Castlevania: Symphony of the Night hits different when it boots instantly in your browser. Released in 1997 on the Sony PlayStation, this metroidvania classic from Konami is ready the second you press start — no downloads, no setup.
It was directed and produced by Toru Hagihara, with Koji Igarashi acting as assistant director. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a 1997 action role-playing game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
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| Action | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| D-Pad Up | ↑ | D-Pad up |
| D-Pad Down | ↓ | D-Pad down |
| D-Pad Left | ← | D-Pad left |
| D-Pad Right | → | D-Pad right |
| ✕ Cross | G | Bottom face |
| ○ Circle | H | Right face |
| □ Square | T | Left face |
| △ Triangle | Y | Top face |
| L1 | E | Left shoulder |
| R1 | P | Right shoulder |
| L2 | R | Left trigger |
| R2 | O | Right trigger |
| Start | Enter | Start |
| Select | Space | Select |
| Left Stick Up | W | Analog up |
| Left Stick Down | S | Analog down |
| Left Stick Left | A | Analog left |
| Left Stick Right | D | Analog right |
| L3 (stick press) | X | Stick press |
| Right Stick Up | I | Right stick |
| Right Stick Down | K | Right stick |
| Right Stick Left | J | Right stick |
| Right Stick Right | L | Right stick |
| R3 (stick press) | , | Stick press |
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How to Play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Before you dive in, skim the mapping below: keyboard on the left, controller equivalents on the right.
The Story Behind Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
While the unpatched version on Xbox Live Arcade still featured "I Am the Wind" as the game's closing music, a later patch replaced it with "Admiration Towards the Clan", the closing song in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence due to licensing reasons. Symphony of the Night was re-released as a "PSone Classics" title on the PlayStation Network store on July 19, 2007, in North America, on December 16, 2010, in Japan, and on December 12, 2012, in Europe for use with the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation Portable, and the PlayStation Vita. An in-progress prototype of the game was discovered and released onto the internet in 2022.
She worked on the game as a character designer, conceptualizing the game's main and supporting cast. In 2009, Konami released Castlevania: Symphony of the Night alongside Super Contra and Frogger on the Konami Classics Vol. Changes were made to these initial ideas, and the project became Symphony of the Night.
How Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Plays
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night incorporates elements found in role-playing video games. The player must acquire a particular item during gameplay and use it while fighting Richter in order to free him of Shaft's influence. As the player uncovers more of the castle, a map is updated to show progress.
Alucard has four other attributes: strength, the power of his physical attack; constitution, his resilience to damage inflicted by the monsters; intelligence, the power of magical attacks and sub-weapons; and luck, the frequency that items are dropped by enemies as well as the chance to score a critical hit. Alucard may cast eight different spells, which requires the player to input directional combinations and will use up varying amounts of his magic points. Symphony of the Night uses 2-dimensional side-scrolling gameplay.
Why Players Still Load It Up
The same year it was released, it was ranked the 12th best console video game of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly, which said it "is not only the best 2-D game on the PlayStation, it's one of the best, period." It appeared on GameSpots "The Greatest Games of All Time" list. 35 on its list of "The 100 Best Games To Play Today", stating "When you get to that moment when the castle turns on its head, you see that it's a work of genius". GameZone ranked it the best Castlevania title ever made.
It was ranked 4th place on EGM's list of 100 greatest games of all time, and was the highest PS1 game on the list. GameSpot hailed it as "easily one of the best games ever released and a true testament to the fact that 2D gaming is not dead by any stretch of the imagination." Computer and Video Games commented, "This may be old-skool style, but it feels like the freshest thing of the year." Next Generation stated that "Symphony of the Night has classic written all over it" and called it "spectacular" for a 2D side-scrolling platformer in the age of 32- and 64-bit games. The game has continued to receive critical acclaim, and it has appeared on several other "greatest game" lists.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night — Frequently Asked Questions
How many players does Castlevania: Symphony of the Night support?
This browser version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night handles 1 player(s).
Can I play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night online for free?
Yes — Castlevania: Symphony of the Night runs directly in your browser on this page. There is nothing to download or install; the game boots in the player above.
Do I need a controller to play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night?
A gamepad is optional. The keyboard mapping shown on this page works immediately, and plugging in a USB or Bluetooth controller switches the player over on its own.
Who developed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night?
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was developed by Konami and published by Konami.