Both the sound quality and the artwork quality (and direction) is top notch and does justice to the game’s soundtrack. Overall I’d like to say that the Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood / Dracula X – Original Video Game Soundtrack 2XLP is, in my opinion, Mondo’s best release of the Castlevania vinyls they’ve covered so far. Whether this is an improvement due to the mixing for the album or simply that these soundtracks translate well to vinyl is just a guess, but it results in quality for this release. Tracks like Rondo’s “Picture of a Ghost Ship” and “Cemetery” stand out with boomy undertones, and the secondary melody of”Opposing Bloodlines” doesn’t seem hidden or muffled. You can clearly hear every channel used in each track, and the bass of Rondo is particularly notable as I listening with headphones.
Regardless of which version you lean towards, both offer quality comparable to the in-game sound. Players of both games have their own personal preferences towards the soundtrack of either Rondo of Blood or Dracula X depending on what sound chip you prefer.
#Castlevania bloodlines ost Pc
This was a bit of a treat, as while the games might share a lot of tracks, they are distinctly different sounding due to the different sound chips for the PC Engine and SNES respectively. The 2xLP features the soundtracks to both Rondo of Blood and Dracula X both, one per LP. The blue-splatter/red-splatter for the records themselves do well in terms of complimenting the color theme of the artwork as well. This honestly might be the most faithful art I’ve seen of the Mondo releases and I applaud Oliver Barrett for his design choices. The inner liner art also leans heavily towards the anime-like style used in the game and featuring Richter and Maria Renard both fighting actual enemies from the game (Like the game bosses, and even the frogs, goddamn them). The color contrast is perfect, using complimentary reds/oranges and dark blues, and the entire scene honestly does look a little like the opening cinematic in Rondo with Richter battling the bony undead. All three of these elements are given almost equal share of the front art, with both Richter Belmont being the center focus with the vampire castle looming in the background beyond him like a specter and several skeletons clawing at Richter from the bottom peripheries.
#Castlevania bloodlines ost series
The focus of the artwork is on key things within the Castlevania series the hero, the castle, and the enemies. The cover of the vinyl, done by Oliver Barrett, is one of Mondo’s better Castlevania offerings in my opinion. In terms of the vinyl release, I’ll start with the artwork. Much of the game’s soundtrack would later be used in the semi-remake/quasi-sequal release Castlevania: Dracula X on the SNES. This change in musical style reflected well in Rondo’s art style shift to a more anime-looking motif. The soundtrack is known for its upbeat and pop-like tracks a stark departure from the previous series entry Super Castlevania IV‘s more ambient music. Its soundtrack was released under the ubiquitous Konami Kukeiha Club catch-all credits, though sources report that composers Akira Sōji ( Snatcher), Keizo Nakamura ( Akumajou Dracula X68000, Snatcher) Tomoko Sano and Mikio Saito all contributed to the game’s music. I will review each game’s soundtrack separately to get the most out of them as individual releases.Ĭastlevania: Rondo Of Blood / Dracula X – Original Video Game Soundtrack 2XLPĪkumajou Dracula: Chi no Rondo (Demon Castle Dracula: Rondo of Blood) was released on the PC Engine in Japan in 1993 and was a rare jewel of the Castlevania series until it was ported to North America over 25 years later on the Wii Virtual Console and PSP. So, how do these releases stack up both as individual offerings as well as compared to the other Mondo releases in the series? While far more have played through Castlevania Symphony of the Night than they have Rondo of Blood due to the latter’s limited release in the states via ports, the soundtracks for both offer different things while still bringing depth to the history of Castlevania music.
The soundtracks from both games are held in high regard both with fans of the series and casual gamers alike. However, after four previous vinyl releases from Mondo for the series, and the announcement of both soundtracks to Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, I figured that perhaps now was the time to offer my critique. Mostly I never reached out because I assumed my bias towards the franchise music would make my opinions too cynical, and it wouldn’t be fair. I’ve admittedly had a lot of opinions on the Mondo releases of the various Castlevania soundtracks on vinyl LP, but until now had not gotten the chance to do an in-depth review of any of them.
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