Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is widely regarded as one of the last great 2D games and one of the—if not the—best Castlevania games. Playing it soon after it came out, I thought it was good, but borrowed too heavily from Super Metroid. After playing through the excellent Dawn of Sorrow on DS, I decided to give Symphony another try.
The first thing I noticed is that this is one beautiful game. In terms of presentation, this is one of the finest games ever made let alone in terms of Castlevania games. The 2D graphics are stylish, lush and almost over-animated! The bosses are especially nice and there are a lot of small touches if you take the time to look. A few of the backgrounds seem overly 'tiled', but I can't think of anything else to complain about. The music is equally great and matches the mood of the game (except for the "Kenny G" end credit music?!). The voice-over work is campy and over the top, but kind of fits with the rest of the game.
The game actually has a decent—if slightly campy—story. Symphony of the Night is a direct sequel to the Japan only Rondo of Blood for the Turbo DUO. As such, both Richter Belmont and Maria Renard return.
Symphony does crib from Super Metroid almost shamelessly—establishing the 'Metroidvania' gameplay that has been used in all subsequent 2D Castlevania games to date. You explore one large environment (Dracula's Castle) with many areas inaccessible until certain abilities are gained. Also introduced are RPG elements such as leveling up, health potions and various weapons and armor.
Rather than playing as a Belmont, you play as Alucard the son of Dracula, and instead of the whip you'll use various swords and shields. However, gameplay is still classic Castlevania for the most part including the use of secondary weapons like holy water, or the axe. Other additions include learning Street Fighter like special moves, the ability to transform into various monster forms and having monster familiars—such as vampire bats—help you.
The gameplay and controls are great for the most part, but can be a little rough around the edges compared to later games in the series. While the first half of the game is paced perfectly, the second half can drag at times. The exploration of the castle can leave you scratching your head wondering where to go at times, and having to equip food and health potions in order to use them can be annoying. The difficulty is just about right, but a few of the last bosses are way too easy.
Just different enough from the Metroid series and oozing style, Symphony of the Night's few quirks keeping it from getting the top rating. Despite its flaws, this is a great game. If you are a fan of the Castlevania series or of 2D games in general, you owe it to yourself to track down a copy!
2008 ben langberg, all rights reserved.