Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

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Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Single-player

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, originally released in Japan as Akumajō Dracula X: Chi no Rondo,

PC Engine's Super CD-ROM² System directed by Toru Hagihara. Part of the Castlevania series, protagonist Richter Belmont goes to save his lover Annette, who was abducted by Dracula. It was first released exclusively in Japan on October 29, 1993. A direct sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
, was released worldwide in 1997.

The game was remade for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Castlevania: Dracula X in 1995, and the PlayStation Portable as Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles in 2007. In 2008, the original game was released for the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan and for the North American and PAL regions in 2010. In 2018, the game was included along with Symphony of the Night within the Castlevania Requiem collection for the PlayStation 4. The title is also playable on the TurboGrafx-16 Mini. In 2021, Limited Run Games announced an English release for the TurboDuo.[1]

Gameplay

The player-character Richter Belmont can use the Item Crash ability to attack enemies.[2]

The objective is to guide the primary

special attack
called a “Guardian Knuckle”, resulting in a ghostly projection that causes heavy damage to enemies.

Rondo of Blood incorporates elements from the earlier Castlevania games which typically featured linear gameplay and a member of the Belmont clan as the protagonist, and the later entries which emphasized untimed exploration of the environment.

boss monster that the player character encounters at the end of the level.[11] Items such as money, hearts, and food can be found scattered throughout the areas.[12] Rondo of Blood also features the Item Crash ability reused in subsequent Castlevania titles, which allows a sub-weapon to be used in a super attack.[9] Its direct sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, reuses many of the monsters.[11]

Plot

Taking place in 1792, Rondo of Blood is set in the

David Vincent), heir to the whip "Vampire Killer" and Simon Belmont's direct descendant.[13] He comes to the castle after his beloved Annette (Atsuko Honda / Jessica Straus) is kidnapped by Dracula's servant, Shaft, as bait for a trap.[14] Richter makes his way through Dracula's castle, defeating his minions, including the spirit of Death, a headless knight, and a minotaur, all of whom attempt to stop Richter. Along the way, Richter can free various women kidnapped by Dracula's servants to feed him, including his distant relative[7] Maria Renard (Yōko Teppōzuka / Michelle Ruff), an orphaned 12-year-old who insists on joining him;[13][15] Terra (Hiromi Murata / Karen Strassman), a nun who mistakes him for a manifestation of God;[16] Iris (Akie Yasuda / Karen Strassman), the daughter of the village doctor;[17] and finally Annette.[18] After vanquishing Shaft (or Annette, who has been turned into a vampire, if he fails to rescue her in time, though this is only in the PSP version, not the original release), Richter confronts Dracula (Hiroya Ishimaru / Patrick Seitz) and defeats him before exposing him to sunlight, causing him to vanish.[19]
Dracula's castle then collapses into the sea as Richter escapes on horseback.

Development

Rondo of Blood is the tenth installment of the

PC Engine on October 29, 1993.[4][20] Later, a port was released on the Wii for the Japanese Virtual Console on April 22, 2008; as an import, it became available in North America on March 15, 2010 and in the PAL region (Europe and Australia) on March 19, 2010.[21]

Audio

Rondo of Blood makes use of Red Book Audio along with the onboard soundchip, allowing for better musical quality.[22][23] Akira Souji, Keizo Nakamura, Tomoko Sano, and Mikio Saito composed the soundtrack of Rondo of Blood.[24][25] The songs from Rondo of Blood, "Overture", "Beginning" and "Opus 13", appeared on a pre-order bonus CD for the 2006 Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.[26]

Konami Style published the two-disc soundtrack of the remake of the game, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, on November 8, 2007.[27] The songs "Vampire Killer", "Beginning", "Cemetery", and "Divine Bloodlines" were rearranged; it also included a bonus track of an English-language version of "Nocturne" from Symphony of the Night.[27] Within The Dracula X Chronicles is an option which enables players to choose songs from Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night to play in the background.[5] These songs are found in the form of records hidden within the game.[12]

Remakes and re-releases

Castlevania: Dracula X

Castlevania: Dracula X[b] was developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.[4] While the plot is similar to Rondo of Blood and it uses many of that game's graphics, it features all-new levels and altered gameplay elements instead of being a straight port due to the limitations of the cartridge format and PC Engine exclusivity obligations.[4][23][29] It was released on July 21, 1995 in Japan, in September 1995 in the US, February 22, 1996 in Europe,[28] and on June 22, 1996 in Australia.[citation needed] The game was also released as a Wii U Virtual Console download in Japan on April 23, 2014, in North America on October 2, 2014 and the PAL regions on November 13, 2014. It was released again for New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console download in North America on December 29, 2016, and in Europe and Australia on January 26, 2017.

The game was also re-released as a part of the Castlevania Advance Collection on September 23, 2021 for the

.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

mini-game Peke.[33]

It was released in North America on October 23, 2007, in Japan on November 8, 2007, in Europe on February 15, 2008 and in Australia & New Zealand on April 9, 2008.

Greatest Hits" label while the Japanese edition was re-released on July 15, 2010 under the "Best Selection" label.[34] The game was added to the PlayStation Network in Europe in June 2014, as a PSP-only release (the game is already compatible with the PS Vita).[35]

Castlevania Requiem

Rondo of Blood is included within the Castlevania Requiem compilation for PlayStation 4 along with its sequel, Symphony of the Night. Both titles are based on the retranslated versions featured in The Dracula X Chronicles, though the only original PC Engine version of Rondo of Blood is included. The bonus mini-game Peke can be played by inputting the Konami Code in the Main Menu.

Reception

Reception of the PC Engine's Rondo of Blood was positive.

Nintendo Life praised the level design, soundtrack, graphics, and level difficulty.[22]

In other media

Following the release of the final season of the original

Maria Renard in the lead roles.[41][42][43] At 2022's Netflix's Geeked Week virtual event, the series was revealed to be titled Castlevania: Nocturne alongside a teaser trailer featuring Richter.[44] It was released on September 28, 2023.[45]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: 悪魔城ドラキュラX 血の輪廻(ロンド), Hepburn: Akumajō Dorakyura Ekkusu: Chi no Rondo, lit. "Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood"
  2. ^ Known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula XX (悪魔城ドラキュラXX, Akumajō Dorakyura Daburu Ekkusu, lit. Demon Castle Dracula XX) and in Europe as Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss[28]
  3. ^ known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula: X-Chronicles (悪魔城ドラキュラ Xクロニクル, Akumajō Dorakyura Ekkusu Kuronikuru, lit. Demon Castle Dracula: X-Chronicles)[30]

References

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