Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse has a lot going for it: vivid presentation, a strong supernatural setting and an inventive approach to exploration. It also hides a punishing difficulty spike that can stop progress completely.
That makes it a modern counterpart to Westwood Studios’ The Lion King on SNES. Both games begin with colourful, approachable stages that teach their basic mechanics before revealing a far harsher challenge. The opening of this was a title that made gamers of a certain age cry bloody tears is a gentle introduction compared with what follows.
Belmont’s Curse sets a similar snare. Its early sections take Rose Belmont through the burning streets and sewers of Paris. They demand patience and practice, but initially feel manageable—and, for a while, remarkably enjoyable.
A new Belmont starts with almost nothing
Rose is the daughter of Sypha and Trevor. A priest summons her and Trevor to Paris to investigate the supernatural horrors overwhelming the city. Unlike her celebrated father, Rose begins without the traditional Belmont equipment: there is no holy water, cross or chain whip. Her only starting weapon is a sword, so the investigation gradually becomes a search for new weapons and abilities.
The game treats that investigation as a genuine mystery. Ghosts and motionless watchers provide clues about the bosses, including their locations and the conditions needed to reach them. Those hints matter, because simply following the most obvious landmark can lead to disaster.
One clue points to the Builder fleeing to a clocktower. Reaching a location with a huge clock seems to confirm the destination, but the Builder is not there. Instead, Rose encounters Dracula. Arriving before she is strong enough to fight him immediately triggers the bad ending and rolls the credits.
Being able to reach the endgame early is an intriguing design choice. The precise level of strength required to avoid that outcome is unclear, but the existence of a bad ending strongly suggests that a true ending is waiting elsewhere. Evil Empire’s apparent knowledge of classic Castlevania traditions makes that possibility especially compelling.
The Builder fight turns into a nightmare
After restarting, help from a colleague pointed the way to the real Builder. The first phase of the encounter was unexpectedly easy, particularly after three earlier bosses that each presented their own difficulties.
That apparent simplicity is the setup. Once the Builder loses enough health, he escapes through a cramped obstacle course. Pistons drop from above and fire in from the sides, while spike pits and collapsing platforms leave little room for error. Reaching the next boss room makes the second phase look straightforward again.
Then the Builder flees a second time, forcing Rose to repeat the same platforming route in reverse—and complete it within 90 seconds.
Going backwards is considerably harder than navigating the course in its original direction. The side-mounted pistons move so quickly that their timing is difficult to read, and failing to finish before the timer expires causes the entire area to explode and kill Rose.
Difficulty options do not solve the real problem
Belmont’s Curse includes settings that can remove death or adjust enemy damage, but those options affect combat rather than platforming. Turning off death offers a way to practise the reverse sequence, yet it does not make the jumps, collapsing platforms or piston patterns easier. It is also unclear whether running out of time with that option enabled would automatically complete the section.
That creates a different kind of frustration from a typical soulslike challenge. There is no clear opportunity to leave, gain strength and return better prepared. The obstacle is a fixed execution test, and the timer adds pressure to an already demanding route. A break, a later patch or expert guidance may be the only answers for players stuck at this point.
For Australian arcade fans who enjoy tough retro-inspired design, this is a useful reminder that challenge can come from more than combat. A carefully chosen arcade machine can make classic action games feel immediate, while a compact bartop arcade suits players who want that experience without giving up much room.
The comparison with The Lion King is also revealing. That SNES game was reportedly made unusually difficult so it would take longer than a standard Blockbuster rental period to finish. Game rentals no longer shape difficulty in the same way, which makes Belmont’s reverse Builder section feel less like a clever extension of playtime and more like an uncompromising roadblock.
For now, the true ending of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse remains out of reach—not because the mystery is unsolved, but because the path back through those pistons is proving harder than any boss fight.
Players who want to recreate the arcade feel at home can compare the arcade machine buying guide or explore arcade parts for repairs and upgrades.
Leave a Reply