I've always enjoyed playing both this game and Belmont's Revenge. The Adventure has slow down issues, but they're not as severe as the game's detractors suggest. In the absence of slowdown, the speed of Christopher Belmont's stride is similar if not identical to that in Belmont's Revenge, and the play control in both games is similar. (Note, it's possible M2's Anniversary Collection has a glitch which occasionally causes both Game Boy titles to run more slowly - and the review on this site seems to be based on such an emulation). Also note that as a first generation title, this game would have had limited memory space. Later game boy titles featured cartridge hardware upgrades, allowing for more memory space and RAM.
The designers of The Adventure may have drawn inspiration from Super Mario Bros, perhaps because Super Mario Land was the only other platformer for the Game Boy at the time. The three tier whip upgrade, which downgrades when you're hit, parallels the Super Mario upgrades - small Mario, Large Mario, Fireball Mario/ small whip, large whip, fireball whip. The Adventure also features precision jumps perhaps similar to those found in the Super Mario games. In The Adventure, if you need to make a longer jump, you need to start by placing one foot off the platform you're starting from. For especially long jumps (You'll encounter two in succession in the final stretch of stage 3) you need to move a bit farther out. There's a section near the end of stage one where you need to use this jumping technique to advance yet where failure to succeed doesn't cost you a life. This feature gives players a chance to master the technique before tackling the tougher stages. The jumps in the Adventure can be challenging, but not necessarily more so those in the classic Super Mario or Shinobi games.
After practice, I can easily play through the Adventure without losing a single life. I can also make it through the final stage without taking a single hit. If the game is poorly designed in itself or has poor play control, I'm not sure I would've been able to master it in such a way even with experience. Years ago, I always used to play The Adventure and Belmont's Revenge together and can play both equally well, and Belmont's Revenge has its challenging parts too. The final battle against Dracula in Belmont's Revenge originally took me longer to beat than even the tougher areas of The Adventure.
Note too that The Adventure was praised by the major video game magazines: Gamepro, Nintendo Power, EGM (which featured five rave reviews across two issues), Zero Magazine, Total! Magazine. Maybe a case can be made that the game hasn't aged wekll, but maybe it should be taken in the context of its time.
One issue Simon's Quest might be having in retrospective reviews: the original instruction booklet was an important companion to the game. This may make the game a product of its time, and given its 1987-88 development date, it is indeed an early project, yet other games from the same time period took a similar path - the original Legend of Zelda even featured an opening graphic (at the end of its story scroll) telling players to read the manual before playing the game.
Recent games often include the manual as a tutorial or as an option screen text, making the manual a clear part of the in-game content, though back in the 80s the technology wasn't yet there.
The Simon's Quest manual contains many important hints:
You need to find five mansions, each contains a body part, and once inside the mansions, you need to use an oak stake to the access that body part.
The villagers might lie to you.
The Holy Water should be applied to both floors and walls to reveal secrets.
You should search for the Caretaker in the cemetery.
Most importantly, the Ferryman's destination depends on which body parts you possess.
Despite the localization issues with the game's onscreen text, between the information in the manual and the onscreen clues, it is possible to complete the game without an external guide.
Using the Holy Water as suggested in the manual, you can find a Clue Book near the right entrance of Dabi's Path (the cave) which clearly tells you to kneel at the lake with the Blue Crystal.
Later, one book in Rover Mansion tells you that Garlic will summer the Caretaker, and another tells you to destroy the curse with Dracula's Heart. The latter clue might not be specific, but it hints the Heart is important, yet selecting the item seems to grant no obvious power. Given the manual's hint that the Ferryman is influenced by the body parts you possess, it might therefore seem like a good idea to show him the heart.
A book in Brahm's Mansion tells you to "Wait for a soul with a red crystal on Deborah Cliff." Now the Clue doesn't tell you to kneel, yet the previous clue about the Blue Crystal at the lake might itself count as a clue through internal logic and precedence (both times you're using the magic crystal at a conspicuous dead end to open a passage). So, between the manual and the onscreen content the most important clues are intact.
Some players might still need a guide, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm not sure the situation is much different than that in many other popular NES games, including the puzzles, secrets, and maze elements found in the beloved Mario trilogy (for example, how to the find the Warp Whistles in Mario 3).
Comments 2
Re: Review: Castlevania: The Adventure (3DS eShop / GB)
I've always enjoyed playing both this game and Belmont's Revenge. The Adventure has slow down issues, but they're not as severe as the game's detractors suggest. In the absence of slowdown, the speed of Christopher Belmont's stride is similar if not identical to that in Belmont's Revenge, and the play control in both games is similar. (Note, it's possible M2's Anniversary Collection has a glitch which occasionally causes both Game Boy titles to run more slowly - and the review on this site seems to be based on such an emulation). Also note that as a first generation title, this game would have had limited memory space. Later game boy titles featured cartridge hardware upgrades, allowing for more memory space and RAM.
The designers of The Adventure may have drawn inspiration from Super Mario Bros, perhaps because Super Mario Land was the only other platformer for the Game Boy at the time. The three tier whip upgrade, which downgrades when you're hit, parallels the Super Mario upgrades - small Mario, Large Mario, Fireball Mario/ small whip, large whip, fireball whip. The Adventure also features precision jumps perhaps similar to those found in the Super Mario games. In The Adventure, if you need to make a longer jump, you need to start by placing one foot off the platform you're starting from. For especially long jumps (You'll encounter two in succession in the final stretch of stage 3) you need to move a bit farther out. There's a section near the end of stage one where you need to use this jumping technique to advance yet where failure to succeed doesn't cost you a life. This feature gives players a chance to master the technique before tackling the tougher stages. The jumps in the Adventure can be challenging, but not necessarily more so those in the classic Super Mario or Shinobi games.
After practice, I can easily play through the Adventure without losing a single life. I can also make it through the final stage without taking a single hit. If the game is poorly designed in itself or has poor play control, I'm not sure I would've been able to master it in such a way even with experience. Years ago, I always used to play The Adventure and Belmont's Revenge together and can play both equally well, and Belmont's Revenge has its challenging parts too. The final battle against Dracula in Belmont's Revenge originally took me longer to beat than even the tougher areas of The Adventure.
Note too that The Adventure was praised by the major video game magazines: Gamepro, Nintendo Power, EGM (which featured five rave reviews across two issues), Zero Magazine, Total! Magazine. Maybe a case can be made that the game hasn't aged wekll, but maybe it should be taken in the context of its time.
Re: Feature: NES Mini Classics - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
One issue Simon's Quest might be having in retrospective reviews: the original instruction booklet was an important companion to the game. This may make the game a product of its time, and given its 1987-88 development date, it is indeed an early project, yet other games from the same time period took a similar path - the original Legend of Zelda even featured an opening graphic (at the end of its story scroll) telling players to read the manual before playing the game.
Recent games often include the manual as a tutorial or as an option screen text, making the manual a clear part of the in-game content, though back in the 80s the technology wasn't yet there.
The Simon's Quest manual contains many important hints:
You need to find five mansions, each contains a body part, and once inside the mansions, you need to use an oak stake to the access that body part.
The villagers might lie to you.
The Holy Water should be applied to both floors and walls to reveal secrets.
You should search for the Caretaker in the cemetery.
Most importantly, the Ferryman's destination depends on which body parts you possess.
Despite the localization issues with the game's onscreen text, between the information in the manual and the onscreen clues, it is possible to complete the game without an external guide.
Using the Holy Water as suggested in the manual, you can find a Clue Book near the right entrance of Dabi's Path (the cave) which clearly tells you to kneel at the lake with the Blue Crystal.
Later, one book in Rover Mansion tells you that Garlic will summer the Caretaker, and another tells you to destroy the curse with Dracula's Heart. The latter clue might not be specific, but it hints the Heart is important, yet selecting the item seems to grant no obvious power. Given the manual's hint that the Ferryman is influenced by the body parts you possess, it might therefore seem like a good idea to show him the heart.
A book in Brahm's Mansion tells you to "Wait for a soul with a red crystal on Deborah Cliff." Now the Clue doesn't tell you to kneel, yet the previous clue about the Blue Crystal at the lake might itself count as a clue through internal logic and precedence (both times you're using the magic crystal at a conspicuous dead end to open a passage). So, between the manual and the onscreen content the most important clues are intact.
Some players might still need a guide, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm not sure the situation is much different than that in many other popular NES games, including the puzzles, secrets, and maze elements found in the beloved Mario trilogy (for example, how to the find the Warp Whistles in Mario 3).