This movie was recorded with FCE Ultra.
-Takes no damage
-Aims for fastest time
-Uses no passwords
This is a pretty good platform hopper, featuring four characters that you can switch between at any time (after the initial four stages and first boss fight), each with their own unique abilities. Samson (the boy) is fairly quick and can wall-jump, but has the weakest weapon. Kikara (the dragon) can fly but is somewhat slow, Gamm (golem) is the slowest but has the most life, and Ko (mouse) is small, fast, and has a powerful weapon, but has very little life.
I use Ko very extensively in this run, primarily because his small size and speed allow me to dodge between enemies and bullets, and his weapon can destroy bosses in very short order when used properly. I also switch briefly to Kikara and Gamm briefly to avoid damage at a few points.
Ko's weapon can be used in two ways: if the bomb itself makes contact with the enemy, it will do about as much damage as one of Samson's bells. If it detonates and the explosion hits, however, it will strike a number of times and inflict significantly more damage. Both are used extensively against bosses, and in fact sometimes it is more effective to drop a trail of bombs in front of a boss and allow them to run into it than trying to lure them into an explosion.
Now, for some commentary on each of the bosses.
Kikara - Kikara will be stunned momentarily after taking a hit. If you toss another bell and it connects just as Kikara recovers, you can keep the dragon in a perpetual stun and win the fight easily.
Green Wizard / Giant - The Green Wizard can be taken out quickly with exploding bombs, as can the Giant. The Giant is the tricky part of this fight, because its fireballs can be difficult to avoid when you're trying to set up some explosives.
Ectoplasm - Set up a trail of bombs, let it run right into them.
Blue Wizard / Knight - Trail of bombs for the wizard. For the knight, he is vulnerable while his sword is raised. You can force him to raise it early by jumping above him; this will cause him to swing at you (with some rather strange hit detection - he can hit you when you're nearby, even though his sword won't be close to you). That's your chance to hit him with grenades.
Purple Wizard / Big dragon - The usual bomb-drop strategy works for purple-man. I elected to use Kikara for the dragon instead of Ko, because Ko is not well suited to the lack of solid ground in this fight. From there, it was just the standard time-attack strategy of getting near the boss and unleashing a flurry of shots.
Gold Wizard / Reaper - Trail of bombs for Mr. Gold. The reaper's motion makes him ideal for trying to catch him with a set bomb, as he can potentially be hit by more than one of the explosions. The trick is avoiding the small ghosts and the reaper himself.
Big gold wizard / Dragon Head - Drop bombs for the gold wizard (his shots cancel them out, hence why I draw his fire away between bombs near the end). For the head, he will fly into the background and fire shots at various heights (think Mega Man's rock monster), then fly to one side of the screen and launch a few shots. You can set up a bomb trap for him when he flies into the foreground and do a good chunk of damage to him.
End boss - His first phase fires out red spheres that will explode and damage you, regardless of where you are on the screen. Two bombs will destroy these (set bombs are fine, no need to time them for explosions). Between spheres, he's vulnerable to exploding bombs.
For his second phase, he is fairly slow-moving and his sword is easy to dodge - ideal for setting bombs in his path and having him potentially be hit by multiple explosions.
From there, you just have to escape the castle through spikes, falling ceilings, and an annoying and nearly indestructible wall that kills you if you touch it.
-Takes no damage
-Aims for fastest time
-Uses no passwords
This is a pretty good platform hopper, featuring four characters that you can switch between at any time (after the initial four stages and first boss fight), each with their own unique abilities. Samson (the boy) is fairly quick and can wall-jump, but has the weakest weapon. Kikara (the dragon) can fly but is somewhat slow, Gamm (golem) is the slowest but has the most life, and Ko (mouse) is small, fast, and has a powerful weapon, but has very little life.
I use Ko very extensively in this run, primarily because his small size and speed allow me to dodge between enemies and bullets, and his weapon can destroy bosses in very short order when used properly. I also switch briefly to Kikara and Gamm briefly to avoid damage at a few points.
Ko's weapon can be used in two ways: if the bomb itself makes contact with the enemy, it will do about as much damage as one of Samson's bells. If it detonates and the explosion hits, however, it will strike a number of times and inflict significantly more damage. Both are used extensively against bosses, and in fact sometimes it is more effective to drop a trail of bombs in front of a boss and allow them to run into it than trying to lure them into an explosion.
Now, for some commentary on each of the bosses.
Kikara - Kikara will be stunned momentarily after taking a hit. If you toss another bell and it connects just as Kikara recovers, you can keep the dragon in a perpetual stun and win the fight easily.
Green Wizard / Giant - The Green Wizard can be taken out quickly with exploding bombs, as can the Giant. The Giant is the tricky part of this fight, because its fireballs can be difficult to avoid when you're trying to set up some explosives.
Ectoplasm - Set up a trail of bombs, let it run right into them.
Blue Wizard / Knight - Trail of bombs for the wizard. For the knight, he is vulnerable while his sword is raised. You can force him to raise it early by jumping above him; this will cause him to swing at you (with some rather strange hit detection - he can hit you when you're nearby, even though his sword won't be close to you). That's your chance to hit him with grenades.
Purple Wizard / Big dragon - The usual bomb-drop strategy works for purple-man. I elected to use Kikara for the dragon instead of Ko, because Ko is not well suited to the lack of solid ground in this fight. From there, it was just the standard time-attack strategy of getting near the boss and unleashing a flurry of shots.
Gold Wizard / Reaper - Trail of bombs for Mr. Gold. The reaper's motion makes him ideal for trying to catch him with a set bomb, as he can potentially be hit by more than one of the explosions. The trick is avoiding the small ghosts and the reaper himself.
Big gold wizard / Dragon Head - Drop bombs for the gold wizard (his shots cancel them out, hence why I draw his fire away between bombs near the end). For the head, he will fly into the background and fire shots at various heights (think Mega Man's rock monster), then fly to one side of the screen and launch a few shots. You can set up a bomb trap for him when he flies into the foreground and do a good chunk of damage to him.
End boss - His first phase fires out red spheres that will explode and damage you, regardless of where you are on the screen. Two bombs will destroy these (set bombs are fine, no need to time them for explosions). Between spheres, he's vulnerable to exploding bombs.
For his second phase, he is fairly slow-moving and his sword is easy to dodge - ideal for setting bombs in his path and having him potentially be hit by multiple explosions.
From there, you just have to escape the castle through spikes, falling ceilings, and an annoying and nearly indestructible wall that kills you if you touch it.