Konami hits a home run with this fantastic, challenging Castlevania outing for the GBA.
Playing in the guise of Nathan Graves (shockingly you're not a Belmont, but that really doesn't matter), you're set off with the same task that all Castlevania games have: Dracula's been resurrected, so go kill him. The beauty of the series is that even though every game is pretty much the same, with castle(s), Dracula, and the same monsters, they always manage to make it unique enough to want to play. While the whip and five sub-weapons are the same, powering up your character is totally different. Instead of collecting souls from monsters, some will drop a card to collect. Coming in two flavors (power of x and potential of y), you pair one of each to create new powers such as wielding a sword of fire, immunity to lightning, gaining experience by walking, or having protective balls of ice encircle you. The result is a wide variety of abilities, and though you'll likely find a favorite four or five and stick to them, you'll be glad the options are there. Along the way you meet several challenging bosses, have story-advancing encounters with your embittered older brother, and prepare for the final showdown with Dracula.
The pure challenge is almost reason enough to want to play this game. It never quite feels unfair, and even the most difficult areas always leave you angrier at yourself than the game, and knowing if you just execute you can survive. The bosses are especially challenging, but are always keyed perfectly to your experience level--you'll never walk over them and you'll likely not get past in very good shape after. The card system is great in that it allows both passive and aggressive, offensive and defensive-minded people to find the skills that most suit their desired style of play.
A few oddities stand out, such as the fact that there's no store. While the lack of healing items this creates ultimately ends up just adding to the challenge, it's a bit weird to look at your inventory and see you have 40+ leather armors and no way to get rid of them. There is a minor control issue when jumping and attacking, as you'll often want to whip at the peak of a jump, but end up using your sub-weapon, and vice versa.
The game plays like the rest of the Castlevanias, is still easy to pick up for new players, and thankfully the whip vs. sub-weapon issue is not too major a deal. As always, the graphics and sounds are pretty much exactly the same as others on the GBA, but every area still has its own background anthem and graphic tone to make you feel part of the adventure. You can wrap the game up in under 20 hours, and there's the chance to replay with all new stats four separate times, each favoring one particular style of play. While game newcomers might be shocked at the difficulty, they'll still enjoy the game, and no one can call themselves a Castlevania veteran without adding this to their catalog of gaming experiences.