PrinceWatercress plays Busou Keiji: Cyber Cross - Part 1 of 3

Prior to playing this game, I had seen it off and on for years on YouTube. It took a while, but I finally got around to playing it.

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There's not much to a story to this one. Some aliens are trying to take over the world, and some guy with blue hair who can transform Super Sentai-style is the world's only hope.

Level 1

Left and Right let you move around, Down lets you duck, Button 2 attacks and Button 1 jumps.

There will be robots that fly around from right to left; you'll need to attack them in order to get the power-up inside. The first power-up you'll find - a red circle-shaped jewel - will let you transform from your human form and give you more moves. As an armored hero, you can use weapons and also hold Button 2 to perform a charge attack than can only be charged up and launched while standing perfectly still.

At the bottom of the screen is your score, your health and your charge meter from top to bottom on the left side of the status bar. At the right side of the status bar, you have your time remaining as well as red jewels. When you collect more than one power-up crystal, you'll get gold armor as well as a weapon. When these jewels are lit up, you will lose these instead of health whenever you take damage. Once you lose all the jewels, you'll lose your gold armor as well as your weapon.

The red power-up jewel will give you a sword, while the blue power-up jewel will turn your suit blue and give you a gun, complete with a more powerful charge shot. Just remember that you can have only one bullet on the screen at any given time.

Never stay still; always keep moving. Otherwise, flying enemies will show up and dive towards you to destroy you.

The enemies are pretty easy for the most part. The guys in the green armor mostly advance towards you, while the guys in the blue armor will shoot bullets at you that you can duck under. The flying guys will fly forward, but some of them will dive towards you, so keep an eye on them. If any flying guys are wearing blue, they will drop bombs. You'll want to stay away from the bombs as well as their explosions. 

The red, blue and green hexagon-shaped gems just give you bonus points. Hearts refill some of your health. Believe it or not, getting power-up crystals also refills a little bit of health. The square with the gold edges and the "T" in the center gives you extra time. The tube with the heart in it increases your maximum health.

In just about every level, there is one of the two main henchmen on a platform who will fly in, sic alien flies at you, and then leave. You can duck under them all in this level.

The rolling brown guys can be attacked with duck punches or attacks if they're close enough, although you can stay on the higher road to avoid most of them here.

The boss is a frog man. He will jump from one side of the screen to the center to the other side. Whenever he stops, you want to get close to him (but not too close) and crouch punch him to do damage to him and avoid his fire breath. Whatever you do, do not let him touch you. If you have the gun, he's even easier to defeat.

When you do enough damage to a boss, the music changes to even more victorious music. Keep fighting the boss, and eventually the boss will go down. You'll get bonus points based on how much time and health you have left.

You have only one life, and if you lose it, it's game over and it's back to the start.

Level 2

As you fight the brown rolling guys, you'll get a chance to get the green power-up crystal. This turns your suit green and gives you the boomerang, but you have to charge the attack up to get any real distance with it. As a result, I usually avoid getting it.

The tops of the trucks will protect you from the bombs from the blue flying guys, but you'll also have to deal with the brown rolling guys. Pick your poison.

The crawling guys that look like mantises will jump down from the top of the screen and also show up from the sides of the screen. They will move towards you, and occasionally stop. Let them come to you and keep duck punching until they run into your attack and die. Sadly, you have to stand back up to change direction before crouching again, which can make fighting these guys on both sides a little harder than it should be.

The blue guys with the guns now have mortar shots. Not only do the shots hurt you, but so do the explosions.

The boss here is some sort of squid man. After flying around, he will eventually land on the right side of the screen. Whether you have a weapon or not, have a charged attack ready to do some more damage before he attacks. He will attack you with his arms, but you can duck under that. He can jump at you, too, and it's hard to avoid since you have to be close to him to have that attack happen. From here, be ready to jump over the guy when he flies up into the air and then flies around the room. Keep a close eye on him, as it especially helps when he comes out from the upper-left and dives down at you on the way to the right.

PrinceWatercress plays Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus (GBC) - Part 5 of 5

In this entry, we finally foil Dr. Claw's plot for good. He'll be back, though...

First | Previous

The Underground

World 5-1: The Escape Well

Once again, you'll need Penny to find the hidden bonuses around here.

There is a hidden steam blast behind the plant at the start of the level.

Use the Gadgetcopter to go up the pipe at the start for extra Gadget points.

In the lower-right corner of the level, there is a flashing stone underwater that you have to punch with Penny to activate some platforms.

World 5-2: The Heating Ducts

In this level, you'll be skiing down slopes with Gadget. Hold forward in order

The Photo Flash is a one-shot full-screen insta-kill attack. It will destroy all on-screen enemies when used.

We've seen them before in World 3, but the M.A.D. Agents with the wings are in full force here. 

The extra life is underwater below the exit.

World 5-3: The Sea Water Collector

The last X is here, and it is at the end of the underwater maze at the start of the level.

Be prepared to swim with Penny a lot in his level, as the game starts with an underwater maze. Pay attention to your surroundings and find out where the air pockets are so you don't die. Also, be prepared to go everywhere as you swim in the water to find computers to hack and switches to hit.

The enemies with the guns will shoot through the walls, so you'll want to be careful in the first part of this.

The extra life for the level is in the upper-left corner of the level.

World 5 Boss

Switch to Brain and stay up top as you double jump your way to the left towards the other side of the level. Watch out for missiles, and make sure that Dr. Claw's plane does not touch you.

There will be a bomb at the top at the left end of the level. When you make it there, switch from Brain to Gadget so you can actually take damage. When Dr. Claw flies underneath the bomb, the bomb will drop and take him down. After that, Gadget will activate all the bombs, and M.A.D. will be stopped...for now...

PrinceWatercress plays Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus (GBC) - Part 4 of 5

Well, at least I can stock up some lives again.

First | Previous | End

The Vats

World 4-1: The Vats

You'll need Penny to find and activate the secrets, and this time, some of them are unmarked.

Jump on the white lines with Penny to activate bonuses.

The hidden steam blasts come back, as do the purple blob enemies from World 2-3. At least you can take out the blob enemies, now; just remember that they hide in the floor when you hit them with Gadget the first time. They will take three hits to defeat.

Shortly after activating the ladder below the start, go right after going down the ladder for an extra life.

Use Gadget's hammer to attack the unicycle robots, which will shoot you.

World 4-2: The Gates

The fourth X where Gadget has to place a bomb is here, and it is located inside a platform. You'll need to punch the white stone in the wall with Penny to get to the X, then place the bomb there with Gadget. Thankfully, you don't have to go too far up to get to the exit from here.

Double jump with Brain to the right off the platform at the beginning of the level to get the extra life. Once you grab it, drop straight down, then double jump again to the right off the nearby platform to get to the exit, where Penny has to hack another computer.

World 4-3: The Fields

The fifth X is here, and it is right to the start. You'll need to jump on the whitened edge of a platform with Penny to activate a ladder leading to it.

You'll find the extra life as you make your way down the level. There is a white stone Penny has to punch to the right of it in order to get it.

World 4 Boss

The boss is a giant tank. You'll need to get on the yellow-and-black platform to destroy the missile launcher with Gadget's hammer while ducking and moving back to avoid the shots. Once the missile launcher is destroyed, it will be replaced by a M.A.D. Agent with a rocket launcher. You'll need to take him down and avoid the shots like you did before, and he's down, this level is complete.

If you die when you get the last shot on the boss, you'll accidentally softlock the game.

PrinceWatercress plays Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus (GBC) - Part 3 of 5

How I managed to stay the course with this, I will never know.

First | Previous | Next | End

The Volcano

World 3-1: The Crater

Only Penny can see the bonuses and activate some of the flashing stones. You'll need Penny to punch the flashing stones with B.

Be ready to jump over lava and anything flashing yellow and red.

To take out the flying mole robots, you'll need to use Gadget's hammer.

The dark brown columns can be climbed on.

You can do some platforming with Brain to get Gadget Points, but watch what you're doing. Be sure to look up and down with Up and Down, and be ready to switch to Gadget to fight enemies. You'll also need to hit some switches to activate some platforms, too, 

World 3-2: The Draught

You'll still need Penny to find the bonuses.

If you see any steam on the floor, avoid it. It hurts.

If you find something in your way of a room or area full of bonuses, be ready to strike walls, ceilings and floors.

The Gadget Head is directly below the computer you have to hack with Penny in order to open up more of the level. You'll have to fight off an enemy to get to it. Further to the right from this area is a switch, and if you hit it, you'll activate another life in that same spot.

World 3-3: The Lava Field

You'll need to place the bomb underneath the X here. The X is at the bottom of the level is front of a bunch of large pipes. The exit will be far to the left from there, where there will be another computer to hack with Penny.

The flame spirits fly around and take four hits from the hammer, and they can throw projectiles at you.

The extra life is in a nook inside of a large platform shortly after the beginning of the level. Be careful not to fall to the very bottom, where the lava floor is instant death.

The large M.A.D. Agent will punch you, and he hurts! You're better off fighting him with Gadget.

World 3 Boss

The boss here is some sort of giant smoke spirit. He will be at the lower-left corner of the boss room. You'll need to stay close to him to lure him to the lower-right corner. When the bubble that leaps in and out of the lava hits him, he will split into three. Hit the tinier forms of the boss with your hammer to get rid of them. A hatch will soon open. Walk up to it to enter the pipe and complete the world.

PrinceWatercress plays Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus (GBC) - Part 2 of 5

This game is definitely harder than the Super Nintendo game in parts, that's for sure.

First | Next | End

Whenever you start a new world, you'll get a password that lets you start back at the beginning of the last level you made it to.

The Plasma Heart

World 2-1: The Reservoirs

Here, there are only question marks and the M.A.D. Cat heads to guide you. You still have the arrows leading you to the exit though.

Be ready to jump on switches to reveal platforms.

The robot dogs take two hits from Gadget's hammer.

Be sure to search high and low for the Gadget points; you'll really need as many 

The Gadget head is at the top of the platforms above where you need to dive down as Penny. As Penny, you'll need to watch out for the jellyfish-like enemies as well the divers, as the divers will stop and shoot harpoons at you when you're lined up with them. You'll need 

The helicopter power-up allows Gadget to fly in the air by holding A when equipped.

At some points in the game, you'll need to play the "Pipe Dream" with the computer to open up paths in levels in addition to get through the world to face the boss. Be ready to hack computers when necessary.

World 2-2: The Pipes

Gadget will need to place the second bomb under an X here. That X is just up and right from the start. The big brown guy will move back and forth and spit some sort of black projectile at you; hit him with the net power-up with Gadget if you have it.

The Gadget head is in the upper-right corner of the level. If you drop all the way down and to the right from there, you'll find the exit. Once again, you'll have to do some computer hacking to finish the level.

World 2-3: The Plasma Heart

Be prepared to jump on switches and double jump with Brain a lot to get to the top as quickly as possible before the radioactive water catches up to you and instantly kills you. As you do this, you'll have to avoid these purple enemies that move back and forth in blob form and rise to attack you if you get close to them. 

If you make it to the computer and hack it with Penny and the water reaches you before you get to the "Pipe Dream" game, it's back to the beginning for you!

The Gadget head is directly below the exit computer. You'll need to stay to the right and hope you can get to it.

World 2 Boss

Hit the switch to activate platforms below the three computers. You'll need to hack one with Penny, then get off the platform, hit a switch and then hack another computer. All the while, you'll need to avoid the sparks that come out of the pool of molten plasma below. For best results, you'll have to use Gadget as a meat shield and switch to Penny when you're on a platform with a computer on it. It also doesn't help that the sparks can sometimes hit you while you're hacking the computers, which makes things doubly tough. This can be done, though. Once you hit up all three computers, you can head to the left to exit the level.

PrinceWatercress plays Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus (GBC) - Part 1 of 5

It's nice to see that there are other Inspector Gadget games, but this one - despite being halfway decent - doesn't hold a candle to the Super Nintendo game.

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The story begins with Inspector Gadget, Penny and Brain finding out through the news that customers of the Happykactus Company have been mysteriously disappearing after buying their cacti. Suddenly, Inspector Gadget gets a call from The Chief, telling him that he must neutralize the cannibal cactus factory on Awoo-Iwoo, Dr. Claw's secret island, by placing bombs in specific spots. Gadget is dropped off on Awoo-Iwoo Island, but Penny and Brain are not far behind. In the weirdest twist, Penny and Brain are supposed to be here without Gadget's knowledge, but for this entire game, they make up one whole party like in some RPG, which would mean that Gadget not only knows that Penny and Brain are there, but is perfectly okay with it and has them do the stuff they always do. Looking back, I should have touched on this. I didn't. Big missed opportunity there.

The Jungle

World 1-1: The Beach

At the start of every level, The Chief will give you hints. You can use Up and Down on the text here (as well as in cutscenes) to move the text up and down.

Left and Right let you move around, Up lets you look up, Down crouches and looks down, A jumps and B attacks. Down-Left and Down-Right let you crawl. Start gives you the option of quitting the game, and Select lets you select between characters with Left and Right and choose Gadget's weapon by pressing Down with Gadget highlighted and then using Left and Right to pick your gadget.

At the bottom, from left to right, is your current amount of lives, your current health, your current amount of Gadget Points (more on those later) and a gauge that shows how much of your special ability is left.

The question marks will give you lots of information. Get used to not only seeing them throughout the early parts of the game, but the same information up to a certain point in the game via said question marks.

The red arrows will lead you to the exit. Pay attention to them throughout the levels.

The M.A.D. icons (which looks like a cat with horns) will lead to power-ups and secrets.

Pressing Select will let you switch between Gadget, Penny and Brain. You can only do this when you are on dry land and standing still.

Penny is the only character who can go underwater. Gadget and Brain can only swim left and right on the surface and must swim into dry land to surface; Penny can move in any direction underwater and can even jump out at the surface at any time with Up at the surface. The red gauge will be her oxygen meter; don't be underwater for too long or else you're losing a life. To refill your air, just reach the surface or jump out of the water.

Stay away from the jellyfish; they will hurt you if they see you.

The rubber arrow shot lets Gadget take out enemies from a distance. Watch the red meter, and remember that if Gadget picks up a gadget, it will immediately replace his default hammer attack, which attacks only at short range, and you'll need to switch back to the hammer if you don't want to use it. As for Penny and Brain's attacks, the two of them can only punch, and they don't have much range.

Gadget is the only character who can take multiple hits from enemies. Penny and Brain can only take two hits, with one hit emptying the life bar and the second hit killing them outright.

Duck down to hit what look like land jellyfish twice with Gadget's hammer.

If you move around with Gadget for at least two seconds, Gadget's skates will automatically appear and make him faster but harder to control. If you don't want him to do this, let go of the D-Pad and hold Down on the D-Pad to get him to stop. (It took me a while to figure this out, and sadly, the game does not tell you this.)

The muffins will completely refill your health. You'll find plenty throughout the levels, but keep in mind that you can take them even if you don't need them, so save them for when you really need them!

The two G's are Gadget Point. You'll need to get 20 Gadget Points for an extra life.

Brain is the only character who can double jump. Just press A while jumping to jump again. You'll be using him a lot for platforming as a result. Brain is also the fastest character of the three, and he can crawl with Down-Left and Down-Right on the D-Pad, which is another thing that the other two characters cannot do. You may have to beat up enemies while crawling with him; if that happens and you're able to hit an opponent, stay crouched down where you are and keep mashing the B button to take the enemy out. If you move into the edge of a platform or even the middle of a large platform with Brain, you can grab on to that edge. Press Up to pull Brain up or press Down to drop down.

Wait for the mosquitos to approach before hitting them with Gadget's hammer.

The Gadget head gives you an extra life, and there is one in every level. The one here is in a cave below the exit.

The exit sign is the exit. Touch it to head to the next level. Keep in mind that when you're in the level clear animation, you can still be hit, and if you have only one hit left, you will die and you will have to go through the whole level over. If you have more than one hit, you'll just get knocked out of the animation and sent to the next level immediately.

World 1-2: The Jungle

The walking cacti take two hits from Gadget's hammer.

The net power-up is stronger than the rubber arrows and is a powerful weapon for Gadget.

Slides will automatically make your character slide down when you step onto them.

The extra life is in a cave that Brain has to crawl into midway through the level. Be ready to crouch punch an enemy to death.

World 1-3: No Man's Land

This is the first place where Gadget will have to place a bomb underneath an X. The X is at the top of the level. When you move into the X with Gadget, Gadget will just place the bomb there no questions asked.

The M.A.D. agents are pretty nasty. The skinny ones will hit you up close and will also rush at you if they see you, while the shorter and stouter ones will shoot at you with a gun on sight. Believe it or not, you can handle the guys with the guns easily by crawling up to them with Brain and crouch punching them to death. As long as you crawl under the bullets, Brain won't get shot.

Sometimes you will find flashing buttons you can jump on; these can be used to open passageways and reveal platforms. These gray platforms will fall down when you leap off of them; thankfully, they re-spawn after a few seconds.

The extra life is on the right side near the top of the level and requires jumping on a floor switch to reveal it.

The computer with the word "EXIT" on it must be approached with Penny. Go up to it with Penny, then press Up to play a game similar to Pipe Dream. You'll need to connect the conduit on the left side of the grid to the conduit on the right. You only have a limited amount of time in the upper-left hand corner, and the pieces you have next to place will be below the timer, with the top-most piece being the one you are about to place. The D-Pad moves the piece you want to place around, while B rotates and A places. Select starts the electrical circuit early, which is helpful in case you get done with time left. If you need to place one tile over another to replace it, the game easily lets you. The red circles act as dead ends, but you don't really need them; you can have as many sparks hitting the grid as you want, so long as one spark reaches the other end. If you fail to get even one electrical charge to the other side in time, you'll lose a life.

World 1 Boss

The boss here is some sort of bunker manned by a M.A.D. agent. You'll need to hit him with Gadget's hammer when he pops his head out. Not only do you have to worry about the missiles that rain down the sky from the bunker as well as the bombs on the ground, but the bunker will also emit an electrical shock after the M.A.D. agent gets back in the bunker. You'll have to get to the agent while avoiding the missiles and jumping over the bombs, hit him with the hammer, then get away so you don't get shocked. 

I have more trouble with this than I should due to Gadget's skates. Again, I didn't know you could take your hand off the D-Pad and hold Down on the Control Pad to get him to stop. As a result, I lose more lives than I want and the game gets more difficult as a result.

After hitting the agent three times, you can exit to the next level.

PrinceWatercress plays NFL Quarterback Club (Game Boy; medium difficulty) - The Longplay

And now, the medium difficulty minus commentary. Enjoy!

First | Previous

Unlike the other games in the series - or any other football video game, for that matter - you've got a series of four mini-games. Master them all, and you can master this game.

You can also play as one of twelve of the best quarterbacks that the NFL had in 1993: 

• Jeff Hostetler (Los Angeles Raiders)
• Phil Simms (New York Giants)
• Steve Young (San Francisco 49ers)
• Mark Rypien (Washington Redskins)
• Boomer Esiason (New York Jets)
• Bernie Kosar (Cleveland Browns)
• John Elway (Denver Broncos)
• Warren Moon (Houston Oilers)
• Jim Everett (Los Angeles Rams)
• Randall Cunningham (Philadelphia Eagles)
• Jim Harbaugh (Chicago Bears)
• Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys)
• Jim Kelly (Buffalo Bills)

Accuracy Competition

There is a gauge on the lower-right corner of the screen. Every vertical line after the first indicates certain distances. The very first vertical line is for your accuracy.

Hold A and let go when the marker moves to the right and is on top of the line that you want. If you can clearly see the number on the target, you'll want to let go of A on the second line. If it's very far away, you'll want to let go on the last line before the end. When you let go of A, a second marker will move to the left from where you stopped. You will want to press A when the second marker is right on top of the first vertical line on the gauge. If you can get the markers right on the lines that you want to stop on, you'll have the most accurate throw and you'll get a bulls-eye every time; otherwise, you'll be a bit off from dead center depending on where you stopped.

Don't worry about the targets moving; just focus on the gauge. The game will take care of the rest and you will get that bulls-eye.

Sometimes, you may be in a shoot-out with another player. Once you're used to playing these games, you'll win the shoot-out every time.

Speed and Mobility

For this one, hold Right and duck under the bar with the B button as late as possible. Run up and around the cone, then go down and around the stand-in of the football player. If you can take a sharp 90-degree turn without running into the stand-in, so much the better. Leap over the low hurdle with the B button, then get ready to throw with the A button. Make sure the marker is in the line in the center of the gauge in the lower-right corner so you can hit a bullseye.

Make sure you don't run into the obstacles, or else that'll be a time penalty...and that will really cost you.

The trick is to move up and down and little as possible. Because of this, this is the hardest of the four mini-games to master in the game. Compared to Easy, you'll need to be a little faster this time around.

Distance Competition

For this one, you'll need to alternate between pressing A and B as quickly as possible. One marker - the round one - will move to the right, and you'll need to mash those two buttons to get your marker - the flat one - all the way to the right as much as possible. I find myself pressing both buttons simultaneously just to make this easier. This is easier with a controller in case you're using the Super Game Boy, but if you're not, put the Game Boy flat on a table or something, and go from there.

The maximum distance you can get is 80. If you can get that on both tries, you'll have no problem placing first.

Not surprisingly, this is the easiest of the four mini-games. In Medium, however, it gets a little more difficult, as you'll have to really button bash to get to the far right side of the gauge.

Read and Recognition

Once you've mastered Accuracy Competition, you'll be able to do this one, as this has the exact same controls. There will be four targets, and two of them will flash: one at the front, one at the back. Focus on the ones at the back. If it's the furthest one away, aim for the fourth line; otherwise, aim for the third.

The shoot-out for Read and Recognition is the same as Accuracy Competition.

PrinceWatercress plays NFL Quarterback Club (Game Boy; medium difficulty) - Part 2 of 2

There's nothing new to explain here, so I'm just going to copy and paste what was in Part 1; hope you don't mind.

First | End

Unlike the other games in the series - or any other football video game, for that matter - you've got a series of four mini-games. Master them all, and you can master this game.

You can also play as one of twelve of the best quarterbacks that the NFL had in 1993: 

• Jeff Hostetler (Los Angeles Raiders)
• Phil Simms (New York Giants)
• Steve Young (San Francisco 49ers)
• Mark Rypien (Washington Redskins)
• Boomer Esiason (New York Jets)
• Bernie Kosar (Cleveland Browns)
• John Elway (Denver Broncos)
• Warren Moon (Houston Oilers)
• Jim Everett (Los Angeles Rams)
• Randall Cunningham (Philadelphia Eagles)
• Jim Harbaugh (Chicago Bears)
• Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys)
• Jim Kelly (Buffalo Bills)

Accuracy Competition

There is a gauge on the lower-right corner of the screen. Every vertical line after the first indicates certain distances. The very first vertical line is for your accuracy.

Hold A and let go when the marker moves to the right and is on top of the line that you want. If you can clearly see the number on the target, you'll want to let go of A on the second line. If it's very far away, you'll want to let go on the last line before the end. When you let go of A, a second marker will move to the left from where you stopped. You will want to press A when the second marker is right on top of the first vertical line on the gauge. If you can get the markers right on the lines that you want to stop on, you'll have the most accurate throw and you'll get a bulls-eye every time; otherwise, you'll be a bit off from dead center depending on where you stopped.

Don't worry about the targets moving; just focus on the gauge. The game will take care of the rest and you will get that bulls-eye.

Sometimes, you may be in a shoot-out with another player. Once you're used to playing these games, you'll win the shoot-out every time.

Speed and Mobility

For this one, hold Right and duck under the bar with the B button as late as possible. Run up and around the cone, then go down and around the stand-in of the football player. If you can take a sharp 90-degree turn without running into the stand-in, so much the better. Leap over the low hurdle with the B button, then get ready to throw with the A button. Make sure the marker is in the line in the center of the gauge in the lower-right corner so you can hit a bullseye.

Make sure you don't run into the obstacles, or else that'll be a time penalty...and that will really cost you.

The trick is to move up and down and little as possible. Because of this, this is the hardest of the four mini-games to master in the game. Compared to Easy, you'll need to be a little faster this time around.

Distance Competition

For this one, you'll need to alternate between pressing A and B as quickly as possible. One marker - the round one - will move to the right, and you'll need to mash those two buttons to get your marker - the flat one - all the way to the right as much as possible. I find myself pressing both buttons simultaneously just to make this easier. This is easier with a controller in case you're using the Super Game Boy, but if you're not, put the Game Boy flat on a table or something, and go from there.

The maximum distance you can get is 80. If you can get that on both tries, you'll have no problem placing first.

Not surprisingly, this is the easiest of the four mini-games. In Medium, however, it gets a little more difficult, as you'll have to really button bash to get to the far right side of the gauge.

Read and Recognition

Once you've mastered Accuracy Competition, you'll be able to do this one, as this has the exact same controls. There will be four targets, and two of them will flash: one at the front, one at the back. Focus on the ones at the back. If it's the furthest one away, aim for the fourth line; otherwise, aim for the third.

The shoot-out for Read and Recognition is the same as Accuracy Competition.

PrinceWatercress plays NFL Quarterback Club (Game Boy; medium difficulty) - Part 1 of 2

After acing the Easy difficulty, I play the game again on Medium difficulty. At this point, it's all just for fun, though I do better than I expected.

Next | End

Unlike the other games in the series - or any other football video game, for that matter - you've got a series of four mini-games. Master them all, and you can master this game.

You can also play as one of twelve of the best quarterbacks that the NFL had in 1993: 

• Jeff Hostetler (Los Angeles Raiders)
• Phil Simms (New York Giants)
• Steve Young (San Francisco 49ers)
• Mark Rypien (Washington Redskins)
• Boomer Esiason (New York Jets)
• Bernie Kosar (Cleveland Browns)
• John Elway (Denver Broncos)
• Warren Moon (Houston Oilers)
• Jim Everett (Los Angeles Rams)
• Randall Cunningham (Philadelphia Eagles)
• Jim Harbaugh (Chicago Bears)
• Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys)
• Jim Kelly (Buffalo Bills)

Accuracy Competition

There is a gauge on the lower-right corner of the screen. Every vertical line after the first indicates certain distances. The very first vertical line is for your accuracy.

Hold A and let go when the marker moves to the right and is on top of the line that you want. If you can clearly see the number on the target, you'll want to let go of A on the second line. If it's very far away, you'll want to let go on the last line before the end. When you let go of A, a second marker will move to the left from where you stopped. You will want to press A when the second marker is right on top of the first vertical line on the gauge. If you can get the markers right on the lines that you want to stop on, you'll have the most accurate throw and you'll get a bulls-eye every time; otherwise, you'll be a bit off from dead center depending on where you stopped.

Don't worry about the targets moving; just focus on the gauge. The game will take care of the rest and you will get that bulls-eye.

Sometimes, you may be in a shoot-out with another player. Once you're used to playing these games, you'll win the shoot-out every time.

Speed and Mobility

For this one, hold Right and duck under the bar with the B button as late as possible. Run up and around the cone, then go down and around the stand-in of the football player. If you can take a sharp 90-degree turn without running into the stand-in, so much the better. Leap over the low hurdle with the B button, then get ready to throw with the A button. Make sure the marker is in the line in the center of the gauge in the lower-right corner so you can hit a bullseye.

Make sure you don't run into the obstacles, or else that'll be a time penalty...and that will really cost you.

The trick is to move up and down and little as possible. Because of this, this is the hardest of the four mini-games to master in the game. Compared to Easy, you'll need to be a little faster this time around.

Distance Competition

For this one, you'll need to alternate between pressing A and B as quickly as possible. One marker - the round one - will move to the right, and you'll need to mash those two buttons to get your marker - the flat one - all the way to the right as much as possible. I find myself pressing both buttons simultaneously just to make this easier. This is easier with a controller in case you're using the Super Game Boy, but if you're not, put the Game Boy flat on a table or something, and go from there.

The maximum distance you can get is 80. If you can get that on both tries, you'll have no problem placing first.

Not surprisingly, this is the easiest of the four mini-games. In Medium, however, it gets a little more difficult, as you'll have to really button bash to get to the far right side of the gauge.

Read and Recognition

Once you've mastered Accuracy Competition, you'll be able to do this one, as this has the exact same controls. There will be four targets, and two of them will flash: one at the front, one at the back. Focus on the ones at the back. If it's the furthest one away, aim for the fourth line; otherwise, aim for the third.

The shoot-out for Read and Recognition is the same as Accuracy Competition.

PrinceWatercress plays Batman Returns (SFC) on Mania - 10th Anniversary Let's Play - Part 7 of 7

This game definitely saves the best for last! At least there isn't a boss rush.

Also, this is the first video that I made with the Pavilion, believe it or not.

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Scene 7

The Penguin's Lair

Section 1 (beat-'em-up)

You'll be dealing with basically every enemy you've met in the beat-'em-up sections ever.

First, it's bomb-carrying dark green Thin Clowns and Bikers, then Fat Clowns and Fire Clowns, and finally Knife Throwers and Sword Swallowers. You'll have the blue and green Thin Clowns interspersed throughout all of these groups, too.

The Penguin has an army of his namesakes packing heat in the foreground and background. They'll be firing rockets from both sides, throwing you into a three-front battle. Block the rockets to take less damage from them, just in case they come for you, as they're impossible to avoid once you're right under them. Otherwise, switch to the grappling hook and swing around so the rockets end up being way off when it comes to tracking you.

Whenever you see a lone green Thin Clown cartwheel onto the screen after you finish off a slew of enemies, you're at the end of an attack wave. Beat him down to continue on.

You'll get a Small Heart and an extra Bat Test Tube at the very end when you reach Arctic World. You'll also be dealing with three Sword Swallowers at one time, and if you don't bob and weave with these guys, you'll have a hard time with The Penguin's last line of defense.

Section 2 (side-scrolling)

You'll be facing the Duck Vehicle. You'll have to jump onto the platform underneath the duck, then walk back. After doing this a couple of times, it will shoot rockets. As you throw Batarangs at this things, block the rockets (unless you're far enough away from them and can still hit the vehicle, which is painfully hard to do). You'll want to lose as few lives to this thing as possible.

Section 3 (beat-'em-up)

You'll fight The Penguin once more. Also, the inside of the duck is bigger than the duck himself. I'm assuming that's the inside, because I've never watched the movie. How does this work?

Don't dally around when he starts walking around, otherwise he'll hop forward and sidestep as he shoots at you with his umbrella machine gun. If you grab him and throw him to the ground, stay away from him when he's on the ground. He'll leap back up when he gets up, and if you're right in his path, he'll grab on and bite you.

After you do some damage to him, he'll start flying around. Stay away from him and don't even bother trying to attack him as he flies around leaving a movement trail behind him, as he'll be an invincible human battering ram at this point. He'll fly around in a diamond-shaped pattern. When he runs half a diamond, he'll throw umbrellas on the ground, then he'll cover the rest of the distance and fly around a little more when he reaches the top of the "diamond," giving you a chance to hit him and/or grab him for a quick combo. When he's flying around fast enough for him to smack into you, go the opposite direction he's going. If he's going clockwise, go counter-clockwise, and vice-versa. Punch him a few times and do the two headbutt-throw combo. This way, you'll hit him out of his off-screen flying attack and he'll be walking around on the ground again, ready to repeat his pattern.

If he does manage to fly off the screen, throw a Bat Test Tube down just before he can hit you. This will let you get past the attack without getting hurt, as it's really tough to see coming and dodge since you won't be able to tell which side of the screen he'll reappear at.

When you beat The Penguin, you've saved Gotham City! The Penguin's evil tirade is finally over! You did it!

PrinceWatercress plays Batman Returns (SFC) on Mania - 10th Anniversary Let's Play - Part 6 of 7

This is perhaps the hardest scene in the game before the last level, and you're going to find out why really, really quickly.

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Scene 6

Circus Train

Section 1 (beat-'em-up)

You're going to be dealing with Fat Clowns at the beginning. Grouping them up and trying to deal damage to two of them at the same time works well here.

The background will eventually change from the outside world to the inside of a tunnel. You'll start seeing a biker moving in and out of the background tossing bombs onto the top of the train. Whatever you do, don't be near the background or in the flight path of the bombs. If you do the former, you'll most likely be performing the latter as well. If you're in the bombs' flight paths, you'll instantly get hit as soon as the bomb touches you. Once again, cheapness at its finest. You could stop the biker with a Bat Test Tube, but it's just going to come back at the same exact time interval, so it's not even worth it just to keep the biker from throwing one bomb. You'll be dealing with a lot of Knife Throwers and dark green Thin Clowns that carry bombs, adding an even more explosive element to this slice of the ride.

You'll eventually end up back outside the tunnel, but you'll also have to jump over arches positioned over the tracks. The arches will sweep you off your feet and cause damage, but it will cause instant death to any enemies who touch them...except the blue Thin Clowns, who will jump over them even if they're facing you. Apparently even the blue ones have a special talent. If you can somehow stun them in time, the arches will still kill them...but I wouldn't even recommend doing this on Mania unless you got the timing of the arches' appearances down to a science.

When the background is covered by a building, you're nearing the end. You'll be dealing with Fire Clowns, Sword Swallowers and Knife Throwers. You'll be dealing with two waves of them, then you'll finally get a chance to refill all of your health with a Big Heart before the train stops, signifying the end of the first section.

Section 2 (beat-'em-up)

When you get off the train, you'll immediately be in a boss fight. This time, you'll be facing an organ grinder. The Organ Grinder will have blue Thin Clowns flanking him throughout the battle until you get rid of them all. At the outset, the Organ Grinder will try to get in close and whack you with his organ. If you can throw Thin Clowns into him or - even better - knock his head into that of a Thin Clown, good for you. You'll be doing a lot of throwing just to keep the Thin Clowns off your back. If you need to, use a Bat Test Tube whenever you're cornered by the boss and the Thin Clowns.

When you get the Organ Grinder down to a light green health bar, he'll switch tactics. Instead of trying to go after you, he'll run away from you, and quickly! He'll go to one side of the screen and try to shoot you down with the machine gun hidden in his organ. Since he won't even use close-range attacks at this point, it's a lot easier to get close to him as he's running away from you (walking into him diagonally really helps). From there, you can do some headbutts and throws on him until he's dead. Just remember to sidestep whenever his machine gun pops out.

When you beat this scene, you'll finally come upon the old Gotham City Zoo...and Arctic World! You're at The Penguin's Lair now, and your adventure is just about over. It's just you, even more clown lackeys, and The Penguin.

PrinceWatercress plays Batman Returns (SFC) on Mania - 10th Anniversary Let's Play - Part 5 of 7

Mode 7? Mode 7.

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Scene 5

To The Batmobile

This level looks just like the end of the cutscene before the first level, minus the Bat Signal. Here, you'll be racing down the streets of Gotham City taking down (and avoiding) the many bikers in your path.

Press Y repeatedly to shoot at enemies. Holding Up and Down on the Control Pad allows you to speed up and slow down. While there isn't any noticeable speed difference if you're standing still, it allows you to make faster turns when you're sped up and narrower turns when you're slowing down. Holding Up while turning works wonders, as you (and I) will find out, as it allows you to avoid enemy rockets with the greatest of ease. Holding Down works well when getting between rows of bikers.

You'll first see bikers leaping out from behind the Batmobile on their bikes. They can easily be shot down and destroyed if you're quick enough.

When the bikers are coming straight at you in rows, stay in the center line of the road so you can avoid them all and take as little damage from colliding into them as possible.

The bikers that show up ahead of you and ride forwards will turn back every so often and fire a couple of rockets before you're able to pass by them. The easier the difficulty you're playing on, the more likely you are to destroy them before the game allows you to pass by them. You're better off just focusing squarely on avoiding all of their rockets on Mania, since these bikers have light green energy bars and can be pretty relentless with their attacks.

The purple Batman icons show up in lulls in the action, and you'll see a few of them twice. You'll get 500 points if you can pick one up, which is 300 more than what you'll get out of the bikers, so try to pick up as many as you can. Once you pass by the first wave of Batman icons, you'll see the pattern of bikers you see at the beginning begin again.

You don't want to die in this scene. If you do, you'll be sent back to an earlier point in the level. If you die against the boss, you'll have to start the entire fight over.

The boss in this level is the Campain Vehicle. (Yeah, just one in over a million Batman puns.) This vehicle has two guys hanging onto the back of it that are not only firing rockets at you from the back, but also flinging firecrackers at you! The rockets can be avoided as they normally would be, but you'll have to get all the way to the side to avoid the firecrackers, assuming you stay in the center as much as possible between attack waves. All the while, you'll be shooting down the Campain Vehicle while avoiding bikers. When you get the Campain Vehicle down to the normal yellow energy bar, it will start firing more rockets at you than normal. Weave around while avoiding the bikers, and keep mashing the Y button to make your way to victory!

When you beat this scene, Batman's reputation is restored while The Penguin's true intentions to bring bedlam to Gotham City are revealed. He begins an initiative to kidnap all of the first-born sons in the city, and it's up to Batman to save the children!

PrinceWatercress plays Batman Returns (SFC) on Mania - 10th Anniversary Let's Play - Part 4 of 7

Well, our intentions WERE noble, but...

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Scene 4

The Penguin's Trap

Section 1 (beat-'em-up)

The enemy placement in the first section of this scene is completely random. You could face from four to as many eight blue Thin Clowns in the very beginning, and the way they enter the screen will either be down from the ceiling or from the side of the screen. I finished off enemies as soon as they appeared and got eight Thin Clowns as a result, but I'm not sure if either speed is a contributing factor or it's completely random.

The enemy placement on the way to the door is also random. Sometimes you'll have three Fat Clowns drop from the ceiling at once, and sometimes you won't. Either way, throwing enemies into the background wall is a huge help.

The second section can actually be memorized compared to the first. You'll be dealing with Fire Clowns and Sword Swallowers. Once again, you can throw enemies into the background wall if you need to.

Section 2 (beat-'em-up)

You'll now commence the second battle with Catwoman. This is basically the same battle as the one from the end of Scene 3; the only differences are that you cannot throw Catwoman into the background wall (probably because the wall was programmed to be empty space due to the Ice Princess being tied up in the chair in the background) and Catwoman does not perform the speedy V-patterned attack that made the first battle aggravating. The same strategies apply, and she still has the same annoying kick, dashing scratch and whip attacks. Yes, the dashing scratch can still hit you on the very last frame. Don't use your Bat Test Tubes against Catwoman, as you'll need the three that you have for what happens next.

Section 3 (side-scrolling)

You'll then hit the rooftops and face The Penguin for the first time. The Ice Princess from the Gotham City Christmas celebration is being held hostage again, this time on a building ledge. You'll be pelting The Penguin with Batarangs as he flies around, but take care not to get hit yourself, which is all too easy to do in some cases!

The Penguin will start by throwing umbrellas down. About a second after they hit the ground, they'll explode. Stay away from the umbrellas and stay on the move, and when Penguin's feet are around the same level as Batman's head, duck. He will hit you from running into you.

When he floats in place above you, he'll start throwing umbrellas to the side. He'll throw four in the easiest difficulties, but from Hard on he'll add one more depending on what difficulty you're playing on. In Mania, he throws seven. To avoid them, the pattern is to duck, duck, duck, jump, duck, jump, duck. Feel free to cut the end of as much as you need to, as this pattern never changes on the easier difficulties save for the number of umbrellas he throws. When he flies further up and off the screen, be prepared to either pelt him with Batarangs when he shows up from either side of the screen. You'll have to hit him several times to be able to duck under him in time, so if you can't, feel free to throw down a Bat Test Tube. Be prepared to lose at least one or two lives.

When you beat The Penguin, he'll throw an umbrella down in front of the Ice Princess. When it opens, bats will come out of it and will push the Ice Princess off the building. The Penguin will succeed at turning the people against Batman, but things aren't what they seem...

PrinceWatercress plays Batman Returns (SFC) on Mania - 10th Anniversary Let's Play - Part 3 of 7

This scene is actually quicker and easier to get through than what you've seen so far. It's also really fun until CATWOMAN.

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Scene 3

On The Prowl

Section 1 (side-scrolling)

You'll be going up buildings in a window-washer's scaffold. As you go up, Thin and Fat Clowns will be smashing through windows to get a piece of you. Stay away from them and knock them off with Batarangs while they're still in the air.

When the scaffold stops, use the grappling hook to go to the right and catch a ride on another scaffold. There'll be more clowns this time compared to the last, but it's not really that much harder.

Section 2 (side-scrolling)

This time around, you'll be walking on rooftops. You don't want to mess around after the beginning and near the end, because it's a long way down and it's instant death if you plunge.

The windowsills shortly after the beginning will crumble when you stand on them. Keep on moving like normal and you'll make your way through before you can plunge down the bottomless pit and lose a life.

If you can make it to the top platform, great. That's where you want to go, as you can completely refill your health meter and get an extra Bat Test Tube there. Even if you don't need the health, pick up the health pickup anyway. It gives you points regardless.

If you dropped down from the edge of the building you started from, you'll find a Bat Test Tube to your left. You definitely can't miss it.

The Bazooka Clowns appear here. They're much easier, since all they do is fire their rockets and jump around. Since you can duck, do just that and pound them with Batarangs.

You'll eventually go up on a large steel girder. Watch out as you go up, as bombs will drop along with Thin Clowns and Bazooka Clowns. Two Tall Clowns will also show up for the ride as well. Better enjoy fighting them, because this is the last time you'll see them in-game.

Once the ride stops, you'll be able to go to the right, use the grappling hook to get over the bottomless pit, and make your way to the boss fight. Don't forget to pick up the big heart that's just at the bottom as you go.

Section 3 (side-scrolling)

This is the first of two fights with Catwoman in the game. When she gets near, punch her first and then do the two-headbutts-and-a-throw combo. Watch out when she's doing her backflips, as she'll do a nasty attack where she zips across the screen in a V-Pattern. In the lesser difficulties, she zips from one side of the arena to the other twice, but on other difficulties, she'll do it three or four times. On Mania, she'll do it five times. It's usually in a V-pattern, but it's still best to keep an eye on her and move up and down accordingly. If you can't escape, use a Bat Test Tube to get her to stop.

Her cat scratch, kick and whip attacks all have some range. Use your punches to stun her so you can inch your way forward and put her in a grab combo. Her cat scratch is the worst of the three attacks, as she dashes forward whenever she performs it and you can be hit even at the last frame, which can be another embarrassing cheap hit/death source.

When she's near death, unleash all the Bat Test Tubes you have on her. She should be able to go down then.

When you beat Catwoman, she'll jump off the building and escape without a scratch. She'll then join forces with The Penguin to help him create a trap that Batman can't resist...

By the way, I mention this in the first Let's Play: there are two versions of the game's ROM. In the first one, Catwoman doesn't leap off the building until after you get your bonus points. In the second (which I use here), she leaps off after you defeat her. The copyright screens on both versions are very similar save for one detail.

PrinceWatercress plays Batman Returns (SFC) on Mania - 10th Anniversary Let's Play - Part 2 of 7

Well, at least I'm not sucking. Yet.

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Scene 2

Battle In The Streets Of Gotham City

Section 1 (beat-'em-up)

In the first section, you'll start dealing with a bunch of Thin Clowns. For the second set, you'll meet a new type of Thin Clown: the brown ones. These guys juggle bowling pins and will throw them at you, but if you hit them with a Batarang they'll instantly lose all their ammo while stunned and will be forced to come at you like all the other Thin Clowns. Be sure to toss the enemies into the background wall when you can!

When you come out of the bridge, you'll meet the dark green Thin Clowns. They're just like all the other ones, but some of them will carry and throw bombs. If one is standing still with a bomb, just get the entire bomb on the screen and stay away to force them to throw the bomb just before it explodes. Some of them also walk towards you with bombs. If that happens, throw a Batarang to stun them and force them to drop the bomb. The bomb will land on the floor with a boom, giving you free damage on the clown and any souls stupid enough to be right next to it when it lands.

I found after completing the first LP of this game that if they do manage to throw the bomb, you can pick it up with the Y button and press it again to throw it. It can still blow up in your hands much like in the enemy's, so be cautious.

You can throw enemies into fences, benches and signposts to cause some pain along with collateral damage. The signposts make an interesting "pwung" sound when you slam an enemy into them, which I like a lot.

The Fat Clown here will have a light green health bar, so you'll have to pummel it a little more than usual. It also has some AI, as it will jump onto the park bench and jump again from the bench, trying to crush you from above. Stay on the move when this happens, as you can't hit the Fat Clown out of this attack.

Some Bikers will just breeze on by, while others will move back and forth trying to kill. You should always try to throw a Batarang at them regardless for the points. The ones that do the former will show up after certain waves of opponents are destroyed or when you reach a certain part of the scene. The hard part about those types of Bikers is getting down their time of appearance to a science, but it can definitely be done.

The Knife Throwers have the smallest amount of HP, but they have a close-ranged knife stab attack that's hard to see coming as well as the ability to throw knives from the other side of the screen. This is faster and harder to see than the Bazooka Clowns' ammo, believe it or not.

Section 2 (side-scrolling)

You'll now be in a department store. Hit the Thin Clowns before they can slide down the escalator railing, and keep still so you can keep an eye out for the Fat Clown bouncing down behind him. You'll be doing this twice. After three more Fat Clowns, you'll come across two pairs of elevators. The first pair has a Thin Clown in each one, while the second pair contains two Thin Clowns in the elevator to the right.

You'll earn more points by throwing a Batarang into an enemy in the side-scrolling sections, as opposed to punching them at close range (200 points vs. 100). Keep that in mind.

When you make it to the Circo Porto, the windows will break and the whole department store will be set ablaze! You'll have to go right and use the Grappling Hook to get past the flames on the ground, taking out Tall Clowns and Fat Clowns as you go. Watch out for fire dropping from the ceiling as well as falling lumber from the ceiling, as it will be also on fire and fall to the ground when you're just under it. You'll have to press A repeatedly to get past the huge pit of fire and also trick that piece of ceiling lumber into falling. When you reach the Tall Clown at the end, avoid the torches he throws while they're in the air and wait just next to him. The floor will collapse, giving you the chance to move back and finally nail him with some Batarangs.

Section 3 (beat-'em-up)

You'll meet a new enemy here: the Sword Swallowers. They'll slash at you with their swords, and their weapons cause hellacious damage! If you throw a Batarang at them, they'll simply repel it by swinging at it, nullifying any attempts to stun them. You'll have to bob and weave to get close to them without getting hurt.

Sometimes, if you're far away enough from them, they'll perform their sword-swallowing trick. If you hit them with a Batarang while they're doing this, not only will it connect, but you'll also get points and land some damage on them!

You'll be dealing with the Sword Swallowers as well as some Bazooka Clowns at the beginning of this section. With the power behind their attacks, this is a dangerous combination! Be ready to move around as you take these guys and throw them into one another. You'll want to do as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time here.

You'll then be dealing with both Sword Swallowers and Fat Clowns. This is a bit easier, since you can easily throw enemies into each other.

When you reach the intersection of this cold, empty street, you'll be dealing with some Thin Clowns. They'll all be of the light green, dark green, and blue varieties, and some of the dark green Thin Clowns will come out with bombs.

After this, you'll deal with a few more Thin Clowns before fighting the Tattooed Strongman, who rips up the newspaper he's reading and comes straight at you. Believe it or not, this guy is really easy if you keep walking diagonally at him and do a bunch of grab combos. When you toss him to the ground, you'll want to go down and forward before going up and forward once you're close enough to him to grab him. He'll have some blue Thin Clowns to back him up. If you can grab the boss and one of the clowns and bump heads, great. That's a lot of time you'll save against this guy. Also, don't be afraid to use up your Bat Test Tubes if you're near death here.

PrinceWatercress plays Batman Returns (SFC) on Mania - 10th Anniversary Let's Play - Part 1 of 7

I replayed this back in 2014, but I used a continue in that run. It's time to go back to this game one more time and give this game a more worthy replay in time for the tenth (and a half) anniversary of the first-ever upload!

Next | End

Just like in the 1992 movie of the same name, you'll be playing as Batman and taking down The Penguin. Catwoman is also prowling around, and her intentions aren't quite clear. It's up to you to beat The Penguin, defeat the Red Triangle Circus Gang and its horde of clown thugs and bring peace back to Gotham City!

Also, it turns out I was playing the Super Famicom version this whole time! That explains why the copyright screen is different compared to the Western version and why Catwoman falls down the building before you get your bonus points in Scene 3 rather than after.

Scene 1

Ambush In Gotham Plaza

Section 1 (beat-'em-up)

When you start the game, two bikers will ride past you after you show up. You'll only get enough time to throw a Batarang at one of them to get some points right off of the bat, so be sure to do it.

In the first section, you'll be able to move around like in other beat-'em-ups, particularly Final Fight.

The Thin Clowns come in two varieties in the first level: light green and blue. The green ones can cartwheel all over the place, making them immune to attacks (including Batarangs) and letting them move around the screen in a mere second. The blue ones cannot. Regardless, use a boomerang to stun them to give yourself enough time to get close and whack them.

Speaking of whacking things, the controls in the game are great. You can carry an enemy while grabbing one for a short time, which allows you to either headbutt and throw them into enemies or run into another enemy and grab two at once, giving you the ability to knock their heads into one another to cause some massive damage. You can also switch between throwing the Batarang and swinging around on the grappling hook and kicking enemies, but the latter item costs a little bit of energy to use. Pressing B and Y simultaneously will perform a super attack that covers what's in front of you and behind you, but it also uses a little bit of energy to perform.

Punching an enemy three times, grabbing them and headbutting them twice before throwing them onto the ground gives you the most possible points from an enemy. With an extra life awarded every 50,000 points, you're going to need all the points you can get! (Just remember that you can't stockpile past nine lives.)

Walking into an enemy lets you grab them. Press Y to do the headbutt. Hold a direction on the Control pad before pressing the Y button, and you will throw them. While having an enemy grabbed, you can walk around with the enemy in your hand for a short time before Batman lets go. If you grab another enemy during that time, you'll grab them both. Press Y, and you'll butt both enemies head-first into each other.

The Bikers move around on bikes and try to run you over. While you could jump kick them to damage them, the best thing to do is either throw an enemy at them or hit them with a Batarang to get rid of them in one hit. If they run into an explosion caused by another bike, they'll also be dethroned off their chariots of death if they ride right into the explosion.

The Bazooka Clowns carry around bazookas, and their rockets pack a punch! Blocking them lessens the damage a little bit and keeps you from being knocked to the floor, but tricking them into either firing at another enemy or grabbing an enemy and using it as a human shield works wonders. As you can see, they're prone to performing friendly fire on their comrades constantly. They are also the only enemies that can destroy destructible props on the ground such as garbage cans with their attack. They can also perform hit and runs - shoot an enemy (or you) and then run away after they hit a target.

If there is a wall in the background, you can hold Up and press Y to throw the enemy into the wall. (I say Up and A, but it's really Up and Y. So much for talking and playing at the same time.) You can do this to cause some damage to store windows and other enemies, and it also gives you more points compared to just throwing the enemy onto the floor. Of course, if any enemies are in the path of the enemy you're throwing into the wall, they'll get knocked to the wall with him. Stuff like this and the ability to knock two enemies' heads together are why Game Informer has mentioned this as #10 on their best movie-to-game adaptations of all time back in 2011, as well as the best Batman game before Arkham Asylum. Now that's what's up.

The Fire Clowns have two attacks: a trident stab as well as a fire-breathing attack. Both not only involve fire, but they also have some range. Stunning them with the Batarang and staying on the move against these guys works well, but just be careful not to run straight into their attacks or their attack range if they're standing still. The grappling hook works well against these guys, now that I think about it. Too bad I rely exclusively on the Batarang.

The Fat Clowns are slightly more powerful and have more health than the Thin Clowns. They can also be extremely cheap, as they can keep punching even while you're on the floor while you're next to them, causing you to stand back up and rise straight into their one-two combo to be knocked back onto the floor. This can also be the source of many cheap deaths.

The Batman logos give you extra points. The color dictates how many points you'll get, with white giving the least, then light purple, then light red, then dark red giving the most.

Small hearts refill a little bit of your health, while the big hearts completely refill your health meter. Since I'm playing on Mania, hearts you may see in certain parts of the game on Easy through Special difficulties won't appear in certain spots. I think there's only four to six hearts in the entire game if you're playing on Mania.

Section 2 (side-scrolling)

Unlike the Final Fight segments, here you'll be moving left and right only. You'll throw Batarangs with the Y button, but you can use the grappling hook with A. Since you can use it to hang around but not attack, you won't have to sacrifice energy to use it. Of course, you can still punch enemies if you're close enough to them.

The Thin Clowns will come out in an endless stream, so go ahead and take advantage of that if you need to get another extra life, since you don't have a time limit anywhere in the game.

The Tall Clowns juggle torches, and send some to the floor in an attempt to burn you. The torches won't hurt you after they've touched the ground. To defeat these guys, you'll have to hit them anywhere from the waist up, meaning that you'll have to respond with Batarangs after they throw torches sometimes. The Tall Clowns will only appear in the side-scrolling segments of the game.

The Fat Clowns just bounce around from one side of the screen to the other. There's only two in this segment, but they're annoying for something that takes only two Batarangs to kill.

When you stop seeing the Thin Clowns coming at you, you're near the end of the level. The boss here is the Stun Gun Clown. He'll move toward you and jump at you before shooting out the stun gun after he hits the ground. Hit him with Batarangs as he comes at you, then walk under him when he jumps. He'll miss with the stun gun completely, giving you more time to pelt him with Batarangs, particularly if you duck down to throw them after he lands. After doing this twice, he'll do a rolling attack. You can't jump over it, so hit him out of it by blocking and pressing X. This lets you use one of your Bat Test Tubes, which works as a screen-clearing attack in both the beat-'em-up and side-scrolling segments. From here, he'll repeat the attack pattern again. He'll be close to dead at this point if you've been piling on the Batarangs.

Believe it or not, you can shoot the grappling hook forward by holding Left and Right and then pressing A. While this could probably be used to avoid the Stun Gun Clown's rolling attack, you're better off just using the Bat Test Tube to hit him out of it anyway. At least it lets you make a hole in the wall at the right end of this area.

When you complete a scene, you'll get 5,000 bonus points no matter what.

Batman will meet Selina Kyle, while The Penguin gets together with department store tycoon Max Shreck to discredit the Mayor, setting the stage for some hardships in Batman's newest quest...

PrinceWatercress plays Pac-Man (Atari 2600) - The Longplay

We end this Let's Play with one more game on Game Mode 1. See you next game.

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PrinceWatercress plays Pac-Man (Atari 2600) - Part 8 of 8

With the eighth game mode, our journey through Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 has come to a close.

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In Game Mode 8, Pac-Man moves at a slow speed while the ghosts start at a walking speed.

All in all, Game Mode 6 is the hardest (especially with the difficulty switch(es) set to A/Expert), with Game Mode 7 being the easiest.

With that, our journey through this game has come to a close. Tune in next time for a longplay!

PrinceWatercress plays Pac-Man (Atari 2600) - Part 7 of 8

Game Mode 7 was a lot of fun to play through after having played the rest of the game modes in order and getting better with the game in general. If you're having trouble with the game, try this game mode first.

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In Game Mode 7, Pac-Man moves at a slow speed while the ghosts start at a crawling speed, making this the only game mode other than Game Mode 3 that the manual treats as appropriate for young children. In reality, this is the absolutely easiest game mode you can play the game mode on and is perfect for anyone who wants to get used to the game. Getting to seven or eight screens was no problem for me.

PrinceWatercress plays Pac-Man (Atari 2600) - Part 6 of 8

It's now time for the most challenge game mode that this game has to offer.

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In Game Mode 6, Pac-Man moves at a fast speed while the ghosts start at a running speed. Because of this, both characters will move as quickly as possible in the first level. By moving the difficulty switch(es) to A/Expert to make the power pills' effect last only half as long, you can give yourself the ultimate challenge.

PrinceWatercress plays Pac-Man (Atari 2600) - Part 5 of 8

Hey, I just got through three screens deathless! Oh, wait, I just lost three lives.

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In Game Mode 5, Pac-Man moves at a fast speed while the ghosts start at a jogging speed.

Also, you can tell I'm getting better at this game...sort of.

PrinceWatercress plays Pac-Man (Atari 2600) - Part 4 of 8

If you've been waiting for me to play with the difficulty switch, I do it here. Cutting the power pill time in half really changes things up a bit!

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In Game Mode 4, Pac-Man moves at a fast speed while the ghosts move at a walking speed. Not surprisingly, once I get myself in gear, I'm able to get through a few screens.

Also, I switch the difficulty switch from B/Novice to A/Expert for the first time. As a result, the effect of the power pills only lasts half as long, but it's able to jazz things up just enough to add difficulty to the game.