If you've been a happy Game Boy or DS owner at any point in the past five years, you're likely a fan of the immortal Castlevania series. Each one pits a lone hero against the forces of Dracula, but the latest entry in the series, Portrait of Ruin, bucks that trend by teaming you up with a magical young girl. To get the straight talk on the change, and just generally gush a little praise, we sat down with series creator Koji "IGA" Igarashi and composer Michiru Yamane. GamesRadar: Portrait of ...
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If you pre-order Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for the Nintendo DS at GameStop/EB Games, you'll receive a Castlevania 20th Anniversary Soundtrack music CD for free!
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Dracula seems to rise up every year now. Hey, we're not about to complain - every time he shows up, the world is treated to another adventurous vampire hunt that trumps practically every other 2D game out there. Portrait of Ruin already feels like it won't be the exception to the Castlevania rule. You can switch between whip-wielding Jonathan Morris and magical sorceress Charlotte Orlean. With a simple button press, you can switch between these two any time, and even summon the other down to ...
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Today, we got a much deeper look at the new Castlevania game than we'd ever gotten before. Though it was announced before the show, all we really knew was that it would feature two characters. We now know that these two can work together in various different ways, and that the game features a slight departure from the castle-based design of the last several titles. The "tactical soul system" from Dawn of Sorrow (DS) and Aria of Sorrow (GBA) has been scrapped in favor of more traditional ...
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We just can't kill Dracula enough. After last year's utterly outstanding adventure, Dawn of Sorrow, you'd be right to wonder how Konami could top its soul-stealing action. How about controlling two characters at once and summoning demons to do your bidding? That might work. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin will take a stab at outdoing one of 2005's best games when it arrives on November 15. You'll be able to switch between vampire hunter Jonathan Morris and magic-wielding Charlotte Orlean at any ...
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Friday 21 April 2006 Konami's long running vampire action series Castlevania will return to Nintendo DS this November with Portrait of Ruin. The new game is being devised by series creator Koji Igarashi and will feature a new character swapping system. Gamers will be able to flick between control of vampire hunter Jonathan Morris and a young girl with magical powers called Charlotte Orlean, who have joined forces to foil a plot to resurrect Dracula's Castle. The original DS Castlevania game, ...
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Sega is releasing a game of the forthcoming movie Charlotte's Web, which in turn is an adaptation of the classic EB White book, for DS and PC this fall. The story follows the efforts of farmyard pig Wilbur as he tries to avoid ending up on the farmer's dinner table at the end of the season. Enlisting the help of his best friend and confidant Charlotte the spider, he hatches a plot to escape the chop. Gamers control Wilbur or Templeton the rat in order to explore four large areas in the game - ...
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Friday 5 May 2006 Sega is releasing a game of the forthcoming movie Charlotte's Web - an adaptation of the classic EB White book - for DS and PC this autumn. The story follows the efforts of a farmyard pig called Wilbur as he tries to avoid ending up on the farmer's dinner table at the end of the season. Enlisting the help of his best friend and confidant Charlotte the spider, he hatches a plot to escape the chop. Gamers control Wilbur or the rat Templeton in order to explore four large areas ...
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411mania gives a rundown on this week's game releases. Highlights include The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity, DJ Max Fever, and Ninja Blade.

The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity
"Despite still being in pre-alpha, the glimpse that I got of The Chase at last year's E3 was already looking pretty good. Unfortunately, more high-profile 2D platformers like Mega Man 9, Bionic Commando, and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia were getting most of the attention. So, it's understandable that this game was overlooked."

DJ Max Fever
"What's surprising is that PM Studios decided not to follow in Konami's footsteps by bastardizing the series with crappy songs from 2nd-tier US bands that nobody has ever heard of. Granted, most of the people who pick this up will not have heard of any of its songs either, but one of the game's main strengths is its song selection, and changing what works would kill the series before it has a chance to plant its feet."

Ninja Blade
"Ninja Blade is a 'Cinematic Action' game developed by the people who brought us the Otogi series"
"It looks to be a cross between Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Heavenly Sword, God of War, and Onimusha."
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This week's new videogame releases are lead by over the top anime action with Afro Samurai for the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360. The action game has a distinct art style and is back by voice acting by Samuel L. Jackson. Enemy AI is affected by the beats from RZA of Wu-Tang Clan. Wii and DS gamers have Coraline, the game based on the upcoming stop-motion fantasy film by Henry Selick and Neil Gaiman's book. Coraline should appeal to younger gamers who like a bit of fantasy mixed with mini-games. If you want to scratch on the PSP, take on the portable turntables in DJ Max Fever.

Check out week's new videogame releases.
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