I could sit here and revel on about how awesome most of the Castlevania games are, but, hell, most of you probably already know. But the question is, which games do you prefer the most? Are you up for the straightforward action of the original NES game or maybe even Dracula X for the Turbo Duo? Do you find enjoyment out of the 3-D efforts produced for the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation 2? Or are you a complete fanatic for the style of the Symphony of the Night games that have raided the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS?

Well, if you're one of the latter crew, you'll probably love the Castlevania Double Pack, a combo cartridge that includes two great Castlevania games in one cartridge. You get 2002's Harmony of Dissonance and 2003's Aria of Sorrow in one place, and, if you haven't beaten the games fully or you just thirst for a return to Dracula's castle, then this release will more than likely fit right in with your game library.

The nature of the two games is the same when it comes to its explorative gameplay, but the stories go in completely different directions. Harmony puts you in the shoes of a Belmont descendant, Juste (no jokes now- he's not "just a Belmont"), as you explore the dangerous remains of Dracula's castle in search of a friend, collecting remnants of the vampire as you go and preparing yourself for a few shocking surprises along the way. Harmony followed up on the initial GBA release Circle of the Moon, and I felt it improved upon it with better item use and bigger levels. Nothing was really wrong with Moon on its own, but you can tell that Konami and the Castlevania team put more effort into making it a further engrossing experience.

And then they just catapulted into a "holy crap!" category with Aria of Sorrow. Talk about straying from the storyline. In Sorrow, you control Soma Cruz, who has been chosen to be some kind of dark lord and summoned to the castle. Soma, who wants to have no part of his dark destiny, plans an escape, and, of course, runs knee deep in trouble. Sorrow featured better use of special skills with the player, as well as more items and an RPG-style system that didn't really detract from the action in the game. Sorrow seems like a shorter game in comparison to Harmony and maybe even Circle, but it makes up for it with replay value galore, including finding extra items and challenging enemies that you could otherwise pass by, if you wanted to take the easy way out and just beat the game. The fact it also took place in the future (2035, to be precise) added a nice twist to the formula, as most of the Castlevania games took place in the past. 1542, my ass. Give me futuristic vampire hunting...without the ridiculous machismo of Underworld, of course.

Both of the games still look fantastic, and pack noteworthy if not legendary soundtracks that fulfill each adventure and keep the player driven. The sound effects aren't really that varied but they still work for a game of this nature. However, it's the gameplay that continues to make these journeys worth going through, as the battle system and play style revel back to the old days of Symphony and really give you a lot to do. Sure, it could take the basic route like the older Castlevanias, but that means the games are beat in, what, an hour? Besides, the original Castlevania can be snagged for $10 if you're looking for that old-school flava. Double Pack has plenty of awesome adventure in spades and really forces you to work your way through the quests.

The game's not perfect, however. Like the previous Sonic Combo Pack release by Sega, Konami's just put the two games into one cartridge without really adding anything new. It probably would've been a significant opportunity to add some stuff, such as extra levels or a new boss or even an older game like Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse to sweeten the part. Hopefully, with future Double Pack releases, we'll see some goodies to draw in some of the older fans who were done with these games long ago.

Oh, well, chutzpah. A minor complaint amidst a field of brilliance won't knock down the cornhusks. Castlevania Double Pack is a steal at $30, offering two great entries in the long-running brand that'll keep you whipping like a madman during your road trips or just sitting cozy on the couch. Now all we need is a sequel to Symphony of the Night for consoles and the saga will come full circle, just in time for its 20th anniversary. I guess I better get started on that email campaign, huh?

Our Final ScoreExcellent

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