Castlevania II Music (NES) - Dwelling of Doom (Mansion Theme)

Track 5 / 18 (Complete Soundtrack)

Developer / Publisher: Konami
Composer: Kenichi Matsubara, S . Terishima

PART 1:

Full Title: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
System: Nintendo Entertainment System
Year: 1988 (US)

1 - Message of Darkness
2 - The Silence of Daylight
3 - Bloody Tears
4 - Monster Dance
5 - Dwelling of Doom
6 - Within These Castle Walls
7 - Last Boss
8 - Game Over
9 - A Requiem

PART 2:

Full Title: ドラキュラII 呪いの封印 (Dracula II: Noroi no Fuin)
System: Famicom Disk System
Year: 1987 (JP)

10 - Message of Darkness
11 - The Silence of Daylight
12 - Bloody Tears
13 - Monster Dance
14 - Dwelling of Doom
15 - Within These Castle Walls
16 - Last Boss
17 - Game Over
18 - A Requiem

First released in Japan on floppy disk as Dracula II: Noroi no Fuin in 1987, and later ported to the NES as Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, there are two different versions of the same score. The original made use of an additional sound channel unique to the FDS (Famicom Disk System), and I've included both in their entirety here.

There are more differences between the two than the US cartridge version simply lacking an extra voice, however. Sometime during the 15 month gap that separated the two releases, Konami decided to tweak the soundtrack.

For their second attempt they added new (and more driving) percussion parts, and all sorts of reverb/ delay effects that weren't there before. Other differences can be heard as well, including a different length for A Requiem and a different bass part for Within These Castle Walls.

Its neat hearing how the original version sounds, but I much prefer the changes they made for the American release. Despite having less channels to work with, I am of the opinion that they managed to make the music more complex and interesting by manipulating the soundchip with more care.