Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is the millennial equivalent to Westwood Studios’ The Lion King on SNES. Both are wondrously colorful video games that are adaptations of a much-beloved franchise and both have a moment early in the game so frustratingly difficult that I can’t progress.

Go back and play the first level of The Lion King and you’d have no idea this was a title that made gamers of a certain age cry bloody tears. Throughout Pride Rock, baby Simba roars, jumps, and pounces on enemies’ heads to defeat them, while platforming challenges are light, nothing but a few intermittent death pits to avoid. It’s a cute opening number that does a good job of introducing you to the game’s systems, but a poor one of preparing you for the absolute hell you’re about to endure for the rest of the game.

Like The Lion King, Belmont’s Curse starts off with a similar trap. The action platformer’s opening hours, which find you exploring the streets and sewers of a Paris in flames, were challenging but nothing a little bit of time, patience, and practice couldn’t surmount. For a time, it was good; really, really good.

You play as Rose Belmont, child of Sypha and Trevor , summoned to Paris with her father at the behest of a priest seeking your family’s specialized help to fight against the supernatural horrors plaguing the city. Starting as Rose instead of her famous father means you start at zero. No holy water, no cross, not even your family’s famous chain whip.

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