Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest Walkthrough/FAQ 1.4 Originally written by Rob Ledrich (agis@bright.net) and posted on his CV web page, and updated by Kurt Kalata (kkalata@worldnet.att.net). Rob's Castlevania Page: http://www.bright.net/~agis/castlevania/index.html The Castlevania Dungeon: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/3138 The HTML CV2 FAQ: http://www.angelfire.com/ri/draculascurse/index.html Thanks goes to Burnie on pointing out the effect of the Eyeball, and also correcting the bit about the garlic. Also a big thank-you goes out to Dave Anderson for providing *all* of those littles clues in the game. And still another ^^HURRAH^^ for "Colonel" George Sicherman for his ASCII maps, references, and clues from the villagers. Check out the Colonel's web page at http://www.monmouth.com/~colonel/videogames/, where you can find ASCII maps for several other video games! Also, Dan Point of the HTML Castlevania 2 FAQ has let me put the monsters from the game in. The endings were finally figured out, although I don't know the exact time for the worst ending. Contents 1. General Gameplay 1.1 Controls 1.2 Subscreen 2. Information 2.1 Items 2.2 Monsters 3. Questions and Answers 4. Clues 4.1 Scriptures 4.2 Villagers 5. Map 6. Walkthrough 7. Additional Stuff 7.1 References 7.2 Endings (caution!) 1. GENERAL GAMEPLAY 1.1 Controls- The directional pad moves Simon, the A button makes Simon Jump, the B button makes Simon whip or talk to villagers, the Start button brings up the subscreen. The subscreen has four main windows. The bottom window is for your usable items. If you have an item selcted here, press Up and the B button during the game to use that item. 1.2 Subscreen- Top window is for information such as Time, Hearts (which is money and weapon uses), Experience, and your Level. The second window contains your type of Whip and icons of the Silk Bag and Cross, if you have these. The third window contains items that can be held, but not actively used, such as the Count's body parts. The usable items go in the fourth window. 2. INFORMATION 2.1 Items White Crystal Location: In Jova, talk the man that is dressed in grey Price: 50 Hearts Use: Allows you to see the floating platfoms at the beginning of Berkeley Mansion Heart Usage: N/A Blue Crystal Location: Town of Aljiba Price: Trading your White Crystal Use: Powers of white crystal, plus shows hidden passageways beneath lakes. Heart Usage: N/A Red Crystal Location: Town past the river Price: Trading your Blue Crystal Use: Powers of white and blue crystal, plus summons tornado at right place. Heart Usage: N/A Holy Water Location: In Jova, go throught the door on the same ledge as the man that is dressed in grey Price: 50 Hearts Use: Can break through certain walls, does as much damage as the Leather Whip to monsters Heart Usage: None Thorn Whip Location: In Jova, go through the door halfway up the town on the left side Price: 100 Hearts Use: Does double the damage of the Leather Whip Heart Usage: N/A Chain Whip Location: In the third door in Veros Price: 150 Hearts Use: Does double the damage of the Thorn Whip Heart Usage: N/A Morning Star Location: in the town of Ondol Price: 200 Hearts Use: Better than Chain Whip Heart Usage: none Flame Whip Location: Beneath the lake past Bodley Mansion, talk to the main incased in bricks Price: Free Use: Best whip in the game Heart Usage: none Dracula's Rib Location: In Berkeley Mansion Price: Free Use: When selected on the subscreen, Simon will hold the Rib in front of himself like a shield Heart Usage: N/A Dracula's Heart Location: in Rover Mansion Price: Free Use: Show to river man to get across water Heart Usage: N/A Dracula's Eyeball Location: in Brahm Mansion Price: Free Use: Allows you to see hidden scriptures in walls Heart Usage: N/A Dracula's Nail Location: in Bodley Mansion Price: Free Use: Break certain blocks with whip (like holy water) Heart Usage: N/A Dracula's Ring Location: in Laruba Mansion Price: Free Use: None (??) Heart Usage: N/A Sacred Flame Location: On Dabi's Path Price: Free Use: Throws a fireball and when it hits the ground, fire shoots up. Good for fighting blobs. Heart Usage: 1 Diamond Location: The cliff past Brahm mansion, talk to the man Price: None Use: Use as a weapon, bouncing crystals Heart Usage: 1 Garlic Location: In various towns Price: 50 Hearts Use: Drop and enemies will be caught until it dies. Also summons cloaked figures at various points. Heart Usage: N/A Laurel Location: In various towns Price: 50 Hearts Use: Makes you temporarily invincible, good for walking through swamps Heart Usage: N/A Dagger Location: In the first door in Veros Price: 50 Hearts Use: A VERY short range weapon, and rather weak Heart Usage: None Silver Knife Location: In Camila Cemetary, right of Aljiba Price: A piece of Garlic How to Find: Has a larger range then the Dagger. Toss Garlic in the cemetary and a person will show up and give it to you. Heart Usage: 1 Golden Knife Location: Brahm Mansion Price: None (kill Grim Reaper) Use: Dagger that flames when collision with enemy Heart Usage: 2 Cross Location: Laruba Mansion Price: None (kill Vampira) Use: Required to get in Dracula's Castle Heart Usage: N/A Silk Bag Location: Camilla Cemetary (left and down of town past lake) Price: A clove of garlic Use: Allows you to carry more laurels Heart Usage: N/A 2.2 Monsters Skeleton Description: A totally wimpy pile of bones. Strategies: Just whip him down Werewolf Description: Werewolf that jumps at you if you get too close. Strategies: Whip or shoot him from as far away as you can get. Get too close and he'll jump on you. Spider Description: Comes out of the treetops and shoots webs at you. Strategies: Whip the webs out of the way and when he comes down near the ground, kill him! Lake Serpent Description: Comes out of lakes and rivers when you cross them and shoots fire at you. Strategies: To kill him just whip him and if he shoots fire, use Dracula's rib to deflect it. Town Zombie Description: Zombie that roams the towns at night and tries to run into you. Strategies: No strategy is really needed. Simply whip him down! Town Bat Description: This bat flies up and down and eventually will speed right into you. (Found only in some towns) Strategies: Whip and kill the bat while he's going up and down before he speeds into you! Bat Description: Easy target that flutters around in the forests. Strategies: No strategy is needed. Just whip him. Eyeball Description: Annoying little eyeball that flies around in the caves. Strategies: Ignore him until he gets down near the ground. Then you can whip him. Mansion Skeleton Description: Practically the same as the regular skeleton only it looks different. Some Varieties of the Mansion skeleton throw bones. Strategies: For the kind that doesn't throw bones, no strategy. But for the ones that do throw bones, just dodge all of the bones, then whip him. Note that the bones leave flame behind. Don't step on it! Mansion Knight Description: Fairly fast moving knight that tries to poke you with his spear. Strategies: Whip him but watch out for the spear, it has a pretty good reach! Mansion Gargoyle Description: Large gargoyle that jumps up and down and spits three fireballs. Strategies: Use Dracula's rib to block the fireballs then whip away at him! Blob Description: Little blob that jumps around in the forest and mansions. Strategies:Wait till he's securely on the ground then duck and whip him. The Sacred Flame also works well on the blobs. Black Skeleton Description: Blacked out, fast moving skeleton that roams the Sadam Forest. Strategies: Whip him fast because he moves fast and if he gets too close he'll give you a good punch! Marsh Beast Description: Beast that hides in the swamp water and when you get close it pops out and shoots fireballs. Strategies: Get out Laurels to protect you from the marsh and use Dracula's rib to deflect the fireballs. Get close and whip him. Marsh Worm Description: A thin worm that jumps out of the marsh when you get close. Strategies: Watch for his tail that wiggles, but don't bother whipping him, if you move it won't hit you. And once it tries to hit you once, then it won't try again. Cat Description: A very fast moving cat that jumps at you and is very sudden. Strategies: You MUST know where these cats are or else you'll be hit hard by them. They are in the Balasco Marsh. Beast Description: Fast moving and shoots fireballs. There are two varieties. One comes early in the game and shoots fireballs slow. The other comes later and shoots fireballs much faster. Strategies: Use Dracula's Rib to block the fireballs and whip him when he gets close. Flaming Head Description: Head of fire that floats towards you at a pretty good pace. Strategies: The head is an easy target but make sure you have at least a Morning Star whip, otherwise it may take too many hits to kill before it hits you. Mummy Description: Tall and vulnerable mummy that moves fast if you get close. Strategies: Easy to kill but make sure you have at least a Morning Star whip. Floating Skull Description: A floating head that comes down on you at an angle making it very hard to hit. Strategies: Move around and try to avoid him until he gets down to where you can whip him. It's tough getting him not to land on your head. Flaming Skeleton Description: A skeleton on fire that shoots LOW fireballs. Strategies: I'm not sure if you can use the rib to deflect the fireballs but you can try it. I always jump over them. Medusa Head Description: A medusa head that flies after you rather slowly. Strategies: Incredibly easy to kill. Just whip when it gets close! Undead Hand Description: A hand that comes out of the ground in graveyards. Strategies: Don't even bother trying to kill them. All you need to do is jump over them. And if you want to try killing them, unless you have a powerful whip it's gonna take you a lot of hits...especially at night! Raven Description: A small Raven that comes out at you from the sky in Vrad's Graveyard. It waits a while, then charges at you incredibly fast. Strategies: Kill the Raven while it's waiting in the air. (Note that you'll have to stand on a grave then jump up and whip it.) Killer Plant Description: A large plat that shoots fireballs from it's flower. It's a rare enemy too. As far as I know there's only one of them in the whole game and it's in the Wicked Ditch. Strategies: Use Dracula's rib to block the fireballs then, you guessed it, whip him down! Man Vulture Description: It looks like a vulture but if you let it touch the ground, you'll find that it's actually of human resemblance and shoots fire at you. Strategies: Don't let the bird touch the ground, whip it while it's in the air! 3. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q. Some of the rooms in town are empty! What do I do? A. If there's an empty room in towns, try to break either the floor or right wall with holy water to see if there are any hidden rooms. Do this very often. Q. Is there any way to detect traps/false blocks? A. Toss some holy water to check for false bricks. If it goes through, avoid that block. Q. Jumping across the blocks in the swamp can be a pain. How can I get across easily? A. When faced with blocks floating on lakes, jump when the block is at the highest point. It will propel you upwards and give you the force you need to reach the next block. Q. Do the villagers' clues have any effect on the game whatsoever? A. Usually not. They seem to be there for the hell of it. I never bother to talk to them, unless I need to buy or trade something. Only the clues are actually useful. Too many of them seem to come-ons from girls. Q. What's the best way to get through this game fast? A. Make sure you plot out *exactly* where you want to go, before you start playing. Raise your heart levels by fighting in mansions, because time does not pass there. Buy the crystal at Jova at the beginning of the game, go directly to the first mansion, and fight through it, then return for the better whips and holy water. Follow this general advice. 4. CLUES 4.1 Scriptures Clues are found with the eyeball at different parts of the game. Those are the red pieces of paper you'll see lying around. Dave Anderson has e-mailed me all of the messages, along with their location. This will help if you want some general info, but don't want to be lead through the by the nose with the walkthrough. 1(Veros) CLEAR A PATH AT BERKLEY MANSION WITH A WHITE CRYSTAL. 2(Berkley Mansion) A SYMOBOL OF EVIL WILL APPAER WHEN YOU STRIKE THE STAKE. 3(Berkley Mansion) DESTROY THE CURSE AND YOU'LL RULE BRAM'S MANSION. 4(Berkley Mansion) A FLAME FLICKERS INSIDE THE RING OF FIRE. 5(Veros Woods) TO REPLENISH EARTH,KNEEL BY THE LAKE WITH THE BLUE CRYSTAL. 6(Aljiba) AN OLD GYPSY HOLDS THE DIAMOND IN FRONT OF DE-BORAH CLIFF. 7(Rover Mansion) GARLIC IN THE GRAVEYARD WILL SUMMON A STRANGER. 8(Rover Mansion) DESTROY THE CURSE WITH DRACULA'S HEART. 9(Bram's Mansion) PLACE THE LAURELS IN A SILK BAG TO BRING THEM TO LIFE. 10(Bram's Mansion) WAIT FOR A SOUL WITH A RED CRYSTAL ON DEBORAH CLIFF. 11(Deborah Cliff) DRACULA'S NAIL MAY SOLVE THE EVIL MYSTERY. 12(Bodley Mansion) THE CURSE HAS KILLED THE LAUREL TREE. 13(Wicked Ditch) DRACULA'S EVIL KNIFE BLURS CAMILLA'S VISION. 4.2 Villagers Hints from JOVA H1. First thing to do in this town is buy a White Crystal. H2. A crooked trader is offering bum deals in this town. H3. A flame is on top of the 6th tree in Denis Woods. H4. Rumor has it, the Ferryman at Dead River loves garlic. H5. 13 clues will solve Dracula's Riddle. H6. You have a friend in the town of Aldra. Go and see him. [b] H7. A Magic Potion will destroy the Wall of Evil. H8. Clues to Dracula's Riddle are in the Town of Veros. Hints from VEROS H9. Clues to Dracula's Riddle are in the Town of Alba [Aljiba]. [a] H10. Clues to Dracula's Riddle are in Berkeley Mansion. [g] H11. You've got a friend waiting for you in the Town of Aljiba. [e] H12. A Rib can shield you from evil. H13. Laurels in your soup enhances its aroma. Hints from ALJIBA H14. Buy some Garlic. It has special powers. H15. Clues to Dracula's Riddle are in the Veros Woods. [q] H16. Clues to Dracula's Riddle are in Rover Mansion. [h] H17. A Laurel will protect you from the Poison Marsh. H18. The Dead River waits to be freed from its curse. H19. To restore your life, shout in front of the church. Hints from ALDRA H20. Hit Deborah Cliff with your head to make a hole. H21. I'll see you at midnight on the river bank. H22. Sorry, Pal, no time now, maybe later. H23. Get a silk bag from the Graveyard Duck to live longer. H24. I've been waiting for a good looking guy like you. H25. I want to get to know you better. Hints from OLDON H26. Dig up the 4th grave in the Cemetery for a Diamond. H27. When I was your age, women loved me. H28. Take my daughter, please!! H29. Believe in magic and you'll be saved. H30. Don't make me stay. I'll die. H31. Don't look into the Death Star, or you will die. Hints from FETRA H32. After Castlevania I warned you not to return. H33. You've upset the people. Now get out of town!! H34. Get back!! H35. The Cross in Laruba's Mansion must be found. Hints from GHULASH H36. Let's live here together. 5. MAP Dora Veros Dabi's Aljiba Woods Ferry Woods Path Woods *-*-k-t-f-*-*-*-*-*-* ...*-m-c-*-*-*-*-*-h-*-*-s-q-*-*-e-o-*-l-*-r-p/ \g-v-*-z Dead Jova \--d--/ \*-y River Woods \i Sadam Woods Ferry w-a-*-*-*-b-*... n/ Ferry x-*-j-*-*... a - Town of Oldon: Morning Star, Laurel b - Town of Aldra: Laurel, Garlic, Red Crystal c - Town of Jova: Holy Water, Thorn Whip, White Crystal d - Town of Veros: Dagger, Chain Whip, Clue e - Town of Aljiba: Laurel, Garlic, Blue Crystal f - Town of Fetra: Laurel g - Town of Ghulash h - Berkeley Mansion: Oak Staff, Dracula's Rib, 3 Clues i - Rover Mansion: Oak Staff, Dracula's Heart, 2 Clues j - Brahm's Mansion: Oak Staff, Gold Knife, Dracula's Eyeball, 2 Clues k - Bodley Mansion: Oak Staff, Dracula's Nail, Clue l - Laruba's Mansion: Oak Staff, Dracula's Ring, Cross, Laurel m - Belasco Marsh n - Graveyard: Silk Bag o - Camilla Cemetery: Silver Knife p - Fire Whip q - Clue r - Clue s - Sacred Flame t - Wicked Ditch v - Vrad's Graveyard w - Jam Wasteland, Deborah Cliff: Clue x - Denis Woods: Diamond y - Yuba Lake z - Dracula's Castle 6. WALKTHROUGH ____________________________________________________________________________ Starting off/Dracula's Rib From the start, go right and then down the stairs. Talk to the man in the grey robes and buy the White Crystal from him. Go to the bottom of town and leave by going right. Fight Werewolves and Skeletons in the next screen until you get one hundred and fifty hearts, it should become night while you are doing this. If it does, go into town (it's the town of Jova, by the way) and fight Zombies. When you have enough money go back into town and go into the door next to the guy who sold you the White Crystal. Buy Holy Water in here. Leave this room, go to the bottom of the town, work you way to the left and look for a door above you. Go in there and buy the Thorn Whip. Leave the town of Jova and go right three screens. On the third screen go down the stairs you come to, then keep going right. This brings you to the town of Veros. Try to have at least two hundred hearts by the time you get here, if not just go back and forth in between Veros and Jova until you have enough. In this town you can buy a Chain Whip for one hundred and fifty hearts and a dagger for fifty hearts. Be sure to get both of these! Next, go back to the left, up the stairs and then go to the right. You're at the mansion. This is Berkley Mansion. Notes on Berkley: You need to hold the White Crystal or else the elevator will be invisible. Just head straight up. When your reach the top and move right, check the blocks on the elevated platform with holy water. They are fake, so jump pretty far. Head right, and search for that guy you see walking by the spike pits. Buy an Oak Stake. Head down, and check the floor for pits. There's one trap here, you can tell by the fact that background is a column. Jump over it, and throw the stake at the orb to get the Rib. Head left, drop down through the trap and head left to the exit. ____________________________________________________________________________ How to get Dracula's Heart After getting the Rib from Berkeley Mansion, head back to Veros. Once in Veros, go to the right, go up to the top and then go right on this screen. This is Dabi's Path. On the next screen, in the bottom left wall is The Sacred Flame. You have to go to right to get to the floor of the screen, the throw Holy Water on the steps and go left, throw Holy water on the wall. From here, go right four screens. You should now be in Aljiba. Try to have at least one hundered hearts before you come here. Look around town and buy some Garlic and some Laurels. Go one screen right and drop some Garlic on the ground. A guy will appear, talk to him and you'll get a Silver Knife. Go back to town and talk to the man in grey at the top of the town, he'll trade your White Crystal for a Blue Crystal. Go two screens to the left and go down the stairs. Go to the edge of the lake, select the Blue Crystal and crouch. After a few seconds. the screen will scroll up a little bit and it will be safe to enter the lake. Now you're at Rover Mansion Notes on Rover Mansion: Just head up the stairs and go right, but when you find blocks to jump on, intentionally miss (that is, drop down.) You should land on a column above water. There's a group of blocks here that is fake, so jump right through. Keep going to the right and buy the Oak Stake. Go back left a bit and head up the stairs. Just follow the linear route until you reach the orb. Then head back the way your came. Easy, huh? ___________________________________________________________________________ How to get the Eyeball Time for a BIG Hike back to the beginning. From Jova, go left until you reach a guy on a boat. Select the Heart, then talk to him. After crossing the river, continue left, past the Brahm Mansion until you reach the cliff. Someone will give you a Diamond there. Go back to the Brahm Mansion. Notes on Brahm Mansion: This mansion is so incredibley easy and linear. Just head upward, go right when you reach the top, go down the stairs and head left. Go up a little bit to buy the stake, then go all of the way down. Go right and face the Grim Reaper. Just use the Sacred Flame in moderation, along with some good old whipping. If you've gone ahead and found the Morning Star or Flame Whip, this will make the confrontation very easy. Get the Golden Knife he leaves you when you beat him, and head into the next room to get the eyeball. Run past the Reaper and exit the way you came. ____________________________________________________________________________ How to get Dracula's Nail After you get the Eyeball, go back across the river to the right without holding the Heart. Then recross to the left without having the Heart selected. Go left, and look for the knight in this town. Trade your blue crystal for his red. Keep going left, then down when you get to the stairs. You are now in a graveyard (Camilla Cemetary). Go all the way to the left and at the edge of the graveyard, and use garlic. A guy will appear and give you a Silk Bag. Go back up the stairs and continue left until you get to Ondol. They have a Morning Star here for two hundred hearts. Buy it. Continue Left until you come to a cliff. Select the Red Crystal, walk up to the cliff and duck for a few seconds (you don't have to hit your head on anything). Go in the mansion that you appear in front of. Notes on Bodley Mansion: Head upward (and watch for a fake floor) and then go to the right. Take the upper route both times, and look for a hidden wall. Now, head down and go to the right (you'll need to break some bricks.) Walk past the area with the hanging bodies and go down. At the bottom, there's a hidden wall in the bricks on the left, just jump up or try to find it with holy water. Buy the stake from the person, and then fall down through the fake floor just beyond the cloaked man. Go down and head into the room with the orb, and get the Nail. Go back left, up, and then left again to the next screen. Take the upper route, and then jump off, looking for the hidden passage in the bricks. You're now at the beginning of the mansion, so just walk right out. ____________________________________________________________________________ How to get Dracula's Ring After solving Bodley mansion, go to the left, when you get to the lake, select the Red Crystal, and duck for about 5 seconds. Go down and head left. First take the lower route, jumping on the bricks. You'll find a man hidden in blocks that will upgrade your Morning Star to a Flame Whip. Go back, go up and break down the bricks, and keep heading left. Don't bother going up. After more traveling and some wading through muck, you'll find the last mansion, Laruba. (Note: to get back to the area of the game before you traveled via tornado, head left from Larbua Mansion. You'll end up jumping off that precipice right near the town of Aljiba.) Notes on Laruba Mansion: Not too difficult, just head in an upper-right direction. Go up when you reach the next screen, and at the top, take the lower route to buy the Oak Stake. Head back and take the upper route this time. Go right, head down, and faced with the choice, go right. Now, when you reach the bottom, you can go left and cross the spike pit to get your Laurel supply refilled, or go right to reach the boss. The boss is Vampira, a crying mask. She'll give you a Magic Cross if you win. Duck just inside the door to avoid her fireballs (pretty easy). Using the Golden Knife and whipping her will do well. ____________________________________________________________________________ Killing Dracula After you get all of the parts, go all the way to right, up, and right again, past Bodley. Keep going until you come to some stairs. Take the bottom path (the upper path is a dead end.) When you get to the wall of stones, select the Nail and whip them (holy water works too). Now you're in Castlevania. This is easy, there's no enemies and everything is linear. Whip him when he appears, don't jump into him, and use laurels. After enough hits, he'll die. Gee, the Count was really wimpy in this adventure, wasn't he? 7. ADDITION STUFF 7.1 References References Bram The first name of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. Carmilla A female lesbian vampire in a novel by J. S. LeFanu. Goulash A Hungarian meat stew. "Ghulash" is a pun on "ghoul." Vlad Vlad the Impaler, the prototype for Dracula. Veros The town of Verossa, near Transylvania. Death Star The humungous space station built by the Empire to destroy the Alliance. Whoops, sorry...wrong place! I really have no idea what the hell this is supposed to be an allusion to, it's just another useless clue from the villagers. ******ENDING INFORMATION!! READ IF YOU WANT INFO!!!***** . . . . . . . . . Now you'll get one of three endings depending on your time: in the best ending, everything is color (at dusk), Simon is standing by the grave, and Dracula's hand comes out at the end. You need to complete the game in under 8 game hours, I believe. The middle ending ending is color and Simon is by the grave, but the text describes that he dies. In the last ending (which is if you *really dawdle* is in black and white, but doesn't have any depressing text. So the worst ending isn't really the worst. Hmm.... The End!! Created 4/26/97 Updated 11/10//97