Thanks to Game Developers Conference taking place in San Francisco last week, Games Radar was able to score a rare chance to sit down with Koji "IGA" Igarashi, the current producer of the Castlevania series. Though he was more than prepared to discuss the upcoming Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP, Games Radar managed to tease details on the future of the series, namely its next generation installment, out of him.
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood strikes a balance between adhering to Castlevania’s traditional linearity and introducing quiet innovations.
This game is certainly one of my favourites and highly recommended to those who have the means to play it.
As far as classic Castlevania goes, Rondo of Blood is the apex of what can be done with the franchise. Every facet of its design contributes to crafting one of the tightest action-platformers in the genre. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood serves as a natural evolution of the series’ core concepts. In emphasizing Castlevania’s overarching narrative, adding branching paths to stages, and opting for a more dynamic color palette when compared to its contemporaries, Rondo of Blood not only fine-tuned the Castlevania experience, it laid the groundwork for the direction the series would take following Symphony of the Night’s release.
I will always cherish Super Castlevania 4 as the series pinnacle. The audiovisual experience is not surpassed of yet.
By the early ’90s, the Castlevania series had established itself as one of the big-name platformer franchises like Mega Man, Mario, or Alex Kidd. Despite starting on Nintendo’s Famicom Disk System, the franchise made its way onto the Game Boy, arcades, and Sega Genesis as well.
If there’s one Castlevania title that’s become a bit of a cult hit, it is Rondo of Blood, mostly due to the fact it wasn’t available outside of Japan till well over a decade later. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is the last of the classic Castlevania titles before the series found its new niche in the action RPG genre ala Symphony of the Night, and it’s also one of the best classic Castlevania games.
