Akumajo Dracula X (Sega Saturn): Underground Garden + Cursed Prison

Here are 2 of the 4 bonus levels exclusive to the Sega Saturn version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
The video of the other 2 levels, Hell Garden and Soul Prison can be found at: • Akumajo Dracula X (Seg...

[@fogblades6811]

I'd like to think that the Underground Garden is just the original Castle entrance from CV1, but buried beneath the new entrance. Where new unholy life now keep the place nice and tidy for visitors to die in.

[@artumslavin277]

The year 2021 and i am stiil wait to the ultimate ver that have saturn levels

[@thehound1359]

Seriously. I don’t know why we have never gotten that

[@theretrogamers7690]

I don't feel bad that this stuff has been left out. It still feels incomplete, and like it doesn't belong in the game.

[@dustinbutler3979]

it never will release.

[@CornishCreamtea07]

Igarashi didn't like the new content, which explains why he only added small amounts of it to the PSP version. I still would have liked them included, after all they are small sections that fill in empty spaces, so if you don't like them, don't go visit them.

[@HellRider_]

At the very least, I would at least like a version of SOTN that includes the bonus Saturn soundtracks so the inverted castle sections won't sound so repetitive

[@Santi-bt7if]

These new areas look like they don't fit very well with the rest of the castle, but it's always good to have extra content.

[@LoveFor298Yen]

I agree. They seem to be prototypes that were added in without refinement.

[@Marshal_Rock]

Neither the areas nor the music fit Symphony of the Night's original structure.

[@AntoniusTertius]

@@Marshal_Rock Sorry but Cursed Prison's music does fit any Castlevania game.

[@julianhernandez4229]

This whole area looks like Alucard is having a fever dream lol

[@zediahtimmons9704]

Sounds like a James Bond Simon Belmont theme

[@ethansurrena1414]

Wow cursed prison is very underwhelming

[@matthewdietzen6708]

Best soundtrack though

[@alanu4637]

You can tell these areas are definitely an afterthought compared to the rest of the levels. I’ll never complain about added content and it’s great to get it here but the level of detail, effort, thought and enemies are much higher throughout the rest of the game.

[@chrisschumacher8553]

The Gardener enemies are hilarious!

[@ThunderGenesis]

These areas should stay on the cutting room floor. What they should do is add a few new levels (there’s tons of room in the eastern area of the map) and rerelease an HD SotN Special Edition. I actually was able to add TEN new areas of the castle on paper without making the map look too cluttered, and am considering making a mod that will include the new levels (one of which will make use of that trapdoor at the very beginning of the game), plus add some new features, both useful and some purely novel (like the ability to rename the Familiars). The new levels are as follows: Ghostly Theater (includes Ballroom) Forest of Eternal Night Dark Dungeon Sunken Ruins Haunted Treasury White Mountains Ancient Tomb Crematory Infinite Corridor Cloudy Rooftops New items and abilities will be required to gain access to these new areas, including Alucard’s fourth transformation: a rat! Some new Bosses will include: Carmilla and Laura The Dancing Spectres Wyvern Koranot the Rock Golem Creature of the Black Lagoon Rowdain Sir Grakul Greater Demon Dr. Frankenstein and Igor Dullahan Zapf Bat Bone Golem Serpent The Orphic Vipers Akmodan I and III Cyclops Dogether And many more... Also will fix certain names, like the Fairy Familiar will be the Pixie again, and both Granfaloon and Karasuman will be updated to Legion and Malphas, respectively.

[@mohamedmoustakim2243]

I think there's only a bit of space for 2 or 3 levels to be added on the east part of the map

[@cthulhuwua5354]

do you have a link as to where you keeping all this recorded?

[@KingLich451]

sounds like good

[@SailorCheryl]

Hi :) I also thought about adding three more areas in the eastern half: The inner quarters which connect the olrux quarters, library, marble gallery and castle keep, kept in an darker, purple and blueish style, with sleeping rooms, red curtains, golden luxury. The Cliffside area below the outer Walls, designed as a rocky area, where the castle was built on. The prison area right next to the Cliff area, which also is connected to the Underground caves and the catacombs.

[@ThunderGenesis]

@@SailorCheryl I like the cliffside idea!

[@JakeShields09]

I'm so intrigued by the Saturn. I'm sure there is a reason that N64 and playstation won the console war, but still I want to experience this almost forgotten gem of the 90s.

[@WheelzOfFortune]

The N64 didn't even come close to winning the console war. The Playstation sold over 100 million units, the N64 sold about 33 million, and the Sega Saturn sold 9.5 million. Sure the N64 did better than the Saturn, but compared to the Playstation it wasn't even close to being as successful.

[@lordkardok666]

Nintendo also had the Game Boy and Game Boy Color sales keeping the N64 afloat. The Saturn's 2D capabilities and sound chip were better than the PS1 and N64, but it had terrible 3D rendering graphics. It sold extremely well in Japan, and a little better in Europe compared to America. It's biggest failures were it's early and overpriced release, which pushed 3rd party supporters away and consumers, respectively; Sega of Japan's distrust of Sega of America; a lack of sports games that helped sell the Genesis; a lack of a new Sonic game for Sonic fans; a lack of RPGs that the PS1 had an abundant amount of; and most of it's best games were really hard to find. While in 1998 the Saturn started getting very impressive games, they were limited in release, and Sega of America realized they couldn't keep supporting the system, which is why in America the system died long before it did in Japan or Europe.

[@tbw666]

Sega Saturn was amazing, man.

[@pafoneto1275]

@@tbw666 It wasn't.

[@AtariBorn]

@@pafoneto1275 It was and still is.

[@jshaughn5109]

The Cursed Prison was kinda meh outside of the ghosts in the beginning section, but the Underground Garden was super cool. Wish they would have left that in the PS versions of the game.

[@aortaplatinum]

I'm really glad I held out for an English patch for the Saturn version for my first time playing SotN, this shit is so rad. I really wish the PS1 version had finished these areas, it sucks for them to be exclusive to one console and only officially playable in one region.

[@NochVtuber]

The only thing I can imagine when I see this version is "Wow, this would be so much cooler on the Playstation version...."

[@SpikerDragon95]

Wonder if some day someone would put those extra content in The PS1 versión making The ultimate SOTN experience

[@themojogamer75]

Listeeeen, regardless of what folks say about these two areas, you can't lie that the Bloody Tears remix ROCKS

[@samyabandeiralima8999]

In 2022 still see saga Saturn

[@betatalk64]

Love this version!

[@rigorgrynn4469]

If they ever remade the aria/symphony games. I'd love to see these areas get a nest of evil style inclusion to show them off to unfamilar fans. So what if they don't exactly fit. It's cool to find new stuff for the thing your passionate for. Lost media is cool aswell.

[@jclip13]

12:32 the moment he noticed he went wrong LOL

[@J0nath0n.]

I’ve always wondered what was the point of the little trap door in the ground at the beginning of the game, now I know. I don’t really care for the prison place but I do wish they would’ve kept the garden. It definitely does have a unique and weird feel compared to the rest of the game but I love the boss and the boss music is badass. They should’ve made the area more relevant. It’s always interesting trying to find information on why they decided to do away with the area in the PlayStation version of the game. They should’ve kept the boss music for when fighting Richter, that would’ve been badass.

[@J0nath0n.]

@Zedrik Allen yeah and the game is still a masterpiece

[@gv82089]

Nah Richter's theme is perfect, keeps consistency with Rondo

[@MegaAstroFan18]

Wish SotN got a proper remake; smoothing out of some of the rougher edges, the new script and voice acting from the PSP version, the redone Maria mode, the Fairy and Nose Demon familiars, the Maria fight, and the Saturn areas, probably with some new graphics. Sadly Konami cares too much about pachinko these days. Alternatively, wish someone would indieclone Castlevania and do a better job than Bloodstained, mainly on the writing front.

[@Rassenomatjutut]

And include "Vampire Killer", "Bloody Tears" and "Beginning", especially on Richter and Maria modes.

[@paxhumana2015]

Give me a few minutes with the people that worked on the game, as well as the current Konami staff, and they will change their damn tune REALLY quick. Also, if they give me shit, I would add even more areas, enemies, and bosses from previous 2D and 3D Castlevania titles and let the sales numbers go through the roof.

[@Rassenomatjutut]

@@paxhumana2015 What about extra modes, like Simon mode with his Super Castlevania 4 theme playing in the castle entrance.

[@TheDaibu]

@@paxhumana2015 Or better yet, just make a new canon Castlevania already telling untold stories, like a game starring Soleil Belmont, or Julius Belmont in the Demon Castle War of 1999, or even Quincy Morris' adventure in 1897.

[@linkmeuplink]

Bloodstained wasn't that good? Damn I was thinking about getting it too...

[@paulhorneschillings1212]

No, not the Skeleton Reader! He can read my moves like a bookand now he's dead, like every other easy boss.

[@designbookInc]

Cost nothing add this areas in ios\android version. Why Konami?

[@Tranquilino30]

Maybe in a future upgrade.Who knows...

[@georgesears6149]

why? its simple my friend, they dont like making great games, they are slowly dying

[@italolinarez9978]

Iga said this extra areas didnt fit the quality of the original game ( i do admit they are very poorly made and unfitting specially the new enemies ) all the extra content from this version was not made by the same creators of the original game.

[@Tranquilino30]

@@italolinarez9978 Endeed. These areas have no necessity to be there,but I would like to see them in a future upgrade in the mobile version,would be great.

[@designbookInc]

@@italolinarez9978 I think it would be reasonable to let the player decide: launch an upgrade with the areas for the players who wanted. But watching these videos I don't disagree. And the director must have autonomy over his work.

[@welldonesir806]

23 minutes and i hear no soul steal at all.. Is that really Alucard?

[@Thorium_Th]

I only know SOTN from Playstation but I love the cursed prison. I wish that was part of the PS version. The music in this section is amazing.

[@danusty]

after all this years I finally see what I was missing from my ps1, 360 and psp versions and besides the cool music and mostly cool extra enemies (I counted 7), the extra areas are short as hell. I welcome the extra content but it's definitelly not worth the asking price

[@Xebelan]

danusty Ha. I bought a japanese saturn just to play this game-- picked up some other j exclusives as well. Playing as Maria was worth it alone.

[@Benjamillion]

Igarashi didn't even like all this extra crap. The new enemies look kinda blah compared to the regular ones.

[@paxhumana2015]

@@Benjamillion , then have him redesign the enemies, as well as have even more areas, enemies, and bosses from previous Castlevania games, added to the game alongside the Sega Saturn only content.

[@pafoneto1275]

Is worth not only for the areas, but for Maria unique gameplay.

[@JagoVG]

very nice i like underground castle

[@victoreduardo4891]

It would be great to see that area in the version that came to the western.

[@theskoomacat3106]

Yeah we really didn't miss out on much by not getting these in the US version.

[@coldmethod]

IGA was right. Nothing of value was lost.

[@Durahan82]

I can see why the Underground Garden was left out , but not the Cursed Prison .

[@gv82089]

Seems like a pointless area

[@soulreaver1983]

Cool video! It's a shame this section didn't make it to the playstation version! 😦

[@iqueda1420]

No it's really not, these areas look and sound like shit

[@Ham_Slammus]

There is a quick sort feature that organizes your items.

[@FCEngine]

7:45 I thought that was Fuuma from #GetsufuMaden but blue colored #月風魔伝 If you get to the Cursed Prison early enough you can level up every 10 seconds

[@timthompson8235]

The music here sounds great, I wish I could hear it over that stupid f****** weapon he has equipped.

[@darker4793]

Hahaha that's true

[@Dhaos620]

Holy shield

[@azurecorviknight4189]

Ya know what? I'll remake Sotn, but will have some new original soundtracks.

[@Sithedd]

You can tell someone other than the original devs added this to the game later on. The enemies are unbalanced, give way too much or too little xp. And most of this area just seems like leftover assets.

[@josedante8330]

could have this area in Requiem

[@diegomorales7290]

Requiem? Is that some sort of remake or compilation?

[@stuff5499]

@Dylan Hook actually it's only for PS4 and it's not a remake, it's just a re-release

[@leelduttis4086]

Nope, unfortunately not

[@billagond9209]

8:45 Scissorman from the horror game Clock Tower.

[@symphonyofthesunset3636]

en la versión móvil debieron agregar estos niveles y variedades del sega saturn en especial su fascinante banda sonora....

[@lynxvex]

Are these stages also accessible once the Castle is Inverted???

[@KevDrachen]

Yes, Hell Garden and Soul Prison are their reversed versions

[@Coldsteak]

fun fact: you can use the bible to defeat the ghosts

[@Zweifeld]

Actually, you can use any subweapon to defeat ghosts

[@ThunderGenesis]

@@Zweifeld Not the clock apparently.

[@mohamedmoustakim2243]

@@Zweifeld only holy subweapon like holy water, holy cross, the knuckle subweapon (the white sand) or any holy weapon like holy rod for example, idk if the lightning spear of the devil familiar would work out tho

[@Zweifeld]

@@mohamedmoustakim2243 but I can kill them with the knife....

[@mohamedmoustakim2243]

@@Zweifeld never tried with a knife but that's weird should be immune to it since a weapon as a sword doesn't hurt it lol

[@rigorgrynn4469]

Love those fucked up ghost fish.

[@teabagNBG]

never knew this... wh at are the other two levels?

[@Chigurh007]

Can people please understand that the saturn version came out AFTER the ps1 version.

[@sethdouglas2765]

You guys noticed they rearranged some of the map as well? Where the hell is the underground caverns? In the middle of the map? LOL.

[@alubaldini]

just amazing actuallly im playing requien version on ps4 i own a sega saturn but the laser lend is dead

[@NebulaGamesSilpher]

I can see why they remove these from the PS1 version. Monsters seem so out of place, like they're from another game, everything is weird.

[@feratorxxii5862]

Con excepción del boss

[@XAlucardmoonX]

Can this be added to symphony of the night

[@Mooshkajoe]

I can see why this was left out. It doesn't fit with the rest of the castle aesthetic at all.

[@stevengondosiswanto4732]

Yeah. But at least they should keep this saturn version of Maria rather than give us that boring Maria PSP version.

[@nachosconqueso6595]

@@stevengondosiswanto4732 whats the difference? :0

[@stevengondosiswanto4732]

@@nachosconqueso6595 you've played psp version of maria yet ?

[@nachosconqueso6595]

@@stevengondosiswanto4732 yep

[@stevengondosiswanto4732]

@@nachosconqueso6595 then as you can see, they have different moveset. To put it simply, kung-fu style maria in saturn is more OP than magical type maria in psp version.

[@kaellagos5895]

Why this area is only avaliable in the version of sega saturn?

[@robertanderson9447]

It was created by the team who made the Saturn port, Konami's old Nagoya division. Koji Igarashi was unhappy with their work and so opted to not include it in the PSP/PS4 re-releases.

[@nerometalmkii2876]

... PERO QUE ES UN HOMBRE!? UNA PILA DE SECRETITOS? PERO EMOS HABLADO SUFFICIENTE! RECIBE A TI!

[@RichterBelmont02]

*Thank God that I played this in Android Emulator. Both PSX and Sega Saturn (Japanese BIOS not American) so I know the difference.* 😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉

[@ubermenschmexa]

Most of the enemies of those areas look straight out from those European games for PC. Good as additional content, but I can live without them in other versions.

[@Sithedd]

Gotta love how the Saturn's needs to change screen resolutions just to pull up the menu and map.

[@thefurry7165]

PS1 does the same thing as well

[@Sithedd]

@@thefurry7165 it does not

[@thefurry7165]

@@Sithedd I've played the PS1 version, it also changes resolutions in the menu

[@joselegaspi2549]

Wow do i feel cheated because i used to own the ps1 version and this game had Bloody Tears on it. Dang!.

[@DOak]

The underground garden area doesn't seems to belong to the same game as the rest, it's dispointing. I home someday i can play a remake of this gem. Thank you for sharing this content!

[@roetemeteor]

It very much _feels_ castlevania, but doesn't fit SOTN. Feels like a classic stage. Definitely was sub-par, and could have used a rework. Maybe just take the underground caverns and took the zone and place the prisons there with the cave motiff to fill the zones there. Then take the gardens and attached them to the alchemy lab in that area where you ascend to G and S, have it loop around to the Holy chapel to act as a way to access it WITHOUT the jewel of open, having you deal with a boss you will be underleveled and geared for with the remix of bloody tears blaring, skipping the entire west wing of the castle as a result. It would make sense for the gardens to be attached to the alchemy lab after all. Keep the plant motiff, but make all the enemies skeletal to match the theme as well as having the spear guards and fighters from the colleseum. Lots of potential, just not enough time.

[@jdaywork2693]

Thanks for sharing! I thought there was an American version of the Saturn port?

[@retroand]

No, unfortunately the Saturn version of SOTN is Japan-only.

[@jdaywork2693]

Ok, thanks again! I saw some copies on eBay and Etsy or there's emulation.

[@Nahuelx]

@@retroand And that's a relief.

[@TeReBoWkA]

2022! 😉👍

[@earthobserver1007]

Why wasn't this included in US release???

[@Flegan777]

This was a Japan only Saturn port of the game. It was never considered for overseas. It actually runs worse than the PS1 version and the extra areas are not very interesting. We didn't really miss anything with this port.

[@ElfWhisper]

@@Flegan777 Saturn has a third character playable

[@Flegan777]

@@ElfWhisper I know, Maria with a Mega Man style charged magic attack. Guess what? She was kept for the PSP port, but they changed her attack back to her famous doves from Rondo.

[@Nahuelx]

The new music is great.

[@Sasha_D.]

и как туда попасть???

[@galaxy_7]

Too bad this isn't in the PSP or PS4 versions

[@Gyarren]

I think these areas could have been really great; but they feel a little (and pardon the language) half-assed...

[@classicgameplay10]

What exactly is the point of these 2 stages when there is nothing to do there.

[@2008bipolar]

Algo está anda mal, nivel 27 y eso de mp y hp y corazones!??

[@2008bipolar]

Además casi todo el mapa lleno

[@anadelgado4177]

Puede ser por que "farmeo" por todo el 1er castillo para llegar mas fuerte a estas areas, recuerdo que estos "nuevos" enemigos son bastante duros sin mencionar los fantasmas en el principio de cursed prison son inmunes a los ataques normales.

[@jclip13]

Reverse Underground Garden is f.king hard the first time I had played this game

[@KevDrachen]

And the soundtrack in Hell Garden is awesome as well!

[@MrMikkyn]

Why is the Saturn version different? Were these levels created by other people?

[@pafoneto1275]

Yes, aparently Igarashi wasn't involved in these levels. So maybe that is why they are so different from the rest of the game.

[@magggg2797]

This new content looks and feels a little rushed Also It don't match with the rest of the game

[@MrVolcomclassic]

So in the Xbox release I was able to get to the door of the secret garden but it won't open. Cursed prison doesn't exist. Wish they added these to the re release

[@ArcherBodkin]

The XBox release is based of the original *PlayStation* game, not the Saturn. The entrance to the garden there was never planned to begin with and was just a scrapped section Konami decided not to work on. Most likely when they worked on *this* version they used *that* unused section for said stage.

[@kittipongkhunthong5797]

Play 211.2%

[@smrii2487]

I know they were just bonuses for the Saturn version, but man do those exclusives look so lazy and half asked compared to the rest of the game

[@agreedboarart3188]

This footage looks bad. The contrast makes this unwatchable. Regardless, I wish we got this version in Requiem.

[@Ret4life]

Both areas look like they were added as a lasr minute effort. The garden looks very out of place and the ghosts in the prison are hilariously bad. Saturn version is definitely the worst version of this game

[@jessietaylor790]

I'm not Impressed at all with the two areas. I'm glad they nixed them for the far superior PS1 version.

[@feratorxxii5862]

No la rechazaron, sacaron el juego antes, cuestiones de competencia

[@dnakatomiuk]

Clearly added at last min because it looks poor compared tomthe rest of the game abd the music doesn't feel and sound right at all.

[@TheDeathWillCome2012]

Why did they have these on Saturn and not PS1?! The Saturn wasn't that good and didn't last that long. I guess they felt sorry for Sega.

[@jjvictor66]

The game was originally done for the Saturn and ported over to the PS1 by Konami Tokyo, who was busy doing soccer games and didn't care to port all the content over, plus the PS1 version is marginally inferior in comparison due certain technical limitations

[@TheDeathWillCome2012]

Holy crap! I did not know that!? I thought it was first released on PS1. Thanks for the history lesson. Still though, it's an awesome game!

[@KaneRobot]

@@TheDeathWillCome2012 That other guy isn't completely correct, the PS1 version is technically superior to the Saturn version (despite the Saturn generally being a better 2D system). There are longer loading times and some slow down in the Saturn version that don't exist on the PlayStation.

[@jameshigdon4110]

@@KaneRobot Also, those graphics are just trash. The transformation to bat is bad. The magic bar looks terrible. The heart icon looks out of place. And like you said; constant lag.

[@jameshigdon4110]

@@jjvictor66 You actually have that backwards. The game was developed for PlayStation first and then ported to Saturn. That's why it looks so bad. Saturn didn't support the original resolution and the result was fatter, worse spriting. This is also the reason the transparency effects use the "mesh" method instead of actually being transparent. Check out Digital Foundry's video on SOTN for more info.

[@elikyiael8740]

i should've played the saturn version

[@jameshigdon4110]

I hate to be a dick, but man... It's hard watching your playthrough of this. It's almost like your Alucard thinks the #1 way to treat poison is to shove as much of it into your face as possible. Why are you using the Star Flail? It's slow as hell, and surely you have Jewel Knuckles by then or something, right? Also, who purposely uses the Sacred Ash (Bibuti) subweapon!? Who!? You baffle me, my man.

[@screeem]

Wow. Fascinating. Enemies look so out of place and silly. Also not digging the music even tho they are classics.

[@Hiso-zi2zl]

It’a stupid player. When you meet white ghost, you can’t defeat them by wrong weapon. You MUST MUST use “Holy” weapon or sub weapons For example: Holy water Holy arrow Holy Bible Holy Sword

[@iqueda1420]

@@blacksecondmissionstillcan1027 prob cause he has a "holy whip"

[@alonsojett]

This levels looks so ugly compared to the rest of the game.

[@brandonwatkins1206]

May be the worst player in history.

[@FrankBell79]

These extra areas look lame as hell, ennemies look super weird (almost looks like fanmade stuff) and everything is just bad game design

[@Ham_Slammus]

I can understand the ghosts, but everything else looks like what you'd expect in a castlevania game. The fuck do you mean?

[@midzimidzi471]

The color of the sprites for the extra enemies doesn't suit with game's atmosphere at all. Its too bright and looks very rushed :/

[@Atombender]

I agree. The new areas feel like an afterthought. Only one additional (and super lame) boss as well. The best part about the Saturn port is the Maria mode.

[@piratesephiroth]

yep, it's complete trash

[@piratesephiroth]

OK but what does she have to do with this shitty game?

[@j2d1m76]

I'm so glad this trash music didnt taint my experience of the game in my youth

[@SYLVESTRIVS]

legal pelo interesse, mas uma bosta pq sao fases ruins. e o.estilo de alguns inimigps foge, parece até que usaram outra linguagem pra programar. sega é ruim e ponto kkk

[@alpha1beta1gamma]

How are you this bad at the game though

[@iqueda1420]

Fr this games only flaw is how ridiculously easy it is and somehow this dude makes it look hard.

[@theskoomacat3106]

@@iqueda1420 hardly. It's not the hardest game of all time but still fairly challenging at first unless you find broken equipment that can destroy enemies in no time (which most players won't do on their first playthrough unless they read the wiki guides on where items are).

[@iqueda1420]

@@theskoomacat3106 yeah but this dude has the whole castle open, which means he should know what he's doin by now, and it's still by far the easiest CV game.

[@rimjobledouche5201]

So was the Saturn port simply not optimized properly? I would think a competent dev team could have made the Saturn port the definitive version.