Number 7 [Most Memorable NES Games]

7.  Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest

Belmonts, whips, and Dracula?  Awww, yeah!

This game came at two distinct periods for me.  The first was the the regular, nine-year-old everything sucks unless it’s a Nintendo game phase.  I adored this game back then. The gameplay was so different.  The creepy atmosphere, haunting music, and RPG elements were just killer.  (Sorry, even I can't believe I just went for that pun.)

I’d haul my NES over to my Grandma Charlene’s house and play this on her monstrous console TV while the rest of the cousins yelled at each other for cheating on Go Fish.  I remember getting pretty far, but never completing it.  My brother and I would always seem to get stuck somewhere.  Again, no internet.  (See also Metroid.)  But it was still great.  It was like a horror video game.  Which is , like, so wicked cool when you’re nine.

In my sophomore year of high school I entered into my I’m so awesome I still rock my old NES from when I was nine even though I have a Playstation phase.  This game came back hard for an entire week.  I’m not even sure where I got it.  Places weren’t still renting NES games in late 90’s, and I know I didn’t buy it because I’d never sell it, and I know I don’t have it.  I know I don’t have it because I just checked.  Like, literally, just checked.


Anyway... My second time through Castlevania II was sweeter than the first.  I’d turn the volume down, crank Metallica’s Master of Puppets, and play for hours in the evenings after school.  Thanks to the NES Game Atlas, I finally put Drac to rest in the fall of ‘96.  There is a pant load of hate out there about this game, and I don’t know why.  It’ll always be one of the most memorable bridges into my two prominent times of Nintendo fervor.

Come back tomorrow for my next game.  And be sure to check out all the posts in my Most Memorable NES Games list.

[Screenshots courtesy of GameFAQs]