Castlevania: Symphony of the Night completed!

Over the last few days I have been replaying Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Since I bought it on the PSN store I can play it on my PS3 and my PSP. So I started playing it at work on my PSP when there was nothing to do at night. When I got home I would connect my PSP to my PS3 using my USB cable and transfer the save so I could play it on my TV. I really like having the ability to use my save on both systems. The only problem that I have with the PS1 games on the PSN store is that there really aren't enough of them up there at this point. I am assuming it is due to licensing issues but really what would it hurt to put all of the games up there? I am just assuming that people don't want money.

Symphony of the Night seems to have aged very well over the years. The game still looks pretty fantastic. I have noticed that the sprite based games age substantially better than older polygonal games. I still think that Super Nintendo games look really good for the most part and I think that has to do with good sprite work. Symphony of the Night has some amazing sprites. The game is still just as much fun to play as it was the first time I turned it on back in 1997. More gushing about Castlevania: Symphony of the Night after the break.

One of the most fantastic things about the game is the soundtrack. The music in that game is definitely the best in the series. There might be one or two tracks that aren't quite as good as the rest but as a whole the music is amazing in this game. I love the way the game starts as well, it opens up at the end of Rondo of Blood so you are playing as Richter just before fighting Dracula. So you can explore the level a little before the fight and actually how you do during the fight has a impact on the starting stats as Alucard. So you defeat Dracula and you start the actual game as Alucard who is Dracula's son (who first appeared in Castlevania 3). Just as a note you can actually play the whole castle as Richter after beating the game by entering your name as "RICHTER" on the save.

Since you aren't playing as a Belmont during the main game you actually don't get a whip. Alucard uses swords and shields for the most part. The cool thing about this game is that it has a lot of RPG elements while still being a very tight action game. Alucard isn't just about swords and equipment but he also has a few spells. The only real problem with the spells is that the movements for it are just a little too complex at times. I remember at one point I was able to do the soul steal move really consistently but I have gotten fairly rusty over the years. Of course the move is very powerful which might be why it is so difficult to pull off. Maybe the complexity is justified due to the power of the spells.

This game is basically like a Metroid game, you get new abilities as you go through the castle. You have this huge castle to explore and it maps the castle as you progress. I remember getting to the end of the castle the first time and fighting the boss in Dracula's room. The first time I did this I got the bad ending since I hadn't explored the whole castle. So I went back and checked out the whole thing and got these holy glasses. You wear these during the fight in Dracula's room and then you go to the inverted castle! In the inverted castle you fight enemies that were previously bosses and everything is upside down. This was done as a cheap way to extend gameplay since they didn't have to make a new map but it really works well.

I just finished the game this morning and it still holds up so well. If you haven't played this game yet I have no clue what you are waiting for. This is easily one of the best Castlevania games. It has a great progression and a good ramp up in difficulty. I have played through this game multiple times and every single time it is really a joy to play. It's great to be reminded how awesome the game is in regards to music, gameplay, and graphics. This game is really a completely awesome package. I hope this post inspires someone to play the game again. I can't stress how well this game has aged, it really is one of the best looking PS1 games. Go play it!