Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles

I've been kind of having this running boredom with Castlevania lately, where they give me some new IGA directed Metrovania, and I kind of look back over the last ten years and try to imagine why it is that I should be excited about that. Not that I've missed a beat, I mean, I've played every non N64 Castlevania since Symphony of the Night, and I have something of a love for SotN and Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow and even Portrait of Ruin, but for the love of god, these are all essentially the same games but with some different particulars and new game+'s. Curse of Darkness is in there, too, but it's a 3D Castlevania, so it's hard to make it appear in lists with 2D games.

All that to say, Dracula X Chronicles has rekindled the love because it's a remake of Rondo of Blood (one of the Castlevanias that never came to the US) that includes ports of Symphony of the Night and the original Rondo of Blood. The remake is, like the game it's based on, awesome as hell. I realize that's not exactly an unbiased opinion, but Rondo is essentially the missing link between the classic Castlevania and the modern Castlevania, and it's a critical link for people who give a shit about the series. This is the game to refer to when lamenting that modern Castlevanias don't pay any attention to platforming or that the RPG elements make the game too easy. Rondo has the branching structure and freedom to revisit previously explored areas that exist in later Castlevanias, but it does so without bloated level design found in those games, with their big areas populated by only a few weak enemies. Rondo emphasizes smaller levels where each encounter is important rather than one gigantic area where only bosses even slightly matter.

And I love the old-style Castlevania boss battles. They're designed to be played by a player with a set power-level (variable through his choice of sub-weapons) rather than designed for a general range of player level also taking into consideration his inventory of healing items and such. The old bosses require the player to recognize the pattern to win, rather than recognize the need to be level 99 and have a full inventory of healing items.

In short, absolutely play Dracula X Chronicles if you care about Castlevania and for some reason have a PSP.