Castlevania Reviews - Circle of the Moon

Circle of the Moon:

Would it have killed them to name me BELMONT??

In May of 2001, Nintendo released the Gameboy Advance. Many gamers picked up this l'il contraption for this game and this game only. (Well, this game and any forthcoming CV games.) I was among them. Why so tardy in the review?

Well, after a few months of here and there time with COTM, my brother in law lost my GBA about a year ago. (Late summer 2001. He'll say he didn't lose it...just placed it on a table where it disappeared.) I just now got around to buying another GBA and beating the game, in late summer 2002.

Pathetic, isn't it? Sorry, I really neglected this place the past year and a half. But the forthcoming Harmony Of Dissonance gave me my much needed kick in the ass.

Anyhow, when I picked up COTM, I had only completed 60.1 % of it my first time at it. 2 days after picking it back up (that's about 8 more hours of gameplay), I finished it.

The Story:

It's 1830. Dracula is once a frickin' gain given life, this time by Carmilla (or Camilla, depending on translation), who seems to have gone from a big crying mask in Castlevania 2 to a Succubus of sorts.

Our heroes this time around are once again not Belmonts, but descendants. Actually, descendants and friends. You see, Morris Baldwin and his son Hugh are descendants of the Morris family (Belmont relatives), of Bram Stoker's Dracula (from the novel, Quincy Morris) and Castlevania: Bloodlines. (Quincy's son John.)

And the true hero, Nathan Graves, is Morris' student. So he's kind of a friend of a friend, you see? Anyways...

Upon arriving at Dracula's castle to do the deed, Morris is captured and the floor opens up and Nathan and Hugh drop into the depths of the castle. Hugh's kind of an arrogant jerk so he tells Nathan he'll just be in the way before taking off into the castle alone. Tthis is where the game begins.

Gameplay:

Circle Of The Moon will most certainly remind Castlevania fans of Symphony Of The Night, in it's non-linear layout. What mostly separates it from SOTN is the whip-toting main character of classic Castlevania, and there are not nearly as many weapons and items to find in Circle Of The Moon, although there is still a decent amount of armors, arm bands, use items and cards to find.

Ah yes, the card system. (Which actually can equip you with a sword, if you really want the experience to be SOTN-like.) DSS cards are randomly dropped by creatures throughout the castle. There are two rows of cards in your inventory, action and attribute. When combined, these cards give you access to different weapons and spells, these card abilities use up your magic meter. (Some use the time lapse system, others are per use.) Many of the spells prove extremly useful in the late going, in fact I found the Uranus card to be practically a requirement to beat Dracula...I haven't tried to take him out in Fighter Mode yet. More on that later.)

The enemies in Circle Of The Moon are mostly color swaps of skeletons, werebears, shades and demons. There are a few memorable creatures here and there, but nothing terribly new, and certainly not as interesting a variety as SOTN. (This looks to be different in Harmony Of Dissonance, though.)

The music in COTM is very good. Several Castlevania 3 songs can be found (including an old favorite of mine, Nightmare), as well as Castlevania IV and Castlevania: Bloodlines music. (The Sinking Old Sanctuary, stage 2 from Bloodlines, is the most often heard song in the game.) Vampire Killer is heard in the Observation Tower.

Another main difference in this title and SOTN (since I must keep comparing, to the standard by which I measure all post 1997 games) is that this title is noticeably more difficult. This is a good thing, but save points aren't nearly plentiful enough. I think the programmers simply forgot to place save points behind boss rooms. Nothing is worse than beating a boss and being depleted on potions, then being killed on the way back to the save point.

As for more similarites to SOTN, Nathan levels up along the way and becomes much, much more powerful. The abilities of running, block breaking, double jump and later unlmited jump (flying, like Richter's Belmont Jump and Alucard's Super Jump in SOTN) are gained with the defeat of bosses.

Leveling up can be tedious in COTM, because you may near completion of the game and realize that you are 15 levels and a few cards away from being able to take Dracula. Experience is easy to gain, though, as several creatures will give you 2000 or more points experience for quite a long time, but you'll still spend hours in random corridors killing and saving, killing and saving. I beat the game on level 53, my brother in law waited until level 68.

After defeating Dracula, there is a Colliseum type proving grounds called the Battle Arena near the top of the Castle. (This can actually be entered before the Dracula fight, but good luck.) In this area, you cannot use DSS cards. If you make it all the way through, you gain mad experience and some good armor.

As mentioned earlier, there is a decent selection of items to find, but only of the 4 main types. You'll end up with scores and scores of Leather Armor and Arm Bands, but hardly ever anything worth using. There are some very powerful and interesting armors to find, but you'll have to go to out of the way places and have a fair amount of luck. (Luck Rings can be found, though, and will help you with this.)

My main complaint about COTM: the game is just too dark. Even in direct sunlight, lamp light, whatever you use, the game is hard to see. You'll often find yourself in uncomfortable positions over chairs and couches just trying to get the right light.

Overall:

Circle has some replay value to it, as after you beat it you can start games with different titles than Vampire Killer. The first title you can start with after beating the game atleast once is Magician Mode, by entering the name FIREBALL at the select screen. You'll begin the game with all of the DSS cards.

If you beat the game in Magician Mode, you can enter the name GRADIUS and play in fighter mode. In this mode, you won't be able to use DSS cards but you will be much stronger.

If you beat the game in Fighter Mode, enter CROSSBOW and you'll be able to play in Shooter Mode. You'll start the game with more hearts, sub-weapons will be more powerful, and there will be a homing dagger weapon available.

Finally, if you beat the game in Shooter Mode, you'll be able to enter DAGGER and play in thief mode. You won't be as strong, but your luck will be greatly increased.

Rumors were swirling that you could play as Hugh, but it was nothing but. No mode exists.

There you have it. It's not SOTN, but it's the second best Castlevania released between 1997-2001. I'll be playing Harmony Of Dissonance very shortly and I will see how it measures up to both SOTN and COTM.

Hugh...well dressed, bit part.