Ever since as far as most can remember, parodies have been a pretty common part of entertainment media, even if they aren’t as prevalent as they used to be. Whether it be one of those terrible parody films like Scary Movie or Disaster Movie, TV shows like Mike Tyson Mysteries or Drawn Together, or anything one can throw up on YouTube to get a million views, parody has always had a presence in entertainment, and will most likely continue to do so for years to come. Video games are also no secret to having various parodies within them, including entire games that are parodies of other games. Konami, for example, has made a good number of parody games back in the day, such as Parodius, an entire series of shooters that are parodies of the Gradius series. In addition, another lesser known parody game that they have made, one that is actually pretty damn good, would be the original Kid Dracula, or, as it was originally known as, Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-kun.
As you could probably guess, this game was a parody of the Castlevania series, and despite the fact not too many people talk about it, I would say that is a pretty damn good game, and definitely a hidden gem of the entire series. I still don’t understand why this was never released outside of Japan initially (except for, you know, western video game developers not liking anime-like things), because it has held up extremely well ever since its release, and I’m glad that I finally got to play it after all this time. Sure, it isn’t perfect, but it is overall still a pretty fun time.
The story is pretty simple: monster steals Dracula’s throne, go get it back, and for a game with this kind of style, it works, the graphics and art style are very appealing, the music is pretty good, the control feels great to handle, especially given your advanced versatility compared to regular Castlevania games, and the gameplay is pretty similar to other games of the time, but it not only remains to be fun, but it also manages to add enough to make it stand out from other titles.
The game is your basic 2D platformer, where you take control of Kid Dracula, moving through numerous levels, defeating enemies of various types and cliches, getting coins along the way, and defeating bosses. However, it does add enough to make it stand out from the main Castlevania series. It plays much more like Mega Man (which is a HUGE plus in my book), where you shoot fire at enemies in four different directions, you can charge it up for a more powerful shot, and at the end of most stages, you gain a new ability to help you take on enemies in later stages, as well as helping you traverse through the stages, such as homing shots, bomb shots, ice shots, and even abilities that allow you to turn into a bat and go upside down. Not only is the main gameplay very fun and allows for a lot of different fast-paced maneuvers to help take on enemies, but the powers you acquire are also very helpful, being very effective against certain enemies and bosses, while also keeping things interesting in terms of progression, which all in all makes the game really fun.
In addition, as a parody, it manages to do a lot of unique things that will surprise you if you are going in blind, expecting it to be another regular Castlevania game, but with a cutesy art style. There are a wide variety of locations stages take place in that you would never see in a mainline game, such as egyptian pyramids, a flying ghost ship, and even New York at one point. Not to mention, the enemies that you encounter in these stages, while not being too distinct from other games, fit well enough to where it makes these levels feel fun and imaginative for a Castlevania parody. The game also manages to do this with the events that happen in the game, such as with boss fights. For example, in the New York level, the boss is against the Statue of Liberty, and instead of fighting her, you have to complete a trivia quiz show to move on. Sure, the questions are easy as hell, but I had the biggest smile on my face going through this part, just because of how off-the-wall and random it was, and I love it.
However, like I said, the game isn’t perfect. As I have already mentioned, the game is a pretty good parody of Castlevania, but I wish it did a little more to… you know, PARODY Castlevania. Sure, you do play as a kid version of Dracula, and it does mention a vampire hunter at the end, but nothing else is really done to make fun of Castlevania, which kind of sucks. That just may be a “me” problem, but it is a little disappointing. And speaking of “me” problems, this one is definitely a huge “me” problem, but I gotta mention it nonetheless. In between each stage, you can play one of four mini games in order to gain more lives, such as a roulette, a lottery game, a game where you try to stab skeletons, or a game where you try to… guess what the color of the dancers’ underwear will be when they lift their skirts up. Japan, ladies and gentlemen.
But anyway, the problem I had with these games was that, in order to play them, you had to spend the coins that you find during levels, and maybe it was just me, but for most of the game, I would almost NEVER find any coins. Either I’m just extremely unlucky, or the drop rate of these coins is very low, but either way, it kinda sucked how I went through the entire game only playing these mini games like once or twice. Nevertheless, these mini games are a great distraction from the rest of the game, and another reason why this game is so unique and memorable from everything else.
Overall, not only is this a pretty good parody of the Castlevania games, but it is a fantastic game all on its own, and one of my favorites from the classic Castlevania lineup, even if it isn’t a proper mainline entry in the series. I’m just glad that it actually finally came over to America rather than being stuck in Japan, unlike a lot of other games from back in the day.
Game #163
As you could probably guess, this game was a parody of the Castlevania series, and despite the fact not too many people talk about it, I would say that is a pretty damn good game, and definitely a hidden gem of the entire series. I still don’t understand why this was never released outside of Japan initially (except for, you know, western video game developers not liking anime-like things), because it has held up extremely well ever since its release, and I’m glad that I finally got to play it after all this time. Sure, it isn’t perfect, but it is overall still a pretty fun time.
The story is pretty simple: monster steals Dracula’s throne, go get it back, and for a game with this kind of style, it works, the graphics and art style are very appealing, the music is pretty good, the control feels great to handle, especially given your advanced versatility compared to regular Castlevania games, and the gameplay is pretty similar to other games of the time, but it not only remains to be fun, but it also manages to add enough to make it stand out from other titles.
The game is your basic 2D platformer, where you take control of Kid Dracula, moving through numerous levels, defeating enemies of various types and cliches, getting coins along the way, and defeating bosses. However, it does add enough to make it stand out from the main Castlevania series. It plays much more like Mega Man (which is a HUGE plus in my book), where you shoot fire at enemies in four different directions, you can charge it up for a more powerful shot, and at the end of most stages, you gain a new ability to help you take on enemies in later stages, as well as helping you traverse through the stages, such as homing shots, bomb shots, ice shots, and even abilities that allow you to turn into a bat and go upside down. Not only is the main gameplay very fun and allows for a lot of different fast-paced maneuvers to help take on enemies, but the powers you acquire are also very helpful, being very effective against certain enemies and bosses, while also keeping things interesting in terms of progression, which all in all makes the game really fun.
In addition, as a parody, it manages to do a lot of unique things that will surprise you if you are going in blind, expecting it to be another regular Castlevania game, but with a cutesy art style. There are a wide variety of locations stages take place in that you would never see in a mainline game, such as egyptian pyramids, a flying ghost ship, and even New York at one point. Not to mention, the enemies that you encounter in these stages, while not being too distinct from other games, fit well enough to where it makes these levels feel fun and imaginative for a Castlevania parody. The game also manages to do this with the events that happen in the game, such as with boss fights. For example, in the New York level, the boss is against the Statue of Liberty, and instead of fighting her, you have to complete a trivia quiz show to move on. Sure, the questions are easy as hell, but I had the biggest smile on my face going through this part, just because of how off-the-wall and random it was, and I love it.
However, like I said, the game isn’t perfect. As I have already mentioned, the game is a pretty good parody of Castlevania, but I wish it did a little more to… you know, PARODY Castlevania. Sure, you do play as a kid version of Dracula, and it does mention a vampire hunter at the end, but nothing else is really done to make fun of Castlevania, which kind of sucks. That just may be a “me” problem, but it is a little disappointing. And speaking of “me” problems, this one is definitely a huge “me” problem, but I gotta mention it nonetheless. In between each stage, you can play one of four mini games in order to gain more lives, such as a roulette, a lottery game, a game where you try to stab skeletons, or a game where you try to… guess what the color of the dancers’ underwear will be when they lift their skirts up. Japan, ladies and gentlemen.
But anyway, the problem I had with these games was that, in order to play them, you had to spend the coins that you find during levels, and maybe it was just me, but for most of the game, I would almost NEVER find any coins. Either I’m just extremely unlucky, or the drop rate of these coins is very low, but either way, it kinda sucked how I went through the entire game only playing these mini games like once or twice. Nevertheless, these mini games are a great distraction from the rest of the game, and another reason why this game is so unique and memorable from everything else.
Overall, not only is this a pretty good parody of the Castlevania games, but it is a fantastic game all on its own, and one of my favorites from the classic Castlevania lineup, even if it isn’t a proper mainline entry in the series. I’m just glad that it actually finally came over to America rather than being stuck in Japan, unlike a lot of other games from back in the day.
Game #163