Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

 Game Boy Advance
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Release Date: Jun 10, 2001
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 153 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 117 out of 153
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 153
  3. Negative: 9 out of 153
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  1. nitorita
    Feb 3, 2020
    5
    This game is overrated at 8.5. I started off this review with a score of 7 because I enjoyed the exploration initially but disliked the controls. Ultimately, I reduced it to a 5 for "hit or miss". This game suffers for the same reason that made Super Castlevania IV bad: masochistically hard bosses.

    Circle of the Moon recycles the clunky controls of the Simon Belmont era of Castlevania    This game is overrated at 8.5. I started off this review with a score of 7 because I enjoyed the exploration initially but disliked the controls. Ultimately, I reduced it to a 5 for "hit or miss". This game suffers for the same reason that made Super Castlevania IV bad: masochistically hard bosses.

    Circle of the Moon recycles the clunky controls of the Simon Belmont era of Castlevania games, and reincorporates inconveniences like bidirectional whip, no potions, and horrendously slow movement if you don't constantly run. There is no mention on how to use weapon items (which, apart from the Boomerang, all suck for that matter), or what the significance of the DSS system is (and how grindy it is to get anything decent to use it with).

    Because there are basically no potions, some areas can be annoying to traverse due to enemies that are hard to get past and constantly whittle down your health. Bosses are randomly spread across the map, which means you can get lost figuring out where to go next and are expected to blindly search around.

    Halfway into the game, you will encounter two bosses with insane health pools that will always beat you through attrition. They're not downright impossible, but they're certainly frustrating and would need several hundred tries to even get close to beating them (if you don't get physically exhausted first). If you're the kind of gamer who likes to play blind and doesn't like grinding for hours, preserve your sanity and just move onto the next game.

    Overall, the boss difficulty and clunky controls heavily weighed on my rating and interest in this game. If you can tolerate poor balancing and mindless grinding, it's a semi-decent Metroidvania to try if you spoil yourself and use to a guide to tell you exactly everything to collect to make your life easier. Otherwise, I struggle to see how this game deserves any more than at best a 6. If you were to look online yourself, everyone unanimously agrees that those two bosses are the hardest in the game, even more so than the final boss. That's just ridiculous.    … Expand
  2. ylnylmn
    Aug 11, 2021
    7
    I had a hard time. It was probably the hardest castlevania game I've ever played. Even C3 wasn't that hard. The map of the game tired me a lot. Level design is not very good. Teleport rooms are too far away. Enemies are very difficult, there are enemies that constantly poison and freeze. The bosses were the hardest game bosses I've ever seen in my life. For some reason, our health does notI had a hard time. It was probably the hardest castlevania game I've ever played. Even C3 wasn't that hard. The map of the game tired me a lot. Level design is not very good. Teleport rooms are too far away. Enemies are very difficult, there are enemies that constantly poison and freeze. The bosses were the hardest game bosses I've ever seen in my life. For some reason, our health does not regenerate after bosses. My damage to Bosses is very low, but I take more damage. I don't like the card system, you have to farm it all the time. That's why I was able to collect half of it. You have to farm hearts too. Potions are hard to collect. I wish the game had a shop system. At least I would get potions, I wouldn't spend that much time on bosses. The variety of items was also very less. Game controls weren't good either. Really mediocre compared to Aria and Dawn of Sorrow.To tell the truth. It pushed me so hard. I died hundreds of times, but I finished the game. Still, master players knows how to enjoy this game. And not bad for the year.… Expand
  3. Matseb2611
    May 22, 2011
    6
    Definitely not as good as Aria of Sorrow, or even Harmony of Dissonance for that matter, in my opinion. The game is quite nice in itself. The graphics are all right, the music is really great (lots of great remixes of classic Castlevania tracks too), and the gameplay is fun, even though the controls are a bit of a pain. The main issue I have with this title is that the difficulty is wayDefinitely not as good as Aria of Sorrow, or even Harmony of Dissonance for that matter, in my opinion. The game is quite nice in itself. The graphics are all right, the music is really great (lots of great remixes of classic Castlevania tracks too), and the gameplay is fun, even though the controls are a bit of a pain. The main issue I have with this title is that the difficulty is way too high. Now maybe that's a good thing if you want a challenge. However with RPG-style games such as this, it just becomes annoying to be forced to spend hours on level grinding just so you can at least survive against the next boss. It dramatically breaks the pace of the game and as a result you even forget the story and what was happening all along. You just circle between half a dozen rooms, killing enemies over and over and over. Other than that it's a fun game, so if you don't mind spending tonnes of time on levelling up, you should enjoy it. Otherwise I'd suggest for you to try Harmony of Dissonance or yet better Aria of Sorrow. In fact try those anyway if you like this style of games.… Expand
  4. frederik1478
    Feb 7, 2022
    5
    The problem with the game is that it is kind of mediocre and it is come after Symphony of the Night .the only thing I could think of while playing it was comparing it to Symphony of the Night is harsh. I mean it's one of the best games of all time and one of my favourite.And compared to other metroidvania games it doesn't stand out in March of any way if you grow up with the game IThe problem with the game is that it is kind of mediocre and it is come after Symphony of the Night .the only thing I could think of while playing it was comparing it to Symphony of the Night is harsh. I mean it's one of the best games of all time and one of my favourite.And compared to other metroidvania games it doesn't stand out in March of any way if you grow up with the game I completely understand this that you like it, but for me. I kind of slowly fell asleep… Expand
  5. GreatSwordOfVex
    Oct 26, 2020
    5
    This game isn't awful, but it certainly isn't very good. The general exploration and gameplay mechanics work just fine, the spell and card system is actually pretty neat and allows you to customize some of your abilities to suit your playstyle and/or the situation. However, outside of that, the game is mediocre at best.

    The controls are very stiff, and I had notable issues with some of    This game isn't awful, but it certainly isn't very good. The general exploration and gameplay mechanics work just fine, the spell and card system is actually pretty neat and allows you to customize some of your abilities to suit your playstyle and/or the situation. However, outside of that, the game is mediocre at best.

    The controls are very stiff, and I had notable issues with some of my inputs not registering. Honestly, the movement in this game just doesn't feel good, everything seems sluggish, stiff, and sometimes feels unresponsive.

    The difficulty outside of bosses is actually fine for the most part, with only a few very annoying enemies that aren't any fun to deal with. The bosses, though, the bosses are just BAD. The first third or so of the game seems fine, but once you get to about the halfway point in the game, the bosses turn into giant, slow to fight, masochistic damage sponges.

    This game is far from unplayable, but when the bosses make you want to quit playing the game every time you try and fight them until the game is over, the game isn't very good.    … Expand
  6. MMPP99
    Apr 2, 2023
    7
    Pros
    Good boss battle
    Good Soundtrack
    Decent storytelling
    Good Gameplay

    Cons
    Bad Animation
    Unbalanced difficulty
    Inferior graphics( it is inferior to other castlevania games from GBA)
    Few diverse weapons
  7. Cristian-
    Sep 11, 2022
    5
    Apesar de muitas ideias boas, a execução foi ruim. Os gráficos são bons pra um game de 2001,mas o level design deixa muito a desejar, a dificuldade muitas vezes é injusta, jogabilidade lenta e o Sistema de cartas é horrível.se você usar alguns mods, ele pode sim se tornar divertido e uma boa experiência.

Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2001
4
#4 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2001
7
#7 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2001

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. GMR Magazine
    90
    A complex card system governs your special abilities. [Feb 2003, p.97]
  2. Thunderbolt
    60
    Castlevania means well, providing marvellous visuals and setting a superb atmosphere. But it suffers from hideous amounts of revisiting.
    Read full review
  3. GameSpot
    96
    Picks up where "Symphony of the Night" left off and stands out as one of the best portable adventures ever created.
    Read full review
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