Bram Stoker’s Dracula is one of the most influential books ever written. It may not be the origin of vampires, but so much of vampire media to this day is based in some fashion on that 1897 book. Many interpretations or variations on that source material arose over time, adding to or compounding Dracula‘s legacy, and the same is also true of its titular character. Games are certainly no exception, but there’s an interesting wrinkle: the creation of an entire mythos surrounding not just the villainous vampire, but his castle. Most notably is the lineage of vampire hunters who take up an array of weapons and tools against the Lord of Darkness, with a very unconventional weapon serving as the centrepoint of said arsenal: a whip.

Castlevania‘s own lineage traces back to the earlier days of the hobby. The original Akumajo Dracula was first released by Konami for the NES in 1986 before being localised in the West as Castlevania the following year. From that moment onwards, the series was prolific, spanning two dozen games between then and 2014. Even though it’s been more than a decade since a new title, the franchise is far from dormant; collections of the games are frequently being re-released, and a very successful animated series is several seasons and spinoffs deep. Even when Castlevania itself falters, the imagery and iconography that the series has created remains active to this day. You don’t even need the collaborative DLC for Vampire Survivors to see just where the inspiration for that game came from, but adding said DLC makes it nothing short of a celebration of anything even remotely iconic about Castlevania as a series.

It’s a tentpole pillar of gaming’s legacy, and so we at Skybox were keen to dive deep into one of its more iconic and standout entries. Before Symphony of the Night shook the series up and went on to have a subgenre co-named after it, there was a game that fed directly into it: after all, you play the finale of it in the opening minutes of Symphony.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is the subject of the Skydive podcast’s fifth episode! So join us as we don the mantle of the Belmont clan and their whip-wielding prowess once more, delving deep into this 1993 PC-Engine game and digging into why it’s so beloved. We’ll be going through the full suite of mechanics and levels, the stories of Rondo and the greater Castlevania, as well as commiserating over the shared misery that is the Clock Tower level and its bat bridge. As always, here’s some introductions from the rest of the Skydive crew:

Brian:

My history with the Castlevania franchise is all over the place. I played several games like it when I was young, but the first proper series entry may have actually been Castlevania: Curse of Darkness on the original Xbox. Whether that was my actual first game or not, I quickly fell in love with the portable entries on Game Boy Advance, PSP, and DS, which were all heavily inspired by Metroid (a series I had long had affection for). The Soma Cruz games and Order of Ecclesia were standouts, and I did play the iconic Symphony of the Night, but it wasn’t until years later that I played Castlevania and Super Castlevania 4. Going backwards from the Metroid-inspired games to the linear side-scrolling action games is an odd way to do things, but I’m very glad we played Rondo for Skydive, because now this sits atop that pile for me; an exceptional game with hilarious anime-style cutscenes, very focused and satisfying action, and (mostly) great boss fights. Now I need to go back and find Dracula in each of his incarnations, beat him down with the Vampire Killer, drive a stake through his heart, and say, “Die monster! You don’t belong in this world!”

Lucas:

Rondo wasn’t my suggestion, but I was absolutely down for it the second it was brought up. This is a game I’m a total sicko for, my favorite in the series, and something I can tear into on both a gameplay and lore level with ease. There’s something appealing about the simplicity and earnestness of the Castlevania timeline, and Rondo is where that idea really started to take form, leading into Symphony and incorporating what came before as well. From Richter’s himbo energy to the anime stylings of its PC-Engine cutscenes, the whole presentation and sense of identity for the whole series is kicked up a notch. Combine that with the more creative mechanics, like the whip extension and backflip, and you get a complete package that defines the series into what it is today. I had a great time talking about it; give the episode a listen and play the game for yourself if you haven’t! 

Will:

I got into Castlevania because of my buddy Nick. We went to high school together, and ended up as roommates in college. He was super into Castlevania: Curse of Darkness on the original Xbox, really dug the DS games, and even had a soft spot for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, a game I remember watching him play in college. Lords of Shadow was actually the first Castlevania game I played myself a few years later. I know, I’m sorry. Any fondness I have for the series comes from watching Nick play those games… and the animated series. My wife and I both loved it, and it got us to check out the earlier games. 

My favorite Castlevania is and probably always will be Super Castlevania IV because it was the first 2D game in the series I played, but Rondo was something else again. I’d played it once before this Skydive, but this was a chance to really dig into what makes Rondo of Blood special before the series borrowed (okay, stole) Metroid’s structure. It holds up remarkably well, and there’s a joy to learning a stage and watching a sequence or boss that used to be really hard slowly transform into a speed bump. There’s a purity to Rondo (though as Lucas said, it definitely has some sauce) that the rest of the series afterwards doesn’t have, and a cinematic quality in the way it uses images to tell a story with minimal dialogue I wish more games would learn from. There’s a reason it’s still so well-regarded. If you haven’t played it, you should. It’s a remarkable game, and probably the best traditional Castlevania has ever been.

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