Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest NES

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is Konami’s 1987 sequel, a sharp structural departure from the original’s linear, stage-based platforming. Simon Belmont explores an open, town-connected map by day and night — enemies get tougher and townsfolk hide indoors after dark — collecting Dracula’s scattered body parts across five mansions to lift a curse afflicting him.

Its open-world exploration, cryptic NPC hints (some notoriously mistranslated in the English localization), and day-night cycle were unusual for an action game in 1987, closer in spirit to an adventure game layered onto Castlevania’s whip-based combat. Its reception was divisive at the time, and the series returned to more linear, stage-based structures for its next several entries before revisiting open exploration years later with Symphony of the Night.