dogman91 wrote:Do any of you consider using continues in Simon's Quest as legitimately beating the game? Since you continue the exact same point you left off, it feels like just pumping in extra quarters in an arcade game. The only penalty is basically losing hearts/experience, which can easily be brought up again by grinding a bit.
I feel there's no way I can really "die", or even go back to the beginning of the mansion... so it's more like a game of figuring out where to go and trudging on until you win.
Good ending:
Beat Dracula with a small number of continues and in under eight hours.
Normal ending:
Beat Dracula in over eight hours using a small number of continues.
Bad ending:
Use a lot of continues and take a long time to beat Dracula.
SPOILERS, what each ending is:
Good ending:
During a sunset, Simon is kneeling by Dracula's
grave. The words on the screen say: "The encounter with Dracula is terminated.
Simon Belmont has put an end to the eternal darkness in transilvania.
His blood and sweat have penetrated the earth and will induce magic & happiness
for those who walk on this land."
Simon walks away and Dracula's hand pops out of the ground.
Normal ending:
It's a sunny day with Simon standing by Dracula's grave and then kneeling.
The words on the screen say: "Although the confrontation between Simon and
Dracula has concluded. Simon's couldn't survive his fatal wounds.
Transilvania's only hope is a young man who will triumph over evil and rid
the city of Dracula's deadly curse."
Bad ending:
It's nightfall, Simon is not standing at Dracula's
grave, and the words on the screen say: "The battle has consummated.
Now peace and serenity have been restored to Transilvania and the people
are free of Dracula's curse forever. And you, Simon Belmont, will always be
remembered for your bravery and courage."
I picked up Castlevania IV locally recently and have been playing it a bit. I'm up to stage VIII (the one in the dungeon). I've quite enjoyed it so far, and the difficulty has been pretty average (perhaps a bit easy) although this dungeon level seems a lot tougher.
No idea how many stages there are in the game.
My only complain so far is the whip points can be a bit finnicky when you try and jump off them onto a small platform.
MrPopo wrote:Where it says hours it's supposed to say days. And it has nothing to do with continues. Under 8 days is best, 8-15 days is mid, 15+ days is bad.
Yeah, apparently it doesn't matter if you use any continues or not. So I guess that means that this basically requires two playthroughs... the first time allowing yourself to use continues and get a bad time so you know exactly what to do, and the second time speed-running the game. Meh. That's the only challenge that this game has that I can think of so far, at least.
MrPopo wrote:Where it says hours it's supposed to say days. And it has nothing to do with continues. Under 8 days is best, 8-15 days is mid, 15+ days is bad.
Ah, I didn't know.
dogman91 wrote:So I guess that means that this basically requires two playthroughs... the first time allowing yourself to use continues and get a bad time so you know exactly what to do, and the second time speed-running the game. Meh. That's the only challenge that this game has that I can think of so far, at least.
More like beat the game once to get the middle or bad ending, then just use a password and go straight to Dracula to see the best ending.
So I finished Simon's Quest, and I'm kind of shocked that ALL the mansions basically have the same design. There is no variety at all in this game. Kind of reminds me of Keith Courage. Just rinse and repeat for each area. I have to say this was really lackluster compared to all other Castlevanias.
MrPopo wrote:Yup, CV2 is incredibly weak as a game.
Oh boy, this might not sit well with others but... I see CV2 in the same light as Zelda II. Not that Zelda wasn't a quest, but it seemed so much different. So did CV2.
Both Zelda II and CV2 felt as if the instruction manual should have started with "Might as well pack a lunch, as this game will take more than a weekend". What really makes or breaks the argument is if the game is "fun" or if the game is "good". Totally fine if some say the game is both bad and no fun. But I do love it for what it is. I was a kid who had the time to care about what crystal to use, and where. And if not, I got to read Nintendo Power to help me out, which was a bonus for me and my parents as I seldom would shut up during long car rides.
