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CASTLEVANIA RETURNS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 47 / 51
Date: May 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Finally Konami is back on track with the castlevnia series. Personally I think that the Gameboy Advance is the best thing to happen to video games in years and castlevania: circle of the moon is proof. Throughout the castlevania legacy, only a hand full of games harnessed that classic feel. The balance of the original games on the NES was lost for some time. What few realize is that the main character should not be allowed to whip in all directions or have a 3D enviorment to roam. The classic castlevania's had a limited attack range, with scrolling that went from lef to right, and thats what made game great. Castlevania: Circle of the moon does just that. Like the great Dracula X for the PC engine, Circle of the Moon is a deep RPG/Action side scroller. A now endangered species for video games. The game begins with the ressurection of Dracula. Castlevania's graphics are quality 32-bit and sized for the GBA. The sound is also excellent for a cart the size of castlevania circle of the moon. The game is both long and in depth. there are even different paths and characters to play, so the reply value of this game remains high. All of the staple elements of the series are present, including hearts, secondary weapons, and various levels of whips. New Magic abilities give a more advanced RPG feel to this game. Overall, I was suprised. This game is gold, and I wish that I could thak konami for making it. Castlevania returns as a great nostalgic journey into the mastery of the 2D side-scroller.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon: Back To The Basics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 22
Date: June 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

After a few terrible Castlevania games, IE the 3-D versions, Konami has decided to go back to the basics of the series, 2-D. They started this up again with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and now a similar game is here for your handheld pleasure. The story is the same as always, you're the hero, in this game that happens to be Nathan Graves. After Dracula is resurrected, he attempts to drain your master's power, to make himself become full strength again. You and the son of your master then drop down from the room with Dracula and your master. Thus begins the adventure.

Many people believe this game resembles Metroid, and I would have to agree. This game differs from previous Castlevania games, except Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, in that you do not switch levels, you stay in one world, well, not a world, Dracula's Castle. You must whip, jump and slide your way through this tremendously gigantic and frightening castle. There is also a new element added to this game, with the introduction of the Dual Setup System. When you defeat certain enemies, you will pick up cards. You can mix and match them to gain new power ups such as monster summons. This adds even more depth to the game.

The graphics are nothing spectacular. Konami could have used the Game Boy Advance to do so much more. But graphics don't make a game, gameplay does, and thats why Castlevania shines.

The sound is high quality. When you turn on the game, you are greeted with a lovely intro with spine tingling music. The developer of the game urges players to use headphones when playing, because it makes the music that much more spectacular.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is a top notch game full of thrills and chills. I highly reccomend this game to anyone who knows and loves the series, and also to those who love Platform games, and a fun time in general.

If you only purchase one title at release, this should be it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 20
Date: June 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is absolutely magnificent. I've been a fan of the Castlevania series since it was first released for the NES, and this game outright thrills me.

The game is a mixture between the original Castlevania and Symphony of the Night (PSX). The player's character is a traditional, back-to-the-game's-roots vampire hunter, with the standard assortment of weapons: the basic whip, throwing axes, daggers, and holy water. The basic gameplay is classic Castlevania: move around, jump, whip (and

you can only whip in one direction!). The controls are sharp and the character is quick, and before you know it you'll be dashing and jumping about platforms on a gleeful vampire-hunting spree!

On the flip-side, the level layout is reminiscent of SotN for the Playstation. Instead of progressing through a linear level block, you simply wander the castle - which is mapped out for you as you go, a la Super Metroid. You advance to higher areas of the castle by gaining levels (like in an RPG) and acquiring special items such as double jump boots. Throughout the halls you will find the standard assortment of bone-tossing skeletons and fireball-breathing skeletal dragon heads, plus a variety of new adversaries. Scattered about the castle are save points (on battery backup; no passwords) and warp points that will instantaneously transport you to distant areas of the castle.

The game's inventory system and DSS Card system are where CotM makes a complete departure from previous games. As you gain levels and defeat enemies, you will obtain special items such as stronger armor, magical gauntlets, and mysterious potions. As in an RPG, these must be equipped in the menu before they do you any good. This system adds generously to the game's exploration and replay factor.

You will also be required to gather Attribute and Action cards, which, when combined using the DSS system, will allow you to access magical powers that will increase your offense or defense. You can mix and match cards to tailor your powers according to the foes you face.

The game's graphics are perfect; the designs in the hallways of the castle are colorful and varied, the enemies stand out from the background, and the layout and special effects are implemented with style.

The music is standard Castlevania fare - that is to say, of course, some of the best game music available. Many tracks borrow themes from previous games in the series, and there are just as many that have never been heard before. One moment you'll be humming along with classic Castlevania tunes, and the next you'll be tapping your toes to a brand new beat you enjoy just as much.

In all, this is one of the more enjoyable titles I've had the opportunity to own on the GBA. If the classic titles planned for the future (Zelda, Metroid, etc.) turn out to be this well done, well. . . then we all have a lot to look forward to! ^_^

CV: CotM

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 16
Date: June 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ever since Symphony of the Night, Castlevania fans have clamored relentless for a sequel. Was the series destined to move to 3D and stay there? Nintendo and Konami puts these fears to rest with the announcements of one of the first Game Boy Advance titles: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. While not exactly a true sequel to Symphony, many of the elements contained in the games are the same, and the game even stays true to its Castlevania roots by putting you in the role of a whip-wielding hero.

The game begins with Dracula's resurrection by Carmilla, before Nathan Graves, his rival Hugh Baldwin and their master, Morris Baldwin, steps in (Dear lord, more Baldwin brothers!?). The count causes the floor beneath Nathan and Hugh to crumble, causing them to be seperated from Morris. Hugh sets off on his own to save his father, telling Nathan to leave the castle. Not willing to just give up, Nathan begins the exploration of the caves beneath Castlevania.

Many elements are directly from Symphony - the map looks identical, enemy names and numerical damage indicators pop up when you attack, and there are a variety of items scattered around, like stat-improving relics that increase HP or heart maximum, and other relics that give Nathan special abilities (like the Dash Boots obtained early in the game, which thankfully allows quick exploration.) Experience is gained from killing enemies as before, and there are various items to equip on your body and arms. Nathan has a slide attack and can swing his whip in a circular motion, like Richter could in SOTN.

One of the biggest differences in level structure is that Castlevania is a lot more wide-open and focused less on small passages. As a result, there's a lot more platform jumping to be found here - especially in stages like the Machine Tower. However, since this is a cartridge game, and while the graphics are excellent (even on the small screen), the castle areas lack the variety found in Symphony, so many of the areas end up feeling and looking the same.

There aren't many items to find in the game, but their purpose has been replaced by the DSS card system. Various enemies will drop a total of 20 different cards, whose attributes can be combined for a varying number of effects. One allows you to alter your whip attributes - make it engulf the enemy in flame, turn them to stone, or simply lengthen its reach. There are tons of other stat-altering effects, like awarding experience as you walk, extending invulernability time after damage, increased defense as you uncover more the castle - there's simply a lot of depth hidden in these cards, and is far more managable than the legion of near-useless items in Symphony.

One of the most obvious differences from the beginning is the difficulty level. As good as Symphony was, it wasn't very hard - considering the nature of previous games, it was just a tad disappointing to play a Castlevania game that was essentially a walk in the park. While the difficulty is not overwhelming, you'll have to summon your old twitch reflexes if you want to beat some of the bosses in the game.

Circle of the Moon uses a surprisingly large amount of old music from other Castlevania games: the save select screen is exactly the same as Rondo of Blood (a very impressive feat for the sound programmers), the intro and boss themes are from Castlevania 64, and various other music spread across the series has found their way here. There are a handful of original themes, and most of them are excellent. However, as with the repetetive graphics, the music suffers too - there simply isn't very much music, and even the better songs tend to get old when its played constantly.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is, quite simply, the reason I bought my Game Boy Advance. It combines the non-linear action-RPG elements of Symphony with somewhat more traditional Castlevania gameplay, and ends up with an addicting, immensely fun title.

The best reason to own a GBA at launch.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: June 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I've had my Game Boy Advance for a while now, having received one from Japan shortly after it launched there. I've played a number of games, but Castlevania is by far the best. I had silently prayed for another 2D Castlevania game since Symphony of the Night enthralled me several years ago, and CotM is a godsend. Actually, I'd even say CotM exceeds SotN some ways. Graphically, it's certainly on par with it, but where CotM surpasses its predecessor is in the gameplay department.

Circle of the Moon, a side-scrolling action/RPG like the classics, offers a huge castle to explore, tons of secrets, and reams of intense action. What I like about this game is that it has a welcome degree of challenge that was missing from SotN. Your vampire hunter gets mighty powerful, but you won't find yourself mindlessly scything through your enemies fearlessly...the game is consistently difficult. Although it does get frustrating sometimes, all in all the difficulty is fair and satisfying. Most games these days are too easy.

For this installment to the series, Konami has spiced up gameplay with a cool card combo system. There are a hundred card combinations possible, and by mixing them in different ways you gain different abilities. This gives the game an added degree of depth, although there's some missed potential because some of the combinations are pretty useless.

Everything about this game is great: the challenge, the action, the card system, the graphics...and the music! CotM features a bunch of old Castlevania songs that help define the series. Great tunes, man...just be sure to plug in some headphones to get the full audio experience. Absolutely a must have for 2D action fans who hunger for a hardcore, old-school challenge. Buy it!!

This is a must have :)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Well, first of all if you played Castlevania Symphony of Night and U liked , then don't read more and get this title now, but if you don't played that then i will say something about this game: This is a 2d scrolling game, with some RPG features: kill enemies and get experience to gain levels, you can use combine diferent cards to create spells, you will need to get diferent items to access certains areas of the castle, and there are a lot of secrets as well. This is not the kind of game that U get , and finish rhe first time you play it. I am a gamer and i really recomend this title, in my personal opinion this is the best GBV title yet.

So far the best game for GBA~~~~~~~~

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is the first game I got. And it's by far the best GBA game out there. I tried other games, some are ROMs, none of them beats Castlevania. Though it's a bit dark, on a good sunny day, it's AWESOME~~~! Very good game play, good music, alot cool stuff you can use.

Bomberman Tournament is good too! The next best game that's coming out is: Golden Sun. That's the MUST have. Also, Tactics Orge (Knight of Lodis) is another hit~~~!

Avoid Advance Army Men and Hot Potatos. I do find Konami Krazy Car racing game funny~~~!

Castlevania Circle of the Moon, an amazing job

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: July 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

First of all the question you ask yourself when you are thinking wether or not to buy this game well heres the list:

-Excellent gameplay,dialogues and graphics -Outstanding story witch enables you to not only play the game,but also live the adventure -You may find this game a little boring sometimes but compared to all the other gameboy advance games this is the best for all the reasons above

Well I know this game has much more besides that I mention up there. Its true this game is quite hard for begginers or small children so I don't recommend it for children under the age of 11 because pussles would be too difficult or maybe even impossible for them to solve but if you are 11 or older try this game and you'll love it. Now about the story, "Its the year 1830 in an old austrian castle and a dark follower of dracula is attempting to resurect his dark lord, you (Nathan Graves) a vampirehunter arrives to the castle with Hugh Baldwin (Another vampirehunter)and Morris Baldwin (A vampirehunter and also master of Nathan and Hugh) trying to stop the dark lords resurection. But you were late and Dracula is reborn, as you enter the lair of dracula he sends you and Hugh to an underground lair, Hugh leaves trying to rescue his master and so your adventure begins.....".About the caracters:

-Nathan Graves: The hero and the person you use through out the game. You were chosen by your master as his successor and was therefore given the Hunter Whip. His parents died 10 years ago after banishing dracula with the help of.... -Morris Baldwin: Fought Dracula 10 years ago and with the help of Nathan's parents succesfuly banquished him. Father of Hugh and Master of both Hugh and Nathan. -Hugh Baldwin: Son of Morris and Nathans rival. He thinks he is a better vampirehunter than Nathan (yeah right!). -Dracula: Geezzz you don't know this guy!? -Camila: The minion of Dracula and also the reason for his resurection.

Well I bet you are already ordering this game so im only gonna tell you why i think this is the best gba game. Well the gameplay rules,the story through out the game is great,extremely detailed graphics,it lasted me much more time than any other gba game! and finally its simply in the castlevania series!

A classic series that's back on track

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

All in all, this is an exceptional title with few downsides. It recaptures that feeling that some of us thought might be lost when the 64 games became available. It's challenging but not frustrating to the point where you want to throw your GBA against the wall. It's a lot like Symphony, but it's different enough so as not to be a clone of that Playstation classic. So, if you're a Castlevania fan or someone just looking for something new with fair amount of challenge, this is your game.

the best of konami

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: July 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I think this is the only cool game konami makes unless you dig guys with blue hair. awesome graphics bright colors. its probly the easyest game to see. You barley need any lighting. Its probly the coolest adventure game out there right now.

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