Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

November 1,2007 - For years, NEC's Turbo Duo console has had its long-term claim to fame in the fact that it alone was the host of what many considered the greatest Castlevania game of all time, Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. However, this title was only ever available to importers, so most gamers on this side of the Pacific were held out from some of Konami's best work ever. As a result, there was an absolutely frothing demand for the game that eventually led to Konami's announcement of a 2.5D remake on the PSP, dubbed “Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles.”

The Dracula X Chronicles is actually a collection. Not only does it include the beefed-up (and even harder) remake, it also sports the Turbo Duo original and a completely new “hybrid” version of the late-90s classic, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. This new version takes elements from the PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions of the game and combines them with some entirely new additions like some redrawn sprites and a completely new English dub that meets modern standards much better than the original did. However, both older games must be unlocked by finding items containing them in the Rondo of Blood remake.

The first major note here is that Rondo of Blood does not follow the single-map “Metroidvania” structure as its sequel, Symphony of the Night. Instead, it feels more like a blend of the classic multi-route Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, and the underrated Sega Genesis installment, Bloodlines. In effect, this makes Rondo of Blood the epitome of old-school Castlevania, and leaves it very much up to the players to decide which is the better representation of the original formula – this or Super Castlevania IV. Simply put, it's a point-to-point old-school Castlevania game that includes limited backtracking within the stage you're working on, multiple boss fights per stage in some cases, and a number of different routes you can take to the end. This provides significant replay value to a Castlevania formula that is typically only good for one play-through per title.

In Rondo of Blood, you play as Symphony of the Night “antagonist” Richter Belmont. Richter handles like a typical member of the Belmont family, only using a couple of buttons to jump (X) and swing his whip (square). Items are, as usual, used by holding up on the D-pad while pressing the attack button, but there's a third button (triangle) that performs a super attack involving whatever item you happen to be carrying at the time. Finally, Richter gets a weird air back flip move in the remake, but it doesn't seem to have much room for practical application. At least it looks nice.

One way Rondo of Blood truly separates itself from its predecessors is in its difficulty. Everything you can get hit with seems to deal some pretty intense damage, and it's a lot easier to take hits in the 2.5D remake, as a lot of enemies and obstacles have been reconceived for this version toward a higher difficulty. You'll probably experience a surprising number of deaths in some particularly trying parts of the game, and some of the game's bosses are ridiculously strong, but you'll never be stuck long enough to find yourself ready to give up.

Visually, the Rondo of Blood remake and Symphony of the Night both look great. The 2.5D visuals and 3D character and enemy models both get quite a lot out of the PSP, managing to impress even through what is really an old-school Castlevania title at heart. Beyond the main game, everyone already knows how good Symphony of the Night looks, and would've gotten by just fine on its own without any visual adjustments, yet now it too has been touched up with some new sprites and a sharper look overall. The only weak link here is the original Turbo Duo version of Rondo of Blood, which is starting to show its age, but it's very hard to fault it for that as an unlockable extra in what is a very good-looking remake of itself.

The sound is as excellent as you would expect, and even more so in some spots. Whether you're listening to the Michiru Yamane tracks from Symphony of the Night or her Rondo of Blood arrangements, or the original Rondo of Blood OST by Club Kukeiha, you have some excellent music to do your vampire hunting by. The voice work is also, surprisingly, high-quality. There's nothing to complain about in Rondo of Blood, and the original Symphony of the Night English dub has been completely redone into something Konami can be proud of. Top to bottom, this is by far one of the better-sounding games in the PSP library.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is one of the most complete titles the PSP has in its library, and combined with some other key 2007 releases, sends a clear signal that it's time for gamers to start embracing this system. Castlevania has never had more content packed in than it does right here, taking what many consider the two greatest games in the series and including more dialogue, more playable characters, and other nice little extras, and throwing them into a nice, convenient, must-own $30 package.

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