NES Works #103: Castlevania II - Simon's Quest

NES Works #103: Castlevania II - Simon's Quest

Author: Jeremy Parish March 13, 2023 Duration: 15:28

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Time for a Castlevania retrospective. As NES Works 1988 winds down, Halloween 2022 seems like the perfect time for a proper look back at Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, one of the most ambitious and frustrating games of the NES era. The second of the NES's "weird sequels," Simon's Quest combines a lot of different influences and ultimately does a lot to define the series' future... even if it would take a while for the series to realize it. In the meantime, NES kids had a whole lot of Nintendo Power coverage to help them solve Dracula's so-called "riddle."

P.S.: I am aware that this video rendered with a caption error that I missed. Adobe Premiere happens.

Production note: NES footage captured from  @analogueinc  Mini. Arcade footage captured from MiSTer FPGA cores; special thanks to  @MiSTerAddons . Video upscaled to 720 with XRGB Mini Framemeister.

Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more!


Jeremy Parish's Video Works by Jeremy Parish is a curated collection of his long-running projects diving deep into the history and design of classic video games. Rather than a single focused series, this podcast serves as an archive and hub for several distinct endeavors. You'll find episodes from Game Boy World, which meticulously documents every pre-Game Boy Advance handheld title in chronological order, offering a unique historical perspective. Another strand explores the interconnected world of "Metroidvania" games, analyzing the design principles that define this beloved subgenre. The Anatomy of Games segments provide thorough, thoughtful critiques of classic game design, breaking down what makes these titles endure. Each episode, whether originally audio or adapted from video content, carries Parish's knowledgeable and considered commentary. This podcast is for anyone with an appreciation for gaming's foundations, presented not as dry history but as an engaging exploration of the artistry and innovation that shaped the medium. Tune in for a consistently insightful look at the pixels and philosophies behind the games you might have played-or always meant to.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Video Works by Jeremy Parish
Podcast Episodes
NES Works Gaiden #026: A Brief History of the NES on a Chip [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:53
By request of Joseph Adams, I've attempted this episode to explore the history of (and explain the concept of) devices powered by NES-on-a-chip tech. I'll admit up front that this is by no means a definitive or comprehen…
NES Works Gaiden #025: The Datach Joint ROM System [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:08
By patron request, this week's video shifts up the temporal alignment of the NES Works Gaiden series to leap forward from the end of 1984 for Famicom to the end of 1992?! Yes, that's right, we spring forward in time here…
Segaiden #014: Othello Multivision Pt. 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:34
Well, I survived. I made it all the way through the Othello Multivision's library. If you thought the first four games were unimpressive, that's only because you had no idea what Tsukuda Original had up its sleeve for 19…
NES Works Gaiden #24: Summer Games & Desert Falcon (Atari 7800) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:15
The other two mid-'88 releases for Atari 7800 consist of yet another computer port and—wow!—the console's first original creation. Although this original creation ended up being ported to several other Atari systems, whi…
NES Works #23: Ballblazer & Winter Games (Atari 7800) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:40
Before we continue with the Sega and Nintendo stuff, Atari deserves a brief stopover to see what the 7800 was up to for the first half of 1988. As it turns out, the answer is "not a whole heck of a lot." Happily, the one…
Metroidvania Works #14: Maze of Galious & Metal Gear [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:23
I haven't forgotten my other child. Metroidvania Works has reached a weird place in its chronology, where it's kind of entangled and overlapping with NES Works—as you can see from the fact that this episode's back-up fea…
NES Works #021: 4 Nin Uchi Mahjong / F1 Race / Pac-Man / Xevious [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:23
Two Nintendo games and two Namco (Namcot??) titles this week to bring Famicom's 1984 lineup streaking toward its finale. I'm not sure any of these games will set anyone's heart on fire here in 2021, due to (1) the kinda…
NES Works Gaiden #020: Lode Runner / Galaxian / Devil World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:32
Another step along the Road to NES Works this week as we look again at the next round of software releases for Nintendo Famicom. Unlike last time, only one of these games made its way to the U.S. on NES, the other two (G…