Symphony of the Night

I purchased Castlevania: SotN when it became available in the Marketplace. Up until I picked up Guitar Hero that was the only game I was playing on my 360. This is by far, the best Live Arcade game available. The depth of this game, and sheer value, is light years ahead of what is currently available in the Arcade. And the 800 MS points it costs is a slap in the face to any other game available for more, because none come close to matching SotN.

I still own my original copy of SotN for the Playstation. And it is the original release, not the Greatest Hits follow-up. I remember playing through that game back in '98 and having a great time. I completed about 198% I believe. Since then though, I haven't touched it. For a short time I contemplated playing through it again on the PS2, during a time when no good games were coming out, but I never got around to it. Now that it has been released on Live Arcade, with Achievements and slightly enhanced visuals, I decided to give it another go.

And wow, I think I am enjoying the game more this time around than the first time I played it. I am completely hooked. It truly deserves its title as one of the greatest game of all time.

The game controls perfectly and the progression and advancement of your character is fantastic. There is nothing better than coming accross a new weapon, item, or special ability. Or backtracking to an area previously visited with new abilities in hand and reaching previous inaccesible areas. It is fantastic!