[TAS] NES Milon's Secret Castle by hisatoki in

[@aarona1c]

Thanks for utterly wrecking this game! So satisfying! This game had such charm and potential, but the sheer cryptic path to get anywhere, at all, made it the worst game rental.

[@noside.foxhound]

I remember playing this game when I was a kid and no wonder why I got stuck and frustrated, secret doors, windows, walls, shops, invisible floors! how the hell I was supposed to know where to go or what to do since there's not a single clue!

[@Jokerbuzzed]

lol Nintendo Power man.....Nintendo Power.

[@noside.foxhound]

@@Jokerbuzzed and what if all issues were sold out before reaching one? was though anyways.

[@MagicSpamDragon]

@@Jokerbuzzed nah i had the issues (subscription) and classified information was just getting past the ground floor including tips on how to play wtf thats not normal

[@leedahye25]

Yeah as a kid, this is too impossible, even now, it still impossible to beat it. I agree with avgn on this one.

[@ActivelyVacant]

I think I spent 95% of my time playing this game exploring through areas that don't even appear in this run. I'm not even sure if I ever found the 2nd boss.

[@yakmaniac]

This game looks like it could drive someone insane with all those hidden passages and tricks. Wow

[@anthonyqiu1442]

"Milon's secret castle... MORE LIKE MILON'S SHITTY ASSHOLE!" --- AVGN

[@Atlink]

I came to make this joke. And you beat me to it. If only I was 3 years faster.

[@doctorlight]

I doubt a castle that big is actually a secret

[@KiKfilms]

hogwarts

[@em_dee10]

@@KiKfilms but you've heard of Hogwarts

[@dragonmanover9000]

@@em_dee10JK Rowling exposed that place to the world

[@OmegaVideoGameGod]

🤣

[@legionbeast]

Fuck man, I've heard the term "everything in the game is a secret", but for fucks sake this game takes it literally.

[@CirqueitOfficial]

one of the few games I never cleared as a kid. Yeah, no kidding!! Who designes a game like this!?!?!? Thank you for sharing the speedrun, an its in my brain that I couldn't scratch for 30 years have finally been relieved!!! ♥

[@bigblue344]

2:02 So you just walk into a wall and appear in a another room. Now I know two games that do that now.

[@Chree1s]

Whats the 1st?

[@Dedicatedtolivinginthepast]

@@Chree1s Well, I don't know what game @bigblue344 is thinking of but I know that Ultima IV: Quest Of The Avatar had you do that fairly frequently!

[@sarcasticguy4311]

@@Dedicatedtolivinginthepast Those hidden walls actually had tiny notches in the corner so you "knew" they were "secret" walls.

[@chriswinkler284]

This kind of reminds me of Wizards and Warriors. Even the sound effects for entering and exiting doors is VERY similar. Thanks for the upload =)

[@KruhlSentru]

Ah yes, this game. I still own a copy on my Wii, but I never could get much farther than beating the well. Too many secrets, and naturally, nothing was going to be easy back on the NES. Still, it was fun, and I feel that it would have gotten much farther with some proper hints and a save system. Not that saves were all that stable back then...

[@auroralaerov]

4:34 Hudson's bee

[@johnclark926]

Pretty freaky this TAS is over 14 years old and it’s only been uploaded now.

[@johnclark926]

Bloopiero ah, okay

[@doctorlight]

Kinda spooky, stuff nightmares are made of

[@alexuwo]

This is impossible to do as a kid. No wonder why I could never make it very far.

[@ThomasDrish]

I went around in circles trying to play this game, and got nowhere. Look at you!

[@akirabbq]

Great run. You have to beat the game 8 times in a row to see the end game message. For English Version you only have to do it twice.

[@johneymute]

Ahaaa no wonder i see a romantic ending, why else there’re 4 stones between the player and the princess? No wonder. Thanks for mentioning this.

[@Dedicatedtolivinginthepast]

8 Times in the Famicom version?! It took me 11 hours to beat this once let alone 8 whole times!

[@TKUltra971]

30 some odd years later, and this game still makes absolutely no sense. This was a "Must have parents buy strategy guide to play" kind of game.

[@sarcasticguy4311]

This game is certainly tough. I rented it in my later teens back in the early 90s and it took the entirety of a day to get through it. There was much screaming and yelling.

[@sarcasticguy4311]

@@kevinr278 Keep in mind "a day" was like 10 hours. It wasn't easy. After finishing it I played it again the next day since I had time on the rental and it took significantly less time, maybe five hours?

[@sarcasticguy4311]

Patiently waiting for Vomitron to cover this music.

[@Arycke]

Dope OST

[@jbiquez]

Send this to James Rolfe!

[@kusanagigamer2377]

i played this game but i never finish it...i now know why....IT WAS SO HARD, how we could figured out so much without clues

[@dragonrose2620]

Hold left and push start to continue after dying after first ball

[@ebenolivier2762]

When I played it as a kid it was called "Maze Song".

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

This is a game that everyone hated, and I loved it back in the day!

[@Galaviste]

It's only hated by fans of AVGN.

[@Zarggg]

I played this game so much as a kid and I loved it. Still have the cartridge.

[@Knuckles5140]

This shit really is a secret castle.

[@OscarMemo333]

I got to this part: 4:37 when I was a kid and got stuck...the farther part I could do. I was so near the ending...so sad XD

[@LoodyA-Q]

Milton knows the castle more than the princess herself.

[@knoxville497]

This game is hard af!

[@OmegaVideoGameGod]

Very good

[@leedahye25]

This game is impossible to beat without a guide!!!

[@bananonymouslastname5693]

Nah, it's not so bad. For me, the trick was playing the Game Boy version first. It has the exact same layout, but has a password continue system so you don't have to do it all in one sitting. That way I could take my time exploring and learning the game. After beating it that way, I was able to go back and beat it on NES in less than half an hour. Probably unnecessary these days when people can emulate and use save states, but as a kid, when that wasn't a thing, that password save was a god send.

[@leedahye25]

@@bananonymouslastname5693 you beat it without any guide or hints and tips from other sources? So how many days for you to beat it?

[@bananonymouslastname5693]

@@leedahye25 it was a long time ago (the first time), but probably a good week and a half when I was a kid. Lots of wandering. Honestly, the toughest NES game with no guide for me was Legacy of the Wizard.

[@shimo_retro_gameplays6288]

Other two games impossible to beat without a guide: Romancia and Takeshi no Chōsenjō 😂

[@Natt8393]

Omg when i was 10 years I love this game much no save and i finished i so happy but this game very hard

[@Harbinger28567]

Does anyone know what that final "boss" is supposed to be? Some guy bouncing around wearing genie shoes that opens up his pants and shoots balls at you?

[@Jackrost01]

Looks like typical witch

[@astaciechan]

This game ruined my life when it came out. Now to see a speed run......I was just bad at games. =(

[@ButteredToast32]

Nahh it’s not just you. Even Nintendo Power didn’t know how to beat this game.

[@DanielSong39]

Lots of good design ideas but the execution wasn't quite there. Kind of reminds me of Legacy of the Wizard (which didn't have as many issues, but was just as difficult - impossible without a guide). Wizards & Warriors would eventually get the formula right, as they nailed the platform exploration format without overwhelming most gamers.

[@goattrain]

it's just not the same without the giant spider screaming outside

[@dragon0369]

世界最速クリアですね。 凄い！天才！

[@Lady_Lilith666]

いいえ、これはTASです

[@LaskyLabs]

You would *never* be able to figure out any of this on your own. This game should be a crime.

[@otakuatarigamer]

That was just how games were back then. Metroid and Zelda share many of the flaws this game has, amped up if anything, yet they get away with it

[@LaskyLabs]

@@otakuatarigamer while there were plenty of cryptics (especially Metroid), Zelda at least had a lot more courtesy. Occasionally the game would actually give you useful hints. Also it neither of these games attacked you just for standing still, also, password/save systems.

[@LaskyLabs]

@@kevinr278 it can be fun, but for a very specific kind of person.

[@LaskyLabs]

@@kevinr278 part of me is glad to have GameFAQs. Another part of me is sad that it's far more difficult to trick adults into thinking waluigi exists in Mario 64 ds. Sure, kids can still be tricked with mods and stuff, but adults have the cutting room floor now, and I love digging into the betas of games, but damn if we haven't lost something.

[@LaskyLabs]

​@@kevinr278I love it a lot though. Especially those old guides. Those are fun to print out and scribble notes on. The Chao raising guides are a favorite, differently the type you NEED to write stuff for.

[@Hangman-q9u]

After the first run the princess will give you a kiss and unlock the difficult mode(all mobs require two hits), if you save the princess again she will marry you.

[@realChewky]

I never beat this game but am impressed with my 6 year old self even betting the first level. I don't think I would have the patience for it anymore

[@jimmybeaudet986]

Who the fuck discovered all that

[@one7decimal2eight]

Wow. What a cryptic mess. Could be the worst offender on the NES.

[@Tedzee8]

I think about a newest game Rogue Legacy when I see this game. And it's amazing how good it looks since it is from 1986!

[@michaelsegal3558]

This looks like a fun game I wish there was an English North American version I would play it if there was

[@Colonel-Llama]

The game did get a physical release in North America

[@michaelsegal3558]

@@Colonel-Llama oh I see that’s cool

[@bonggar3846]

is this the world record?

[@lolbro1765]

It's TAS

[@deerfish3000]

Nintendo games like this were such a scam. Let's purposely design a game so cryptic and non-intuitive to win that kids will be forced to buy Nintendo Power.

[@DrewPicklesTheDark]

I actually liked this game lol. Funny to see it basically be considered a "meh" game until the AVGN did an episode, then it suddenly dropped to "bad".

[@pentelegomenon1175]

I don't think James even hates the game really.

[@angeltwice]

OMG awesome hacks xd

[@gregbenoit6102]

What a terrible game. How did you make that look semi interesting?

[@BobbyDirt]

That’s some dark souls level bullshit

[@FirstLast-dh8ks]

worst rental ever

[@ШефВитас]

Хорошо , что я в нее не играл )) Сложно слишком

[@mor_64]

Да не просто "сложно", а "КРАХованно" по разным причинам, которые я узнал сам.

[@ШефВитас]

@@mor_64 КРАХованно уже страшно звучит ))

[@mor_64]

@@ШефВитас Это я такое слово придумал, совместив слова "крах" и "бракованно", чтобы хейтеры нового Союзмультфильма перестали смотреть его мультсериалы и начали смотреть мои видео и советские мультфильмы.

[@alexanderseton]

I agree with AVGN: this game sucks! It is unbeatable without a guide

[@KimeramonRocks]

maybe back in the day it was a combination of yes buying the guidebook or having nothing else better to do for 5 hours a day but to play milon's secret castle as a child and eventually get good as well as figure out all the secrets... but really this game sucks and it really is unplayable without a guide, the biggest fuck you being the 1 life only thing

[@DrewPicklesTheDark]

I beat it without a guide back in the day lol.

[@zaphod77]

Fun Fact. this game came with a guide in Japan, and instructed you to only look if you were really stuck. Not kidding. The Gameboy version has a small guide for in the US manual for if you can't even find the first boss. :)

[@otakuatarigamer]

Neither were Metroid or Zelda, yet they get away with their cryptic design

[@zaphod77]

@@otakuatarigamer Zelda' puzzles were designed such that one person is very unlikely to get all of them. You were expected to ask someone else who had figured out the one that stumped you. But they didn't put a guide in the manual like the orignal japanese release of milon's secret castle had..