Status epeternally Aug 26, 2025
Finished with 189.2%. Would have gotten four stars if not for the inverted castle's messy level design, but that ended the game on a sour note for me.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)
Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
PlayStation · PlayStation 3 · PlayStation Portable · Sega Saturn · Xbox 360
4.51 from 2372 ratings · #27 top rated on Grouvee
4781 members have it in their collection · 172 playing now · 1288 backlogged · 970 wish listed
How long? Main story 10h · with extras 11h · 100% 15h (from 61 logged playthroughs)
Details
- Developers
- Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
- Publishers
- Konami
- Genres
- Adventure, Platform, Role-playing (RPG)
- Themes
- Action, Horror, Open world
- Franchises
- Castlevania
- Series
- Castlevania, Castlevania: Dracula X
Release dates
- Mar 20, 1997 (Full Release) (Japan) PlayStation
- Oct 02, 1997 (Full Release) (North_America) PlayStation
- Nov 01, 1997 (Full Release) (Europe) PlayStation
- Mar 21, 2007 (Full Release) (North_America) Xbox 360
- Mar 21, 2007 (Full Release) (Europe) Xbox 360
- Jul 19, 2007 (Digital Compatibility Release) (North_America) PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
- Jul 25, 2007 (Full Release) (Japan) Xbox 360
- Dec 16, 2010 (Digital Compatibility Release) (Japan) PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
- Dec 12, 2012 (Digital Compatibility Release) (Europe) PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
Also available on
- Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku (1998) · SAT
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1998) · Handheld Electronic LCD
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (2007) · PSP
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (2018) · PS4
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (2020) · ANDR, iOS
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night · GCOM
Related
Bundled in
- Konami Classics Vol. 1 (Dec 2009) · X360
Featured in lists
Rating distribution
5 stars
1544
4 stars
563
3 stars
207
2 stars
44
1 star
14
Community All Reviews Statuses
Status Gangreen Jun 10, 2025
Man, this game sucked me in again. I don’t know what it is that draws me to replay it every single time I touch it. It has such great enemies and character design and atmosphere. The early game is pretty linear to show you the ropes and then opens up into standard metroidvania exploration.
On the flipside it has a …
Man, this game sucked me in again. I don’t know what it is that draws me to replay it every single time I touch it. It has such great enemies and character design and atmosphere. The early game is pretty linear to show you the ropes and then opens up into standard metroidvania exploration.
On the flipside it has a ton of bullshit: Taking away all your powers at the beginning of the game, having you pick up relics to do the most basic things such as show the enemy name, hearts don't actually heal you, flying medusa heads that turn you to stone in a vertical section that you can fall from easily.
There’s this one screen in the upper castle that has four bridges that collapse as soon as you touch them and each time you fall down and have to traipse all the way back to the beginning, climb the stairs and do it over again. Ridiculous.
Status Mattroid_Prime Aug 18, 2024
Finally got my hands on a copy, it's lookin good
Status Hikaruboom Aug 12, 2024
Beat this today for the first time. This, AoS, and OoE were the last metroidvanias I needed to play. Really good game besides Alucard's walking speed and some clunky design.
Status travisyager Dec 3, 2023
I've played it a few times... I'm sure, in it's time, it was quite fun. However, when you die, you have to start over. And in today's age of gaming, starting over, just isn't going to work. What they've have learned over time, was that when the game ended like this, most people never saw the programming past a certain …
Read moreI've played it a few times... I'm sure, in it's time, it was quite fun. However, when you die, you have to start over. And in today's age of gaming, starting over, just isn't going to work. What they've have learned over time, was that when the game ended like this, most people never saw the programming past a certain point. So all their hard work and dedication went unnoticed. Now, what is also called, "Hand Holding", allows those of us who are not quite as dedicated (I mean really, if you're an adult with adult responsibilities) can experience all the content that was created to enjoy.
Read less
Status BadBoyBule Feb 20, 2023
Once again got around breezing through this game. This time on Xbox Series X, which was a nice version. It may not have the CGI cutscenes (which are pretty forgettable) but it has the original voice acting (which is unforgettable). Went my way to even do all the achievements. They weren't that hard to get though.
After 25 or so …
Once again got around breezing through this game. This time on Xbox Series X, which was a nice version. It may not have the CGI cutscenes (which are pretty forgettable) but it has the original voice acting (which is unforgettable). Went my way to even do all the achievements. They weren't that hard to get though.
After 25 or so years, this game still manages to impress me in many ways. The amount of cool detail this game has is just crazy. It's impressive how many enemies have some unique behaviour that they pull rarely or in specific conditions. Skelerangs cower in fear when you get close, Dhurons get charge their rapiers with a lightning bolt, Owl Knights mourn the loss of their bird if you kill that before them and so on. The same goes with the weapons. Of course there's a lot of basic weapons with just one attack. But then there's Fist of Tulkas that two very different special attacks. And Shield Rod must be the devs' favourite based on how much stuff that weapon can pull off.
This game has been now rereleased a couple of times but I would still love a deluxe version that would through in some nice extras. Like a hard mode. Or the Saturn content that has never been rereleased.
Status thekingnoot Nov 11, 2022
When you finally get a Crissaegrim and you accidentally backdash out of the room before picking it up 😭
Status thekingnoot Oct 24, 2022
Again with the countless back-dashing. It will never get old :)
Status kotenoru Oct 18, 2022
Increíble. Ha sido mi primer Castlevania y no puedo expresar como lo he disfrutado. Lo había empezado varias veces y nunca era la adecuada, está sin embargo he llegado al 200%. Los diferentes finales, la sensación de ser fuerte y aún así ser poca cosa para algunos enemigos me ha atrapado. Jugaré a más, pero temo haber empezado por el …
Read moreIncreíble. Ha sido mi primer Castlevania y no puedo expresar como lo he disfrutado. Lo había empezado varias veces y nunca era la adecuada, está sin embargo he llegado al 200%. Los diferentes finales, la sensación de ser fuerte y aún así ser poca cosa para algunos enemigos me ha atrapado. Jugaré a más, pero temo haber empezado por el mejor.
Read less
Status MagwitchOo Jul 10, 2020
I was playing Castlevania Symphony of the night and managed to get myself stuck in a deadend and the only exit is guarded by an armored knight that would require 81 hits to kill while i am down to 1hp.
Status Gangreen Mar 5, 2020
Only $3 on iOS! It has been a long time since I played this game. This is my favorite comfortable but ratty old shirt that will will never look worn out (at least not in my eyes). The graphics are quite dated compared to "modern pixel art games".
Heard lots of bad things about the touch controls. I can't imagine …
Only $3 on iOS! It has been a long time since I played this game. This is my favorite comfortable but ratty old shirt that will will never look worn out (at least not in my eyes). The graphics are quite dated compared to "modern pixel art games".
Heard lots of bad things about the touch controls. I can't imagine playing it without a controller. Even with a controller the button mapping is odd: flip the right thumbstick up for the map? Still I am not deterred.
