The monsters are mostly strategically placed so that you must plan your attacks according to their position and the lay of the land

Add to that some well placed rope climbing courses and you have yourself a Castlevania themed gauntlet of four long stages, each one more difficult than the last, with no save feature, but all the continue chances you need

There are no sub-weapons hidden in the game's candles, instead only whip power-ups, chrystals giving you 50 lousy points a piece, hearts which recover health rather than supplement sub-weapons, and occasionally extra lives placed only in secret or hard to reach areas.

In a sense, the monsters can best be viewed as little more than well placed obstacles in a deadly obstacle course