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Awesome collection unites two of the finest games in the series

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 42 / 47
Date: October 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles

Over the years, Konami's Castlevania series has become one of the most beloved and successful video game series of all time. Two decades and over twenty games later, this phenomenon shows no signs of letting down.

Sadly, when it comes to this classic series, North American gamers have always gotten the short end of the stick. Some of the games' North American incarnations have featured inferior sound/graphic quality, and some games have been missing entirely from the North American roster. One of the most notable titles that didn't get an American release was the PC-Engine (Turbo-Grafx 16) Japan only Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. Widely revered as one of the best titles in the series, it never saw the light of day here.

Now Konami has set out to redeem themselves, by giving us a single PSP game which features an enhanced 3D graphical version of the lost title, as well as, in the form of unlockables, the original sixteen-bit version of the game, and even a port of the game widely received as the best in the series, the thirty-two bit Symphony of the Night! And the issues are few and far between.

Let's start off with Rondo, which is only now making its North American debut. The enhanced port of this game looks great - the graphics are reminiscent of those from last year's PSP Mega Man X Maverick Hunter, and that's a good thing. 2D gameplay with 3D graphics, it looks awesome. The occasional cut scenes are of amazing quality, considering this is a handheld

The game plays true to the original. You'll start the game as Richter Belmont, the latest heir to the Belmont clan. He gets the traditional whip, as well as several secondary weapons - some familiar, some new. In addition to being able to collect small hearts to use secondary weapons, he can use a ton of hearts at once to perform an Item Crash - a huge, flashy attack that damages multiple foes. Why hasn't this feature been seen in more games?

As you play through the game there are tons of secrets and alternate pathways. You can rescue young girls as you progress, with each one usually granting you a new ability. For instance, one will unlock the new playable character, Maria. She seems more like a "joke" character than anything else, with her animal-based attacks, but she's still fun to play.

However, one issue people are going to have with Rondo is its insane difficulty. The level continue points are few and far between, and when you lose all your lives, you have to start the level over. Nearly every pre-Symphony Castlevania is like this, but this one is different in the fact that it's a LOT easier to lose life. It doesn't take a whole lot to die this time around. Rondo's not for those seeking a walk in the park.

Just the same, Rondo is an AWESOME game, quite possibly the finest pre-Symphony game in the series. As I had previously stated, the original sixteen-bit PC Engine version of the game is unlockable as well.

Also unlockable, as I previously stated, is the holy grail of the Castlevania series, Symphony of the Night. This game, long out of print and fetching massive prices on sites like eBay over the years, was the precursor of the Metroid-style titles in the series that have graced the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS systems. However, you must UNLOCK the game, which is an inconvenience. Honestly, this is not that big of a deal, however the game's packaging rambles on about the game's inclusion and fails to mention that you are required to unlock it. Once again, not a big deal, but it's sure to disappoint fans that just want to rush home and play Symphony. This could be taken as false advertising.

Sadly, this is more-or-less a straight port of the Playstation version of Symphony. We don't get the enhanced Saturn port with the extra areas added to that version of the game. Still, this isn't going to bother most fans, who are only familiar with the Playstation version anyway.

As you play through the enhanced version of Rondo, you'll also be able to find new pieces of music to unlock for the game's sound/music test mode. A pretty nifty little feature, especially considering this is a series that has always had great music on its side.

I do have to make one final complaint, but it's a big one that needs to be addressed - DRACULA XX IS NOT INCLUDED (this was the game called Dracula X in America.) The Super Nintendo remake of Rondo is the version of the game best known to North American gamers, and it too has long been out of print in the states. How can you make a game called Dracula X Chronicles and not include the game in the subseries that is the most well known for American players?

Ultimately, this package DOES NOT DISAPPOINT. Arguably the finest PSP title to date! Aside from the little flaws here and there and the gaping omission of XX, it's an awesome package that every PSP owner should pick up. Considering how rare some Castlevania games have become, I would advise every PSP owner who is a fan of action-adventure titles to rush to the game store right now, and pick this up. If you're a fan of this series you will not be disappointed.

One of the year's best. Thumbs way up.

I bought a second PSP for this game...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: October 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

That's right, this game is that worth it. Many years ago I bought the original version of Rondo of Blood for the Turbo Duo for $200 and even to this day I regard it not only as my favorite Castlevania ever, but probably my favorite video game ever. I also regard Symphony of the Night as one of the best, and if you're a fan of SOTN and have not played this, you are severely missing out. SOTN basically took everything from this game and expanded on it, turning it into a super metroid style game. You'll notice that most of the monster and character designs in SOTN were pulled directly from Rondo of Blood. Some peole may argue that SOTN is better. However, it's hard to compare the games to each other because the layout schemes are so different.

The best way I can describe it is as follows - Rondo of Blood is the hands down king of the old style [linear] Castlevania games, SOTN is the best of the newer metroid style [free-roam] Castlevania games. To own both of these on one disc is worth far more than the $30 price tag.

Quite possibly the most superior aspect of Rondo of Blood compared to ALL other Castlevania games (including SOTN)is the music. The soundtrack is the most top notch you will ever find in a video game and it makes for an extremely satisfying experience (don't get me wrong, SOTN also has an insanely good soundtrack, but it completely lakcs any original Castlevania remakes - Rondo of Blood has most of the classics). The game designers were obviously aware of the superiority of the score and that is most likely why so much of this remake focuses on music collection and customization. That's right, you can actually take songs from the orginal Rondo of Blood or SOTN and place whatever tracks in whatever levels you want of the remake! For me, this completely enhances replayability. Bored of the game? Well try substituting the orignal soundtrack into the new game, or better yet throw in some SOTN clasics like "Wandering Ghosts" or "The Tragic Prince" and see how the levels play out. It may not seem like much to some, but this is actually one of the greatest features I could have asked for.

As far as difficulty, this game is probably on par with Castlevania 1 or 3. Some people will complain that the play control in Rondo of Blood is not as good as in SOTN or Castlevania 4 for SNES, but to be honest with you, I think these people are way too spoiled on the newer Castlevania games, and the point behind Rondo of Blood is to keep the classic NES Castlevnia play control intact. Rondo of Blood truly is the missing link between the older and newer Castlevania generations.

All good points aside, there are a couple of criticisms I have about the remake. First off, Richter's backflip was a pretty handy technique in the orginal Rondo of Blood because it played smoothly into the controls, but in this remake it is absolutely ridiculous. I find myself accidentally doing backflips almost everytime I jump. In fact, I'd say unintentional backflipping is my number one cause of death in this game. I didn't remember the backflip being such a nuisance in the original so I figured maybe it was just weird because I was playing it on a PSP, but when I unlocked he original and started playing it, everything seemed as normal as ever, so this is obviously an annoyance exclusive to the remake. It's so bad it's hard to not choose Maria over Richter every level.

Another small gripe I have is about the screen size settings of the original Rondo of Blood and SOTN games included. First off, full screen is a must, unless you like feeling like you're playing a gameboy game on a TV with a super gameboy adapter. Full screen mode does eliminate the bottom borders, but still leave you with the side borders, which you fill in by choosing on of a few different frames. The frames all look completely lame, and why they could not allow you to choose just a solid black frame is beyond me. And I do realize these are old games that were made years ago to fit different resolutions, but come on - I had the original Rondo of Blood on my PSP over a year ago with an emulator and was still able to choose a stretched fit that looked fine, so this cheesy border thing is just inexcusable.

One final complaint about the originals is the voice acting. Rondo of Blood was never made in English, so I can't complain too much about the voices and dialogue. But there was absolutely no reason to toy around with the voice acting in SOTN. The voices are definitely different, and I even think some of the direct dialogue has been changed. Besides Richter now sounding like a whiny kid and Death, instead of sounding like a skeleton, now sounds like just some regular dude, the changes are in fact probably better overall because, to be honest with you, the voice acting is the original SOTN was just plain terrible. However, going back and changing something so major from what was supposed to be an "original game" definitely seems to diminish it's authenticity.

In summary, despite some minor undesirable nuances, this is still the best game released for the PSP to date, and if you're a Castlevania fan picking it up shouldn't even be a second thought. This is a great opportunity to own two of the best games ever made, along with a semi-decent remake enhanced with tremendous sountrack customization. I may as well toss the game case, because this game is never coming out of my PSP.

Decent remake on a classic, a few bonuses, and...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First and foremost, I gotta start out with the one aspect of the game I hated the most-- the voice acting. Oh sure, you've heard whining about it countless times, but this game seems to find room near the bottom of my list of worsts. It's not sound quality, that's definetly there. But if you've played Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night and loved the voices in that game, you'll feel cheated here. I can't help but comment how late-20th century "American" the new voices sound --both in accented speech and in chosen words-- for something supposedly set in 16th century central Europe. Anyone remember how erotic Maria sounded as she pronounced "Richter" in CSOTN? That's gone. Gone is the deep, dark voice of Shaft, replaced with what sounds like a mid-20-year-old. So is Dracula's commanding voice of grandeur. It may just be me, but almost all the voices are replaced with, what seems like, an almost identicle voice actor to every character in the game (aside a few of the females). I'm sure they are different, but...they are just TOO similar for my tastes. I haven't played through completely to give my full accessment, but there IS an option to change it to the original Japanese voices. Are these the same Japanese voices as 10 years ago? Probably not, but Japan does a much better job picking appropriate voice actors for their games than we (Americans) do.

I really don't mean to b*tch and moan, but the game had alot of other things that kind of irritated me. For instance, if you want to play CSOTN or Rondo of Blood from the main menu, select it, then go grab yourself a Latte, because it takes at LEAST 45 seconds for the game to load. Music, too, from these classic games takes a few seconds to load. No, it's not the end of the world, and this is a minor nitpick, but when you're used to the PSX version smoothly transitioning music between tracks, you really notice the 3 - 4 second silence. This probably could not be helped.

Okay, now for the good stuff. The plot is the same as almost every other Castlevania-- Dracula is back, and your job is to kill 'im. The graphics are GREAT in the remake game. The backgrounds, baddies, and cut scenes, though short, are a real treat for something on this platform. It has alot of replay value, since you need to accomplish a few things before getting the best ending. The music, most remixed, a few new "replaced" themes, is fantatic (EXCEPT for Dance Of Illusions, which kind of disappointed me). The sound effects-- most were really good, and some were...not. For example, a few of the cut scenes were stock. The "crashing" door the Minotaur made sounded like loud knocking. The skulls Death controlled made a humming harmonica-ish sound, which just came off as silly. Other than that, the rest was gravy.

Before you purchase, take note that this is modeled after classic Castlevania, where the controls are stiff, the baddies have the upper hand in movement, and it takes REAL skill to maneuver your character around and out of danger. This means 4 - 5 hits equals death, whether it be at the blade of an enormous ax, balls of fire and chaos, or simply landing on a frog. Also note that because of it's age and genre, the characters can be slow for some. This is old school at it's finest, my friend.

If you've trained yourself not to care at all about some aspects and love the Castlevania series, then give this game a shot. But if it's the complete package of cutting-edge graphics, music, control, plot, and voice work, you'll have some complaints.

PROS:
It's Castlevania
Original Games Symphony Of the Night, Rondo Of Blood
Improved Graphics and music on the remake
Switch between Japanese/English voices
Old school feel / Challenging

CONS:
Nothing too new
Voices and dialogue completely changed, and suck big time
Old school feel / Difficult for some
If you beat the game, viewing the ENTIRE list of credits is mandatory... EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Dracula's Nocturnal Issues

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As it's suggested by the title, this review will not be about the praises of "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles" but rather about the game's faults that you gamers should know before you make the choice of purchasing this title. Although, that's not to imply that you shouldn't get this game, far from it. It's a good PSP game at a good price. However, there are things about this game that annoy me and it needs to be spelled out, so that's how it's going to be.

-1: The controls. I can congratulate IGA for replicating the original for the 3-D Remake (with a few changes), but does he have to keep the same controls intact? Richter Belmont doesn't seem to inherit the preciseness of Simon Belmont ala "Super Castlevania IV", so he handles like a golem with a backache. He walks ALL THE TIME w/ no dash feature, his whip attacks are troublesome against flying creatures and has no whip-shaking ability, and his jumps are just as accurate as his whip attack, meaning it's all about timing and distance if I want to jump from one platform to the other. If the enemies didn't try to kill me, the sluggish controls will try to make that happen, which deals with my next problem.

-2: Difficulty. Now that is pretty subjective: some people just love to have their games to be hard-as-hell. I for one don't mind having some challenges in games, but thanks to the golem-w/-backache controls, it's an exercise in frustration. Some enemies and bosses take a great deal of exploiting Richter's disadvantages, especially the unfair Hydra boss (sometimes, I'm glad this game has an Item Crush ability). The level designs can also be irritating, mainly the ones that require jumping from one ground to the other without falling in a hole or a watery pit as some take the "Mega Man" method of walking to the nearest edge till only one foot touches the edge and jump to the other side, hoping the cheap level design won't lead me to my grave. When this game combines all these factions, they end up killing Richter over and over, with me cursing again and again.

The game became even more absurd when I saved good-golly Maria Renard from the perverted clutches of Dracula's Army. As a playable character, she can move faster, double-jump, obtains useful familiars (aka sub-weapons) that can also be powerful item crashes, and she can SLIDE. Her accessible abilities make the game, what was once hard and strenuous, a walk across candyland; there weren't a whole lot of challenges using her. Not to say Maria isn't fun to play...she just removes the tension that was in the game. There's an imbalance issue involved in the player selection, where I have to choose a character that's too hard or a character that's too easy.

-3: Emulation issues. It's great that the original "Rondo of Blood" port is included and it plays just as smoothly as the remake, meaning it's just as stiff and ridiculous-frustrating to play; although, the port is much faster due to the specs, so the enemies aren't as easy to dodge. The real problem isn't so much the gameplay but rather the cutscenes. For some of the cheesy anime cutscenes, the audio doesn't seem to sync with what's happening on the screen, whether I set it in English or Japanese. Every time the UMD boots (quite loudly), the voice-overs are set back for a few seconds, so for those who are interested in the cutscenes might be disappointed by this issue.

There's also an issue that deals with both "Rondo of Blood" and "Symphony of the Night", as there were audio gaps. Sometimes during gameplay, the UMB boots which causes the audio to mute for a few seconds before it plays again. Basically, the emulation issues are audio issues; aside from that, the ports are very accurate. As long as you don't expect flawless ports, you're going to be just fine with them.

-4: UMD booting. On the subject from the last flaw, the game likes to load a lot. Even during gameplay, and on the PSP slim, the UMD keeps making that loud noise whenever it boot, and it's constant. I guess IGA had little idea how to properly streamline the content that's in the UMD.

-5: No option to re-watch the cutscenes (besides the ending). In the remake, once a cutscene has been shown, it can't be seen again unless a player starts a new game data. I can understand it not being done at the time of the original port and in "Symphony" (it's an action-RPG after all), but I find it odd that I have to start a new game just to see it again, whether or not from a different character. Again, this problem is for those that are into the story.

I could complain about the graphics and the voices, but the graphics aren't that bad and at least there's a language option (for all games), so if anyone doesn't like the lack-of-bravado from the english cast or in the re-dub of "Symphony", they can just change it. I could also complain that the remake last about an hour or two, but considering the extra content and that "Dracula X Chronicles" is only 30 dollars, the game provides some needed value. Even with my complaints, in reality, this game is only must-buy because it's our only chance to actually play a rare Castlevania game that's unreleased in the U.S., and that's the selling point. You just need to know the game, while not bad, can be a hassle.

Wading through the darkness...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: October 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Konami's classic Castlevania series has had a pretty good track record in the portable gaming world, and The Dracula X Chronicles is no different. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles features the never before released in the U.S. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. The game has been remastered and puts you in the shoes of Richter Belmont (and eventually a girl named Maria as well) as you take the fight to Dracula once again. The remastered game features some numbing difficulty, a nicely realized mix of 2-D and 3-D graphics, and some brilliant level design as well. While Rondo of Blood is a little on the short side, there are some extras (one in particular) that are worth the price of admission alone. The original Rondo of Blood can be found as well, but the real meat and potatoes is the fact that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is an unlockable extra. Yes, that's right, the classic game that is one of the finest games ever made is available as an unlockable extra, and even better, it runs virtually flawlessly on the PSP. Whether you manage to beat Rondo of Blood though is another story, as the game does offer some quite unforgiving difficulty. This really shouldn't be too much of a surprise for veterans of the series, but be warned, casual gamers will get turned off. That aside, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a great excursion in the long running and beloved series, and the fact the legendary Symphony of the Night is included makes this game an absolute must own for PSP owners.

Big let down

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 36
Date: November 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was highly anticipating this game, especially after seeing the online videos. I picked it up day 1 and have had it for almost 1 month. I tried really really hard to like this game, but it's not happening.

I guess I didn't really comprehend that it is a remake of an old game. As a result all they really did was spruce up the graphics and sound.

But the gameplay and controls are terrible. I am mostly comparing the game to recent Castlevania games I played on the gameboy advance (GBA). On the GBA games your character could do slides, get whip power ups, double jumps in the air and so on. In this game all of that is removed, so you can only jump and whip over and over and over.

My biggest complaint with the game is the presentation of the levels is just boring and seems pointless. Everytime you scroll off screen you are in a new room (which loses the feeling of being in a specific part of the castle), the enemies just attack you at regular intervals and show no real AI of any kind.

For example, on one level an enemy speared me from above which made me fall back through a hole in the groud, when this happened I was suddenly in a new room with swamp creatures. So I ran to the left to avoid them, the screen scrolled, and AGAIN I was in a 3rd new room. All this in under 10 seconds. I felt totally lost and had no idea where I was in the game. So you slowly begin to drudge back to where you were but it just feels OLD. With the lack of double jump and slide attacks I feel too limited to dodge attacks effectively.

In a NUTSHELL, it feels like they took the original 8-bit NES Castlevania, and improved the graphics, while sadly throwing away all the cool improvements to Castlevania games over the years.

Only nostolgic people who loved the original Castlevania games will like this game. If you've played the more recent ones, you will be let down.

A classic gets its long-awaited released in the US

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

[This review is from one of my sons.]Back in 1997 when 'Castlevania: Symphony of the Night' was released, I was instantly enthralled with the series, and I've been wanting more ever since. The game I wanted the very most, however, was the original game with Richter. I once had a test-play on Dracula X at a PlaySource store, but it wasn't long before I learned that the said title was a pathetic redo of an awesome legendary PC game only released in Japan. I was severely disappointed that this awesome title would never rest in my hands. Fortunately, 9 months ago I received word of the PSP port and remake and instantly decided that I would be getting a PSP just for this.

After finally playing the Remake, the Original Rondo and Symphony again, I realize that this game is a complete steal - $30 for two (three, if you count the Remake and Original as separate) legendary games on a handheld. The Super Nintedo game "Dracula X" is not included, but Rondo of Blood is much better anyway. You have to unlock the original games, but you will so happy to play the Remake and look around for its secrets this shouldn't take long. You even can unlock "Akumajyo Dracula Peke", a silly Easter egg that originally played on the original PC game when said PC was imcompatible with the disc.

About the Remake: the game is really fun, and has great graphics, almost like a 2D game with a Lament of Innocence look. After playing the Original Rondo all the way through, I realized this Remake is not exactly the same - there are some various changes throughout, such as having to find all the maidens before being able to rescue Annette, and having to fight the Hydra on level 5'. If you save all the maidens, you also have to Dracula in a third form, much harder than the first two (which you can almost easily beat without a scratch). There are also various puzzles to find various record discs which you can use to Assign Music to different stages. Said music includes music from all three games. It can be quite funny to fight Dracula with the Long Library's (from SotN) music!

The Original Rondo was somewhat more fun to play for me; for some reason I have a taste for old school games, even the remake is awesome. The graphics in this game are great too, considering it was made 14 years ago. While no doubt still being challenging, it is a bit easier than some of the older titles, such as the very first Castlevania. The Item Crash also gives you an edge, as does the backflip(which actually works better than it does in SotN) against enemies, especially against a large horde attacking all at once. After playing through all the stages, alternative stages and all, you can see why they called this the Holy Grail of the old school games.

Symphony of the Night is something most CV gamers probably already have, but for some reason playing it on a handheld makes it more convenient and fun. This game is not exactly the same as the PS version, as there are new familiars from the Saturn Japan Only version, as well a fight with Maria and being able to play her once you beat the game but, sadly, the missing levels were not added. If they were going to add so much Saturn additions, why not include all of the addition features? Still, the additions to the classic game are interesting, even though I would have liked to have seen the two extra levels as well.

As I have said before, this game is a steal. It is cheaper than most other PSP games and, in my opinion, is the best PSP game on the market currently. A lost (and awesome, and vital) chapter in the Castlevania series is finally here in the US, so if you want a thrill and a bundle of fun for weeks (and years of replaying), look no further. You're looking at a bundle of the two best games of both generations of Castlevania gaming.

Pretty much a Castlevania's fan dream come true, in the palm of your hand!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Castlevania is one of the most beloved games of all time in video game history. Way back in 1986 it made a big splash with it's introduction on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Since then the series has progressed, and here in 2008 the series is as popular as it was back in 1986. People who have never played the series, now might be a good time with this gem of a catch, and I personally consider it to be the best PSP game around at this point.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a collection of 3 games. The first unlocked game you're available to play off the bat is Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. This game overlooked by many was never released in the U.S, and finally in the palm of your hand. It's an amazing game from all directions, including amazing graphics, tremendous sound, and awesome gameplay. If you never played it before, this game is strictly focuing on the action aspects of the series. Lots of jumping, slashing and running from enemies. No worries about using magic or RPG elements to slow the game down. This is do, or die for this vampire slashing game. This particular version of Rondo of Blood can be considered a remix of the original(also included). What's so great about it, Castlevania fans will recognize the remixed music brought back from many of the original Castlevania games including the orignal level theme from the original Castlevania on the NES!! A true fans dream of hearing this music all new and synthesized with the power of the PSP. Even better, when you unlock the levels, you can setup each level with each theme song you want to use for that particular level, now how cool is that??? All that with new updated graphics, sound, etc. Rondo's graphics are amazing, the 3D cutscenes look great and although the game is considered to be 2D like the classic Castlevania games, you can probalby say it's 2.5 with the 3D look it has while all the action is taking place.

Word of warning, Rondo of Blood is an unbalanced game in difficulty with parts amazingly easy to get through and bouts of amazing difficulty levels that will frustrated casual gamers from the start. Replenishing energy is so sparse and the game makes you start levels over adds to the frustration. Even levels in the beginning will be test of ones patience because you're going to die, a lot. But the reward of getting through this game will be worth the price of admission because along your journey in Rondo, you can unlock probably the greatest game of all time, Symphony of the Night.

When you finally manage to unlock Castlevania Symphony of the Night (which by the way, is no easy task) this game alone would have been worth the price you pay for the game, that's how good it is. Before I get into the game itself, I have to slap Konami across the face not allowing people to play this game right out of the box. And considering it's right on the cover as one of the game choices, I was a bit angry myself when I turned the game on and couldn't jump right into Symphony. If you need to know exactly how to unlock it, there is a nice video of a guy on the youtube that shows you the path, that's probably your best bet unless you want to waste time looking for it yourself, because I will tell you, I would have never found it without knowing first.

Symphony of the Night orignally released in 1996 on the Playstation. It was kind of a rebirth for the series. Going back to it's roots with awesome action and incredible presentation. Considered by many to also be the best orchestrated score for any video game, ever, is quite a statement. And considering the gameplay is almost as good, you can't really pass this game up. What's so great about the game too is its' enormous size, it's a pretty long game, especially considering it's age, and once again, it's still considered by many to be the best adventure games ever. I actually didn't think the game would be awesome like it was on the PS1, boy was I wrong. The music, the graphics, the gameplay, it's all better on the PSP. Heck, they even redid the characters voices with all new dialogue. You need to crank this baby up with some nice headphones, wow! The game has an enormous amount of depth, the weapons, the magic, the things you can do seems unlimited and the amount of levels is astounding. Defintely take this game for those long road trips.

If you're looking for a PSP game that is worth money, you really can't go wrong with Castlevania Chronicles, it's three great games in one. I personally bought the game for being able to play Symphony of the Night in the palm of my hand, but amazingly, Rondo is very very fun too as long as you can deal with it's difficulty spats. Great sound, great graphics, fast load times, and 3 games in one. Sound good to you? Me too.

Gaming Bliss

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Finally a spruced up old-school castlevania. I fell in love with the series when i played the original gba title circle of the moon since then i have done my best to get as many as i could.

Originally i was more excited to have a portable Symphony of the Night and the remake of Rondo of blood was an added bonus. I have spent far more time with the remake of Rondo than anything else.

The backgrounds are simply put amazing and gorgeous. Yes this follows the linear castlevania formula with clunky controls no ability to change direction after a jump. But these are easy to get used to. unlocking maria as a playable character makes control issues less of a problem as she is far more menuverable.

As mentioned above this has an unlockable version of symphony which is a superb game to say the least. Also the original Rondo is included which make for some fun comparisons between old and new.

Bottomline This is a treasure in my video game collection. the Remake of Rondo is a must for any fans of old-school gaming. If you have only played the recent castlevania titles i would recommend trying to track down some other older titles that are cheaper just to see if you dig the style. Overall this is a great package the satisfies my hunger for linear and non-linear gameplay.

The two best in the series, all on one UMD!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: October 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Up until the point that this game was starting to be publicized, I had never heard of the Japanese Mega-Drive (Sega Genesis) game "Castlevania: Rondo of Blood", but it was apparently hailed as the best of the linear Castlevanias. It does take very much gameplay to figure out why it garnered such praise! The game has been remastered of course, and it feels very fresh on the PSP. It is probably the 2nd most challenging game in the series that I've ever played, behind Gameboy's "The Castlevania Adventure", but that's a good thing. I had felt that all the games that followed after it, N64 entries excluded, had been too easy. Don't take this the wrong way, but this is a game where I'd be hitting it against my leg because it is so challenging - unfortunately you really can't do that with a $170 PSP. Again though, the challenge is a good thing.

On Rondo of Blood, pretty much everything about the game has been remastered. It looks, and sounds beautiful. As you go through the game, you unlock extras that you can access through the title screen. This includes a full (slightly updated) port of the PS1 hit "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night"!!! Back about a decade ago, that is the game that really made me a fan of the Castlevania series. It integrated an open layout similar to that used in Metroid, with the bosses positioned throughout the zones and such. It was and still is a tremendous amount of fun to play and when I found out that it was coming (legally) to the PSP I had to buy this game simply for the port.

For $30 upon release, this package of games is a terrific deal. You get two of the best games in the Castlevania series for a bargain price. This PSP game is a keeper. Try it out, I believe you'll feel the same!

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