Akumajô Dracula X: Gekka no yasukyôoku (1997) (VG)

User Rating:

9.1/10   

Director:

Toru Hagihara

Writers:

Koji Igarashi (scenario) &
Toshiharu Furukawa (scenario)

Genre:

Animation | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

The legend returns...

Plot:

In 1792, the vampire slayer Richter Belmont stormed Dracula's stronghold, the cursed bastion Castlevania...

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Castlevania | Vampire | Vampire Slayer | Vampirism

Cast

Robert Belgrade	...	Alucard / Adrian Tepes (voice)
Kimberly Forsythe	...	Maria Renard (voice)
Michael Gough	...	Richter Belmont (voice) (as Michael G)
Scott McCulloch	...	Count Vlad Dracula (voice)
Dennis Falt	...	Death (voice)
Jeff Manning	...	Shaft (voice) (as Jeffrey Manning)
Barbara Whitlow	...	Lisa Farenheights (voice)
Alison Lester	...	Succubus (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ryôtarô Okiayu	...	Alucard (voice)
Norio Wakamoto	...	Dracula (voice: Japanese version)
Kiyoyuki Yanada	...	Richter Belmont (voice: Japanese version)
Chisa Yokoyama	...	Maria (voice: Japanese version)

Also Known As:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (USA)
Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight (Japan: English title)
Nocturne in the Moonlight

Country:

Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:E | South Korea:12 (2002)

Company:

Konami Computer Entertainment

Trivia:

First Castlevania game to separate from the "stage-by-stage" gameplay of earlier games, and create a more Metroid-esque play experience, which also featured RPG elements (leveling up, equipping new stuff, item usage, etc.)

Quotes:

Alucard: 'Twould be best if I were to disappear forever.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Metal Gear Solid (1998) (VG)

Soundtrack:

I Am the Wind

Favorite Game of All Time

Even after six years, I went back and replayed SotN to gladly find not an ounce of its charms has been lost with time. With growing emphasis and interest in RPGs and the entire evolution of the gaming industry as is, I think I've grown to like this simple little game even more.

CastleVania: SotN is not without its faults. I will admit, the plot is a lame excuse to bring back Dracula for yet another round of CastleVania (if you can consider it having a plot at all), and the voice-acted dialogue screams cheesy b-film. In the end, that's made me like SotN all the more now then I did in 1997 when it first debuted. My only -real- complaint against SotN is its difficulty setting – it's too easy to beat.

Symphony of the Night's success comes from the fact that it acknowledges it is a game to be played, not a movie to be watched or a novel to be read. You -play- CastleVania, and all the game elements are as rock-solid as they come. It plays as a fantastic exploration game in the same vein as Super Metroid, which was a step away from previous CastleVania straight-action-side-scroller formula it had used since the original NES game.

Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes, aka Alucard, is the most intriguing CastleVania character the gamer has ever taken control of (and he's way badder than he was in CastleVania3). No more the Belmont Vampire Hunter, now we play as the son of Dracula to take on the father, and as we explore the Demon Castle we really get to tap into Alucard's growing vampiric powers . . . and to this date, I've never seen a game character to top Alucard's ability to become a cloud of mist on command.

Not just one, but two beautifully drawn castles to explore, some of the best boss/enemy designs and a well thought out castle-design. I'd of liked to have seen some instant-death pitfalls/spikes/lava/whatever (and a way of knowing that it is instant death and not another route to explore); most gamers hate 'em, but with SotN's wonderful controls it wouldn't have been much of a problem avoiding them unless you just get careless. Towards the end of the game, Alucard's abilities would make falling into them virtually impossible.

CastleVania also sports my favorite video-game artwork and musical score by the talented Ayame Kojima and Michuru Yamane respectively. Though the premise of the exploration and level ups are borrowed from other games, SotN stands out as its own. By the music, artwork, setting, characters, and gameplay, it is distinctly CastleVania. Nowhere else have I seen game so distinctly its own.