Castlevania Advance Collection

I remember playing the Castlevanias on NES. I remember renting Simon’s Quest and having absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do. I did finish Castlevania 1 and 3 though, so I have some love for the classic style. This collection has the Castlevania name, but most of the games here play very differently from the NES titles. These are more in line with Symphony of the Night, with exploration, RPG elements, equipment, upgrades, and all that good stuff. With one exception. Circle of the Moon is probably the closest of the GBA games to the older feel. The movement is pretty stiff, and you really have to commit to jumps. It’s definitely the weakest of the three GBA titles, but I still wouldn’t call it bad. Harmony of Dissonance improves on basically everything. Movement is faster and smoother, the presentation is nicer, and overall it feels much better to play. I did find the map a bit confusing at first, and some mechanics either aren’t explained very well or I just wasn’t paying attention. Could go either way. Aria of Sorrow is clearly the best of the GBA games. It improves on Harmony in pretty much every way: better map, better movement, better presentation, and it’s just plain fun. This is easily the highlight of the collection for me. Then there’s Dracula X, which seems to be a SNES title. This one follows the classic formula: stiff movement, linear stages, constantly respawning enemies, and a lot of old-school punishment. It looks nice and it’s a cool inclusion, but I’ll be honest, I spammed the rewind function constantly. Overall, Dracula X is a nice extra, but the GBA games are the real reason to get this collection. Aria of Sorrow alone makes it worth checking out if you like the Symphony of the Night style of Castlevania.

This game is my favorite Castlevania game. I spent many hours playing it back in the day on GBA.

These are the best Castlevania games in the genre, very weird mechanics but gorgeous both texturally and in sound design. 10/10