Underground Gamer Magazine - Issue #01

8/7/2019 Underground Gamer Magazine - Issue #01

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A Note from the Editor

NewsUnderground VoiceThe Artistic SideContestsTips, Trick, and Codes

A Final Note

Page 4

Page 5Page 13Page 18Page 63Page 66

Page 68GameboyUS Release: July 1990JP Release: Apr. 1990Developer: Vic TokaiPublisher: SunsoftGenre: PuzzlePlayers: 1

FM-77JP Release: 1984Publisher: BandaiGenre: StrategyPlayers: 1

NESUS Release: Dec. 1988JP Release: Aug. 1987Developer: KonamiPublisher: KonamiDesigner: H. AkamatsuComposer: Kenichi MatsubaraGenre: Action-Adventure

Players: 1

Page 20

Page 14

Page 7


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Writers: Freezer, Snake PlisskenEditor: J2383Contributions Manager: Freak5678Design: Tracy PoffArt: crazyjesse, Kura, Sierra

Maps made by Rick N. Bruns, Version 1.0 (c)2008; Please visit www.NESGames.com for more Maps.


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This magazine represents a great

deal of effort on the part ofeveryone involved. I really didn'tthink we were going to make itfor a while there. We all havelives, jobs, and families who takeprecedent over what you seehere; but somehow, we managed

to deliver what you see beforeyou. I realize that it isn't much,but as a community we havesuccessfully created somethingto be proud of. To me, retro-gaming isn't just about playingold games, it's about connectingwith the past in a deeply

personal way. To me, if I cansomehow get that tiny piece ofmy past back, all of the

unpleasant things in my lifedoesn't seem so bad any more.When I play River Raid on myAtari 2600, it's as if, for a briefmoment, I'm 5 years old again,and all my problems withmoney and work are yearsaway. A time when I wasn't ajaded cynic; I didn't haveproblems with money, work, orwomen; I was just happy tohave fun. When we get old weforget that sometimes we just

need to let ourselves have fundoing silly things. That's what Ihope this magazine brings toeach of you; a way to reconnectwith your past. For just a littlewhile, we can all claim back alittle piece of our childhood. A

big thank you to everyone whomade this magazine possible.

Jack Z


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Congratulations to Pudd on his promotion toGlobal Moderator! Thanks for all that you'vegiven back to the community. We lookforward to having you with us for years tocome!

Some small updates are being done to thewebsite occasionally to make everybody's experience onUnderground Gamer more fulfilling.

Now, if you need to reference another member of the site inyour posts, you can use the person's name instead of the user id.

Simply type [uname=freak5678] or [uname=tpoff] to try it out!This should work anywhere you can post.

RSS feeds now contain corrected links to the torrent files. Thismeans that for you collectors with high ratio, you can useuTorrent to download things as they come out.

Subscriptions to torrent comments have been implemented.Instead of going to each torrent to check if there are new

comments, you can now view the status of this from one centralpage.

Finally, for those of you who work very hard on your torrentdescriptions, you'll find the expanded editor useful. Simply go

to the code previewpage and click the "+" in the upper leftcorner to have more space to edit your description previews.
http://www.underground-gamer.com/previewcode.phphttp://www.underground-gamer.com/userdetails.php?id=287718


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PiotyrSierra

The following users have each been given112.66 GB of upload credit as a result oftheir tickets being randomly chosen in this month's UG Lottery:

Asd77 (With Ticket 2866)Mron (With Ticket 3211)DZIAD (With Ticket 3419)Doktor (With Ticket 3728)keepsqueezy(With Ticket 4184).

Congratulations!
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There is not really a story behindthis game. If there was one, itwill not make any difference

anyway. Your main task is to fillin a space with shapes made upof five perfect squares, otherwiseknown as pentominoes. Theconcept is quite simple. You startout with an empty rectangularform with the size of 5x3 blocks

and 3 of those pentominoes

beside. You have tomove, rotate, flip and

put them into the form and try

to find the proper position, sothat it is finally filled completely.In order to solve the puzzlecorrectly, it is not allowed toleave empty a single square ofthe form and the pentominoesmust not overlap or stick out ofthe form. There are exactly 36

Levels in theentire game.Each of themisrepresented

by a housesituated on asmall island.

At the beginning of the gameand in the short sequencesbetween the riddles, you need tomove our hero from house to

house. Once you find the correctsolution of apuzzle, thebridge to thenext islandappears andyou can move

on.

by Freezer

The ancient land of Daedalus is governed bysymmetry and time. It is a land where yourprogress will be severely tested by thechallenge of myriad shapes and blocks. It willtake the art of Daedalus and the power of yourmind to solve the confounding riddles of the

blocks. To be beaten is ordinary, to achievevictory is an art." (Quote from Back of Game Box)


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Furthermore you earn a newpentominoe after each of theearlier levels as reward up to thetotal of 12 different pieces. The

first few tasks are quite easy tosolve, but they will becomereally challenging soon. In mostcases there is more than just onepossible path to the solution,which gives the game a highreplay value. A timer indicateshow long you need for the level,but has no effect on thegameplay.

While on the overworld, you

just press left and right formoving the main character.Press up in front of a house toenter it. That pretty much was it.The controls become a littlemore complex inside thebuildings. Your view includes

the empty form and youravailable Pentominoes. You don'tcontrol our brave hero anymore,just a hand-shaped cursor.Pressing the A Button allows youto Pick Up or Drop a PuzzlePiece, by pressing the B-Button

it is rotated counter clockwise.

Turn over the piece horizontallyby pressing Start or vertically bySelect. If you hold the B Buttonwhile tapping A, the Puzzle will

be reset to the starting position.

It is a puzzle game where youwon't see any spectaculargraphical effects. Everythingmeets it's purpose. You have agood overview of yourworkspace and all tiles are easilyrecognized. There is no

unnecessary blingbling, whichjust distracts your attention ormakes it harder to concentrate.The in-game music is quitecatchy. You may find yourselfhumming alongside with it. Thedownside is that there are only 4

different music tracks. A little
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pNdb_PqAaI&feature=related


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more variety would have beennice.

Not all tiles you are workingwith are pentominoes. Rightbefore entering the last level youobtain a 13th tile, a 2x2 squareblock, a so called tetromino. Youvery likely know this blockalready quite well from Tetris.

The Game features a PasswordSystem. Each time you completea level, you gain a newpassword. It is interesting thateach password is a common

english four-letter-word. So justby guessing common four letterwords, you can easily obtainaccess to later levels.

The name of the game wasinspired by Daedalus, themythical character of Greeklegend who created the

labyrinth.

A faithful fan version was latercoded for the MSX computersystem by Karoshi Corporationin 2006 for the gamedevelopment contest MSXdev'06.

The game has been ported todifferent platforms, such as PCand GP2X.


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It is a little-known game madeby a little-known developer. Vic

Tokai Corporation is a leadingtelecommunications force inJapan providing cable and DSLservices as well as networksolutions. They produced gamesfrom 1986 to 1998, whichinclude Aerostar, Kid Kool orClash at Demonhead. DaedalianOpus has a simple game concepteverybody knows from theirchildhood. Putting different tilestogether in the correct ordermagically creates a new form.

Maybe it is that simplicity andthe quite easy success in theearly stages which leads to thegame's addictiveness. However,

the difficulty level quickly rises.Later on you might find yourselfspending already hours for justone level. And once you made it

you can go back and try to solveit in a different way. The musicis very enjoyable. The graphicsare nothing special, but likeable.

Unfortunately the game doesn'tfeatures save-states. If you haveto quit right in the middle of acomplex puzzle, you will haveto start it again right from thebeginning. It is only fair to say,that save states were notcommon in 1990, when this

game was released, but they didexist. Since the puzzles becomereally difficult later on, a hintsystem could be useful. It can be


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really frustrating, if you arestuck for hours at one level andcant proceed without lookingup the next password or the

solution in the internet. If thefirst pentomino is placed wrong,the puzzle often cant becompleted, but you won't findthat out until only one or two

pieces remain. Maybe it is not a

bad thing. The game willdefinitely get your brainworking. If I could make a wishfor this game, it would be a level

editor. The possibility of creatingown puzzles and sharing themwith friends could be a realkiller feature. But anyway it isalready really enjoyable this way.

Great combination of a simplegame concept paired with highaddictiveness. Puzzle fans will betied up in it for hours. You mayspend a lot of time filling acomplex form with pentominoesjust to find out that the last tiledoes not fit and willnecessitatereconstructionof the puzzle.

If you keepplaying at thatpoint, you'llknow thisgenre ismeant foryou.

quite enjoyable music

multiple solutions for most levels

36 diversified levels

no save states

easy to learn, hard to master game concept

comfortable controls

no hints

can be a bit frustrating in more difficult levels

only 4 different music tracks

Graphic: 3/5

Sound: 3.5/5Playtime: 25 hoursMultiplayer: -

Rating: 4.3 out of 5Pentominoes


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Un

der

gro

und

Vo

ice

Freeleech and new members?Christmas is early this year.

--Yatta

in "The Grand Reopneing Freeleech!"

any grapefruit soda--achifari

in "What's your favorite soda?"

I love the idea! And I sure wouldread it if it happens! Good luck onthis!

--Piratkoin "Underground Gamer Magazine"

Safe the World is my firefox start

page. Good way to begin the day.--Eravin "Save the World Reminder"

I'm looking for a game that's a beat'em up, similar toDinosaurs & Caddillacs, at first i thought that was it, but it

wasn't. The second boss is in a swamp place (hence thesimilarity because in the 2nd level you also go through aswamp) except, here, you beat the boss in a swamp. If irecall correctly, one of your characters had a red oryellow shirt on and yellow or green or red pants and hewas slim and tall.

--shearer

If you would like to see your voice featured here, please send a PM to

Freak5678 with the first line being 'Underground Voice', and yourstatements may appear in the next issue!
http://www.underground-gamer.com/userdetails.php?id=341843


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This oftenforgotten game, created byBandai far back in 1984 forthe Fujitsu FM-77 computer, isvery important. Why, you mayask? It's important because it'sthe most ancient ancestor ofthe popular Super RobotTaisen (or Super Robot Wars)

saga, a turn based strategyseries of games, started back in1990 on the Game Boy,involving robots andcharacters from japaneseanimation which is stillrunning today, and is the first

experiment in mixing animecharacters and turn basedstrategy.

The game is based on thecharacter that spawned the"super robot" legacy and is an

important milestone injapanese animation andmangas: Mazinger Z by GoNagai.

Mazinger started as a comicon the page of the famous

Shonen Magazine in Japanand it's popularity brought to

the creationof an animated series. Both thecomic and the series had an

immense success andinfluence.

The animated series, created inthe early '70, was one of thefirst to introduce the conceptof mixing man and machinesto a mass audience (the giantMazinger behaviour is oftenan extent of it's pilot innerstate) and to expose thestrange, yet fascinating, viewof Nagai regarding morality.

Good and Evil are separatedand fighting with each other.Good, however, mustsometimes mix with Evil andface its darker side in order totriumph. A theme alreadydiscussed much more deeply

by Nagai in other works, likethe fabolous Mao Dante or it'sspiritual successor Devilman(1972), both born on thepages of the aforementionedShonen Magazine in Japan.

The comic was different fromits television trasposition but

Mazinger Zby Snake Plissken


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was equally fascinating,having darker humor andshowing a bit more on theerotic side (an element stillvery light in Mazinger Z), forwhich Nagai is very famous.

After this brief introductionto the character, let's speakabout the game.

After patiently loading thetape in our trusted XM7emulator, we are presentedwith a primitive but nicetitle screen, which showsour beloved super robot in

all of it's glory.

Then we must select thedifficulty level between 1 and5 and wait a bit for the map to

be randomly generated. Thegame does not feature a plot or

progressive levels, like a lot ofgames of the era, but it aims toprovide an "infinite" replayvalue. Remember that thegame was released in 1984...When the map is created, westart as Mazinger in the

square occupied by the PhotonLab. The graphics arevery minimalistic andraw. Mazinger is so tinythat it is barelyrecognizable, the samegoes for the mechanical

monsters (which rarelyappear on the map).

On the map, we canperform three type of actions:Move (with F1) in the selecteddirection (with numerical pad)

for one square, Attack (withF2) but for doing so we need


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to be close to the attackedsquare or to the mechanicalmonster, and Repair/Resupply

(with F3) if we are on thePhoton Lab.

After the first 2-3 turns youwill receive a message whichsignals which square theenemy attacks. The goal of the

game is to avoid the totaldestruction of the cities, thephoton lab (indicated by the %under the blue writing at thebottom of the screen) or thedestruction of Mazinger and to

destroy the enemy. That's it.

When facing an enemy we

have a nice view of Mazingerfacing his mechanical foe and

we can attack or move,strangely these commands arein english. If Mazinger is hit

the damaged part will beshown on the screen. If thelegs are 100% damaged youwon't be able to move left orright. Also you won't be able touse some weapons if some ofyour parts are 100% damaged

or if you run out of ammo.When pressing 0 to attack,you can select your weapon ofchoice(rocket punch, breastfire etc) but be careful to notrun out of ammo.

The game is very hard andunforgiving and it'svery easy to getMazinger destroyed.The first games willsurely be frustating but

once you growaccostumed to thegame mechanicsMazinger Z willprovide some basic but

rewarding fun.

This title will provide the


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fundation for more refinedturn strategy games based onpopular anime series, likeAura Battler Dunbine for MSX,Mobile Suit Gundam for PC-88, Mobile Suit GundamHyper Classic Operations forFM-Towns and others. Itshistorical importance must notbe understimated.

I would be glad to write aboutthese titles one day, if i'll havethe opportunity to do so.

I hope you enjoyed the review.


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If you have a work of art to be published

in The Artistic Side, please read this threadin the forums.
http://www.underground-gamer.com/forums.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=29900


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Castleva

nia II:

Simon's

Quest

Lord Dracula is back. Prepare your whip, tighten your boots and get ready for an epicourney through cursed woods, across sinister graveyards, and into dungeons of dark castles

full of condemned creatures which strive for just one thing - your blood. Castlevania 2:Simon's Quest is the second game of the series and the second installment for the NES. The

story is set 7 years after the original. As the story is not too comprehensive, it is notmandatory to play through Castlevania I to get the gist, but it is quite interesting to know.


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It was the year 1691. After 100 years of deep sleep Draculaawakened again, ready for enslaving the world. Just one hero hadthe courage to try to stop him, a hero of the legendary Belmont

Clan: Simon Belmont. He entered the castle of the evil Lord, and cuthis way through zombies, medusae, skeletons, and many othercreatures right from hell. Even the Grim Reaper himself couldn'tstop Simon. Finally, Simon faced the Lord of the Vampires up in thehighest peak of his giantcastle. After an epicbattle, Dracula wasdefeated and put to sleepfor another 100 years. Atleast, so he thought...

Seven years after hisvictory, Simon Belmont

is still heavily injured.Suddenly, a womanappears. She tells Simon,that he and the wholeBelmont clan werecursed by Draculabefore he was defeated. Simon does not have long to live, and the

entire Belmont Clan will be annihilated with him. The only chancefor him to be cured is to collect the five parts of the body from evilLord Dracula, which were hidden all over the world by hisattendants. Simon must bring them all to the ruins of Dracula'sCastle, resurrect Dracula by himself, and defeat Dracula once again.But before disappearing, the woman said that there is still noguarantee that Lord Dracula will be destroyed entirely. Now, it is up

to you to help Simon Belmont out of his misery.


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While the first Castlevania was pretty straightforward, Castlevania2: Simon's Quest (CV2SQ) is completely different in this regard.Instead of moving along fixed paths, there is a whole world to

explore, full of towns, bridges,woods, marshes, caverns, and castles(mansions). Wait, castles? Yes,there's more than one. To be exact,there are five different ones, each ofthem hiding one of the five bodyparts of Lord Dracula, spiked withtraps and guarded by his villains.And then there is Castlevania, thefinal castle (or at least what's left ofit after the last battle, seven yearsago). The objective of the game is totravel to the five Mansions and

recover the body parts of Dracula'scorpse plus an item known as theMagic Cross. After finding all ofthe required relics, Simon canclear the blockade in front ofDracula's castle, and fight the lastboss.

CV2SQ is an Action-RPG. Thatmeans you start out pretty weakwith your traditional leatherwhip, dubbed "Vampire Hunter",as your only equipment. It is quiteweak right now, but there are

some upgrades available later on.


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Your adventure begins in the town

of Jova. As in most of the other

numerous towns or villages, you

can talk with various people, buy

new equipment in the shops, orvisit the church for healing; or

you can just walk left and right, or

up and down the staircases, or

stand still and do nothing, or press

the jump-button, or...you get the

point. The official currency of

Transylvania are Hearts. Youreceive Hearts by defeating

enemies. They serve multiple

purposes. The first purpose is for

buying new items (pretty macabre) and obtaining Exp Points, which

you will need for a Level-Up. The other is for using your sub-

weapons. There are various different sub-weapons you can findthroughout the game. You might already know some of them from

the first Castlevania for the NES, such as the Dagger. But there are

also some new ones introduced, e.g. the Diamond, which shoots

diagonally around an area and bounces off walls, floors and

ceilings. The usage of most of the sub-weapons costs a certain

amount of Hearts. It is not necessary to acquire every single sub-

weapon and/or weapon-upgrade, but it adds a nice I want to get it

all feeling. There seems to be a small bug in the inventory list.

Despite the Heart-counter indicating four digits, you can only carry

256 at maximum.


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Like in other RPGs, Simon Belmont increases his character level

after acquiring a certain amount of Experience Points. The only way

to do so is to defeat enemies and collect the Hearts they drop. Each

time your level rises, your health will be fully restored, your

maximum health points increase and the foes will deal less damageto you. Each time you increase your level, the amount of required

Experience Points for the next level increases too. Beware: whenever

you quit your current gaming session, your Exp Points for the

current level are reset to zero; however, you keep your Level. You

can die in two ways. The first one is to have your health points

reduced to zero by getting hit by enemies, or taking damage in the

Marshes, or by spikes. The second one is to fall into a pit, whichcauses instant death, irrespective of your Health Points. If you

encounter the game over screen, you will restart at the place of your

death, which makes it pretty easy. If you quit and continue with a

password, you always begin in the town Jova. In both cases, your

amount of Hearts and Exp of your current level are reset to zero.

You always start your game with three lives in total. It is notpossible to gain an extra life. However, overall difficulty of the game

is not that high and with about 5 hours of gameplay, not that long.

It is very likely that you won't see the game over screen that often.

Another new feature which is implemented into CV2SQ is the

day/night change, which has a significant impact on the

environment. Daytime is from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., nighttime the

opposite. Apart from the optical change, there are some major

effects to the gameplay. At night, more and stronger enemies

appear, which deal about twice as much damage and have about

double HP. But to make life a bit fairer, they drop bigger Hearts in

exchange. In cities, you can only enter the houses during the

daytime. At night,the doors are locked and zombies are walking


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around the streets. The day and night effects do not appear inside

the castles, but as you can see, there are major influences

throughout the rest of the game. So if you face an area you can't

pass, you might try it again during the daytime. Each second of realtime is 4 minutes of in-game time. That means each day lasts for

exactly six minutes in the US version. The timeflow in the EU

version is slower. You can hang around for about 7 minutes and 30

seconds until one day passes. That's quite okay as you aren't

interrupted by the sunset-sunrise animation that often. It just can be

a bit annoying if you are in urgent need of a healer as the sun setsright before you can enter the next town.


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The controls are as easy as they could be for an NES game. Pressleft or right on the D-Pad for walking, press down forcrouching or walking down staircases, press up for walking upstaircases. The A-Button lets you perform a jump, press the B-Button to swing your whip, and Up + B for using a sub-weapon.That's pretty much it. It is worth mentioning that the onlydirection you can swing your whip is left or right. It is not

possible to swing it upwards,downwards, or diagonal like in

some of the newer games of theseries. Furthermore, it is notpossible to change the directionof your jumps in midair.

This can be especially

frustrating when you are hit byan enemy and thrownbackwards directly into a pit.The subweapons have presetballistic trajectories. So try totime it correctly when youlaunch them, as in many cases

only one at a time can be present on the screen. During thattime, you have to rely solely on your whip, which is a strongweapon, but maybe not the best choice in a given situation.Overall, Simon Belmont moves a bit clunky, far from the perfectinteraction with other heroes like Mario or Sonic. You'll get usedto it after a while.


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The Castlevania series is well known and highly appreciated forits atmospheric and impressive soundtracks. CV2SQ is noexception. Of course, you need to like 8-Bit Retro Midi-Sounds.If that is the case, you will definitely enjoy one of the bestsoundtracks ever for the NES System.

The game includes only a handful of tracks, but every single oneis unique. At dawn the music changes to point out the differentatmosphere. The music within the Mansions is especially

enjoyable.

The game's soundtrack was composed by Kenichi Matsubara,who also created (among other things) music for the ActionGames Contra Force and Crisis Force and the Arcade CastlevaniaTitle Haunted Castle The most significant song is Bloody Tears,

which has since become a recurring song in the Castlevaniafranchise. According to Wikipedia, Bloody Tears alsointroduced a motif to Castlevania, which included statues orportraits of a person crying tears of blood in the graphics. Insome instances, the song has specifically accompanied thiselement in the series.

Despite CV2SQ receiving high ratings for its newly introducedtheme of exploration and its strong influence at the evolution ofrecent titles, it was heavily criticized for its bad localization.Many hints given by the townspeople are far too cryptic to beuseful, many others mislead you, and some are pure lies.

According to GameSpot, the subtle hints from the Japaneseversion were lost in translation. An infamous line of dialogue
http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/castlevaniaiisimonsquest/review.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjazC45Qkww&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?fmt=18&gl=CA&hl=en&v=4NINswbMa7Ehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dszx6C6Zfq0&feature=PlayList&p=21AF056B2759B%3E%20208&playnext_from=PL&index=1&playnext=2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd0DgOZFx6w


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they gave as an example was "Hit Deborah Cliff with your headto make a Hole".

The cover of the second issue ofNintendo Power

magazinewas said by the producers to be the worst cover [out of all] of

their magazines. It shows acostumed model dressed asSimon Belmont, holdingDracula's severed head. Thiscover caused a lot oftelephone calls from angryparents complaining thattheir children would sufferfrom nightmares because ofit.

In the rare case you havetoo many Hearts and noidea what to do with them, Ihave a quite useless tip foryou. You can buy most, butnot all, items again, even if

you have already boughtthem. This doesnt changeyour inventory, but lowersyour total number of Heartsby the price the item costs.


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According to how fast you beat the game and how manycontinues you use, different ending scenes will be unlocked.Time stops within buildings, including the mansions. Use this to

your advantage if you are trying for the best ending.

Playing the game is fun. I enjoyed walking around numerousplaces, collecting tons of items in Legend of Zelda style, which

offer new abilities or just upgrade existing ones and beating thehell out of the creatures of darkness. The downside is thatalthough the various locations differ quite a bit, you can get losteasily. The rumors of the villagers are quite vague, and offer noreal hints in many cases.

The high number of fake walls, which look exactly the same like

real walls, doesn't make it easier to find out where to proceednext. It often happens that somewhere (right in the middle ofnowhere), you have to sprinkle some Holy Water onto a fakeblock, which can't be distinguished from the real blocks, toreveal a hidden pathnecessary for proceedingwith the game. Unless you

enjoy sprinkling Holy Waterfor big parts of your triponto every block on yourpath, a map will come inquite handy. Including allmaps into this magazinewill go far beyond the scope

of this already


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If you are a fan of theCastlevania series, it will bea must-play for you. If youare new to the series and

enjoy good Action-RPGs, CastlevaniaII: Simons Quest isdefinitelysomething for youtoo. For everyone

else, give it a try.

one of the best game musics ever

explore lots of diversified areas

huge amount of different enemies

some items are quite useless

tons of cool items

day/night feature with major impact on gameplay

weak bosses

just vague hints of how to proceed

invisible walls are quite annoying

clunky main character

Graphic: 4/5

Sound: 5/5Playtime: 5 hours

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Whips

comprehensive article. I tried to add lots of hints to all the itemlocations into the following Appendix, as well as a small travelguide, which covers the most important stations of your

adventure.

The music is great, and the graphical style is surely not the best Ihave ever seen for a NES Game. However, the graphics are quitea bit over the average. The bosses are a huge disappointment incomparison to the others of the Castlevania series. The overalldifficulty of the game depends on the goals you have set

yourself. If you just want to play through without trying for thebest ending, it is quite easy to medium in some situations. If youwant to go for the best ending, it can really be challenging asyou arent allowed to use a single continue. Especially some ofthe jumping-passages can be frustrating, because of the clunkycontrols. The day/night exchange is a cool feature and adds anice note to the overall gameplay. It is a pity that it wasn't

implemented more often in later games.


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Towns

The towns are your onlychance to rest during yourtrip, but only during the day.At night, zombies and bats arefloating around and all thedoors are locked safely. Notevery town has a church, but

if you can find one, make sureyou visit it. Your health will befully replenished (for free!).Most merchants open theirshops in this safe area, so besure to have some Hearts to

spend in your pocket. You canlisten to the rumors of thecitizens or simply ignore themif want. Try not to fall into the

watery pits, as they willinstantly kill you. You willmost likely run across thetowns in your adventure inthis order: Jova, Veros, Aljiba,Alda, Ondol, Doina and Yomi.

Woods

Transylvania is a verytimbered area, so forests are

the type of environment youwill encounter most oftenoutside the towns. There aren'tany big differences betweenthem except the colors of thetrees. They are populated by

lots of different enemies,which change deeper into the


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game. At the beginning,skeletons and werewolves areprowling around, and later onspiders hang from the top ofthe trees and try to catch youwith their webs; even theplants try to eat you! Thenames of the woods are mostlyconnected to the areas theyadjoined to. These are Veros,

Jova, Denis, Aljiba, Sadam,Debious and Dora. Someforests contain Marshes.

Marshes

Marshes are mostly settled

within woods and contain anew type of environment. Youwon't die if you fall into thesticky morass, and can even

walk directly through it for ashort period of time. Youcontinuously lose health whileyou are in the marsh; I do notrecommended taking a bath inthere. Sometimes, though, youhave no choice. As if that isnot enough, Mud Men, SlimyBarsinisters, two-headedcreatures, and more are trying

to hinder you as you walkthrough. It is wise to keepsome Laurels in your stock.The main marsh areas areBelasco, Joma, and Denis.

Bridges

Be careful to time your jumpscorrectly, and don't fall intothe water. Fishmen, which


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jump randomly out of thewater, shoot fireballs at you tomake things harder. Getting

hit by an enemies gets youthrown back, and as you haveno control over SimonBelmont in midair, you verylikely will often get throwninto one of the numerous pits,which causes instant death (as

our brave hero can't swim).There are four bridges in thelands of Transylvania, calledNorth, South, East and WestBridge.

CavernsEven beneath the surface, youare not safe from evil. Most ofthe caverns have multiplefloors, so try not to get lost.The most common foes are

Bats, Skeletons, GhostlyEyeballs and Skullheads.Explore the caverns carefully,as you can find some verypowerful items there. Dabi'sPath, Aljiba Lower Road and

Wicked Ditch are the mainCave Areas in Transylvania.

Graveyards

It is quite scary to walkaround alone in a graveyardlate at night. The buried putforth their hands and try tograb your feet. Ghosts arefloating around, and evenMummies leave their ancient


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graves and try to take youdown. Vultures are ready todisgrace your rotting corpse.

But even in the darkest areasthere is some light. It is saidthat Garlic has the power toreveal hidden mystics, whichwill be more than glad to helpyou out. The three maingraveyards you'll cross are

Camilla Cemetery, StorigoiGraveyard and VradGraveyard.

Lakes

Various Lakes are blockingyour path. Unfortunately ourhero is a non-swimmer.

Thankfully, you will discoversome magical items

throughout your adventurethat create paths across them.At one of the watery hazards, a

Ferry Man is waiting for you,ready to take you to the otheredge. Is that really the onlyplace he goes... or are you ableto convince him to change hisdestination? The main Lakesare Yuba Lake, the Dead River

and Uta Lake.

Mansions

Your journey takes youthrough five mansions. Each

contains one of Dracula's fivebody parts. Beware of spikes(which cause massivedamage), fake walls, fake


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floors, pits, numerous undeadenemies of different kinds,and...a guy who is selling you

an Oak Stake. Oh wow. Hiswife really must treat himhard, if he prefers opening hisshop here right besidecreatures of doom instead of athome in a nearby city. Onceyou make it through all of

them and successfully recoverthe relic, you've only reachedthe half-way point. Hopefullyyou have got some Health-Points left to get out of themansion and arrive at the next

town alive. The mansionsinclude Berkeley, Rover,Laruba, Bodley and Brahm's.

Castlevania

Just a few years ago, an

awesome castle was stretchingover the landscape. Today, justthe deserted ruins are left to

give us an impression of theerstwhile power of evil LordDracula. The goal of ourjourney is near. The force ofthe Lord of Darkness is still

present in these ancient walls.Be sure to have all necessaryequipment ready, and walkright into the heart of hisdeparted fortress for the finalbattle. Once you enter thethrone room and burn

Dracula's body parts, there isno way back.


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While later Castlevania games are known for hard to beatbosses, this one definitely is not. There are only three bosses, andthey can all be killed with ease. To make matters worse, you can

entirely skip one of them by just walking past.


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Deep in Brahm's Mansion you will face the Death himself. Hisappearance is as impressive as in any other Castlevania game,

but only for the first few seconds.Found in: Brahm's MansionHP: 128Item Dropped: Golden Knife

There are different strategies of how to deal with him. By far, theeasiest is to simply ignore him and move on to the next room withDracula's Eyeball. If you do, though, you will not gain the GoldenDagger, the most powerful of the Sub-Weapons as reward. Onemethod of beating him is to purchase the Morning Star whip inOldon. Stay at the bottom left corner of the room. Try to dodge


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the first few of his scythes ordestroy them and when he lowersto the floor, smash the B-Button

as fast as you can and hit himcontinuously with your whip. 16rapid strikes and Death is dead.

If you didn't buy the MorningStar, no problem. Equip theSacred Flame, and lure Death to

the ground. Make sure that hedoesn't close the gap between you and the exit, and keep somedistance from him. Then use the sacred flame, and watch whilehe gets hit by it multiple times. As soon as it disappears, toss thenext one and repeat this procedure until he meets his maker. If hecomes too close, take one small step back to increase the distance.

Finally, there is the Garlic strategy.Drop a Garlic bulb on the 4th or5th block from the left, andchances are high that the GrimReaper will be trapped by it whenhe approaches you. Watch him dieas you take a coffee break, andsoon the Golden Knife is yours forthe taking.


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Get ready to kick some ass. Wait ... She doesn't have one. But, noworry. The guard of Laruba Mansion isn't really a pain.

Found in: Laruba MansionHP: 256Item Dropped: Magic Cross

Again, there are different strategies you can use to deal with her.As with the Grim Reaper, you can simply move on to the nextroom and ignore her. However, you have to defeat her at leastonce, because she drops the Magic Cross once she is defeated.Without it, you won't get access into Lord Dracula's sealed castle.


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Vampira has two different attackpatterns. While performing thefirst she floats still in about the

center of the room, but too highfor you to reach, and cries abloody tear. Once it reaches thefloor, it splits up into fivefireballs, one of them shooting ineach direction of the room. Thosefireballs are easy to dodge. Equip

Dracula's Rib and stand stillwhile facing the center of the chamber. The bullets are reflectedautomatically.

Eventually, she will repeat this procedure for a few times, andthen move on to her next type of attack. This time, she will float

around in the room in a fixed circle, giving you a chance todefeat her. You can try to hit her with your whip, but be carefulnot to get too close. 16 Hits withyour Fire Whip, and she's toast. Aneasier way is to strike her with theGolden Knife. Once it hits her, itsticks in her body and hits her

another two times for the samedamage. Vampira will be frozenfor a short moment at her currentposition while taking damage.Take the chance to throw anotherknife when the previous one is

about to lose its effect.


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Get ready for the final battle against the Lord of Darkness himself.It is pretty obvious that this confrontation is unavoidable.

Found in: CastlevaniaHP: 256

This battle could be an easy win in just a few seconds, or it couldbe really painful with bad equipment. Once you enter the throneroom with the altar, you are going to watch a short animation ofSimon Belmont burning the five parts of Dracula's body. Youdon't need to wait until Dracula is fully revived to control Simon.

Immediately start hitting Dracula with your preferred weapon.


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The best choice is the GoldenDagger in combination with theFire Whip. Attack rapidly and

watch him die even before hefully materializes. If you don'thave the Golden Knife, anothergood way to weaken himeffectively before the battle startsis to use the Sacred Flame, as youdid with Grim Reaper. Each flame

hits Dracula multiple times. As soon as the flame is about todisappear, toss the next one. When Dracula starts warpingaround the room like crazy, try to finish him with your whip.

It seems like a nice idea to ban Dracula with Garlic.However...because of strange magic, your stock of Garlic reduces

to zero once you resurrect Dracula, and you aren't able to use asingle clove. When Dracula fully appears, he starts warpingaround in the room, randomly shooting spinning fireballs at you.Your best is to stay on top of thealtar in the center of the roomwhile continuously striking himwith the whip and using Laurels.Lord Dracula deals massivedamage. The spinning fireballs canbe destroyed with the whip. If youcan't find the Golden Knife, the FireWhip, the Sacred Flame, or someLaurels, I wish you good luck. You

will definitely need it.


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There are tons of items you canfind spread all over the world.You can either buy them inshops, or find them in castles.Many can be overlooked easily,as they are hidden quite well. Idivided all items into thefollowing categories: PrimaryWeapons, Secondary Weapons,

Lord Dracula's Body Parts,Magical Crystals and OtherItems. Some items are essentialfor proceeding in the game,

and some are completelyoptional (but can make yourjourney more convenient). Foryour reference, I made a list ofall items available in the game.If you can't find them, or arejust curious, proceed reading.Please note that the Whips andCrystals are upgradeable, and

therefore the weaker weaponin your arsenal is replaced bythe stronger one.


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Picture Name Location Str. Description

Holy Water

Dagger

Sacred

Flame

Silver Knife

Golden

Knife

buy for 50Hearts in

Jova

buy for 50Hearts in

Veros

hidden inEast Dabi's

Pathget from

hidden mysticin CamillaCemetery

get afterbeating

Death

1

2

4

2

??

The most multifunctional item inyour inventory. Use it to hit enemiesfrom higher platforms, destroy some

blocks, or reveal invisible gaps inwalls or floors.

Like in Castlevania I for the NES, there are a few different sub-weapons which make your life easier. You can free change betweenthem. The sub-weapons cost Hearts to use; the Sacred Flame, Silver

Knife, and Diamond require 1 heart per use, and the Gold Kniferequires 2. If you don't have enough Hearts, you can't use them. TheHoly Water and Dagger are cost free.

Flies straight horizontally, goesthrough enemies, but rather shortranged in comparison to the otherKnives (Range 4 Blocks). Good for

dealing damage from a distance forfree.

When used, a flame spouts on theground in front of Simon. Used todeter oncoming enemies, or to kill

them from higher platforms (as withthe Holy Water).

Like the Dagger, but flies the rangeof the screen. It is ideal for using on

large groups of enemies.

This strongest version of the Daggerdoes the same damage as your

current equipped whip, and fliesthrough the whole screen; if that's

still not enough, when hitting anenemy, it bursts into a flaming aura,hitting two more times.

Diamond

get frommystic atunnamedmountain

2The Diamond bounces off floors,walls, and ceilings, and smashes

every foe in its path. It disappearsonly after going off the screen, or

bouncing too many times. Try to useit in the caverns.

Oak Stake

buy for 50hearts fromany mansion

merchant

0Essential for collecting Dracula's

body parts. If you stand right in frontof a magical orb at the end of a castleand can't open it, it is very likely thatyou don't have an Oak Stake. You

need a new one for every orb.


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Picture Name Location Description

Dracula's Rib in BerkeleyMansion

When equipped, protects you fromfireballs in the direction you are facing. It

works when you are standing still,jumping, and fighting, but not while

walking. Keep this in mind!

These items are the reason for your journey, and thereforeessential to beat the game. Besides resurrecting Dracula, four of

them have other purposes.

Dracula'sHeart

in RoverMansion

Convinces the Ferry Man to take you to ahidden island.

Dracula'sEyeball

in BrahmMansion

Allows you to see the hidden clues forDracula's Riddle.

Dracula'sNail

in BodleyMansion

This lets you destroy blocks with the whipinstead of having to use Holy Water.

Dracula's

Ringin LarubaMansion The Ring has no additional special effects.

Magic Cross get afterbeatingVampira

Obviously, not a body part of LordDracula, but it is still needed to destroy

him in the Final Castle.

White Crystal buy for 50Hearts in Jova reveals invisible walls in Berkeley Mansion

Blue Crystaltrade White

Crystal tocrystal trader

in Aljiba

enables you to walk under water at theunnamed river and at the Lakeside of Uta

Lower Road

Red Crystal

trade Blue

Crystal tocrystal traderin Aldra

summons a whirlwind at the JamWastelands

When you possess these Crystals, new paths are opened.


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Picture Name Location Description

Small Heartsare randomlydropped after

defeatingenemies

Hearts are the currency for buying goods,and are required for using some of the

sub-weapons. They exist in three versions:Small Hearts add two units to your stock,Half Hearts add four and Big Hearts areworth six units. Also, by collecting them,your Experience Points rise. Small Heartsraise your Exp by 1, Half Hearts by 3, andBig Hearts by 5. Please note that you canearn at some areas Exp-Points only untilyou reach a specific Character-Level. If

you want to rise further in Level, you haveto proceed to other areas of Transylvania.

Miscellaneous useful items you will encounter every now and then.

Half Heartsare randomlydropped after

defeating

enemies

Big Heartsare randomlydropped after

defeatingenemies

Garlicbuy 2 for 50Hearts from

merchants inAljiba and

Aldra

Your enemies are allergic to this vegetable,and can't pass it. They are trapped by itonce they touch it, and constantly takedamage until they die. Use this to your

advantage; garlic is also needed to revealsome of the hidden Mystics.

Laurels

buy 2 for 50Hearts from

merchants inAljiba, Aldra,Oldon and

Doina

Laurels grant you invincibility for about 8seconds, which comes in quite handy

while traveling through marshes, or inareas with lots of hard to beat enemies.Visit the Mystic in Laruba Mansion and

get some for free.

Silk Bagget frommystic inStorigoy

Graveyard

Doubles your capacity for Laurels andGarlic.


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Town of Jova: This is where youstart your big journey. Whenyou quit and have to restartyour game via Password, you

will start from here too. Keepin mind the paths you take, asthere is no map feature. One ofthe first things you should do is

to invest your 50 Hearts in thepurchase of Holy Water. Youcan easily find the merchant,who is in the door on thesecond city level to the right.Walking around outside in thesame spot, you will findanother merchant selling youthe White Crystal, which isessential for proceeding in thegame. Inside the left house onthe middle platform of thesecond floor, you can buy the

Thorn Whip.

WARNING: The following section contains major spoilers. Itwill not cover each step, only important ones to provide hints incase you get lost. It is worth mentioning that the names of theplaces in-game are only mentioned in the road signs inside thetowns. Not all locations are mentioned. It is dubious where allthe names initially come from, but there exists a general

agreement of what the correct names are.


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Jova Woods: The Jova Woodsare situated directly to the rightof Town of Jova. If you exittown to the left instead, you

will be toast within seconds. InJova Woods, you willencounter your first easy-to-kill enemies. Beware of theWerewolves, which jumparound like crazy. This is agood place for gathering Hearts

to buy items in the Town ofJova. While you are gatheringhearts, the time will probablychange to night. Now theenemies are twice as strong,but leave Half Hearts instead ofSmall Hearts as a reward.

Veros Woods: The VerosWoods are west of BerkeleyMansion, and contain a longstaircase down to the Town ofVeros. Be sure to visit the town

next.

Town of Veros: Buy the Daggerand the Chain Whip from thelocal tradesman. You can findthe Dagger in the first housebehind an evil wall, which

needs to be removed with HolyWater. The Chain Whip is sold

in the rightmost house on topof a small platform. Sprinklesome more Holy Water ontothe floor to meet the merchant,

who is hiding in the cellar.Don't forget to heal in theresident church. It is time tovisit the first Mansion.

Berkeley Mansion: Equip theWhite Crystal right at the

beginning to reveal a hiddenplatform, which allows you toproceed. Make your way up tothe highest floor and move allthe way to the right. Twoplatforms down and to the left,you encounter a merchant

selling an Oak Stake. At therightmost side of the castle, on


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the second floor, you will findDracula's Rib. Beware of the

various fake floors, especiallythe last one before the roomwith the artifact. This one cancause you to take a nice extratour through the castle, but ison the other hand a welcomeshortcut to the exit after you

collect the first of the five bodyparts.

West Dabi's Path: You nowhave two directions in whichyou may proceed. I recommendreturning to the Town of Verosto heal, and then going right toenter the cave West Dabi's Path

at the bottom. Climb up to thetop of the cave. If you haveenough energy left, you cantake a little shortcut andtraverse the Denis Woodsdirectly to the east of the entry

of Berkeley Mansion. There,you can enter West Dabi's Pathat the top level. But beware itwill be a long hike before youcan heal again.

East Dabi's Path: Exit West

Dabis Path to the right, and

continue until you reach the


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floor of the cave. At the bottom,use Holy Water to remove thetwo blocks preventing youfrom walking to the left. Nearthe left wall, you will find twomore evil blocks. Sprinklingsome Holy Water on them willreveal the Sacred Flame.

Town of Aljiba: Continue east,

ignore the stairway down intothe Aljiba Woods, and visit theTown of Aljiba. Rememberwhen I said it is going to be along hike? There is no churchhere, but there is other businessto do. After removing the evil

floor in the first building, the

first floor leads you to amerchant selling Garlic. To thefar right, in the room on themiddle platform, is another

merchant selling Laurels.Again, a fake floor waits betreated with some Holy water.Dont forget to trade yourWhite Crystal for the BlueCrystal to the man in gray

walking around on the upperfloor.

Camilla Cemetery: It is time touse your recently purchasedGarlic. Use it at the Cemeterydirectly east of Aljiba and a

mystic will appear to give youthe Silver Knife.


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Aljiba Woods: Now it is time todescend the stairs you ignoredpreviously, and follow the path

until you reach an unnamedlake.

Unnamed Lake: Equip the BlueCrystal, and knee down. After afew seconds, the lake dries out.Get ready for the next castle.

Rover Mansion: You cancompletely skip the first partby just walking right andjumping directly through thefour fake blocks piled on top of

each other. Invest in an OakStake at the lower right cornerof the labyrinth. Be carefulnear the moving platform. Thecourse to the second relic is abit zigzaggy. Try to time yourjumps correctly, and you will

obtain Draculas Heart.


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Town of Jova: Yes, you arereading this correctly. At thebeginning of this guide, I toldyou to ignore the path to theleft, remember? Now it is timeto trek all the way back to Jova.Rest in the church, if you needto.. Afterward, head left.

Dead River: Make sure

Draculas Heart is notequipped, then hop onto the

ferry, and enjoy the ride.

Town of Alba: Whats this? Apink colored town full of prettygirls?! The only man seems to

be the familiar looking guy ingray clothes on the middleplatform on the second floor.He trades your Blue Crystal fora Red One. Enjoy your stay;chat with the ladies if you like.It might also be wise to top offyour stock of laurels and/orgarlic. Dont spend all yourHearts; you are going to needquite a few very soon. Themerchant for Garlic is in thehouse on the top floor. Enter

the door to the right of the grayman to find another fake wall,

which leads to the trader forLaurels.

Central Sadam Woods: Yourpath splits at this point. Westleads to the Town of Ondol,which is your next destination.The lower path leads to theStorigoi Graveyard.

Town of Ondol: Did you askyourself where all the maleinhabitants of Alba went? Hereis your answer. Also, this iswhere you can find the most

expensive purchase of thegame. The house in the center


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of the town accommodates amerchant who is willing to sell

you the Morning Star for awhopping TWO HUNDREDHearts. If you don't haveenough Hearts, you can eitherwait until night to do someHeart farming in town (whichmight be the easiest way), ortry your luck at the JamWasteland to the left. Youshould top off your laurels, andyou may purchase them fromthe hooded merchant in therightmost house of the second

platform, behind two fakewalls. No church in Ondol.

Storigoi Graveyard: Fightthrough all the Bone Walkers,Grasping Claws, Dragon Skulls,and Slimes until you reach adead end. Use a clove of Garlicto acquire the Silk Bag fromthe Mystic that appears.

Dead River: Equip Dracula'sHeart, then go back to the

ferry. The Ferryman will takeyou to your next destination.This only works if you are onthe eastern coast of the DeadRiver.


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Unnamed lake: Pass the entryto Brahms Mansion for the

moment. Use the movingplatforms to cross this lake. Thebest moment to jump off iswhen the moving platform youare standing on reaches itspeak. Be patient, and try to timeyour jumps carefully.

Unnamed mountain:Mummies, Eagles, Fire Plants,and more are blocking yourway. Dont give up. TheDiamond awaits you at thewest end.

Brahms Mansion: This is apretty straightforward castle.

You cant get lost in here, andyou have to fight through

every room. Buy another OakStake, and defeat the GrimReaper himself to earn theGolden Dagger as a reward.After collecting Lord Draculas

Eyeball, leave the castle thesame way you entered it. TheGrim Reaper will reappear, butsimply ignore him and keepwalking past.


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Jam Wasteland: The JamWasteland is directly west ofthe Town of Ondol. Backtrackto the Jam Wasteland, thenequip the Red Crystal at the leftend right before the GiantWall, and kneel down for a fewseconds. A whirlwind issummoned, and warps youdirectly to the entry of the

fourth castle on your trip. Onceyou do this, you will not get achance to return for a longtime.


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Bodley Mansion: This castle ismuch more of a maze than theprevious ones, but nothing youneed to worry about. Head rightand climb the stairs up to the toplevel. Turn to the right andtraverse the bridge over the

spikes. Some fake blocks try tohinder your journey, but justjump through them. Follow thepath until you reach again adead end. This time the wallcontains some evil blocks.Remove them with Holy Water

and proceed to the right. Keepright, then go down the stairs tothe bottom. You can jumptraverse the left wall throughsome fake blocks into an areawhich seems to be outside of theordinary castle. Go left until you

encounter the merchant, andspend 50 Hearts for an Oak

Stake. Keep left after that, andyou will fall through the floor.At the bottom and to the right,you will find Draculas Nail. Theway to the exit is a lot shorter.Take the leftmost staircasesupward, and then proceed left.

Jump through the fake blockswhen you reach the wall, andyou're done with this mansion.

Town of Doina: This town is eastof Bodley Mansion. First, though,you must traverse the Wicked

Ditch. The Harpies, especially,can be a pain. Try to ignorethem, and just keep walking.Luckily, they will not get you ifyou move fast enough. Once intown, visit the Church forhealing and restore your

stockpile of Laurels if necessary.You will need them soon. You


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can find the local merchant inthe house at the east end of thecity. Head back to the entry ofBodley Mansion.

Uta Lower Road - Lake: Equipthe Red Crystal and kneel downto dry out the lake. That seems tobe somewhat familiar, doesn't it?

Uta Lower Road - Cave: At thecenter of this big cave is a stone

cage with an imprisonedmerchant. There are some evilblocks at the right, which can bedestroyed easily with HolyWater. Talk to him, and he willupgrade your Morning Star intothe Fire Whip, the most

powerful whip in the game.

Remember: you can upgradeonly the Morning Star. If youstick for with the Chain Whip ora previous version, you can't

receive this upgrade.

Joma Marsh East: It's time to useyour Laurels. Three aresufficient to reach the other sidesafely. Ignore every foe and justwalk. If you only have two

Laurels, use the first one onceyou jump into the smallermudhole at the beginning, andthe second shortly after the firstone loses its effect. That willkeep the damage you take to theminimum. Dont worry about

the way back. You can restoreyour stock in the next Mansion.


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Laruba Mansion: There are nofake blocks, evil blocks, orother hidden traps in here. Youcan completely concentrate onwhat you see. The first thingyou should do is to make yourway up to the top of the middlepart of the fortress to buy anOak Stake. Then, take the rightpath down to the ground and

enter the boss room. DefeatVampira to obtain the MagicCross. Collect Draculas Ring,the final of the five missingbody parts, in the next room.Now it is time to head to thefinal goal: Castlevania. First,

though, you need to get out ofthis mansion. Unfortunately,you need to travel throughJoma Marsh one more time.You can find a kindhearted

trader in the lower left cornerof the middle part of theMansion. He fills your stock ofLaurels completely every timeyou speak to him. Use themoving platforms to get overthe spiked floor, and move onto the exit.

Chance to Return: If you forgot

to collect something, or justwant to see the pretty girls inAlba again, this is your finalchance to return. Continuewalking through the secondpart of the Joma Marsh to thewest, and you will arrive at

Camilla Cemetery. This iswhere you acquired the SilverKnife outside the Town ofAljiba near Rover Mansion, thesecond castle on your journey.


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BE WARNED, if you jumpdown the hill in the Cemetery,you cannot get back. You willhave to wander all the wayaround again, passing throughAljiba, Jova, Alba, and Ondol toarrive at the Jam Wastelands.You will need to summon thewhirlwind another time.

Town of Doina: Return toDoina. It is your last chance inthis epic adventure to restoreyour health in the church andbuy Laurels. After this, resumeyour way eastward. Dora Woods: Here, the path

splits. Proceeding right leads to

Denis Marsh, which is prettypointless. Just for curiosity, youcan climb an invisible staircasethere. Unless you want to visitit, follow the path to the south.

Town of Yomi: This is a grayGhost Town. There is nothinghere, except a crouching manin the last house, who asks tolive together with you in Yomi.


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West Bridge: Crossing VradsGraveyard leads you to thefinal path before Castlevania.Hopefully, you have all yourequipment ready, especially theHoly Cross and the Five BodyParts of Lord Dracula. Youcannot enter the bridge toDracula's home until youremove the two Evil Blockswith some Holy Water. If youdon't have the aforementionedsix items, the blocks won't

disappear.

Castlevania: Finally, we arrive.A new music track shows youthe uniqueness of this dreadedarea. Plow through the evilblocks and all the way down tothe Throne Room. You dontneed to worry about foes; theseruins are completelyabandoned. Enjoy theanimation while all body partsare burned, and get ready forthe final challenge. After LordDracula is completely

destroyed, you can see one ofthree endings.


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Welcome to the UG High Score Contest! Every issue, we willchoose up to three games for a high score contest. The detailsfor each contest will appear below. If you'd like to make a

contest suggestion, please do it here. Please submit your scoresto the high score submission form on this webpage. You cansubmit more than one score if you improve upon your previousscore. The cut-off time will be at a time agreed upon by staffbefore the release of the next magazine, at which time thesubmission form will no longer take submissions. Please checkfor the cut-off time in the UG Magazine Updates thread in the

forum. The cut-off time will be in red. The top 10 rankingmembers will be printed in the next issue, but only the top 3will earn rewards. Please play fair. Emulators are allowed (ofcourse), but again, please play fair.

Each month, we'll have one contest which is magazine or siterelated that's bigger than the high score contests. Called an"Issue Contest", the winner of this contest will receive double therewards. This month's contest is to come up with a mascot forUG magazine. Possibly something that can be incorporated intoa comic. There is no need to have artistic skill for this, but asketch would be great. We'll have a vote before the next issue isreleased, and the top 4 mascots voted in will be featured in thenext issue, including the winner. The top 4 mascots will receivethe current yield for magazine contributors. The winner willreceive double!
http://www.underground-gamer.com/forums.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=29911&page=last#lasthttp://www.underground-gamer.com/forums.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=29911&page=last#lasthttps://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDF0STdBWUw2cHUtOHE2RnRaNTJPM1E6MQhttps://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDF0STdBWUw2cHUtOHE2RnRaNTJPM1E6MQhttps://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHJkUWhsYWxib0lJeTc0S2ctSTdvYUE6MQ


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Your first challenge will be this well-known racer fromNintendo. Enter Time Trial Mode and choose the track MarioCircuit 2 of the Mushroom Cup. One trial takes 5 rounds. Please

submit us the best total time, not the individual lap time. You arefree to choose any driver you'd like.

The next challenge for this issue is a puzzle game. Most peopleknow about Tetris and its variants spread across several systems.Of course, we chose the one with the best music ;) It's onceagain time to pile up tetrominos and hope for the vertical bar.Game Type A, highest score counts.


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Anybody can play Castlevania 2, but not everybody can do itquickly and efficiently. Use the password DINT XXDY 445XV3ZX to start your game. Get to the altar of Draculas Castle asquickly as possible. At that point, either take a picture or ascreenshot to show us the in-game time on the menu.

To do this challenge, you must use the US version of the game. Ifyou do not have the game, you can either get it from the torrenthere, or you can play it online at vNES.

The fastest player wins.
http://www.virtualnes.com/play/?id=NES-QU&s=9http://www.underground-gamer.com/details.php?id=8742


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Level Passwords:

At the title screen, choose Password, andenter the following passwords for thedesired level. To enter the stage select screen,use "ZEAL" as your password.

Level 2: KINGLevel 3: EASY

Level 4: NICELevel 5: BORNLevel 6: FREELevel 7: STEPLevel 8: LIVELevel 9: CITYLevel 10: MEGA

Level 11: SONGLevel 12: LOVE

Level 13: JUMPLevel 14: CORELevel 15: BEATLevel 16: BURNLevel 17: SINGLevel 18: TOURLevel 19: LOOK

Level 20: SOULLevel 21: OPEN

Level 22: BESTLevel 23: WILDLevel 24: TIMELevel 25: SHOWLevel 26: MOONLevel 27: EASTLevel 28: RAIN

Level 29: LONGLevel 30: CLUB

Level 31: TOWNLevel 32: WOODLevel 33: BASSLevel 34: MINDLevel 35: STARLevel 36: FINE

Bird Stage Intro:

In order to see the bird stage intro, immediately after pressing

START to begin a stage, hold the A and B buttons, and press theD-pad in the direction of the stage you selected.


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US Version Passwords:All items:FPIV MUSC 1ZSY VGZOAll items and full experience:DINT XXDY 445X V3ZX

Extra Boost:

There will be times when you come across three-brickhighjumps that Simon can't clear. Camilla Cemetery is mostprominent in this regard. In fact, it's not even supposed to be

possible to make such a jump. But you can just eke your way tothe top of such an obstacle by jumping and swinging the whipat the same time. It will take practice, but it can be done I'vedone it myself.

A video of somebody doing the jump can be seen here.

Start with 65,535 Exp. and 65,535 Gold:

Aszz2/DDDDC#C/#C#C#DH/Qgggg/ggf$$$$/$$$$?$$/$$$$$/$$$$$$$/$$$$$$$/$$$$O/##
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWCT583oTAg


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There it is, folks. I hope youenjoyed the first issue of UG. Alot of work went into this

project, and everyone whocontributed deserves a big roundof applause for their effort. Iwanted to use this final space togive you all an idea of what wewant to add to later issues if wecan continue making them.*crosses fingers*

Developer's Corner:A place for developers whoeither mod classic games orcreate games to share their

thoughts and show off theirwork. Type out some thoughtson your game, or even make anadvertisement for it. If it appealsto the retro gaming community,we'd like to see it.

Letters to the Editor:That would be me. Feel free toPM me any thoughts orquestions you might have about

upload credit on UndergroundGamer, and even some real-world items. High-score and

writing contests can be expectedsoon enough.

Thanks again to everyone whocontributed, we'll see you nexttime

Jack Z

Underground Gamer Magazine - Issue #01

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Transcript of Underground Gamer Magazine - Issue #01