Symphony of the Night is still a halmark on the genre, and is still amazing to play though again and again.
GRAPHICS:
From what I understood, the games uses a 3D engine, but renders everything on 2D (or something like that). The result is an incredibly sharp looking game, with highly detailed backgrounds, character models and animations. To this day, Symphony stands as one of the best looking 2D games ever. The minimal details, such as every enemy having its own death animation, just bring the game to life. 5/5
SOUND:
Many people consider the music of this game to be some of the best in the series. Personaly, I think it is overrated. Definitely, all the pieces fit incredibly well and there are some catchy tunes, but there is nothing that stands out in particular to me. It is nice, and definitely high quality, but not that much.
The voice acting of the game is revered for being ridiculous, and not only the "Die Monster!" intro is poorly done, but the whole game in general just has a laugthable voice over. However, it is the kind of bad that you can have fun with. On the PSP version included with The Dracula X Chronicles, the voice acting was recasted, and it is more serious, but ended up sounding worse, and is not fun anymore to make fun off. 3.8/5
STORY:
The story of SotN is about how Alucard, the son of the evil Count Dracula, managed to defeat his father once more and his vassal Priest Shaft in order to stop them from wreacking havoc. It actualy is a sequel to the Rondo of Blood game, then only released in Japan, so we see a lot of characters like Richter Belmont and Maria Renard, who you often interact with. There are also a few nods to older Castlevanias, but the plot is second hand to the main game, and never comes out as much more than a simple Castlevania plot of killing Dracula, which really isn't a problem, since no one plays the series for the story. The bits are interesting, and tie together just nicely.
GAMEPLAY:
The game is a 2D action adventure game. As Alucard, you have to go though your father's castle, exploring everything, defeating bosses and collecting items so you can, in the end, put an end to Dracula's madness once and for all.
The first thing that has to be said about the gameplay is that it completely reinvents the series. Gone is the "go from point A to B, defeating all the enemies and then beat a boss" and in is Metroid-style exploration. The influence of Super Metroid in this game is undeniable, to the point where this style of play became known as Metroidvania from this game on.
While old fans of the series might feel disoriented with this style, it nonetheless works wonders in this game. You ocasionaly feel lost, but the exploration factor is very high, and the amount of stuff you can find out is just insane. It is just really fun to go though the castle and uncovering its secrets.
As in SM, you start relatively weak, and have to build you way though the caslte, collecting weapons and abilities that will make your life easier. You begin in one area, and have to find your way to the next with the proper power ups and items. Again, like in SM, you only really get stuck if you sequence break the game or you just don't payed attention to a little detail.
There is quite a variety in the weapons and other equipement in the game. There are diferent kinds of swords, which are strong agains certain enemies, there are rods, brass knucles, and there are so many versions of them. Even in the armor and acessories departament there are a lot of options as to how you use them, which makes the game rather customizable. There are also a few spells that you can learn, which you can use with the input of a button sequence, and once you get them right, they can be deadly. When it comes to power ups, they are varied, from turning into mist to summoning a boat in one area to familiars taht can help you in battle. There are so many variables in the game that is just insane. Sub weapons return, working like in the previous games; still powered up by hearts, which you can increase the total, like you can with you health. They still work nicely, but perhaps a bit too nicely at times, as the holy water and stop watch can still completely save you on some moments (mostly the first one).
This game also adds a few RPG elements. You can level up depending on how many enemies you killed, you can buy items, and the whole equipement stuff just comes off as very RPGish. It fits the gameplay style well, and there is a nice flow, so you never feel underpowered. Slashing enemies thoughout the halls of the caslte is fun on its own, and add the incentive to level up and you have a winning formula.
Much like Super Metroid, completing the game can be done as fast as under 8 hours if you know what you are doing, but your first time will take much longer, since you will have to explore and get known with the enviroment. The game incentives multiple playthoughs with the ability to play as Richter or Maria (not in the PS1 version) once you finish the game, though they aren't very fit for the game, still is a nice bonus.
All in all this is a massive game that is just so fun to go though.
5/5
OVERALL:
Symphony of the Night follows the footsteps of Super Metroid briliantly, and stads toe to toe with it as one of the, if not the, best 2D action adventure game ever.
The good:
-Beautiful graphics that look great even today
-Soundtrack fits the mood perfectly
-Voice acting is perfectly over the top
-Story gets the job done
-Sense of exploration is great
-Action is a blast
-Just the perfect length, and is really fun to play though multiple times
The bad:
-New voice acting is no fun
-Music on itself is rather forgettable (personal)