Bram Stoker's Dracula/Gameplay

HUD

 * Points
 * Lives
 * Health
 * Item
 * Boss health

Power-ups

 * Long sword
 * Dynamite
 * Stakes
 * Full health
 * Extra life

Movement
Jonathan Harker moves around like he's on ice. When controlling him, you will accelerate slowly until you reach a maximum speed, and you can hop/slide around by tapping while moving (this is useful if you need to change directions quickly). You can also tap left or right to take small steps or turn to face the other direction without moving (this is useful against a few bosses).

Remember that you can hop down from certain ledges, such as wooden planks and objects, by pressing.

If you fall a long distance, Jonathan will crouch for a moment as he braces himself. During this time you will be unable to move.

Combat and enemies
Enemies can take many hits before they die. This makes your items fairly useless against them, and if you're stuck with a short sword, defeating enemies safely can be very difficult. The main issue with fighting is finding the right spot so your weapon will collide with the enemy's hitbox. Typically, Jonathan must be just about touching an enemy to be able to strike them with the short sword (with the long sword, you shouldn't have issues judging the distance).

Remember that you can attack while ducking. This is vital when small creatures are around (e.g. rats and spiders). If you have the long sword, ducking can be bypassed.

Some enemies throw objects at you. You can destroy these by attacking them. With the long sword, objects far above the striking range of the weapon (i.e. by Jonathan's head) can be destroyed.

Bosses
When you get to a boss, the game freezes and the text "Beware" appears at the top of the screen for a few moments. As the game resumes, a large flask with orange contents appears in place of the text. This flask represents the boss' health. As you damage a boss, the flask will empty. When the contents are gone, the boss will explode and you will progress to the next level.

Stages
Each stage in the game has a similar objective (you try to do the same thing in many of the levels). The two types of stages are:
 * 1) Find Van Helsing and then reach the exit.
 * 2) Move from one part of the stage to the end where a boss resides. This type of level typically presents check points in the form of braziers.

Van Helsing
In levels with Van Helsing, you will notice a small arrow at the top center of the screen. At the start of the stage, this arrow will point you towards Van Helsing. When you find him, he will reveal that a weapon is present in the level (it doesn't appear until you find Van Helsing).

After finding Van Helsing, the arrow will point towards the exit. You can either choose to find the weapon that Van Helsing hinted at, or head directly to the end. In some cases you will have to find an object or switch to open a blocked passageway.

Check points
In boss stages, you'll often find braziers placed at certain points in the level. If you strike a brazier, it will light up, indicating that it has been activated. If you happen to die, you will be given life once more at the brazier that was activated. If you die before reaching a brazier, or forget to strike one, you will appear at the beginning of the level.