The Good
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is the embodiment of a "Metroidvania" style game, very similar to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which is a high compliment as Symphony of the Night is debatably the greatest Castlevania game to date. The map is immense, with certain sections providing teleportation devices to fast travel to other areas of the map (again similar to Symphony of the Night). Also, the enemy list is large, which keeps the game very interesting in that way. The map is riddled with puzzles that require problem-solving skills to progress, and again, this game has lots of backtracking and revisiting areas, very similar to Symphony of the Night.
There is a new card-based system that works by finding cards. They are separated by two rows, and you obtain special moves/abilities by making different combinations of these cards. This leaves you with hundreds of possible combinations! Everyone can approach this game in their own playstyle, which makes it a great time for all different types of players.Â
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The Bad
The size and scale of the character just seem off. On top of that, his controls feel very heavy and stiff. It is not a game that feels fluid in comparison to Symphony of the Night. It's also important to note that simply "running" is an ability you must obtain early on in the game. Your character does not run by default, and you must hold down a button just to run across this gigantic map.
Although the card-based ability system is interesting, the drop rate for said cards is very rare. After completing the entire game, I only had about 50 percent of these cards. In fact, the drop rate for all items is very rare. I found myself farming enemies for hours to obtain enough potions to ensure my win against the final boss.
Verdict
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is a fantastic Castlevania game. It has many similarities to other Castlevania side scrollers, which fans love. There is a great deal of variety, puzzles, moves, and enemies to keep your mind occupied and entertained. But with all these great gameplay elements comes very tedious, tiresome, and repetitive gameplay because of an extremely low drop rate on practically all items, especially its most important card-based items. The character you control feels stiff and heavy and appears to be on the smaller side in terms of scale and proportion, which makes backtracking and grinding for items that much more tedious, and at times even unbearable. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is a genuinely enjoyable Castlevania experience, especially for the era it was created during and the Game Boy Advance platform it was developed for. Even though the game can seem extremely tedious at times, it does not outweigh all the good this game has to offer for a true Castlevania experience.
