Castlevania: Order of Shadows

Castlevania: Order of Shadows is an action-platform game released in 2007 for mobile phones. It is the only title in the  series that was developed in the United States. It is the fourth "mini"-Castlevania released for a handheld system.

Story
A few decades before Simon Belmont (the hero of six Castlevania games), the Order of Shadows is preparing to resurrect Dracula. It is up to Zoe and Dolores Belmont to stop the Order, while their brother Desmond (either father or grand-father to Simon) creates a diversion and takes down as many minions as possible.

The player controls Desmond, while his sisters only appear during cutscenes.

Gameplay
Although it features some minimal role-playing elements, Castlevania: Order of Shadows is far more akin to Castlevania Legends than to any other title in the series. Some of the similarities include:
 * A small number of well-defined stages (5 in Order of Shadows, 6 in Legends).
 * Whenever the Belmont hero defeats a boss, he gains a new skill (see also: ).
 * There are forks in the stages, but they are far smaller than proper mazes (see also:, again).

More reminiscent of, stages can be revisited; if the Belmont already obtained the required skill, he can access new areas.

From the point of view of a, Order of Shadows lacks completely two out of the three main requirements: no active dialogue (i.e. outside the cutscenes) and no freedom of exploration. By killing enemies, the character earns experience points and levels, that result in stronger attacks. Character growth is fixed, that is it leaves no room for playing a role chosen by the player.