Castlevania as it was meant to be.
I borrowed my friend's DS to play this game... he knows I love Castlevania, and he knows I'n no fan of the DS. This game has reinforced some of my anti-DS prejudices, but I've got to respect it as well. The downside here is that the top screen is really just a stats board, and since most anti-DS feeling centers on the two screen vs 1 big nice screen debate, this made me feel rather pissy at first. However, the play screen looks GOOD. The colours were sharp, and it was very playable. The controls were intuitive and well mapped, and the item system worked well with it. I can't say a part of me wouldn't want to see this same game on the Wii download section or the PSP... but hey.
C:PoR is also a fairly varied game, considering that Castlevania has never been a game for puzzle solving beyond the basics, C:PoR does as good a job of it as any previous in the canon. The execution of different abilities and items and weapons, and the natural feel of the controls drew me into this game more than I thought ANY portable could. I suppose I have to admit that with a game like this, underutilizing a second screen might be a shame, but it doesn't make the game any less fun to play. Anyone who likes castlevania will LOVE Portrait of Ruin, and anyone who like the genre in general on a portable will too.