MiSTer FPGA - Castlevania (悪魔城ドラキュラ) [No Miss] / NES (Famicom/FDS)
20After a hellish stream a two weeks ago where I played through the game blind for the first time since the 80's, I decided to revisit this one and grind it out to try and get a 1cc. Ended up practicing the trouble sections enough to get through without dying- a first for any Castlevania game for me.
It took me 4 hours to get through the game on that stream. Didn't remember any of the boss/stage strategies so I was coming into it pretty much fresh again. That was without a doubt the most frustrating stream I've ever had. There is a constant urge to perform and not give up in an environment like that, even when I would normally set a game down and come back a couple hours later with a refreshed perspective and replenished physical/mental reflexes. It was a good reminder to take health first into consideration before entertainment when streaming. The Death fight took me probably at least an hour, and Dracula took even longer. I don't watch superplays or use guides when I play games for my channel/streams, so this was probably very difficult to watch for most folks that have been watching speedruns of the game for years and such. The only exception to this is for some obtuse RPG/Adventure games, and games with a language barrier I am trying to share the experience of. For those I will definitely consult guides and other resources if needed.
Fast forward two weeks later- I set aside a day to learn the levels proper, setting save states at problem areas and grinding out the strategies I thought would work best. Death was a pushover once I learned you can just spam holy water at his spawn to stop the scythes from appearing. I tried for over an hour again to learn the scythe patterns but just couldn't understand them, feeling each time I got through was luck somehow. Dracula also became a lot easier as I watched his spawn locations and found that by standing dead center in his screen, you can control some aspects of it. That helped immensely with the fight, and I was able to clear him without taking a single hit in this run. Another thing that helped when grinding this out is the game's music! Just some of the most timeless tunes you'll ever hear in gaming. Never gets old.
This was my first time ever using save states to practice a game, and it was very helpful here. The savestate implementation by FPGAzumspass in the NES core is excellent, and worked without any issues.
5x scaling/crop was also used for this video. Since the game has heavy black borders by default, this meant that nothing is cut out of the scene, just a larger portion of the screen can be used.
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NES core 07-08-2021 build - Castlevania
A.K.A: Akumajō Dracula , 悪魔城ドラキュラ , Demon Castle Dracula
Filter: Scanlines(Bright)\110_85_medium (custom) // Gamma: 2.3
Palette: Magnum (FirebrandX) // Hide Overscan: On // Extra Sprites: On
Played using an OEM NES controller via SNAC.
Settings: 5x Integer scaled (-4 offset) @ 1080p // HDMI to Datapath e1s capture card
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|:=-Timestamps-=:|
00:00 - Settings
00:35 - Title / Demo
01:14 - Full Game (No Miss)
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/WalrusFPGA
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None of this would be possible without the constant hard work of Sorgelig. It cannot be overstated how much he has done and continues to do for this project, since its beginning. You can support him either at his Patreon in the link below, or on Paypal, depending on your preference. MiSTer is a paradigm shift in how we can experience these classic games. This is a long-term preservation project that will continue to grow so that gamers today and in the future can experience these excellent systems as accurately and lag-free as possible. Donating what you can will help keep the updates coming. Thank you.
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=-----------------INFORM-----------------=
SmokeMonster's overview video of this core: https://youtu.be/6koHrtNQknU
Github link for this core: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/NES_MiSTer
MiSTer Forum/Wiki/Github (source, guides and info): http://MiSTerFPGA.org
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I have personally ordered all my parts from https://www.MiSTerAddons.com and have been 100% satisfied with the quality and service there. (North American seller. If in a different region, check list linked above for best local shipping rates.)