Single-segment speed run of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night done on February 14 2005. Video quality is rather blurry because of an improper deinterlace.

Author's comments:
I know there's a lot of comments here. But, if you watch the run and have any critisism, comments, suggestions, or inquiries, please read this first. Thanks!

-----RUN ABSTRACT/INTRO INFO-----

Hello; my name is Adam Grise, and this is my single-segment speed run for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for Playstation. The run is with Alucard (as opposed to Richter), and goes all the way through the inverted castle whilst ignoring percentage. I felt that this was the most thorough version of a speed run that I could make for this game without doing a 200.6% game, 100% relics game, or something of that sort. This run fights the ACTUAL last boss of the game, so it feels finished, as opposed to simply doing the regular castle and ending. The length of the movie file is 62:31, from the title screen to the end of the credits. Since this game doesn't show a completion time when you revisit the "Load File" screen, this seems to be the best way to measure the length of the run. Also, I didn't want to have to pause the game right at the end and ruin the intensity (or my concentration, for that matter) just to look at the clock.

I had two major motives behind making a speed run of this game. One is that I love the game, simply enough. The other is that I have yet to see an Alucard run for the game, not to mention a single-segment one.

Note: Through the rest of the comments, I'm going to put an asterisk in parenthesis like this... (*) ...if it's something I'd really like input on. Of course, I'd love input for stuff OTHER than just the noted parts, but these things really stood out to me as things that could be improved on my part. Okay? Okay, coo'.

-----PERSONAL DISCLAIMER/CRITICISM PROTECTION-----

A few quick disclaimers, here, before I get into the main course of the run description. First off, by no means am I a great action video game player; I'm more into RPG's, and games that don't require you to have consistent reaction times (okay, I just get nervous when I know I'm recording... *shudders*). I do have to admit that there is a fair share of flaws in the 62 and a half minutes of game time. In addition, this is the first run I've ever made. I'm not educated in the computer world, but still did all of the transferring to computer and encoding by myself (I'm really stubborn and like to do stuff myself; I like to be self-perpetuating, without having to depend on others to complete some sort of task, even though I might suck at it... Hee, hee). In short, the video itself is not the highest quality, and doesn't look the best, but it's still there.

I intend to do another video in the future; this one was basically to get us started with this awesome game. I say "us" because I'd love to have some allies in perfecting a run for this game ("allies," or "competition," however you want to look at it). As such, I'd love to hear what people have to say about the run. Criticism? Bring it. I want to see an awesome run of this game sometime down the road, whether it's made by myself or someone else. Please, contact me at (trogdor_and_the_burninators ÀÒ yahoo.com) with any criticism, questions, comments, or inquiries.

-----THE RUN DESCRIPTION-----

All right; now for the beefy part of the comments section. I'd like to say that yes, there are a lot of things to be improved, mostly with getting hit by stupid things or falling in dumb places. Most of those "mistakes" are relatively obvious, so I won't go into that. I also need to work on effective and swift menu navigation.

From the start, it's obvious that one travels more quickly while using the backdash with Alucard, so I do that as much as possible. That just becomes the natural way to travel, which can potentially make things more difficult when encountering enemies or jumping accurately, but is clearly more effective in time. Things go pretty well, up to the point when I get nailed by that Axe Knight in the Marble Gallery like 3 times in a row. Sheesh, how embarassing... (Note to self... No more comments on silly mistakes that I'll fix next time...) Next, I love that I got down to 6 health while fighting the Doppleganger... That is just too fun. I really gotta get better at fighting that guy (*).

Moving along... In the center clock room, I take the time to collect the Alucart equipment, as well as collect some hearts, while I wait for the next minute to pass so I can get into Olrox's Quarters. It is possible to make it to the clock room within the previous minute, so the statue is out of the way, but I think I'd collect the Alucart equipment anyway. I equip it to increase my luck later on to get the Cassaegrim more quickly (which I'll explain further in a bit). Also, the Alucart Sword seems the most effective weapon along with fists, since they are both so quick in comparison to other weapons, though not as powerful per hit. I don't know what other weapon(s) I'd use up to the Cassaegrim... (*)

A side note... I tried to utilize Library Cards as much as possible. I only purchase one extra, which I use immediately after picking up the Soul of Bat. Other than that, 2 other Library Cards are conveniently placed in certain places in the game, almost to indicate to you where you should use them. Next, once I had the Soul of Bat, I tried to get to a happy medium between using the Bat Smash (for speed's sake) and keeping enough magic points for other abilities (like the Gravity Boots, spells, Mist Form, etc.).

Probably my proudest part of the whole run is being able to get through the Catacombs' spike room without the Echo of Bat. It was probably also the most frustrating and time-consuming part, as well, as far as practicing the run goes. =)

Gotta get the Gravity Boots. They're just too cool. Even if they weren't as necessary to save time, who wouldn't want a relic that can make you jump like one of those little plastic toy rockets? You know, the ones where you put a little water inside and then use a pump to but a bunch of air pressure in it? Man, so cool...

Holy Glasses, Belmont, inverted castle, blah, blah, blah... Goes pretty well here.

Now, I take the side track to get the Cassaegrim, which enables me to actually beat Dracula at the end, on top of save a ton of time on other bosses. I have to be honest; I just about crapped when I saw that sword fall on the ground after 1 Schmoo kill, espeically since I FORGOT TO EVEN EQUIP THE ALUCART EQUIPMENT TO RAISE MY LUCK! Normally, I go to that second room in the Long Library because it's easier to kill the Schmoos repeatedly from that position, thus increasing the chances of getting the sword quickly. But, the quick drop is pretty much what motivated me to put this run up in public domain, since it cut down my time so much.

From there, things go pretty smoothly all the way to the end, outside of a few stray hits from monsters and what not. I suppose it's difficult to have things go wrong once you have the Cassaegrim. =)

-----CONCLUSION-----

Phew, I said a lot of stuff. Anyway, thanks for checking out the run. Do keep in mind that this is a work in progress, and this is far from the best run. I just hope that this sets off some motivation for others to give the run a try. I'll also work at it. Hope you enjoy.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews