Topic: Castlevania SOTN vs Dracula X: Rondo of Blood... Which game is the best?

[Pentagram-cracker]

Well I think it also symbolizes her transition from a sweet innocent girl to a vampire hunter. Owls are birds who hunt their prey in the night, which is the time vampires come out and vampire hunters hunt and kill them. Maria could have went with an owl because of the fact that they are nocturnal and masters of nightime hunting.

[thernz]

I think that was done to somewhat tie her to her Judgment version, which is her AFTER Rondo but BEFORE SotN, and she has a pet Owl in that.  Its name is "Osca" I think.

I think Ayami Kojima art actually showed her with an owl in some pieces. I guess it could've been based entirely on that. Or age yeah.

[CapComMDb]

Maybe it comes down to which type of game you like more, so I don't think you can say one is better than the other.

SotN introduced an entirely new genre of Castlevania games. This and the music and art is above any of the other CV's (aside from Lords of Shadow actually). For this reason, I would say it is better because it influenced more games. Plus, the inverted castle was pure genious. However, it isn't the most polished of the 'Metrovania' form. I don't think any of the successive CV's in this style has really topped what they started in SotN, though I think AoS would have come close had the technology allowed it (that, and a larger second castle).

I've got the Saturn version of SotN as well and agree with what everyone says - the things they added are outweighed by the things they changed. It's not worth tracking down the original unless you're really hardcore, and even then I don't think it's worth $70. And if you want to play the Saturn version, use an emulator (there's a LOT of slowdown on the actual hardware!). In many regards, the PSP version is definitive because it took some of the things from the Saturn that were done well and added them. Unfortunately, Alucard's new voice acting is sub-par, so I prefer his PS1 sfx - and I really wish they'd found a way to integrate Chaccone c. mol. *sigh*

Dracula X was in many ways a polishing of the level-based Castlevania. Difficulty is very well-balanced and the item crashes and alternate exits added new things and brought in the best from Castlevania 3. I've got a few gripes about it though, but they're really quite minor. For one, I wish they'd just written 3-minute long songs instead of 1.5-minute songs and looping them. Second...no whip flick! I still think Simon from CV4 is the best (that, and he could crouch-walk )

Anyway, I'll go with Dracula X Chronicles, which has all three versions for under $20. You can also use a video cable to plug it into your TV or take two of the best CV's ever made on the go

[crisis]

I wish they would've somehow incorporated into the PSP version that creepy deleted ending that Symphony has

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO-tPkoghTw


I wonder what a transformed Maria loox like..

[corneliab]

I prefer the stage-based Castlevania approach for the most part, but I think I'll make an exception here. Don't really fancy Rondo too much- it's relatively very easy, the artstyle is beyond horrible, the campaign will inevitably be quite short due to how the game is set up, and Maria is one of THE worst elements ever introduced into the series. Thankfully the DXC remake softened some of these problems.

SotN edges out Rondo due to its ambition and novelty for its time.

[Belmonto]

It's not worth tracking down the original unless you're really hardcore, and even then I don't think it's worth $70. And if you want to play the Saturn version, use an emulator (there's a LOT of slowdown on the actual hardware!).

You have slowdowns only if you have a lot of occupied save slots.
With emulator, you can use "Save State" feature and don't use save slots at all!
But if you will take only 2-3 slots on real hardware, there will not be any problems.

[Super Waffle]

I wonder what a transformed Maria loox like..

[X]

Oooh! The Succubus has just had "her way" with maria. 

-X

[ThePsalmOfNightfall]

Maria is a great character, just because the character is all manly and strapped with weapons and is wearing a dress shouldn't effect anything. She has double-whipping (bird) power, she's quicker than Richter and she makes it harder to stay alive due to her taking massive damage for even a hit.

Even though SOTN is nothing without Rondo, I still think SOTN is the better. It's argubly the best Castlevania game to date.

[KaZudra]

The PSP Maria was just stupid, if she was a trained hunter why is she still using animals and still no spells?, Just a Lazy add-in if you ask me...
that is why I like the Saturn version where as it clicks with the Intro of her summoning the Four Animal Gods, in which she does it whilst using her magic to a full extent, like Richter did with his hunting skills, it just makes sense.
The Saturn wasn't Graphically Superior to the PSX, but did perform better, but its lack of ram taxed it on quite a few areas, and they did at least try to make Richter look like the Ayami Kojima portrait, in which the PSX and the PSP version still lacked.

example, in Arena Richter in chair, looks like artwork, in the famous memory cutscene, looked like cutscene, fighting him, haircut and costume change?