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Review: Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night
You know those "What If?" comics (like, "What if Spider-Man's spider-sense didn't tingle, but burned?"). The best way I can put Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night for iPhone to you is as one of these scenarios. Only in this case, it's "What if Castlevania: Symphony of the Night had been a puzzle game and not a Metroid tribute?" If you'd asked me what my excitement level was for this app back when it was announced, I don't think it would've registered above "meh." But Encore of the Night has really turned out to be a lesson in not dismissing a title simply because it's from a beloved franchise and has seemingly been adapted to a totally inappropriate genre.%Gallery-98023%
Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night debuts on App Store
Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night is now available in North America. Unlike the last bizarre, potentially embarrassing Castlevania spinoff, Judgment, nobody has to see you buy it, thanks to digital distribution! "With a timeless flagship title like Castlevania, it was essential to maintain the integrity of the franchise, while at the same time offering updated content to consumers," said Joe Morris, Konami's Vice President of Mobile Content and Social Networking, about the game that retells the events of the most beloved Castlevania game, Symphony of the Night, as a falling-block puzzler. If you want to find out for yourself how well this complete departure maintains the franchise's integrity, the game costs $5. %Gallery-98023%
What is a Castlevania Puzzle trailer? A miserable little pile of footage
We're conflicted about this Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night trailer and, by extension, about the iPhone puzzler itself. On one hand, we like Castlevania and we like falling block puzzle games, and think that the RPG elements cribbed from Symphony of the Night could make this one enjoyable. On the other hand, it seems ... profane to crack the brilliant Symphony of the Night open and repurpose it in this manner. Maybe it's just us, but seeing Symphony of the Night's sprites and plot reduced to motivation for matching blocks makes us squirm a bit. We wouldn't be so offended if it weren't such a highly revered game -- even if it were other Castlevania. Castlevania Bloodlines Puzzle would be weird, but not offensive. We must keep in mind that the existence of this game in no way impugns the real Symphony of the Night. We should also remember that this is hardly the first Castlevania game to reuse sprites from another.
But enough talking on your iPhone! Have at Castlevania Puzzle!
The beloved Castlevania: Symphony of the Night has undergone a dark metamorphosis into an iPhone puzzle game. Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night is sort of a Castlevania version of Puzzle Quest, with a bit of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo mixed in. Alucard fights his way through Dracula's castle as before -- but now defeats enemies in a match-three falling block puzzle game. You can upgrade Alucard's weapons and equipment to change his stats in the puzzle game -- for example, IGN notes that a new sword could increase the damage done to enemies by successful matches. The unholy blend of Symphony of the Night and addictive puzzle gameplay could very well steal men's souls and make them its slaves. There's no precise release date, but IGN notes it'll be out "very soon."
