(This review is for the original Japanese version, not the NA release which has several changes)

Preliminary: The title screen music is the best part of this game so far.... the jump sound effect is super annoying and the main music is so annoying. But before I knew it, with barely any knowledge of what was going on, I was done with the first world/map. and there's only 8 in total. Maybe it'd be worth pushing through? I dunno. It's very mediocre so far, gameplay-wise, and it seems to really want a lot of extra power-ups and factors (summons are cool tho, as is the world map feature) that it gets to be too much. I like my platformers simple and to the point! But I'm on the second map, worth trying a bit more after dinner

Look: 7/10 The skull themed candle levels are quite cool looking. And the World Maps are a cool idea. But mostly quite mediocre for 86/NES. (Look Score was slightly boosted by the World Maps)

Sound: 4/10 No. Why always that same song. The title screen music is great! Use that more! And the sound effects are so bad. I suppose I can choose not to include it in a rating when it hurts the overall score, but I almost wanted to include it just to shame it lol. But that wouldn't be fair cuz my general rule for PS1? and before (haven't decided the cutoff, maybe it's for all games since I have traditionally been someone who listened or watched something while gaming .... till this chronology project ha... and C64 proved me wrong about it being early games cuz for a lot of C64 games, the music was the highlight!) I only include Sound score if it helps or maintains the overall score...

Play: 7/10 Oh dang, and the 2nd map went even faster cuz I got a Crystal Ball right away so I could go the Witch's Hut and unlock the Boss! But was that the right decision? I have no summon this time... I wonder what else I could have collected in other areas of the map... (Turns out it was just luck that the map went so fast, it seems it's randomly picked? which level in a map will have the Crystal Ball, so I just got lucky it was the first one. You may still want to explore the other areas of the map for further power-ups though)

I do like that, alike Metroid etc, the longer you press jump the higher you jump. Those little mechanics are becoming the norm in 86 and I'm very glad for it. The collision masks weren't perfect on this, nor was the weapon usage. And the platforming wasn't great (tho I'm glad it had several of the NES era basic niceties like mid-jump controls). Not in love with the flying carpet levels (but hey, at least no time limit crap). Plus it adds too many factors to a platformer game. Still, fundamentally, it has a nice idea of straightforward stages with a killcount or collect count (or a, uh, candle lighting count etc lol) and somewhat interesting boss mechanics (tho the weapons factor can get annoying, since some can do no damage at all).

Pro-tip: your flutes aren't saved for the next map I was over here saving up Flutes ready for the best summon in the next world and bam, all disappeared ha. So might as well use your summons at the bosses (press down in the far left side, don't know how you'd know that without a manual or guide)

Another pro-tip: press down and jump to drop down a platform, super helpful in some areas

Yet another pro-tip: it seeeeeems it's always?usually? the left door that leads back to the map if you don't wanna score-chase with the annoying demon pit/miniboss segments. (I stand corrected, seems to be random, argh)

Feel: 8/10 The game is definitely growing on me. The strategywiki helps a lot, to understand how to get a Flute (let alone to summon), let alone just how to switch weapon types, and which weapons work against bosses (that's the main thing you should check the strategywiki for -- no fun sitting there hitting a boss when it doesn't indicate you're doing no damage ha). Anyway, once I would know what weapon is best against the boss, then my only focus would be on finding which level had the Crystal Ball (which seems to be random so that's the main exploration part of the game) and collecting as many Flutes as I can to save up for when need a Summon too. Flutes appear when you're down to one more of whatever you need to collect or kill in a stage, which is indicated in the UI counting down from 10, so in other words, stop what you're doing when get it to 1 and look out for a Flute if want a Summon! Once I learned these things, the game got a lot simpler, and more fun. If only the main jingle were better, or varied, cuz otherwise this game is becoming better and better. (Oh, but screw those miniboss areas when you go in the "wrong"? door at the end of a level? What do you even gain from those other than extra points? lame)

Attachment: 7/10 Heh I had to jinx it. As soon as I typed it was growing on me, I picked the door that went to one of those annoying mini boss rooms. Then the next boss (3rd boss) was annoying and I had to start abusing savestates. Boo. And for some reason even when I'd change what weapon I had selected, it wouldn't always shoot that? I'm sure it's user error but another example of how we just want a fun platformer, not something with so many layers that it's super hard to know what to do.

On to Map 6, almost done! This is going fast. I can't seem to figure out how to select which summon I will use? I had 3 Flutes, but it was still the basic one. Didn't really matter. The 5th Map boss was pretty easy even with the regular weapon. (I never did figure this out? It seems they just go in order, so you have to use them in order? Odd. Correct me if I'm wrong)

On the final world, and then suddenly the final boss so quickly! Wow is the final boss lame looking lol... and somehow, not one change in the song... how did they get away with the same darn song the whole game lol and that awful death sound...

Oh well shoot that was a lame final boss and ending... (be forewarned, like the fourth boss, the final boss does the when-it-dies-it-shoots-things-out-in-4-directions thing, other than that it was straightforward) and tada... no ending whatsoever, just looping (well, to a "Map 9")

Completion: All 8 unique worlds/bosses. Score 115, 740 Playtime: 1hr