History VideoGame / CastlevaniaDraculaX

''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}: Dracula X''[[note]]Released in Japan as ''Akumajō Dracula [[DoubleX XX]]'' and Europe/Australia as ''Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss''[[/note]] is a [[ReformulatedGame remixed port]] of then UsefulNotes/PCEngine-only ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Rondo of Blood]]'' for the Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, released in 1995.

''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}: Dracula X''[[note]]Released in Japan as ''Akumajō Dracula [[DoubleX XX]]'' and Europe/Australia as ''Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss''[[/note]] is a [[ReformulatedGame remixed port]] of then UsefulNotes/PCEngine-only ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Rondo of Blood]]'' for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, released in 1995.

''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}: Dracula X'' (a.k.a. ''Vampire's Kiss'') is a [[ReformulatedGame remixed port]] of then UsefulNotes/PCEngine-only ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Rondo of Blood]]'' for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, released in 1995.

Evil men resurrect Dracula, who then proceeds to kidnap Richter Belmont's girlfriend [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Annet]] and her younger sister [[DemotedToExtra Maria]] and hides them in his castle. Richter then must follow his ancestors' footsteps by taking the horrors of castle by himself.

* NintendoHard: The game is even harder than the original due to Richter's slower speed (though no less agile), tough enemies from last levels being in the earlier ones and having a lot more BottomlessPits.
** And by the same token, the game is designed in such a way to almost FORCE the player into the worst possible ending, as falling into the Alternate Level 4 from Level 3 locks you into the worst ending, leaving Maria's fate uncertain and forcing you to kill Annet in Level 6. And given how many enemies are there to try and knock you into the pits, trying for a better ending is significantly harder than expected.

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Annette and Maria were unrelated characters in the original ''Rondo of Blood''. In the SNES ''Dracula X'', they were made into sisters. This relation is referenced in the localization of ''Symphony of the Night''[[note]]technically, the word used, 義妹 (''gimai''), can refer to either a sister-in-law or an adopted sister[[/note]].

Evil men resurrect Dracula, who then proceeds to kidnap Richter Belmont's girlfriend Annette and her younger sister Maria and hides them in his castle. Richter then must follow his ancestors' footsteps by taking the horrors of castle by himself.

Many changes were made when the CD-based ''Rondo of Blood'' was turned into ''Dracula X'' due to the smaller storage capacity of SNES cartridges. The voice acting is gone, the game is much more linear due to overhauled level design removing the original version's branching pathways, the difficulty is ramped up (likely to compensate for the lessened replay value), and Maria is no longer playable. The story was also so heavily altered that it became incompatible with the ''Castlevania'' timeline, so the game is treated as being in an AlternateContinuity.

* AdaptedOut: The Dark Priest Shaft is nowhere to be seen in the SNES version. While he wasn't exactly an important character in the PC Engine version, it made {{the reveal}} of him being the mastermind behind the events of ''Symphony of the Night'' less impacting than it should have, as most overseas players who went into ''Symphony of the Night'' from the SNES version of ''Dracula X'' had no idea who Shaft was.
* AlternateContinuity: in the SNES version, Annette is Maria's older sister, which does not hold true of any other version of the game and is considered non-canon. The SNES version also describes the setting as being "The Middle Ages" and notes that Simon Belmont lived "hundreds of years ago." Officially, Simon fought last fought Dracula in 1698, less than 100 years before Richter took up the whip in 1792...and the Middle Ages ended in the ''1400s'', making this version basically incompatible with any sort of official timeline.

* BittersweetEnding: If you fail to save one or both of the girls. Dracula is defeated and the day saved, but Richter looks solemn and saddened for not being able to save Annette and/or Maria.

* ButThouMust: You can fail to save the girls, save only Maria, or save both of them. There is NO option to save only Annette as the door to Stage 5' will not open if you didn't save Maria. There's no explanation for why this is.

* CompositeCharacter: Carmilla in this game is Annette's transformation if you fail to save her. To add another character to the mix, her attacks, right down to the LastDitchMove, were clearly lifted from the first battle with Shaft in ''Rondo of Blood''.

* FaceMonsterTurn: Fail to save Annette, and she is transformed into Carmilla to serve as the stage 6 boss.

** And by the same token, the game is designed in such a way to almost FORCE the player into the worst possible ending, as falling into the Alternate Level 4 from Level 3 locks you into the worst ending, leaving Maria's fate uncertain and forcing you to kill Annette in Level 6. And given how many enemies are there to try and knock you into the pits, trying for a better ending is significantly harder than expected.

* ReformulatedGame: Since the SNES version was made on a 16-Megabit (2-Megabyte) cartridge, while the PC Engine version was a CD-ROM game (540-Megabyte), a straight port was pretty much impossible, so the stages were replaced completely to [[PragmaticAdaptation fit into the smaller ROM size]]. This was also partly due to exclusivity promised to NEC for the PC Engine game. The plot is pretty much the same, except that Maria and Annette were now sisters, the other two girls are missing, and Shaft is nowhere to be seen aside from having his moveset given to Carmilla. [[DemotedToExtra Maria is no longer a playable character]]; when she is rescued, she simply wishes Richter luck.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Annette and Maria were unrelated characters in the PC Engine original. In the SNES version, they were made into sisters. This relation is referenced in the localization of ''Symphony of the Night''.

* SoundtrackDissonance: Even if you don't rescue Annette and Maria and fail to get a happy ending, the credits music is still a triumphant remix of "Bloodlines".

Many changes were made when the CD-based ''Rondo of Blood'' was turned into ''Dracula X'' due to the smaller storage capacity of SNES cartridges. The voice acting was removed, the game became more linear due to overhauled level design, the difficulty is ramped up (likely to compensate for the lessened replay value), and Maria is no longer playable. The story was also so heavily altered that it became incompatible with the ''Castlevania'' timeline, so the game is treated as being in an AlternateContinuity.

* ReformulatedGame: Since the SNES version was made on a 16-Megabit (2-Megabyte) cartridge, while the PC Engine version was a CD-ROM game (540-Megabyte), a straight port was pretty much impossible, so the stages were replaced completely to [[PragmaticAdaptation fit into the smaller ROM size]]. The plot is pretty much the same, except that Maria and Annette were now sisters, the other two girls are missing, and Shaft is nowhere to be seen aside from having his moveset given to Carmilla. [[DemotedToExtra Maria is no longer a playable character]]; when she is rescued, she simply wishes Richter luck.

* {{Necromancer}}: The priest of evil Shaft from the original game is replaced by an unrelated wizard named Ghost, who can summon [[DemBones skeletons]] to [[FlunkyBoss its aid]].

Many changes were made when the CD-based ''Rondo of Blood'' was turned into ''Dracula X'' due to the smaller storage capacity of SNES cartridges. The voice acting was removed, the game became more linear due to changes in level design, and Maria is no longer playable. The story was also so heavily altered that it became incompatible with the ''Castlevania'' timeline, and the official explanation is the game takes place in an AlternateContinuity.

* LeapOfFaith: Falling into a pit in the last section of Stage 3 sends you to alternate Stage 4, and from here only the worst ending can be attained.
** This is almost never intentional, though, since there are many BottomlessPits along with tons of LedgeBats, effectively making this one of the hardest areas in the game.

* MultipleEndings: The background for the ending credits depends on the girls you rescued.
** Notable since Stage 6's boss depends on your current ending path. The best ending path will have you facing off with Death instead of Carmilla.

*** Also, the only way to even have a CHANCE of saving the girls requires that you picked up the Key just before Level 3's boss fight...and complete Level 4 without dying once or losing the Key to another subweapon.

''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}: Dracula X'' (aka ''Vampire's Kiss'') is a [[ReformulatedGame remixed port]] of then UsefulNotes/PCEngine-only ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Rondo of Blood]]'' for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, released in 1995.

* CherryTapping: The key does minimal damage, but it can still be used to defeat enemies. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwwJF4QT0gQ Somebody has actually defeated Dracula with the key]].