It was eventually developed for cartridge release on the NES in North America on December 1 , 1988 , and in Europe on April 27 , 1990 . Because of hardware differences between the FDS and NES , there were changes between the versions designed for both consoles . The FDS version features a save system , as other FDS games also featured at the time . The NES version instead uses a password function to return to specific sequences from the game . The FDS medium had a data storage limitation of 862 kilobits of slow access , whereas bank-switching techniques and solid memory costs allowed cartridges to have comparable data space with much faster access . The developers used the space to improve the music quality for the game , adding percussion samples and re-arranging the melodies to take advantage of the technology . Other changes were made to correct several grammatical and spelling errors in the translation , such as rendering of the protagonist 's name as " Simmon Belmont " , in the game 's endings . Most of the original artwork for '' Simon 's Quest '' and other early '' Castlevania '' titles was lost during the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995
Great Hanshin earthquake
Great Hanshin earthquake
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest