The game: Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (XB, PS2)
Sequel to: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES)
Why you didn't play it: Way too much competition. Its late 2005 release put it right in the middle of the Xbox 360 launch hoopla and, much worse, a wave of critical acclaim for Dawn of Sorrow. With such a badass 2D entry already on the market, no one seemed interested in checking out yet another 3D Castlevania filled with boring hallways and bland combat.
Why you should have: Well, it is a little bland, but that doesn't make it a bad game. The atmosphere is still there thanks to the excellent soundtrack and character designs, and the Innocent Devil power-up system gave it a bit more depth than other hack-n-slash titles of the day. It's not the best game in the series by any means, but c'mon, plenty of games are worse. Pick it up for 10 bucks and you'll be fine.
It's tough to say what this would be a "sequel" to - technically it follows the third NES game, but it was released two years after Lament of Innocence (and plays more like it too). Either way, it remains the last 3D Castlevania, and two years later we're still waiting to see what else this franchise can do. Our suggestion: the ultimate 2D game of all time on PS3. Throw everything you've got at the system and make it the end-all be-all of side-scrollers.
