Pachislot Akumajō Dracula

Pachislot Akumajō Dracula is pachislot (often mistaken for pachinko) game created by Konami Parlor Entertainment. It's a spin-off of the Castlevania series. The first official trailer and website launched in August 2008, and the game was released in arcades on January 5th, 2009. It was later ported to mobile phones on which it could be downloaded through i-mode, Yahoo!, or EZwEb. On December 24th, 2014 it was also ported to Android and iOS devices.

Its aesthetics are based on Castlevania: Curse of Darkness and features most of its cast, including Trevor Belmont in the leading role. The game functions like a slot machine but also features cinematic scenes. In 2010, it was followed by Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II.

Story
Being a pachislot with vaguely connected cinematics occurring randomly during play, the game has no coherent narrative like more traditional games in the series. These cutscenes exists to excite the player, but contain little actual story content. However, going by comments on the official developer's blog, the game does tell a story, although most of it requires the player's imagination to fill in the blanks.

On the blog it's written the game is "another story" (hitotsu no monogatari), a term sometimes used to imply the setting is a parallel world or alternate universe. Because the game is mainly based on Castlevania: Curse of Darkness some of the characters resemble their incarnations from the IGA continuity. Together with Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II it tells the same story of Trevor fighting Count Dracula, who has been revived, with the assistance of Angela.

It should be also be noted that from the brief interactions between Trevor and Dracula it's implied they already share a past. This would be further explored in Pachislot Akumajō Dracula III, which is a prequel to the previous two games.

Overview
The game structure of Pachislot Akumajō Dracula is different from an average Castlevania game. As such, there is no ultimate end goal, such as for example, defeat Dracula. Instead, the aim is to win medals which can be exchanged at a Pachinko parlor's prize counter.

The game starts out at three possible stages. These are named "Chapel in Castle", "Warehouse in Bergfried" and "Corridor in Castle Walls". During this section of the game the reels can be constantly spun all the while several random events can happen, each with different effects. One set of three wheel spins is called a game. The player starts out with 50 credits, if the player manages to exceed this amount by winning, the amount of medals will go up. If all the credits are depleted and the player has medals, these medals will start to decrease unless the player obtains more credits. At the bottom of the screen several silhouettes of floating crosses can be seen. If crosses are obtained through the random events, the silhouettes will be replaced by a real cross. If six crosses are collected, the player will instantly enter ART mode.

At the left and right side of the screen there are a compass and a trease box respectively. The compass has a chance of glowing, which brings up the map screen, which allows the player to access several events or even ART. The possible outcomes are random and there is also a chance the player will stay where at the same location. The treasure box will randomly reward the player with an item. One of the possible items are hearts, which are either white, blue, or purple. These items merely increase the chance of a specific event appearing based on their color. Similar to the compass, the treasure box can let the player access one of the events, as well as ART.

Bonus Game
In the game the player can enter either Regular Bonus or Big Bonus. They can be entered after the successful completion of a mission. The difference between them is the maximum amount of medals that can be won. In case of the former it's 45 and in the latter it's 300. If the player manages to get a winning pattern, the amount of medals goes up with 12. However, before each set of wheel spins, the amount of medals decreases by 3.

After a bonus, there is a chance the player will go straight to ART, otherwise the Challenge Zone is entered. During a Bonus game the reel may flash, which indicates the chance of entering ART is increased. During Big Bonus there is also a possibility of the "Cherry Challenge". If the player manages to get one of three cherries on the first wheel spin, the "cherry navi" is obtained.

Challenge Zone
"RT" stands for Replay Time, also know as the "Challenge Zone". This stage of the game is mostly the same as before, except the chance of a "replay", neither winning or losing credits, is higher. The bar on the bottom wil turn red to indicate the player is in the Challenge Zone. The goal of the Challenge Zone is to reach ART. The probability of entering ART depend on which stage the player in currently in, with the chance being the lowest in the warehouse and the highest in the corridor.

While in the Challenge Zone the colors red, blue, and black might appear on the screen. Two colors are "right" and the other is "wrong". This is called the "bat navi". The player has to guess which color are safe, with the risk of accidentally getting a wrong color. If this happens, the player is returned to the normal mode of play. When the player has cherry navi's, the color which is wrong will be displayed instead, making this challenge somewhat easier.

There are two ways of entering ART. The first requires the successful completion of the "Countdown Mission". During this mission, Trevor must dispatch a certain amount of skeletons, ranging from five to twenty. While doing this, the player has to succesfully evade the "wrong" cherries. The other way is through one of the three events will allow the player to switch to another stage, which are the Stage Door, the Map Stage, and the Moon Stage.

Battle Zone
"ART" is an abbreviation for "Assist Replay Time", also known as the "Battle Zone". It's a combination of RT Mode and AT Mode. The latter stands for "Assist Time". During this mode, the chance of winning is higher than normal. One set of ART lasts 30 games at most. The first section of ART consists of Trevor running up to Dracula's throne room, which is known as the Spiral Staircase Stage. During this section random events may still happen. Also, occasionally a cherry navi will appear on the screen. In case the wrong cherry is accidently obtained, the player is returned straight to the regular mode of play.

The battle with Dracula is initiated during the second stage. After this point, the battle may lead to several outcomes.If Trevor attacks first there is a chance he will successfully land a hit, which leads to Dracula being defeated and the player earning a bonus, or his attack will be ineffective, which results in Dracula escaping and the player returning to the Spiral Staircase Stage. If Dracula attacks first, Trevor may dodge the attack, after which Dracula escapes and the player returns to the Spiral Staircase Stage, or he might get hit resulting in either Trevor being defeated and the player returning to the Challenge Zone, or him being revived by Angela and the player returning to the Staircase Stage.

Missions
Missions are random events that can occur during play. In certain cases a special requirement should be met but in others loss or success are decided by chance. The missions include the Battle Mission, the Isaac Mission, the Skeleton Mission, the Trap Mission, and the Countdown Mission. Winning a missions results in a bonus, or in case of the Countdown Mission, allows the player to enter ART. The likelihood that one appears varies between missions.

Music
The soundtrack for Pachislot Akumajō Dracula reuses a lot of soundtrack from other Castlevania games. These include Castlevania: Curse of Darkness and Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. The original tracks were composed by Takeshi Kuramochi. The composers who contributed to the reused tracks are: Michiru Yamane, Masanori Akita, Yuichi Tsuchiya, Akihiro Honda, and Yasuhiro Ichihashi. The game's main theme is called "Trezier de spirit", a song with Latin lyrics, performed by Shunsuke Tsuda (baritone) and Tomoka Hattori (soprano). The game also includes a new remix of "Divine Bloodlines" called "Divine Bloodlines Ver. 511".