Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night sounds like a joke, isn't

The naming convention for Castlevania games has become an unintentional running gag. Ever since Rondo of Blood each gamenamehas beena combination of beauty and evil; Portrait of Ruin, Aria of Sorrow and Harmony of Dissonance are the foremost examples. Today we have a name that I swore was a joke, then turned out to be an honest-to-god iPhone game - Castlevania: Encore of the Night.

Judging from the screens it looks like one half Puzzle Quest and one half Super Puzzle Fighter, all bathed inSymphony of the Night sprites. Which actually sounds kind of awesome, as both of the aforementioned puzzle games are tops, plus those classic Castlevania sprites are some of the coolest-looking character models of any 2D game.

Yes, the point will be to break blocks and send 'em flying over to your opponent's column. But it appears you'll be able to equip special items and engage in other RPG-esqueelements to flesh out the experience beyond the typical iPhone tap-a-thon.

So, while it did initially sound absolutely ridiculous, I'm totally on board. Encore of the Night is slated to come out "soon," so uh, I guess keep checking the App Store?

May 13, 2010