No you miss the point, castlevania 2 is bad, it give the player the advise of the nonsense, like arrodilate in a mountain and wait for a tornado, they never say it, you have to be gueser to know this,
This is why I said that:
"Simon's Quest was ... reliant in great part on the gaming culture of the times"
Back in the day, gaming was very social on a local level. Gamers would share tips and tricks they found, and if you were really lucky, one of your friends would have a subscription to Nintendo Power, which was pretty much the Gamefaqs of the time.
Simon's Quest could get away with being confusing because instead of getting all upset over it, you would turn it into a social experience with you and all your friends trying to figure out what to do and then helping each other out. The Legend of Zelda for the NES relied upon the same culture of the times EVEN MORE than Simon's Quest, which is why it's very annoying for someone who has never played it to pick it up today. To this day, people still laud The Legend of Zelda for pretty much creating/popularizing a genre. They are games of their times, of their culture. That doesn't make them bad.
Way back when? My parents used to make their own game maps on graph paper. It wasn't a chore, it wasn't bad design; it was fun. And it's why Simon's Quest got very good reviews when it came out; people liked it. It was a completely different time, a different experience from today's gaming scene.
graphics, mirror of fate os the best, comparing the music
Already went over this. Graphics are irrelevant so long as the game manages to convey itself properly, music is a matter of personal tastes and there is no objective 'best.'
comparing the gameplay
Level design and gameplay mechanics were far better in CV3. There is far more thought and understanding put into CV3's design. The way they managed the difficulty, the way they were able to put in characters that could climb the walls an fly without ruining the game's challenge, the fact that there WAS challenge. More replay value, better enemy selection, surprisingly nuanced combat (again, goes into balance with both character abilities and sub-weapons), superior bosses (though could be less repetitive in some spots), and I could go on and on... with the exception of two rooms (melting/falling blocks, blegh), CV3 offers a tight, rewarding experience.
tecnology of today help of make the best games of the history,
I think that technology today has the POTENTIAL to make the best games of history, but as of right now I do not think there is a single game from the latest generation of gaming that even comes close to hitting my top ten.