Classic Game Review: Castlevania - Symphony of the Night

20 years after its release, we review the most iconic Castlevania game ever:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the most remarkable Castlevania game released in the franchise. It became the very first Metroidvania game by grabbing some features from Super Metroid which added a lot of complexity and variety to the game. Together, Super Metroid and Castlevania popularized this genre resulting to a much better generation of side-scrolling RPGs. Being the first game to have such mechanics, Caetlevania: Symphony of the Night garnered a lot of interest and provided a fun and engaging gameplay.

It featured a lot of new things that the previous games didn't have. It featured inaccessible areas at the beginning of the game which will only be accessible after acquiring a skill or equipment. This called for the need to backtrack already visited areas to access new locations or items which added a whole new level of complexity compared to the simple side-scrollers the games that came before it were. It enabled exploration and discovery, which is why the genre became a crazy hit throughout the years.

That being said, now we all know how the game started it all. When compared to the previous games, the game will surely have the upper hand (though this does not imply that the past games were not good) but after the last couple of years that a plethora of sequels were made, is the game still good enough?

I have played quite a few of them myself and I tried to play this game for once. And oh boy, this game is definitely not a cakewalk.

It's quite overwhelming to start the game with a battle with Dracula. You control Richter at the beginning of the game, reenacting the final battle in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Though it is not possible for you to be defeated in this battle, it's still quite something to face the main antagonist very early in the game.

You then start off with the main character in this game after the battle, (and a short prologue) which is Alucard, and you go through the first corridors of the castle. Though this is a cakewalk for you start off with a set of high level equipment, you pretty much get the idea why people say this is definitely a difficult game.

I tried to explore a bit of the area and I ended up getting trapped in the fountain with Mermans. And it is a shame that I actually died there. *cri*
Compared to the other games (newer ones) that I played, the damage you take in this game right from the beginning is too high. (I... died because of mermans...)

mermans...
~

Now, when you walk through the corridors, you meet Death and he takes away all your epic equipment away and you now start off with the real adventure.

Now with the review:

Story

Castlevania in general has a good storyline and this game just shows that off. I would try my best to not get into too much detail here as to avoid spoilers. But anyway, the story involves the usual quest to defeat Dracula but now, the protagonist isn't a Belmont, (Note: Belmont is a clan that possesses the Vampire Killer whip and they ultimately have the power to slay Dracula. For the previous games, Belmonts have been the main protagonists who fought against Dracula.) it is Alucard, Dracula's son. As said in the prologue, Richter Belmont went missing four years after he defeated Dracula. Now, after sensing evil and the absence of a Belmont, Alucard wakes (Note: He goes into slumber after the war against Dracula with Trevor Belmont in 1476.) and goes on his journey to end the looming evil present in Dracula's castle.

Pretty much, that's the story. (without the ending and whatnot, of course)
It's quite a fine story if you get to have more of the details. But the gist of the story in itself is quite decent.

The character dialogues (in the original version) were... not that well made though. (resulting to a lot of memes and occassional chuckles from the players)

The lines from this scene are... really iconic.

This was improved however in the PSP remake.

But still... that doesn't change the overall quality quality of the story.

The story gets a thumbs up for me.

Gameplay

As I have said much above about the mechanics and whatnot, I won't go much into detail here.
The gameplay is great. The game is challenging. It is so fun to play. The bosses are of optimal difficulty and the variety of stuff you have in your arsenal makes the game oh-so-awesome. You can transform into a wolf and dash through enemies. You can transform into a bat and dash as well. You can transform into a mist to provide invincibility for a fraction of a second. (of course they have other functions as well) You will also have familiars that will support you through the castle. Additionally, you could also cast spells that will aid you on your adventure. Also, there are secret tricks and secret areas all around the castle, which adds to the fun. And of course, equipment. All of this would add up and voila. Hours of engaging gameplay.

Compared to even the newer games, some elements in this game prove to be of more worth, and that alone sends a lot of message.
The game though is pretty much... breakable in a lot of possible ways.
I've even tried doing the librarian glitch and the clock room one (the one where you use the wolf form to jump down to the lamp) and pretty much... the game is going down.
I've even messed up the actual sequence of the areas.

But putting that aside, you have a great gameplay. And... I think that even that adds up to how great the gameplay can be. *wink*

Gameplay gets a thumbs up for me.

Graphics

Graphics at this game's time were top notch. It's not on par with today's standards but hey, you would appreciate some features here and there every now and then.
Alucard's smooth sprite animation, the occassional 3D ambient background, the smooth sprite animation of enemies, decent 2D effects of the spells and sub weapon animations, and many more are present to please your eyes. So still it somehow holds its ground as a visually appealing game. But let us not forget the fact that this game was released in 1997 and this game will wow you for that fact alone. You won't believe it came from such a time!

It really is visually appealing. I swear.

So in terms of graphics, it's not bad. It's not "really good" either. I think it's fair to give it an okay rating. So... there you go.

Music and SFX

Man. The music in this game is so so good. It all appeals to the environment and ambience the game aims to have. Everything and everything went perfectly in terms of music. Until you play the game, you won't understand the feeling I am trying to squeeze out right now. Man.
The effects were also fine. Plus, the dialogues were dubbed into the game. (though they're not really... "spectacular" uh)

Also, you'll be hearing Alucard's voice here and there. So, you pretty much get the idea of how detailed the effects are in this game.

So... detailed effects, dubbed dialogues, and oh-so-amazing music... deserves a big big thumbs up!

Conclusion

I definitely would recommend this game. It holds a lot of promise and it will provide you with hours of good gameplay. Even at the current era, this game will still be of good worth. So if ever you have the chance to play this game in any way if ever a PS1/Saturn/PSP is not available... (*ehem* emulation. *ehem*) then GO. A great game is waiting for you.

Enjoy the game. :)

~

That's it for the review. If ever I missed something or I got anything wrong, please do remind me in the comments and keep me informed. Want to request a game to be reviewed? Send an email or leave it out in the comments.
uh. I really hope you do.

Thank you. and.. goodbye. ~