The intent of this page is to list and explain all known Tricks for Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse.
TODO: Add images explaining various tricks.

Game version

When making a run, TASers have the choice between the U version and the J version of the game. There are a few notable differences between the versions:

Cancelling Attack Animations

All thrown weapons and Sypha's spells can be used without triggering the attack animation. This allows you to keep moving and throw weapons considerably faster. You can skip the animation by pressing B or Up+B...
It is also possible for Grant to get out of his attack animation by touching a wall or a ceiling.

Character-specific Tricks

Grant

Sypha

TODO: Add more.

Alucard

TODO: Add more.

The glitched Worlds

It is possible to disalign yourself from the stairs to enter rooms you were never supposed to. These rooms often have glitched tiles, and, if you get very far into the glitched worlds, can cause odd effects, such as random level data, the sound not working properly and the game freezing. Those glitched worlds can usually only be exited using death, but some effects can persist even afterwards.

Character Switching

Switching between characters causes a long, unskippable sequence. Yet it still can be utilized to perform a few tricks.

Disaligning from Stairs

There are several ways to do this. This is only useful if a stair connects to the edge of a block, so you don't hit a floor and dismount from the stairs there. If you can reach the top or bottom of the screen, you'll simply walk through, potentially enabling shortcuts or entering the glitched worlds.

In the Glitched Worlds

The glitched worlds vary a lot depending on where you enter them. The deeper you go, the less stable the game becomes, culminating in freezing or odd glitches that persist after character death. For example, it is possible to confuse the game as to what characters you are playing with. The full extent of these glitches is yet to be documented. If you find and defeat a boss in the glitched worlds, you get sent back to Stage 1.

Other tricks

Manipulating Moving Platforms

By keeping moving platforms off-screen, it is possible to change their timing to your advantage.

Skipping Forced Crouch

Higher jumps and falls force your character into a crouch mode when he or she lands. You can avoid this by attacking on the correct frame in midair.

Optimizing jumps

Jumping as Trevor (probably also applies to Sypha and Alucard) wastes 4 frames normally. It is possible to save a frame or two by jumping at the first frame it is possible to (for example after climbing stairs) or by walking to the very edge of a platform before jumping from it. The former usually saves more frames, though this is not always the case. This behaviour is not true for Grant. It is usually quicker by a frame to start moving forward before jumping.

Drowning Glitch

In Block 6-5, you have to kill a boss while water below you is rising. If you touch the boss orb on the very last frame before you would drown, you will proceed into the next level, but the game will assume you are dead. Because of this, no enemies will spawn, you can't use your weapons and screen scrolling is deactivated. It is impossible to die in this state, not even through bottomless pits or the timer running out. Unfortunately, this glitch has no use, as it can only be performed in one place. You will be stuck in the first screen of Block 7-2, due to the deactivated scrolling.

Ram Addresses


GameResources/NES/Castlevania3 last edited by adelikat on 9/2/2023 2:52 PM
Page History Latest diff List referrers View Source