Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

"I can't believe that someone threw this game into a dumpster."

Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest is a great game. Yes, it is different from the original, but sometimes change is good. Although this game was made a long time ago, I still believe that it is a great game. Unfortunately, much like the N64 Castlevania games, Castlevania 2 is bashed by quite a bit of people. Well, Nintendo did what it did to all of it's sequels during the NES era. It changed the second game. Hey, Mario 2 and Zelda 2 did that as well, and those two games were bashed as well. The problem is people don't like to change (cough, Wind Waker). Well, Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest is fantastic.

The interesting thing is that Nintendo made the game to be like an RPG. For those that might not know, an RPG is a role playing game. Don't get me wrong, it isn't Final Fantasy. Instead you can level up weapons in the game. The game is basically a quest made very much like Zelda 2. It's a quest, and it isn't like the first game at all, except for the fact that the main character is still Simon Belmont, and he still uses a whip. Simon has different whips to choose from (Leather Whip, Thorn Whip, Chain Whip, Morning Star, and Flame Whip), and also uses sub-weapons as well. The holy water and dagger return, but the other weapons won't be seen in another Castlevania game. The game developers also decided to add the day/night element to the game. The big difference is that the enemies are stronger at night, and some shops are closed as well. I must say that the game is very easy, and that none of the three bosses are very challenging.

Simon Belmont is the hero of the first game, and also the most popular hero ever to enter Dracula's castle. He ranks up there with Alucard. Anyway, after Simon defeated Dracula in the original, Dracula had a curse cast upon him. This curse that was cast upon Simon would cause him to slowly die. The only way for Simon to rid the curse was to collect Dracula's five body parts (Rib, Heart, Eye, Nail, and Ring), reassemble them at Castlevania, defeat Dracula again, and burn his body. Of course, Dracula will always come back, but at least Simon won't die.

The graphics in this game look way better than the original game. That usually happens when a sequel is made. Each environment has nice detail, and even Simon has great detail unlike the original where he was a faceless brown character. The music is fantastic. Much like the original, this game has some of the best music seen in a video game. Of course, there aren't many songs in the game, but this is the game that invented Bloody Tears, a Castlevania classic.

Replay value is certainly there. The game is easy, but there are three different endings to see. Also, unlike the first game, this game is fairly long, so you would certainly get your money's worth playing this game. Plus, with a quest like this, there are numerous paths that you can take, so you can beat the game sometimes a different way.

Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest is great. I got the game for free because my grandfather's brother-in-law knew a kid that would beat the game once, and then throw it out in a dumpster. Talk about being lucky, I got the game for free. I know quite a bit about this game, as I have beaten it several times, and read the book as well. It's a great game, and yes, it is worth digging threw garbage to play it. I still can't believe that someone would throw this game out. Yes, it's good but, why would you waste your money on a new game, just to beat it once, and then throw it out. Of course, their loss was my gain. Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest would definitely be the type of game that you should try and play. Take a trip to your local game store, and stroll the bargain bins to find this game. You might even want to look in a dumpster; maybe you'll even find it there.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/05, Updated 02/02/06