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Videogame Source : GameBoy Advance |
Castlevania: Circle of the
Moon |
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6.0 |
| Sounds |
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7.5 |
| Replay |
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8.0 |
| Gameplay |
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8.0 |
| Overall |
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8.0 |
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Review
by JR
Clone |
Enter the “newest” Castlevania
game, Circle of the Moon. Although it’s not really that
new, is it? Circle of the Moon is the product of taking a
Castlevania game from the NES era and infusing it with the
distinct flavor of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,
the PlayStation installment of the famous Castlevania series.
Circle of the Moon may be more archaic than the foremost
Castlevania action game, Super Castlevania IV, and more
simplistic than the adventure-style gameplay of Symphony of
the Night, but it provides a pleasant blend of the two that
ends up being one of the foremost titles on the Game Boy
Advance.
For the first time ever in a Castlevania game, you do not play
as a member of the Belmont family, the premier clan when it
comes to vampire slaying. This time, the hero is Nathan Graves,
the apprentice of Morris Baldwin, a descendant of the Belmonts.
Wielding the legendary “hunter’s whip”, Nathan must scour the
freshly resurrected Dracula’s massive castle in order to save
his master and put the evil vamp down once and for all (yeah,
right…).
The Legacy of Super Castlevania IV
Super Castlevania IV featured ultra responsive control
and a “dynamic whip” system which allowed Simon Belmont to throw
his whip in eight directions. In Circle of the Moon, we’re back
down to whipping only two directions, forwards and backwards,
and it has a larger impact on gameplay than one might expect.
While the absence of the dynamic whip causes some problems,
Simon can still whip sufficient ass.
The only other letdown when it comes to gameplay is the somewhat
unresponsive, sluggish control. Whether the blame should be laid
on Konami’s programming or Nintendo’s handheld system, the
controls could have used some general polishing.
The Legacy of Symphony of the Night
While at its most basic, Circle of the Moon resembles previous
Castlevania games (the hero of Symphony of the Night,
Alucard, carried a sword…go figure), this is much more
Symphony of the Night than anything else.
Foregoing level based, straightforward action for adventure and
RPG elements, Circle of the Moon, like its PlayStation
predecessor, is more Metroid than Mario. Dracula’s
castle is one large…huge, in fact…stage, and Nathan will
be covering quite a bit of ground in his quest to defeat
Dracula.
The central element of Circle of the Moon besides the whole
whipping thing, the “DSS” card system, seems fairly fresh. By
combining different cards, rare items gained from slaying
enemies, Nathan can gain a bevy of different abilities. Like I
said, the enemies don’t dispense cards easily, so have fun
trying to find some…
…in Circle of the Moon’s expansive areas. The main problem with
Circle of the Moon is that it is just too big. Unlike the
hero of the recent PlayStation 2 game Silent Hill 2,
Nathan Graves doesn’t feel the urge to mark key locations on his
gargantuan map, so it’s quite a common occurrence to be baffled
about which way to go. Here’s an example:
I ran across a poisoned river while adventuring through
Dracula’s castle. “Hmm, this river harms me when I get in.
Perhaps I should come back after triggering some event,” I
thought to myself. Each of the various bosses almost always
grants Nathan a new ability after being beaten, so hey, I’ll
probably get some new ability soon enough. Sure enough, one of
the bosses was kind enough to give me a “cleanse” ability that
purified water. Hurray! I could finally detoxify that
river…now…where was it??…over there…no…hmm…up there….hmmm…guess
not…uh…ok…C’MON!! THIS IS ****ING RIDICILOUS!!!
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is all good…when you know where
to go!
The Legacy of Both
Visually and aurally, Super Castlevania IV and
Symphony of the Night were top of line upon their release.
Over the top effects, massive bosses, and beautiful environments
rounded out the graphics, and both of these games also featured
wonderful music. Haunting, rich melodies, featuring gratuitous
use of the organ, were standard among the booming, intense sound
effects.
Circle of the Moon falls short on both counts. Although this is
a handheld system, the dark, somewhat sparse graphics of Circle
of the Moon are outdone by several other Game Boy Advance
titles. The music…well, let’s just say no particular tune sticks
in my head after playing Circle of the Moon for about an hour
today. In the wake of two spectacular efforts by Konami, Circle
of the Moon feels stripped down, which it shouldn’t be if
Nintendo’s claims about the GBA’s power are true.
The Bottom Line
Handheld titles are most often the weak link in a series of
games, and although I was hoping the Game Boy Advance would
change this unfortunate pattern, it appears that the more things
change, the more they stay the same.
Still, being the weak link in the Castlevania series is like
saying, “Oh, that’s the cut-rate Rolls Royce.” The gameplay
remains fun, fulfilling, and firm; no aspect of Circle of the
Moon stands out as being lackluster or unsatisfactory. Expect a
rock solid experience, but don’t expect for all the Castlevania
magic to be put into such a small package…8-
.:. JR Clone |
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