Super Castlevania IV = Overrated

Super Castlevania is a really exceptional game, however, sometimes I feel that it's kind of overrated compared to its predecessors (excluding Simon's Quest, that game was shit). With Castlevania IV, many fans look at things such as the improved air control, as well the ability to swing your whip in any direction, as the game's selling points. However, I disagree entirely and it really takes some of the fun out of the experience.

Castlevania, at it's core, is a game that was all about patience, timing, and planning. You weren't allowed to change direction in mid-air, simply because the game encouraged players to be patient and wait for the right time to jump. Whenever you died during a platforming section, it was often because you messed up on your timing. It wasn't the games fault that you fell into a bottomless pit, it was your fault for jumping too early or too late. While there's definitely some cheapness in the game (player knockback being extremely aggravating to me), the control wasn't necessarily bad. It was restricted for a reason, and that's because the game was all about timing. If you weren't patiently, you were penalized for it. Super Castlevania IV takes this entire aspect out of the game.

Not to mention that the sub-weapons are underpowered as fuck. You can use the whip for just about any situation because of its increased length, and the ability to swing in multiple directions. In the previous Castlevanias, the whip was designed to be less useful, which was for a good reason. This encouraged players to use their sub-weapons for situations that the whip isn't good for. And the funny thing is, in Super Castlevania IV there were certain parts of the game where they expected you to use a specific sub-weapon to clear the area, but the whip was so immensely overpowered that you have no need for the sub-weapons in the first place. All you ever had to do in that entire game was just spam the whip 24/7. Where's the strategy in that?

If they were going to put so much emphasis on the whip, the game should've been better designed around it. They had those grappling sections where you had to use the whip in order to swing from place to place, but aside from that, there were no other obstacles that allowed for cool, unique ways to use the whip. I would've liked to be able to lasso a small enemy with the whip and throw it as a projectile (like Super Mario Bros 2, but a bit more badass). What about being able to ride on ziplines? That would've been cool. How about a spin jump attack that uses the whip, sort of like Zero's double jump from the Mega Man X series? I feel that there were some serious missed opportunities.