Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Action
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
ETA: Fall 2005

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Castlevania DS

It looks like Konami is getting itself ready for another outing in the 2D world of Castlevania.  The series has helped to move more than a few GBAs, and was certainly a must have on the PlayStation, and now it is about to make its way to the Nintendo DS with, well, Castlevania DS (working title).

The game will start up a year after the events of Aria of Sorrow, following the game’s lead character, Soma Cruz.  It would appear that some Dracula cultists are none too happy about Cruz, since he is the latest incarnation of Dracula, and as far as they’re concerned he is just too lacking in the evil department.  As such, they’re out to kill Soma, in hopes that the next incarnation of Dracula turns out to be more their cup of tea.  Now Soma must fight off these cultists and protect his family in this game.

As far as how the actual mechanics of the game will play out, Castlevania DS will take advantage of a mix of conventional and DS-oriented features for gamers to play with.  The game will take advantage of the two screens on the handheld by having the majority of the action take place on the lower screen, while players can use the top screen for checking their maps, or character stats.  In terms of actually controlling Soma, the more traditional 

gameplay, like attacking, using magic, and so forth, will be handled by the system’s directional pad and face buttons.  However, the game also uses the touch screen abilities of the DS, as players can draw images on the screen, which will cause special attacks to be done when fighting bosses, among other things, being called the “Magic Seal” system.  Another interesting thing the game will feature is the ability to capture souls that can be used to help players during the game.  This soul capturing won’t be limited to a single player experience either, as the DS’s wireless connectivity will allow multiple people to work together in hunting down these souls.

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The way that Konami is trying to combine some of the more traditional elements of the Castlevania series with some new features specific to the Nintendo DS could turn a lot of heads as the game nears release.  Hopefully, everything will come together nicely.

Mr. Nash

(March 31, 2005)