StarSoldier1's Full Review: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for PlayStation...
With all the hype and attention going to other Playstation titles like your Tomb Raiders, Resident Evils, Crash Bandicoots and even your Final Fantasies, people may overlook one of the Playstation's best games ever made; Konami's legendary CastleVania: Symphony Of The Night.
This once PlayStation exclusive title (it can also be found on Xbox Live) not only includes the classic Castlevania gameplay we all know and love from the 8-bit and 16-bit games but it also has advanced new RPG elements too that really draws you into the grand adventure.
The story starts off as Richter Belmont is about to fight Count Dracula (the ending to Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, originally on the Super Nintendo or the PC Engine), after Richter wins the battle the game now jumps ahead 4 years later as Count Dracula's Castle suddenly returns yet again and Richter Belmont is no where to be found. Alucard (originally from CastleVania III Dracula's Curse for the 8-bit NES) awakes from his 400 year sleep after a intense nightmare only to realize now that he must enter CastleVania and try to stop his father, the evil Count Dracula, once again from taking over all of Europe........but where is Richter Belmont and his step sister Maria?
Alucard actually prefers to use swords and magic spells compared to the traditional whips found in the usually CastleVania games plus our new hero as the ability to transform into a bat, wolf, or even mist after you find the right power ups to help reach new areas. Because he is the son of Count Dracula and half vampire he will take damage from water and the holy Boomerang Crosses so he's not perfect and that reflects his storyline down the road too. Although Alucard is Dracula's only son, he's not really welcome back with open arms when he returns to CastleVania. He starts off the game fully equipped with weapons and armour but Death himself robs him of everything after their talk doesn't go too well. Alucard must build himself up again if he hopes to be successful and that's part of the fun.
Luckly the castle is filled with tons treasures and items to find so you power up over time and you can even purchase various goods from a old friend of yours. Alucard can also gain experience and equip weapons and armour just like in a real RPG's similar to that of an Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star game although this game is still all action platformer, if you're not a fan of RPG's changes are you'll still like CastleVania: Symphony of the Night.
The graphics will blow you away with the large amount of detail from every stage to the Clock Tower to the Library Halls and don't forget those ugly bosses too. I was surprised when this game only got a Teen (T) rating because this game has a lot of gruesome images in it. First there is one giant disgusting boss that is rotting on meat hooks with huge bees circling it which you gotta see to belief and secondly there is tons of blood pouring from almost every enemy and sometimes you don't even have to kill em to see the red stuff (like the jousting skeleton on a decapitated horse). I'm not complaining here because this is actually based on a horror story but I wouldn't let young kids play it.
As if the game’s killer 2D graphics weren’t enough just wait till you check out the knockout sound tracks here too. The music is a mixture of classical and heavy rock n' roll themes to get your energy pumping while still reminding you that are in the 17th century. This game is so huge that the game has over with 20 different music tracks available plus the fantastic sound effects are just as good as well. Unlike the Gameboy Advance CastleVania his edition also uses real voices for the most of the major confrontation scenes and the voices are not too bad (but they are not too good either). Wait till you hear the Succubus women early on in the adventure, her acting just plain sucked!
Bottom line: This amazing game not only includes the classic CastleVania platforming game play we all know and love but it also has advanced new RPG elements too that really draws you into the adventure. Another cool thing about the game it's a big one too (easily one of the biggest CastleVania ever) with multiple endings so don't expect to finish this one the same day you bought it. The game even lets play as Richter Belmont after you finish the game once (by starting a new game as 'Richter'). With it’s stunning 2D visuals that make it one of the best looking games of the console and great musical numbers it's almost too much. This is one legendary game here!
CastleVania Symphony of the Night overall rating: 97/100
1 block of memory needed to save
For 1 player only
Rated (T) for Teen
graphics: 9/10 ............ great artwork and some really huge bosses! The animation of Alucard is also amazing!
sound: 10/10 .......... little to no classic music but who cares!
gameplay: 9/10 ........... massive game with a second quest feature and loads of items to find, just massive!
This Playstation 1 game is NEW AND FACTORY SEALED! It is in beautiful shape. This is the greatest hits edition. There are 2 very small hairline cracks...More at eBay
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.