Taking Rondo of Blood and squeezing it into the constraints of the SNES couldn't have been easy... but I can't buy for one second that it had to be this lacking in quality either. Dracula X is more than just a Rondo port with necessary cutbacks, it is also one that neglected to replace these cutbacks with anything of even remotely equal worth. Even Super Castlevania IV was more impressive through its frequent use of setpieces, and the way it danced around the limitations of the console to deliver some truly impressive moments.
Dracula X strips away most setpieces, and replaces them with arbitrary level design changes that hover somewhere between the most barebones shit you'll ever play in a Castlevania game, versus frustrating and frequent use of insta-death traps. Somebody thought the final boss in Rondo wasn't exciting enough, so here they added 4 bottomless pits for you to get knocked into when you get hit once. (unless you're crouching, which can negate the knockback) The spritework has also seen some very strange changes, with certain backgrounds being replaced to resemble something closer to a comic book art style. This clashes against the spritework from Rondo that does still remain here, let alone against the whole gothic aesthetic that Castlevania is supposed to be embodying.
There's no 2nd playable character here, there's less routes, there's no save system other than passwords, the cutscenes have been mostly removed altogether... along with most of the essence and soul of the game that this is based on. At most, the soundtrack has seen the most graceful conversion and still holds up very well. Either way, for newcomers to the series, I would strongly advise playing Rondo of Blood instead, as you're guaranteed to get a richer amount of content and a much better designed experience. Dracula X is an unfortunate little oddity in the series, which back in '95, gave the exciting impression to fans that Rondo of Blood was finally going to make it over to western audiences. Instead, showed up its chain-smoking cousin, Blondo of Roond.
Dracula X strips away most setpieces, and replaces them with arbitrary level design changes that hover somewhere between the most barebones shit you'll ever play in a Castlevania game, versus frustrating and frequent use of insta-death traps. Somebody thought the final boss in Rondo wasn't exciting enough, so here they added 4 bottomless pits for you to get knocked into when you get hit once. (unless you're crouching, which can negate the knockback) The spritework has also seen some very strange changes, with certain backgrounds being replaced to resemble something closer to a comic book art style. This clashes against the spritework from Rondo that does still remain here, let alone against the whole gothic aesthetic that Castlevania is supposed to be embodying.
There's no 2nd playable character here, there's less routes, there's no save system other than passwords, the cutscenes have been mostly removed altogether... along with most of the essence and soul of the game that this is based on. At most, the soundtrack has seen the most graceful conversion and still holds up very well. Either way, for newcomers to the series, I would strongly advise playing Rondo of Blood instead, as you're guaranteed to get a richer amount of content and a much better designed experience. Dracula X is an unfortunate little oddity in the series, which back in '95, gave the exciting impression to fans that Rondo of Blood was finally going to make it over to western audiences. Instead, showed up its chain-smoking cousin, Blondo of Roond.