Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

While having the ability to take SNES games with you on the go is certainly appealing on the New 3DS, most of the titles to date have been beloved classics; this release however is clearly there to make up the numbers so please save your money by either buying the definitive TG-16 version currently only available on the Wii or just hope that we'll be getting Castlevania: Rondo of Blood on the Switch VC... when it launches, as that would definitely be worth doubling up on. 

So without further ado, on with the review! 
  
Available for download this week we have...   

The following is my original review of Rondo of Blood with an extra paragraph and alternative verdict just to illustrate how far this SNES port fell from the grace of the original game it attempted to reproduce... Castlevania is a series that has garnered a huge amount of popularity over the years spanning many incarnations over a wide range of consoles but by far the most sought after game in the series has to be Rondo of Blood which has been known to reach obscene prices on a certain online auction site in any of its formats. Now you can own the game in its ultimate format for just a fraction of the price thanks to the Virtual Console.

Evil is afoot as Dracula is resurrected by the Dark Priest Shaft  (...)  threatening the great Vampire hunter bloodline; it's up to you Richter Belmont to defeat Dracula and get back your love interest Annette along with her sister Maria Reynard plus two other 'maidens' named Tera - a nun - and Iris - daughter to the local doctor - who were all kidnapped from your village. All in a days work right?

If you're a fan of the earlier titles in the series then this game is a real treat as it sticks closely to its roots as mostly you'll be taking on platforming sections as you take out enemies with a crack of your whip. The old rule of 'if it's not broken then don't fix it' is applied here as special items make a triumphant return and can be used by pressing up on the d-pad.  

Generally the controls are spot-on and emulate the first games perfectly making for blissful exploration of the many beautifully designed - not to mention graphically stunning - levels to your hearts content. Branching pathways can also be found along the way which promotes replay value as no two plays of this title will be the same being that there are a fair few ways that you can go sometimes leading you to bosses that you might not have fought before not to mention a few nifty shortcuts.

This title is definitely at the bottom of the metaphorical franchise staircase, it's uphill from here!

As aforementioned, visually this game is very well detailed indeed thanks to the CD format it was originally released on; areas have plenty of atmosphere because of this coupled with the absolutely sumptuous score which really is a treat for the ears featuring many beautiful original compositions plus some much loved classics such as 'Vampire Killer' which are brought alive with such clarity that still shines through even today and is testament to the amount of love and care that clearly went into this excellent title.

Fans of the series should already be well aware that this is a particularly special game indeed an will no doubt be getting this and enjoying it for many moons to come but even if you're new to the Castlevania series then why not start here with one of the most highly regarded titles available? Because quite honestly playing it is an experience that will delight fans of the platform genre not to mention anyone who enjoys games from the golden age that were made properly; the amount of work put into this ensures that Castlevania : Rondo of Blood is a labour of love that doesn't disappoint and never fails to deliver satisfying gameplay. 

Basically everything that was good about Rondo of Blood has been taken, stripped of all decency - bar some of the visual elements which survived - and then butchered by implementing terrible stage design in addition to completely ruining the controls; if you still have your original Wii handy then do yourself a favour, please buy Castlevania: Rondo of Blood instead then you can disregard this last paragraph plus verdict as you'll instead be enjoying one of the best entires in the series instead of this ghastly imitation what doesn't even deserve to use the Castlevania name. The sooner Nintendo are able to let other formats onto the Virtual Console instead of keeping it exclusive the better, TG-16 games were a godsend on the Wii VC and they could be a huge asset to the Wii U if only they would release more titles - let's hope we get TG-16 titles with the launch of the Switch VC - because in this case, loyal consumers are being fobbed off with an inferior offering.

That's it for another edition of VC Weekly which will hopefully return again soon. So until then, enjoy whatever titles you might be playing and Game On!