Castlevania Dracula X is the infamous reversion of Rondo of Blood that the rest of the world outside of Japan got instead of Rondo of Blood itself. Here the meme of “mom, can we have Rondo of Blood? -Mom: we already have Rondo of Blood at home” totally applies.

It's actually a different game, though it's also definitely a big downgrade from the quality of the original game, but I still think it's not too bad all things considered... or maybe I'm just being masochistic.

The plot is the same, it's a retelling of Richter's story, with minor variations like Maria and Anette being sisters, or that the other damsels don't exist (no cutscenes either). The level design is also totally different, and it is also the case for the stage graphics, in this aspect I can say that Konami did a really great job, because everything looks spectacular, it is one of the best looking Castlevania games of the 16-bit era and in my opinion surpasses the original Rondo of Blood. As for the characters and enemies, here the sprites are reused from Rondo of Blood, so they look equally good, although there are also a couple of new bosses. The music is also reused, and the sound team did a great job converting the music, because despite not being CD quality, it is impressive how well it was translated.

So, let's get to the heart of the matter; the gameplay. I have to say that this game plays pretty well, the gameplay from Rondo of Blood is almost 100% translated, although the control doesn't feel quite as good, as it's a little bit clunkier (try doing the backflip or crouching too many times in a row), but it's almost identical to the original installment, and as such, it plays better than most classic Castlevanias for that fact alone (or at least it will if you have mastered the Rondo of Blood gameplay). However, the real problem with this game stems from the balancing that was given to the difficulty. Because the field of view is smaller compared to the PC-Engine game, the development team made some adjustments, like everything moves at a slower speed, they reduced the knockback that enemies generate when they hit you, and they also decreased the invincibility time they give you after being hit, so in other words, with these small changes they foolishly increased the difficulty of the game, so now it's more punishing. For example, if a medusa head hits you, it may not hit you once, but twice in a row, and this may cause you to fall into a bottomless pit and die, a cheap defeat.

Another thing is that the level design is more similar to the NES installments, so in that sense it's a step backwards. It contrasts a lot with Rondo of Blood, because that game had a perfectly balanced difficulty and level design, instead this one is a bit more challenging and punishing, so if you are not very skilled playing this kind of games you are going to have a very bad time and I don't recommend you even try it.

Things I like is how not saving Annette makes her become a boss, a concept that would be brought back for the PSP remake of Rondo of Blood. And I must say the infamous Dracula battle as well. Everyone knows that the original installment has an overly easy battle, but this time around they made it quite a bit harder, although it's not that hard if you know what you're doing. If you're equipped with the axe as sub-weapon and stay in a certain position, the first phase is like taking candy from a child, and the second phase isn't that hard, but if you're not careful you can get insta-killed.

Conclusion
Yes, the game is not that bad, except that it has a little cruel difficulty. Obviously with respect to the original Rondo of Blood it pales, because while that game felt like a premium quality Castlevania game, this one feels like an attempt to mimic that greatness, but falls short in many ways, and the fact that it wants to be a more challenging version plays against it because some parameters are not as well adjusted as they should be, making the result not so great.

However, if you are someone who enjoys the gameplay of Rondo of Blood and you are looking forward to a bigger challenge, trying this game might be a good idea, but if you are not such a fan of the classic formula, don't even dare to play this game or you will totally regret it.

Well it's in every sense of the word a downgraded version of Rondo of Blood, cutscenes are removed, maria is no longer playable, alternate paths are gone, level select is gone, basically anything that made the original rondo so great is gone. What we have is a Richter who has a mid air control jump but also feels pretty stiff to control in general. Level design has seen a big hit in how they spam every level with those spear enemies and if you were to do a drinking game based on how many spear guys they plaster on the levels you'd probably die. The final dracula fight sucks, bottomless pits everywhere for the sake of making the boss challenging when in reality its just annoying.

Yeah this one just kinda sucks maybe don't play it.

A lot of people would call this a butchered port of Rondo of Blood. I disagree. To me, the game feels more like a botched sequel than a port or reimagining, and I think in its gameplay and setting it slots really nicely into the transition between Rondo of Blood. The word "botched" is important here. That the game removed the mildly embarrassing cutscenes from Rondo of Blood due to lack of space is the last good thing I have to say about Dracula X. It's way too cheaply difficult even by Castlevania standards, the levels aren't nearly up to par with the other 16 bit games, and the final boss is horrendous. I may be calling this a 6/10, which is still good by my standards, most of that is because classic Castlevania is fun, and it becomes playable if you can use a few savestates here and there. It's only really good as a curiosity for fans of this series. To anyone who doesn't really care about playing through every game, I'd genuinely recommend playing Rondo of Blood twice.

Um downgrade monstruoso do Rondo of Blood, a nível de ser ofensivo com a versão original.

Mesmo tendo sido lançado 2 anos após o Rondo of Blood, todos os aspectos do jogo são inferiores - o que era algo de se imaginar, já que o jogo estava sendo adaptado de PC Engine para SNES - mas não apenas isso como a gameplay foi muito mal adaptada. Há diversos problemas irritantes de hitbox, a movimentação está mais limitada e muitas áreas e fases foram remodeladas de uma maneira ruim e chata de passar. Isso sem falar do aumento desequilibrado de dificuldade de várias partes do jogo.

O mais divertido de tudo, é que esse jogo foi lançado 4 anos DEPOIS do Super Castlevania IV (também de SNES) e ainda assim conseguiu ser inferior e mais limitado que ele na grande maioria dos aspectos.

AH, E MAIS UM DETALHE MUITO IMPORTANTE: NÃO DÁ PRA JOGAR COM A MARIA RENARD NESSA VERSÃO!!!
NA MORAL, COMO DEIXAR PASSAR IMPUNE UM VACILO DESSE NÍVEL???

Sério, recomendo fortemente passar reto desse versão, pq, vou ser bem sincero, essa é uma versão do Rondo of Blood que ninguém iria sentir a mínima falta se não tivesse existido.