The Catacombs in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse presents a significant navigational challenge, filled with environmental hazards, unique enemies, and demanding combat encounters. To access this area, players must first collect three keys by defeating the initial bosses: The Fallen, Joan of Arc, and Medusa. Upon their return to the starting boss arena, Rose will interact with a mechanism, initiating the descent into the Catacombs.
Upon entering, players should proceed down and to the left into the next chamber, which features ghosts, bone pillars, and exploding spiders alongside familiar skeleton archers. Navigating this area requires the use of Holy Light to traverse platforms made of Chaos Shards. The subsequent room introduces Fleamen, agile enemies that hop and can latch onto the player. Effective parrying is recommended for dealing with most enemies encountered here.
Further progress involves descending a shaft filled with spinning blades. Careful timing of jumps and the use of later-found grapples are essential to reach the bottom safely and the next area. Following a glowing trail to the left leads to a save room. To the left of the save room, players can find a hidden ledge that leads to one of the game's relics, or continue left to discover a secret passage indicated by green writing on a wall. This passage reveals a hidden ledge which, when fallen through, leads to a fight against a gauntlet of enemies, including a Skeleton Ape, before a hidden wall to the right of a statue reveals a switch. Activating this switch lowers giant skeleton heads, creating a shortcut back to the save point.
Continuing onward, players will face more spinning blade traps. A large platform composed of Chaos Shards requires precise use of Holy Light to dodge blades and swing across gaps. The next section features an invisible pit, which can be circumvented by climbing a shaft to the left. Falling through a hidden ledge to the right of the pit leads to another switch. Wall jumping to the right of the Bone Pillars in this area can uncover hidden secrets. The 'Gallery of Teeth' presents a particularly challenging sequence of spinning blades and Chaos Shards. Careful traversal is required to reach the final switches for this segment of the Catacombs.
The next room houses numerous Bone Pillars and a difficult enemy gauntlet. After defeating these enemies, a grapple point in the subsequent room opens a shaft beneath a giant skull. Descending this shaft leads to a room with a spinning blade challenge. Continuing right from this point transitions to the 'Condemned Mineshaft,' which contains an elevator serving as a shortcut to the save point. Proceeding down and right leads to the 'Blood Pits,' characterized by difficult traversal puzzles and another enemy gauntlet. At the bottom of the Blood Pits, collapsible platforms lead to encounters with Mermen, which attack with precise fireballs that can be parried with Holy Light. An upgrade can be found in a hidden area above the yellow whip latch point, but progression continues left through a gauntlet of spinning blades and berserker skeletons.
Following this, players will find two hidden walls on the left, one leading to a 'chicken' collectible and the other to the next area on the right. The Catacombs also feature encounters with giant Skeleton Apes. The 'Hall of the Fallen Angels' includes a whip item and another challenging gauntlet featuring harpies, berserker zombies, and archers. After defeating these foes, players proceed down the middle into the 'Stairway to Hell,' which includes a Skeleton Ape that can be bypassed. An ambush of berserker zombies awaits in the long corridor that follows. The final room before the exit of the Catacombs contains a shortcut to a second elevator, which can be ridden back to the beginning of the area for a respite. From this point, players can reach the end of the Catacombs.