This Wednesday: Castlevania mania straight from Romania

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Mar 16th 2007 at 1:10PM }

It's, erm, insania. The gist of it being that the whip-wielding vampire-vanquishing adventure into androgyny, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is going to vanquish vampires and wield whips on Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday (when else?). An 800 MS Point ($10) expenditure will net you both the original version of the game and another that boasts improved HD visuals and sound.

But enough talk, have at this gallery of Symphony of the Night images! Fans of Alucard (psst, it's Dracula backwards!) can venture further into the post for a special reminder of their time spent within the dark lord's domain.

Gallery: Castlevania: SOTN (XBLA)

Tags: Alucard, Castlevania, Konami, SymphonyOfTheNight, XBLA, XBLAWednesday, XboxLiveArcade

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

dmbrandon @ Mar 16th 2007 1:13PM

FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

norly, I'm excited!

I like the upside-down bit. Clever.

a dirty bastard @ Mar 16th 2007 1:17PM

i think the xbla game are too expensive i jus bought tmnt 1989 i love it brings back memories but it cost too much

FrankTheCrank @ Mar 16th 2007 1:25PM

$10???

People are actually paying that much for these old games? Wow. What a scam.

Watership @ Mar 16th 2007 3:22PM

"i think the xbla game are too expensive i jus bought tmnt 1989 i love it brings back memories but it cost too much"

If you played TMNT in the arcade and you and four of your friends died five times and continued, that would be the cost of this game. But in this case you get to play it over and over and over again. ON your couch or online with 3 other players.

Its a steal at 5 dollars.

Tetranitrocubane @ Mar 16th 2007 1:27PM

March: Great XBLA month? Or the GREATEST XBLA month?

ShortFuse @ Mar 16th 2007 1:32PM

I beat the game 3x and never realized Alucard is Dracula backwards... I feel so slow =/
I'm interested in this "HD" update.

Efren @ Mar 16th 2007 1:33PM

Boo for not integrating "Transexual Transylvania" in there somewhere.

Crono @ Mar 16th 2007 1:36PM

FranktheCrank,

YOu have insulting what many consider to be the best castlevania game of all time, bad voice acting included.

I hope you brought your flamesuit. I bought this game brand new from e-bay maybe 5 years ago for full price, and I'd do it again if I didn't already own 2 copies.

Ken @ Mar 16th 2007 1:38PM

Anyone who owns a 360 and does not have this game purchased when it comes out, eat babies.

You're not a baby eater... are you?

Vidikron @ Mar 16th 2007 1:39PM

YES!!!! The one game I've been waiting on for XBLA. I think Calling All Cars hits the PSN next week... should be a great week for the console arcades.

polly @ Mar 16th 2007 1:42PM

Oh hell ya. I'm happy. XBLA is back on track.

Considering the original game is now a collector's item, $10 is a pretty damn good deal, especially since it's by most accounts "the best Castlevania game ever made."

http://product.half.ebay.com/Castlevania-Symphony-of-the-Night_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ2357

And who complains about $5 for the TMNT arcade game? I dropped that in my first 10 minutes at the arcades back in the day. If you're gonna complain about something complain about the lag or those last 4 impossible achievements.

Farseer @ Mar 16th 2007 1:43PM

mirrored article... I see what you did there ;)

Dave @ Mar 16th 2007 1:45PM

I'm confused. Does the gallery show the "improved HD visuals" version?

Farseer @ Mar 16th 2007 1:46PM

OMFG! I never knew that the original was selling for that much! I've been trying to justify the 2nd guitar purchase on 4/3... now that SOTN is on Arcade, I can sell my original and get the 2nd guitar. Bwahahahaha!

ZenGaijin @ Mar 16th 2007 1:47PM

Fucking Hell

I guess all that complaining people did paid off. Now I have to for out money 3 times in one month.

Alien Hominid, TMNT 1989 arcade game & CastleVania

benjamin @ Mar 16th 2007 1:59PM

>But enough talk, have at this gallery of Symphony of
>the Night images!
Mankind ill needs images such as this!

Back_Lit @ Mar 16th 2007 8:44PM

I'm a big fan of the 2D Castlevania games personally and am really looking forward to finally getting to play this one. $10 isn't a bad deal when you consider the original PS1 disc goes for more than that.

NeverSage @ Mar 16th 2007 2:10PM

@benjamin

LOL

@FrankTheCrank

Are you INSANE? A quick search on ebay will show this going from anywhere from $30 to $60. Truly then, $10 is a rip off.

required @ Mar 16th 2007 2:17PM

As I don't xbox I'm looking forward to:

http://psp.ign.com/articles/760/760806p1.html

as it will include Symphony of the Night

F1ghter @ Mar 16th 2007 2:20PM

GAH! THIS MAKES ME WANT A 360 FOR THE FIRST TIME!

Yes, I'm being totally serious. No, it doesn't make me want one bad enough to buy one.

Todd @ Mar 16th 2007 2:24PM

One of the best, if not THE best, Castlevania gave. Ever. Konami did right by this title.

tetracycloide @ Mar 16th 2007 2:44PM

brings back memories of dual crissagrims and last boss battles that lasted less than 10 seconds...

Genius @ Mar 16th 2007 2:26PM

Ill stick with my original pre-greatest hits PS1 game.

JodyAnthony @ Mar 16th 2007 2:42PM

I'll stick with my original post-greatest hits copy of this game.

(hey, fuck collecting, greatest hits copies are cheap)

VampireHunter Z @ Mar 16th 2007 5:24PM

I missed the original game so I'll get it and give it a try next week. I hope this game is as great as people been making it out to be. Some have even mentioned it in the same sentense as Super Metroid. That might just be going a little too far.

Pip @ Mar 16th 2007 4:26PM

I can't wait to replay this and unlock all the achievements! I was honestly expecting this to be $15.

$10 for this classic is a steal. Seriously.

Diskoboy @ Mar 16th 2007 4:30PM

#2 - If you think this game is too expensive, why don't you go buy a used PSX version for $30. Or the Saturn version for even more..

diego @ Mar 16th 2007 4:56PM

does this have the extra level like in the saturn version??

Inago @ Mar 19th 2007 9:47PM

Not only was this my favorite Castlevania game, this is one of my favorite games of all time. I like it just as much as Super Metroid, the only thing I didn't like about it was that it was too easy.

The game is just all fun man...

shaoron @ Mar 16th 2007 10:16PM

cute...
they even have a romanina "inverted" post in homage to the inverted castle...
but shouldn't the inverted post be on TOP instead? :D

anyway... this game goes to both 360 and PSP.. :( i got neither and it's my favorite game to boot!

oh well! back to the PS then!

shaoron @ Mar 17th 2007 6:59AM

forgot to ask.. but will the 360 version have maria as a playable extra char like in the saturn?

young maria in Portrait of Ruin (DS) was almost IMBA since most her attacks are spam-a-rific! i lvoed her :D :p

Jigsaw @ Mar 17th 2007 1:13AM

My god... this looks HORRIBLE!!
I'm looking forward to this as much as the next guy, but I am absolutely shocked at how bad this looks.

-First you have that huge, useless border... I could see why you would want something on the sides if you're playing on a 16:9 TV, but why doesn't the game video take up all the vertical space?
-PAL STYLE SQUASHED SCREEN?! What, is it running in 50Hz too?! This messes up the graphics completely, I can't see why they'd do this.
-And finally... THAT FILTER!!! It absolutely ruins the beautifully crafted pixel art of the original game. If they leave this in, without an option of disabling it, I'm going to seriously pissed. Who thinks this looks good?! If the sprites aren't affected bad enough, just look at any screenshot involving text!

Ugh. I am EXTREMELY disappointed, and I pray that this isn't representative of the final game. If it is, Konami and Ms REALLY dropped the ball on this.
I WAS excited about this, but if it looks this bad I'll just grab the PS1 version and play on my PS3 instead. More expensive maybe, but at least it'll look OK.