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| Akumajo Dracula X: Chi No Rondo or Rondo of Blood's cover |
Bloodlines: The 25th Anniversary of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
October 17, 2018
By Ryan Porzl
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is a unique chapter in Castlevania's history. Originally released in 1993, it was only originally released in Japan and by the time it was released internationally in 1995, it became different enough to the point where it was almost unrecognizable and it's own game. Then in 1997, it opened the door for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Strangely enough, the game whose sequel has been lauded as the greatest Castlevania game of all time was still out of reach for most of the world and would remain that way till the 21st Century when it finally started seeing re-releases. It was, in a way, like Konami's version of Mother (Earthbound Beginnings) or Street Fighter 1 in that people played the masterpiece sequel while the game that came before was almost a forgotten footnote. With the 25th Anniversary approaching on October 29th, I figure it be best to have a look at a true gem in the Castlevania series and one that in a way is one of the most important in the series' history. This article contain spoilers so don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.
Characters
Richter Belmont- The main protagonist. A member of the Belmont family, Richter is the latest of the family to wield the vampire killer and sets out to defeat Count Dracula who is resurrected again. Along the way, Richter must also save four girls including his girlfriend Annette who have been captured by Dracula's forces. Richter has a strong sense of justice and is one of the most powerful members of the Belmont family.
Maria Renard- An orphan who is a distant relative of the Belmont family and was one of four girls kidnapped by Count Dracula's minions. Upon being rescued by Richter, Maria joins him on his quest as a playable character becoming the secondary protagonist. A powerful girl, Maria uses creatures as weapons and subweapons. Though small, she is also tough and can easily hold her own.
Count Dracula- The main antagonist. The king of the night, Dracula has been waging a war with humanity for centuries only to be thwarted time and time again by the Belmont family and their allies. Resurrected by the dark priest Shaft in 1792, Dracula sends his minions to attack Transylvania and abducts four girls as he seeks a bride. One of the abducted girls is Richter Belmont's girlfriend Annette who Dracula becomes interested in.
Annette- Richter's girlfriend and one of the four girls abducted by Dracula's minions that Richter must rescue. Dracula takes an interest in her due to her association with the Belmonts as well as her beauty and offers to make her a vampire and rule by his side but she refuses.
Tera- One of the maidens kidnapped by Shaft. She's a nun who has led her town in prayers. Upon being rescued, she mistakes either Richter or Maria, as a manifestation of God due to temporary delusion likely due to her long capture. She then gives them a necklace which prevents red skeletons from being able to reassemble after hurting them. In The Dracula X Chronicles, it can destroy red skeleton walls.
Iris- One of the maidens kidnapped by Shaft. Iris is the daughter of a doctor and heals the player to full health upon being rescued (she wraps Richter or Maria's arm to prevent bleeding in the cutscene). She also gives a charm that destroys crystal walls.
Shaft- A dark priest who led the ritual and congregation that resurrected Count Dracula after sacrificing a maiden. Shaft serves as a loyal servant to Dracula in the game and is the secondary antagonist. He's powerful with magic as his main weapon are green orbs that can use magic and he's capable of resurrecting enemies from past games.
Plot
In the year 1792, things have been mostly peaceful for several decades. It would be two years before the 700th anniversary of the war between the Belmonts and Count Dracula. It's been 101 years since Simon Belmont slayed Dracula in the first game. It had been 96 years since Dracula was for the most part last alive and with the exception of Juste Belmont destroying his wraith in 1748, no one had heard of him in nearly a century. However, a congregation led by a dark priest named Shaft seeks to resurrect the Lord of Vampires and succeeds after conducting a ritual which sees them sacrifice a maiden. Dracula lives again as does Castlevania and proceeds to waste no time in resuming his war on humans as he sends his minions to attack the village Aljiba. The minions then capture three maidens and a girl as Dracula is seeking a bride. One of the maidens is a girl named Annette who is the girlfriend of Richter Belmont, the latest in the line of Belmont vampire hunters. Embracing his destiny, Richter arms himself with the vampire killer and sets out to village. As Richter travels by wagon, Death tries to head him off but Richter's power is evident from the beginning as he destroys Death's scythe and a powerful fireball sending Death retreating. Richter fights his way through the village and takes out Dracula's minions before heading to Castlevania itself. Early on, Richter rescues a girl named Maria Renard from Shaft who is amazed at her power. After insisting that she comes along, Maria joins Richter and the two fight their way through Castlevania rescuing the maidens including Annette while defeating Shaft (and his ghost) and then defeating Dracula in his throne room. With Dracula once again dead, Castlevania crumbles at least until his return.
Gameplay
Rondo of Blood plays like the older Castlevania games in sort of a linear platform sidescroller. Each level sees the player control Richter or Maria as they start at the beginning and fight their way through the level before reaching a boss. Once the boss is defeated, an orb will drop that the player will touch to complete the level and advance to the next stage. Along with this, many traditional elements return for Rondo of Blood. One is subweapons which the player can collect and use but they require a certain number of hearts. For Richter, the subweapons are mostly the usual subweapons from previous games including axes, holy water, pocket watch, knives, and crosses as well as a magic book. For Maria, the subweapons are creatures based off the four mythological Chinese symbols which are a cat, a turtle, a cardinal, and dragon. Another returning factor is that players can acquire hearts usually by whipping objects like candles. Hearts allow the player to use subweapons. Players can also find money & coins which increase their score. If the player has a high enough score and/or beats the boss of the level without taking damage, they receive a 1-UP or extra life. Certain items, mostly 1-UPs or health items, can be found hidden in breakable walls or breakable pieces of a platform scattered throughout the game. Another item is a rosary which are also scattered around the game and if the player finds one then they clear the entire screen of enemies. There's also invisibility potions scattered around which briefly makes the player invincible and somewhat invisible. There's 13 stages but the player only has to play through 9 including a stage 0 which is the prologue. The stages include
Stage 0: Prologue
Stage 1: Dinner of Flames (Richter)/Birthplace of Tragedy (Maria)
Stage 2: God, Grant Me Strength (Richter)/O Lord, Please Give Me Strength (Maria), Alternate Stage 2: Breaking Through The Front (Richter)/I Hate Taking The Long Way Round (Maria)
Stage 3: An Evil Prayer Summons Darkness (Richter)/The Vengeful King of Bloodshed (Maria)
Alternate Stage 3: Release from the Thrust of Blood (Richter)/Let Thy Soul Be At Peace (Maria)
Stage 4: Atop Countless Terrors (Richter)/Atop the Corpses of Thy Brethren (Maria)
Alternate Stage 4: Fortress of the Water Demon (Richter)/The Final Divergence (Maria)
Stage 5: The Devil Flies By Night (Richter)/Towards the Tower of the Final Showdown (Maria)
Alternate Stage 5: Piers (Rondo of Blood)/Wandering (DXC Richter)/Shudder (DXC Maria)
Stage 6: A Nightmare Reborn (Richter)/Undying Melody (Maria)
Stage 7: Here Now The Requiem of Blood (Richter)/Believe in the Dawn (Maria)
Stage 8: Bloodlines (Richter)/The Brink of Death (Maria)
Despite the difference in stage names, the stages are the same for both characters.
Rondo of Blood saw some new additions and the return of elements from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Unlike previous Castlevania games, there's no whip upgrades as the vampire killer already starts as a chained flail rather than needing upgrades which turns the vampire killer from a whip to a longer whip to a chained flail. Rondo of Blood also sees the debut of the item crash which is when the player unleashes the hidden power of a subweapon. The item crash cost more hearts to use than regular subweapons but are more powerful attacks. The Item crash has become a staple in the franchise since. The game was also the first Castlevania to use datas and save features. Whenever the player beat a level, their progress would be saved and they would also have the option to save if they got a game over and decided to stop playing. The player has three datas to use. After selecting a data, the player can choose who to play with be it Richter or Maria (provided you saved her) and can go back to play levels they've already beaten. Because of the save feature, there's no password system. Returning from Dracula's Curse is the concept of alternate stages and routes. The difference is Dracula's Curse gave players the option to choose a route after beating certain levels while Rondo of Blood sees certain levels have two routes with one sometimes being hidden. Each route sees a different boss at the end of the stage. The second thing was the ability to play as different characters with the difference being that instead of four overall but two at a time, there's only two characters in Richter Belmont & Maria Renard. Another difference is in Dracula's Curse, the player can switch between Trevor C. Belmont and his ally be it Sypha Belnades, Grant Danasty, or Alucard, the player has to choose a character after picking a data but before they begin playing.
Richter & Maria largely play with some exceptions as Maria is faster, is smaller which means she has an easier time dodging enemies, but takes more damage. Other differences are with subweapons as mentioned, their main weapons with Richter using the whip while Maria uses doves, & the fact Richter can do a backflip while Maria can double jump with both doing it when the player presses the jump button twice. Richter can also do a backstep and use a fire whip whenever he uses the item crash without having a subweapon. Maria can also roll, slide, and release her dark side to attack enemies.
Along with 1994's Castlevania: Bloodlines, Rondo of Blood is one of the last games to use the traditional linear stage style of gameplay with Castlevania as most games began using the "Metroidvania" style beginning with 1997's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night due to the style as well as the game's popularity.
Behind the Scenes
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was published and developed by Konami. It was directed by Toru Hagihara who previously was the programmer for 1991's Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge on the Game Boy and later served as director, producer, & programmer for Symphony of the Night. The composers were Akira Souji, Keizo Nakamura, Tomoko Sano, & Mikio Saito. Of the four, Nakamura is the only one notable having previously been a sound designer for the 1993 Sharp X68000 version of Castlevania Chronicles (one of many remakes of the original) as well as Konami's 1994 cult hit Snatcher. Koji Igrashi got a special thanks credit marking one of his first involvements in Castlevania as he later was a big force in the franchise serving a variety of roles including producer, director, and scenario writer for almost every Castlevania game from Symphony of the Night to 2010's Harmony of Despair.
Rondo of Blood used a red book audio and an onboard soundchip which made for better sound quality. Taking advantage of the fact it was a CD game, Konami added animated cutscenes with dialogue during the game to advance the story. Originally, the intro had a German narrator but this was left out of the PSP port as well as the Wii Virtual Console port possibly due to issues with licensing.
Speaking of audio, Rondo of Blood continued the tradition of rearranging older tracks while including new ones. Two songs "Divine Bloodlines" & "Dance of Illusions" debuted here and have become staples in future Castlevania games with "Divine Bloodlines" becoming associated with Richter Belmont and is considered his theme song while "Dance of Illusions" has been associated with Dracula and is usually used during his battles thus becoming his theme song.
The designers did notably make one mistake with the game. According to the sign at the beginning of Stage 1, the village is Aljiba which is a village from 1987's Castlevania II: Simon's Quest but the problem is that people have brought up how the village resembles Jova which is another village in Simon's Quest. However, the alternate Stage 3 is in a cemetery while Jova isn't near a cemetery but Aljiba does.
Release
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was originally released exclusively in Japan as Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Devil's Castle Dracula X: Samsara (Rondo) of Blood) on October 29, 1993 on the NEC PC Engine CD (the Japanese equivalent of the Turbografx 16 CD). At the time, Castlevania games were called in Japan Akumajo Dracula or Devil's Castle Dracula. It wouldn't be until 2002's Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance that Japan started referring to the franchise as "Castlevania". The game received positive reviews with EGM saying that it "can easily be the best CD title yet" but said the only negative is it wouldn't see an American release. GamePro didn't think it was a great as Super Castlevania IV but said earmarking it one of the top ten side scrollers is a no brainer. Rondo of Blood later won EGM's Best Japanese Action Game of 1994 award. Upon being ported a decade later, IGN considered it enjoyable and "worth the wait" while scoring it 9/10 and giving it their "Editor's Choice". Nintendo Life also scored it 9/10 and praised it for it's level design, graphics, difficulty, and soundtrack.
Despite originally not being released internationally, Rondo of Blood would see various incarnations over the years. The first was Castlevania: Dracula X which was originally released in Japan on July 21, 1995 as Akumajo Dracula XX (Devil's Castle Dracula XX), North America in September 1995, Europe on February 22, 1996 as Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss and, in Australia on June 22, 1996 also as Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss. The game would be released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or the Super Famicom. Other than the story, music, and most of the character sprites including Richter, Dracula X is completely different from Rondo of Blood. The levels are redesigned and they along with most of the bosses are different. Instead of four different routes, Dracula X only features two. Because of the limitations of the Super Nintendo, the animated cutscenes are removed and replaced with new animated stills. Maria Renard is not a playable character and she & Annette (spelled Annett) are sisters. Maria & Annette are the only two maidens to save with the other two removed. The game has a new twist as if the player doesn't save Annette in the alternate stage 5 level, then she'll become a vampire and the boss of the clock tower (Death is the boss if the player saves her). Despite being a major character in Rondo of Blood, the Dark Priest Shaft is nowhere to be found though his attacks are used by other bosses while Konami recycled his Ghost sprite and made it a boss but the boss is just called "Ghost" and has nothing to do with Shaft. The game has no save feature or datas but does feature a password system. The item crash for the cross is different as it's now a bunch of crosses launched throughout the screen. It's unknown if this was because of system limitations or because of Nintendo's policy of not allowing religious imagery on games that play on their consoles as the grand crosses looked like crucifixes. Dracula also has a different second form. The game is also much more difficult than Rondo of Blood specifically the fight between Dracula. This is extremely rare as back in the 80s and early to mid 90s, there were times when developers "dumb down" the American version of a game making it easier than the Japanese version but this is a case where the opposite is true.
Upon it's release, Dracula X received mixed reviews with the general consensus being that it was an inferior port of Rondo of Blood. EGM scored it a 6.75 out of 10, Famitsu scored it a 24/40, Next Generation scored it 1 out of 5 stars, & GameRankings scored it a 73.75% based on four reviews. EGM considered it a good game on it's terms but doesn't match up to past Castlevania games. GamePro criticized the level design which didn't allow for re-exploring stages, the bosses not being challenging enough, and that the graphics & gameplay were primitive. Next Generation hated the game claiming it retained the graphics & controls of Rondo of Blood but were outdated by then while saying it doesn't appeal even to hardcore Castlevania fans. IGN was more positive saying it was "still one of the best traditional Castlevania games" and that "it holds it's own" when it comes to the color palette and graphics but did criticize the weak A.I. and bad level lay out.
Dracula X has since been re-released a few times since it's original release as it was re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console on April 23, 2014 in Japan, October 2, 2014 in North America, & November 13, 2014 in PAL regions. It was then re-released on the New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on December 29, 2016 in North America and in Europe & Australia on January 26, 2017.
The second port was The Dracula X Chronicles which was released on October 23, 2007 in North America, November 8, 2007 in Japan, February 18, 2008 in Europe, & April 9, 2008 on the Playstation Portable or PSP. The game was basically Rondo of Blood with updated graphics and soundtrack. However, there were a few notable changes. One was the addition of a Boss Rush mode and a mini-game called Peke which is unlocked after beating boss rush mode three times. Other notable changes included the actual game and story which now feature a good and bad ending as well as a new cutscene which shows Annette's capture at the hands of Shaft and Dracula. Borrowing from Dracula X, the bad ending occurs if the player fails to save Annette in the clock tower which will result in her being the boss of the level as a vampire (Shaft's ghost is the boss if the player saves her). Because the player didn't fight Shaft's ghost, then he's still alive during the fight with Dracula and after the player beats Dracula's first two forms, Shaft will save Dracula by teleporting him away before he's killed and the player is told they must find Shaft's ghost and to look for hidden rooms & to save all the maidens. Only doing these things will Shaft's ghost appear. To get the good ending, the player has to save Annette which will result in Shaft's ghost as the boss of the clock tower and by killing him, he's not around for the final battle which allows the player to kill Dracula upon defeating him. Another change is Dracula has three forms instead of two. The game also features certain parts and bosses that are more difficult and new areas to explore as well as puzzles to solve with some needing a certain item. The alternate Stage 5 is altered and features a new Hydra boss. During the game, the player can also find hidden unlockables such as music and the ability to play the original Rondo of Blood & Symphony of the Night games. Rondo of Blood features the game entirely in English and the cutscenes have English dialogue. Symphony of the Night allows the player to play as Maria like the Sega Saturn version as well as new dialogue, sound effects, and voice acting.
The Dracula X Chronicles largely received positive reviews as 1UP.com scored it a B+, Eurogamer scored it a 7/10, GameSpy gave it 4 out of 5 stars, Metacritic gave it 80/100, and GameRankings gave it 81.40%. The updated graphics, soundtrack, the bonus content, & inclusion of the original Rondo of Blood & Symphony of the Night were praised. Reviewers brought up the high difficulty and that it could be frustrating to those who weren't used to it and the voice acting was criticized as "Soap Opera Fare". GameSpy considered it "a solid remake" but unnecessary and "worse than the original". 1UP.com considered it a "beautifully crafted game in the classic Castlevania style" and a "long coveted classic". Game Informer considered a worthwhile remake while praising the inclusion of the two extra games. Game Zone ranked it the fifth best Castlevania title and the staff also praised the inclusion of Rondo of Blood & Symphony of the Night.
Aftermath
Since Rondo of Blood's release, many characters and elements have return to future games despite it's original limited release. As mentioned above, 1997's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night serves as a sequel to Rondo of Blood with Richter, Maria, & Shaft making returns with Shaft again serving as a secondary antagonist while Maria assists main protagonist Alucard. In a huge plot twist, Richter appears seemingly as an antagonist who helps resurrect Dracula only to be revealed as being controlled by Shaft. The game also has a reenactment of the last battle in Rondo of Blood in the beginning as the player takes control of Richter and defeats Dracula. The game is the first to feature "Richter mode" with the player being able to play as Richter upon beating the game and starting a new one after the player puts RICHTER in the name entry screen. The game is largely similar except Richter's has his health bar from Rondo of Blood and the beginning of Symphony of the Night instead of hit points, he cannot equip different weapons or armor or relics, he can't carry items like potions, & can't gain levels. However, Richter can increase his health bar and heart counter with Life & Heart Vessel items. He plays like Rondo of Blood as he's able to do a backflip, use subweapons, and item crashes. The big difference is that Shaft is the final boss. There's also a Maria mode but only on the Sega Saturn version which is exclusive to Japan. Maria has no weapon but can kick enemies and cast spells. She can also collect subweapons as well as Life & Heart Vessel items.
Richter & Maria then return for 2006's Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin as one of the main characters Jonathan Morris must face the whip's memory in the form of Richter towards the end of the game to unlock the true power of the vampire killer. Richter mode also returns with Richter & Maria as the playable character's with the player being able to switch between them via the partner system. Richter can also be summoned by Jonathan and Charlotte Aulin as part of the Power of Five along with Leon Belmont, Trevor C. Belmont, Simon Belmont, & Juste Belmont. Maria returned as a playable character in 2007's Castlevania: Judgment. Richter returned in 2010's Harmony of Despair as a downloadable character and is set to appear in 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate along with Simon Belmont as a playable character.
Rondo of Blood has since been re-released a few times. Along with being an extra in The Dracula X Chronicles, Rondo of Blood was ported to the Wii Virtual Console on April 22, 2008 in Japan, March 15, 2010 in North America, & March 19, 2010 in PAL regions. It's set to be re-released along with Symphony of the Night as part of Castlevania: Requiem on Playstation 4 on October 26, 2018 worldwide which will be 3 days before Rondo of Blood's 25th Anniversary.
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