LES CHEVALIERS DU ZODIAQUE SPEEDRUN NOTES

Prepared by Zericc
April 2020

1. GAME BACKGROUND
Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque is the French localisation of a 1987 Japanese videogame entitled Saint Seiya:
Ougon Densetsu. The original game was released on the Famicom in Japan, with the localisation released only
in France on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game is a part of the Saint Seiya franchise based on the
Japanese manga Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac.
a. Franchise Information
At the time this guide is being drafted, the Saint Seiya series includes manga, anime programs, and an
ongoing cartoon program on Netflix. According to Wikipedia, the series is successful with 35 million copies
sold as of 2017. The international release of Saint Seiya began with France where it became very popular.
Comic books have been and continue to be a popular form of literature in France, even while it has lost
popularity in other countries, which may have factored into the story’s enduring popularity.
According to the anime series, Saint Seiya is about a world in which mythical warriors known as “saints”
had once existed with godlike fighting abilities. Now, as the world faces some potential conflict, fighters
around the world are battling in arenas and show fights for “bronze cloth” outfits that denote saint status.
The main character is Seiya, a Japanese fighter who travels to Greece to seize the Grecian bronze cloth in
a blood match. Seiya’s fighting instructor helps him release his inner “Cosmo”, a galaxy of energy
contained in a saint, as a quick series of “meteor” punches. As the story progresses, Seiya and his allies
are forced into a conflict with the Pope, which is frankly hilarious and bizarre. (Author’s note: I watched a
few episodes of this show prior to writing this guide, but not the whole series, so I may have confused story
elements in this description).
The Saint Seiya series mixes several aspects of mythology and religion as the basis for its central fighting
system. As an example, the various mystical cloths available to characters include “Pegasus”,
“Andromeda”, “Virgo”, “Crow”, and “Dark Dragon”, a literary hodgepodge.
b. NES Game Development and Release
Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu is the first of 12 Saint Seiya video games. In 1987, the source material
manga had yet to be finished, so the game’s creators made up an original ending for the game.
The problems with Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu were apparently evident to the game’s creators. In 1988,
a sequel was released entitled Saint Seiya: Ōgon Densetsu Kanketsu Hen. From the author’s
understanding, “Kanketsu Hen” translates to something along the lines of “finish arc”. Essentially, the
sequel is intended to act as an improvement of the previous game and provide a more satisfying endgame.
A remake combining both games, the “Perfect Edition”, was released in 2003 by Bandai for its shortlived
Japanese-only handheld gaming device the WonderSwan.

2. GAMEPLAY
a. Controls and Stats
The Nintendo Entertainment System employs a simple control pad with a four-directional D-pad, a select
button, a start button, a “A” button, and a “B” button.
Character stats in Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque are frustratingly unclear. There are several stats, such as
Cloth Power, Heart Points, and Movement Points, that appear to have an unknown function. There is a
chance that the points do not impact the gameplay in any way.
b. Exploits
In his 2006 Gamefaqs guide, Lukman Hakim includes a description of an “Unlimited Experience Point”
exploit:
This method seems to utilize a bug, rather than official cheat method. Go to MENU screen, and enter
ABILITY menu. Then put your cursor on "finish" / Japanese word, that is the most-bottom optin, then
press up-right.
If the cursor disappear, or move to other strange part of the screen, then press B button repeatedly and
you have succeed. If the cursor only move to CP, then repeat the process. If you keep pressing up-right
correctly (which mean the cursor keep moving to strange position), then you can reach some points
where pressing B means you get unlimited damage points, though it's very difficult.
PAGE 2–LES CHEVALIERS DU ZODIAQUE SPEEDRUN NOTES
Prepared by Zericc | Zericc.com
April 2020

I was unable to replicate this exploit in Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque.

c. Town Map
A town map is attached to these notes as Appendix A.
d. Mt. Fuji Map
A map of Mt. Fuji is attached to these notes as Appendix B.
e. Ending Boss Rush
The game ends with a boss rush of increasingly difficult enemies. There is almost no way to collect
additional life or cosmos during this rush, so the player is stuck with what they’ve collected at this point.
From the author’s experience, the enemies maintain their life level between player deaths. This means that
a death in one of these fights is not necessary terminal to the run, as the player comes back with a little bit
of cosmos and can wear down the enemy’s life over several encounters. The Athena Statue also provides
100 cosmos between battles during the boss rush.

3. SPEEDRUN HISTORY
a. Background
Although they are not specifically speedrun guides, the following gamefaqs guide writers deserve credit for
playing through the game and writing down what they know about it: Lord_Bowie (2017), Lukman Hakim
(2006), and Xanxus (2004). Each guide contains helpful information for anyone trying to learn the ins and
outs of Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque.
A leaderboard for Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu was created on Speedrun.com in April 2018. When the
author began wiritng these notes, the only run posted to the leaderboard was without video proof, and
posted by someone other than the runner. No specific leaderboard existed for Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque
on Speedrun.com. A cursory Internet search engine investigation turns up little by way of speedruns for the
game.
b. April 2010 NicoVideo.jp Run by “Hii” (40 Minutes, TAS)
NicoVideo.jp is a streaming service popular in Japan. The service is used by video game enthusiasts to
live stream and post videos. On April 4, 2010, NicoVideo.jp user “Hii” posted a video of their playthrough of
Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu in four parts. The user’s username is ♂, which Google Translate
indicates is “Hii”, so Hii will be used here.
Hii’s 2010 Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu run comes to about 40 minutes, although it is the author’s
estimation that this is a tool-assisted speedrun.
Hii’s speedrun hinges on a strategy that comes into play in the third quarter of the run. This strategy is
executed during the period of the run after the cave fights and before the journey to Sanctuary, while the
player returns to the city. During this period in the game, the player travels around the city and defeats
several saints. One of these fights, in which the player faces Dante, one of the Silver Saints, occurs outside
the hospital. Hii enters this fight and uses the flee command until the encounter ends. By entering and
leaving the encounter, the game resets the hospital’s health refill ability meaning that Hii can repeat the
health-cosmos trick. By repeating this trick quickly, Hii prepares his character for the endgame quickly with
limited chance for failure.
c. January 2020 Run by Zericc (84 Minutes)
The author submitted a run to Speedrun.com in January 2020. This run utilises two primary strategies. The
first is the repeat clearing of the “Moo” area. By repeatedly clearing this area, the runner builds up the
experience points necessary to carry the rest of the game. This also means that hospital visits increase
health/cosmos by a great deal more. The second strategy is the abuse of the Dante-Hospital interaction, in
which the player runs back and forth between the Dante Silver Saint and the Hospital, building up the
cosmos necessary for the end game. This run was the author’s first successful clearing of the full game.
d. April 2020 Run by DrSakenomi (77 Minutes)
On April 2, 2020, runner DrSakenomi uploaded a new world record time to the Speedrun.com leaderboard.
This run used a pause-respawn cycle for an enemy in the beginning area. By respawning and killing the
enemy repeatedly, DrSakenomi started off the run with more experience and thus gained more health and
 LES CHEVALIERS DU ZODIAQUE SPEEDRUN NOTES–PAGE 3
Prepared by Zericc
April 2020

cosmos in the early game. This run also makes use of repeated clears of the Moo area, as well as the
Dante-Hospital interaction.

4. DISCLAIMER
This is just a player’s overview of the game, presented as is, for free. The author doesn’t claim to own or seek
to make a profit from anyone else’s property.
Saint Seiya and the associated characters are owned by Masami Kurumada. Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu is a
trademark of Bandai.
This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on
any web site or otherwise distributed publicly in a for-profit manner.

5. CONTACT
Please contact Zericc at zericcgaming@gmail.com.
 APPENDIX A

TOWN MAP - LES CHEVALIERS DU ZODIAQUE

ZERICC

JUST A BUNCH OF BOATS

FOR NO REASON

ORPHANAGE HOME
x
@
LEGEND

x x encounters

x @ warp locations

PARK HOSPITAL
x
buildings

mail box

created by ZERICC

x x x x

KIDO x x x
COLOSSEUM
@ @
 APPENDIX B

CAVES MAP - LES CHEVALIERS DU ZODIAQUE

ZERICC
ROOM 1 - BLUE
RM 2 i/o RM 3 o RM 5 o RM 2 o

ENTER 2a 3 5 2b IKKI

x x x x x BOSS

ROOM 2 - YELLOW
RM 1 o RM 1 i RM 3 i/o RM 1 i RM 6 i/o v v
v v LEGEND
1a 1a PHEONIX 3 1b 6
< < x x ^same place^
5
IKKI COMBAT

ROOM 3 - BLUE
RM 4 i/o RM 2 i/o DOOR/
3 PASSAGE
4 2 SWAN
x
PIT

x x x x WALL
SKULL
ROOM 4 - BLUE
RM 3 i/o CAVE
COLUMNS
CHAMBER
3 ANDROMEDA COLOUR

< < x x x
created by ZERICC

ROOM 5 - YELLOW
RM 6 i RM 6 i RM 1 i RM 1 o

PEGASUS 6 2 1 1
x x x x ^same place^ x x > >

ROOM 6 - GREEN
RM 2 i RM 2 o

DRAGON 2 2
x x > >