Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest – NES
Castlevania II isn’t generally regarded as one of the best entries in the series, as it’s filled with backtracking, easy bosses, and a poor translation that led to some confusion in-game. Part of the problem apparently lied in the fact that Koji Igarashi and the development team meant all of the NPCs to be liars in the game, but subtle cues provided by them for player hints were lost in translation. Regardless, Simon’s Quest was definitely a blueprint for future Castlevania games.
If there’s one aspect of the game that didn’t suffer, however, it’s the soundtrack. The music of Simon’s Quest was equal parts rousing and creepy when it needed to be, perfectly fitting the intensity of the gothic action game. The soundtrack was definitely the stand out feature of Castlevania II, and even featured the fan favorite track “Bloody Tears.”
