How I beat Ninja Gaiden

[L___E___T]

They're hard if you don't know the patterns.  Well, at least 1, 2, Rondo and a few others are.  Modern RPG stuff is a walk in the park.

[Nightstar699]

They're hard if you don't know the patterns.  Well, at least 1, 2, Rondo and a few others are.  Modern RPG stuff is a walk in the park.

I'd say that 1 is pretty easy so long as you know Holy Water strats - 3, however, is tough any way you slice it. I see even speedrunners botch their runs massively at that game.

[P]

3 is very hard at the end I remember, it was a long time ago I played it though. Still have never beaten the last couple of stages. 1 is only "easy" because I grew up with it and know the game inside out like fcgamer. What are those holy water strategies like?

Later non-RPG games in the series are generally a bit easier I think. Super is probably easier than 1 but longer. Rondo have many branching levels where some of them are quite hard. Playing as Richter is generally harder than Maria I think. Bloodlines is also similar in difficulty as these games. The arcade game is hard as expected though. I haven't played the Sharp X68000 game.

2 is mostly hard because in the English version the translation was mostly useless so you have no idea what to do to advance, isn't it? I wouldn't know since I never came far in that game when I borrowed it as a kid and haven't played it in years. In fact I think I'm gonna try beat that game next now when I just finished 1. Then I'm going for 3.

[Nightstar699]

What are those holy water strategies like?

Well, at the request of a friend I recorded myself playing through Castlevania, crudely since I don't have a capture card, unfortunately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaIwtTxgaqo
You can see me demonstrate a few of the Holy Water strategies here, mainly against the bosses, however I messed up big time on stage 5 and lost the Holy Water so I had to improvise against Death. I also show off a few other things like the Bat Boost and the Mesuda Head boost in stage 2.

I'd consider Super CV4 to be harder than the first game, just because of the aforementioned length, plus the fact that there's a lot of crap that can kill you in one hit there. Honestly Dracula XX on Super Fami might be my favorite in the series.

[P]

Nice playthrough. So holy water strategies just means spamming holy water bottles. I usually mess up and pick up the dagger before the Mummies and Frankenstein & Hunchback, and I usually end up fighting Death with the cross as well. The hallway of Axe Knights and Medusas right before Death is quite a bit harder with the cross than with holy water though.

For Dracula I use holy water of course, but since I died before finishing him, my hearts was reset and you only get around 12 hearts from the hallway before him. I mended that by jumping and whipping the demon king in the head and when cornered I duck close to him which makes him want to make a high jump to stomp me, giving enough time to slink in under him. Then just spamming the few holy waters I had. It worked quite well although took many tries.

I guess holy water is a bit overpowered in the first game, though it remains a good weapon in most games.

I can't believe you prefer XX before the PC Engine version though. Maria and Annette isn't even in the game (if I remember correctly)! I always preferred 4 before it, it felt like a downgrade from it the first time I played it (I missed all the whipping techniques you can do as Simon in 4).

[Jedi Master Baiter]

For Dracula I use holy water of course, but since I died before finishing him, my hearts was reset and you only get around 12 hearts from the hallway before him.

Can't you just leave the room and come back?

[P]

I never tried that, does it really work?

[Nightstar699]

Absolutely. Sometimes if I'm getting really bad luck (I.E., if I have to use the stopwatch more than you saw me use there) then even I'll go back and grind a few hearts.

Nice playthrough. So holy water strategies just means spamming holy water bottles. I usually mess up and pick up the dagger before the Mummies and Frankenstein & Hunchback, and I usually end up fighting Death with the cross as well. The hallway of Axe Knights and Medusas right before Death is quite a bit harder with the cross than with holy water though.

For Dracula I use holy water of course, but since I died before finishing him, my hearts was reset and you only get around 12 hearts from the hallway before him. I mended that by jumping and whipping the demon king in the head and when cornered I duck close to him which makes him want to make a high jump to stomp me, giving enough time to slink in under him. Then just spamming the few holy waters I had. It worked quite well although took many tries.

I guess holy water is a bit overpowered in the first game, though it remains a good weapon in most games.

I can't believe you prefer XX before the PC Engine version though. Maria and Annette isn't even in the game (if I remember correctly)! I always preferred 4 before it, it felt like a downgrade from it the first time I played it (I missed all the whipping techniques you can do as Simon in 4).

Holy Water certainly trivializes bosses! Though in the case of Frankenstein, you still have to execute good timing on your whips to ensure Igor stays stunlocked, while the Holy Water burns Frank. Surprisingly Holy Water was even more OP in the third game, as damage on multiple Holy Waters thrown stacks there, so it can destroy bosses insanely quick. Though Sypha's triple shot can do the same, when it hits with all three orbs.

A lot of people are shocked to hear that I prefer XX to Rondo of Blood, but yep, it's the truth - I mainly prefer the level design and graphic style in XX, not to mention the tougher Dracula fight. That being said, I've loved Rondo on PSP as well, both the original and remixed versions, and it's a great game. The CV1 boss re-fights were my favorite part there.

[Protoman]

Nobody noticed how the first few lines referenced Max Payne?

[P]

What first lines?

[Protoman]

What first lines?

"Jaquio was dead. The final sword slash was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the button, and then it was over. "

in Max Payne:

"They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the button, and then it was over."

[P]

Haha that's clever. I've only tested Max Payne a little bit though so I wouldn't know.