Customer Reviews

Castlevania: Dracula X

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In short, if you like "old school" Castlevania, this will most likely appeal to you. If you're looking for a worthy replacement for the (one of two, actually) Castlevania games unreleased in America, don't look here. That said, I feel this game does a very commendable job with 2MB of memory to work with.

Hooray for misinformation, eh? Let's clear up a few things first and then get on to details.

CastleVania: Dracula X is spotted by its cover art identical to that on the PC-Engine (that's the Japanese PC-Engine Super CD-ROM^2 system; or TG-16 as NEC's system was known elsewhere), but this reuse seems more like a coverup of the fact that Konami didn't have a CD-ROM system to release the true Dracula X on in 1995. That said, a Super Nintendo box allows them to fit a larger picture on than the original PC-Engine game's CD-ROM case allowed--so it works out. From here out, the title I'm reviewing will be referred to as DX; the Japanese version of this game as DXX and the PC-Engine title as simply PC-E DX.

Now, this American version is inferior in a couple ways to the Japanese Super Famicom equivalent: Richter (your character) dies in a swirl of something odd and bluish in DX SNES--in Dracula XX we actually see blood. I'm not a big one for gore but Nintendo's magical blood-to-sweat potion has always made me uneasy. The second difference is that of the start animation: in DXX two snazzy silver crosses appear behind beautiful red kanji to the accompaniment of double metallic thumps (not a bad effect at all) while the American title, the one you're perhaps thinking about buying, has a quite slow and somewhat ugly scaling effect: the word Dracula appears suddenly and shrinks to normal size while an X is zapped onscreen Zorro style to the sound of two slashes. It's not as good looking as you'd think, but it's not horrible. The final difference is that of censorship, as another reviewer mentioned: DXX has an actual cross to throw around, just like the Japanese PC-E DX, while Dracula X for the Super Nintendo has the infamous boomerang. A small point, truly, seeing as the boomerang isn't that bad looking.

Onto the game. This is indeed a hard game, and it plays more like the original CastleVania than a story-based game like Dracula X PC-Engine was. Though your basic premise remains unchanged--save the girls--there's a lot less space to do it, and as a result even with the better platform the overall amount of detail suffers.

If you're looking for a PC-E DX replacement, don't come here. Dracula X for the PC-Engine has background details galore--that single skeleton in a chair that turns to dust when you touch him, the bell hunchbacks and money fall out of, the hidden staircase right before Dracula--those are gone here along with the alternate routes.

Instead, we have some levels that are new (and that's not always a good thing--the platforms in the very first level may be used to show off some of the original movement glitches PC-E DX hid quite well) and some that borrow from other games. Some levels are quite fun indeed--the falling bridge section is easily recognized by fans of Super CV 4, and many spots are taken directly from CastleVania Bloodlines (such as the room with only a staircase leading up to the last part of the castle).

This game features one of the best levels in CastleVania history--hidden level 5'. The Atlantis Shrine from Bloodlines sits in the background as water spirits and other monsters appear in a setting much more suited to them than their original placement in PC-E DX (for some reason, the water spirits were in a clock tower there). Following the theme from Bloodlines, you must beat rising water levels.

The often-reviled Dracula fight is among the most innovative I've seen, but it's terribly long.

A lot of new graphics reside in this cart, and as such it is certainly not a weak remix. Even those that appeared before are often given new locales; the most unchanged fight is that of the werewolf. Shaft is gone, and Dracula's second form is different.

Though there is less variety overall, many of the graphic designs are much more beautiful than the PC-Engine title's. Sound is still great--indeed, the music is among the best for the Super Nintendo, though not on the absolute top tier as the samples used don't quite hit notes as smoothly as a game like Plok can make them.

This is far from the worst CV game ever made. In fact, it's one of the best...if you have the patience for it.

By now, everyone knows the story behind the making of this game. Castlevania: Dracula X was released in 1995 for the Super NES. It was basically a censored version of the same game released in 1993 in Japan for the PC Engine (AKA Turbo Graphix 16.) It's still pretty good as far as Castlevania games go but because of the many changes Konami made, it caused quite an uproar and debate. Again, the story behind this game has been covered by other reviewers so I will just go into the pros and cons of this version of Dracula X.

The PROS: Compared to the PC Engine version, the graphics have been updated and look better. In some areas, they are more crisp and sharp so it was nice to look at as you scrolled through the stages. The controls are spot on and the sound effects are typical for a Castlevania game. There are stages everywhere so there is incentive to see if you can find the right path to see them all. Like all Castlevania games before it, you can write down the password and continue where you left off if you stopped to take a break.

The CONS: Konami made a lot of changes to the game that impacted it in most ways. Some were done because of space constraints while others were a case of censorship (to keep in tune with Nintendo's "family friendly" policy.) So that means not all of the stages made it in and the bonus content found on the Japanese version was cut as well. The quality of the music took a big hit so it doesn't sound as good when playing it on the PC Engine.

If the Japanese version never existed, this game would have been met with more of a warm reception and obviously had better reviews. But the overwhelming changes made to it for the US/Mexico/Europe and South America regions were too much to ignore. It's still a good game to play and is hard to track down nowadays. So if you have yet to play this game, you could try a couple of options: pick up Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP which has this game and Symphony of the Night in all its glory, see if you can get a used copy of this SNES title or download this title for the Wii from the Virtual Console Service as they have the PC Engine version available for 900 points ($9.00.)

I personally think this game was better then Super Castlevania IV for SNES, but hey who am I to convince people of the truth. If you want to play this game I suggest buying the PSP version which is about 10 dollars as this SNES cartridge versions runs for at least 50 dollars which is a tad pricey if you ask me.

This was the last great Castlevainia game made until Castlevainia rebirth hit a few weeks ago on Wiiware.

Known in Japan as Akumajou Dracula XX, this game is a spin-off of the critically acclaimed PC-Engine title, Akumajou Dracula X; Ein No Rondo. However, the biggest similarities between these two titles are the first few screens of level 1 and the soundtrack. Graphically, the SNES title gives more in the way of special effects, but it pales in comparison to the animation and beauty found in the PC-E original. The soundtracks are composed of nearly identical tunes, but the PC-E version has the advantage of being on CDROM. Akumajou Dracula XX is harder than the PC-E version as well. Some will complain about censorship (the holy cross from the Japanese version was replaced by a 'boomerang' strangely shaped like a cross). Otherwise, Dracula XX comes across rather unscathed. If you own a PC-Engine or a TurboDuo, do yourself a favor and get that version of the game. It's expensive (often selling over $200), but it is more brilliantly crafted, and will remain a coveted, time-enduring classic. Dracula XX, on the other hand, has almost already faded away into obscurity.

Many people may not realize that a second SNES Castlevania was released after IV. Dracula X is a port of the much-heralded Japan-exclusive Akumajuo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Rondo Of Blood). Dracula X is pretty rare, and you'll have to shell out around 60 bucks to aquire it.

Remember the opening playable scene in Symphony Of The Night where you battled Dracula as Richter Belmont? Well, the game said that scene was from Bloodlines (Sega Genesis), when it was really from Dracula X. Basically, you play as chain whip-wielding Richter Belmont, who's girlfriend and her little sister have been kidnapped by Dracula. Naturally, you have to journey through Drac's castle and eventually kick his butt.

The first thing that struck me was the FABULOUS music. Seriously, this is the best Castlevania music I've heard since Symphony Of The Night (which is a MUST play, btw). "Password/Map Theme", "Opposing Bloodlines", "Bloody Tears", "Cemetary" are all fantastic. I suggest you locate the mp3s online (look up Rondo Of Blood music, but be sure to listen to the SNES tracks, they're actually better than the originals, IMO).

The graphics are also gorgeous. Much better-looking than Castlevania IV.

Now let's get to why this game sucks:

The game is INSANELY short. There are only 7 levels, and they're SHORT.

The same old enemies are everywhere, and you get tired of them real quick. There's one level that has you climbing about 100 flights of stairs and fighting about 100 brutal spear-wielding knights. You'll be trying to fend off one, and two'll hit you frrom the platform above. Terrible level.

Richter walks SO DAMN SLOW! My God, it's literally like he's wearing Link's iron boots from Ocarina Of Time! Maybe it's because the levels are so short; Konami wanted the game to feel longer.

Richter's jumps tend to be far and floaty, making jumping from tiny platform to tiny platform extremely tricky.

In some places, you are assaulted by WAY too many pesky enemies, causing certain death. There are times when you don't even have a chance of staying on that platform.

Some of the bosses are way too hard, considering that the game is stingy with continues, and you'll frequently find yourself starting over at the beginning of the level (no thanks).

The levels are, well, kind of boring. There's no creativity. You walk SLOWLY to the right, slashing everything in your path, climb SLOWLY up some stairs, walks SLOWLY to the left, walk SLOWLY up more stairs....compare these levels to the creativity of the levels in Castlevania IV and Symphony Of The Night and you'll see what I mean. BOR-ING.

Overall, not a *terrible* game, but it's not much fun to play, although it is nice to look at and listen to. It's not worth your 60 dollars. Just go download the mp3s. I suggest you play SoTN and the sinnfully underrated Castlevania 64.

In 1993 on the Turbo Grafx-16 in Japan, they released a Castlevania game called Akumaj Dracula X Chi no Rondo. Translated that's: Demon Castle Dracula X Rondo of Blood. The game is a direct prequel to the 1997 all time best: Symphony of the Night. Unfortunately, in 1995 when Dracula X came out to the Super Nintendo entertainment system, the game was greatly altered from the original japanese version. In other words, this isn't the original Dracula X, but a different version, and one that's far inferior to the original.

You play as Richter Belmont who is out to battle with Dracula. It is up to the Belmont clan to keep ridding the world of Dracula, and now it's Richter's time to shine. The game opens up in Transylvania, the very first stage of the game. All the classic Castlevania things are here. You wield a whip--the Vampire Killer--as well as having a set of Sub-weapons. A knife, axe, holy cross, and holy water just to name a few. You can use these sub-weapons by collecting hearts. Anyone who has played a Castlevania game probably knows all this stuff.

Dracula X is one of the games that's fairly simple to pick up and play. The controls are by no means hard to learn, and the mechanics are also by no means hard to learn. It all comes to you pretty easily. There are some parts of the gameplay that were used in Castlevania IV however, that just didn't get into Dracula X, though. For example, your control over the whip is limited. In many installments of the series you can usually let the whip dangle and you can manipulate it the way you want. That's gone in Dracula X. The only thing you can do with the whip is swing it. You can't let it dangle and control it.

Where the game really hits a low point though is the flow of the gameplay. This game is unreasonably challenging. And it isn't due to your enemies being tough, it's done by some unfair game physics and level designs. Let's get it out of the way, most level designs are horrendous. Partly due to the jumping physics of the game. When you jump you don't really have a whole lot of control, and Richter always jumps at an angle. There are some platforms where you have to be literally one step from falling off before you can jump to actually make some. Likewise, each time you sustain damage from certain enemies you're knocked back. Most of your deaths will not come from simply losing all of the health in your health gauge. They'll come because you just landed from a jump, only to have a enemy pop up from no where and knock you back into a pit. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't such a frequent occurrence. The frustration from this is enough to deduce the fun factor by large margins.

And some enemies really are tough, particularly some of the games bosses that do an insane amount of damage. Overall, though, most levels are designed for enemies to take advantage of knocking you in a pit. Other levels are designed to frustrate you to get to the end. There are some levels where you'll spend so much time redoing jumping exercises or falling back into areas you've already visited simply because the levels are terribly designed. It's annoying, and let's not even go into the frustration shared in the final battle with Dracula.

To the game's credit, though, the music and graphics are top notch. The music is among some of the best on the Super Nintendo, but that's certainly not enough to warrant the game a buy. The graphics are also really good looking. Almost as good as 1997's Symphony of the Night, and for a 2D side-scroller made in 1995, that's not bad at all. The look of the levels is grand as are the enemies and backgrounds. Still, the fact that the game is "shiny" just can't warrant it a buy. It's by far one of the weakest Castlevania games in the series, and it's due in large part to physics and level designs that will frustrate the gamer to no end. A huge disappointment for any Castlevania fan.

This entry in the long-running and fantastic Castlevania series was a mid 90's offering for the Super Nes. It came on the heels of one of the best in the series, "Super CV 4", and was ported from Japan from a much superior version of the same game.

Unfortunately the game fails as a follow-up to SCV4 as well as a weak version of the japanese title. It suffers many setbacks from the game that came directly before it- whip control is now much more basic, and the levels are a lot more basic, washed out, and awkward- the main character doesn't move the way we'd expect and the character sprites are just different.

Some of the great system-showcasing effects from CV4 were left behind as well. Scaling, rotation, and other fancy effects aren't really displayed here. Instead it's a pretty straightforward side-scrolling actioner without many frills.

All this would be fine if the gameplay was good, but that too is just average. As mentioned, gameplay just doesn't have the same Castlevania "feel" as far as gravity, speed, and so on. And while the graphics are pretty, it just isn't as fleshed out and impressive as most other Castlevania offerings. The music itself is also only fair- while there's a familiar tune here and there, and it is done well, it just isn't a new palate of instant soundtrack classics. Add to this the fact that the game gets somewhat difficult and cheap in later levels, and it amounts to a pretty shallow experience.

Compared to other Castlevanias (especially the japanese game this was based on), it fails to live up. Castlevania has always been a choice franchise, and this is one of its weakest offerings. As a standard action game, it's not bad- the game definitely doesn't just flat-out suck. But be warned, it's a very washed out experience if you're looking for the next great Castlevania. Pay the high price only if you're a collector, because the game itself is average at best.

After the very classic Super NES title "Super Castlevania IV," Konami released another Super NES game in the form of "Dracula X." I'm not sure whether the Genesis game "Bloodlines" preceded it or not, so I'm not going to make any judgments in terms of which came first. I will, however, state that Bloodlines is a FAR better game than this... thing. It's extremely rare nowadays and for good reason. Here's the lowdown:

THE GOOD
The graphics are VERY GOOD FOR THE SYSTEM. They are ALMOST, OH SO CLOSE to the graphics represented in Playstation's "Symphony of the Night." I'm not kidding. Unlike some other reviewers, I liked the level designs; they weren't perfect, but they certainly weren't terrible. Unfortunately, these are practically the only two things I can say positive about the game. Wait, three things: It's rare, so many people didn't waste their money with this. Ha. Didn't think I'd find another one, did you?

THE BAD
Oh man, with so much potential you'd think this would be a classic with its storyline that links to Symphony and its high-quality graphics and level design. The bad comes crashing down on this one; you play as Richter Belmont (like in Symphony), but the whip doesn't twirl around (it only stays straight) AND IT NEVER UPGRADES OR CHANGES WHEN YOU DIE. I could've spared this game some dignity with the lack of movement for the whip, but why did they make it to where it's always the same?! That's going against Castlevania tradition! You've always been able to change your whip and why this game doesn't is beyond me. Also, the music is very subpar, mostly consisting of rambling techno noise and heavy metal-ish music (which normally would've pleased me...) that doesn't really go anywhere. Richter also walks VERY SLOWLY, almost like the Game Boy titles, and the jumping is horrid here. It's almost as bad as controlling your character in the N64 Castlevania's. I can't emphasize how bad this is. BAD, BAD, BAD.

OVERALL
I HIGHLY -DO NOT- RECOMMEND THIS. I'm a huge Castlevania fan and I even know not to buy this game. If you do buy it, get it for a decent price. I saw this store have it for 80 bucks with a torn label AND CARTRIDGE ONLY. My friends, Super Castlevania IV was FAR BETTER than this piece of plastic. Ultimately, this game had great potential but it comes off as rushed and uninspired. I hate to bash on a Castlevania game, but I had to.

I also noticed (and apparently reviewer Ted did as well) that many Castlevania fans seemed to like this over Bloodlines. I can't fathom a reason why since Bloodlines is a better game. Sometimes, you people make me sick.

This is probraly the 2nd best of the Castlevania Series. I think Super Castevania IV is a tad better. Dracula X didn't seem as horrorifying as the IV but I like this Belmont member (the heroes of the Series) than Simon Belmont. The music seems not too spooky but compare it to IV. But the graphics are a tad better than IV. But also Dracula X and Super IV are very hard. Get this game and dust off that SNES.

Grahpics: 10\10 Music\Sound: 7\10 Difficulty: 8\10 Fun Factor: 8\10

Overall: Good