The legendary action game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (the "lost" chapter never seen before outside of Japan) is reborn on the PSP system with incredible 3D graphics and timeless side scrolling gameplay in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. Gamers take up the Vampire Killer whip as Richter Belmont as they seek to destroy the maniacal Dracula once and for all in this pivotal piece of the ongoing Castlevania saga. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles also includes unlockable versions of the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night games delivering incredible gameplay and value while updating two of the most beloved video games of all time for a new generation of gamers.Format: SONY PSP Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: RP UPC: 083717260363 Manufacturer No: 26036
Features:
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Retro side scrolling action through more than 10 gothic stages and additional hidden areas
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New song collection system adds additional depth to classic gameplay
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Return to previously completed levels to explore and uncover new secrets
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Includes the original classic Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night games, optimized for PSP system
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22 of 24 found the following review helpful:
I bought a second PSP for this game...Oct 26, 2007
By Jake Danzig That's right, this game is that worth it. Many years ago I bought the original version of Rondo of Blood for the Turbo Duo for $200 and even to this day I regard it not only as my favorite Castlevania ever, but probably my favorite video game ever. I also regard Symphony of the Night as one of the best, and if you're a fan of SOTN and have not played this, you are severely missing out. SOTN basically took everything from this game and expanded on it, turning it into a super metroid style game. You'll notice that most of the monster and character designs in SOTN were pulled directly from Rondo of Blood. Some peole may argue that SOTN is better. However, it's hard to compare the games to each other because the layout schemes are so different.
The best way I can describe it is as follows - Rondo of Blood is the hands down king of the old style [linear] Castlevania games, SOTN is the best of the newer metroid style [free-roam] Castlevania games. To own both of these on one disc is worth far more than the $30 price tag.
Quite possibly the most superior aspect of Rondo of Blood compared to ALL other Castlevania games (including SOTN)is the music. The soundtrack is the most top notch you will ever find in a video game and it makes for an extremely satisfying experience (don't get me wrong, SOTN also has an insanely good soundtrack, but it completely lakcs any original Castlevania remakes - Rondo of Blood has most of the classics). The game designers were obviously aware of the superiority of the score and that is most likely why so much of this remake focuses on music collection and customization. That's right, you can actually take songs from the orginal Rondo of Blood or SOTN and place whatever tracks in whatever levels you want of the remake! For me, this completely enhances replayability. Bored of the game? Well try substituting the orignal soundtrack into the new game, or better yet throw in some SOTN clasics like "Wandering Ghosts" or "The Tragic Prince" and see how the levels play out. It may not seem like much to some, but this is actually one of the greatest features I could have asked for.
As far as difficulty, this game is probably on par with Castlevania 1 or 3. Some people will complain that the play control in Rondo of Blood is not as good as in SOTN or Castlevania 4 for SNES, but to be honest with you, I think these people are way too spoiled on the newer Castlevania games, and the point behind Rondo of Blood is to keep the classic NES Castlevnia play control intact. Rondo of Blood truly is the missing link between the older and newer Castlevania generations.
All good points aside, there are a couple of criticisms I have about the remake. First off, Richter's backflip was a pretty handy technique in the orginal Rondo of Blood because it played smoothly into the controls, but in this remake it is absolutely ridiculous. I find myself accidentally doing backflips almost everytime I jump. In fact, I'd say unintentional backflipping is my number one cause of death in this game. I didn't remember the backflip being such a nuisance in the original so I figured maybe it was just weird because I was playing it on a PSP, but when I unlocked he original and started playing it, everything seemed as normal as ever, so this is obviously an annoyance exclusive to the remake. It's so bad it's hard to not choose Maria over Richter every level.
Another small gripe I have is about the screen size settings of the original Rondo of Blood and SOTN games included. First off, full screen is a must, unless you like feeling like you're playing a gameboy game on a TV with a super gameboy adapter. Full screen mode does eliminate the bottom borders, but still leave you with the side borders, which you fill in by choosing on of a few different frames. The frames all look completely lame, and why they could not allow you to choose just a solid black frame is beyond me. And I do realize these are old games that were made years ago to fit different resolutions, but come on - I had the original Rondo of Blood on my PSP over a year ago with an emulator and was still able to choose a stretched fit that looked fine, so this cheesy border thing is just inexcusable.
One final complaint about the originals is the voice acting. Rondo of Blood was never made in English, so I can't complain too much about the voices and dialogue. But there was absolutely no reason to toy around with the voice acting in SOTN. The voices are definitely different, and I even think some of the direct dialogue has been changed. Besides Richter now sounding like a whiny kid and Death, instead of sounding like a skeleton, now sounds like just some regular dude, the changes are in fact probably better overall because, to be honest with you, the voice acting is the original SOTN was just plain terrible. However, going back and changing something so major from what was supposed to be an "original game" definitely seems to diminish it's authenticity.
In summary, despite some minor undesirable nuances, this is still the best game released for the PSP to date, and if you're a Castlevania fan picking it up shouldn't even be a second thought. This is a great opportunity to own two of the best games ever made, along with a semi-decent remake enhanced with tremendous sountrack customization. I may as well toss the game case, because this game is never coming out of my PSP.
19 of 22 found the following review helpful:
Decent remake on a classic, a few bonuses, and...Nov 24, 2007
By Brandon Abedor
"Doctor Cain"
First and foremost, I gotta start out with the one aspect of the game I hated the most-- the voice acting. Oh sure, you've heard whining about it countless times, but this game seems to find room near the bottom of my list of worsts. It's not sound quality, that's definetly there. But if you've played Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night and loved the voices in that game, you'll feel cheated here. I can't help but comment how late-20th century "American" the new voices sound --both in accented speech and in chosen words-- for something supposedly set in 16th century central Europe. Anyone remember how erotic Maria sounded as she pronounced "Richter" in CSOTN? That's gone. Gone is the deep, dark voice of Shaft, replaced with what sounds like a mid-20-year-old. So is Dracula's commanding voice of grandeur. It may just be me, but almost all the voices are replaced with, what seems like, an almost identicle voice actor to every character in the game (aside a few of the females). I'm sure they are different, but...they are just TOO similar for my tastes. I haven't played through completely to give my full accessment, but there IS an option to change it to the original Japanese voices. Are these the same Japanese voices as 10 years ago? Probably not, but Japan does a much better job picking appropriate voice actors for their games than we (Americans) do.
I really don't mean to b*tch and moan, but the game had alot of other things that kind of irritated me. For instance, if you want to play CSOTN or Rondo of Blood from the main menu, select it, then go grab yourself a Latte, because it takes at LEAST 45 seconds for the game to load. Music, too, from these classic games takes a few seconds to load. No, it's not the end of the world, and this is a minor nitpick, but when you're used to the PSX version smoothly transitioning music between tracks, you really notice the 3 - 4 second silence. This probably could not be helped.
Okay, now for the good stuff. The plot is the same as almost every other Castlevania-- Dracula is back, and your job is to kill 'im. The graphics are GREAT in the remake game. The backgrounds, baddies, and cut scenes, though short, are a real treat for something on this platform. It has alot of replay value, since you need to accomplish a few things before getting the best ending. The music, most remixed, a few new "replaced" themes, is fantatic (EXCEPT for Dance Of Illusions, which kind of disappointed me). The sound effects-- most were really good, and some were...not. For example, a few of the cut scenes were stock. The "crashing" door the Minotaur made sounded like loud knocking. The skulls Death controlled made a humming harmonica-ish sound, which just came off as silly. Other than that, the rest was gravy.
Before you purchase, take note that this is modeled after classic Castlevania, where the controls are stiff, the baddies have the upper hand in movement, and it takes REAL skill to maneuver your character around and out of danger. This means 4 - 5 hits equals death, whether it be at the blade of an enormous ax, balls of fire and chaos, or simply landing on a frog. Also note that because of it's age and genre, the characters can be slow for some. This is old school at it's finest, my friend.
If you've trained yourself not to care at all about some aspects and love the Castlevania series, then give this game a shot. But if it's the complete package of cutting-edge graphics, music, control, plot, and voice work, you'll have some complaints.
PROS: It's Castlevania Original Games Symphony Of the Night, Rondo Of Blood Improved Graphics and music on the remake Switch between Japanese/English voices Old school feel / Challenging
CONS: Nothing too new Voices and dialogue completely changed, and suck big time Old school feel / Difficult for some If you beat the game, viewing the ENTIRE list of credits is mandatory... EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
24 of 32 found the following review helpful:
NOT For the Casual GamerOct 16, 2008
By Darth Knight First thing first, if this were a review for "Symphony of the Night," and "Symphony of the Night" only, there would be 5 shiny gold stars at the top. However, this is a review for "The Dracula X Chronicles," the largest part of which is the remake of "Rondo of Blood"--thus: 1 star for including "SotN" as BONUS CONTENT (you'll have to beat "Rondo" to play "Symphony"), and 2 stars for "Rondo of Blood." Now I know that such a rating will border on blasphemy to the Castlevania faithful, but so be it. This isn't a review for them. This is for any but the most hardcore gamers who are Castlevania fans, for those who might be as turned off as I was by this game's most serious deficiency: playability. I define "playability" as the X factor [meaning it may be many things in many different games] that causes the player to never want to put the game down; it's the thing that keeps you up into the early hours of the morning playing "just one more level." And, most importantly, it's the thing that puts a smile on your face. Playability leaves you anxious for more, and satisfied once you've finished that 100% completion; it's the thing that makes you just the tiniest bit unhappy when you're done because you don't know how long it will be before you have such a rich, rewarding gaming experience again. It is this type of playability that "Rondo" lacks. It's a beautiful game to look at, and it certainly delivers a solid 3D/2D side-scrolling Castlevania experience. BUT that experience is hampered by the masochistic difficulty of the game. I'm all for challenging gameplay, and I wholeheartedly believe that a game should reward the gamer's developing skills by increasing in difficulty as levels get higher, but "Rondo of Blood" is punishingly, frustratingly difficult from the beginning--and extremely unforgiving of small mistakes: time and again you will find yourself taking damage due to the most miniscule misplacement of your character, and even small enemies deal out damage that drains large amounts from your health meter. Again, I love a good challenge, but I also like to be rewarded for gaining the skills to overcome that challenge. I want that feeling of satisfaction that comes when you know you've finally figured out the key to passing a certain level or beating a certain enemy--that you've risen to the challenge. Unfortunately, that feeling is rare with "Rondo." Rather, the feeling I most often had at the end of a level was relief that I'd finally broken through, and the suspicion that it was luck more than anything else that finally got me there. And I was usually ready to turn the game off, which in my opinion is the one emotion that a game should never, ever evoke in a player: you should always shut down your system with regret, not relief! And, more than anything, the gamer should NEVER want to throw his controller (or entire system in this case) out of frustration. I'm looking for positive emotions from my gaming experiences, and that type of deep frustration is as negative as it gets--but it's one that I felt all too often playing "Rondo of Blood." I am a very casual gamer (2 or 3 titles per year), and there are just too many good games out there for me to spend time on anything that delivers so much frustration and so little satisfaction. I love Castlevania, and "Symphony of the Night" is my favorite game of all time, but I just can't recommend "The Dracula X Chronicles" to anyone but the most hardcore Castlevania fans.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A classic gets its long-awaited released in the USNov 04, 2007
By Marianna Bartold [This review is from one of my sons.]Back in 1997 when 'Castlevania: Symphony of the Night' was released, I was instantly enthralled with the series, and I've been wanting more ever since. The game I wanted the very most, however, was the original game with Richter. I once had a test-play on Dracula X at a PlaySource store, but it wasn't long before I learned that the said title was a pathetic redo of an awesome legendary PC game only released in Japan. I was severely disappointed that this awesome title would never rest in my hands. Fortunately, 9 months ago I received word of the PSP port and remake and instantly decided that I would be getting a PSP just for this.
After finally playing the Remake, the Original Rondo and Symphony again, I realize that this game is a complete steal - $30 for two (three, if you count the Remake and Original as separate) legendary games on a handheld. The Super Nintedo game "Dracula X" is not included, but Rondo of Blood is much better anyway. You have to unlock the original games, but you will so happy to play the Remake and look around for its secrets this shouldn't take long. You even can unlock "Akumajyo Dracula Peke", a silly Easter egg that originally played on the original PC game when said PC was imcompatible with the disc.
About the Remake: the game is really fun, and has great graphics, almost like a 2D game with a Lament of Innocence look. After playing the Original Rondo all the way through, I realized this Remake is not exactly the same - there are some various changes throughout, such as having to find all the maidens before being able to rescue Annette, and having to fight the Hydra on level 5'. If you save all the maidens, you also have to Dracula in a third form, much harder than the first two (which you can almost easily beat without a scratch). There are also various puzzles to find various record discs which you can use to Assign Music to different stages. Said music includes music from all three games. It can be quite funny to fight Dracula with the Long Library's (from SotN) music!
The Original Rondo was somewhat more fun to play for me; for some reason I have a taste for old school games, even the remake is awesome. The graphics in this game are great too, considering it was made 14 years ago. While no doubt still being challenging, it is a bit easier than some of the older titles, such as the very first Castlevania. The Item Crash also gives you an edge, as does the backflip(which actually works better than it does in SotN) against enemies, especially against a large horde attacking all at once. After playing through all the stages, alternative stages and all, you can see why they called this the Holy Grail of the old school games.
Symphony of the Night is something most CV gamers probably already have, but for some reason playing it on a handheld makes it more convenient and fun. This game is not exactly the same as the PS version, as there are new familiars from the Saturn Japan Only version, as well a fight with Maria and being able to play her once you beat the game but, sadly, the missing levels were not added. If they were going to add so much Saturn additions, why not include all of the addition features? Still, the additions to the classic game are interesting, even though I would have liked to have seen the two extra levels as well.
As I have said before, this game is a steal. It is cheaper than most other PSP games and, in my opinion, is the best PSP game on the market currently. A lost (and awesome, and vital) chapter in the Castlevania series is finally here in the US, so if you want a thrill and a bundle of fun for weeks (and years of replaying), look no further. You're looking at a bundle of the two best games of both generations of Castlevania gaming.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A must for Castlevania fansOct 26, 2007
By J. Harvey I'm a late adopter of the PSP, having bought it when the PSP Slim was first released as part of the PSP Daxter Entertainment Pack - Ice Silver. At the time, I didn't know that this game was coming, and I hesitated, not knowing if the PSP would be worth the cash when I have much more faith in Nintendo systems. Mega Man Powered Up was what pushed me over the edge, but if I had known about this, I would have bought the PSP with that much more confidence. This game is a Castlevania fan's dream. If you are one, and own a PSP, stop reading this immediately and buy the game. If you're less familiar with the series, read on.
"Akumaj' Dracula X Chi no Rondo", or "Demon Castle Dracula X Rondo of Blood", was released in 1993 for the PC Engine Super CD, a CD-based add-on to the PC Engine, known as TurboGrafx-16 in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 was never particularly popular here, and the Super CD was quite rare, perhaps impossible to find in some areas. As such, Rondo of Blood never made it to America. When PC-based console emulation became popular in the late 90's and beyond, American gamers re-discovered Rondo of Blood, playing it in its original Japanese on the Magic Engine, a PC Engine/Super CD emulator. For those who did so, they needed to either buy the game from an auction site, which could cost $100 or more, or download it illegally, a questionable practice. With either method, if said gamer does not know Japanese, the plot is completely lost; despite this, many hardcore Castlevania fans enjoyed the game regardless, hailing Rondo of Blood as one the finest of the early Castlevania games.
14 years after its original Japanese release, Rondo of Blood is back in a remastered 2.5D format, with CGI cinematic sequences and live voice acting in both English and Japanese - though, interestingly, the opening cinematic is in German with subtitles. Even if you don't prefer remastered games, the original PC Engine version is unlockable by finding a special item hidden in the remastered game (NOT by simply beating the remastered game). Also lurking in the game is an unlockable version of the PlayStation classic, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night! Additional new features include audio track items that enable you to customize the music in the game, boss strategies that can be purchased with money dropped from enemies, and four prisoners to rescue, three of which grant you new abilities and one an additional playable character. All of the levels of Rondo of Blood have two exits, which lead to a "normal" path and an "alternate" path. From the file select screen you can choose to replay any level you've completed, in case you want to search for pick-ups or prisoners you've missed.
Rondo of Blood is a fairly short, highly difficult game, though truly no more difficult than the first three NES Castlevania games I grew up with. Most NES games (Contra, another Konami game, comes to mind here) stretched replay value by making games so hard that you'd routinely throw a controller out the window. While I don't recommend doing that with a PSP, Rondo of Blood may seem incredibly challenging to less experienced players. Although you can complete the entire game solely as the whip-wielding Richter Belmont, rescuing Maria Renard in Stage 2 is highly recommended, as the game is much easier to complete with her. She is more frail, but her double-jump and unique variety of special weapons makes even Dracula a pushover to defeat.
Symphony of the Night, being a bit easier and a lot longer in gameplay, nicely balances the nasty, brutish and short experience that is Rondo of Blood. If you're a veteran of the PlayStation or Saturn version, you may notice that the entire game has been re-done with new voice acting (minor unimportant changes have been introduced in the script as well), two new familiars - helper characters - have been added, one new boss has been added and one new playable character has been added as an extra after beating the game as Alucard. Even if you've played it before, it's definitely worth a replay or two.
The only downside to this game is that none of it is really "new". If you know Japanese, have played the Japanese version of Rondo of Blood, and have played any version of Symphony of the Night, you MIGHT just be bored with this - but if you're a hardcore enough Castlevania fan to have imported Rondo of Blood, you'll probably want to pick this game up anyway. If you're against 2D games in general, though, you might as well skip this one.
based on 56 reviews
( 56 customer reviews )
