Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[BIL]

My progress so far is below, which I'll try to update (default is a basic clear with continues but no savestates). To avoid spreading mass psychosis, I'll ignore regional variants (although I've dabbled in this as well).

Fun games:

CV1 (1LC)
CV3
CV4
Rondo (1CC's for each of: PC-Engine version; the somewhat distinct PSP remake thereof; and the unlockable original therein)
CV2: Belmont's Revenge, GB (1CC)

***

Acquired tastes:

CV: The Adventure

VS Castlevania isn't really worth bothering with, outside of sheer completism. Here are my sole playthrough's notes, from a few years back - suffice to say it's NES CV with harsher time+damage parameters and ugly, washed-out graphics. A hardware variant curio, really. Spend the time on something good like Ninja Cop or Gimmick. ^_~

Bloodlines and X68000 are along with Rondo the height of the traditional series. I'll always recommend those three unreservedly. Excellent, diverse, faithful sequels to the first game.

For Dracula XX, play the SFC version - SNES has hideous censorship. The game has design issues and lacks the assured excellence of the '93 trio, yet maintains enough of the original's hard methodical core to be worth a try. See the thread's last few pages for my tormented thoughts!

I played Legends for the first time myself recently. Wasn't impressed by the first stage, and the second's tedium absolutely appalled me. Don't think I'll be revisiting. If you're looking for black sheep from the series' middle years, give the two N64 games a try, particularly the more polished second.

Adventure 2 is cool but the first... I played the hell out of it as a kid with few games, but just can't deal with it now. Later level design is decent but nothing worth the staggering, heaving slowness. Contra, Bionic Commando and Ninja Gaiden all far outshine it.

[dojo_b]

Thanks BIL. I found CV 2: Belmont's Revenge to be a surprisingly fun and solid GB platformer. Mostly a bit on the easy side for this forum's tastes, but still enjoyable. There was just one thing I found quite curious, namely the final Dracula fight. First off, he's got just one form, whereas even the primitive CV Adventure 1 had two. Second, the fight is pretty weird in terms of its difficulty profile. Dracula's basic attack is overwhelmingly powerful, with seemingly only one or two safe spots for any given launch position (and these safe spots are hard to eyeball/predict). So the first umpteen many times, you're completely screwed.

However, you can continue straight at the Count's door, so focused training is possible. And Dracula's sequence of appearance positions turns out to be deterministic and cyclic (with period eight), so you can make complete notes on how to win. Basically just keep seeking the safe spots and insert attacks at obvious times. Once you have these crib notes, it's easy to kill Dracula with steady Pause abuse. I haven't beaten him without pauses, which is certainly cheesy, but getting to a pure victory would be just be a matter of tedious drilling. I can't think of another boss fight which has quite this flavor.

[Ex_Mosquito]

What's pause abuse?

[dojo_b]

Well y'know, when you fight real vampires in real life there's no Pause button. I find repeated pausing mid-fight (in order to consult notes or gather one's thoughts) to be a slight abuse of the function. It was meant as an amenity for players needing to use the bathroom or go do their homework.

But I'm not trying to be a purist here; I mostly wanted to note, this is the first boss fight I can remember using repeated Pauses for, and indeed where the design of the fight makes it so very tempting. So a typical player may win, but feel guilty about their cheesy pause-ridden and hardly action-packed victory.
Ultimately I think it's a dumb finale to an otherwise good game; but it's dumb for an interesting reason. It points out a pitfall of over-reliance on memorization challenges.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Ah I see! I though it was some sort of exploit that let you get extra damage or it screwed with his pattern timing or something. I wouldn't say it's a bad thing, if it makes the learning process quicker if say it's a pretty legit way of progressing.

[dojo_b]

I imagine that if I played bullet-hell type games I'd be pausing all the time to study patterns. Not knocking that. For achievement's sake one still ultimately hopes to pull off a win without essential use of pauses, although I'm not sure I'd find it worthwhile in the case of Belmont's Revenge.

The relative simplicity of stage layouts---mostly no need to pause---and the lack of sensory overload is one reason I favor platformers over shmups (although the main thing is the intuitive hook of a gravity-bound, anthropomorphic hero). But I would concede that shmups have a bigger reservoir of truly hardcore challenges, and despite being more niche they also seem to be more well-developed as a mature genre with fine-tuned, time-tested design principles (e.g. for bullet patterns and scoring systems).

Shmups also seem to've had a more sustained presence in arcades, which is relevant to discussions here: I guess a shmupper would know roughly what it means for a game to be "arcade tough" (versus merely "NES hard"), but when action/platform games are described that way I'm not really sure which reference frame to use. I know Ghouls 'n Ghosts is arcade tough, but that's a notorious one; what would be more baseline examples?

[BrianC]

For Dracula XX, play the SFC version - SNES has hideous censorship. The game has design issues and lacks the assured excellence of the '93 trio, yet maintains enough of the original's hard methodical core to be worth a try. See the thread's last few pages for my tormented thoughts!

The SFC version is also much cheaper (still a bit pricey, though). Annoying how much some US games went up in price, while the JP versions remain cheaper (though some JP games shot up recently too).

XX doesn't sound worthy of the price to me. Dracula X PCE, from what I played on Wii, is good stuff and seems to be worthy of the high price tag.

I'm currently playing Bloodlines and enjoying it so far. I just made it to the clock tower stage. I love how some of the skeletons wear WWI era hats. Nice use of WWI era technology in the stage too.

[BIL]

Dracula's basic attack is overwhelmingly powerful, with seemingly only one or two safe spots for any given launch position (and these safe spots are hard to eyeball/predict). So the first umpteen many times, you're completely screwed.

Very much so. I got completely slaughtered the first time I reached him, like at least a couple dozen deaths consecutively. Christopher's slow speed and enormous hitbox make an already fast, tight pattern nearly impossible to dodge (never mind counter-attacking) without gradually burning safespots into memory.

I wasn't pleased at the time, but figured it'd become routine before long, and sure enough did. Ultimately I'd rather have an overly straitjacketing final boss than an ineffectual one, though obviously neither is the ideal. These days if I'm trying to no-miss the game I'll either boomerang Dracula to death on the first attempt, or fail and drop a few subweaponless lives getting back into the old groove.

Shmups also seem to've had a more sustained presence in arcades, which is relevant to discussions here: I guess a shmupper would know roughly what it means for a game to be "arcade tough" (versus merely "NES hard"), but when action/platform games are described that way I'm not really sure which reference frame to use. I know Ghouls 'n Ghosts is arcade tough, but that's a notorious one; what would be more baseline examples?

I think it's more useful to take a spectrum approach, with rote and improv on opposite ends. Most of my favourite games take place on a stable course, with random elements within. Metal Slug is a good example. You most definitely need to memorise the stage layouts to play authoritatively, knowing where enemies are and their vital traits. But you also need to think and react on your feet when dealing with those enemies, who won't necessarily do the same thing from run to run. Stop at the rote element and you've built a house of cards begging for a nice, demolishing gust of RNG.

I believe this is why supposed "Nintendo Hard" exemplars Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden tend to frustrate casuals so badly. They're neither 100% rote nor random and have to be approached as such.

XX doesn't sound worthy of the price to me. Dracula X PCE, from what I played on Wii, is good stuff and seems to be worthy of the high price tag.

I wouldn't strictly call XX worth its current going rate either - literally dozens of better sidescrollers within and without its series cost the same or less. It's a fun curio to have around, especially for a series fan, and certainly has some genuine goodness. But it was the last traditional I picked up, by years, and I'd suggest others do the same.

Love is blind, of course. ;3

---

BTW, speaking of RNG - was messing around with Ninja Cop's second boss this evening. If fought on the ground he's a snap, just headshot him off his steed, slash him out of his roll and repeat. If you deliberately go up top, though, he's a lot more interesting. I like to fight him with "floor is lava" rules. ^__^ (and no ninpo)

I wonder if this was intended to punish chumps scared of big mean froggy? It becomes clear pretty quick that you're better off staying on the ground, rather than going up top for a nonstop RNG blade barrage that'll kill you in three hits.

Actually... I remember now, there's items up there in Easy/Normal modes. Guess that'd explain it then. Want items? Prepare for a whoopin'!

[soprano1]

I'm currently playing Bloodlines and enjoying it so far. I just made it to the clock tower stage. I love how some of the skeletons wear WWI era hats. Nice use of WWI era technology in the stage too.

It's frustrating that Portrait of Ruin takes place in the last year of WWII, but everything looks straight Victorian.

[BrianC]

I'm currently playing Bloodlines and enjoying it so far. I just made it to the clock tower stage. I love how some of the skeletons wear WWI era hats. Nice use of WWI era technology in the stage too.

It's frustrating that Portrait of Ruin takes place in the last year of WWII, but everything looks straight Victorian.

I feel the same way and also find it frustrating how Aria and Dawn of Sorrow don't take full advantage of their setting either. The latter two take place in the future, but most of the areas look like something out of the past.

[soprano1]

Aria I can understand, as it takes place inside Dracula's castle, but Dawn could have been better besides the first area, which looks like more late 20th century anyway.

[dojo_b]

Managed to clear Dracula X SNES. I'll try to get to the better SFC version as suggested. I took the chump's route, via the shameful fall to Stage 4', and without ever fighting Death.

BIL and others have already described its flaws, and I disliked it on my first attempts, but this time I enjoyed it pretty well. Some basic competence can really brighten your time spent on a mediocre but difficult game. Happily in this case, you can obtain that skill by playing a similar but better and easier title (Rondo of Blood, which for a basic clear seems plainly easier). Coming back to Drac X after reaching 1CC caliber on Rondo was the right move.

..for me as a CV completist anyway; you could skip Drac X, but will miss some good times. For one thing, the boss fights I saw were fun and have a surprising amount of original stuff given how much else the game cribbed from Rondo. The rehashed werewolf fight seemed beefed up and I was glad to revisit it. Dracula's lair also got some deadly renovations, with plenty of uneven ground and pit-traps---a refreshing change from the usual flat layout. (I wish his basic fire attacks were tougher to deal with though, and it's tedious how much time he spends off-screen in the very wide boss chamber.)

If you enjoy being savagely attacked by birds, the marauding crows here are Gaiden-esque in difficulty. Not as fast or damaging, but harder to predict and very good at hovering out of harm's reach between strikes. These are complemented in Stage 6 by some inspired combinations of bat/Medusa harassment and spear-knights. You will feel the pain and horror every Belmont feels as the limits of your horizontal whip-training are starkly exposed in a vertical tower-combat scenario. Goddammit, this happens every 100 years! ...but you won't change the family training because hey, you had to do it this way right? Man up, son.

I still wouldn't play Dracula X SNES immediately after Rondo; it will suffer too much by comparison. You'll want to somehow lower your standards first. I happened to play the crazy-slow Game Boy CV Adventure between these two, which made Richter's trudge in Drac X feel lively enough, and the production values fairly sparkled.

[BIL]

These are complemented in Stage 6 by some inspired combinations of bat/Medusa harassment and spear-knights. You will feel the pain and horror every Belmont feels as the limits of your horizontal whip-training are starkly exposed in a vertical tower-combat scenario. Goddammit, this happens every 100 years! ...but you won't change the family training because hey, you had to do it this way right? Man up, son.

One of several reasons to use the axe all the time. ;3 Besides the usual vertical attack advantage, it outdoes its only rival the cross by being effective on armoured enemies, and easier to score multiple hits with per shot. I think it does the most damage per hit too, but haven't confirmed. Easily the surest option to take out Dracula quickly and safely.

Gore aside there's little reason to play SFC over SNES (at least in NTSC). That profuse sweating though. Funny how it's usually Japan getting all antsy about the balls-out videogame carnage lately. Thanks for censored Shinobi, Biohazard and Ninja Gaiden, you LOUSY ASSHOLES (・｀W´・)

---

This weekend I've been revisiting SFC stuff I wrote off previously, now the hard core is done. DoReMi Fantasy lasted about five minutes. Seemed fine for what it is, but not what I'm after - I suspect Mizubaku Daibouken (SS) fills my "cutesy platformer with constructive violence" quota several times over. Popful Mail seemed like typically solid Falcom ARPG fare, but was quickly disqualified for screen edge riding. I ain't got time, muhfucka! (・｀ω´・) GET IT RIGHT

Magical Pop'n fared much better. Despite the (not unpleasantly) silly aesthetic, it's actually a really solid sword action game - smooth, addictive hop and slash easily comparable to Konami's SFC Goemon quartet. As before though, the rambling level design tired me out a little. I'd probably want this if the flow was tightened up - when it's actually giving you pits to jump and enemies to kill, it's superb. Not something I'm too inclined to chase after, particularly given how costly it is.

Also gave the MD port of Taito's sidescrolling brawler Thunder Fox a revisit. Lately I've had a fondness for good "arcade imperfect" ports on 8/16-bit. I wondered if I might've been hasty in writing it off as a disaster. spoiler: no, it really does suck!

But firing up the AC version afterward, ho ho hoooly shit! Quality gulf cannot be overstated! What a rollicking good time. Excellent Rolling Thunder/Spartan X hybrid. It's fairly simple to keep under control once you've worked out the third and fifth bosses' counterattack gimmicks, plus the handful of fleeting vehicle setpieces. Such a rush, though.

SAFETY FIRST KIDS

Spoiler

Sprinting pace and a smartly offense-geared moveset exorcise any hint of tedium. The traditional Rolling Thunder super jump doubles as an invincible flashkick, chainable into a nearly as unstoppable falling roll, and the A+B flying boot mows through crowds with authority. Only the occasional RT-style cover shootout interrupts proceedings, and that's usually an excuse to explode a fuel drum in some chump's face.

Sharply handling and fast sidescrolling brawling with a hefty side of gunplay - antithesis of the sluggish MD port. Taito Memories Vol.2 Gekan or bust. (dunno if it's in good form elsewhere)

[Ed Oscuro]

I think Taito's MD port must have been just a trial version to get kids back into arcades to play the real thing

Holy shit though, epic post. I love that little celebratory leg kick as he gets up onto the ledge. And bringing along the rocket launcher...I don't recall that thing being on the jeep! I like how the fast pacing and weapons keep it from getting bogged down like official RT sequeler studio Namco apparently thought was the game's essence. The one thing I don't like about the game is the very minor ammo stacking / weapon juggling, which makes overly cautious players spend more time in the game than they ought. I guess the traditional WALL O' FLAME / GHOSTS would have been asking too much.

What I think would be an interesting tweak to games like this is to do away with the milking and the traditional score per enemy altogether, and instead put up a few challenges to complete for score. Run down a million goons with a flamethrower / jump kick somebody else / something else imaginative. Just so long as it awarded score the moment you started completing it, so players didn't mill about trying to set things up perfectly. You only get one chance!

[BrianC]

Thunder Fox looks boring compared to the arcade one. No shump stage or even any vehicles at all. Music is also lacking, despite Taito games usually having solid music on the Genesis. Taito was really odd on the Genesis, though they put out some solid games.

[dojo_b]

Made it to one-life clear in Metal Storm—just the first loop, mind, but in both regional variants. the JP release is must-play, for its beautiful escalation of the challenge and interest on stage 6.

Getting to this point was pure pleasure; barely any grinding or hard study for the achievement, just revisiting the game often for the hell of it. It's a short, sweet game without major difficulty spikes, but even when it’s easygoing, it knows how to use its unusual gravity mechanic and involved, varied layouts to hold player engagement. There are certain maneuvers, like snagging the extra life in st2 via a mid-jump gravity reversal, that never get old even when mastered, and are inherently richer than (say) the compulsive pleasures of candle-whipping in CV.

Every level has not just a different look, but distinct flow-feelings that emphasize different skills. A standout is stage 4, which takes control away from the player by confining us in a permeable cage that twists and turns through diverse fields of enemies. It’s a memorizer, but also the stage that most rewards flexible improv. Stage 6 gives greater control to the player but (in the JP version) still needs steady diligence and some acrobatics to ward off death by laser wire on a revolving torus.

Most of the bosses become quite easy; stage 5’s boss is the exception with a tense dodge-fest against three kinds of shots. The stage 6 boss (a shifting collection of platforms that you have to shoot, while also relying on them for survival) is ultimately simple, but offers a wonderfully fast and hypnotic action-loop.* It feels like some kind of newfangled cognitive therapy.

*(To heighten the difficulty and cool factor, maybe in the second loop, I wish the st6 boss would force you to switch to the undersides of the platforms now and then, say by having the platforms raise spikes alternately on each side.)

The jump to expert mode (second loop) is still fearsome—its second stage totally rebuffed my attempts this morning. But I finally feel the effort might be worthwhile. If I could change anything about the first loop, it would be to add more hard parts compensated by more extra lives. The hope would be to roughly preserve the challenge of getting the 1CC (I think it’s on the easy side for this sort of game, which I’m fine with) while making 1LC significantly tougher—as it is, it only took a few hours’ additional play to pick up the further distinction. This could also serve as more of a bridge readying players for expert mode.

I love the chunked-out look of the mech and its snazzy fluid motion. (Its knack to explode completely on the slightest impact is also fine and good---an acceptably macho form of vulnerability.) Great stuff visually for the NES, as are the easy blue enemies on stage 1, and the parallax and music for that stage. The remaining levels are middling aesthetically IMO (with overly dense and repetitive background textures as a recurring flaw), except for some sweet bosses like the beautiful transformer-ship on st5.

[Ed Oscuro]

inherently richer than (say) the compulsive pleasures of candle-whipping in CV.

I wouldn't even call them "pleasures," just a part of the game that feeds off or into people's compulsiveness. When I look at the game design of Castlevania, it's obvious people think that the candles / hearts are "iconic," but I can't help but think the memory space / processing time could have been used better. At the very least, there's so many hearts out there that are easy to get that it's not a very good risk / reward balance. If it was harder to get enough hearts to use the subweapons freely, maybe then I'd see the point. As it stands, they weren't too far from their lowest point of devolution as coin depositories and mere window dressing by the IGAvania era.

[Squire Grooktook]

inherently richer than (say) the compulsive pleasures of candle-whipping in CV.

At the very least, there's so many hearts out there that are easy to get that it's not a very good risk / reward balance. If it was harder to get enough hearts to use the subweapons freely, maybe then I'd see the point.

I think the games want you to have some ammo at all times, so candles you can casually whip without slowing down are vital.

I'm not sure how many risk/reward candles there are, but I do remember that there are a few places that requires more timing or fighting past an extra enemy or so to acquire.

Plus not using sub-weapons in order to build up a fatal stockpile of hearts for a boss, is itself a bit of risk/reward.

[Ed Oscuro]

The most obvious risk/reward spots in Castlevania candle placement tend to have different items (lol Konami loves putting knives into candles on moving platforms...or maybe that's just in the DXX hidden stage) or money bags. The one that comes to mind right away is in stage 2, when you climb up into the first medusa head area - 400 or 700 point bag.

Plus not using sub-weapons in order to build up a fatal stockpile of hearts for a boss, is itself a bit of risk/reward.

Don't know which game we're talking about, but I feel they're generous enough (unless you're checkpoint restarting, of course) that it's not necessary to worry about it.

I don't think Castlevania's designers were thinking so much in terms of risk/reward, but they apparently were thinking of tricks and traps a little bit (the knife is a penalty item, no question about it).

[BIL]

Never thought much about the candles, tbh, in either the traditional or modern games. I do like being able to nab stuff with a jump attack in Dracula/Ryukenden, rather than stopping to deal with item boxes, doors etc.

Though in the original Dracula, some enemies randomly drop subweapons, so it's not entirely freewheeling fun. See the st4 fleaman rush - an axe to the grill hurts way more there than in Death's armour hallway. Ryukenden very significantly removed this, I wonder how deliberately. It certainly boosts those games' already quicker pace, especially in the third where you can also see what each "candle" holds.

[dojo_b]

Yeah, I'd say candle-based traps play a prominent role in traditional CVs. Was just working thru Rondo stage 2 where at least one high-placed candle acts as bait to land you right on a pop-up Merman, with fatal results due to the collapsing ruins below you. (I think it's worse in Drac X.) Then, in the flight from the giant beast later in the stage, the same kind of trap is used. The oncoming robed zombies prey on your candle-jumping ways and screw you, in cooperation with the beast and the floor gaps. I remember the same sort of dynamic from CV III---go for a tasty candle, red skeleton greets you with an immediate whip to the face. It's as basic and as cruel at heart as similar gags in SMB 1 & 2J.

I general it's not just the fact of being in-air slashing candles that poses a hazard, but also the hero's recovery time from the whipping, which is long enough to matter in all the games I've played. Big part of the CV brand of action. The stupid compulsion to take care of candles during combat is a huge problem and a tough habit to shake.

Besides the dangerous side of whipping candles, there is also a mildly fun little game to play with oneself---to time the slash to minimize slowdown due to the whip action. This entails jumping before whipping, even to hit a candle at shoulder height. I expect even this tendency is foreseen and punished by certain traps in the games.

Overall, the sheer number of candles seems out of proportion to their strategic importance in terms of doling out ammo and powerups. They could've made do with fewer but richer candles. I think their abundance is explained by the need for traps, but also by the already-discussed pleasurable/compulsive nature of candle-whipping (which along with the player's need for ammo helps spring the traps); and, by their role as a curiosity-piquing factor and a cheap surrogate for action. A design choice one can easily question, but it sure does give a characteristic flavor to the games.

[Domino]

What are some tips when playing Dynamite Batman (Batman: Return of the Joker) on FC/NES?

Great graphics/music but gameplay feels weird with Batman having a gun only.

[Ed Oscuro]

There doesn't seem to be any way to avoid memorizing the placement of things, I'm afraid. The real killer here is that there's limited maneuvering space and enemies / environmental hazards will punish you for not being fast and precise in tackling things that have just come onscreen. In terms of moves, note that Bats has a slide, and in normal gameplay you can charge up most shots. I usually don't bother and just go for a faster-firing weapon to keep up movement speed.

Most bosses are a joke with the right weapon. Some are a joke even without the right weapon!

[BrianC]

Great graphics/music but gameplay feels weird with Batman having a gun only.

Batman having a gun feels weird period since he's usually opposed to using them. It's also strange for the GB Batman, but that one at least plays better.

[BIL]

Was messing about with Dracula 1, trying to figure out a guaranteed no-damage method for st6's bridge bats (without resorting to the stopwatch). I never noticed until now, you can see a couple of those very same giant bats from the castle gates in the intro. I always thought they were just little ones drawn out of perspective. I love this game. ;-;

Also, Rondo+XX's "pests spawn from direction player is facing" is in the original too, making it a venerable institution on par with wallmeats! (but not candlemeats, they 4 nubz)

What are some tips when playing Dynamite Batman (Batman: Return of the Joker) on FC/NES?

Memorise stages to compensate for the cramped playfield, laggy control and outright cheap shots, then damage race bosses through their undodgeable attacks. :/ It's more tech demo than first-rate sidescroller, unfortunately. Even Sunsoft's best can sometimes be disconcertingly cheap - Batman, Gimmick and Raf World all have a few cruel setups - but good design soundly outweighs the odd lapse. DB's almost the inverse.

Most bosses are a joke with the right weapon. Some are a joke even without the right weapon!

Batman 2: A Choose Your Own Joke Adventure :[

I suggest Capcom's Mutant Apocalypse on SFC. Has a similar fusion of brawler-chunky sprites and precision platforming, but wisely imports more than just the looks of the former school. No contact damage with enemies, lots of i-frames, and encouraging of close combat lets both the player and the stage design breathe.

edit: hey wait a sec

Spoiler

HMMM WELL THAT EXPLAINS A LOT (・｀ω´・)

[Obiwanshinobi]

Are there action games using engines like Guardian Heroes or Panzer Bandit (plane switching) where some substantial platform jumping occurs? The potential seems rather huge to me.

[BIL]

None I can think of on the major Japanese consoles. Even the FC Double Dragons quietly nix the belt for their extended platform hopping sequences, haha.

Tangentially, Dynamite Headdy's popping into my mind all of a sudden.

[dojo_b]

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (MD) has some sort of plane switching engine, but it's largely a technical quirk to keep in mind rather than a feature that gets heavily exploited. There is only one stage, 2-1, where I recall it being used to create overlapping planes (a fence dividing foreground and background, that can be hopped over by the athletic hero and by some foes) with strategic features like creating a way to more safely approach enemies. In the other levels, what you'll notice is that higher platforms are sometimes on technically different planes: an enemy up there typically won't notice or approach you, and if you jump and slash at his feet it'll be to no effect, until you do the high jump that lifts you up there and into their plane.

Super CV4 and Super Mario World both have levels with fore/background split by fencing, but there is more limited interface between the planes in those cases. None of these games really tap into the potential that Obiwan rightly points out (and anyway Shadow Dancer is more a tactical action game, with limited platform jumping elements).

[Ghegs]

Neo Geo's Top Hunter? Not much platforming there though, probably.

[BIL]

Continuing with unfinished Akumajou Dracula second loop business, noticed a difference in 2-5 (FC cartridge ver). Death will summon four sickles at a time, versus three in the first loop. Gets crowded pretty fast. Otherwise, it seems the fifth and sixth stages are indeed identical across loops.

Holy water has a really weird effect on axe armours. One direct hit will kill them dead, but if they walk onto a healthily burning flame, they won't take the significant damage this might suggest. I guess it stacks weirdly? With the flame also disabling their hitbox, I like nailing them with a flying bottle then walking right past as they freeze and explode. Vampire killers don't look at explosions!

Reminds me of Super Shinobi's dog handcuffs. Axe armours only appear in one stage, too.

The direction-dependent pest spawning is actually highly relevant in the second loop. I used to resort to the stopwatch in 2-2's raft and crusher areas, where pincer Medusas can be an issue. But aggressively sticking to your advancing direction simplifies things dramatically. This also applies in st5's axe armour hallway, and pest spawns in general. Destroy oncoming threats rather than retreating from them, and keep gaining ground wherever possible - turning to retreat has a nasty penalty attached. Yet another Dracula/Ryukenden connection, haha.

I think I figured out how to neutralise 2-4's merman spawns without stopwatch, a longterm quandary of mine. Where the first loop's spawn chains are staggered to occur in the wake of a rafting player, the second's are deliberately scheduled to whap you into the drink.

So, getting close enough to trigger the chain, then deliberately waiting a bit before proceeding onto the raft should have them pop up harmlessly ahead of you. I'm not sure if it's one stage-long chain or a few smaller ones, but currently I apply the strategy at each of the first three rafts. Still doesn't feel 100% but certainly has the beginnings of consistency. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a long-known better solution (I'm sure TASers have nailed something down) but I like a bit of mystery.