Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles Review by The Successor

t must be understood that a remake is going to be directly pitted against the original. What is presented in Dracula X Chronicles isn't really better than the original Rondo of Blood. It is definitely impressive, very beautiful, and deserving of much esteem. The problem is that while it rebuilds Rondo, and plays like Rondo, it lacks Rondo's unique spirit.

It's perceptible in many aspects. To name one, the official art done by Ayami Kojima is startlingly worse than the original pieces done for Rondo of Blood. Taken at face value, that may seem like a ludicrous statement. However, Rondo of Blood is something you can't totally take at face value. There's context beneath what seems like basic anime art.

Though many people enjoyed it, not everyone fully grasped Rondo of Blood. It isn't meant to have the filling of games with buff, greased up barbarians raiding rotting, decrepit castles and traversing gritty landscapes, nor is it meant to be baroque, tragic, or overflowing with gothic splendor. Rondo is in its own corner of the Castlevania universe, doing its own thing.

What happened is an attempt to revamp Rondo for a more extravagant feel, in accordance with the style established by Symphony of the Night, and it doesn't fit well. That's not what it was meant to be, so the look of the new art doesn't click like that of the older.

Ayami Kojima has made notable mistakes in her art before. Considering the general greatness she's done, they're forgivable... kind of. Examples range from pea headed Hector to Simon's malformed thigh, but this game displays the worst of the worst. Richter is shown with an incredibly deformed arm in a certain picture depicting him holding a crucifix. I don't know how this sort of thing gets past professionals.

The stiff box art showcases a trio of expressionless faces. There is Richter, looking as though he's been juicing up on anabolic steroids (nothing new for a Belmont!) accompanied by Maria, who resembles a Roswell alien more than a 12 year-old girl. Dracula's face turned out rather agreeable, albeit boring.

That's the big difference with the art. Rondo's wasn't nearly as detailed, but there was more feeling and expression displayed - feeling that fit the game like a glove. The new art doesn't suit these characters, and has a tone wholly unlike Rondo, and worse.

On the subject of Dracula, his character hasn't been left intact. The Count truly cut a figure in Rondo of Blood. Not only was he young and dashing, he had a unique cockiness that hasn't been seen in a Dracula incarnation before or since.
This current take on the Dark Lord is much like his official art - boring. He's a villain so generic and void; he seems to have come right out of a 1960's D.C. comic book.

Yes, Dracula is usually your standard evil guy and not much more. But, this is a remake of the first game in the series to strongly break away from the cookie cutter Dracula, and give him a distinct look and personality, which, while incredibly different, fit surprisingly well. And what do they do here? Ignore all of that and give Dracula such a personality that it makes it seem like he has no personality, and they literally rehash the look he had in Curse of Darkness.

Dracula looks exactly like he did in Curse of Darkness, except he's got a different head. Totally inexcusable. This is a sign of pure laziness, or low budget, or something bad. To make matters worse, one piece of official art for Dracula is literally taken from Curse of Darkness art, but given a new head. Who are they trying to fool?

As for other villains, Death has exchanged his dapper top hat for the KKK hood he wore in Lament of Innocence. This is a bit disappointing. In Rondo's universe, it wasn't odd for Dracula to be a purple haired young man with a giant collar, for Death to be rocking a pimp top hat, or for Richter to be playing a pink guitar with Maria on vocals. Because this remake is shifting Rondo towards something it is not like, those things are no longer acceptable and sadly discarded.

It seems Shaft's darker skin tone has been completely retconned, which is pointless. On the up side, Shaft has been given this really awesome and characteristic evil laughter that I never seem to get tired of hearing.

All of the game's damsels look worse. Richter's girlfriend, Annette, is easily the most bizarre, with her elongated neck and wraithlike appearance.

There aren't too many great things to say about this game's art and new character portrayals, except that Richter's redesign is very cool and appropriate for the time period. He has the image of a dignified soldier.

The most noteworthy alteration in this remake is the new graphics. Someone has dubbed this sort of look 2.5D. That means the graphics are done with 3D polygons, but 2D side-scrolling logic is used for game play. Think Contra: Shattered Soldier.
This is the first entry in this series to employ this technique. It's a breath of fresh air after years of side view Castlevania games repeatedly using Symphony of the Night's style, but never fully living up to it.

If you can't top the innovator, try something new! That's exactly what they've done and the result is excellent.

One thing that will surely draw attention is the level of depth in the backgrounds. The surroundings are alive with activity, and covered in painstaking detail. The care and consideration invested into crafting these amazing backdrops is crystal clear.

Many times, Castlevania games are a joy to just sit back and look at, and this game doesn't dissatisfy. The major setbacks of Rondo of Blood's graphics are the plain, flat backgrounds that habitually spring up. In contrast, the greatest graphical asset the remake sports is the beautiful deepness to the backgrounds. It convincingly brings the environments to life and portrays a whole world carrying on activity where we can't explore.

The character models are usually not too impressive. Richter isn't much to brag about, and neither are the enemies. On the whole, the sprites from Rondo of Blood look considerably better. Sometimes, though, certain things do shine, like Dracula, who is animated incredibly well, and there is a new, additional boss that looks stunning.

The music in this remake is good, but not as good as the original. Most of the pieces are satisfying, and only a small number are really bad. The dance pop vibe of Rondo has been washed away, often in favor of orchestral and rock music. The production quality of the tracks is outstanding. They cut through clearly and with a lot of power. There isn't a whole lot to complain about with this soundtrack, but, likewise, not a whole lot to flatter. It will not disappoint, nor will it knock you over with shear awesomeness.

"Cross Fear" has gotten a bit of the orchestral treatment, while still incorporating a rock drum beat and synthesizers (that don't sound like violins, that is). It has traded its upbeat and carefree feeling for something grander. "Divine Bloodlines" isn't as smooth and calculated as the original, but has more energy, and a bigger sound. Even though most of the originals are better, I do applaud them for trying a different approach.

Where the remake is most brilliant is the entirely new additions it adds. Remember that additional boss that was mentioned? It looks great, and offers an intense and welcome challenge. Those who thought the Dracula battle in Rondo was a push over will be in for a pleasant surprise, and a certain feature of the Super Nintendo Dracula X game is included, giving players another great boss battle. The bonus stage, which once had the look of different stages glued together, has now been given a more logical form and new theme – "Red Dawn". Most will probably like this better, though I prefer the way the bonus was handled in Rondo, both in theme and stage.

DXC's voice acting is really busted. It's almost at the annoying level. It isn't even charmingly amusing, like Mega Man 8's. It's just bad. To be fair, some parts are done well, like the few short lines of the Ferryman and the opening intro sequence, but Richter and all the women are terrible. Though tolerable because the game is so fun, and there isn't much dialogue, more competent voice acting would have been much appreciated.

This brings us to DXC's unlockable bonuses, and what bonuses they are! Both the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night are included in this package. Some things in Symphony have been changed, particularly the script and voice acting. Producer, Koji Igarashi was a bit embarrassed by Symphony's notorious voice acting and decided to have it redone, a'la George Lucas. The result is pretty dreadful. Alucard no longer resonates with his trademark deep voice, and the exchange featuring the classic "What is a man?" line has been completely redone. It's a bit depressing, actually, and just doesn't feel right. If any performance is better than the previous, it is Maria. She isn't necessarily better than the old one, but the new one is more appropriate for a 17 year-old girl and Maria's character.

The port of the original Rondo could have been handled a bit better, as there is a noticeable blur to the environment when Richter is moving around. Regardless, nitpicks are relatively minor, and it's great that this game has finally been released outside of Japan, like people have been requesting forever.

This review is coming from someone that absolutely cherishes the original Rondo of Blood for what it is. What has happened here is they have taken things that were delightfully cheesy about the original, and revamped them into something different, most likely because they were deemed dated or corny. There is more to Rondo of Blood than level design, mechanics, boss patterns, and enemy placement. They took the bare essentials of Rondo, but left out the special character and charm it had.

Compare this to what Capcom has done with Mega Man 9. Capcom went as far to give it self parodying promotional art reminiscent of the original misinterpretations of the earliest Mega Man games. They knew how to capture the distinct charm of that series incredibly well, cheesy as it may be. This remake runs away from that attitude, whereas big fans of the original Rondo would probably appreciate it had Konami embraced it. It's a similar situation with the Super Nintendo remake of Super Mario Bros. 3. It's more streamlined, plays the same, and technically looks better, but it's just not as cool as the original NES version.

Bottom line:
If you are a big Rondo of Blood fan, you'll probably still prefer Rondo of Blood. If not, you'll probably like the remake more.

Comparisons aside, this remake is remarkable. It has lovely graphics, good music, stellar additions, and, even if it misses some things, it does a solid job at recreating Rondo of Blood. Though the absence of the Super Nintendo Dracula X game is not good, the inclusion of the original Rondo and Symphony of the Night contribute to this being a package deal that no Castlevania fan should be without.