Castlevania is hands down one of my favorite game series ever. As time goes by, I find myself constantly wanting to go back to these games, specifically the 2D entries, and I wanted to do this again here in the year 2026, chronicling my time along the way with reviews of each game I play. The goal is to play through all three of the GBA entries, followed by all three of the DS entries. Starting of course with the first of the bunch released in 2001—Circle of the Moon!
Speaking to a friend about this game, they put the overall feeling of the game into a simple sentence that felt very fitting to me. Which was that Circle of the Moon “feels like a launch title.” It’s true that it totally does. Things like character movement, map design, and even boss battles just feel slightly half-baked in a very launch title kind of way. And it makes sense, because of course this is indeed a launch title for the GBA. In that context it was a great first step and jumping off point for some of the best entries in the series, however there’s also clear opportunities for improvement. Despite my love for this game, a three star score ultimately feels correct.
The storyline, like in most Castlevania titles, takes a bit of a backseat. Essentially, all you need to know is you’re a whip-wielding, vampire-fighting fellow named Nathan who takes no prisoners and won’t stop until the evil immediately in front of him is defeated. Of course the evil is none other than Dracula himself. There is a bit of tension between Nathan and his friend Hugh, who show up at Dracula’s castle just to find themselves almost immediately split up. The two run into each other several times as Nathan makes his way through the maze that is Dracula’s castle, only for them to go their separate ways again with Hugh expressing some exasperation around Nathan seeming to be the favored student of their shared mentor. It’s all fine. It gives the game just enough of a through line to make the story work, but nothing more.
For the uninitiated, each Castlevania game generally has a unique system introduced which plays directly into combat abilities. In Circle of the Moon, the system of choice is called DSS, which I literally just looked up to find that it stands for Dual Set-Up System! This is kind of the magical part of the game that gives it a bit of special flair on top of the solid exploration and action foundation. Essentially, you get card drops from certain enemies. There are two types of cards, and selecting any pair will provide a different power up. This could be something like the whip turning into a flame whip, or something like summoning a familiar that follows Nathan and contributes to combat. There’s even one that turns Nathan into a skeleton that moves slowly, dies in one hit, and can only throw small bones that do little damage, except at a very small chance you’ll throw a giant bone that does tons of damage—kind of a silly one, but it adds flavor to the game. One ability combo gives Nathan a whip that will turn enemies to stone, which can then be used as platforms, enabling some light sequence-breaking behavior. This DSS system is what really caught my attention as a kid coming to this game for the first time, and it holds up as being an interesting addition that provides plenty of fun surprises as you mess around with all the various combos.
The map in Circle of the Moon works like in many other of the Castlevanias, in which exploration will slowly fill out the map, indicating all the save points, teleportation points, etc. as you find them. Pixel-hunting the various door openings and attempting to sort out the path to the next objective is half the fun of these games, and yet in this particular entry, this is a little more frustrating than it should be. Unlike in later entries in the series, the fast travel options are fairly limited, there are no findable maps that help fill out sections ahead of visiting them, and in general the design of the map can be frustrating in how it can require the player to traverse. It becomes especially tedious when you take the time to cross the map in hopes you can now access a certain part of the map that was previously blocked, just to remind yourself that you still cannot progress that section, and will then need to navigate all of the way back. This is another part of the game that just feels a little half-baked, and while it worked at the time of release, it’s clear that lessons were learned for the series moving forward in terms of map design.
Circle of the Moon certainly holds a special place in my heart. It’s without a doubt a formative game from my childhood. I remember when a friend got his GBA with this game, and we were both captivated by both the GBA system itself, and how awesome we thought this game was. That will always color my perspective on this game, and I’ll always love it. It’s consistently the first GBA game I’ll fire up when testing a new handheld device or emulator. As pointed out throughout this review, the game is not without its faults, but it is still a solid experience, and one worth experiencing. The traversal abilities build to eventually be pretty varied, the bosses are a tough challenge, and it just has that Castlevania vibe with its setting and music. Circle of the Moon is a GBA classic that started a wave of some of the best handheld games of all time in my book, and it’s one that should be experienced—just ensure you’re coming into it with some measured expectations.
--JJ