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Post by cryingfreeman on Aug 19, 2015 14:27:35 GMT
This isn't exactly a review, but more a helper to decide whether you should pick up Castlevania or not.
REASONS TO:
-2 extra stages
-New enemies
-New items
-Maria boss fight
-Maria as a playable character (similar to megeman some say)
-All characters selectable from start
-Extra songs (remixes of the original trilogy's "themes", vampire killer, bloody tears, and beginning)
-Controls like a dream on the Saturn's gamepad
-Its an amazing game
REASONS NOT TO:
-PS1 original
-PSP re-release (includes Maria playability, but her gameplay is more similar to her Rondo version ie birds as weapons)
-Saturn version downgrades effects
-Load times not present in PS1 or PSP
-Saturn version has various bits of slowdown not in the PSI or PSP
-Japanese only text can get in the way of the story, clues, and item shop
-Expensive af
I'd recommend the game to hardcore vania fans, any saturn fan, or those who've already beaten the game on PS and want more (trust me, this version does feel much more complete despite the negatives mentioned above). It is pricey, though.
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Post by xDerekRx on Aug 19, 2015 17:26:37 GMT
Ive never played the Saturn version but Ive always heard it runs worse. Why do you think that is? Saturn was supposed to do 2D better.
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NeoGeoNinja
Shadow Warrior
Joined: August 2011
Posts: 6,616
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Post by NeoGeoNinja on Aug 19, 2015 17:34:27 GMT
IIRC, SOTN for PS1 is a 3D game, underneath, dressed as 2D on the surface, then ported to the Saturn; more or less.
That's why.
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Post by cryingfreeman on Aug 19, 2015 17:38:42 GMT
Simply down to the fact it was a sloppy port job. Its like how Doom was the PS1 version sloppily ported to the Saturn, just a rushed job. Such a shame too, because the Saturn is THE platform of the 5th gen for a Castlevania game.
If we got a fully original title, I'm sure a team would've done better with pure focus on the Saturn's hardware. Still happy with this, and its my personal preferred version of the game. KCEN, the team who did the port, would also develop the gameboy game Castlevania Legends, which isn't horrible but far from great.
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Post by cryingfreeman on Aug 19, 2015 17:40:11 GMT
I did read somewhere how the PS1 could only do 2D this way: Make polygons and put sprites over them. Sounds extremely bizarre, but hey, Sony is known for complicated hardware up until the PS4.
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NeoGeoNinja
Shadow Warrior
Joined: August 2011
Posts: 6,616
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Post by NeoGeoNinja on Aug 19, 2015 23:07:24 GMT
I did read somewhere how the PS1 could only do 2D this way: Make polygons and put sprites over them. Sounds extremely bizarre, but hey, Sony is known for complicated hardware up until the PS4. LOL. Certainly did NOT apply to the PS1. Please check your facts. The direction you need to be looking in when addressing complicated hardware of the 5th gen is the muthaf*ckin' Saturn!  |
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brianseals
Saturn Gamer
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 126 
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Post by brianseals on Aug 19, 2015 23:42:39 GMT
LOL. The Saturn and the PSOne share a lot of titles and in almost every case, the Saturn version is the most expensive. I'm sure it's justified in some cases. sych informed me that Alpha 3 on Saturn is the better version, and I found out that's true. Honestly though, I have to wonder if I'd just be paying for rarity with the Saturn version, most of the time. I've seen Castlevania for Saturn on eBay go for almost $200.00 USD (127.54 GBP). That's serious money. I dunno if/when I'll get it, but this actually helps a lot, so thanks cryingfreeman. Personally, Metal Slug is higher on my list, and I don't have any Rockman/Megaman games yet. |
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martiniii
Joined: January 2010
Posts: 2,112
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Post by martiniii on Aug 20, 2015 1:03:26 GMT
I did read somewhere how the PS1 could only do 2D this way: Make polygons and put sprites over them. Sounds extremely bizarre, but hey, Sony is known for complicated hardware up until the PS4. LOL. Certainly did NOT apply to the PS1. Please check your facts. The direction you need to be looking in when addressing complicated hardware of the 5th gen is the muthaf*ckin' Saturn! And the Jaguar! Funny thing about the PS1 needing to do polygons even for 2D... People don't mention this much anymore, but if you check out gaming magazines from the months leading up to the PS1 launch, there were actually a few rumors that the PS1 couldn't do 2D well, just as there were rumors that the Saturn couldn't do 3D well. |
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Post by xDerekRx on Aug 20, 2015 7:39:22 GMT
LOL. Certainly did NOT apply to the PS1. Please check your facts. The direction you need to be looking in when addressing complicated hardware of the 5th gen is the muthaf*ckin' Saturn! And the Jaguar! Funny thing about the PS1 needing to do polygons even for 2D... People don't mention this much anymore, but if you check out gaming magazines from the months leading up to the PS1 launch, there were actually a few rumors that the PS1 couldn't do 2D well, just as there were rumors that the Saturn couldn't do 3D well. The 95-98 range were the years I read the most gaming mags (gamepro/gamefan/egm) and this was certainly mentioned alot especially in GameFan. (how PSX was a poorer 2D system). The fun part was when they couldn't believe some of the games the Saturn would pull off such as Quake or Panzer Dragoon. I remember GameFan doing a cover story on Quake and just not believing it was running on a Saturn. |
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Post by zyrobs on Aug 22, 2015 1:24:07 GMT
Even for all its flaws, it's still a pretty good game with impressive visuals. And one of the few 2d platformers on the machine. Worth its price. Ive never played the Saturn version but Ive always heard it runs worse. Why do you think that is? Saturn was supposed to do 2D better. The game was specifically tailored around things the PS1 could do but the Saturn could not, or only poorly, or only with workarounds. And the team who ported the game did an exceptionally horrible job on top of all of that. |
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Post by cryingfreeman on Aug 23, 2015 22:05:50 GMT
I did read somewhere how the PS1 could only do 2D this way: Make polygons and put sprites over them. Sounds extremely bizarre, but hey, Sony is known for complicated hardware up until the PS4. LOL. Certainly did NOT apply to the PS1. Please check your facts. The direction you need to be looking in when addressing complicated hardware of the 5th gen is the muthaf*ckin' Saturn! Of course the Saturns a complicated machine, and I never said PS1 was more complicated than Saturn. Just saying its a weird way of doing 2D. |
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Post by cryingfreeman on Aug 23, 2015 22:17:12 GMT
LOL. The Saturn and the PSOne share a lot of titles and in almost every case, the Saturn version is the most expensive. I'm sure it's justified in some cases. sych informed me that Alpha 3 on Saturn is the better version, and I found out that's true. Honestly though, I have to wonder if I'd just be paying for rarity with the Saturn version, most of the time. I've seen Castlevania for Saturn on eBay go for almost $200.00 USD (127.54 GBP). That's serious money. I dunno if/when I'll get it, but this actually helps a lot, so thanks cryingfreeman. Personally, Metal Slug is higher on my list, and I don't have any Rockman/Megaman games yet. Price went down to $101-102 on ebay and amazon. Theres a copy on there sealed for over $500 on ebay lol! I'd get MS before the price may go up, you never know when it might for any game. Megaman is fairly cheap to import, so no worries there ovbiously. Glad the list helped out  |
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Post by zyrobs on Aug 23, 2015 23:41:41 GMT
Personally, Metal Slug is higher on my list, and I don't have any Rockman/Megaman games yet. You can skip on the Saturn port of Metal Slug. Holy crap is it horrible. Slowdown non-stop, and no, it's not the Action Replays fault. Funny thing about the PS1 needing to do polygons even for 2D... People don't mention this much anymore, but if you check out gaming magazines from the months leading up to the PS1 launch, there were actually a few rumors that the PS1 couldn't do 2D well, just as there were rumors that the Saturn couldn't do 3D well. The Saturn and Playstation actually do 2d the exact same way, and the PS1 is actually faster and more powerful at doing so. The Saturn only did 2d games better because it had a dedicated background processor with extra memory, plus it got the RAM expansions later on. |
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Post by Tatsumaru on Aug 24, 2015 0:43:43 GMT
Personally, Metal Slug is higher on my list, and I don't have any Rockman/Megaman games yet. You can skip on the Saturn port of Metal Slug. Holy crap is it horrible. Slowdown non-stop, and no, it's not the Action Replays fault. Still better than the PS1 port, doesn't have mid stage loadings like the PS1 do. The version the PS2 and Wii Metal Slug Collection have a awful imput delay and the Neo Geo CD version has really long loadings. I'm not sure about the PSN version, but the best one to play is still the MVS/AES ones, too bad they are really expensive. |
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sych
"Living for the fantasy" -NIGHTS INTO DREAMS- The Classic Saturn Gem!!!
Joined: July 2009
Posts: 2,660
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Post by sych on Aug 24, 2015 1:12:34 GMT
Since when does a bit of slowdown in a game make a game horrible? Metal Slug is definitly worth getting on the Saturn. Tons of fun and the slowdown which is minimal (usually on some of the boss fights) does not detract from the gameplay or experience. If anything it heightens the sheer explosive mayhem unfolding, in a positive way. So needless to say I disagree with Zyrobs.
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