version. The disc includes the audio from Castlevania and Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, covering 33 tracks with a total duration of 1:04.00. A vinyl also featuring both the FDS and NES music was released by Mondo on January 11, 2017. Some reviewers have praised Matsubara's compositions. GameSpy called all of the music "incredible", and one of the first appearances of "classics like 'The Silence of Daylight'". Reception The game garnered positive reviews following its release, and received the reputation of a Nintendo classic over time. Japanese game magazine Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40. In 1990, Nintendo Powers NES retrospective Pak Source gave Simon's Quest ratings of 4.5/5 for Graphic and Sound, 4/5 for Play Control, 4/5 for Challenge, and 4/5 for Theme Fun. In 2008, Nintendo Power ranked it as the 15th best NES game, comparing it to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in how it successfully added role-playing video game elements to its series. In a 1997 Castlevania retrospective, GamePro called it "an excellent time-killer, and much longer than the first Castlevania". IGN called Simon's Quest the "perfect game to play during 1989". It praised the theme of exploration, acknowledged the evolution of the series, and lauded its graphical and audio presentation. Retrospective reviews of Simon's Quest have been more critical. Criticism included backtracking, easy bosses, and the day-to-night cycle. A common complaint was its English localization, with cryptic and poorly translated clues from non-player characters. A former Castlevania producer, Koji Igarashi, revealed that all the NPCs in the Japanese version were deliberate liars. GameSpot said that the subtle hints from the Japanese version were lost in translation, such as the infamous line "hit Deborah Cliff with your head to make a hole". Active Gaming Media showed that the Japanese text was similarly misleading, but further described where and how an accurate hint from the Japanese game was lost. Further criticism stemmed from some of the game's puzzles, which have no clues at all, such as a scenario where Simon must summon a tornado at Deborah Cliff with the Red Crystal. 1UP.com said the game required a walkthrough because of its non-explanatory nature. Game Informer said that while the game is important in gaming history, it was still a polarizing game due to "cryptic puzzles" and other difficult elements. Legacy Simon's Quest is the second Castlevania game to depart from linear gameplay, following