Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Game Boy Advance)

I always heard this was a really good sequel to Symphony of the Night, and it doesn't disappoint, except that it almost feels a bit too similar. The combat and exploring the map is still enjoyable, even though I'm not a fan of Soma Cruz' weirdly slow run animation, reminiscent of Intellivision sports games.

I enabled a dot matrix filter on the MiSTer to play this. CRT scanlines seem wrong for a GBA. It looks OK, even though I have no reference for GBA games.

I reached the Clock Tower, the most classic of Castlevania levels.

Waiting in the Clock Tower was Death himself, the first difficult boss fight in the game. I ended up journeying back to the starting area to stock up on health and mana potions and then beating him.