Blood, Sweat, and Tears! Let's Play Castlevania: Dracula X!

Hello there! I know Castlevania is quite popular around these parts, so I thought I'd look at a title that's not so popular. Readers may be less likely to have played this one too seriously, but should be familiar enough with the series to discuss how this entry measures up.



Our game is, of course, Dracula X (aka: Dracula XX or Vampire's Kiss, both of which sound more suggestive than they should). Just to catch up anyone who may not know the background here: In 1993, Konami released a Castlevania game that translated into English as Rondo of Blood. It only came out in Japan, for the PC Engine. For those who played it, it was held up as arguably the greatest Castlevania title to date, and is still considered among the top (especially among its "classic style" brethren).

A couple of years later, word came out that the game was coming to all regions via a SNES port. The game was released and...well, it's not really fair to call it a port. It follows the same basic story and uses a lot of the same assets, but the stages are very different. They have a relationship comparable to the original NES Castlevania and Vampire Killer. Except that's probably a more obscure pair than the 16-bit titles. Maybe more like Genesis and SNES Aladdin. That's still not exactly accurate, but hopefully you get the idea.

Anyway, Dracula X was quickly dismissed as a watered-down product, lacking many of the shinier qualities of its CD-based source. Rondo of Blood eventually made its way to the west via the PSP game Dracula X Chronicles (which did NOT include the SNES game. Inferior game or no, I'm still mildly irked by that. It's right there in the title!) Then it appeared on the Wii's Virtual Console. The SNES Dracula X became quite a rare product itself, but finally saw re-release on the WiiU's Virtual Console. With scarcity no longer a factor, we're free to look at each game on its own terms.

I plan to give Dracula X it's fair shake as its own game, playing through beginning to end, showing off the different endings and various elements of the game. Due to the reuse of Rondo assets, I'll definitely be bringing up comparisons when they become relevant or interesting.

The majority of things I've heard about this game are along the basic lines of "OH GOD" and "PLEASE NO".

I look forward to this LP very much!

This should be interesting. Honestly, I feel like the game would run just fine if Richter just walked a little bit faster. Compared to PC-Engine Richter, he feels like a slug.

Screw the haters. This game is good. It's not the best Castlevania by any means, but it doesn't deserve the scorn.

It's also very pretty. Don't let the title screen fool you.

I've always like Dracula X, probably because I only found out about Rondo much later. I think the music is some of my favorite on the SNES

I haven't played this one much, but I've never played Rondo. My biggest memory of it is being shocked when saying "I like Castlevania, even Dracula X on SNES" got met with scorn back in like 1998 because I had never heard of Rondo.

This game suuuuuucks. Looking forward to this!


It's hard not to be pretty when ninety-nine percent of its sprites are yanked from Rondo, although it tries. The backgrounds are mostly okay, but they're colored in a washed-out style that totally clashes with the high-contrast shading of the sprites.

It's not completely horrific -- until you get to the last level. Plus the music's pretty darn good, and I say this as a guy who usually scoffs at the SNES's attempts to do sounds like "trumpet" and "organ".

That said, the fact that there are stages in this game you simply don't play if you try for the good ending? That I'm not so much of a fan of, but on the other hand it's not like the game needed more padding

anyway THAT FINAL BOSS ARGH GOD WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY

^You could say the same thing about Rondo. There's no reason to play through stages 2', 3, and 4 in Rondo if you want the best ending. I mean, the setup is still worse in Dracula X because there's very little room for error, but we'll get to that soon enough.

The game gets off to a promising start with that title screen. It starts out with "Dracula" in red, then the two bloody slashes form the "X", and blood drains from Dracula, leaving it white and reflected in the pool of blood below. It's pretty nifty! It's also surprisingly bloody, considering the North American (and European) versions of the game were utterly terrified of blood otherwise. I always heard Dracula X's censored nature as a mark against the game, but I just learned that the Japanese (and Australian, apparently) version is pretty much comparable to Rondo.

A quick rundown of some version differences.

On this particular point, I can't hold it against Dracula X.

Here's our prologue:





Overture

"Transylvania. The Middle Ages...

An evil Darkness had befallen the land, giving rise to sinister vampire legends.

Until now the people of Transylvania had grown accustomed to their peaceful existence, secure in the knowledge that their famed hero, Simon Belmont, had sealed the fate of Count Dracula several hundred years prior.

Wicked townsfolk, possessed by the Darkness, conspired to revive the King of Blood.... (ooh, haven't heard that one before) Dracula, now undead once more, plotted to exact revenge upon the descendant of the family that destroyed him...Richter Belmont.

The Prince of Evil viciously attacked the town with his unholy legion. He snatched away Richter's girlfriend, Annet and her sister, Maria. Imprisoning them in his vile castle, he lies in wait for Richter to attempt a rescue.

Richter, burdened by his destiny, left for Dracula's castle with his legendary ancestral whip, the determination to save his loved ones and the resolve to send Dracula to eternal damnation once and for all!"

It's your typical Castlevania prologue, but I do like the original piece of music accompanying it. It has hints of Simon's Theme in it, and nicely transitions from dreary to triumphant.



We have a traditional Castlevania password system here.



We can tweak controls a bit. Here's the setup I'll be using.

This brings me to a nagging issue I have with the game. It's understandable that there would be aspects of Rondo of Blood that the SNES couldn't emulate. But with controls, they fail to take advantage of what they're given. Super Castlevania 4 already demonstrated that you can map sub-weapons to their own button. This prevents any confusion between whipping and sub-weapons (there usually isn't much, but still), and more importantly, allows you to use sub-weapons when crouching or facing downward on stairs.

With Rondo of Blood, there weren't enough buttons to make this setup practical. Understandable. But Bloodlines followed suit, giving subs their own button and activating item crashes by hitting "sub button + Up." Dracula X could have easily been even more convenient than that, giving jump, whip, sub, and item crash each their own face button (with shoulders as options if players felt that was more comfortable). It would have been a small, but welcome advantage over Rondo that was easily within their means, but they simply overlooked it or made the choice to avoid it.

Stage 1



Map

We get the traditional Castlevania map screen, with a little jingle that fits right in with its counterparts in other games. In place of the usual bat is this weird gargoyle thing that may be Dracula's final form? I'm not really sure.

Divine Bloodlines

Richter's theme music makes quite a nice leap to the SNES. I love that intro!




We start out in a burning town, where we're opposed by a handful of skeleton apes and we can obtain our first sub-weapon. Dracula X makes a nice first impression here. The initial scene is very similar to Rondo's, but here the flames are depicted very differently, with a "wavy" effect.

I want to address some basic mechanics for anyone curious. If you're very familiar with this or not interested, feel free to skip down three paragraphs. Richter can walk, crouch, jump, attack with a whip, back flip, and attack with sub-weapons if he has one and sufficient hearts to use it. As mentioned, his walking speed is quite a bit slower than in Rondo. His jump does not seem to be slowed down, so it can be a bit of a jarring transition. The back flip is done by jumping in mid-ascent, gaining you a bit of extra height and air time. Dracula X feels like a more vertical game than Rondo, and I find myself using it a lot more here.

You can whip while standing, crouching, or in midair. The whip will always have the same power and reach. Note that it can hit things above/behind you on the windup (it seems like a much bigger hitbox at this point than in Rondo).

You start each life with 10 hearts, and can hold up to 99. When you clear a stage, you'll be scored for your remaining hearts AND they'll carry over (this is an extremely welcome practice that Rondo and Bloodlines also follow). Daggers, axes, and crosses each consume one heart, holy water eats up three, and the stopwatch uses five. If you collect a sub while holding another (as seen in the shots above), the one you were holding will drop to your side, giving you a few seconds to switch back if you preferred what you had. The sub-weapons also have "special" attacks known as Item Crashes. These take between 10 and 20 hearts, depending on the sub (your heart total will flash when you have a sufficient amount to crash).

A weird quirk with sub-weapons: Unlike Castlevania 1, 3, and 4, where you start out capable of having one onscreen, and collected items to expand that to two and three, the amount you can have onscreen here depends on your total hearts. If you have more than 20, you can throw two subs (this is also true in Rondo). If you have more than 30, you can throw three (this is unique to Dracula X).

Often a more terrifying sight than enemies in earlier Castlevanias, the dagger is not so bad in Richter's hands. Its incredible speed and the spread of three make it great for hitting evasive/far away targets. There are actually parts of both this game and Rondo where I make sure to bring a dagger (usually when dealing with crows and frogs), which I can't say about any of its other iterations (though it's alright in Symphony). Also, it's the only item crash that keeps you firmly planted on the ground, which can come in handy.

The ax is a typical Castlevania ax: it's great for hitting things above you. Like I said, this game has a lot of vertical sections, so it's probably slightly more useful than in other games.

Anyway, let's proceed. The skeleton apes aren't much to write home about, moving very slowly, dying in one hit from anything, and only attacking with a very slow, short-ranged punch.



Next, we climb upward, only spotting the fire through windows. We meet bone-throwing skeletons, who can be obnoxious, since they move in quick bursts and their bones can be hard to see. The ax makes short work of them in this section.

Throughout the 16-bit era, Castlevania made a lot of improvements to those horrible Belmont-killers known as stairs. By Rondo, they were pretty much nothing to worry about, and the same controls apply here. We can freely jump onto and off of stairs.



Bats join the party, making things a little more complicated. Hanging bats are annoying, because they're immune to weaponry while hanging. Only when we hit a certain height do they come flying at us.



We reach the top and proceed rightward. I love the details around the edge of the building. Meanwhile, we see how annoying skeletons can be, as they can either back away and throw bones, or quickly close the distance. Still, they're extremely frail and very satisfying to scatter with a whip.



We meet a more intimidating foe next, with the choice to attack it head-on, or retreat and navigate above it. This is a considerate option for players just getting the hang of things.

Bone Pillars are pretty familiar sights to Castlevania fans. The Rondo/X variant can come in stacks of all sizes, from a pair to a screen-high tower. Each skull can turn and attack independently, and they sport three different patterns: straight-flying fireballs, arcing fireballs, and a short-range burst of flame.

On the other hand, we can safely stand on them, and they're not very durable: three lashes will kill one. Plus, as long as we're on the same level as them, most attacks will hit two of them simultaneously.



In this particular scenario, though, we don't have to worry about them. We get our first rosary, the screen-wiping item. If we're quick, we can jump onto the Bone Pillar to grab it, and leap off before they disintegrate. The only reward is time saved from having to backtrack, but it's nice to have a situation early on where quick reflexes pay off without causing any harm if we fail.



In a sequence that recalls Castlevania 3's first stage, we get introduced to some very obnoxious elements very early on: Medusa Heads, spikes and platforms that will flip if we jump/drop onto them. The spikes, thankfully, are not instant death...both Rondo and X have relative shortages of instant death scenarios.

Medusa Heads will quickly teach players the value of patience and pattern recognition. It's one reason that I'm not terribly upset with Richter's reduced walking speed in this game: a lot of the threats tend to come from rushing.



There's not too much to the next area: just a couple downward jumps and some skeletons. But it's nice to get an idea of Richter's mobility.

Not having played this: When you talk about slow walking speed, are we talking "original Castlevania slow" or "Castlevania Adventure godawful slow"?

(I'm excited about this LP!)

The home stretch is straightforward, with a nice look at the burning town. A few zombies come at us, and in Castlevania tradition, they're total pansies.



Aaahhh! The Behemoth emerges from out of nowhere, steadily pursuing us through the remainder of the stage.



Between the Behemoth, pits, and zombies, this sequence is lifted wholesale from Rondo's Stage 2. The monster lacks the dynamic entrance or creepy stalking beforehand, but otherwise it's pretty much the same thing. It's understandable: the Behemoth is simply too striking a creature to not use, and Richter isn't mobile enough to put anything much more complex in his path.

In the meantime, we pick up the cross. The sub-weapons are nicely balanced in this game, but I'd lean toward the cross for MVP. It slowly moves forward a set distance, pauses a moment, then moves in the opposite direction for as long as we can keep it onscreen. Or we can grab it, which will end its assault but give us freedom to throw more. It's not great for mobile or speedy enemies, but for big, tanky ones, its slowness and the way it pauses can rack up several hits.

The Behemoth itself will flash when attacked, but I don't know if it can be killed prematurely. If it can, it takes a lot of abuse beforehand.



We have to make some very quick jumps across one last pit, then, true to Rondo, the Behemoth inexplicably loses its head and dies a fiery death.

I also just want to say that those pits are weird. Just something about their texture seems off.




Cerberus

Hmm, a change in backdrop, free weapons and wall meat, and a new piece of music? Something's up.

Speaking of that music, this is another original tune, and I vastly prefer it to the noisy, grating, "pre-boss" music in Rondo. It's a shame that it's only used in the first stage, especially when most of the stages have distinct pre-boss areas.

I also think it's worth noting that if you eat some wall meat while already at full health, you'll get 1000 points. Also, if you clear a stage at full health, you get a 1Up (in addition to simply getting points according to how much remaining health you have). There's meat to be found either immediately before or within most boss chambers. If it's the latter, you have a very good chance of getting that 1Up, since you can save it.

Boss



BOSS: Cerberus

Attacks: Pouncing. Fireballs.

With a screech that sounds more feline than canine, Cerberus comes bounding into the arena!

While not quite as notorious as some Castlevania bosses, Cerberus is quite the veteran of the series, returning in Symphony, the 64 entries, and Circle of the Moon. Considering that most of Dracula X's bosses are from Rondo, it's impressive to see the game lead with not only an "original" (obviously it came from mythology) boss, but one that would pop up again repeatedly.




It's also a pretty solid first fight. When attacked, Cerberus will be knocked back, then rush forward to its initial position (again punishing overly aggressive players). Then it leaps backward into the air, spewing a fireball at the ground. The flames will crawl forward, prompting us to either retreat or jump over them. Jumping is the best option, because Cerberus will leap forward, usually landing right about where the flames stop. Its leaps can vary, and I don't really understand what causes it. Sometimes it seems pretty much impossible to avoid both the flames and Cerberus. Sometimes it will jump high enough to touch the top of the screen and double back with another jump.

Overall, Cerberus's speed, mobility, and projectiles make this fight interesting, while its (mostly) clear pattern, the low damage it deals, and the ample opportunity to attack it prevent it from being an early wall. The cross is particularly devastating, capable of landing multiple hits with ease.



Here's the Grand Cross Item Crash in action. It's one that's distinct from the Rondo variant, probably because of religious imagery. While not as visually impressive, I actually prefer this one from a gameplay standpoint. This one is far better at hitting everything onscreen very quickly, which is usually what I'm desperate for when I'm using it.



Oh, and Cerberus will occasionally get into a "playful puppy" pose if you screw around long enough. Good dog!



Unfortunately, it's also trying to murder us, so it has to go.



We get 100 points for each heart and unit of life (maximum of 64) we have remaining. We get a 1Up every 20,000 points. We also get our password.

Stage Clear

This is just a bit from the boss theme, but I like it. It reminds me a bit of the 64 "defeated a boss" tune...it just feels so triumphant.

Dracula X starts out strong, with a first stage that looks and sounds great, mixes it up nicely, throws in a big action piece, and has a fun, memorable boss fight.

Next Time: I learn to hate the color purple.

It's hard to even tell because it's going to be off the left edge of the screen most of the time, but it's not animated as well, either. (In Rondo, the fur on its leg and body moves between two frames, and its mouth opens and closes in a six-frame cycle. Here, its fur is static, and its mouth just snaps open and closed between two frames.) They also recolored it to look like it's being lit by the flames in the background, but since none of the other sprites do that, it just looks weird.


It makes sense in Rondo: it rams into a wall. Here, the head really does just come off for no reason.


For me, it's the way their top line is on the exact same level as the ground you walk on. There's no "break," so it just looks like smoother ground or something.

Great update!

Probably both are the work of Masahiko Kimura, then, who was on both games' music teams (as well as Dawn of Sorrow, but that's neither here nor there).

Beowulf: We're talking original Castlevania slow. I honestly only noticed it when I played Rondo immediately afterward. Richter handles pretty similarly otherwise. He can moonwalk if you hold the attack button and move in the opposite direction he's facing. If you commit to jumping left or right, you can't alter the trajectory, but you can turn around and attack what's behind you. If you jump straight up, you can adjust where you'll land.

Kishi: Yeah, most characters and critters are missing frames of animation. Years ago I stumbled upon a message board thread that had a ton of side-by-side, frame-by-frame comparisons of Richter and most enemies/bosses in the game. I've been digging around for it, but no luck.

I guess the Behemoth slowly crawling into a wall after smashing through one to initially ambush you makes more sense than losing its head to nothing...but not much more.

Now, on with the show!

Stage 2



Vampire Killer (and a little Stalker).

This is a great rendition of the classic tune. I love the build-up and pause before the big outburst.




As we cross the bridge into the castle, the scenery takes a dramatic turn from the previous stage. It's a very nice, understated backdrop, with mountains reflected in the water. I think the "washed-out" look is just fine here, as if we're viewing the mountains through a mist in the distance.

We can't relax for long, though. Mermen plague us throughout this first section, and they're as obnoxious as ever. They spring straight up out of the depths, walking around slowly on land and spewing the occasional fireball. When they want to just utterly ruin your day, they decide to go sliding on their belly, both hopping up and dropping back into the water without warning.

Since this section also involves crumbling structures, we don't have to worry about their sliding. They're not onscreen long enough (and perhaps these particular mermen never do it). Things start out simple enough, with a few platforms that slowly sink into the water.




Now things get nasty, with mermen spawning regularly on a crumbling bridge. Fortunately, it's more intimidating than it is truly difficult. The worst misstep is jumping forward to (relatively) solid ground, only to smack into a surprise merman and get knocked backward. This CAN kill you, but each portion of the bridge sinks somewhat slowly, so if you don't panic, you can recover.

The cross takes a lot of the pressure off this section. Fortunately, it was the best sub-weapon for the previous boss, and it's the only sub offered up to this point in the stage. The ample hearts should ensure we have more than 20 when we hit the bridge, so we can have a couple crosses working at once.



Eventually we reach the drawbridge, which automatically drops, leading Richter to automatically enter.

I really like this initial stretch. It's an intense mini-gauntlet that shows the game isn't playing around, but is still more forgiving than it looks. It's a very nice backdrop, and the entire scenario is distinct from anything in Rondo.




Things ease up a bit, with skeleton apes and bats (the ever-annoying "spawn regularly at your height" variety) as the next wave of foes. The apes show off one new trick: the age-old video game gorilla technique of chucking barrels. We can trash them with any attack, but they can catch an impatient player off-guard. I like the details of the castle wall in the background.



After a brief, very well-lit corridor where things get even easier (just zombies to deal with), the stage picks up again with an ax armor and peeping eye. The eye is the bane of an immobile Belmont, not particularly fast, but moving freely in lazy loops that tend to take them JUST out of reach of attacks. Often, speedy aggression can get rid of them before they really get going.

The armor complicates things, because in this and Rondo they chuck axes Belmont-style when we're below one like this. It's all the more reason to take out the eye quickly.



When on the same plane, the armors revert to the more traditional "throw axes like Belmonts throw crosses, at two different heights." They also have shields that take three lashes to destroy (another three or four will finish them off). The shields defend against crosses, daggers, and axes from the front.

This is a convenient time to introduce the holy water. Richter throws a bottle to the ground, which sends green flames crawling forward. I've never liked the "crawling" version of the holy water. It doesn't go far or fast enough to help me deal with evasive enemies, and it lacks the punch of "stationary" holy waters. Simon, Trevor, or Alucard-style for life!

In its favor, there are a lot of instances of enemies and bosses that can block other sub-weapons like our friend the ax armor here. This would compensate for its lack of range...except it costs three hearts per use! This is pretty baffling; it's functionally the same in Rondo, where it only costs one. The upcharge pretty much guarantees I'm not going to use it.

On the plus side, it makes a cool "whooshing" sound when it burns, and this seems like as good a time as any to talk about sound effects. For as awesome a soundtrack as Rondo of Blood has, its sound effects...kinda suck. It's not quite at the Bloodlines disparity of great music/lousy sound, but every weapon makes this pitiful, annoying squeaking sound.

Dracula X is one of the only games in the franchise where hitting a target with the whip sounds like...a whip. Okay, so the same "crack" effect is used when the cross or ax hits things as well, but at least it's a satisfying noise. You also have the superior holy water burn, and a nice metallic clank for armored enemies.



Back to the stage at hand: Once the ax armor's shield is removed, any weapon will work on it. The cross can shred through both axes and land multiple hits on the enemy itself (for the great cost of one heart...stupid holy water).



Now we enter the Purple Room of Pain. We're quickly ambushed by this guy, who only goes down in one hit, but we have to be quick and crouch as it runs toward us.

Ugh, these jerks. They're a lot worse here than in Rondo. They take five lashes to kill (one more than in Rondo), they can block the dagger/ax/cross, they can poke at you from above and below (and the level design allows them to do so more frequently here than in Rondo), and they have great range. It's one place where I really feel Richter's slower walking speed. If you see them wind up for their big slash, jumping away is probably the best option.

Part of the trick is that you can hit each other from a step or two further away than it would appear (at least to me). I recommend approaching one carefully, whipping repeatedly until you see where you start doing damage, then never get closer to one than that.

These guys can positively ruin your day, and this room alone had me believing every bad word I'd heard about this game the first time I played it. Again, patience is the key here (that, or spamming item crashes if you have the means). There's no time limit, and it's well worth the wait to lure the top guys away, carefully approach one, and chip away at it. Of course, it's also helpful to spam attacks when you get the opportunity, and I can land at least three lashes on one that isn't actively attacking when I first get into range.



After that grind, we run into a bone-spraying skeleton.



Finally, we have a couple of peeping eyes to deal with. The first one is a jerk that lands right on the stage's pre-boss wall meat. This can lead you to unveiling it prematurely.



Here we go!

BOSS: Phantom Bat

Attacks: Flying, breaking into a bat-chain.

This is an unusual one in the "using assets from Rondo" department. The Phantom Bat sprite IS from that game...it's part of a boss rush where the dark priest Shaft summons the first four bosses from the original Castlevania, then fights you himself. The bat is the only one to make it to Dracula X (although elements of the Shaft boss fight do appear, as we'll cover later)...but it's a completely different fight.

Here, the bat simply flies around, occasionally making high-speed efforts to ram Richter. When it takes a hit...



It breaks into a chain of mini-bats. Here they are sweating Richter to death.



For this fight, you need to understand how the bat works, and have a good grasp on Richter's mobility. When hit, the bat chain will continue in the direction the giant bat was going (if it was at the edge of the screen, they may continue slightly in that direction, then turn around), waving up and down as they go. The extent of their waving seems to be influenced by the bat's speed and direction when it was hit. After the chain reaches a certain distance, each bat flies straight back to the point where the giant one broke up, one at a time. They recombine into their full form and continue flying.

Any and all bats in the chain are completely vulnerable at any point. They can corner you and utterly knock Richter's teeth in, or you can just lay into their health from a safe distance. The cross is nice because it can do its usual multi-hitting thing, but the dagger is arguably just as good. They offer one right before the boss fight, which is normally Castlevania's version of the middle finger, but its speed and the spread make it extremely helpful for scoring hits on the fast-flying bat.



As with many enemies in Rondo, Phantom Bat has a "spite attack" that it performs after you've landed the final blow. It will send out a wave of bats in a half-circle beneath it. It's also good to know that if you land the final blow while it's in "bat-chain" form, it won't die until it plays out that behavior and recombines like normal (I got killed once thinking I'd won the battle in that situation).

Ultimately, this is a really satisfying and intense fight. Despite its size, the bat can be tough to hit at times, and sometimes you want to resist the temptation because it'd put you in a very bad position. This battle makes great use of the terrain and Richter's jumping and back flip. Mistakes can be extremely costly, but you can also greatly benefit from good positioning/timing.

Dracula X continues to do well, with a great opening to the second stage, a very intense room of armored foes, and a boss fight that knows Richter's limitations and makes you use what skills he has.

Next Time: You say you want a good ending?

You can really tell this game is contemporary with Blackthorne in its visual style, that's for sure.

How is Blackthorne related to this at all?

It does the same "detailed sprites over washed out background" look with some 3d-rendered art depending on the version you play. I feel like that was a very 1995 look and that a game like Blackthorne typifies the style even if it's not a particularly noteworthy game in any other respect

Basically they're the two games outside of the then-new console generation that strike me most strongly as being made within that very narrow frame of time, though they're hardly the only ones.

Was this the first appearance of the skeleton apes? I don't remember if they were in Symphony, but I know they made it into the GBA installments.

You mean Rondo or specifically Dracula X? I'm pretty sure they were in Rondo.

Definitely in Symphony, too. I remember using a flaming barrel to blow up a wooden platform down in the caves.

Yep, you fight the Skeleton Apes right in the first stage of Rondo.

And looking at the backgrounds, my main thought was actually of Demon's Crest: heavy detail, with bright enough colors for you to see the detail.

Is it me, or are they drawing more from CV4's castle than CV1?

Also, as much as I'd like a version of this game where Richter walks faster, I'd love a version of Rondo with these graphics. Yowza.

Oh man, would I ever. I mean, I get a bunch of the reasons why that game looks the way it does, but I think some more variety in the level art would have done wonders for the game -- the tiling in that game and in Bloodlines make both look really dated for when they came out.

Next up is a short trek through the bowels of the castle.

Bloody Tears

Dang, the SNES audio is working overtime here. I love this version!




The stage starts with a big, wide-open stretch of castle wall. The color's a little bland, but otherwise I really like this area. Visually, I appreciate the brick detailing.

In terms of gameplay, this is the kind of thing that would be incredibly frustrating in other Castlevanias, but it seems nicely tailored to Richter's skills. Jumping from stairs lets us ascend fast enough to leave Medusa heads behind. We also get ample use out of the back flip to take little short cuts. The sprawling area gives us a few choices of how to ascend. The lack of any instant-death hazards makes this a lot friendlier than similar climbs in other games.



Even combining flippy blocks, vertically moving spikes, and Medusa heads isn't bad at all as long as you don't rush your jumps.




We have to react fast in the next (very ornate) room, though. We immediately have a spear guard moving in to poke us from below. There's another one to the right of that block (that I forgot to get a shot of), cutting off our escape. Hope you remember a good whipping distance, because now we have to crouch to attack, so we're not as flexible. In case the lower one hogs the bottom of the stairs, we get holy water as a considerate "hit things below us that can block other subs." Of course, we have to use it from the top of the stairs or while jumping on them, because the developers didn't want to use one of several available buttons...



We get some candle meat, which isn't as generous as they'd have you believe.



That's because we leave the warm, golden room behind and enter the traditional "flooded Castlevania basement." The big background statues are a nice touch, at least!

We're also introduced to the stopwatch and the invincibility potion. The watch costs five hearts and only slows enemies down rather than freezing them. It can still be helpful, especially in sections like this. But it's situational and you probably won't want to hang onto it for very long. The potion is its usual "lasts about two seconds" self. There is one point where it's extremely helpful, but we won't get there for a long time.




While I admire this area's beautiful dankness, it is intensely frustrating! As Vania veterans can put together, this is pretty much a recreation of a stretch of Rondo's Stage 2, which itself was revisiting the original game's Stage 4. (Well, I think it's supposed to be the same area as the original's first-stage basement, but the layout, challenge, bats, and moving platforms are much more akin to the later area. But that's nerdy and rambling, so moving on).

Bats spawn steadily, which can be managed. But then mermen start popping up beneath us, and it takes some very well-timed whips to get by. Oh, and just in case you were getting accustomed to the stopwatch or a sub-weapon you brought with you, they drop a dagger on you that's very difficult to avoid.

The majority of it seems to be pretty consistent, and while it may catch you off-guard a couple times, can be learned. Then the mermen at the end just decide to utterly screw you over on a whim. They can drop without warning from the ledge below, either straight down or via belly slide (whatever is less convenient to you).

At first I thought if I crouched constantly, I could get through. You take damage while crouching, but don't suffer knockback...except when you do. I haven't figured out what exactly makes the difference.

The saving grace of this section is, amusingly enough, the dagger. Like I mentioned earlier, Richter jumps straight up into the air when performing most item crashes, which would cause the platform he's riding to slide out from under him. With the dagger, he remains on terra firma, chucking an insane quantity of butter knives (I do have shots of it, but in a later level). Most importantly, he's invincible for the duration of the attack, which can help get you through this lousy place with some well-timed use.

This game really enjoys its "two-tiered screen" setups.



Whipping this very suspicious wall reveals not meat, but a 1Up! Of course, just like giving us meat right before some insta-death water, giving us a 1Up is really quite useless for the following section.

As a quick aside, while this game has a mean streak, it's pretty generous with lives. In addition to the potential 1Up for beating a boss with a full life bar and the few lives hidden in walls, we get one for every 20,000 points. It's not asking a lot to earn more than half of that just from life/heart bonus upon clearing a stage.



The ax armor can be annoying, retreating out of whip range and shielding our subs. Again, just don't get greedy and it's no real threat.



Okay, it's time for one of the trickiest parts of the entire game. We have to cross several screens of pillars, while dealing with Medusa heads, Bone Pillars, and bone-chucking skeletons. In order to get the good ending, we NEED to cross this, and we can't...



Well. I guess we're showing off the bad ending first!

For the record, I went into this section with every intention to cross successfully. I mean, I was just going to continue the LP according to whatever the result was, so it wasn't heartbreaking that I fell, but I'm just letting you know. I think the third Medusa head I saw got me.



Anyway, falling from the pillars immediately ends the stage. We don't lose a life, so I guess that's something. But we do not pass go, we do not save Maria, we do not collect a good ending. No matter how many lives we have, one slip-up can spoil a run, which is why that 1Up feels like such a taunt. I guess someone playing this on the console could use the password for clearing Stage 2 and retry from there, but that's pretty much the only option.

Next Time: We trudge through the mud.

Great game design. Top-notch stuff.


Without sarcasm: man, the nerdier, the better.

Ugh! Stage 4'. Minus a couple jumping-in-the-mud bits, a stage that serves no purpose but to fuck with people trying for the good ending; it could be removed from the game and it would scarcely be missed. It's not even got a unique aesthetic.

But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself here..

With that glowing endorsement, let's hop on in!



Cemetery (A title that only works for the final screen, but the tune fits well enough).



In a neat bit of visuals, we see a few columns mixed in with the mostly natural background, implying the castle's foundations run deep. Dracula may have an evil castle that shifts at will, has a flooded basement, and collapses when he dies, but he's still dedicated to his home building!



This is your typical video game mud/quicksand stuff. You'll gradually sink into it and eventually die if you don't hop repeatedly. Amusingly, overzealous skeletons can hop in and die. Items, oddly enough, do not sink into it. Occasionally, mud men will spawn and walk slowly across the surface. It's really just the unpredictable nature of their spawning that's of any concern. They're slow, easy to kill, and have no other weaponry.



The two-tiered setpiece shows up again, with two different foes that can bombard us from above. The bronze armors don't waste time with boomerang axes. They either lob them if we're above/below, or rush us if we're on the same plane. This really makes them easier than the more common blue variety.



We have another endlessly spawning bat zone. They're obnoxious, but just try not to jump and everything should be fine. This is set up to try to get players to make knee-jerk reactions and slip into the mud, but it's easy enough if you're patient.



Once again, the stupid hanging bats prove to be a pain. We can slip down without triggering this one, but getting back up to continue pretty much guarantees it's going to attack at very close range. On the plus side, we can see it and plan for it, but there have only been a couple hanging bats before this, so it's unlikely you'll have memorized their takeoff/flight pattern.



Prepare to sweat a lot if you slip up.



Another hanging bat waits at the very end, just dying to undo our last few screens of progress. Jerk. Don't get greedy or impatient now.



Oh hey, it's this mid-boss from Rondo! It lobs projectiles and lunges at us, so keep a fair distance and abuse it between attacks.



Its dramatic death made the conversion more or less intact.



Oh boy. Bone Dragons can be even more threatening. Mostly, they can make you feel dumb for repeatedly whiffing. Their undulating motion can get distracting, so just try to focus on the skull and remember that getting closer helps nothing.

We can see when it's going to spit a fireball, a trait that's both helpful and visually nifty.



As is tradition, it drops several hearts upon death.

We get a color change and a prolonged mud slog. This isn't bad as long as you keep an eye on the ceiling. We don't want to go jumping into spikes or triggering bats if we can help it. Otherwise, it's just a matter of not getting surrounded by mud men.



A standout chunk of rock conceals our daily dose of wall meat, and with that, we reach the pre-boss area.




Well, that was a nice intro.

BOSS: Necromancer

Attacks: Spawning skeletons, shooting fireballs that slow Richter down (he really needed that).

Now here's an odd one. In Rondo of Blood, the "dark priest Shaft" was responsible for reviving Dracula. He's omitted from the Dracula X telling. This guy seems to be his substitution, with the visual design at least partially based on Shaft's Ghost. I mean, Shaft honestly wasn't all that important to Rondo, becoming retroactively more notable due to his role in Symphony. It's just strange to omit him and include a largely original replacement.



True to the name, the Necromancer can raise up skeletons, which serve as a distraction. Incidentally, the tombstones in the background are a great visual touch. Naturally, a being called the Necromancer would need some actual corpses to work with in order to create some undead minions. The location really fits the boss well.

Anyway, it also launches these destructible fireballs that slowly home in on Richter. Destroying these should be Priority One, because they both deal damage and curse Richter, slowing him to absurd levels. While slow, you can apparently cancel out your own inputs, so just attack once and don't try anything else until you've done it.

Meanwhile, Mance drifts around wildly. Axes and daggers are the best bets for pinning it down, and should be leaned on heavily. Trying to get high enough to whip it usually leads to a skeleton hassling you from beneath.



Well, lots to keep track of, but that wasn't so...



Oh.

Necromancer, Phase 2

Attacks: Tombstone Satellite, Mud Men Summon



Mance gains a new angle and new attacks. It summons a rotating shield of tombstones, hovering around for a few seconds before flinging them at Richter. This is the time to cut loose with any firepower you have. Spam Item Crashes, do whatever it takes. This can heap a lot of damage on you, and you're likely hurting from the first phase.



After that, it's mostly just large quantities of mud men to deal with. Taking the high ground is not a bad idea, but be sure it's high enough. The mud men can still hit you on the lowest platforms, and you're in a much worse position to fight back.



Deplete its life bar a second time and the Necromancer sinks into the ground, scattering dirt chunks for a spite attack.

The stage itself is a bit of a drag, though I like the background details. The Necromancer is another great boss, with a striking design and lots of tricks to keep you on your toes, while still presenting a large target to beat up. The slow curse is a little much, because it can already float circles around you, but the rest feels manageable with good use of Richter's abilities. Once again, we're rewarded for reading and using the terrain well. Dracula X has been surprisingly good (and surprisingly distinct from Rondo) in the boss department so far.

Next Time: Eating crow.

I should ask Kishi for gif captures of the Necromancer or just any captures of him... I could use a new threadcromancer icon...