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Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Turbografx-CD)

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo review

Game: Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo
Platform: Turbografx-CD
Genre: Action Adventure (Platformer)
Developer: Konami

Reader review by JoeTheDestroyer

October 27, 2011

Screams echo from the scarlet horizon as Richter Belmont speeds towards it aboard his carriage. Above the distant din and the clop of his horse's feet, he hears a dry laugh. Floating amidst the tree is the haggard visage of Dracula's hitman Death, clad in a long jacket and top hat akin to a voodoo priest. Without hesitation, the demon rushes forward to put the scythe to Belmont. But handy with the legendary Vampire Killer whip is Richter, and with a few lashes he sends Death cackling into the night.

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Rondo of Blood) begins in a fashion no other Castlevania title had before. It starts off with a short but climactic battle, then segues into a heart-rending and desolate first stage in a burning city, finally ending with Richter exacting justice against the winged arsonist. You don't have to see the expression on Richter's face to imagine the desperation he was likely feeling. The speeding carriage, the immolated city in the background, the music... This is a prime example of effective videogame narrative, setting up atmosphere and storytelling through presentation without force feeding you the details.

Rondo of Blood prides itself on following Castlevania traditions while not relying on them solely. I could yammer on for ages about awesome level designs, great ominous scenery, and fantastic soundtrack packed with modern updates of memorable themes. However, you could attribute those qualities to any great Castlevania title. Rondo of Blood uses them in such a way that they serve as both tradition and homage. You still whip skeletons to bits to the tune of Bloody Tears, weave around medusa heads that threaten to knock you off precarious platforms, and toss axes at anything that flies--just as you would in any great game in the franchise. Battling evil in a burning city from Simon's Quest, running along a familiar crumbling bridge, duking it out with skeletons aboard a rotting galleon, or blazing through the first stage from the original NES title down to the finest detail... These are places and situations we've seen before, loving throwbacks like memories recalled by an old friend. They're revisited, but not rehashed.

Konami has even reworked older ideas. Borrowing from Dracula's Curse, you can recruit one additional character: the animal-loving soon-to-be vampire hunter Maria. Don't giggle at the doves and cats she unleashes for weapons; they punish the wicked as surely as Richter's whip! Guiding these two, you can smash through walls and drop down secret pits to discover hidden routes to special boss battles, accessing alternate levels a la Dracula's Curse. Exploration is especially rewarded in Rondo of Blood, an aspect that separates it from most of its predecessors.

Though revisiting the old is a perk, it's not Rondo of Blood's selling point. It shines in the concepts and details that Konami expanded upon, giving Rondo of Blood its own identity.

You kick off the adventure with a fully powered Vampire Killer, with no need to increase its strength and length via upgrades. Konami didn't rely completely on reiterating what it had already established, and even expanded tiny bits of gameplay. There are still candles to destroy, hearts to collect, and subweapons to use. However, they've added a new technique called 'Item Crush' that allows you to consume extra hearts in order to execute a devastating magical attack based on your subweapon.

Richter himself has a few tricks up his sleeve that other Belmonts were not capable of. Hit the jump button twice and he can do a back flip. You can also hold down the jump button and perform useful dodging techniques. It's thanks to decreased stiffness that Richter can move with such ease, even allowing more skilled players to turn around in mid-jump and whip behind their backs. Such deft movement was unheard of in previous Castlevania titles.

You move with greater ease, and yet Rondo of Blood is still challenging. However, it's much less cheap than before, and much more addictive because of it. Rondo of Blood will rip your face off with a nasty torture chamber loaded with traps and devices that require equal measures of intellect and timing to survive. You'll run gauntlets against tough enemies, most of them clad in armor and clutching deadly weapons. As if bosses weren't enough, you'll bump into villainous mini-bosses who can stop you dead in your tracks. One of them aboard the haunted galleon, a possessed painting, can shatter your soul with a single blow.

But these guys are small fries compared to the real bosses. Classic nemeses like Frankenstein's Monster and Medusa await you in a later level, where you'll fight them one after another in an epic clash. Before that you'll square off against Dracula's newest minions, many of which have become modern mainstays to the franchise. Complete the first stage and you'll meet the stoker of the city's flames: a vicious wyvern hellbent on picking your bones clean. You'll match skill with a swift werewolf capable of raining punishing blows from afar or unleashing Street Fighter-like attacks. Rush into a charnel chamber and disturb the rest of the bone golem, complete with blade-like arms and fiery breath. None of these battles stacks up to the confrontation with Death atop the galleon's mast, a bloody duel of whip versus scythe high above bleak waters.

While fighting Death, I noticed something very small that meant a lot to me. Death took a swipe and missed by a mere pixel. It almost looked like his weapon had collided with my sprite, but you could clearly see that the two were exactly on the borderline with each other. Rondo of Blood's hit detection is so fine that objects truly have to touch you into order to interact. The incident triggered a series of thoughts. I recalled Rondo's excellent score, small graphical details, and even cinematic surprises. These were all little touches, but they made all the difference. It's the ape-like skeletons who crash through windows in level one; the climactic battles with Death and Shaft; the rugged challenge paired with decreased cheapness; the way certain bosses will appear in the background just before spotting you and rushing towards you to tear you to shreds; it's the insanely accurate hit detection... It all shows how dedicated Konami was, and how passionate about Rondo of Blood's creation they were. They weren't just making a Castlevania title, they were crafting a masterpiece and they knew it.

Final Note:
Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, released in 1993, was unavailable outside Japan for nearly seventeen years. It was only last year that the title, in its original format, finally hit American, European and Australian homes on Wii Virtual Console under the title Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Previous to that, the only version available outside Japan was a PSP remake released in 2008.

Rating: 10/10

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