GBA Castlevania

[Rase]

Okay, so, I've been looking to purchase a new GBA game, since I'll be going on a long road trip soon, and, what with all the talk I hear about to new DS Castlevania game coming in about two months, I figured I'd try one of the GBA ones. The only other ones I've played are Super Castlevania IV for the SNES and Castlevania in an arcade when I was younger. So of the three GBA Castlevania titles, which would you most recomend and why? Also, how similar are they to the two I've played?

Thanks in advance. :) :D

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

They're not very similar at all to the ones you've played because they all implement a nonlinear, Metroid-like game design, an RPG-like experience system, and dozens of pieces of equipment and items to use. The only things that have really remained consistent over the years is the style of music, the atmosphere, and the enemy design.

That said, go with Aria of Sorrow. It has, by far, the most well-balanced difficulty, the most aesthetically pleasing graphics, the most complex (and fun to use) gameplay system, and the best story. (Not that you should ever expect too much from the plot of a Castlevania game, but it's still above the rest.)

[Rase]

Hmm, sounds pretty interesting. Glad they kept the atmosphere, but the new additions sound pretty good. Always prefered Super Metriod to Super Castlevania.

Also, this may be a given, but please tell me they've got actual saving now, not stupid passwords. If so, how is it done (Save anywhere, save stations, etc.)

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Like in Metroid (again), there are save rooms, and if you die once, it's Game Over.

HoD and AoS also have a "Sleep" function that can be used at any time from the menu screen. When you use it, the game automatically ends, and you can turn the GBA off, do whatever, and then pick up where you left off, with the Sleep file automatically deleting itself once you begin again. In HoD, loading a Sleep file places you in the last save room you visited, but in AoS, they improved it so it places you in the precise room where you used the Sleep function.

[Aphelion]

I'd pick Aria of Sorrow too. It's the best out of the three GBA Castlevania titles. Circle of the Moon is very good, and Harmony of Dissonance is the worst of them (it doesn't mean it is bad, though; it's pretty good)...

[Shoeberto]

Aria is the only one I've played, so it's the only one I can recommend.

[edczxcvbnm]

Circle of the Moon is my favorite of the 3 with Harmony coming in a bottomed out crap fest. That game had PROBLEMS!

[Yamaneko]

Yeah, HoD was the least pleasing of the three. It was kind of short.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Ugly overbright graphics, screeching NES-quality music, confusing level design, extremely uninspired boss design... It wasn't pretty.

[KentaRawr!]

Aria of Sorrow! ... ... ...

I can't help but say Aria of Sorry.


Anyways, Aria of Sorrow is definitely the best of the 3.

[Del Murder]

Aria is the best one but I liked them all. I also agree that Harmony was the worst of the three. I'm playing Circle right now because I forgot to beat the arena when I played it at first. There's two cards in there!

[Yamaneko]

Have you been playing the class-specific characters? I've only beaten it with Magician and Fighter so far.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

I got CotM in 2001, beat the game once, started Magician mode, almost instantly tired of it, and left it alone for years. (Although I've been gradually building to Level 99 on my original file ever since.)

Then, a few weeks ago, waiting for DoS and CoD got to me so much that I started to go nuts on Castlevania and suddenly went through Magician mode, Fighter mode, and Shooter mode in a matter of days. It wasn't until I got well into Thief mode that I finally burned out.

[edczxcvbnm]

I have slowly been making my way through the game. Shooter mode sucked. Magician was the fucking easiest thing on the planet. If you built up to just a decent level you could summon until Dracula died.

I am on theif and have been for quite some time. I am half way done with it.

[Del Murder]

I never did the class modes. It is hard for me to play these games over and over again. Maybe I'll try it out now while I wait for Golden Sun 2 to come in the mail.

[edczxcvbnm]

Magician is hard until you get to about level 10. Until then it is watch your ass time as you are weak as hell! When you get to level 10 you start to regain magic fast enough so it isn't so hard. By the end of the game you are fairly invicible due to what seems like never ending magic repleishment.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

For me, the only hard part of Magician mode was Dracula; it was tough to time the summons so Nathan wouldn't come out of them just in time for Dracula to ram into him, which was an instant kill.

Fighter mode was by far the easiest. Nathan is so overpowered that the lack of magic doesn't even come as a hit.

[edczxcvbnm]

I got REALLY good with the Phoenix summon...or what ever one had rocks flying with some bird. It usually lasted long enough against dracula for me but it has been ages since I fought him :/

OH WAIT! Thats right. With the magician I got the BEST armor in the game. I went through that battle arena and got it since that one summon made it so fucking easy. Nathan got MUCH stronger after that was put on. If I am not mistaken he could actually take a hit from dracula.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

How did you use magic inside the Battle Arena? You must have had a lot of MP items to keep using the loophole.

[edczxcvbnm]

HMMMMMMM! I may be completly mistaken at this point. I did magician mode in 2001 so my memory must be fucked. I will take a look at that file tomarrow. I know for sure I did it with one of the game files :/

[edczxcvbnm]

As promised...my castlevania circle of the moon stats.

Vampire Killer

Level: 56
Strength: 735
Defense: 1225
Intelligence: 735
Luck: 735

HP: 1010
MP: 940
Hearts: 340

Armor: Shinning Armor
Right Arm: Double Grips
Left Arm: Double Grips

Magician
Level: 37
Strength: 343
Defense: 450
Intelligence: 2090
Luck: 365

HP: 390
MP: 1980
Hearts: 218

Armor: Rainbow Robe
Right Arm: Hard Ring
Left Arm: Cursed Ring

Fighter

Level: 53
Strength: 1079
Defense: 1690
Intelligence: 270
Luck: 580

HP: 1370
MP: 470
Hearts: 232

Armor: Shinning Armor
Right Arm: Strength Arm Band
Left Arm: Strength Arm Band

Shooter
Current :bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou: Underground Warehouse(I guess I never finished this one. Shows how great my memory is)

Level: 25
Strength: 279
Defense: 350
Intelligence: 580
Luck: 345

HP: 250
MP: 420
Hearts: 430

Armor: Rainbow Robe
Right Arm: Hard Ring
Left Arm: Strength Ring

[crashNUMBERS]

Is castlevania an RPG?? 'Cause it looks a little too much into the adventure area. Well I just wanna know 'Cause Im out to play as much RPG's as I can...

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Fun!


Vampire Killer
LV: 85
STR: 1005
DEF: 1565
INT: 1005
LCK: 1005

HP: 1360
MP: 1300
HEART: 434

BODY: Dark Armor
ARM R: Double Grips
ARM L: Double Grips


Magician
LV: 40
STR: 324
DEF: 445
INT: 2010
LCK: 470

HP: 665
MP: 2310
HEART: 344

BODY: Platinum Armor
ARM R: Intelligence Ring
ARM L: Hard Ring


Fighter
LV: 41
STR: 756
DEF: 1140
INT: 240
LCK: 500

HP: 1420
MP: 590
HEART: 346

BODY: Platinum Armor
ARM R: Strength Ring
ARM L: Wrist Band


Shooter
LV: 35
STR: 324
DEF: 310
INT: 440
LCK: 440

HP: 640
MP: 770
HEART: 636

BODY: Gold Armor
ARM R: Arm Guard
ARM L: Gauntlet

[crashNUMBERS]

Well is it??

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Maybe you could do a little research instead of constantly asking questions for once. Read some reviews on GameFAQs. Download a ROM and try it out yourself. It's not hard.

[crashNUMBERS]

Maybe you could do a little research instead of constantly asking questions for once. Read some reviews on GameFAQs. Download a ROM and try it out yourself. It's not hard.
Slow down there!! I do know how to download ROM's. Here have a cup of tea or something...

[Rase]

Okay, well, as an update, I managed to finally find a used copy of Aria of Sorrow, and I must say, it quite simply ROCKS! Thank you for the recomendation, those who recomended it. Only bummer was I could only find the cartridge for sale, no book or box. Oh well. Maybe once I finish this, I'll look into Circle of the Moon. *resumes playing*

Oh yes, feel free to close/delete this thread, now that the purpose is gone.