Castlevania The Dracula X Chronicles
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is an entirely new take at the best Castlevania game to never be released in the US, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. The Dracula X Chronicles brings the beloved action/adventure franchise to the PSP system for the first time, complete with 3D graphics, enhanced gameplay and new music. Completing the Dracula X storyline, this game also includes an unlockable version of Symphony of the Night and players will also be able to unlock the original Rondo of Blood from the NEC PC Engine.
4 Stars Wonderful Remake
This is a pretty neat remake of the original game. The 3D game fits nicely, and you even have the option of playing the original game for the Turbo Grafix 16 along with some bonus stages and hidden “minibosses” in the remake addition. You also get to play SOTN with this game, once unlocked, music, and boss-fighting options.
As for the complaints:
This game is based on the remake of an older game, and like so, will play as the older game. Be prepared to be killed alot by annoying medusa heads or that annoying, very annoying, flea-man in SOTN. Its considered a little “short” by today’s standards, as far as game-play length goes. And although they remade the original SOTN for the Turbo Grafix 16, why didn’t they include the sega-saturn version of SOTN instead of the playstation? Maria all but disappears in this version as a playable character, which is kind of disappointing.
Overall if you never played these two games, or would want to play them again, now is the time to buy it at its good price. Do not pay more than $[...] bucks for this.
4 Stars 1st time castlevania player point of view
i have never played any other castlevania game ever. so i was hesitant to try this but i had hear good things about it, so i tried it. the graphics look great on the psp, the controls took some getting used to, especially using the stairs. i kept forgeting to pres up/down on D-pad. and the special move? have to press up on the D-pad to use it! ok. after a few sessions of playing it finally started to feel fluid using all the controls. i was having fun with the game. a few levels in i found secret ways to different bosses. i finished the game but i didnt save all the girls, so i got a fake ending telling me to go back and recue all the girls. while i had alot of fun with this game it is not easy. i didnt want to go back to search thru all the levels to find the girls so i cheated. i went online to find all the girls. the the later bosses are hard but after dying a few times you will get used to their attack patterns. so finished the game now with the real ending but only at 68% complete. i will be visiting this game again and try to complete 100%
5 Stars A MUST HAVE
There are games that one buys, plays, and sells. And there are other that one buys, plays and KEEP. Well, Castlevania is one of those. There is nothing bad to say about this game. Lots of secret chambers, hours and hours of fun (and I mean “in a row”!!!), and as a great bonus, the 2 original Castlevania games, old school style. The PSP is definitely lacking in those kind of platform games that remain the best kind for portable devices such as the PSP. JUST A GREAT GAME.
5 Stars THIS IS HOW CLASSICS SHOULD BE REMADE
UPDATE:
Before (I’ll admit) I used cheats. Now I am playing it on the PSP, Symphony of the Night and Rhondo of Blood. Cheats will only RUIN these great games. Don’t use them. Also, two of the coolest enemies I’ve ever seen is the 1) Knight, then changes to a green monster(remind me of Mother Brain in Super Metroid by the attacks) and 2) The Brain-made up of humans that fall off screaming. I could repeat these two battles over and over.
Symphony of the Night is awesome. It reminds me of Super Metroid.
Now, if only SONY could get Nintendo to release a GREATEST HITS COLLECTION for the PSP,like the SEGA GENESIS COLLECTION(I own it).
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I have never heard of Rhondo of Blood. I love the game already and cannot wait to unlock Symphony of the Night. I love the music in both. The action is great as well. Two of the best action side scrollers.
If only Capcom will release a collection like Namco’s Batttle Collection or SEGA’s Collection. There are some great Capcom games that I would love to play again.
5 Stars Bitten once more..
One of the most vintage videogame franchises gets re-dressed. Its not just a new coat of paint either we’re talking about depth and a few bonuses 
Lets get right to the meat and potatoes; alot of people see the value of having Symphony of the Night within Dracula X Chronicles as worth the price of admission alone. I was one of those people! Not only did I vaguely remember playing the Orignial Dracula X( I was a young lad and this version is diff. from the american version) but it feels like a completely new game to me! Its classic Castlevania left untouched yet completely done in 2.5 Dimensional graphics to give it a current look on the PSP. I remember buying this last Halloween on the eve of the Manhunt 2 scandal and felt at that time was the peak of the PSP. Although this year I ate my own words as I played Chains of Olympus and Crisis Core (that review is coming soon!).
What I can say that stands out about the gameplay besides the technical platforming is the rampant difficulty. The bosses will tire you out so you must learn all enemy strategies. I can honestly admit that I haven’t even beat it yet(stage before last). I’m still checking out alternate stage paths which are decorated through out the entire game. The D-pad on the PSP works wonders with calculating your jumps properly. I played this on the PSP-1000 so my last sentence is a testament to what you 3000 (and 2000s) PSPers must feel with the new and improved D-pads. As with any Castlevania game the music is spectacular and elegantly gothic! I left the UMD splash/load menu on just to hear the ghostly chants of the female choir earlier today. Now I will end this review with what I strated it with and a “bang”; Symphony of the Night is on the UMD but you have to unlock it. You can look up how to unlock SOTN on the internet. Wasn’t that hard for me to unlock SOTN. Once I did I was disappointed.. If you are like me and you played the PSX version or even the Saturn version heed this: THE UMD VERSION ONCE UNLOCKED DOESN’T SUPPORT FULL SCREEN MODE. You can keep it to its normal reduced size or you can add distracting and goofy borders. Was the ONLY let down with this marvelous PSP release.
Castlevania The Dracula X Chronicles
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is an entirely new take at the best Castlevania game to never be released in the US, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. The Dracula X Chronicles brings the beloved action/adventure franchise to the PSP system for the first time, complete with 3D graphics, enhanced gameplay and new music. Completing the Dracula X storyline, this game also includes an unlockable version of Symphony of the Night and players will also be able to unlock the original Rondo of Blood from the NEC PC Engine.
5 Stars great game
nice game, but symphony of the night is the best part. you do have to unlock it but it is not too difficult. what is difficult is playing symphony of the night with maria she is so weak.
5 Stars Gaming Bliss
Finally a spruced up old-school castlevania. I fell in love with the series when i played the original gba title circle of the moon since then i have done my best to get as many as i could.
Originally i was more excited to have a portable Symphony of the Night and the remake of Rondo of blood was an added bonus. I have spent far more time with the remake of Rondo than anything else.
The backgrounds are simply put amazing and gorgeous. Yes this follows the linear castlevania formula with clunky controls no ability to change direction after a jump. But these are easy to get used to. unlocking maria as a playable character makes control issues less of a problem as she is far more menuverable.
As mentioned above this has an unlockable version of symphony which is a superb game to say the least. Also the original Rondo is included which make for some fun comparisons between old and new.
Bottomline This is a treasure in my video game collection. the Remake of Rondo is a must for any fans of old-school gaming. If you have only played the recent castlevania titles i would recommend trying to track down some other older titles that are cheaper just to see if you dig the style. Overall this is a great package the satisfies my hunger for linear and non-linear gameplay.
4 Stars Random thoughts on Castlevania psp
Having been a fan of Konami and the Castlevania series since the original NES game, I more or less knew what to expect from The Dracula X Chronicles. Castlevania games are very basic: You collect hearts, weapons, and kill bad guys. That’s pretty much the game reduced down to it’s simple form. But to Castlevania fans, the series is much more than a mindless platformer. The series has always had a certain charm that has kept it going strong for over 20 years. Dracula X Chronicles is no exception.
First off, the graphics are probably the best in the series. The psp delivers some of the smoothest, complex graphics ever seen in the series. The music is very appropriate for the series as well.
My only complaint about the game are the controls. At times they can be a little stiff and it can be difficult making jumps or trying to fight bosses. It will definitely take time to get adjusted to. Also worth mentioning, is the difficulty of the game itself. Castlevania games were alway notorious for their frustrating difficulty levels, and this one is no different. You’ll most likely find yourself getting killed a dozen times before you learn the lay out of stages and boss routines, which can be frustrating. Once you get past the controls and the difficulty level, you’ll really enjoy this game for what it is: A top notch entry into the Castlevania series.
As an added bonus, you can unlock the original Rondo of Blood game (stick with the remake, it’s much better), and the PS one classic, Symphony of the Night. My only complaint about the latter, is that the screen ratio does not take advantage of the psp’s flat screen. You have to play at a smaller ratio, which really takes alot away from a really great game. Also, this version of SOTN seems alot harder than I remembered it being on the PS one.
All in all, there is no reason this game shouldn’t be in your psp collection. Great graphics, killer sound, challenging game play, and unlockable content make this a must have for any Castlevania fan or anybody who just likes great games.
5 Stars I acutally buy it for symthony of nights
A combination of Castlevania games. In fact I bought it because I want to play Arucard on PSP; after months I didnt even clear the remake one, lol.
5 Stars Near Perfect…..
This compilation smokes! You can’t go wrong if you have even the slightest interest in Castlevania!
SOTN alone makes this worth it. For the price you’d be crazy not to buy this!!
A must have!
