SEE YOU IN 2019!
Friday, December 31, 2021
Kikoskia plays Silent Bomber - Part 8 of 23
This guy again? Well, he shouldn't be a problem.
As you continue through the maze, you'll have to use your bombs to blow up panels and turn off electric barriers that will block your path. Use your Lock-On Unit to blow up the turrets and anything that spawns them. If you need to, run rings around the turrets and drop bombs on the floor as you do.
You can perform a wall jump to get to the E-Chip in the side-scrolling segment. Why the game never tells you that you have one, I'll never know. You should have seven bombs by the time you are done with this section.
You'll eventually reach a boss battle. Remember the first boss in the game? Well, it now spins around and fires a purple laser around the room, and it produces drowns that fire a lot of projectiles. Like last time, blow up the legs, and watch out for all those purple lasers.
PrinceWatercress plays Toonstruck - Part 3 of 19
In this entry, we leave the castle for the first time and head to the village shops to get to know some of the people of Cutopia. This leads to us taking care of a rodent problem in the tavern.
If you talk to the now-flattened footman, you can say different things depending on where you left-click or right-click on him.
South of the castle entrance is the town. There are a few shops here, and the green-and-white building with the shamrock sign is the tavern.
When you enter the tavern, you'll find out that it has a bit of a mouse problem. You can left-click the mouse, but the mouse will run away to one of three locations: the bar, the pipe organ and the mousehole. There is a mousetrap, but if you use that while the mouse is at the mousehole, the mouse will dodge it.
By talking to the barkeep - a shamrock who is part Scottish and part Irish and switches between the two accents every so often - and breaking the ice with him, you'll find out that the mouse is giving even the barkeep and his customers trouble, so much so that he is giving away a reward to anyone who catches it. If you ask about the organ, you'll find out that the Baker Boys performed on it almost every day until one of the brothers disappeared.
If you ask about the mouse, you'll find out the mouse has been here for some time. If you ask about the mousetrap, the barkeep will say that he hoped that he would never have to use it, and is looking for somebody with pest control experience to get rid of it.
There is a way to catch the mouse. Click on the mouse until it returns to its house near the mousetrap. Click on the pipe organ to have Drew play it. You'll notice the mouse starts dancing when you play it. Click on Flux, then click on the mousetrap. This will get rid of the mouse, and you can left-click on it with Drew and put it in your inventory. The barkeep will also give you a tankard as a reward for getting rid of the mouse.
Thursday, December 30, 2021
Kikoskia plays Silent Bomber - Part 7 of 23
You'll be spending a little more time than usual trying to get through this stage just to find all the E-Chips, but it'll be worth it.
Mission 06
I was suddenly cut off from Annri...And then the Line Rail jerked to a halt! Looks like our transmissions were intercepted. When I jumped out, I took shelter in a giant power cable...
Operation: Find a way out!
When you start the mission, you'll be greeted by the voice of Benoit, who asks Jutah if he is nervous having lost his commander Annri only to be told it is no big loss because he's only lost someone who was tying him down with orders. Benoit then tells Jutah to cut himself loose, call up those killer instincts and reclaim who he really is.
As you start the level, you'll be using using the Burst Drive to jump over lasers and the Lock-On Unit to blow up turrets and other things. Drop bombs near the pads where the purple lasers shoot out to take out the laser cannons. Shoot the spinning panel on the floor to temporarily turn off the nearby laser wall so you can pass through.
You'll also need to blow up the ships that block your progress, or else they will send turrets out endlessly...and those turrets shoot projectiles that slowly home in on you. Thankfully, the projectiles disappear after they travel a far enough distance.
This level is a bit of a maze, and you'll be in a top-down camera angle as you go through it. Be careful not to go through this maze too fast, as there is not a lot of health pick-ups throughout the maze.
You should also have six bombs at this point. Use them all to get past some of the tougher traps.
Kikoskia plays Silent Bomber - Part 6 of 23
In this entry, we go off to protect the rest of the team...and it's not going to be an easy task.
Mission 05
I've received an SOS from Tim and the others in the lander. Just as they were heading for the catapult to meet up with me, they were surrounded by the enemy. Damn it, these guys are nothing but trouble.
Operation: Fight off the enemy and protect the lander!
At the start of the mission, the lander goes down. From here, you'll need to rush to it.
You'll be seeing turrets that move back and forth. Also, a green ship will also try to shoot at you while smaller yellow ships come after you. At least you can use the Lock-On Unit on the ships, and the green ones can go down with five bombs, which you should definitely have at this point, with a sixth that can be gotten on the way.
One of the lifts will be needed to get through the level.
Eventually, you'll reach the lander. You'll need to pay attention to the lander's shields, which will be in the upper-right corner, as you bomb all the enemies that fire at the lander. The worst enemy is the green ship, and you'll need to throw bombs towards it to do as much damage to it as possible. Thankfully, you'll have some back-up in the form of some guy with a rocket launcher.
After you successfully protect the lander, the lander will not be in the best of shape, and you'll have to find another route. You'll need to head back into the ship to end the level.
At the beginning of the next mission, Jutah will enter the cargo room, find the linear liner and infiltrate it. Jutah will not that security is getting tighter the further he goes. After a brief conversation with Annri where Jutah states that he has no pride in destruction as it is the only thing he knows, he loses contact.
PrinceWatercress plays Toonstruck - Part 2 of 19
Before we head out into the great unknown, we do some more things in the castle. You don't have to do them THIS early in the game, but I end up doing it at the start anyway because I was able to figure stuff out on the fly.
When you leave the castle, you can talk to the guards Sparky and Chipper at the front door. When you ask them what they do around here, they will do a little "hello" dance, and one of them will drop a key. Get them to do it again by clicking on the armadillo guard option, and this time, left-click the key to notice the key has been dropped, then left-click it again before the guard picks it back up. You can try to learn things about King Hugh from the guards, but they won't be able to tell you anything.
The key is used back in the castle at the downstairs door to the left. This leads to King Hugh's bedroom. Take the music box that is on the dresser. You'll need it later.
If you pull on the long cord coming down from the ceiling, the footman will show up and chastise you for pulling on it. If you left-click on the rug on the floor, you'll find a trap door underneath, and if left-click on the rolled-up rug, you'll put the rug back the way it was.
There is a ladder leading up to King Hugh's bed. Drew cannot climb it, but Flux can. Click on Flux, then click on the ladder. Flux will climb the ladder and find a voucher for a free costume rental from Ms. Fit's costume shop.
The note near the mirror reads "Remember, open up. Don't shut down. Go right in. Don't be left out. What this means is that you'll need to open only the top and bottom drawers (Up must be open, down can't be shut) to get something to happen, and that the left and right drawers (Right must be in, left cannot be out) must stay closed. To do that, click the top drawer, then click the bottom drawer. You'll open up a passage underneath the bed, and this leads to a cellar beneath King Hugh's bedroom, where the trap door will be above Drew and Flux's heads. There is a loose floorboard on the floor, and if you put Flux Wildly on the floorboard, you'll be able to open the trap door. Put the rug on top of the open trap door, pull the cord, and the footman will run into the room only to fall into the trap door, get covered in tar and feathers from some barrels on the other side of the floorboard, then get crushed by anvil inside of a third barrel. We won't be seeing him again.
You can now do things inside the trophy room. You can take the fish trophy, but you won't be able to take the watering can without shutting the door. If you take it, you'll have to put it back. There is a way to get the watering can, but we don't have that means yet.
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Kikoskia plays Silent Bomber - Part 5 of 23
In this entry, we take out the last of the Hardshells and get out of dodge.
You only have one life, and if you die, you'll need to continue.
The yellow and orange Hardshells have shields, and these shields keep you from using your Lock-On Unit to plant bombs on them. You'll have to lure them towards your bombs and detonate at the right time to get rid of them. These guys show up just in time for the rest of your crew to get in major trouble.
You'll eventually see the guys in the Hardshells from earlier in the game. Watch out for the red laser sight, as this is where the head honcho's laser cannon is going to be aimed. If you need to, use the Burst Drive to jump over the laser. Thankfully, you can use your Lock-On Unit on the head honcho. When you beat him, he will fly away, and you'll be able to end the level.
Kikoskia plays Silent Bomber - Part 4 of 23
In this entry, we destroy the last of the condensers before going after the mechanized infantry as Jutah continues to do the only thing he really knows how to do.
Against human enemies, stay on the move and lay down bombs. If you have one guy coming after you, lay a line of bombs as you run away and let 'er rip.
Once you get rid of all of the energy condensers on the first level, you'll be told to go up to get to the remaining level. There is an area where you can jump up to the edge of the upper level all the way to the east where you can jump up, grab the edge and vault yourself over there.
With the ships. wait for the ship to fire, then use the Lock-On Unit to put bombs on it as the shield is down. Move around so that you don't get shot. The green ship doesn't move, but the brown ones do, and the brown ones have fast-moving purple lasers.
In the areas with multiple condensers, once you destroy all the condensers in an area, the area will explore and collapse once you leave.
Once you destroy the condensers, you'll be able to exit and end the level.
Mission 04
The most dangerous enemy inside the ship is the Hardshells (mechanized infantry). Annri has ordered me to mop them up. If I hit 'em now, I ought to be able to get the drop on them before they can mobilize!
Operation: Destroy all Hardshells!
When you begin this mission, you'll find out that the Hardshells should be undergoing maintenance, making them easy pickings for destruction. The Hardshells are the mechs that you saw earlier in the game.
With the Hardshells, you'll definitely need to use the Lock-On Unit. If you see a laser come from them, stay away from it and keep moving so you don't get shot. Some of them will have lightsabers, making the Lock-On Unit crucial for getting rid of them.
If you see a stationary Hardshell, that will be one of the targets you'll need to blow up.
This level has multiple lifts, and you'll be able to take one after another to reach the top.
PrinceWatercress plays Toonstruck - Part 1 of 19
Poor Drew Blanc. He's been forced to work on The Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun Show for the last ten years and is now being forced to push the show towards an even longer run by making even more bunnies. But after he falls asleep while suffering from artist's block, he gets sucked into the cartoon world, where he meets one of his own creations, Flux Wildly. From here, he not only has to return home, but he has to help King Hugh of Cutopia save the toon world from Count Nefarious and his Malevolator, and the adventure starts with Drew and Flux exploring King Hugh's castle.
I'll let the back of the box explain things.
As Drew Blanc, animator of The Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun Show, your life hasn't turned out exactly as planned. Your boss has it in for you. Your creativity's left town on you. And just when you think it can't get much worse, it does. A freak accident involving electronics (don't ask) spins you headfirst into the WHACKED OUT and not-so-warm-and-fuzzy world of your own cartoon creations.To get home, you'll need to unravel the secrets of these loony lands before they unravel you. Out-smart DEMENTED clowns, out-shock CROSS-DRESSING livestock and outwit a diabolical Count named Nefarious. It's a mind-reeling toonatopia that'll have you acting so DEPRAVED you might even shock yourself. Send someone an exploding turkey. Watch Spike the Clown torture balloon animals. And, if you've got any energy left, try preventing an ALL-OUT WAR between the cartoon forces of good and evil. Word to the wise: BETTER PACK AN ANVIL.
And now, for Wikipedia to provide the story so far.
Animator Drew Blanc is the original creator of The Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun Show, which has been a ten-year success for his company. In reality, the many cute talking rabbits that star in the show sicken him. His self-revered creation Flux Wildly, a wise-talking small purple character, has been denied the chance of starring in his own show. Drew's boss Sam Schmaltz sets him the task of designing more bunnies to co-star in the show by the next morning. However, the depressed animator soon nods off, suffering from acute artist's block. He wakes in the night to inexplicably find his television switched on, announcing the Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun Show. Suddenly, Drew is mysteriously drawn into the TV screen and transported to a cartoon world populated by his own creations, among many other cartoon characters. He soon befriends Flux Wildly and discovers that this fictional paradise is being ravaged by a ruthless new character named Count Nefarious with a weapon of evil called the Malevolator, a flying saucer which mutates the idyllic landscape and its inhabitants into dark and twisted counterparts.Upon meeting with King Hugh, the king of Cutopia, Drew is given the task of hunting down and stopping Nefarious, thereby restoring peace and harmony to the land, in return for safe passage back to three-dimensional reality.
And from here, we start the game at the castle. Left-clicking something will allow you to move Drew and Flux to places and interact with objects and people, and right-clicking allows you to examine someone or something. Right-click a location also allows you to fast-travel, so you don't have to watch Drew and Flux walk to a place to go there. If the cursor turns into a magnifying glass, both buttons do examining no matter what.
If you left-click on Flux Wildy, your cursor will become Flux's face, and you can use him to interact with objects. There will be a few times in the game where you will need to do this. To get control of Drew back, just right-click.
The first place to go is to the doorway in the lower-right, which takes you to the royal engineer, whom King Hugh has asked us to meet with regarding the building of the Cutifier. Here, we meet the chief engineer, who says that he has lost his glasses and needs help finding them.
From here, enter the room in the upper-right where the butler who is shaped like a foot is dusting things. Turns out the butler is really a footman, as a butler would be a human butt, and that he is dusting various trophies in a trophy room. Left-click on the footman, and from here, you'll learn how to talk to people.
There will be dialogue options at the bottom of the screen. The first one will always be an ice cube that allows for small talk, or "breaking the ice" with a particular character. As you click it and learn things, the ice cube will melt, and once it becomes a puddle of water, that option will be done. You'll also have a hand icon, which stops conversation.
By breaking the ice with the footman, you'll learn that the footman is not one for small talk, and that he insists that King Hugh be respected. You'll also get other options: the chief engineer and King Hugh. By mentioning the chief engineer, Drew will ask about the engineer's glasses. The footman will tell you that this is Bricabrac, the royal engineer, and that his glasses will be in his pocket as they usually are. By mentioning King Hugh, the footman says it is terrible to see his royal highness so unhappy and mentions winding the music box for him to get him to sleep.
Once you're done talking to the footman, go back to the engineering room and talk to the flustered bird (who is now named Bricabrac) to tell him his glasses are in his pocket. He will put them on, then Drew and Flux will introduce themselves and mention King Hugh's mission. Bricabrac will show Drew and Flux the blueprints to the Malevator, and explain that in order to create the Cutifier, twelve objects that are opposites of what are used in the Malevolator - spice, a dagger, a heart, whistles, polish, needles, bolts, a ball, a bw, a salt shaker and a rock - must be used to produce a malevolation beam of a reverse effect and must be placed in the Cutifier. We will have to explore the game world to find them. Thankfully, Bricabrac has one of these things already: a jar of sugar, which is the opposite of spice. Bricabrac then gives Drew the blueprints, and also gives him a bottomless bag to carry the things that we will find on our quest to get back home. We can also go into the room on the right in order to place things in the Cutifier according to the Malevolator blueprints, if we wish.
By going in that room, we can place things in the Cutifier, then see what is compatible and if we have it in the right place with the red button near the monitor. The monitor will show you how many things you've gotten right as well as how many of them are in the right place, but that is about it.
The Bottomless Bag will be in the lower-right corner, and we can click on it to look in our inventory. Left-click to take something out of the bag, and right-click to get a very brief description of an object. To leave the bag, click on the outside of the inventory area, and you can use the item you have - which has now replaced your cursor - for whatever you need it for. To put an item back in the bag outside of the inventory screen, just right-click.
Pressing F5 lets you save a game, while pressing F6 lets you load. Pressing F1 will allow you to access the game menu, where you can change the font, adjust sound levels, change the text speed and choose between low-quality and high-quality video. You can also quit the game from here.
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Kikoskia plays Silent Bomber - Part 3 of 23
The next two missions of the game has us making an ingress route for the rest of the squad before doing some more damage to the Dante.
Mission 2
Our team the only one left of the assault unit, but can we really say we were lucky? I had a feeling that more fighting would be waiting for us behind those heavily sealed doors.
Operation: Eliminate the enemy and find an ingress route!
At the beginning, you'll be blowing up more boxes and more robots and turrets. You'll be able to get some bomb liquids and some E-Chips around here. You can also find Data Chip 1. Data Chips are used to unlock playable characters in the game's Versus Mode.
You won't get far before a bunch of people in giant combat mechas keep you from continuing. Two of them will have sabers, but the third one will have a giant laser cannon. You can use the Burst Drive to avoid the laser as you focus all of your attacks on him.
Once you make it to the exit, you'll face the boss. Stay away from the laser and use the Lock-On Unit on the boss to do damage while avoiding the infinitely spawning enemies. If you need to get the enemies out of the way, however, feel free to blow them up. As long as you stay on the move and away from the laser, you'll beat this thing. Once you go through the exit, you'll meet Benoit, who tells you that you truly deserve to be on a battlefield before saying that they will meet again. After going through one more exit, you'll complete the mission.
Before the next mission, the enemy steps up their game and increases their attack against the Hornet Assault Team, which Jutah is a part of. Meanwhile, Jutah finds out that his assault team is the only one left and that contact with Benoit has been lost. Meanwhile, Tim and John are repairing the lander, while Micino and Annri (the person contacting you) are attempting to hack into the ship's system. For the hack to work, the system will need to be distracted, and this is where Jutah comes in...
Mission 3
Annri needs a big diversion if she's going to hack into their system. I've chosen the energy distribution facility as the target for my feint operation...
Operation: Destroy all energy condensers!
You'll be dealing with flying drones along with a much bigger drone with a laser cannon. Use the Lock-On units on the much bigger drones to take them out, and stay away from the center if you see the laser charge up.
The boxes with the red items can be blown up for items.
For the human enemies, stay on the move to take them out if you need to, then jump or use the Burst Drive to get over the shields.
The energy condensers will have target markers on them.
Kikoskia plays Silent Bomber - Part 2 of 23
Now that the tutorial and the nightmares of the past are over, it's time for the first real mission of the game.
Mission 01
The raid operation has failed! Every time an A-A Cannon fires, another one of our landers is blown to pieces... If this keeps up, the assault team will be wiped out!
Operation: Destroy all anti-aircraft batteries!
At the start of the mission, you'll be told that there is an E-Chip - an E-Unit power-up - in a box next to you that you can destroy. Destroy the box to get the E-Chip. The E-Chip will increase the status of your E-Unit.
Head west. If any boxes show up that spawn enemies, destroy them by laying bombs where they will be and detonate them when the boxes show up to get a ton of points. As for the enemies that come out of them, use your Lock-On Unit to take care of them with two bombs each.
Beam Gates have generators on each side. Use your bombs on the generators to blow them up and deactivate the gates. Use the Lock-On Unit to destroy them.
From here, you will have targets that you need to destroy, and they will be designated with a marker. Be sure to blow up the bombs nearby for Paralysis Liquid, which will stun enemies. Take out the turrets as well as the enemies, too. If you need to see how many targets you've destroyed, keep an eye on the upper-right corner underneath your score.
The Gravity Liquid deals crushing gravity damage on enemies.
If you're quick on the draw when it comes to destroying a lot of enemies, you can get your point multipliers up pretty quickly. It also helps to have a lot of enemies near your bomb blasts when you do this, too.
Enemies sometimes drop health. It won't be much, but it can help, so keep a look out.
If you pick up three E-Chips, you'll get a third bomb. You can see how many bombs you can plant and detonate at any time by looking in the upper-right corner where all the triangles are.
Once you destroy all the targets, you'll get a designated exit marker telling you which direction to go and how much further you have to go to get to the next destination. Follow the marker to move ahead.
You'll then face a giant, multi-legged anti-aircraft tank. Avoid the laser cannons and stay in the center, and use the Lock-On Unit to drop bombs on the body. When you have three on there, get away and detonate, and watch out for the machine gun fire. You can destroy the legs, but the boss will start sliding around everywhere, so concentrate mainly on the body.
The boss can also shoot missiles, but the missiles hit you if you get away from the body. If the boss produces a yellow shield, it will charge forward. From here, you'll want to lay bombs on the floor to detonate when it stops moving, as you won't be able to use the Lock-On Unit as long as the shield is up and the boss is sliding around. After it is mentioned that Benoit is nowhere to be seen. From here, go ahead and exit.
You'll then see how well you did points-wise and get a rank depending on how well you did. From here, you'll be at the intermission menu. From here, you can go on to the next mission, save your game and customize your E-Unit with the E-Chips that you've found throughout the game. The E-Unit menu is useful, as it allows you power up your default bombs. With this, you can change the number of bombs you can lay down (Bomb), how far your Lock-On Unit can scan (Range) and increase your shield to decrease the amount of damage you take during gameplay (Shield).
PrinceWatercress plays Kingdom of Craal (BBC Micro) - The Longplay
Here's the game without my commentary. Enjoy.
This game is also available on the Amstrad CPC464 and plays the same despite being in color.
On a visit to the Palace of Craal, you find the place in uproar. The King is dead and his crown stolen by a wicked wizard who's fled to his den in the palace dungeons. By paying rather too much attention to the ex-king's daughter, you find yourself volunteered to recover it. You are thrown into the dungeons and told not to come back without the crown. Here begins the adventure...
To look around the current location, press L and press Return. N, S, E and W go north, south, east and west, respectively. I gives you your inventory. Typing any of the other twenty letters in the alphabet gives you commands you can type in.
Commands will be in all caps.
You'll start out in the Armoury. There is a vending machine here that you cannot use yet. S. You'll be in an old dirty chamber. TAKE CURTAIN. E. You'll be in a hermit's cell where a fire burns brilliantly in a corner. Without this fire, the room will be dark. E. An irate dwarf will get irritated at you for lighting up the room and throw his lamp at you, breaking it as soon as it lands in the previous room. You won't be able to interact with this troll at all, and the troll keeps you from going north. W. TAKE LAMP. W. N. You'll be back at the armoury.
N. You will be in a cavern with a large pool of water. E. You'll be in a tight east-west tunnel, and inside the tunnel is a dry, blank parchment. TAKE PARCHMENT. E. You'll be in Ebeneezer's Enterprises, where a troll with a business-like air will be. Just like the troll we met earlier, we cannot interact directly with this shopkeeper. At this point, some people will get stuck.
W. W. DROP PARCHMENT. You will drop the parchment in the water, and the parchment will change. L. You'll find out the parchment is now a voucher for a free lamp in exchange for a broken one. TAKE VOUCHER. E. E. You'll be back at Ebeneezer's Enterprises. DROP VOUCHER. DROP LAMP. You'll get a brand new lamp. Don't worry about taking it; it will automatically be in your inventory, and the game will tell you if you try (at least the game does this).
W. W. DROP CURTAIN at the cavern with the pool of water. The curtain will get wet. S. S. E. DROP LAMP at the hermit's cell. This lights the lamp. DROP CURTAIN. The curtain will burn away and reveal a coin. TAKE COIN. You'll want to do all these steps in this order. If you drop the wet curtain before lighting the new lamp, the troll in the next room comes in under the cover of complete darkness and kills you. (I did not know this until I tried to record the longplay.) If you drop the curtain into the fire without getting it wet first, it will catch on fire completely and kill you. TAKE COIN. TAKE LAMP if you want to.
W. N. DROP COIN. A sword will come out of the vending machine; you'll automatically take it. HIT VENDING MACHINE. (If you don't have the sword, the game tells you to get one first.) You'll break the vending machine and find the coin again. TAKE COIN.
S. E. E. HIT TROLL. If you have the sword, you'll kill the troll; if you don't, the game tells you to get a sword first. After killing the troll, you can go north. N. You'll enter the final room, with a mirror that has this engravement: "Say mirror word to wizard meet, Be sure you have the gold to greet." SAY HELLO OLLEH. You'll teleport into the wizard's room. If you have the coin, the wizard uses the coin to buy a pint and gives you the crown, making you king and winning the game. If you don't have the coin, the wizard kills you. Either way, you don't battle the wizard. Weird. But hey, having the coin wins the game.
The game isn't bad, but I have some complaints with the game. Unless you've played other text adventures from this period, you'll have no idea that all the commands for this game are done in shorthand, as the game expects you to know shorthand text adventure commands. Also, the room descriptions give you no idea of where you can go, forcing you to make a map of this game. When you pick up an item, the game does not tell you that you have, and you'll be forced to look at the room again to check your inventory just to make sure you picked it up. Also, to use items, you have to drop them, as the game recognizes no other commands. A few of the puzzles, such as the curtain and teleporting into the wizard's room can be a bit out there for some players. You can't even interact with either of the trolls in this game or the wizard directly. No grunts from the troll? No enterprise troll welcoming us to his shop and asking how he can help us? No brief wizard battle where you somehow get to kill him with the sword? C'mon. I was expecting at least that last one. Despite all these gripes, this is an alright text adventure, even if it is a bit short in actuality, but at the same time, I wish the execution was better control-wise.
Monday, December 27, 2021
Kikoskia plays Silent Bomber - Part 1 of 23
Here's the intro...
...and here's the game.
You can start of the first level of the game, or you can play the tutorial first. We're playing the tutorial.
You start as a man named Jutah (pronounced "YOO-tah"). This man is not only a soldier, he is a highly-trained killing machine who knows only the battlefield. You start with a flashback of his training.
At times, you will need to clear debris, especially debris marked with a "Target" marker. To plant a bomb, use the Square button. To detonate, press Triangle. Make sure that you are a safe distance away from the blast before detonating. Sometimes, you will need a group of multiple bombs - also known as a "stack" - to get rid of some tough debris. Lay multiple bombs with Square, then give yourself distance between you and the bombs, then detonate with Triangle. By looking in the upper-right corner, you'll see that you have a maximum of two bombs that you can plant at any time. You can, however, increase that maximum number during gameplay.
You'll then face some enemies. Destroy the container that you see with a bomb, then grab the Lock-On Unit. A helicopter will show up. When you have the Lock-On Unit, hold down Square to activate your Sight, then get the enemy into it. When you have a yellow line lined up with the enemy, let go of Square to plant a bomb on the enemy. From there, you can detonate with Triangle.
The enemy helicopter will drop Napalm Liquid. Using this in conjunction with your bombs will result in more powerful and deadly explosions. To the left of your life gauge in the upper-left corner is an orange icon signifying that you can use Napalm Liquid five times. Press Circle to use your currently selected special bomb liquid, and detonate with Triangle. When you have multiple liquids, you can switch between them with . Use them wisely, as you only have a limited amount.
After destroying one last set of debris, you'll face a group of enemies. Press the Jump button twice to activate your Burst Drive. This allows you to perform an air dash. Use this to avoid getting shot as well as to get some distance. From here, use your Lock-On Unit to take out the helicopters. You'll then face a tank.
Use your Lock-On Unit to plant bombs on the tank, and stay on the move so you don't get shot. This is a simple boss. From here, you'll get a cutscene where Jutah destroys an enemy installation automatically only to find out that civilians were inside. The person who is commanding Jutah orders him to burn the place to the ground. From there, the flashback ends by fading to white with screams of civilians, including a female.
From there, we get a cutscene of Jutah waking up from a bad dream. It has been seven years since the events of the flashback happened. Jutah is on a spaceship heading to another larger spaceship in the security zone of someone named Dante to save someone known as "Hornet." When the crack team that Jutah is working with - which is really a group of prisoners sent in to destroy a spaceship - moves in, they are somehow found out and shot at by the defense cannons, and everyone has to be jettisoned from the ship, which goes down. Jutah manages to survive his capsule's crash landing. Unfortunately, everyone else gets shot down, and from here, it's time to destroy all the anti-aircraft weaponry.
PrinceWatercress plays Kingdom of Craal (BBC Micro)
It's time for another BBC Micro text adventure game. This one is short and fun like the others I've played before, but this one is a bit rough around the edges control-wise, and I wish that part was polished a little more.
This game is also available on the Amstrad CPC464 and plays the same despite being in color.
On a visit to the Palace of Craal, you find the place in uproar. The King is dead and his crown stolen by a wicked wizard who's fled to his den in the palace dungeons. By paying rather too much attention to the ex-king's daughter, you find yourself volunteered to recover it. You are thrown into the dungeons and told not to come back without the crown. Here begins the adventure...
To look around the current location, press L and press Return. N, S, E and W go north, south, east and west, respectively. I gives you your inventory. Typing any of the other twenty letters in the alphabet gives you commands you can type in.
Commands will be in all caps.
You'll start out in the Armoury. There is a vending machine here that you cannot use yet. S. You'll be in an old dirty chamber. TAKE CURTAIN. E. You'll be in a hermit's cell where a fire burns brilliantly in a corner. Without this fire, the room will be dark. E. An irate dwarf will get irritated at you for lighting up the room and throw his lamp at you, breaking it as soon as it lands in the previous room. You won't be able to interact with this troll at all, and the troll keeps you from going north. W. TAKE LAMP. W. N. You'll be back at the armoury.
N. You will be in a cavern with a large pool of water. E. You'll be in a tight east-west tunnel, and inside the tunnel is a dry, blank parchment. TAKE PARCHMENT. E. You'll be in Ebeneezer's Enterprises, where a troll with a business-like air will be. Just like the troll we met earlier, we cannot interact directly with this shopkeeper. At this point, some people will get stuck.
W. W. DROP PARCHMENT. You will drop the parchment in the water, and the parchment will change. L. You'll find out the parchment is now a voucher for a free lamp in exchange for a broken one. TAKE VOUCHER. E. E. You'll be back at Ebeneezer's Enterprises. DROP VOUCHER. DROP LAMP. You'll get a brand new lamp. Don't worry about taking it; it will automatically be in your inventory, and the game will tell you if you try (at least the game does this).
W. W. DROP CURTAIN at the cavern with the pool of water. The curtain will get wet. S. S. E. DROP LAMP at the hermit's cell. This lights the lamp. DROP CURTAIN. The curtain will burn away and reveal a coin. TAKE COIN. You'll want to do all these steps in this order. If you drop the wet curtain before lighting the new lamp, the troll in the next room comes in under the cover of complete darkness and kills you. (I did not know this until I tried to record the longplay.) If you drop the curtain into the fire without getting it wet first, it will catch on fire completely and kill you. TAKE COIN. TAKE LAMP if you want to.
W. N. DROP COIN. A sword will come out of the vending machine; you'll automatically take it. HIT VENDING MACHINE. (If you don't have the sword, the game tells you to get one first.) You'll break the vending machine and find the coin again. TAKE COIN.
S. E. E. HIT TROLL. If you have the sword, you'll kill the troll; if you don't, the game tells you to get a sword first. After killing the troll, you can go north. N. You'll enter the final room, with a mirror that has this engravement: "Say mirror word to wizard meet, Be sure you have the gold to greet." SAY HELLO OLLEH. You'll teleport into the wizard's room. If you have the coin, the wizard uses the coin to buy a pint and gives you the crown, making you king and winning the game. If you don't have the coin, the wizard kills you. Either way, you don't battle the wizard. Weird. But hey, having the coin wins the game.
The game isn't bad, but I have some complaints with the game. Unless you've played other text adventures from this period, you'll have no idea that all the commands for this game are done in shorthand, as the game expects you to know shorthand text adventure commands. Also, the room descriptions give you no idea of where you can go, forcing you to make a map of this game. When you pick up an item, the game does not tell you that you have, and you'll be forced to look at the room again to check your inventory just to make sure you picked it up. Also, to use items, you have to drop them, as the game recognizes no other commands. A few of the puzzles, such as the curtain and teleporting into the wizard's room can be a bit out there for some players. You can't even interact with either of the trolls in this game or the wizard directly. No grunts from the troll? No enterprise troll welcoming us to his shop and asking how he can help us? No brief wizard battle where you somehow get to kill him with the sword? C'mon. I was expecting at least that last one. Despite all these gripes, this is an alright text adventure, even if it is a bit short in actuality, but at the same time, I wish the execution was better control-wise.
Sunday, December 26, 2021
HCBailly and JB play Secret of Mana - Part 41 of 41
It's time for the final battle against the Mana Beast
It's time to take on the final boss of the game. Before that can happen, Randi has doubts about fighting a Mana Beast as they only want to restore Mana, and there is also the issue of Popoie disappearing if he uses up all of his Mana power. Popoie mentions that his world is separate from this one, and his disappearance will only lead to him going back to his own world. It also becomes apparent that Randi has no choice due to having the Mana Sword as well as his vow with his mother. From there, the fight begins.
First, have Purim and Popoie both cast Mana Magic on Randi, and have Randi equip the sword. This will revive the Sword temporarily. Next, cast Lucid Barrier on the whole party, then case Moon Energy on Randi. The fireball that the Mana Beast shoots at you won't work, but the charge attack will. From here, strike the Mana Beast with 100% shots from the sword with Randi. The Mana Beast will cast Wall on itself and also cast Lucent Beam on your party, but if you keep healing, you should be okay.
Once the Mana Beast goes down, the Mana Fortress comes crashing down, and Popoie disappears. Randi and Purim say goodbye to Popoie and Dyluck, then the Mana Beast turns into snow. Randi and Purim then take one last world tour and meet with everyone from their journey as the snow falls all over the world, then Randi and Purim both head back home, all as the credits roll. You just beat Secret of Mana!
HCBailly and JB play Secret of Mana - Part 40 of 41
After a brief preview of the end, we make our way even further into the Mana Fortress and finally go face-to-face with Thanatos.
The Master Ninjas are even more powerul versions of the Dark Stalker. They can cast Exploder and Stone Saber. They can also drop a Boomerang's Orb. The Ninja's Trump is the best boomerang in the game.
The Terminators are more powerful versions of the Dark Knight and can drop the Whip's Orb. They can also protect themselves from physical damage with Lucid Barrier. The Gigas Flail is the best whip in the game.
At the end, you'll meet Thanatos, who has Dyluck. Thanatos will tell you that he has been searching for a human with the power to conquer the world who was born in the shadow of darkness and raised in the light of Mana. He says that Dyluck is the one, then tries to transfer himself into Dyluck's body and take the Mana Fortress. Purim defends Dyluck from Thanatos by hitting and supposedly killing Thanatos, but Thanatos succeeds in transferring himself into Dyluck's body. Unfortunately for Thanatos, Dyluck resists. He tells the party that Thanatos is an ancient sorcerer who sold his heart to the underworld, and although his life force is eternal, he does not have a body. He also tells you that Thanatos feeds on hatred and destruction and that his life force is growing darker. Dyluck sacrifices himself to draw Thanatos out, and from here, you have another boss battle with the Dark Lich.
Dark Lich has a ton of attacks: Freeze Beam (for frostying your party), Balloon Ring (for casting Balloon), Confuse Hoops (for casting Silence), Petify Beam (for petrifying your party), Dispel Magic, Sleep Gas (for putting your party to sleep), Pygmus Glare (for shrinking your party) and Thunder Beam. He can also cast Evil Gate, Dark Force, Freeze and Energy Absorb. Lumina's Lucent Beam will do a ton of damage to him if you've powered Lumina to Level 8. Dark Lich can teleport away, then try to hit you with energy waves out of his fists when they stick out of the floor. You can still hit him with magic in this form, however. Also, this boss battle has its own music that is very much worth listening to.
Once you beat Dark Lich, the seal of Dryad's Mana Magic spell is gone, giving Dryad a saber spell. Afterwards, it will be apparent that Dyluck is gone, then the Mana Fortress will be attacked. When you head out, you'll be on the roof of the Mana Fortress, where a Mana Beast will be attacking the fortress.
PrinceWatercress plays Kid Klown in Night Mayor World - The Longplay
...and now, the whole game in one sitting without commentary. Enjoy.
It's a rainy night in Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Klown and their two children, Kid and Baby, are traveling to the next town to perform in the big circus show. Suddenly, with a flash of lightning, the evil magician, Night Mayor, appears.
Evilly twisting his moustache, he hisses: "Kid, I need your help to open a treasure vault. If you'll help me, you'll be well rewarded!" Kid Klown's parents had warned him about the Night Mayor's evil ways. "No way, pal! I know your tricks, and I'm not going anywhere with you!"
Kid Klown's family then disappears as if into thin air. "Very well," said the Night Mayor, "If you even want to see your family again, you'll find me!"
Intro Stage
From here, you'll be playing the introductory stage. Left and Right move around, while Down ducks. A jumps, while B lets you blow up and throw balloons. By holding B, you can hold the balloon, and while holding the balloon, you can glide long distances. While holding B, you can also aim the balloon by holding any direction on the D-Pad and letting go of the button to throw the balloon in that direction. You can aim in eight directions, and you can even put a balloon straight down on the ground with Down, jump on the balloon and use it as a springboard for a high jump.
At the bottom is your current amount of lives, the current amount of chips - which are the amount of chances you have at the bonus area at the end of every stage - and your current health.
Be careful when moving around; after moving left or right for a short while, Kid Klown will go from walking to running, and there are a few instances when you'll really want to run.
Enemies include wasps that move up and down while flying forward and also come at you if they stay on-screen long enough, poodles that jump out at you, and spiders that climb up and down
You can find power-ups in chests and also by throwing balloons around and finding pick-ups out of thin air. To open the chests, throw balloons at them. Strawberries act as chips, or chances at the bonus area at the end of every level. Hearts refill health. The lightning bolt acts as temporary invincibility. The question mark pick-up is a random power-up, and while you can get something good out of them, sometimes you won't.
The clam in the water acts as a platform, but if you stay on it too long, it dives back into the water and leaves you without a platform.
The boss here is a hedgehog. Throw balloons at the hedgehog when it is moving towards you on foot, and stay away from it when it curls into a ball and jumps around. When it uncurls itself, it is vulnerable again. Beating the boss takes you to the first real stage.
At the end of every stage is a bonus area. The number of strawberries you had at the end of the stage dictates how many balloons you'll be able to throw at stuff in the bonus area. Icons will move around - sometimes double-backing, sometimes not - and you'll need to use the D-Pad to move the target to one of six places while using the B button to throw a balloon. You'll need to throw ahead of time and time your throws right to get what is moving around. The balloons take longer to get to the upper level than they do to get to the lower one. Kid Klown icons gives you lives, foods will heal you (with the meat giving a complete refill), small hearts that also refill health, and big ones that can extend your life bar up to five hearts. Chests contain random power-ups, but are often worth getting. When you run out of chances, you run out of balloons, and you'll enter the next stage.
Stage 1
The trail Night Mayor left led to a swirling purple portal on the far side of the forest. The magician's cruel laughter could be heard beyond the gate...
"A Klown's gotta do what a Klown's gotta do," said Kid, and he plunged into the gate.
"You're in my world now, Kid Klown! Ha ha haaaa!"
The first real stage looks much like the intro stage, but new things get introduced. The white piranha plants hurt you if you land on them. The moving brown floors will slow you down. The snakes will swallow your balloons and send them back at you, but they are vulnerable while they have a balloon in them. The chameleon enemies are only vulnerable when you see them, as the balloons go right through them when they are briefly. invisible.
If you see a bridge, run to the right while throwing balloons forward to defend yourself.
If you get more grim music when you pick up a question mark icon, your left and right controls will be reversed. Thankfully, when the music ends, so does the confusion effect.
The boss here is a giant owl. Get under him when it throws feathers, and duck down when it dives towards the ground. All the while, throw your balloons at it. It shouldn't take long for you to beat this boss.
Stage 2
This stage takes place in some sort of toy land. Shoot upwards at the start for a hidden strawberry.
Enemies here include leaping shoes, hands that walk on their fingers, flying jack-in-the-box heads, robots with boomerang fists, falling soldier hats, falling jigsaw puzzle pieces, and moving cannons.
When jumping on the trampolines, hold A and B so you can leap high and glide with a balloon in your hands.
To enter a door, stand in front of it and press Up or Down (despite what I say here, I find out Up works later on).
The monkeys with the cymbals can be jumped over. As for the constantly inflating and deflating men, jump over them when they go down.
If you need to make a higher jump, hold Down and press B to lay a balloon on the ground, then jump on the balloon for a big jump.
At one point, there is a section that auto-scrolls vertically. For best results, don't hold a balloon with B to keep yourself from getting trapped. Watch out for sudden falling jigsaw pieces and the random jack-in-the-box head at the end.
The bubbles will drag you down if you're in them, making jumping harder. Good thing I glide with a balloon when I go through them.
The boss here is an angler fish with a light on its head. Throw balloons at the light first, then throw balloons at the fish's jaw to finish it off. The fish will spit out enemies, but you can easily and quickly take them out. And before you ask, yes, the flashing lights are annoying to the point that they are unnecessary.
Stage 3
This stage has you going up a couple of beanstalks. Praying mantises will shoot sickle-shaped projectiles at you, ducks will divebomb you and drop eggs that produce smaller chicks who will hit you, peapods will shoot out projectile sand clouds will fly around and drop water and thunder bolts downwards hoping to hit you. The rockets are the worst, as they pop up from the sides of the screen, slowly move forward then go fast the rest of the way. Even worse, they keep coming even as you destroy them, forcing you to fight them while simultaneously making progress.
The green cracked blocks are your worst enemy here; try to stand on them as little as possible. Also, there are plenty of spikes; be sure not to land on them.
The red spotted lizard is only vulnerable from behind, and it can also leap at you if you're a certain distance away from it.
The white lines travelling upwards are air currents that will carry you upwards if you're carrying a balloon.
The boss is a one-eyed giant with a mace. As you throw balloons at his head, you'll have to avoid a ball that rolls around on the floor as well as two crushers on the left side of the screen that will come down every so often to squash you. The giant can also hold his mace up, protecting his head briefly. Staying near the giant without getting hit and also staying from the ball at the same time can be tough, but it can be doable if you can aim your balloons well.
Stage 4
There are ice physics here, so you'll need to be careful.
While the penguins and jumping snowmen are easy enough, you'll have to drop balloons into the paths of the ice skating witches to get rid of them.
Once you start dropping down, do not hold a balloon. It will make it easier to avoid the Quick Man-style beams that shoot out of the walls. Believe it or not, Kid's head is not part of his hitbox, and as long as the beams don't touch his body, you're fine.
Afterwards, watch your head so you don't hit the retracting spikes, and watch out for rocks falling out of the holes in the background walls. The yetis will throw snowballs at you, but if you can hit them from a distance, you'll be solid. As for the platforms, hold a balloon with B so you can land on them more easily.
To defeat the big snowman, throw balloons at him from distance, and watch the sky so that the snowflakes he creates don't hit you. This can be a little easier said than done, but it is doable. Afterwards, you can find a hidden doorway by throwing balloons at right side of the platform that the big snowman was on and entering the hole you make. This takes you to a couple of hidden power-ups before entering the next section.
In the next section, Get the invincibility power-up, then hold Right on the D-Pad and be ready to run. This will save you from the collapsing ground and allow you to run across the gaps in the ice platforms.
The section after this takes place in the clouds. If you land on the ground without a balloon in your hand, you'll get trapped in the clouds for a few seconds and you'll need to button mash to get out. The frogs in the clouds will be annoying and will make high jumps back and forth, and the dangerous snowflake platforms from earlier will return just before you make it to the exit door.
The boss here is a sea creature. You'll need to face the front of it and throw balloons at it. The sea creature will try to balance a balloon on its nose for a few seconds before sending it back at you. As this goes on, you'll want to pelt the sea creature with balloons. Five hits will do it in. To avoid the boss, make sure you hold a balloon as you jump around so you aren't the victim of the ice physics or falling into the water at the sides.
Stage 5
Welcome to Candy Land! Watch out for giant letter A's and small letter B's that chase after you (What is this? Castle of Illusion?), snails that shoot lollipops when you hit them, ice cream cones that toss their heads and run away, and bouncing letter O's.
If you see two light blue vertical bars made out of gelatin on the floor, press Down while standing on them. They're actually doors, believe it or not.
The squirrels will roll balls at you if they see you, which can make them a little difficult to deal with at times.
Gelatin floors will slow you down and suppress your jumps tremendously. Lay a balloon on the ground, jump up and hold B to float with a balloon to get past them with minimal effort.
To take out the gumball machine on the tank treads, drop balloons on it from above. From there, you can stand on the tank treads and use Left and Right on the D-Pad to move them. Be ready to duck under low ceilings!
There is a cookie floor that collapses when you walk on it, so be ready to run there.
The boss here is a caterpillar. Watch out for the bouncy mushrooms it throws and stay away from its backside that pops in and out of the ground while throwing balloons at the head. You may have to get close to the body and aim for the head from there to defeat this thing quickly.
After this, Kid Klown will see his family, but they will be teleported away, and Kid Klown will have to head to Night Mayor's castle to get them back.
Stage 6
In the first section, go slow to avoid the spears that come down. Be fast to get past the spears that shoot at you. The door afterwards contains the hedgehog boss from the intro stage, and the same strategies from the first time around apply. There are a few boss battles behind doors here, and if you enter them and complete them, you'll be rewarded with full health. Take advantage of this if you need to.
The knights will move towards you, while the squirrels will throw nuts at you. Both of these enemies are easy to defeat.
In the next room, you'll have to deal with conveyor belts. The yellow doors here lead to the Stage 1 boss battle, and once again, the same strategies apply. Watch out for the gear that takes two hits to defeat, and be careful to hit the bats that dive at you from a distance. If you fall into the pits here, you'll be sent back, but not by much. At least you'll get the health in the chest. Just watch out for the giant protracting spikes on the floor.
Once you make it past this part, you'll meet up with some evil Kid Klown klones. (I'm trying to bring some humor back into my blog entries while still giving you info; gimme a break.) They will throw their noses at you, but the noses have limited range and will eventually return to them. Hit them while they're standing there waiting for their noses to come back.
The tiles with the glass-like sheen are one-way. You can go through them, but you can't press Down to go back. Watch out for the Kid Klown klones and the gears on the way up.
The knight helmets spit out Kid Klown klones, but only one. You can also push them out of your way just by walking into them.
The next room has more gear enemies to contend with. Be ready to throw balloons upwards on the way to the door to defend yourself. After this, you have more conveyor belts and more gear enemies. You don't need to enter the door before the climb up; even though it contains a battle with Stage 4's sea creature boss that you can use to refill your health with. When you make it to the top, enter the right door first. You'll repeat this room, but you're actually going in the right direction. Make your way to the top again, then take the left door.
You'll be in a room with a series of six doors. Five of them take you back to past boss battles, but the one you want to enter the door on the left on the center platform. This will take you to a boss battle against a giant pterodactyl that stands there and spits fire. Aim for the head, and when the pterodactyl spits fire, you'll need to blow up a balloon, hold the B button down and use your float technique to jump over the fire as you get pushed all the way to the left side of the screen by the pterodactyl's flapping wings. As for the five way shot, stay to the left and jump clear over it.
Afterwards, you'll face Night Mayor himself. Aim for the head and stay on one side of the room, and when the sparkles that come out of his hands move towards you, let them come to you and them move to the other side. Repeat until he disappears.
That was just the first phase. The second phase has Night Mayor teleporting and spitting fire. Jump to avoid the fire breath and hit Night Mayor in the head. If you can get distance between yourself and Night Mayor, more power to you. Keep that distance as you aim for the head with upwards diagonal directions. Also, if you die at any point in this battle, you'll have to face the pterodactyl boss again (and that's no fun for anyone).
After dealing enough damage, Night Mayor will no longer have a body, and you'll have to deal with his floating, disembodied head that spits fireballs that bounce around at 45-degree angles. Thankfully, you can easily destroy these fireballs with your balloons, and aiming at Night Mayor's head is pretty simple. Once you beat this phase, Night Mayor finally calls it quits. Kid Klown will re-unite with his family and find out what was in that vault: a giant supply of red rubber clown noses to give to everyone they meet as they tour the world and perform their acts of clownery. You've beaten Kid Klown in Night Mayor World!
Also, if you enter Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B and A at the title screen, you'll unlock hard more. I might play that mode down the line...
Saturday, December 25, 2021
HCBailly and JB play Secret of Mana - Part 39 of 41
Now that we're in the Mana Fortress, we'll be facing a few bosses before facing the Mana Beast.
If you can get your magic to 99 experience points at Level 8 (which is shown in the magic level screen as "8:99"), you can get some alternate animations for the spells at random.
The Whimper enemies can cast Wall on themselves and Earth Slide on your party, and they have a chance of dropping the Javelin's Orb. The Valkyrian is the best javelin weapon in the game.
There are a few bosses in the Mana Fortress. The first is Buffy, an obvious "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" reference. Buffy can cast Freeze on your party and also petrify them with Leaden Glare. Buffy can also cast Dispel Magic. Since Buffy is a palette swap of the Vampire, it fights more or less the same way. Lucent Beam will do a lot of damage to Buffy.
The Mana Fortress will not drop weapon orbs. To get weapon orbs, you'll have to get them from Mana Fortress enemies at random.
The next boss is the Dread Slime. The Dread Slime will grow as you do damage to it, and it is a palette swap of the Lime Slime. Because of that constant growing, unless you have a lot of Faerie Walnuts and strong magic, you probably won't make it out of this battle alive. Dark Force is the best magical attack you can use against it. Also, Dread Slime loves to use Acid Storm.
HCBailly and JB play Secret of Mana - Part 38 of 41
In this entry, we get some backstory on our hero, and everything starts making sense. There is nothing else to do than to go to the Mana Fortress.
The force of the energy knocks you to the bottom of the Mana Tree, which is now devastated. The Mana Tree then talks to the party, saying that the Mana Fortress is using up most of the world's Mana and that all of the beast will be transformed into one giant creature: the great Mana Beast, the only thing that can bring back Mana. Unfortunately, the Mana Beast has little control over its rage, and if it were to attack the Fortress, the world would be finished, and the only way to avoid this is to beat the Mana Beast with the Mana Sword, which can only be used by the people of the Tribe of Mana.
The tree will tell you that Randi's father, the legendary knight Serin, should be standing here now. Serin was the ghost that you saw at the sword at the beginning of the game. Unfortunately, he's gone after being badly wounded fifteen years ago by Emperor Vandole and eventually felled in Potos Village. You'll be taking his place. Not only that, but the Mana Tree is his wife and Randi's mother. If it isn't obvious at this point, Randi and his parents are part of the Mana Tribe. The women become the Mana Tree and the protectors of the world, while the men wield the Mana Sword and protect against evil.
Now that Mana is weak, the shields on the Mana Fortress are down, making it open to attack. From here, you can now go to the Mana Fortress. The Mana Tree will then use the last of its energy to summon the power of the Seeds of Mana, bringing the Seeds back and bringing your Mana Power to 8, giving the sword maximum power. Soon after this, you'll be able to go to the Fortress.
If you return to the Pure Land after this, you won't be able to explore it anymore. You'll just go back to the devastated Mana Tree.
Mana Fortress
Whenever you see the Mana Fortress on the map (the big gray ball with the spikes at the bottom), just approach it. When Flammie flies upwards towards it, let go of the Control Pad and let Flammie do the rest. Otherwise, keep flying if don't want to go over there, in case you want to get more experience or something. Keep in mind that the Mana Fortress will change position from time to time, so keep an eye on it.
At the outside, Captain Duck will make a return appearance here, as well as the Kimono Wizard, Metal Crawlers and Dark Stalkers.
Once you're inside, you'll meet some new enemies. The Metal Crab can shoot bubbles around itself and cast Light Saber on itself. There is a chance you can get a Bow's Orb from it. The Garuda Buster is the most powerful bow in the game. (It should still be mentioned that the highest power level you can get a weapon to is Level 8.)
The purple crystals and the light blue squares near them are the whip jump points.
The Tsunamis are palette swaps of the Embermen, and can cast Acid Storm and Energy Absorb in addition to splitting into three. They have a chance of dropping the Spear's Orb. The Daedalus Lance is the best spear in the game. They can also drop Amulet Rings.
If you see a pink square tile, step on it to activate something that will open up the path.
The Wolf Lords are more powerful versions of the Werewolf enemy. They can cast Cure Water and Moon Saber, and they can also drop the Glove's Orb. This is the only way you can get the last two Glove's Orbs. The Dragon Claws are effective against Dragons, and the Aura Glove is the most powerful glove in the game.
The Beast Zombies make a return appearance from the Great Palace, as will the Turtlance and the National Scar.
The green crystals have to be cut down with a sharp weapon like the sword or axe. Unless you fully cut them down, however, they will soon grow back. Watch out with some pink tiles; some of them will cause fields of green crystals to grow back out.
PrinceWatercress plays Kid Klown in Night Mayor World - Part 6 of 6
In this entry, we take on Night Mayor to save our family once and for all!
Stage 6
In the first section, go slow to avoid the spears that come down. Be fast to get past the spears that shoot at you. The door afterwards contains the hedgehog boss from the intro stage, and the same strategies from the first time around apply. There are a few boss battles behind doors here, and if you enter them and complete them, you'll be rewarded with full health. Take advantage of this if you need to.
The knights will move towards you, while the squirrels will throw nuts at you. Both of these enemies are easy to defeat.
In the next room, you'll have to deal with conveyor belts. The yellow doors here lead to the Stage 1 boss battle, and once again, the same strategies apply. Watch out for the gear that takes two hits to defeat, and be careful to hit the bats that dive at you from a distance. If you fall into the pits here, you'll be sent back, but not by much. At least you'll get the health in the chest. Just watch out for the giant protracting spikes on the floor.
Once you make it past this part, you'll meet up with some evil Kid Klown klones. (I'm trying to bring some humor back into my blog entries while still giving you info; gimme a break.) They will throw their noses at you, but the noses have limited range and will eventually return to them. Hit them while they're standing there waiting for their noses to come back.
The tiles with the glass-like sheen are one-way. You can go through them, but you can't press Down to go back. Watch out for the Kid Klown klones and the gears on the way up.
The knight helmets spit out Kid Klown klones, but only one. You can also push them out of your way just by walking into them.
The next room has more gear enemies to contend with. Be ready to throw balloons upwards on the way to the door to defend yourself. After this, you have more conveyor belts and more gear enemies. You don't need to enter the door before the climb up; even though it contains a battle with Stage 4's sea creature boss that you can use to refill your health with. When you make it to the top, enter the right door first. You'll repeat this room, but you're actually going in the right direction. Make your way to the top again, then take the left door.
You'll be in a room with a series of six doors. Five of them take you back to past boss battles, but the one you want to enter the door on the left on the center platform. This will take you to a boss battle against a giant pterodactyl that stands there and spits fire. Aim for the head, and when the pterodactyl spits fire, you'll need to blow up a balloon, hold the B button down and use your float technique to jump over the fire as you get pushed all the way to the left side of the screen by the pterodactyl's flapping wings. As for the five way shot, stay to the left and jump clear over it.
Afterwards, you'll face Night Mayor himself. Aim for the head and stay on one side of the room, and when the sparkles that come out of his hands move towards you, let them come to you and them move to the other side. Repeat until he disappears.
That was just the first phase. The second phase has Night Mayor teleporting and spitting fire. Jump to avoid the fire breath and hit Night Mayor in the head. If you can get distance between yourself and Night Mayor, more power to you. Keep that distance as you aim for the head with upwards diagonal directions. Also, if you die at any point in this battle, you'll have to face the pterodactyl boss again (and that's no fun for anyone).
After dealing enough damage, Night Mayor will no longer have a body, and you'll have to deal with his floating, disembodied head that spits fireballs that bounce around at 45-degree angles. Thankfully, you can easily destroy these fireballs with your balloons, and aiming at Night Mayor's head is pretty simple. Once you beat this phase, Night Mayor finally calls it quits. Kid Klown will re-unite with his family and find out what was in that vault: a giant supply of red rubber clown noses to give to everyone they meet as they tour the world and perform their acts of clownery. You've beaten Kid Klown in Night Mayor World!
Also, if you enter Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B and A at the title screen, you'll unlock hard more. I might play that mode down the line...
Friday, December 24, 2021
HCBailly and JB play Secret of Mana - Part 37 of 41
We finally made it to the Mana Tree! But before we can do what we came here for, the Empire has other plans...
To the left of the second save point is the Red Dragon. This is a fire-based version of the Snow Dragon, and it has Fire Breath that can engulf one of your party members. It can also damage your party with Breath Wing and put party members to sleep with Sleep Ring. Use Undine to do massive magic damage against it. Beating the Red Dragon will net you a Glove's Orb. The Dragon Claws are effective against Dragons.
Once you beat the Red Dragon, you can leave the cave area and go north past the gate. From there, go west when you have a choice between west and north, and go north at what looks like a four-way intersection. You'll face Thunder Gigas.
Thunder Gigas is a wind- and thunder-based version of the Gigas enemies, and the last that you're going to see in the game. He can hit you with Thunderbolt and Blitz Breath, and he can case Thunder Saber on himself. Defeating Thunder Gigas will net you the Sword's Orb. The Dragon Buster is effective against dragons and is the last sword in the game.
After beating Thunder Gigas, go north. You'll be back on the path. One screen north leads to another save point. Head west and follow the path to face the Blue Dragon.
The Blue Dragon is much like the Snow Dragon and Red Dragon. It can cast Silence on your party with Confuse Hoops, and can also damage your party members with Blitz Breath. Defeating the Blue Dragon will net you a Boomerang's Orb. The Shuriken raises the chance of landing a critical hit on an enemy.
Once you go back to the gate and save your game, you'll finally reach the end of the Pure Land. In the distance is the Mana Tree, and as Randi is about to ask the Mana Tree to revive the sword, the Mana Fortress is revived...
HCBailly and JB play Secret of Mana - Part 36 of 41
In this entry, we head to the Pure Land to revive the Mana Sword.
If you approach the Mana Fortress and stay in one spot when Flammie ascends near it, you'll enter the Mana Fortress. Unfortunately, you won't be able to do anything here due to the barrier, so you'll be bounced off it and back onto Flammie.
It is now that you'll need to find a huge mountain with a light blue and light green center. This is the Pure Land. Had you tried to go here earlier in the game, the game wouldn't let you, but now, you can go here.
Pure Land
The Needlions are palette swaps of the Pebblers. They can cast Earth Slide and Defender and can also petrify you with their physical attacks, so be careful. The Griffin hands can grab at you, but thankfully, they cannot cast magic. They can drop Griffin Helms, which only Randi can equipped, but it's a rare drop for the most powerful helmet he can get.
The Mushglooms are palette swaps of the Mushbooms and can cast Wall on themselves. The Ice Thugs are palette swaps of the Water Thugs and can cast Acid Storm and Curew Water. The Ice Thugs can drop Dragon Rings, which are marginally better than the Gauntlet but also increase your Strength a little bit.
You'll eventually find a cave where you'll fight the Dragon Worm. Much like the worm from where you looked for Flammie, you'll want to zap this boss with Slyphid's music. Don't forget to cast Lucid Barrier on your party and give Moon Energy to whoever needs it, and keep the Moogle Belt and Midge Mallet ready in case anyone gets Moogled or shrunken, respectively. The Dragon Worm can also cast Earth Slide, Balloon Ring and Petrify Gaze.
By beating the Dragon Worm, you'll get the Axe's Orb. The Gigas Axe increases Strength by five points.
If you see a staircase leading to an archway, you can save your progress there. Of course, if you do, you'll have to go to the area to the side to continue on.
You'll soon be fighting the Snow Dragon. This boss can cast Freeze, Breath Wing and Balloon Wing. Use Salamando to do a lot of damage to this boss. If you need to use physical attack, aim for the lower part of its body (the tail is considered the hitbox). Sometimes the Snow Dragon will disappear for a while. If this happens, you'll have to wait for the Snow Dragon to come back. Beating the Snow Dragon will give you a Bow's Orb. The Doom Bow raises the chance of critical hits.
The Eggplant Man can cast Lucid Barrier on themselves and can spawn Needlions. If you can smash them before they cast Lucid Barrier, you may be able to destroy them in one hit if you're strong enough.
The Ghosts are stronger palette swaps of the Specter and can cast a stronger version of Freeze.
The next boss on the hit parade is the Axe Beak, which fights like the Spring Beak from the Upper Land. This boss can cast Sleep Gas, Sonic Pulse and Fireball. Hit this thing with magic more often much like you did with the Spring Beak, and use Freeze if you want to deal the most damage. Beating the Axe Beak gives you a Javelin's Orb. The Dragon Dart is effective against dragon-type enemies.
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