Vampire Killer (MSX)

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Description

You are young Simon, who has just entered Dracula's Satanic Castle. The world of Dransylvania is in trouble, and you are the one to set it right. You have to fight your way through 18 stages of demons to where Dracula is hiding. Once you have destroyed Dracula, the evil force behind all the trouble will show up, attempting to destroy you! Destroy this menace, and Dransylvania will return to it's happy days after a wait of hundreds of years.

Vampire Killer follows the same plot as Castlevania, but with a different gameplay. At each stage, Simon has to find a white key to open the exit door which leads to the next stage. The keys are usually hidden in the castle's walls, in which he will also find useful items. Items can also be found by whipping candles and other sources of light inside the castle.

Among the items which can be found are:

• Gold Cross: wipes out all enemies;
• Silver Cross: prevent enemies from appearing for a short time;
• Sapphire Ring: renders Simon invincible for a short time;
• Blue Crystal: renders Simon invisible for a short time;
• Yellow Key: is used to open chests containing items;
• Candle: highlights destructible walls;
• Map: can be used up to three times and shows Simon location n the castle;
• Red Book: increases item's prices;
• White Book: decreases item's prices
• Tan Shield: blocks enemy attacks;
• Red Shield: reduces damage upon enemy contact;
• Boots: make Simon walk faster;
• Wings: make Simon jump higher;
• Holy Water: a secondary weapon, which uses hearts as ammunition;
• Hourglass: stops enemy movement for a short time, consuming hearts.

Hearts are both a kind of ammunition and currency in the game. They can be found by whipping candles or killing enemies. They are used for buying items from the Old Crone and as ammo for the Holy Water and the Hourglass.

Simon can also find several primary weapons in the game, such as whip upgrades, a throwing dagger, an axe and a cross. Differently from Castlevania, the dagger, axe and cross replace the whip and do not use hearts as ammo.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "悪魔城ドラキュラ" -- Japanese spelling
• "Akumajō Dracula" -- Japanese title

Part of the Following Groups

• Castlevania / Akumajō Dracula series
• Fictional character: Count Dracula
• Theme: Vampires

User Reviews

A classic game that should have been ported to other systems rather than its predecessor	Katakis | カタキス (42793)
A Konami classic for MSX2 computers!	Gustavo Henrique dos Santos (113)

Critic Reviews

Press Play On Tape	Dec 14, 2020		100
Tilt	Jun, 1987	17 out of 20	85
Pixel-Heroes.de	Sep, 2007	8 out of 10	80
HonestGamers (Staff reviews only)	Oct 25, 2010	7 out of 10	70
The Games Machine (UK)	Dec, 1987	69 out of 100	69

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Trivia

Bilingual rom cartridge

As Konami is an international company with world-wide sales with it's roots in Japan, Konami needed to produce two versions of their programs, one for the Japanese market and an English version for the rest of the world. For some games Konami decided not to produce two different language versions of a rom game, no the put both language versions in one rom cartridge. This was a possibility because the MSX computer BIOS rom contains a land code. Using that code as identifier the game showed the English or Japanese version. This can easily checked when using an MSX emulator. Run that emulator with Japanese or English system roms and the Japanese or English version of the game will automatically run. Vampire Killer is one of those bilingual roms.