Vampire Killer Manual

The back of the box...

Dracula’s Satanic Castle

The Devil lives again - reborn as Dracula! Thrills and suspense in a great adventure. You’ll never get to sleep tonight!

Dracula is back again. The setting is an ancient castle in the tiny European kingdom of Dransylvania [no, that isn’t a misprint]. Devils and demons are on the rampage. Young Simon Belmont stands alone against the forces of darkness threatening the once peaceful kingdom of Dransylvania. Armed with only the mysterious whip bequeathed to him by his father, he heads for the Satanic Castle!

Be sure to turn off the main power when loading or unloading the cartridge.

(in French)

Dcacula est de retour. L’action se deroule dans un vieux chateau du petit royaume European de Dransylvanie. Les esprits du mal et les demons sont dechaines. Le jeune Simon Belmont se trouve seul contre les forces des tenebres qui menacent ce petit royaume paisible de Dransylvanie. Arme uniquement du mysterieux fouet herite de son pere, il se dirige vers le chateau satanique.

(German...)

Drakula ist wieder da. Die Kulisse bildet ein altes Schloss in dem kleinen europaischen Konigreich Dransylvania, wo Teufel und Damonen ihr Unwesen treiben. Der junge Simon Belmont ist altein im Kampf gegen die Krafte des Bosen, die das einstmals friedliche Dransylvania bedrohen. Einzig ausergrustet mit einer geheimnisvollen Peitsche, die ihm sein Vater hinterliess, macht er sich auf den Weg zum Schloss des Satans!

(and in Spanish!)

Ha vuelto Dracula. La escena se desarrolla en un antiguo castillo del pequeno reino europeo de Transilvania. Teniendo como unica arma el latigo misterioso que heredo de su padre, se dirige hacia el Castillo Satanico.

The Manual itself. I have scribed only the English portion of the manual as it the whole thing is in four languages and I assume they all say pretty much the same thing. I have not retained page layout, but have just copied everything.

1. How to play.

1. This game is designed for a single player competing against the computer.
2. The action can be controlled either with a joystick or from the keyboard.
3. Press the Shot Button on the joystick or the Space Bar to start the game.
4. Evil creatures will keep appearing in your path. Destroy these one after another as fast as you can. During each stage of the game, you will find a key to a door. Take this key, go to the door, and the door will open automatically so you can progress onto the next stage of the game.
5. When you begin the game your only weapon is the magic whip. But hidden here and there in the castle are other weapons and instruments that you can use to increase your powers against evil. Find these and use them well.
6. You control the actions of young Simon. You start the game with three “Simons”. If the demons hurt Simon, he begins to lose power. When his power drops to zero, Simon is out of the game.
7. There are a total of 18 stages in Dracula’s Satanic Castle. Every three stages is a Chamber of Evil. Here are found awful creatures with terrible black powers.
8. If you make it to the very top of the castle tower and destroy Dracula, suddenly the invisible force behind all the demons and devils you have confronted so far will reveal itself. Now you are in real trouble! But, if you can manage to destroy this evil superbeing, you can bring Dransylvania back out of the evil to real peace at last after these many hundreds of years! This brings the game to a happy ending!
9. To stop the action momentarily, press the (F-1) key. This will freeze the screen. Pressing the (F-1) key again will restart the game.

Screen Display

1. Your Score
2. Stage number
3. Number of "hearts"
4. Number of remaining "Simons"
5. Simon’s power level
6. Power level of head demon in the Chamber of Evil
7. Shows the weapons available
8. Yellow key indicator (shows when you have found the key to the door)
9. White key indicator (shows when you have found the key to the door)
   (To 13. These indicators light up for a few seconds to show that you have found a secret weapon.)
10. Holy water
11. Shield
12. Hourglass
13. Map
14. Field of Action

2. Controls

Most of the actions of Simon can be controlled either with a joystick or from the keyboard of your computer. However, certain of the secret weapons can be controlled only from the keyboard.

2. Attack techniques

1. Attacking the enemy with traditional weapons.
2. You can choose any of the weapons listed below, using only one weapon at a time.
3. Use may be implemented by joystick firebutton or keyboard.

1. Wipes out all enemies.
2. Prevents enemies appearing.
3. Smash the enemy while holding this.
4. Renders you invisible.
5. Inflicts considerable damage.
6. Stops enemy movement.

These weapons need to be found in various locations – some hiding places are a test of your ingenuity!

There are other keys to your success in the adventure you are about to undertake...

How to Get the Secret Weapons

1. There are four ways to get secret weapons:

1. Smash a candle holder, but be careful – these are not always what they seem...
2. Destroy an enemy demon.
3. Open a treasure chest – but first you need a yellow key.
4. Get weapons from the Old Crone – she has access to weapons at certain times.

Other Weapons can Achieve the Following:

Using the Map

1. If you get the Map, you can use it to display the layout of the stage you are in.
2. You can display the stage layout at any time during the game by pressing the (F2) key. Pressing the (F2) a second time will take you back to the action.
3. You can display the map a maximum of three times, then it will disappear.

Stages

There are many stages in this adventure. False walls and ceilings are just an example of the difficulties that will beset you. Beware...

Character Point Scoring

1. The Old Crone – 5,000 points
2. Count Dracula – 30,000 points
3. Phantom Vampire Bats – 2,000 points
4. The Grim Reaper – 7,000 points
5. Big Medusa – 2,000 points
6. Bad Knight – 100 points
7. Mummy Man – 2,000 points
8. Axe Man – 300 points
9. Frankenstein Monster – 3,000 points
10. Skeleton Man – 200 points
11. Dragon Skull Cannon – 300 points
12. Ghost – 200 points
13. Fish Man – 200 points
14. Skele-Dragon – 1,000 points
15. Zombie – 100 points
16. Vampire Bats – 100 points
17. Slime – 100 points
18. Hunchback – 200 points
19. Black Leopard – 100 points
20. Giant Raven – 100 points
21. Medusa – 200 points
22. Giant Eagle – 400 points

Notes on the Manual

Apparently, the original translation of ‘Akumajou Dracula’ was ‘Dracula’s Satanic Castle’ as opposed to ‘Demon Castle Dracula.’ Even though it is a viable translation, I’m sure we’re all glad it was officially changed to ‘Demon Castle.’ I highly doubt the word ‘Satanic’ would have found its way onto the NES in any case. Also of note is that the game takes place in ‘Dransylvania,’ apparently because the Transylvanian government did not want its likeness to appear in a videogame of this kind. So as the legend goes, Konami of Europe visited the small, little-known city-country of Dransylvania and the government accepted. However, the Spanish translators were never fully involved in the deal and since they figured the game would never be sold in Spain, and nobody could read Spanish anyway, they blatantly wrote ‘Transylvania’ instead.

As far as the story goes, it follows the one set years later by Konami. Simon Belmont is given a magic whip by his father (who got it from his father, who got it from his father, and on down to some crazy alchemist in the 12th Century, and we have no clue yet where he got it from) and Simon has to storm Dracula’s castle and put an end to hundreds of years of terror wreaked upon Europe by the evil Count. Of course we, who have played more games than this, know that Simon’s victory is ultimately a short-lived one and terror will once again strike at the heart of Europe in coming generations and advanced gaming systems. Oh, and the manual’s description of Simon as being ‘young’ happens to fit with the mythic idea of the whole coming-of-age thing. He’s got to prove himself and become the mature vampire hunter that we all know and love. I dunno... I guess I always pictured him as being in his mid to late 20’s.

What really gets me about this game, though, is that the final boss is shown on the back of the box. How many games do you know of that do this? Well, ok one Super Gameboy system DID have the Metroid Queen battle prominently pictured on the front, but this is beside the point. I suppose we all knew Dracula was the last boss anyway, though none of us knew the final form was the bat-spewing painting on the wall. I think that beats the floating pot of evil...

Some enemy names were changed between the Japanese and European games. Here is the list and a few comments that may or may not have value:

God of Death (The Grim Reaper) – the Japanese name for old Grim. He’s just plain old ‘The Grim Reaper’ in Europe. I find God of Death more interesting as it fits a bit in Japanese mythos.

Mammy Medusa (Big Medusa) – Interesting that she’s called ‘Mammy Medusa’ here as in the Aria of Sorrow enemy descriptions, it says that the flying Medusa are manufactured en-masse from her head :-P

Fighter (Bad Knight) – A knight with a spear... Who never uses the spear. At least not until Castlevania 2. You give the guy a weapon and you’d think he’d use it. But no, he just walks back and forth. *Yawn*

Axe Fighter (Axe Man) – Yup, the Axe Knight was originally known as ‘Axe Fighter’ or ‘Axe Man.’ What humble beginnings!

Pile Battery (Dragon Skull Cannon) – This name is probably a combination of ‘bone pile’ and ‘battery’ (an antiquated name for a cannon).

Grim Man (Hunchback) – One of the most annoying enemies in Castlevania. You would think that an old man with a bad back wouldn’t be able to jump that high. Maybe he took lots of Tai Chi or something...

Slime – This enemy doesn’t appear in Castlevania 1. It usually appears out of candles and probably from a few other places, too. So be careful of candles, especially in some of the later stages.

Black Leopard – Later known as ‘Black Panthers’. Of course. No relation to any militant historical groups.

Thanks to CapComMDb for the transcription

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