Kid Dracula (Game Boy, 1993)

 

I've got five more 'Vanias I want to cover, so here's the next one. A sort of hybrid sequel/remake of the Famicom original, except this one actually made it to the US. It's the one I've been wanting to play for a long time, since well before I knew the Famicom one even existed. Now I finally get to it. Is it everything I hoped for? Well, uh...it's certainly a game.

We begin with Alucard (yes, this is supposed to be Alucard) hanging out at his castle. This is after his defeat of Garamoth in the previous game on the Famicom, so he's feeling pretty good about himself.

A Random Goon appears! He explains that Garamoth is back, and more powerful than before. So he was basically gone for five minutes.

Also, Kid Dracula forgot all of the spells he learned and has to re-learn all of them. Of course!

So basically all of that is rationale for them just telling the same general story (minus a few levels, plus some new levels, at least). It was either that or call it a remake.

The first level is the Clock Tower, like the Famicom version, which is kinda cool because you're working your way OUT of the castle instead of infiltrating it like the rest of the series.

This game plays just like a Mega Man game, complete with jumping, shooting, charged shots, etc.

It even has toggle-able special weapons, the first of which is BAT. Which of course is your Rush Jet. Meanwhile, Dracula himself looks on creepily from a picture in the background.

Ya know, all in all, this game (and its predecessor) is kinda like if you combined a Castlevania game with a Kirby game. And gave it Mega Man controls. It's an interesting bunch of ideas. There's a reason I've had it on my radar for a long time, despite that it's freaking Kid Dracula from 1993.

The first boss is the Klansman! ...in the same room! Are we sure this isn't a remake?

Defeat him and a larger Klansman appears!

"I don't take kindly to vampers like you!" he says while firing energy balls.

There's a third form that I don't think existed on the Famicom, and it's an old man Klansman. He waggles his cane and charges across the screen and keels over.

The youngest one then has to drag him away while he mumbles about the vampers. Welp.

Next one of the bats from the level shows up, and it turns out he's one of Kid's former minions. He apologizes and begs our hero to take him back.

Kid Dracula is like "No" and sentences him to DEATH. Not kidding. I wouldn't trust a bat either after that whole virus thing.

Between levels, there's a shop. "See anything you like?" Yes, actually he does.

This is some really weird stuff that involves picking random crystals out of a shell game to maybe get an opportunity to get some extra lives, which can take the form of one of a bunch of different minigames.

One involves catching bats with a NET. I'm pretty sure this is against the law somewhere. At least it's giving Wispy Woods a boner over there.

There's a significantly better minigame where you pogo upward and pop balloons with your spiked helmet to get 1-Ups. Managed to clean up with this one.

We've got an overworld here, and...yeah, this basically IS the Famicom game, even though it's billed as a sequel. It's a remake, let's be real here. Well, that's a little disappointing. This is the version I always wanted to check out; I just kind of fell into the Famicom original because it was included in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. So there isn't really a ton else to say about this one.

Collapsing bridges are vintage Castlevania. Well this game goes one further by adding leaping flying fish.

The next boss is this axe-wielding maniac. Like most of the bosses, he has a second form:

OH MY GOD HE'S GOT A GUN! GET OUTTA THERE!

The most annoying stage in the NES Version returns. Was hoping they'd rethink this one and cut it. Involves lots of speedy jumping upward to stay ahead of a vertical autoscroll, and sometimes it just doesn't give you anywhere to jump to. I think it's much earlier than it was on the NES, as well.

Here's the dastardly Fake Garamoth, AKA the easy version of him. That last stage really felt like a final stage, so this faked me out the first time through too.

The last several stages are in Garamoth's dark castle, and surprisingly they're completely different than on the Famicom. Phew, so we're heading into some new territory finally.

"Only good vamper is a dead vamper!"

Man, how'd this guy get back in here? I apologize, everyone. Security!

Behold, the single highest-budget thing in this game, the fire effects.

The Umbrella is a particularly cool weapon that wasn't in the Famicom game. Duck with this and it blocks all damage from above, and it can be swung like a melee weapon.

Unfortunately these new stages aren't actually that good, and have that good ol' B-Team Feel.

Things get tedious towards the end, with these moving block walls that have to be Bomb'd through and rapidly regenerate. They're literally just adding time-sinks now.

This boss is cool though, it's a robot that you attack by knocking blocks onto it, and it can do the same back. Kind of a unique boss fight and something that'd be more at home in a Mega Man game (which these two KD games are more like anyway)

The very last level is easily the worst thing in either of these games. Hell it's one of the worst levels Konami has ever made, period. Maybe THE worst. It's full of these gravity-reversal backgrounds that cause you to move upwards...right into spikes, usually. A lot of the spikes are unavoidable. At least they aren't instant-death.

Well, unavoidable when moving normally. It quickly becomes clear that you gotta switch to bat form regularly to regain control in midair and avoid spikes.

This very last section is total ass. The ceiling is collapsing behind you so you have to run forward, but it throws in all these little Xenomorph guys to hit you and knock you back (which is insta death because you can't get ahead of the falling ceiling). The only way through is to run with the Umbrella held out to repel their shots. Also, if you run too fast you'll outrun the screen and get hit by them when they spawn in anyway, so you have to actually slow down a bit to stay in the middle of the screen even though it goes against all logic when trying to outrun a collapsing ceiling.

Fail on this part and you gotta do some of the spike section again, too. Worst level in Konami history. It's brimming with that B-Team Feel and the sense that it was made by a fan in Level Maker. Well, at least it's better than the last level of Gremlins 2, the only thing I've played in the last decade that actually made me angry at how poorly-constructed and unpassable it is.

Garamoth is the same fight as on the Famicom, and can only be damaged when he roars. The fight actually turns into a dance, with him leaping back and forth while you run under him. This fight is cool, too bad it's preceded by such an awful level. Another game that I'm kinda glad I didn't get as a kid.

...the Game Boy sure has turned out to have a lot of those, huh?

Annnd that's it for this oddball game. This was the version I've been wanting to play for ages (didn't even know there was a Famicom version until recently), but quite frankly this version is waaaay worse than its console counterpart.

About half the levels are different in this version, and not for the better. Every different level kinda sucks, and the level design here is a huge lapse for Konami. It feels like a game a B-Team threw together quickly. Just play the Famicom one if you need Kid Dracula in your life. That game is a hoot and a lot of fun.

Famicom Version Here

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