PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 3 of 6

This is the last easier level in the game. Things are going to get a little more difficult from here on out...

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Round 3-1: Ryogoku

Be careful with the platforms at the start. Make sure you move just a little bit to the right of the spawn points for those flying blob enemies, because some of them will fly at ground level and you will definitely need to get rid of them. There's also a plant on one of the platforms, and you'll need to get rid of it as well when it pops up.

If you've been doing well so far and you've gotten your power meter to a considerable level, you can take out the skeletons here in one shot.

Land at the edge of the platform with the third power-up statue, then immediately duck and strike. This will kill the plant that shows up right away.

The red potions refill just three hearts, but the blue potions are a full health refill.

The mini-boss here is a minotaur with an electric charge around his horns and a full-screen thunder attack that rains down, much like Magical Stardust from [i]Actraiser[/i]. Keep hitting him with powerful strikes at regular intervals so he attacks as little as possible, and if he goes over the side of the screen, he will wrap around to the other side and you won't be able to hit him in time before he attacks. Thankfully, you should be able to do more damage before you meet him on the other side to repeat the process.

Round 3-2: Rent

It's another vertical section, but this time, you're going downwards instead of upwards. The tiny dragon enemies you'll encounter here may be nothing to worry about, but they can pop up when you least expect them as you make your way downwards, and you can lose a little bit of health from touching one. Those hits can add up.

The mini-boss here will move towards you and throw rocks every so often. You'll want to jump over him immediately after he throws a rock so you don't get hit. Keep hitting him with powerful strikes and you'll ensure that you spend as little time with this guy as possible, even if you can easily anticipate where his rocks will go.

The boss is some sort of rock creature with a spiky face in the middle. You'll want to avoid the spiky balls that it throws: one completely overhead, which is only a problem if the boss is far away when it fires it, and the other one that has less distance and bounces along the ground. You'll want to jump over that ball when it is low to the ground. Keep striking the face, but be ready to avoid the spiked balls every so often. When you expose the pink face behind it, you'll only need to hit a few more strikes before the second phase.

For the second phase, the pink enemy in the rock flies back and forth and shoots bubbles downward that move in a sine wave pattern. Avoiding the bubbles while striking with powerful attacks at regular intervals is harder than it seems, and every so often, the boss will speed up for a second and potentially ram into you as it flies around. If you run low on health, use your magic; it'll get you out of a jam here.

After the round ends, Blackhorn knows that Astyanax and Cutie are getting closer. Thorndog assures Blackhorn that they will not make it any further and that he has strengthed the spell he has cast on Princess Rosebud and has now stopped her from communicating with Cutie telepathically. Rosebud says that Astyanax and Cutie will show up, but Blackhorn sees them as just a speed bump in taking Rosebud's power and ruling the world.

PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 2 of 6

In this entry, we face a few more bosses while also tackling our first strictly vertical level.

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Round 2-1: Redroad

The pink skeletons not only shoot projectiles, but they will also strike low in case you're ducking.

Watch out with the small platforms. There's a plant shortly after the beginning, and another one at the end. Both spit fireballs. If you know what you're doing, you can land at the edge at the end, duck down and kill the plant in one shot if your swing is powerful enough. Otherwise, use magic.

When possible, let the flying blob enemies you've been seeing since Round 1-1 move past you. Whatever you do, don't stand where they spawn out from; otherwise they'll come back the instant you kill them or let them leave the screen.

The boss here is a green, one-eyed blob monster who travels across the floor. When you strike him, he rises and strikes back. Keep your distance and strike with your most powerful blows at all times. Thankfully, jumping over him does not put you in any peril, so feel free to do so as long as he's moving around.

Round 2-2: Inazumi

This is your first vertical level. Always jump straight up first before advancing, as this will show more of the level and also reveal some enemies ahead of time, such as the blobs that move back and forth and occasionally rise from the floor to throw spears at you. 

Keep holding the direction you're wanting to go in case you get caught on a platform while jumping from place to place; you'll get to where you need to go more often than not.

When you reach the top of the stage (you'll know it when you see it, as it's all floor with nowhere else to jump to), go all the way to the center, then jump. You'll trigger the mini-boss, which is a dragon-like creature that divebombs you. Avoid the projectiles that it shoots out in diagonal directions by keeping your distance, and strike it enough times with powerful blows from your weapon so that it backs up to the top of the screen. By doing this, you can stay on the ground and the mini-boss will have less of a chance to hit you. Be ready to back the mini-boss up to the top again after it attacks.

The boss is some sort of Medusa-like creature. You'll want to attack the purple jewel on his stomach by crouching down and striking it, and you'll want to be close enough so that you can duck under its hand when it claws at you  and still attack. It will also send two snakes at you, but you can turn around while ducking to strike them both down easily. After this boss sends out four snakes, it immediately disappears and come out from the other side of the screen, alternating between the left side and the right side each time. Thankfully, this boss is deceptively easy if you know what to do.

After the boss battle, Astyanax gets homesick, and Cutie apologizes for putting him through that, as Thelenea - where we need to go to face Blackhorn - is so far away.

PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 1 of 6

Didn't think I would play and beat this one, but after seeing a Let's Play of this game while moving house yet again last year, I had to give this one a shot.

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"Astyanax...Astyanax...I'm waiting..."

That same dream again...strange.

I'm Astyanax. The name comes from Greek mythology, I think. I'm a freshman here at Greenview High.

I don't understand what the dream means.....and who is that girl??..

The other day I was walking to school.....

"Astyanax. Astyanax."

What the heck....

And from here, we get teleported to another world, and the game begins.

Interestingly, the name is from Greek mythology; Astyanax is the son of Hector of Troy and Queen Andromache from The Iliad.

Round 1-1: Remlia

As soon as the game begins, Astyanax finds himself in Remlia, and he meets a fairy named Cutie. Cutie brought Astyanax to Remlia to rescue Princess Rosebud, who has been captured by the evil wizard Blackhorn and has been appearing in Astyanax's recurring dreams, as he possess "the miracle power." Cutie also reveals that only Rosebud has the power to return him home. Cutie gives Astyanax the magic axe known as Bash, which will be his weapon for the adventure, and Astyanax is soon on his way.

Left and Right move Astyanax left and right, Down ducks, A jumps, and B attacks. Start pauses the game, and while the game is paused, you can switch between one of a few magic spells with the Control Pad. I stick to the default magic throughout the game. Magic spells are cast by holding up and pressing A. You have three spells: Bind, which freezes enemies for several second (represented by a circle); Blast, which damages all enemies on-screen (represented by a flame); and Bolt, which kills all-on screen enemies and can severely damage bosses yet uses more magic than Blast does (represented by a lightning bolt).

At the bottom of the screen is all of the important information. From the left, you have your current score, the current amount of lives that you have left, the current round that you are on, and the current spell that you have equipped. To the right of all that is your power gauge, your life meter and your spell meter. The power gauge empties and slowly refills after you strike with the B button, and the more it is filled up, the more your next attack will be. The life meter shows how much health you have. The spell gauge decreases when you use your magic.

You'll meet your first enemies here. The flying enemies will just fly past you, and unless they are directly in your way, you won't need to attack them. The jellyfish drop projectiles that won't damage you, but if you hit them, you'll be stunned for a few moments before you can move again. You'll want to attack only the jellyfish with the most powerful strikes that you can. The skeletons will pop out of the floor; you'll want to let them come to you, then strike them when they are in range of your weapon.

The statues contain power-ups. The glass container will increase the maximum power of your power gauge, allowing you to strike more powerfully with your weapon. Keep in mind that the more of these you pick up, the more time you'll need to wait before it slowly fills all the way up. This is a good thing, as you actually don't want to rush your way through the rounds. You'll want to move through this game slowly and carefully. Unless you're on the exact point that a flying enemy will spawn, you can easily stay in place and wait for your power gauge to fully refill so you can get past some of the enemies that will be in your way more easily.

Be careful when jumping over pits; you never know when you might run into a plant enemy that will sprout out and spit projectiles upwards. You'll want to fight them from a short distaance with your weapon or with your magic. If you can do it with your weapon, do so; it saves magic for the boss battles.

Grabbing the axe item lets you change the axe into a sword. The sword not only makes your physical strikes more powerful without adding to the power meter, but it also powers up your magic at the expense of using more of the spell meter. It is possible to get a spear, but it is less powerful.

The red potions give you three hearts for your health, but the blue potions refill all of the health meter.

The mini-boss is a bouncing boulder enemy. Grab the power-up at the end before the boss battle is over, then keep your distance as you strike while the boss bounces around. You'll want to keep your distance from the mini-boss and walk past him when the opportunity allows for it. When he opens up and stands still, get close to him and keep striking him with powerful physical attacks while ducking down.

The power-up that looks like a shield is really a pair of wings, which allows you to attack more quickly with your physical weapon.

The boss is a knight on a giant creature. You'll need to attack the head of the giant creature first. Jump over the head when it flies around in a circle, and watch out for the projectiles that it spits out, which won't be much of a problem as long as you stay close to the boss and duck. Once the creature is defeated, you have the knight left. Attack with your physical weapon and trap the knight against the wall, then duck and keep striking repeatedly from a short distance when the knight is backed to the wall.

After the boss battle, Thorndog will tell Blackhorn that Caesar, the boss we just defeated, has been killed. Blackhorn will soon notice that Cutie has brought Astyanax here, and demands Astyanax be destroyed.

PrinceWatercress plays Power Blade II - Part 6 of 6

...and now, the epic conclusion of Power Blade II!

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Stage 6

For Area 2 (Area 1 is just you dropping in), you'll be jumping around in the red goop in order to not sink into it. If you want, you can latch onto the ceiling by holding Up and jumping into the ceiling with the Newt Suit, then holding Left or Right to climb across the ceiling. Destroy the long bugs with your boomerang as they pop up.

To destroy the worms in Area 3, throw boomerangs into the red eye. They will attack if given the chance.

For Area 4, the snake blocks make a return. When you reach some more permanent platforms midway through, take the lower set of blocks at first. This will make it easier to switch to the other set. You'll soon have four sets of snake blocks near the end; make sure you take a set that is heading to the right to get to the exit. Be careful with the moving platform at the end; you don't want your head hitting the ceiling spikes.

Area 5 is the same as Area 3. Area 6 is another "watch out in the goop below" area. Be ready to jump to take out some of the jets, and avoid the pincers in case they show up while you're in the red goop. Keep in mind that you can slide over the one-block-long gaps with the spikes in them to get past the spikes safely.

For Areas 7 and 8, keep your distance and repeatedly throw boomerangs with a full power meter in order to take out the enemies safely. When you attack the slime man in Area 9, jump over what's left of him so you'll be past him when he pulls himself together. To get the battery in Area 9, equip the Wet Suit and swim towards the right side of the platform, then switch to the Newt Suit so you can climb over the edge of the ledge and get the battery. Ditto with the energy tank in Area 10.

After defeating some enemies in Areas 11 and 12, use the Rocket Suit at the platforms. Slide off the moving platform on the left, then hold A once you're in mid-air to fly to the door.

For Area 14, use the Newt Suit's ceiling climbing ability to stay out of the goop and keep the pincers from hitting you. When you land on the platform in the spike pit before the final door, jump to the right immediately so you don't get caught out near the end and sent into the spikes for a cheap instant death.

From here, you'll have to go through a boss rush with all five bosses' battles being redone in order. When you beat a boss, you'll get all of your health refilled and a fair bit of energy back, but don't be afraid to press Select to use of your energy tanks. The same strategies for each boss battle still apply.

You'll then see the head of the Delta Foundation turn into an alien. To beat him, stay in the center of the room and keep on jumping. The boss will keep teleporting in and out, and his projectiles will temporarily freeze the goop that makes up the floor of the room so you won't slowly sink into it for a little while. Avoid the projectiles, keep on hopping up and down and keep shooting projectiles at the boss and you'll eventually beat the boss, which is a lot easier than one would expect.

Having saved mankind again, Nova heads back to headquarters just in time for Christmas, his accomplishments never being made public due to the nature of his work. You just beat Power Blade II!

PrinceWatercress plays Power Blade II - Part 5 of 6

After completing the first four stages of the game, we can finally play the fifth one...and this is where things get tough.

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Stage 5

Area 1 is fairly straightforward. Area 2...not so much. You'll need to jump from moving platform to moving platform to get to the top. Use a Newt or Patriot Suit to take out the enemy at the top without receiving damage.

You'll eventually run into Jacqueline, who tells Nova that the president of the Nova Foundation is really an alien from outer space who is now spreading his troops around in order to invade Earth, and that he was really trying to sell the fighting cyborg in order to raise funds for the invasion. If the Nova Foundation is not stopped, Earth's days are numbered.

From here, the stage gets more difficult. Area 5 introduces green snake blocks much like in Super Mario World, that you'll need to ride while avoiding the spikes on both the floor and the ceiling. You'll need to pay attention to where they are going in addition to keeping up with them to get to the other side. Make sure you don't go too far to the left, or else you won't have another snake block to fall back on in case you run out of room in that direction.

Use the Rocket Suit to get the battery at the bottom of Area 6.

For Area 7, use the Wet Suit to get to the bottom more quickly and get the energy tank at the bottom. Ditto for Area 8 so you can destroy the block near the exit.

In Area 9, stick to your suitless form. and destroy the doors spawning the orbs while using the platform to get to the bottom. Remember that the platform stops moving when you jump upwards. For Area 10, switch back to the Wet Suit and avoid the sparks while destroying the enemies from the sides of the platforms.

For the boss, equip the Patriot Suit. Shoot at the boss as it flies around, and always slide when the boss is directly above you so you don't get hit when the boss drops down. This will make it easier to destroy the boss.  The first time the boss passes by you leads to nothing, but the second time leads to the drop down. If you don't attack the boss after he drops down, he will rush towards you; if you do, he just jumps back up and starts flying back-and-forth again.

PrinceWatercress plays Power Blade II - Part 4 of 6

In this entry, we take on the fourth and last of the selectable stages.

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Stage 4

After dealing with the big round robots and the jetpack cyborgs in Area 1, Area 2 has you going underwater. Make sure your power meter is as high as possible before you attack or else your attack range will be seriously reduced.

Use the Wet Suit in Area 3. This will keep you from jumping into the ceiling spikes. As for Area 4, you'll want to be in normal mode for the start, then you'll want to use the Wet Suit to grab all the good stuff in addition to getting around. As for the rest of Area 4, the water will push you back, but you can get around slightly more quickly by jumping your way forward.

There will be double doors in Area 5. The dragon mini-boss here bounces around just like the dragons in the last two stages, but this time, you'll have water rushing across the floor that acts like a conveyor belt that constantly pushes you to the right. Keep that in mind while fighting the dragon mini-boss. Beating this battle will net you the Patriot Suit, which is much like the Newt Suit but has two protective satellites that reduce the damage you take in addition to tracking enemies and destroying them.

The rest of Area 5 has water continuing to push you to the right as you deal with slimes that hop around and stick to ceilings that split into two much smaller slimes when you hit them.

Area 6 has the disc-throwing cyborgs and the jetpack cyborgs. Use the Rocket Suit to get to the door at the bottom.

Area 7 has a floor that slowly rises and falls. Wait for the floor to move down before sliding down narrow corridors or you will get stuck, crushed and killed.

To beat the twin cyborgs in this stage's boss battle, come in with the Newt or Patriot Suit, then slide to the right and stay close to the twin on the right. Keep attacking the twin on the right and keep on moving so that the twin on the right doesn't jump into you. You'll keep hitting the twin on the right, but you'll also hit the twin on the left every so often, too. The twin on the right will go down first, and from there, you can easily destroy the twin on the left. The twin cyborgs only attack when you do, and you'll want to strike when in range and be ready to move. For the left twin, stay on the right and attack from a good distance. The twin on the left can only jump so far to the right before jumping all the way back to the left. Once the twin cyborgs go down, you'll complete the last of the stages and you'll be ready for Stage 5.

PrinceWatercress plays Power Blade II - Part 3 of 6

Stage 3 has one of the toughest bosses in the game.

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Stage 3

In Area 1, the purple cyborgs keep moving as long as you keep attacking. Keep that in mind if you're going to pelt them with boomerangs as you ride the platform up to the top.

Area 2 is a vertical section where you're dropping down, but at least you can take your time here since you don't have the ceiling coming down on you. 

In Area 3, be ready to slide down narrow passages with Down and A. The double doors appear again, and the dragon fight is the same as Stage 2; the only difference is that the room isn't full of water and you have two conveyor belts that move you towards the center of the screen making up the floor. Beating this dragon will net you the Rocket Suit, which allows you to fly around. You're going to need this very soon.

In Area 4, you'll need to use the Rocket Suit. When you equip it by moving the portrait to the "R" picture while the game is paused, you'll be able to fly around in eight directions. Press and hold A to start flying, then use the D-Pad to move around in mid-air. Releasing A lets you slowly float downwards. You can fly in eight directions. While in this area, keep away from the giant fans, as it is instant death if you run into them.

Area 5 has you using the Rocket suit again, but it is a lot more straightforward.

In Area 6, strike with powerful attacks to take out the jetpack robot and its homing missiles..

For the boss battle, equip the Newt Suit and fire powerful attacks at him. You'll want to give yourself some distance and you'll also want to keep him on one side of the room as much as possible by getting him to move around in such a way that he keep running at you after you jump over him so he wall jumps and runs back at you. At the same time, you'll want to get away if he gets too close. This guy can run and jump around, climb across the ceiling and drop down at you, and also throw shurikens. You may have to use an energy tank against this guy. There will also be two sparks running along the length of the room, and you'll want to jump over those when they come your way. 

PrinceWatercress plays Power Blade II - Part 2 of 6

Our adventure continues in Stage 2, where things get a little more dicey.

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Stage 2

In Area 1, you'll want to duck down under the few gaps in the floor so you don't get killed by the spikes that move up and down. Duck down at the conveyor belts if you need to, but make sure you use your slide to get some room to stay on the conveyor belts as the ceiling rises back up.

In Area 2, you're dealing with a ceiling that continuously moves down and has more spikes. Hold forward while sliding so you can get past the balls, and remember that you can throw diagonally downwards while crouching to get rid of the enemy near the end. Make sure not to go too far down, as it is possible to fall past the bottom and lose a life.

In Area 3, you'll encounter water for the first time. You'll move very slowly in it, but you'll also jump higher in it, too. Watch out for the sparks as you grab the spare battery.

In Area 4, you'll be completely in water. Behind the double doors, the brown dragon boss bounces when it rolls into a ball; slide under it as it bounces to avoid it. Beating this battle will net you the Wet Suit. Pause and use the D-Pad to switch to the "W" portrait, then unpause to use the Wet Suit. The Wet Suit lets you swim properly and in eight directions using just the Control Pad, and you can also attack left or right as you swim.

In Area 5, you can use the Wet Suit to get an energy tank.

In Area 6, leap off the platform on the track and get to safter ground as the fire rises, then ride the platform again when the fire descends.

Area 7 is much like Area 2. Hit the bouncing orb enemies when they stop bouncing to fire at you, and ready to break blocks on the ground to make your way further down. Again, make sure not to fall too far down so you don't lose a life.

In Area 8, the gunk at the bottom will act like quicksand. If you get caught in it, keep jumping forward to keep from sinking in. You'll eventually reach dry land and the boss. There will be tiny robots falling out of pipes in the ceiling; you'll have to deal with them if you call into the drink. 

You'll need the Wet Suit to beat this boss. Equip it immediately, and stay in the water and attack upwards to hit the boss. You'll want to be aggressive with the boss here when necessary. Shoot down any missiles that the boss sends your way, and take out the fish that show up as the water in the room rises. Take care not to move into the gap in the center of the floor. If you can stay on the surface of the water, keep the water clear of threats, and continue to pummel the boss, you'll clear this stage in no time.

PrinceWatercress plays Power Blade II - Part 1 of 6

It's been a good while since I played Power Blade, so let's play the second game...which isn't as well-remembered, unfortunately.

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It is December 24, 2200. The Delta Foundation has just finished development of a cyborg unit that represents the next generation of fighting robots. They would like to sell it to the Department of Defense, and mention that the cyborg would be a threat to the security of the nation if sold to a foreign country before giving the government a week to respond.

The government considered this matter very seriously and assigned a top secret mission to SP Headquarters. Nova, who saved the New Earth colony by restoring the Master Computer in 2191, is secretly called upon by the Department of Defense to destroy the Delta Foundation. Should something happen to Nova, his superiors cannot get involved.

When you start the game, you'll be able to play the first four stages in any order. Beating all four of these stages will unlock the fifth one. Left and Right on the D-Pad allows you to pick between the stages, while Start makes your selection.

Stage 1

Unlike the stages in the first game, the stages here are a lot more linear, a lot more Mega Man-like and much less open. Go through one stage, and you'll figure out why this game isn't as well remembered as the game that precedes it: the level design is by-the-numbers compared to the first game. While it's not completely a bad thing, it does leave a bit to be desired.

At the bottom of the screen, you'll have your HUD. The power of your weapon is at the very top, and picking up stars will increase the power of your attacks. Below all that is the amount of time you have left to play through the level before you lose a life from running out time. Below that is your current amount of health ("Player"), the current amount of energy for your suits ("Energy," which will be explained in due time), the current stage you are in, and the current area of the stage you are in. The last area of a stage will always be the last one before a boss. To the right of all that is a portrait of Nova (which will be useful later), the amount of life canisters that you have, the amount of energy batteries that you have, and the amount of lives that you have.

Left and Right on the D-Pad allows you to move left and right. Down allows you to crouch, as well as attack downwards in mid-air. A jumps, while B throws boomerangs, just like in the first game. You can throw diagonally downwards while on the ground, but you can only throw straight downwards in mid-air, where you can attack in eight directions. You can use Up on the D-Pad in conjunction with B to throw your boomerangs upwards, and you can also attack diagonally upwards, regardless of whether you are in the air or on the ground. Down and A allows you to slide much like in the Mega Man games.

A good amount of the enemies that you'll fight through the game make return appearances from the first game, and if you've played the first game for a decent amount of time, you'll be able to recognize them as well as their attack patterns.

Stars will increase the power of your attacks. Once you get your power to full strength, it won't take as many strikes to defeat enemies. The double boomerang gives you another boomerang to throw, up to a maximum of three. The single red boomerang powers up the base power of your attack.

The hamburger will replenish a few units of your health. The white and pink battery will add energy to your energy meter. The light blue cylinder acts like a Mega Man-style energy can that refills all your health whenever you press Select, assuming you have one in your inventory.

The spinning drills, whether they are on the walls, ceilings or floor, will instantly kill you if you jump into them. Also, you'll be seeing conveyor belts on the floors along with these drills as early as Area 3. Thankfully, it is easy to tell where they will take you by looking at them. Just watch out for the ceiling turrets. When you get to what looks like a maroon-colored Lego, hold Left while on the platform to grab this. This battery replenishes your energy when it empties out, but again, this will be explained when the time comes.

Enemy generating doors can be destroyed by throwing boomerangs at them until they explode, believe it or not.

The grey doors that spit out the small bugs that jump around in Area 4 can be destroyed by your boomerangs. Also, there are blocks that you'll need to break to make progress.

In Area 5, the platforms on the tracks will only move when you're on them. They will stop when you leap off. If you need to, duck under stationary platforms to keep the platform going.

In the middle of Area 5 is a set of double doors. To enter them, stand in front of them and press Up on the D-Pad to open the door and enter the room. Here, you'll fight a mechanical dragon. You'll need to throw boomerangs at it and keep your power high as you do so, jump over the fireballs it spits out, and jump over the dragon itself when it rolls it into a ball to avoid getting rolled into. When you defeat this dragon, you'll get the Newt Suit. The Newt Suit is the power suit from the first game; it allows you to throw energy blasts that travel all the way to the end of the screen that are more powerful than your standard boomerang. 

To switch between your standard form and the Newt Suit, press Up and Down on the D-Pad while paused. This will change the portrait of Nova on the HUD. The Newt Suit is dictated by the portrait of Nova in armor with the "N" in the upper-right corner. While using this or any other suit, the energy on your Energy meter will go down. While you can pick up small batteries to replenish your energy on the spot, more often than not, the maroon-colored batteries will refill your energy automatically, assuming you have at least one in your inventory. If you run out of energy without a replacement battery, you'll go back to your standard suitless form.

In Area 6, watch out for the electric sparks that travel across the wires in the background. At the top where the spikes are; jump to the left so you're on the left wall, then slide to the right to get over the gap and avoid the ceiling spikes. Take care not to get crushed between the moving floor and the ceiling, as that is an automatic loss of a life. Watch out for blocks to break to find a way to the top.

If you lose a life, you will lose a little bit of your power as well as one of your boomerangs and your red boomerang power-up, but it is easy to get back to maximum.

To destroy the purple disc-throwing cyborg in Area 7, you'll need to duck down and throw some maximum strength shots at it. This will allow you to attack while avoiding the discs being thrown at you.

To beat the boss here, switch to the Newt Suit and stay close to the boss while attacking it repeatedly, but not too close. Duck when you are close to the boss while on the ground to avoid the projectiles and the jump over the center, and watch where the projectiles go when the boss is on the platforms in the corners, as that is when the projectiles will create flame pillars that stick around for a few seconds after they hit the floor. 

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 6 of 6

...and with this, we complete our adventure. 

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Stage 6

Map (by StarFighters76)

Believe it or not, the inside of the Technodrome isn't really that big. It shouldn't take you too long to find Shredder at all.

The jetpack guys aren't that hard at all. Just don't stand anywhere near them. When you see them in the narrow part of the yellow section, duck down so their lasers fly over your head, and attack any other enemy that comes your way. 

If Leonardo is at his last quarter of his health, his sword does double damage. I take advantage of this on purpose in order to heal Donatello on the way to Shredder.

The turrets stay destroyed even after you off-screen them.

In the blue section, I make my way down a little bit, then head left when I am able. Past the wall turret is a ladder leading down to full health.

Shredder is amazingly easy. Fight him off and make your way to the uppermost platform. If Shredder is at the bottom when you do this, you're golden. Hit him when he jumps towards you. Every time you hit him, you knock him back. He'll keep jumping towards you, but since you keep hitting him, he won't be able to do anything. 

Another thing you can do is hit Shredder from below with Don, then use any other turtle who has the scroll weapon equipped. Use the scroll weapon against Shredder and keep hitting him with it. He'll go down easily.

Shredder's only attack is his gun, which instantly kills your turtle if the projectile connects. Since he's strangely easy, the attack is never seen.

Congrats. You just completed one of the hardest NES games in existence.

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 5 of 6

Well, I sure lucked out.

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Stage 5

Map (by StarFighters76)

Avoid the search lights of the planes in the overworld. If they spot you, you'll have to deal with some Foot Clan ninjas.

The crab-like robots that crawl on the walls are the worst. The boomerang sub-weapon as well as Donatello's bo will destroy them in one hit instead of two, which is a welcome sigh of relief because these things can be unmeasurably irritating.

The jellyfish split into four bubbles if you get too close to them, but (interestingly enough) you can hit the bubbles and actually destroy them.

The porcupines are really annoying, since they face away from you to attack and shoot needles at you when they do. After attacking twice, they'll run away.

Here's a problem that the Angry Video Game Nerd doesn't mention: you can only stand on the ladders on the walls when you climb all the way up on them. 

The underground parts are even worse, since you have cannons shooting at you from the ceiling and craning themselves up and down at the same time. You also have aliens that curl into balls and roll around like pillbugs on crack if they're not shooting sperm out of their mouths (I'm serious, that's actually what it looks like).

Anyway, the doors at the bottom of the underground areas are the possible places where you'll find the boss. You'll know that the boss isn't there if you enter the door and end up at a dead end room with absolutely nothing in it. Unfortunately, the building that houses the Technodrome is random each time you play. There is a chance that the empty room may contain a turtle that you may have lost.

When you finally meet up with the Technodrome, here's what you do: take out the Foot Clan ninjas as you wait for the electricity at the front of the Technodrome to stop sparking out, then head to the tank tread at the side and take out the turrets. Now that those are out of the way, attack the eye at the top of the Technodrome when it opens. You did it! Just one more stage to go!

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 4 of 6

...and the game gets harder again. This one took a few tries before I could finally get through it without losing a turtle.

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Stage 4

Map (by StarFighters76)

Enter the building and prepare to take on the maze.

The fastest path is 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18. You can also substitute 5 and 7 with 3 and 6 respectively, then take 8, and head to 9 from there.

If you need to save one of your friends, enter 13, then get your friend and head back from where you came in. You can also exit 13 through the other side, go backwards into 12 and fully refill health for all your turtles. 

The first building you enter has a full health refill right off the bat. You'll also find some tightropes not long afterwards, and you'll need to use them very soon after. Just walk to the post where the rope is used and your Turtle will automatically tether up.

The robots that shoot lasers only attack when you do. 

Section 2 is really easy, just watch out for the lasers.

If you see any purple planes on the map, keep your distance. Those things are Shredder's bombers, and they can nuke you off of the map if you're not careful. It's best to stay away from them.

For Section 3, take short hops to get across the conveyor belts. At least the conveyor belts tell you off the bat where they're going to push you.

Section 4 introduces a new enemy: a humanoid that splits into two. (This assumes you haven't seen it earlier in Stage 3 like I did.) When you hit its smaller counterparts again, you'll get them to split even further. Those miniature clones take multiple hits before they die, which can make them frustratingly annoying.

Section 5 introduces the magnets. When you're in the air, they'll instantly attract your Turtle, which carries the risk of pulling you into the spikes while you're fine-tuning your jump placement. Thankfully, touching the spikes does not cause instant death, but it's still something you should avoid.

The road to the end is really nasty. You'll be dropping down for a few screens, and while they all have the same pattern as the first room, the second one introduces spiked walls of instant death, so you'll have to be fast on the way down. The third room is just like the second, but it has a full pizza that you definitely won't be able to get at all. Thanks, game.

The fire pits are instant death, so you'll want to avoid those. This is especially true near the end of 15, where enemies can push you into the fire pit if you're not careful.

The room at the end is the boss - a giant Mouser. Wait for it to blink its eyes twice before jumping to avoid the laser. After that, it will open its mouth and expose hit its "tongue." Once the mouth opens, you can easily strike the weak point with Donatello. There is a glitch where you can pause and then unpause when the mouth is open so that you can always hit the weak point no matter what, but you can easily beat this boss without it.

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 3 of 6

Thankfully, the third stage is mercifully easier than the second.

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Stage 3

Map (by StarFighters76)

The Turtle Van has two weapons: the normal gun with infinite ammo that fires straight in front of the van (fired with the A button) and the super missiles that do more damage but come in finite amounts and have to be found (fired with the B button). Walk into it to enter it; press Select to get out. Fun fact: if you see any of the Foot Clan's bulldozer vehicles and you leave the van, the enemy vehicles de-spawn. (thanks newfiebangaa)

The super missiles missiles can also destroy the barricades that block your path. From this point on, I'll actually be referring to the map, so you might want to have it open in a separate tab in case you actually want to know what I'm even talking about.

It should be noted that the Turtle Van's energy matches that of your current turtle. Yeah, that's right. It doesn't come with its own, separate energy bar. That's pretty lame.

First, enter the building immediately to the left of the starting point that you can enter (referred to as 1A on the map). As you make your way to the top, you can find a half pizza as well as a whole pizza that you can use to refresh your Turtles, and at the end you'll find Missiles. Walk over the pit to get over it and grab the Missiles. (Angry Video Game Nerd, anyone?)

Aside from the fleamen (who really do look like tiny astronauts) and the Foot Clan balloons that drop missiles when they're directly above, you also have robots that look like knights. These robots send their heads flying around the screen when you destroy them. Thankfully, the heads take only one hit to kill.

If you need more missiles, just exit and re-enter the building. Not only will the missiles be back, but so will the health power-ups. Bonus!

Now that you have some missiles, get back in the van and go to 4A and 4B from there. Stand near the center of the barricades in order to take out both halves in one shot with the missiles. Enter 4A, and pick up the icon at the upper-left corner that looks like some guy walking on a tightrope. This is the Rope, and you'll need it for later in the stage. Now enter 4B. If you have a Turtle down, this is where you'll be able to rescue him. Congrats, you've successfully regrouped. Now make your way to 6A.

If you need to refill health for any reason before heading to that area, or if you don't have a turtle to save, head to 3A. You're not only going to find health there, but you'll also find the Ninja Scroll as well as some tightropes. If you fall into the water in the sewer area, you'll end up on the other side of that area, but it'll just make it easier to get to the full heal pizza at the end.

When you're in the 6A area, don't fall into the water, because the Turtles can't swim. (Another first world problem brought to you by the Angry Video Game Nerd.) If you hit the drink, you'll have to start this whole area over. (Why they can't swim here when there was already a swimming level in the game before this is just inexplicable.) Let the robots with the detachable heads fall in the water, so you won't have to deal with them. Also, take short hops. That means "Don't do the somersault." 

From here, enter 7A. Make your way to the top, and you'll deal with the Mecha Turtle. (If you fall into the water before the end, you'll end up back at the 6A door, which means you'll have to do more backtracking just to get back to the end.) The first form just acts exactly like Leonardo, meaning that he acts exactly like you do. The second one is a robot Turtle with a jetpack and rockets that fire out of its mouth. If you're close to dying, switch to another Turtle. The first form isn't too hard, but avoid the rocket attacks of the second form. If you have the Ninja Scroll projectiles, use them. You'll take out both forms very quickly. When you save Splinter, you'll see Shredder's helicopter fly away.

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 2 of 6

This is where a lot of people have trouble with the game...a lot.

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Stage 2

Map

Well, there's nothing else here to do on the overworld map at this point except to enter the building in front of you...so why not?

As your make your way up to the roof of the building, you'll be fighting mini-bosses each time you reach a ladder. Thankfully, they're enemies you've beaten before. You'll need to be right at the edge to make the final jump to the door leading to the top of the dam itself.

When you're at the top, move to the right and move off the broken end of the building. This is the Hudson River bomb level, and it's pretty nasty.

First things first: if your current Turtle is in danger of dying, switch to another character immediately. If the timer (two minutes and 20 seconds) goes to zero, it's an instant game over. However, if you die, the timer resets but the bombs don't! Epic win!

You have 2 minutes and 20 seconds to defuse eight bombs. Thankfully, there's a map for this that really helps out. When you get near a bomb, press B repeatedly to defuse it. Special music will play if you have only 20 seconds left.

With the rotating spikes, stay near the center to make it easier to not get hit. 

Wait for the electric barriers to stop running before moving past them, as they can do a lot of damage.

The currents can really drag you down at times, and sometimes they won't work due to a glitch in the programming. Sometimes they'll drag you down into the coral below, which act as spikes or electric barriers and cause damage as a result. As for the very stringy looking things at the bottom of some areas, don't get near it; you'll be dragged in and you'll immediately lose a turtle if you get close enough.

When you defuse all eight bombs, don't even worry about getting back to the beginning. You'll automatically return to the Turtles' home only to find the place trashed. Shredder will show up on the screen wearing a red wifebeater instead of his usual purple gear and has the ability to point his hand through the TV screen. You'll find out that Splinter has been kidnapped, and that the Stage 3 map is freakin' huge compared to the first two.

PrinceWatercress plays Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Part 1 of 6

Here's another game that I never thought I would beat until I tried it for the Internet. Long live the YouTube channel!

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The game is known as Gekikame Ninja Den in Japan, and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe.

Stage 1

Map

The game starts in an overworld map. If you pause, you can select between the four Ninja Turtles, which have a different weapon (that of course, works differently). You'll have four turtles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello. Each Turtle has a different weapon (katana, nunchaku, sai and bo staff, respectively), each with a different range. They all have their own individual health bars, and you can switch between them on the pause screen in case you're in trouble.

From what I understand, the first level is supposed to be Fifth Avenue and Greenwich Village.

The map shows red and white squares. The red squares are all the places you can access, while the white squares are an entrance to an area. The flashing dot signifies where you are. You'll be able to get hints from Splinter and/or April O'Neil (when you rescue her) in the message box below.

You'll start near a manhole. Go into it. Moving south past this area leads to a purple tank that will instantly try to kill you if you run into it, so don't do that.

You'll take on what look like Mousers and Foot Clan Ninjas. As you progress, some of them will have mini-boss status. Take them down to empty their life bars and continue on with the game. 

Whenever you finish off a mini-boss, move left past the center of the screen and continue. That way, you'll be able to see what's ahead and deal with it more easily.

You'll find a pizza at the end. The more slices there are on the icon, the more health you'll refill. One slice refills two squares on the life bar, and you'll see anywhere from one to four slices on a pizza icon.

From here, enter the manhole to the right of where you've come out. Go to the right and you'll face Bebop. Stay away from him and hit him from medium range. If you're using Donatello and his Bo, this is a lot easier. If you touch Rocksteady, you also take damage (I found this out by screwing around, don't ask).

When you beat Bebop, Rocksteady runs off with April through the nearby door. Enter it, and you'll come out across from where you entered. If you need health, go into the nearby house and beat up all the bats and stone guys. The stone guys can only be damaged if they're moving. You'll find a slice of pizza midway, followed by a whole pie at the end, and if one of your Turtles somehow need energy at this point, switch to that Turtle, get the Pizza, then switch back. That way, that whole pizza pie won't be wasted. Also, the chainsaw guy (should he show up) is totally violent for a NES game from 1987. Just saying.

Leave the house the same way you came in, then go to the manholes northwest of that house. Watch out for the steamrollers, as they're instant death if you touch them. There are also Foot Clan ninjas you can attack with the B button, just like in the side scrolling sections, should they get near you.

Before entering the one that blocks your path, enter the one south of it. You might find some throwing stars, which you can select with the Select button if you want to go back to your default weapon. There are several projectile weapons that you can find in the game, and if you don't want to grab a projectile weapon without losing the one you have, you can switch to another turtle and have that turtle pick it up. Weapons include throwing stars (a single shot and a three-way shot variety), boomerangs that can be thrown and grabbed again, and scrolls that can shoot an energy wave, among others. You'll find these weapons at random, so look sharp and be ready to press Select to switch back to your melee weapon as well as manage who carries what, as that can be pretty important.

In the manhole that I don't enter, the Turtle logo is invincibility. With this, your current Ninja Turtle spins around and hits everything that he touches for a few seconds. This will take down the frog mini-boss at the end without taking damage. Since this is a dead end, go back and climb up the ladder at the start.

Now you can go into the manhole that blocks your path. There's a pizza at the beginning in case somebody needs some health rations. Continue to the left, take care of the frog mini-boss, then climb up the ladder at the end and you'll come across this isolated blue building.

There are three sets of enemies in a stage, and if you don't like the one that's in the current area, you can leave where you came in from and immediately re-enter to spawn a different set. Nice.

You'll face Rocksteady at the building at the end, and if you jump up to the top of the boxes at the right-hand side and keep striking downwards, you'll be able to beat him without taking damage. This works especially well if you're using Donatello, as it's pretty hard to miss while doing this with him. Just wait for him to jump (horribly) and then hit him. Whenever Rocksteady jumps near the boxes, his hitbox extends a little bit, and you can hit him more easily. You just saved April O'Neil! Congrats!

Controls

Control Pad: Move (Up enters doors)

A button: Jump (side-scrolling only)

B button: Attack (use Up and Down to strike upward and downward, respectively)

Start: Pause (lets you see the map and switch Turtles)

Select: Switch weapons (side-scrolling), leave the Turtle Van (overworld)

PrinceWatercress plays Dragon Fighter - Part 6 of 6

...and now, the epic conclusion!

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Stage 6

Regardless of which power-up you have, you'll be gray in the end, and you'll be in dragon form the whole time. For this stage, you're in horizontal shmup mode, and you'll be firing projectile straight forward to the right side of the screen.

The bat enemies are simple enough, but the cyan-colored spheres turn into caped men who will fire four diagonal shots. You won't have to wait for them to unroll themselves to attack them; you can still shoot them even when they are in ball form.

You want to keep as few enemies on-screen as possible at all times. The more enemies you have on-screen, the more you're going to have to dodge and the more you're going to be overwhelmed. Also, you'll want to keep an eye on your health at all times and ensure that you take as little damage as possible, as you won't be able to recover health and you'll need as much as you can get for the boss battle at the end.

The brown enemies carried by the hawks will fire lasers at you. They're pretty thin and pretty fast, so position yourself just a bit lower so you can avoid the lasers and still hit them. If they get too close, go around them, as they can't turn around to fly at you or fire at you.

The brown flying enemies will track you vertically, but that is all they can do. If they get too close, just get away from them and let them over/under you.

The bats show up in greater numbers near the end. Take out as many as you can, then stay on the move to avoid the rest.

The boss is Zabbaong himself, and he will have multiple phases. The first weak spot to shoot down is the hand. Watch out for the ring projectiles that come out of Zabbaong, and stay far back enough so you don't get hit by the hand's own projectiles.

When the hand is destroyed, you'll need to shoot down the face when the small green hand is not blocking it. You'll need to avoid the small lasers that fire out of the face as you fire at it in addition to the rings that will keep flying at you, so you'll need to keep moving up and down to avoid the lasers and the rings before firing at the face again.

When the face is destroyed, you'll expose the skull. At this point, the boss will no longer move up and down; instead, it will slowly move towards you while firing multiple small lasers at once, but at least the rings will be gone. You'll need to fly around the boss while avoiding the lasers, and getting the boss to move in such a way that you can't accidentally run into it as you fly around in a circle (square?) around the screen. You'll have to deal with five lasers at once, but if you take too long, it becomes a ten-way shot that becomes harded to avoid.

Once you do enough damage to the skull, Zabbaong will be defeated. You just beat Dragon Fighter!

PrinceWatercress plays Dragon Fighter - Part 5 of 6

I spend more time in this stage than any other, but it's worth it.

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Stage 5

The skeletons popping out of the ground will be your biggest nuisance in this stage, and you'll want to make sure they don't pop up from under you. While they are easy to destroy, they can get annoying.

That is left to the skeletal hands, feet and other parts that you'll see throughout the stage. You'll want to take them out from a distance, especially when you can jump over or run under the stomping feet as they bounce around and the hands will stay back and fire towards you in one of eight directions. Some of the early ones will be more open hands that shoot fireballs every so often, but the later ones will stay in the air and fire in one of eight directions, and you'll have to attack them in some sort of off-center way to get rid of them.

Because of the skeleton part enemies that are scattered across the stage, you'll want to carefully inch forward as you play through this stage. If you see a part of a skeleton, stop what you're doing and fight it before moving forward, as you don't want to get surrounded here.

The flying skulls will fly back and forth along the top of the stage and drop down to spit a fireball at you. Charge attacks will work wonders on these flying monstrosities. Stay on the move to avoid the fireballs, which will stop following you completely after a full loop-around in the air.

If you see a pair of skeleton feet, take out the one on the right first. The one on the right will bounce high while the left one will bounce low, and you can easily jump over the left one.

The boss is a culimination of the skeleton parts that you've been facing with a heart in the center. The boss' heart is the weak point, and it can be really easy to decimate with the dragon if you have the homing shot and know where yo position yourself. The feet will move the boss around while the feet will launch themselves at you. If you go back to human form, be ready to throw charge attacks at the heart while avoiding the feet and the hands. 

There is one more wizard's staff to collect after this, but it will only heal you and will not give you more health. The next stage is the final one...

PrinceWatercress plays Dragon Fighter - Part 4 of 6

Things get a little more interesting - and a little more difficult - as we enter a more mechanical world halfway through the game.

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Stage 4

The tiny robots with the steam coming out of them jump up and down while moving back and forth, and spit out the occasional projectile. Attack it from a distance with charge shots.

You may not get enough energy to fill up the Dragon Meter on this stage, but on the other hand, you might. It depends on how much you luck out and get a dragon head, which will give you extra energy on that meter. I usually don't.

The flying green enemies will spit out spinning projectiles that travel across the ground towards you. Be ready to jump over those things, and hit the flying enemies with charge shots.

The guys riding the spike columns back and forth are vulnerable from behind. Hit them with charge attacks, especially the homing fireball, as it will be your best bet. You'll have to run away from one of them shortly after the start of the stage.

Watch for the blade on the chains that move up and down from the ceiling. You'll need to move past them while they are up to avoid getting him by them.

The platforms above the light blue fires will do one of two things. Sometimes they are stationary and will slowly sink downwards under your weight, causing you to jump on them constantly. Other times, they will move around. Whatever happens, avoid falling into the fire below, and take out enemies with charge attacks.

The "pots" move between the ceiling and the floor and will shoot out five-way shots in-between.

The boss is a mechanical robot of sorts that sends four eyelets after you. The eyelets fly around in 45-degree curves, and you'll need to hit them with charge attacks and sword strikes until they fall to the floor while avoiding any contact damage. They can still damage you even they are down, so you shouldn't touch them after they go down. When you destroy all four, the robot in the center will attract all the eyes to the center, and you'll need to avoid those before attacking the robot while its green eyes is open. When it raises back up with the eyes, the eyes will come back along with the boss, and you'll have to repeat everything you just did to damage the boss again.

If you have enough Dragon Meter energy, you can do damage to the eyes and even do a lot of damage to the robot itself just by getting close enough to the latter. It may not be much, but at least that's one cycle where you won't be taking a lot of damage. Otherwise, be ready to shoot charge attacks and move around a lot.

When you beat the boss, you'll get another wizard's staff and more health, then it's on to Stage 5.

PrinceWatercress plays Dragon Fighter - Part 3 of 6

This is where the game gets just a little bit tougher.

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Stage 3

The pink flying enemies will show up from the sides every so often and will always try to fly into you.

The pink fish will move back and forth, and they will jump up and spit projectiles when you get close enough to them.

There are plenty of floors with waterfalls above them, and these waterfalls will act as conveyor belts that will push you in the direction of the water. Keep that in mind as you move forward through the level.

The pink bouncy enemies will bounce less and less the more you hit them. They go super high at first, but they will soon stay very low to the ground just before death.

At this rate, you'll start seeing the big health pots. The small ones recover two units of health, but the big ones give back eight, so grab one if you see it.

The bubbles that rise up from the bottom of the screen are part of the background; they won't actually hurt you.

The yellow orb enemies will open up and shoot rings around itself when you get close enough. Get rid of the enemy, and you'll get rid of the rings.

The merman soldiers will poke at you with a trident if they get close enough to do it. If they get stuck behind a wall, they will push themselves back with their tridents, then jump forward to clear the wall.

Sometimes enemies will drop a magic ring. The magic ring instantly destroys all on-screen enemies.

The yellow bouncy enemies will turn into a different enemy altogether that sticks to the ceiling and fire at you if you get close enough to them. Hit them from a distance with the charge attack to avoid that. When you start seeing them, watch the top and bottom of the screen for the yellow orb enemies.

The boss is a serpent enemy. Switch to dragon form, and get close to the left side of the center head and fire at it when it stops moving. The ring projectiles from the other snake heads are easy enough to avoid, but the multiple three-way shots after the center head moves back up can be a bit tricky, as the shots home in your current position when fired. Thankfully, it is a lot easier to defeat this boss in dragon form.

PrinceWatercress plays Dragon Fighter - Part 2 of 6

The second stage introduces us to the three projectile power-ups as we take on a whole new set of enemies.

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Stage 2

The green bugs will constantly spawn in from underground, but at least they will increase your Dragon Meter. You'll also have blue flying bugs that will fly in towards you. They can fly through the floor and they will definitely come at your current position when they show up.

The sky blue millipedes lower down when you strike at them, and you'll want to him them enough times so that you can jump over them and move on.

The spiders move up and down and fire off a three-way shot, but you can destroy it if you know where it's going to go.

The green enemies that crawl back and forth can shoot upwards, and you'll need to crouch in order to hit them.

There are blue pick-ups that will have either a G, and B, or an R on it. The G will give you the green attack with the basic projectile that you start the game with. The R, on the other hand, turns you red and will give you a couple of fireballs that bounce on the ground near you but can do intense damage to any enemies if it connects. B is the best, as it turns you blue but gives you a homing projectile. Not surprisingly, I get the B power-up and stick with it for the rest of the game. Also, these power-ups also effect your attacks as a dragon, and the homing projectiles from the blue power-up was useful for bosses.

The light blue ball enemies stop at walls, floors and ceilings and will always travel clockwise in the cardinal directions as they do. The blue spiked enemies leap up and shoot a three-way shot downwards. 

The boss here is a centipede. The centipede will fly around and occasionally go in and out of the ground, and you'll want to hit it in the head in dragon form as much as possible before you have to rely on your human form's charge attacks. Hitting the centipede with the blue attack as a dragon is a little difficult due to how the projectiles fly around, but if you can position yourself in such a way that the projectiles travel towards the head more easily, you'll be able to get more shots in.