

Rather than maintaining the Saturn's increased resolution, the game was stretched to fit the screen, causing some sprites and graphics to be distorted. There is now slowdown in areas where none had existed in the original version, and some of the rooms were split in two or missing entirely. The load times are more frequent and much longer. While it sounds like the superior game on paper (especially considering the Saturn's general history with 2D games), this port is bogged with performance issues. It is also the second and final Castlevania game to be released for a Sega platform, as Sega left the console business and became a multi-platform third party developer and publisher in 2001 following the discontinuation of the Sega Dreamcast. The story, with the exception of a boss battle with Maria in order for Alucard to gain the Holy Glasses, is the same as the original game's. It is also possible to play as Richter Belmont or Maria Renard from the beginning of the game without having to do extra efforts to unlock them. In addition to the entire original Symphony of the Night, it included new stages, music, enemies and items that were absent in the Sony versions, plus a playable version of Maria Renard. This edition was more of an update rather than a port of the game. I cannot even imagine how laggy it gets on an emulator.The Sega Saturn version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was only released in Japan and, like the Japanese name of the PlayStation version, was called Akumajō Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight. I assume you are here because you have played SotN/Gekka no Yasoukyoku on PSX, so I can summarise the rest of the game with one word:įor speedrunning, or just doing simple spells, the lag can kill your button inputs (wing smash, soul steal, the Richter whip dash). There is literally no downside to picking her, which is what makes her OP. More on Maria, she is a boss in normal mode (Heart of the Castle where you get the Holy Glasses from her on PSX) and a beast as a playable character: She has a triple jump, overpowered spells, fast movement and about 20x more health than Richter "The Glass Cannon" Belmont. Wanting to stand out from the original, much of the GUI has been updated, as well as effects, some voices, enemy stats, item rebalancing, new bosses and new areas. Not just a port, but rather a rebuild of the PS1 version, with Maria Renard as a playable character, and beginning a new game allows you to pick your character, regardless of game completion.
