Castlevania: Circle of the moon / Konami / Game Boy Advance This is already the 16th Castlevania game. Yes, the sixteenth. Just about as much as Mega Man, Street Fighter, Mario and Sonic. But while some of these series barely "advance" (come on, you knew I had to say that), COTM is a major leap from the fist game, back in 1986 on the good ol' NES. For those of you that never played Castlevania, it's a platform/action-adventure. You're a vampire hunter armed with a whip. So, you enter Draculas castle, kill everything in sight, and eventually send Dracula to hell. Simple no? What sets this game apart from the rest of the series are the RPG elements. Yes, now you gain experience points, use items like magic rings, armor, etc. And then there's the DSS card system. There are 2 sorts of cards: action cards and attribute cards. By combining them, you get all sorts of added abilities like a fire whip, defencive auras, sword attacts, etc. Later in the game, you'll be able to do summons, explosive attacts and familiars. That is, if you find the cards, the powerful ones are really hard to find. I could only find 13 cards (lucky number!) and that meant it was more or less impossible to defeat Dracula. In total, there are a hundred different DSS combinations possible. Visually, the game is like a supercharged SNES game. The first few levels may look bland, but wait until you see the chapel and tower levels. It also shows off the multiple background scrolling, which produces some cool semi-3D effects. Some of the bosses are even to big to fit a screen (wait 'til you see the zombie dragons). The sounds and music are brilliant too. The title screen has an eerie choral theme, and when you press start you hear a screeching door. Impressive is an understatement here. Be sure to use headphones for the full effect. The music really adds to the already brilliant horror atmosphere of the game. The game is huuuge. You'll probably finish the game in 10 hours game time. However, the game doesn't count the total time you played, which will probably be over 20 hours. That's because you'll die a lot in this game. Yes, the game is quite hard, but not impossible (until you reach the battle arena and Dracula that is). This however, makes defeating bosses (and eventually the game) very rewarding. And after you finished it, there are four secret modes to discover, so you won't get bored soon. I really like this game. It's the best handheld game I ever played (well apart from Tetris) and it's definetly the best Castlevania game. And it's only a GBA lauch title! It makes we wonder what Konami is doing with the next installment (which is already confirmed). The game really is genre-defying, the basic Castlevania already had adventure, action, platform and even a form of survival horror, and this adds RPG to the list, and even beat-em-up elements (you'll see that when you have some of the DSS cards). However, some people might be put off by the huge quest, especially because it's on a handheld, which is mostly used for pick-up-and-play games. Another negative point would be the graphics being quite dark (but set the atmosphere brilliantly), so unlike ol' Drac, you need plenty of sunlight :-) However, these points can't prevent Castlevania being something truly special and outstanding. It's reason enough to pick up a new handheld. Graphics: 90 Gameplay: 94 Lastability: 96 Overall: 93 Deep gameplay coupled to brilliant sound and graphics makes this a must buy for anyone who wants a challenging adventure and isn't scared of vampires!