This installment originally was planned to be a direct sequel to Rondo, but the 1995 Kobe earthquake derailed development. Many data assets were lost and what remained was pieced together for a release to meet company fiscal demands.
i do like this one its a good game. the game was an eye candy for the snes console and showed the power of the snes even though it bit more than it can chew
The bastard son of the genre, I actually enjoyed it and to compare it to the Turbo Graphics version is a bit harsh, it's entirely a different beast and it does the series justice.
I played my first ever Castlevania this year (Super Castlevania 4) and have been playing Dracula X over Halloween. I think Sega Lord X is spot on with everything he says here. The colours and jazzy soundtrack are all really nice, and have been pushing me to keep going, despite the often frustrating gameplay. I feel that if someone could somehow manage to patch/romhack in the multi-directional whip from Super Castlevania 4 and a couple extra frames of invincibility, then this would be a good Castlevania game.
This was the last REAL Castlevania game, IMO. Once Symphony came out the platforming, replayability, and a lot of the challenge went by the wayside. The Metroidvanias are decent games but they just aren't the same.
@@brandinsaurusrex played it for 20 minutes turned it off and sold it. Found out people were asking for over 100 dollars years later, I still cannot figure out why. If it was cheaper it would likely get trashed on a lot less. I would say its worth paying for a digital copy and trying it out. Its not good enough to sell for what people are asking for.
@@SegaLordX As a Castlevania fan, even the worst game is still worth playing for me. I liked this game, but after playing the real Rondo of Blood I felt a little biased. But Dracula X is still a good game!
I was lucky enough to have found this game before even knowing about Rondo Of Blood so I could play it without making that unnecessary comparison. That resulted on me enjoying this game as I did with the 8 bits ones. It's true about the final fight against Dracula but the rest is fantastic. Besides Dracula X feels more like a Castlevania than SCIV, feels like the natural evolution of Castlevania 3. From the 16 bit games to me it's second to Bloodlines and over Super Castlevania IV. Not counting Rondo Of Blood which is the best one.
There was only 1 kid in my neighborhood who had a turbo graphics and he had only 2 games for it. I knew about rondo because of magazines only. with that said this game was great at the time, graphics, music and controls were great even though the game was hard as balls but so was every us version of castlevania, with cheap hits into pitfalls, medusa heads etc. the game was not called rondo of blood, it's a version of it for snes, I don't get why people dislike it so much. Compared to sc4 the graphics look so much better and cleaner, having played all nes and gb versions growing up this game seemed like a worthy addition. Pretty sure most didn't have a chance to import the game at the time and most people played it for the 1st time through emulation.
Aw the bastard child,i still showed the game some love,i played the heck out of this but it wont hold a candle to Rondo. I played this till i got Rondo of Blood and a Turbo Duo back in 2000 and that day my wait of drooling over rondo on castlevania dungeon for 4 years was done and i was complete. To add i was just cleaning my room and connected my stereo back finally and spun my Rondo of Blood vinyl ost too.
I'm shocked that this game did not make it to the Castlevania Requiem compilation. If Konami makes a Requiem 2, Dracula X and SOTN Saturn should be added in with some improvements made now and then.
Awesome video as Xpected! I like to play Rondo of Blood then Dracula X for comparison and for the fun of it! I think of RofB as a novel and Dracula X as the film adaptation, drastically changed but some similarities.
I have so many sacrilegious opinions about this one. The difficulty is an improvement over the overly easy Rondo, several of the best songs ("Opposing Bloodlines," "Opus 13") actually sound better than the CD versions, and the backgrounds here are the best out of any 16-bit Castlevania. Criminally underrated game, mostly by people who've only heard it's a bad port (when it's not a port at all) and have never actually played it.
It’s just way less fun and has some of the worst level design in the series. But I know you value difficulty over quality. Like imagine saying American Castlevania 3 is better when the only useful character is Sypha because Grant is utterly useless, and Alucard uses too many hearts. But it doesn’t matter how good the Japanese version is, because I guess the slightly higher difficulty is so much more worth it. Also sorry, but Bloodlines sounds way better as a CD.
@@thomasffrench3639 lol. Calm down, bro. No need to get all defensive just because you're more the casual type when it comes to these games. You just play what makes you happy. It's okay.
I always had a soft spot for dracula x. Its no rondo of blood, but its still a solid castlevania game. Albit one of the harder ones. One thing though is people keep saying that the physics in both games are the same. Which i beg to difer as the physics in dracula x are more heavier than rondo of blood if you get what i mean. Not only that, but enemy collisions are bigger or smaller than their rondo counterparts. For example, the axe would normally hit dracula if you're underneath him in rondo. But in dracula x, it phases through his head just because its not touching him at the right point. Another is the spear knights. You typically can get a safe distance in whipping them once they get to their ready stance. But in dracula x, once they're set to that animation, you're bound to get hit despite taking the same distance you would in rondo.
@@chobomoon2933 I played Rondo of Blood many times and it is a very easy game, the character moves so fast and smoothly. I enjoyed more Dracula X because the character movements and difficulty reminds me the Castlevania NES games. Besides Dracula X has more impressive graphics than Rondo. Although Dracula X has lees stages than Rondo I liked the redesigned stages more. For me it is a completely different game with the same protagonist. It is a matter of tastes and opinions so I prefer Dracula X than Rondo of Blood. Specially the uncensored version of Japan, I mean....Akumajou Dracula XX
Seems like the dracula boss fight is the same as the one at the end of Rondo, but they heard the complaints that the Rondo fight was too easy, so they made it harder in the SNES game by adding pits and uneven terrain. I dont know how much I like that change, but at least it spices things up!
It spiced things up a bit too much in the tedious category. Even once you master him he is no fun to fight because it takes forever and just follows one pattern.
Even with the perverse NES Ninja Gaiden esque difficulty I will still take this over the metroidvania experience. This game is not visually or audibly satisfying as those other aforementioned iterations but challenge wise it's worthy.
I always play Dracula X using a romhack that replaces Richter with Hanz Belmont. It's a small visual change, but it really makes it feel like it's OWN game that's not bound by Rondo of Blood at all.
At the time CDX was released many Snes games used SFX2 Chip in order to compete the 32bit competition. So it would be a nice decision if Konami and Nintendo decided to use that chip so we would have an improved version of Rondo Of Blood on Snes...maybe smth like Bloodletting that was supposed to be released for 32X but finally cancelled...
I just bought this game yesterday as part of the Advance Collection. I always thought Dracula X was Rondo of Blood lol, which I bought in the Castlevania Requiem collection. Thank you for the detailed review. Big Ups!
A thing that annoyed me about this game is they didn't keep the sub weapon on the shoulder buttons, electing to go back to having the sub weapon on Up + Attack, which just feelt like such a step in reverse. It's a little thing, but after Super Castlevania 4, it felt like such a logical thing the game should have had.
Nobody had access to the PC engine edition. Most in the west never even knew about. I played Dracula X on the snes and I liked it for what it was. I was a major Castlevania fan and I didn't find out about Rondo until 2003. I even had a turbo grafx at one point in the early 90's.
I had access to it. Most game magazines in the US also talked about and reviewed the PCE game in their import sections. It was fairly well known even then.
Great video. I agree about your take on Castlevania music working best with a gothic rock feel. The jazzy sounds in this and even SCV4 didn't work for me. I also agree that the level design is a problem in this one. That's what bothered me the most. I like that clip at the very end from the Dracula fight. That was extremely cheap.
I was extremely lucky to snag a copy of Dracula X when it was like $19.99, to think back when I 14 yrs old, I remember stores were doing whatever to get rid of them. Alas my SNES died on me, and I never opened the game or tore the plastic.. it now sits in my display case right next to my unopened copies of Devils third.. who the f**k would have known?
Let me just say, I have never owned a Snes, once me and my brother lended the mega drive for a weekend to some neighbours and we had this Snes unit for a weekend playing Mario Cart. Now as I take it I have never played a castlevania game regardless of platform , I have had aquainted people I school who had Snes and that adapter to play Gameboy titles on there with colour, however the games I was interested in was Donkey Kong Country, Mario World and Mario Land for instance, there was a Mickey Mouse game there, a friend she had it but the Controls and atmosphere of say World of Ilusion was a game that me and my big brother borrowed from someone and my, that was a real good game, it had the right mileu, and every thing about it seemed to sizzle. strangely enough as much as I like platformers I have never tried Castlevania, not even on MEGA DRIVE, that we have had in our family since "The Dawn of Man" this game seems to have a positive side to it, that also seems to be the weakness, correct me if I am wrong you are th authority on Castelvania games to a certain extent that I can endure any argument from you as I fully respect you know how! the positive side is that it seems straight forward in game play, but the weekness as I see it seems way way way a low down because it is so straight forward! do you know what I am talking about right now? You presented us with a stern view of what was great about a Saturn release of a Castlevania game that shows of great merit in the way of how one gets through level by going over obstacles and hidden eras, RPG elements and more in the level design in terms of what you can explore and with kind of "Power ups" you can pick up. And this as I see how likes Pitall 32X and Knuckles 32X is what I look for in a game, and I also take it that a Saturn CD can store much more in terms of hidden areas that comes out in the open compared to a Snes Catridge. I like the idea that there are eras that are unique as expansion of an original game this is what happened for Pitfall 32X and on the Castlevania title for Saturn, I will put it into priority to find it for Saturn, this new series of making a brief note about what is good and bad in this series has really helped me to make up my mind in a given, way, I Salute you! thank you
I felt so frustrated with the replacement the 8 way whip to a forward whip that I skipped this game altogether. Looking back I realised ended up passing up an amazing game over being childish. I still prefer the 8 way whip 😁
The 8-way whip essentially obviated the need for secondary items, so I can see how the designers might have felt like it was better to abandon that idea when going forward. Still, it feels like there's a lot of unexplored potential to the concept.
@@silentfanatic Yeah, as a child i even preferred Dracula X over Castlevania 4 since i found that Castlevania 4 had a less interesting level design compared to the NES episode that i loved... It's of course not really the case anymore as Dracula X have maybe the most boring levels in all the Classivania games but still, i'm very happy that Rondo of Blood and Bloodness had the straight whip and put more emphasis on those secondary items.
I bought this game when it came out and enjoyed it. Hadn't yet played the PC-Engine version. My only problem with it was the previously mentioned Dracula battle. Frustrating and tedious! Gave up back then but went back through it and finished it years later on an emulator. A good game that needed just a little more time in the oven.
I agree with all of your criticisms (except that the Dracula fight didn't bug me once I got the pattern down). But I'll still nudge it ahead of Bloodlines in the 16-bit ranking. The gameplay just feels off in that game, and it's the only 2D Castlevania I've never been able to push myself to finish (and that includes finishing Castlevania Adventure on the Gameboy twice). SNES Drac X I at least managed to push myself through, cheap level designs and all.
Dracula X is a decent solid game. Maybe not as robust as Rondo of Blood but not any where as bad as Konomi at its worst which I would have to say the Castlevania Adventure where they had no subweapons and requires pixel perfect jumping to avoid pitfalls.
In an alternate universe where Rondo of Blood didn't exist, this would have been an impressive game. In our universe though, it's just a bad attempt at mimicking RoB's greatness; not bad for what it is, but an empty husk compared to its inspiration.
I like it more than CV 4 and Bloddlines. Why? For me I like it because it is Hard but still fair. I think CV4 is a little bit to easy and the Music style isn't for me + the controls on CV 4 are better yes but not for a classic style cv Simon feels way overpowered than in CV 1, 3, BL & Dracula X. The Boss fights in the other ones + the Level you have to have a strategie in CV 4 I run through. I don't say it is a bad game but Dracula X bring me more joy than CV 4
This review was very spot on. I pretty much think exactly the same way as you do, except for me those aspects make this game a bad one. Regarding the level design, the overuse of flying enemies, and the lack of invulnerability after getting hit, you pretty much said everything. I would like to add that the last stage is just a troll level! Everything knocks you back to the previous stage if you don't do EXACTLY what the game wants you to do. It's not "hard" as Castlevania 1-3 or Bloodlines, it's just "tee-hee I got you" kind of hard. Doesn't feel right. Also yeah, wtf is up with having a final battle on several small platforms? Where's the showdown? Meh, SCIV and Rondo are waaaay better.
Here's a hot take: I do understand that people compare this game a lot to RoB, especially in sound design and aesthetics. I prefer Dracula X over RoB for its sound design and aesthetic choices but not for level design. Sound design because the music feels funkier and overall crisper. RoB does have a nice rock feel to it but damn does the music in Dracula X bop! You gotta love that slap bass in this rendition of Divine Bloodlines. And at times the music can sound a bit too JPop-ey in RoB to the point that it can kinda remove the game of the whole CV aesthetic. And for the aesthetics themselves is because honestly, it overall feels more Castlevania. Some stages may look bland, I agree but I think that most of the stages look absolutely beautiful and more animated in comparison. Just look at the bg fire in the first stage in both games and tell me that Dracula X's doesn't look and animate much better. And personally I do not think the 90s FMV anime style blends in well at all in a Castlevania game. A CV game usually has a more realistic and unique artstyle to it and Dracula X just serves that better. Level designs... Yeah. Cheap enemy placements and annoying boss fights like you said. It's still a fun game when you know the tricks. (ONLY USE THE AXE ON DRACULA!!!) All-in-all, this game is honestly great as a standalone game and I agree that it shouldn't entirely be compared to RoB but there are some things that I simply prefer over it that fans of the game may agree or disagree on. Well I'm sure a bunch of you RoB fans will yell at me for this. Regardless, I'd also like to say that your videos have improved since the SoTN video, Lord X. Glad you took my criticism well. :)
I can see where the criticism of this game comes from. Super Castlevania, and Bloodlines both had multidirectional attacking, Dracula X's control scheme felt very sluggish and horribly basic by comparison. The game also relies heavily on those cheap pitfall and medusa head deaths. It felt very much like a throwback to the worst parts of the old NES games, and many fans did not respond well to that. Although the PC Engine original had Richter only being able to attack left or right with his whip, he controlled much more smoothly and responsively in Rondo of Blood. Despite the criticisms, I still enjoyed playing Dracula X, I got it for my 2DS XL via virtual console! Money well spent!
Man. Before I get into the video. Let me just say... I thought it was pretty ok, cool game back in, what was it? '95??? Glad I played and beat it before i played and beat Rondo. *emulation. Its worth a play. Especially back then
Oh man do I hate this game. Like you I was very much into the 32-bit generation when this arrived (I think I was or close to it). I think I had my Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn at the time but this was Castlevania and not just any Castlevania...it was supposed to be our Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo. Too say I was not happy is an understatement. Too this day I have never finished it, not even with the Castlevania Advanced Collection downloaded to my Series X do I have the time to waste in it. One good thing did come of this game for me. It was the push I needed to start importing games and given that the 4th generation was leaving I got a PC Engine/Super CD ROM ROM with Rondo of Blood for pennies. That was such an amazing experience for me and my friends. What an amazing game that should have been released here. Can you imagine had Konami offered Rondo to Sega for the Sega CD?! That would have moved systems like crazy I think.
I'm no Castlevania expert, but I have this game on a multicart, and the main thing that struck me was the hilarious sample that plays when you select something on the main menu. I guess it's supposed to be a door creaking and Dracula cackling maniacally. It sounds, however, like the Count is doing a huge fart and is very happy about it. It was worth selecting on the multicart menu for that alone! Pretty cool game, too.
I played this game before I knew there was the PC Engine CD game. Of course, the original version is better but I still love Castlevania Dracula X for the Super Nintendo. It was my second Castlevania game after Super Castlevania 4 (both of which I played as an adult). I was surprised to find out later that this game received a lot of backlash and I did start noticing the rough edges in my second playthrough, but I still think it's not just a decent game but a great game I somehow find the music superior to the PC Engine version. I mean, I know the music quality is way bigger on CD, but, idk, I think they did a better job with the instrumentation and remixing in the snes or maybe I'm just a fan of chiptune music hahahaha I also like the brighter colors this game has compared to Castlevania 4 and Rondo of Blood, I just think it makes it distinct But, yeah, it's the weaker of the 16-bit Castlevania games, but I still find it superior to X86000 Castlevania
@@SegaLordX Awesome, thank you! You briefly talk about the PS1 version in your review on the Saturn port, but I very much look forward to your full review. I must have seen at least a dozen good reviews of this game already, but it never seems to get old for me lol. I just love hearing people talk about it.
lol. I always hear people complain dracula was cheap. I beat him on my 2nd or 3rd try, and never once got knocked into a pit :P level 6 took me several hours to beat though
Other than the decent music, I personally can't stand this version. The cheap deaths, no multiple paths, stretched out platforms and no playable Maria. I'll stick with the PC Engine version.
I couldn't agree more. I like it and own it, but that last boss fight is infuriating. It drags the whole game down a few notches because of how tedious it is.
I always felt this one got unfairly bashed, and mostly by import snobs. Yeah, its unfairly difficult, but its not the "poor experience" people make it out to be. Is the PC-Engine CD version better? Of course, but not everyone could afford importing back in the day.
Ultimately that's the biggest flaw in the game IMO; they called it Dracula X. It immediately invited comparisons to the PC Engine game. People wanted it to be that game. Had it been called something else, and maybe changed up that ridiculous end fight, I feel this one would have been much better received.
What are the first two games on demo at the end of the video? Never seen them before but I want to try them. First one looked like house of dead maybe and the other looked like a shinobi game but I'm not sure.
This video really sums up the game quite well. Above-average when based on its own merits, but as an adaptation of Rondo of Blood, it just doesn't measure up.
I'm glad to see somebody talk about how tedious the Dracula battle is. Most people just whine about how it's so hard. It's really not, just an extreme test of patience while you wait for him to teleport back into attack range. I do really enjoy this game, but the lack of post-hit invincibility can be frustrating.
really don't get some of the criticisms - Dracula X sounds far more rock-like than Rondo and uses far more SNES guitars than Rondo's "funky synth" or whatever it was meant to be, Rondo and SCIV let down in it's visuals FAR more (Rondo has some downright FC-looking sections at times while SCIV/AD SFC can sometimes devolve into visual vomit such as Stage 8 or even stuff like Stage 2-3.), and personally i disagree on Dracula from this game being the worst out of the 16 bit (by far the best for me, Rondo's was alright but too easy, Bloodlines' was GARBAGE and alongside it's entire final boss set and Stage 5 is what ruined the game's finale for me, SCIV/AD SFC was the highlight of the game but still went by a bit too quickly). personally, i really like this game and while i do think it's inferior to Rondo, i think that it's replayability and difficulty make it a far better game than the other 16-bit releases, not that those are bad.
This was a good game when rated on its own, but when compared to other Castlevania games it was a definite step down. Having played through it recently, I honestly believe it wouldn’t be as reviled if not for the insane difficulty. The cheap deaths combined with it not being a direct port of Rondo of Blood, and capped off with a terrible release date doomed this game. Far more egregious than Dracula X for SNES is that Rondo of Blood was never ported to the PlayStation. How did Konami screw that up?
It was the biggest mistake from konami, calling this buthered evolutionized half ported snes version ,,,,dracula x,,,, they just should had call it castlevania 5 instead in order to avoid association with dracula x rondo of blood. The music is not bad but i found the remix of the main theme tune from castlevania 3 just sounding emberassing, This version feels so emberassing to me because theres no recovery time once getting hit!!!
i remember spending an entire night trying to beat Dracula on this game, trying to beat his second form was a nightmare, so much rage, that may have been the most angry i have ever been at a video game in my life. fuck this game.
I think All of 2D Castlevanias still are awesome.but I really hate 3d series. please cover up gba and nds. they are my favorite. I am looking forward to play bloodstain.
I feel that this game's OST tried way too hard to mimic the original Rondo of Blood OST too much, where most of the tracks are downright inferior. Best example of this is Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears and Op. 13. I think it would've been much better if they re-did the composition and instrumentation for Dracula X SNES. As it stands, my mind just processes it as the inferior Rondo OST, which is a bit of a shame.
This installment originally was planned to be a direct sequel to Rondo, but the 1995 Kobe earthquake derailed development. Many data assets were lost and what remained was pieced together for a release to meet company fiscal demands.
I have recently discovered this channel! Awesome videos! Love watching them.
Thanks for letting me know you enjoy the content. :)
Sega Lord X most definitely pal!
i do like this one its a good game. the game was an eye candy for the snes console and showed the power of the snes even though it bit more than it can chew
If the final boss' environment had not pits, Dracula X would be much better!
The bastard son of the genre, I actually enjoyed it and to compare it to the Turbo Graphics version is a bit harsh, it's entirely a different beast and it does the series justice.
Well u have to compare them because it's a severely chopped down version of rondo of blood
That chain whip sound effect is pretty satisfying.
I played my first ever Castlevania this year (Super Castlevania 4) and have been playing Dracula X over Halloween. I think Sega Lord X is spot on with everything he says here. The colours and jazzy soundtrack are all really nice, and have been pushing me to keep going, despite the often frustrating gameplay. I feel that if someone could somehow manage to patch/romhack in the multi-directional whip from Super Castlevania 4 and a couple extra frames of invincibility, then this would be a good Castlevania game.
Welcome to the Castlevania Coven, brother. 😉
This was the last REAL Castlevania game, IMO. Once Symphony came out the platforming, replayability, and a lot of the challenge went by the wayside. The Metroidvanias are decent games but they just aren't the same.
The PS2 games also had ridiculous stories and had anime aesthetic rather than the gothic art style of the linear games. The two N64 games don’t count.
I've always felt that this game gets way more hate than it should. Anyway man great video, really digging your content, so glad ibfound your channel.
I'd agree. It wasn't as good as the other games, but far from terrible.
Sega Lord X its like bad pizza. Its still good
@@brandinsaurusrex played it for 20 minutes turned it off and sold it. Found out people were asking for over 100 dollars years later, I still cannot figure out why. If it was cheaper it would likely get trashed on a lot less. I would say its worth paying for a digital copy and trying it out. Its not good enough to sell for what people are asking for.
The hate probably came from everyone expecting it to be Rondo of Blood, which it's not. Rondo may be better, but CDX is still worth looking at.
@@SegaLordX As a Castlevania fan, even the worst game is still worth playing for me. I liked this game, but after playing the real Rondo of Blood I felt a little biased. But Dracula X is still a good game!
Dracula X has that classic Castlevania feel to it. I can appreciate both Rondo Of Blood and Dracula X.
I was lucky enough to have found this game before even knowing about Rondo Of Blood so I could play it without making that unnecessary comparison. That resulted on me enjoying this game as I did with the 8 bits ones. It's true about the final fight against Dracula but the rest is fantastic. Besides Dracula X feels more like a Castlevania than SCIV, feels like the natural evolution of Castlevania 3. From the 16 bit games to me it's second to Bloodlines and over Super Castlevania IV. Not counting Rondo Of Blood which is the best one.
I got this game in Box and everything !!!
There was only 1 kid in my neighborhood who had a turbo graphics and he had only 2 games for it. I knew about rondo because of magazines only. with that said this game was great at the time, graphics, music and controls were great even though the game was hard as balls but so was every us version of castlevania, with cheap hits into pitfalls, medusa heads etc. the game was not called rondo of blood, it's a version of it for snes, I don't get why people dislike it so much. Compared to sc4 the graphics look so much better and cleaner, having played all nes and gb versions growing up this game seemed like a worthy addition. Pretty sure most didn't have a chance to import the game at the time and most people played it for the 1st time through emulation.
Aw the bastard child,i still showed the game some love,i played the heck out of this but it wont hold a candle to Rondo. I played this till i got Rondo of Blood and a Turbo Duo back in 2000 and that day my wait of drooling over rondo on castlevania dungeon for 4 years was done and i was complete. To add i was just cleaning my room and connected my stereo back finally and spun my Rondo of Blood vinyl ost too.
I'm shocked that this game did not make it to the Castlevania Requiem compilation. If Konami makes a Requiem 2, Dracula X and SOTN Saturn should be added in with some improvements made now and then.
Awesome video as Xpected! I like to play Rondo of Blood then Dracula X for comparison and for the fun of it! I think of RofB as a novel and Dracula X as the film adaptation, drastically changed but some similarities.
Good way to look at it.
I have so many sacrilegious opinions about this one. The difficulty is an improvement over the overly easy Rondo, several of the best songs ("Opposing Bloodlines," "Opus 13") actually sound better than the CD versions, and the backgrounds here are the best out of any 16-bit Castlevania. Criminally underrated game, mostly by people who've only heard it's a bad port (when it's not a port at all) and have never actually played it.
I agree with you.
Oh, I think it’s a good game, but I don’t think it’s as good as 4, Rondo OR bloodlines. But it is better than Dracula for the Genesis. ;-)
It’s just way less fun and has some of the worst level design in the series. But I know you value difficulty over quality. Like imagine saying American Castlevania 3 is better when the only useful character is Sypha because Grant is utterly useless, and Alucard uses too many hearts. But it doesn’t matter how good the Japanese version is, because I guess the slightly higher difficulty is so much more worth it. Also sorry, but Bloodlines sounds way better as a CD.
@@thomasffrench3639 lol. Calm down, bro. No need to get all defensive just because you're more the casual type when it comes to these games. You just play what makes you happy. It's okay.
@@willmistretta I didn’t realize that having standards makes me casual
I always had a soft spot for dracula x. Its no rondo of blood, but its still a solid castlevania game. Albit one of the harder ones.
One thing though is people keep saying that the physics in both games are the same. Which i beg to difer as the physics in dracula x are more heavier than rondo of blood if you get what i mean. Not only that, but enemy collisions are bigger or smaller than their rondo counterparts. For example, the axe would normally hit dracula if you're underneath him in rondo. But in dracula x, it phases through his head just because its not touching him at the right point. Another is the spear knights. You typically can get a safe distance in whipping them once they get to their ready stance. But in dracula x, once they're set to that animation, you're bound to get hit despite taking the same distance you would in rondo.
I don't care what people say, Dracula X is one of my favorite Castlevania Games.
@@chobomoon2933 I played Rondo of Blood many times and it is a very easy game, the character moves so fast and smoothly.
I enjoyed more Dracula X because the character movements and difficulty reminds me the Castlevania NES games.
Besides Dracula X has more impressive graphics than Rondo.
Although Dracula X has lees stages than Rondo I liked the redesigned stages more.
For me it is a completely different game with the same protagonist.
It is a matter of tastes and opinions so I prefer Dracula X than Rondo of Blood.
Specially the uncensored version of Japan, I mean....Akumajou Dracula XX
Seems like the dracula boss fight is the same as the one at the end of Rondo, but they heard the complaints that the Rondo fight was too easy, so they made it harder in the SNES game by adding pits and uneven terrain. I dont know how much I like that change, but at least it spices things up!
It spiced things up a bit too much in the tedious category. Even once you master him he is no fun to fight because it takes forever and just follows one pattern.
@@SegaLordX We'll give them a ribbon for effort, because at least they tried, lol. Failed, sure, but they did try!
Even with the perverse NES Ninja Gaiden esque difficulty I will still take this over the metroidvania experience. This game is not visually or audibly satisfying as those other aforementioned iterations but challenge wise it's worthy.
I always play Dracula X using a romhack that replaces Richter with Hanz Belmont. It's a small visual change, but it really makes it feel like it's OWN game that's not bound by Rondo of Blood at all.
Im so happy that you are back and better than ever sega lord x!
Thank you. Appreciate the support. :)
At the time CDX was released many Snes games used SFX2 Chip in order to compete the 32bit competition.
So it would be a nice decision if Konami and Nintendo decided to use that chip so we would have an improved version of Rondo Of Blood on Snes...maybe smth like Bloodletting that was supposed to be released for 32X but finally cancelled...
I just bought this game yesterday as part of the Advance Collection. I always thought Dracula X was Rondo of Blood lol, which I bought in the Castlevania Requiem collection. Thank you for the detailed review. Big Ups!
Hahahaha oh that Dracula battle!!! Almost broke a controller or 2!!! A+ content as always!!!
Robert Danker just use the clock and item crash. Also the difficulty is more balanced in the Japanese version.
A thing that annoyed me about this game is they didn't keep the sub weapon on the shoulder buttons, electing to go back to having the sub weapon on Up + Attack, which just feelt like such a step in reverse. It's a little thing, but after Super Castlevania 4, it felt like such a logical thing the game should have had.
I wonder how many people have actually played this game, and are not just throwing in their "me too" opinions on it.
Best Sega and other system channel 👍
Keep on the excellent work!
I'm trying my friend. Thanks for the message.
I remember today game. I didn’t care for the gameplay that much, but graphically I put it right under Castlevania 4 but above the Genesis.
Nobody had access to the PC engine edition. Most in the west never even knew about. I played Dracula X on the snes and I liked it for what it was. I was a major Castlevania fan and I didn't find out about Rondo until 2003. I even had a turbo grafx at one point in the early 90's.
I had access to it. Most game magazines in the US also talked about and reviewed the PCE game in their import sections. It was fairly well known even then.
I love this game
fantastic video as always!
Thank you. :)
I am early. I've not watched the whole video, but I'm sure it's great. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the vote of confidence! :)
Would have been nice on anniversary collection
Might check this game out
Almost every sidescrolling castlevania is good, even gameboy. Being stoned helps.
666420666
played megaman, ghosts and goblins, etc.... but THIS ONE handed me my ass.
Great video. I agree about your take on Castlevania music working best with a gothic rock feel. The jazzy sounds in this and even SCV4 didn't work for me. I also agree that the level design is a problem in this one. That's what bothered me the most. I like that clip at the very end from the Dracula fight. That was extremely cheap.
"In late 95" that was their first mistake.
Great analysis as always. I'm a recent subscriber and I hope your channel keeps growing.
Me too, man. I think I'm getting better at this video thing. People seem to enjoy the content overall.
I was extremely lucky to snag a copy of Dracula X when it was like $19.99, to think back when I 14 yrs old, I remember stores were doing whatever to get rid of them. Alas my SNES died on me, and I never opened the game or tore the plastic.. it now sits in my display case right next to my unopened copies of Devils third..
who the f**k would have known?
120% spot on!
First time I ever knew of this game was when I discovered emulation way back when. When I played it it just seemed off somehow.....
Let me just say, I have never owned a Snes, once me and my brother lended the mega drive for a weekend to some neighbours and we had this Snes unit for a weekend playing Mario Cart. Now as I take it I have never played a castlevania game regardless of platform , I have had aquainted people I school who had Snes and that adapter to play Gameboy titles on there with colour, however the games I was interested in was Donkey Kong Country, Mario World and Mario Land for instance, there was a Mickey Mouse game there, a friend she had it but the Controls and atmosphere of say World of Ilusion was a game that me and my big brother borrowed from someone and my, that was a real good game, it had the right mileu, and every thing about it seemed to sizzle. strangely enough as much as I like platformers I have never tried Castlevania, not even on MEGA DRIVE, that we have had in our family since "The Dawn of Man" this game seems to have a positive side to it, that also seems to be the weakness, correct me if I am wrong you are th authority on Castelvania games to a certain extent that I can endure any argument from you as I fully respect you know how! the positive side is that it seems straight forward in game play, but the weekness as I see it seems way way way a low down because it is so straight forward! do you know what I am talking about right now? You presented us with a stern view of what was great about a Saturn release of a Castlevania game that shows of great merit in the way of how one gets through level by going over obstacles and hidden eras, RPG elements and more in the level design in terms of what you can explore and with kind of "Power ups" you can pick up. And this as I see how likes Pitall 32X and Knuckles 32X is what I look for in a game, and I also take it that a Saturn CD can store much more in terms of hidden areas that comes out in the open compared to a Snes Catridge. I like the idea that there are eras that are unique as expansion of an original game this is what happened for Pitfall 32X and on the Castlevania title for Saturn, I will put it into priority to find it for Saturn, this new series of making a brief note about what is good and bad in this series has really helped me to make up my mind in a given, way, I Salute you! thank you
I felt so frustrated with the replacement the 8 way whip to a forward whip that I skipped this game altogether.
Looking back I realised ended up passing up an amazing game over being childish.
I still prefer the 8 way whip 😁
Yeah that was stupid. I mean, yeah removing the 8 way whip is a step back but I would still play the game just to see how it is
The 8-way whip essentially obviated the need for secondary items, so I can see how the designers might have felt like it was better to abandon that idea when going forward. Still, it feels like there's a lot of unexplored potential to the concept.
@@silentfanatic Yeah, as a child i even preferred Dracula X over Castlevania 4 since i found that Castlevania 4 had a less interesting level design compared to the NES episode that i loved... It's of course not really the case anymore as Dracula X have maybe the most boring levels in all the Classivania games but still, i'm very happy that Rondo of Blood and Bloodness had the straight whip and put more emphasis on those secondary items.
great review
I bought this game when it came out and enjoyed it. Hadn't yet played the PC-Engine version. My only problem with it was the previously mentioned Dracula battle. Frustrating and tedious! Gave up back then but went back through it and finished it years later on an emulator.
A good game that needed just a little more time in the oven.
That last Dracula battle wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the insanely cheap deaths into pits.
I agree with all of your criticisms (except that the Dracula fight didn't bug me once I got the pattern down). But I'll still nudge it ahead of Bloodlines in the 16-bit ranking. The gameplay just feels off in that game, and it's the only 2D Castlevania I've never been able to push myself to finish (and that includes finishing Castlevania Adventure on the Gameboy twice). SNES Drac X I at least managed to push myself through, cheap level designs and all.
Dracula X is a decent solid game. Maybe not as robust as Rondo of Blood but not any where as bad as Konomi at its worst which I would have to say the Castlevania Adventure where they had no subweapons and requires pixel perfect jumping to avoid pitfalls.
In an alternate universe where Rondo of Blood didn't exist, this would have been an impressive game. In our universe though, it's just a bad attempt at mimicking RoB's greatness; not bad for what it is, but an empty husk compared to its inspiration.
this game is still fun to play it makes for a good speedrun easy to beat quickly but the medusa heads can be annoying
Great video!! I was wondering if you would ever do any let's plays on any Sega games?
I like it more than CV 4 and Bloddlines. Why? For me I like it because it is Hard but still fair. I think CV4 is a little bit to easy and the Music style isn't for me + the controls on CV 4 are better yes but not for a classic style cv Simon feels way overpowered than in CV 1, 3, BL & Dracula X. The Boss fights in the other ones + the Level you have to have a strategie in CV 4 I run through. I don't say it is a bad game but Dracula X bring me more joy than CV 4
I agree.
I prefer Dracula X over SC4
This review was very spot on. I pretty much think exactly the same way as you do, except for me those aspects make this game a bad one. Regarding the level design, the overuse of flying enemies, and the lack of invulnerability after getting hit, you pretty much said everything. I would like to add that the last stage is just a troll level! Everything knocks you back to the previous stage if you don't do EXACTLY what the game wants you to do. It's not "hard" as Castlevania 1-3 or Bloodlines, it's just "tee-hee I got you" kind of hard. Doesn't feel right.
Also yeah, wtf is up with having a final battle on several small platforms? Where's the showdown?
Meh, SCIV and Rondo are waaaay better.
Here's a hot take:
I do understand that people compare this game a lot to RoB, especially in sound design and aesthetics. I prefer Dracula X over RoB for its sound design and aesthetic choices but not for level design. Sound design because the music feels funkier and overall crisper. RoB does have a nice rock feel to it but damn does the music in Dracula X bop! You gotta love that slap bass in this rendition of Divine Bloodlines. And at times the music can sound a bit too JPop-ey in RoB to the point that it can kinda remove the game of the whole CV aesthetic. And for the aesthetics themselves is because honestly, it overall feels more Castlevania. Some stages may look bland, I agree but I think that most of the stages look absolutely beautiful and more animated in comparison. Just look at the bg fire in the first stage in both games and tell me that Dracula X's doesn't look and animate much better. And personally I do not think the 90s FMV anime style blends in well at all in a Castlevania game. A CV game usually has a more realistic and unique artstyle to it and Dracula X just serves that better. Level designs... Yeah. Cheap enemy placements and annoying boss fights like you said. It's still a fun game when you know the tricks. (ONLY USE THE AXE ON DRACULA!!!) All-in-all, this game is honestly great as a standalone game and I agree that it shouldn't entirely be compared to RoB but there are some things that I simply prefer over it that fans of the game may agree or disagree on. Well I'm sure a bunch of you RoB fans will yell at me for this. Regardless, I'd also like to say that your videos have improved since the SoTN video, Lord X. Glad you took my criticism well. :)
Bloody well right!
This game is too cheap hard, even for a Castlevania game.
You know better than any of us. You were there.
@@SlyBeast yep lol
I can see where the criticism of this game comes from. Super Castlevania, and Bloodlines both had multidirectional attacking, Dracula X's control scheme felt very sluggish and horribly basic by comparison. The game also relies heavily on those cheap pitfall and medusa head deaths. It felt very much like a throwback to the worst parts of the old NES games, and many fans did not respond well to that. Although the PC Engine original had Richter only being able to attack left or right with his whip, he controlled much more smoothly and responsively in Rondo of Blood. Despite the criticisms, I still enjoyed playing Dracula X, I got it for my 2DS XL via virtual console! Money well spent!
Man. Before I get into the video. Let me just say... I thought it was pretty ok, cool game back in, what was it? '95??? Glad I played and beat it before i played and beat Rondo. *emulation. Its worth a play. Especially back then
A classic SNES Gem.
I dont think so
@@redcrimson1028 I respect your opinion but I don't agree with you.
@RedCrimson102 Don’t be a bitter melon :)
😃I'VE HEARD JOKES ABOUT HOW HARD THE FINAL BOSS IS ON THAT ONE✌
Having a lot of the sprites of Rondo Of Blood, how come no one has tried to make a direct port.
Oh man do I hate this game. Like you I was very much into the 32-bit generation when this arrived (I think I was or close to it). I think I had my Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn at the time but this was Castlevania and not just any Castlevania...it was supposed to be our
Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo. Too say I was not happy is an understatement. Too this day I have never finished it, not even with the Castlevania Advanced Collection downloaded to my Series X do I have the time to waste in it.
One good thing did come of this game for me. It was the push I needed to start importing games and given that the 4th generation was leaving I got a PC Engine/Super CD ROM ROM with Rondo of Blood for pennies. That was such an amazing experience for me and my friends. What an amazing game that should have been released here. Can you imagine had Konami offered Rondo to Sega for the Sega CD?! That would have moved systems like crazy I think.
I'm no Castlevania expert, but I have this game on a multicart, and the main thing that struck me was the hilarious sample that plays when you select something on the main menu. I guess it's supposed to be a door creaking and Dracula cackling maniacally. It sounds, however, like the Count is doing a huge fart and is very happy about it. It was worth selecting on the multicart menu for that alone! Pretty cool game, too.
I played this game before I knew there was the PC Engine CD game. Of course, the original version is better but I still love Castlevania Dracula X for the Super Nintendo. It was my second Castlevania game after Super Castlevania 4 (both of which I played as an adult). I was surprised to find out later that this game received a lot of backlash and I did start noticing the rough edges in my second playthrough, but I still think it's not just a decent game but a great game
I somehow find the music superior to the PC Engine version. I mean, I know the music quality is way bigger on CD, but, idk, I think they did a better job with the instrumentation and remixing in the snes or maybe I'm just a fan of chiptune music hahahaha
I also like the brighter colors this game has compared to Castlevania 4 and Rondo of Blood, I just think it makes it distinct
But, yeah, it's the weaker of the 16-bit Castlevania games, but I still find it superior to X86000 Castlevania
While writing this, i cant believe there is 1 person that dislikes this video! I mean come on man!!
Are you stopping at the 16 bit era for this series, or are you gonna do a video on the Playstation version of Symphony of the Night?
I plan on doing them all.
@@SegaLordX Awesome, thank you! You briefly talk about the PS1 version in your review on the Saturn port, but I very much look forward to your full review. I must have seen at least a dozen good reviews of this game already, but it never seems to get old for me lol. I just love hearing people talk about it.
lol. I always hear people complain dracula was cheap. I beat him on my 2nd or 3rd try, and never once got knocked into a pit :P
level 6 took me several hours to beat though
Oh no why's dracula wearing a Speedo
👍👍👍👍👍
3:20 playstation d-pads in the background
Other than the decent music, I personally can't stand this version. The cheap deaths, no multiple paths, stretched out platforms and no playable Maria. I'll stick with the PC Engine version.
No multiple paths? There's definitely at least 2 playthroughs worth of pathways
I couldn't agree more. I like it and own it, but that last boss fight is infuriating. It drags the whole game down a few notches because of how tedious it is.
Am I the only one who sees the Playstation D-Pads at 3:10?
Way too harsh, the Genesis one is my favorite, but this one is good too. If u like classic Castlevania games, you should not pass this one up
@D core Everyone has their own opinion.
For me Dracula X is better than Super Castlevania IV.
So deal with it.
I always felt this one got unfairly bashed, and mostly by import snobs. Yeah, its unfairly difficult, but its not the "poor experience" people make it out to be. Is the PC-Engine CD version better? Of course, but not everyone could afford importing back in the day.
Ultimately that's the biggest flaw in the game IMO; they called it Dracula X. It immediately invited comparisons to the PC Engine game. People wanted it to be that game. Had it been called something else, and maybe changed up that ridiculous end fight, I feel this one would have been much better received.
I don't get people's complaint about it being unfairly difficult. The first Castlevania is unfairly difficult and it's awesome.
What are the first two games on demo at the end of the video? Never seen them before but I want to try them. First one looked like house of dead maybe and the other looked like a shinobi game but I'm not sure.
Some good things, some bad things. On the whole Castlevania IV is probably better.
This video really sums up the game quite well. Above-average when based on its own merits, but as an adaptation of Rondo of Blood, it just doesn't measure up.
Did play it once, didn't go further than the 1st stage. Impressed by the graphics, anime-ish, but, not enough to play it through all the game.
Your video says it was posted an hour ago. How many hours of sleep did you get?
I finished it last night and uploaded it this morning. I'm good.
This game receives too much unnecessary hate. Its a great game.
4:17 Is the reason why I have no interest in this game. Rented it years ago...
The main problem I have with this game is that I don't know what a Rondo is.
It's a musical form sometimes called a refrain. Many Castlevania's are named after a musical reference.
Is the Castlevania series for Halloween?
The time of year motivated me to do it, but it wasn't specifically for the holiday itself.
Honestly I never got into this one. Physics are floaty and weird. And you can’t take out bats while they are still perched.
I'm glad to see somebody talk about how tedious the Dracula battle is. Most people just whine about how it's so hard. It's really not, just an extreme test of patience while you wait for him to teleport back into attack range. I do really enjoy this game, but the lack of post-hit invincibility can be frustrating.
Nothing like hunting Dracula to disco. Bloodlines is the best looking OG castlevania hands down.
really don't get some of the criticisms - Dracula X sounds far more rock-like than Rondo and uses far more SNES guitars than Rondo's "funky synth" or whatever it was meant to be, Rondo and SCIV let down in it's visuals FAR more (Rondo has some downright FC-looking sections at times while SCIV/AD SFC can sometimes devolve into visual vomit such as Stage 8 or even stuff like Stage 2-3.), and personally i disagree on Dracula from this game being the worst out of the 16 bit (by far the best for me, Rondo's was alright but too easy, Bloodlines' was GARBAGE and alongside it's entire final boss set and Stage 5 is what ruined the game's finale for me, SCIV/AD SFC was the highlight of the game but still went by a bit too quickly). personally, i really like this game and while i do think it's inferior to Rondo, i think that it's replayability and difficulty make it a far better game than the other 16-bit releases, not that those are bad.
This was a good game when rated on its own, but when compared to other Castlevania games it was a definite step down. Having played through it recently, I honestly believe it wouldn’t be as reviled if not for the insane difficulty. The cheap deaths combined with it not being a direct port of Rondo of Blood, and capped off with a terrible release date doomed this game.
Far more egregious than Dracula X for SNES is that Rondo of Blood was never ported to the PlayStation. How did Konami screw that up?
Wasn't there cheap deaths and insane difficulty in the first Castlevania ?
could someone please tell me the exact name of the track at 08:13? thank you
It's the ending credits track to Dracula X here. Not sure it has a name.
The SNES one?
It was the biggest mistake from konami, calling this buthered evolutionized half ported snes version ,,,,dracula x,,,, they just should had call it castlevania 5 instead in order to avoid association with dracula x rondo of blood.
The music is not bad but i found the remix of the main theme tune from castlevania 3 just sounding emberassing,
This version feels so emberassing to me because theres no recovery time once getting hit!!!
For me I like Dracula X more than SC IV just for the Music and the challange alone. But the end battle with dracula is way to easy and boring
That cheap death at the end tho...
i remember spending an entire night trying to beat Dracula on this game, trying to beat his second form was a nightmare, so much rage, that may have been the most angry i have ever been at a video game in my life. fuck this game.
I think All of 2D Castlevanias still are awesome.but I really hate 3d series. please cover up gba and nds. they are my favorite. I am looking forward to play bloodstain.
I was just thinking about the GBA series today. I'll get to them.
I'm 100% in the minority here. But, I much prefer "Dracula X" over "Rondo of Blood".
I feel that this game's OST tried way too hard to mimic the original Rondo of Blood OST too much, where most of the tracks are downright inferior. Best example of this is Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears and Op. 13.
I think it would've been much better if they re-did the composition and instrumentation for Dracula X SNES. As it stands, my mind just processes it as the inferior Rondo OST, which is a bit of a shame.
get a jpn ver.
The original version, i mean Dracula X for Pc Engine Duo looks and soudns far away better than this.