Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a compilation release for PlayStation Portable from 2007, featuring a 2.5D remake of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, the original Rondo and its sequel Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
This version of Rondo closely follows the original game's story, but with additional cutscenes added. It also includes English voice acting, both for the remake and the original game.
For the examples concerning the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, see their respective pages.
The Dracula X Chronicles remake provides examples of:
- 2½D: All entities and environments are rendered using 3D models, but the game still plays like a typical 2D Castlevania platformer.
- Art Evolution: Richter wears his coat from Symphony of the Night buttoned up alongside his gloves, and Dracula wears his outfit
◊ from Curse of Darkness though his face is much younger-looking◊. - Bishōnen Line: When you defeat both of Dracula's forms, he reverts back into his human shape, only to go into a third form, unique to The Dracula X Chronicles, which is basically just his human form, with six bloodstained wings. The ensuing fight is much harder than either of his other forms, and can only be fought if you rescued Annette, see Multiple Endings below.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The character redesigns of Annette, Tera, and Iris fit this, as opposed to their original 90's anime World of Technicolor Hair appearance in Rondo of Blood.
- Boss Rush: Beating the game once unlocks the Boss Rush mode, with 4 different sets of bosses depending on the path(s) you chose in the game.
- Brutal Bonus Level: The alternate Stage 5 has been completely reworked, cannot be accessed in the first playthrough, and isn't required for the best ending at all. It's also far more difficult than any other stage in the game.
- Call-Forward:
- The new Optional Boss, the Hydra, is extremely similar in design and execution to Scylla from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, complete with fighting one of the snake heads before fighting the main boss and three flunky heads.
- Shaft has some new dialogue before facing him and says a line that's either familiar to those who have already played Symphony, or a further clue that not all is well with the lord of the castle in that game.Shaft: Servants, come forth from the gates of Hell! Attack! Rid my master's castle of this pest!
- Calling Your Attacks: Shaft will helpfully say "Shaft of (some element here)" before using his orbs to attack you with Elemental Powers.
- Curse Cut Short: Richter starts staying "You son of a..." before cutting himself off while saving Maria from Shaft.
- Downer Ending: If you fail to save Annette, Shaft's Ghost will save Dracula by blocking your finishing blow and teleport away with him.
- Embedded Precursor: The original Dracula X games, which have to be found in the main game to be unlocked. Finishing the Boss Rush mode enough times unlocks the joke minigame Akumajyo Dracula Peke.
- Fanservice Pack: Played straight with Annette, Terra, and Iris, who have all been given an upgrade to fit the Buxom Beauty Standard. Inverted with Maria, who now actually looks like a little girl rather than the bizarrely busty beauty she was before.
- Gotta Catch Them All: The game has collectable CD's which not only let you listen to the music in the Sound Test, but which can also be used to change the background music to customize your playing experience. They are necessary for the 100% Completion.
- Guide Dang It!: Symphony of the Night and the original Rondo of Blood are not available from the start, but must be unlocked by performing specific actions in specific stages of the Rondo remake. You will almost certainly need a guide to find them.
- Heroism Motive Speech: Richter gives one after beating Dracula's third form.Dracula: Impossible... You've beaten me?Richter: I'm a Belmont. That's my job.Richter: You're right. We never learn. But we'll have to someday. And in the meantime, if you do come back, someone like me will be waiting.Dracula: Amusing... We shall meet again, blood of Belmont!
- I Did What I Had to Do: As a demon hunter, this is Richter's justification for killing vampire Annette if he fails to rescue her.
- I Was Beaten by a Girl: Dracula's reaction when defeated by Maria.Dracula: Completely impossible! Beaten by a little girl!
- Karma Houdini: Dracula becomes this if you fail to rescue all of the girls. Right after defeating his second form, the Prince of Darkness gets away with help from Shaft. Maria and Richter even express disappointment that Dracula got away.
- Last Ditch Move: Almost every boss will try to hit you one last time in their death throes.
- Magic Pants: Played straight with the Werewolf this time around, as he suddenly wears a little black loincloth when he turns back to human.
- Most Definitely Not Accompanying Us: The revamped scene where Richter rescues Maria has him arguing with her that she's absolutely not accompanying him to fight Dracula. It takes a glimpse of her power for him to reluctantly change his mind.Richter: "Such power this girl holds." So this is what he meant. [...] You just won't take no for an answer, will you? All right. Fine. Come with me. [...] But promise me you'll run if things get too dangerous.
- Multiple Endings: You need to save both Iris and Terra in order to save Annette. Fail to save even one of the two and you gotta Shoot the Shaggy Dog for the Downer Ending. If you do save all three of them, then Everyone Lives Happily Ever After before Symphony of the Night comes — at least those who survived the events. Maria is not required to get a good ending, and if you don't save her, she won't appear in the ending shot.
- Mythology Gag:
- While the game's undeniably a Rondo of Blood remake, one element from the SNES Dracula X did make it in. Fail to save Annette, and she'll be vampirized and fought as the boss of Stage 7 in place of Shaft's Ghost. This leads to the Downer Ending.
- "Behold my true form, and despair!" is present as a line Dracula can randomly say when entering his new final form in the main game. This isn't a Call-Forward because that line was retranslated in this game's Symphony port.
- Nerf: The subweapons and item crashes do much less damage than in the original game. Dracula's first and second forms were also made slightly easier (he stays vulnerable for longer in his first form, and his jumps are easier to dodge in the second), possibly to make way for his third form.
- No Flow in CGI: Why Maria wears pants instead of a dress and has her hair tied back.
- Off with His Head!: Grave Keeper enemy has a new death animation, where his head flies off while spurting blood.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: The boss theme from the original game is remixed into a fast-paced track featuring Latin vocals.
- One-Winged Angel: Dracula does this twice: the first time he changes from his human form into a big blue demon thing. Once you beat this form, if you've saved all the people in order to get the Golden Ending, he turns into his "true form", which looks like his human form, but with six blood red wings.
- Optional Boss: The Hydra in the alternate Stage 5 is one of the only three bosses in the game not present in Rondo of Blood and the only alternate boss who can't be fought on the normal stage.
- Pet the Dog: It's a bit unclear, but Dracula himself may have this in Maria's route. Upon defeating him in the Golden Ending path, he tries to tell her that power is the only thing that matters, yet she simply tells him that while she doesn't understand what that means entirely, he hurt too many people and that in itself is wrong. In a tone that seems both a mix of mockery... but also genuine admiration, depending on your interpretation of his tone of voice, he remarks that while the world decays, innocence "lives on in eyes like [Maria's]".
- Railroading: You will fight Death in the first playthrough. If you try to get a blue orb (which takes you to lower-path stages) in Stage 4 or 4', Death will appear (accompanied with an Evil Laugh) to change it to red, sending you to the Ghost Ship level where he resides.
- Rain of Blood: Dracula's opening move in his third form is a blood storm. You have to hide under him to avoid it.
- Real Is Brown: While the PC Engine version was very bright and colorful, the remake's environments are primarily dark shades of brown and gray. Downplayed in some areas though, especially in the castle.
- Remake Cameo: Kiyoyuki Yanada, Shaft's Japanese voice actor in the original Rondo of Blood, plays Richter Belmont in the remake.
- Scarf of Asskicking: Richter's new design wears his headband as a white scarf.
- Sequential Boss: The final battle goes as thus: Dracula in the Throne Room -> Demon Dracula in a trippy vortex -> winged Dracula in a weird distorted dimension.
- The Swarm: Both Lesser Vampire and Dracula's third form have moves that has them attacking you with swarms of bats.
- Tragic Monster: If you haven't rescued all the girls, Richter is forced to fight his girlfriend Annette at the end of the Clock Tower. The catch is that she's turned into a vampire.
- Trick Boss: A single Water Hydra with the usual boss life bar threatens you at the end of Stage 5', but when you kill it and climb above it, you find out it was just one head of the four-headed Hydra, and to take the monster out you must destroy its heart.
- True Final Boss: Dracula's third form can only be fought after you rescue Terra, Iris, and Annette. See Multiple Endings above.
- Updated Re-release: Also doubling as a Compilation Re-release, because it also includes the original version of the game, a slightly improved version of Symphony of the Night, and even the joke mini-game Akumajyo Dracula Pekenote
