Classic Castlevania returns to the DS, Konami proves it can still make killing Dracula fun
User Rating: 8.8 | Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin DS
Every time I buy a new Castlevania game, I sit there wondering how long until Konami has finally run out of new ideas for the franchise then its over. Thankfully for Portrait of Ruin this isn't the case. The game retains all the old school goodness that made Symphony of the Night so amazing, but adds just enough new features to make it worth picking up right away. One thing to impress me initially was that the setting of the game is during the height of World War II, which for a second made me think this is going to suck, Dracula is going to be a Nazi and why don't I just watch Indiana Jones if I want to see people being humiliated with a whip. However, I was pleasantly wrong to find the even though PoR is set during WWII, it still has that classic Castlevania feel and charm. One thing that keeps the game fresh are the many portraits the main characters, Johnathan and Charlotte have to go through to accomplish various tasks throughout the game. Thankfully places like Egypt and London break up the seemingly never ending Gothic architecture of Dracula's castle in exchange for some locations you wouldn't necessarily associate with Vampires. As far as gameplay is concerned, PoR is one of the more well tuned and balanced in the franchise. The great new aspect of the game is that you and your partner (either Johnathan or Charlotte depending on who you play) can work together to fight the many minions of Dracula. Surprisingly, this mechanic works extremely well; it is easy to both control both characters and pull off seemingly ridiculous combos that fill up the entire screen. Now while it is fairly easy to master the controls of both Johnathan and Charlotte, one thing that I am glad to see return is that boss battles in the game have one again become hard, almost to the point of being frustrating. As one of the people who were disappointed by the difficulty of Dawn of Sorrow, it is good to see that Dracula can kick my ass a good ten or so times before i finally get the one up on him. Despite all the great single player features, there are two things that Konami really overlooked, the use of dual screen and multiplayer aspects of the game. Don't get me wrong, having the map on the upper screen of the DS is such a lifesaver, but sometimes I would like the chance to customize the top screen to suit whats happening in the game. Yet, the top screen is not really that big of deal, just a minor gripe. Konami really skimped on the multiplayer features by making you and a friend only able to boss rush. With the entire single player part of the game dedicated to co-op I would have liked to combat Gary Oldman with a friend. Konami has once again assured us that fighting Dracula is as fun and memorable as it was when Symphony of the Night was released. Konami has proven time and again that it can make a solid single player experience, all it needs to do is make a Castlevania game with an equally great multiplayer feature and there may finally be a worthy rival to Symphony of the Night as a the game's best incarnation. 
