Castlevania: Bloodlines is a decent game, playable and enjoyable, but it doesn't quite stand out. The balance feels standard, and the difficulty progresses steadily without becoming too extreme. The controls are okay, but the whip and staff jump mechanics feel underutilized compared to previous games in the series. The first half of the first levels can be a bit boring and repetitive. The art is mostly fine, but the second stage's first half feels bland compared to the rest of the game.

Technologically, the game suffers on the Sega Genesis, showcasing the hardware's limitations compared to other platforms. It doesn't bring much new to the table, lacking innovations seen in previous titles. Despite these drawbacks, the game is still somewhat fun to play, with music being a standout feature. However, the game feels like a step back for the series, lacking certain features and improvements. The boss reuse adds some repetitiveness, but it's not overly frustrating. Overall, Castlevania: Bloodlines may not be the best in the series, but it leaves players feeling somewhat satisfied, with some desire for more. replayability is decent, especially with the other character. While it has its moments, it lacks a special factor that would make it truly memorable.

Truly a great game. Fun, smooth innovative and has that special sausce that makes a great game. It never feels to tedious and I found myself replaying levels to 100% without any sense of time wasted. Music is great but not the best the series has to offer. The remixes are better than Super Castlevania IV. I got a little confused first when I didn't realize that in the main menu you could go back to levels to try different paths and I was woried of a repeat of Castlevania 3 and having to replay the whole game to get the full experience.
What I really liked:
The multiple endings and cut scenes were really nice.
What I wish was different:
A way to go to change levels and characters mid game without a system restart.
What I didn't like:
I didn't like the movement controls going backwards. No whip tricks, crawling.
I felt the backflip was cool but Maria proved they could have had a cool movement set for both characters.
Next review I am going to try a new format.

Castlevania Perfected. If your familiar with the original Castlevania this game is a treat. It starts out quiet for you to collect your bearings, you realize how slick the whip is now and the improvements to stairs. The game feels like sutch an improvement without making it to easy.

What I felt could have been better. The sound track, while nice and I did like it didn't hit as hard as past games. Felt like a more chill version of the tracks vs the exciting adventure we got used to. Also stage A and B had sutch a jump in difficulty, I went from killing bosses in 2 seconds to to actually having to figure them out. The bosses were never unreasonably dificut except maby the stages themselves but they were very unforgiving and I felt the difficulty could have been ramped more insted of this spike.