Rondo of Blood kicks so much ass it's not even funny. As an introduction to Castlevania it took me a while to get used to it, thinking it was pretty good but not my cup of tea after I first finished it. On a second playthrough, after coming to grow more accustomed to how the game plays, though? God damnit, I came out of this game thinking it was the coolest shit.

What makes Rondo's gameplay satisfying to master is in its physics; you need to commit to and think about every jump and whip crack you do or you're fucked. It takes a while to get used to, but once I understood how to play around it, it felt so much fun. Rondo is hard, but rarely ever so frustrating. Rarely, of course, because some sections such as the beginning of Stage 7 I still think are too much.

Rondo of Blood is also incredibly damn stylish. There's a significant amount of presentation that goes hard to be found here in the spritework, cutscenes, and incredibly jamming OST. Seriously, it's some REALLY good stuff.

I still have to 100% the game by finishing the extra stages and rescuing the girls, but as it stands after finishing the main game, this shit rules. Highly recommended by me even if you've never played a Castlevania game before.