Okay, so I started the special edition and I'd have to say that while it's pretty great, there are a couple of significant flaws that I can't understand.
1.) Though the game is smart enough to verify whether or not you've beaten the original DMC3 and unlocks Virgil and bloody palace for you, it DOES NOT unlock hard mode and very hard mode (i.e. normal and the unlockable hard on the original). Thus, my initial run through of the SE will be easier than my virgin run through the sadistic "normal" mode of the original (which would be "hard"here, get it?) If the game couldn't read your memory card info for the original at all that would be understandable, but the fact that it can and they chose to give you some of your deserved unlockables and not others is a huge oversight on their part.
2.) While you can play as Virgil, you must start Virgil on normal mode, and he and Dante have seperate campeigns/unlockables/data. So if you unlock very hard mode with Dante, you can't just switch to Virgil for that difficulty, but will have to work Virgil all the way up to that level too. I can't for the life of me figure out why they did this, and didn't just make it like Viewtiful Joe where you unlock a character after beating it, then have the option who to play as for whatever difficulties you've unlocked.
Aside from these complaints, the game is uniformly excellent. After playing for a little over an hour I was reminded just how cool the original game was, and the new continue system makes it infinitely less frustrating. And despite my complaints about having to start from the beggining of normal mode, even that mode, while easy for veterans, is still really really fun. Ultimately it's deffinitely a better overall package than the original, but it's best for those who haven't already braved through the original. Otherwise it's still great, if you don't mind your memory card info not carrying over and having to start on easy/normal.