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Akumajou Dracula II |
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LAST UPDATED: 08/04/06 |
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REVIEWED BY:
Juggalo |
"Only in
Akumajou Dracula II
would you
find spikes, poisonous water, monsters, and people
hung in a mansion.
Resident Evil...eat your heart out!" |
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THE
DATA
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NAME |
Akumajou
Dracula II |
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PLATFORM |
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 |
1987 |
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GENRE |
Role
Playing |
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SAVING OPTION |
Yes |
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NES NTSC |
Castlevania II |
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NES PAL |
Castlevania II |
THE RATINGS
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STORYLINE |
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5/5
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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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3/5 |
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FRUSTRATION |
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3/5 |
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OVERALL |
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4/5 |
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Akumajou Dracula II: The Accursed Seal or better known as
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (released in the U.S. a year later in
1988) is loads different than the original. Now it delves into a world
of exploration, instead of going through stages. Plus, your levels gets
raised, plus you can buy weapons! This game (like the original) was
released on the Famicom Disk System, which allows for a name entry
function (you could use this to save the game unlike the U.S. version
that has passwords). Another difference between the cart and disk
versions is that the disk has lower audio capabilities and suffers a bit
from not having the PCM drum channel, for example. The game was
re-released in Famicom cart form...but enough of that. Let's get to the
review.
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Simon Belmont, hero of
the first Castlevania, is in bad shape: you see, before he
killed Dracula, that evil enemy bit him, so soon he will be living a
more, um, nocturnal lifestyle. Not good. How do you remedy this?
Simple! Simon must gather Dracula's body parts, which have been
scattered across the land by Dracula's followers. He must use those
body parts to bring Dracula back to life, only to kill him again. I
can't think of another game with a storyline like this.
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Everything was taken up
a notch in this Castlevania, and it shows. Simon can go into
the forests and get an eerie feeling from the clouded trees blocking
all the sunlight. (In fact, there's a forest where I live that's a
lot like this one!) The towns were designed good, except for the
strange staircases that go up to shops and houses. (I'm not sure
such would have existed back then.) You got to love the mansions!
Only in
Akumajou Dracula II
would you find spikes, poisonous water, monsters, and people
hung in a mansion. Resident Evil...eat your heart out!
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This is probably the
most cherished part of the game. Tunes like Bloody Tears (the
daytime theme) or Monster
Dance (the nighttime theme) can
still be heard echoing in the minds of many. The sound effects are
basically recycled from the first game with a few exceptions, like
the sound of Simon dying. The different whips all have different
sound to them, which is pretty cool. The Fire Whip for example has a
"whirling" noise to it, as if the whip really was made of fire.
Overall, the audio rocked,
despite the Disk System's lack of sufficient audio
properties.
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Akumajou Dracula II
is somewhat
different from it's predecessor. Instead of going stage by stage through
Dracula's castle, Simon is exploring the countryside, talking to people, and
adventuring through haunted mansions that hold Dracula's missing body parts.
Simon buys new weapons and other items by collecting hearts (instead of
using them for weapons) and, at night, Simon is hounded by an endless number
of zombies (even when in town) and normal monsters get stronger until the
sun rises again. In fact, this is the first video game ever to feature
revolving day and night settings and to have enemies change in their level
of difficulty as a result.
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All masterpieces have their
flaws if you look hard enough. This masterpiece's flaw is the demon
known as jumping. Simon's ability to jump is a bit awkward. You don't
jump very far, barely clearing the smallest gaps. And you have no midair
control. Of course, this trait is featured in every single
Castlevania game on a Nintendo system, so if you're a Castlevania-ite,
like me, then you expect this. It's not really a flaw, but instead it's
more of a nuisance.
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This game can be fun: traveling aimlessly, buying upgrades for Simon's weapons, trying to
find out what "Clues to Dracula's Curse are in Veros Woods" means
so
Simon goes to the damn place and finds nothing but skeletons! But
what the hey! You'll fight tons of monsters, but it doesn't really
matter -- die and Simon will simply be resurrected in the same spot.
Run out of lives and Simon's docked all of his hearts, but
otherwise, he'll continue nearly unscathed. Also, the revolving day
and night is pretty awesome! The music is unforgettable and very
riveting when you slash through monsters.
To add to the replay
value, Konami threw in three different endings, which was all but
unheard of at the time of the game's release. What ending you
receive is based on how many game days it takes Simon to complete
his quest and how many times (if any) he died.
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Without aid of other
characters, getting through the game is just about impossible. The
actual game isn't that hard, but some of the puzzles are too
difficult to figure out. I mean, sure, there's a guy that tells
Simon that if he kneels at the base of a cliff, something neat will
happen…but you don't know which cliff, or for how long Simon need to
kneel! This game suffers constantly from bad Engrish! Other than
that, the game is just fine. Another problem I have with it is that
there are almost no bosses in the game! Look around. There's none,
except for the Grim Reaper, who you can run away from -- and then
there's Dracula...but that's it!
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Despite the absence of any real
bosses and a story that just kind of throws you into the middle of a town
with no idea of what to do, this is one hell of a game. This game should be
in your collection.
Akumajou Dracula II
will always be remembered for taking a step away from the platformer
game and a step toward a RPG/Adventure-type game. All the while, it retains
its classic feel!
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