"Holy Water, Bat Man!"

Ok, I probably should be slapped, beaten, and stabbed for that "Holy Water, Bat Man!" line. After all, how corney is it to mix a bad joke based on an item from a game and have the joke based on the ol' Batman TV series?

But the words, however much they make you groan in misery, were the very words that came out of my mouth thirty minutes into this title. I very rarely will review a game the day after it comes to stores, mainly because I have so little time to play the games to get an idea of how I feel for a game.

But, ladies, gentlemen, and other genders, I have found that, according to my parents and co-workers, I was playing this for nearly five hours yesterday, and another two today - and it's only 8:30 in the morning!

So, why am I so hyped up on this game? Anyone who has ever played any of the Castlevania GBA titles knows how the series has evolved and changed since the primordial days of the last SNES title, and what improvements were made on the glorious PSX title Symphony of the Night.

But, Castlevania Dawn of Souls (AKA Castlevania DS, for word count reasons) is more than a simple extension of the evolving formula, and MUCH more than just another DS rush job.

See, Castlevania DS is a DIRECT SEQUEL (read: a first for the series) to Aria of Sorrow for the GBA, continuing the story of Soma Cruz, also known as [::SPOILER ALERT::] Dracula's reincarnation [::END SPOILER::] and friends. Carried over from the game, in addition to the assortment of characters (including a Belmont and a familiar face from Symphony of the Night), is the Soul System, where you gain the attributes and/or attacks of your foes by absorbing their souls when you best o-so-many of them.

But this is more, far more than a simple rehash of an existing GBA title. Remember Symphony of the Night, wiht the loads of replay value, massive exploration, gorgeous graphics, and symphonic (ha ha) sounds?

Dawn of Sorrow is actually better than Symphony of the Night.

Yes, read that again. Let your brain soak it up a second.

Dawn of Sorrow IS better than Symphony of the Night, and not because I'm a DS fanatic and a big fan of the prequel to 'Vania DS. Graphically, Castlevania DS is far more detailed, animated, and character-filled than any other DS title to date. There are dozens of foes, from the tiniest bats to the titantic golems, to the over-sized bosses that we all know and love. And each character, each foe, heck, each moving area of the game, both fore and backgrounds, are animated with dozens of moves and silky-smooth animations. You would almost think this was being programmed on the PS2 or other power-house system. The game even has FMV anime-style for the intro, and looks terrific.

Controls are insanely good, what with the dead-on D-pad movements and the customizable action buttons. Default controls include the B button for jumping, Y for attack, A for a powered Attack, Up-Y for using a Soul to attack, L to dash back/special ability, R to use a special Soul, Select to control the DS's top screen, and X to rotate your equipt items, once you collect the ability.

What shoud be noted is that you can map and fiddle with these controls to your desire, and never once did I find myself having issues with the controls. Konami went the extra mile making sure these work, and work they do, even the touch controls. Speaking of which, there are only a handful of times that sport the use of the stylus, including (but not limited to) sealing bosses by drawing lines in a pattern (if you fail this, the boss gains back a chunk of HP), solving puzzles, and shattering ice blocks to create paths or allow passage. While these things do pop up at odd times on occassion, they are hardly zen-killing, and do add a bit of fun to the game, as well as realism (at least as far as sealing a boss goes...).

Sound, oh, sweet Elements, the sound. The original composer for Symphony of the Night (may the Elements have mercy on me, I cannot recall his name!) came back to compose a few scores for this title, and remixes of both the prequel and old games abound. The music is excellent be it the DS's own speakers or headphones, and is only aided by the sounds of foot steps, crackling of electricity, shattering of falling skulls, or the roasting of a massive wolf deamon. Each foe, weapon, and terrain has its own sounds, and pooled together, I am SO glad that a Sound Test exists, as the music is beyond CD quality. The DS has already demonstrated its ability to handle CD-quality music, and Castlevania DS only furthers the proof that the DS has what it takes for great music.

Game play is pure genious. Anyone who has played a 'Vania game created since Symphony of the Night (and excluding the Classic NES game) knows what to expect, and anyone who has played a Metroid title will feel right at home, too. Basically, you have a MASSIVE labarynth of dungeons, fields, villages, gardens, sewers, and darker, more infested areas to explore. Where you can go is determined by your abilities, but never did the game ever feel linear (forcing you along a set path). Heck, one time I found a new Magic Seal and a boss door, but found I could not enter it with my current selection of Seals. I ran around until I found the boss I had to fight, in a completely different area of the map. Souls, again, can be collected by beating a slew of any given foe, and weapons can be either found or bought with the gold foes and candles drop. Also, new to the seires, you can fuse collected souls with your weapons and make them even more powerful, though some are only available by fusing rare souls, some available only via bosses. Weapons do vary from short blades to massive swords, and even include brass knuckles and handguns. And then you have your attack souls, such as throwing spears or bones.

There is far too much to list, and I have only scratched the surface.

Replay is vast as well, though I have barely cracked the surface of the main game. There is supposedly a Castlevania III-esque mode where you control Julius Belmont, the spell-caster from the prequel whose name I cannot recall, and another, familiar face (whose name I will not say; let's just say he's legendary...). However, it might be a day or two before I find it, but since you get it from the Bad ending, and given the absurd quality of the rest of the game, I have high hopes for it.

Did I mention the 2-player modes and Sound Test?

All said and done, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow is THE reason to own a DS right now. Nevermind the Wi-Fi games. Nevermind the GBA-support. Nevermind Advance Wars DS or Nintendogs. 'Vania DS is THE best game on the DS right now, and will probably take a while to surpass.

Score: 10 of 10


* Best Features: Graphics, Music, top screen used for Map, Controls, Loads to find and do
* Worst Features: Uh, the fact that there will probably never be a 2D game like this on the PSP?
* If You Liked: any of the Castlevania GBA titles, Symphony of the Night, any 2D Metroid game
* Guilty Pleasure: Reveling in the fact that the best game on the next-gen portables is a 2D game that barely uses the DS's notable features, and LOVING IT.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/06/05, Updated 11/20/07

Game Release: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (US, 10/04/05)