“This is what eight-bit remakes should look like”: players were impressed by the demonstration of fan-made Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest on Unreal Engine 5

A group of First Serve Gaming enthusiasts decided to transfer one of the most controversial parts of Castlevania – Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest – to Unreal Engine 5. Recently, the developers held an hour-long broadcast showing gameplay.

Image source: dsogaming

During the broadcast, the authors showed gameplay in the Berkeley Mansion location, where you can find Dracula’s rib.

The original Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest was released in Japan in August 1987 for the NES. In December 1988, the game reached North America, and in April 1990, it reached Europe. Unlike the first part, the sequel contains RPG and open world elements, inspired by the 1987 adventure platformer The Maze of Galious, as well as a day and night cycle that affects the strength of opponents and the number of hearts dropped. The authors of the remake, called Castlevania – Symphony Of Horrors, decided to keep all the features, including the last one, for which the game was often criticized (along with the need to return to visited locations and weak bosses).

The developers have reproduced the eight-bit style of the original, complemented it with modern graphic effects, and added the same sounds and music. Other gameplay mechanics and systems have also been recreated, including battles using the whip, using items, climbing stairs, talking to NPCs, secondary weapons and stat development.

The remake is in development, but an early version is already available for download (at the time of writing this note, the link did not work, but the creators promised to update it).

Players highly appreciated the work of fans – they were especially impressed by the implementation of changing the time of day, boss battles, as well as new graphical details and “pseudo-3D” effects (for example, Simon Belmont’s dynamic shadow). Separately, the creators were thanked for their decision to preserve the original music.

Stills from the video

«This is the best remake of Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest,” wrote joeharm8141 in the comments to the broadcast recording.

«As someone who played the original when it came out, my jaw dropped at the smooth transition between day and night,” admitted Kranzio. — Simon’s Quest is a fantastic game with very outdated mechanics that you have updated beautifully, while maintaining the spirit of the original. Amazing work”.

«I really like the graphics,” Just-Fauna noted. “This is what eight-bit remakes should look like.”

«I like the modern eight-bit aesthetic with voxels, new lighting and parallax scrolling,” betterinsodapop praised the authors. – It looks incredible. Keep it up!”.

In March of this year, enthusiast Lv.4 Games released Castlevania ReVamped, an expanded version of the 1986 game with new features and improvements.