No other series quite conjures the atmosphere associated with Konami's Castlevania series. Hearkening back to the days of the original Castlevania on the NES, the combination of classic monsters, from Frankenstein's monster to the Price of Darkness himself, coupled with a decidedly Japanese feel made for quite the gameplay experience, and luckily for us, the classics just keep coming. The latest in the series (sorry, while the 3D Castlevania games on the N64 are adequate, they just don't carry on the tradition), Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is the first to not feature a whip- weilding member of the Belmont clan as it's protagonist, but rather the all-too-vampiric son of Dracula, Alucard, last seen helping Trevor Belmont in Castlevania III on the NES. Playing more like Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, or even Super Metroid on the SNES, Symphony of the Night adds some RPG elements like the ability to gain in strength by levelling up, equipping items and an occasional NPC. While the gameplay is a bit different than previous games, this is a good thing, as it adds depth to the already tried and true play mechanics of the series.