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 | Title : Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Author : Konami
Release Date : 20000815
Binding : CD-ROM
Regular Price : $49.99
Amazon.com Price : $14.97
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Editorial Reviews :
Since its US debut in 1987 on the NES, Konami's Castlevania series has gone on to become one of the most popular franchises in video-game history, with releases on nearly every major platform (including the Super NES, Genesis, and GameBoy). The latest installment - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PlayStation - is quite possibly the best 2D action side scroller ever.
Symphony takes place four years after Dracula X, a PC Engine title in Japan that never saw a US release. Unlike most previous Castlevania games, Symphony features a main character who isn't one of the whip-cracking Belmonts. Stranger still, it turns out that our hero, Adrian Fahrenheit (aka Alucard), is actually a son of Dracula. Your task is to explore Dracula's castle (rumored to only appear once a century) and find out why Richter Belmont, the hero of the first game (and descendant of the original Castlevania hero, Simon), has mysteriously vanished. Oh, and you've also got to kill quite a few monsters along the way....
Since the main character doesn't carry a whip, gameplay has obviously changed quite a bit from past Castlevanias. Now you can use several different weapons and items, each of which is kept in an RPG-like inventory subscreen. But Symphony mimics an RPG in more ways than one. Experience is gained from killing enemies; attributes are raised whenever Alucard levels-up, which is good incentive not to pass up enemies when trying to get from one area to the next; special skills are learned by performing different control-pad movements that subsequently save to a move list in the subscreen; and you can find and use numerous magic items during your quest. Even with the new trappings, though, the basics of the game are true to previous installments - break candles, collect hearts and money (which you can now actually spend in a shop), and fight ghoulish enemies.
Perhaps the most important new feature added to Castlevania is its map system. Extremely similar to the one in Super Metroid, the map (which can be viewed at any time by pressing the Select button) opens up room by room as you travel through the castle. You can buy an extended map that shows you some of the areas you have yet to visit, but as you might imagine, it's limited and doesn't show you any of the castle's hidden portions. Even if it did, it wouldn't much matter; like any good adventure game, many areas can't be accessed until later in the journey. Specifically, you can't visit certain places until you've found the three souls that Alucard can transform into - Wolf, Bat, and Mist, each of which can be used at any time for a small amount of magic power.
Needless to say, the graphics and musical score are great, which is what you'd expect from Konami. The anime-style look of Dracula X has been replaced with a more Roman approach that adds a surprising amount of depth to the game's wonderful atmosphere. Each area comes to life with vividly animated enemies, gorgeous backgrounds with multiple levels of parallax scrolling, and stellar special effects (particularly of note are the lighting and fog effects used in certain levels). The voice acting is also good, and the storyline is awesome.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is easily one of the best games ever released and a true testament to the fact that 2D gaming is not dead by any stretch of the imagination. The game is very large and will keep you entertained for a long time. --John Ricciardi
Buyer Reviews :
when I was a wee lad, I played board games, collect four, hungry hippo, monopoly. They were fun diversions, I was later amazed by the prospect of playing game like pac man, dig dug, ect in arcades, (yah I know I'm old). I remember the simple days... and It makes my mind wobble how complex, and utterly craptastic, videogames have become today... I've been a gamer pretty much all my life. So I know how sometimes It's best too keep a game simple, and fun rather then just ruin it by making it too complex.
Castlevania manages too find a perfect balance between the simple and complex. It mixes the old run, jump, smack a monster medusa head, gameplay with street fighter like spells, and wait until you see some of these bosses... some are admittedly lame, others will put your gaming skills too the test. But It's best feature is the awesome design of the castle... and how the developers placed the power ups.
Super metroid has been called one of the... if not THE... most well designed game of all time. The bosses were big and frightening. the map was desgined with the powerups placed in just such a way that when you found one powerup... It gave you the ability too enter an previously unreachable area, There's a certain rewarding thrill behind playing a game with this design, and the developers are either fans of that design, are worked on super metroid themselves. Cuz It not only follows that formula, but builds upon it in every way.
when you first start the game... there will be all sorts of paths for you too follow... but apparently the archtect of castlevania is a sick joker, cuz even with your supernatural powers, you just can't seem too reach these paths. But alter in the game... after alot of adventuring, fighting, and finding all sorts of goodies, you will either find what you need too reach that unreachable platform, or wind up on the other side of it through you journeys. and rest assured it's a fun trip.
The powerups are all cool and fun too use, my fave is the mist spell. that lets your charachter turn into a fog. your enemies can't touch you when your transformed, so you can just pass through them, and attack thier backs. others, like changing into a bat, wolf, or being able too super jump, or wear armor that breaks spikes, are all fun too use that has too be played too truly understand.
And as for the story... Well, It won't win a oscar, but It's pretty cool. The last belmont kicks the stuffing outta drac in the beginning of the game, then after four years of friday night poker games, and having a wench in every town... he disappears. And wouldn't ya know it... about the same time, that fun haunted house that we all know and love as castlevania reappears out of the mist. Richters sis, maria, puts 2 and 2 together; goes too find him. (Apparently he owes her money or something :P.) The half human son of dracula, whos supposed too be locked in an eternal sleep, wakes up after 400 years. after going too the nearest tailor too get some hip clothes and a much needed bath, he heads out for castlevania as well. Sword in hand and ready too kick booty... of course that's just the opening... the rest of the story is pretty decent. I liked how death and allucard had somewhat of a repore. death seemed at first reluctant too fight him, even gave him a chance too go back... but when allucard refuses too renounce his quest of patricide... the whuppin begins. moments like these, and many others like It give some more depth too the world of castlevania.
I could go on and on... this is a game that has a simple premise... but manages too weave in so many complex elements, all fun, yet never loses the simplicity. Games were meant too be simple. a fun distraction from the hectic pace of life. The video gaming industry has grown into such a massive beast over the past few years. It's no longer a niche hobby. and such there is a high financial demand for innovation. But sometimes innovation comes at the cost of fun. Castlevania back
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