Picking right up where Castlevania Rondo of Blood left off, Castlevania Symphony of the Night was a seminal release.  This was Konami doing what Konami excelled at- 2D side scrolling action.  The difference here was that while there was a lot of action the emphasis was clearly on exploration.  Another departure is that you are no longer controlling a Belmont in this outing. Instead you are controlling Dracula’s son, Alucard (Dracula backwards, get it?).  Now, who has beaten this classic?

Symphony of the Night forked the franchise

This was the first Castlevania release on a Sony console and it was one heck of a first impression.  The PlayStation console was one of the first consoles to break into the mainstream. This brought in a ton of unfamiliar gamers.  Symphony of the Night was the first Castlevania game that many of these new fans played.  Konami went all out with this one and it showed.

Starting a new tradition

Another departure from earlier Castlevania games is the leveling up system.  Similar to a “lite” RPG, equipping different weapons and accessories will give Alucard better chances of surviving what is coming.  One reason this game is a surprise is that Sony had a “3D everything” mentality with their early releases. They wanted to set the console apart from the past and competition.  Castlevania Symphony of the Night was unique against the titles available. Gamers were inundated with sports games, 3D action platform titles and puzzle games on the Sony PlayStation.

Ports upon ports

Konami went onto re-release Castlevania Symphony of the Night on many platforms. From the Microsoft Xbox 360 in 2006, then in 2009 in the Konami Classics Volume 1 also for Xbox 360.  Back on the PlayStation platforms we got a hidden port of Symphony of the Night within Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. That was an upgraded port of Dracula X from the Turbo Grafx-16 and Super Nintendo).

If you are a completest or are just interested in grabbing a copy of Symphony of the Night for your collection then hit Ebay and let us know if you can beat it! Want another take on Symphony of the Night then check out Michael’s writeup.

Carl Williams

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