Dracula Unleashed
 

"Interactive gothic horror with a mystery twist.  Who is Dracula?  Where is he?  Are you brave enough to unmask him and prevent some gruesome deaths?  Better get your teeth into this one quick."
 
Game Information
Developer Viacom New Media
Publisher Sega Enterprises
Copyright Date 1994
Players 1
Age Rating(s) None given
Save Type RAM
Cart Version No
 

 
 
Part Numbers
Game 4420
Front Cover 670-4970-50
Back Cover 670-4972-50
Manual 672-1839-50
Spine Card 670-4971-50
CD 1 670-4969-50
CD 2 670-4990-50
Bar Code 4 974365 644208
 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks to Dominique Luder for the spine card and manual images for Dracula Unleashed

Thanks to Matthew Maddox for the CD scans.
 
An FMV-based investigation game in the same vein as Sherlock Holmes (developed by the same company behind Volume II) with the added twist of the Dracula licence.  Playing as the lead character arriving in London shortly after the death of your brother, you have 4 days and five nights game time to find and destroy Dracula himself.  This time limit adds an extra edge to the game, and when you arrive at a location a scene that takes 2 minutes to play may eat up an hour or more of your allowance.  Travelling between locations on the simplified map of London also takes time, and you even have to remember to sleep every now and then.  You can run for up to 48 hours without sleep, and the length of time lost is proportional to how long you've gone without rest.  Far from being an annoyance, the dreams played out in FMV whilst you sleep can give vital clues to your investigation.  The scenes at each location are time-dependent and do change according to when you visit them, but thankfully you can replay the FMV as many times as you like with no penalty and important points are automatically entered in your journal to refer back to later, though this does mean it's possible to miss a vital clue and not find out until you end up totally stuck.  The FMV is some of the best on the Mega-CD and the sound quality is as good as would be expected, though the lip-synching is a little off at times.  What does grate is the voice acting.  The lead is meant to be Texan, and his (your) accent soon becomes grating.  All the other stereotypes you'd expect are present, from "English Gentleman" and the chirpy Cockney coach driver to an unintentionally funny Austrian-German accent for Van Helsing on the help screen.  If you can forgive that and you're looking for a more slow-paced, cerebral game then this is one you can sink your teeth into (sorry).
 
This game was also released in the UK with a BBFC "15" rating printed on the discs, and the part numbers on the CDs swapped over.