This Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night demake gives us serious old-school Castlevania vibes

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The modern side-scroller gets reimagined as a Game Boy game

A screenshot from Bloodstained
(Image credit: 505 Games)

The beautiful Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is seen as something of a spiritual successor to the Castlevania series. Miriam's adventure provides the side-scrolling Metroidvania action that some fans of Konami's dark fantasy series sorely missed when it radically changed direction and switched to 3D environments for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and its sequel Lords of Shadow 2. 

As spotted by Nintendo Life, Bloodstained is the latest title to be given the demake treatment, making it look all the more like the classic Castlevania games that inspired it.

Game Boy Demakes shared their impressive creation on Twitter. One of the images shows what Bloodstained's menu would look like if it were made for Nintendo's classic handheld, and another shows a little Miriam sprite kicking some demon butt. Elsewhere we see the game's save rooms as well as the map of the Dian Cecht Cathedral. The simple black and white aesthetics give it a particular resemblance to Castlevania The Adventure, which was released on Game Boy all the way back in 1989. Sadly, it's only a mockup, so we can't actually play through this delightful demake, but it's nonetheless a lovely feast for the peepers.

It's been a few years since Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was released, and while we've been treated to DLC and an 8-bit spin-off in the form of Curse of the Moon, we've yet to sink our teeth into a fully-fledged sequel. Happily, one is on the way. Back in June last year, the official Bloodstained social media channels confirmed that a follow-up is happening and that it's "in very early planning stages".

Don't miss out on all the best titles making their way to PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC with our guide to new games 2022.

Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.