Topic: Where's Dracula XX ??

[Kensuke]

In Reply To #1

AFAIK, Dracula XX is basically just a dumbed down retelling of Rondo. So there's no canon issues. For timeline purposes you got your official US remake in the form of DXC.

It would be like saying they need to remake Castlevania IV even though you have a remake of X68000. They both chronicle that period in Simon's life. If they're going to remake anything they need to remake CV2 and CV3. I'd also appreciate a remake of Bloodlines (which was Yamane's first  foray into Castlevania). I'm a huge fan of Bloodlines, and I don't think it gets the respect it deserves.

I also think the people that say DXX has better music than Rondo are under the influence of a controlled substance (no offense, but I've seen this way too often). It's the same damn music, except they had to downgrade it for the SPC700 chip. I think Konami did a phenomenal job given the technical limitations of the SFC/SNES (especially on how they did "Boodlines"), but it's nowhere near the quality of Rondo or DXC.

- John

[The Last Belmont]

It still should've been in DXC instead of that shitty-ass PEKE game.  I mean, what a waste of an unlockable that was.

LOL THIS IS WHAT IT WAS LIKE WHEN YOU DID NOT HAVE SYSTEM CARD LOL

I agree that's a mega waste of good space.

[Kensuke]

PEKE was a inside joke. Even when it was included in the PC Engine game it was an inside joke.

I thought it was kinda cute that included it for the benefit of completists and as a historical curiosity. It shows that Konami still gives a damn about its roots. Like an art gallery or something. Most people outside Japan don't even know what the hell a PC Engine was. Outside the Castlevania comunity and hardcore importers people are still convinced that there was CVIV and then we jumped directly to SotN.  :

I also sincerely doubt it took up that much space. Probably well under a megabyte.

- John

[The Last Belmont]

I think Konami did a phenomenal job given the technical limitations of the SFC/SNES (especially on how they did "Boodlines"), but it's nowhere near the quality of Rondo or DXC.

- John

I agree John, I have all the PC-engine dracula tracks on my pc and they blow what we hear in XX out of the water.

[uzo]

I agree with Jorge completely. I was hoping it would have been included. I thought the graphics and sound were better than Rondo. Music was different, and lower quality, but somehow that degraded sample 8 channel music strikes a warm cord in my heart.

[The Last Belmont]

I agree with Jorge completely. I was hoping it would have been included. I thought the graphics and sound were better than Rondo. Music was different, and lower quality, but somehow that degraded sample 8 channel music strikes a warm cord in my heart.

If you guys own the game you can always dl and emulator and rom of it and play it on your psp that way. Wouldn't be illegal if you own the cart.

[Kensuke]

I think at this point Konami doesn't care about Dracula XX anymore. So I doubt they'd really go after you if you downloaded it and gave it a whirl. Might as well try Bloodlines for the Genesis/Mega Drive too. Way back in the day there was a crackdown on 8 and 16 bit roms, but this seems to have died down a lot in the last 7 or 8 years. Maybe with the Wii Virtual Console you'll see the majors going crazy if they put their old games on it though.

Another thing that pissed me off about Dracula XX was the character artwork. I know a lot of people don't like the anime artwork, and I kinda see their point where Castlevaina is concerned, but I'll take Rondo's cheesy anime over the MARVEL COMIC BOOK crap that was in DXX. If you didn't know any better, you'd swear that DXX was a Konami of America attempt to make up for the fact that NEC/TTI couldn't get its shit together in the US.

Here's a YouTube video that illustrates my point. Note the debate going on in the comments area about what one had the better music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nygpN25smA8

Here's a video comparing "Bloodlines" in both the PCE and SFC versions. While the SNES version is *quite* good, the author reaches the only SANE opinion as to what one is better. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWAFtnYvgVU

- John

[The Last Belmont]

I think at this point Konami doesn't care about Dracula XX anymore. So I doubt they'd really go after you if you downloaded it and gave it a whirl. Might as well try Bloodlines for the Genesis/Mega Drive too. Way back in the day there was a crackdown on 8 and 16 bit roms, but this seems to have died down a lot in the last 7 or 8 years. Maybe with the Wii Virtual Console you'll see the majors going crazy if they put their old games on it though.

Yeah I remember the 1st crackdown back in the 90's, the older consoles like nes and snes are so old now though, the chances of them doing anything especially with a game konami seems to have forgotten are slim to none. I for one think nintendo should stay the fuck out of the whole situation, I refuse to pay money for a game I've already bought once, unless it's been totally updated, remade or their's a whole slew of extra stuff. Nintendo seems to be in the habit of releasing the same game 3 or 4 times on the same console, look at the nes classic or whatever they called the straight port nes titles, you got mario being released for like the umpteenth time on the gameboy and pacman which is available for everything being released for the gazillionth time, nintendo just needs to mind their own business, if they wanna charge people for games they've already bought that's their deal, they shouldn't ruin it for the rest of us who don't wanna go plug in our nes or snes and go through all the trouble of getting an RF to Audio/video colored cables converter, not to mention if someone has a busted system then they're pretty much screwed. And if somebody wants to dl an oldschool game(s) and they don't own the cart especially if it's really old like pre-n64/PS era, I don't see the harm, nobodies losing money, the games haven't been made for over a decade and if people want the game for the wii they're still gonna buy it, not to mention you have to know what all is required and how to get everything working, and also how to occasionally finetune your emulator if the rom requires specific settings or if you need some kind of extra software for the em to get the rom to play right. Nintendo has made so much money and would still be making tons and tons of money off current gen games, they really need to keep their asses out of rom downloads and just mind their own business.

[Steve]

In Reply To #1

AFAIK, Dracula XX is basically just a dumbed down retelling of Rondo. So there's no canon issues.

Maria's character was completely changed in DXX.  She went from a distant relative of Richter with Belmondo blood to Annette's sister and just another damsel in distress.  DXX also didn't include the character of Shaft.  (It didn't feature Tera or Iris, either, but Shaft is a character who actually shows up again, in Symphony.)

[Long John Silver]

Wouldn't be illegal if you own the cart.

Yes it would. Unless you dump your own copy it's illegal. It's like you have your own copy, but go and steal someone else's.

I know it's impossible to prove this but still, don't lie.

[Kensuke]

In Reply To #24

True. What I meant to say by there "is no canon issues" in omitting it. It's Rondo, but with certain subtile things changed. I think SotN established that Rondo is the TRUE telling of that story.

- John

[olroxshade]

In Reply To #16

Uhm...yes...DXX have that CV music Feeling, In personal I love the Oposing Bloodline from SNES than TG one...Rondo original sounds...like an anime soundtrack :/

[Kensuke]

In Reply To #16

Uhm...yes...DXX have that CV music Feeling, In personal I love the Oposing Bloodline from SNES than TG one...Rondo original sounds...like an anime soundtrack :/

Which would be kinda fitting, no? Seeing as they were going for the anime look in that game.

To each their own. I still don't see the need for an elaborate comparison though. It's the same exact music downgraded for the SPC700. If you listen to the video I posted you'd see that they went out of their way to make "Bloodlines" in DXX sound like "Bloodlines" in Rondo. It really comes down to sample quality and programming; not composition. Bloody Tears for instance sounds nowhere near as full on the SNES. A more fair comparison would be to compare Bloody Tears as done on the SPC700 in Castlevania 4 to the one that was done in Rondo and DXX. Different *compositions* of the same song. There it comes down to a question if you like the "slow gothic" sound in CV4, or the more upbeat version using in Rondo/DXX.

At least in DXC they made some major changes to a few of the compositions, which re-opens a debate. 

Once again, I'll grant they did a good job in the SNES version, but the overall quality just isn't there. You're comparing streaming Redbook audio to an 8 channel PCM chip.

- John

[The Last Belmont]

Yes it would. Unless you dump your own copy it's illegal. It's like you have your own copy, but go and steal someone else's.

I know it's impossible to prove this but still, don't lie.

but I've seen it posted alot on other forums and sites that if you own the game it's cool. :?

[Sonic_Reaper]

If you know anything about law or political science, you'll realize that "theft" relating to emulators and ROMs are soft laws (meaning, they're not written and included in a set of laws that lead and govern modern society), not hard laws.  This is why you get so many contradicting statements.  It's basically, "please don't use ROMs of emulators, it's stealing.  However, if you do, there's not really much we can do about it."  Plus the fact it's very difficult to trace ROM and emulator usage.