Take the designs of one of the greatest 8-bit side scrollers and mix it with more whip slashing action and you will have this masterpiece that is Bloodstained – Curse of the Moon.
General Gameplay
As the game is a 2D hack and slash Castlevania style of game, it would be hard not to keep referring to it being a Castlevania clone style of game. You play as Zangetsu a demon slayer and with a deep grudge. In the game, one of the unique features of the game is that you can swap out your character with another during mid-level. The Game Visuals are a throwback of the 8-bit era. Everything from the general title to gameplay is all done in this style. Now before you panic and think that this is only a remake using 8-bit graphics the game design in an artistic style in which it makes the graphics shine during gameplay. Everything in the game can be seen from the characters, enemies, and background without any trouble. For those that have a colorblind issue, the game does a great job of showing the colors on screen and without any trouble. In our playtesting we did not run into any issues with the graphics other than some 8-bit blood on the screen and some monsters. Again, this game is fine for any gamers in your gaming family that is 8 years and older. The game Audio is also in an 8-bit style as well. As all 8-bit style games from the era, there is a lot of midi background music as well weapons, monsters and sounds. There are no voiceovers so there is no spoken audio in the game, as the game is told via cutscenes with text. The game does support 5.1 surround sound; however, we recommend for the pure 8-bit feel to play with either headphones or just in its 2.0 format for sound. The Controls for Bloodstained Curse of the Moon are very easy to use. The game has the primary weapon, a special weapon and a jump button. As it is paying homage to the 8-bit era, the controls are very simple and easy to get use to. In our playtesting, we did not run into any controller issues on any platform and found the controls to be easy to use for all ages. The only concern that we had is with younger gamers or gamers with larger hands playing on the Nintendo Switch, that it is best to use the pro controller or use the Joy-Cons in its cradle to play as a standard controller.
“What Bloodstained Curse of the Moon does right is take the magic of the 8-bit side scrollers add the ability of changing on the fly, and lots of replay value and this is a must have for any side scroller fans out there!”
Family Friendly
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon is a truly a 8-bit masterpiece that pays homage to the Castlevania series. Even thought it is a 8-bit game at its core, it is a fun game for all ages. The controls, gameplay and even overall characters that you can play as are fun and very easy to get used to. For the older gamers in our gaming family they loved the fact that it was more of a modern day take of Castlevania 3 with some updates. Now do understand that the designer that worked on the original Castlevania series gave a lot of input to make this as true to the series and they did a great job. Now as most know that most 8-bit games were hard as a two-dollar steak but what Bloodstained Curse of the Moon does right is ease new or veteran players into the game without any hand holding. In other words, this is a great side scroller game for anyone that is a action gamer. In our playtesting here at the office, everyone from young gamer to old loved the game. As the game also offers a more hardcore feature to gamers once they beat the game. Also, as with most side scrollers, this one offers a lot of replay value as the game gives you different opportunities to try to beat the game with certain characters, or just the default one. There is a lot of gameplay value in this game for all gamers in your gaming family. We highly recommend Bloodstained Curse of the Moon as it is a gem that should not be missed. In our special needs game testing, we did not run into any issues with the graphics, sound, controls, or ever overall gameplay. Everyone loved the gameplay and how easy it was to pick up and play the game. The only complaint that we had about Bloodstained Curse of the Moon was that the game can easily be completed within 2 ½ hours. Again this is for casual play but for more players that are looking for a challenge the game will be more around 10-12 hours of gameplay.
Closing
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon is a fantastic game for all ages and one of the best side scrollers out there for the price. This is a must have game for any action fan or even a fan of the Castlevania series.
