When my grandmother passed we found out that she owned a nes and a handful of games. This was one of the games she had! It is still in the original paper box, with a manual and everything. In the manual she has a bunch of hand written passwords for the game!

Credit where it's absolutely due: We wouldn't have Bloody Tears without Simon's Quest.

And the flame whip is one of the dopest weapons ever AND makes such a sick sound effect too

I was 14 years old, NES games were disappearing from the shelves, SNES was the rage. My parents knew i always wanted this game. They went to on their own either a comic store or second hand store and picked me up a boxed copy of the game for my birthday. Sometimes parents can nail a gift.

2020: "What a terrible year to have a curse!"

This is actually one of my favorite games of all time. I never seem to get over how cool it is.

For me, personally, I love every single bit of this game. Nothing in the game is annoying to me. It's what gives it a nightly flavour. I could be playing during the day and feel like it's nighttime. I'm not kidding.

This was one of my very first games for the NES. As a kid I had no clue what Castlevania was and Simon's Quest was my first exposure to it. I absolutely loved this game and wasn't until I was older that I discovered it was reviled by many. I recall knowing maybe two other kids that had it and we would exchange whatever hints we had with each other. There were one or two kids that got NP and would bring it to school, so I suspect someone brought one in with a guide or something, because I did end up completing the game. There was no way I would have been able to do it without some kind of extra guidance because there was just so much cryptic stuff in SQ. I played through it probably a half dozen or more times to the degree that years later(maybe high school) I decided to try and play through it again and I pretty much remembered all of the various secrets needed to get through the game. It is absolutely one of my faves even though it is hated by many.

My favorite Castlevania game. The music alone is amazing.

I am the weird guy who loves this game AND Zelda II. It’s the rpg elements of each game that hook me.

Excellent review. I've always loved CV2 personally, even coming back to it as an adult after seeing that legendary AVGN episode (though I loved that video anyway and it got me obsessed w/ AVGN...) but you pretty much explained both the appeal of those who love it and detriment of those who detest it here; it's got fun gameplay, great graphics and superb music for the time, which was the most important elements a game can have!... plus some time-consuming and clunky design, weird obtuse puzzles and translation issues and bizarre time choices like the wait time for the day/night cycle and the random plethora of fake floors. The positives are what drove Metroidvania as a genre to emerge and become such a huge phenomenon lasting to this day though, and I'd urge anyone who hasn't played this yet to give it a shot. But hard agree on CV3 and Zelda 2 both being better games.

I like this game quite a bit. When people mention how cryptic it is I think about Metroid. Metroid is regarded as one of the best on the NES, but I remember my cousin and I sitting on the floor with pens and graph paper. One playing, and the other making the map so we could try and figure out where the hell to go.

Gotta set my priorities in place before the day starts, by knowing at 7AM if Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest is worth playing (at least where I live).

Simons quest is easily my favorite castlevania game. I play it at least once a year mainly in October. Having to wait a few seconds for the day night text doesn’t bother me at all and I love the cryptic parts of the game.

One cool note about Castlevania 2 is that it was one of the first games to have alternate endings. Depending on how fast you finish the game, there were actually 3 completely different fates for Simon so even with all of the potentially time wasting annoyances you're actually rewarded for learning and replaying the game.

I've actually always loved this game.

"Geez, the holiest floor ever" 😆

I would pay good hearts for the Bo Jackson clear screen attack.

This was my favorite NES game when I was a kid. Times were different back then. You just grinded the clues and figured out what was going on. That was life. Ill never forget how I felt when I figured out the Red Crystal tornado passage. I went nuts. You can never replicate that feeling. So for that reason this game will always hold a special place in my heart.

Yes. This and Zelda II are one my favorites.

I like how SNESDrunk always wishes his viewers a nice day at the end of each video. It shows he has class.

I think this was well-rounded and balanced. I really enjoy the highs of Castlevania II. It was a brave leap forward and introduced a lot of elements which IGA wanted to bring forward into SotN, which makes it pretty seminal. The lows (and there are some) never outweighed the highs for me. This is still one of my favourite CV games in the series.

one of my favorite games ever. didn't know how to do the river/cliff until a friend showed me, otherwise after that, the challenge of beating it in time is one of the best NES experiences ever. great music, fun gameplay, very ambient. 9/10 for sure.

Simon’s box art has big David Bowie energy

Just replayed it today for the first time after 8 years. Still as awesome as ever. Almost meditative experience.

I just played this beginning to end and adore it.

i remember playing this as a kid with my neighbor. none of the negative aspects of the game were apparent to us. we loved this game at the time and would stay up all night playing it. the mansions to us were like exploring a new dungeon in zelda and we were always eager to discover which new item was inside. the cryptic stuff was part of the charm back then where you had to find the solution in nintendo power or from a friend via word of mouth.

This was the game my parents bought when they finally bought us a NES. Hours of playing with my brothers, time was simpler because we were young and didn’t have responsibilities. Good memories! Edit; I agree with SNES drunk, it was frustrating and we would get stuck for long periods of times.

This game gave me the chills back when I was a kid. Heck, even today it's eerie already in the password screen.

This is the Castlevania I played the most as a kid, due to it being so forgiving compared to 1 & 3. As an adult, I see it’s flaws, but I still enjoy it enough to go back and play it every couple years or so. Bloody Tears will always be a banger.

Correction: you said “hearts are currency, not ammo” they are currency AND ammo, just not for holy water and I think the most basic dagger.

Absolutely on of my favorite games ever. Not like any other game before it.

"This game sucks." I think about that classic first line every time I watch anything on Castlevania 2

The patches are a terrific service and help to improve the experience by a lot. Thanks for referencing them, @SnesDrunk!

I really love this game. I still keep my nes cart (since 1990!!)

An excellent perspective on a very, very underrated game. It's great seeing this one get some love!

Total length of video: 434 secs. Total length of "SNES Drunk": 6.5 secs. 1.5% of the video was spent listening to "SNES Drunk."

In addition to Zelda 2 and Faxanadu as action-adventure similar titles, I'd recommend Battle of Olympus as well.

This game is a gem if you play with the Retranslation patch. It's way better than the Redaction patch which removes some hints (all of the intentionally misleading hints, but also some of the useful hints!) and the dialogue feels very sanitised and unfitting to the setting. Retranslation keeps all of the hints, but fixes them as a lot of them were mistranslated. The NPCs talk like people and not copy+pasted hints like in Reaction. It also adds a well made intro animation, an in-game map (both of these are from the Japanese manual), loading/saving, smooth day/night transitions, jumping off stairs, and more. ALL of these features are optional, you can disable them individually if you wish. It's such an amazing patch, and I hope it becomes more popular than Redaction at some point so it becomes what first-timers play with instead.

This is one of my favorite nes games. Once I knew all the secrets I played this game over and over again. The great environments and music it was really fun being in that world. I still rep this game. Classic

It's odd to be reminded that this was my favorite Castlevania growing up.

I played this game with the retranslation patch and had a pretty good time. With a proper translation you get hints that are true and some that are fake so it's more intuitive to figure out what you're supposed to do without a guide. I still didn't find the designs of the dungeons very inspired though.

Thanks for pointing out the improvement patches! Quality stuff as always!

So good to have your videos back!

The soundtrack alone is reason enough, Bloody Tears melody is fanstatic!

I can't even guess how many times I rented this game when I was a kid.

This was always one of my favorite NES games and among the first few I ever beat. I replayed it over and over to eventually find all the items and am still learning things (like how holding the nail increases your physical attack). The NES had very few horror themed games that were not insanely difficult, so it's nice to find one I could soak up the gothic atmosphere night after night.

Funny, I was just searching your videos just yesterday and was surprised that you had not done Simon's Quest yet. What a coincidence.

Alright, I wanna thank you for creating and posting this video and I hope you have a great rest of your day.

I personally like Simon's Quest more than the first and third games for the NES. I found them really difficult and I never even finished Dracula's Curse. I've beaten Simon's Quest three times now and in all honesty my first playthrough was probably the only one that was annoying. A lot of the more cryptic gameplay elements are pretty much famous now because of AVGN and other popular KZfaqrs, and there are always guides online you can read if you get stuck or forget where to go. I really enjoy the graphics and music in this game, and it's just an easy game to pick up and play for a little while if for no other reason than to kill monsters while listening to Bloody Tears. Fun game, but I'd recommend using occasional save states either on the Virtual Console or Nintendo Online.

This is honestly one of my favorite games. If it wasn't for the cryptic use of the blue and red crystals, more people would have enjoyed this game. (It makes me wonder why nobody mentions how the instructions for this game plainly states that some villagers will give you false information because they are/were loyal to Dracula.)

Glad you are back! Hope you enjoyed the break!

Given the state of translations at the time I've always wondered if CV2 was better received in Japan.

For an unfinished game, it was excellent at the time and I still absolutely love it. I can see how it wouldn't be worth the effort for most people these days.

Welcome Back!!! Thanks for the video :)

I am so glad to have SNESDrunk back. Great video!

Good review. The "holy" jokes were fun. I tried this one again maybe a year ago with various hacks to make it more tolerable. The visuals and audio are quite good. Unfortunately, the hacks didn't make the game fun enough for me. It exposed what I consider to be weak and boring stage design. But that's the kind of thing people need to determine for themselves. It was nice not having to throw holy water the whole time though thanks to a hack. I can't imagine that being any fun.

"This game sucks" oh wait, wrong channel

This was my first CV game, and one of my first NES games. I remember it showed up on the same Christmas as the NES itself for me. Didn't understand it at all as a kid - Once I accidentally got the tornado. It wasn't until the internet that I could finish that confusing game, though I've had a spot for it high in my gaming memories all my life. Nice vid. Subbed.

Just the fact that every time I see a video about Simon's Quest it features Bloody Tears makes it the best game I've never sat down and played through.

3:45 The towns look even more gloomy than the dungeons.

I recently beat this game for the first time ever plyed it on my anniversary collection and I will say I enjoyed it and it is not so bad as people make you belive. Sure I played it as a kid back in the day but I never manage to beat it. But yeah there where tons of games from back in the for me early 90s that I never manage to beat I mean it took me until 2016 to beat the Frist Zelda game on nes but I did it played and beat it on my 3ds .

Castlevania II is my favorite of the NES Castlevanias. I think the biggest issue a lot of folks have is a lack of patience for games of this era like this, Zelda II, Legacy of the Wizard, etc. Yes, they're cryptic, and are meant to be explored thoroughly. If they were direct, people would beat them in a couple of hours and be done, and would miss out on really exploring the world and soaking it in. That's really the thing. There are direct clues on things like ducking by the pond, kneeling at the cliff with a crystal equipped, dropping garlic at the cemetary, and all of that in the game, but you had to find them. There are little books hidden throughout the game in blocks you need to break with holy water that say all of those things explicitly. Castlevania II is just a game for more patient types, and not for those who want to speedrun everything they play. If you lack patience, grab a guide online and blast through it, and enjoy the sights and sounds. If you are patient, try to beat it without a guide the first time. Scour the game for its secrets. Parts will be tedious, but the satisfaction from overcoming the challenge is rewarding. Then, try Legacy of the Wizard, which is awesome, but ridiculously more crptic than Cadtlevania II, Zelda II, Faxanadu, and Battle of Olympus combined.

Can't wait till you cover Dracula's Curse! Multiple characters and routes, amazing atmosphere, it was just the best NES Castlevania for me.

I love this game for being so weird. It's like the game is playing you. Kind of like Dark Souls. Edit: I will never look at Dracula the same way, now that I've realized he's made of Lego!

And see I find it funny how people act like it’s so trashy, but when this came out, I remember people talking about this game all the time. So people loved it back then until people were able to even identify that it had flaws

One of my favorite games of all time. I loved this game growing up.

One of my childhood favourites. I had this and the first Castlevania. Fond memories of playing this with my dad and trying to understand all the clues the villagers were giving. Never beat it until recently with a guide.

Despite the flaws, it's still my favorite of the classic CV games.

Yes this game is worth playing through.

I like how the night transition text clashed with the usual "I hope you have a great rest of your day"

It's good to see you back! I'd really love to see a review of American Gladiators and Guts. Maybe some other physical game-show games if they're out there. Guts sucks haha but my wife and i made people play it whenever they came over to our house when we first discovered it, just to watch them squirm. Thanks for all you do!

The day light theme of this game is one of the most underrated 8-bit masterpieces of all time.

James Rolfe has entered the chat

Welcome back drunk! Good to see your videos back!

Thank you for making and I hope you have a great rest of your day.

What a horrible night to have a prejudice against a game based on other people’s opinions.

Your intro makes me laugh a lot, i never know how long it's gonna last. What a way to keep something fresh which might be overlooked in so many videos. It's one of the reasons I'm subbed. 😄👍

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your break.

Its great to wake up to another awesome video thanks man

Just wanted to say my favorite thing about your channel is that you understand that certain features will bother some players and some people may enjoy those same features. It's really refreshing to hear someone who can talk about games they may not love but who understands that other people might still love it.

Simon's Quest is underappreciated. I personally have always loved this game for as flawed as it is, and it has one of the best soundtracks ever made.

Hey, just wanted express my appreciation for your channel. I watch (or sometimes just listen) frequently and I use the info in deciding what games to pick up but haven't communicated that back. These comment sections can get pretty involved (good or bad) and who knows what kind of affect they have on content creators. Just wanted to let you know I enjoy and benefit from your hobby and encourage you to keep going. Thanks

I want to thank you for making this video and hope you have a great rest of your day

Remember. Kneeling with the flame whip and holy water, riding the tornado to that Bats castle, and putting him to sleep with my flame whip. Classic game!

This game is known in Japan on the Famicom Disk System as Dracula II: Noroi no Fuuin, and this game was the debut of Bloody Tears, one of the best tracks in the series (and one of my favorite Akumajou Dracula/Castlevania series music tracks). The FDS version has Disk saving which became passwords in the NES version. This game was also notable for being AVGN's first game review.

Great video! I hope YOU have a great rest of your day!!

Got the Castlevania Collection on the Switch a few Days before this Video. Castlevania II is much more Fun than i thought, but i have to thank Videos like yours and that of the Angry Video Game Nerd for it, because you pointed out those cryptic Parts. Having unlimited Continues makes this Game enjoyable, because it doesn't get frustrating and puts you out of the researching Flow.

I've been meaning to go through the whole thing with TheAlmightyGuru's patch (that's the Redaction patch you mentioned in the video) but I had no idea Bisqwit also tackled the project. Since he's Finnish he has even more reason to do so. Personally I'd link to those patches, they can turn this game from a deal breaker into a "give it a try".

I always thought of the Castlevania hack "The Holy Relics" as the idea of Simon's Quest done right. The adventure elements are cut out but the idea of the items is there.

Its def one of my all time favorites. The soundtrack alone brings back so much nostalgia (This was also the game that inspired the AVGN)

Games like this and Zelda 2 were always very interesting to me. Everything was new at the time and both franchises were triying new things, nothing anything was set in stone. Both are very flawed, but ultimately very influential for things to come.

Castlevania 2 was the first CV game I ever owned or played and its always had a spot in my heart. I recently replayed it from the CV Anniversary Collection and even though there are those annoying parts like you mentioned, once you understand what you're supposed to do the game is really fun. I wish there was a new Castlevania in this style. While SOTN was awesome, it was all inside of Dracula's Castle. I'd love to see something like the art style in Rondo Of Blood but its more of a journey across Transylvania instead of a linear level design. Anyhow, keep up the great work SNES Drunk!

I don't know how, but way back in the day my older cousins and I were able to finish this game without any guides or walkthroughs. For the most part I just did the grindy bits and watched them do the rest as we discussed where we should go or what we should do. Good times.

Some of the higher end special weapons do use Hearts as ammunition, such as the Golden Knife and Sacred Flame.

This is the type of review I have come to expect from snes drunk. Cheers good sir!

Another great review, thanks!

I still have fond memories of this game as a kid. It was one of my favourite Christmas presents at the time. Simons quest really appealed to me more than the first because it wasn't as difficult and I loved the exploring aspect about it. All the annoyances now weren't so bad back then. Although thatcred crystal trick was a huge dick move. My brother had to look through a game magazine to find that out.

I remember I was about 10 11 years old my cousin Steven had this game and I feel in loved with it right away this was back in 1988 its a classic in my book

The music is absolutely amazing in this game. It really makes it worth the effort to play through, IMHO.