Fans of retro games like Konami's Castlevania will be happy to know that Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon comes out this month in 8-bit glory.
A KickStarter Success
In May 2015, Koji Igarashi, a Japanese video game producer previously connected with Konami, started a Kickstarter campaign for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Reports confirmed that the unexpected and overwhelming support made it one of the biggest video game crowd-funding successes on the platform.
Just recently, backers and fans of the so-called father of Castlevania were apparently surprised when Inti Creates announced the release of an 8-bit companion game during the BitSummit 2018 event held in Kyoto, Japan. The game is slated to launch as a digital download on May 24 for the Switch, 3DS, PC, PS Vita, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
A Message For Supporters
The official trailer was posted on YouTube and starts with a short segment wherein Igarashi explains how the game came to be. He confirms that Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon was developed as promised due to a stretch goal being met. Those who contributed more than $28 will get a code to download it for free, while everyone else needs to shell out $9.99 for a copy.
Developers And Gameplay
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is being developed by Inti Creates. The game studio was reportedly established by 10 former employees of Capcom 20 years ago. Gamers note that the developers appear to be well-versed when it comes to retro-style action platformers. Some of its past projects are games such as Mighty Gunvolt Burst, Mega Man Zero, Mighty No. 9, and more.
The gameplay will be immediately familiar to gamers who played 8-bit games on the NES. Sources liken its appearance to that of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse with a limited color palette. There are a total of four characters featured in the title and players can freely switch between them during play.
Miriam, the only female in the group uses a whip, Zangetsu fights as a swordsman, Gebel is apparently a shapeshifter that can take the form of a bat, and Alfred is the group's alchemist who practices magic. Players can choose from two difficulty options, Casual and Veteran. The former features unlimited lives and no knockback from enemy hits, while the latter is the default difficulty with limited lives and enemy knockback.
Unlike the original 8-bit games that ran on consoles with limited processing power, the retro-style action game flaunts better animation and massive boss encounters.
