10 Gaming Opening Levels Which Surprised Us All
1. Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, and despite releasing just four years later, made the unexpected decision to recreate Rondo of Blood's final boss fight in its opening sequence.
Players are thrust back into the shoes of Richter Belmont to once again battle Count Dracula in an altered version of the prior boss battle. You can't die during the fight, so it serves more as a skill check to bring players back up to speed.
Curiously, how well you play during this fight and how quickly you defeat Dracula also determines the equipment and stat-boosts afforded to Symphony of the Night's actual protagonist you start controlling afterwards, Alucard.
It's an extremely novel and unexpected way to remind players of the previous game's story while also re-acclimating them to the gameplay, and it's honestly surprising we haven't seen this technique adopted more over the years.