Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Story--gamers find themselves in the role of Soma Cruz, a young exchange student to Japan who finds himself and his friend, Mina, trapped within Castlevania, which itself is trapped in a solar eclipse. I know it sounds far-fetched, to say the least, but trust me, it works. If you can find the final ending of the game, you'll be treated to the greatest twist in the history of Castlevania games.

Gameplay--very tight and solid. The forward dash from Harmony of Dissonance is gone, but Soma gets along fine without it. Soma has the ability to absorb an enemy's power and then use it himself; this opens up almost unlimited gameplay opportunities. Don't worry, though, the system isn't that intimidating; the biggest problem I had with Symphony of the Night was that the inventory was too large and complex for me, a casual gamer. Not so with Aria of Sorrow. There's a large inventory, to be sure, but I've never had to scratch my head over it.

Music--top-notch; the best music to come out on the Game Boy Advance. There's a few Japanese sound bytes thrown in, too, which really helps the atmosphere of the game.

Graphics--detailed and beautiful. Not quite as impressive as Circle of the Moon, but at least you can SEE this game without direct over-head light (I don't have an SP, but I do have a Game Boy Player for my 'Cube.)

In short, Aria of Sorrow is not only my favorite Castlevania game, it's also my favorite Game Boy title. No self-respecting Nintendo fan should be without this game.


Better than the last   June 18, 2003
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is, in my opinion, the best of the three Castlevanias currently avaliable for the Game Boy Advance. I was disappointed with the last installment in the series, so if you were too, don't pass this game up solely for that reason. Buy this game! But instead of just telling you to buy it, I'll give you all the reasons too. Here are all the areas in which it trounces the previous installment in the series: Harmony of Dissonance.

Graphics- AoS has about the most fluid animation of any GBA game to date. The character no longer has that annoying blue outline like in HoD. Soma (the main character) has the ability to equip differnt weapons, and attack with different "Soul Powers". Even on the small GBA screen, you can tell whether Soma is using a dagger, short sword, a behemoth dragon-slaying sword, or...the handgun. The enemies and bosses are easily diestinguishable and each have their own fluid movements and patterns of attack. Did i mention that both the hero and enemies spray blood when hit? Its very cool looks amazing. 5 stars.

Sound- Great sound effects; (screams, sword slashes, gunshots...)Great music, many notches above the poor music and sound in Castlevania:HoD. thats pretty much all I have to say about that. 5 stars.

Story- The game takes place in 2035 when Soma Cruz and his childhood freind, Mina become sucked into a solar eclipse and find that they are within Dracula's castle. Somewhat strange but this allows for some neat and ituitive ideas for the game such as lasers and my personal favorite: the handgun. It doesnt do much damage, but it looks badder than anything ive seen in a GBA game. Very similar to the cool pistol whipping in Devil May Cry. Story's kinda strange, yes...but think of the 9mm. 5 stars.

Gameplay- flawless. Controls are convenient and responsive. Over 100 enemies to kill and about 111 different souls to capture and/or collect using the Game Boy Advance Link Cable. You can equip three types of souls at the same time. The first attacks using Up + B. The second is used by Holding/pressing and releasing R. And the Third takes no magic power and needs no attention while playing. Potions, armor, rings, and weapons can either be found deep within the castle or perhaps purchased at the shop outside the castle walls. 5 stars...


Best Castlevania game since SotN   May 11, 2003
Samurai13 (sitting in front of my computer)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

SotN (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, for the PS1), was a monumental experience not just for Castlevania fans, but for videogame fans everywhere.

Ever since it's release back in 97, we've all been waiting for a worthy successor, to no avail. Until NOW. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, is by far the best Castlevania game since SotN. Now, it has to be said that there are certain effects, both graphically and musically, that won't necessarily meet up to the complete quality of SotN, simply because AoS is on the GBA, and not on one of the next-gen systems as we would all like. This though, doesn't really take away from what not only I, but almost all Castlevania fans view as an truly excellent game.

Graphically, the game surpasses the last two GBA incarnations by a land slide. From the backgrounds to the extremely fluid character animation, to the character design (which surpasses SotN in some areas IMO), it all shines brightly. There were certain effects that I honestly didn't think would have been possible to do on a handheld. Graphically, this game is simply beautiful to behold. It's an artistic masterpiece.

Sound wise, AoS won't let you down. The Castlevania series has always been known for it's superb music, but the last Castlevania title's music (Harmony of Dissonance) was flat, boring, and in some cases, just plain annoying to have to listen to. AoS though, does more than just fix that, it has tunes that Castlevania lovers will be hunting down mp3's to listen for, to in the car. One of the tunes (in the Graveyard), actually gave me a sense of dread. The sound effects themselves are excellent as well, and help in the immersion factor (I love the blood gushing sound effect).

Game play? You got it!! While I liked the last two GBA Castlevania games, this one leaves them both in the dust. The new soul collection system is marvelous, and IMO, it couldn't have been done better. The way it works is, basically every enemy in the game (except for two, which are obvious once you've been playing for awhile) have souls that you can collect. Once acquired, each soul, when equipped, provides you with a unique characteristic ranging from simple statistical upgrades, to new forms of attack, to even transformations that turn you into a raging monster taking out everything in you path.

There are a total of 110 soul to collect in all, so you'll have your hands full. Chances are you'll beat the game (the game has three different possible endings) before collecting them all, but one of the really cool features of this game is that once the game is beaten, you have the option to start from the beginning again, with all the souls and items you've collected intact. Also, once the game has been beaten, you have the option to start a new file as one of the games other characters (I'll leave it to you to find out who). You can also select to set the game to hard mode, for a greater challenge.

Story wise, AoS has the best story in a Castlevania game. EVER. Without giving too much away, the game ties in with previous Castlevania game quite pleasingly. Nuff said.

Once I picked this game up, I couldn't put it down. From the gorgeous graphics, to the superb music, to the enjoyable gameplay, to the fan worthy story, AoS is a must have. This game is one of the best reasons to own a GBA, GBA-SP, or the GBA player for the GC. Pick it up today, I promise you'll be glad you did. If you don't, you are REALLY depriving yourself of pure gaming excellence.


Best GB Castlevania, but way too short   May 11, 2003
Gene Lee (Atlanta, GA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

If you've played through Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, then you pretty much know what to expect from the third Castlevania for the Gameboy Advance. The graphics are fantastic and the sound has been much improved over the blips and bleeps of the last installment (HOD). Konami has really come close to perfection in its game design- the layout of the castle was obviously very well thought out, and there's hardly any backtracking or aimless wandering like the last 2 castlevanias.

My only gripe, and it is a substantial one, is that the game in its entirety can be completed in under 8 hours. True, there's a hard mode that opens up after you beat the game once, and there's a second character that you can use, but these don't exactly justify the game's extremely short length. If you haven't played any of the past Castlevanias, this may be the best one to start with, as it is by far the most polished; there's just not much overall quantity.


A fitting end (perhaps) to the Castlevania timeline.   May 11, 2003
Ed Oscuro (Battle Creek, MI USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

There's a Belmont in there somewhere.

First there was Circle of the Moon. Then there was Harmony of Dissonance. For those of you hoping that Aria would get away from the "Castleroid" (or Metroidvania) style of gameplay, you'll undoubtedly be annoyed that Aria once again uses a map system and items that must be picked up.

Unlike the other two games, though, Aria has a focus more in keeping with the CD-ROM based game Symphony of the Night. It's huge! We're not talking about simple length from A to B, or cheap inverted maps, though: instead of the simple Vampire Killer whip/morning star, you start out with a pocketknife and best mink stole, as the style of 2035 dictates one should go into battle equipped. Along with the usual upgradeable armor and profusion of healing items, you have the choice of equipping any of literally dozens of types of insane weaponry. You will eventually meet up with the Vampire Killer...but suffice to say that a number of things must happen first.

The Soul Powers should be mentioned as well. This is a fitting replacement for item capsules, with a somewhat plausible explanation: You have the power to absorb the souls of different monsters, gaining a unique power in the process. Not much more can be said about it, but the variety puts CotM's DSS tarot card combination system to shame.

The graphics are certainly a high point. Unlike CotM's stock graphics, drawn by a company outside of Konami, everything in AoS really belongs in a CV game. Some characters will be familiar, some are brand new...but they're all interesting. What about graphics effects? We've got awesome waterfalls, mirrored corridors, lots of good sprite rotation, and even different angle shots (chariots, horses and similar things run in a virtual circle, with unique sprites for viewing them at different angles). What's more, it all fits. Out of all the 2D Castlevania games, this is without a doubt the most competitive.

The music is very excellently composed, enough to make you forget it's all mono this time around. Forgiving that, the tunes are more nicely executed than the previous two games. Listen for the remix of "Don't Wait Until Night" and "Hearts of Fire."

Finally, AoS has intense replay value. Don't be swayed by people saying "And once you beat the ugly last boss, it's over!" That last 10% of the map played your first time through is where the game actually starts. With a few extra modes of game play, the ability to trade souls between different GBAs, and a profusion of weaponry (some archaic, some futuristic) this game will continue to present you with surprises for a long time to come. Along the way, you'll discover why I call this the end to the Castlevania timeline...and much more.