Akumajou Dracula X - Chi no Rondo

Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo for PC Engine CD is Konami's 1993 side-scrolling action game, released in Japan for the Super CD-ROM² system. Known in English as Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, it is the original Richter Belmont adventure and the tenth entry in the series.

Set in 1792, the story begins after Dracula returns and his followers abduct several women, including Richter's beloved Annette. Richter, heir to the Belmont clan's Vampire Killer whip, heads toward Castlevania to find the captives and confront the revived count.

Richter fights with the whip and can collect familiar sub-weapons such as daggers, axes, holy water, crosses, a stopwatch, and a Bible. Hearts power these tools, while the Item Crash technique lets a held sub-weapon be spent on a stronger special attack. Money, health-restoring food, and other pickups reward thorough exploration.

The game is built around distinct, untimed stages rather than a single continuous castle. Hidden exits and alternate paths can send Richter into different levels, changing the hazards, enemies, and bosses encountered on the way to Dracula. This structure encourages replaying completed stages to uncover routes and rescue every captive.

Among those captives is Maria Renard, a young Belmont relative who becomes a selectable second character once rescued. Maria is more agile than Richter, can double-jump, and attacks with animal-themed magic and her own sub-weapons, giving familiar stages a different rhythm and approach.

The CD format allowed the PC Engine original to pair sprite-based action with animated story scenes, spoken dialogue, and a large musical presentation. These additions gave its gothic locations and dramatic boss encounters a more theatrical feel while retaining the deliberate platforming and combat of earlier Castlevania games.

Chi no Rondo stands apart from the Super NES game Castlevania: Dracula X, which retells similar material with different levels and altered elements, and from the later PlayStation Portable remake. Its PC Engine version also leads directly into the era of the series that followed, with Richter and Maria returning as important figures in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.