noiseredux plays games
  • Blog
  • Blog

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

1/23/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
I love the Castlevania series dearly, but that doesn't make me good at the games. So while I've played a big majority of the entries, I've not actually beaten that many of them. I've been playing Castlevania II since it was first released on the NES. It was a bit of a revelation at the time - swapping out of the confines of the castle in the first game and giving us an 'open world' to explore. You could go anywhere - granted it was gated off because you needed a certain item. You could backtrack and find secret areas. Oh, and now it was an RPG as well with experience points and weapon upgrades and so on. If this sounds familiar, it's because Castlevania II is basically a blueprint for one of the greatest games of all time - Symphony Of The Night.

There's hyperbole there, sure. But it's not that far fetched. And really, looking back at Castlevania II, it's astounding just how ambitious a sequel this really was. I mean, Konami could have easily just made another linear level-based trek through another castle, right? Instead they basically changed the game's genre altogether. Of course this was the wild west days of the NES where many sequels strayed heavily from the originals. See:  Zelda II, Super Mario Bros 2, etc.

Unfortunately Simon's Quest isn't always remembered for what it accomplished. Instead it's mainly remembered for being kind of an unfair and confusing jerk. So let's unpack that for a moment. Trying to play this game without some kind of walkthrough is a bit of a fool's errand. The NPC's in various towns are infamously liars. And that's when they tell you anything that isn't too cryptic to make sense of anyway. If you were playing this game "blind," I have no idea how you'd figure out that you need to drop garlic in certain graveyards to make an NPC appear to give you certain items; or that you'd need to equip specific items and then kneel down for more than a couple of seconds in specific spots to open up hidden areas; or that the ferryman will bring you to different areas if you have certain items equipped; or that there are invisible platforms in some castles!; or that you need to equip certain items just to SEE some platforms!

I mean yes, there's trial and error. But this feels more like "just try absolutely everything you can possibly think of until something happens and even then you'll probably be stumped on how to proceed at certain parts." I don't necessarily think it's part of a challenging game design so much as this was still the early days and developers were figuring out what really made a game work.

But if we can look past those hiccups - and we can, again with the help of a walkthrough - then there's so much to actually admire in Castlevania II. First of all there's the day/night cycles which actually matter. At night the enemies become more difficult; the town's close their doors and are no longer safe havens. It's interesting stuff, and the mechanic was surely at least partly inspiration for one of my absolute favorite (and vote for most slept-on) NES games of all time: A Nightmare On Elm Street by LJN. I'm being totally serious and completely devoid of irony or counter-culture hipsterism here.

The RPG elements are interesting, though not especially overt. It's definitely akin to The Adventures Of Link. The max level here is apparently six, but I was only level four when I finished the game. Speaking of finishing the game - the bosses are actually a bit of a joke. If memory serves, there were only three of them - the Grim Reaper, a floating mask and then Dracula himself. All of these were easily beaten with very little strategy. Honestly, it feels like the environment was the bigger enemy in this game. I'm pretty sure that any death I incurred was due to a missed jump rather than an actual enemy. I mean once you finally make it to the Demon Castle Dracula, you're greeted to some empty hallways. There's no final gauntlet to make your way through. You're just granted access to Dracula's tomb.  It's funny because I had a much harder time making my way through Super Castlevania IV recently - a game considered much easier than this one. Huh.

Suffice to say that I'm pleased as punch to have finally conquered this game, though. It's always nice to beat a game that you've been playing for - OMG... like 30 years? Weird. It's also nice to revisit games and remind yourself just how much you enjoy them.

0 Comments

    Games

    All
    1080 Snowboarding
    Aladdin
    Among Us
    Animal Crossing: New Horizons
    Arena Of Valor
    Asphalt 9: Legends
    Assassin's Creed III
    Axelay
    Balloon Fight
    Batman: Arkham Origins
    Batman: The Video Game
    Blaster Master
    Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon
    Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night
    Boxboy + Boxgirl
    Bravely Default II
    Bravely Second: End Layer
    Break Em All
    Bust-A-Move Universe
    Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
    Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
    Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
    Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
    Catherine
    Civilization VI
    Code Name: STEAM
    Crash Bandicoot
    Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
    Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
    Crystal Crisis
    Crystalis
    Dauntless
    Dead Cells
    Decap Attack
    Demon's Crest
    Diablo III
    Diddy Kong Racing DS
    Donkey Kong
    Donkey Kong Country
    Donkey Kong Land III
    Double Dragon
    Downwell
    Dragon Ball Fighter Z
    Dragon Quest
    Dragon Quest V
    Dragon Quest XI
    Drill Dozer
    Ducktales Remastered
    Earthworm Jim
    Etrian Odyssey: Nexus
    Final Fantasy
    Final Fantasy Adventure
    Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
    Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales
    Final Fantasy IV
    Final Fantasy Legend II
    Final Fantasy V
    Fire Emblem: Fates - Conquest
    Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & The Blade Of Light
    Fortnite
    Friday The 13th: The Game
    F-Zero
    Gex: Enter The Gecko
    Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars
    Ghosts N Goblins
    Goldeneye 007
    Gremlins 2: The New Batch
    Hades
    Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity
    Ice Hockey
    Ikaruga
    Jeopardy
    Joy Mech Fight
    Ken Griffey Jr Presents Major League Baseball
    Killer Instinct
    Kirby's Adventure
    Kirby's Dream Land
    Kirby's Epic Yarn
    Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament
    Lightseekers
    Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
    Lumines Remastered
    Madden NFL 13
    Madden NFL Football
    Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr
    Mario Kart 8
    Mario Kart: Double Dash
    Mario Party: Star Rush
    Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
    Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3
    Mass Effect 3
    Mega Man
    Mega Man 11
    Mega Man 2
    Mega Man 3
    Mega Man 4
    Mega Man 5
    Mega Man: Battle Network 6
    Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
    Mega Man X
    Mega Man X2
    Mega Man X4
    Metroid
    Metroid: Other M
    Metroid: Samus Returns
    Miami Law
    Minecraft
    Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
    Mortal Kombat 11
    Mortal Kombat 4
    NBA 2K18
    NBA Jam
    NBA Jam (2010)
    NCAA Basketball
    NES Remix Pack
    New Super Mario Bros U
    New Super Mario Bros Wii
    Ninja Gaiden
    Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship Of Doom
    Nintendo Labo: Toy-Con 04 - VR Kit
    Nintendo Land
    Octopath Traveler
    Okami
    Overwatch
    Pac-Man: Championship Edition
    Pac-Man Vs
    Paper Mario: The Origami King
    Phantasy Star 0
    Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
    Play Action Football
    Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
    Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu
    Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
    Pokemon Puzzle Challenge
    Pokemon Sword
    Pokemon Trading Card Game
    Pokemon Ultra Sun
    Pokken Tournament
    Prince Of Persia
    Punch-Out!!
    Puyo Puyo Tetris
    Quest For Camelot
    Resident Evil: Revelations
    Ristar
    River City Ransom
    Road Runner's Death Valley Rally
    Rocket League
    Rollercoaster Tycoon Adventures
    Scooby-Doo: Classic Creep Capers
    Scribblenauts
    Secret Of Mana
    Shadowgate Classic
    Shadow Of The Ninja
    Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
    Shining Force II
    Shining Resonance Refrain
    Shovel Knight: King Of Cards
    Shovel Knight: Shovel Of Hope
    SNK Heroines
    SNK Vs Capcom Card Fighters DS
    Sonic & Knuckles
    Sonic Mania
    Sonic The Hedgehog
    Sonic The Hedgehog 2
    Space Invaders Extreme
    Splatoon 2
    Splatterhouse
    Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti
    Star Fox
    Starlink: Battle For Atlas
    Startropics
    Star Wars
    Star Wars Pinball
    Street Fighter Alpha 3
    Street Fighter III
    Stunt Race FX
    Summon Night: Swordcraft Story
    Super C
    Super Castlevania IV
    Super Ghouls N Ghosts
    Super Mario 3D World
    Super Mario 64
    Super Mario Bros
    Super Mario Bros 2
    Super Mario Bros 3
    Super Mario Bros 35
    Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
    Super Mario Kart
    Super Mario Land
    Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
    Super Mario Maker
    Super Mario Maker 2
    Super Mario Sunshine
    Super Mario World
    Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
    Super Metroid
    Super Punch-Out
    Super Puyo Puyo 2
    Super Smash Bros 4
    Super Smash Bros Ultimate
    Super Street Fighter II Turbo
    Super Street Fighter IV
    Tecmo Bowl
    Tecmo NBA Basketball
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up
    Tekken Advance
    Tetris 99
    Tetris Party Deluxe
    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
    The House Of The Dead 2
    The Legend Of Zelda
    The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
    The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
    The Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
    The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening
    The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
    The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons
    The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker
    The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
    The Outer Worlds
    The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare
    Toejam & Earl
    Toki Tori
    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
    Toy Story
    Trials Of Mana
    Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
    Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil
    Vice: Project Doom
    Wargroove
    Wario Land II
    Wario Ware: Touched
    WCW Vs NWO
    Wii Sports
    XCOM 2
    Xenoblade Chronicles X
    Yoshi's Woolly World
    Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    August 2017

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.