GBA Castlevania

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

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.)

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.)

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.

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)...

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

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

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

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

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

I can't help but say Aria of Sorry.


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

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!

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

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.

I have slowly been making my way through the game. Shooter mode sucked. Magician was the smurfing 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.

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.