A lot of people would call this a butchered port of Rondo of Blood. I disagree. To me, the game feels more like a botched sequel than a port or reimagining, and I think in its gameplay and setting it slots really nicely into the transition between Rondo of Blood. The word "botched" is important here. That the game removed the mildly embarrassing cutscenes from Rondo of Blood due to lack of space is the last good thing I have to say about Dracula X. It's way too cheaply difficult even by Castlevania standards, the levels aren't nearly up to par with the other 16 bit games, and the final boss is horrendous. I may be calling this a 6/10, which is still good by my standards, most of that is because classic Castlevania is fun, and it becomes playable if you can use a few savestates here and there. It's only really good as a curiosity for fans of this series. To anyone who doesn't really care about playing through every game, I'd genuinely recommend playing Rondo of Blood twice.