While it may have been a remake of the original Castlevania and not a completely original game, Super Castlevania IV was, without a doubt, one of the best Castlevania games ever made. Not only did it add plenty of content to make it the definitive version of the original game at that point, but it also made controlling Simon much more enjoyable and satisfying, with full midair control while jumping and being able to whip in eight different directions. There were no real complaints that I had about the game overall, and it is definitely the best way to bring the series to the 16-bit era. With all that being said, however… in my original review of that game, I did mention that it was not quite my favorite Castlevania game, or even my favorite classicvania game. That game would be released just a couple years later, but only in Japan, while us in the west would get the inferior Castlevania: Dracula X. Eventually, we would get the original version of that game released as part of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, where it would get fully translated in English as Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.
In many different ways, Rondo of Blood could be seen as nothing too extraordinary when it comes to a classicvania game, and in other ways, it could even be seen as a step back when compared to what Super Castlevania IV brought to the table. However, what it does add greatly outweighs what was lost in this title, making for what I would consider without a doubt to be the best of the classic Castlevania games. Even back in the day, when I was just playing it for the first time on my Wii out of curiosity, I knew that I preferred this over all the others, despite all the additions that they would bring to the series. There is so much to love about this game, as it manages to still retain the good ol’ Castlevania gameplay intact while still being pretty fun, while also adding plenty of elements that benefit it just enough to make it edge out over the others.
The story is, for the most part, exactly what you would expect for a Castlevania game, but it does add several other elements to make it seem somewhat more original, such as there being several maidens that were kidnapped to be used to bring back Dracula, which does add a little more flavor to the story other then it just being “dracula bad, go kill”, the graphics are incredible, with this definitely being the best looking Castlevania game at this point, and the designs of the enemies, bosses, and Richter himself still looking great all the way to this day, the music is as great as you would expect for a Castlevania game, with plenty of rocking tunes, as well as remixes of classic tracks that hold up extremely well, the control is exactly what you would expect from a Castlevania game, and it works pretty well, even if it isn’t as versatile as what Super Castlevania IV gave us, and the gameplay is also what you would expect from a classic Castlevania game, while also adding in several new additions to make it stand out from others.
The game is a 2D action platformer, where you primarily take control of Richter Belmont, take on a set of at least eight stages across plenty of different gothic environment, fend off plenty of different monsters, both classic and new, which will give you quite the challenge if you aren’t properly prepared to take them on, gather plenty of hearts, money, sub-weapons, and health items throughout the game to assist you in your quest to vanquish the unholy creatures before you, and take on plenty of different bosses that range from familiar faces, to all new foes that will test your strength and reflexes. For the most part, it plays pretty much like your standard Castlevania game, and it doesn’t really warrant any reason to play it over other titles, at least, on the surface level. But, what it does add to the series greatly benefits it in the long run, and makes it fun to come back to even now.
Like with Castlevania III, this game has plenty of different alternating pathways that the player can take, but unlike with Castlevania III, you aren’t just flatout given the option to choose between them, but rather, you have to find them in the stages for yourself. That may seem like a hindrance to some, but for me, I always love shit like this, where you are encouraged to explore these seemingly linear levels to see whatever kinds of secrets you can find, and it is all the more rewarding whenever you do eventually find them. And also like Castlevania III, this game brings back the option of being able to play as multiple characters. As you go through the stages, you can end up finding and saving the maidens that got captured at the beginning of the game, and while most of them are just there for you to save, one of them, Maria, ends up becoming a character that you can swap between at any point. For those of you who haven’t played this game, let me tell you, when you unlock Maria, you will not wanna switch back from playing as her, because she is AWESOME. Not only is her main attack pretty cool and very useful, but the sub-weapons she gets are extremely helpful in certain circumstances, especially against bosses. The only downside to her is that she takes double damage, but with all that stuff that I mentioned earlier, plus having the ability to double jump and perform a special attack on top of that, how can you not want to stick with her for the entire game?
In addition to those new features, we also get fully animated and voice acted cutscenes for the first time in a Castlevania game, and they are pretty well done……… or at least, I would say that, if I wasn’t playing the Japanese version, and I could understand what they were saying. I would play through the English version, but that’s only part of The Dracula X Chronicles, which I don’t have, and I wanna save those for whenever I do get around to that game, so for now, I will just say that the cutscenes do look and sound really good, even if I can’t understand anyone. And finally, this may be a tiny little thing, but I gotta mention it anyway: you no longer permanently lose sub-weapons upon picking up a new one. For every Castlevania game before this, whenever you picked up a new sub-weapon, the one that you were currently holding gets completely replaced, which does kind of suck in some instances, where you end up picking up a sub-weapon that you REALLY didn’t want. Any classic Castlevania player knows this struggle, we have all gone through it. Thankfully, this time around, whenever you do grab a new sub-weapon, the one you were holding gets tossed aside, and you can choose which one you want before proceeding forward. It may not seem like much, but trust me, that is a fix that I am incredibly thankful for.
With all that being said though, as much as I have sung this game’s praises, and while I myself don’t have any problems with it, I can see why people may not prefer this over the previous title. This game returns to the classic control style of the original games, meaning that you can only whip whatever is directly in front of you, and you have an arching jump. While I myself don’t personally mind this, as I am very used to this style of gameplay, those who didn’t like this style and loved the changes that Super Castlevania IV introduced will probably be disappointed when going to this game. But again, that would probably only apply to some certain players, as this didn’t bother me at all. And not to mention, you get a backflip and slide, which Super Castlevania IV didn’t have, so your argument is invalid either way. For me, this game was still great to play through even to this day, and with the added replay value of the many different pathways and the multiple endings that you can get depending on who you beat the game with, it gives the player many different reasons to want to try this game out and go through it again and again.
Overall, this is, in my personal opinion, the best classic Castlevania game ever made, as it not only is another round of that incredibly fun and satisfying gameplay that we all know and love, but the many additions that this game would introduce adds to the amount of charm and fun that can be experienced from it, which I’m sure any longtime fan of the franchise could appreciate. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of Castlevania, or even for those who want to get into the series, because even if it may not be as accessible as Super Castlevania IV, it has plenty going for it that makes it worth checking out. Just, you know, make sure you are playing the CORRECT version of the game, and not Dracula X. It isn’t bad by any means, but nonetheless, it should be ashamed of itself for even existing in the first place.
Game #412
In many different ways, Rondo of Blood could be seen as nothing too extraordinary when it comes to a classicvania game, and in other ways, it could even be seen as a step back when compared to what Super Castlevania IV brought to the table. However, what it does add greatly outweighs what was lost in this title, making for what I would consider without a doubt to be the best of the classic Castlevania games. Even back in the day, when I was just playing it for the first time on my Wii out of curiosity, I knew that I preferred this over all the others, despite all the additions that they would bring to the series. There is so much to love about this game, as it manages to still retain the good ol’ Castlevania gameplay intact while still being pretty fun, while also adding plenty of elements that benefit it just enough to make it edge out over the others.
The story is, for the most part, exactly what you would expect for a Castlevania game, but it does add several other elements to make it seem somewhat more original, such as there being several maidens that were kidnapped to be used to bring back Dracula, which does add a little more flavor to the story other then it just being “dracula bad, go kill”, the graphics are incredible, with this definitely being the best looking Castlevania game at this point, and the designs of the enemies, bosses, and Richter himself still looking great all the way to this day, the music is as great as you would expect for a Castlevania game, with plenty of rocking tunes, as well as remixes of classic tracks that hold up extremely well, the control is exactly what you would expect from a Castlevania game, and it works pretty well, even if it isn’t as versatile as what Super Castlevania IV gave us, and the gameplay is also what you would expect from a classic Castlevania game, while also adding in several new additions to make it stand out from others.
The game is a 2D action platformer, where you primarily take control of Richter Belmont, take on a set of at least eight stages across plenty of different gothic environment, fend off plenty of different monsters, both classic and new, which will give you quite the challenge if you aren’t properly prepared to take them on, gather plenty of hearts, money, sub-weapons, and health items throughout the game to assist you in your quest to vanquish the unholy creatures before you, and take on plenty of different bosses that range from familiar faces, to all new foes that will test your strength and reflexes. For the most part, it plays pretty much like your standard Castlevania game, and it doesn’t really warrant any reason to play it over other titles, at least, on the surface level. But, what it does add to the series greatly benefits it in the long run, and makes it fun to come back to even now.
Like with Castlevania III, this game has plenty of different alternating pathways that the player can take, but unlike with Castlevania III, you aren’t just flatout given the option to choose between them, but rather, you have to find them in the stages for yourself. That may seem like a hindrance to some, but for me, I always love shit like this, where you are encouraged to explore these seemingly linear levels to see whatever kinds of secrets you can find, and it is all the more rewarding whenever you do eventually find them. And also like Castlevania III, this game brings back the option of being able to play as multiple characters. As you go through the stages, you can end up finding and saving the maidens that got captured at the beginning of the game, and while most of them are just there for you to save, one of them, Maria, ends up becoming a character that you can swap between at any point. For those of you who haven’t played this game, let me tell you, when you unlock Maria, you will not wanna switch back from playing as her, because she is AWESOME. Not only is her main attack pretty cool and very useful, but the sub-weapons she gets are extremely helpful in certain circumstances, especially against bosses. The only downside to her is that she takes double damage, but with all that stuff that I mentioned earlier, plus having the ability to double jump and perform a special attack on top of that, how can you not want to stick with her for the entire game?
In addition to those new features, we also get fully animated and voice acted cutscenes for the first time in a Castlevania game, and they are pretty well done……… or at least, I would say that, if I wasn’t playing the Japanese version, and I could understand what they were saying. I would play through the English version, but that’s only part of The Dracula X Chronicles, which I don’t have, and I wanna save those for whenever I do get around to that game, so for now, I will just say that the cutscenes do look and sound really good, even if I can’t understand anyone. And finally, this may be a tiny little thing, but I gotta mention it anyway: you no longer permanently lose sub-weapons upon picking up a new one. For every Castlevania game before this, whenever you picked up a new sub-weapon, the one that you were currently holding gets completely replaced, which does kind of suck in some instances, where you end up picking up a sub-weapon that you REALLY didn’t want. Any classic Castlevania player knows this struggle, we have all gone through it. Thankfully, this time around, whenever you do grab a new sub-weapon, the one you were holding gets tossed aside, and you can choose which one you want before proceeding forward. It may not seem like much, but trust me, that is a fix that I am incredibly thankful for.
With all that being said though, as much as I have sung this game’s praises, and while I myself don’t have any problems with it, I can see why people may not prefer this over the previous title. This game returns to the classic control style of the original games, meaning that you can only whip whatever is directly in front of you, and you have an arching jump. While I myself don’t personally mind this, as I am very used to this style of gameplay, those who didn’t like this style and loved the changes that Super Castlevania IV introduced will probably be disappointed when going to this game. But again, that would probably only apply to some certain players, as this didn’t bother me at all. And not to mention, you get a backflip and slide, which Super Castlevania IV didn’t have, so your argument is invalid either way. For me, this game was still great to play through even to this day, and with the added replay value of the many different pathways and the multiple endings that you can get depending on who you beat the game with, it gives the player many different reasons to want to try this game out and go through it again and again.
Overall, this is, in my personal opinion, the best classic Castlevania game ever made, as it not only is another round of that incredibly fun and satisfying gameplay that we all know and love, but the many additions that this game would introduce adds to the amount of charm and fun that can be experienced from it, which I’m sure any longtime fan of the franchise could appreciate. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of Castlevania, or even for those who want to get into the series, because even if it may not be as accessible as Super Castlevania IV, it has plenty going for it that makes it worth checking out. Just, you know, make sure you are playing the CORRECT version of the game, and not Dracula X. It isn’t bad by any means, but nonetheless, it should be ashamed of itself for even existing in the first place.
Game #412
After a succession of 9 games in the Castlevania series (yes, for some reason Konami counted Vampire Killer and Haunted Castle), each game making variations to the original formula in its own way, comes Castlevania X: Rondo of Blood, which is a return to the basic gameplay and also serves as a sort of tribute to all the Castlevania games up to that point, a game that came to the PC Engine exclusively for Japan in 1993.
I'll start by talking about what makes this game so satisfying to play, and that is that everything is super polished, calibrated and refined in every aspect, from tiny things like the speed at which Richter and the enemies move (which is a bit faster than past installments), to things like a very well constructed level design. All Castlevania games up to this point have always had parts that are designed to make you fail or trip you up the first time, often feeling unfair, however, in this game even though a bit of trial and error is required, every challenge from the levels themselves to the bosses feel like a perfectly balanced obstacle to be challenging, yet fair, to the point that it's easy to get hooked on this game as each attempt can lead to discovering the rest of the stage until you finally get to beat it.
Rondo of Blood simplifies many aspects of the gameplay, as there is less emphasis on the point system and the upgrades for the whip are completely eliminated in pursuit of having the whip at its maximum level from the beginning, not to mention that the limiter on the number of times you can use a sub-weapon no longer exists and now you can throw them as many times as you want (as long as you have enough hearts). And thanks to that the sub-weapons actually have a more prominent role in this game, as they were slightly re-balanced in terms of behavior, not to mention that when you pick one up, you can go back to the previous one in case you did it by mistake, making the game allow you to carry your favorites always and allow you to plan better strategies for the levels in some cases. Also, Richter can perform a "super-attack" with each of the sub-weapons, which despite consuming a lot of hearts, can save you on more than one occasion and is a pretty cool addition.
Still, there are small changes in the character control, which if you master well, can reward your skill. Richter can perform backflips if you press the button to jump at the right time while in the middle of a straight jump, and also be able to jump up stairs and jump when you're on them, as well as instantly jump down at any time. Also, while you can't redirect your jumps completely, you can redirect where Richter is looking, which makes it so you can jump backwards while flipping in the opposite direction to attack, and if you do a normal jump without moving backwards or forwards, you can slightly change the position you might fall into. I may have gone into too much detail when talking about this, but the way you move has always been a very important aspect, and it's partly these little tweaks and additions that make the gameplay feel so good despite keeping the classic control scheme.
The aesthetic of this game is timeless and perfectly captures the 90s era in all its glory. Certainly the fact that at the time it was a Japanese-only release makes this section have more explicit religious references, and above all, it was what allowed it to have those anime-style cutscenes (which feature voice acting!), which even though I'm more a fan of the somber and mystical atmosphere that Castlevania IV was trying to build, I won't deny that these little pixel art cinematics inspired by the anime of the time also have their charm. Graphically it's not as impressive as the aforementioned SNES title or Castlevania for Shap X68000, however, the artistic style of this game ages better by having a more refined pixel art that wisely combines bright colors with dark colors to give life to the scenarios, and the enemies in this installment look so good, that many of these sprites could be used even more than 10 years later in the installments released for the DS. I almost forgot, but mention to the simplified interface of this game that re-designs the old one so that the score, vitality and what sub-weapons you have can be displayed in an elegant way while covering less screen space compared to the old interface.
One of the things I love most about this title is the variety of stages it has to offer. Thanks to the fact that this game hides a series of secret levels, it can allow itself the freedom of having the typical castle levels, but also levels in which even the weather of the day is sunny, and it is quite entertaining to explore these levels to find the secret exits.
And finally, one of the best aspects of this game is undoubtedly its soundtrack, which thanks to the fact that the game is in CD format, has an extremely high fidelity and does not compare to anything of the time, just listen to this (Bloody Tears). This game has a lot of good remixes of songs from previous games, but it also has many new songs like Illusionary Dance, which is the melody that sounds when you face Dracula and instantly became an icon of the franchise, or my favorite;Opposing Bloodlines, the Richter's main theme and a piece that captures very well the essence of this game; classic enough to not clash with the setting, but at the same time modern, lively and even a little heroic.
Conclusion
And well, needless to say, this game is really solid and I dare say one of the best platformers of the 90s. Rondo of Blood doesn't innovate in gameplay, as it goes back to the basic gameplay as I mentioned before, however it perfects it to such a level that it is considered by many (including me) as the pinnacle of the classic Castlevania games.
And well, I'm glad to have finally reviewed this game, although for the moment I think this will be the last time I'll play it again, because I've already played it so many times, that if I did it once more, I would prefer it to be in its PSP remake, which I personally adore and consider it as the definitive version of Rondo of Blood, but that's a review for another day...
Anyway, play this game if you want to experience a good classic Castlevania, whether it's your first time or your twentieth, rest assured you'll have a spectacular time.
I'll start by talking about what makes this game so satisfying to play, and that is that everything is super polished, calibrated and refined in every aspect, from tiny things like the speed at which Richter and the enemies move (which is a bit faster than past installments), to things like a very well constructed level design. All Castlevania games up to this point have always had parts that are designed to make you fail or trip you up the first time, often feeling unfair, however, in this game even though a bit of trial and error is required, every challenge from the levels themselves to the bosses feel like a perfectly balanced obstacle to be challenging, yet fair, to the point that it's easy to get hooked on this game as each attempt can lead to discovering the rest of the stage until you finally get to beat it.
Rondo of Blood simplifies many aspects of the gameplay, as there is less emphasis on the point system and the upgrades for the whip are completely eliminated in pursuit of having the whip at its maximum level from the beginning, not to mention that the limiter on the number of times you can use a sub-weapon no longer exists and now you can throw them as many times as you want (as long as you have enough hearts). And thanks to that the sub-weapons actually have a more prominent role in this game, as they were slightly re-balanced in terms of behavior, not to mention that when you pick one up, you can go back to the previous one in case you did it by mistake, making the game allow you to carry your favorites always and allow you to plan better strategies for the levels in some cases. Also, Richter can perform a "super-attack" with each of the sub-weapons, which despite consuming a lot of hearts, can save you on more than one occasion and is a pretty cool addition.
Still, there are small changes in the character control, which if you master well, can reward your skill. Richter can perform backflips if you press the button to jump at the right time while in the middle of a straight jump, and also be able to jump up stairs and jump when you're on them, as well as instantly jump down at any time. Also, while you can't redirect your jumps completely, you can redirect where Richter is looking, which makes it so you can jump backwards while flipping in the opposite direction to attack, and if you do a normal jump without moving backwards or forwards, you can slightly change the position you might fall into. I may have gone into too much detail when talking about this, but the way you move has always been a very important aspect, and it's partly these little tweaks and additions that make the gameplay feel so good despite keeping the classic control scheme.
The aesthetic of this game is timeless and perfectly captures the 90s era in all its glory. Certainly the fact that at the time it was a Japanese-only release makes this section have more explicit religious references, and above all, it was what allowed it to have those anime-style cutscenes (which feature voice acting!), which even though I'm more a fan of the somber and mystical atmosphere that Castlevania IV was trying to build, I won't deny that these little pixel art cinematics inspired by the anime of the time also have their charm. Graphically it's not as impressive as the aforementioned SNES title or Castlevania for Shap X68000, however, the artistic style of this game ages better by having a more refined pixel art that wisely combines bright colors with dark colors to give life to the scenarios, and the enemies in this installment look so good, that many of these sprites could be used even more than 10 years later in the installments released for the DS. I almost forgot, but mention to the simplified interface of this game that re-designs the old one so that the score, vitality and what sub-weapons you have can be displayed in an elegant way while covering less screen space compared to the old interface.
One of the things I love most about this title is the variety of stages it has to offer. Thanks to the fact that this game hides a series of secret levels, it can allow itself the freedom of having the typical castle levels, but also levels in which even the weather of the day is sunny, and it is quite entertaining to explore these levels to find the secret exits.
And finally, one of the best aspects of this game is undoubtedly its soundtrack, which thanks to the fact that the game is in CD format, has an extremely high fidelity and does not compare to anything of the time, just listen to this (Bloody Tears). This game has a lot of good remixes of songs from previous games, but it also has many new songs like Illusionary Dance, which is the melody that sounds when you face Dracula and instantly became an icon of the franchise, or my favorite;Opposing Bloodlines, the Richter's main theme and a piece that captures very well the essence of this game; classic enough to not clash with the setting, but at the same time modern, lively and even a little heroic.
Conclusion
And well, needless to say, this game is really solid and I dare say one of the best platformers of the 90s. Rondo of Blood doesn't innovate in gameplay, as it goes back to the basic gameplay as I mentioned before, however it perfects it to such a level that it is considered by many (including me) as the pinnacle of the classic Castlevania games.
And well, I'm glad to have finally reviewed this game, although for the moment I think this will be the last time I'll play it again, because I've already played it so many times, that if I did it once more, I would prefer it to be in its PSP remake, which I personally adore and consider it as the definitive version of Rondo of Blood, but that's a review for another day...
Anyway, play this game if you want to experience a good classic Castlevania, whether it's your first time or your twentieth, rest assured you'll have a spectacular time.
List of things the Netflix cartoon needs:
Recreation of Richter eating dusty ass wall turkey from the shot in the manual
A PEKE homage
Adapt the Maria ending
Richter using the key crash to no avail
No turbo clusters of F-bombs
Thanks for reading
Recreation of Richter eating dusty ass wall turkey from the shot in the manual
A PEKE homage
Adapt the Maria ending
Richter using the key crash to no avail
No turbo clusters of F-bombs
Thanks for reading
Re-played this with Maria, and WOW she is overpowered. I enjoyed using her, but the game felt too easy tbh. Richter is the true way to play this. Still the best Castlevania, only competition is maybe Dracula's curse.
Gave this game another chance and beat the last 2 stages. Definitely not the peak of classic Castlevania as people like to claim, but it's a good game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeEmGvm7kDk
um rondo é um movimento musical caracterizado geralmente por um ritmo rápido e animado, isso quando não é simplesmente folclórico.
sim eu vou ser cafona
rondo of blood certamente não recebeu esse nome por acidente (e curiosidade, é o único dos Castlevanias com subtítulo musical que manteve o mesmo nome no ocidente), por mais que a intenção seja esteticamente tornar o jogo mais elegante e cheio de cultura, acredito que a escolha do estilo musical não foi por acaso. Rondo of Blood é rápido, agitado sem te dar muito descanso ou tempo para reflexão. é um jogo difícil, ainda mais com Richter, e te força a dançar no ritmo dele. por mais que tenha me irritado as vezes, eventualmente peguei o jeito e superei todos os desafios com ele e Maria. A Maria que por sua vez é uma criança, e crianças não entendem de teoria musical, nem de ritmo e nem de conformar com expectativas estéticas da vida adulta, então ela atropela o rondo e faz o que bem entende, quando bem entende. Não sinto que jogar esse jogo é uma experiencia completa sem ser com os dois.
mas vamos ao que interessa, rondo of blood não tem, de fato, nenhuma musica a qual você classicamente chamaria de rondo. então o que ele te apresenta? bem
isso aqui é a primeira coisa que você escuta ao ligar o jogo
castlevania é gótico, é medieval e esse pseudo canto gregoriano serve pra te preparar pro clima do jogo inteiro, não é? bom, sinceramente foda-se seu clima synth pop na sua cara imediatamente
rondo of blood trata sua musica de forma tão importante quanto seu gameplay, porque ele é em parte homenagem a todos os jogos que vieram antes mas também algo próprio. o caminho normal de estágios te leva por uma sequencia de fases que tocam respectivamente, vampire killer, bloody tears e beginnings. é o jeito nada sutil do jogo te dizer que sim, varias dessas fases tem elementos dos jogos anteriores, sim, nós adoramos fazer referencias quando podemos e castlevania é tanto o novo quanto seu legado. é só na quinta fase, depois das 3 ultimas, que o rondo recebe mais uma musica sua, mais um synth pop que não quer de forma alguma combinar com a fase que se apresenta. a verdade é que rondo of blood não ta nem ai pras suas expectativas estéticas. na verdade nenhum castlevania, tirando o IV talvez, jamais esteve. mas agora eles podem esfregar na sua cara com o poder absurdo do CD-ROM. castlevania quer ser contemporâneo, quer ser pop, quer ser shoujo e não importa se o jogo são sobre vampiros em 1792, você vai entrar no navio assombrado com esqueletos de sniper e você vai levantar e bater palma.
eu já teria muito pra falar se o jogo só tivesse essa rota principal, que acaba em um medley das 3 musicas principais de castlevania. mas não, rondo of blood te pega pelo braço e diz "ei, psiu, na verdade eu não quero só agradar vocês, fãs fieis. na verdade eu sou bem autoindulgente, mas vou esconder um pouquinho pra não ficar tão obvio". não deve ser tão bom né
rondo of blood é synth pop (e rock também) essa é a identidade dele, é o que ele é e ninguém vai tirar isso dele. é o jogo mais anos 90 que já existiu, talvez seja O jogo dos anos 90 pré-EVA, o zeitgeist anime e musical, a dificuldade meio termo entre SNES e a nova era. ele é seja la que raios é essa mistura de shamisen com horror, é rock sem vergonha alguma, é synth pop city pop mais ainda, em suma, rondo of blood é um dos maiores retratos de sua época e sua preservação é de extrema importância pra todas as novas gerações.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBnMbOD_H04
um rondo é um movimento musical caracterizado geralmente por um ritmo rápido e animado, isso quando não é simplesmente folclórico.
sim eu vou ser cafona
rondo of blood certamente não recebeu esse nome por acidente (e curiosidade, é o único dos Castlevanias com subtítulo musical que manteve o mesmo nome no ocidente), por mais que a intenção seja esteticamente tornar o jogo mais elegante e cheio de cultura, acredito que a escolha do estilo musical não foi por acaso. Rondo of Blood é rápido, agitado sem te dar muito descanso ou tempo para reflexão. é um jogo difícil, ainda mais com Richter, e te força a dançar no ritmo dele. por mais que tenha me irritado as vezes, eventualmente peguei o jeito e superei todos os desafios com ele e Maria. A Maria que por sua vez é uma criança, e crianças não entendem de teoria musical, nem de ritmo e nem de conformar com expectativas estéticas da vida adulta, então ela atropela o rondo e faz o que bem entende, quando bem entende. Não sinto que jogar esse jogo é uma experiencia completa sem ser com os dois.
mas vamos ao que interessa, rondo of blood não tem, de fato, nenhuma musica a qual você classicamente chamaria de rondo. então o que ele te apresenta? bem
isso aqui é a primeira coisa que você escuta ao ligar o jogo
castlevania é gótico, é medieval e esse pseudo canto gregoriano serve pra te preparar pro clima do jogo inteiro, não é? bom, sinceramente foda-se seu clima synth pop na sua cara imediatamente
rondo of blood trata sua musica de forma tão importante quanto seu gameplay, porque ele é em parte homenagem a todos os jogos que vieram antes mas também algo próprio. o caminho normal de estágios te leva por uma sequencia de fases que tocam respectivamente, vampire killer, bloody tears e beginnings. é o jeito nada sutil do jogo te dizer que sim, varias dessas fases tem elementos dos jogos anteriores, sim, nós adoramos fazer referencias quando podemos e castlevania é tanto o novo quanto seu legado. é só na quinta fase, depois das 3 ultimas, que o rondo recebe mais uma musica sua, mais um synth pop que não quer de forma alguma combinar com a fase que se apresenta. a verdade é que rondo of blood não ta nem ai pras suas expectativas estéticas. na verdade nenhum castlevania, tirando o IV talvez, jamais esteve. mas agora eles podem esfregar na sua cara com o poder absurdo do CD-ROM. castlevania quer ser contemporâneo, quer ser pop, quer ser shoujo e não importa se o jogo são sobre vampiros em 1792, você vai entrar no navio assombrado com esqueletos de sniper e você vai levantar e bater palma.
eu já teria muito pra falar se o jogo só tivesse essa rota principal, que acaba em um medley das 3 musicas principais de castlevania. mas não, rondo of blood te pega pelo braço e diz "ei, psiu, na verdade eu não quero só agradar vocês, fãs fieis. na verdade eu sou bem autoindulgente, mas vou esconder um pouquinho pra não ficar tão obvio". não deve ser tão bom né
rondo of blood é synth pop (e rock também) essa é a identidade dele, é o que ele é e ninguém vai tirar isso dele. é o jogo mais anos 90 que já existiu, talvez seja O jogo dos anos 90 pré-EVA, o zeitgeist anime e musical, a dificuldade meio termo entre SNES e a nova era. ele é seja la que raios é essa mistura de shamisen com horror, é rock sem vergonha alguma, é synth pop city pop mais ainda, em suma, rondo of blood é um dos maiores retratos de sua época e sua preservação é de extrema importância pra todas as novas gerações.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBnMbOD_H04
Perfeito, per-fei-to.
Superando seu antecessor Castlevnia IV, Rondo of Blood entrega o que é talvez a melhor experiência que se pode ter com um classicvania, os níveis fluem que é uma beleza, nenhum desafio é injusto, todos os bosses são interessantes e possuem mecânicas bem implementadas, cutscenes animadas extremamente carismáticas, jogar de Maria Renard é uma delícia (acho até melhor que o Richter); e além de tudo isso, o jogo possui múltiplos caminhos, os quais com certeza irei experimentar depois.
Infelizmente joguei a versão do Requiem de PS4, que é uma bosta e sem nenhuma vantagem de emulação, mas de forma alguma desmerece essa pérola.
Superando seu antecessor Castlevnia IV, Rondo of Blood entrega o que é talvez a melhor experiência que se pode ter com um classicvania, os níveis fluem que é uma beleza, nenhum desafio é injusto, todos os bosses são interessantes e possuem mecânicas bem implementadas, cutscenes animadas extremamente carismáticas, jogar de Maria Renard é uma delícia (acho até melhor que o Richter); e além de tudo isso, o jogo possui múltiplos caminhos, os quais com certeza irei experimentar depois.
Infelizmente joguei a versão do Requiem de PS4, que é uma bosta e sem nenhuma vantagem de emulação, mas de forma alguma desmerece essa pérola.
Finished my third playthrough with the same smile on my face when I first discovered Rondo years ago. I replay this game and Symphony every Halloween and at this point the holiday (bad as it is in rural Ireland) is just an excuse to look forward to Richter backflipping through enemies. It's not my favorite (Symphony) nor what I would consider the most holistically designed castlevania (1986) but is the funniest, the happiest and satisfying game in the series.
I don't think I've played any other platformer with such a jovial spirit. This game is funny and makes me laugh out loud in ways most games never have. Death's blank stare when you destroy his scythe. The "oohs" that the zombies make in Stage 2. Triggering the trap in Stage 4 to send swarms of fleamen towards you only for most of them to jump to their deaths into spikes. Even deaths and game overs are deflated by how hilarious the contexts they are placed in. And the cutscenes. I love Richter's hearthy laugh when Annette insists on joining him in defeating Dracula. Or Annette's rant against Dracula. Castlevania has always drawn from the camp inherent in old horror stories however Rondo of Blood is the first title to really embrace and have fun with that mythos. It's a game that constantly asks you to laugh alongside it without the slightest degree of irony or cynicism when you fight an undead ninja farmer.
Every stage is a carnival, each procession of enemies and obstacles acting in tandem pushing and pulling with Richter to the beat of the dance tunes. Yet Rondo is more looser and playful in its adherence to the Classicvania gauntlet. Whereas prior games contextualise stages as avenues for action, Rondo of Blood imagines its stages as places and asks players to do the same to access its hidden content.
How Rondo of Blood treats hidden content ties with Super Mario World for ny favorite implement of secrets in a platformer. Now, 'secrets' in platformers have been codified into a formula established by Yoshi's Island and, ironically enough, Symphony of the Night. Moving into suspicious looking level geometry to make your completion number go up rather than genuinely novel discoveries that change how you engage with the game. Every secret in Rondo of Blood is contextualised uniquely within its stage. Figuring out that the spiked balls can be severed from their chains and then experimenting with that to destroy parts of the lower level geometry is more a interesting and satisfying discovery process than anything in subsequent igavania.
That you are rewarded with completely original stages and a whole new playable character with her own cutscenes and flavor is the cherry on top. It makes every new playthrough Rondo completely personalised and different and different from the last. It might be the mist replayable Castlevania in that regard outside of Aria of Sorrow. It certainly shares that game's spirit of generosity.
There are many other wonderful things that I could write about Rondo of Blood. Richter's movement and the enemy design alone could command pages worth of content. Honestly the Rondo of Blood official guide artwork better summises the ethos of this game that I love about it so much. Until next Halloween.
I don't think I've played any other platformer with such a jovial spirit. This game is funny and makes me laugh out loud in ways most games never have. Death's blank stare when you destroy his scythe. The "oohs" that the zombies make in Stage 2. Triggering the trap in Stage 4 to send swarms of fleamen towards you only for most of them to jump to their deaths into spikes. Even deaths and game overs are deflated by how hilarious the contexts they are placed in. And the cutscenes. I love Richter's hearthy laugh when Annette insists on joining him in defeating Dracula. Or Annette's rant against Dracula. Castlevania has always drawn from the camp inherent in old horror stories however Rondo of Blood is the first title to really embrace and have fun with that mythos. It's a game that constantly asks you to laugh alongside it without the slightest degree of irony or cynicism when you fight an undead ninja farmer.
Every stage is a carnival, each procession of enemies and obstacles acting in tandem pushing and pulling with Richter to the beat of the dance tunes. Yet Rondo is more looser and playful in its adherence to the Classicvania gauntlet. Whereas prior games contextualise stages as avenues for action, Rondo of Blood imagines its stages as places and asks players to do the same to access its hidden content.
How Rondo of Blood treats hidden content ties with Super Mario World for ny favorite implement of secrets in a platformer. Now, 'secrets' in platformers have been codified into a formula established by Yoshi's Island and, ironically enough, Symphony of the Night. Moving into suspicious looking level geometry to make your completion number go up rather than genuinely novel discoveries that change how you engage with the game. Every secret in Rondo of Blood is contextualised uniquely within its stage. Figuring out that the spiked balls can be severed from their chains and then experimenting with that to destroy parts of the lower level geometry is more a interesting and satisfying discovery process than anything in subsequent igavania.
That you are rewarded with completely original stages and a whole new playable character with her own cutscenes and flavor is the cherry on top. It makes every new playthrough Rondo completely personalised and different and different from the last. It might be the mist replayable Castlevania in that regard outside of Aria of Sorrow. It certainly shares that game's spirit of generosity.
There are many other wonderful things that I could write about Rondo of Blood. Richter's movement and the enemy design alone could command pages worth of content. Honestly the Rondo of Blood official guide artwork better summises the ethos of this game that I love about it so much. Until next Halloween.
One of the better Classicvanias IMO, Richter controls very well and the enemy design and stage design is very solid. Well worth the play
How did they drop one of the hardest fucking games of all time, Richter my goat I'm sorry for saying your drip is worse then Kojima Simon I kneel.
Peak game I will be intrigued in how they followed this up with SoTn.
Peak game I will be intrigued in how they followed this up with SoTn.
probably peak classicvania as far as i'm concerned (i have to play bloodlines to be completely sure) mainly because of the cool as hell presentation. i love this series' kooky but simulatenously badass brand of gothic horror and this game does it better than any other one from the series that i've played (save for sotn). the cutscenes are maybe a bit comically bad, but even they sort of add to the general atmosphere. past that, though, i've come to accept that i don't really find classicvania fun to play at all. stumbling through sets of annoying to use stairs and obnoxious enemy patterns with simon's/trevor's/richter's/whoever's limited movesets is just not really fun to me and if it wasn't for the presentation i'd hardly care about anything this series had to offer before symphony of the night.
Rondo of Blood is often acclaimed as one of the best Castlevania games in the classic series and one of the most beloved titles in the franchise. I don't disagree with this statement, although my personal favorite is Castlevania III. But I'm not here to talk about that today.
The game was originally released in Japan as "Akumajō Dracula X: Chi no Rondo" for the PC Engine and remained exclusive for many years before being internationally released in an enhanced version for the PSP, becoming a coveted title for fans worldwide. Unfortunately, the PC Engine never gained much acceptance outside of Japan. However, despite being excited to write about its historical significance in the gaming world and its incredible library, I won't dwell too much on those details, so let's get straight to the point.
The game starts with one of the things I love most about the PC Engine, which is the pixel art cutscenes. These scenes are simply sensational and can be seen in various productions in the console's library. And since we're talking about art, even with clear limitations compared to its market competitors of the time, such as our beloved Mega Drive and the all-powerful Super Nintendo, the game is aesthetically beautiful. The graphics showcase a wealth of details, especially in characters and backgrounds, and the animations are surprisingly fluid. This is thanks to Konami's excellent work and, of course, the introduction of the CD-ROM, which not only allows detailed graphics due to the vast amount of available space but also, for the first time, enables the Castlevania series to achieve high-quality audio through the Red Book audio format—something unthinkable in cartridges until then. Akira Souji was responsible for the composition and recruited three musicians: Keizo Nakamura, Tomoko Sano, and Mikio Saito. The result of this collaboration was a superb soundtrack. Many of these songs are rearrangements of previous games, but they also introduced original compositions that undoubtedly brought a unique identity to the game.
The story is not very complex at all, something that is to be expected. It all starts with the return of Dracula, which is triggered by the sacrifice of a young girl. The scene then cuts to a village that is suddenly the target of supernatural forces, such as skeletons, strange creatures and chaos ensues. And that's where our protagonist Richter Belmont comes into the picture. And the shit is widespread, it's a whip everywhere. Richter's mission is to rescue four maidens who were kidnapped by the villain, including Annette, his fiancée.
In addition to its remarkable achievements such as a phenomenal soundtrack and well-crafted graphics, the game also stands out for significant changes in its gameplay. I think one of the most notable is that the traditional whip upgrade mechanic has been removed. Something very welcome in my opinion, as collecting upgrades throughout the scenario was quite tedious. Another innovation is the addition of the Item Crash, which is a powerful special attack from a sub-weapon, usually at the cost of a large number of hearts.
The level design throughout most of the game is very well-planned. The placement of enemies and elements on the screen is not arbitrary, providing a balanced mix of challenges and a smooth progression. But make no mistake, the game is not easy; there are some quite challenging moments, but nothing that makes the experience frustrating. That is unless you decide to play as Maria, who becomes a playable character later on. And what can I say? She is extremely powerful. She has a double jump, dash, the ability to dodge some projectiles due to her smaller size compared to Richter, can attack with a shadow clone, and has an arsenal of little creatures like birds, kittens, turtles, a little dragon, and more. I even wonder how someone managed to kidnap her; the responsible party should take Dracula's place as the final boss of the game. She's basically the easy mode of the game if what you're looking for is to steamroll everyone and finish as quickly as possible. And I don't think I need to talk about Richter, right? Whip everywhere. Plus, he's the standard game experience.
Rondo of Blood also receives a lot of influence from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse; a branching path system has been implemented, along with various secrets and unique bosses for each of these optional paths. If you aim for the best ending, you'll need to explore each of these alternative routes, in addition to rescuing the four maidens, of course. Therefore, exploration is paramount. Another valuable addition to the gameplay is the ability to select stages at any time, allowing the player to replay the stages with different characters.
Ah, and I couldn't fail to mention that the battles against most bosses are epic; some can be quite challenging, requiring strategy and quick reflexes. By the way, a really cool addition was the "Desperation Attack" from the bosses when they are defeated. I remember when I first played Rondo, I thought it was sensational.
But as not everything is perfect, one of the things that irritated me the most is the extremely short invincibility period when hit. Another downside is that the sub-weapons don't have a dedicated button and instead reuse the "Up + Attack" button combination, which can be quite inconvenient, especially when used on stairs. I must admit, I also missed the initially more fluid physics we had in Super Castlevania IV. There's less control of the character in the air. However, this doesn't bother much during gameplay, as, as mentioned earlier, the elements in the environment were distributed fairly, considering these limitations. Obviously, nothing I mentioned above ruins the overall experience of the game; they are just some personal observations.
In summary, Rondo of Blood is a sensational game. From its release in Japan to its global availability, the game has captured the hearts of Castlevania fans, and it's not hard to understand why. It features multiple paths to follow, intelligent level design, unique bosses, and different characters to play. The graphics, despite the console limitations, are spectacular, making good use of CD-ROM capabilities to deliver rich details in characters and environments, along with its soundtrack. And despite having some minor flaws, they are nothing more than small nuances, especially when considering the positive aspects and the overall quality of the game.
The game was originally released in Japan as "Akumajō Dracula X: Chi no Rondo" for the PC Engine and remained exclusive for many years before being internationally released in an enhanced version for the PSP, becoming a coveted title for fans worldwide. Unfortunately, the PC Engine never gained much acceptance outside of Japan. However, despite being excited to write about its historical significance in the gaming world and its incredible library, I won't dwell too much on those details, so let's get straight to the point.
The game starts with one of the things I love most about the PC Engine, which is the pixel art cutscenes. These scenes are simply sensational and can be seen in various productions in the console's library. And since we're talking about art, even with clear limitations compared to its market competitors of the time, such as our beloved Mega Drive and the all-powerful Super Nintendo, the game is aesthetically beautiful. The graphics showcase a wealth of details, especially in characters and backgrounds, and the animations are surprisingly fluid. This is thanks to Konami's excellent work and, of course, the introduction of the CD-ROM, which not only allows detailed graphics due to the vast amount of available space but also, for the first time, enables the Castlevania series to achieve high-quality audio through the Red Book audio format—something unthinkable in cartridges until then. Akira Souji was responsible for the composition and recruited three musicians: Keizo Nakamura, Tomoko Sano, and Mikio Saito. The result of this collaboration was a superb soundtrack. Many of these songs are rearrangements of previous games, but they also introduced original compositions that undoubtedly brought a unique identity to the game.
The story is not very complex at all, something that is to be expected. It all starts with the return of Dracula, which is triggered by the sacrifice of a young girl. The scene then cuts to a village that is suddenly the target of supernatural forces, such as skeletons, strange creatures and chaos ensues. And that's where our protagonist Richter Belmont comes into the picture. And the shit is widespread, it's a whip everywhere. Richter's mission is to rescue four maidens who were kidnapped by the villain, including Annette, his fiancée.
In addition to its remarkable achievements such as a phenomenal soundtrack and well-crafted graphics, the game also stands out for significant changes in its gameplay. I think one of the most notable is that the traditional whip upgrade mechanic has been removed. Something very welcome in my opinion, as collecting upgrades throughout the scenario was quite tedious. Another innovation is the addition of the Item Crash, which is a powerful special attack from a sub-weapon, usually at the cost of a large number of hearts.
The level design throughout most of the game is very well-planned. The placement of enemies and elements on the screen is not arbitrary, providing a balanced mix of challenges and a smooth progression. But make no mistake, the game is not easy; there are some quite challenging moments, but nothing that makes the experience frustrating. That is unless you decide to play as Maria, who becomes a playable character later on. And what can I say? She is extremely powerful. She has a double jump, dash, the ability to dodge some projectiles due to her smaller size compared to Richter, can attack with a shadow clone, and has an arsenal of little creatures like birds, kittens, turtles, a little dragon, and more. I even wonder how someone managed to kidnap her; the responsible party should take Dracula's place as the final boss of the game. She's basically the easy mode of the game if what you're looking for is to steamroll everyone and finish as quickly as possible. And I don't think I need to talk about Richter, right? Whip everywhere. Plus, he's the standard game experience.
Rondo of Blood also receives a lot of influence from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse; a branching path system has been implemented, along with various secrets and unique bosses for each of these optional paths. If you aim for the best ending, you'll need to explore each of these alternative routes, in addition to rescuing the four maidens, of course. Therefore, exploration is paramount. Another valuable addition to the gameplay is the ability to select stages at any time, allowing the player to replay the stages with different characters.
Ah, and I couldn't fail to mention that the battles against most bosses are epic; some can be quite challenging, requiring strategy and quick reflexes. By the way, a really cool addition was the "Desperation Attack" from the bosses when they are defeated. I remember when I first played Rondo, I thought it was sensational.
But as not everything is perfect, one of the things that irritated me the most is the extremely short invincibility period when hit. Another downside is that the sub-weapons don't have a dedicated button and instead reuse the "Up + Attack" button combination, which can be quite inconvenient, especially when used on stairs. I must admit, I also missed the initially more fluid physics we had in Super Castlevania IV. There's less control of the character in the air. However, this doesn't bother much during gameplay, as, as mentioned earlier, the elements in the environment were distributed fairly, considering these limitations. Obviously, nothing I mentioned above ruins the overall experience of the game; they are just some personal observations.
In summary, Rondo of Blood is a sensational game. From its release in Japan to its global availability, the game has captured the hearts of Castlevania fans, and it's not hard to understand why. It features multiple paths to follow, intelligent level design, unique bosses, and different characters to play. The graphics, despite the console limitations, are spectacular, making good use of CD-ROM capabilities to deliver rich details in characters and environments, along with its soundtrack. And despite having some minor flaws, they are nothing more than small nuances, especially when considering the positive aspects and the overall quality of the game.
After trying to find different ways to play Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for over a month, I eventually came to the conclusion that my one way to play the game without having to wait a few months to get my PlayStation 4 out of storage was to unlock it (along with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) through its PSP remake, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. The whole idea surrounding this was weird to me, because if Konami was going to put two of the most acclaimed games in one of their most beloved franchises on a portable console, then it would've made a lot more sense for them to just release the games as they were instead of tacking them onto a lifeless remake that nobody asked for. Regardless, I sat down one night and begrudgingly played my way through this newer version just to get to play the games that I actually wanted in the first place, but while I thought that my frustration was coming going through this roundabout way just to save $18, playing the original game made me quickly realize that a lot of that came from the game itself. Maybe it's because I got used to how fun and fluid Super Castlevania IV was to play back when I beat it in June, but I felt pretty much nothing but frustration with Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, and I spent every moment of my three-ish hour playthrough wanting to just get it over with.
If there's one positive thing that I can say about Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, it would be that it was easily the best looking and sounding game in the series so far. On top of having some awesome music, the colorful and detailed 16-bit graphics made for a thick and grim atmosphere, especially when you compare it to the drab, lifeless look of the 2007 remake. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood also features some stylish anime-style cutscenes, but the version that I played would have the sound randomly cut out after a certain point (which also happened frequently during the game), so I ended up having to rewatch them on YouTube just to understand what was happening. There were also some interesting ideas at play with the actual levels, as the branching paths made it feel rewarding to explore each stage. Richter Belmont also has a few new moves that I liked in concept, but in practice, I didn't get very much use out of them. The backflip was somewhat useful for very specific boss attacks and was inconsistent everywhere else, and while I did like the idea of Item Crash attacks, I rarely ever used them out of fear of wasting my hearts.
Putting the things that I liked about the game aside, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood made me feel like I was playing the original game on the NES again, and I really don't mean that as a compliment. Rather than the genuinely fun control scheme of Super Castlevania IV, this game decided to retain the clunky, slow, and unreliable controls of the first game, which made the game a thousand times less fun for me. Even when the game isn't throwing NES-era one-hit deaths and infinitely spawning enemies at you during the game's last stretch, playing as Richter is so sluggish and unresponsive that killing even the simplest enemies is an absolute headache, and the game's emphasis on memorizing enemy placement rather than being able to just play the game made playing it feel like a chore. Granted, I did get much more use out of my items here than I did in Super Castlevania IV, but even then, I don't understand the thinking behind deliberately making your game unfun to play when you've clearly proven that you can do the opposite. I've heard that unlocking Maria makes the game much for fun to play, but going to her room would make the game freeze as the cutscene audio played in the background before crashing entirely, so I was essentially locked in a permanent hard mode. Calling Castlevania: Rondo of Blood a bad game would be a bit of a stretch, and it was definitely better than that first NES game, but it certainly wasn't a fun one, and since I've been looking forward to play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ever since I was a kid, I really hope that it's worth it.
If there's one positive thing that I can say about Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, it would be that it was easily the best looking and sounding game in the series so far. On top of having some awesome music, the colorful and detailed 16-bit graphics made for a thick and grim atmosphere, especially when you compare it to the drab, lifeless look of the 2007 remake. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood also features some stylish anime-style cutscenes, but the version that I played would have the sound randomly cut out after a certain point (which also happened frequently during the game), so I ended up having to rewatch them on YouTube just to understand what was happening. There were also some interesting ideas at play with the actual levels, as the branching paths made it feel rewarding to explore each stage. Richter Belmont also has a few new moves that I liked in concept, but in practice, I didn't get very much use out of them. The backflip was somewhat useful for very specific boss attacks and was inconsistent everywhere else, and while I did like the idea of Item Crash attacks, I rarely ever used them out of fear of wasting my hearts.
Putting the things that I liked about the game aside, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood made me feel like I was playing the original game on the NES again, and I really don't mean that as a compliment. Rather than the genuinely fun control scheme of Super Castlevania IV, this game decided to retain the clunky, slow, and unreliable controls of the first game, which made the game a thousand times less fun for me. Even when the game isn't throwing NES-era one-hit deaths and infinitely spawning enemies at you during the game's last stretch, playing as Richter is so sluggish and unresponsive that killing even the simplest enemies is an absolute headache, and the game's emphasis on memorizing enemy placement rather than being able to just play the game made playing it feel like a chore. Granted, I did get much more use out of my items here than I did in Super Castlevania IV, but even then, I don't understand the thinking behind deliberately making your game unfun to play when you've clearly proven that you can do the opposite. I've heard that unlocking Maria makes the game much for fun to play, but going to her room would make the game freeze as the cutscene audio played in the background before crashing entirely, so I was essentially locked in a permanent hard mode. Calling Castlevania: Rondo of Blood a bad game would be a bit of a stretch, and it was definitely better than that first NES game, but it certainly wasn't a fun one, and since I've been looking forward to play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ever since I was a kid, I really hope that it's worth it.
Now this is my prime example of a quintessential videogame. It has EVERYTHING I want: Beautiful pixel art, outstanding music, replay value through alternate routes, and just the right length to not wear out its welcome.
Although I love Castlevania 4, Rondo is easily my favorite Classicvania, bar none. Richter is my Belmont of choice, I LOVE item crashes as a mechanic, Divine Bloodlines is my favorite theme in the series, and it has a style in its presentation that no other CV except SotN can match.
I really can't think of any negatives or anything else to say without sounding redundant. I could pop this motherfucker in any day of the week, any week of the year.
Although I love Castlevania 4, Rondo is easily my favorite Classicvania, bar none. Richter is my Belmont of choice, I LOVE item crashes as a mechanic, Divine Bloodlines is my favorite theme in the series, and it has a style in its presentation that no other CV except SotN can match.
I really can't think of any negatives or anything else to say without sounding redundant. I could pop this motherfucker in any day of the week, any week of the year.
Um clássico dos anos 90.
Um jogo bem divertido e com uma boa gameplay, com bastante liberdade e não-linearidade pra sua época. As cutscenes horríveis até tem seu charme sendo sincero
Um jogo bem divertido e com uma boa gameplay, com bastante liberdade e não-linearidade pra sua época. As cutscenes horríveis até tem seu charme sendo sincero
Aged poorly
Rondo of Blood, my favorite Castlevania, is a unique mixture of the different approaches the series has gone through. It follows the "classicvania" controls but also gives you a backflip and extra mid-air movement. It's also the first installment where the graphics and music have a 90s anime flair, but still with that distinctive gothic horror inspiration. When it comes to difficulty, the game follows the intensity of the original but also offers Maria as a more relaxed playstyle option. If you're playing as the starting character Richter though, every enemy demands planning and timing to move forward. Whether checking out Rondo of Blood for the challenge or the vibes, it's a beautiful experience any way you play it.
If you're a TurboGrafx-16 fan, a Castlevania fan, or just an action-platformer fan in general, this is the #1 game to play for the spooky season.
If you're a TurboGrafx-16 fan, a Castlevania fan, or just an action-platformer fan in general, this is the #1 game to play for the spooky season.
This game rules, while the Castlevania series in general is essentially a celebratory mishmash of classic horror iconography, Rondo of Blood feels like a celebratory mishmash of Castlevania iconography while also being one of the coolest games out there. This is also the point where everything starts leaning harder into an aesthetic that's more anime and a bit more upbeat. It's made even better by the fact that said anime influence bears far more resemblance to the style of shoujo during that era, with the way that Maria straight up looks like a magical girl being especially fun.
Everything in this feels like an escalation of what was established in previous games, locations being far more chaotic than ever before, each enemy on its own being considerably more aggressive, returning music being waaay funkier, it just hits you all at once, sustains that intensity for the entire game, and brings along some of the tightest level design in the series at the same time. One of my favourite examples of this is the difference in how the player is expected to handle the axe armour enemies. In previous entries these would be handled by a mix of dodging and deflecting if the moment called for it, but here, dodging or anything else similarly defensive will ultimately overwhelm the player due to how quickly these enemies attack now, instead requiring the player to successfully deflect every projectile thrown at them. Instances like this appear all over the game, and make each encounter feel like 2 extremely strong forces being put up against one another, rather than the more oppressive nature of the situations that previous Belmonts found themselves in.
Obviously this is a matter of taste, but I do prefer this feel a bit more in this instance, even though both are good and have their place, it's just that Castlevania in general is so, so good at this specifically that I can't help love it wholeheartedly. I'm also very fond of the way the level design is handled here, feeling like a middle point between Castlevania 1 and Super Castlevania IV, being both a faster paced gauntlet, but carrying on for that bit longer than is comfortable to test your endurance as well. This works well as a way to balance out the item crashes being absurdly powerful, preventing them from being an instant win, but not making it overly tough to succeed if you eschew the use of them either. The alternate paths also go a long way in adding a bit of neat exploration to the experience, never really being a dominant enough force to take you out of that core loop, but providing more depth to the stages and making the game feel fun and varied on subsequent playthroughs as well.
Honestly just one of the coolest games ever while also being one of the most finely crafted in the series as well. In a series of games that I could gladly play through countless times and just continue soaking in everything about how it looks, sounds and feels, this is one of the ones I feel most inclined to play constantly, it's just peak gaming right here.
Everything in this feels like an escalation of what was established in previous games, locations being far more chaotic than ever before, each enemy on its own being considerably more aggressive, returning music being waaay funkier, it just hits you all at once, sustains that intensity for the entire game, and brings along some of the tightest level design in the series at the same time. One of my favourite examples of this is the difference in how the player is expected to handle the axe armour enemies. In previous entries these would be handled by a mix of dodging and deflecting if the moment called for it, but here, dodging or anything else similarly defensive will ultimately overwhelm the player due to how quickly these enemies attack now, instead requiring the player to successfully deflect every projectile thrown at them. Instances like this appear all over the game, and make each encounter feel like 2 extremely strong forces being put up against one another, rather than the more oppressive nature of the situations that previous Belmonts found themselves in.
Obviously this is a matter of taste, but I do prefer this feel a bit more in this instance, even though both are good and have their place, it's just that Castlevania in general is so, so good at this specifically that I can't help love it wholeheartedly. I'm also very fond of the way the level design is handled here, feeling like a middle point between Castlevania 1 and Super Castlevania IV, being both a faster paced gauntlet, but carrying on for that bit longer than is comfortable to test your endurance as well. This works well as a way to balance out the item crashes being absurdly powerful, preventing them from being an instant win, but not making it overly tough to succeed if you eschew the use of them either. The alternate paths also go a long way in adding a bit of neat exploration to the experience, never really being a dominant enough force to take you out of that core loop, but providing more depth to the stages and making the game feel fun and varied on subsequent playthroughs as well.
Honestly just one of the coolest games ever while also being one of the most finely crafted in the series as well. In a series of games that I could gladly play through countless times and just continue soaking in everything about how it looks, sounds and feels, this is one of the ones I feel most inclined to play constantly, it's just peak gaming right here.
Simplesmente sensacional.
Castlevania em sua forma mais pura, justa, divertida e incrível.
O jogo que precede Symphony definitivamente não decepciona em absolutamente nada, com músicas incríveis, visuais lindos, personagens carismáticos e uma dificuldade balanceada. O mais próximo de perfeito que um Classicvania poderia chegar.
Castlevania em sua forma mais pura, justa, divertida e incrível.
O jogo que precede Symphony definitivamente não decepciona em absolutamente nada, com músicas incríveis, visuais lindos, personagens carismáticos e uma dificuldade balanceada. O mais próximo de perfeito que um Classicvania poderia chegar.
One of the better retro action platformers I've played. Controls are really tight, and enemy and level design is very solid. Boss fights are pretty difficult, which I don't really mind in a vacuum, but the continue system making you restart the level got really annoying so I'd often end up savestating before the boss after getting through the level a couple times. I like Richter's moveset overall but I wish his mobility was a bit better. The backflip is cool but feels a little less useful than it should be, and I wish he had the slide he has in SOTN. I think Maria might solve this issue but I missed the unlock for her, will have to replay as her at some point. Dracula was a bit anticlimactic as the final boss, much easier than some of the earlier fights. Overall a very good time though, the only pre-SOTN Castlevania I've been able to get into enough to finish.
For the first Castlevania game that I seriously played (I have to give it to
OperatorArmisael (Formerly ChaosInsurgent49), one of the developers of the Terraria Metroid Mod Discord for giving me inspiration to try out Castlevania to even help me 100% it), this has to be one of the greatest Castlevania games that I've played. The fact that this game is ALSO a precursor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night will FOREVER remind me of the transition from Metroid 2: Return of Samus/AM2R/Metroid: Samus Returns to Super Metroid, and I have enjoyed the heck out of the former. I don't have a lot to say about this entry, but this will be one that I might come back to give this game poper justice. (And for those that are in the Backloggd Discord that I was in seeing this, I left due to personal complications involving a series I and 2 other people tend to talk about a lot, and I don't expect for myself to come back I will be reviewing stuff though, which won't stop.
Back to Rondo of Blood. For my first entry to Castlevania, the controls are solid, the cutscenes are great, and the voice acting is sub-par in both regions (I played this as Rondo of Blood and not the original Japanese version, but I watched a TAS of the latter both as the goat named Ritcher Belmont and Maria Renard)
OperatorArmisael (Formerly ChaosInsurgent49), one of the developers of the Terraria Metroid Mod Discord for giving me inspiration to try out Castlevania to even help me 100% it), this has to be one of the greatest Castlevania games that I've played. The fact that this game is ALSO a precursor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night will FOREVER remind me of the transition from Metroid 2: Return of Samus/AM2R/Metroid: Samus Returns to Super Metroid, and I have enjoyed the heck out of the former. I don't have a lot to say about this entry, but this will be one that I might come back to give this game poper justice. (And for those that are in the Backloggd Discord that I was in seeing this, I left due to personal complications involving a series I and 2 other people tend to talk about a lot, and I don't expect for myself to come back I will be reviewing stuff though, which won't stop.
Back to Rondo of Blood. For my first entry to Castlevania, the controls are solid, the cutscenes are great, and the voice acting is sub-par in both regions (I played this as Rondo of Blood and not the original Japanese version, but I watched a TAS of the latter both as the goat named Ritcher Belmont and Maria Renard)
I was thinking of what to make my review for this game then in my head I hear "Hello everyone. It is me, Count Dracula, and you are watching Disney Channel" and I literally cannot think of anything else
Rondo of Blood rules. It’s a timeless encapsulation of what made games from this era so special, a point when there wasn’t necessarily a strict formula to game design. The lines between challenging to frustrating and secretive to overly obscure were oftentimes still not waked with precision, but Rondo of Blood absolutely walks those fine lines and leaves a striking impression as a result. The game definitely is a challenging experience but it never feels brutally unfair or like it’s disrespecting your time and that’s a boon for Rondo of Blood that absolutely cannot be understated - it’s a very tight, concise package that still offers a lot the more you’re willing to invest. You’re rewarded for exploring and the game is filled with secrets and optional paths to uncover without straying into “I would need a Nintendo Power to have any idea how to find any of this who the hell designed this” territory (a common pitfall games from this time would find themselves in, oftentimes purposefully).
In a game like Rondo of Blood, establishing a level of trust with your player through the game’s design is crucial. You never want to feel like you’re going to be punished for exploring, or too afraid to take a step forward because you could be thrown into a situation you would never have any idea on how to be prepared for. If the player constantly finds themselves in a situation like this, they’re going to either outright drop the game or tear at the seams of it, bending, breaking, and cheesing until immersion and the natural flow of the game is irreparably broken. Rondo of Blood does a good job of establishing and maintaining that vital trust with the player; traps and the like are made distinctly clear and enemy placement is fine-tuned to accommodate the spacing you’ll need to start-up and connects attacks. It’s all very thoughtful and it constantly fuels this drive for betterment which is really what all games of this kin should be striving for. There were so many times during my playthrough that I would “one more time” a stage because I knew I could get through it a little bit better, without taking damage, or without dying. It’s great stuff.
Equally as important is how much Rondo of Blood’s presentation rocks. Art direction is instantly enticing, distinctive, and loaded with charm and I can’t get enough of those cheesy ‘90s-style dubs. I would, of course, be remiss to not mention how stellar the soundtrack is. Bloodlines? Bloody Tears? All-time classics. It’s cooking beyond our comprehension of cooking.
I somehow got sucked into Castlevania on a complete whim after coming to the realization that the series is an egregious gap in my completed games library and I keep coming out thoroughly impressed. I’m really glad that it happened, why did no one tell me how cool these games are?
In a game like Rondo of Blood, establishing a level of trust with your player through the game’s design is crucial. You never want to feel like you’re going to be punished for exploring, or too afraid to take a step forward because you could be thrown into a situation you would never have any idea on how to be prepared for. If the player constantly finds themselves in a situation like this, they’re going to either outright drop the game or tear at the seams of it, bending, breaking, and cheesing until immersion and the natural flow of the game is irreparably broken. Rondo of Blood does a good job of establishing and maintaining that vital trust with the player; traps and the like are made distinctly clear and enemy placement is fine-tuned to accommodate the spacing you’ll need to start-up and connects attacks. It’s all very thoughtful and it constantly fuels this drive for betterment which is really what all games of this kin should be striving for. There were so many times during my playthrough that I would “one more time” a stage because I knew I could get through it a little bit better, without taking damage, or without dying. It’s great stuff.
Equally as important is how much Rondo of Blood’s presentation rocks. Art direction is instantly enticing, distinctive, and loaded with charm and I can’t get enough of those cheesy ‘90s-style dubs. I would, of course, be remiss to not mention how stellar the soundtrack is. Bloodlines? Bloody Tears? All-time classics. It’s cooking beyond our comprehension of cooking.
I somehow got sucked into Castlevania on a complete whim after coming to the realization that the series is an egregious gap in my completed games library and I keep coming out thoroughly impressed. I’m really glad that it happened, why did no one tell me how cool these games are?
if you beat or 100% this game with maria then you're a pussy
they got every sort of ghoul in this one. theres a secret skeleton boss that learned how to fly
The perfect 2D Castlevania, beautiful everything. Played 100%.
Zerei com a maria porque não sou gaymer
Replay, playing through as Richter. Goatvania. There's the idea that this is a "step back" from Super Castlevania IV since it doesn't have the free whip mechanic. I'm a Castlevania IV liker, but the free whip is almost entirely useless, as fun as it is, and it is fun (an invention of Treasure programmer Mitsuru Yaida). Richter's unique backflip though is fun AND cool looking AND on top of that it's useful—enemies and bosses are built around cleverly using your backflip. And the graphics and levels in Rondo whip every other classicvania's ass.
THE Castlevania to play if you're going to play one.
peak classicvania