It can't even be argued that the nineties brought to us some of the greatest video games to ever grace a 34cm tube television. When you think of the nineties, you may think of Super Mario World and how it made the sands of time merely sift away, as months, perhaps even years, were lost in the immersing world of our favourite Italian plumber. When I hear the nineties, on the other hand, I remember the days when vampire horror was passable gaming.

In an age where we live with Blade and Van Helsing; let's face it, vampire horror games have become quite a pain in the neck. The nineties gave birth to the Castlevania craze. Though the first title released in 1987, the series didn't reach the peak of its prime until a decade later when Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was released onto the PlayStation in 1997. This resulted in a new standard for vampire horror games. And another ten years after its glorious release, it finds it way onto the Xbox Live Arcade, courtesy of Backbone Entertainment, who handled the port. The sheer scale and scope of the game was enough to demolish the initial Xbox Live Arcade size limit, which compelled Microsoft to increase the 50MB limit up to 150MB. Make no mistake: you are getting a lot of game for your 800 Microsoft Points!

Symphony of the Night's beginning re-caps the conclusion to the games predecessor, placing you momentarily in the role of Richter Belmont as you of course slay the beast of Lord Dracula. After the Dark Prince falls, you then find yourself in the boots of Alucard, who ironically enough is Dracula's son. As good and evil becomes unbalanced, and Castlevania manifests once again, Alucard finds himself at the foot of the castle in Romania. Alucard then sets out to discover what's transpired during his state of sleep. Throughout his peril, he encounters few allies, such as Richter Belmont of the Belmont clan, and Maria, Richter's sister-in-law.

Adopting the precepts of 2D platforming and combining it with RPG elements (such as experience, and inventory) makes Symphony of the Night strikingly resemblant of Super Metroid, which presented the same open-ended explorative platforming gameplay. The gameplay is incredibly simple, and easy to grasp, as Alucard operates under the basic guidelines of platforming, attack, jump and alternate attack (in Alucard's case, it's 'magic').

On your travels, you will inherit special abilities that aid you as you attempt to conquer Castlevania, for example, at an earlier stage in the game you will be able to turn into a bat. Of course, your use of these abilities depends on the amount of mana you have, which is represented by a blue bar displayed on your HUD. Whilst maintaining the elements seen in previous Castlevania titles, the most noticeable departure from the earlier games is the aforementioned open-ended exploration that is available from the very moment you enter the castle; this allows the player to approach the game from several angles.

The player can play through the game progressively, gaining experience and skills, or they could skip the middle man and go straight away to fight the head honcho (provided they've obtained the Bat ability, of course). This provides Symphony of the Night with that element of surprise in that every time you play, it will be a unique experience.

The castle, as alive as it is, isn't your only obstacle, as you'll face a score of enemies in your journey; they range from the lowliest of minions to greater foes, such as Cerberus or Medusa. Luckily for Alucard, he doesn't need to depend on fisticuffs to defeat these baddies, as he boasts a rather hunky arsenal, complete with edged-weapons such as swords and daggers [Hint: Keep an eye out for the Crissaegrim]. Alongside his hand-held weaponry are items like throwing stars, and javelins (though these are a little harder to find). Heck, if you stumble across them, there are even Neutron Bombs you can throw into a hoard of minions that will make short work of them.

Being a port, there were bound to be some noticeable differences. Behold the visuals. Symphony of the Night remains faithful visually to the original release, however this port allows the players to utilize the additional graphical filter that smooths out rough edges on the character sprites, as well as the environment of the game, of course being the castle, itself. Cases of slowdown were able to be reduced in the conversion, as well, if not eliminated.

But enough about the technical stuff, let's talk superficials. On the eye, and considering it's age, the game is still gorgeous. Everything about the game has a look of morbid evil; but I guess you'd expect that from a vampiric castle in which darkness resides. From the aged classical architecture of the castle, to the decaying flesh of the army of the dead; it's all designed to stun. I spent a great deal of time just exploring Castlevania, myself, to observe the castle in all its glory [Tip: Exploration recommended for those achievement hunters, there's an achievement for visiting every single room!]. Castlevania is just as pleasing to the eye as it ever was. Don't let its age be a factor, Symphony of the Night is a beautiful game, and is a title to appreciate.

Much like earlier Castlevania titles, Symphony of the Night's score is comprised from multifarious styles (including techno, symphonic rock and neo-classical), which undoubtedly get the blood running during those epic struggles you'll find yourself in at more than one point in the game. The score is considered by fans to be the best of any Castlevania game so far. Aside from the auditory bliss the soundtrack provides, the games dialogue is accompanied by voice-actors. While there are some stand-out characters, the acting isn't delivered with a great deal of emotional commitment, and can come across monotonous at times. While this does not hinder the experience Symphony of the Night provides, it does drain some great quotes of significance from their intended meaning.