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[VGEsoterica]

For the longest time when it came to Symphony of the Night on Saturn (Ok Nocturne in the Moonlight) you had three options...the original game with its Japanese language and technical deficiencies compared to the PS1 original, an english translation OR the 4MB rom version that fixed some technical issues and was straight in Japanese.

Today that changes as there is a new version of SotN for Saturn that fixes almost all of the technical issues from the Saturn version (map screen, loading times, transparencies, slow down, etc) while giving you all the extras the Saturn had (playable Maria, two new areas of the castle to explore, more familiars and weapons, etc etc) in a full english translation that is legit as good as the official Konami translation.

So its everything the PS1 version was and more and now in a package that basically makes it the quintessential way to play SotN...minus the slight resolution diff moving a few pixels here and there.

But that's a hell of a way to start 2024 for Castlevania fans. I def didn't see it coming and I usually hear about these things in advance.

GAF...you try the new SotN yet? If not def make it a 2024 resolution

 

[linko9]

That's awesome! But the "few pixels here and there" (doubled vertical lines distorting every inch of the game's art) is for many people (including me) the number one problem with the port. Still, great that all the other issues could be addressed; I wonder if something like the RetroTink4K could fix the doubled line issue; would mess up all text and menus though.

 

[fart town usa]

Played a bit last night. So cool to have the ram expansion hack, translation, and other fixes all under one roof now.

 

[simpatico]

Hell yeah. One of the all time greats. Will check it out asap!

 

[VGEsoterica]

Played a bit last night. So cool to have the ram expansion hack, translation, and other fixes all under one roof now.

yes its the best of everything all in one package now

 

[RoboFu]

This has been a thing for years and it still doesnt fix the resolution issues.

 

[Naked Lunch]

The retro scene is on fire right now - no need to play any modern day, disappointing crap.

Off the top of my head:
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 (PS2) english translation
Metroid 1 to SNES port
Zelda 1 Redux
Monster Hunter 2 translation with PSP control patch
Samurai Shodown RPG NeoGeo CD translation
all PS2 Armored Cores getting dual analog support
Tactics Ogre Saturn english translation
FFTactics PSP translations and gameplay to the PS1 version
Phantasy Star series re-translations and QoL stuff
Rent a Hero Dreamcast translation
Tengai Makyou PCEngine CD translation

This is all cant miss stuff.

Add this new Saturn Castlevania version to that list. Theres been split versions of it, either 4mb ram cart improvements, or the translations - now this version combines it all into one. Praise the sun. What a time to be alive.

 

[tusharngf]

best Castlevania game in the series.

 

[VGEsoterica]

The retro scene is on fire right now - no need to play any modern day, disappointing crap.

Off the top of my head:
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 (PS2) english translation
Metroid 1 to SNES port
Zelda 1 Redux
Monster Hunter 2 translation with PSP control patch
Samurai Shodown RPG NeoGeo CD translation
all PS2 Armored Cores getting dual analog support
Tactics Ogre Saturn english translation
FFTactics PSP translations and gameplay to the PS1 version
Phantasy Star series re-translations and QoL stuff
Rent a Hero Dreamcast translation
Tengai Makyou PCEngine CD translation

This is all cant miss stuff.

Add this new Saturn Castlevania version to that list. Theres been split versions of it, either 4mb ram cart improvements, or the translations - now this version combines it all into one. Praise the sun. What a time to be alive.

it seriously is the golden age of fun. I helped a tiny bit with Sam Sho RPG too so I knew that as coming

 

[Happosai]

Looks real smooth and only took 27-odd years for this to get proper English captions. OG Japanese name sounded better too -- that's trivia I didn't know prior.

 

[simpatico]

The retro scene is on fire right now - no need to play any modern day, disappointing crap.

Off the top of my head:
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 (PS2) english translation
Metroid 1 to SNES port
Zelda 1 Redux
Monster Hunter 2 translation with PSP control patch
Samurai Shodown RPG NeoGeo CD translation
all PS2 Armored Cores getting dual analog support
Tactics Ogre Saturn english translation
FFTactics PSP translations and gameplay to the PS1 version
Phantasy Star series re-translations and QoL stuff
Rent a Hero Dreamcast translation
Tengai Makyou PCEngine CD translation

This is all cant miss stuff.

Add this new Saturn Castlevania version to that list. Theres been split versions of it, either 4mb ram cart improvements, or the translations - now this version combines it all into one. Praise the sun. What a time to be alive.

People still don't even know that Konami released a perfect port of Castlevania Bloodlines on Steam and every console. There's no hope for them.

 

[VGEsoterica]

People still don't even know that Konami released a perfect port of Castlevania Bloodlines on Steam and every console. There's no hope for them.

Bloodlines will always be the forgotten Castlevania game

 

[CamHostage]

Hmm, very curious to see this.

I thought I had remembered that there was a PSX patch that put Maria in, but looking it up now, I'm not seeing that being a real thing. And the PSP version (an extra unlockable Dracula X Chronicles) has Maria in it, but she I guess is a little different stat-wise in that version plus its internal resolution doesn't scale as happily for some picky visual pursuers and other issues (it skips the extra castle sections, though people gripe about how good or not good those extra areas are) keep it from being the ultimate all-inclusive version. (And Requiem for PS4 is the PSP version as I understand it.)

Problem for me at the moment is I haven't had a lot of luck with Saturn emulation yet (although it's been a while since I've tried.) My preferred retro player is an Ayn Odin running Android, does anybody have any good recommendations? There's Yaba Sanshiro 2 (and the pay version, Yaba Sanshiro Pro) plus some conditional methods of using Yaba Sanshiro in RetroArch and LaunchBox, and then another one called uoYabause, those are the choices I know of.

 

[Darkkahn]

Yes! I've been waiting for this.

 

[simpatico]

What's a good Saturn emulator lads?

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Better than the 360 version now?

 

[ScHlAuChi]

What's a good Saturn emulator lads?

Mednafen Saturn

 

[StereoVsn]

For the longest time when it came to Symphony of the Night on Saturn (Ok Nocturne in the Moonlight) you had three options...the original game with its Japanese language and technical deficiencies compared to the PS1 original, an english translation OR the 4MB rom version that fixed some technical issues and was straight in Japanese.

Today that changes as there is a new version of SotN for Saturn that fixes almost all of the technical issues from the Saturn version (map screen, loading times, transparencies, slow down, etc) while giving you all the extras the Saturn had (playable Maria, two new areas of the castle to explore, more familiars and weapons, etc etc) in a full english translation that is legit as good as the official Konami translation.

So its everything the PS1 version was and more and now in a package that basically makes it the quintessential way to play SotN...minus the slight resolution diff moving a few pixels here and there.

But that's a hell of a way to start 2024 for Castlevania fans. I def didn't see it coming and I usually hear about these things in advance.

GAF...you try the new SotN yet? If not def make it a 2024 resolution

That’s outstanding. Love the game, love Saturn console, time to try it. Man, at some point I really need to spring for ODE or MisTer, but for now emulation will do.

 

[StereoVsn]

Mednafen Saturn

Yep, and Yaba Sanshiro in Android.

Edit: Forgot they OpenEmu has a pretty decent core on Mac now.

 

[Pejo]

That's honestly super hype. SotN is in my top 3 games of all time, and I still haven't played the Saturn version. Looks like it's time to change that.

 

[Xion_Stellar]

So this is the definitive version now right? I can't remember if the XBLA version has "wide screen" support or not but whenever a definitive version conversation came up it was always a toss up of concessions.

 

[nkarafo]

Yep, and Yaba Sanshiro in Android.

Edit: Forgot they OpenEmu has a pretty decent core on Mac now.

Yaba Sanshiro is nowhere near the same level as mednafen.

Problem for me at the moment is I haven't had a lot of luck with Saturn emulation yet (although it's been a while since I've tried.) My preferred retro player is an Ayn Odin running Android, does anybody have any good recommendations? There's Yaba Sanshiro 2 (and the pay version, Yaba Sanshiro Pro) plus some conditional methods of using Yaba Sanshiro in RetroArch and LaunchBox, and then another one called uoYabause, those are the choices I know of.

Accurate Saturn emulation is currently beyond the capabilities of any random Android device. You need a mid-range PC and Mednafen. The minimum requirements should be an i5 4th gen.

 

[ChazAshley]

For those who can't afford a Sega Saturn or an emulator - here's SOTN for the Genesis, also being released soon

 

[Killer8]

I'm sorry but the original "miserable little pile of secrets" translation will always be definitive for me.

 

[CamHostage]

So this is the definitive version now right? I can't remember if the XBLA version has "wide screen" support or not but whenever a definitive version conversation came up it was always a toss up of concessions.

The XBLA version is not "wide screen". It's played full-frame (with the black borders) and then that frame is inset in a surrounding theme. There is then a setting to stretch the screen for "full screen", but as I understand it, this still does not render the game without the bars at a congruent resolution for "wide screen" display.

The PS4 version (of the PSP version) appears to cull out the black bars and play across a larger portion of the screen. It still has borders of a theme (and I'm guessing it resolves to a specific resolution so it doesn't fully fill out a 720p/1080p screen vertically much less "wide screen",) but it at least avoids the letterbox-of-a-letterbox issue.

Normally, I would say that there not being "wide screen" support is a good thing, since widescreen of a 2D game can only be done through either pixel/tile stretching or tricks/hacks of off-screen elements (or a redesign of all game maps, but that's a high-spec production not usually done without a full remaster crew) and that it usually results in a highly compromised gaming experience compared to the original. (Street Fighter 2 widescreen hacks, for instance, make Chun Li not work properly since her screen-edge jump doesn't work the same if the screen edge doesn't move with the players. Or most Boss Battles don't work since the edge of the screen doesn't extend beyond the Boss's space. And enemies in 2D games tend to be programmed to spawn when the screen scrolls a certain distance, meaning they don't spawn at the same points, if at all, with widescreen hacks. 2D games can be way easier and/or glitchy with widescreen hacks, it's just inherent to how they're made and meant to be played. Enjoy that feature as you will, but most retro 2D games are not made to go widescreen)

...However, I do believe even the PS1 version of C:SotN (and to some slight degree the Saturn version) had some black bordering even in the original version? I can't remember if this was conditional or not, but all screens show it inset a bit to have a bit of a letterboxed, cinematic feel on a 640x480 screen. If you could cut out the borders, it's still not enough to fit 16:9 widescreen, you still have 300 pixels to the left and right blacked out if you could extend the game game all the way up to 1080p, but that could be preferrable.

Original PS1 screen versus crop&resize (roughly done, only for demonstration purposes)

Brute-force widescreen hacks can be done of 2D games, and sometimes they turn out okay; PS1 and Saturn had more modern and RAM-expansive methods of displaying 2D graphics than old systems where every tile and sprite mattered, so 2D games on those platforms might have a better chance of finding and using game map real estate for players and enemies. There are various attempts at widescreen hacks for C:SOTN for PS1 (I don't see any widescreen hacks for Saturn?), and they work sometimes but then end up clumsy in others. (Check out how the rain effect shows through the castle "walls" at the beginning since there are no actual castle walls in the game design besides the gateway, for example, or how the first Dracula fight plays on the left side of the screen because it can't scroll the right side off since there's no more "left side" to give... also look out for secrets revealing themselves since "breakaway tiles" load at different times from scrolling background plates.)




Finally, this "Ultimate Version" does not have a "wide screen" option per se, although it does remove the horizontal black bars. So it is still a square screen (as it should be per the original, although Saturn wildly had an anamorphic widescreen display option used by some games back in the day... Castlevania SOTN was not one of those games,) but it does fill up more screen real estate than the PS1 or original Saturn versions.

 

[Naked Lunch]

The XBLA version has super quiet music - with no way of making it loud enough. That was always a major flaw in my eyes. Its night and day sound quality from the PS1/Saturn versions.
I might be mis-remembering - but I thought the XBLA port was released back when their was a strict file size limit on Live Arcade games which probably has something to do with it.

Problem for me at the moment is I haven't had a lot of luck with Saturn emulation yet (although it's been a while since I've tried.) My preferred retro player is an Ayn Odin running Android, does anybody have any good recommendations? There's Yaba Sanshiro 2 (and the pay version, Yaba Sanshiro Pro) plus some conditional methods of using Yaba Sanshiro in RetroArch and LaunchBox, and then another one called uoYabause, those are the choices I know of.

Im sure others have a different opinion - but it might be best to just get the actual console and a Fenrir Duo. Saturn emulators always have some inconsistencies.

 

[CamHostage]

Im sure others have a different opinion - but it might be best to just get the actual console and a Fenrir Duo. Saturn emulators always have some inconsistencies.

Makes sense that Saturn emulation is still an issue. (People assume that, because hardware multiple generations past this run well on decent machines, an old box like Saturn should run well by now even with its obtuse hardware, but that's not how emulation development works.)

Myself, I really don't play retro games on a TV screen. (I hardly play any games on a TV unless they're big $70 purchases of epic multisensory onslaughts, otherwise I'm perfectly content playing games of all types and sizes in bed or outside or on the train to work via my portables.) So I'm not sure if 2D games like SotN have better luck in Saturn emulators (uoYabause runs it with what looks to be only some cosmetic issues) but it's my preferred way to it if possible. The MisTer FGPA solution seems really promising though since they've apparently got a good circuit layout of the Saturn's complex board these days, if there was ever a portable MisTer (and supposedly some companies are trying to make it happen), I'd be stoked.

Accurate Saturn emulation has been very good for a long time now, provided you have the proper hardware. In most cases, cheap portable/mobile devices are the cause all these inconsistencies because most of the time you are only allowed to run the least accurate/performance based emulators on them.

That makes sense as well.

 

[nkarafo]

Saturn emulators always have some inconsistencies.

Makes sense that Saturn emulation is still an issue.

Accurate Saturn emulation has been very good for a long time now, provided you have the proper hardware. In most cases, cheap portable/mobile devices are the cause all these inconsistencies because most of the time you are only allowed to run the least accurate/performance based emulators on them. Yabause and all it's forks was never a good solution for Saturn emulation. Use a device that can run Mednafen Saturn or it's RetroArch version.

Sega Saturn emulators - Emulation General Wiki

emulation.gametechwiki.com

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Looks real smooth and only took 27-odd years for this to get proper English captions. OG Japanese name sounded better too -- that's trivia I didn't know prior.

What Nocturne in the Moonlight? Yeah... It is better. lol.

I need a replica copy ASAP

 

[fart town usa]

The retro scene is on fire right now - no need to play any modern day, disappointing crap.

Off the top of my head:
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 (PS2) english translation
Metroid 1 to SNES port
Zelda 1 Redux
Monster Hunter 2 translation with PSP control patch
Samurai Shodown RPG NeoGeo CD translation
all PS2 Armored Cores getting dual analog support
Tactics Ogre Saturn english translation
FFTactics PSP translations and gameplay to the PS1 version
Phantasy Star series re-translations and QoL stuff
Rent a Hero Dreamcast translation
Tengai Makyou PCEngine CD translation

This is all cant miss stuff.

Add this new Saturn Castlevania version to that list. Theres been split versions of it, either 4mb ram cart improvements, or the translations - now this version combines it all into one. Praise the sun. What a time to be alive.

Also, I stumbled on a translation for 'Dead of the Brain' for PC Engine, it released back on 10/30. I know it's been translated for PC98 for a while but I never dabbled in that emulation. The game is effing fantastic so far.

 

[Tarin02543]

I’ve been playing the cdromance hack lately. Will check this out

 

[Soodanim]

It's not been long since my last playthrough so I'm not hungry for SotN at the moment, but it's nice that the rom hacks are still being updated. I do check romhacking.net on occasion to see if anything good has been released, and hopefully this ends up there instead of being stuck on some Russian site that isn't too easy to find.

As someone else said, I'm keeping an eye on the decomp as that will be where things get interesting. If we are lucky enough we could in theory get the character selection screen with both versions of Maria available. Plus native widescreen etc, which will be interesting although not required at all.

 

[CitizenKratos]

The PS version is still the best overall with its better resolution. Had they patched in the Maria that was later created by the actual devs it would have been interesting though.

That being said for Saturn diehards this will be nice.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Never played the Saturn version, but one of my all time fav games on PS1. Too bad I didn't keep the game. I probably sold it to a game shop for $30 or $40. I had an original release version (not greatest hits) and turns out it's worth a lot of money now.

 

[Xion_Stellar]

Finally, this "Ultimate Version" does not have a "wide screen" option per se, although it does remove the horizontal black bars. So it is still a square screen (as it should be per the original, although Saturn wildly had an anamorphic widescreen display option used by some games back in the day... Castlevania SOTN was not one of those games,) but it does fill up more screen real estate than the PS1 or original Saturn versions.

So does this new version of the game include the new Maria boss fight and the two extra familiars that were added in the Dracula X Chronicles/PS4 port?

Because outside of not having English VA if it does have those extra things from the PSP/PS4 added than for sure this new Saturn version would be the best content complete version of the game.

 

[Hudo]

best Castlevania game in the series.

I agree. But I know a guy who will maintain that Rondo of Blood is, in fact, the best one. And when I discussed this with him, he made some convincing points.

But it essentially boils down to whether you like old-school Castlevania more or the "Igarashi-style" Castlevania.

 

[cartman414]

I agree. But I know a guy who will maintain that Rondo of Blood is, in fact, the best one. And when I discussed this with him, he made some convincing points.

But it essentially boils down to whether you like old-school Castlevania more or the "Igarashi-style" Castlevania.

I'm on Team Rondo myself.

But I also prefer the Sorrow games to SotN amongst the Metroidvanias.

 

[Alexios]

I’ve been playing the cdromance hack lately. Will check this out

There's no "cdromance hack" it's just a piracy/iso/rom site that happens to be dilligent with uploading new pre-patched versions and what not (they already have this release too but also a ton of normal unpatched games).

stuck on some Russian site

Some Russian site being the group behind amazing patches and fan translations, yeah. Of course it won't be "stuck" there and appear on all the sites that deal with such content (as above) and know this group, Idk why you must make it seem like they could be randoms spreading malware.

Accurate Saturn emulation has been very good for a long time now

If only VGE himself didn't spread misinformation about this in past videos, Saturn emulation has been great for like a decade by now, first with SSF and now with Mednafen/Beetle. Yaba is OK for some games, I don't believe there are issues playing Sakura Wars on Android for one example.

As Cam said, this may be the Ultimate Saturn version but doesn't include PSP content, doesn't fix all issues with pixel scaling/missing effects/transparencies/loading and even the removal of the black bars is questionable, similar to the widescreen hacks he shows it reveals things it shouldn't.

 

[Hudo]

I'm on Team Rondo myself.

But I also prefer the Sorrow games to SotN amongst the Metroidvanias.

I am team "Symphony" but only barely. Rondo of Blood is a bloody good game.

 

[Xion_Stellar]

Rondo of Blood

Rondo of Blood

What are you guys talking about? The start of Symphony of the Night clearly stated the name of the game is Bloodlines

 

[BlackTron]

Maybe we can get the PS1 version with original graphics and the Saturn stuff added into it instead? Hate to be that guy but uh...still a pretty big step from definitive version.

As a sega fanboy who hated Sony. Let's be real here

 

[VGEsoterica]

That's honestly super hype. SotN is in my top 3 games of all time, and I still haven't played the Saturn version. Looks like it's time to change that.

nice

 

[Sorcerer]

This is awesome!!! I played through Maria's quest only because there is virtually no dialog. I think I will tackle Sotn in earnest now. I know I should have just played the PS version, but my heart is always with Sega, even if it a lesser version.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

It still has the scaling issues, they seem to cut the meshed transparency's instead of fixing them, the load times still rough. The map is no longer buried in the menu, but stills feels a load screen away, the new font is odd, but overall looks like a big improvement over the original, and like the original, the extra content is not enough for me to consider it better than the PS1 classic. IMHO.

 

[Alexios]

they seem to cut the meshed transparency's instead of fixing them

Where did you see that?

 

[Naked Lunch]

That fact that the Saturn version has new areas/levels automatically puts it ahead of the PS1 version for me.
I could give 2 craps about transparencies and pixel counts.

 

[DeaconOfTheDank]

Amazing news and the timing couldn't have been better. The Fenrir Duo ODE, a high quality CRT, and a SCART cable come in on later this week.

This and the Grandia english translation have me incredibly excited to finish work on Friday. Feel like a schoolboy!

 

[BennyBlanco]

Anyone try this on steam deck?

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

Where did you see that?

None of the flames have transparency effects

This is the Original

 

[BlackTron]

The retro scene is on fire right now - no need to play any modern day, disappointing crap.

Off the top of my head:
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 (PS2) english translation
Metroid 1 to SNES port
Zelda 1 Redux
Monster Hunter 2 translation with PSP control patch
Samurai Shodown RPG NeoGeo CD translation
all PS2 Armored Cores getting dual analog support
Tactics Ogre Saturn english translation
FFTactics PSP translations and gameplay to the PS1 version
Phantasy Star series re-translations and QoL stuff
Rent a Hero Dreamcast translation
Tengai Makyou PCEngine CD translation

This is all cant miss stuff.

Add this new Saturn Castlevania version to that list. Theres been split versions of it, either 4mb ram cart improvements, or the translations - now this version combines it all into one. Praise the sun. What a time to be alive.

Thanks for this post I'm all over these SNES ports. Zelda, Mega Man, Metroid, DuckTales WTF is going on