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GBA

Castlevania Double Pack Announced

by Robert Graves - December 9, 2005, 8:41 am EST
Total comments: 19 Source: Konami Press Release

Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S....

KONAMI RESSURECTS TWO CLASSIC CASTLEVANIA GAMES FOR THE NINTENDO GAME BOY ADVANCE


Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow Merge Onto One GBA Game Pak To Create A One-Two Punch In Dracula’s Side


REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – December 8, 2005 – Konami Digital Entertainment - America, a division of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., announced today Castlevania Double Pack (working title) is coming to the Nintendo Game Boy® Advance handheld video game system. The legendary titles Castlevania®: Harmony of Dissonance™ and Castlevania®: Aria of Sorrow™ are combined onto the same GBA cartridge, letting Castlevania fans experience twice the amount of evil and adventure in one convenient game package. Both chapters are among the most highly acclaimed games in the long running Castlevania franchise and will provide hours of portable gaming fun.


“Castlevania’s rich history and deep storylines have always made it a favorite franchise among casual gamers and core gaming fans alike,” said Dennis Lee, Group Manager at Konami Digital Entertainment – America. “Combining two of the most beloved chapters in this long running franchise together onto one cartridge provides gamers a great value as well as giving newcomers to the series a convenient way to experience some of the best of what Castlevania has to offer.”


In Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, players take the role of Juste Belmont, a descendant of Simon Belmont. It has been nearly fifty years since Simon Belmont rescued the land from the curse of Dracula. Now it’s Juste Belmont’s turn as he must acquire the relics of Dracula left behind from the past in order to unravel the mysterious disappearance of his friend Lydie Erlanger. With a trusty whip at their side, players explore Dracula’s castle under the cover of night collecting relics and learning powerful magic spells in their journey to find and rescue Lydie.


In Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, players take the role of Soma Cruz, a young man who has been chosen as the next incarnation of the dark lord Dracula. The year is 2035 and Soma Cruz is about to witness the first solar eclipse of the 21st century when he suddenly blacks out – only to awaken inside a mysterious castle. Players discover that they are destined to become the dark lord and the only way to escape from this evil fate is to escape the castle. As Soma, players will be able to wield a great variety of weapons in their quest to escape Dracula’s castle. Along the way, players discover the ability to collect and use the souls of vanquished enemies to make themselves more powerful or enable them to perform special skills. In addition, there is an RPG element of Aria of Sorrow which adds an unparalleled level of depth to the game.


Created by Koji Igarashi and the creative team behind the critically acclaimed hit game Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania Double Pack is scheduled for release in North America in Q1 of 2006.


Talkback

Seeing this press release made my day. I have Circle of the Moon and Dawn of Sorrow, but not Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow, so this is perfect for me.

StrellDecember 09, 2005

HoD isn't a great game...it feels like another team handled it altogether and some of the animations are off. It's certainly worth playing through, just isn't up to the calibur of AoS/DoS. Considering it is the rarest of the GBA Castlevanias, it's good to hear this is getting re-released. No more having to spend 40-50 bucks on a complete copy, or 30 for a cart alone.

Aria is arguably better than DoS. Really a fantastic game. This is a great bundle, I'll probably pick it up just to support it.

Ian SaneDecember 09, 2005

Aria of Sorrow back in stores? F*CK YEAH! I've been looking for this since the Christmas of the year Aria came out. I was incredibly annoyed that I couldn't find a game that came out mere months before during Christmas.

Too bad it's not coming out until 2006 because this would be a perfect Christmas gift for my brother who I wanted to get Aria for but couldn't.

I don't have Harmony of Dissonance either so this is just all kinds of awesome.

JonLeungDecember 09, 2005

I hate double packs that mess things up.

There are THREE GBA Castlevania games, not two.

And if you were going to pack two together, why not the first two, since they're likely to be harder to find. Aria Of Sorrow would go better in a double-pack with Dawn Of Sorrow because they're immediately next to each other chronologically with the same characters. Sure, it's cross-systemed, but anyone who can play a DS game can play a GBA game.

Actually, I think DS games in the future should come packed with an early GBA game within the same series. They're wasting a good GBA slot in the DS case.

Ian SaneDecember 09, 2005

"There are THREE GBA Castlevania games, not two."

Yeah but Circle of the Moon is still easy to find. I can find brand new copies in almost every store in my area with a decent sized GBA selection. These two games showed up in stores for a few months and then just disappeared and there's been demand for a re-release ever since.

KDR_11kDecember 09, 2005

I wish this was CotM and HoD because those two are the ones I don't have...

Ian SaneDecember 09, 2005

I guess the ideal solution would be just to re-release all the games and not necessarily package them together. But this is still way better than not having those games available at all.

KDR_11kDecember 09, 2005

Dawn of Sorrow is apparently no longer sold in the UK. Copies are abundant over here, just a V2 flight away.

WackerJrDecember 09, 2005

Good ol' UK... Looks like I'm gonna have to find Dawn of Sorrow 2nd-hand then already! Yet it's only been out for a couple of months! It's like Fire Emblem all over again! Grrr!!!

Anyway, I'm liking this bundle being that the only Castlevania GBA game I have is CoM!

steveyDecember 09, 2005

face-icon-small-smile.gif I've been look for those two since I got DoS.

KnowsNothingDecember 09, 2005

Just in time to miss Christmas! =D

CalibanDecember 09, 2005

I have CotM, HoD, DoS. I will trade in HoD with HoD/AoS. So I will have to play HoD again (sigh, as if I don't have enough games to play now), plus I have to play AoS. Will I have enough money after today's shopping spree? Bastards!

Edit: I just noticed the release date. Ignore what is written above.

Circle of the Moon was a launch title and is therefore not rare at all. If you really want it, hit up eBay or your favorite mall store and start looking.

JonLeungDecember 09, 2005

Okay, maybe "rarity" wasn't the best reason for it.

If they think it's worth releasing like this, if it makes more sense to everyone, and people think it's worth buying, then sure, why not?

I just personally wouldn't, that's all. Like when they released Desperado with Once Upon A Time In Mexico. It's like, hello, what about El Mariachi? You wouldn't see them releasing a Star Wars box set and not including, say, The Empire Strikes Back, now would you?

But ignore me. I'm just the picky guy who always thinks it should be all or nothing. I'm the guy who hates it when they don't have everything they could put on a DVD, and then complains when they put something else not directly related to the film on that film's DVD.

NinGurl69 *hugglesDecember 09, 2005

Let's not forget Deserado was also bundled with El Mariachi at one point.

And get this, they finally released the "Mexico Trilogy"; all 3 Mariachi flicks bundled.

All that's left now is the "beginning and end" of the trilogy; El Mariachi bundled with Once Upon a Time in Mexico!

YAY FOR BUNDLES.

ruby_onixDecember 09, 2005

Quote

There are THREE GBA Castlevania games, not two.

According to Koji Igarashi, the current head of the Castlevania series, "Castlevania: Circle of the Moon" does not exist.

He didn't like it, and even though it was made under his watch, the story conflicts with the latest version of the Castlevania timeline as he has imagined it. So he officially struck it from the Castlevania history books, and it will never be seen again (or at least, not as long as Iga is in power). It rests alongside the two N64 Castlevanias, "Castlevania Legends" from the original GameBoy, and the unreleased Dreamcast game, which he cancelled for attempting to be a sequel to Castlevania Legends.

ArrowDecember 10, 2005

It's not so much that it doesn't exist, it's just that it's a side story that doesn't take place on the official timeline. At any rate, I thought CotM was much better than HoD, but HoD is still a decent enough 'Vania game. Good news for those who haven't played it and/or AoS.

NinGurl69 *hugglesDecember 10, 2005

Igarashi's a moron who shouldn't be touching the CV storyline at all.

I'll take the GB/GBC/GBA/N64 Castlevanias over the PS2 ones any day.

Ian SaneDecember 12, 2005

Any developer that wants to remove a game as amazing as Circle of the Moon from existance because the storyline conflicts with stuff he made up LATER obviously doesn't get the point of videogames. Does Circle of the Moon's gameplay kick ass? Yes. Therefore it's an essential part of Castlevania.

This is just as stupid as George Lucas wanting to rid the world of the original cut of Star Wars because of things he changed his mind about, special effects that fit the rest of the film but can be done differently now eventhough the new method looks out of place, and storyline revisions to better fit with material he came up with later.

Plus I don't think IGA was even involved with the original Castlevania so it's someone else's baby to begin with.

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