"Happy 20th Anniversary!"

Words can barely express my joy!

Castlevania has always been a niche favourite, a series of action-adventure games that officially started in 1986 until present day 2006. A dedicated fan base has developed over these past 2 decades, but never amounting to the proportions seen by market leaders Mario and Sonic, Zelda and Final Fantasy. Castlevania encompasses a rich timeline involving the bitter feud between humanity's saviour, usually a Belmont, versus the armies of darkness helmed in most instances by the lord Dracula.

Portrait of Ruin is the latest chapter of this grand saga, exclusive to the Nintendo DS. It follows in the foundational footsteps laid down by its predecessor, Dawn of Sorrow. But where that game was merely an upgrade of the final GBA title, this one absolutely shatters how we have previously seen Castlevania; some of the best 2D graphics ever, accompanied by a stellar soundtrack, customisation going through the roof, the longest and most fairly challenging quest, huge fanservice all over the place - wow... just wow!

Visuals - 10
Sound & Music - 10
Gameplay - 10
Lasting Power - 10 (6-10 hours to obtain the best end, with just the main characters that is...)
Replayability - 10
Difficulty - 8

Vampire Killer? - 10!
VERDICT - 10/10

If looks could kill, this game would be pretty darn empty!
Castlevania has predominantly been a 2D side-scroller. We were promised some more 3D elements earlier this year, but it seems that in the end the choice was to focus on its core 2D assets. This was a very good move on Konami's part. Not only does this game paint some of the most varied, crisp and detailed backgrounds seen yet, but the animations for each of the main characters, as well as nearly all of the enemies, are brilliantly captured and really bring those sprites to life. Some of the enemy death animations in particular look fantastic with crumbling bits, degenerating corpses and of course spectacular explosions.

The special effects deserve special mention. With a vast array of spells at your disposal, along with all the dual switching going on (explained later), the screen gets absolutely chaotic at times. Your visual senses will be amazed at the graphical splendour, and at the same time nearly everything goes on with nary a hitch in the framerate. It does drop slightly when too much goes on (yes it does get that hectic!), but the "slo-mo" effect actually makes these scenes have more impact, albeit inadvertently!

Best of the Best
The music of Castlevania has offered some of the most memorable and addictive tunes ever seen in a video game. Past classics are ingrained into every fan's mind, and many of the newer offerings have been just as worthy. It is definitely very hard to top the melodies of this franchise. Here we have a soundtrack which is a great mix of old (remixes) and new, and of relatively good audio quality, but after having listened to it so much in the past month and finally having the chance to play the game to match sound and scenario, I must say that this is arguably the best selection of music to grace a series steeped in such astounding quality.

The sound complements the work of Yamane and Koshiro as per usual. You've got all your usual grunts and war cries yet again, this time with more actual speaking when announcing spells and such. And for the first time with a portable game (I think) we have full dual language tracks! That's right, over 250 samples in your preference of Japanese or English. And the beautiful thing is that both of them are performed to a high standard as well.

Hmm, this looks different
If you have played previous Castlevania titles (2D of course) then you have a general idea of what to expect. If you haven't yet, this title will overwhelm you moreso. Essentially you explore a big castle, defeating all sorts of enemies along the way, finding relics to give you special abilities, and using these abilities to help you navigate further and further, boss by boss, until you finally reach Dracula (or some wannabe) himself. This style of play has been coined the "Castleroid".

But Portrait of Ruin changes more than just a few things. The main castle is actually the smallest yet, approximately 3/5 the size of its predecessors. But there's a catch. Throughout the dark, musty environments you will encounter magical portraits which will transport you to various locales, including a sandy desert, a city torn, a forested mansion and some sort of freak fun-house. These house complete areas in their own right and offer a nice change of decor from the usual castle that we are so used to being stuck in now.

More action, less searching
There isn't too much in the way of "puzzle solving" in the portrait areas; most of your key tasks will be carried out in the main castle. There is most definitely a tendency towards action over exploration here. But that doesn't mean the latter is not there, it just means the focus is on stuff you actually want to do. The rooms are much larger this time too, and there is finally a lot of platforming to be done! This Castleroid feels like the closest to the classic Castlevania titles out of all of them. There are still no instant deaths, but a missed jump due to a cunning enemy's attack or your own error sometimes brings you down right to the very bottom of a tall room, even worse is when you are knocked down into another with more dangers to be had!

It goes without saying that the level design has seen some considerable improvements. There are still generic rooms, but then there are also proportionally more complex architecture as well. This is evident especially in the pyramid stages (Sandy Grave being my fave level) and the Nation of Fools; here you have rooms oriented normally, inverted and even sideways!

I think the biggest improvement are the amount of hazards thrown at you. In these new-generation Castlevania's, the difficulty stems from the enemies. Portrait of Ruin brings back the charm of the old-skool (and the oft-bashed N64 games) with a deathtrap dungeon style of sorts. You really will need some good reflexes as you make your way through. The more complex level design coupled with some tricky enemy patterns will make you react in some interesting ways. And then there are always other dangers such as falling boulders, swinging scythes, and even a train(!) to look out for. Most of the time you will need to be on your toes, and if you have a live fast, play fast mantra like myself, you will get an awesome adrenaline rush for free!

2 people vs. the world
This Castleroid features the similar item/weapon customisation of old. Together with levelling up, this gives the games a quasi-RPG style. There has always been a gimmick in each of these iterations, and here we have 2 main ones.

I'll start light and begin with the new skill system. It sort of follows Dawn of Sorrow's soul system in that some enemies will drop skills which you can use in your own battles. You can also find them in hard to reach areas or buy them at exorbitant prices. This offers more flexibility obviously. These skills can then be upgraded by using them to defeat enemies, eventually mastering them to grant you a more powerful version. There are also a whole host of magical spells to learn and these can be incredibly devastating, especially the Dual Crushes (I'm looking at the knife crush here).

As for the highlight of the show, no doubt you may already be aware of the partner system. You can control one of the main characters, calling in your comrade to aid you with a set skill or ability. You can switch places instantly at nearly any time too. If you would like to, you can have you partner follow you close behind and the AI will do a competent job in supporting your attacks and following your example. Everything is performed at a very fast pace, and initially the complexity may see you do a lot of things you never meant to do. It takes a good 1-2 hours to get the hang of it, and even then there is still a lot of room for improvement. But to get the best ending, the game will take some time, and there is additional replay via new game +, hard difficulties, and other duos to choose from. The point is that there is a lot of fun to be had with the dual mechanic (heh wonder if IGA was inspired by the Dual Screen!) even after you finally attain mastery of the art of switching.

Tag-team some pwnage!
Boss rushing has become a core feature of the Castlevania games as of late. Here we also see the introduction of co-op play in a series first (minus the forgotten previous effort). Through a wireless or WiFi connection you can take on the swarms of darkness, just you and another, to bring about some seriously awesome human pwnage. Wireless courses are the same as for the single player courses, but during the match you can't pause (duh!) WiFi only allows for one short pre-set course, and only the 2 main protagonists are selectable at that. It is fun when you don't have anyone around locally and feel like a good bashing.

WiFi connection speeds are alright; faster than Mario Kart, slower than Tetris. During battles you will experience some lag, but it's not too bad actually considering the pace of it all. It's particularly interesting to see what other people around the world have equipped, but other than that, this mode is relatively short-lived. I've heard of word that an online leaderboard is to be posted up, but as yet I have not heard official confirmation. I did achieve a sub-1 minute time with someone yesterday though!

Wirelessly the experience is much more invigourating, if not broke. Here you can choose your character from the selection you have unlocked (7 in total) and this mode will allow you and a friend to mix and match some interesting combinations; 2 belmonts? All girls? Axe Armor and a cute lil' girl? You betcha! The course are more lengthy, challenging and heaps of fun as you can communicate freely with each other to dictate strategies. If only the sisters weren't so overpowered, but hey, it helps with getting the fast times required to earn some special items eh? (Stella vs. Legion is crazy!)

1000%!
And so comes the end of my analysis. There is just way too much to cover in one reading session and so I tried to focus on the most relevant points possible. The game is big, 1000% big if you catch my drift. The main game clocks in at about 1.5x the size of the Castleroids before it, but then with the bonus character modes, secret battle arena, boss rush modes, and of course endless co-opting, in all you have a game that will last you a very long time. Being a portable, and not a slow-paced, story-focused, grinding RPG goes to show the extent of its quality and quantity, both of which are dually expressed in spades.

There are a lot of things I would have liked to dive into further, including the all the minor, but worthwhile improvements made all over, the nifty quests, the level designs (oops covered that already!), but there really is too much! The boss battles I will leave for you to enjoy, which you definitely will. All I'll say is that the Rondo Duo vs. the Double D's is the best battle I've experienced in a video game ever!

As soon as it was released (...) me and a few others literally went mad over it. The excitement was a thrilling rush, and I will always remember the week of the 15th of November for the rest of my life. I'd like to thank the wise Nyst, the brash DarkZV2Beta, the supportive SeraphimValmar, and ChibiMaddiChan, Gunlord, Sagat_Kane, TheGrandFinale, and many others in the Castlevania community here at GameFAQs and the Dungeon. Thanks Ms. PoR for your tease and generous help, and thanks to IGA for actually making this game truly live up to the incredible hype which we developed for it.

To those waiting for the proper English release, I hope read these words with big grins on your faces. This is THE Castlevania of the time, it is THE 2D action-adventure, heck, GAME of the last 20+ years of gaming. Is it worth the wait? Yes. Is the collector's edition all it's cracked up to be? We'll see. Is the game heaven in hell? General consensus is MOST DEFINITELY!


10/10 - China & Platinum are no match for Jonathan & Charlotte
My highest recommendation for 2D gaming! For veterans and newbies alike.


18/11/06
It's my summer holidays now, so I'm gonna chill a bit with the big-console games again, as well as train up in the lovely sun. Ciao to all. Until 2007!

This is one of my Top 10 games, ever!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/06, Updated 11/05/07

Game Release: Akumajou Dracula: Gallery of Labyrinth (JP, 11/16/06)