Plot. A long time ago, Simon Belmont has sealed the fate of Count Dracula, and people enjoyed a long time of peace and prosperity. But wicked townsfolk, driven by madness they sold their souls to the devil, gather with a dark priest named Shaft, to sacrifice young maidens in order to revive Count Dracula. The vampire lord viciously attacked the town with his unholy legion, and captured Annette Renard, her sister Maria and two more maidens. Richter Belmont, burdened by his fate, takes his ancestral whip, and embarks on a journey to save his beloved Annette, and her sister, who wields mysterious powers. His mission: to save the people, his loved ones, and send Dracula back to the underworld.
Concept. The Dracula X Chronicles is a remake of Rondo of Blood. However, the gameplay is quite the same thing as the original, but with updated graphics, also the game features new sequences in which Richter encounters bosses, and also when he saves the four maidens captured by Dracula. They must go through ten different stages, to save the four maidens, and defeat Dracula. Players can get secret items that are actually original songs from the original Rondo of Blood game. Also they can get a secret item that allows them to play Symphony of the Night.
Music. The music of the game was re-arranged, and also players can get secret items that are music from the original Rondo of Blood. Players also have the choice of changing the stage music to whatever song they want, which I actually liked by the way.
Characters. Richter Belmont is the main character of the game, who was even more well known for his role in Symphony of the Night. Maria Renard is a playable character, but not in the SNES version. Also there are three maidens to rescue as Maria is the first one. Terra, a maiden who mistakes both Richter and Maria for a manifestation of God, while Iris, is the daughter of a village doctor. They both give upgrades to cross to different paths of every stage. And finally there is Annette, the fiancee of Richter and sister to Maria. There is something however, if Richter does not rescue Annette, she'll be turned into a Succubus like vampire, but if she is rescued, then he has to fight the ghost of Shaft.
Voice Acting. The voice acting in the game turned out to be good, but the dialogue scene between Richter and Dracula has drastically changed since it's famous one in the PS1 version of Symphony of the Night, which has become an internet meme. In the re-dub of SOTN, Yuri Lowenthal voices Alucard, in my opinion I think that the original voice actor is better. Yuri is known for his roles as the Prince in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and also for his role as Cecil in Final Fantasy IV and Dissidia.
Rantings. The Medusa heads continue to be a bother. I really can't stand them, and also the Harpy, and Skeleton Soldiers were a major bugger as well. The Hydra Boss was a major pain in the ass, I really was staggering having to destroy him. Also fighting the old bosses such as the Medusa Queen, Frankenstein, and others before Shaft was a major bother as well. The battle with Carmilla had one bother, this woman who comes after Richter and starts kissing him, draining him of hearts. Death's scythes continue to bother me up until this day. Also I was bothered that Richter does not have double jump, and Maria does.
Good Aspects. The game has a unique style, and I really love the remaking with 2.5 rendering of graphics, and also the 3D sequences in the intro and ending were very well done. Playing as two different characters was cool, but in a way I found Maria's sub-weapons to be kind of funny and crude. Well, the truth is Maria is still a child in Rondo of Blood, while in SOTN she's full grown. I was kind of appalled that they skipped the other intro before starting the game like in Rondo of Blood. I loved the narrating intro which I thought was very well made, and using German language was great.
Overall. Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles is a great PSP title, and it has a lot of replay value. Also Castlevania veterans can relive the memories of SOTN. For those who are unfamiliar with the saga, I recommend it to you. This game gets an 8 out of 10