In the young life of the gaming industry, the most important evolution thus far has been the transition from sprites to polygons, from 2D to 3D. This fundamental shift in game design has brought game playing to life like never before and is largely responsible for the wide-spread acceptance that gaming currently enjoys. Most of the franchises that started out as two-dimensional, sprite-based games have long since migrated to the bigger and better world of three-dimensional polygons. The increasingly rare exception has been Konami's long-running Castlevania series, which has continued to enjoy old-school success in a market dominated by new-school technology.

Despite a few failed forays into 3D on the Nintendo 64, Koji Igarashi's classic vampire-killing saga has continued to survive as a throwback to a time when games were much simpler (and much harder). Following the quintessential action-adventure-RPG Symphony of the Night, last years' Circle of the Moon continued the legacy of the popular side-scroller on the GameBoy Advance. While the game exuded quality and carried on the tried-and-true gameplay of previous installments, a few problems (dark visuals and an overly-complicated card system) caused it to fall short of Symphony's lofty status. Determined to improve on the shortcomings in the last game, Konami has released its portable followup entitled Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance.

In many ways Harmony of Dissonance solves the problems its predecessor created. The biggest improvement is the display itself, which is much brighter and crisper than Circle of the Moon. As a result the game is playable with normal room lighting, so put away those floodlights! The visuals themselves feature larger character sprites and increased background detail, as well as multiple levels of parallax scrolling and a handful of nifty Mode 7 effects. The cumbersome DSS system has been replaced with a much more manageable Spell Fusion system that feels much more at home in the Castlevania universe. Most of the changes are for the better, but Harmony of Dissonance does stumble here and there, most notably with its shockingly lackluster soundtrack. But overall it is a worthy successor to both Symphony of the Night and Circle of the Moon and should please long-time Castlevania fans.

You assume the role of Juste Belmont in this latest Castlevania adventure, which appears to take place in an alternate time line from the rest of the series. Fifty years have passed since the legendary Simon Belmont defeated Dracula, and now Juste must hunt for the relics of the Dark Lord. He also must rescue his childhood friend Lydie with the aid of his amnesiac companion Maxim. While it might sound a bit too much like the storyline in Symphony of the Night, there are a few twists that prevent it from being a complete retread. And you can bet that Dracula shows his ugly face at some point, just for old times' sake. After saying goodbye to Maxim you take control of Juste at the front gate of Castlevania, which is a much more fitting way to enter the castle than the catacomb entrance in Circle of the Moon.

Controlling Juste is a snap and should feel just right to players who've experienced the last few games in the series. Movement with the d-pad feels light and responsive, and Juste can change direction during a jump. Pressing up on the d-pad causes Juste to strike a rather dignified pose, similar to Alucard from Symphony of the Night. Nice touch! The shoulder buttons on the GameBoy Advance serve as speed boosters, causing Juste to quickly dash left or right. These dashes can be used to evade an enemy attack or to cover ground quickly, and they come in very handy for much of the game. The only niggling point is that there seems to be a slight delay between landing from a jump and being able to move again, and this detracts from the fluidity of the game ever so slightly. But overall the control is quite good and most players will find Harmony of Dissonance highly playable, especially Castlevania veterans who have played the recent games in the series.

The core play mechanics follow the same successful Metroid-Castlevania hybrid blueprint established in Symphony of the Night. Along his journey Juste will find relics that grant him extra abilities that will allow him to reach previously unreachable locations of the castle. While this setup entails quite a bit of backtracking, the dual-castle scheme used in Harmony of Dissonance seems to minimize it for the most part. Being a Belmont, Juste arrives at Castlevania armed with the famous vampire-killer whip. The whip works much the same as it did in Circle of the Moon, but it can be upgraded with various items that add extra functionality like elemental properties or the ability to demolish certain walls. Armor and accessories can also be equipped to add abilities, and healing items can be used directly from the submenu. The game design has changed little in the last three games, and Konami has done right to leave well enough alone in Harmony of Dissonance.

While the Dual Setup System used in Circle of the Moon was certainly an interesting twist, it proved to be too unreliable and cumbersome for many players. Cards were only acquired as infrequent item drops from enemies and changing card combinations required players to pause the game and tinker with sub-menus. Recognizing the limitations of DSS, Konami has replaced it with the much more intuitive (and familiar) Spell Fusion system. With Spell Fusion, Juste can invoke a wide variety of devastating attacks by combining one of five spellbooks with the standard set of Castlevania sub-weapons. There are five elemental books that can be found (fire, ice, wind, bolt and summon) that essentially create an "item crash" for each sub-weapon. Players can cycle between spell books and even turn off Spell Fusion altogether without accessing a single menu, which makes the game feel much more fluid than Circle of the Moon ever did.

Konami has added a host of features to Harmony of Dissonance that make it a complete game experience, though there seem to be less bonus features than in Circle of the Moon. Much like Symphony of the Night, Harmony features a monster encyclopedia that stores data about all of the monsters you've faced. This compendium is available at all times in your submenu, so you can quickly evaluate an enemy's weakness or the items they drop. In a nod to the IKEA nesting instinct, Juste can collect pieces of furniture that he can use to decorate a room in the castle. While a bit silly, it's still a fun diversion. The automap feature returns in Harmony and proves vital for tracking progress in each of the games' two castles.

Perhaps the most useful feature is the Quick Save, which stores your progress (but not your position) even when you're away from a Save Room. This eliminates a lot of needless backtracking and prevents you from having to re-do tasks when you die. The flip side, of course, is that it eliminates the pressure that Circle of the Moon established, and the game becomes a little too easy because of it. Upon finishing the game, an additional Boss Rush mode is unlocked. Here you can fight bosses from the game on one of three difficulties using Juste, Maxim or even Simon Belmont. Finishing the game also allows you to play again on a harder difficulty, without magic or as Maxim, who offers a game experience similar to Richter in Symphony of the Night. While fans of Circle of the Moon may miss the various bonus modes that game offered, there is still a lot to see and do in Harmony of Dissonance.

That's not to say that the game gets it right on every level, as there are a few noticeable problems. First and foremost is weapon variety. Where Symphony of the Night offered a plethora of weapons and attack methods, Harmony of Dissonance is curiously limited. Even Circle of the Moon offered more attack variety through the use of DSS combos. The whip upgrades in Harmony do not significantly change the appearance of your attacks nor are they all that useful. The number of ability powerups has been diminished quite a bit, as only the Sylph Tail (double jump), Griffon Wing (super jump) and Crush Stone grant access to previously unavailable areas. You'll go a long way between powerups, which makes the game feel a little sparse. Though Spell Fusion is quick and painless, it has the unfortunate side effect of allowing players to rely on powerful attacks too frequently. Circle of the Moon demanded a much higher skill level, and Harmony of Dissonance feels a little too easy in comparison. Overall I feel the good outweighs the bad, but Harmony still falls short of Symphony of the Night in many areas.

The visuals in Harmony of Dissonance are dramatically improved over those in Circle of the Moon. Like I mentioned earlier, the display is much brighter now and can be seen more clearly with normal ambient lighting. The various sections of the castle feature more detail and a more diverse color palette, as well as multiple levels of parallax scrolling and a few Mode 7 effects (zooming clouds in the Sky Walkway, for instance). Character sprites are much larger and more detailed than those in Circle of the Moon, and some of the enemy creatures are downright gigantic. Juste features smoother animation than his predecessor in Circle of the Moon, though some of his movements still lack the grace and elegance of Alucard. Juste is decked out in the cool-looking ghost trail effect that Alucard sported in Symphony of the Night, and overall the game features a host of sharp-looking spell and damage effects. Anyone disappointed with Circle of the Moon's graphics will likely be satisfied with those in Harmony of Dissonance.

The one area that has taken a sharp nosedive in Harmony of Dissonance is sound. While the effects are generally clean and reminiscent of prior games, the music varies from ho-hum to downright dreadful. This is especially disappointing when you consider that Castlevania games have always produced memorable tunes, especially the last two installments. Igarashi claims that sound had to be sacrificed for visual detail, but that doesn't excuse the poor compositions and utterly forgettable arrangements that typify Harmony of Dissonances' soundtrack. Gone are the soaring, moody orchestra-like melodies of Symphony and Circle, replaced with bland synthesizer tracks that clash with the visual style of the game and kill much of its mood.

The tracks all tend to run together as well, as there is much less sonic diversity in the appropriately-titled Harmony of Dissonance. Where Symphony of the Night was known for haunting piano melodies and dynamic rock-orchestra outbursts, Harmony tends to whimper along with uninspiring, impotent arrangements that border on an almost amateur level of quality. Considering what we ended up with, I would have been much happier if Konami had simply reproduced Circle of the Moon's soundtrack in this game. The sound effects are quite good, thankfully, with lots of clean voice samples (shrieks, screams, laughs, etc.) and damage effects (from the various spells) to heighten the impact of the action. But the poor music does have a significant impact on the quality of the game, and takes quite a bit of polish off of an otherwise excellent experience.

If not for the poor soundtrack, I'd be raving about this title a hell of a lot more. But as it stands, Harmony of Dissonance is an excellent game and a worthy successor to the Castlevania legacy. The streamlined play mechanics make the game much more accessible and playable without sacrificing depth, while the improved visuals and refined game balance make for an unbeatable portable experience. Konami has put together a game that incorporates nearly everything I wanted in a sequel to Symphony of the Night, and I'll likely be playing this one for a long time. While I'm still chomping at the bit to get my hands on a PlayStation2 incarnation of this series, Harmony of Dissonance is an excellent substitute that should satisfy most Castlevania fans.