Castlevania: Bloodlines
From Sega Retro
- For the unreleased Sega Mega Drive game, see Vampire Killer (RazorSoft).
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Castlevania: Bloodlines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo Switch Online | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Konami | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Konami | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distributor: Majesco Sales (US re-release) Ecofilmes (PT) Hent Gruppen (SE rental) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sound driver: Konami/Vampire Killer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Castlevania: Bloodlines, known in Japan as Vampire Killer (バンパイアキラー) and in Europe as Castlevania: The New Generation, is a Sega Mega Drive action platform game developed and published by Konami. First released in the United States in December 1993, it is the first title in the company's popular Castlevania series to be developed for a Sega system.
The game is a moderate departure from previous entries in the series, as gameplay is generally much faster and more dynamic, and for the first time, does not feature a member of the Belmont clan as a playable character (instead connecting the protagonists to those of the original 1897 Bram Stoker horror novel Dracula, and taking place exclusively in Romania.)
Contents
Story
In 1897, Quincy Morris defeated Count Dracula, but died afterwards due to the wounds from the battle. His son, John Morris, and his friend Eric Lecarde witnessed it.
Twenty years later, a vampire named Elizabeth Bartley - who had been executed in 1421 - was accidentally brought back to life by a witch named Drolta Tzuentes. Once back, Elizabeth wants to revive her dead uncle - none other than Dracula.
Now, it's up to John and Eric - descendants of a clan of vampire hunters, the Belmonts - to find Elizabeth and stop her, before she brings Count Dracula back to the land of the living.
“ | The ancestors of the Belmont family are doomed to confront the power of evil incarnate......Dracula!
In 1917, a countess sought to revive the long dead spirit of the vampire. Her name was Elizabeth Bartley. To revive him, she needed to travel all over Europe, enlisting help from all the powers of darkness. Two young vampire hunters set out to fulfill their destiny.... Push back the evil hordes and drive the vampire back into his dark netherworld. |
„ |
— Opening sequence |
Gameplay
In Castlevania: Bloodlines, the player travels through six different countries of Europe, controlling either John Morris — current owner of the "Vampire Killer" whip — or his childhood friend Eric Lecarde — a master lanceman. Macabre creatures such as zombies and skeletons are summoned by Countess Bartley to kill you.
Along the way the player can collect items to power-up their character's weapon (up to three times), as well as one of three special weapons, useful to hit enemies from afar. In order to use the special weapons, the player must collect jewels, which are hidden inside candles found all over the way.
By default attacks, jumps and uses the special weapon; controls can be changed at the options menu. Special weapons normally require one jewel per usage, though holding while pressing turns it into a smart bomb, which uses up four jewels. Also, if you collect three power-ups having at least eight jewels, the special weapon is temporarily replaced by an ultimate attack that costs eight jewels. Holding and pressing midair performs a straight down attack.
Passwords are given at the end of each stage, once the stage boss is defeated. When passwords are used, the weapon level, jewels count and score are reset — the special weapon is also lost.
Playable characters
Items
1up | |
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Awards the player an extra life. | |
Bag of Kreutzers | |
Awards 100 to 2,000 points. | |
Red Jewel | |
Adds 1 jewel for special weapon usage. | |
Blue Jewel | |
Adds 5 jewels for special weapon usage. | |
Coat-of-Arms | |
Powers up the player character's weapon. | |
Mirror of Truth | |
Hits all enemies on screen. | |
Mutton Chop | |
Restores one half of the player character's life. | |
Spell Book | |
Causes a random effect, such as a weapon power-up. | |
Black Orb | |
Makes the player character invulnerable for a short while. |
Special weapons
Battle Axe | |
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The Battle Axe thrown up then falls down, making it difficult to hit enemies in certain cases, though it's great to reach the ones above you. At level 3, it summons three axes which fly straight forward. | |
Crystal Blade Boomerang | |
The Boomerang thrown in a straight line then comes backward, possibly hitting enemies twice on its way. At level 3, it summons three boomerangs which fly forward forming a circle. | |
Sacred Water | |
Like the Battle Axe, the Sacred Water is thrown up then falls down, and can damage enemies in the air, though when it touches the ground a sacred explosion is created. At level 3, it flies through the screen in a spiral movement, hitting a good area. |
Stages
Stage 1 - Ruins of the Castle Dracula, Romania | |
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The first stage is divided into eleven sections, featuring a Hellhound at the end of 1-5 and the stage boss — Armor Battler, a giant mecha knight. | |
Stage 2 - Atlantis Shrine, Greece | |
The second stage has seven parts, featuring three mini-bosses — the Water Mage and two Armor Lords, all in 2-3 (the first one wielding a morning star and the other wielding an axe) - plus the stage boss — Golem, a stone giant. | |
Stage 3 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy | |
Stage 4 - The Munitions Factory, Germany | |
Stage 5 - Versailles Palace, France | |
Stage 6 - The Castle Proserpina, England | |
There are three boss fights throughout this stage starting at 6-5, which is a fight with Death and rematches against the stage 2 through 4 bosses, Elizabeth and Medusa at 6-7, and a final battle with Dracula and Drolta at 6-9. |
History
Censorship
Castlevania: Bloodlines was the subject of much debate at the time, as even though it features considerable amounts of blood and violence, the Videogame Rating Council awarded the game a "GA" (the lowest rating possible.) This later affected the European release, which was heavily censored and renamed Castlevania: The New Generation as a result. Interestingly, the Australian release retains the European name, but remains identical to the American release in content.
Legacy
Like most Konami games on the Sega Mega Drive, Bloodlines has become a highly desirable game and as a consequence is rather expensive. For many years, the game had never seen a rerelease on another system, which didn't help the game's rarity. In 2019, the game finally saw two re-releases - as part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Steam, and as one of the 42 games pre-installed on the Mega Drive Mini. The Mega Drive Mini re-release includes all regional versions of the game accessible by changing the system language accordingly.
Versions
The game utilizes a region lockout mechanism, but it can be disabled by holding down the button during startup. Note that this doesn't affect the title screen and graphics modifications (so it's not possible to turn a censored PAL version into an uncensored NTSC-J or NTSC-U version). The PAL version included on all variants of the Mega Drive Mini disables all region lockout by default.
Localised names
Language | Localised Name | English Translation |
---|---|---|
English | Castlevania: The New Generation | Castlevania: The New Generation |
English (US) | Castlevania: Bloodlines | Castlevania: Bloodlines |
Japanese | バンパイアキラー | Vampire Killer |
Production credits
The only regional difference in the ending credits is in the very first line, where it says "<regional game title> Staff". Also, if you beat the game in normal difficulty it ends with "Try Expert Mode!"; if you finish it in expert difficulty it changes to "Congratulations! You are the master of Vampire Killer".
- Programmer MK1: Hanaten
- Enemy Program: Takashi Takeda
- Trap and Enemy Program: Kenichiro Horio
- Wandering Programmer: Koji Komata
- Program: Hidenari Inamura
- Main Designer: Bunmin
- Design: Mamuun
- Special Design: Tat, Norio Takemoto
- Sound Program: Atsushi Fujio, Osamu Kasai
- Sound Design: Michiru Yamane
- Package Design: M.Yoshihashi, Kaori Sasaki
- Special Thanks to: H.Takeuchi, K.Iketani, K.Kinjyo, T.Shinguu, N.Tanaka, S.Yomota, H.Jyuni, A.Shizuno, T.Niimi, T.Yabe
- Copyright by: 1994 Tokumashoten Intermedia Inc.
- Supervisor: Yutaka Haruki
- Producer: Tomikazu Kirita
- © 1994 Konami All Rights Reserved
Digital manuals
Magazine articles
- Main article: Castlevania: Bloodlines/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
- Main article: Castlevania: Bloodlines/Promotional material.
Physical scans
79 | |
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Based on 48 reviews |
Mega Drive, US (cardboard FlipTop) (Majesco Sales) |
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Mega Drive, US (cardboard Slipcase) (Majesco Sales) |
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Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; orange) |
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Technical information
- Main article: Castlevania: Bloodlines/Technical information.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 11
- ↑ GamePro, "December 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 253
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1994-02-28), page 21
- ↑ Max Overload!, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-22), page 35
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Computer & Video Games, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-15), page 62
- ↑ Mega Power, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 25
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1994" (DE; 1994-03-23), page 42
- ↑ https://store-jp.nintendo.com/list/software/70010000046986.html (Wayback Machine: 2021-10-26 03:04)
- ↑ @NintendoAmerica on Twitter (archive.today)
- ↑ @NintendoEurope on Twitter (archive.today)
- ↑ @NintendoUK on Twitter (archive.today)
- ↑ @NintendoAUNZ on Twitter (archive.today)
- ↑ File:Castlevania Bloodlines MD credits.pdf
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 43
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 44
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 326
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 19
- ↑ Console Mania, "Marzo 1994" (IT; 1994-0x-xx), page 54
- ↑ Consoles +, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 92
- ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1994-03-21)
- ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "May 1994" (US; 1994-04-21), page 79
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "February 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 38
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 300
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 7, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 64
- ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 2 February 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 60
- ↑ GamePro, "March 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 48
- ↑ Gamers, "März/April 1994" (DE; 1994-03-04), page 18
- ↑ GamesMaster, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-17), page 48
- ↑ Game Informer, "March/April 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 10
- ↑ Game Informer, "August 1998" (US; 1998-0x-xx), page 66
- ↑ Hippon Super, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-03), page 61
- ↑ Hyper, "February 1994" (AU; 199x-xx-xx), page 46
- ↑ Joypad, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 112
- ↑ MAN!AC, "04/94" (DE; 1994-03-09), page 50
- ↑ Max Overload!, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-22), page 34
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-xx-xx), page 22
- ↑ Mega, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-17), page 43
- ↑ Megablast, "2/94" (DE; 1994-03-30), page 32
- ↑ MegaTech, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 18
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "Castlevania: The New Generation Review Book" (UK; 1993-12-28), page 2
- ↑ Player One, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 68
- ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, April 02, 1994" (UK; 1994-04-02), page 1
- ↑ Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 2, Nummer 4, April 1994" (NL; 1994-03-23), page 36
- ↑ Score, "Červen 1994" (CZ; 1994-06-01), page 60
- ↑ Secret Service, "Październik 1996" (PL; 1996-10-01), page 72
- ↑ Sega Magazine, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-10), page 92
- ↑ Sega Power, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-03), page 38
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 60
- ↑ Sega Zone, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 46
- ↑ Sega Force, "3/94" (SE; 1994-03-29), page 8
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "1" (RU; 1995-04-03), page 31
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
- ↑ Sonic the Comic, "May 13th 1994" (UK; 1994-04-30), page 11
- ↑ The Zone (AU)The Zone (AU) "Season 1, episode 3" (1994-05-14, ) (+17:44)
- ↑ Todo Sega, "Marzo 1994" (ES; 1994-0x-xx), page 54
- ↑ Tricks, "2/95" (RU; 1995-xx-xx), page 18
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 9
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 51
- ↑ Video Games, "5/94" (DE; 1994-04-27), page 99
- ↑ VideoGames, "March 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 67
Castlevania: Bloodlines | |
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Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Development | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception | Promotional material | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs |
Castlevania games for Sega systems | |
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Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994) | Super Castlevania IV (unreleased) | |
Castlevania: The Bloodletting (unreleased) | |
Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku (1998) | Castlevania: The Bloodletting (unreleased) | |
Castlevania Resurrection (unreleased) |
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