4.5/5 ★ – Broccolope's review of Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.

Hey kid, I heard you like 8 and 16-bit throwbacks and rockin chiptune soundtracks, but prefer to play games in widescreen and maybe not break a controller or two due to their difficulty. Well, have ya heard of Inti Creates? Between this series and Blaster Master Zero, Inti Creates really have this retro throwback thing down. On its surface, Curse of the Moon feels like a natural evolution of Castlevania III on NES, even down to the additional characters' movesets. The thing is, this game is made to be replayed and rewards you with different abilities depending on your choices, each with their own ending. Your main character, Zangetsu, can choose to distrust all of the companions that are available and instead take their powers to turn into something altogether different, double-jumping and dashing around the game's 8 levels like Ryu from Ninja Gaiden. If I haven't already made it clear, the aesthetic is beautiful. Think Shovel Knight--a fake 8-bit art style with chiptune melodies that compliment the dark adventure perfectly. The bosses are huge and menacing, admittedly something that an NES could never possible display, no matter the extras contained on a cartridge. And really, on a standard playthru, the game isn't too difficult. That said, you can always set your own restrictions based on your aforementioned choices and getting the best ending is certainly no cakewalk. If there are any negatives at all, it's just that it slavishly follows the Castlevania III formula. It would have been cool to throw in an extra unlockable character or two who had unique movesets; something that I've heard the 2nd game in series introduces! Highly recommended for anyone interested in Castlevania--it feels like you're playing a classic game, but eases you in very well and it tuned for speedruns, if that's your thing.