Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

Richter Belmont, the last hero of the Belmont family, ventures into a deadly labyrinth.

JP release: 29th October 1993
NA release: 15th March 2010
EU release: 18th March 2010
AKA: . Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Japan)
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Diehard GameFan Magazine Review: 98%
Platforms: PC Engine CD
Version Played: PC Engine CD

Until now, only various versions of the first Castlevania had made it to non-Nintendo systems, with Rondo or Blood being the first Castlevania made from the ground up for a new platform, that being the PC Engine, also known as the TurboGrafx-16 outside of Japan. This remained a Japanese exclusive for quite a while.

The game follows Richter Belmont, a descendant of Simon, as he heads off to rescue his girlfriend and defeat Dracula. This makes the first time the series has moved forward in the timeline since Simon’s Quest, and this features a few animated and voiced cutscenes.

The game starts off with a set price where you fight death from a horse and cart then proceed to fight your way to the castle. Everything feels a lot more cinematic, with lots of moving parts and some impressive backgrounds. It’s quite lovely to look at with plenty of wow moments throughout.

You’re back to the standard whip movement, but it feels better than ever. The enemies have a lot more animation, with a focus on telegraphing attacks so you can plan your dodging a lot more, with Richter feeling more manoeuvrable than any previous Belmont. It just feels great to play.

When you complete the game, something will feel off. You’ll probably not have saved Annette, Richter’s girlfriend. It turns lot that she’s hidden quite well, as are a couple of other people to rescue, which usually involves finding well hidden keys, such as one that is behind one specific candle during a chase sequence. One handy thing is you can replay levels to unlock extra stuff.

One of these hostages is Maria, a fellow vampire hunter that you can play as once you rescue her. She has a double jump and is an absolute delight to control. She uses magic animal familiars, with doves being her main attack, and her subweapons are different animals – you can kill demons by throwing cats at them. She’s also very powerful, with her attacks doing a load of damage.

There’s also some extra stages to find, and these are hidden extremely well, with routes between hidden walls or having to do something on one screen then backtrack. I have no idea how people could find them without a guide, but at least the levels are enjoyable and a good reward.

Rondo of Blood takes what Castlevania III does and improves upon it even more, and for me it completely outshines Super Castlevania 4. It’s a brilliant example of the classic Castlevania format at its finest.

Fave

Dracula X is the perfect CD game. The graphics, music, length, and difficulty level are all perfect. And being able to find so many secret levels make this game totally re-playable. It’s to bad it comes at a time when the DUO is dead. Games like this would have made the Turbo a contender. Games this good are one in a hundred these days. Konami excels on the PC Eng. CD
Skid, Diehard Game Fan Magazine Vol 2 Issue 1

Remake or remaster?

A new release of the original would be great.

Official Ways to get the game

This is available as part of Castlevania Requiem on PS4.