English
Akumajō Dracula is a game based on Castlevania, with a completely new engine designed to take advantage of the Sharp X68000 hardware. The entire game is completely updated, including familiar stages that have been redesigned, as well as brand new stages altogether. It contains all of the special items and sub-weapons from the original game, as well as an exclusive rare item known as the laurel, which refills six health blocks for 10 hearts. This game is also notable for its high difficulty level.
Like the original Castlevania game, hidden items worth points and hidden 1-ups will appear throughout the game if the player ducks or stands in particular portions of a level.[6] Another notable feature is the multiple loops after the game is completed. Previous Castlevania games had increased difficulty for the game's second playthrough. An increased amount of damage taken from enemies in earlier levels as well as new enemy placement and attack patterns were just a few things to make the second playthrough more difficult. This game, however, has as many as six additional playthroughs with each one becoming much more difficult than the last. There are even cases of special Easter eggs; on the sixth playthrough on stage 18 (block 6-3), a cartoon image of Simon will appear in a set of mirrors smoking a cigarette accompanied by Japanese text in one of the background areas saying "Here's Fake Simon!".