Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

"More people need to like this game, as it is not bad at all."

Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest was released in Japan on August 28 1987. It follows the events of the original Castlevania, where Simon Belmont has defeated Dracula, but he is inflicted by a curse. Now Simon must get rid of the curse by getting all the parts of Dracula and facing him in one final showdown.

NOTE: The plot is similar to Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3, where the characters had to get the final remains of Freddy and give him a proper burial. Both Nightmare Part 3 and Simon's Quest were released in the same year, but Simon's Quest came 8 months after Nightmare Part 3.

Now, I'm aware that this game get's quite a lot of criticism. The one I hear most is that it doesn't use the same formula of the original Castlevania. I say, 'So what?'. I think that Castlevania 2 is a great game, and I bet it was used as a basis for some N64 masterpieces like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, where Link has to go around dungeons, bashing up bosses and getting rewarded. In Simon's Quest you do similar things, except a few less bosses. This game is the retro version of Ocarina of Time. Onto the main review...

Music: 10/10

I'd give the music 100/10 if I could. The tunes in this game are so insanely awesome and catchy. The main theme, 'Bloody Tears' is one of them. Great music is played throughout the whole game, which is great because it shows the music director was obviously not lazy, unlike in games such as Friday the 13th, where there are only 2 songs that go for about 10 seconds and are looped.

Sound: 7/10

The sound is pretty good. Most of the sound effects are reused from Castlevania 1, such as the getting hit sound effect, but that's okay. Sound isn't a huge component of a NES game. The effects aren't that bad anyway.

Gameplay: 8/10

The meat of any game, how much fun you can have with it. The game mechanics are generally the same as the first. However, things like the jumping mechanics fail. One, because if you jump straight upwards you cannot move left or right, so you have to be walking to be able to jump anywhere. Not a big deal but annoying. Another reason I don't like the jumping mechanics is because sometimes you don't quite make it to a platform and you die. I don't care though, because Simon's Quest holds a few aspects of the original, such as whipping monsters, traveling all over the land, which is great because it makes it an adventure game, and I love those types of games.

One thing the two Castlevania games do not have in common is the fact you have to buy items. I don't really mind that because that set up games like Ocarina of Time. It makes the game seem more realistic, like if you really were in medieval times and you were cursed and you had to earn your items. Another thing is that it changes from day to night. The mechanic for this is VERY annoying. The game stops, a message comes up, and 10 seconds later you can resume playing. This can get very frustrating but I learnt to live with it.

Difficulty: 2/10

That 2/10 is not a good thing. Without some sort of guide, some parts of the game are next to impossible to figure out. Example, a dead end that you're supposed to pass through. Apparently the game designers thought people would be able to figure out that you're supposed to crouch in front of it while you have a red crystal attached and wait for about 5 seconds. Why does it have to be that hard? Once you know what to do you can enjoy playing the game.

Graphics: 9/10

Very nice graphics. Enemies are shown in detail and the scenery is nice. They're pretty much top standard NES graphics, falling behind Kirby's Adventure only slightly.

Controls: 10/10

Not much to say here. The controls are easy and I found them convenient. Control Pad to move, A to jump, B to use the whip and up on the control pad to use a secondary item.

Overall: 7.6 (averaged and rounded to 8)

This game is definetely worth a buy. It has also found it's way to the wii's virtual console, which is good. You will like this game as I did if you grew up on N64 games like Ocarina of Time and were introduced to NES games later on. I played this game before Castlevania 1 (which is also a good game) so that must be another reason why I like Simon's Quest. If you like this game, there's no problem with you. Just ignore comments from other people.

"More people need to like this game, as it is not bad at all."

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/27/08

Game Release: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (US, December 1988)