GENRE
	Action-RPG
	DEVELOPER
	Konami
	PUBLISHER
	Konami
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

A soft, coarse wail broke the eerie silence that had manifested itself within this nearby edifice. Uncertain, I submitted to curiosity and entered the dark castle that lay before me. Venturing about a preliminary set of blackened hallways, something didn't quite feel right. It was as if an ominous presence had immersed itself into the actual atmosphere -- thick, intoxicating, and intrusive. I was shocked and horrified to discover, for lack of more sane words, demonic anarchy. Dormant malevolent forces rose from the abyss to proceed with their infernal doings. Now I (but why?) am charged to quell this rising evil.

Mischievous skeleton men run amuck, creating a racket of orchestrated clanks and clatters. They’d proceed to assault me with their own limbs. Ascending up the tower stairway, bobbing heads floated in mid air, having me climb evasively to the great hall that lie ahead. Wreaking of putrid flesh, lobotomized hordes of demons steadily worked their way towards me, my body carrying the foreign scent of life, blood pulsating through my electrified human veins. With the help of various artifacts that lie scattered throughout the castle, I grew stronger, defeating the undead one by one, all the way to the ultimate power that lorded over their collective whole. A paradox, I’d never felt so alive than when I was on the brink of death, under the constant threat of absorption into their world of the damned.

I’ve moved in tandem with the symphony of the night. I strode vivified and charged across the circle of the moon. I’ve silenced the nefarious chorus that was the harmony of dissonance. And now I’ve quashed the latest looming evil, a wicked aria of sorrow. It is we, the Homo sapiens -- the gamers-- that shall continue to stand against the antonym to mankind itself, the lord of darkness that is Dracula.

visuals

Aria of Sorrow achieves something that most good sequels tend to do, in that it has successfully usurped its predecessor in the all-important order of visual clout. While the basic engine remains the same -- the artistic styling of the enemies has been reverted back to a more classic Castlevania look -- enhanced sufficiently on newer hardware. And, to be honest, this latest presentation is my favorite.

Actual technical enhancements are again (as was expected) confined to new lighting and sprite techniques. Save points are more direct and concise -- a lantern of fire held by some statue bursts into dozens of light-intensive shards. Warp spots, which act as miniature spatial wormholes, literally stretch your body and swallow you into the void. An impressive looking gelatinous substance lines these squares of teleportation, momentarily dissipated as you arrive at your designated target. Similar sprite and lighting wonders are displayed by a selection of the many, many souls acquired by Soma Cruz, the game’s protagonist. You can cast spherical bursts or fluctuating waves of red-hot flames, squirt sharp jets of water, or pull out an enchanted shield with its own unique glyphs lining the surface. Being rather cliché, I myself was most impressed with what I hadn’t seen before: full, clear-as-can-be reflections cast over a set of mirrors found in specific locations of the castle. I could have literally sat there for several minutes staring at myself (Soma), had a madman with a knife not jumped out of the damn mirror and tried to kill me! Good riddance!

audio

The development team has returned with some familiar melodies and sounds, but brought along with it many foreign bleeps, blips, and whatnot. This time around, Konami apparently limited the amount of audio emitted from enemies (though I smirked at the pieces of Japanese spoken by some deadly mistresses). Of the 3 Game Boy Advance Castlevania’s, Aria of Sorrow also has what could be considered the least inspiring soundtrack. I say this because there simply were no catchy or memorable pieces attached to any area of the castle. Being how Aria of Sorrow was so abruptly announced and released, play mechanics (rightly so) and graphics took a clear priority over sound. Yet still, the aural package included here is significantly better than the majority of Game Boy titles available on the market. The theme-fitting music is as good as it needed to be, so as to not be criticized by anyone unless dissected in a review such as this one.

gameplay

Castlevania has always been and continues to be about powerful, polished, and addicting gameplay. For the uninitiated, Castlevania is a two-dimensional top/bottom side-scroller, much like Nintendo’s Metroid franchise. Similarly, you must make your way across the vast areas in order to acquire new abilities necessary to progress. Every new item or skill gained leaves one satisfied too, for they serve to amuse and make things easier overall, in addition to the primary purpose of progressing through the half-linear game.

Unable to be labeled a mere Metroid clone, the Castlevania series is supremely unique due to its heavy, long standing RPG elements. Stats, experience points, leveling-up and items that alter stats or status are all included in the package, as well as an entourage of spells and abilities (this time in the form of “souls”). Thus, it can be said that the difficulty has been ramped up from other top-bottom games, being that you can only be healed at sporadic save points and with potions purchased at the vender. If you are willing to make the trek, however, one can easily max out on potions (10) -- for in this twisted world money does grow on trees -- or torches, that is.

In contrast to other Castlevania games, Aria of Sorrow breaks a long-standing tradition and combines the heart meter with the magic meter. Basically, they are now one in the same…both hearts and mind potions refill the depleted magic meter/heart counter. Konami probably left it like that to give the player both a numeral and visual perspective. Similarly, there are no stat-specific power-ups to be had. Any boost in health/magic will come from gaining experience. Naturally, Konami has also modified the difficulty and layout accordingly.

Lastly, Aria of Sorrow has its own unique spell system, like Harmony of Dissonance (with its sub-weapon fusion) and Circle of the Moon (with its card-combo system) before it. There are 3 basic soul sets for each gameplay attribute: attacks, abilities, and stat-modifications. You can activate each one separately, the various souls collected by defeating foes. While the stat mod is passive, the attacks and abilities are used by pressing Up+B or R, respectively. There are 100+ souls total, all of which can be traded with friends via the GBA link cable.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

Aria of Sorrow is quite simply the best Castlevania on the system, and an impromptu contender for best game – period – on the system itself. With link capabilities, a hidden character, and a bevy of secrets, Aria of Sorrow also has substantial shelf life and replay value. Including a somewhat more complex story base than the series is accustomed to (the game actually takes place in the future, for one), I further encourage you to take the reigns of Soma Cruz and battle the forces of evil festering inside the solar eclipse. Honestly, with a rather parched release schedule and ubiquitous cookie cutter cash-ins, this is one handheld masterpiece no gamer can afford to miss. Pick it up!

9.3/10