Reviews

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

By Corey

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the Playstation was considered one of the best games for the system. People waited for a 2D sequel, but it never came. Two 3D Castlevania games were released for the N64, and were not considered worthy of the Castlevania name by many. Another 3D title, planned for the Dreamcast, was cancelled last year. Finally, with the launching of the GBA, people get they want. A 2D Castlevania with all the same elements SotN had. This time it's Nathan Graves' (what the heck happened to the Belmont name?) turn to get rid of the big bad Drac.

Graphics: 9

Most of the enemies, characters, and backgrounds are very detailed and use a wide range of colors. The biggest complaint, the darkness of the game, wasn't a problem for me because I just used a bright light that I have. I also could see perfectly fine if I went outside on a sunny day. In conclusion, if you have a good light source, you'll be fine. Konami could have given Nathan a few more frames of animation in for his walk though.

Gameplay: 9

Almost all the Castlevania games use the same basic idea: take your vampire killer whip and go through a huge castle until you get to the end and kill Dracula. As you make your way through the castle, you will find sub-weapons like the Holy Water and Axe. You can only have one sub-weapon at a time so don't accidentally lose one that you like.

Circle of the Moon has some RPG elements to it. If you ever played Symphony of the Night, or pretty much any RPG for that matter, you know how this works. First, you have the ability to gain levels. Killing enemies gives you experience points. When you get a certain number of experience points, your character will gain a level, increasing his stats. The other RPG element is the use of various items. Enemies will drop items like armor and rings that will also increase, and sometimes decrease, your stats.

The one thing that separates this game from all other Castlevanias is the Dual-Select System. Throughout the game, enemies will drop attribute cards and action cards. Combining one of each will give you some sort of special effect. For example, early in the game you'll be able to find the mercury and salamander cards. By combining the two, you'll get a fire whip. There are a total of 100 effects, including summons and stat enhancers.

I should also mention that the game isn't made of set levels. Rather, you must explore the castle to find out where to go, remembering what rooms you couldn't access at the beginning. You'll eventually find items that will let you access new areas and eventually get through the whole place. And because you can go through the castle on your own, there are at least a few areas that you can do in any order and a couple that you can completely skip. The order you attempt to complete these areas can change the difficulty greatly, so if you find an area too difficult, you may want to try and see if you can go somewhere else first.

Sound: 9

If you've read some of my GBC reviews, you may already know that I hate listening to handheld music. That is not the case with this game. Old Castlevania tunes make their way into this came as well as a few new ones (I think). Sound effects aren't all that great but you'll be too busy worrying about not dying and listening to the music anyway. I hear the music is even better without headphones so if you got'em, use'em.

Lasting Value: 9

The normal game will take about 10 hours to complete, give or take a few depending on how much you want to explore, find all the items, and fine all the DSS cards. After you beat the game you'll open up Magician mode, which gives you access to all the cards right away but making your character noticeably weaker. There are also 3 other modes to be unlocked all with different effects making the game worth playing through a few times.

Bottom Line

I can't say whether this is the best GBA launch title or not, but it would probably get my vote. Unless you hate Castlevania, make sure you pick this one up somewhere along the line.

Final Score: 9 out of 10