Castlevania: Rondo of Blood: Stage 5: Maria (Subtitled)

Right now, despite the alternate paths of Stage 4 & Stage 4' being possible, Stage 5' isn't unlocked yet. So until that changes, no matter which path you take in those stages, you'll always end up here in Stage 5: The Ghost Ship. From this point on, there are no more alternate exits, but there are still branching paths halfway through this level you can take. Both characters can take the alternate path, so at 0:54, I prepare Maria to use this path. You'll end up skipping the Ruler Sword miniboss this way, but you'll still have to fight the Captain Painting. Once you fall into the room, you'll also be able to destroy the ship's engine for a 1-UP. -------------- Death, himself, returns from Stage 0, seeing that you're getting very close to reaching Dracula at this point. He first attacks you in the traditional way: By flying around launching small scythes at you. Luckily, touching him won't hurt you. When he loses enough health, Death flies to the background to launch huge glowing skulls at you for a little while. When he's done with that, he takes off his clothes to show off a different outfit that makes him look more like the Grim Reaper that he is. Death will now attack you directly. Watch your timing when attacking him, because his scythe slash knocks you back a long way. If you hit him far enough, he'll rise into the air and spin down towards you. You also can't use any subweapons or animals on him at this point, or he'll summon fireballs that home in on you. Item Crashes still hit him, however. FINALLY, and most importantly, post-defeat invincibility doesn't apply here. So when you kill Death, any attack that's left from him can still kill you if your health is low enough, so watch out!