Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
After finding all of our teachers, we finally find out who is responsible for this whole mess.
Stage 4: Toys Bridge
New enemies include white cat heads with wings, cannons that shoot little blue guys (which can eat the candy), and little pink guys with dice for bodies. The whte cat heads are the only enemies that don't face you after eating candy.
Why the developers would put an invincibility star directly above the bottom of a pit, I have no idea.
Just before the telepathy ball platforms, use the spring to find an extra life to the right..
For the telepathy ball segment: red, white, white, red. Be careful around the cannons and dodge the cannonballs, as there is no way of recovering if you get knocked off. Also, the candy only works on the cannonballs. Later on, the cannons can move, and they can hit you from off-screen.
There is a pit shortly after the midway point, and if you drop down it and to the right, you'll find the slot machine bonus game.
You can take the high road if you can feed the candy to the white cat heads with wings and managed to get to the right. At the end of this route, you'll get the Friends Book as well as the character you're not playing as waiting for you. If you take the lower road, you'll meet the other character and teleport.
When you reach the end, you'll teleport to another boss battle, this time against a jack-in-the-box. Guess what...it's the water tag game from the first boss again. They couldn't come up with a unique fourth boss mini-game, I guess. The layout is different, but the boss is still stupid enough to run into the blue balls, making this as easy as the first time around.
It should be mentioned that in case of a tie, you win boss battles by default, so the game is merciful in that regard.
After beating the fourth boss, you'll finally rescue Noda. You'll also learn that Majo-Majo, who lives in a forest up ahead, will be able to return you to your own world.
We've almost found all of our teachers, but first we have to get through the toughest boss mini-game yet.
Stage 3: Sweet Hill
This level introduces springs in the ground that you can barely see. These things will take you upwards to other areas.
The first pit, as mentioned in the Friends Book from the last stage, will take you to the slot machine bonus game.
You'll barely have time to react at the telepathy ball section. Take the red platform, then the white, then the white again. If you jump off the edge of the last platform at the right time, you can get a 1-Up as well as the Friends Book.
Enemies here include hopping orange cherries, jumping lime drops and walking cups of tea with lemon slices in them.
When you reach the other character, you'll float to the vanilla wafer palace at the other side. Inside is a clown rat on a tricycle. There are two mini-games here again.
The first one has you destroying germs in a strawberry cake in a Whack-A-Mole-esque fashion. The green germs are worth one point. The black ones are worth two. The hard hat germ takes five hits but gives you one point for every hit. The pink germ gives you two but teleports you everywhere. When that happens, keep hammering the A button to whack all the germs that you possibly can.
The other one has you picking between the four teachers to see which one is moving out of sync, and this one can be hard. You'll have to use the Control Pad and the A button to pick which one is moving out of sync before the mouse does. There will be a timer other than the one for the mini-game that counts down from ten, and the more time taken, the more it counts down. If you pick the right person before the mouse does, you'll get points, and the number of points you get will depend on what number is in that ten-second mini-timer when you pick the right person. If you guess wrong, however, you'll lose five points. Sometimes it will pay to wait in this game, as the longer the movements go, the more out-of-sync one of the four people will be.
Beating this mini-game will free Kurashige. All that's left is Noda.
Well, we might as well rescue another one of our teachers.
Stage 2: Clouds Island
New enemies here: ducks that fly around in circles and small octopi that pop up and walk on the ground.
For the telepathy ball section, you'll have to use the wind blowing upwards from the bottom of the stage to make your way onto platforms. Wait for the wind to carry you all the way up, then make your move. Jump on the red platform first, then the white one. For the two cloud platforms, wait until you're all the way up before approaching them, or else you won't make it to those platforms.
After this segment, you'll be dealing with dragonflies, Feed them candy as they come down. You'll need them to get a 1-Up, which is a pink ball with the world "1-Up" on it.
Midway through the level, you'll see an umbrella below you. If you drop to it, you'll be able to take the wind to the right and enter another slot machine room.
When you reach the other Miracle Girl, you'll teleport to a castle and meet a duck with goggles and an inner tube.
There are two games here, and the one you get is random. In one of the games, you'll have to collect clouds while keeping the duck from doing the same. Press A to jump and B to blow the clouds upwards. If you blow the clouds up too much, they'll turn into storm clouds and shoot a bolt of lightning downwards, stunning whomever it touches for a few seconds. Different clouds show different emotions, and as a result these clouds will move differently. The angry clouds will drop down faster, while the uninterested-looking clouds (and happy clouds) will move from side to side.
In the other game, you'll be matching cards. There will be a card in the center, and you will have to match it with the A button and the Control Pad. There is also a Devil card, and when you get to match that one, you'll be able to turn two of your opponent's cards around, making them unusable. It is possible to keep the duck from doing anything this way. There is an angel card which, if played, restores the turned-over cards.
...and now it's time for an anime-to-game translation that never made its way over here.
Tomomi and Mikage are 15-year-old twin sisters...and they have ESP abilities at their command! Telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation...they've got it all!
One day, they, their friends and two of their professors all get sucked into some sort of dimensional portal. Now Tomomi and Mikage have to split up and search for them.
Stage 1: Flower Road
Both Tomomi and Mikage play identically. A is the jump button, while B is the "throw candy button." If you duck down, you wont' have much of a throwing arc compared to when you are standing up.
You can't really defeat enemies in this game; instead, you have to throw candy at them. When they eat it, you'll be able to stand on enemies or pass by them without being harmed.
The red circle with the "B" on it acts as a screen-clearing bomb. Activate it with X or Y. This gets rid of all enemies and replaces them with collectible gold hearts. Collect 100 of these hearts to get a 1-Up.
Food restores one of your hit points. You start with three hearts and can have up to five.
The bubble with the blue flower in it is the telepathy ball. Here, the other playable character will guide you through the colored platforms and tell you which one to land on (albeit in Japanese). For this one, it's white, then red, then white.
If you hear the word "Lucky!" during gameplay, you've reached a checkpoint that you can return to in case you lose a life.
If you manage to find a pink door, you'll find a slot machine that will read your fortune after you choose your astrological sign. If you can somehow get four in a row of a certain symbol, you can get anything from health to extra lives.
The star makes you invincible.
Enemies here include walking potted flowers, blue bugs with construction helmets and jackhammers, dandelion puffs and bouncing rabbits.
You'll meet the character you didn't pick at the end. You'll both save a bug family's child from being trapped underneath some blocks if you take the bottom path near the end; if you take the top path - which contains a Friends Book that gives you a hint for the next stage when you complete the current one - they don't show up.
After this, you'll meet a man-sized talking bee. If you beat him in a game, he'll show you where one of your friends are.
The game is simple: spray the bee with your water gun, and keep from being hit as well by using the B button to block.
Whenever you shoot, you'll have to wait a second or two for your super soaker gauge to refill. Thankfuly, the same goes for the boss. Don't touch the blue balls that roll around starting at the 20-second mark, or you'll lose points.
When you win, you'll rescue Kaguera...which is strange, considering that Kaguera tried to expose Tomomi and Mikage's secret ESP powers in the manga.
Love the music in here. It's really adrenalizing and it kinda puts the whole "race against time" message in perspective.
As soon as you start this stage, large brown balls (either giant oranges, meatballs or balls of manure...I can't tell) start falling from the sky. You'll be spin jumping your way through the stage for a bit while avoiding bikers and other enemies.
Once you see the ceiling, you'll be jumping from platform to platform while trying not to get hit by cannonballs from below.
After the two springs, you'll be dealing with balloons again, followed by more platform with a few rotten apples among them that repeatedly perform their little vanishing act. Cute.
After a rather short easy section, you'll see those giant brown balls again. You'll have to use those to spin jump your way forward, then you'll have to spin jump into some bikers, go down a long hill, then jump over (or defeat) some homeless guy throwing things into a flame barrel to summon fireballs.
Hey, guess what? You'll have to do that thing one last time.
Go all the way down and make your way to the right. You'll have to do the "spin jump off stuff to make your way up" trick to get past this part.
If you can somehow manage to pull that off, it's just a short run to the goal.
Round 6-2
Password: BIFF
This is just way too easy.
Just spin jump on Biff's head a couple of times. That's it. He'll give up the almanac after a few hits.
It's just you, him, a car with a tractor trailer and a truck in front of him shooting objects everywhere.
The only thing to be really careful about here is Biff getting up from the car seat and jumping out at you...even though you'll probably attack him so fast you won't give Biff a chance to breathe.
Once you beat him, you'll see Biff crash right into a manure truck. Then the credits roll.
Well, at least this was somewhat of an enjoyable game. It's not without its faults, but at least it's better than the stuff we got back in America from LJN...
Hey, I don't remember Marty ever having to traverse the sewers.
Round 5-1
Password: PINK
Welcome to 1955, and not some trashed-up alternate world.
There is a shield to your left at the start. If you have 60 coins, it'll be well worth taking the extra second to break it open.
There will be spikes moving up and down dead ahead. There are also kung fu fighters that jump up and try to hit you with their nunchaku on the way down when you get too close. Always defeat them with a spin jump.
Be careful in this section, as there are spikes moving around in a few points. Thankfully, they have a definite pattern. And don't go right hoping to find a shortcut, either, because you're just going to die.
Once you make it through that vertical section, you'll have to stand on a platform and dodge whatever spikes come your way while still keeping yourself on the platform by any means necessary. Thankfully, this part is far easier than the vertical section.
Go right after that long drop, and you'll have to take spring-loaded jumps over walls of spikes. If you're not sure how to time your jumps, don't move the D-Pad and just continue to jump on the spring.
You'll then reach a part where balloons fly around above a bunch of fans. This part is easy if you keep spinning while you're in the air.
After this, you'll see a bunch of springs and platform. Take the time to get some coins here if you can.
When you reach the pit, drop straight down and hug the wall. Don't want to run into any spikes, do you? When you reach the other end, you'll finally see a platform drop down. Take it and you'll take a ride right over the spikes...you won't even see them. Be sure to watch out for the red balloons that will try to mess this otherwise convenient ride up for you. After that, there's the goal! Congratulations, you just made it through one of the most frustrating levels in the game.
You'll then see a cutscene where George McFly slugs 1955 Biff in the stomach! He also has the almanac! Better go and find him!
Round 5-2
Password: EYES
We're in the sewers now? This is interesting. I don't remember this from the movie.
You'll see three spike walls that protrude in and out that you'll have to carefully move past before you finally start seeing enemies. After that, you'll have a few more to deal with. Just like the first set, take them slow.
You'll encounter a huge drop (in which you may have to watch out for spikes) before reaching the floor as well as a pit to go down if you want to continue. Take the time to use any springs you might find to get some coins.
The doors that are ahead spit out more of those karate guys. After this, you'll see those kids from Round 1-1 again. This time, you'll have to deal with them. Strangely, these kids drink soda out of a regular soda can, but when they toss it, the can inexplicably becomes as big as they are. Now that's weird.
Not long afterward, you'll enter an area that has no ceiling...and a lot of kid-sized soda cans falling from the sky. Once again, you'll have to spin jump off of these to move on.
After four karate kids and a couple of springs, it's more of those darned brown platforms, some of which vanish in and out...again.
Well, the good news is that once you get past this part, you're above ground again.
Just make your way to the top of the building and you'll be at the goal!
You'll find out that the book you were looking for is really a girly mag. Looks like the trail is cold...or is it?
Round 5-3
Password: ROCK
This stage goes a mile a minute when you know how to get through it.
At the beginning of the stage is a 1-Up, which costs 100 coins. If you keep getting enough coins and dying, it's like infinite chances to beat Round 6-3. Yeah, I know, you have continues, but still...it's less annoying than watching that Game Over animation over and over again.
The only real thing I can say about this stage is to have patience with the spikes. Thankfully, this round is mercifully easier than the last two.
Once you finish this stage, 1955 George beats 1955 Biff up! Biff will drop the almanac, and you'll get it back.
Round 5-4
Password: ZERO
Instead of one or two guys, you've got three.
3-D glasses guy: This guy flies back and forth at the top of the room. Thankfully, you can easily get several spin jump on him in a row and he can easily be defeated.
Party guy: He's in the middle and he has two attacks - the stream of confetti and that 3-way attack with his party favors. He does the first attack more often when you're close to him, so use that to your advantage when you spin jump him to oblivion.
Wine bottle guy: He's at the bottom. Obviously, because of the platforms that follow you as you jump, he's the hardest. He shoots corks out of the wine bottle and also starts running faster for a second when you're nearby. The best way to take care of him is to get up close and jump and spin at the same time. That way, you'll crash into him without taking damage. (Hopefully.) Also, if you jump on this guy while he's running, you won't do damage, meaning that this guy is completely invulnerable when he is running.
When you've made it past this boss battle, Biff gets ticked off and knocks you down, taking the almanac back with him.
Our bizarre adventure through alternate 1985 continues as we deal with street punks and find out what caused the major changes to the place we call home.
Round 4-1
Password: JACK
A lot of enemies are from Round 3-1. The first new one you'll see is pretty easy...some bald guy who looks like his head is on fire. Also worth noting is that the birds have been replaced with bats. Holy crap...welcome to alternate 1985!
The second one is a commando with a machine gun. The blast has some distance and is onscreen for a second before traveling forward, so spin jump on him earlier than usual when you see him. One of the platforms after your first encounter with that new enemy appears and disappears at random. Just letting you know. You can also destroy the machine gun fire, but you don't get any coins for it.
A little later, you'll have a choice. Either you can jump over the fence and avoid the harder low road, or you can go down there anyway and get a bunch of coins and face a bunch of bikers. Be sure to spin jump when you go downwards if you take the low road.
If you take the high road, you'll deal with four platforms that vanish in and out for the first spike pit and a moving platform for the second. There's two extra hit points before the spikes and an extra hit point after the second spike pit if you need it.
Near the end, you'll meet a bald guy with a shotgun. Turns out, this is alternate 1985 Mr. Strickland, who ends up being an angry old man with the shotgun who happens to be the street punks' worst nightmare in the apocalyptic Hell Valley in the movie...and almost blows Marty's head off upon seeing him. Once you reach the goal, you'll find out that in this altered timeline, Marty's father George was murdered on March 15, 1973. You'll then meet Doc Brown again. He'll tell you what the almanac has done to the present day, and that getting the almanac back and destroying it will make everything right again.
Round 4-2
Password: QEEN
Go right to hit the switch, then go back to the left and jump on the platform then jump to the ledge you couldn't reach at first.
A short while later, you'll have to deal with a spike pit with individual spikes moving up and down above it that will block your progress between the platforms. In the first half of this part, the platforms vanish in and out.
Drop down instead of leaping off the top of the hill after this, and hit the switch to move the spikes. You'll then see more fans followed by what look like falling mushrooms. You'll have to spin jump from platform to platform to keep from being hit by these things, but hey...it makes getting through this part a little more exciting and a bit faster.
After a while, you'll have to do this again...this time, there will be some machine gun commandos on some of the platforms. You'll have springs instead of fans bouncing you up, but thankfully this part is a little easier.
Oh, and that machine gun sound playing for is a game glitch. Guess I did something involving one of the machine gun guys...
Round 4-3
Password: KING
Jack, Queen, King. Get it?
Looks like you're en route to where Biff Tannen lives.
There's a new commando here - one with a knife. He's pretty lame and his attack has no distance. You can defeat him rather easily.
There are multiple paths to take as soon as you take that first spring up. Some lead to dead ends, but some of these dead ends also have power-ups in them. Scout around if you need something.
There's an invincibility power-up not far from the start. Hit the vending machine and go nuts for a minute! Pick up speed and get through as much of the level as you can with it! Nothing can stop you! (Okay, I'm probably going overboard now...)
The wooden doors spit out commandos when they open, so don't hang out around them for long.
A short while later, there'll be a big room with two spikes moving around and a bunch of fans on the floor! Once again, be careful as you move all the way to the right to continue on.
You'll then meet Biff Tannen, who has a gun pointed straight after you. He is now a rich man, and he reveals that an old man gave him an almanac in 1955. He also reveals that he killed your father in this alternate timeline (even though his killer was never found) and that he's about to kill you!
Round 4-4
Password: BEAR
You'll fight Biff Tannen this time.
The switches in this room cause electricity to flow from the wires in the foreground. Don't touch the voltage. The two top switches are almost useless unless you get lucky, but if you can reach the two at the bottom, you can shock him if he gets too close to the sides.
If the voltage touches Biff Tannen, it'll cause a load of damage and make this battle a lot easier.
This is pretty straightforward. Just spin jump on the top of his head. He'll go down after a few hits. He'll shoot his gun every once in a while, so be careful if you're going for the bottom switches.
Don't stand next to him unless you want to get his with a billy club and knocked back into the upper level. Speaking of the upper level, it is possible for Biff to jump up and grab the bar at the top of the screen. If he does that, he'll then shoot at you from above for a little while before dropping back down.
After this, Doc Brown comes in with the DeLorean and tells you that you'll have to return to 1955 to retrieve the almanac, also taking care not to mess anything up from the first trip back.
Once you get past Round 3-1, you're going to see some serious fried chicken.
Round 3-1
Password: IRON
When this game hits Round 3-1, you're gonna see some serious fried chicken.
Looks like you're in the wrong side of town...bikers and gangsters are everywhere...how are you going to survive?
The bikers are really weird. As soon as you're in the vicinity, they roll around in what looks like a drunken stupor. Your best bet is to spin jump on or over them, to keep from taking an unnecessary hit.
Not long after the start, you'll see these bikers somersaulting down to the ground. You'll have to spin jump and work your way up with the floating platforms. Spin jump whenever bad guys are near you, so you don't take any unnecessary damage.
You'll take a platform across some spikes, then shortly afterwards you'll see a blue car with some guys in it, and one of them has a shotgun. Destroying him lets out another guy, which lets out yet another guy who throws things when you defeat him. Don't touch the car at all; even if there's nobody in it, you'll still take a hit from touching it. (Geez, why can't the car just disappear?)
After you drop down the next chasm, you'll deal with guys on motorcycles, which will come fast and go back and forth in a specific area. If you can defeat them all, great. If not, just spin jump over them all and get away as quickly as possible
You'll then have the choice between the high road and the low road. The low road is full of ceilings lined with spikes, and a platform that lowers you and make it nearly impossible to get around if you're not fast enough to get past them. When you find a break in the spikes, spin jump. A biker is about to come your way.
If you go all the way down after this part, you'll find 30 coins, which can prove useful if you're not doing so hot. Take the platform, then after this last group of bikers is the goal.
The cutscene you see afterwards shows Marty in from of Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise (I still have to laugh at "PALADISE"). You also see the Biff Tannen Museum (or Biff Tunn Museum). What happened that caused Biff Tannen to be so awesome?
Round 3-2
Password: BUST
This is the weirdest hotel I've ever seen. There are female guards with tasers and statues of Biff Tannen that bounce up and down.
Anyway, avoid the big black balls. Those things and indestructible. Hit the switches on the bookcase to get rid of the walls of spikes. Also, the soldiers' guns here can shoot farther and faster, and some of them can send shock waves through the ground with their tasers, so be careful. To get through the field of bombs, spin jump through the bombs to blow them up without doing any harm to yourself.
You have to land dead center on the white platforms...or else you'll fall through the sides. And if you're not careful, you could fall all the way back to the beginning of the level!
Round 3-3
Password: WOLF
This boss is pretty simple. Just spin jump on the blocks to break them, and move to one of the sides when you bounce off them. The iron balls that fall from out of the pipes should hit him. Be sure to jump on him as well; this does more damage than the balls.
The blocks will come back one at a time from hooks that hang from the ceiling, so keep on breakin'!
Every once in a while, he'll turn around and fire three musical notes. You can get rid of any of them with a simple spin jump.
If for some reason you end up at the bottom, head back up by climbing into the opening to one of the pipes on the sides. Don't forget, you can also spin jump off the guy's head and score a free hit whenever possible. You're better off doing this whenever you can, since it deals more damage than the balls alone.
Round 3-4
Password: BLUE
Oh, jeez, I hate this level. Dying here = massive frustration, because of all the puzzling traps involved.
You'll be reaching higher heights with the fans on the floor. The first one is easy. The second one is not.
You'll have to time your movements, including when you float upwards with help from the fans, to avoid the spikes which move back and forth. You'll have to get some speed and time it right.
The third one is even slightly more of a pain, since there are three iron balls moving around at the top. Once again, get some speed and plan accordingly. These things do have a pattern, you know. And if you can stay away from the second one and under the third one, that's great...since you're kinda expected to do that. If you get hit, just brute-force your way through it.
You'll go up three platforms. After that, go left and you'll find an extra hit point and a shield. Hope you have 120 coins. Go right, and you'll not only find 30 coins if you go after the guard, but you'll also have to anticipate the movements of two walls of spikes when you drop down. Thankfully, they move vertically, and you can find even more coins in this area.
After the next two springs, go left, jumping the pits as you go (unless you want some more secrets...or an giant iron ball to the face...by jumping onto the moving ledges) and wait. These spikes have a new trick: appearing and disappearing randomly. If you have three hits, hitting one, catching a lot of speed and going through it as fast as you can is feasible; otherwise; let go of the run button and move carefully.
The iron balls after this are easy. After that, you have the goal.
Round 3-5
Password: LION
Why is this the only "related" password for the Round 3 bosses? Hmmmm...
Anyway, these two bosses are easy. The little guy with the tambourines is pretty easy, and he shoots an angled shot forwards and upwards. Thankfully, he falls easily after you spin jump on his head a couple of times.
The big gut with the hammer is a little harder. Spin jump on him as well, but avoid that hammer!
Also, don't let these two guys touch each other! The little guy will get on top of the big guy and throw four shots at various angles!
After you defeat them, you meet your mom, who is now...big. Then you'll go back to Hill Valley to look for Doc Brown...only to find that the world has changed...big time!
Well, now that we're taking over for our future son, let's take care of Griff Tannen once and for all!
Round 2-1
Password: HEAD
Love the music in this one.
Anyway, it looks like you're in the 2015 version of the Downtown area, according to the background. I guess.
This is where you'll see the spikes for the first time. Sometimes they'll move around, sometimes they'll be in a line keeping you from entering an area, sometimes they guard something until you hit a switch or perform a certain action such as defeat an enemy (you'll see a bit of that last one here). Regardless, they're really small, they're cheap half the time and they're really obnoxious. So be on your guard.
If you're fast enough after triggering the switch that moves the wall of spikes upward, you can spin jump high enough to defeat the first goon in an instant.
The wall behind him can be climbed on. Just keep jumping towards it and you'll climb up to the top of the wall. You may have to jump off the floating robot to reach the top here, as it's harder to jump to the very top of the wall at times until you get used to it. Be careful not to take damage when you reach the end of the climbable wall.
The flying cars act as platforms. You may experience some slowdown here (hey, the game isn't perfect, but it's still pretty good), but that's about all you'll have to deal with. You'll have to jump over the spikes after they are to the left of the path forward after the cars.
Jump down the pit, and you'll fight the blond girl with the ponytails. Keep spinning while you jump, and you'll keep bouncing on her and spinning until you land on her when she's on the ground. (She stands there for about two seconds before continuing her attack.) Once you defeat her, you'll be able to jump on some platforms and continue on.
The guys on the hoverboards will only come down if you run over the switch that lets them down. Taking it slow here helps.
The third goon does nothing but shoot sonic waves out of his guitar. After that long drop, speed up and take a huge spin jump. You'll come down right on the guy's head and knock him out.
After that, you'll be able to jump onto a platform, jump over the dead end and head to the exit!
Round 2-2
Password: FROG
It's Griff again. This time, you'll have to press the two switches at the center of the screen, timing it so that when the big geyser of water comes out, Griff is in the center of the screen. This will send him flying into the roof of the mansion in the background. After doing this about five or six times, he's done.
He'll stop in one of the corners and throw those baseball bats at you again. If you stay under him, you won't have to worry about that.
If you can somehow sneak up behind him and do a spin jump on him when he lowers himself to flatten you with his hoverboard (which he does every so often), you'll land a free hit. You can also hit him while he's flying around, assuming you're fast enough and you can jump up to him in time. Using this tactic in combination with the fountain can help you beat Griff in record time.
You'll then get a cutscene. Old Man Biff Tannen will climb into the DeLorean and travel into time...but why?
It's time to replay this game, and now the commentary is a little bit better. Enjoy!
Anyway, "Lesson" starts you at 0-1, while "Start" takes you to 1-1.
I've mentioned before that this Japan-only game controls like Sonic to some degree...but it's kinda evil. You'll need to collect coins to get power-ups from the vending machines, and the learning curve is a bit high. But it's still better than the LJN games, I'll tell you that.
Anyway, in the tutorial level, you start out automatically with the hoverboard in 1985...as well as Marty Jr.'s clothes. (Why? I don't know. The Japanese are weird like that, I guess.) Like in Sonic, it takes a while to get going, but once you do...oh, how fast you go!
Make it a habit to keep on spinning while you're in mid-air. It'll be a habit that will save your life and keep you from experiencing unnecessary deaths. At least you have unlimited continues...but still, I'm gonna put it out there. Doing that helps. A lot.
Round 0-1
Password: BACK
This level is pretty straightforward. Grab as many coins as you can as you make your way through the level. Don't forget: when you finish a level, you get 100 coins just for making it to the exit!
To break boxes, just run through them. Sometimes you'll find coins in them, sometimes you won't.
To activate switches, just run through them as well.
To activate a power-up, just run through the vending machine. If you have enough coins, you'll exchange those for the power-up.
At the end of this level, you'll get a cutscene where you meet your girlfriend Jennifer, and Doc Brown takes you to the year 2015. You'll also see a short cinematic that takes place with a Mode 7 DeLorean, as well.
Round 1-1
Password: OPEN
To defeat enemies, jump on top them while spinning, just like in the Sonic games. Once again, if you're not, you'll take damage. And with three hits, there are opportunities where if you're not careful, you'll die...and die...and die.
Whenever you defeat an enemy, you'll get one coin. The more you defeat, the more help you'll have at getting power-ups out of the vending machines.
Enemies you'll meet include the police assistant robots (complete with the red "OK!" sign) and purple droids that slowly move back and forth. You'll also have cops who will try to shoot at you.
If you replenish health while at full health with this, the game will reward you with an extra life. This can come in really handy later in the game.
The police officers' bullets can be destroyed with a spin jump. They don't give you coins, though.
Get used to seeing areas where you're climbing through vertical areas with platforms you can jump through at the end to reach the next "floor" (as well as the enemies in them) in the levels that take place outside. This won't be the last time you'll see a building like this. It's easy here, but later on...
To jump on the springs, you don't necessarily have to jump on them. Instead, you can run over them and they'll take you pretty high.
You'll see some kids throwing those soda cans later in the game. Right now, don't worry about defeating them. Just run right past them and you'll do just fine.
Round 1-2
Password: BOSS
Here's your first meeting with Griff Tannen. The buttons at the lower corners will hit him with the flat-screen TVs (ah, the rounded screens!), but they only work once. You'll have to spin jump on top of him when he's not spinning those baseball bats around.
He'll hit the ground with the bats and cause things to fall down, but that attack is easy to avoid.
After you defeat him (which doesn't take very long), you'll see a cutscene where he sends three of his goons after you. You'll have to fight them in the next stage.
It's time for the inner sanctums of Dracula's castle...get ready!
Stage A
Welcome to the clock tower.
The gears don't push you around; they move you back and forth, and by standing on them, you can tell which direction they spin. There are other gear platforms that you can walk on the top of, and they will eventually carry you into a pit if you don't jump off.
On the vertical sections, pay attention to where you're going, and watch for where enemies are. If you can, take advantage of enemies ahead of time by fighting them from a distance, even if they're above you.
It is possible to swing back and forth on the hooks in the third section and de-spawn the sword skeleton.
In the second vertical section, stay to the left to take out the Ax Armor on the first moving hook section if you have the Cross, otherwise, stay to the right and get on the platform below the Ax Armor to take the Ax Armor out. From there, head to the right at the top for health. On the second moving hook section, stay to the left to take out the Bone Dragon. If you're forced to use your whip, be very careful.
The boss here is a mummy. Watch where it teleports, and use the "whip wiggle" and your sub-weapons to take out the wrapping it throws at you. Also, whatever you do, don't let this thing corner you and keep as far away as possible.
Stage B
Remember the trick you used to destroy the books and flying Minotaurs in Stage 7? Use it for the headless swordsmen at the beginning.
In the second section, go to the right and don't stop when you get on the bridge. Keep going and get on the stairs to avoid all the bats. If you jump and strike down and to the right while in mid-air, you can get all the hearts from all the candles while crossing the bridge. Just don't stand still or you're a goner.
After this, you'll have to climb up a ton of staircases that fall down as you cross while avoiding a gear that rises up the towers as it moves back and forth. If this gear hits you, it will kill you. If you need to climb up multiple staircases, keep holding Up while moving forwards.
After a certain point, there will be platforms rising up. Be careful as you use these things to go up; there are spiked ceilings that will instantly kill you, especially at the end.
After this, there is a boss rush. The first enemy you face is Slogra. When he comes down and stops flashing, hit him, then move away in the opposite direction immediately. Slogra's attacks are very hard to avoid, and it is not uncommon to lose a bunch of lives to this guy. The Cross is really useful if you have it, as it will allow you to strike Slogra twice as long as you duck down on the voyage back and it also allows you to concentrate more on keeping distance between you and Slogra. Also, for such a hard fight with this guy, it's kinda weird that he was never a boss again after this and became a weak boss/normal enemy starting from Symphony of the Night onward and never becomes such a major threat again until Curse of Darkness. Talk about a burial.
Once you beat Slogra, you'll be able to fully heal up with all the candles if you hit them all. You'll then take on Gaibon, who is known to team up with Slogra on the games. (Sadly, he usually gets the same treatment as Slogra.) Keep your distance, especially when he drops down, so you can avoid his three-way shot. At half health, Slogra turns from blue to red, and he can also shoot fireballs at you from mid-air. Once again, keep your distance at all times while fighting. Eventually, you'll take him down as well.
After that, you can get one more chicken leg and a few hearts before facing Death. Keep all the way to the left and strike him with the whip, so you can strike the scythes he throws at the same time. When he moves all the way to the right and falls down, get close to him for a few hits, then move away when he starts slowly dragging you towards him so you can get away and jump over the scythe when it flies away. If you can get enough distance for a hit or two (which you probably will), hit him, then start moving away before you take contact damage. Eventually, he'll stop dragging you towards him, and his attack will repeat. In this case, stand in the middle, hold Y, then move the D-Pad while holding Y to use the "whip wiggle" to take out all the scythes. From there, he does the "sucking you in" thing while throwing the scythe around in a circle...and you'll know what to do there.
After you beat Death, you'll be able to go up some stairs and face Dracula. Before you take the final stairs, move to the left and jump. You'll land on an invisible platform. Jump to the left again, and go all the way to the left. You'll completely refill your health, get 99 hearts, get the Cross, get the Double Shot and get the Triple Shot. Even if you have all these things, though, this battle can still be difficult. From here, hold Up as you go right to go up some stairs, and when you stop climbing up stairs, tap Right, then jump right to get back to the stairs. Go up, hit the candles for health and hearts (assuming you didn't get the secret stuff), then keep going left to face Dracula. Like past battles, Dracula's weak spot is his head. Also, since you have the Cross and the Triple Shot (assuming you found the secret item stash from earlier), make sure you always have three Crosses in the air at the same level as where Dracula's head will be.
Use the "whip wiggle" to destroy the fireballs at the beginning.
Sometimes, Dracula will spawn two pillars of fire on both sides of himself. Take care not to run into them, and take out the two fire spirits above them as soon as possible, as they will fly around and track you in an attempt to run into you.
When you bring Dracula down to six bars of health, stop hitting him. When that happens, he will start producing small purple energy balls that fly around all over the screen, if you hit them, they shoot bullets all over the screen before turning into chicken legs. Don't strike Dracula until you have full health again.
When Dracula is down to four bars, the room will glow red and purple energy will crackle everywhere. When the music starts again, you'll be on Dracula's second form. Keep throwing those Crosses at Dracula's head, and watch the top of the screen to see where the lighting will strike straight down from above. As long as you have Crosses flying around at the same level as Dracula's head, you'll be able to do some damage and sail to victory and beat one of the greatest Castlevania games in existence. You just beat Super Castlevania IV!
We're deep into the castle, and this game isn't going to get any easier.
Stage 7
The Spear Armors have spears, obviously. If you're above them, they will know you're there and stab upwards. It is possible to de-spawn the second one in the first section if you get the candles at the beginning in a certain order. Ditto with the second Ax Armor if you go left towards the candle instead of continuing towards the Ax Armor.
The small ghosts from Stage 1 appear again, and from this stage on, they take three hits to kill with a fully powered-up whip instead of two.
The next section is strictly vertical and contains two new enemies. The first is the flying Minotaur skeleton that fly around much like the Medusa heads, and if you don't destroy them quickly, they'll turn around after going off-screen and fly at you. Holding Y and then holding Down will lay your whip downwards so you can stun them in it and kill them. The books will fly at you as soon as they appear on-screen, but you can kill them like you did the flying Minotaurs.
The green book platforms move around in specific patterns, and once you're able to figure those patterns out, they're easier to deal with. Watch out for the Blood Skeletons.
If you see any pictures of old women moving, strike at the bottom of the picture frame to destroy their hands. The hands don't damage you, but they do stun you and leave you at the mercy of other enemies.
The statues of the gargoyles carrying spheres crumble when you get to close, and if you don't stop moving, the spheres hurt you. The red zombie dog will jump up and knock candles out of the air if you leave it on-screen long enough, but it goes down after one hit.
When you see low spiked ceilings, duck-walk under them. There will be lumps in the floor that will move towards you in an attempt to send your head into the spikes, and if you're standing when this happens, you're going to die.
The red worm will move around, and while you can hurt it, it will eventually go past the top of the screen and disappear, allowing you to get all the candles in the area.
The boss here is a giant suit of armor with an axe. Keep your distance when you attack, and stay away so you don't get hit by the ax. At half health, the giant suit of armor has a sword instead of an ax; you'll also want to keep your distance and jump over the boss in case you get cornered.
After this, you'll drop down into Stage 8.
Stage 8
Everything here is on a global timer, which means everything in the stage moves at the same time regardless of whether it is on the screen or not. As soon as this stage starts, you'd better get a move on.
The spider enemies from Stage 2 return, and you get new versions of the crushing spike platforms from Stage 4. Unlike the Stage 4 variety, however, you can stand on the top and use it to get past some obstacles as well as make certain parts of the stage easier. You'll also get the seaweed enemies again as well as the Peeping Eyes.
The green water damages you for as long as you're in, so stay out of it. Also, the green acid droplets that drop from the ceiling also hurt you. It should also be mentioned that the droplets as well as the water itself used to be blood; it was censored and turned into green, acidic water when the game got a Western release.
The Bone Totems take four hits to kill with a fully powered-up whip instead of three from this point forward.
There are swinging platforms that swing back and forth, and their undersides also have instant-death spikes. As long as you don't get caught up while underneath them and remember to duck-walk when necessary, you'll be fine.
There are double-sided spike blocks that move up and down on tracks in the background; touching those are also insta-kill.
The spears that drop down the ceiling only do so when you get close enough and they do not do that much damage. They only deal damage when they drop down.
When you see the two Bone Dragons in the second section, take out the first one with your whip, then spawn the second one, hit the candle that is on top of where the first one was, then use the cross necklace you get to destroy the second one.
On the block bridge, move slowly to the right. On the third bat, start moving. The fourth bat will hit you, but if you keep holding right on the D-Pad, you'll still be able to cross to the other side before the bridge completely falls out from under you.
In the vertical section, there are stairways with red sections. If you attack these sections with the whip, they will break apart and the resulting debris that scatters will hurt you if it touches you. Watch out for those double-sided spike blocks.
After the vertical section, duck-walk to get past the spike blocks, and take care of the skeleton before grabbing the brown jug. You can get past the swinging spike platform without a problem after that.
At the platform before the second set of spike blocks, walk off the edge to the right when the first block is all the way up. The candle between the first two blocks in this set contains a dagger, so don't hastily hit it if you don't want one. Duck-walk to get past all of the spikes that jut out of the ceiling, and use the whip wiggle to hit candles if you need hearts, health and points.
After that, there will be platforms that disappear and re-appear. Keep a watchful eye on them and pay attention to when each individual blocks fades in and out of the screen so you don't fall into the pit. These blocks are all on a global timer, meaning they are fading in and out regardless of whether they are on the screen or not, making this part feel very random every time you get here. Sometimes you can strike it lucky and rush through this; other times you'll have to exercise the utmost patience. It's even worse when you realize that there are blades that drop down from the ceiling in this section as well.
The boss here is a Frankenstein's Monster that throws beakers. Some of them create a short wall of flame around where the beaker lands; others split into a five-way shot when they go all the way up. He also can send out a doppleganger that goes down in one hit unlike the real one, a la Shredder from the TMNT games.
Stage 9
Be careful with your jumping, and watch out for enemies. This is especially true of skeletons; they may be waiting for you as you're about to land on a platform while jumping over a pit.
Jump over cracks in the floor; while they don't hurt you and they don't create bottomless pits when stepped on, they can take you by surprise.
The gold platforms on chains immediately crumble under your weight. The hard-to-reach lead mostly to hearts, particularly of the big variety, but not much else.
The gold pit is much like the water; you can sink into it and die if you stand in one spot for too long.
At the part where the blocks are falling you will want to advance quickly but carefully; you don't want to get hit by a blocks and knocked into insta-kill spikes.
The holes in the cave walls in the background that suck in air will drag you towards them and stick you in place until they stop sucking in air, but at least you can still defend yourself with your whip.
The vertical section before the end is a source of a lot of points; every candle except for any that contain health contains money, and even the skeletons - which are all gold in this stage and will throw bones at you - will drop money when killed. There's even a Bone Dragon near the end of this section, and if you kill it, it will turn into a bunch of money bags. Don't get greedy; if you drop down to the bottom of the screen, you can die even if you drop to an area where you know floor exists.
The boss here is a giant bat made of gold. Whenever you strike it, it drops gold that can do damage to you on its way down. Be sure you are directly under the bat when you strike it so this doesn't become a problem. At half health, this bat splits into three smaller bats that drop coins downwards and fly all over the screen. Keep your distance when hitting them, and remember that they all share a health bar. If you have the cross, you can do multiple hits. It won't be long until you enter Stage A.
In this entry, we make it into the castle. It's not gonna get any easier.
Stage 4
The green platforms are just like the wooden platforms in Stage 1; if you jump on them, they will spin around and send you downwards. If you have to deal with multiple green platforms at once, you'll have to keep jumping as soon as you land to ensure you don't get sent plummeting to your doom.
New enemies include enemies that come out of walls when you get too close as well as skeletons that hang upside down from walls and ceilings.
The mini-boss here is a giant skull that tries to jump on you and touch you with its tongue. When you hit it, debris falls from the ceiling. You want to get one hit in, then move, and keep doing that with each successful hit. If you have the Cross (especially with the triple shot), you can get some hits in and concentrate more on striking the debris away with your whip.
In the next section, strike upwards at the hook and hold on until the room slowly stops rotating. When you have floor to stand on again, stand there and strike at or avoid the flying medusa heads. If any manage to move past you, don't focus on them; instead, focus on the next one coming at you. When the room starts moving again, whip onto the hook and swing onto the floor that materializes when it is done appearing. Head to the left. You're done with this section.
In the next section, you have a cylindrical background that slowly rotates back and forth. Some of the doorways have pink blobs blocking them, and if those blobs are above you when you get close, they burst into pieces and skeletons will drop down to block your path. The floor does fall down as you progress, but it only falls after you move a certain distance forward, so you're not exactly racing against the clock here.
In the final section, you'll see moving walls that continuously move up. You'll eventually see the same ones over and over again, and you'll eventually see a pattern and a way to move past them all. It is possible to be crushed between the ceiling and the moving platforms, so you'll need to be fast as well as careful. Also, watch for the purple spikes; they're instant death, as always.
The stage also loops vertically, so if you keep going up, you'll eventually be back where you started. When you see the purple spiked ceilings that come down when you get close. If you do, stand near the columns as they drop down, then move forward as soon as they're out of your way; otherwise, you're going to die no matter what.
When you see the blocks that move upwards rather quickly, wait for them to be completely out of your way, then move to the right and keep going. Do not stop, otherwise, you will die.
The boss here is a giant golem. Keep your distance and strike with your whip. As you strike, blocks will fall from the top of the screen - which you'll want to avoid or strike at - and the boss gets smaller. The boss will also throw rocks at you, and you'll want to stay away from those, as well. Having a sub-weapon works here, since you can focus on everything else as it does a little bit of damage.
Stage 5
You'll start seeing harpies that drop flea men in this stage. Take out the harpies before they drop their flea men; otherwise, you'll have to deal with the flea men, which will jump around everywhere and make themselves harder to hit.
The biggest enemy here is the timer. You don't have a lot of time to get through this stage, so you'd better get a move on if you want to get through this place with one life.
When you make it to the second section, it won't be long until you reach the castle. You'll meet a new enemy here: a skeleton with a whip. Keep your distance, as these guys have as much range as you do.
At the castle, you'll mostly see bats as you make your way up the stairs. By the way, the statues of the women are bare-breasted in the Japanese version; they were covered up when the game came to the West.
Stage 6
The dog at the beginning will get back up and go after you after being struck if you leave it on-screen long enough.
The zombies in yellow will continue to approach you if you don't keep moving.
The Ax Armors will throw axes. They can throw their axes high or low, and they can return to the Ax Armor like boomerangs. They take four hits to kill, and you can also destroy their axes with your whip.
The second section has giant swinging chandeliers in all their Mode 7 glory. Get on the gray slabs at the top, as those act as platforms, and you want to jump from platform to platform when the chandeliers are swinging to the right. Don't forget that you can change the direction of your jump in mid-air unlike other Castlevania games.
The third section starts with much smaller, non-Mode 7 chandeliers that fall from the ceiling when you get too close. After the second one, strike at the floor tiles in mid-air with your whip. You'll find a hidden staircase that leads to a ton of hearts and money as well as a full health power-up and lets you choose every sub-weapon in the game except for the stopwatch. There is also an enemy here that isn't seen anywhere else: an old man and his dog. They don't hurt you, and you can strike both of them, but if one is hurt, the other one disappears with them. If you strike the dog, the old man cries before both of them disappear. You can return to the main level by going back up the stairs, but once you do, you won't be able to return.
The women in the orange dresses fly around you in a circle when you approach them; take them out with the whip as soon as possible.
The flashing balls bounce off the screen at 45-degree angles and stay on-screen until you destroy them.
The men in white will quickly advance towards you, but they can be destroyed with the whip rather easily. They also teleport back to where you are when they reach the end of the screen and come at you again, be ready to hit them when they teleport after running under you.
The gray platforms with the spikes at the bottom are like the green ones from Stage 4; however, there are instant-death spikes on one side which will kill you regardless of whether they are up or down. Better make your jumps count!
The next section has spike pits you'll have to cross over. There are some blocks that will crack and eventually break when you stand on them for long enough, so you'll want to be careful as you jump over the pits on instant death spikes.
The shaking coffins will chase you from behind when you walk past them, but if you jump clear over them, they won't sense you. If they do chase after you, turn around and hit them with your whip.
The red skeletons are called Blood Skeletons. Unlike other skeletons, they pull themselves together after you make them fall apart with your attacks. Don't stick around for too long.
You can avoid the hands that come out of the background by duck-walking under them. If they do nab you, the nearby flickering skeleton will become corporeal and try to strike you; thankfully, you can strike first with your whip.
To get past the roulette of coffins, just strike them all with your whip. The tables will chase after you when you pass by; if you have any sub-weapons, you can destroy the tables before then. The dancing couples will come out from the bottom of the screen and fly around as long as they are on the screen; take them out as soon as you see them before continuing on.
Strike the wall at the end of the sixth section to get a 1-Up.
The boss here is Fred Ascare and Paula Abghoul (Those are their official canon names; I'm not kidding.) Stay away from them as they move around the room and watch out for the swords that they send at you. Having the cross works wonders, as you can get a few hits on them and do a ton of damage. It won't be long before you complete this stage.
Every one hundred years the forces of good mysteriously start to weaken. Thus, the power of Dracula starts to revive itself. His power grows stronger and stronger every one hundred years. Dracula has revived many times. However, his sinister actions have been consistently thwarted by the Belmont family. It's been one hundred years since the last confrontation between Dracula and the Belmont family. But now the serenity of Transylvania is being threatened by destructive forces. One a dark and eerie night Dracula rose from his grave to unleash his destructive power over the countryside. Once again Simon Belmont is called upon to destroy Dracula. With only his whip and courage he sets out to restore peace to Transylvania.
The game is officially a remake of the first Castlevania game, but what a remake it is. So much so, it ended up on the Super NES Classic.
After you put in your name, you'll set off for Dracula's castle.
Stage 1
You move with the Control Pad. Down-Left and Down-Right allow you to do a duck walk. B lets you jump. Y lets you attack with the whip, and you can attack in eight directions (down is only available in mid-air) in conjunction with the Control Pad. R allows you to use your sub-weapon, assuming you have enough hearts.
By whipping candles, you'll find pick-ups such as hearts, sub-weapons and gray things that look like a cross wrapped in a ribbon. That last one is a power-up for your whip, and after finding two of those things, your whip will be fully powered-up.
Small hearts are worth one heart; big heats are worth five hearts.
Moving diagonally with the D-Pad near stairs allows you to walk up and down stairways. If you hold Down and B, you can jump straight down off stairs. Unlike in past games, you can also walk backwards on stairs by carefully rolling your thumb on the Control Pad in such a way as to allow yourself to face one direction and walk in the other.
The dagger is a throwing weapon that is thrown straight forward.
Once you get past the front gate - complete with the drawbridge being pulled back - you'll be on the castle grounds. If you see a door in the fence, you can press Up to go in and out. This will help you get past some bottomless pits.
You'll also meet your first enemies: skeletons that will throw their bones into the air and bats that will fly forward.
The chicken leg refills one-third of the life bar. Money bags will give you points. Points are useful; you'll get your first extra life at 20,000 points, then you'll get one every subsequent 50,000 points after that. (20K, 70K, 120K, etc.)
The Cross is actually a boomerang, and it is the best weapon in the game. When you throw it, it travels to the other end of the screen and takes out anything in its path.
The bone pillars will spit fireballs at you, but you can destroy the fireballs with your whip.
The ax is thrown upwards when used and can do damage to things far above you.
If you find a pork chop in the wall, you'll be able to refill all your health.
The brown water jug makes you temporarily invincible.
The cross necklace destroys all enemies currently on the screen.
The hooks with the flying bat on them can be used to let you swing around on the whip. Hold Y to grab hold and keep a hold on it. Use Left and Right on the Control Pad to swing, and use Up and Down to control how far up or down you are hanging off the hook.
The guy who reaches his hand out from behind the wall will club you if you get too close. You can hit his hand to get rid of him, though.
By holding Y and moving the Control Pad in all sorts of directions, you can swing the whip around for some very weak hits. It can take care of some weak enemies in a few hits in case they get way too close.
The Roman numeral II is a sub-weapon multiplier (known by other players as "the double-shot"). Pick it up, and you'll be able to have two of your current sub-weapon on screen at a time as opposed to just one. If you die or pick up another sub-weapon, however, you'll lose it.
Also, make it a habit to strike at walls, especially in very small areas within stages. You may find wall meat, sub-weapon multipliers and even extra lives.
The Holy Water burns in place when thrown onto the ground, and the flame will destroy any enemy that comes into contact with it for as long as that flame is on-screen.
Be careful when going through the third section. Walk past the seaweed enemies that stick to the ceiling, and duck down and whip the horse heads that fly at you when you see them.
The stopwatch stops time for a few seconds.
The Medusa heads go up and down as they fly at you. If you stay in place as soon as you see them, they won't hurt you.
The wooden planks between solid platforms will flip your around and send you tumbling down if you jump on them...so be careful. They will have a different appearance in later stages, but they act the same way.
The small grey ghosts go down in just a few hits.
The boss here is a skeleton on a skeleton horse. Strike the head of the horse to destroy it, then attack the lancer with your whip and sub-weapon. Keep your distance, and watch out for the easily-telegraphed diving attack whenever the lancer does it. Once you beat the boss, you'll get an orb to pick up along with a ton of bonus points for all the hearts and time you have left.
Stage 2
Watch out for the purple zombie hands. They can grab you, and while they won't hurt you, they will keep you in place. Bush monsters will walk back and forth, and spiders will move up and down on their web as they spit baby spiders at you.
You'll see spikes after you make your way down a slope. Spikes will kill you instantly if you land in them.
The hedgehogs that slowly move back and forth and roll into a ball every so often go down in a few hits.
Near the end of the first section, you'll see zombies. They're slow, and they go down rather easily.
In the second section, there will be brown water. If you fall into it, keep jumping or else you will fall in and die.
The crows will dive at you if you get too close. The frogs will keep jumping at you. These two enemies and the bats are the best enemies to use the "whip wiggle" (holding Y and moving your thumb around the Control Pad) against.
The Roman numeral III (also known as the "triple shot") lets you have three of your current sub-weapon on the screen at once. Again, if you die or pick up another sub-weapon, you'll lose it and you'll have to work your way back up to it all over again.
The mid-boss is a Medusa. If you have the Boomerang and the triple shot, duck down and keep throwing Crosses to the right from the far-left side of the screen. Otherwise, whip it in the head, whip the snakes and jump over the projectiles to avoid being turned to stone.
The third section has a current of water pushing you slowly forward. If you hear a rushing sound, that means the direction the current moves has reversed. Also, watch out for flying bat-men (and hit them with your whip) as well as red spikes that are both in the floor and in the background, as the spikes kill you instantly. Also, the green hands that fly up and down as they fly at you go down in one hit. There is also a candle carefully hidden in a column in the foreground that gives you a 1-Up if you somehow manage to hit it.
There's no boss here, so once you're through the third section, it's on to Stage 3.
Stage 3
Be careful with your jumps at the start so you don't fall in spikes.
The rock men split in two after enough damage, then split in two again after even more hits. Once they've shrunken down and divided twice, a few more hits will take them down for good.
There is a wall to the left that can be broken as soon as you start going down; you can find a whole meat there.
When you see the shaking pillars, wait for them to drop before moving ahead.
In the second section, you'll be climbing your way up. There will be some seaweed enemies (that were also seen in the middle of Stage 2) that will get in your way, as well as some green hedgehog-like balls that travel around platforms that cannot be destroyed. Also, the metal bat hooks - now gold - make a return appearance here, and you'll have to let go as you swing towards the direction you want to go to move forward.
In the third section, you'll meet some old friends: fishmen that jump out of the water and spit at you, Peeping Eyes that fly around you and cry drops of blood that are damaging to the touch and the Bone Dragon, which is stuck to a wall and moves up and down as it tries to spit fireballs at you. The Bone Dragons drop a ton of small hearts when destroyed. Also, watch out for column segments falling from the sky and blocks that crack and break under your weight.
You've probably already noticed that if you get hit, you get knocked back, and sometimes that knockback can send you into a pit or instant-death spikes. If you're on stairs however, you're just stunned in place for a few seconds.
The skeleton knights will try to hit you with a sword. Keep your distance.
The boss here is a two-headed dragon. The cross is the best weapon to use, as you can hit the dragon heads from a distance; otherwise, you'll have to get close, get a hit in and move away every so often. The dragons have a three-way fireball shot, but if you're fighting with the cross from all the way to the right, you can easily avoid it. Be careful grabbing the crystal orb when you've beaten the boss; dying is still possible.
