With each and every boss you destroy you will gain his or her powers as well. These powers are the most important ones, because they will enable you to either find new levels in new lands, or access new areas in older ones. In addition to this, it will allow you to gather plenty more items, ranging from news articles and health items, to new weapons.

There is also a store run by a man named Hammer. From his store you can buy quite a few different weapons. You may also buy health and mind potions, as they are not delivered to by the game frequently. Another great thing that you can buy from them are maps, which will show you areas that you have not yet traveled to, and this is great because then you will know of the direction you must go towards.

Now there is a weapon synthesis store also run by Yoko. What she sells there are weapon upgrades. It does not cost any money to have your weapon upgraded, but it will take souls to get the weapon to the next level. These weapons are far more powerful then what you can buy at Hammer’s store, and you will find yourself looking for the specific enemies, so you can defeat them to get their souls to upgrade your weapons. These two "shop keepers" will talk about one another as well, where Yoko will mention about how Hammer is watching her. They will also talk about events that are going on in the castle. It is not needed to talk to them, but it is used to add a bit more depth to the game.

There are also a few unlockables that add the replay-ability of the game, since the game is roughly only 10 hours to beat. There is a boss rush mode, which allows you to take on all the bosses in succession so it can be quite the challenge to beat them with limited supplies. For those whom are fans of the classic Castlevania game, there is “Julius Mode” where you play as Julius through the game. You can also pick up a pair of team mates, which you can trade between, but you will not be able to gather souls.

All and all, I love the music, the graphics, and the gameplay. If you did not have enough reasons to buy a Nintendo DS, this would be it. Either playing the game as Soma, or replaying it with Julius and gang, is well worth the price of admission. All and all, Captain Gordon gives this game an A.

Questions? Comments? Contact the author at CaptainGordonEdward@gmail.com .