Holy Diver is a platforming action video game with some rad references to rock musicians. Developed by Irem in 1989, it was exclusive to the Japanese market, and never released outside of said-country.

Gameplay can be described as a combination of elements from Metroid and Castlevania (not to be confused with Metroidvania) with the protagonist being able to shoot balls of energy forward or above from his hand, and collecting powerups throughout the stages and beating bosses (similar to Metroid). The overall design and artstyle of the game can be compared to Castlevania.

You play as Randy, an infant son of the weakened 16th Crimson Emperor Ronnie 4th, who is on a quest to obliterate the evil Black Slayer, and restore power to the lineage of King Crimson.

Holy Diver seems not to handle button presses properly when two or more happen on the same frame. For example, simultaneous presses of A button and Right button make the character move but not jump, which often leads to falls into bottomless pits.

This patch fixes most of such issues, so any button press is handled regardless if another button was also pressed at the same time.

Database match: Holy Diver (Japan)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210216-231042)
File SHA-1: 47B1A5A395604B8DC0196C74D62BCBF00A941F5F
File CRC32: C4CF0E8E
ROM SHA-1: BC6F5A884FD31FE6B4439E83AD6C2A29D038E545
ROM CRC32: BA51AC6F