Saturn Castlevania SOTN, what region is the best version?

[deathsled]

just put a region (US/JPN) switch on your saturn. I did mine when I was 14. It's a piece of cake!

[AdamGomez1987]

What games were the successors of Castlevania Symphony of the Night? are they any good? I thought I remembered hearing some coming out for the DS.

[fastbilly1]

What games were the successors of Castlevania Symphony of the Night? are they any good? I thought I remembered hearing some coming out for the DS.

The GBA Castlevanias are good I have not played the DS ones.

Circle of the Moon is my favorite Castlevania game period:

[bryan_65]

What games were the successors of Castlevania Symphony of the Night? are they any good? I thought I remembered hearing some coming out for the DS.

The GBA Castlevanias are good I have not played the DS ones.

Circle of the Moon is my favorite Castlevania game period:

I second this, I really liked these entries.

[Anthony817]

I should probrabbly update you guys. I have found the game and converted it to Ntsc-u for disc swapping on my model 1 Saturn. Played it quite a bit, I REALLY like Maria, she plays exactly like Mega Man! For this reason alone, the Saturn version is boss!

[Dylan]

What games were the successors of Castlevania Symphony of the Night? are they any good? I thought I remembered hearing some coming out for the DS.

Aria of Sorrow was really good, it added in a great mechanic that allowed your to steal a specific ability from every monster in the game that functioned as a subweapon. Dawn of Sorrow is it's sequel, and while good isn't as overall well crafted as its predecessor (I'd still recommend it though).

Portrait of Ruin is also good, about on the same level I'd put Dawn of Sorrow. It has a unique team system that allows you to switch characters, but I didn't find it a very engaging mechanic. The gameplay is still solid Castlevania though.

Order of Ecclesia is where the formula really came together, in my opinion. The glyph system as well as the excellent difficulty level made it a highly enjoyable game, and it's one of my favorites. For fans of Castlevania, I'd recommend it the most highly out of all of the portable Castlevanias.

The only one that I wouldn't recommend is Harmony of Dissonance. I still intend to give it another shot, but for my first impression I was really turned off. The graphics and music weren't great, and overall the game felt really stiff (even for a Castlevania game, and especially for a Metroidvania).

[dunpeal2064]

I thought Dawn of Sorrow on the DS was fantastic! So much to do, and so many ways to play your character.

Really great stuff, I highly recommend it!

[valgalder]

I LOVE Order.. been playing that one lately. For some reason I didn't get around to playing it when it came out. The bosses can be extremely challenging in this one.. more than previous post SOTN CV's. I'm currently stuck on Death...

But yeah I agree.. the only post SOTN I don't recommend is Harmony. Aria for GBA is one of the best for sure.

[jalvarez82]

I'd say go with the PSOne version. Gameplay is smoother than the Saturn version, which tends to have some slowdown when a lot is going on onscreen. The only things you would profit from the Saturn version are (1) the added areas throughout the castle (and trust me, none of them are better or "cooler" than the ones that are already playable). It feels like Konami rushed them. No real effort invloved whatsoever. That's my humble opinion. And (2) the ability to play as Richter or Maria from the start. They both have their own style of attacks and weaponry, which is pretty cool.

Your choice.

[Ivo]

The handheld Castlevanias are indeed very good. I haven't played all the DS ones but I did play Dawn of Sorrow. I agree that both Sorrow games are extremely good (and Aria is very likely the best of the GBA ones). The Soul system is just that good and it says something that they used it not just on Aria but actually made a "direct" sequel in Dawn of Sorrow.

I liked Harmony, why do people think Circle is that much better? I think they are about on par with each other with Aria clearly better than either.

I haven't played Order of Ecclesia to try out the Glyph system but the Soul system is hard to beat - still I'm hoping to be surprised. It is probably quite good even if it doesn't top the Souls.

Ivo.