Castlevania Advance Collection rated in Australia – believed to contain every GBA game

While there’s still no signs of a brand new console Castlevania, it’s believed a compilation containing all three GBA games will release.

There hasn’t been a new Castlevania game for consoles since 2014’s Lords Of Shadow 2 and, given how popular the Netflix show has been, it seems maddening that Konami hasn’t attempted to capitalise on its success.

Currently, Konami hasn’t announced any game related plans for the franchise but some fans believe that it may have some more re-releases in the works, thanks to a recently discovered listing on the Australian ratings board.

The listing is for something called Castlevania Advance Collection. Although it doesn’t contain any other details beyond the fact that it’s a multi-platform game, the theory is that it’ll feature games which released for the Game Boy Advance.

That would include Circle Of The Moon in 2001, Harmony Of Dissonance in 2002, and Aria Of Sorrow in 2003, all of which were well received by critics.

The games were already re-released digitally on the Wii U’s Virtual Console in 2014 but they were only made available in North America and Japan, so a more accessible collection on modern hardware would be most welcome.

Konami released the Castlevania Anniversary Collection in 2019 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC and it’s probably safe to assume that the Advance Collection (if it is real) will be made available on those same platforms, and maybe the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 as well.

As for the games themselves, each one features a unique story at very different points in the series timeline. Circle Of Moon stars, not a member of the recurring Belmont clan, but a completely different vampire hunter called Nathan Graves. There is some dispute over whether this game is canon anymore or not, as it is absent from Konami’s own website.

Harmony Of Dissonance stars Juste Belmont, the grandson of Simon Belmont (hero of the very first game who many will also recognise from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), who goes on a mission to rescue his kidnapped friend from Dracula’s castle.

Aria Of Sorrow, rather than a traditional medieval-like setting, takes place in the year 2035 and stars high school student Soma Cruz who finds himself trapped within Dracula’s castle and must escape.

Some fans are expressing hope that the collection will also include the three Nintendo DS games: Dawn Of Sorrow, Portrait Of Ruin, and Order Of Ecclesia.

Their inclusion seems unlikely, however, as all three games implemented the DS’ stylus and touchscreen to varying degrees, especially Dawn Of Sorrow. While not impossible, these three would have to undergo some major changes to work properly on modern consoles.

If the collection does turn out to be a false rumour then the closest thing to a new Castlevania game remains Bloodstained by former Konami director Koji ‘IGA’ Igarashi, who worked on all of the titles mentioned here. He’s currently working on a sequel to Bloodstained, which is basically Castlevania in all but name.

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