Super Castlevania IV Dracula Super Famicon

Super Castlevania IV, known as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dorakyura^?, lit. "Demon Castle Dracula") in Japan, is a platform game developed and published by Konami and the first Castlevania game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Regional variations

The American and PAL localizations of the game contain some differences from the original Japanese version, which, like most games in the series, is called Akumajō Dracula.

The font used in the Japanese game is different from that used in the Western releases. The Western versions use a bright green font; the Japanese version uses a completely different font that is also significantly darker.

Some of the sound effects, such as the snap of the whip have been altered sounding less like a chain whip and with more of a whooshing sound.

In the Japanese version of the game, there was a cross on top of the tombstone in the introduction. This was removed for the American and PAL localizations to avoid religious controversies. The misspelled name "Dracura" (a case of Engrish) is also clearly written (in Roman letters) on the tombstone in the Japanese version; this was replaced with an unreadable smudge in the Western versions.

As with many games on the Super NES, there were censorship issues as well. The statues in Stage 6, which were originally topless, were redrawn wearing tunicas. Blood dripping from the ceilings as well as pools of blood in Stage 8 were re-colored from red to green, effectively turning it into slime or acid.

The opening logo in the Japanese version of the game resembles the original Akumajō Dracula title screen, from the Famicom Disk System. Blood also drips below the title's lettering.

Reception

Super Castlevania IV was rated the 66th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Powers Top 200 Games list

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