# RondoRecomp

> RondoRecomp is a native Windows and Linux port of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, recompiled on your PC from your own PC Engine disc or Virtual Console copy.

Web page: https://emulationking.com/nec/pcengine/games/castlevaniarondoofblood/ports/rondorecomp/
Page updated: 2026-11-14

- Developer: gminustwo
- Port type: Recompilation (A tool translated the game's original machine code into C automatically, which was then built as a native PC program.)
- Game: [Castlevania: Rondo of Blood](https://emulationking.com/nec/pcengine/games/castlevaniarondoofblood/index.md)
- AI use: AI-assisted. An AI coding tool is credited as co-author on 47 of the repository's 47 commits.
- Source code: /opt/buildhome/repo/content/nec/pcengine/games/castlevaniarondoofblood/ports/rondorecomp/index.md
- Runs on: Windows, Linux

What you need: Your own copy of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood: the Japanese PC Engine Super CD-ROM² disc (Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo) or its English fan translation as a `.cue` with its tracks (zipped, 7z, in a folder) or a `.chd`, or the Wii `.wad` or Wii U Virtual Console release with the console key. No BIOS is needed. Windows (64-bit), or 64-bit Linux with glibc 2.35 or newer, the Steam Deck included.

RondoRecomp is an unofficial static recompilation of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Konami's 1993 PC Engine Super CD-ROM² game, into a native program for Windows, Linux and the Steam Deck. Its setup reads the player's own disc image, translates the game's HuC6280 code into C and compiles it with a bundled Zig compiler into `rondo.exe`, so the download carries no game code or data. Code that can't be worked out ahead of time falls back to a built-in interpreter, and the System Card functions the game calls are rewritten in C, so no BIOS is needed.

It accepts the original Japanese disc, the English fan translation, and the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console releases, and the Japanese and English versions can be installed side by side and switched with a language option. On top of the game it adds rewinding of up to 30 minutes, save states, cheats, a modern controller layout with buttons for the sub-weapon, Item Crash and backflip, rebindable keys, and video modes for 4K, 16:9 and ultrawide screens with filters and screen effects.

Optional extras include Richter's run from Symphony of the Night, Maria unlocked from the start and Super Castlevania IV style eight-way whipping. RetroAchievements work for both discs, though only in softcore until RetroAchievements recognises the port. A portable mode keeps settings, saves and states next to the game, and the start screen offers updates when a new release is out.

## How to set it up

1. Download the Windows zip and unpack all of it somewhere you can write to (not Program Files), or download the AppImage for Linux and the Steam Deck and make it executable.
2. Run **RondoRecomp Setup** (on Linux, the AppImage). Click **Disc zip...** for a zipped image, `.cue` or `.chd`, or **Disc folder...** for an unzipped one.
3. Setup checks the disc, recompiles the game's code and builds `rondo.exe` in about a minute. Click **Play**; after that, start `rondo.exe` or the AppImage directly.
4. Run Setup again with the other disc to add the second language. On the Steam Deck, add the AppImage to Steam as a non-Steam game.

## Latest builds

Download these from the web page: https://emulationking.com/nec/pcengine/games/castlevaniarondoofblood/ports/rondorecomp/#download

- for Windows: 1.2 (2026-11-14)
- AppImage for Linux and Steam Deck: 1.2 (2026-11-14)