For as prolific as Konami were in the US there were still a legion of titles they left behind in Japan. What makes this even more surprising is that they even created a separate label to publish more than 5 games a year. Consider this; they even left Gradius 2 behind! One often overlooked Famicom title they put out is Akumajou Special-Boku Dracula Kun. Once scheduled for a western release we would only receive it on the Gameboy. Like Parodius it is a bit of a parody but is much more than that. And like Parodius it is truly excellent. There is no language barrier to overcome to enjoy this awesome hidden gem.
Kid Dracula, the king of demons has awoken after 10,000 years of sleep to find a challenger to his rule. The Demon King Galamoth has taken over his kingdom and now Kid Dracula has to get it back. Those who have played Symphony of the Night will remember Galamoth. He is the giant lightning wielding bastard who was the most difficult boss in the entire game and probably ruined your afternoon. He may be the end game boss but he is….cuddlier.
While it is easy to assume Boku Dracula Kun is a parody of Castlevania along the lines of Parodius it is not. Aside from its first level, which is one long homage to that series, they are nothing alike. This is a lighthearted adventure with an overly cheery Dracula. This Dracula is more likely to invite friends over for a pillow fight than drink blood. This isn’t a kid’s game despite the low difficulty though. Boku Dracula Kun is just as good as many of the platforming greats on the system.
You’ll be happy to know that Dracula is nowhere near as gimpy as the Belmonts. Dracula is pretty nimble, able to move while airborne and jump on ladders, to say nothing of his expanded powers. Initially you are limited to a multi-directional fireball that can be charged up. Charged shots grant coins from enemies to play minigames between levels. After every level Dracula gains a new power and these abilities are pretty varied. There’s a homing shot, exploding bomb, and self-explanatory freeze. You aren’t limited to offensive powers either. Eventually you’ll gain the power of flight and the ability to walk on ceilings.
Thanks to the fantastic level design every ability gets its spotlight. While it is standard in the genre to make use of a new power in the next successive level Boku Dracula Kun doesn’t follow that formula. There are often multiple ways to approach a given situation and your large number of powers keeps the variety high. The difficulty falls a bit on the easy side although it does start to pick up toward the end. The final level in particular is a boss rush featuring three badasses before Galamoth himself. And you do it all with one life bar.
Aside from the great level design the overall game is charming as hell. Maybe its Dracula’s cheery disposition or the at times goofy enemies. The game isn’t afraid to go to absurd places. You’ll take Dracula on a hellish roller coaster ride and travel the depths of the sea. Imagine that, Dracula underwater. You’ll fight a giant robot inside of a factory and eventually travel to outerspace for the final showdown. Despite the ridiculousness of everything I’ve just described it somehow still makes sense.
I haven’t even described the most bizarre level yet! Stage five is blatantly set in New York but it goes much further than that. There are UFOS that spawn faux power rangers, wild gorillas and my favorite enemy, Spider-Man. Seriously look it up. The colors don’t match obviously but when you see him shimmy up a building….come on. I haven’t gotten to the best part yet. The end level boss is the Statue of Liberty. Except she challenges you to a game show style quiz since she can’t fight. It’s absurd and awesome all at the same time.
The cheery veneer almost hides the excellent presentation. The sprites are large and expressive and very well animated. The worldwide setting and everything but the kitchen sink approach affords the game a great deal of variety. Aside from New York and Egypt there are clear homages to other games such as Mega Man and Super Mario Bros. 3. The game does suffer from some very nasty slowdown and extreme sprite flickering at times. But that isn’t enough to ruin the otherwise stellar presentation.
In Closing
I love this game. I’ll never know why this was cancelled but frickin Bayou Billy and Stinger came over. I can at least understand publishing Top Gun, as much as I hated that game. Quality titles like Boku Dracula Kun should have come over. This is a fantastic platformer and an excellent addition to any NES library.
