This is game is one of my favorite gba games and probably the best metroidvania/Castlevania on the gba. In terms of Castlevania lore, this game adds so much, instead of the past your in the future, descendants of past characters, show up, and it is topped off with quite the twist. I won’t spoil that part here. Gameplay wise, Soma(our hero) plays great. His movements are fluid and he attacks quicker than past protagonist. There’s also a new mechanic where you collect the souls of defeated foes and get to use the enemies power for the rest of the game. These range from stat buffs to added weaponry and transformations. There are over 100 souls to collect adding so much variety to each play through. The game is short and can feel quite linear in terms of exploration, but this doesn’t hinder the experience as much as you think it would. The graphics are crisp, the sound design is perfect, and the overall experience is such a joy! It is on the short side but when I beat I just kept playing it over and over. I come back to this game periodically and as of two days ago beat again.