Hello everyone, hope you’re all doing well and welcome to my Retro Review of Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest! This classic series of games has always been one of my favorites. There’s so many great titles to choose from, each with their own style and charm, that I’ve played over and over again throughout the years. Unfortunately, this one has earned itself a pretty bad reputation, causing many people, myself included, to completely overlook it. I’ve never given this game a fair chance and have barely ever played it before, so I thought it was time to go back and take another look. Could it really be that bad, or have I been missing out on a hidden gem this whole time? There’s a lot to talk about here, so let’s dive right in.
Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest is a platform-adventure game developed by Konami, originally released in 1988 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This sequel was a big departure from the original game, very similar to how Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda 2: The Adventures Of Link were quite different from their predecessors. Whenever developers try something like this they are taking a big risk. Sometimes it works out well, but in this case Castlevania fans were not happy with this new design and Simon's Quest quickly became the black sheep of the family. The game has gone on to earn itself something of a cult following, while still maintaining it's bad reputation all these years later.
You play as the titular character of Simon Belmont, the same vampire hunter from the original game, taking part in a whole new quest. At the end of the first game when you defeat Dracula he puts a curse on you. In order to break this curse you will need to find the five pieces of Dracula's body that the local villagers have hidden away in various locations, take them to his castle, which is called Castlevania, and bring Dracula back to life so you can kill him again. This will free Simon from his curse and return peace to the surrounding lands. It's a strange plot and it's pretty bare bones even for a retro game, but not the worst idea I've ever heard.
The core gameplay mechanics are very similar to the original game. You have a whip as your main weapon, you make your way through various areas fighting enemies and doing plenty of platforming, but that's where the similarities end. Castlevania 2 does away with the linear level layout in favor of a more open world design. You start off in a town full of villagers and you can choose to exit to the left, or right. Depending on which way you decide to go you might find yourself at a seemingly dead end, or you might come across another branching path. You're free to explore wherever you want, but with no guidance or plan things can get very confusing. This is the main underlying reason why people dislike this game.
I'm going to be honest, if you're curious to try this out for yourself you should use an online guide. If you try to play this game without one you will get lost almost immediately, with no idea of where you're supposed to be going, which will result in you wandering around aimlessly until you give up. With the help of a guide this is actually a very fun game and a unique, solid Castlevania experience. The villagers in each town were supposed to tell you where to go and give you hints to go off of, but when the dialog was translated from Japanese to English it lost all meaning and became mostly nonsense. This basically ruined the game entirely for western audiences, leaving us with only cryptic dialog that made things even more confusing.
It's a real shame that the translation was so bad, because when you use a guide and understand what to do this is a great Castlevania game with some interesting new ideas. As you explore the open world you will be fighting against enemies and collecting hearts. The hearts are actually a form of currency, allowing you to purchase new upgrades for your whip, as well as various sub-weapons. Upgrading the whip will let you take down tougher enemies with ease and most sub-weapons can be used as much as you like, making them a bigger asset compared to other games in the series. Every new town you find will have something useful to buy, so make sure you farm for plenty of hearts.
Not only does the game have an open ended layout to explore, but it also has a day to night cycle that changes the appearance of each area, making the enemies tougher as well. Killing the monsters that roam the landscape during night time will earn you extra hearts, so if you need to stock up on the game's currency this is the ideal time to do so. You'll travel through forests, graveyards, cave systems, swamps, mansions and castles trying to collect all the pieces of Dracula's body, while battling against all sorts of undead and supernatural enemies. Of course, since this is a Castlevania game, you'll also get to enjoy an incredible soundtrack of retro tunes that add to the overall spooky atmosphere.
Even for someone like me, who's a die hard fan of this series, the confusing structure of the game was just too much to handle back when it first came out. Luckily, it's not 1988 anymore and there are plenty of excellent walkthroughs available online that will help you make sense of everything. Once you understand what you're supposed to be doing and you are able to get your bearings, this is a wonderful experience. It's also very different from other titles in this franchise, putting a unique spin on things, while keeping the core gameplay in tact. This certainly isn't the best game in the series, but it's far from the horrible trainwreck I thought it was. If you're a fan of these games and you don't mind using a guide than I would recommend giving this one a fair chance. I'm going to give Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest a grade of.................................
C +
Thank you for reading my review of Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, I hope you enjoyed it!
