Vampire: Master of Darkness (1992)

Preliminary: Hm. Interesting. This is quite clearly a direct ripoff of the first Castlevania, and we all know I absolutely love the first Castelvania so that's not a bad thing. Why would they copy the stairs mechanic too tho lol, at least it's a bit better in that you can jump off them, but it still has that clunky unnecessary emchanic of how to start walking on them. That being said, the music is absolutely excellent, the concept is peculiar but cute in a way (you seem to just be some normal person, as are your weapons), and I already have that Castlevania hook on the first level. To top it off, this was a handheld game (I'm playing the Game Gear game which I read was supposedly released before the MS version) which makes it that much cooler.

Day 1

Some of the level designs (esp the gotcha moments) are questionable and it's quite meh other than its great music when compared to Castlevania. Also the enemies could use more variety and interesting mechanics, but I did only just finish Round 1. Oh and teh collision masks are a bit wonky and the delay in the attack can be quite frustrating. But all around, impressive for a mobile Castlevania, and Game Gear is always impressive when compared to its contemporary GB games.

Day 2

Unfortunately, despite how impressive it is for a handheld game, and it being so Castlevania esque, I dunno it's just not hooking me. I think it's primarily due to the level design not taking into account a handheld system's limitations and the slight delay in turning/attacking that makes the fast enemies and enemy placement quite frustrating. Also I got sick of the gotcha moments. The music continued to be a highlight tho.

Look: 7/10

Sound: 7.5/10

Play: 7.5/10

Feel: 7/10

Attachment: 7/10

Overall: 7.2/10

Neat Game that's been on my radar a while. This game is basically a Castlevania knock-off for the Master System. Interestingly, it's made by the same developer that made another well known port to SMS of popular action game franchise: Ninja Gaiden. (Thank goodness however, that its not anywhere near as hard)

And yea, like that game you have levels stages divided up into 'rounds' (3 rounds complete a stage) along with a damn annoying timer to go with it.

That's the thing about the game (and some castlevanias) I really dont like, that stupid timer. In this game though, it can really be a problem because that timer is still going to be used for the boss fight at the end of each stage.

This really is difficult in the last stage, which consists not only of a maze in the first part of the it, but Two boss battles at the end.

So, like others are saying its not hard but it gets plenty difficult enough by the end.

Good level design, variation and art style. Of course, it wouldn't be a Castlevania clone without a clocktower level now would it?

The game is smooth and quite responsive. Even stairs are an ease in this Castlevania clone. The levels have moving backgrounds and enemies have a lot of expressed motion. slight nonlinearly in the levels at times (I think?) There's also plenty of 'wall chickens' too!

My favorite enemy were the paintings that look a bit like Rick Astley.

On that topic of music, this game has a small but very impressive soundtrack. Stage 5 has one of the more interesting chiptunes i've heard in a good minute...

What is this pitch-bending 8bit madness humming its way out of my Master System?

Well put together. Feels like and looks like Castlevania on SMS and manages to do it well! It even has cutscenes (well limited to story text mostly, but still pretty cool) Also, fun to play (And all around much better than Ninja Gaiden!) Yeah do play it if you're looking for a Master System action title. It's ones of the better games I've played for it.

It's like Castlevania, but instead of playing a whip-wielding legend you're this random British gentleman in a suit walking about London, fending off legions of monsters with whatever you happen to find, even if it's just a walking stick. This game is great. It's actually possible to go up and down stairs in this one, and you can control your jump while in mid-air.

Interestingly, there's a bit of a plot that is unveiled between each level. You kill Jack the Ripper, who was working for some count, who is working for Dracula. Later some lady summons a giant flying skull, and you gotta kill that too. You've got your zombies and ghosts and bats and whatnot, but my favorite enemies were probably the floating knives, chairs, and paintings. All in all a good time to be had -- I also appreciated that the game wasn't too difficult to play through.

Platform: Sega Master System

Genre: Castlevania-style action platformer

This game has been dubbed Castlevania-ripoff or Poor-man's-Castlevania. And while it certainly was the intention to cash in on the Castlevania success the game still manages to be well designed. Sims Co. seems to be a good developer on the Master System, and really manages to show the strengths of the system. This game at times almost looks like a 16 bit title at least if you only look at stills. The music is much less memorable as in the Konami counterpart, but it is servicable and carries the game's mood well.

It controls very well, too, you can even steer in mid-air unlike a certain Belmont. There is a range of different main and subweapons found in the levels. The best of the main weapons oddly seems to be what looks like a walking cane, it does the most damage with a decent range.

The game's story also revolves around Dracula with Jack the Ripper thrown in for good measure. There is usually 3 levels or sections with a boss battle at the end of the third. Levels are mostly linear with a few secrets to explore in breakable blocks. The last level, Dracula's castle is however a maze that will loop endlessly if you don't find the right exit.

This game is much easier than Castlevania for a few reasons. First the controls are a little less stiff and the enemies take less hits overall. There also practically isn't any ultra hard to dodge enemy patterns to master. There are still the damn bats, but your lifebar seems to be much more robust in this game, and there's a more generous supply of health refills.

Conclusion: This is a very good game for the system and it's got a lot of atmosphere going. It's not as intense as Castlevania but that can be a good thing depending on how much trouble you have with that kind of difficulty, so I would say this is a recommended entry point to these kind of games.