An unofficial Castlevania: Symphony of the Night PC port has finally emerged from its crypt, but it's based on the Xbox 360 edition of the game rather than the original.
Recompilation efforts have made a big wave in the industry over the last few years, and so far – a few outliers like Sonic Unleashed and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 notwithstanding – have mostly focused on the fifth generation of consoles, with most of the all-time N64 classics having brilliant PC versions available right now. Super Mario 64 was the first time I'd heard of it happening, but impressive ports for Banjo Kazooie, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask have been big hits among fans.
When it comes to iconic games from the fifth generation, there's far too many to mention, but one of them is undoubtedly Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – the reason that genre is called Metroidvania and not just Metroid-like.
And would you look at that, the newest game to join the long line of recompiled PC ports is Symphony of the Night. NocturneRecomp was released by birabittoh (thanks Time Extension) earlier this month, and ends an almost 30 year wait for a PC port.
However, it's not the PS1 original, the Saturn version that featured exclusive content, or the PSP release with a new translation that was later adapted for its PS4 port. Instead it's the Xbox 360 edition from 2007, which is the version I first played the game on and still has the iconic intro voice acting, so not a bad version at all, but a hindered one. It lacks the CG cutscenes and ending theme from Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater singer Cynthia Harrell.
Of course, you'll need to have dumped your own copy of the Xbox 360 version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to use it, but considering that version is still readily available on the Xbox Store (and backwards compatible) that shouldn't prove too difficult.
With that said, you could just play it on one of those consoles if you have it, but thanks to the power of modders, the prospect of restored Saturn content potentially coming to the PC port is certainly exciting, alongside those CG cutscenes.
