Part of the "Dracula X" storyline, Rondo of Blood is a Japanese-exclusive entry in the Castlevania series of horror platformers that takes place a century after the original Castlevania.
So begins a new series of Octurbo. Figured I might as well start with one of the best acclaimed PCE-CD originals, from one of the most prolific video games series that still sorta exists. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was released in 1993, but while it looked like a SNES game (like 1995's Dracula X, coincidentally enough. That one was based on this game) it certainly didn't sound like one. The game had Redbook audio, which essentially means the music was encoded like it would be on a regular audio CD that you could, once upon a time, buy from a store without feeling like a 50 year old. Now, I'm plenty fond of the chiptune stuff, but full CD quality Castlevania music is something to behold even now, and it must've seemed insane to hear it in a video game for the first time those twenty plus years ago.
Rondo follows the adventures of a new Belmont, Richter, as he chases after a freshly resurrected Lord Dracula in order to rescue his kidnapped fiancée Annette. Along the way, he can rescue a few other damsels in distress, but the game keeps them well-hidden for the sake of adding a bit of longevity; you have to seek them out through alternate paths and the like, and the game's not fully complete unless he saves all four, including Annette. There's a few other novel features too, but I'll get into them in the screenshots below. Importantly, this game is the direct predecessor of Symphony of the Night, perhaps the best Castlevania game ever made -- it can be a toss-up between that one and this one, depending on who you ask.
I'm half wondering if I should've left Rondo of Blood for last, partly so I could cover a horror game closer to Halloween and partly because I have to assume that it's all downhill from here. Still, you really ought to start with a showstopper. I'm sure that's how that phrase goes.
Rondo. It's Got What Vampires Crave.
Before we wrap up, however, here's a few bonuses:
And that's Rondo of Blood, or at least the first half of it. Well, the first quarter if you don't count all those alternate paths. There's a lot more to the game than meets the floating eye, it seems.
One of the new things I'm doing with this season of Octurbo is adding a few links to the game's music, if it stands out. In most cases it will. The redbook audio element of CD-based gaming is what a lot of developers jumped on when considering ways to take advantage of the new format, and so a lot more thought and money went into producing soundtracks.
Here's a smattering of tracks from the few stages I played of Rondo of Blood. It's mostly classic Castlevania music that has been dolled up to the nines:
Holy Hell does this game look so goddamned pretty. And that music... The wagon entrance in particular really sets off that adolescent ''FUCKIN' BEAST MATE'' part of my brain <3 Also, axe sub-weapon forever. Though I've also always been rather fond of the holy water too. Man, I really wish this game could get ported to frikkin anything else. For what is such a beloved classic it sucks how restricted it is.
You can play as Maria in Portrait of Ruin too, and it sounds like she plays exactly the same as she does here. Though given this series' penchant for recycling sprites right down to the character's weird limitations or even 'strengths' (like how Alucard is the only character in DoS' Julius mode who can sit in chairs), it wouldn't surprise me if she's quite literally the very same asset. Also... is she supposed to be the same character as the lady who's trying to save Richter in SoTN?
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