Dice5: Can you elaborate some more on Symphony of the Night? Should I give it a try and how much do you recommend it?
SotN is basically
the metroidvania, in that it was the first Castlevania to basically be a Metroid game. I haven't actually played it, but I can wholeheartedly recommend the GBA Castlevania games Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow, and the DS games Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin.
Also, Super Metroid (SNES), Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission (GBA).
All of these consoles have well developed emulators and are perfectly playable on a decent PC. Consoles are the home of the Metroidvania and some of the best are console only so please don't limit yourself to native PC games.