TheMaskedCobbler plays The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy - Part 7 of 7

Welcome to Jetsons World! Here, we have conveyor belts, glass dome-topped spires, and...George Jetson. Of course, the last one isn't a surprise if you looked at the title screen for a few seconds.

Future

Shortly after the conveyor belts at the beginning, you'll meet George Jetson. He won't be able to help you due to problems at the company, so go ahead and take the elevator behind him.

After the elevator ride, you'll see Dr. Butler on a giant monitor. After he taunts you, go to the right, making your way through the conveyor belts and avoiding the spikes. Use your Gazoo abilities to get past the fire pit to reach the next elevator. Use the Fly ability (don't flap your wings, this costs coins) to sail over the next three fire pits.

Keep walking to the right as soon as you reach the first crushing piston, and you'll be able to get past that and the next two without any trouble. Jump onto the hook and grab it like you would the edge of a normal platform, and hold on to get past the massive flame pit.

The robots that hop around go in one hit, but the walking cannons take as many as four regular club shots to take down. If you can get behind one and power up your strike to maximum strength, you won't have to deal with it for very long.

The next section has you jumping over narrow platforms. Be careful when dealing with the little spaceship that send down the bouncy robots at you, as they can speed away pretty quickly.  Use the Fly ability to get to the conveyor belt that takes you to the last elevator.

Finally, you'll come face to face with Dr. Butler. For his first form, hit him with the club and avoid his bullets simply by ducking. If he hits you, get behind him and pummel him as much as you can. After enough hits, he'll run away.

For his second form, get right in front of him before he can do anything, and just keep swinging the club. He won't be able to do anything due to his stun being long enough for you to hit him multiple times.

The last form is a giant tank. If you still have the exploding dinosaur egg, use it here. If you have 50 coins, you're golden. You're done. If not, just power up all your club shots and hit the glass dome that protects Dr. Butler. The only move he has in this giant mechanical monstrosity is the ability to move back and forth. No missiles. No guns. Nothing. There's no cheapness involved whatsoever. I expected more.

When you beat Dr. Butler, you've won! It's time to head back to the Stone Age to celebrate a job well done!

TheMaskedCobbler plays The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy - Part 6 of 7

We cross the sea and make our way through an anachronistic Stone Age version of China. Why? I don't know.

Underwater

In this stage, you'll be dealing with rather easy underwater enemies while jumping from one bubble to another.

It should be noted that just like in the Mega Man series, this stage has some interesting gravity. You jump a little higher than usual, and because of that you can make some interesting long jumps that wouldn't be possible anywhere else in the game.

This stage can be laggy in some spots, so keep that in mind.

China

Could this level be any more stereotypical?

Seriously, there are kung fu men, guys jumping around with poles, jumping parasols, and knife throwers. There's also a lot of pits with bamboo spikes around here as well...which every Asian-themed stage I've ever seen has.

The second section brings a man with a cart. Whack the guy carrying it, then use it to get some speed and launch off the ramp to make your way onto a wooden ship. Make your way past all the ships (and the ice-spitting snail that makes a return appearance from the ice stage) and you'll fight a sumo dinosaur.

This dinosaur will spit a fireball every few hops, so whack this guy twice before stepping away and ducking underneath that flame. He'll also do a sumo stomp that freezes you in place for a second and he'll also attack you with his tail. Using powered-up club shots can help, as will the exploding dinosaur egg. If you need to get behind him (or throw axes from above), jump onto the bell at the top and do what you need to do from there.


After getting the last Time Machine part, you'll transport to Dr. Butler's world in the 30th century. Get ready!

TheMaskedCobbler plays The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy - Part 5 of 7

There's no Bugs Bunny, but nevertheless, this castle is crazy.

Haunted Castle

The boulders on chains can be easily avoided if you just keep running.

Using the ability to fly via the Gazoo power-ups allows you to skip parts of the stage.

The skeletons start chasing you after you walk past them a certain distance. When they get close, turn around and whack them! The door after the first skeleton can be entered with Up on the D-Pad, and if you do that, you'll find an extra life!

Grab onto the lever like you would a platform after clearing the next few feet of skeletons, then quickly make it past the lowering door and you'll be racing against the lava. When you make it to the top, you'll make it to the next door.

After a collapsing bridge that can be easily outrun as well as the fastest room in the game (PROTIP: enter the door to your immediate left), you'll face a Frankenstein's Monster. He'll go down in a few hits, but you can run past him while invincible if you want.


Shortly after that guy is Count Rockula. Use the Exploding Egg, and hit him whenever he reaches your level. After about eight hits, he'll fly away and you'll get your Time Machine piece.

TheMaskedCobbler plays The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy - Part 4 of 7

YOU CAN'T SKIP THE REST OF THESE STAGES

Jungle

A lot of the enemies and obstacles that you see here are from the first stage.

Be careful on the log and pterodactyl platforms, as they'll lower as soon as you stand on them.

The pink staircase dinosaur has a hidden secret in its mouth. Hit its beak with the club to find a barrel. Inside it is a 1-up. Be careful coming out, as he can bite you when his mouth closes.

The plants try to spit at you, the sabre-toothed tiger slowly crawl by, and the snakes try to stick their heads out in an attempt to bite at you. Thankfully, they're pretty easy.

You'll meet Barney, who tells you to hit the coconuts back at the boss before he walks away. Strangely, he looks interesting as a brunette instead of a blond. Thanks, NES graphical limitations.

If you have a Gazoo power-up, you can jump high and to the left of where you met Barney and refill all your health.

The platforms that swing back and forth are attached to...nothing, apparently. Thankfully, you can grab onto them and then climb up them to take a ride on them. Nice.

You'll then see a giant dinosaur claw. Just like in the Flintstones TV show intro, you can jump on top of it and slide off it, going straight across the pit before you land. Awesome!

The boss here is a sasquatch. Just avoid him as he jumps around, and hit the coconuts that fall from the sky back at him. If you have the exploding dinosaur egg weapon, use that, too. Thankfully, it's really easy not to get trapped in the corner when you know when towards and away from him, so you can whack him while he just stands there.

You now have another Time Machine piece as well as Barney in your party.

Basketball

Either TheMaskedCobbler is rusty, or this guy is harder than the other two. Score whatever baskets you can and try to run out the clock. Best strategy I can think of to keep this guy from scoring, at least for a little while.

TheMaskedCobbler plays The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy - Part 3 of 7

Right next to the second basketball is an ice level.

Oh, there just has to be an ice level.

Frozen Village

Moving around can be tough, and once you start sliding, you won't be able to stop until you start moving in the other direction.

The guys with the bats smack snowballs at you, while the ice snails spit onto the floor. Their spit moves across the floor, and while it won't damage you it will push you back. The little Maoi Easter Islands that move around just...move around. They can also take a beating, because unless you hit them with a hard enough club shot, they'll just pull themselves together and come at you again in a matter of seconds. You'll also see shady-looking wind clouds floating back and forth, looking over their shoulder in a way that looks rather menacing.

Not far into the level, you'll meet Betty. She'll tell you about the mammoth boss before she walks away.

The little Ferris wheel platforms act differently than they did in the first level. The first one you grab onto starts moving very fast as soon as you grab onto the platform, while the ones above the bottomless pits move slowly above a ceiling full of spikes.

The secret to this as well as the two pits is to not jump anymore than you have to. Just drop to the second Ferris wheel and grab onto the third one. Then, run to the edge on the other side of the pits and grab them to avoid hitting your head on spikes.

If you won the first basketball game, you'll be able to go up above the spikes and get the power-ups above the narrow, seemingly impassable row of spikes.

To make your way under the spikes, run towards them and start sliding. While you do this, hold Down on the Control Pad. Fred won't duck, but he will lower his head into his fur tunic (shirt? outfit?) like a turtle. Finally, it has a use.

If you have the exploding dinosaur egg, the mammoth boss is pretty easy. Just keep dropping them until he comes your way, then hit it with the club until it dies. If not, just charge the club up to maximum and hit the mammoth from there.


When you win, you'll get another Time Machine piece and Betty will join you.

TheMaskedCobbler plays The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy - Part 2 of 7

In this episode, Fred Flintstone becomes a vigilante for justice and beats the hell out of some guy that looks totally unlike anyone from the show.

City

Climb up the building at the start. You'll find another steak that will give you your fifth (and last) heart for your maximum health. Trust me, you're gonna need it. The second building has a hamburger on top. Just bust the barrel on the top to get it.

The robbers that are in plain sight just run around, so they're easy pickings for Fred's club. The ones that hide behind the doorways involve some more strategy. Jump over their bullets and smack them while they're hiding. Boom. They're gone.

If you explore this level, you'll find the slingshot, which is used just like the axe. Unlike the axe, which has an arced shot, you have a straight shot with the slingshot.

Believe it or not, you can jump higher off the awnings. Just jump when you're about to bounce and you'll go sky high.

The second section of this level has a boat at the bottom, which proves useful here as this part auto-scrolls.

The icon with Fred's face is obviously a 1-Up.

The egg acts like a bomb whenever you use it. It costs 10 coins to use one, but when you do, it kills all enemies on the screen. It also works on bosses, which kinda helps break the game at times.

When you re-appear above ground, you'll have to jump across a giant rib cage to avoid some spikes. Then you'll meet Wilma, who tells you there's a boss battle up ahead and gives you a stone axe to replace whatever weapon you have. (Gee, thanks, I wanted to see the egg in action.)

The boss here is really simple. He just jumps around and tries to hit Fred with his hammer. (At least he looks more menacing than any Flintstones character I've seen.) Just hit him with 10 stone axes to take him down. He's easy as well.

Basketball

Now that we have Wilma joining us, let's head to the basketball court east of the city. Guess what? This one's just as easy.

TheMaskedCobbler plays The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy - Part 1 of 7

We cover a rather underrated game that utilizes a very popular yet underused (in terms of video games) license with probably the calmest LPer who ever lived.

Bedrock

To grab onto ledges, press and hold Up and Fred will grab on to the ledge once he's close enough.

Hold down the attack button and Fred will charge up his club swing. The more you fill up the power meter, the harder it's going to hurt. The only drawback is that Fred moves slowly as a result of rearing his club back.

The coins will come into play throughout the game, so grab them whenever you defeat an enemy. The steak in the barrel (I guess that's what it is) increases your maximum health by one heart, so grab it. Hit the see-saw with a powered-up strike to laucnh Fred into the air. The first one takes you to an easy-to-miss extra life if you go left.

Be careful when you walk on the skeleton bridge, as the last four segments before the tail fall when you walk on them.

The hamburger increases the length of the power meter, so grab one whenever you see it. A high power meter can come in handy later in the game.

Whenever you die, your power meter and energy return to normal and you lose half your coins. Be careful.

When you cross the pterodactyl platform to the other side and reach the see-saw, hit the barrel on the lone ledge. This contains an axe, and pressing Up+B lets you throw an axe into the air. You need coins in order to use this weapon, though, and it takes three coins to throw an axe. (Taito borrowed from Castlevania, I see.) You can carry up to 100 coins.

The boss here is a fire-spitting dragon. Hit him in the head five times with axes while avoiding his flame breath. Simple enough.

When you beat him, you'll get the first piece for Gizmo's time machine. Once you grab it, Fred automatically crosses the dragon to the other side.

Basketball

To the right of Bedrock on the map is a basketball court. If you can score more points than your opponent, you'll be able to win prizes. Thankfully, you can steal the ball from your opponent with a well-placed hip bump and win these games rather easily.


Whenever you win a basketball game, you'll get a Gazoo power-up. These will let you fly around in a level or leap high into the air to power your way through levels at times.