Castlevania Symphony of the Night

Nobody can save themselves when the cloak of the Prince of Darkness flutters through the night in search of blood, but a hero, descendant of the Belmont, rises once again to confront Dracula. This is how Castlevania begins, a 2D side-scrolling video game that literally made history, becoming a cornerstone of arcade games and a benchmark for all future genre titles.

The Castlevania saga consists of countless chapters and even more spin-offs, spanning practically every console and platform, including the world of mobile and, of course, PC.

La battaglia between Dracula and his followers and the Belmont dynasty, a family of vampire hunters that has opposed the ultimate bloodsucker for centuries, has captivated videogamers for decades, if we consider that the first episode saw the light of day (or the darkness, if you prefer) way back in 1986 thanks to the prolific Konami: the Japanese industry has always held its most iconic (and profitable) franchises very close to its chest, to the point of producing collections and compilations over time for the nostalgic.

The difficulty is well balanced, although some particularly tough levels will make your knuckles turn white with the frustration felt in having to repeat them; of course, when you overcome them you will feel as epic as Van Helsing, I can assure you, since I experienced it firsthand.

Castlevania succeeds in bringing to the screen the eerie beauty of the pages of late nineteenth-century Gothic novels, together with the challenge worthy of a side-scrolling arcade game: think of Ghost'n Goblin, for example, and add to the mix a hefty dose of battles against many demonic creatures with captivating designs.

Tra i tanti sequel usciti, ce n'è uno che riveste un'importanza particolare, soprattutto per i collezionisti: sto parlando ovviamente di Castlevania: Symphony of the night, datato 1997 e inizialmente "esclusiva" per Playstation, prima di venire distribuito praticamente su tutte le console di quella generazione.

Oltre ad essere, in my modest opinion, one of the best-executed chapters of the saga, both in terms of story and level design, Symphony of the night is highly sought after by collectors all over the world and this is certainly nothing new.

The Playstation version is not impossible to find; however, its market value is not insignificant, with an estimated value of three hundred or four hundred euros. But things become very interesting with the Limited Edition, with prices that are doubled depending on the condition of the item.

A level of gameplay and plot, it does not deviate much from its predecessors: being the thirteenth chapter of the saga, Symphony of the Night takes up the classic gameplay of the series with some new features well integrated into the game’s overall balance.

Moreover, the plot unfolds not only around the Belmonts and Dracula, but also includes Dracula's own son, namely Alucard, a character who is also present in the animated series distributed by Netflix and who expands the universe of Konami's masterpiece.

Spesso we hear about a subgenre defined "metroidvania", very specific video games characterized by side-scrolling levels with many platforming sections, varied combat, and increasing difficulty: the name is made up of the two most representative titles, Metroid and, as you will have guessed, Castlevania.

When masterpieces change the rules of the game, this is what happens.