User reviews

This is the best Playstation game I have ever played, and by far the best of the Castlevania series.

Great music, spectacular gameplay, a recommendation to anyone.

Also a unforgettable storyline and alot of replayability.

10 out of 10.

The Castlevania series is a long and respected one, and this one may be the best out of them all. With the massive choice of weapons and armor, a kickass storyline, very good voice acting, and a moving soundtrack, this game is a must play for Castlevania fans.

There is are many words to describe this title: classic, masterpiece, flawless. But it is only done justice in the phrase above. Castlevania is everything a great video game should be. It has amazing graphics, incredible sound, an easy to use control system, a multitude of secrets, a highly involving storyline, high replay value, and, most important of all, an addictive quality that keeps you coming back for more.

Many people ignored this title because it was in 2D. While the huge game area would have been amazing to see in 3D, it also might have created camera and control problems that would have only hampered the game play quality. Using a 2D interface makes for a much cleaner and "user-friendly" game, especially at the time when this game was released, a time when 3D gaming was an aspect that had yet to be perfected.

I could go on and on about this game. It was one of the few games I've played that actually lures me back after I've beaten it. While Metal Gear Solid and Goldeneye have done this too, it has only been for a little while, to relive some of my favourite moments. Castlevania, however, still has unexplored elements to it. I have had the game for two years and have yet to see EVERYTHING, to defeat EVERY enemy and obtain EVERY item.

It's a shame this game is a rare find. It is a definite collector's item, and if you see it pick it up. Did I forget to mention that it also merges RPG and action-adventure gaming elements seamlessly, giving fans of both genres something to love? I would like to end my review with a challenge to all video game developers out there: Make a better game than this. Trust me, you'll DIE trying.

Even after six years, I went back and replayed SotN to gladly find not an ounce of its charms has been lost with time. With growing emphasis and interest in RPGs and the entire evolution of the gaming industry as is, I think I've grown to like this simple little game even more.

CastleVania: SotN is not without its faults. I will admit, the plot is a lame excuse to bring back Dracula for yet another round of CastleVania (if you can consider it having a plot at all), and the voice-acted dialogue screams cheesy b-film. In the end, that's made me like SotN all the more now then I did in 1997 when it first debuted. My only -real- complaint against SotN is its difficulty setting – it's too easy to beat.

Symphony of the Night's success comes from the fact that it acknowledges it is a game to be played, not a movie to be watched or a novel to be read. You -play- CastleVania, and all the game elements are as rock-solid as they come. It plays as a fantastic exploration game in the same vein as Super Metroid, which was a step away from previous CastleVania straight-action-side-scroller formula it had used since the original NES game.

Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes, aka Alucard, is the most intriguing CastleVania character the gamer has ever taken control of (and he's way badder than he was in CastleVania3). No more the Belmont Vampire Hunter, now we play as the son of Dracula to take on the father, and as we explore the Demon Castle we really get to tap into Alucard's growing vampiric powers . . . and to this date, I've never seen a game character to top Alucard's ability to become a cloud of mist on command.

Not just one, but two beautifully drawn castles to explore, some of the best boss/enemy designs and a well thought out castle-design. I'd of liked to have seen some instant-death pitfalls/spikes/lava/whatever (and a way of knowing that it is instant death and not another route to explore); most gamers hate 'em, but with SotN's wonderful controls it wouldn't have been much of a problem avoiding them unless you just get careless. Towards the end of the game, Alucard's abilities would make falling into them virtually impossible.

CastleVania also sports my favorite video-game artwork and musical score by the talented Ayame Kojima and Michuru Yamane respectively. Though the premise of the exploration and level ups are borrowed from other games, SotN stands out as its own. By the music, artwork, setting, characters, and gameplay, it is distinctly CastleVania. Nowhere else have I seen game so distinctly its own.

I love this game. It mixes my favorite aspects of side scrolling games like mega man with a great RPG system. Making the game a classic. The diologue and story are excellent. The graphics are great. It's just a cool game. It's a must have for sega saturn or sony playstation owners. If you like side scrollng games, rpg's, or vampire games etc. etc. GET THIS GAME!!

This was a very fun Castlevania game, in the spirit of those on the NES, Sega Genesis and SNES, but with a bit more game play depth to it. Basically it looks like the Castlevania games on the SNES with the graphics on the characters improved a bit and the background more so. The music is also improved in this one as there are some really stand out pieces in sections of the game. It is a challenge too, but not overly so. Basically, there are no parts of the game where you are watching in stunned belief at all the enemies and such thinking the game is impossible, like in the older games. Even if the odds look insurmountable, you can find a way around it. The game is not perfect though as there are some things that could have been done to make the game even more enjoyable.

The story starts out with Richter Belmont about to face off against Dracula. This is basically a recap battle showing the final battle from the game Castlevania X or something to that effect for the SNES or the other game that it was based off of for a computer gaming system only sold in Japan. Suffice to say, I want to play that game, but it is rare and expensive. After the battle is won, you see Alucard (Dracula's son) storming the castle. He seems unbeatable, until the Grim Reaper takes away all his powerful equipment. Now Alucard must navigate his way through the castle fighting monsters of all kinds so that he can gain abilities and equipment that will help him win the day. From time to time you cross paths with a woman named Maria who is looking for Richter...who has disappeared. Alucard sees him at one point, but it seems he is the lord of the castle now! The fighting is different than previous Castlevania games in that you use a sword and can also use a shield. Though no matter how powerful a shield I got, it never seemed to deflect anything. You could also use potions, buy armor and things that one is more accustomed to seeing in a role playing game. You also have the ability later to change into different things such as a wolf, a bat and mist. You can change into mist and basically bypass any really difficult areas later in the game. So there are many different aspects to the game, but it still feels like you are playing Castlevania. I can see where the Metroid references come from, but how many Metroid games actually followed this format? I believe only Super Metroid followed it to a tee.

I enjoyed this game, but there are some improvements that could of been made. First, is the fact there is spoken dialog in this game. I am not going to complain about how bad it is (though it is not top notched), I am simply going to say it needed more. Basically, they did not really keep the story advancing and at times it was simply Alucard moving from room to room and then coming across a boss out of the blue. There needed more interaction between Alucard and other characters to keep the player up to date on the story. The game also has a cheap ending that one can easily get by accident if one is not entirely sure what to do. Basically, the game can end without a final showdown with Dracula. And as good as the music is, the song they play during the credits sounds like it came from a romantic drama.

Overall, this game was a fun game to play. It had more to it than your standard Castlevania, while not overstaying its welcome like so many games of today do. The music is good (I especially enjoy the piece right at the beginning as Alucard dominates early on) and the game play is simple to pick up. This one is as good as my other favorite Super Castlevania IV, and could of been even better had it made a few tweaks.

Satisfying.

Growing up as a youth I wasn't much of a Castlevania fan but after downloading Castlevania: Sotn on X.B.L.A (Xbox Live Arcade) out of curiosity, I want to dress up as Alucard next Halloween.

The game begins in 1792, Except you play as Richter Belmont first. It comes off the end of Castlevania; Rondo of Blood (which was misinterpreted as Castlevania: Bloodlines) where Richter Slays Count Vlad Tepes Dracula. 5 years pass. Dracula's Son, Alucard (which if you haven't guessed, is Dracula's Name reversed) Enters his fathers castle with the initial plan of Destroying it, but what follows is an in-depth story, accompanied by Challenging gameplay, that most Castlevania fans like to play again and again.

This game has a lot of good things going for it, like it's gameplay, which is very addicting. I think this is the most rewarding game i've ever played. You are hungry for everything you can get your hands on, cutscenes, weapons, items, XP and map coverage. But the biggest thing is the music. the Legendary Michiru Yamane Composed the tunes that go through your eardrums, and each tune is worth listening to 1000 times over.

In our modern times, Vampires have become the subject of romance and youth drama in stories like twilight. Sadly it's soiled the blood-thirsty image of vampires. With heroes like Alucard, it's great we have a hero to root for.

Folks, go buy this title for the PS1 on Ebay or amazon, or download it through the PSN store or XBLA.

Loved the game. I used to have it when I was VERY young and the game first came out. Ah, but despite the fact that I would play it just to beat it 100%...I actually used to enjoy the secret message. The fact of the matter is that Alucard's statement: As you can see, this is a play-station black disk. Track number 1 contains computer data, so don't play it. But you probably won't listen to me anyways...

I think the funniest thing about that is the fact that the Castlevania writers figured that someone like me would play track 1 anyways...

But off topic, moreover the game-play (particularly with the battle with Drac himself) was entertaining. I find the older games like this one to have more of a kick to it than today's crappy vampire games and media. Castlevania holds the greatest vampires in history, and there's no doubt that it's withstood the test of time. Clear back since the 1970's (when my own father used to play the games) it has been a sensation. I would say that I spent an entire summer (this year) playing through all the games, even through the new ones (LOS) and enjoy the series in whatever universe they come up with.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is an effective mix of the classic Castlevania series gameplay and RPG elements, such as experience levels and variable equipment. It features a well-written story, the tale of Alucard, Dracula's son, and his attempt to stop his father's evil deeds. I know there's a lot of people out there that think that video games can't have good plots or affect people emotionally--they're just games, right? Hey, guess what, we've moved beyond Pong now. ^_^ Symphony of the Night is just one of many games with an excellent story (Ogre Battle 64, Final Fantasy IV and VI, Secret of Mana, Silent Hill, Golden Sun, Lufia I and II, and the Breath of Fire series come to mind in particular...), and that only adds to the gameplay experience. It is not, of course, without its problems...for instance, the horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible voice-acting. Did they just do it in five minutes, the day before the game's release, or what? Alucard sounds good. Everyone else is really, really bad, to the point that I would mute the TV when voice acting came up. In a game this excellent otherwise, that particular flaw really stands out. Still, other than the voice acting, Symphony of the Night is a thoroughly excellent game.

I've been a Castlevania fan I've played the NES games of Castlevania 1, 2, 3 and I've even played Super Castlevania 4 and Castlevania Dracula X and Rondo of Blood. Yes there was a small amount of blood and violence but not compared to Symphony of the Night.

I know it was a horror themed video game but this Playstation 1 game has alot of bloody violence like Mortal Kombat or Gabriel Knights, or Space Quest games. But this is very shocking to me that this game got a T rating while Metal Gear Solid got an M rating but has no blood, seriously ESRB rating company you have screwed up your rating for this game.

While this game is regarded as the greatest classics, I couldn't finish this game since it was so graphically violent and offensive even more than profanity, also another game Oddworld Abe's odyssey also was rated T and yet it was also graphically violent which should've been rated M.

Yes while it is in 2D and the gameplay is an excellent platform game and plays like Metroid with level grinding, the music was also very beautiful, and there's an ending theme song by the Jazz composer Jeff Lorber which I enjoyed. Unfortunately, the bloody decapitation of zombies and blood gushings made me very sick to watch and I turned off the game and got rid of it from my Playstation 3 download since my family doesn't allow M rated video games.

Be warned to parents and sensitive people, this game is very much like Mortal Kombat or Conkers Bad Fur Day, or Grand Theft Auto, you'll run into bloodbath deaths as Alucard kills monsters with his sword. Meantime I'll play a less violent Castlevania game that isn't M rated probably a Nintendo version. I'm so disappointed with Konami choosing to make this Playstation game a very violent video game.

Sure it's sort of an old game But hey its most likely the fan favorite of all CASTLEVANIA games. This game is so much different from all the other CV games such as Game play, Graphics, And Most of all Sound Voice And Score(music). These features make this game so great as it should be. Sure the Voice Acting can get cheesy at some points in the game but the INCREDIBLE game play makes up for all the flaws. The controls are outstanding and you can actually jump across a pit in this one as opposed to all the other NES CV GAMES! (a little inside joke to all CV players) But anyway this is probably the best CV game that KONAMI has released in a long time. So go buy this title or rent it today you wont be displeased. I know I wasn't!

On PSX and across all systems. Intuitive game play for its time and beyond. Love it, must play.

I have completed this game so many times it is my cozy game now if I just want to relax. It is not at all hard it actually pretty damn easy, but it's still has so many weird mechanics that gives a charm.

It is wonderful Yank it doesn't take long before you are overlevel or too powerful for the game to be any challenge. There is one code You can put in the names screen to have very low health into the start of the game but even then you are very quickly getting powered up.

So, where is the fun in the game, it is to get the map to 200%, fighting spooky scary skeletons and the music is just the best techno from the 90s.

Experimenting with the different weapons realizing that once hands are stronger than the first sword you find.

The magic rod can be used together with the shield that Merchant sales you, to be a deadly combo that can carry your though the game.

Alucard is amazingly animated in pixel art, the story is some good cheese and it looks amazing to this date still. The enemy variety is insane, in how many they are packed into this game.

And the second half of the game is such a jaw whopping experience that they did such a weird thing, I have not seen in another game it is so funny

The game's biggest flaw is it's a bit too easy, but it's still one of my favorite games of all time.

Amazing game alucard should always be the main character of castlevania the game is like mario or something try be more like valkyrie profile and langrisser and star ocean.

It took me 4 days to pass this game because I couldn't put it down. However, I'm still not tempted to say it's the best Castlevania game out there. It's among the best, but not thee best. I would honestly have to give the crown to Castlevania 3: "Dracula's Curse", starring the less known Belmont, Trevor (whom Casper Van Dien can portray in a movie).

This game is simply one of the best video games in existence. It lets you basically do whatever you want, in an exploration style that is reminiscent of the Metroid games. It still has those classic Castlevania elements, such as various sub-weapons including the axe, holy water, and dagger. Not to mention some really awesome music. Years ago I paid 30 dollars for the soundtrack to this game, and it was well worth it. Several endings are unlockable, which is always a plus. The storyline of the entire Castlevania series is very, very deep; and this particular game is no exception. If you enjoy freedom, awesome music, and RPG elements in a sidescroller, then this game is definitely for you.