In the eight bit generation developers often pulled no punches. They made games hard, and to be honest I liked this. The longer a title was able to hold my attention the more perceived value I had for it. Unfortunately so many of these releases weren’t tough because of the sheer number of enemies you faced, and instead were overly cryptic. This made playing video games a more social affair. Whenever I made a new discovery I would share it with my friends on the playground, and vice versa. Some of these releases have become particularly infamous for being poorly explained. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is one of these such titles. As a sequel this was a major departure from the original release by introducing several role playing elements as well as focusing on a large overworld which can be explored out of order. It’s a little similar to Metroid in this regard. Unfortunately this is one of the worst cases of cryptic design and this fact makes for a disappointing sequel. Good luck completing this one without a strategy guide.
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest picks up right where the original Castlevania left off. Unfortunately at the end of his first adventure Simon has been cursed by Dracula, and there’s only one way to lift this. Our whip bearing protagonist must collect the parts of the vampire lord, revive this monster, and once again defeat him. This is no easy task; Dracula’s remains are kept deep within five different mansions filled to the brim with his undead minions. The game itself plays very similarly to the original. This is a two dimensional action side scroller wherein you can move left, right, jump, and attack (Simon’s whip is his primary weapon.) The way it’s laid out is very different from any other early Castlevania title. Rather than being laid out in to different stages the entire world is instead interconnected. You can explore a rather large area and even backtrack whenever you please. Within this world are several town areas wherein you can interact with NPCs, gather clues, and even purchase items. Currency is in hearts this time around, and these are used to purchase artifacts that allow you to progress and even new secondary weapons. I realize that they wanted to keep recurring items in place, but who thought hearts would make a good currency?
Unfortunately that is the least of this game’s problems. For starters, every item in this game is extremely expensive. Defeated enemies drop hearts, but far too often you’re stuck retreading through the same areas over and over again to gather enough. It would be one thing if these were just for weapons, healing items, etc, but many of these items are downright required in order to progress. It’s annoying for sure. Furthermore, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest uses a day/night system. After a specific amount of time has progressed a message pops on-screen indicating that it’s either now dusk or dawn. Enemies become stronger after the sun sets, and towns are inhabited by monsters instead of the usual peaceful citizens. This is annoying because when you’re trying to buy an item and it’s nighttime you must wander around fighting enemies until the sun rises, and honestly it takes too long. Furthermore when the change of time message pops up on-screen the action is frozen, and the text takes a long time to cycle through. This is annoying for sure.
Simon’s Quest’s biggest offense however is that it’s one of the most cryptic titles on the Nintendo Entertainment System that I’ve played. You’re supposed to buy specific items, and equip them in specific instances in order to unlock the path forward. That’s easy enough and can be solved with simple experimentation. What can’t is the fact that, in one specific place, you need to equip the red orb and hold down on the control pad to create a tornado that whisks you away to a new area. As far as I can tell not a single character ever mentions this and there’s no other hints or indications of this solution anywhere in the game. The cynic inside of me is sure that this was a method by which to sell additional strategy guides or to make money off of callers to the Nintendo hint line. Because of this the game has aged even worse than it otherwise would have. If it wasn’t for this Simon’s Quest would actually be a very enjoyable game. The level design is a definite step up from the original, and the RPG elements are actually quite interesting.
I really like this game’s graphics. The original was a little drab to be honest, but the problem has been resolved here. The environments and enemies are often colorful, and the day/night cycles make each area multi-layered and it’s a really nice touch. The backgrounds are the biggest upgrade and are a real joy to look at. Even without parallax scrolling they represent some of the best looking ones I’ve seen on the NES. The character models have also been upgraded with a fair degree of detail, and the sprites just look all around smoother to me. The horror theme is as enjoyable as it has always been in this franchise. You have a wide range of monsters including zombies, medusas, fish monsters, and other ghouls. Konami took a fun route, and they did an excellent job with the themes. The soundtrack in this game is absolutely incredible. There’s a reason why Simon’s Quest is often heralded as the high point of the franchise in regard to music; it’s really that good. Some of the music, such as Bloody Tears for example, take on almost a horror techno approach which works really well. I especially like the high tempo night time theme that works perfectly with the horror setting. This is one of the best soundtracks of its era; it’s worth getting it on CD.
Castlevania II really has me torn. I do really like the basic gameplay. This could have been one of the best releases in the franchise even with the unconventional approach here. Sometimes the RPG elements make for a very interesting experience, and I love the way that this world is set up. I just wish Konami had made everything a little less cryptic, gameplay less grindy, and town areas more interesting. This would have been a winning combination, but they botched it in what appears to be an attempt to sell strategy guides.
