Richter Belmont, the most recent member of the Belmont family and the one who was destined to become a Vampire Hunter defeated Dracula in a bloody struggle five years ago. During the conflict, Richter came dangerously close to losing the love of his life, Annette, and aandMaria, Annette’s sister. Now that Richter has mysteriously disappeared, Dracula’s castle has miraculously returned, and Maria, now a young woman, sets out to find Richter; she is determined to find him. After this significant power shift, Alucard, Dracula’s son, is roused from his sleep in perpetuity and approaches the castle in search of explanations and to confront his father.
Rondo of Blood is followed immediately by its sequel, Symphony of the Night. In contrast to the other entries in the series, the game takes place in a castle, in which the player is free to roam around in any way they see fit, thanks to the several different paths available. However, specific regions of the castle contain artifacts that must be located to gain access to other areas. The gameplay focuses on action, although significant RPG aspects are now included. When the hero is successful in combat, they earn experience points, advances in level, and gain additional capabilities. In addition, players can find money within the game and purchase various add-ons for their characters. Players must equip their attack weapons, shields, and other relevant gear on a separate screen. Magic, secondary weapons, and a vast number of “special moves” that are carried out in a manner that is analogous to that of more advanced one-on-one combat games all play a significant part in the game.
The Underground Garden and the Haunted Path are two new locations added to the castle as part of the Saturn version. There is also a new playable character named Maria and several new music tracks that have been remixed. On the other hand, it does away with a couple of the graphical features of the PlayStation version, most notably actual transparencies. The version that can be found in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is the basis for the version that can be found on iOS and Android devices. This version features the Saturn version’s familiars and items. These modifications are not present in the other releases derived from the PlayStation version.
