Castlevania: Circle of the Moon by darrenville in

[@gamesdonequick]

Runner introduction starts at 00:24. Run starts at 2:02.

[@alsoknownas875]

One of my favorite GBA games, hugely underrated entry in the CV series! Glad to see it get a little love!

[@zurithejackal9801]

When people say "fake donations" there's a reason for that.

[@igodreamer7096]

Indeed

[@atbtrendy9932]

@DoomerCritic it still has Better controls than Harmony of Dissonance

[@noredine]

@DoomerCritic no, the only bad thing about controls is that you have to double tap to run

[@AA-wq5sm]

My issue with it is how dark it is, even on the AGS001 you have a hard time noticing where the bosses darkly colored projectile attacks are. I couldnt imagine playing it on the lightless AGB screen when it released lmao

[@ogto]

FINALLY we get circle of the moon at GDQ!!!!

[@CodySharpe]

I love how precise Darren is with his movement, he was threading the needle so often in this run.

[@wesleybcrowen]

Dracula couldn't believe what just happened, he got awestruck throughout the whole fight.

[@crtg4672]

"I....is this skeleton throwing bones at me? He can't seriously expect to....oh crap"

[@cazamilfs8945]

@@crtg4672 ahhh ahhh ahhh

[@spentipede]

My first GBA game and still favorite. Underground Warehouse has the best music in many a Castlevania game!

[@DandyJeegz]

That song is from castlevania iv. Rotating room I believe.

[@genericsavings]

SotN has this overhyped/underhyped dichotomy about it; The later GBA installments tried to recreate it's magic by copy it's art style, its difficulty, its animation(Juste and Soma move just like Alucard), etc. This game was balanced just right. Great music, challenging difficulty throughout, and the card system was pretty ingenious. Only drawback was playing this on an original GBA. Couldn't see scheisse.

[@GorditoCrunch343]

I actually think Aria of Sorrow perfected the SOTN formula and was more in line with what the developers originally intended.

[@GeneralErlend]

CotM is way harder than SotN imo.

[@valletas]

I think the luck factor makes it the worst castlevania game for the gba

[@tomasds1]

@@valletas since sotn the castlevania games have this dependence on luck to get some good things, what are you talking about

[@darkarchonisme]

nice run! the necormancer isn't Death, his robe and orbs are based on Shaft's from SotN / Rondo of blood!

[@ickybobclay26]

I wish they did more with the characters in this game. I love it

[@MrZangetsu468]

The main thing this game brought to the Metroidvania style of CV is challenge. It was one of the harder games prior to OOE. (in normal mode)

[@edvaldosantos6175]

J.M f

[@magnolerriccardo6840]

It is hard to believe this year is the 20th anniversary for this game!

[@wallacesousuke1433]

Meh

[@ImJCyo]

I would love to see CoTM remade for a modern console, for a more modern audience.

[@StevenDoesStuff]

It took me years and I never finished the game when I was much younger. Meanwhile Darrenville is flexing hard on me.

[@AkiraVtuber]

this was the game that introduced me to metroivanias. instantly fell in love but ironically this became my least favorite game of the genre. heck of good soundtrack though

[@Dasqal]

Aereo Not blinded by nostalgia? Impressive :P

[@TheSquareOnes]

Same, it blew my mind that the entire game was one interconnected thing instead of a bunch of discrete levels and I remember staying up all night that first time. It's also relatively low-ish on my list of metroidvanias since then but I think that's mostly because it doesn't bring anything particularly special to the table (the card system was a neat idea but would've worked better if they weren't rare random drops), it's still pretty solidly designed and aesthetically is still one of my favorites. As generic as it is I'd still rank it above games like Axiom Verge and Valdis Story.

[@seankalifut9948]

Cyan Light I felt the same playing Mega Man ZX.

[@DrGandW]

Cyan Light Really I heard Axiom Verge was good I was going to get it someday

[@TheSquareOnes]

Axiom Verge is still worth getting, especially since I'm just one random person on the internet so you may love it as much as the rest of the world seems to, but you should definitely go in with your expectations lower than "this is the ultimate true successor to Super Metroid that overshadows all others." The combat is almost universally terrible, there are literally like three rooms and one boss fight* in the entire game that had anything resembling enjoyable combat. Everything else is either "stand where the enemies can't possibly hit you and shoot non-stop until you're allowed to keep moving forward" or "run like crazy while damage boosting because shit is about to be on top of your face in half a second." Now it's worth noting that this is an exploration-focused metroidvania so the combat isn't everything buuuut it's also really important to point out that there is only one extremely inconveniently connected fast travel system and very few shortcuts even after you get all of the movement abilities so in reality "exploring" means "replay every single room between you and the one distant hallway you want to investigate" which in turn means you're going to be spending a tooooon of time stuck in boring, repetitive, zero-risk fights. But again, you shouldn't be discouraged from ever trying it just because I didn't like it. The story is pretty cool, the environment is truly beautiful and there are a shitload of optional items that actually change what you can do instead of just being the usual ammo or health upgrade so it's not all bad. But I've played a lot of metroidvania games, love exploration in general and Axiom Verge was easily one of the most frustratingly tedious gaming experiences I've ever had. So now I spread the word on the internet, so that others may not have their hearts broken as mine has been. *I didn't actually finish the game yet but I found out from a GDQ run that I apparently rage quit immediately before the end so it's possible the final few rooms of the game are also fun to play, but based on the track record I'd doubt it.

[@GoblinJess]

I loved this game back in the day. It's super fun, honestly.

[@Forever_Zero]

Boned to death

[@MrZangetsu468]

Forever Zero *Death

[@Walter-W-Gaming]

this was the first castlevania game i ever played!

[@rareroe305]

Love this game! Have beaten all the modes, and have done it mapless and without saving, and pacifist (very much with saving).

[@SalDOWN]

I played this game on my Gamecube and it is really fn hard...

[@ramgladore]

I got this game when it came out for the GBA and also on the Castlevania Advance collection on Steam. Very good game.

[@berna3089]

Welcome... *To the B O N E Z O N E*

[@GameplayandTalk]

Amazing run!

[@purifyws]

Great run!! Great mix of strats/abilities, movement and glitches. What speedruns are about

[@valkiriforce]

Fun game, I played it a few years ago and still need to get to the other two GBA titles.

[@bertperkins7]

Wonderful game

[@VigiIancex]

Can somebody please explain to me how did he jumped into the Underground Waterway with this "Bone Float Glitch"? He did mention that the skeleton sprite has a wider frame than Nathan's body and he will lose gravity but I don't understand how did he perform it

[@MrTrippleAAA]

Damn I just beat this game for the first time recently. It takes me ten-three hours average (in game time) to beat this 100%. Good job on this.

[@grfrjiglstan]

In this run it makes way more sense why Hugh is so jealous.

[@cleangoblin2021]

I coulda been the happiest kid back then if i knew what Castlevania was for the GBA. But nope. Pre internet days, it was hard to find good games

[@miciso666]

magician mode has to be my 2nd fav. its literally magic glass cannon. thief is my favourite it relies so much on items.

[@kringhetto]

This game is begging for a sequel. I would kill for something like this on switch, and I don't think Bloodstained is going to ever scratch my itch.

[@mikeshivak]

Love this game!

[@macky99erz7]

Bigbone for the win

[@Codeman73H1337]

Wow, I never thought ANYONE would say this game was the best in the series! It was my LEAST favorite CV game until Lords of Shadow came out. That said, congrats to Darren!

[@pgfinna]

I always thought the skeleton was trash, turns out it's the linchpin of the game.

[@PetalousPanoply]

Great run.

[@jaredt2590]

This is an awesome game, it's a hard game. I got an sp back in 03 to play games like this.

[@infinidominion]

It would be cool to see system setup details of whats used in the run vids. cant quite tell what he's using for a controller here

[@darrenvile]

Christopher Rowe I'm using a Gameboy SP with GC controller cable. SP by itself cramps my hands so I also use a yobo SP contoller grip.

[@infinidominion]

Nice, I didnt know a GC cable for SP was a thing. I feel you on the SP cramp thing, I gotta stretch after a while when using one by itself.

[@keennickolas8575]

Roc Wing ... beats all Metroidvania Items I've ever got in any other game for me. I went back to playing that game ONLY TO GET AND TO USE THAT SINGLE ITEM ... I even went through the Underground Waterway, while it was still red and poisonous, just to enjoy that item later on more occasions :3 For me that is. ... even the pimped up Cannon of Sundered doesn't give me that much :P (which then probably would be 2nd). hmm. 3rd might be the space jump - screw attack duo of Super Metroid ...

[@gvnslingergaming3739]

This may be late but that's the only CV on GBA I haven't played.

[@rarafagaza4318]

Aria of Sorrow is overvaluated

[@unusualfrog779]

I think you meant ovulated

[@azurewei8480]

amazing game play

[@DarrenT777]

My name is Darren as well and this is one of my favorite Castlevania games. PogChamp

[@thomasalvarenga2839]

"Death doesn't have wings", Look at the apocalypse games...

[@ickybobclay26]

Thomas Alvarenga castlevania death doesn’t have wings

[@thomasalvarenga2839]

ickybobclay26 I mean 64 and Legacy of Darkness, that version of Death has a clear set of black angel wings.

[@bunnybismuth]

The Pluto+BD combo is broke as hell if you know how, and it looks like you *know how*.

[@christiangamplains633]

25:32 I Didn't know Death's name in Japanese was Only two Letters...

[@keennickolas8575]

Uhm, Question: why did he had to beat ALL the bosses? looked for me, like, he could have just skipped RIGHT TO THE FINAL FIGHT ö.Ö?!

[@dorni6104]

It was an All Bosses speedrun

[@keennickolas8575]

k thx

[@ChrisChaquay]

Camilia one of the hardest bosses? Dude she's one of the easiest in a normal playthrough. If you just stay on the top ledges jumping from the left to right doorways you can easily dodge pretty much every move of hers all her moves mostly hit the ground area and hit her with holy crosses or whatever you want.

[@RespectThePep]

Chris Chaquay hardest for this particular run , yes He can’t d boost thru the sweep attack and has to stay somewhat engaged for faster strats

[@zorochii]

The narrator for the Castlevania block has a funny voice. I feel like he is being sarcastic without making sarcastic comments xD.

[@BinarySecond]

How do you start with all cards? Is it magician mode?

[@redkite1908]

Yeah, they say so near the start of the run. Easy to miss.

[@Phatlove123]

I remember the bosses having more health lol

[@bunnybismuth]

Wait, how do you do the skeleton launch thing?

[@JasonRyu1]

Yeah I can't find any explanation on how to do the skeleton float

[@Unit_00]

​@@JasonRyu1 youtube deleted my first attempt at answering this lol first you need to understand bone slides. When you press B on the frame you land as the skeleton, it will do the attack animation while keeping whatever horizontal speed it had. That's a bone slide. Now, for the bone float, you need to do a bone slide in such a way that once you stop moving, the skeleton is standing at the edge of a platform on the very last pixel of it's hitbox. If you untransform in this situation, Nathan will be standing mid air (I think it has to do with how the skeleton's hitbox is ever so slightly wider). Now for the zero gravity jump, once you did the bone float and are walking mid air as Nathan, just press A to jump and he will do an infinite jump (you need to have the double jump relic unlocked though). To cancel the vertical speed I think it's enough to just crouch and press A again? I don't remember Since a pixel perfect positioning is required for the bone float, ideally you want to do some sort of setup for the spacing. The most common one requires going through a horizontal screen transition and while the transition animation occurs, you release all inputs. Once the animation ends, you press right + A on the exact same frame (or left depending on the direction or the screen transition) to go back through the same transition. You hold A all the way through and then hit B on the frame perfect timing to get the bone slide (this is the setup used for reaching Camilla early for example)

[@JustAnotherPest]

One of the guys on the couch sounds like Cyanide.

[@gustavo69er]

Could an any% run theoretically beat this in like 5 minutes? The runner was at like 4 minutes after Dracula Part 1, assuming fantastic big-bone rng couldn't you beat Dracula part 2 right then?

[@anthonytieri]

How did he start with all the cards unlocked already?

[@Chernobog2]

Robert Parker magician mode starts with all the cards available right away

[@Erikuzuma]

What's the name of the announcer? I Love it.

[@brlu666]

On what console does he play on?

[@ImTakingYouToFlavorTown]

GBA linked to a Gamecube

[@ImTakingYouToFlavorTown]

GBA linked to a Gamecube

[@PeterZwegat187]

PLAY NORMAL MODE D: This other Moes are the Ez Mode...

[@JoelHernandez-tz3vk]

BFB

[@matthewperry6132]

First