While an ESRB rating only means that now the game can be released, the appearance of Symphony of the Night prequel Castlevania: Rondo of Blood‘s T rating gives us a great deal of hope that the game will actually materialize sooner rather than later. Japan’s had the game for quite some time now, and Australia rated the game not too long ago as well.
This will make Wii the definitive console for Castlevania fans, with six distinct titles edging out Game Boy Advance’s five. The closest we’ve gotten to a release of this game in the US in the past has been as a poorly-emulated unlockable within Dracula X Chronicles on PSP. This marks the first opportunity most of us will have to play the game full screen on a TV, since the PSP video cable only outputs in a tiny little box on the screen.
Want more? Well, Hudson will be publishing the game (unsurprising, as they’re the ones behind the original platform, and they’re part of Konami now) and the ESRB described the game as follows:
This is a side-scrolling action game in which players battle against monsters and sprite-like minions through eight different stages. Players use a chained whip to fight their way through the 2D-style environments (graveyards, halls, rooms, etc.), which are filled with an assortment of fantasy creatures (skeletons, demons, flying eyeballs, etc.). Weapons such as boomerangs, axes, and holy water can also be used to defeat enemies that react to damage by roaring or screaming, flashing red, blinking off the screen, or briefly spewing a blood-like fluid. Enemy creatures frequently shoot small projectiles (fireballs, bones, etc.) at players; and boss battles involve more protracted one-on-one combat. If players are defeated, their character (Richter or Maria) may also flash red, cry out, dissolve into reddish blood-like bursts; and though the effect is somewhat unrealistic, an early-90s rendering, it still has some impact and factors into the Teen rating. [The Fantasy Violence descriptor signifies that the game is lower on the Teen rating spectrum]
Source: ESRB via Siliconera
ESRB has the best writers! They continue to sell and warn and entertain me.
Hah! Sell and warn and entertain!
Can't wait. Hoping the voice acting is translated though.
I would expect that it won't be, just going by past import games on VC. That would require them to record all new audio, which is far more expensive than just swapping out the text. I forget, did they put new audio in the one on Dracula X Chronicles?