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3) Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Released: Nintendo DS, 2005
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was a massive turning- and highpoint for the Castlevania series. Koji Igarashi, a developer at Konami, came aboard the franchise for that classic PlayStation release, and with his fellow teammates decided to reincorporate elements of Castelvania II and add others from Nintendo’s Metroid series to create a new gaming experience. The popular sub-genre of Metroidvania games was born with Symphony of the Night, as players were greatly taken with the notion of exploring a large, branching overworld while gathering equipment and new abilities. As home consoles moved away from 2D platformers, however, games like Symphony of the Night became harder to come by, with one exception: handhelds.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, was a direct sequel to the highly popular Game Boy Advance game Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. While the standard Castlevania themes and gameplay were on full display in Dawn of Sorrow, one especially important play mechanic carried over in the form of Aria‘s Souls system. Lead Soma Cruz could accumulate Souls for a variety of different uses, and it added an entire new level to character customization. With stunning art, music, and gameplay, Dawn of Sorrow was an incredible platformer that took the genre to new heights.
I wouldn’t consider Muramasa a platformer. I think it’s more of a 2D hack and slash. Otherwise, great list. It’s good to see Tropical Freeze get some recognition.