Cv1/level1

This article is a heavy WIP.

Level Details

Game	Castlevania
Level sections	Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3
Level name	1
Previous level	None
Next level	Level 2

[Show/Hide] Stage 01

Simple

Recommended to newcomers

• Jumping into the gate as shown is faster. This is because as soon as Simon touches the castle entrance, the game automatically moves him at a slower speed, so you want to jump to preserve normal speed.
• How to deal with zombies.
• When to get the whip (don't get it off the first low candle).
• Dealing with zombies at the end.
• To deal with the triple zombie pattern, damage boost (gif)

Stopwatch Manipulation (Optimal)

Money Bag dropping from the first Zombie, advancing the item chart

• The optimal frame to jump into gate is the one shown in the video, where Simon turns around for a very brief moment before going into the castle.
• Aim to get the Stopwatch off the first zombie. Break the first candle to get the whip upgrade, then jump and whip the zombie on landing. Whipping to get the Stopwatch is a 1-frame window.
  • Pay attention if there's two or more zombies at the start, as the additional zombie will also generate a Money Bag if the Stopwatch drops and it'll advance the item chart to Slot 2 (this would be the Holy Water but it gets turned into a money bag due to the Important Item Rule). This needs to be taken into consideration later for a more optimal Level 3.
• If you successfully got the stopwatch already, go through the second wave of zombies as shown in the video to make it less likely to collect additional item drops (Add picture with visual cue for first jump)

If you don't have a Stopwatch by the second wave, use this strat:

• You should aim to get the stopwatch on these two zombies showcased. The exact timing of the whips to get the stopwatch depends on how much time has already been lost whipping previous zombies: the more time has been lost, the earlier your whip will have to be to get the stopwatch.
  • If the first zombie in this wave doesn't spawn, you should delay the whip on the second zombie by a lot.

Alternate Watch Manip Strats

• This watch manipulation is a lot more complex as the actions are different from pattern to pattern, but it can always avoid a second item drop from happening in this stage, and some people may find the timing a little less awkward on some of these patterns.
• In order, the patterns shown are the Space Zombies (one zombie, a space, one zombie), the Couple (two zombies), the Triplet (three zombies), the Triplet with heart drops, and the Solo pattern (one unusable zombie and no more trailing zombies).
  • On the Solo pattern, you will have to get the Stopwatch on the second wave. It is recommended to lose a few frames before the second wave with a stutter to help with the timing.
  • Remember that if you don't get the Stopwatch on the first wave, you will have to adjust the whip timing for second wave depending on exactly how many frames have been lost whipping these first zombies. Usually, the Space zombies will lose fewer frames and demand a later timing, while the Couple and Triplet will lose more and demand an earlier timing.

TAS Framerule

(Captcha's clip)

• It's stupid.

[Show/Hide] Stage 02

Easier Bat Boost

Recommended to newcomers

• Stand on a pixel perfect location. (Add picture) This will force the bat to force an item as soon as it hits Simon. If no other item drops have occurred yet, this item will be a Stopwatch.
  • If you fail the Stopwatch manipulation or you get another item drop, it's recommended to not retry it and continue with the setup instead. Fall back on the backup Axe strats for stage 03 if you leave this stage without a Stopwatch.
• As soon as Simon lands back on his feet from the knockback, whip while still in the crouched position and start holding right. Perform the jump and the other whip stall where shown in the video to manipulate the bat's Y position and be able to boost over.

Early Boost (Stopwatch)

• The first bat will spawn on the second frame of the room. Thus, by activating the Stopwatch on the first frame of control, it's possible to delay its spawn and make the boost with the first bat. This saves ~4 seconds.
  • While the bat will spawn on the second frame of the room, its visual model will spawn on the third frame. This means that if the Stopwatch is used on the second frame, it will look like the bat is not present, while in reality it has already spawned in the top right. It's not possible to boost over using this bat spawn.
    • By holding left+up and pushing B at the start of the room, it's possible to tell early if the Stopwatch has been activated on the first or second frame. If Simon keeps facing right after the activation, it means that it was done on the first frame, while if Simon faces left, that means it was done on the second frame, making the boost impossible. Switch to right ASAP after activating the Stopwatch (in the middle of the whip animation).
• Perform the whip stalls and the jump where shown in the video to manipulate the bat's Y position in order to boost over.
  • You can jump over the big heart if you intend on resetting for a missed crit in in stage 03, otherwise feel free to take it. The jump does not help manipulate the bat's Y position so you can skip it if you want to pick up the big heart.

Optimal Early Boost (Stopwatch)

• Same principle as the other Early Boost method shown above, but the movements are slightly different so that an additional framerule may be saved. This is significantly more difficult.
• Two grounded whip stalls are made and then one on jump landing to lose a few more frames. The timing for this whip is a bit specific. Whip too early and you will break the candle, potentially getting a heart drop, and the bat will likely spawn too low. Whip too late, ad the bat will likely spawn too high.
  • This landing whip can also be replaced with a simple stutter.
• Jump immediately as soon as you drop off the block. The earlier, the lower the bat will spawn and usually the easier the boost will be.
• You can do small stutter before jumping in for the boost to make it a little easier to hit the back of the bat and boost forward. As long as the stutter is kept tiny, you will still make the framerule.
  • One side effect of doing this stutter is that it increases the chances of getting the bat to drop an item after boosting, which will advance the item chart.

Backups

Manual Bat Boost

• To be used if the standard bat boost fails.
• Walking off the ledge and going back up seems to increase the chances of getting a higher bat spawn, which makes the boost easier.
• Wait at the ledge, then as soon as you see the bat appear on screen go back a little, then jump forward.

[Show/Hide] Stage 03

Simple Crit attempt + backup Stopwatch kill

Recommended to newcomers

• The boss pattern is dependent on how many frames have elapsed since the start of this room (so to clarify, this excludes stage 01 and stage 02). This means that by always holding right, and performing consistent actions, it's possible to always get the same pattern on the boss.
• To achieve this, got through the room taking special care to never let go of right, take the invincibility potion, and simply walk off the big ledge, taking a clunk. This will consistently lose exactly 18 frames, providing a good pattern on the boss.
• Once you're at the boss, position Simon on the middle step. Once the bat starts to move, move to the top step and wait. When the bat approaches you, there is a 1-frame window where you can whip and kill the boss in one hit. This is known as the Critical Hit Glitch
  • A general visual cue designed for people running on original console with a low display monitor (CRT or low delay LCD) in mind is depicted in this picture. This changes from person to person depending on reaction time and input delay, so experiment with your visual cue and try to create your own line a little earlier or later if you feel like it works better (Picture needed).
    • If you fail the crit, there's an easy way to tell if you were late or early. If you were late, Simon will hit the boss for 2 bars of HP, and a red sparkle will appear around the bat, indicating a hit. If you were early, SImon will not hit the boss instead and it will stay at full health.
• As a backup, activate the stopwatch and kill the bat there. You need to press either up+B on the same frame, or B 1 frame after pressing up, to avoid climbing the step (gif)

Simple Stopwatch kill

• This is an easier alternative to the Stopwatch kill with the Crit attempt listed above. This will require 10 hearts, grab the big heart from the candle as shown in the video if you still need hearts.
• Perform the same movements to manipulate the boss to swoop down, but as soon as it gets close to Simon, instead of attempting the Crit, activate the stopwatch and fully climb the stairs. Then turn around and start whipping down the bat. Activate the Stopwatch a second time as soon as it runs out.

Advanced Crit (Optimal)

• Boss's pattern is dependent on how many frames have elapsed since the start of the screen.
• Whip cancel landing off ledge, possibly skip potion.

(LInk to video of 3-frame pattern)

• Slower, but but acceptable. Explanation.

(Link to video of 2-frame pattern)

• Explanation

(Link to video of 1-frame pattern)

• Explanation

(Link to video of 0-frame pattern (TASCrit))

• Explanation, point out that this is best pattern

(Link to video of clunk (Also TASCrit))

• Just to point out that a clunk gives you TASCrit)

(LInk to video of more patterns possibly? We just do the 2-frame movement for those anyway. Point this out in some way)

Backups

Rare Double Zombie pattern

(Link to video)

• For Stopwatch/Crit users
• Take the boost, jump clunk.

Late jump on TASCrit

(Link to video)

• Explanation

Axe strats

• Recommended to be used as a backup if the stopwatch manipulation failed in stage 02, though it can be used in alternative to the stopwatch kill if really struggling with the up+B press.
  • Keep in mind that not having the stopwatch for level 2 will make it slower and more difficult.
• Get potion.
• Position Simon in correct spot for Axe kill on boss.
• Orb grab

Truefalse's tutorial on Bat Crit

Can probably remove this once the page is done, this video is already in the Tutorials page anyway.

Boss

Critical hit glitch (optimal)

Tutorial by Truefalse