Castlevania: Dracula X (Super Nintendo, 1996)

It amazes me how uninformed people are about this game, it's NOT a port to the TG-16/PC engine game, it's a sequel, hence the Japanese title Dracula XX. The levels are all new, but the majority of the weapons and enemies are taken directly from the TG-16 game.
Looking at the other 16-bit Castlevanias (CV 4, TG-16 DracX, Castlevania Chronicles, Bloodlines for Genesis), Dracula X for the SNES has taken one step forward and two steps back. Castlevania 4 let you whip in any direction, that feature is missing here (and missing in all the other games, actually). Bloodlines had exceptionally fast paced action and multiple characters, but these features aren't present here, either. And the TG-16 game was longer and had a bit more meat to it. This game feels more old-school than those others, the control and difficulty of combat feel a lot like the Chronicles/X68000 game.
The graphics here are solid, but nothing special, they are a bit bland in some areas. The sound is good as well, though not near the best of what the series has to offer. The control is a throwback to the NES games, slow but precise, you'll need to be on-target with your attacks to avoid damage from incoming enemies. One bonus to the control is the ability to do a backflip with a well-timed button press. This move is essential to avoiding certain attacks, and comes in handy to the advanced player in normal situations too, so learn it well. One odd thing about this game is that your recovery time after being hit is almost nonexistent, meaning that if you're surrounded by enemies, you'll bounce around like a pinball, taking damage the whole way. I'm not sure I like this feature, but it keeps you on your toes. The overall difficulty is high, this one's a lot tougher than CV 4.
Like the TG-16 game (and Richter in SotN), each item has a special and powerful "crash" move, for the knife the item crash causes you to fire knives in a continual stream for a few seconds, for the holy water the crash floods the screen with burning rain, damaging all enemies on screen. The crash moves, while powerful, use up a lot of hearts, so they are only occasionally useful.
So is this game fun? Yes, it is, and it's worth playing for any Castlevania fan, you just need to forget that you've played better games that were released before it. The boss fights are memorable, and the hidden levels help compensate for the game's relative shortness. Non-Castlevania fans might want to steer clear of it, though, the difficulty could be a turn-off and there are better games in which to start Vampire-hunting in the Castlevania universe. But if you're looking for a challenge, mosey on down to Transylvania, and bring your morning star with you.

this game is a rare find, that is why is costs $40-60 cartridge alone and
100+ complete in box. my advice to first time snes-castlevania players, get castlevania 4 instead it will be cheaper and it is a much better and far less frustrating game. dracula x is a challenge and at times frustrating one, i did beat the game twice but it is very difficult. the burning town on stage one lets you know right away that this game is no easy task. stage two the main hall is even tougher yet. stage three is where you will start to pull your hair out with the pillars and the medusa heads knocking you to an alternate level 4 where you don't want to be and if you get by that stage you will go to regular level 5 which is extremely difficult with the purple spear guards, they are tougher than some of the lower level bosses in castlevania four. if you are lucky not to fall to alternate level 4 from the pillars in level three you get a key, but since you have a this key you can't have a weapon and you will have to beat the boss who is no easy task with just your whip. if you beat him you will go to regular level four with the key. but if you die one time you will lose the key. if you are lucky enough to keep the key you can save maria and find the secret door to alternate level five. then you will be in for a treat where you play in a wonderful water filled lost city of atlantis. this is my favorite stage in the game. castlevania creators always did well with water stages. (this gamne, castlevania's 3 and 4.) the obligatory clock tower follows and if you save annette in level five (i won't tell you where she is) you will face off against an extremely difficult grim reaper at the top of the tower and if you are lucky enough to beat him and i was lucky just one time, the other time i beat the alternate boss, you head to stage seven and fight dracula on a set on pillers no less, making stage three seem like an almost nice memory. you can wait him out in his first form, by hitting him in the head with the ax as he comes close to you, and you can elimate the first form without losing energy but this takes a long time. his second form the demon form he can knock you off the piller to your death with a single blazing fireball. the ending if you are lucky enough to beat dracula is disppointing whether you rescue both girls or not. castlevania dracula x is really not worth all the money you have to shell out for the game collectable or not. it was a great accomplishment to beat such a tough game but in the end not really worth it. i actually considered quitting the game because level 5 the one with the spear guards was so difficult. one way to get through it is to keep getting that porkchop downstairs, if you keep getting nailed by the spear guards but this again takes such a long time. other than that avoid this level like the plague save the maria and go to the water stage. but a better thing to do is avoid this game and get castlevania 4 and super punch out!! as well you get two better games for the price of this one.

world best game review of year

one of the awesome game of the year fun to play if your inrested in this game i got say well u just can't get enough of this & take my word for it this game is awesome to play if your gamer & u don't what to play this is it i recommend on this game it so worth playing 10 out 10 perfect
plus beleave gamers i got the worlds greatest to the worst & take from me i just love even the world dumdest game could be awesome on my book to graphic well don't see the problem with but all i can is a job well done sound hmmmm i hear just it perfecly the music i think i love videogame music i just can't get enough of it & the gameplay well as u see its like i all ready knew how to play when i got it at the store ready if u don't beleave what i say then take look at the game 4 yourself if u don't like it then don't play it plus the video game company work hard everyday to make it just the way we want game to be made u did me proud game comanys u win my vote

Graphic 10/10
Gameplay 10/10
Sound 10/10
Music 10/10

In other just an awesome game of the year 0_0 ;D :/

This is the game for those of you who aren't fond of the anime look of the PCE Dracula X. The graphics (especially the background details inside the levels) are very good and each level looks creepy and gritty, it is a different art style than the more colorful Super Castlevania IV. The music is AWESOME! It's the same music from the japanese PC engine Dracula X, and it sounds very nice on the SNES.
You should be aware though, that the gameplay controls are a step backwards from Super Castlevania IV; you can't whip in eight directions, and the character doesn't move very fast on screen. This makes the game control very similar to the NES titles, but that's not a bad thing at all if you like a challenge!
All Castlevania fans should be proud to have this in their collection!

This game gets a bad rap for not being identical to the japanese PC Engine game "Rondo of Blood" but I say that's baloney because this is a very well made game and it offers a good challenge. Rondo of Blood was a CD based game so there was more storage than a super nintendo cartridge. given the limitations of the SNES i'd say that castlevania dracula x is an excellent game and well worth your time. just my two cents.