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When a monster comes along, you must whip it... whip it good.

The Castlevania series has been a great example of when you have a formula that works; you stick with it, improve on it with each incarnation, and do not stray away from what made you famous in the first place. Sure, Konami has tried to move the series into modern style visuals and gameplay set in a 3D environment, but those versions of Castlevania just don't have that "it" factor that fans of the 2D style of play crave for and accept no substitutes. Thanks to great handhelds like the DS, Konami has very little choice in the matter and bows to the will of the masses and gives us what we want... another 2D Castlevania.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is the 2nd title in the series to show up on the DS, and unlike the very well made Dawn of Sorrow, the dual screen is now used for map purposes only with no touch screen spells or blockade destruction to be found. This is a good thing if you are a fan of the traditional game play of the series. It's not to say the ideas from Dawn of Sorrow were bad, they just felt added in and not very helpful to the overall experience. The new gameplay element added to Portrait of Ruin is a very cool dual character switching ability between a fighter and a magic user. Not only do you have your whip flailing vampire killer Jonathan Morris, but also you are accompanied by Charlotte Aulin, a spellcaster with tremendous magical abilities, which will help you defeat the evil which lies in the castle before you.

The majority of the game is your typical Castlevania. Dracula's castle has appeared again and it is up to a new order of the Belmont Bloodline to defeat the evil that has conjured up the castle once more. You move about the castle whipping chandeliers, candles, and other illumination object for hearts, which you can store for special attack power. You will find plenty of save spots to heal and of course save your progress. You will come across unreachable platforms that will only be met once you have done certain tasks and earned the abilities to reach said platforms. You will fight many baddies great and small. You will find a shopkeeper, or monk in this case, who will be your source for buying upgrades, potions, and the lot. You find handy dandy map pieces that will help you find hidden areas in the castle and of course, the main evil that lies within. What is new to the series this time around is the necessity to jump into paintings within the castle in order to obtain objects and complete objectives. This adds a whole new look as each painting allows you to visit other sceneries that are NOT in the castle. Sure, the layout is still similar, but a change of ambience never hurts.

Speaking of looks, the artistic flair is brilliant once again mixing a great blend of 2D sidescorlling landscapes with just of touch of 3D objects in the background to give the game a bit of depth. Each enemy, boss, and backdrop is exquisitely detailed and fans of the series will most certainly weep at its beauty. The same can be said for the soundtrack, which once again provides an energetic, yet gothic theme that fits the series so well. There is a bit of voice acting here and there, but hopefully we will receive the full treatment one day and provide total dialog. I don't expect this on the DS of course, but come on Konami, give us a 2D game on the big screen complete with dialog, cut scenes, and with the ridiculous amount of space on a DVD or god forbid Blu-ray, you can make a seriously 100+ hour quest that spans over many areas if you wanted to. Just think about it... that is all I am saying.

On the whole, Konami delivers once again another fantastic Castlevania game that will not only please fans of the DS, but Castlevania fans as well. After 20 years, the series still holds up well both for gamers who are new to the experience, and old fogies like myself who grew up with it on the original NES. It is just this simple... 2D Castlevania Rules!