History YMMV / CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest

* MisBlamed: The translation is not good, but as mentioned in InfallibleBabble, even the Japanese version contained a lot of bogus, unhelpful clues. Even the manual states that the villagers may not always be telling the truth. The infamous "graveyard duck" line often cited as BlindIdiotTranslation is actually a literal translation of the original Japanese dialogue ("ストリゴイボチデ　アヒルカラ　キヌノハクロヲ　チラウト　ナガイキスル", or "[[https://legendsoflocalization.com/digging-up-castlevania-iis-graveyard-duck/ Receive a Silk Bag from the duck in Strigoi Graveyard and you’ll live longer]]") -- the best guess as to what it actually ''means'' is that it's either obscure slang for a night patrolman, or a Konami in-joke involving putting ducks in every game. Or as the manual states, the NPC is flat out lying to Simon to prevent him from resurrecting Dracula.[[note]]You do need the silk bag to carry laurels, which do indeed help you live longer, so this hint isn't ''total'' nonsense — it's just missing some key details.[[/note]]
* 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, which is generally hated by fans due to the tinny, whiny instrumentation, and a distinctly lackluster version of "Bloody Tears."
** 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.

* MisBlamed: The translation is not good, but see InfallibleBabble. The infamous "graveyard duck" line often cited as BlindIdiotTranslation is actually a literal translation of the original Japanese dialogue ("ストリゴイボチデ　アヒルカラ　キヌノハクロヲ　チラウト　ナガイキスル", or "[[https://legendsoflocalization.com/digging-up-castlevania-iis-graveyard-duck/ Receive a Silk Bag from the duck in Strigoi Graveyard and you’ll live longer]]") -- the best guess as to what it actually ''means'' is that it's either obscure slang for a night patrolman, or a Konami in-joke involving putting ducks in every game. Or as the manual states, the NPC is flat out lying to Simon to prevent him from resurrecting Dracula.[[note]]You do need the silk bag to carry laurels, which do indeed help you live longer, so this hint isn't ''total'' nonsense — it's just missing some key details.[[/note]]

* ThatOneBoss: While Dracula is normally very easy to cheese thanks to Laurels and certain weapons that can be used to slaughter him without much of a sweat, it's almost necessary to do it. Speedrunners with less resources, or minimalist/challenge players that don't try to go for cheesy strategies, have to deal with an absolute mess of scythes as Dracula warps all around the screen every other frame. If you ''don't'' have Laurels or don't try to stunlock him with something like the Holy Water, he can slaughter you in seconds and you can barely fight back. The entire fight hinges on you cheesing him ''or him cheesing you.''

* ScrappyMechanic:
** There is no way to speed up the text box marking the change from day to night and back. And you'll be seeing it a ''lot''. Fortunately time stands still when you're indoors. It's not as bad in the original Famicom version, where the Japanese text was shorter, but the speed of the text was not adjusted for the English release, making it far more tedious.
** Aside from the text speed, the day/night cycle is just a nuisance in general, especially when you reach a town and need to go and buy an essential item (or heal in the church) only for night to suddenly fall and for you to be shut outside with the monsters until morning. The real issue is that, aside from giving you the opportunity to farm more exp and hearts from the stronger monsters, night doesn't actually ''do'' anything other than waste your time this way. There any no events that only happen at night, or puzzles that can only be solved during it, and the monsters outside of the towns aren't even different, just more damaging and tougher.

* SerialNumbersFiledOff: Compare the art for ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' and [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest this game]].

** Aside from the text speed, the day/night cycle is just a nuisance in general, especially when you reach a town and need to go and buy an essential item (or heal in the church) only for night to suddenly fall and for you to be shut outside with the monsters until morning. The real issue is that, aside from giving you the opportunity to farm more exp and hearts from the stronger monsters, night doesn't actually ''do'' anything other than waste your time this way. There any no events that only happen at night, or puzzles that can only be solved during it, and the monsters aren't even different, just more damaging and tougher.

** Aside from the text speed, the day/night cycle is just a nuisance in general, especially when you reach a town and need to go and buy an essential item (or heal in the church) only for night to suddenly fall and for you to be shut outside with the monsters until morning.

* MisBlamed: The translation is not good, but see InfallibleBabble. The infamous "graveyard duck" line often cited as BlindIdiotTranslation is actually a literal translation of the original Japanese dialogue ("ストリゴイボチデ　アヒルカラ　キヌノハクロヲ　チラウト　ナガイキスル", or "[[https://legendsoflocalization.com/digging-up-castlevania-iis-graveyard-duck/ Receive a Silk Bag from the duck in Strigoi Graveyard and you’ll live longer]]") -- the best guess as to what it actually ''means'' is that it's either obscure slang for a night patrolman, or a Konami in-joke involving putting ducks in every game. Or as the manual states, the NPC is flat out lying to Simon to prevent him from resurrecting Dracula.

* 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'').

* ThatOneBoss: While Dracula is normally very easy to cheese thanks to Laurels and certain weapons that can be used to slaughter him without much of a sweat, it's almost necessary to do it. Speedrunners with less resources, or minimalist/challenge players that don't try to go for cheesy strategies have to deal with an absolute mess of scythes as Dracula warps all around the screen every other frame. If you ''don't'' have Laurels or don't try to stunlock him with something like the Holy Water, he can slaughter you in seconds and you can barely fight back. The entire fight hinges on you cheesing him ''or him cheesing you.''

* MisBlamed: The translation is not good, but see InfallibleBabble. The infamous "graveyard duck" line often cited as BlindIdiotTranslation is actually a literal translation of the original Japanese dialogue ("ストリゴイボチデ　アヒルカラ　キヌノハクロヲ　チラウト　ナガイキスル", or "[[https://legendsoflocalization.com/digging-up-castlevania-iis-graveyard-duck/ Receive a Silk Bag from the duck in Strigoi Graveyard and you’ll live longer]]") -- the best guess as to what it actually ''means'' is that it's either obscure slang for a night patrolman, or a Konami in-joke involving putting ducks in every game.

* CriticalBacklash: ''Castlvania 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.

* ScrappyMechanic: There is no way to speed up the text box marking the change from day to night and back. And you'll be seeing it a ''lot''. Fortunately time stands still when you're indoors. It's not as bad in the original Famicom version, where the Japanese text was shorter, but the speed of the text was not adjusted for the English release, making it far more tedious.

* ThatOnePuzzle: In order to reach Bodley Mansion, you have to stand in a dead-end at the end of the Jam Wasteland with the Red Crystal and wait for a tornado to come and carry you to away. There ''are'' hints to the solution in the game, but the sheer [[MoonLogicPuzzle insanity]] of it definitely qualifies it as this.

* ThatOneLevel: Dead River/Jam Wasteland. Not only does it end with ThatOnePuzzle (see below), 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.''
* ThatOnePuzzle: The infamous puzzle where you have to stand in a certain spot with the Red Crystal and wait for a tornado to come and carry you to the next area. There ''are'' hints to the solution in the game, but the sheer [[MoonLogicPuzzle insanity]] of it definitely qualifies it as this.

* 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. Though it makes sense in context; if you're forced to revive your arch-enemy to break a curse, you'd want to kill him before he gets a chance to do anything.
* 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. The music is one of the few things not criticized of the game.
* BileFascination: Borders on this. People ''do'' seem to enjoy snarking over this game more than actually playing it.

* DisappointingLastLevel: Dracula's Castle has no enemies, and has [[AntiClimaxBoss as mentioned above, the final battle with Dracula himself is extremely easy to exploit]].

* IconicSequelSong: Bloody Tears

* ThatOneBoss: Normally this would be averted, as Dracula is so easy to cheese thanks to Laurels and certain weapons that he can be slaughtered without much fanfare at all, and it's practically like the game expects you to do this. Speedrunners with less resources, or minimalist/challenge players that don't try to go for cheesy strategies, however, have to deal with an absolute mess of scythes as Dracula warps all around the screen every other frame. If you ''don't'' have Laurels or don't try to stunlock him with something like the Holy Water, he can slaughter you in seconds and you can barely fight back. The entire fight hinges on you cheesing him ''or him cheesing you.''

* ScrappyMechanic: There is no way to speed up the text box marking the change from day to night and back. And you'll be seeing it a ''lot''. Fortunately time stands still when you're indoors.

* DisappointingLastLevel: Dracula's Castle is ''completely empty'', and has [[AntiClimaxBoss one of the most piss-easy incarnations of Dracula in the entire series]].

* {{Narm}}: Dracula resembles the Grim reaper more than a vampire, which is rather laughable.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: Getting past the [[GuideDangIt obtuse hints]], the sequel to the first is ridiculously easy due to a variety of factors, such as:

* ThatOneBoss: Normally this would be averted, as Dracula is so easy to cheese thanks to Laurels and certain weapons that he can be slaughtered without much fanfare at all, and it's practically like the game expects you to do this. Speedrunners with less resources, or minimalist/challenge players that don't try to go for cheesy strategies, however, have to deal with an absolute [[PrecisionFStrike clusterfuck]] of scythes as Dracula warps all around the screen every other frame. If you ''don't'' have Laurels or don't try to stunlock him with something like the Holy Water, he can slaughter you in seconds and you can barely fight back. The entire fight hinges on you cheesing him ''or him cheesing you.''
* ThatOneLevel: Dead River/Jam Wasteland. Not only does it end with ThatOnePuzzle, 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.''
* ThatOnePuzzle: The infamous puzzle where you have to stand in a certain spot with a certain item and wait for a tornado to come and carry you to the next area. There ''are'' hints to the solution in the game, but the sheer [[MoonLogicPuzzle insanity]] of it definitely qualifies it as this.
* 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, with ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]''.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjazC45Qkww Bloody Tears]], in its first appearance.

* MisBlamed: The translation is not good, but see InfallibleBabble. The infamous "graveyard duck" line often cited as BlindIdiotTranslation is actually a literal translation of the original Japanese dialogue -- the best guess as to what it actually ''means'' is that it's either obscure slang for a night patrolman, or a Konami in-joke involving putting ducks in every game.

* VindicatedByHistory: Maybe not the game itself, which still tends to be regarded as the weakest of the NES trilogy, but the gameplay style it pioneered would ultimately displace that of the franchise's original style, with ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]''.

* DisappointingLastLevel: Dracula's castle. It's ''completely empty'', and then you face [[AntiClimaxBoss one of the most piss-easy incarnations of Dracula in the entire series]].

** 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, which is generally hated by fans due to the tinny, whiny instrumentation, and a distinctly lacklustre version of "Bloody Tears."

* NightmareFuel: Carmilla is a giant, grinning, disembodied mask that hovers about and weeps flaming tears from one eye, like an even creepier version of [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 Phanto]].

* SnarkBait: Borders on this. People ''do'' seem to enjoy snarking over this game more than actually playing it.

* 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. Though it makes sense in context; if you're forced to revive your arch-enemy to break a curse, [[GenreSavvy you'd want to kill him before he gets a chance to do anything.]]