Review: Castlevania Symphony of the Night (XBLA)
Originally released in 1997 on the original Playstation, Castlevania Symphony of the Night is widely regarded as a classic. Merging the platforming and storyline of Castlevania with the non-linear goodness of the Metroid series, SotN set the standard for all Castlevania titles to come. Recently released for the Xbox 360 with HD graphics, achievements and leaderboards, is it worth your money a second time around? Hit the jump for the full review.
Shininess: Back when it was first released, Castlevania SotN (man that's a long title to type out every time) was known as one of the most beautiful games of the time. That still holds pretty much true, as it wasn't some strange mashup of cruddy 3d polygons (like most franchise iterations of the time) but beautifully hand-drawn sprites. The Xbox 360 version features a pixel smoothing feature, but I say turn it off! Bask in the glory of the 2d goodness and enjoy it as it was meant to be. The animations are incredibly smooth and satisfying, enemies range in size from tiny to HOLY CRAP HUGE SKELETON HEAD THING, and the backgrounds and environments are immersive and brilliant. It seriously doesn't get better than a great hand drawn 2d game in my book, and it's really surprising that a 10 year old game can look this great after so long. I particularly enjoy the death animations of some of the enemies, most notably the blood zombie who gets slashed completely in half and spews blood like a fountain. Hilariously gory and great.
The music is beautifully composed and arranged, and still sounds great to this day. The sound effects are appropriate and never annoying, though the voice acting leaves a lot to be desired. But there was actual voice acting! Crazy! The themes will be stuck in your head and are as classic as any Final Fantasy tune. For those of you with the high def surround sound thingamajigs, this game's for you.
Funness: I am a HUGE fan of the Metroid series. The non (or pseudo) linear gameplay breeds exploration and insightfulness into the games' many puzzles, and building your abilities up in order to be able to explore more and more of the world map is an immensely satisfying experience. CSotN pretty much blatantly steals this formula from Super Metroid, but you won't mind as it fits perfectly. There are parts of the castle you think you can get to if only you could jump just a bit higher... I live for those moments. Eventually being able to explore every part of the map you couldn't before is a great feeling, and this time around there are even achievements for you to unlock for doing so. CSotN is still tons of fun after 10 years of existing out there in video game land, the boss battles are still engaging and jumping around collecting items and killing bad guys never really seems to get old. The game is fairly long for a platform game (around 10 hours maybe?) and you have the option in the end to play through again as different characters.
During the course of the game you get the ability to shapeshift, and you also get the ability to use familiars (little guys who follow you around) though I feel that both these elements are a bit under utilized. I feel in some places that the game could have been added to for the Xbox 360 version, but I can't complain too much. In its natural state, Castlevania Symphony of the Night really is a masterpiece.
Worthiness: This is the first real in-depth Xbox Live Arcade title, and the first console game that has been directly ported to the online service. At only 800 points it's a lot cheaper than trying to find the original version in a used game store, and there are leaderboards (for whatever reason) and achievements to unlock in the Live Arcade version that make it not only a great deal, but a great deal of fun. Pick it up! Err, download it. You'll love it.
Score: 4/5 Buy it!
What say you?!