Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
A 2.5D remake of Rondo of Blood with added content.
In 2007, Konami released Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PlayStation Portable. This platformer remakes 1993's Castlevania: Rondo of Blood with 2.5D visuals, and it was the first time that game appeared outside Japan. The package also includes an English-localized version of the original Rondo of Blood and an enhanced edition of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from 1997.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Konami
- Director
- Akihiro Minakata
- Producer
- Koji Igarashi
- Artist
- Ayami Kojima
- Composer
- Michiru Yamane
- Masanori Akita
- Yuichi Tsuchiya
- Akihiro Honda
- Yasuhiro Ichihashi
- Series
- Castlevania
- Platforms
- PlayStation Portable
- Genre
- Platform
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The Dracula X Chronicles tweaks Rondo of Blood's gameplay with a few new features. Two fresh obstacles appear: a wall of red skeletons and a barrier made of crystal. To break these, players must rescue Tera and Iris, who each provide a necessary item. The puzzles for saving Iris and Annette are different from the original. Stage 5 gets a redesigned layout and a new boss called the Hydra. If Annette is not rescued, the player fights a vampire version of her instead of Shaft's ghost in Stage 7, which results in a bad ending. If Annette is saved, that vampire boss moves to an alternate exit in Stage 5. After rescuing Annette and defeating Shaft's ghost, Dracula gains a third form that must be beaten to get the true ending. New dialogue scenes are added, and existing ones are changed or extended. Brief cutscenes before boss fights are fully voiced in both English and Japanese, and players can pick their preferred language in the options. Stage 8 is now called "Bloodlines," matching the introduction level's title from the English version of Symphony of the Night. A Boss Rush mode, first seen in Harmony of Dissonance, offers four courses with different boss lineups and supports two-player co-op over the PSP's Ad-Hoc wireless. Ayami Kojima, who designed characters for Symphony of the Night, provides new character art. The original Rondo of Blood is unlockable and stays mostly the same as the PC Engine version, but it gets new English voice acting, a slightly tweaked script, and the choice between English or Japanese audio. The original German intro is kept, but a programming bug makes the audio and video fall out of sync.
Audio
The soundtrack from the original Rondo of Blood has been rearranged and remastered, plus two new tracks are present. Stage 5' gets an original piece called "Red Dawn," and Stage 7 uses "MoonFight" from Castlevania Chronicles. The boss theme "Poison Mind" is absent from the Stage 6 fights against the original Castlevania bosses, but it still plays during the final stage. A Sound Assign feature lets players pick background music from this game, the original Rondo of Blood, or Symphony of the Night. These songs are unlocked as hidden records or as rewards for finishing Boss Rush mode.
Reception
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles received an aggregate score of 80/100 on Metacritic. Ryan Clements of IGN wrote that the game looked pretty good and that the new 2.5D graphics gave it an interesting aesthetic appeal, praising the cutscenes and rearranged musical score but calling the new voice acting questionable. He noted the branching level design but said the old-school gameplay would turn away players accustomed to Symphony of the Night's mechanics. 8BitBrian of Destructoid compared the bundle to The Orange Box, calling the game a jarring experience compared to newer Castlevania titles; he enjoyed it more on a second playthrough but complained about poor hit detection and stiff, poorly delivered voice acting, while praising the remake's graphics and preferring playing as Maria for her double jump. Matthew Kumar of Eurogamer described it as a release made for and by Castlevania fans, stating that while he did not particularly enjoy the remake, the inclusions of the original title and Symphony of the Night made it better value. He called the jumping much harder in 3D and criticized holding diagonals to walk up stairs as unbearable on the PSP, calling the remake too rigid to be rewarding and saying its saving grace was unlocking Maria, whose quick attack and double jump made the game bearable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles?
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles was directed by Akihiro Minakata.
Who composed the music for Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles?
The music for Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles was composed by Michiru Yamane, Masanori Akita, Yuichi Tsuchiya, Akihiro Honda and Yasuhiro Ichihashi.
Is Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles single-player or multiplayer?
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles offers single-player and multiplayer play.
More in Konami Games of the 2000s
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