Topic: Is Dracula XX really that bad?

[Unknownsou]

So I've never played through Dracula XX, and I'm a little curious... but the game has a bit of a reputation, to say the least.  Is it really as bad as some people make it out to be, or is it just chided because it's not the PC Engine game?

[Ridureyu]

It's a fun game.  It's just inferior to Rondo.  I'd put it at about Bloodlines level, although it's a different game.

[Ahasverus]

I't like The Adventure rebirth. Fun, but made with a very rigid template.
Still one of the better adventures in the whole SNEs library

[Profbeanburrito]

I've always liked it. Not as good as Rondo but much more challenging. You should definitely try it

[Ridureyu]

It's certainly less "in-depth" than Rondo - very few alternate exits, for example.  As far as improvements or difficulty changes go:

-The crumbling bridge is in stage 2, not the next-to-last.  Instead of being chased by bats, you are harrassed by severely inopportune fishmen.

-I love the Dogether and all, but Cerberus is actually somewhat of a challenging boss (at first).

-The Shaft standin certainly is no Shaft, but it's a really cool and creative boss fight.  Yoiu have to be on your toes, or he will wreck you.

-Bosses in general are less susceptible to "stand in place and spam until he dies."

-They made the Giant Bat intimidating.  Hit him at the wrong time, get swarmed.

-Using the key to free Maria and Annette is now much tougher.  You have to keep that Key through a pretty good chunk of gameplay, including a NASTY platforming segment (fail and go to an alternate level) and the Dullahan boss fight.

-The sinking temple stage is very tough.  Good use of water skulls, and the "sinking" part of the stage is nerve-wracking.

-Better graphics for the burning village.

-Fighting Death on top of the clock tower face is MUCH cooler than fighting him on a boring old pirate ship.  The battle is essentially the same, althoughg he loses his background-to-foreground skulls (since the clock face is in the background, he would have had to shoot through it).

-There is one specific platforming moment in the last stage that will have you tearing your hair out, old school-CV-style.  Two moving paltforms, medusa heads, and an angry axe armor at the end. SO simple, yet so hard not to fail.

-The Dracula battle is much improved in difficulty.  Why?  Because now it's platforming hell!  if you don't choose your positioning wisely, you will die. T he axe is also now the best weapon for this fight.

-Dracula's second form is not as cool as his second form in Rondo, but it's a little harder to deal with partly due to the platforms and partly his slightly different movement patterns (he flies forward, and moves more than the old one jumped).

There you go! I do prefer Rondo of Blood overall, but Dracula X has some definite good points.

[darkwzrd4]

It's an ok game.  The Dracula fight is really annoying because you are platforming and getting hit can knock you into a pit causing instant death.  Plus, the best sub-weapon is not the cross, but the axe.  The only thing that was better than Rondo was the background fire effect on the first stage.  I mean it's really spectacular.

[X]

I liked the SNES Dracula X despite the fact that it is inferior to it's TG-16 predecessor. The SNES color pallette IMO is much better and gives the game a more in-depth feel like it was with SCV4 rather then the bright & cheery 'Turbo Graphix' it first appeared on. And the game is a lot tougher: if you have played Dracula X before RoB then RoB is that much easier to breeze through. I was disappointed that only two of the four characters were cut from the final release as the story shouldv'e had all four girls to rescue and you shouldv'e been able to use Maria. But since you rescue her so far into the game then there's really no point in playing as her. The game's anime cut-scenes were also not included which was also a cheap move since the main story kind of relied on them. Instead they gave you an intro and an ending (depending on how many people you've rescued). That's it. The music wasn't bad but the TG-16 music was much better however, the SNES was able to loop their songs where-as the TG-16 gam played the song from begining to end and then it cycled up once more which I found annoying. And another unfortunate thing is Richter's whip. In RoB it glows like the vampirekiller should, but it was left out in the SNES port 

-X

[VampirehunterB]

I liked it just as much as rondo, perhaps even more because it has a speical place in my heart..it was the first CV game I ever played! I just wished that it was much longer..

[A-Yty]

No, it's not terrible. It just pales in comparison to Rondo. If people play it without having played Rondo before, I think most will think it's not bad at all.

[Chernabogue]

I like Dracula XX. It was a cool game.

[Sumac]

I played both games, but like Drcaula X better.
It's harder. Bosses are more dangerous, than their ROB counterparts (most of them were cakewalk). Especially Dracula, who was the simpliest boss in the Rondo in BOTH of his forms.
Graphics is a bit better. I liked SNES arrangements of the music much more than ROB versions.
Rondo has more variety, but while DX is more straightforward, it's more difficult and more interesting.

P.S.
Never liked ROB Maria, so I don't care that she wasn't included in the DX. Nothing of value was lost, IMHO.

[Ridureyu]

Rondo stage 5' gave me a whole lot of trouble, but yeah.  Generally speaking, when Dracula X decides it wants to be difficult, it doesn't screw around.  You die.  You die in a fire.

[Mike Belmont]

The only bad thing that I find in Dracula X, is that is too short than RoB (even SCVIV is larger). And the art in the intro and ending (and credits) I find it terrible. The only thing that I miss from RoB, is the beggining of the first stage (Veros town, I believe. If I´m wrong, tell me, please), because is the same as the town in Simon´s Quest. Also, the different paths (which give you different ways and bosses) are missing.

The good things, that I like it more in Dracula X, are the music (Bloodlines, Cemetary, The Den, and Dance of Illusions) and the mayority of the graphics. The bosses are awesome. I like the Death and Dracula fights. And hear Dance of Illusions (the best Dracula fight track, next to CoD Toccata into Bload-soaked Darkness, in my opinion ) while you fight Dracula in that pillars, is simply amazing. Maybe you need more strategic in this fight, but is very challenging (don´t forget to get the pork roast, or leg of werewolf if you prefer, in the left side of the room ).

In other words, CVDX is relatively inferior to SCVIV in terms of lenght, and character movement (more free in IV than in more DX more classic movement). I like SCVIV more than DX. If only this one have all the stages like in RoB, it would be really great.

[capkcan]

its not

[thernz]

DXX sported some really bad level design coupled with a blander, even though it was technically better, aesthetic than Rondo imo. I thought there were a lot of boring spots, nonsensical platforms, and lack of flow. Plus, Richter controls more sluggish in a step back from Rondo and SCIV when the enemies are basically the same from Rondo, so it adds a level of cheapness.