Kickmaster - The OST

Here's the whole soundtrack in one playlist...

...the whole soundtrack in one video...

...and the whole soundtrack in one video with echo and reverb!

Rainiac plays Kickmaster - Part 8 of 8

We finally take on Belzed and save the kingdom in this explosive finale!

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Sector 8: Belzed's Haunted Tower

The first part of this level is a vertical climb. You'll be dealing mostly with enemies from the last sector, including the spinning blue projectiles, which you'll want to destroy immediately. Take your time and make sure you don't fall past the bottom of the screen at any point. Make sure you get your MP back to full as you're here, as you're going to need the MP.

The first mini-boss you'll face here is the demon who kidnapped the princess! He will dive back and forth in addition to flying back and forth. You'll want to stay close to him and keep hitting him with the Double Front Kick in the air, and you'll want to avoid the spinning blades that he shoots at you.

When you reach Level 7, which is the maximum level you can reach, you'll learn the Blazing Flip Kick, which replaces the upward kick that you've had from the beginning of the game. Hold Up and press B to hit an enemy in front of you with a flip kick and deal powerful damage.

From the first mini-boss battle, head left. Take out the knights and make sure you get above the steam so it doesn't touch you. Use the Magic Boots magic here to walk on the spikes and get to the second mini-boss, which is a centaur. Avoid the arrows and keep smashing him with the Blazing Flip Kick. He's done.

At this point, the easy part of the level is over, as the next vertical section has balls falling from the top of the screen and spikes coming out from underneath the floor on certain platforms. You'll also have to deal with the mages that teleport in and out of the screen to hit you with fireballs that home in on you. As always, take your time, and always land near the edge of a platform rather than the center of one in case of spikes.

The third mini-boss, which takes place in this final vertical section, is the stone dragon mini-boss from Sector 3. This will be even easier this time around, as you can use the Earthquake magic when the mini-boss is somewhere you can easily destroy them with the Double Butterfly Kick without having to worry much about the falling balls.

After you get to the top, break through the blocks and go left, you'll finally face Belzed herself. Of course, you'll have to fight the four statues, one at a time, to get to them. Keep hitting the statues in the head with Flying Kicks, and they'll eventually turn into random normal enemies until they eventually die. At least they're easier to deal with once they keep transforming. When they're frogs, keep hitting them with the Double Front Kick while they're airborne, as they can turn into the armadillo soldiers.

You'll soon face Belzed after taking out all four statues. Watch the skies to avoid the lightning, which can do a whole bar of damage, and use the Earthquake magic when Belzed is where you can get her in order to do some damage. Once you beat Belzed, Thonolan will use his Harpy Magic to fly the princess out of Belzed's castle and get out of there. You've just beaten Kick Master!

Rainiac plays Kickmaster - Part 7 of 8

You know you're getting closer to the end of the game when you face a clone of yourself who can fight just like you can.

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Sector 7: A Long Way From Home

The dark blue enemies that roll at you are slow and pretty easy to defeat with the knee drop. There are also spinning blue projectiles that will fly at you, so watch out.

The first mini-boss is a horned beast that fights much like the Chimera from Round 5. The knee drop and flying kick are nice ways to damage it in the air. Use the flight magic to get the pick-ups that appear above you afterwards.

At Level 6, you'll learn the Double Butterfly Kick, which replaces the High Kick to Roundhouse from Level 4. Hold Left or Right and then press B to perform it once you reach Level 6. This lets you attack enemies coming at you from both sides.

You'll then face the fleaman from Round 5. Same strategies apply. There will be power-ups above you afterwards that you can fly up and get.

Shortly after the fleaman, you'll face multiple gargoyles at once. Use the Whip Lightning to take them all out. 

The third mini-boss is a giant bat that comes out of a coffin. Get close before the battle begins and lay waste to it with the Double Front Kick, and remember that it fights much like the boss at the end of Round 3...so watch those lightning strikes! You'll then have to fight another fleaman after this, so get that Double Front Kick ready during the dives.

Now it's time to fight the actual boss...which is a clone of yourself! He has all the kicks you have, including the Blazing Flip Kick that you'll learn at Level 7. Keep your distance and keep using Slide Kicks, and do not let him trap you in the corner under any circumstances.

After this, you'll have to fight a spider. The spider boss will go up and down throughout the battle, and you'll need to be ready to kick it with the Double Front Kick to do damage to it and the spider it drops on the way down in addition to clearing up the web strands that get in your way. This battle takes a while, so you'll want to be patient here.

Beating this sector nets you the Earthquake magic, which freezes all on-screen enemies at the cost of just 20 MP.

No turning back now...

Rainiac plays Kickmaster - Part 6 of 8

In this entry, we finally find out what the mystery magic does, we fight some harpies, and we learn to fly.

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Sector 6: Across The Swamps

You'll be seeing the mages as enemies here. Be ready to kick them out of the air and take whatever power-ups they drop.

At Level 5, you'll learn the Flying Kick. Hold Left or Right and press B in mid-air to perform a diving kick. Be careful, as you'll be sent flying forward when you perform it.

Hit the purple winged enemies that bounce up and down with the knee drop.

The zombies throw projectiles at regular intervals, but they can be taken out with just about any attack. Be sure to use the knee drop in order to get them all, because there are quite a few and there are still experience points to be gained.

When you see tall grass, drop down into it to get the Force Shield magic, which can be easy to miss. For 30 MP, you can create an invisible wall that blocks projectiles from the zombies, and not much else. It does not defend against living enemies, according to the instruction book.

The flying heads move around in a circle, but if you can anticipate where they will go, you can easily defeat them.

The mystery magic reveals invisible power-ups at the cost of 1 MP per use. You can find a few where you first see the flying heads. Interestingly, you can pick up the invisible items even if you can't see them.

The blue mages will shoot lighting bolts downwards, so smash them when you see them. When possible, don't fight more than one at a time. 

To beat the boss, equip the Force Shield magic. Use the shield to protect yourself from the smorgasbord of projectiles that the harpies fire at you, and double kick the bosses whenever they dive at you. When you beat the harpies, you will get the Harpy magic, which allows you to fly at the cost of 10 MP per second and for as long as your MP can hold out.

Up next is Sector 7...

Rainiac plays Kickmaster - Part 5 of 8

We now have an obligatory ship level in this game. Let's see how it goes!

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Sector 5: Aboard the Ship of Strife

Aside from evil knights who will leap towards you as they slowly move forward, you'll also have winged warriors with scythes dropping down. Hit the latter with an upward kick and wait to see if more show up, as you're going to need the power-ups and the experience.

At Level 4, you'll learn the double high kick. Hold Left or Right and press B to hit a powerful high kick followed by a roundhouse kick. 

The first mini-boss is some sort of flying flea man. Hit the Double Front Kick (Up-Left or Up-Right before pressing B) to hit him. Don't forget to jump into the windowed area to get some health and magic back.

The green guys will run quickly, but they can easily be defeated. You'll also see a few birds from Sector 4 at this point, too.

The armored mage is back. Fight him much like you did last time.

The blue spinning projectiles are fire wheels. They can move up and down as they move, but they can move in other directions. The skeletons with the swords will slowly move towards you and strike much like the ones from Sector 1.

The boss here is a kraken. Hit the tentacles with the double front kick and avoid the raining green orbs. Once the tentacles are gone, you can kick the kraken a few times in the face to finish it off. Beating the kraken will net you the Whip Lightning magic. For 30 MP, you can perform a full-screen bomb attack that damages all enemies currently on-screen, including bosses.

With that, it's on to Sector 6.

Rainiac plays Kickmaster - Part 4 of 8

In this entry, we head to the mountains and fight the local wildlife. We also fight a chimera, which is also not surprising.

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Sector 4: The Bottomless Crevasse

At Level 3, you'll learn the Double Front Kick. Hold Up-Left or Up-Right on the D-Pad, then press B to perform a double kick. 

The enemies that look like gorillas wearing golden capes (with skulls as shoulder pads) can be easily taken down quickly enough, as they slowly move forwards.

The mages that stay in place in the air and throw a fireball downwards can be a little tricky. They disappear and warp to a different position after dropping their projectile, so see if you can hit them before then. If they're lower than usual, hit the knee drop. Watch the projectile, as it travels across the ground towards you unless there is a wall in the way. 

The buzzards track you horizontally. Wait for them to drop down a bit, then hit them with the knee drop.

Yes, you can get the magic you see when you start seeing the buzzards. Just walk into it. This is the Life 2 magic, which fills up four bars of HP at the cost of 90 MP. Use it when fighting bosses.

Watch out for stalagmites that pop in and out of the ground, as they will do a lot of damage and potentially knock you into a nearby pit.

The mini-boss is some sort of blue wizard that shoots projectiles at you. Just keep hitting her(?) with upwards kicks in mid-air and she(?) will go down. Just watch out for the stalagmite that goes in and out of the ground.

After this, you'll fight a chimera. Jump over the fireball and hit it with a knee drop when it's moving around. Just watch out for that charging attack if you're good a distance away. If it's directly above you, use the Lightning spell to do some real damage.

Beating the chimera will net you the Pulse Wave spirit. For just 5 MP, you can create waves of energy that damage enemies on contact. This is best used against groups of enemies.

After this, you get your password, then it's on to Sector 5.

Rainiac plays Kickmaster - Part 3 of 8

In this entry, we take on a whole slew of new enemies, get some mysterious magic, and take on multiple boss battles!

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Sector 3: Belzed's First Stronghold

The knight will either leap toward you or slash at you if you get too close. Hit the knights with the knee drop when possible.

The first chest has a heart. The second chest has a magic potion to refill MP with. Before the third chest is a mage that floats in the air and shoots projectiles. Keep hitting him with upward kicks and knee drops. The third chest also has a magic potion. 

You will move more slowly on the oozed-up purple floors.

The fourth chest is a mimic, and if you get too close, it will jump up and lunge at you. Feel free to knee drop any chests you come across to get the jump on mimics.

The enemies that look like mushrooms will hop towards you. Once again, hit them with the knee drop. By the time you see these enemies, there will be a bunch of shield pick-ups that act as free EXP, so make sure you get them all. Just watch out for those droplets.

After the free EXP section, there will be a wall of destructible rocks. Break through them (and get 100 points each!) to find a passage leading to some chests. One of the contains the ?? magic, which will ??. Yes, that's what the game says. We will need it later, though. After you get this spell, get all the power-ups to the left to refill your health and magic, among other things.

The second mini-boss is a skeleton dragon. This thing will alternate between flying around and staying in one place. If it's at your level, hit it with the knee drop; otherwise, kick upwards in mid-air. There is a third mini-boss in the form of a knight, but if you keep going right and do the slide kick next to him as soon as he appears, you can skip him entirely...and fight a gargoyle. Well, that's one less battle, I suppose.

To beat the gargoyle, watch for the lasers that come down so you can avoid him, and get your kicks in while he's on the ground. Be careful when he is in the air when you're doing those upward kicks in mid-air, as he will shoot two projectiles diagonally downwards to the sides. He can also stay there for a while, so if he's in the air, avoid the projectiles and wait for him to come to you! If he is somehow right above you on his descent when you are on the ground, you can keep kicking him upwards to kick him in the groin and get some good damage in. Beating him will give you the Lightning Spirit Magic. For 20 MP, you can rain thunder and lightning down on your enemies, especially powerful and quick-moving ones.

With that, we've beaten this sector! On to Sector 4!

Rainiac plays Kickmaster - Part 2 of 8

There's a magic spell here that's easy to miss. Also, things get a little more interesting with the knee drop move.

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Sector 2: The Caverns of No Return

The Grim Reaper enemies hanging from the ceilings will drop down when you get close enough, allowing you to easily kick them. As for the blue blob-like enemies that slowly move towards you, you can either kick them or hit them with the knee drop. Just watch out for their projectiles. 

If you see a group of small boulders leading to something, attack them to break them. You may find some power-ups and EXP.

There will be frogs in the water as well as bats circling around platforms. Anticipate where the frogs will land before kicking or knee dropping them.

On the first set of breakaway platforms, drop down and go all the way to the left, into the wall. You'll find the Magic Boots, which protect your feet from danger. For just 20 MP, you can walk on ground that would otherwise hurt you, such as spikes.

After you get the Magic Boots spell, you'll face the armadillos from the first boss battle as normal enemies. Be careful not to fall down as you make your way up.

At Level 2, you'll learn the Slide Kick. Hold Down and Left or Down and Right and press B to slide into low-lying enemies. 

The boss here is some sort of woman riding on six wolves. Avoid the projectiles as well as the wolves as they move around, and use the knee drop and slide kick to take out when they reach ground level. When all four wolves are dead, jump up and kick the woman in the head, and grab what you can once she's taken down. You'll then get the Twin Power magic. For 20 MP, you can create a shadow decoy of yourself to distract enemies and make them easier to defeat.

Rainiac plays Kickmaster - Part 1 of 8

Here's another one that I remember from Nick Arcade. I've always wanted to dig into this one for some time.

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The once peaceful kingdom of Lowrel has been attacked and burned by the evil wizard Belzed's monstrous forces. The King and Queen are killed, and their only child, the Princess Silphee, is kindapped. All of the King's guards are defeated in battle, except for the powerful knight Macren. Macren and his younger brother Thonolan, an aspiring martial artist, take off on a long journey to rescue Princess Silphee, and defeat the wicked Belzed. They start their long struggle in the witches' forest outside the kingdom of Lowrel.

Whenn Macren and Thonolan reach the forest, the find one of the "scummy" living skeletons who attacked the king. The skeleton manages to fatally wound Macren, and it is left to Thonolan to rescue the Princess, as only with his great kicking skills is there hope for victory. You'll be playing as Thonolan.

Sector 1: The Witches' Forest

Controls are pretty simple. Left and Right on the D-Pad allow you to move left and right, Down lets you crouch. Up is used with some of the moves that you'll have as well as learn throughout the game. A jumps, and B attacks. Start pauses and brings up the magic spell menu, where you can use the D-Pad to select a spell and Start to equip it. Select lets you use the magic spell that you have equipped, but make sure you have enough MP before using it.

At the bottom of the screen, you have your current amount of experience points and your MP on the far left. When you max out on experience points, you'll go up a level and you will learn a new move, earn an extra hit point and earn 100 extra MP. The highest level you can reach is Level 7. MP is used to catch sells. To the right of that is the spell that you currently have equipped, followed by your current level and the number of lives that you have remaining. To the right of all that is your current health as well as the health meter for the boss, should you be fighting one.

At the start of the game, you can press B to do a high kick, and you can kick while crouching by holding Down and pressing B to do a sweep kick. Holding Up and pressing B allows you to perform a kick that goes upwards and hits enemies above you. 

The enemies here are pretty easy for the most part. The skeletons strike if you get close enough, and the little guys in the robes with beaks hop up and down and require a sweep kick. The guys flying around with the scythes dive when they are right next to you.

When you defeat enemies, items will fly out of them. They are as follows:

Heart (shaped like a heart): Restores 1 HP of health.

Magic (small) (shaped like a beaker): Restores 5 MP.

Magic (large) (shaped like a beaker with a handle): Restores 10 MP.

Experience Coin (small) (shaped like a circle with a face): Gives 10 EXP.

Experience Coin (medium) (shaped like a shield with a face): Gives 30 EXP.

Experience Coin (large) (shaped like some sort of crest looking thing): Gives 50 EXP.

Jewel (shaped like a gemstone): Gives 100 points.

1-Up (the word 1UP): Gives an extra life.

Poison (shaped like a skull and crossbones): Decreases your life meter. Do not collect this.

You'll need to pick up the coins to earn experience, as simply defeating enemies will not do it.

You'll eventually find a chest. Kick it to open. This contains your first spell, the Bouncing Bulb. By equipping it and pressing Select, you can through a fireball that bounces back and forth until it either hits an enemy or flies off-screen. You'll need 3 MP to cast it. You can also aim it upwards, much like the vertical kick that you have.

The yellow things that look like lizards with axes just stay in place. They will attack if you get close enough, and when they do, they do it every few seconds. They're still easy to defeat, regardless.

When you reach Level 1, you'll learn the knee drop. To perform the knee drop, you'll need to jump, then hold Down and press B to perform the move. This lets you hit enemies from above more easily.

The boss here is this witch that flies around. She can summon armadillo soldiers that go down in one hit and she can attack with projectiles from above. Keep your distance, and jump up and kick her. You'll especially want to do that if you can get behind here. As for the armadillo soldiers, they occasionally roll towards you while slowly marching in one direction, and you can take them out easily with a knee drop if necessary. This boss is a push-over.

The which drops quite a few items, so get all the health, magic and experience you can. You'll also get the Life Up 1 spell, which costs 60 MP (which can be a bit expensive at this point in the game) and allows you to restore 2 HP.

You'll also get a password when you complete a level. It remembers which spells you've picked up, so be ready to write it down and keep it in a safe place.