Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

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Conn

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Postby Conn » July 4th, 2007, 5:39 am

The other day, I saw Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (which I will call Circle) at my EBGames for $11. I was starving for a GBA action game, and I figured Circle would do the trick; even if it wasn't that great, I'm a Castlevania fanatic- so I'm sure I could find [i]some[/i] enjoyment. Worse comes to worst, I could keep it for collection purposes.

So I played it and... have barely been able to put it down. The Critic was [i]dead wrong[/i] about this game. In fact, I'm not so sure he was actually playing the same game as me!

In his review, he notes that Circle's level design is "a nightmare". While the Underground Gallery and Underground Waterway are pretty annoying, the Chapel and Machine Tower [i]easily[/i] cancel them out and them some. The other stages are generally pretty good looking but nothing special- though I must give a shout to the Observation Tower and Audience Room.

Next he cites poor control. I had absolutely no problems with these, except walking- KCEK decides to make Nathan walk extremely slow or run extremely fast. It's pretty annoying but manageable.

Also, randomly placed save points? They're spread out, but not random. There's usually two to three in each area, one by the start, one by the boss and sometimes one around the middle. In fact, [i]there is a save point a room or two away from the first boss![/i] I must conclude that the Critic was not exploring in this game and simply rushing through. It makes sense, considering he found himself "pining" for the "linear gameplay for the NES Castlevanias"

Circle also has some really great things. There's enemies guarding the power-ups. As you progress, areas will get new enemies.The Zombie Dragon boss fight is incredibly difficult but also very awesome- a neat little addition is that when one of them dies, the other will eat some to regain HP! Another boss, Adremelech, is a massive ram chained up in the Chapel. Truly a sight to behold. His death is neat too- his head bursts into flames and falls off.

It also features a lot of replay value- six different ways to play the game, each different from the last. Not to mention the Battle Arena.

It certainly isn't perfect, of course- some of the sprites look a bit off, there's the previously mentioned walking issue and the game is a bit unbalanced. You end up dealing hundreds to early enemies not even in your twenties but deal 40 to stronger ones. They, however, deal lots. Items have to be found via drops. Potions heal a mesely 20 HP.

In summary, Circle isn't [i]perfect[/i] but it does a lot right. It also has quite a bit of personality. A D+ is way too harsh; I think B- would be more appropriate.

At the very least, it' superior to Harmony (which, by the way, I often got lost in). Harmony deserves a C or C+.

I really think you should revisit Circle, Critic. Give it another chance!

Edward M

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Postby Edward M » July 5th, 2007, 7:21 pm

You think it deserves a B-?   I think it deserves an A.   It is the best "Metroidvania" Castlevania game I've played.   I love the dark look of the game.   Its great that there are 100 different spells so there is tons of replays trying to find all the cards.    I like that unlike all the other "metroidcanias" it keeps the difficulty of the original linear Castlevanias.   Not to mention it has the best castle with the exception of SOTN, and this is a killer game.   This game deserves a rerate.   A D+ rating is just absurd. 

Michael D

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Postby Michael D » July 5th, 2007, 8:11 pm

I agree.  I think we've found another game that, like Prince of Persia: Sands of Times, really deserves another chance from our favorite game reviewer.


Alienblue

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Postby Alienblue » July 6th, 2007, 4:38 am

I wonder what GBA the Critic was plaing CIRCLE on. I bought that when the first, UNLIT GBA came out...it was unplayable, so dark you couldn't SEE what was attacking you! I bet it would be better with a light behind it.

While we are on the subject of "give this game another chance", critic, another player and I are still hoping you'll re- review 7800 PolePosition2. It would help if you could play the real arcade code first and compare it... 7800 PP2 is VERY close to the coin-op and if you truly are judging against other 7800 carts, isn't this THE BEST 7800 driving game? Are you saying MOTORPSYCHO is better!? Yeh, right!
(sorry, I just had to add that but..um..I THINK the Critic said he wanted the reviews forum kept as comments to CURENNT LISTED REVIEWS,right?)

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Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 6th, 2007, 3:42 pm

I don't mind people making new threads about older reviews.  I will give Circle another try, but not until it's closer to Halloween.

Conn

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Postby Conn » July 7th, 2007, 6:07 am

[QUOTE=Edward M]You think it deserves a B-?   I think it deserves an A.[/QUOTE]

I really don't think I'd so that far. Like I said, it has its flaws, namely the unbalanced damage, annoying walking and running speeds, some annoying areas... not enough to significantly hurt the game but enough to bring it down a bit.

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]I will give Circle another try, but not until it's closer to Halloween. [/QUOTE]

Ah well, beggars can't be choosers

Also, I apologise for my tone in my first post. I honestly didn't intend to sound so snarky and angry, but I see it came off that way. Again, sorry


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