Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Super Nintendo)

Source: Super NES Buyer’s Guide – Volume 3, Issue 3 – Page 44 (Super NES Previews)

Another licensed title, another mediocre game at best. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is based on the 1992 movie which of course is based on the 19th century novel. There are many vampire games around and as Dracula is really the one that started it all, it really has a lot to live up to.

The Super Nintendo version of the game, previewed above in volume 3, number 3 of Super NES Buyer’s Guide is a fairly typical side-scrolling hack and slash game. I guess it would be something like Ghost & Goblins if you wanted to compare it to a similar type game. Only this isn’t nearly as good. The game consists of several levels, each of which represents a scene from the movie. The graphics are pretty nice which is really the best that can be said about this game. Reviews varied wildly but at the end of the day, it’s really just another mediocre license. You might enjoy this if you are a big fan of the movie but otherwise I wouldn’t bother.

The game was released on a wide variety of platforms. The Sega Genesis version was nearly identical to the Super Nintendo version. There were also 8-bit NES, Game Boy, Sega Master System and Game Gear but these were quite a bit worse than the 16-bit versions. Then there was the Sega CD version that made use of digitized backgrounds, crappy FMV sequences and poorer game play. The Amiga version uses graphics lifted from the Sega CD version and is a sort of remixed version of that game. Overall, this was a pretty big disappointment for a Psygnosis game. Finally, there’s the DOS version which was a poor 1st person imitation of Castle Wolfenstein.

You’ll definitely have to track down an original or use emulation if you do want to play this one. The 16-bit Super Nintendo and regular Genesis versions are the best by far but really there are really at least four different games here. The 8-bit version, the 16-bit version, the Sega CD and Amiga versions which are somewhat similar, and the DOS version.

Screenshots above are from the Super Nintendo version of the game.

Check out some of my other recent retrogaming posts!