Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/Saturn

The Sega Saturn version of the game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It was only released in Japan and, like the Japanese name of the PSX version, was called Akumajo Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight. This edition was more of an update, rather than a port of the game. In addition to the entire original Symphony of the Night, it included new stages, music, enemies, items, and a playable version of Maria. It is also possible to play as Alucard or Richter as well at the beginning of the game without having to do extra efforts to unlock them. 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.

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. The load times are more frequent and much longer. Just the same, there is now slowdown in areas where none had existed and some of the rooms were split into two or missing entirely. There is also inconsistent resolution that makes certain things look blurry, and in at least one instance a background layer was removed. Some of the sound and graphical effects were also downsampled. For example, some enemies have different death animations. Transparencies are also non-existent, making certain things like the waterfall and the mist effect look less than spectacular. Because of this, the Invisible (also known as the Crystal Cloak) was removed and replaced with the Glaring Cloth (although it shares the same menu icon), which is functionally the same but is bright white rather than see-through. A new mantle was also added that increased defense by seven, called the Rainbow Mantle. Instead of the invisibility effect, it changed colors periodically. Additionally, Richter had an alternate outfit closer to the official artwork that could also be seen while fighting against him, but it still didn't quite match its previous depiction in the two instances it appeared in the original game. Lastly, the Librarian no longer sells boss tactics, and map completion data is still made with the PSX version in mind. Unfortunately, critics have often deemed the Saturn content as clashing with the original design of the game.

While the Saturn version was ultimately denounced by Assistant Director IGA, it does maintain a legacy. The Underground Garden area is thought to be an unused idea from the PSX edition, as the door to its equivalent area (leading to a normally-inaccessible save point) can be opened originally via glitching. Unused audio for a lost ending in the PSX version also indicated some variant of the Maria battle. The Alucard Spear also appeared in the Saturn version, a novelty weapon but one that would one day end up in the hands of Eric Lecarde. In latter editions of the Japanese PSX version, the Fairy Familiar could sing to Alucard much like she could with the Lyrics Card in the Saturn version. When the PSP version was announced, there was fan outcry to merge the best of the Saturn version (such as Maria and the Godspeed Shoes, an ability found in the start of the second castle that allowed Alucard to run like Richter) with the PSX version to make the best quality version possible. IGA did listen somewhat and included a new version of Maria in the PSP version. This new Maria played more like her Rondo self. She is also fought for the Holy Glasses much like the Saturn version. Her battle music, often considered one of the best in the series, was, however, replaced with Richter's battle theme. Her sprite when playing and battling against her is also slightly different from her normal set of sprites. Despite these improvements, the PSP version would also see some panning due to its imperfect porting and many game-crashing glitches.
 * Saturn version in YouTube
 * PSP version in YouTube

Character Gallery
See Also 

New Enemies
Several enemies appear in this edition that do not appear in any other edition. For a list of all enemies, see Symphony of the Night Bestiary.

New Items

 * For a complete list of items Alucard has in this game, see Alucard/Symphony of the Night

Alucard has some new items available in his quest.

Related Products

 * Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - The original PlayStation version of this game (has the same Japanese name)
 * Castlevania: Legends - The next game developed by Konami/KCE Nagoya.
 * Castlevania Best Music Collections BOX - Contains music from this game on Disk 6