Enough talk, have at this Castlevania XBLA video

38 Comments by Ludwig Kietzmann Jan 9th 2007 10:55AM
Filed under: Arcade, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, CES

Warning: Watching this CES video may lead to excessive yearning and gnashing of teeth upon the realization that the game in question, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is not yet available for download on Xbox Live Arcade. To cope with this inescapable sensation, distract yourself by contemplating your existence as a miserable little pile of secrets (sadly, Dracula neglects to mention exactly what a woman is).

Joking aside, let's ask a serious question: are "fresher" console titles like this more welcome on XBLA than popular coin guzzlers?

Tags: Castlevania, MSFT, Symphony of the Night, SymphonyOfTheNight, Video, XBLA, Xbox Live Arcade, XboxLiveArcade

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Chris Hutwelker: Jan 9th 2007; 11:02AM

Wouldn't this weigh in at over 50MB?

Izuna Drop: Jan 9th 2007; 11:04AM

Man... I can't wait to play this again. I love this game!

hjungle: Jan 9th 2007; 11:06AM

Any version is good, of course, but the Saturn port had a couple of extra areas, some new music, and you could play as Maria. Demand the Saturn port (but without the odd slowdown and load times)!

Kendrick: Jan 9th 2007; 11:07AM

SOTN was the Saturn game, right? Probably 40 megs of that is actual data, and the other 10 megs is MP3-compressed music tracks that used to be CDDA. That's just a guess based on what I see on the actual media, I don't really know how the Digial Eclipse guys will choose to mess with the files.

zero2dash: Jan 9th 2007; 11:07AM

Wow that's one of the worst Castlevania players I've ever played. I'm sure his starting stats would be crap. (For those that don't know - your starting stats are based upon how well you defeat Dracula as Richter, including how many hits you take and if you use special attacks or not.)

As for the soundtrack - they'll convert all the redbook audio to either mp3 or wma (more likely wma since it is a Microsoft machine) and nothing will be cut out.

I just wonder if it'll be based on the US SotN or the Japanese Saturn one with the extra areas + new weapons/items as well as the ability to play as Maria. I'll take either, but I'd rather have the Saturn mix if possible. =)

baby sea tuna: Jan 9th 2007; 11:08AM

Jesus, tripod please?

Also, this game rules. Commence gnashing of teeth.

Fozzie: Jan 9th 2007; 11:08AM

Isn't this Dracula X?

rockintom99: Jan 9th 2007; 11:10AM

Ok, that is freaking sweet. I just hope the borders aren't there when playing on a 4:3 tv...

Skwurl: Jan 9th 2007; 11:12AM

I could never get into the Castlevania series...The story is cool but there's something about the game that I don't like.

Also, I thought Castlevania kind of had an unwritten partnership with Nintendo.

Guess not.

Sonic: Jan 9th 2007; 11:12AM

Portrait of Ruin is so similar to this. I want it, cause I never had it.

KaneRobot: Jan 9th 2007; 11:17AM

Regarding stuff like this vs. "classic arcade titles," it'll depend, since the price for this game isn't announced yet. If it's $15 or less, it's well worth it. $20 is the absolute most I'd pay though.

I'd still rather have cheaper classic arcade games, but NOT stuff from the dark ages like all this nonsense we've been getting (New Rally-X, Scramble, etc). Anything that's both post-1990 and high quality though would be what I prefer.

KaneRobot: Jan 9th 2007; 11:18AM

"Also, I thought Castlevania kind of had an unwritten partnership with Nintendo."

This is 2007, not 1987.

Norm: Jan 9th 2007; 11:24AM

My favorite SOTN quote:

You: "You steal men's souls, and make them your slaves!"
Drac: "The same could be said of all... RELIGEONS."

RUSKULL: Jan 9th 2007; 11:31AM

Man I hate when they add graphics on the sides. Hopefully there will be an option to just have black.

insane_cobra: Jan 9th 2007; 11:45AM

"Are "fresher" console titles like this more welcome on XBLA than popular coin guzzlers?"

By all means, yes! Even though really old classics shouldn't be completely neglected either. My order of preference:

1) new games
2) post 1990 retro releases
3) earlier retro releases

bob: Jan 9th 2007; 11:55AM

this is hotness. i've been playing this on my PSP.

White Rose Duelist: Jan 9th 2007; 11:59AM

I don't care if a game came out in 1987, 1997 or 2007. If it's good, I'll buy it. SOTN is one I would purchase in a heartbeat if I didn't already have it for PS1.

Musashi9X: Jan 9th 2007; 12:08PM

Saturn version had some nice extras but the gameplay and graphics suffered. (It having originally been designed ground-up for PSX) It's kind of like RE4. Would you prefer the game to look nicer and run smoother or have extras? Me, I'd go for the former, but it'd be nice if they put the work into a "perfect version." Unlikely, though.

Jonah Falcon: Jan 9th 2007; 12:14PM

You know, some of us spend hundreds of dollars worth of quarters on those "dark ages" games. Ms. Pac-Man is one title I'll be snapping up - and I loved Rally-X so much I got the ripoff version for the C-64.

jduke: Jan 9th 2007; 12:14PM

i'm all for arcade titles, but i would love to get some of the four player sidescroller arcade games like x-men, the simpsons and tmnt.

Comtar: Jan 9th 2007; 12:43PM

Richter: "You steal mens souls, and make them your slaves."
Dracula: "You should see the dental plan!"

Alucard: "I've come to destroy this castle."
Death: "Oh not that shit again. Why is it always destroy the castle, can't you find a hobby?"

bounchfx: Jan 9th 2007; 12:49PM

they really need games like Simpsons/X-Men/Turtles arcade sidescrollers, those were huge! (one reason I'm particularly excited for Castle Crashers) and more freaking Fighters please! MARVEL VS CAPCOM 2. Street Fighter 3, god damn, the arcade right now is pathetic in terms of actual "arcade" games, most of the so called classics aren't that great.

what XBLA could also use is freakin Light Gun games. have MS release a Wireless lightgun ~$40 that comes with one free xbla download, and have the rest of the lightgun games just be downloadable, like Virtua Cop, House of the Dead, Time Crisis, Lethal Enforcers, Area 51, etc. First Thing I think of when I hear "Arcade" Is these... GET SOME MICROSOFT. God damn, those games are sick.

Oobgarm: Jan 9th 2007; 1:01PM

Let's hope they take the initiative and add in all of the extras that the US SoTN didn't have.

If the XBLA version diesn't bring anything new to the table, I'd rather play my existing PSOne copy, which I have also ripped to the PSP for portableness. I love Castlevania, but re-buying a game that's still semi-new(and exactly the same) seems silly to me.

mystyk23: Jan 9th 2007; 1:14PM

No one else finds it funny about people getting excited to pay to play 10+ year old titles in 2D on a $300+ system?

insane_cobra: Jan 9th 2007; 1:26PM

No, a good game is a good game.

Skwurl: Jan 9th 2007; 1:28PM

#24

Not at all.

Do you think it's strange that people buy 300 dollar stereos to listen to the Beatles? I mean, Revolver is over 40 years old.

What about people who read Steinbeckor or Dickens?

These games compliment the system (be it wii, 360, or PS3) by allowing the gamer to enjoy excellent titles that are no longer available in their original format.

There are over 750 games in the SNES catalog alone - many of them excellent. I think this just proves that good game design is timeless - just like the records and novels that are still enjoyed today.

Ben: Jan 9th 2007; 1:39PM

SOTN is one of the best videogames ever made, period. BRING IT ON! (for the nOObs, I have it on disc from "back in the day)

Hart704: Jan 9th 2007; 1:39PM

While you are all waiting to play this game again, I'll be in front of my PS2.

Ren: Jan 9th 2007; 1:47PM

@Fozzie (#7)

Yeah, this is Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight. It's not Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. I wish they would re release Rondo of Blood, but software companies don't really make a lot of money for 2D games unless they're ported to handheld. Oh, I miss the days of 2D Dracula X games with cd quality sound.
With the video we see here, I think it's safe to assume that XBLA is getting the US version with no ad ons. I don't think they'll spend money to add the extras from the Saturn version (voice acting and programming). Oh well, at least some of the people who don't have copies of the game anymore can have it again.

BklynKid: Jan 9th 2007; 2:02PM

Looks craptacular. Graphics could use a upgrade.

OXfire: Jan 9th 2007; 2:25PM

Being the webmaster of XBLAddict.com, we run into many questions like this. According to the members, nothing is more disappointing than receiving a coin-op classic when something more enjoyable like Small Arms, Mutant Storm, or even elder Castlevania-ish games are in the line-up. We would much rather see a "newer" game posted than some ancient arcade title attempted to be re-born. Of course, I am not speaking for everyone, just the majority. :)

abobo kitty: Jan 9th 2007; 2:37PM

this game makes me horny.

Pince: Jan 9th 2007; 4:12PM

@22
Seconded. X-men/Turtles/Turtles in Time/The Simpsons would all be big hits on XBLA if it is a possibility. What company owns the rights to those games. I think TMNT is all Konami, but I could also see them going to VC based on the NES and SuperNES TMNT games wqhich were ports of the arcade versions (and TMNT 3 for NES which Ilove).

But I wonder who made Simpsons and Xmen for arcade and if those are even really a possibility.

@30
I am sure that you do not understand the extent of your blasphemy, so I will sopare your life for that comment. But, SOTN is the most beautiful game ever and is absolutely perfect the way it is. Don't even try arguing back about that because I refuse to listen to logic. SOTN, if only for its style and flair, is absolutely gorgeous and always will be.

Pince: Jan 9th 2007; 4:12PM

If you don't own this game already the XBLA download is probably a pretty good deal. Copies of SOTN go for 30 to 40$ at most retailers/auctions and the price seems to only go up and the game becomes more and more rare. Theres nothing wrong with playing old games on newer consoles; in fact its a hell of a lot easier than trying to track down a copy yourself and not having to pay twice as much as the game costed 8 or 9 years ago.

Seroth: Jan 9th 2007; 6:10PM

You're supposed to hit him in the HEAD!

But yeah...I want this. I have it on the PSX (or PS1..whatever they call it now), but once I get a 360 and an HDTV, SOTN XBLA here I come! ...that'll be years from now, though. =[

Daxter1985: Jan 9th 2007; 9:01PM

when's this coming out?

Tripred: Jan 10th 2007; 11:47AM

Now post a video of you playing it on PS3 or PSP to get 30+ negative comments!

shaoron: Jan 12th 2007; 9:54AM

now here's a question...
is this the PSX "incomplete" version, or the saturn "complete" version, with the 2 extra areas (per castle) and maria as playble...?

SOTN pwns all other castlevania titles!
And i am still waiting for another castlevania that can beat it!

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