Among the Castlevania universe, there are a few games that really stick out. The titles include the 1990 title Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, the 1999 title Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the PS2 title Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, and the Nintendo DS title Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. So, just how good is the game?

Plot: Dawn of Sorrow is the sequel to Aria of Sorrow. It takes a turn from the usual plot where you kill Dracula with one of the Belmonts. In Aria of Sorrow, you find out that Dracula is dead for good, and that he reincarnated as a human. This human, Soma Cruz, must prevent himself from turning into a monster not unlike Dracula by destroying the magic left in Dracula's castle. With the help of a militant-turned-merchant named Hammer (WTF?!), a witch named Yoko Belnades, the man who killed Dracula, Julius Belmont, and Genya Arikado (If the name Arikado didn't make it obvious enough, it's Alucard), Soma altered his destiny and Dracula's darkness was erased from the world, left only in his soul.

But, then Dawn of Sorrow comes around. When Soma is hanging out with his girlfriend Mina, a woman with a strange haircut sics a bunch of monsters on you. Soma fends them off, regains his powers, and then must go and fight the woman Celia and stop her from calling up a new dark lord in Dracula's place.

Actually, there is more to everything then that, but you must play the game and find it all out on your own.

Gameplay: This game solves one of the old major problems with the original Castlevania titles using the Nintendo DS. On one screen you have gameplay, on the second you have a map or a status display window. This makes navigating much less of a pain in the a**.

In addition, this game features Soma's ability of "Dominance." With this ability, he can absorb the souls of the monsters that he kills and can gain their abilities. Almost every monster you find has a collectible soul that can be used as subweapons or boost your power. They vary from launching fireballs, summoning familiars, or being able to eat rotten food with no negative effects. You also have a variety of weapons to choose from, which ranges from a knife to a handgun to Death's Scythe. Each weapon comes with a standard attack and a critical attack, and they can be powered up by fusing souls you've dominated into them. What began as a club you found laying around can be turned into Thor's hammer.

The boss fights are climactic, especially when some enemies keep coming back to life until you seal their souls away by drawing a magic seal on the DS screen when prompted. And with the huge variety of weapons and souls, the strategies are almost endless.

Graphics: The anime style is a lot more apparent in this game than in the later DS title Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. They're still not bad though, only the enemy status display doesn't include the enemies HP amount or how much EXP they give you. But what the game does show is good. The anime cutscene you can view in the main menu by pressing B isn't that bad either. My one complaint is that some of the sprites were neglected for detail.

Music: Castlevania always had some pretty good tracks. Even the Gameboy tracks could be considered classics. This game does deliver in some instances, but in some other areas it doesn't. The sound effects aren't that bad, and somehow the fact that the dialog was never translated doesn't really seem to hinder the game.

Difficulty: Save often because you will see the game over screen more than once on your first playthrough. Some monsters are very easy, you can kill them by sliding into them. Others look intimidating but really are weak. And some of them are bigger pains than some of the bosses. Also, even with boosted luck and special accessories, collecting souls sometimes is a real pain in the a**.

Overall: Definitely a must-own for the 2D Castlevania fans. Especially girls who love Alucard or Soma. There are a few holes, and some glitches, but nothing too serious.

Final Rating: 9/10