100% of trophies earned (platinum trophy for the Requiem collection); 100% in-game completion (all stages complete on both routes, all maidens saved). Rondo of Blood was only the second Castlevania game that I’ve played, and the first in the ‘classic’ style, but I can clearly see why the franchise is so loved – there’s some great level design on show here and a good variety of enemies with varying manners of attack, making for quite a challenging experience at times. Movement feels somewhat less smooth and natural than the ‘pure’ platformers that I’m more familiar with, which can make some parts quite frustrating as it can lead to difficulty in making jumps with the necessary precision, but it’s manageable with practice.

Multiple routes through many of the levels, two sets of levels providing alternate paths through the game, some well-hidden secrets and two different playable characters add some decent replay value – and rounding out the presentation, the use is made throughout of the series’ classic musical themes.