Its crazy to think that Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was released for Game Boy Advance in 2001. Circle of the Moon came out during a time period that many believed was the twilight era of Castlevania. There are many people who believe that Konami produced classic entries within the Castlevania series during the 80’s & 90’s on consoles like NES,SNES and PS1. There are many who absolutely loved Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from ’97 to a point where it achieved as massive cult following over the past two decades. While Circle of the Moon was not nearly as popular as Castlevania: SOTN or Dracula X it was one of those games that most people overlooked. By the early 00’s Castlevania began to appeal more to a niche audience of people who were hardcore fans of the series itself. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon stood out from previous entries because it featured a major protagonist outside of the Belmont family.

In Circle of the Moon Nathan Graves was the main character and the story revolved around him rescuing his mentor from Dracula. The metroidvania gameplay along with the dark atmosphere and DSS Card System were among key features that made Circle of the Moon enjoyable. The levels for Circle of the Moon were mostly vertical and the boss battles were challenging because the game felt less forgiving than previous entries in the series. While Castlevania: Circle of the Moon had gained praise from gamers and critics it was also criticized for its poor sprite designs, clunky movement. Circle of the Moon did not have a shop system either which made the game more difficult for players in general. Its possible that Konami designed Circle of the Moon to reflect the difficulty of older Castlevania titles of the NES era. However, Circle of the Moon came off as a game that feels more inconvenient at times than challenging. The double tap feature in relation to running as Nathan Graves was frustrating and the DSS system had a steep yet rewarding learning curve.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is considered to be an underrated gem by many gamers who grew up during the GBA era. But unfortunately Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was overshadowed mainly due to the popularity of consoles like PS2 and Xbox along with their respective IP’s. During the early 00’s Castlevania was still trying to make a successful transition into 3D gaming especially after the ’99 N64 game flopped. However, by the early 00’s 2D platformers had declined significantly in popularity which is something that had a negative effect on the Castlevania series. There are Castlevania fans who prefer Harmony of Dissonance from ’02 more than Circle of the Moon since it had superior movement, sprites and combat. Even though, many believe Harmony of Dissonance was better than its prequel Circle of the Moon is legendary since it was the first Castlevania game ever to appear on Game Boy Advance. Its possible that Circle of the Moon would have shined more on the SNES during the early 90’s with 16-bit graphics. As a metroidvania game Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was better than it had any business being despite its flaws.