Is the Saturn version of SOTN worth tracking down?
What are the differences between the 2 versions?
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Is the Saturn version of SOTN worth tracking down?
What are the differences between the 2 versions?
worse graphics
From what I've heard the PSX is far superior to the SS version. To choose it over the PSX version meant your were the owner of a SS, and only a SS.
The Good:
Nice box art
extra character
The Bad:
shameful 2D graphics for Saturn
No english version
If you must have every Castlevania or are just a diehard fan of the series then you might be interested, otherwise the PSX version is all you need.
Well, Saturn version does have worse graphics, music quality is not as good as on PSX.
Saturn version have Maria playable, and few new areas to explore.
Does those worth to get Saturn version? Well is you a huge CV fan and got to have every CV game, then yes :) But if you just want to play the game, get PSX version instead.
Wow, a 2D games that's SUPERIOR on the PSX as opposed to SS?
*kisses his PSX copy*
How bizzare
I'm a huge SotN fan, so I thought it was worth my while to track down the Saturn version. Like Despair said, Maria is playable (as is Richter) from the beginning. Then there's also two extra areas added to the castle: Underground Prison IIRC, and a Garden level. That means new enemies as well. I haven't played it for too long since I don't have my Saturn with me, and it's up to you if you want to play through a game that is entirely in Japanese (that comes in handy when equipping and using items). I heard the Saturn's transparency effects in water isn't as great and I believe there's a little slowdown in the Saturn version as well.
The Saturn version was a pretty piss poor port job on Konami's part. They ported the game to a system which does 2d much better and ended up with heavy load time, gobs of slowdown, and graphics that didn't look as good. On the plus side you do get to play as Maria, there are two new areas and one new boss, and they added the classic Vampire Killer track back into the soundtrack. Oh and you also get to listen to the voices in Japanese which is a godsend... "Die... Monster..."
I have both versions. The slowdown on the Saturn is HORRIBLE! The transparancy is gone, but that is expected. The absolute worst problem is the re-drawn re-scalled graphics on everything. The Saturn runs at a slightly different resolution than the PS version. As a result, everything had to be scalled to fit the screen. For example, a background tile on the PS version might feature a line on a 45 degree angle. Each pixel will be in a perfect diagonal line. On the Saturn, the same line in the same background tile will have two horrizontal pixels in a row every 5 pixels or so. It ends up looking more blocky and just overall distorted. When you consider that every background tile and sprite looks like that, it gets pretty ugly.
Chibi, you've got an insane eye for detail for this stuff... you remind me of a friend who picks apart every single game I show him. :)
And like bbobb said, it was Konami's laziness that made this game bad, the Saturn could more than handle it but it wasn't worth the effort. Had the Saturn still been competing very heavily with the Playstation, or had Konami been losing money, maybe they would've worked on it a bit harder but to my knowledge, they handed this project over to... um... KCEJ? I dunno who it was, but I don't think it was the same team that made the original. Probably some college students or interns... as a result we get a cheap port with some bonus add ons.
That's why Nick Rox was always my favorite reviewer. People mocked him for caring about missing frames of animation and blue super shadows, but that's the exact same kind of stuff I scrutinize when playing a 2D port. I wish more (any) reviewers gave that kind of detail these days. Those little details are important. :)Quote:
Originally posted by SearchManX
Chibi, you've got an insane eye for detail for this stuff... you remind me of a friend who picks apart every single game I show him. :)
To all three of you that is. ;)Quote:
Originally posted by Chibi Nappa
Those little details are important. :)
The port was done by KCE Nagoya, Konami's worst development team EVER. They were also responsible for the polished turds Castlevania Legends and Ganbare Goemon on the B&W Game Boy.
There's a text file or two on the Saturn SOTN disc that contains the whinings of KCEN staff members over how hard the Saturn is to program for.
Quote:
Originally posted by Zerodash
Wow, a 2D games that's SUPERIOR on the PSX as opposed to SS?
*kisses his PSX copy*
How bizzare
http://the-nextlevel.com/board/image...ies/bangin.gif
errr what a revelation
Thankfully KCEN isn't around anymore.
Other SS niceties are the sound test mode, .bmp files on the CD to use on your PC, and the new weapons (the new fire sword is pretty cool), but really there's no reason to seek out the SS version when the PS rev can be found relatively painlessly here.
I could've sworn we had a thread about this a few months back.
Anyway, the worst thing about this game has got to be the load times. The PSX version had loading rooms between areas which would stream data off the disc, so you would not have to sit through a loading screen. Well, the rooms are still in the Saturn version, but they don't work! The game goes into a loading screen after you exit the room.
I got the saturn version for $12 when Babbages was carrying imports back in the day, and for $12 it's plenty fine. I got through the entire game with no problem, then again I had played through the NA PSX version too, so It's not like I didn't know what to do. Maria is fun, kinda plays like Megaman, and I'm pretty sure if you're looking at this thread, you've played as Richter on the PSX rev. Needless to say it was awesome for the $12 I bought it for, but I later sold it on ebay for $75, and it's not worth that.
One of the best additions were the .BMPs on the disk. I really appreciated that.
But otherwise, I found it to be a very painful transition. The flaws nearly did ruin the experience for me. I know the Saturn's architecture is quite different than that of a PSX, but this was just low-quality. Like most people said, the mis-scaled sprites and 2D images, mixed with the nearly constant slowdown ruined what could've been a very nice DX:NotM+. I did sorta like the Underground Garden stage quite a bit, and playing with Maria was nifty as well, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but serious fans of the series, particularly this installment. The PSX version is still the definitive.
Strikers 1945 II , donpachi,dodonpachi,street fighter alpha 2(according to nick rox) ,and maybe even soukourentai (im not sure about this one)were done better on the psx.Quote:
Originally posted by Zerodash
Wow, a 2D games that's SUPERIOR on the PSX as opposed to SS?
*kisses his PSX copy*
How bizzare
I'm not sure about Alpha 2, personaly I think Alpha 2 Gold on Saturn is the best version of that made... but the rest you are correct on.Quote:
Originally posted by xS
Strikers 1945 II , donpachi,dodonpachi,street fighter alpha 2(according to nick rox) ,and maybe even soukourentai (im not sure about this one)were done better on the psx.
What's wrong with Dodonpachi on the Saturn? If you play in TATE mode it is arcade perfect aside from pixely explosions.
SF Alpha 1 had the blue super shadow problem on the Saturn according to Nick Rox. :p
Don't forget Time Bokan and a s**t load of badass PSone 2D games not avalable on the Saturn.Quote:
Originally posted by xS
Strikers 1945 II , donpachi,dodonpachi,street fighter alpha 2(according to nick rox) ,and maybe even soukourentai (im not sure about this one)were done better on the psx.
Someone missed the point.Quote:
Don't forget Time Bokan and a s**t load of badass PSone 2D games not avalable on the Saturn.
I prefer Alpha 2 on the Saturn. Especially once you factor the controller in, although if you do that almost every game was better on Saturn (especially fighting games, and definately shooters).
I missed the point? And that the point was that you prefer Alpha 2 on the Saturn. errrrr sorry about that. What a spended point it was. :wtf: The controller isn't an issue seeing as you can use a SS pad with a converter, get an ASII SS style pad and somepeople may even prefer the PSone style pad like me for the SNES style button layout.Quote:
Originally posted by MechDeus
Someone missed the point.
I prefer Alpha 2 on the Saturn. Especially once you factor the controller in, although if you do that almost every game was better on Saturn (especially fighting games, and definately shooters).
My comments on Alpha 2 were seperate from that, the question asked was about which 2D games were done better on PS then Saturn, not which had exclusives.Quote:
I missed the point?
It's not even the button layout, it's the horrible d-pad which inhibits any sort of quick movement. High jumps, half-circles, full circles, shoruken motions, back-forward motions, flash kick super motions are all far too difficult to be done on the PS pad, especially after the Saturn pad. This was most noticable when me and a friend went directly from playing Vampire Savior on Saturn to Darkstalkers 3 on PS (we wanted to see the differences and he wanted to use a PS arcade stick he had), and I was suddenly unable to perform high-jumps. The controller simple didn't register a quick down-up like a stick or the Saturn pad does, you have to do it twice as slow for it to get the message (and many moves you can't do very slowly). And half-circles or more? HA! I'd like to see someone consistantly pull off a Final Atomic Buster with a PS d-pad.
I didn't say anything about Alpha 2. My token comments on exclusives were to point out what a bad ass 2D machine the PSoneis as it never seems to register with people.Quote:
Originally posted by MechDeus
My comments on Alpha 2 were seperate from that, the question asked was about which 2D games were done better on PS then Saturn, not which had exclusives.
Like I said the controller doesn't come into the arguement as you don't have to use the standard pad.Quote:
It's not even the button layout, it's the horrible d-pad which inhibits any sort of quick movement. High jumps, half-circles, full circles, shoruken motions, back-forward motions, flash kick super motions are all far too difficult to be done on the PS pad, especially after the Saturn pad. This was most noticable when me and a friend went directly from playing Vampire Savior on Saturn to Darkstalkers 3 on PS (we wanted to see the differences and he wanted to use a PS arcade stick he had), and I was suddenly unable to perform high-jumps. The controller simple didn't register a quick down-up like a stick or the Saturn pad does, you have to do it twice as slow for it to get the message (and many moves you can't do very slowly). And half-circles or more? HA! I'd like to see someone consistantly pull off a Final Atomic Buster with a PS d-pad.
Finding convertors locally is a pain (because they aren't carried by any store), the ASCII pads have been stated by many to wear out quickly, and my Saturn controllers still don't plug directly into my PS2, so no, it's not an option. Once they decide on a standard controller port and allow us to mix and match controllers I'll have no problem (it works for other electronics) but as long as they insist on this nonsense and Sony insists on having their controllers built by people who specifically designed the d-pad to be as unresponsive to quick movements as it could be (even double-tap dashing), I'll complain about the PS pad.Quote:
Originally posted by padman
Like I said the controller doesn't come into the arguement as you don't have to use the standard pad.
It's good for MGS and has great analog stick placement for VOOT, however. Granted, none of the VOs are on the PS line, but still.
Wait... what?!Quote:
Originally posted by bbobb
I'm not sure about Alpha 2, personaly I think Alpha 2 Gold on Saturn is the best version of that made... but the rest you are correct on.
How on earth is Soukyuugurentai better on PSX?
When I first played it, I thought Soukyuu was the worst shooter I've ever played. Honestly.
Someone convinced me to try the SS version, and I did for a little bit. Admittedly I still dont' like the game. But it was definitely decent. The PSX version, with massive slowdown throughout the entire game especially on 2 players, made it darn near unplayable. So what if an extra ship and (crappy) FMV were added... the game itself took a huge hit.
Its hardly justification dissing the PSone just because you can't be arsed to buy a decent controller for it. Pathetic.
I stick to first party products. Would you call it hardly justified for dissing the PSone just because Sony can't be arsed to create a decent controller for it? Yeah, I'd say they're pathetic.Quote:
Originally posted by padman
Its hardly justification dissing the PSone just because you can't be arsed to buy a decent controller for it. Pathetic.
you are correct sirQuote:
Originally posted by bbobb
I'm not sure about Alpha 2, personaly I think Alpha 2 Gold on Saturn is the best version of that made...
Bleh. Real men not named Mode 7 use an arcade stick for shmups and fighters anyway :p
Man, Blue Shadows must never die. It's the most legendary review in the history of gaming.
Thats just your opinion. Personally I think the PSone pad is excellent.Quote:
I stick to first party products. Would you call it hardly justified for dissing the PSone just because Sony can't be arsed to create a decent controller for it? Yeah, I'd say they're pathetic.
LOLQuote:
Bleh. Real men not named Mode 7 use an arcade stick for shmups and fighters anyway
*quickly changes name*Quote:
Originally posted by StriderKyo
Bleh. Real men not named Mode 7 use an arcade stick for shmups and fighters anyway :p
Look mommy! Now I'm a real man!
There you go, Pinnocchi-er, Mode. If I were you, I would have gone for Turok. There's money in it, you know.Quote:
Originally posted by MechDeus
*quickly changes name*
Look mommy! Now I'm a real man!
Is time bokan any good?
I did compile a list of about 60 psx 2d games its lying around somewhere in the forum.
Its not the best shooter ever but its good fun and worth the $20ish it goes for on ebay.Quote:
Is time bokan any good?
I shouldn't waste your time. People will be all "really? I didn't realise" then forget all about it the next day then next week will be saying the same damn thing. Groundhog day style.Quote:
I did compile a list of about 60 psx 2d games its lying around somewhere in the forum.
Hey man! I'm with ya on that one...! You ain't the only one at TNL at least. :PQuote:
Originally posted by Chibi Nappa
That's why Nick Rox was always my favorite reviewer. People mocked him for caring about missing frames of animation and blue super shadows, but that's the exact same kind of stuff I scrutinize when playing a 2D port. I wish more (any) reviewers gave that kind of detail these days. Those little details are important. :)
Actually owned and beat the Saturn version of Castlevania before picking up the PSone version. Is the Jewel Sword only in the Saturn version? Never saw it in the PSone edition. The loading corridors are a joke, the game definitely wasn't optimized.
Here's a question. Has anyone actually tried to beat the game with Richter or Maria? Managed to reach the second castle with Maria before my reflexs gave way to all the crap on screen. *-neo
Groundhog day!Quote:
Groundhog day style.
Groundhog day!Quote:
Groundhog day style.
I'm waiting to have a kid. Although I wonder if I could get more cash if there was Turok and Turok Jr...Quote:
Originally posted by StriderKyo
If I were you, I would have gone for Turok. There's money in it, you know.