Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
TurboGrafx-CD
Nostalgia Factor:
I've played through a ton of Castlevania games in my lifetime. The NES games. The Game Boy games. Bloodlines. Super Castlevania IV. Everything I've played, I have enjoyed in some capacity or another. One of my goals in life is to play through Symphony of the Night, which I always hear is one of the greatest games ever made. But in order to do that, I knew that I needed to play through Rondo of Blood first, since Symphony of the Night is essentially a sequel to this game.
This is one of the last classic 2D Castlevania games out there before the series changes direction from linear, level based progression to the Metroidvania style it is known for today. I'm aware that there is also a game out there called "Dracula X" for the Super Nintendo, that is essentially a US port of this game. But I have heard it is NOT a good port, and that this version is the definitive way to play the game. I'll get around to playing that one someday, though.
Back to Rondo of Blood. As far as playing it, I ran into one problem: it was actually never released in the United States. I had to search for... ahem... alternative means to play this game. Would playing a foreign version of this game affect my enjoyment of it? Only one way to find out!
Story:
As much as I wanted to play this game in advance to get ready for Symphony of the Night, there really isn't much to note about this game's story. I could have completely skipped this and been okay. It's the basic "Dracula is coming back after 100 years. We have to take him out!" kind of thing we've seen in multiple Castlevania games now.
Gameplay:
To me, this game reminds me the most of Bloodlines. Controls, graphics, tone, everything. It follows the same Castlevania side-scrolling formula as all the old classics. You go left and right, you jump, you use your whip, you pick up projectiles like axes and holy water. Each stage ends with a difficult boss battle. Not really too much that is new to see here.
The game does let you press the select button to use a screen-clearing special attack, which changes depending on which weapon is in your inventory. That's nice. The game also has different branching paths you can take, like Castlevania III. There is an unlockable character too, but unless I was doing something wrong, you can't pick her until after the game has ended. I tried playing as her to give it a shot and I was not a big fan of how she handles.
Because of the branching paths, the game does have some replay value. I played through it two times. Let it be known that I played through the game using save states. Meaning: saving the game every few minutes or so and reloading the save when I lose a life. I've become accustomed to using them on some of these harder games. Sure, I could have tried struggling through this myself, but the game is so dang tough I would have just ended up getting frustrated. The game does have save slots where you can turn off the system and then come back and start from the beginning of any level you've played. That's good. At least people who are playing on original hardware don't have to restart the entire game each time they turn off the system.
Like I said, the game is very hard. It might be one of the toughest Castlevania games I have ever played. It's not too bad with save states, but I can imagine it must be quite the challenge without them. If I was playing this back in 1993 or whenever it first came out, I probably would have devoted hundreds of hours to conquering and mastering this game. I just don't have time for that anymore.
Graphics:
For the most part, this is a good looking game. I love some of the background effects, like the fire in the game's earlier stages. Some classic Castlevania areas are revisited in this game, like Dracula's Castle and the village from Castlevania II. It was nice to see these areas again, looking better than ever.
Randomly, there are some areas of the game that don't look so good. They lack in detail and the color scheme is just flat out ugly. They remind me of something you'd see on the Sega Master System, not the Turbo-Grafx CD.
Sound:
Castlevania games are known for their great music, and this game is no exception. Expect to hear pretty great renditions of Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, and Beginning. Conversely, some of the stage music sounds inappropriate for a Castlevania game - kind of like jazzy Sonic music. It's weird. Overall, the game's music is a major plus, I would say.
Overall:
This is a good, solid Castlevania game. I'm not going to say that I'm jumping out of my seat over it, however. I still prefer the NES games to this one. I like it more than the Game Boy games or Castlevania IV. It's right next to Bloodlines for me. Can't say if I like it more or less than that game. I mean, I guess I like Bloodlines more because I gave that game an A-. I never make up my mind until I get to the very end of my review, but I can't see myself giving this an A-. At best it is a B.
It looks good, it sounds good, and it plays good. I can't see fans of the classic Castlevania games not liking this. But then again - there is its difficulty. It is quite hard. As I said, maybe the hardest Castlevania game out there. So be warned!
As much as I liked the game, I found that something was missing when it came to my enjoyment of the game. I don't know if it was the tough difficulty, the lack of originality in the stages, or what. Pretty much every Castlevania game, good or bad, has a moment in it that stands out. I can't say the same for Rondo of Blood. There is no signature moment I'll think of when I look back on this game.
It's just a good, solid game. And that's not a bad thing. But to me, it is not a great game - which is what I've come to expect from Castlevania. I like this, and I would encourage anyone with the means to check it out. But you're okay if you miss it.
THE GRADE:
B
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