My Castlevania II: Simon's Quest Speedrun History

CV2 has been a long favorite casual game of mine and I have done lots of speedruns for it in the past. I actively speedran CV2 from July 2013 through February 2014 at an average of 4 hours per day (about 960 hours). I'm currently taking a break from the game and don't plan to return to it at least until 2015. Here is what I have accomplished:

• "Any%" - 36:52 (2 deaths)
• "100%" - 45:44 (2 deaths) (WR)
• "Deathless" - 38:43 (0 deaths)
• "Glitchless" - 38:28 (1 death)

NOTE: All these single-segment runs have SDA's Castlevania II page!

Since my past world records, there has been a blob boost trick discovered that can be done in a single-segment run that saves 2 minutes. There has also been huge progress with the floor drops. All floor drops are now so much quicker thanks to new strats discovered for them.

My past record runs do a great job at showing off the flame whip route (instead of the newer chain whip routes).

More details about the various categories:

CV2 "Any%"

You have to take 1 death in the Any% run. This one death is only at the beginning lizardmen grind at the start of the game. You have to die in order to collect hearts fast enough to afford the white crystal and holy water before the first nightfall. I will not accept 2 deaths there, only 1, so expect lots of resets here. I also need to obtain 13 hearts before I proceed, you will hear me count them out. It generally takes about 8 minutes on average until I complete the starting lizardmen heart grind. PB history:

1. 1/31/14 - 36:52 - 2 deaths (PB)
2. 1/30/14 - 37:01 - 2 deaths
3. 1/27/14 - 37:19 - 3 deaths
4. 12/26/13 - 37:25 - 4 deaths
5. 12/20/13 - 37:58 - 4 deaths
6. 12/15/13 - 38:04 - 4 deaths
7. 12/9/13 - 38:37 - 4 deaths
8. 12/4/13 - 39:58 - 5 deaths
9. 12/2/13 - 40:22 - 5 deaths
10. 12/1/13 - 41:44 - 6 deaths
11. 11/27/13 - 43:11 - 7 deaths

My PB for only dying once in the Any% category, done on 2/12/14: 37:33 (1 death) - A lot more of these are on the way, with virtually no time loss!

CV2 "Deathless"

Deathless runs are very challenging to pull off in Castlevania II. I have only done about a dozen of them so far.

The difference with Deathless over Any% is with Any% you have to take a death to farm for hearts at the lizardmen to the left starting town, but that death/grind enables you to get the holy water AND the white crystal before the first nightfall enabling the player to be at the chain whip door the next morning. With deathless you have to grind safely at nighttime then purchase the white crystal the next morning. So, Any% will always be 1:30 faster than Deathless, because it takes the player a minute thirty to go from the white crystal to the chain whip door.

Some of you may wonder why I keep resetting at the 6 minute mark. And that is because I have recently confirmed a trick that saves 3 minutes off the "deathless" run by buying the white crystal and exchanging it with a blue one all in the same morning before it turns night time. And in order to accomplish this, you must be very quick! This also means you MUST get the floor drop at the 6 minute mark on the first try! If I don't get it, I reset! My success rate in doing that floor drop quickly is 1 in 3 attempts. PB History:

1. 3/6/14 - 38:43 (PB)
2. 2/28/14 - 39:09
3. 2/25/14 - 39:54
4. 2/24/14 - 41:16 - This run taught me that getting laurels is unnecessary, so I believe a sub 39 is definitely humanly feasible in this category now!
5. 1/16/14 - 41:50 - This run now shows off the new "deathless" route that saves minutes!
6. 11/23/13 - 43:47 - This run was accepted into the SDA on 12/28/13.
7. 9/28/13 - 46:06 - My first ever published run of cv2. This is also my second "deathless" run ever. I did "deathless" runs first before I did the any% or 100%.

CV2 "100%"

The 100% category is actually my favorite category to run in Castlevania II and that is because of much less resets. I can get a game in much easier and RNG hearts rarely become an issue in the 100% run.

Plus there is more gameplay involved. In addition to all the other items I get in the game, the 100% category also involves getting a regular dagger, sacred flame, silver knife, diamond, and a silk bag. I also show these items off as much as possible throughout the run. I have also found many speed run uses for these items as well, including actual uses for the diamond and many uses for the regular dagger!

Castlevania II 100% Leaderboard

1. FuriousPaul - 1/14/14 - 45:44 - (WR)
2. Youngb1ood - 9/11/14 - 49:42
3. WunUnknownPlayer - 9/16/12 - 1:05:14

CV2 "Glitchless"

Glitchless runs are cool because it shows the way to beat the game in the fastest way possible the way it was intended to be played.

The following are not allowed in glitchless runs:

• No floor drops.
• No blob boost shortcuts
• No purple block tricks.
• No instant holy water Death kill.
• No other clipping through walls.

NOTE: These glitchless rules are actually unofficial. I came up with these rules myself as I was unable to get the other CV2 runners to agree or disagree. I carefully thought through these rules fully and they make perfect sense for a "glitchless" run.

I have finally accomplished my goal with this category, which was to get a sub 38:30 with only 1 death! PB History:

1. 2/21/14 - 38:27 (1 death) (PB)
2. 2/17/14 - 38:34 (2 deaths)
3. 2/16/14 - 38:38 (2 deaths)
4. 2/15/14 - 38:42 (2 deaths)
5. 2/14/14 - 38:47 (2 deaths)
6. 2/13/14 - 39:06 (2 deaths)

Castlevania II Game FAQ

I am currently playing Castlevania II on the Wii VC, why?

• All my NESs are broken. The last one I bought on eBay died in a month.
• I like the convenience of the Wii VC.
• I like using the Wii's controllers better than the NES controller.
• Higher quality video thanks to my Wii's S-Video cable.
• Easier for me to press "reset".
• The gameplay mechanics is virtually the exact same as the NES. I have played cv2 recently on an NES and my execution was the exact same as the Wii VC.
• The Wii's VC is approved by the SDA for their recordings.
• I can easily swap between games with the Wii VC.

The only major drawback of using the Wii is the slight input delay lag.

RNG elements in Castlevania II:

• Heart drops are random and become a serious issue in both the Any% run and the "no death" run.
• The Pikemen Knights are random in the way they move back and forth. They can change velocity at any given second and turn direction at any given second too. This can be devastating in any run.
• Slimes (or blobs as I call them) jump at set times, but where they jump is random.
• Gargolyes are similar to the Pikemen, in which they can change directions at any given time, and they jump randomly as well.

Some interesting things about speed running Castlevania II

• I have to pull off 5-7 floor drops hopefully within 10 seconds a piece. Floor drops are a glitch in the game that is a frame perfect move that allows Simon to actually drop through the floor. This can only be done in places where there is exactly a 2 block height underneath Simon. There have been many advances to floor drops recently that my runs do not show yet.
• Death is the hardest battle in the game. He is pretty much the "boss" of this game for speedrunning. I have to pull off a pixel perfect move on him with the holy water and If I don't do it in time death may corner and kill me. My current success rate with a quick successful Death kill is 3 out of 4 tries.
• There is two ways to fight Dracula during a speedrun. 1st and easiest method is to use the golden dagger on him 6 times. 2nd method which requires simply whipping him. Whipping requires way more skill and is a lot harder to pull off.

Other CV2 related Goodness:
Is Castlevania II Good or Bad?