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Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles[a] is a 2007 action-platform game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation Portable. The game is a remake of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993) with 2.5D graphics, and represents the first time that Rondo of Blood was released outside of Japan. The game includes the original Rondo of Blood localized into English, as well as a remastered version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997). The game was released in North America on October 23, 2007.
Gameplay
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Dracula X Chronicles adds minor additions and features to the gameplay of Rondo of Blood. Two new obstacles, a barrier made of red skeletons, and a barrier made of crystal, are added to various parts of the game. Saving Tera and Iris grants the player respective items required to destroy these barriers. The puzzles required to save Iris and Annette have been altered. Stage 5' is given a revamped stage layout and a brand new boss, the Hydra. Not saving Annette forces the player to battle a vampire version of her in place of Shaft's ghost in Stage 7, which warrants a bad ending. This boss is moved to an alternate exit in Stage 5' if Annette has been saved. After saving Annette and defeating Shaft's ghost, Dracula gains a new third form which must be defeated to obtain the true ending.
New dialogue scenes are added, and pre-existing scenes are altered or extended. Small introductory cutscenes are added before boss fights. These are fully voiced in English and Japanese, and the player can choose the language in the options menu. The title of Stage 8 is renamed "Bloodlines", the same title as the introduction level in the English localization of Symphony of the Night. "Rondo of Blood" is the title in the original Japanese versions.
First seen in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, a Boss Rush mode is added. The mode contains four courses, which differ in the set of bosses fought. This mode can be played cooperatively with a second player over the PSP's Ad-Hoc wireless connection.
While the original game featured anime style artwork, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles contains new character designs by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night character designer Ayami Kojima.
Rondo of Blood
The original Rondo of Blood is included as unlockable content and remains largely identical to its PC Engine counterpart. As with its remake, the game is given new voice acting in English, a slightly revised script, and the option to listen to the English or Japanese voices. For the English dub, the same voice actors are used as in the remake. The original intro from Chi no Rondo, spoken in German, is intact and uses the German dub that is also used in the intro video to the remake. Stage names in English are identical to those used in the remake. However, due to a flaw within the game's programming, the audio does not load correctly to sync with the video, making them run out of sync with each other.
Also included as a separate unlockable game is Akumajyo Dracula X Peke [sic].[2] This mini-game would load on the original Rondo of Blood if the PC Engine did not have the required Super System 2.0 card. All of the Japanese text is translated for the English release. The system card requirement message is also removed to tell the player to press "start" to quit the game.
Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is another unlockable game with original-style graphics like the PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions. It includes Maria Renard as a playable character, originally only found in the Sega Saturn version.[3] Like the Xbox 360 version, "I Am the Wind" was replaced with "Mournful Serenade", a new piece composed by Michiru Yamane, as the closing theme. An English-recorded version of the song "Nocturne" was added, and several familiars that had been removed in previous international releases of the game were restored.
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