I never saw what was beyond this level when I was a kid. Even my sister never made it past this. Let's face it...this level is insane!
Level 4: Exit Signs
Is there anything weird that those aliens won't collect?
Anyway, you have to collect (or shoot down) exit signs throughout the museum. There are museum sections inter-mixed with sections that take place in a jungle, a pyramid, the Stone Age and what looks like some sort of booby-trapped temple. The museum sections are the only places where you can find space mutants to jump on and collect letters from (ditto for signs), so keep your X-Ray Specs ready as much as you do your Dart Gun in this stage...you'll definitely need them both in this level!
Thankfully, you only need to get six signs. Good thing, too, since this level is long in the tooth and unnecessarily difficult at times.
Watch out for the red lasers. Their hit detection is really weird (you have to be in a specific spot to get hit by them) but they definitely can eat one of your hits if you're not careful.
The first picture frame contains a Dart Gun. Before you go to it, though, jump on the glass casing with the Krusty icon on it and jump on it a couple of times. You'll get the 1-Up out of the casing and ready to collect. Use the glass casing to get to the picture frames (watch out for the space mutant) and grab the Dart Gun. Use it to shoot down the exit sign. Aim carefully, since Dart Guns are limited.
Also, be on the lookout for coins in the picture frames (not that you'll need them, but if you need an extra life...go get 'em).
To avoid the groups of four lasers, super jump...and super jump carefully. You don't want to hit the lasers the way the game wants (doesn't want?) you to and either take a hit or lose a life.
The next glass casing has not one coin, but three. Keep jumping on the glass casing until you get them all.
It won't be long until you enter a jungle section. Avoid the spiders. This may be tougher than it sounds, but they only cover a specific range, so you won't have to worry about being chased around by multiple spiders. The dragonflies fly toward the top of the screen, so just stay out of their flight path and you should be fine. Stepping in the quicksand automatically kills you, so don't fall into it. Keep on the branches and you'll be fine; just be careful not to slide off during your super jumps.
To cross the rivers, jump on the crocodile heads. Watch out for the rocks that fall into the river. When the rock falls into end of the river, jump across immediately. Otherwise, you'll either get hit by a rock on the other side, or you'll be standing on the last crocodile when it dives back into the river, which you don't want.
Hit the monkey with three shots from the Dart Gun to send it into the quicksand. After this, you'll deal with some more spiders that move up and down. These guys act like the magic wands and barber poles from the mall level, so you should know what to do now.
You'll see an exit sign after this, but don't go for it just yet. You'll have to deal with a rock-spitting, man-eating plant. Thankfully, there is a trick to all this. Super jump over the plant so you end up behind it. (You will not take damage from being behind it, don't worry.) Jump back to the plant's head and jump on it three times. Easiest mini-boss ever.
When the plant is defeated, the stalk of vines it was on will be left behind. You can stand on top of it and use the Dart Gun to shoot down the sign you just saw. The sign after the plant takes a little more height to get, however. You'll have to get on the picture frame next to it and shoot it without getting hit by the space mutant.
There is a Jebediah Springfield head in the next glass casing. You can use it to get that aforementioned exit sign without reprisal, or you can use it to rush ahead through the level. (Don't forget to get the letters from the possessed humans, you just might need them...or not. It's up to you.)
After two sets of lasers, you'll see a picture frame with a Dart Gun in it as well as another glass casing with an extra life. Get the life, then grab the Dart Gun. The picture frame to the right of the glass casing you just jumped on gives you enough height to hit the next exit sign near it with the Dart Gun. Just be sure to avoid the mutant.
The next non-museum section is some sort of booby-trapped temple. To get past it, jump only on the red squares on the floor. Don't walk or jump on the ones that aren't lit, and only jump from one red square to the next to avoid taking an unnecessary hit. Thankfully, you can reach them all with the regular jump.
The next section is an Egyptian tomb. Jump on the bricks that jut out of the background, one by one. When you jump off one, the one you jumped off of sinks back into the background, so you'd better be good at jumping by this point in the game! There are mummified hands that leap out of the bottomless pit below that try to grab at you, and it's pretty easy to slide off the bricks and into the pit below. Be sure to position yourself on the center or slightly to the right of the center of said bricks, and don't try to guess where the next one will be...wait. When you reach the brick near the next gray wall, super jump to the right.
Jump over the snakes, and jump over the blades when they sink to the ground to give yourself more margin for error. You'll then see what looks like a mound of dirt on the ground and three statues in the background. When the spiders start falling, super jump to the heads of the statues. This will causes ankhs to fall out. Grab the ankhs, and grab six in all to raise the mound of dirt, which turns out to be a pillar, out of the ground. Weakly tap the A button to jump onto the top of the pillar. Avoid the rocks, and you're free to continue on.
Run under the mummified cats. You'll then meet another mini-boss: a mummy. Wait for it to shoot, then jump on its head. It'll die after three hits just like the last mini-boss. You'll seen another exit sign that you'll have to shoot with the dart gun, as well as another one immediately following it. Thankfully, if you've gotten all the ones you've seen thus far, one of these will be the last one you'll need to get.
You'll need some distance to get one of these, so run past the lasers to find another picture frame (with another Dart Gun) and a glass casing with a Jebediah Springfield head. If you can shoot one of the exit signs down without getting hit by the lasers, great. Using the Jebediah head is optional here, so if you can somehow manage to do that, you can use the Jebediah head to speed past a few more traps and enemies (and maybe get some letters in the process)!
You'll soon see another glass casing with yet another extra life, followed by another picture frame with a Dart Gun in it. If you need another exit sign, there's one immediately after that Dart Gun.
You'll then be in the Stone Age section. Avoid the rocks as you wait for a large rock to float on by at the river. When the rock is in range, jump on it and jump to the other side. Run to the dinosaur bones in the tar pit and jump on the first one to stop the falling rocks. These bones are really finicky to land on, so try to jump on these the same way you did the bricks that jutted out in that one section. Leap on the skulls that move back and forth when they show up to move further, and avoid the pterodactyls as well as the tar pit bubbles that float to the top of the screen.
When you reach the third moving skull, move back to the platform to the right of the second one to avoid being hit by the pterodactyl. When you reach the fourth and last skull, jump back to the platform before it to avoid another pterodactyl. You do want two hit points at all times...do you?
You'll then meet a giant dinosaur. You'll have to time your super jump so that when you jump on his head the first time, you'll land back on his head and not fall down. (The way you have to land on him takes some practice, and if you go all the way to the right while doing this, you're screwed.) You have to hit him dead center in the top of his head to do this right. Jump on him again, and watch where you land. Do it one more time, and if you can land on him again, great. The screen scrolls to the right after the third hit, so you have to time your momentum carefully to allow for the screen's shifting and somehow not die and have to start all over at this. Super jump over him if you don't need the exit sign after the dinosaur.
When you're in the last museum section, you'll find another exit sign. This one is the last, and to get it you'll have to jump from another picture frame and shoot it down.
The boss here is Marvin Monroe, and he shoots electrical shocks at the ground that conduct towards you. If you've spelled Homer's name, he'll be in the picture frame throwing water on the ground to keep you from being cornered by this guy. Hit Marvin's head three times and avoid the shocks to beat him.
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