Dragon's Lair (NES)/any%(ntscu)

Energy Management

The route shown in the videos below correspond to the following breakdown of the energy:

A few comments:

• The sheet doesn't take into account any hits from the Lizard King in level 1 or 2. More often than not, that's the case. However, encounters happen every other attempt, so there can easily be two of them.
• Early in level 2, there is a hit that only costs 5 frames to avoid.
• There is a low point of a little over 12 energy in level 2. If you have taken a few more hits than intended, such as missing taking out a few bats or bumping into the Lizard King, this can become critical. Most of those additional hits are likely to have come in level 1, so consider avoiding the "5 frame" hit mentioned above in that case.
• There is a second E collected in level 3 that only restores 3 big energy, since the energy meter should almost be full anyways. This E can only be consistently collected while also collecting a G (24 frames lost). It's however to be expected that the player energy is a bit lower at this point because of unintended hits.
• The energy drops again towards the end of level 4. By following the route here, you effectively have 4 hits to spare. Assuming the second E in level 2 was collected, this shouldn't be a problem. However, it starts to become risky if this E is skipped.

Level 0 - The Drawbridge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0bEASr201U
The dragon can be manipulated into not firing immediately. When it goes under the bridge, its head will bob forward and then back again. When the head is back in place below the whole (and not leaning forward), it should be safe to rise and start attacking.

Level 1 - The Entrance Hall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeoorhmH6e0

• Everything in this level runs on local timers (= spawn as you approach).
• Ideally, you get a Lizard King encounter that forfeits one of the serpents.
• The fireballs is the perfect weapon against the serpents at the end since they have 3 HP each and are taken out by one fireball (they would have required two axes, making the fight slower).
• If you start attacking the first of the boss serpents early, the fourth serpent has a delayed spawn, which completely ruins this solution.

Level 2 - The Mines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8VBXilKZjU

• Everything in this level runs on local timers (= spawn as you approach).
• Even though the axes are weaker than the fireballs, they're still superior due to faster throwing speed (two can be in the air at the same time iso one). They therefore deal more damage per time period.
• The three gold above the retractable bridge are inconsistent in collecting. If you go at full speed, one of the three stumbles at the end of the bridge is usually/always? a bit off for collecting a gold and you end up with only 2. If you do an ever so brief pause before entering the bridge, you can align the stumbles and collect all three gold.
• In the dark section, two axes were thrown against a red bat. Even if it's just a regular bat, it's recommended to throw two axes since it will work as a timing buffer for being able to walk over the two moving platforms without stopping.
• If you missed one of the golds at the retractable bridge and need one more to get to 10 gold, you can collect the one above the last pit. It requires a big jump and is therefore slower though.
• The boss fight is slightly dependent on luck. It relies on the foremost mine troll's first stone to be despawned, which happens the majority of the time if there is a bat following you. Sometimes, the bat is too far away and the stone won't be despawned. That can be hard to tell and once you realize, it's too late. Luckily, it's pretty rare though. In some cases, such as when the Lizard King appears, there is no bat and the stone will for sure not be despawned. In that case, an alternative solution for the fight is to immediately duck and crawl to the right after having thrown the first 5 axes (the first two for timing buffer and the next 3 for actually hitting the troll). Crawl to the other side and position Dirk at the far right of the screen and take out the two trolls from this position. This solution is two seconds slower than the solution shown in the video.

Level 3 - The Reaper's Domain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2gYJEKVc3E

• Lizard King encounters are not possible in this level for unknown reasons.
• All the platforms run on global timers that start when you enter the level. Everything else runs on local timers.
• Walking over the last platform as shown in this video is difficult. More often than not, you'll arrive just late for it and have to wait another cycle.
• As mentioned in the energy management section above, it's possible to skip the second E, since you'll hopefully should be close to full energy anyways. That will also avoid collecting the G. If you've taken a few unintentional hits, skipping the E will make the remaining part riskier though.

There is a faster way to clear the second half of the level, but it comes with additional risk. It saves around 2 seconds over the route shown above and doesn't rely on the tight timing for walking over the last pit, so time save is more like 3-3.5 seconds faster compared to most attempts with the safer route.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itMdUxsbDKQ
The way to get over the pit with the two platforms requires quite precise inputs. A key element to make it easier is that you always take a quick step on the first platform you land on. This will ensure the big skull has spawned before the small jump to the second platform and it will then be at the right height when you jump under it.

Level 4 - Dragon's Lair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LDZMyD1ZJI

• Ducking before the 7th baby dragon seems to always manipulate it into flying up in a low angle. This allows for jumping over it. If it flies up in a steep angle, it will hit Dirk.
• It's possible to also jump over baby dragons 3 and 6, but it's risky, since it's not known if their take-off angles can be manipulated.
• When the Lizard King appears, it tends to turn upside down on enemy behavior (including the comment about the 7th baby dragon, which often flies up in a steep angle even if ducking correctly before it hatches).
• The absolutely best case would be to have the Lizard King spawn at the 9th (the last) baby dragon, so you don't have to jump back and forth. That saves more than 6 seconds. It's an uncommon event though.
• Whether Singe shoots a high or a low smoke puff depends on player input and possibly other things. The mechanics behind it is not known. There doesn't appear to be any difference in the animation before a high or a low puff, so in the end it's really just up to practicing the fight and get used to the available reaction time.
• The only way to survive if Singe starts with two low puffs is to buffer two jumps together. This will ensure that the baby dragon dies. If the second jump isn't buffered, the baby dragon will get you. However, this means engaging before actually seeing the second puff. So if the second is a high puff, you'll get hit guaranteed. There doesn't appear to be a way around this. Whether you buffer jump or wait and duck, you'll have a 50/50 chance of surviving. Since a low puff is advantageous because it allows you to attack, you might just as well jump and hope for that second low puff...
• Below is the result of 10 save stated playthroughs of level 4 (route same as shown in this guide). The table shows the high and low puffs of Singe in each attempt.

There is not much of a pattern, as expected. A few observations can still be made though.

- 105 of 227 puffs were low, so close to half of them.

- There are 14 cases of three puffs at the same height. Only two of those resulted in a fourth puff of the same height, which is surprisingly low if the puff height had been purely random.

- The fights lasted from 18 to 29 puffs, with the average fight length being 23.7 puffs and a standard deviation of 4. With one puff being blown every 150 frames, the spread is 28 seconds...

In the NTSC-J version, Singe can be skipped if the Lizard King spawns in the boss area at the right time. The same doesn't appear to be true for the NTSC-U version. The following video shows an example of what happens when the Lizard King and Singe spawn. The game becomes unwinnable since you can't deal any damage to Singe. You can at least escape the situation by suiciding against Singe's body. However, the game can also completely freeze. Either way, no method for completing the game with the help of the Lizard King has been described.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goEf5-qU7ZA