After the success of Castlevania, you might forgive Konami for rushing out a substandard, money-grab type of sequel. Luckily for us, Konami went back to the drawing board for Castlevania II, and re-invented Castlevania as a non-linear action-RPG that bears more than a passing resemblance to the recent games in the series. Simon's Quest finds our hero Simon Belmont suffering at the hands of Dracula's Curse only a few short years after vanquishing the dark lord. Breaking the curse is the only way to save his neck, and to do that he'll need to travel the land, collect the Count's five body parts and bring them to the ruins of Castlevania. With improved visuals, killer music and more player-friendly game design, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is indeed a worthy heir to the Castlevania throne.

Instead of exploring just the confines of a single castle, Simon gets to travel the Transylvanian countryside in Castlevania II. You start out in the town of Jova, but you'll venture to other towns, forests, swamps, caverns and mansions on your quest to break Dracula's curse. Like most RPGs, Simon will have to gather clues from townspeople, manage an inventory of arcane items and fight hordes of monsters to grow more powerful along his quest. Defeated enemies give you both hearts and experience, and gaining levels is crucial to Simon's success. Hearts are used to purchase items like daggers, crystals, holy water and stronger whips. Everything seems fine and good until these words pop up on the screen: "WHAT A HORRIBLE NIGHT TO HAVE A CURSE." Honestly, I must have shit my pants the first time I saw this message of impending doom. Every 6 minutes or so, the game cycles between day and night; during the "horrible night", shops close down and monsters become stronger, but you'll also earn more experience and hearts. While I'd never call Castlevania "scary", walking through the Camilla Cemetery at night in Castlevania II always gave me the goosebumps.

The play mechanics in Castlevania II remain largely unchanged from the first game, which means they're still clunky and unwieldy when compared to modern games. Simon's whipping speed seems to have increased somewhat, and the unlimited sub weapons partially compensate for his lack of maneuverability. The awkward gameplay isn't nearly the problem it was in the original, as the design of the game is much more forgiving. While you still have 3 lives and unlimited continues, losing a life simply restarts you at the same exact point where you died. And if you need to continue, you also respawn on the spot. This makes the game much more player-friendly at the cost of difficulty; Castlevania II is a much easier game than its predecessor, and there is little incentive to play conservative and treasure each life. There are still some cheap enemy tactics that foster some annoyance, but by and large Castlevania II is a cake walk in relation to its brutal progenitor. Even the games few bosses are pushovers (including Dracula), and sometimes you can simply run right past them. Disappointing, to say the least.

The largest obstacle to success is simply figuring out what to do next, as the Japanese-to-English translation is woefully inadequate. You're required to collect clues from townspeople and from hidden tomes, but these are rarely helpful or even decipherable. The game world isn't all that large compared to modern RPGs, but getting lost was still a frustrating setback. This was before the age of GameFAQs, and most players were forced to rely on Nintendo Power to get through Simon's Quest. Despite the problems, I still fondly remember the days I spent trying to figure out what the hell phrases like "There is a flame on top of the 6th tree in Denis Woods" meant. Ah, the good ol' days. The various mansions proved the most difficult part of the game simply due to the number of false floors that popped up everywhere. Tossing a bottle of Holy Water would reveal these spots, so exploring many times boiled down to simply throwing a bottle every step. While there are certainly better action-RPGs today (in the same series, no less), Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is still a fun game and a welcome entry in the Castlevania saga.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest enjoys some visual advancements over its younger sibling, including more detailed backgrounds and slightly larger bosses. Simon is sporting a different color palette (from his Vampire Killer days) but looks and moves the same otherwise. There are some nice visual touches here and there, like mangled skeletons hanging from nooses (downright shocking for a game on the NES) and a cool flaming whip for Simon. Audio continues to shine in Simon's Quest, with a small but stellar collection of tracks. The Silence of the Daylight is a complex medley of dueling instruments that is the absolute best "town" music in any RPG. Ever. Once the horrible night descends, we're treated to the haunting strings of Monster Dance, the perfect accompaniment to some nighttime monster hunting. Castlevania staple Bloody Tears makes its rockin' return here as well to aid your travels across the countryside. Konami once again proved themselves the masters of the 8-bit symphony with Simon's Quest.

While most companies are content to rehash the same old game year in and year out, Konami proved early on that it was dedicated to re-inventing its franchises on a regular basis. Fusing Castlevania with RPG elements proved to be a smart move back in 1988, and this experiment paved the way for future cross-genre Castlevania titles. With improved graphics, great music and a then-massive world to explore, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is an excellent 8-bit RPG that is still fun today. Despite some confusion and rough patches, players knew they would always be saved by these words: "THE MORNING SUN HAS VANQUISHED THE HORRIBLE NIGHT." Classic.