Sadly, no.  And that's the problem.  There's a split in Castlevania fans now adays.  A lot of people who played the games back on the NES and SNES days enjoy the newer games (and some don't) but they're really looking around for something more 'quality' to come out of the series.  I myself feel that the last 10-12 years after SotN has been rather weak and repetative.  Kind of like just repeating the legacy of SotN, but with a new coat of paint and a new story each game.  Even the 3D games were basically SotN put on a 3D plane.

On the flip side there's people who just got into the series with SotN, Aria or even Dawn of Sorrow and think they're the best games in the whole series.  But then won't even touch any of the past games considering them too 'primitive' and because they're 'different'.  Is this thinking wrong?  Well maybe not, but it IS wrong to claim that when you won't even play the past games and just obsess over the newer ones.

This is why I think the recent change of Konami (finally) having new development groups working on the series again and trying to hark back to the 'older' feel of the series is healthy.  The series needs new blood, or else the only fans who will be playing it in the future are the same rouchly 500,000 people obsessed with 'Dawn of Sorrow'.

I hear ya...I played the game boy advance ones  and they were like SOTN, just not as good. I've heard good things about DS ones but I'm pretty sure its still the same game, only with a few new gimmicks applied due to touch screen controls.

We will see what the new 3D game brings...hopefully it has some true innovations other than expensive voice actors and Kojima's logo. :)

If you get the chance, try Order of Ecclesia. It's the game that tries hardest to differentiate itself from the standard Metroidvania formula, and it benefits from it.

As a bonus, I can't remember any mechanics involving the touch screen at all.

Sadly, no.  And that's the problem.  There's a split in Castlevania fans now adays.  A lot of people who played the games back on the NES and SNES days enjoy the newer games (and some don't) but they're really looking around for something more 'quality' to come out of the series.  I myself feel that the last 10-12 years after SotN has been rather weak and repetative.  Kind of like just repeating the legacy of SotN, but with a new coat of paint and a new story each game.  Even the 3D games were basically SotN put on a 3D plane.

On the flip side there's people who just got into the series with SotN, Aria or even Dawn of Sorrow and think they're the best games in the whole series.  But then won't even touch any of the past games considering them too 'primitive' and because they're 'different'.  Is this thinking wrong?  Well maybe not, but it IS wrong to claim that when you won't even play the past games and just obsess over the newer ones.

This is why I think the recent change of Konami (finally) having new development groups working on the series again and trying to hark back to the 'older' feel of the series is healthy.  The series needs new blood, or else the only fans who will be playing it in the future are the same rouchly 500,000 people obsessed with 'Dawn of Sorrow'.

Well, to me it was the opposite, since I found Castlevania III to be the most crappy of the series, due to the lack of depth that your attacks had, and the bad jumping mechanics.

That being said, it's one of the issues that's plaged most of the old style castlevania games, and I admit that Simon's quest had the most bugs, but to me, the story and the flow of the game was one of the best in an old style Castlevania.