Game:

Kid Dracula (1993)

Duration: 0:00

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0

Originally recorded: October 14, 2021
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The upside to having my schedule fall out of control was that sticking only to shorter Castlevania games meant that I could pump out more one-stream wonders. Granted, considering how I'm changing things up next year, this may be the last time I stream Castlevania for the foreseeable future... but at least I'm going out with a bang and not a whimper.

Chances are, this will probably end up being my favorite game of the batch. While it would've probably have been more logical to stream the Famicom release "Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-kun". After all, it's the first game in the "series" and it's more widely available, thanks to its inclusion in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. They even officially translated it into English! But I'm not always about doing things the easy way... or the logical way... or even the sane way. The fact that the Game Boy "sequel" never got any official re-release made it just that much more appetizing to me.

The gameplay is less Castlevania and more MegaMan, to the extent where completing levels nets you new abilities... though they're rarely, if ever emblematic of any of the stage gimmicks. You can also collect extra heart containers, but they only last for a single continue. Fortunately, there's mini-games that make it really easy to grind for lives... something I wish I'd abused way more at the start of the game. I think I'll be haunted by just how much better things could've gone with six hearts instead of a mere five.

There's really not much more to say. This game was a quick little reprieve, giving me a little bit of recovery time to shake off the admittedly scarce misery Simon's Quest had given me, in order to prepare for the true horror that I'm approaching...

Pray for Icepick.