Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

by bluefalcon_ad Konami went back to their roots of a 2-D side scrolling Castlevania game, and the fans are rejoicing. This is the first Castlevania game to go on the GBA, and it’s the best. Fans were rejoicing when this game came out, even now. People are still calling this game awesome even after there were 2 other games of the same kind. There may have 2 other Castlevania games for the GBA, but none of them can compare to the first. Konami has done it again, they recycled the story again and again, and yet it seems to be one of the most classic stories in gaming history. It’s the year 1830; Nathan, a young man who got the honor of getting the Hunter Whip, his friend, Hugh, who always beaten Nathan in training, and Morris Baldwin, Nathan’s master and Hugh’s father, set off on a journey to stop the worshipers of evil from reviving Dracula. In their attempt, Dracula threw Hugh and Nathan into a catacomb and takes Morris hostage. Hugh decides by himself to go stop Dracula, and tells Nathan to leave the castle. After Hugh leaves Nathan says he wants to save his master as much as anybody, and then you gain control of him. It’s a very interesting story that is one of the main reasons why I keep playing the game. The story gets really deep, something you can really look forward too. The story is great, but it nothing compared to the graphics this game has. It’s just absolutely outstanding how everything looks. The main characters may be somewhat small, but Konami was some how able to put a lot of detail in them. The enemies are also incredibly detailed, and the bosses will make you stare at the great design so much, you don’t even know that you’re dying. Each and every environment is so detailed that it too will leave you staring. The background is beautiful, showing many dark and creepy places. It’s just plain outstanding at how Konami did this. The graphics may seem like the number one thing this game has to offer, but sadly it’s only at number 3. Number 2 will have to be the music and sound effects. Everything will leave you humming the beat. Even at the beginning of the game the music is amazing. And by the time you are near the end of the game you’ll be possessed to put your volume to the max. Some of your familiar tunes are back, such as the midi called Vampire Hunter that is played in the Observation Tower. Other than the music, the sound effects are another piece of the puzzle that will keep you going. The sound of Nathan striking the dark enemy with his Hunter Whip is crisp and clear, and it great to hear. Another sound is the horrifying scream that a Shade leaves off when she dies the horrible death of the Hunter Whip. Well, we got what was number three and two, but what is number one? Easy, the game play. This is by far the best part about this game. Everything is somewhat similar to Symphony of the Night, except for the swords. Your main weapon is the Hunter Whip; it’s the only weapon that you can not un-equip. Like in any Castlevania, you have the stronger and ever so lovable sub-weapons. The same classic sub-weapons are back, the boomerang, dagger, holy water, axe, and dagger. Of course, it consumes hearts which you can collect throughout the game. In almost any Castlevania, the boomerang is your best sub-weapon and your weakest is the dagger. Even though the dagger is the weakest, it’s the fastest while the boomerang is at a somewhat slow speed but does at least 4-6 hits at a time. Another thing that is familiar is the HP/MP deal. Yes, you have the RPGish system of finding/using items and equipping armor, just like in Symphony of the Night, and just like in Symphony of the Night, the game is hard. This is the hardest game of all three GBA Castlevanias, especially near the end of the game, so be warned. The only thing that isn’t in Symphony in the Night, is the on thing that makes the game play the number 1 section in the whole entire game is the new system called DSS. DSS are cards that have either a special attribute or action. Each of the cards has an illustration and a special ability. You can only activate each card’s special ability by combining it with another card. For example, if I combine the card called Salamander with a card called Neptune, I will be able to not get hurt by fire based attacks but get healed because Salamander is a card that power is fire and Neptune is a card which power is healing. Even though there are a decent amount of cards, that doesn’t mean you’re going to find any card anywhere. You find them by killing enemies. More common cards are found by killing some common enemies while much rarer cards are found by killing much rarer enemies. This pretty much means that it’s going to take you a while to find the best card in the game. The way Konami designed this system of cards is interesting, and can add some good replay value too. Speaking of replay value, this game has excellent replay value. Like I said before one part of the good replay value was the collecting of DSS cards. Another is the many modes that you get after finishing the game. By selecting one of these modes before you start a new game will allow you to start off differently. One, for instance, will allow you to start off with all your stats incredibly high, but you don’t have any DSS cards to collect or have. As you can see these modes of game play will have their pros and cons. This is one of those must buys for the GBA, and if you have a DS, it makes seeing things somewhat better. Circle of the Moon made me go back to a long forgotten series and made me realize once more that the Castlevania series is a force that is going to be hard to beat. Do not even rent this game, I didn’t. I went straight to buying and it was worth it every little cent. If you like Castlevania and you have a GBA or a DS, get your lazy behind out of the chair you are sitting in right now, grab some money, and go buy this game. This is truly a not-to-be-missed gaming experience. --- Story- 9.75/10 Graphics- 10/10 Sound-10/10 Game play-10/10 Replay value- 10/10 --- Overall score- 10/10