If that weren't enough, there are four captured hostages that, when found, will lead to the best ending. Many levels have alternate pathways within themselves. Most of the secrets aren't horribly difficult to find, but it's unlikely you'll see all there is to see in a single playthrough.

There are only seven levels that need to be traversed in order to win, but there are five secret levels that must be found through a bit of ingenuity. While it's tempting to hold Dracula X in such high regards simply for the high levels reached in its graphics and music, that's not the real reason the game is so incredible. While several old themes make an appearance, there's an abundance of memorable new tunes, including Richter's Theme (used in the opening and first level). For the first time, the Castlevania series was able to get high quality redbook audio. The format also leads to several anime cutscenes, as well as CD Audio music. Not only are the backgrounds incredibly detailed, but the characters and enemies look gorgeous as well. Dracula X looks absolutely incredible - the anime-inspired look is quite a bit more colorful than the dark, more gothic-themed Castlevania IV, and blows away the muddy look of the forgettable SNES semi-sequel.

One of the biggest advantage of the CD-ROM format is the huge amount of available space, and it shows in the visuals. Not one to stand by and let his woman down, Richter sets off to meet his destiny. He seeks revenge on Richter Belmont, heir of the family that so often sends him to the great beyond, by capturing his girlfriend Annet and goading him into a rescue attempt. In the year 1788, Dracula has once again been resurrected by some crazy cultists. Where were the multiple characters, alternate routes, and different endings? Dracula X, released only in Japan for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM (known as the Turbografx-16/Turbo Duo in America), is widely regarded as the Holy Grail among Castlevania games, due to not only its aesthetic qualities, but also its sheer size. While Super Castlevania IV for the SNES brought the series to the new generation of 16-bit gaming, it seemed to lack some of the strides that previous games had taken.

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