I never got into Castlevania games, except one: Kid Dracula. Konami should revive that one.
And thanks for reading my blog.
Retro ranting: Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles
|
 On 11/20/2013 at 09:14 PM by BrokenH See More From This User » |
Today is another “games old people play” episode. I understand your relief! After all, most of you are tired of me bitching about development hell. lol. Luckily, this blog has nothing to do with cry-baby wah-wah-ing. What we have here is 100% nostalgia! Join me in firing up the hot-tub time machine as we travel to Transylvania! (Let’s do the time warp AGAIN!)
Symphony Of The Night
No game truly embodies my college days as faithfully as symphony of the night. Dracula’s castle was an elaborate labyrinth as daunting, confusing, and threatening as it was wondrous, beautiful, and elegant. Even though Alucard was obviously returning home to confront his dear old dad, I still felt like a stranger in a strange land. When Death ripped away Alucard’s best gear it might as well have been the Sallie Mae loan company ripping away my good credit score! (To this day nelnet harasses me for evidence I’ve sent those mother f^ckers on countless occasions. Theoretically students on disability below a certain income should be absolved of their debts but that cannot happen when unscrupulous douche bags always conveniently lose paperwork and refuse to call the proper sources. Moral of the story? Be “very careful“ about borrowing money for college, kids!)
Yet this was not the first instance Castlevania included free roaming exploration and rpg elements. Like many youths with an nes I had gotten to play Simon’s Quest. While it’s clues were as cryptic as its’ forests, abandoned mansions, and caves were deep, Simon’s Quest was a good “prep course” for what was to come in Symphony Of The Night. (More or less)
Of course Alucard was much more versatile as a character than the standard Belmont. He could suck life from his foes with the soul steal technique, equip varied weapons and armor sets, call upon the aide of various familiars, and even transform into mist, a wolf, or a bat. (Richter Belmont can be “unlocked” too as a hidden character but he’s kind of “bland” when compared to Dracula’s prodigal son.)
Though SOTN was technically easier than Castlevania I, II, & III, it also offered many secrets and increased chances for discovering new areas. Many gamers were “tricked” into killing Richter thus never got the chance to move onto the inverted castle. I still remember having to get the “holy glasses” before I could see and attack the floating orb controlling the stalwart hero. This was the first time in awhile Dracula had put much more “planning’ into his diabolical schemes. If you slayed Richter you got the “bad ending” and were none the wiser.
Throughout both versions of the castle there are bosses and titans that range from being eerily beautiful to utterly grotesque. (Beelzebub is one of the nastiest pieces of fly and maggot infested flesh I’ve ever faced. However, the succubus haunting Alucard’s nightmares was much easier on the eyes!) The bestiary is likewise varied and robust. Ice sylphs, fish-men, axe knights, poison toads, zombies,headless swordsmen, skeletons, ghosts, floating animated marionettes, bats, harpies, medusa heads, possessed spell books, witches, and demonic imps are just some of the nasties you’ll bump uglies with on your way to the count!
Back in the day gamers argued over which side scrolling game series was the most wicked and frightening. Though Ghouls N Ghosts and Splatter-house were worthy contenders, I thought castlevania finally outclassed them when SOTN released. (Dracula’s curse, CV: Blood-lines, Rondo Of Blood, and Super Castlvania IV still gave em a run for their collective money even before Igarashi dropped the metaphorical bomb!)
Rondo of blood/Dracula X
Rondo of a blood was somewhat of a “mystical unicorn”. Originally it never released outside of Japan. Konami tried their best to port it over but Rondo’s counterpart “Dracula X” had a few issues . The most grievous absence was Maria Renard couldn’t be unlocked as a hidden character. Additionally, the race to save each damsel Dracula had kidnapped via accessing hidden routes in certain areas was mostly absent. Richter’s fiancée Annette could still be “turned evil” but she became a demonic skull (One of Carmilla’s forms?) instead of a succubus. All things considered, Dracula X was an okay Castlevania game. Richter could still do his neat back-flip and item crashing (Using extra powerful attacks for each sub weapon) was still intact! 
Thematically Rondo of blood was very cinematic with comic book styled story cut scenes resembling those from the original ninja gaiden games on the nes. It also starred many characters who would return in SOTN. (Richter, Maria, and the dark priest Shaft to be more specific!)
In closing: Dracula X chronicles
I recently bought this for my psp. It should be arriving in my mail tomorrow. Not only does Dracula X chronicles have a re-mastered version of Rondo of blood but it also includes the original version and sotn as extra unlockables!
What has me excited is that a few things were added in this version of sotn. Adult Maria is now a playable character (After completing sotn once) and there are a few other familiars, weapon sets, and armor sets thrown in. “Young Maria” is also once again accessible in both Rondo games.
I know, the rest of you must be thrilled, right? Here I am talking about a psp title that’s a collection of “ancient games”. Yet to a retro dinosaur akin to myself, it cannot get better than this! Drac is back, yeah baby!
Still got my copy of SOTN and I got Rondo via PSN. And my Personal fave Super Castlevania IV for SNES. I just feel like IV is often overlooked.
I have played SotN before but it wasn't until after I'd played all the portable games that followed it, so it didn't have the same impact for me. But I think about the Dracula X Chronicles pretty frequently. I really miss classic Castlevania, since Konami seems to have abandoned it for middle of the road Lords of Shadow games. *sigh*
Comments