--- Castlevania ---

Castlevania is a classic series.  It's produced several excellent games, and only a couple of bad ones.  By far the best of the series is Symphony of the Night, which was a partial revamp of the series.  It added levels and stats, a free-roaming world, upgradeable items, and more.  Symphony is the pinnacle of 2D gaming, yet it arrived when 3D was the red-hot new thing (and still struggling with gameplay design).  Rumor has it that Sony's "No 2D" policy for the Playstation nearly kept this great game from release, and that Konami told Sony "No Castlevania, no Metal Gear Solid".  Good move, Konami, if it's true!

For a nice, comprehensive history of the Castlevania franchise, its characters, etc, take a look at this site:

http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/

As for us, here are a few videos of some nifty bits of Symphony of the Night.

First, the familiars.  Alucard can have one of five different little sidekicks helping him out (after he's earned them).  They can all be powered up individually.  Mostly, they'll attack things, but some of them are useful in other ways.

The first familiar is the bat.  He just flies around and attacks things.  He really likes it when Alucard turns into a bat (see the video).

Next up is the demon.  He's one of the familiars who can talk (unfortunately).  At a couple of points in the game, he'll press switches for you that you can't reach, if he's around.

This one is the fairie.  She talks, too.  She won't attack things; her job is to watch your health.  If you get too hurt, she'll use a healing item on you (from your inventory).  She'll also use the appropriate cures for getting poisoned or turned to stone, etc.

The ghost is my favorite.  He can't talk.  He also not only attacks things, but he steals health from them and gives it to you.  What a nice guy!

Strangely enough, the sword familiar is one of the talking ones.  He's also the only 3D one.  He's the most powerful, I think.  He attacks things and that's it.

One of the things people really made a big deal out of back when this game arrived was Alucard's shapeshifting.  He can turn into a bat, which you've seen, and a wolf as well.  His third alternate form is mist, which is extremely cool.  Even cooler is his mist form once you have a certain item.  Check it out.

  Alucard's deadly mist form.

Lastly, we have the coolest weapon in the game, the Crissaegrimm.  It's a secret sword that you can only find in the Inverted Library, dropped from one of the enemies.  I think you also have to be on a second playthrough of the game.

  The Crissaegrimm in action.

The final battle with Dracula is only a little difficult even with Alucard's Sword.  With the Crissaegrimm, anyone's a pushover.  Even Dracula.

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