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Best Castlevania Ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: June 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

As any self-respecting gamer knows, Konami's Castlevania series is a beloved one indeed, and for many good reasons. Since its start in 1986, the series has been known for its seemingly simple, yet very deep and highly addictive gameplay. The latest installment, Circle Of The Moon, follows straight down that same path. In many way, in fact, it improves upon some of its vampiric predecessors. The PSX title (Symphony Of The Night), whose difficulty when down hill fast as the character became more powerful, is a perfect example, as this flaw is completely absent in CotM. This new addition also brings many wonderful new ideas to the series, such as the DSS cards, which greatly enhance the gameplay as well as offer the gamer a fun diversion. The only complaint I have about this game is that the graphics are a tad on the dark side, and can be very difficult to see, which is nothing a good light can't fix. Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon is truly an outstanding game, and if you plan on picking up a Game Boy Advance (and you don't scare too easily), you should definitely plan on picking up this gem as well.

Finally! A game I don't return the day after I buy it!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: July 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Brief Comment: I have looked far and wide for a game that holds out for over 24 hours. My search is now over... After blasting through the short but sweet Super Mario Advance and the Chu Chu Rocket that was great but just didn't really give me a replay value high enough. I found it in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (C:CotM). (See my list of must-buys later in the review)

Concept (4 out of 5 stars): Once again lay Dracula to rest by traveling trough a maze-like castle.

Graphic (5 out of 5 stars): Lush enemies and bosses, but the backgrounds really did it for me. I never did play Castlevanie: Symphony of the Night (a truly revoloutionizing game fore Sega Saturn and Playstation), but I belive (from screenshots) that this game looks as good as it's big brother. Most consumers are scared to buy this game because people rave its way to dark, but it's really not that bad. They just seem to be exagurating.

Sound (5 out of 5 stars): I really don't know sound, but I figure this is what it should sound like.

Control (Only 5 out of 5 stars cause i can't put 8): Very good controls! I never had a problem manuevering around enemies or throwing my sub-weapon.

Gameplay (5 out of 5 stars): The DSS (Duel Setup System) was a nice surprise for this game. The idea to look for these cards and manipulating them to tilt the fight in your favor just makes me smile. The good ol' whip is back and better than ever. The way you collect magical items by defeating bosses was very cool. I also loved the way once you beat the game you unlocked new characteristics for you hero. Overall a good experience.

MUST-BUY List: I returned 4 games because they didn't have enough replay value (Super Mario, Chu Chu Rocket, Rayman Advance, and Ready 2 Rumble: Round 2), but the following games will keep me and anybody that buys them entertained for a long period of time:

1. C:CotM - (See above) 2. Super Dodgeball Advance - Thank god my friends have this game cause it shines in multiplayer. 3. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity - Best racer for GBA out yet. Beating your own times has never been funner. 4. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 - Just plain fun.

Best launchtitle... it's as simple as that!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If you want the best-looking games on your GBA then you should go with Rayman Advance or Tony Hawk. Why shouldn't you buy these games?

Rayman Advance: Most of the time (too) easy but sometimes frustratingly difficult. I finished it in a day!

Tony Hawk: Looks great but if you've played a Tony Hawk-game before (hasn't everybody? :) then you'll always be longing for the "right" controls and game...

OK enough about that, this is a review of Castlevania for crying out loud :) First off, this game isn't for everybody this should be you (more or less :) --- You were brought up with a NES, SNES or GENESIS and now hating that fake 3D-platformcrap and you're wishing that you could play a great, deep 2D-platformer once again ---

Is that you?

It's your lucky day!

The graphics of this game are not bad at all, they are just not as good as RA and TH. The (animated!) backgrounds look gorgeous though and the camera is positioned just right to keep you unirritated. *cough cough* Rayman Advance could learn a thing or two 'bout that! *cough*

Music is bee-au-ti-ful with stereo-headphones on. You won't believe your ears!

But most important, the gameplay is great. It's very challenging but the difficultycurve is so good that you won't be frustrated at all! Furthermore, it took me 30 hours to complete the game... a handheld-game! The card-system also adds lots of depth and you can create your one style (you want a strong short weapon or a long wweaker weapon? Or will it be more defense/intellegence/luck? Or you want a huge earthquakehamer? It's all possible!) There are about 100 combinations!

This is one of the best games I've ever played. Note that I'm not saying Handheldgame! Whaddya waiting for?

Helluva game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is the first Castlevania I ever bought and I sure as hell liked it. The graphics were astonishing (keeping in mind that the console being played on is a GBA), the game had a great plot, awsome characters, a lot of monsters, and a HUGE map. The game includes several new features in addition to the original Castlevania games, first it has an RPG like system (but since I din't play many other Castlevanias I'm not sure if it's the first) and it has a cool special ability system called the DDS (Dual Set-up System). This system allows the player to combine card's powers together to create a total of 100 spells, abilities, and summons.

The story itself is just like the other Castlevania's (Dracula was summoned again, and now you must defeat him to save the Earth). So there's nothing new there, exept for one somewhat unexpected turn, but it would spoil the game if I told you what it was. So, practically the game kicks @$$, and if you own a GBA this game is a BIG must. It is really fun, and it even has a good replay value (there are 4 or 5 modes to play the game in). And if that's not enough try to raise all your character's level to 100...if you can. Enjoy.

Son Akira

old school style fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I like the Castlevania series, so I have no complaints about this game. Controls are good, and it sticks to the tried and true platform genre.

Solid First Generation GBA Title

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Castlevania Circle of the Moon greatly resembles it's predecessor from the Playstation, Symphony of the Night(SotN). Anyone familiar with SotN knows that the game takes a nonlinear approach giving a great deal of freedom to the player. Instead of stages to complete, the player runs rampant throughout Dracula's castle finding secret areas, searching for special action and attribute cards that enable special abilities, and ultimately hoping to defeat Dracula himself.

Although CotM is somewhat of a 2D side scroller, it also implements elements of an RPG including character building through experience points that are gained when enemies are defeated. Along the way the player will find items that can increase Defense and Offense as well as Luck and Intelligence. Armor, Magic Gauntlets, Silk Robes, and much more can be found to increase the players overall strength and attributes. The special cards discovered along the journey provide for numerous combinations of attacks as well.

While the sound is quite excellent with earphones, especially the intro to the game, the graphics aren't anything special, yet they are solid for a first generation GBA title. The only gripe would have to be the darkness of the game. One must be in excellent lighting in order to see the game well enough to be played properly. Otherwise, Circle of the Moon is an excellent title to own for the Game Boy Advance as it will provide for hours of fun for anyone as they whip their way throughout Dracula's castle defeating evil, finding secrets, obtaining items, and growing ever stronger thoughout the exploration.

The MUST HAVE lauch title!! BEST action side-scroller/RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is REALLY the BEST side-scroller for the Gameboy Advance!! It has a great storyline to it and all the characters in the game are excellent!! Not to mention the graphics are beautiful!! One thing that really makes the Gameboy Advance stand out is that it gives you the ability to hear voices!! When you jump and attack you can hear Nathan (the antagonist) yell "Hah"!! I think that's REALLY COOL!! It shows that the Gameboy Advance is most definetely moving toward the 32-bit era. The game has a new DSS card system which allows you to choose from various magic attacks to power-up your whip to give it different types of attributes such as fire, ice, lightning, etc... It also has summons so you can clear the screen summoning a Golem or something!! The sound in this game is GREAT!! Very creepy!! And the music is very cool and up-beat and will get you into the old-school Castlevania feeling(put those headphones on and JAM to this one)!! The game also gives you the ability to equip different types of armor to up your attack and defense!! A really handy feature since this is a Gameboy game is that it has plenty of save spots around in case you need to suddenly quit the game!! The only problem with this game is that it's VERY DARK!! You have to play this game with a EXTREMELY BRIGHT LIGHT SOURCE in order to see well!! But that doesn' take any of the FUN away to this EXCELLENT GAME!! If you are stuck in deciding which action side-scrolling game to buy, then this should be your first pick!!

Amazing quest through a monsterous world

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was a big fan of the original four Castlevania games (NES + SNES), so this game was a huge surprise to me. You are now Nathan Graves, vampire hunter, your weapon of choice is a long whip, and you are on a huge side scrolling / roll playing quest to find and slay Dracula. The quest leads you on a massive fantastic journey through a dark world that is full of full of mythical monsters, such as mummies, gargoyles, and the grim reaper. This game is not what I expected, from the usual whip and holly water game. This game now lets you find and equip armor, new weapons, special items, such as the double jump and the running boots. It also incorporates spells, which can be mixed and matched to make different effects, such as giving you flame whips or more energy. This game is more like Metroid (NES + SNES), being that it is a side-scrolling quest. It is a big and sometimes tediously long game, because there are countless enemies after you, but itýs a good thing there are 150 different types of enemies after you or else you will get bored very quick. One of the more difficult parts of the game is the fact that there are several areas that look exactly the same, so you can get lost easily. There are incredibly detailed graphics to the game, but many people complain the game is very dark. This is true, so you will probably have to use your worm light (accessory sold separately).

Castles Rulz

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

A great game with only a few flaws. This is the game you SHOULD spend your money on... , Since the story line is a dark tale so is the screen but it is an overall great game!! ;)

Ack! Weak game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: October 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This was a shock to me. For one thing, this game was raved all across the internet. For another thing, I'm familiar with the series (as far back as the first three NES games, to the SNES one, and Symphony of the Night), so I thought this would like those. Well... the gameplay mechanics are here, it seems, but everything else...

Lets figure this out piece by piece. First, the graphics were okay. Even though they're dark, and even though they're a bit lacking in animation (only THREE frame to show the main character running??!), the style was okay, and it added to the environments.

The sound was nice, and the music was great, but everything here just seemed like it could be done much better (the music sounds a bit MIDI-ish, but the melodies are good).

The controls... here's where everything really goes down hill. I'm no stranger to the Castlevania control scheme, having playing the first four games. However, for reasons I cannot fathom, this game has by far the worst control setup of all of them (which says alot, because I've replayed the first three games recently, and they haven't aged that well). First, controling your character is much like controling a big wooden stick. While the same could be said for the first four games in the series, this game takes it to far worse extremes, especially when considering the enemies move so much better (in other words, they're attacks seem more suited to a game that has you moving your character as franticly as a Mega Man X or Mega Man Zero game). Also, the option to have the whip spin by itself became rather annoying. Unlike Castlevania 4, which allowed you to move the whip around by holding the attack button down, this one only makes it spin on it's own, which is somehow amazingly counter-productive. Some of the abilities are nice (high jump, wall jump, etc...), but they don't alieviate this problem much, and actually require over-utilization in some areas (trust me, you would never survive the final battle without high jump).

Now the gameplay. I've played other games that used the "Metroid-vania" style (free exploration, found in Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow, as far as the ones I've played). Somehow, this one takes that system and just makes you lost. Seriously, this castle was not as fun to explore as all of the others. The boss battles (mostly refering to the last 4) were super cheap, requiring me to over-use the DSS system to the most extreme, which was a far cry from the more "down to earth" battles from Castlevania 4 and Aria of Sorrow. Much as I enjoy difficulty, I can't stand not being able to have a clear shot at a target with my whip due to the enemy being over-sized or too quick to dodge.

This is by far one of my most hated Castlevania games. If you even think about buying this game (since a lot of other people liked it), I recommend you find a way to rent it first. Otherwise, you may get yourself into a snag like I did. Lucky for me, this was only $15 at K-Mart, which is about as low as GBA games get.

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