Dracula the Undead (video game)
{{Short description|1991 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Dracula the Undead
|image = Dracula the Undead Cover.jpg
|caption = Cover art in all regions
|developer = Hand Made Software
|publisher = Atari Corporation
|composer = Paul Tonge
Tony Williams
|platforms = Atari Lynx
|released = {{vgrelease|NA|1991|EU|1991}}
|genre = Adventure
|modes = Single-player
}}
Dracula - The Undead is a video game released in 1991 for the Atari Lynx handheld system. The game is loosely based on Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and features Bram Stoker in the story as the narrator.
Gameplay
File:LYNX Dracula the Undead.png
{{Expand section|date=February 2020}}
The player takes on the role of Jonathan Harker as he explores and later tries to escape from Dracula's Castle.Dracula the Undead game manual (Atari Lynx, US) In the game you wake up and can explore the castle by moving from room to room. The game controls are like those of a point and click, where you can interact with a certain number items in each room. You can also talk and interact with other NPC characters. Certain choices can end with death and a The End screen, requiring the player to start over. The player's ability to achieve the best ending depends his or her ability to take notes of important facts and events with Harker's notebook.
Plot
The game loosely follows chapters two through four of the original novel. Jonathan Harker, a solicitor, awakens and meets Count Dracula. Dracula informs Harker that he will be out for the day and they will conduct their business later that evening. Dracula invites Harker to explore the castle except for rooms which are locked, then leaves. Harker is later astonished to look out a window to see Dracula climbing down the castle wall.
Harker climbs out of the window and scrambles across the castle wall to another window. He explores another part of the castle where he finds papers detailing Dracula's plans for settling in London and the maze-like catacombs underneath the castle. After finding Dracula's coffin, Harker retreats back across the wall.
After opening a stuck door to another room he falls asleep and is visited by three beautiful women. They move to attack him but Dracula stops them, telling them they can have him tomorrow after he is done with Harker. Harker awakens the next day to himself locked in his bedroom. Dracula is gone. Harker is now desperate to escape the castle, for if he does not then the brides of Dracula will find him and give him their "voluptuous kisses."
Development and release
{{Expand section|date=February 2020}}
An updated port of Dracula the Undead for the Atari Jaguar CD was in development by Atari Corporation and was first announced in 1994, but it never released.{{cite magazine|url=http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Generation%204/generation4_numero064/gen4%20-%20n64%20-mars%201994%20-%20page%20042.jpg|title=News - La Jaguar ronronne - On attend sur Jaguar|magazine=Génération 4|issue=64|publisher=Computec Media France|date=March 1994|page=42|lang=fr|access-date=2018-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925104341/http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Generation%204/generation4_numero064/gen4%20-%20n64%20-mars%201994%20-%20page%20042.jpg|archive-date=2018-09-25|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.stformat.com/stf56/pages_nx1500/stf56_048.jpg|title=News - Update - Around the corner... - Expected Release Dates|magazine=ST Format|issue=56|publisher=Future plc|date=March 1994|page=48|access-date=2018-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719133302/http://stformat.com/stf56/pages_nx1500/stf56_048.jpg|archive-date=2016-07-19|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.stformat.com/stf57/pages_nx1500/stf57_050.jpg|title=News - Update - New Jaguar Development System Released - Expected Release Dates|magazine=ST Format|issue=57|publisher=Future plc|date=April 1994|page=50|access-date=2018-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719072603/http://stformat.com/stf57/pages_nx1500/stf57_050.jpg|archive-date=2016-07-19|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File%3AVideoGames_DE_1994-07.pdf&page=32|title=Warpzone - Jaguar - Angekündigte Jaguar-Spiele|magazine=Video Games|issue=32|publisher=Future-Verlag|date=July 1994|page=32|lang=de|access-date=2018-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804201143/https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File%3AVideoGames_DE_1994-07.pdf&page=32|archive-date=2018-08-04|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/Edge_UK_020#page/n13/mode/2up|title=News - Jaguar Plugs into the CD revolution - Jaguar CD games in development|magazine=Edge|issue=20|date=May 1995|pages=14–15|access-date=2018-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129120834/https://archive.org/stream/Edge_UK_020#page/n13/mode/2up|archive-date=2018-11-29|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/nextgen-issue-006/Next_Generation_Issue_006_June_1995#page/n19|title=Breaking - Jaguar Plugs into the CD revolution - Jaguar CD games in development|magazine=Next Generation|issue=6|publisher=Imagine Media|date=June 1995|pages=18–19|access-date=2018-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129120834/https://archive.org/stream/nextgen-issue-006/Next_Generation_Issue_006_June_1995#page/n19|archive-date=2018-11-29|url-status=live}}
Reception
{{Video game reviews
|Allgame = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Knight|first=Kyle|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15422&tab=review|title=Dracula the Undead - Review|work=AllGame|publisher=All Media Network|date=1998|access-date=2020-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114131940/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15422&tab=review|archive-date=2014-11-14|url-status=live}}
|GamePro = 18 / 20{{cite magazine|last=Larry|first=Scary|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File:GamePro_US_043.pdf&page=150|title=Lynx ProReview: Dracula the Undead|magazine=GamePro|issue=43|publisher=IDG|date=February 1993|page=164}}
|IGN = 7.0 / 10{{cite web|last=Jung|first=Robert A.|url=https://uk.ign.com/articles/1999/07/07/dracula-the-undead|title=Dracula the Undead - Bram Stoker's novel is given life on Lynx. Robert A. Jung's full review|work=IGN|publisher=Ziff Davis|date=July 7, 1999|access-date=2020-02-19}}
|rev1 = Consoles +
|rev1Score = 65%{{cite magazine|last1=Souibgui|first1=Sami|author2=Axel|url=https://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=51&num=6969&album=oui|title=Lynx Review - Dracula the Undead|magazine=Consoles +|issue=17|publisher=M.E.R.7|date=February 1993|pages=116–117|lang=fr|access-date=2020-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114055203/http://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=51&num=6969&album=oui|archive-date=2017-11-14|url-status=live}}
|rev2 = Digital Press
|rev3 = GamesMaster
|rev3Score = 90%{{cite magazine|last=Douglas|first=Jim|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File%3AGamesMaster_UK_002.pdf&page=91|title=Reviews (Lynx/Amiga) - Dracula|magazine=GamesMaster|issue=2|publisher=Future Publishing|date=February 1993|page=91}}
|rev4 = Game Zero Magazine
|rev5 = Joypad
|rev5Score = 93%{{cite magazine|last=Nini|first=Nourdine|url=https://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=84&num=1984&album=oui|title=Lynx: Dracula the Undead - Dracula Mon Saigneur!|magazine=Joypad|issue=17|publisher=Yellow Media|date=February 1993|pages=116–117|lang=fr|access-date=2020-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916155351/http://abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=84&num=1984&album=oui|archive-date=2017-09-16|url-status=live}}
|rev6 = Lynx User
|rev7 = Megablast
|rev8 = Mega Fun
|rev8Score = 83%{{cite magazine|last=Weidner|first=Martin|url=https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=9172|title=Test Atari Lynx - Dracula|magazine=Mega Fun|issue=9|publisher=CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG|date=June 1993|page=94|lang=de}}
|rev9 = Player One
|rev9Score = 80%{{cite magazine|last=Scamps|first=Olivier|url=http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Player%20One/playerone_numero029/Player%20One%20n%b029%20%28Mars-Avril%201993%29%20-%20Page%20112.jpeg|title=Tests De Jeux - Lynx: Dracula the Undead|magazine=Player One|issue=29|publisher=Média Système Édition|date=March–April 1993|page=112|lang=fr}}
|rev10 = Video Games
|rev10Score = 70%{{cite magazine|last=Neumayer|first=Manfred|url=https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=7952|title=Rom Check - Lynx - Dracula|magazine=Video Games|issue=18|publisher=Future-Verlag|date=May 1993|page=96|lang=de}}
|rev11 = VideoGames & Computer Entertainment
|rev11Score = 7 / 10{{cite magazine|last=Bieniek|first=Chris|title=Gaming on the Go - Dracula the Undead (Atari) For the Atari Lynx|magazine=VideoGames & Computer Entertainment|issue=49|publisher=Larry Flynt Publications|date=February 1993}}
}}
Robert A. Jung reviewed the game which was later published to IGN. In his final verdict he wrote "Dracula the Undead offers traditional adventuring fare with an unusual premise, with enough challenge and appeal to satisfy most adventurers. The inability to save a game in progress hurts, but dedicated players who are willing to live with this flaw are encouraged to give the Count a visit." He then gave a score of 7 out of 10. Game Zero Magazine also reviewed the game giving a score of 70 out of 100.
{{Clear}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=1862 Dracula the Undead] at AtariAge
- [https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/lynx/586943-dracula-the-undead Dracula the Undead] at GameFAQs
- [https://www.mobygames.com/game/lynx/dracula-the-undead/mobyrank Dracula the Undead] at MobyGames
{{Portal bar|1990s|United Kingdom|Video games}}
{{Dracula}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dracula the Undead (video game)}}
Category:1990s horror video games
Category:Atari Lynx-only games
Category:Cancelled Atari Jaguar games
Category:Hand Made Software games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games based on Dracula