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A Trip To Dracula's Castle...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: July 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Recently, I bought a DS Lite. I was ecstatic to find out that Gameboy Advance cartridges would play on it because I have never owned a handheld before and so its like buying two systems for the price of one. This Castlevania double pack was the first GBA game I bought because I like 2-D side-scrollers and it was such a great value.
I found Harmony of Dissonance to be the weaker of the two titles. This game is gorgeous and its huge. In this game Dracula's Castle has split into two identical parts and to clear the game you essentially have to clear the castle twice. Now getting to different parts of the castle is not a straightforward task as the two castles form a huge labyrinthin maze where some parts of Castle A are only accessable after traveling through parts of Castle B. This wouldn't be so terrible if this game did not include a metric ton of backtracking. I know that backtracking is part and parcel of Castlavania, but in Harmony you must find 6 parts of Dracula's body. They are either well hidden or require a specific skill to get to. It's a huge pain to remember which room in which castle that place that you couldn't quite get to hours ago was. In stead of the backtracking aspect being reward for methodical players, it is a nessecity and a chore. For me, Harmony of Dissonance just over stayed its welcome as it is just too long. Also the high jump skill is so difficult to use as it requires you to press up then down and the A button at the same time with juuuuust the right timing on those itty bitty controls that it alone is almost enough to make me hate this game.
Castlevania is often praised for its music, but the music of Harmony will not be winning any prizes. The only track that really stood out was the one for the Airways Pathway stage, and only because it sounded like it was ripped out of a Kirby game.
On its own Harmony would rank about a 2/5 from me.
The real reason to own its cartridge is Aria of Sorrow. Aria is a treat to look at, it has wonderful music, its just the right length, and it makes a few key changes to the gameplay. In Aria, the main character has access to many types of weapons instead of being confined to the whip, each with there own advantages and disadvantages. Knives, guns, hammers, swords, lances- picking the right weapon for the right occasion is crucial. Abilities are gained through collecting souls that you find by exploring the castle or be defeating enemies. Souls can be switched on the fly from the status menu so instead of making insane and cumbersome button configurations for each skill, you just equip a different soul. It's that simple. Dracula's Castle may be smaller this time around, but I found this journey to be much tougher. The castle is arranged to be more straighforward this time around so backtracking is kept to minimum unless you just have to see all 100% of the map.
Aria is a great game and on its own it would net a 4/5. It's the real reason to get this.

It was really worth a purchase

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: January 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I never played a castlevania game in my life. But when I completed Dawn of Sarrow on DS, I started to look for another castlevania game before playing Portrait of Ruin. Aria of Sarrow was one of the finest castlevania games.

Fun two games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

These games were fun. Aria of Sorrow had too many unnecessary souls and weapons, they didn't add anything to the game and most served no purpose. Quick play games, I am glad I got them so cheap. I don' think they would have been worth the full original price.

Goodness

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I liked it alot. Harmony of dissonance has its flaws but overall it was a worthy purchase.

If you like castlevania, check this out!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As far as Castlevania's go, this is one of the best buys you can make, both games on the doublepack offer hours of fun. they are similar but not the same so you get a whole other experience.

Two GBA classics in one package

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: May 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Pretty much anytime Castlevania makes an appearance on a hand held, you know it's going to be sweet. This double pack features both Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow; two of the best games to ever be released for the GBA. In Harmony of Dissonance, you play a descendent of the Belmont clan, armed with your trusty whip, while Aria of Sorrow takes place in the future. In both games, you storm a foreboding castle and take on hordes of murderous monsters and beasts as you navigate through the labyrnth-like castle. The graphics, sound, and control in both games are superb 2-D blasts, and are two of the best Castlevania games ever designed. If you missed out on both games when they were first released, consider this your second chance to pick them up, and if you're still holding on to your GBA and are craving some fantastic side scroller action, look no further.

2 classics for $30 dont miss out again!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Aira of sorrow and harmony of dissoance were originaly released a few years back on gameboy advance but due to limited printing of the carts the only way to play them was to pay a stupid amount of money for a second hand copy(unless you purchased them when they first came out).

Anyway here is the chance to redeam your sins and pick the games up the second time round.

Castlevania is a explration game much like Metroid, you explore draculas castle but not all areas can be accessed at once. During your explration you will upgrade your wepons,level up, collect souls/books and fight many well thought out bosses.

Harmony of dissoance uses a boos system where you collect books hidden around the castle and by combining books you upgrade your wepon allowing you to progress.

Aria of sorrow uses a soul system, by defeating bad guys some times there souls will release and each soul gives you a different ability or attack and there are loads to collect alowing you to progress through the castle.

Both games contain severial endings bad and good ones the bad ones are usally easy to get but the good ones will require you to collect certian souls and compleate extra areas of the castle.

I really cant recomend these games enough konami is a great developer and 2d castlevania is what they do best so grab a copy now before they become rare again im sure you dont want to be paying $90 on ebay next year.

Aira of sorrow is the prequal to dawn of sorrow on Nintendo DS so check that one out to, also circle of the moon the first GBA castlevania.

Best GBA games you've never played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was very excited to see Konami release this double-pack. Finding these games at a reasonable price before this release was next to impossible. First off I'll start with HoD. Graphically near similar to PS1. Deepest game of the three for GBA. Castle exploration was a lot of fun with neat secrets. Fairly difficult but not that tough. Music is average GBA quality. Story is negligible but if you played any modern Castlevania then you know what to expect. Replay value is excellent. Castle is huge. Worth purchase by itself but then you get a whole other game. AoS takes the game into a more modern setting with a new feature of soul consumption making it's replay value next to none in excellency. Graphically superior to most GBA games and near PS1 quality. Sound is Okay. Music repeats often. But good for GBA. Smaller castle than HoD but not by much. More linear than other entries. You are never really in over your head so difficulty is minor for veterans. Just make sure you got the right soul for the job. Both games are lots of fun. Especially, if you like Metroid games than this should be your next purchase. On my 10 best for all systems. Can't beat the value of 2 games in 1. If you get sick of one play the other. I play these on my DS and have no problem with controls or battery life. A must for long trips or short bathroom visits. Highly recommended.

Wow, this is amazing!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: January 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was about to buy this game on the Toys R Us web site until I found a coupon for $10 off at Best Buy with a purchase of $29.99 or more. So, needless, to say...I went to Best Buy and purchased the game for $20 plus tax. TWENTY BUCKS for two awesome games. Can't beat that. Awhile back I was looking on ebay for these games and they wanted like 60 bucks for ONE OF THEM. No matter what you pay, I am sure you will enjoy the game!!!!!!

Buy Now

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm going to make this short. I'm a big Castlevania fan, and having two Castlevania games for the price of one is a treat. Both games are fun and can be played on for hours. If you like Castlevania or looking for a fun game to play buy this now.

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