Hasslevania



Hasslevania: The Quest For Shuteye is a 2007 PC action/metroidvania Freeware Game that parodies the Castlevania series.

It tells the story of Rovert Bellhump, who just bought a cheap yet nice house. The problem is that Dracula is his new neighbor and evil is a noisy business. Rovert can't sleep with all those skelecopters flying around, so he decides to invade Drac's castle to tell him to stop, or else he'll call the cops!

While the game is a metroidvania, it plays more like retro-Castlevania, with plenty of platforming, level gimmicks and traps.

Get it here.

And watch the sequel's trailer.

Tropes found in this game include:

 * Affectionate Parody: Of Castlevania games.
 * An Axe to Grind: The Lost Axe. Slow but powerful and required to beat armored enemies.
 * Artificial Stupidity: When summoned, Chris will sometimes fail to go after enemies even if they're standing by his side.
 * Author Avatar: Del Duio can be found as a miserable little pile of bones in a certain room.
 * Award Bait Song: "Oh, Rovert!"
 * Big Bad: Dracula
 * Big "What?": Like Alucard, Rovert sometimes says this.
 * Blackout Basement: The final area. The switch to turn the lights on is not too hidden, though.
 * Catch Phrase: Rovert's "I can do it!".
 * The Cameo: Statues of characters from earlier DXF games appear through the castle.
 * Dummied Out: Each weapon was supposed to have a spell, but they caused glitch problems and had to be cut. Some dialogue was cut. Plans for a fourth revision of the game have been canceled, but two enemies from it will appear in the sequel.
 * Easy Mode Mockery: The easy mode is named "Wussy Schoolgirl". It also locks the good ending.
 * Easter Egg: There is a secret room that is only accessible through the use of a glitch. Near it there is a room where a cutscene will only be available if you go there immediately.
 * Expy: Alucart, the vampire who runs a casino.
 * Also Gala Moth, a moth in a gala outfit.
 * Floating in A Bubble: A gimmick present in a couple of screens.
 * Fragile Speedster: The Blade of Del Duio makes Rovert walk faster, but enemy attacks will be slighty stronger. It's not a big penalty at all (and only happens when a room is loaded, not after that), and wielding it makes candle grinding less tedious.
 * Guide Dang It: When the game tells you about a draft, it means there is a passage in the ceiling right above you. Version 3 makes it a little easier to notice it.
 * Have a Nice Death: The game over screen shows Rovert in Hell. Like in Symphony of the Night, this game over screen has some random phrases of randomness for flavor.
 * Hyperactive Metabolism: If Rovert finds a edible item, he'll immediately eat it for HP. A cut comment from Chris lampshades this - Rovert could make better use of his backpack.
 * Logo Joke: A rat passes by Del Duio's face. He then screams.
 * Metroidvania
 * Monster Compendium: Hidden in one level.
 * Multiple Endings: A bad and a good one. Collect most of the items to get the good ending.
 * Mythology Gag: Lots about the Castlevania series and a few to Del Duio's earlier works as well.
 * Nintendo Hard: Levels are much more full of traps than you would expect from a Castlevania-ish game in metroidvania form. Also, save points won't heal you and healing is expensive/limited.
 * Non-Indicative Name: No, David Hasslehoff isn't the villain of this game. There are a few references to him, though.
 * Schmuck Bait: Early in the game, you find a hint book underwater. If you go get it, it tells you Rovert can't jump while underwater, as you hopelessly lose HP. What the hell?!
 * Script Breaking: It's possible to defeat Deaf before watching the cutscene where he is supposed to appear for the first time.
 * Sdrawkcab Name: Rovert = Trevor backwards.
 * Shout-Out: Besides Castlevania, there's shoutouts to Rush, Metal Gear and The Legend of Zelda.
 * Spikes of Doom
 * Super Drowning Skills: Rovert loses HP while underwater unless you have the item that allows him to breath underwater. Also, not only he can't swim, he can't jump underwater for whatever reason.
 * Take That: Rovert's grandfather complains about how how complicated Castle(vania) exploration has become nowadays.
 * Villain Exit Stage Left:
 * Whip It Good: The Family Whip, which kills undead enemies in one hit.
 * You Shouldn't Know This Already: The random password at the LCD Tower only works if you found all 3 password codebooks. You can't just find two and guess the third.