Castlevania: Rondo of the Night is a ROM hack of the PlayStation classic, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and it was first released in June 2024. The aim of the hack is to change the gameplay, so that the player can do quicker and more athletic moves, and to surprise the player with a seemingly never-ending string of good ideas.

You play Rondo of the Night as Richter Belmont, who is returning to the scene of Symphony of the Night some four years later, to discover the truth about Shaft‘s possession.

You can run by double-tapping left or right (which is a shock in itself). Later on, you acquire other fancy moves, such as backflip and somersault.

You begin the game with no weapon, so must rely solely on your punch. Which can be tricky. Thankfully, you get a useful weapon in short order – the “Heaven Sword“, which fires out in a nice animated fan at enemies. Your initial weapon may be different, though. I’m not entirely sure how much RNG the hackers put in their game.

Enemies have more colour variants (it seems to me, anyway); the music is different; the bosses are different, and of course the gameplay structure has been completely re-jigged. It’s a whole new experience, while remaining definitely “of the Night“.

For those who’ve played Symphony of the Night, I’d say that Rondo of the Night is a must-play ROM hack. Because it’s worth seeing what’s different, and how well the changes have been implemented. While at the same time reminding yourself of what a great game Symphony of the Night is.

More: Castlevania: Rondo of the Night on romhacking.net