Even Simon's Quest was hard but it was more due to the translation we received rather than near impossible jumps, enemy placement, etc. You are right, in general, the early Castlevania games were quite hard. I loved watching others, that were better, play Castlevania 1 and 3 on the NES, I simply could not get far in them. Bloodlines, on Sega Genesis, was no better in this regard and was the point I checked out till I got a PSP and that Castlevania collection Konami released (only after the code/method to unlock Symphony of the Night was well known). I did not play any of the other Castlevania games in that, I simply gave the PSP to a friend for a day or so (we worked together) and he unlocked it for me.

I am all for a tough game, I played Contra regularly only using the 3 lives and was able to beat it. I loved playing Mega Man 2. I beat Zelda 2 with no guide or hints. For some reason, the early Castlevania games were where I drew the line of enjoyment versus frustration in a tough game.