Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
It's time for the fourth and final parts level of the game, and not only is this one much easier, but this one is a lot more fun due to beating things up as a kangaroo.
For the fourth and final part of Evo's final shell suit part - the legs - you'll need to take control of a kangaroo and beat up a few animals in boxing matches, complete with a "legally distinct" Rocky theme clone.
The first animal to beat up is a camel. Get behind him and punch away, and move and jump away when he turns around so you don't get spit on. You'll need to knock the camel out three times, and if it takes more than one round, it won't count against the total. Energy will pop up in the far right every so often; pick it up when you need it.
The second animal is a super camel, which is a camel with a cannon. The same strategies apply as with the regular camel, but you want to make sure the cannon isn't facing you so you don't get shot. Also, the camel will teleport; if you see the sand clouds forming around the camel, get away and move towards the camel's new location while taking care not to get destroyed. Three knockouts will do the super camel in.
The third and final animal is a kangaroo. You'll want to move around in a circle while jumping, get some shots in, and try to get behind the kangaroo as you punch it. The other kangaroo will always move around for a bit before coming after you, and when that happens, move and jump away to avoid getting punched. It helps to get a bit of distance and move and jump around a lot so you can see the other kangaroo coming. Trapping the kangaroo near a wall or a corner definitely helps with getting some extra damage. When you knock the other kangaroo out three times, you'll beat the level and get the legs.
If you've collected all of the Power Cells in the game, your shell suit will be gold instead of silver.
We need to get something big and bouncy and get a flappy thing to complete the level. In other words, we need to get a kangaroo and a vulture...again. Unlike the other levels, however, this level is a bit...peculiar. The level is very small, and is probably even smaller than Smashing Start, but it has a unique gimmick to it and I commend how it was programmed and handled.
You start off as the desert fox. Go back up the steps near the beginning to get a Power Cell that is easy to miss, then start jumping from platform to platform and from crate to crate at the river. Try to land in the water as little as possible as you do this. On the crate that moves, be ready to jump for another Power Cell at the beginning, as you only have one shot at it. You'll soon have to go down the waterfall, which is not far from here. This is where the fun begins.
Step on the platforms in the sand near the center to make some of the columns smaller, then go into the nearby tent. When you do, the screen rumbles, the camera zooms in extremely on your character, and you won't be able to leave until the quaking movement stops. When it does, the area will be a little different than when you entered. Sand will have been blown around, and you'll be able to get to other areas.
When you enter the tent the first time, there will be a pit with a cloud of sand popping out of it. Stand in the could and another one will appear. Keep standing in each cloud of sand, and after standing in all three, you'll get the trophy. You'll also be able to stand on one of the columns you shrunk down earlier, and standing on it causes it to sink into the ground while another column in the center rises.
Head back into the tent and let the level change again. This time, you'll be able to stand on the other column you shrunk, making it sink so another column in the center rises. You can now jump from one platform to another in the center of the area, and this time, there will be sand that allows you to get the Power Cell on the way. On the other side of these platforms are two kangaroos...on pogo sticks! Spin into them repeatedly as the desert fox, and stay close to them without getting jumped on. They have a boomerang attack that travels counter-clockwise in addition to a pogo jump, so be careful.
As the pogo kangaroo, you can bounce pretty high. If you stand still long enough, the next few jumps you make while holding the A button will be even higher, and you'll be able to reach stuff that you probably thought you couldn't. As a matter of fact, you have to hold the A button in order to get around as the pogo kangaroo, anyway. You'll have to jump into the tent with the kangaroo in tow in order to get one more sandstorm, then get back to the desert fox and take a path that only the desert fox can go through due to its size to reach the vulture. Jump up to hit the vulture when it is at its lowest point. If it falls into the sand below, it will stop moving and you can just go on and destroy it with ease.
Take control of the vulture and take the desert fox with you past where you faced the vulture. You'll find the goal. You'll need to take both the vulture and the desert fox to the exit teleporter, then enter the exit teleporter as the desert fox to complete the level.
You'll need to get a couple of animals in order to get to the exit teleporter. You'll have to be a desert fox, a kangaroo, and a "happy flappy chappy," whatever that is. Once again, you have to get a kangaroo and a flying animal to clear a stage.
You start off as a camel. Watch out for the whirlwinds that pop up, as they will damage you if you touch them. Head left from where you start and go up the ramp, then touch the camera. You'll find out that the exit teleporter is that the top of a metal column, and you'll have to fly up there to reach it.
From here, shoot down the scorpions in the nearby area below. You'll need to go up the ramp and travel in such a way that the wind won't blast you off the small hill you need to get across. The best way to do this is wait for the wind that pushes you to the left to disappear, then use the wind that pushes you upwards and hold Up and Right on the Control Stick to get across.
You'll then need to stand near the metal bridge and let the tornado pop up and carry you upwards at the cost of some of your health. Believe it or not, this is the only way to get up there. From there, travel right across the perimeter of the level and shoot down the scorpion that you see, then go up the nearby ramp and travel to the right and shoot down the last scorpion below. This will net you a trophy, which you will be able to get soon enough.
From here, there is another ramp near the last scorpion that you can travel upwards, and this will take you to two armed desert foxes. You'll need to shoot them down quickly when they approach and take control of one of them to complete your first mission objective.
There will be some crates in the water, and you'll be able to jump across them as the armed desert fox. Rotate the camera so that you can always jump forward and land on the boxes to get to dry land on the other side, as your water resistance will once again be atrocious. From here, you can get the trophy, if you wish.
As the armed desert fox, you'll be able to hop up a hill to find and shoot down a kangaroo. You'll want to move back and forth, and hopefully get some shots in on the kangaroo, who will eventually chase you down. I eventually got it to go low enough - back to where the wind blew me around, in fact - and shot it down as it kept moving into a wall.
Take control of the kangaroo. There is an even bigger cliff top to jump up near the crates in the water that leads you to two vultures. I somehow managed to luck out and jump on one, which caused massive damage and made this easier to do. Take them both out, then control one of the vultures. From here, the exit is now open. If you're missing Power Cells, go get them now.
There is a set of platforms you'll need to fly to and land on as the vulture. The fourth one can be a pain in the butt, because if you go to low when you're close to the platform, you won't be able to get to the height you need to get on the fourth platform. You'll have to fly from the third to the fourth diagonally to give yourself a chance at landing on it. From there, you can fly to a fifth platform, then get to the exit. There is a Power Cell across from the exit in mid-air; if you go for it, you'll have to use the platforms again to get back to the exit.
Aside from getting a kangaroo again, you have to locate four archaeological discoveries. So we're doing some sightseeing and fossil hunting this time around? Nice.
You start off as an armed desert fox. Touch the four camera near the lizard holes, the giant footprints, the mosquito covered in amber, and the skulls with the eyes and teeth. On the way to the last one, watch out for the enemies that come out of the holes. The red and purple ones can spit fire and hurt you. Congratulations, you just found four archaeological discoveries. I'm not sure what kind of joke the developers were going for here.
From here, you want to head to the nearby area with all the holes, the stairs and the narrow paths. Watch out for the fire breathers again. Use the health around you to minimize damage when necessary. At the end, you'll find a kangaroo. Keep your distance from all the dinosaurs and watch your health as you shoot the kangaroo down. From here, you'll be able to exit...and do everything else.
However, you're not done yet. You'll need to jump across the top of the rib cage bones where you first saw the dino enemies, and you'll need the wind to kick in and blow with you. You'll find two vultures, and you'll need to take out at least one of them in order to find everything in this level. Once you do, you'll be able to clear this place out and exit. The exit teleporter will be on the top of a huge hand fossil.
If you're looking for elevation to the higher areas with the vulture, use the wind at the rib cage bones. As for the Power Cells you can only see as the vulture, you'll need a super high elevator, and you'll need to travel the perimeter of the level in both directions.
At this point, you start with Animal A, get Animal B, use Animal B to get Animal C, and so on until you get to the goal, more or less. At least the levels are creative and expansive, and you get to explore them a little bit for Power Cells, too.
The other animals have been forced into the mountains by the scorpions, and you'll need to get yourself a kangaroo and a vulture in order to beat them at their own game.
You start off as a desert fox. You'll need to take one of the scorpions and take them out. If you jump at the right time, you won't get zapped by the scorpion's lightning attack. You'll want to get the timing on this down, as you'll be forced to fight one of them at close range. Once you can take control of a scorpion, destroy the other. There is energy at the start; take advantage of the two energy pick-ups to ensure you don't die as soon as you started.
In this level, energy pick-ups will have different colors. The light blue ones you've seen so far will give you the most energy, but there are more purple versions of the energy pick-ups that give out less energy, with a fully purple pick-up giving you the least.
You'll need to take control of the desert fox again, this time to walk left around the perimeter of the level to access new areas. You'll be able to get a few Power Cells and get a free tour from the camera. Just be ready to jump across the metal platforms.
Go back and take control of the scorpion. This time, you'll want to go to the right instead of going left like you did with the desert fox. To take out the scorpions effectively, you'll want to either keep zapping them from a higher elevation or zap them three times and hit them with the claw attack afterwards if they come at you. The scorpions go after you if you zap them enough time, so be ready for close combat. The zap attack only kicks in if you're close enough to an enemy; if you're too far away, you won't be able to do it.
As you continue to explore with the scorpion, you'll eventually find two kangaroos. Take out the scorpions in the area with the scorpion, then return to the air with the kangaroos with the desert fox. This is going to be a bit of a trek, but it can be done. The desert fox can jump from column to column to get to the kangaroos, and once you get to the kangaroos' level, you'll want to attack them without getting attacked yourself. The more energy you have available for this, the better, even if you have to leave the area and take a bit of a journey to get it and come back. Whatever you do, make sure the kangaroos aren't looking your way. Once you take down a kangaroo, take control of it immediately. Not only will you have a big jump, but you'll be able to get in the water and go just about anywhere (something you couldn't do with the desert fox or the scorpion due to their terrible water resistances). If you have any energy that needs to be picked up, go ahead and get it now. The worst is over; don't risk dying at this point of the level.
Destroying all the scorpions will net you the trophy for this level. You'll need to get the kangaroo or the vulture later to grab it.
From here, there's only one place left to go to: the metal mountain in the center. The only way to get there is with the kangaroo. You'll need to jump on a few platforms, then jump your way to the top on the flat parts. There are two vultures here, and you can easily take out both of them by punching them, running away until they land back on the ground, and hitting them again. Repeat this until both vultures are down, then take control of one of them. With the vulture, you can get everything else that you've missed - including the remaining two Power Cells under the small, narrow, metal bridge - then get to the exit.
There's a problem: you can't get into the teleporter! There's a "no kangaroos" sign nearby, and the vulture won't fit, either. You'll need to bring the desert fox all the way to the exit with the vulture, then switch to the desert fox to get into the tiny area with the exit teleporter and get out of here.
Dan's not happy right now. It's really hot, the music is annoying, and he's not in the mood to deal with everyone. Not only do you finally get to destroy the speakers pumping out the music, but you get to destroy a bunch of spinning foxes and turn all the noughts to crosses...whatever that last one means.
You start out as a camel with a cannon on its back. The cannon will always face forward...unless you change direction and don't stop, or if you rotate the camera and don't move. When that happens, the cannon will be facing the last direction you faced (for changing direction) or whatever the camera considers "forward" (for rotating the camera). This can be used to your advantage to take out the spinning foxes near the start. Of course, once you stop moving again, the camera re-centers itself to face forward like you are. I usually just carefully approach them, then mash the A button in range to fire the cannon shots and take them out in seconds. As for the B button, that is a short-range teleport dash similar to the racing fox's speed boost from the Euro levels. That takes care of that second mission immediately.
Aside from the speaker near the start, there is also a vulture you'll want to defeat. You'll definitely want to do that, as you will need the vulture right now. Take control of the vulture, grab the camel, and then continue to the next section of the level with the camel in your talons. This will help you (and the camel) get over the pit of spikes that is instant death if you touch it. You'll also want to take one of the non-armed desert foxes to the next area as well.
At the columns, get the Power Cell, destroy the speaker and hit the switch. This raises up a panel with a circle on it, or a "nought." Take control of the camel again, then go down the stairs. Scorpions will crawl out of the bunkers in the sand, and you'll need to destroy them all as quickly as possible, as their lightning attacks pack a punch. Destroy all four of them, then take control of one of the scorpions and go through the bunkers to find some Power Cells as well as the switch for the second panel for the noughts/crosses mission.
By exploring this area, you'll find another speaker to destroy and another scorpion. You'll want to destroy it, then get the vulture. Grab a scorpion, then fly around and look for a floor switch. Hitting the floor switch activates the third noughts/crosses panel. Place the scorpion on the floor switch to keep the panel up.
There is one last speaker near the exit teleporter. Carry the camel over there with the vulture, then shoot the speaker down as the camel. Then, take the desert fox into the next section and jump from one noughts/crosses panel to the next. You'll need to do this quickly to turn the noughts into crosses and make sure that they stay crosses, and you'll want to make sure that you are near the edge of these platforms to ensure you jump into the next one without falling into the water below. Since the desert fox has very bad water resistance that causes the water to eat away at its health, you'll want to be careful.
As the vulture, you'll want to grab all the scorpions and drop them in to the nearby vortex, including the one you left on the floor switch. Doing this will cause each scorpion you dropped to turn silver. When you have seven silver scorpion, fly into all seven of them to get a gold scorpion to pop out of the vortex. That's the trophy. Pick it up.
With all this done, you're clear to get out of this place. Just fly to the exit teleporter across from the noughts/crosses platforms.
It's time to take on the desert levels, and if you were expecting something even harder, well...it actually doesn't happen. The sailing is a little smoother from here on in.
Welcome to the desert levels! After completing three of the jungle levels, we're able to start playing these levels. After having to go through absolute madness with Evo's Escape, this part is going to be a breeze. For some reason, the desert levels are the easiest ones to get through, and it's not exactly established why. Maybe these were actually meant to be "cool down" levels after everything you've been through. Maybe the development team were running out of time and money to make the game. Maybe they were meant to be the first set of levels, although that's probably not the case due to how the beginning of the "Euro" levels got the game started on the right foot. Nevertheless, this is where the game eases up, and sometimes, gets a little creative.
For Fun in the Sun, you'll need to restart the oil pump and open the fuel line valves in order to restart the machine that produces the station's fuel supply.
You'll start out as an armed desert fox. With the B button, you'll have a three-way pistol shot, and use you can use that to lay waste to enemies from a distance. There will be a camel to the right of where you start, and you'll want to blow it away immediately. Just be ready to keep your distance when the camel approaches when you shoot at it enough times, as it will run at you and spit water at you.
Once you take out the camel, don't take control of it just yet. You're still going to need the armed desert fox and its ability to jump in addition to shooting. Make sure not to take out the speaker will progressing past the start, or else you won't be able to clear the gap and you'll be forced to restart.
There is an oasis just past the start. If you wade into it with the armed desert fox, the water will actually damage you and kill you due to poor water resistance. Instead, you'll want to get close to the corner of the oasis across from the two camels in the distance and shoot tt the camels instead. The bullets from the Armed Desert Fox's hot shots actually travel downwards after a short period of time, and if you're standing in the right spot, you can rain down mortor shots on the one near the pyramid. To take out the other one, however, you'll need to find a mound of sand near a wall, jump to the cliff side and then travel towards the pyramid before getting close to the camel. Doing this can let you chase the camel back to where you have to jump before you get to the pyramid, and you can more easily hit the camel there if you keep moving back and forth near the edge.
The camel will be used to push a block near the door leading to the next area. Once you've pushed the block, you'll still want to be the Armed Desert Fox for what's up ahead. You'll also want the camel to get the Power Cell that is blocked by the oasis.
In the next area, there are a few other armed desert foxes, and they will shoot you on sight. Keep your distance and pay attention to where they patrol so that they don't fire back at you. You may have to close to them and fire mercilessly on them and kill them before they kill you. Thankfully, there's plenty of energy in the earlier areas. You'll see a switch near the big brown pipe; jump on it to turn on the oil pump.
By looking around the perimeter of this section, you'll find another hill of dirt that you can go up to explore more of the level with. Once again, keep your distance and figure out where your hot shots will work best when blasting at enemies.
Shooting down all of the armed desert foxes will net you the trophy. You'll need to get to the vulture platform to get it.
At the oil switch, you'll see two squares moving up and down. You'll need to jump on one of them, then jump to a switch to activate it and turn on an elevator. This will allow you to make your way to the exit teleporter. Before you can activate it, you'll need to jump across the three nearby platforms. Make sure that you can jump from one to the next without being burned by fire.
On the other end is the aforementioned vulture platform where the trophy will be. There will be a vulture that you need to shoot down as well as a Power Cell. Shoot down the vulture, then take control of it. From here, you can get the final Power Cell, fly to the valves at the nearby fuel line, drain the oil, and get to the exit.
As the vulture, you can press the B button while on top of another animal to take it wherever you need to go. Press B again to let go of whatever you've grabbed with your talons to lob it. Remember that for later.
