Castlevania: Dracula X

Castlevania: Dracula X is the Super NES remake of Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, which was previously released on the PC Engine (a version never released outside of Japan). Instead of being a straight remake, this title should instead be considered both a remake and a sequel, though most people consider it a straight port. It shares the same gameplay and storyline of Rondo of Blood, but the levels had been completely redesigned, the quality of the graphics was considerably lowered, and many other elements were completely taken out of the game.

In Japan, this title is known as Demon Castle Dracula XX (悪魔城ドラキュラXX Akumajō Dracula XX) and in Europe it is known as Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss.

Because the PC-Engine version of the game included a CD quality soundtrack, the PC Engine version is highly considered a collectors item to fans of the series.



Storyline
It is the year 1788 and the evil Count Dracula has been resurrected. This time he has kidnapped the girlfriend of Richter Belmont, Annette Renard. Enraged by this, Richter sets out to save his girlfriend.

Though you can save Annette's sister, Maria Renard, she's not a playable character as she was in Rondo of Blood.

Criticism
When the Super NES Dracula X was first announced, Castlevania fans were excited to see the popular Japanese PC Engine game make it to Super NES. However, fans we're disappointed to see that the game was very different from Rondo of Blood. The levels were completely different (yet still contained many sprites, bosses and elements from the PC Engine game) Maria was unplayable and demoted to just another damsel in distress and the non-linear gameplay was toned down dramatically. It is also said to be one of the toughest and frustrating Castlevania action games. However, the music was the only thing that translated well to Super NES, and some fans consider a few of the SNES Dracula X's tracks to be better than the CD music of Rondo of Blood. Mostly likely due to the issues between NEC and Konami, the Super NES remake had to be different. To this day, Rondo of Blood still never made it out of Japan, while its been considered for another Castlevania Chronicles collection, nothing has happened yet.