Thanks to retro game club I organise, it’s back to the stage-based Castlevania well for the cut-down alternate retelling of Rondo of Blood, Dracula X/Vampire’s Kiss/Akumajou Dracula XX. I previously reviewed Rondo on PSP and it did eventually win me over. I can’t say the same for its SNES sibling.

With less stages, less enemies, less music, etc., it seems like it’s a port you can ignore. But it can’t be written off so easily; it does have unique stage layouts and even some new bosses. However, despite some different content I still feel it comes off as an inferior game and only really necessary as a supplement if you really loved Rondo.

Unfortunately I only really loved Rondo once I could play as Maria, and that’s not an option in this game. This is probably the biggest loss, but it’s still a decent classic-style Castlevania game. I’ve heard it said it’s a weaker entry in the series and while I’m not totally comfortable commenting on level design nuance, I did find myself subject to frequent “cheap” deaths and often struggled with the difficulty. Richter is just like a Belmont, slow to react and difficult to wrangle, but to take a specific example of the game’s control, I found the backflip less reliable and situationally useful here than I did on the PSP.

Of course the game is coming from a solid foundation; since a lot of songs and graphics are reused from Rondo it looks and sounds good. But having less branching paths and damsels to rescue means it’s more straightforward, and similar cuts to the plot also hurt the experience slightly. One area where this instalment outshines its inspiration is the official art, which is more moody and stylised; the PC Engine game’s bright and cartoony look for artwork was out of place. But I can’t say much more to recommend it; please check out Rondo first.

Seriously, putting instant death pits all over the final boss room? No thanks. Dracula was simple though once I found the cheese strategy: stick to lower ground and throw axes. It’s that simple.