Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

If you'd have suggested to me twenty years ago I'd be a Castlevania fan I'd have laughed in your face. I have zero interest in the whole Gothic Horror genre, I dislike the soul crushing difficulty of the NES games, and frankly, the whole Dracula thing is kind of derivative.

Then I played Symphony of the Night on the recommendation of several friends. Ok, I purchased it at the Greatest Hits price then it sat on me game shelf until halfway through college. Eventually I needed something to play so I picked it up. It was a spectacular game.

The new RPG/Action style of gameplay introduced in Symphony is much better than the old ruthless arcade style of the NES days. Apparently Konami realize this as well because every 2D Castlevania game since Symphony has been an emulation of this style, though not without some experimentation. There have been some highs and lows but once again, Konami has managed to refine things to a pretty high level.

Because I like giving the punch line before the joke, I'll tell you Portrait of Ruin is an excellent game. You can go away now if you'd like unless you'd like to hear me rattle on about why.

The gimmick of Portrait of Ruin is coupling. You get two different playable character in the main monde and two of the three bonus modes. This isn't your straight "pick a player" set up though, you get control of both characters at once. If you prefer (I do) you can sent the other person away and tag team in and out at will. If you're especially skilled the second player can be controlled via the touch screen. Good luck at that one however unless you're some sort of three armed mutant. Let's see, Portrait of Ruin, N64 Controller, I see a trend. Maybe there is something we don't know about the Japanese.