For a long time, Castlevania fans didn't receive this lost classic until 2007 when it was bundled with The Dracula X Chronicles that was released on PSP and the Wii Virtual Console in 2009, and then again in 2018 under Castlevania Requiem for PS4 (the one I played for this review). Over the years, fans have been calling Rondo of Blood one of the best Castlevania games in the series, and I can strongly see why
You play as Richter Belmont. A descendant of the Belmont family, Richter is off to rescue the 4 maidens that were abducted by Dracula, including his girlfriend Annette. How was Dracula revived? By a dark priest named Shaft and Dracula once again was given flesh. Right off the bat, you can see that the game is high in production with its 90s anime cutscenes with voice acting (the English dub is alright) and Redbook audio, no longer being limited by 8-bit and 16-bit machines, unlike its predecessors. After the opening cutscene plays, we are thrust into gameplay, and after a few whips to Death, you realize that we are restricted back to only whipping horizontally and can no longer jump in mid-air. It's surprising after playing Super Castlevania IV that we are limited in how we control our favorite vampire killers, but it's not the end of the world because the game is designed around the limited control scheme in mind and makes the game feel less cheap, unlike some of the Castlevania NES games
New to Rondo of Blood is the item crash ability. Whatever sub-weapon you have, the item crash can dish out loads of damage to enemies that cost like 4x the amount of hearts as a normal sub-weapon. My favorites were the Grand Cross and the Hydro Storm because seeing the bosses getting attacked repeatedly by water or crosses is satisfying if you have that certain amount of hearts. Richter can also backflip. While I haven't used it much in my playthrough, it helped me avoid certain enemies like those annoying Great Armor dudes who can rush into me and dish out a quarter of my damage
In Stage 2, you can pick up a key while running from the Behemoth. When successful, Richter can unlock a locked door and there we're introduced to another playable character and one of the four maidens named Maria Renard; a 12-year-old girl that will help out on Richter's quest to save the other maidens inside Dracula's Castle, and let me tell you, she is awesome to play as. She can double jump, roll, send out deadly birds and call out her animal buddies to wipe out everything in her path and like Richter, can dish out loads of damage to bosses. Though she is a glass cannon however and can die within 3 to 4 hits, so you can't be that reckless. She's been very helpful throughout my playthrough whenever I decide to play as her just for funsies or help with a stage that I struggled with Richter, like Stage 5' by going to Player Select and choosing her
Speaking of Stage 5', there are four alternative stages in the game in addition to the eight main stages, and exploring a different part of the level you've played before finding a path to an alternative stage is so much fun, and it's honestly worth 100% completing alongside getting the rest of the maidens so that will be added to your save file. Though I find it bizarre that Stage 5' is unlocked post-game, don't know why that is the case. I also like how there are less of bottomless pits that can kill you and be replaced by alternative routes to your respective levels because there are now multiple ways to finish a level, and I'm probably sure that this explorative part lead to the creation of Symphony of the Night. I like how I'm given the choice of how I want to beat Rondo of Blood, and I like how it's instantly replayable thanks to the save feature
Another new thing I love, and this is a minor one, is the item swap. When you pick up a new item from a candle, you're given the choice to keep your old one or replace it with the new one. This is a great addition because now there are no accidental pickups for an item or sub-weapon I don't want, and this applies to both Richter and Maria btw. I also love how the titles of the stages change depending on the character that you're playing as; it's a very nice touch
Another thing I love about Rondo of Blood, and this is obviously predictable at this point, is the soundtrack. The game goes for a bit of a pop style, but still retains that Castlevania feel in the previous entries. Divine Bloodlines, Slash, Ghost Ship Painting, Op.13, the Rondo of Blood version of Vampire Killer, Dance of Illusions, etc, my God they're all wonderful to listen to. Hell, they made a cemetery level so bumpin' to listen to. Without a doubt, this is one of my top favorite Castlevania soundtracks to listen to alongside Super Castlevania IV
With two playable characters come two different endings. Richter's ending I assume leads to Symphony of the Night, while Maria's ending is played for laughs. It makes sense since we're talking about a girl in a pink dress killing off a vampire that lived for centuries, but I can't help but love it
So, why give it 4 stars? Well, although I do love the new additions that became staples for the games after Rondo of Blood, I don't think it's the most fun Classicvania to play. Don't get me wrong, it is fun, but comparing it to Super Castlevania IV with its controls and the atmospheric feel of the levels and music, it's no contest for me
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is a great entry in the series, with its barrage of new additional features that became mainstays in the franchise and its replayability, it is hard to not recommend this game. If you want to play it, I recommend buying the Castlevania Requiem bundle, which is both this and Symphony of the Night. You can also play it on the Turbografx-16 Mini, which can play both Turbografx and PC Engine games (which is the name of the machine in Japan), but good luck finding it for cheap online because this thing is no longer in production. While this isn't my favorite Castlevania game, Rondo of Blood is definitely worth your time
You play as Richter Belmont. A descendant of the Belmont family, Richter is off to rescue the 4 maidens that were abducted by Dracula, including his girlfriend Annette. How was Dracula revived? By a dark priest named Shaft and Dracula once again was given flesh. Right off the bat, you can see that the game is high in production with its 90s anime cutscenes with voice acting (the English dub is alright) and Redbook audio, no longer being limited by 8-bit and 16-bit machines, unlike its predecessors. After the opening cutscene plays, we are thrust into gameplay, and after a few whips to Death, you realize that we are restricted back to only whipping horizontally and can no longer jump in mid-air. It's surprising after playing Super Castlevania IV that we are limited in how we control our favorite vampire killers, but it's not the end of the world because the game is designed around the limited control scheme in mind and makes the game feel less cheap, unlike some of the Castlevania NES games
New to Rondo of Blood is the item crash ability. Whatever sub-weapon you have, the item crash can dish out loads of damage to enemies that cost like 4x the amount of hearts as a normal sub-weapon. My favorites were the Grand Cross and the Hydro Storm because seeing the bosses getting attacked repeatedly by water or crosses is satisfying if you have that certain amount of hearts. Richter can also backflip. While I haven't used it much in my playthrough, it helped me avoid certain enemies like those annoying Great Armor dudes who can rush into me and dish out a quarter of my damage
In Stage 2, you can pick up a key while running from the Behemoth. When successful, Richter can unlock a locked door and there we're introduced to another playable character and one of the four maidens named Maria Renard; a 12-year-old girl that will help out on Richter's quest to save the other maidens inside Dracula's Castle, and let me tell you, she is awesome to play as. She can double jump, roll, send out deadly birds and call out her animal buddies to wipe out everything in her path and like Richter, can dish out loads of damage to bosses. Though she is a glass cannon however and can die within 3 to 4 hits, so you can't be that reckless. She's been very helpful throughout my playthrough whenever I decide to play as her just for funsies or help with a stage that I struggled with Richter, like Stage 5' by going to Player Select and choosing her
Speaking of Stage 5', there are four alternative stages in the game in addition to the eight main stages, and exploring a different part of the level you've played before finding a path to an alternative stage is so much fun, and it's honestly worth 100% completing alongside getting the rest of the maidens so that will be added to your save file. Though I find it bizarre that Stage 5' is unlocked post-game, don't know why that is the case. I also like how there are less of bottomless pits that can kill you and be replaced by alternative routes to your respective levels because there are now multiple ways to finish a level, and I'm probably sure that this explorative part lead to the creation of Symphony of the Night. I like how I'm given the choice of how I want to beat Rondo of Blood, and I like how it's instantly replayable thanks to the save feature
Another new thing I love, and this is a minor one, is the item swap. When you pick up a new item from a candle, you're given the choice to keep your old one or replace it with the new one. This is a great addition because now there are no accidental pickups for an item or sub-weapon I don't want, and this applies to both Richter and Maria btw. I also love how the titles of the stages change depending on the character that you're playing as; it's a very nice touch
Another thing I love about Rondo of Blood, and this is obviously predictable at this point, is the soundtrack. The game goes for a bit of a pop style, but still retains that Castlevania feel in the previous entries. Divine Bloodlines, Slash, Ghost Ship Painting, Op.13, the Rondo of Blood version of Vampire Killer, Dance of Illusions, etc, my God they're all wonderful to listen to. Hell, they made a cemetery level so bumpin' to listen to. Without a doubt, this is one of my top favorite Castlevania soundtracks to listen to alongside Super Castlevania IV
With two playable characters come two different endings. Richter's ending I assume leads to Symphony of the Night, while Maria's ending is played for laughs. It makes sense since we're talking about a girl in a pink dress killing off a vampire that lived for centuries, but I can't help but love it
So, why give it 4 stars? Well, although I do love the new additions that became staples for the games after Rondo of Blood, I don't think it's the most fun Classicvania to play. Don't get me wrong, it is fun, but comparing it to Super Castlevania IV with its controls and the atmospheric feel of the levels and music, it's no contest for me
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is a great entry in the series, with its barrage of new additional features that became mainstays in the franchise and its replayability, it is hard to not recommend this game. If you want to play it, I recommend buying the Castlevania Requiem bundle, which is both this and Symphony of the Night. You can also play it on the Turbografx-16 Mini, which can play both Turbografx and PC Engine games (which is the name of the machine in Japan), but good luck finding it for cheap online because this thing is no longer in production. While this isn't my favorite Castlevania game, Rondo of Blood is definitely worth your time