Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

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			Tips: 91 Codes: N/A Passwords: N/A
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Quick Tips

Unlocking the Original: While the remake of the PC-Engine masterpiece is very welcome, there's nothing quite like the original. To unlock the old 16-bit version of Rondo, make your way to Stage 4, the Dungeon, and to the room with all of the swinging chained-spike-balls. Placed after a six-headed Bone Pillar is a swaying platform paired with another chained spike ball, followed by a wall whose bottom portion can be cracked to reveal a bomb; strike the bomb, which will destroy the entire wall. Continue to the right. When you see two crushing spike beds, jump onto the second and use it to reach the upper road. Continue along the high road until you reach its end and find the last floating candelabra, which you can whip away to reveal the Rondo of Blood game-disk. The original Rondo can now be selected for play from the Chronicles' main menu.

Unlocking Peke: Anyone who rushed home after buying Rondo of Blood only to discover that they lacked the proper system card will recognize the name (probably in a fit of rage). Failure to load Rondo with the System Card 3.0 would instead boot a short, mostly pointless demo that featured a cartoon-looking version of Castlevania and for playing through its lone stage a warning telling you what, exactly, you lack. Rediscover your "love" of this demo, called Peke, by clearing the "Normal Boss Rush" mode three times, after which you will receive its game-disk. Return to the main menu to select and play it.

Unlocking Symphony: To unlock Konami's other masterpiece, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, select Stage 3', the Graveyard, and head to right about the end--the long room before you enter the door that lead's the boss' chamber. This room has both a low and high road, the latter of which Richter can't reach normally. To cure this, have him equip a sub-weapon with upward mobility and chop down the hanging fungus, found at the room's start, to turn it into a platform; otherwise, arrive here with Maria and use her double jump to reach the high road. Standing at the far-right end of the high road is a tombstone, which when smashed will reveal the Symphony of the Night game-disk. The faithful port can now be selected for play from the Chronicles' main menu.

Boss Rush Mode: Though the "Boss Rush" mode is more associated with the modern titles--those in the genre of adventure-RPG--Koji and the gang have brought it back once more as an extra for the remake of its old-style classic. In short: Players can take control of Richter Belmont or Maria Renard and endure a gauntlet-style challenge against the game's bosses. There are three "Boss Rush" modes, all of which can be unlocked under certain conditions:

Clearing any version of the "Boss Rush" mode will earn the player a prize. Each mode is sanctuary to three prizes, earned through three successive play-throughs. You can earn the following items:

Make your way to the bottom-right corner of Aljiba (the Simon's Quest-lookin' town) and whip the lower part of the left wall to create a step. From there, jump up to the screen's far side and whip the wall's middle portion, which will crumble away upon being struck. Once you're inside the house, travel over to the left and drop into the gap; it leads down into the town's underground reservoir, which appears to have no exit. However, you can advance by clearing away the right wall and walking straight ahead (you can clear away the left wall, too, but there's nothing there except for a stone rose, which holds no treasure and is there merely to distract and misdirect you). After exiting into the well, ride the pulley-bolted buckets to its top and head through the door. There you'll find the lake bridge and alternate boss--the water dragon.

Shortly after you arrive in the main halls' second room, the behemoth will crash through the left wall and start to give chase. While fleeing to the right, drop down into any of the next three gaps you come across (advisably the third). All three lead down into the halls' watery underground (a section that is separate from the usual watery-underground area we access while traversing these halls), which expectedly is populated with scores of fishmen. To proceed to the alternate boss, all you have to do is continue heading right. The trek entails some tricky platforming rendered as much by the fishmen who dive out from the water often and seemingly at random; that's why it's recommended that you skip most of it by dropping down into the third gap.

It should be noted that you're not entitled to continue along the alternate route simply because you've located a single leg of it; rather, if you hope to remain on this route, you're going to have to continue finding the game's alternate bosses. That's what you'll want to do on the Lake Bridge--the game's first alternate stage. When you descend to the bridge's lower level and look around the right, you'll notice that there's a seemingly-traversable platform standing near the screen's edge; though, it's too far away for Richter to reach. Instead, you have to rely on another method: Head up the nearby stairway--to the second half of the bridge's upper level--and locate the remains of the deceased dragon whose spinal column is the only thing connecting two of the bridge's pillars. Any vertebrae stepped upon will collapse and potentially deposit you into the watery abyss below. However, you're going to need to collapse them and do so in a certain way; you'll want to collapse them to where the remaining parts are arranged in a certain way, with two or three leftmost vertebrae being left untouched. Now use the rightmost vertebrae as a launching point and take a leap of faith to the right; you'll fall to the screen below and land on the previously discussed platform. From there, continue heading right. A lone Armor Lord is all that stands between you and the alternate boss. Alternatively, if you have the high-flying Maria at your disposal, you can simply double-jump your way over the watery gap and not have to deal with the spinal bridge.

During your trek through the chapel, you'll arrive at a room that features giant candles whose wax frames act as foreground objects. What you'll want to do is make it to the end of this room without falling into any of its gaps (doing which will deposit you into the chapel's basement and rob of you of the chance to access the alternate boss) and do so while in possession of an axe (conveniently there's one of these in one of the room's first candelabras), a holy book or a cross. This will be made difficult by the ghosts and spear guards that clog up the surrounding space but especially by the slippery giant fleaman who will steal your sub-weapon if you make contact with him; striking him down or attempting to knock him into a gap will prove tricky, so you'd be better served to take him out with an item-crash--preferably the moment he appears onscreen. You'll need to hold onto one of the aforementioned sub-weapons because waiting at the end of this room is a scale-like lift whose use requires their destructive power. The lift is intended to carry you upward, but it can't do as much in its current state because it lacks a built-in overbalancing object. Its just your luck, then, that a large rock is hanging from the ceiling above the right car. While positioned in the left car, throw an axe or a holy book at (or use an item-crash for either of they or a cross in the vicinity of) the rock to dislodge it, doing which will cause it to fall onto the right car and subsequently elevate you to the room above. Once there, exit through the door to find the alternate boss. Alternatively, you can remove all of the stress and simply use Maria's high-jumping ability and natural bird attack to dislodge the rock.

At the graveyard's midpoint, you'll be tasked with jumping from one platform to the next while trying to avoid contact with the spiked balls that are attached to undulating chains. Though, you can completely negate these obstructions by striking their chains at about their center points. What you may not realize is that there's an added benefit to employing this tactic: When the chains are broken, the spiked balls drop into the gaps and fall through the area directly below--the one you traveled to get here; the second such spiked ball completely destroys what turns out to be a brittle set of blocks on the screen below, its violent drop clearing them away and opening up a secret passage. After disengaging the spiked ball, head back down to the area below and drop into the newly carved gap. You'll fall into a one-room cavern whose door leads to the alternate boss. On the way down, you'll necessarily make contact with the spiked ball (unless you're Maria and double-jump either left or right immediately upon entry), which now resides on the cavern's center platform, but don't worry about it--it's all for show, and you don't actually take any damage.

No matter which path you take through the dungeon, you'll inevitably enter into a room that houses a strange rotary device whose rebounding limbs are topped with a platform and spiked ball, respectively. To the right of it is a wall that houses a secret: If you strike its lower portion, the surrounding bricks will fall away and reveal a bomb. If thereafter you strike the bomb, its wick will light and soon after cause the bomb to explode, the resulting blast serving to clear away the entire wall! This allows you to access the alternate boss whose domain lies near the far end of the newly revealed section. Though, you'll meet some resistance in the form of troublesome combinations of axe knights and rotating spike chains.

The Mountain Range's is the game's most swiftly located and easily accessed alternate route. You come across it not more than a few screens into the stage and immediately upon entering its second section. There you see the upper portion of a waterfall and an endless stream of logs being carried across its surface and down its overhang. This isn't simply for show, no; in actuality, you jump onto any of these rafts and ride it down the entire waterfall! The trip lasts for about a minute, a span of time during which you'll have to deal with spear-wielding skeletons who also happen to be waterfall-surfing. It's important to stay alert, because you're required to jump to safety when you reach the section's end, lest you'll plunge into the abyss. Your signal for such is the sudden appearance of a hawk that's carrying a sign in its claws; you'll have to execute a timely leap to reach safety, and you'll have to do as much while making sure not to come in contact with sign in the moments before it becomes solidly embedded in the ground after being dropped by the hawk. After landing safely, head to the right--into the lake cavern. There you'll meet up with the Ferryman; when you enter onto his boat, he'll say, "I'll take you to a good place!" and row you over to traversable terrain. On this last stretch, you'll have to get a hold of a key (it's in a candelabra placed above a moving platform) while dealing with endlessly-spawning wavy bat swarms; if you're able to reach the area's endpoint with the key in hand, you can open the door to the boss' domain.

Rescuing Maria

Maria can be found on the second stage of the regular route towards Castlevania. In order to rescue her, you'll first have to find a key. When you reach the second part of the hall, the Behemoth will break through the wall and give chase, urging you to hurry. If you move fast enough, you'll find the key in the third candle you pass. Don't whip any other candles during this time, lest you'll risk uncovering a sub-weapon that'll cause you lose the key, and you won't have time to stop to retrieve it. When you enter the next room, you'll be forced downward to where the fishmen always lurk. At the end of the corridor, you'll find a locked door, which this key will definitely open. Inside, Shaft will be found holding Maria within a spell, ready to banish her. When you get close enough, he'll sense your proximity and disappear. You'll thus save Maria and open up the ability to play as the fiery youth from the title screen.

Rescuing Tera

Tera is being held on Stage 3', on the alternate route. After defeating the Three-Eyed Skull, head to the end of this long room. Below the door is a wall made up of four bricks. If you walk up to the wall and whip it regularly, nothing will happen. But if you whip the top brick first, you can crack the rest, progressively downward, which will allow you to enter the next part of the stage from a different entry point. When you enter into the next room, there'll be a stairway leading downward to where you'll find Tera praying. After rescuing her, just proceed back up the stairway, whip away the bloody-skeleton barrier (assuming you have the power to do so), and climb up on the skeletal limb of the long-dead dinosaur.

Rescuing Iris

Iris can be found on the alternate Stage 4. After you traverse an initial portion of the stage, wherein you will have dealt with frogs and ravens, you'll enter the bridge-filled woodland where you'll immediately see a little stone frog statue. Continue along the bridge until you see a blue frog; rather than kill the frog, get it to follow you to the right to where you can see six more frog statues with an empty pillar set between them. The blue frog will jump onto the pillar, after which both it and the six statues will sink into the ground. This somehow causes the middle part of the bridge to collapse, opening the way to a stairway that leads to a fishmen-inhabited cave. At the end of the cave is a gate blocking a chamber, from where Iris is being held in a small cabin.

Rescuing Annet

Since Annet was the most important person to Richter, Dracula has imprisoned her within the clock tower, Stage 7, which is located near the castle keep. After traveling over a long bat-infested bridge, you'll enter the first leg of the clock tower. Atop the first leg is a door that can be opened by striking the gear above it with your whip about seven times (as seen in Symphony of the Night). The door leads outside to an eagle's perch, where its tenant guards the key chained around its neck. After defeating the bird, it'll drop the key. Make your way to the next leg of the clock tower and climb it until you see a crystal barrier; shatter it (after earning the power to do so) and stand on the switch just beyond. Drop all the way down to find an opening in the floor, which leads to a second locked door (the first is there to fool veterans of the original game); use the key to open the door. You'll find the relieved Annette waiting inside.

Sound Items

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is rich in music--it has in its large soundtrack tunes from the original Rondo, the musically superior Symphony of the Night, and a whole host of arranged tracks made specifically for the Rondo remake. Thanks to the game's "Sound Assign" feature, the player can create for the remake his or her own soundtrack by switching and swapping tunes from any of the three titles. Naturally, you'll have to do a little work if you hope to utilize this feature to its fullest; that is, you must first find and "unlock" a song before it can be assigned. Sound Items are hidden everywhere--hidden on the remake's stages or in its accompanying modes. Below are the locations of these Sound Items, which when uncovered appear as CDs:

The Dracula X Chronicles Soundtrack
Sound Item 1	Play on Stage 1	Sound Item 2	Play on Stage 2
Sound Item 3	Play on Stage 2'	Sound Item 4	Play on Stage 3
Sound Item 5	Play on Stage 3'	Sound Item 6	Play on Stage 4
Sound Item 7	Play on Stage 4'	Sound Item 8	Play on Stage 5
Sound Item 9	Play on Stage 5'	Sound Item 10	Play on Stage 7
Sound Item 11	Defeat the regular or alternate Stage 1 boss	Sound Item 12	Play on Stage 8

Dracula X: Chi no Rondo Soundtrack
Sound Item 13	Heading toward the alternate Stage 1 boss, defeat the Stone Rose and break the object behind it	Sound Item 14	Destroy the Behemoth on Stage 2
Sound Item 15	While being chased by the Behemoth, drop into a hole; follow the path, and whip the candelabra	Sound Item 16	Stage 2': Find the Ferryman, ride his raft, and whip a candle placed on the bridge's pillar
Sound Item 17	Stage 2': On the bridge's lower level, find a Bone Pillar and using Maria jump off its head across a long gap, then smash the rock	Sound Item 18	Stage 2': Reach the collapsing bone-bridge and drop into the gap below it. On the left is a candelabra with the CD
Sound Item 19	Stage 3: Climb the long stairway and fall through a rotating platform. Follow the path and break through a red-skeleton barrier	Sound Item 20	Stage 3: Climb the long stairway and fall through a rotating platform. Follow the path and use Maria to slide under an obvious narrow passage
Sound Item 21	Stage 3: Heading toward the alternate boss, ride the weight-activated elevator to the room above and break through the all on the left	Sound Item 22	Stage 3': Reach the room where spiked balls hang from chains and destroy a red-skeleton barrier to reach the CD-holding candelabra
Sound Item 23	Stage 4: Reach the Cyclops Worker room (with boulders rolling down stairs) and drop through ground-floor gap, then smash the crystal barrier	Sound Item 24	Stage 4: Take the path the alternate boss by hitting the fleaman-guarded switch. Along the way, break through a red-skeleton barrier

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Soundtrack
Sound Item 25	Stage 4': Collapse the bride with assistance of the blue frog and hit the candelabra wedged between two crystal barriers	Sound Item 26	Clear the "Normal Boss Rush" mode twice
Sound Item 27	Stage 4': Take the alternate path, the long raft ride, then let the Ferryman carry you over to where a crystal barrier blocks a candelabra	Sound Item 28	Stage 5: At the stage's start, whip one of the platforms on which the Skeleton Flails stand
Sound Item 29	Stage 5: Once on the boat, defeat the first Bone Archer then break through the wall to its left	Sound Item 30	Stage 5: In the boat's second room, push the boxes to reveal a path to the boat's bottom level. Use Maria to squeeze through the obvious open
Sound Item 31	Stage 5: On the same bottom level, instead head right and break through the red-skeleton barrier	Sound Item 32	Clear the "Normal Boss Rush" mode
Sound Item 33	Clear the "Boss Rush Dash" mode three times	Sound Item 34	Stage 5': At the forked path, take the upper road and find a stand-on-to-activate switch. Break the wall to its right, continue on, and use a platform to jump up and shatter a stalactite
Sound Item 35	Stage 5': At the forked path, take the lower road, passed the Medusa Heads room, and destroy an obvious crystal barrier	Sound Item 36	Stage 5': Take the upper path and reach just beyond the two Armor Lords. Use the stopwatch item-crash to cross the falling gray-brick bridge
Sound Item 37	Stage 5': At the forked path, take the upper road and continue along until you see an obvious red-skeleton barrier. Destroy it	Sound Item 38	Stage 6: Go up the the stairs and break through the wall on your left
Sound Item 39	Stage 7: Enter into the second leg of the clock tower and drop to its very bottom. Break through the wall on your right	Sound Item 40	Stage 7: In the area with the Sword Lords, continue left until you see two golden statues. Whip both six times to reveal the hidden CD
Sound Item 41	Clear the "Boss Rush Dash" mode two times	Sound Item 42	Clear the "Boss Rush Dash" mode
Sound Item 43	Stage 7: After passing a fireplace, continue heading left and at the dead end use Maria to squeeze into the opening	Sound Item 44	Stage 7: When encountering a series of quickly lowering gates, use the stopwatch item-crash to rush beneath them before they close
Sound Item 45	Stage 8: Climb the invisible stairway and whip one of the candelabras on the left side of the secret room	Sound Item 46	Clear the "Full Boss Rush" mode three times
Sound Item 47	Clear the "Full Boss Rush" mode two times	Sound Item 48	Stage 8: Climb the invisible stairway and whip one of the candelabras on the right side of the secret room
Sound Item 49	Clear the "Full Boss Rush" mode	-

Extra Tunes
Sound Item 50	Attain a 100% completion rate for any mission file	Sound Item 51	Attain a 100% completion rate for any mission file
Sound Item 52	Attain a 100% completion rate for any mission file	-

Other Tips

Breach the Barriers: This "new" version of Rondo introduces some unique gameplay mechanics to surprise veterans of the original. These include the red-skeleton and ice barriers that at first seem indestructible. This is troubling because these barriers tend to guard the game's most desirable items, including the means of rescuing the kidnapped women, the game-disks and CDs. Earn your ability to smash your way through them by doing the following:

The Turn Jump: Easy to miss is Richter's "Turn Jump" ability, which affords him more aerial control where basic jumps require a commitment. Simply hold down the jump button following a jump and press left or right on the digital pad to execute a Turn Jump, using which an airborne Richter can now redirect and land in a desired position.

Flame Whip Attack: Richter seems to be the only Belmont thusfar that fights with one type of whip--that is, a chain whip version of the Vampire Killer. However, you can bust out a flame whip almost any time you want. It's easy: Just hit the item crash button only when you aren't holding a sub-weapon or a key. Richter will unleash a flame whip attack in its place. Be warned, however, that it does take hearts to power the flame whip attack.

Scenery Manipulation: On Stage 3, the Chapel, you'll come to a safe area after enduring a series of rotating platforms patrolled by Medusa Heads. Right before facing the lone Paranthropus that follows, you'll see three warrior-inspired statues placed atop stone skulls. If you can somehow strike each one so that all three are left facing the same direction, a secret money bag will be yours. The best way to do this is to reach this area while in possession of an axe; though, Maria can reach the distance using her double jump and any weapon. Another example is striking the earlier crucifix to unveil a stopwatch.

There are many such instances. On any given stage, that is, you may be able to manipulate backgrounds or strike anything visible (like killing the innocent rat that feeds in the room prior to the Dogether boss battle and for it earning yourself a money bag, a cross or a heart), so try studying the surrounding decor and strike anything you can.

Money Solution: You'll notice on the mission-select screen that there's a technique option similar to the one in Symphony of the Night. To purchase a video of how to fight and easily defeat a boss, you have to pay the right amount of credits (the total of which you can view in your inventory box when the game is paused). To invest in such a technique, you'll have to collect money bags, the game's currency; every 100 points earned from collecting money bags is equal to 1 credit (the Wyvern technique, for example, requires 50 credits, which is equal to 50,000 points). Below are the values, as noted by Akumajou Otaku:

Reward in Death: Stage 3', the graveyard, is home to many tombstones--some that stand still and others that attack. At the stage's very start, you'll see a tombstone resting atop the hill and placed over the mud pit. Push against the tombstone from the right to move it; once it's moved to the side, you'll sink down into a secret area that contains sub-weapons and a 1-Up symbol.

Holograhic Attack: During one of those technique sequences, you may see Maria use a move where she projects herself forward and damages the boss heavily. To pull off this move when you're using Maria, press down, up, down-right/left in one motion plus attack.

Extendo Whip: Except for the usual flame blast, Richter's whip is always in a basic chain-whip form. There is a way, however, for Richter to get a little length and more bite on each whip snap: After unleashing a whip stroke, quickly tap forward twice. If done correctly, Richter's whip will glow white and extend a couple of more inches. Since this works in the air, as well, it's a good way to compensate for mistimed jumps.

Flawless Victory: In some fighting games, you can earn rewards for winning rounds without receiving any damage. In that vein, you can receive a 1-Up as a "No Damage" bonus in this game by defeating a boss without losing any energy. Note: This won't work if you lost energy during the battle but replenished it using a pot roast or any other food item.

Camouflaged Essence: Since 16-bit games were made during the era of background and foreground layering, Konami sometimes used the latter to hide the most lucrative item-holding candles. By unleashing whip snaps in some areas, like the giant-candle-filled halls of the Chapel, you may whip a candelabra that will release a big heart, a high-priced money bag, a pot roast, or an important 1-Up symbol.

Crash and Dash: After executing an item-crash using any sub-weapon (including the key) other than a dagger, quickly press the jump button to thereafter backflip out of harm's way--this to avoid immediate any enemy contact after the item-crash's effect has taken hold.

The Moonwalk: In Super Castlevania IV, Simon could walk backwards on stairways to fend off foes without having to turn while climbing. While Richter hasn't improved upon Simon's whip control, he does expand on the moonwalk: This time, it can be used on any surface. Simply swing the whip and hold the button down after doing so; Richter will now be able to walk backwards to keep things in balance.

For the PC-Engine version codes, please click here.

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	Normal Boss Rush	Boss Rush Dash	Full Boss Rush
First Run	Sound Item 32	Sound Item 42	Sound Item 49
Second Run	Sound Item 26	Sound Item 41	Sound Item 47
Third Run	*Akumajo Dracula Peke*	Sound Item 33	Sound Item 46