The GBA Castlevania titles

[kainemaxwell]

I just started playing the 3 Castlevania GBA titles and was wondering which is your favorite? I'm really liking them and somehow liking Harmony of Dissoence and Aria of Sorrow moreso then Circle of the Moon. Circle seems kinda slow in the beginning then the other 2. *shrug

[Lady Jaye]

I only have Circle of the moon, and I find the card system a bit confusing. Mostly, though, I find the part where you encounter medusas to be frustrating as hell.

In any case, the other two are on my want list (hint, hint, for anyone who has extra copies they'd like to get rid of...).

[klausien]

Aria of Sorrow is the most addictive and polished. It also has the best story and main character. Circle of the Moon is the hardest, and longest because you really need to level up a good bit to complete it. Harmony of Dissonance is the weakest in my opinion and has the worst sound. They are all very cool if you like Symphony of the night.

[Icarus Moonsight]

As a HUGE Castlevania Fan and an owner of the entire GBA trio I feel compelled to share my thoughts on these games.

As a whole the Castlevania series games on the GBA are easily among the best overall for the system. Individually here are my thoughts and opinions on these great games.

Circle of the Moon - Even though it is the least graphiclly impressive of the three the thing you have to understand is that CoM was a launch title. A very good launch title at that! It has the most replayability of the three, for me anyways, due to it's different "classes" you can play the game as. The magician game is especially wicked - starting off with all the DSS cards and abilities really opened the game up for me. Haven't played the thief game yet but I am really looking forward to it - the theif has really high luck so you can get the best items from the enemies quickly. The downside in the graphics department were severe. Small characters and dark colors did not show well on the non-SP-afied GBA. When played with a back-lit screen the darkness of the colors used is not so much of an issue. While some found the DSS system unappealing or even clunky I actually liked the quirky system. What the DSS system lacked in polish it made up for in variety.

Harmony of Dissonance - My most recent aquisition in the series, I admittedly haven't played it that much (I blame Minish Cap). Seemed to capture the look of SotN the most of the bunch. I like the bright vibrant colors... how they made everything that light without losing an ounce of the dark feel is beyond me. But, they did it and did it well. I can't say much more about it than that until I give it a play through.

Aria of Sorrow - My personal favorite of the three. Aria goes back to smaller characters and tones down the bright colors a bit and makes the best looking portable Castlevania yet. The control was so fluid... it captured the feel of SotN that eluded them in Harmony. Maybe that was because Alucard has a cameo role in the game... Hmmmm. I especially enjoyed equipin Soma with pistols and a positron rifle **zappp**. Without a doubt the best storyline of the group, it's actually coherent and well thought out. Also, just like SotN this story has a twist or two. Talk about turning fans of the series on their heads, LOL (If you've played the game you know what I'm talking about... I don't want to spoil this for anyone who hasn't played it yet).

If your looking for the SotN experience on the go... your best bet is with Aria... fans of the series and those looking for more go ahead and grab the other two as well. They are so worth it.

[Gapporin]

Aria Of Sorrow is my favorite as well. I haven't played any of the other games, though.

[Richter Belmount]

aria of sorrow for being so great the whole way through.
circle of the moon was better for being more varied in gameplay.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I liked Circle of the Moon, due to it's BGM. The sound quality blew me away for a GBA cart....yet upon release not many cared much for it, since it was "Too Dark" and you couldn't see anything on the screen...wasn't until GB Player arrived that I finally got to see all the detail added in the game, was a shame that we never got to see things kind of things sooner. What really ticked me off, was I couldn't play as the dark haired guy in the grey coat. I thought he looked alot better compared to Nathan

When HOD arrived, I was kind of disappointed with the music...yet another part of me adores the 8-bit style, but loved the improved gameplay and animation...since I felt COTM was very choppy when you see Nathan run.
The biggest thing I got a kick out of was once you finished, unlocked battle mode...then enter the KONAMI code....and here comes the grandfather of Juste Belmont.....SIMON BELMONT...Grandpa still kickin ass in Battle Mode...and still stuck in 8-bit sprites was the bomb...especially giving him CastleVania 2002 remix BGM. Top notch

Aria of Sorrow I was very impressed with, much more improvement, but the music still sits at 8-bit style, I love how much closer this became to SOTN, by borrowing many of the enemies from that particular series. yet after I was finished, I didn't really have much to go back to. The hidden character didn't offer much, he died so easily and was kind of weak compared to Soma.

[hezeuschrist]

I too have only played CotM... man, I'd love to get the other two but there are just TOO MANY GAMES to play.

Glad this is my last semester, soon as I graduate I'm getting a job as a fulltime dork and plowing through my collection.

[yoursisterspretty]

I just started playing the 3 Castlevania GBA titles and was wondering which is your favorite?

I'd pick AoS first, then HoD and then CotM. I've never actually finished CotM mainly because it is so dark.

[le geek]

I like CotM on a GBA SP, even better on a DS... Still trying to beat it, I have one boss to go till Dracula (plus the battle arena)...

Haven't played the others, but I want to pick up AoS next...

Cheers,
Ben

[calthaer]

Although the music quality of Harmony of Dissonance is worse than the others, I have to say that I like the melodies more than the other two. It was also cool (and challenging) to play through the game as the evil sidekick guy. It was also very cool to mix the magic books with the secondary weapons.

I like them all about equally, although it took me a LONG time to beat CotM (getting the last few cards is difficult, and you pretty much need them - or the levels - to beat Drac), and I still haven't finished AoS for the same reason.

[Lady Jaye]

Now, I gotta play CotM tonight on my way back from work!!! (I have a zillion GBA carts or so in my purse at all times, so I'm always ready to play a game that I feel like playing). :D

[Crush Crawfish]

Aria of Sorrow is easily the best one, and in my opinion the best CV ever. I have trouble getting into HOD, mainly due to the weak music. COTM is freakin' hard! Anyone remember the freaking bondage gear goat boss? That thing was insanely hard! I haven't quite finished COTM either...

[Bluteg]

I have played both HoD and AoS and prefer AoS by far. HoD seemed short and the extras wern't all that great. AoS really is the closest to SoTN of the two I've played. Anybody know why is HoD selling for so much more than the other two?

[-hellvin-]

AoS is my favorite. I don't like the main character but I think it's the most refined of the three. I like HoD the second best. People hate it but I really enjoyed it a lot. Even got all the bedroom items and 200%. CoM I dislike the most. I think a lot of it was just overly difficult and the damn long rooms of poisoning DEATH annoyed the hell out of me.

[kainemaxwell]

Aos I'm really enjoying, though sticking around to try to get souls is a pain, but loving it all the same. Now I'll agree with HoD music, but I very much enjoy the Castlevania game play of it. Also anyone else fight a boss a few times to try to get a Soul they didn't get the previous time around?

[Aussie2B]

Circle of the Moon is the only one that I did like, but even then I would put most of the older titles above it as well.

Am I the only one that absolutely despises the characters from HoD and AoS? They're horribly designed, in my opinion. The guy from HoD looks just like Goofy when he runs (I'll take Nathan's lacking-in-animation run over that freakish run anyday), and the guy from AoS looks like a rejected model from The Gap.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Circle of the Moon is the only one that I did like, but even then I would put most of the older titles above it as well.

Am I the only one that absolutely despises the characters from HoD and AoS?.

No your not, atleast for Aria of Sorrow. I also couldn't get into this game as much as the other two GBA Castlevania games. Don't know why, I just found it to be boring and generic.

[Psycho Mantis]

my favorite was harmony of dissonance.
even though the music was absolutely awful, it had great gameplay.
thankfully i can turn the sound off.

[Sotenga]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... I'm still under my own debate as to whether I enjoy Circle of the Moon or Aria of Sorrow more. I really liked Harmony of Dissonance, don't get the wrong impression out of me, but I felt it to be my least favorite of the GBA CV games... and it was still very awesome by my standards. Buuuuuuuuut... thinking about it......... I may have to go with Circle of the Moon, though that may change in the future. I mean, it was the first one, and it felt to be the most unique, while AoS was closer to Symphony of the Night in gameplay, which is hardly a bad thing, but it didn't make AoS seem as unique as CotM... I know, the explanation's a bit shaky, and that's just what I'm thinking now, and it's probably due to change in the future... DAMN KONAMI. They made all three games too good, so it's their fault that I'm having such trouble deciding! :D

[ghostangelofcky]

I haven't played Harmony, But I did like Aria just due to the SOTN feel that the game had. CofTM was ok, nothing too interesting though

[maxlords]

Keep in mind I hated SotN and what it did to the Castlevania series. It's pretty...but so dull!

CotM: Played through to the end. It's long, it's repetetive, and I could never beat Dracula. And I damn well didn't want to level up over and over. I found it sub-standard at best.

HoD: Just started it yesterday, and I have over 75% of the map uncovered. It's WAY too easy, the bosses are all jokes, and I'm not even trying to avoid taking hits, and I'm almost done with it. I think I died maybe 3 times, and that's cause I wasn't watching my health bar at all.

AoS: Haven't played it yet.


Overall ratings of the Metroid-vania series: 5/10. Solid gameplay, but they all become extremely repetetive. The exploring aspect is boring because you can't just FIND things. You really have to find the right area and beat it to get further. I know that's the same as Metroid, but for some reason, I find it MUCH more boring in these.

[poloplayr]

Just had to say: Great thread, guys! I've been considering picking up a Castlevania for my GBA but not sure where to begin...loved your views!

[Icarus Moonsight]

Metroid-vania LOL Yeah, the exploration model is sometimes a pain but, I am just as fond of it as I am the old style action-platform games. I have often thought that Konami should have dropped Dracula X on the GBA and blew our socks clear off! Or better still a GBA or console Castlevania games past compilation. Seemed to be a rational thought considering compilation games are in full swing lately. They did however, release the NES Castlevania which admittedly is much more than I expected to see.

[poloplayr]

Can only agree, a Castlevania 8bit GBA collection would me awesome and why not throw in some fan goodies in there. Gallery? MSX version? Whatever. But since the Famicom Mini editions are selling, they'll probably just churn them out one by one. A shame. Then again...PocketNES is always an option.

[kainemaxwell]

Would the MSX edition in Castlevania Chronicles count as a fanservice or that of the videos?

Anyhow, been playing HoD, after backtracking to get the double-jump ability since I just plain forgot about that part of the castle, I'm hooked. :)

[MegaDrive20XX]

Would the MSX edition in Castlevania Chronicles count as a fanservice or that of the videos?

Anyhow, been playing HoD, after backtracking to get the double-jump ability since I just plain forgot about that part of the castle, I'm hooked. :)

Wait, say what?? The MSX Version of CastleVania was in Chronicles?? *confused* I don't remember that :hmm:

[SoulBlazer]

Castlevania Chronicles IS the MSX version of Castlevania.....no, wait, it was another computer system. Dang, which one was it? :hmm:

[Richter Belmount]

I think it was for console by sharp. I tried the msx one its plays more like castlevania 2 for nes.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Castlevania Chronicles IS the MSX version of Castlevania.....no, wait, it was another computer system. Dang, which one was it? :hmm:

Sharp X68000 8-) with good Konami and Capcom support, it's a lovely PC

[SoulBlazer]

Right, another one of those systems that never came out in the States. I knew it was some kind of Japanese computer.

I really like the music for Chronicles, and how they include all three 'original' modes along with the remixed. Plus you can have original or enhanced graphucs -- and the game is HARD, a fun challenge -- defentily a blast. :D