PrinceWatercress plays Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble - Part 3 of 16

It's now time to take on the second world and break down how to get everything in Riverside Race!

All maps by Tropicon.

Lake Orangatanga Map (animated)

Kremwood Forest

Now that we're done with Lake Orangatanga, it's time to leave the area and go north to Kremwood Forest.

Barrel Shield Bust-Up

Bonus areas: Two (2)

Map

You'll meet a new enemy here: Minkey. Minkeys will be in packs, throwing nuts at you while hanging from the wall. There will be barrel shields that will protect you from some of them, but you'll have to time your movements carefully to avoid the projectiles thrown by some of them.

To climb ropes, just hold the Control Pad towards them while jumping into them. Use Up and Down to climb, and Left and Right to switch sides. Hold Y while moving to speed up and press B in conjunction with Left or Right on the Control Pad to jump off. Holding Down and pressing B at the bottom of the rope will allow you to drop down from the rope.

When the stage begins, the barrel shields will be stationary; as you go further into the level, the barrel shields will move up and down the ropes that you will be climbing. You'll have to be on the move to stay behind the moving barrel shields.

Shortly after the start, you will see a hole in the floor after getting past two green Buzzes moving around in a circle. If you get in and float to the left with Dixie, you'll enter the Warp Barrel. The second bonus area is here, but you can still get to it even if you don't use the Warp Barrel. At the end of the stage, there is a TNT barrel. Take it and blow up the wall to the left of where you found it. Climb up, then use Dixie's Helicopter Spin to get through the holes to the right with the bonus area. Here, you'll be collecting 15 green bananas in 35 seconds, all while avoiding the Minkeys. If you can somehow time your movements right, you can get fifteen without getting hit so you can get the Bonus Coin. Thankfully, the bananas only show up in four locations. Also, hold Down and press B to drop down the rope after you climb to the bottom, so you don't hit any of the Minkeys' projectiles.

When you climb the rope above where the Warp Barrel is, you'll find the Bonus Area that is earlier in the stage. Grab the TNT barrel and run it into the wall to the left. You'll find the Bonus Barrel. Here, you'll have to hunt the Bonus Coin down. Time your movements so you can get past all the Minkeys. You also have no barrel shields to work with, so be careful as you make your way from Point A to Point B. When you get through the area, you'll land at the Star Barrel. From here on out, the barrel shields move.

If you have no barrel shield and you have to avoid a group of five Minkeys, wait for the second Minkey from the bottom to throw something before moving all the way up.

When you reach the N. you will want to go to the right of the DK Barrel and tag throw Dixie up and to the right to the platform above it. This will take you to Koin. Grab the steel keg and throw it to the left from where you found it. You'll whack Koin in the side and get the DK Coin. From here, you can ram the nearby TNT barrel to the wall to the immediate right.

The spiders with the wooden planks on their heads are called Nids. The pink ones are stationary and will not jump until you stand on them, but there are also yellow ones that are always in motion. While they are not exactly enemies per se, they can send you into Buzzes if you're not careful in later levels.

From here, you'll reach the end, where the second bonus area will be. Thankfully, this was mentioned earlier.

Riverside Race

Bonus areas: Two (2)

Map

Here, it's you against the clock. The clock will be in the lower-right corner. There, you'll see the best time for the level as well as your current time. If you can beat the best time, you'll get a surprise!

The Warp Barrel is just above the first pond in the level. You'll have to tag throw Dixie up above the center of the pond where the Warp Barrel is, and you'll have to do it from the left side of the pond while avoiding a swarm of bugs that will home in on. You can use it to finish the level, but beware: if you try to use it to beat Brash's time, you will automatically get a time of 9:59.90 on your timer as the game's way of accusing you of cheating.

Speaking of the swarm of bugs, a swarm of bugs will more often than not be chasing after you while you are on dry land. You can't destroy them, so your best bet is to outrun them.

For large bodies of water, you will have to use Kiddy's Water Skip to get through them in record time. Run and roll off the left edge with Y, then press B as you are about to hit the surface of the water. Again, you can do this up to two times before dropping down into the water. This will allow you to reach both bonus areas.

The first bonus area has you grabbing fifteen green bananas over a pond with a single Coco in it. Stay on the move, and jump out of the water when a banana appears. This might take a few tries, but you'll get the hang of it and get that first Bonus Coin in no time. Be sure to hold Up as well as whatever direction you're going for best results.

The second bonus area has you defeating four Rekoils to get the second Bonus Coin to appear. Be careful when taking them out, since it can be easier to get by one of the Rekoils than you think. You can use the Water Skip to get here, but you can also swim all the way to the left of the pond before you get there to hit an ! Barrel for temporarily invincibility that will allow you to jump on all three of the nearby red Buzzes to get there more easily.

If you water skip right after the tunnel with the Star Barrel, you can jump on two Nik-Naks to get a 1-Up.

There are some instances where you do not want to use the Water Skip. The first is shortly after the first bonus barrel, the second is in the large pond after the N and the second bonus area, and the third is just before the G.

Koin is just after the G. For this, you'll want to go to the end of the stage to get the bees to disappear, then head back here and use Kiddy's Water Skip to reach Koin. From here, throw the steel keg off the left wall and into Koin's back to get the DK Coin.

Squeals on Wheels

Bonus areas: Two (2)

Map

The main thing you will be dealing with here is the Sneeks on wheels. You will have to destroy them with the steel kegs that are scattered about the level; there is no other way to defeat them. The stage has you destroying one to open the nearby door; later on you'll be defeating two or more to progress. Watch out for those Rekoils!

There is a steel door blocking your way at the beginning that cannot be opened by normal means. Remember that for later...

The Warp Barrel is above the DK Barrel at the beginning of the stage.

The trap doors in the stage are padlocked. You won't be able to enter one until a bit later on.

The first bonus area is to the left of the O. Throw the steel keg at the Sneek in the wooden wheel, then enter the nearby door to get to the first bonus area. Here, you will have to watch where you're jumping - and Helicopter Spinning - to grab all the stars and get the Bonus Coin to appear.

You can stand on the wheels even when they are running. This is especially true after the Star Barrel; you can go up them to reach the second Bonus Area. The second bonus area is the same as the first, but this time you are collecting fifteen green bananas. Be careful with Dixie's Helicopter Spin and remember that the bananas can only span in four locations.

There is a wheel surrounded by two green Buzzes flying around it. Take care of all the enemies, then get on the wheel and jump to the right. Grab the steel keg and throw it into the wall so it hits Koin in the back so you can get the DK Coin.

When you reach the top, you can finally jump into a trap door. You'll go all the way back down to the start of the stage, but this time, the door that you could not open will finally be opened. You'll meet a new animal buddy here: Parry the Parallel Bird. Parry flies above you, follows you around, cannot be ridden on, cannot attack at all and will disappear forever after one hit. However, if you can take Parry to a "No Parry" sign, you can get some nice rewards. In this case, you'll get a 3-Up. Make sure Parry does not hit the red Buzz on the path to the end so you can get it!

PrinceWatercress plays Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble - Part 2 of 16

We've started out strong, and now it's time to finish up Lake Orangatang!

All maps by Tropicon.

Lake Orangatanga Map (animated)

Skidda's Row

Bonus areas: Two (2)

Map

It's a snow level, which means that there are ice physics.

The Warp Barrel is up and left of the left edge of the first house. Stand there, jump up and toss Dixie in that direction to reach it. Some of the homes you can walk past; others will require to run across the roof to get past them.

The first enemies you will meet is Skidda, who skids back and forth and looks like a purple Kobble. He can be beaten in just about any way, but if you don't have a barrel, a jump on the head is recommended.

Krimp is the chomping enemy for this game. Do not roll into him; jump on him instead, otherwise you will take damage.

The first bonus area is in plain sight after the second Krimp in the stage. You can use Kiddy's tag throw or Dixie's Helicopter Spin to get there. Jump cleanly on all four Skiddas to get the Bonus Coin.

Koin is just past the Star Barrel. All you have to do is throw the steel keg over Koin and have it bounce off the wall into his back.

The second bonus area is above the house shortly after the N. Take out some of the baddies to get the second Bonus Coin. Leaping on the Knik-Knak you see after you leave the second bonus area will be hiding a 1-Up.

Murky Mill

Bonus areas: Two (2)

Map

Unlike Doorstop Dash, this area is substantially darker.

Take the elevator up, and enter the Ellie Barrel. If you have both Kongs, you'll have a picture of Ellie (or whatever animal buddy you're playing as, in case you ever enter any of the other Animal Barrels) on the lower-left corner signifying that you have an extra hit.

You can also throw Dixie into the corner to the left after the elevator at the beginning stops for a Warp Barrel, if you want to find that.

The orange Kremling that bounces up and down is Rekoil. They don't make a lot of extreme movements here, but in later stages, they can be very, very annoying.

If Ellie sees a Sneek in the light, do not approach it. If you do, Ellie will briefly run in the other direction. Instead, you'll have to fight them through other means. If you can find a barrel, send it into the Sneeks. If you have to use Ellie's trunk to grab the barrel, do it.

You'll eventually see a green Buzz guarding a trap door. Throw a steel keg on it, then jump onto the trap door to open it and enter the first bonus area. Here, send barrels into the Buzzes to get the Bonus Coin.

Shortly after the first bonus area is Koin. Hold Up on the Control Pad before throwing the nearby steel keg to aim it at the space above Koin so it goes to the other side and hits the wall. You don't have to hold Y to drag the keg back towards you for another use, but it is pretty funny.

You'll see the nearly-indestructible red Buzzes after this. Be sure to jump before hitting that Sneek.

You'll eventually learn how Ellie's trunk can grab barrels from a distance after the N. Thankfully, I've already explained it.

If you go left after the big drop after the N, you'll find the second bonus area. Get rid of the Buzz guarding the Bonus Barrel by dragging the nearby steel keg forward.You'll need to carefully time your jumps over the Buzzes to get to the other side and collect the Bonus Coin before time runs out.

You'll need to use both Rekoils near the end to get the G. Be ready to run straight to the right and jump on the Sneeks near the flag.

Swanky's Sideshow

Swanky's Sideshow appears to be a carnival barker now. For two Bear Coins, you'll be throwing balls at targets. There are three games to play.

Head to Head has you going up against Cranky Kong. If you can move the marker to the top where your face is by hitting more targets than Cranky, you'll win. If the marker is closer to your end when time runs out, you will also win. The better you do, the quicker this can be, as this is the fastest of the three modes to win in.

Race to 25 has you and Cranky Kong in a race to hit 25 targets first. The first Kong to do so wins.

Endurance sees how long you and Cranky Kong can last without missing a target. The first Kong to miss a target loses, and if you plan to outlast Cranky Kong, you'll be playing for about a minute before that has a chance of happening.

For winning a game, you will earn four Bear Coins and four Banana Bunches regardless of what mode you played.

Both Kiddy and Dixie perform identically, so it doesn't matter who's in the lead.

Belcha's Barn

Map

Jump into the trap door, hit the DK barrel on the way down, and here we go! It's the first boss battle of the game.

Belcha is a giant barrel that spits out smaller barrels. Jump on the barrel to reveal a yellow bug, then jump on the yellow bug. From there, pick the bug up like a barrel and throw it into Belcha's mouth when it is open. If you can aim it right, Belcha will eat the bug and belch, sending him flying backwards. You'll have to do this a few times to send him over the edge on the other side, but if you take too long, it will be you tumbling off the left side of the room instead. Thankfully, this is a pretty easy boss battle.

When you beat Belcha, you'll get a Bonus Coin. Grab the coin and you'll beat Lake Orangatanga.

PrinceWatercress plays Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble - Part 1 of 16

After playing through Donkey Kong Country 2, it only made sense to go ahead and play the third game.

All maps by Tropicon.

World Map

World Map (animated)

The game starts with Dixie Kong showing up in the Northern Kremisphere, where Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were last seen as they were off adventuring. She immediately ducks into Wrinkly's Save Cave, the official game saving area for this game. This time around, she is taking up fitness, retired from teaching and playing the brand-new Nintendo 64 (this is 1996, after all)...assuming she is not asleep, of course. She also tells us to find the Banana Birds as she explains the whole purpose of Wrinkly's Save Cave, where you go to save your game.

To the left of Wrinkly's Save Cave in Bazaar's General Store. Here, you can ask a few questions and see what you can buy with Bear Coins, which act as the currency of the game and replace the Banana Coins from the second game. Some of the questions will cost money, and there are two things that you can buy: the seashell, which you can buy almost immediately, and the mirror, which will take some saving to acquire. Bazaar is the first of the thirteen Brothers Bear that you will meet on your quest to rescue Donkey and Diddy, and ultimately reach 103% (which we will be doing, by the way).

To the right of Wrinkly's Save Cave is Funky's Rentals. This is one of the most important places in the entire game, as this is where you go to take a ride on assorted watercraft. You will only start with the Motorboat at the beginning, but as you play through the game, you will find tools that will allow you to repair more powerful watercraft that will allow you to access more of the Northern Kremisphere. This is also where you will be introduced to Kiddy Kong, who immediately shows up and joins you. Unlike the first two games, you start out with both Kongs almost immediately. You'll also re-learn the tag team throw that can be performed with the A button - a move that carries over from the second game - but it works differently this time around: Kiddy can throw Dixie to great height, but Dixie cannot throw Kiddy very far at all due to his size. However, the latter still has its advantages, and Kiddy can be used like a makeshift steel barrel if thrown into a wall and jumped on, and his girth can break weak floors which can lead to secrets.

There won't be a lot of places to go to on the Motorboat. Just use the Control Pad to move around. The main area you will will be to the west (as a matter of fact, it's the only area), and you won't be able to move past the rocks. North of the path leading into the first two worlds is a beach, and if you press A on it to get off, you'll uncover a cave. This is Bounty Beach, and it is the first of fifteen caves that you will find throughout the game.

When you enter the cave, you'll hear a tune played on the crystals. These crystals have a corresponding button on the Super NES controller that you have to press, and if you make a mistake, you'll have to re-enter the cave and try again with a different randomly-generated pattern. If you successfully mirror the pattern, you'll get one of those Banana Birds that Wrinkly Kong was talking about earlier. The patterns will start off short and easy when you begin the game, but as you go through more caves, the patterns become longer and more complex.

Once you're done with Bounty Beach, there is no other place to go but to the path on the right. Press A to park near the path once you're in front of it, and you'll head to Lake Orangatanga, the first world of the game. Press A to go in.

Lake Orangatanga

Map (animated)

Unlike the other two games in the series, you can leave from where you entered the world to back out and head to the overworld. This is really nice, especially if you have yet to get to Wrinkly's Save Cave in the current world and desperately need to save your progress.

There's only one place you'll be able to go, and that is Lakeside Limbo, the first regular stage of the game. Press A to go in.

Lakeside Limbo

Bonus areas: Two (2)

Map

The control is the same as the last two games: Left and Right on the Control Pad let you move around, and Down lets you duck. B lets you jump, Y is used for running as well as holding and throwing barrels, and A is used for the tag throw, which was described earlier.

Use Kiddy to toss Dixie onto the roofs of the boardwalk to get some free hidden 1-Ups. Shortly after the beginning of the stage, you'll find the letter K. The Kong Letters - K, O, N and G - make a return appearance here, and as always, they give you an extra life when you find all four in a stage.

Shortly after the K, you can have Kiddy toss Dixie up into the air to the left to enter a Warp Barrel. Once again, the Warp Barrels are here to warp us through the stages of the first two worlds of the game. Just jump onto the platform after the K, walk to the edge, press A while playing with Kiddy while Dixie is with you, then jump off the edge and hold Up and Left before pressing Y to throw Dixie into that direction and into the Warp Barrel. You'll warp to the end of the stage.

The first two enemies you will meet will be the Sneeks (a more ragged-looking relation of the Neeks from the second game) and the Kobbles, who are the basic foot soldiers who amble back and forth.

When you meet the first Kobble, you will see a crack in the floor as well as the letter "A" made out of bananas. Just like the last two games, collecting 10 bananas will give you an extra life. Also, if you switch to Dixie and throw Kiddy onto the crack by holding Up and towards the crack before you throw, you can break the crack with Kiddy and enter the very first bonus area of the game. The "Collect The Stars" mini-game is back, and all you have to do here is switch to Dixie and collect all the stars with the Helicopter Spin and collect the Bonus Coin before time runs out. Once again, press and hold Y while in the air as Dixie, and use the Control Pad as you float downwards to move around. This one is not too hard, but later ones will be.

When you come back from the first bonus stage, you'll meet Koin, a green Kremling with a shield in his hands and a bucket on his head who will always be looking at you. You'll also see a steel keg nearby. Hitting him on the top of his head or from the front will do absolutely nothing, so you'll want to jump up, throw the barrel over him and keep him looking at you so that the barrel hits him in the back. By beating Koin, who appears once in every stage, you'll be able to get the DK Coin. These things are back, and you'll have to collect all of these things to find everything in the game.

There are two Bear Coins and a hidden 1-Up on the roof before the Star Barrel. Once again, the Star Barrel acts as a continue point. If you die after hitting it and come back to the level, you'll start back there instead of the beginning of the level.

If you roll off the edge towards water with Kiddy with the Y button, keep holding Y and the direction you want to go and press B as soon as you are about to hit the water. You can do this up to two times before you finally drop into the water. This is the Water Skip, and only Kiddy can do this. It will only prove slightly useful here (assuming you know how to do it and get the timing right), but it will come into play later.

If you ever drop into the water, just press B to keep ascending when necessary and hold Y to move faster. Left and Right still let you move, of course, and Up and Down quickens and slows down your ascent in water, respectively.

To get to the second bonus area, drop down in the gap between platforms where the N is. Swim to the right and you will find the Bonus Barrel. If you go all the way to the right before entering the Bonus Barrel, you will find a hidden 2-Up. Here, you will be grabbing 15 bananas that pop up in random locations before the timer runs out. The bananas won't be in the same place forever, and if one starts flashing, you'll have to grab it or else you will have to wait for another one to show up. When you collect enough bananas, the Bonus Coin will pop up, ready to be collected. Once again, this first one is simple, but later ones won't be!

Ellie the Elephant is in the box with the picture of the elephant on it. Break the box by jumping on it, then jump on Ellie to ride her. If you are near a barrel, stop moving and hold Y while facing the barrel so that Ellie can use her trunk to drag the barrel towards her until she picks it up with her trunk. If you let go of Y, you will throw the barrel straight forward. Jump up and release the button to send the barrel into the Booty Bird, who will be hiding the G. Booty Birds will be hiding treasures, so keep a look out.

The "No Elephant" sign makes it so that Ellie cannot go to the goal, but if you take her to the sign, you will be able to get a Bear Coin for your efforts.

If you tag throw up and left with Kiddy to the left of the sign, you can find a hidden 3-Up. Red balloons are worth one extra life, green ones are worth two and blue ones are worth three.

Grab the rope on the flagpole to clear the level. A pink flag means Dixie grabbed the rope, while a blue one means that Kiddy grabbed it. If the flag is limp, it means you did not find all the bonus areas in the stage; if it is fully furled out, you did. You can also use this legend to see if you have found everything in a stage on the overworld map. (You can also look at the stage name and look for an exclamation point  If you collected the DK coin, you will see a yellow pennant flag for that stage in the overworld map.

If you explore around the end of stage flag post, you'll find a Bear Coin and two Banana Bunches. Banana Bunches are worth 10 bananas each.

Doorstop Dash

Bonus areas: Two (2)

Map

Jump into the blue handle to grab it and open the nearby door. When you jump off the handle, the door will slowly start to close, but if you run, you'll be able to run under it to get to where you need to go. Once you're on the other side, there is usually no way to go back, so be careful.

The Warp Barrel is above the wooden platform just before the O. Use Kiddy to throw Dixie up there to reach it.

The green bees with the buzzsaws that you will see to the left of the first rope are Buzzes, and they replace the Zingers from the first two games. The green ones can be destroyed with regular Barrels, while the red ones (which you'll meet later) are only vulnerable to the explosions from TNT Barrels. If you keep going left, you'll find a handle. Toss Kiddy into it with Dixie, then use Dixie's Helicopter Spin to get to the other side, get a 1-Up and find the first bonus area. Here, you'll be collecting more stars. This time around, a handle-powered door will come into play. You'll have to grab it and race under the door to find all the stars and get the Bonus Coin.

You'll have to jump into a Barrel Cannon to get onto one of the handles. Jump in, and when it spins around, press B when it is aimed upwards toward the handle to grab it.

There is a hidden 1-Up to the right of the second rope. When you open the door to the right at the top, you'll get another bonus area. Use Dixie's Helicopter Spin to grab onto the handles and avoid the Buzzes to get the second Bonus Coin.

The doors on the floor will take you back to lower levels if you jump onto them with Kiddy.

If you go left on the first drop after the G, you'll find Koin. Grab the handle, then quickly scoop up the steel keg, throw it through the open doorway and wait. You'll hit Koin in the back for the second DK Coin.

If you know what you're doing (or using the Helicopter Spin), you can collect a 2-Up on the second drop.

Now that you're able to go into the water on the overworld, move towards it and use the Control Pad to guide yourself to the sandy beach to the north of the northern bridge. Press A, and you will enter Smuggler's Cove. Complete the pattern and you can get another Banana Bird.

You can also check out Barnacle's Island, where you can meet Barnacle Bear. He has a Banana Bird in a cage, but he also has a shell collection. He thinks there is no way to take the Banana Bird off his hands, but at this point, you'll have more than five Bear Coins. Leave Lake Orangatanga, head back to Funky's Rentals and head back to Bazaar's General Store to buy the shell for five coins. The first option that let you buy the shell will be a question asking "Who owns the castle?" The information is useless, but you'll learn about some castle grounds that you will be seeing later in the game. Take the shell back to Barnacle's Island and hand the shell over to Barnacle Bear to get your third Banana Bird.

Now that this is over with, you can save your game with Wrinkly's Save Cave if you wish. Any Banana Birds that you have collected will hang out here once they've been rescued.

Tidal Trouble

Bonus areas: Two (2)

Map

Have Kiddy throw Dixie onto the roof at the start to get the steel keg, and throw it over Koin and into his back to get the DK Coin at the very start.

Unlike Lakeside Limbo, the water below moves faster and has a powerful current that pushes you to the left. This can work against you if you are not careful. The Water Skip will work wonders here.

The clown fish are named Coco. The green Cocos are stationary, but the red ones move around.

The green barrel enemy is Knocka. He can't hurt you, but he can knock you back. Jump on him once, and you'll be able to use him like a normal barrel and throw him into enemies or walls to get rid of him.

The platform before the Knocka leads to the Warp Barrel. Throw Dixie up and left without jumping to reach it.

Going left after the O sends you into an Enguarde Barrel that changes you into Enguarde. He controls much like he did in the first two games: the Control Pad moves you around, Y lets you stab enemies, and holding A for a second or two allows you to do the supercharge that lets you power through enemies and move at high speed. You'll need him to get past the two green Cocos and enter the first bonus area. Collect the stars, and stab the Lurchin in the center when he fully opens up to defeat him. You'll get the first Bonus Coin in no time. You'll go back to being Kongs after you leave.

The bugs that lead you to the N are called Knik-Knaks. Use them as stepping stones to get to the platform, where you can jump on Knocka and send him into the Booty Bird for the N.

From here, you can use Kiddy's Water Skip or Helicopter Spin with a running jump off the right edge with Dixie to reach the second Bonus Barrel. Here, you will have to defeat all the Knik-Knaks by jumping on them from above. If you leap into them from the sides or from below, you'll be booted back out and you'll have to enter the Bonus Barrel again. Beat the first return of the "Destroy Them All" mini-game - now called "Bash The Baddies!" here - to get another Bonus Coin.

The broken floor near the goal hides a 1-Up and a Barrel Cannon that automatically shoots you up towards the end of stage flag.

art88turn Plays "Birth Of The People" On A Church Organ

Well, I guess it was a matter of time before I found someone playing something from the game on an organ.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 13 of 13

It's now time to take on all of the second stage bosses one more time before the final confrontation with Tanzra!

Once you enter Death Heim, there's no turning back. You'll enter a boss rush where you fight all the Act 2 bosses again, in the order of towns you developed. Some of the bosses are more vicious than last time, some aren't. The changes are listed below.

Also, if you have magic, use it now. Magic will not work on the Final Boss, and any magic you do use on it will only work on its attacks.

Refer back to the blog entries where they first appeared for boss strategies. Some of them may not work here because of the changes, but in case you need a reminder...there you go. Also, updated stuff for the Wizard/Werewolf boss from Bloodpool and the Ogre Wheel from Aitos are in this blog, so read up!

Minotaur

He's much faster this time around. The whole "jump over his ax when he throws another at you" tactic will barely work unless your reflexes are impeccable and you have more distance.

You'll probably be using magic on him at least once this time around. Hope you have a lot of MP and a lot of lives...

Also, loving the lunar eclipse in the background of those boss fights.

Wizard/Werewolf

He's as easy as ever.

Also, finally found out that he follows you around and leaps at you if you're on the platforms...assuming you don't kill him with magic like last time.

Pharaoh

Same as ever.

Ogre Wheel

If you can beat him without magic, you don't have much to worry about.

Snake

Also the same as ever.

Ice Wyvern

If you thought this would be the same, you thought wrong. The ice crystals from its breath fly farther when the attack hits the ground, making it easier to take splash damage.

You'll probably have to hit it from behind during the ice breath, but thankfully it's not faster than in Northwall.

After this, you'll face Tanzra.

First Form

Tanzra's first form isn't that bad.

He'll attack with his own version of Magical Stardust, and it works a bit like your own, except the projectiles are blue and slightly bigger. Go all the way to the right and duck, so it won't hit you.

If you're too close to the right side of the screen, go all the way to the left and jump when the Magical Stardust comes at you.

After this, Tanzra will drop down and shoot projectiles at you. If you stand at the right distance, face him and duck, you'll be able to attack him with the waves of light while the projectiles will fly around you in a sine wave pattern, missing you completely.

Yes...you have that power-up again for this battle. Give 'im hell!

Second Form

Biggest. Life Bar. Ever.

He'll shoot three fireballs at you and they'll attack from above and below, closing in on the same spot you are. Move forward a little bit when they close in and they shouldn't be able to hurt you.

The chest cavity that protects the blue orb in his body opens up. As he draws energy from it to shoot a lightning bolt, wail away at it with the waves of light. When he fires it, stop attacking and duck!

He'll then shoot two crackling balls of energy - one blue and one red - from his mouth twice. The blue one is always in the air, while the red one is underneath the "floor." Destroy the blue ones, you'll more than likely take out the red ones while attack him after he shoots the fireballs again, making it a priority to take as little damage as possible against Tanzra's first form.

His attack pattern will repeat itself, but if you can stay alive, you can take him down in no time!

If you have Magical Light equipped, use it when Tanzra's attack pattern begins to repeat. You'll get rid of all the fireballs that move towards you while making the pairs that attack from above and below your only main concern.

Once you beat him, enjoy your credits...as well as your ending sequence with typos.

Also, the beginning of the credits music sounds like the 20th Century Fox theme.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 12 of 13

...and here's the final normal level in the game, which has the best music on the soundtrack.

Northwall - Act 2

Welcome to the last level in the game before the grand finale. Here, you'll be climbing up the great tree of Northwall, defeating enemies and collecting points as you go.

First of all, just like Act 1, Act 2 gets its own music that you won't hear anywhere else...and it is amazing. Reminds me of the Death Star attack run music from Star Wars.

Anyway, go up and to the left at the beginning to get another 1-Up.

Aside from the birds now dropping caterpillars on you, there are some all-new enemies here. The yellow ice jotuns are not only faster than their blue compatriots, they're also more impenetrable (they take three hits to go down) and more accurate as well (they may throw their axes high or low, but they always throw them straight). There are also mold-like sets of bubbles that shoot spores at you - you won't have a choice but to stay from them, since you basically can't hit them at all.

Before you reach the top of the second section, you'll find an opening on the right that takes you to another 1-Up.

The third section has bubbles. The green ones take you upwards, the blue ones can't hold your weight, and the yellow ones do nothing but damage you with projectiles when they burst.

Unless you can jump on and off of them so fast that they don't bend, don't bother riding the blue ones.

The boss here is an ice wyvern. It will swoop down from the sky to attack, but sometimes it'll stay put in mid-air to attack you with its ice breath (which also does splash damage with the ice crystals when it hits the ground.) When it prepares for the ice breath attack, get under it and jump slash it twice. If you're careful, you can attack it as it swoops down without getting hit.

When you beat Act 2, the game will shift to a mountain range in the sea, where a volcano will rise from the ocean. This is Death Heim, and it is in the upper-right corner of the world map. The final battle takes place here, but don't get your fingers dirty just yet. Instead, head back to Northwall and max out your population. When you hit 4600 people, you'll hit Level 17 and your original strength will be restored! If you've gotten the maximum population in all cities, you should have 4652 people - the highest world population you can get. You don't get anything for maxing out the entire world, but it's still an accolade in itself.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 11 of 13

After all that action, there is only one more village to go.

Well, there's one more land left to develop, and that land is Northwall. It's pretty obvious which one it is - the frozen land in the north that is covered in snow. Once you've gotten both Kasandora and Maranha to maximum, go down there and fight some monsters!

Northwall - Act 1

Well, this is some nice music, isn't it?

Right from the get-go, this level is hard. Birds dropping ice on you, gargoyles shooting fireballs and ice jotuns throwing axes all want you dead.

The ice jotuns also block your swords shots with crude shields as they step back. Wait for them to stop blocking, then get back on the attack.

The second section is a cave. Inside are eyeballs that appear and reappear, moving through the air in-between appearances, sometimes running into you. Bats also fly out at you as well.

The falling blocks from the first section that are over the spike pits make another appearance in the second section. Just remember that they only crack and break when you step off of them...kinda like the Donut Blocks in Super Mario Bros. 3, except better.

You'll have to stand on ice floes to cross the pools of water, timing your jumps from one ice floe to the next while avoiding spikes and giant icicles that fall from the ceiling. If you jump into the second pool of water and go all the way to the right, though, you'll find a 1-Up.

In the third section, you'll have to ride on the ice platform that zips throughout the beginning of the section to get over a pit of spikes. before you do, jump up the platforms near the spike pit to obtain another 1-Up. The ice platform reappears every so often, so wait near the beginning of the third section for it to show up again. When you're over the pit, jump up onto the platforms above it. The statue nearby gives you points, while the one right after it has a Bomb that will take out the three eyeballs...if they're on-screen, that is.

There's an apple near the end, thankfully. The boss is easy, but the level overall can be a pain the neck.

The boss here is a blue demon with wings, armor and no lower half. Run around to avoid his fireballs as well as the ripples they make in the water, and clock him when he stands there. He's pretty easy to beat without magic.

When you finally enter Sim Mode, get right to work melting the snow with Sunlight. You'll be able to build the town and both uncover and seal monster lairs doing this.

The bad news here is that the floating skulls from Aitos are back...and this time, they have two lairs to attack from! Once again, the sooner you seal them off, the better. Bombs are still useful, especially here, and even though the skulls take two hits to kill with Strength of Angel, it's a hell of a lot better than eight.

After a while, the people of Northwall will complain they're cold. If you haven't done so already, go to Aitos and get the Sheep's Fleece, then use it in Northwall.

You'll also get an extra life in the form of an offering as you build the town. What are you waiting for? Take it!

You can get another one if you hit the temple with Lightning, and you can get it as soon as you begin building in Sim Mode. Why you need to have one inventory slot to take an extra life, I will never understand.

They'll also tell you that they're able to build bridges after sealing the two lairs in the west side of Northwall. Guess you won't have to go back to Fillmore, then...

The people will also discover the tree near the frozen lake eventually. They'll find another MP near it and offer it to you.

If you melt the frozen lake in its entirety with the Sunlight, the people of Northwall will be able to fish. You'll also be able to get Magical Light, the fourth and last magical spell of the game.  With this spell, a light shines down on the avatar, then it splits in half and both travel down their own half of the screen taking out anything in their path. Wicked!

If you hit the temple at the center of the city with Lightning, you'll get an extra life.

After sealing all the lairs, you'll be able to access Act 2. A monster has appeared from the tree, and the people of Northwall are troubled!

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 10 of 13

Well, this didn't take long.

Marahna - Act 2

There's a lot of weird enemies in this temple - snake-like things that jump around, flying blue lizard things, statue heads that spit darts, flying mummy heads and...Grim Reapers wearing pink. What, are they female?

If you can time your jumps right at the beginning of the second section, you can get an extra life. There is also another extra life in the wide-open room with the platforms and the floor spikes. Just drop all the way down at the center of the room, and there you go.

When you reach the end of the second section, the path branches. Either way, you'll still meet the boss, but if you go left you'll meet the flying mummy heads.

Watch out for the spikes at the beginning of the third section. You can walk over the tops of the ones that don't have spikes on the top. If you can't make it to the other side in time, duck, then continue on.

The fireballs split into four, with the smaller fireballs shooting into the cardinal directions.

In the third section, you'll see pairs of balls move around and create barriers of lightning between each other. The pink ones always move vertically while the blue ones move horizontally. Keep that in mind, since the orbs are indestructible.

The boss here is a six-armed snake floating on a rock. Some sort of character from Hindu mythology, perhaps?

He'll send platforms with spikes on the bottom down on you, which you can stand on briefly and get a few shots in. He'll also send out lightning blasts that surge through the ground after you, so be ready to jump. If you're under him, spikes will protrude from the bottom of his rock and he'll drop down. If you move out of the way at the right time, you can definitely hit him a couple of times. You'll most likely be waiting for him to drop down to the center so you can do as much damage as you can without using Magical Stardust.

Magical Stardust works very well here. If you can keep the boss between the right side of the screen and the center, you can get the most hits in.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 9 of 13

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but Marahna is my favorite area in the game due to the presentation of the two stages as well as some of the Sim Mode exploration ingenuity that you don't see anywhere else in the game.

It's now time to go to Marahna. It's that chain of islands on the southern part of the world map.

Marahna - Act 1

The enemies in these swamp-infested ruins are stranger than ever. Aside from snakes and birds, there are fat bearded midgets with bombs and blow darts, blue slimes, headless men with spears...and totem poles. The green ones simply bounce around, while the blue ones stay in one place and spit arrows at you.

The boss here is a huge carnivorous plant. Hit the center of it with the sword, and avoid the vine that follows you across the ground. Magical Stardust isn't very effective; you'll have better luck with the fireball. The blue balls can be destroyed, but their appendages are just as annoying.

Once you're in Sim Mode, use Earthquake. You'll connect two of the islands together, making it easier to seal one of the lairs.

You'll be clearing palm trees with lightning and the swamps with sunlight, but you'll be restricted by the size of Marahna when you're also fighting monsters. Use Strength of Angel to destroy all the monsters with a single arrow temporarily.

The people will eventually mention a temple. Not only does this thing look somewhat like Angkor Wat, it's evil and enticing, as you'll soon find out...

After a while, the people of Marahna will tell you about the herbs on the island that van cure any plague. They'll offer it to you. You should definitely take it, as using it in Kasandora will cure people of the plague and get that town going again. 

Once you've fully built both Kasandora and Marahna, you should be close to your original strength - Level 15, I believe.

When you seal all the Monster's Lairs in Marahna, you'll have a problem - your people have deserted you! You'll gain access to Act 2, where you'll enter the temple and get your people back!

Interestingly, they'll still build after you've sealed all the lairs. Use this to your advantage to get to Level 15.

If you go to the bird-shaped island and use Lightning on the "right wing," one of the trees disappears. Use the ancient tablet there, and the villagers will look around. When they come back to the main island, you'll get your third spell, Magical Aura. This acts like a shield that protects you from enemies. (You'll only be able to get this spell once you have cured Kasandora of the plague.)

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 8 of 13

Time to go in the volcano and bring peace to Aitos once and for all!

Aitos - Act 2

You're finally in the volcano.

The lava kills you instantly, so stay out of it.

The red ogres jump up and throw spears at you.

Hit the rocks that jump out the volcano three times before split apart in order to get more points.

The eye clouds are weird. They fly toward you, but when you hit them, they shrink and go in a circle, making them harder to hit. They go down after a third strike, though.

The background in the second section is pretty wicked. Not only are those the largest stalactites I've seen anywhere, the Mode 7 in the background makes for some pretty interesting heat effects.

You'll have to be quick with the last few platforms here, as they all go up and down and the last few sink into the lava.

The third section has samurai with bows and flaming arrows. The arrows are fast and come frequently, so be ready to strike them with your sword or jump over them.

You'll have to time your movements carefully to avoid being burned by the flames of those giant statue heads...but at least you'll be able to refill your health once you're at the second set!

The boss here is a wheel with fireballs and an ogre's face. Stand underneath the left side of the short platform and strike him from there. Get in four hits, jump straight up, then get back in position. He'll never be able to hit you. If you have Magical Stardust equipped, feel free to use it on the boss for some insane damage.

To get the maximum population for Aitos, head to another area and wait for the sand on the hourglass to go to the bottom three times. Come back to Aitos and you'll be at the max population of 802.

For some reason, I only hit 754...

ActRaiser - Sacrifices by Orchestral Fantasy

Just ran across this. Nice.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 7 of 13

It's time to head to the volcanic (soon-to-be) village of Aitos and clear the land out so people can live near the most dangerous thing in the known world! Joy!

Aitos - Act 1

Well, this is a change of scenery if ever there was one.

You're now traveling across the sides of volcanic mountains. Don't fall down, don't get burned, and definitely watch out for bamboo. Yeah. Bamboo.

Speaking of bamboo, the first significant thing you'll notice here are bamboo blades that drop down from over your head when you get close.

Once you're out of the bamboo field, you'll come across a platform held by strings held by two white doves. Take a ride on it, but be sure to drop down to fight enemies and get power-ups. Don't let them take off without you!

Along with the blackbirds that fly into you, there are small skulls that sit there in mid-air. They can be easily taken out with the sword, thankfully.

Once you jump off the chariot, you'll be playing a little bit of Donkey Kong, as hands rise from the ground to throw boulders at you. Avoid the boulders and hit the hands.

Another new enemy you'll have seen by now is a Tengu that throws tornadoes at you. He's not that difficult, since he doesn't really move around, but you can hit his tornadoes.

Drop down into the volcano, being sure to avoid the fireballs that rise up from the lava. There are some points to the left at the bottom, so pick them up if you want maximum population.

When you reach the waterfall, it's just a bunch of platforms that separate you from the boss. The first statue has a Bomb, the second one has full health, but the third statue has a power-up that lets you shoot waves of light out of your sword. Pick this one up; it's very useful against the boss and it's pretty cool.

To beat the boss here, hit in the head with the waves of light. Magical Stardust is useful only if it's about to run into you, since you're invulnerable when you cast it. The spell won't do much damage, so stick to your sword.

Now that you're in Sim Mode in Aitos, use the lightning to get rid of the rocks. You'll be able to build more houses and even find lairs.

There's a new enemy here - the floating skulls. If you're not using Strength of Angel, they take eight arrows to kill. A Bomb also works well. These things will cause earthquakes that kill people and destroy houses, so the quicker you can get rid of them and seal their lairs, the better!

They'll also try to run into you if you're close enough, so watch out! Their touch can take quite a bit of the Angel's health down, making it easier to be temporarily taken out of commission in the later towns.

Take out the lair with the skulls as soon as possible. Use your Bombs on them if you have to, since they're annoying.

After sealing two lairs, a dying man will show up at the temple. Use Rain on the Temple so he can die in peace.

The people here will have horses after a while. Not sure if it has anything to do with the storyline or even the village, but okay...

When the wind stops blowing, send the Wind to get the windmills going again. The absence of wind stops population growth, so when it happens, drop all you're doing and use Wind.

The people of Aitos will also make clothes out of sheep's fleece, and will offer it to you. Don't take it yet, you'll need it later and you might need the inventory space for some Bombs or Strength of Angel.

The people will also refine their mountaineering skills enough to find another MP and offer it to you.

When you seal all the lairs, the volcano will erupt, allowing you access to Act 2. For some strange reason, they'll still build...but a lack of wind stops population growth while a volcano eruption doesn't? Gee, thanks, game.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 6 of 13

Before we finish up Kasandora, let's get a few things, shall we?

When you use the Harmonious Music in Bloodpool, they'll not only get back to building, they'll give you more stuff!

The people of Bloodpool will go water-faring like the people of Fillmore, but go even farther to the point that they navigate the oceans and invent a navigational device called a compass. They'll offer one to you...take it, and use it in Fillmore. The people of Fillmore will learn to fish, and if you stick around for a minute, you'll earn another extra life as an offering.

Kasandora - Act 2

If you were expecting anything different from the usual Egyptian/pyramid-themed level, this isn't the droid you're looking for. Move along.

The enemy roll call here consists of King Tut masks on the walls that spit (destructible) arrows, snakes, mummies, balls of electricity and red scorpions with the head and torso of a human soldier...weird. There are also birdmen that hold their swords like you do and slash low when they're close enough. Jump and hit with these guys. The red ones are worse than the blue, since they can jump clear over you, take more damage and shoot projectiles out of their swords.

The beginning of the second section is pretty wicked. There are gold obelisks and giant Anubis statues amidst a black background - pretty interesting for a Super NES launch title as well as an indicator as to what was to come with the system. There's also another extra life at the end of the moving platforms, just before you drop down.

The blue tiles in the beginning of the third section trigger the traps on the ceiling that shoot rocks down at you, so jump over them as you fight enemies. The rocks as well as their debris will cause damage if they hit you.

When you reach the platform that moves up and down after the mummies, jump when it goes down the spikes - they're instant death here.

The boss here is a giant King Tut mask. Run under it so it tries to crush you, then hit it while avoiding it sends toward you - when it hits the wall, it creates a miniature King Tut mask that spits an arrow at you before it disappears. Either way, this is an easier Act 2 boss than the Minotaur, that's for sure.

You may be able to get another scroll as an offering, after the townsfolk find it in the foot of the mountains due south. It's an MP, so take it.

After you've found the missing man and completed Act 2, Kasandora will fall victim to a plague, stopping population growth. You won't be able to do anything about that for now.

Head to the land north of Kasandora, on the other side of those mountains. You know, that land with the volcano. This is Aitos. Go there and fight monsters.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 5 of 13

Poor sand-claw-worm-guy-face.

Since you've probably used the wheat to further improve Fillmore by now, you won't have much of a choice but to move on to Kasandora, which is southwest of Bloodpool. It's that patch of desert land on the map.

Get ready to fight some monsters!

Kasandora - Act 1

The cacti act as spikes in this level. It should be pretty obvious.

Some of the sand dunes at the beginning act like conveyor belts that move you downward. Jump up them rather than walking, unless there are enemies nearby.

In the second section, there is another MP on top of one of the towers filled with the flying scorpion men. The flying scorpion people follow a set pattern, so don't worry about being chased throughout the level. Another tower has a full apple at the top, but you're better off waiting until you're near the boss, since you'll find another statue with a full apple in it there.

There is also a 1-Up on top of one of the towers. If you want, you can grab the 1-Up, then beat up enemies until you either lose all your health or run out of time on the timer, then grab the 1-Up again when you come back to it and keep on beating up monsters until you get a ton of points.

The sandworm is really simple. It pops up, spits out some rocks, then its claws come down the sides of the sand pit after it ducks back down. It them rises back out of the sand and repeats its attack. You can wipe almost all of its health by using Magical Stardust on it as soon as it comes out of the sand, then smacking it with your sword three times. It's really that easy to kill off. Poor sand-claw-worm-guy-face. (Yes, I know that's a hold-over from my notes from DeceasedCrab's Let's Play, but I decided to keep it in because I knew at least one person in real life who liked it.)

This town is very easy to max out. Just rain on the entire desert land and earn a combination of 21,100 points between both acts.

Some of the lairs are hidden in the sand. You'll have to send the rain to uncover them.

To save the people who lost their way, rain out the desert, then build a path to the man lying on the ground.

When you rescue the man lying on the ground, the people will tell you he is dead, but he was also holding a scroll in his hands, which they offer you. It's an extra MP, so take it. They'll also offer you Harmonious Music when you rescue the missing man. Take it and use it in Bloodpool to get the town's growth going again!

If you send rain onto the northernmost end of the desert, you'll find the lair for the red demons, as well as some strange pyramid. Hmmm...

If you use Earthquake after the pyramid has been unearthed (you'll need to level up enough before you can do this), you'll get an extra life as an offering.

If you build to the mountains where the drawing of the bird is, you'll get an Ancient Tablet that you'll need for later in the game.

Kasandora isn't too hard to get the maximum population in at all, especially if you build fully before you rescue the missing man. Replace the corn fields with the wheat from Bloodpool and you should be good to go for an easy 874 additional people.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 4 of 13

...and now, it's time to bring peace to Bloodpool once and for all...or do we?

Bloodpool - Act 2

In the second section, take the lift all the way down and go left. Hit the statue to receive an additional magic point. There's also one in the fourth section, which you can get by going left when you land in the shallow pool of water at the bottom.

The enemies here are pretty simple. Gargoyles that spit fireballs, flying skulls, and red slimes that jump at you when you're on the other side of a vertical corridor make for easy targets and easy points.

The lifts in this stage have spike traps at the top and bottom. If you touch the pincer traps at the ends of these lifts, you'll instantly die.

Near the end of the fourth section is a 1-Up. Grabbing it, then killing yourself on purpose (with the pincer traps, no doubt) will allow you to grab the additional MP at the shallow pool part as much as you want! Maximum MP is yours!

At the fifth section, the little blue guys now have wings! They'll fly up a bit before they dive down at you, which leaves them perfectly vulnerable if you move away before they come down.

In the sixth section, jump on the bricks moving in and out of the walls when their color is brightest. They're like those disappearing blocks in the Mega Man games, though more predictable. You can also refill your health if you hit the statue at the left when you reach the top.

The boss here is a wizard. He'll shoot a three-way shot, then he'll blast lightning downwards around him, just like the Centaur in Fillmore Act 1 did. The wizard will then teleport. Hit him once, then move away.

When he loses half of his health, he turns into a werewolf. He follows you around and leaps at you if you're on the platforms...assuming you don't kill him quickly. Use Magical Stardust to finish him off if you want to take him down quickly. Otherwise, get him to come up top, then try to hit him on the way down with crouching slashes. When you return to Sim Mode, the people will offer you another MP.

After defeating the evil wizard, the people of Bloodpool will become restless, and the town's population will stop growing. You won't be able to remedy this until later.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 3 of 13

Now that we've made Fillmore safe again, it's time to head to other parts of the world, starting with Bloodpool.

Gotta head back to Fillmore and take the Bridge as an offering. It becomes available as soon as the people of Fillmore are able to make bridges; I just forgot.

Select "Sky Palace Movement" under "To Move" (the first menu option; you can do this either in Sim Mode or at the Sky Palace itself) and move to the land to the west of Fillmore. "Bloodpool" should show up in the box on the upper-right corner. Select it, select "Fight," then select "Fight Monsters."

...and away we go!

Bloodpool - Act 1

First off, the water is a bottomless pit, so staying out of it will be one of your main concerns.

The lizard men in this stage throw boomerangs at you. When they stop, jump then duck. If you're in close, start hitting them.

The monsters that leap out of the water just crawl around once they're on land. It's usually better to hit them out of the air if you can, but they can be killed with a ducking sword slash.

Some parts of the bridges fall when you step on them. You can tell which ones they are by their decrepit, tattered appearance.

The small logs in the water fall about a second or two after you start standing on them. Usually, they'll be platforms you'll have to cross to get over the water, so jump to it...pronto!

Just before the end, if you go left on the last bridge in the level, you'll find a 1-Up. You can keep dying on purpose, getting the extra life, killing the monsters, and dying again, lather, rinse, repeat, so your Act 2 point total won't be an issue. You'll need 27100 points...so go nuts! Just don't hit the statue before you cross the bridge, or you won't be able to get it. You'll also be able to fully replenish your health right before you face the boss.

The boss here is a manticore. The trick to beating it is moving around so that you're underneath it when it's shooting a fireball. That way, you can get a few shots in. If you have Magical Fire equipped (which you should), you can get a few more hits in as it makes it ways back to water if you can time it just right. You'll only have two magic points, so make them count. The boss will always tend to position itself opposite the side you're on before it leaps in and out of the water between attacks.

When you've beaten him, Bloodpool may now became a land where people can live in peace. (Yes, that is a typo in the game. It's definitely not the last.)

As soon as you're ready to tackle Sim Mode, the people will ask you to dry up the marsh lands near the temple with sunlight. Using it takes 30 SP, so you'll be waiting a while, fighting monsters as you go before you can clear it all up.

One of the new enemies you'll face in Sim Mode that you'll meet here are red demons. They take four hits to kill, and they can also torch your people's farmland if given the chance. Whenever you hit them, they get knocked back to the north. Use that to your advantage and attack them from the south so you won't get hit by their recoil.

Speaking of monsters' lairs, if you destroy the bushes to the south of the lake of blood (hence why they call it Bloodpool), you'll find the lair for the red demons.

After a bit of building, you'll be able to produce wheat in other lands. Use it in Fillmore and other lands to increase their populations by taking it as an offering. You'll also hear about a kid named Teddy who is awfully curious. This won't be the last time you'll hear about him...

Unlike in Fillmore, the people of Bloodpool don't know how to build bridges. You'll have to move the Sky Palace back to Fillmore, select "To Move" and select "Observe The People." Then, take the Bridge as an offering and take it back to Bloodpool. Use it, and they'll be able to make bridges.

As you grow Bloodpool, the townspeople will learn how to grow Wheat. You'll be able to take Wheat as an offering and use it in other towns, especially Fillmore. Wheat will be able to feed more people, which in turn will allow you to get higher town populations.

As your population grows, you'll hear about Teddy again. This time, he's run away from home. They will hand you bread as an offering, and will ask you to bring it to him if you find him. Take it.

He will be near a cave near the blood red lake. Move the angel up to Teddy and use the Loaf of Bread on him. He'll move away from the lake, and the worshipers will not only be relieved that he's back, they'll tell you that he was really trying to find out how the the lake was poisoned. (I wrote this on purpose. Yet another typo in the game.) They'll present a skull Teddy found as another offering. Use it to destroy the red demons' lair. Doing this will net you another offering - another spell called Magical Stardust, which is the most powerful offensive magic in the game. It sends shooting stars at enemies, and it can make the game a lot easier at times.

If you can connect Fillmore and Bloodpool together through town construction, the people of Bloodpool will be able to teach the town of Fillmore how to make wheat without your help! Score!

You'll then unlock Act 2, which has you going into the castle near the lake. Three people are about to be sacrificed to a monster...and one of them is Teddy!

If you're going for maximum population in Bloodpool, be careful how you build it, especially before you build bridges. Building parallel to the river works best. Even when you introduce bridge building to Bloodpool, do not build more than three bridges, or your efforts will be ruined! (Unfortunately, I build more than the necessary amount of bridges, therefore ruining my efforts.)

Before you go, though, use Rain on the lake. You'll receive an extra life in the form of an offering.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 2 of 13

In this entry, we wrap up Fillmore to bring peace to the land once and for all before heading to other areas...

Now you're set. When you're ready, select "Fight," then select "Fight Monsters." Just like last time.

Fillmore - Act 2

This act takes place in an underground cavern full of bats and large, crawling worms (larvae?). There are also two types of goblins here. The gold ones move around and throw knives straight ahead, while the red ones stand still, moving only to jump up and throw knives at a downward angle.

The horned skulls shoot at you no matter where you are; however, they are only limited to eight directions. Hitting their fireballs, however, gives you 100 points apiece. That's not bad...

Picking up half an apple only refills a quarter of your health, as opposed to refilling your entire life bar with a whole apple. Still, it's better than nothing at times. You won't run across these very often.

When you're fighting the beast skeleton at the end of the first section, move away when he stops so you don't get hit, then move back in and hit him. It takes six hits before it goes down. After the slash, he moves back and then forward before attacking again, allowing you to get a few shots in. Hit twice, then back up.

In this game, spikes do not kill you on contact. Just wanted to throw that out there.

The faces in the walls in the second section spit out pink balls if you take too long getting up the platforms. Thankfully, they're easy to avoid.

To beat the Minotaur, move around so that he doesn't land on you on his way down. You'll want to move as far back as you can, then jump forward over the ax he throws. You'll want to turn around and jump as soon as the Minotaur does the throwing animation. Hit him after this until he jumps up and off the screen, then get away when he shows up again. Keep hitting him like this until he's toast.

To see your stats, and your scores for both acts of each town, select "Status," then select "Status of Master."

The combined scores of both of each town's acts have a direct correlation of sorts with the populations of your towns. Here are the number of souls in the monsters' lairs, the maximum possible populations for each towns, and the minimum score you need to achieve the maximum population for each, courtesy of Admiral's Maximum Population Guide

Anyway, you should be done with Fillmore...for now, anyway.

Select "Sky Palace Movement" under "To Move" (the first menu option; you can do this either in Sim Mode or at the Sky Palace itself) and move to the land to the west of Fillmore. "Bloodpool" should show up in the box on the upper-right corner. Select it, and you're there.

Going to "Others," (the final option), then "Message Speed" will let you change the speed that text scrolls during Sim Mode messages.

PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 1 of 13

While I don't get max population in this playthrough, I do manage to hit max level and find everything that can be found in the game. This is gonna be a fun one.

Once you enter your name (B inserts a letter, Y deletes a letter, and you have eight characters to work with), you'll find out that you need to regain your former strength that was sealed away by the demon Tanzra, and to do that you need to get the world to believe in you and your power once again.

You won't be able to do anything at the beginning, so press Down on the Control Pad to move to the second option (Fight), then select the first option (Fight Monsters). You'll go down to the first stage in the game.

When in the Sky Palace options, pressing B lets you confirm while pressing Y lets you back out.

Fillmore - Act 1

Reminds me of the Disney cartoon of the same name.

When you begin the stage (as you do any other), your heavenly body will take command of a statue which comes to life!

Fighting is simple. Left and Right on the Control Pad let you move around, and Down lets you jump. B lets you jump, and Y lets you swing your sword.

The enemies here are really wimpy. They'll all go down in one hit and their movements are all too predictable.

The bees come out of holes in the trees, in case you can't really tell. Unless you destroy the bee, more bees will keep coming out as they continue to leave the screen.

The trees that walk back and forth don't harm you; instead, they act as moving platform that let you jump onto higher tree branches. A few power-ups are located in the trees. The heart with the word "1-Up" below it is a 1-up, while a whole apple will refill all of your health.

The boss here is a centaur with a spear. He's pretty simple: stay away from him when he points the spear at you, backs up and charges, then get two or three hits in and run away when he stops to shoot lightning bolts at you. You'll be backed into a corner, but this actually makes it easier to tackle him. Even if you're all the way to the left, the lightning won't damage you. Also, if he still wants to charge at you with the lance, duck. Since you're backed into the corner, he's going to have limited range at this point.

Fillmore - Sim Mode

You're now in Sim Mode. You'll start with a temple and two humans. Use the menu to build roads and create houses for more humans, while at the same time leading your people to the monsters' lairs to seal them off.

You'll also take control of the Angel that you saw at the beginning of the game. Use the Control Pad to have him fly around. When you see a monster, shoot arrows at it to destroy it with the button and keep your town free of harm for a few extra seconds. Simple enough, right?

Pay attention to the hourglass in the upper-right corner. When the sand empties all the way into the bottom, you shall regain a smidge of SP and the town will grow.

When you have enough people, not only can you level up, the civilization level of the current town increases. Leveling up gives you more HP and SP (obviously), but civilization level-ups also help increase the town's maximum population. Destroy the houses from the previous civilization level with Lightning to make room for new ones that hold more people.

If you lose all your health in Sim Mode, you'll have to wait to recover a unit of health before you can fire your arrows again.

The highest population you can achieve is tied to your scores in both of that town's acts. I shall post a list of those "borderline" scores in a future blog entry.

Build roads to the two lairs to the north, so you can get rid of the bats as soon as possible. It won't be long before the people learn how to hunt...and fight off monsters. To do that, press B to open the menu, go down to the second option (Lead The People), then select the first option (Building Direction). From there, move the Control Pad to the exact spots you want the people to build the road, and they will take that path to build the road to the destination. It won't be instant, but it will happen. You can move the cursor (and the angel) seven spaces maximum, but you can have it end in less than that if press X before then. Just be sure the angel (and the cursor, obviously) is on the spot where you want to stop.

Speaking of the monsters, they're not too hard for the beginning. All the bats will do is carry people off, so you won't have to worry about too much. One of the lairs, however, will carry some sort of white dragons that will destroy parts of the town if it gets too close to civilization. Just hit the bats and white dragons with an arrow whenever you see them.

It also won't be long before you get an offering: a Bomb. It's not just a bomb, it's a "Bomb!" Using it will get rid of all the monsters currently onscreen during Sim Mode. Thankfully, Fillmore's Sim Mode is easy, so hold on to it and don't use it just yet.

To burn the bushes, press B to open up the menu. Select the Lightning from the Miracles menu (the third one down), and select the 4x4 area of land that has bushes in it. (The lightning won't destroy trees, so don't try.) If you run out of SP to use the Lightning, destroy monsters with the Angel's arrows and wait for the hourglass in the upper right to run out of time to refill them.

When the people of Fillmore tell you about the rock in the southeast corner of the town, go up to the cliff edge with the Angel and use Lightning to destroy the rock. You'll get the Magical Fire your effort, which you can get by selecting "Take an Offering." Congratulations! You now have a magic spell!

When the inhabitants find a scroll, go to the menu, select "Offerings" (the fourth option), then select "Take an Offering" from the menu to choose it. This scroll is a Source of Magic, and taking this scrolls gives you MP to use in battle to cast your spells. They are few and far between, so be careful.

When the inhabitants find a bow and arrow, take it as an offering. When you use it in Sim Mode, the Angel's arrows will be powered up for a limited time.

After you wipe out three monster lairs, the people will learn to how to build bridges. This will prove useful not only here, but also in future villages.

To get maximum population in Fillmore, build on all the land east of the river before you are able to build a bridge and seal off the last lair in the west. You should also get a combined score of 20600 in both acts. Also, you must only build one bridge. To do that, you'll want to build a path going north on the east side of the river. To do that, simply go to the mouth of the sea where the river stops and go north. As for the one bridge, you'll have to build one north of the monster's lair on the west-most part of the town.

To see how many more monsters are in a lair, press the B button when you're over a lair. Don't let them kill people unless you want that number to increase. Also you must seal lairs and kill monsters for your population to grow.

As you wipe out monster lairs, you'll improve the civilization level of the town you're working on. This lets you build better houses that can hold more people, which in turn gets you closer to maximum population. The maximum civilization level you can achieve is Level 3. To check on this, go to the Pause menu, go to Status and go to Status of City. Once you're at maximum population, you'll want to destroy all the wooden houses with Lightning. Also, do not re-direct where the people build, as you will more than likely build another bridge on accident.

The maximum population you can reach before completing Act 2 is 906 people. After that, it will be 914, but the game will stop at 912. If you go to another city, leave, then come back, it will be at 914.

When the house catches fire, go to Miracles and select Rain to put it out.

After sealing all the lairs, you'll be able to enter Act 2. Here, the Minotaur has come out of a huge hole in the ground and plans on destroying all of Fillmore, leaving you no choice but to fight him off and stop him.

Head back to the Sky Palace by selecting "To Move" from the menu and choosing "Return to Sky Palace." Here, you'll be able to switch spells and save your game.

To save the game, choose "Other," (the bottom-most option) then choose "Progress Log."

To equip Magical Fire, go up to "Fight" and choose "Select Magic." You'll then be able to choose which spell you want to bring to battle.