MiSTer FPGA - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance / Game Boy Advance

Channel:

MiSTer Walrus FPGA

Subscribers:

1,600

Published on October 1, 2021 7:00:35 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV881tKRS5o

Game:

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (2002)

Duration: 2:44:03

593 views

32

The recent release of the Castlevania Advance Collection reminded me that I hadn't played Harmony of Dissonance on MiSTer yet. In this video I utilize the "No-Glo" hack to remove the weird character outline along with gamma compensation to counter the overly-bright graphics. GBA had no backlight originally, so games regularly used this overly-bright style for better visibility. Unfortunately there is no in-game option to tone this back, so other measures are necessary. Generally with GBA I find pure gamma 110 to be a good fit, but I went a bit heavier with this one because the darker, more-saturated look fits Castlevania well. The first GBA Castlevania game (Circle of The Moon) is the only one on the console that does not require such dramatic brightness compensation.

No-Glo romhack used in this video: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/677/

I only planned on playing about an hour of this, to see how far I could get with one life. Ended up playing for nearly three hours and still didn't die once. A huge departure from the classic Castlevania difficulty, where you could expect to die in the first 15 minutes easily unless you're familiar with the game.

This is my second time ever playing Harmony of Dissonance, the first being right when it released. SNES controller feels perfect here, making movement and quick responses feel like second nature. That in combination with the experience of playing this on a CRT, makes the GBA feel like a real successor to the SNES. I had a hard time putting the controller down once the action started, though I did take a couple short breaks during this session.

Other Castlevania videos:

-GBA-
Circle of the Moon: https://youtu.be/uhJxMrMJEN8
Aria of Sorrow (with scanlines): https://youtu.be/_LmPfLyeqrw

-NES-
Castlevania (no deaths): https://youtu.be/dbmWSdKgtbw

GBA core by FPGAzumSpass. His past work includes significant upgrades to the AO486 core, adding savestates to GB/GBA/NES, creating two-player versions of the GB/GBA cores, and releasing WonderSwan and Atari Lynx cores. He has now set his sights on bringing Playstation 1 to MiSTer. You can support his work here: https://www.patreon.com/FPGAzumSpass

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Game Boy Advance core 07-18-2021 build - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
A.K.A: キャッスルヴァニア 白夜の協奏曲 , Castlevania: Byakuya no Concerto , Castlevania: Concerto of Midnight Sun

Filter: Gaussian Sharp 06 // Gamma: Pure 120

Played using a SuFami NTT Data controller via BlisSTer / LLAPI.

Video: Integer Scaled to 1080p // HDMI to Datapath e1s capture card

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|:=-Timestamps-=:|
00:00:00 - Boot / Settings
00:00:38 - Title / Intro
00:03:16 - Game Start (Entrance)
00:08:37 - Marble Corridor
00:21:14 - The Wailing Way
00:52:59 - Castle Treasury
01:06:06 - Skeleton Cave
01:28:47 - Luminous Cavern
02:01:57 - Sky Walkway
02:16:10 - Clock Tower

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Occasional livestreams on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/WalrusFPGA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WalrusFPGA


=---------------CONTRIBUTE---------------=

None of this would be possible without the constant hard work of Sorgelig. It cannot be overstated how much he has done and continues to do for this project, since its beginning. You can support him either at his Patreon in the link below, or on Paypal, depending on your preference. MiSTer is a paradigm shift in how we can experience these classic games. This is a long-term preservation project that will continue to grow so that gamers today and in the future can experience these excellent systems as accurately and lag-free as possible. Donating what you can will help keep the updates coming. Thank you.

Patreon: https://patreon.com/FPGAMiSTer

PayPal: https://paypal.me/FPGAMiSTer

NOTE: I am not affiliated with Sorgelig and am only sharing these links as a fan of the project who wishes to see it continue to grow rapidly.


=-----------------INFORM-----------------=

SmokeMonster's overview video of this core: https://youtu.be/Ht6rqhnxv5E

Github link for this core: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/GBA_MiSTer

MiSTer Forum/Wiki/Github (source, guides and info): http://MiSTerFPGA.org

Official MiSTer Discord for live chat/help: https://discord.gg/4xKVg4XVYn
(Be respectful; this server is moderated. New users must be verified.)


=------------------BUILD------------------=

Worldwide list of sellers for MiSTer expansion boards: https://misterfpga.org/viewforum.php?f=34&sid=74e1c5e7dae1b99284789d93194cfa0b

I have personally ordered all my parts from https://www.MiSTerAddons.com and have been 100% satisfied with the quality and service there. (North American seller. If in a different region, check list linked above for best local shipping rates.)

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