PrinceWatercress plays Alisia Dragoon - Part 8 of 8

It's time for the final battle with Baldour!

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Stage 8

You'll soon enter Baldour's chamber, where you'll also meet Ornah. To defeat Ornah, duck down and shoot at him at first. When he lands on the ground, jump over the energy waves he produces while letting your magic recharge. For best results, lightly tap the jump button. Sometimes he shoots two waves; other times, he shoots three. When he floats upwards and raises a hand, get to the other side, and get the dragon to fly around in a circle as he follows you. You'll have to jump over the dragon twice. When the magical dragon explodes, duck down and attack to hit Ornah while avoiding the fireballs that spew out. You may have to jump in case a projectile is low to the ground. The pattern will then repeat. If you know what you're doing, you'll be able to beat this phase while losing as little health as possible.

When Ornah starts exploding, get under him when he teleports to the center of the room to avoid his projectiles, then start fighting him again like you have been. Second verse, same as the first. Oran will explode again, and this time, he'll be done for good.

You'll then face Baldour. Stay near the center when he flies all the way to the left, and keep tapping the attack button so that your attack power is near the red. Be ready to duck all the time. Jump over the worms and attack while in mid-air, then jump over the dark maroon projectiles that Baldour fires towards the ground. If you're far enough away from him, the fireballs that drop down won't even hit you, especially if you just keep on ducking.

You'll eventually do enough damage that Baldour flies towards the center. When that happens, head to the left side of the room and keep tapping the attack button like you did with Ornah. This will allow you to destroy the rest of him. This is the time to bust out the raven companion. Have the raven take out everything on-screen every so often, and when you see four dark red projectiles fly out from Baldour, you'll want to run to the side to avoid them when they come down. Baldour will fire other projectiles forward, some of which will be hard to see, such as the feathers from his wings. Staying crouched down on the far left will help after a while, but you'll still have the problem of Baldour lunging at you. You'll want to get to the right once Baldour is right next to you so you can give yourself some room, then head back to the left while avoiding attacks so you can destroy what's left of him. As you keep attacking, parts of Baldour will explode, and he'll eventually stop shooting out those smaller fireballs that flew towards the ground at the beginning of the battle. Once enough of Baldour is destroyed, Baldour finally falls. You just beat Alisia Dragoon!

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 Space Station Silicon Valley - Part 31 of 32

In this entry, we finally save the Earth and beat the game.

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Big Celebration Parade

This is the final level of the game, and you can only access it if you've collected all four pieces of Evo's shell suit. If you have all of the Power Cells in the game collected, the shell suit will be gold instead of silver.

The level begins with the space station approaching Earth and pointing a laser at it. You'll be playing as EVO. Keep holding Up on the Control Stick to move forward. As you do this, the space station shoots the laser at Earth and shrinks it. Go further and you'll eventually see a brain controlling the space station. You'll be able to attack it with your laser with the B button and destroy it, but then you'll realize the brain was controlling the space station, which is now going to crash into Earth.

From here, you'll be outside. Press and hold A to use your jetpack to get to the city, then use your laser attack with B to destroy all the enemies that are moving around. This time around, even the most docile of animals such as the sheep and the racing mice will attack you. There will be bombers helping you by dropping bombs, but you'll want to watch out for them and not get hit by them, as they can damage you just like they can damage the enemies.

There is energy littered throughout the stage. You'll want to save it for when you are in dire need of health.

The hardest enemies to destroy are the dog planes and the flying foxes. The dog planes will constantly follow you and dog you around (pun somewhat intended), while the flying foxes are pretty fast. You'll need to trap them near the walls if you want to take them out.

Make sure you don't destroy any cars that are driving around, as this will cost you five seconds. You'll only have 22 minutes to defeat all 50 enemies, and the game will constantly tell you many enemies you have left to destroy and how much time you have constantly as you defeat enemies and as time passes, respectively.

Once you defeat all of the enemies, you've beaten the game. You'll get the credits, but we have one more thing to check out...

PrinceWatercress plays Donald Duck in Deep Duck Trouble (SMS) - Part 6 of 6

I honestly forgot that the final boss was female. Whoops. Anyway, that's the game finished!

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The Statue

To reach the statue, you must pass the final trial.

Scene 1: Statue

The floating heads shoot fireballs at you and fly forward in a sine-wave pattern. Jump over the last two and avoid their fireballs.

You'll then face the final boss: the goddess of the temple. She will fly around, and when she fires a laser at the ground, the laser will produce a block. Avoid the debris that is produced from the laser, and kick the block into the goddess.

Every once in a while, the goddess will shoot four small fireballs downwards; avoid those. She has a shorter pause before the four-way shot compared to the laser shot.

After enough hits, the goddess will float upwards, then start teleporting all over the room. She has a five-way shot as well as a spiral shot that will fly towards her outstretched hands. There are three places where she can stand - the sides and the center - and she will do the spiral balls at the sides while shooting the five-way shot at the center.

At this rate, you won't get any more blocks, so wait for her to teleport to one of the sides and wait for the spiral balls to diminish. If you can time it right, you'll be right above her head as soon as the balls start to disappear, and you'll be able to hit her.

When you beat the goddess, Donald will put the necklace back on the goddess statue, then a crown will appear on its head. Donald takes the crown and heads home with it, then puts it on only to become a balloon himself. Scrooge, Huey, Dewey and Louie head back to the island to get Donald un-cursed while Donald is carried around on a string. The game then ends.

PrinceWatercress plays Donkey Kong for Game Boy - Part 11 of 11

In this entry, we beat Donkey Kong once and for all!

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Stage 9-8

Map (by Captain Drake)

There's wind this high up in the tower, and the barrels drop Mini Mushrooms when you throw them into Donkey Kong. Unless you use the handstand, the barrels will not stop at all.

When you beat DK here, you'll finally be reunited with Pauline.

Stage 9-9

Uh-oh! DK's back, and he's eaten some Mega Mushrooms to get bigger!

When he pounds the floor, you'll want to be out of the way. Some debris will fall, but some of it are barrels. One of them will continue to fall. Stop it with your handstand and throw it at DK's face.

The best place to stand is on DK's nose, since all you'll have to worry about is the debris.

After two hits, DK will smash his knuckles together to try to hit you if you're on his nose. To avoid it, stand on his nose and jump straight up. He'll still cause barrels and debris to rain from the sky, but you've got to be quick with the barrels. If you can't get your hands on one before DK shakes the screen, the barrel on the floor will disintegrate and you'll have to wait to get another one.

If DK lifts his hands up, he's going to do two fist crushes. If his hands slide sideways, he's about to clap his hands together.

After two more hits, DK will hide under the floor and pound at the ground with his fists. Stay at the center, and move away to avoid his fists and the debris. After this, you'll have to deal with the usual tactics from this battle and get two more hits in. Thankfully, these two hits are the last, and once you land them, it's over! You've beaten Donkey Kong for Game Boy!

PrinceWatercress plays Daffy Duck: Fowl Play - Part 6 of 6

It's now time for the final stage of the game!

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Stage 6: Desert

A lot of the enemies you'll meet will be the ones you've seen in the Plateau, but there are some new ones that you'll meet once inside the pyramid for the second section.

The coyote fires arrows forward. You'll want to avoid those arrows and throw dynamite onto his head to get rid of him.

The spiked ball that drops when you get under it cannot be destroyed with dynamite; however, dynamite will make it move. Use this to your advantage.

Near the end, you'll have to deal with fires that shoot upwards, falling anvils and the rolling boulder. You'll want to jump over the fire when it doesn't shoot up, but you also want to avoid the anvils that fall. There's also a rolling boulder midway through, but there is an area that you can crawl into by moving diagonally with the D-Pad to avoid it. If you ever see the rolling boulder again, keep in mind that you can stand on it as it moves.

The dark gray stone platforms will fall when you land on them, so get to the other side quickly.

This time around, instead of avoiding Bugs and his traps, you'll have to throw dynamite at him at the right time so that it blows up in his face when you throw it straight up. Bugs will move back and forth, and he occasionally stops to fire a lightning blast downwards. Bugs takes six hits to defeat, and when you do more damage to him, the lighting blast becomes a fire bomb that produces fire waves that travel a bit across both sides when it hits the ground. If you can time it right, you can hit Bugs with the dynamite when you throw it straight up with Up+B with ease. Even while you're holding B to hold the dynamite, the timer still goes down from three, so you'll need to wait until one before jumping upwards, holding Up on the D-Pad and letting go of the B Button so that the explosion hits Bugs. After six hits, Bugs runs away, and you can touch the final treasure chest to beat the game and roll credits.

The "RTJ3" level lets you play the final stage with 49 lives.

You just beat Daffy Duck: Fowl Play!

PrinceWatercress plays Die Hard (PC Engine) - Stage 10 of 10

It's time to take down the bad guys once and for all!

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Stage 10: RF

There's only one direction to go: north. Keep going in that direction, and be ready to shoot down enemies. If any enemies are standing still, you'll need to jump up to shoot them, as they will be on balconies and you will not be able to shoot them from ground level. Despite the fact that the area is dark and you won't be able to see a lot, this area isn't difficult to get through as long as you keep an eye on the enemy health gauge; if you can do that, you'll be ready to shoot down any enemies that are in the way.

Near the end of the first section is a guy with a first aid kit. Shoot him down to get it, then go right from where you got the first aid kit to fight the final boss: an attack helicopter.

You'll want to shoot at the helicopter while avoiding the bullets, which is easier to do if you stick to the ground. When the homing missiles start firing out of the helicopter, you'll want to keep on jumping in order to minimize the amount of damage you take. As you shoot at the helicopter, you'll keep getting guns and health, and unlike all the other pick-ups that you've received from enemies throughout the game, they stay on the screen until you need them instead of blinking and disappearing after a few seconds. When the helicopter is nearly dead, you'll get a first aid kit. Grab it as soon as possible to ensure victory, because you're gonna need it! You'll also get a flamethrower so you can destroy the final boss in style!

After the final boss, you'll see footage of John McClane leaping off the roof before sharing a romantic kiss with his estranged wife Holly. You just beat Die Hard for PC Engine!

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.

First | Previous | End

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.