7-20-1995		7-21-1995
	2-22-1996		-

1792. Once again Lord Dracula has returned, and has razed the village home of Richter Belmont. He also has kidnapped Richter's love Annet, and the young vampire huntress Maria Renard. And now fueled by both duty and destiny, Richter sets out to free his loved ones, and end Dracula's evil plot. He garners the great Vampire Killer whip of his ancestors, and makes for the dreaded castle.

Dracula X was released on the SNES in 1995. It is something of a remake of Akumajo Dracula X Chi no Rondo, released in Japan on the PC engine. The differences were the taking out of the other villagers that were kidnapped, the removal of the dark priest Shaft, Maria no longer being a playable character, and a complete level redo. There is also fewer levels than that of Chi no Rondo. But for America at the time, this was the prequel for Symphony of the Night. The two games do share the similar story line, minus all the removals. But because some played Symphony of the Night first, the flashback made little sense when they played Dracula X.
Well, Dracula X is definitely the best of the best from the NES/SNES generations in many ways. There was a bit more story development than before. In this title, your main character, Richter Belmont, has a purpose for going through the game, outside of defeating Dracula. Dracula has kidnapped his girlfriend, and her sister. This seemed to give the player more of a want to see the good triumph over evil. And there was also a few innovations in Dracula X that would be found in later titles. The biggest was the introduction of the "Item Crash". This is a powered up version of the Sub-Weapon attack. Depending on the weapon used, the item crash could cover the entire screen, or attack in a single area. Richter was a more agile character to control. His jumps seemed more ranged, and he could do things such as back flips to avoid enemy attacks. Also in most cases, if he was crouching, his damage taken did not send him flying back. This was a relief for those who got hit back, and landed in a hole, water, or something else that made them die. Dracula X is also one of the first titles in the series to remove the time limit for completing the stages. This was also seen in "Castlevania: Bloodlines" released a bit earlier on the Sega Genesis system.
Graphically, this was the best Castlevania up to that time. It had a great palette of color range, and the backgrounds and sprites are definitely some of the best yet to come. They were so well done at the time, it is easily noticed that they were taken directly from Dracula X, and placed right into Symphony of the Night. Just going from Castlevania III, to IV, to Dracula X, the jump in graphics is perhaps some of the greatest of any series.

    

The music also was taken a few steps up, in terms of sound and quality. Though it is not on the same level as Chi no Rondo, this is mostly due to the limitation of the cartridge. Still the great mix of pop, rock, and symphony has been beautifully done in this title. There was also some re-issues of older songs from previous titles, such as the Boss victory jingle, and the game over music gave a bit more connection to the series, as well as a retro look back at the series, while plowing ahead in leaps and bounds.
If you have not seen this title, you should find a means to get it. It is truly a spectacular game to play. If you would prefer the original Akumajo Dracula X Chi no Rondo, you can easily find it on Ebay, but it has been known to go for $100.00 or higher. Might I suggest the Dracula X chronicles for the PSP for the Chi no Rondo. It not only contains a official retranslation, and update of the game, but it also includes Symphony of the Night, as an unlockable game, as well as the original version of Chi no Rondo.