Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku

"Just like SOTN but for Saturn....never reached our shores"

Everybody loves Castlevania...well most game players do. And I'm sure that everybody will agree that the PSX version is hands down better than all of the others. But what most people don't realize is that Saturn had a version of SOTN as well, but only in Japan. This added extra areas and characters, but also showed that the PSX is the technologically superior system.

Unlike other Castlevanias, this one plays more like an RPG than anything else. You'll find yourself in a huge castle, with many different and difficult areas. The game play is very similar to Super Metroid, and saves are even done the same way (go into save rooms and hop into a casket, not that Samus hopped into caskets...). There are hundreds of hidden weapons and items hidden in every nook and cranny of this game. This is what made the game so fun to play. In addition to everything the PSX mode had to offer, the Saturn version added a few areas and enemies (but they aren't quite as good as the other areas, imo). And if that weren't enough, you were able to select Maria as a playable character! That brings up the playable characters up three for the saturn version, but only two for the PSX version (Richter is available by entering a certain code...).

The graphics of this game are good, but not quite as good as for the PSX version. The transparencies found everywhere in the PSX version look really pixelated and all and all just not as good as for the PSX (The PSX is better with transparencies). Also there's a little bit of slowdown, but you can live with it. The sound is good, and you also get spared from the awful voice acting found in the American version of SOTN (Because the voice actors are Japanese).

This is one of the best games ever released, and it made it's impact on the Saturn overshores. If you don't have a PSX, and do have a Saturn, then by all means, go and import this game! With a few extra areas, items and a new playable character, the graphic limitations aren't too bad. If you already own the PSX version, it's probably not important to get this version, unless you're dying to know what it's like to be Maria. A good game, but the PSX mode's just as good.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 08/07/01