History Videogame / CastlevaniaBloodlines

** In the European version, all the blood was removed.

* WhipItGood: Morris steps in to keep this a Castlevania game.

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarI: In the game's backstory, the BigBad of the game, Elizabeth Bartley was the mastermind behind the Archduke of Austria's assassination, which started World War I.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Like good old Vlad Tepes, UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory was upgraded to vampire status as "Elizabeth Bartley".

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: In the Japanese and European versions, Eric has a {{bishonen}} look, while in the American version, Eric's face was changed to [[RatedMForManly look more barbarian-like]].
** Also, instead of Boomerang Crosses, it's a Bladed Boomerang, and there's no hearts, just [[PowerCrystal crystals]]

* BossRush: Stage 6
** Interestingly, it's presented as a boss rush within a boss fight. You encounter Death and think you have to fight him, but he's invulnerable. Instead of attacking, he summons a circle of tarot cards that cause different effects when you hit them with your weapon. Three of them take you to easier versions of the Stage 2, 3, and 4 bosses; two cause Death to launch a pillar of flame at you; and one gives you healing items. After you've hit them all, you fight Death himself on the same life bar.
* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the European version, all the blood was removed.

* DubNameChange: Johnny to John, though it's not too different compared to other examples.

* EasyModeMockery: As per Konami games at the time, you have to beat the Expert mode to get the full ending.

* {{Bizarrechitecture}}: You thought ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' was the first game to flip the castle upside-down? Nope!

* EldritchLocation: Castle Proserpine seems to be this, since its level design is absolutely surreal.

* [[EverythingIsBigInTexas Everything Is Badass In Texas]]: John Morris (AKA the guy with the whip).

It's the early 20th century, and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the first World War]] has begun. The conflict has been orchestrated by the vampire Elizabeth Bartley so she can use the countless souls of the fallen to [[HereWeGoAgain raise Dracula from the dead]]. With no Belmonts in sight, the duty falls on John Morris - son of [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Quincey Morris]] - and Eric Lecarde - inheritor of the Alucard Spear - to stop Elizabeth from resurrecting Dracula once again.

* BlackKnight: Armor Battler/Drolta's Mecha Knight plays with this trope.It has the appearance down, and is implied to act as something of a bodyguard for Drolta, but is subverted in that it really isn't that powerful, nor does it have any big reveal behind it, but In-Universe it was considered strong/ important enough to guard the ruins of Dracula's castle and the final hallway before the BossRush on the last level. On a humorous note, during the first boss fight [[TheDeterminator its continuous attempts to try and find ways to kill the player after more and more of it's limbs keep getting knocked off]] [[ShoutOut heavily invokes]] [[Film/MontyPythonandTheHolyGrail a certain famous Black Knight]]

** Interestingly, it's presented as a boss rush within a boss fight. You encounter Death and think you have to fight him, but he's invulnerable. Instead of attacking, he summons a circle of tarot cards that cause different effects when you hit them with your weapon. Three of them take you to easier versions of the Stage 2, 3 and 4 bosses; two cause Death to launch a pillar of flame at you; and one gives you healing items. After you've hit them all, you fight Death himself on the same life bar.

* EasyModeMockery: As per Konami game at the time, you have to beat the Expert mode to get the full ending.
** [[HardModePerks There's plenty more incentive than usual to do it, though.]] There are special enemy attacks, several substages and even a few bosses that are only seen on the hardest difficulty.

Strangely, compared to contemporary console ''Castlevania'' games, ''Bloodlines'' [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes suffered from a dearth of ports/rereleases]]...until 2019, when SEGA announced the [[http://genesismini.sega.com/ SEGA Genesis Mini]], with ''Bloodlines'' being one of the first titles to be revealed.

Strangely, it is the only original ''Castlevania'' game on a console prior to UsefulNotes/TheFifthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames to still not have a UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole release. [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Good luck not resorting to piracy.]]

It's the early 20th century, and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the first World War]] has begun. Orchestrated by the vampire Elizabeth Bartley who wishes to use the countless souls to [[HereWeGoAgain raise Dracula from the dead.]] With no Belmonts in sight, the duty falls on John Morris - son of [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Quincey Morris]] - and Eric Lecarde - inheritor of the Alucard Spear - to stop Elizabeth from resurrecting Dracula once again.

* BlackKnight: Armor Battler/Drolta's Mecha Knight plays with this trope.It has the appearance down, and is implied to act as something of a bodyguard for Drolta, but is subverted in that it really isn't that powerful, nor does it have any big reveal behind it, but In-Universe it was considered strong/ important enough to guard the ruins of Dracula's castle and the final hallway before the BossRush on the last level. On a humorous note, during it's first boss fight [[TheDeterminator it's continuous attempts to try and find ways to kill the player after more and more of it's limbs keep getting knocked off]] heavily invokes [[Film/MontyPythonandTheHolyGrail a certain famous Black Knight]]

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: A decidedly minor, but very helpful one is that wall sconces with a single, fat candle always hold a sub-weapon, so you can avoid accidentally replacing any favored power-up.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bloodlinescover_7553.jpg]]

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Like good old Vlad Tepes, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bathory Erzsébet Báthory]] was upgraded to vampire status as "Elizabeth Bartley".

** Although the reference is pretty obvious, the BigBad is called Elizabeth '''Bartley''', not [[ElizabethBathory Bathory]].

* TheBlackKnight: Armor Battler/Drolta's Mecha Knight plays with this trope.It has the appearance down, and is implied to act as something of a bodyguard for Drolta, but is subverted in that it really isn't that powerful, nor does it have any big reveal behind it, but In-Universe it was considered strong/ important enough to guard the ruins of Dracula's castle and the final hallway before the BossRush on the last level. On a humorous note, during it's first boss fight [[TheDeterminator it's continuous attempts to try and find ways to kill the player after more and more of it's limbs keep getting knocked off]] heavily invokes [[Film/MontyPythonandTheHolyGrail a certain famous Black Knight]]

It's the early 20th century, and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the first World War]] has begun. Orchestrated by the vampire Elizabeth Bartley who wishes to use the countless souls to [[HereWeGoAgain raise Dracula from the dead.]] With no Belmonts in sight it falls on John Morris, son of [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Quincey Morris]], and Eric Lecarde, inheritor of the Alucard Spear, to stop Elizabeth from resurrecting Dracula once again.

Strangely, it is the only original ''Castlevania'' game on a console prior to TheFifthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames to still not have a UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole release. [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Good luck not resorting to piracy.]]

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Although the reference is pretty obvious, the BigBad is called Elizabeth '''Bartley''', not [[ElizabethBathory Bathory]].

* EternalEngine: Stage 4, the German weapons factory (the staple Castlevania [[ClockTower clock tower]] in all but name).