PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 5 of 6

Well, I sure lucked out.

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Stage 5

Map (by StarFighters76)

Avoid the search lights of the planes in the overworld. If they spot you, you'll have to deal with some Foot Clan ninjas.

The crab-like robots that crawl on the walls are the worst. The boomerang sub-weapon as well as Donatello's bo will destroy them in one hit instead of two, which is a welcome sigh of relief because these things can be unmeasurably irritating.

The jellyfish split into four bubbles if you get too close to them, but (interestingly enough) you can hit the bubbles and actually destroy them.

The porcupines are really annoying, since they face away from you to attack and shoot needles at you when they do. After attacking twice, they'll run away.

Here's a problem that the Angry Video Game Nerd doesn't mention: you can only stand on the ladders on the walls when you climb all the way up on them. 

The underground parts are even worse, since you have cannons shooting at you from the ceiling and craning themselves up and down at the same time. You also have aliens that curl into balls and roll around like pillbugs on crack if they're not shooting sperm out of their mouths (I'm serious, that's actually what it looks like).

Anyway, the doors at the bottom of the underground areas are the possible places where you'll find the boss. You'll know that the boss isn't there if you enter the door and end up at a dead end room with absolutely nothing in it. Unfortunately, the building that houses the Technodrome is random each time you play. There is a chance that the empty room may contain a turtle that you may have lost.

When you finally meet up with the Technodrome, here's what you do: take out the Foot Clan ninjas as you wait for the electricity at the front of the Technodrome to stop sparking out, then head to the tank tread at the side and take out the turrets. Now that those are out of the way, attack the eye at the top of the Technodrome when it opens. You did it! Just one more stage to go!

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 4 of 6

...and the game gets harder again. This one took a few tries before I could finally get through it without losing a turtle.

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Stage 4

Map (by StarFighters76)

Enter the building and prepare to take on the maze.

The fastest path is 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18. You can also substitute 5 and 7 with 3 and 6 respectively, then take 8, and head to 9 from there.

If you need to save one of your friends, enter 13, then get your friend and head back from where you came in. You can also exit 13 through the other side, go backwards into 12 and fully refill health for all your turtles. 

The first building you enter has a full health refill right off the bat. You'll also find some tightropes not long afterwards, and you'll need to use them very soon after. Just walk to the post where the rope is used and your Turtle will automatically tether up.

The robots that shoot lasers only attack when you do. 

Section 2 is really easy, just watch out for the lasers.

If you see any purple planes on the map, keep your distance. Those things are Shredder's bombers, and they can nuke you off of the map if you're not careful. It's best to stay away from them.

For Section 3, take short hops to get across the conveyor belts. At least the conveyor belts tell you off the bat where they're going to push you.

Section 4 introduces a new enemy: a humanoid that splits into two. (This assumes you haven't seen it earlier in Stage 3 like I did.) When you hit its smaller counterparts again, you'll get them to split even further. Those miniature clones take multiple hits before they die, which can make them frustratingly annoying.

Section 5 introduces the magnets. When you're in the air, they'll instantly attract your Turtle, which carries the risk of pulling you into the spikes while you're fine-tuning your jump placement. Thankfully, touching the spikes does not cause instant death, but it's still something you should avoid.

The road to the end is really nasty. You'll be dropping down for a few screens, and while they all have the same pattern as the first room, the second one introduces spiked walls of instant death, so you'll have to be fast on the way down. The third room is just like the second, but it has a full pizza that you definitely won't be able to get at all. Thanks, game.

The fire pits are instant death, so you'll want to avoid those. This is especially true near the end of 15, where enemies can push you into the fire pit if you're not careful.

The room at the end is the boss - a giant Mouser. Wait for it to blink its eyes twice before jumping to avoid the laser. After that, it will open its mouth and expose hit its "tongue." Once the mouth opens, you can easily strike the weak point with Donatello. There is a glitch where you can pause and then unpause when the mouth is open so that you can always hit the weak point no matter what, but you can easily beat this boss without it.

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 3 of 6

Thankfully, the third stage is mercifully easier than the second.

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Stage 3

Map (by StarFighters76)

The Turtle Van has two weapons: the normal gun with infinite ammo that fires straight in front of the van (fired with the A button) and the super missiles that do more damage but come in finite amounts and have to be found (fired with the B button). Walk into it to enter it; press Select to get out.

The super missiles missiles can also destroy the barricades that block your path. From this point on, I'll actually be referring to the map, so you might want to have it open in a separate tab in case you actually want to know what I'm even talking about.

It should be noted that the Turtle Van's energy matches that of your current turtle. Yeah, that's right. It doesn't come with its own, separate energy bar. That's pretty lame.

First, enter the building immediately to the left of the starting point that you can enter (referred to as 1A on the map). As you make your way to the top, you can find a half pizza as well as a whole pizza that you can use to refresh your Turtles, and at the end you'll find Missiles. Walk over the pit to get over it and grab the Missiles. (Angry Video Game Nerd, anyone?)

Aside from the fleamen (who really do look like tiny astronauts) and the Foot Clan balloons that drop missiles when they're directly above, you also have robots that look like knights. These robots send their heads flying around the screen when you destroy them. Thankfully, the heads take only one hit to kill.

If you need more missiles, just exit and re-enter the building. Not only will the missiles be back, but so will the health power-ups. Bonus!

Now that you have some missiles, get back in the van and go to 4A and 4B from there. Stand near the center of the barricades in order to take out both halves in one shot with the missiles. Enter 4A, and pick up the icon at the upper-left corner that looks like some guy walking on a tightrope. This is the Rope, and you'll need it for later in the stage. Now enter 4B. If you have a Turtle down, this is where you'll be able to rescue him. Congrats, you've successfully regrouped. Now make your way to 6A.

If you need to refill health for any reason before heading to that area, or if you don't have a turtle to save, head to 3A. You're not only going to find health there, but you'll also find the Ninja Scroll as well as some tightropes. If you fall into the water in the sewer area, you'll end up on the other side of that area, but it'll just make it easier to get to the full heal pizza at the end.

When you're in the 6A area, don't fall into the water, because the Turtles can't swim. (Another first world problem brought to you by the Angry Video Game Nerd.) If you hit the drink, you'll have to start this whole area over. (Why they can't swim here when there was already a swimming level in the game before this is just inexplicable.) Let the robots with the detachable heads fall in the water, so you won't have to deal with them. Also, take short hops. That means "Don't do the somersault." 

From here, enter 7A. Make your way to the top, and you'll deal with the Mecha Turtle. (If you fall into the water before the end, you'll end up back at the 6A door, which means you'll have to do more backtracking just to get back to the end.) The first form just acts exactly like Leonardo, meaning that he acts exactly like you do. The second one is a robot Turtle with a jetpack and rockets that fire out of its mouth. If you're close to dying, switch to another Turtle. The first form isn't too hard, but avoid the rocket attacks of the second form. If you have the Ninja Scroll projectiles, use them. You'll take out both forms very quickly. When you save Splinter, you'll see Shredder's helicopter fly away.

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 2 of 6

This is where a lot of people have trouble with the game...a lot.

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Stage 2

Map

Well, there's nothing else here to do on the overworld map at this point except to enter the building in front of you...so why not?

As your make your way up to the roof of the building, you'll be fighting mini-bosses each time you reach a ladder. Thankfully, they're enemies you've beaten before. You'll need to be right at the edge to make the final jump to the door leading to the top of the dam itself.

When you're at the top, move to the right and move off the broken end of the building. This is the Hudson River bomb level, and it's pretty nasty.

First things first: if your current Turtle is in danger of dying, switch to another character immediately. If the timer (two minutes and 20 seconds) goes to zero, it's an instant game over. However, if you die, the timer resets but the bombs don't! Epic win!

You have 2 minutes and 20 seconds to defuse eight bombs. Thankfully, there's a map for this that really helps out. When you get near a bomb, press B repeatedly to defuse it. Special music will play if you have only 20 seconds left.

With the rotating spikes, stay near the center to make it easier to not get hit. 

Wait for the electric barriers to stop running before moving past them, as they can do a lot of damage.

The currents can really drag you down at times, and sometimes they won't work due to a glitch in the programming. Sometimes they'll drag you down into the coral below, which act as spikes or electric barriers and cause damage as a result. As for the very stringy looking things at the bottom of some areas, don't get near it; you'll be dragged in and you'll immediately lose a turtle if you get close enough.

When you defuse all eight bombs, don't even worry about getting back to the beginning. You'll automatically return to the Turtles' home only to find the place trashed. Shredder will show up on the screen wearing a red wifebeater instead of his usual purple gear and has the ability to point his hand through the TV screen. You'll find out that Splinter has been kidnapped, and that the Stage 3 map is freakin' huge compared to the first two.

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 1 of 6

Here's another game that I never thought I would beat until I tried it for the Internet. Long live the YouTube channel!

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The game is known as Gekikame Ninja Den in Japan, and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe.

Stage 1

Map

The game starts in an overworld map. If you pause, you can select between the four Ninja Turtles, which have a different weapon (that of course, works differently). You'll have four turtles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello. Each Turtle has a different weapon (katana, nunchaku, sai and bo staff, respectively), each with a different range. They all have their own individual health bars, and you can switch between them on the pause screen in case you're in trouble.

From what I understand, the first level is supposed to be Fifth Avenue and Greenwich Village.

The map shows red and white squares. The red squares are all the places you can access, while the white squares are an entrance to an area. The flashing dot signifies where you are. You'll be able to get hints from Splinter and/or April O'Neil (when you rescue her) in the message box below.

You'll start near a manhole. Go into it. Moving south past this area leads to a purple tank that will instantly try to kill you if you run into it, so don't do that.

You'll take on what look like Mousers and Foot Clan Ninjas. As you progress, some of them will have mini-boss status. Take them down to empty their life bars and continue on with the game. 

Whenever you finish off a mini-boss, move left past the center of the screen and continue. That way, you'll be able to see what's ahead and deal with it more easily.

You'll find a pizza at the end. The more slices there are on the icon, the more health you'll refill. One slice refills two squares on the life bar, and you'll see anywhere from one to four slices on a pizza icon.

From here, enter the manhole to the right of where you've come out. Go to the right and you'll face Bebop. Stay away from him and hit him from medium range. If you're using Donatello and his Bo, this is a lot easier. If you touch Rocksteady, you also take damage (I found this out by screwing around, don't ask).

When you beat Bebop, Rocksteady runs off with April through the nearby door. Enter it, and you'll come out across from where you entered. If you need health, go into the nearby house and beat up all the bats and stone guys. The stone guys can only be damaged if they're moving. You'll find a slice of pizza midway, followed by a whole pie at the end, and if one of your Turtles somehow need energy at this point, switch to that Turtle, get the Pizza, then switch back. That way, that whole pizza pie won't be wasted. Also, the chainsaw guy (should he show up) is totally violent for a NES game from 1987. Just saying.

Leave the house the same way you came in, then go to the manholes northwest of that house. Watch out for the steamrollers, as they're instant death if you touch them. There are also Foot Clan ninjas you can attack with the B button, just like in the side scrolling sections, should they get near you.

Before entering the one that blocks your path, enter the one south of it. You might find some throwing stars, which you can select with the Select button if you want to go back to your default weapon. There are several projectile weapons that you can find in the game, and if you don't want to grab a projectile weapon without losing the one you have, you can switch to another turtle and have that turtle pick it up. Weapons include throwing stars (a single shot and a three-way shot variety), boomerangs that can be thrown and grabbed again, and scrolls that can shoot an energy wave, among others. You'll find these weapons at random, so look sharp and be ready to press Select to switch back to your melee weapon as well as manage who carries what, as that can be pretty important.

In the manhole that I don't enter, the Turtle logo is invincibility. With this, your current Ninja Turtle spins around and hits everything that he touches for a few seconds. This will take down the frog mini-boss at the end without taking damage. Since this is a dead end, go back and climb up the ladder at the start.

Now you can go into the manhole that blocks your path. There's a pizza at the beginning in case somebody needs some health rations. Continue to the left, take care of the frog mini-boss, then climb up the ladder at the end and you'll come across this isolated blue building.

There are three sets of enemies in a stage, and if you don't like the one that's in the current area, you can leave where you came in from and immediately re-enter to spawn a different set. Nice.

You'll face Rocksteady at the building at the end, and if you jump up to the top of the boxes at the right-hand side and keep striking downwards, you'll be able to beat him without taking damage. This works especially well if you're using Donatello, as it's pretty hard to miss while doing this with him. Just wait for him to jump (horribly) and then hit him. Whenever Rocksteady jumps near the boxes, his hitbox extends a little bit, and you can hit him more easily. You just saved April O'Neil! Congrats!

Controls

Control Pad: Move (Up enters doors)

A button: Jump (side-scrolling only)

B button: Attack (use Up and Down to strike upward and downward, respectively)

Start: Pause (lets you see the map and switch Turtles)

Select: Switch weapons (side-scrolling), leave the Turtle Van (overworld)

PrinceWatercress plays Super Mario Odyssey - Part 92 of 92

In the final entry for Super Mario Odyssey, we show off what's left to show off as part of a proper send-off for the game.

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In this video, I take care of all the loose ends that are left.

The easiest way to buy everything that's left in the Crazy Cap shop is to head to Bowser's Kingdom and warp to the Beneath the Kingdom checkpoint. Head back to the area where you need to plant a seed and make a vine with the seed in the nearby planter. Climb up the vine, then keep going straight and grabbing the Rocket Flowers with your cap. If you do everything correctly, you can get 190 coins per pass, and you can get to 9999 coins in less than an hour. As a result of this, buying all the outfits is a lot easier.

It is noted that if you get all 880 collectible Power Moons, all of the enemies in the Capture List, all of the music in the Music List, all Regional Coins and Regional Coin items and all hats and outfits not labeled "Special" in the shop (the ones labelled "Special" are from post-release game updates, but I get them all anyway because I can). If you get all of the last category, you'll get two stars for your hat and outfit collections when you go into the closet to change your outfit.

If you buy your way to 999 Power Moons, you'll be able to head to the rooftop of Peach's Castle in the Mushroom Kingdom. Throw your hat at the scarecrow that brings up the stairs to the roof. There will be another scarecrow you can throw your hat at to produce a flag. Climb up the flag to reach a giant black top hat at the top of the castle. Get to the top of the top hat and throw your hat at the tiny spire for a small fireworks show. This is your reward for 999 Power Moons.

If you have more than 150 Power Moons in your possession in a kingdom, you'll see an ellipsis in place of Power Moon #150 on the left side of the screen.

When you enter the Wedding Hall again, there are two paintings. The one to the left from where you enter leads to the original final battle with Bowser, while the one on the right leads to a harder Bowser battle. The battle is pretty different. On the first phase, you'll need to jump over Bowser's tail three times before you can pummel him. On the second phase, he does one tail whip, then you pummel him, then he does two tail whips, then you pummel him again, then he does three tail whips before you send him into the background wall. For the third phase, Bowser will move his fire breath back and forth five times instead of three, and he will do one tail whip before you pummel him, and before you can finish him off, he swings his tail three times before allowing you to pummel him some more, then swings his tail two more times, and after a little bit more pummeling, Bowser swings his tail three more times before you can land the finishing blow. The rest of the end game sequence is the same as the first time around.

And that's it for Super Mario Odyssey!

PrinceWatercress plays Super Mario Odyssey - Part 91 of 92

In this entry, we finally head to the Darker Side and get the final Power Moon, which is the absolute most difficult one to collect in the game.

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There's only one more thing to do in this game: head to Darker Side.

When you land, you'll see people from all the kingdoms in the game as well as Mayor Pauline and her band. Capture the frog to get up the mountain and enter the pipe at the top.

The following area is one big obstacle course that you'll have to go through in one shot, and if you die at any point, you're going all the way back to the beginning, as there are no checkpoints.

At the beginning, there is a Yoofoe that can destroy as well as a bunch of Goombas. Defeating the Yoofoe will award you with a Life-Up. You will need this for the beginning. At the start, you'll be wall jumping off poles that will sink in the lava when you grab onto them. After that, you'll be swinging and jumping off rods, some of which will move in and out of the lava. After that, you'll see metal crest-like slopes moving across the lava, and you'll need to long jump your way to the platform on the other side.

At the platform, take control of a Podaboo (I know they're called Lava Bubbles, but I'm too far into this blog series now). Jump into the lava pits without making contact with the rotating rock columns on the way to the other side, where you'll find a cannon to shoot out of.

Take control of the Uproot on the other side of your cannon travel and use the ability to raise your legs to get up the platforms. There are some platforms that you'll need to use your ability to push them up from above, as well as to push one down from below, while avoiding enemies on the way up.

Use the frozen water in the next section to get past all the Black Fuzzies in the next part, and try not to get frozen on the way. You'll then be able to take control of Yoshi. Stick your tongue onto the walls leading upwards to stick to the conveyor belt walls, and jump to avoid Black Fuzzies while also grabbing coins.

At the top, you'll find a P Switch. Step on it and follow the flower bridge as it moves forward. You could attack the machines on the way to break the blocks, but it's not worth it due to all the energy rings they will produce, which you will have to avoid. Along the way, you'll see a platform off to the side where the Sphynx is. Talk to the Sphynx. You'll be asked "What is the only kingdom that I, the great Sphynx, have not visited?" The answer is "The Mushroom Kingdom." Your reward is another Life Up Heart. Thankfully, if you die, you won't have to talk to the Sphynx again to get it; it will be readily available next time. From here, you can hit the P Switch here for another flower bridge so you can keep on going.

The Sphynx has other questions to answer if you keep taking to him.

Which of these unique attributes do I not possess? Gardening skill

What will you remember most about your adventures through all the kingdoms? Talking to a Sphynx

Why do I ask people questions? It's a chance to talk

What final words am I saving for you? Thank you!

For answering these last four questions, you'll get a few hundred coins for your efforts.

You'll soon have to throw your hat on an upside-down scarecrow on the bottom of a platform to get ahead. The platform will fly upwards, and you'll be forced to wall jump your way upwards with metal partitions of the nearby wall popping out to help you. You'll need to be quick so you're not forced out of the path upwards into the lava below.

You'll then meet Glydon. Take control of Glydon and use the air currents to stay high in the air as you head to the platform on the other side. Just watch out for the flies flying around in mid-air, and you should be fine. Once you land, you'll be launching yourself over the lava by throwing your hat at Volbonans stuck in blocks above the lava and launching yourself forward. A few of them move, so you'll need to time it right so you can launch forward, throw your hat and catch the next Volbonan flawlessly. Enter the pipe at the end.

Ride the platform, and try not to hit any of the machines, either at the sides or at the center of the platform, so you don't have to avoid a bunch of energy rings as you deal with the enemies that leap onto the platform as you go.

At the end, you'll be using a Pokio to stick onto the swinging walls. You'll need to launch yourself upwards and stick to each swinging wall to get to the top...except. Except if you get to the third one, stick yourself to it, and launch yourself upwards when the wall is all the way to the right, you can stick to the wall leading to the 8-bit area earlier. If you do that, get ready to quickly launch yourself upwards until you reach the 8-bit area.

In the 8-bit area, avoid the barrels rolling around as you get to Donkey Kong. Hit the four ? Blocks below Donkey Kong to get rid of him, then enter the pipe in the area that opens up below Donkey Kong. You'll then have to play a Bowser possession. Thankfully, when you enter this section, you'll start it with six hit points no matter what.

Avoid the rocks, and only slash at them to get rid of them when absolutely necessary. This is true near the end of this super-short section, where rocks will come at you from behind as you slash through the walls. You'll be alternating between slashing right and slashing left with Bowser's claws every so often just to survive, but hey...at least you have six hit points. The worst of this stuff is finally over.

When you reach the coin rings leading downwards, drop down to enter one last area full of pylons. Thankfully, it's really easy not to die here. By taking control of the pylons and travelling to the right, you'll spell out a message on the pylon paths saying "Thank you." If you throw your hat at the scarecrow on the other side, you'll be able to see the message in full.

Go down the pipe. Take control of a frog and shake the controller to use the high jump and get up the tower as Cappy reminds you of your journey. You'll eventually have to leave the frog and climb up the tower at the end. At the very top is the final Multi-Moon. You just grabbed the hardest Power Moon to get, and you'll get the Invisibility hat, which will make Mario invisible regardless of which outfit Mario wears it.

When you get all 880 collectible moons, you'll get a gold sail for the Odyssey, and you'll get a new Bowser battle in the Wedding Hall in the Dark Side.

1. Long Journey's End - Get to the top of the tower at the end of Culmina Crater.