As you all know the new Castlevania on the GBA is a sequel of sorts to the PSX classic Symphony of The Night. The story line takes place in 1740 in between the timeline of Simon and Richter. The story picks up on the dissapearance of Jeust's best friend Maxim Quicin, who returns from a mission just as the castle of Dracula has mysteriously reappeared. Adding to the mystery is the dissapearance of Liddy Erlanger, a friend of Jeust and Maxim since childhood, who has been taken away to Castlevania. The game plays a lot like Symphony. Jeust has a whip like the other vampire killers before him along with the other sub-items like holy water, cross, axe etc. The difference being Jesut can use books he finds in the castle to power up his sub weapons. Kind of like the cards in Circle of the Moon. The kiosk I played it on at E3 had the gam on a large TV so it kind of took away from the detail of the actual GBA screen (im my opion) but I can easily say this game looks better than Circle of the Moon. Konami of Japan recently released a small web-site dedicated to White Night Concerto (or Harmony of Desonance here in the U.S). On this site you will find two wallpapers and a Castlevania time line. here are some pics to tide you over...enjoy!


Jeust Belmont


Maxim Quicin


Liddy Erlanger












http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/b-wncj.jpg
Japanese box art

http://www.konamityo.com/CV01/index.html
Japanese site

Another post from your friendly neighborhood zero

I think I read in IGN's preview that the music is lacking in this game. That really disappoints me but the game seems like it will be spectacular in every other way.

EGM said that the music was sacrificed for the graphics.

Yeah, that's a shame.

A shame yes, but at least this game will be brighter.

Well, since I can't stand playing GBA games with sound (I dunno, it just irks me, always has ever since the original GB) I shall really really look forward to this game

IMO sound is the last quality that GBA games should be judged by. I always thought that the games sounded like they were being played through a tin can. I'll take excellent GBA graphics over sound anyday.

However, the most important aspect of the game, the GAMEPLAY, is absolutely incredible! after playing for only a few days i can safely say that this game leaps way over COTM's head. There are magic books you collect that don't do anything on their own, but when you pick up secondary weapons (i.e. cross, dagger, ax, etc) they form a special attack that will always be useful! there are also relics like in SOTN that give you new abilites, and there is less backtracking and more forward moving gameplay (i.e. like many platform games like SOTN you get a new item that allows you to progress to a new area but you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the level, but in WNC you move on really close to where you beat a boss or obtain a new ability). Also, and i haven't quite figured out the dynamics of this new feature yet, but apparantly there are actually 3 maps that all mirror each other but have different enemies and items! Anyways, snatch up the game, i got it on e-bay for super cheap. The cheapest i've seen online is www.therage.com for only $45 shipped by 3-day USPS.

I've never cared about game music, so I'm glad the used the power for the graphics instead.

I never got around to beating Circle of the Moon. I'm like 4/5 of the way through. I tend to do that with all of my GBA games. I'm 4/5 through SMA2. 4/5 through Golden Sun. Even though I know I'll do that with this one, I'll get it. I'm a slave to Castlevania.

I made it through Circle of the Moon, though beating Dracula almost had me quiting. Finally got the timing and pattern down though. Anyway, I will definitely be back on board for this one. It looks excellent.

Dracula was definitely a bitch in CotM. Must of took me 2 hrs of trying over and over to beat him. I probably should have leveled up some more, but I didn't feel like messing with it anymore.

you can find a couple of songs here on this site http://www.classicgaming.com/castlevania/dungeon.htm

If you're actually going to bother downloading game music, here is the place to go:

http://remix.overclocked.org/index.php

kewl thanx

I got a chance to try out the game, too...definitely much easier to see. Lots less black in the pallette this time around.

Jeust moves with the cool shadowy trail like we've seen in some earlier Castlevania games. I haven't gotten very far through it yet, but it's been enjoyable so far.

The L and R buttons are L-dash and R-dash... might be a bit awkward, but oh well, I don't dash that often, generally.

This should definitely appease fans of the 2D series.

The best castlevania music medley ever is here.

I've been following this game since it was announced and it looks like its turning out to be great! I'm glad they got the same artist again, I love her work. Back in the day I got the original PSX Castlevania: Nocturne in the Moonlight (Symphony of the night) and it came with a music cd and it came with a pretty lenghty artbook of her drawings of the characters in the game. I wish they were doing the same with this one but then the game would probably cost a lot more. I'll have to buy the arranged CD (and also for the MANA track )