Castlevania® doubles up

Konami of Europe has announced it is to release the first in a series of Double Pack Game Boy Advance products, with a Castlevania Double Pack that contains two sought-after games: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.

Both games enjoyed massive success at launch, and have enjoyed huge acclaim. The Castlevania Double Pack is due for release in February 2006, and will feature both games to provide hours of entertainment. Created by Koji "IGA" Igarashi and his team, the games are some of the most popular adventures in Konami's long-running series. The series popularity will be further extended, as IGA and his team unleash Castlevania: Curse of Darkness^TM for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2006.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance casts the player as Juste Belmont, a descendent of series' hero, Simon Belmont. Fifty years have passed since Simon freed the world from the curse of Dracula, and Juste is charged with locating relics left behind by the legendary vampire. However, when Juste's friend Lydie disappears, Juste concludes that Dracula is still alive and enters the vampire's castle. Thus, a platform-based exploration of the vampire's castle begins, with Juste collecting relics and using magic to counter the attacks of Dracula's undead hordes.

For Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, the series fast-forwards to the year 2035 and proves that evil is eternal. This time, Some Cruz takes centre stage as a young man who is destined to become the next incarnation of Dracula. Horrified at the future that awaits him, Soma must use whatever weapons come to hand to escape the vampire's castle, and has the ability to capture the souls of fallen enemies which can be used to endow him with additional skills. This adds a welcome role-playing element to the action, and further demonstrates the versatility of the Castlevania series.

With copies of both games extremely sought-after by fans, the release of this double-pack will be extremely welcome. "Castlevania's rich history and deep storylines have always made it a favorite franchise among casual gamers and core gaming fans alike," commented Hans-Joachim Amann, Head of European Product Management, Konami of Europe.

"Combining two of the most beloved chapters in this long running franchise together onto one cartridge provides gamers a great value as well as giving newcomers to the series a convenient way to experience some of the best of what Castlevania has to offer."

More Konami Double Pack products will be launched in 2006 and will be announced shortly.

The Castlevania Double Pack will be released for Game Boy Advance in February, 2006. For more information please contact Steve Merrett at Voltage PR on 020 7903 5122 or email steve@voltagepr.com.

CASTLEVANIA^®, CURSE OF DARKNESS^TM, HARMONY OF DISSONANCE^TM and ARIA OF SORROW^TM are either trademarks or registered trademarks of KONAMI CORPORATION