Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is a 1987 action role-playing game created and released by Konami. It was first made available in Japan in 1987 for the Famicom Disk System and later in North America in 1988 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This game is the second Castlevania title released for the NES, coming after the original Castlevania game from 1986. The story takes place seven years after the events of the first game. Players once again control Simon Belmont, a vampire hunter who must break a curse that Dracula placed on him during their last battle. Dracula's body was divided into five parts. Simon must find these parts and take them to the ruins of Castle Dracula to defeat him. The game differs from its predecessor by adding role-playing features and an open world design.
Gameplay
In Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, the gameplay is different from the first Castlevania game. Instead of jumping on platforms, players explore a world map and can revisit areas freely. Simon, the main character, can speak to villagers who may give clues or false information. He can also visit merchants who sell items to help fight enemies or reach new areas. To buy these items, Simon must collect hearts, which enemies drop when defeated. In addition to regular items, Simon can buy new whips in certain locations. The game includes an Experience Rating system, which increases Simon's strength and maximum health when he collects enough hearts.
The game cycles between daytime and nighttime, which affects gameplay. During the day, enemies outside villages are weaker. At night, enemies are stronger and deal more damage, but they drop more hearts when defeated. Villagers and merchants are not available at night, and their locations are replaced by zombies.
Some elements from the first game return, such as Magic Weapons, which are secondary tools to Simon’s whip. One example is the Holy Water, a glass item that can break walls hiding hidden items. New Magic Weapons, like the Diamond, are introduced. This weapon harms enemies and bounces off walls.
The goal of the game is to find five body parts of Dracula’s corpse and the Magic Cross in five different mansions. These items help Simon during the game. For example, Dracula’s Rib can be used as a shield to block enemy attacks. Collecting all required items allows Simon to remove the blockade in front of Dracula’s castle and fight the final boss.
Plot
The game happens seven years after the first Castlevania. The manual's prologue starts with Simon visiting his family's graveyard. There, he meets a young woman who tells him that Dracula placed a curse on him during their last fight, and that Simon does not have much time left to live. The woman explains that the curse can be broken if Simon brings back Dracula's body, which was split into five parts after Dracula's defeat. Simon must find these parts and take them to the ruins of Dracula's castle. There, he must trap and defeat Dracula. The woman warns that this may not be the end of Dracula.
After Simon defeats Dracula, the game has three possible endings based on how long it takes the player to finish. In two of these endings, Simon suffers serious injuries from fighting Dracula and dies. The best ending occurs if the player completes the game in eight days within the game.
Development and release
Simon's Quest was designed by Hitoshi Akamatsu, who also directed Castlevania (1986) and Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989) on the NES. It was released on the Famicom Disk System (FDS) on August 28, 1987, in Japan. Originally called Dracula II in Japan, Akamatsu changed the title to Simon's Quest for Western releases. When asked if Metroid (1986) influenced the game's development, Akamatsu mentioned The Maze of Galious (1987), another Konami platform-adventure game that includes puzzle solving and a world map. Much of the original artwork for Simon's Quest and early Castlevania games was lost during the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995.
Simon's Quest was later converted to a cartridge for release on the NES in North America in 1988 and in Europe in 1990. Differences exist between the FDS and cartridge versions due to hardware variations. The FDS version includes a progress-saving feature, common on FDS games because of the rewritable floppy disk. The NES version uses a password system to save progress. The FDS medium has limited storage (112 kilobytes) with slow access, while cartridges use better memory and faster access. Developers used the extra space on cartridges to improve music quality, adding percussion sounds and rearranging melodies. Other changes corrected spelling and grammar errors, though the game's endings still refer to the protagonist as "Simmon Belmont."
Simon's Quest has been re-released multiple times. On November 16, 2002, it was included in Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra, a PC collection of Konami NES games via emulation. It has also been re-released through Nintendo's Virtual Console service. The game appears in the North American and European versions of the NES Classic Edition, a small NES replica with built-in games. It is also part of the multi-platform Castlevania Anniversary Collection (2019), and Simon's Quest is the only game in the collection released in Japan using the North American version instead of the original Japanese version.
The game's soundtrack was composed by Kenichi Matsubara, who later created music for the Castlevania arcade game Haunted Castle. "Bloody Tears" became a recurring song in the Castlevania franchise. The album Akumajō Dracula Famicom Best was released on March 20, 1990, with catalog number KICA-1005 and a bonus sticker. It was reprinted in 1998 as Akumajō Dracula Best Vol. 1 (catalog number KICA-7901) and included the FDS version of Simon's Quest's music plus three bonus tracks from the NES version. The album contains music from Castlevania and Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, totaling 33 tracks and lasting 1 hour and 4 minutes. A vinyl record featuring both FDS and NES music was released by Mondo on January 11, 2017. Some reviewers praised Matsubara's work, with GameSpy calling the music "incredible" and noting the inclusion of "The Silence of Daylight."
Reception
The game sold more than 1 million copies.
After its release, the game received positive reviews and became known as a classic Nintendo game over time. The Japanese game magazine Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40. The American publication Computer Entertainer said the game "outdoes its predecessor in every way" with "better graphics, more challenges," and "more variety in settings," and called it a "very well crafted" action-adventure game that offers "excellent play value, superb graphics, lots of music, and special touches that add to the enjoyment of the game."
In 1990, Nintendo Power's NES retrospective Pak Source gave Simon's Quest ratings of 4.5 out of 5 for Graphics and Sound, 4 out of 5 for Play Control, 4 out of 5 for Challenge, and 4 out of 5 for Theme Fun. In 2008, Nintendo Power ranked it as the 15th best NES game, comparing it to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for how it successfully added role-playing video game elements to its series. In a 1997 Castlevania retrospective, GamePro called it "an excellent time-killer" and said it was "much longer than the first Castlevania." IGN called Simon's Quest "the perfect game to play during 1988" and praised its exploration theme, the series' evolution, and its graphics and audio.
Later reviews of Simon's Quest were more critical. Some players found backtracking, easy bosses, and the day-to-night cycle frustrating. Many criticized the English version's translation, which made clues from non-player characters unclear or confusing. Koji Igarashi, a former Castlevania producer, explained that the Japanese version's NPCs were intentionally misleading. GameSpot noted that subtle hints from the Japanese version were lost in translation, such as the line "hit Deborah Cliff with your head to make a hole." Active Gaming Media confirmed that the Japanese text was also misleading, but added that specific hints were lost during translation. Some puzzles had no clues at all, such as a scenario where Simon must summon a tornado at Deborah Cliff with the Red Crystal. 1UP.com said the game required a walkthrough due to its unclear design. Game Informer noted that while the game is important in gaming history, it was divisive because of "cryptic puzzles" and other difficult elements.
Simon's Quest is the second Castlevania game to move away from linear gameplay, following Vampire Killer for the MSX2 in 1986, and instead feature a non-linear explorative world. This design has been compared to Nintendo's Metroid series, leading to the Metroidvania subgenre. The game's exploration system introduced adventure elements to the series and influenced future games. The first game inspired by Simon's Quest was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Igarashi, Symphony of the Night's assistant director, said the critical reaction to Simon's Quest helped convince Konami to create the game. Simon's Quest was directly referenced in later Castlevania games. In the Game Boy Advance entry, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, the protagonist Juste Belmont mentions his grandfather Simon searching for Dracula's body parts. In the game, players must find them again.
In other media
When Simon's Quest was released, it caused some controversy after it received a lot of attention in the second issue of Nintendo Power. The magazine's cover showed a person dressed as Simon Belmont, holding Dracula's severed head. This image led to many phone calls from parents who were worried because their children said it gave them nightmares. Nintendo Power later discussed this in issue 50, calling it the magazine's worst cover. Simon's Quest was later mentioned in a comic strip featuring Howard and Nester.
After the game's release, merchandise based on Simon's Quest was made. In 1988, Tiger Electronics created a handheld game and an LCD wristwatch inspired by the game. Promotional collector's cards were also sold in Japan. In 2007, a figurine showing Simon's appearance from Simon's Quest was given as a bonus for pre-ordering Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles.
A book series called Worlds of Power, which features stories based on Nintendo games, includes a novel about Simon's Quest. The book was written by Christopher Howell, and the series was produced by Seth Godin. The story differs from the original game and adds new characters, such as Timothy Bradley, a junior high school student who plays video games and helps Simon search for Dracula's body parts.