Video Game Review: "Castlevania - Symphony of the Night"

1792.  Richter Belmont climbs the long, stone stairway up to Dracula's lair.  Once he reaches the top of the stairs and walks down the hallway, he sees the Count himself, sitting on his throne sipping wine from his glass.  After exchanging now-infamous words, Dracula and Richter fight to the death in a glorious battle.  Dracula unleashes everything in his power, even turning himself into a beast larger than any man.  But Richter Belmont manages to defeat Dracula and banish him from the world once and for all!


Or so it seems.



Four years later, Richter Belmont disappears without a trace.  Maria Renard goes out and searches for him, but her efforts have no luck.  But then, Castlevania emerges once again.  Maria, desperate for answers, heads towards the castle, in hopes of finding Richter.


Meanwhile, Alucard, the half-vampire son of Dracula, sleeps away in his coffin, having previously ended his father's reign of terror alongside Trevor Belmont and his other allies.  When he reawakens from his slumber, he is distraught after learning that his father's castle has reappeared.  And so, he sets out to the castle so that he may destroy it once and for all!


And thus is the plot for "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night."

Welcome to part two of my text review of "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles."  In part one, I reviewed the 2.5D remake of "Rondo of Blood" as well as the original game.

In today's blog, I'll be reviewing the other game that is contained in "Dracula X Chronicles," the game that fans say is the greatest Castlevania game ever made.  This is "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night."

Title screen for the "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles" port of
"Castlevania: Symphony of the Night"

Originally released for the PlayStation on March 20, 1997, "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" is a sequel to "Rondo of Blood."  It is highly praised for taking what fans are familiar with and putting a fresh new spin on it.

"What is a man?  A miserable little pile of secrets!"

When you start a new game, you first reenact the final battle between Richter Belmont and Dracula.  It's a really easy battle.  In fact, it's impossible to lose.

After that, you take control of Alucard.  Unlike the Belmonts, Alucard can equip a variety of different swords, weapons, shields, and items.  He can also change his cape and his armor, which can increase his stats or give him immunity to certain attacks or effects.  It's very much like a RPG.

In fact, this game contains a lot of RPG elements.  Other than customization of weapons and armor, "Symphony of the Night" also features a leveling system.  Every time you kill an enemy, you gain experience points.  And once you gain enough experience points, you level up, increasing your stats.

With all these variables, the game gives you some control over the difficulty.  Say, for example, you come across a really difficult boss.  No matter how hard you try, you always manage to have your ass handed to you.  Well then, try a different weapon or see if the boss has a weakness that you can exploit.  Try a different battle strategy or sub-weapon.  Or maybe you just have to earn more experience points.

But what if you find the game too easy (because there are some parts where the game is very easy)?  Well then, you think you're so good?  Try playing the entire game with the weakest sword.  Or hell...don't even use a sword!  Try beating the entire game with your fists!

"SotN" is the first Castlevania game to utilize the "Metroidvania" style of gameplay.  Instead of just going from point-A to point-B, there are now-endless forks in the road, save rooms, and a map system.  If you couldn't guess from the term, the gameplay is very much like "Metroid," hence the term "Metroidvania" or the less-catchier term "Castleoid."

Once you know how to do the Shield Rod combo,
NO boss can stop you!  Muhahahahaha!

There are times when you cannot access a certain area of the castle until later, after you find relics and other items which will grant you extra powers.

This non-linear style of gameplay allows for even greater exploration than previous Castlevania games featured.  It's fun going to the castle discovering new areas to explore or finding cool new items to use.  It's that sort of fun is that reason why the handheld Castlevania games use "SotN."

But it's no fun exploring the castle if you don't have awesome tunes to listen to!  After all, this is a Castlevania game.  Every Castlevania game have fantastic music.  But none of those games can top "Symphony of the Night" and it's phenomenal soundtrack!  I personally believe that "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" has the greatest soundtrack out of every Castlevania game.  Being that the game was originally on PlayStation, it utilizes the CD technology to its potential, allowing high-quality music to play during the game.

Not only do the songs in the game fit the mood, setting, and atmosphere of the game, but the game uses a wide variety of different music genres, from a choir singing to classical music to heavy metal rock to synthesizer to jazz and more!  And musical scores like "Prologue", "Dracula's Castle", and "Dance of Illusions" will remain burned into your brains for years to come.

So...yeah, this game is awesome!  Fantastic music!  Great gameplay!  A wonderful story!

But are there any flaws with this game?  Well, there is one that bothers me, and it has something to do with how the game plays on the PSP.  To do special attacks or use magic spells, many times you have to do something like press up, down, down-forward, left, right, then O.  It's hard to do diagonal on the D-Pad.  So you say, "okay well, just use the analog stick."  Well unfortunately, in this case, you can only use either the D-Pad or the analog stick, but not both.  I usually just stick with the D-Pad (because who plays side-scrollers with an analog stick), but that means that using magic spells is incredibly difficult to pull off.  I don't understand why the game only allows you to use one or the other, but not both.

But other than that, "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" is a must-have game for any fan of Castlevania or RPG's or side-scrollers in general.  Thankfully, the port contained in the "Dracula X Chronicles" is faithful to the original game, in fact, hardly anything is changed.  It retains the revolutionary  gameplay that makes this game great as well as the music, graphics, and sound effects.

Screenshot of character select from the Sega Saturn port of SotN

However, this port not only has a "Richter mode," but also a "Maria mode," where you can play and explore the castle as Maria Renard in the style of "Rondo of Blood" (this mode was only previously seen in the Japan-exclusive not-so-great Sega Saturn port of SotN).  Playing in both the Richter mode and Maria mode are a lot of fun, and provides an interesting challenge.

The only change that people seem to have a problem with is that they changed the voice acting and dialogue.  I personally think the voice acting is better in this than in the PSOne.  I mean, come on!  You have Yuri Lowenthal doing the voice of Alucard.

I think the reason why some people have a problem with the new voice acting is that now the opening scene between Dracula and Richter isn't as epic as it was in the original PSOne game, with the cheesy voice acting and dialogue.  But other than, the voice acting doesn't bother me all that much.

Video Game Review - "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles"

Within this past year, I have started playing Castlevania games.  Now I can imagine what many people are saying to me right now, "wait...you never played Castlevania before?"  Well....no.

Let me explain something.  When I was younger, I had a PlayStation, and the games I were playing were Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Twisted Metal, etc.  I didn't even know about the existence of "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" until last year when the Angry Video Game Nerd reviewed it in his Castlevania Marathon.  In fact, the Angry Video Game Nerd is what made me decide to pick up a Castlevania game.

The first Castlevania game I bought back in January 2010 was "Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow" for the Nintendo DS.  While I won't give it a full-fledged review here, I will say that the gameplay was enjoyable and Julius Mode was a nice throwback to the gameplay style of "Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse."  This was also the first time that I was introduced to the Metroidvania style of gameplay.

The next Castlevania game I played was "Super Castlevania IV" for the Super Nintendo (well, in this case, I got it from the Wii Virtual Console).  Again, after hearing that this was James Rolfe's personal favorite of the series, I wanted to check it out.  Everything he said about the game was true.  The music is great, as is the level design and look.  The backgrounds are fantastic and whipping in eight directions makes the game challenging, but fair.  It truly is a masterpiece of side-scrolling action, well worth the 800 Nintendo Points I paid for.

So after playing "Dawn of Sorrow" and "Super Castlevania IV" (and being exposed to the Metrodivania gameplay and the old-school side-scrolling gameplay), the next game I wanted to play was what many fans consider to be the greatest Castlevania game ever made: "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night."

Which leads us to the game being reviewed today, "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles" for the PlayStation Portable.

"Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles" is a collection of two-three different Castlevania games (depending on your viewpoint).

1) "Castevania: Dracula X Chronicles," a 2.5D remake of "Castlevania: Rondo of Blood," featuring enhanced graphics, new character designs, and remade music.
2) "Castlevania: Rondo of Blood," a port of the original "Rondo of Blood" game released in Japan for the PC-Engine.  Up until 2007, it has never been released in North America.
3) "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night," a port of the PSOne classic, featuring slightly altered voice acting and dialogue, but still retaining the Metrod-style of gameplay.

Seeing as how "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles" contained a portable version of "Symphony of the Night," I decided to pay the $15 it cost and see if "SotN" lived up to the praise it gets.

But before we can review "SotN," let's talk about the other two games, "Dracula X Chronicles" and "Rondo of Blood."  Seeing as how you have to unlock "SotN" by playing "DXC," it seems appropriate to talk about that game first.

As I briefly mentioned before, "Castlevania: Rondo of Blood" was originally released in 1993 for the PC-Engine in Japan.

In America, we didn't have the PC-Engine, but instead the Turbografx-16, which was released in 1989.

While the Turbografx-16 seemed to be a fine console in its own right, it didn't sell very well compared to its Japanese counterpart, due to the popularity of the Nintendo and Sega consoles.  The Turbografx-16 was discontinued in 1995, with "Rondo of Blood" never making its way to the States.

The closest America got to playing "Rondo of Blood" was a Super Nintendo game loosely based on "Rondo of Blood," entitled "Castlevania: Dracula X."  The plots were similar, but "Dracula X" featured radically-redesigned levels, altered gameplay, and a different art style (not to mention "DX" was much harder than "RoB").

In 2007, "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles" was released, finally giving players a chance to play the original game as well as a remake.  I'm going to review the remake, but both games have the same style of gameplay.

Richter Belmont, as he appears in "Dracula X Chronicles"

In "DXC," you take control of Richter Belmont.  Like the other Belmonts in the Castlevania series, he must make his way to Dracula's castle to put a stop to his evil reign once more and to rescue Annette, his fiancée.  Along the way, he must also rescue Annette's younger sister, Maria Renard, and two other maidens, Terra and Iris.

Immediately as I begin playing, one thing that disappoints me is that unlike "Super Castlevania IV," you cannot  whip in all eight directions.  You can only whip on a horizontal plane, which is like the original Castlevania trilogy on the NES.  But now, just like those games, you'll have a difficult time trying to kill those pesky enemies such as bats, fleamen, and Medusa heads as well as those enemies that throw projectiles (like the armored knights and the bone-throwing skeletons).

The visuals in this game are wonderful.  While the original "Rondo of Blood" had an anime/cartoon appearance, "Dracula X Chronicles" goes for a more realistic, darker appearance.  In addition, much like "New Super Marios Bros." or "Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1," the game features 2.5D graphics, meaning that the gameplay is a 2D side-scroller with 3D backgrounds and character models.  It all looks really nice, especially the cutscenes that play before you take on a boss.  For a PSP game, these are some of the most beautiful graphics I've ever seen.

Being that this is a Castlevania game, it should come as no surprise that the musical soundtrack is fantastic!  Whether it's the remake or the original game, both soundtracks feature catchy melodies that greatly enhance the atmosphere of each level.  Along with classic Castlevania tunes (such as "Vampire Killer" and "Bloody Tears"), the game also has some excellent new tracks as well.  My personal favorite is "Cross a Fear," which plays on stage 2'.

It's hard to describe how awesome the music is.  Just listen:


But as amazing as the visuals and sounds are, the actual gameplay could use some work.

The gameplay is simple, very similar to the original Castlevania games on the NES.  You go from point-A to point-B, defeating enemies with your whip.  Once you reach the exit, you fight a boss.  You defeat the boss and then move on to the next level.  Typical Castlevania gameplay.

However, the game also includes elements found in "Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse" in that you can take different paths and find hidden secrets.

The different passageways add some exploration to the game, as well as add replay value.  By taking different passageways, you can find hidden treasures such as additional background music.  This is also how you unlock the original "Rondo of Blood" as well as "Symphony of the Night."

However, finding these different passageways and hidden items isn't always easy.  There are times when you would have to know something like falling down what appears to be a bottomless pit or pushing aside a gravestone to move on to the next level.

Finding the two maidens also requires some out-of-the-box thinking.  For example, to find and rescue Iris, you have to let a blue frog hop onto a pillar to reveal a secret stairway.  How would you know to let the blue frog live?  Chances are, you'll probably kill it the minute you see it the first time playing it (seeing as how it's identical to the other frog enemies in the area).

Maria Renard, as she appears in "Dracula X Chronicles"

Another cool feature about this game is that you can play as another character.  Early on in the game, you can rescue a girl named Maria Renard.  Once you rescue her, you can play as her.

Maria Renard runs faster than Richter Belmont and can do a double-jump, which comes in handy sometimes during the harder parts of the game.

Speaking of hard, that is the biggest problem I have with the gameplay: the difficulty.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Challenge is a good thing.  Without challenge, gamers would be bored.  However, in the case of "Dracula X Chronicles," the challenge comes from stiff controls and clunky movements.

Richter moves so incredibly slow.  There are times when you need to get away from an enemy's attack, but you're unable to get away in time and thus you end up dying.

Richter's jumping is another problem.  It feels awkward.  There are times when there you need to jump onto a platform that's just out of your reach, like in stage 4.  Also, you have to jump over several spike traps and land on very narrow platforms.  Since you have limited control on where you land after you jump, there's no room for error.

Thankfully, Maria is a much more agile than Richter and she can double jump, making those tricky jumps easier.  But really...why would you want to play as a little girl?  I mean, yeah, she really makes the difficulty more bearable, but this is a Castlevania game!  You want to be the badass Belmont with the whip!  Besides, as useful as Maria is, she also dies much quicker than Richter.

In conclusion, while "Dracula X Chronicles" has amazing visuals and music, the stiff controls and jumping physics really make the game much harder than it should be.  But that's just my opinion.  My recommendation, play the game yourself and see what you think.

That's all I got to say about the "Dracula X Chronicles."  As for the original PC-Engine game, it has the same gameplay style and the same levels, but the graphics resemble the 16-bit games of SNES and Sega Genesis.  If you liked "Dracula X Chronicles," you'll probably like the original game too.




Next time, I'll be reviewing the other game that comes packaged with "Dracula X Chronicles" and the game that fans say is the best out of every Castlevania game: "Symphony of the Night."  Is it really that good?  I'll tell you about it next time!