Artwork of Simon and Dracula, redesigned for Castlevania Chronicles' Arrange Mode.
Originally titled Akumajō Dracula (same as the original Castlevania) and released solely in Japan in 1993 for the Sharp X68000 computer, it was remade worldwide on the PlayStation in 2001 as Castlevania Chronicles. The PS1 version has two modes: "Arrange Mode" with updated graphics, music and sound effects and selectable difficulty, and "Original Mode" which is a near-direct port of the X68000 version.This game is the most recent depiction of Simon Belmont's assault on Dracula's Castle in 1691.
Castlevania Chronicles provides examples of:
- Anachronism Stew: Dracula keeps M.C. Escher's Relativity and Salvador Dalí's The Persistence of Memory (or pretty good copies of them) in his private art gallery!
- Anomalous Art: A series of increasingly esoteric and disturbing paintings, culminating in what appears to be several naked people trapped in a canvas, writhing in agony, immediately precede the battle with Death.
- A.I. Breaker: The dolls in the tower freeze up and stop homing in on you when you climb the stairs, but they'll still move relative to your climbing. Reposition yourself and whip them as you see fit.
- Arrange Mode: Slightly easier than the Original Mode, due to the omission of Knockback, the Arrange Mode uses remixes of the music and gives Simon a new design based on Ayami Kojima's artwork.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: The 3rd area in Stage 8 catches fire after a chandelier crashes to the ground, with all its enemies being flaming versions of the Animated Armor you dealt with earlier.
- Bleed 'Em and Weep: Curiously, the floating dolls emote by sobbing if they happen to kill Simon.
- Bilingual Bonus: The dolls shout at you in Japanese. When activated, they say either "Kaerinasai!" (Get out!) or "Omae Wa Dare?!" (Who are you?!). When they evade your attacks, they shout "Yamete!" (Stop it!) or if they're whipped, "Iyaa!!" (No!!)
- Boss Room: Every boss has one, and Dracula waits you in his, which is in the highest floor of the castle.
- Chained by Fashion: Frankenstein's Monster will utilize the chain bonds he breaks out of as makeshift whip.
- Creepy Doll: What do you expect from the place called Tower of Dolls? There are small clown dolls and hover dolls, though the latter has a voice that is just too cute to be creepy.
- Denial of Diagonal Attack: Simon can only whip downwards or diagonally downwards when jumping, now. After Super Castlevania IV, this is very jarring.
- Disturbed Doves: Seen at the ending of Original Mode.
- Ditto Fighter: Simon's mirror-produced, green-skinned doppelganger. He copies your moves, subweapons, and double/triple shots.
- Elite Mook: Frankenstein's Monster appears as a sort of midboss in Block 7. In a similar vein, a Stained Glass Knight appears just before the fight with Medusa.
- Falling Chandelier of Doom: And they also set the stage (and the enemies) on fire.
- Fiery Redhead: Simon is made into one by Ayami Kojima's artwork, and his Arrange Mode design.
- Foreboding Architecture: The skull door to the last section of Dracula's keep, attended by Ninja Maids.
- Foreshadowing: Half-way through Block 2 you'll see the giant dragon skeleton. Guess who's the Boss?
- A Glass of Chianti: This is the first game to depict Dracula with a glass in hand.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: The She-Wolf conveniently covers herself up as she reverts back to human form.
- Hellfire: Being the remake of the first game, Dracula uses his classic teleport and fireballs in the first phase of the Final Boss fight.
- An Ice Person: The Ice Wizard.
- Iconic Outfit: The fabulous "Black leather shorts, red velvet vest, and fur-trimmed barbarian/biker/Norwegian black-metal star boots" that Simon Belmont was clad in with Arrange Mode.
- Lift of Doom: The rising raft in Block 2 isn't intangible to the obstacles - each one breaks a piece off, giving you less room to move.
- Mana Burn: If the Ice Wizard boss hits you with the dragon head attack, it'll drain your heart stock.
- Market-Based Title: In Japanese, the PlayStation remake is called Castlevania Chronicle: Akumajō Dracula. This is around the time that the western Castlevania title started being repurposed for Japan, but this ended up being used only for a few games in the end.
- Meaningful Background Event: On the background of the second area of Block 2 you can see winged shapes with spears flying by. They attack you ten seconds later.
- Mirror Match: Fittingly, Fake Simon emerges from a mirror himself. He'll take you on with whatever whip upgrades you have as well as your currently equipped weapon.
- New Game Plus: Each playthrough bumps the difficulty, for a max of 8 different playthroughs
- Ninja Maid: Unlike the later vacuuming martial artists, these lithely leap around and throw knives. Some of them turn wild and shoot homing fireballs at you if you strike them.
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Nintendo Hard: Thankfully, the remake tones down the difficulty for the Arrange Mode. But if you're a sucker for punishment, try taking on the original mode and all its New Game Pluses. - No Fair Cheating: Block 1 closely resembles the first block of the original Castlevania. Thus, you might know exactly where the wall meat is hidden. Nope, it's been moved. In its place, how about an infinite supply of fleamen?
- Nostalgia Level:
- Block 1 is copied almost brick-to-brick from original Castlevania.
- Block 2 has elements from original game's first half of Block 4.
- The first of Block 3 has elements from original game's second half of Block 4.
- Block 4 is basically Block 2 from original game with a giant blood crying statue. It also has elements of the church segment from the first Block of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.
- Block 5 is the clock tower, albeit with a unique level layout.
- The beginning of Block 6 is the same as the beginning of Stage B (the final level) from Super Castlevania IV.
- Block 7 is Block 5 from the original game with added extensions.
- Block 8 contains the outdoor Phantom Bat bridge from the original game, as well as the last stairway section used in the original and many other games.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Entering your name as NOMIS turns you into this until you find some meat.
- Orchestra Hit Techno Battle: The final boss track "You Goddamned Bathead!
" - Our Homunculi Are Different: They appear as tiny creatures that burst out of vials.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: This is the only female werewolf in the series to date. How does she compare? The typical series werewolf uses charging attacks, fireballs and a ground pound. This werewolf rips the clock tower apart trying to kill you.
- Pretty in Mink: Chronicles Simon has a sexy fuzzy collar. Or half of one.
- Regional Bonus: The western release of Chronicles includes a "Special Option" featuring an Illustration Gallery by Ayami Kojima with pieces for the game and the PlayStation and Saturn versions of Symphony of the Night that unlock as Arrange Mode is progressed as well as an Interview with Producer IGA.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Fake Simon wields a snake as a whip.
- Scenery Gorn: Block 7 is given a much bloodier overhaul from the original Castlevania's Block 5, complete with hanging, partially dismembered corpses and gory body parts left on several operating tables.
- Shout-Out:
- The original guy who Looked Like Orlok can be seen in the background of Stage 9, frozen in a block of ice.
- One of the programmers basically stated that the armor of the skull knight enemy was based on Chun-Li.
- Snake Whip: Fake Simon wields a snake in lieu of a standard whip.
- Stalactite Spite: In Block 2, the underground level.
- Subverted Innocence: One of the later rooms is an art gallery that starts off with a colorful mural of an outdoor scene on the back wall (it even changes season based on the time of year). The beauty of the area doesn't last.
- Symbolic Blood: Fake Simon—his becomes a fountain of broken glass upon defeat.
- Tears from a Stone: A large statue produces Bloody Tears. They turn into red skeletons, too. Guess what BGM plays in that level (which is Block 4 by the way)?
- Theme Music Power-Up: The epic Theme Of Simon Belmondo rendition that plays in Block 8 of Arrange Mode.
- Toy Time: The second half of Block 6 is the Tower of Dolls, where toys come to life and attack you.
- Vampire Hunter: Simon Belmont, as per series standard.
- Video Game Remake: The game was yet another remake of the original NES Castlevania on X68000, which was itself then remade for PlayStation 8 years later.
