SOTN takes place four years after Dracula X, an awesome game on the PC-Engine that was never released in the US. Unlike the previous Castlevania games, SOTN does not have a member of the Belmont family as the starring character. The hero of this game is Adrian Fahrenheit (aka Alucard), the son of Dracula who has awaken from his supposedly "eternal slumber" to investigate a strange new evil in Castlevania that caught his attention. Your goal is to explore Dracula's terrifying castle in order to find out why Castlevania has suddenly reappeared and why Richter Belmont (the hero of Dracula X) has mysteriously vanished.

The game takes advantage of the PSX's graphics hardware making the game visually stunning. Alucard's sword slashes jumps, and other movements look very fluid and realistic for an early 2D PSX game. The gothic atmosphere for each room in the castle is so intense that the backgrounds are hardly ever boring to look at. One of the visuals to watch out for is the fog effect in some of the levels showcasing the power of the PSX's graphics capabilities. All the zombies, demons, ghouls, bosses and other monsters are very well presented and look really frightening. My personal favorite is the Grandfaloon, a huge disgusting monster that's made up of a bunch of dead bodies that pop out and kill you! The look of the spells could have been better because most of them were basically just flashes and fire making even the strongest spells look weak. Overall, the graphics were excellent, but could have been perfect.

The musical score is just unbelievable. The soundtrack is an excellent blend of gothic, metal, and techno giving the game lots of audio variety. I have never played a game that has had such powerful music as this one. If you haven't bought the soundtrack yet, do it now or download some of the tracks over at www.perfect-zero.com immediately! The voice acting of the game is good but could've used a little work. There wasn't enough feeling in some of the voices such as Maria's but Dracula's voice was every convincing. The sound effects in general were very good especially the sound of the sword slashes but some of the effects were a little flat such as most of the spells (Soul Steal sounds like popcorn popping!) and the explosions were a little dull. With such an outstanding soundtrack, you will hardly notice some of the mediocre sound effects unless you are as picky as I am. ^_^

Gameplay is what makes this game an instant classic. SOTN uses RPG aspects while retaining its traditional 2D side scroller action. Experience points are gained from killing enemies and attributes are raised from gaining levels. Of course, what good is an RPG without magic? Alucard can cast and learn spells using a variety of button combinations (similar to Street Fighter) without slowing down the action. Alucard is not only a swordsman and magician, but he is a shapeshifter as well. You will have the ability to morph into a wolf, bat, and mist each having unique skills. There are hundreds items, weapons, and armor combinations that allow the player to experiment to get different effects. For example, if you combine the shield rod with the Alucard Shield and do a certain button combo, you'll be virtually invincible! Another innovation in the game is the ability to find helper characters, which can level up (the fairy, the demon, and the sword just to name a few) and assist you through your quest. In a castle as big as Castlevania, you need all the help you can get.

Now if you think Castlevania is huge, trying going through the second castle! Yes, there is not one castle but two, which is twice as hard! My god those boys at Konami are geniuses! The replay value and storyline are splendid because there are over five different endings and lots of other secrets to find. And to add some more icing on the cake, you can go through the entire game using Richter as if you were playing the traditional Castlevania. This makes Symphony of the Night two games in one!

Overall, this game is a definite must have. No action side scroller comes even close with Symphony of the Night's intensity. With it's superb graphics, outstanding music, and incredible gameplay, Symphony of the Night is a collector's item that everyone should have in their library!