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.
The first part is simple. Hit him once, and don't let him touch you. Hit him two more times, then get away from him when he attacks.
When he extends his hand, he shoots an orb that moves in a sine wave pattern. Backflip if you have to.
He'll also send in a pair of metal jaws that will sometimes close on you from behind. Once again, something a backflip can't solve if you keep an eye on the area around your character. But he'll only send it in if the sine wave orb is flying around. Thankfully, if you're facing the jaws when they show up, you can punch them out of existence.
Sometimes he'll jump into the air and throw some daggers. When they hit the ground, they'll catch fire, and you can't touch them until they disappear.
When he jumps into the air and puts his hands together to make what appears to be a bigger orb, keep an eye on the ground and jump at the right moment...he'll send a shock wave across the entire stage which can be avoided with a regular jump or a backflip. He'll start sending these out with frightening regularity when his life bar is at 50%.
When you defeat him, Ivan Ooze will be no more! But it's not over yet, because his defeat triggers a self-destruct sequence in his lair! You'll have to climb spike-laden vertical chasms, avoid traps in Ooze's decor, break walls and ride platforms as you fight your way out, and you'll eventually reach a dead end. Fight off the Putties, and at the last minute the hand of the Ninja Megazord will crash out from behind the wall. Run towards it and you'll be out of there shortly before Ivan Ooze's lair self-destructs!
Once again, the world is safe, and Rocky and Tommy are done just in time to take part in a martial arts sparring contest. Not surprisingly, Bulk and Skull act like the lunkheads they usually are and get punched out themselves!
Crushers, anti-gravity traps and booster rockets, oh my!
When you see the hard slam of the top gear hitting the bottom one, there's only one guess as to what that means: traps have been activated. Keep an eye on the background as you progress through this first section.
The crushers at the beginning have a predictable pattern, and as long as you're not under them when they come down you'll be fine. You can pass through them after they've hit the ground and are coming back up, which helps. If you see that the red squares at the top of the screen with the word "ON" are lit up, that means the gears are turning and the traps are activated.
The next traps you'll see are anti-gravity wells of some sort with rotating blades at the ceiling. If the arrows on the well walls are lit up, the red squares are lit, the blades are moving and you can hear a whir, keep your ground and don't pass through them unless you want to get sliced like a canary in a blender. (I apologize for that, but that's the only picture I can think of when it comes to those things. Also, they don't kill the Putties. Go figure.)
The next section has Putties popping out of the walls again. There are also spiked shells that conduct electricity, conveyor belts, fire pits and cranes picking up both boxes and...for comedic effect...Putties! Oh, you silly clay warriors, you! Thankfully, this part is easy to breeze by when you know the layout as well as when to 3D Jump. There is a machine at the end of this part, but if you're at the background and you let the crane pick up the Putty and the box and keep punching it over and over again, you'll make quick work of it without it attacking you.
The next section has you going from the top all the way down to the bottom destroying spheres that create barriers you have to short out before you can destroy the spheres and...booster rockets?!? Ooze has thought of everything!
There are also robots hopping on the ceilings that make their own miniature clones, and walls you have to punch a few times to destroy them (only to see regenerate after you pass through).
The boss here is Main Frame. If I remember correctly, I don't think he was in the series. It has three orbs: one red, one blue and one green. The red one shoots fire, the blue one follows you at rocket speed and shoot lightning from above, and the green one shoots regular laser shots. When the brain shakes, the orbs will home in on you. Use the time for the orbs to come back to rip the boss a new one!
Be sure to backflip to avoid the red and blue orbs' attacks. Be sure to keep an eye on the brain to see what color the text is - you'll know which type of attack is coming your way. When Main Frame's life bar starts going down, the glass casing will start to give away. Once you break the glass and deplete this machine's life bar, it's on to Ivan Ooze.
Seriously, that's what this video is full of. Allow me to explain.
You start out in the city in early evening, where fences line the place to keep you from 3D jumping at times and forcing you to go through stuff you don't want (such as Putties throwing bombs from windows) if you don't know the layout. Even worse, some of the fences are lined with indestructible robots that shoot out an electric pulse around it that damages you if you're too close. There are also cement poles that force you to 3D jump at certain points of the stage as well.
There are laser gun panels in the floor, and a bunch of robots that can attack from the background to the foreground and vice versa. Ivan Ooze definitely isn't playing around this time, but there's something to be said when the Power Rangers are destroying them all with their bare hands.
You'll soon see tank treads on the ground, which means you'll have to fight...a tank.
This is where the "derp" begins. Seriously, you're probably not even morphed when you reach this point, and you're fighting a tank with your bare fists? Now that's hardcore! I can only imagine what Bandai was thinking and/or smoking when they came up with this idea:
"Yeah, we're gonna base the Genesis games completely on the show, but we're gonna take the Super Nintendo games and base them in an alternate universe where the Rangers have cajones the size of grapefruit! It'll be the greatest TV-to-game transitions ever! We know it!"
I've also noticed that the front of the tank has "UN" on it...what, are they stealing from the United Nations now? Geez, Ivan Ooze must be pretty brave, but given what he did in the movie, I wouldn't put it past him! But I'm getting off track here...
Anyway, the tank can shoot lasers at you and even run you over. As long as you keep your distance and run away when it pauses briefly (signified by the dirt being at the back of the tires as it revs up for about a second) before it tries to total you like a used car, you'll be okay.
After this, you'll find a full health power-up before you take on a ninja. Finally, on the fifth stage, we see a Ninja? It's bad enough we don't get the Ninjetti/Ninja Ranger forms in this game, but now we get a ninja and we have to fight it off? Wow, misleading title sure is misleading.
He's basically hit and run from here - you punch him, he does ninja vanish, he reappears, you hit him again, repeat until he explodes. If you take too long, he'll try to attack you with shurikens. He's pretty easy, though. After that, it's two more robots before you enter a building.
This is where the difficulty ramps up. If some of the panels on the floor are lit up and you're standing on one of those panels, you take damage. They alternate with a pretty simple pattern that doesn't take long to get used to, though. There are Frankenstein-like monsters in lab coats that tap two wires together to create a electric spark the same size as they are for an attack. Move back, then hit. Putties will still pop out of holes in the wall, so there's plenty of enemies to deal with in the second half of this stage. Your 3D jump will be more important than ever as you dodge enemies and lit-up panels.
You'll find a wall is a turret moving alongside it. You'll have to dodge the flashing, lit-up panels as you strike this thing down and tear the wall apart. After that is a vertical chasm with wall-mounted lasers that start shooting as soon as they appear on the screen. As long as you don't rush through this, you won't get hit too many times and you'll do just fine. After that, it's conveyor belt action time again with more robots shooting lasers at you, more Putties...and now ceiling mounted laser beams and crushers! Now we're having an Admiral Ackbar moment!
Anyway, you punch out another wall only to find the same crushers on the floor! And after you destroy the next three walls...there's a 1-Up followed by another vertical chasm with laser cannons and robots hanging off of chains trying to shoot you. Ivan Ooze obviously doesn't want you to get very far in this facility, doesn't he?
You'll have to jump on platforms to get out of some of these death zones, and there are now laser cannons raining death on top of you! After all this, you finally make your way outside.
Well, there are robots everywhere in the third part of this stage. As you climb to the top of what looks like an unfinished building, there are robots lining platforms, robots in the air, robots on the foundation...robots now outnumber putties. Wonderful. Thankfully, there are health power-ups and morphing power bolts littered throughout the stage in containers you have to break. Be sure to take advantage of what's around so you can survive.
When you're almost at the top, there's another ninja who basically fights the same way as before, except he tries to run towards you if you're too far away before he throws the shuriken. When you kill him, a platform appears. Get on top of it, then kill the two Putties and the robot before you make your way to the top and face Silver Horns. For some reason, his name is "Silver Horn" in the game. Oh, well...
Anyway, he runs towards you in an attempt to hit you, with electricity coming out of his horns. He'll also shoot a spiral of ball lightning projectiles at you, which can be dodged perfectly with a backflip. Be sure to backflip towards him if he corners you, so you can move straight through him without taking damage.
When his health bar is blue and it's about to start going down, he'll send out two red spheres to hover above him. He'll run towards you in an attempt to activate them and cause lasers to rain down from above with these orbs, so use your backflip to get away from him. When you hit him enough times, lightning will emanate from his horns. He'll use that to either attack you through the red orbs or shoot the spiral of ball lightning again. Backflip, backflip, backflip!
When he's finally down, he'll step forward once before he explodes. Don't stop just yet, Power Rangers! You're so close to Ivan Ooze you can smell him!
Guess what? The commentary vocals aren't awful this time!
You start out punching giant explosive gas canisters as robots run everywhere. Robots crawling along the ground, robots hopping and shooting into the air, robots flying in the air and shooting lasers downward at you...there's as many robots on this train as there are putties.
Thankfully, if they're standing next to one of the explosive canisters, you can punch them a couple of times to make them explode...and take the enemies with them! Genius!
At the end of the train, you fight this giant machine that shoots lasers across the screen and lets a flamethrower loose on you as well. Be prepared for a fight and do as much dodging as punching. Also, if you can't tell: Yes, you are indeed invincible when you're doing a backflip. Just double tap B like in the original MMPR game for Super Nintendo, and you'll pull one off. As soon as you're out of the animation, though, you're vulnerable. Use it against the two-way charge laser, and stay away from smoke when you see it as it usually means fire. Not sure what "SNCB" means, though...
Once you destroy that, it's off the train as you fight off more Putties...including a brown variety that takes two hits that you haven't seen before and a Putty Patroller that slashes at you with a sword. After that, it's on to the abandoned tracks.
You thought you'd get reprieve at the beginning of the second part? Wrong! The putties are resorting to Plan B! They've got swords, grenades and even mine carts to hide in and take cheap shots at you with rifles...if they don't push them at you first! Don't make any foolish jumps, and watch out for the flames and robots that line the tracks! But if you watch this video...you'll know where to go!
At the end you face Magnet Brain. He'll use his magnetic powers to make tornadoes spin across the ground...and push you back! Thankfully, the tornadoes are easy to avoid, and you can do a 3D jump to get away from push-back. He'll also try to hit you with his staff if you're close enough.
When you land the final blow, make sure he's not off-screen, or his death animation (where he takes a few steps before falling off the screen) won't trigger. You'll be stuck at the Stage 4 boss indefinitely, and you'll have to lose all your lives or reset the game if that happens. Just thought you'd like to know.
Why are there so many snowmen every few feet away from each other at the beginning. Are the hills we're about to see too hazardous for the kids to make snowmen on?
Once you knock down some Putties at the beginning, you take a snowboard ride down a hill, dodging rocks and fences while jumping over pits, trying not to run into Putties who are trying to run into you from behind on snowboards and snowmobiles that they probably stole from some unsuspecting Earthlings. How they get those things, I'll probably never know. Don't let the cave ceiling smack you in the head on the way down! Duck!
Once you hit the bottom, your board lands you straight into a raging river. You're dodging logs underneath your feet and boulders falling from the rock walls, all the while fish that come out of the water, grabbing power-ups, and trying not to be hit by any more Putties.
Now, I'm not much of a genius when it comes to flora, fauna and the like, but if I were going to hit fish with my bare hands, I wouldn't expect them to spontaneously explode upon impact with my fists.
After all that, you meet Skelerena. Her fire breath, dashing shoulder block and claw attacks are pretty nasty, and she has the nasty habit of leaping up into the air, board and all, and coming back down on top of you at a high speed. She also has a nasty habit of teleporting, which is only made predictable by the platform of hers that moves instantly where she does but never disappears (for some inexplicable reason). You'll be doing a lot of hitting and running on him before you're done...if you aren't able to get a bomb, that is!
That "tssh" sound at the beginning is me syncing the audio and the video. You're welcome.
Geez, Bandai loved to take liberties all the time. This is one of my personal favorites amongst those, though.
You're on a jetski for some unexplainable reason (there's not much of a storyline here, folks, believe me) when it crashes into rocks. Luckily, your jump onto the aircraft carrier once the burning jetski launches you up.
You now fight Putties as you make your way inside, being blown away by low-flying fighter jets along the way. It looks like Lord Zedd's Putties are turning to desperation tactics early...some of them are crawling towards me just to get in the way and be complete jerks. The yellow putties are new here. If they're walking, they take two punches. If they're crawling, they take four crouching kicks to take down. The cream-colored Putties that look gold-ish are like the green Putties in the original Super Nintendo game. If you get close enough, they leap back then jump forward and kick at you.
Once you make your way inside, there's spikes on the floor, Putties shooting guns, platforms you can hang on top of when you're in Ranger Mode (hold Up as you jump to them to grab on), spiders that poop red blobs of something and robots moving on airborne conveyor belts and flying around in the air that shoot and drop bombs at you and pits that send you into the send you into the deep blue sea if you accidentally fall into them.
Some Putties will fire mortars at you in the background. If you hold Up and press Y, you can perform an uppercut, and if you uppercut one of the mortar bombs, you can knock it back at them and destroy one of them if you're lucky.
You then face Cannon Top, who is on a platform above some spikes. You either have to stand on a platform on a conveyor belt or hang on a hook at the top of the room in order to hit him, all the while trying to avoid his projectiles and not get killed. Once again, you can power up your bomb, which helps even more when you're finally able to power it up. Once you've gotten in as many weapon strikes on him as you can, unleash the bomb at the last second and he becomes a lot easier. Boom! Time for Stage 3!
Oh, hey, I'm playing this game again. It's an interesting one, that's for sure. Younger me would have loved it.
Unlike the original MMPR game, this one controls more like Monster in My Pocket. You just have the standing attack, the jumping attack, and the crouching attack, but you can't double jump. You can morph at anytime when you fill your power bar up completely, and when not in Ranger Mode, it gives you more power for your special attack, which you can use by pressing X before you've morphed.
If you press it while morphed and the bar is full and/or flashing, you get the full-screen bomb attack from the original SNES game. You can also jump from the foreground to the background in certain parts of the game, like in the early Fatal Fury games.
There are also food power-ups that replenish the five health units you have (morphing also does this), as well as small lightning bolts (that give you a little bit of energy on your Power Meter) and big lightning bolts (that give you a good amount.)
The stage starts out in downtown Angel Grove. If I saw a Putty driving a car or riding a motorcycle, I'd either think of A) hijacking it, or B) I have problems.
Speaking of the Putties, they make up the majority of the enemies you will face in the game. The gray putties take one hit to kill, but the purples ones take two.
We then enter a shopping center where these robots drop bombs at you from mid-air. The place then catches on fire thanks to these elephant-head looking robots that you destroy, and you have to dodge debris and fire while trying not to fall into holes. You then reach the top of a building and fight Putties while waiting for a blimp, which you jump onto.
I didn't know this until recording this the second time, but the red signs with words like "FOOD," "TOYS," and "BANDAI" can be grabbed onto by holding Up on the Control Pad when you jump up to them. From there, you can press Y to kick at enemies and press B to jump back off. You can also press Left and Right on the Control Pad to switch the direction you're facing.
Once there, you fight Mirror Maniac from the second season of Power Rangers (the same source where almost all the other bosses come from), who creates fake copies of himself (signified with the grayer, dimmer mirror of the two) and rolls into a ball in an attempt to hit you (which you'll want to jump over). He also has a mirror beam that can easily be ducked under.
He's pretty easy as long as you keep a sharp eye on him when he does the mirror trick. Thankfully, canisters containing the big thunder bolts that give you a bigger amount of energy drop down during the boss fights, giving you energy to power up the bomb as well as your physical attacks for a short time.
Once he's gone, you get more points depending on how much health and power you have left, as well as how quickly you got through the stage, and you head to the next round.
How can Barney breathe underwater? How can these kids breathe underwater?!?
The third level takes place under the sea, which gives us the opportunity to play with sea creatures and...hug an octopus. It's bad enough you hugged the bear, Barney. I'm pretty sure that octopus would choke all the somehow-existent breath out of you.
You can also ride on sea turtles to zoom from one part of the stage to the other.
The fourth level is on the farm. If you ever want to interact with farm animals in a children's game, this is it.
This is the last level. After this, you get the ending.
I still can't believe this was made into a game, but you have to love how much they've packed in here as far as voice samples are concerned.
The game is very, very simple and rudimentary. You play as Barney the Dinosaur, and you have to look for all your friends and all the objects. There are five of each, and even if you make it to the end without everything, you don't get penalized for it. This is a children's game, after all.
You have buttons for jumping, playing and interacting with objects. Sure, you can find friends and toys with them, but you can also interact with objects using Barney's imagination power, such as causing a bird's egg to hatch or feeding a bunny a carrot.
This game also has a lot of digitized speech for a Genesis/Mega Drive game. According to Wikipedia, there are over 100 words and 200 phrases recorded by Bob West, who also voiced Barney on the television show. This is almost unheard of from 1993, when the game came out, as most voice acting from that time were starting to be used in adventure games on DOS such as King's Quest V...but this was rather ambitious for the Genesis/Mega Drive, which had been around in Japan since 1988 and came out in America the following year.
If you find a present, open it. These presents will contain the five objects. As for the kids, they're half-visible behind certain things, making this the easiest game of Hide and Seek in the world. They will all also be in random locations. It all depends on which direction you go all the way in first.
In every world, there is a big present. You don't have to find it, but if you do, you'll get a pretty nice surprise, like fireworks or seahorses.
You cannot kill yourself, regardless of how hard you try to do so. If you try to fall off the edge of a cliff, Barney refuses to let you do that unless there's a platform nearby, like a cloud or a log.
Also, this game is sentient. If you leave it running, the game actually takes you to one of your objectives by automatically taking control of Barney. I kid you not.
The first two levels are the forest and Music Town. The forest has a lot of plants and animals that you can interact with, and you can even hug a bear at the end. There's even a log ride to the left of the start. Music Town contains a lot of musical instruments, so you get to hear the YM2814 sound chip at very simple work.
The game ends with the sun setting and everyone in the world takes the time to admire it. A light ray shot into the sky, but nobody notices. (This is implied to be Blazer.) We then see Lisa one more time, standing all by herself, admiring the sunset. The credits then roll.
After the credits, a year passes. The Master realizes that Blazer still has feelings for Lisa, and sends him down to Earth to live as a human being, and loses all memory as soon as he touches down. Lisa shows him around the village in an attempt to make new memories with him, and the game ends.
In this entry, we beat Deathtoll and finally see the ending.
To beat Deathtoll's second form, destroy the blue fire jets that come out of the ground, and attack Deathtoll's head with the Magic of Phoenix will avoiding the fireballs Deathtoll spits out of his mouth. You need not hit the gem in the center of his head when it opens up; anywhere on the head will do. Be sure to also watch out for the lasers that come out of the diamonds in the staves that he holds up, too. Thankfully, those lasers only travel at 45 degree angles. And of course, come here with a Medical Herb.
Once you beat Deathtoll, that's it. The World of Evil is sealed, as it is a dark world that exists in the back of creatures' minds, and as long as inventions exists, it will be continuously opened up until it is sealed up. The voice that tells you to find reasons for all feelings, connections and existences to be wise like the Master. The World of Evil then disappears, and you'll be back at the shrine.
The Master will thank you, and asks you to go through the world and meet all its creatures.
King Magridd thanks you. He tells you that in the human world, if a person kills one man he is murdered, but if he kills 1000, he is a hero. He became a king by this theory, but he felt lonely, and even if he had people around him he felt alone. Now he realizes no man can live by himself. He will spend all the money he received from Deathtoll to construct and build a great town to compensate the people he defeated, but also a town where people won't have anything to fear and can believe in themselves. There will also be statues of you and Dr. Leo on the center of town to tell every generation about your great accomplishments.
The doll tells you that Dr. Leo can pass away peacefully. Tools exists to be used by human beings, and they are happy if they are helpful to humans, and hurt if they are used in the wrong way. They would like to tell human to use them responsibly, but they cannot. Dr. Leo understood their feelings, and they hope they made Dr. Leo happy.
The king of the gnomes at the Home of Mountain Souls is glad you are back. He misses Dr. Leo very much, and says the value of life depends on the number of days spent with fulfillment. He feels that Dr. Leo's life was more fulfilled than many others.
The queen of the mermaids will thanks you for bringing peaces back to St. Elle's. She feels sorry for Lisa, who she says must feel lonely due to Dr. Leo's passing. Lue the Dolphin has returned to his hometown along with his friends, and he is also going to be married to a female dolphin named Lala.
Turbo's grave in GreenWood is still there, Blazer tries to imagine Turbo, who says that good rest comes after an honest life just like good sleep comes after hard work. Turbo says he will rest peacefully along with Dr. Leo.
Lisa is still in the highlands village, sleeping. Blazer uses the Dream Rod to talk to her. In her dream, she tells you that she will stop feeling lonely eventually, and that she knows the key to happiness lies in patience, not in haste. She asks Blazer not to stay with her, but to return someday. And of course, when it comes to promising you'll come back...but thou must. Blazer is gone by the time she wakes up.
Since there isn't much to mention here (aside from using Light Magic or Magic Flair to take care of enemies stuck between pillars), I should mention that I love the space theme going on with the floor. Same with the fire walls.
Believe it or not, there are flying wall panels blocking your path. These are indestructible and can run you down, but the frames of animation on these things are very good for 1992. Keep on keepin' on, tumbling walls. Keep on keepin' on.
The Soul Armor is the strongest armor in the game, and it will enable you to walk in space.
The parts with the black floors are outer space. If you do not have the Soul Armor equipped at this point, you will take damage. You will see warped looking faces fading in and out in the floor as you are in these areas.
The Soul Blade is the final weapon in the game. With these, you can finally destroy those tumbling wall panels...and do it in one hit. Awesome.
When you trigger the teleportation tile in the third section, take it and step on the left panel in the shrine. This will take you to a chest you could not reach earlier that contains the Red-Hot Ball, the final item you need to summon the Phoenix.
Head back to the mountains. There's one thing left to do.
Go talk to the King. Since you have all three Red-Hot Items, he will summon the Phoenix. You will receive the Magic of Phoenix. You will then get a message from the Phoenix, who lives on the Mountain of Souls and will help you revive the world and protect the peace.
As soon as the Phoenix is called, Deathtoll's shrine will show up in space. Head back there with the Soul Blade and Soul Armor equipped, and the Phoenix will be able to help you. Be sure to equip the Magic of Phoenix, too. This is it.
Back to the World of Evil
The Magic of Phoenix is a simple firebird-shaped projectile that shoots forth whenever you swing the Soul Blade and have the magic equipped. It costs 2 gems per projectile, but you should have the Magic Bell at this point to negate that and effectively break the game.
In Deathtoll Shrine, it's just a trip to the north. You will see a cloaked figure that talks about the poor creature that repeats transmigration of the soul and cannot die before putting you in a deep sleep. This figure will then try to shoot projectiles at you.
Believe it or not, this boss is really easy. Just stand in the upper-left corner, face right and keep attacking with the Magic of Phoenix.
The boss here then talks about people believing that being constantly reincarnated means everlasting suffering, and that being alive is suffering for some creatures. It then changes into its second, real form: Deathtoll.
This is it. We face another boss, meet King Magridd, find out what's going on and take the final stone necessary for the World of Evil.
The Airship
If you talk to Lisa, she just keeps crying.
Get on the airship, equip the mobile key and plug it in at the steering wheel. Time for a boss fight.
Equip the Power Bracelet, then get to the bottom of the airship and avoid the fire. A flying creature will eventually show up. When it gets near, slash at with the sword. Your best bet is to stay at the bottom at the sides of the airship and avoid the fire, then slash at the boss when it flies on-screen.
This boss has a lot of HP, so be ready for a fight. When you get close to the end of the battle, hold out your sword with the shoulder buttons to hold the sword out and drain its HP.
When you beat this dragon-like boss, you will release King Magridd. He says he knew what was happening, and that there was nothing he could do to keep the Queen from passing away.
Go back to the steering wheel and you'll head back to Magridd Castle. Talk to Lisa, and she will thank you for staying with her after Dr. Leo passed away. She then tells you that she has seen you fighting monsters in her dreams, and has a few questions for you. When she asks if you are a real human being like her, it will not matter what you answer. She will then try to say she loves you and to say goodbye, but she knows she will cry and asks you to leave while her back is turned.
Head to the right and then take the teleporter title back to town.
King Magridd, when you talk to him, says he has failed as a king, as he ordered people to be loyal to him and killed anyone who wasn't. He considers himself a coward for summoning Deathtoll to impress Queen Magridd, only for the Queen to be captured by her own desire and pass away. He apologizes to Dr. Leo, and gives you the black stone, saying this is all he can do for him.
Back at the Queen's house, go to where she was standing and interact with that spot to get the Super Bracelet, which increases your offense and your defense.
Before we go to the World of Evil at the very top of the map, it's time for some backtracking. To GreenWood we go!
When you enter the shrine, the six stones will shine and enter the nearby aurora. You will be told that you will still need the three symbols to summon the Phoenix for help.
In The World of Evil, there are a few enemies that you can destroy, such as flies that fly around and demons that can shoot energy beams at you. The statues that shoot fireballs at you cannot be destroyed.
There are no souls to free here, only areas to open up as well as a teleportation title to open up.
You can find gems here, but you should have the Magic Bell at this point.
Despite looking like they are made out of fire, the walls cannot hurt you if you touch them.
The right tower has the same enemies as the left tower.
On the first floor, you'll release the soul of another soldier, another maid (and a building) in the southeast corner of the castle grounds, and a soldier that comes with the entire castle.
The second floor brings back the Mimics. Yes, there are Mimics in this game. At least the real chests give you gems.
On the second floor, you'll release another soldier (with yet another house).
The third floor is more of the same that you've come to expect from the towers at this point.
On the third floor, you'll release another soldier near the moat. You'll also find 100 gems, a Medical Herb and two Mimics.
The fourth floor is a set of narrow corridors. At the end, you'll find a teleporter pad that takes you back to the shrine. Might as well talk to the villagers here.
You can find the Master's Emblem H to the right of the castle entrance, now that you have released it. You now have all the emblems!
The maid in the restaurant will give you a Medical Herb if you need one.
One of the soldiers you just released will tell you how to find Master's Emblem H if you haven't already. Another recently released soldier will tell you he just lost the key to the airship and cannot find it.
The soldier guarding the castle will say that if King Magridd does not come back, he will be crowned the next king. Sure you will...
Back to the Right Tower
West of the teleporter tile is the airship. Talk to Dr. Leo. He will tell you that the tones you collected are keys to opening up The World of Evil, and the origins of power for machines that beckon evil. He will tell you that King Magridd holds the last stone, and that we have to free him to get it. We must go to the World of Evil and defeat Deathtoll.
Before the airship can start, one of the nearby soldiers is killed. Queen Magridd shows up with her own personal guard and kills the other one for calling her out on destroying the world. Dr. Leo calls out Queen Magridd for her actions, says she took everything from him, and that she is dirties than evil...meaning that the King didn't do it after all. It was the Queen.
Lisa is brought out by one of the soldiers, and Queen Magridd tells Dr. Leo he still has to work for her. Dr. Leo asks for Lisa to be released, as he cannot bear to see her get hurt and because she has nothing to do with what is going on. Lisa is released, and Dr. Leo whispers to the hero to stay behind him. He then gives you the airship key, and goes willingly and quietly...almost. He sacrifices himself to kill Queen Magridd.
Dr. Leo tells the hero that he feels he was born in the wrong generation, as scientists are supposed to invent machines in order to make people happy. However, an unexpected scientist may ruin the culture. Some people thinks happiness comes quickly, but he believes happiness comes with patience. He apologizes to Lisa, and tells her he is simply going to sleep. When a scientist with his knowledge is needed, he will be back. He whispers to Lisa to not go too fast when it comes to making herself happy.
The knights (the chess pieces) shoot out spikes. Strangely, they move around in a way similar to their respective horse head-shaped chess piece known everywhere.
The purple soldiers will swing their swords at you. The red soldiers can throw boomerangs.
On the first floor, you'll be able to release a soldier (and another building, from which they will call you and tell you that they know everything about the castle) Go talk to this soldier before you go further into the left tower, and the soldier will tell you he is from the sky, like you. He knows about all of the invisible passages in Magridd Castle. You will get the Soul of Reality, which allows you to see them.
Before continuing any further, head to the third level of the dungeons. You'll be able to find Emblem B in a hidden chest.
On the second floor, near the entrance to the third floor, you'll be able to find a chest containing 100 gems. North of that is a hidden passage leading to one more monster lair. This releases a gem that tells you about the Zantetsu and Spirit Swords and where they are located.
You will be able to use the Recovery Sword at Level 22. This sword allows you to restore health as you defeat enemies At Level 22, your health bar changes to a light blue. This means you have more than 50 HP. You will get a new color for every 10 HP you reach on your maximum HP.
Back to the Left Tower
On the second floor, you'll need the Soul of Reality to get to the monster lairs.
Here, you'll be able to release the Queen and the building she is in. If you come back and talk to her, she will give you a gift. You'll also release a maid in the theater.
On the third floor is the prison. The robots can be easily destroyed. Here, you'll release a soldier in the dormitory, Dr. Leo on the airship (who also asks you to release the two soldiers who promised to come with him), a gem, one of the soldiers that promised to come with Dr. Leo, and another soldier guarding the right tower, which conveniently comes with him. Finally, we've freed Dr. Leo! At last!
Be sure to destroy all the enemies near the bridge before touching the monster lair that gets rid of it.
Back to the Castle
When you talk to the guard at the right tower, he will tell you that the tower is connected to the airship's dock at the top floor. To get up there, however, you will need a VIP card. To get it, talk to the queen. When she asks if you think she is pretty, say yes. She will give you the VIP card.
The soldier at the dormitory will tell you the maid was just removing dirt from her eye. The maid will say the same thing.
The maid at the theater just talks about how she finds music weird.
Head back to the Light Shrine. Now that you have the Spirit Sword, you can kill off the circle-shaped spirits that bounce around the walls in the dark areas. Be sure to equip the Light Armor, as it keeps those enemies from damaging you. Thanks to the Spirit Sword, you should be able to destroy these things in just a few hits.
By killing these things, you should be able to release the soul of another bird in GreenWood in the dark basement. If you try to talk to it, it will fly away. Approach it from behind instead. You'll get the Red-Hot Mirror, which you'll need to release the Phoenix.
Killing all those spirits with the Spirit Sword in the maze area will award you with the Flame Pillar, yet another spell you can cast. This spell makes four pillars of fire rise around you, and can do quite a bit of damage.
That's all for GreenWood. Time to head back to Magridd Castle and go to the third floor of the Magridd Dungeon.
The third basement floor introduces spears that jut in and out of the walls. Keep away from them as you take on the enemies.
Here, you'll be able to release the soul of a maid (and another building along with her), a teleporter tile that takes you back to the shrine, another soldier near where the singer is, another singer in the southeast corner of the Magridd Castle overworld, another soldier who will tell you that Dr. Leo is in the prison of the left tower, yet another soldier that comes with a tower on the west side as well as a bridge.
Head back to the tower to the west that you just released. This leads to the prison that you were just told about, and if you do not bear a Platinum Card, you are not allowed entry.
The soldier in the theater you just released in the opera house, you'll find the Platinum Card, but you cannot get it. Talk to the singer in the opera house to get him to sing, then that soldier will move. Interact with the spot where the soldier was standing, and you will get the Platinum Card.
The maid that you just released is in the soldiers' dormitory, which you have just released along with her. She is taking care of them.
The singer in the southeast corner of the Magridd Castle ground will tell you a friend who defied King Magridd and tried to save Dr. Leo. That friend was taken to the torture room in the first basement of the castle, and never came back. He then tells you of a harp string received from this friend, which allows for the playing of great music.
The piles of bones are skeletons who will come to life when you get close. Keep swinging as soon as they get up. (The piles of bones would later be used in Illusion of Gaia.)
The snakes will lunge back and forth, but you should be able to take care of them easily. The snakes are not part of monsters and will re-spawn.
You'll be releasing the soul of a soldier near the entrance in the overworld who will you that there are many ghosts in the torture room. He'll ask you to first look for the Spirit Sword. Thankfully, it's just to the east of where you released him from. Hope you're Level 19. Equip it, and you'll be able to take out the ghosts that fly around. Sometimes they will disappear when you try to hit them. If they do, they'll reappear nearby.
There are some stones with scary faces that will shoot fireballs at you.
Interact with the skeleton near the Spirit Sword to find a harp string.
You'll also release the soul of another soldier on the roads of the Magridd Castle grounds.
Taking the stairs in the southeast corner of the dungeon leads you further into the dungeon. The glowing balls can easily be destroyed with Light Arrow.
When you enter, there will be a monster lair that releases a soldier. However, the game will tell you that the solider cannot be recalled. You will have to release a certain building first in order to get that soldier back, and until then, the soldier is in the form of a spirit. There is one you can release from the lair to the left, however. To the south of that is the soul of a singer, which also releases a theater, which in turn will allow you to release the soldier. This singer will tell you that they cannot play harp without harp strings.
You'll also release two soldiers near the moat as you are in the basement. One of them will tell you there are many thorns in the basement, and if you free the soldier right in front of where he was captured, you will be able to get the Elemental Mail.
You'll also be able to release a soldier lying on the ground, as well as another soldier who comes with a well-paved road.
On the lower-left corner of the second level is the third level. But we have other things to do.
Back to the Castle Grounds
One of the soldiers will tell you that his uncle is the architect Gaudi. He knows a few things about architecture and will show you something later.
The soldier lying on the ground is sleeping. Use the Dream Rod on him to go to the Dream World. Here, you'll see a conversation between Dr. Leo and a soldier, where Dr. Leo says he has been haunted by a monster called "research" that kept him from paying attention to his wife and daughter. He was able to invent things, only to invent something that was evil and summoned Deathtoll. It was then that he realized that tools are built to make peoples' lives easier. However, when tools start to use people, their culture declines and they become unhappy. When he heads to the World of Evil, Deathtoll will be called, and he does not want to believe that this beautiful world will be destroyed.
Dr. Leo asks to be let off the airship somewhere. The soldier admits that Dr. Leo may be right, but he has to carry out his orders and make sure he is taken to the castle and not allowed to escape. He must think of only the present, not tomorrow, and he must do his job or be punished. He asks Dr. Leo to understand this.
When the soldier wakes up, he says that he has had the same dream as Dr. Leo. If he had releaed Dr. Leo, the world would not be in the shape that it is in right now. He does not know who to obey anymore. He then tells you about the thorns in the basement and gives you the Elemental Mail. Be sure to equip it.
The soldier in the theater will tell you that one of the soldiers betrayed the King and is trying to escape with Dr. Leo. Since you have the harp string, talk to the singer with it equipped and he will tell you about a girl who took care of him in the Grass Valley Highlands: Lisa. He never told her his true feelings for her, however. You then get some music.
The two soldiers near the moat are more or less forced to say King Magridd is the greatest man in the world, or else they will be punished.
The plant in the bedroom will tell you it is an Actinidia, and allows you to take some of its leaves. You'll receive some Actinidia leaves. These leaves emit a special scent that attract cats.
The cat in the attic says the room belongs to a doll named Marie who told it a lot of things about foreign towns, and that a girl named Lisa took care of Marie.
The chest of drawers in the attic will ask you to store Medical Herbs in the drawer. If you do, the chest will be happy.
Use the Actinidia leaves to attract the cats in the lab out of the room. If you talk to the cats after this, they'll say the smell is pleasant. From there, you can talk to the mouse and enter the hole, this allows you to talk to the mice in the one area you couldn't get to earlier. One of the mice will give you the Magic of Spark Bomb, which works like Magic Flair in the form of four mines you can lay on the ground. The other two mice don't say anything else, but if you leave through the hole on the right side of the mouse hole, you'll be able to talk to a plant that can give you a Medical Herb.
The stairway leading downwards that was released in the second set of town models leads to the Power Plant.
This place looks much like the basement, but you now have a few added obstacles. There are spiked balls that will circle around the pipes in certain parts of the pipe mazes. Wait for them to go under the pipe before moving forward.
The Light Armor can be found at the beginning. Be sure to equip it. You'll still need the Ice Armor for the "lava" areas, though.
You'll be able to release the soul of a doll in the "church" room as well as another gem that will give you teleportation back to the lab as well as some experience points. You'll also be able to reveal another teleportation panel back to the shrine.
The stairway leading downward leads to the boss. The boss here is the Tin Doll, which will shoot rockets, shoot out fireballs, move really fast and run quickly to a nearby teleporter. When you see it, quickly destroy it with your sword. When it heads to the teleporters to the side, this is your cue to anticipate where it is going to go.
Back To The Laboratory
When you beat the Tin Doll, you will release Marie. Marie will give you a Purple Stone when you talk to her. Marie will tell you there will be no revival of the world until Deathtoll is destroyed, and that the Purple Stone will grant you enter to Magridd Castle, where Dr. Leo is being held.
If you talk to the doll in the "church" room, the doll will tell you about the machines that Dr. Leo made.
The monster lair near the eight houses will replace the eight houses with gems when stepped on, giving you some much needed ammo for your magic.
You'll need to use the Light Arrow magic to get rid of the enemies trapped around the houses. Taking these enemies down will give you a chest with 50 gems and also reveal another town model that you'll have to explore.
The mouse in the bedroom north of the town models will tell you to use magic to take out enemies you cannot reach, which is advice you already know. The stairs in this area lead to an unfinished looking room that serves as an attic.
The mouse in the room that looks like the inside of a church is a literal church mouse. Talk to this mouse, and the mouse will move out of the way, telling you that if you stand there, you will be purified. If you stand there and interact with the statue there, you will be healed.
The drawer in the teleporter tile room will start jumping around if you talk to it. Thankfully, it is only exercising because its back hurts.
The plant close to the dining room door will tell you that if you can get the Soul of the Great Door, you will be able to see the invisible catapult enemies in the town models. It also tells you to listen to what the cat on the dining room table says.
Back on the second floor, talk to the door that leads to the "church" room. This door will give you the Soul of Detection, which allows you to see the invisible catapult enemies in the town model areas. That's good, because it's time to go to the town model on the right, which hasn't been explored yet.
Posting the maps again, because the first one is the one on the left and the second one is the one on the right. For this one, follow the map on the right.
The Soul of Detection has a slightly trippy distortion effect to it. If you see any catapult enemies in the immediate vicinity, the Soul of Detection will reveal it. The Soul of Distortion will also reveal guard towers. Well, that explains why we were being shot at with spikes. (The sudden explosions were by the catapults.)
As you go through the second set of town models, you'll be clearing out quite a bit of the "town" to uncover more monster lairs, a Medical Herb and even a Strange Bottle.
You'll release the soul of a mouse in the basement (in a spot you can't access...yet), a plant in the bedroom, a chest of drawers in the unfinished attic, a cat in the attic and a set of steps in the teleporter tile room leading into the basement.
The cats will tell you that there is a second floor and an attic.
The plant will tell you that Dr. Leo's room is on the second floor, and that there are two town models inside. Many creatures were swallowed into the models. To the north of the plant is a rat, who will ask you to get the cats out of the room so it can move outside.
The door to the left of the cats is locked. You will need a key from the basement in order to open it. Thankfully, we have it. Just walk away and then walk back into the door with the key equipped to open it.
The cat on the dining room table will tell you that there are some very talkative doors in the house, and that you should talk to all of them. The dining room chest of drawers contains the Mystic Armor, which gives you longer post-hit invincibility when damaged by enemies. Also, if you push the drawers to the left by walking into it from the right, you will receive Master's Emblem G.
Upstairs is the second floor. Walk into the town model to enter it.
The rocking horse knights will charge at you when they see you.
The tiny blue soldiers will shoot at you with bows and arrows.
The tiny white soldiers will strike at you with swords, and are very fast.
You'll be able to release the soul of another mouse (and a bed), a chest of drawers near the teleporter tile, two mice in the attic, a plant in the dining room, a mouse in what looks like a chapel that also gets released with it, a great door leading into the chapel, and steps in a bedroom near the mouse and the bed you will also release here.
The great door will tell you that it can see catapults attacking you. These are the invisible enemies you will see in the model town area. Use your Light Arrow magic to take down the invisible enemies from a distance.
We have more things to release in the basement: the soul of a cat in the lab, a dining room table with a cat on it, a great door leading to said dining room, a chest of drawers in the dining room.
As you go through this area, you'll be making your way through - and revealing paths for - a maze-like system of pipes you'll be walking across. At least you can't fall off the edges and down into the background.
At the northeast corner is a set of stairs going lower. If the robot maids to the west don't show up, just go down the stairs, go back up and head west. They'll show up again.
Apparently the bulldozer enemies can travel over pits to get to you.
Use the Ice Armor to get past the hot areas that will drain your health. Yes, those fiery areas from the Fire Shrine return in the downstairs area, where you can release the soul of a sleeping cat (along with chairs and a table), and a mouse in the lab.
Not gonna lie, the translucent effect your character has when in the tunnels is pretty nice. You'll need to travel through them to open up a path further into the downstairs area.
You'll eventually release a blue gem that will give you experience and teleport you back upstairs, another great door, as well as some stairs that will take you to the attic of Dr. Leo's house. You'll also release the soul of a town model, which will come into play a little bit later. Also, you'll be able to take a teleporter back to the shrine.
The door in the attic leads to the town model. Don't touch the model yet.
Use the Dream Rod on the sleeping cat. You'll see Dr. Leo for the first time, as well as what happened when one of King Magridd's guards came to his laboratory and summoned him. Dr. Leo knows what evil is behind the King's decision, but the guards do not care and will only do what King Magridd tells them to do. We also find out that Dr. Leo's daughter Lisa is involved in this somewhat, most likely as a hostage.
When the cat wakes up, the cat will tell you that it was hiding under a table the whole time, and gives you a door key.
The gem that we managed to reveal the path to in the last entry will give you the Recover Sword, which drains health from your enemy.
There is also a Strange Bottle along the path to the gem. Be sure to pick it up.
Also, the vine that didn't seem to lead to much led to something after all. At the left-most end of the cliff behind the brick wall is Master's Emblem A.
The backtracking isn't done yet. Time to head back to GreenWood and head to the Fire Shrine!
Remember the metal scorpions at the entrance? Kill them to release a gem that gives you experience.
But, wait! There's more! Remember the maze with the metal scorpions? Go through that and kill them all. The lair is at the northeast corner. It releases a chest containing a Strange Bottle.
Going downstairs where all those platforms that heated up were has some metal scorpions. Kill them all, and don't forget to equip the Ice Armor. Their lair will release a bird in Greenwood in the northeast corner of Greenwood behind the flowers.
And with that, you're done with all the lairs. Use the gem you just released to return to GreenWood (and get one experience point over and over again just by talking of it). The bird you released will tell you about the Phoenix and the three symbols you have to collect. Talk about pointless.
The next enemy you'll now be able to destroy are the gray monkeys. Don't forget to equip the Bubble Armor so you can breathe underwater. The only remaining spot for destroying these enemies should be Durean.
Destroying the gray monkeys here will release the soul of another mermaid. If you talk to this mermaid, you'll get the Red-Hot Stick, one of the three magical items necessary to summon the Phoenix.
That's it for the backtracking. Time to head back to Dr. Leo's Laboratory.
You'll be able to release more souls as you go up and down the pipes and open up more areas, such as the soul of two plants as well as one of a cat.
The miniature bulldozers will charge at you when you get close enough, but they only have a limited range and slowly move back into place afterward.
The helicopters can land on the ground and move around. Reaching their lairs, however, can be quite troublesome, and hitting them can be a pain because they move quickly in the air - faster than they do on the ground.
Go back to the area you opened up in the dream world and interact with where the mushroom stood there. You'll find Master's Emblem F.
To the left of that you will find a monster's lair that will release the soul of another snail...but that snail is in an area you cannot yet access.
There is nothing left to do, so head to the doorway to the north. There you will face yet another boss.
To beat Poseidon, stay away from the spear so you can avoid the three-way shots and the fireballs. After the three-way shot, hold out your sword with L or R and stand in the center so you don't get stabbed. When two fireballs are shot out simultaneously, dodging will be easier if you are in the center of the room, since you can walk back and then walk forward. If you're at the sides, you'll have to move towards the center and walk backwards into the partitions in the back wall.
If a boss has more than 50 HP, their health bar will be a different color. Poseidon's health bar starts out green, but then turns light blue before becoming the regular blue color.
When you beat Poseidon, you'll release the King and open up the throne room.
Soul of Mountain House
To reach the snail you freed after entering the Dream World, there is a hidden path in the wall south of the teleporter pad leading to the shrine. The snail will give you Master's Emblem E if you speak to it.
The snail in the jail is Nome, who used to live in Dr. Leo's house. Nome will tell you how Dr. Leo was asked by King Magridd to build the machine that called upon evil, and that Dr. Leo refused and was sent to Magridd Castle. Nome also tells you that Dr. Leo gave him and three other people four stones and told them to run away. The stones are keys to the World of Evil, and the rest are located in Dr. Leo's Laboratory and in the Castle of Magridd. Nome will give you the Silver Stone and tells you to head to Dr. Leo's lab.
The boy in the jail tells you that there is a house in the desert to the southwest, and that there are mechanical monsters in this desert that cannot be destroyed by normal swords.
The throne room is south of the Grandpa near the logs. The Grandmas near the King will be able to call the Phoenix is you can collect the Master's three symbols.
Talk to the King. The King will apologize for treating Nome poorly and putting him in prison for telling him that monsters would invade the mountain. He will tell you to talk to Nome, and also tells you about the three Master's items that will summon the Phoenix: the Red-Hot Mirror, the Red-Hot Ball and The Red-Hot Stick. He asks you to bring them all to him if you find them.
It's time to head to the next area. Don't forget to save.
Dr. Leo's Laboratory is run down and has holes in the floor. The door in the room you arrive at will tell you that there are machines lurking around that only the Zantetsu Sword can destroy. The door then opens. If you face left in a doorway, you can talk to a door again.
To the left after that door is a set of stairs. Go down.
You want to go north immediately, take out the worms, step on the lair, go to the right, take out the robo-maids and step on the monster lair there to release the soul of a Great Door. This allows you quick and easy access to the room with the chest containing the Zantetsu Sword. You'll need to be Level 16 to equip it.
The worms are very easy to take out. Just stand in front of the lair and keep swinging. The robo-maids are pretty hilarious, but they stop being funny when they shoot you with an eight-way soapy bubble shot. No, seriously. That is what their projectiles are.
As you go through the basement and step on monster lairs, you'll release the souls of other doors that will let you enter other areas.
After getting the Zantetsu Sword, you'll want to go all the way back to the Grass Valley Highlands and take the shortcut to Leo's Paintings.
With the Zantetsu Sword equipped, you can kill the mental enemies near the room leading to Solid Boss. This will allow you to release another ivy ladder that leads to another gem.
To the south of that, there are more metal monsters to kill. Go back to where you came in from and step on the monster lair to release yet another ivy ladder that doesn't seem to be very useful.
South of that is a monster lair that releases a chest that gives you the Tornado magic. It's just a tornado that shows up and randomly moves around.
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