It’s clear that mobile phone games aren’t just for the casual gamers anymore, with publishers translating more and more franchises to your cellular phone. But rather than port over a tinier (and usually crappier) version of an existing game, Order of Shadows is a completely new title in the Castlevania series exclusively for your mobile phone -- and it doesn’t suck.
Order of Shadows is a classic Castlevania 2D side-scroller; it’s got the traditional action-adventure, enemy-whipping gameplay with RPG-leveling. It also continues the Belmont lineage, introducing vampire hunter Desmond Belmont. Lead game designer Tyrone Rodriquez told us that it’s the first time the Castlevania sprites have been redrawn since 1997’s Symphony of the Night (all recent handheld iterations had been using the same sprites). Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi even provided input on details of the game, such as whip animation, suggesting how to make it more similar to previous Castlevania games. Fans of the series will be satisfied with the appearance of items and music from previous games. The developers went so far as to include the elusive flaming whip from Castlevania II (it’s hidden in one of the levels). Even some of Desmond’s moves hail from past titles, like the back dash (SOTN) and the slide (Dracula X).
And just how does one execute these fancy moves on a phone? Easy. The “OK” button activates your weapon (starting off with the whip), up on the D-pad is jump, and left and right move you across the board. Diagonal lets you climb up stairs, and to back dash, hit the “1” key; for the slide, tap down twice. Now any cell phone user is a vampire slayer (even Mom)!
As seen on the LG VX9400 in the top photo, the game is optimized for widescreen displays. It should take 1-2 hours to play through, and includes 7 bosses, 13 classic enemies (skeletons, ghouls and flying Medusa heads, to name a few) and 18 original songs, akin to the tunes of past Castlevania titles. Essentially, Order of Shadows takes the traditional gameplay and all the things we love about Castlevania games (the good ones) and optimizes it for a brand-new, petite and portable format. The game should appeal to even the most hardcore fans of the series, getting the sign off from Igarashi himself (Rodriguez revealed that Igarashi was so pleased, he’d like a second mobile phone game made). Castlevania: Order of Shadows will be released on Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile on September 18th for $6 or $7 (depending on the carrier).
But if Castlevania isn’t your thing, don’t worry: Konami is coming out with original, cell phone-only titles for their other franchises. Contra (side note: the 20th anniversary edition which will allow you to create your own character), Silent Hill and Metal Gear are all scheduled to come out individually by February 2008. Pretty sweet.
[Editor’s Note: For more on Castlevania: Order of Shadows, check out the Konami Mobile Web site, where you can actually try the game and watch the first installment of the Developer’s Corner, where lead game designer Tyrone Rodriguez discuses more about details about the game.]
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