Castlevania symphony of the night

[isiolia]

Dracula X is a compilation game featuring the first official English translation of the original PC Engine Rondo of Blood game, a 2.5D remake of it, and a port of SotN. The PC Engine port as far as I can tell is spot on, the remake is kind of eh but worth a go, and I barely touched the SotN port. I've heard visually it's not very good and a mixed bag overall, but personally I can't really comment on the quality of it. Either way Dracula X is worth owning for a solid Rondo of Blood localization and a decent remake.

Dracula X is actually the SNES game kinda-sorta based on the Rondo of Blood assets isn't it? It's a fair bit different, not really the same game.


The version of SoTN included in the Dracula X Chronicles is pretty solid IMO. I've played through it (and the PSX version) - I think the main complaint tends to be that it's kind of its own version. The script/voice acting is different, sound effects redone, and the credits song is different. Maria is playable, but not the same as the Saturn version, the extra familiars are there but slightly modified, and so on.

[brunoafh]

Dracula X is actually the SNES game kinda-sorta based on the Rondo of Blood assets isn't it? It's a fair bit different, not really the same game.

I completely forgot that game existed. I thought he was talking about the PSP game. With Rondo of Blood readily available these days though I don't see much point in playing Dracula X SNES for any reason other than curiosity.

[D.D.D.]

Dracula X is a compilation game featuring the first official English translation of the original PC Engine Rondo of Blood game, a 2.5D remake of it, and a port of SotN. The PC Engine port as far as I can tell is spot on, the remake is kind of eh but worth a go, and I barely touched the SotN port. I've heard visually it's not very good and a mixed bag overall, but personally I can't really comment on the quality of it. Either way Dracula X is worth owning for a solid Rondo of Blood localization and a decent remake.

Dracula X is actually the SNES game kinda-sorta based on the Rondo of Blood assets isn't it? It's a fair bit different, not really the same game.

The SNES DracX was such a letdown compared to the PCE version.

[Gunstar Green]

SotN changed the direction of the entire series for good reason. Take Super Metroid, add Castlevania aesthetics, add RPG elements, and you get a masterpiece.

As others said you'd probably love the handheld iterations that follow SotN's template. For me though they didn't get back to SotN's level until Aria of Sorrow which is actually my personal favorite Castlevania game.

I hear lots of people say they love Circle of the Moon these days but it never clicked for me. Even when it was brand new I thought it was disappointing.

[D.D.D.]

SotN changed the direction of the entire series for good reason. Take Super Metroid, add Castlevania aesthetics, add RPG elements, and you get a masterpiece.

As others said you'd probably love the handheld iterations that follow SotN's template. For me though they didn't get back to SotN's level until Aria of Sorrow which is actually my personal favorite Castlevania game.

I hear lots of people say they love Circle of the Moon these days but it never clicked for me. Even when it was brand new I thought it was disappointing.

Aria is great. Circle even at launch was dirty and disappointing (that and you couldn't see it on the orig GBA).

[BurningDoom]

SotN changed the direction of the entire series for good reason. Take Super Metroid, add Castlevania aesthetics, add RPG elements, and you get a masterpiece.

As others said you'd probably love the handheld iterations that follow SotN's template. For me though they didn't get back to SotN's level until Aria of Sorrow which is actually my personal favorite Castlevania game.

I hear lots of people say they love Circle of the Moon these days but it never clicked for me. Even when it was brand new I thought it was disappointing.

Aria is great. Circle even at launch was dirty and disappointing (that and you couldn't see it on the orig GBA).

What exactly was "dirty" about it? I'm not sure what you mean.

I personally loved the game. It's my favorite out of the GBA titles. I feel it was the closest to SoTN in gameplay style. I never had the original GBA no backlight problem, I played it on GBA-SP. But that's a pretty silly thing to complain about the game for, it's not the game's fault, it's the GBA's fault.

[irixith]

SotN changed the direction of the entire series for good reason. Take Super Metroid, add Castlevania aesthetics, add RPG elements, and you get a masterpiece.

As others said you'd probably love the handheld iterations that follow SotN's template. For me though they didn't get back to SotN's level until Aria of Sorrow which is actually my personal favorite Castlevania game.

I hear lots of people say they love Circle of the Moon these days but it never clicked for me. Even when it was brand new I thought it was disappointing.

Aria is great. Circle even at launch was dirty and disappointing (that and you couldn't see it on the orig GBA).

What exactly was "dirty" about it? I'm not sure what you mean.

I personally loved the game. It's my favorite out of the GBA titles. I feel it was the closest to SoTN in gameplay style. I never had the original GBA no backlight problem, I played it on GBA-SP. But that's a pretty silly thing to complain about the game for, it's not the game's fault, it's the GBA's fault.

I purchased the game at launch, along with a bunch of others and the GBA. Even with a good light source, Circle of the Moon was virtually unplayable. I think that more than anything else hurt initial sales and acceptance of the game. You're right that it was the GBA's fault, but the GBA SP was still a little sperm swimming around in Nintendo's testicle at that point. It turns out that the development units the developers had were brighter than the final retail units. You'll see a lot of GBA games had overbrightened palettes to account for this once it was discovered.

With the backlit (AGS-101) GBA, Circle of the Moon can be enjoyed as intended, and truly is a wonderful game. It's just a shame it didn't get the chance it should have when it came out.

[pierrot]

Dracula X is actually the SNES game kinda-sorta based on the Rondo of Blood assets isn't it? It's a fair bit different, not really the same game.

I completely forgot that game existed. I thought he was talking about the PSP game. With Rondo of Blood readily available these days though I don't see much point in playing Dracula X SNES for any reason other than curiosity.

I was talking about the PSP game.
Did Dracula X Chronicles have a different name in the US? I don't remember....
The original titles for Rondo and SOTN are
Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo
and
Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku
respectively. Thus, the Dracula X Chronicles.
Castlevania Dracula X (Akumajou Dracula XX) was a pseudo sequel/demi port-y-ish thing of Rondo for the SNES. I completely forgot about it too. Probably because I've always hated that game ever since my friend had me play it in seventh grade.

[isiolia]

Did Dracula X Chronicles have a different name in the US? I don't remember....

It's just called Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles in the US.

The only prior release in the US actually bearing the Dracula X name was the SNES game. The PSP game was actually the first time Rondo of Blood had ever been released here, though the PC Engine game has since been released on the Virtual Console as well

[threetoed]

Dracula X is actually the SNES game kinda-sorta based on the Rondo of Blood assets isn't it? It's a fair bit different, not really the same game.

I completely forgot that game existed. I thought he was talking about the PSP game. With Rondo of Blood readily available these days though I don't see much point in playing Dracula X SNES for any reason other than curiosity.

I was asking the SNES game, actually. I hear that it doesn't hold a candle to Rondo, but usually that's what you hear about it: it wasn't Rondo. I was just wondering if it was fun to play, independent of the disappointment that it wasn't Rondo.