Vampire Killer (MSX2) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Konami's 1987 action-adventure game for the MSX2, Vampire Killer.

I am playing the original PAL English version here, hence the framerate. The game was released in Japan in 1986 as "Akumajou Dracula," and its PAL-conversion, rebranded "Vampire Killer", went on sale in Europe the following year.

That's right, this is an official entry in the Castlevania series!

Vampire Killer was the first Castlevania ever released outside of Japan, and in landing on Japanese store shelves only about a month after the 1986 launch of the initial Famicom Disk System game, Vampire Killer holds the distinction of being the second game in the long-running series.

If you're not familiar with the game, you might be surprised at just how much Vampire Killer differs from its closest sibling, Castlevania for the NES. At first glance it looks a lot like the NES game: the graphics have more detail and the screen no longer scrolls, but everything immediately looks and feels comfortable and familiar.

At least, it does until you enter the "demon castle." The basic Castlevania platforming feel is here, but Vampire Hunter's gameplay structure is radically different. The MSX2 game is no longer a simple, linear action game, but rather it is an exploration-rooted adventure platformer. As much as Castlevania II: Simon's Quest gets credited for many of the baby steps that eventually lead to Symphony of the Night, Vampire Killer did the bulk of the heavy-lifting. Simon's Quest does still deserve the nod for the substantial bit of polishing it gave to many of those elements, though.

Like Castlevania, Vampire Killer features 18 distinct stages and it culminates in a showdown with Dracula himself. To complete a stage, Simon Belmont has to find a skeleton key in order to unlock the exit and move to the next area, but doing this is not usually a straightforward affair - each stage is a self-contained maze of rooms loaded with enemies, items, hidden chests, and a thoroughly excessive number of staircases. Keys need to be found in order to open chests that contain items that can temporarily power up Simon's abilities, in addition to an assortment of keys, hearts, and the occasionally dastardly "enemy-in-a-box." There are merchants in most stages, often hidden in breakable walls (as if they were some sort of lifebar-filling meat of dubious quality), and these haggard, block-dwelling ladies trade weapons and items for hearts. Oftentimes they'll also give you hearts if you insist on flaying their hides with your whip, which I found funny. And morbid.

The stages are large and the game relies a lot on trial-and-error to find required items, so it isn't a game that you'll breeze through in a weekend. In that respect, it reminds me more of Milon's Secret Castle than it does a Castlevania game, but I was fine with that. Just like Milon, this one keeps itself interesting enough to warrant the effort.

The one thing that really hurts Vampire Killer, though, is the difficulty level. You only get three lives to finish the entire game - no 1ups or continues - and the enemies are relentless. The game is totally beatable, but it's far harder than any other 2D Castlevania I've ever played. Even Simon's Quest with its notoriously cryptic puzzles was comparatively easy to finish. With some diligent note-taking and a lot of dedicated effort, you'll eventually be able to take down Drac, but it doesn't come without real effort. I sank upwards of two months worth of practice into this one before I was able to finish it.

But that's not a complaint. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Vampire Killer might be a bit too much of a slow-burn to engage many modern gamers, but if you dig "Nintendo-hard" games and can appreciate old-school platforming conventions and obtuse level design, you'll find quite a gem here. A very roughly cut one, but a gem nonetheless.

Oh, and since I referred to the NES games so many times, if you'd like to see the original Castlevania, you can find my playthough of it right here:    • Castlevania (NES) Playthrough - Ninte...  

And Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (my personal favorite Castlevania game!) is here:    • Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (NES) P...  
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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