Circle of the moon.
It's basically the FULL Belmont whip slinging awesome sauce game we never got from SoTN. You could still play as him if you beat it with Alucard, But it was a very lackluster experience. I remember the first time I played SoTN. I was FLOORED (AS IF BOLO YUENG HAD SLAPPED BANANA SHIT OUT OF ME, FLOORED!) by all the cool moves Richter had in the beginning. Granted, We didn't have much money, so I went from a bargain bin NES with 4 Funcoland used games, and 1 from the video rental store, (TMNT1, CV1, CV2, CV3, and Double Dragon1) directly to shoveling cars out of the snow all winter so i could have it... I regret nothing.
Anyway, back to the point. The first five minutes were just WOW! Then it was suddenly over and I was introduced to this new/revamped guy. Alucard. He looked Freaking great, but I was not impressed at all with his moveset... at first. I decided to keep playing. I had busted my ass all winter to get this game, a playstation, and a TV that didn't require that co-axial thing with the little two prong feet. (remember those?) I'd be damned if if i wasn't gonna finish. As I progressed, I found that I just kept liking the game more and MOAR!!! I couldn't wait to get home from school for another fix. I was taking my time at first, but once i heard you could play as Richter again, I burned though that bad-boy Like a crack head fresh out of rehab. I beat the game @ 200% and immediately input the code. I was severely disappointed. Alucard had gotten me accustomed to a certain type of gameplay. It seemed like everything that made the game amazing had been stripped away, and Richter's flashy new moveset despite the initial cream my pants feeling, just couldn't hold a candle to what i had just finished playing. I wouldn't touch the game for years.
Then "Circle of the Moon" came out. I figured why not. I had a real job and more money by then. Despite What all the reviews said, I bought an N64 and had an absolute blast with those titles... but i was still chomping at the bit for that 2d experience. (Just one more hit dammit!) I figured why not. So i bought a GBA and a copy of the game. I was never so NOT disappointed. After all that time had passed I finally got to play as a "Belmont" (I know he's not officially, but c'mon. He's a better Belmont than most.) With all the bells an whistles that made Alucard's gameplay kick ass! I spent hours on end sitting in so very many uncomfortable positions under my light bulb that I just don't have a proper expletive for it. The game saw me buy every GBA that came out, A GameCube solely for the GBA player, a DS, a DS lite, several PSPs for emulation, and eventually a hacked XBOX. I even learned to hack my WII and Jtag my first 360, Just to have most of my CV games on one console. Fanboy 9000! It's the game that first inspired me to rip sprites, and eventually start sprite editing. (Which coincidentally, has brought me so much joy over the years I just lack the communicational skills to give it it's proper due.) I even learned to code and script with the OpenBor engine to breathe life into my little creations. The only downside is they never used that art style again. I found it to be the perfect bridge between the NES days of my youth and the 32 bit, "LETS JUST ADD ALPHA BLENDING TO EVERTHING!" Games like SoTN.
Sorry about the long trip down memory lane. I posted in the requests section before reading the rules. I could have been a lame ass and made 3 single word replies, But; Looking through the forum I've seen a LOT of posts by people who it would seem have walked down the same road, and had a Belmont to keep them company for every stage of their life. The series just seems to be that old and beloved here. a single word answer would just not have been enough respect.
Inadequate.