Home » Technology » Gameboy » Review: Castlevania Circle of the Moon

Review: Castlevania Circle of the Moon

© Gregor Simeonov

Features
*14 different areas within one map
*20 Dual Setup System Cards
*9 huge bosses
*1 player only
*Difficulty: Medium to Hard
*Battery save

The Game Vampires never die, so let's try killing him one more time on Game Boy Advance. You are Nathan Graves, who must try to hunt down the evil lord Dracula, who has been resurrected by some woman called Camilla. However, you will have some fair competition from Hugh Badlwin, the son of your master, who is jealous of your abilities. You both have an identical quest, to retrieve Morris Baldwin, Hugh's dad, and to destroy the Dracula. But many things go wrong along the way. If you have never played Castlevania, even though versions for almost every resent system exist, it is a side-scroller where you'll face heaps of enemies, perplexing levels and huge bosses, leading to your ultimate challenge, Dracula.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is overall a fantastic game that combines the traditional side-scrolling and RPG aspects together. You will collect tons of items, including upgrades to your gear such as power bracelets and different body protection, all of which boost your stats in a different way. Moreover, every time you kill an enemy, it adds to your experience, and naturally you gain levels. The higher your level is, the stronger your stats will be, making it easier to progress. There isn't a large puzzle factor involved, but the level gaining and enemy bashing will keep you satisfied.

Graphics Castlevania for GBA is a 2d graphical spectacle. The 30 or so characters are really well animated with full multicolored detail, not to mention the marvelous boss animation. I have not seen any other handheld game with such huge bosses, that make you tremble with excitement as you play. Huge two-headed dragons, giant wolves and Dracula himself, expect them all to be in here. To add, the backgrounds of the game are fantastic with beautiful coloring that enhances the gaming experience.

Sound The sound in this game is very good as well. It consists of very gothic mysterious music, with blends of woodwinds and strings. I personally love the beginning song when you turn on the game, it really sets the mood. Otherwise, simple slash noises, cracks and explosions are used for the fighting noises, nothing too fancy.

Replay Value Castlevania is a side-scroller, which means it won't be much different the next time you play it. Sure, they added the RPG sort of aspect to it, but it does not have much variation overall. However, the game is long enough that you will want to restart from the beginning once you have finished it. Plus, collecting all the DSS cards and getting to lvl. 99 to have %100 in the game could keep you busy.

[castle3.gif]

[castle1.gif]

[castle2.gif]

The copyright of the article Review: Castlevania Circle of the Moon in Gameboy is owned by . Permission to republish Review: Castlevania Circle of the Moon in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.