DF Retro: Castlevania Symphony of the Night In-Depth Analysis

[@Phos9]

I'm glad they stayed true to the original spirit of the localization by returning to the same bathroom to record the new audio.

[@staticfanatic]

underrated

[@KRYZBLUE]

This comment is probably my favorite KZbin comment in years!

[@Canma890]

rofl

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Phos9 Best comment.

[@ledbowman]

they didn't record in a bathroom dumb ass. it just an effect

[@yootubewatcher1]

The Symphony of the Night Soundtrack is incredible!

[@Samanosuke1138]

And even incredible is downplaying it.

[@michaelaizen1137]

I hear you. I purchased mine on Xbox music way back.

[@alanlee67]

One with God yup. I wish modern games had real music. It was almost required to have great music to be considered a good game back then. Silent hill, resident evil, final fantasy, metal gear solid. They can't even remake RE2 with a decent soundtrack.

[@CrownGamingAU]

Digital Foundry is counting pixels again, this is why i love this channel.

[@rufnek3124]

SOTN replay value 11/10

[@tnndll4294]

Most KZbin videos don't do justice to old games because they don't use SCANLINES. That's why they look so OVER PIXELATED. They are not a true representation of older 2D games.

[@Sinn0100]

No, not good enough! Replay value is 1,000/10! ;)

[@yewtewbstew547]

@@tnndll4294 Using overlays and shaders on KZbin videos is bad form anyway though, because you don't know what the person watching your video is viewing it on, or what effect KZbin's compression might have. You might pick out a scanline shader that looks great on your own hardware, but doesn't look good on half your audience's. Better to just stick with the raw pixels in that case.

[@Omnicloudx13]

I'm still amazed by all of the animations Alucard's sprite has at 6:10. You can really tell how much effort they put into symphony of the night. I can't wait for Bloodstained's release.

[@noop9k]

Sorry, I believe you will be disappointed by Bloodstained

[@Silvergun_Raven]

It's actually coming along rather nicely. The demo that I played was fun, and retained that classic "Igavania" feel.

[@EliasAlucard]

I'm sure Bloodstained will be an okay game, but it won't match or surpass Symphony, that's for sure.

[@infasis]

So are you happy or disappointed now?

[@ChaseMMD]

"What is a man? A miserable pile of secrets! But enough talk. Have at you!"

[@husamkhalifa4710]

Symphony of the Night one of the best PS1 game ever

[@Moryo7]

One of the best games period.

[@DragonDDark]

+Cloud6625 yup

[@LotusGramarye]

Eh, it's a beautiful game, but it shows its roughness as the first Igavania game. A lot of the level design is complete garbage, consisting of a series of hallways with copy-pasted enemies over and over, to say nothing of the lack of effort that is the inverted castle. Later Igavanias (Aria of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia) absolutely surpass it in terms of gameplay, if not aesthetics; I agree with the video that it is an absurdly beautiful game.

[@husamkhalifa4710]

maybe, but just compare it to 2D games for PS1

[@InsidiousOne]

Are you serious? Order of Eclessia is a perfect example of lazy level design (most of the rooms are blatantly copy-pasted), SOTN can run circles around it. Aria of Sorrow is great, though.

[@Cheatman5]

this is probably one of my favorite games of all time

[@AceTrainerX3]

Something to note: In the Saturn version, there is *one* instance I found where VDP2 is used to render a half-transparency for a Dialogue box: the second scripted scene with Alucard and Maria.

[@Inriri]

A Castlevania anniversary? TIME TO ROLL OUT A NEW PACHINKO MACHINE

[@garywintle8023]

HIT THE LEVER!

[@YayWalterSullivan]

Retro DF is awesome, keep up the great work.

[@LastGamer]

My favourite game off all time. I even have a prototype of the game on ps1. You forgot to mention saturn has two extra levels. Good video :)

[@fuzzywuggzy506]

I know it's late and nobody will likely see this, but there is a patch for the Saturn port called "Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight - Extended", it adds a shortcut for the map (up + start), restores transparency for most sprites and improves load times among other things. I tried it on my Saroo cartridge and it's a nice improvement from the original, if the inventory was translated I would consider playing through the whole game.

[@koreainjapan7714]

Absolutely amazing game that never gets old. The more I play this, the more I appreciate it. It's awesome to see that there's still so much interest in this game

[@batmangovno]

It's great to see the series that covers such an interesting and original topic being done with a great soul and effort. Thank you, John! Can't wait for the HL2 video!

[@Kam714]

Did u guys saw "Hideo" during the blackout screen? ^0^

[@madfinntech]

Yup :)

[@superjag86]

Yep! Loved it! I actually had to skip back because I thought I'd imagined it! Very nice touch John.

[@BADC0FFEE]

yeah that was stupid

no, because i plugged my controller on port 2

[@CapyTapy]

the moment I saw it, I remembered how hard it is to emulate ps1, since i can't change controllers while playing -_-

[@5persondude]

Great vid, love the Retro series! By the way, could you guys also do Resident Evil 2 on N64? I'd love to see how two 400 MB CDs were compressed onto a 64 MB cartridge

[@pedropablopicasso]

I second this. Resident Evil 2 on N64 would be the ultimate DF Retro video. It's amazing that the team at Capcom (and even some from Factor 5 helped) were able to bring about 1.4GB of data across two discs to a tiny 64MB Nintendo 64 Cartridge. It's mind-boggling.

[@Cade_The_Squirrel]

Make that two 700Mb CDs

[@Cade_The_Squirrel]

Okami™ OKAMI

[@Edexote]

And they kept the FMV! And it supports high resolution and new games modes! Impressive stuff.

[@zingbanana]

There's a blog post about one of the developers out there that tells the story of how developing the game was, and it was nothing short of a programming miracle. Go find it, it's worth it.

[@iDREWPICKLESi]

These videos really kill it, i love how you go into the graphical rendering and hardware

[@Frandelicious1337]

This series is great because you guys talk about the technical aspects of the game AND its history and cultural influence. Even comparing with other games from that time. Keep it up, please.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

This video is really interesting as it really shows how flawed the Saturn hardware is, even when working with 2D graphics. The Saturn would be a 2D powerhouse if SEGA hadn’t tried to modify it to support 3D more, the 3D really gimped the system.

[@GrammerPancreas]

On the other hand, the PS1 being so 3D focused actually helped it do 2D even better. Effects like the transparency ones in the video that required special tricks to do on Saturn were really simple to do on PS1, despite the system focusing on 3D. Rendering 2D games as 3D orthographic planes is so much better than traditional 2D rendering that it's completely replaced it since.

[@Fry09294]

Sega never modified it to support 3D, that’s an urban legend. Also it isn’t the Saturn’s fault the original was made at an unsupported resolution. The only real edge the PSX hardware has over the Saturn in terms of 2D is better transparency support.

[@RyanJamesArthur]

Please Please PLEASEEEEE! Keep doing these Retro Port Reports!! I find it absolutely fascinating how different systems hardware and devs handle these games. Everything is so much more streamlined now - well ish. God knows there are enough old ports or ports in general to keep this going ...

[@Baconmaninspace]

John, that TV you're flying around in during this episode makes you look like the host of a crappy 90s gaming TV show. I love it.

[@zebular]

Beautifully done, I think it's safe to say that anyone that grew up during the era still puts SOTN in their top 10 games of all time.

[@DuckAlertBeats]

I had a friend who completed it on release, and didn't rate it at all afterwards. It put me off playing it for some years lol

[@BRIANSTECHTHERAPY]

The amount of detail in the analysis of each video is amazing. This channel really breaks things down to what the actual developer was doing!! Keep up the good work !!

[@yenoham3265]

Thank you guys so much for this video!! This is my favorite game of all time, I still play through it at least once a year. Its great to learn even more about my favorite game of all time. Keep up the quality, informative content. This channel just keeps getting better.

[@zingbanana]

Another awesome one. Loving the editing showing specific details about the graphics and pixels and all that really helps to show what you are talking about. Would love to see this in other DF videos as well to show clearly diferences in face-offs and tech videos.

[@anthonyandthemachine]

I think Digital Foundry is my favorite channel on KZbin right now! I really appreciate all the work that goes into these videos.

[@Rempa]

Tears of melancholy flowing watching this content. I congratulate you for dedicating time to this masterpiece. Very educational video and it's a pleasure to learn new things on such a treasured game.

[@neverspeak7477]

1:12 My favorite camera angle and scene of a KZbinr ever made :D

[@ShinobiWan1]

Here's a super late comment, the Xbox 360 had a Japanese version of SotN released only on the JPN marketplace. It contained all the cutscenes of the original, and was bigger in size. Also, in case anyone is playing it, you can delete the update that it asks you to install if you still want to hear the original credits song. You can't be online when playing, though.

[@ThePhantomTommy]

Got chills every time they played a track from the game. Phenomenal game and another great video from you guys!

[@incendere244]

This series is becoming one of my favorite things on KZbin, keep up the good work

[@ricksavagemedia]

Fantastic stuff. This is one of my favourite games of all time so I appreciate the coverage. DF Retro is actually miles better than the other DF stuff in my opinion.

[@hhex]

The original dialog is still my favourite, it have become a meme for many years and hate it been replaced. Also, good choice for using Lost Painting as a closing theme on your video.

[@dark1x]

Ha ha, that's actually how I feel too. I enjoyed the PSP translation but...the original is so awesome.

[@CyberDragon10K]

@Javier Miglino: Gemini's translation patch would disagree with that idea, not to mention the localized dialogue from the Rondo of Blood cutscenes in Dracula X Chronicles.

[@briansilva3765]

Do a retro analysis of Zelda: Ocarina of Time next!

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

They did that by Doubling the data capacity of the cartridge. It's innovations like that, that made the 64DD kinda pointless.

[@retrosoul8770]

The disc drive wasn't really pointless, just stupid because we know that no one wants add-ons to their consoles. That should have been the standard data format for the 64 to begin with. With more data capacity, Ocarina of time plus many other games could have been alot more detailed.

[@retrosoul8770]

Micah that was only in Japan

[@chad2456]

Your content is truly getting better, I would love to see your analysis on RE2 on both the PS1 and N64!

[@alanpk0]

these retro vídeos are becoming my favorites from DF

[@AfterlifeGames]

"What is constipation? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk. Draculax™..."

[@twogeordiesgaming4868]

A fantastic series guys with very informative and well edited video. We love video game history like this and it's a pleasure to find a new channel who does it so well. Congratulations on your brilliant work!

[@PlanetaryPenguin321]

A return to Spyro or Crash games would be interesting as well.

[@nortron_zero8994]

That music! Love these DF retro episodes. While insightful and interesting, they are also well edited and obviously made with a lot of love for the old games concerned. Keep it up.

[@Mave-rick]

At 1:14, I just realized that's a Sony PVM 2030/2530 with speakers. I remember my father getting one back in the early 90's, not so easy to do back then. I spent most of my time playing Playstation with the S-Video connection. Good times.

[@ThatAlternateGuy]

DF Retro is probably my favorite thing on Digital Foundry.

[@apokalypz]

Shout out to DF from Chi town US! Great job, love all your videos and work you do DF! Been a huge supporter/fan, reading and watching your segments on EG for almost a decade now. I'll tell you what, I never get tired of it! Love your recent DF ReTRo analysis especially my favorite game of all time Castlevania:SoTN. Think you can DF ReTRo DS Castlevania's Trilogy comparing the 3 with additional comparison to SoTN since the DS was a 32 bit handheld. Also maybe Metroid Prime and MP2: Echoes Gamecube, to the Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii and "if any up scaling" Wii U including MP3:Corruption to also see graphical upgrades, framerate, textures, etc...? The list goes on and on MGS The Twin Snakes vs PS1 MGS and MGS2 PS2. Thanks and keep up the awesome job!

[@Dirk1Steele]

Love this retrospective analysis pieces. Keep them coming.

[@parazels83]

John Linneman has learnt me how to enjoy vintage games! Now I'm playing Doom 64 and Castlevania SOTN!

[@NicolasSilvaVasault]

in my opinion the greatest side platformer of all fucking times, even tho megaman is in my heart, for being the first game i bought on ps1, the game that rise my childhood, and the game made me love videogames, but sotn has a fucking badass storyline, compelling characters, famous phrases, epic scenarios and boss fights, like people said, one of the best game of all times

[@EliasAlucard]

SotN isn't "one of the best game of all times"; it's the best video game ever, period.

[@KingofHearts67]

I love the game but the story was about up to par with the best porno story lines. That being said, I didn't play this game for the story lol. I wouldn't say the characters where all that compelling either, there wasn't much depth to them at all really. The gameplay is hands down where the game shines, it's just fun and satisfying and the sense of progression is awesome, leveling up and getting power ups and items and feeling like a god towards the end compared to the scrub you were in the beginning was great. Oh and the music was fantastic.

[@inceptional]

3:45 I actually think it's more than likely there was, at some point, the intention of releasing this on SNES (possibly via the original Nintendo PlayStation add-on), where, not only would the 256 horizontal resolution fit it perfectly, but the lower 207 vertical resolution would even give it extra VBlank time to stream in new tiles for the more complex sprite animations. I honestly believe a simpler version of this game was in planning for the SNES or Nintendo PlayStation at once point in time, and then it simply got moved to the Sony PlayStation eventually and upgraded in many ways accordingly, yet still retained some of the remnants of the original versions' various design ideas. Seriously, basically 256x224 resolution (like SNES), high-colour but still within 4bpp for the most part visuals (like SNES), proper multi-coloured transparency effects in many places including the dialogue boxes and menus (would work perfectly on SNES), more than than the normal until that point two layers of background parallax (like SNES), Mode 7-style effects used on the photo in the intro, the background when you first meet Death, and many other places (SNES was infamous for those Mode 7 effects), controls that map almost perfectly to the SNES controller (just one button less, and it's one of the extra shoulder buttons added to PlayStation), the PlayStation itself was literally supposed to be an add-on for the SNES at one point, etc.

[@losalfajoresok]

Amazing tech info, this is more than a review. Please more of this!

[@sicdedworm09]

This is fantastic and unexpected. Castlevania aria of sorrow was one of my favorite games back in the day. Thank you for creating great content

[@garrettsamodel3495]

Awesome video DF (and John in particular). Love the Retro videos lately, you can see the large amount of effort put into them. Keep up all the good work, it will pay off :D.

[@zolwikwkurwik]

Still waiting for that PS1/N64 Quake 2 episode that's being made :B

[@dark1x]

Me too - waiting on the information still.

[@kevinjacome877]

waiting on RE 2 N64/PS

[@kdkseven]

I'm waiting on both!

[@SEGAHEADDY]

Fuck yes, so people can finally recognize how excellent the PS1 version is (the superior version to me!).

[@ERMediaOfficial]

I'd like to see a comparison between Castlevania 64 and its sequel/directors cut^^

[@killer7sam]

me too, this game was great :)

[@AkuDora]

Pickles Legacy of Darkness you wanted to write, on that case i totally agree. ;)

[@krelakuma]

brilliant episode ! keep up the good work and keep them coming !

[@Atheist7]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, played it in about 1999.... It was as much ART as GAME! AWESOME GAME! Even by today's standards, it's incredible. This video is really interesting!

[@sofaking1180]

Nothing is better than having this game in portable form on my PSP, and even better on my PS Vita!! And to know that the version I'm playing right now on my Vita is better than the Saturn version is pretty neat and shows just how far videogame tech has come since then. And yes, SotN is THE BEST 2D side-scroller/action-RPG of ALL-TIME... no game IMO has yet to surpass it.

[@rickylovesyou9063]

actually best version of this game is PSX emulated onto PSP. Other versions don't included the original bugs and tricks, or the OG voices.

[@Fattydeposit]

+Ricky Loves You Actually the best version of this game is the hard mode hack on original PS1 hardware. It's a complete rebalancing and improvement.

[@filthypigdaddy]

The best version is actually the Xbox 360 version, yes even with I Am The Wind patched out

[@rickylovesyou9063]

bumtree which is also available on the PSP, but yes I agree, the psx (and thus the emulated PSP) version is hands down the best iteration on any console.

[@DragonMasterSubo]

I've had probably every release of SOTN, still much prefer playing the Saturn version. Extra areas, items, "third hand" for use items, OP Maria... When people want to play SOTN they always want to play the Saturn one.

[@jaymzx2587]

Absolutely fantastisch in-depth piece of work! Thank you for this!

[@darkroronoa]

Another great video, i am happy that these videos get a following, cant wait for the next one!

[@badrolljoe]

Really enjoying these DF Retro videos! great insight into the tech, which was never fully explained during the older consoles lifespan. also; What is A Man!?

[@khorneflake5943]

Awesome content creation, refreshing and informative comparing to the usual DF vids.

[@samsoulee]

awesome work man !!!!! very informative ! Damn hardware was so different back then .

[@ShadowSumac]

Interesting episode. SOTN for me is not "the greatest Castlevania there ever was", but I appreciate all efforts and work that were put into it. Content-wise, I prefer Saturn version, as it has some additional stuff, which, I think, make the game a bit faster and more interesting to play.

[@Zenzuu]

I find these retro analysis far more interesting than the face-offs of modern hardware. You guys should do more of these titles with Nintendo vs sega master system, n64 vs PlayStation, Genesis vs Snes, ps2 vs GameCube vs Xbox etc... :)

[@W0lfenstrike]

I didn't appreciate Symphony of the Night back in the day. When I was a kid, I wanted EVERYTHING to be 3D after the success of Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, when I got a PS1, I played Crash Bandicoot 2 to no end and when I got my hands on SoTN, I was dissapointed it wasn't in 3D, also I wasn't familiar with the Metroidvania style, so I was left dissapointed and confused. Fast forward 4 or 5 years later, well into the 6th generation of consoles and I decided to give SoTN another go. Boy, I was absolutely blown away with how beautifully held up well into the PS2 era, meanwhile, Castlevania 64 was the one I liked as a kid, but now it was unadultered and pure shit by comparison, not to mention how dated it suddendly seemed to be by comparison. I still play SoTN every year or so and I still absolutely love this fantastic game =)

[@tazmanceltic]

love these retro segments...keep them comn df

[@DunkelLink]

These videos are outstanding! Please do more.

[@marshinz5696]

To think. I bought this game on a Whim in a Game Gallery. It's one of my All Time Favorite Games and my Favorite Game OST. I used to have my PS1 hooked up to my Stereo. It was fantastic.

[@blackwidow7804]

One of the best game ever made. this game needs a remaster on current gen!!!

[@nygamer544]

Or play it on xbox one via backward compatibility.

[@V-Jes]

remaster, not port

[@dantasticmania8728]

Sadly that probably won't happen since now Konami rather blow their business on shitty pachinko. machines.

[@DragonDDark]

play it on the vita. it's great

[@snchez2106]

more like a remake.

[@sudacagamer]

I think Richter`s original "voice actor" is also the original Chris Redfield`s "voice actor"

[@siromnomnom8332]

Oh man this take me back, aww good times. Hey, DF could you do a Retro segment on FF Tactics, loved that game as well. Interested in the usage of 3d mechanism when turning the whole battlefield.Well, keep up the great work DF!

[@Poever]

Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor Grasp it, sense it tremulous and tender Turn your face away from the garish light of day Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light And listen to the Symphony of the Night

[@davidthib4435]

Wow congrats guys! I've learned so many things. Thank you

[@lancelindqvist8848]

a masterpiece

[@TheFatherOfGod87]

Just here to say thank you DF for this amazing videos and to say hello to the Gamers here. I love you.

[@flatshade]

A very competent analysis, for the most part.

[@klodek14]

This game is amazing. The graphics, the soundtrack, the gameplay. And it really didn't age a day, it can easily go toe to toe with any modern, 2d action game.

[@ren7a8ero]

retro reviews taken as seriously as today reviews. this is great.

[@lelxrv]

My favorite 2D game. Indeed aged like fine wine.

[@DevinMoney]

This game is possibly one of my favorite games of all time back on PS1. "WHAT IS A MAN?"

[@T4l0nITA]

DF Retro, best series on youtube

[@totallynotaseaotter4946]

Good shit man, Amazing new series for Digital foundry. Keep pumping these out and you'll way more views I'm sure.

[@mbsfaridi]

Loving the explanations.

[@LoreLenore]

Usually I don't like side to side games, but Symphony of the Night was very fun to play, music is amazing as well.

[@BahnYuki]

Amazing video, I'm really loving the attention to the Sega Saturn, clearly an architecture ahead of its time.

[@KyoshoLP]

"It's an age-old question and one we've sought to answer the question to." Uh..what?

[@STARSTyranT]

I'll echo EVERYONE. This is truly one of the best games ever ever made. And the Saturn version isn't that bad and the new content was good such as the two new levels, and has a much better playable Maria than the PSP version - plus the special Ritcher costume

[@DaveSimonH]

Such a great series and you'll never be short of options, with decades of games to revisit.

[@johnconnor2402]

So many memories with this game. Stayed up all night and slept during lunch in school because I kept playing it so much.

[@COLOFIDUTI]

man i love this retro reviews! my fave game and most played! keepem coming!

[@shadicpro21]

Amazing video! I look foward to what you will bring next in DF Retro, it's facinating to just look at how older games perform on older hardware of the time where I wasn't even born yet or I was just a todler. Do you plan on looking at Alien Trilogy on PS1 and Saturn and maybe the DOS version? I think it would be perfect for DF Retro, that and maybe Alien Resurrection.

[@Simpyphus]

Very interesting video, dispels some rumors of the Sega Saturn hardware. Bottom line, it was a rush job. I think that was evident from Doom on Sega Saturn as well, another game based on PS1 port.

[@sheltontristania]

awesome, true, tecnical and realistic, and best explanation at the saturn diference version this classic Castlevania. 👏👏👏

[@claptrap4098]

Symphony of the Night has my favorite video game based Soundtrack. SOtN is a great game and possibly the greatest 2-D game ever made possibly tied with Super Metroid.

[@gtocool99]

Great video, And i prefer the original translation and voice work. The PSP sounds more like anime voice work. i recently played this game again and still madly impressed by its design, art, mechanics, and music.

[@pjbrown4736]

Just booted up my download on my PS3. I still love this game coming up on 20 years.

[@Drakub]

DF Retro is my favorite series on the entire internet.

[@jelloaceomega]

I love me some DF Retro!!!!

[@TristanPR77]

One of my favorite games on PS1. Truly a master piece. Also, you can see that power is not everything on a console.

[@lukasjozef1774]

I had SOTN back in 1997 for my PSX but people didn't understand why I was still playing 2D games in explosion of polygon games. SOTN is the finest Castlevania saga games along Super Castlevania IV.

[@Fattydeposit]

WHAT IS A MAN

[@Gryzor88]

Why, a miserable little pile of secrets of course.

[@bergonath8851]

Enough talk, you two.

[@campos3452]

Have at me bruh!

[@spookyghost7524]

feeling triggered?

[@bergonath8851]

John W2008 Congratulations, you fucked it up.