Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss (Dracula X)

Three years after the original Japanese-only Castlevania: Rondo of Blood release on Hudson’s PC-Engine, Europe was finally blessed by the Konami lords with a cursed gift called Castlevania: Vampire’s Kiss. You might better know it as Dracula X—the initial Japanese title of Rondo; Akumajō Dracula X—but since I’m in Europe, I’m calling it by its even weirder name. This game has been called out for being a sloppy port of its PC-Engine original. Others claim it’s more of an indirect sequel to Castlevania I-III. After attempting a playthrough, I can safely say it fails at both accounts. What exactly are we left with if it’s neither a proper port nor a Classicvania successor—especially if you take the a clearly superior Castlevania IV into account on the same platform released more than four (!) years earlier? I think Konami must have smelled something financially here given the growing cult status of Rondo of Blood. Perhaps by issuing something similar to it; fans might eat it up. And we…