Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (LCD Handheld)
From the Castlevania Wiki, the Castlevania wiki
| Simon's Quest | |
| |
| Developer(s) | Tiger Electronics |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Tiger Electronics |
| Release date(s) | December 31, 1988 
|
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Platform(s) | LCD Handheld |
| Media | |
A Tiger Electronics handheld interpretation of Castlevania: Simon's Quest. It was similar to the Simon's Quest Watch Game, but had greater depth.
Contents |
[edit] Story
The story of this game is essentially the same as the story of the original Simon's Quest for the NES. Simon's goal is to destroy the curse, although the manual does not describe why he must do so and does involve the need to gather up Dracula's relics in order to do so. The manual story describes elements of the original game which do not appear in this game, such as certain creatures, locations, and purchasing items and getting hints from villagers.
[edit] Character Gallery
See also LCD Simon's Quest Artwork
 Simon Belmont - The hero of the game. He sets out to destroy Dracula's curse and is armed with a flame whip and a set of silver knives. |
 Dracula - The villain of the game. He appears at the end of the game and takes 10 hits to destroy. Can only be damaged with high hits to the head. You must also use a silver knife to finish him off. He is worth 50 points. |
 Bat - An unlimited amount of bats will flutter above you in each stage. They take a single hit to kill and worth 10 points. They will only attack you when you are in the air and it is possible to jump into them. They can only be attacked when jumping. |
 Fire Ghost - Only appear during night and float towards you from behind. Takes one hit and 20 points. |
 Ghost - They come in from behind but do not attack you. They are only vulnerable to high attacks to the head, take two whip hits, and are worth 20 points. While they are not a threat, all ghosts must be destroyed before it will become night time. |
 Monster Fish - The only monsters that can be found in day (take two hits to destroy) or night (take four hits), these are present in all stages. They rise up in front of you and shoot fireballs. They block your path forwards and cannot be jumped over. Being rather short creatures, these can only be damaged with low attacks. Worth 20 points. |
 Monster Dragon - Essentially, a monster fish with wings that inhabit caste areas. They can fire two fireballs in rapid succession. Take many whip hits to kill (10) and are still only worth 20 points. A good target for a silver knife, which can destroy them in one hit. |
 Skeleton - Only appear at night and appear behind you. They toss bones at you in an arcing pattern. They take 4 hits and are worth 20 points. In later stages, they are equipped with a shield that take 4 hits to destroy before you can destroy the skeleton. |
 Vampire Bat - They flutter around above and in front of you and are indistinguishable from normal bats until they are right in front of you. Then they will swoop down and attack you when you are on the ground or in the air. They only appear during night, are destroyed in 2 whip hits and are worth 20 points. |
 The Hand - Hands start appearing at the graveyard stage at night and are in each subsequent stage. They appear from the ground and wave around, causing damage. They cannot be destroyed, impede your forward movement, and must be jumped over. |
[edit] Arsenol
- Flame Whip - Simon starts his quest with the flame whip, which was the strongest whip found in the original NES game. It can be whipped up or down by pressing the up or down buttons in the direction he is facing. It can also be whipped while jumping.
- Silver Knife - Also called a sword. Simon has a limited number of these at his disposal and they are thrown forwards in the direction he is facing with a button. A silver knife can destroy any enemy in one shot except for Dracula, but must be used to finish him off. He starts the quest with four silver knives and can gain four more by destroying a crystal ball.
- Crystal Ball - These appear periodically and will give you four silver knives, refill your life bar, and are worth 50 points. You obtain them by whipping them right away, as they will disappear shortly after appearing.
[edit] Stages
- The Forest - During the day, bats, a ghost, and a monster fish appear. When night comes, bats, vampire bats, monster fish, and skeletons must be faced. Two of each non-bat enemy appear at night.
- The Graveyard - The same enemies that fought you in the forest in day and night also appear here. During night, Fire Ghosts also appear and hands try to grab you and hold you in place. Two of each enemy appear during the day, and four of each during the night.
- The Castle - This stage only is fought during night. All the monsters you had faced before appear here and also Monster Dragons must be fought. Six of each enemies must be defeated. Water traps which must be jumped over also must be contended with.
- The Castle Vania - The final stage is similar to the castle and eight of each enemy must be defeated. The stage also features moving platforms which takes him over some watery areas. The game ends with fighting The Great Dracula's Curse, which takes the form of Dracula.
[edit] Differences From the Watch Version
The basic gameplay and enemies fought were similar from the Simon's Quest Watch Game, which had been released earlier in 1988 or at the same time. It has many subtle differences from that game.
The LCD handheld game has many more buttons at its disposal, four on the left arranged in a directional pattern, and three on the right. The watch game only had a left, middle, and right button to work with. This gave Simon many more options, including:
- Separate buttons now exist for movements and whipping. He can now face backwards by pressing left and must reface forwards by pressing right afterward in order to move forwards again. In the watch version, he destroyed enemies behind him by pressing the the left button, but did not actually change the direction he faced. Now, to destroy enemies behind him, he must first face left and then attack with the whip.
- He can now aim his whip high or low in the direction he is facing. Pressing the up button attacks high, while pressing the down button attacks low. He only whips low when jumping.
- Simon now has Silver Knives added to his arsenal which can be used at any time in the game when he has one. A button on the right is designated for using a silver dagger. Obtaining crystals now also gives him additional Silver Daggers.
- There is now a button that can be pressed that will move him forwards and jump at the same time. This can be used to jump over obstacles such as hands, jaws, or water traps.
Most enemies appearances and attack patterns in this game are the same as they were in the LCD version, but with the following differences:
- Skeletons without shields have been replaced with Ghosts, which have a skeleton's skull, but not its body.
- All skeletons are now initially armed with shields. You must first destroy the shield before you can destroy the skeleton.
- The flying monster has been replaced with a vampire bat, which is otherwise the same.
- Hands now appear from underneath Simon which hold him in place but do not do damage.
- Jaws now appear in front of Simon that do not do damage, but block his path and must be jumped over.
- Dracula must now be struck with a silver knife in order to finish him off.
The number of hits, point value, and frequency of enemies has changed as follows:
- There is now a day/night cycle in the game. Enemies take more hits to destroy during night. The first two stages first have a day stage with one set of enemies, followed by a night stage with another set of enemies. The last two stages always take place at night.
- In the watch game, enemies used to all be able to killed in one hits or their more powerful version in two hits. The number of hits between enemies varies a lot more now, with Skeletons and Mermen now taking more hits than they did before. A Monster Dragon now takes as many hits to destroy as it does to destroy Dracula (10 hits).
- Any enemy can be destroyed by a single silver knife regardless of how many whip hits they normally take, except for Dracula.
- The number and types of enemies are now different for each stage than they were in the watch game. There are generally a smaller number of enemies in a stage than there was in the watch game to offset the greater amount of hits some enemies can take.
- All enemies are now worth 20 points regardless of how many hits it takes to kill them, with the exception of a bat (10 points) and Dracula (50 points).
[edit] Related Products
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - The game this game was based on
- Simon's Quest Watch Game - A similar game to this that plays on a watch
- LCD Symphony of the Night - The next Castlevania Tiger LCD handheld game made.
