User Reviews (1 - 11 of 32)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

yeah yeah

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 26
Date: October 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

no i do not own this yet but i give it the maximum rating due to the fact that it is castlevania and a side scroller (all three of them) i am now going back to stare out the window and wait for ups to come hopefully it will arrive within the next couple of days oh and I must plug in my psp till its fully charged so it will be ready for some heavy gaming. You should considered camping next to your mailbox to do this u will need a tent, water, rations, a bucket(filled with cat litter *optional),and basic toiletries. UPDATE i now have the game and its like a drug that i cant quit. ok here is a little tip make a quick save when u reach a boss battle then copy that save to another space then fight the boss that way if u loose and run out of lives rather than start at the begining of the level u have a spare save at the boss copy again and again as needed overwriting failed attempts this is handy at higher level boss battles and relieves frustration

Excellent Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: October 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Many secrets and hidden character that you can get.
Collecting the original game and music scores will have you repeating the levels. But the levels have different paths you can take. Audio track for both English and Japanese are superb.

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!

Best game to never come out

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: October 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought a turbo duo for this game back in 98', played it then loved it. Now I bought PSP for this game over the summer. Its amazing, a MUST have and the graphical improvements really bring it up to the level of younger more graphic-oriented gamers. Its great that you get the original version, so you can see just how freaking hard it really is. Throw in Symphony of the Night and you have yourself a lot of vampire whipping fun in time for Halloween!

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.

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.

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.

A must for Castlevania fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm a late adopter of the PSP, having bought it when the PSP Slim was first released as part of the PSP Daxter Entertainment Pack - Ice Silver. At the time, I didn't know that this game was coming, and I hesitated, not knowing if the PSP would be worth the cash when I have much more faith in Nintendo systems. Mega Man Powered Up was what pushed me over the edge, but if I had known about this, I would have bought the PSP with that much more confidence. This game is a Castlevania fan's dream. If you are one, and own a PSP, stop reading this immediately and buy the game. If you're less familiar with the series, read on.

"Akumaj Dracula X Chi no Rondo", or "Demon Castle Dracula X Rondo of Blood", was released in 1993 for the PC Engine Super CD, a CD-based add-on to the PC Engine, known as TurboGrafx-16 in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 was never particularly popular here, and the Super CD was quite rare, perhaps impossible to find in some areas. As such, Rondo of Blood never made it to America. When PC-based console emulation became popular in the late 90's and beyond, American gamers re-discovered Rondo of Blood, playing it in its original Japanese on the Magic Engine, a PC Engine/Super CD emulator. For those who did so, they needed to either buy the game from an auction site, which could cost $100 or more, or download it illegally, a questionable practice. With either method, if said gamer does not know Japanese, the plot is completely lost; despite this, many hardcore Castlevania fans enjoyed the game regardless, hailing Rondo of Blood as one the finest of the early Castlevania games.

14 years after its original Japanese release, Rondo of Blood is back in a remastered 2.5D format, with CGI cinematic sequences and live voice acting in both English and Japanese - though, interestingly, the opening cinematic is in German with subtitles. Even if you don't prefer remastered games, the original PC Engine version is unlockable by finding a special item hidden in the remastered game (NOT by simply beating the remastered game). Also lurking in the game is an unlockable version of the PlayStation classic, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night! Additional new features include audio track items that enable you to customize the music in the game, boss strategies that can be purchased with money dropped from enemies, and four prisoners to rescue, three of which grant you new abilities and one an additional playable character. All of the levels of Rondo of Blood have two exits, which lead to a "normal" path and an "alternate" path. From the file select screen you can choose to replay any level you've completed, in case you want to search for pick-ups or prisoners you've missed.

Rondo of Blood is a fairly short, highly difficult game, though truly no more difficult than the first three NES Castlevania games I grew up with. Most NES games (Contra, another Konami game, comes to mind here) stretched replay value by making games so hard that you'd routinely throw a controller out the window. While I don't recommend doing that with a PSP, Rondo of Blood may seem incredibly challenging to less experienced players. Although you can complete the entire game solely as the whip-wielding Richter Belmont, rescuing Maria Renard in Stage 2 is highly recommended, as the game is much easier to complete with her. She is more frail, but her double-jump and unique variety of special weapons makes even Dracula a pushover to defeat.

Symphony of the Night, being a bit easier and a lot longer in gameplay, nicely balances the nasty, brutish and short experience that is Rondo of Blood. If you're a veteran of the PlayStation or Saturn version, you may notice that the entire game has been re-done with new voice acting (minor unimportant changes have been introduced in the script as well), two new familiars - helper characters - have been added, one new boss has been added and one new playable character has been added as an extra after beating the game as Alucard. Even if you've played it before, it's definitely worth a replay or two.

The only downside to this game is that none of it is really "new". If you know Japanese, have played the Japanese version of Rondo of Blood, and have played any version of Symphony of the Night, you MIGHT just be bored with this - but if you're a hardcore enough Castlevania fan to have imported Rondo of Blood, you'll probably want to pick this game up anyway. If you're against 2D games in general, though, you might as well skip this one.

Excellent on all levels

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was a bit worried about playing Rondo of Blood, seeing as how I suck at old school games. But the remake is tons of fun (even though I have over 50 continues!) It's got good level design, the enemies are imaginative in their attacks and movements, and of course there's the beautiful artwork of Ayami Kojima to be enjoyed. You play as Richter, and as soon as you rescue Maria you can start using her as well. Players can also choose to play through with either the English or Japanese dialogue. And the absolute best part is you can also unlock the original Rondo of Blood and the legendary Symphony of the Night; three games on one disc!

A Great Buy for anyone

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game brings back memories of the original nes and snes castlevania. My favorate game ever is Castlevania Symphony of the Night and when I heard it was an unlockable bonus in this game i knew i had to get it. As a PSP fan and Castlevania fan i was not disapointed, the opening cutscene had me hooked from the beginning with its graphics that i could have mistaked for an Xbox 360 cutscene and cryptic diologue as the Dark Priests ressurected Dracula. If you are more a fan of the RPG castlevania's such as Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, and Portrait of Ruin dont fret because you only need to beat 2 levels and go about halfway through another to unlock SOTN. It is in a hidden level, if you need help, look up how to do it on [...]. SOTN is remastered with new voice acting and the game looks alot clearer on the psp screen instead of our old TVs. If you enjoy the classic castlevania style more, this game has 7 levels you have to play to win, along with other levels hidden along the way, so in total i'd say about 10 or 12 levels. It also has 4 girls to save and each will help you in some way. there are other hidden unlockables like castlevania soundtracks and the original rondo of blood as well. Sound quality and graphics are great for psp and voice acting is decent. The music is unmatched by almost any video game i've ever played. The bosses are uniquely designed and usually challenging. The final battle with Dracula was a very intense and epic battle and will challenge your knowledge and skill. Sometimes it can get frustrating but it is overall very fun. If you own a PSP and have never played Castlevania before, this is a great game to start out on. I give it a 7 out of 7 (i rate games on a scale of 7 points, i know, its wierd, but thats how i rate stuff) BUY THIS GAME!!! you wont regret it.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions