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

Energy Management

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

A few comments:

• The sheet doesn't take into account a Lizard King encounter in level 2, since that's pretty uncommon.
• 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, 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 that can be collected in level 3. This E doesn't cost any time in terms of level progress, but can only be consistently collected while also collecting a G (24 frames lost). Normally, this E isn't needed and should therefore be avoided.
• The energy drops again towards the end of level 4. By following the route and assumptions here, you effectively have 3 hits to spare.

Level 0 - The Drawbridge

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

• Getting 7 shots to connect in the first cycle is not too hard with a bit of practice, but the window for ducking is still fairly precise.
• Rise up for the second cycle roughly when the dragon bobs its head backwards under the bridge. If you rise too early, the dragon will fire before you've had the time to throw the three remaining daggers. Use this forced delay to nudge forward a bit to get closer to the right side.

Level 1 - The Entrance Hall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIPOzltHz8o

• Everything in this level runs on local timers (= spawn as you approach).
• The earliest possibility to jump over the second prisoner's second stone is to include a delay of 45 frames. The first throw (35) and two quick pauses (5 each) accomplish this.
• The two throws between the two first poles allow a frame perfect passage under the second pole.
• Ideally, you get a Lizard King encounter that forfeits one of the serpents or prisoners.
• The fireballs are the perfect weapon against the serpents at the end since they have 3 HP each and are taken out by one fireball each (they would have required two axes, making the fight slower).
• If you start attacking the first of the boss serpents too early, the fourth serpent has a delayed spawn, which completely ruins this solution.
• The jumping in the elevator section is to buffer a perfect exit (although when to start jumping is still subject to player judgement - best done by looking at for example how far the bricks in the background have scrolled).

Level 2 - The Mines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OOsEXiY-sI

• Everything in this level runs on local timers (= spawn as you approach).
• Buffer ducking at the beginning, followed by firing a shot and a quick stop permit a perfect passage of the first crushing pillar.
• Bumping the head before the set of two crushing pillars provides a frame-perfect buffer for passing through.
• Even though the axes are weaker than the fireballs, they're still superior for the boss fight due to faster throwing speed (two can be in the air at the same time iso one). The damage per time period is therefore greater.
• How much height you gain from the jump onto the dragon's breath depends on from where you jump and the timing of the jump. The position shown in the video is the ideal one. You have a bit of time to position Dirk before the wind starts to blow, so it shouldn't be a problem.
• In order to collect the three gold above the retractable bridge, you need to include a pause of 10-15 frames. Quick pauses, costing 5 frames, are easy to do. 2 of them will be enough, like shown in the video.
• In the dark section, two axes were thrown against the last bat. The second axe works as a timing buffer for being able to walk over the two moving platforms without stopping (just make sure the first platform has spawned before starting to throw).
• 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. Note that this will impact the boss fight (similar to if the Lizard King appears).
• The first stone from the foremost mine trolls looks like it's bound to hit you, but it won't. The key is to get hit by the bat at the same time. However, if the Lizard King appears, the stone will for sure hit. In that case, the following alternative solution is only half a second slower than above (but overall 2 seconds faster since no gold means time saved from avoiding the countdown screen). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK6dmWYd5Ns
• The jumping in the elevator section is to buffer a perfect exit. Although again, the timing for starting the jumps is up to player judgement (the easiest appears to be by looking at the tiles in the background).

Level 3 - The Reaper's Domain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ93ohXDc5s

• 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.
• As mentioned in the energy management section above, it's possible to skip the second E, since you 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.
• 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. There are several other options for passing this pit, but they're considerably slower and don't appear to be that much safer.
• The last pit can be cleared by one big and one small jump for the expected 5 frames saved. If your toes are above the void when jumping from the left side onto the platform, a small jump is enough. Otherwise you need to make a big jump to reach far enough.
• The timing for starting the two jumps against the Reaper is somewhat small if you want the optimal six hits to connect. However, it also relies on RNG, as the last hit rarely connects if its finger is raised.
• A more consistent, but also ~40 frames slower, reaper strat is shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ1iWw7k13s. This strat was taken from a speedrun by z_fox.
• There is actually room to stand behind the Reaper's finger and keep attacking. However, to get to that position only works if the Reaper's finger is raised for the first two shots. It's not hard to see if the finger is raised for the first shot and react, but the second shot will be like a leap of faith. The following video demonstrates the strategy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTnMUVn5nhg. This strat is normally (the raised finger blocked one of the initial axes) a few tenths of a second faster, but can also be 2 seconds faster, like shown in this video (all of the initial axes connected).

Level 4 - Dragon's Lair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4lP7IJqPrs

• 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...
• Doing a jump forward for the last hit on Singe is a good time save (2-3 seconds), but also risky. It can be hard to know exactly how many hits are left (especially since the baby dragons often block a few of your axes).
• Note that you can exit the level while crawling (all the other levels require that you walk out). This is good to know if you at the very end of the fight need to duck (e.g. to take out a last baby dragon).
• 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. Edit: This appears to be more of a coincidence than a sign of a game mechanic. Since this test was done, it has been observed up to 8 high puffs in a row. This is unlikely as it is already and highly unlikely if the game contained some kind of added mechanic for balancing the amount of high and low puffs.

- The fights lasted from 17 to 28 puffs, with the average fight length being 22.6 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