Castlevania was always great, but in 1997's Symphony of the Night, it entered a whole new level. That game introduced RPG-style leveling-up, and tons of items to find and equip to the series. The three GBA games that followed have kept these elements, and they are easily among the best games on the system. Now Castlevania has come to the PlayStation 2, in full 3D... without the best stuff.

Gameplay
No leveling-up, and very few items to find. You can increase your health, magic, and hearts, but only by collecting a few special items. There are 4 whips, a far cry from the dozens of weapons in SotN and Aria of Sorrow, or the dozens of alterations you could make in Circle of the Moon. There are about a dozen equipabble items, all are rarely dropped by monsters. This means you'll be playing a more old-school type of Castlevania. Fortunetly, it's not nearly as hard as the old ones. Unfortunetly, it's got the easiest bosses I've ever fought. Just keep a decent supply of potions on hand and you'll be okay. The last boss will probably give you trouble though, becuase he's a bit of a surprise. All items are equipped and used in real time. You use the digital pad or right analog stick to navigate through your inventory. The right shoulder buttons block, and blocking magical attacks, or blocking at the last second fill up your magic meter. Magic is used to power the 8 Relics in the game. The left shouler buttons bring up your Relic list or Orb list. The orbs add modifiers to your subweapons, like the books in Harmony of Dissonance, but to much better effect. One combination even gives you the lighting powered Agnea, last seen in SotN.

Controls
There's no lock-on, and no need for it. Attacking is easy, just point in the general direction and start whipping away. Whip it. Whip it good. This is the least vertical Castle ever. In this case, it's a good thing, since determining where you will land when you jump is so hard, the flatness means less upming. The camera is semi-fixed, a la Resident Evil: Code Veronica. You can't control it at all, it stays fixed in place, following you a little until you reach another camera view. It doesn't hurt your ability to attack much, but it happens. Like in Bloodlines, you can use your whip to reach some areas. It's fairly easy, but like jumping, it's hard to line it up right.