Castlevania Advance Collection

Genre: Compilation / Metroidvania / Action-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This Compilation is included in Castlevania Collections Bundle, along with Castlevania Anniversary Collection and Castlevania Dominus Collection.)

Castlevania Advance Collection is a Compilation of four games in the Castlevania series about a bloodline of vampire hunters locked into an eternal struggle with the evil lord Dracula – the Action-Platformer game Castlevania: Dracula X, and three Metroidvania titles – Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. This game follows the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, released on Nintendo Switch in 2019. And while that game contained twice as many games as this collection, there’s a good argument to be made that this Compilation holds just as much value for series fans, if not more.

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The Story Continues…

For a deeper look into the Castlevania games of the 8-Bit era and early 16-Bit era, you can check out my review of Castlevania Anniversary Collection, but in short this game series was one of the great videogame franchises of that era, making a name for itself with its great gameplay, its fantastic music and visuals, and its great menagerie of monstrous enemies.

However, these games were also known for another quality – their punishingly difficult gameplay. Don’t get me wrong, these were some truly fantastic games, but they were also exactly the sort of game that came to be synonymous with the “Nintendo hard” moniker many games of the era were branded with.

In 1993, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was released only in Japan on the PC Engine console (better known as the Turbografx-16 in the US), and it remained true to the series’ reputation – a top-notch, tough-as-nails Action-Platformer, one that many pointed to as one of the best games yet for the series, with American gamers bemoaning the fact that this game would likely never see a Western release.

As it happened, this game did get ported to the West in 1995, in the form of the game Castlevania: Dracula X (referred to in some regions as Vampire’s Kiss). However, this was something of a “remixed” version of the game that lacked many of Rondo of Blood’s features, such as unlockable alternate playable character Maria Renard and multiple levels from Rondo. As a result, it is almost universally agreed that Dracula X is far inferior to Rondo of Blood.

Having said that, it is still a decent Action-Platformer, although it has aged considerably, even more so than some of the games that preceded it. The main character, Richter Belmont, controls stiffly, has a limited moveset, and the game sometimes feels punishingly difficult. I should note that the soundtrack is quite good here (check out songs like the first level theme Bloodlines and this game’s version of Castlevania II’s Bloody Tears), and some of the visual effects like the first stage’s burning village are still decent-looking today, even if they’re not quite as eye-popping as Castlevania IV’s Mode 7-spinning stages.

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The Legendary Hero Appears!

While it does not appear in this collection, and at this time is not playable on Nintendo Switch, we need to take a moment to talk about Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, because this game would change everything.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, released in 1997 on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn (with only the PlayStation version seeing release in the West), was a direct follow-up to Rondo of Blood and has that game’s cast returning as supporting characters, but this was a very different game from its predecessor.

Symphony had players taking the role of Dracula’s estranged son Alucard, last seen as a playable character in Castlevania III on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Awoken from what he thought would be an eternal slumber, Alucard takes it upon himself to investigate the reappearance of his hated father’s castle, the titular Castlevania. Where most games in the series followed the whip-wielding Belmont family line as they trek to the castle and take out Dracula, Symphony takes place entirely within the castle, with Alucard collecting a wide variety of weapons and equipment as he explores its labyrinthine structure, gradually uncovering more of it as he proceeds.

At the time, this was absolutely revolutionary. Where prior games in the series had mostly been linear and stage-based, Symphony emphasized exploration and building up your character’s arsenal and abilities to gain access to new areas. It may seem passe now, but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is generally considered to be, along with the game Super Metroid, one of the games that created the template for the Metroidvania genre – the two games’ influence being so important to that genre that it was named after them (although it bears mention that both series had games in the genre prior to this, with Castlevania II, Metroid, and Metroid II all being early entries in the genre).

The impact Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid had was absolutely huge… but it would not be felt until some years later…

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What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse…

The years following Symphony of the Night’s release saw multiple missteps in the series that failed to gain much traction. Again, none of these games are playable on Nintendo Switch, although some would argue that Nintendo Switch players aren’t missing much here.

In 1998, the Game Boy received Castlevania Legends, another game in the level-based challenging Action-Platformer style that typified the series prior to Symphony, but many players at the time couldn’t help but feel like this was a step backwards for the series, and it didn’t help that by this point the monochrome Game Boy was starting to show its age. Even Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi called the game an “embarrassment”, although I personally feel this criticism is a bit harsh, and some have come to see this game as a cult classic of sorts for the series.

On game consoles, the growing prominence of 3D in videogames saw multiple 2D franchises make the jump to 3D, although some of them saw more success than others. Castlevania was one of those that attempted to make a splash in the realm of 3D, but landed with an overwhelming thud instead.

Released in 1999 on the Nintendo 64 simply titled Castlevania, with many referring to the game as Castlevania 64, the game received mixed reviews. Some praised the game, but much of the general consensus was that the game’s terrible controls and even more terrible camera made the game a pain to play. The game was followed up later that year on the Nintendo 64 with Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, which acts as an expanded and remixed version of Castlevania 64, and although it was generally agreed to be an improvement on Castlevania 64, by this point most had soured on these attempts at a 3D Castlevania game, something the series would not try again until 2003’s Lament of Innocence on the PlayStation 2.

Sadly, despite all of the acclaim that Symphony of the Night had received, Konami would not revisit the formula that made the game such a rousing success until four years after that game’s release, and when it finally did so, it was in a rather unexpected place…

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”I have waited for this moment, to be awake again.”

When players got a hint of the power of Nintendo’s successor to the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, it was hard not to get excited at the prospects of Nintendo’s new handheld. The Game Boy Advance, released in 2001, would have hardware that was roughly on par with the Super Nintendo, and players delighted at the notion that they might soon be playing some of their favorite Super Nintendo games in portable form. However, it was some of the new games that proved to be some of the biggest surprises in the handheld’s game library.

One such game was the launch title Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, which brought the Castlevania series back to the Metroidvania style of gameplay that Symphony of the Night had made popular with players. However, more than just a copy of that beloved game, Circle of the Moon was very clearly its own thing, and made for a delightful new adventure for fans of Symphony of the Night to enjoy, although not without some frustration – the original Game Boy Advance did not have a backlit screen, and Castlevania’s traditionally dark visuals were frustratingly difficult to see on the handheld’s screen. No doubt this one game alone led to the purchase of countless Game Boy Advance lighting accessories.

As it turned out, Circle of the Moon would prove to be the start of a handheld Renaissance of sorts for the Castlevania series, the first of multiple Metroidvania-style games that were the closest things to sequels Symphony of the Night ever saw, and each of them warmly-received by series fans. 2002 saw the release of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance on the Game Boy Advance, and in 2003 the Game Boy Advance would receive Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, with this latter title being so well-received that it got a direct sequel on the Nintendo DS that brought back this game’s protagonist Soma Cruz and a version of the game’s character-enhancing soul system.

Of course, we have seen a lot of Metroidvania games in the decades since these games released, so the question undoubtedly becomes, how well do they hold up?

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”So it has awakened…”

And the answer is… for the most part, extremely well.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon has movement that’s a bit slow compared to other games in the series, which can be somewhat frustrating. However, this frustration aside, the gameplay is still top-notch, with some good pacing, solid map design, and the inventive “Card” system that lets players mix and match two types of cards to create custom abilities that fit their playstyle. In addition, I would argue that Circle of the Moon features the best music in this collection, with great songs like the haunting Requiem (AKA Kyrie Eleison) and the memorable opening area theme Awake. Overall, while this game is nowhere near as good as Symphony of the Night, it is nevertheless an excellent follow-up to that title, and a game still well worth playing today.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is probably the game that has aged the most poorly out of the Game Boy Advance trio. While still a decent Metroidvania, with better visuals and an expanded move set compared to Circle of the Moon, Harmony’s controls feel a bit stiff, progression is much slower than the other Metroidvania games in the series, the new Magic Book system doesn’t feel as fun and inventive as the prior game’s card system, and the soundtrack is dull, repetitive, and… well, just bad. This is still a game worth playing if you’re a fan of Metroidvanias, but it definitely pales in comparison to the games that came immediately before and after it.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, on the other hand, is an absolute triumph. While I’d still say that Symphony of the Night tops it (Symphony is honestly a hard act to beat), Aria isn’t far behind it. Unlike the previous two games, Aria’s controls feel fluid and fast, the graphics here show continued improvement over the prior Game Boy Advance games, and the music is good. However, two things really put Aria well beyond the two prior games – this game’s map design and progression is absolutely superb, and its “soul” system is one of the most delightful additions to this series yet. This is a gameplay mechanic where most normal enemies that players defeat have a random chance to reward players with a “soul” specific to that enemy, that empowers them with equippable abilities that can enhance their stats, give them a new defensive ability, or a new attack. With over 100 of these abilities, plus equippable weapons, armor, and accessories, players have an absolute wealth of options to create their own custom loadout.

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Once Again Given Flesh

Yeah, you can totally take that last header out of context, but I suppose that’s what I get when I try to make these things out of references to the Castlevania franchise…

Anyway, so in short, Castlevania: Dracula X is a decent but dated Action-Platformer that’s an inferior version of another game in the series, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is a Metroidvania that isn’t nearly as excellent as the series’ zenith but is still a fantastic follow-up, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a Metroidvania that’s decent but has aged much more poorly than the other Metroidvanias in this collection, and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is an absolutely phenomenal Metroidvania that’s not quite on the level with Symphony of the Night, but is still a must-play entry in the genre and it is, as of this writing, the closest thing to Symphony on the Nintendo Switch.

However, that still leaves the question of how well this Compilation fares in terms of features and content, and how good its overall value is. And the answer to all of those questions is… this is a really fantastic package.

Every game in this series has a Castlevania Advance Collection pause menu called an “Audience Room” that allows players to adjust multiple settings. There are multiple visual settings, different “wallpapers” to select what borders the screen, the ability to turn on or off enhanced sound, the ability to view and reassign button controls, a full encyclopedia of items, equipment, abilities, and monsters, the ability to turn on or off “gadgets” that give players helpful information while playing, and the ability to save and view replay videos.

In addition to this, each game in this collection includes multiple save states and a rewind function, which seems excessive since the only game here that feels like it really needs these quality-of-life improvements is Castlevania: Dracula X. All three of the Game Boy Advance Castlevania games already include regular save points (although Harmony of Dissonance has them spaced somewhat far apart). Players can also opt to choose to play the US, European, or Japanese versions of each of the included games (although the changes between them are relatively minimal beyond the language).

That’s not all, either – this Compilation also includes a gallery of concept artwork, packaging artwork, and instruction book scans. It also includes a music player that lets users play most of the songs from the included games (not all – I notice Circle of the Moon’s Requiem is not present), and even arrange them into a playlist.

None of this should come as any surprise given that the developer of this package is M2, a company that has made a name for itself being the absolute best when it comes to porting classic games to modern platforms, such as the Castlevania Anniversary Collection and the Sega Ages series of games.

All of that brings me around to the question of value. I mentioned earlier that even though this Compilation only contains 4 games, that this collection still rivals the value present in Castlevania Anniversary Collection, which contains 8 games. This is in part because two of the eight games in Castlevania Anniversary Collection are sub-par Game Boy games, but really the biggest difference here is that three out of the four games in Castlevania Advance Collection are Metroidvania games that will take a good 10-20 hours to fully complete, while the more straightforward Action-Platformers that comprise the Anniversary Collection will take a fraction of that time to finish.

There’s also the fact that unlike the Anniversary Collection games, none of the three Game Boy Advance games in this compilation have been playable outside of their home platform until now. And I also can’t ignore the fact that the prices for any one of those Game Boy Advance cartridges would likely be more than this entire compilation as a whole. And let’s not forget the fact that Castlevania: Dracula X seems like an odd man out in this Compilation, being the only non-Metroidvania and non-Game Boy Advance game – it could have been left out entirely and no one would have missed it or wondered why it wasn’t here. While it’s true that it’s arguably the weakest game in this Compilation, it’s still a decent entry in the series, and its inclusion here only adds value. Bearing all this in mind, the Castlevania Advance Collection is an absolute steal at $20.

Okay, so after all of that… what are my final thoughts on Castlevania Advance Collection? It’s probably clear by this point that I am absolutely ecstatic about this collection. While two of the four games here are clearly flawed, they’re both still solid games that are well worth playing. And the other two games are absolutely fantastic Metroidvanias that are both must-play entries in the genre. Take all of that, put it into a package that’s absolutely loaded with content and features, and then give it the extremely reasonable price tag of $20, and you have an absolute must-buy package for any fans of the Castlevania series or fans of the Metroidvania genre. Do not miss it.

tl;dr – Castlevania Advance Collection is a Compilation of Castlevania: Dracula X, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. While Dracula X and Harmony both have their flaws, they’re both still solid games well worth playing. However, Circle and especially Aria are absolutely fantastic Metroidvania games that are must-play entries in the genre. Add to all of that a wealth of extra content and options and a wonderful $20 price tag, and you have a collection that is a must-buy for both Castlevania fans and Metroidvania-lovers.

Grade: A

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Compilation/Collection, Best Value

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