Castlevania: Dracula X occupies an interesting place in Castlevania lore. You may recall that Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was released for the Japan-exclusive PC Engine in 1993. That game featured branching paths (kind of like Dracula’s Curse), three characters to rescue, and the ability to play as one of the rescued characters (Maria Renard). Dracula X is an SNES “demake” that was released in 1995. The level design is inferior, there are only two alternate levels, and Maria is not playable. Dracula X does not feature the gameplay improvements made to Super Castlevania IV, so it feels like a big step backward.

There are a few things left over from Rondo, including the character sprites. Richter’s awkward backflip is present, although it’s unusually finicky to activate in the heat of the moment. The Item Crashes, which feature large-scale magic attacks unique to each subweapon, are also carried over, and they’re very easy to abuse (this is a good thing).

There are big sections in this game where I genuinely wonder how anybody got through without save states. Enemy placement is often cheap and there are way too many sections that involve platforming while dealing with Medusa Heads. Maybe old age and the convenience of modern technology has made me soft, but seriously, if you’re trying to save Maria and Annette, the game is just plain brutal. Richter doesn’t have a short period of invincibility after being hit, unlike other Castlevania games, so he can actually be juggled to death between knockbacks. The music is really the only saving grace, but for the most part, these are remixes of classic Castlevania tracks you’ve heard before.

Ignore Dracula X and play Rondo (on Wii Virtual Console) or Super (on Wii and Wii U Virtual Console). And if you absolutely must play this, use save states like they’re going out of style.