/vr/ - Retro Games

>If there's any cool tricks that helped you beat a really difficult game I'd love to see them.

Use save states

>Armored Core 1
The shoulder mounted laser cannon in Armored 1 is really fucking good.
>Light
>80 shots
>good damage
>high fire rate
Pairing one of those (or two) with quad legs or tank treads is a very potent combo. Just make sure to get a good generator and extra parts for energy weapons

>Doom
Just watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJcf0aOwmiA

>Streets of rage 2
If you get thrown, hold UP and Jump while you fly through the air, you'll always land on of your feet with no damage.

>Beyond Oasis
One of the strongest moves you have in your arsenal is the quick kick you perform when pressing the attack button when you're walking right up against an enemy, it hits like 3 times per kick and always knocks them flat on their ass, it does good damage too.

Good art by the way, OP.

>>10317185
I really like your drawing anon.

>>10317207
FPBP

>>10317185
>I even made this little Ninja Gaiden drawing just for the thread.
Fucking soul

If you don't have an appropriate contact cleaning solution, a pink eraser like the ones on the end of a pencil can be rubbed on cartridge contacts to give them a quick touch up between cleanings so long as you take care to blow the eraser crumbs out afterward with compressed air and not breath.

>Sonic 2
In Sonic 2, the ram doesn't erase when you reset the console. If you reset the game and continue via the sound test screen you will keep all of your emeralds. This is a useful trick to help you get the good ending.

>Super Mario Bros 1
If you get a game over and are taken back to the title screen, hold A when you press start and you can continue from the beginning of the last world you were in. For example if you died in 5-3, you will start from 5-1.

>>10317313
Great tip. On a similar note, 1Up cards work way better than qtips but DON'T FUCKING BUY THEM.

You can get a stack of plastic cards for dirt cheap. After that, get some felt tape and stick a piece to each end. Get a little spray bottle (make sure it's one that you can put alcohol in !!) and fill it with 91% isopropyl alcohol.

Shit cleans like it's nobody's business, and if you make your own it's like 30 cents per card or maybe even less.

>>10317185
In Super Hang-On, hold B+C in arcade mode while at max speed to use your boost. Makes the game a lot easier.

>TMNT(NES)
If your head hits a ceiling, your momentum is killed and you won't jump as far. You can't pass level 3 without knowing this.
If you make it to near the end of the Technodrome and have issues with the narrow hallway full of flying laser guys, just crouch the moment they appear on screen and wait for them to fuck off.
>Colonization
When picking a new Founding Father, hit ESC if you don't like the options given to "re-roll".
Buy two horses early(or scavenge them from your scout), and make sure you always have a surplus of food production and at least two horses in every colony.
>Starcraft:Brood War
If you only have 1 unit mining per mineral patch, your economy is too slow. If you have a choice between a defensive building or an attack unit, you better go with the unit unless you have a damn good reason otherwise.
Download Fighting Spirit, Circuit Breakers, and Neo Sylphid. Play skirmish on them against a lone AI. They are very balanced maps that are good for learning the ins and outs of the game while getting away from the bad habits the campaign teaches.

>Contra 3

Make sure to have a Homing Gun before you reach stage 4. You can get one for sure on Stage 1 and Stage 3, but don't lose it.

When stage 4 starts, immediately switch to your homing gun, hug the left side of the screen, and start shooting. You will destroy most of the bikers with ease and get some extra lives for your trouble.

>>10317225
>shoulder mounted laser cannon
Might try this out on a quad in Master of Arena. Just finished 1 with a lightweight bipedal build which made the platforming in the final mission--which I've heard much rage over--super nice and easy

>>10317408
make sure you buy it in 1 before you leave for the expansions. I'm not even sure if you can buy them outside of 1. Though it could be they never showed up in the shops for me after I had bought two of them.
They make for excellent backup weapons after running out of laser gun ammo, and I also used them to cheese the fuck out of a lot of fights in Project Phantasma, it was hilarious.

>>10317185
Love the pic

I may as well ask here, are there any tips for cleaning corrosion? I found our old game boy pocket and it had old AAA batteries in it that corroded. I heard lemon juice is a good way to clean that kind of thing. If it fails, I also bought some replacement contacts that I can use, and a tri-wing screwdriver so I can open it to get to them.

>>10317318
>In Sonic 2, the ram doesn't erase when you reset the console. If you reset the game and continue via the sound test screen you will keep all of your emeralds. This is a useful trick to help you get the good ending.
Isn't that cheating though?

>>10317185
In donkey Kong country when traveling from the first level to the second level if you press y exactly at the bend in the path you will teleport to gorilla glacier

>>10317185
Hold right to win

>>10317207
based
/thread

>>10317207
I showed my wife how to do it for Donkey Kong Country because she is a shitter and she ended up getting better at the game because she took more chances. I do it because JRPG devs don't respect your time.

>>10317185
Neat drawing
>>10317318
I never knew that about SMB, never thought to look up secrets.

>>10318847
Technically no. The devs left it in.
>>10319371
I think it was in the manual.

>>10317318
>>10319371
>>10319405
The one-up trick was hidden and forgotten about until Reddit rediscovered it about 9 years ago (I was in Miami at the time so I remember clearly when the internet had one of its last mindblown moments). However it was recently repopularized when the Game & Watch had this option built-in as a permanent feature. I.e. however far you get in the game, you are able to return there to World X-1.

>>10317185
Based thread. Based drawing. God bless!

>>10317185
I loved your artwork, OP!
Also, good thread.

>>10317185
is there anywhere i can see more of your art?

>>10318851
I believe whether that trick works or not depends on the version of the game you're playing. I think later versions fixed it.

Anyway, many people know this one, but if you're having trouble with Iron Knuckles in Zelda II, just jump at them and time your sword strike so it hits the top of their helmet. If you do it right, you'll strike a hit without fail. It's a cheese, yes, but the game gets hard enough as it is, and it only really helps you in the first three dungeons or so, as the blue ones you encounter later throw knives and are much harder to cheese.

>>10317185
In RPGs always grind to 3rd or 5th level around initial town if possible. This typically prepares party for first boss by giving good stats or unlocking important skills.

With elemental damage and resistances always keep one weapon for each element, even if it's DMG is lower. There's almost always this one dungeon with monsters that will wreck your shit if you roll with latest equipment only.

Also don't hoard single-use items like potions. 1/4 of maximum capacity (i.e. 20-25 out of 99) is often enough, and remaining excess found in dungeons can be safely sold. Double the amount in later game only if monsters become overpowered and money is abundant.

Thank you for all the tips, bros! This was a great thread! Let's make a habit out of it.

>>10319432
I learned it from a tv show in 2003.

>>10317207
only acceptable if the game can't save or uses passwords to save progress

>>10317185
>Retro Tips
Sonic 2 (8-Bit)
Before I say anything else, I just want to say that this was a great idea for a thread, and that your art is great, so this is one of the rare occasions I saw when OP didn't suck cocks.
Now, getting to the actual tip, this is mostly for the Game Gear version, where the resolution can make this boss unbearable, and a huge filter. So what you need to do is stand close to the boss, and when the bomb drops and bounces towards you, you run towards the boss and jump to the right edge of the screen, and then steer yourself left, dodging them bomb in the process as you jump over it. It's the most reliable way of getting past this boss I've found, I felt like a genius when I did.

>>10317207
I unironically use them when I find passwords to be too long to input, it just saves time, though I find that, for keeping your progress, it's fine too, afterall we all left our consoles powered on over night at some point, this is the same in a way...

If you get advice from anything other than the game manual you didn't actually beat the game.

>>10317503
Make sure to use some baking soda before applying the lemon juice to neutralise the acid.

>>10326256
your opinion isn't in the manual either faggot

if you get lost, pick a wall and follow it

Does anyone know some general tips for Wave Race 64? Normal mode is too easy, while hard mode keeps me failing it. I especially have trouble zigzagging through a line of left and right buoys, when they're packed close; third stage (the lake) has a section like that in hard mode.

>>10326750
The gran turismo manual has a circle for acceleration. If you are accelerating or braking it is preventing you from turning.

>>10326808
Gran Turismo? But... It's Wave Race 64.

>>10317185
>final fantasy 7
a good way of beating godo on the first disc is by starting with an s-bomb and poisoning him with bio 2 as well as having the counter attack materia on. he won't heal away your damage with the latter two and the bomb just gets him into that phase.

nice art btw op. do you guys have any tips for ninja gaiden? nothing specific to a level just in general, that game is hard as balls for me. there's just so much shit to keep up with and it's not like the castlevania games where you can take your time.

>>10317185
>The Lion King (Genesis)
On Lv. 2, the most infamous in this entire thing, I know a couple of tips. In the ostrich section, the double jump part, you have to press jump twice in quick succession, if you press it once and then wait a bit before pressing again, you'll lose, do it immediately. Also, when you're required to take the bottom path by swinging in the hippo's tails, don't, the collision detection's a pain, just jump and you should be able to grab a hippo's snout, this works with the DOS version aswell, it's not possible on SNES for some reason though... and it's the reason the Genesis version is superior.

>Silent Hill PS1
Put a GunCon on Players 2 plug.
Get a gun with laser sight.

>>10327179
It's Konami HyperBlaster, the same gun irl as in the game.

Not sure it works with a guncon

>>10317185
Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (Mega Drive)
In the final boss, against Kingpin himself, I've got a couple of tips that can really help, especially if you consider that you only get a single shot and if you mess it up it's back to the title screen for you... 1st is that you can shoot a web diagonally up into the chains that MJ's attached to, it's not so easy to pull it off, but necessary to get more time... 2nd is that, to hit Kingpin consistently, it works best to walk up towards him, jump in this diagonal in the direction you were walking to, as your immediately hit the button to kick, this way you should kick his head often enough to win it.

Any tips for streets of rage 1? I always have issues with the boss on the boat stage.

>>10328769
Are those the clones? If so, a mix of whatever these work better for you:
>Jump kicks
>Back attacks (attack + jump buttons)
>Bait them to jump and punch as soon as they land
Police car helps, but you'll fight them again later, without the police, so don't get used to it. Also, notice that one of the clones is dumber and easier to dispatch; if you can, focus on him/her first.

Did you know you can Double Jump in Sonic Blast? I sure didn't for the longest time. Makes the game totally different.

>>10317185
I will always post this one:
In Super Mario 64, if you are wearing the Wing Cap you can fall down slowly to a safe speed by holding the A button. It's like the Cape in Super Mario World, which lets you do the same thing. It even works when ground pounding.

>>10329554
Wait WHAT

>>10329554
Cool! Thanks!

>>10327001
>tips for ninja gaiden?
The spinslash is easily the best weapon in the game, it can instantly melt a boss's hp and is just useful in general to hit everything around you while in a tight spot (ex: that infamous jump from 6-2). If you ever need to coserve ammo for it you can press down+b in the air in order to do a regular slash instead.

>>10330636
>If you ever need to coserve ammo for it you can press down+b in the air in order to do a regular slash instead.
Fuck, I didn't know that. Thanks!

>>10329409
>>10323498
>>10329740

>>10328231
>>10326890
>>10322454
>>10327580

>>10319432
literally nintendo power….

>>10330789
Reddittors are so embarassing

Next they'll discover IDDQD in Doom

cool ways to die in ancient domains of mystery
>getting corrupted into an unrecognizable writhing mass of chaos
>had no resources to renew Strength of Atlas and got crushed to death under the weight of my own inventory
>kicked some stairs with high strength and collapsed the dungeon on myself
>eaten by a Grue while trying to walk through a dark room while cursed
>turn one of scouting the dwarven halls, a black unicorn teleports next to me
>killed by a banshee because I forgot to put earwax in my ears
>dig up a grave hoping for some sick loot, but an elder lich pops out of the coffin
>on the verge of death and pray for a favor from character's associated divine being; instead of saving me, they are very angry and surround me with greater demons
>step on a chaotic altar; next turn a monster immediately opens the door to the room and sacrifices me
>zap a wand and watch as it bounces back and forth between the walls killing me instantly

It took years for me to finally get even a regular victory

>>10319432
>Reddit rediscovered it
No. Some dumb kids learned about something other had known about for ages.
>the internet
No. Some dumb kids aren't "the internet".

>>10327001
if you encounter a situation in NG that seems impossible that means you need to cheese it and abuse AI spawning, high level NG is entirely built around your manipulation of spawn behavior. in most cases that means slowly edging toward an obstacle taking the spawns one by one to pick out the perfect moments to progress or in some cases cheating and skipping enemies with despawns.
the spinslash power is a boss nuke item like holy water in castlevania, if you find you can't beat a boss vanilla than you need to resign yourself to holding onto a spinslash for an entire level and memorizing safe and unsafe candle drops.

>>10331007
>safe and unsafe candle drops.
Damn, I hate that. It's a game from a different series, but I praise Castlevania Bloodlines for differentiating the candles which give weapons.

In Castlevania 1 and 3, if you destroy candles that are supposed to spawn subweapons *with* a subweapon, the candle usually drops item II or item III instead. Few people seem to know this.

This post reminded me of that >>10331042
obviously Bloodlines has a different system altogether, with the number of gems you pick up letting you upgrade your weapons instead. Protip: there are many stages where you can backtrack between stages and grind gems that way for free upgrades, including at the checkpoint just before Dracula if you die against him.

If you bomb yourself, then hold Z-target and position yourself right, you can run bombchus along the wall and win every time. At least every time without the second target being in the middle.

Since I never really learned how to consistently jump onto these ledges as Zora Link, this is what i've done since i was 6. If you fuck up the jump, this is probably faster than realigning.

>>10326721
It's not the most efficient but it is a good idea for exploring mazes. Don't forget to take notes!

>>10331060
Great tricks!

In Link to the Past, if you shatter a frozen enemy with the hammer, it'll drop a full magic refill.

>>10330846
One of my first deaths was being sacrificed by a monster and I was so fucking confused.

>>10330789
>CONTINUOUS DESTRUCTION METHOD
>SIMULTANEOUS KILLING METHOD
fucking badass

>>10317207
I use save states to practice levels over and over in shmups so I don't have to waste time playing through every level before then every time I die. Then I go through and beat the game for real without them.
I mostly only use them as a progress marker in most other games.

>>10331648
You didn't beat those games

>>10317313
The eraser is lightly abrasive, thus why it works nicely on dirty contacts, and the crumbs help pick up the loosened stuff.

>>10317503
The battery leak is alkaline in nature (hence the battery's name,) If you touch any fluid leak, you'll notice it's soapy in texture.
Lemon juice is acidic, and if you remember your chemistry, acids and bases (alkaline) neutralize each other, thus why you've heard that tip. If you don't want to cut up a lemon each time you need to clean stuff, another common acid around the house is vinegar. *

>>10326356
You're trying to neutralize the battery leak with the acid, why would you neutralize it first with baking soda? (which is also basic)

* Another vinegar tip, works great at removing rust. If you open up an old console and the metal shielding is heavily rusted, take it off and submerge in vinegar overnight.

>>10317225
That streets of rage getting thrown tip works on the first game too

tip: in castlevania 2 you dont have to try to figure out what the npcs mean and get mad and load up gamefaqs. you can just play the game and have fun

If you spend at least an hour sincerely creating something in Mario Paint while the third background music track plays, your soul will permanently increase in volume by 3%

Does anyone have Gradius tips? I can get to stage 3, the one with the Easter Island heads, but I just get overwhelmed by them eventually. I might be making it about halfway on a good run.

One time when I demolished stage 1 and the boss it just warped me to stage 3, but I don't know what I did really.

>>10333309
When anticipating the moai line up your options to hit them in the mouth before being trapped in their lines. Understand their volley has a sort of rhythm, don't dodge by going from one end of the screen to the other, inch up bit by bit so you can outlast the section.

>>10332436
They sell bottled lemon juice ya know

>>10332436
Thanks for the tips, leaving the metal shielding in vinegar might come in handy down the line.

In A Link to the Past, if you take a fish all the way to the Bottle Salesman in Kakariko Village he'll give you a lot of items and money, perfect when in a pinch.
You can find one at the south of your home after emptying the water.

>>10333842
What would really come in handy for you down the line is to learn not to take advice from random tards on the internet.

>>10333887
>>10333842
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuIa8h4d0RY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEbQWoMtcoo

Anyone got any tips for Bubble Bobble NES? I loved that game as a kid, but now I feel like I suck ass at it. At least it's lenient enough to let you continue, but I would still like to not die so fucking much. Also, is there a rhyme and reason for how items and such spawn?

>>10333873
Very good!

>>10333887
>t. negative ion bracelet wearer

>>10333964
>youtube:did someone say random tards on the internet?
>>10334020
Ackshually, in electrolytic rust removal the negetive ions are in the solution. Don't get that on your wrist

In Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 if you press start and hit select 16 times a cursor appears on the bottom of the screen that you can move around (while holding a or b) and give yourself infinite money/lives as well as power ups if you leave it in the right spot before you unpause. Basically a little debug menu. It’s a known cheat now but back when the game was new it definitely wasn’t. I found it by sheer chance as a kid, I don’t remember what compelled me to mash select on the pause menu but I’ll never forget seeing that little cursor pop up and then giving myself max coins. I convinced my parents to buy a postcard that I could send in to Nintendo Power to inform them of my discovery but I never heard back, shockingly. Still the best Easter egg I’ve ever found on my own and one of my favorite gaming memories.

>>10333034

>>10332773
>>10330993
>>10332143
>>10330890

>>10317185
Bumping because of drawing,

Castlevania

I've seen 2 different posts in 2 different threads about getting telefragged by Dracula. As long as you keep moving, you won't get telefragged, it can only happen if you stand still.

>>10330846
I myself am always a fan of the nethack classic, gnome spawning with a wand of death.

>>10335089
How scummy is it to spam pause to give yourself more reaction time against Dracula's teleporting? It's how I fight him in 4

>>10335741
Could be worse, like spamming the pause glitch to easily kill bosses in Mega Man.

>>10335859
I only do that for the yellow devil. The fight is way too goddamned long otherwise.

>>10323958
>>10330789
>>10330796
>>10331540
>>10330927
I clearly had a slip of the mind and didn't actually mean the one-up trick. The LEVEL-UP trick.

t. bad readers club

Okay, OP here, after 7 hours of grinding Ninja Gaiden 1 here's my big tip:
GET. THE. SPIN-ATTACK. It really feels like getting it is mandatory. It seemingly beats every boss in one hit and appears required to get through the final screen in 6-3 before the last boss. Other tips are:
>holding down while attacking in the air does a normal swing even if you have the spin-attack which helps save ammo
>the hourglass pick-up also prevents enemies from even spawning for a bit so they're super useful
>the 1st boss' weapon has no hitbox so he can only hit you by walking into you
>the 2nd boss you can just duck under his twirly weapon
>you can hold the 'A' button down while wall-jumping and just alternate left and right to climb quicker

Now on to NG2. If anyone has tips feel free to let me know.

>>10336715
Been trying to beat ninja gaiden 1 for a while casually. These tips are big.

>>10336001
>I clearly had a slip of the mind
Yup. It slipped out and got flushed away during your toilet birth. Jesus.

>>10336715
>you can hold the 'A' button down while wall-jumping and just alternate left and right to climb quicker
Oh shit, that's a good one.

>>10333309
There are warps in the NES version of Gradius and the SNES Gradius 3, but I don't remember how they're activated, sorry.

In Blaster Master you can pause while a grenade hits a boss and it will continue to do damage. Doesn't work on every single one.

>>10337775
in snes gradius 3 there's some kind of bonus area near the end of the water stage if you fly into where the last set of enemies are flying out of. There's another one somewhere in a nook in the fire area as well. Neither seem that helpful since if you die even once you may as well reset the game

>>10336715
I have some trouble with boss 3. I can beat him and know you can attack his shots, but is there a proper strategy?

>>10330789
One mechanic that never got discussed back then was unlocking the hidden 1-ups in x-1 worlds by collecting all the coins in the previous x-3 world (or just warping straight there.

>>10338646
That's the jumping guy right? So I've seen people swear the upwards flame ninpo is good for that and it seems like it would make sense, right? He's jumping so just throw that at him, but whenever I did that it would do no damage so I just stopped trying. Still not sure what was happening. That flame ninpo never hurt bosses when I played.
The only real danger in this fight are the orbs he sends out, but you can just attack those and they disappear. So take it a little slow when you think he's going to send them out and stand slash them and if you time it right you'll destroy the middle and bottom orbs and the top will just go over you. Sometimes you just get the middle and then need to time a jump over the bottom one. I think it's also possible to just jump them all without hitting any of them. You could either run back and forth as he jumps and hit him when he lands or just stay in one spot and wait. He might be the hardest of the regular bosses.

My tip for the boss after him is just hide under either pillar in the room and they usually won't touch you.

Here is a tip of Final Fantasy (1). No, I don't know what it says, nor what it does. You're welcome.

>>10338710

>>10338710
This reminded me I actually have a solid tip for the NES Final Fantasy 1.

Once you get your ship and can sail south across the ocean, save your game and reset the console. The first battle you're guaranteed to have in the ocean is against a bunch of pirates that are fairly easy and they drop a LOT of money. So just fight them, save, and reset. This helps because things are just way too expensive in FF1.

>>10338746
Does that work only when you first acquire the ship, or just any time you board the ship (in that specific area)?

>>10338748
I could be wrong, but I think it works any time, it's just most useful right at the start since you'll be hurting for money and the game just starts getting difficult at that point.

>>10338410
>>10337758
>>10336423
>>10331998
>>10336285
>>10335664

>>10336715
my Ninja Gaiden tip is that when you slash in the air and touch the ground it immediately cancels out the slash so if you get into a good rhythm alternating A and B you can slash super fast

>>10338707
Thanks, bro! I also use that pillar trick for boss 4. For boss 5, I just rush towards him and madly slash until he dies. lol