Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
To quote the late, great Curt Hennig aka Mr. Perfect..."'cause I'm the Macho Chicken! Oooooh, yeah!
I've covered all the bases in the first five entries...so this one's just for show.
0:23 - Here's the giant chicken, who I've endearingly nicknamed the Macho Chicken. You can see where I got that nickname from here. If you're wondering what the source video is, it's a promo made before WWF SummerSlam 1992, when Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior were about to go at each other before Mr. Perfect said that one person paid for his "services" to help with winning the match. (In the end, neither man sold out.)
Yes. You heard right. Cursing in Swiss German. Yes, I'll tell you the precise moment when it starts happening. Because as Cauchemar89 puts it, there is nothing more patriotic than cursing in your native language. Indeed, my friend.
Immediately after the platform and fireballs are three Podaboos that leap out of the lava when you jump over the pit. You'll have to inch your way to the right, jump to the right at the edge and immediately make your way back left while still in mid-air in order to trigger them prematurely. Be sure not to jump on the springboard and to your doom.
Here's the big one. You may be tempted to hit the left-most ? block of the three, and then hit the right-most one to bring up the robot and have it get the Poison Mushroom and inch your way to the right so you can kill the other cat (Cat Luigi? I dunno.) who would jump to the sword (which acts like the axe in Super Mario Bros.) before you could even reach it and chop the bridge down, causing you to plummet into the lava if you had not already been hit by the falling ceiling. And if you did grab the sword, you'd hit a giant chicken that is impossible to avoid. I'm not joking.
Don't do it. Instead, hit the rightmost block to get the robot. Jump to the springboard just before the robot steps on it. The robot will grab you while it's careening into the sky, and throw you to the ceiling. Run all the way to the right, and you'll make it all the way to the end, past Cat Luigi, the sword, and the sword (without triggering a falling ceiling), and you'll also run past the giant chicken and the pipe that has "51" above it. I think the "51" is supposed to be "5-1," which is weird since there's only four stages...so I'm guessing it's supposed to say "15" or "1-5." But I'm getting off track here...
I'll post the ending in the next entry. You won't believe what you're doing all this for...
Do not run all the way to the right and jump. You'll trigger an invisible "On" switch and extend the fire bar, leaving you in another deathtrap. Instead, jump before that point. When you're at the pit, don't jump at the edge or else you'll hit an invisible coin block and fall to your death. Instead, you'll have to jump early to land on the ? blocks. If you do hit the coin block, you're pretty much boned. Instead, jump on the coin block and jump to the right, so you can commit suicide by cloud. Srsly.
After the ? blocks will be yet another falling ceiling.
6:16 - For some reason, the On/Off Switches are a bit buggy. Maybe it's just me?
Just past the next two fire blocks and the falling ceiling is another falling floor. You'll have to time it so that you can jump into the flag without injury.
Once you touch the flag, do not hit the message block. It is a spike trap. And don't drop to the brick floor near the lava; it breaks. Instead, jump on the Goomba when it's near the edge of the brick floor near the lava and you'll jump to the ? block on the other side. This block contains a Fire Flower that will kill you, so just jump on top of the ? block and move on.
The next platform comes with a nice wall of fireballs similar to Bowser's. Run to it, and jump back to dry ground shortly after it starts to drop into the lava. You'll have to time your jump so you don't accidentally hit an invisible coin block at the right edge of the pit.
You are about to see how frustrating the last third of World 3 can really be.
Jump on top of the message block and onto the brick platform, and the platform will immediately fall down. You'll have to time your jump so that you'll jump off of the man with the cape that's flying up and down while he's at his lowest point. You have only one shot at this, so make it count. You can also make a running jump off of the falling platform to reach the next one.
Break the right block, then jump to the upper platform. Stomp on the Koopa. Walk to the right a bit after the Koopa, and you'll trigger some lasers. Dodge them by moving to the left, slightly but slowly. Here's the best way to do it. Now that those things are out of the way, kick the Koopa to the left. It'll break that block, break the one on the left, then go past the flag. Be ready to run and jump to the flag post, so the Koopa shell will take down the robot.
Well, here we are! We're at the fortress! Gee, don't you think the Ghosts 'n Goblins music is a bit of a late indicator of how difficult this game is?
Run past the Cat Thwomp and jump over the pit. Activate the "Off" switch...it'll make the fire bar even bigger, but it'll shorten the one after it. Now that's sadistic.
The platform will open up and split apart depending on how far you jump. If you leap onto either the left side or the extreme right edge of it, it won't split apart (or split apart as much, one of the two). You can also jump over that platform completely and land just near the spawning point for the next trap.
Inch to the right just past the lone ceiling tile, and you'll trigger a Cat Thwomp. Now you can jump past the pit. Just remember to wait for the fire bar to pass by.
The first set of platforms acts normally. The second set will want to drop you down immediately. There is also a falling floor near the exit that activates when you step on it. Luckily, Cauchemar steps on it so that he isn't on it, but he activates it anyway. Yeah, some of these traps involving stand on a certain pixel, which makes it easier to get down to a science.
Once you're outside, as soon as you jump off of the pipe, another Pedobear will jump out.
There is a fake flag post before the real one. To keep from getting killed by it, jump on top of the fake flag post so that you go over the real one. You'll have to make a running jump and use the jump button while bouncing off to do this. Touch the flag post at the very bottom as soon as the fake flag post turns around, and you're done with World 2!
World 3
Avoid the ? block (it contains a Fire Flower that kills you), and do not touch the ? ball. It will trigger a falling floor as well as cause a few Starmen that will drop down from the sky in front of you and behind you.
Be careful at the first pit. There is a coin block that you can hit to get higher, but there are also invisible note blocks covering that pit that takes you to a hidden area that gives you just a bunch of useless coins. When you go down the pipe, you fall down and hit a cloud that immediately kills you. Some shortcut.
Don't jump on the first platform. It will immediately break and send you plummeting into the abyss. The second platform falls.
There will be a block that gives you a P-Switch if you hit it from the bottom. Unfortunately, it turns the entire floor into coins and kills you. Jump on top of the block instead, and use it to jump over the brick wall. Then jump on top of the ? blocks (the bricks covering the pit break when you land on them). Grab the flag, and do not hit either of the ? blocks. The one on the right just gives you a coin, while the one on the left sends a spiky enemy your way that you won't be able to avoid if you're not fast enough. The easy part is complete...now it's time for the hard part.
7:03 - Do not go down the pipe...it will send you into a deathtrap full of spiky guys.
Jump off the message block to avoid the invisible coin blocks, and jump over the robot! Jump to the brick platform, and be careful around the Goombas on the rockets. The spiky guy nearby will jump when you do if you're close enough, so you'll have to be a little further away from him to jump over him. Either that, or you can just wait on the brick platform when he appears and wait for him to fall to his death. If you back up to the brick platform, you'll trigger a ghost that is impossible to avoid.
The next platform is bouncy. You'll have to set up your jump so that you'll land on the flag! Another continue point!
The message block near the flag breaks when you hit it, so don't bother.
Hey, a Mario game where you play as a neko. I'll just download this and play it...okay, press Enter to begin...
A FEW MINUTES LATER
#%^&!*&$%^*#&&@%*&^#&*!^%$^&%@(!*(^%%#@
Yeah, everybody. I'm covering this game now. As soon as I first saw it, I had a blast seeing all the possible traps.
Anyway, this is a freeware game that is easily found on the Internet. It's like Mario, except you play as a white cat, all the coins are useless and the game seems to have been programmed by some sort of Japanese psychopath with a masochism fetish.
Now, on with the show! Be sure to use this FAQ only if you're truly stuck.
World 1
The first stage is similar to World 1-1 of Mario Bros. Unfortunately, as you'll soon see, it's really twisted and takes everything you know about Super Mario Bros. and drowns it all in a pool of acid. I'll post what you really should not do on these stages. Once again, refer to this only if you're stuck.
The first pipe has a ghost that pops out when you stand on it. You'll have to jump on top of the blocks and make a running jump to the right to avoid it. The Goomba after the first pipe works as a springboard. Jump off of it to reach the second pipe.
1:36 - The second pipe that acts as a shortcut to the finish is actually a trap...if you go down the pipe, it'll rocket into the sky and instantly kill you.
1:59 - The hidden 1-up block gives you an infinite supply of poison mushrooms. So don't hit it.
Near the next ? block is a crushing ceiling and another ghost. You'll have to run right to trigger the falling ceiling and then leap to the top to run and avoid the ghost.
There will be a blue flag nearby. Grab it - in case you die, you can restart there.
Under the ? blocks is a falling floor. Run and jump to avoid it.
When you reach the second staircase, step on the second step and jump straight up. You'll hit a hidden coin block. Jump on top of that and jump all the way to the pipe. Otherwise, you'll be trapped.
3:47 - Do not touch the cloud afterward...it will kill you.
Four Goombas will fall from the sky at the big staircase, but they're easily stompable.
The flagpole is crucial. You'll have to stand at the top of the stairs and jump over the flagpole. But first, jump straight up. This will trigger some weird yellow laser that would kill you otherwise. Keep going right until you trigger a ghost that would kill you if you didn't jump over it. Get away from it, then touch the flagpole. You're done with the first stage!
World 2
Now we get to play a very twisted version of World 1-2.
5:48 - Time your jump to the top pipe carefully so you don't accidentally trigger a Poison Mushroom block. And land on the edge of that pipe so you don't get hit by a ghost.
6:16 - When you start falling down to the bottom, immediately move right...or else [b]this[/b] happens.
6:28 - This is what happens if you grab a Mushroom. The cat gets ultra-buff! Then he falls through the floor. Poor neko.
7:09 - Whatever you do, don't take the shortcut that everybody knows about it. It triggers a hidden cloud of death when you drop back down.
7:38 - It is possible to kill a Koopa in this game. Not that you'll need to know this for future reference...but I might as well share this. The game has its own open-source version that has levels shared all over the Internet like Super Mario World, y'know. I have a feeling there's a custom level out there that takes advantage of that. Unless they fixed it. I dunno.
There is an indestructible spiked enemy that jumps out of the next pit, but you can avoid it if you're both fast and careful enough. There is also a coin block after that, but if you step on it, it'll break. Fall to the left when that happens, and then jump the pit again. Problem solved!
When you near the pipe, some sort of weird, Pedobear like creature appears. (The way that Cauchemar pronounces it makes it unintentionally hilarious.) Jump over that, and it's just a simple jump to the checkpoint.
After this is not one, not two, but three falling ceilings. You have to step to the left to avoid the first one, then run to the right at the correct moment and jump the pit at the correct height to avoid the coin block that will spoil your effort as well as to dodge the other two ceilings. This will show you how best to dodge it.
You'll see three ? blocks and a spiked enemy. Hit the first block to trigger a Mushroom, and let it hit the spiked enemy. It'll grow bigger and fall through the floor, leaving a pit in its wake. You'll have to compensate your jump carefully in order to move on.
9:27 - Do not grab the green ? ball. Otherwise, you won't get past the pipe. It'll still shoot out fireballs if you don't grab it, but not that many.