When you begin to play Castlevania II, you have the option of starting a new game, or continuing a previous game by entering a password. You will receive a new password whenever you lose all of your lives and your game is over.
Simon's Quest takes place in a non-linear world, so you can (and have to, for that matter) go back to previous areas at any point in the game. There are certain areas which are blocked off until you find an appropriate item, however much of the world can be explored right from the beginning. Despite the non-linear layout, the plot progression is fairly linear. There are five mansions that must be explored before you can enter the last area, and while you can skip a few of the mansions and come back later, there is no real reason to do so.
While the game does not have explicitly defined chapters or stages, it can be logically broken up into six sections; one for each of the mansions.
You start the game in the Town of Jova, with nothing but your Leather Whip 
and 50 hearts.
Gameplay basics
Unlike the first game, which was strictly a side-scrolling action game, in Simon's Quest, you will spend most of your time exploring, rather than fighting. In fact, the enemies are almost an afterthought and many can be ignored. You might travel the world to the five mansions where Dracula's body parts are kept. Along the way you will pass through several towns where you can buy new weapons, relics needed to progress, and get clues from the villagers.
Your "money" is hearts, which are found by killing the numerous enemies that inhabit the mansions, woods, lakes, swamps, and mountains of the land. Often the merchants are found inside buildings, but occasionally they wander the streets. You can hold a maximum of 256 hearts at any one point, so don't spend too much time grinding for money as it will do you no good.
It should be noted that the towns are filled with liars and crooks, adding an new twist to the "talk to everyone for instructions on where to go" aspect of RPGs. In most games you can just take it for granted that everyone is telling you the truth. Not in this game. Villagers will lie and mislead you and merchants will sell you costly but useless items. Of course, many will tell you the truth, so you can't simply disregard what everyone says either.
Combat
Your basic method of attacking is with the legendary whip known as the Vampire Killer. In addition you have several weapons, such as daggers and holy water. All of the weapons are useful at certain points in the game, and some enemies are easier to defeat with a specific weapon. You have unlimited usage of most items, so you don't have to worry about running out of hearts like you do in most Castlevania games.
Leveling
As with most RPGs, and games with RPG elements, you gain experience points by defeating enemies. Once you have enough experience points, you gain a level and become stronger. In Simon's Quest, your level only affects the amount of health you have, and is a fairly trivial part of the game. Leveling up does not increase your strength or defense. To boost your strength you have to purchase better weapons from the shops.
Healing
You can heal yourself, free of charge, at a town's church. Simply go in and talk to the priest to be restored. It should be noted that churches are only open during the day, so if it is nighttime and you are severely wounded, simply find and corner to hide in until daybreak.
Should you die, you lose a life and start back at the entrance to the screen, with full health. You do lose all of your experience points, however your level will not get reset. If you lose all of your lives, the game is over, but you can continue by using a password.
Day/Night
Every couple of minuets the game will toggle between day and night. The land itself does not change, however there are significant differences. Generally speaking, the game is much more difficult at night.
- All shops and churches are closed, and no villagers are on the streets
- Towns are no longer safe from monsters as bats and zombies roam about
- Enemies take twice as many hits to die and do twice as much damage to you
- Enemies drop half-hearts (worth 4 hearts) instead of small hearts (worth 2 hearts)
Basically, night is the time for fighting enemies for hearts, while day is the time for traveling and exploring the mansions. Often times, if you need it to be day you can hide at the edge of a screen and simply wait for the sun. As long as all enemies are defeated and you don't move, no new ones should appear.
Passwords
- See the passwords section for a list of example passwords.
A password is constructed from 16 alpha-numeric characters. The game doesn't record your game state and then assign you a password, rather it calculates the game state based on the password you enter. As a result, if you understand how the system works, you can set up the game however you want.