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Adventure Game Scene of the Day — Sunday 25 August 2013
Dráscula: The Vampire Strikes Back (1996) is a game I didn’t care for very much. I can’t recall the exact reasons I disliked it, but I think bad voice acting and/or a poor English translation played a role. I’m sure there were gameplay issues as well, but I just can’t remember the specifics.
Anyway, if any of you scummbags want to play this game, it is freeware and can be downloaded at the SCUMMVM website.
i already played it long ago ..but thanks
What’s interesting, it’s the first commercial title from Alcachofa of The Abbey fame. They also developed that countless Clever & Smart (Mortadelo y Filemón) series mentioned recently in the “translation” thread.
I’ve played Drascula just a little bit - it’s the parody take on Dracula story, with count wanting to take over the world. The evil plan starts with buying part of the Gibraltar, and British estate agent John Hacker arrives in Transylvania to make the deal with Drascula. Meanwhile, John falls in love with beautiful Billie Jean, and when the count kidnaps her, he sets for a revenge.
It’s a typical comedy adventure, but part of the humor is lost because there’re apparently some local jokes, and the voice acting/translation is obviously done by Spanish amateurs. Actually, the biggest issue with this game is with it being the company debut title and being technologically far behind 1996 when it was released. But at least, it’s said that the game reached cult status in Spain.
Apart from that, I remember a clunky interface, but also a classic point&click; charm. There’s a full playthrough here.
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
I think I could make a pretty accurate guess as to why you didn’t like this game: the voice acting!
In Drascula (as was common in cartoon games around this time) you can choose to either display subtitles, or to hear the voice overs, and this is the only game I’ve ever encountered where I preferred turning the voices off. The voice acting is hands down the most awful piece of work I’ve ever seen (or heard, rather) in a game, ever. Regardless of genre. All the acting is done by non-native English speakers, which doesn’t have to mean it’s bad, but in this case it’s a demonstration of exactly how badly voices can be done. The original subtitles were also terrible, but they have been rewritten and considerably improved for the ScummVM version. It’s a real shame about the voices too, because the game itself actually isn’t that bad, very Lucasarts-y in style. Anyway, it’s free, go check it out, and I guarantee you, those voices will give you a laugh
In general, all games from Alcachofa Soft are very appealing visually. I really hope we get fanmade translations of some of the Mortadelo and Filemon games. Been wanting to play those for a long time.
Duckman: Can you believe it? Five hundred bucks for a parking ticket?
Cornfed Pig: You parked in a handicapped zone.
Duckman: Who cares? Nobody parks there anyway, except for the people who are supposed to park there and, hell, I can outrun them anytime.
Yeah, I played the original CD version, not the SCUMMVM version, so I didn’t get the benefit of the updated subtitles either. As for the rest of their games getting translated, I’m all for it.
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