Castlevania is a series of action-adventure games developed and published by Konami. The main character, Simon Belmont, battles evil monsters in the fictional Eastern European country of Wallachia.
The castlevania advance collection reddit is an evaluation of the Castlevania Advance Collection. The game has been released on the Nintendo DS and it includes three games that were originally released in Japan.
When it comes to metroidvanias, I’ve always gravitated for the “Vania” subgenre. Like any other normal person, I like Metroid, but the open-ended Castlevania games have always piqued my interest more than anything else. Mostly because they were popular when I was a child and carried around my dimly lit Game Boy Advance wherever I went. Getting these three titles in decent condition nowadays would set you back a few hundred dollars. That is no longer the case. We can now play these treasures on more contemporary platforms, including the Switch, thanks to the excellent Castlevania Advance Collection.
The greatest game in the collection is Circle of the Moon. I’m prepared for the venomous retorts.
First and foremost, the Castlevania Advance Collection is a remaster collection created by M2, the industry leader in porting classic games to modern technology. They nearly usually make remasters that are essentially the definitive version of the game, with lots of extras like concept art, save states, completely configurable controls, and a sound test thrown in for good measure. In this instance, they’ve added a bestiary and an item glossary to each of the collection’s three major games, thus giving you half of a Prima guide to assist you out. This is especially useful on Circle of Moon since it shows which creatures may offer you DSS cards. I’ll get to it later.
The fact that we’re talking about the Game Boy Advance makes remastering these games more difficult. Don’t get me wrong: I adore the Game Boy Advance. My youth was spent with that handheld. But I have to confess, it wasn’t very excellent in terms of hardware. To compensate for the absence of a backlit screen (at least until the introduction of the Game Boy Advance SP), many of its games featured ridiculously bright graphics, and its sound capabilities were abysmal. When it came to remastering the graphics and audio of these games, M2 took on a mammoth job, with varied results that are a consequence of the original material, not their skill as retro developers.
I appreciate M2 including item glossaries and bestiaries.
Circle of the Moon is the one that has aged the best in my view. The darker graphics were a pain to cope with on the GBA, but they’ve aged beautifully due to the Switch’s backlit screen. Not only that, but despite the constraints of the GBA, I believe this is the only game in the series with a decent music, particularly because a large portion of the soundtrack is made up of Castlevania 64 songs. Whatever you think of the game, the music was (and still is) incredible.
The gameplay is what I like the most about Circle of the Moon, not just back in the day, but even now. Many people complain about how tough it is to get DSS cards, which are cards that when combined give you additional powers, but I’ve always felt that the concept was perhaps the greatest magic system ever incorporated in a Castlevania game. The addition of the bestiary and item guide makes collecting these cards a lot easier. With a Luck Ring, you can boost your luck meter, and have fun hunting!
Every rose has a thorn, and every night has a sunrise…
Harmony of Dissonance is the game I’d label the Game Boy Advance trilogy’s black sheep, despite the fact that it’s a crazy amazing metroidvania in its own right. It was published prior to the introduction of the Game Boy Advance SP, and as a consequence, it had a considerably brighter and vivid color palette than the rest of the series’ gothic origins. Furthermore, its gameplay is far slower and clunkier than Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow. In relation to that…
For a gothic game, Harmony of Dissonance is much too vibrant and cheerful!
Many believe Aria of Sorrow to be the second greatest Castlevania game ever, behind only Symphony of the Night, the adored fan favorite daddy problem simulator. I disagree with this statement solely because of personal choice, but I completely see its attraction. Despite the fact that it does not feature a Belmont, the narrative is extremely great. It has one of the most powerful castle designs in the series. It looks great for a GBA game, and the music isn’t half-bad either. The gameplay is also decent.
One of the best magic systems in any Castlevania game was included in the game. Soma Cruz, the protagonist, has the ability to absorb the souls of dead opponents, enabling him to use their skills in combat. There are literally hundreds of different techniques and bonuses to choose from. For example, this is the gameplay mechanic that inspired Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It was a fantastic mix of metroidvania adventure, JRPG, and Pokémon-style collecting sensibility.
Aria of Sorrow is a true work of art.
Finally, Dracula X is the fourth game in the Castlevania Advance Collection. Yep. Dracula X, that’s who. The one for the SNES. That game is included here for reasons I don’t understand. Was it because M2 and Konami omitted it from the first Castlevania collection, which came out a few years ago? I’ve always thought of it as a poor man’s Rondo of Blood, a game published as a stopgap for the 99.99 percent of people who didn’t have a NEC PC-CD at the time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good old-styled Castlevania, but it’s not exactly a classic. On the other hand, I’m not going to complain about it being included. Dracula X seems more like a supplementary feature in an already jam-packed collection. I’m not going to say no to getting more bang for my money.
Harmony of Dissonance’s huge bat fight may be the simplest boss in Castlevania ever.
This is a fantastic collection. I’m overjoyed that it exists, and that in 2021, I’ll be able to relive these portable masterpieces in a more affordable and handy manner. Regardless of whether or not they have aged badly owing to the GBA’s lackluster technology, Castlevania Advance Collection is a must-have for metroidvania aficionados. You’ll receive three of the franchise’s greatest games, as well as Dracula X. I’m still not sure why Konami and M2 chose to add it in this collection, but hey, I’m not going to say no to a bonus game in an already fantastic collection.
| In terms of graphics, some of the games have aged better than others. For a Castlevania game, Harmony of Dissonance is much too bright and vibrant. Circle of the Moon, on the other hand, has aged well. The pixel perfect visual option on the M2 is just that: pixel flawless. |
Each game in this collection comes with a bestiary and item glossary, effectively giving you a Prima guide for free. However, make sure you have a joycon or a controller with a better d-pad than the default. |
| The Game Boy Advance was (in)famous for its poor sound capabilities, which can be heard in the sound quality of the games featured in this collection, even though M2 did manage to improve it a little. The music of Circle of the Moon, on the other hand, is still a banger. |
Even though Harmony of Dissonance isn’t quite as excellent as I had hoped, Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow are definitely worth the price of entry. Dracula X seems out of place in this collection, but I can’t say no to a bonus game in an already great bundle. |
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The Castlevania Advance Collection is now available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
On Switch, the game was evaluated.
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Castlevania’s castlevania anniversary collection 2 is a compilation of the first two NES games in the series. The game includes remastered graphics, new music, and an all-new mode that lets players explore Dracula’s castle.
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