
Update: The Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea has rated Castlevania Advance Collection for PC (thanks, Gematsu), which is another pretty solid indication that it's coming.
Original Story [Fri 18th Jun, 2021 21:00 BST]: 2021 may just be the year of the Metroidvania, and not for the reasons you think. The Nintendo E3 Direct earlier this week revealed the existence of the first 2D Metroid game in almost 20 years, Metroid Dread, and now (via RPG Site) we may have ourselves a re-release of the Game Boy Advance Castlevanias.

On the 18th June, 2021, Konami registered the title "Castlevania Advance Collection" with the Australian Classification Board, which, of course, means that it also appeared to the public (thanks, Australian government!). The author is given as "M2", a Japanese studio whose work includes the 3D Classics on Nintendo 3DS, the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, and the Contra Anniversary Collection on Switch.
It's relatively safe to assume that the Castlevania Advance Collection will include the three Game Boy Advance games that were left out of the Anniversary Collection: Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow. It might include some other titles, too, but the "Advance" in the title is certainly leaning more towards the Game Boy era.
Castlevania Advance Collection looks like it's also destined for release on multiple platform, so it'll likely come to Switch as well as PC, Xbox and PS4.
Who knows when we'll get to hear more, though! Keep your ear to the ground, and make sure to treat your GBA nicely, or Konami might change their minds.
[source classification.gov.au, via rpgsite.net]
Comments 145
I have always wanted to play these Castlevania games, I would be so down for this, would love these much more so than the other Castlevania collection they released recently.
Hopefully they include more than just the three GBA games! the GB version of Kid Dracula, Castlevania Chronicles from PS1 and Adventure ReBirth from WiiWare were all absent from the first collection.
I want this!!! NOW! I said right now!!!
For me it's the highest point of Castlevania franchise. SotN and DS gsmes are awesome too and as they all share the same game structure, it could be a 7 games collection
Aria of Sorrow is a top tier Metroidvania for me, everyone should give it a go.
I so hope this is real so I can stop considering buying actual GBA copies at the outrageous prices they go for these days. Or maybe they'll come down in price after this releases. Either way, I'm absolutely revisiting these classics.
Circle of the Moon was the first and only Castlevania game I played, it was hard but a great game nonetheless.
Wonderful news, I can't wait to order a physical copy from LRG some time next year and then receive the following year.
@Zuljaras
I second that I want it now and I would even buy physical and digital
Well this would be great, I love all three of them! Think Aria and Dawn together would be a better collection makeup though.
Ive already got all three on the Wii U. Give us a Castlevania DS collection. or a 3D collection, inclduing Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness, Lament of Innocence, Curse of Darkness, and maybe even a complete version of that teased Saturn game.
Yes please!! Cannot wait.
Ooo that sounds tempting - I never owned a GBA and would love to try its Castlevanias and Metroids on a big screen.
Castlevania collection 2 no doubt
AHHHHH!!! Circle of the Moon on Switch is going to be SO good. I just hope that they'll fix some of the issues with the 3 games. Save states and a faster walk speed would probably fix most of the issues with CotM, although the cards will still be a bit grindy to get, but the other games have deeper problems that would probably need a deeper hack to fix. The only change I can think of for HoD is for them to move the door before Death 1 to the beginning of ascent to the boss room, so that you won't go all the way up to the top of the room only to get told "Screw you, go all the way back down, go through an entire new area, then backtrack through the 2nd castle version of the area you just went through, then un-backtrack all the way back to the area where you switched castles, and then you can finally go back to the area where you were an hour or two ago!" Making the crushing boots a permanent upgrade would also be really nice, but that's ultimately way less of an issue than how bad certain segments of the map are. Then, with Aria, I don't even know, just make all of the mandatory souls permanent upgrades, and maybe I'll actually be able to play it without getting ptsd flashbacks from Bloodstained, to the point where I only managed to get past the first boss before going "Oh, hell no, I'm not dealing with this again" and putting down the game for the foreseeable future.
Yes! This would be great. I recently bought Aria on Wii U VC because I heard it was the bomb.
Oh hell yes aria is wicked xx
@alexybubble
The games in this collection are almost assuredly going to be GBA ROMs with zero changes made.
YES! Wanted to play these games for years!
This is of course wishful thinking, but if this is really happening, I'd hope to see a Castlevania DS Collection as well, featuring Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia.
Will it cost the same as Advance Wars? I heard that’s a reasonable price.
@EarthboundBenjy But I can still hope, even though I know that it probably won't happen.
So THAT'S what they meant by Volume 1. Honestly, these games are fantastic. Day one for me.
(But man, Symphony and Rondo skipping Switch really hurts...)
I LOVE these games and still own the originsl, but I'd buy this in a heartbeat.
@Slowdive “it’s happening!” Switch Pro? 4K Castlevania confirmed.
Yes, yes, yes!
Day one purchase for me. I love the GBA Castlevania games.
I need those 3D ones ported on switch.
I have my copy of Circle of the Moon in my GBA right now as I type this because I love it. I have never actually played the others properly on the system and that’s because they’re so frigin expensive.
I’ve … tried them out by other means… and I know I’m going to love them ESPECIALLY Aria of Sorrow. (I have Dawn of Sorrow for DS and it’s downright lovely)
Wow this would be absolutely great if true. Hoping its releasing soon!
I wonder if it includes something random like Krazy Racers lol. Dracula was a racer hahaha
@Dpishere The second game in the series, Harmony of Dissonance, is ugly as sin but is very fun and challenging to play. It’s also packed with content, which I will not spoil. I highly recommend it. The first one relies a little too much on monster farming, and the third one is really fun to speed run but again, relies a lot on monster farming. Just my two cents from someone that played them to death.
@ChromaticDracula Do yourself a favor and drop the money on the double pack. You’re right, it’s expensive. I just sold mine for $100, but it’s well worth it. Or just wait and see if this rumor pans out. Or save your money. Don’t listen to me LOL
BUT if you get the double pack, make sure the listing has pics showing the nice, Nintendo logo and evidence of gold plating on various spots of the board. The advantage of the double pack is it saves the game with SRAM so it doesn’t require a battery and will probably outlive us all hahaha
Love these games, I have the originals and VC copies so I probably won't triple dip but they definitely need to be made available to a larger audience. And we can reignite the debate about whether Harmony of Dissonance has a good soundtrack (it does).
@Curbie Harmony of Dissonance has some extremely catchy tunes, and I love the choice of synthesizers they used. It really gives the game a unique feeling. As soon as you said “sound track” I started hearing the songs in my head lol
Some of the finest, I personally prefer the DS games. Regardless, I will buy for sure.
I was hoping they would strip the touchscreen stuff out of the DS games and give us a GBA & DS collection, but I'll take the GBA games as a starter!
@BionicDodo There’s an excellent fan made patch that removes the touch screen elements from Dawn of Sorrow, makes the game much better to play. The patch also addresses the fact that in the original game, your luck stat is broken and does nothing for soul farming! The more you know
Omg, yes! Aria is, in my opinion, the best Castlevania game of all time! Well, it’s a three way tie between Super Castlevania IV, SotN, and Aria.
@EarthboundBenjy Don’t forget Legends on Super Gameboy! Glad you remember these!
Good Lord, yes please.
Would love the DS games in a package too.
@GameManAdvance
I am right there with you sir! The Advance Wars 1 + 2 Re-Boot was the highlight of E3 for me, and I'm now praying that this is a thing so I can finally get three steps closer to retiring my poor old GBA that I commonly have to resuscitate in order for it to read cartridges, and whose battery only lasts about 20 minutes unplugged.
I'd love to see Rondo and Symphony make their way over, but Konami probably has an exclusivity deal with Sony for those games.
That would be great. Those games are really expensive today.
When will this likely be officially announced and when will this likely be released?
ALL! Igavanias and Circle of the moon are worth playing.
Played them several times and love Aria of Sorrow the most.
I enjoyed Aria more than SoTN
@BloodNinja hey thank you! I see a ton of repro double packs on eBay which I avoid like COVID. Now that I know the double pack is battery-less I’ll start looking for those closer.
I don’t have a problem soldering in new batteries otherwise but I do hate losing my save files (and Pokemon!) in doing so
@ChromaticDracula I wish I knew how to solder! It always looks so nerve wracking.
Honestly since the rerelease of Rondo and Symphony are exclusive to PS4 this should be exclusive to Switch
Please let it be true...
Yup day one purchase for me I didn’t play video games during the GBA advance era. I would love to play all three!
This would be amazing. Yes please.
Love it, though it does make me feel even worse for owning all three GBA carts day one and only having played one after all these years.
I am ready to ditch my Castlevania Double Pack. I paid $10 for it so it should fetch a nice return.
And I was just going to buy these on the Wii U after my 2D Metroid run. Awesome!
Personally I wish it was the DS games but these are cool too
Give.
Me.
Symphony of the Night!
Interesting. Hopefully they'll include SoTN as a bonus.
Looks like my wish halfway came true. I was hoping for a follow-up to the first Castlevania collection, but I was thinking they would fit in Symphony of the Night and Dracula X alongside the GBA ones.
I’m gonna keep my CIB GBA Castlevania Collection, but I would definitely pick this up physically. Though I guarantee it’ll be a Limited Run release or some such other hindrance.
Please be true, my money is waiting.
Oh my god, this is all I ever wanted. The 3 best games in the entire series, as far as I'm concerned. (OK I'm not familiar with the DS games to be fair so I'm not sure how they stack up to the GBA ones, but the GBA ones hold a special place in my heart!)
Yes please! A 1000x yes! And gimme the DS ones too pretty plz!!!
PLEASE BE REAL
I SO WANNA PLAY HARMONY OF DISSONANCE AGAIN
ALSO THE DS GAMES. GIVE ME BOTH SORROW GAMES
Silksong, Metroid Dread and now this, what an awesome time to be a metroidvania fan
I'm not actually taking the sub headline seriously, but I will not throw away my GBA. First of all, I love that thing. Secondly, playing Circle of the Moon on a dark, barely-visible screen is the true Castlevania Advance experience.
Anyway, this is great news because these are great games. Harmony has some issues, but I enjoyed it back in the day. That one is okay. Aria is fantastic. If they include the DS games, or even release them later, that would be super cool. If they remove the stupid touch gimmicks from Dawn of Sorrow, that would be a wonderful thing. Drawing seals makes me sad.
@EriXz Don't forget Axiom Verge 2 and Bloodstained getting a sequel
Played them all on the Wii U, but might have to get them again. Great games, all three (but we all know which is the best).
Why doesn’t Castlevania Legend for Game Boy ever get a re-release?
Im surprised lords of shadow 1&2 isn't on the switch....oh yeah, konami
@Don It's probably because Konami struck it from the canon a long time ago, although I hear the same is true for Circle of the Moon as well
Legends is more significant because it directly contradicts Harmony of Despair given it was meant to depict the first ever encounter a Belmont had with Dracula
@sdelfin I concur, I loved playing my wide clear purple GBA in well lit room to see everything on CotM, and I also loved replaying it on GBA Sp. God I love CotM! Aria was great too, however CotM wins for me because the soundtrack was just amazing….
And doubly concur with the Seal Drawing on Dawn. Ugh. I stopped at Death/Reaper battle cause I failed the seal 3 times in a row…. Never did finish that game.
I've got them on the wii u VC. So replayable
Sweet merciful Satan please let it be real. I have every handheld Castlevania plus my original Symphony for ps1 and still I would gladly, gladly throw down $60 for a hard copy of all the GBAvanias on a single switch cart.
Awesome. Circle of the Moon is a longtime favorite of mine. It'd be cool if they could revamp the DS games to work on a single screen too, because those were great as well.
But honestly? I still wanna see Symphony of the Night on Switch in some way, shape, or form. I've never played that game and I don't want to invest in another system just to play it.
@TheFrenchiestFry
I hope Legends get a re-release because I never played it before and the original cart is pretty expensive.
This would be great. But I’m still waiting for a Castlevania collection that includes ‘Lamment of Innocence” in a physical release.
@TheFrenchiestFry bloodstained was such a mess it's not even funny, I wanted to like that game so much but I just can't
While good news if it happens, I have other great ways to play these. What excites me is that another M2 developed anniversary collection being potentially on the way perhaps gives hope for even more projects down the road.
I'd love for instance to see a single screen adaptation of Contra IV and the Castlevania titles from the Nintendo DS generation with the touch screen elements removed.
Yes please.
Circle of the Moon was the first game I bought on the GBA.
The series would be perfect on the switch.
The graphics don't look up to 16-bit standard. A Castlevania DS collection would be awesome though. Also, I've never played SOTN does Sony have the license or something?
I'd love to see it be a 6 game collection with the DS titles as well. Also, M2 is known for a lot of other things too and, personally, their Switch port work is their best stuff. The work they did on some of the Sega Ages titles (like Phantasy Star and Gain Ground) is just stellar. As was the Collection of Mana. They're awesome and if M2 is doing this collection, I imagine it won't just be a straight set of ports, but will rather include a lot of nice bonuses and minor upgrades.
please have remastered audio
(coming in October)
@BongoBongo123 The graphics in the GBA games were great and I'm sure any collection will be remastered. M2 does great work so I'm sure they'll make this look great on the Switch.
Konami ports what Nintenpon’t
Great set of games!
@Lyricana Yh M2 are good, the 3D Megadrive Sonics on 3ds are great.
Trials of Mana in the Mana Collection was such a classic, great to play it after it kind of went under the radar in the west when it released.
M2 are also doing the Legend of Mana remake (I think), really looking forward to that game.
Dear Castlevania developer people. If you do release a collection of these games I will happily overpay for them on day 1. You’ve got me right where you want me. I love them so.
In other words, it’s going to be a looong wait for LRG’s physical edition of this.
You know you just Google:
"Play Castlevania Aria of Sorrow online"
Right?
I've only played Aria of Sorrow, don't currently have a copy, and never got to play the other GBA ones. I would looove this. The DS games were amazing too, I played Dawn of Souls to death. I'm playing SoTN right now... that spread of time for Castlevania was amazing.
@MasterGraveheart it would be great on Switch. I only lucked out because a friend sold me a copy along with Final Fantasy tactics for ridiculously cheap. I bought a PS2 for $50 to play DVDs... ha. Still, the more on Switch, the better!
I absolutely loved the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, I would love for this to be a thing as well.
Take my money Konami!
I am freaking out right now. CIRCLE OF THE MOON is my favorite CASTLEVANIA game; just a perfectly designed map. I have all these on the WiiU, but would pick them up for Switch day one. Now... Where is the RONDO OF BLOOD, SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT, and 64/LEGACY OF DARKNESS collection...
New Metroid and castlevania gba games in the same year? Sign me up
Thank God if this is true. I’m currently about halfway through Symphony of the Night on my old android phone (retroarch + my DS4 has made that my go to way to play games via streaming or emulation) and was gonna play through this next. If it comes out on the Switch, I’d gladly pick it up to play on a larger screen!
Another release for LRG to exploit and ruin... 😔
This would be awesome. I haven't played any of those. Never has the advance. I loved Castlevania 2 and the DS games (all three) so this would be great.
Would these be a good jumping on point? I've never played a Castlevania game really. Had one on my SNES Classic but didn't get far
It should be a REMADE collection, not the same ugly-ass games re-released.
I would get this in a heartbeat.
I've been hoping for this so hard, day 1 sale for me.
This is exciting. Best announcement since Limited Run’s official localization of Rondo of Blood for the TG-16!!! What a time we live in!
Fantasti games !!! loved all 3 when I played on GBA SP !!! can't wait but...PLEASE GIVE US EVEN SOTN !
If this launces for $60 will the reviewer dock points for it or add points for the price? Not sure how pricing affects reviews anymore for non-first party games. Still sour over advance wars reboot camp and the mario party remake launching at $60 ! While 3rd party devs are expected to launch at lower price points. Wah, think I'm becoming a troll after that e3 direct 😭😭
They should also add the DS games, but that might be tricky with the double screen and features. However, you could download some DS games on the Wii u, so it shouldn't be impossible.
retired castlevania fan.
(dont ask)
but id like to see all 3 gba and all 3 ds games in one package because it just makes sense.
but theres konami...
@Dpishere these the second and third of the GBA games are made by the same guy who created Bloodstained, Symphony of the Night, and the three DS Castlevanias. Aria of Sorrow in particular is one of the best Castlevanias.
@RCGamer that would be the dream, but I would expect the DS games to be released in a separate collection. Totally agree with you though!
@GameManAdvance hey, avoid trying to buy GBA carts to play these - I went down that route earlier in the year and would not recommend it. Unfortunately there's so many fake GBA carts being sold on eBay and genuine carts are sold at inflated prices. At least wait to see if this collection is released, and I am confident it will after the success of the first castlevania connection.
@ryu_san As a GBA collector I hardly disagree. It is NOT difficult, to learn how to spot a fake and I you buy a fake by mistake, you are helped by ebays buyers protection. The only thing is that it might be kinda expansive for some people to buy good gba games. I bought the double pack for GBA for 10 pounds actually but I consider myself lucky
I've only played Aria, but I would definitely be down to play the other two! (And Aria again lol)
Great games, but I think they should also add the DS games or Symphony of the Night
Castlevania gba and ds trilogies, are the best castlevania games ever, along with sotn.
Hope to have them soon!
@Slowdive yep, on the original advance at first and then later on the SP, which made everything easier to see.
@chipia
I don’t think they will ever re-release the DS games on current systems due to the second touch screen.
@Schizor88 lucky you finding that bargain for the double pack yes of course if you can find genuine carts at reasonable prices it is worth buying them, but I've seen Aria of Sorrow being sold between £100-200 on eBay and that's what I meant by inflated prices. FYI I've bought games from eBay where the seller believed carts were genuine and when they arrived found them to be repros. Had to request returns and refunds and there were several orders where the seller didn't respond to refund requests. That was a lot of time and hassle. I think if you are experienced in spotting fake carts and finding reliable sellers then you can indeed pick up good items at decent prices.
Ive recently been playing COTM on portable, and ive really liked it. Ive tinkered a bit with Harmony of Dissonance...but i have to say the music in the game is not good. Though the game still plays well. I really hope we do get these games cause Id totally play it. Heck Id be happy if we got some of the DS games as well, and even Rebirth,...though I wouldn't be surprised if that were saved for a Konami Rebirth collection with Gradius and Contra Rebirth
I hope they include Circle of the Moon even though its non-canon like Castlevania Legends and 64 because if its just Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow you would have a collection of one really mediocre game and obe really stellar game.
They should do a collection with the gba and ds games. I have the ds games but it'd be nice to play them on the TV.
@ryu_san Yeah. Seems like you have found yourself some bad luck. Sorry to hear that. I would say that you need some experience and knowhow to spot fakes but I believe most people can learn it if they want to. Sry to hear about your experience though. <3
Growing up I thought the front artwork for Circle of the Moon showed Nathan with a whip arm (I thought his hand was his bunched up sleeve).
Make sense considering this year is Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and GBA's 20th anniversary (and every game it launch with). Would be awesome to get all three games together this year. Hopefully we get the DS Castlevania collection on the DS 20th anniversary.
Good bring it over to switch. It'll be an easy day 1 buy for me.
I will love to play this games on switch, the other colection just wasn't for me as those are games I played and finished when they originally launched.
Now this is something I look forward to since I have played all of them but not finished. Make it worth Konami!!
I hate how they always save these for like Halloween DAY
rather than let us enjoy the games for the whole fall season - or sooner
I have these games on GBA, but I'll gladly double dip to play them on Switch. Hopefully limited run will do a physical print like they're doing with the first collection.
I hope this eventually leads to DS Collection, which would require Konami to get rid of the gratuitous, almost game-breaking touch screen aspects of Dawn of Sorry. Sorry, but having to seal the bosses with pinpoint accuracy was infuriating, especially during later boss fights.
Maybe I should sell my GBA copies now while they are still expensive..
I'm deffo picking this up if it comes out physical.
I know it's being called "Advance" but I'm praying for Advance+DS in terms of what is inside
Please be real!
Don’t do this to me…. Don’t tease me with what could be an amazing collections of some of the best castlevania games ever.
Seriously, I hope they include more than just the advance games, they can put the advance and ds games easily. Fingers crossed!
Why won’t they announce it already, I don’t get what the holdup is.
This would be fantastic. I was obsessed with Aria of Sorrow back in the day
@Teksetter
Buddy you missed out big.
The Game Boy Advance is easily the most hours I ever sunk into any system. Mainly because it went with me everywhere. Trips, to school, everywhere. I didn’t stop playing it until I got my DS Lite in 2007 and even then I mostly played GBA games on it.
Best handheld of all time in my opinion. The SP model was perfect. It was the perfect size to pocket everywhere and and it was durable, unlike modern handhelds. I didn’t even take a case with me most of the time. I picked my “game of the day” I wanted to play and when I had free time, I popped it out and played until I needed to go do something else.
@TheRedComet (or should I say Char?)
Thanks for the enthusiastic testimony! It sounds like the GBA was a great little system! It just came out a little too late for me, as I was already in college at the time and content w the SNES or Genesis or PS1 or whatever I was playing then. I also mostly followed a policy of only buying Nintendo’s consoles and not the handhelds, since I couldn’t afford both. That’s why I was so thrilled when Nintendo consolidated all their development on the Switch! I’d wanted a hybrid from them for a long time.
The moral of the story is GIVE US CLASSIC GBA GAMES ON SWITCH! 😆
@BloodNinja I think HoD looks ugly as sin on a backlit screen, play it on an OG GBA or front lit GBA SP the colours look much more natural since that’s how they planned for it to be seen. I personally wished they did a small enhancement to improve the music and colours because then it would be much better.
@Supaguy It’s certainly an ugly game, through and through. Possibly part of its charm, heh.
Yay! Harmony of dissonance and Circle of the moon!
Sigh, this is welcome, but i really want Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night. Hope this includes DS games as well.
Gimme. Been wanting these on my Switch for a while. I'd hope that they do the work to properly implement wide-screen...but they won't cause Konami had no reverence for their IPs.
@EarthboundBenjy And maybe throw us a bone of Castlevania Legends, “canon” be damned. What’d really be wild is if Dracula X Chronicles’ 3D remake for Rondo of Blood were to be added (a Portable exclusive, so in line with a handheld theming).
SotN is my all time fav game, any fan of SotN rate the advance collection games as highly ? Will definitely end up buying anyway, but gives me something to look forward too. Cheers
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