Wednesday, October 21, 2020

MIDI Week Singles: "Awake" - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)

 

"Awake" from Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on the Game Boy Advance (2001)
Composer: Sotaro Tojima
Album: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon & Castlevania: Concerto of a Midnight Sun Original Soundtrack
Label: Konami Music Entertainment
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami


Castlevania: Circle of the Moon has a strange place in Castlevania lore?/history?  One of those.  Around the time of its release, it was praised by some as being the next best thing in the franchise to Symphony of the Night, although in 2002 the game was removed from the official timeline and exiled to be a standalone game in the franchise.  The soundtrack though, like a lot of Castlevania games has tracks from previous games like Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania 64, and Castlevania: Bloodlines among a number of other games, but "Awake" was one of the few original songs composed for Circle of the Moon; coincidentally, this song was also used in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as one of the Castlevania songs, presumably for Richter's stage (I've never played Smash Ultimate).

What is great about "Awake" is that it sounds so much like Castlevania, and fits so well with other staples like "The Sinking Old Sanctuary" (which also makes an appearance in Circle of the Moon) and "Aquarius" from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.  Now, it has been a time since I played Circle of the Moon, long before it was removed from canon, but it is nice to know that a lot of the original music here, albeit there is not a lot, still fits in very well with this world, 19 years after it was released (although sadly this was Sotaro Tojima's only foray into Castlevania music).


~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
Their Grandeur Shall Remain Untainted


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