Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
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| Castlevania II: Simon's Quest | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Release date(s) |  August 28, 1987 December 1, 1988 April 27, 1990 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Famicom Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Media | Floppy disk (FDS), 2-megabit cartridge (NES) |
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, known in Japan as Dracula 2: Noroi no Fūin (ドラキュラII呪いの封印 Dorakyura Tsū: Noroi no Fūin?, lit. "Dracula II: The Accursed Seal"), is a Japanese console video game developed by Konami in 1987 for the Famicom Disk System. In 1988, it was ported to cartridge format and released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
The game features Simon Belmont and takes place in 1698, seven years after the first Castlevania game.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest was the first game in the Castlevania series to venture away from straightforward side-scrolling gameplay, featuring a single continuous map and some role-playing game-like elements.
Contents |
[edit] Story from the Manual
"The second coming of Count Dracula
You're Simon Belmont, bravest of the brave, boldest of the bold, a gothic warrior respected by kings.
You earned your praise, not by crushing Viking invaders or Turkish hordes, but by destroying the evil Count Dracula in a duel to the death at Castlevania. But your victory proved painful, as the wounds inflicted during the duel slowly gnawed at your soul.
One day, though, a beautiful maiden appeared. With a soft voice she warned that you were possessed by the Count's curse. She said your only hope of destroying the curse and healing your scars was to find the five body parts of Count Dracula and burn them all in his Castle, ending forever the reign of the Prince of Darkness.
Suddenly, like most beautiful visions, she began to fade. And as you reached to touch her, she spoke her final words -
"Fear not, brave Simon, for if you have the courage to risk your life, you will find the strength to win again."
(Full text of the Castlevania II: Simon's Quest manual available here).
[edit] Storyline
After Simon delivers the coup de grâce to the Prince of Darkness in Castlevania, the Count places a dark curse upon him that would send Belmont to an early grave unless Dracula is revived. Moreover, his minions are once again stirring throughout the land of Transylvania, ravaging the many villages and terrorizing the townsfolk.
Simon takes up the legendary whip, Vampire Killer, once again and travels the land to the towns of Jova, Veros, Aljiba, Aldora, Oldon, Fetra, and Ghulash. In his travels, Simon liberates people and seeks their help as he searches for the Count's body parts, hidden in the five dark manors of Berkeley, Bodley, Brahms, Rover, and Laruba.
Once all the parts of Dracula's body are gathered, Simon takes them to the ancestral home of the count, Castlevania, and revives him. Fighting him once again, Simon finally succeeds in ending the curse; this time finishing him for good.
[edit] Gameplay differences from Castlevania
- Any location can be revisited at any time.
- All whip upgrades are permanent, and it is also possible to downgrade the whip by buying a weaker version.
- There are no candles or braziers in the game. Instead, hearts are gained by killing enemies.
- A subweapon, once obtained, is permanently kept in Simon's inventory, and can be equipped at any time.
- Double and triple shots do not exist.
- Simon gains experience and can level up. However, the only discernible change is that he adds bars to his life meter and takes less damage when attacked. Once Simon has leveled up in a location, he cannot gain any more experience points there.
- The "enemy meter," used to show the HP of a boss in the previous game, is not present.
- The "axe" and "stopwatch" subweapons from the original game do not appear in any form. The cross appears as an item, though not as a subweapon. Holy water reappears, but its effects have been split between two weapons.
- There is no time limit in Simon's Quest. However, there is a timer which keeps track of how long the game has been played. This is used to determine which ending is shown.
- The day and night system was added to the gameplay. At certain times, the game will swap from daytime to evening. In the evening the roads of Transylvania are more dangerous than the daytime; monsters will be roaming freely in the town and enemies in the forests are much stronger (while rewarding double the normal amount of hearts dropped by slain creatures.) The town shops and churches also close at night.
[edit] References
- The quote "What a horrible night for a curse" used in the video game Disgaea 2 and the webcomic Impy and Aevy comes from Castlevania 2.
- "What a horrible night for a curse" appears in the chat window in the MMORPG title, Everquest II, when the game world enters nighttime. This only happens in the zone, The Loping Planes.
- Metalcore band The Black Dahlia Murder entitled their demo album "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse".
- The U.S. version of this game made use of the NES PCM drum channel for its music (giving the soundtrack a more bass driven feel with additional harmonies), leading many to declare its superiority over its Japanese Famicom Disk System counterpart.
[edit] Ports
- 1988 — Tiger Electronics handheld (LCD, 2 AA Batteries, Model# 7-781)
- November 16, 2002 — IBM PC Compatible / Microsoft Windows (as part of Konami Collector's Series) (North America)
[edit] External links
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest at MobyGames
- The Castlevania Dungeon: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
- CastleVania II: Simon's Quest Info Center
