A revolution to Castlevanias still being felt nine years later.
STORY:
Well, like the other Castlevania games, the story is a basic, bare thing, that gives you enough story to say that there is one, but is basically not existent. It is played out through tiny spoken pieces of dialogue spread thin throughout the game. The game does, however, have four different endings, which is a cool bonus.
6/10
GAMEPLAY:
In the original Castlevania games you were a Belmont (or an ally of one), and the Belmont clan use whips. However, with the change of characters comes a shiny new way of fighting off countless baddies. Alucard, your main character, uses a range of weapons now, from swords to knuckles to staves. As per Castlevania standards, you also have your subweapons present, retaining the originals such as the axe, dagger and cross. Also included in this new re-imagining are some new weapons like the Rebound Stone, which is cast from Alucard and bounces off multiple planes and damages the enemy.
As well as a new way of fighting, comes the inclusion of RPG elements. Killing enemies gains even more purpose, as you gain experience and gain levels. Alucard also sports stats such as Strength and Luck, common to the RPG interface, affecting things such as the damage he sustains from an attack, the likelihood of an enemy dropping an item, or how much damage he can dish out.
Of course, the hearts are in tact here, and you still largely obtain them from smashing candles or candle-like objects. Alucard also comes with HP and MP, or health points and magic points. With the advent of MP, Alucard can transform into mist, a bat, or a wolf on the fly. He may also cast a small amount of spells, also accessible in the menu, common to RPGs.
10/10
GRAPHICS:
The graphics range from great, to holy crap amazing. Not only are the graphics nicely detailed, but the animation is definitely among the elite of the PlayStation. Every movement of Alucards is extremely fluid, and some of the enemies are wowing with the animation put into them. Sadly, the fluidity is not 100% constant, and some enemy actions are a little choppy, however forgivable as compared to the rest of the game. The game also implements a fair amount of 3d into its graphics alongside the 2d, and it looks fantastic.
9/10
SOUND:
The soundtrack for this game IS Castlevania. It fits every single room you enter perfectly, never missing a beat. The tracks range from an up-beat "lets kill things" attitude to more somber pieces that make you creep along wondering what's going to pop out of the ground and attack. The enemies are most all given a sound effect for their death, or they just plain explode, which sounds great too. The only, albeit, major flaw in the sound department is the absolutely horrible voice acting. It's either stiff, or too dramatic, or somehow both at once. The option to turn it off isn't there either, and you can't skip it on your first play through, which is a real bummer, because it is just plain bad.
7/10
VALUE:
While the game can be very short if you just whizz through it, if you actually explore a certain part of the map, you find out that the 'final boss' isn't, and you can continue to a "new" place to explore, effectively adding a lot more hours to your game. With the added RPG elements, and new gameplay mechanics, the game is certainly a valuable thing. Along with a handful of alternate endings, there is actually another playable character available to you after you beat the game. Although the new character's scenario isn't as fleshed out as Alucard's, it is still enjoyable to play though again with a new character and way of playing.
8/10
OVERALL:
This game truly saw the revolution of Castlevania games into what they are today, on the PS2 and the GBA. It has an awesome musical score to back up gameplay that is simply fun. If you get over the horrible voice acting, then you are going to have an awesome time with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
MY SCORE:
9/10