Most of us are still waiting for Konami's new WiiWare title Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth to show up on our local Wii Shop Channels, but lucky Japanese gamers have been enjoying the new game for a brief while already.  This modernized take on the flawed 1989 Nintendo Game Boy title Castlevania: The Adventure looks to have corrected what went wrong with the original game and added a healthy serving of experience gained from making Castlevania games over the last twenty years.  Have a look at this video clip of Stage 1 and then try to tell me that this doesn't look fantastic.

While the familiarly warm visuals and classic gameplay stand out right away, what really captured my attention are the audio elements.  I love the little "Vampire Killer" riff that plays to introduce each stage, plus a lot of the sounds are seemingly ripped right out of the original Castlevania for the Nintendo Entertainment System.  Take special note of the sound of hero Christopher Belmont collecting hearts and collecting crucifix necklaces.  The level design shown here recalls some of the material from its older counterpart, too.  I never thought I'd be happy to see the return of the mudmen and rolling eyeballs, but here we are...