Topic: Castlevania SOTN vs Dracula X: Rondo of Blood... Which game is the best?

[TheForthcoming01]

I am new to the entire Castlevania series and I have played
through a little bit of SOTN (Sympthony of the Night) and also Dracula X and I must say
that both games impressed me a lot and Dracula X seems to be a forerunner
to SOTN. They both have great gameplay, graphics, sound, controls and
the difficulty is neither to easy or hard but a little in between and both games
are easy to learn to play. I took into account Castlevania Chronicles for the psp btw.

But one question remains.... Which classic Castlevaia game is the best one?

I myself would have to go with Dracula X Rondo of Blood though
the Sega Saturn version of SOTN with Maria in it and some extra
levels like the garden one almost made me pick it first but it is my 2nd
choice followed by my 3rd choice for SOTN on the Sony Playstation 1.

I strongly agree with Chi no Rondo's review of Dracula X

Dracula X Rondo of Blood has a better intro then SOTN does. Both SOTN and Dracula X
Rondo of Blood have prologues in them at the beginning of the game
and both are equally awesome though SOTN's one is a tad bit better imo

The intro is one of the best on the Turbographix 16 [PC Engine in Japan].

SOTN review from gamefaq pros and cons:

PROS & CONS

PROS
- Sweet graphics
- Cool music to each area of the castle
- Nice voices when the character talks
- Good storyline

CONS
- Same sword strike for most of the swords
- When using the Teleporter you have to keep pressing up to get to your destination

10/10 score and review by 934400.

Dracula X Rondo of Blood review:

Graphics: The best the PC Engine has to offer. Cool Item crashes, enemy animations, bosses, backgrounds, title screens, cinemas, everything is perfect. A benchmark of 16 bit games. 10/10

Sound: The games shining achievement. Perfect sound. Music, excellent with all the classic tunes and awesome new ones. The boss songs are too awesome to even talk about All of you with that Castlevania soundtrack are lucky! The SFX are awesome too, voices, breaking glass, the crack of the whip, all CD quality goodness. 10/10

Playability: Impeccable controls, and with only a 2 button controller! Castlevania games have always been known for excellent controls, and this game is no exception. It has so many alternate paths and secrets, you'll keep coming back til you hit that 100%. 10/10

Fun: One of my "top 5 funnest games ever". I've had it for a long time, and i still play it all the time. For all of you who own a Turbo Duo, you owe it to yourself to do anything you have to to get this game, you won't regret it. 10/10

Overall, this is probably either my first or second favorite game ever (the other is SOTN), and everyone pray that it gets a re-release on the PSX or something. 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10 by Chi no Rondo on gamefaq.

Let's compare both games shall we?

http://www.castlevaniadungeon.net/Games/rondo.html

vs

http://www.gamefaqs.com/turbocd/589264-akumajou-dracula-x-chi-no-rondo/reviews/review-96494

And

http://www.castlevaniadungeon.net/Games/sotn.html

vs http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/196885-castlevania-symphony-of-the-night/reviews/review-104654

Castlevania Dracula X: Rondo of Blood Part 1

Castlevania - Symphony of the Night Intro

And

Castlevania SOTN for Sega Saturn - Underground Garden secret area

[crisis]

You are asking a near-impossible question! Both games are equally awesome, & this debate can go on forever and ever (which it is). I guess I love both games equally... it's like asking a parent which is their favorite child.

I also think the Saturn NitM is kinda overrated; sure it has those extra areas but the overall experience was inferior to it's PS-X counterpart IMO.

Also,

CONS
- Same sword strike for most of the swords
- When using the Teleporter you have to keep pressing up to get to your destination

made me LOL

[TheForthcoming01]

Thanks for your input Crisis!

I feel the same way almost and wanted to call it a tie lol.

But at the end of the day I felt I had to choose one.

And Dracula X even though it's not as big as Sotn is
still the best one imo.

And yes it is like choosing one child over another,
or a pet over another pet or even the sky over the ocean!!

But a choice had to be made I felt. I hope this post
does not make any CV fans and veteran CV fans mad at me.

[X]

For me, it's difficult to chose one over the onther. I like'm both and both have their pros & cons. Rondo was a well, worth wait to play, but what dragged it down for me was that some of the stages were too short and it lacked the full functionality of it's SNES predesessor: SCV4. SotN was a stunner when I first played it. Not only was it a sequal to Rondo, but the graphics, sound, gameplay, story, etc. worked well for it. However the game does come off as being too easy at times. The only time I had trouble was facing off against Galamoth...until I found the Beryl circlet 

-X

[TheForthcoming01]

Good points X.!

[Munchy]

Depends on whether you want to explore or just blast through stages. I play Rondo more often myself.

[Vlad_TepeZ]

I like both. As said, it is hard to decide. They are two very different games. It's like Tetris or Solitaire

[whitedragon_nall]

I'd have to side with RoB...though both are fantastic games. As a fan of the old-school style, RoB was the perfect blend of gameplay, atmosphere, and music. The difficulty is rather easy when compared to older games though. I still play it constantly and it's short enough that I can just pick it up and play through it to the end without stopping.

SotN is like the child of RoB. It has most of what makes RoB great, but loses the level based gameplay. It's more expansive than RoB, but whenever I start a new game, I feel like I have to finish it...that's not the case with RoB. I do feel it is the most immersive Castlevania game out there though. It took the formula from Metroid and made it it's own and created a castle that is truly fun to explore. Lots of secrets and easter eggs made searching the castle a blast.

Like I said earlier, both game are fantastic, but RoB is slightly ahead for me.

[TheForthcoming01]

Good points everyone and whitedragon_nall I thought you
were talking to me lol  

I have to agree with you though on this one.

And hey Rondo of Blood spells out my first name!

 

[TheForthcoming01]

And by that I mean Rob 

[shelverton.]

They're a bit too different to be compared.. but if I had to choose I'd say Symphony. It's the game I keep coming back to because it's so darn classy. Rondo is one of the best classicvanias ever made, but compared to the likes of Dracula's Curse and Super Castlevania 4, it falls short. Meanwhile, Symphony is the best "metroidvania" ever made. So yeah, it's SotN for me.

[TheForthcoming01]

Sotn is the 2nd best Castlevania game ever made but
that's just my opinion hehe.

[shelverton.]

Sotn is the 2nd best Castlevania game ever made but
that's just my opinion hehe.

Yeah, it's the 2nd best in my opinion too, but I meant it's the best of the "metroid" style Castlevanias. The best one ever, for me, is Super Castlevania 4. 

[CristopherLee]

I always prefer Rondo 

[Innovator]

I also think the Saturn NitM is kinda overrated; sure it has those extra areas but the overall experience was inferior to it's PS-X counterpart IMO.

?? Absolutely not. The Saturn game is the best of all versions, thanks to the Godspeed Boots which allow to walk faster. Really important with such a boring-slow character in such a big castle to overcome.

Also musics are far better, including very cool arrangements of past themes. The Prison music is one of the darkest music in all Castlevania history. New enemies and areas are a nice add too. It combines both Original elements (the complete set of Familiars, etc etc) and New elements which make the perfect SOTN version.

Why is it inferior ? Apart from little download between Castle areas (ultra short waiting), I don't see any problems when playing it. That's the rumor, that's all. And entirely Japanese so American people don't like it.

What is funny is to read the same stupid things again and again from forums to forums.
One say, all repete the same. PS-X ? I don't know what it is, apart from a mistake which is integrated in all non-thinking player brains. PSX exists, but it's another project and has nothing to do with a Playstation with surname is PS only. Just check Nintendo's past collaboration with Sony : it was THAT, the PSX.

Oh well...I have to play God of War III on my PS-X3.