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.
Let's explore a little more of the towns, and get another sword so we can shoot projectiles!
Sakado
Enter the second house. Take out the Keese as they show up, and watch out for the Moblins and their spears. Keep jumping upwards to get the screen to scroll in that direction. Enter the door at the top and you'll be able to get the Power Sword, which allows you to shoot projectiles out of your sword as long as your health is full.
Now it's time to head to the northwest corner of the map and enter Aru Ainu.
Aru Ainu
Make you way down, destroying the boars with the projectiles of your newly acquired Power Sword as you go. You'll want to get them before they can get you, as they can eat through your health like crazy. From there, go right, then jump up to the house. You have to jump to the part of the platform just left of the house, and you have to do it in a rather specific way. This makes getting around on hills that act like platforms harder than it should be.
Enter the house. You'll find a Dodongo. Go down and bomb the Dodongo, then grab the key it leaves behind. Climb up the rocks on the wall to leave.
There's another house to the right of the one you just left. Go inside and talk to the woman. She talks about how the Gleeok scared the townspeople away, then she gives you a shroud which will scare the wraps off Gibdo.
Your pointer will be on Tykogi Tower, near Sakado.
Duke Onkled is under attack by the evil forces of Gannon. The King takes the Triforce of Courage to protect him. If he doesn't come back in a month, Link has to find him. All of a sudden, Link disappears as well. It's up to Zelda and Impa now as we start off one of the three games in the unholy trinity of Zelda CD-I games.
There are three places on the map that you can choose at the beginning of the game: Aru Ainu (northwest corner), Kobitan (northeast corner) and Sakado (south of Kobitan).
Sakado
To fight enemies, simply stab at them with your sword. Unlike other games in the Zelda series, you have to stab the Rupees with your sword in order to collect them. Red ones are worth one, green are worth five and blue are worth twenty (meaning that they got the red and green ones confused here).
The shield can deflect hits and protect you, but good luck getting it to work while standing up. Unless you're crouching, it doesn't seem to want to do its job.
You can jump in this game, but as you're going to find out, Link's Awakening does a much better job at the whole jumping thing.
The enemies here aren't too bad. Besides the Arpagos that move in one direction, you'll also have some Dairas who will throw axes at you. You can deflect the axes with your sword.
The first house is the shop. Lamp oil is worth five Rupees, rope is worth ten and bombs are worth twenty. If you press the attack button on the glowing Triforce symbol to the left of the lamp oil (which you'll find in all of the areas), you'll go back to the map screen.
The second house is dark, but will come into play later on.
The third house is locked.
The fourth house contains a woman. To talk to NPC, go up to them and press the attack button. In the first of many strangely animated cutscenes involving NPCs, she'll give you a cloak tell you to bring some fairy dust so she can make it a magic cloak.
Kobitan
To go up the hills, simply jump up to them. To go down them, simply walk around and you'll eventually find out where the "platforms" end. Watch out for the Moblins and their spears.
The house on the right is locked, but the one on the left is not. Use the duck walk (hold down-left or down-right on the Control Pad) to duck under the spears thrown by the Moblin kneeling on the floor. Once you beat him, it'll be easy to get the Lantern.
There is a house above the two we've just explored. Go in there and use the Lantern by bringing up the inventory and using it. This is very strange to do, as you have to hold Down on the Control Pad and press another button in order to open it. Remember that you need Lamp Oil in order to use the Lantern.
When you use the Lantern, the darkened house will be fully lit. Take out the Vire while avoiding its projectiles, then use a rope and climb up and get the key. Go down and enter the locked house. The woman inside will tell you that she'd do anything for an Arpagos egg after the Moblins have stolen everything from her. From here, you can go up the stairs and return to the map screen.
I posted the OST in the blog series for NintendoCapriSun's playthrough of the game, and I can't think of anything else, so go ahead and listen to the cheesiest, most 1980s-sounding pro wrestling entrance theme I've heard in recent memory. It's better than nothing.
Apologies for the sound rising up in volume around 2:26. Don't know what was up with that. But that's it. That's all there is. Hope you enjoyed.
Remember the squid boss that we fought at the end of the second section? Well, now that Vile is alive, that's squid's not there. Instead, you'll have to make your way to the right, go through the door and fight Vile a second time.
Vile will now have the new Goliath Robot Ride armor, which you sadly cannot get in-game. Go all the way to the other side of the room immediately. This makes almost all of his attacks a moot point immediately. From there, wait for him to rush at you (you'll know he's going to do when you hear the sound of him dashing towards you) and hit him with a single normal shot from the X-Buster. Keep doing this over and over. You've done it. That's it.
He has a second form just like last time. Equip the Ray Splasher, then escape to the far side of the room. When he shows up, hit him with the Ray Splasher. From there, dash to the other side again and repeat. It's the same battle as last time! After this, it's the end of Vile...until Mega Man X8, anyway.
Almost forgot about the Z-Saber...it really does give you a 1-Up just about every time when you strike the power-up barrel in the center. It also works well against the bosses, too. Just shoot the Z-Saber projectile at them, and it cuts their health bar to ribbons. After two hits from the Z-Saber, they're all done.
Finally, we have another battle with both of Sigma's forms. This time around, I use the Z-Saber and the projectile from it ensure that Sigma is deader than dead on rounds one and two.
Since Zero is dead, Dr. Doppler takes his place at the end. Despite being damaged at X's hands, he shows up one more time to hit Sigma with the anti-Sigma program, sacrificing himself in an attempt to take Sigma with him. When you look at the damaged fortress from the cliff, Zero obviously won't be with you. Ditto for the enemy roll call.
And that's pretty much it for Mega Man X3! Enjoy the ending (again)!
Turns out, there are two outcomes to beating Bit, Byte and Vile depending on how you hit them on the final blow. Read on!
This time around, I fight Bit, Vile and Byte again, and do a better job at explaining how to fight Byte the second time around. The only difference? I don't kill Bit and Byte with their weaknesses, and as a result, they teleport out of the room instead of dying. But wait! There's more!
I also show off what happens when Zero dies. To switch to Zero, pause the game, press R and then press Start to contact Zero. He controls just like he does in the intro stage, but he only has one life, can only be used once per stage, can only be used during one-third of the stage you're on, cannot fight any mid-bosses or Mavericks (save for the mosquito boss in the first Doppler stage) and cannot use any special weapons you gain from any Mavericks or collect any weapon energy. If he dies, you can't use him again, and his death is saved in your password. So be careful!
If you did not kill Bit and Byte, you'll meet up with them again at the end of the first Doppler stage. They will combine into one big boss, and it actually looks pretty cool.
Equip the Ray Splasher, and dash underneath the sword beams to avoid them while staying away from the walls and aiming the Ray Splasher at its body. When he sends his arms out at you, jump over the first arm and stay on the ground, and you won't have to deal with the second. If you get caught, charge up the Ray Splasher with the arm cannon upgrade. You'll get two free hits on Bit and Byte's combined form. That's all you need to know here.
Also, now that Vile is not dead, the shaft that was filled with water in the second Doppler section will not. Use the Hawk armor (the second one) instead of the fourth armor. You'll have to use the Hawk armor to float from one platform to another and shoot down the red robots with the double ball-and-chain arms. At least the section is slightly easier this way, as the spiky turtles from Toxic Seahorse's level. Also, the pink robots that shoot at us at the beginning of the second stage are the regular green ones from Toxic Seahorse's stage and the mosquito boss does not show up because Vile isn't dead.
Let's go back to the first timeline in the Let's Play and try this again. This time around, we're facing the mosquito mini-boss as Zero. You can fight it normally, but a slash from the Z-Saber that you can use after shooting off both projectiles from a full charge will kill it in one hit. When you kill it with Zero, however, the mosquito mini-boss will drop down and land on Zero, nearly destroying him. X will teleport into the room, and Zero hands him his Z-Saber. You can now use the Z-Saber as X. Just equip the X-Buster, then fully charge up the X-Buster with the arm cannon upgrade. X will glow green instead of red at the end, and after two fully charged shots that works just like the red charge, X will not only swing the Z-Saber much like Zero, but he also shoots out a projectile forward that can also do a good amount of damage.
Here it is! The battle with Sigma...but we're not done yet!
When you reach the final chamber, Sigma will tell you how easy it was to corrupt Dr. Doppler, and how he would have gotten away with everything if it wasn't for X.
Sigma starts by throwing six fireballs. You can jump over the first and fourth fireballs, and dash under the third and sixth. When he leaps to the other side of the room, he'll stop in the middle of the room and shoot a few more. If you're near the other side of the room when he's jumping to the other side, he'll shoot them diagonally at the wall instead of straight down to the floor, leaving you with an opportunity to nail Sigma in the leg while you're behind him. You also don't want to dash under him too early, because he'll track your position and shoot those fireballs at you instead. These fireballs will split into two if they are fired downwards, and you'll have to jump over all of them. All the while, you'll have to aim specifically for Sigma's head. The regular X-Buster shots work best, since they're fast and have just enough room to maneuver over the shield he's holding, but if you can do it with a charged shot, that's great.
When Sigma is low on health, he'll start throwing his shield when he lands, just before he starts shooting fireballs again. Sometimes it will return to him, other times it will fly around the room in a figure-eight pattern before returning to him. When it's flying in a figure-eight pattern, you'll still have to deal with the six fireballs.
You can also use the Spinning Blade on Sigma while he's in the air for more damage.
When you beat him, he loses the shield and blows up. Not surprisingly, that was just his first form. The second form - also known as Kaiser Sigma - shows up afterward...and it's the Battle Body that Dr. Doppler made for him.
The Battle Body will fly from one location in the room to another. Stick to the left wall and stay there for the entire battle. The blue balls are actually smart bombs that home in on X's present location, and should be avoided or shot down at all times. Whenever Sigma lands, he shoots missiles that also home in on X's present location, and they're always fired in groups of three. Slide down the wall to avoid them Sigma will then fire a blue beam of light from his shoulder armament, and if you're caught in it, you will take damage.
The only way to damage Sigma at this point is with charged X-Buster shots to the head. (Why is it always the head...?) You don't need to fully charge it; even the weakest charge level will do.
When Sigma floats to the left side of the room, get to the right side. This makes it easier to avoid the missiles, and as long as you don't stay in one place, you can avoid them. When he gets to the right, get to the left and climb up the wall to avoid that huge laser. Don't go up too early, because he can still target you with it there.
Once you've beaten the Battle Body, Sigma will change into a giant 3D head much like in the last game and try to possess you. And by possess you, I mean fill the room with a rising pool of lava and force you to wall jump to the top.
Interestingly, the rising lava is not instant death. As a matter of fact, if you have the Armor Chip that turns your shield red, you'll only take one point of damage if you touch it, leaving you with the option of just riding it to the top if you have more than enough health (though I wouldn't exactly recommend it). If you don't, you're better off just using A and B at the same time to stay above the lava.
When you reach the top, X will run until he reaches a dead end. (X saying "Damn!" here is the first time I ever saw a cuss word in a video game.) Sigma will then try to possess X in order to obtain a new body to do whatever it is he plans to do next. In the nick of time, Zero busts through the ceiling and hits Sigma's floating head with his sword (assuming he's still alive), caging him in a force field with an anti-Sigma program he got from Dr. Doppler. Doppler's lab explodes, and Zero and X evacuate in time to watch it turn to rubble.
As X and Zero look at the destroyed base, X questions his destiny, and the game mentions that he may have to fight Zero? Just what does that all mean?
We then see the enemy roll call, and we get thanked by Capcom for playing.
It's time to continue on with more of Dr. Doppler's Lair! We're almost done!
Dr. Doppler Stage 2
The pink robots have two forms. When they explode at first, they just lose their face masks and turn into a pink variant of those jumping, shooting robots you met in Toxic Seahorse's stage. The first form is also deadlier, as it can shoot lasers more frequently and also shoot multiple grenades out of their backs. It should be noted that the
We will run into a Robot Ride platform shortly after the beginning. The chasm below will be filled with water if Vile is killed with the Ray Splasher; if he wasn't, it won't be. Since I killed Vile, there will be water, so it's time to get the underwater armor from the Robot Ride platform and take it with us, as it makes some early jumps easier.
There is a boss at the first set of doors, but you have to have done something particularly specific in order to trigger the battle. Otherwise, this room is empty. But if you managed to pull it off - which is killing Vile, like I had the feeling it would be, thanks, GameFAQs - it'll show up!
Believe it or not, you can switch to Zero for this match. To do that, just pause the game, press R, and you'll switch to Zero. (I mention this later on in the Let's Play.) Unlike the other mini-bosses and Mavericks, this is the only boss of sorts that Zero can fight without X showing up on the communicator and forcing you to switch.
It's pretty easy, and you can kill it in one hit with the Beam Saber if you fire the first two shots of the maximum charge level and slash the bug with the last part of the attack. When you destroy the bug, though, it lands on Zero regardless of where you're standing. X will show up wondering what's going on, and Zero will give the Beam Saber to X before he teleports away. Now when you charge up to maximum level, you'll get the two powered-up shots followed by the Z-Saber instead of the combination double shot, and the fully-charged X-Buster level will cause X to glow green instead of red. Unlike Zero, though, the saber will now fire a beam when swung. This beam is really powerful and can cut through even the tougher enemies.
If you don't fight him with X, nothing happens and you just continue on with the stage. You'll have to play as Zero to get the Beam Saber. Of course, if you get the Z-Saber, then Zero will be damaged to the point that you can't use him anymore, and it counts as a Zero death. The Z-Saber will also be saved into your password.
The snail robots on the walls will get you up the second section. Shoot off the shell, then leap on the exposed platform when the snail comes down. It's a long climb up, and you'll have to deal with flying enemies on the way up. Helpful hint for this part: don't leap onto the fourth snail. Wait for the fifth.
After the second set of doors, you'll face Vile...unless you beat him with the Ray Splasher on the final shot to kill him. Then you won't. You'll face a giant robot squid instead. Take it out with Triad Thunder. If you need to re-position the Triad Thunder into an upside-down triangle for whatever reason, you can press Y after using Triad Thunder to use another unit of energy to make it switch positions. Of course, you want the pointy end of the triangle position at the top so it shoots straight up at the giant squid. You don't even have to move, and the Triad Thunder will also take care of most, if not all, of the homing missiles. Easy boss when you know what to do!
Dr. Doppler Stage 3
When you go through the doors after dropping down, you'll see the teleportation capsules. It's Maverick Rush time again!
The two teleporters at the top are Blizzard Buffalo (left) and Toxic Seahorse (right). The six at the bottom (from left to right) are Blast Hornet, Volt Catfish, Gravity Beetle, Tunnel Rhino, Crush Crawfish and Neon Tiger. Same strategies apply.
When you defeat a boss, you'll teleport back to the platform between the two teleporters at the top. Shoot the cylinder for power-ups. If you alternate between sides, you'll get more power-ups. If you hit it with the Z-Saber as X, you can get a 1-up every time. (You'll learn how to get this later.)
When you beat the boss rush, you'll face Dr. Doppler. He tries to get you to join him (and fails), and basically tells you that Sigma is not only alive, but also the one watching over the utopia that he is trying to create. It's official, Sigma is alive and well.
Equip the Acid Burst, and shoot it at him every chance you get. He will shoot projectiles that are possible to avoid. When he creates a gold barrier around him, he will try to charge right into you, but you can use the wall jump and air dash to get over it. When he creates a green, crackling energy field around himself, DO NOT SHOOT HIM. YOU WILL HEAL HIM IF YOU DO. Wait for him to stop using that green energy field before attacking him again.
When you beat Dr. Doppler, he will be in pretty bad shape and will admit that you are probably strong enough to beat Sigma again. He'll tell you that Sigma's true form is that of a computer virus and that he was corrupted by him. While he was under his control, he created the Battle Body for Sigma. He tells you that he doesn't think Sigma has occuptied it yet, and asks you to destroy the Battle Body before it is too late.
Dr. Doppler Stage 4
This part is pretty short. If you need to, use the enemies here and get them to respawn over and over to get health for your sub-tanks.
When you reach the ladders and Zero is still alive, he'll tell you to go ahead while he destroys the power generator in the underground lab. He destroys a nearby wall with the Z-Saber before he runs off.
