Dracula X: Burning Down the House

It's the 21st day in our month-long look at the 32 Game Endings of Christmas! Today we're looking at one of Konami's hidden gems. Dracula X: Rondo of Blood originally didn't get a Western release, instead it stayed put in Japan on a console few people owned. Since then it has managed to find its way to the States (in both a PSP game and a Wii port), finally giving Castlevania fans a chapter they completely missed. See how it ends in today's episode of the 32 Game Endings of Christmas!

Previously On Dracula X: By now you know the story. The evil Dracula has returned, building a new castle full of monsters and other baddies. As usual, it's up to one of the Belmont kids to make their way through the haunted house, kill Dracula and bring peace to the land. And then, in a hundred years, all of that will play out again and we'll have another game that looks and plays exactly like this one. It will be awesome, just you wait.

Rondo of Blood involves Richter Belmont, the 19 year old heir of Simon Belmont. In this story we see the teenager take on the creepy castle and save his 12 year old sister who has been kidnapped by Shaft. Shut your mouth!! Momma, I'm just talking about Dracula's servant Shaft! Richter finds himself battling familiar enemies in surroundings that is not uncommon to a haunted castle. In other words, it's a Castlevania game.

How It Ended: Eventually Richter defeats Shaft and makes his way to the top of Dracula's tower. Here he does battle with the vampire's "human" form, which involves a lot of fire dodging and holy water. It looks like Drac is down for the count, but he gets back up and turns into a flying monster. A few magic spells later and the ferocious vampire is down for good. Richter has won the day and can breathe a big sigh of relief.

The ending sees a Japanese speaking Dracula disappointed in his loss. He sits there sulking, angry that some human could defeat him ... again. But Richter doesn't care. He uses the many years of Japanese he took to give this menacing figure a piece of his mind. The words hurt, engulfing his foe in flames. The two argue before Richter leaves the castle. On his way out Dracula's home crumbles into the sea below. Our hero feels a sense of accomplishment, but fears that the next generation will have to go through yet another fight with pure evil.

How It Should Have Ended: Instead of going through the dance of whips and holy water, our hero should have finished this once and for all and staked Dracula. That's right, use a piece of wood with a sharp tip and run it right through Dracula's heart. Or tie him up outside and let him eat sunlight. That's how you kill a vampire! Clearly the Belmont's aren't very good at finishing the job. If they had the follow-through, they wouldn't have to teach their children the ins and outs of whip training. If Buffy Summers can do it, then Richter should have no problem staking Dracula where he sleeps.