Gameplay
You take control of a goblin type Elvis impersonator ( hey! who says monsters can't have style? ) as he ventures into ''ghost houses'' looking for gems. But to get the gems, you must first awake and kill the dozens upon dozens of vampires from their coffins. And how are you gonna go about with this? You can't open the coffins yourself, you need keys which are hidden among the many creatures of the house. While some enemies are easy to kill ( ghosts and bats ), others will be a pain in the ass to take out ( meatball type creatures that shoot flames and mummies which can climb up and down ladders ). Once you find a key from an enemy, it's time to open a coffin. Fighting the vampires is probably the most difficult part in the game, once the coffin is open they start flying all over the place in bat form, taking swings at you. This can be a pain, knocking you down stairs and into lava pits, and since they are so fast and small you'll have a hard time killing it. Rarely do they transform into human form, which once they do they either push you into a corner to die or transform back to a bat and charge straight for you again. This struggle can't possibly get any harder....can it? Actually...yes Danny(?), it does get more frustrating. While you try to defeat the vampire, you must also defend yourself against the other creatures who can't seem to mind there damn business ( a vampire, ghost, 2 or 3 bats and a mummy is not a good combination ).
But you do have a couple of handy techniques to aid you in the fight against these legion of vampires. Your big ass fist ( this dude related to Alex Kidd or what? ), swords which fly out of nowhere at times (highly recommended...um...the swords..not the flying out part) and your saving grace of the game: light bulbs! Yes, when you touch the lights on the ceiling the whole place freezes for a couple seconds, giving you a chance to kick some major ass! What's the catch? You can only use them a limited number of times, so use them wisely. But this in itself can be another struggle, cause the lights are on different platforms, and what makes this a struggle you say? When you try to climb the ladders the vampire bat will usually knock you off and beat you up a couple times, sometimes resulting in death. Once you actually defeat one of those bastards (vampires) there is a slight chance it will come back to life to beat you some more ( MOMMY!! MAKE IT ALL GO AWAY ALREADY!! ), but if it doesn't....you finally get a gem!!
*sighs*
But it ain't over yet, that's only one out of FIVE vampires, each with a gem , that you must kill to complete the round. And it gets harder as the rounds go on and the vamps become more faster and much more aggressive, have fun!....I kid, I kid....Each house is pretty big with lots of monsters all around, and to help you travel around there are many doors throughout which will randomly warp you to a different location. While that may not sound great, it'll help you escape from vampires and avoid encounters with other creatures. You do have a life bar (thankfully) which you can replenish either with question mark boxes or by defeating a vampire ( get all energy back ).
Graphics
For an early Master System game the graphics look nice, from your character ( which will remind you of Alex Kidd ), to the creatures and the vampires ''human form''. The house itself ain't to bad looking either, with details like lamps, fireplaces and coffins scattered around.
Sound/Music
There are only two tunes in the game, the ''main'' theme and ''vampire'' theme, both of which aren't actually not bad to listen to. Then there are the simple sounds, the jumping, slashing and getting hit among other things too. Oddly enough, when you walk around you hear fast beeping sounds ( he walks fast ).
Replay Value
It can be a very confusing game if you don' know what to do, but even when you know what you're suppose to do it's still a rather difficult game. Every where you go you are faced with bats flying in your face and mummies that chase you up and down ladders, and if your not careful the meatball looking creatures will shoot fireballs resulting in instant death ( this gets you off guard alot ). Oh and the vampires....yeah they're hard too ( refer to Gameplay section for more info, lol ). With this type of difficulty, you'll probably come back to play once in awhile.
In Closing
If you think you're up to the challenge, then be my guest and try it out. And if you don't want the insane level of difficulty, then there are plenty other titles for the SMS you can look into.
Overall Rating: 5/10