Posts tagged Symphony of the night at PSP Fanboy (2024)

You may remember a little title that got everyone talking a few weeks ago: Castlevania. Ever since its incredible debut, Konami has remained silent on this hotly anticipated revival of Rondo of Blood, the only Castlevania title never to be released in the States. The upcoming Castlevania X Chronicles not only includes a 3D remake of Rondo of Blood, but includes the fan-favorite Symphony of the Night as well. Games Radar has an incredible interview with Koji Igarashi from GDC available, and here are some highlights:

• After years of working on GBA/DS games, the power of the PSP has been startling: "It's better than what I expected, actually. I'm very happy about the quality. Especially with the graphic quality. The PSP hardware system allows a very high resolution."
• Symphony of the Night will be getting a few enhancements: "So basically, it's mostly a straight port from the original SOTN on PlayStation. I wasn't happy about the quality of the PlayStation SOTN voiceover, so I'm trying to do something about it on the PSP."

Don't forget to check out Games Radar for the rest of this brilliant interview.

See also:
The Symphony of the Night we won't get

Ever since Castlevania was announced for PSP, many people have been asking a few questions. Firstly, why remake Rondo of Blood? Easy: it's the only Castlevania game to never have met a US release. As revealed in an IGN interview with Castlevania's producer, Rondo of Blood is the crucial "turning point" in the series. While many loved the changes made in Symphony of the Night, most gamers have missed out on many of the finer details of the classic's story, simply because Rondo of Blood was never released. (Castlevania X for the SNES was a "port" of sorts. However, it strayed significantly from its origins.)

Rondo of Blood takes place 5 years before Symphony of the Night, and explains many origins of the characters found in the revered PS1 classic. Players will be treated to seeing Richter Belmont, "the last Belmont," fighting Dracula himself. Who is Shaft and how does he control Richter in Symphony of the Night? Who is Maria Renard? These questions will be unearthed through Rondo of Blood.

While Nintendo's handhelds have met great additions to the Castlevania franchise, the future of the series may stay on the PSP. When speaking to IGN, Koji Igarashi revealed his love of the platform. "If the PSP version of Castlevania does great ... [doing sequels] is something I'd love to take a look at."

See also:
Tales From the Crypt: Castlevania 20th Anniversary Blowout from 1UP
Playing Dirty: Dracula wears eyeliner: Part 1 & Part 2

Remember that awesome game that 1UP was talking about? It's finally revealed! Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles is a completely remastered version of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. This long-forgotten entry in the Castlevania franchise was only available in Japan on the PC Engine Duo, a system I can't even remember existing. The PSP version features a brilliant graphical overhaul, which looks lightyears ahead of any of the DS Castlevania games.

Oh, and if that weren't enough, the game comes with a port of Symphony of the Night, considered by many as the best Castlevania of all time.

Go past the cut to see a video of the game in action. Expect to see even more of this new PSP-exclusive Castlevania on The 1UP Show tomorrow.

[Via 1UP]

We've been reviewing the PSP playable PS1 games that have been released thus far, but are they what we really want? We listed what we'd like to see from the PS1 library last month, but Modojo has their own list now. The list includes the predictable like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but it also includes more cult games like Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (the ending of which made me cry).

To see the rest of the list you'll have to go read the article. After you've done that though, come back here and let us know what games that you'd like to see make the leap from PS1 to PSP.

[Thanks Justin ]

[Update 1: Linked to our previous list of Most Wanted PS1 games]

That Dark_Alex kid is up to it again. His custom firmware currently cracks the protection that PSone games from the PlayStation Store utilize. However, it looks like the next revision, called 3.02 OE-B, will support the ripping of ISO files and turning them into EBOOT files to launch via XMB. This means almost any PSone game you own can be transferred to your PSP. You'll see Castlevania: Symphony of the Night at work in this YouTube demo. Amazing, isn't it? Hopefully, this will convince Sony to release their PlayStation Store games at a much less craptacular rate.

[Thanks, jamie!]

[Update 1: Now available for download at MAXCONSOLE.]

One of my favorite games on the DS is Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. The series has always mesmerized me, ever since I started playing the Game Boy Advance games. Konami gave me a huge castle to explore, and tons of ways to traverse through it, and I loved it. Unfortunately, I missed what people call the best Castlevania game ever: Symphony of the Night. Yes, it's coming to Xbox 360, but wouldn't it be absolutely lovely on the PSP screen? 1UP spoke with Koji Igarashi and forced the issue:

1UP: Castlevania series seems to always stick to the Nintendo handhelds, the GBA and DS. So I'm wondering, do you see yourself doing any PSP Castlevanias in the future? I mean, Konami seems to support the system pretty well -- so I'm wondering if you're personally interested in doing a PSP game. And in the very least, would you want to bring Symphony of the Night to the PSP, given that Sony is eager to start offering PS1 games for download?
Igarasahi: I think the PSP is an interesting platform with a big and beautiful screen, so I would like to put my hands on a PSP version. As for offering SOTN, yes, I would love to provide it as a download if the users would want that.

This is where, if I were the interviewer, I would turn into a rabid dog and scream "YES!!!" while potentially frothing at the mouth. But the love for the PSP doesn't stop there. It appears that Igarasahi-san wants to develop original games for the system as well:

1UP: Can you just clarify your comments about developing for the PSP?
Igarasahi: Basically, I would like to move to a multiplatform basis, so PSP is included as one of my targeted platforms.