Castlevania: Bloodlines, one of the Best Genesis games

I could’ve sworn that I’d already written a post for Castlevania: Bloodlines, but I apparently didn’t. This game was released on the Sega Genesis in 1994, exclusively for that console. In the mid 1990s, Konami started publishing games for the Genesis, and this is one of the better ones released for the console.

This is my favorite Castlevania game because it is the one I played in high school. I played it before trying Castlevania IV on the SNES, and while I like both games, I enjoy Bloodlines more. I really love the graphics, the gameplay is fun, and I like that you have two characters to play as.

This is one of the many games that I found while collecting games in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At that time, I really didn’t know what was out there. Finding this game was like uncovering a gem. Out of all my friends, I was the only one who really stuck with retro games when we all started collecting them.

There is quite a bit to this game, and I’ll try to keep this brief. It is one of the better games on the Sega Genesis, and it is great for October. I’m really interested in seeing what the critical reception was for this game. Let’s get into the game and see what it has to offer.

TLDR: Great graphics, wonderful gameplay, and one of the best games on the Genesis.

Memories of Castlevania: Bloodlines

Castlevania: Bloodlines is one of the many Genesis games that I stumbled across back in the late 1990s. I remember being really excited because I had no idea there was a Castlevania game on the system. It is the same reaction I had when I found Contra Hard Corps.

I remember seeing this game and being very excited. There was a degree of familiarity for me because I liked the three games on the NES. Once I started playing this game back then, it became one of my favorite games for the Genesis.

There really isn’t a way to recapture the feeling of discovering games like this for me. Nowadays, I can just look stuff up online, but back then I didn’t really have that. I could play ROMs on an emulator, but it was more fun to find something in a store and buy it for about 10 dollars. That feeling is pretty much gone for me.

It was so much fun to find a game like this. There are other versions of this game out there, and it was released in a collection a few years ago. It is one of the few good things that Konami has done in the last ten to fifteen years.

Narrative

Castlevania: Bloodlines has a pretty good plot. It isn’t all that different from other games in the series, but I do like it. It picks up with descendants of the Belmont family and ties the game into some historical events.

In 1897, Quincy Morris killed Dracula. Everything was fine until the outbreak of WWI. In 1914, Elizabeth Bartley sets the war in motion as part of a plan to revive Dracula. She allegedly did some kind of ritual to give her possession of human souls from Europe. It is a fun alternate history of what happened.

The game takes place in 1917; John Morris and Eric Lecarde team up to stop Dracula from being resurrected. The two of them crisscross Europe as they try to stop Dracula’s followers. In the end, they’re successful in defeating Dracula, unless you turned the game off.

It’s a pretty good story. I like that it doesn’t take place in the castle, and you get to see several locations. The story isn’t the most amazing thing in the world, but it is much better than some of the other games in the series. I also like how they tie it into the novel.

Gameplay

Castlevania: Bloodlines has great gameplay. I love that you have two characters that have their own paths through each level, and that the gameplay changes depending on which character you choose. It isn’t a long game, but it is a lot of fun to play through.

There are two playable characters in this game. You can play as either John Morris or Eric Lecarde. They have unique moves which allow for different paths through the game. It is a cool idea, and I wish they did more with it. John uses a whip, and Eric uses a spear. The levels aren’t all that complicated, but they work well for what they are.

The power-ups, secondary weapons, and health items are pretty much the same. Konami didn’t rock the boat too much with this game. It feels like playing through an improved version of the NES games.

The enemies and bosses are all pretty great. It is easy to see the patterns that each boss has. There are a few ways to deal with the enemies, which is one of the things that you can say about each game in the series.

A password system is used to save your progress. This is pretty standard for games like this from the early to mid 1990s. It also means you can find the passwords online, just in case you want to skip a level.

This is my favorite game in the series. It isn’t as good as the SNES game, but I like it a lot more. The controls are solid, the gameplay is great, and I love that there are two playable characters in the game. It also has a bunch of things in it that are improvements over the NES games.

Visuals

Castlevania: Bloodlines looks very good! The levels look great, enemy and character sprites are great looking, and there are some very cool visuals in this game. Everything looks pretty creepy, and this game does look like it pushes what the Genesis can do.

The boss characters look great! They show off what the Genesis can do and have unique looks. Some of the animations don’t look as good as they could, and there is a bit of slowdown at times.

There are spots in this game that look superb. This game really shows what the Genesis was still capable of doing in the mid 1990s. Konami really knew what they were doing here.

The stages look very good. There are two paths through the stages, which is pretty cool. The backgrounds don’t always look great, but the foregrounds are pretty good. There are also little things that are awesome.

Overall, the graphics are very good. It isn’t on par with the SNES game, but it is fairly close from time to time. When this game was released, the Genesis was showing its age. Games like Castlevania: Bloodlines stand out because they really show that the developers really knew how to get the most out of what the console had to offer.

Reviews for Castlevania: Bloodlines at the Time

Castlevania: Bloodlines received good to great reviews. The scores were between 7 and 9/10. I didn’t find a review from this time that didn’t like the game. I’ll be taking a closer look at four publications for this section.

EGM had four people review the game. The scores were three 8s and a 9/10. Each of them praised the graphics and the gameplay. Some of them thought it was the best looking game on the Genesis.

Mean Machines gave the game a 90/100. They had three people review the game, and each of them loved it. While there wasn’t anything new, they thought it was “head and shoulders” better than other games on the Genesis.

Mega UK gave the game an 82/100. It is a confusing review to read, as the score doesn’t seem to reflect what they say all the time. The quote from one of the reviewers said: “Could quite easily be dismissed as crap when first played, but persist, and your efforts will be amply rewarded.”

Mega Tech gave the game an 83/100. Two people gave their opinions on this game, which is always nice to see in one of these old magazines. They liked that there were two playable characters with different paths through the game.

Every one of the reviews I looked at sounded like they liked the game. Some of them sounded a little backhanded, like they wanted to trash the game but couldn’t find a reason to do so. It might just be that I haven’t read too many of the UK magazines. The style that they use for their reviews leaves me a little confused at times.

9/10. Castlevania: Bloodlines isn’t the best game in the series, but it is a great game. The graphics and gameplay are great, and I love that you have two playable characters. This is one of the best games on the Sega Genesis.

Pros

• Great graphics
• Two playable characters
• Fun story
• Solid gameplay

Cons

• Short
• Not as good as Castlevania IV

Conclusion

Going back to play this game was great. Castlevania: Bloodlines is one of my favorite games on the Sega Genesis. Ever since I found the game in my local video game store, I’ve really enjoyed it. If I had played Castlevania IV first, I probably would’ve liked that one more.

This is a bit of an oddity in the Castlevania series. It was followed up on in one of the games in the 2000s, I think. I’ve got a few of the handheld games, but I don’t remember much about them. They are in the same style as Symphony of the Night.

There are a bunch of games like this that I haven’t written up as blog posts yet. When I first started making YouTube videos, I didn’t save the notes I took on them, and I didn’t have a blog. So, I’ll have to write up a few more of them. It gives me a nice excuse to revisit some of the games that I haven’t played in a while.

Writing about this game reminded me of a few of the modern games that I haven’t played recently. At some point, I’ll have to get back to those games. Most of those games are a lot of fun, and they remind me of the Castlevania games that I enjoy.

If you liked this post, check out some of my others on the Castlevania games. Such as Castlevania Chronicles or Simon’s Quest.