A port of Castlevania: Dracula X
A port of Castlevania: Dracula X included in "Castlevania Advance Collection." Fight your way through Dracula's Castle and defeat the toughest enemies with the new special attack "Item Crash"! Castlevania: Dracula X is a reimagining of the cult action game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, and has been acclaimed as one of the most challenging Castlevania titles ever created. New Quality-of-Life features for this port are included, such as Rewind, Quick Save, and Record/Replay. The Dark Lord Count Dracula rises again from the dead to revive the forces of darkness and to annihilate this corrupted world and create a new one. You are Richter Belmont, heir of the Belmont family, and you set out for Dracula's Castle to defeat its evil master.
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Potential blasphemy if I say that I liked this better than the actual Rondo of Blood? Ok, maybe just for the difficulty level of this being way more forgiving. Objectively would be wrong to say that is really better than the og one, but man, subjectively I had more fun with this one.
Retro games are always kinda hard for me to review, but zamn, this shit especially lol. On one hand, Dracula X is aesthetically brilliant. Its pixel art is gorgeous, and each level is visually distinct, hand-painted. Accompanying each level is an absolute banger tune, this entry seriously might have the consistently best music of any Castlevania. There are also branching paths, multiple endings, and the badass new "item crash" system. This game has a cool coat of paint for sure, and I've really gotta commend it for that because I seriously wouldn't be able to stomach a second of it otherwise.
To preface, I'm actually quite a fan of retro games, and I find I'm usually able to excuse their often shoddy design in lieu of fun factor, artistic value, novelty. Games were new, and hella expensive. Difficulty and obtuse progression were how they lasted more than an afternoon, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Difficulty is powerful, and in my opinion really defines the gaming medium. This is the reason I pretty much never use save states anymore— a game loses its meaning without its intended oppression, tension.
Having said that, Dracula X does make me wish I wasn't so stubborn, for this game is distastefully rude, brutally mean, and hates everyone's guts, egregious even among classic arcade games. It feels like a Mario Maker level I would have made when I was 14, if Mario's movement was programmed in Scratch. Enemies camp the tops of stairways, each take 9 hits to kill, spawn inside you always, and knock you off every cliff. Every item you need to progress is dangled precariously over an instant death chasm or hidden under a random floor tile. You get three lives per level and losing them all sends you back to the start, so it's a good thing they're each long and riddled with bullshit when you're trying to get back to the boss. I like a good challenge, but this just has painfully unforgiving, unfair, inexcusable game design. Castlevania IV did everything so much better in my eyes, but I guess I can see how Dracula X would have a more masochistic appeal? I just don't think it's fun enough to make up for that, it's incredibly overtuned constantly.
Still by no means an awful game, and I do plan to check out Rondo. Just play at your own risk— it WILL give you a heart attack.
To preface, I'm actually quite a fan of retro games, and I find I'm usually able to excuse their often shoddy design in lieu of fun factor, artistic value, novelty. Games were new, and hella expensive. Difficulty and obtuse progression were how they lasted more than an afternoon, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Difficulty is powerful, and in my opinion really defines the gaming medium. This is the reason I pretty much never use save states anymore— a game loses its meaning without its intended oppression, tension.
Having said that, Dracula X does make me wish I wasn't so stubborn, for this game is distastefully rude, brutally mean, and hates everyone's guts, egregious even among classic arcade games. It feels like a Mario Maker level I would have made when I was 14, if Mario's movement was programmed in Scratch. Enemies camp the tops of stairways, each take 9 hits to kill, spawn inside you always, and knock you off every cliff. Every item you need to progress is dangled precariously over an instant death chasm or hidden under a random floor tile. You get three lives per level and losing them all sends you back to the start, so it's a good thing they're each long and riddled with bullshit when you're trying to get back to the boss. I like a good challenge, but this just has painfully unforgiving, unfair, inexcusable game design. Castlevania IV did everything so much better in my eyes, but I guess I can see how Dracula X would have a more masochistic appeal? I just don't think it's fun enough to make up for that, it's incredibly overtuned constantly.
Still by no means an awful game, and I do plan to check out Rondo. Just play at your own risk— it WILL give you a heart attack.
Look, I barely remember what playing the game was like.
All I know is that you boot up stage one, and they hit you with that
Castlevania: Dracula X OST - Bloodlines
All I know is that you boot up stage one, and they hit you with that
Castlevania: Dracula X OST - Bloodlines
We making it out of the ghost ship with this one me hearty's.
Es imposible jugar esto sin compararlo con el original e indudablemente es peor en todo sentido. A menos de que estes jugándolo por trofeos, vete para Rondo of Blood y tendrás una mucho mejor experiencia. Supongo que lo positivo que puedo decir son las opciones de rewind de la colección vs en la Requiem Collection que es bastante pobre, sin embargo eso es más mérito de la Advance Collection que de Dracula X como tal.
Would never though I'd be able to finish this game.