Like or Dislike?

  • Like

    Votes: 209 67.2%
  • Dislike

    Votes: 102 32.8%

  • Total voters
    311

jett

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,793
This game was like impossible to get through when I was a kid.
 

gforguava

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,803
Always loved it and it is still probably my favorite in the series. Far from perfect, most criticisms of the game are at least somewhere in the neighborhood of valid, but the atmosphere and vibe is just unmatched in my eyes.
 

MrBenchmark

Member
Dec 8, 2017
2,061
Probably unpopular but it's literally my favorite Castlevania. I have so many memories staying up all night as a kid at sleepover playing this with my friends
 

Fatagnus

Member
Dec 24, 2017
223
I still like it to this day, but I have pretty bad nostalgia goggles for it though. This was a "Nintendo Power Game" had to have the magazine to figure out the cryptic riddles, or friends would share the secrets at school. had to be there.
As many have said the music is amazing still. And the Romhack that adds a map, re-translation, and tons of other improvements make it much easier to get into today.
www.romhacking.net

Castlevania II English Re-translation (+Map)

This is an English re-Translation of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. In addition to translating
 

belairjeff

J->E Localization
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,391
I wouldn't say I like it, but I appreciate it for being so forward thinking.
The NES simply couldn't handle the ambition that Simon's Quest was going for.
 

StarPhlox

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,561
Wisconsin
I really like it for nostalgic reasons as a child but after having replayed it a couple times in the past 10 years I gotta say I think it's actually good and has a lot of cool stuff despite its problems. Probably not a top 10 Castlevania for me (that's mostly dominated by Igavanias anyway) but I really do like it so much
 

Het_Nkik

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,532
I didn't play it till I was an adult and we were way way past the NES era, and I used a guide because I knew the reputation the game had for some obtuse bullshit. But I thought it was really fun. I probably wouldn't have liked it if I had to learn about kneeling tornadoes or whatever on my own, though.
 

Miamiwesker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,764
Miami
This is a complicated question, did I like it, yeah. I go back to CV2 a lot cause I love the weirdness. That game and Zelda 2 I have a soft spot in my heart for cause there were the weird ones, ambitious and just different. Was it good, not really, CV2 in particular is much worse than Zelda 2. But there was something about the strange part 2 of many NES games.
 

ghibli99

Member
Oct 27, 2017
18,330
I like the music (actually, I LOVE the music and its amazing basslines) and the overall structure of the game, but it's not one I ever return to. I kinda equate it with DMC2 with how strange it is compared to the rest of the series.
 

Lothar

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,616
I loved it when it came out. But I had Nintendo Power. If I got stuck, I just looked it up. It obviously has flaws but I did not realize them at all until that AVGN episode. It was considered pretty normal, at least as a kid, for a NES game not to be easy to beat without help. Also I do not remember a bad word being said about Castlevania 2 until that episode.

It was so a cool when it came out for it to have a world with towns, that it wasn't just about the castle. It gave us a full world. Many different items. That you could go left or right at the first screen was a mindfuck. I preferred it over Castlevania 1 and 3 and still do.
 
It's easier to play now, but when I first played CVII, despite enjoying it then I was dogshit at it.

I literally couldn't figure out what to do at certain points, and it inevitably lead to my Dad (after watching me struggle for a while) trying to do it himself and help me on the part. This lead to us playing the rest of the game for about two weeks 'together' and beating it.
We got the worst ending. 🤣
It became my Dad's favorite game in the series (he loves Zelda II a lot as well).

I still enjoy playing it now and fire it up every blue moon.
 
Oct 25, 2017
28,987
It was always fun but without knowing wtf to do you'd just have to give up after a while

Once the internet came around and I found out what to do to progress it became a much better experience lol

Edit - I didn't own the game and never came across the Nintendo Power issue somehow
 

Supple

Banned
Aug 1, 2022
590
NYC
Simon's Quest was the first Castlevania I beat and enjoyed as a kid. I never understood the hate it received years later.
 

Bengraven

Powered by Friendship™
Member
Oct 26, 2017
28,304
Florida
I adore it.

It's my favorite Castlevania soundtrack next to Symphony.

I love the aesthetics, especially that day/night cycle.

I honestly play without trying to beat it, so the bugs never bothered me. I just love running around exploring.
 

TheWildCard

Member
Jun 6, 2020
2,386
Haven't played that much of it so no strong opinion either way, but yeah not a big fan, even if it's ideas are cool. Good music though.
 

hikarutilmitt

"This guy are sick"
Member
Dec 16, 2017
11,664
It was rightly shit upon long before AVGN was ever a thing. I almost hate his show at times just because of statements like in the op.

It's not good. Ambitious, sure. A slog, absolutely. The US version screwed up so many aspects that we got a worse version of the game in almost every way. The music is the only redeeming quality but it only has like 6 regular tracks to begin with, you only ever hear 4 with any regularity and I am, frankly, tired of hearing Bloody goddamned Tears everywhere.
 
Aug 27, 2019
682
I have a lot of nostalgia for it, being my first Castlevania and the only one I actually owned on the NES. Enjoyed it back in the day. Didn't realize it was so polarizing until decades later.
 

OneThirtyEight

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
5,791
It has great atmosphere, music and visuals and i love the concept. But the execution and cryptic shit is a big no. Also bosses and level design is no good.
 

Jetsun Mila

Member
Apr 7, 2021
3,087
My favorite of the NES Castlevania. I prefer the more open style to the linear style of the other games.
That said it is really obvious that it was rushed, especially on Draculas Castle and the final fight itself.
 

eXistor

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,549
I really like it and with a bit more development it could have been an all-timer. They needed to make the mansions a bit more unique (a different song for each for starters) and maybe a rudimentary map-system or at least better directions from NPC's. Fix the bosses; add a few more and make them actually do something. And while you're at it, maybe give some enemies some more interesting patterns (I hate those magnetized floating eyeballs).

That's really all you need to do to make it into a really great game.
 

Kazuhira

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,393
I had a good time with it tbh, it's not the mess that internet told me.
Then again, i'm a relatively new CS fan who used guides, the quicksave/load, rewind features etc from the collection so maybe that reputation is still deserved if you play the game as intended.

Btw this thread reminded that i haven't played that fanmade remake yet.
 
Last edited:

G_O

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,987
I didnt like it until that issue of Nintendo Power arrvied with map and walkthrough. Then I loved it
 

mattiewheels

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,127
Dec 6, 2017
11,135
US
I never got anywhere in it despite owning the actual cartridge. I love the music and atmosphere of it but never know what to do and I don't like to use walkthroughs.
 

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,386
I played a hack called Simon's Redaction that has faster rendering text with a way better translation, among other QoL improvements. Highly recommend.


AVGN is right about how weird it is, but that was really down to the translation being so bad the clues made no sense. That's exactly what this fixes. The goal is to make it playable without needing a guide. I swear it works! It's really a quality game when played as intended.
I don't know if the hack accounts for this, but this isn't entirely true. The game actually intentionally had some of the NPCs lie to you or give misleading information, so when "played as intended" you should still be confused.

legendsoflocalization.com

Legends of Localization: Why the “Graveyard Duck” from Castlevania II Isn’t a Mistranslation After All

This odd line has puzzled fans for years. It turns out ducks and Castlevania go hand-in-hand!
 

Suedemaker

Linked the Fire
Member
Jun 4, 2019
1,777
As much as I got frustrated as a kid because I couldn't figure out the stupid wall thing...I still loved playing the rest of it and trying to figure out what was going on 😅