The Castlevania series is one of the most acclaimed in gaming, but for a time, some of the games were not released outside of Japan. Among these was the excellent PC Engine entry, Rondo of Blood, a game that took 14 years to see an official international release. While the game was darker than the previous games, both in terms of content and storytelling, the reason it was Japan only wasn’t due to censorship but rather it was due to the game being only released on the PC Engine CD. The western equivalent, The Turbo Grafx 16 was failing in the west by the time the game came out, and so we initially missed out on this. Thanks to re-releases and better importing however, we now can play the game in all its glory.
Rondo of Blood was an excellent follow-up to the games that came before. While It did not have the full direction whip movement that Super Castlevania IV had, it had a lot of other things to offer instead. Branching paths, new weapon techniques and secret characters were among the innovations to the series and made this a game that you would replay repeatedly. The game was challenging in a great way and had amazing bosses that kept you on your toes. In general, the enemies had much better variety and were not held back by censors this time. The gameplay in general was amazing, because there were so many ways you could go about things. You could use your sub weapons in new ways such as the item crash or play as Maria who had an incredibly unique playstyle, both of which provided a much different Castlevania than what had ever come before.
The music in this game was also a standout, and it was thanks to being on a CD system. I would even say that this game has the best music in the entire series, with some of the most iconic incarnations of the famous tunes. I would even go so far as to say they are better than the game’s direct sequel Symphony of the Night. They just sound so amazing and it is clear that the team went all out with the presentation. The visuals and animations were also of a much higher quality and all of this added up to an excellent game.
What was most notable however, was the story. The story of this game directly led into Symphony of the Night as mentioned above, and therefore the Sorrow duology. I would say that this is one of the most important games in the entire series. It brought the narrative forward in a new way, it brought new gameplay mechanics and ideas, and it gave the game a vastly superior presentation than what had come before, which pushed developers of the later games to do better. While Super Castlevania IV was a perfection of what came before, and Bloodlines took a different look at the formula, it was Rondo that laid the groundwork for the series movie forward.
I encourage you to seek out this game and try it for yourself. It is available on the Wii virtual console, and the PS4 among other services. It is a truly excellent experience and one that everyone should try.
In addition, for access to an extensive variety of active retro gaming groups on Facebook, visit Retro Gamers Hub.