This is a work in progress, anyone is free to update this guide to add more or fix some detail or continue the work.
To Do
- map with hidden fountains
- level 7 boss orders
Resources
- US Manual: https://www.smspower.org/Manuals/AztecAdventure-SMS-US
- maps: https://www.smspower.org/Maps/AztecAdventure-SMS
- guide: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/sms/588036-aztec-adventure/faqs
General
All the things that helps for new runners who are not familiar with the game
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Doors - To open the door for the next level, every boss must be defeated
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Damage boosting - the hero will be pushed foward when getting hit. It's not used much in the WR run (as Jan 2024) and should be used more often!
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Allies - money can be use to "buy ally", for example 4 money bags at the dog and it will follow you everywhere. when you use a weapon (e.g. spear) they also use it, can be useful to throw many items a the same time. Those allies are not use in the run, there are a bit of pain to walk around with.
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Fountain/Pond - you can get your life back by throwing money at a water pond. can be used only one time. Some fountain are hidden
Run Route
Most levels are straight forward: walk through and kill the bosses on the way. Some level required collecting items in order progress (fireball & boots) and some level doesn't have a linear layout.
Here are the level that requires some learning or might have potential for improvements
- Level 1 & 9 - fireballs is needed to pass those popping flowers, either collect them at the begginning (screen 2) or by killing enemies on the way
- Level 2 - Boots might not be needed but it helps not talking damage, especially those bats
- Level 4 & 10 - routing with the water boss, the spawn is not random. There are also a way to inflict a lot of damage in one spawn, like 72
- Level 7 - there are 4 bosses and it's not really linear. After dying you will respawn at the start of the game if the first boss (south east corner) is not kill, death warp is important for this level
WR improvements
Listing all the things that can be improve with the current WR
- found a way to kill the bats faster? looks like stay in the center vertically we get more dives
- level 4 - there might be a way to kill the boss faster, maybe throw more arrow?
- level 5 - tiger setup was slow and probably don't need an healing before the 2nd tiger
- level 6 - some waiting with the ant hill (after defeating 2nd boss. miss the fountain too
- level 7 - path can be optimized
- level 11 - last boss has a very quick kill
Glitches & Bugs
as far as I know, there are no known glitches/bugs yet. I'm suspecting there might be one with how the level scroll, sometimes transitioning to the next part of the level the scroll is a bit off.
Bosses
Table of all the bosses with the damage they get from each weapons. The sword would have the best DPS, but probably useful to use the spear or tornado if already picked on the way for the masked rabbit, ranbaike and waterman.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bdnjHnzLCusWXOLM6JN_Gu8kMBIpvXKcevJXJDXc5sE/edit?usp=sharing
Levels Walkthrough
putting up the current strat done by the WR run
Level 3 (Desert 1)
- kill the first boss without any tornado
Level 4 (Marshes 1)
- boss: attach with just the sword, it's the same pattern.
- use arrows to hit the boss when it's too far, should probably be used more often
Level 5 (Ruins 1)
This is where is becomes more difficult because of the tigers, but there is a way to make them stuck in the wall
Level 6 (Desert 2)
- good to know the safe path, would die fast if too much damage boost
Level 7 (waterway 2)
probably require some optimization, boots are required to cross the water
- death warp right after killing the 2nd bat to go the other side
- after dying, you will always respawn at the start? I've tested after killing the Ranbaike
Level 10 (Marshes 2)
- Don't go for the secret fountain, there is another one 2 screens later
- Maybe worth to take death after 2nd waterman boss if life is low
Level 11
- Here the secret fountain are important, you might be able to skip the 3rd one if you can do the rock lion without damage
Because the game has a secret level select, I've added individual levels!
To save time typing the cheat code every time, runners can use with the level select enabled by default. Also allowing cutting an level run from a full