Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and that butch babe Samus can all take a back seat, because this is the DS title real gamers have been waiting for. When director IGA, composer Michiru Yamane, and character designer Ayame Kojima get together, the result is always the paragon of 2D gaming. Dawn of Sorrow follows up the best of the GBA trilogy, Aria of Sorrow -- once again putting you in the shoes of the latest Dracula incarnate, Soma Cruz.

New Look, Same Play

But wait a second; Soma looks different. In fact, everyone looks different. The gothic, melancholy character design of Castlevania games past has been replaced with shallow, lifeless anime images. Even though this allows for an FMV anime intro, it's not a worthy tradeoff. Sadly, Kojima is no longer part of the triumvirate of Transylvania; but two out of three ain't bad, right? Right. Besides, the rest of the graphics look good. They're not a huge leap over those on the GBA's Aria, but the game has its share of eye candy. It's not quite Symphony of the Night, but I have no complaints.

This is the 2D Castlevania we all wait with bated breath to play: a massive castle, RPG elements, and perfect action/platform gameplay. The balancing is right around Aria's, which is to say it's damn good (having played through Harmony recently, I see how much better these two are). Somehow, the developers managed to give us plenty of exploration without as much aimless wandering. You get the double-jump, a personal favorite, mercifully early in the game. However, Soma does move a little slow this time, and lacks the trigger-button forward sliding movement.


Soul Sucking Jerk

As for enemies, medusas, fish heads, and bone-hurling skeletons are all back in full force, along with a bunch of new blood to spill. Like Aria, sometimes they give up their souls to Soma. In fact, the soul mechanic is enhanced tenfold this time around, to the point where there aren't even sub-weapons anymore (and good riddance, says I).

Each soul is in three categories: stat-altering, projectile weapons, or miscellaneous. With so many to gather, there are some trippy effects. My favorites include a skull-shaped vacuum that damages enemies while giving you small amounts of health, and one that transforms you into a massive, invincible demon which streaks across the screen. The more of one soul you collect, the more powerful its effect is. You can even infuse souls to weapons to make them more powerful -- and there are ton of weapons here. In the first few minutes, I already had a half-dozen knives, knuckles, and maces to choose from.