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THE WORST GAME EVER INVENTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 40
Date: February 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

What is with this piece of crud!? It's horrible, graphics stink, the gameplay is wretched, and the crummy battle system forces you to not be able to customize your own weapons. It was possibly the worst game of 2003, and all you do is stab people!!!!!! If you have $30 to spend, spend it on Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga!!! Overall this game is the worst I have ever played!! DO NOT BUY THIS HUNK OF $%*&!!

Too Easy

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 9
Date: July 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When I first got Aria of Sorrow I thought it was a great game. Over the weeks following my purchase I changed my mind. While I was reading a Nintendo Power magazine they said that it is a challenging game that would take 20 hrs. to beat , but I beat it in less than 7 1/2 hrs. I also don't like this game because after you beat Dracula you can't continue playing, because I haven't discovered the whole map. Overall I think they should make Aria of Sorrow much harder to beat, and I think that you should think twice before buying this game.

Best GB Castlevania, but way too short

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: May 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you've played through Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, then you pretty much know what to expect from the third Castlevania for the Gameboy Advance. The graphics are fantastic and the sound has been much improved over the blips and bleeps of the last installment (HOD). Konami has really come close to perfection in its game design- the layout of the castle was obviously very well thought out, and there's hardly any backtracking or aimless wandering like the last 2 castlevanias.

My only gripe, and it is a substantial one, is that the game in its entirety can be completed in under 8 hours. True, there's a hard mode that opens up after you beat the game once, and there's a second character that you can use, but these don't exactly justify the game's extremely short length. If you haven't played any of the past Castlevanias, this may be the best one to start with, as it is by far the most polished; there's just not much overall quantity.

Short but perfect.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is one top notch title that no Castlevania fan should miss. The story is good, the graphics are great, and the combat is the most fun I've had in a Castlevania series to date. When this came out, it was by far the best game I'd played all year. This is one top notch example of old school 2d gaming.

The only thing holding me back from giving this an easy 5 is the length. Some folks seem to think it's the hardest yet, but I found it to be a cakewalk even on the hard level compared to some past titles. An incredibly fun cakewalk, mind you.

I finished this in very little time, and although the ability to start a new game with most your items and souls does add value and keep the game alive and fun, it's life-support. Don't let that stop you from checking out this awesome title.

- Rirath_com

castlecraze

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 38
Date: April 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

now i like castlevania games and i am so happy they made a new one ive been wating for a new castlevania game or a new game boy system anyway this game has better graphics a new magic system and it the first game to take place in the future and they
took away the whole belmont thing and put in soma cruz alright this is probaly the best to get the game pre order it becuase most likely there going to be sold out at the stores this is a great game for any castlevania fan or anyone for that matergreat game get it

Everything I prayed for! Except for two things.......

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: August 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Castlevania series of games, which has been around since its Playstation debut in 1997, only recently kicked back into gear by starting again on the Game Boy Advance in 2001. Each game in the Castlevania series takes players on a side-scrolling journey through Dracula's castle, in which the protagonist slays bizarre monstrosities, gains levels, picks up lots of items and abilities, and eventually fights Dracula himself. While short on plot and simple in gameplay, they are remarkably fun, and utterly difficult to put down.

I never owned a Playstation system before, but I was so enticed by "Symphony of the Night" that I bought "Circle of the Moon" as soon as it was released. I did not buy 2002's "Harmony of Dissonance" because I had heard unflattering things about it. "Circle of the Moon" is a largely fun game, but I have beaten it four times in each replay mode, and now that I own "Aria Of Sorrow", I doubt I'll ever play it again.

The game uses the same engine as its predecessors, so many things like control and gameplay are almost exactly the same. But, while the graphics also use the same engine, they are much better than before. "Circle" has well-drawn backgrounds, characters, and spell animations, but they are a little dark and difficult to see without overhead light. The graphics in "Aria" are not only easier to see, but they are much more detailed and artistic than before; along with the dank cellars of the castle, the backgrounds also range from the walls of ice caverns to the ominous stormclouds from outside the castle.

What makes this game so absorbing, however, is the endless array of items, spells, enemies, and secrets. In "Circle", we play as a whip-wielder who uses one primary weapon and a few sub-weapons, and can only use spells after finding cards that are just rarely dropped by a sparse number of enemies. This time we are able to handle masses of weapons, ranging from swords to spears to hammers to even a laser rifle! (if you can find it, that is) Both games have lots of secret walls, but the possibility of a new weapon makes finding such walls a more exciting event in "Aria". Also, weapons vary greatly in reach, element, and the number of times they hit monsters with one swing, so the most powerful weapons are not necessarily the most useful ones depending on your state of affairs.

Furthermore, the spells in this game come from the hero absorbing souls from his enemies; there are over a hundred enemies in this game, and each one carries a soul. Some souls give abilities (e.g. flying, walking on water, swimming), while others provide benefits such as increased speed or attack power, and others allow players to use various magical attacks. Again, these souls vary greatly in attributes, so not only will your abilities to mash buttons and slaughter enemies be put to the challenge, but also your way of deciding which souls to use in certain situations.

I could go on! There are so many things about this game that make it even better than "Circle". Enemies are even more imaginative than before; some are downright hilarious, like a waiter skeleton who throws hot curry at you, and one actually moves too quickly for the naked eye. Recovery items, along with the familiar potions, now include food items with humorous descriptions (e.g. Potato Pancake: "The burnt edges are the best part"). And the regular "go kill Dracula, he's been resurrected" storyline has a startling twist to it, which will allow you to discover the game's true ending. This allows you to unlock a Hard mode with stronger enemies, and a mode where you play as an alternate character.

In fact, there are so many wonderful things about this game that I feel it is almost disrespectful of me to give it 4 stars simply because of two nagging problems: 1) it is too short even with a Hard mode and lots of secrets, and 2) it is too easy even in the Hard mode. These are the only two ways in which "Circle" is superior to "Aria". I beat the regular mode, Hard mode, and alternate-character mode in a total of about 16 hours, each with 100% souls acquired and map discovered, while the five different modes in "Circle" took me a total of more than 50 hours to beat. Also, "Circle" is always difficult but never frustrating unless you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it took me several tries to beat each boss. I didn't die in "Aria" until about halfway into the game, and I didn't die on any boss until the last one.

Because of this, let your own personal gaming style decide which of these two games to buy. If you prefer exotic gameplay elements and lots of fascinating secrets, but an easy and short game, get "Aria". If you want bigger challenge and lots of replay value, but more like old-school style with a less surprising story and fewer frills, get "Circle". They are both very good games, and will make fine additions to your game library.

BEST GAMEBOY GAME !!!!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 13
Date: February 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

ARIA OF SORROW IS SO COOL THARE ARE 300 ABILITIS AND TONS OF WEAPONS LIKE A LASER GUN AND YOU CAN TRANSFORM MONSTERS!!!!!!!

different, and in some ways better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I don't know about all you gamers oput there, but when i think of great castlevania, i think of symphony of the night. I am definately not the type to be biased to one game in a series, i own castlevania chronicles, aria of sorrow, circle of the moon, and symphony of the night, and they all rock. There are some things i greatly appreciated in this title, but it does fall a bit short in one area that can really be the ultimate downfall of a game, but first the positive.

What i really did enjoy about this installment is the sheer massivness of the soul system. every recent castlevania has there own power gimmick. Be that souls, cards, or relics, they all have there own thing. Every enemy in aria of sorrow has a soul inside of them that you can attain. the souls can do anything from give you subweapons, to turn you into a giant four armed chick! with all the different enemies, your looking at over 300 different powers to find! Another point that i found to be a nice change is that instead of having to hunt down which subweapon you want, they are all stored in your soul set menu, once you find the enemy with the correct soul of course. Instead of having a seperate MP and heart guage, there is only the MP guage, and the subweapons use MP instead. This also helps the MP situation, since collecting hearts now refills your MP guage a bit.

Another thing that has been fixed since symphony of the night is something ive been praying for for years. In symphony of the night you can only sell certain gems, which makes the more pricey items almost unattainable. In aria of aorrow, anything you collect in the castle can be sold to the merchant for cash. This makes the 300,000 dollar soul eater ring, which makes collecting souls easier, all the easier to get to.

Now for the ultimate downfall. One of the best aspects of Symphony of the night, in my opinion, is the fact that there is two castles (and one is upside down, how cool is that!) In aria of sorrow there is only one castle, and i would venture to say it would take about 4 or 5 hours of your average gamers time to completely explore. More and more GBA games are seeming to have this problem since the cartridges just can't hold as much memory as the discs. I guess that problem will be fixed with the next gen handhelds (which will run on mini-discs) but until then, the handheld market suffers.

In conclusion, Aria of Sorrow is on par with some of the greats of castlevania in most aspects. If it would have been made longer, i feel the expierience would have been much amplified. Thats not to say there is no fun to be had here, while it lasts it is classic castlevania action. Anyone who has played some of the more recent Castlevania games will find something they love here.

NOW THIS IS THE WAY CASTLEVANIA IS DONE!!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: December 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT .... not that 3-D poop on N-64 and ps2 ... 2-D goodness the way it should be ... "symphony of the night" is my favorite and now this is my 2nd best! best of all i can take it anywhere! lets keep this series alive by voting it to 2-D !!!

Won't disappoint

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

A good one in the series and it comes with full story and it is not like other ACT games. With the story base that can keep you playing it for quite a long time, the method to find out the final boss is kind of hard though.
Good graphic and audio are also the charming points. Don't miss out this one if you have a GBA!!

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