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"Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)"

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This thread has been linked to the game 'Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles'.
Sun 28/10/07 at 14:40
Regular
""none""
Posts: 320
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a remake of the original Dracula X: Rondo of Blood which was released on the Japanese PC Engine. The original game was a classic and loved by many gamers, it was even considered to be a masterpiece by some.

It probably was a very difficult task trying to remake this game, as slight changes to the gameplay from the original version would upset many loyal fans of the series. Why would even small changes upset the fans? Because nothing needed any altering, as the famous saying goes "If it's not broken, don't fix it".

All is that needed fixing was a graphical upgrade to 3D, which is exactly what they had done.

Embarrassingly, this is my first time to actually play a Castlevania game, so I'm really excited about it and don't know what to expect.

Gameplay

Castlvania is a basic sidescrolling game, where you’re armed with only a whip. You can find one sub weapon, which is usually located somewhere in the level usually after breaking something. You can release the subweapon based upon how many hearts you find.

You usually find items by breaking your way through stuff. The only items that is available is the hearts and some energy upgrades, which is very rear.

With the main character Richter, you can crouch, jump and double jump which will result in Richter jumping higher but backwards. As you can see they included nothing fancy, like running which I felt was missing. They left everything the same gameplay wise, as the 1993 original.

The casual gamer would find this game extremely difficult. You only get 4 lives, and when you lose a life you start of at one of the checkpoints in the stage, and if you aren’t close to a checkpoint when you died, you start off right at the beginning of the stage, which can get frustrating real quick.

There is another character you can play the game through with. Her name is Maria, and you can find her as an unlockable. She makes the game so much easier, mostly by being able to double jump. She also uses a different weapon, and different sub weapons. She's a lot more flexible than Richter, and if she wasn't included, I don't think I would have completed the game.

Story

The game features a basic plot; Richter Belmont, who is a descendent from previous Belmonts whom have also defeated Dracula. And you guessed it, Dracula has returned once again. Thought the story may sound like a cliché, and has been done to death, it presents it out well, and pulls it off gracefully.

If you play as Maria, you’ll get alternate cutscenes to those of Richter’s, which sound quiet amusing.

Graphics

The games graphics are quiet incredible. If you take a look at the intro sequence, it clearly looks like something from the PS2. They should have included more full motion videos in it’s cutscenes. It would have made it a more cinematic experience.

The game is in 2.5D, 3D character models, being played in a 2D platform format. It’s like in The New Super Mario Bros. It flows quiet well, and is also great way to keep the game up to date with the times.

Music

This game features great sound to accompany great visuals graphics. The sound effects and stage soundtracks really set the scene, and actually relate to the environment of the stage. There really isn’t a Castlevania game where the music isn’t upsetting; I think it’s one of the main elements of the game. Some of the music in the game is borrowed from the original and remixed a bit, which is great.

Reply Value

The replay value of this game is absolutely incredible. Although you can complete the game quiet quickly (it took me about four days), there is a lot to do afterwards.

For starters you can unlock Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, the game we talked about earlier and which this game is a remake of. You can also unlock Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which was originally on the PS1. SotN is a sequel to The Dracula X Chronicles.

There are a few of things to unlock, alternate endings/bosses. You can also rescue two women, which lead to unlocking different things.

It's nice of them to include the two extra games, but it seems like they did this to make up for the short game. It also seemed like the raised the difficulty to give the illusion that it's a reasonably long game.

Other than that, the game was outstanding, and left me wanting more. It's definitely worth a try, although it may be a bit too difficult and frustrating for your liking.

80%
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Sun 28/10/07 at 14:40
Regular
""none""
Posts: 320
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a remake of the original Dracula X: Rondo of Blood which was released on the Japanese PC Engine. The original game was a classic and loved by many gamers, it was even considered to be a masterpiece by some.

It probably was a very difficult task trying to remake this game, as slight changes to the gameplay from the original version would upset many loyal fans of the series. Why would even small changes upset the fans? Because nothing needed any altering, as the famous saying goes "If it's not broken, don't fix it".

All is that needed fixing was a graphical upgrade to 3D, which is exactly what they had done.

Embarrassingly, this is my first time to actually play a Castlevania game, so I'm really excited about it and don't know what to expect.

Gameplay

Castlvania is a basic sidescrolling game, where you’re armed with only a whip. You can find one sub weapon, which is usually located somewhere in the level usually after breaking something. You can release the subweapon based upon how many hearts you find.

You usually find items by breaking your way through stuff. The only items that is available is the hearts and some energy upgrades, which is very rear.

With the main character Richter, you can crouch, jump and double jump which will result in Richter jumping higher but backwards. As you can see they included nothing fancy, like running which I felt was missing. They left everything the same gameplay wise, as the 1993 original.

The casual gamer would find this game extremely difficult. You only get 4 lives, and when you lose a life you start of at one of the checkpoints in the stage, and if you aren’t close to a checkpoint when you died, you start off right at the beginning of the stage, which can get frustrating real quick.

There is another character you can play the game through with. Her name is Maria, and you can find her as an unlockable. She makes the game so much easier, mostly by being able to double jump. She also uses a different weapon, and different sub weapons. She's a lot more flexible than Richter, and if she wasn't included, I don't think I would have completed the game.

Story

The game features a basic plot; Richter Belmont, who is a descendent from previous Belmonts whom have also defeated Dracula. And you guessed it, Dracula has returned once again. Thought the story may sound like a cliché, and has been done to death, it presents it out well, and pulls it off gracefully.

If you play as Maria, you’ll get alternate cutscenes to those of Richter’s, which sound quiet amusing.

Graphics

The games graphics are quiet incredible. If you take a look at the intro sequence, it clearly looks like something from the PS2. They should have included more full motion videos in it’s cutscenes. It would have made it a more cinematic experience.

The game is in 2.5D, 3D character models, being played in a 2D platform format. It’s like in The New Super Mario Bros. It flows quiet well, and is also great way to keep the game up to date with the times.

Music

This game features great sound to accompany great visuals graphics. The sound effects and stage soundtracks really set the scene, and actually relate to the environment of the stage. There really isn’t a Castlevania game where the music isn’t upsetting; I think it’s one of the main elements of the game. Some of the music in the game is borrowed from the original and remixed a bit, which is great.

Reply Value

The replay value of this game is absolutely incredible. Although you can complete the game quiet quickly (it took me about four days), there is a lot to do afterwards.

For starters you can unlock Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, the game we talked about earlier and which this game is a remake of. You can also unlock Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which was originally on the PS1. SotN is a sequel to The Dracula X Chronicles.

There are a few of things to unlock, alternate endings/bosses. You can also rescue two women, which lead to unlocking different things.

It's nice of them to include the two extra games, but it seems like they did this to make up for the short game. It also seemed like the raised the difficulty to give the illusion that it's a reasonably long game.

Other than that, the game was outstanding, and left me wanting more. It's definitely worth a try, although it may be a bit too difficult and frustrating for your liking.

80%

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