CORBIE'S GAME BLOG

Back in 1993, Konami had already created a parody of their Gradius series of shooters with Parodius, so it seemed quite natural when they decided to do the same thing with their popular Castlevania series of games. The result was a game called Kid Dracula that was first released on the Famicom in Japan and then on the Game Boy system two years later. It was this Game Boy release that finally made it to US shores in 1993 and, like the Parodius titles, was actually a very solid game. Based loosely on the Famicom release, Kid Dracula presented players with a Mega Man-type gameplay system inside of a Castlevania-type atmosphere. Although Kid Dracula didn't light up the sales charts, it's still to this day, a much sought after Game Boy title, fetching as much as $50 on ebay where it seldom pops up.


At its' core, Kid Dracula is a platformer. Most of your effort in each level will be spent jumping between platforms and carefully navigating many of the moving and tilting ledges. This is the meat of the game, but Kid Dracula does have other abilities. For starters he can shoot a power shot at enemies and even power the shot up by holding down the "B" button to unleash a super power shot. As if that weren't enough Kid Dracula can also power up and turn into a bat which allows him to reach previously unreachable areas in each level. It's not rocket science, but the gameplay works well within the framework of these Castlevania-style levels. Every now and again you'll be forced to fight a boss character, but most of them aren't too difficult to dispatch. Fighting enemies is fun, but the platforming aspect of the game is what really makes this game stand out. Even after all these years, I still drag this one out from time to time just for old time's sake. Pick this one up...if you can find it!