Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1989 on Dedicated handheld)
Description official descriptions
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is the second game in the Castlevania series. After the vampire killer Simon Belmont destroyed Count Dracula in the previous game, an evil curse possessed him. The only way Simon can break the count's curse is to find five of Dracula's body parts (which are mysteriously strewn throughout Transylvania) and burn them.
Gameplay-wise, Simon's Quest is quite different from its predecessor, combining side-scrolling action and platforming with strong role-playing elements. The game does not feature the traditional stages but allows the player to freely roam the land of Transylvania in the style of Nintendo's Metroid. The game world is divided into outdoor areas, dungeon-like mansions containing crucial quest items, and towns, where Simon can talk to non-player characters, rest, and buy items in shops. Some areas can only be accessed by equipping and using specific items that must be bought or found.
The RPG elements are present in character growth, monetary system, and weapon upgrades. Simon's initial whip can be replaced by more powerful variants that can be purchased in various towns. Hearts are used as currency in the game and are obtained from defeated enemies in different quantities. The same hearts also function as experience points: after Simon has accumulated a set amount, he levels up and his attributes are increased.
The game features a day and night cycle that occurs at accelerated pace in real time. At night, enemies inflict more damage, but also drop more hearts upon defeat. Shops are closed during nighttime, and townspeople are replaced by wandering zombies.
Spellings
- ćć©ćć„ć©IIåŖćć®å°å° - Japanese spelling
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (NES version)
12 People
Invincibility |
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Permanence |
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Philosophy |
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Masterpiece |
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Sensitivity |
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Excellence |
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Ambivalence |
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Flourish |
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Admiration |
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Superiority |
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Synchronism |
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Circumstance |
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 68% (based on 27 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 115 ratings with 8 reviews)
This title doesn't deserve its good reputation at all
The Good
Simon Quest is the second game in the Castlevania series, and it is noticeable especially by the fact that is isn't similar to other Castlevania games.
It plays like an unlinear adventure game rather than a single linear action game.
You have to collect parts of Dracula's body in mansions, then get back to an altar to defeat him "forever", to leave Simon's curse.
Now, the good. The game has very good music and pretty good sound effects too. Also, the fact to have an unlinear Castlevania game is really exiting.
The Bad
About everything else.
Even if it slightly differs from other Castlevania games, the gameplay isn't that original. You basically travel from town to town and talk to people, and fight monsters outside of towns. Quite like any Zelda game, and this one was especially copied from Zelda II. The graphics are quite odd, very dark, everything seem black and you cannot distinct objects and backgrounds. Each piece of town, overworld area or dungeon looks just reused from another similar place with palette swapped background and palette swapped monsters. This is extremely annoying.
Additionally, you'll need to use special items during your adventure, but without using a FAQ you won't be able to make through the game, because the information that people give to you in towns is in most case useless crap (stuff like "I'd like to have a boyfriend like you") or unusable quest info that tries to get a poetic style (like "With your crystal make through the ruins") to say that you need to use some crystal in ruins, but without mentioning about which crystal, and which ruins (this is just an example).
Overall, they just re-used maps and make all dialogs with other people fit in one small window, making the game design pretty much ruined. Wait, it isn't everything.
When playing through the game, the screen will scroll too slowly making you pass through walls, but then you get screwed inside the wall. Maybe you'll dead just by pushing the down arrow button, which is supposed to make you sit and not to kill you. Maybe you'll fall when climbing stairs, but you'll still be climbing stairs making you climbing an nonexistent stair. Sometimes, while walking, your hero suddenly falls into an invisible hole and dies. When the screen scrolls and when a monster is supposed to appear in its borders, very often two or three copies of it will appear at the same place, they'll flicker and make the game slows down. When monsters walk along one border of the screen, they blink and come back inside a wall, then tries to move in the wall very quickly, making a shaking monster in a wall.
In other words, glitches in Simon Quest are as countless as stars in a moonlight sky. I think words cannot say how glitchy is the game, you cannot believe it without having played it yourself.
Finally, the game control is not fair, the gameplay is incredibly repetitive due to the fact that each place is just like another one, and all monsters and all their attacks constantly glitches, and the game slow downs a lot.
The Bottom Line
Conclusion ?
This makes an incredibly over-rated game. Konami really put all the crap they could in that game. I cannot believe it is possible to input so much glitches and re-used stuff in a game, which are possibly the two worse flaws of gaming. Also, mediocre over-repetitive graphics (that actually are worse than the original Castlevania) and quests that are impossible to complete without a FAQ because you just cannot guess what you have to do doesn't bring anything good to the game.
The game could have be good if programmers wouldn't be so lazy, tough. I think the design part of the game is good, but the realization is pure crap.
NES · by Bregalad (937) · 2006
Simon, is there ever a good night to have a curse?
The Good
I believe that itās necessary to give a game a second chance. There are a lot of outside factors that affect how we view the games we play. Things like disappointment, anticipation, nostalgia, discomfort, or even sometimes illness can colour the games we play poorly. This is why I decided to give Castlevania 2: Simonās Quest a second chance. As the legend goes, I acquired my NES in high school as my first retro system. Among the games I received with it was Simonās Quest. I was disgusted with its poor controls, confusing design, and punishing difficulty, likely due to my inexperience with older titles. Nowadays, however, Iām a bit better adjusted to the games of yesteryear, so I decided it was high-time that I went back to see if Castlevania 2 is as bad as I remember.
Sequels are a huge part of the video game industry, and why not? It gives developers a chance to expand on what made the first game good, or to take it in a new direction. Castlevania 2 leans heavily into the latter category. The gameplay itself will feel very familiar to anyone who has played the first Castlevania, but the way itās presented and set up has been changed drastically. The stage by stage progression of the original has now been replaced by a more interconnected world. This is interesting, since this is more or less the direction that games later in the series decided to go.
Players are once again put in control of Simon Belmont. It seems that Dracula put a curse on him during their battle in the first game, and the only way he can break it is to gather up Draculaās remains to resurrect him, and then defeat him again. I find this to be an interesting and involving storyline, even if it is a bit farfetched. Why, for example, would Draculaās ring, or even his nail, be required for his resurrection? Then again, Iām quite thankful that it isnāt necessary to gather up every part of Draculaās corpse. This is partly because it would have made the game far longer and more tedious, but also because Iām not sure how Iād react to picking up Draculaās penis.
People whoāve played the first Castlevania will feel right at home with the controls. Simon still moves in the same stiff fashion, but once youāre used to it, the controls can be very comfortable. Whip upgrades also make a return, but now you must buy them and they will also remain with you after you die. Added is the ability to gain experience points and level up, which can increase Simonās life bar. Besides that, Simonās Quest feels a lot like the first Castlevania. It should be comforting to any fans of the previous game.
I think what is most important, however, is that the atmosphere from the first game is actually improved upon. Everything feels very oppressive and hopeless, which is difficult to pull off on the NES. I canāt help but question the decoration in the mansion stages. They look more like dungeons to me. At least hang a picture up. The music is also just as stellar as the originalās, putting it right up there with the best on the NES.
The Bad
I can admire it when a developer takes their franchise in a new direction, but yeesh. The idea is to keep all the things that were good about the original and then expand upon them. I am actually kind of stunned by how many poor design choices were made in creating this game. Iād use the analogy āone step forward, two steps backā but that doesnāt begin to cover it. Some of the gameās problems can be traced back to a lack of polish, others seem to indicate the game being rushed to market, but some are just baffling.
The biggest offender in the gameās design is the puzzles. Castlevania 2 employs a very strange logic. For example, holy water is used to eliminate breakable blocks. Worse yet, nobody in the game world tells you that. You just have to hope that you throw holy water at the right place, and happen to make the connection. But wait, it gets worse. There are places in the game that require you to have a particular item equipped, then they require you to wait a relatively lengthy amount of time, and expect you to sit in a certain pose. Nowhere in the game does anyone or anything tell you this. Iām not sure how weāre supposed to even know what a particular item is for. Even the instruction manual doesnāt adequately explain them.
I challenge you to complete this game without some sort of strategy guide, because I donāt think itās possible. Iām normally the sort of gamer who never employs any sort of outside help when it comes to my games, because I feel it cheapens the experience. Even despite my stubborn nature, however, I caved and checked a guide. Maybe itās simply a product of its time. Perhaps, it was targeted more towards the Nintendo Power subscribers. Maybe itās a case of poor translation. Whatever the reasons are, it comes across as obnoxious nowadays.
The day and night cycle is a form of irritation for me. In concept, itās an interesting idea, but the way itās employed makes it a nuisance. The game progresses on its own clock, so when it becomes night, enemies become stronger and the buildings in town lock their doors. The problem arises when you need to wait for the stores to open again. Night can last quite a while, especially if it occurs directly before you actually reach the village. Youāll be left standing and waiting. Your best bet is to either get up and walk away from the controller, or go and grind for money.
A smaller complaint of mine is the lack of bosses. All in all, I counted three, if you can call them bosses, that is. Aside from them being sparse, they were also very simple and easily defeated. Especially the final boss, who, with very little effort, I vanquished before he could even fight back on my first attempt. To make things worse, thereās no sense of accomplishment from beating them. After you leave the room and return, theyāre back, and you can just walk right on past them. Itās very peculiar that the game only has three bosses, despite having several lairs. Why not put one in every mansion? I donāt understand.
The Bottom Line
Itās a real shame. Most of the elements that make the Castlevania series good are still present and as enjoyable as ever in Simonās Quest. Unfortunately, itās all buried beneath some absolutely horrendous and frustrating game design. The inability to progress without any outside assistance is extremely vexing. If, however, youāre the type of gamer who normally looks at a strategy guides anyway, thereās a good chance youāll enjoy this game a lot more than I did. On the other hand, if youāre someone like me whoād rather wander aimlessly for hours than consult a guide, then thereās a good chance youāll see the game as I have: BAD, bordering on broken.
NES · by Adzuken (836) · 2009
One of the best NES games out there...
The Good
Very well planned out strategy/RPG game. Twists, plots, and secrets everywhere. Beasts are stronger at night, weapons and armor get cooler by the hour, and the base storyline is unmatched, trying to reform Dracula so you can kill him once and for all.
The Bad
Nothing about this game was bad. It can drag at times when you are stuck, but thats the fun of old Zelda/RPG-styled games.
The Bottom Line
A must play. Many hours of fulfilling gameplay. One of the best RPG-style games ever made, compensating for its time period. You'd probably need a strategy guide to figure out all the hidden items and doors. Unmatched in originality of gameplay, depth of storyline, and feel.
NES · by Cormana6868 (12) · 2004
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Also released May 2019, part of Anniversary Collection, including a Windows version. | Andrew Fisher (697) | Jun 23, 2023 |
Another "black sheep" turns out to be a gem | Unicorn Lynx (181775) | May 30, 2012 |
Trivia
Endings
The game features three different endings, which are activated based on the amount of game-time it took the player to finish the game. The first one is for three days or less, another is for eight days or less and the third is for any time playing over that. The endings are different between the US and Japanese versions of the game. It's debatable which of the three is the better ending (the fastest ending isn't considered the best), however it seems that in two of them, Simon Belmont does not survive the curse Dracula placed upon him.
Famicom Disk System Version
The original Japanese version of the game, named Dracula II: Noroi no Fuuin, was not released on a cart. It was available for the Famicom Disk System, an add-on that lets the Famicom play video games straight from a special floppy disk.
There are some differences between this version and the US one:
- It does not use passwords to record the player's progress, it saves the data to one of three save files on the disk.
- It has different music because the Famicom Disk System has an extra sound channel that was not available via other means.
- The mansion music also plays when the player is at their outside entrances.
- There are some sound differences: the glass-shattering effect of holy water doesn't exist, the sound effect for Simon falling into water is altered, the secret-discovering sound plays only when the player initially talks to hidden souls and not after, and there are snazzier sounds for the Ferryman's actions and the Deborah Cliff tornado-soul ride.
- There are deviations on some names (most notably, Simon's last name in the Japanese version, as is usually the case with the family name, is Belmondo. Also, Camilla Cemetery is instead called Carmilla Cemetery).
- It has a slightly higher enemy rate.
- It's possible to purchase garlic and laurels even after Simon's stock is filled.
Garlic Exploit
In the original Japanese Famicom Disk System-only version of the game, it is possible to beat the last boss using only a single piece of garlic. Doing this really takes a long time though. Just drop a piece of garlic on the floor, move and wait for the boss to hit the garlic. It will be hit 256 times without having the ability to move, then die. In the western cartridge port of the game, Konami made the supply of garlic vanish for the final battle, probably because this trick was well-known in Japan.
Innovations
It was the first game to feature a day/night cycle.
Novel
A 1990 novella based on this game was published by Scholastic as part of their Worlds of Power series for children at risk of losing their literacy to video gaming -- books based on non-Nintendo-owned NES games, all attributed to the author F.X. Nine (though this one is also credited: written by Christopher Howell, a Seth Godin Production). At the ends of chapters, hints for the completion of the video game appear in spoiler-secured upside-down text.
Nintendo Power Controversy
The second issue of Nintendo Power had a cover based on Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. It depicted a man in a suit of armor (probably Simon Belmont) holding Dracula's severed head. The cover prompted several phone calls from mothers who claimed it gave their children nightmares.
The Black Dahlia Murder
The American death metal band The Black Dahlia Murder, used this game as inspiration for their first release, What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse. The title is derived from the phrase "What a horrible night to have a curse" which appears onscreen during transitions from day to night. The song What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse from their third album Nocturnal is a downloadable track in Rock Band, bringing Castlevania to that franchise in a sort of round-about way.
Awards
- Power Play
- Issue 01/1990 - #3 Best Nintendo Game in 1989
Information also contributed by Andreas VilƩn, Bregalad, CaptainCanuck, Dracula Marth, Pseudo_Intellectual, ResidentHazard and WildKard.
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Related Sites +
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Castlevania Dungeon
Fansite dedicated to everything and anything Castlevania. -
Howard & Nester do Castlevania 2
A regular feature in Nintendo Power magazine, Howard & Nester was a comic strip about two game whizzes who would one-up each other, while disclosing hints and tips, in the settings of various recently-released games for the NES platform. In the November / December 1988 two-page installment, they figure out how to find Bodley Mansion. -
OC ReMix Game Profile
Fan remixes of music from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, including the album "Sonata of the Damned". -
Play "Castlevania II: Simon's Quest" online!
The entire game can be played on this website, which uses a Java-based NES emulator called vNES to call up ROMs for its visitors. -
Video review of Castlevania II
The Angry Video Game Nerd, Jame Rolfe, reviews Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. This is Jame Rolfe's first Angry Video Game Nerd review. -
Video review of the Castlevania series (WARNING: Language)
The Angry Video Game Nerd, James Rolfe, reviews games in the Castlevania series. In part 2, he takes a second look at Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and reviews Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, both on NES.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Roedie.
Nintendo 3DS, Wii U added by GTramp. Wii added by Sciere.
Additional contributors: Guy Chapman, Foxhack, Pseudo_Intellectual, Echidna Boy, LepricahnsGold, jsbrigo, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, MobyReed.
Game added August 24, 2003. Last modified March 3, 2024.