Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest

Sequels during the 8-bit era were an interesting thing really. Looking back it almost seems like developers either didn't know the big risks they were taking by making incredibly different sequels, or they didn't know how to make sequels. Role playing games were super popular in Japan in the mid 80's and rpg elements started to appear in lots of games. This is true of the sequel to the popular Konami title Castlevania, titled Simon's Quest which was released in 1987 on the Famicom Disc System. One year later the game hit North America and it has since found it's place as an interesting addition to the Castlevania series.

I was reluctant to play another Castlevania game since I was unable to finish Castlevania, however I've always liked Simon's Quest because it wasn't like the other Castlevania games. The game defies the linear nature of the other Castlevania games and is a textbook example of a mid 80's rpg platformer. That made it fun to play because I didn't have fight bosses or collect items, I could just explore around and see what happens. I remember drawing Simon whipping things in my notebooks in grade school. This was definitely a game that I wanted when I was young, but never had the chance to own.

The title opens up to the familiar title screen with the film strip border. Did Konami intend for the castlevania games to be like... Some sort of homage to silent horror films? The title screen to the next game, Castlevania 3, does an incredible job of the rolling film effect. The story continues with Simon Belmont as the protagonist in the first game, who in his final battle with Dracula was cursed. Now he must summon Dracula and defeat him again to be free of the fatal curse. It's a race against time, but I didn't know that. Indeed there are multiple endings based on how fast you can beat the game. In the castlevania universe the symbiotic relationship between draculas and Belmonts have existed for some time. I'm not entirely familiar with how Konami has constructed the lore, but here we find ourselves in the 1500's and there's evil afoot and a Dracula to kill.

Music

Let me just say it now: I didn't really think that Simon's Quest had a great soundtrack. Looking at the official list, there are only like eight songs for the entire soundtrack, and to me it seemed like I heard the same three or four songs the entire game. I get that people think that Castlevania's soundtrack was incredibly amazing and it was. Some notable songs make a reprise from the first game, and that's what people expect with any Castlevania game: the same tunes over and over. I think it's strange that this series is expected to have similar music or carry over songs from game to game. When I listen to the music from the game you can hear a distinct Konami sound that was present in many of their NES titles, and it isn't bad at all, I just wish there was more variety throughout the game.

Here's the obligatory prog/metal OC Remix version of "The Accursed Seal/Within These Castle Walls".

This game was first released on the Famicom Disk System and because of that the Japanese and English versions of the game have a slightly different soundtrack because of the sound chip capabilities of the FDS. When listening to tracks back to back there are some slight differences in timbre and harmonies, and in choice of instruments. I wouldn't say that either version is better than the other, they are just the same... differently. The cartridge version of the game allowed for faster access to the memory and the developers were able to insert sound effects and drum samples that were absent in the FDS version of the game. Maybe that's why I think the US version sounds better with even fewer sound channels.

Development

Simon's Quest was designed by H. Akamatsu. Looking around on the interwebs, it seems like he was involved with Castlevania III and the NES Metal Gear sequel Snake's Revenge. As I mentioned above, it seems like they had two development cycles for this game when it was ported to a cartridge format and localized for North America. The only main differences being some text improvements, music changes, and some sound effects not included in the original game. That makes me wonder if this was a common practice for FDS games that got revamped for cartridge release? I'll have to investigate further, but as far as Simon's Quest's development is concerned, there isn't much information about it. According to an IGN article from 2007, much of the original material, art, and concept designs were lost in the Kobe Earthquake. The details get sketchy after so many years.

Box art

I'd have to say I think the artwork is standard for 1980's software. A stylized Simon Belmont and his long whip dominate the foreground with Dracula brooding on a balcony in his castle (on a stormy night no less). Simon looks very shiny and airbrushed, his face contorted into a weird grimace. Konami's box art style in North America was a gray box that pretty much cut off the sides off all the art for most of their NES games. Japan's art looks better, only because it appears more colorful, and in its entirety. I'm not entirely sure but it seems like Konami at least kept a unified artwork for most of their releases in each region for many of their games.

FDS front

FDS back of disc insert

North American art exploded view

PAL version box art

You'll notice that the artwork for Castlevania II was copied and stolen from a painting by Clyde Caldwell which was used in the 1983 publication of the Ravenloft module for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Caldwell's artwork was used for many fantasy book covers, Dungeon and Dragons, and Magic: the Gathering. His incredible art for TSR made him the premier artist of D&D at the peak of its popularity.  Sadly his work was often copied, and in this case you can totally see how the Japanese artist lifted and copied the castle and perspective for the background. Was this why the PAL version of the box had the background completely removed? Probably.

Advertising

Here's the US commercial for Simon's Quest. Note how close the kid sits to the massive TV. And who dressed that kid for the commercial? His mom? Who did the voice over? That guy's voice sounds very familiar, he was probably in other commercials. Awesome Konami CG logo at the end.

Japanese ad for Simon's Quest. So much dripping blood!

Ad featured in Marvel Comics and game magazines in 1988-89?

Nintendo Power Sept/Oct 1988. Parents complained about the cover. 

Results

From the start of the game I can see the graphics look pretty good. The towns have a certain graphical texture that exemplifies bleak and run down late-renaissance Eastern Europe. Though I doubt many towns in Eastern Europe were sprawling multilevel mega structures. The character sprite models are pretty good and similar to NPCs in Zelda II. Simon himself is no longer the familiar brown figure, but is black and red, probably to stand out from the various backgrounds. The color palletes used for most of the levels and backgrounds are fantastic and varied for both night and day versions of the game.  I would say that many parts of the game are similar to the first game, with a few improvements. Hey! I wonder how the multitude of hanging corpses made it past the NOA censor?

Hanging corpses. Creepy.

Mechanically Simon jumps a little better, with the same slow jump from the other games, and you can't change directions mid jump. I always questioned whether or not I would make certain jumps. Seemingly simple jumps for Mario are nearly impossible without practice for Simon. That's how Castlevania was designed I guess. There's a push back from damage and that makes jumping Simon over pits and water a target for cheap deaths. The weird gravity thing from the first game is gone: you fall at a reasonable rate instead of terminal velocity.

Awesome sprites and graphical textures throughout the game.

But enemies are pretty mindless in this game. Most just try to run into you, and a few shoot projectiles which can be avoided. There are annoying bats and Medusas but they aren't nearly as bad as before. Where are the memorable boss fights? Only two? That's weird. You fight the Grim Reaper and a Evil Mask thing. Looking at the manual there are a whole bunch of enemies, but it didn't seem like I saw them that much.

Monster page scan of the Japanese manual. Awesome illustrations. Blood splatter on most pages.

While playing the game I sometimes felt alone... like where were the monsters? Did Konami run into memory constraints or was this part of the overall atmosphere? The entire walk through Dracula's castle is devoid of enemies.

Dracula reborn!

The hardest parts in this game were timing jumps to get over water death traps. The way that the game is set up seems linear: go either left or right. But at the same time it is kind of a open world in a way with hidden paths and branches that allow you to find other areas of the game, which is awesome

This information makes no sense. 

You can talk to people during the day in the towns... but be warned: they freaking LIE to you. This is either a problem with the translation from Japanese, or just part of the story itself. After scratching my head about some of the things the villagers said, I stopped talking to them.

US manual scan. Not quite as awesome. Typical cheap black and white printing. Who drew the screen shots?

It wouldn't be the incompletionist if I didn't get the worst ending possible for the game. There are three endings based on how long it takes you to beat the game, and apparently I took too long. The endings describe the story of the game differently depending on how long it took, and if Simon Belmont was able to break the curse given to him by Dracula.

With the worst ending it is implied that both Dracula and Simon died in the final battle, the curse not being broken and Simon's memory lamented until another Belmont arrives. The next best ending describes Dracula being defeated, but Simon succumbing to the mortally fatal curse nevertheless. In the best ending, if you happen to cruise through the game in under seven days, Dracula is defeated and Simon's curse is broken, however at the end of the cut-scene Dracula's hand pushes through the dirt in the graveyard... so who knows.

Doesn't seem like there is a happy ending to this game, and I'm ok with that. Castlevania was always about the infinite struggle between good and bad, and the recurring rivalry between the Belmonts and all those Draculas. In the Japanese version of the game the end credits are included at the end of each ending, but they were strangely missing from the US version that I played. Hmmm...

Victory!

Final Word: I like Simon's Quest because it isn't like the other games in the Castlevania series. I've always kind of liked the game despite weird controls and repetitive music. The game is a solid platformer of it's time and definitely worth a play through.

Statistics:

Deaths: 50+ Game Overs: 25 Continues: 15 Passwords remembered: 2 Nights: 12 Levels: 6

Buy it Now: Castlevania