Castlevania: Ай шеңберінің құпиясы

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, titled Castlevania in PAL regions, is a 2001 action role playing game created by Konami for the Game Boy Advance. Published as a launch title in 2001, Circle of the Moon is part of Konami's Castlevania video game series, the premise of which centers on the eternal conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the vampire Dracula. The game sold one million copies worldwide and was acclaimed by critics. The events of its plot were retconned by former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi, a move which was met with some criticism. The game was re released as part of the Castlevania Advance Collection on September 23, 2021, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It was bundled alongside Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and Castlevania: Dracula X.

Circle of the Moon makes use of a 2D side scrolling style of gameplay, similar to many of the previous Castlevania video games. Morris Baldwin, who helped in Dracula's banishment, trained him to defeat Dracula and the monsters; Morris ultimately chose him as his successor and gave him the "Hunter Whip", to the displeasure of Hugh, Morris' son who trained alongside him. Along the way, he learns that at the next full moon, Morris' soul will be used to return Dracula to full power. He also periodically encounters Hugh, who becomes more hostile as the game progresses. Eventually, Nathan encounters Camilla, who hints that she and Dracula are responsible for the changes in his personality. Nathan vanquishes Camilla in her true form and meets up with Hugh once more. Upon seeing him, Hugh immediately attacks him with the goal of proving himself to his father through Nathan's defeat; Nathan, however, realizes that Dracula is controlling Hugh. Nathan defeats him, and Dracula's control over Hugh breaks. Confessing that he doubted his self worth when Nathan was chosen as successor, Hugh tasks him with Morris' rescue. Arriving at the ceremonial room, Nathan confronts Dracula, who confirms that he had tampered with Hugh's soul to cause the changes in his personality. They begin to fight and halfway through, Dracula teleports away to gain his full power. Hugh then frees his father and tasks Nathan with Dracula's banishment. Nathan continues the battle and defeats Dracula; escaping the collapsing castle, he reunites with Morris and Hugh. Nathan is declared a master vampire hunter by Morris. Hugh vows to retrain under Morris due to his failure.

Developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe, Circle of the Moon was designed as a launch title for the Game Boy Advance. The option to play as Hugh did not appear in the final version of the game.

Circle of the Moon received critical acclaim. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, it is the twelfth highest rated Game Boy Advance title. RPGamer also praised the new system, calling it a "breath of fresh air" when combined with the existing ideas from previous entries in the series, though in contrast felt the game had significant replay value due to its various additional modes and the strengths/weaknesses related to each that required new strategies. Despite their criticism of the plot and recycled elements, they summarized the title as "Konami's Second Symphony". Game Informers Tim Turi felt in the game's retrospective that it was the first game to imitate Symphony of the Nights style but criticized the dark visuals.

IGN reported on July 23, 2001, that Circle of the Moon sold over 500,000 units, with over 300,000 sold in North America and about 200,000 sold in Europe.

The game was nominated for "Best Action Adventure Game" and "Best Game Boy Advance Game" at GameSpots Best and Worst of 2001 Awards, both of which went to Grand Theft Auto III and Advance Wars, respectively. It was also a nominee for "Console Role Playing Game of the Year" at the AIAS' 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which was ultimately awarded to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. The game was also nominated at The Electric Playgrounds 2001 Blister Awards for "Portable Game of the Year", but lost to Advance Wars.

Despite the game's success, series producer Koji Igarashi, who had not been involved in its production, was critical of the game. When developing follow up title Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, he cited in an interview several flaws he felt should have been rectified in Circle of the Moons design, primarily its control scheme and the dark appearance of the graphics on the Game Boy Advance. He additionally criticized the DSS card system, stating that it "did not match with the world Castlevania had established over a long period of time", though admitted he felt it was a good system. In 2002, Circle of the Moon was removed from the series' timeline, a move met with some resistance from fans. Igarashi noted the reason for the removal was not due to his non involvement with the game, but instead the intention of the game's development team for Circle of the Moon to be a stand alone title.