Kid Dracula

Any reputable designer can come up with a cool game for powerful systems like the Super NES or Genesis, but developing great software for the comparatively primitive Game Boy takes true talent. Like actors in the days of the silent movies--who relied on bright makeup and exaggerated movements and expressions to communicate effectively--Game Boy designers must do the best they can with the limited range of tools at hand.

Simplicity and great playability are the keys to any successful Game Boy title, and the engaging Kid Dracula demonstrates Konami's mastery of th is underappreciated art form. What looks like a toned-down Castlevania for the preteen set is actually an irresistible trek through eight levels of cool cartoon action.

The blond-haired Kid Dracula is one of the most charismatic video-game characters I've seen all year. He runs, jumps, walks across ceilings and flings bats at his enemies--not to mention being able to sprout bat wings and fly for five seconds at a time. I love the way he exits each screen by swirling his cape in front of his chest, beaming a sharp-toothed grin that's wide enough to turn his eyes all squinty.

The graphics are very well drawn, with different backgrounds and a variety of enemy creatures in each level. The game also hooks the player with an energetic stereo soundtrack, offering a wide range of tunes and appropriate sound effects throughout. Entertaining intermissions, five different subgames and a variety of special power-ups guarantee that your quest to defeat the evil lizard Garamoth will be a memorable one. Well, the "Robotics Factory Zone" may not be as charmingly eerie as some of the game's more atmospheric levels, but, by that time, you'll probably be having too much fun to notice.

With unlimited continues and a fourdigit password scheme, Kid Dracula may be easier to beat than most Game Boy titles--but I'll take "fun" over "challenge" any day. Besides, it's just as enjoyable the second time through.

Sharpen your fangs, 'cuz this Kid can bite. He will, too, in this eight-level, one-player quest to save the night from the evil Garamoth, a tyrannical lizard king from the year 2 billion B. C. The Kid has to control this amphibian and his 12 evil followers with seven magical powers. Complete a level, and you're in for up to five more subgames. Go for the jugular and sink your teeth into this one.

It's sunset. Do your parents know where you are? If you're masquerading as Kid Dracula in Konami's batventure for the Game Boy, you could be winging across parapets as a bat, vaporizing ghoulies, and terrorizing Transylvania 'til the Count comes home. You're trying to defeat Garamoth, the tyrannical lizard king, and his gang of ghouls, who are working monstrously hard to take over your castle.

Creatures Featured

Kid Dracula offers intermediate players eight tough levels and five imaginative subgames to sink their fangs into, while maintaining it's straightforward game for gamers still teething to get a bite of the action, side-view, run-jump-and-zap game play moves vertically and horizontally.

The pesky pack of monsters, fiends, and ghouls in this cart would drive you batty, if you weren't already a vampire. You meet Frankenpunk, Trance Fusion, Percy Pinchaloaf, and a troublesome trio-the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future-who will all frustrate the Dickens out of you. You can mangle individual monsters faster than you can shake a stake, but as a gang they're gruesome.

Kid Drac's Attack

Your slick array of magic weapons makes the fighting fun. Standard weapons consist of unlimited magic blasts and two Magic Powers (the Bat Transformation and a powered-up magic blast called the Bitin' Bullet). Each time you complete a level, you earn another Magic Power, including Wing 'n' Homing Missiles, an Umbrella Shield, and a flocking Bat Attack. There are seven powers altogether to cycle through.

Zapping beasts with your Magic Powers reveals Crimson Coins, which you use to buy your way into the sub-games. After each level, you can select from five subgames, provided you have enough Coins and a good memory. One type of game offers you the option to collect more Coins. The other type offers 1-ups, 2-ups, and even 4-ups as prizes.

You need those extra chances, too, because Kid Dracula will suck up your three standard lives quickly. At least you get unlimited continues, and the password feature assures that you can return from the dead.

Bop, Look, and Listen

Kid Dracula's graphics glow. The Kid and his foes are cutesy critters. The Bat Transformation in particular is a fun animated effect that transmutes you into a winged creature of the night.

The sound effects are good, too. Your wings beat rhythmically in true bat fashion, plus you'll get assorted zaps and blasts.

Fangtastic Fun

Kid Dracula offers enough challenge and variety to keep intermediate players busy from sunset until sunrise, a time when all good vamps-in-training are trying out their fangs. Kid Dracula's sharp-toothed parents won't lose any sleep wondering where he is, but you might.

Oh those chaps at Konami! Once again they take a name (Dracula) and really make it into an original game filled with fun and surprises! Enter the absent-minded Kid Drac. His arch enemy is lurking about, and he forgot his crafty spells! The Kid remembers them as he fights through hordes of enemies. Show your fangs for this creepy quest!

This is Dracula like you've never seen him before! Konami's Kid Dracula is full of surprises! The young Drac is a bit absent-minded these days; it seems he has forgotten his spells, just when his archenemy decides to pop into town! He must fight through levels filled with creepy ghosts and birds in order to remember the spells. Hop on the rotating bridges or the roller coaster for a fun-filled adventure!