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Quick
Tips
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Castle Maps
To get the full 200% castle completion,
you need to fill in the two castle maps as seen above. Both of the castles
are identical structure-wise if you look only at these maps. In reality, there
are subtle differences between the Castle A and Castle B areas, such as breakable
walls in one castle that'll eliminate one unbreakable in the other--and
other such instances involving switches and such. It's important to move between
the castles using the portals, all of which are represented by the color yellow.
(Note: The two yellows that don't match up between castles are regular transporters.)
The "Boss Rush"
Mode
To unlock this
mode, an additional mission for Juste, you must finish the game by defeating
Dracula in Castle B. To do this, you must collect his remains and use them
to break the seal that locks the heart of the castle. Once inside, you have
to defeat Maxim after equipping both the MK and JB bracelets. By defeating
Maxim under these circumstances, it allows a continuation of the story element
that leads to the battle with Dracula. After the credits roll, your progress
will be saved into the game's memory.
 When
you turn your GBA on again, the title screen will now be red, and the
"Boss Rush" mode will be available. Simply put: This mode consists
of successive battles against the game's bosses. When you first begin,
there will be only two options: Easy Level and High Scores, which records
your best times in defeating the bosses and the number of kills. After
you defeat the Easy Level, which contains 5 bosses, you unlock the Normal
Level, which has 10; finally, you can defeat the Normal Level to open
the Hard Level, which is a marathon battle against every boss in the game.
The bosses within each level are the following: |
You start this mode in a room filled
with candles containing hearts and the six sub-weapons; you begin with nothing
but your whip, so it's wise to collect all that you can. A room such as this
can be found after each boss battle, but only in this initial room can you
equip a sub-weapon--choose wisely, because you're stuck with it. After you
defeat a boss, it'll release a crystal that'll restore your energy before
you leave into the safety area and subsequently the next boss room. When you've
defeated the final boss of a given level, your total score will be tallied
and you'll be returned to the selection screen; there are no other rewards
for playing this mode.
Despite what I said about this being
an extra mission for only Juste, you can actually play as two other characters:
Maxim Kischine, who you can also unlock for the regular game, and Simon Belmont!
For the information on how to unlock them, check the "codes" portion
of this page. These two characters, of course, have their own unique abilities,
strong points and weaknesses, so the mode will be a different experience with
either. Mostly, your characters' strength will vary from room room to accommodate
the stronger bosses and your propensity for defeating them. There are other
key differences between the three characters' potential:
Sound
Mode
The famed Konami Sound Test returns
once more. To unlock this mode, simply defeat Dracula for the game's best
ending, under the same conditions you used to unlock the "Boss Rush"
mode. This may be redundant, since both modes unlock at the same time. From
here, you can listen to all of the game's tunes without restriction, including
the hidden tracks reserved for Simon's secret appearance.
Fighting
Dracula
As mentioned in the Dracula section:
The Count's existence in this game was one of its best-kept secrets. Whereas
Symphony of the Night had different endings depending on the conditions
surrounding your battle with Richter, there are three possible endings for
Juste in this game, depending on the gear you're wearing in your final
battle with Maxim. The normal two are obtained simply by defeating Maxim in
castles A or B. To get the best ending, you must equip the MK bracelet, which
you received from Maxim, and the JB bracelet, with which you began the game.
After defeating Maxim, your act of remembrance and camaraderie will help him
to free himself of Dracula's possession, and the dark lord will instead take
his usual form for a final battle.
Juste's
Secret Crash
It's become sort of a tradition for
Belmont heroes to have the ability to execute an item-crash without actually
having an item. Richter could do it in Rondo of Blood, Castlevania:
Dracula X and Symphony of the Night; Nathan could do it in Circle
of the Moon; and now Juste can harness a similar-themed power via the
Spell Fusion system. To do this, activate the Summoning Book and make sure
that you have no sub-weapon equipped. (If you have one, enter into the transient
castle and have the enemy called "0" steal it from you.) Now push
up plus attack; Juste will use a healing spell to replenish his meter, at
a costly 100 magic points, in a burst reminiscent of Maxim's Healing Rain.
(Thanks to Nightboy1984 for this information.)
Furnishing
Your Way to Her Heart
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You decided
against furnishing the room
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You fully
completed furnishing the room
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Harmony has what seems like
a pointless excursion--a side quest that tasks Juste Belmont with collecting
hidden furniture and using it to decorate one of the castle's painfully drab
rooms (which both versions of the castle share). To the contrary, there is
reward for completing the task though without actual effect on the gameplay.
Rather, fully furnishing the room will cause a slight variance to the "Good"
ending sequence, which ordinarily features a recovering Lydie standing between
the two heroes; instead, Lydie will now stand directly next to Juste,
clinging to his right arm (apparently drawn to his sense of style).
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The
Codes
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Play As Maxim:
In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, you could
play as Richter Belmont after clearing the game with Alucard. As a nod to
that, the team's second masterpiece, the producers allow a similar extra in
Harmony that allows for you to unlock and play as Maxim, who was thought
to only be a supporting character. To play as Maxim, clear a normal mission
with Juste and wait through the credits so that it saves your progress. Now
start a new mission and enter "Maxim" as your name. Without any
delay, intros or cut scenes, the game will begin with you in control of Maxim.
Remember
that Maxim, like Richter in Symphony, wasn't made with this this level
design in mind, so he'll have to rely on his special moves to travel about
and explore at will. That is, Maxim can travel just about anywhere he wants
to go from game's start, including both castles, without restriction. However,
he has some restrictions in other areas of play: (1) He can't access
an inventory screen, which means that he can't collect armor or furniture,
find a merchant, or anything else associated with it. In their place will
be found single hearts. (2) Life vials do raise his HP cap, but his
stats will always be lower than that of Juste's at a high level; too, heart
containers will simply add five hearts to his total. (3) He can't collect
any of the sub-weapons, since he comes equipped with his own. (4) He can't
attain 200% castle-completion due to the inability use the switch that opens
the barrier blocking the heart of Castle A. (5) Since he can't collect Dracula's
remains, he must instead defeat all of the game's bosses to access the heart
of Castle B. (6) Due to his status as a secret character, there are no story
elements to be found for his mission; he does, however, have his own ending
sequence.
His moves are as follows:
| To attack:
Push B. Maxim will use his sword to stab forward. |
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| To leg sweep:
Simply crouch while pushing downward, and then push B to sweep. This move
is quick but short-ranged. |
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| To jump:
Push A. You can double jump by hitting A again then again to pull off
a triple jump. Maxim is either inhuman or he's auditioning for a future
Smash Bros. game. |
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| To jump kick:
Push downward and A after executing a second or third jump. Maxim will
dart to the ground in a blaze. |
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| To use your sub-weapon:
Push up and B. Maxim will throw his Shuriken--half the screen's length--like
a true boomerang. It costs five hearts per use. |
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| To slide:
Push downward and A. This will let you speed along and harm enemies with
a sliding kick. |
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| To forward dash:
Use the L and R buttons according to the direction you're facing; this
move can be used for long bursts of speed |
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| To back dash:
Use the L and R buttons according to the opposite direction you're facing.
The back dash will get you out of danger quickly. |
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| To somersault and roll:
After a first, second or third jump, hold up and push A. Maxim will roll
into a ball in midair and slice through enemies, continuing to roll when
he lands on the ground; this quickly drains your magic meter. It also
acts as a fourth jump. |
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| To chant your illusion
spell: In one motion, push forward,
back, down, up, and then hit B. Maxim will call forth clones of himself
to slash away in all directions. This uses up about 45% of your magic
meter. |
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| To chant your healing
rain spell: In one motion, push
up, up-back, back, down-back, down, down-forward, forward and then hit
B. Like an RPG magic-user, Maxim will regain his energy; this spell costs
50 hearts. |
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Maxim is both much faster and moderately
stronger than a regular Juste, but he does take more damage for hits due to
no stat potential. For this, you'll want to speed along only in territory
not marked by hordes of enemies. If you play too loose, instead, you'll wind
up spending more time regaining energy via spells and save rooms.
Hard Mode: In
the earlier games, which relied on stage-by-stage action, you could play through
a second time, wherein the challenge would be increased by more enemy resistance
and decreased defense. Since most people believe Harmony of Dissonance
to be "easy," its creators included a Hard Mode for you to try.
To do this, first complete the regular mode with Juste. Then start a new mission
and enter "Hardgame" as your name.
Magic Handicap: If
you still think that Harmony is below par challenge-wise, you might
want to try this code. When you start a new mission after completing the regular
mode with Juste, enter "No Magic" (make sure that the space is created
using the "R" button rather inserting a blank) as your name. Once
you've done so, you'll be unable to collect spell books, which will be replaced
by heart containers, and thus you can't use the Spell Fusion system. While
most players probably never even bother using the system, its regular abusers
might miss being able to lazily defeat bosses.
"Boss Rush" Mode Secrets:
Whenever you play in this mode, your starting character
will always be Juste. You can change this using two different codes, which'll
allow you to challenge the game's bosses using a normally-supporting-cast
member and a hero long since dormant:
