PrinceWatercress plays Power Strike II (Master System) - Part 8 of 8

...and now, the final battle.

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Stage 8

When you start the stage, you'll get one more chance to power up your weapons, then you'll face the final boss.

The first phase has the boss travelling from left to right, then diving towards the bottom center of the screen as it loops back in the other direction. You'll want to avoid the red shots and take out the blue shots, but you also want to stay in the corner when it's in the corner so you don't get divebombed. There's still the red shots to figure into the equation, and you'll need to place yourself just right to avoid them and the boss.

You'll then have to take out a bunch of debris before taking on the second phase. Stay to the side and shoot out all the explosive cylinders that get shot out while avoiding the red shots, and when the boss stars spitting out flames, you'll want to avoid the flames while getting as many shots on the boss as you can. For best results, stick to the very bottom while avoiding the flames.

Once you destroy the second phase, you'll beat the game and you'll get a hero's welcome back at the base. You'll also get a different picture of the main protagonist if you go back to the options menu after the credits. You just beat Power Strike II for Sega Master System!

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 33 of 33

...and now, the finale. We rescue the Princess, we defeat the Thirstquencher Empire, and we find everything that the game has to offer.

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In the next section, you'll see Capricciola on an elevator with Princess Fillet. Go up the spiral stairway. Thankfully there are not enemies in this area. When you reach the end, you'll come across a huge purple tower and you'll immediately start floating as if you were using the Sky Scroll. Turns out the Sky Scroll activated itself, and you'll keep floating during this entire battle.

Crest Guardian

Tower of Death

Hold X to ascend, and release it to descend. You'll need to fly around and stay away from the walls as you look for the flashing green eye. When you find it, approach it, face the eye and hit it with Lumina before it closes. Each eye on the tower will only flash once, and once you hit it, it will never flash again. You will have to hit every eye in order to beat the Tower of Death.

After you hit a few eyes, the walls will start producing electric force fields that alternate between the top and bottom of the tower. You'll want to steer clear of those.

When the Tower of Death is down to half health, the walls will retract and some of the eyes will open up to fire lasers at you. You'll want to stay away from the lasers and keep a good elevation while looking for the glowing green eye. After this, the rows on the tower of death will spin in the opposite directions.

You'll then deal with one last attack where all the eyes open and pay attention to your location. Keep flying around, and when the eyes close, you'll want to look for a safe spot where some of the eyes don't re-open. The ones that do will fire some sort of red laser that you can't avoid unless you're in the safe zone.

When you beat the Tower of Death, you'll liberate the Sky Scroll and find the Sky Crest in the base of the Tower.

When you step on the Sky Scroll, you'll encounter Fuhrer Flatski, Princess Fillet and Capriciolla. When Flatski tells Capriciolla to take Lumina, Capriciolla turns on Flatski. Turns out it's Jon, and he was in disguise the whole time. Turns out Jon is the Prince and true heir of the Thirstquencher Empire, and that Flatski murdered his parents, who were the King and Queen. When Jon tries to shoot him, Rootrick shows up from behind and shoots him. Yes, Rootrick is somehow still alive from being knocked off the edge of a cliff (or being squashed by a boulder, depending on how you beat him last time). Also, Rootrick is Flatski's son.

Musashi surrenders Lumina to Flatski, and Flatski pushes Princess Fillet. When Flatski uses Lumina on the Sky Crest, instead of getting special powers or taking over the world, Flatski unleashes a large demon. This is Dark Lumina, the Wizard of Darkness. When Flatski commands Dark Lumina to kill the Princess, Musashi and Jon, Flatski is instantly flattened by Dark Lumina's foot.

A fatally wounded Jon explains that Dark Lumina was not sealed by Lumina, but within it, which explains why the Musashi of legend had Crest Guardians protect the Scrolls. Jon tells Musashi to take care of Leno before he is crushed and killed by Dark Lumina, and Musashi and Princess Fillet escapes. Before Musashi can high-tail it out of there, the sword Lumina returns to him. Musashi is bewildered by the whole thing.

The Wizard of Darkness

Dark Lumina

You'll be in control as soon as you start escaping. Head to the left and don't get caught on the bridge segments or platforms when they're dropping down. When you make it to the end, you'll meet Kojiro, who's kidnapped the Princess again and is more preoccupied with a duel than the current situation at hand. Dark Lumina catches up and absorbs Kojiro, and the Princess is knocked into the sky to land somewhere far away. Dark Lumina then transforms into a deadlier green, lizard-like form.

You'll be doing some more bridge and platform hopping, and this time it'll be in 3D. You'll then be jumping from one platform to the next on the side of the tower, and you'll want to be careful when you double jump from one platform to another, as it can be all too easy to slide off the edge and fall to your death. You'll also want to be fast too, as Dark Lumina will try to smash himself into the side of the tower and destroy the platforms that are around him. If you see a light green shadow, you know he's coming.

At the end, you'll find Princess Fillet. She's fine, and Musashi heads onto a block platform for the final battle.

Dark Lumina

Part Two

Jump over Dark Lumina when he spins around and swipes his tail, and jump straight up to avoid his grab attack. If Dark Lumina grabs you, he'll toss you away and he may toss you off the top of the tower. Use a jumping Lumina slash or Rumparoni-SP to hit the orb on Dark Lumina's head until it turns red. When that happens, step back a bit from him and stay away from the fireballs. After a few fireballs, Dark Lumina will be tired. Whack the orb on his head with Lumina in order to damage Dark Lumina.

Dark Lumina has another attack where he will stomp the ground and produce shockwaves. Double-jump over them to avoid being knocked off the edge of the tower. In case you do fall off, it's not instant death, but you will take some damage.

When you beat Dark Lumina, a bright white core will be in his place, sucking away everything except Musashi. Lumina will then be a fluorescent white being with two red eyes and a red jewel on his forehead.

Dark Lumina

Finale

Dark Lumina's attacks in his final form are based on the Scrolls. He'll glow a certain color depending on which attack he's using. Red will be fire.

Whenever Dark Lumina becomes white again after performing an attack, he'll return to the center and stand still for a few seconds. When that happens, Assimilate him and fill up the Lumina gauge. When you fully Assimilate him, Dark Lumina will turn into a white core for a brief amount of time. You'll want to hit him with Lumina while he is a core in order to deal damage. Once you hit him, he will try to suck you towards him. Keep running away from him so he doesn't get you, and he'll turn back into his humanoid form after a few seconds.

Here's all of Dark Lumina's attacks, and they always occur in this order:

When Dark Lumina glows red and the screen turns red with him, he will send a red starburst into the air. Stay on the move so that the fireballs don't hit you.

When Dark Lumina glows pink, you'll want to move around him in a circle and stay a fair distance away so that the two projectiles - the trail of fire and the flying wave - don't hit you. That also keeps you from being slashed by Dark Lumina's sword arm.

When Dark Lumina glows green, equip the Wind Scroll and use it to keep yourself from being blown off the side of the tower.

When Dark Lumina glows light blue, he'll make five copies of himself. Stay on the move so they don't all damage you. 

When Dark Lumina glows yellow, jump over the shockwaves that he creates.

When Dark Lumina glows dark blue and the screen turns blue with him, stay on the move so the water droplets don't hit you. It's the same as the red screen fire attack, except the water doesn't stay on the ground.

When you beat Dark Lumina, you'll beat him for real this time. Dark Lumina is sealed within Lumina again, Princess Fillet will be safe, and the new legend of Brave Fencer Musashi must be told if Dark Lumina is never to be freed again.

You'll finally meet Princess Fillet's parents, King and Queen Allucaneet. Fillet and Ribson hide the fact that the Thirstquencher Empire tried to take over the world away from them. We also see Musashi speak one last time at the end, and this time we see his mouth move with the speech very, very well for a PS1 game. After that, the credit finally roll, complete with hand-drawn art of certain parts of the game. You'll also see Musashi return Lumina to Spiral Tower before being teleported back home.

After the credits roll, you can save the game again. Do so, as you'll be able to start the game again with all your stats and everything you had, minus the Sky Scroll, which you'll have to earn again. Use this as your opportunity to get all the things you missed...which is what we're going to do here.

Here is how to get all of the Special action figures:

Fillet - You'll need to rescue everyone on the rescue list who has been trapped in Binchotite. You can get this one as early as Chapter 5 if you're on the ball with everything.

Jon&Leno - For this one, you'll need to open every treasure box containing an item in the game. This includes all of the treasure chests that contain items that must be appraised by and sold to Conners, all of the (surprisingly few) chests in the game that contain free money, and all of the chests that contain healing items in Soda Fountain. Memory Boxes do not count towards this; you can leave those alone and using them is totally optional. This is the hardest one to get, and amazingly, this one was the hardest one to figure out for ages, 

MomMinku - Beat the Mother Minku in the Meandering Forest once you've found and caught all thirteen Minku.

Kojiro - Knock on Farmer Lacter's door and talk to Farmer Lacter in the village in Chapter 6. This is hinted at in Chapter 5 if you talk to the villagers or if you talk to Farmer Lacter then.

DLumina1 - Beat the game.

DLumina2 - Beat the game at no less than Level 28 and have all five pieces of the Legendary Armor. It does not matter what you chose between the Legendary Quilt or the Legendary Gloves; both count towards the action figure. 

DLumina3 - Unlock all of the other Special action figures to unlock this one. Once you buy the first six, leave the item purchase menu, come back, and this will be available.

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 28 of 28

We face Kain and beat him again, but the game ends on a cliffhanger. See you in Soul Reaver 2!

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As soon as you approach the portal, you'll glimpse into the timestream itself. Keep moving down the path, and you'll see more portals. These will give you glimpses not only into this timestream, but other ones (which even hint at some of the powers you were supposed to get in the game, but couldn't due to the game's troubled development cycle; these powers will show up in Soul Reaver 2). 

There is a teleporter at the end of the path before the final boss; you'll want to activate it and save before you do anything else. Shortly past this, you'll find the doors leading to the Chronoplast, and you'll meet Kain again. Kain and Raziel will have a conversation, then the final boss battle commences.

You'll need to hit Kain three times, once on the first floor, again on the second floor and a third time on the top floor. Stay in the middle and look around for Kain so you'll always heal in case you get hit, then go after Kain and hit him before he zaps you and disappears. You'll need to run up the light blue ramps to get to the second floor, and you'll need to do a high jump to reach the third.

Once you beat Kain, Kain will jump into the timestream. The Elder God will warn Raziel that he will not be able to watch over him if he follows, but Raziel follows anyway. He runs into Moebius, the Time Streamer, who welcomes Raziel to his destiny. The game then ends. You just beat Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver!

PrinceWatercress plays Desert Speedtrap Starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote (SMS) (Normal) - Part 6 of 6

We've beaten Wile E. Coyote at his own game...for now...

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Level 11: Speed Seed

Wile E. Coyote is driving a vehicle with reckless abandon again, and once again, you'll need to jump off the roof of it to get to higher areas. If you're used to the level layouts for Levels 3 and 4, you'll feel right at home here. Just watch out for the bird seed traps, and keep in mind that you'll have less room to work with on the blue ACME van.

Some of the tumbleweeds, if you're able to jump on them, may give you extra lives.

Level 12: Hop Skip and Jump

Once you've played through Level 12, you'll have a good idea of how to get through here. Once again, be ready to jump around and memorize which bird seed plates are actually traps, and be ready to eat those big bowls to ensure you're at top health. Once you beat this level, you'll beat Desert Speedtrap on Normal! Now to play it on Hard...

PrinceWatercress plays Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics (GEN/MD) - Part 4 of 4

Here they are: the last two levels. We're finally done with this one.

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Carnival

Have some fun while you're here, but watch out for Captain Kiddie!

You're back to playing as Jerry one more time here. You'll need to avoid a lot of things here, such as the underwater enemies from the alley as well as the balls that the clown heads spit, the falling teddy bears, the go-karts and even the monkeys and their stars! Yep, they're back from the attic, and they're just as annoying as ever.

Milk cartons are the weapon for this level. Be ready to throw them, as the enemies are still annoying.

There are balloons above the pools, and there are a few points where you will have to jump from one balloon to take the high road. At least you're not required to take the balloons over the pools if you know how to do your running jumps.

You actually have to run into Captain Kiddie in order to exit this stage and move on to the very last one. You'd think he would be a boss, but nope.

The Cabin

Stop Aunt Figg on the roof before the whole building goes up in smoke!

Welcome to the final level! You're playing as Tom one last time here. Stay away from the fire. If you walk into a water cooler, you can drink from it, and you can then press C to spit the water. If it hits anything that is on fire, it will be extinguished.

You may have to jump straight up on some platforms in order to avoid being burned by falling fireballs and debris as you jump from one platform to another. It also helps to land on the edge of a platform rather than on the center of it, as you'll avoid taking damage from falling fire more often than not.

Lanterns will also come down when you're close enough, and they will cause fires that you will have to avoid.

If you see two fish on top of each other, don't go for them. You'll get hit by fire.

The flaming logs are the throwable weapons here, and you'll need to preserve them for the boss battle at the roof. When you see the gray ladder, don't go up it yet. Instead, go left to refill all your health. Once you do that, you can go up the ladder and face Aunt Figg.

Aunt Figg will run back and fort hand try to hit you with elbow drops. Throw the logs you have at her first, then hit her with rolling attacks. This will help you preserve health. Once you hit her enough times, she will fall off the roof, and that will reunite Robyn with her father and end the game. You just beat Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics for Sega Genesis!

PrinceWatercress plays The Blues Brothers (SNES) - Part 7 of 7

The game has saved the best for last! Thanks for watching!

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Stage 31

Watch where the swinging platforms go as you lower yourself down. Grab the cake, jump on the platform and let it fall with you on it so you can land on the solid ground below, then run right and get the checkpoint. Wait for the swinging platforms to get close to you so you can jump on them one by one, and it should not be long before you get to the goal.

Stage 32

You'll need to shoot the breakable blocks to the left of where you start. Run to the right and avoid the electricity along the way, grab the records, go back to the start, and shoot left to break the walls below the goal to drop it down. From here, you'll need to get through the walls with as few shots as possible while continuing to collect records, all while jumping on trampolines, which is not the easiest task in the world. When you get to the trampolines, destroy the breakable walls under the goal to get the goal to drop.

Shoot your way to the next level down, then head left to the crates. Shoot down the breakable walls at the bottom of the crates section, then jump your way up and shoot down the breakable walls at the top. Head to the right and shoot down the walls so you can give yourself enough room while also avoiding the crushing ceilings. If these ceilings get to the end, you won't be able to continue, so you'll need to be fast and precise with your shots. 

From here, you'll want to make paths you can crawl through on the next sets of walls so that you also don't fall into or stand up and hit yourself on the electricity. Jump over the last bits of electricity, which are really short, and shoot down the lone bear trap. The goal will be just behind the last breakable wall.

If you missed a wall, you're going to have to start all over, as there are no checkpoints in this stage. If you die, you're starting all over, which makes this stage rather rough.

Stage 33

Hey, guess what! It's more of what you did in Stage 32! You're just going up instead of down!

Grab the records at the start and use the trampoline to break the walls to the left. You'll want to make it so that the trampolines stay in place and the goal is able to make its way up. You'll have to do this throughout the stage.

You'll then have to head right, break the walls, avoid the crushing ceilings and shoot the switches so that the electricity doesn't get in your way. You'll have to shoot switches while behind electricity more often than not in order to move forward, but you'll eventually find some small platforms that you'll have to jump from one to the next to make your way up and deal with more crushing ceilings and electricity. Keep the electricity horizontal on the way to the left, and when you get to the ladder, climb down to break the next goal wall to the left. Make your way up, shoot some more wall to the left to raise the goal up, then make the electricity vertical on the next level and shoot the next goal wall.

At the top, duck to destroy the next well, and use the nearby trampoline to destroy the wall above that. You'll need to avoid more crushing ceilings and shoot carefully at the walls to ensure that you don't set the electricity to the wrong direction as you go through the walls. In the area with all of the switches and bear traps, just jump your way through and climb upwards. Shoot your way through the left and mind the crushing ceilings, and grab the stacks of records for more ammo. Just destroy the two top layers of wall so you don't get shocked. At the next ladder, shoot down the wall to the left, then climb up the ladder and shoot the wall to the left there. You've made it to the goal!

Stage 34

Avoid the dodo birds as you jump upwards. You have only ten seconds at the start of the level, so you'll need to hurry. Bounce off the mushroom and land on the platform to the right, and grab the hourglass. You'll have more time to work with, which is good. Jump from swinging platform to swinging platform, grab the checkpoint, and keep jumping your way to the right. You'll deal with a few more spiked balls as well as an egg that shoots debris out in six directions, but if you can jump to that set of records, you'll be able to reach the goal and beat the game! Congratulations! You just beat [i]The Blues Brothers[/i] for Super Nintendo! A sequel is teased at the end, but it didn't happen! Who cares? You're done with this game!

PrinceWatercress plays Quartet (SMS) - Part 3 of 3

This game is short, but it can be difficult.

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Round 5

Grab the medicine and get past as many of the balls as you can, and make sure you grab that clock to freeze the enemies, too. You need to get to the underworld as soon as possible.

The underworld is a maze. When you enter, keep jumping in place and shooting to the left. One of the blocks will contain the final star that you need to pick up to enter Round 6.

From here, fight your way to the jetpack and make your way to the left. You'll find the boss above the exit. You'll need to shoot him in the head while avoiding not only the projectiles that the boss spits out, but also the balls that are bouncing around. Don't be surprised if you lose a life here. At least you'll have 10,000 energy points again if you die.

Once you beat the boss and get the key, you'll then have to back up a bit and make a path to the exit below. With the balls from the high road bouncing around and the rest of the enemies moving about, that's not easy. You'll have to off-screen the walls that you have to shoot through on the high road just to keep the balls from chasing you, then fight your way across the low road to get there.

Round 6

There are four statues that you'll need to destroy in order to enter the boss door on the far-left side of the underworld. The surface world has a gray wall, while the underworld has a light blue wall.

There are two statues in each world: a left statue and a right statue. You'll need to destroy these statues in the following order:

1. Underworld, right statue

2. Surface world, right statue

3. Surface world, left statue

4. Underworld, left statue

When you shoot the correct statue, the head will fly off and fly around in a figure-eight like pattern while the body shoots flame projectiles that will track you. If you shoot the body six times, the head will freeze in place and the body will stop firing briefly, and you can take the opportunity to destroy the head. With all the enemies that are flying around, this isn't easy.

When you destroy the left statue in the underworld, go through the door on the far-left side of the underworld. Grab the jetpack if you don't have it and fly up and down on the right side of the screen. You'll need to keep firing at the security system in the center while avoiding all of the projectiles that fly to your current position when fired, and you'll also want to stagger your movements to give yourself more room to maneuver as well as avoid the projectiles.

Eventually, you'll destroy all five of the turrets and destroy the security system. You'll recover the princess'  casket (even though the princess is called the queen in the manual) and beat the game. You just beat Quartet!

PrinceWatercress plays Lucky Luke: Wanted! - Part 9 of 9

Here it is: the final level. Be ready to run through the level and take out enemies as you look for keys and figure out where you need to head next.

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Red Rock Junction Penitentiary

Since this is the final level, there are also no bonus cards in this level.

The jail wagon at the beginning is locked. You'll need to unlock it.

Don't fall into the pits when you go down at the beginning, as there are spikes in them. They don't kill you instantly, but they still damage you.

You'll run into the first boss battle of the game as you go through the penitentiary. Once again, shoot when the mortician brings his hand down. This time around, you'll also have to shoot up and left at the enemy in the hole while also shooting at the boss. When you beat the boss, you'll get a key.

Head back to the jail wagon and unlock it to enter another underground area. Avoid the spike pits as you head to the left. To get the key, you'll need to drop down from the top level. Once you get the key, you'll need to look for a dark blue door. Unlock it, and you'll go in.

You'll meet Joe Dalton as well as Fingers the Magician for the final boss battle. Avoid Fingers as you drop down to the lower right to grab the log, and avoid him again as you head back to the upper-left where you started to throw the log into the furnace. You don't want to be pickpocketed at any point in this battle. Joe Dalton will be shooting at you from the upper-right corner in addition to throwing firebombs, and you'll need to avoid both attacks as you do this. You'll need to throw four logs into the furnace to burn up Joe Dalton, and when you do, you'll finally send him back to prison along with the rest of his brethren. You just beat Lucky Luke: Wanted!

PrinceWatercress plays Winter Olympics

It may not be from Epyx, but it still has its bright spots. Too bad the skiing games are a big downer.

Longplay

Winter Olympics is a multi-event sports game much like Winter Games by Epyx for the BBC Micro. You play through six events in order to get the highest score that you can.

There are six events, and you can practice them all before playing them for real to get points. I'll explain how to play them, as well as my experiences with them.

Event 1: Speed Skating

In this game, you'll need to quickly alternate between the Z and X keys in order to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. This is the easiest event of the six to play through, and I had no problem beating the Olympic record more than once to get 1,000 points for each time I did it.

Event 2: Ski Jump

In this game, you'll need to quickly alternate between the Z and X keys to build up speed, then press the Space Bar near the end of the slope for a successful jump. You'll need to time the jump just right, or else the jump will either be too short or end with the worst landing ever. Since I can't get the timing of this down, I usually end up doing the latter.

Event 3: Ski Slalom

Z moves left, while X moves right. Space Bar is supposed to start the run, but the run starts automatically. If you fail to get between gates, you'll get a ten second penalty, and if you hit a tree, the run ends. You'd think this would be easy, but unfortunately, the responsiveness of the controls is even worse than Robo Swamp, and that's saying a lot. You have to hold the buttons down to actually move, and you never start or stop at the exact moment that you hold down or let go of Z or X. Because of this, I constantly miss gates and run into trees. It gets to the point that I sometimes don't hit a tree when I know I will, and always hit the tree when I don't want to. I rarely, if ever, make it to the finish, and if I do, I incur a bunch of penalties on the way there. This could have been better.

Event 4: Ski Downhill

Z moves left, while X moves right. Space Bar is supposed to start the run, but the run starts automatically. Same controls, except you have nothing but trees to avoid. Since this is the exact same game as Event 3 except without the gates, I'm just going to cut to the chase and tell you that I'd rather play Mogul Maniac for Atari 2600. That game did it right. 

Event 5: Cresta Run

Anybody else find it interesting that when the skiing games are done, the game starts being playable again?

Anyway, this is basically the bobsled event. The Space Bar will start your run, and you'll need to use Z and X to turn left and right respectively. This is true when you're taking turns and your bobsled goes off center. While being at the edges will give you a faster speed, being on the edges for too long will cause you to fall off the course and end your run. You'll need to mix both speed and safety in order to get the most points and even beat the Olympic Record for an extra 1,000 points. Playable, but there's a bit of a strategy and a secret to playing this event that I find alluring, which makes it my second-favorite event below Speed Skating.

Event 6: Curling

Z and X moves your player left and right respectively, while Return throws the curling stone. Your goal is to throw your five curling stones as close as you can to the center pin, which is indicated by the black circle. If you can get it directly there, you'll get six points, and you'll get fewer points the further and further away your stones get to the center pin when they stop. You have three ends - or periods - in which to outscore your opponent, and whoever has more points after three ends is the winner. You can also gain or lose points from your opponent's stones - or your own - knocking your stones away, and the same can happen to your opponent. Holding down the Return button dictates how powerful your throw will be when you let go, and it's a bit tricky to get the throwing strength that you want. Because of that, I usually end up losing to the computer opponent by one point, and it always ends up being pretty close. Still a fun game, though.

All in all, Winter Olympics is still a fun game for the BBC Micro. It's not Winter Games, but it doesn't need to be. The graphics are bright, colorful and identifiable, and the sound is there exactly when it needs to be. My only real gripe is that I wish the skiing games were easier to play, and that Ski Slalom and Ski Downhill didn't have the wretched unresponsiveness that they do. Nevertheless, the other three games are a blast to play. There are better games, but you can do worse than this one.

PrinceWatercress plays American Gladiators (GEN/MD) - Part 3 of 3

Yeah, that's a pretty lackluster ending.

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Assault

D-Pad moves. B mans the weapons station. Use the D-Pad to get to the weapon, and press C to use the weapon while aiming with the crosshairs in the upper-right corner. One point is scored for every weapon fired, five for hitting the red part of the target, and ten for hitting the white part of the target. If you don't fire all the weapons, you lose this game. If you get hit by the Gladiator, your turn is over, and that's dead easy to have happen since the computer is absolutely bloodthirsty.

Joust

D-Pad moves. If you're holding B, you'll be in offensive mode. If you're not holding B, you'll be in defensive mode, which allows you to block hits. While holding B, different directions on the D-Pad will allow for different kinds of strikes. Ten points are scored if you beat the Gladiator. Five points are awarded for lasting the full 60 seconds. If you lose or get knocked off the platform, you get no points. 

If I get half of my right foot off the platform, then hold B and Up-Right at the same time, the other guy goes down in seconds every single time. Easy ten points!

The Wall

Keep pressing B while moving with the D-Pad to climb the wall without getting grabbed by the Gladiator. If you get caught, you get no points. First place gets ten points, while second place gets five.

Be sure to roll your thumb when you reach the end of a row so you can easily climb upwards.

Atlasphere

D-Pad moves. If you can land cleanly on a landing pad, you'll score one point. Be sure to move around in a circle to maximize your scoring opportunities and get credit for landing on the pads cleanly. If you see the steam come off a pad, you've scored a point. The more points you score, the more points you get at the end of the event.

Sometimes, you'll have to be knocked off a pad by a Gladiator in either of the gray spheres in order to get off a pad, as the bump gives you enough momentum to get off the pad in the first place. Also, the game can be rather picky as to whether you score or not at times.

Powerball

Grab a ball with the D-Pad and the B button. You'll need to hold the D-Pad towards the bins where the balls are before pressing B to get one. You'll then need to do the same thing to put a ball in one of the bins in the playfield. If you can get it in the center bin, you'll get two points; the others just give you one. The more you score, the more points you get for your grand total at the end of this mini-game. If you get hit, you will lose your ball and you will have to get another one, so you'll have to be quick on the draw with this game. You'll have to alternate between both ends of the playfield in order to keep getting balls.

Eliminator

Keep mashing A and C alternately to run. This will allow you to get up the ramp. When you get on the handbike, stop pressing buttons, then start mashing A and C alternately again to get the handbike going.

At the platform with the blue bags that move back and forth, keep mashing A and C alternately, and make sure you don't run into the blue bags. If you get knocked down to the floor, keep mashing A and C so you can run to the end and climb up the wall.

Climb up the wall with A and C. When you get on the zip line, stop mashing buttons, and wait until you reach the red part of the line to press B and drop down. 

To jump over the hurdles, you'll need to press B. (I forget to mention this in the video, so I'm mentioning it here.) You'll need to be at the right distance so you can jump over them and not knock them down.

You'll soon see a number on the upper-left corner of your half of the split-screen. A and C cycles from 1 through 4, and press B to confirm. Three lanes are empty, while the fourth contains a Gladiator. If you run into the Gladiator, keep mashing A and C to push past him and reach the finish line.

The first person to reach the finish gets more points than the other person, so make sure you win with as much time left as possible. Make sure you do things correctly, as you will be docked points if you mess things up such as the red balance bar, the zipline or the hurdles.

Whoever has more points after the Eliminator event is the winner, and in the case of the Tournament mode, goes to the next round.

PrinceWatercress plays Silent Assault - Part 4 of 4

...and now for the final levels!

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Stage 7

The plants on the ground that stay one in place can be destroyed, but the bubbles coming out of the ground cannot. Also, the flying enemies are little pink circles with smiley faces, which is rather odd compared to what we've fought throughout the rest of the game.

You can ride the platforms across the water, but if you hold Up to aim up, you will not move with the platform and you will die. Refrain from fighting flying enemies until you reach the other side.

Keep jumping and shooting forward on the bridge so that enemies do not catch you off guard.

Human enemies show up near the end, but they're easy to deal with.

The boss here is a tree that shoots fireballs. Once again, you'll need to keep jumping and shooting it in the mouth to get through yet another boss battle.

Stage 8

You just have a boss battle here, and that's it.

Head right and get close to the left side of the column immediately, and keep jumping and shooting at the Sphinx's mouth while avoiding the blue balls that are going all over the place. You want to make it so that the Sphinx on the right also does not spit projectiles at you. The more distance you have, the less you'll have to jump over to avoid.

Once that left Sphinx is defeated, head to the right so the mouth on the other Sphinx starts moving, then head all the way to the left. Again, the more distance, the better. If you have any gun power-ups, you'll have more distance to work with. The three-way gun is the best, since you don't have to worry about aiming as much.

After you beat both Sphinxes, you'll get the ending: a picture of a weird looking medal with three portraits above it while a butchered version of March Militaire No. 1 by Franz Schubert plays briefly. You'll then go back to the title screen. You just beat Silent Assault, but whether you're proud of it or not is another matter.

PrinceWatercress plays Hydlide - Part 5 of 5

Enjoy your ending! You just beat Hydlide for NES!

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PrinceWatercress plays Basic Math/Fun With Numbers - Part 2 of 2

At least you can get a good challenge out of this game with certain game modes and difficulty switch combos. Give it a shot!

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For Game Modes 5-8, you'll have no control over the numbers in the problems, and the numbers will be completely random. Once you start these game modes, you'll start answering math problems immediately. The last two questions can be a bit tricky, as the game might even switch to another type of arithmetic than what you've chosen for them. Imagine going from division questions to multiplication or even subtraction at the last moment while you're smashing through the questions. The game throws you a curveball in that way in those game modes.

As mentioned before, in Game Modes 5-8, setting the left switch to A/Expert allows for questions where one or both numbers are two digits. Thankfully, setting the right switch to B/Novice allows you to do this without turning on time limits. If you do set the right switch to A/Expert to give yourself a time limit, however, you can give yourself a real challenge!

This allows for some pretty difficult multiplication and division problems. As much as I like this, looking back, the game just supplies the questions, demands the answers, and only shows the answer when you get the question wrong. The game does not, in any way, show you how to do it, which means that if you wanted to do these - especially back in the day - you would have to learn how to do them in school. I still give the game brownie points for trying this, though.

Interestingly, when it comes to the two-digit multiplication and division problems, you'll also have to do the work with pencil and paper before inputting your answer. Not surprisingly, I end up doing just that, but there are times where I do get to throw out some exercises in mental math.

As for the addition and subtraction problems? You'll have to do the "carry the one" stuff mentally if you're not doing it with pen and paper. I end up finding adding and subtracting two-digit numbers easier than doing multiplication and subtraction with them.

That's pretty much it with this game. There are better math games, but there are worse. The graphics, sound and controls are all basic. The sound and controls work for the most part, but as mentioned earlier, some of the color combinations can be a bit hard on the eyes. For one of the first educational games, it's not the best, but it's also not the worst, and is worth checking out solely for the historical factor...and the two-digit multiplication and division problems.

PrinceWatercress plays Jurassic Park (SMS) - Part 5 of 5

...and now to bring this game to an end and WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE ENDING

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Tyrannosaurus

You'll have to deal with even more Compies on the way to the boss battle, which is the same as the one from the Triceratops driving section. Just keep shooting the mini-boss in the head and you'll be fine.

After a brief cutscene were you see Dr. Alan Grant run into the visitor center as other people flee, you'll start the action stage. Be ready to look around and enter a lot of doors to find your way around.

Use the rocket launcher to destroy the turrets above you as they move about and occasionally fire. If you see a metal door in the background, move slowly towards it, and when it opens, equip either the shotgun or the firebombs and prepare to duck down and attack at the raptor. 

If you see any holes in the walls, there will be big dinosaurs behind them ready to gnaw at you when you get close enough. Hit them with the firebombs to take them out, and avoid picking up the red coins, as they take a continue away from you. You can also use the shotgun, but you'll need to land three hits instead of two.

The laser shooters that shoot straight down fire in a pattern, although you can more or less blaze through that segment.

The inside of the Visitor's Center is a game of two halves, and you'll need to go between them in order to get to the lower-left corner of the center. Thankfully, it's pretty easy to keep track of where you're going as you go from the bottom center and circle your way to the lower-left, as you don't wildly change location when you go from the "brown" part of the center to the "blue" part. If you're in one location in one "half" of the center, you'll end up in that same location in the other "half" when you go through a door.

When you reach the bottom of the blue half of the Visitor's Center at the lower-left corner, only one door will take you to the Tyrannosaurus boss. The rest are one-way and will force you to start the whole trek over. The door you want to enter is the last one before the raptor and the blue medicine. Entering that one takes you straight to the boss.

To beat the Tyrannosaurus boss, you'll need to equip the rocket launcher at shoot at the boxes above to send them tumbling down. If any of them hit the Tyrannosaurus in the head, that will damage it. You'll want to avoid the boxes that come down near you when it stomps, and you'll also want to be ready to heal yourself with a first aid kit (to do that, pause the game, move the hand to the first aid kits, and press Button 2) when you get down to one or two hits point, as the bite attack when it gets close to you at the left side of the screen can be next to impossible to dodge.

When you beat the game, the ending ends up being different from how the movie ended up. Instead of the park being abandoned by Dr. Alan Grant and everyone else, the security system is fixed and everything is secured, and Jurassic Park ends up opening to the public and everything is good and peachy and nobody suffers consequences for their actions at all. But hey, we've finally beaten Jurassic Park for the Sega Master System!

PrinceWatercress plays Superman (NES) - Part 8 of 8

In this entry, we finally beat the Zod Gang, who caused all the ghosts to wreak havoc on the city and send them packing for good. Metropolis is safe again...for now...

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Freedom Island is all the way to the west. Head to the building west of Metropolis Park to farm up on pick-ups and health, because you're going to need them. Since there is a phone booth near the building, you can easily do both here. Of course, this assumes that you didn't use the "dying and continuing" trick like I did. Since this refills all your abilities, you can just fly to Senneville and then fly to Freedom Island from there. It's not like you're going to need that ability once you're at Freedom Island, anyway.

When you land, enter the door. You'll face robots that move towards you pretty quickly as you make your way up the stairs. At each floor above the entry floor, you'll need to go left and use your powers to defeat the members of the Zod Gang, who have the same powers that you do. You'll have to punch them multiple times, as your powers will have no effect against any of them. There are three enemies at all, and once you beat the third one at the top floor, you'll beat the game.

The first is Ursa. Get away from her when she jumps and avoid her Heat Vision blasts, then start punching away as she approaches.

The second is Non, who has the Super Breath. Just stand there and keep punching when you see him, and he will go down super easily.

You'll then finally face Zod, who has both the Super Breath and the Heat Vision attacks. He also has a sword. Avoid him as he jumps, and punch him when he lands on the ground or when he approaches you. He'll go down just as easily as his subordinates, and when you beat him, you'll see a cutscene where Ursa, Non and Zod are thrown into a portal into space. 

You'll then meet The Statue of Liberty, who tells you that the Zod Gang will be cast into space and that the Earth will remain at peace. Superman will then be told that he must protect freedom and justice forever, then the game goes back to the title screen. You just beat Superman for NES!

PrinceWatercress plays Yume Penguin Monogatari - Part 6 of 6

Time to bring this game to a close.

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Stage 5 is where things really get hard. Avoid as many fish as possible, and get that invincibility! As for the boss battle, you'll really want to time it so that you can send the steel drums into the boss.

Stage 6 is easy when you know what to do; it's the boss that's a real pain. Avoid the fruit as you shoot down the hands, then aim at the light in the center as normal while picking up the bottles of Fat-B-Gone to ensure you stay thin.

Once you beat this loop, that's the real end of the game! You just beat Yume Penguin Monogatari!

PrinceWatercress plays Young Merlin - Part 8 of 8

This game is finally over. Thankfully, things get easier after the second boss, but not by much. Either way, this game is beatable.

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Shadow Palace Tracks Map (by 573w3)

The next door you need to get to is in the lower-right corner. To get there, get back on the mine cart, then go right until you can't anymore and turn upwards. Once again, be ready to avoid breaks in the track. Turn right as soon as you are able, then hold up and take the path north and take the turn left. Hold Down to turn at the third intersection, then turn right as soon as you're able. Hold Down before the broken tracks to turn, then hold Left to left immediately afterwards. From here, you no longer have to turn at any more intersections; you just need to worry about avoiding the broken parts of the track with the D-Pad on the way to the door. I've labeled this path with red lines on the map.

At the door, use the snowflake in front of the door to open it. You'll still have the torch to burn all on-screen enemies, so keep that in mind. Equip the magic mirror and the star. Use the mirror to distract the smaller pigs, and use the powder and the star to defeat the giant pig like you did at the beginning of the game. You'll save the fairy, who somehow got kidnapped, and your health will be refilled.

From here, you'll need to head to the door in the upper-left corner. You'll need to take the turns that led you here, and after you're able to go up and right from the path leading to the second door, wait until you're going east and hold Up at the fifth intersection to turn. Hold Left to turn at the second intersection you see going north, and you'll head straight there. This path is outlined with the pink line on the map above. Congratulations. The worst is over. Put the bubble blower in the door. You're riding free and easy now and you're only going to have to worry about the boss battles from now one.

Remember the ooze monster from the Dwarven Palace. Well, guess what, you'll need to fight him again. Thankfully, fighting him is the same as ever: wait for him to split into multiple parts and freeze them with the powder before hitting them with the stars. This time around, however, since you have less room, you'll have to use the magic mirror to keep the boss from following you around and keep the slime pieces in one place so you can defeat them all more easily. The more you can destroy at once, the better. Just be aggressive with the powder, throw a few stars, and throw the powder again. Beating this boss again will free Casolari, who refills your health.

Now for the door in the upper-right. Just ride the mine cart all the way to the right, just as the green line signifies. That's it. Use the lantern on the door to open it. Head south, then take the left fork to the south and follow the path to find Melody...and the Shadow King!

To defeat the Shadow King, you'll need to equip the magic mirror and the torch. Use the magic mirror to the eyes and use torch to destroy the eyes more easily regardless of where they fly. Keep an eye on the torch so you can use it when the flame is lit again.

The Shadow King will then transform into some sort of winged minotaur-like beast. Use the balloon to get the bomb to explode on you yet fail to damage you. When the room gets dark, use the torch, then equip the mirror and use it in front of the Shadow King to get his shadow orbs to explode on your clone. He will then fly to the right. Head to the left and throw a star at the ball which contains Melody to free her. Melody will give you an amulet, which you'll need to equip. 

Equip the hourglass and use it to get away from the Shadow King when he dives as you head back to the right. From here, you'll need to move to him, then get back to the left when he dives at you and use the amulet. The amulet throws lightning bolts around at random angles, and sometimes the lightning will hit the Shadow King. The amulet has a cool down period, much like snowflake, torch and lightning bolt before it, and you'll need to wait for it to flash yellow again before you can use it again. The closer you are to the Shadow King before you use it, the better.

Once you hit the Shadow King enough times, you'll beat the game. Merlin will reunite with Melody and Sherm, then the fairy tries to warn Merlin about the two Meanies at the balcony above ready to drop a big brick on Merlin only to fail. When the brick hits, everything turns black. Merlin eventually wakes up back outside of his home, with the amulet falling out of his grasp as he heads towards his house, signifying that it was not a dream. A Meanie then shows up and takes the amulet, and Merlin chases after the Meanie as the game ends.

If you collect all the health extensions, you'll get special text after the ending telling you that you are in the running for a contest mentioned in the manual, which ended long ago. You just beat Young Merlin!

PrinceWatercress plays London Adventure

Compared to some of the other BBC Micro games that I've played, this one is a little more involved despite still being a text-adventure style game. It can be, however, quite fun.

Longplay

For those not knowing what the British Council is, it is a British organization specializing in international cultural and educational opportunities while promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language around the world while also encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational cooperation with the United Kingdom.

You have been spending your holiday in London. You are returning home today and must catch the five o'clock flight from Heathrow Airport. Before you go to the airport, you want to buy some souvenirs for your friends at home. You have to find your way around London, visit the right shops and buy the presents you need.

You will be told where you are at what you can see at each place. You will then be asked what you want to do or say.

Choose what you want to do or say by using the arrow keys (to the top right of the keyboard) until your choice is shown at the bottom of the screen and then pressing Return. Thankfully, it's pretty easy to know what to pick if you have a grasp of the English language; nevertheless, I'll mention what you need to pick in this blog.

This is your shopping list: a tie, a policeman doll, a print, a statuette, a tea tray and perfume. You can get some useful information (including your shopping list) by pressing some of the red keys at the top of the keyboard. A reminder of these keys will appear at the top of the screen.

Remember your time is limited. You must not miss your plane. Good luck!

The game starts at 9 A.M. in Charing Cross, in front of the National Gallery. It is nine o'clock in the morning. You have a wallet with £5 in it, six traveler's cheques, your passport and your return plane ticket. You are outside the British Council office in Spring Gardens and you can see the large building on the other side of Trafalgar Square. To the right there is a kiosk and the entrance to a Tube station.

F0 shows the time. Believe it or not, while time passes as you do things in the game, time will still pass even if you're not doing anything and leaving the game idle, so keep that in mind. F1 shows your inventory, which shows what you are currently carrying. F2 shows the shopping list, which we've seen earlier. F3 shows the guidebook, assuming you've bought it. F4 shows the Tube Map, assuming you've bought it.

Walk to the kiosk. Here, buy the carrier bag. You'll need to increase the amount of things you can carry as well as make it so you can carry all of the souvenirs that you are buying. If you want, you can buy the Tube Map and the Guidebook. The Tube Map will show the routes to all the places you need to go, with different colors for different lines, and the Guidebook will tell you where you can buy all the souvenirs. (Not surprisingly,  The carrier bag are 5p, 50p and £2, respectively. 

• "I'd like this carrier bag, please."
• "I'd like this Tube map, please."
• "I'd like this guidebook, please."

From here, you can either make your own hand-drawn map or take a picture of the map, or you can copy down what is in the guidebook or take a picture of the screen stating what is in it. Since I can do that, I then restart the game in the Let's Play video of the game (as opposed to the longplay).

From here, you can buy the policeman doll for £2.50. You can buy the policeman doll at the kiosk outside any large building, but I just do it here for the sake of it.

• "I'd like this policeman doll, please."

To get more money, you'll need to find the bank, and to find the bank, you'll need to stop a passer-by and ask them where you can change traveler's cheques. You'll get some directions and head to the bank automatically, but the bank will only be open between 9:30 and 15:30. 

The Tube is the London subway system, and you can use it to go anywhere in the city. When you go there, always head to the ticket station first and buy a ticket. Of course, it helps to know where you're going and where to buy a ticket for, and you can ask how to get somewhere. You can then pick which Tube station to stop at and then ask how to get there. For Knightsbridge, for example, you take the Jubilee line and change at Green Park.

• "Could you tell me how I get to (insert Tube station name here)?"

From here, you can buy a ticket to the Tube station you want to go to. From here, you can go down the tunnel marked "Jubilee Line," and you'll then wait on the northbound platform until the train arrives and the doors open.

• (Insert Tube station name here), please."

Get on the train, and get out when the train arrives at Green Park station. This part is timed, and if you wait too long, the train moves to the next stop, much like in real life. From here, go up the escalator, and you'll be back outside.

From here, I go to the bank like I tried to do earlier. Once at the bank, go up to the counter marked "Foreign Business." When changing traveler's cheques, change one or two at a time. If you change too many at once, you'll lose more money out of them from fees, so just change one or two - $20 or $40 worth of cheques - every time you need more money.

• "I'd like to change some traveler's cheques, please."

After getting my money, you can stop a taxi. Ask the driver to take you to Harrods.

• "Harrods, please."

The taxi ride can either become pleasant and take you there, or you can get stuck in traffic. Sometimes, you may end up back where you started, and you'll have to spend more money to call another taxi and try to get to Harrod's again. Thankfully, the fare is not all that expensive. You can also use the Tube to get to Harrod's as well. 

Once you make it to Harrods, you can then walk to it after you pay the fare and step out of the taxi outside of a large building. Enter the large building to enter Harrods. Once inside, approach an assistant. You'll need to do this to politely buy what you need. The perfume is £15, the tie is £8, and the tea tray is £4.

• "I'd like this perfume, please."
• "I'd like this tie, please."
• "I'd like this tea tray please."

From here, leave Harrods, stop another passer-by to go to the bank, and change two traveler's cheques - $40 - worth of money. At this point, you should know what to do.

The only things you'll need left are the print and the statuette. The statuette can be purchased at the British Museum near Goodge Street. Head to the tube, and ask how to get to Goodge Street. You'll have to take the eastbound line and change at Leicester Square. From here, buy a ticket for Goodge Street, then go down the tunnel marked "Eastbound." 

• "Could you tell me how to get to Goodge Street?"

Enter the train, then stay on until the train stops at Leicester Square. When it does, get out. From here, enter the tunnel marked "Northern Line" and go down the tunnel maeked "Northbound." Get on the train, then get out when you reach Goodge Street. Go up the escalator, then enter the large building to enter the British Museum. Approach the assistant, and politely ask for a statuette, worth £8.

• "I'd like this statuette, please."

Leave the building, then go back to the Tube and head to the ticket office to buy a ticket to Charing Cross.

• "Charing Cross, please."

Enter the tunnel marked "Southbound," then get on the train when it arrives. Get off the train when it arrives at Charing Cross, then go up the escalator and enter the large building. You'll be in the National Gallery. Approach an assistant and politely ask to buy a print for £2.50. 

• "I'd like this print, please."

You'll now have everything on your shopping list, so leave the building and take the Tube. Go to the ticket office and politely ask for a ticket for Heathrow Central, which will take you to Heathrow Airport and end the game. 

• "Heathrow Central, please."

You can ask the ticket office attendant how to get there, but you'll eventually find out - either through them or the tube map - that you'll have to do it the same way I'm doing it here. Get on the train, and stop at Green Park, then go down the tunnel marked "Piccadilly Line" and go down the "Westbound" tunnel. Get on the train, and get out when you see the "All change, please." message. You'll be at Heathrow Central station when it happens, and when you get out, you'll reach the airport and end the game, and you'll have done it with all the souvenirs as well as plenty of time and money to spare. You just beat London Adventure!

It's a fine text adventure game, and it's a heck of a way to find all the cool spots in London. While all the action is in the dialogue prompts, they get the job done, and the game behaves like it should. My only complain is that the game goes the same way every time and that the shopping list is not randomized, so that's quite a few places in the game that are left completely unexplored. Other than that, it's still a fun game and one to recommend.

The Guidebook

Foyles: The largest bookshop in the world. Nearest tube - Tottenham Court Road.

Hamley's: A large toy shop in Regent St. Nearest tube - Piccadilly Circus.

Harrods: A high quality department store. Nearest tube - Knightsbridge.

HMV Shop: Sells records and cassettes of music to suit all tastes. Nearest tube - Oxford Circus.

Selfridges: A general department store in Oxford Street. Nearest tube - Marble Arch.

British Museum: Contains antiquities of all kinds. Nearest tube - Goodge St.

National Gallery: Houses a fine selection of European paintings. Nearest tube - Charing Cross.

PrinceWatercress plays Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers AGAIN - Part 3 of 3

Just like that, we're at the end of the game! See you next time!

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Zone I

This zone takes place in an office. Love the Mick Foley reference he makes, by the way.

The beetles from Zone E return and hide in the coffee cups this time.

To beat the pelicans, throw the crates at them so that they don't hit their mouths. Otherwise, they'll spit the crate back at you. If they hit you, you won't take damage, but you will be stunned.

As mentioned before, the fans will blow you away. Keep running toward them, jump to the top of the fans and keep going and you'll get past that blast of air.

The thumbtacks are obviously spikes.

After Monty opens the way for you, you'll be dealing with more Mechanical Rats and Bees! Yes, the bees are back, and you'll definitely have to take them on this time. Just carry a crate and prepare to duck into it.

The boss here is a caterpillar. Throw the ball at it, and prepare to dodge its segments when they fall down. The segments always come down when the boss reaches the center of the screen, and you can stand between segments to easily avoid them. They'll then bounce to the center before going back up to the boss. Once you get how the segments move, dodging them will be easy.

Zone J

The music here is really good. Sounds like leftover Mega Man OST material.

The conveyor belts, unlike other platforms, do not allow you to jump down a level with Down and A.

The rhino quarterbacks come back in greater numbers at the beginning of the zone. And with very few crates to arm yourself with, you'll have to jump over them.

New enemy here: weasels with plunger crossbows. These guys take two hits to kill.

To keep from taking damage from the axes, make your move when they're moving away from you.

The mobster lizards throw their hats at you, kinda like Odd Job. 

Throw crates at the switches to turn off the axe blades that block your path.

The boss here is Fat Cat. Avoid the ashes from his Cuban cigar, which tend to track you. There's a good amount of space to move around in between ash projectiles, thankfully. Just throw the ball up at his face five times and you've completed this awesome game.

PrinceWatercress plays Dungeon Explorer (Witch Class) - Part 8 of 8

...and for the fifth time, we've beaten this game. Three more classes to go.

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At Axis Castle, enter the doorway to the west of the one leading to the throne room. Go south, then go down the stairs. From here, you'll be in a very alien-looking dungeon. Be ready to tear through enemies and the enemy generators that spawn them, including brown bugs that just charge at you in non-diagonal directions. If you're lucky, you can get some rings off the yellow pillbug enemies that are here as well as the purple enemies.

You'll then face Judas. Stay on the move, run around the room in a circle, and keep as much distance as possible while attacking Judas and avoiding the multiple boomerangs he throws. Make sure you are not right up on the wall, or else you can get caught on the spaces between the pods that make up the walls, which can get you trapped and vulnerable to taking a whole bunch of damage. After the stat boost, you'll be in Ciria Village, where the villagers will be cheering you on while telling you to head east to Balamous Tower. East of Balamous Tower is a path leading to Melba Village, so if you need to heal up at the tavern, you can do that.

You'll have some very narrow areas to move and shoot through in the tower, so getting the reflect mirror that will let your attacks bounce off walls is a must. Also, be ready to blaze a path to a staircase and then get right to it, as you will be overwhelmed if you try to fight all the enemies at this point.

You'll then face Natas himself. Move from one lower corner of the room to the other while aiming diagonally north, and stay away from the hands. You'll take out the hands and even a few projectiles coming out then be able to aim at the ORA Stone, and while the hands will re-spawn, taking out both hands will make things easier. If all else fails, you may have to go up to an upper corner and aim at the ORA stone while absorbing all the damage in one last-ditch effort. Once you beat Natas, you'll be able to take the ORA Stone and beat the game! You've just beaten Dungeon Explorer!