Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow was the first Castlevania game released for the Nintendo DS and was released by Konami in 2005. It is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow on the Game Boy Advance and continues the story of that game.

You play as Soma Cruz, the reincarnation of Dracula, with Dracula‘s powers, but who has been prevented from becoming The Dark Lord with the help of his allies. A Satanic cult, lead by the sinister Celia Fortner, are attempting to kill Soma in order to bring forth a new Dracula.

Soma sets out to Dracula’s castle to track down the cult and destroy them, where he meets Julius Belmont and Yoko Belnades – two allies who plan to do the same.

Soma can jump, slide, and hit with a primary and secondary weapon, and he has a similar look and feel to Alucard in Symphony of the Night (SotN). In fact: Dawn of Sorrow has a number of similarities to SotN, which is a good thing as it’s such a great game.

The castle is of course crawling with monsters, some of which are familiar although there are many new ones too. Soma can collect the souls from fallen enemies and use them to enhance his abilities (Bullet changes his secondary weapon; Guardian gives him extra attacks and powers, and Enchant adds passive effects), as well as craft new weapons with them in a process known as “Weapon Synthesis“.

Dawn of Sorrow is a platform game with RPG elements. Soma has Hit points (HP) and Magic Points (MP), and gains Experience (EXP) by killing monsters and completing tasks, which in turn allows him to level up and add to his Attack, Defence, Strength, Constitution, Intelligence and Luck stats. Wielding certain weapons, armour and accessories can also boost these stats.

A new feature introduced to Dawn of Sorrow are ‘Magic Seals’, which are gestures drawn on-screen by the stylus (or mouse if you’re using an emulator). These are learned as you progress through the game and can open sealed doors and also finish off bosses.

Ah, the bosses… A staple of any Castlevania game, and in this they are as imaginative and as interesting as those seen in the best of the series. Some are small and fast, while others are gigantic and slow (but immensely powerful). Keeping Soma alive during boss battles is a challenge, but you can buy healing potions at the shop (manned by Soma’s friend, Hammer) and use them at any time. The shop also stocks plenty of other interesting items, many of which are unlocked as you progress through the game. There are lots of unusual weapons (including guns), and armour, magazines that drip-feed you information, and also map fragments that help complete your map, which is shown in the top screen during play.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow has beautiful 2D graphics with some really nice touches (like snow falling off vehicles; vehicles tilting when you run over the top of them; panning reflections in mirrors; eyes in paintings that follow you, and some cool wintery weather effects). The music in the game is also very high quality; is very Castlevania-like, and is occasionally surprising (the subtle “In the Hall of the Mountain King“-style theme made me smile in joy). Most importantly, though, the gameplay is excellent; it’s very absorbing, has a ton of secrets and unlockables including alternative player characters and switchable equipment settings (using the “Doppelganger” ability); it has a WIFI ‘versus’ and ‘souls-trading’ mode; an ‘enemy set’ mode, and is capable of providing many hours of entertainment.

Two Castlevania follow-ups were released for the Nintendo DS… Portrait of Ruin in 2006 and Order of Ecclesia in 2008. All three DS Castlevanias are well worth playing if you’re a fan of the series.

More: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on Wikipedia
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