Castlevania: Bloodlines

n/a

Castlevania: Bloodlines

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Genre: Action

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1994-03-18	¥7,8007,800	T-95043
US	1993-12^[3]		T-95076
EU	1994		T-95076-50
DE	1994-03^[2]
UK	1994-02^[1]	£44.9944.99^[1]
AU	1994

VRC

Castlevania: Bloodlines, known as Vampire Killer (バンパイアキラー) in Japan, is an entry in the Castlevania series, and the first of two games to reach Sega systems. Bloodlines was the subject of much debate at the time, as even though it has a considerable amount of violence and many depictions of blood, Sega's Videogame Rating Council only gave the game a "GA", the lowest rating possible. This affected the European release, which was heavily censored and renamed Castlevania: The New Generation, and the Australian release kept the name while remaining identical to the American release in content. The game was released exclusively for the Sega Mega Drive.

Bloodlines takes place in 1917 and does not feature the Belmont clan featured in previous games. It is also the first game not to take place exclusively within in Romania.

Compared to other Castlevania games, Bloodlines was faster and more dynamic, e.g. it's possible to jump onto stairs. Weapons can be powered up, which also exchanges the equipped subweapon (axe, boomerang,...) into a smartbomb.

Like most Konami games on the Sega Mega Drive, Bloodlines has become rather expensive.

Gameplay

Playable Characters

	John Morris (Johnny Morris in the Japanese version)
	Whip user
	Eric Lecarde
	Spear user

Stages

	Stage 1 - Ruins of the Castle Dracula, Romania

	Stage 2 - Atlantis Shrine, Greece

	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

Trivia

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)

Gallery

Magazine articles

Main article: Castlevania: Bloodlines/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

GamePro (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)^[4]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #58: "May 1994" (1994-xx-xx)^[5]

Print advert in Sega Magazine (UK) #2: "February 1994" (1994-01-10)
also published in:

Computer & Video Games (UK) #147: "February 1994" (1994-01-15)^[6]
Mega (UK) #19: "April 1994" (1994-03-17)^[7]
Mega (UK) #20: "May 1994" (1994-04-21)^[8]

Print advert in Joypad (FR) #29: "Mars 1994" (1994-0x-xx)

Print advert in Video Games (DE) #1994-06: "6/94" (1994-05-25)

Print advert in Mega Sega (ES) #11: "xxxx 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

NTSC-U

70

^[12]

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

PAL

60

^[13]

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

NTSC-J

40

^[14]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

63

^[15]

Console Mania (IT)

PAL

91

^[16]

Consoles + (FR)

82

^[17]

Computer & Video Games (UK)

83

^[1]

Digitiser (UK)

83

^[18]

Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US)

NTSC-U

91

^[19]

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US)

NTSC-U

83

^[20]

Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)

70

^[21]

Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 7 (RU)

70

^[22]

Game Players (US)

NTSC-U

88

^[23]

GamePro (US)

NTSC-U

80

^[9]

Gamers (DE)

73

^[24]

GamesMaster (UK)

PAL

70

^[25]

Game Informer (US)

NTSC-U

78

^[26]

Game Informer (US)

NTSC-U

72

^[27]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

70

^[28]

Hyper (AU)

PAL

79

^[29]

Joypad (FR)

PAL

86

^[30]

MAN!AC (DE)

PAL

78

^[31]

Max Overload! (UK)

PAL

72

^[32]

Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)

91

^[33]

Mega (UK)

PAL

82

^[34]

Megablast (DE)

PAL

80

^[35]

MegaTech (UK)

PAL

83

^[36]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

PAL

90

^[10]

Player One (FR)

92

^[37]

Power Up! (UK)

78

^[38]

Power Unlimited (NL)

74

^[39]

Score (CZ)

75

^[40]

Secret Service (PL)

70

^[41]

Sega Magazine (UK)

PAL

86

^[42]

Sega Power (UK)

PAL

70

^[43]

Sega Pro (UK)

PAL

84

^[44]

Sega Zone (UK)

PAL

85

^[45]

Sega Force (SE)

88

^[46]

Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)

84

^[47]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

74

^[48]

Sonic the Comic (UK)

PAL

87

^[49]

The Zone (AU)The Zone (AU)

82

^[50]

Todo Sega (ES)

85

^[51]

Tricks (RU)

74

^[52]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

NTSC-U

84

^[53]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

PAL

80

^[54]

Video Games (DE)

PAL

85

^[55]

VideoGames (US)

NTSC-U

80

^[56]

	79
Based on 48 reviews

Castlevania: Bloodlines

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (cardboard)

Cart

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, SE (Rental)

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

✔

CRC32	fb1ea6df
MD5	0f04fc1b5bf8c9a887abcf14ce96b0cd
SHA-1	4809cf80ced70e77bc7479bb652a9d9fe22ce7e6

1MB

1994-03

Cartridge (US)

✔

CRC32	4dd4e4a5
MD5	10d2e8576380e5c22d8771f470747c98
SHA-1	61aabb1053f090fb6c13968c86170357c5df4eba

1MB

1994-03

Cartridge (EU)

✔

CRC32	91b57d2b
MD5	3453bcc79345872034845cc5a7a1b15f
SHA-1	3e709bd27577056abbbd6735021eaffd90caa140

1MB

1994-03

Cartridge (JP)

?

CRC32	84cd103a
MD5	b7ab3ef9d51d2ed9228deaad0203adce
SHA-1	8c4004c0d8cbe211ffa3919fd609653221a0078b

1MB

1993-12

Page

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 File:CVG UK 147.pdf, page 62 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 147.pdf_p62" defined multiple times with different content
↑ File:SegaPro DE 18.pdf, page 42
↑ File:GamePro US 053.pdf, page 253
↑ GamePro, "April 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 89
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 2
↑ Computer & Video Games, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-15), page 61
↑ Mega, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-17), page 92
↑ Mega, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 92
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 File:GamePro US 056.pdf, page 48 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePro US 056.pdf_p48" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 File:MMS16 CastlevaniaReview.pdf, page 2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MMS16 CastlevaniaReview.pdf_p2" defined multiple times with different content
↑ File:SegaMagazine UK 02.pdf, page 91
↑ 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
↑ 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
↑ 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 games for Sega systems
	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)

[:File:CVG_UK_147.pdf_p62-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 File:CVG UK 147.pdf, page 62 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 147.pdf_p62" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:SegaPro_DE_18.pdf_p42-2] File:SegaPro DE 18.pdf, page 42

[:File:GamePro_US_053.pdf_p253-3] File:GamePro US 053.pdf, page 253

[:File:GamePro_US_057.pdf_p89-4] GamePro, "April 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 89

[:File:EGM_US_058.pdf_p2-5] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 2

[:File:CVG_UK_147.pdf_p61-6] Computer & Video Games, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-15), page 61

[:File:Mega_UK_19.pdf_p92-7] Mega, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-17), page 92

[:File:Mega_UK_20.pdf_p92-8] Mega, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 92

[:File:GamePro_US_056.pdf_p48-9] 9.0 ^9.1 File:GamePro US 056.pdf, page 48 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePro US 056.pdf_p48" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:MMS16_CastlevaniaReview.pdf_p2-10] 10.0 ^10.1 File:MMS16 CastlevaniaReview.pdf, page 2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MMS16 CastlevaniaReview.pdf_p2" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:SegaMagazine_UK_02.pdf_p91-11] File:SegaMagazine UK 02.pdf, page 91

[12] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 43

[13] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 44

[14] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 326

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1994-04.pdf_p19-15] Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 19

[:File:ConsoleMania_IT_028.pdf_p54-16] Console Mania, "Marzo 1994" (IT; 1994-0x-xx), page 54

[:File:ConsolesPlus_FR_030.pdf_p92-17] Consoles +, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 92

[digitiser1994-03-21-18] Digitiser (UK) (1994-03-21)

[:File:ElectronicGames2_US_20.pdf_p79-19] Electronic Games (1992-1995), "May 1994" (US; 1994-04-21), page 79

[:File:EGM_US_055.pdf_p38-20] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "February 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 38

[21] Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 300

[22] Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 7, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 64

[:File:GamePlayers_US_0702.pdf_p60-23] Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 2 February 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 60

[:File:Gamers_DE_1994-03.pdf_p18-24] Gamers, "März/April 1994" (DE; 1994-03-04), page 18

[:File:GamesMaster_UK_015.pdf_p48-25] GamesMaster, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-17), page 48

[:File:GameInformer_US_015.pdf_p10-26] Game Informer, "March/April 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 10

[:File:GameInformer_US_064.pdf_p66-27] Game Informer, "August 1998" (US; 1998-0x-xx), page 66

[28] Hippon Super, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-03), page 61

[:File:Hyper_AU_003.pdf_p46-29] Hyper, "February 1994" (AU; 199x-xx-xx), page 46

[:File:Joypad_FR_029.pdf_p112-30] Joypad, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 112

[:File:MAN.21AC_DE_1994-04.pdf_p50-31] MAN!AC, "04/94" (DE; 1994-03-09), page 50

[:File:MaxOverload_UK_02.pdf_p34-32] Max Overload!, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-22), page 34

[33] Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-xx-xx), page 22

[:File:Mega_UK_18.pdf_p43-34] Mega, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-17), page 43

[:File:Megablast_DE_1994-02.pdf_p32-35] Megablast, "2/94" (DE; 1994-03-30), page 32

[:File:MegaTech_UK_26.pdf_p18-36] MegaTech, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 18

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_040.pdf_p68-37] Player One, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 68

[38] Power Up!, "Saturday, April 02, 1994" (UK; 1994-04-02), page 1

[:File:PowerUnlimited_NL_009_199404.pdf_p36-39] Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 2, Nummer 4, April 1994" (NL; 1994-03-23), page 36

[:File:Score_CZ_06.pdf_p60-40] Score, "Červen 1994" (CZ; 1994-06-01), page 60

[:File:SecretService_39_PL.pdf_p72-41] Secret Service, "Październik 1996" (PL; 1996-10-01), page 72

[:File:SegaMagazine_UK_02.pdf_p92-42] Sega Magazine, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-10), page 92

[:File:SegaPower_UK_52.pdf_p38-43] Sega Power, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-03), page 38

[:File:SegaPro_UK_30.pdf_p60-44] Sega Pro, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 60

[:File:SegaZone_UK_17.pdf_p46-45] Sega Zone, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 46

[:File:SegaForce_SE_1994_03.pdf_p8-46] Sega Force, "3/94" (SE; 1994-03-29), page 8

[47] Sega Mega Drive Review, "1" (RU; 1995-04-03), page 31

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p85-48] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85

[49] Sonic the Comic, "May 13th 1994" (UK; 1994-04-30), page 11

[thezone1x031744-50] The Zone (AU)The Zone (AU) "Season 1, episode 3" (1994-05-14, ) (+17:44)

[:File:TodoSega_ES_12.pdf_p54-51] Todo Sega, "Marzo 1994" (ES; 1994-0x-xx), page 54

[52] Tricks, "2/95" (RU; 1995-xx-xx), page 18

[53] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 9

[54] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 51

[:File:VideoGames_DE_1994-05.pdf_p99-55] Video Games, "5/94" (DE; 1994-04-27), page 99

[:File:VideoGames_US_62.pdf_p67-56] VideoGames, "March 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 67

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[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

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Castlevania: Bloodlines

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Playable Characters

Stages

Trivia

Gallery

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

ROM dump status

References