Not Without its Charms
Kid Dracula for the famicom is an interesting game, it spins Castlevania on its head, it plays a little bit more like a Mega Man and its atmosphere is far more comedic and fun, but purposely so. The platforming is actually pretty great and graphically it has that Japanese cutesy style which seems to be very popular with a certain demographic, including myself. In fact, when I first saw the game I thought it was going to be a long-forgotten classic, but it's more like a great ride while it lasts.
Sonically the game is pretty great, it has little hints in the first level's song that it derives from the Castlevania series but otherwise it's very cute. Kid Dracula for the famicom is a game which exceeds expectations but falls short of being an inventive masterpiece like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Zelda.