The Castlevania franchises' first forray onto the GBA is, I am pleased to say, an excellent transition.
The first thing you will see in this game are the graphics, so I figure they are a good place to start this review. Characters are nicely detailed and animated, though somewhat small. There is a large variety in enemies and level design, which gives the castle a nice feel. The game pulls this and many special effects with some speed and without a hitch. One complaint many have, and you may too, is that the screen as a whole may be a little dark. While I never had a problem with this even on my GBA, if this concerns you use a GBA SP, or play next to a lamp. On the whole very nice.
Next will be the sound, for you will hear this often. The music doesn't dissapoint. From the eerie tunes of the start menu to the faster paced organesque music making your blood pump, ther is never a low pointor lack of variety. Each area has its own unique track, which makes for some nice listening.
The sound effects in this game are also top-notch. From Nathan's whip hitting a Succubus to the sound of the Devil's flamebreath, everything sounds as it should.
Now on to the biggest matter at hand, the gameplay. You, Nathan Graves, are the apprentice of a Hunter, along with his son Hugh. In the opening scene they arrive to see Camilia setting up the process to ressurect Dracula. Annoyed, Camilia destroys the floor beneath Nathan and Hugh, sending them tumbling into the darkness, only to awaken in the Castle's catacombs. Hugh leaves in search of his father, as do you shortly after. It is your task to make your way through Dracula's Castle, defeat his hordes of minions, and to see to it that Dracula is once again banished.
Not ther best story, but it works. The game itself plays pretty fast for a 2D game, and requires good reflexes. Every enemy requires a different approach to beat and dodge, which mixes up combat nicely. During combat, which is all in real time, you can use your whip to hit enemies, or one of the assorted subweapons in the game. These range from Axes to Holy Water to a cross use like a boomerang. You can only have one subweapon at a time on your person, and each use of it spends some of your hearts. But fear not, as these can be replenished with potions and from fallen enemies. You also have a magic bar below your health bar, which enables you to, surprise surprise, perform magic! What magic you use depends on what Attribute and Action cards you have equipped. There are, I believe, 10 or so of each. You can combine one of each together, giving you some ability. These range from summoning thunderbirds to giving you an ice sword (Each swing decreases MP) to slowly regenerating your Health when standing still. These cards, as well as potions and armor, are dropped from fallen enemies at random.
As you kill enemies you gain experience, which, when enough is collected, will make you level up, increasing your Strength, Defense, MP, Health, Luck, etc. You can also equip armor and such to grant additional bonuses.
The castle itself is very well planned out and executed. It is full of platforming and puzzles that compliment the combat lurking in every hall. The place is massive, broken down into many areas. Most areas will be inaccessible at first, but as you progress and earn new abilities after defeating bosses, such as the ability to jump from wall to wall or push heavy boxes, new areas will become available. As for the bosses, I will say this: They are big and brutal. From the large Cerebrus who is twice your size to the twin zombie dragons 25X your size, you will have some interesting matches. Each boss is different from the last, and provides a nice challange.
As far as replay value goes, if you didn't like your first time through, you aren't going to like your second. Beating the game unlocks a new mode, in which you play through with incredibly low Strength and Defense, but with all of the cards and a high MP from the very beginning. Beating this mode unlocks a fighter mode, which gives you super strength and such, but with no cards at all throught the whole time. This unlocks another mode, and so on and so forth.
In my opinion, this is a highly entertaining title that any fan of the franchise or genre should pick up.
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