Nearly a decade ago, the Konami PlayStation game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night grabbed PS hardcore gamers' imaginations and never let go. Two-dimensional, sprite-based and unlike the kinds of games the PlayStation had become known for, Konami's game turned the new conventional wisdom on its head. Neither polygonal nor a shooter, this unique, deep and satisfying game provided lush 2D animations, complex, detailed maps, and side-scrolling action-adventure qualities like none other. Many veteran gamers consider it their all-time favorite PlayStation game.

That was 1997, 10 years ago. But what if you never got a chance to play it? What if you weren't able to get the original or your old PS2 crapped out? Don't fret. It's coming to Xbox Live Arcade.

Heeding the call from Microsoft this week to appear at its Consumer Electronics Show booth in Las Vegas, NV, Konami delivered a playable version of the Xbox Live Arcade game and showed it off today. Officially announced in rather stealthy form last August, Konami's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the game upon which all those new NDS and Game Boy games (Portrait or Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow) are modeled. Symphony of the Night is a reputable game that brings clout to Microsoft's growing arcade library, not to mention dozens of hours of excellent gaming.

"The first and most important thing was to get it up and running," Colin Ferris, associate product manager at Konami, told IGN over the phone today. "We rewrote the engine from the ground up, and did it domestically, upgrading the graphics and sound but leaving the game content fully intact."

Unlike many old arcade games that can't make the transition from standard screen TV width to HD width, Konami's Castlevania was retooled for wide-screen TVs. "On an HD TV it looks clean. The models are clean and better looking." But Konami hasn't changed the content a bit. The Xbox Live Arcade version will play exactly the same as the old PlayStation game, only in widescreen with cleaner models that don't break or artifact. The XBLA version uses the original art assets. Like the other classic XBLA releases, Castlevania offers modes for the original or enhanced graphics, which can be changed by pausing the game and adjusting some options. Unlike other Live Arcade releases, these graphics really are just enhanced and haven't been completely reworked. Konami opted to simply clean up the look and do away with some of the aliasing for the enhanced mode rather than completely retooling the look.

Also, the original translations and voice-overs, in all their wonder, cheese, and glory, have been retained. That means all of your favorite lines, be they badly or perfectly translated, are exactly the same as when they were in 1997. And from the reminder we got on the show floor today, most of the translations were done closer to the bad side of the spectrum. Ferris wasn't sure if the final game, due sometime in early 2007, would use Dolby 5.1, but the sound will be upgraded and include all of the same music from the original. Konami would not comment on a price just yet.

The game's size, contrary to many concerns, isn't an issue, explained Ferris. The largest part of old PS2 CD games was their sound files. But due to today's more powerful compression technology, compressing Castlevania to below the 50 MB Xbox Live Arcade requirement isn't an issue. "With old PlayStation games, most space was taken up with audio. Audio compression is so much better, and those files are compressed to a fraction of what they were. The sound is improved, and it's now more than two channels. We didn't cut anything."

Mapping controls to the Xbox 360 was easy, adds Ferris. "The original game used the PS2 D-pad, but on Xbox 360 you can play it either with D-pad or analog sticks. We even kept the old-school inventory menu still in there. Remember the save game screen? We mimicked the old 4X5, PS memory manager card menu screen." In practice, the control works well, too. Playing with the D-pad isn't as nice as it was on the PlayStation controller thanks to the sometimes testy 360 controller, but the analog stick works just fine. The rest of the controls hold up well in their translation to the new controller -- navigating the world and dealing out damage quickly became second nature.

So, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is finally coming to XBLA. Slated for an early 2007 release -- Konami said it can't be certain yet of a final date due to Microsoft's ever-changing XBLA schedule -- the classic 2D game should please old-school fans and enlighten new ones to the glory of 2D at its finest. Also upon its release, Konami will provide a number of themes and gamer pics using original art by Ayami Kojima, for a price.

Nice I wanted to play this game. I will definately download it it for 360. I pay monthly for Xbox Live yet I rarely log into it lol. Rarely even play my 360...I need a game I like for it. I got bored with Enchanted Arms very quick. I couldn't stand the voice acting. The gay guys voice made me want to punch infants.

That is all.

haha I still have to buy Portal of Ruin... fuuuuuucckkkkk

Will the Metroidvania goodness ever stop? Lets hope not.

Yeah I got that game for 19.99 (Canadian) during the Boxing Week sale at Best Buy and god is it horrible. I played it for a total of 20 minutes and couldnt stand it.