PrinceWatercress plays Hook - Part 6 of 10

This level takes place on some snowy mountains, and if you don't take your time here, you're going to be making some costly mistakes.

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Level 6

Level 6 takes place on some snowy mountains, and the enemies here largely comprise of those that you've seen in previous levels. The men from Level 3 who throw boulders now throw snowballs that grow in size the further they roll forward, but you can handle these guys like you did then as long as you take your time getting to them. The panthers from Level 4 also come back, and just like last time, you want to avoid their roar projectiles to avoid getting stunned and get past them whenever you see them. 

The pirates with the swords and the wooden shields, however are new enemies. Their wooden spiked shields protect from damage against whoever is in front of them, so you'll need to get behind them in order to hit them. Also new are the birds that move up and down as they fly back and forth. They don't drop anything when defeated unlike the other enemies, but they can definitely get in the way.

You have spike pits as well as bottomless pits here, and while the spike pits are not insteant death, the bottomless pits are. Also, you have ice physics to contend with in this level. If you run anywhere in this stage, you will slide a little further when you come to a stop. Unless you need to make a running jump to get past the cat enemies than can stun you, or if you need to get past the two bottomless pits for the boss, you're better off just walking at regular speed and taking your time.

The boss here is a pirate on a weird platform that shoots out dynamite on balloons that float right towards you and home in on you. Stay to either side and take out one balloon, then get to the boss to lure the other balloon full of dynamite towards the boss so you can hit the other balloon and drop the dynamite on the boss. After three hits, the boss is gone, and you can take your place among the Lost Boys to complete the level.

PrinceWatercress plays Hook - Part 5 of 10

For this entry, we're in a cave. For some reason, this level is amazingly short.

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Level 5

We're now in a cave.

You'll need to duck down to hit the snakes. Get your fly meter filled up by Tink after you drop down at the start, then jump when necessary to avoid sinking into the quicksand floor. Make sure you're low enough so that you don't jump into the ceiling spikes. From here, you'll be flying and swimming. Stay away from walls, floors and ceilings so that you don't get nibbled on by the eels that pop in and out every so often. Thankfully, you can attack the eels if you need to get them out of your way, and thankfully, they stay out of your way permanently.

There is a 1-Up after the water section, but thankfully, you don't have to drop down the area with the spikes on the walls to grab it; you can jump fly in and out and grab it to make it yours without having to take the risk if you're nimble enough.

The bigger stalactites on the ceiling will fall down when you get close enough to them. Get them to fall so that you don't have to run past them and complicate things further. After that, fill up on flight power once more so you can get to the opening at the end and complete the stage.

PrinceWatercress plays Hook - Part 4 of 10

The fourth level of the game sends Peter Pan over a waterfall and across some treacherous waters.

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Level 4

As soon as you start the level, you'll see Tink to your immediate right. You'll want to fill up on flight power pronto. From here, you'll want to get to the top of the waterfall, land on platforms where necessary, and get to the other side, where you can refill on flight magic just to get above the wall at the end and over the spikes. While there are pick-ups if you stay low, I found it easier to stay all the way up just to get through the first half of the level with minimal effort.

The feline enemies (Pumas? Panthers? Tigers?!?) here shoot out growl projectiles. While they don't hurt you, they will temporarily stun you. You also can't defeat these enemies either, so your best bet is to avoid their projectile attacks and just get past them however you can.

The pirates in the hot air balloons are easier to defeat if you slash the balloons rather than the pirates in them. The balloons pop and fall like a rock after one hit, while it takes two to defeat the pirates, who are shooting at you with pistols. It's better to attack the balloons. Smaller ones will show up once you're past the waterfall, and these will start dropping barrel bombs. You can destroy these with your dagger, but you're better off just attacking the pirates. The first two drop bombs, while the third moves up and down while the pirate inside shoots at you; just duck down on the ground when you see him.

Once you're past the waterfall, you'll be swimming across what seems like the ocean (which is really more like a small lake with some weird currents). Remember to hold B to stay in place underwater. If you go too far down, mermaids will show up to carry you back up. You'll need to avoid the pirates, their bombs, and the gray barrels that are on the surface of the water. You can destroy the gray barrels with your dagger, but you can jump over them if you need to with the help of the mermaids. You'll soon come across some dry land, but if you miss out on getting the mermaid to help you before the dry land is all the way to the left, you won't get crushed by the screen; you'll just be placed on the dry land.

The boss here is a flying pirate ship that shoots out barrel bombs that float downward three at a time. Load up on pixie dust for your flight meter, then slowly fly around and avoid the barrels as well as the spikes below while hitting the pirates whenever they come out of the sides or the underside of the ship. If you need to, strike the bombs with your dagger to get them out of your way. This boss takes three hits to defeat like previous bosses, but this battle can be rough if you try to rush through it or if you aren't paying attention. After this, take your place among the Lost Boys to clear the level.

PrinceWatercress plays Hook - Part 3 of 10

This is a really short level.

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Level 3

Compared to the two previous levels, you'll be working your way up instead of going from left to right.

The pirates riding on the barrels take two hits to defeat, as do the pirates that are throwing boulders. You'll want to avoid the boulders and quickly get to them, but watch out for the boulders that they throw after you hit them once.

The blue plants will only eat you if you leap towards the butterflies above them. If you walk or run past them, you'll have no problem.

The archers throughout this level move this time around, and they will stop and fire at you if you happen to be on their level. Thankfully, just like in the last level, you can deflect their arrows with your dagger and/or sword.

The apple refills more health than the cherries, so pick the apples up if you need them.

Near the end of the level, you'll find Tinkerbell, who will give you the power to fly again. If you rush up and to the right, you'll get to the end immediately. If you go up and left, however, you'll find an extra life.

There's no boss here, so once you get to the Lost Boys, take your place with them to move on to the next level.

PrinceWatercress plays Hook - Part 2 of 10

The second level of the game puts our jumping skills to the test.

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Level 2

You'll start this level out with the sword. The sword has a longer reach than the dagger and can also shoot fireballs when you attack. Unfortunately, if you get hit with it, you'll drop the sword and you'll be forced to fight with the dagger once more until you can somehow find the sword again somewhere.

Aside from some of the animal enemies such as the hedgehogs that slowly move towards you, the bats that fly toward you when you get close enough and the spiders on the web strands that move up and down, you'll also have to deal with some human enemies. Some of them will have daggers and will walks back and forth, while others will fire arrows at you with a bow. The human enemies will leave random pick-ups behind, and while they are mostly treasures that will give you points, you may get the odd cherry to refill a hit point or even an extra life!

If you see any hornet's nests, do not attack them. Leave them alone; you don't want to deal with the hornets unless you can somehow swat them away.

The green leaf will increase your maximum health by one point up to a maximum of four leaves for five hit points. These things are few and far between, so grab them whenever you can.

At one point, you'll have to get down to ground level and make a running jump over a huge gap in a wooden bridge just to continue with the level. Be ready to clear the path of bats as you do this, and watch out for more bats once you're on the other side. The bats will line up with you as they drop down before flying at you.

The boss here is an old man who pops out of the holes in the trees while two punch gloves come out of two other holes. Avoid the acorns as they drop down and move across the platforms, then look for the old man while avoiding the punch gloves. I actually don't look for the old man; instead, I just wait where I began the boss fight at and wait for him to pop up near me while avoiding acorns as well as the odd punch glove here and there. Just like with Rufio from the previous level, the boss takes three hits to defeat. Once he's down, head to the right and take your place among the Lost Boys to end the level.

PrinceWatercress plays Hook - Part 1 of 10

Disney made a live-action remake of one of their animated films before it was "cool" in the 2010s and 2020s, and it came to theaters in 1991. Unlike those other live-action remakes, which casual filmgoers liked while others on social media with more refined tastes didn't, this one is regarded as a classic. So not surprisingly, this got a few games in the following two years, and this one ended up being the development debut of a game developer known as Ukiyotei, who would go on to develop Skyblazer, Spawn: The Video Game for Super Nintendo, Punky Skunk for the PlayStation, Metal Gear 1st Mission and 2nd Mission for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, and a few PlayStation ports of some of SNK's current fighting games at the time before ultimately disbanding in 2002 (supposedly) before most of its staff went on to work for SNK.

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The story begins with workaholic lawyer Peter Banning being asked by his two children Jack and Maggie if their grandmother Wendy is just like the Wendy from the Peter Pan stories. Peter insists that this is nothing more than a coincidence before sending them off to bed, which soon leads to the kids being kidnapped by Captain Hook. No sooner does Peter read Hook's ransom note that Tinkerbell shows up, realizes that Peter has lost his memories of actually being Peter Pan because he grew up, and whisks Peter off to Neverland. From here, the game begins.

Level 1

Upon arriving in Neverland, Peter is met by The Lost Boys, who scoff at the grown-up man in front of them and only agree to help him if he is the real Peter Pan. Rufio, who has been leading The Lost Boys since Peter Pan left, does not believe that Peter is Peter Pan, then says that the sword in his hands once belonged to Peter Pan but is now his. Tinkerbell then uses her magic to make Peter a younger, more sprightly version of himself with a dagger in order to re-train him to fight Captain Hook.

Left and Right on the D-Pad let you move Left and Right, Down ducks, B jumps and Y attack. If you hold Y as you move, Peter will run instead of walk. Right away, you'll notice that Peter's walk speed is slow, Peter's run speed is faster and that Peter's jumps are a bit floaty. Take time to get used to how Peter moves.

At the top of the screen, you have your current score, your current amount of health in the form of green leaves, a Fly Meter, the amount of lives that you have left, and the amount of time you have left. If you run out of time, you lose a life. If you lose a life, you get kicked back to the beginning of the stage. You'll get an extra life every 100,000 points, so playing this game well will pay off.

It looks like we start out with two hits, but you actually start out with three. When both leaves are no longer green, you have one more hit left, and if you lose that, you'll turn back into Peter Banning and get kicked back to the beginning. 

The two enemies at the beginning will run towards you, but you can easily hit them with your dagger. The guys in yellow and gold will leap off ledges to get to you, while the guys in red and blue will turn around at the end of ledges.

Along the way, you'll be able to pick up treasures for points. You'll also be able to get pick-ups such as treasure, health and even extra lives randomly from beating up enemies.

I had to use the arcade game as a guide for this: it's Pockets who is in the bush attacking you with bees. Attack the bees first, then advance and attack the bush that Pockets is hiding in order to get the upper hand on him.

When you get in the water, you'll start sinking. Hold B down so you can stay in place in the water, then use the D-Pad to swim around in eight directions. You can attack with the dagger to attack the piranhas that are swimming back and forth.

To refill your health, pick up cherries. Cherries will refill one of your hit points.

Thudbutt will roll towards you. You'll need to hit him twice to stun him.

As you go through the level, the seasons change from spring to summer to fall to winter and then back to spring again at the end. It's quite nice.

If you see Tinkerbell flying in place with sparkles below her, stand below her to fill up your Fly Meter. With the flight magic, you can hold down B to fly and move around in the air in eight directions with the D-Pad. If you hold down Y while flying, you'll fly faster, which the game expects you to learn how to do.

There are two paths you can take while flying. The upper path has Ace as an enemy, and you can only meet him here. You never actually see his axe in this game, as he just skateboards back and forth on the wooden floorboards. He takes just one hit to get past.

The lower path has spikes on the floor and the ceiling, as well as a 3-Up. This gives you three extra lives. If you keep heading back to the lower path and grabbing the 1-Up over and over again, you'll be able to stock up on as many lives as you need to get through the game, which I definitely take advantage of.

To beat Rufio, keep your distance and jump over him when he rushes at you. When he is down on the ground, hit him. Repeat until you hit him three times to win. Afterwards, Rufio will recognize Peter as the genuine Peter Pan, as do the rest of The Lost Boys, who agree to help Peter. We then see the overworld map before heading to the next level. 

PrinceWatercress plays Plaque Attack - The Longplay

...and now, some gameplay, minus the commentary! Enjoy!

Let's Play

Plaque Attack is a shooter for the Atari 2600, and the premise is nothing you and I haven't seen before: protect good things from bad things by shooting bad things until you inevitably lose all good things. In this case, you're a tube of toothpaste protecting teeth from hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, strawberries, cherries, donuts, candy canes and ice cream cones...in that order. While you have unlimited shots, you do not have unlimited time, as the tube of toothpaste that you play as shrinks as each wave goes on. When it rolls all the way up, it's gone, and your teeth are at the mercy of food until the end of the wave. If you have at least one tooth left standing, the game continues. If you're out of teeth, the game ends.

You can move in eight directions, but if you press Up on the joystick, you'll face upwards if you aren't already. If you press Down on the joystick, you'll face downwards. If you're moving diagonally, you'll stay facing the direction you're already facing. Once you figure this out, playing this game gets slightly easier. It is slightly possible to accidentally switch directions, but only slightly, since you can't accidentally do it while moving diagonally. The fire button, of course, fires the toothpaste forwards.

You'll score a new tooth every 2,000 points, which is pretty easy to do early on in the game, especially when you're playing through the first loop. While this can replace teeth you've lose from foods attacking the teeth until they decay and disappear, you can also get new ones past the eight that you start with. 

The game select switch lets you choose between two modes, even though there are four modes in all. Game Mode 1, which is the default, is the normal difficulty, and the further you go, the more points you get from shooting down enemies as well as the amount of teeth you have remaining. Game Mode 2 is the child mode, where the amount of points you get from everything remains small and constant, and thankfully, this mode is not as chaotic as Mode 1 if you're learning how to play the game. Game Modes 3 and 4 are the same as 1 and 2, but they are the two-player alternating variants, so you can compete for the high score with a friend. As for the difficulty switches, B/Novice allows for fast shots, while A/Expert allows for slow shots.

Once you go through the eight aforementioned foods (hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, strawberries, cherries, donuts, candy canes, ice cream cones), you will have completed one loop of the game, and it will be on to a faster, more difficult loop. Compared to the first loop, the second loop is a lot more frantic. Good luck!

Once again, Activision produced a banger game here. The game gets pretty hectic pretty quickly, and while it takes a little time to get used to how to switch between facing upwards and facing downwards, once you get used to it, the game becomes a little more fun. Definitely one to get for the Atari 2600 for sure.

PrinceWatercress plays Plaque Attack

Plaque Attack, I wanna play big like that...wait...hold up. Wrong reference.

Longplay

Plaque Attack is a shooter for the Atari 2600, and the premise is nothing you and I haven't seen before: protect good things from bad things by shooting bad things until you inevitably lose all good things. In this case, you're a tube of toothpaste protecting teeth from hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, strawberries, cherries, donuts, candy canes and ice cream cones...in that order. While you have unlimited shots, you do not have unlimited time, as the tube of toothpaste that you play as shrinks as each wave goes on. When it rolls all the way up, it's gone, and your teeth are at the mercy of food until the end of the wave. If you have at least one tooth left standing, the game continues. If you're out of teeth, the game ends.

You can move in eight directions, but if you press Up on the joystick, you'll face upwards if you aren't already. If you press Down on the joystick, you'll face downwards. If you're moving diagonally, you'll stay facing the direction you're already facing. Once you figure this out, playing this game gets slightly easier. It is slightly possible to accidentally switch directions, but only slightly, since you can't accidentally do it while moving diagonally. The fire button, of course, fires the toothpaste forwards.

You'll score a new tooth every 2,000 points, which is pretty easy to do early on in the game, especially when you're playing through the first loop. While this can replace teeth you've lose from foods attacking the teeth until they decay and disappear, you can also get new ones past the eight that you start with. 

The game select switch lets you choose between two modes, even though there are four modes in all. Game Mode 1, which is the default, is the normal difficulty, and the further you go, the more points you get from shooting down enemies as well as the amount of teeth you have remaining. Game Mode 2 is the child mode, where the amount of points you get from everything remains small and constant, and thankfully, this mode is not as chaotic as Mode 1 if you're learning how to play the game. Game Modes 3 and 4 are the same as 1 and 2, but they are the two-player alternating variants, so you can compete for the high score with a friend. As for the difficulty switches, B/Novice allows for fast shots, while A/Expert allows for slow shots.

Once you go through the eight aforementioned foods (hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, strawberries, cherries, donuts, candy canes, ice cream cones), you will have completed one loop of the game, and it will be on to a faster, more difficult loop. Compared to the first loop, the second loop is a lot more frantic. Good luck!

Once again, Activision produced a banger game here. The game gets pretty hectic pretty quickly, and while it takes a little time to get used to how to switch between facing upwards and facing downwards, once you get used to it, the game becomes a little more fun. Definitely one to get for the Atari 2600 for sure.

PrinceWatercress plays Exerion (SG-1000) - The Longplay

...and now, a couple minutes of gameplay, minus commentary! Enjoy!

Let's Play

Unlike other versions of the game, this game was completely re-programmed for the SG-1000, due to Sega not wanting to allow third party developers to make games for the system due to it being viewed internally as "a moment of weakness." 

On the right side of the screen you have your top and current score at the top, followed by the charge meter, the current scene (level) you are on, and the amount of lives you have left. Each scene has their own enemy, and when all of the enemies are gone, either through being destroyed or moving all the way past the bottom of the screen, a new enemy shows up and you'll enter the next scene.

The D-Pad moves your ship around. Button 1 allows for a double laser shot, while Button 2 allows for a single laser shot that fires rapidly when held down. The single laser uses a charge meter shown on the lower-right corner of the screen. When you hold down Button 2 for the single laser for rapid fire, you'll use up the energy on the charge meter. To add to the charge meter, shoot at enemies and defeat them with the double laser with Button 1. The more charge you have, the more you can use the rapid fire.

You have six types of enemies to defeat. The first are these yellow four-point stars that move around diagonally and fire bombs, which can drop straight down or downward at an angle. Avoid the bombs and take them out with your double laser. These enemies will follow you around, so it can be a little easy to hit two of them at once if you luck out.

The second enemy are blue birds that fly around diagonally and do so in a scattered formation rather than in a straight line like the four-point stars. They will drop bombs at you in addition to overlapping with each other, making them vulnerable to both types of laser fire. Some of them will fly upwards instead of falling past the bottom of the screen, so keep an eye on your surroundings.

The third enemy is the green saucers. They will fly towards you and fire lasers downwards in addition to bombs. They will fly towards your position, and that makes them especially vulnerable to the rapid-fire single laser. Fire away, but watch out for any ammunition coming your way. Just like the birds, they can also double back and fly back upwards.

The fourth enemy look like spinning target reticles...or fidget spinners. I'll just call them fidget spinners. They move like the four-point stars, right down to the bombs they drop. They are also pretty easy to defeat with the double laser. 

The fifth enemy is a swarm of what looks like tiny dragons. They move and attack much like the birds do, but they also come down in groups of four and they can also wrap around the screen, going from one side to the other without warning. Stay away from the sides as they descend.

The sixth enemy is a bunch of green ships that almost look like shuttlecocks (at least to me). They will alternate between flying downward and flying diagonally, and they can also loop back up to the top from the very bottom of the screen. Take out whatever you can, and if you think you're going to lose a life, don't go after an enemy. Just watch out for the ships and the bombs.

After six scenes, you'll start another loop. The enemies will get more aggressive the further you go, and to make matters worse, the three lives you start with are the only ones you get.

This game, despite being programmed completely by Sega despite being a game by Jaleco, is a solid arcade shooter for the SG-1000. The graphics, while a bit on the basic side, have a certain charm to them, and the movement of the ground below you in the background, especially the way that it shifts as you move your ship around the screen, is really good for the time, as it has this nice quasi-3D effect in addition to what feels like parallax as you move from side to side. The enemy's attacks may be a little hard to see against the background at times, though. The sound is as arcade-y as it is going to get, and I have no complaints in that department. The gameplay is reliably responsive, and it usually doesn't feel like the game's fault whenever I lose a life. As for replay value, your mileage may vary, but I personally had a fun time with this one. All in all, this is a solid entry for the SG-1000 library that you should definitely give a shot.

PrinceWatercress plays Exerion (SG-1000)

About time I played another SG-1000 game.

Longplay

Unlike other versions of the game, this game was completely re-programmed for the SG-1000, due to Sega not wanting to allow third party developers to make games for the system due to it being viewed internally as "a moment of weakness." 

On the right side of the screen you have your top and current score at the top, followed by the charge meter, the current scene (level) you are on, and the amount of lives you have left. Each scene has their own enemy, and when all of the enemies are gone, either through being destroyed or moving all the way past the bottom of the screen, a new enemy shows up and you'll enter the next scene.

The D-Pad moves your ship around. Button 1 allows for a double laser shot, while Button 2 allows for a single laser shot that fires rapidly when held down. The single laser uses a charge meter shown on the lower-right corner of the screen. When you hold down Button 2 for the single laser for rapid fire, you'll use up the energy on the charge meter. To add to the charge meter, shoot at enemies and defeat them with the double laser with Button 1. The more charge you have, the more you can use the rapid fire.

You have six types of enemies to defeat. The first are these yellow four-point stars that move around diagonally and fire bombs, which can drop straight down or downward at an angle. Avoid the bombs and take them out with your double laser. These enemies will follow you around, so it can be a little easy to hit two of them at once if you luck out.

The second enemy are blue birds that fly around diagonally and do so in a scattered formation rather than in a straight line like the four-point stars. They will drop bombs at you in addition to overlapping with each other, making them vulnerable to both types of laser fire. Some of them will fly upwards instead of falling past the bottom of the screen, so keep an eye on your surroundings.

The third enemy is the green saucers. They will fly towards you and fire lasers downwards in addition to bombs. They will fly towards your position, and that makes them especially vulnerable to the rapid-fire single laser. Fire away, but watch out for any ammunition coming your way. Just like the birds, they can also double back and fly back upwards.

The fourth enemy look like spinning target reticles...or fidget spinners. I'll just call them fidget spinners. They move like the four-point stars, right down to the bombs they drop. They are also pretty easy to defeat with the double laser. 

The fifth enemy is a swarm of what looks like tiny dragons. They move and attack much like the birds do, but they also come down in groups of four and they can also wrap around the screen, going from one side to the other without warning. Stay away from the sides as they descend.

The sixth enemy is a bunch of green ships that almost look like shuttlecocks (at least to me). They will alternate between flying downward and flying diagonally, and they can also loop back up to the top from the very bottom of the screen. Take out whatever you can, and if you think you're going to lose a life, don't go after an enemy. Just watch out for the ships and the bombs.

After six scenes, you'll start another loop. The enemies will get more aggressive the further you go, and to make matters worse, the three lives you start with are the only ones you get.

This game, despite being programmed completely by Sega despite being a game by Jaleco, is a solid arcade shooter for the SG-1000. The graphics, while a bit on the basic side, have a certain charm to them, and the movement of the ground below you in the background, especially the way that it shifts as you move your ship around the screen, is really good for the time, as it has this nice quasi-3D effect in addition to what feels like parallax as you move from side to side. The enemy's attacks may be a little hard to see against the background at times, though. The sound is as arcade-y as it is going to get, and I have no complaints in that department. The gameplay is reliably responsive, and it usually doesn't feel like the game's fault whenever I lose a life. As for replay value, your mileage may vary, but I personally had a fun time with this one. All in all, this is a solid entry for the SG-1000 library that you should definitely give a shot.

PrinceWatercress plays Slider (Game Gear) - Part 8 of 8

The game saves some of the toughest boards for last. At least this game is over.

First | Previous

Level 89

Password: PAJI

Compared to everything in the last video, this level is dreadfully easy. You just have a bunch of chambers with monsters spawners that release Tentacles in each one, and not a pit in sight.

Level 90

Password: ECAG

Another easy level. It's a maze full of narrow passages. Be careful with the monster spawners as well as the cracked tiles.

Level 91

Password: NCJI

You have a couple of circular areas here, including one full of conveyor belt tiles. Make sure that the blue explosion tile is the last one that you step on.

Level 92

Password: ELAP

The three teleporter tiles over here will make it easier to run around the level and get to where you need to go. The blue explosion tiles will definitely help with opening the level up, and most of them are easy to step on and then back away from, save for one near the lower-left corner of the level.

Level 93

Password: NLJB

Hit the upper blue explosive tile at the start. This will make things a little easier. You'll need to slip past an undefeatable fireball enemy to get to the teleporter. Once you're there, you'll have some more room to maneuver. Be careful when taking out the set of four blue explosive tiles and getting away. Save the ice tile path leading to the cracked tile for last.

Level 94

Password: ECCI

For this one, walk through the cracked tile paths without stopping. At least here, you'll have enemies that can turn pits into tiles in case you make a mistake (should they ever come your way). All in all, not that bad a level. I managed to get all four bears for once in this level.

Level 95

Password: NCLK

This level sucks.

You will be relying on the enemies to create as many tiles as possible so that you can move around on the conveyor belt tiles at the start without falling or sliding into a pit. This level took way too much time to get through. The more pits that get covered up with tiles here, the better. If you can get to the green exit door, get to it and get out of this nightmare of a level.

Level 96

Password: ELCB

On the right side of the level, hit the lower of the two blue explosive tiles. Also, save the nook with the cracked tiles that require sliding on ice tiles to enter for last...assuming the fireball enemy stays away from it, that is!

Level 97

Password: NLLD

Save the lower-left corner for last if you can. If you can get the shoes for the conveyor belt tile section, get them, as they will make that area a lot easier. As for the blue explosion tiles, it's pretty easy to just hit two and get rid of the rest if you're paying attention.

Level 98

Password: GCAI

The far-left tiles are the worst, due to the enemy spawner with the fireball being the worst. You'll need to stand near the edge in order to trick it into falling into the pit. As for the ice tiles near that area, as long as you don't slide around horizontally at the center, you will be fine.

Level 99

Password: PCJK

You have a massive amount of blue explosive tiles. Be ready to run through them with reckless abandon, even though the enemies here can still create tiles. At least this isn't too bad. Also, I had to grab a door just to end this level a tad early.

Once you beat Level 99, Slider will rescue his girlfriend and save the land, then you'll get "The End" and sent back to the title screen. You just beat Slider!

PrinceWatercress plays Slider (Game Gear) - Part 7 of 8

The occurrences of enemies destroying walls and creating tiles escalates in the last fifth of the game's levels.

First | Previous | End

Level 81

Password: NAJG

This time around, you have nothing but walls, pits, teleporters, blue explosion tiles and enemy spawners full of enemies who will create tiles as they move towards the pits. You'll have to rely on the enemies to make a path through the level so that you can clear it. 

Level 82

Password: EJAN

You'll need to rely on the enemies at the start to make tiles so you can access the rest of the level. Thankfully, the level isn't too much of a mess, and if you hit an area earlier than you should, the enemies here will be able to bail you out. At least you have the ghost enemies and not the ones that move around slowly and randomly.

Level 83

Password: NJJP

Oh, boy. You'll need to rely on the flame enemies hitting the square walls to allow access to the last few tiles around here, because the environment in his level wasn't bad enough.

Level 84

Password: EACG

You have four blue tiles and a green explosive tile in this maze. Thankfully, it's easy to tell which tiles are blue (and which one is the green explosion tile). Watch out for the enemy spawners so they don't clap open and closed on you.

Level 85

Password: NALI

It's time for another maze full of narrow paths surrounded by bottomless pits. There are a few cracked tiles that you had better be ready to hit and back away from. I also managed to luck out and get the shoes here, which work miracles with the conveyor belt tiles here.

Level 86

Password: EJCP

You'll need the flame enemies to destroy the walls and create some tiles out of pits so you can access more of the level. Save the cracked tiles near the start for last, as it is easy to get trapped and make it impossible to clear the level if you don't. 

Level 87

Password: NJLB

Wow! Even more enemy reliance! At least you have more room with the narrow path that you start with. I also lucked out and go the laser gun to destroy the walls with here.

Level 88

Password: GAAG

If you don't have the laser gun at the start, you'll need the enemies here to make a path so you can get around. Once you're able to move around, you'll have a lot of room...and so will the enemies.

PrinceWatercress plays Slider (Game Gear) - Part 6 of 8

Now the levels are getting really difficult...

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Level 70

Password: AGEK

The left of the start is harder to work with due to the narrow paths and the conveyor belts near the pits. When you head there, make the cracked tile the last one you hit and use the teleporter pad near it afterwards. 

Level 71

Password: JGNM 

If you don't have the laser gun, you're going to have to wait for the flame enemies to break a wall for you at the start. Also, get the two tiles on the other side of the long ice tile path last.

Level 72

Password: APED

There are a lot of blue explosive tiles at the start. When you back away from them, make sure you don't fall into a pit as you get as much distance as possible. I ended up having to use the green door when it popped up, as this level can be a little annoying.

Level 73

Password: JPNF

You have a whole ring of conveyor belt tiles that circle around the level. As for the inner part of it, save the blue explosive tiles for last. You'll want to not only be able to hit them and get away from them, but also that you can end the level when you hit the last one.

Level 74

Password: AGGM

For this level, circle around the area, then zoom right across the center from the left side of the level. Problem solved.

Level 75

Password: JGPO

Make use of the teleporters at the start of the level so you don't die on the right side of the area. Also, I managed to get and reach the green exit door in record time here.

Level 76

Password: APGF

Pay attention to the floor, as there are four blue tiles in this evel and you'll need to hit all four of them. Thankfully, it's not too hard to pay attention and see which ones are blue.

Level 77

Password: JPPH

This level is more or less the same as Level 64. Just run down the level and hit all the blue explosive tiles without stopping. 

Level 78

Password: CGEM

We have a maze full of conveyor belt tiles, and if a tile is not a conveyor belt, it is either an enemy spawner or a pit. For best results, go to the right at the start and follow the path, then loop down and left back to the start before handling the other side of the level, which is more open. The teleporters help if you're a bit of a butterfingers with the D-Pad.

Level 79

Password: LGNO

The teleporter at the start will take you between the starting area and the left side of the level; save the three cracked tiles near the wall separating the areas for last. As for the rest of the level, you'll need the fire enemies to run into the walls to open it up. Good thing I found the green exit door!

Level 80

Password: EAAE

It's a checkerboard of bottomless pits and ice tiles, and you'll need to rely on the enemies to make tiles out of the pits so you can get virtually anywhere. Use the teleporter areas to switch between the three areas of the level, and be very careful where you're going.

PrinceWatercress plays Slider (Game Gear) - Part 5 of 8

Level 64 was really, really annoying.

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Level 58

Password: CGAI

You can go through this level pretty linearly. Save the row of blue explosion tiles for last. If you can't get to the far right side of the level the long way anymore, use the teleporter pad.

Level 59

Password: LGJK

It's all conveyor belt tiles here. Be careful near pits. If the shoes pop up, get them.

Level 60

Password: AEEI

It's back to a more linear board (of sorts) for Level 60. The left side of the level is full of ice tile paths, so pause the game and plot where you need to go ahead of time if you need to.

Level 61

Password: JENK

It's one whole path full of conveyor belt tiles. Head to the side and head straight back to hit the cracked tiles along the way. Before you rush through it though, go right at the start, take the teleporter tile and hit the lone tile near the pit at the end of the path; otherwise, you'll run out of time and lose a life trying to get back there.

Level 62

Password: ANEB

For some reason, all the tiles here are green. Interestingly, you won't need the teleporter tile here.

Level 63

Password: JNND

Use the teleporter tile at the start and get all the tiles you can, then let the enemies create tiles out of the bottomless pits and take care of the rest. The Tentacles enemies make this a lot harder than it should be.

Level 64

Password: AEGK

The blue explosive tiles are set up in such a way that you can keep running forward through them from one side to the other and blast through the level in seconds flat. Watch out for enemies as you do this. After that, the enemies will start making their own tiles as they move towards the bottomless pits that you've made, which will explain the teleporter tiles that are all over the place. You'll need to teleport everywhere just to get the tiles counter down to zero as quickly as possible, so watch out for enemies, and if you can collect a weapon that will make dealing with enemies easier, collect it. Also, if the green door pops up, get to it immediately.

Level 65

Password: JEPM

The conveyor belt tiles are the hardest part of this level, as they are all near pits. You'll want to quickly move away from the pits while you're hitting all of these tiles. 

Level 66

Password: ANGD

This level is another narrow maze-like path surrounded by bottomless pits. You'll want to save the cracked tiles all the way to the sides for last, as you'll need to slide across ice tiles to get to them. If the shoes pop up, go out of your way to grab them. They will definitely help with the freedom of movement that they give you.

Level 67

Password: JNPF

Be careful with the cracked tiles surrounding the conveyor belt tiles on the left side of the level; for best results, you'll want to zig-zag with the conveyor belt tiles rather than against them. 

Level 68

Password: CEEK

The blue explosive tile near the start will turn two walls into blue tiles when you step onto it, and you'll have to wait for the game to give you the laser gun power-up that lets you fire into walls if you don't have it, since you won't be able to get to those two tiles otherwise. I ended up having to wait for the green door to pop up just to clear this level.

Level 69

Password: LENM

You've got another narrow area to through here. I managed to luck out and get the laser gun here, but if you can't get it, you'll have to rely on the fireball enemies here to destroy the walls for you, as some of the tiles are completely surrounded by walls.

The wings show up for the first time for me here. They make Slider move faster if you collect them.

PrinceWatercress plays Slider (Game Gear) - Part 4 of 8

Not as many levels here as in previous videos. This is where the game starts getting tougher.

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Level 46

Password: ANCP

For this level, I head right and use the teleporter tile to work my way back to the left and then advance back towards the start. It makes it a little easier to deal with the conveyor belt tiles at the end.

Level 47

Password: JNLB

This is yet another level that happens to be much of a no-brainer. Just watch out for the enemy spawners. I managed to luck out and get the shoes here.

Level 48

Password: CEAG

Work on the far right corners first before working on the rest of the level, and save the loop with the cracked tiles for last. The rest of the level is one narrow path, but it is easy to avoid the enemies if you know what you're doing.

Level 49

Password: LEJI

There are blue explosion tiles on the far left side of the level. Once you hit them, get back to the center of the level. You can either hit them first or hit them last, depending on how you want to do things. The teleporter pads make things a little easier here, too.

Level 50

Password: AGAG

I save the two conveyor belt tiles leading to the ice tile and the pit for last. You could do the same for the explosive tile near the start, but thankfully, hitting it does not lock you out of hitting all the tiles here. Also, there is no reason to enter the area full of ice tiles on the left end, as there is nothing to do there.

Level 51

Password: JGJI

I head to the right first, as that end of the level is the easiest to work on. Left is a little harder, as you have an area with a cracked tile that you can save for last.

Level 52

Password: APAP

Another linear level as long as you do not double back on the cracked tiles. That's it, really.

Level 53

Password: JPJB

This is one of the hardest levels in the game. You may have to hold Buttons 1 and 2 while paused and then un-pause the game in case you don't step on the blue explosive tiles and then run away in the proper directions to save yourself while still having a path on all the tiles. It should be mentioned that if you use the level reset trick, you'll lose a life, but you'll keep your current weapon. Any properties such as the Laser Gun or the Freeze Gun will be taken away, though.

Level 54

Password: AGCI

Use the teleporter pads to go between the two sides of the level. Save the conveyor belt tiles and cracked tile for last.

Level 55

Password: JGLK

You have ice tiles at the many junctions in the path, so pause your game and check where you're going. In case you hit the left or right edge of a level while sliding on ice tiles, you'll be free to move where you want. Thankfully, I lucked out and got into the exit door when it popped up.

Level 56

Password: APCB

At the blue explosive tiles surrounded by ice tiles, hit the tiles in the corners, then back off in the opposite direction. This will help get rid of them all. Also, one of the enemies will be making tiles. You'll want to take care of that while also using the teleport tile to save the left end of the level for last. Speaking of the teleport tile, hit the blue explosive tiles near the teleporter tile on the right end of the level carefully, as you can keep yourself from reaching some blue tiles if you're not careful. Thankfully, one of the enemies is set up to make this less of an issue.

Level 57

Password: JPLD

It's another field full of ice tiles. Thankfully, it's pretty easy to get from one tile to another, and every tile you hit clears the screen of all enemies temporarily. This level isn't too bad.

PrinceWatercress plays Slider (Game Gear) - Part 3 of 8

In this video, we complete sixteen levels, take care of a cable company scammer, and somehow miss an extra life.

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Level 30

Password: ACEG

You'll be teleporting between two small areas. Get all the tiles quickly, and watch out for the enemies that are moving around. The enemies here will also turn the pink tiles back to blue, but as long as you're keeping an eye on things, you can beat this level quickly.

Level 31

Password: JCNI

This one is fairly straightforward. Save the lower-left corner for last.

Level 32

Password: ALEP

Another straightfoward level. As always, watch it with the ice tiles and the enemy spawners. Get back when you hit the blue explosion tile.

Level 33

Password: JLNB

For best results, walk on all the cracked tiles as a series instead of hitting each one invididually and backing off; the level is set up so you can easily do the former. 

Level 34

Password: ACGI

Zig-zag across the cracked tiles so you can take care of all the tiles efficiently. Get back when you hit the blue explosion tiles.

Level 35

Password: JCPK

This is another level where it's easy to get around as long as you're careful. I like saving the lone blue tile in the lower-right corner past the ice tiles for last.

Level 36

Password: ALGB

The enemy spawners make things more taxing than anything else in this level does, especially when so many blue tiles are around them. The sooner you take care of the tiles around the teleporter pads, the better, although you can make a case for saving those areas for last. This can be more easily said for the conveyor belt tiles around the perimeter, though.

Level 37

Password: JLPD

This one can be a little tricky. You may be tempted to leave the cracked tiles for last, but it's better if you leave the blue explosion tile in the lower-right corner for last, as it's tough to get away once you blow up all the nearby tiles.

Level 38

Password: CCEI

The ice tiles around the level aren't hard to deal with, thankfully. Don't forget to use the teleporter pads, as it's easy to miss the three tiles that are blocked off.

Level 39

Password: LCNK

You've got another linear level with narrow passages, so watch yourself near the enemy spawners, as usual. Make sure you explore the level before you go across the conveyor belt tiles, as it is a slight pain to go back for stuff after doing that.

Level 40

Password: AEAE

Well, at least this level is easier. Just make sure you hit all the tiles before going across the cracked tile to the teleported pad.

Level 41

Password: JEJG

Use the teleporter pads to deal with the blue explosion tiles. You'll make this a lot easier near the end.

Level 42

Password: ANAN

If you can get to a green door when it pops up, take it. You'll be dealing with some of the indestructible fireball enemies around here, and getting around them can be a bit dicey.

Level 43

Password: JNJP

That'll show those Spectrum scammers. Anyway...

Another pretty linear level, all things considered. Back off once you hit the blue explosion tiles, and mind the enemies and the spawners when tiles are disappearing from said explosion tiles.

Level 44

Password: AECG

I take care of all the regular tiles first. After that, it's on to the conveyor belt tile nest near the teleporter pad on the left side of the level. I hit all those, take the teleporter, walk across the cracked tiles, slide across the ice tile, and get the rest of the conveyor belt tiles that are left.

Level 45

Password: JELI

I take care of the regular blue tiles near the start first, then walk the perimeter of the level, which consists of the conveyor belt tiles. From there, I hit the cracked tiles last before getting whatever's left. That's important, as the fireball enemies can turn walls and pits into tiles, and you'll need to watch out for that.

PrinceWatercress plays Slider (Game Gear) - Part 2 of 8

Now that we've gotten this game started, let's go through another fourteen levels, shall we?

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Level 16

Password: ALCN

Don't forget: you'll only slide into an ice tile in the direction you walk into it from, so if you're walking towards the pit, you're going into the pit. Likewise, if you walk towards a wall, you're going into the wall. Best piece of advice I can give for this one other than watching where you're going. If you need to, pause and look around before you move again.

Level 17

Password: JLLP

For this level, you'll want to be careful with the enemy spawners and the special tiles as you go through the more narrow paths of this level.

Level 18

Password: CCAE

Once again, you have a few narrow areas to go through as well as some special tiles that will make the area a little difficult, but at the same time, there's nothing that will lock you out of progress if you do something you did not intend to by mistake.

Level 19

Password: LCJG

Be careful when on conveyor belt tiles near pits. You don't want to accidentally fly right into the bottomless pits while you're trying to avoid them. Not surprisingly, this will be a problem in later levels.

Level 20

Password: AAEE

You'll have to rely on the enemies to make more tiles as you go back and forth to turn the entire floor pink. If you can get the Laser Gun power-up that lets you shoot through the walls, get it. Also, use the teleporter pads; they will definitely help you save time if you can't get any more hourglasses for extra time beyond the 70 seconds that the game gives you here.

Level 21

Password: JANG

Yet another linear stage. Be careful near the enemy spawners as always, and be careful with the conveyor belt tiles.

Level 22

Password: AJEN

Save the cracked tiles in the middle for last. Also, get a multi-way shot that travels in the cardinal directions in any way, if you can. It will help against the enemies here.

Level 23

Password: JJNP

The more quickly you can get through this level, the better...especially when one of the fireball enemies cannot be destroyed and may make it harder to clear the stage in the final seconds. Oof.

Level 24

Password: AAGG

You have narrow paths near bottomless pits. If you have the Laser Gun, try not to lose a life and lose the gun with it; you're going to need it to give yourself some breathing room. Otherwise, watch where you're going and play conservatively, especially

For the ice tile field, once you're teleported there, go up, left, down, right, up, left, down. You'll clear the last five tiles in that area in seconds.

Level 25

Password: JAPI

One of the Menaces will turn pink tiles back to blue, and it will be in one of the enemy spawners near the middle. As long as you're quick, he won't be much of an issue.

Level 26

Password: AJGP

There are two conveyor belt tiles pointing downwards towards a pit, and you have to slide across ice tiles in order to get to them. Once you're there, you'll be alternating between up and forward just quickly enough to not get dragged into one pit while not accidentally falling into the other on the opposite side. Get used to seeing this more and more throughout the game. Also, save the lower-left corner for last.

Level 27

Password: JJPB

Don't forget that you'll have to use the teleporter pad here just to turn one tile pink. Other than, the level isn't too difficult. Just watch out near the pits and the enemy spawners.

Level 28

Password: CAEG

Those Tentacles can snipe you if you're not careful. There's a lot of ice tiles here, so pause and think before moving if you need to. Just watch out for the monster in the lower-right corner. You may want to go through the level in a counter-clockwise pattern first, then save the teleporter pad area on the far left for last.

Level 29

Password: LANI

There are a ton of blue explosion tiles near the teleporter tiles. You may want to take care of those areas first. If you need to, get to a teleporter pad and teleport to the other side, work on some of the tiles there, then teleport back and finish the job on the first side. As for the rest of the level, watch where you're going on both the ice and cracked tiles, and be careful near the enemy spawners, as there is a lone blue tile to step on near one of them.

PrinceWatercress plays Slider (Game Gear) - Part 1 of 8

Here's another one for the "I didn't think I'd be playing this for the channel" files.

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Slider is a tile-walking puzzle game for the Sega Game Gear by Loriciel, and is the only Game Gear game (and only Sega 8-bit game) that French developer Loriciel ever made. The game is the same as Super Skweek, which was made for the Atari Lynx, but with a different name. You have to walk over all of the blue tiles to turn them pink in order to get rid of all the pollution in the land of Slider's home world of Rozen, all while avoiding fall into pits, getting attacked by monsters and running out of time for 99 levels. Thankfully, you start out with ten continues, there is a password after every level play control is easy and responsive for the most part, and there are tons of power-ups that will help you along the way.

The D-Pad allows you to move around, and Buttons 1 and 2 shoot and activates the warp pads Button 2 also allows for entering letters on the password and high score screen in conjunction with Up and Down on the D-Pad. If you need to give up for whatever reason, press Buttons 1 and 2 simultaneously after pausing the game with the Start.

At the top of the screen, you'll have quite a bit of info to work with. The four shadows on the far left are for the teddy bears - red, blue, yellow and green - and if you collect all four of them, you'll be able to skip to the next level without having to hit all of the tiles in addition to earning five extra lives. If you have a bear of a certain color, do not pick another one up, as it will remove that color bear from your HUD at the top of the screen and count against the bear total.

To the right of all that is, from top to bottom, your current score, the amount of tiles you have to step on to clear the level, the amount of time you have left, and the amount of lives you have left.

All the way to the right is the bonus window. This will show a randomly-appearing power-up and whether you have to head to and scroll the screen to either the left or the right to get it. You have a limited amount of time to find the item and collect it before it disappears.

There are four ways to end a level. Aside from turning all the blue tiles pink, there is collecting all four colors of teddy bear, freezing six enemies at once with a freeze gun (more on that later), and finding a green exit door that randomly pops up (again, more on that later).

This is the most information I can give before actually getting into the game without frying the mind of whoever is reading this and wants to play it, so from this point forward, I'll cover things as I go.

Level 1

Press either Button 1 or Button 2 at the level number screen to start the level.

The yellow and orange checkered tile is the position that you start the level from. It has no special properties other than signaling where the start of the level is. In case you lose a life, you'll start back here, but any times you stepped on will stay stepped on. You'll also lose your current weapon (if you have one; more on that later) and be downgraded back to your basic one-shot attack. If you have the shoes or the freeze gun, you'll also lose those (more on that later, again). If you lose all your lives, get a game over and use a continue, however, you'll have to start the entire level over again. You'll also lose all the bears you've collected, and you'll need to get those back.

The little blue guys are called Menaces, and they just wander around aimlessly. The white hooded enemies are Ghosts, and they will quickly run up to Slider to hit him and cost him a life. It's one hit and you're dead in this game, so be careful.

The plain green tiles have no special properties.

If there are black spaces where a tile should be, those spaces are bottomless pits. Walking into one will cost you a life.

There are multiple kinds of weapons in this game. You start out with a single shot that is blasted in the direction you are currently facing when you press Button 1, but you can upgrade it to other weapons. They are as follows:

Laser gun (looks like an arrow, has the letters L and F): Destroys enemies as well as the square walls. Square walls are destructible. Circular walls are not. By shooting down walls, they turn into blue tiles that will add to the tile counter at the top, which you will therefore have to walk on to turn pink.

Multi-fire gun (two arrows pointing right with "MF" under them): Shoots continuously in one direction. This will go the full length of the screen.

Plus gun (an F with four arrows around it pointing in the cardinal directions): Shoots vertically and horizontally at the same time.

Diagonal gun (an F with four arrows around it pointing in the intermediate, or diagonal, directions): Shoots in four diagonal directions at the same time.

Octagonal gun (an F with eight arrows around it pointing in both the cardinal and intermediate, or diagonal, directions): Shoots in eight directions at the same time.

Freeze gun (a blue wand with an F next to it): Freezes enemies for a certain length of time. A level is cleared when six enemies are simultaneously frozen. Slider can destroy frozen enemies by running into them. When Slider has this weapon, there will be a blue ball on the upper-left corner of the bonus window.

The white tiles with the big black holes are enemy spawners. Be careful near them, as they can hurt you as they are opening and closing to spawn a new enemy, sometimes out of nowhere. You won't have a hint as to when they will activate, so be careful moving past them, especially when the game forces you to.

The tiles with the arrows are conveyor belt tiles, and they will slowly push you in the direction that the arrows are facing. The arrows will only be in the cardinal directions, meaning only up, down, left and right.

The cotton candy awards 5000 bonus points when collected. Interestingly, you cannot get bonus lives from getting a certain amount of points, so you'll have to collect the teddy bears as well as collect the Slider icons (which look just like Slider) to get bonus lives.

When you complete a level, you'll get a password, and you'll also get a time bonus based on how much time you have left. The sign Slider is holding will either read 10 (and be green), 50 (and be pink) or 100 (and be red), and you'll get that many points for every second you have left on the timer.

Level 2

Password: AJAJ

The orange tile with the blue arrow is a teleporter pad. Press a fire button to teleport between the pads. There will be at least two in the levels that they appear in, but you can have as many as three or four in a level.

There are two types of fireball enemies. They both can fire at you, but some of them can be defeated by firing at them while others cannot, and you won't be able to tell which one is which until you attack them. Like the Menaces, they can move around pretty aimlessly, but they do it at a slightly faster and more erratic pace, which can prove to be an annoyance, especially in the later levels.

The white and cyan checkered tiles are ice tiles. If you walk on them, you'll slip and slide over them in the direction you walked into them from. This is something you'll need to keep in mind for some of the levels later in the game.

The blue tiles with the big explosion will destroy itself and every tile surrounding it in eight directions. If you step on one, be ready to run away from the destruction so that you don't fall into a pit immediately afterwards. If there are any square walls in the destruction radius, they get turned into blue tiles that you will have to step on and turn pink, adding to the tile total in the process.

The green tiles with the big explosion destroy all monsters currently on the screen.

The tiles with the cracks on them will fall apart and disappear when you walk on them. Be careful with these types of tiles, as you may have to save them for later, or in the case of some levels, for last, as they can be placed in such a way as to keep you from reaching certain areas once you move past them.

The green shoe makes it so that you cannot slip on ice tiles or be carried away by conveyor belt tiles when you walk on them. Collecting it will also give you a green orb on the upper-right corner of the bonus window.

Level 3

Password: JJJL

The green guy with the crown is a Slipster, and it can only move in the cardinal directions, and never diagonally. They can not only fire projectiles at you, but they will move pretty quickly and careen into you if you are not carefully, so be ready to shoot them down!

Level 4

Password: AACC

Get back to the starting tile when you step on the blue explosion tile at the start. Despite having no special properties, the explosion tile can't destroy it. That's good. Because if it did, we'd have a serious bug in the game's programming.

Speaking of tiles, you'll get more used to how the ice tiles work here, with Level 3 being a slightly smaller crash course.

The hamburger gives you 8,000 bonus points if collected.

The gift boxes have a random effect. They may give you bonus points, or they may curse you in certain ways, such as causing you to turn pink tiles back to blue temporary or temporarily taking away your attack. You may want to avoid these if you're doing well in a level.

Level 5

Password: JALE

You'll want to plot your course through this level carefully. While there is more than one way to step on all the tiles and clear the level, it is possible to get yourself in a pickle and have nowhere to go.

Level 6

Password: AJCL

Be careful near some of the dead ends, as there are monster spawners that may get the chomp on you as you double back.

Green hourglasses add 20 seconds to the timer, while pink hourglasses add 40 seconds.

The blue octopus enemy is called Tentacles, and they can only fire diagonally. Walls will protect you, but approach and attack them from cardinal directions, just to be safe.

Level 7

Password: JJLN

You'll be following a more linear path here compared to the previous levels, so be mindful near the enemy spawners.

Level 8

Password: CAAC

You're surrounded by pits without any walls to save you. Tread carefully. You'll want to save the path with the conveyor belt and ice tiles for last so you can clear this level without losing a life.

Level 9

Password: LAJE

Some of the tiles here will be dreadfully close to enemy spawners. Once again, tread carefully.

Level 10

Password: ACAC

There are a lot of conveyor belt tiles here. Thankfully, you can move against the grain to get them all. The only area of note is the far left; be careful near enemy spawners so you can get all of the tiles there.

Level 11

Password: JCJE

Aside from the narrow paths and the enemy spawners that will get in your way, you'll also have the added bonus of the enemies suddenly being able to move about on bottomless and create blue tiles that you must step on in their wake. While this is annoying, this will also make the level easier. Just watch where you're going. This is the first level to do something like this and be creative, but it is far from the last.

The shield protects you from enemy attacks, and as long as Slider is flashing, the shield is in effect. The shield only wears off if you use a teleporter pad.

If you see a green door, get to it before it disappears! Touching the green door with the word "EXIT" on it before it disappears give you a free pass to the next level without having to touch all the tiles. This can be handy if you're in a tough level.

Level 12

Password: ALAL

Save the conveyor belt tile near the ice tiles for last; otherwise, you're losing a life just to complete this when you don't need to.

Level 13

Password: JLJN

Be careful with the cracked tiles so that you don't throw yourself into an accidental dead end. If you need to, hit all the regular tiles first, then hit all the cracked tiles.

Level 14

Password: ACCE

Oh, hey, it's a level full of ice tiles! Kinda like Kablooey! (aka Bombuzal) You'll have to find out through trial and error where you need to move in order to hit all four tiles to clear the level without running into monsters or pits.

Go go, then left at the start, then down and down again, then right when you're at the bottom of the screen. Go left from that second to last tile to get to the last tile and clear this one out. You won't have a lot of time to complete this stage, either, so you'll have to be quick.

If you lose all your lives, it's game over. You'll get the password for the current level again, and if you get a high score, you'll need to press Up and Down with the two fire buttons to input your initials. You can then choose whether or not you want to continue. If you continue, you're starting the current level all over again.

Level 15

Password: JCLG

More linear paths! Be careful near the enemy spawners as well as with the blue explosion tiles so you don't accidentally fall into a pit that you just made, and save the dead end with the cracked tile for last. Don't forget to use the teleporter pad!

PrinceWatercress plays Cheese Cat-Astrophe Starring Speedy Gonzales (SMS) - Game Gear Footage from the Extra Video

...and now for the remaining footage I have of the aborted Game Gear version Let's Play. It's not much, but it's something.

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Here's the Game Gear footage from the "Why I Switched to Master System" video from the other day, as is. The footage I have here is all I have before I gave up and decided to switch consoles for this game after deleting all the other footage that I made during that hour-long attempt, and I ended up using it for yesterday's video. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have kept more of it, but alas. Enjoy.

PrinceWatercress plays Cheese Cat-Astrophe Starring Speedy Gonzales (SMS) - Why I Switched from Game Gear to Master System

I told you it was comin'.

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When I first played Cheese Cat-Astrophe for the Sega Game Gear back on April 16, 2024 for Try It Out Tuesday #329, I didn't know what to expect other than it was a platformer based on the Looney Tunes property starring Speedy Gonzalez that I had barely heard of. When I played the game for the first time, I initially liked it at first, and while it took a few minutes to figure out what to do in the first level of the game, I eventually learned what to do. From there, it was just a matter of not just learning the levels, but learning how to fight the bosses, with the first one feeling a little bit weird due to having to figure out how to grab the dynamite, throw it at just the right time, and damage the boss without hurting yourself.

The first world of the game was interesting enough on its own. Then came the second world, which was lush with pools of lava flowing at the bottom of the screen, moving platforms that floated from one side to the other, plenty of places to jump to...and falling lava droplets dropping from the top of the screen not just where I was, but also from off-screen, where I couldn't see them until I was jumping around and it was almost too late to react. When I played part of the second world for Funk It Up Friday three days later, I was frustrated with the level to the point that I didn't want to play past the first half of that world and just stopped it right there. I gave it the Red Pass, making it one of only a handful to ever receive the worst pass rating (until and unless I make a Black Pass) from the then-Twitter tryouts.

As I vented my frustrations with the game for my final thoughts, I referenced the Master System version and how everything looked better and had more real estate and more screen space to work with. By the time I closed in on the game as I worked through my Let's Play backlog, however, my frustration with the game had subsided somewhat. I would eventually forget about my irritation with the second level of the game as I worked on the Let's Play backlog built up by earlier game tryouts. When I finally got to recording this game, however, the frustration with the second level and all the problems that I had with it suddenly bubbled back up.

My experience with playing through the first level went as expected. Compared to the Try It Out Tuesday session, I had everything figured out thanks to the notes that I took trying to get through the first level. Then came the second level...and everything went completely awry.

As I've mentioned in the past, I always - and usually - do practice runs before recording and playing through the game for real. Not only does it give me a better idea of what to expect as I play through the game, but it also allows me to make mental note of the things that I encounter when I play through the portion of the game that I want to play through for the video that I am recording. Somehow, when I did the practice run of the entire second level of the game, I was able to go through the first half of the level well enough. The third part is dead simple compared to the first two, since you're just swimming around in the water looking for a key while avoiding things and then heading to the exit. The boss didn't give me trouble, either, since I was able to quickly figure it out.

When it came time to record, however, the game decided to have a mind of its own and decided that it didn't want to be Let's Played. I could make it through the first stage with some effort, but when it came to the second stage, I always fell victim to the lava droplets, as they were constantly in the path of my jump, and I could not see them until it was too late. This time around, I was more committed to getting through the second world of the game than I was during the try-out, and made the decision that since I had knowledge of what I was getting into when I played the first half of the second world of the game, I would have a slightly better chance of making it through this time around.

Imagine my surprise when I had lost all of my lives in the first half of the second world about seven times, either due to the lack of an ability to look up or down, or because of all the lava droplets being in the way at the last second. I would either run into them, or I would die trying to avoid them. I would just keep losing lives again and again and again, wondering why nothing was going on the way that my practice run did. 

After an hour of this, I gave up, got on YouTube, and watched videos of the Master System version of the game. It was then that I noticed not one, but two things about the game that brought my blood to a boil. The first is the most obvious: the resolution was larger and the player was allowed to see a lot more. It may have made the first world of the game look a lot more barren at the beginning, but when you entered the third part of the first world, you could actually see the vulture that was repeatedly diving at you. There was also the minor difference of Sylvester hanging off the talons of a big bird in the first boss battle instead of having a jetpack strapped to his back, but that was just it: minor.

Then came the second level. It was then that I noticed that the lava droplets that fell from the top of the screen could fall from anywhere, but at the same time, you could always see when it was going to happen. You also had some more advance warning of what was going on ahead. This was on the Sega Master System version. On the Game Gear version, however, things were different.

Compared to the Master System, there's a lot less on the screen on Game Gear. It's not too bad when you're in the first level, but as you go on, you'll notice that everything is WAY too big. What constitutes one whole room on Master System is humongous on the Game Gear. Whenever I'm rescuing a mouse in order to get an exit opened up, I'm always scrolling the screen to the right on the Game Gear's smaller screen, whereas the Master System shows the entire room at once. When I'm going through the cliffs area after the desert, the cliffs are much bigger and much more seemingly spaced out in handheld form compared to on your TV screen. The last desert area itself is even worse, as when you're playing on Game Gear, you can't even see the vulture that is flying around and swooping down at you every chance it gets. On Master System? You can see that vulture at all times.

After completing the entire first level, it's time to take on the second. As soon as you start playing the first half, you'll notice that just like in the first level, you can't see very much. But it isn't until you're going from the left side of the stage to the right that you start noticing things. The first thing you're going to notice that isn't the massive amounts of brown and orange making up the walls and platforms is all of the lava droplets dropping down from...the sky? The ceiling? The heavens themselves?!?

In addition to having to jump from platform to platform, which is hard to do when you can barely see the platforms and everything feels like a leap of faith, the lava droplets are also dropping down from slightly off-screen, and sometimes, you won't be able to see them until it's too late. It also doesn't help when the camera is always moving when you are and you have to jump onto a platform traveling back and forth across the lava that turns around a half-second earlier than when you'd expect just to keep you from merely stepping on it just to take a ride.

After a whole hour of being completely unable to make any progress, I became absolutely livid with myself and watched the whole second world to see how it looked on Master System. I expected everything to look better, but I didn't expect my view of the level I was playing through to be so vast that not only would the lava droplets not be able to get the drop on me, but I could actually see where I was jumping at all times.

This is when I realized that when it comes to this particular part of the game in the Game Gear version, the action is really zoomed in. By comparison, Desert Speedtrap starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote had the same thing going on, but after having played the Master System version of Desert Speedtrap, however, I would still be able to play through the game on Game Gear despite that version of the game showing a good amount less of the level than Master System would.

That's probably because when I played through the whole game on Normal, I had sound cues whenever Wile E. Coyote showed up. It didn't matter if he was on the rocket, driving a bus, strapped to a jetpack or using any other means of technology that he purchased from ACME. If I heard a rushing sound, that was my cue to move and keep moving.

Sadly, you don't have that with the lava droplets in this game. Especially when they're coming down from off-screen and you can barely see them. It's like the weasel soldiers from Mickey Mania, if they were dropping hot molten pitch downward and not throwing daggers or shooting crossbow bolts at you. Oh, they'll still make a distinct sound that you can easily hear...but only when they land on the platform, signaling the next drop of lava to come down from the ceiling.

It also doesn't help that due to how the camera is zoomed in compared to the Master System version, you have a camera following you everywhere, which makes keeping track of where you're supposed to land every time you jump harder, and - thanks to the zoomed in perspective where everything is too big - makes a jump that is very easily doable on the Master System look like a leap of faith on Game Gear. The second half of "A Weekend in Hawaii" became torture to the point where I just wanted to get through it as quickly as possible because of this.

If I wasn't accidentally running into an enemy from making a jump, or if I wasn't making a jump only to land right into lava and immediately die, I was leaping right into the path of a lava droplet that I could not avoid...which was something that I was doing a lot more often than I would have liked. And after a whole hour of trying desperately to complete the second level just for one video in a Let's Play, I was done. I deleted all of my work - not counting what I saved for this - got the Master System version, and started from square one. This time, when I made it to the second level, I could actually see what I was doing, and I was able to get through the level and ultimately beat the game.

The Game Gear version of this game is nothing more than a lazy port. Sure it looks just like the Master System version that was released solely in Europe and plays just like it, but in the end, the camera and the zoomed-in graphics ruin the proceedings. There are two reasons why the camera follows you everywhere and keeps Speedy completely in the center of the reason. The first is to supposedly ensure that you see all of the level without having to move the camera, and it does it by focusing squarely on Speedy...but by doing less simply by zooming in and focusing entirely on Speedy, the game does no favors to the player. Because of this, you can't see what you're doing, hazards that should be visible at all time seem to show up right out of nowhere, and the difficulty is artificially inflated as a result.

The second is because the developers seemingly never gave any thought to putting the game on Gear Gear and only thought about putting it on Master System - at least, that's how I personally feel - and with time and money both being tight and the Master System being officially discontinued west of the Atlantic outside of Brazil, the developers just zoomed the action in just to make everything seemingly make sense and fixed the game's camera to focus squarely on Speedy Gonzales, then called it a day. Even GamePro, which looked at the game fairly favorably and gave it 3's and 3.5's back in page 82 of its July 1995 issue, briefly brought this up. The only difference between myself and GamePro is 30 years and knowledge of the Sega Master System version, and while GamePro may have been understandably nice towards the game, I can't...and that's why I switched from Game Gear to Master System.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIJfWsLe0dE  - Part 2 of the Let's Play by PrinceWatercress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeNCcHzF3vQ - Game Gear longplay by Longplay Archive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCnaQmNgSsc - Master System longplay by Longplay Archive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77SmeHUM1Jg - Desert Speedtrap Master System longplay by Longplay Archive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fno6O-hh3tg - Desert Speedtrap Game Gear longplay by Longplay Archive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deImgaBWoQo - Mickey Mania Super Nintendo longplay by Longplay Archive

https://archive.org/details/game-pro-issue-72-july-1995_202408/page/n97/mode/2up - GamePro article

COMING TOMORROW - PrinceWatercress' aborted Game Gear Let's Play footage