There are basically three things I care about in this world: fighting, metal, and video games. And of those three, it’s video games that I REALLY care about. I’m not talking about Halo, GTA, Call of Duty, and whatever else your little cousin plays. I’m into some really embarrassing, truly hardcore nerd shit — if names like Darius, Fire Emblem, TwinBee, Tactics Ogre, Front Mission, Parodius, Super Robot Taisen, and Famicom Disk System mean anything to you, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. 1997′s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (for Playstation) is not only one of my favorite Metroidvania games, but has an incredible soundtrack that combines the best of J-rock, cheesy gothic metal, a dash of techno, and symphonic classical/baroque. Think of it as what Type O Negative might sound like if they were all weird computer programmers from Japan instead of metalheads from Brooklyn.

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No, not really, of course. But our hetero life mates at Metal Injection found this 8-bit interpretation of the band’s “Grand Conjuration,” and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make me wanna break out the classic Nintendo and kill some vampires with Simon for awhile. Check it out:

-AR