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This is for any but the most hardcore gamers who are Castlevania fans, for those who might be as turned off as I was by this game's most serious deficiency: playability. Playability leaves you anxious for more, and satisfied once you've finished that 100% completion; it's the thing that makes you just the tiniest bit unhappy when you're done because you don't know how long it will be before you have such a rich, rewarding gaming experience again.It is this type of playability that "Rondo" lacks. Unfortunately, that feeling is rare with "Rondo." Rather, the feeling I most often had at the end of a level was relief that I'd finally broken through, and the suspicion that it was luck more than anything else that finally got me there. I'm all for challenging gameplay, and I wholeheartedly believe that a game should reward the gamer's developing skills by increasing in difficulty as levels get higher, but "Rondo of Blood" is punishingly, frustratingly difficult from the beginning--and extremely unforgiving of small mistakes: time and again you will find yourself taking damage due to the most miniscule misplacement of your character, and even small enemies deal out damage that drains large amounts from your health meter. First thing first, if this were a review for "Symphony of the Night," and "Symphony of the Night" only, there would be 5 shiny gold stars at the top.
This isn't a review for them. And I was usually ready to turn the game off, which in my opinion is the one emotion that a game should never, ever evoke in a player: you should always shut down your system with regret, not relief.
However, this is a review for "The Dracula X Chronicles," the largest part of which is the remake of "Rondo of Blood"--thus: 1 star for including "SotN" as BONUS CONTENT (you'll have to beat "Rondo" to play "Symphony"), and 2 stars for "Rondo of Blood." Now I know that such a rating will border on blasphemy to the Castlevania faithful, but so be it. I want that feeling of satisfaction that comes when you know you've finally figured out the key to passing a certain level or beating a certain enemy--that you've risen to the challenge.
And, more than anything, the gamer should NEVER want to throw his controller (or entire system in this case) out of frustration. Again, I love a good challenge, but I also like to be rewarded for gaining the skills to overcome that challenge.
It's a beautiful game to look at, and it certainly delivers a solid 3D/2D side-scrolling Castlevania experience. I define "playability" as the X factor [meaning it may be many things in many different games] that causes the player to never want to put the game down; it's the thing that keeps you up into the early hours of the morning playing "just one more level." And, most importantly, it's the thing that puts a smile on your face.
BUT that experience is hampered by the masochistic difficulty of the game. I'm looking for positive emotions from my gaming experiences, and that type of deep frustration is as negative as it gets--but it's one that I felt all too often playing "Rondo of Blood." I am a very casual gamer (2 or 3 titles per year), and there are just too many good games out there for me to spend time on anything that delivers so much frustration and so little satisfaction.I love Castlevania, and "Symphony of the Night" is my favorite game of all time, but I just can't recommend "The Dracula X Chronicles" to anyone but the most hardcore Castlevania fans.
I'm a huge fan of the Castlevania games, but like many fans, I never got a chance to play the Japan-only "Rondo of Blood," a nearly legendary title that is considered by many critics to be the best of the old-school Castlevania games. They also made the fight with Dracula at the end much, much harder, giving the player a sense of accomplishment in winning.The classic Rondo and a perfect port of Symphony are easily unlocked as well, making this pack incredibly worthwhile. To prevent the game from being a sloppy port of some old titles, Konami's Castlevania team redid Rondo in full 3D, preserving the side-scrolling gameplay, but adding a lot of depth and dimension to the backgrounds and infusing several exciting cutscenes. Oddly, the game's sequel, "Symphony of the Night," was released in the US, but it took the series in a brand new direction that fused Castlevania with Metroid-style exploration and RPG elements. And even that one is hard to find today, often fetching prices of $50 or more online.Fortunately, Konami decided it was time to give US gamers the whole "Dracula X" experience by releasing Rondo and Symphony in the same package. And while the stiff controls take some getting used to, they're well worth mastering -- this collection is one of the best the PSP has to offer.
Even though I had the original console the original version of this game appeared one, I never could find it. Even the average guy with not a lot of time to play or get to an "expert" level like myself can beat the game. The "2.5 Dimension" thing isn't bad at all, the choice between English and Jap audio should make everybody happy, the difficulty has probably been upped a bit, especially the final battle with Dracula, but it isn't impossible. When I first saw "Dracula X" for the SNES I thought THAT was it, it wasn't. Finally we have the real thing, and re-mastered. The inclusion of a re-dubbed Castlevania Symphony of the Night is good, it also features some of the bonus scenes, weapons, items, and area's that were in the Sega Saturn Japanese version of "Symphony of the Night" There's lots of hidden bonuses in the game to keep the perfectionist happy; while the rest of us who just want a fun challenging Castlevania game have just that.
This compilation smokes. You can't go wrong if you have even the slightest interest in Castlevania.SOTN alone makes this worth it. For the price you'd be crazy not to buy this.A must have.
A combination of Castlevania games. In fact I bought it because I want to play Arucard on PSP; after months I didnt even clear the remake one, lol.
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