There's not much to say really. If you already know the story, this was one of the last Castlevania games released by Konami before leaving the franchise into oblivion, however, this particular game is even more unknown because it was exclusive to Wii and was only distributed in the digital store (currently closed).

In itself, this game is a return to the roots that retakes the most classic gameplay of the series. At the same time, in order not to mess with the official chronology, it was decided that the game would be a reimagining of the infamous Castlevania The Adventure for the GB, a game that I'm sure no one will mind being replaced by this one.

Talking more in detail about the gameplay, this is the basic one as always, the only notable change is that now you can redirect your jumps without restriction (although there is a game mode that retakes the classic control, which was the one I played by accident), this time there are no weird mechanics or balancing like in the original Adventure, in this game there are sub-weapons as well. I appreciate the attempt to recover those ideas and concepts from the Game Boy original, for example, the whip that throws fire projectiles is something that exists, but as it would be too broken in the long run, a time limit was added and it's also a power that you can lose when hit. My only big complaint, is that this game has no save system, no password system, so you have to finish it in a single play session, which is quite annoying. I for example, mistakenly opened the game in classic mode, and when I realized that the game was not completely designed for that control scheme it was too late, as I already had a lot of progress and did not want to start the game from the beginning, so I had to suck it up and finish the game in that mode which frustrated me at times.

The level design first starts off quite friendly even for casual gamers, it starts off as one of the easiest and simplest Catlevanias games in terms of difficulty, which makes you have a nice time because of how smooth it feels to control Christopher Belmont, however, once you advance to Stage 5 everything becomes considerably more difficult and tedious, so you will have to have a lot of patience and skill if you want to have a chance to beat the game. I like how in this section the game feels like a breath of fresh air, as there are alternate paths and doors that need keys to be opened, however, it's no big deal either, and most of the time the only thing you benefit from taking the alternate paths is in getting more points, and not as such in significant rewards.

The game looks too good in terms of its scenery, there I have no complaints, in fact I wish all games that want to mimic the retro era had this look. It's a detailed pixel art, but also stylized, there is one or two sprite reused from a past game, but in general all the other sprites are original from this game, and I quite like the use of colors given, it perfectly matches the kind of atmosphere I expect from a Castlevania game. I played this game in a modded Wii, so I used the option to disable the deflicker filter, which made the image look sharper and got an especially remarkable result on a CRT TV.

The music is just too cool. There aren't any new songs, as the soundtrack is made up of pure remixes, but boy are they really good remixes that take on some of the more obscure and underrated tracks in the franchise, just listen to this song.

Conclusion
Overall, it's a great title, although I must say that it doesn't present anything we haven't seen before, in that sense it's just another Castlevania adventure, that if you're in the mood for something with the classic formula will satisfy you.

Excellent platformer for the NES! It's not really very different from the first one, but having a new set of levels makes it fun to play. The gameplay doesn't change radically, however, this game introduces some new ideas like new uses for the cane, which make interacting with some elements of the environment more entertaining. I really like how exploring is still the focal point of the adventure, and this is made more entertaining as there are more secrets in the levels, such as more treasures or upgrades for the cane. The first DuckTales was not a difficult game, but still losing all lives could cause a sudden Game Over, DuckTales 2 instead is much more accessible in its difficulty, making you can spend the money you earn in the levels in a store where you can buy items that recover vitality, lives or even continues.

I felt that this time the scenery and music were not as memorable as in the first installment, but it is compensated by a better level design in general. Perhaps my only complaint is that the game is too short. It's too short, and as soon as you think about it the game will be over suddenly, just like this review.

Conclusion

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Castlevania Dracula X is the infamous reversion of Rondo of Blood that the rest of the world outside of Japan got instead of Rondo of Blood itself. Here the meme of “mom, can we have Rondo of Blood? -Mom: we already have Rondo of Blood at home” totally applies.

It's actually a different game, though it's also definitely a big downgrade from the quality of the original game, but I still think it's not too bad all things considered... or maybe I'm just being masochistic.

The plot is the same, it's a retelling of Richter's story, with minor variations like Maria and Anette being sisters, or that the other damsels don't exist (no cutscenes either). The level design is also totally different, and it is also the case for the stage graphics, in this aspect I can say that Konami did a really great job, because everything looks spectacular, it is one of the best looking Castlevania games of the 16-bit era and in my opinion surpasses the original Rondo of Blood. As for the characters and enemies, here the sprites are reused from Rondo of Blood, so they look equally good, although there are also a couple of new bosses. The music is also reused, and the sound team did a great job converting the music, because despite not being CD quality, it is impressive how well it was translated.

So, let's get to the heart of the matter; the gameplay. I have to say that this game plays pretty well, the gameplay from Rondo of Blood is almost 100% translated, although the control doesn't feel quite as good, as it's a little bit clunkier (try doing the backflip or crouching too many times in a row), but it's almost identical to the original installment, and as such, it plays better than most classic Castlevanias for that fact alone (or at least it will if you have mastered the Rondo of Blood gameplay). However, the real problem with this game stems from the balancing that was given to the difficulty. Because the field of view is smaller compared to the PC-Engine game, the development team made some adjustments, like everything moves at a slower speed, they reduced the knockback that enemies generate when they hit you, and they also decreased the invincibility time they give you after being hit, so in other words, with these small changes they foolishly increased the difficulty of the game, so now it's more punishing. For example, if a medusa head hits you, it may not hit you once, but twice in a row, and this may cause you to fall into a bottomless pit and die, a cheap defeat.

Another thing is that the level design is more similar to the NES installments, so in that sense it's a step backwards. It contrasts a lot with Rondo of Blood, because that game had a perfectly balanced difficulty and level design, instead this one is a bit more challenging and punishing, so if you are not very skilled playing this kind of games you are going to have a very bad time and I don't recommend you even try it.

Things I like is how not saving Annette makes her become a boss, a concept that would be brought back for the PSP remake of Rondo of Blood. And I must say the infamous Dracula battle as well. Everyone knows that the original installment has an overly easy battle, but this time around they made it quite a bit harder, although it's not that hard if you know what you're doing. If you're equipped with the axe as sub-weapon and stay in a certain position, the first phase is like taking candy from a child, and the second phase isn't that hard, but if you're not careful you can get insta-killed.

Conclusion
Yes, the game is not that bad, except that it has a little cruel difficulty. Obviously with respect to the original Rondo of Blood it pales, because while that game felt like a premium quality Castlevania game, this one feels like an attempt to mimic that greatness, but falls short in many ways, and the fact that it wants to be a more challenging version plays against it because some parameters are not as well adjusted as they should be, making the result not so great.

However, if you are someone who enjoys the gameplay of Rondo of Blood and you are looking forward to a bigger challenge, trying this game might be a good idea, but if you are not such a fan of the classic formula, don't even dare to play this game or you will totally regret it.