Anniversary Castlevania Classic Dracula X: Rondo Of Blood Is 30 Today

The eBay darling celebrates 30 years

by Damien McFerran Sun 29th Oct 2023

Dracula X: Rondo of Blood is 30 years old today – it launched in Japan on October 29th, 1993.

Part of the long-running Castlevania series, Rondo of Blood was the first game in the series to make use of the CD-ROM format and boasted animated cutscenes and a stunning soundtrack by Akira Souji, Keizo Nakamura, Tomoko Sano and Mikio Saito.

Exclusive to the PC Engine Super CD-ROM², Rondo of Blood wouldn't receive a Western release until 2007, when it was released as a bonus on the PSP title Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. The game would also get a stand-alone digital worldwide release via the Wii Virtual Console in 2010, and, more recently, has been featured on both the PC Engine / TG-16 Mini and as part of Castlevania Requiem on the PS4.

The game introduced the character of Richter Belmont, who has gone on to become one of the franchise's most famous faces. It would be followed by a direct sequel in the form of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which launched on the PlayStation in 1997.

1995's Castlevania: Dracula X / Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss on the SNES is loosely based on Rondo of Blood but sadly isn't anywhere near as good.

Damien has been writing professionally about tech and video games since 2007 and oversees all of Hookshot Media's sites from an editorial perspective. He's also the editor of Time Extension, the network's newest site, which – paradoxically – is all about gaming's past glories.

1
KayFiOS
Sun 29th Oct 2023

Easily one of my favorite classic styled Castlevania games that I've played! It's a shame it isn't available on more consoles.

2
ChromaticDracula
Sun 29th Oct 2023

It’s my favorite castlevania outside of 3 and symphony. I can’t believe we haven’t gotten it on Switch. I think I read it’s because Sony literally helped develop that Castlevania Requiem release…?
Having requiem on switch would be awesome!
I know the SNES version is a downgrade but it was still very very much enjoyable to me on 3DS a few halloweens ago. (Thankfully there are save states… it’s so difficult for me!) Knowing there is a “real version” out there though makes it harder to enjoy I guess.

3
OldManHermit
Sun 29th Oct 2023

I had known about this game for a long time, but only got to play it when it released on the wii virtual console. It has since become my favourite of the classic style castlevanias, super Castlevania 4 being a close second.

4
Serpenterror
Sun 29th Oct 2023

This, Symphony of the Night, the DS trilogy, and Adventure Rebirth needs to get out of their exclusive bubble and get on more platforms. These are old games now, there is no reason to continue locking them to lesser platforms.

5
MarkyVigoroth
Sun 29th Oct 2023

I remember people hankering over this game being released on Virtual Console.

6
Poodlestargenerica
Sun 29th Oct 2023

I know rondo is a musical piece, and I love that about castlevania names, but all I ever think about is Rajon Rondo and Blood when I hear this name so I've never played it.

7
Axelay71
Sun 29th Oct 2023

Amazing game on the Amazing PC Engine CD systems.

8
Serpenterror
Sun 29th Oct 2023

@MarkyVigoroth The game being release on Virtual Console was a big deal cause it's not often a game originally exclusive to Japan had ever been made available on western digital shop. As you know Virtual Console on Wii only offer retro games from the platform and region those games originally release for so for a game like say Contra, in NA you get original Contra, in Japan you get easier Contra, and in PAL regions you get Probotector. Rondo of Blood unlike Contra doesn't had regional versions.

9
John_Deacon
Sun 29th Oct 2023

It's a wonderful game and an all-time classic for me. Music is really good (having real instruments playing a game's soundtrack back when it was released was a privilege to CD-based games), awesome graphics and cutscenes, but it's really hard! I've never been able to beat it so far, but I'm still trying now

10
Blast16
Mon 30th Oct 2023

I've had a hard time getting into Dracula X after playing Rondo of Blood. It's a weird and abridged version of the game which is punishing but not particularly in a good, balanced way, at least compared with 1, 2, 3 on the NES. Either way, it's classic console Castlevania and I love it. Got 'em all.

11
JJtheTexan
Mon 30th Oct 2023

This is a wild coincidence, because I played through Rondo of Blood today on my TurboGrafx-16 Mini, oblivious to the anniversary. It is a stellar game and one of my favorites in the Castlevania series.

I have Dracula X on the Wii U Virtual Console, and started playing that as well, just to compare the two. It is definitely the lesser game, but still quite good.

I think what I like the most about the four 16-bit era Castlevania games is that they are all so very different from each other (except Rondo of Blood and Dracula X). Super Castlevania IV has giant setpieces and perfectly precise control. Bloodlines looks fantastic, has great bosses, and introduces new characters. Rondo of Blood has immense replay value and a perfect challenge. All four games have absolutely phenomenal soundtracks. It really was peak Konami.

12
no_donatello
Mon 30th Oct 2023

I have very little experience with Castlevania. I've tried a couple of the games, but that's about it. After getting the PC Engine/TurboGrafx Mini, however, I played and completed this game. It's very good and held up to the hype I heard for years.

13
calbeau
Mon 30th Oct 2023

Even just a Dracula X Chronicles remaster for the Switch would be good enough for me.

That was the game that convinced me to get a PSP, so it has a special place in my heart. Somewhere near the left ventricle, I think.

14
sdelfin
Mon 30th Oct 2023

Crazy that it took so long for this game to be released outside of Japan. A lot of times, a game with such a reputation fails to live up to that(Castlevania 4 is one such game for me), but Rondo exceeded my expectations and is my favorite of the classic Castlevania. Bloodlines is another great one from those early games.