What a Horrible Night for a Look Back At Castlevania II: Simon's Quest 35 Years Later

What a Horrible Night for a Look Back At Castlevania II: Simon's Quest 35 Years Later

October 1. 2022

By Ryan Porzl

In 1986, the world was introduced to Castlevania which told the story of vampire hunter Simon Belmont as he ventured into Castlevania in order to slay Count Dracula. With it's critical and commerical success, a sequel was bound to happen and fans wouldn't have to wait. In 1987, the world was introduced to Castlevania II: Simon's Quest which continued the adventure of Simon Belmont as he must travel through Transylvania in order to once again defeat Dracula and lift a curse. Since it's release, the game has had both it's share of support and criticism but is a memorable addition to the series. With the 25th Anniversary having come in August, we'll take a look at the continuation of Simon Belmont and his second quest. This article does contain spoilers.

Note: I don't own the graphic.

Characters-

Simon Belmont (Shimon Berumondo or Shimon Belmondo in Japan)- The protagonist. Legendary vampire hunter from the equally legendary Belmont family. After previously killing Count Dracula in Castlevania I, Simon must now travel through Transylvania, claim Dracula's body parts and destroy them at Castlevania in order to rid a curse placed upon him and Transylvania.

Count Dracula (Dorakyura in Japan)- The antagonist. Dracula previously did battle with Simon in 1691 during the events of Castlevania I but prior to his slaying, placed a curse on Simon and Transylvania that Simon must now break. Dracula is dead for most of Castlevania II as the plot sees Simon claim his various body parts as destroying them in Castlevania is the only way to break the curse.

Plot-

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest takes place in 1698, seven years after the first Castlevania. Years after slaying Count Dracula during the events of Castlevania I, Simon Belmont begins to feel pain in his body and believes his death is imminent. He visits his family's graveyard where he is greeted by a mysterious woman. She explains to him that prior to his death, Dracula placed a curse on Simon as well as Transylvania. The only way to break it is for Simon to claim various body parts of Dracula scattered in various mansions then burn the remains at the ruins of Castlevania, and then bury his remains. Simon begins his quest but problems become clear immediately. With Transylvania cursed, more monsters are showing up and are stronger at night. Meanwhile, Dracula's minions are guarding his body parts in the mansions. On top of that, various townspeople are scared of Dracula returning and thus when Simon seeks information, some may lie to him. Regardless, Simon ventures through Transylvania, fighting monsters, collecting new weapons and accessories, and each of the necessary body parts. After collecting the body parts, he travels to the abandoned and ruined Castlevania where he attempts to destroy the remains but a sixth body part he was not aware of (the tooth of Vlad) was in Castlevania and revived the ghost of Dracula. The two battle with Simon once again slaying the Count. After winning, Simon burns Dracula's remains and buries them to lift the curse. With the curse gone, Simon is considered a hero by the people of Transylvania and the Belmonts were no longer shunned by the people of Transylvania. However, it is implied that Dracula may not be gone for good.

Gameplay-

As was the case with other second games like the American Super Mario Bros. 2, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and later with Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Castlevania II would also deviate from the standard Castlevania formula of the time. Unlike Castlevania I which had a linear style with various levels, Castlevania II would have a more non-linear/open world style of gameplay. As a result, the player can tackle any mansion they want providing they have the proper equipment that allows them to advance. Like any open world type game, the world of Simon's Quest is mostly inaccessible at the start. Only after the player starts gaining the necessary items and equipment can they go further in the game. As a result, the game can be short or long depending on how long it takes the player to advance. As mentioned, if the player has the necessary items then they can tackle any mansion they want and not have to do it in a linear style. The game also is the first to incorporate RPG elements in that the player earns currency which they can use to buy weapons and equipment as well as experience points and a level system where Simon gains a level and gets stronger once the player gets enough experience points from collecting heart they get from killing enemies. The game also has villages to explore and the player is able to talk to the townspeople. Like most RPGs, there's also a place Simon can go to restore his health but instead of it being an inn, it's a church. Because of the RPG elements, the game plays differently than other Castlevanias. Usually, the player can only carry one subweapon at a time which they get by whipping candles and then need hearts in order to use the subweapons. In Simon's Quest, the player buys subweapons like throwing daggers and holy water. They can also switch between them by equipping one at a time and have an infinite use of them. Meanwhile, the hearts in Castlevania II are currency which allow the player to buy weapons and equipment. Simon's weapon is once again a whip but unlike the first game where the player gets upgrades by hitting candles, the player must buy stronger whips with their currency or gain them via a spell. The player starts with a leather whip but can get stronger whips such as a thorn whip, a chain whip or morning star, and a flame whip. Along with needing Dracula's body parts to win the game, the player can equip certain parts to enhance themselves as Dracula's rib can used as a shield, his eye can allow the player to see breakthrough walls that contain books of hints, and his nail can allow the player to break bricks with the whip instead of needing holy water.

The object of Simon's Quest is to explore Transylvania and tackle five mansions. Each of these mansions has an orb at the end which contains a body part of Count Dracula that the player must destroy with an oak stake they buy in the mansion in order to get the body part. Along the way, they also have to acquire a magic cross. After exploring each mansion and collecting all the body parts, the player then must go to the abandoned Castlevania, fight Dracula's ghost, and kill him again to win the game. The player has three lives and infinite continues. The player can lose a life if they run out of energy in their life bar by enemy attacks or fall into water. If the player loses all their lives, they get a Game Over with the option of continuing where they left off or getting the password which would allow them to stop the game and resume later on.

Another notable feature in Simon's Quest is the game changing from day to night and vice versa. Provided the player isn't in a mansion, the game will change from day to night and night to day after a few minutes with a box with text either saying "What a horrible night to have a curse" or "The morning sun has vanquished the horrible night". The main difference is during nighttime, the player can't enter buildings outside of the mansions, there's zombie's in the villages, and the monsters are stronger and have more energy but drop bigger hearts.

The Japanese and North American/PAL regions are a bit different in that the Japanese version is on the Famicom Disk System which allows for a save feature. Meanwhile, the NES versions are in cartridge form which resulted in a password system being utilized. In the Japanese version, all the townspeople lie when talking to them while the NA/PAL versions have some being honest while some lie.

Behind the Scenes-
Many of the crew from the first Castlevania returned for Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. Hitoshi Akamatsu returned as director after having directed the first game. He later returned for Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and then did several more games before dropping out of the video game industry by the early 2000s. Noriyasu Togakushi returned as the artist. Togakushi later returned for Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and would eventually go on to serve as a producer for the Cooking Mama games. The programmers were the returning Nobuhiro Matsuoka and Yasuo Kuwahara. Kuwahara would later serve as a programmer for games like Final Fantasy VII, Parasite Eve, and Final Fantasy IX. The composers were Kenichi Matsubara, Satoe Terashima, and Kouji Murata. Matsubara would later work on Castlevania remake Haunted Castle as well as Contra Force and Gradius II. Terashima returned from Castlevania I and would later work on Castlevania remake Vampire Killer. Murata previously worked as a sound creator for the video game adaptation of Top Gun and later went on to work on Snatcher and Kingdom Hearts: Unchained X.

Release-

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest was released in Japan as Dorakyura Tsu: Noroi no Fuin (Dracula II: The Seal of the Curse) on August 28, 1987 on the Famicom Disk System, on December 1, 1988 in North America on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and April 27, 1990 in PAL regions on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was largely met with positive critical response. Famitsu scored it a 28/40, IGN scored it a 7/10, GameSpot scored it a 6.5/10, and GameTrailers scored it 7.5/10. In 2008, Nintendo Power placed it #15 in their list of the best NES games. IGN liked it and praised it's graphics, audio, the concept of exploration, and that it was an evolution of the series. They also said it was "the perfect game to play during 1989". In 1997, GameSpot would look back at it as "an excellent time-killer and much longer than the first Castlevania".

However, many reviews in retrospect have been more negative regarding much of the game's flaws. The main criticisms were the cryptic nature of the game and how difficult it is to figure certain things out all the while being given little to no clues without either reading the 1988 Nintendo Power magazine on Castlevania II, YouTube walkthroughs, or GameFaqs.com walkthroughs. Other issues were the concept of switching from day to night and vice versa with the game pausing for several seconds while a box of text pops up. There are very few bosses battles and the ones that do appear can either be avoided or are too easy, even Dracula. There's also many spelling errors or poor translation from Japanese to English.

Aftermath-

Since Simon's Quest initial release, it's been re-released several times. The first would be in 2002 as part of the Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania and Contra exclusively in North America. It would then be re-released on the Wii Virtual Console between 2007 and 2008. Next, it was re-released on the Nintendo 3DS between 2013 and 2014 depending on the region and on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2014. In 2017, the game was re-released on the NES Classic Edition but only in North America and PAL region. Finally, the game was re-released in 2019 as part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection with Simon's Quest notably having the North American version re-released in the Japanese release. Along with the re-releases, Tiger Electronics would also release a handheld and LCD wristwatch version of the game in 1988.

Due to it's cryptic nature, the game was featured on the second edition (September/October 1988 edition) of Nintendo Power in 1988 as it featured clues and a strategy guide in helping gamers to advance and figure out certain obstacles in the game. The guide became famous for it's cover which depicts Simon Belmont holding the severed head of Count Dracula which resulted in complaints from many parents who accused the cover of giving their kids nightmares. The cover would be brought up by Nintendo for their 50th Issue of Nintendo Power (July 1993) where they claimed because of parent's complaints that it gave their kids nightmares that the Simon's Quest cover was the worst cover in the history of Nintendo Power.

In 2004, Simon's Quest would be the first game reviewed by famous retro video game reviewer the Angry Video Game Nerd and would be re-reviewed during his four part Castlevania series in 2009 where he played the game in it's entirety (in the original review, he used a code to skip past much of the game).

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest would introduce features that would return in future games. It was one of the first non-linear Castlevania games, after Castlevania I remake Vampire Killer, which many future games would adapt, specifically, the "Metroid-Vania" games. It would be the first to incorporate RPG elements like gaining levels and buying weapons and equipment which many future games like the Metroid-Vania games would have. Simon's Quest would also be the first to have multiple endings thus having a "good" and "bad" ending (as well as a "normal") which were also common in later games though in Simon's Quest's case, the endings depend on how long it takes the player to beat the game instead of how they fight a certain battle or whether they're equipped with something during a specific part of the game. Castlevania II would be the first Castlevania game to feature the village of Aljiba which would be revisited as the first level in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Simon's Quest would also be the first to use the song "Bloody Tears" which has been a common song in future Castlevania games and one of the most well known in the series.