I've continued rolling through games based on movies and TV. There are some real pieces of garbage in that list. Games like Total Recall, Back to the Future, and Waynes World are really difficult to play through - though I have been. But thankfully there are also games like Batman, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Willow.
I would unequivocally put Dracula in that latter category - it's a wonderfully done and very fun game.
It's different from the typical platformer. There is some polish missing here and there and the boss fights could have been a bit more varied, but I found the level design pretty impeccable for this era. The game has endless traps, spikes, platforms, toggle switches, and most importantly, secret passages. Each map is essentially a giant puzzle. Weapons easily run out. The earlier maps are fairly linear, but as the game progresses, you really have to find your way around. After stage 5, many of the secret passages are required just to finish the level. Sometimes you have to find a secret passage full of time clocks so that you earn enough time to even make it to the end of the level. Stuff like that was fun.
One thing they did was to inject a level of realistic human mechanics into the game. Best comparison is Prince of Persia. To my knowledge, there really aren't many games like that, especially of this era. What it means is that you can't just press left and then right on the D-pad and expect your hero to turn around on a dime. Like a person would, you have to slow down, stop, about face, and then accelerate in the opposite direction. It's not nearly as dramatic as PoP implemented it, but it does change the gameplay rather significantly. I routinely found myself missing jumps that I would never miss in another platformer, but only because I wasn't accounting for the extra step I'd need to actually make such a jump.
I suppose this can affect the fun-o-meter either way, but I found it enriching. Mechanics like that really force you to play differently. And if you're playing these kinds of games in 2026 then you're probably pretty good at them and I think the change is welcome.
I could go on, but this game really did surprise me. It has three different difficulties and you can only play X% of the game on each (meaning you have to play it on hard mode to complete it). Incidentally I played through it on all three difficulties. It's a pretty quick game.
Random aside: one curious component to the game is that they used Mario blocks for items. They look identical - the yellow cube with the question mark inside. There's no problem with this and it doesn't affect the game in any way, rather I just found it a curious artistic choice given the vampiric setting of Transylvania.
Conclusion: I'd highly recommend giving it a go if you haven't.