It was only a matter of time before I closed the series out with the fifth and final handheld game.
Two years after the release of the fourth handheld Crazy Castle game, the fifth game in the series came to Game Boy Advance. Instead of using Garfield, the Ghostbusters, Kid Klown, Go! Go! Kid, or even Bugs Bunny - the last of whom they did not have the rights to, they used Woody Woodpecker, as they had gotten the rights to the Universal Studios license for Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure on the GameCube, which is considered one of the worst games ever made.
The controls are the same as ever, and you can get used to them in the tutorial. Left and Right let you move left and right, and Up and Down allows you to climb up and down ladders. However, you have some new moves. Double-tapping left or right lets you run in that direction, and double-tapping Down on the D-Pad allows you to slide down ladders. Up-Left and Up-Right lets you walk up slopes. Pressing A allows you to peck at blocks to break them (unless they are made of metal) and get them out of your way.
If you bounce off a cloud while falling onto it, you can change your direction in mid-air and get to other places, which is pretty nice.
The mission in each level is the same as ever, too: open all the doors you can find and get the eight keys needed to unlock the exit door with the padlock on it and move on to the next level. Press Up to enter a door, then walk into the treasure chest to open it. If a treasure chest is moving on its own accord, don't open it. It's a Mimic, and it will damage you. If there are two chests, you can only open one of them.
When you get all eight keys, the music will change, and Woody will remind you what the exit looks like. Get to the exit and open it to get to the next level.
The cane openings, which sometimes have stairs, will let you go higher and lower in the area.
You have an inventory now. Cycle through items such as dart guns with R, and press B to use it.
To look around, hold A while crouching, then use the D-Pad to look around. If you want to look at the whole level, you'll have to pause the game and select Map to scan the whole level with the D-Pad. You'll need to un-pause to get out of the map. You can also get in and out of map mode with the L button.
You have three hearts in the upper-left corner and you have six hit points altogether. A small heart replenishes one heart, while a big heart replenishes all of them.
Unlike the other games, enemies re-spawn! Enemies come back, and this can be a hassle, especially when there are limited attack items in each stage. Also, watch out for hazards such as steam. If you get caught by enemies like spiders, wiggle free by rocking the D-Pad left and right.
The jar with the fairy in it gives you a special power when used. The special power is different depending on which world you are in.
When you start the game, Woody will be asleep at his house when Mother Nature wakes him up. She tells Woody that monsters have appeared in her world and have captured the legendary Crazy Castle. She asks Woody to help take care of the monsters, and in exchange, he will get the legendary treasure of Crazy Castle. Woody agrees upon hearing about the treasure. Mother Nature teleports Woody to her world, then Woody's niece and nephew appear, wonder where Woody went, and never factor in the story in any way.
There are five elemental worlds representing the five elements of nature: wind, wood, water, fire and sand. You'll start out in Sand World and go through all of the elemental worlds to get to Crazy Castle.
Sand Stage 1
Here, you'll get used to moving around. The white jars with the red lines can be broken with the peck attack, and the white awnings with the red and yellow stripes can be used as trampolines. Remember that you can hold Left or Right on the D-Pad to change direction in mid-air to get more control as to where you can go.
Enemies will not be showing up...yet. Use this stage to get used to moving around and learning how to do what you need to do.
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