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This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the first appearance of the Castlevania series in the US. Since then the franchise has had highs and lows and is most often seen on a Nintendo platform. The PS's Symphony of the Night was the halfway point for the franchise and represented a shift from platforming action to more exploratory and open-ended gameplay in the vein of Super Metroid. This has been the template for all of the portable iterations since. Three were on GBA, and Konami increases the DS count to two with Portrait of Ruin. visuals As consistent as the handheld Castlevania formula is, the graphical quality sits even higher on the list of series staples. Every nook and corridor is expertly drawn with an attention to detail unrivaled on DS. The new level design allows each area to be a bit more varied than past installments, but that certain Castlevania feel is always present. Many of the backdrops are made of several planes that move by at different speeds as the player runs past. Occasionally the backgrounds will sport polygons, such as that of a large building. More often, the 3D effects are much more subtle, such as the tables and benches in a classroom or a large statue on the horizon. These techniques sound elementary, but really add depth to the world the player spends so much time in. Bringing these places to life are their hostile inhabitants. Enemies are rarely alike, and they animate very well. As it has grown to be expected, every foe even has its own death animation. From the showmen who explode into rose petals to the ghostly maids who leave their demonic vacuums behind when they pass over, the baddies in Portrait of Ruin live up to the high Castlevania standard. Near the end, though, the enemies and areas seem to repeat with slight variations, some of the former being ripped right out of Dawn of Sorrow. Yet, these complaints seem minor compared to the care and attention to detail put into the visuals. audio Music has always been a major part of Castlevania, even going so far to be involved in several subtitles. The compositions put together for Portrait of Ruin are leaps and bounds above most everything else on DS; it's nice to keep the sound up for a change. This is yet another example of the high standards of the franchise Gamers have been humming Castlevania tunes for decades, and they'll keep humming with Portrait of Ruin. gameplay The real meat of the game will be familiar to most series vets: a huge castle to navigate, an array of mostly brain-dead enemies to defeat and challenging fights with huge bosses. In the true style of the latter Castlevanias, progress is granted with every special ability gained. Even after so many years of the same formula, it's still thrilling to receive that certain power that sends the mind on a journey back through to castle, frantically retracing steps to find that previously unreachable area. It may be a formula, but as fans of AC/DC know, those three chords can go a long way. Portrait of Ruin doesn't just cater to post-Symphony fans, however. New sub-levels accessed through paintings scattered throughout the castle harken back to the day when the gameplay was just left to right. The linearity of these levels is actually refreshing and does a great job of keeping the pace interesting in a game that is otherwise structurally similar to its previous incarnations. With the last DS outing in Dawn of Sorrow, a few touchscreen gimmicks were added in; these seemed like afterthoughts, only taking advantage of the hardware because they could, and not because it was conducive to great gameplay. Portrait of Ruin ditches that in favor of a tag team of heroes players can switch between on the fly. Jonathan is the typical brute of the series, while Charlotte is more of a mage character. Both characters level up at the same pace, so the decision of who to use at what time is entirely up to the player. Besides this and a few neat powers and puzzles, the two-character mechanic doesn't amount to much, but at the same time it doesn't detract from anything whatsoever. When the day is won and everything is said and done, things are just getting started. Beyond the eight-hour quest are hordes of unlockables, goals and other secret things that will keep hardcore fans busy for weeks. Different difficulty settings, game modes beyond the given Boss Rush, intense stat-increases, new playable characters and even a secret portrait await diligent players who are willing to take them head-on. These are entirely optional, but really add value to an already great game. Castlevania fans will be busy for quite some time, no doubt. multiplayer Adding even more to the replay value is the co-op play over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Sadly, this isn't a full-on two-player version of the game, but rather a few short levels ending in boss fights. It's a fun diversion for a while, but it just really serves to make the prospect of a true co-op Castlevania all the more tantalizing. Players can also open up their shop to three other players and sell their hard earned items for money. overall Seemingly more so than any other entry in the series, Portrait of Ruin is a love letter to fans. The gameplay manages to successfully merge the two Castlevania play styles, while retaining a firm hold on excellent design and presentation. The satisfying single-player campaign only gets deeper and deeper as the secrets and modes appear; everything is tailored to keep the player busy until the inevitable next DS installment. We can't wait.
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