1997:
   Nintendo Power
   Developed By: Konami
   Release Date: Japan - September 30th
Castlevania: Dracula X was one of the titles released for the Japanese Nintendo Power service, which allowed users to copy SNES games from store kiosks onto a special flash RAM cartridges.

2014:
   Wii U (Virtual Console)
   Developed By: Konami
   Release Date: Japan - April 23rd | North America - October 2nd | PAL Territories - November 13th
The polarizing SNES revision of Dracula X: Chi no Rondo makes its first Virtual Console appearance, specifically on Nintendo's Wii U.

2016:
   New 3DS (Virtual Console)
   Developed By: Konami
   Release Date: North America - December 29th
Castlevania: Dracula X arrives on the New 3DS Virtual Console just in time for the new year. The game is not available for play with previous 3DS models.

2017:
   New 3DS (Virtual Console)
   Developed By: Konami
   Release Date: PAL Territories - January 26th
For no reason in particular, New 3DS owners in Europe and Australia have to wait an additional month for Castlevania: Dracula X to arrive on their eShops.

2021:
   Nintendo Switch (Castlevania Advance Collection)
   Developed By: M2 | Published By: Konami
   Release Date: North America - September 23rd | Japan - September 24th | PAL Territories - September 24th | Korea - September 24th
Castlevania: Dracula X comes to the Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Castlevania Advance Collection. Check the Castlevania Advance Collection page for more information.

2021:
   PlayStation 4 (Castlevania Advance Collection)
   Developed By: M2 | Published By: Konami
   Release Date: North America - September 23rd | Japan - September 24th | PAL Territories - September 24th
Castlevania: Dracula X comes to the Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Castlevania Advance Collection. Check the Castlevania Advance Collection page for more information.

2021:
   Steam (Castlevania Advance Collection)
   Developed By: M2 | Published By: Konami
   Release Date: North America and Korea - September 23th
Castlevania: Dracula X comes to Steam as part of the digital Castlevania Advance Collection. Check the Castlevania Advance Collection page for more information.

2021:
   Xbox One (Castlevania Advance Collection)
   Developed By: M2 | Published By: Konami
   Release Date: All Territories (sans Korea) - September 24th
Castlevania: Dracula X comes to Xbox One as part of the digital Castlevania Advance Collection. Check the Castlevania Advance Collection page for more information.

2021:
   PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S (Castlevania Advance Collection)
   Developed By: M2 | Published By: Konami
   Release Date: TBA
Castlevania: Dracula X comes to Sony and Microsoft's next-generation consoles as part of the digital Castlevania Advance Collection. Check the Castlevania Advance Collection page for more information.

2023:
   Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 (Castlevania Advance Collection)
   Developed By: M2 | Published By: Limited Run Games
   Release Date: TBA
Publisher Limited Run Games releases three separate physical versions of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection for the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4 (it's also playable on the PlayStation 5). Check the Castlevania Advance Collection page for more information.

The setting: medieval Transylvania. Several hundred years have passed since legendary hero Simon Belmont defeated the evil Count Dracula and sealed him away for what was supposed to be eternity. The people have long since forgotten about the horror of the undead, thus allowing a few depraved individuals to restore the Prince of Darkness to his former state; sleeping in his coffin by day and preying upon hapless victims by night.

Dracula now plans to get revenge on his old enemy through his descendants by locking Annet, the girlfriend of Belmont's great grandson, Richter, and her sister, Maria, in his dark and gloomy castle.

Once aware of this, Richter takes his ancestor's sacred whip, passed down through the years from father to son, and sets out for Dracula's castle to rescue Annet and Maria, and to seal away the evil Count for good.

The at-the-time directorial staff at the helm of the Castlevania series was unable to port Akumajou Dracula X: Chin no Rondo (Rondo of Blood) from the PC-Engine over to its American counterpart, the Turbo-Grafx CD, because the console was dying a slow death outside of Japan. Due to confusing legal issues, they were also unable to port the title to other 16-bit machines. Therefore, eventually, they decided to work around the issues and supply to the SNES its own iteration of "Dracula X," a unique sampling of Rondo's award-winning formula.

That iteration is Castlevania: Dracula X, which supplies only a portion of Rondo's cast (Maria is not a playable character), thus a downgraded plot (Shaft's involvement is none), and a lower-quality (but very serviceable) soundtrack that's bereft of the full work; though it in return features all-new stage design and a new graphical style, it's still nothing more than a watered-down version of a masterpiece.

Despite its oft-argued-about quality, Konami presents to you classic stage-by-stage gameplay: You must control Richter Belmont through at least seven of the nine stages to reach the castle keep, where Count Dracula awaits your arrival. There exists two alternate endings that you can attain by increasing or decreasing the length of your adventure by one stage; depending on how well you explore stages three and four, you'll either save Maria, Annet or both and receive a good ending, or you'll fail to locate them and receive a bad one. At Richter's command is the usual, more basic Belmont arsenal.

Japanese Version
- There are the usual liberal ideas (of which Nintendo didn't approve and thus demanded changed) and slight name deviations for characters like Maria and Annet. Richter is of course "Richter Belmondo" rather than Belmont.
- There's more in the way of blood, particularly for Richter's death when his energy is fully depleted.

- Similarly, the Grim Reaper spews the red stuff when it takes damage; also, as it did in Rondo, the Reaper's head pops off when the scythe finishes falling after its wielder's death.

- The Warlock's tombstone projectiles feature crosses instead of faces, which means that the Japanese version does indeed reuse that Rondo tombstone sprite.

- When the boomerang is uncovered, it resembles more of cross, its true namesake, as it lay on the ground.

- The pre-title Konami logo screen is missing.
- Finally, there is no score tally at the end of each stage. (Thanks to Danny for some of this information.)

European Version
- This version, for apparent "continuity purposes," is titled Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss, which abandons the "Dracula X" subtitling but doesn't in any way change the game's story. In contrast to the American version, which is positioned as an introduction to the Dracula X universe and specifically Richter Belmont, the European version is presented more as a standard series sequel, directly following--the European localization might have thought--Super Castlevania IV.

Soundtrack

Links
Music Files: MP3
Soundtrack Release: Dracula Battle Perfect Selection Vol. 1, Dracula Battle Perfect Selection Vol. 2 and Castlevania Best Music Collections Box
Game Credits: Available

Lesser Enemies

Bosses

Dracula Forms

Supporting Cast