The Castlevania series has been around since 1986, and although most casual gamers have only heard of the series, many hardcore gamers will tell you that there is a reason for it’s staying power. This is evident in the latest serving of Transylvanian goodness, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. This game will make you feel like a real bargain hunter (and vampire hunter) considering you get 3 — count them — 3 games for the reasonable price of $29.99. I’ll go into the other two games in a moment but first is the remake of Rondo Of Blood. Please note that the original Rondo Of Blood was never released in the U.S., so unless you speak Japanese it will definitely be new to you. One of the things that will definitely stick out to the player right away are the graphics, this game looks like it belongs on a PS2, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Being tasked with remaking a game that is known for breathtaking architecture and beautiful animation is no small task, yet Konami succeeds with room to spare. Every room has incredible detail, so much so that it feels like a crime just passing it by: even though this is still a 2d side-scroller, the art in the background makes you wish you could explore the scenery in more detail. Things like vast cathedrals, countless rooms, mirrors that reflect you one moment and your skeleton the next, and sprawling landscapes all show that Konami really cared about this title, having absolutely nailed the transition from 2D artwork to 3D rendering.

Another thing that will stand out to the player is the difficulty. This was really my only complaint with this game — some battles would take an hour of attempt after attempt at one boss, and the lives system is unforgiving. If you die 3 times you must restart the entire stage, that can sometimes mean you get to the last boss with 1 or 2 lives left, and you can almost always count on losing to every boss your first couple tries. I can really see how inexperienced players would not even be able to finish this game, it is a game that is brutal on your mistakes, and your timing must be absolutely perfect in some areas….but this is Castlevania after all. I think that some adjustable difficulty levels were really called for here, or a much better continue system.

Read the rest of this article »