40 Fun Facts About Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was a 2001 launch title for which handheld console?

Game Boy Advance buyers could pick it up on day one: the game launched with the console in Japan in March 2001 and reached North America that June.

Circle of the Moon follows the castle-exploring style set by which acclaimed 1997 Castlevania game?

Symphony of the Night set the template of one huge castle, experience levels and collectable gear, and this handheld follow-up layered its own card-based spells on top.

In Circle of the Moon, DSS, the mechanic that pairs two cards to cast spells, stands for what?

Dual Set-Up System is the full name: one Action card and one Attribute card are equipped together, and each pairing unlocks a different power.

Circle of the Moon's DSS Action cards are named after which pantheon, while Attribute cards depict mythical creatures?

Roman gods lend their names to the Action cards, from Mercury and Venus to Pluto, and each deity's role hints at the card's power, such as Mars turning the whip into other weapons.

In Circle of the Moon, which vampire servant of Dracula performs the rite that revives her master?

Camilla finishes the rite seconds before the heroes arrive, and her own castle becomes the setting for the whole game.

Circle of the Moon is a rare Castlevania game where no member of which vampire-hunting clan even gets a mention?

Belmont is the name missing here: Nathan Graves and his teacher's family carry the whole story instead.

Which complaint did IGN and other critics make about Circle of the Moon's graphics on its original handheld?

Too dark to see was the recurring gripe: IGN called the game difficult to make out, while GameSpy blamed the handheld's screen more than the game itself.

In Circle of the Moon, set in 1830, the castle where Dracula is revived stands in which country?

Austria is the setting: the story unfolds at an old Austrian castle, where worshippers of Chaos have gathered to bring Dracula back.

In Circle of the Moon, the Mars and Black Dog cards swap Nathan's whip for which slow but hard-hitting weapon?

A pistol appears in Nathan's hand and doubles his strength for each shot, though the long pause before and after firing leaves him open.

In Circle of the Moon, which Action card summons the creature pictured on its paired Attribute card to attack?

Uranus is the summoning card: its creatures usually strike every enemy on screen, and Nathan takes no damage while the summoning plays out.

In Circle of the Moon, which Action card calls a familiar such as a bat, owl or hawk to fight beside Nathan?

Saturn brings the familiars: a fire-spitting bat, an owl, a hawk, a Medusa head and more, each matched to the element of the Attribute card.

In Circle of the Moon, which Action card lets Nathan absorb attacks of the paired card's element to restore his health?

Neptune turns hits of the matching element into health and drains spell energy instead; Black Dog is a handy partner because attacks of its element are very common.

In Circle of the Moon, what does the summoned Unicorn do as the only DSS summon that deals no damage?

The summoned Unicorn heals Nathan, restoring about a sixth of his health, and is the only DSS summon that deals no damage at all.

In Circle of the Moon, the Serpent Attribute card, described as a creature swimming in the sea, carries which element?

Ice is the Serpent's element, so its combinations leave enemies frozen solid rather than poisoned, as the name might suggest.

In Circle of the Moon, which Attribute card do Skeleton Bombers, the game's first enemies, drop so readily?

Salamander is the fire card, and because the bomb-throwing skeletons at the start give it up so often, it is likely the first DSS card a player ever picks up.

In Circle of the Moon, which Attribute card pairs with Jupiter to regenerate Nathan's health while he stands still?

Mandragora is the plant card, and with Jupiter it restores roughly 1% of Nathan's health each second once he has stood still for a few seconds.

In Circle of the Moon, enemies petrified by the Mercury and Cockatrice stone whip can be used by Nathan as what?

Platforms are what the statues become: a monster finished off with this whip turns to stone and can be stood on until it breaks free.

A well-known DSS glitch in Circle of the Moon, triggered by reopening the card menu mid-cast, lets players do what?

Players can use unowned cards: with just one card of each type, switching slots mid-activation grants the effect of any of the 100 combinations.

In Circle of the Moon, the rare Pluto card drops from a hidden enemy that disguises itself as which castle object?

A candle is the disguise: the Trick Candle appears in the first boss's room late in the game, tinted differently from the real ones.

In Circle of the Moon, which rival, the son of Nathan's mentor, turns on him under Dracula's control late in the game?

Hugh Baldwin believed the family whip was his birthright, and Dracula twisted that jealousy until Nathan beat him back to his senses.

In Circle of the Moon, which boss does Nathan fight first, at the end of the Catacomb?

Cerberus guards the way out of the Catacomb, pouncing, calling down lightning and firing a beam that covers almost the whole room.

Which Circle of the Moon bosses fight as a pair, the survivor eating its fallen partner to regain health?

Dragon Zombies are too bulky and decayed to move, so they attack with their heads alone, and the survivor regains 300 HP by feeding on the other.

Which recurring Castlevania boss guards the Underground Warehouse in Circle of the Moon, with no stated bond to Dracula?

Death is just another minion here, since the Necromancer takes over his usual role at Dracula's side, and beating him lets tougher enemies loose around the castle.

In Circle of the Moon, the Iron Golem boss guards which area of the castle?

Machine Tower is the castle's answer to the series' clock tower stages: gears turn everywhere in the background, but there is no giant clock.

In Circle of the Moon, what do the Kick Boots, found after the Iron Golem fight, allow Nathan to do?

Nathan can jump off walls with the Kick Boots, which lets him climb narrow vertical shafts by kicking from side to side.

In Circle of the Moon, which item from the Underground Waterway lets Nathan leap extremely high into the air?

Roc Wing sends Nathan soaring straight up and opens almost all of the remaining castle, which is why some players brave the poisoned Waterway early to grab it.

Unlike similar Castlevania games, Circle of the Moon lacks which feature, leaving gear to come from enemy drops?

A shop never appears, so Nathan cannot buy or sell anything or even collect gold, and the game has no in-game bestiary either.

In Circle of the Moon, which of Nathan's relatives died helping his mentor seal Dracula away ten years before the story?

His parents fell in that fight, and their comrade Morris then took Nathan in as a disciple alongside his own son.

What did Konami do to Circle of the Moon's story in 2002, despite resistance from fans?

Konami cut it from the timeline, and the series producer said the reason was that its makers had always meant the game to stand alone, not that he had no hand in it.

Which optional Circle of the Moon area disables DSS yet is the only place to win the Unicorn and Black Dog cards?

Battle Arena is a 17-room gauntlet where spell energy drops to zero at the door, and both cards fall only from armored enemies found inside it.

In Circle of the Moon, DSS card abilities drain which resource, while sub-weapons spend Hearts instead?

Magic (MP) fuels every card effect, some charging per use and others per second, and it refills faster as Nathan's Intelligence stat grows.

Which Castlevania producer, not involved in Circle of the Moon, said its DSS cards did not fit the series' world?

Koji Igarashi also faulted the controls and the murky visuals when he made the follow-up, Harmony of Dissonance, though he conceded the card system itself was a good one.

In Circle of the Moon, what does Nathan have from the very start of Magician Mode, at the cost of weaker strength?

Every DSS card is unlocked from the first room in Magician Mode, along with four times the usual spell energy, but Nathan's health and strength are sharply reduced.

The code that unlocks Fighter Mode in Circle of the Moon is borrowed from which Konami shoot-'em-up series?

Gradius is the password, a nod to Konami's own space shooter, and the mode it opens bans DSS cards entirely in exchange for much greater physical power.

Thief Mode in Circle of the Moon, the last alternate mode to unlock, hugely boosts which of Nathan's stats?

Luck starts at 1,600 in Thief Mode, sixteen times the usual figure, so enemies give up items far more often while Nathan's other stats suffer.

Where do players enter codes such as FIREBALL to start Circle of the Moon's alternate modes?

Typing the code as the player's name when starting a new game does it, though each code only works once the previous mode has been beaten.

Circle of the Moon was developed by a Konami studio named after which Japanese city, where it was based?

Kobe was home to the team, Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe, which had earlier made Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness for the Nintendo 64.

In Circle of the Moon, the Bear Ring can turn Nathan into BearTank, a character from which Konami fighting game?

Rakugakids was a Nintendo 64 fighter, and its BearTank appears when the ring is worn during the Pluto and Black Dog transformation.

In Circle of the Moon, the vampire who revives Dracula fights Nathan while riding which enormous flying object?

A giant skull carries her through the fight, firing a constant stream of energy from its mouth while she adds homing fumes and blade-shaped blasts.

In Circle of the Moon, the huge sealed door leading to Dracula's Ceremonial Room resembles which object?

A coffin is the shape of the door, which stays locked behind a barrier until Nathan wins the Last Key from his final duel with his rival.