Saturn Import Questions: Dracula X

[MaliceValentine]

Now i know iv may have well posted this before but once again im at the point of nearly dying to own the console version of Symphony of the Night,

So

1: Playstation or Saturn?
2: Graphical enhancements? Saturns a 2D power house will i get a better experience
3: Anything new in the Saturn version apart from the garden thingy
4: Prices for the Japanese version??? Seems mostly 60' bucks >__>
5: Do i get english voices option in the Saturn??

Im leaning towards the PS version but it's a tad more pricey in PAL regions thanks for the help lads =D

[fingersmaloy]

Yo, I don't own the Saturn version, but here's stuff I've heard.

1. Probably Playstation. Pretty much everybody seems to concur that the Saturn version is just a slightly crippled version of the Playstation one with a couple of extras thrown in.

2. Actually people say it's a little uglier since the Saturn can't handle transparencies or the animations when Alucard shapeshifts.

3. You can play as Richter and Maria from the very beginning. It's not a secret or anything; they're selectable. Also the new area(s?) have new music, if you care about that sort of thing.

4. Sixty bucks is a pretty fair price. I wouldn't pay more than that. You might find it for fifty if you're lucky.

5. Don't know for sure, but probably no English option. But if you ask me, that's for the best.

Good luck.

[Mozgus]

User kevinski has a lot of saturn SOTN footage here, which covers most of the exclusive stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=kub ... astlevania

[Ziggy]

I have both versions. If you can only own one, you might want to get the PS1 version. The Saturn version is Japanese only, so it's not easy to play. Some things are in English but all your armor, weapons, items, etc are all Japanese. The Saturn version doesn't look as good as the PS1 version, and also runs a little slower in some spots. One thing that gets annoying is the small wait for the menu and map. Saturn doesn't have the select button for the map, so you have to go into the menu then press L to get to the map. So, every time you wanna check the map, you have to wait a few seconds for the menu to come up, then a few seconds for the map to come up.

All the Saturn version has over the PS1 is the extras that it has. It adds the Garden and Prison areas in both the regular and inverted castle. The Garden area adds a Boss fight, warp point and Bloody Tears music. Both areas add a bunch of extra enemies and items. In addition to that, you also get a few more relics. Two familiars (one almost identical to the fairy and the 'nose demon') and the ability to dash/run faster then you can normally. You can also choose to play as Alucard, Maria or Richter from the very beginning where as in the PS1 version you can only play as Alucard and Richter (only after you complete the game once with Alucard). I think that's about it unless I'm forgetting something.

[marurun]

Here is everything you need to know:

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... otn#p95730

I've written on this topic extensively and I don't think I'm missed much, if anything.

[PepsimanVsJoe]

First off you don't get the ability to run faster until the second half of the game. By that point you recieve a relic where you can double-tap forward to run. This sounds fine in theory but it can also mess up the inputs for performing spells(in fact it was so bad I thought that the developers added it in so players couldn't soul-steal their way through the second half). Besides once you get the back-dash down the relic isn't really all that useful anyway.

Going to the first new area in all honesty completely breaks the first half of the game(aside from the Maria fight which is probably the toughest new addition). The enemies there are very high level but extremely easy to kill which makes the game difficulty rather trivial by that point(and do we really need SOTN to be any easier?) Your best bet is to simply ignore it but otherwise that leaves no point in even going there(aside from some of the exclusive items at least).

The second new area is a bit better though I think the new enemy designs in general feel like a step back from the rest of the cast in SOTN. The new boss-fight is mostly forgettable(and completely optional) though he does hit pretty hard.

Maria is an absolute beast in this game. She's just like Richter in that she can't level up and only gains HP by collecting the jars but she's still ridiculous. For some odd reason the developers gave her an invincibility spell that lasts almost a minute! That's more time than you'll need for any boss that isn't Galamoth.

The new weapons are a nice extra but for the most part they're lame and not very creative(aside from the dagger that flings itself directly at enemies, shame it's so slow). Thus you'll still find yourself lusting for a Crissageim or one of the other best weapons.

This isn't even going into detail about the horrible job they did on porting the game. Some of the special effects in the PS1 version look absolutely atrocious here(compare the projectile the bone-ark spits out in both versions, the Saturn version will make you think something is wrong with your console). Worse still is the additional load-times and added slowdown. It's really not worth the premium it goes for at all. These days if you have access to PSN you can get SOTN for a mere $6 or grab the Dracula X collection for PSP for less than $10(and get Rondo of Blood to boot). Okay if you're PS1 or PS2 only I could probably understand but you're still better off avoiding the Saturn version. The only redeemable quality for the Saturn version is it has the superior sound test and a couple more music tracks(which IIRC are made up of remixes of classic Castlevania tunes. The exclusive boss has the "Bloody Tears" theme from Simon's Quest for example).

[marurun]

The run relic is very nice to have, contrary to what PepsimanVsJoe says, and the Saturn version has some gameplay tweaks that make it play better. The dive kick, for example, is likely likely to get you hurt making it more useful. Again, read my write-ups, linked above, for all the information you need on the actual technical changes.

[Doctor4000]

One thing that is important to realise is that the Saturn version isn't inferior to the PS1 version by virtue of hardware, but by virtue of development time. The Saturn port was rushed by Konami. Had the team responsible had a decent development schedule, the Saturn port would probably have been the definitive version.

Instead, the Saturn saw a version with added load times, a slightly stretched screen, and occasional slowdown.

The added areas are kind of cool to check out, and the "third hand" is kind of nice (you can equip potions or healing items to a button independent of your left and right hands, meaning you don't have to unequip your weapon or shield whenever you want to use a potion or food like you do in the PS1 version). Maria makes the game a cakewalk, but she's fun to play as. The Saturn controller seems to me to be better for the game (especially for performing spells), but that is entirely subjective.

If you're playing through for the first time, though, you pretty much have to get the PS1 version. Yeah, the English VA is Resident Evil bad, but it's something you ought to experience. The main reason you need the PS1 version is it will be incredibly difficult to finish the game without English item descriptions on a couple of key items, and the descriptions for found relics oftentimes will give you a hint as to where you should venture next in the castle.

Once you've played through the game, and know it inside-out (it shouldn't take too long), you should definitely check out the Saturn version though, if only to see how awesome the Saturn port could have been.

[Ziggy]

Once you've played through the game, and know it inside-out (it shouldn't take too long), you should definitely check out the Saturn version though, if only to see how awesome the Saturn port could have been.

I'll second that. I played the PS1 version and knew it like the back of my hand, so I'm able to play the Saturn version and tell what things are just by looking at the sprite lol. Also, I forgot about the third hand! A VERY nice thing to have.