Kid Dracula is a Lighter and Softer two-game Gaiden Game spin-off of the Castlevania series, better known as Akumajō Special Boku Dracula-kun in Japan, where Castlevania is known as Akumajō Dracula.
The first game was released for the Famicom in 1990, though it never received an overseas release, until May 16th, 2019, when it was officially released as part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection for the first time in English. The second game was released for the Game Boy in Japan and the west in 1993 and, despite being treated as a sequel, is basically a remixed port of the first game.
The plot revolves around the 10,009-year-old son of Dracula (Alucard? Maybe) who awakens from a nap to discover that a powerful demon lord named Garamoth has brainwashed all of his demonic minions. The youth borrows his dad's cape and sets out to reclaim what rightfully belongs to his family, growing more powerful along the way.
Yes, that Galamoth. With an "R", because of a translator's confusion.
Oh, and about that ten thousand year thing...
This series contains examples of:
- Actually a Doombot: Garamoth's first fight in the Game Boy game.
- Alien Invasion: Seen in the city levels, and the late levels become more and more futuristic. It's also stated in the Game Boy game that Garamoth is the "ruler of space".
- All Deserts Have Cacti: Stage 6 is in a desert that has both pyramids and cacti.
- Antlion Monster: One of the enemies in Stage 6 is an antlion.
- Bag of Spilling: At the beginning of the Game Boy game, Kid Dracula tells Death that he forgot all of his moves from the first game.
- Bonus Level: After every level, you can spend coins on minigames to get extra lives.
- Bottomless Pits: Falling off the screen is not recommended.
- The Cameo: Kid Dracula was a playable character in Gokujou Parodius!.
- Also in Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius: Forever With Me as an unlockable character... two to be exact.
- And very heavily implied that he can appear in the Castlevania Stage of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, while also serving as an equippable Spirit.
- Cartoon Bomb: Seals in Stage 4 juggle cartoony bombs.
- Charged Attack: Kid Dracula's basic attack is simple, but the attacks he earns require him to charge up first. This goes to his other attacks as well.
- Checkpoint Starvation: During stages 7 and 9 there are very few checkpoints.
- Collision Damage: Colliding with enemies hurts Kid.
- Continuing is Painful: Because you'll lose the HP upgrades.
- Corridor Cubbyhole Run: Stage 8 has a segment where Wave-Motion Gun periodically fills a corridor with a beam, forcing Kid to duck in small alcoves.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Enemies explode when defeated.
- Dem Bones: Stage 6 has animated skeletons that throw their heads.
- Descending Ceiling: At the end of Stage 6, the ceiling starts to descent and Kid has to outrun it.
- Feed It a Bomb: The only way to hurt King Garamoth in the Famicom game's finale is to shoot him in his open mouth when he spits a fireball.
- Fireballs: Kid throws balls of fire. Living balls of fire can also be found moving along underwater surfaces.
- Flash of Pain: Both Kid and boss monsters will flash when hurt.
- Flying Saucer: Flying saucers appear in Stage 5 enemies. They are Super-Deformed, smaller than Kid's head.
- Friendly Neighbor Hood Vampire: Kid Dracula.
- Frozen Foe Platform: Frozen enemies can be jumped on.
- Ghost Leg Lottery: Used to determine the minigame in the Famicom original. The word "amidakuji" even appears in the official English translation.
- Heart Container: Health upgrades show up as a square with a heart on them, and increase Kid's health by one heart (up to 5). Collecting one when he has all 5 just refills his health.
- Hearts Are Health: This at least makes sense, given you're playing as a vampire. Regular red hearts fill one heart, while glowing hearts fill the whole meter.
- Humongous Mecha: Two boss examples, one of which is the height of the level and is reached via elevator ride.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Ever since Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Galamoth has been spelled with an L in English. Despite the fact that it was released in the west in 2019, well after SOTN corrected this, it's still spelled Garamoth in the Anniversary Collection.
- Indy Escape: In Stage 6, Kid has to outrun a large boulder at one point.
- Kill It with Ice: The Kirin can only be harmed by the ice attack; anything else will just bounce off.
- Knockback: Getting hit causes Kid to be knocked back with a temporary stun.
- Konami Code:
- If used on the title screen of the first game, the game will just laugh at you and say that it does nothing.
- Referenced in the cutscene where Kid gets the UpDown spell, with the words "Up Up Down Down!" appearing during the demonstration.
- Laser Blade: Garamoth opts to use one of these in the Game Boy game, as opposed to his standard sword on the Famicom.
- Lighter and Softer: The chibi versions of characters are so cute that you may forget they're based on demonic entities.
- No Swastikas: The first bosses of the game resemble The Klan with swastikas on their hoods, but are actually ghosts with Manji symbols on their heads. The western version naturally removes them, hopefully making them resemble ghosts.
- Parasol of Pain: One of Kid Dracula's weapons in the Game Boy game is his father's umbrella, which he uses as a shield.
- Pop Quiz: The Famicom game has a boss fight against the Statue of Liberty that turns into one of these, since she can't move.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: When Stage 8 boss is defeated, it is accompanied by multiple explosions.
- Rollercoaster Mine: A variation — rather than an actual roller coaster, it's a platform that appears to be a very tiny bullet train. Except it still has loop-the-loops.
- Sea Mine: Sea mines can be found in Stage 3. Destroying these makes it shoot out spikes.
- Segmented Serpent: Stage 3 boss is a flying serpent with many segments.
- Servile Snarker: Death serves as Kid Dracula's guardian in the Game Boy game, but not all of his words are supportive.
- Shifting Sand Land: Stage 6 takes place in a desert-themed world.
- Shout-Out:
- The first stage theme is a remix of "Beginning" from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, but is sufficiently bouncy and upbeat that it's hard to tell. In addition, the stage itself is a traditional Castlevania stage, except beginning in the throne room. Naturally. Though it still somehow ends at the bottom of the staircase leading up to where the throne room usually is.
- In the Famicom game, a mook who bares a resemblance to Spider-Man on Stage 5: New York.
- The final stage of the Game Boy game contains xenomorphs as enemies. The Famicom game has expies of Jason and King Kong (who attacks by throwing airplanes) in the city stage.
- In the Game Boy game, Jason or Rick Taylor appears.
- One of the Statue of Liberty's questions in the Castlevania Collection's translation is which island is the furthest south: Hawaii, Guam, or Shadow Moses.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Stage 4 takes place in icy level.
- Slouch of Villainy: Kid Dracula at the ending.
- Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom: The first and sixth stage has a few spiky crushers.
- Solid Clouds: Clouds with black outline in Stage 2 and 8 are solid and can be stepped on. Clouds with faces move when stood on.
- Sound of No Damage: Invulnerable targets will resound with a metallic "ping" when shot.
- Spikes of Doom: Spikes act as a stage hazards. Some spikes are rather dull while others take form of icicles. They're still as damaging as any other obstacle.
- Spinoff Babies: The cast are mostly kids, obviously. Though Dracula's son isn't directly named here, just "Kid Dracula".
- Suddenly Voiced: Inverted. Garamoth makes a number of villainous threats in this game, but has never received dialogue in any of his Castlevania appearances.
- Super-Deformed: Characters are drawn in a cartoonish manner, like chibis.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: Kid can be under water as long as he likes.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: One of Kid Dracula's weapons is an Ice Ball, the only purpose of which is to temporarily freeze enemies and turn them into platforms...at least until you reach the flaming unicorn boss in the last level that can only be harmed with it.
- Tin-Can Robot: Robot enemies in this game have a retro style.
- Villain Protagonist: Sort of? Due to the ambiguous canon and Lighter and Softer feel of the game. Kid Dracula is against Garamoth so he can re-gather his dark army after Garamoth pulled them over to his side; afterwards, he would probably set his sights against that miserable little pile of secrets known as humanity. However, The Stinger does say that someone with a whip will probably face off Kid Dracula to defend mankind.
- Walk, Don't Swim: Kid Dracula can't swim underwater. He walks instead.
- Waterfront Boss Battle: Stage 4 boss fight takes place above freezing water and the platforms above it crumble as the dragon flies through them.
- Weaponized Offspring: Chicken boss in stage 2 attacks with chicks.
- Written Sound Effect: Enemies explode with "PON!" text.
- Your Vampires Suck: The American manual takes a gratuitous swipe at, "those pasty faced phonies, you see flaunting their fake fangs, in the flicks."
