Finally had a chance to play Rondo of Blood!

[Aggie Tsubi]

Rondo got me started on NEC gaming in general. I'm a big Castlevania fan, so I just knew I had to get Rondo and a PC Engine Duo someday. I actually got the game first and had it for quite a while before I finally got a system to play it on. Definitely worth the wait, and I'm so glad Rondo brought me to discovering a whole world of NEC goodness.

I use it to hop over the Minotaur's final desperation attack.

That attack almost destoryed me, didn't see that coming.  I love those last attacks the games do actually.  Very unique for the time (and to a degree still unique today!)

The desperation attacks can't kill you, can they? I think the whole point behind them is to drain you down to next to nothing for life, which ruins your score bonus.

As for the backflip, it's the only way to reach that platform right before Shaft's ghost. And that's pretty much the only time I bother to use it.

[Necromancer]

The desperation attacks can't kill you, can they?

They certainly can kill you.

[bob]

The recovery on the backflip is HUGE. So huge that if I do manage to use it to avoid something I probably just get hit by something else.

I haven't had the privilege of playing a proper game of Rondo, but this statement brought back memories of the damn backflip from It Came From The Desert. I always used to jump into another ant upon landing.  Once you get it down, it can be very satisfying to use it properly.

I basically just whip the f*ck out of everything.

You're so gangsta.

[Bardoly]

The desperation attacks can't kill you, can they?

They certainly can kill you.

Yes, they certainly can!  The first time that I got to the Minotaur, I beat him, but then after I was congratulating myself for having finally beat a boss the first time I fought him, up he rose for one final attack!  He killed me of course, and so I had to beat him again, which meant that I STILL hadn't beaten any of the Rondo bosses the first time that I fought them.   

[spenoza]

Yeah, the backflip...does this actually have a use?

Well, aside from being perfect for dodging certain types of attacks (Dracula's double fireball), it actually has better height AND distance than the regular jump. There are some places you can get to and some little shortcuts you can take using the backflip to either cross long gaps or get your feet up somewhere a regular jump won't take you. There aren't too many of those places, and none are necessary, but it's a neat trick.

Also, the recovery time isn't too bad. It's just as fast to turn around and repeatedly backflip as it is to simply walk forward.

Also, you can whip while in a backflip, so it's great to dodge AND get in a free hit, or dodge and then wipe out some projectiles.

[Black Tiger]

It's perfect for enemies like the knight at 1:49:50 and the belching hobo at 0:15:52 in this video-

[Aggie Tsubi]

Huh, guess I've always gotten lucky with the desperation attacks then. Whenever I get caught by them, I always seem to be left with just a tiny sliver of life.