An awesome GBA game that cannot be missed!
The bad: It's pretty short.
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Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is a GBA game that you can't miss. Personally, it is the best of the 3 Castlevanias for the GBA. If you are a long time fan, and you don't have this game, then shame on you; you call yourself a fan?
For once, Castlevania takes place in the FUTURE (2035, to be exact), although the environments are still the same as ever. You star as Soma Cruz, who is- No! Spoiler! The story's too good to spoil, so let's start at the beginning. Soma Cruz is at the Hakuba Shrine to watch the first Solar Eclipse of the 21st century with his childhood friend, Mina Hakuba. Fate intervened, and they are teleported into the good ol' Count's Castle, which was sealed into the eclipse in the year 1999. (Which, at this point, has not been made into a game yet.)
Soma goes into the castle to find an exit and save themselves. On the way, he will find out more of his fate. The game features multiple endings.
The graphics are smooth and make you really feel like you're in a haunted castle. Soma moves smoothly, and so do the enemies. What really sets this game apart from the other GBA games is that you can use the souls of monsters that you have vanquished, from projectiles to increased attributes.
There are a larger assortment of characters, like Genya Arikado, who is a Japanese government agent; Yoko Belnades, a descendent of Sypha who is investigating the castle; Hammer, an armyman who acts as the merchant, and many more.
The music is excellent; it's so good that in my opinion it should be played in an orchestra! My personal favorite is the Ruined Corridor song, which plays in the beginning of the castle. There are many little voices, too. The sounds effects also are numerous, and also sound cool.
It also features improvements over Harmony of Dissonance. While it's not as hard as Circle of the Moon, in my opinion, it still poses a damn good challenge. First of all, there are no subweapons; you only have a magic meter. Second of all, your HP only increases with your level. There a lot of items and soul powers. Teleporting seems much more friendlier, and you can sell your useless junk. There's enough innovation to keep it from becoming cliche.
This game really should not be missed, even though there's a lot of portable Castlevanias. You can't deny that they are instant classics.