Silver Night's Crusaders Game Review

Silver Night's Crusaders is a side-scrolling arcade hack and slash Castlevania fan game developed in OpenBOR and published by True Role Dreams. The title is a wonderful retro monster-slaying arcade romp that sees you play as one of three unique protagonists: Ethan Graymont, Francis Bloodrose and Sheeba Faulkner. Each character has his or her own style, weapon and abilities. Ethan is a traditional whip-wielder, Sheeba wields a gigantic scythe and Francis can transform into a bat and fly around the map.

This non-profit, fan made Castlevania game offers a fabulous experience for both single and coop play with local multiplayer support. The game has beautiful pixel art animation and the levels, enemies and collectibles feel very authentic, even though it isn't a true metroidvania. The gameplay is quite arcadey and there's no RPG element or exploration as found in some of Konami's classics, but it is a fun challenge nonetheless.

In addition to the story mode, you can also enjoy a couple of additional modes that offer a different experience. For example, the Bloody Arena mode is a manual 'boss rush' mode where you fight all of the final bosses in the castle, but in a very limited time. Silver Night's Crusaders has lots of combat, a variety of weapons and accessories and a superb soundtrack. It's a real treat for fans of the genre and well worth your time.