I've read that IGA had this made because he wanted to recapture the feeling he got when he first played Rondo of Blood, and how much of a jolt of electricity that was for the Castlevania series (also, to give international audiences a taste of Rondo). Noble sentiments, but IGA must've gotten something completely different out of Rondo than I did.

I think I dislike every change made in this version of the game. Rondo's a phenomenal title in its own right, and most of that goodness is still here, but it feels diluted. I'm never a fan of when platformers slow down action in the middle of a level - boss fight cutscenes are fine, but interrupting for a mini-boss or stage hazard completely kills the momentum. That sequence in 'God, Grant Me Strength'/'O Lord, Please Give Me Strength' with the zombie bull isn't nearly as effective when it's telegraphed by a cutscene. I get why Maria's been redesigned, and I honestly think the long ponytail and breeches combo is cute - but there's no comparison with the original. The new version of 'Wandering'/'Shudder' sucks. Bringing back the Dracula X "Annette becomes a boss if you don't save her" buzzkill sucks sucks sucks, particularly when they pull a fast one and not only change Annette's location but put in a "screw you" for players going by their memories of the original.

It seems to me the changes were made to bring Rondo of Blood to be tonally consistent with IGA's overall direction of Castlevania - that is, something that takes itself seriously. So much of the fun with Rondo in particular is how much it's unabashedly itself and perfectly content with being silly - that key art of Richter and Maria rocking out is a perfect encapsulation of what Rondo wants to be. Dracula X Chronicles trips over itself trying to slot this silliness neatly into gothic horror drama (stake opera?). Things that were jokes are no longer jokes (Maria's inexplicable control over animals is plot relevant!), things that weren't jokes now are jokes (Tera really, really believes that Richter is God, personally come down from heaven to save her - at least make her think he's St. Michael or someone like that, if you're gonna go that route), and things that were jokes still are jokes (Maria's still collecting parfaits in lieu of pot roasts). These things don't really mesh together, not in the way that's intended.

Still, it's Rondo of Blood at its heart, so it's not all bad - just a lesser version. I guess I don't hate Dracula's third form. If I thought about Castlevania the way I thought about Kirby, I'd be all for it, and I'd definitely learned these patterns for Drac and Cookie Monster already, so getting back to Safer Dracula was more tedious than anything. I also love that the original Rondo is there as an unlock - fully localized, no less, complete with the new English voice actors reading translations of the original script rather than the updated one - as well as Symphony of the Night for funsies. Jury's out yet on how the ports hold up (don't like that at least Rondo's teeny-tiny so as to fit the border - I wouldn't have minded upscaling it a little so it at least fit the full screen height), but that they're there makes this a perfectly worthy remake. Even if I don't prefer any of the changes.