It seems a good 2-D adventure game is somewhat hard to come by on 
many systems nowadays.  Many people have found themselves frantically 
searching their video game archives to find a suitable piece of 
nostalgia to help them relive those days when 2 dimensional games were 
king, before they were suddenly overthrown by the era of 3-D games.  
Well, Konami has gone back to its basics with Castlevania: Symphony of 
the Night.  The latest installment in the long lived series of 
Castlevania games is 2-D, as all the past Castlevania games have been.  
This time, there are a few differences.  First, the main character isn't 
a whip-wielding Belmont, but rather Dracula's son, Alucard.  Dracula's 
pride and joy was also featured in Castlevania III as one of the main 
characters fighting against Dracula.  Well, he's back again, and feisty 
as ever.  What makes this different from past Castlevania games is that 
Alucard does not travel from level to level.  Instead, the games is set 
in one large castle in which you can travel most anywhere...at least, 
that is, if you can gain access to those areas.  The castle is much like 
Super Metroid in its single level approach, and just how it worked for 
Super Metroid, it works here for Castlevania.  Also unlike other 
Castlevania games, this game gives Alucard hit points and a magic bar to 
tell you how much energy he has, unlike the old red bars in previous 
games.  Alucard can also collect hearts for the special weapons in the 
game, as in previous games.  The new aspect of energy and magic points 
in terms of numbers adds a bit of a role-playing game feel to this 
installment of the Castlevania library.

	The graphics, as mentioned before, are traditional 2-D, yet they are 
spectacularly displayed.  Alucard has some of the most fluid movements 
of any video game character ever created.  When he walks or jumps, a 
dark shadow echoes behind, flowing with the windswept movement of his 
cape.  He is beautifully animated, as is nearly every location in the 
game.  The backgrounds are relatively simple, with a variety of locales 
such as chapels, forests, even an malevolent crypt.  The enemies are 
also beautifully drawn and animated.  There are hundreds of enemies, all 
with their own secret items and special attacks.  The most powerful 
weapons and armor are only available from dispatched enemies.  Nearly 
every enemy has its own animation when it is killed.  One specific 
animation shows a werewolf-like creature grabbing its head in pain and 
melting in a burst of flame.  The only complaint I have about some of 
the graphics is the slight pixelation on some of the enemies and on 
Alucard.  On the other hand, this is present in almost all video games 
anyway, so most people will be used to this.

The music in Castlevania:  Symphony of the Night is wonderful.  In past 
Castlevania games, many of the songs were remixes of older songs 
featured in old Castlevania games.  In CV: SotN, the music is completely 
original.  So those of us who are used to the same old songs (no matter 
how good they are) being slightly changed for each new game, this will 
be a bit of a difference.  The songs follow a variety of musical styles, 
including a jazzy piano song played in the cavern area and a blaring 
hard rock song played in an area with crumbling bridges.  The best thing 
about the music is that you can listen to all the songs in the game at 
any time...that is, so long as you beat the entire game.  The Japanese 
version of CV: SotN contained a separate music CD, and so this is to 
make up for the lack of that extra tidbit.  The sound effects are very 
impressive.  Just as enemies have their own animations when they are 
destroyed, they also have their own soundbytes.  One of my favorites is 
featured when a very annoying enemy called a Flea Man.  When destroyed, 
this little bundle of nerves explodes in a splotch of blood with a 
delightful squishing sound.  This may sound a bit disgusting, but once 
you've faced a few of these enemies, you'll find yourself feeling the 
same satisfaction I do.

Most Castlevania fans are used to fighting with a somewhat hard to 
handle metal whip as a main weapon.  In CV: SotN, this is not the case.  
Alucard wields a variety of unique swords rather than whips.  This adds 
a different twist to past Castlevania games in that you do not need to 
grapple between platforms, at the risk of falling to your bloody death.  
Actually, there are no points in the game where you have to worry about 
being killed if you miss a platform or take an unfortunate slide in the 
wrong direction.  The only thing falling can do is set you back a few 
moments of work.  Alucard's movements are very controlled in that they 
can be changed in mid-jump, mid-step, mid-run, mid-whatever.  This, at 
least in the jumping case, is somewhat unrealistic, as most normal 
people without the ability to defy the logic of time and space can't 
quite change direction while up in the air.  But hey, this is a video 
game, do you expect everything to be like real life?  Well, maybe it is, 
if you live in an area with walking skeletons, moving slimes, dead 
leviathans with imps on their backs, and a castle that hangs upside down 
from a group of clouds.  But I doubt you do.  Anyway, back to the 
controls.  There is a definite sense of realism in this game, in that 
after Alucard falls from a high spot or swings a weapon, he needs to 
take a moment to ready himself again.  I would too, if I could recover 
from falling about 10 stories.  

Alucard also has many special moves and magical attacks, along with the 
usual special weapons.  One very impressive move allows you to fly up in 
the air an infinite amount of times if you have the magic points to back 
it up.  Alucard flies up with a flash of blue light, sticking to the 
ceiling like a vampire version of Spiderman, before falling back to the 
ground.  Along with the special moves and weapons is the ability to turn 
into a bat, wolf, or mist.  The wolf is the hardest to control, in that 
he normally moves extremely slowly but will run very fast when sprinting 
across the ground.  The wolf is also the only one of the morphs that 
allows you to swim under water, an invaluable service in later parts of 
the game when swimming is a must (especially upside down).  The bat is a 
pretty simple creature in most ways.  It has the ability to shoot a 
fireball once you find a special charm and also has an impressive 
shooting-star like attack that sends the bat straight through its 
enemies.  The mist is relatively simple at first, only allowing you to 
flow a short distance before changing back to Alucard.  However, after a 
few improvements, the mist can stay together for a greater period of 
time and also kill enemies as a poisonous cloud.  All these creatures 
play a pivotal part in finishing the entire game.

There are a few extras in CV: SotN.  One such extra is the ability to 
call upon friends you can pick up along the way.  These friends include 
a demon, faerie, and sword.  Each has its own special ability.  The 
faerie is a mainly defensive ally, in that it heals Alucard when his 
energy is low and revive him if he is killed.  The faerie does need 
special items to accomplish these tasks, most of which can be either 
bought or found in different areas of the game.  The faerie can also 
discover cracks in walls if it ever finds anything that doesn't seem 
right.  The demon can help in attacking your enemies and also in pulling 
impossible to reach levers for Alucard.  The sword is a very powerful 
weapon that glides towards enemies, stops, and swings around a few times 
in its attack.  Once it reaches level 50, it can be used as a separate 
weapon.  There are a few other allies you can find in the game, all with 
their own ability to level up over time, just like Alucard.

CV: SotN also has good replayability factor.  There are supposedly 5 
endings in all (only 3 of which I have found so far, but I'm still 
looking!!), depending on certain choices you make at different points of 
the game.  One of the best parts about the game is collecting different 
weapons and armor from the enemies you kill.  This eventually becomes a 
bit tedious, in that there are about 200 some enemies, all with two 
special items to discover.  The rarest ones can take hours worth of play 
to find.  In total, you can complete 200.6% of the game (yes, in CV: 
SotN, 200.6% = 100%), so once you get to about 100%, you're barely half 
way done.  There are some enemies that are just plain fun to destroy and 
some that are downright challenging.  In addition, you can play as 
Richter, at one points thought to be your main enemy, a whip wielding 
Belmont.  Playing as Richter is much more complicated, in that you can't 
use all the items specially made for Alucard.  So with Richter, it's 
like an entirely new game.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is thus far my favorite Castlevania 
game.  I have very few complains, only maybe the pixelation of some 
graphics.  Otherwise, this game is a great show of how great a game 
company Konami really is to create such an incredible 2-D game in the 
age of 3-D entertainment.  Whether you have played older Castlevania 
games or not, you owe it to yourself to check this title out.


Graphics: 9.0
Sound and Music: 9.5
Control: 9.0
Replayability: 10

Overall:  9.3

- Jason Strohmaier