Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Also known as: Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Platform: TurboGrafx-CD Released in JP: October 29, 1993 Released in US: March 15, 2010 (Wii Virtual Console) Released in EU: March 19, 2010 (Wii Virtual Console) Released in AU: March 19, 2010 (Wii Virtual Console) This game has unused areas. This game has unused enemies. This game has unused graphics. This game has a hidden level select. This game has revisional differences. This game has hidden bonus content. This game has a prerelease article This game has a notes page

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was one of the few Japan-only installments of the Castlevania series. It was later reimagined as Castlevania: Dracula X for the SNES, localized as part of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for PSP, and given a sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

To do: Note any noteworthy regional differences besides the logo change that the localized version received. Apparently the Werewolf boss' death animation received minor censorship in re-releases.

Sub-Pages

Prerelease Info

Notes

Level Select

Enter X-X!V''Q as a save slot name to enable a stage select option in the menu. If this password seems familiar, it's also used in Symphony of the Night for that game's High Luck mode.

Boss Select

After the "Stage Select" option is available in the main menu, choose any stage you want, then highlight "Game Start". Now, hold Left + II + Select + Start on controller 2 and press II on controller 1. If done correctly, you'll jump straight to the boss of the level you selected.

If you enter the same code on Stage 0, you'll trigger an end-of-demo message. The text translates to:

For the PC Engine SUPER CD-ROM²
Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo
Coming Fall 1993
Stay tuned!!

(Source: yamada_arthur (cheat code))

Unused Sprites

Various icons. The first one has 龍 (dragon) written on it, while the third has 肉 (meat).

An odd little man.

An unused platform.

Perhaps meant for the "Peke" mini-game when the wrong system card is used while booting the game.

Early Maria sub-weapons (with final weapons below for comparison).

Unused Enemy

To do: The dragon's body can be seen by scrolling past the end of the first area. Does any unused code remain?

Unused sprites for a rather large lizard-like monster with what appears to be a beam attack. The image on the right is a mockup of how it would look in-game.

Partial data for this unused enemy is stored in the first section of Stage 1, and can be accessed if the game is forcibly scrolled past the end of the screen.

(Source: FlyingMudBlock (The Castlevania Dungeon Forums), setz (jul.rustedlogic.net))

Unused Stages

To do: Finish documenting these.

There are three full stages hidden in the game's data, which appear to be earlier versions of Stages 3, 4, and 5. They can be loaded by altering the game's asset sector address table. These stages are fully playable, but there are sound effect and sprite glitches, presumably due to them not being totally compatible with the newer core game code. There is also a Stage X, but it is not playable.

Earlier Stage 3

Minor changes can be found throughout the level, but the lower path is dramatically different and far more bland. Interestingly, this less-polished look better matches the design of the Stage 3 minotaur boss sub-stage, which looks somewhat out-of-place compared to the later Stage 3 design.

Unused Stage 3	Normal Stage 3

Earlier Stage 4

Large heart items mark the exits. Miscellaneous level layout changes.

Stage X

These sprites show that a stage was in the works with small objects. The hiragana fonts actually form a sentence: "God, give me strength" (神よ力を与え給え), which is the title for the game's second stage.

Super CD-ROM² System Card Error Easter Egg

If you try to boot the game using a 1.0 or 2.0 System Card instead of a Super CD-ROM²-compatible system, you will be shown a different castle than usual.

After a few seconds, the title will appear. The title is spelled slightly wrong in Japanese, as if being mispronounced.

Japanese	Translation
あくまぢょおどらきゅら X	Demon Castle Dracula X

The "X" has the furigana "ペケ" (peke), which is Kansai dialect for an X mark (a symbol often used to indicate wrong answers or "don't do this" warnings - or, in this case, an incorrect System Card).

Pressing the Run button while the castle is visible starts a game at "Stage X" with a very different art style.

Japanese	Translation
STAGE X 「血の因縁は SUPER CD・ROM²で なければ断てない」	STAGE X "The fated bloodline will fail without a SUPER CD・ROM²"

The enemies consist of these purple guys you can kill with your chain whip.

Maria is present at the end of the stage, saying "ゴメンネ" ("Sorry!") and jumping around. For better or worse, this is the end of this little mini-game.

Japanese	Translation
このCD ROMディスクは SUPER CD-ROM² 専用のゲームソフトです。 SUPER SYSTEM CARD で動作せて下さい。	This CD ROM is a SUPER CD-ROM² video game. Please set the SUPER SYSTEM CARD and try again.

In the versions of Rondo of Blood present in The Dracula X Chronicles and Castlevania Requiem, the message at the end was changed due to the different unlock conditions of this mode in each of them:

The Dracula X Chronicles	Castlevania Requiem
Press START button to quit this game	Castlevania Requiem does not support extra lives codes. Press Options to quit, cheater.

(Source: YouTube, Castlevania Wiki)

CD Warning

...But what does it mean? This game has text or audio that needs to be translated. If you are fluent with this language, please read our translation guidelines and then submit a translation!

To do: Check if any of the re-releases include this, which seems unlikely for obvious reasons. The VC version has been checked already and does not include it.

Inserting the CD into an incompatible CD player will play back a track featuring the voices of Maria and Richter Belmont, warning against blowing out the listener's speakers.

Revisional Differences

Opening

To do: Include a transcript and maybe a translation of both versions, as the script is significantly different.

The port of the game included with Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (both in Japanese and English), the later Virtual Console re-release and Castlevania Requiem replaced the German-spoken intro with an entirely new recording by a different voice actor. Additionally, the majority of the sound effects included in the track were redone.

Original	Rerelease