Castlevania is, of course, one of the longest-running franchises in all of video game history. Time and time again, games in this universe have impressed us and captivated us. In 1997, the world was awakened to Castlevania: Symphony of the Moon - a vision of Castlevania that completely rewrote the book on the 2D platformer. It was a glorious revolution not easily forgotten by most gamers. That revolution lives on in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. This GBA title borrows heavily from Symphony while at the same time working to draw it back in towards the Castlevania mainstream. The main character is again a whip-wielder, though not a member of the Belmont clan. It sits awkwardly in the overall plot continuum, but some of the most memorable Castlevania titles (excepting SotN, of course) did so as well. The story follows Nathan Graves, his mentor Morris Baldwin and Morris' son Hugh. True to the in-the-middle Castlevania stock plot, a demented mortal - by the name of Camilla this time around - brings Dracula back from the grave ahead of the hundred-year schedule. Here's where it gets a bit odd; at it turns out, Morris is the vampire hunter to have vanquished Dracula the last time he was up and about. He's a mite older now, and Hugh and Nathan are his students. As soon as the three show up on the scene, Dracula decides it would be terribly ironic if he were to use Morris Baldwin as his mortal energy drink and quickly dispatches the younger men to the bowels of the castle where the fun begins. The remainder of the plot is pretty much par for a Castlevania title. Your once-upon-a-time ally is driven to jealousy by the power of the castle. Inevitably, you end up facing him in battle. You also end up fighting the one who brought Dracula back from the abyss, only, of course, as a monsterous abomination. The usual cast of villians also make their predictable appearances - Cerebrus, the golem, and even Death himself. And, ultimately, you will face Dracula in both flavors: regular and extra psychotic. All this is review for the average Castlevania fan, naturally. What's of most interest to discuss is the gameplay that makes this game unique within the series. The key phrase when talking about Circle of the Moon is "dual setup system," or DSS. To boil it down, you've got two rows of cards you can collect from fallen enemies. The cards each possess a particular property that, when paired with a card from the opposite row, produces a magic effect. The effect produced depends on the cards combined. Sometimes it produces an elemental defence, sometimes an added whip effect. One card enables an summoning attack based on the elemental card it's paired with. Other pairings affect your stats, your speed, the experience gained from killing enemies, and so on. The system is really quite versatile and enables the player to try any number of different strategies against bosses and the average fare of the castle. The rest of the gameplay is very similar to that of Symphony. Nathan handles rushing rather differently than Alucard. While Alucard - himself undead - was naturally very fast and would run constantly, Nathan seems to start off his adventure without the slightest notion of haste. It isn't until he acquires a particular artifact that he is able to run persistently by using a double tap of the d-pad. Retrieving other artifacts will empower Nathan with more useful (and increasingly superhuman) abilities. Of course, Nathan will also eventually be able to double jump, bounce off walls, cleanse harmful bloody rivers, and even fly by leaping into the air stories at a time. Quite the talented mortal, he is. The difficulty of the game is nicely balanced. Most of the areas you'll visit are sufficiently challenging providing you visit them in the right order. The bosses take quite a bit of work to master the first time around. There's a good diversity to the bosses, and they provide a refreshing challenge that will certainly keep a player occupied. On the whole, Circle of the Moon would be a worthy platformer on any console. It's an outstanding follow-up to the incredible Symphony and an fantastic addition to the GBA lineup. This title is a must-own for anyone with a GameBoy, whether you're a Castlevania fan or not.
Other Helpful Reviews for Akumajou Dracula: Circle of the Moon
It was my first "Castlevania" I ever played. Well, except some genesis version that I played only 30 minutes and gave up. And even if it's not the best game from series (because "Symphony of the Night"... Read Full Review
When my aunty brought this for me my last birthday i was like 'yay another gba game', but seriously this is possibly the greatest gba game ever. I honestly never thought a gba game could be so good! The gameplay has l... Read Full Review
