"pizza, dude" "totaly tubular" if you like 2D, this game is for you. "radical"
Coming into this game out of Symphony of the Night as a sort of 'yard stick' of castlevania games, i.e. the obvious gold standard when it comes to this type of thing, LORD COSMOS would confide that Circle of the Moon is, indeed a worthy, if pint-sized successor to Symphony of the Night on the GBA. This is a game that should be in every gameboy advance owner's library. if you like 2D this game is for you, not as if one has much choice on the platform. environments and enemies are varied, each one's series of attacks far different from another. bosses can be quite punishing, though it's nothing a few experience points and rounds with a certain boss to learn each move in their sequence of attacks won't solve. highlights include the clocktower area, the whole 'tainted sewer' sequence, and just about every boss battle in the game. nathan's moveset is wonderfully varied, each move contributing to your overall ability to traverse the map freely, a 'la metroid. it's very, very metroid like; symphony of the night borrowed the gameplay/map style from super metroid way back when. one could say this release was really a pioneer for the subsequent castlevania games on nintendo handhelds; it was a success, it was one of those old 2D franchises that never died out. this makes castlevania one of the longest franchises in history, one that clearly sticks to its 2D roots. after circle of the moon, there have been 2 more games on the gameboy advance and soon to be 3 more on nintendo DS. circle of the moon boasts a really could system for augmenting your weapons and person with a variety of cool magical effects. the system is called DSS or dual set up system, one finds cards throughout the game corresponding to different mythical creatures/dieties. an array of elemental whips, even weapons with their own unique sort of 'special' moves, even defensive magics such as summoning flames to protect you or forming a protective barrier when you sprint, destroying low level enemies with ease. the variety of options here is enormous. during my first playthrough i unlocked maybe 10 out of the 25 possible cards you can get. each different combination yields a different effect. we can reliably say more than 50 different special move/magic possibilities with this dual card setup. each one is unique. therein lies possibility, also strategy, as well as the reason why this is one of the best games available on the gameboy advance. it's a technical powerhouse for the system, every bit of music is very catchy, never annoying, and reminds us of some true masterpieces of 16-bit composition. in other words, it's a throwback, in all the right ways. this one here, is one of the longest, deepest, finest examples of GBA greatness. it exceeds expectations of the system graphically, musically, depth of gameplay, length, and fun. this game was the first of 6 (7 if you count Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP) Castlevania games on handheld systems. While some of the others are definutely "shinier" by today's standards, it's depth, challenge, and variety one values most in a Castlevania game, and this one's got it in spades. To fans of the series: this is the most whip-heavy castlevania game i've ever played! there's like 10 different magical whips, it's seriously awesome!
CASTLEVANIA: CIRCLE OF THE MOON
9.5/10
GREAT MUSIC
SUPERIOR GAMEPLAY, VERY DEEP, dss SYSTEM MAKES FOR TONS OF WACKY COMBINATIONS: 50+ DIFFERENT COMBOS (flame swords, earth whip, black hole shield, ice balls protect you, many, many more)
FUN FACTOR: 10/10 STANDARD CASTLEVANIA RATING
if i had to choose, symphony of the night is the better game, and aria of sorrow might be the best one on the gameboy advance (that one, you collect abilities from monsters sort of like pokemon). they're both worth playing in the end. if aria of sorrow is seen as pokemon then circle of the moon is like a tarot card deck, lots of possibilities yeah. that would make symphony of the night, a steak. portrait of ruin is castlevania, on the buddy system. lament of innocence and curse of darkness would then have to be red-headed step-children. circle of the moon, is very much as steak-like as you'll get on the finest videogame platform ever created, the gameboy advance. LORD COSMOS recommends the more refined version of the universes most perfect gaming machine; the gameboy advance SP. YOUR GBASP IS TELLING YOU IT NEEDS THIS GAME
GO OUT, SATISFY THE NEEDS OF YOUR GBASP
GO FORTH, TO THE COSMOS