Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

 PlayStation
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Release Date: Oct 2, 1997
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 877 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 804 out of 877
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 877
  3. Negative: 46 out of 877
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  1. Awordley
    Oct 9, 2018
    10
    Released in 1997, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is widely regarded as one of the best games released for the Playstation. For a console strongly forging a path into the 3D era of gaming with titles such as Crash Bandicoot and Final Fantasy VII, how was a traditional 2D side-scroller able to compete with these games?
    Symphony of the Night’s story focuses on Alucard, the rebellious son    Released in 1997, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is widely regarded as one of the best games released for the Playstation. For a console strongly forging a path into the 3D era of gaming with titles such as Crash Bandicoot and Final Fantasy VII, how was a traditional 2D side-scroller able to compete with these games?
    Symphony of the Night’s story focuses on Alucard, the rebellious son of Dracula, rather than the usual Belmont family that have been the series’ protagonists since Castlevania’s debut in 1986. Alucard is unnaturally awakened from long slumber to find that Dracula’s Castle has once again returned, and strangely there isn’t a Belmont to put a stop to it, leaving it up to Alucard to investigate what’s going on.
    Unlike previous Castlevania games that came before it, Symphony of the Night takes the archaic design of the classic games and gives it a new coat of paint. Gone are the linear stages, now replaced with a sprawling, open-ended map of Dracula’s Castle granting the player the freedom of exploration and the ability to choose their own path. While the classic vampire-killing action remains it has been refined with exceptionally smooth control that still holds up well even today, and a heavy emphasis on character customisation. A huge variety of equipment (such as weapons, armour and accessories) can be found scattered throughout Dracula’s Castle for the player to find and use, enabling them to grow stronger through exploration and allowing them to customise Alucard to their liking.
    This style of gameplay, having the player grow in strength through exploration, is comparable to the likes of the Metroid series, and along with the game Super Metroid, pioneered the genre ‘Metroidvania’. However, unique to Symphony of the Night is the addition of RPG mechanics. Enemies that would usually only serve as obstacles now allow the player to gain EXP, making every encounter an opportunity to grow in strength, keeping the game’s combat fresh.
    Konami’s decision to stick to a 2D style for Symphony of the Night was definitely worth it; the Playstation’s hardware is used to produce stunning 32-bit sprites that are full of detail, making this the best looking 2D Castlevania game to date. The sprite quality is gorgeous and certainly still holds up today, contrary to a lot of the early 3D titles on the Playstation that are riddled with polygons and have not aged well. Accompanying the masterful sprite-work is an excellent score composed by Michiru Yamane that sets the tone of the game perfectly. With action packed, exhilarating melodies that Castlevania is known for, and expertly crafted tracks that cause areas to ooze with atmosphere, it’s easy to say that Symphony of the Night has one of the best soundtracks in gaming.
    Overall Symphony of the Night is a Playstation classic that shouldn’t be missed. The only downside is that as with most Castlevania games, it can be difficult to pick up for beginners to the series, as some of its designs (such as the UI) can be unintuitive and the gameplay can be unforgiving. Yet with its tight controls, gorgeous sprite-work, brilliant music and addictive Metroidvania gameplay, Symphony of the Night is a gaming classic for the Playstation and is worth anyone’s time to experience until the end.    … Expand
  2. BigEvilSquirrel
    Aug 12, 2018
    10
    5 out of 5.
    This game manages to take everything good about Castlevania and blend it perfectly with everything that made Super Metroid great, making a game formula others have been trying to duplicate for centuries. This game manages to perfectly blend various genres into a beautiful masterpiece. Excellent platforming, RPG elements, and exploration seamlessly come together here. The music    5 out of 5.
    This game manages to take everything good about Castlevania and blend it perfectly with everything that made Super Metroid great, making a game formula others have been trying to duplicate for centuries. This game manages to perfectly blend various genres into a beautiful masterpiece. Excellent platforming, RPG elements, and exploration seamlessly come together here. The music is second to non and elevates the atmosphere to astronomical levels. The gameplay is just on point. I just can't recommend this game enough.    … Expand
  3. Burayan
    Jul 21, 2018
    10
    This game is truly a masterpiece that defined the "Metroidvania" genre as we know it, but remember, a masterpiece can have it"s flaws, like the difficulty being really unbalanced, useless items and powers, bad plot and voice acting, the second part of the game being a little copypaste from the first part, but, what makes this game a masterpiece is it"s gameplay, music and environment,This game is truly a masterpiece that defined the "Metroidvania" genre as we know it, but remember, a masterpiece can have it"s flaws, like the difficulty being really unbalanced, useless items and powers, bad plot and voice acting, the second part of the game being a little copypaste from the first part, but, what makes this game a masterpiece is it"s gameplay, music and environment, first the gameplay, this gameplay is so good man, combining rpg with aspects from old castlevanias and inspiration from metroid, being really satisfying to play and to get power-ups and even addicting to just explore and kill enemies with the tight controls, then, the music... this is truly a symphony, every track of this game is good and mixes perfectly with the atmosphere, and then, the environment, all of the game happens in dracula"s castle, castlevania, and man, there are a lot of unique places that blend perfectly toguether with the enemies and music. For being a 1997 game, this game is truly special.… Expand
  4. Viper_Necklampy
    Jun 6, 2018
    10
    Simply masterpiece. variety, objects, soundtrack, enemies, bosses, dialogues, everything ... I mean ... Stupendous. However pleasant nowadays.
  5. likevin96
    May 14, 2018
    9
    Completion: Finished game with ~190% completion

    Pros: - Near zenith of 2D graphics. Beautiful sprites and environments that impress the whole way through - Fun, fluid combat and movement with an incredible number of different options and play styles at your disposal - Although the voice acting isn't of the highest quality, it fits the game well and actually adds charm to the    Completion: Finished game with ~190% completion

    Pros:
    - Near zenith of 2D graphics. Beautiful sprites and environments that impress the whole way through
    - Fun, fluid combat and movement with an incredible number of different options and play styles at your disposal
    - Although the voice acting isn't of the highest quality, it fits the game well and actually adds charm to the otherwise barebones narrative
    - The first half of the game is likely my best experience with a 2D side scroller ever. The castle is an absolute joy to explore due to the secrets hidden in every nook and cranny
    - Incredibly innovative for its time and the birth of an entire genre (Igavania). There is a reason why this type of game had so much staying power
    - Just to hammer the point in again - movement in this game feels SO good. The fluidity and number of options you have are incredible.

    Cons:
    - Much of the game is far too easy - especially the bosses
    - The level design in the second half is significantly less fun than in the first half. For similar reasons, the exploration itself is also less interesting in the second half.
    - Too many game breaking combinations of weapons (Shield Rod + Alucard Shield is disgusting)
    - The music, while solid, is a bit too repetitive
    - Some of the level design can be boring and repetitive due to the simple layout of many rooms in the castle

    Final Word:
    One of the best 2D side scrollers of all time due to the incredible art and mechanics. Although the second half of the game is of slightly lower quality and the difficulty is generally unsatisfying, that doesn't change the fact that Symphony of the Night is a masterpiece.

    True Score:
    8.6    … Expand
  6. stgrunu
    Apr 15, 2018
    10
    I've replayed this game easily 10 times and I don't get bored of it. One of the best games for the PS1.
  7. ashketchum
    Mar 31, 2018
    8
    The spritework still looks gorgeous today. SotN is great at setting atmosphere with it's diverse soundtrack, unique to every section of the castle. Controls work great, the game is relatively well-balanced, with a good balance of voluntary and compulsory sections, that allow for different successive playthroughs of the game. However, many sections of Symphony need to be traversed severalThe spritework still looks gorgeous today. SotN is great at setting atmosphere with it's diverse soundtrack, unique to every section of the castle. Controls work great, the game is relatively well-balanced, with a good balance of voluntary and compulsory sections, that allow for different successive playthroughs of the game. However, many sections of Symphony need to be traversed several times, and many of these sections are long and relatively empty or easy. These sections of the game feel a bit arduous, sometimes even coming off as an attempt to prolong game time. Despite this, SotN still holds up, and is a classic in the PS1's library.… Expand
  8. Drakion23
    Dec 31, 2017
    10
    Castlevania Symphony of the Night.

    My review Your Alucuard a half vampire half human he gave up his powers to save Maria and Ricthcer sorry Im not spelling that correctly anways. this only 30 hour plus game but other hidden stuff more then the 30 horus you get 60 hours plus doing everything don't rush this game I did that years ago when I first rented guy said ray your not done    Castlevania Symphony of the Night.

    My review

    Your Alucuard a half vampire half human he gave up his powers to save Maria and Ricthcer sorry Im not spelling that correctly anways.

    this only 30 hour plus game but other hidden stuff more then the 30 horus you get 60 hours plus doing everything don't rush this game I did that years ago when I first rented guy said ray your not done you have other castle its inverted I was like what to him.

    Stop found the game beat it took awhile but I got it done so yeah dont beat ricthcer you not done with this game you have shaft the dark priest death many Dracula bosses to fight in the inverted castle Im gald to know that many years ago.

    That what happens my friends blaze through rpgs look damn side quests I dont stress that enough they boring you to me that how finally beat not Im done main story is nothing you got more get done tequesta only other female make sure that any game fininshed the right way.

    She done with dark souls series and Cathrine game so yeah I take example from her.

    She likes to finish a game she only female gamer I know doesn't half ass game she likes beat 100 percent a lot people just beat she likes trophies

    Its bragging rights she beat the game didnt rush through it.

    Im going back old games finishing them.

    The right way im not listening old friend who cares that gone those people outta my life.

    anways the rating of this game.

    since 7 rating people stupid fan boys on here cant rate something they like no wonder why a lot people dont like this stie.

    I understand anways.

    9 graphics
    9 story
    controls 9
    camera 9
    overall rating 9.8

    This game has all for me no one knew about it

    expect me and my brother and friend name Chris at least knew about it.

    I make iga knows the tequesta learn this game.

    Not hard knowing her she will be the first castle and the second one fast    … Expand
  9. chesaro
    Dec 28, 2017
    10
    Perfect, just perfect, the music, the bosses, the almost infinite weapons/armors/food, it is just a great game, if you can get the digital version or the one included on the dracula x chronicles, you should just do it, no other castlevania has achieved whant this one did when there was just a basic template for a "metroidvania" game (i do realise this was one of the ones that made it, i'mPerfect, just perfect, the music, the bosses, the almost infinite weapons/armors/food, it is just a great game, if you can get the digital version or the one included on the dracula x chronicles, you should just do it, no other castlevania has achieved whant this one did when there was just a basic template for a "metroidvania" game (i do realise this was one of the ones that made it, i'm just saying)… Expand
  10. ItsAllOgre5
    Sep 23, 2017
    10
    This is easily one of the best games ever created. I first played this last year and was enraptured from beginning to end. The music is memorable, the graphics are gorgeous, the challenge level is just right, and the replayability is high with the options to go for 200% completion and a Richter playthrough. Timeless.
  11. Kurokatana
    Sep 13, 2017
    10
    Probably one of if not the best Castlevania game and one of the best PS1 games of all time. Everything about it is beautiful, the 2D models and backgrounds, the spectacular OST, the gameplay... Tons of beautifully rendered enemies, a great amount of special weapons, magic spells, familiars, secrets, equipment, transformations, this game has it all. You will fall in love with this game ifProbably one of if not the best Castlevania game and one of the best PS1 games of all time. Everything about it is beautiful, the 2D models and backgrounds, the spectacular OST, the gameplay... Tons of beautifully rendered enemies, a great amount of special weapons, magic spells, familiars, secrets, equipment, transformations, this game has it all. You will fall in love with this game if you haven't already.… Expand
  12. logan1087
    Mar 21, 2017
    10
    Sin duda uno los mejores videojuegos de todos los tiempos si no es que el mejor, tiene una cantidad de elementos de jugabilidad, detalles artísticos, un gran diseño de escenarios y personajes, y se nota un gran trabajo en cada uno de los enemigos, items, armaduras (cada objeto incluso tiene su descripción) etc, solo tiene algunos detalles y relentizaciones pero que afectan en muy poco elSin duda uno los mejores videojuegos de todos los tiempos si no es que el mejor, tiene una cantidad de elementos de jugabilidad, detalles artísticos, un gran diseño de escenarios y personajes, y se nota un gran trabajo en cada uno de los enemigos, items, armaduras (cada objeto incluso tiene su descripción) etc, solo tiene algunos detalles y relentizaciones pero que afectan en muy poco el desarrollo y la experiencia del videojuego un 10 de calificación… Expand
  13. ByYuxiSs
    Mar 13, 2017
    10
    For my opinion one of the most important games of Ps1 along with a solid Metal gear, Final fantasy and Crash bandicoot, although ps1 was due more than anything to games with 3D graphics and that the 2d were not worth anything as they were Of the previous generation this game knew to mark a before and after to the games of 2d like one of the best games never created with a perfect music,For my opinion one of the most important games of Ps1 along with a solid Metal gear, Final fantasy and Crash bandicoot, although ps1 was due more than anything to games with 3D graphics and that the 2d were not worth anything as they were Of the previous generation this game knew to mark a before and after to the games of 2d like one of the best games never created with a perfect music, excellent gameplay and an incredible history.

    My favorite game of ps1 10/10    … Expand
  14. TallSaint
    Aug 27, 2016
    10
    This is one of those games that comes along once in a decade. Truly one of the greatest video games of all time. The music, the gameplay, the secrets, the replayability, even the name of the game itself...

    This is a beautiful, perfected adventure.
  15. neopolx
    Jul 10, 2016
    10
    The best plataform game EVER,Castlevania is great but Symphony of the night take itto another level, Full of movements, magic powers, great story, Two castles an allies. and secrets.
  16. BariscanBozkurt
    Jun 1, 2016
    10
    Günümüzde bile keyifle oynanabilecek bir metroidvania başyapıtı.
    Oyunu yakın bir zamanda bitirdim ve şunu kesinlikle söyleyebilirim ki hayatımda gördüğüm en zekice tasarlanmış oyun haritalarından birine sahip bu oyun. Bunun yanı sıra zekice de hazırlanmış puzzlara sahip. Oyunu seri şekilde bitiren bir kişinin bu oyunun önemini anlamasının mümkünatı yok. Ancak yavaş yavaş sindiren birisi    Günümüzde bile keyifle oynanabilecek bir metroidvania başyapıtı.
    Oyunu yakın bir zamanda bitirdim ve şunu kesinlikle söyleyebilirim ki hayatımda gördüğüm en zekice tasarlanmış oyun haritalarından birine sahip bu oyun. Bunun yanı sıra zekice de hazırlanmış puzzlara sahip. Oyunu seri şekilde bitiren bir kişinin bu oyunun önemini anlamasının mümkünatı yok. Ancak yavaş yavaş sindiren birisi görecektir ki oyundaki her şey özenle yapılmış. Hayatımda ilk defa bir oyunda bütün itemların infolarını okumak zorunda kaldım ve okumamın karşılığında da güzel bir şey keşfettim.
    Oyunun zekice ilerleyiş mantığını bir kenara bırakırsam oyun içerik açısından da yılına göre çok iyi durumda. Keşfedilebilecek skiller, upgradeler, çok fazla sayıda item ve pet. Bunları keşfetme duygusuda oyuna çok iyi yedirilmiş.
    Oyunun müziklerine gelirsem söyleyebileceğim tek şey "enfes" olur.
    Oyunu 5-6 saatte bitiren çok şey kaçırmıştır. Mutlaka haritanın tepesine çıkmadan önce her şeyi yaptığınıza emin olun. Aksi taktirde yavan bir son göreceksiniz.    … Expand
  17. Lord_V
    May 17, 2016
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Castlevania: Symphony of Night is one of the best PS games and best Castlevania game. It is one of my all time favorite PlayStation games and contains of the best main characters and one the best villains in video games.

    Alucard is very well made and even fairly well voiced character. He looks great and is very skilled to handle several different weapons. He is also capable to transform and perform many different effective spells and abilities, playing with him is very fun and there is so many variables.
    What comes to story, it is good enough and Maria Renard is pretty good supporting character to Alucards strong silent type.

    Fantasy style is well made and gives castle a great atmosphere. There is many monsters and many different sections. Different parts of the castle are really different and give a game very much variety. It is fun to travel in Dracula's castle and try to find every single little inch in it.

    Variety in enemies is huge, there is many classic monster and if common enemies are cool and good looking, bosses are twice (at least) as good. There is so many boss fights that give you challenge, but are never too unfair. Classic characters from Dracula to Wolfman are there, but I would have liked if battle against Wolfman would have been 1 to 1. This dual team is challenging, but not same thing that one on one.
    Big part of the game comes from the way how player discovers areas from castle. Some areas are much harder than others and some areas can be reached only with certain abilities. This gives a lot to do and when you combine this with the fact that Alucard gains exp in fights, you have very large game in your hands. There is also so much stuff to be find. You never know where is secret entrance to new area and that gives you a lot to do in huge castle, which much be completed twice, in real game.

    What comes to villains, Dracula is very well made. This might just be best version of him in whole series. I do liked Wolfman (even though he was used too little), Cerberus, Bat and Grim Reaper too, very much. Bosses are real well made since they look amazing and they all give different challenges.

    There is not much bad thing to be said in Symphony of the Night, but there is some. Some things feel pretty cryptic but biggest and real flaw, is the continue system. It takes so long to start game after you die. Then there is ridiculous amount of exp you need in higher levels and enemies give so little exp at the end.

    Castlevania: Symphony of Night is masterpiece, nothing less. It best Castleroid/Metroidvania style game ever and best Castlevania game ever. It is fun to play, it gives so much and final battle is real finale. Ending is well made and whole game is huge and well made experience.

    + Alucard
    + Dracula and villains
    + Castle
    + Fantasy style
    + So much to do and so much to find

    - Restarting after death
    - Some minor flaws

    95/100

    Masterpiece    … Expand
  18. ZankEraux
    Apr 19, 2016
    9
    El mejor Castlevania con diferencia. Tiene unos gráficos muy originales, aunque es el peor punto del juego, pues no es que estos sean muy sobresalientes...
    Pero en un juego lo importante no son los gráficos es la diversión y la jugabilidad la cual es la mejor vista en la saga. No hay que olvidar su excelente banda sonora y su maravillosa, la cual te incita a seguir hasta el final, lleves    El mejor Castlevania con diferencia. Tiene unos gráficos muy originales, aunque es el peor punto del juego, pues no es que estos sean muy sobresalientes...
    Pero en un juego lo importante no son los gráficos es la diversión y la jugabilidad la cual es la mejor vista en la saga. No hay que olvidar su excelente banda sonora y su maravillosa, la cual te incita a seguir hasta el final, lleves el tiempo que lleves. Una revolución en la saga, y otro juego memorable en la PS1.    … Expand
  19. Termin8ter
    Feb 3, 2016
    9
    Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night is hands down the greatest Castlevania game of all time, and its among the very best GAMES of all time. The gameplay is fast, and action-packed. The story is spectacular and leaves you wanting more. The story follows Simon Belmont, who is trying to kill his grandfather, Dracula, who lives in a castle.(hence the name Castlevania) so you fight your wayCastlevania: Symphony Of The Night is hands down the greatest Castlevania game of all time, and its among the very best GAMES of all time. The gameplay is fast, and action-packed. The story is spectacular and leaves you wanting more. The story follows Simon Belmont, who is trying to kill his grandfather, Dracula, who lives in a castle.(hence the name Castlevania) so you fight your way through the castle, slicing and dicing your way through any werewolf stupid enough to get in your way. My only problem with this game is that the graphics haven't aged that well compared to 2016. Apart from that, Castlevania Symphony Of the Night is one of the best games on PS1, along with MGS1. You can buy an HD Remaster on the PlayStation store.… Expand
  20. Bitrip
    Jan 19, 2016
    10
    Few games have managed to stand the test of time as well as Castlevania: SotN. It is a game I will continue to play so long as Sony continues re-releasing it on newer consoles. The soundtrack and atmosphere are my two favorite things about the game. You can tell the composer poured his black little heart into each and every track. If you aren't a believer, embrace SotN with an open heartFew games have managed to stand the test of time as well as Castlevania: SotN. It is a game I will continue to play so long as Sony continues re-releasing it on newer consoles. The soundtrack and atmosphere are my two favorite things about the game. You can tell the composer poured his black little heart into each and every track. If you aren't a believer, embrace SotN with an open heart and I promise you it will not disappoint. It's good to the very last drop....of blood.… Expand
  21. YorkMan
    Nov 24, 2015
    7
    SOTN is a great game, but it's far from perfect. I never understand review scores of 8+ for games which are great.... But clearly not worth such high ratings.
    Why is SOTN 'only' worth a 7? I'll explain.
    The game is a follow up to a Japanese only release on the PC-Engine CD format, a game that it borrows from extensively (right down to a great deal of enemy sprites which are just ported    SOTN is a great game, but it's far from perfect. I never understand review scores of 8+ for games which are great.... But clearly not worth such high ratings.
    Why is SOTN 'only' worth a 7? I'll explain.

    The game is a follow up to a Japanese only release on the PC-Engine CD format, a game that it borrows from extensively (right down to a great deal of enemy sprites which are just ported over intact), but changes from a defined 'level' system (a-b-c), to a more open world system. It's reminiscent of the Metroid games in that respect, which again, it borrows wholeheartedly from in gameplay terms.
    So essentially is a game with (slightly better than 16-bit) graphics, that rips off game structure, and whose designers couldn't be bothered to develop a new set of characters for.
    Now I know that some character designs do inhabit the 'world' of Castlevania (God damn Medusa Heads!!!) but to simply cut and paste from an older game is just lazy. It could have been so much more diverse and interesting.
    However, there are two MAJOR problems with the game that knock its rating down severely.
    The first is that the game is incredibly easy to 'break'. It's not as if the game is that difficult anyway, but certain combinations of the equipment you collect make the protagonist, Alucard, practically invincible. And I'm not talking about right at the end of the game, I'm talking about not that far in.
    The second is the utterly horrible American 'dub'. The graphical style of the game is clearly Japanese, from the in-game graphics as you play, to the static images/portraits in the menus, to the box art itself... But rather than release the game with a dual language/subtitles option, we had to endure some of the most cringe-worthy spoken dialogue ever put into a video game. It's almost if someone directing the 'rent a voice' actors was saying to them 'no, that's far to enigmatic and resonant, do it again and this time make yourself sound whiny and pathetic'. I never could understand that, but a Japanese language version has never been made 'officially' available in the West... For shame!    … Expand
  22. camptownrangers
    May 30, 2015
    6
    It's a good game, just incredibly overrated. Aria/Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia are far better games and honestly make Symphony of the Night feel quite boring. At the end of the day there's nothing that SotN does that you won't find much better in the newer entries.

    That being said though, Richter mode in SotN is still loads of fun.
  23. abraham_b
    May 4, 2015
    9
    Absolutely brilliant game and definitely lives up to the original games. In fact it does them proud and I'm pretty happy to acknowledge that, being a fan of the series since NES times. Only probably is it costs a fortune, at least here in the UK for the PAL version. So lucky I'd held onto it since my PS1 years.
  24. FelipeSabba
    Apr 3, 2015
    10
    This game was the best game i've played on my entire life. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing, the customization, the amount of items, the bestiary, the bosses, everything in this game is fantastic. I recommend it to everyone!
  25. powermad80
    Mar 9, 2015
    8
    It's quite a good and absorbing game, it pioneered the Metroidvania style for Castlevania and therefore paved the way for the masterpieces to come after it. I don't think this is a perfect game or a 10/10, but it's certainly an easy recommendation. Later games in the series like Portrait of Ruin and Aria of Sorrow were better than SOTN, but that doesn't make this any less of a must-play.
  26. Evengar
    Feb 22, 2015
    10
    This game introduced to me classic metroidovania at its best. Great graphics, great animations, great everything. Addictive gameplay just holds on to you and releases only when you've finished the game. Simply brilliant. A masterpiece.
  27. Arc_Inochi
    Dec 6, 2014
    10
    Whew.... Castlevania. before this game came out when I thought about Castlevania, I remembered all the frustrating jumping and whipping and the bursting blood vessels that the old games were notorious for. Then I played this game, my first impressions flew out of my foaming mouth when I found out you used swords. The more I played, the more hooked I got. The castle is huge, there's tons ofWhew.... Castlevania. before this game came out when I thought about Castlevania, I remembered all the frustrating jumping and whipping and the bursting blood vessels that the old games were notorious for. Then I played this game, my first impressions flew out of my foaming mouth when I found out you used swords. The more I played, the more hooked I got. The castle is huge, there's tons of secrets and so.... many... weapons, spells and destruction. This Castlevania was the first of all the newer style action-rpg castlevanias that have been hitting the market. Play this game if you haven't, you will not regret it.… Expand
  28. css101
    Nov 23, 2014
    10
    One of my favorites from ps1. Style, music, gameplay - they all perfect. Although there are some confusing moments in a game (like the one with rings in Clock tower) and bad voice acting it still a very VERY good game.
    Never finished for 200.6% though.
  29. dani666
    Nov 15, 2014
    10
    A Masterpiece!!! without doubts the best game on psx and created by konami
    I missed this kind of games in the new consoles, now the people just want stupids FPS
  30. Sephiroth_X
    Oct 25, 2014
    9
    Wow, if the ps1 was a 3D gaming platform im glad they released some 2D games because those are the only ones i still can play on that console, the 3d ones look ugly as hell.
    Making the next castlevania in 2D was the best choice for konami, and thanks to that (and ultra amazing gameplay) I can recommend this game for generations to come.
    The gameplay changed a lot since super castlevania    Wow, if the ps1 was a 3D gaming platform im glad they released some 2D games because those are the only ones i still can play on that console, the 3d ones look ugly as hell.
    Making the next castlevania in 2D was the best choice for konami, and thanks to that (and ultra amazing gameplay) I can recommend this game for generations to come.
    The gameplay changed a lot since super castlevania IV on the snes, they took out the "short" stages and made it a single BIG stage and added lots of rpg elements, also took heavy inspiration from super metroid, both games are very similar but great in their own way.

    Now you use Alucard the son of Dracula and thats also a improvement, he's the best character in a castlevania game, has something about him and the developers know thats why he keeps reappearing in their games. The soundtrack is one of the best as well. The game is lengthy with a secret that lets you go into a big world that can be missed if you dont do the right things.

    100% recommended.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PS1 Game of 1997
2
#2 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 1997
1
#1 Most Shared PS1 Game of 1997

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. GMR Magazine
    90
    A certifiable classic. [Feb 2003, p.97]
  2. PSX Nation
    96
    Not to be missed.
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  3. netjak
    95
    With at least four known endings, Symphony's already astounding replay value is entirely phenomenal.
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