Despite its start as a basic platform series revolving around horror movie cliches, the Castlevania series came into its own in the 90s and early 2000s with its shift to a Metroid-style adventure. The games created in that style were some of the greatest games I've ever played, especially Symphony of the Night which is my favorite game of all time. That's especially amazing considering the first attempt at such a style, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, was as rough as getting lashed by Simon's whip.
The story picks up where the original's very basic plot left off. After Simon Belmont successfully killed Dracula, his bones scattered all over Transylvania. To prevent the possibility of a later return, Simon goes on a quest to find his bones and destroy them. When you think about it, the plot doesn't make much sense. You'd think his bones would've been destroyed right off the bat. However, it does give a reason for the exploration that'll be the crux of the game. Following the plot does become a headache as the game does require a lot of talking with NPCs who often don't have anything useful to say and/or have dialog loaded with errors that should've been caught by a proofreader.
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Like I said, exploration is a major element of this game. Simon does have his whip, but he has to find or buy the rest of his arsenal as well as the bones of Dracula. The locations are nicely varied ranging from forests to swamps, and the mansions holding the bones are challenging mazes to navigate. However, finding those mansions is an absolute bitch. Since the NPCs are almost no help, most of the mansions are almost completely impossible to find. There's one that involves taking a secret path under a lake that you'd never know was even there. Since there is no map in-game, it is extremely easy to get lost. A guide is absolutely mandatory. There are also issues with the equipment Simon can buy. Only one or two pieces are sold in each town with hearts as the accepted currency. Unfortunately, the items tend to be too pricey, and your bank is emptied every time you run out of lives. Were it not for continues and passwords maintaining inventory, the game would be practically impossible.
While the exploration is an absolute headache, the combat and platforming are much improved from the first game. Enemies rarely overrun the player. Even though the enemies get stronger when the game switches to night, the numbers don't increase. Getting toys like the holy water can be a pain, but you never have to worry about ammo once you get them. While there are some tricky jumps, most of the platforming is reasonable. The only issues I found were the fake blocks in a couple of the mansions. The action is very well done for the time. Even the visuals and music are top-tier for the original Nintendo.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is a difficult game to gauge. The exploration was a bold idea for the time that was very flawed. The action isn't as aggravating as the first game, but it clearly wasn't the focus. I appreciate what the game was trying to do, but its flaws are hard to stomach when I can just load up the later games that did the concept better. It may be worth a look if you want to see where "Metroidvania" really started. Otherwise, just load up Circle of the Moon or Harmony of Dissonance instead.
