Bram Stoker's Dracula (Mega Drive)

For other games with the same name, see Bram Stoker's Dracula.

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Bram Stoker's Dracula
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sony Imagesoft
Developer: Traveller's Tales
Licensor: Columbia Pictures, Psygnosis
Sound driver: Krisalis sound driver
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code US 1993-07 T-93016 EU 1993 T-93016-50 DE 1993-11 T-93016-50 UK 1993-11-26 £39.9939.99 T-93016-50 CZ 199x AU 199x
Non-Sega versions Super NES

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a Sega Mega Drive action platform game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Sony Imagesoft. Based on the 1992 horror film Bram Stoker's Dracula, it was first released in Europe and the United States in mid to late 1993, and was also brought to Australia some time later.

Story

Dracula has cast a curse on Mina Murray. Jonathan Harker must journey to Castle Dracula and drive a stake through the heart of its vampire lord to save her from an eternal fate as a vampiress.

Gameplay

Van Helsing

The game is an action platformer reminiscent of Castlevania or Master of Darkness. The player controls Jonathan Harker, who fights a variety of horror-themed enemies such as spiders, bats, and skeletons. An arrow at the top of the screen guides Harker to the end of the level. The "dusk" part of the level is indoors and involves finding Van Helsing, who tells the player (through a speech bubble) which of the five weapons is best for defeating the boss. The weapons appear throughout the level after talking to Van Helsing, along with an exit door (with the arrow now pointing toward the exit). The "night" part of the level usually takes place outdoors and ends with a boss fight. There are five ranged weapons in the game, and each boss is especially vulnerable to a different one. When near a boss, the arrow changes to a beaker showing the health of the boss. Bosses include Dracula in various forms.

Harker walks with and and crouches with . He jumps with and jumps down from platforms with +. Harker can often jump on background objects in order to reach higher platforms. He picks up items with . Harker carries a sword, which he can swipe with . He can acquire items that give him a ranged attack, which is used with . Ranged attacks have limited ammunition. Enemies continually respawn. Attacks can be done while jumping or crouching. Sometimes attacking objects allows Harker to manipulate his environment, such as dropping a weight, flipping a switch, or lighting a torch, which is often necessary to progress. He enters the level exit by standing in front of it and pressing or .

Harker's health is depicted by beakers in the corner of the screen. He loses a beaker each time he takes damage, but they can be restored by picking up healing potions. He loses a life if he runs out of health. The game ends if the player runs out of lives but can be continued if the player has continues remaining. The player can choose the starting number of lives and the maximum number of health beakers before starting the game. The player can also choose from three difficulty levels (Trainer, Normal, and Hard). The Trainer difficulty only plays through part of the game. The Normal and Hard difficulties play through the entire game, with the Hard difficulty starting Harker with a short-ranged dagger rather than a sword and restricting him to a maximum of three health beakers.

Weapons

Missile weapons come with ten uses.

	Sword
	The standard weapon on Trainer and Normal difficulty. Short range but unlimited uses.
	Dagger
	The standard weapon on Hard difficulty. Very short range but unlimited uses.
	Wooden Stakes
	Throws a wooden stake forward at a slight arc.
	Axes
	Throws an axe forward at a high arc. It bounces off surfaces that it hits before disappearing.
	Dynamite
	Throws a bundle of dynamite in a high arc.
	Pistol
	Shoots silver bullets horizontally.
	Rifle
	Fires five shots in a conical formation. The shots bounce off walls and floors once if they do not find an enemy.

Items

	Healing Potion
	Restores one of Harker's healing beakers.
	Extra Life
	Gives the player an extra life.

Levels

	The Journey to Castle Dracula, Dusk
	The Journey to Castle Dracula, Night
	Harker's Escape from the Castle, Dusk
	Harker's Escape from the Castle, Night 1
	Harker's Escape from the Castle, Night 2
	The Journey to Civilization, Dusk
	The Journey to Civilization, Night 1
	The Journey to Civilization, Night 2
	The Journey to Civilization, Night 3
	Hillingham Estate, Dusk
	Hillingham Estate, Night 1
	Hillingham Estate, Night 2
	The Trail to Carfax Abbey, Dusk
	The Trail to Carfax Abbey, Night 1
	The Trail to Carfax Abbey, Night 2
	Transylvania: Castle Dracula, Dusk

Versions

This version of the game was also released for the Super NES.

Production credits

From the Film: Bram Stoker's DRACULA

© 1992 Columbia Picture's Inc, all rights reserved.

• Columbia Pictures: Lester Borden, Sue Christisson, Cathy Varvaro
• American Zoetrope: Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Fuchs, Roman Coppola

Console Game Published By: Sony Imagesoft © 1993 Sony Electronics Publishing Company

• Produced by: Rich Robinson
• Assistant Producers: Nathan Rose, Brian Wiklem
• Sony Electronic Publishing Company: Olaf Olafson, Lester Greenman, Peter Dille, Jeff Benjamin

Developed by Psygnosis Ltd and Travellers Tales Entertainments

• Programming: David Dootson
• Art Work: Mark Stokle, Andy Ingram, Gary Burley, Jerry Branfitt
• Intro Code: Jon Burton
• Additional Code and Concepts: Jon Burton, Chris Stanforth
• Quality Assurance: Mike Ellis, Tony Parks, Charles Mcnair
• Level Designs: Jon Burton, David Dootson, Andy Ingram, Chris Stanforth, Mark Stokle, with help from Nick Burkcombe
• Design Document: Nick Wild

© 1993, Sony Electronics Publishing Company.

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Mega Drive)/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #15: "October/November 1993" (1993-xx-xx)

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #52: "November 1993" (1993-xx-xx)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #145: "December 1993" (1993-11-15)

Print advert in Consoles + (FR) #25: "Novembre 1993" (1993-1x-xx)

Print advert in Video Games (DE) #1993-12: "12/93" (1993-11-22)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 Cool Gamer (RU) 50 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 50 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 50 Hyper (AU) 57 Mega (UK) PAL 45 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 19 Play Time (DE) PAL 58 Power Unlimited (NL) 70 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 65 Sega Force (SE) PAL 60 Todo Sega (ES) 74 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 68

	55
Based on 13 reviews

Bram Stoker's Dracula (Mega Drive)

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, CZ (Datart)
Cart Manual

Technical information

Main article: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Mega Drive)/Technical information.