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General discussionSega Saturn: Castlevania Symphony of the Night(51 posts)(51 posts)
(51 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted May 08, 2016
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timppu: I figured maybe it is because I didn't have a SNES or NES before my Playstation, so I didn't have any emotional strings to the Castlevania series, or 2D platform jumping games in general.
I don't think it has to do with owning a SNES before (although I guess you should enjoy platform games in general). First time I played it was on PS and I was amazed of everything (gameplay, graphics, MUSIC, atmosphere) it has to offer. I consider it as one of the best games PSX has to offer, alongside with Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Resident Evil & some more.
Posted May 08, 2016
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KiNgBrAdLeY7: Discussing it from the past
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timppu: Why the Saturn version specifically? Is it different from the Playstation version, which was probably about 1000x more popular?

I still have the Playstation version, bought it back when I bought my Playstation, as one of those PS games everyone seemed to consider as a must-have (along with Gran Turismo, Silent Hill, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics etc...).

I played it somewhat but somehow just lost interest and stopped playing quite soon. I didn't quite get it why it was supposed to be so great, meh. I figured maybe it is because I didn't have a SNES or NES before my Playstation, so I didn't have any emotional strings to the Castlevania series, or 2D platform jumping games in general.
Forget the Playstation version, son. Saturn had worse graphics and effects, but a ton of new content, like 2 new areas, new bosses, new enemies, new familiar stuff and Maria as both enemy and playable character. Also you can choose Richter from the Start, he is no secret character. It is also in full japanese, dub and sub, a true gem for any jap. culture fan out there and even has new gameplay elements, like "third hand" in inventory (to use more items). You certainly need to use the item wiki so as you know what the hell is the item you pick up each time, but it is totally worth it. After playing it, i never touched the Playstation version, ever again. Besides, on emulation, in certain points, the playstation audio gets lag or glitches; saturn might have longer loading time, but its performance, especially audio (this game is all about audio), is outstanding!

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KiNgBrAdLeY7: For Sega Saturn, Yabause did the trick for me, works like a charm.
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hyperagathon: Really? Last time I checked, it barely worked at best. Perhaps I'll try again sometime. BTW, the official Yabause wiki says this about SotN: "Almost playable, lot of glitches." It's perhaps telling that not a single game works "perfectly".
Don't know, i play it normally with Yabause now, works perfectly for me. I downloaded the 64 version of the STABLE category (not developmental), for my Win7 64 bit environment. I reached the marble gallery and the tower with flying Medusa heads right after, not even the slightest bug so far.
Posted May 08, 2016
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Elmofongo: Oh you have no idea how much I want to get a PS1 ans Sega Saturn Emulator working on my PC because I really want to play these 2D sprite games be it JRPGs or Shumps I have list:

PS1:

Arc the Lad games
Battle Hunter
Beyond the Beyond
Breath of Fire 3 and 4
Brigandine
Castlvania Chronicles (Remake)
Final Fantasy Tactics
Kartia The World of Fate
Legend of Mana
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (Remake)
Megaman 8 and Megaman X4-5-6
Gunbird (Mobile Light Force)
Persona 1 and 2
Philosoma
Rayman 1
Loaded (Blood Facotry) and Re-Loaded
Romance of the Three Kingdom games for Playstation 1
Saga Frontier 1 and 2
Saiyuki: Journey West
Sol Divide: Sword of Darkness (Pre Rendered 3D like DOnkey Kong)
Suikoden 1 and 2
Strider 2
Strikers 1945
Thunder Force V
Tales of Destiny and Tales of Eternia
Torneko: The Last Hope
Valkyrie Profile 1
Vandal Hearts 1 and 2
Wild Arms 1
Azure Dreams (Looks like Ogre Battle 64)
Dragon Quest VII
Eternal Eyes
Grandia 1
Star Ocean - The Second Story
Thousand Arms
R-Type Delta
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Silhouette Mirage
just a quick glance tells me that 23 of those games are on the us psn, so you'd be just as well off with a ps3/psp/vita/vita tv and go through legal channels (well, though it might not be so easy in puerto rico)

or if really you're intent on sailing the seas instead, there's always the option of buying a psp cheap and putting cfw on it. It's pretty much idiotproof at this point, and you can either convert psx games/isos to eboot format yourself or find them online preformatted. It probably wouldn't work out too well for 3d action games or games that use the analog sticks/l2/r2 extensively but it's probably good enough for rpgs or 2d games.
Posted May 08, 2016
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KiNgBrAdLeY7: For Sega Saturn, Yabause did the trick for me, works like a charm. For 64 bit version. For PS1, i don't know, last time i played was in XP environment.
actually, the best ss emu you can get, is ssf. but you need good pc specs and knowledge how to set up the emu. once you got it, this emulator works like a charm. i'm playing the sf3 scenarios with it.
Posted May 08, 2016
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KiNgBrAdLeY7: One word. Emulators. But you are right. One of the persons here that are deep in them too, even stopped replying to me since a long time ago. Like the previous time several months ago, that i was inquiring about a good emulator for my system, but then that person helped me find one. Never mind. Who knows, someone might know. This game is constantly inside the 5/10 best games ever made and there are PC people who know it, while console people don't.
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Elmofongo: Oh you have no idea how much I want to get a PS1 ans Sega Saturn Emulator working on my PC because I really want to play these 2D sprite games be it JRPGs or Shumps I have list:

PS1:

Arc the Lad games
Battle Hunter
Beyond the Beyond
Breath of Fire 3 and 4
Brigandine
Castlvania Chronicles (Remake)
Final Fantasy Tactics
Kartia The World of Fate
Legend of Mana
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (Remake)
Megaman 8 and Megaman X4-5-6
Gunbird (Mobile Light Force)
Persona 1 and 2
Philosoma
Rayman 1
Loaded (Blood Facotry) and Re-Loaded
Romance of the Three Kingdom games for Playstation 1
Saga Frontier 1 and 2
Saiyuki: Journey West
Sol Divide: Sword of Darkness (Pre Rendered 3D like DOnkey Kong)
Suikoden 1 and 2
Strider 2
Strikers 1945
Thunder Force V
Tales of Destiny and Tales of Eternia
Torneko: The Last Hope
Valkyrie Profile 1
Vandal Hearts 1 and 2
Wild Arms 1
Azure Dreams (Looks like Ogre Battle 64)
Dragon Quest VII
Eternal Eyes
Grandia 1
Star Ocean - The Second Story
Thousand Arms
R-Type Delta
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Silhouette Mirage

Sega Saturn:
Dragon Force
Albert Odyssey
Guardian Heroes
Guardian Force
Bug Too!
Herc's Adventures
Three Dirty Dwarves
Thunder Force V
Legend of Oasis
Darius Gaiden
Shining Wisdom
Dark Savior
The Horde (video game)
Astra Superstars
Magic Knight Rayearth
Real Bout Special
Layer Section/Galactic Attack
Samurai Shodown 4
DoDonPachi
Battle Garegga
Batsugun
Shining the Holy Ark
Hyper Duel
Soukyugurentai
Saturn Bomberman
Radiant Silvergun
Shining Force III
Looks like PCSX is your fwend! It's a lot like PCSX2, in that all you need to get it to function are the BIOS and "roms."
Posted May 08, 2016
Alternative to all of this, you could also buy or emulate a copy of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PlayStation Portable. It is a completely remade version of Rondo of Blood, but it also includes the original PC-Engine version of the game as well as a reworked version of Symphony of the Night. It doesn't have the new areas/bosses, but it does add Maria Renard with a reworked play style to bring her closer to how she plays in Rondo of Blood. The only real downside to this version of SotN is that the English dub is all new, so if you enjoyed the original dub, you probably won't like that. However, you can play both games with their original Japanese dub, which is a real treat. While it doesn't have all of the Saturn version's features, it is the most up-to-date version of the game that is currently available. Even the versions on PSN or XBL are just emulated from the PS1 version.

Just my two cents.
Posted May 09, 2016
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Tekkaman-James: Alternative to all of this, you could also buy or emulate a copy of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PlayStation Portable. It is a completely remade version of Rondo of Blood, but it also includes the original PC-Engine version of the game as well as a reworked version of Symphony of the Night. It doesn't have the new areas/bosses, but it does add Maria Renard with a reworked play style to bring her closer to how she plays in Rondo of Blood. The only real downside to this version of SotN is that the English dub is all new, so if you enjoyed the original dub, you probably won't like that. However, you can play both games with their original Japanese dub, which is a real treat. While it doesn't have all of the Saturn version's features, it is the most up-to-date version of the game that is currently available. Even the versions on PSN or XBL are just emulated from the PS1 version.

Just my two cents.
This is a compilation. Its Symphony of the night part has to by UNLOCKED and it has SOME of the Sega Saturn's additions, but NOT ALL... There is no Japanese goodness, either. And Maria has been redesigned, she has not the same animations/movement like in Saturn.

Plus, PSP can't be emulated easily (some restriction, some bios issues, etc)... While Sega Saturn emulators work like a charm and some of them, require zero effort. Sega Saturn is hands down the best Symphony of the Night version, especially for people who never give priority to graphics over content...

Also, i really wonder why and how GOG couldn't convince Konami to sell here "Rondo of Blood" (symphony of the night prequel), as far as i am aware it had a PC release, back in the day...
Post edited May 09, 2016 by KiNgBrAdLeY7
Posted May 09, 2016
I had no idea there were other versions of SOTN. I replayed it about a year ago or so but I'll check it out once I get in the mood to replay it.
Posted May 09, 2016
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KiNgBrAdLeY7: Also, i really wonder why and how GOG couldn't convince Konami to sell here "Rondo of Blood" (symphony of the night prequel), as far as i am aware it had a PC release, back in the day...
Actually, I believe that was actually a release for the PC-Engine, which is a videogame console, not something resembling what we would call a PC.

(Of interest, playing Rondo of Blood required a hardware upgrade; if you lacked the required upgrade, you would get to play a short level with cartoony graphics, and then get the message saying you need to upgrade. In the PSP version, I believe this stage was included as an extra called something like "Stage X".)
Posted May 09, 2016
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KiNgBrAdLeY7: it has SOME of the Sega Saturn's additions, but NOT ALL.
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Tekkaman-James: It doesn't have the new areas/bosses
I thought I made that clear.

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KiNgBrAdLeY7: And Maria has been redesigned, she has not the same animations/movement like in Saturn.
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Tekkaman-James: it does add Maria Renard with a reworked play style to bring her closer to how she plays in Rondo of Blood.
I mentioned this as well.

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KiNgBrAdLeY7: There is no Japanese goodness, either.
What are you talking about? The game is playable with Japanese dialogue.

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KiNgBrAdLeY7: Plus, PSP can't be emulated easily
I did also recommend actually obtaining a real PSP copy of the game. I am not that well versed in the current state of video game emulation. I haven't had a need to emulate games in almost 12 years as I can afford to just buy them legitimately now. When last I took a peek, PSP emulation was progressing pretty well and Saturn emulation was still treading water. My apologies if my suggestion was as ridiculous as you make it sound.
Posted May 09, 2016
Sega Saturn... I only knew one guy who had one. Saw it playing Virtua fighter 2, looked great....

Symphony of the night.. I only knew, loved the Ps One game as my MOST FAVORITE 2D action adventure...

I own it now again, from the PSN and unockable in Castlvania Dracula X Chronicles PSP.

[url=http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night/DXC]http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night/DXC[/url]

I don't think to have got around playing Maria ever. yet..
Posted May 10, 2016
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KiNgBrAdLeY7: Plus, PSP can't be emulated easily (some restriction, some bios issues, etc).
Get PPSSPP. No need for BIOS and it works like a charm.

And, my PS1 emulator of choice is Xebra. It doesn't need BIOS either and it's almost idiot-proof. Plus, it's the most accurate PS1 emulator, as the creator completely reverse-engineered an actual PS1 and made the emulator with it.
Posted May 10, 2016
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KiNgBrAdLeY7: Plus, PSP can't be emulated easily (some restriction, some bios issues, etc).
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Ikarugamesh: Get PPSSPP. No need for BIOS and it works like a charm.

And, my PS1 emulator of choice is Xebra. It doesn't need BIOS either and it's almost idiot-proof. Plus, it's the most accurate PS1 emulator, as the creator completely reverse-engineered an actual PS1 and made the emulator with it.
Thanks! Much appreciated!
Posted May 10, 2016
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Ikarugamesh: Get PPSSPP. No need for BIOS and it works like a charm.

And, my PS1 emulator of choice is Xebra. It doesn't need BIOS either and it's almost idiot-proof. Plus, it's the most accurate PS1 emulator, as the creator completely reverse-engineered an actual PS1 and made the emulator with it.
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KiNgBrAdLeY7: Thanks! Much appreciated!
I recently tried PPSSPP (SF Alpha 3 Max) and it was a superb experience. Go for it, man, no mistakes.
Posted May 10, 2016
If you put the Sega Saturn or PS1 disc into a PC, you can see a directory named: "OMAKE"! Inside it are some wonderful artworks from the game! The last one is a topless succubus, too! Yummmm!
Post edited May 11, 2016 by KiNgBrAdLeY7
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionSega Saturn: Castlevania Symphony of the Night(51 posts)(51 posts)
(51 posts)