The game is almost unplayable as a single player game. Because of the level design, you’ll literally be backtracking through each level since there’s no one to throw switches or round up treasure with you. There are puzzles and areas that are inaccessible to a solo player. And god help you with that level three boss, I’m fairly convinced that it’s not possible to beat it by yourself. You can’t even pause the game in single player mode, which tells me that its inclusion was half-hearted and ill-considered at best.

The presentation is poor, despite terrific sprite-based graphics. Everything about it feels Spartan, rushed, and perfunctory from the menus to the limited options available. There is a help section, but it does little to explain how to play the game or take advantage of its features. There is also strangeness in how some characters can buy a wide variety of equipment and others have access to hardly any, and the inability to switch equipment anywhere while in play other than at specific locations is a questionable mechanic.

Despite a litany of grievances, the multiplayer is at least moderately entertaining and I do think that die hard Castlevania fans will get some mileage out of it. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that the game has no context, story, or incentive to play through it. It just simply “is”, without meaning or canonical value which is something that longtime fans value in a series like this. It strikes an uneasy balance between the old school, arcade style Castlevania games, the “Metroidvania” style ones, and the multiplayer platforming innovation of games like Little Big Planet and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. This is a tremendous concept that only intermittently works, but its poor execution and lack of apparent care on the part of the developers drives a stake through its heart.