As a newcomer to RPGFan, I expected to find all of my favorite games extensively written about. I was wrong. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night had two reviews from the regular writers, but none from the readers, so I figured I'd take a hack at it.

Unlike the other games in the Castlevania series, the main character in Symphony of the Night is not related to the Belmont clan. Instead, the player takes on the role of Alucard, Dracula's half-human, half-vampire son. To those of you that have played Castlevania 3 on Nintendo, Alucard may sound familiar. That's because he was the vampire character that joins Trevor Belmont in his quest. The story of SotN goes like this: after aiding Trevor, Alucard used his mystic powers to put himself into an eternal sleep, hoping that this would rid the world of the Dracula bloodline. As time went by, slayer after slayer came from the Belmont clan. The last of these was Richter, who was in Castlevania: Dracula X. Four years after Richter defeated Dracula, Dracula's castle, Castlevania, mysteriously reappears, even though it only is supposed to appear once a century. This strange occurrence awakens Alucard from his eternal slumber. Alucard travels back to Castlevania to find out why he was awakened. As you play through the game, Alucard comes across Maria, Richter's half sister, who is looking for her brother.

Unlike the rest of the series, there actually is somewhat of a story other than kill Dracula. The basics of the story are that Alucard is trying to help Maria find what happened to Richter, as well as why the castle reappeared so soon.

This game is unique to the series, not only because of the main character, but also in its array of items. Alucard can use a variety of items, from swords, to knives, to clubs, and even flying swords. Also, Alucard can use a variety of shields to protect himself from projectile attacks. The equipment settings give this installment of the Castlevania series an RPG design to a side-scrolling action series. This game is similar to Castlevania 2 in that instead of level after level of gameplay, the player is able to freely move around the castle, provided that he or she has the necessary items to get there. Another unique aspect to the game is the spells that Alucard can use, from his vampire half showing in his "Dark Metamorphosis", to his devastating "Soul Steal". Also, Alucard has a variety of special moves that are weapon specific.

One great part of this game is that there are four different endings to the game, two "bad" endings, and two "good" endings. Those that know about the Castlevania series will quickly catch on to a problem when they get the "bad" endings, so it is not difficult to figure out what is wrong, you just have to figure out how to fix that.

The graphics are excellent. The enemies are all well designed and the detail put into Alucard is incredible. Although he is small, Alucard is very detailed, and his look changes whenever you change his cape. The backgrounds are well done and will even flow with you as you move in some areas, removing the completely flat feel of the other Castlevania games.

The sound effects are very well done. Alucard's yells as he wields his weapon and the clashing sound made when the elevator hits the ceiling or floor all sound realistic. The cries a Warg makes when you kill it will have you looking around the room to make sure it isn't your dog.

Even better than the sound effects of this game is the soundtrack itself. The variety of BGM is incredible and never seems to get tiresome. I must agree with Commodore Wheeler in his views on the songs "Prologue", "Dracula Castle", & "Awakened Soul" as some of the great songs of the soundtrack.

The controls are great. In his normal form, Alucard is very nimble, even for inexperienced players. There are a few problems with the controls though. In his different forms, Alucard can be hard to work with. While transformed, the controls are somewhat sluggish.

Now for my scoring. Graphics are excellent in this game, so I must say 97% is fair. Control is good but there are problems when transformed, I'd say 93%. For gameplay, I give it a 97% because of the variety of weapons, the familiars, and the spells that can be used through the game. The soundtrack is incredible, the word "symphony" definitely fits in the title, so I'm giving it 100%. The story is kind of weak, but the Castlevania games aren't really known for their story, 79%. Overall, this game is incredible. Searching both castles for their secrets, trying to get all of the rare items, and going through the game as Richter will leave you not wanting to put this game down, overall I'd say 98%.