Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

released on Mar 20, 1997
by Konami

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

released on Mar 20, 1997
by Konami

A seminal 2D metroidvania in which after the events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993), a man named Alucard arrives at Dracula's castle after it rises from the rubble, and seeks to defeat the evil contained within it once and for all by exploring, fighting its inhabitants and collecting the various weapons and abilities hidden in its depths.


Also in series

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Castlevania Legends
Castlevania Legends
Castlevania: The Adventure
Castlevania: The Adventure
Castlevania: Dracula X
Castlevania: Dracula X
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Castlevania: Bloodlines

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Reviews View More

One of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in game. Amazing 2D graphics. A sword-wielding character instead of the usual vampire killer. Full of quotable, memorable dialogues.

It's impressive how much the team got right on their first attempt, but there are still a few minor quirks and annoyances that make me prefer Aria to it. Mostly small things like how a lot of the platforms in the inverted castle are placed in such a way that they're barely out of reach of your double jump so you need to use the mist or bat forms to get past them, how the wolf form is kind of useless outside of running through the game's handful of straight enemy filled hallways faster, or how most of the bosses are complete pushovers when compared even to some of the tankier normal enemies. And even they were stupidly easy once I found out about the moon rod's special ability. I know that fully exploring the game didn't help this, but even then I only finished with a completion percentage of 192.6%, so there were probably a few things I missed.

Genre defining, and they perfected it on the first try. Tons of weird little secrets, items and weapons. Some of these items are borderline useless but when you find out their niche use or some obscure interaction they have you feel like a genius. No metroidvania has felt as rich with content and fun mechanical interactions since.

Some obtuse puzzles hold it back but it manages to satisfy with a wide range of items and abilities. Halfway through the game the game world undergoes a drastic change which isn’t really designed. Will finish this area someday but I gave up after about an hour.