Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Evil Never Dies…

JP release: 21st March 2001
NA release: 11th June 2001
EU release: 22nd June 2001
Developer: Konami Kobe
Publisher: Konami
N64 Magazine Review: 4 Stars
Platforms: GBA
Version Played: GBA

The Game Boy Advance created a great opportunity. It was a console where 2D games weren’t shunned, while also being capable of pulling off what they wanted out of Castlevania. For Circle of the Moon, the Kobe division of Konami decided to use Symphony of the Night as inspiration, creating a handheld castlevania with the same kind of exploration. Not only that, but it was also a launch title for the system, giving the GBA a nice chunky third party game right out of the gate.

The game takes place in the early 19th century (Kobe loves that era), with Dracula being resurrected by Camilla only 10 years after Morris Baldwin previously sealed him away. He heads to fight Dracula again, backed up by his son, Hugh and his apprentice Nathan Graves – to whom he has entrusted the Hunter Whip. They get separated (with Hugh rushing out to prove himself, jealous that his dad chose someone else) and it’s up to Nathan Graves to make his way to Dracula. These games do mean that Dracula is very busy in this era – but with the Belmonts vanishing after Symphony of the Night, it makes sense that more people would attempt to revive Dracula and that the defeats wouldn’t be as effective.

The start of the game is surprisingly brutal. There’s no clear direction, your health is extremely low, there’s lots of bomb-throwing and poisonous enemies (when you haven’t found any antidote) and it’s very easy to miss the first save room. Once you get past this section, levelling up a few times and making it to a second save room, it does alleviate a lot. What doesn’t help is how unbelievably slow Nathan is. The first ability you find is a dash, where you can double tap to run. Honestly, this should have been the standard walk, and I turned on a cheat to make the run the default.

Circle of the Moon has a levelling up system and a basic inventory (you can equip a few stat-boosting items, no weapons), but the main new gameplay mechanic is the Dual Setup System (DDS). During the game you’ll collect cards in two categories. Select a card in each of the two slots and you’ll have a magic ability: elemental whips, protective flames, healing or summons. You’ll need to figure out what each combination does, which can be tricky or ones that need a specific button combo.

However, this system is undermined by the item drop rate system. Specific enemies drop specific cards, but the drop rate is tied to your luck stat. If you want a full set, you’ll need to know which enemies drop the card and repeatedly enter the room, kill it, leave and repeat until the card appears. Playing normally, you’ll have less than a third of the cards by the end of the game. It really undermines the system, and probably why the game gives you a cheat code when you complete it to start with all of them.

Luckily, the game is still a ton of fun without it. You get a great double jump and then rocket jump ability to make navigating the castle a joy, and there’s a lot of neat sections . Bosses are fun to figure out, but one you’ve learnt their patterns, they just keep on going and going. I wouldn’t call them difficult, they just take ages, but a new ability and then looking around everywhere for secrets is a fun reward.

Which, really, is the crux of the game. Looking around is fun enough as it is that you don’t mind going through a few rooms to reach another slight increase to your magic. It’s an immensely enjoyable game that cemented this structure for Castlevania, at least on handhelds.

Great

Eventually you’ll run into some of the weirdest monstrosities we’ve witnessed since Doom 64 or R-Type, all in chilling colour. These, plus an overall attention to atmosphere, will rapidly bring on a serious case of the willies. Who would have through that possible form a ‘mere’ handheld, eh?
N64 Magazine #56

Remake or remaster?

The default run and an improvement to the drops for the card system should have been options in the Advance collection.

Official Ways to get the game

Circle of the Moon is available in the Castlevania Advance Collection.