When I seen this game, I admit, I had to run out and reserve a copy way back in October. Why you ask? For the 25th anniversary collectors pakage (including soundtrack, DS game holder, artbook, and a nifty Castlevania stylus). I got the game yesterday, and I love it.

The story: World War II is taking place, and a vampire by the name of Brauner is using the souls of the tormented victims of the war to resurrect Dracula's castle to gain unholy power. He also has power connected through paintings hidden throughout Dracula's castle. Your role is to break the curse of the paintings and bring an end to Brauner's sinister plot.

The enemies are a collective of all the past Castlevania games, along with some new monsters. Many of the monsters are from ancient mythology, books, movies, and some from pop culture. With the Dawn of Sorrow and Aria of Sorrow series, more Japanese themed monsters entered the picture (ex: Ukoback or Une). These fit in surprisingly well with some of the other European monsters.

The backgrounds in this game are a treat to view, and are actually quite responsive to the actions the players take. You can see them knock over things on tables, or smack things in the background with their weapons.

The difficulty of this game however, is something that beginners might struggle with since the game seems to be aimed at the hardcore fans. Most of the puzzles and bosses are extremely tricky, as with some enemies. Some enemies are very responsive to which character you're playing as, and will attack/charm accordingly.

Overall, I love the gameplay, the story, and the dual character selection. The WiFi aspect of the game is interesting to say the least.