Castlevania Chronicles

Template:Infobox CVG Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dracula^?) is a 1993 Castlevania game released in Japan on the Sharp X68000 home computer. It is a remake of the original Akumajō Dracula (Castlevania). Due to the X68000 not being released outside of Japan, this game never saw an international release.

Castlevania Chronicles is the North American and European PlayStation re-release of the X68000 game. Released in 2001, this version featured rendered cutscenes and improved graphics. It was released in Japan as Castlevania Chronicle Akumajo DRACULA (Castlevania Chronicle 悪魔城年代記悪魔城ドラキュラ, Kyassuruvania Kuronikuru Akumajō Nendaiki: Akumajō Dorakyura^?).

Storyline

Since the game is a re-release, the storyline is the same as the original Akumajō Dracula. Simon Belmont has to set out to defeat the evil Count Dracula, who has been terrorizing the land.

Gameplay

The X68000 version is a remake of the original Akumajō Dracula; however, this version received redesigned stages and added items taken from games released after the original. Roughly half the stages were directly remade from the original game, with the exclusive stages mostly taking elements from other games. This release is notable for its high difficulty level.

As for music, the player is given the choice between the internal Yamaha YM2151 FM synth of the unit, Roland LA synthesis (MT-32, CM-32L, CM-64) and Roland GS wavetable MIDI (SC-55, SC-33, SC-155, CM-300, CM-500).

The PlayStation re-release features two game modes: "Original Mode" and "Arrange Mode". While the former equates the X68000 version (save for translating the name on the title to "Castlevania"), the latter adds new rendered cutscenes with character design by Ayami Kojima (of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night fame), a new sprite for the main character, new music and a more balanced difficulty.

Character gallery

Main article: Castlevania Chronicles/Gallery

Characters
Image	Name	Information
(original/arranged)	Simon Belmont (Simon Belmondo)	The protagonist and playable character of Castlevania.
(original/arranged)	Dracula	The main antagonist and final boss of the game. He has returned to the Earth to plague mankind.

Regional variations

• The American and European versions contain an interview with Koji Igarashi (IGA) and a gallery featuring artwork by Ayami Kojima from Chronicles and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The latter images were already featured in the Sega Saturn version of Symphony. The art of the Succubus is censored, since her chest in the original was topless.
• In Arrange Mode on the US and European versions, the player can save the game at stage 24, the battle with Dracula. [1]
• Some enemies, such as red skeletons and eyeballs, do not award points in the original Japanese release. This was modified in the International releases, and the later Japanese PSN release has been altered in order to match these features.
• Player's whips and sub-weapons have different hit-boxes in between various versions.
• On stage 23 (Block 8-2), a giant bat is missing in the original Japanese release.
• In Original Mode on the US and European versions, a code must be entered to reach the sound hardware selection screen.
• In the US and European versions, the Japanese voices of the dolls in stage 17 have been completely removed.

Trivia

• On stage 9, Count Orlok from the film Nosferatu appears in the background, frozen in a block of ice.
• On stage 11, a giant statue of the Greek goddess Athena appears. It is crying blood, possibly a reference to the piece that plays during this stage.
• On stage 114 (fifth play through on block 6-3), a cartoon image of Simon will appear smoking a cigarette accompanied by Japanese text in one of the background mirrors. The text translates to "Here's Fake Simon!". [2], [3]
• On stage 21, the last section has a giant painting in the background of a field with mountains. For the original X68000 game, the painting will reflect one of the four seasons, depending what the computers internal clock date is set at. During March through May, the background will show Spring; From June through August, the background will show Summer; During September through November, the background is in Autumn; From December through February, the background will show Winter.. For Castlevania Chronicles, since the PlayStation doesn't have an internal clock, an "Extra Option" menu can be accessed where the player can set the date. When the game is turned off, however, the date information does not save.
  • The Clock during the fight with the Shewolf is also affected by the X68000's clock, adjusting to whatever time it is.  Again, the Playstation version must have the "Extra Option" feature enabled with the time properly set.
• The file load background music was later featured as the sole background music of Stage 4 in Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth.
• The original X68000 version contains two image files named "omake1.PIC" and "omake2.PIC".  "omake1.PIC" displays artwork for the Flame Knight and Skull Knight, while "omake2.PIC" displays artwork for the Peeping Eye and Merman

Related products

• Akumajō Dracula X — Soundtrack that contains some tracks from the X68000 game.
• MIDI Power —X68000 Collection— ver. 3.0 — Contains the Original Soundtrack for the original X68000 version of this game.
• Castlevania Chronicle Akumajō Dracula Original Soundtrack — Contains the original soundtrack for the PlayStation version and three versions of each original song.
• Castlevania — This game is the official remake of the original Castlevania game.
• Akumajō Dracula Best Music Collections BOX — Contains music from this game on Disk 4 (original) and Disk 8 (arranged).
• NTT Pub Castlevania Chronicle: Akumajō Dracula X68000 Official Guide — Japanese official guide.

References

• Japanese Akumajō Dracula X68000 Manual at Mr. P's Castlevania Realm
• The Cutting Room Floor - Castlevania Chronicles

External links

• Castlevania Dungeon
• Castlevania Realm
• Unofficial arrangements (ReMixes) of Castlevania Chronicles's soundtrack at OverClocked ReMix
• GameFAQs