Collection essentials #46: Kid Dracula / Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula Kun (NES)

 

Last time was the first time I showed off a Japanese release, but that was side-by-side with an American version. This is our first example of a Japanese game that did not come out anywhere else! It’s Kid Dracula!

Konami back in the day sometimes liked to parody their own work, which I think is amazing. This game is a cartoony parody of Castlevania. Dracula is the main antagonist of the series, and in this game you play as his son, Kid Dracula. The game is very cartoony and does not carry the vibe of a Castlevania game at all. I find the background music of the first level absolutely delightful, as they took the epic ominous first-level theme from Castlevania III and remixed it to sound bouncy and fun. Brilliant!!

Kid Dracula is a platformer like Castlevania, but plays differently. Instead of a weapon, you have a projectile attack that you can charge up by holding the button down for a stranger blast (much like a certain blue bomber we’ll get to soon enough). Kid Dracula also obtains a variety of powers throughout the game, such as the ability to walk on the ceiling or to temporarily turn into a bat and fly. In between levels, you can play a variety of mini games to try and earn extra lives with coins you found in the levels. There are a variety of settings for each stage of the game that seem to represent different parts of the world. For example, one level appears to be New York, and when you get to the boss, Lady Liberty, she tells you that she can’t fight and instead challenges you to a quiz! I love how silly and creative this game is. My only real gripe is that the last level is harder than it should be and a little frustrating, but the game does have unlimited continues so beating it is not unreasonable.

I’m not really sure why Kid Dracula didn’t come out in the USA or Europe. Sometimes the reasons why a game stays in Japan are obvious, but not so much in this case. There’s another Kid Dracula game that we’ll get to at some point which DID get released internationally, at least. Eventually this game did get released internationally, as it was included in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection on modern systems that I keep mentioning. And the Japanese text is all translated, too! Go and check it out.

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