Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

"The game is a must have CLASSIC!!!"

Castlevania Symphony of the Night is one of the greatest games in the Castlevania series! You play as Alucard, son of Dracula, a half vampire/half human. So, Alucard has his advantages and weaknesses. This game has very impressive visuals, even till this day! Konami really out did themselves with this excellent game. You wouldn't be able to tell that the game was released in 97/(97,98 greatest hits)! Alucard has plenty of transformation at will. He can transform into a wolf, bat, or fog! I don't suggest breathing the fog (^_^)! Although you will have to find rare relics around Dracula's castle, in order to use them. Speaking of castles, unlike the other castlevania titles, this game is one Huge castle. So that means one huge level in other words. There are thousands of rooms located in the castle as well as hidden rooms! You can easily get lost around Dracula's huge castle.

The game provides a map which you will have to memorize where the rooms are placed on the map. The map is not well detailed and get's larger as you make your way through the castle. The castle is very large and the map nearly takes up the whole screen. Now another different thing is the fact that you can learn magic attacks on your own! When I say on your own, I mean that you might actually press a combination of buttons and learn a new magic spell! You can look at all the magic spells you've learned on the pause menu screen. Other than magic spells, certain weapons have Sword Skills. Sword Skills are combinations of buttons that uses the swords and various weapon special abilities. Alucard can also be assinged 1 weapon per hand, meaning up to 2 different weapons at a time. In other words, you can use 2 different weapons while fighting enemies. Square is for Alucard's right hand and Triangle is for Alucards left hand. The inventory for Castlevania Symphony of the Night is HUGE! There are plenty of swords, shields, armors, relics, capes, health items, attack items, jewely, necklaces, rings, and so many more things that you'll find through out the game. All the items help you in the game. You will die plenty of times so be prepared or expect for the worst in Dracula's castle!

You can also sell plenty of things in the game, (I won't say what), so you can earn extra money and buy new things to help you out while playing the game. There are plenty of bosses through out the game. The boss battles are great and challenging. Enemies also get tougher as the game progresst, but as you level up the enemies get easier to defeat, maybe a little too easy at times! There are a lot of enemies in this game to destroy and the gameplay is steady with minor slowdowms. Alucard defeats enemies to power up and gain more strength etc. When you defeat enemies you will gain experience points (EXP) for various things. I wish Konami would have added a (much) harder difficulty mode for more advanced gamers. There are multiple endings for you to seek out as well. Oh yes, the music! This is some of the best symphony music you will ever hear in a game, or ever hear in your life! I actually loved the music before I even played the game. This is how a great game should be developed. The developers did pretty much everything needed to make this a fun game to play. NOw the Voice acting is terrible and everyone sounds like they are talking in a sewer or something. There aren't many downfalls in this game, that is a big plus. This game is simply beautiful and awesome. A 3D remake would have to be 100% perfect to top this game. Castlevania Symphony of the Night is a must buy / have game.
Castlevania SoTN gets a 9.3 out of 10! Brilliant game!

*SKNMAK BREAKDOWN*
Graphics: 10/10
These 2D graphics are terrific! The visual are state of the art! This game showed people what Konami could do with 2D side scrolling games. Every explosion, lightning effect, and even a rock crumble looks as clear as possible. You'll never experience a classic 2D game like this again! Everything looks nice in this game. There are things players won't even notice until they play the game more than once, such as moonlight moving around Alucard while he's in front of it(the moon, that is.)! Very impressive. Very beautiful game we have here. The physics and collisions are great.

Controls: 10/10
The controls are very good and responsive. The button lay-out is nicely placed. If you don't like the default controls, you can fully customize the control to your likings. Every button is customizable (is that a word), Sometimes you will have to practice on using your magic, or else a mistake will mess you up. Best controls for a Castlevania game yet. Your thumb might get tired from jamming the left and right D-pad button. ALTHOUGH I wish Konomi would have added Dual-Shock Analog support on the Greatest Hits version, but they didn't. Too bad. I suggest using the "original" Playstation controller because it feels lighter in your hand. The controls are very comfortable and easy to learn.

Gameplay: 8/10
The gameplay is excellent. I was surprise at how many enemies could be on the screen at one time, for an early Playstation 1 game. But this game does have minor slow downs. Only minor slow downs though, so that's nothing to worry about. Well again, slowdowns can be a bit fustrating at times! Good gameplay=(equals) a good game! Alucard moves very smooth. As well as his animations! Enemies and bosses moves smooth as well. The action stays packed in this game on screen. Castlevania gameplay at it's best! Boss battles are great and the gameplay is so good that you just have to replay the game again. Nothing more to say here other than the fact that the gameplay is fun.

Fun Factor: 10/10
Castlevania SoTN is just brilliant. All of the thousands of rooms looks very unique. I love the art concepts in the game. There are countless enemies you'll encounter also. The relics, familiars, and magic spells make this game very enjoyable and fun. Your magic even refills itself when your not using it, cool huh! Each room(levels) has it's own style of music, which I really enjoy listening too. I love the way Konami put this action-packed game in the form of a RPG. Just about all the elements in the game are RPG concepts. You have experience points and levels for Alucard to reach. You also collect money. Alucard Familiers also have levels from 1 to 99. There are countless numbers of items to find in this game. Now the voice acting isreally bad, but the gameplay makes up for it. The replay value is very high for Castlevania SoTN. So make sure you get a chance to play this awesome game, and buy the music CD if you can find it! Casltevania Symphony of the Night has it all, plus plenty of more to offer! Alucard is the one coolest characters ever created!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/07

Game Release: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (US, 10/02/97)