Old School Lane celebrates the 15th anniversary of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

During the late 80’s and mid 90’s, the Castlevania series from Konami were incredible action packed side scrolling action video games created by Konami. The adventures involving the Belmont family taking down Dracula every 100 years was always fun to go through. The Castlevania trilogy on the NES are classics (not so much Simon’s Quest for me), the Game Boy games were okay, Super Castlevania IV on the SNES was a masterpiece, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Castlevania: Dracula X) on the SNES was okay, and Castlevania: Bloodlines from the Sega Genesis was different, yet familiar to the series. All the games followed the same formula, until March 20, 1997, one game brought a breath of fresh air to the series and changed the Castlevania series forever: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.



The game takes place in 1797, 5 years after the events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood when Richter Belmont defeated Dracula. The game starts from the final level from Rondo of Blood in which Ricther defeats Dracula and saved his girlfriend Annette after she was kidnapped. Playing the final level was a lot of fun and not as frustrating hard as Rondo of Blood was. Listening to the voice acting and dialogue now is a bit cheesy, but it came out when voice acting was still kind of new, so no complaints. It just makes it nostalgic and funny to listen to.




Afterwards, Richter disappears and Maria, a vampire hunter and Annette’s younger sister who was a playable character in Rondo of Blood, enters the castle to find him. You play as Alucard, the son of Dracula who enters the castle to find Richter and would defeat many enemies along the way, including his father and the priest Shaft. In the beginning, Death takes Alucard’s weapons and powers away and you start leveling him up again as your adventure begins.



What made Symphony of the Night differ from the other Castlevania games is the gameplay. It combines RPG elements to strengthen Alucard with weapons, unique powers, and health when you defeat the enemies. Also, the castle’s librarian sells you items to help you along the game, which becomes very helpful at times.



It also has a huge non-linear feel in which the castle has dead ends, multiple saving rooms, rooms that you can’t enter without requiring a certain powerup, and a large map to find your way around. It got many of these ideas from the Metroid series, which created a new video game genre called Metroidvania.



Alucard meets up with Maria and eventually find out that Richter had been brainwashed and is now the current leader of the castle. Maria begs Alucard to find a way to save Richter without killing him and Alucard agrees. With that in mind, the adventure continues as Alucard defeats many other enemies and goes through many other obstactles.



The final fight with Dracula is definitely one of the most difficult in the series, but one of the most epic. I mean, look at this and tell me that this is not epic. I dare you!



The game was praised from critics and gamers as the best Castlevania game in the series with its fresh gameplay, amazing graphics, and epic soundtrack. In a time when 3D games was becoming popular with games like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night showed us that 2D games could still be epic and exciting.



Many Castlevania games, especially the handheld games from the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and DS took direction from Symphony of the Night and used the same Metroidvania gameplay such as Harmony of Dissonance, Dawn of Sorrow, Aria of Sorrow, Order of Ecclesia, Portrait of Ruin, and more.



This game is available for the PS1, Sega Saturn, XBOX Live, PSN, and the PSP. If you own any of these versions, I recommened that you play it tonight to celebrate this awesome masterpiece. If you’ve never played this game, own it, or haven’t played it in a while, why are you reading this? Go get it right now! Go play it! You will not regret it.



To celebrate this game more, here are some of my favorite videos talking about Symphony of the Night:

The Angry Video Game Nerd’s Castlevania Marathon part 4

Little Miss Gamer’s review of Symphony of the Night

Happy 15th anniversary, Symphony of the Night. Thanks for giving us so much happy memories with your amazing game.



That’s all for now. Thanks for hanging out with us at Old School Lane. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Old School Lane presents Kevin's Top 100 Favorite Animated Shows (59-50)

Hey everyone, welcome back. We’re reaching the half way point so let’s get to it.

59. Goof Troop (1992)



This Disney channel shows us what would Goofy’s life would be like if he had a son named Max and if his next door neighbor was the nasty, selfish Pete. Pete even had a wife named Peg, a daugher named Pistol, and a son named P.J. The episodes involving these characters going through some crazy situations are my favorites, especially the ones involving Max and P.J. The movies that takes place years after the show, A Goofy Movie and An Extremely Goofy Movie are really good. It’s also interesting to mention that even after Goofy graduates from college in An Extremely Goofy Movie, he works as a waiter in the show House of Mouse. I guess life isn’t easy for everyone, including a Disney character.



58. Darkwing Duck (1991)



This awesome spinoff of Ducktales takes us to the adventures of Drake Mallard as the kickass Darkwing Duck. This was the first Disney Afternoon cartoon that emphasized more on action than adventure and it reminded me of a lighter more Howard the Duck-like version of Batman: The Animated Series. Jim Cummings does, once again, an excellent job voicing this awesome main character. The addition of Launchpad McQuack from Ducktales and Drake’s adopted daughter Gosalyn made this show so hilarious. Let’s get dangerous!



57. Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers (1989)



Who would think that two tiny little chipmunks would be great detectives? Any case that you have, big or small, you can be sure that Chip and Dale, along with Monterey Jack, Gadget, and Zipper will be there to help you out as well as taking down the evil Fat Cat and his sidekicks. Not to mention that the theme song is catchy as hell.



56. My Pet Monster (1987)



This cartoon based on an awesome toy from the 80’s was definitely one not to miss. The story involves Monster living with a boy named Max. Whenever Monster wears his handcuffs, he turns into a stuffed animal. Max’s next door neighbor Mr. Hinkle suspects that Max is up to something, but doesn’t know what. There’s also another monster in the show named Beastur, who wants nothing more but to bring Monster back to their home world. One thing to mention is that the toy is now very rare and very expensive and I had always one, but I never got it. My idiot cousin had one, but he threw it away years ago. I wanted to kill him after I found out what he did.



55. Josie and the Pussycats (1970)



After Hanna Barbera released Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, there was so many ripoffs and clones of that show. One that was just as good as Scooby-Doo was Josie and the Pussycats, which was also created by Hanna Barbera. Based on the Archie comic strips, the Pussycats were a band composed of Josie, Valerie, Alan, Alexander, Alexandra, and their cat Sebastian who always end up solving mysteries in every location they go to perform. The songs are very catchy and memorable and the mysteries were always fun to solve along with them. One of my favorite is when they meet up with the cast of Scooby-Doo.



54. Arthur (1996)



This cartoon based on the books by Marc Brown transitioned very well. The episodes had all the characters from the books and fleshed them out more to unique, lovable, and memorable characters. Arthur is basically the every man, his younger sister D.W. is annoying, yet clever, Buster is the odd one who loves jokes, aliens, and food, Francine is the athletic one, and Binky is the tough, but lovable bully. I’m glad that Arthur was picked as #26 as TV Guide’s greatest cartoon characters of all time and PBS is still running episodes to this day.



53. The Ren and Stimpy Show (1991)



The Nickelodeon show that started it all in revolutioning mixing in adult humor and jokes to cartoons that we still see to this day. The episodes takes us to the crazy, zany lives of Ren and Stimpy. Billy West did an amazing job voicing both Ren and Stimpy and Jon Kricfausi did a good job voicing Ren during the first few episodes. The supporting cast were great and the guest voice actors such as Phil Hartman, Gilbert Gottfried, Rosie O’Donnell, Frank Zappa, and Mark Hamill were amazing. The memorable moments for me were the Happy Happy Joy Joy song, the Log song, Ask Dr. Stupid, and Powdered Toast Man. This show brought Nickelodeon on the map as the network to see for cartoons and still holds up very well. The MTV version of Ren and Stimpy sucks, don’t watch it by all means.



52. Tom and Jerry (1940)



What can be said about this cartoon that hasn’t been said before? Tom and Jerry are fantastic cartoon shorts that deal with the simple premise of a cat and mouse chasing each other and dealing blows with each other with violent action. What made it great still to this day is the violent slapstick humor, everytime I see Tom get hurt and he screams loud with pain, it cracks me up every time. Tom and Jerry Kids, the younger version of the characters, is also a good series if you grew up with it. The movies are crap, especially the first one. Cartoon Network continues to show these shorts still to this day. Why? Because they’re still really fun to watch.



51. Spiderman (1967 and 1994 versions)



With the new Spiderman movie coming out, it got me thinking of all the adaptations of this webslinging hero. What it came to the cartoons, the 1967 and the 1994 animated Spiderman cartoons were my favorites, so I’m putting both of them on the list. The 1967 animated series was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and it follows the story very well with the comic books taking place when Peter Parker first got his powers and becomes Spiderman. The voice casting is really good with Paul Soles voicing as Peter Parker/Spiderman. When Ralph Bakshi produced the series around the 2nd and 3rd season, it becomes really nice looking and action packed.



With the popular Batman: The Animated Series on air at the time, a lot of cartoons try to take it to the shows to a darker, more serious tone, especially ones based on superheroes. The 1994 Spiderman cartoon was one of them. Created once again by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, it takes place during Peter’s college years and his job at the Daily Bugle. All the classic Spiderman characters are back and more threatening than ever, especially my favorite Spiderman villain Venom. The episodes were packed with adventure, twists, and unexpected turns that made them fun to watch.



50. Superman/Superman: The Animated Series (1941) (1996)



Well, once again, there are so many adaptations based on the Man of Steel and I can’t choose which one I like the best, so I picked both the 1941 Max Fleischer cartoons and Superman: The Animated Series. Although it had only 17 episodes, this cartoon is highly recommended if you’re a fan of Superman. The animation was amazing for its time, it has some great action, and the voice acting was pretty good. Great quality from the same guy who animated the Popeye cartoons. If they had Superman and Popeye together fighting against Lex Luthor and Bluto, that would have been awesome!



Once again, capitalizing the popularity of Batman: The Animated Series, a more modern and serious adaptation of Superman was released in 1996. It takes us to the origins of Superman and the adventures with him fighting against Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid, and more. Tim Daly does a fantastic job voicing as Superman. Overall, this is another Superman cartoon you have to check out.



One time when I was at a comic book store, the owner had the original first issue of Superman from 1939 and he let me take a look at it. That moment was one of the greatest moments of my life and I enjoyed every minute of reading it that I wouldn’t replace anything in the world with.



We’ve reached the half way point and we’re going to dive in to some really fantastic cartoons as the countdown reaches to #1. Do you have any fond memories of these cartoons? Post it in the comments and let me know. Hope to see you around Old School Lane real soon. Thanks for reading.

-Kevin

Old School Lane presents Kevin's Top 100 Animated Shows (69-60)

Hey guys, welcome back to my list of my all time favorite cartoons. Let’s not waste any time, let’s get back to it.

69. The Little Lulu Show (1995)

Based on the 1935 comic strip by Marjorie Henderson Buell, this HBO cartoon follows Little Lulu and her best friend Thomas “Tubby” Thompkins as they go through their every day lives. In every episode, you get to see Lulu as a stand up comedian, which are always fun to watch. Although there was an anime version of Little Lulucalled Little Lulu and her Little Friends that was out in the 70’s, I like this HBO cartoon better. Also another thing to mention, I wished that Little Lulu had made a cameo appearance at Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

68. The Mr. Magoo Show (1960)

This is one cartoon that was truly unique for its time when Hanna Barbera was king of animation. The adventures of Quincy Magoo, a nearsighted, stubborn retiree was always fun to watch especially since he always had a streak of luck whenever he gets himself out of dangerous situations. Not really much to say except that, similar to Richie Rich, I loved Mr. Magoo’s cameo in the Metlife commercial.

Also the movie adaptation of Mr. Magoo was hilarious and Leslie Nielsen was perfect playing as Mr. Magoo.

67. The Mask: The Animated Series (1995)

In the 80’s and 90’s, we had a slew of animated shows based on movies. Some of them were epic and awesome, others just plain sucked. The Mask: The Animated Series is one of those awesome cartoons. Based on the 1994 movie starring Jim Carrey, which was based on the 1982 comic book, this cartoon had the same main characters, incorporated new memorable characters, and had the same hilarious humor from the movie. Although the show’s Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask wasn’t voiced by Jim Carrey, Rob Paulsen did a really good job in voicing this character. Also another character that was great was the main villain Pretorius, voiced by Tim Curry. Although that animated shows based on movies are a thing of the past, we can always remember the fond memories of some of the great cartoons we got from them. The Mask: The Animated Series was one of them.

66. Felix the Cat (1958)

Based on the original silent cartoon in 1919, this classic cat with his bag of tricks (literally) had a great animated series based on people, even including Felix’s friends trying to steal his bag for their selfish deeds. Although, admittedly this show is nowhere near as good as the classic shorts, but it’s still pretty good. Not much to say about this either, but two things. I really like the 1923 animated short “Felix in Hollywood” in which Felix and Charlie Chaplin were together.

Also, don’t watch the 1988 movie adapation. It sucks!

66. The Maxx (1995)

Based on the cult following comic book series, it follows the story of the Maxx, a homeless man who gets himself in jail constantly in the real world, but in the alternative reality known as The Outback, he protected the Jungle Queen from harm. In the real world, the Jungle Queen is a social worker named Julie Winters who bails the Maxx out of jail. An interesting thing to the storyline is that Julie is not aware of The Outback and that she’s the Jungle Queen in the alternative world, while the Maxx is well aware of both worlds. The main villain, Mr. Gone, is a sick rapist who has a connection with Julie. This sounds complicated, but it’s a interesting animated series and one of the best that MTV ever released.

64. Men in Black: The Series (1997)

Similar to The Mask: The Animated Series, Men in Black: The Series is a great animated show based on the movie, which was based on a comic book. All the characters from the movie are there, plus new ones, and each episode takes them through a mission involving with maintaining Earth’s safety from aliens. One thing to mention, I really think that Agent L is both kickass and hot! 

63. ALF: The Animated Series (1987)

Similar to Ed Grimley, this iconic 80’s character had his own animated show. This prequel to the NBC sitcom shows ALF in his home planet Melmac and the weird lifestyles and daily activities that they have. If you think that eating cats was odd, then how about trying to wrestle a clam to make it sing to prove your manhood. It kind of reminds me of Shrek and Fractured Fairy Tails in the way they have characters based on fairy tales. An interesting fact on this animated series was that ALF wasn’t even called ALF. His name was Gordon or Gordo by his friends, which makes sense since ALF stood for Alien Life Form and was called that by his Earth family, the Tanners. Overall, this cartoon is really fun to watch and definitely takes you back in the 80’s.

62. Pepper Ann (1997)

This Disney animated show perfectly shows what being a pre-teen was like in middle school in the late 90’s. The story of Pepper Ann involves with every day life involving with the main character Pepper Ann and her friends Milo Kamalani and Nicky Little. This show was so much better than Brand Spanking New Doug in every way. Also, I happen to have a thing for redheads. That’s an added bonus for me!

61. Recess (1997)

This Disney cartoon was like Rugrats for an older audience. It shows the perspective of 5 kids going through elementary school and recess with their stereotypical yet unique student friends, their kind hippie-like teacher, the uncaring principal, the ugly and mean Ms. Fincher, and her tattling student assistant Randall. But what made this show so great was the students had their own government , class system, and laws among the playground led by a 6th grader named King Bob.

The main characters were great; T.J. was the typical leader of the group, Vince was the athletic guy, Spinelli was the badass chick that we all wanted in our group of friends, Gretchen was the nerdy and witty girl, and Gus was the timid, small kid. Overall, it’s nice to look back at a time when Disney once gave us great animated shows as oppose to stupid pre-teen pop star girly shows of today. Today’s Disney Channel shows, well, it whomps! 

60. Pokemon (The Kanto Region) (1997)

Yes, I know. The Pokemon series is still going on and according to what Patricia said, there are now almost 700 Pokemon now? Holy crap, how does anyone keep track on all of them? Anyway, despite the many regions that Ash and his friends have visited and the Pokemon who resided there, my favorite will always be the very first season. The story starts off with Ash Ketchum, a 10-year-old boy who wishes to become a Pokemon master. Along the way, a girl named Misty and a boy named Brock accompany Ash on his journey to defeat 8 gym leaders, earn their badges, and head over to the Indigo League to get closer to achieving to be the best. My favorite episodes were the ones involving the psychic gym leader Sabrina. Whenever someone lost a battle with her, she shrinks them into doll size and puts them in her doll house. That was sick! 

This was one of the most popular anime shows in the late 90’s. In middle school, everyone watched the show and had their Game Boy Colors in their pockets to battle and trade Pokemon during lunchtime. If you didn’t have a Game Boy color with Pokemon Red, Blue, or Yellow, or even watched the show, you were considered a loser. Like Sonic the Hedgehog, this was one of the few cartoons based on video games that was considered good. Also the opening theme song was awesome! 

Do you have any fond memories of these cartoons? Post it in the comments and let us know. Until then, stay tuned as we finish the half way point of my favorite cartoons of all time. Hope to see you around Old School Lane real soon. Thanks for reading. 

-Kevin