Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
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| Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | |
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| Developer(s) | KCET |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) | Koji Igarashi |
| Release date(s) | JP March 20, 1997 NA October 2, 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen OFLC (AU): PG |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Portable |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM |
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a 2D action-adventure game developed and published by Konami in 1997. Its Japanese title is Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku (悪魔城ドラキュラＸ月下の夜想 Akumajō Dorakyura Ekkusu: Gekka no Yasōkyoku?, lit. "Demon Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight"). It is the 13th installment of the Castlevania series, the first installment released for the PlayStation and is a direct sequel to Japanese exclusive Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo for the NEC PC-Engine CD.
At the time of release, Symphony of the Night received a great deal of critical acclaim, yet was inexplicably low-balled as a prospect for domestic release. In the time since, however, it has developed a large cult following and currently enjoys status as a collector's item. It is most notable for demonstrating the continued popularity of 2D games during the fifth generation of video game consoles (the 32-bit era, which saw rapid advancements in 3D gaming).[1]
Symphony of the Night was an important milestone in the development of the Castlevania series. It steered the series away from the standard level-by-level platforming formula of older titles, and introduced a new style of open-ended gameplay mixed with RPG-like elements that would be emulated by most of its successors. The development of these features can be attributed to Koji Igarashi, the game's director, and one of the team's newest members. Igarashi, a noted fan of 2D games,[2] was instrumental in refining the game's control scheme. He also established a seemingly "official" Castlevania canon, in an attempt to tie up several loose ends in the series' timeline during Symphony of the Night.[3] Other notable staff include character designer Ayami Kojima and composer Michiru Yamane.
In 1998, Symphony of the Night was ported to the Sega Saturn containing some extra features. It was never released outside Japan.
In 2006, Konami announced an Xbox 360 port of the PlayStation version of Symphony of the Night, to be distributed via the Xbox Live Arcade. The port was handled by Backbone Entertainment[1]. It was the first Xbox Live Arcade title to exceed the 50MB restriction placed upon Xbox Live Arcade games (The limit has since been increased to 150MB). The exception was made for Symphony of the Night to "ensure that the gameplay experience is the best it can be."[4]. Symphony of the Night for Xbox Live Arcade was released on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007. [5]
In 2007, Konami announced a port of Symphony of the Night will be included in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the Sony PSP, this version will feature full screen graphics as well as a touched up localization.[6] It will be retranslated and have all new voice acting.[7]
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[edit] Gameplay
Gameplay in Symphony of the Night adheres to the standard precepts of 2D platforming. The main protagonist in this game is Alucard in which his most basic moves are to attack with multiple weapons, and jump. As he explores the castle, new abilities, such as the power to transform into a bat, become available.
Exploring the castle itself is an open-ended process, and perhaps the biggest departure gameplay-wise from past Castlevania titles (with the exception of Simon's Quest for the NES). In Symphony of the Night, the player is allowed to explore many of the castle's side areas (areas that do not lead directly to the game's end), and may at times have to backtrack through areas after new powers become available. RPG growth elements introduced into the game also encourage exploration by boosting Alucard's attributes. For example - weapons, items, and permanent power ups are a common find in areas only accessible through special abilities (such as double-jumping). These areas are scattered all over the castle, and often impossible to reach when first encountered.
Open-ended gameplay proved to be one of the most acclaimed aspects of Symphony of the Night. The gaming press often draws comparisons between the gameplay of Symphony of the Night and the popular Super Metroid, which is how the terms "castleroid" and "metroidvania" came about (as portmanteaus of Castlevania and Metroid).
[edit] Control scheme
Symphony of the Night boasts a very liberal control scheme compared to its predecessors in the Castlevania franchise. The ability to double-jump and change direction in mid-air are especially potent additions.
Aside from attacking, jumping and basic movement, Alucard is inherently able to perform both a downward flying-kick and a back-dash. While the downward kick may never be discovered or employed by a player, the back-dash (activated by a single button press) is an easily employed method of evading enemy attacks. Because it is faster than Alucard's normal walking speed, a player may back-dash as a slightly faster method of travel through the flatter areas of the castle. Yet another use of the back-dash is attack cancelling, a technique common in fighting games; by activating the dash just after an attack lands, Alucard's attack animation is interrupted, which allows the player to bypass the attack's recovery animation and instead perform another action. Evasive dash moves also appear in later Igarashi-produced Castlevania titles.
Symphony of the Night utilizes directional input combinations (another staple of many fighting games) as a means of performing special moves, also referred to as magic spells. Most of Alucard's magic is activated by performing directional input combinations followed by button presses — for example, to cast the spell "Hellfire", the player would press Up, Down, Down-forward, Forward + Attack. The alternately playable characters Richter and Maria also utilize directional input combinations for their own special abilities.
[edit] Weapons
While Castlevania's protagonists have traditionally used whips, Alucard's repertoire is mostly based on edged weapons - typically swords and knives. Knuckles and expendable items (such as neutron bombs or javelins) are less common finds. Richter uses the traditional Vampire Killer whip, while Maria (playable only in the Saturn version) uses energy projectiles and kicks; neither of these alternate characters may change their main weapon.
As in previous Castlevania titles, all playable characters can use a variety of subweapons (alternate weapons that consume Hearts) found throughout the castle. These include traditional subweapons from earlier Castlevania games, such as axes, crosses, and holy water. An ability carried over from Dracula X, known as an "Item Crash", allows either Richter or Maria to perform a more powerful special move based on their currently-equipped subweapon. Item Crashes typically have more spectacular effects than standard subweapon attacks and consume many more hearts. In another hold-over from Akumajou Dracula X, Symphony allows the player to retrieve a previously-equipped subweapon if a new one is collected; this helps the player avoid losing a favored subweapon by accident. Some subweapons have different effects depending on which playable character is being used.
The Saturn version of the game contains some exclusive weapons and items, including Alucard's spear, and a wieldable axe.
During its localization, some of the game's weapons received strange translations based on figures from fantasy literature or mythology, such as the Fist of Tulkas (named after Tulkas the Vala), and the Crissaegrim (the home of the Eagles of Thorondor, from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien), Mourneblade (named after and based on the sword Mournblade from Michael Moorcock's Elric saga), The Sword of Dawn (named after and based on the Sword of the Dawn from the Hawkmoon series, also by Michael Moorcock), Tyrfing (named after the cursed sword from Norse mythology), Marsil (inspired by Narsil from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings), Thunderbrand (described as "the lightning sword of Indra"), The Ring of Fëanor (named after the king of the Noldor elves in Tolkien's The Silmarillion), Terminus Est from Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and various others.
[edit] RPG elements
Growth elements such as character equipment and experience levels were not included in Castlevania games for some time after the release of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest for the NES (1987). As Simon's Quest was not very successful, the series instead became focused on mostly straightforward action gaming. A decade later, Symphony of the Night reintroduced RPG elements into the series in the style that was popular at the time (attribute-based stats, item drops). In one form or another, these growth elements have since become a mainstay mechanic of the Castlevania franchise. The "old-fashioned" style of gameplay is still included in some titles, often as an "extra" mode or reward for completing the game. The quests of Richter and Maria fulfill this role in Symphony of the Night.
Alucard is able to enlist the help of familiars (provided that the player can locate the item needed to summon one). Familiars function as complementary entities in the game world; they attack and use their special abilities while following Alucard around, and also gain levels as Alucard gathers experience points. The level of the familiar determines its behavior, as well as what special moves it can use. The North American version of the game includes the Faerie, Demon, Ghost, Bat, and Sword familiars. The original Japanese version of the game included the Nose Devil (functionally identical to the Demon, but with a mask that has a large nose) and Pixie (functionally identical to the Faerie; the kanji literal translate as Half Faerie) familiars as well.[8]
[edit] Music
- See also: Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight OST
Symphony of the Night is often considered to have the best soundtrack of any game in the Castlevania series due to its expertly varied style. Composed by Michiru Yamane, the soundtrack contains elements from multiple music genres including techno, metal (including its sub-genres heavy metal, power metal, symphonic metal and neo-classical metal) and the standard Castlevania gothic-themed music. One track of particular note is Crystal Teardrops which is played during the Underground sections of the game. The song is of interest due to its fusion of jazz, gothic and techno style music, which are normally divergent. Other tracks stand out such as the Prologue for the multiple lead guitars typically heard in heavy metal as well as Dracula's Castle which is a symphonic metal hybrid song. There are also a few of the tracks that are remixes of Rondo of Blood's music, particularly Dance of Illusions, both of which are the final battle theme of Dracula (though the Dracula in Symphony has a different battle theme, the one you defeat with Richter is the one whose theme is Dance of Illusions). There is also another track, Blood Relations which is a varied Bloodlines, also from Rondo of Blood. Another track of interest, Prayer, is a reminiscent of Rondo of Blood's Requiem. Both tracks are made using solely human voice with Greek lyrics. This had never before been done in a video game. The game also features a vocal ending theme: "I Am the Wind".
[edit] Plot
[edit] Setting and characters
- See also: List of Castlevania characters
The game, like its predecessor Akumajou Dracula X, takes place in Romania. In the previous game, a significant portion of time was spent traveling through the Romanian countryside en route to Castlevania; Symphony of the Night takes place entirely within the castle, with the exceptions of a short introductory sequence depicting Alucard approaching the castle from the surrounding forest, and the game's ending sequences.
Symphony of the Night keeps the archaic and gothic feel of Castlevania accented by the reuse of many of the traditional monsters seen in previous titles. Of particular note, many of the monsters introduced in Akumajou Dracula X are reused, often appearing exactly as they did in the previous game. The castle itself shifts in scenery and encompasses many of the more traditional stage motifs found in the other Castlevania titles (again, particularly Akumajou Dracula X), such as an underground passage, a chapel, and the infamous clock tower. An area under Dracula's tower in Symphony of the Night resembles a similar area where Richter fought Dracula in the Super NES remake of Akumajou Dracula X, titled Castlevania: Dracula X.
About halfway through the game, the player enters an inverted version of the original castle. The scenery in the second castle takes on a more bizarre nature where objects and phenomena such as pools of liquid, furniture, and even a waterfall persistently defy gravity. This inverted castle hosts many unusual (and more powerful) enemies, including Cthulhu, Yorick, and a Dodo. Many of the game's enemies that were presented as bosses in the first castle appear as "normal" enemies in the second castle, illustrating a general increase in the game's difficulty.
Symphony of the Night features a recurring Castlevania cast consisting of protagonists Alucard, son of Dracula, the Belmont heir Richter, and his sister-in-law Maria Renard. The dark priest Shaft and Count Dracula serve as the game's principal antagonists.
[edit] Story
The game's story takes place during the year 1797, five years after the events of Akumajou Dracula X. The story begins as Richter Belmont defeats Count Dracula at the close of the previous game. Four years later, Richter vanishes and is later revealed to be under the control of the dark priest Shaft, who was slain in Akumajou Dracula X. Richter claims lordship of Castlevania, which, in this installment, is revealed to be a malevolent entity of Chaos that continually shifts and changes to confuse trespassers with each reincarnation.
Such a shift in the balance of good and evil causes the son of Dracula, Alucard, to awaken from his self-induced sleep. Not fully aware of what is happening, he discovers that Castlevania has once again manifested itself and sets out to discover what has transpired while he slept. This is where the "real" game begins, as Alucard sets forth to brave his father's cursed realm. Meanwhile, Maria Renard ventures toward Castlevania to find the missing Richter. Maria and Alucard meet inside the castle and encounter one another throughout the game.
[edit] Development
Symphony of the Night is presented via 2D visuals, mainly sprites animated over scrolling backgrounds, with effects such as rotation and scaling being used liberally. Sprites range in size, from quite small, to filling an entire screen (primarily bosses such as Galamoth). For backgrounds, Parallax effects attempt to simulate depth, and can be observed in many areas throughout the game.
Occasionally, the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation attempt to embellish the largely 2D world. For example - cloudy skies in the Holy Chapel area are rendered as 3D textures moving towards the player's perspective, and a polygonal clock tower visible from the Castle Keep rotates as the player moves. Enemies and spells also sometimes render 3D elements as part of their special animations. As was popular at the time (1997), the game contains some short FMV sequences that mostly showcase the castle from different angles.
There is a hidden passage at the beginning of the castle. Presumably, this is an unfinished section that would have led to the Underground Gardens (apparent in the Saturn version). The area can be accessed by starting a game as Richter, entering the castle, and quickly dashing back as the gate door closes.[9]
[edit] Character design
Symphony of the Night marks the first appearance of artist Ayami Kojima in the video game industry. Kojima's role in the game's production was that of character designer, specifically tasked with conceptualizing the game's main and supporting cast in a unique way. Her designs for Symphony of the Night borrow heavily from bishonen-style art. These illustrations proved popular amongst the Castlevania fanbase, which prompted similar bishonen-style designs to be done by Kojima for later titles.
While Kojima's style continues to enjoy success in the Castlevania franchise, it was notably excluded from both Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2005) and Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (2006), which feature simpler, anime-style designs. In an interview with game development website Gamasutra, Producer Koji Igarashi explains the new aesthetic as an attempt to attract a younger audience to the franchise.[10]
[edit] Japanese and English versions
- One of the game's boss characters, Count Olrox, is named Oorokku (オーロック?) in the Japanese version of the game. Orlock is the vampire from the classic vampire film, Nosferatu.
- In the North American version, the prologue sequence is titled "Bloodlines". However, Bloodlines is neither the name of the level, nor the name of the game that the level was based on. In the Japanese version, this segment is correctly titled "Rondo of Blood", directly tying Symphony back to its predecessor, Akumajou Dracula X. This game is being ported to the PSP as well as Symphony of the Night.
- The Japanese version of Symphony employed a graphic of a crucifix (i.e., an image of Jesus crucified on the cross) when using the "Holy Cross" subweapon in an Item Crash and during the game over screen. Given the number of earlier Castlevania titles that were censored for religious content during localization, it was unusual that such graphic effects and images appear in the US/NTSC version as well. The decision by Konami to retain such content is indicitave of a generally more lax attitude towards censorship during localizations of recent titles. Ironically, the original voice sample heard in the Japanese version was "Grand Cross" as opposed to "Holy Cross" in the US/NTSC release.
Notable Saturn differences:
- The Japanese Saturn version of Symphony of the Night features Maria Renard as a playable character.
- A few new weapons/items/armor for Alucard's game.
- A new sprite for Richter is featured in addition to the old one, based on Ayami Kojima's depiction of the character. This is the sprite Richter uses when he fights Alucard in the Saturn version and can be used as a playable character as well.
- There are 2 areas of the castle (Cursed Prison and Underground Garden) which were not in the PS1 version. The Underground Garden area features a new boss, the Skeleton King.
- Also, when playing as Maria or Richter, certain areas of the castle play remixes of classic Castlevania music, such as "Vampire Killer" and "Bloody Tears".
Xbox 360 (Re-release)
- Game was re-released as a Xbox Live Arcade game, with an optional graphical filter that smooths the rough edges on the sprites and polygonal models.
- Features Leaderboards that track players progress throughout the castle, along with a time attack board that sees how long it took a player to reach certain checkpoints (Defeating Cerberus, meeting Maria for the first time, etc.)
- Features 12 achievements worth 200 points (Arcade maximum).
- It is still possible to get to one of the two rooms of the unfinished Underground Garden using Richter's dash move, but doing so he gets stuck in a wall and the screens flash back and forth from the entrance and the floor beneath you, giving you no choice but to exit the game.
- Despite KCET finishing Cursed Prison and Underground Gardens for the Sega Saturn version of SOTN, they were not put in the Xbox 360 version as it was a port from the PSX version of the game. It is unknown if they will be released as extra content.
- Maria is unplayable.
- There were also many known glitches, including some wall disfunctions.
[edit] Reception
During the game's release in 1997, the overwhelming trend in console videogaming was that of progression towards 3D graphics. Thanks to the powerful new hardware found in fifth generation consoles, well-established gaming franchises such as Mario and Zelda received highly successful 3D facelifts, while 2D games began to fall out of favor with publishers as it was speculated that they would no longer sell.
Although it received limited funding for its North American production, and was initially not a major success from a financial perspective, Symphony of the Night eventually proved to be a massive critical and public success, and the game later went on to join other popular Playstation titles as part of the "Greatest Hits" line of re-released best-selling Playstation games.[11]
In 1998, Symphony of the Night was awarded Game of the Year by Electronic Gaming Monthly. It was also named Game of the Year by PSM in its list of the top ten games of 1997. Recently, it placed 16th on IGN's Top 100 Games of All Time.[12]
The English translation of this game is also somewhat infamous for its voice acting, which many critics and fans consider so amateur it becomes comical, similar to Resident Evil.
[edit] References
- ^ The History of Castlevania. gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
- ^ Koji Igarashi On Mastering Castlevania. gamasutra.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
- ^ The Castlevania Storyline. The Castlevania Dungeon. Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/news/6164077.html
- ^ Castlevania: Symphony of Night on Xbox Live Arcade. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ Previews: Castlevania PSP
- ^ Castlevania: Dracula X Chr. 'Debut'
- ^ SotN: Foreign Release Info. The Castlevania Dungeon. Retrieved on 2006-05-19.
- ^ The Castlevania Dungeon - SotN Weirdness. The Castlevania Dungeon. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
- ^ Whip Smart: Konami's Koji Igarashi On Mastering Castlevania. gamasutra.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
- ^ The History of Castlevania. gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
- ^ Top 100 games of All Time (2005). ign.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- General resources
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night at GameFAQs
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night at MobyGames
- The CastleVania Dungeon's SotN section
- Castlevania Realms SotN section which includes info on the Sega Saturn version.
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Castlevania • Vampire Killer • Simon's Quest • Haunted Castle • The Adventure • Dracula's Curse • Belmont's Revenge • Super Castlevania IV • Chronicles • Chi no Rondo • Bloodlines • Dracula X • Symphony of the Night • Legends • Castlevania (N64) • Legacy of Darkness • Circle of the Moon • Harmony of Dissonance • Aria of Sorrow • Lament of Innocence • Dawn of Sorrow • Curse of Darkness • Portrait of Ruin |
