Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a 2.5D remake of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for the PlayStation Portable. The game is known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula X Chronicle. It was initially unveiled by 1UP on February 1st, 2007 with footage being shown during the 1UP Show, and was released on October 23th, 2007 in North America, November 8th in Japan, and early 2008 elsewere.

The game also includes the original PC Engine CD-ROM² version of Rondo of Blood as well as a port of Symphony of the Night, and even Akumajyo Dracula Peke. Each of these additional games cannot be accessed right from the beginning, and have to be unlocked first by meeting certain requirements in the main game before then can actually be played. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles represents the first time that Castlevania: Rondo of Blood has been officially released outside of Japan.

Richter Belmont
Age: 19.

Blood Type: B.

Voice Actor: Kiyoyuki Yanada, David Vincent.

A vampire hunter at age 19, Richter is a direct descendant of Simon Belmont. Armed with an unwavering sense of justice and the ancestral Belmont whip, Richter can also wield axes and daggers.

Maria Renard
Age: 12.

Blood Type: AB.

Voice Actress: Sawa Ishige, Michelle Ruff.

A girl with blood ties to the Belmont clan. After being freed from imprisonment in Stage 2, she joins Richter as a playable ally. Perhaps due to her youth, 12-year old Maria is candid and unaffected, and hates to lose.

Annette
Age: 17.

Blood Type: A.

Voice Actress: Sayaka Ohara, Sally Cahill.

Richter's girlfriend. Held hostage somewhere in Dracula's Castle. Strong-willed and also dislikes the unfair. Annette has a very pleasant personality and is nice to all.

Tera
Age: 19.

Blood Type: O.

Voice Actress: Eri Sendai, Karen Strassman.

A nun at the village church, also held hostage in Dracula's Castle. She is warm hearted, lively, and with a passionate soul.

Iris
Age: 17.

Blood Type: A.

Voice Actress: Eri Mizuhara, Karen Strassman.

Daughter of a doctor and held captive in Dracula's Castle. A bright and caring person, she looks out for others.

Count Dracula
Age: c. 728.

Blood Type: ?

Voice Actor: Norio Wakamoto, Patrick Seitz.

Lord and master of Castlevania, and the root of all evil. Though unparalleled in his cruelty, he maintains a regal air of elegance and grandeur.

Dialogue
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Differences from the Original Version


Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is structurally similar to the original but has been rebuilt to portray a new 3D-based aesthetic. The original anime art direction has been replaced, and character designs have been handled by long-time series' artist Ayami Kojima. The story and cutscenes are completely redone with new voice-acting and with several alterations. Notably, the conversation between Dracula and Richter now exactly matches the one from the prologue of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and takes place before the battle commences, instead of after it, as originally the case. Furthermore, Maria's dialogue has been rewritten to be less blatantly humorous in order to match the more serious tone of the remake. The stage design shuffled a bit, certain candles drop different items, and backgrounds have been completely altered in some instances, for example, in the room before the Minotaurs boss in Stage 3'. The soundtrack has been remixed with contributions from Michiru Yamane and others. Certain tunes from the original game like Dark Desires and The Nest have been replaced by Tues Deus Meus (an arranged version of Dark Desires) and Moon Fight from Akumajō Dracula (X68000). A Boss Rush Mode and Sound Test option have been added to the menu. Finally, Stage 5' has been altered and an unique boss, the Hydra, is fought at the end.

As the remake is not an exact sprite-by-sprite port from the original, some gameplay mechanics have been slightly altered, decreasing the overall difficulty of the game. However, in some instances the difficulty has been increased considerably (the battle against Dullahan being a prime example) and some levels have been expanded with new areas to explore, some of which include new puzzles. Other new additions include certain obstacles that can only be bypassed after obtaining specific items. Furthermore, in the final battle with Dracula, now he displays a totally new, and much more difficult, form, with a wide repertoire of attacks.

Development


Koji Igarashi stated one of the motivations to release Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles was because of the popularity of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, developed as the follow-up to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Although English fans already had access to Symphony of the Night, they never had a chance to experience the prequel. Furthermore, although Symphony of the Night was usually regarded as the great turning point of the franchise, Igarashi considered Rondo of Blood to be this instead. Wanting the fans to experience the same feeling he felt when playing the game for the first time was something that also contributed to his decision for the remake.

Regarding the choice for the PlayStation Portable, he explained he wanted to completely redo the game in 3D, in order to appeal to the new generation of gamers and Castlevania fans. Along with developing the game in 3D came a lot of technical issues. A lot of experimenting was done, but the team was not satisfied with the results. With the arrival of the PlayStation Portable it was decided to to be the platform of choice because of the potential the system had.

Instead of doing a completely faithful conversion of the game, it was decided to tweak the game in certain areas. One of the stages, 5', was originally designed by Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka. Because of the team's dislike for the stage's design, which took elements from previous stages and combined them into one level, it was decided to do a complete revamp.

Igarashi requested a younger version of Richter's Symphony of the Night design. Because it was difficult to animate Maria's skirt in 3D, she was given pantaloons in her redesign. Afterwards, it was decided to lengthen Maria's hair because otherwise her silhouette appeared too thin. Since long hair would cause the difficulties as a skirt, it was decided Maria should have a ponytail as well.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night port
The game includes a port of the entire Castlevania: Symphony of the Night game, which can be unlocked by finding an item in the main game. The re-localized North American version includes items that had been dropped from the original PlayStation version and includes new dialogue that more closely matches the original Japanese dialogue and new voice overs using the same voice actors who appeared in the main game.

Promotion


Five promotional events were held in Japan for Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles on 10/27, 10/28, 11/3, and 11/8. During the first three events a trial version of the game could be played. The last two events were held in Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall and the Akihabara Game & Hobby Museum in Tokyo. Series' producer Koji Igarashi and Ayami Kojima were present to talk about the development of the game. A special gift was also given to all the attendants. Additionally, if the game was either pre-ordered by Messe Sanoh, Softmap, or Media Land, three unique phonecards could be obtained.

Reception
Critical reaction to the remake, The Dracula X Chronicles, was generally favorable. Metacritic listed The Dracula X Chronicles as 80/100 while Game Rankings gave it an 81.40%. Reviewers praised the updated visuals, enjoyable soundtrack, inclusion of Symphony of the Night and other bonus content. The high level of difficulty was noted by reviewers as potentially frustrating for players unused to it,  and the voice acting drew criticism as "soap opera fare". Conversely, GameSpy called The Dracula X Chronicles "a solid remake", but considered it unnecessary and "worse than the original".