Konami has been making sequels to the Castlevania series for over a decade, yet the tried and true formula is as good as it ever was. Circle of the Moon is the first GBA Castlevania game and it faithfully recreates the feeling of its console predecessors. With the save feature implemented, the game is much longer than a normal Castlevania game, giving around 12 hours of game play. However in this series it isn't the amount of time you get to play, but the quality you get, and there's more than enough here.
As with all the Castlevania games, you are out to stop the big man himself Dracula. This time around you play as Hugh Baldwin (no Belmont's here) who must rescue his teacher from certain doom. A little corny and not as exciting as the more basic "Dracula wants to rule over everyone get a Belmont after him" plot but satisfying nonetheless.
Fighting the undead is just as satisfying as it ever was. Hugh is entrusted with his handy magical sword/whip that can has a lengthy reach. This reach is key to strategizing in Castlevania. As an example, say there is a ledge with an enemy above it and you must jump there. The ledge will be positioned at the exact amount of distance needed by the player to execute the whip attack to kill the monster without getting harmed. This clever game design and requirement for strategic thinking has been key to the Castlevania series.
Like stated before the level design done very well, though not the best in the series. Most areas look completely different from each other, even though they are all positioned in the same castle, a nice touch. There is a lot of back tracking in this game and this sometimes can get a tad tedious, but nothing to worry about. Luckily the save feature comes into play and allows you to save when you want to quit, simple as that.
Enemies in the game are the same old crop pretty much. You have the zombies, bats, skeleton heads, and other popular enemies. Changes in the colour of the enemies (as well as different strengths) makes the limited number of enemies less boring. The boss battles are as gigantic and entertaining as ever. Strategy is involved and it is very satisfying to finally beat a boss. New to this game is collecting of secondary cards that allow you to have different abilities depending upon what card you use. These vary from passive effects (double hp) to limited time effects like summoning a monster to your aide. The second weapons like the cross, axe and others have been kept and are very useful in killing enemies with bizarre attack patterns.
Graphically the game looks pretty good. Most people have complained about the game being dark, but I like it. The main colours are generally green and black and everything looks nice and harmonious next to each other. The bosses as always are beautiful looking and look better than SNES graphics. However everything else like said before is done decent, it could have looked better, but seeing how this is one of the very first GBA titles, it is excusable.
The sound as ever, is fantastic and sounds excellent on the GBA speakers. There is the ever so satisfying attack sound that is quite comforting when you hit an enemy, as well as some more advanced running and jumping sound effects. The music in general has classic creepy orchestral sound to it, and it adds to the effect of everything.
Beating the game will take approximately 12 hours and there is no real point to get 100%. The game can be beaten without it, and as far as I know, there is no benefit. Still however this is classic Castlevania gaming and any fan should not hesitate to pick this up. Newcomers to the series are recommended to pick up this game if you are interested in a solid platformer with a darker theme.
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