Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Review

By Simon Parkin Published 22 March, 2007

Standing ovation.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Even in 1997 this was an anachronism. Videogames' bright new horizon was three-dimensional and Sony's first console wunderkind the only viewing tower worth climbing. The PlayStation future was all about Lara Croft's curvaceous polygons, Gran Turismo's reflective bonnets and screen-filling Tekken sucker-punches. It was the Chemical Brothers serenading Wipeout races and the Designer's Republic packaging. Aspirational pixels backed by aspirational music promoted by aspirational faces; not much room for two-dimensional gothic oddities in this too-cool-for-school marketing vision.

As such, Symphony of the Night, with its dank 2D walls, brooding orchestral soundtrack and Street Fighter-esque special moves stole across videogaming's busy vista mostly unnoticed the first time round. But not completely unnoticed. Those with eyes to see its exquisite design, extraordinary scope, aesthetic elegance and coherence were quick to evangelise. The game's underground following bustled and grew until copies of the game were changing hands on ebay for £60 and upwards. Symphony of the Night had made the celebrated canon and every discerning games player wanted a look.

And that, in short, is why Microsoft's been so keen to accommodate this, the Castlevania series' debated highpoint, tripling the 50MB size restriction of all its Xbox Live Arcade games specifically to allow it into its line-up of mixed importance. Symphony of the Night is to action-adventure fans what Mario 64 is to platform lovers, Monkey Island is to point and click autistics or Final Fantasy VII is to incurable geeks. It's important, beloved and, crucially, it expands XBLA's remit to include fan-favourite console titles as well as those arcade classics such as Pac-Man, Defender and, er, Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The 2D Castlevania series, for newcomers or those unfortunate enough to have only experienced Konami's awkward and comprehensively unsuccessful stabs at 3D-ing it, are straightforward side-scrolling, platform-jumping, puzzle-solving, monster-fighting, hack-and-slash, RPG affairs.

In other words it draws the best elements from each genre to Super Metroid effect, building a deep but understandable action adventure and setting it in a cold, 1700's Romanian castle. In this instance, you have a jump button, two attacks (one for the left hand and one for the right), a quick retreat, backwards slide and, at least to begin with, that's it. You move from room to cavernous room, uncovering the castle, filling in the blanks on a map, slowly upgrading your abilities and defeating ever more inventive bosses.

'Castlevania: Symphony of the Night' Screenshot 1

Alucard is Dracula spelt backwards. We predict this is news for 73 per cent of Eurogamer’s readers. Confess in the comments thread.

For players familiar with the GBA and DS outings there are many similarities but, where those games shoehorn increasingly camp Japanese teenage love dramas into their narratives, this game revels in gothic unease: more Bram Stoker than Wes Craven. This is helped both by Ayami Kojima's mature and stylized character designs (indeed Kojima and her style was dropped from the two recent DS games for fear it was alienating a younger audience) and by the scenario in which you play as one Adrian Fahrenheit (nicknamed Alucard), Dracula's own son. Your aim is to explore your estranged father's castle (which apparently appears only once a century) and find out why Richter Belmont, protagonist from the previous game in the series, has mysteriously vanished.

Those familiar with the earlier Castlevania games will be surprised to discover you don't carry a default whip for protection here. Instead, an RPG-lite framework is in place allowing for various types of weapon (either gathered from enemies or bought from the castle's friendly librarian (!) to be equipped. The RPG trappings don't end there. Defeating enemies will harvest experience and, when Alucard levels up, his various attributes upgrade, providing necessary incentive to finish off every enemy you encounter. Special moves can be triggered by using the kind of tortuous D-pad manipulations more commonly found in 2D fighters and you also discover relics around the castle which add new abilities (such as allowing you to see the names of enemies or, more significantly, adding a double jump function).

Of primary importance is your map (viewable on the 360 with the L-trigger). This opens up room by room as you work through the castle showing all the little openings you can only explore once you have the appropriate skills. Specifically, many areas can only be accessed once you've found the three souls (Wolf, Bat and Mist), which allow Alucard to change form. Famously, this castle, by fulfilling certain conditions, can be explored in a mirrored version of itself thus opening up the possible completion tally to the renowned but mathematically implausible, 200.6%. Uncovering the whole castle soon becomes an obsession of Pokémon-esque potency and, once the game has its claws into you, you won't find rest until the job's done.

So as to this conversion? The import into HD sadly hasn't seen each sprite redrawn - instead the kind of waxing effect recognizable to those used to playing with emulators is (optionally) employed to smooth over the graphics. The screen defaults to a 4:3 aspect ratio with big artwork borders but, mercifully, the dimensions can be comfortably stretched to fit a widescreen TV and, once done, the game looks pretty enough.

'Castlevania: Symphony of the Night' Screenshot 2

The achievements range from straightforward (kill 10 enemies without getting hit) to obsessive (complete the game to 200.6% for 35 gamer points. Oh! And do the whole thing again playing as Richter for another 45!).

Simmering the game down to sub-100MB has been tough and people who probably need to get more sunlight will notice slight downgrades such as dropped sound effects and clipping on the voice acting from the nuclear-powered compression the game's clearly been subjected to. On the whole, the changes are near imperceptible and do nothing to lessen the experience. Sadly (or happily depending on your stance) nothing has been done to replace Symphony of the Night's so-bad-it's-almost good voice acting employed for the localisation. Indeed, while enjoying a fantastic story, the text was clearly translated by someone for whom English is a second language and some of the phrasing is unintentionally very funny in that endearing-but-ultimately-irritating Japlish way.

So what makes Symphony of the Night so much more lauded than the more recent iterations? Cynics might argue it's because it was the first to arrive and that nostalgia has clouded the issue. But playing through the game afresh on 360 and that's just not the case. Partly it's the ambiance - the unquantifiable atmosphere generated by the inspired sprite work, the hammy acting, the crushing orchestral soundtrack and inventive designs. Partly it's because of the higher resolution of the PS1 compared to the handhelds - the fact that, in relation to your character's size, much more of the castle can be displayed on any one screen - lending the scenery a grandness since unmatched. But mainly it's the precise feel of controlling Alucard, the brilliantly pitched learning curve and the way new abilities unfurl themselves to expand your tool kit with expert pitch and composition.

Despite all of this, in 2007 this is still an anachronism. Videogames' bright new horizon is three-dimensional and Microsoft's second console wunderkind the only viewing tower worth climbing (until Friday at least). The 360 future is all about Marcus Fenix's curvaceous polygons, Forza Motorsport's reflective bonnets and screen-filling Virtua Fighter 5 suckerpunches. Aspirational pixels backed by aspirational music promoted by aspirational faces: not much room for two-dimensional gothic oddities in this too-cool-for-school marketing vision. But nevertheless, as those with eyes to see will be quick to evangelise, Symphony of the Night presents exquisite design, extraordinary scope, aesthetic coherence and transcendent elegance mostly unmatched elsewhere on Xbox Live Arcade, or anywhere else for that matter.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Simon.

About Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin is an author and journalist on video games. A regular contributor to Eurogamer since 2005, his work has also appeared in Edge, The Telegraph, Gamasutra and Boing Boing.

Read more articles from Simon by visiting the Simon Parkin archive page.

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Comments (69) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • JayeM #1 5 years ago

    9/10, sounds great. :D

  • Steroyd #2 5 years ago

    Deserves 11/10... IMO.

    But a 9/10 will have to do.

  • Dizzy #3 5 years ago

    Ok was waiting for this review. I am going to buy it tonite.

    BTW I confess!
    Edited by 1 at 22/03/07 @ 15:08

  • dudefella #4 5 years ago

    Best game on the 360 without a doubt.

    Which is slightly sad.

  • andromeda #5 5 years ago

    metroid > castlevania

    end.

  • Xerx3s #6 5 years ago

    I love this game. I thought that it would have become a shitty game after so long but it's still brilliant. My only reservation is that it seems harder than I remember at some points. Must be me getting older.

  • Blerk #7 5 years ago

    Alucard is Dracula spelt backwards. We predict this is news for 73 per cent of Eurogamer’s readers.

    Surely there can't be anyone who didn't realise that? Surely. :-D

  • Aretak #8 5 years ago

    "Alucard is Dracula spelt backwards. We predict this is news for 73 per cent of Eurogamer’s readers. Confess in the comments thread."

    It's true! :D

  • Steroyd #9 5 years ago

    Ok was waiting for this review. I am going to buy it tonite.

    You was waiting for a review?

    BLASPHEMY!!!

  • Carrybagma #10 5 years ago

    RetroGamer

  • Dizzy #11 5 years ago

    "You was waiting for a review?

    BLASPHEMY!!! "

    Yeah I agree.. having been a gamer since the 80s I always seemed to have missed the Castlevania series. Don't know why... it is a mystery to me as well.

  • woodnotes #12 5 years ago

    Better than Halo, then.

  • kissthestick #13 5 years ago

    Alucard is Dracula spelt backwards


    Holy shit i didnt know that :(

  • EmiliasHorse #14 5 years ago

    800 points for a classic? Bargain.

    Do you feel a bit greedy Lumines Live? you should

  • trevd72 #15 5 years ago

    worms..C:SotN what is it next week, surely it cant be another 30 year old arcade game. Does anyone know cos i have a load of M$ points back from when the 360 died on me and i have 2 months before they run out.

    Never played a Castlevania game before for some reason but if its close to super metroid then this has to be played.

  • scowat #16 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 16:41:01 08-02-2012

  • jonsaan #17 5 years ago

    The Alucard, Dracula thing was from some 70's movie originally as I recall....

  • Dizzy #18 5 years ago

    BTW just a quick question.

    How does the save system work? (that is a deal breaker for me with all the new games waiting to be played at the moment).

  • McFly55 #19 5 years ago

    "The Alucard, Dracula thing was from some 70's movie originally as I recall...."

    I remember it from an 80s kids film called the monster squad. i think Dracula left a message for one of the kids under the name Alucard.

    great to be playing this again though! im convinced the bloke who does richters voice did chris redfields voice in RE1

  • goz #20 5 years ago

    The save system is as it was on the PSOne. There are numerous save rooms scattered throughout the game. You must use these to save your progress.

  • EmiliasHorse #21 5 years ago

    Dizzy it just saves when you enter a save room. very simple and nice.

  • HarryPalmer #22 5 years ago

    This will be my first purchase from the arcade.

  • toy_brain #23 5 years ago

    "Alucard is Dracula spelt backwards etc etc"

    I'm happy to be part of that 27% wot already knew - having come across this before in the Hellsing anime, and possibly something else before that.

    Though technically SOTN predates that so...... ummm.........

  • asphaltcowboy #24 5 years ago

    Well, Sky have FINALLY admitted there's a problem at the exchange and have now fixed my internet at home - so I can finally download and play this!

    EDIT: Yeah, I knew from Hellsing too toy_brain :)
    Edited by 1 at 22/03/07 @ 15:31

  • EmiliasHorse #25 5 years ago

    I asked my pal for his impressions after I had decided it was a triumph. He had reached the fight with Dracula and gave up. Unaware the actual game had not started, I wonder if others will be put off in this way.

  • nickthegun #26 5 years ago

    I didnt ever get into this either, thanks to the to Simon Belmonte being portrayed as a total gaylord on Captain N and the N-Force.

    Started playing it a little while ago on the PSP and i can confirm, its as good as the review says it is. Damn you shitty 80's cartoon for putting me off castlevania for so long!

  • gerald #27 5 years ago

    I will wait for the PSP release included in the "Rondo of Blood"-remake: proper widescreen and new voice-over.

  • jonthepymm #28 5 years ago

    I too confess. I am one of the 73%. Please forgive me: I promise to download tonight and be educated.

  • Phattso #29 5 years ago

    Bought this last night, my first XBLA purchase for quite a while. Loving it - classic games like this are timeless.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #30 5 years ago

    I was under the impression that Alucard was an alias Dracula used in Bram Stoker's book. Or at least, one of the Hammer movies



    looks like Son of Dracula from 1943: http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Drac...

  • rock27gr #31 5 years ago

    @trevd72

    Nothing is close to Super Metroid I am afraid!
    Not even the GBA Metroids, though they are good!
    Edited by 1 at 22/03/07 @ 15:37

  • dominalien #32 5 years ago

    Xbox gets SotN? Can someone tell me why I'm getting the PS3 tonight?

  • ZuluHero #33 5 years ago

    @rock27gr

    aww.. Super Metroid is my favourite game of all time!

    Would ppl still recommend Castlevania to a huge fan of the (2d) metroid games?

  • Steroyd #34 5 years ago

    I would.

  • Xerx3s #35 5 years ago

    Xbox gets SotN? Can someone tell me why I'm getting the PS3 tonight?

    Motorstorm, VF5, Resistance, VT3, etc.

  • dominalien #36 5 years ago

    @Xerx3s

    Good point, but after I fork over 600 €, I won't buy anything more for a month ;-)

  • ZuluHero #37 5 years ago

    wow, 600 euros for a ps3 and 4 games? 600.00 EUR = 407.249 GBP

    You can't even buy the console over here in the UK for that.

    Unless you count ebay ;)



    Thanks Steroyd, i'll give it a look then :)
    Edited by 1 at 22/03/07 @ 16:32

  • morriss #38 5 years ago

    I confess....

  • dominalien #39 5 years ago

    @ZuluHero

    No.

    What I mean is: these are good games, but after I pay 600€ for the console, I won't be buying ANYTHING for a month. Like, food?

  • ZuluHero #40 5 years ago

    ahhh. Food is over-rated anyway ;)

    And some would argue that you can grill steak's in a PS3... ;P

  • retr0gamer #41 5 years ago

    I asked my pal for his impressions after I had decided it was a triumph. He had reached the fight with Dracula and gave up. Unaware the actual game had not started, I wonder if others will be put off in this way.

    Your friend is a cabbage.
    Not only is that fight easy since you can't lose the game hadn't even started yet. It would be like being fed up of FFVII because the intro was too long to sit through.

  • morriss #42 5 years ago

    Thing is nekotcha I hadn'tthought it all the way until I read your post....;)

  • DanMW #43 5 years ago

    What's the wolf transformation good for? I find it useless so far

  • itamae #44 5 years ago

    What's the wolf transformation good for? I find it useless so far

    The wolf dash (double-tap and hold in the direction you want to travel) is the fastest way to get through long horizontal corridors. You also get a wolf-only special move that isn't documented if I remember correctly.

  • gourry #45 5 years ago

    So is this the Psone version then - not the superior Saturn version ?

  • itamae #46 5 years ago

    Superior Saturn version? You must be talking about a different game. The Saturn Castlevania had some extra content, but everyone who's played it agrees that the PS1 version is better.
    Edited by 1 at 22/03/07 @ 18:11

  • Der_tolle_Emil #47 5 years ago

    Just played the demo - with the racing wheel actually. The dpad is a bit better than on the regular controllers; But anyway. I had no idea the game was so much like the DS castlevanias, or actually the other way around since this has been around long before the DS.

    The game is incredible. The soundtrack alone is worth the money (which is easy for me to say as I already have nearly every Castlevania soundtrack released until now; I'm really into it) but not only that; The game itself is great too. The only thing that comes first is my still sealed copy of Portait of Ruin which will find it's way into my DS after I finish Phoenix Wright: Justice for all. After that it's a definite buy. A bit more time though would help. Metal Slug Anthology for the Wii is out, I still have to finish SSX and Guitar Hero 2 will ship in two weeks too. And I still haven't finished Rainbow 6 Vegas and not even started F.E.A.R. Which is a shame seeing that Command and Conquer 3 is coming this month too - right next to Theme Park DS and The Settlers DS.

  • captain-future #48 5 years ago

    2D games will NEVER die!

  • Jmek #49 5 years ago

    Brilliant game.

    Used to have it for the PS, special edtition with music cd and art book.

    And I traded it in for Duke Nukem!?

    Yup, I truly am a moron.



  • bonker #50 5 years ago

    Cool, I'll bag this tomorrow as I've never sniffed it before.

    /Hopes it's similar to & as good as Super Castlevania IV

  • christourlord #51 5 years ago

    I never finished this game on my old PS before it bit the dust, but it was fantastic from what I played.

    Nicely written review too.

  • Dirtie #52 5 years ago

    Noone answer that comment, please.
    (that person doesn't deserve the satisfaction)
    Edited by 1 at 22/03/07 @ 23:16

  • icelt #53 5 years ago

    Damn it, I didn't know that. And this after playing the original to 99.6% completion (or whatever the equivalent for missing that damn last block of pixels in the merman caves).

    At least I'm owning up to it.

    /still hangs head in shame

  • NegativeZero #54 5 years ago

    I never played this back in the day. Having played the demo I was left thoroughly underwhelmed. Maybe I'm missing something?

  • Murbal #55 5 years ago

    I confess, it was news to me!

  • gaselite #56 5 years ago

    "Alucard is Dracula spelt backwards."

    HOLY SHIT!!

  • foamy #57 5 years ago

    I confess :

  • SomaticSense #58 5 years ago

    9???

    I'm having second thoughts about leaving this now. Haven't even bothered downloading the trial version, as I bought the one on the Wii purely from the hype and fanboy-gushing about it, and hated it. I thought my lesson was learnt.

    Going to give this a try then now, not convinced I'll 'get' it though.

    Oh, about the Alucard thing. Wasn't there some film from the 80's or something where this kid and his mates hunted a bunch of B-movie monsters? As I recall it had Dracula going under the alias of Alucard. Or was it just a dream I had and I'm actually going insane?
    Edited by 1 at 23/03/07 @ 11:56

  • jlaakso #59 5 years ago

    I just downloaded it and played up to the second boss, where I kept dying enough to consult GameFAQs. Brilliant stuff so far, easily worth the 800 pts.

    But goddamn games used to be hard. You need to concentrate on this!

  • Lov3 #60 5 years ago

    Shockingly, this is probably one of the best games on my 360 at the moment. 10 years later, and it still looks (artistically speaking) and plays better than Gears of War, Oblivion, or any other disk game I have. I never played it first time around, and didn't expect it to do much for me, considering i'd already had my fun with one of the GBA Castlevania's. I was wrong. This is a must buy.

    Actually, i'm struggling to see where that last point went to... is it just because this is a re-release, with no added features?

  • kungfool #61 5 years ago

    I played SOTH non-stop on the PSone when it first came out (and haven't succumbed to the eBay demons so still have my PAL special edition), and thought it was simply one of the greatest game experiences I'd ever had. The 'twist' really did twist my brain - couldn't believe it. I'm so, so pleased that Konami has given this game a new lease of life.

    Super Metroid blew my mind in a similar way, and I would argue that it is probably slightly more tightly designed than SOTH, but it's like comparing 'amazing' with also 'amazing'... you just end up with 'lots of amazingnessness'! If you've played neither, get them both - NOW!!!

  • Bohnsen #62 5 years ago

    I do confess - and I own (and cherish) this one since it first came out on the PSone. I always thought the name was really kickass though...

    cheers,

    Alex
    Edited by 1 at 24/03/07 @ 11:01

  • TwistidChimp #63 5 years ago

    Gagh.. trying to resist the purchase, still got my original PAL special edition copy..

  • TRUTH #64 5 years ago

    I want some SNK classic 2d beat-em ups to appear: Samurai Showdown, King Of Fighters, Capcom Vs Snk 1(i thought the 2nd was to easy and dislike the 3d backgrounds instead of the atmospheric/artistic 2d in 1st game)...just imagine hi-def 2d beat-em ups - with some improved animation; that be a dream come true - 2d beat ups rule. Come on MS/Snk!
    Edited by 1 at 24/03/07 @ 21:20

  • SpeedyThing #65 5 years ago

    This game was beautifully retro when it was originally released and it has lost none of its appeal

  • Barry #66 5 years ago

    "Partly it's because of the higher resolution of the PS1 compared to the handhelds - the fact that, in relation to your character's size, much more of the castle can be displayed on any one screen - lending the scenery a grandness since unmatched"

    Noob.

    You do know SoTN runs in almost EXACTLY the same resolution as a DS screen?

    This just shows assumptions have been made and not checked.

  • goz #67 5 years ago

    Hi Barry!

    As far as I understand it the PS1 version of SOTN runs in the lowest possible PSOne resolution which is 256 x 224 (it might even be marginally more than that). The DS screen has a resolution of 256 x 192 and the GBA has a native resolution of 240x160. Hardly "EXACTLY" the same.

    As I was writing this review I thought that, as the DS is a handheld and so the screens are that much smaller, perhaps Konami might have scaled up the lead character in the DS titles slightly (thus decreasing the visible surroundings even more, in order to make it easier to see what is going on). I checked with a friend of mine who is currently working as a coder with Konami (and a huge Castlevania fan) if this was the case and he told me he was pretty sure it was.

    Even if both he and I are wrong the screen resolutions of the GBA and DS consoles are still empirically smaller and so, what was only a minor point anyway, stands.

    See you!
    Edited by 1 at 25/03/07 @ 22:41

  • celery7 #68 5 years ago


    @nekotcha

    "Giving away the big 'twist' in the review?...

    Seems a shame to spoil it for people. :("

    Unlocking the flipped castle is listed as one of the achievements so it's not really spoiling anything to mention it here, although Konami could've made it a secret achievement. In which case this would be spoiling something.


  • erp #69 5 years ago

    metroid > castlevania

    +1kajillion

    ps. i confess, too... :)
    Edited by 1 at 27/03/07 @ 09:38