As a die-hard Castlevania fan, when I heard that a new 2-D adventure was coming to GBA I nearly flipped out. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (SotN) is one of my all-time favorite games, and I was hoping the GBA version would do the franchise justice. All vampire-killers can rest easy: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (CotM) is an excellent continuation of the bloodline.

The graphics are top-quality. About the only thing graphically separating CotM and Super Castlevania IV on the SNES is the lowered frames of animation for the main character. Aside from that it's very reminiscent of the SNES title. I've heard there's some slowdown along the way but I haven't encountered any of that yet. So far, so good.

CotM's music is also excellent, featuring the trademark eerie choir theme at the title screen and all kinds of cool level themes throughout. If you've played any Castlevania title before you know what I'm talking about. Sounds effects are great too; everything from flying bats to the groaning of ancient doors on their hinges is reproduced beautifully. The GBA can certainly pump out some quality audio.

Gameplay is tight and very reminiscent of SotN. My only complaint is that you can't hold down the A Button and swing around the whip like in SotN. If you hold down A the whip spins rapidly in a circle; helpful, but not as fun as manual control. Long-time Castlevania players will be glad to note that you don't get knocked backwards as much when you get hit. With a few exceptions, you only get knocked back when hit with projectiles. It's a lot less frustrating than before, especially in tall vertical passages.

Aside from these differences, Circle of the Moon plays a lot like Symphony of the Night. Your character (this time you're Nathan Graves) gains experience and levels, you find magical items that give you new powers, and you find items and equip them as you please. There is also a new Card system that lets you combine cards to give you even more special powers. The player never runs out of options.

The bottom line is that if you're a Castlevania fan you must have this game. It's great. I bought my GBA a few days ago and I can't put Circle of the Moon down. I bought F-Zero and Tony Hawk 2 as well and they're currently gathering dust because CotM is so darn addictive. As soon as you pop it in it's that old Castlevania goodness all over again.

Time to go hunting!