Castlevania Advance Collection

For f***s sake just release Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood together and take our money

An outstanding way to play some retro Castlevania classics. Let me start off by saying this collection as a whole is MORE than worth the money, especially if you see the prices on ebay for some of these games, so that alone, makes this worth the money, as well as the extras such as artwork, music and the inclusion of Dracula X for SNES, love it or hate it, I enjoyed it! The games themselves aren't exactly terrible but are a product of their age, each one is the Metroidvania style, each with their pros and cons, some great, some okay, with Aria of Sorrow being the best out of the three, but my main criticism with these games, especially Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow? is THE GRINDING! MY GOD, THE GRINDING!, if you want 100% achievements? you need to grind for those card drops and souls, and some are as low as 0.2% chance to drop! With typical emulator pack functions such as save states and rewind this isn't too bad as you can rewind to before you killed an enemy to get the game to reroll the drop, but doing this for 20-30 mins at times is not fun, it's tedious and irritating, would have been nice to see some modification in this collection to fix that. Overall, a great collection, and far cheaper than buying the physicals on ebay! pick it up if you want some nostalgic Metroidvania goodness, just make sure you have patience if you want to 100% this collection!

首先国际惯例FK KONAMI 然后即使过了那么久这几作恶魔城依然是现在那堆破类银最高的山，没有无聊的跳跳乐，没有各种限时机关和一个场景里十个能力锁，有的只是精美的场景和优秀的音乐、然后一个华丽的主角在里面探险战斗，这才叫银河城 暴论，现在市面上的根本都不是类银，只是一些类空洞的平庸之作而已

[b]Circle of the Moon[/b] I still really like this one, although nostalgia is probably doing some of the heavy lifting. The castle is fun to explore, the level design holds up well, and finding secrets always feels rewarding. Grinding for cards can become tedious, but experimenting with different combinations is a lot of fun. Boss fights are also consistently enjoyable. [b]Harmony of Dissonance[/b] This was my first time playing it. It follows Symphony of the Night very closely but never reaches the same highs. The biggest issue is that the two castles feel too similar, making the game seem longer than it needs to be. It is also far too easy. Even so, it is still a good Castlevania with plenty to explore. [b]Dracula X[/b] Not a bad game, but not a particularly good one either. It is impossible not to compare it to Rondo of Blood, and it simply cannot compete. The gameplay feels less refined, the level design is fairly bland, and it never really stands out. Thankfully it is short. It also feels a bit out of place in this collection since it is the SNES entry rather than one of the handheld Metroidvanias. [b]Aria of Sorrow[/b] A fantastic way to end the collection. The castle is excellent to explore, progression always feels natural, and I really enjoyed the story and its twists. Boss fights are fun throughout, and the Soul system is a great addition. The only downside is going for 100% Souls. Grinding every single one is extremely tedious, and I ended up massively overleveled by the end. The Julius Mode is also excellent and easily my favorite bonus mode since Richter Mode in Symphony of the Night. [b]Overall[/b] This is a fantastic collection and an easy recommendation for anyone interested in the series. The games still play wonderfully, the pixel art has aged beautifully, and there is a surprising amount of variety between them. Whether you're revisiting them or playing them for the first time, there's a lot to enjoy here

great sprites, beautiful sprites, everyone is saying it

Aria of sorrow is peak!

The best part of the collection is "Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow" Then "Castlevania: Circle of the Moon", The most difficult of them all is "Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance" And the last one, "Castlevania: Dracula X", is a complete failure; it doesn't even have a map, and the gameplay is terrible. I wish "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" was on Steam.

Lets be real, you only play it for Aria of Sorrow

Dracula X might be the worst piece of ♥♥♥♥ ive ever played in my life

A collection of the 3 GBA Castlevanias as well as Dracula X for the SNES. An interesting collection particularly because the first two GBA titles are so different despite both being metroidvanias. Here's my thoughts: Circle of the Moon: The most difficult of the metroidvania style Castlevanias due to some harrowing save point placement, some spiteful vertical platforming sections, a couple of challenging bosses and its tricky movement: You walk very slow, and so are compelled to sprint everywhere which is done by double tapping the dpad. This gets old, even for a fighting game player; a genre where double tapping to run is a common mechanic. Also, when you use your primary weapon, the whip, the animation lingers for a bit, disabling any further button presses for a moment which can really throw you off, and precludes actions like hitting an enemy, and then jumping free from danger. Despite these flaws, it's a really fun game thanks to an excellent castle layout, fun bosses and a cool ability system, which has you collecting cards from various enemies and combining them for different effects. Harmony of Dissonance: It's like Igarashi wanted to make game opposite of what CotM was (which was developed by a different crew). The bosses are pitifully easy, numerous and the character you play is quite powerful due to some broken spell combinations as well as his ability to dash forward or backward a great distance. The easiest of the metroidvanias, although Harmony does have a labyrinthine castle layout that frequently perplexed me. I was often wondering where to go next and spent much time wandering its gorgeous halls in search of new areas to explore. Yeah, the backgrounds in this game are lavish, some might even say gaudy, and that's my favorite part about this game. Aria of Sorrow: I have heard tell this to me one of the greatest of the Metroidvanias, and after playing it, while i wouldn't put it above Portrait or Ecclesia, it is an outstanding game. The castle layout strikes a balance that keeps you curious while never being too dauntingly maze-like. You no longer confined to one primary weapon, and foes drop all sorts of swords, polearms, knives etc. for you to lay waste to your foes with. They also drop souls which garner you special abilities which come in three types, of which you will have one of each equipped at any given time. It's a fun system. Bosses aren't too challenging although there is one i had trouble with. This game eradicates much of the headaches that plagued the previous two titles and stands out as the finest in the collection. Dracula X: The only Classicvania in the collection (action platformer) It's like Rondo of Blood, but with clunkified controls and a mean streak. The last boss is particularly cruel. Not terrible but teeth shall be gritted, I just wish Rondo was here instead. Beyond the games are modern amenities such as Save States, a Rewind function, various display filters, an art gallery and music player. This is a really fun collection! I had never played the GBA metroidvanias before, and my time spent was a real slice.