This... is my favourite game of all time *cries* Get this now! *wipes tears* (in other words, do read on)
When I got this game, I played it like there was no tomorrow. I know I'm straying away from my normal review template, but I don't care, cause I don't just want to summarize the different parts of this game but I want to tell you all how great this game is.
The graphics, for a 2D game are excellent, containing excellent panorama backgrounds and sprites for the extensive range of characters, enemies, and big baddies! The enemies all pull off an interesting range of attacks that look superb on the Nintendo DS. Each enemy can deal a fairly small variety of different attacks to bring forth your demise quicker as you venture through the huge map of Dracula's castle and the many worlds led off by portals. The portals contain a wide variety of settings, Egypt, lost crypts, deserted towns, and of course, sinister carnivals! Each of these worlds are brought to life by diverse music and splendid graphics!
The music, as mentioned earlier, can really set the mood of each place of Drac's castle, from the creepy prisons to the haunted rooms. The game also has a large amount of voice audio, which allows most of the enemies, bosses and characters engage you in dialog. Castlevania Portrait of Ruin is a RPG Action platformer, like most of the recent Castlevania titles. This allows you to get and equip various different armour and weapons. I've spent a long time playing this game, thanks to its interesting replay value. After completing the game you can play through the campaign as several other characters, allowing you to experience the whole game once again in a different fashion. Also, after defeating the main boss you can find a secret dungeon known as the Nest Of Evil in which you can battle out with bosses from past Castlevania games. There is a large amount of items to receive and a large map to explore. There are also boss rush modes outside the main game, allowing you to battle the games bosses once again in a fairly standard passageway filled with the nasty buggers. You can participate online and cooperate with different people in order to complete these as well. There is also a neat shop feature built into the game allowing you to trade wirelessly and on WI-FI connection as well.
Overall, i find that this is the best 2D Castlevania game in the series, and I suggest it to anyone owning a Nintendo DS. And heck, if you don't have a DS this could be the game that changes your mind. You won't seem to ever get tired of battling out the forces of evil in this excellent Konami production on the Nintendo DS, four thumbs up (.... i know i only got two...)
Go Castlevania!