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I had played this game to death over the decades and was very bored of it by now but this was a breath of fresh air. I like the colors very much, as an artist myself it was like an interesting color study. I was always looking forward to the next screen. Some areas look genuinely better in my opinion, like the caves in Stage 3. I have been switching between the "Less Exaggerated" hack and the original, I think the former is better but there are some notable differences. I will play through both versions. I recommend this, especially if you happen to be interested in or work with colors like I do.

I only used the original patch for a play-through, so I cannot comment on the less exaggerated patch. I agree with another reviewer that this is hard on the eyes. Stage 3-2 in particular I had trouble seeing the platforms due to how dark the screen was made and fell to my death. While this offers an interesting new coat of paint with some interesting choices such as green fog in the opening, red colored water dripping in stage 3-1 and the acid in 8-1 restored to red as in the Super Famicom original. Enemies such as the bone cannons are red and the ghosts have an orange glow such as in Circle of the Moon. The backgrounds though, somewhat like the moody hack for Simon's Quest in respect to the mansions, are an eyesore. While fun at first I think the gimmick wears off fast and becomes frustrating when you cannot see some things in the foreground that cause injury or death. In short, this isn't for me, but give it a shot. Bear in mind that your mileage may vary.

Some ROM hacking buddies of mine wanted me to try this out so I tried it out. Like most simple NES hacks, doesn't offer much. The author did state it freshens things up so I'm going to give two types of reviews for this.

Play Wise (pro)

• It does freshen things up a bit.

• Does feel different. Doesn't shy away from that.

• Colors make it slightly different in the challenge factor due to how things can play with your eyes. I know this factor too well with the ROM hacks that I'm doing.

My constructive criticism (con)

• It will mess with your eyes and if you are color blind like some people I know that do ROM hacks they'll hate this one in particular.

• Certain stages do somewhat pop out (kinda) but the one that looks the most horrendous is Stage 1 with diarrhea green. This needs to be recolored... along with a few others but not going to sit here and write a book on it as I won't waste my time on that so play at your own risk.

• Slight difficulty to see certain objects like hearts with some backgrounds (seems there's too much red used.)

• Enemies look okay, even the bosses. Probably the only thing this ROM hack truly has going for it.

• As a veteran SC4 player, this does feel cheap and simple. Lazily done palette swap.

Looking at all sides to this hack as how I do with each of my reviews so here is my conclusion. Play at your own risk. Some people will enjoy it while others will hate it.

A very interesting hack. The graphic changes give the game a darker, creepier feel that looks like the second castle graphics of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. Some levels, such as the 2nd, the 9th and the room where the player fight Death look specially good with it. Bats are harder to see and can become a real threat now.

I've tested this with "Alter Quest" and both hacks are 100% compatible.