Castlevania: Bloodlines
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| Castlevania: Bloodlines | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) | Yutaka Haruki (supervisor) |
| Release date(s) |  March 17, 1994 March 18, 1994 March 20, 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | VRC: GA |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive |
| Media | 8-megabit cartridge |
Castlevania: Bloodlines is the only Castlevania video game to be released on the Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed and published by Konami, and was first released in North America, on March 17, 1994. Its Japanese title is Vampire Killer (バンパイアキラー Banpaia Kirā?), and its European title is Castlevania: The New Generation.
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[edit] Story from the Instruction Manual
"Journey back to 1897 and the Transylvanian countryside of Romania. It was a time of fear and dread for the simple people of this European country. They lived under the dark rule of Count Dracula for many years. He was a ruthless warrior when he was alive, but he was even more terrifying in death! For you see, Dracula is king of the vampires!
But even one as powerful as Dracula has enemies. From the early 16th century the Belmonts--including Trevor, Christopher, and the legendary Simon--had been fighting Dracula and his minions throughout Europe. Finally, in 1897 Quincy Morris, a descendent of the House of Belmont, overcame great odds to defeat Dracula and send him to his eternal grave. Unfortunately since Quincy was so badly beaten in his battle with the Count, he lost his own life moments after plunging a wooden stake into Dracula's chest.
Quincy's legacy has continued, however. His son--John Morris--and John's childhood friend Eric Lecarde had witnessed the Quincy/Dracula showdown from the shadows. That scene changed their lives forever--as they grew older they swore to rid the planet of the evil creatures of the underworld.
Twenty years later...
Elizabeth Bartley. The name conjures up images of a regal countess who, in the year 1421, was found kneeling over the body of a dead young man. He had two puncture wounds in his neck. She was tried as a vampire and found guilty. Her sentence was...to gruesome to mention in this pages. What is important is that she was indeed guilty. And not only was she a vampire, she was the niece of Count Dracula!
Now, in the ruins of a mysterious castle in Transylvania, an amateur witch by the name of Drolta Tzuentes dabbles in arcane magic. She casts a spell which inadvertantly brings Elizabeth Bartley back to the land of the living! Now that she has returned, Bartley is bent toward one goal-- reviving her dead uncle, Count Dracula!
In a twist of fate, Morris and Lecarde have been drawn towards the ominous castle. Their task is simple--defeat Bartley before she can complete her macabre objective. Completeing their task, however, will involve many perilous encounters and life-or-death acts of bravado.
Is your heart strong enough for this challenge?"
(Full text of the Castlevania: Bloodlines manual can be found here).
[edit] Storyline
As stated in its introduction, the game takes place in 1917. However, due to the mentioning of the year 1914 in the manual's backstory, it has become a common misconception – even in official timelines – that the game takes place during that year. This is a mistake that has only recently been rectified in the latest official timelines.
In 1897, the long war between humanity and Dracula came to an end, as Dracula was laid to eternal rest by Quincy Morris, a descendant of the Belmont family.
Peace was restored to Europe, until the outbreak of the first World War, which transformed the continent into a dark world filled with massacre and violence.
At the beginning of the war, on June 1914 at Sarajevo, the Crown Prince of Austria was assassinated. It was said that a strange beautiful woman was involved, within the shadows.
It was Elizabeth Bartley. In order to revive her uncle, Count Dracula, she conducted an unholy ceremony which caused the war, giving her possession of human souls from Europe.
And now, two silhouettes can be seen near Castle Dracula. John Morris, a descendant of the famed Belmont and Morris families who obeyed his fate to fight vampires day and night, and Eric Lecarde, whose girlfriend was transformed into a vampire when Elizabeth was revived.
After Drolta Tzuentes resurrected Elizabeth Bartley, they traveled across Europe to conduct the resurrection of Count Dracula. John Morris and Eric Lecarde followed them. Even though the resurrection of Dracula was a success, the vampire hunters defeated him, and his allies.
[edit] Heroes
John Morris: "John Morris has been summoned by fate to slay the Countess Bartley before her diabolic plan can be fuliflled. Like all of his forefathers, he is wise in the ways of vampire slaying and is skilled with the legendary whip."[1]
- Born: December 12, 1895, in Texas, USA
- Weapon: Vampire Killer
Eric Lecarde: "Eric Lecarde, master lanceman, has volunteered to take his friend's place in the hunt. (However, he hasn't told John the real reason behind his appetite for vengeance: the Countess turned the love of his life, Gwendolyn, into a vampire.)" [2]
- Born: May 3rd, 1892 in Segovia, Spain.
- Weapon: Alcarde Spear
[edit] Textual references
This game attempts to bridge the Castlevania games with the Dracula novel written by Bram Stoker, which the series had only been loosely connected to previously, having arguably more in common with the 1931 Bela Lugosi film than the actual novel. The game even refers to one of the stars of the novel, Quincy Morris. In doing this, some plot points invented by the American localization staff of the game are openly contradicted.
- According to the North American manual, John Morris was supposed to witness his father's death. Quincy did not survive the gash inflicted by Gypsies under the influence of the Count's hypnotism. But at the time, John Morris was only two years of age, since he was born in 1895. Also, John wasn't mentioned in the novel. The original Japanese and European instruction manuals makes no mention of John being witness to his father's death. Nothing in the novel or the game contradicts the possibility of John witnessing his father's death, regardless of whether his age at the time prevented him from remembering the event.
- Quincy attempts to court Lucy early in the novel, but it is not mentioned that Quincy has a two year old child (meaning, he either is in a relationship, or just got done with one). Though in Bram Stoker's version Quincy was intended to be a bachelor with no children.
- Additionally, the Countess Bartley is loosely based on the actual historical figure Erzsébet Báthory. The witch who resurrects her in the game's backstory is Dorottya Szentes, who in reality had connections to Báthory. (Just as the name "Bartley" in the English versions of the game is a mistransliteration of Báthory, the name "Drolta Tzuentes" is a corruption of Dorottya's name.)
- The game's backstory also references the real-life death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, suggesting that the assassination had been ordered by the Countess.
- The character of Eric Lecarde may also possess an oblique reference to Alucard, a recurring character in the Castlevania franchise. In the Sega Saturn version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the "Alucard Spear" is found at the Hell Garden. In Bloodlines, Eric wields the "Alcarde Spear." In a game with its fair share of mistranslations (in addition to the above examples, "Lecarde" is a corruption of Ricardo), 'Alcarde' is a definite mistranslation of 'Alucard', meaning Eric and Alucard wield the same spear in their respective games. This is confirmed in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, in which Lecarde's ghost can grant the player his spear, called "Alucard's Spear." It thus is believed by many fans that Eric is a descendant of Alucard and Maria Renard, assuming they had a relationship after the events of Symphony of the Night.
- This is not the first time that a reference is made to a relationship between Alucard and a mortal. In Castlevania Legends (which is now considered a side-story according to Koji Igarashi's ideal timeline), it is hinted that Sonia Belmont and Alucard may have had a relationship that produced Trevor Belmont. [3]
- Bloodlines' story weighs heavily on Portrait of Ruin, which stars John Morris' son Jonathan as the main character. John Morris dies sometime between 1917 and 1944 as a result of his reliance on the Vampire Killer whip and the fact that it saps the energy of its non-Belmont users (John had been injured in the fight with Dracula in 1917 and his reliance on the whip never allowed him to fully recover from his wounds).
[edit] Gameplay
As with most early Castlevania games, players proceed through each level, defeating enemies and collecting gems (hearts in previous games) to power special weapons (in this game, the axe, boomerang, and holy water). Some portions of the game split into different paths, depending on which character is chosen. Eric can perform high jumps using his spear, while John can swing from the ceiling using his whip. Some items will increase the power of the characters' weapons. Bloodlines is also noteworthy for its abundance of special effects, such as the Atlantis Shrine's water reflections, the swaying tower of Pisa, and large multi-jointed bosses. One of the stages even uses effects to add challenge, such as playing upside-down or playing while the screen divides up into sections. The "Item Crush" feature (from Akumajou Dracula X: Rondo of Blood) makes its return in Bloodlines.
[edit] Stages
Unlike most Castlevania games, Bloodlines is not in only Dracula's castle or even Romania. In addition to the first level – Dracula's castle – there are levels set in Athens, Pisa, Germany, Versailles, and Castle Proserpina in England. Despite the change in setting, however, the game still features the now-archetypal designs of Castlevania games. You start in the ruins of Castle Dracula (the first half of which is taken from the first NES game), which is a recurring theme in later titles, and trek through Europe on your quest. Each stage is sectioned into chunks, and has a sub-boss battle in the middle, with the big boss battle at the end. The walkthrough of each stage is slightly different in places depending on which character you choose to play as. John is able to swing past huge gaps with his whip, whereas Eric must use a different route by pole vaulting. Overall, this isn't a huge change in terms of gameplay, but is still unique for the game.
[edit] Music
The music of Bloodlines was composed by Michiru Yamane, who is most renowned for her score of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Even though she once admitted to have worked under extreme pressure and deadlines, the soundtrack meets and exceeds the standards set by previous entries in the series. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the game is the actual sound design. The Genesis sound chip is pushed to its limits through synthesized organ, strings, screams, and distorted explosions. The music for the second level, titled "The Sinking Old Sanctuary," was reused in later Castlevania games, Circle of the Moon, for the Game Boy Advance, and Legacy of Darkness, for the Nintendo 64, making it one of the handful of other recurring music tracks in the series. The music for the fourth level, "Iron Blue Intention", was recently re-used for Portrait of Ruin.
The main themes for each of the first levels of the three NES Castlevania games are accessible in-game with a code and can be played in the sound test as well.
The Theme of Simon plays after defeating Elizabeth and before the battle with Dracula.
[edit] Regional variations
Castlevania: Bloodlines underwent censorship during localization to PAL regions in Europe. The word blood was kept out of the titles at the time. Therefore, the title was altered to Castlevania: The New Generation. The bottom of the title screen was changed from red to blue, because red liquid depicts blood, and blue liquid depicts sea water. The zombies were changed from pink to green to make them less gruesome. In the European version, Eric's spear does not impale him after he dies. There was a rearrangement of enemy placement as well, making the difficulty either easier or harder depending on where you were. Also, only some sub-bosses use the life bar meter to show damage, whereas others don't.
In the Japanese version, the title was simply Vampire Killer, and is much closer to its American counterpart than the PAL edit in terms of content. The "normal" mode is a bit less difficult than Bloodlines, with lower enemy appearance rate and more damage dealt. This version is also what accredited the "Drolta Tzuentes" edit. The character actually appears to fight during your final battle with Dracula to give him time to power up to his final form, whereas in the American version the sprite character is credited as being just another form of Dracula. Also, Eric's facial features were more feminine (i.e., bishounen) in the Japanese version. When brought to America, his facial design was changed to seem more masculine. Oddly, his feminine face was kept for the European release.
[edit] Trivia
- There was actually a beta version of Bloodlines in existence, which was meant to be a preview for gaming magazines to give early reviews on. This version was practically the same as the final edit, but featured some different enemy sprite designs and extra level designs. The changes made from this to the final slightly shorter version can only be attributed to time constraints and deadlines.
- John's name in the original Japanese version of the game is "Johnny".
- This is the first domestic Castlevania game to feature overt blood and gore, despite earning a "GA" rating from Sega's VMRC (zombies being cut in half, harpies being decapitated, etc.)
