I just don’t understand how Konami makes these games so quickly. Regardless of how little time there was between the release of the last Castlevania GBA game and this newest one, the speedy development certainly didn’t compromise quality. In fact, Aria of Sorrow, the company’s third handheld title in the series in as many years, is easily the best yet. Like Circle of the Moon (CotM) and Harmony of Dissonance (HoD), it follows the basic gameplay structure of what many consider to be the ultimate Castlevania experience, Symphony of the Night (SotN). Gotta love these melodramatic subtitles! Yet unlike its two miniature predecessors, Aria of Sorrow can legitimately claim to be the successor to that most hallowed PlayStation adventure.

What I’m trying to say is that this game is excellent. Unbelievably polished, perfectly balanced. This is one of the top five GBA games on the market, if not the best GBA adventure game period. And what makes it so great? Refinement. Aria of Sorrow doesn’t do anything drastically different to the formula, but it carries a keen sense of what worked and what flopped for its predecessors. The graphics are considerably brighter and much better animated than in CotM, but the distracting and unnecessary effects from HoD have been removed. The music is a very acceptable compromise between CotM’s gorgeous soundtrack and HoD’s horrendous one. The quest is not as infuriatingly difficult as CotM, but the experience and soul systems are far more balanced than HoD’s insane magic system. And finally, after all these years, Konami has once again figured out that giving players money in the game is only useful if there’s a consistent, easily accessible shop location.

If you don’t know the basics of how these games are played, see our reviews for the previous games. That much is totally unchanged. The game’s design is still heavily patterned after Super Metroid, with a lot more RPG elements thrown in. Aria of Sorrow falls close to SotN’s tree for several reasons. The story is actually quite interesting and considerably different than any other Castlevania game, although the futuristic setting is totally irrelevant. The main character, Soma Cruz, isn’t even a Belmont, although you’ll meet a member of that famous clan later on. Soma wields a variety of weapons, from swords to knives to hammers to boxing gloves, and even a couple of guns.

Soma has the unusual ability to absorb the souls of his enemies. In addition to being a wonderfully balanced gameplay system (don’t worry, it’s not like Pokemon at all), this ability even ties into the story. Basically, you go around killing enemies as normal. Occasionally one will eject its soul upon death, which Soma automatically absorbs and can use from that point forward. There are three types of souls, and you can have one of each equipped at any given time; the game makes it easy to manage your inventory of souls and switch them out quickly. The first type activates a simple attack with Up and B, replacing the traditional sub-weapons. The second type gives a more powerful, long-lasting effect by pressing R; these range from damage shields to dramatic transformations. The third type has some static effect, such as increasing your stats or allowing you to walk underwater. There are also six ability souls, which permanently grant Soma new movement options like the double jump, but these are rare and operate separately from the other souls.

Governing your use of the first and second soul types is a magic bar, which refills very slowly. Since your “sub-weapons” feed from this meter, the classic Castlevania hearts simply fill up your magic by a set amount, rather than being stored as a separate resource. None of the souls are so broken that it becomes reasonable to just stand around and let your magic fill back up. Rather, the special attacks and magic effects are useful and help to prolong your life, and magic only becomes precious during boss fights or if you’re running around using way too many powerful attacks. It’s a well-balanced system that adds a ton of variety without making the game a cakewalk or overly complex.

Aria of Sorrow doesn’t have an upside-down version of the castle like past games, and its castle is actually a bit small for the series, but it’s still not a short game. Gamers experienced in the series will finish it in around ten hours, and it could take twice that long for others. A harder difficulty setting, Boss Rush mode, and new playable character all open up after completion, so there’s plenty to keep you busy. All of this amounts to a package that any GBA owner would be proud to have in his collection. Even if you’ve never played one of the recent Castlevania titles, and especially if you were bothered by the unbalanced design of the last two games, go out right now and pick up Aria of Sorrow.