Super Castlevania IV: Boss Strategies and Other Things V1.2 (11/25/99) (Added an alternate strategy for Death; Finally decided to put an update policy in for this guide only; check the Legal Stuff) By "Emptyeye"(emptyeye@juno.com) This guide can be found at www.gamefaqs.com, vgstrategies.about.com, www.xcheater.com, www.ziplink.com/~kgagne, http://go.compuserve.com/VidGameCentral, and http://private.freepage.de/craig/nintendo/snes/cheats.htm. There are 8 Sections Section I: Version History Section II: Absolute Game Basics Section III: Power-Ups...Costs and Functions Section IV: Boss Strategies Section V: Passwords Section VI: Other Difficult Areas Section VII: This Guide's Future Section VIII: Legal Stuff Section I: Version History V1.0 (First Release...contained Sections I-V, VII, and VIII) V1.01 (SMALL rephrasings; also "Unified" the passwords into one style) V1.1 (9/6/99) (Added Section VI; Removed the notice about the different password styles [Which I should've done in 1.01]; Added 2 new urls; removed entirely my 1.0 wordings that got changed in 1.01; Changed the Version History some [Besides the obvious]; Fixed some typos; VERY slightly modified the Dracula Strategy; Modified the Legal Stuff a bit.) V1.11 (10/10/99) (Look! Another URL! That makes 6!) 1.2 (11/25/99) (Added an alternate strategy for Death; finally decided to put an update policy in for this guide only; check the Legal Stuff) Section II: Absolute Game Basics For those who lack the instruction manual to the game, I've included some basic instruction about the game. Note that I don't use button names because those can be customized in the options screen. Also note that this only applies to the actual SNES game...emulator users will have to go somewhere else for their directions. Sorry. You have your basic jump, whip & special item buttons, which can be combined (E.G. Jump & Whip), besides the control pad which moves you. In addition, if you hold the whip button for an extended period of time, the whip will go limp and you can swing it around with the control pad. You can also grab ahold of gold rings in the background with your whip, and swing using the control pad (Release the whip button to let go). You can snap the whip in any one of 8 directions by pressing that direction and whipping. You can jump onto stairs by hold up as you would be about to fall through them. Finally, you jump the same height by just TAPPING the jump button as you do by holding it. Holding the jump button after you land will cause you to stick to the floor like glue until you decide to let go of the jump button. Section III: Power-ups....Costs and Functions This sections highlights the Power-Ups and their costs and functions. Syntax is: Power-Up (Cost; Appearence)- Description of item. (NOTE: Most of the descriptions were taken from the Super Castlevania IV instruction manual, with some add-ons by me. These quoted sections are in quotation marks, complying with copyright law [And my MLA documentation guide]..it's tedious, but i'm not taking any chances.) Stopwatch (5 hearts; looks like a stopwatch)- "Stops most enemy action" for approximately 5 game seconds (Slightly slower than real seconds). Dagger (1 heart; looks like a dagger)- Flies in a straight line until it hits something. Quick but not powerful. Axe (1 heart; looks like an axe)- "Slow but powerful, it attacks in an arc." Fire Bomb (Holy Water) (1 heart; looks like a bottle of blue liquid)- Short range, but leaves a flame that destroys anything it touches. Boomerang (1 heart; looks like an x)- "Goes across screen and returns to your hand". Best weapon in the game in my opinion. Small Heart (-; looks like a small heart)- Adds one to your heart total. Large Heart (-; looks like a large heart)- Adds five to your heart total. Nameless (I call it a rosary because that's essentially what it looks like) (-; looks like a rosary)- "Destroys all enemies on screen" Invisibility Potion (-; looks like an orange jar)- "Renders you safe from harm for a few seconds"- 6 game seconds to be exact. Morning Star (-; looks like a metal snake wrapped around a dagger)- "Increases the power of the Whip in 2 levels: short chain for 1st level boost, longer chain for second level boost" Money Bag (-; looks like a money bag)- Awards either 100, 300, 500, or 700 points. Double Shot (-; looks like a II on a silver background)- "Allows use of throwing weapon twice in a row" Triple Shot (-; looks like a III on a bronze background)- "Allows use of throwing weapon three times in a row" Small Pork Chop (-; looks like a small piece of meat)- Restores 5 units of your energy bar Large Pork Chop (-; looks like a large piece of meat)- Restores 10 units of your energy bar..usually found in walls Magic Crystal (-; Looks like a red ball)- You grab this after beating a boss (Except Medusa, Puweyxil, and the 3 Bosses before Dracula) to end a level 1up (-; Looks like the letters and number "1up")- "Adds a bonus life"... usually found in walls Section IV: Boss Strategies This section details the best strategies to use in defeating each boss (Or at least the ones I use :P ). The best weapon to use is listed in parantheses next to the bosses name. Rowdain (None)- A skeleton on a skeletal horse, this boss walks back and forth, occasionally shooting fireballs. Just whip him from the platform on the left. After you take out 7 points of his energy, The rider dismounts from his horse and jumps up, trying to stab you from above. Get off the platform and just whip him to death. Careful, however- he fakes his death with 1 energy point left. Medusa (Boomerang)- She, too, goes back and forth, but she has several attacks. Her beams from her eyes can turn you to stone, and she also tosses snakes that land behind you and run toward you. Crouch, throw a boomerang at her and whip her, turning to whip any snakes that get behind you (while still crouched). Throw another boomerang when the first one returns, and continue whipping her and the snakes until victory is yours. Orphic Vipers (Axe)- The Orphic Vipers stay on the left of the screen, bodies out of view. They slither around the left half of the screen. Periodically they stop to attack- one spits 3 fireballs which slowly spread out, the other shoots a stream of flame. Axes from either of the top 2 platforms--the top one is safer, but the middle will give more hits--will yield the best results here, especially when coupled with whipping. Puweyxil (Skull) (None)- He sticks his tongue out, breathes poison gas, and (rarely) tries to land on you. In addition, when you hit him, chunks from the ceiling fall on you. Just get behind the bottom left platform, whip him, and then whip the parts of the ceiling which are about to fall on you. Also whip whatever poison clouds he spits at you. You'll take some hits, but you'll outlast him. Koranot (Axe)- A giant rock monster that gets gradually smaller as you hit him. His attacks include throwing rocks at you, and making rocks fall from the ceiling (Which CANNOT be destroyed, unlike those in the Puweyxil battle). Stay on the left edge of the screen and whip and axe him when he comes near. Also throw axes when he jumps in the air (When you whip him). He gets quicker as he gets smaller but he rarely (I think never) goes to the extreme edges of the screen. Just dodge the rocks he throws at you and those that fall from the ceiling and continue attacking and you'll beat him (Again, you'll probably take some hits..it's okay). The Dancing Spectres: Paula Abghoul and Fred Askare (None)- The Dancing Spectres enter from the right side of the screen and follow you around, periodically stopping to A. Throw 3 javelins, and B. Try to stab you. The best strategy to use is a sideways-figure-8. As they enter, whip them a few times, and climb the left platforms, jumping down when you get to the top. As they follow, whip them when you can, then climb up the RIGHT platforms, jump down, and whip them. Whip them when they stop to use the aforementioned attacks as well. Repeat until they die. Sir Grakul (None)- Sir Grakul lumbers around the floor, carrying an axe. He either A.Throws the axe, or B.Slams it on the ground, causing fire to crawl across the floor. Stay on the left elevation and duck and whip him from there, jumping to avold the flames from the Axe-Slam (Your timing has to be PERFECT)...it's very unlikely you'll be able to avoid when he throws the axe at you, but he only does that very rarely. When you get him down to 4 points of energy, he loses the axe and begins trying to hack at you with a sword. As long as you're crouched on the left elevation he shouldn't be able to hit you. Just whip the last few energy points out of him, and move on. The Monster (Dagger)- He takes a step, then throws a bottle of Holy Water. The Water will do one of 3 things depending on its color. If the Water is white, a clone of the Monster will appear after it hits the ground. This clone is semi-transparent and can be defeated in a few hits. If the Water is red, it will shoot flames along the ground upon landing. If the Water is green, it will break into 5 fireballs in mid-air. These fireballs will spread out as they come closer to the floor. Once again, stand on the left platform and whip him. If he's too far away, throw daggers at him until he's within whipping range. When he gets close, jump over him and climb onto the right platform. Do the same thing that you did while on the left platform. Repeat as necessary. Zapf Bat (Boomerang)- The Zapf Bat is made out of coins. He drops scrap as he flies around (Which doesn't hurt you), as well as when you hit him (Which DOES hurt you). He also swoops down at you occasionally. Stay underneath him, whipping straight up. Run away when he stops moving, as he will try to swoop down on you. When he's down to 7 points of energy, he will split into 3 smaller bats. These bats drop coins, which hurt you, besides still dropping scrap. The Boomerang comes in handy here, as the bats follow you around, and if you can out-run them, you can throw a Boomerang and hit multiple bats at once. Keep this up and you'll win. Akmodan II (The Mummy) (None)- Akmodan II will materialize, start walking, and shoot either mummy wrappings or fireballs. Either way, stand on the lower left platform and whip diagonally up and right at him. What if he materializes on that platform, you ask? Stand right on the left edge of the center platform, crouch, and let the whip go limp. Then repeatedly hit left on the control pad so the whip swings out at him. It should hit enough times to take out another point or 2 of his energy. Repeat until you win. Slogra (None)- Slogra uses a spear which he tries to impale you with. This spear shoots fireballs which explode after travelling a short distance, and this explosion hurts you if you happen to be under it. When Slogra first drops down, crouch just to the right of the left platform, and whip him. He will fly up into the air and try to land on you. Get as far to the right without actually jumping up onto the right platform, and crouch just as Slogra is about to hit the ground. Turn and face him (Still crouching), and once he begins flashing (He can't be hurt while he's green), whip him again. Then go back to near the left platform, and repeat the process (Make sure to duck!). After you take out half his energy, he loses the spear. He then tries to jab you with his nose. Repeat the strategy outlined above, except don't crouch, and you may have to jump over the platforms in order to avoid his jabs. Gaibon (None)- Gaibon enters from the left side of the screen (Don't be fooled by his first fly-through) and flies around. He will either A. Shoot streams of fire, or B. Drop to the floor, sending spikes from the ceiling with him, and shoot 3 fireballs. In either case, pursue him mercilessly, jumping and whipping him when you can. When he pauses in mid-air, get away, as he will attempt attack B. When you take out half his energy, he fakes his death, then turns red. This time, when he stops, he'll shoot out 3 sets of 3 spreading fireballs. Just stay on the left platform and whip him when he gets close. He shouldn't be able to hit you from there. Death (None)- After his rather cool entrance, he swoops around the top of the screen, throwing little sickles at you. At times, when he's near the right side of the screen, he will A. Swoop down on you, or B. Drop to the floor, start attempting to suck you in, and throw out his scythe, having it go across the screen twice before returning to him. It's best to take a defensive strategy with the Reaper, as he throws his sickles at a set, rhythmic time. To start, go to the left of the left platform and whip in his general direction (The purpose being to deflect any sickles that may be coming your way). He will eventually fly straight over you, at which point you should whip him for all you're worth. Soon, he'll start flying around the screen. Stay at a 45 degree diagonal angle from him, and when he's about to throw a sickle, jump up and whip at him, deflecting the sickle and hitting Death at the same time. Also whip him when he tries to swoop down on you (Stay near the middle of the screen), and when he tries to suck you in (Remember to keep trying to get away and to jump over the scythe though). (UPDATE: Charizard80@webtv.net sent me this alternate strategy for Death: AND I QUOTE... "As Death is appearing, go to the far right corner of the room. Then face left and twirl your whip by holding Y. This should cancel out his scythes. When he stops above you, move away. If he dives, smack him one, or two, maybe three. If he sucks you toward him and throws his scythe, run from him and jump over the scythe. As he flies back up, crouch, and smack him and the scythe he throws. Before he begins to suck, or if you get far enough from him, turn around and hit him once. Then move back to the corner, that is, after he flies away, and twirl your whip again. With luck and skill, you'll outlast him." Thanks!) Before I get to the Dracula Strategy, I'm not sure there's anyone who DOESN'T know about this trick, but I'll print it here anyway, just in case. Before climbing the stairs to face Dracula, jump off the edge to the left. Invisible platform! Jump off to the left again. Another invisible platform! Go to the left edge of the screen, You will get (If you don't have them already): Second level Chain Whip, Boomerang, 99 Hearts, Triple Shot, and full health (Not in that order). Now climb some invisible stairs (Hold up and right until you get to the top) back to the first invisible platform, and from there jump back to the visible platform. Now climb the stairs to face.... Dracula (Boomerang)- Many attacks to deal with here. For the first combat phase, Dracula appears and disappears randomly around the screen. Each time he appears, he throws a fireball that does one of 3 things: Turns into 2 smaller fireballs (If you whip it), turns into 3 smaller fireballs that fly upward (If you try to jump over it without doing anything), or turns into 4 smaller fireballs (I'm honestly not sure what causes this, it may be Boomeranging the fireball. If anyone has any info on this, please E-Mail me and I'll give you credit for whatever you say). Get near Dracula, whip the fireball, then jump over the fireball and whip Dracula's head (Did I mention you can only take off his energy with head shots?). I'm aware that many guides will say Boomerang his head, but the whip works fine. In addition, if you're good enough, you can sometimes jump & whip his head BEFORE he throws the fireball. You have to whip him just about when he comes into view though. After you take off 4 Energy Points, he will stop throwing fireballs and throw an orb that flies around the screen. If you whip the orb, it will shoot small fireballs around the screen before leaving a Small Pork Chop. In any event, once Dracula gets to this stage, whip him mercilessly by diagonally whipping at his head. After losing another Energy Point, we enter the second combat phase. He still appears and disappears, but this time, when he appears, he sends up 2 columns of flame, which disappear after a short time. Above them, 2 flames that follow you around will appear. He will recall these flames every time you destroy them, but do it anyway. The Boomerang comes in handy for destroying these flames. Keep them away from you, whether by destroying them or whatever, and continue diagonally whipping at Drac's head. When you get him down to 6 energy points, he'll repeat the orb attack. Knock off 1 more point, and enter the third (And final) phase of combat. After those little lightning bolts (Which can't hurt you, by the way) shoot around the screen, Dracula will continue the appearing/disappearing act, but this time you'll see 4 lightning orbs each time he appears (Also notice that his face looks a little different too. It doesn't affect the game any, but I'll mention it before anyone else does). These will rain columns of lightning down on you. Just stay between the orbs, make sure Drac didn't appear on top of you, and jump and Boomerang him until he dies. Look! The ending! :) Section V: Passwords Can't get past a certain area of the game? Try these passwords! For all passwords, leave the name space blank W= Holy Water, H=Heart, and A=Axe. Blank Space=just that :) Level 6 Level 8 Level B Dracula --------- --------- --------- --------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A| | | | |W| --------- --------- --------- --------- |W|W| | | |W|W| | | |W| | | | |W|W| | | --------- --------- --------- --------- | |W| |A| | |W| |W| | | | |H| | |W| | | --------- --------- --------- --------- |W|A| | | |W|W| | | |H|H| | | | |H|A| | --------- --------- --------- --------- In addition, here are the complete set of Second Quest passwords. Again, leave the name space blank. Thanks to Ken Gagne for providing me these. (NOTE: Boss Strategies don't change in the Second Quest :P ) Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 --------- --------- --------- --------- |H|A| |W| | |A| | | | |A| |A| | |A| |W| --------- --------- --------- --------- |A| | |H| |W| | | | |W| | | | |W|W| | | --------- --------- --------- --------- | |A| | | | |A| | | | |A| | | | |H| |A| --------- --------- --------- --------- | |H| | | |W| | | | |H| | | | | | | | | --------- --------- --------- --------- Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 --------- --------- --------- --------- | |A| | | | |A| | | | |A| |H| | |A| | | --------- --------- --------- --------- |W| | | | |W|W| | | |W|H| | | |W|W| | | --------- --------- --------- --------- | |A| |A| | |H| |A| | | | |W| | |H| |W| --------- --------- --------- --------- |W|A| | | |W|A| | | | |A| | | |W|W| | | --------- --------- --------- --------- Stage 9 Stage A Stage B --------- --------- --------- | |A| |A| | |A| | | | |A| |A| --------- --------- --------- |W|W| | | |W|H| | | |W| | | | --------- --------- --------- | |H| |W| | | | |H| | |A| |H| --------- --------- --------- |H|W| | | |A|H| | | |H|H| | | --------- --------- --------- Section VI: Other Difficult Areas I got an E-Mail asking for help with Level 3-2. So here's a walkthrough of the entire level. (NOTE: It is assumed that you grab all candles unless I say otherwise. Also, it is assumed that any enemy not mentioned is killed with your whip. To start, go right across the bridge. Jump up to the next platforms, including the one with the fuzzy thing on it (Jump onto the platform just after it hits the top-right corner and is going left). From there, kill the Dragon Heads with your boomerang. Continue to the left, kill the 2 plant things, then go to the right. Kill the Dragon Heads and proceed. Whip the plant thing and continue. Cross the gap by latching onto the ring with your whip and swinging over, and jump onto the next platform like you did the one with the earlier fuzz thing. Go left, kill the plant, get the candles, and proceed right. Go until you can see the Dragon Heads and boomerang them to death. Go to the right some more, and diagonally whip the plant. Swing across the next 2 platforms using the method described earlier. Kill the 2 plants and whip straight up to get the candles above them. Go right, again swinging across by the ring. Jump onto the next platform just as the fuzzy thing goes to the bottom, then jump right again (Ignore the candle you pass along the way). Go left, and then to the right, watching out for the fuzzy thing on a platform above you. Jump up and kill the snakes. Jump up onto the next few platforms, watching out for the fuzzy thing one more time. Now go RIGHT. IGNORE the ring on the left, just hop up the last few platforms on the right, finally going onto the gold one and going right to finish the stage. (NOTE: I messed this up somewhere, because the notes I took on the stage were crap. Because of this, you may or may not see what i described here [It should only happen in one place though, where I put the stuff about whipping the candles above the plants. Sorry :) ]) Section VII: This Guide's Future Well who knows really. If you have problems with a certain area of the game, feel free to E-Mail me about it. If you have alternate boss-strategies (Or just noticed a typo :P), E-Mail me for those too. Until next time... -Marc Section VIII: Legal Stuff This guide is copyrighted by me, however, you can do pretty much whatever you want with it except A.Say you wrote it, B.Copy parts of it word for word without putting it (The quoted parts) in quotation marks (Yes THAT IS PLAGIARISM!) and naming me as a source, and C. Sell it for money (If I wanted to do that I'd be finding a publisher rather than posting it to all these web sites :P). Also please ask for permission before posting it to your web site or whatever. Lastly, I reserve the right to ask that this document be removed from your website (But that won't happen under ordinary circumstances). Thank you. Also, I've decided that I will only send future updates to this guide to two sites: www.gamefaqs.com and vgstrategies.about.com. It will be YOUR responsibility to update from these sites, and to make sure you're reading the Current Version of the guide before E-mailing me with a problem. Special Thanks to the Castlevania IV Instruction Booklet (Game Basics and some Item Descriptions), Every Guide ever written that contained the Power-up before Dracula Trick (For said Power-up trick), Ken Gagne (kgagne@ziplink.net) (For the Second Quest Passwords), charizard80@webtv.net (For the alternate Death strategy) and Jordan Davis (jmd4833@yahoo.com) (For suggesting the small revisions other than the "Password Unification" that resulted in V1.01), as well as all web-sites that carry this guide.