What a horrible night to have a curse… On the PSP! Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles brings something that fans have been wanting for over a decade, a chance to play Akumajou Dracula X: Chi No Rondo, better known as Castlevania: Rondo of Blood… But that’s not all. IGA and the fine folks at Konami not only revamped Rondo in 2.5D stylings, but they’re also including the original PCE-CD version of Rondo, AND a reworked Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as well… All on one UMD! *SCHWING* Check out our review after the jump!

MARK JULIO

Being a huge fan of the Castlevania series I can’t help but admit I was VERY skeptical at the thought of a 2.5D remake of one of my favorite old school CV titles… I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think the game does look great now, but I was jaded by the corny bits and pops of the original on PCE-CD. It was old school, it FELT old school, and I loved it. So I wasn’t too keen on this remake… at first…

After Konami sent us early builds of the game and I got to experience it more, I was thinking… “Hey this actually works out pretty well…” So after dozens of hours of gameplay and whippin’ it up with good old Richter, I’ve come to realize that not only am I satisfied with the remake… But it made me appreciate the original that much more, which is, of course, a good thing. It also helps that the original is an unlockable in this game! In Rondo of Blood you take control of young vampire hunter Richter Belmont. Richter is on a quest to save his beloved Annette, whom was kidnapped by the dark priest known as Shaft(You’re damn right). Your quest takes you on the traditional Castlevania level based design where you must work your way through a level, defeat a boss, then attempt to clear the next area. It’s a tried and true formula with a twist. Depending on certain things you do while playing through a level, there is a possibility that you will branch off on an alternate path and as a result, an alternate stage. True CV freaks will find themselves trying to discover every possible path and alternate stage to fully complete the game and achieve the true ending.

Along the way you will find certain items which unlock a number of things. Ranging from music tracks that can be played in the sound test mode, to the original Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, a reworked Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, a new playable character, and even a mini game that was thought to be lost forever. The replay value is there, especially for you completionist freaks… It’s a rewarding type of replay, so make sure you do everything there is to do!

The game looks and sounds wonderful. Receiving a full face lift, Rondo has never looked so good. It retains the classic feel and delivers an appreciative new design, that is both befitting and eye appealing. Japanophiles will be happy to know that you have the option of either English or Japanese voices.

Both of the classic titles are a most welcome addition to this collection. The emulation plays well and is kept in it’s classic ratio. So keep that in mind. The only gripe I have is, if you’re using an older model PSP, some of the dpad motions are damn near impossible to do in Symphony of the Night. IMPOSSIBLE.

Kudos to IGA and his team for putting together a wonderful collection for Castlevania fans. If you’ve never experienced a CV before, there is no excuse. Two of the better(if not best) games in the series are packaged together… What are you waiting for?!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Konami, PSP, Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.