After what seemed like a long layoff following Super Castlevania IV, Konami shipped its franchise over to the Sega Genesis for a short visit. To the average consumer--the type who played associated Castlevania with Nintendo platforms--t seemed as though the series went on hiatus. In reality, it hadn't. What did happen is that Konami began displaying adventurous behavior as it saw the industry rapidly expanding; the company adopted a new philosophy for developing, a hot-potato approach to supplying any new hardware with its famous trademarks regardless of the conventional wisdom that spoke of guaranteed success on Nintendo systems.

Certainly I wasn't happy about it. I wondered why Konami was so interested in bringing an exclusive title to the Sega Genesis when the company had so much success on the SNES with Super Castlevania IV. Sure--it made a bit more sense when I learned of Konami's exploits on the X68000 computer system and the PC-Engine--learned that the company was branching out--but still I long questioned the wisdom in doing so. That's how it was since 1994, when I first saw the Bloodlines commercial; I didn't understand what Konami was doing. "Are they trying to give the finger to their loyal customers?" I wondered in my anger. This approach to multi-console game-making was frustrating to me because it demanded that I spend hundreds of dollars if I wanted to keep up with one of my favorite series--that I buy another console! "I mean, who wants to buy a whole new system just to play one game?" I'd think to myself. "That's a nice way to screw over your fanbase."

But life went on, and new systems debuted. And there was Konami making Castlevania games for them.

That's the story with Castlevania: Bloodlines, which is perhaps the most popular result of the company's audacious efforts. Here we have a game that carries out this bold vision but does so with a back-to-its-roots flare. In selling itself to a new audience, Bloodlines presents a formulaic entry that ditches the fanciness of its 16-bit rivals and hearkens back to the more-simple NES games with its straightforward action. Its tale is one of good versus evil is placed, and most surprisingly it's set in a more-modern time-period. As the game tells us: Dracula's long-dead niece, the countess Elizabeth Bartley, has been unintentionally resurrected by a practicing black-magic-user. Now reoccupying the world she once hated, Bartley has every intention of in turn raising her uncle from his grave, looking for him to assist in her world-conquering scheme. Upon learning about the basics of this plot, John Morris and Eric Lecarde--worthy hunters born into families related to the Belmonts by blood--hurry to the dilapidated Castlevania in order to prevent the plan's enactment. The game's manual lets us in on the most intriguing detail: It turns out that Konami took a big step and decided to blend together the universes of Castlevania and the novel Bram Stoker's Dracula and therein enrich the former's universe. Bloodlines uses Stoker's tale as its driving force while relying on working formulas to comprise and execute what is purely classic gameplay.

Bloodlines is a one-player game, though you have the option to play as one of two playable characters. In either case, you must guide your hero through six stages and meet whatever final challenges lie ahead. Our main hero is John Morris, the typical whip-wielding Belmont warrior. He commands the famed Vampire Killer whip, which can be powered up two levels by collecting coat-of-arms symbols--the first transforms it into a chain whip, and the second expands it into the Morning Star whip; additionally, it can be powered up to a third level by collecting a magic book or a special coat-of-arms symbol, both of which will afford it flame power; if you take any damage thereafter, the whip will regress to Morning Star for. John can swing the whip, no matter its form, left and right while grounded, and he while airborne he can swing it diagonally up and straight down. Also, John has a special ability: He can use the whip to latch onto ceilings or platform bottoms and swing across and over long gaps ala Indiana Jones; these one-way swings act as flying kicks whose force damages enemies and protects John from damage during the act.

Somewhat disappointing is that there are only three traditional sub-weapons available to him: the axe, the holy water and a more traditional-looking, differently functioning boomerang. However, there is a consolation; when he grabs one of the aforementioned special coat-of-arms, he also gains possession of an exclusive fourth weapon: a magic crystal that holds great destructive power; the flames it unleashes home in on and devour all onscreen enemies! Keep in mind that these attacks consume a larger quantity of gems.

Axes and boomerangs can be used to great effect, since they cover so much ground, but holy water takes a hit; it has neither the engulfing power from games past or any dependable damage-infliction. Sub-weapons are tossed or unleashed with a press of the C button.

Then there's Eric Lecarde: The Spaniard who commands the lengthy Alcarde Spear, which can be powered up twice via the collection of coat-of-arms symbols--the first replaces its normal tip with an axehead attachment, and the second replaces the axehead with a trident tip; he, too, can collect a magic book or a special coat-of-arms symbol to afford the weapon a flame attribute. While standing in place, Eric can stab the spear left and right and thrust it straight upward, and while airborne he can thrust it straight down. Additionally, a stationary Eric can rapidly twirl the spear from right to left and vice-versa for an attack that isn't quite as damaging as normal stabs and thrust but is otherwise effective at clearing space when packs of smaller, weaker enemies are accosting him from either side. His special move is a super jump that allows him to charge up and spring up into the air--at almost a screen's length--and reach normally inaccessible platforms; this super-jump technique doubles as an attack--a sort-of mule kick that in addition protects him from enemy contact while it's being executed. Mainly, though, this maneuver allows him to access certain locations that John can't. Likewise, John's swinging technique allows him to reach places that the vertically inclined Eric can't.

Eric commands the previously discussed trio of sub-weapons, but he, too, can also earn a fourth via the collection of a special coat-of-arms symbol. This special spearhead accessory allows him to spew large, circular flames in all directions and overwhelm all onscreen enemies.

It's up to you to choose which hero best suits your play-style.

In terms of magical items, Bloodlines doesn't stray too far from the formula, but, like Castlevania: The Adventure, it tries to shake things up by simply changing the look of certain items. Still, it's all very familiar: Big and small jewels replace the hearts as the fuel for sub-weapons, black crystals replace invisibility potions, and mirrors replace room-clearing rosaries. The rest haven't changed: Money bags increase your point-total and count toward earning extra lives, pot roasts replenish health, and the difficult-to-procure 1up symbols increase your life-stock.

However, Bloodlines does offer some true convention in this area: Most interesting is that Konami takes some of the mystery out of candelabra-whipping by using visual distinction to class these item-awarding objects into two classes: dual-candle candelabras, which drop normal items, and single candles, which drop sub-weapons. Now you can whip away without having to worry about losing your precious axe or boomerang! Strangely, you can recollect sub-weapons you already possess whereas previous games would award hearts for whipping objects that held such items. It's one of Bloodlines' little oddities.

Also, as you can in Rondo of Blood, you can execute special sub-weapon barrages--item-crash-like attacks--by simultaneously pressing up and the C button. If you do so, John or Eric will toss multiple sub-weapons in a given direction and as a result inflict greater damage on enemies. They're not quite as destructive as Richter's item-crashes, no, but still they serve as highly effective long-range attacks; you'll be challenged to use them sparingly.

Of greater importance, Bloodlines improves upon Rondo's stair-climbing mechanics. The heroes can jump onto and off of stairs, as could Rondo's, but they can do so much more fluidly, their movement almost never interrupted. This is done by having stairs act as solid platforms as opposed to interactive elements onto which you have to lock. The result is that stair-climbing no longer slows the action in any way; thus, Bloodlines has effectively tackles what was a big issue in the previous installments.

Bloodlines' scope is much larger than previous entries': Its six stages are spread out over the entire globe, from Castlevania in Romania to the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy to other surprising stops. Along the way, you wind up traveling to five different countries! This allows for the designers to introduce all kinds of interesting, unique decor--the type that the single-country-focused games frankly couldn't have. Though, this is all a cosmetic change, and it works out that Bloodlines' action, as stated, is kind of standard. There are no Dracula's Curse-style alternate routes here, and split paths are limited to but a few. It's mostly straightforward to the destination, reaching which requires the conquering of six particularly lengthy (sometimes excessively so) stages, all of which entail many do-or-die challenges and anywhere from one-three mid-bosses. That's not bad news, because the game is engaging; however, it's a problem because you're only supplied three lives and three continues. That's how the game derives its challenge, so you have to be cautious in your decision-making, since there isn't much room for error. Early on, you should get used to seeing those opening stages.

Even within its constrictions, Bloodlines has fun with the formula. At least once a stage, it attempts to wow and impress you. This results in some memorable moments. You'll forever remember the instance where you climb up the spinal column of a long-deceased dragon as it crumbles to pieces. Where you raced against floods. Where you maneuvered under spinning bladed gears by crouching under their semicircular missing sections. Where you attempted to traverse upon an out-of-control spiraling staircase. Where you walked on ceilings and navigated through rooms wherein the display was warped to make portions of the screen separate from each other and move independently, which made you wonder if your Genesis was broken. And where you negotiated around all other types of moving and rotating platforms. Sure--there's nothing here quite as exhilarating as Super Castlevania IV's twisting and turning rooms, but it still Bloodlines, you'll find, has plenty of standout moments.

I don't regard Bloodlines as being as technically or as visually impressive as either Super Castlevania IV or Rondo, but still it's no slouch the graphical department; from my experience, it's one of the best-looking games on the Genesis. It moves a solid frame rate and almost never slows down (unlike Super Castlevania IV)--not even when it's in the process of pulling off its best visual tricks, like when the head of a giant statue breaks off and falls sideways to the ground. The characters are big and colorful, very expressive, and well-animated, the heroes and villains moving about the stages in at a fluid, almost-gliding pace. The game is somewhat-flat-feeling--mostly because it lacks for multiple-layer backgrounds or those that scroll and/or animate--but still filled with interesting visual touches. I recall the giant skeletal structures that populate Castlevania's backdrop, the Leaning Tower of Pisa's slanted brickwork, the clock tower's complex gearwork, and the cool lighting effects seen in the falling-chandelier area of the Versailles Palace. They're what provides Bloodlines' its distinct feel and sense of atmosphere.

What also helps is the photoesque nature of the background work. This is where Bloodlines shines the brightest: Its backgrounds may lack for scrolling, but those static renderings are beautifully drawn and will wholly absorb you if you stop and gaze at them. I'm talking about Atlantis Shrines' sunken temples and its crashed cruiser; France's buildings; the Munitions Factory's distant castles; England's city as seen from Proserpina's bridge; and many others. Whenever I play Bloodlines, I look forward to seeing them; they're a big part of what it makes it a worthwhile experience.

The falling statue head aside, Bloodlines doesn't quite measure up to its rivals in terms of how it uses special effects. The way the water undulates and reflects the action in Atlantis' opening portion always looked weird to me, as if the water had no surface definition and was merely an obscuring rectangle (others seem to be really impressed by it). And screen-splitting effect in Proserpina's first room, while interesting, is just plain bizarre; a good effect should never make you feel as though your game is glitching out. The spinning tower top and the giant characters' independently moving limbs are impressive and all, but still--if we're talking about rotation and scaling, Super Castlevania IV, Rondo of Blood and even the X68000 game scoff in its general direction.

There's a whole slew of enemies, both old and new, and they're all large and distinctly rendered. Bloodlines' assortment skews more toward cartoony-looking, yes, but their being presented in this manner doesn't undercut the series' serious tone; the style winds up working well because the characters are able to bear mean expressions and exhibit personality as they move about in interesting ways. They represent one of the game's most fun and inventive elements: You'll see swinging monkey skeletons, knights on wheels, barrel-inhabiting helmeted skeletons, feisty plantlife, and minotaurs that rip apart structures and pound you with whatever they can find. Only Bloodlines can get away with this stuff.

Bosses tend to be massive, and they invite you to engage with them in unique ways. It's not like in Super Castlevania IV, where you could initiate a slugfest and simply outlast a boss; here you have to pick your spots--locate a weak point and pay attention to what's going on in the surrounding environment--use it to your advantage if you can. Bloodlines' boss battles are creative and often fun.

It's also impressive how Bloodlines' musical score manages to transcend its platform. It features a couple of standout themes--like Sinking Old Sanctuary, Reincarnated Soul and an invigorating rendition of Theme of Simon--and a lot of really good ones. I wouldn't place its soundtrack in the highest tier with those like Super Castlevania IV's or Rondo's, no, but I'd still afford it high standing. Though, I can't gush over its sound design, overall, because certain aspects of its sound design are hindered by the Genesis' awful sound hardware. At times, the music can sound screechy, overly metallic, and a little high-pitched, but to me that's not a big deal; the compositions are strong enough to where they can brush it off. Instead it's the sound effects that wind up taking a big hit, theirs an unfortunately hampered quality. Gone are the sweet, viscerally appealing sounds of exploding bones when skeletons are destroyed, of rattling bone bushels, of enemies screaming as they're engulfed by flames, or any of the wailing or shattering sounds you'd expect to hear. Rather, the heroes' movements and attacks are communicated via "plip"s and "plop"s, and enemies are discarded to the sound of "blubblub" and "rewrew." It's all very subdued and mundane. Really, characters come to express themselves in a way that instead sounds more like something directly out of the original Pac Man (see: ravens). Oh well.

It's in Bloodlines where Konami finds an acceptable compromise between the unfair-for-the-enemies control scheme of Super Castlevania IV and all of the rest. John and Eric, as previously mentioned, have directional attacks, yes, but only diagonally up and upward (John is limited to diagonal); this provides them the means for battling enemies from all angles without being able to overwhelm them. Otherwise, Bloodlines's controls allow for smooth-moving action. The heroes have a certain zip to their step--their momentum always carrying them forward, rarely with pause--and their ability to quickly and easily jump onto and off of stairs keeps the action moving a swift, brisk pace. The characters can easily jump onto and off of stairways, which, while it doesn't completely eliminate the conflict between climbing and the use of sub-weapons (you still have to push up plus C button to use the special sub-weapon attacks), really speeds up the game--you simply don't spend enough time on stairways for problems to consistently develop. Not being able to fully control your jumps, which forces you to commit to the action, does feel like a regression, but at least the sprite-detection is favorable, which is to say that you'll clear certain distances even though it'll seem like you should have missed the mark.

Still, you can't simply plow through Bloodlines, because, really, it's one of the series' more challenging games. It carries that distinction because (a) its stages are so very long, (b) there can be four or more bosses per stage, (c) as the game progresses, it becomes more and more stingy with the health replenishment, and (c) you only have three continues. And like other difficult series games, it has its rough spots--those single tricky areas where you may very well lose all of your lives in clumps (monkey skeletons, anyone?). Hell--its final stage pits you against six bosses in a row right before Dracula and offers no conventional healing items. You only lose small amounts of health no matter how deep you are into the game, but still--it can be tough to hold out. There's no mercy. You use up all of your continues and you're restarting from Stage 1. And if you think you think passwords nullify the issue, forget it: The game remembers how many lives and continues you had when you started a stage. Hey--at least there are generous checkpoints from which you can continue (usually the screen on which you Game Overed), right?

Truthfully, I wasn't much of a fan of Bloodlines in the first few years I was around it (as the original version of this review expressed). I saw it as uninspired, overly formulaic, and a big step down from Super Castlevania IV, which I felt promoted the idea that a series sequel should endeavor to trump its predecessors in terms of controls and technical achievement. But as years have gone on, it's grown on me more and more. I've found myself returning to it constantly and having a blast each time I play through it. It's helped me to see why simple is sometimes better and why the series' platform-hopping wasn't a bad thing--how these different platforms could produce wonderfully unique interpretations of Castlevania.

Bloodlines is one of the best products of such experimentation. It provides classic Castlevania action and does so while being creative, visually distinct, and, most importantly, a whole lot of fun. For that, I award it four-and-a-half Medusa Heads.

		Not as visually rich as its 16-bit brethren but has some terrific static backgrounds
		Fast-moving action, creative level design, and unique boss fights make for a fun romp
		Up against limitations, the composer did a great job. Though, sound effects are weak.
		Stair-jumping and flowing character movement make for a fast, smooth pace
		Long stages and mid-boss onslaughts are a constant theme, and continues are scarce