Castlevania: Circle of the Moon Review @ Gaming Target

Written by Derek Noad on June 18, 2001

Review: This just shows, it's not the size the counts, but how but well it plays.

Before you spend any time reading this review take this advice. If you liked Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (for Playstation) you will love Circle of the Moon (CotM). Now for everyone who needs convincing you may read on about this amazing title.

Dracula, believe it or not, has been resurrected. Not very original but it gets Vampire Hunters, Morris Baldwin, Hugh Baldwin, and Nathan Graves into action. Morris, the elderly master is captured and will be used to revive Dracula's power. You take the role of Nathan to find and save Master Morris.

Sure CotM doesn't push the limits of the GBA but it still looks great. Nathan has tons of fluent animation. The backgrounds look great and are filled with detailed stained glass or elaborate paintings. But the one bad part about this game falls into this category, the brightness. The game is supposed to be dark and demonic but it went too far. You need the perfect angle and light to see anything at all. As long as you have some good light Castlevania has some of the best visuals in 2D games.

The upgrade from GBC sound is top notch. The opening is a haunting chant that sets the scene for the horror that follows. The music is fantastic, better than most games outside of portables and the crack of the whip and creek of the doors sound so realistic. Nathan's grunts and moans follow the pattern of excellence (don't think I like men grunting, but the little voice is a good addition). Make sure you have some headphones to take advantage of the stereo capabilities, because it makes all the difference.

The gameplay is what makes Castlevania worth buying. It combines classic vampire hunting with the RPG qualities of Symphony of the Night. Nathan wields a whip like the slayers before him but has more options. Fallen enemies may drop anything from potions to gloves to armor. You can equip something to your body and two accessories on your hands. Deciding whether to beef up your defenses or max out your strength varies for every gamer. Another RPG element is the level building. The more enemies you beat the more experience you gain for higher HP, MP or hearts. Speaking of hearts, the international sign of love becomes the fuel for a slew of deadly weapons. By using hearts you can throw knives, axes, crosses, almost everything except the kitchen sink, although you can chuck Holy Water. There's also a nifty contraption that freezes all the enemies in time. The level design is genius. You battle through corridors reaching huge and tough to beat bosses. Most bosses relinquish a Magic Item that gives you new powers to tackle a previously impassable obstacle. With the new skill you find the next area to eventual meet the Count himself.

There are not many features in Castlevania, just one really good one. It's called Dual Setup System (DSS). There are 10 Action cards and 10 Attribute cards to be found in the notorious castle. By mixing and matching them you can unleash some really cool effects. For instance just combining with just the fire card can get you a flaming whip, a defensive shield of fire or increased strength. After hours of play I haven't even found half of the cards yet. There tons of cool moves I have yet to see. The DSS option leaves so much room for each player to tackle the Lord of Darkness in their own way.

In terms of replay there isn't much. There are supposed to be hidden cheats for beating the game, but I'm not going to verify anything without seeing it myself. A true vampire hunter can search every nook and cranny to find all the life, magic or heart power ups. Plus there's a really challenging Battle Arena where you can take on a series of opponents without your magic. Finally you can complete your card collection for all of the moves. So while there is more to do when you beat the game its not for the casual gamer, only the perfectionist who has to find everything.