Castlevania: Symphony of the Night LCD

The legendary Dracula hunt continues in this latest saga.

JP release: 1998
NA release: 1998
EU release: 1998
Developer: Tiger
Publisher: Tiger
The Inverted Dungeon Review: 3.6/10
Platforms: Electronic Handheld
Version Played: None

It may surprise you that, even with the GameCom out (don’t worry, we’ll get to that), Tiger were still making their electronic handheld games devices using calculator technology in 1998. This version of Symphony of the Night was among the final ones Tiger created and is extremely rare as a result. While someone has created a model of the device as part of the preservation project, the actual gameplay hasn’t been backed up in any way, and I’m not willing to pay £250 to give it a go.

From looking at the menu and footage of the game. It’s mostly the same game as the Simon’s Quest LCD game. You move to the right, slashing enemies in front and behind you. The main difference is that there’s an upper level, which works the same as jumping in the original, only it lasts longer.

Without playing it, I can tell you that this is dreadful, and would be a confusing mess to play even without the severe visibility issues on the original screen. Even this late on, Tiger never learnt their lesson as to why all their handheld games were terrible – or perhaps it’s more that they simply didn’t care.