Play Akumajou Dracula XX Online

Summary

Castlevania: Dracula X (known as Akumajou Dracula XX in Japan and Vampire’s Kiss in Europe) landed on the SNES in the mid‑90s as Konami’s second foray onto Nintendo’s 16‑bit hardware. It’s essentially a re‑imagining of the PC‑Engine classic Rondo of Blood, borrowing the original’s sprites while slipping in fresh stages and tweaked mechanics to fit the cartridge’s limits and Konami’s deal with NEC. The game keeps the series’ signature branching routes, but trims the level count and swaps the CD‑era’s extra characters for a simple password system. Players can chase three different conclusions depending on whether they rescue Richter’s girlfriend Annet, her sister Maria, both, or neither. Critics at the time were split – many praised the atmospheric platforming yet lamented its steep difficulty and felt it didn’t quite capture the magic of its predecessor.

Storyline

Set in medieval Transylvania, Akumajou Dracula XX (known in the West as Castlevania: Dracula X) takes place several hundred years after Simon Belmont sealed the vampire Count Dracula away. Over time the memory of the undead faded, allowing a handful of depraved individuals to awaken the Count, who now sleeps in his coffin by day and hunts victims by night.

Dracula seeks revenge on Simon’s bloodline by targeting his descendant, Richter Belmont. He kidnaps Richter’s girlfriend Annet and her younger sister Maria, imprisoning them in his castle. When Richter learns of the abduction, he grabs his ancestor’s sacred whip and ventures into the castle to rescue the girls and finally seal Dracula away for good.