Castlevania has been around for 20 years. TWENTY YEARS. Almost drinking age, for crying out loud. Has time really passed by this quickly? I was just a bratty 13-year old kid getting out of his middle school years (and computer club) when I first played this game on a PlayChoice 10 machine. Flash forward, and the series has grown up remarkably. The turning point was the arrival of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PlayStation. And that's the style that the series has built its foundation on since, with Dawn of Sorrow continuing the trend last year for DS owners.

Enough bantering about the game's history. To commemorate the 20th anniversary, the development team, headed by Koji Igarashi (the director of Symphony and other titles in the series- we call him Iga), are releasing what appears to be one of the better Castlevania games to date with Portrait of Ruin. This latest DS release doesn't just continue possessing the adventurous spirit that came with Symphony, but also some of the old-school touches that attracted us to begin with. It's a hard trick to pull off, but Konami seems ready to pull some bats out of its hat. (I'd say rabbit, but screw the rabbit. There's not one to be found here.)

The horrors of World War II are horrible as it is. But for a vampire hunter named Jonathan Morris and his friend Charlotte Orlean, things get much worse. It seems two bothersome sisters have concocted a plan to resurrect Dracula, and have a legion of monstrosities to back them up. Using their collective powers, Jonathan and Charlotte must stop these bratty siblings before they make the land one bloody smorgasbord for Drac. That's a pretty tall order.

Fortunately, Jonathan and Charlotte have an arsenal in thwarting this massive evil. Morris' weapon of choice is the whip. That's right, not a blood stained sword or orbs of wonder, but the Belmont family's weapon of choice. And just like in previous games, players can hold down the attack button and fling around the whip in one constant motion. I'm excited to see this weapon make a comeback after being away so long. Not to be outdone by the old-school class, Charlotte has witchcraft-fueled magic attacks.

The way these two characters play couldn't be more different, and that's what gives the game some diversity. Not a fan of the whip? Battle with Charlotte for a while. You can switch between them at any time, ala Donkey Kong Country. But it's the power of using them together that really gets things cooking, in the form of Summon Attacks. This is where the two join up and summon a large demon to devastate everything on-screen, which helps if they become overwhelmed. While you save up energy for the next Summon, you can have your following player unleash a quick attack at any time with a tap of the touch screen. You'll also need to use both players to solve the occasional puzzle, like getting to an out-of-reach ledge.

The "draw a spell" system that bogged down Sorrow last year is long gone. The touch screen is used a little less as a result, but that complicates the game less and gives more concentration to the action at hand. I admit, it had its innovation when it was debuted, but it just got a bit silly in the thick of action. This new gameplay system will go much more smoothly, methinks.

There's an option that introduces a new angle on the series- two player co-op. Friends will be able to take the game via Wi-Fi and drag a friend down this hellish road. There's only going to be a few particular stages available within the game that can be played in this mode, but it's still an addition that will add significance to the game. And you can finally settle that bet as to who can kill the most bone-flinging skeletons in one single run. "I can do it!" "Bullshit!" Quit bickering and settle the argument.

Along with the gameplay, the graphics will also see welcome change. A majority of stages will actually take you outside the castle for a change. Yes, it's ironic, what with the series being called Castlevania but oh well. The outdoor environments look outstanding and have graphics that resemble Dawn of Sorrow's scrolling effects, as well as a bright use of colors. One stage had us roaming past a Roman village with decrepit buildings and a yellowish sky filled with dusted clouds, and the next had us in the middle of a glowing orange desert, with the moon hanging high above. Boss battles and Summon Attacks offer up some highlights of their own, filling the screen with visual grace. Damn fine looking game thus far.

There will also be some shake-up in the music department. Michiru Yamane, a veteran who's worked on Castlevania games before, will provide numerous tracks for Portrait. But the real shocker here is the signing on of Yuzo Koshiro. For those unfamiliar with Koshiro, he's a long-time composer who's produced a number of phenomenal game soundtracks. We're talking stuff like Actraiser, Streets of Rage, and Y's Book I & II among others. It'll be interesting to see what he does for the Portrait soundtrack.

Damn it, November can't get here soon enough. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin looks to be the best entry in the series since Symphony of the Night, and that's really saying something. It looks to be a twentieth anniversary present worth unwrapping...which is more than I can say for what I gave my sister and her husband on theirs. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that the whole cheese-of-the-month club craze is over.