The Mansions

There are five mansions throughout Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and each one is a maze filled with tricks and traps. The graphics, enemies and objectives in each mansion are virtually the same, but the changing structures are all that's needed to make each one a whole new challenge. The mansion maps (with a still image below) and commentary below may help you find your way through these challenges.

Berkeley Mansion


Berkeley is the first such mansion you'll cross. Upon entering (bottom left corner), there seems to be no way to reach the highest platform. If you don't have it selected already, switch to your white crystal to see that there is indeed an invisible up-and-down moving platform that'll get you up there. Once up there, head right and up the first staircase. Immediately head all the way left--fending off skeletons, slimes and gargoyles--jump up the blocks and climb a staircase; get all the way to the top level of the mansion and keep heading right--watch out not to fall through the false bricks. On the next screen, go right, down two staircases, and loop around left to find the oak stake salesman. From here, climb down three staircases and keep heading right--again: Watch out for the false bricks, unless you'll fall all the way back down to an opening area of the mansion. The room containing the orb is straight away. To get out of the mansion from this room, turn back and purposely fall through some of those false bricks, heading left through an area of knights and gargoyles. Keep heading this way until you're out.

Boss: None

Rover Mansion


This mansion is made up of two very large rooms that you can become trapped in for a long time. When you enter the mansion, head right and ignore the whole upper half of this first area; if you don't, you'll run into knights, bats, scimitars, gargoyles and spike traps all crammed into one area (seen right). Heading right, you'll come to two watery pits with a wall blocking the way forward--all of these bricks are false, so walk right through them, to the second area of the mansion. Jump over some more water and avoid a left-to-right moving vertical platform--if not, it'll push you into the water. Shortly to the right is the oak stake salesman. Head back left and up the first staircase you cross. Travel up more staircases, battling knights and scimitars, and loop around a short path that takes you down into the orb room. The path to get out of the mansion from this room is the same which you came in. Once again: On the way out, ignore the upper half of the mansion's first area.

Boss: None

Brahm's Mansion


If you've found Dracula's heart in Rover Mansion, the Ferryman will take you here. This particular mansion is pretty straightforward since its challenge is more the boss than the maze element. After entering, jump over a couple of spike pits and go up the first staircase. Head up and around, fending off some slimes, and continue going upward until you're attacked by gargoyles. Once high atop the mansion, head right, over to the next screen. Drop down, avoiding spike pits, and head over left to the next screen. The oak stake salesman is right here in the open. Buy a stake and drop down as far as you can go, avoiding the slimes, knights and skeletons. Once all the way at the bottom, head right through a bat-infested hall. You'll emerge into the Death's chamber; while it's not necessary to defeat him, you may want to whip him away to grab the golden knife. After finishing him off, head right to the orb room. It's not too hard to get out of this here since all you have to do is go back the same way you came in.

Boss: The Grim Reaper

Bodley Mansion


Bodley, though not the largest, is the most difficult of the mansions to navigate. Head up the first staircase you cross (you can jump right through the first wall, but this path is unnecessary right now) and continue heading upward--throw holy water around frequently since there are false bricks about. When you climb all of the staircases, head right (if you go left, a rock trap and some scimitars are waiting). While going right, stay on the highest path until you come to wall, which is seemingly a dead end. Jump up and go right through the wall into the next screen. Drop down twice, break some bricks and head left, avoiding skeletons and a spike pit. Continue going left and drop down twice more. You'll come to what seems like another dead end, but you can jump through the wall to the left and land in the dark area--dark screens normally represent unnavigable areas, but that's what they want you to think here. In this area lies the oak stake salesman. Buy what he's selling and drop down the false bricks nearby. Head down the stairs and right to reach the orb room. To get out from here, head left and go up the second staircase you find. You can take two paths: A scimitar-heavy top path and a brick-breaking lower path (seen right). Both lead to the wall you saw when you first entered the mansion. Now jump through it; you'll be out of here in no time.

Boss: None

Laruba Mansion


This mansion is directly to the left of Bodley, and it should be the final mansion in your order. The enemies here are no different than what you've faced in others, but they're really tough since it's so late in the game. After entering the mansion, head right and climb up the first staircase; head left and climb up another. Continue right and take the highest possible path--only scimitars will be in the way. When you enter into the next screen, take the first staircase upward. An oak stake salesman is right around here (as seen right). Keep heading right from here and drop down about five times--try to time it so that you don't land on any well-positioned knights, scimitars and spike pits. Once all the way down, head right one room to find Vampira, the master of this house. After defeating her and receiving the cross, go right once more to reach the orb room. To get out from here, head left and jump up onto the first set of platforms you cross. (Note: You can go straight instead, riding a moving platform over a long spike pit to reach a man who gives away a couple of laurels; you'll have to backtrack to where you were, though, so you can skip this if necessary). You'll cross through a short hallway that's patrolled by a couple of spiders before coming to more platforms. Use them to jump upward, and exit to the left. You've been here, so you should find your way out without a problem.

Boss: Vampira

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