History VideoGame / CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest

* PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: Four of the five Dracula parts give you secondary benefits if you equip them. Dracula's Rib gives you a shield that takes effect when standing or crouching, Dracula's Eye makes hidden clues visible, Dracula's Heart prompts the ferryman to take you to a different location, and Dracula's Nail lets you destroy walls with your whip. Meanwhile, you need to equip Dracula's Ring and have the Magic Cross to break the bricks on the bridge leading to Castlevania.

* ProlongedVideoGameSequel: ''Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'' introduces a much larger world than the previous game, ''VideoGame/Castlevania''. There are different paths, and different objectives, which contrasts with the previous game's "defeat a boss, then move on".

* ProlongedVideoGameSequel: ''Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'' introduces a much larger world than the previous game, ''VideoGame/Castlevania1''. There are different paths, and different objectives, which contrasts with the previous game's "defeat a boss, then move on".

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/simonsquestcover_3326.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[-Since Dracula was dead at the time, [[TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} Count Strahd von Zarovich]] filled in for him for the box art.-]]]

* BeefGate: Left from the starting town, the fireball spitting fast-moving monsters that take 8 hits with the starting whip to kill ensure that the player knows he's supposed to start out [[WhenAllElseFailsGoRight by going to the right]]. Their first hit generally knocks you back into town, but if you get past them, there's also a poisonous marsh with additional monsters in said marsh that inflict heavy damage.

* BlobMonster: One of the blue enemies.

* CollisionDamage

* CycleOfHurting[=/=]FlashOfPain: All of the enemies, bosses included, go into stun-lock when damaged, making them easy pickings, especially in comparison to other pre-SOTN games, where they are more strategically positioned, crafty, and/or more aggressive.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: This game has a few parallels with ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink''; in both games, the main villains are dead and their minions are causing havoc across the countryside, and the entire format changes from their respective originals, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks which many people complained about]], thus making both games the "Black Sheep" of their respective series.
** Later entries in both franchises would elaborate on the goals of these two games as being a means to grant wishes. Also the plot of both games involves an attempt to resurrect the main villain (either by the hero or by enemies), and according to the manual they are both being stalked by monsters. The last town before the final level of both games is even all but abandoned! Really, the list goes on and on between Castlevania II and Zelda II.

** EarnYourHappyEnding: However, in that ending, Simon is free from the curse and he can live the rest of his life until the next time Dracula rises. In the other endings, Simon succumbs to his wounds and dies as well.

** There's been numerous attempts at 'fixing' the game, especially after WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd made his first video. But the most complete one is called ''Castlevania II: Dracula's Shadow''. Adding new characters, item crashes, alchemy, new areas, bosses, and a host of other improvements while making the game a whole lot clearer. You can check out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QouE-JHDq0 this review for more details.]]

* GuideDangIt: WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd had a field day with this one as his first episode.
** See the AllThereInTheManual entry.

* HardLevelsEasyBosses: Or rather, easy bosses, period. The levels can be pretty hard at times, but the boss fights are pathetic. You can literally walk past and ignore them. And even if you do fight them, they usually have one attack that's very easy to dodge, and they stun-lock whenever hit. See CycleOfHurting for more.
** SequelDifficultyDrop applies, but the mansions are full of dead ends, pitfalls, secret passages through seemingly solid walls, and strategically placed enemies that can make things really challenging. It doesn't help that, even when you get the body part inside the mansion and defeat the boss (if there is one), you have to backtrack to the entrance.

* KillItWithFire: The Sacred Flame, the Flame Whip.

* LowLevelRun: It's possible to beat the game at level 0. The trick is to immediately go LEFT from the first town and get to the Morning Star with your original 50 hearts plus every small heart you can get. Your defense will suffer, but your attack won't. Dracula can kill you in one hit.
* {{Metroidvania}}: [[OlderThanTheyThink Predates SotN by eight years.]]
* MadeOfIron: Simon was relatively fragile in the first game, but by the time you reach the maximum level, he can take ''96'' hits without dying from all but the strongest enemies. But he still sinks in water like...well...''iron''.

* MultipleEndings: [[InUniverseGameClock Take too long]] to kill Dracula, and it's DownerEnding time for you! Of course, once you know where time runs and where it doesn't, the bad ending is easily avoidable.
** Some guide at [=GameFAQs=] or somewhere once made an elaborate explanation of the three endings pointing out how there is an extremely complex system that calculates several other things in addition to time, but almost no one can understand it and somehow time always seems to be the main deciding factor.
** The Best Ending requires you to beat the game in less than 8 day-night cycles, the bad ending in 8 to 15 cycles, and the worst ending in +15 cycles.

* PointOfNoReturn: There's a long drop just before Dracula. Simon doesn't have the means to get out of this pit once he falls down.

** PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: Four of the five parts give you secondary benefits if you equip them. Dracula's Rib gives you a shield that takes effect when standing or crouching, Dracula's Eye makes hidden clues visible, Dracula's Heart prompts the ferryman to take you to a different location, and Dracula's Nail lets you destroy walls with your whip. Meanwhile, you need to equip both Dracula's Ring and the Magic Cross to break the bricks on the bridge leading to Castlevania.

* SealedEvilInASixPack: After the first game, Dracula was defeated and his body was divided into five parts, which Simon Belmont must put together, to resurrect Dracula and kill him again.

** Only three bosses in the game, two of which can be [[SkippableBoss skipped]] and the [[FinalBoss last]] of which can be defeated easily with one of several exploits.
* SequelHook: The "best" ending [[spoiler:shows Dracula's hand rising out of the dirt in front of his grave]].
** This example is notable because the next game ended up being a prequel. The story timeline [[SequelGap wouldn't be advanced until a half decade later]].

* ShoutOut: The infamous line "DON'T LOOK INTO THE DEATH STAR" likely refers to ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', rather than the [[Franchise/StarWars more infamous battle station]]. In the manga, whenever someone sees the Shichosei (The Ominous Star of Death), that man will die soon.

** The Black Dahlia Murder, the heavy metal band, named their first demo album after the quote at the top of the page.
* SkippableBoss: Most avoidable Death fight ever. Even if you do fight him, he's pathetically easy, which is funny, considering he's usually the ''hardest'' boss of most of the ''Castlevania'' games he's in. Technically, he still is the hardest boss if not skipped, but see HardLevelsEasyBosses above.
* SuperDrowningSkills: For some reason, Simon Belmont sinks like a rock.
-->''This guy can go all over fighting hordes of evil monsters... but he can't even fucking swim!?''
-->-- '''The Angry Video Game Nerd'''
** Simon ''is'' wearing metal armor (as depicted on the cover art), which would make anyone sink like a rock.
** This game also has poison water, which is just a different color. But landing in poison water just drains your health slowly, compared to regular water which kills you instantly. Yes, in this universe, adding poison to water makes it LESS deadly.

* [[{{Uberwald}} Überwald]]: Almost the entire game other than the mansions and the ruins of Dracula's Castle. It's one of the things that makes it stand out among other games where it's either all castle or a more balanced mix of outdoors and castle environments.
* UnwittingPawn: No one ever said Simon had to resurrect Dracula. Just that his body parts had to be burned in the castle ruins. [[spoiler: Had he just thrown away Dracula's Ring once he was past the final obstacle that needed it, that being the magic bricks on the bridge to the castle, then he wouldn't have fought the easiest Dracula fight ever, since it was adding the Ring to the fire that resurrected Dracula.]]
** TheUntwist: Combines with a corrupted ItWasHisSled in that everyone assumes Simon's knowingly trying to revive Dracula, purely because that's what happens.

* FollowTheLeader: After WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd ripped this game a new one purely as a comedy bit he didn't really mean as James Rolfe, real angry video game nerds everywhere started bashing it furiously in droves for real. Even though the game was actually very fondly remembered until WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd attacked it.

* DecapitationPresentation: An infamous ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' cover had a very [[Film/ThreeHundred 300]] Spartan looking Simon Belmont holding the severed head of Dracula. It was certainly BloodierAndGorier than the series and game were presented as and made tons of 13 year old boys want to buy the game. The heavy coverage of the game by Nintendo Power only added to the fond memories the game had from fans until the WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd came along.

This game also holds the distinction of being the very first game Creator/JamesRolfe reviewed as WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd.

* UnwittingPawn: No one ever said Simon had to resurrect Dracula. Just that his body parts had to be burned in the castle ruins. [[spoiler: Had he just thrown away Dracula's Ring once he was past the final obstacle that needed it (could have been the bridge, unconfirmed) then he wouldn't have fought the easiest Dracula fight ever, since it was adding the Ring to the fire that resurrected Dracula.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: A lot of the the things the townspeople tell you that are chalked up to BlindIdiotTranslation are actually just plain lies. The manual tells you that townsfolk, and even some of the books, lie. The Japanese version also had the dialogue boxes themselves hint you as to whether their content was true or false (anything presented as truth was true, anything presented as a rumor wasn't), but it got lost in translation.

* DecapitationPresentation: An infamous ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' cover had a very [[Film/ThreeHundred 300]] Spartan looking Simon Belmont holding the severed head of Dracula. It was certainly BloodierAndGorier than the series and game were presented as and made tons of 13 year old boys want to play it. The heavy coverage of the game by Nintendo Power only added to the fond memories the game had from fans until the WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd came along.

* DecapitationPresentation: An infamous ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' cover had a very [[ThreeHundred 300]] Spartan looking Simon Belmont holding the severed head of Dracula. It was certainly BloodierAndGorier than the series and game were presented as and made tons of 13 year old boys want to play it. The heavy coverage of the game by Nintendo Power only added to the fond memories the game had from fans until the WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd came along.

* FollowTheLeader: After WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd ripped this game a new one purely as a comedy bit he didn't really mean as James Rolfe, real angry video game nerds everywhere started bashing it furiously in droves for real. Even though the game was actually fondly remembered until TheAngryVideoGameNerd attacked it.

* FollowTheLeader: After WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd ripped this game a new one purely as a comedy bit he didn't really mean as James Rolfe, real angry video game nerds everywhere started bashing it furiously in droves for real.

* BlindIdiotTranslation:
** The game was already full of vague or straight-up lying [=NPC=]s -- the English translation added some more by accident. Thoroughly dissected [[http://bisqwit.iki.fi/cv2fin/diff here]].
** The [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/nes/a/cv2-3.htm worst ending]] has the most upbeat description, the [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/nes/a/cv2-2.htm middle ending]] has the worst description, and the [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/nes/a/cv2.htm best ending]] has a good but unenthusiastic description, suggesting that somebody mixed up what ending text goes with which ending image.

* MoodDissonance: Related to the MultipleEndings, the "Worst" Ending (the one you get if you take too long) is in black and white and [[spoiler:Simon is not standing at Dracula's grave, implying that he died]], but the text is the most uplifting of the three endings and there is no mention of [[spoiler:Simon dying]]. The "second-worst" ending is in color on a bright sunny day, and Simon is at Dracula's grave, but the text is the most bleak and depressing of the three, explicitly stating [[spoiler:that Simon dies]]. And finally, the "Best" ending has [[spoiler:[[SequelHook Dracula's hand breaking through the soil]]]].

* BatmanGambit: Either Simon succumbs to the curse and dies, leaving House Belmont too extinct to oppose Dracula (though [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight obviously]] this is a [[IHateYouVampireDad flawed]] benefit), or Simon gets desperate enough to try and burn his body parts to break the curse. Since he will need the Ring to even get in, he won't think to discard it after he's done with it, and [[HopeSpot hopefully]] by that time Simon will weak enough that even a newly resurrected Dracula can utterly pwn. What takes this out of [[XanatosGambit Xanatos territory]] is that Dracula clearly [[DidntSeeThatComing didn't expect]] that Simon '''WOULD''' be able to defeat Dracula after accidentally resurrecting him, even if well over 16 days has passed since Simon set out.

* HardLevelsEasyBosses: Or rather, easy enemies, period. The levels can be pretty hard at times, but the enemy fights are pathetic. You can literally walk past and ignore them. And even if you do fight them, they usually have one attack that's very easy to dodge, and they stun-lock whenever hit. See CycleOfHurting for more.

* ShoutOut: The infamous line "DON'T LOOK INTO THE DEATH STAR" likely refers to ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', rather than the [[Franchise/StarWars more infamous battle station]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: This game has a few parallels with ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink''; in both games, the main villains are dead and their minions are causing havoc across the countryside, and the entire format changes from their respective originals, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks which many people complained about]], thus making both games the "Blacks Sheep" of their respective series.
** Later entries in both franchises would elaborate on the goals of these two games as being a means to grant wishes. Also the plot of both games involves an attempt to resurrect the main villain (either by the hero or by enemies), and according to the manual they are both being stalked by monsters. The last town before the final level of both games is even all but abandoned! Really, the list goes on and on between Castlevania II and Zelda II.

* HardLevelsEasyBosses: The levels can be pretty hard at times, but the boss fights are pathetic. You can literally walk past and ignore them. And even if you do fight them, they usually have one attack that's very easy to dodge.
** SequelDifficultyDrop applies, but the mansions are full of dead ends, pitfalls, secret passages through seemingly solid walls, and strategically placed enemies that can make things really challenging. It doesn't help that, even when you get the body part inside the mansion and defeat the boss (if there is one), you have to backtrack to the entrance.
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: Implied in the worst ending, since Simon is not standing by Dracula's grave, though the text is cheerful. Outright stated in the moderate ending, though he is standing in front of the grave.]]

* ContinuingIsPainful: Dying on your last life results in the reduction of your heart count to zero. Since hearts are used as currency and ammunition and every item has an expensive price tag, this always equates to a severe loss of time invested in collecting them. It also adds several hours to the in-game clock, making it that much harder to get one of the better endings.
-->''Oh look! I finally got enough hearts to go and buy a plant that I need to cross the swamp. Now let me get to the store. Oh shit! It's fucking night time!! Now the stores are all closed and I have to wait for it to turn day again! Oh well, I might as well kill some zombies in the meantime and stock up on some more hearts. *Dies on his last life* Oh shit!! Now I have to start all over again!''
-->-- The Angry Video Game Nerd

* UnwittingPawn: No one ever said Simon had to resurrect Dracula. Just that his body parts had to be burned in the castle ruins. [[spoiler: Had he just thrown away Dracula's Ring once he was past the final obstacle that needed it (could have been the bridge, unconfirmed) then he wouldn't have fought the easiest Dracula fight ever, since it was adding the Ring to the fire that resurrected Drac.]]

** PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: Four of the five parts give you secondary benefits if you equip them. Dracula's Rib gives you a shield that takes effect when standing or crouching, Dracula's Eye makes hidden clues visible, Dracula's Heart prompts the ferryman to take you to a different location, and Dracula's Nail lets you destroy walls with your whip.

* SkippableBoss: Most avoidable reaper ever. Even if you do fight him, he's pathetically easy, which is funny, considering he's usually the ''hardest'' boss of most of the ''Castlevania'' games he's in. Technically, he still is the hardest boss if not skipped, but see HardLevelsEasyBosses above.

* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies: Implied in the worst ending, since Simon is not standing by Dracula's grave, though the text is cheerful. Outright stated in the moderate ending, though he is standing in front of the grave.]]

* SkippableBoss: Most avoidable reaper ever. Even if you do fight him, he's pathetically easy, which is funny, considering he's usually the ''hardest'' boss of most of the ''Castlevania'' games he's in.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Losing all your lives will simply dump you back the start of the screen you were currently on. Sure, it'll strip away your hearts, but it doesn't take long to mine those (especially at night).
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: This game has a few parallels with ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', in both games the main villains are dead and their minions are causing havoc across the countryside, and the entire format changes from their respective originals, which many people complained about thus making both games the "Blacksheeps" of their respective series.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: The reason the townspeople often lie to you is because they blame Simon for Dracula's curse that has befallen the land. In one of the last towns, the locals are hostile and tell you to leave, and it also doesn't help that Simon intends to ressurect Dracula in order to kill him.

* InUniverseGameClock: There is a day/night cycle. Enemies take twice as many hits to kill at night, but give greater amounts of currency for doing so. Towns are also closed at night. Time moves at 240x real time - that is, 6 minutes of real life equals 1 day in the game. Time is frozen when indoors. Finally, the number of days that passes in the game [[MultipleEndings determines which ending you get]].

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: The Famicom Disk System version takes a while to load between each screen, particularly bad if an enemy causes you knock back that sends you back to the previous screen. Fixed in the international/cartridge version where the loading became instantaneous.

* MoodDissonance: Related to the MultipleEndings, the "Worst" Ending (the one you get if you take too long) is in black and white and [[spoiler: Simon is not standing at Dracula's Grave, implying that he died]], but the text is the most uplifting of the three endings and there is no mention of [[spoiler: Simon dying]]. The "second worst" ending is in color on a bright sunny day, and Simon is at Dracula's grave, but the text is the most bleak and depressing of the three, explicitly stating [[spoiler:that Simon dies]]. And finally, the "Best" ending has [[spoiler: Dracula's hand breaking through the soil]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The second to last town thinks you're the direct cause of all the havoc that's being wreaked throughout Transylvania. [[TheLegionsOfHell Dracula's minions]] are still out for blood, after all. (To be fair, they have a point: Simon is trying to resurrect Dracula purely for his own sake, now.) [[GhostTown The last town is deserted.]]

* SequelHook: The "best" ending [[spoiler:shows Dracula's hand rising out of the dirt in front of his grave.]]
** This example is notable because the next game ended up being a prequel. The story timeline wouldn't be advanced until a half decade later.

* SkippableBoss: Most avoidable reaper ever. Even if you do fight him, he's pathetically easy, which is funny, considering he's usually the ''hardest'' boss of most of the Castlevania games he's in.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Compared to other incarnations, this version of Dracula is perhaps the easiest to dispatch, with a couple of glaring, "he can't hurt you if you use this" methods of taking him out. [[spoiler: There's the obvious method of spamming [[InvincibilityPowerUp laurels]], which should last you more than long enough to win, or spamming the Golden Dagger or Sacred Flame at Drac, which freezes him in place and prevents him from attacking.]]