History YMMV / CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest

* SophomoreSlump: This is generally regarded as one of the weakest early games, sitting in between ''VideoGame/Castlevania1986'', the iconic best-selling first installment, and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'', regarded widely as an improvement on the first game's formula. ''Simon's Quest'' features a lot of interesting ideas like open-world exploration and an inventory system, two staples of what would later come to be called the {{Metroidvania}} genre, but many of these ideas are implemented in a way that displeases a lot of players: a day/night cycle that forces a long pause when switching between the two phases, a currency system where all currency is lost when getting a GameOver and continuing, towns with layouts that have [[SuperDrowningSkills deadly water pits]] for no good reason, [[GuideDangIt poorly-hinted and obtuse procedures]] necessary to progress the game, and end-of-dungeon boss fights that are largely underwhelming (including a [[SkippableBoss skippable]] Death and an [[AntiClimaxBoss anticlimatically easy showdown with Dracula]]). Many of these Metroidvania elements would be refined much later in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''.

* SophomoreSlump: This is generally regarded as one of the weakest early games, sitting in between ''VideoGame/Castlevania1986'', the iconic best-selling first installment, and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'', regarded widely as an improvement on the first game's formula. ''Simon's Quest'' features a lot of interesting ideas like open-world exploration and an inventory system, two staples of what would later come to be called the {{Metroidvania}} genre, but many of these ideas are implemented in a way that displeases a lot of players: a day/night cycle that forces a long pause when switching between the two phases, loss of all hearts when getting a GameOver and continuing, town layouts that have [[SuperDrowningSkills deadly water pits]] for no good reason, and underwhelming boss fights (including an [[AntiClimaxBoss anticlimatically easy showdown with Dracula]]). Many of these Metroidvania elements would be refined much later in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''.

* SophomoreSlump: This is generally regarded as one of the weakest early games, sitting in between [[VideoGame/Castlevania1986 the iconic first installment]] and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'', regarded widely as an improvement on the first game's formula. ''Simon's Quest'' features a lot of interesting ideas like open-world exploration and an inventory system, two staples of what would later come to be called the {{Metroidvania}} genre, but many of these ideas are implemented in a way that displeases a lot of players: a day/night cycle that forces a long pause when switching between the two phases, loss of all hearts when getting a GameOver and continuing, town layouts that have [[SuperDrowningSkills deadly water pits]] for no good reason, and underwhelming boss fights (including an [[AntiClimaxBoss anticlimatically easy showdown with Dracula]]). Many of these Metroidvania elements would be refined much later in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''.

* CriticalBacklash: ''Castlevania II'''s departure from the level-based structure of ''I'' and ''III'' is still complained about today, along with its rather obtuse puzzles and several flat-out misleading clues. Those who grew up with the title or tried it in spite of contemporary internet critics' snarking, however, tend to be more charitable in their assessment, appreciating the game for its attempt at an open-world action/adventure style (which became the series bellwether once ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' ironed out the kinks) and pointing out that plenty of other well-regarded games from the era had their fair share of GuideDangIt moments.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the game tends to be regarded as the weakest of the NES trilogy, the gameplay style it pioneered ultimately displaced that of the franchise's original style, from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]'' onwards.

** The leveling system can be this depending on how much of it you understand. In theory, it isn't complicated, though unlike most RPGs where each monster gives you set experience based on its difficulty upon death, here Simon only gains experience by collecting hearts that ''may not'' even drop at all when a monster is defeated. As a result, it can take quite a while to grind up even your very first level, especially since you only gain 1pt for every small heart, 3 for half hearts, and 5 (the most) for big hearts, which puts you at odds with the day/night cycle since you're on a time limit for a better ending, meaning most players prefer to just grind experience in the mansions, where the day/night cycle is put on hold. Also, unless you're paying attention, you may not notice that you'll actually ''STOP'' gaining experience from any heart drops in an area ''permanently'' and will need to grind in another, and since the heart cap is a low 256 and takes far less time to hit than the amount needed for a level gain, this can equal a lot of wasting time if you don't realize you're no longer gaining experience, though this is probably {{Developers Foresight}} telling you to move on so the rest of the game doesn't become a total cakewalk before your first mansion, except the game doesn't mark individual areas exactly, so you don't know what areas are now locked out of experience gain. Again, the actual mechanics aren't complicated, but potentially confusing for newcomers or an RPG gamer used to mechanics from most basic games of said genre of the time. And like [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink another video game notorious for punishing too many deaths]], running out of lives sets your experience gain back to 0.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Dracula. As noted under WeaksauceWeakness, there are at least three different ways to fight him that make it impossible to lose life against him. This incarnation is arguably the easiest boss in the entire franchise.

** The leveling system can be this depending on how much of it you understand. In theory, it isn't complicated, though unlike most RPGs where each monster gives you set experience based on its difficulty upon death, here Simon only gains experience by collecting hearts that ''may not'' even drop at all when a monster is defeated. As a result, it can take quite a while to grind up even your very first level, especially since you only gain 1pt for every small heart, 3 for half hearts, and 5 (the most) for big hearts, which puts you at odds with the day/night cycle since you're on a time limit for a better ending, meaning most players prefer to just grind experience in the mansions, where the day/night cycle is put on hold. Also, unless you're paying attention, you may not notice that you'll actually ''STOP'' gaining experience from any heart drops in an area ''permanently'' and will need to grind in another, and since the heart cap is a low 256 and takes far less time to hit than the amount needed for a level gain, this can equal a lot of wasting time if you don't realize you're no longer gaining experience, though this is probably {{Developer's Foresight}} telling you to move on so the rest of the game doesn't become a total cakewalk before your first mansion. Again, the actual mechanics aren't complicated, but potentially confusing for newcomers or an RPG gamer used to mechanics from most basic games of said genre of the time. And like [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink another video game notorious for punishing too many deaths]], running out of lives sets your experience gain back to 0.

** The leveling system can be this depending on how much of it you understand. In theory, it isn't complicated, though unlike most RPGs where each monster gives you set experience based on its difficulty upon death, here Simon only gains experience by collecting hearts that ''may not'' even drop at all when a monster is defeated. As a result, it can take quite a while to grind up even your very first level, especially since you only gain 1pt for every small heart, which puts you at odds with the day/night cycle since you're on a time limit for a better ending, meaning most players prefer to just grind experience in the mansions, where the day/night cycle is put on hold. Also, unless you're paying attention, you may not notice that you'll actually ''STOP'' gaining experience from any heart drops in an area ''permanently'' and will need to grind in another, and since the heart cap is a low 256 and takes far less time to hit than the amount needed for a level gain, this can equal a lot of wasting time if you don't realize you're no longer gaining experience, though this is probably {{Developer's Foresight}} telling you to move on so the rest of the game doesn't become a total cakewalk before your first mansion. Again, the actual mechanics aren't complicated, but potentially confusing for newcomers or an RPG gamer used to mechanics from most basic games of said genre of the time. And like [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink another video game notorious for punishing too many deaths]], running out of lives sets your experience gain back to 0.

* ScrappyMechanic: The game's day/night cycle has a multitude of issues that bog down the experience. First of all, the actual transition is on a timer that cannot be controlled, and is incredibly slow since it has to display the text box every time it triggers with no way to skip it. Second of all, you can only do things like shop and heal at a church during day time, so if you get caught in town at the wrong time you're out of luck until sunrise. Finally, nighttime doesn't serve any purpose besides making stronger enemies spawn, which is decent for grinding but otherwise doesn't contribute to the other parts of the game's design (e.g. puzzles, night-exclusive events).

* IconicSequelSong: Bloody Tears.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Criticism of ''Castlevania II'' for being so different from ''I'' and ''III'' is relatively new. At the time, Nintendo of America believed that {{Mission Pack Sequel}}s wouldn't sell and that a sequel had to be drastically different from the original (compare ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'').

* CriticalBacklash: ''Castlevania II'''s departure from the level-based structure of parts ''I'' and ''III'' is still complained about today, along with its rather obtuse puzzles and several flat-out misleading clues. Those who grew up with the title or tried it in spite of contemporary internet critics' snarking, however, tend to be more charitable in their assessment, appreciating the game for its attempt at an open-world action/adventure style (which became the series bellwether once ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' ironed out the kinks) and pointing out that plenty of other well-regarded games from the era had their fair share of GuideDangIt moments.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the game tends to be regarded as the weakest of the NES trilogy, the gameplay style it pioneered would ultimately displace that of the franchise's original style, from ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]'' onwards.

* GameBreaker: The Golden Knife. Although it's prohibitively expensive to use to just mow down everything in your path, it's powerful enough to render any enemy -- including Dracula -- harmless.

* PolishedPort: In the reverse of what would happen to the next game, the soundtrack to the NES version is widely considered a massive improvement over the original Famicom Disk System version. Some of the American versions of the music are even included as bonus tracks on the Japanese soundtrack release, one of the ''very very'' few times you'll see "[=NES=]" on a Japanese product.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Criticism of ''Castlevania II'' for being so different from ''I'' and ''III'' is relatively new. At the time, Nintendo of America believed that [[MissionPackSequel Mission Pack Sequels]] wouldn't sell and that a sequel had to be drastically different from the original (compare ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'').

* ThatOneLevel: Dead River/Jam Wasteland. Not only does it end with the infamous Red Crystal puzzle, but to get there you have to cross a river on a bunch of one block-wide platforms moving vertically. If your jump is the slightest bit off just once, you're dead. Worst of all, it can be easy to miss getting the Red Crystal required for ThatOnePuzzle, since you had to remember that, depending on whether or not you're holding a specific item, you can be transported to two different areas by the same ferryman. Forget the Red Crystal and you'll have to ''backtrack.''

** Less aggressive enemies that [[FlashofPain freeze]] more than usual on hit.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjazC45Qkww Bloody Tears]]'', in its first appearance. ''[[https://youtu.be/-dw5kfLskbw Dwelling of Doom]]'', the mansion theme, is also really catchy, as is ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HUwLA57paU Monster Dance]]'', the night theme. The town theme, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H58lhgcc-nk The Silence of Daylight]]'' is also a standout.