CastleVania runs [locked]

2005-05-02 04:06:26 am

i was saying boo-urns.

prepare for a long post.

i've been planning several castlevania runs for a while. most of them have some questions that i'd like answered, so i figured i'd lump them all into one big post, you know, for convenience.

castlevania: i do own this nes cartridge, but i am not currently in the possession of a working nes. a friend of mine has one that works occassionally. my question is, however, can i do a run of this game on the "nes classic" gameboy advance cartridge? i'd still do a single segment just like a run of the nes version, even though the "classic" version allows you to save it.

castlevania 2 (simon's quest): again, i own the cartridge (impressive, i think, as it was released shortly after i was born). hopefully my friend's nes will pull through. i absolutely love this game and would be thrilled to be able to play it at all, and speed running it should be awesome.

castlevania 3 (dracula's curse): sadly, i don't own this game.

super castlevania 4: that friend of mine i refer to has a copy, so hopefully he'll (AHEM) allow me to (AHEM) borrow it and speed (AHEM) run (AHEM) it.

symphony of the night: a beautiful, beautiful game. i'd much rather do a segmented run of this game than a single segment. my question for this is how would the timing work? would you take my final save time and then add the real time of the last segment, or would you real time each segment individually and add them up at the end (so the timing matches the current run)? i don't know how radix timed the segmented one, so i want to make sure that mine is timed the same way. that's all.

circle of the moon: the game that got me rehooked, by the way. this game has several secret modes to it. the main ones i'm interested in doing are the fighter (gradius) mode and magician (fireball) mode. does sda care about these two (or the other two, for that matter), or would only the original 'vampire killer' mode be accepted?

harmony of dissonance: worst. sound technology. ever. (hmph, talk about dissonance. but where's the harmony? </pianist>) however, quite an enjoyable game, after a few hours of not such an enjoyable game. but i digress. i have done a few test runs on this...but the question is can i do a run of just the "worst" ending? that way is much faster, and i already have a test run in progress that should complete this in less than an hour (maybe even under 50 minutes).

there is another question, though. fans of this game (they do exist) may know of the concisely named "door glitch." it has one basic use (for me, at least) - getting the lizard tail pretty early. this shaves several minutes off of my time. is it acceptable, however? basically, it involves opening a door, and dashing backwards just when the room transition occurs. this will cause you to go back into the room from which you entered the door, only shifted back a ways. in the case of the lizard tail, it puts you inside of a wall that you can walk out of to get the lizard's tail. normally, you'd have to go in a huge circle, fight a boss, and THEN get the item. does anybody else have some insight on this glitch, specifically on the legality of it?

edit: here's a video - http://rapidshare.de/files/1525103/hod_door_glitch_2.avi.html

also for harmony, i have done a few maxim runs. would anybody care to see one? my test time was a 29:18, but i'm shooting for under 25. i might do a single segment just because, but i might not as i play very recklessly with maxy.

aria of sorrow: i guess i actually don't have a question on this one. i do want to point out, however, that i often hear people talking about skipping undine by jumping and ramming soma into a wall, blah blah blah. you don't have to. just double jump out of the water. sheesh.

changed my mind, i do have a question on aria. anybody want a single segment on this beast? it would only get the "bad" ending unless i get really really lucky. (read: it will only get the "bad" ending)

aria of sorrow boss rush: does sda want this? after about three days of working on it, i lowered my time from a 4 minute something to 1:25:56. not as good as zanapher's 1:21:93, obviously, but A) i know i can lower my time, and 2) i will allow sda to host it. that is, if sda wants to.

sorry about the length of this post, i talk a lot. i appreciate your time and look forward to any answers i receive. once i set up my capture card, i can begin recording these runs.

thanks again.

Thread title:

prepare for a long post.

i've been planning several castlevania runs for a while.  most of them have some questions that i'd like answered, so i figured i'd lump them all into one big post, you know, for convenience.

castlevania: i do own this nes cartridge, but i am not currently in the possession of a working nes.  a friend of mine has one that works occassionally.  my question is, however, can i do a run of this game on the "nes classic" gameboy advance cartridge?  i'd still do a single segment just like a run of the nes version, even though the "classic" version allows you to save it.

castlevania 2 (simon's quest): again, i own the cartridge (impressive, i think, as it was released shortly after i was born).  hopefully my friend's nes will pull through.  i absolutely love this game and would be thrilled to be able to play it at all, and speed running it should be awesome.

castlevania 3 (dracula's curse): sadly, i don't own this game.

super castlevania 4: that friend of mine i refer to has a copy, so hopefully he'll (AHEM) allow me to (AHEM) borrow it and speed (AHEM) run (AHEM) it.

symphony of the night: a beautiful, beautiful game.  i'd much rather do a segmented run of this game than a single segment.  my question for this is how would the timing work?  would you take my final save time and then add the real time of the last segment, or would you real time each segment individually and add them up at the end (so the timing matches the current run)?  i don't know how radix timed the segmented one, so i want to make sure that mine is timed the same way.  that's all.

circle of the moon: the game that got me rehooked, by the way.  this game has several secret modes to it.  the main ones i'm interested in doing are the fighter (gradius) mode and magician (fireball) mode.  does sda care about these two (or the other two, for that matter), or would only the original 'vampire killer' mode be accepted?

harmony of dissonance: worst.  sound technology.  ever.  (hmph, talk about dissonance.  but where's the harmony?  </pianist>) however, quite an enjoyable game, after a few hours of not such an enjoyable game.  but i digress.  i have done a few test runs on this...but the question is can i do a run of just the "worst" ending?  that way is much faster, and i already have a test run in progress that should complete this in less than an hour (maybe even under 50 minutes).

there is another question, though.  fans of this game (they do exist) may know of the concisely named "door glitch."  it has one basic use (for me, at least) - getting the lizard tail pretty early.  this shaves several minutes off of my time.  is it acceptable, however?  basically, it involves opening a door, and dashing backwards just when the room transition occurs.  this will cause you to go back into the room from which you entered the door, only shifted back a ways.  in the case of the lizard tail, it puts you inside of a wall that you can walk out of to get the lizard's tail.  normally, you'd have to go in a huge circle, fight a boss, and THEN get the item.  does anybody else have some insight on this glitch, specifically on the legality of it?

edit: here's a video - http://rapidshare.de/files/1525103/hod_door_glitch_2.avi.html

also for harmony, i have done a few maxim runs.  would anybody care to see one?  my test time was a 29:18, but i'm shooting for under 25.  i might do a single segment just because, but i might not as i play very recklessly with maxy.

aria of sorrow: i guess i actually don't have a question on this one.  i do want to point out, however, that i often hear people talking about skipping undine by jumping and ramming soma into a wall, blah blah blah.  you don't have to.  just double jump out of the water.  sheesh.

changed my mind, i do have a question on aria.  anybody want a single segment on this beast?  it would only get the "bad" ending unless i get really really lucky.  (read: it will only get the "bad" ending)

aria of sorrow boss rush: does sda want this?  after about three days of working on it, i lowered my time from a 4 minute something to 1:25:56.  not as good as zanapher's 1:21:93, obviously, but A) i know i can lower my time, and 2) i will allow sda to host it.  that is, if sda wants to.

sorry about the length of this post, i talk a lot.  i appreciate your time and look forward to any answers i receive.  once i set up my capture card, i can begin recording these runs.

thanks again.

Tub

2005-05-02 04:19:59 am

m00

Quote:

symphony of the night: a beautiful, beautiful game. i'd much rather do a segmented run of this game than a single segment. my question for this is how would the timing work? would you take my final save time and then add the real time of the last segment, or would you real time each segment individually and add them up at the end (so the timing matches the current run)? i don't know how radix timed the segmented one, so i want to make sure that mine is timed the same way. that's all.

from the SotN-Page:

Quote:

Timing note: Although the game has an accurate timer, it is not shown at the end nor is the save updated after completing the game. Although you could pause just before the final hit to see the time, we don't like the unreliability of this. As a result, the times are the standard measure of real-time from start of control to end.

Radix

2005-05-02 04:22:30 am

I'm addicted to games

Quote:

can i do a run of this game on the "nes classic" gameboy advance cartridge?

Sure... do you know if it plays the same as the original though? If it doesn't it'd be tracked separately.

Quote:

symphony of the night: a beautiful, beautiful game. i'd much rather do a segmented run of this game than a single segment. my question for this is how would the timing work?

The game's timer is ignored. Timing starts when you get control of richter and stops when you kill dracula at the end.

dingussjr

2005-05-02 04:28:10 am

i was saying boo-urns.

Quote:

Sure... do you know if it plays the same as the original though? If it doesn't it'd be tracked separately.

no clue, actually. i haven't played the original cartridge in probably 10 years. the only difference i know of offhand is a special menu you can open to save your game. other than that, everything seems the same, but i really don't know one way or the other.

Avris

Edit history:

Avris: 2005-05-02 05:10:25 am

2005-05-02 05:08:30 am

I'm the friend that dingusSJr keeps refering to. And I have a few comments to make.
For one thing, I can get my NES's to work only sometimes. Most likely event is that I get one of them working and then it freezes up mid-speedrun. But I do have the NES and have seen the games. And I do have Castlevania IV (which i still havent let him borrow, WHAHAHA, err).
I've seen the door glitch done on a gba player and a gba sp.
Put simply: It's somewhat difficult, and i think it should probably be allowed.

Sir VG

2005-05-02 01:07:39 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Quote:

The game's timer is ignored. Timing starts when you get control of richter and stops when you kill dracula at the end.

Actually, Shaft is the final boss in Richter's path, not Dracula.

>_>

<_<

arjora

2005-05-02 05:43:01 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Hmm, if you're gonna do a sotn run, maybe u can check out this vid for tips, it's only the 1st castle but it can probably help you a lot.

http://www.planetdreamcast.com/orochinagi/cyberfan/superplay/castvan/sotn/fullnodamage.htm

As for normal sotn run record, people claim to say you can probably get under 45 mins, or even less than 40 mins, and yes, that's all the way to dracula without glitches. I dunno why only the 1st castle was complete, though i heard the runner got bored of sotn and moved to aos runs.

ssd

2005-05-02 07:10:56 pm

dammit, do the NES ones you have. its a shame you dont have 3, but id love to see 1 & 2.

questions:

for CV, do you have the JP version where you can choose easy/normal? it didnt say, and i was just curious

for cv2, which ending would you aim for?

comments/questions:

SCV4 - let him borrow the game, please Smiley

im actually surprised i havent seen anything from Eric Roman on this site considering how much hes bragged about it (CV Dungeon or Mr P's, cant remember which site it was).

SotN - ...id like to see much less of this game, but oh well.

CotM - after OgreSlayeR's glitched up run, im curious to see a speed-run of this. i suppose different modes would be categorized differently.

HoD - in under 50 minutes? damn... that'd be nice to see on this ..."game"... Smiley

-maxim would be nice as well, and SS would be an even better touch

AoS - SS? with a NG+ or on a different mode or what? theres already some, so im curious as to how you'd do this one as well.

Josh the FunkDOC

2005-05-02 10:16:01 pm

In case anyone ever does CV3, here are some tips. Some are obvious, some not as much so...

1. General Castlevania Rule: Jump off of ledges whenever you can, since you don't move forward by just falling off.

2. General Castlevania Rule #2: End each level with as few hearts as possible, since it takes time to count them down.

3. Skip the clock tower. Pretty obvious, but just thought I'd say it anyway.

4. Get the boomerang in the forest, then try to get triple shot ASAP as it's your best weapon against most bosses. I think hitting multiple candles with one boomerang increases your chances of picking up both the double and triple.

5. When given the chance, go through the marsh and get Alucard. He saves the most time, by far, of any of the secondary characters.

6. At the next path split, continue with Alucard's level instead of going to the sunken city. The boss here is normally pretty tough IMO, but triple boomerang + constant whipping makes him a breeze.

7. In the next level, and every one afterward, make note of which hearts are on your path. You're going to need enough of them to fly whenever it saves time, AND spam boomerangs on the bosses.

To avoid clutter, I'll make another post after this, noting all the areas where flying saves time.

-Josh

In case anyone ever does CV3, here are some tips.  Some are obvious, some not as much so...

1. General Castlevania Rule: Jump off of ledges whenever you can, since you don't move forward by just falling off.

2. General Castlevania Rule #2: End each level with as few hearts as possible, since it takes time to count them down.

3. Skip the clock tower.  Pretty obvious, but just thought I'd say it anyway.

4. Get the boomerang in the forest, then try to get triple shot ASAP as it's your best weapon against most bosses.  I think hitting multiple candles with one boomerang increases your chances of picking up both the double and triple.

5. When given the chance, go through the marsh and get Alucard.  He saves the most time, by far, of any of the secondary characters.

6. At the next path split, continue with Alucard's level instead of going to the sunken city.  The boss here is normally pretty tough IMO, but triple boomerang + constant whipping makes him a breeze.

7. In the next level, and every one afterward, make note of which hearts are on your path.  You're going to need enough of them to fly whenever it saves time, AND spam boomerangs on the bosses.

To avoid clutter, I'll make another post after this, noting all the areas where flying saves time.

-Josh

dingussjr

Edit history:

dingussjr: 2005-05-03 04:17:47 am

2005-05-03 04:10:01 am

i was saying boo-urns.

Quote:

dammit, do the NES ones you have. its a shame you dont have 3, but id love to see 1 & 2.

questions:

for CV, do you have the JP version where you can choose easy/normal? it didnt say, and i was just curious

i have the "nes classic" gba sp cartridge. you start out on "easy," and once you beat it you continue playing on "normal," from what i understand. (my guess is it's really "normal" and "hard," because if that's easy...*shudders*)

Quote:

for cv2, which ending would you aim for?

i'm not sure exactly. i still need to plan it. i guess i'll go for the best one i can get.

Quote:

comments/questions:

SCV4 - let him borrow the game, please Smiley

im actually surprised i havent seen anything from Eric Roman on this site considering how much hes bragged about it (CV Dungeon or Mr P's, cant remember which site it was).

avris, i think this is directed at you.

Quote:

SotN - ...id like to see much less of this game, but oh well.

it's a great game, and i have some..."fresh" ideas. maybe.

Quote:

CotM - after OgreSlayeR's glitched up run, im curious to see a speed-run of this. i suppose different modes would be categorized differently.

hmm...i wonder if the dss glitch would even be allowed at sda. doesn't matter really, unless i do the vampire killer mode. (fighter mode can't use dss and magician mode has all the cards from the get-go.)

Quote:

HoD - in under 50 minutes? damn... that'd be nice to see on this ..."game"... Smiley

-maxim would be nice as well, and SS would be an even better touch

keep in mind the under 50 minutes is for the worst ending. there's some heavy glitching involved. very fun to speed run this game as you have a lot of control over the route. you'll see.

Quote:

AoS - SS? with a NG+ or on a different mode or what? theres already some, so im curious as to how you'd do this one as well.

i was thinking about doing a single segment on a fresh file, ignoring the frickin random souls and just getting the crappy ending. maybe. shouldn't be too hard to break 45 minutes even with the extra leveling and preparation and stuff i would do to make sure i didn't die. (read: death at level 7 on hard = interesting)

i guess i might do the original castlevania run first. it's a hard game, but i found a few things today that should make it easier, along with a few neat tricks to save some time. not sure where i'll go from there, though.

also, any word from anybody on the door glitch for hod? i wouldn't want to do a run of this only to have it rejected due to using an illegal glitch. i guess if i don't get an answer soon i'll pm radix. he'll show us the way.

edit: forgot something. my views on the door glitch are as follows: to me, this glitch is analogous to the zeebetite glitch in super metroid. while they aren't the exact same thing, they both save time by going through a wall, more or less. the hod door glitch does save a pretty good deal of time - including a boss fight. an easy boss fight, mind you, but a boss fight nonetheless. that is all.

[quote]dammit, do the NES ones you have. its a shame you dont have 3, but id love to see 1 & 2.

questions:

for CV, do you have the JP version where you can choose easy/normal? it didnt say, and i was just curious
[/quote]
i have the "nes classic" gba sp cartridge.  you start out on "easy," and once you beat it you continue playing on "normal," from what i understand.  (my guess is it's really "normal" and "hard," because if that's [i]easy[/i]...*shudders*)

[quote]
for cv2, which ending would you aim for?
[/quote]
i'm not sure exactly.  i still need to plan it.  i guess i'll go for the best one i can get.

[quote]
comments/questions:

SCV4 - let him borrow the game, please :) im actually surprised i havent seen anything from Eric Roman on this site considering how much hes bragged about it (CV Dungeon or Mr P's, cant remember which site it was).
[/quote]
avris, i [i]think[/i] this is directed at you.

[quote]
SotN - ...id like to see much less of this game, but oh well.
[/quote]
it's a great game, and i have some..."fresh" ideas.  maybe.

[quote]
CotM - after OgreSlayeR's glitched up run, im curious to see a speed-run of this. i suppose different modes would be categorized differently.[/quote]
hmm...i wonder if the dss glitch would even be allowed at sda.  doesn't matter really, unless i do the vampire killer mode.  (fighter mode can't use dss and magician mode has all the cards from the get-go.)

[quote]
HoD - in under 50 minutes? damn... that'd be nice to see on this ..."game"... :)
-maxim would be nice as well, and SS would be an even better touch
[/quote]
keep in mind the under 50 minutes is for the worst ending.  there's some heavy glitching involved.  very fun to speed run this game as you have a lot of control over the route.  you'll see.

[quote]
AoS - SS? with a NG+ or on a different mode or what? theres already some, so im curious as to how you'd do this one as well.[/quote]
i was thinking about doing a single segment on a fresh file, ignoring the frickin random souls and just getting the crappy ending.  maybe.  shouldn't be too hard to break 45 minutes even with the extra leveling and preparation and stuff i would do to make sure i didn't die.  (read: death at level 7 on hard = interesting)

i guess i might do the original castlevania run first.  it's a hard game, but i found a few things today that should make it easier, along with a few neat tricks to save some time.  not sure where i'll go from there, though.

also, any word from anybody on the door glitch for hod?  i wouldn't want to do a run of this only to have it rejected due to using an illegal glitch.  i guess if i don't get an answer soon i'll pm radix.  he'll show us the way.

edit:  forgot something.  my views on the door glitch are as follows:  to me, this glitch is analogous to the zeebetite glitch in super metroid.  while they aren't the exact same thing, they both save time by going through a wall, more or less.  the hod door glitch does save a pretty good deal of time - including a boss fight.  an easy boss fight, mind you, but a boss fight nonetheless.  that is all.

Josh the FunkDOC

2005-05-03 06:28:36 am

OK, I was going to post all that info about flying, but the computer froze up near the end. Anyway, here are the areas where it saves time, using the official stage numbers...some other tips are included as well:

6-01:

- At the beginning, fly up to the stairs instead of taking the platforms. Keep Alucard until the boss, as you'll need to fly through a few more areas and the transformation sequence takes a lot of time.

- In the next room, immediately fly to the top. Remember that you can activate flying while on stairs...

6-02:

- In the second room, jump onto the first platform and move forward. When you're about to fall off, turn into the bat and keep flying through the rest of the room. Remember to go underneath the ledge with the axe knight on it.

- In the room after that, fly to the top.

7-01:

- In the acid drop room, switch to Alucard at anytime. Again, keep him until the end boss. When a gap to the top opens up, fly through it.

7-03:

- You can either fly over that little wall, or jump and take a hit from the nearby acid drop (which will boost you over it). Not sure which is faster...

7-04:

- At the area where you would normally have to wait for blocks to drop, just fly to the stairs instead.

- In the next room, when going down the stairs, fly forward at the earliest opportunity. This enables you to move forward earlier than if you had just walked down the stairs normally.

- This isn't related to flying, but important nevertheless: Alucard's powered-up fireballs are actually better against the boss here than Trevor's stuff. This and the flying are why I say to keep him until the end.

7-05:

- Immediately fly to the top of the first section here. This may well be the biggest time-saver in the entire game.

- Upon entering the third room in this stage, fly through the gap to the top instead of using the platform. Note that if enemies touch you during the transformation, they take damage; you may be able to use this to kill the annoying birds hovering around said gap. Anyway, continue flying until you reach the gate.

7-06:

- Fly up to that first staircase.

7-07:

- In the autoscrolling room, said scrolling doesn't actually begin until you reach a certain height. Flying immediately upon entering the room will allow you to start it early.

8-01:

- Here again, you'll want to switch to Alucard early and keep him for awhile (though not quite as long this time). When you first see a ledge above you, fly up to it and take the stairs in front of you.

- Not a flying tip, but related: Right before the gate to 8-02, jump and shoot the block above it as it contains a big heart.

8-02:

- This, IMO, is the coolest trick in the game, and it saves a lot of time; it may be hard to execute on a console, though. Right upon entering this stage, wait for the skeleton above to throw a bone at you. Jump, and time it so that the bone hits you at or near the apex of the jump; you will get knocked "inside" the row of blocks above, at which point you should turn into the bat. This will "push" you above those blocks, so you can just move right toward the stairs. You can screw this up once or maybe even twice and it'll still save time...

- In the next room, you can use the same trick right away. It's easier this time, too, because there's an axe knight above you and you can just jump into the axe he throws.

8-03:

- At the start, fly to the right, until you reach the 4th candle on the bridge above you. Around this point, the bridge should start crumbling; fly up to it and switch back to Trevor. This is necessary because the entire area under the bridge is blocked. There are a couple big hearts there, which you'll need against Death...

- Speaking of which, although Trevor's boomerangs are clearly the best weapon against Death, it is worthwhile to switch back to Alucard after beating him; his fireballs are MUCH better against the giant skull than anything Trevor has.

9-01:

- At the very beginning, fly straight to the stairs. Remember, since you ended the last level as Alucard, you start as him here.

- After making your way through all the harpies and evil midgets, fly straight to the stairs. If there's a harpy above you (which there probably will be), you may want to just turn into the bat, reach the necessary height, and turn back into Alucard so that the harpy can hit you and boost you onto the ledge.

9-02:

- Fly above all the crushing platforms at the beginning here. You may need to stop flying when above the first one, then jump off of it and start again.

- In the next room, just fly all the way to the top. This is a major help to both time and sanity, as this section can be quite annoying...

- In the room after that, fly up to the ledge.

9-03:

- In the first room, fly to the ledge.

9-04:

- In the first room, fly to the left and over the ledge, then walk right up the stairs. You may need to use a stopwatch before beginning the flight, in order to avoid the birds nearby.

- In the room after that, just immediately fly all the way to the boss if possible (you should have collected a bunch of spare hearts from the autoscrolling section earlier). You may want to use a stopwatch before this one, too, so that the medusa heads won't be a problem.

- This boss is going to present a big problem. Both characters' weapons are good here, but it's just a tough fight no matter what. Ideally you'd keep Alucard so as to avoid two lengthy transformation sequences (one before the boss and one in the next level)...hopefully someone out there knows this fight better than I.

A-01:

- In the room after the autoscrolling section, immediately fly to the left, all the way to the gate.

A-02:

- The stopwatch will likely come in handy when going up the stairs here.

- In the pendulum room, immediately fly to the left, all the way to the gate. Riiiiiiiiight before you reach it, switch to Trevor.

A-03:

- Just pick up all the hearts here and spam those boomerangs. They're most helpful against Drac's second form, since you want to kill him before he flies too high up...

Anyway, that's it! Would love to see a world-record run of this game, as it's one of my all-time favorites...

-Josh

OK, I was going to post all that info about flying, but the computer froze up near the end.  Anyway, here are the areas where it saves time, using the official stage numbers...some other tips are included as well:

[b]6-01:[/b]

- At the beginning, fly up to the stairs instead of taking the platforms.  Keep Alucard until the boss, as you'll need to fly through a few more areas and the transformation sequence takes a lot of time.

- In the next room, immediately fly to the top.  Remember that you can activate flying while on stairs...

[b]6-02:[/b]

- In the second room, jump onto the first platform and move forward.  When you're about to fall off, turn into the bat and keep flying through the rest of the room.  Remember to go underneath the ledge with the axe knight on it.

- In the room after that, fly to the top.

[b]7-01:[/b]

- In the acid drop room, switch to Alucard at anytime.  Again, keep him until the end boss.  When a gap to the top opens up, fly through it.

[b]7-03:[/b]

- You can either fly over that little wall, or jump and take a hit from the nearby acid drop (which will boost you over it).  Not sure which is faster...

[b]7-04:[/b]

- At the area where you would normally have to wait for blocks to drop, just fly to the stairs instead.

- In the next room, when going down the stairs, fly forward at the earliest opportunity.  This enables you to move forward earlier than if you had just walked down the stairs normally.

- This isn't related to flying, but important nevertheless: Alucard's powered-up fireballs are actually better against the boss here than Trevor's stuff.  This and the flying are why I say to keep him until the end.

[b]7-05:[/b]

- Immediately fly to the top of the first section here.  This may well be the biggest time-saver in the entire game.

- Upon entering the third room in this stage, fly through the gap to the top instead of using the platform.  Note that if enemies touch you during the transformation, they take damage; you may be able to use this to kill the annoying birds hovering around said gap.  Anyway, continue flying until you reach the gate.

[b]7-06:[/b]

- Fly up to that first staircase.

[b]7-07:[/b]

- In the autoscrolling room, said scrolling doesn't actually begin until you reach a certain height.  Flying immediately upon entering the room will allow you to start it early.

[b]8-01:[/b]

- Here again, you'll want to switch to Alucard early and keep him for awhile (though not quite as long this time).  When you first see a ledge above you, fly up to it and take the stairs in front of you.

- Not a flying tip, but related: Right before the gate to 8-02, jump and shoot the block above it as it contains a big heart.

[b]8-02:[/b]

- This, IMO, is the coolest trick in the game, and it saves a lot of time; it may be hard to execute on a console, though.  Right upon entering this stage, wait for the skeleton above to throw a bone at you.  Jump, and time it so that the bone hits you at or near the apex of the jump; you will get knocked "inside" the row of blocks above, at which point you should turn into the bat.  This will "push" you above those blocks, so you can just move right toward the stairs.  You can screw this up once or maybe even twice and it'll still save time...

- In the next room, you can use the same trick right away.  It's easier this time, too, because there's an axe knight above you and you can just jump into the axe he throws.

[b]8-03:[/b]

- At the start, fly to the right, until you reach the 4th candle on the bridge above you.  Around this point, the bridge should start crumbling; fly up to it and switch back to Trevor.  This is necessary because the entire area under the bridge is blocked.  There are a couple big hearts there, which you'll need against Death...

- Speaking of which, although Trevor's boomerangs are clearly the best weapon against Death, it is worthwhile to switch back to Alucard after beating him; his fireballs are MUCH better against the giant skull than anything Trevor has.

[b]9-01:[/b]

- At the very beginning, fly straight to the stairs.  Remember, since you ended the last level as Alucard, you start as him here.

- After making your way through all the harpies and evil midgets, fly straight to the stairs.  If there's a harpy above you (which there probably will be), you may want to just turn into the bat, reach the necessary height, and turn back into Alucard so that the harpy can hit you and boost you onto the ledge.

[b]9-02:[/b]

- Fly above all the crushing platforms at the beginning here.  You may need to stop flying when above the first one, then jump off of it and start again.

- In the next room, just fly all the way to the top.  This is a major help to both time and sanity, as this section can be quite annoying...

- In the room after that, fly up to the ledge.

[b]9-03:[/b]

- In the first room, fly to the ledge.

[b]9-04:[/b]

- In the first room, fly to the left and over the ledge, then walk right up the stairs.  You may need to use a stopwatch before beginning the flight, in order to avoid the birds nearby.

- In the room after that, just immediately fly all the way to the boss if possible (you should have collected a bunch of spare hearts from the autoscrolling section earlier).  You may want to use a stopwatch before this one, too, so that the medusa heads won't be a problem.

- This boss is going to present a big problem.  Both characters' weapons are good here, but it's just a tough fight no matter what.  Ideally you'd keep Alucard so as to avoid two lengthy transformation sequences (one before the boss and one in the next level)...hopefully someone out there knows this fight better than I.

[b]A-01:[/b]

- In the room after the autoscrolling section, immediately fly to the left, all the way to the gate.

[b]A-02:[/b]

- The stopwatch will likely come in handy when going up the stairs here.

- In the pendulum room, immediately fly to the left, all the way to the gate.  Riiiiiiiiight before you reach it, switch to Trevor.

[b]A-03:[/b]

- Just pick up all the hearts here and spam those boomerangs.  They're most helpful against Drac's second form, since you want to kill him before he flies too high up...

Anyway, that's it!  Would love to see a world-record run of this game, as it's one of my all-time favorites...

-Josh

dingussjr

2005-05-04 05:16:21 am

i was saying boo-urns.

i've been...jamming on that original castlevania run. i have some decent routes through the levels to save time, i think. a couple of risky jumps, impossibly timed maneuvers, sequences involving lining up with exact pixels in the background, and other related whatnots. but the trouble spot for speed in this game as i see it is boss fights. any ideas on how to speed them up?

here are my strategies so far:

level 1: bat. axe subweapon and double shot. fast enough, right?

level 2: medusa. holy water and double or triple shot seems to be the fastest.

level 3: mummies. i hate these things. i would assume that getting them to stand right next to each other and then holy watering with a double or triple shot while whipping should be fast. any suggestions on how to accomplish this?

level 4: frankenstein and igor. eew. once again, holy water to the rescue. can anyone think of a better way to kill old franky?

level 5: death. one word: not a problem.

level 6: dracula. this is the boss i need the most help with, as i have only even reached him a handful of times. (i just got the "classic" cartridge a few months ago - haven't really played it until now - and my nes cartridge doesn't have a working nes counterpart. so i have an excuse.) would the best strategy for the first form involve something like a boomerang hit, followed by a whip hit, and then a second boomerang hit, or is it possible to get another hit even after that? like i said, i'm not entirely sure.

as for dracula's second form, stunning him with the holy water and whipping him is fast, but is there a faster way?

obviously, to speed run this game, i will have to do some research and, you know, some speed running. however, i thought i'd post to see if any one has another viewpoint, possibly leading to some faster boss fights. keep in mind, i don't really want it to involve luck, like "hope that this enemy drops an axe."

thanks for any replies.

i've been...jamming on that original castlevania run.  i have some decent routes through the levels to save time, i think.  a couple of risky jumps, impossibly timed maneuvers, sequences involving lining up with exact pixels in the background, and other related whatnots.  but the trouble spot for speed in this game as i see it is boss fights.  any ideas on how to speed them up?

here are my strategies so far:

level 1: bat.  axe subweapon and double shot.  fast enough, right?

level 2: medusa.  holy water and double or triple shot seems to be the fastest.

level 3: mummies.  i hate these things.  i would assume that getting them to stand right next to each other and then holy watering with a double or triple shot while whipping should be fast.  any suggestions on how to accomplish this?

level 4: frankenstein and igor.  eew.  once again, holy water to the rescue.  can anyone think of a better way to kill old franky?

level 5: death.  one word: not a problem.

level 6: dracula.  this is the boss i need the most help with, as i have only even reached him a handful of times. (i just got the "classic" cartridge a few months ago - haven't really played it until now - and my nes cartridge doesn't have a working nes counterpart.  so i have an excuse.)  would the best strategy for the first form involve something like a boomerang hit, followed by a whip hit, and then a second boomerang hit, or is it possible to get another hit even after that?  like i said, i'm not entirely sure.

as for dracula's second form, stunning him with the holy water and whipping him is fast, but is there a faster way?

obviously, to speed run this game, i will have to do some research and, you know, some speed running.  however, i thought i'd post to see if any one has another viewpoint, possibly leading to some faster boss fights.  keep in mind, i don't really want it to involve luck, like "hope that this enemy drops an axe."

thanks for any replies.

mikwuyma

2005-05-04 06:10:52 am

My feelings on The Demon Rush

I think what you can do with the mummies is wait a bit while positioned slightly to the left, jump to the left onto a higher platform, then throw holy water down on them while they can't reach you. I'm pretty sure they will group together if you stay on the ground first, then jump up onto the platforms. Sorry if this advice is wrong, I haven't played this game in forever.

Dan

2005-05-04 07:50:30 am

I did a "speedrun" of Castlevania which you can find over at the Nesvideos forum, under the Speedrun Competitions. Here are my strategies; I'm not sure if they are actually faster than your methods.

Vampire Bat: I used a clock and tried to manipulate him to fly down into good whipping position right away. Because this is level 1, I didn't mind restarting due to bad luck.

Medusa: I kept the clock here. She's a wuss; use the clock as soon as she's vulnerable, then whip away. Once she's moving again, use the clock again. Simple. With some fast whipping, you can kill her in two clock uses.

Mummies: Fairly easy boss actually. My strategy is to play agressive with holy water. You can generally kill them faster than they kill you. Also, if you get them both to one side of you, you can lure them together and then holy water them in place.

Frankenstein: Stand in the right spot, and you only have to throw holy waters at him until he dies. Easy. See my movie for the right spot, as I can't remember right now.

Grim Reaper: Wuss.

Dracula 1: I hate him. I haven't figured out an effective and speedy strategy yet. You'll notice in my movie I even die on him. He's the boss I need to work on most.

Dracula 2: Not too bad if you can time the holy waters right so that he doesn't move. I haven't found a faster way then holy water + whip until he can move again, then another holy water.

Hopefully these tips will help you out.

I did a "speedrun" of Castlevania which you can find over at the Nesvideos forum, under the Speedrun Competitions.  Here are my strategies; I'm not sure if they are actually faster than your methods.

Vampire Bat: I used a clock and tried to manipulate him to fly down into good whipping position right away.  Because this is level 1, I didn't mind restarting due to bad luck.

Medusa: I kept the clock here.  She's a wuss; use the clock as soon as she's vulnerable, then whip away.  Once she's moving again, use the clock again.  Simple.  With some fast whipping, you can kill her in two clock uses.

Mummies: Fairly easy boss actually.  My strategy is to play agressive with holy water.  You can generally kill them faster than they kill you.  Also, if you get them both to one side of you, you can lure them together and then holy water them in place.

Frankenstein: Stand in the right spot, and you only have to throw holy waters at him until he dies.  Easy.  See my movie for the right spot, as I can't remember right now.

Grim Reaper: Wuss.

Dracula 1:  I hate him.  I haven't figured out an effective and speedy strategy yet.  You'll notice in my movie I even die on him.  He's the boss I need to work on most.

Dracula 2: Not too bad if you can time the holy waters right so that he doesn't move.  I haven't found a faster way then holy water + whip until he can move again, then another holy water.

Hopefully these tips will help you out.

Phantom

Edit history:

Phantom: 2005-05-04 12:52:57 pm

2005-05-04 12:49:53 pm

PAL Represented

I did a run on Castlevania a couple of days ago, and its on his way to Nate. I encountered some similiar problems with Dracula, actually.

Vampire Bat: Axe & Double Shot, couldnt be easier

Madusa: I would say Clock, but i used cross due to the problem that i couldnt find Clock in Stage 2.

Mummies: Pick up Holy Water in the Stage at the beginning and when you face em dont use strategy, just throw Holy Water and whip their ass, they go down easily.

Franky/Igor: Holy Water + Double Item = Fast Dead Grin

Death: Holy Water + Triple Item = Even Faster Death Grin

Dracula 1st: I started out with Firing a cross and then hitting him, which takes 3 bars of off him, but also unlocks the Holy Water candle, at the left, which you MUST have for Dracula 2. After that, just whip him once or twice when he shows up, depending on if you wanna risk your run, and have the possibility to hit him twice.

Dracula 2nd: Holy Water to keep him still, and whip him, i was fortunate enough one of his fireballs droped Double Item which made him a breeze

Good Luck with your run, im interested in seeing how youve done.

PS Are you doing the Batjump in Stage 1 to skip 1-2?

I did a run on Castlevania a couple of days ago, and its on his way to Nate. I encountered some similiar problems with Dracula, actually.

Vampire Bat: Axe & Double Shot, couldnt be easier

Madusa: I would say Clock, but i used cross due to the problem that i couldnt find Clock in Stage 2.

Mummies: Pick up Holy Water in the Stage at the beginning and when you face em dont use strategy, just throw Holy Water and whip their ass, they go down easily.

Franky/Igor: Holy Water + Double Item = Fast Dead ;D

Death: Holy Water + Triple Item = Even Faster Death ;D

Dracula 1st: I started out with Firing a cross and then hitting him, which takes 3 bars of off him, but also unlocks the Holy Water candle, at the left, which you MUST have for Dracula 2. After that, just whip him once or twice when he shows up, depending on if you wanna risk your run, and have the possibility to hit him twice.

Dracula 2nd: Holy Water to keep him still, and whip him, i was fortunate enough one of his fireballs droped Double Item which made him a breeze

Good Luck with your run, im interested in seeing how youve done.

PS Are you doing the Batjump in Stage 1 to skip 1-2?

dingussjr

2005-05-05 04:50:24 am

i was saying boo-urns.

well, i did a little more practicing today, but i didn't have much time to work on the bosses. my strategies for the first three levels (as in half of the game) are now pretty much decided, with the exception of boss fights. i think i have the bat and medusa down pretty well, but i'm still having problems with the ones following those two (excluding death, of course). with medusa, i'm just not sure if the boomerang or the holy water is better. no matter what i choose, i think i should be able to get a triple shot for it.

Quote:

I think what you can do with the mummies is wait a bit while positioned slightly to the left, jump to the left onto a higher platform, then throw holy water down on them while they can't reach you. I'm pretty sure they will group together if you stay on the ground first, then jump up onto the platforms. Sorry if this advice is wrong, I haven't played this game in forever.

that does seem like it works fairly well, but when i tried it, it seemed a little slow. my guess is the fastest way is to simply be very aggressive, but finding a quick method of luring them both together would be cool. thanks. i'll look into this more if i can soon.

Quote:

I did a "speedrun" of Castlevania which you can find over at the Nesvideos forum, under the Speedrun Competitions.

i downloaded the run earlier today but i haven't had a chance to watch it yet. i should be able to watch it and comment on it tomorrow. maybe we can compare strategies, if you'd like, especially if you're considering redoing it.

Quote:

PS Are you doing the Batjump in Stage 1 to skip 1-2?

yep. what kind of castlevania speed run would it be without it? i've got the timing pretty much down, and i'm getting more and more consistent at it every day. luckily, it's so close to the beginning of the run that i can easily restart each time i mess up without losing my sanity. i look forward to seeing your run.

thanks for the replies, everybody.

well, i did a little more practicing today, but i didn't have much time to work on the bosses.  my strategies for the first three levels (as in half of the game) are now pretty much decided, with the exception of boss fights.  i think i have the bat and medusa down pretty well, but i'm still having problems with the ones following those two (excluding death, of course).  with medusa, i'm just not sure if the boomerang or the holy water is better.  no matter what i choose, i think i should be able to get a triple shot for it.

[quote]I think what you can do with the mummies is wait a bit while positioned slightly to the left, jump to the left onto a higher platform, then throw holy water down on them while they can't reach you.  I'm pretty sure they will group together if you stay on the ground first, then jump up onto the platforms.  Sorry if this advice is wrong, I haven't played this game in forever.[/quote]
that does seem like it works fairly well, but when i tried it, it seemed a little slow.  my guess is the fastest way is to simply be very aggressive, but finding a quick method of luring them both together would be cool.  thanks.  i'll look into this more if i can soon.

[quote]I did a "speedrun" of Castlevania which you can find over at the Nesvideos forum, under the Speedrun Competitions.[/quote]
i downloaded the run earlier today but i haven't had a chance to watch it yet.  i should be able to watch it and comment on it tomorrow.  maybe we can compare strategies, if you'd like, especially if you're considering redoing it.

[quote]PS Are you doing the Batjump in Stage 1 to skip 1-2?[/quote]
yep.  what kind of castlevania speed run would it be without it?  i've got the timing pretty much down, and i'm getting more and more consistent at it every day.  luckily, it's so close to the beginning of the run that i can easily restart each time i mess up without losing my sanity.  i look forward to seeing your run.

thanks for the replies, everybody.

Dan

2005-05-05 05:07:43 am

I've been waiting to see a faster speedrun before I improve on mine. You'll see that some of the strategies I used probably aren't optimal, so it can definitely be improved. It even contains a death...

Brightstar

2005-05-05 10:36:27 am

If worst endings were allowed, I most certainly could finish Chrono Trigger in under 7 hours... *gets killed by lavos to trigger it*

Ok seriously Radix, a ruling?

Phantom

2005-05-05 11:35:51 am

PAL Represented

Quote:

luckily, it's so close to the beginning of the run that i can easily restart each time i mess up without losing my sanity.

Well, actually i did exclude it from my run because i DID begin to lose my sanity Tongue

I dont know, it could be because im not good at it, or because im playing PAL, but i had to try it like 20 times before i hit it right, and then you get killed at stage X and have to do it again, i just decided Fuck it, lets take the underground.
My final ending time was 17:47, which would equal 14:50 or something NTSC time.

Radix

2005-05-05 02:06:01 pm

I'm addicted to games

Quote:

If worst endings were allowed, I most certainly could finish Chrono Trigger in under 7 hours... *gets killed by lavos to trigger it*

Ok seriously Radix, a ruling?

You seem to have missed the fact that getting killed by Lavos is GETTING KILLED. It's a game over!

In AoS & SotN you still win the game, you just don't get the good ending.

Brightstar

2005-05-05 07:04:23 pm

AH gotcha. So you've still gotta kill a big bad boss at the end. Doesn't matter if that boss destroys the world after you kill it because you forgot to get one item that would have taken hours to get. Just as long as you kill it. Gotcha.

dingussjr

2005-05-06 05:03:27 am

i was saying boo-urns.

Quote:

I've been waiting to see a faster speedrun before I improve on mine. You'll see that some of the strategies I used probably aren't optimal, so it can definitely be improved. It even contains a death...

actually, i can't get your run to work at all. the first 10-15 seconds seem fine, but after that it appears that it desyncs. unless you actually *did* die several times in the first level, stood still a lot, and ran into things, while managing to beat the game. who knows. any idea why it might've messed up?

Quote:

Well, actually i did exclude it from my run because i DID begin to lose my sanity Tongue

I dont know, it could be because im not good at it, or because im playing PAL

actually, i think the fact that it's pal has a lot to do with it. (i think i neglected to mention that i'm running the ntsc version.) since it's a little bit slower, i imagine it would be exponentially harder to time. i can usually pull it off the first try now...if i mess up, i can usually get it the next time. unless someone's watching, in which case i mess up twenty times in a row. pretty standard, really.

Quote:

My final ending time was 17:47, which would equal 14:50 or something NTSC time.

i can't wait to see it. i haven't been able to time mine yet, mostly because i haven't been able to finish a run successfully. something bad always happens - something that i usually cannot recover from. i was doing a practice run about a half hour ago. everything was going pretty much perfectly. on stage 14 (out of 18), i picked up a dagger that an enemy dropped. meaning i'd have to fight death with a dagger. not fun. a run i was doing yesterday ended when a hunchback dropped an axe right before the mummies. stupid random enemy drops.

i think i've pretty much figured out the fastest way to kill every boss except for dracula. the bat is a little annoying - sometimes, when i try to use the axe, i accidently climb up the stairs in his "lair" (which i don't mean to get on anyway), and that always seems to mess me up. the rest of the bosses are pretty easy to kill by spamming holy water and whipping at just the right times.

it's funny how things come around full circle. a month or so ago, i couldn't beat the mummies if my life depended on it. now, the only boss that has a chance of hitting me is dracula (second form). go figure.

i'm also considering trying to buy some of the castlevania games i don't own, namely castlevania 3. hopefully, i can get a working nes as well. (it's handy, you know, for playing nes games.)

and hopefully, i will have castlevania 4 tomorrow.

[quote]I've been waiting to see a faster speedrun before I improve on mine.  You'll see that some of the strategies I used probably aren't optimal, so it can definitely be improved.  It even contains a death...[/quote]
actually, i can't get your run to work at all.  the first 10-15 seconds seem fine, but after that it appears that it desyncs.  unless you actually *did* die several times in the first level, stood still a lot, and ran into things, while managing to beat the game.  who knows.  any idea why it might've messed up?

[quote]
Well, actually i did exclude it from my run because i DID begin to lose my sanity :P I dont know, it could be because im not good at it, or because im playing PAL[/quote]
actually, i think the fact that it's pal has a lot to do with it.  (i think i neglected to mention that i'm running the ntsc version.)  since it's a little bit slower, i imagine it would be exponentially harder to time.  i can usually pull it off the first try now...if i mess up, i can usually get it the next time.  unless someone's watching, in which case i mess up twenty times in a row.  pretty standard, really.

[quote]
My final ending time was 17:47, which would equal 14:50 or something NTSC time.
[/quote]
i can't wait to see it.  i haven't been able to time mine yet, mostly because i haven't been able to finish a run successfully.  something bad always happens - something that i usually cannot recover from.  i was doing a practice run about a half hour ago.  everything was going pretty much perfectly.  on stage 14 (out of 18), i picked up a dagger that an enemy dropped.  meaning i'd have to fight death with a dagger.  not fun.  a run i was doing yesterday ended when a hunchback dropped an axe right before the mummies.  stupid random enemy drops.

i think i've pretty much figured out the fastest way to kill every boss except for dracula.  the bat is a little annoying - sometimes, when i try to use the axe, i accidently climb up the stairs in his "lair" (which i don't mean to get on anyway), and that always seems to mess me up.  the rest of the bosses are pretty easy to kill by spamming holy water and whipping at just the right times.

it's funny how things come around full circle.  a month or so ago, i couldn't beat the mummies if my life depended on it.  now, the only boss that has a chance of hitting me is dracula (second form).  go figure.

i'm also considering trying to buy some of the castlevania games i don't own, namely castlevania 3.  hopefully, i can get a working nes as well.  (it's handy, you know, for playing nes games.)

and hopefully, i will have castlevania 4 tomorrow.

Dan

2005-05-07 08:30:17 pm

Hmm... I was using a left+right enabled version of FCEU, so that might cause a desync. Here's the link to it.

http://fast.filespace.org/PunchRockgroin/Phil's%20Patched%20FCEU.exe

For clarification, no, using left+right at the same time does not help you out in this game. I probably just accidentally pressed them both at the same time because I am using a keyboard to play this. If the movie doesn't work with this version of FCEU, then I'm not sure what to tell you.