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Akumajou Dracula |
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LAST UPDATED: 08/04/06 |
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REVIEWED BY:
Juggalo |
"The enemies in this game were all
taken from historical movies, novels,
and stories and were designed to be
exactly like their counterparts." |
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THE
DATA
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NAME |
Akumajou
Dracula |
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PLATFORM |
Famicom /
Disk System |
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DEVELOPER |
Konami |
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PUBLISHER |
Konami |
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PLAYERS |
1 player |
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RELEASE DATE |
1986 |
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GENRE |
Action |
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SAVING OPTION |
Yes |
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NES NTSC |
Castlevania |
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NES PAL |
Castlevania |
THE RATINGS
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STORYLINE |
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4/5
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GRAPHICS |
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5/5 |
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AUDIO |
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5/5 |
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GAMEPLAY |
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4/5 |
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CONTROL |
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3/5 |
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FUN FACTOR |
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4/5 |
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FRUSTRATION |
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3.5/5 |
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OVERALL |
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4/5 |
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Akumajou Dracula, or Demon Castle Dracula, is the very first
Castlevania game. For many Famicom gamers, this landmark title
was the beginning of the saga that we know today. This game was first
released on the Famicom Disk System in 1987, and was later re-released
in 1993 in cart format, and then of course it was re-released one more
time in 2004 for the Famicom Mini Series (in the States it was known as
the Classic NES Series). In case you didn't know, this is exactly like
Castlevania for the NES, except for the fact that you can save in
one of three save slots and you have the option of easy or normal
difficulty levels.
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It is the year 1691 and
you are the heir to the Belmont family lineage, Simon Belmont. As a
Belmont, Simon is the strongest vampire hunter around and also has
the duty of destroying the almighty and evil Count Dracula! Simon
must travel to Dracula's castle in Castlevania and use his mighty
whip, which was passed down through centuries by his ancestors.
Although Simon has
trained for years for this moment, nothing can prepare him for what
he is about to encounter in Dracula's castle.
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The graphics of
Akumajou Dracula
are eerie and rightfully
so. From the broken down walls inside the Count's mansion to
underneath the ground within the caves, each place was designed to
take advantage of every last bit of graphics it could in 1986!
One of my favorite stages is the Stage 3, where you're on the tower
or balcony and you can see other towers in the background and
forests and the night sky. It definitely pays attention to the
details of the real Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's Dracula
(the novel).
The
enemies were flawlessly crafted and without question (maybe an
exception would be the zombies with the purple rags) done right. The
enemies in this game were all taken from historical movies, novels,
and stories and were designed to be exactly like their counterparts.
For example, the monster from Frankenstein moved slow and
wandered aimlessly and the Grim Reaper floated and disappeared
exactly as if you were to encounter him (God forbid!). The candles
that harbor items are easy to see and the whip Simon uses was nicely
designed and looks to have the texture of an whip in real life.
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Akumajou Dracula has some of the best Famicom adventure music
offered in any game. The opening theme to the game ("Vampire
Killer") is one of the most awesome tunes ever, and it sets the tune
for the whole game, as a warrior braves the dangerous castle in
search of the wicked count (take that fourth grade English!). The
music keeps on getting better throughout the game, Stage 3's music
is poetry for the ears and Dracula's theme kicks ass!
The sound effects are
pretty much average, with the real effects coming from small
explosions of Simon's enemies as he whips them and the overall sound
of his whip as he flings it around! The sound from Simon when he
gets hurt can be heard in the other Castlevania games -- as
well as in Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link, when Link gets
hurt.
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Well, the game's actually pretty
short, I'm afraid. There's only six stages for Simon to fight his way
through, but each stage has multiple parts to it and will take a good 10 or
so minutes to get through. It's short, but boy, it DOES give you a
challenge. Not only do you have a health bar, but it does NOT refill unless
you find the VERY rare piece of meat to heal Simon or you beat the stage,
which gives Simon his health back. So, you must get through a stage, THEN
you must, with your remaining health, take on one of Dracula's underlings,
including a giant bat, Frankenstein, Death and more -- and they are not
easy. Not to mention, Simon's whip can be upgraded to make it stronger and
so that it can have a longer reach, but if Simon is killed, he start out
with a Leather Whip and you must get two attachments to make it a Chain Whip
once again.
There are of course other
weapons. These include a cross-boomerang, an axe, a stop watch, a cross, and
some holy water. The boomerang shaped like a cross will come back to Simon
once thrown; the axe is thrown upward and can hurt enemies too far to reach;
the stop watch will freeze all enemies on the screen; the cross will kill
all enemies on the screen; and the holy water hurts anything it touches,
creating fire on the ground. These weapons run on the hearts Simon collects
and cannot be used without the right amount.
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Simon
jumps with the press of A, whip with B, and with Up +
B he uses the
weapon he has. As for moving the udde...well...like many Castlevania
games that only came later on; the Belmont clan suffers a lot from stiff
jumping and slow walking. Basically, Simon can't change direction in
mid-air which makes it hard to dodge attacks from enemies. Also, almost
any enemy can outrun Simon: zombies, flea men, bats, etc.
Oh, we can't forget about
drunken-paralysis Simon, who come into play when he climbs a staircase?
You can climb the staircase by pressing Up; however, you can't jump on
the stairs as easy as you would like to believe. Also, when you want to
climb down a staircase you must press Down, and if there is a pit below
(which happens near the end of the game) you, might just fall straight
down by mistake!
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What isn't fun? Using
your vampire killing whip to beat some monsters and undead,
traveling through all of Castlevania to finally meet Dracula
and kick his ass? Definitely more easy said than done! But
still, with awesome tunes, decent graphics, especially on a stormy
night -- or even Halloween night. I mean, it's even on the Game Boy
Advance as part of the Classic NES Series (Famicom Mini in Japan)!
The game, despite being near 20 years old, is still very fun!
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Well,
first is the horrid jumping Simon is capable of, and then there's
the stairs problem. The other main problem is the level of
difficulty. At the beginning of the game, Simon can take eight hits
before dying, but enemies grow stronger as the game progresses. By
the time Simon get to the end of Level Four, get hit but four times
and you're dead. The difficulty of many of the bosses, primarily
Frankenstein and the Grim Reaper, have sent people to the madhouse,
and the fight against Dracula is perhaps one of the most difficult
in gaming history. (It took me at least four hours and God knows how
many attempts to finally beat him.) Fortunately, you do get
unlimited continues, but this game takes lots of patience. Let's not
forget about the distance you are set back when Simon gets hit. That
alone sent me the "Game Over" screen many times as a kid -- and
caused another controller-shaped dent in the wall!
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Akumajou Dracula
will always be rated one of the
greatest games of all time. With non-stop horrifying action and the age-old
battle against the prince of darkness himself, what are you waiting for? If
you already haven't, pick up this game and start slaying some undead!
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