The missing link between Symphony of the Night and Castlevania as it was conceived
Rondo of Blood is about as fine a Castlevania game as there is. While Castlevania: Dracula X may have seemed like a pretty good game at the time, it isn’t until you actually play Rondo of Blood that you see how inferior it truly is. It is regarded as a second-rate port for good reason, being, it's inferior in just about every way. Dracula X is like a decent cover with its own little twists thrown in, but it just doesn't compare to the real deal that is Rondo of Blood. As similar as they are, there are enough differences between them that make them two separate games, and the world outside of Japan missed out on the better one for more than fourteen years.
Originally released in Japan in late 1993, Rondo of Blood never made elsewhere until it came as unlockable in Dracula X Chronicles was released on the PSP in 2007, where it remains the only translated version of the game. A standalone Japanese version finally makes it to the West via the Wii’s virtual console in 2010. Regardless of it being translated and regardless of it being late to those of us outside of Japan, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is one of the finest examples of 2D action gaming to grace any platform.
Rondo of Blood is the direct predecessor of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Players are put in the shoes of Richter Belmont, remembered as the protagonist of the famous (or infamous) rhetorical, “What is man?” prologue of Symphony of the Night. Taking after Dracula's Curse, Maria Renard, who also appears in Symphony of the Night, is another playable character in Rondo of Blood. She can be unlocked early on with one of the game’s new sub-weapons, a key, which can be used to unlock certain doors with secrets hiding behind them.
Richter plays like the traditional ax, cross, dagger, holy water, stop watch and whip wielding Belmont, and he can do a backflip. Maria is a magician that summons various animals to her aid, mostly deadly doves. She also has the ability belly-slide across the landscape quite quickly. Both characters have their advantages and disadvantages, but they are ultimately quite minor, and playing through the game is appropriately challenging with either. The bonus is if you find yourself up against a wall, you can switch to see if things go a bit less awry with the other character.
Fundamentally, Rondo of Blood plays like a classic move to the right Castlevania game, but after playing it and seeing the many subtle changes to basic formula, how the series arrived at Symphony of the Night makes a lot more sense. It’s long been the missing link between two chains of Castlevania games.
It’s easy to see previously made Castlevania games’ inspiration in the level design. Richter and Maria’s adventure has them passing through many recognizable rooms and areas of prior Castlevania games, such as the first dungeon room in the original game, one of the towns from Simon’s Quest and the ghost ship from Dracula’s Curse. Rondo of Blood still puts its own cool twists on them to be sure, but its subtlety is an effective evocation of nostalgia.
The soundtrack also helps evoke the same feeling. Castlevania: Dracula X on the SNES featured pretty much the same soundtrack, for better or worse, without the CD quality of the PC-Engine. The core soundtrack has been out there because of Dracula X, one of the few things that translated well to the SNES, and like it, Rondo of Blood features updated versions of old tunes, and one such track, Den, feels like it’s ripped straight from some ‘80s movie’s montage, and is a mixed version of three of the most famous Castlevania songs, Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears and Beginning. Appropriately it comes on for the last stage before the final showdown with Dracula. Oddly enough, because of Rondo of Blood’s delayed release outside of Japan, that fight also works as a nostalgia piece, it being the same boss fight that appeared in the prologue to Symphony of the Night.
Looking into the future of Castlevania, many of the sprites that are often used in 2D Castlevania games now, originally appeared here in Rondo of Blood. The addition of cutscenes and dialogue can be traced back to it as well. They show their age and the limitations of the tech they were put on, but add a unique flavor to the whole experience. In terms of gameplay, the time limit was removed and backtracking became less limited. Dracula’s Curse introduced branching paths to the series, and Rondo of Blood seamlessly integrated them into levels without a need for the player to knowingly become Robert Frost and pick path A or B. The stage select screen also meant that revisiting stages has become more convenient, making secrets easier to seek out. The broader picture of one of gaming’s oldest franchises as it exists now has become a bit clearer.
Plenty of secrets and thrilling bosses only strengthen the experience. The sub-weapons still require hearts which are still acquired via broken candles, and the core Castlevania platforming, stair climbing and short range attacking all still apply. A lot of it seems like a nostalgia trip, and maybe it is, but it’s not just for Castlevania fans, though that may help. It’s a classic most people never got to play until it was already a classic.
It isn’t like playing some old game you might have missed out on, because nearly everyone already did. It’s like taking a trip back to the 16-bit era and playing one of your all-time favorites for the nostalgia, except you’ve never played it before. You’re older, your taste is more refined, you’ve played your share of classics from the early ‘90s, and you think you know what makes them just that, but this one hits you in a spot that you’ve never really been hit in before. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is a one-of-a-kind video game curiosity, and if that’s not enough, it’s also as fine an example of 2D action as any.
