Some people love Mario. Some people love Zelda. Some people love Sonic. But when it comes to picking my favorite video game series of all time, I would have to say that I`m partial to the Belmont clan. While not every Castlevania game has been a must-own experience, there have been enough amazing adventures to keep this franchise front and center. Castlevania is one of the few 2D games that is not afraid to stay that way, a series that knows what it can do and does it well. I love Castlevania.

With a lot of long-running game franchises it`s hard to pinpoint their greatest moment. Was Mario at his peak with Super Mario 64, or was it years earlier with Super Mario Bros. 3? Is The Twilight Princess really better than Ocarina of Time? Can anything top Sonic the Hedgehog 3? These are questions that video game fans have debated for many years; they are questions that have no easy answer. But that`s not a problem with Castlevania; there is one game that stands above the rest. That game is Symphony of the Night, the sixth game in the series and the first Castlevania to hit the PlayStation. On its tenth anniversary Alucard, Dracula and all of the creepy characters from Symphony of the Night have returned to infest your Xbox 360. And regardless of whether you missed it the first time or love it unconditionally, this Xbox Live Arcade version of Symphony of the Night is a must own game.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night successfully changed the way we played the series, going from a level-based structure to an open world style that rewarded you for exploring every nook and cranny of the castle. Games like Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow have all taken this open world formula and tried to recreate the magic of Symphony of the Night. Some have come close, but Symphony still stands above the rest thanks to its creepy visuals, amazing level designs, and involving story. This is the game that all other Castlevania games aspire to be.

Symphony of the Night picks up right at the end of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, where Richter Belmont, the legendary vampire hunter, is fighting to defeat Dracula and his menacing castle once and for all. Even though Richter is successful, Dracula`s castle reappears several years later. Convinced that something is wrong, Alucard (the lovechild of Dracula and a human woman) sets out to uncover the mysteries of this castle and defeat whatever it is that is lurking inside. Along the way Alucard starts to put the pieces together and realize that the villain of this story may not be Dracula at all, but instead Richter. It`s up to Alucard to determine what is going on and put a stop to it.

At first it looks like Alucard is ready to rush in and save the day, but it won`t take long before the Grim Reaper shows up and steals all of our hero`s equipment. This means that you have to start from scratch and earn back all of your abilities, weapons and spells. To do this you must explore a gigantic castle that has all sorts of secret passages, locked doors and creepy enemies waiting to kill you. What set this Castlevania apart from all of the other games in the series is that this time around you could go where ever you wanted, essentially carving your own path trying to find the items you need to go even deeper into the castle. While a lot of the game is just waiting for you to explore, you will have to deal with a lot of areas you can`t access until you get a certain relic, earn a new ability or wear a ce...