I'm sure in 1993 this game was a masterpiece, but after 30 years of gameplay advancements, it's difficult for me to get past how clunky this feels compared to modern games in this style like Ori, Dead Cells, Katana Zero, or Shovel Knight. Aside from the terrible Dracula X, this is the first classic-style Castlevania game I've played, and honestly I much prefer the Metroidvania ones.
If you like extremely difficult old games, I'm sure this will be your speed. But I'd rather play a modern spin on this genre than this actual old game any day of the week.
+ The opening cinematics kick ass
+ Music rips
- Gameplay feels bad in the year 2023.
- Extremely difficult
If you like extremely difficult old games, I'm sure this will be your speed. But I'd rather play a modern spin on this genre than this actual old game any day of the week.
+ The opening cinematics kick ass
+ Music rips
- Gameplay feels bad in the year 2023.
- Extremely difficult
Gave this game another chance and beat the last 2 stages. Definitely not the peak of classic Castlevania as people like to claim, but it's a good game
So, after playing Dracula X, I thought that the best move would be to keep trying to track down a way to play the original Rondo of Blood, and not the ugly looking PSP version of it. Fortunately, Castlevania Requiem on the PS4 gave me the opportunity to do this, allowing me to be able to compare Dracula X with this and finally get some perspective into why one of them is so praised while the other is left by the wayside. Honestly, gotta say that after playing this one, I’m totally with anyone who would consider Dracula X a genuinely bad game if they’ve already played this, because the difference is absolutely night and day. While the mediocre SNES game felt like a botched attempt to be a game full of homages to previous entries, ultimately feeling derivative and bland for the most part, this one feels like a true love letter to everything that made those games good, and a whole lot more.
Immediately upon starting this up, it was already clear that there was some serious ambition behind this game, with dramatic cutscenes that while admittedly painfully cheesy to say the least, immediately gave the game some unique charm not seen in any previous entry. This is complemented by a much more energetic, uplifting soundtrack for the most part compared to the previous ones that felt far more atmospheric, but both of them work quite well, with me honestly personally preferring a lot of this one. Immediately the game feels as if it’s recontextualising old, classic parts of past games through its opening level, with scenery and layout that is a direct reference to the towns in Simon’s Quest, with the second level then throwing the player into something quite similar to Castlevania 1’s opening level. This works here for a number of reasons when compared to poor attempts at similar things in past games due to how well a lot of these ideas have been recontextualised, with Richter moving similarly to Simon, but with a bit more fluidity in his movements and the ability to backflip, something that’s able to come in handy at many points for those willing to be a bit gutsier with their offensive approach. Subweapons also feel useful in this game, which is the first time they really have in the series for quite a while, with the addition of item crashes giving more potential options to be able to get out of tough situations, something which I personally found myself using quite often for various purposes, from using them as a quick screen clear for when things got overwhelming, to getting a ton of extra damage on a boss, to even using the starting invincibility frames to avoid death. What makes this even better is how just like everything else in this game, the presentation of these special moves is absolutely top notch, making you feel truly powerful as you unleash these monstrous attacks.
Of course, presentation and homages would be nothing without good design to back this up, and this game has absolutely amazing design across the board to the point where I never felt as if the game was unfair, despite some gruelling challenges along the way. This is another game where once again, much of its challenge comes less from an individual ruthless section that requires near inhuman precision to complete, and instead acts as an endurance test, constantly keeping the player on their toes through increasingly challenging situations while never simply overwhelming the player, making progression consistently exciting and satisfying to make your way through each location, bringing back the magic of discovery that Dracula X had completely lost. I feel like the part of the game that exemplifies the game’s fair, but difficult approach to difficulty, along with its identity as partially a love letter to the series, is the battle against the dark priest Shaft. As the player walks into the boss room, they are immediately greeted to a remixed version of the original Castlevania’s boss theme, before Shaft then puts the player through a gauntlet of the original game’s first 4 fights, one after the other. On their own, each of these prove to be relatively simple to take down, but having to beat all 4 in a row ends up proving to be one of the game’s hardest moments. While this could easily be seen as cheap fanservice and nostalgia baiting, what sets this apart is how it’s executed in such a way where it stands extremely strong even without considering the context involved, each fight being designed rather well, giving the player ample opportunities to attack and dodge while all feeling extremely distinct and worthwhile to fight, and ends up serving as the highlight of the entire game, something which only feels amplified once the context is added.
Now so far I’ve been mostly talking to this as if it’s structured like any old Castlevania game, but where it really shines is in its ambition in some respects I haven’t talked about. For one, I went through a second playthrough of the game as the other character, Maria, who further demonstrates the game’s somewhat more reasonable approach to difficulty by essentially acting as an easy mode, giving the player a lot of additional mobility options, such as a dodge roll and double jump, along with providing them with a much more powerful arsenal than Richter, at the cost of taking double damage. What I really love about this is how distinctive Maria feels, all the way down to having her own cutscenes for each key scene in the game, making her feel like a properly thought out addition to the game rather than a mere afterthought.
The other aspect that really stands out about this is how the early stages are designed to be absolutely full of little secrets and diverging paths, some simply leading to alternate ways to get through the level, and others leading to entirely new boss fights and stages, each of them also with their own unique elements to it, giving the game a lot of replayability without making one route feel like the clear option, with both being similarly balanced for the most part, along with being very fun, overcoming the glaring issue with Castlevania III’s multiple paths. Many of these stages also have their own special aspects to them that make them stand out extremely clearly, some big examples including the chase with the behemoth in the opening stage, and a fast paced ride down a large waterfall while trying to stop enemies from knocking you off your piece of driftwood. The amount of detail in each of these stages surpasses anything from prior games without it even being something close, and it really brings the game up to the point where I could see myself replaying the game for a 3rd time and still have a largely fresh experience due to the amount of other paths there were within some of these stages, even if they lead to the same destination.
Overall, there’s really little doubt in my mind that this is easily my favourite of the classic Castlevania games, being a remarkable love letter to the series up to this point without sacrificing any quality as a game standing on its own. The amount of depth and variety to the level design, combined with the absolutely stellar presentation made the game an absolute joy to play from start to finish, without any moments that really dip in quality, making it that if I were to replay the game, that there’d be no moments of dread in having to go through certain parts again, something that even the excellent Super Castlevania IV doesn’t completely succeed in. Ultimately, everything about this game is expertly crafted, and good enough to make me almost retrospectively dislike Dracula X a whole lot more for capturing almost none of what made this game so good.
Immediately upon starting this up, it was already clear that there was some serious ambition behind this game, with dramatic cutscenes that while admittedly painfully cheesy to say the least, immediately gave the game some unique charm not seen in any previous entry. This is complemented by a much more energetic, uplifting soundtrack for the most part compared to the previous ones that felt far more atmospheric, but both of them work quite well, with me honestly personally preferring a lot of this one. Immediately the game feels as if it’s recontextualising old, classic parts of past games through its opening level, with scenery and layout that is a direct reference to the towns in Simon’s Quest, with the second level then throwing the player into something quite similar to Castlevania 1’s opening level. This works here for a number of reasons when compared to poor attempts at similar things in past games due to how well a lot of these ideas have been recontextualised, with Richter moving similarly to Simon, but with a bit more fluidity in his movements and the ability to backflip, something that’s able to come in handy at many points for those willing to be a bit gutsier with their offensive approach. Subweapons also feel useful in this game, which is the first time they really have in the series for quite a while, with the addition of item crashes giving more potential options to be able to get out of tough situations, something which I personally found myself using quite often for various purposes, from using them as a quick screen clear for when things got overwhelming, to getting a ton of extra damage on a boss, to even using the starting invincibility frames to avoid death. What makes this even better is how just like everything else in this game, the presentation of these special moves is absolutely top notch, making you feel truly powerful as you unleash these monstrous attacks.
Of course, presentation and homages would be nothing without good design to back this up, and this game has absolutely amazing design across the board to the point where I never felt as if the game was unfair, despite some gruelling challenges along the way. This is another game where once again, much of its challenge comes less from an individual ruthless section that requires near inhuman precision to complete, and instead acts as an endurance test, constantly keeping the player on their toes through increasingly challenging situations while never simply overwhelming the player, making progression consistently exciting and satisfying to make your way through each location, bringing back the magic of discovery that Dracula X had completely lost. I feel like the part of the game that exemplifies the game’s fair, but difficult approach to difficulty, along with its identity as partially a love letter to the series, is the battle against the dark priest Shaft. As the player walks into the boss room, they are immediately greeted to a remixed version of the original Castlevania’s boss theme, before Shaft then puts the player through a gauntlet of the original game’s first 4 fights, one after the other. On their own, each of these prove to be relatively simple to take down, but having to beat all 4 in a row ends up proving to be one of the game’s hardest moments. While this could easily be seen as cheap fanservice and nostalgia baiting, what sets this apart is how it’s executed in such a way where it stands extremely strong even without considering the context involved, each fight being designed rather well, giving the player ample opportunities to attack and dodge while all feeling extremely distinct and worthwhile to fight, and ends up serving as the highlight of the entire game, something which only feels amplified once the context is added.
Now so far I’ve been mostly talking to this as if it’s structured like any old Castlevania game, but where it really shines is in its ambition in some respects I haven’t talked about. For one, I went through a second playthrough of the game as the other character, Maria, who further demonstrates the game’s somewhat more reasonable approach to difficulty by essentially acting as an easy mode, giving the player a lot of additional mobility options, such as a dodge roll and double jump, along with providing them with a much more powerful arsenal than Richter, at the cost of taking double damage. What I really love about this is how distinctive Maria feels, all the way down to having her own cutscenes for each key scene in the game, making her feel like a properly thought out addition to the game rather than a mere afterthought.
The other aspect that really stands out about this is how the early stages are designed to be absolutely full of little secrets and diverging paths, some simply leading to alternate ways to get through the level, and others leading to entirely new boss fights and stages, each of them also with their own unique elements to it, giving the game a lot of replayability without making one route feel like the clear option, with both being similarly balanced for the most part, along with being very fun, overcoming the glaring issue with Castlevania III’s multiple paths. Many of these stages also have their own special aspects to them that make them stand out extremely clearly, some big examples including the chase with the behemoth in the opening stage, and a fast paced ride down a large waterfall while trying to stop enemies from knocking you off your piece of driftwood. The amount of detail in each of these stages surpasses anything from prior games without it even being something close, and it really brings the game up to the point where I could see myself replaying the game for a 3rd time and still have a largely fresh experience due to the amount of other paths there were within some of these stages, even if they lead to the same destination.
Overall, there’s really little doubt in my mind that this is easily my favourite of the classic Castlevania games, being a remarkable love letter to the series up to this point without sacrificing any quality as a game standing on its own. The amount of depth and variety to the level design, combined with the absolutely stellar presentation made the game an absolute joy to play from start to finish, without any moments that really dip in quality, making it that if I were to replay the game, that there’d be no moments of dread in having to go through certain parts again, something that even the excellent Super Castlevania IV doesn’t completely succeed in. Ultimately, everything about this game is expertly crafted, and good enough to make me almost retrospectively dislike Dracula X a whole lot more for capturing almost none of what made this game so good.
This is really fun.
Perfeito, per-fei-to.
Superando seu antecessor Castlevnia IV, Rondo of Blood entrega o que é talvez a melhor experiência que se pode ter com um classicvania, os níveis fluem que é uma beleza, nenhum desafio é injusto, todos os bosses são interessantes e possuem mecânicas bem implementadas, cutscenes animadas extremamente carismáticas, jogar de Maria Renard é uma delícia (acho até melhor que o Richter); e além de tudo isso, o jogo possui múltiplos caminhos, os quais com certeza irei experimentar depois.
Infelizmente joguei a versão do Requiem de PS4, que é uma bosta e sem nenhuma vantagem de emulação, mas de forma alguma desmerece essa pérola.
Superando seu antecessor Castlevnia IV, Rondo of Blood entrega o que é talvez a melhor experiência que se pode ter com um classicvania, os níveis fluem que é uma beleza, nenhum desafio é injusto, todos os bosses são interessantes e possuem mecânicas bem implementadas, cutscenes animadas extremamente carismáticas, jogar de Maria Renard é uma delícia (acho até melhor que o Richter); e além de tudo isso, o jogo possui múltiplos caminhos, os quais com certeza irei experimentar depois.
Infelizmente joguei a versão do Requiem de PS4, que é uma bosta e sem nenhuma vantagem de emulação, mas de forma alguma desmerece essa pérola.
ok, friends of middle school past, i now agree. castlevania rocks. though you are and have always been right, i am also. castlevania is stupid. castlevania rocks and is stupid, and i have seen the light. dumb halloween music, chunky moving, beautiful pixel art, 90s anime, this game is a himbo. a himbo masculine, stupid, and kind enough to provide us with maria -- a chiller, gunner way to castlevania -- an easy mode that removes challenge not by nerfing enemies nor bulletizing the player, but by changing movement and aesthetics to feel freer. i admit, after losing many times on stage 2 as richter, i switched to maria and beat the game. however i know i've missed alternate stages, and haven't got that richter experience, so i plan on doing that soon, now that i have the confidence i can beat a castlevania. then i'll boot up bloodlines and get past the german ammunition's factory level. an no, i'm not playing any symphony of the night nor gba nonsense. i don't give a shit about no vetroidmania right now.
Enfim completei o seu 100%. Rondo of Blood foi o primeiro Castlevania que zerei, e tenho que dizer que foi uma surpresa em tanto. Inicialmente realmente fiquei hipnotizado com suas cutscenes, uma animação muito boa que caracteriza muito bem o jogo, os designs lembram muito aquelas visual novels de pc-98 o qual eu gosto muito. Sobre a história, bem, não da kkkkkkkkkkkkkkk é o básico do básico e ainda é ruim, entretanto, a conversa do Dracula e do Ritcher tem de ser pontuada no final, é ótima e é o único ponto bom a se destacar na história. A exploração de Rondo of Blood é bem legal, quebrei tanta parede que não tenho mais conta, além de claro ser muito desafiador, só me senti uma vez frustado na luta contra o Shaft. Enfim Rondo of Blood no geral me encantou muito e me divertiu bastante, me senti muito realizado após fazer 100% do jogo.
Rondo of Blood kicks so much ass it's not even funny. As an introduction to Castlevania it took me a while to get used to it, thinking it was pretty good but not my cup of tea after I first finished it. On a second playthrough, after coming to grow more accustomed to how the game plays, though? God damnit, I came out of this game thinking it was the coolest shit.
What makes Rondo's gameplay satisfying to master is in its physics; you need to commit to and think about every jump and whip crack you do or you're fucked. It takes a while to get used to, but once I understood how to play around it, it felt so much fun. Rondo is hard, but rarely ever so frustrating. Rarely, of course, because some sections such as the beginning of Stage 7 I still think are too much.
Rondo of Blood is also incredibly damn stylish. There's a significant amount of presentation that goes hard to be found here in the spritework, cutscenes, and incredibly jamming OST. Seriously, it's some REALLY good stuff.
I still have to 100% the game by finishing the extra stages and rescuing the girls, but as it stands after finishing the main game, this shit rules. Highly recommended by me even if you've never played a Castlevania game before.
What makes Rondo's gameplay satisfying to master is in its physics; you need to commit to and think about every jump and whip crack you do or you're fucked. It takes a while to get used to, but once I understood how to play around it, it felt so much fun. Rondo is hard, but rarely ever so frustrating. Rarely, of course, because some sections such as the beginning of Stage 7 I still think are too much.
Rondo of Blood is also incredibly damn stylish. There's a significant amount of presentation that goes hard to be found here in the spritework, cutscenes, and incredibly jamming OST. Seriously, it's some REALLY good stuff.
I still have to 100% the game by finishing the extra stages and rescuing the girls, but as it stands after finishing the main game, this shit rules. Highly recommended by me even if you've never played a Castlevania game before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeEmGvm7kDk
um rondo é um movimento musical caracterizado geralmente por um ritmo rápido e animado, isso quando não é simplesmente folclórico.
sim eu vou ser cafona
rondo of blood certamente não recebeu esse nome por acidente (e curiosidade, é o único dos Castlevanias com subtítulo musical que manteve o mesmo nome no ocidente), por mais que a intenção seja esteticamente tornar o jogo mais elegante e cheio de cultura, acredito que a escolha do estilo musical não foi por acaso. Rondo of Blood é rápido, agitado sem te dar muito descanso ou tempo para reflexão. é um jogo difícil, ainda mais com Richter, e te força a dançar no ritmo dele. por mais que tenha me irritado as vezes, eventualmente peguei o jeito e superei todos os desafios com ele e Maria. A Maria que por sua vez é uma criança, e crianças não entendem de teoria musical, nem de ritmo e nem de conformar com expectativas estéticas da vida adulta, então ela atropela o rondo e faz o que bem entende, quando bem entende. Não sinto que jogar esse jogo é uma experiencia completa sem ser com os dois.
mas vamos ao que interessa, rondo of blood não tem, de fato, nenhuma musica a qual você classicamente chamaria de rondo. então o que ele te apresenta? bem
isso aqui é a primeira coisa que você escuta ao ligar o jogo
castlevania é gótico, é medieval e esse pseudo canto gregoriano serve pra te preparar pro clima do jogo inteiro, não é? bom, sinceramente foda-se seu clima synth pop na sua cara imediatamente
rondo of blood trata sua musica de forma tão importante quanto seu gameplay, porque ele é em parte homenagem a todos os jogos que vieram antes mas também algo próprio. o caminho normal de estágios te leva por uma sequencia de fases que tocam respectivamente, vampire killer, bloody tears e beginnings. é o jeito nada sutil do jogo te dizer que sim, varias dessas fases tem elementos dos jogos anteriores, sim, nós adoramos fazer referencias quando podemos e castlevania é tanto o novo quanto seu legado. é só na quinta fase, depois das 3 ultimas, que o rondo recebe mais uma musica sua, mais um synth pop que não quer de forma alguma combinar com a fase que se apresenta. a verdade é que rondo of blood não ta nem ai pras suas expectativas estéticas. na verdade nenhum castlevania, tirando o IV talvez, jamais esteve. mas agora eles podem esfregar na sua cara com o poder absurdo do CD-ROM. castlevania quer ser contemporâneo, quer ser pop, quer ser shoujo e não importa se o jogo são sobre vampiros em 1792, você vai entrar no navio assombrado com esqueletos de sniper e você vai levantar e bater palma.
eu já teria muito pra falar se o jogo só tivesse essa rota principal, que acaba em um medley das 3 musicas principais de castlevania. mas não, rondo of blood te pega pelo braço e diz "ei, psiu, na verdade eu não quero só agradar vocês, fãs fieis. na verdade eu sou bem autoindulgente, mas vou esconder um pouquinho pra não ficar tão obvio". não deve ser tão bom né
rondo of blood é synth pop (e rock também) essa é a identidade dele, é o que ele é e ninguém vai tirar isso dele. é o jogo mais anos 90 que já existiu, talvez seja O jogo dos anos 90 pré-EVA, o zeitgeist anime e musical, a dificuldade meio termo entre SNES e a nova era. ele é seja la que raios é essa mistura de shamisen com horror, é rock sem vergonha alguma, é synth pop city pop mais ainda, em suma, rondo of blood é um dos maiores retratos de sua época e sua preservação é de extrema importância pra todas as novas gerações.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBnMbOD_H04
um rondo é um movimento musical caracterizado geralmente por um ritmo rápido e animado, isso quando não é simplesmente folclórico.
sim eu vou ser cafona
rondo of blood certamente não recebeu esse nome por acidente (e curiosidade, é o único dos Castlevanias com subtítulo musical que manteve o mesmo nome no ocidente), por mais que a intenção seja esteticamente tornar o jogo mais elegante e cheio de cultura, acredito que a escolha do estilo musical não foi por acaso. Rondo of Blood é rápido, agitado sem te dar muito descanso ou tempo para reflexão. é um jogo difícil, ainda mais com Richter, e te força a dançar no ritmo dele. por mais que tenha me irritado as vezes, eventualmente peguei o jeito e superei todos os desafios com ele e Maria. A Maria que por sua vez é uma criança, e crianças não entendem de teoria musical, nem de ritmo e nem de conformar com expectativas estéticas da vida adulta, então ela atropela o rondo e faz o que bem entende, quando bem entende. Não sinto que jogar esse jogo é uma experiencia completa sem ser com os dois.
mas vamos ao que interessa, rondo of blood não tem, de fato, nenhuma musica a qual você classicamente chamaria de rondo. então o que ele te apresenta? bem
isso aqui é a primeira coisa que você escuta ao ligar o jogo
castlevania é gótico, é medieval e esse pseudo canto gregoriano serve pra te preparar pro clima do jogo inteiro, não é? bom, sinceramente foda-se seu clima synth pop na sua cara imediatamente
rondo of blood trata sua musica de forma tão importante quanto seu gameplay, porque ele é em parte homenagem a todos os jogos que vieram antes mas também algo próprio. o caminho normal de estágios te leva por uma sequencia de fases que tocam respectivamente, vampire killer, bloody tears e beginnings. é o jeito nada sutil do jogo te dizer que sim, varias dessas fases tem elementos dos jogos anteriores, sim, nós adoramos fazer referencias quando podemos e castlevania é tanto o novo quanto seu legado. é só na quinta fase, depois das 3 ultimas, que o rondo recebe mais uma musica sua, mais um synth pop que não quer de forma alguma combinar com a fase que se apresenta. a verdade é que rondo of blood não ta nem ai pras suas expectativas estéticas. na verdade nenhum castlevania, tirando o IV talvez, jamais esteve. mas agora eles podem esfregar na sua cara com o poder absurdo do CD-ROM. castlevania quer ser contemporâneo, quer ser pop, quer ser shoujo e não importa se o jogo são sobre vampiros em 1792, você vai entrar no navio assombrado com esqueletos de sniper e você vai levantar e bater palma.
eu já teria muito pra falar se o jogo só tivesse essa rota principal, que acaba em um medley das 3 musicas principais de castlevania. mas não, rondo of blood te pega pelo braço e diz "ei, psiu, na verdade eu não quero só agradar vocês, fãs fieis. na verdade eu sou bem autoindulgente, mas vou esconder um pouquinho pra não ficar tão obvio". não deve ser tão bom né
rondo of blood é synth pop (e rock também) essa é a identidade dele, é o que ele é e ninguém vai tirar isso dele. é o jogo mais anos 90 que já existiu, talvez seja O jogo dos anos 90 pré-EVA, o zeitgeist anime e musical, a dificuldade meio termo entre SNES e a nova era. ele é seja la que raios é essa mistura de shamisen com horror, é rock sem vergonha alguma, é synth pop city pop mais ainda, em suma, rondo of blood é um dos maiores retratos de sua época e sua preservação é de extrema importância pra todas as novas gerações.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBnMbOD_H04
the best classicvania, bar none, absolute platforming perfection
and you can kill dracula by stuffing his face with pigeons in maria mode, peak fiction
and you can kill dracula by stuffing his face with pigeons in maria mode, peak fiction
if you beat or 100% this game with maria then you're a pussy
How did they drop one of the hardest fucking games of all time, Richter my goat I'm sorry for saying your drip is worse then Kojima Simon I kneel.
Peak game I will be intrigued in how they followed this up with SoTn.
Peak game I will be intrigued in how they followed this up with SoTn.
Rondo of Blood rules. It’s a timeless encapsulation of what made games from this era so special, a point when there wasn’t necessarily a strict formula to game design. The lines between challenging to frustrating and secretive to overly obscure were oftentimes still not waked with precision, but Rondo of Blood absolutely walks those fine lines and leaves a striking impression as a result. The game definitely is a challenging experience but it never feels brutally unfair or like it’s disrespecting your time and that’s a boon for Rondo of Blood that absolutely cannot be understated - it’s a very tight, concise package that still offers a lot the more you’re willing to invest. You’re rewarded for exploring and the game is filled with secrets and optional paths to uncover without straying into “I would need a Nintendo Power to have any idea how to find any of this who the hell designed this” territory (a common pitfall games from this time would find themselves in, oftentimes purposefully).
In a game like Rondo of Blood, establishing a level of trust with your player through the game’s design is crucial. You never want to feel like you’re going to be punished for exploring, or too afraid to take a step forward because you could be thrown into a situation you would never have any idea on how to be prepared for. If the player constantly finds themselves in a situation like this, they’re going to either outright drop the game or tear at the seams of it, bending, breaking, and cheesing until immersion and the natural flow of the game is irreparably broken. Rondo of Blood does a good job of establishing and maintaining that vital trust with the player; traps and the like are made distinctly clear and enemy placement is fine-tuned to accommodate the spacing you’ll need to start-up and connects attacks. It’s all very thoughtful and it constantly fuels this drive for betterment which is really what all games of this kin should be striving for. There were so many times during my playthrough that I would “one more time” a stage because I knew I could get through it a little bit better, without taking damage, or without dying. It’s great stuff.
Equally as important is how much Rondo of Blood’s presentation rocks. Art direction is instantly enticing, distinctive, and loaded with charm and I can’t get enough of those cheesy ‘90s-style dubs. I would, of course, be remiss to not mention how stellar the soundtrack is. Bloodlines? Bloody Tears? All-time classics. It’s cooking beyond our comprehension of cooking.
I somehow got sucked into Castlevania on a complete whim after coming to the realization that the series is an egregious gap in my completed games library and I keep coming out thoroughly impressed. I’m really glad that it happened, why did no one tell me how cool these games are?
In a game like Rondo of Blood, establishing a level of trust with your player through the game’s design is crucial. You never want to feel like you’re going to be punished for exploring, or too afraid to take a step forward because you could be thrown into a situation you would never have any idea on how to be prepared for. If the player constantly finds themselves in a situation like this, they’re going to either outright drop the game or tear at the seams of it, bending, breaking, and cheesing until immersion and the natural flow of the game is irreparably broken. Rondo of Blood does a good job of establishing and maintaining that vital trust with the player; traps and the like are made distinctly clear and enemy placement is fine-tuned to accommodate the spacing you’ll need to start-up and connects attacks. It’s all very thoughtful and it constantly fuels this drive for betterment which is really what all games of this kin should be striving for. There were so many times during my playthrough that I would “one more time” a stage because I knew I could get through it a little bit better, without taking damage, or without dying. It’s great stuff.
Equally as important is how much Rondo of Blood’s presentation rocks. Art direction is instantly enticing, distinctive, and loaded with charm and I can’t get enough of those cheesy ‘90s-style dubs. I would, of course, be remiss to not mention how stellar the soundtrack is. Bloodlines? Bloody Tears? All-time classics. It’s cooking beyond our comprehension of cooking.
I somehow got sucked into Castlevania on a complete whim after coming to the realization that the series is an egregious gap in my completed games library and I keep coming out thoroughly impressed. I’m really glad that it happened, why did no one tell me how cool these games are?
I think this game is about as perfect as a game can get. I do like SOTN more. But this game is a masterpiece and I consider it to be one of the finest games of all time. I struggle to find anything to legitimately complain about. It takes Castlevania 1's foundation (a game I already find to be quite great) and just refines it to a perfect sheen. I love everything about it. The graphics are stellar, the music is perfect. The level design gets it so right! I love the multiple pathways and the secret routes, they could've easily screwed that up, but they did it perfectly. I think this game has the best implementation of multiple playable characters in the series. I think Maria is so much fun, but is in a way where she doesn't overshadow Richter. I love how she can have her own routes in the levels designed for her. The bosses are amazing and the best in the series in my opinion. I dunno, what is there to complain about? Like that bat section on the final level is kind of bullshit? That's literally it I think. Play this game!
Finished my third playthrough with the same smile on my face when I first discovered Rondo years ago. I replay this game and Symphony every Halloween and at this point the holiday (bad as it is in rural Ireland) is just an excuse to look forward to Richter backflipping through enemies. It's not my favorite (Symphony) nor what I would consider the most holistically designed castlevania (1986) but is the funniest, the happiest and satisfying game in the series.
I don't think I've played any other platformer with such a jovial spirit. This game is funny and makes me laugh out loud in ways most games never have. Death's blank stare when you destroy his scythe. The "oohs" that the zombies make in Stage 2. Triggering the trap in Stage 4 to send swarms of fleamen towards you only for most of them to jump to their deaths into spikes. Even deaths and game overs are deflated by how hilarious the contexts they are placed in. And the cutscenes. I love Richter's hearthy laugh when Annette insists on joining him in defeating Dracula. Or Annette's rant against Dracula. Castlevania has always drawn from the camp inherent in old horror stories however Rondo of Blood is the first title to really embrace and have fun with that mythos. It's a game that constantly asks you to laugh alongside it without the slightest degree of irony or cynicism when you fight an undead ninja farmer.
Every stage is a carnival, each procession of enemies and obstacles acting in tandem pushing and pulling with Richter to the beat of the dance tunes. Yet Rondo is more looser and playful in its adherence to the Classicvania gauntlet. Whereas prior games contextualise stages as avenues for action, Rondo of Blood imagines its stages as places and asks players to do the same to access its hidden content.
How Rondo of Blood treats hidden content ties with Super Mario World for ny favorite implement of secrets in a platformer. Now, 'secrets' in platformers have been codified into a formula established by Yoshi's Island and, ironically enough, Symphony of the Night. Moving into suspicious looking level geometry to make your completion number go up rather than genuinely novel discoveries that change how you engage with the game. Every secret in Rondo of Blood is contextualised uniquely within its stage. Figuring out that the spiked balls can be severed from their chains and then experimenting with that to destroy parts of the lower level geometry is more a interesting and satisfying discovery process than anything in subsequent igavania.
That you are rewarded with completely original stages and a whole new playable character with her own cutscenes and flavor is the cherry on top. It makes every new playthrough Rondo completely personalised and different and different from the last. It might be the mist replayable Castlevania in that regard outside of Aria of Sorrow. It certainly shares that game's spirit of generosity.
There are many other wonderful things that I could write about Rondo of Blood. Richter's movement and the enemy design alone could command pages worth of content. Honestly the Rondo of Blood official guide artwork better summises the ethos of this game that I love about it so much. Until next Halloween.
I don't think I've played any other platformer with such a jovial spirit. This game is funny and makes me laugh out loud in ways most games never have. Death's blank stare when you destroy his scythe. The "oohs" that the zombies make in Stage 2. Triggering the trap in Stage 4 to send swarms of fleamen towards you only for most of them to jump to their deaths into spikes. Even deaths and game overs are deflated by how hilarious the contexts they are placed in. And the cutscenes. I love Richter's hearthy laugh when Annette insists on joining him in defeating Dracula. Or Annette's rant against Dracula. Castlevania has always drawn from the camp inherent in old horror stories however Rondo of Blood is the first title to really embrace and have fun with that mythos. It's a game that constantly asks you to laugh alongside it without the slightest degree of irony or cynicism when you fight an undead ninja farmer.
Every stage is a carnival, each procession of enemies and obstacles acting in tandem pushing and pulling with Richter to the beat of the dance tunes. Yet Rondo is more looser and playful in its adherence to the Classicvania gauntlet. Whereas prior games contextualise stages as avenues for action, Rondo of Blood imagines its stages as places and asks players to do the same to access its hidden content.
How Rondo of Blood treats hidden content ties with Super Mario World for ny favorite implement of secrets in a platformer. Now, 'secrets' in platformers have been codified into a formula established by Yoshi's Island and, ironically enough, Symphony of the Night. Moving into suspicious looking level geometry to make your completion number go up rather than genuinely novel discoveries that change how you engage with the game. Every secret in Rondo of Blood is contextualised uniquely within its stage. Figuring out that the spiked balls can be severed from their chains and then experimenting with that to destroy parts of the lower level geometry is more a interesting and satisfying discovery process than anything in subsequent igavania.
That you are rewarded with completely original stages and a whole new playable character with her own cutscenes and flavor is the cherry on top. It makes every new playthrough Rondo completely personalised and different and different from the last. It might be the mist replayable Castlevania in that regard outside of Aria of Sorrow. It certainly shares that game's spirit of generosity.
There are many other wonderful things that I could write about Rondo of Blood. Richter's movement and the enemy design alone could command pages worth of content. Honestly the Rondo of Blood official guide artwork better summises the ethos of this game that I love about it so much. Until next Halloween.
[Played on a RetroArch emulator.]
If you play Rondo of Blood, sometime around the second stage, you may suddenly become very, very aware of this game’s rules.
I’m not talking about stuff like “whip the bad guys” and “don’t die”, or even “you start off with 3 lives and get an extra life every 40,000 points.” I mean the actual rules of this video game. Richter’s jump is X pixels high and can travel a select few amounts of pixels of horizontal distance depending on your input, and is of course irreversible once you have begun your jump. Richter’s whip is Y pixels long, can hurt enemies for precisely Z frames, and has a startup and end lag that you must account for at all times. If Richter jumps from a standstill, you can execute a sick-ass backflip by pressing the jump button again within a very tight window. And so on.
If this makes it sound like a fighting game, it kind of is. But not quite: this game is not interested in having its rules be enforced by some candy-ass human being against you. Rondo of Blood has an overwhelming vision of what its designers think a video game should be: A crystal-clear set of rules ruthlessly and automatically enforced by a perfect machine. (Don’t tell anyone I said this, but it sort of makes sense that Konami would eventually get into pachinko.) The ultimate idea animating this game, like Dracula’s own necromancy, is the video game as bloodless bureaucrat.
Except that it’s good.
It all starts with the controls. Each possible action is purposely chunky and perfectly formed, a Tetris block of kinetic energy that you combine with others to form shapes on demand. You shall know the jump, and you shall know the whip: both designed to be small and easy to pick up at a glance. Mana-consuming subweapons fill hyperspecific yet immediately obvious niches – all the better to start testing your proficiency with them pretty much immediately.
And your proficiency will be tested. Rondo of Blood’s levels and enemies feel like they were constructed by hand with a ruler and a compass, and while they are certainly challenging, there is typically enough wiggle room to separate them from the Kaizo realm, especially if you have to rely on being crafty instead of having fighting game-caliber execution and reads. (The moment I discovered I could use the axe to set up enemies who automatically dashed back from the whip was extremely satisfying.) Only in a few sequences in the latter half of the game do you start to see the long hallways filled with multiple copies of tanky enemies that would later cripple Symphony of the Night, and while it’s about as unwelcome here as it is there, at least there’s much less of it.
Even the art is both stellar and purpose-built. Almost everything, visually, is both top-flight eye candy and easily comprehensible at a single glance: hitboxes of attacks and enemies, platforms, and other level elements are exactly as large as they appear to be and exist precisely where they appear to exist. Only rarely will you be caught off guard, for better or worse, by a wonky hitbox. (And some of those rare occasions will be purposeful! A few little Joker’s tricks from the folks at Konami.) Visuals custom-built to serve the vision: a perfect machine.
And obviously the music fucks too. It’s available on Spotify, and it’s a big part of why this game feels like a metal-heavy challenge and not a huge pain in the ass.
More than any other video game I have ever played, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood knows precisely what it is about. From beginning to end, it is always about what it is about, and it is never not about what it is about. Its creators whipped it into form from a few simple rules, ruthlessly enforced, and gave it a coat of paint that highlights every perfect cut and flawless corner. It is there, lattice-like, laid out in front of you – gleamingly visible, supremely confident. Even if you are not a capital-G Gamer (and goodness knows I’m not,) this trip to Drac’s castle has so much to show you.
If you play Rondo of Blood, sometime around the second stage, you may suddenly become very, very aware of this game’s rules.
I’m not talking about stuff like “whip the bad guys” and “don’t die”, or even “you start off with 3 lives and get an extra life every 40,000 points.” I mean the actual rules of this video game. Richter’s jump is X pixels high and can travel a select few amounts of pixels of horizontal distance depending on your input, and is of course irreversible once you have begun your jump. Richter’s whip is Y pixels long, can hurt enemies for precisely Z frames, and has a startup and end lag that you must account for at all times. If Richter jumps from a standstill, you can execute a sick-ass backflip by pressing the jump button again within a very tight window. And so on.
If this makes it sound like a fighting game, it kind of is. But not quite: this game is not interested in having its rules be enforced by some candy-ass human being against you. Rondo of Blood has an overwhelming vision of what its designers think a video game should be: A crystal-clear set of rules ruthlessly and automatically enforced by a perfect machine. (Don’t tell anyone I said this, but it sort of makes sense that Konami would eventually get into pachinko.) The ultimate idea animating this game, like Dracula’s own necromancy, is the video game as bloodless bureaucrat.
Except that it’s good.
It all starts with the controls. Each possible action is purposely chunky and perfectly formed, a Tetris block of kinetic energy that you combine with others to form shapes on demand. You shall know the jump, and you shall know the whip: both designed to be small and easy to pick up at a glance. Mana-consuming subweapons fill hyperspecific yet immediately obvious niches – all the better to start testing your proficiency with them pretty much immediately.
And your proficiency will be tested. Rondo of Blood’s levels and enemies feel like they were constructed by hand with a ruler and a compass, and while they are certainly challenging, there is typically enough wiggle room to separate them from the Kaizo realm, especially if you have to rely on being crafty instead of having fighting game-caliber execution and reads. (The moment I discovered I could use the axe to set up enemies who automatically dashed back from the whip was extremely satisfying.) Only in a few sequences in the latter half of the game do you start to see the long hallways filled with multiple copies of tanky enemies that would later cripple Symphony of the Night, and while it’s about as unwelcome here as it is there, at least there’s much less of it.
Even the art is both stellar and purpose-built. Almost everything, visually, is both top-flight eye candy and easily comprehensible at a single glance: hitboxes of attacks and enemies, platforms, and other level elements are exactly as large as they appear to be and exist precisely where they appear to exist. Only rarely will you be caught off guard, for better or worse, by a wonky hitbox. (And some of those rare occasions will be purposeful! A few little Joker’s tricks from the folks at Konami.) Visuals custom-built to serve the vision: a perfect machine.
And obviously the music fucks too. It’s available on Spotify, and it’s a big part of why this game feels like a metal-heavy challenge and not a huge pain in the ass.
More than any other video game I have ever played, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood knows precisely what it is about. From beginning to end, it is always about what it is about, and it is never not about what it is about. Its creators whipped it into form from a few simple rules, ruthlessly enforced, and gave it a coat of paint that highlights every perfect cut and flawless corner. It is there, lattice-like, laid out in front of you – gleamingly visible, supremely confident. Even if you are not a capital-G Gamer (and goodness knows I’m not,) this trip to Drac’s castle has so much to show you.
Dance of Illusions is only beaten by One Winged Angel in terms of hard as fuck final boss themes
The music slaps and I like that Richter is blue
yeah whipping shit is cool and all but did you guys hear that ost? now THAT was some fire, and i mean some JAMMERS, some absolute GROOVERS goddamn
The music and aesthetics of this game are really great. Richter's character design is iconic, and I especially love how he looks in the anime-style cutscenes, which are also a cool touch.
Gameplay is pretty fun, if a bit frustrating because I suck at old platformers like these. Still, the game is pretty short so the difficulty doesn't bother me all that much. There's also a decent amount of side stuff because of the branching paths, so you can go the straightforward route or explore a little bit. Overall, just a really cool game.
Gameplay is pretty fun, if a bit frustrating because I suck at old platformers like these. Still, the game is pretty short so the difficulty doesn't bother me all that much. There's also a decent amount of side stuff because of the branching paths, so you can go the straightforward route or explore a little bit. Overall, just a really cool game.
Rondo is Castlevania with the swag levels turned to 11. Richter can do a badass backflip to get out of a jam, there’s lots of highly cinematic set-pieces, the music is straight-up fuckin evil at times (stage 6, damn), and the blood and gore is dialed up to give everything a more menacing and violent urgency than in the previous games.
It’s still, occasionally, very annoying—a lot of bosses will just stomp you, and learning them requires countless tedious trips through the stages that precede them—but that being said, it’s maybe the LEAST annoying Castlevania of its ilk.
I couldn’t will myself through the whole thing, but I think that has to do more with my current state-of-mind than any objective fault with the game. It’s plenty fair and exceedingly well-crafted, and I respect the hell out of it… and I’m gonna have the OST in heavy rotation for a long time.
It’s still, occasionally, very annoying—a lot of bosses will just stomp you, and learning them requires countless tedious trips through the stages that precede them—but that being said, it’s maybe the LEAST annoying Castlevania of its ilk.
I couldn’t will myself through the whole thing, but I think that has to do more with my current state-of-mind than any objective fault with the game. It’s plenty fair and exceedingly well-crafted, and I respect the hell out of it… and I’m gonna have the OST in heavy rotation for a long time.
A dramatic pivot in Castlevania to something more about fast jumps and rooms with many puzzle like approaches rather than turtling and attrition. Much kinder than classic-vania but more demanding in terms of control than modern-vanias. The solution and rhythm of rooms are designed to express a grand scale that crumbles before you after some perseverance and careful footwork. The game then just fucking implodes when you unlock Maria and get a double jump in a turn that's almost as transformative as the infamous castle flip in Rondo's sequel. The Dracula fight is really boring but doesn't undercut how delightful and empowering it is to master the game enough for your first clear.
The finest 2D action ever chiseled into the stone of silicon. Castlevania Forever.
I was thinking of what to make my review for this game then in my head I hear "Hello everyone. It is me, Count Dracula, and you are watching Disney Channel" and I literally cannot think of anything else
the pinnacle of classic castlevania.
Más próximo al original que el supuesto remake de super nintendo. Esto es: acción ultra-destilada y un castillo internamente coherente.
El castillo funciona como tiene que funcionar. Con sus desvíos y pasadizos secretos pero sin perder la unidireccionalidad que pide la acción.
La acción es pesada, lenta, contundente. Caminar hacia atrás es la mejor mecánica de toda la saga. Si al principio no parece gran cosa, termina por hacer clic cuando aprendes a esquivar caballeros haciendo backflips.
Después puedes expandir el lore, hacer el anime, o añadir como personaje jugable a una colegiala que lanza palomas, que lo importante ya lo has entendido.
El castillo funciona como tiene que funcionar. Con sus desvíos y pasadizos secretos pero sin perder la unidireccionalidad que pide la acción.
La acción es pesada, lenta, contundente. Caminar hacia atrás es la mejor mecánica de toda la saga. Si al principio no parece gran cosa, termina por hacer clic cuando aprendes a esquivar caballeros haciendo backflips.
Después puedes expandir el lore, hacer el anime, o añadir como personaje jugable a una colegiala que lanza palomas, que lo importante ya lo has entendido.
its the best one anyone whos says its castlevania 4 is regarded
One of the better Classicvanias IMO, Richter controls very well and the enemy design and stage design is very solid. Well worth the play
The peak of Castlevania when it didn't try to be Metroid
the best classicvania idc