Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Reviewed by James Gordon (Date unavailable)

The orchestrated soundtrack is full of wonderful, mood-setting tracks. Haunting latin vocals are also featured in certain parts of the game. While the voice-acting is just flat-out bad, there isn't enough dialogue in the game for it to make any difference, and the music and sound effects more than make up for it.

Reviewed by Marc Golding (January 14, 2004)

What is instantly noticeable about SOTN, is the fluidity that the main character, Alucard, moves about with. He is like poetry in motion, his cape billowing behind him as he stalks, his movement decidedly confident and surging. His joints are like water. The enemies aren’t half bad either. You won’t believe how large some of them are, and on one rather eye-popping occasion, Beelzebub, a generally unclean and unhealthy fellow, fills a few screens.

Reviewed by Sho (October 31, 2010)

Whether as a loving tribute to the series' glorious past or a striking declaration of its subsequent revival, Symphony of the Night will make any 2D enthusiast shed bloody tears of joy. Thematically a sequel to the equally legendary Rondo of Blood, this nocturne in the moonlight takes its predecessor's newfound emphasis on nonlinearity to an entirely new level – a seemingly preordained marriage to Super Metroid, now laden with haunting gothic atmosphere and a ridiculous amount of character growth for protagonist Alucard, the outwardly delicate but incredibly potent dhampir prince first introduced in Akumajou Densetsu.

Reviewed by aganar (Date unavailable)

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Reviewed by djskittles (January 16, 2004)

I remember when I wasn’t a hardcore Castlevania fan. I enjoyed the first one on the NES, but I never really thought much of it. A couple of years ago I came into contact with Circle of the Moon for the GBA. Needless to say, I enjoyed it a lot. The game had a perfect mix of combat and role-playing game elements. I became determined to seek out Symphony of the Night, which is deemed the pinnacle of the Castlevania series. Eventually I was able to get my hands on a copy, and the rest is histo...

Reviewed by JoeTheDestroyer (January 20, 2013)

I cherish so many facets of this game that even its minor flaws--which are heavily overshadowed its stellar exploration elements, strong atmosphere, breathtaking visuals, and fantastic soundtrack--occupy a special place in my heart.

Reviewed by marurun (August 17, 2006)

Be wary. This review assumes you already know the basics of Symphony of the Night. Let this not be your first review. Instead, read another review and, if at all possible, play the game first. Come back afterwards and then read on.

Reviewed by overdrive (August 20, 2004)

Throughout the glory days of the eight- and 16-bit systems, Konami’s Castlevania series earned a reputation as a tough, unforgiving collection of platform games. Moving your fragile (taking as few as four hits to kill) hero through level after level loaded with bottomless pits and awkwardly-placed enemies proved to be a frustrating task. An emotionally rewarding task, as beating Dracula, Death and the rest of the gang was an accomplishment to be proud of, but still a frustrating one.

Reviewed by ratking (May 21, 2003)

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in my mind was the highest plateau of the Castlevania series. Everything grand that was made throughout the series was packed into this one game, and it has become what some would call the greatest 2D adventure game of all time, rivaled only by the original Super Mario Brothers Games. Castlevania: SOTN is just that good. At first it may look complicated and bland, but the game picks up fast, and it never dies out. With classic bosses revised, and just an overal...

Reviewed by seif (Date unavailable)

One of the greatest games ever to grace the PSX has been seen increasingly in electronics stores everywhere, despite the fact that it's quite a few years old. The game that I'm referring to involves a great storyline, memorable characters, enough items to choke on, the undead, and, of course, the immortal Count Dracula.