Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

"Whoa! Simon is a hard man! He never sleeps!"

The first Castlevania game baned the way for a million-selling franchise that would rule the world for more than twenty years later. Its gothic-ambient design and its simple but addictive concept dug straight into the heart of all the gamers. When Konami made game number two, they decided to reinvent the concept and develop the actual gameplay a whole lot more. Instead of putting up the levels one after another in classic action-style, Konami now made a whole country the player could explore freely, including many closed trails that the player had to find out how to get to, hidden items to search for, and cities where you could rest, buy items and get clues from the townspeople. While Castlevania II: Simon's Quest did do very good in the sales, Konami somehow disapproved of the concept, and for a long time after that, the Castlevania sequels were all in the shape of the first game. Still, Castlevania II did a nice impact in the gaming world, and was the basis of the legendary Castlevania game Symphony Of The Night, which is, by me and many other gamers, considered to be one of the best games ever in the world today.

The game takes place shortly after the end of the first one. Dracula has been defeated by Simon Belmont, the vampire hunter, but just before Dracula took his last breath, he cast a curse on Simon and the whole land of Transylvania. Dracula's body was shattered in pieces, and his remains were concealed within five different top-guarded mansions scattered around the country, to prevent the evil count from ever rise again. However, because of the curse, slowly the lands and the cities around Castlevania started to rot and decay, and monsters once again invaded the areas. Simon himself suffered from the effects of the curse, and found the citizen of Transylvania to blame him for all the bad things that had struck the country. He realized he had to set out on a journey across Transylvania to gather the body parts of Dracula, bring them to the ruins of Castlevania, and exorcise the evil count back to hell once and for all. Otherwise, the curse will never cease.

The actual concept of Castlevania II is simple but entertaining. If you have played games like Zelda II and Faxanadu (and you SHOULD have!), you will know the style. You walk around in the country, visiting cities for some shopping, resting and additional small talk, fight against enemies in the many forests, rivers and mountains around Transylvania, and locate the five special mansions holding the body parts. As you proceed, you acquire experience points, that make you stronger, and new items that open new paths for you. Basically your average platform adventure game, but with the producers being Konami, and the game being labeled "Castlevania", one isn't surprised to find a lot more beneath the shell.

The world of Transylvania is indeed a fascinating one. Simon travels the land armed with his whip, as well as some additional items like holy water, a magic cross, laurels and of course some garlic. The lands look really rotten like they are dying of the evil, and the music, graphic design of towns and townsfolk, as well as the monsters you encounter, all create a perfect gothic mood. The songs are top class, as we are used to when it comes to Castlevania. The people of the city wear traditional clothes and the houses are stern structures of wood and granite. Simon himself looks pale and sick, which is clearly due to the curse he holds. Konami even dared to make the young women of the towns daring and inviting, which enhances the gothic sinful image of the game. On your way, you will fight classical beasts and monsters such as mummies, skeletons, werewolves, spiders and much more. You will meet plenty of mysterious men in cloaks hidden in the shadows, offering secret items and tactics for a price. There is even a ferryman who takes you over a cursed river!

A very cool aspect with Castlevania II is the progression between night and day. During the game, time will proceed, and the day will eventually fade into night, which then fades into morning. During the day, monsters are usually weaker, and the towns are open. During the night, the true strength of the beasts awaken, and the people lock themselves inside, leaving poor Simon with no help against the evil. This was a very good idea of Konami, but unfortunately, they didn't carry it out perfectly. The day does not slowly drift into night. Rather, the day just suddenly vanishes with a snap of the finger, and it all goes dark. Of course I understand that the poor NES couldn't handle graphics that slowly could transfer between morning, high noon, afternoon, evening and dark night, but still, it gets a bit corny. Besides, the effects of the night and day cycle are not especially well-used. There are little advantages with the night, and often you will find yourself heading for a town, just to suddenly be ambushed by the night, and have to wait until the morning again before you can do your shopping. I think Konami should have used the day/night cycle a lot more, and given us an option to wait out the night in an inn or something like that. Still, I give credit for the main idea. The only thing I can't understand is why Simon never needs any sleep. I guess it's part of his curse.

The challenge level of the quest is put down nicely. The game is not too difficult, but no cake walk either. It doesn't contain much frustration, like other platform adventure games often do. When your lives are gone, you have an infinite number of continues, and there is a password feature that allows you to save your progress if you need to turn of the console. The riddles and obstacles are mostly easy to solve, and there are usually no problems to locate the parts of the land you haven't yet investigated. I have heard people complain that it is nearly impossible to know what to do in the game, but I can't say that myself. Sure, there are some puzzles that may be very odd, but mostly, you can figure them out if you just think for a while and try out different things. The paths out in the world are mostly straight ahead, and easy to mark "explored"/"not yet explored" in your mind. If you have a trouble keeping all the parts of the land in your head, you may draw a simple map and keep a note on what you have explored or not. While I might understand some of the complaints people have, I can't agree with them.

One thing that has a major drawback however is the controls. Simon still has his classic jumps from hell, which makes all platform jumping passages a true nightmare. He also bounces back a few feet every time he gets hit. Fortunately, the game doesn't put you up against too many perils of this kind, but a lot more work could have been done on the controls.

As good as the main storyline is, the actual in-game dialogue is very hazy and unintentionally humorous. The townspeople's words are few, strange and very poorly translated. Most of the time, you won't even understand what they talk about, and after a while you will stop listen to them. Of course, this is nothing that ruins the game, but when Konami managed to fit in the gothic feeling on all parts, they shouldn't have let this one slip out of their hands.

The boss battles are a little bit weak, I think. Many of the mansions don't even have any boss! When you encounter a boss, he or she is often ridiculously easy, and in fact, you can even walk past the boss to the next room, acquiring the body part without having to fight the boss! This is insane, and a shame for a game of the Castlevania series. I would like to have some cool boss music, as well as some intro sequences when the boss appears. The actual battle should have been longer, harder and a lot more stressful. Hey, one of the highest moments of Castlevania is the boss fights, after all!

Final verdict:
Castlevania II is a very good adventure game that should be played by everyone. It is not perfect in all parts, but overall it is a very well-designed and entertaining episode. The gothic style of the game, manifested in the music, graphic design and storyline add a lot of atmosphere. The game is challenging, but not hopeless, and searching the land and gaining access to new pathways is fun and easy. While the replay value might not be the highest, there are three endings available, dependant of how you completed the game. Still, Castlevania II is a game to come back to several times to play again, just for fun. A true classic for the NES, and a worthy trophy in the row of Castlevania games.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/17/06