Saturn Dracula X has worse graphics then SOTN on the PS1?!..

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:24 pm

This is what I've read in at least one review of Dracula X. The reviewer claims that Dracula X is missing, for one, the trasparencies that the PS1 SOTN has.

This is just really hard for me to believe-is Dracula X REALLY worse, visually speaking, then SOTN?

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:43 pm

just for clarity's sake, i thought at first you were talking about Dracula X (PCE) cause i wasn't thinking. i know that SOTN was released on Saturn as Dracula X. just saying you should be specific on format (even if it may seem obvious).

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:01 pm

dave4shmups wrote: -is Dracula X REALLY worse, visually speaking, then SOTN?

Yes.

But you can play as Maria, at least.
It's not worth the high price it's going for if you already own the PS1 version.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:10 pm

Is there any English language option in this game, because as far as I know, it didn't get a US release.

Zach Keene · Post by **Zach Keene** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:22 pm

Nope.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:10 pm

Then why the heck is it like twice the price of the PS1 rev.?!

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:19 pm

It's rarer, has a new player caracter, enhanched graphics (better in some areas, worce in others), additional music, more levels, more items, a small difference to the castle interior and is japanese only.

jp · Post by jp » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:20 pm

Because its on the Saturn...

Also, it has 2 extra rooms, tons of extra weapons/items, alternate costume for Richter, the ability to play as Maria, and an alternate ending or something. But that still doesn't make up for the fact that its a shoddy fucking port.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:55 pm

IIRC, this port was made by the same team who did the first shoddy N64 Castlevania (The scond one wasn't that bad.) Rest assured that Konami has closed such studio, however. If we get a crappy Castlevania now, we can blame Igarashi and his team directly.

roushimsx · Post by **roushimsx** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:22 pm

Terrible port

The load times in the middle of the sections was especially annoying. I'm glad I didn't bother getting it then and I'm glad I don't own it now. The new character didn't add a whole lot, the new areas weren't that impressive, etc.

Off topic: Castlevania 64's chief flaw was the camera...it's a shame Legacy of Darkness didn't improve it, but the redesigned structure of the game was nice. Castlevania 64 is worth playing for the hedgemaze alone, imo. One of the best / most memorable levels of ANY Castlevania game.

Further Off Topic: Nintendo 64 games that required the memory pak for saving games pissed me off, especially when they were single player only games (like Castlevania 64).

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:17 pm

Err, where does the Saturn SOTN have better graphics than the PS version? There are also only a few extra items, not many more. Anyway, the main problem with the game IMO wasn't the visuals; it was the constant loading that made even going to the menu an annoyance.

KCEN sucked; they should've left the port to Riverhillsoft, who was actually good at porting over stuff to the Saturn.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:39 am

I like the ability to play as maria (bypasses the story, kewl weapon) so I probably won't sell the saturn version.

But I plan on getting it on psx too, for the english voice acting if nothing else.

"A miserable little pile of secrets!"

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:43 am

Neon, how do you manage to play the game when there's no English in it??

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:20 am

Since when did you have to understand the plot of a Castlevania game to enjoy it?

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:56 am

dave4shmups wrote:Neon, how do you manage to play the game when there's no English in it??

Well, I have no knowledge of Japanese, but I was still able to play some Goemon games (I own the first Goemon Famicom Mini and I played a couple others on rom, though I definatly plan to get the real games. I have the US version of the second N64 game, but there is no language barrier with that one), beat Magic Knight Rayearth 1 GG (though I had no idea what half the items did), and play Magic Knight Rayearth II GG. However, Rayearth II and Goemon Famicom Mini use icons in places that made the going a bit easier.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 2:36 am

Despite some of the English voice acting in the PS1 version (I like Alucard's actor), I think some of the dialogue was pretty cool on paper..just hearing it out loud made it sound silly. I also liked the pun in the black (black as in arcane evil) priest's name, Shaft

"Who's the baddest priest in da hood?"
"Shaft!"
"Damn right."

I think I'm the only guy that really, really liked the ending with Drac. The boss battle was incredibly easy and one of the worst in the entire series (I beat him in like 10 seconds because I was around level 60 and had the Crissaegrim equipped), but when Dracula quotes Matthew 16:26 "For what profit is it to man if he gains the world, but loses his own soul?" that made it one of the greatest gaming moments I've ever witnessed. It shows that even though Alucard had to kill his own father, his father knew he himself was an abomination and still loved his son by quoting The Bible; something Alucard's mother would have been proud to see.

Maybe it's because the father/son relationship parallels my own with my dad, but that was an incredibly touching moment to me.

Super Mega C · Post by **Super Mega C** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 2:51 am

OT: The PS does awsome 2d graphics. I'm guessing the reason we didn't see more was because of Sony and that everyone was nutting on 3d at the time (and still are apparently)

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:05 am

"Since when did you have to understand the plot of a Castlevania game to enjoy it?"

Yeah, but we're talking about a Castlevania game with heavy role-playing elements. Having once played the PS1 version of this game, I don't see how anyone could get through a Japanese-language version of it. Then again, I never got very far, but still!

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:09 am

Having played through the PS1 version (without having read any instructions or FAQs) I'm sure I could get through the Saturn version without much trouble, since I know at least basically how the thing progresses...if you haven't played the English version of it, you could always just look up an FAQ/Walkthrough for the game, I'm sure there are plenty of them out there.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:13 am

Very true. Oh well, I suppose being a 2D Saturn game it couldn't be THAT much worse, graphically speaking, then it's PS1 cousin. And while it's not as cheap as the PS1 release, it really isn't that much more, either.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:14 am

with Maria you don't need to equip weapons or listen to the story or any of that stupid RPG crap. You don't need to know japanese. Sort of do for saving but I already know the japanese for 'yes' 'no' 'overwrite?' from all my other jp games

I am not a loser.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:21 am

I envy the day Iga stops being a douche and takes 'Vania back to its roots.

Not saying HOD are bad (hopefully the new DS one won't suck either), but I've really had enough of these Super Metroid clones.

Gimme a Castlevania that's as awesome as Bloodlines and I'll be happy.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:29 am

Yeah, Bloodlines is awesome!

Well, I was just over at a Castlevania shrine hosted by Classicgaming.com, and the screenshots of the Saturn version hardly look different at all. And as far as load times go, I'm a very patient gamer when it comes to those.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:36 am

Anybody can easily figure out what to do in SOTN, esp. with Richter and Maria where you don't have much of anything to collect. Anybody who's gone through the PS version will have absolutely no trouble with the Saturn version if they remember what to do. The extra areas are so minute that they don't really add much of anything.

SOTN is NOT heavy on role-playing. It's only slightly more intensive than Super Metroid and you don't even need to read to play that game.

LoneSage wrote:Gimme a Castlevania that's as awesome as Bloodlines and I'll be happy.

Damn right. Bloodlines was simply awesome for creating a fresh CV game outside of a castle and it's a shame that hasn't been followed upon. IGA's LOI was boring and now considered a shoddy titles by many fans upon hindsight (sort of like R-Type Final). I'd love to play a linear CV title again, which probably won't happen as long as IGA's around.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:39 am

As for Saturn SOTN, it's not really that noticeable that the game looks worse unless you compare them side by side or strain to look at the details. As I said, the load times are more annoying than anything else. It's certainly acceptable unlike most Neo Geo CD fighters but if you need to check the map a lot, you'll likely get pretty annoyed.

But on the plus side, you get an item midway through the game that allows you to dash forward in the Saturn version, which will save you the trouble of changing to wolf form or performing the infamous back dash everywhere to cross large areas of space.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:11 am

I take it that Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness is less repetitive then LOI?

zimeon · Post by **zimeon** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:33 pm

Apart from the rather annoying loading times (why don't they start loading in the CD-rooms?) I see no true reason why the Saturn version should be inferior to the PS-version except on a screen-by-screen comparison, which has very little to do with playability. There is no hardware transparency for the mist and the metamorphoses are nonexistent (you just turn white and then pop changes). That doesn't affect gameplay at all. The loading times do, yes, but you get quite used to them.

There are two extra levels, one being a dead-end and another one being a short-cut between two levels. Both of them are quite short. Counting the upsidedown-part you've got four extra levels. The most amazing part of these is the music in the dead-end levels; they are fabulous remakes of the original Dracula to the NES.

But, the best part with Saturn-Dracula X is that the big clock actually shows the time. And you can find the sun armour and the moon armour, which are only effective at 0600AM to 0600 PM and vice versa. That is, believe me, great for gameplay. You enter the big clock room, and it's like: Wow!

Captain Ahar: Symphony Of the Night wasn't "released for the Saturn as Dracula X". Dracula X is the actual name of the game. Symphony of the Night is the western title (the full title in jap is Dracula X ~ Nocturne in the Moonlight)

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:04 pm

dave4shmups wrote:I take it that Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness is less repetitive then LOI?

Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness is very good if you can overlook the technical limitations of the N64. The first N64 one is too, in many respects. But I wouldn't recommend them to players who prefer the metroid Castlevanias, they'll just end up hating them.

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Saturn Dracula X has worse graphics then SOTN on the PS1?!..

Saturn Dracula X has worse graphics then SOTN on the PS1?!..

Re: Dracula X has worse graphics then SOTN on the PS1?!....