Hunting Dracula at Home and Abroad

For those who had a fetish for Japanese games in the ’90s, gaming can best be described as a series of tragedies. One of the greatest of these was the failure of many Japanese development houses to localize and release games with mature or religious themes for the English-speaking audience. Unquestionably, the other biggest tragedy was when games were developed for platforms that were successful in Japan but nearly nonexistent in America, assuring that those games would never cross the Pacific.

Perhaps the greatest combination of these two tragedies was Konami’s exquisite Demon Castle Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, developed for the obscure PC Engine. The 10th release in the long-running and incredibly popular Castlevania series, Chi no Rondo—Rondo of Blood in English—never saw release on American shores. That is, until now.

After nearly 15 years, Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi has finally brought the game to North American audiences in one hell of a bundle: Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles. Containing a totally new 3-D remake of Rondo, the original version of Rondo, and a tweaked port of the 1997 Playstation classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Dracula X Chronicles is a great introduction to a game long missing in action.

Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles marks the first time that gamers can actually experience Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, which is a direct sequel to Rondo, as part of one cohesive package. Gamers who remember Symphony know the game begins exactly where Rondo left off, but because Rondo never quite made it to America, the actual details have always been a little fuzzy. Now whole, the package finally makes sense both in terms of its narrative and its mechanics.

Those who began playing Castlevania after Symphony’s release might find themselves a little perplexed when they pop in this forgotten relic—the gameplay is fundamentally different from latter entries in the series. The adventure is broken up into linear platforming levels, and there are essentially no role-playing game elements—no leveling up, hit points, or learning spells. But somewhat like Symphony, the player can choose to take any number of paths through the game, which features numerous hidden branching paths and secret alternative levels.

The Rondo remake is extremely faithful to the original game. Players once again take on the role of Richter Belmont, latest in the famous clan tasked with killing Lord Dracula whenever he pops up in Romania. Though the remake uses 3-D polygons instead of 2-D sprites, it’s still presented from a 2-D perspective. The graphics, while decidedly low-rent compared to big-budget projects on the PSP like God of War or Syphon Filter, do look very nice in motion.

The music, which was absolutely phenomenal in the original, has all been remixed extremely carefully—it’s hard to believe that it’s now even more awesome, featuring real electric guitars and even the rare appearance of a church organ.
Most importantly, the gameplay is entirely intact: the levels are hardly altered—if at all—and all the enemies are still in their original places. The added cut-scenes, complete with voice acting, serve to better cement the links between Rondo and Symphony, and they do so pretty well.

Purists may be interested to know that they can check out the original Rondo without these newfangled polygons and newly synthesized music. The original game has been included, and it is fully translated into English. It runs well on the PSP (which is surely emulating the PC Engine), with only a few minor frame drops. Also great is the ability to apply the original’s music to the appropriate levels in the remake, allowing for ultimate customization of one’s Rondo experience.

Symphony has been completely retranslated and revoiced, though the new translation is still relatively quirky. One has to wonder if Igarashi cared enough to get a native English speaker to review the script before going to print. Sadly, though, Dracula’s classic condemnation of man as a “miserable little pile of secrets” did not make the cut. For shame, Igarashi, for shame.

All in all, this package is another one of those excellent values that gamers should really pick up—you’ve got three classics here. Even if the Castlevania purist out there casts off the Rondo remake for sentimental reasons, the original Rondo and the fabulous Symphony are included at no extra cost. Dracula X Chronicles makes a great addition to any vampire hunter’s collection.