Castlevania: Dracula X, a game that has long eluded me. For
years I waited for the inevitable “good deal” or “fair price” that I was bound
to find. I knew it was extremely unlikely that I would find the game in the
wild, and even if I did it would probably be over-priced in a retail store. But
there is always craigslist, ebay, and other online avenues to take. I’ve
probably never sought a game as hard as I have Dracula X. Some games come and
go and come and go cyclically through my “gotta find it” mindset, but Dracula X
has been at the forefront for years now. I never lost focus on it, never gave
up. A few times I almost pulled the trigger on ebay, but I have a hard time
paying $100+ for any game. To this day, I’ve yet to spend anything close to
that. I kept kicking myself for not pouncing on Dracula X back in December 2012
when the game inexplicably dropped down to the $90 range. It was dropping in
price after all these years…it’s bound to keep dropping, right. Fast forward to
present day and it’s never been so expensive, consistently averaging above $150
for copies in halfway decent shape. So what’s a Castlevania nut(who doesn’t
emulate) to do?
For some time now I have been reading about all the great
games that were released in Japan, but never made it to North America. The NES,
SNES, N64, Saturn, DreamCast, among various others, all had some killer looking
games that never made it stateside. So I began to explore importing, looking
into what systems were region-free, what it took to mode N.A. consoles, and so
on. Since I am not at all handy or knowledgeable with electronics, region-free
or options like the Action Replay for Saturn seemed the best route for me.
Then I read something about the good ol’ SNES, a system
that, despite having an amazing library had an even deeper roster of games in
Japan. The SNES can be “modded” by removing two plastic tabs inside the
cartridge port. That’s it!?! That’s the region lockout? That’s so simple…I
could do it. And that’s exactly what I did. Now here’s the rub: many Super Famicom games are
significantly cheaper than their SNES versions!
Even though I’ve only dipped my toe into the Super Famicom
pool, each time has been well worth the effort. First up was Macross: Scrambled
Valkyrie. A Japan-only shmup that may just be my favorite shmup of all time. It
really blew me away that much. I’ve written a text review of it here, on
Gamefaqs, and made it the subject of my
very first video review on Youtube. Next up was R-Type III, a game that has
gotten progressively more expensive the last few years in North America. A
little patience and shopping around on ebay and I got the Super Famicom version
for
So did it live up to the hype? Well, first of all the hype
was just in my head and I knew that. I’ve read plenty about it through the
years and knew it didn’t meet the excellence of others in the series,
particularly my personal favorite: Super Castlevania IV. But I’m not one of
those people that thinks every sequel HAS to be better than the last game. A
good game is a good game and good games are what I like. So in that sense, yes
it did live up to the hype. I was able to finish it within a few hours and
enjoyed the heck out of it.
It’s always a somewhat surreal experience when you finally
get to play a game you’ve waited years to play. We all have experienced that at
some point, especially with modern games that we often have to wait a good 2
years to see release after it is first revealed. But there is something
different when you play a really old game for the first time, one that you’ve
wanted for years. When this is the case, you won’t be playing a game that is
pushing the envelope with it’s tech. Nor will you be playing a game that is
using all of the latest trends, aping motion pictures, and is turning itself
inside out in order to be “cool” or “edgy” or, heaven forbid, “gritty”. Not
that older games were immune to that sort of silliness, but they certainly
didn’t seem hell-bent on proving just how damn cool they are and everyone, by
gum, is gonna know it. Often, they are just games. Simpler, less self-aware,
and existing only as a gaming experience.
So it was actually pretty strange to play Dracula X. It felt
great seeing the game boot up. It felt exciting to press start, see the
mini-intro, and think “here it comes”. Then the actual playing began. At first,
I began to familiarize myself with the controls, then the feeling set it: “I’m
actually playing it”. It’s that weird feeling you get when something you have
visualized and fantasized about so many times for so long finally goes from
being a thought in your mind to a reality you are experiencing. Not that they
are the same thing, or even totally relatable, but it’s somewhat like when you
actually have your first kiss, or take your first step on that vacation you’ve
been waiting all year for. You’re almost outside yourself, watching yourself
like some out of body experience. How strange. It really reminds me of being a
kid again, back before your imagination was blunted and watered down to
nothingness. Do you remember that? When playing could excite your mind and senses so much, it’s like you were
in another world? I remember that feeling so well. And to wrap up this aimless,
stream of consciousness, here is a quote from the one man who has probably
gifted me with that feeling more than anyone else.
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