| shmuplations, introducing the recollections of a developer Hitoshi Akamatsu mentored in the 1990s, calls Akamatsu Castlevania's director, creator, and programmer. | introduction | Web |
| By the account of a developer he later mentored, Akamatsu said the whip suited the world he wanted and was good at keeping enemies back, and that he loved Raiders of the Lost Ark. | opening recollectionsopening recollections | Web |
| By the account of a developer he later mentored, Akamatsu wanted Simon's controls to come, with enough play, to feel like an extension of the player's own limbs. | Controls | Web |
| By the account of a developer he later mentored, when the developer remarked how easily one enemy hit knocks Simon into a pit, Akamatsu shot back that Simon doesn't die from one hit and Mario does. | ControlsControls | Web |
| By the account of a developer he later mentored, Akamatsu set the order the subweapons appear in; the knife comes first so the player learns subweapons, the stopwatch is there to learn enemy attacks, and the cross and holy water are the strongest. | Game BalanceGame BalanceGame Balance | Web |
| By the account of a developer he later mentored, Akamatsu said the fight with Death is meant to teach the cross and the axe, and that beating it with the whip alone marks a skilled player; the developer adds that test players apparently did. | Game BalanceGame Balance | Web |
| By the account of a developer he later mentored, Akamatsu said the final boss's second form is not Dracula but a monster born of the curse of man, which is why Simon is cursed for beating it. | DraculaDracula | Web |
| By the account of a developer he later mentored, Akamatsu said defeating Dracula scores only 1 point because of a bug, a wrong bit he set in a short development, and that it was meant to be 10,000. | DraculaDracula | Web |
| By the account of a developer he later mentored, Akamatsu put the music's quality down to its visuals and music being made by people who consciously wanted something cinematic. | On Director Hitoshi Akamatsu | Web |
| A former Konami developer whom Hitoshi Akamatsu, the creator of Castlevania, mentored recalls that Akamatsu came up with the American title, Simon's Quest, himself. | introductionCastlevania II – Simon's Quest | Web |
| Asked whether Metroid influenced Simon's Quest, Akamatsu answered, by the same developer's account, that he was thinking more of Konami's own Maze of Galious. | Castlevania II – Simon's QuestCastlevania II – Simon's Quest | Web |
| By the same developer's account, the zombies in the towns at night first hopped, like jiangshi, and Akamatsu reluctantly made them walk after people said they were too strong. | Castlevania II – Simon's QuestCastlevania II – Simon's Quest | Web |
| The same developer recalls that Akamatsu's sequels to Castlevania sold poorly, so that he was demoted to working in one of Konami's game centers, and that he then quit. | On Director Hitoshi Akamatsu | Web |