How can I sum up the wasted potential of this game?  A 16 bit graphic adventure game for the Lynx based on Bram Stoker's Dracula!  I guess my harshness is based on the contrast between what should have been a slam dunk and the game they ended up with.  It is slow, unengaging, boring... I'll try to explain why I think so.  

The gameplay consists of living out the book of Dracula.  Interestingly, they have an opening movie (probably intended to be cinematic) in which Bram Stoker, the author, sits by a fire and explains how modern technology makes the interactivity of the game possible.  This is the first of many disappointments--of all the opening movies they could have done, including telling the story of Jonathan Harker's spooky trip to the castle (you know, like the book and every Dracula movie ever), they instead strip away the immersion by reminding the player that it's just a book by having the author introduce the thing.  You are next placed in the castle with a very cumbersome interface that allows you to perform various verbs on your environment.  Gameplay basically consists of doing everything possible to every object you come across, slowly pushing the plot forward, and remembering to take notes in your journal every time something significant happens if you want the best ending.  This interface is part of the problem... Rather than having a quick and easy 4-part menu (use item, look, operate/get, talk), there is a verb for just about every possible specific action you might do later in the game including "climb".  "look" and "examine" are separate verbs, and it all adds up to an immediate feeling of disconnection, as you must struggle slowly to perform the most simple tasks, rather than breezing through what should be simple tasks so you can get to the spooky stuff.  

The gameplay, apart from suffering from a bad interface, faces more problems than just that.  Even when you struggle past the interface in hopes of enjoying the game, by putting the player on rails trying to act out the book, with the exception of slight deviations from the plot when you can die (talk to Dracula without wearing the crucifix), you are basically tasked with wandering the castle required to do every little thing required to advance the plot in the way the developers pre-destined you were supposed to do it.  There is never a sense that you are supposed to do something important, just wander around and do everything in case some little thing is required by the pre-determined plot.  

The graphics, while impressive for mobile, smack of missed potential.  The Lynx is a powerful 16-bit platform, so the decision to embrace a somewhat black-and-white visual style does not come across and spooky and atmospheric as was no doubt intended.  What could have been presented as spooky, dark blue moonlight shining across Dracula's Castle, with blood shown in bright red when necessary, all spooky, gothic and Dracula like, EVERYTHING is presented in various shades of brown.  BROWN!!!  It doesn't even look like a black and white movie, it looks like a brown and white movie!!!  It is admittedly superior to monochromatic brown-and-black, there are at least shades, but a colorful presentation of the environment would have been an improvement.  

I like the music in the game, it is spooky.  Also, the plot is great, it's Dracula, it's just a shame that you feel like you have to act out the book the way it was written, you never feel like you can forge your own experience video-game style.  Sometimes the cinema scenes are interesting, when Dracula's ladies say they "must have their share" of blood by killing the player they are shown in a still cinema scene, it was effective advertising back in the day to show that scene and promise a somewhat racy adventure, having the lovely ladies trying to suck the blood of the player, but they did not warn the would-be gamer that the experience delivered is slow, boring, and discouraging.  It's not worth drudging through the slow, directionless gameplay in order to get little bits of spookiness when Dracula's ladies want to suck your blood.  

Great review, a lot of detail was put into the review.

Wow, I can't believe it took so long to get one reply to this review? 

This was a decent review, I enjoyed reading it. I like that you used great words to describe certain elements of the game. This review was well detailed and a lot of thought has obviously went into this review. I really admired how you broke the review down into different sections, this made it very easy to read and I thoroughly enjoyed that. 

I'm also a reviewer and I can you have potential. If you push yourself a little further you could be a great writer. Perhaps tell us how addicting the game is, the story line, and how deep is the game (Is there much to do in the game, if yes, what?)

I hope you make more reviews, GOOD LUCK!

Apparently Dracula games have a trend of being bad. Look at AVGN's video about it for more info.

But anyways, epic review! Good job!