Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of those titles that enjoyed incredible critical success and was a favorite of early adaptors but didn’t initially set the sales charts on fire. It took some time, but Symphony of the Night eventually became a Greatest Hits on the PlayStation and a heavily imported title for Sega’s Saturn system. This isn’t the Saturn version, which features an extra playable character and other goodies, but the PlayStation original along with a slightly modernized version with some of the typical Live enhancements (touched-up graphics and sound).

The Castlevania franchise is 20 years old now, and it is this release that really stands out as a solid mark in-between the earlier gems and the latter pretty-goods. This is where the series stepped out from the standard primary weapon and changeable secondary and really evolved its initial smattering of role-playing and action-title elements. Alucard, the game’s protagonist, can level up, protect himself with armor on his various quarters, learn and unleash a variety of spells, and even defend himself with a shield. The pace is also much quicker with the standard walking speed increased, as well as a defensive back step that zips Alucard away from oncoming foes. Subsequent titles have failed to really go beyond Symphony, and many, if not all, have failed to actually live up to its watermark setting quality.

This is an absolute must for any gamer. Even if you weren’t around for its heyday and think it lacks the age to offer a true nostalgia trip, being nothing more than an archaic platformer too new for its own good, you would be missing out on one of Konami’s best. It’s a bigger download than most, requiring a 512 MB memory card if you go that route, but it’s absolutely worth it. This is the definitive 2D action platformer.

Download: Yes.