It’s the spooky season apparently, so why not break out a Castlevania game? The only thing scary about this chibi-fied spinoff is its difficulty, but I was able to mitigate that through rampant savestate cheating.
Kid Dracula is a sequel to the Japan-only Famicom game Boku Dracula-kun. It’s obviously got a very different feel to a mainline Castlevania game, with big cute sprites and a system of progressive ability unlocks after each level. These other weapons and powers are free to use, with coins being used for between-level minigames to win more lives. It all seems friendly enough, but the small viewing area, aggressive enemies, and tight platforming requirements can lead to many deaths unless you’re brazenly cheating as I was.
Still, difficulty is core to the CV experience; learning a level layout and enemy behaviour and honing your skills to overcome it. In that sense it fits right in, despite being a bit basic. The lore too surprisingly is referenced several times in other games in the series; the antagonist Garamoth shows up in Symphony of the Night, and the “10,000 years in the future” plot (carried over from the prequel) and other elements are referenced in Judgment. Kid Dracula is understood to be the child version of Alucard, although the two are never really linked in any way.
I managed to knock this over in one two-hour stream (which you can still watch on my Youtube channel), so yes it’s short but for a GB game not so unusual. It’s fun as a sidegame and accompaniment to Symphony of the Night (sorta kinda). I don’t really know what else to say about it honestly! A bit throwaway but amusing and you get to play as a “bad guy”. Spooky!?
