No one has ever really seen Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. It was a horrid, doomed project that only the naive or desperate would touch. The Castlevania series had always been commercially successful, but Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse failed to meet sales projections. Konami was left with no choice but to send their Castlevania team back to the drawing board in 1987. The Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest project was one of Konami’s last hopes.
The Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest project had three directors/producers – Hiroyasu Tanaka , Hideo Ueda , and Toshiharu Furukawa . Each director brought with him his own vision for Castlevania. Tanaka wanted Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest to be an RPG with the same Gothic horror feel as Castlevania . Ueda wanted Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest to be a unique blend of Castlevania and Dragon Quest . Furukawa, the most senior director on Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest , wanted Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest to be a Castlevania game.
But Castlevania was Konami ‘s bread and butter, and Castlevania had an established style – platforming action with heavy horror elements. The Castlevania team simply couldn’t deviate from this formula; Castlevanias were Castlevania games and Castlevania games were Castlevania games . Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest was doomed to be a Frankenstein monster: part Castlevania and the rest something else entirely.
