Dracula X: Nocturne in Moonlight in Japan
Released: 1997
Systems: PlayStation, Saturn
For the few Castlevania fans who were actually able to play the game, Dracula X: The Rondo of Blood appeared to be the shining moment in the series' history. It has solid visuals, great music, and fluid control, but more importantly, it strikes a perfect balance between the exploration elements found in Vampire Killer and the traditional platforming elements in the early NES Castlevanias. So how could Konami top The Rondo of Blood? As unlikely as it was, Konami not only surpassed The Rondo of Blood, but it also created what is widely regarded as the best Castlevania game in the series: Symphony of the Night.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night literally starts out where the Dracula X games left off. As Richter, you have to climb the ominous staircase, with clouds swiftly moving by and a massive fully polygonal clock tower looming overhead. Once inside Dracula's chamber, Richter and Dracula have a brief and rather odd conversation about religion, with some horribly melodramatic voice acting--a first in the Castlevania series. A battle ensues, and Richter is eventually victorious, but his fate is unknown. The following storyline tells of Richter's mysterious disappearance into that castle and of an old friend, Alucard, who has awakened from a long sleep to find out if his father has been resurrected. For the first time since Castlevania and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, the Castlevania storyline actually had some continuity, which undoubtedly appeased fans of the series and made Symphony of the Night a little more interesting to those playing it for the first time.
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Many of the enemies in Symphony of the Night were taken directly from Dracula X: The Rondo of Blood, which had both positive and negative effects. Having the same enemies from The Rondo of Blood reinforced the fact that Symphony of the Night was indeed a direct sequel, but at the same time, using sprites from a game released four years earlier gave it a somewhat dated look. However, there were more than a few instances in which Symphony of the Night matched Super Castlevania IV in visual quality and, in many cases, surpassed it. For example, Alucard's running animation and even Alucard himself are easily some of the most impressive visuals in the entire Castlevania library, and the mixture of polygonal objects and three-dimensional effects on detailed 2D backgrounds add some complexity to the backgrounds.
There are a number of moments that induce some jaw dropping, like the lava area in the catacombs, where Alucard casts an enormous shadow on slightly curved three-dimensional cave walls. The level bosses in Symphony of the Night are nothing to scoff at either, since most of them are enormous detailed sprites that often take up an entire screen.
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 | One of the most memorable moments in Symphony of the Night occurred in the upside-down coliseum, where Alucard fought evil versions of Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, and Grant DaNasty from Castlevania III. |
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The inspiration for Symphony of the Night's gameplay is somewhat hard to pinpoint. On one hand, it's very similar to Dracula X: The Rondo of Blood and Vampire Killer in that you have much more freedom to explore different areas of the castle and move through the game at your own pace. But really, other than the basic structural layout of some stages, Symphony of the Night really owes more to Nintendo's Metroid rather than the previous Castlevania game. As in Metroid, you are essentially confined to a large structure that branches off into several subareas with their own unique layout and feel.
In these areas, you can equip items with new and more powerful swords, shields, and armor. There are other special items that increase your maximum hit points and heart-carrying capacity. All of this should sound vaguely familiar, since in Metroid, you come across energy tanks that increase your energy level, as well as missile power-ups that increase the number of missiles you can carry. Even the map system in Symphony of the Night follows the same basic pattern as the map found in the Metroid series, right down to the color scheme used to indicate different types of areas, like save points.
