In the 16-bit era just about every major home console got their own Castlevania game. The fourth iteration launched on the Super Nintendo and completely re-defined many of the franchise conventions. This was followed up with a more traditional effort on the PC-Engine CD, but in Japan only. Finally we have Castlevania: Bloodlines which in my opinion is the outcast of the bunch. Konami clearly liked the fast and furious motif of the Sega Genesis hardware and tried to bring that convention into the Sega exclusive installment of their revered franchise. This does Castlevania no favors in my opinion. Read on to find out why this is one of my least favorite Konami sequels.
It’s clear right from the beginning that Castlevania: Bloodlines is different from any other game in the franchise. For starters, it has two characters to choose from at the onset but neither one is a Belmont. You have the more traditional whip wielding protagonist John Morris as well as the more limber spear swinging Eric Lecarde. In addition, Bloodlines has a more modern setting than the other installments in the franchise. It takes place after the first World War, and rather than being confined to just Transylvania it’s a tour of Europe. You’ll fight off against the undead in France, England, etc. The plot is pretty typical however with Dracula’s revival soon at hand, but this time it’s being orchestrated by a dark countess named Elizabeth Bartley. The two heroes have to team up to take her down and eventually face off against her (and you guessed it, Dracula).
Castlevania: Bloodlines is steeped in classic franchise elements. It’s a side scrolling action platformer wherein you make your way in a linear fashion through a series of stages each of which has a boss character waiting at the end. Each character can walk, jump, go up/down stairs, strike with their primary weapon, and also use a projectile based secondary attack. The latter of these is limited in the number of items you’ve collected and so it’s best to save them for the trickier encounters along the way. Unfortunately the classic knock back damage is in place, and Bloodlines is very unforgiving with its platforming. Your characters here are more limber than the Belmonts were on 8-bit hardware, but moving around is still more clunky than it should be. I shouldn’t die because the game wants me to use stairs in specific places but not others.
The sub weapons here are very, very typical for the series. You have your throwing axe, holy water, boomerang, an explosion causing amulet, and a few more. There’s nothing new in this regard, but they’re all as functional as they’ve ever been so it’s hard to knock it. The enemy types on the other hand have gone way downhill from pretty much any other installment. I always loved that Castlevania featured sort of a ‘greatest hits’ line-up of horror icons. It starts off strong enough with monsters like zombies, aquatic fish men, mummies, etc but things quickly go downhill. Pretty soon you’re in factories fending off various types of robots and random faces in the wall. I’m not saying that the ideas are bad. They just are not good for a Castlevania game.
I found the stage designs to be quite a let down as well. Taking notes from the ‘fast motif’ of the Sega Genesis library Konami incorporated some forced scrolling areas in Bloodlines. This does not work in any way shape or form with the foundation of this franchise. You have clunky controls and movement, and to speed up this slow and meticulous game just doesn’t work as it was intended. I quickly started to dread whenever the screen was scrolling on its own because I knew it meant I was going to have more than a few accidental deaths related to the clunky controls. You also still have knock-back damage which is unacceptable at this point.
Castlevania: Bloodlines has a few pretty major offenses that hold it back in my opinion. First of all it disregards pretty much everything Super Castlevania IV brought to the table. You can no longer swing your whip around. That might seem like a small issue, but it added several layers of depth to the previous iteration. The fact that it’s missing feels like several steps backwards for Bloodlines. Also, the stage designs in general are a clear downgrade. In terms of complexity and cleverness they’re somewhere in between the original game and part four. Considering Castlevania: Bloodlines was released in 1994 this is kind of unacceptable if you ask me.
Graphically Bloodlines is pretty neat if you ask me. It’s extremely colorful which is uncharacteristic for a Sega Genesis game. The character models are smaller than they were in part four which is actually welcome because they were too big there. The backgrounds and enemy designs are kind of a mixed bag. You have some of the most beautiful landscapes in the 16-bit era here. The rising and falling water currents with the reflections looks amazing. I also really love the full moon in the background of Dracula’s castle. For every area like this however, we have two or three that are simple factories devoid of any character or personality. The same goes for the enemies. I don’t think robots are a great choice for foe in Castlevania.
The soundtrack is pretty good. Initially I was worried about screeching and robot farts (a common problem in Sega Genesis games) but it all sounds really good here. It even fits the franchise extremely well. The music here sounds like that of a typical Castlevania game, but with higher pitched bleeps and blips as per the Sega Genesis audio hardware. The controls are about as good as they can be considering how clunky the game is. I do like that you can strike your weapon up, down, and diagonally instead of just in front of your chosen character. There’s even a charge up jump but the game doesn’t properly explain this mechanic and I stumbled upon it by chance.
Castlevania: Bloodlines is a decent game. It’s only poor when you have the rest of the franchise as a vantage point. This sequel is worse than both Rondo of Blood and Super Castlevania IV rendering it as the ‘other’ 16-bit installment. There’s a reason this is considered the forgotten Castlevania game, and I think it’s warranted personally. That’s not to say you should skip Bloodlines. You shouldn’t, but keep expectations in check because this one is a bit overrated.
