Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (book)

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First edition, US paperback.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is a young adult novelization of the NES video game Castlevania II: Simon's Quest published by Scholastic in July of 1990. It is the fourth book in the Worlds of Power series, and, like all books in the series, it is attributed to "F. X. Nine." The internal text lists the author as Christopher Howell.

In the book, Simon Belmont, hero of the Castlevania series, travels through dimensions to find video game wiz Tim Bradley, a junior high school student. He needs Tim's help to collect Dracula's body parts and defeat the vampire once and for all before Dracula consumes Simon's spirit.

Personal

I read my first Worlds of Power book, Blaster Master, in the early 1990s, but I didn't read any others until 2007 when, being nostalgic for the story, I ordered several other books from the series. One of them was Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, which I promptly read and groaned my way through.

Status

I own a second edition mass market paperback and have read it.

Review

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

Bad

  • The author says the NES has a "joystick" instead of a game pad or controller.
  • The re-created cover art completely eliminates Dracula. This was either censorship or a lack of time. Either way, it looks pretty bad.

Ugly

  • The writing is extremely hokey, even for kids:
    • "I'll drink your spirit like cherry pop!" "It doesn't taste like cherry pop at all!"
    • "He was really in kind of a jam, and it wasn't the grape kind, either."

Media

Links

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