I'm gonna give it another go tonight. It isn't looking good though. 3-1 keeps wiping the floor with me. That sucks, this means that I won't be in the #1 list for top 5 scorers!
I'm gonna give it another go tonight. It isn't looking good though. 3-1 keeps wiping the floor with me. That sucks, this means that I won't be in the #1 list for top 5 scorers!
Did it and my hands actually got sweaty in the process. The good ole days of sweaty hand and controllers, lol, the two must be one!
There were a few patterns that were a bitch, mainly the sonuva bitch boss that throws spiders (That bastard pissed me off), the rolly polly guys that can glitch jump whenever they feel it necessary through walls or magically 20 miles in the air and the damn hawks on the last 2 stages until you realize their pattern. Gotta admit the last boss had me stumped till I figured out the way it needed to be done.
All in all a really good challenge as it really shows the frustration us NES gamers went through in the day with respawning enemies and glitch ass shit lol. At least this game gave you continues though!
I wish I could say those were the good old days. I always had that problem as a kid, and passing the controller to a friend after playing usually resulted in screams of terror followed by "I'm only losing because I'm using the sweaty controller!" It was so bad the term sloppy seconds was actually applied to playing games directly after me. Then I grew up, found out I had hyperhydrosis, and learned that there's actually such a thing as sweaty controller disease. I killed my last DS from sweating so much that the contacts under the directional pad actually corroded. Oddly enough, only my hands sweat, so I've come to the conclusion that I once played a video game so intense that my hands started sweating and were never able to stop. Somewhere in my mind I am forever playing Battletoads.Originally Posted by BHvrd
There's still a day left to complete the Ninja Gaiden challenge if you haven't done it. I'm going to put my challenge here though.
After some thinking, I decided to not go with the "unique" challenge I thought of. After thinking about it, it was the exact same thing as the Ninja Gaiden challenge actually. Super Mario Bros. 3 but you cannot get any coins, cannot hit any question marks, and can not go to the spade or use any items when on the world map. It's doable, because you can get the mushroom when on stage 2(from a note,) and a leaf(provided you still have the mushroom,) on stage 3 when hitting the side of one of those unbreakable pillars. I'm not sure, but I don't think it's possible to not get coins on one part without the racoon suit.
--
So anyways, decided to pick my first one. Three requirements.
You have to take the shortcut on stage 1, meaning not going into the reservoir part with the fishmen, and beat the game, all without continuing.
Here is the shortcut, the third easiest in the game(the easiest two are both on stage 2.) Wait for the bat so you can take damage and cross the gap(I have 200 points extra on the second picture because I killed another bat that spawned from the left side while waiting for my invincibility to wear off so I could take the screenshot.)
Doesn't matter how many lives you use as long as it's in a single continue, so I'll throw a tip out to get a lot of extra lives. Look back at those pictures showing the shortcut and at my score. Not much time has passed and I have a pretty high score already. Grab the holy water in the second screen and then wait for a group of three zombies to come, throw it and you'll get a huge bonus for each enemy that is killed after the first with the same thing. If you see the first zombie, jump and throw the holy water, then once you see the third about to hit it, walk the opposite direction so more zombies will appear from offscreen. I'm not sure what point value it is, but once you increase the point value by a certain amount, it doesn't show a point value, but it keeps doubling with consecutive enemies.
At 30,000 and 70,000 points you get an extra life. If you need to harvest points in order to beat the game in a single life then do it. I've had 17 lives before I looped the score before. After looping the score you don't get extra lives.
*edit*
Also. Use Holy Water against every single boss for an easy win.
Last edited by kupomogli; 10-02-2009 at 11:43 PM.
Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.
Where exactly are these zombies you are using the holy water on? Also why is the shortcut necessary?
Not sure about the zombies, but the shortcut is necessary because it's the criteria of the challenge.
I'm in the process of giving it a go right now. Should be done soon.
Done! I lost one life on Death, one in the last level, and one on Dracula. I used to be able to beat this game without losing a life, but it's been a while.
Last edited by j_factor; 10-04-2009 at 07:48 PM.
Jeez, I can't even get the timing for the shortcut right. All my castlevania experience is with later titles, I think this one is well beyond my skill level. Have fun guys.
Same here - I'm gonna try it though.
I've never actually tried to beat Castlevania
In terms of actual enemy placement and level design, the first Castlevania is actually rather easy. The only thing that makes it difficult is the controls.
I never had any luck beating Castlevania. I have no problem getting through the stages, but will die repeatedly while trying to kill Dracula. My friend and I managed to beat it once, but only after hours and hours of playing. I'm going to attempt this one, but I'm 99% certain this challenge is out of my league. Maybe I'll watch a few episodes of GameCenter CX first in order to motivate myself.
Beat it. Also putting some pictures. Anyways. I thought the challenge I put was easy. I assumed since I could beat it in one life a continue wouldn't really be hard. I also like taking the shortcuts in the game so I included the one on the first stage since if you don't get it on the first stage you can always reset and there's also some meat right next to it if you need to use it.
Finished. No lives lost(this is after I grabbed the orb, whipped when it froze Simon. I wanted it to freeze Simon when he had the whip behind his back though. Looks much cooler.)
These three pictures are on the loop of the game. This is where you should stand to wait for the bat so you can jump across. Shows probably around where you should jump when the bat is coming. You need to land right ontop/behind it so it can knock you to the other platform. Not very difficult. I should get double the points for doing this during the loop as well(I just didn't beat the loop. Quit at stage 3.)
Shortcut on stage 2. I didn't want to do this shortcut on when I got to it on the loop because I already got hit twice up to that point and didn't want to die(which I died anyway.)
The shortcut on stage 3. I think this is the hardest one to get. I didn't get it during the first run and I didn't make it during the loop. Close both times. And yes, I know, not much of a shortcut, but I guess if I want to speedrun someday.
Anyways. There's an extremely hard shortcut on stage 4, which I've only tried and did that once(just like the stage 1 bat shortcut but harder. You'll probably find this one used on pretty much any tool assisted speedrun.) There's also one on stage 5 but you have to jump and get hit upward by a bone, which isn't hard, I just didn't think of doing it and taking a picture.
*edit*
Answer to BHvrd's question. Up top I answered the question about the shortcut. I like it, so I just want everyone to use it. Second part about the zombies.
To Jehusephat.
How I beat Dracula. Stay on the ground until he shoots his fireballs out, as soon as he shoots them out, you should have atleast a jumping distance worth of space, so jump over his fireballs and attack at his head. Wait until he teleports and repeat. I think this is the easiest way. His second form. Grab the Holy Water and then toss it, jump and attack twice, throw Holy Water again. When he jumps, his second turn is usually shooting out fireballs, but as long as you hit him with a Holy Water his first time and his first time going up, you'll probably only give him time for a single set of fireballs(meaning he should only hit you one time if you happen not to hit the fireballs with a holy water as he shoots them out.)
Last edited by kupomogli; 10-05-2009 at 12:00 AM.
Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.
1 & 2 skips difficult timing parts (medusahead pit of instant death hell) and whole screens... 2 is almost mandatory because it's much harder than the fishmen pit. When going for time as well as score, the fishmen should not be ignored. I don't know if you can point press there (forgetting time for this case) and wind up positive over the level complete time bonus though. Hmm.
I didn't bring my Micro to work with me tonight. So, I'll have to take the crack at it later. I play this game on a weekly basis though, one of my all time favorites. I'm glad I helped encourage this one to come about.
This signature is dedicated to all those
cyberpunks who fight against injustice
and corruption every day of their lives
Ugh...I've still never beaten Castlevania. I actually put some time into it a few month ago but still couldn't do it. I think I only got the mummies once. Usually I die so often that I decide to call it quits. I do like the game and can get through the early parts with no trouble, but one continue? I don't think that's going to happen. I'd need a LOT more practice.
"Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...
I beat Dracula in a different way. I throw the cross as soon as he appears, and then whip the fireballs. His second form, I don't do anything fancy; I just cross/whip his head right when he lands from a jump, then avoid/whip fireballs if necessary, and go under his jump when he gets too far to one side of the screen. Not as fast, but I feel more satisfied beating him the "proper" way. When I make it there on one life, I have the aid of the III symbol, making it a cakewalk.
3x sub-weapon + holywater (levels 1-5) or cross-arang (later levels) = win...
Well, as long as you have the heart(s) for it.
Getting ready and amped for my run at it tonight, it's so weird. I play this game so often, I'm never pressed or stressed... This is different. I can literally feel the 'clutch' factor. This is going to be a great night.
This signature is dedicated to all those
cyberpunks who fight against injustice
and corruption every day of their lives
This was a hell of a challenge for me. I've never been a big Castlevania fan, and I did manage to finish it in a few credits back in the day but never really played it with any seriousness since then. So now I'm challenged to get good enough to 1CC Castlevania in four days. (I work all day on the 9th and 10th)
I knew this was going to be tough, so I'll have to train hard.
o/`
You're the best!
Around!
Nothing's gonna ever keep you down!
o/`
The first thing I did was fire up the NES emulator and played through the whole game using save states, making note of the parts that were difficult. I didn't have much problem with the first three stages so I started all my practice games at level 4 and went from there, saving one state at the beginning of each level and other states just before the difficult parts so I can replay them to figure out good strategies to rely on. Watching good Castlevania players on Youtube helped as well, at first I didn't think to use the stopwatch on the mongrel man assault in level 6. I had a hell of a time with the Grim Reaper and the hallway preceding him; I concluded that the only way to do it is to have triple shot holy water, which means getting through stage 5 without dying, which once you have the axe armors figured out, isn't so tough. I played four or five times a day, until could get through every stage without dying, taking on the hardest ones first. And I spent more time and wasted more energy trying to do that damn bat shortcut in stage 1 than if I had just gone down to the steps to begin with! Funny enough, I never did have a problem with Dracula. I beat him every time while practicing. My Dracula strategy is to pull back and look at the entire screen, my eyes not concentrated on Dracula or Simon. I can react to is teleporting better that way.
After I was confident that I could take on Castlevania in one go, I dusted off my old cartridge and slapped it in the toaster...
The first game- I was trucking along nicely... this could be it! I'm going to do it. Then that FUCKING MONGREL MAN in stage four- the ones who hop all over the place- the little bastard dropped an axe! And I waked right into it! My triple shot holy water was gone! And I don't know how to fight Frankenstein without it. FUCK. I got mad and turned the NES off.
The second game- I played later that day... I'm gonna do it this time, and I was off to a great start. I was jamming through the game like a pro, waltzing through stage 5 on my first life with full health. And just before I got up the the first door- you know, just where the meat is hidden in the block... that has the little mongrel man waiting to ambush me... I slaughtered him before he could jump me. And he dropped a dagger. Right in front of me. And I picked it up. And my triple shot holy water was gone. The the triple shot holy water I needed to beat death. FUCK. I got mad and turned the NES off.
The third game- I wasn't taking chances- once again, I'm playing through Catlevania without problem; at this point I know just when to whip, just when to jump, which candles to avoid, strategies for every enemy. Whenever I killed a mongrel man, I would stop and wait for any dropped weapon to go away. I managed to charge my way through Castlevania without losing a life, all the way to the end, with six lives in reserve. To Dracula... where I choked and my game went to hell. I don't know what happened. Every time I fought his first form, I always managed to bump into him when he appeared where I was standing. The one time I beat his first form, I just choked and goofed up the holy water > jump > whip pattern and got stepped on. I blew all six lives on Dracula, and he killed me, game over. FUCK. I got mad and turned the NES off.
The fourth game- I woke up this morning nice and refreshed, fired up the NES with no great expectations. I'll just practice, because I'm clearly not up to the challenge yet. Turned the sound off, listened to my favorite radio show... just mindlessly cruising through each stage of Castlevania. I got tripped up a couple times, but nothing serious- screwed up the bat pattern at the beginning of stage 6, but I managed to get back on track and made it to Dracula without dying. Then I got nervous. "I know I'm gonna choke and lose it." I thought...
So just like I did in the Super Mario Bros. challenge, I paused the game and took a break. I ate some lunch followed by a delicious piece of pie my aunt made, and watched some cartoons.
Once I was nice and relaxed, I sat down and PUT THAT SUMBITCH BACK IN HIS BOX. On the same life I began the game with. Six lives in reserve. FUCK YEAH... I felt good and turned the NES off.
179,300
Mission accomplished.
That's cool XYXZYZ. If there's a game that's harder for me and I need to practice then I think I'll reference this post if I need help.
Pretty cool motivator. You went from not being that big of a Castlevania fan to being able to finish it in one life. Hopefully you have changed feelings on the original Castlevania and like it more than you used to also?
Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.
Finished. I got to stage 17 without losing a single turn. (3x Holy Water on Death was a godsend) I lost a few lives on the area with gears+birds/fleamen. On my final life, I got to and beat Dracula (2nd form), but I died at the same time as him, having to do the battle all over again (I did get the points for killing him which gave me an extra life)! I then redid the battle and beat him.
Only one day left! The current challenge expires tonight at 11:59 EST.
I've tried this a few times and it's been a no-go. I'll try to squeeze in another attempt today.
j_factor picks the next game. Just FYI, it can be on any system old or new.
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