For us hardcore gamers -- who are wont to hold
Castlevania:
Symphony of the Night in almost legendary esteem -- it might be
kinda galling to see that classic title transmogrified into a puzzle
game, let alone one for the iPhone. But, come on, don't be a
closed-minded douche. Castlevania
Puzzle: Encore of the Night is an innovative, entertaining, and
actually pretty dang faithful gloss on one of the best of the best.
In terms of story, characters, and setting, EotN is essentially identical to its console granddaddy. Alucard, Dracula's half-human son goes into his father's castle to pursue vampire hunter Richter Belmont who seems to have been possessed by the spirit of evil and? okay, whatever. Suffice it to say that if you're familiar with the original's story, you'll experience plenty of nostalgia playing through this game. And if you aren't, you'll be just as confused as the rest of us, so have no fear. Whatever you've played before, you'll be playing EotN for a while, because ? like SotN ? it requires a lot of backtracking and teleporting around.
What it doesn't require, however, is any swords or sorcery. You play entirely by dropping blocks of various colors into a vertical container -- like Tetris. Your job is to match three blocks of the same color and thereby remove them from your board. When the central hourglass flips over, all the blocks that you've slated for removal will be teleported to your opponent's side. Too many blocks for the play space means your opponent (or you) take damage proportional to the overage. While this seems simplistic, EOTN adds magic items, weapons, and spells (all of which are tied to particular blocks that have to be "broken" before the power can be used), as well as levels and RPG-like stats. All of these have a major impact on the way the simple match-three mechanic works -- an impact that increases as the game goes on.
Somehow, this combination of simplistic gameplay and the
aesthetic and design elements of a totally different sort of title comes
together brilliantly in EOTN. Because of the hourglass mechanic, you
can set up ginormous combos to hit your unsuspecting opponents with, and
the feeling when you really slam the crap out of someone is
tremendously satisfying. The RPG progression and faithful attention to
the SOTN's details (right down to original sprites and awesome score)
keep the addiction factor high.
