Is the reverse castle padding? Maybe, but even knowing it would happen it's a cool twist. Good level design to play whole castle again in reverse. Obviously the best Castlevania game. As far as Metroidvanias go, I probably like Super Metroid more, but both games have a similar annoying part, where major progression is stuck behind a secret. Opening menu over and over to heal is also quite annoying. Besides that, I was hooked. Amazing game.