Reader Discussion: What's Your Favorite Castlevania Game?

Yesterday we mentioned that it was Castlevania's 25th anniversary in a post about the franchise's mysterious future. We may not know what Konami has planned next for this legendary series, but that won't stop us from celebrating its wonderful past.

So let's talk about our favorite Castlevania game. Personally, I'm going to have to go with the easiest, most obvious, yet still clearly best answer: Symphony of the Night. While I have a lot of appreciation for the series' NES roots as well as its most recent God of War-esque interpretation, Symphony of the Night was a system seller for me. It was one of the first games I purchased for my then-new PlayStation, and it made the high cost of the hardware oh-so-worth it.

More importantly, unlike many games from that era, Symphony of the Night holds up today. I recently replayed it on Xbox Live Arcade, and it's still an incredibly fun, solid, and (if you're going for 100+%) lengthy experience. The Metroid style of exploration was refined in future handheld Castlevania games, but I still don't think it was ever done quite as well as in this first attempt.

Now it's your turn! Do you agree with me? Or do you think the 8-bit original deserves a higher spot on the pedestal? Maybe one of the DS games? Maybe even -- gasp -- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest? Let us know which one you love the most and why in the comments!