Koji Igarashi

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is a 2005 action-adventure video game, the first in the Castlevania series by Konami to be released on the Nintendo DS. It was written and produced by Koji Igarashi (pictured) and directed by Satoshi Kushibuchi. Incorporating many elements from its predecessor, Aria of Sorrow, it was commercially successful, selling more than 15,000 units in its first week in Japan and 164,000 in the United States within three months. The protagonist, Soma Cruz, manages to escape the fate of becoming the new Dracula with the help of allies. The game has platform and role-playing elements, with a dark, gothic atmosphere. It introduces a multiplayer mode and a "Magic Seal" system that requires the use of the DS stylus to draw a pattern to defeat enemies. The game received high scores from many video game publications and was considered one of the best games on the Nintendo DS for 2005. (This article is part of a featured topic: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.)