(KMCA-162). Soshiro Hokkai composed the soundtrack for Harmony of Dissonance with Michiru Yamane creating the additional stage music. Igarashi later noted that the quality of the music had been "sacrifice[d]" for the graphics of the game. Release Originally slated for a mid-June release, Harmony of Dissonance was not released until September 2002. It was released in Japan on June 6, 2002, in North America on September 16, 2002, and in Europe on October 11, 2002. In the United States, about 126,000 units of Harmony of Dissonance were sold, and in Japan, it was not considered a "huge hit" by Igarashi. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was re-released in North America in January 2006, along with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, as part of Castlevania Double Pack. Both games are contained on a single GBA Game Pak. This pack appeared in Europe later that year. It was picked as the IGN Game Boy Game of the Month for January 2006. It was published on the Wii U Virtual Console on October 16, 2014, in North America. Reception Metacritic assigned it a score of 87 of 100 while GameRankings gave it an 84%. Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu gave the game a 31 out of 40. At the time of its release, Harmony of Dissonance received positive reviews from English-language critics. GameSpot commended it as "not just a fine Castlevania game—it's also one of the better Game Boy Advance games to come around in a while". GameSpy stated: "Despite its unevenness, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a quality adventure that represents the best attempt yet made at miniaturizing the brilliance of Symphony of the Night." While worrying about the loss of originality of the franchise and noting that "Harmony of Dissonance almost obsessively copies Symphony of the Night", GamePro called it "a fun action game and a fine Castlevania game in its own right." The improved graphics of Harmony of Dissonance, especially the backgrounds, 3D effects, and multi-jointed bosses, received praise from reviewers, who called them "plentiful and visually stunning", and "top-notch". It was a runner-up for GameSpots 2002 "Best Graphics on Game Boy Advance" award. The soundtrack of the game was less well received. Critics panned the music as "easily the worst Castlevania soundtrack" and "muddy, plodding, and reminiscent of the days of four-channel NES soundtracks". Conversely, GameSpot found that the music was "decent" and occasionally "fitting or even catchy", but failed to live