Bram Stoker's Dracula (Game Boy) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
208A playthrough of Sony Imagesoft's 1993 license-based action game for the Nintendo Game Boy, Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Played through on hard mode. The video also shows all of the secret bonus areas and Van Helsing's hiding spots.
The NES version can be found here: https://youtu.be/X42AxtQcTrQ
If you've played the NES, Master System, or Game Gear versions of Bram Stoker's Dracula, then you've probably noticed that this is the same game, but with a few compromises made in the porting process. Between those and the games made for the SNES/Genesis, the Amiga, the Sega CD, and Dos computers, there was certainly no shortage of game adaptations based (however loosely) on Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 big budget film.
In the 8-bit platformer version, Jonathan has to clear a daytime and nighttime version of seven separate stages. He runs about looking for weapons (axes, torches, and rocks), power-ups, and if he can find Van Helsing in a daytime stage, he'll get upgraded triple-rock refills during that stage's boss fight.
I played the Game Boy version a lot as a kid, and I absolutely loved it. I must admit, though, that it can be rough to play after experiencing the NES game. The controls and the stage layouts are the same, but the screen crunch really hurts this one.
The limited view distance makes progress frustrating when you're trying to avoid being hit by a enemy or falling into a trap, and though you can use the up and down buttons to pan the screen around you, but it's really not enough. Compounding the issue is the fact that enemies that like to appear right on top of Jonathon if he's moving at any reasonable speed. The hands that come out of walls and the ghosts make some of the nighttime stages teeth-grinding levels of hard: playing this again, I wonder how I ever had the patience to finish it when I was 11.
Still, it's a very good looking game on the Game Boy. The background details look nice, and the dark, muddy Game Boy LCD screen does wonders for the tone of the game, as does the soundtrack. What a marvel for the hardware. Whether or not you like Jeroen Tel's chaotic, dissonant tracks, they absolutely succeed in giving everything an anxious, menacing feel.
Age has not been kind to the Game Boy version of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I can't recommend it over the NES game with a clear conscience. I loved it in its day, but this is not the ideal way to play it.
*Recorded in Retroarch using the DMG shader for that classic look!*
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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