Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
From Castlevania Wiki - Forbidden Library
| Castlevania II: Simon's Quest | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) | H. Akamatsu Kenichi Matsubara |
| Released | (JP) August 28, 1987
(NA) December 1, 1988 |
| Genre | Action Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone) |
| Platform(s) | Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System, PC, Virtual Console |
| Media | Floppy disk (FDS), 2-megabit cartridge, (NES) CD-ROM (PC) |
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (known in Japan as Dracula II: The Accursed Seal) is the sequel to the first Castlevania game, and continues the adventures of Simon Belmont, who struggles with ridding a terrible curse not only from Transylvania, but also himself. If Simon does not dispel the curse in time, it will kill him.
Simon's Quest was first released in Japan on the Family Computer Disk System on August 28, 1987. Following that, it was released in North America on the Nintendo Entertainment System on December 1, 1988, and April 27, 1990 in Europe.
Though Simon's Quest takes many attributes from the original Castlevania, it introduces many new gameplay features.
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Story
Seven years after Simon Belmont's battle with Count Dracula, Transylvania was in turmoil. Before Dracula died, he placed a curse on the land. His minions roamed freely about the countryside and even invaded villages at night. Once peaceful Transylvania had become poisoned and treacherous.
Simon Belmont was at the Belmont family resting grounds pondering his life as he felt it slipping away from him. Though he defeated Dracula seven years ago, he suffered a critical injury to his back that would not heal. In time, the injury would claim his life.
As Simon reflected upon things, he noticed a beautiful maiden standing in the mist. She informed him that Dracula had placed a curse on him before dying, and that is why his wound unrelentingly ate away at him. She said that with his courage and the power granted to him by God, he could put an end to the curse that was destroying him, and the land of Transylvania.
When Dracula died, his bodily remains were left behind. Simon would have to recover them and bring the remains to the ruins of Castlevania, Dracula's stronghold, and destroy them there. After telling Simon what he needed to know, the young woman mysteriously vanished.
With a new found purpose, Simon took the Vampire Killer whip he had used to slay Dracula before, and set off on a grand expedition of Transylvania. Simon went through the villages of Transylvania getting the provisions he needed for his quest. Traveling the land was perilous as monsters and poisoned marshes were everywhere.
The remains were located in hidden mansions that were heavily guarded by Dracula's servants. Simon raided the mansions and claimed all the pieces of Dracula's remains. Afterward, he took them to the fateful place he had arrived seven years earlier – Castlevania, or what was left of it.
As Simon set fire to the remains, Dracula materialized in a wraith-like form. The only way to dispel the curse was to bring the Count back and slay him again.
Simon and Dracula fought for the last time. Simon prevailed over Dracula once more, and freed the land and his life from the grip of Dracula's curse. After the ordeal had passed, peace was restored to the meadows, forests, lakes, mountains, and villages of Transylvania. Simon found himself kneeling at the grave of Dracula, looking down upon it, and then he set off.
Into the night, the ground shook beneath the grave, and a hand inexplicably rose from the earth. . .
Characters
Heroes
- Simon Belmont (シモン・ベルモンド Simon Belmondo) — The mighty hero who had slain Count Dracula seven years prior and now 29 years old. After Simon had put away his enemies' flesh for another hundred years of slumber, he noticed his body began to slowly decay as if he was struck with leprasy.
He had traveled to the Belmont's family resting ground where a mysterious woman appeared before him and. She informed him that Dracula had put a terrible curse on him, the more Simon's body demolished the more he would grow in power and would ultimately be ressurected if the brave Vampire Hunter met his end.
He only solution was to return to the source of the curse, prematurely awake the Prince of Darkness from his slumber and seal him away once again. Simon thus began a new quest to find the spread remains of his arch nemesis and fight with new determination.
Gameplay
Simon's Quest is a sharp departure from what Castlevania established. It incorporates free roaming, a currency system, experience levels, and regular transitions from day to night. Instead of being divided into stages, Simon's Quest's world is one large whole with dungeons (known as mansions) spread through out it, similar to The Legend of Zelda. There are villages where players may speak with inhabitants and obtain provisions for the quest.
Hearts, which powered sub-weapons in the first Castlevania game, primarily act as money in Simon's Quest. Enemies often drop them upon defeat. Unlike Castlevania, Simon's whip is upgraded through buying better versions that are usually sold by merchants. Hearts also raise Simon's experience rating. When his experience level rises, his health capacity increases, and more hearts are required to raise his level again compared to the last time.
Aside from the remains, certain items are absolutely needed to progress. Most of them come in the form of colored crystals. Players must engage in a trading sequence with certain villagers to acquire new crystals.
The most notable aspects that remained the same between Simon's Quest and Castlevania are the controls and sub-weapon feature. Sub-weapons act as secondary weapons. They are used by pressing up and b simultaneously. A difference between Simon's Quest and Castlevania is that not all sub-weapons in Simon's Quest are weapons. Laurels grant invincibility for a short period of time, and are most practically used for crossing long expanses of poisonous marshes. Garlic can be used as a weapon, but its most important purpose is summoning hooded people who wander graveyards so that they may give Simon valuable items.
The primary objective of Simon's Quest is to find all the mansions and obtain the body part of Dracula that is hidden within each, as well as an item called the Magic Cross that will grant access to Dracula's Castle. Once all needed items are obtained, the player must enter the ruins of Dracula's Castle and use the body parts to resurrect Dracula and then defeat him in order to lift his curse from Transylvania and Simon Belmont.
Music
Version Differences
There are a few key differences between the Family Computer Disk System version of Simon's Quest and the Nintendo Entertainment System version. The FDS version has a save feature while the NES version incorporates a password feature for use to continue where players left off. Some of the text was changed. The FDS version had many grammatical and spelling errors, especially in the endings. These were corrected in the NES adaptation.
The most notable difference is the audio. Because the NES cartridge was larger in storage capacity, the developers decided to include enhanced instrumentation for the music, and some of the compositions vary in slight ways.
Staff
Bosses
Legacy
Simon's Quest is the first game in the series to include exploration gameplay similar to Metroid. Because of this, it can be seen as the predecessor to Symphony of the Night and games that followed its template, like Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow.
A children's novel called World's of Power – Simon's Quest was released, and it is based on Simon's Quest. There is also a Tiger Handheld version of Simon's Quest, although it hardly resembles the original game.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance follows the adventures of Juste Belmont, Simon's grandson. In this game, Juste recounts how his grandfather traveled across the land to obtain Dracula's remains, referring to the events of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.
"Bloody Tears," the daytime wilderness theme of Simon's Quest, has become one of the most popular themes in the series, and many remixes of it have appeared in Castlevania games.
Endings
There are three endings to Simon's Quest. The ending players receive depends on how many game days transpire. The good ending has Simon surviving the encounter. He kneels at Dracula's grave at sunset and leaves at nightfall. When it is dark, Dracula's hand reaches through the earth where he is buried.
In the bad ending, it displays a picture of daytime at Dracula's grave. The curse on Transylvania has lifted, but Simon did not survive the ordeal, and died bringing peace to the land.
The worst ending shows a picture of Dracula's grave in black and white without Simon Belmont. Simon was able to restore peace and serenity to the land, but he did not kill Dracula in time to remove the Curse from himself, and he dies.
Trivia
Packaging Artwork
Image Gallery
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