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse brings Konami’s beloved series into the modern era with a fast-paced focus on action first.
Every element in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse works so well both independently and as part of the whole: flexible combat, beautifully acrobatic traversal, fine-tuned environmental puzzles, wide cast of interesting characters, and eye-catching visual panache–all wrapped within a smart tarot system that lets these ideas complement each other.
The platforming with the whip mechanics are insanely good here, but Castlevania: Belmont's Curse doesn't completely play the part for series.
Belmont's Curse may not be wildly original, but its planning and execution are superb, its combat and whip-integration thrilling, and its sense of exploration and reward on-point. It wholly delivers that all-important progression-reward feedback loop, tripping every time you come back stronger.It's an unapologetically hardcore affair, and that's welcome. It's one of the best Castlevania games in a long time thanks to its combat variety and smart whip integrations. While nicely balanced, extremely addictive, and with tons to do, those less familiar with the format may find its difficulty frustrating. But, if you play games to feel an elating sense of accomplishment, on that front it will do you right.
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is an incredibly entertaining game and a wonderful return to form for a series I've loved since forever. While it isn't an echo of the entries I love the most, it's still a fantastic game. The game is pure Castlevania in the best way, and the story and voice acting are sublime as well. If you like any Castlevania games at all, you'll adore this.
Stellar gameplay, music, scenery, characters (new and old), and a great set of options for altering the intensity make this the easily one of the highest-quality action-platformers I have ever played.
It's great to see a new side-scrolling Castlevania game after all these years, but the genre has evolved and thrived in the series' absence, and Belmont's Curse finds itself in a world where there are a wealth of solid alternatives. While it looks and sounds excellent, the core gameplay hasn't evolved alongside it, making it feel rather outdated. That's not a terrible thing, it's still fun enough, but stand-out moments are few and far between as a result.
