Blitz Knight Stunt Presents: ____ / ___| _ _ _ __ ___ _ __ \___ \| | | | '_ \ / _ \ '__| ___) | |_| | |_) | __/ | |____/ \__,_| .__/ \___|_| ____ _ _ |_| _ _____ __ / ___|__ _ ___| |_| | _____ ____ _ _ __ (_) __ _ |_ _\ \ / / | | / _` / __| __| |/ _ \ \ / / _` | '_ \| |/ _` | | | \ \ / / | |__| (_| \__ \ |_| | __/\ V / (_| | | | | | (_| | | | \ V / \____\__,_|___/\__|_|\___| \_/ \__,_|_| |_|_|\__,_| |___| \_/ FAQ/WALKTHROUGH Authored by: Bkstunt Contact: Email: Faqs @ Bkstunt . Com Facebook: Facebook.com/Bkstunt Website: Bkstunt.com ============================================================================== - TABLE OF CONTENTS - ============================================================================== Note: Press Ctrl+F and enter in the code to skip to that section. THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU PLAY - Introduction.......................................................[SC-INT] - Controls...........................................................[SC-CON] - Game Basics and Tips...............................................[SC-GBT] WALKTHROUGH - Stage I: Entrance.........................................[SC01] - Stage II: Forest...........................................[SC02] - Stage III: Caverns..........................................[SC03] - Stage IV: Death Tower......................................[SC04] - Stage V: Castle Entrance..................................[SC05] - Stage VI: Main Hall........................................[SC06] - Stage VII: Long Library.....................................[SC07] - Stage VIII: Catacombs........................................[SC08] - Stage IX: Treasury.........................................[SC09] - Stage A: Clock Tower......................................[SC0A] - Stage B: Castle Keep......................................[SC0B] EXTRAS - Bosses.............................................................[SC-BOS] - Passwords..........................................................[SC-PAS] - Game Genie Codes...................................................[SC-GGC] - Credits............................................................[SC-CRE] ============================================================================== Introduction ===================================================================[SC-INT]=== Hey everyone, Bkstunt here with a FAQ for Super Castlevania IV. Those that know me know that I am a HUGE Castlevania fan, and this faq continues my string of Castlevania Walkthroughs. This is my... 11th walkthrough with the "Castlevania" name attached to it, so I think it's pretty safe to say that I have a favorite franchise at this point... Super Castlevania IV came out in 1991 to the US and is essentially a remake of the original Castlevania game. It's only a remake in the sense that its got the same characters and story (Simon Belmont killing Dracula), as every other part of the game is vastly different. Graphics are changed, levels are added, game play is redesigned... well, you get the picture. Konami basically did with the SNES what was impossible with the hardware limitations of the NES. Anyway, enough of the history lesson, let's get on with the guide. I hope you find it helpful. ~ Bkstunt ========== FOLLOW ME! ========== Want to talk about some games!? Maybe throw out some ideas for what YOU want to see me write about next? I made a facebook account for just that reason! You can 'Like' me at: ==================== Facebook.com/Bkstunt ==================== I also have a website you can visit to see what other guides I've written, as well as see upcoming projects. I've also written a TON of reviews that will go up there (You want to play GOOD games, right?!). =========== Bkstunt.com =========== So between those two sites, come on over and say 'Hi!' sometime. ========= Donations ========= First of all, let me say that my primary motivation for writing guides is, and always will be, for the gamer. However, as I've learned by writing just a few guides on new games, it can hit your pocket book! I wish they'd give me these games so I could crank out great guides, but they don't! Ah, maybe one day! Until then, if you've found this guide helpful please consider donating to help me offset my costs. You can donate to my paypal account below: ======= PAYPAL: ======= Paypal ID: Gregorio31 @ Gmail . Com Hey, it's WAY better than paying $20 for a guide, right? Even the smallest amount will be appreciated. ======= AMAZON: ======= ALTERNATELY, if you shop at Amazon.com (who doesn't?!) you can ALSO help me out by shopping through me! It doesn't cost you a SINGLE CENT either, which is kick-ass. All you do is visit my webpage's donation page below: ========================== Bkstunt.com/donations.html ========================== Once you are there, you can click on the AMAZON link at the top and shop as normal. 4% of what you buy will then be sent to me. Please be sure to send me an email so I can thank you personally as well! Or just send me an email to say "Thanks!" Every one of those I read makes my day! ~ Bk ============================================================================== Controls ===================================================================[SC-CON]=== Here you can find the control to playing Super Castlevania IV. Thanks to my buddy Johnathan Sawyer for the controller artwork (I'm a sucker for good artwork). | | | | _.————————————._ | | _.————————————._ _.—¯—————— L ———————¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯——————— R ——————¯—._ .' __.———.__ '. .' ( Nintendo ) _.'` `'._ '. / _.————._ .' X '. \ / .—` `—. / .—. \ \ / / .——. \ / ( ) \ \ | / |UP| \ .—. .—. | .—. '—' A | | | | .———' '———. | / / / / | ( ) .—. | | | | | LT RT | | / / / / | '—' ( ) | | | | '———. .———' | '—' '—' | Y .—. '—' | | \ \ |DN| / SELECT START \ ( ) / / \ \ '——' / \ '—' / / \ `._ _.` `. B .` / '. `''——''` `-._ _.-` .' '. _.—'¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯'—._ ¯¯'————'¯ .' `—,_ _,—` `—,_ _,—` ¯¯¯'———'¯¯ ¯¯'———'¯¯¯ Control Pad: Press to move Simon. Also used to aim the whip in eight directions. Start Button: Press to enter your choice from the selection screen. Press to pause during the game. Select Button: Not used. A Button: Not used. B Button: Press to jump. Y Button: Press to crack the whip. X Button: Not used. Right Shoulder Button: Press to use special items. Left Shoulder Button: Not used. (-NOTE-) The above button selections are the defaults for each controller. You may arrange the JUMP, WHIP and ITEM yourself through the Option selection at the start of the game. (-NOTE-) Controls are taken from the game's manual. ============================================================================== Game Basics and Tips ===================================================================[SC-GBT]=== This section will chronicle some of the basic tips and knowledge to playing and defeating Super Castlevania IV. It never hurts to be prepared! o You start out the game with three lives. Get your HP depleted or run out of time on a stage and you'll lose a life. Thankfully though, once you die and get a game over you'll be given a password that, when used, will return you to the stage you died on. o There are special orbs throughout the game that your whip can attach to that allow you to swing over large gaps. Hit the orbs as you would an enemy and then use the directional buttons to control Simon. o If you hold the B button down, the whip goes limp after snapping and you can wave it around by using the Control Pad. It will still do damage to your enemies, but not as much as a good strong snap! o If you jump in the air, press the Control Pad down and press the B button, Simon will whip straight down. o Once again, the famous sub-weapons of Castlevania return. Look below to see the manual's description of the sub-weapons and how many hearts each one costs to use. - Watch: Stops most enemy action. Hearts per use: 5. - Dagger: Destroys target object. Hearts per use: 1. - Axe: Slow but powerful, it attacks in an arc. Hearts per use: 1. - Fire Bomb: Burns anything on path. Hearts per use: 1. - Boomerang: Powerful weapon goes across screen and returns to your hand. Hearts per use: 1. (-NOTE-) While the manual may call the last two weapons "Fire Bomb" and "Boomerang" I will be calling them "Holy Water" and "Cross", respectively. Old habits... o There are a LOT of items to be found in the game. A lot. Below I'll list them all and what they do (which can help if you're not used to Castlevania games). - Small Heart: Gives you one shot per weapon. - Large Heart: Gives you five shots per weapon. - Rosary: Destroys all enemies on screen. - Invisibility Potion: Renders you safe from harm for a few seconds. - Morning Star: Increases the power of the Whip in 2 levels: short chain for 1st level boost, longer chain for 2nd level boost. - Money Bag: Awards you with points (amounts will appear on screen). - Double Shot: Allows use of throwing weapon twice in a row. - Triple Shot: Allows use of throwing weapon three times in a row. - Small Pork Chop: Partially revives lost power (restores 5 health bars). - Large Pork Chop: Revives more lost power (restores 10 health bars). - Magic Crystal: Capture from Boss Character at the end of each level to earn time bonus and restore lost power. - 1 UP: Adds a bonus life. o The CROSS sub-weapon is by far the best. Once you get it, try to keep it at all costs. This includes not hitting hearts that you can't get out of the way of. o The "II" and "III" items (Double Shot/Triple Shot) can be found faster the more you use your subweapon. o The whip is POWERFUL. Learn it, love it, use it. ============================================================================== Game Start! ============================================================================== Evil Lurks in the Darkness... In the small country of Transylvania there is a legend which says that every 100 years the forces of Good mysteriously become weak and the forces of Evil gain a foothold into our world. The evil manifests itself in the form of one of the most feared characters to roam the earth - the vampire Dracula! Every 100 years Dracula is revived and grows stronger and stronger. His goal is to turn all humanity into creatures of darkness, to be ruled under his iron fist. He has appeared in this world many times, and there are many people who fear that in his next appearance, he may be unstoppable. There is one group that has always been around to see that Dracula is defeated, the Belmont family. For generations the Belmonts have passed along the secrets and skills of vampire-hunting to the eldest child of the family. While many of the Belmonts have lived peaceful lives without encountering Dracula, they remain prepared. There are occasional skirmishes with lesser monsters, but the Belmont clan has always emerged victorious. Now, 100 years have passed since the last battle between Dracula and the Belmonts. Transylvanians are reporting mysterious sightings of odd creatures appearing under cover of the darkness. As Spring approaches, the citizens prepare for a traditional celebration. Unbeknownst to them, an evil group of people is holding a ceremony in the old destroyed abbey outside of town, attempting to revive the Prince of Darkness. As they carry out their ritual a dark cloud descends over the countryside. The sinister group stirs itself into a frenzy of mysterious chanting and pagan dancing, then lightning strikes the abbey. The ground bucks under their feet, and the abbey walls shudder. Once again, Dracula is revived! It is time once again for Simon Belmont to call forth the powers of good to aid him in his battle. Armed with his mystical whip, his courage and the centuries-old knowledge of Belmont family training, he sets forth on his mission... ============================================================================== Stage I: Entrance =====================================================================[SC01]=== Start up the game and hit "Options" now to change your control scheme if you wish. Now's the time to do it! You can also "Continue" a game from here or do what I'm doing and start a "New Game". Input your name (it really doesn't matter, but I put Simon) and watch as Simon stares up at Castlevania. What a good way to pump yourself up! And away we go! =========== BLOCK 1-1 =========== Now Playing: "Prolouge" Time: 480 Seconds There's no enemies here to worry about. Whip the candles and gather the hearts and whip upgrade. Up the stairs in the center area is a .: KNIFE :. sub-weapon. Continue on past the blocks (they crumble!) and jump onto the moat door. As it rises up, head to the right and enter the next screen. Now Playing: "Simon Belmont's Theme" (Also known as "Dance of the Holyman") You're out on the castle grounds now. A gate will rise in the background with cool-looking vines growing up it. Whip the candles here and you'll get your second whip upgrade! Kill the first enemy you meet here: a SKELETON. These guys are VERY basic. They walk back and forth and throw their bones in an arc. Notice how they explode in a bone-shower once you whip them! They'll be doing that all game long! You'll see a hole in the ground before you (you CANNOT jump this) and a gate in the background. Press UP on the gate. You COULD go left here, but there's only a single candle here. Head right instead. You will kill another skeleton and under the stairs is another gate. This leads to the foreground again where one of the candles has some .: MEAT :. in it which you shouldn't need. Head past there and kill a bat, then whip the candles here for a .: ROSARY :.. Head all the way right to exit the screen and enter the next block. =========== BLOCK 1-2 =========== You'll be inside now. In front of you is a BONE PILLAR enemy. It is a stationary enemy, but will fire off three small fireballs at you. You can whip these fireballs to destroy them though. More importantly, you can find a .: CROSS :. sub-weapon in the candle before it, which as you know is the BEST sub-weapon in the game, so be sure to grab it. Past that enemy are some ledges, but underneath it is a candle with an .: AXE :. subweapon, which I wouldn't bother with, but if you break the wall past it you can find some more .: MEAT :. in case you need it. Head up and around the ledge and kill the skeleton. Underneath you is another Bone Pillar, so head down and kill it when its not spitting at you. The candle past it holds an .: INVISIBILITY POTION :. which will keep you safe for a few seconds. Continue on and kill some bats. A Skeleton will likely jump down at you, so be careful. Head upwards now unless you feel like killing a Bone Pillar enemy and walk up the stairs to a new screen. Up here head right and kill the skeleton. You'll encounter some SWINGING RINGS here, so try them out. You may as well get used to them here, in a relatively safe screen. Past the first ring is a bat and, in the tower beyond you can make out a hand moving up and down. This is a CLUBBING KNIGHT. Walk underneath him and he'll try to brain you! You can get near him to make him pop out and kill him easily though. Use the next ring to get to the next platform (the candle here has .: MEAT :. in it if you want) and then the next ring to go further. Head down the stairs. Head further down and hit the candle on the left for another .: INVISIBILITY POTION :.. Use it to kill the two skeletons to the right. Now down on the lower level, break the left wall for a .: DOUBLE SHOT :.. Very nice! Keep heading right and kill the Skeleton. Head up the stairs if you want some more points or candles, then right and kill the Bone Pillar to move to the next screen. You're in a stable-ish looking area now. Head forward but be aware that the second candle has some .: HOLY WATER :. in it. Up above you are enemies called VIPER SWARM that are just waiting for you to pass. Pass one, then turn around and whip it. Do that to both of them and kill the third one past that. Be careful still as another new enemy, MR. HED, who looks like a horse's head, will come flying at you. They're low to the ground, trying to be sneaky, so duck down and whip them. There will be several here, so whip them all until you can go up. The right wall here can be broken, revealing a big heart. head up and left now. Be careful of that fourth Mr. Hed who is high up enough to hit you (dangle your whip to do him in). After taking care of him, head up to a new screen and block. =========== BLOCK 1-3 =========== The candle on the left contains the .: STOPWATCH :. sub-weapon. Really not worth it. Head left and you'll soon be attacked by MEDUSA HEAD enemies. Try to dodge them if you can. The thin strips of wood here will TURN if you jump on them, plummeting you to INSTANT DEATH, so be sure to walk on them. Four candles in to the right is some more .: MEAT :., and two candles past that when the ground goes up is a candle with a .: KNIFE :. in it you want to avoid. Past that are some GHOST enemies. Give them a couple of whips and they will go down easily enough. You can kill a Viper Swarm to by letting your whip dangle on it. Be careful of the drop-off on the right as a thin piece of wood is down below and head downstairs. Here you can kill another Viper Swarm from above. Head down and be sure to hit the very right candle down here for some .: MEAT :., which you may need as we're about to fight a boss: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Rowdain - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Rowdain is an undead-horseman, and he looks | | pretty cool. As you would expect out of a first boss, he's really | | easy. He also has two "forms". Rowdain is the horseman, so his first | | form is him riding the horse and using the first attack below. After | | you damage the horse enough, it will die and leave Rowdain on his own | | where he'll use the last two attacks. Take note of his moves below and | | you'll do just fine. | | | | - Horse Fireball: Rowdain's horse will spit fireballs at you. Stay on | | the left side of the screen where you can easily jump over them and | | keep attacking the horse's head. | | | | - Lance Swipe: This is one of Rowdain's non-horse moves. As Rowdain | | moves back and forth if you are close enought he'll swipe his lance | | at you. Just don't get TOO close. | | | | - Lance Jump: Rowdain's most common non-horse move. Seriously, he does | | this one all of the time. He'll jump high into the air and move above | | you, then he'll try to bring his lance down on you. Keep on the move | | when he does this and punish him afterwards. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ After the fight you'll be taken to a sort-of "world map" for the Castlevania world, which is pretty neat. It will chart our progress through the game. Next up!: Stage II. ============================================================================== Stage II: Forest =====================================================================[SC02]=== =========== BLOCK 2-1 =========== Now Playing: "Forest of Monsters" (Also known as "Forest of Evil Spirits") Time: 450 Seconds Head forward and watch the ground for ZOMBIE HANDS. These things do no damage, but will hold you in place and we don't need that. There's another new enemy here, the PLANT MAN who does a great of blending into the background but you can still make him out, so be on the lookout for him. The first one shows up after the first two candles. Two more candles later you can find an .: AXE :. sub-weapon if you wish and a SPIDER. The spider comes down the screen and shoots smaller spiders at you, so flail your whip to shield yourself if you need to. Keep going and head downhill until you meet another new enemy: the GOBLIN. They walk along slowly but every now and again will spin back and forth, so be careful of standing right by them and kill them from the ledges provided. Kill them and head up, jumping up the ledges but head LEFT up the ledges to find a candle with some .: MEAT :. in it. To the right are a group of SIX candles with a LOT of hearts. Grab everything and head up and then continue right. You'll face two Plant Men and constantly spawning zombies here, but be careful after killing the second Plant Man as a Goblin will be waiting to roll into you and can come out of nowhere if you aren't ready! Continue onto the right to get to the next block. ========= BLOCK 2-2 ========= Ok, we're in a swamp now. The swamp here won't hurt you but you do need to jump out of it right away if you get stuck in it as sinking will kill you. Head forward past the platform and kill a RAVEN, a new enemy. Kill these annoying things right away, as they stay on the screen until you do. After killing it be careful of the ground and jumping as a THORNWEED is growing nearby on the ground. Another Raven lurks after the Thornweed. Keep going and past some Bats and another section of ground will be more moving platforms. The first candle here has a .: STOP WATCH :. in it that by all means you should skip. Keep going and soon you'll see a FROG at the bottom of the screen (you CAN travel above it if you wished, but it'll follow you and just generally be a nuisance). Past the Frog is a Skeleton and a Raven. Take them out and face another Frog, Bat, Skeleton, and Goblin. To the right of the Goblin break the wall to uncover a BIG piece of .: MEAT :.. You can find a .: CROSS :. weapon here too if you don't have one. Keep going and kill a Raven and head up the platform to a bridge. The second candle here has a .: DAGGER :., so be sure to skip it and kill the Raven's on the bridge. Past the first bridge is a Thornweed and then another bridge, which has a piece of .: MEAT :. in the first candle. Kill the bats and another Raven and get all the candles you can, as your about to face: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Medusa - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: The legendary Medusa, who can turn humans into | | stone with a glare. Medusa is actually REALLY easy if you know what | | to do (and have the Cross subweapon). You should actually start the | | fight by throwing some crosses as Medusa appers on the right. But even | | without the Cross, Medusa is still easy. She moves back and forth, | | sure, but she only has two attacks. Check them out below and then | | spend the battle ducking and whipping like crazy (or, if you can, | | chucking crosses AND whipping like crazy). | | | | - Stone Glare: Medusa can turn you to stone, but it is anything but | | instant. She will shoot a whirling ball out of her eyes and if you are | | hit by it you WILL turn to stone (which lasts until you are hurt). | | You can easily avoid this by ducking though. That's right, ducking | | alone removes half of her attacks. | | | | - Snake Throw: This is the only attack to worry about. Medusa will | | CONSTANTLY throw snakes at you. These arch out randomly, and can be | | hard to dodge. These snakes die very easily though, so just flail your | | whip to kill them. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ You MAY think that killing a boss means you should go to the next stage, but not in Super Castlevania IV! Onto the next block! ========= BLOCK 2-3 ========= Right away you'll see a new enemy: the CLAW. This thing is like a bat: a flying nuisance. Kill or evade it. If it catches you it will squeeze hearts out of you, reducing your total. Also, notice you're in a stream now. This stream will either go forwards or backwards and will slowly take you along with it. You can walk against it if you wish. It will also randomly change direction (which is weird for a stream, right?). Be extra careful of this area as there are bright-red spikes that can kill you instantly. You can find these in the air and even below the water, so be careful! Kill the claw and go forward to kill the skeleton. The third candle here has an .: AXE :. in it. Coming up you'll see a GARGOYLE, another flying enemy that not only goes down easy but has a WEIRD dying animation (turns complete upside down and then falls!). Keep heading downwards and kill another Skeleton and more Gargoyle's. On the second slope downwards the beginning candle has an .: INVISIBILITY POTION :. in it, but it's hardly needed. Watch out for the spikes here (be careful with your jumps) and head downwards again! At the end of this short down slope is a candle high in the air, whip it for some .: MEAT :.. Be careful of the spikes in the water after that and continue to the next screen. Kill the Bone Pillar here and jump over the spike after it. Head down now and watch out for the Claw and Bats. Keep going and kill another Bone Pillar. Head onwards and kill more Bats and Gargoyles. There's not much left to this stage so keep going and at the end of the screen you'll be done with this stage. ============================================================================== Stage III: Caverns =====================================================================[SC03]=== =========== BLOCK 3-1 =========== Now Playing: "Limestone Caverns" (Also known as "The Caves") Time: 649 Seconds First of all, listen to the music here. It sounds a LOT like something straight out of Chrono Trigger (and I KNOW I'm not the only one that thinks so). Just wanted to point that out! Head forward and be careful with the bats. Keep going and soon you'll meet a new enemy called a STONE GOLEM. This guy is big but will break up into two smaller version when you whip him, and each of THOSE golems will split up into two more smaller version, so be sure to kill them all before going on! Keep heading right and you'll face some Bone Pillar enemies... three of them to be exact, before the room opens up and a path downward becomes available. You HAVE to head down, but you can kill a Bone Pillar to the upper right if you wish. He's guarding a candle with an .: AXE :. if you wish to have it. Head down now and kill the Bone Pillar on the left, but instead of continuing head left to the wall and DESTROY the weird rock-looking squares. Be careful of only destroying the lower ones and destroy both rows at the same time. They lead to a SECRET ROOM with a bunch of candles for MONEY, HEARTS, and a BIG piece of .: MEAT :.. Go back down and on the floor you can go left or right. Only go left if you wish to kill a Bone Pillar or get some .: HOLY WATER :., then go right and you'll face some more Stone Golems. Kill them and jump over a spike pit using the platforms. Some bats will show up after that, but they are only important to signify that you need to now watch out for rock spikes falling from the ceiling, so move forward carefully as the rocks send out shards when they crash. Keep heading to the right and soon you'll change scenery... =========== BLOCK 3-2 =========== Now Playing: "The Waterfalls" Head forward and ignore the sparkling ball thing as you can't kill it no matter what you do. As you may guess, the wood bridge will collapse as you cross it (the candle is a big heart if you want it). On the other side kill the Thornweed and head up. There will be a Bone Pillar on your left you should kill (and two Thornweeds guarding a big heart candle) then head right and kill another Bone Pillar. Keep going up and kill a Thornweed, the swing over to the left and watch out for the sparkling ball again as you continue. Keep on going killing Thornweeds and Bone Pillars and you'll have to swing across two gaps soon. Kill the Thornweed and the Bone Pillar from below, but be careful of the very next candle as it has a .: DAGGER :. in it. Keep going up until you get to a fork where you can swing to the left or go further up. Only go left if you want the .: STOPWATCH :., otherwise go up and onto the structure to reach the next segment. =========== BLOCK 3-3 =========== Now Playing: "The Submerged City" You'll be out in the open now, with water below you (don't fall!). MERMEN will jump up randomly here and try to spit water streams at you, but at least they die easily and hilariously. Also, you should REALLY watch out for blocks that BREAK when you step on them out here. The GOOD blocks have diamonds on them! Cross the first gap carefully and stand on the last diamond block before jumping again as FOUR pieces of rubble drop down in front of you. Once they do continue on. A GHOSTLY EYEBALL will greet you here, take it out while your on the same level (it drops tears of blood and swoops at you otherwise) and past the Ghostly Eyeball is a SKELETON DRAGON. These things are stationary and move up and down spitting fireballs at you. Chuck some crosses if you have them (Axe's work well too) and use your trusty whip, just avoid the fireballs! After killing it head up to a new screen. To the right you get to defeat another Skeleton Dragon, but the candle right before it has some .: MEAT :. in it. The candle AFTER the Dragon has a .: DAGGER :. in it. Continue on and avoid the Sparkling Ball then kill the Ghostly Eyeball. In this area Mermen will float down below and shoot their water streams diagonally up at you, so be sure not to be standing diagonally from them. Continue on and kill another Ghostly Eyeball then work your way up and go to the next screen. Up here head up and then left. See that hand reaching out? Yep, it's a Clubbing Knight. Draw him out then retreat and kill him. Further on stay on the upper level and whip the top candle (or go down, kill the skeleton, and whip upwards for the top candle) for a .: ROSARY :.. Continue along the bottom path using the whip rings and when you start to go up note that the blocks can BREAK. Also, the first candle on the way up has an .: AXE :. in it. Grab it or skip it then head up to another screen. Up here kill the Dragon up through the floor and then move up. Continue up and you'll see another Dragon. You CAN kill it from the single block that is under it, but focus on whipping UP and not catching the ring to the right. Continue above it and as you climb up watch out for a Raven. Kill it off ASAP and climb higher to find two more Ravens (you may as well just whip up diagonally as you go to kill these things). There'll also be a BONE SCHIMITAR above you, so kill it from below. These things are like normal skeletons but attack with a sword. There's a second one here so kill it from below too. To your right is a candle with some .: MEAT :. in it, so grab it and head all the way up to the top right platform to face... +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Orphic Vipers - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Ah, a pair of Dragons. Don't really know why they | | are called "Orphic Vipers" really... google didn't help me out at all | | either. Anyways, this is a really easy fight. There are two dragons | | here and each of them only has one attack. The real battle here is not | | falling down to your death! Take note of your battle arena and check | | out the dragons attacks below. You can EASILY win this battle by | | spamming axe or cross attacks, but its equally easy to win by just | | whipping like crazy. Heck, I stood in the lower left corner and just | | plain whipped up to the left one time and won easily. Plus, one Dragon | | will die half-way through the battle (as you can only hurt one at a | | time) making this fight THAT much easier. It's also good to know that | | these dragons ALTERNATE their attacks, so after the first attack you | | KNOW what is coming up next! | | | | - Spread Fireball: One Dragon will stop occasionally and shoot out three | | fireballs. These fireballs spread out as they travel. If he gets you | | at close range, you are NOT going to avoid this, but if you're off to | | the right try and dodge or jump this attack. | | | | - Fire Breath: This attack is ONLY dangerous if you get close to the | | Dragons. All it is is one Dragon stopping and breathing a stream of | | fire downwards. Very easy to avoid. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ ============================================================================== Stage IV: Death Tower =====================================================================[SC04]=== =========== BLOCK 4-1 =========== Now Playing: "Clorkwork Mansion" Time: 549 Seconds Here we go. Kill the Schimtar Skeleton in front of you and you'll have to choose wether to stay down or go up. Only stay down if you want a big heart, as you can whip the bottom right wall for one, but beware as a new enemy, the WALL WIDOW, comes out horizontally from the wall (it looks like a nature type enemy). Head up now (the skeleton heads on the wall are COOL, no?) but notice the Clubbing Knight hanging out up here. Another Schimtar Skeleton is up here with GREEN FLOORS that will DROP YOU THROUGH THEM if you jump on them, so be careful. There will be another Wall Widow up here on the right wall, so kill it before going down. Another Schimtar Skeleton with a Clubbing Knight will face you here, so take them out and use the slowly moving platforms to head further upwards. A Schimtar Skeleton will jump down towards you, so get to the left to make room and kill him easier. Jump up and on the right wall is another Wall Widow (this place is just PACKED with enemies). Jump up to the skeleton and the new enemy, the rather un-impressive HANGING SKELETON (just don't walk into him!) and you'll face a life-altering challenge: You'll need to JUMP on the GREEN PLATFORMS one after another QUICKLY, lest you fall to your DEATH. The candle here has a .: KNIFE :. in it, so ignore it and focus on crossing the gap. On the other side will be a series of Skeletons and Hanging Skeletons, to go a bit slowly. You'll see a lower and upper path soon. The lower path has an .: AXE :. in the end candle, so take the upper path jumping quickly on the green platform to avoid falling. Up here you'll need to use another green platform to head up (the candle here has some .: MEAT :. in it) and kill the Schimatar Skeleton. Jump to the next platform and note the green platforms amidst the stone. Kill a bat that comes at you and jump to the next platform to face another Schimatar Skeleton and a bat after that. Continue on and steel yourself to face an upcoming boss: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Puwexil - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Puwexil (Don't ask me to pronounce that) is | | little more than a giant skull. Well, a giant skull that somehow has | | come to life and has a GIANT tongue. First of all, this guy falls | | down in the middle of the room, so you know where he'll first be at, | | but before wailing away on him, note that EVERY time you attack him | | skull shards will fall down from the ceiling (so you'll often have to | | flail your whip above you to protect yourself. This isn't that hard | | of a fight if you can protect yourself from retaliation. Puwexil will | | move around and use his other two attacks, so stay out of his tongue | | range and be ready to whip the other two projectile-type attacks and | | you'll be ok! | | | | - Skull Shards: This is the attack that happens whenever you HIT | | Puwexil with an attack! MULTIPLE small shards of skull will fall from | | the ceiling, so be sure to flail your whip above you when you get a | | good hit in! | | | | - Tongue Lash: This attack is Puwexil's favorite. He'll lash out his | | tongue at you. It's not a fast lash or a straight lash, so unless you | | are standing right by him you'll likely dodge this with ease. | | | | - Gas Clouds: Every so often, Puwexil will unleash three gas clouds | | from his mouth that will spread out and travel slowly across the | | screen. You can flail your whip to destroy these easily. Be careful | | of the spread, as the edge of the clouds are liable to clip your feet | | and still damage you. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ =========== BLOCK 4-2 =========== You'll be in a room full of spikes next. Climb the purple stairs in front of you and look out for the whipping-ring in front of you. Quickly whip it and hang on! The room will now start spinning counter-clockwise 90 degrees, and at the end you can jump onto the middle platform. You will then have to deal with Medusa Heads coming in from the left and right, but they only come one at a time, giving you a chance to kill them all with well-timed whipping. After the Medusa Heads are gone, the room will start to spin again! Quick, whip the ring again and climb up! Just wait there for awhile and you'll hear some thumps. That sound is the floor extending towards you from the left, so let it extend and then jump to it. Head to the left now and you'll be done with this block. =========== BLOCK 4-3 =========== Now THIS room is funky. It is actually a rotating room that you'll be traversing, with the room rotating in both direction now and again. You're on wooden platforms now. These platforms fall down as you proceed, so don't get freaked out by that as you COULD just stand there if you want. As you proceed skeletons will show up that you'll have to kill (and by 'show up' I mean pop down from the ceiling). That is the only threat in this area, just FYI. Go forward and kill a skeleton. The third candle before the second skeleton will have a .: ROSARY :. in it. The candle before the third skeleton has a .: INVISIBILITY JUG:. in it, so grab it and press forward. Whip the candles for a piece of .: MEAT :. coming up and just proceed cautiously in case any skeletons fall down. You'll be done with this area soon. The next area features continuously upward-moving blocks combined with narrow passage ways that you must traverse. This area is pretty straight-forward, but one COULD ride the blocks up at certain points to find sequestered rooms. I explored them all and there's nothing worth finding or going out of your way for (although I DO think this would be a great area to hide a secret or two), so let's just get through this. Head past the first block, which gives you a sense of what you'll be facing and avoid the low-flying bat. You'll face a choice now to either go down or head up. Neither choice really matters, but I find the upper choice is easier, just watch out for bats and hurry up through the path lest you get crushed! Head up a big block next and stop inbetween it and the next set of blocks coming up. Here you want to proceed to the right and down. I'd wait until the single rectangular block goes up past you on the right, then as soon as you can walk under it and drop down into an open area. HERE you will have to dodge spike traps from above. These CAN kill you in one hit, so wait for each one to come down and THEN walk underneath it. Past that is a huge block of blocks moving swiftly upwards. The idea here is to hurry along lest you get moved upwards into the spikes, but as long as you keep moving forward you won't get hurt. In this next area the candle in front of you has an .: AXE :. if you want it (not a bad option for the next boss, but keep a cross if you have one). Head up and kill the Bone Pillar on the right then whip all the candles for money and some .: MEAT :.. Kill another Bone Pillar from below and then climb the stairs just a bit to kill the last one. As you may have guessed, the end of the stage is near, and we're about to face a boss: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Koronot - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: It takes a little while for him to appear, but | | once he does, you may be a little impressed/intimidated by the stone | | golem Koronot. Not to fear, the big guy is really a wimp! He only | | really has TWO attacks, which is pretty lame in and of itself, but as | | soon as the fight starts rocks will fall down from the ceiling. This | | is a kind of welcoming attack that Koronot didn't really do, but | | unless you want to start the fight getting his, straddle the crack | | between the second and third blocks from the left to dodge it. | | | | With that initial attack dodged, lets focus on this guy. Koronot is a | | LOT like the Stone Golems in stage 3: you HIT him and he gets SMALLER | | as you attack! You don't create duplicate copies, but every time you | | hit him he gets a bit smaller. HOWEVER, every time you hit him, you | | will make BLOCKS drop down from the ceiling! The BEST place to dodge | | them, I've found, is by standing WITHIN the third block from the left, | | which makes them fall around you. I literally spent an entire fight | | just standing on that block and getting hit whenever he did his first | | block throw attack and whipped like crazy and I won. | | | | So, memorize that spot to dodge blocks from the ceiling and then you | | just need to dodge his block throw attack and you're golden. Not a | | very hard fight, but avoiding his attacks is the key to winning. | | Check out his two moves below and turn him into dozens of blocks! | | | | - Block Throw: Koronot just walks back and forth, stopping occasionally | | to chuck a block at you. The block has a lazy, definitive arching | | pattern to it, so you should be able to dodge it. Use the moving | | platforms on either side of the arena to jump over it if you must, | | but try to lay off hurting him if you're jumping towards the ceiling! | | | | - Falling Blocks: This is the "attack" that happens whenever you hurt | | Koronot, but he can also make it happen on his own. He telegraphs it | | by jumping up and shaking the room. Like I said earlier, the BEST | | place to dodge this is by standing within the third floor block from | | the left! Try it out and soon you'll be a master at dodging this | | attack. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ With the big guy gone, it's time to head on to Stage V! ============================================================================== Stage V: Castle Entrance =====================================================================[SC05]=== =========== BLOCK 5-1 =========== Now Playing: "Into the Castle" Time: 168 Seconds Ok, just check out the amount of time we have here. Not long, right? Well, that's because this is a short little stage. No bosses, just a stroll up a hill and across the lawn to the castle's entrance. Well, as short as it is, we're still going to be bombarded by attacks so stay alert! Head forwards and destroy the Claw and then you'll run into new enemies (randomly) here: HARPIES. The Harpy carries those damn Gremlin enemies that are so annoying, so do your best to KILL THEM before it drops the Gremlin down. The longer you tarry here, the more you have to deal with them, so carry on until the hill goes UP. At the top is a Bone Tower to your left and to your right. The right path leads to NOTHING by the way, so head LEFT. The Bone Pillar that you saw there is LIKELY gone now. That's just megaman style enemy spawning. If it isn't just kill it and head onwards. Pretty soon platforms will show up leading you to the upper right. Get through here fast as more Harpies spawn in this area and can make just getting up two platforms a chore. At the top kill the Bone Pillar and the Gargoyle past it. You'll then come across two Bone Pillars, one up and one below. I recommend killing the top one and going that way just to avoid the awkward jump underneath (or if you are the cautious type you can kill both). A couple of Gargoyles will meet you past the Bone Pillars but more importantly (since they are wimps) more Harpies will show up from here until the end of the stage, which is coming up when you use two platforms to jump upwards. The candle here has a little help for you with a .: ROSARY :. in it, so gather it up, kill the Harpies with well-timed hits and reach the end to go to the next block. =========== BLOCK 5-2 =========== Now Playing: "Prolouge" There is a ledge here as soon as the block loads, but stay where you are as a WHIP TOTING SKELETON will leap at you. Take him out with a couple of quick hits when he comes down and continue, watching out for Bats. You'll have to watch out for those Whip Skeleton, as they have RANGE. Kill another Whip Skeleton and a Schimitar Skeleton after him. Continue watching out for Bats and kill another Whip Skeleton and then start climbing up stairs. The third candle up the stairs has some .: MEAT :. in the candle but the end of the stage is coming up. Continue to the end of the stairs and cross the courtyard (note the statues here as a reference to Castlevania III) and proceed through the door into Castlevania! ============================================================================== Stage VI: Main Hall =====================================================================[SC06]=== =========== BLOCK 6-1 =========== Now Playing: "The Entrance Hall" Time: 599 Seconds Well, we're inside the castle now (and what is likely supposed to be the official "start" of the original Castlevania's stages) but we can't dwell on it now! There is a HELLHOUND coming at us! Whip the damn thing and you'll see it lays down instead of vanishing. That's because if you hang around it will get back up! Also, Zombies walk these halls incessantly (like the first game) so just be aware. Head forward killing Zombies and watch out for Bats coming down diagonally from above (these things are definitely programmed differently then other bats). Keep your eyes open for another Hellhound before coming to some stairs. Climb up the stairs and ahead you'll see platforms, the second of which has some .: HOLY WATER :. in it, which is great to rain on the AXE ARMOR below you (keep the cross if you have it). The Axe Armor chucks axes either near the floor or normally, so keep your eyes open and remember you can whip the axes to destroy them. Each Axe Armor will take about four hits to fall, so make staying safe a priority. Kill three Axe Armors down here and continue right to some stairs. Kill another Axe Armor from below and climb up to the next room. Now Playing: "Chandeliers" The goal here is to cross the chandeliers. Each chandelier has four platforms on it. They are of course easy to get on when they lean to the right and you usually have time to get to the far left if you're quick! The important thing here is to be careful and not jump left when a platform to the left is moving left. The first three chandeliers are pretty easy with platforms that are easy to reach but the fourth chandelier deserves extra caution as the far platform is further away. Be careful and take an extra swing if you need to in order to make it to the next screen. =========== BLOCK 6-2 =========== Ah, a new area. However, chandeliers are still out to get us! Head down and leftward noticing the shaky chandelier above. It will DROP once you get near it, so bait it into dropping and get away as the debri can even hurt you. The next archway has a chandelier too so do the same thing. Notice that the third has no chandelier. STOP! Before going on, whip the FLOOR to find a secret room. In this secret room the first thing you'll likely notice is the ghost Hellhound and Man at the bottom. You can't hurt them, so I actually recommend just sticking to the upper path. For the record, the bottom has a ton of hearts and .: HOLY WATER :., and .: AXE :. and a .: DAGGER :.. The real prize here is the candle on the upper level to the far right, which has .: MEAT :. in it. Climb back up to continue. An Axe Armor will be in front of you now, so take him out and watch out for the next chandelier. Soon you'll see a female get up ahead and float around. Hang back and take her out. She's a SIREN and can be really annoying if you don't focus on her alone. Ahead is a candle with an .: AXE :. and TWO Sirens sitting by each other. Kill at least one before the take off and then retreat a bit to kill the other one. Further up ahead will be another new enemy, the ECTOPLASM. These are essentially spirits that bounce around the room. Well, ricochet really. They don't go away, so you may as well kill it while it is alone. It should take around three hits. Another one will be up ahead, so kill it alone. Proceed forward and be ready to whip quickly as a MALE GHOST will come at you. These guys are quick and can disappear and reappear if you don't kill them right away. Past him are some stairs with an Axe Armor at the top you can kill from below. The left side of the column supporting the platform is BREAKABLE and houses some big .: MEAT :. inside. There is another Ectoplasm further on, so take it out alone as their is a second one further on with a quick male ghost past it, so kill the ghost and THEN the Ectoplasm. Whip the candle past the spiked platform for some small .: MEAT :. and continue to the left killing the Axe Knight under the platform. After him, be ready to whip the Male Ghosts that appear. Another Axe Knight on a higher floor is past that, making him easy to kill, and bats past him as you climb up the stairs (whip diagonally!). Now, as you walk right on this upper path, the Axe Knight will likely be back, so kill him. You will also likely see a ghost below. Remember, since they disappear he will reappear up by you, so be ready! Jump quickly past the spiked platforms and head up to the next screen. Kill the skeleton while heading right. A bat will soon follow. Climb the stairs and avoid the spike pits and instant death. The second spike pit has plain grey blocks that crumble, so get past them quickly and on the far floor is another skeleton (don't stay on the blocks waiting! let him hit you if you MUST, just stay off the spikes). You will see a shaking coffin. As you can imagine, that is NOT normal. You can't hurt it until you pass it either, so quickly get past it to put some distance between you and it will chase you, so spin around and whip it twice QUICKLY to kill it (you will BARELY get away with not getting hit like this). Past the coffin the next candle will have some .: MEAT :. in it, which is good since you likely got hit. Kill the Skeleton and walk past the bats and head up the stairs to the next block. =========== BLOCK 6-3 =========== Here, drop down when you can and kill the two skeletons. This area is literally skeleton hallway. After the two skeletons will be two BLOOD SKELETONS, which of course don't ever die so whip them and get past them. Past them are two Whip Skeletons, so be careful. Another skeleton, blood skeleton, and whip skeleton are past that, with two more blood skeletons guarding the stairs upward. Take them all out and head up. Up here kill the Schimatar Skeleton to the right and note that you can whip the right wall (the lower part) for a big piece of .: MEAT :.. Now, to the left is a skeleton and pair of claws that are phased out. This is a CLAW AND SKELETON COMBO. Go ahead, let the claws GRAB you and then DUCK. You can then whip the skeleton and destroy BOTH enemies at once. Neat, huh? Continue on using this trick to easily kill the phased out claws and skeletons while killing regular Schimitar Skeletons until you come to some stairs and a Blood Skeleton. Kill it and head up to a new screen. Here you will see a circle of rotating coffins. Stand outside them and whip away until they are all dead. Carry on until you see a TABLE. That's right, this out of place table is an ENEMY called the CHARGING TABLE due to how it charges at you. Duck and whip the crap out of it. Keep going and kill the next one you see. Past it a DANCING GHOST will come out. These guys act much like the Ectoplasm earlier in that they bounce around the room, so stay in one place and kill it. It will only take 2 hits at least! Move on and two more Dancing Ghosts will come out. Be careful as they have a tendency to appear anywhere. Another Table will be past them with a candle nearby with a .: ROSARY :.. Kind-of a useless one if you ask me. The rest of this room has a Ghost, then a Table, then another Ghost until you hit the wall. This wall is special; whip the right wall to find a rare .: 1-UP :. icon the head upwards. Up here, whip the far right candle for some .: MEAT :. and then head right to face a boss: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Dancing Spectres - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Now this boss if pretty cool. It's a dancing | | ghost couple. They fade in and out of view as the fight, but you can | | whip them at any time. Now, the couple only really has two attacks, | | but their most DANGEROUS aspect is how they move. They take up a lot | | of space and you can't touch them. Thankfully, the room is designed | | so you CAN avoid him by climbing up and jumping past them. | | | | With a subweapon like the Cross, you can lay on some MAJOR damage (a | | cross with a 'III' can outright kill the boss if timed right). The | | boss will appear in the lower right, so get a hit in and then use the | | left blocks to dodge them. Try and get an attack in as you jump by | | turning around and whipping. The absolute BEST time to attack is when | | you use the blocks to dodge and the spectres use their THRUST move, | | keeping them high in the air and letting you get in several whip hits | | from below. The key to this fight is dodging the enemy movement and | | recognize when they are about to attack. Do that, get good at using | | the stage's blocks and check out the attacks below to come through! | | | | - Thrust: The couple will stop and pause, their rapiers in the air | | pointing upwards and outwards. They'll then thrust at you. Quite hard | | to dodge unless you're ready to, but great if they do it above you as | | you can really get in the hits. | | | | - Rapier Throw: The couple will stop and throw rapiers at you. 'Throw' | | is a strong word, as the rapiers travel slowly, three of them, in a | | spread fashion. You can destroy these to protect yourself if you | | aren't actively dodging, and they'll likely all miss you completely | | if you are. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Onward, to Stage VII! ============================================================================== Stage VII: Long Library =====================================================================[SC07]=== =========== BLOCK 7-1 =========== Now Playing: "The Library" (Also known as "Pillared Corridor") Time: 550 Seconds Ok, we're in the library now. Interesting music. Kill the Knight in front of you (he'll take four hits). These non-axe throwing enemies aren't much of a threat and won't attack even if you stand by them. They'll thrust upwards if you're above them though. Kill the Knight and then the next one past the wall and the Axe Armor above you as well before climbing up. To the right a Ghost will appear, partially hidden by the text up there so kill it. Expect to find a bunch of ghosts in this stage. I mean, check out the bookcase! Everything is haunted here! Head down now right to kill another Knight and the Axe Armor above him. Continue on to face another Axe Armor on a step above you to your right, which makes him easy to kill. A Ghost will appear below you though, so watch out for him! Head right and you'll face more Ghosts and AXe Armors until you get to the end of the screen and are forced to head down. This next stage is annoying. New enemies called WINGED GUARDS will appear and traverse the stage horizontally. Your best bet is to ignore them. There's also annoying homing books in here called MAGIC BOOKS. Now, you COULD just... jump down the righthand side of this screen and avoid almost all of the enemies. Just don't drop down into the pit at the bottom of the stage (you MUST walk down the stairs). I'm going to walk down the stairs, but dropping is much better. Read below to see the enemy layout and choose your method of travel. The first candle on your way down has an .: AXE :. in it. A Magic Book is below the next platform here, so whip down and kill it before it flies at you in a homing fashion. Continue down avoiding those Winged Guard until your on a far right platform and wait here for the book below to fly up at you so you can kill it easily. Climb further down to face another Magic Book. Kill it using the platform to the right. Head down further, but drop to the block below you in the middle of the screen as that candle has some .: MEAT :. in it. Head down watching out for Winged Guards and you'll see the screen will stop scrolling down. The end! Beware though, the bottom right-most candle has a .: DAGGER :. in it! Continue down the stairs to the next screen. Two Axe Armors will be to your lower left, but you can ignore both of them if you wish and get past their axes to the right. Here you will see three BOOKS moving around in the air. We need to use them as platforms! This first set of three books is easy to traverse as you aren't pressured and can wait for the best time to jump to them. They lead to a platform with a Blood Skeleton which, as you know, don't stay dead for long. We must consider how the next gap and book function! The next book gives us TWO chances to jump to it. It Travels in a ' Z ' formation before moving from the end back to the start, so we can jump on it when it's on the left and high (an easy/safe jump) or when its on the left and lower (a harder jump that you must predict somewhat). Once you are on the book, you can whip the candles in the gap if you wish. The higher one has an .: AXE :. in it. The next platform has another Blood Skeleton on it and another moving book beyond. This book also travels in the same ' Z ' pattern, but is more... constricted, which actually makes it easier to jump to. The end platform is nearby so jump to it and move on to the next block. =========== BLOCK 7-2 =========== You'll see a portrait in front of you now. This is not just a regular portrait as you probably guessed. It's called a GRABBING PORTRAIT, and will grab and hold you if you pass under it without whipping it. There will be a TON of bats right after this first portrait, so whip it and get ready for 4-5 Bats to come at you. Walk forward and on this lower level you'll see a statue past some stairs. This statue is holding a giant stone ball, and if you go stand by it the ball will drop down onto the screen, trying to hurt you, so WHENEVER you see one of these statues go stand next to it and see if it falls or not! The wall to the RIGHT of this first statue is breakable and houses some big .: MEAT :. in it. Above you a WOLF will be running around as well. This guy is easy to kill but will jump around and KNOCK DOWN CANDLES, which is interesting to say the least. Kill it and head up (the candle to the far left is a big heart, FYI). Kill the Axe Armor up here and head down. Now, further on notice the spikes on the ceiling. See how close they are to us? Get ready to duck! As you proceed under the spikes, a RUG CREATURE will appear and move swiftly along the floor. This thing can't hurt you, but it does lift you up and can lift you up INTO THE SPIKES, killing you INSTANTLY, so be sure to DUCK! Past the spikes are two Bats, then another Grabbing Portrait and SEVERAL more bats (4-5 again). Now, whip the lower right candle to find a .: ROSARY :. that will take care of the Axe Armor above you and head up. Going all the way up takes you to the next screen while going to the left has you facing another Axe Armor and Stone Statue in exchange for two candles with nothing of real importance, so I recommend heading up. In fact, if you do go get the candles, you'll likely have to face the enemies from the right again (another Axe Armor and tons of Bats), so just head up. You'll see a Clubbing Knight here, so watch out before walking all the way up and getting yourself clubbed. The right wall here is BREAKABLE and houses a BIG piece of .: MEAT :. so be sure to grab it. You'll likely see a Hellhound above you knocking lights down, so try and kill him (the candles he is knocking down don't contain anything special - small hearts). Head up watching for the other Clubbing Knight and head right. You'll see (and hear) a weird red worm thing here (a Fire Worm I am told), which is honestly best left alone. The thing will naturally squirm around and head off-screen given time, so just let it. Move past the upper part and down to the lower part, watching out for the boulder down here. Before heading down, note that the candle on the far left has some .: MEAT :. in it. Grab it if you wish and then go down. Here you'll see a BUNCH of candles to the left. Head even further down and you'll see more spikes! You know what that means! That damn rug monster is near! Traverse under the spikes and DUCK when it comes out. Watch out for the boulders after the spikes and head up. Up here, there will be TWO Axe Knights, one to your left and one to the right. Neither of them can hit you from where you start, so be careful and attack when it's safe to do so. There will be a Clubbing Knight after the Knights, along with a piece of .: MEAT :. in a candle, which you should grab. The next Grabbing Portrait will hold you as four Bats come at you, so get ready. After this last Portrait head forward to face the boss of this level. +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Sir Grakul - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Hey, it's a Knight! How cool is that!? Sir | | Grakul actually has two forms. When he starts this fight, he'll have | | an axe to fight with, but as you damage him he'll lose his axe (it | | breaks) and he'll start fighting with a sword. | | | | A cross here can help a ton (in fact, having a cross with a 'III' can | | utterly destroy him), but the key to this fight is using the upper | | area on either side of the room and recognizing what attacks he can do | | and their range. Sir Grakul's axe attacks both are ranged threats, but | | if timed right, you can dodge both of them (see the attacks below for | | advice). His sword attack is, frankly, pathetic, so the real threat in | | this battle is his axe form. Don't think that dodging attacks is the | | ONLY way to win, as I've literally ducked in the corner and whipped | | him to death, but dodging is the safest way for sure. Check out his | | attacks below (especially the axe attacks) and keep whipping like | | crazy to come out on top. | | | | - Axe Throw: Sir Grakul will chuck his axe at you and have it return to | | him, much like the cross. He ONLY uses this move when there's some | | distance between you two, so you can use the distance to predict WHICH | | attack he's going to use. From the ledge, you can jump right as the | | axe approaches and have it miss you. Don't jump too early! | | | | - Axe Smash: Sir Grakul will slam the axe down, which isn't THAT scary | | as you have more range, but the axe goes on to spit fireballs that | | travel along the ground in either direction. When you are on the | | ledge, jumping TOO EARLY can get you in trouble, so keep your cool | | when the axe comes down and jump over the fireballs to avoid this | | attack. He'll use this when he's CLOSER to you. | | | | - Sword Swing: Sir Grakul's most pathetic attack: a simple sword swing. | | He can move forward quite quickly at times, but I don't think he can | | actually hit you if you're on the ledge and jumping when he attacks. | | Well, maybe if you're asleep... | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Onward to Stage VIII! ============================================================================== Stage VIII: Catacombs =====================================================================[SC08]=== =========== BLOCK 8-1 =========== Now Playing: "Cellar" Time: 449 Seconds Well, we're in a dungeon now. Fun. No time to look around, kill the Spider coming down and collect the candles if you wish. Up ahead are spike blocks, and as you can guess DO NOT let them crush you. Kill another spider past a pit and STOP. See the green liquid in front of you and the drop falling down!? This is ACID and it WILL hurt you. Yes, unlike other drops in other stages, THIS will hurt you, so dodge it and on the other side watch out for the Thornweed on the ground (he's sneaky). To the right is a Bone Pillar, but be careful as a Ghost Eyeball is above you, dropping acid. Quickly take out the Bone Pillar and then whip straight up to kill the Eyeball. No need to take the stairs as you can kill the upper Bone Pillar from the lower floor as well. Head up the stairs and watch for an acid drop before going down the next set of stairs. A swinging spike block is down here, but its slow as heck, just be careful of the Thornweed under the spike block. An Axe Armor is on a ledge past the swinging block, so take him out. Now, this next part has a lower path and a higher path. You MUST take the higher path to continue by jumping on the spike block where you killed the Axe Armor, buy you may wonder what is on the lower path. Nothing, really, just some hearts and an .: AXE :. in the central candle. Ride the spike block upwards and jump onto the ledge. You'll have a Ghost Eyeball come out to meet you, so quickly kill it (I hold my whip out and have him run into it). You'll have more spike platforms here. There's no challenge on the first one, but hang back until the second one goes down and THEN jump to advance the screen as a Bone Pillar is waiting for you. Whip the thing to death and head to the edge where another Ghost Eye will appear for you to kill. Before jumping note that the platform below you has a drop of acid both before and after it, AND a Ghost Eyeball will come out. Kill it quickly and jump below, avoiding the acid. Here another spike block will fall with a Bone Pillar beyond it. You can KILL this Bone Pillar from your current platform, so do so before using the spike block to continue. The first candle down here has some .: MEAT :. in it for you. To head up you need to get past two more Bone Pillars. Kill the left one from underneath, then head up and kill the next one before heading up to the new screen. Up here, wait until the spike swing goes to the left and get past it. The spike block going up and down here NEEDS to be jumped on, but it ascends rather fast, so jump on it quickly (This is life or death if you mess up, y'know! Watch it carefully and jump when it should go down). There will be another low spike swing here, but the LOW candle has the .: STOP WATCH :. in it, which we really haven't seen much of before, so grab it if you wish. It is more expensive at 5 hearts per use, but it can definitely help (I won't be assuming you took it). Past the spike swing are two consecutive spike blocks. Just jump on top of the first one to get past them both. Now, see the candle below you? That one out of the way? It has a .: DAGGER :. in it. Also, do you see the blades above you? As you walk underneath, each of them will fall, so you'll need to hurry. As you hurry underneath, ignore the candles (you can go back for them if you wish) but also note the Ghost Eyeball that appears. There's a ledge further up with a Skeleton Dragon guarding it, but the candle here has a .: ROSARY :. in it, so I recommend grabbing the rosary to deal with both of those enemies. Beware of the acid drop and jump to the next platform to battle another Skeleton Dragon. No trick to beating this guy: you have to whip him! Given how close you are, stand back a big and hold your whip out (limp) to protect yourself from fireballs between whips, as you can basically time his fireballs by watching him. Another drip of acid is between you and the next platform (stupid acid), and a bat will greet you up here, so kill it. There's another drop of acid, so be careful and jump to the next platform and beyond. There is a Bone Pillar down here you can kill, but the wall behind it can be destroyed for a big piece of .: MEAT :.. A bat will show up from the right, but you can easily go up the stairs without worrying about him. Continue up the stairs and note the grey blocks infront of you. These will start to fall as you cross them, and as you cross bats will shop up to try and make you fall. If you DO fall, there is acid below so you WILL get hurt, but keep heading to the right to get out of the acid. There are a total of THREE bats that will approach you. The first two come from the right like normal, and can be killed easily with a whip swing. In fact, the blocks ONLY drop when you fill the screen with them, so you can get out there and kill the first two bats WITHOUT THE BLOCKS DROPPING. The third bat comes in from the upper-right diagonally, and is the most dangerous bat as the blocks WILL be dropping by then, so take it out (hold the whip if you miss) and reach the far platform. The next block is just to the right. =========== BLOCK 8-2 =========== We're on a vertical screen now. I definitely DO NOT recommend falling down in this section. Also, the WORN DOWN looking sections of the staircases here and throughout the level will BREAK if you whip them, just FYI, with the debris able to hurt you. Kill the Thornweed above you and at the top of the staircase then drop down on the right. A Medusa Head floats by below, but can't hit you on the upper platform. Once its gone head down the stairs. To the left is a Hanging Skeleton that will come out of a hole. You can either head down the stairs on the right and kill a Hanging Skeleton and continue on going down or drop off to the left and kill a Thornweed on a lower platform. You'll see a spike block moving up and down down here. A Medusa Head flies by down here, but once it's done drop down. To the right, beyond the spike block, are candles and the far right one has a .: DAGGER :. in it. Now, instead of going left wait until the right spike block heads up and go under it to drop down. Kill the Hanging Skeleton down here. Now, if you head up, you'll see a spike block on the left has a candle behind it. If you need it, that candle has some .: MEAT :. in it, just be careful and let the spike block go up. There's also a Thornweed in front of the stairs going down, so kill it and move on. Down here carry on until you're in front of two spike blocks. As you can see, you need to wait to get past these safely. The second one is the dangerous one here. Go when IT is headed up, or about to head up and remember to duck and walk and you'll be ok. Continue on and before going up grab the candle past the coffin for a .: INVISIBILITY POTION :.. Head up and kill the Hanging Skeleton, but before dropping down to the right watch out for acid drops. A swinging spike block hangs out down here, but its rather slow and easy to dodge, there's also another acid drop here, so be careful. There will be four blades that drop down from the ceiling now, so run under them and stop at the end of the ground. An acid drop is here (again...) as well as a Ghost Eyeball, so stay here and take it out before going on. To the right will be another up and down spike platform, this one guarding the next ground portion. Wait until it rises to the top and drop down under it without touching the acid (DROP, don't jump). The candle between the spike blocks has a .: DAGGER :. in it, and past the second spike block is another Hanging Skeleton. Past the skeleton the screen gets cut in half as spikes come down after the ceiling. You can DUCK and WALK underneath ALL OF THESE so be sure to remain safe. In the middle one of the candles has some .: MEAT :. in it. At the end you can head up to the left for points/hearts (beware the Hanging Skeleton), and to the right you will see the floor is giving way. There are six blocks here, and the first four often appear together or close together. The fifth often shows up when they are about to disappear and you can jump to the safe spot from the fifth block. There are three blades to watch out for, but you should be able to get under the first quickly and stand to the right of the fourth platform to have the second miss you. This is a tricky section, no doubt about it, but once you're on the fifth platform you can jump to the far platform under the third blade to make it to the end of this stage and a boss: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - The Monster - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Time to fight Frankenstein. This is honestly | | probably one of the easiest fights I've fought. The monster is rather | | slow and only attacks by throwing vials. These vials do special things | | depending on their color. However, there are only three different | | types of vials, AND two of them REQUIRE hitting the ground to work. | | Add to that fact that you can whip the vials BEFORE they hit the | | ground and you've got a rather easy fight. You can literally stand a | | whips-length away and whip the crap out of the monster and stop every | | two to three whips to destroy the vial he throws by whipping upwards, | | then go back to whipping him. Use this strategy and the knowledge of | | his attacks below to come out on top. | | | | - Pink Vial: The Pink Vial is much like the monster's Holy Water attack. | | When it hits the ground, a wave of blue flames will cover the ground, | | covering a portion of the ground. This vial NEEDS to hit the ground to | | work, and you can avoid it entirely by standing on a platform as well. | | | | - White Vial: The White Vial is quite powerful. Once it hits the ground | | it creates a copy of The Monster. You can destroy this copy in a few | | hits though. Left alone the copy will shamble along like its master. | | This vial NEEDS to hit the ground to work. | | | | - Green Vial: The most dangerous vial. This vial DOES NOT need to hit | | the ground, and can break in mid-air. It sends a wave of small green | | fireballs towards the ground in a spread pattern and then leaves them | | there to burn for awhile. Do your best to get in-between the spread. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Onto Stage IX! ============================================================================== Stage IX: Treasury =====================================================================[SC09]=== =========== BLOCK 9-1 =========== Now Playing: "Treasury Room" Time: 650 Seconds The background of this area is pretty cool, all littered with gold and rising spirits and whatnot. But we have no need for treasure! Our mission is a holy one! The music here is pretty cool too, once you let it get going... Head down and watch out for the bats that show up. You'll see chests after that. It's pretty cool how the lids work on these things. Jump on them and see. There's another bat before a GOLD SKELETON jumps down. Don't let him jump on you (head back to the left) and destroy him afterwards. Note the floor here may break up a bit, but its ok. Keep going to take down another bat and watch a Gold Skeleton jump to his death, then gather up the candles and head down. Down the stairs there will be two Gold Skeletons below you... a dangerous place for you to be in. Quickly head to the right and get down there so you can take them out. Note the last upper ledge will disappear as you step on it. With them both taken out, head left and kill another Bat and Gold Skeleton. There is a platform here that leads up, but it honestly doesn't lead to anything worthwhile, so stay down and head onward, killing any Bats or Gold Skeletons you find. Climb the stairs at the end, kill another Gold Skeleton, and head down to the next screen. Head down now and get ready to get across the disappearing gold platforms. The candles here are NOT worth stopping for. At the end of these platforms will be two Gold Skeletons, one below and one above. Get on the lower platform ASAP (don't stand on the ledge to the left) and kill the Gold Skeleton. The candle down here has an .: AXE :. in it by the way, so be careful if you don't want it. You can then kill the other skeleton above. He will sometimes jump down. Get to the upper platform and before dropping down note the RING to the upper right. Jump up and whip it, then swing further on and use the next ring to get to an area with SIX candles. Among these candles are a .: ROSARY :. and a small piece of .: MEAT :.. JACKPOT! After killing all the enemies with the rosary, head down and continue on up some stairs. To the right is another set of disappearing gold platforms. Once again, NONE of these candles are worth dying for. Quickly get across them to a safe platform beyond, but don't stick to the left ledge as a Gold Skeleton and Bat here will rush you. Head forward a bit and kill them. This way if you get hit, at LEAST you won't fall to your death. Further on is another Bat and Gold Skeleton and a Gold Skeleton before you come to the end of this block. =========== BLOCK 9-2 =========== Gather the candles here and kill the Skeleton Dragon facing away from you. Now, from here you can use the RINGS to bypass all the nonsense below and reach another upper platform, this one with a .: STOPWATCH :.. From there you can drop down and continue to the right. Otherwise, you have to deal with two Snapper Caskets. The real note down here though is the ROCK HOLES that will occasionally SUCK you in and HOLD you in place. These things are just annoying. Past the second Casket, keep going to defeat another Skeleton Dragon and collect the candle past it for some .: MEAT :. before going down. Down here kill another Skeleton Dragon facing away from you and then use the upper rings to get to the left. The candles in a row to the right are all small hearts. If you fail on the rings, don't worry: the floor here is loose coins that you can jump out of to the chest in the middle. Jump from the chest and whip up to the second ring and use that to swing to the ledge beyond. From here ignore the casket and candles and go further down. You'll notice spikes down here and falling blocks. AS SOON as the third set of blocks falls, quickly leap onto each column of blocks to make it across. You'll face more wind tunnels down here (rock holes). Head up the stairs once you come to them and jump to the platform to the right with the Casket on it. Here, LET THE AIR HOLE SUCK YOU IN to be taken to a SECRET AREA: In this secret area, the first candle has a big piece of .: MEAT :. in it. The rest of the upper candles here are points and hearts. Down below, there are rock holes on each side that will take you back, but the candles down there have hearts and sub-weapons in them. From left to right you have the .: DAGGER :., .: HOLY WATER :., .: CROSS :. and .: AXE :.. Leave by getting sucked up again. Drop down and head to the right once the wind allows you. Kill the Skeleton Dragon here. The angle from the wind down here makes it easy to kill the dragon. Ignore the lower Casket and head up, killing the Bone Pillar before heading further up. Up here, whip the left candle for some .: MEAT :. and swing onwards. Climb up to kill a Gold Skeleton above you. Another one on the upper left will jump down so you can kill him as well. Head up and you'll see you have a choice to go left or right. Your choice determines how you'll kill the Skeleton Dragon above you. The left path is what I'd choose, as you face the dragon head-on. The right path puts you behind him, but without much moving room you are apt to get hit and fall down, possibly to your death. Choose your path and kill the dragon, then head up. Use the Ring up here to swing to the left and head up. Kill the Skeleton Dragon and Gold Skeletons up above you (use the chest to kill the Skeleton Dragon by jump-whipping). Use another ring to continue and climb up to the next screen. Here a Gold Whip Skeleton will jump down to you, so hang to the left and take him out. To the right is another Gold Skeleton (yarg!) and above him another Gold Whip Skeleton. The candle by the Gold Skeleton has some .: MEAT :. in it though, so grab it and continue. You'll soon come to this stage's boss: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Zapf Bat - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Well, a giant, golden bat. I suppose it is very | | appropriate for this stage. This fight isn't THAT bad, to be honest, | | but the Zapf Bat does have two different forms. Each of those forms | | only has a single attack though. The first form takes up half of the | | bosses health and is just the big bat with the first attack listed | | below. Once you deplete half of its health, it will split into three | | much smaller bats. The big bat only hangs up in the upper part of the | | screen unless it attacks, and due to that the AXE sub-weapon is handy | | here. Also, when you whip him, DEBRIS will fall down to the left and | | right. This debris can hurt you, so attacking him straight up is the | | way to go. | | | | The second form of three bats is all about moving around the screen | | randomly, making them much more dangerous. They also fling out debris | | when you whip them, and also do the coin drop attack below. This fight | | isn't TOO tough as long as you don't let any of the bats (especially | | the big one) hit you, so stay cool and avoid the debris as you attack | | and you'll be ok. | | | | - Bat Swoop: This is the first form's attack. It will pause for a split | | second up in the air before swooping down at you. It can cover nearly | | half the screen doing this, so you need to get away quickly. He does | | this attack around every 10 seconds, so if he hasn't done it in a | | while, anticipate it coming and get away from him early. | | | | - Coin Drop: This is the small bats only attack, aside from moving | | around all over the place. They will occasionally drop coins directly | | below them, so be careful about standing directly under them and | | moving under them. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ From here, you will go to "Stage A". Why they made this 'Stage A' instead of 'Stage X' is beyond me, but oh well... ============================================================================== Stage A: Clock Tower =====================================================================[SC0A]=== =========== BLOCK A-1 =========== Now Playing: "Bloody Tears" Time: 599 Seconds Ah, it wouldn't be a Castlevania game without a Clock Tower stage, and the track 'Bloody Tears' is an absolute classic. In this stage, we'll be facing gears and cogs that make us move, so get ready! This first screen has no enemies, but has some cogs and gears for you to get used to jumping on. All the candles here are small, so continue up to the next screen. Here, kill the Bone Pillar and use the gear to jump to the right. The candle here is a .: DAGGER :. so grab it if you wish and kill the Bone Pillar to the left. BEFORE jumping on the grey blocks, kill the Schimitar Skeleton up above you, THEN go up. Continue up and kill another Schimitar Skeleton above you and use the gear here to jump up and to the left (the candle to your right has a big heart in it). Continue up and use the two cogs you find to get higher so you can whip a RING to the left and swing to the left. Kill ANOTHER Schimitar Skeleton here and head up to a new screen. Here, a Medusa Head is closing in from the right, with a Whip Skeleton jumping down to the left. Keep climbing up and at the top the Medusa Head will miss you due to its pattern and you can kill the Skeleton from this vantage point. Continue to the right to kill another Skeleton, but three more Medusa Heads will show up, so be ready to dodge/kill them. Drop down and you'll see some gears. This part is VITAL: the middle gear takes you to the right, but has SPIKES above it, so you MUST DUCK while it takes you to the right and jump to the ledge beyond. The upper candle here has a .: DAGGER :. in it. You'll also see traveling RINGS rotating in a rectangular pattern. Whip one and ride it to the right, jumping off and killing the Schimitar Skeleton before heading up. Whee! Avoid the Medusa Head and kill the Axe Armor on the platform to the right. Then get on the stairs and kill the next one. Get ready for some quick reflexes now (read ahead). As you head up the second set of stairs, a GEAR will break off and come at you, so quickly press DOWN to walk down the second and first set of stairs to avoid it, then continue on. When you get on the lower platform, another GEAR will fall down, so quickly jump up to the second platform. Continue up now and use the ring to continue to the right where you'll have to kill an Axe Armor and a Skeleton Dragon above you. There is another set of rotating rings here, which can make it hard to hit the Skeleton Dragon, so be careful. You don't want to whip one, lower yourself, and fall to your death! You can get further in, after the rings head up, to whip straight up and kill him easily. We must ride the rings up now. On the way up is an Axe Armor, but you can jump to a platform below him and kill him that way, then continue riding up. There is also a SMALL platform on the left with a candle that houses a rare .: STOPWATCH :. if you want it. There's also two candles near the end on the right, one of which has a .: HOLY WATER :. in it. Drop yourself off at the top near some stairs. Take the right up as that candle has .: MEAT :. in it and kill the Axe Armor up here. There are two sets of GREY BLOCKS further up. Jump on the edge of the first one and quickly to the second one as a Medusa Head will be chasing you. Quickly jump to the platform past the grey blocks and duck to have it miss you. Continue on and kill the Axe Armor above you before coming to another set of rotating rings that we'll have to ride up. Before heading up, note that we want to land on the first left platform, so ride up and quickly build up some momentum so you can land there, then you can kill the Skeleton Dragon here easily. Now you can head up without any threat and onto the next block. =========== BLOCK A-2 =========== Kill the Blood Skeleton in front of you and continue, killing a Schimitar Skeleton and another set of Blood and Schimitar Skeletons. The second candle from the end has some .: MEAT :. in it. Continue on to come to the boss of this stage: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Akmodan II - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: For a proper remake, you MUST have Akmodan. This | | boss battle is harder then the recent one's we've done, but like most | | battles there is a trick to this fight. First, note the layout of | | this boss arena. There's the major platform in the middle and two | | small platforms on either side. Akmodan can appear on any one of these | | through teleporting (does anyone else feel that DEATH should be the | | boss here!?). Akmodan will then unleash one of his two attacks. Both | | of his attacks are projectiles, and you can destroy both of them, but | | the real threat in this battle is getting knocked off and falling to | | your death. | | | | Akmodan will walk when he's on the middle platform, and if he happens | | to corner you to the upper right, even with you holding your whip out | | to destroy projectiles, you may still get hit and fall to your death. | | Therefore, to play it REALLY safe, you should hang out on the lower | | left corner whenever he arrives in the middle. The rest should be | | easy: just whip him to hell and you'll win. | | | | - Fireball Attack: When Akmodan appears, he'll start making dozens of | | fireballs appear near his head. These things move forward randomly, | | but only have limited range as they turn around after a bit. Your | | whip has more range, so you should be ok with this attack. | | | | - Bandage Throw: A disgusting attack, Akmodan throws bandages at you. | | They travel the screen's distance, but you can destroy them. They also | | move up and down slightly. This is the only dangerous attack if you | | are on the lower left, so be extra careful and destroy any that get | | TOO close to you. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Ok, with the mummy dead it is onto the final stage, Stage B. ============================================================================== Stage B: Castle Keep =====================================================================[SC0B]=== =========== BLOCK B-1 =========== Now Playing: "Vampire Killer" Time: 998 Seconds Well, our time together is almost over. Unbelievable. Look at our time limit as well: 998 seconds. Wow! Well, let's get to it. The new enemies below you are Dhurom (That's what Castlevania Crypt calls them, but Dullahan is probably what I'll use). Kill the two below you (I stand on the stairs and flail my whip at them to be safe) and head down. Kill another one and continue down (there are falling blocks here that pose no danger). The next Dullahan you see you can kill from above by dangling your whip, as it's safer to drop off the platform to the left then it is to go the right path. Kill one more and head down to the next screen. Continue on until you see a bridge area. Before stepping on it, realize that as you do it will crumble, so you'll need to hurry along. To emphasize that, a TON of bats (a bat swarm) will appear behind you and chase you as well. All the candles that you see along the way have NOTHING worth losing your life for, or even getting hit for, so hurry along until you reach solid ground and enter the next block. =========== BLOCK B-2 =========== Now Playing: "Beginning" As you enter this block, you'll undoubtedly see the huge circular saw beneath you. This thing's sole purpose is to hurry us up, as it will follow us up and, if it catches us, it'll kill us instantly, so let's go! Head up either set up steps, as it doesn't matter too much. As you head up, you'll see a Dullahan. The candle to the far left on the same level has a .: DAGGER :. in it, FYI (you should skip it and hurry). Quickly kill the Dullahan and start climbing again. You'll be dropped off on a platform after this staircase, so fall and jump to the next platform and climb the two short staircases. As you get to the right platform, a Rock Monster will come out, so quickly kill it and head to the left. Here, there will be three staircases and you must drop off to each one until you reach the end. Up here, the candle to the left has an .: AXE :. in it, if you care to own one. Keep climbing and ignore the Rock Monster that appears. You'll soon see two DARK RINGS. Quickly whip the first one and build up some momentum so you can reach the upper right platform. Climb it up to the flat surface. Up here, chunks of rocks will move on the screen, floating up to the upper-right. You must ride these up. Do so and hop to the left as you go up, avoiding the spikes as you go. There are a lot of platforms, so this task should be pretty easy. Continue up until you reach a lull in the platforms and start a second set, which leads up to a platform where the platforms stop. Climb up the stairs and kill the Dullahan and the Skeleton behind him. Keep heading up and kill the next set of Dullahan and Skeleton. At the top you'll find some .: MEAT :. in a candle. Up here, a third set of platforms will appear to take you further up, but before you go let me just tell you that you must JUMP QUICKLY TO THE LEFT, as spikes are coming up on the ceiling to kill you. I do mean be QUICK! At the top, past the spikes is another safe area, with another candle to the left that has some more .: MEAT :.. Grab it if you need it and continue to the right to another block. =========== BLOCK B-3 =========== Now Playing: "Room of Close Associates" Head forwards and grab the six candles if you wish, then steel yourself to face the first of a chain of bosses: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Slogra - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Ah, the famous Slogra. Now THIS fight is hard, | | especially if you don't know his pattern. Like other bosses, Slogra | | has two forms. In his first form he has his trusty spear with him, | | and uses it to thrust it at you and shoot fireballs out of it (his | | first two attacks). Once you take down his HP, he'll lose his spear | | and start dashing at you. | | | | The KEY to this battle is recognizing his pattern. First, note that | | HITTING Slogra makes him go back up into the air and come down WHERE | | you were when you hit him, so as you can imagine you'll need to MOVE | | a lot during this battle. For the FIRST FORM, the key is all about | | moving and crouching to attack. Start by crouching and hitting him | | when he comes down, then as he goes back up QUICKLY get to the other | | side of the room (between the pillars) and DUCK, then TURN and hit | | him again. You'll have to wait a BIT for Slogra's invincibility to | | wear off, but this is a pattern you can repeat until his spear breaks. | | | | For his second form, he'll start dashing at you. From here, what I | | do is whip him and then get across the screen and get on the PILLAR. | | From here, Slogra will dash at you, but you can duck and whip him as | | he comes and the added distance (and time) should mean you can hurt | | him. Now, run over to the other pillar and do the same thing. Keep | | doing this until he is dead. | | | | - Spear Thrust: Slogra's basic attack in his first form. He'll thrust | | his spear at you. With our ducking strategy above, this attack should | | be easily avoided. | | | | - Fireball Attack: Slogra's special spear attack: he can shoot fireballs | | out of his spear. Ducking makes these fireballs miss you, but these | | fireballs can also explode, hitting everything in a small area. You | | should stick with your strategy, but this attack MAY get a few good | | hits in on you nonetheless. | | | | - Dash Attack: Slogra's second form attack. Without a spear, Slogra | | will just try and tear you apart. Use the pillar strategy above to | | counter this attack, so you have more distance between the two of you. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Ok, good job. Now continue on and whip the candles you find, as the next three candles in a row (two on this screen and one on the next) all have some .: MEAT :. in them. Continue on and soon you'll be facing your next boss battle: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Gaibon - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Slogra's companion Gaibon. Perhaps they should | | have teamed up, eh? Like Slogra, Gaibon has two forms, but I find him | | WAY easier. You can easily stand on the left platform when Gaibon | | comes out and get in 2-4 good hits (don't forget to hit upward). From | | here, go stand on the ground in jumping distance to the left platform | | and wait for Gaibon to do his two attacks. When he does the firestream | | attack, you can stand by the platform to have him always miss and then | | punish him by whipping upwards. When he does his landing attack, you | | can whip him as he comes down and then jump to the platform or, if you | | get hit, just keep whipping him. | | | | On his second form, you MUST have some distance between the two of | | you at all times. His only attack here are TONS of fireballs, but you | | can either predict their angle and run away or brandish your whip | | about to destroy the fireballs. You can get him into a pattern of | | either going to the middle and spitting fireballs with you standing | | off to the left or right brandishing the whip and then whipping up to | | hit him, or he may stop on the side of each screen in which case you | | can jump-whip him (from a 45 degree angle) as he stops and retreat to | | have the attack miss you. Either way, keep it up and you'll bring him | | down. Easier than Slogra, right? | | | | - Firestream: Gaibon comes down a bit and shoots a stream of fire. This | | is a pretty pathetic attack, as he only gets the middle of the area | | with it, so... y'know... just don't hang out there too much. | | | | - Landing: Gaibon pauses and lands on the ground. Well, crashes down is | | more like it. This causes spikes to come out of the ceiling in a | | random fashion. Gaibon will then fire off three fireballs in a row | | parallel to the floor. | | | | - Spread Fireballs: Gaibon's only pissed-off form attack. He fires off | | three streams of 4-5 fireballs. Pretty much impossible to avoid if he | | happens to be right on top of you, but you can avoid it with distance | | or take on the edges of it by brandishing your whip. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ With THAT beast dead continue onwards and up to a new screen. Whip all of the candles up here for another piece of .: MEAT :. (only one!) and some more hearts. Kinda wish they gave us more meat, but it'll have to do. Continue on to face the next boss: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Death - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Like most bost fights, this fight is infinitely | | harder if you don't know what you're doing. There's only one real | | sure-fire way to stay safe in this fight, but let's go over what he | | does first. At the start of the battle, Death floats in the middle of | | the screen summoning shadows of himself to him. Soon he'll start his | | attack. For the most part Death flies around sending out sickles. | | These sickles are semi-homing, and will make a beeline straight for | | you. If they go past you, they'll return as well. Besides the sickle | | attack, Death really only has two other attacks. He'll pause on the | | right side of the screen and swoop down with his scythe in a 'U' | | movement, and in the other attack he'll stay on the lower right and | | toss his scythe out (see the attacks below). | | | | The absolute SAFEST way to take on Death is to stay to the left of | | the left platform. From here you can brandish your whip to take out | | ALL sickles. Death will also sometimes chill out above you for a bit, | | giving you a chance to hit him and during his Scythe Swing attack, | | the one with a 'U', you can whip up and right (at a 45 degree angle) | | to hit him. When he does his Scythe Throw attack, you can duck and be | | safe by staying over to the left. | | | | The more adventurous (and brave) gamer can go attack Death when it | | starts to come down for his Scythe Throw attack to get in several hits | | and then move to the left so they don't get sucked in, turning around | | to hit it some more. Remember that you can JUMP the scythe when it | | comes around the first time. Doing these attacks is definitely more | | risky, but if you can get in 7 hits or more it should be worth it. | | | | - Homing Sickles: The attack that makes this fight a pain, Death will | | CONSTANTLY summon sickles when he isn't doing one of the below | | attacks. Brandishing your whip can destroy these, but be sure you are | | facing Death. | | | | - Scythe Swing: Death starts this attack by pausing for a moment in the | | upper right corner and swooping down in a 'U' movement while swinging | | his scythe. You can hit him from beyond the left platform when he does | | this, but just barely. | | | | - Scythe Throw: Deaths most interesting attack, he moves to the lower | | right corner and throws his scythe. It travels through the middle of | | the screen and then lowers itself and returns to Death across the | | bottom of the screen. WHILE he does this, he tries to draw you into | | himself with a sucking force. When Death gets his scythe back, he | | throws it again but this time when it returns it doesn't follow the | | bottom of the screen and instead heads up near the end. This is | | important as you can JUMP OVER the scythe the first time it comes back | | but you should keep moving to the left during the second time. You can | | hit Death several times during this attack, even when he is trying to | | suck you in if you put some distance between the two of you and turn | | around quickly to whip him and then go back to running away. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ After the fight, some blocks will show up to the left allowing you to continue on. Walk down the hallway as it lights up as you pass (ooo, how foreboding!). You'll reach an outside area with a stairway leading up. **STOP!** There is a secret area nearby, but it requires a little trust out of you. From the bottom of the staircase, jump out into the open and aim for the middle of the screen. You'll land on an invisible platform. Now, this middle invisible platform has some stairs leading down and to the left from it, so follow it down and jump to the left. In return for your faith, you'll be rewarded with a TON of MEAT, BIG HEARTS, WHIP UPGRADES, a CROSS SUB-WEAPON, a DOUBLE ICON, and a TRIPLE ICON giving you all you need to take on the last challenge of the game. Now you need to return up the invisible staircase and jump up to the normal staircase. Head up the stairs. Getting goosebumps yet? The first candle here has a piece of .: MEAT :. and the rest have hearts (I believe one has a .: CROSS :. if you don't have one already). Keep heading to the left to face the great evil that it is you bloodline's destiny to stop: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Dracula - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Here is your final challenge. Like a true final | | boss, Dracula has two forms. The first form attacks with teleporting | | and fireballs, as is standard of Dracula, but it won't be as easy as | | you think. For starters, if you jump over his fireball, it will | | splinter and shoot upwards, hitting you every time. If you whip it, | | it will splinter into smaller pieces that you can destroy or jump | | over. He uses this attack solely for the first part of the fight, so | | to be completely safe you want him to teleport a whip-length away from | | you so you can whip his head and have time to whip the fireball coming | | at you, then HOLD your whip in front of you to destroy the smaller | | fireballs. Only do this a whip-length away, as you don't have time to | | whip the fireballs if you're too close. To speed this part up a TON, | | chuck crosses during the fight. Stand in the middle and chuck one in | | each direction. | | | | Dracula will then spend some time sending out weird, randomly-moving | | lightning balls. Do your best to whip them, but note that once you do | | the small ball will spit out projectiles counter-clockwise, but once | | it is done a small piece of MEAT will drop you, giving you some | | much-needed health. Onto the first forms second attack! Dracula will | | stop shooting fireballs and instead will make two giant living | | fireballs appear. He will often try and target where you're standing | | when he makes them, as fire will hit the ground when they are coming | | to life. Once the living fireballs are made, they will slowly home-in | | on you. They die in a single hit, but will fall when hit as well, so | | you must be careful of their angle and speed when they fall. Once you | | take off 2/3rds of his health he'll throw out more weird lightning | | balls before the screen goes crazy and Dracula goes into his 2nd form. | | | | The third form is all about one thing: LIGHTNING. In this form Dracula | | will teleport around and make lightning balls appear overhead, which | | will shoot down bolts of lightning. There will be four of them each | | time. There's really no trick to this part, you simply have to get in | | between them to stay safe, ideally while being near Dracula so you can | | whip him. Also, note that the music has changed to the "Theme of Simon | | Belmont", some kick-ass music to end the fight with. Persevere and you | | will have conquered the game! | | | | - Splitting Fireball: Dracula's first attack, he fires a fireball that | | will splinter if you hit it or jump over it. Ideally you want to hit | | it one time a whip-length away, then hold your whip out to destroy the | | smaller fireballs. | | | | - Tweeked Lightning Ball: A weird lightning ball that moves around | | randomly and, when hit, spits out projectiles counter-clockwise. This | | "attack" is actually a god-send, as if it is destroyed it will drop a | | piece of meat so you can regain some health. | | | | - Living Fireball: Dracula creates two living fireballs in the air. | | When they are created, the ground below them is also set on fire. | | These fireballs will then slowly home-in on you. They die in one hit, | | but will fall down and burn after being hit, making their speed and | | angle important. There can only be two on the screen at any time. | | | | - Lightning Bolts: Dracula's attack in his second form! He will continue | | to teleport but upon reappearing he will make FOUR lightning balls | | appear overhead, each of which shoots down a bolt of lightning. You | | want to stand in-between them, of course, but they show up randomly | | so do your best to get in a hit on Dracula while quickly positioning | | yourself between the bolts. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ As the final hit lands, Dracula will appear in the middle of the screen as a nearby window breaks and sunlight pours in. Dracula turns into bats, and then they slowly die one by one (well, MOST of them...). You'll be taken to a screen of Simon watching the castle crumble and then the credits will roll. Enjoy the scenes and the music, but let it keep on playing... At the end, you can hit start to RESTART the game, only now you'll be in HARD MODE. Well, whether you choose to re-play the game or not: C O N G R A T S O N B E A T I N G S U P E R C A S T L E V A N I A I V ! Check out the extra's below, say "Hi!" to me on Facebook at Facebook.com/Bkstunt and be sure to recommend the guide at the top of the screen (on Gamefaqs.com). And be sure to check out all of my other Castlevania guides (I've done A LOT of them). Take care and keep playing! ============================================================================== Bosses ===================================================================[SC-BOS]=== Here you will find a recap of all the game's bosses. Handy if you just want to know about a boss without reading through all of this "walkthrough" nonsense... Stage 1: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Rowdain - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Rowdain is an undead-horseman, and he looks | | pretty cool. As you would expect out of a first boss, he's really | | easy. He also has two "forms". Rowdain is the horseman, so his first | | form is him riding the horse and using the first attack below. After | | you damage the horse enough, it will die and leave Rowdain on his own | | where he'll use the last two attacks. Take note of his moves below and | | you'll do just fine. | | | | - Horse Fireball: Rowdain's horse will spit fireballs at you. Stay on | | the left side of the screen where you can easily jump over them and | | keep attacking the horse's head. | | | | - Lance Swipe: This is one of Rowdain's non-horse moves. As Rowdain | | moves back and forth if you are close enought he'll swipe his lance | | at you. Just don't get TOO close. | | | | - Lance Jump: Rowdain's most common non-horse move. Seriously, he does | | this one all of the time. He'll jump high into the air and move above | | you, then he'll try to bring his lance down on you. Keep on the move | | when he does this and punish him afterwards. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage 2: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Medusa - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: The legendary Medusa, who can turn humans into | | stone with a glare. Medusa is actually REALLY easy if you know what | | to do (and have the Cross subweapon). You should actually start the | | fight by throwing some crosses as Medusa appers on the right. But even | | without the Cross, Medusa is still easy. She moves back and forth, | | sure, but she only has two attacks. Check them out below and then | | spend the battle ducking and whipping like crazy (or, if you can, | | chucking crosses AND whipping like crazy). | | | | - Stone Glare: Medusa can turn you to stone, but it is anything but | | instant. She will shoot a whirling ball out of her eyes and if you are | | hit by it you WILL turn to stone (which lasts until you are hurt). | | You can easily avoid this by ducking though. That's right, ducking | | alone removes half of her attacks. | | | | - Snake Throw: This is the only attack to worry about. Medusa will | | CONSTANTLY throw snakes at you. These arch out randomly, and can be | | hard to dodge. These snakes die very easily though, so just flail your | | whip to kill them. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage 3: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Orphic Vipers - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Ah, a pair of Dragons. Don't really know why they | | are called "Orphic Vipers" really... google didn't help me out at all | | either. Anyways, this is a really easy fight. There are two dragons | | here and each of them only has one attack. The real battle here is not | | falling down to your death! Take note of your battle arena and check | | out the dragons attacks below. You can EASILY win this battle by | | spamming axe or cross attacks, but its equally easy to win by just | | whipping like crazy. Heck, I stood in the lower left corner and just | | plain whipped up to the left one time and won easily. Plus, one Dragon | | will die half-way through the battle (as you can only hurt one at a | | time) making this fight THAT much easier. It's also good to know that | | these dragons ALTERNATE their attacks, so after the first attack you | | KNOW what is coming up next! | | | | - Spread Fireball: One Dragon will stop occasionally and shoot out three | | fireballs. These fireballs spread out as they travel. If he gets you | | at close range, you are NOT going to avoid this, but if you're off to | | the right try and dodge or jump this attack. | | | | - Fire Breath: This attack is ONLY dangerous if you get close to the | | Dragons. All it is is one Dragon stopping and breathing a stream of | | fire downwards. Very easy to avoid. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage 4: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Puwexil - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Puwexil (Don't ask me to pronounce that) is | | little more than a giant skull. Well, a giant skull that somehow has | | come to life and has a GIANT tongue. First of all, this guy falls | | down in the middle of the room, so you know where he'll first be at, | | but before wailing away on him, note that EVERY time you attack him | | skull shards will fall down from the ceiling (so you'll often have to | | flail your whip above you to protect yourself. This isn't that hard | | of a fight if you can protect yourself from retaliation. Puwexil will | | move around and use his other two attacks, so stay out of his tongue | | range and be ready to whip the other two projectile-type attacks and | | you'll be ok! | | | | - Skull Shards: This is the attack that happens whenever you HIT | | Puwexil with an attack! MULTIPLE small shards of skull will fall from | | the ceiling, so be sure to flail your whip above you when you get a | | good hit in! | | | | - Tongue Lash: This attack is Puwexil's favorite. He'll lash out his | | tongue at you. It's not a fast lash or a straight lash, so unless you | | are standing right by him you'll likely dodge this with ease. | | | | - Gas Clouds: Every so often, Puwexil will unleash three gas clouds | | from his mouth that will spread out and travel slowly across the | | screen. You can flail your whip to destroy these easily. Be careful | | of the spread, as the edge of the clouds are liable to clip your feet | | and still damage you. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Koronot - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: It takes a little while for him to appear, but | | once he does, you may be a little impressed/intimidated by the stone | | golem Koronot. Not to fear, the big guy is really a wimp! He only | | really has TWO attacks, which is pretty lame in and of itself, but as | | soon as the fight starts rocks will fall down from the ceiling. This | | is a kind of welcoming attack that Koronot didn't really do, but | | unless you want to start the fight getting his, straddle the crack | | between the second and third blocks from the left to dodge it. | | | | With that initial attack dodged, lets focus on this guy. Koronot is a | | LOT like the Stone Golems in stage 3: you HIT him and he gets SMALLER | | as you attack! You don't create duplicate copies, but every time you | | hit him he gets a bit smaller. HOWEVER, every time you hit him, you | | will make BLOCKS drop down from the ceiling! The BEST place to dodge | | them, I've found, is by standing WITHIN the third block from the left, | | which makes them fall around you. I literally spent an entire fight | | just standing on that block and getting hit whenever he did his first | | block throw attack and whipped like crazy and I won. | | | | So, memorize that spot to dodge blocks from the ceiling and then you | | just need to dodge his block throw attack and you're golden. Not a | | very hard fight, but avoiding his attacks is the key to winning. | | Check out his two moves below and turn him into dozens of blocks! | | | | - Block Throw: Koronot just walks back and forth, stopping occasionally | | to chuck a block at you. The block has a lazy, definitive arching | | pattern to it, so you should be able to dodge it. Use the moving | | platforms on either side of the arena to jump over it if you must, | | but try to lay off hurting him if you're jumping towards the ceiling! | | | | - Falling Blocks: This is the "attack" that happens whenever you hurt | | Koronot, but he can also make it happen on his own. He telegraphs it | | by jumping up and shaking the room. Like I said earlier, the BEST | | place to dodge this is by standing within the third floor block from | | the left! Try it out and soon you'll be a master at dodging this | | attack. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage 6: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Dancing Spectres - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Now this boss if pretty cool. It's a dancing | | ghost couple. They fade in and out of view as the fight, but you can | | whip them at any time. Now, the couple only really has two attacks, | | but their most DANGEROUS aspect is how they move. They take up a lot | | of space and you can't touch them. Thankfully, the room is designed | | so you CAN avoid him by climbing up and jumping past them. | | | | With a subweapon like the Cross, you can lay on some MAJOR damage (a | | cross with a 'III' can outright kill the boss if timed right). The | | boss will appear in the lower right, so get a hit in and then use the | | left blocks to dodge them. Try and get an attack in as you jump by | | turning around and whipping. The absolute BEST time to attack is when | | you use the blocks to dodge and the spectres use their THRUST move, | | keeping them high in the air and letting you get in several whip hits | | from below. The key to this fight is dodging the enemy movement and | | recognize when they are about to attack. Do that, get good at using | | the stage's blocks and check out the attacks below to come through! | | | | - Thrust: The couple will stop and pause, their rapiers in the air | | pointing upwards and outwards. They'll then thrust at you. Quite hard | | to dodge unless you're ready to, but great if they do it above you as | | you can really get in the hits. | | | | - Rapier Throw: The couple will stop and throw rapiers at you. 'Throw' | | is a strong word, as the rapiers travel slowly, three of them, in a | | spread fashion. You can destroy these to protect yourself if you | | aren't actively dodging, and they'll likely all miss you completely | | if you are. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage 7: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Sir Grakul - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Hey, it's a Knight! How cool is that!? Sir | | Grakul actually has two forms. When he starts this fight, he'll have | | an axe to fight with, but as you damage him he'll lose his axe (it | | breaks) and he'll start fighting with a sword. | | | | A cross here can help a ton (in fact, having a cross with a 'III' can | | utterly destroy him), but the key to this fight is using the upper | | area on either side of the room and recognizing what attacks he can do | | and their range. Sir Grakul's axe attacks both are ranged threats, but | | if timed right, you can dodge both of them (see the attacks below for | | advice). His sword attack is, frankly, pathetic, so the real threat in | | this battle is his axe form. Don't think that dodging attacks is the | | ONLY way to win, as I've literally ducked in the corner and whipped | | him to death, but dodging is the safest way for sure. Check out his | | attacks below (especially the axe attacks) and keep whipping like | | crazy to come out on top. | | | | - Axe Throw: Sir Grakul will chuck his axe at you and have it return to | | him, much like the cross. He ONLY uses this move when there's some | | distance between you two, so you can use the distance to predict WHICH | | attack he's going to use. From the ledge, you can jump right as the | | axe approaches and have it miss you. Don't jump too early! | | | | - Axe Smash: Sir Grakul will slam the axe down, which isn't THAT scary | | as you have more range, but the axe goes on to spit fireballs that | | travel along the ground in either direction. When you are on the | | ledge, jumping TOO EARLY can get you in trouble, so keep your cool | | when the axe comes down and jump over the fireballs to avoid this | | attack. He'll use this when he's CLOSER to you. | | | | - Sword Swing: Sir Grakul's most pathetic attack: a simple sword swing. | | He can move forward quite quickly at times, but I don't think he can | | actually hit you if you're on the ledge and jumping when he attacks. | | Well, maybe if you're asleep... | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage 8: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - The Monster - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Time to fight Frankenstein. This is honestly | | probably one of the easiest fights I've fought. The monster is rather | | slow and only attacks by throwing vials. These vials do special things | | depending on their color. However, there are only three different | | types of vials, AND two of them REQUIRE hitting the ground to work. | | Add to that fact that you can whip the vials BEFORE they hit the | | ground and you've got a rather easy fight. You can literally stand a | | whips-length away and whip the crap out of the monster and stop every | | two to three whips to destroy the vial he throws by whipping upwards, | | then go back to whipping him. Use this strategy and the knowledge of | | his attacks below to come out on top. | | | | - Pink Vial: The Pink Vial is much like the monster's Holy Water attack. | | When it hits the ground, a wave of blue flames will cover the ground, | | covering a portion of the ground. This vial NEEDS to hit the ground to | | work, and you can avoid it entirely by standing on a platform as well. | | | | - White Vial: The White Vial is quite powerful. Once it hits the ground | | it creates a copy of The Monster. You can destroy this copy in a few | | hits though. Left alone the copy will shamble along like its master. | | This vial NEEDS to hit the ground to work. | | | | - Green Vial: The most dangerous vial. This vial DOES NOT need to hit | | the ground, and can break in mid-air. It sends a wave of small green | | fireballs towards the ground in a spread pattern and then leaves them | | there to burn for awhile. Do your best to get in-between the spread. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage 9: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Zapf Bat - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Well, a giant, golden bat. I suppose it is very | | appropriate for this stage. This fight isn't THAT bad, to be honest, | | but the Zapf Bat does have two different forms. Each of those forms | | only has a single attack though. The first form takes up half of the | | bosses health and is just the big bat with the first attack listed | | below. Once you deplete half of its health, it will split into three | | much smaller bats. The big bat only hangs up in the upper part of the | | screen unless it attacks, and due to that the AXE sub-weapon is handy | | here. Also, when you whip him, DEBRIS will fall down to the left and | | right. This debris can hurt you, so attacking him straight up is the | | way to go. | | | | The second form of three bats is all about moving around the screen | | randomly, making them much more dangerous. They also fling out debris | | when you whip them, and also do the coin drop attack below. This fight | | isn't TOO tough as long as you don't let any of the bats (especially | | the big one) hit you, so stay cool and avoid the debris as you attack | | and you'll be ok. | | | | - Bat Swoop: This is the first form's attack. It will pause for a split | | second up in the air before swooping down at you. It can cover nearly | | half the screen doing this, so you need to get away quickly. He does | | this attack around every 10 seconds, so if he hasn't done it in a | | while, anticipate it coming and get away from him early. | | | | - Coin Drop: This is the small bats only attack, aside from moving | | around all over the place. They will occasionally drop coins directly | | below them, so be careful about standing directly under them and | | moving under them. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage A: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Akmodan II - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: For a proper remake, you MUST have Akmodan. This | | boss battle is harder then the recent one's we've done, but like most | | battles there is a trick to this fight. First, note the layout of | | this boss arena. There's the major platform in the middle and two | | small platforms on either side. Akmodan can appear on any one of these | | through teleporting (does anyone else feel that DEATH should be the | | boss here!?). Akmodan will then unleash one of his two attacks. Both | | of his attacks are projectiles, and you can destroy both of them, but | | the real threat in this battle is getting knocked off and falling to | | your death. | | | | Akmodan will walk when he's on the middle platform, and if he happens | | to corner you to the upper right, even with you holding your whip out | | to destroy projectiles, you may still get hit and fall to your death. | | Therefore, to play it REALLY safe, you should hang out on the lower | | left corner whenever he arrives in the middle. The rest should be | | easy: just whip him to hell and you'll win. | | | | - Fireball Attack: When Akmodan appears, he'll start making dozens of | | fireballs appear near his head. These things move forward randomly, | | but only have limited range as they turn around after a bit. Your | | whip has more range, so you should be ok with this attack. | | | | - Bandage Throw: A disgusting attack, Akmodan throws bandages at you. | | They travel the screen's distance, but you can destroy them. They also | | move up and down slightly. This is the only dangerous attack if you | | are on the lower left, so be extra careful and destroy any that get | | TOO close to you. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ Stage B: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Slogra - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Ah, the famous Slogra. Now THIS fight is hard, | | especially if you don't know his pattern. Like other bosses, Slogra | | has two forms. In his first form he has his trusty spear with him, | | and uses it to thrust it at you and shoot fireballs out of it (his | | first two attacks). Once you take down his HP, he'll lose his spear | | and start dashing at you. | | | | The KEY to this battle is recognizing his pattern. First, note that | | HITTING Slogra makes him go back up into the air and come down WHERE | | you were when you hit him, so as you can imagine you'll need to MOVE | | a lot during this battle. For the FIRST FORM, the key is all about | | moving and crouching to attack. Start by crouching and hitting him | | when he comes down, then as he goes back up QUICKLY get to the other | | side of the room (between the pillars) and DUCK, then TURN and hit | | him again. You'll have to wait a BIT for Slogra's invincibility to | | wear off, but this is a pattern you can repeat until his spear breaks. | | | | For his second form, he'll start dashing at you. From here, what I | | do is whip him and then get across the screen and get on the PILLAR. | | From here, Slogra will dash at you, but you can duck and whip him as | | he comes and the added distance (and time) should mean you can hurt | | him. Now, run over to the other pillar and do the same thing. Keep | | doing this until he is dead. | | | | - Spear Thrust: Slogra's basic attack in his first form. He'll thrust | | his spear at you. With our ducking strategy above, this attack should | | be easily avoided. | | | | - Fireball Attack: Slogra's special spear attack: he can shoot fireballs | | out of his spear. Ducking makes these fireballs miss you, but these | | fireballs can also explode, hitting everything in a small area. You | | should stick with your strategy, but this attack MAY get a few good | | hits in on you nonetheless. | | | | - Dash Attack: Slogra's second form attack. Without a spear, Slogra | | will just try and tear you apart. Use the pillar strategy above to | | counter this attack, so you have more distance between the two of you. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Gaibon - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Slogra's companion Gaibon. Perhaps they should | | have teamed up, eh? Like Slogra, Gaibon has two forms, but I find him | | WAY easier. You can easily stand on the left platform when Gaibon | | comes out and get in 2-4 good hits (don't forget to hit upward). From | | here, go stand on the ground in jumping distance to the left platform | | and wait for Gaibon to do his two attacks. When he does the firestream | | attack, you can stand by the platform to have him always miss and then | | punish him by whipping upwards. When he does his landing attack, you | | can whip him as he comes down and then jump to the platform or, if you | | get hit, just keep whipping him. | | | | On his second form, you MUST have some distance between the two of | | you at all times. His only attack here are TONS of fireballs, but you | | can either predict their angle and run away or brandish your whip | | about to destroy the fireballs. You can get him into a pattern of | | either going to the middle and spitting fireballs with you standing | | off to the left or right brandishing the whip and then whipping up to | | hit him, or he may stop on the side of each screen in which case you | | can jump-whip him (from a 45 degree angle) as he stops and retreat to | | have the attack miss you. Either way, keep it up and you'll bring him | | down. Easier than Slogra, right? | | | | - Firestream: Gaibon comes down a bit and shoots a stream of fire. This | | is a pretty pathetic attack, as he only gets the middle of the area | | with it, so... y'know... just don't hang out there too much. | | | | - Landing: Gaibon pauses and lands on the ground. Well, crashes down is | | more like it. This causes spikes to come out of the ceiling in a | | random fashion. Gaibon will then fire off three fireballs in a row | | parallel to the floor. | | | | - Spread Fireballs: Gaibon's only pissed-off form attack. He fires off | | three streams of 4-5 fireballs. Pretty much impossible to avoid if he | | happens to be right on top of you, but you can avoid it with distance | | or take on the edges of it by brandishing your whip. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Death - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Like most bost fights, this fight is infinitely | | harder if you don't know what you're doing. There's only one real | | sure-fire way to stay safe in this fight, but let's go over what he | | does first. At the start of the battle, Death floats in the middle of | | the screen summoning shadows of himself to him. Soon he'll start his | | attack. For the most part Death flies around sending out sickles. | | These sickles are semi-homing, and will make a beeline straight for | | you. If they go past you, they'll return as well. Besides the sickle | | attack, Death really only has two other attacks. He'll pause on the | | right side of the screen and swoop down with his scythe in a 'U' | | movement, and in the other attack he'll stay on the lower right and | | toss his scythe out (see the attacks below). | | | | The absolute SAFEST way to take on Death is to stay to the left of | | the left platform. From here you can brandish your whip to take out | | ALL sickles. Death will also sometimes chill out above you for a bit, | | giving you a chance to hit him and during his Scythe Swing attack, | | the one with a 'U', you can whip up and right (at a 45 degree angle) | | to hit him. When he does his Scythe Throw attack, you can duck and be | | safe by staying over to the left. | | | | The more adventurous (and brave) gamer can go attack Death when it | | starts to come down for his Scythe Throw attack to get in several hits | | and then move to the left so they don't get sucked in, turning around | | to hit it some more. Remember that you can JUMP the scythe when it | | comes around the first time. Doing these attacks is definitely more | | risky, but if you can get in 7 hits or more it should be worth it. | | | | - Homing Sickles: The attack that makes this fight a pain, Death will | | CONSTANTLY summon sickles when he isn't doing one of the below | | attacks. Brandishing your whip can destroy these, but be sure you are | | facing Death. | | | | - Scythe Swing: Death starts this attack by pausing for a moment in the | | upper right corner and swooping down in a 'U' movement while swinging | | his scythe. You can hit him from beyond the left platform when he does | | this, but just barely. | | | | - Scythe Throw: Deaths most interesting attack, he moves to the lower | | right corner and throws his scythe. It travels through the middle of | | the screen and then lowers itself and returns to Death across the | | bottom of the screen. WHILE he does this, he tries to draw you into | | himself with a sucking force. When Death gets his scythe back, he | | throws it again but this time when it returns it doesn't follow the | | bottom of the screen and instead heads up near the end. This is | | important as you can JUMP OVER the scythe the first time it comes back | | but you should keep moving to the left during the second time. You can | | hit Death several times during this attack, even when he is trying to | | suck you in if you put some distance between the two of you and turn | | around quickly to whip him and then go back to running away. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | Boss Battle - Dracula - Boss Battle | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | | - General Information: Here is your final challenge. Like a true final | | boss, Dracula has two forms. The first form attacks with teleporting | | and fireballs, as is standard of Dracula, but it won't be as easy as | | you think. For starters, if you jump over his fireball, it will | | splinter and shoot upwards, hitting you every time. If you whip it, | | it will splinter into smaller pieces that you can destroy or jump | | over. He uses this attack solely for the first part of the fight, so | | to be completely safe you want him to teleport a whip-length away from | | you so you can whip his head and have time to whip the fireball coming | | at you, then HOLD your whip in front of you to destroy the smaller | | fireballs. Only do this a whip-length away, as you don't have time to | | whip the fireballs if you're too close. To speed this part up a TON, | | chuck crosses during the fight. Stand in the middle and chuck one in | | each direction. | | | | Dracula will then spend some time sending out weird, randomly-moving | | lightning balls. Do your best to whip them, but note that once you do | | the small ball will spit out projectiles counter-clockwise, but once | | it is done a small piece of MEAT will drop you, giving you some | | much-needed health. Onto the first forms second attack! Dracula will | | stop shooting fireballs and instead will make two giant living | | fireballs appear. He will often try and target where you're standing | | when he makes them, as fire will hit the ground when they are coming | | to life. Once the living fireballs are made, they will slowly home-in | | on you. They die in a single hit, but will fall when hit as well, so | | you must be careful of their angle and speed when they fall. Once you | | take off 2/3rds of his health he'll throw out more weird lightning | | balls before the screen goes crazy and Dracula goes into his 2nd form. | | | | The third form is all about one thing: LIGHTNING. In this form Dracula | | will teleport around and make lightning balls appear overhead, which | | will shoot down bolts of lightning. There will be four of them each | | time. There's really no trick to this part, you simply have to get in | | between them to stay safe, ideally while being near Dracula so you can | | whip him. Also, note that the music has changed to the "Theme of Simon | | Belmont", some kick-ass music to end the fight with. Persevere and you | | will have conquered the game! | | | | - Splitting Fireball: Dracula's first attack, he fires a fireball that | | will splinter if you hit it or jump over it. Ideally you want to hit | | it one time a whip-length away, then hold your whip out to destroy the | | smaller fireballs. | | | | - Tweeked Lightning Ball: A weird lightning ball that moves around | | randomly and, when hit, spits out projectiles counter-clockwise. This | | "attack" is actually a god-send, as if it is destroyed it will drop a | | piece of meat so you can regain some health. | | | | - Living Fireball: Dracula creates two living fireballs in the air. | | When they are created, the ground below them is also set on fire. | | These fireballs will then slowly home-in on you. They die in one hit, | | but will fall down and burn after being hit, making their speed and | | angle important. There can only be two on the screen at any time. | | | | - Lightning Bolts: Dracula's attack in his second form! He will continue | | to teleport but upon reappearing he will make FOUR lightning balls | | appear overhead, each of which shoots down a bolt of lightning. You | | want to stand in-between them, of course, but they show up randomly | | so do your best to get in a hit on Dracula while quickly positioning | | yourself between the bolts. | | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ ============================================================================== Passwords ===================================================================[SC-PAS]=== (-NOTE-) You must leave your name BLANK at the name-entry screen for these passwords to work. Stage II: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage III: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | AXE | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | HEART| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage IV: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | HOLY | | | | | | WATER| | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | AXE | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage V: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | AXE | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | AXE | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage VI: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | HOLY | | | | | | WATER| | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | AXE | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | AXE | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage VII: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | HEART| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | HOLY | | | | HEART| | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | AXE | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage VIII: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | HOLY | | | | | | WATER| | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | HOLY | | | | HOLY | | | | WATER| | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | HOLY | | | | | | WATER| | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage IX: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | AXE | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | HOLY | | | | | | WATER| | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | HOLY | | | | HOLY | | | | WATER| | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | HOLY | | | | | | HEART| | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage A: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HEART| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | HEART| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | HEART| | | | HEART| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | HOLY | | | | | | AXE | | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage B: .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | AXE | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HEART| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | HEART| | HEART| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' Stage B (Dracula): .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | HOLY | | HOLY | | | | | | WATER| | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | HOLY | | | | | | | | WATER| | | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' .------. .------. .------. .------. | | | | | | | | | | | HEART| | AXE | | | | | | | | | | | '------' '------' '------' '------' ============================================================================== Game Genie Codes ===================================================================[SC-GGC]=== Here I'll list some Game Genie codes, just in case they help anyone out! (-NOTE-) These Game Genie Codes are UNTESTED by me. I got them thanks to CastlevaniaCrypt.com (who I trust, so they likely work) and included them in the off-chance that they help someone. If these don't work let me know! - Unlimited lives: DD6C-DD66 - 99 lives: BBB2-D4AF DDB2-D7DF 69B2-D70F - Invincibility: EEB3-DDDF (Not effective after picking up meat). - Stop Timer: 6D6D-DF06 - Start with 99 hearts: BBB3-D40F - Use weapon on first enemy for extra life: EEBA-D40F - First heart gives you 99 hearts: EEB3-D46F - Unlimited ammo for most weapons: A689-0FD7 - No energy lost when hit by some enemies: D22F-07D7 - Kill enemies and bosses faster with most weapons: D220-07D7 - Fired weapons hits multiple times before reaching target: D221-04A7 - Weapon keeps hitting enemy or candle until destroyed: D221-07D7 - Fired weapons damage enemies or candles in front, above, or below: D225-04D7 - Enemies, candles, and bosses die in your presence: F223-04D7 ============================================================================== Credits ===================================================================[SC-CRE]=== Thanks to my friend Johnathan Sawyer for the ASCii artwork. Thanks to Konami for the Castlevania series. I even enjoy the remakes! Thanks to Castlevaniacrypt.com for the assistance in stage names/enemy names/ game genie codes, boss names, etc... Anti Angel, Master Bigode and Deacon Frost for the password list and hidden areas, located under the codes section of Gamefaqs.com. Most of all, thanks to my family: My wife, for giving me the time. Thanks a ton baby! My daughter, for being who you are! My whirlwind of destruction! Never stop being you! ~ Fin