Castlevania: Bloodlines

From Sega Retro

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CastlevaniaBloodlines title.png

Castlevania: Bloodlines
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Konami
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥7,8007,800 T-95043
Sega Mega Drive
US 		T-95076
Sega Mega Drive
EU 		T-95076-50
Sega Mega Drive
DE
Sega Mega Drive
UK 		£44.9944.99[3][4]
Sega Mega Drive
AU

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 does not feature the Belmont clan featured in previous games. Although the characters are related to the Belmont clan by blood, they belong to other families and their relationship is not clearly explained. 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 smart bomb.

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 A attacks, B jumps and C uses the special weapon; controls can be changed at the options menu. Special weapons normally require one jewel per usage, though holding Up while pressing C 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 Down and pressing A 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

Castlevania MD JohnMorris.png
 John Morris (Johnny Morris in the Japanese version)
Born in 12 December 1895 in Texas, USA, he is the son of Quincy Morris (who died upon defeating Dracula in 1897), and a distant descendant of Trevor Belmont. His weapon is the sacred whip "Vampire Killer", used by the Belmonts for centuries and temporarily entrusted to the Morris clan, since the Belmonts are unable to touch it until the year of 1999.

Morris has only one special move: Swing with Whip (hold Up, press A midair — lashes the whip at ceiling blocks and swing forward).

Castlevania MD EricLecarde.png
 Eric Lecarde
Born in 3 May 1892 in Segovia, Spain, he is also related to the Belmont lineage, though details are unclear. Eric decided to become a vampire hunter after Elizabeth Bartley changed his girlfriend, Gwendolyn, into a vampire. His weapon is the "Alcarde Spear", entrusted to the Lecarde family by Alucard, the son of Dracula, to assist the Morris clan. He has the advantage of being able to attack upward and diagonally, by pressing the desired direction on the D-pad.

Lecarde has two special moves: Mega Jump (hold Down, press B — jumps three times higher) and Spinning Lance (hold A, press Left/Right — spins the lance back and forth).

Items

Castlevania MD 1up.png
 1up
Awards the player an extra life.
Castlevania MD BagofKreutzers.png
 Bag of Kreutzers
Awards 100 to 2,000 points.
Castlevania MD RedJewel.png
 Red Jewel
Adds 1 jewel for special weapon usage.
Castlevania MD BlueJewel.png
 Blue Jewel
Adds 5 jewels for special weapon usage.
Castlevania MD CoatofArms.png
 Coat-of-Arms
Powers up the player character's weapon.
Castlevania MD MirrorofTruth.png
 Mirror of Truth
Hits all enemies on screen.
Castlevania MD MuttonChop.png
 Mutton Chop
Restores one half of the player character's life.
Castlevania MD SpellBook.png
 Spell Book
Causes a random effect, such as a weapon power-up.
Castlevania MD BlackOrb.png
 Black Orb
Makes the player character invulnerable for a short while.

Special weapons

Castlevania MD BattleAxe.png
 Battle Axe
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.
Castlevania MD CrystalBladeBoomerang.png
 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.
Castlevania MD SacredWater.png
 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

Castlevania MD Stage1 Intro.png

Castlevania MD Stage1.png

Stage 1 - Ruins of the Castle Dracula, Romania
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.

Castlevania MD Stage2 Intro.png

Castlevania MD Stage2.png

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.

Castlevania MD Stage3 Intro.png

Castlevania MD Stage3.png

Stage 3 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

Castlevania MD Stage4 Intro.png

Castlevania MD Stage4.png

Stage 4 - The Munitions Factory, Germany

Castlevania MD Stage5 Intro.png

Castlevania MD Stage5.png

Stage 5 - Versailles Palace, France

Castlevania MD Stage6 Intro.png

Castlevania MD Stage6.png

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.

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 A 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

Also known as
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
Source:
In-game credits

Digital manuals

  • CastlevaniaBloodlines MD US digital manual.pdf

    Mega Drive Mini US manual

  • CastlevaniaBloodlines MD EU digital manual.pdf

    Mega Drive Mini EU manual

  • Vampirekiller MD JP digital manual.pdf

    Mega Drive Mini JP manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Castlevania: Bloodlines/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Castlevania: Bloodlines/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
63 [6]
74 [7]
82 [8]
83 [9]
80 [10]
70 №15, p48-49
70 №1994-04, p61
86 [11]
91 №20, p22-25
82 №18, p43
83 №26
90 №16 (supp.), p2-7[12]
92 [13]
86 [14]
70 №52, p38-39
84 №30, p60-61
87 №25, p11
Sega Mega Drive
 81
Based on
17 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) NTSC-U
70
[15]
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) PAL
60
[16]
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) NTSC-J
40
[17]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
63
[18]
Console Mania (IT) PAL
91
[19]
Consoles + (FR)
82
[20]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
83
[3]
Digitiser (UK)
83
[21]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
91
[22]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
83
[23]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
70
[24]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 7 (RU)
70
[25]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
88
[26]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
80
[27]
Gamers (DE)
73
[28]
GamesMaster (UK) PAL
70
[29]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
78
[30]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
72
[31]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
70
[32]
Hyper (AU) PAL
79
[33]
Joypad (FR) PAL
86
[34]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
78
[35]
Max Overload! (UK) PAL
72
[36]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)
91
[37]
Mega (UK) PAL
82
[38]
Megablast (DE) PAL
80
[39]
MegaTech (UK) PAL
83
[40]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
90
[12]
Player One (FR)
92
[41]
Power Up! (UK)
78
[42]
Power Unlimited (NL)
74
[43]
Score (CZ)
75
[44]
Secret Service (PL)
70
[45]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
86
[46]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
70
[47]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
84
[48]
Sega Zone (UK) PAL
85
[49]
Sega Force (SE)
88
[50]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
84
[51]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
74
[52]
Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL
87
[53]
The Zone (AU)The Zone (AU)
82
[54]
Todo Sega (ES)
85
[55]
Tricks (RU)
74
[56]
Tricks 16 bit (RU) NTSC-U
84
[57]
Tricks 16 bit (RU) PAL
80
[58]
Video Games (DE) PAL
85
[59]
VideoGames (US) NTSC-U
80
[60]
Sega Mega Drive
 79
Based on
48 reviews

Castlevania: Bloodlines

Mega Drive, US
CastleVaniaBloodlines MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Castlevania md us cart.jpg
Cart
Castlevania Bloodlines MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, US (cardboard)
Castlevania MD US Box Back Cardboard.jpgNospine.pngCastlevania MD US Box Front Cardboard.jpg
Cover
Castlevania md us cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
CastleVaniaBloodlines MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
CastlevaniaTNG MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Castlevania Bloodlines MD EU Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, JP
CastlevaniaBloodlines MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
VampireKiller MD JP CartTop.jpg
VampireKiller MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Vampirekiller md jp manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, SE (Rental)

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 fb1ea6df
MD5 0f04fc1b5bf8c9a887abcf14ce96b0cd
SHA-1 4809cf80ced70e77bc7479bb652a9d9fe22ce7e6
1MB 1994-03 Cartridge (US)
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 4dd4e4a5
MD5 10d2e8576380e5c22d8771f470747c98
SHA-1 61aabb1053f090fb6c13968c86170357c5df4eba
1MB 1994-03 Cartridge (EU)
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 91b57d2b
MD5 3453bcc79345872034845cc5a7a1b15f
SHA-1 3e709bd27577056abbbd6735021eaffd90caa140
1MB 1994-03 Cartridge (JP)
Sega Mega Drive
 ?
CRC32 6a5e58cd
MD5 d6f1bdb9ca9a4137bcdb31611fb35bee
SHA-1 2572d121758ce2ecb89f8ee7e3de3e9503cd1b9f
1MB 1994-03 Mega Drive Mini (EU) Region lockout disabled.
Sega Mega Drive
 ?
CRC32 84cd103a
MD5 b7ab3ef9d51d2ed9228deaad0203adce
SHA-1 8c4004c0d8cbe211ffa3919fd609653221a0078b
1MB 1993-12 Page

References

  1. ↑ Max Overload!, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-22), page 35
  2. ↑ File:SegaPro DE 18.pdf, page 42
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Computer & Video Games, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-15), page 62
  4. ↑ Mega Power, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 25
  5. ↑ GamePro, "December 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 253
  6. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 17 (19)
  7. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 83 (85)
  8. ↑ Consoles +, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 92-93 (92)
  9. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-15), page 62-63 (62)
  10. ↑ GamePro, "March 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 46-47 (48)
  11. ↑ Joypad, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 112-114 (112)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 File:MMS16 CastlevaniaReview.pdf, page 2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MMS16 CastlevaniaReview.pdf_p2" defined multiple times with different content
  13. ↑ Player One, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 68-71 (68)
  14. ↑ Sega Magazine, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-10), page 91-92 (91)
  15. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 43
  16. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 44
  17. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 326
  18. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 19
  19. ↑ Console Mania, "Marzo 1994" (IT; 1994-0x-xx), page 54
  20. ↑ Consoles +, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 92
  21. ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1994-03-21)
  22. ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "May 1994" (US; 1994-04-21), page 79
  23. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "February 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 38
  24. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 300
  25. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 7, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 64
  26. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 2 February 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 60
  27. ↑ GamePro, "March 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 48
  28. ↑ Gamers, "März/April 1994" (DE; 1994-03-04), page 18
  29. ↑ GamesMaster, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-17), page 48
  30. ↑ Game Informer, "March/April 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 10
  31. ↑ Game Informer, "August 1998" (US; 1998-0x-xx), page 66
  32. ↑ Hippon Super, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-03), page 61
  33. ↑ Hyper, "February 1994" (AU; 199x-xx-xx), page 46
  34. ↑ Joypad, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 112
  35. ↑ MAN!AC, "04/94" (DE; 1994-03-09), page 50
  36. ↑ Max Overload!, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-22), page 34
  37. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-xx-xx), page 22
  38. ↑ Mega, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-17), page 43
  39. ↑ Megablast, "2/94" (DE; 1994-03-30), page 32
  40. ↑ MegaTech, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 18
  41. ↑ Player One, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 68
  42. ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, April 02, 1994" (UK; 1994-04-02), page 1
  43. ↑ Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 2, Nummer 4, April 1994" (NL; 1994-03-23), page 36
  44. ↑ Score, "Červen 1994" (CZ; 1994-06-01), page 60
  45. ↑ Secret Service, "Październik 1996" (PL; 1996-10-01), page 72
  46. ↑ Sega Magazine, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-10), page 92
  47. ↑ Sega Power, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-03), page 38
  48. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 60
  49. ↑ Sega Zone, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 46
  50. ↑ Sega Force, "3/94" (SE; 1994-03-29), page 8
  51. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "1" (RU; 1995-04-03), page 31
  52. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  53. ↑ Sonic the Comic, "May 13th 1994" (UK; 1994-04-30), page 11
  54. ↑ The Zone (AU)The Zone (AU) "Season 1, episode 3" (1994-05-14, ) (+17:44)
  55. ↑ Todo Sega, "Marzo 1994" (ES; 1994-0x-xx), page 54
  56. ↑ Tricks, "2/95" (RU; 1995-xx-xx), page 18
  57. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 9
  58. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 51
  59. ↑ Video Games, "5/94" (DE; 1994-04-27), page 99
  60. ↑ VideoGames, "March 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 67


Castlevania: Bloodlines

CastlevaniaBloodlines title.png

Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Development | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception | Promotional material | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs


Sega Mega Drive
Prototypes: 1993-08-04 | 10-07 | 1993-12



John Morris sprite Castlevania games for Sega systems
Sega Mega Drive
 Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994) | Super Castlevania IV‎ (unreleased)
Sega 32X
 Castlevania: The Bloodletting (unreleased)
Sega Saturn
 Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku (1998) | Castlevania: The Bloodletting (unreleased)
Sega Dreamcast
 Castlevania Resurrection (unreleased)
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