Castlevania : DoS is a tried and true formula, but is it fresh?
The game starts off predictably following the last game which came out for the GBA called Aria of Sorrow and pits you in the shoes of the ever famous Soma Cruz pretty much overnightly overcoming the achievements of his last battle. The story is nothing much other then a typical one man versus all monster fight to save himself but it does have memorable monsters and dialogue to keep you interested.
The games 2d graphics clearly show off the hard work the team put into utilizing the DS 2d capability. While not completely mind blowing at first after witnessing the animation, quality and care that was put into the creation of each of the dozens of monsters I felt myself more and more immersed and loving the details that I could find in the background and the characters themselves.
The musical notations and sound fx, while not completely on par with some other platforming games out there, are still wide and varied. Swords like swords, and monsters sounds like, well, monsters. While not memorable the background deserves praise for its eerie feel and style,
Probably one of the most notable features of the game is the ability system. Soma Cruz is able to absorb the souls of most of his fallen foes and use it to his advantage. This happens randomly but just enough for you to get most if not all the powers even on the first trip through the game. The powers are varied and unique and range among powering up abilities as well as to all out offensive maneuvers. This is where it immerses you more and gives you an option wether you want to play the game more tacticful or like most gamers, hand out in your face ass woopings.
This goes for the weapons as well. From classical swords to axes to, yes, handgun, the weapons are plentiful enough to keep you tuning Soma until he fits your needs, leaving plenty of your own personality to appear in the game world itself.
The DS microphone may not get attention but the touch screen gets a few gimmicky options that are just enough to keep you noticing the feature on your ds. In the game you have to perform seals after you defeat a boss to end his life and perhaps gain their ability. The seal is taught to you and can be practiced before the match which is a great touch and it is exilirating to anxiously get it done right after a boss fight because if you get it wrong, yes you guessed it, you gotta duke it out all over again, but the penalty is not as massive as it sounds as the main bosses gain only 1/2 there energy at most.
Another use for the touch screen is after gaining the special ability to destroy bricks, you guessed it again, you pull out your stylus and start smashing way through areas. Sounds better in concept then in practice for the bricks are pretty much standardly in place and predictable of what you need to do, nor does it happen often so it balances it from being an annoyance as well.
Overall the plot in Castlevania while a little more to the thin side is easily counter balanced by it's great Graphics, gameplay and overall Fun factor making it easily another great condenter from Konami and quite possibly one of the best Castlevania sidescrolling games to date.