I bought this entirely for Symphony of the Night. Before this, the only MetroidVania games I had played were Super Metroid and Hollow Knight; the latter of which is one of my favorite games ever. It's crazy to see how close to the golden standard they came from the very beginning. All I'd ever heard about SotN is that it invented a genre and it couldn't be more true. The template is all there in 1997 and I felt the exact same high from exploration-based reward that I did playing Hollow Knight a few years ago. Way ahead of its time. The animation is beautiful, some of the best pixels I've ever seen. When Alucard quickly crouches and you see his long white hair and the fabric of his cape gently follow him, just a second behind... that's some fine detail.

Played to achieve the "good" ending, involving the inverted castle, facing Shaft and Dracula at the end.

I tried Rondo of Blood. Made it to Stage 2. The wolfman boss at the end is an instant no for me. I think I attempted it 12 times and no amount of pattern recognition would have helped me, only luck. This is far back enough that the gameplay is punishing without being any bit fun. Dracula's Revenge is a lot like this in that way. I'll cut my losses and just say hey, I'm very happy to have played Symphony of the Night.