Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles | 
| From: Konami
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $14.36
You Save: $5.63 (28%)
New (42) Used (15) Collectible (2) from $12.00
Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 455
Platform: Sony Psp
Genre: adventure_games
ESRB: Teen
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Sony PSP
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0 x 0
MPN: 26036
Model: 26036
UPC: 083717260363
EAN: 0083717260363
ASIN: B000R37S00
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Retro side scrolling action through more than 10 gothic stages and additional hidden areas | | • | New song collection system adds additional depth to classic gameplay | | • | Return to previously completed levels to explore and uncover new secrets | | • | Includes the original classic Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night games, optimized for PSP system |
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Product Description
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is an entirely new take at the best Castlevania game to never be released in the US, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. The Dracula X Chronicles brings the beloved action/adventure franchise to the PSP system for the first time, complete with 3D graphics, enhanced gameplay and new music. Completing the Dracula X storyline, this game also includes an unlockable version of Symphony of the Night and players will also be able to unlock the original Rondo of Blood from the NEC PC Engine.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Big let down November 21, 2007
A. Hughes (San Diego, California)
11 out of 39 found this review helpful
I was highly anticipating this game, especially after seeing the online videos. I picked it up day 1 and have had it for almost 1 month. I tried really really hard to like this game, but it's not happening.
I guess I didn't really comprehend that it is a remake of an old game. As a result all they really did was spruce up the graphics and sound.
But the gameplay and controls are terrible. I am mostly comparing the game to recent Castlevania games I played on the gameboy advance (GBA). On the GBA games your character could do slides, get whip power ups, double jumps in the air and so on. In this game all of that is removed, so you can only jump and whip over and over and over.
My biggest complaint with the game is the presentation of the levels is just boring and seems pointless. Everytime you scroll off screen you are in a new room (which loses the feeling of being in a specific part of the castle), the enemies just attack you at regular intervals and show no real AI of any kind.
For example, on one level an enemy speared me from above which made me fall back through a hole in the groud, when this happened I was suddenly in a new room with swamp creatures. So I ran to the left to avoid them, the screen scrolled, and AGAIN I was in a 3rd new room. All this in under 10 seconds. I felt totally lost and had no idea where I was in the game. So you slowly begin to drudge back to where you were but it just feels OLD. With the lack of double jump and slide attacks I feel too limited to dodge attacks effectively.
In a NUTSHELL, it feels like they took the original 8-bit NES Castlevania, and improved the graphics, while sadly throwing away all the cool improvements to Castlevania games over the years.
Only nostolgic people who loved the original Castlevania games will like this game. If you've played the more recent ones, you will be let down.
 I bought a second PSP for this game... October 26, 2007
Jake Danzig (Spook City, USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
That's right, this game is that worth it. Many years ago I bought the original version of Rondo of Blood for the Turbo Duo for $200 and even to this day I regard it not only as my favorite Castlevania ever, but probably my favorite video game ever. I also regard Symphony of the Night as one of the best, and if you're a fan of SOTN and have not played this, you are severely missing out. SOTN basically took everything from this game and expanded on it, turning it into a super metroid style game. You'll notice that most of the monster and character designs in SOTN were pulled directly from Rondo of Blood. Some peole may argue that SOTN is better. However, it's hard to compare the games to each other because the layout schemes are so different.
The best way I can describe it is as follows - Rondo of Blood is the hands down king of the old style [linear] Castlevania games, SOTN is the best of the newer metroid style [free-roam] Castlevania games. To own both of these on one disc is worth far more than the $30 price tag.
Quite possibly the most superior aspect of Rondo of Blood compared to ALL other Castlevania games (including SOTN)is the music. The soundtrack is the most top notch you will ever find in a video game and it makes for an extremely satisfying experience (don't get me wrong, SOTN also has an insanely good soundtrack, but it completely lakcs any original Castlevania remakes - Rondo of Blood has most of the classics). The game designers were obviously aware of the superiority of the score and that is most likely why so much of this remake focuses on music collection and customization. That's right, you can actually take songs from the orginal Rondo of Blood or SOTN and place whatever tracks in whatever levels you want of the remake! For me, this completely enhances replayability. Bored of the game? Well try substituting the orignal soundtrack into the new game, or better yet throw in some SOTN clasics like "Wandering Ghosts" or "The Tragic Prince" and see how the levels play out. It may not seem like much to some, but this is actually one of the greatest features I could have asked for.
As far as difficulty, this game is probably on par with Castlevania 1 or 3. Some people will complain that the play control in Rondo of Blood is not as good as in SOTN or Castlevania 4 for SNES, but to be honest with you, I think these people are way too spoiled on the newer Castlevania games, and the point behind Rondo of Blood is to keep the classic NES Castlevnia play control intact. Rondo of Blood truly is the missing link between the older and newer Castlevania generations.
All good points aside, there are a couple of criticisms I have about the remake. First off, Richter's backflip was a pretty handy technique in the orginal Rondo of Blood because it played smoothly into the controls, but in this remake it is absolutely ridiculous. I find myself accidentally doing backflips almost everytime I jump. In fact, I'd say unintentional backflipping is my number one cause of death in this game. I didn't remember the backflip being such a nuisance in the original so I figured maybe it was just weird because I was playing it on a PSP, but when I unlocked he original and started playing it, everything seemed as normal as ever, so this is obviously an annoyance exclusive to the remake. It's so bad it's hard to not choose Maria over Richter every level.
Another small gripe I have is about the screen size settings of the original Rondo of Blood and SOTN games included. First off, full screen is a must, unless you like feeling like you're playing a gameboy game on a TV with a super gameboy adapter. Full screen mode does eliminate the bottom borders, but still leave you with the side borders, which you fill in by choosing on of a few different frames. The frames all look completely lame, and why they could not allow you to choose just a solid black frame is beyond me. And I do realize these are old games that were made years ago to fit different resolutions, but come on - I had the original Rondo of Blood on my PSP over a year ago with an emulator and was still able to choose a stretched fit that looked fine, so this cheesy border thing is just inexcusable.
One final complaint about the originals is the voice acting. Rondo of Blood was never made in English, so I can't complain too much about the voices and dialogue. But there was absolutely no reason to toy around with the voice acting in SOTN. The voices are definitely different, and I even think some of the direct dialogue has been changed. Besides Richter now sounding like a whiny kid and Death, instead of sounding like a skeleton, now sounds like just some regular dude, the changes are in fact probably better overall because, to be honest with you, the voice acting is the original SOTN was just plain terrible. However, going back and changing something so major from what was supposed to be an "original game" definitely seems to diminish it's authenticity.
In summary, despite some minor undesirable nuances, this is still the best game released for the PSP to date, and if you're a Castlevania fan picking it up shouldn't even be a second thought. This is a great opportunity to own two of the best games ever made, along with a semi-decent remake enhanced with tremendous sountrack customization. I may as well toss the game case, because this game is never coming out of my PSP.
 Decent remake on a classic, a few bonuses, and... November 24, 2007
Brandon Abedor (Honolulu, HI United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
First and foremost, I gotta start out with the one aspect of the game I hated the most-- the voice acting. Oh sure, you've heard whining about it countless times, but this game seems to find room near the bottom of my list of worsts. It's not sound quality, that's definetly there. But if you've played Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night and loved the voices in that game, you'll feel cheated here. I can't help but comment how late-20th century "American" the new voices sound --both in accented speech and in chosen words-- for something supposedly set in 16th century central Europe. Anyone remember how erotic Maria sounded as she pronounced "Richter" in CSOTN? That's gone. Gone is the deep, dark voice of Shaft, replaced with what sounds like a mid-20-year-old. So is Dracula's commanding voice of grandeur. It may just be me, but almost all the voices are replaced with, what seems like, an almost identicle voice actor to every character in the game (aside a few of the females). I'm sure they are different, but...they are just TOO similar for my tastes. I haven't played through completely to give my full accessment, but there IS an option to change it to the original Japanese voices. Are these the same Japanese voices as 10 years ago? Probably not, but Japan does a much better job picking appropriate voice actors for their games than we (Americans) do.
I really don't mean to b*tch and moan, but the game had alot of other things that kind of irritated me. For instance, if you want to play CSOTN or Rondo of Blood from the main menu, select it, then go grab yourself a Latte, because it takes at LEAST 45 seconds for the game to load. Music, too, from these classic games takes a few seconds to load. No, it's not the end of the world, and this is a minor nitpick, but when you're used to the PSX version smoothly transitioning music between tracks, you really notice the 3 - 4 second silence. This probably could not be helped.
Okay, now for the good stuff. The plot is the same as almost every other Castlevania-- Dracula is back, and your job is to kill 'im. The graphics are GREAT in the remake game. The backgrounds, baddies, and cut scenes, though short, are a real treat for something on this platform. It has alot of replay value, since you need to accomplish a few things before getting the best ending. The music, most remixed, a few new "replaced" themes, is fantatic (EXCEPT for Dance Of Illusions, which kind of disappointed me). The sound effects-- most were really good, and some were...not. For example, a few of the cut scenes were stock. The "crashing" door the Minotaur made sounded like loud knocking. The skulls Death controlled made a humming harmonica-ish sound, which just came off as silly. Other than that, the rest was gravy.
Before you purchase, take note that this is modeled after classic Castlevania, where the controls are stiff, the baddies have the upper hand in movement, and it takes REAL skill to maneuver your character around and out of danger. This means 4 - 5 hits equals death, whether it be at the blade of an enormous ax, balls of fire and chaos, or simply landing on a frog. Also note that because of it's age and genre, the characters can be slow for some. This is old school at it's finest, my friend.
If you've trained yourself not to care at all about some aspects and love the Castlevania series, then give this game a shot. But if it's the complete package of cutting-edge graphics, music, control, plot, and voice work, you'll have some complaints.
PROS:
It's Castlevania
Original Games Symphony Of the Night, Rondo Of Blood
Improved Graphics and music on the remake
Switch between Japanese/English voices
Old school feel / Challenging
CONS:
Nothing too new
Voices and dialogue completely changed, and suck big time
Old school feel / Difficult for some
If you beat the game, viewing the ENTIRE list of credits is mandatory... EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
yeah yeah October 23, 2007
R. C. (ny)
5 out of 26 found this review helpful
no i do not own this yet but i give it the maximum rating due to the fact that it is castlevania and a side scroller (all three of them) i am now going back to stare out the window and wait for ups to come hopefully it will arrive within the next couple of days oh and I must plug in my psp till its fully charged so it will be ready for some heavy gaming. You should considered camping next to your mailbox to do this u will need a tent, water, rations, a bucket(filled with cat litter *optional),and basic toiletries. UPDATE i now have the game and its like a drug that i cant quit. ok here is a little tip make a quick save when u reach a boss battle then copy that save to another space then fight the boss that way if u loose and run out of lives rather than start at the begining of the level u have a spare save at the boss copy again and again as needed overwriting failed attempts this is handy at higher level boss battles and relieves frustration
Wading through the darkness... October 28, 2007
N. Durham (Philadelphia, PA)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Konami's classic Castlevania series has had a pretty good track record in the portable gaming world, and The Dracula X Chronicles is no different. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles features the never before released in the U.S. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. The game has been remastered and puts you in the shoes of Richter Belmont (and eventually a girl named Maria as well) as you take the fight to Dracula once again. The remastered game features some numbing difficulty, a nicely realized mix of 2-D and 3-D graphics, and some brilliant level design as well. While Rondo of Blood is a little on the short side, there are some extras (one in particular) that are worth the price of admission alone. The original Rondo of Blood can be found as well, but the real meat and potatoes is the fact that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is an unlockable extra. Yes, that's right, the classic game that is one of the finest games ever made is available as an unlockable extra, and even better, it runs virtually flawlessly on the PSP. Whether you manage to beat Rondo of Blood though is another story, as the game does offer some quite unforgiving difficulty. This really shouldn't be too much of a surprise for veterans of the series, but be warned, casual gamers will get turned off. That aside, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a great excursion in the long running and beloved series, and the fact the legendary Symphony of the Night is included makes this game an absolute must own for PSP owners.
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