Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Known simply as Castlevania in the PAL region, this was a launch title for the Game Boy Advance released in 2001 and developed by Konami. This game adopts the "Metroidvania" style now so popular in the series. In other words - defeat boss, claim item, advance (Although it's not actually that simple at all). In regards to gameplay and artistic style, this is classic Castlevania.

The amazing Japanese box art.

However, the focus here is not on the Belmont family, as is the case in many titles in the series. Instead, you take on the role of Nathan Graves. In the opening scenes of the game, you see Dracula being revived by a woman named Camilla. Stumbling upon the act and with the rite complete, Nathan's mentor is taken captive by none other than Dracula himself. Nathan and his friend Hugh plummet to the darkest depths of the castle and Hugh sets off by himself. It's your destiny to save your mentor.

This is how vampires should be. Mean, not sparkly.

This game was very well received, and it's easy to see why. As you whip away at skeletons, demons and succubi you can't help but enjoy the experience. The DSS card system offers a fresh spin on the use of magic in the game, but that being said, obtaining all of the cards is a massive challenge.

In my current playthrough, I'm up to eighteen out of twenty cards. Not bad. There are two card classes, Action and Attribute, and basically you pair up different cards for different results.

RPG elements are present, too. Nathan has HP, MP and different stats which really are very important in this game. For example, your luck stat is crucial if you want to get your hands on some of the better pieces of equipment in the game, and those aforementioned cards! You see, you can't buy any items. You will rely solely on enemy drops. Yes, that can be frustrating at times but with a bit of luck and patience, you can get what you want.

Punching a zombie-dragon is not very clever.

Your character also levels up as you gain experience from defeating enemies, so yes, the RPG element is most certainly there. Personally, I dont mind backtracking through the castle and doing some level grinding and/or item hunting when I'm listening to music such as this.

One thing I will say is that some of the hidden enemies in this title are just so well hidden that I have stumbled across them merely by absolute chance. As a fan of the series, I had a feeling that after defeating certain bosses and seeing new enemy spawns, there must also be some fiendish, unique devils lurking somewhere. This is a very challenging game, but the challenge is a welcome one.

My PAL copy of CotM. Demon claw not included.

Interestingly, Castlevania's series producer  Koji Igarashi was not involved in the creation of Circle of the Moon, and in 2002 the title was officially removed from the Castlevania timeline. He stated that it was the intent of the development team for it to be a stand-alone title. That decision wasn't so well received by many fans, but we do still have the game to enjoy. One criticism made was that the graphical style was too dark. Playing on an original GBA (And I do own one) that's certainly a valid point, but now we have backlit systems or the ability to play on a TV using the Game Boy Player for Gamecube, so there's no excuse!

If you're a fan of Castlevania but for some reason never got to play Circle of the Moon, try to get your hands on a copy of the game. It really is a gem.

Now if you'll please excuse me, I'm off to hunt vampires.

Gary