PrinceWatercress plays Super Mario Odyssey - Part 2 of 92

...and the collecting begins!

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You'll start in front of a checkpoint. Trigger it, for Pete's sake.

To perform the Homing Cap Throw, throw your cap, then shake the controller so that the cap will fly toward the nearest target. Simple and useful move, yet I end up never using it.

The little spiky guys will be defeated when you throw your hat at them. They also give you coins.

The purple coins are regional coins. They are unique to the kingdom that you find them in, and can only be spent in the kingdom you find them in. When you collect any purple coins, you'll see how many you've gotten as well as how many there are in total in the current kingdom.

The white hats with the question marks on them turn into platforms when you throw your hat on them, but they'll change back before long.

By capturing the Chain Chomp, you can move backwards to wind up, then let go of the left stick to launch yourself forward. The pink chevrons will show where you will be going during the wind-up, so move left and right with the left stick as you continue to hold back to fix your aim if you need to. You'll need to do this to break the big rock formation near the stream so you can create a bridge and get your first Power Moon: "Our First Power Moon." As for the Chain Chomp itself, it will turn red when it is about to attack you. Get away from its strike path, then throw your hat at it to capture it.

This then leads to the next mission objective: "Multi Moon Atop the Falls." Cappy will tell you about the Power Moons, which you'll be collecting a lot of. 

In the water, you'll swim on the surface if you move as soon as you jump in. If you stay still for a second, however, you'll sink. From here, you can use the A or B button to swim. The ring near Mario is his oxygen; don't let it run out returning to the surface with the A or B button and Down on the left stick, or else you'll start losing health.

After you cross the bridge, you'll find the ship...but it looks like it's part of the wall and looks absolutely rusted. If you collect enough Power Moons, however, you'll be able to power it up. You'll be able to throw your cap at the globe, but until you get five Power Moons, you won't have enough energy for the ship.

Some rocks can be kicked around, and if you do that long enough, they will break. Sometimes they can contain coins, but other times they can contain something more...

By jumping into a pole, you can move up and down on it to climb it, and you can jump to jump backwards off the pole.

There is a sleeping T-Rex on a hill. If you throw your hat at it, you can take control it. Hold Y to dash while moving and press B to attack. You can destroy Chomps, but you can also break blocks and reveal some trampolines. Cappy won't be able to hold on to the form forever - unlike other enemies - and you'll soon turn back into Mario again after a short time if you keep the T-Rex form for long enough.

You can find 8-bit renditions of Mario characters on the wall. Throwing your hat at them can give you coins or hearts, depending on who it is.

To perform a spin throw, snap the controller (either both Joycons simulatenously, or the Pro Controller) to the side to throw Cappy around Mario.

You'll eventually find some 8-bit bricks behind a rock wall. Smash it with a Chomp, and you'll uncover an 8-bit pathway up to the top of the nearby wall. When you enter the nearby pixely pipe, you'll become an 8-bit version of Mario. From here, you can move left and right and jump around like you're in a 2D Mario game. You'll also get to jump on the occasional Goomba and even hit a brick over and over for up to ten coins. You'll still have your health, but you won't find any Super Mushrooms or Fire Flowers while you're in these sections. You'll have to find another pipe in the area and enter it in order to leave and get back to 3D as well as reality.

There is a path to the side in the 3D section. There is an invisible block you can hit from underneath, which you can reveal, jump onto and jump to the left from to find another Power Moon.

At the top, climb the nearby pole for a Life-Up Heart. Climb up to the top and go up to perform a handstand, then jump to grab it.

If you run into regional coins you've already collected, they will be transparent. Collecting them again will give you two regular coins each. Already collected Power Moons will also be transparent, and they will give you five regular coins if you re-collect them.

At the top, you'll run into someone in a dress with a gold Chain Chomp. This is Madame Broode, and she will not give you her Multi Moon. Stay away from her, and throw the hat at the gold Chain Chomp when it gets near you. The yellow chevrons will show where the Chain Chomp will go when it is about to attack, so make sure you are not in the path of those chevrons. Once you're in control of the Chain Chomp, keep away from Madame Broode. She will eventually get tired, and that is when you'll need to move back so that you'll eventually be able to be as far away as you can from here and launch yourself at her when you let go of Down on the left stick. Madame Broode will drop a couple of coins; be ready to avoid her and her Chain Chomp when she throws it. You'll then need to repeat the process of capturing the Chain Chomp and sending it at her. After three hits, Madame Broode goes down, and you'll get Power Moon #2. This is your first Multi Moon, which is worth three Power Moons instead of just one.

If you need health during the boss battle, break the rocks in the ground with your hat to reveal hearts and refill your health.

When you have five or more Power Moons, you'll be able to throw your hat at the globe again and activate the ship. This time, the ship will be as good as new, and you'll be able to go inside it and head to Sand Kingdom. You'll have no choice but to go there, anyway. For now, use the left stick or D-Pad and press A to select the Sand Kingdom once you have it highlighted. On the way there, Cappy will learn about Bowser, and the ship will now be known as "The Odyssey." You'll also get a random gameplay tip, then be shown the Action Guide and how to access it.

Not surprisingly, the Sand Kingdom is a desert full of sand. There is also an artifact called the Binding Band that links people forever like a wedding ring. Cappy will mention that Bowser would be definitely be in the mood to take it, which means that we may find him there. 

At the Sand Kingdom, you'll find something shining atop a tower in the distance. You'll also notice numerous ice crystals in the ground. Something has happened here...

Power Moons

1. Our First Power Moon - By taking control of the nearby Chain Chomp and moving it back so that you can launch it into this rock formation, you'll create a bridge across the stream and reveal your first Power Moon. You'll need to get this to complete the first story objective.

2. Multi Moon Atop the Hill - Beat Madame Broode. Capture her Chain Chomp while also avoiding its attacks, then run away from Madame Broode and launch yourself into her with Down on the left stick when she gets tired.

3. Chomp Through the Rocks - One of the rocks will have a Power Moon behind it. You can reveal with a Chomp, or you can do what I did and break it with the T-Rex.

4. Behind the Waterfall - There is a path to the side in the 3D section. There is an invisible block you can hit from underneath, which you can reveal, jump onto and jump to the left from to find another Power Moon.

Regional Coins

1-3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | 10-12 | 13-15 | 16-18 | 19-21 | 22-24 | 25-27 | 28-30 | 31-33 | 34-36

PrinceWatercress plays Metal Force - Part 2 of 7

In this entry, we'll encounter a whole new slew of enemies. We'll be seeing some of them again, though.

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Mission 2: Under Ground

The stage starts with a ton of platforms you can jump on. To take out the small, yellow flashing things on the ground that hurt you when you run into them, duck down and attack. You'll want to do this, as they will jump upwards and hit you if you try to leap over them.

Be ready to attack anything that flies at you, as they usually carry power-ups. The first flying enemy you'll see here will have health, so make sure you kill it. It will look like a flying gray dragon, and it will try to home in on you, even doubling back to do so.

The yellow things with the white "eyes" that shoot missiles at you are vulnerable when their eyes are open.

In the next section, you'll meet the robot heads on small legs. If they have their white "tops," they will simply  walk back and forth, and they will speed up if they hit you; if they don't, they will move around for a brief instance before self-destructing.

The subsequent long passage will have a few new enemies. The dragonfly enemies will track you if you try to run under it, while the white orb enemy with the porthole will shoot bullets around the room clockwise.

The helicopter enemies will try to descend into you to hit you from above. The gold flying enemies with the propellers will drop down when you are close enough, and they will always drop health if you destroy them.

To beat the boss, you'll want to jump up and hit it from the highest platform. The boss will occasionally drop down and cause debris to shoot down; you'll want to avoid the debris as you continue to shoot at the boss. If you know what you're doing, you can defeat this boss quickly.

PrinceWatercress plays Power Strike II (Master System) - Part 2 of 8

This stage starts out pretty fast, and you'll need to destroy as much as you can if you want to stand a chance of surviving.

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Stage 2

Take out as many turrets at the start of the stage as you can, as they will make things tougher while you're shooting down all of the aerial enemies just by being numerous enough to overwhelm you. Thankfully, things get a little better when the scrolling slows down.

Make sure you have two Spin Shields at all times, as they will protect you from enemy shots a good amount of the time.

If you have Weapon 4, sometimes your shots will hover in certain spots. Turrets will eventually spawn in those spots, and Weapon 4 will give you a slight advantage against them when they do. All you have to do is make sure that you can shoot down other enemies and keep the screen as clear as possible during that time.

Submarines will pop up a bit later in the stage, but some of the weapons will make quick work of them if they are fully powered up.

When the color of the sea gets brighter, stay away from the bottom of the screen. Enemies will spawn from the bottom of the screen at that point in the stage.

Lining yourself up with the battleships will allow you to destroy all the turrets on one as quickly as possible.

Stay away from the spots where the geysers form, as these geysers will immediately destroy your ship regardless of how well-armed you are. Thankfully, if you die, you only get powered down slightly. You will have to work to get your Spin Shields back, though. Thankfully, the whirlpools near the end don't hurt you.

The gold enemies with the single claw that extends outwards can easily be destroyed if you're lined up with it.

When facing the boss, keep on firing. Stay on the top half of the screen when the boss is at the bottom, and watch where the boss is going while avoiding the numerous projectiles. Thankfully, you can always shoot down the blue projectiles. Don't forget to let go of Button 1 when lined up with the boss to let loose with the Super Shot!

PrinceWatercress plays Dragon Fighter - Part 2 of 6

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

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Stage 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 2 of 33

In this entry, we wake up in the castle. 

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Square had a partnership with Electronic Arts in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Square Electronic Arts LLC published all of Square's titles in North America, while Electronic Arts Square K.K. published EA's titles in Japan. Both the LLC and the K.K. were dissolved when Squaresoft merged with Enix, with each partnes buying the other's shares and Square calling the joint venture a success. The LLC would be rebranded under the Square Enix name.

Chapter 2: A New Journey

Musashi then wakes up in a guest room in Allucaneet Castle. Steward Ribson and Butler Livers. You'll obviously have to find the Princess to go back home, but you'll also have to take down the Thirstquencher Empire as they want Lumina. Once it absorbs the Scrolls of Earth, Fire, Water, Wind and Sky, the bearer of the sword will have extraordinary powers.

You'll then find out Seer Bevealy, the only person who knows where the Five Scrolls are, was kidnapped along with everyone else in the castle and sealed in green Bincho Fields. These Fields can only be broken with Lumina.

You'll then receive the Rescue List, which shows all the people you have to rescue. You'll also receive the Sensor Watch. In case you're near a Bincho Field, the circle around Lumina will glow red.

You'll learn that Grillin' Village is at the foot of the castle. You'll also find out that the guest room can be used as a free inn, just in case. You'll also have to head to the library to meet Scribe Shanky, who can read any info you might be interested in having.

The info in Scribe Shanky's books will tell you about the Legend of Musashi, Binchotite, the Allucaneet Kingdom, the Thirstquencher Empire, and...Shogi? I guess that will come in handy later. Unfortunately, you'll only be able to read the first three books for now, as you won't be able to unlock the last two until later. D-Pad select, X confirms and Triangle backs out. 

Scribe Shanky will tell you the gondola is out, so you'll have to glide along the zip line with Fusion and Lumina.

The Visit command will allow you to visit people who have already been rescued. There is Steward Ribson as well as Butler Livers (Butler) and Scribe Shanky (Scribe, who is in the library), but there is also Clown Weinee. Clown Weinee (Clown) will tell you that his partner Acrobat Sausage is currently missing, and Musician Beef-Clef (MusicianA) is waiting for the other musicians to come back.

The Room command lets you go back to your room. You can sleep there for free, but you can also do more here. I'll go into more detail later on.

For your stats, you'll have Body (your strength, which increases with time and as you fight), Mind (your defense, which increases at time goes on), Fusion (Fusion's strength, which increases with time and as you use Fusion) and Lumina (Lumina's strength, which increases with time and as you use Lumina).

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 2 of 28

From here, the adventure really begins. When it comes to where you need to go, however, you'll be left to your own devices.

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You can pause the game at any time by pausing the game and selecting "Save Game." Keep in mind that whenever you restore a game, you start back where the whole game began, which is the same room where the Elder God brought you back. While you can talk to the Elder God to figure out what to do next, you have to go all the way back to where you left off manually with only the portals to help you, which can sometimes be a pain.

If you see a staff-like weapon on a wall, you can grab it with the Square button. From there, you can attack with it with the Square button. Holding L1 to crouch and pressing Square will allow you to drop the weapon. Holding Triangle lets you aim the weapon like a javelin at the nearest enemy, and letting go of Triangle allows you to throw the weapon. If it hits an enemy while the enemy is unaware, it will kill them instantly; otherwise, it just does major damage. If an enemy is stunned, you can impale and kill them with the Triangle button when you're in front of them. From there, you can absorb their soul with Circle, as usual. Because of all this, I find it much more convenient to fight with a weapon than with Raziel's first far more often than not.

From here on out, I'm going to use timestamps, because finding your way through this game can be a bit of a pain and the game gives you no in-game map whatsoever. 

2:52 - It's time to go down this passageway. Don't forget to take the door off to the side and activate the portal; you're gonna need it.

4:58 - The Lake of the Dead. There are multiple paths here, but the one we need to take will be directly in front of after the cutscene.

6:03 - Press Square to open doors. You'll need to fight two enemies before continuing on only to find out that your entire clan is gone. Don't forget to activate the nearby portal!

From here, I explain Kurt Harland's work on most of the music for this game, and I impale some more enemies. Joy!

12:13 - These spiral stairs lead to another area. Go up to the switch with Square to pull and lower a bridge. 

13:48 - As you can see, Nosgoth is not a safe place if you're a human. Also, I nearly get destroyed here because the enemies decide to be cheap while I try to keep my energy up. From here, we end up inside a graveyard, which is the home base for Melchiah and his clan of undead vampire offspring.

16:47 - You'll need to push this block into the corner to continue on. Once you do, Raziel will mention his brother Melchiah, whose body is unable to sustain his own flesh and is now some sort of vampire zombie - just like his offspring - as a result. Speaking of which, watch out for enemies popping out of the ground.

18:55 - Work smarter, not harder. By luring enemies into the sunlight, they get destroyed and we make more headway towards not being close to death. The nearby door leads to a spiral staircase leading down to another portal; make sure you activate it.

22:48 - Be ready to glide to the other side. From here, you'll enter a mausoleum.

PrinceWatercress plays Desert Speedtrap Starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote (SMS) (Normal) - Part 2 of 6

When you know how to handle the speeding van, these levels are pretty fun.

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Level 3: Tired and Feathered

Get the stars below where you start, and make sure you get all those large groups of stars that you see afterwards. You're going to need the time boosts whenever you can get them.

Always jump off a ledge; never just move off of it. If you do the latter, Road Runner will run off the ledge, stop in midair, and then drop down. This can leave you vulnerable and can get annoying pretty quickly.

The pools of mud are much like the pool of water, and as long as you run through them at full blast without stopping, you won't sink and get slowed down.

The tumbleweeds damage you, so you'll want to avoid them.

You'll eventually see a vehicle barreling down the road from one side of the screen to the other at regular intervals. This is Wile E. Coyote trying to run you over. You obviously want to jump over the big red van, but what you can also do is time your jump so you land on the van, then immediately jump upwards off of the roof to get to a platform above. If you just stand on the moving vehicle, you'll slide right off, so you'll need to time your jumps carefully to do that.

When you reach the exit, Wile E. Coyote will crash and then comically walk onto the screen with the steering wheel in his hands.

Level 4: Highway Runnery

Once you've played through Level 3, you'll have a good idea how to get through Level 4.

There are dips in the road when you can duck under the bus, which can prove useful if you're trying not to get run over. Invincibility will help you from getting run over, too, so grab those haloes if any enemies leave them upon defeat! Also, running in the same direction as the bus for a second and then jumping forward is pretty cool.

PrinceWatercress plays Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics (Genesis) - Part 2 of 4

We finally meet Robyn...and the game gets tougher!

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The Alley

It's a tough world out there! You've got to stick with your friends.

This time around, you'll be playing as Jerry if you're on the one-player mode. Thankfully, the game keeps it even, with four stages having you play as Tom while the other four have you play as Jerry. The HUD has things in slightly different positions depending on who you're playing as, but it won't take long to get used to how everything is placed. Jerry collects cheese instead of fish, but the same rules regarding the cheese pick-ups - including the big cheese you can get for a full health refill - apply.

Speaking of the HUD, you only have six minutes and thirty seconds to get through the stage, and you need to be fast in order to get through it. Not only are there no checkpoints in the game, but there are no items in the game that add time to the timer. Even the manual doesn't mention one! You're expected to beat the stages with the amount of time that the game gives you, and if you can't? It's all the way back to the start.

The throwable object for this level are trash can lids, and they have a rather big hitbox. 

You can climb up and down ladders by holding Up while jumping to grab on and then using Up and Down on the ladder to climb up and down. Since you have to be fast, however, it is really easy to slip and slide while getting from one ladder to another, and since Jerry is pretty slippery while running 

There are a lot of enemies and hazards on both land and in the water, as you'll be spending a lot of time down in the sewers, where sewer plant life, fish, spikes and other things all get in your way and want you dead, such as falling debris and octopi that leap up when you're directly over them.. There is even water on the floors that act as conveyor belts that will push you back, forcing you to run.  Being on land isn't any better, as there will be falling flower pots and bottles as well as and cats popping out of trash cans to throw the lid at you.

Near the ladders leading back to street level at the end is a fake wall that leads to an extra life. Somehow, this is the easiest place to get all four cookie pieces, and due to how the game wants to do things, I go from seven to eight to ten extra lives after grabbing the last cookie piece and then grabbing the heart. I couldn't make this up if I tried. From this particular area, once you get back to street level, you'll then have to jump up the window sills, head to the left and jump over the wall to run into Robyn and end the stage. Now we're at the part where we have to help Robyn find her father, and this is where I started getting really frustrated with the game.

The Library

Find the telegram from Robyn's father.

Easier said than done, because the telegram is split into two halves and you need to find out where those two halves are through trial error! And if you lose a life, you have to start all over again, and that includes getting both halves of the telegram!

Some of the mouse enemies will be carrying books, ready to smack you with them. Other enemies and hazards include coals jumping out of fireplaces, jumping books, balls rolling back and forth on pool tables, shards of broken glass on floors, and falling chandeliers that return from the living room level.

The organs are used as trampolines here. Couches and footstools also serve this same 

There is a fake cookie shortly after the start that leads to a cookie.

The ink jars are the throwable objects for this level.

If you see any diagonal passages in the walls, they are one-way dumbwaiters. You can't go back through them once you slide down.

You'll have to go left down a dumbwaiter following the jump up all those stained glass windows to get to the right half of the telegram. As for the left half, you'll have to go to the right instead of the left, work your way down, and run left through a fake wall to find it. It's a short level, but it's easy to get lost in. Once you get both parts of the telegram, you'll find out that Robyn's father is still alive, and you're outta here.

PrinceWatercress plays The Blues Brothers (SNES) - Part 2 of 7

These next five stages are all action, but if you know how to play, you can blast through these stages in a matter of minutes.

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Stage 6

For this level, your ability to do things is put to the test, and you won't have any records to use as weapons to back you up. You'll need to avoid the bear traps as they jump back and forth and avoid falling into the electricity in order to get through this level. Thankfully, it's not a long stage at all.

Stage 7

This level is completely vertical. Once again, you have no weapon. Be sure that you don't slide off while grabbing the chains, because there are still plenty of hazards in this stage that will hurt or kill you. Also, get to the gold jukebox as soon as you see it, because the crate near it falls if you stand on it for too long.

Stage 8

This one is just as action-oriented as the first two stages. You'll be avoiding swinging spiked balls, wall spikes and even snails as you run from point A to point B. At least you have weapons to pick up this time, and there's a 1-Up that you can get early in the stage.

At the top you'll need to run off the edge to get onto the first two swinging platforms as they move. For the next two singing platforms, you'll need to get to the right end and then crawl to the left with Down-Left on the D-Pad as the swinging platform heads that way. Do not hold Y while doing this, or you will hurt yourself on the spikes.

Stage 9

This stage is completely horizontal. Shoot down the bugs as you go and avoid those swinging spiked balls! Be sure to get the 1-Up near the end, just in case.

Stage 10

The dogs will chase after you, and you can shoot them down with your records. If a dog falls on you, you can carry it over your head and throw it away with the X button. Other than this, this is more running and jumping with the chain grab here and there.

PrinceWatercress plays Quartet (SMS) - Part 2 of 3

The second half of the game is where things get much harder.

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Round 3

In the regular world, you'll need to blast your way through a maze. Get the jetpack, then head all the way to the right. You'll need to avoid the boss' head as well as its shots as it moves its head around around wildly, which is easier said than done. You can use the platforms leading to the underworld as cover, but don't be afraid to get out of there to the other side if the boss gets too close. When you beat the boss here, get the key, then head to the underworld.

In the underworld, grab the clock to stop the enemies. The three black balls on top of the jars will shoot out in various directions if you shoot them. The Hyhofailokes, which are the skull enemies, take a lot of shots to take down and they will slowly fly towards you if you hit them enough times.

To get the star here, shoot twice at the top of the pot immediately to the right of the exit to the exit. 

Round 4

In the regular word, head to the right and get the jetpack; you're gonna need it. Make sure that you take as little damage as possible in this world, and take the upper part of the screen to the exit. If any enemies are chasing you, try to lose them; turning around to hit them will cost you energy.

The butterfly enemies with the faces in the middle are called Abukutsus. There are nine of them in the level, and you'll want to shoot them all down. They will fly around in a bit of a figure eight pattern when you attack them, but they can only go so far. If you can keep away from them, you can easily shoot them all down and get the Star that pops up in the middle of the first (regular) part of the round.

Be careful with the snail enemies, or Hodates. If you shoot them from behind, your shots will ricochet back at you off the shell and hurt you. Also, the turtle enemies, or F.T.'s, will rush at you at rocket speed if you shoot them once. Unless you have the distance to plug away at them with enough shots to defeat them, don't even bother fighting them.

Line yourself up with the yellow turrets from a distance before shooting at them. It will make it easier to avoid their shots.

In the underworld, which has a gray background instead of a blue, you'll want to stick to the low road. When you reach the boss, you'll want to stay low and close enough to it so you can fire at it and avoid the boss' projectiles while the boss itself bounces low. If it goes high, it will fly back and forth for a little bit before returning to where it was. If it does that, avoid it until it comes back, then start firing away and avoiding enemy fire again. When it goes down, take the key.

When you destroy all of the Abukutsus, take the doorway near where the boss was back to the surface world and head to the right. You'll find the Star.

PrinceWatercress plays Lucky Luke: Wanted! - Part 2 of 9

The next level is a bit of a maze, but you can still breeze through it once you figure things out.

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Prison Rebellion

It just dawned on me that the four holes at the beginning are holes made by the Dalton Brothers when they blasted through the prison wall. 

Go left at the start and shoot the guy who pops out for more ammo, then jump straight up for Card #1.

Head right, and you'll find out that the wardens have been trapped in the powder store by the now-escaped Dalton Brothers, and that you'll need to get the key from Rintincan. Jump over the hole for more ammo, then drop down the hole to get in the prison.

Move in slowly and take out the enemies as you see them, and jump from platform to platform to avoid the spikes. After you jump up to the next level, head left and go down the first hole you see for an extra life. Backtrack, head right, and get the firewood. Go all the way to the left and press R in front of the fire in the furnace to use the firewood and make a platform that goes up and down near you. You'll need to do this to continue on. If you see the hand icon at the top center of the screen, you're in position to use an item. Jump on the platform, then jump again when it rises to get Card #2.

Be sure to go upwards on the platforms above you with Up on the D-Pad to get the dynamite, among other things. With the dynamite, go all the way back to the right, go up to the barrel with the lid on top of it, place the dynamite, then jump on the lid. When the dynamite's explosion knocks the lid upwards, jump to the right when the lid is in the air. Use the lid on the level above to get ammo and a key. It's not the same key Rintincan has, but it's still useful, anyway.

Head left and take out the enemies, and use the key on the closed door. This will take you over the makeshift barricade that is in your way. At the left end, you'll see a pipe that has a piece missing, with a hole in the floor. On the next level up, head right and take out enemies as you see them, then get the key at the end. Use the lid to get up one more level for dynamite and a bent pipe. Jump left from where the bent pipe is/was to get Card #3. Head left, use the key on the closed door to get past another barricade, then drop all the way down when you see the ball and chain to go back to the pipe. Use the bent pipe on the pipe in the wall, then get back to the ball and chain. Use the dynamite on the ball and chain, then go back to where you used the piece of bent pipe. The iron ball will go down the pipe and force open the door to the left. (Had you not used the bent pipe for this, the ball would go in the hole in the floor, and you'd have to do this all over again. Thankfully, everything necessary re-spawns.)

After heading to the left and taking out the enemies along the way, press R at the cannon. You'll blast open the door in front of you. Head to the left and get the bent pipe, then make your way down and get the dynamite. Place the bent pipe near the jail cell, then head right. Rintincan will have the key, but you won't be able to get it from him...yet. Card #4, if you're looking for it, is below where you found the second bent pipe; you'll have to drop down from where you entered this room to get it.

Go right from Rintincan to end up back at the start. You'll have to loop back around to where you entered the second jail section to get back to the ball and chain above the jail cell. Thankfully, all the enemies and items will re-spawn, so if you need more health and ammo, you can get it. When you use the dynamite on the ball and chain, the ball will go down the pipe and break through the jail cell, allowing you to get the bone. Press R near Rintincan to give him the bone and get the key to the powder store, then head to the right to where you dropped into the jail in the first place and you'll free the wardens and finish the stage.

You'll learn that the Dalton Brothers have mentioned Fingers the Magician, who hangs around the Coyote Gulch Saloon. Fingers knows a lot about the Daltons, and it's time to have a chat with him.

The bonus level after this stage is the slot machine. You'll start with $1000. Press A to pull the lever and get the barrels rolling, and press Left and Right to select the barrel you want. Press B to stop the selected barrel. If you can time things just right - which takes a lot of practice, as the barrels run at different speeds and you have to press B on the icon before the one you want - you can get a lot of money. If you go bust or fail to earn enough money, the game makes fun of you; if you earn enough money (which is around $10,000), the bonus level ends and Lucky Luke gives his casino earnings to an orphanage. The game tells you which combinations win you something. Two in a row of something will get you a little bit of money, while three of the same thing will net you bonus multipliers that multiply the current amount of money that you have. 

You have three tries to score, and if you don't score on anything, you'll lose one of your tries.

The winning combinations for the slots are as follows:

Two ball and chains: $500

Two feathers: $400

Two clovers: $300

Two horseshoes: $200

Two sheriff stars: $100

Three sheriff stars: 4x current money

Three horseshoes: 3.5x current money

Three clovers: 3x current money

Three feathers: 2.5x current money

Three ball and chains: 2x current money

PrinceWatercress plays Surround - Part 2 of 3

Believe it or not, the game has some extra variations. Too bad only two game modes allow for one-player action.

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Game Modes 3 and 4 introduce Speed Up. Speed Up makes the game gradually go faster the longer it goes, with the pitch of the background noise getting higher as the game gets faster. The game will speed up up to five times before maintaining that speed, and whenever either player scores a point, the game goes back to normal speed, then gradually speeds up again. Speed Up Game Mode 3 is two-player mode with Speed Up, and Game Mode 4 is one-player mode with Speed Up.

Game Modes 2 and 4 are the only game modes out of the first 12 that are one-player variations; the rest are strictly two-player. That's a shame, because the rest of the game variations have other things going on.

Game Mode 5 introduces Diagonal Movement. This allows you to move diagonally with diagonal directions on the joystick, and can make for some interesting situations. If you know what you're doing and where you're going, you can move diagonally in such a way that you can move through the other player's diagonal paths.

Game Mode 6 combines Speed Up and Diagonal Movement. Game Mode 7 is the same as Game Mode 6, but it also introduces Erase. Erase makes it so that when you hold the fire button while moving, you won't leave a trail; instead, you'll just leave empty space behind you. If you know what you're doing, you can mess with the other player.

Game Mode 8 simply has Wraparound. Wraparound allows you to move past one side of the screen and instantly re-appear on the other. You can move past the left side and end up on the right, and you can move past the right side and end up on the left.

Game Mode 9 combines Speed Up and Wraparound. Game Mode 10 combines Speed Up, Diagonal Movement and Wraparound, as does Game Mode 11. Game Mode 12 combines Speed Up, Diagonal Movement, Erase and Wraparound all in one game.

Game Modes 13 and 14 are their own thing...and I'll cover them next time.

PrinceWatercress plays Woody Woodpecker in Crazy Castle 5 - Part 2 of 18

Now that we've covered the basics, let's blast our way through more of the first world of the game.

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Sand Stage 2

The mummy is our first real enemy. They cover a pretty narrow area, and they will chase you if they see you. It won't be able to climb ladders, however.

The cactus will act like a missile that leaps up and drop down, but you can avoid it as it is in the air.

The fairy power in the turns Woody into an explorer/miner. If you press B, you'll shake the ground with your pickaxe, and if any enemies are on-screen, they will be briefly stunned and you can move past them as they are briefly frozen. While you're using your fairy power-up, however, you will not be able to dash or use items. Thankfully, you can switch between normal and fairy form with the Select button as long as you want for as long as you have the fairy power-up.

Sand Stage 3

The roller skates will allow you to move faster for a short amount of time.

Be ready to run in case the enemies see you; it will help you out in the long run.

Being able to stun enemies with the pickaxe in fairy form will help you get around, especially to the exit.

Sand Stage 4

The magic carpets are the moving platforms of the Sand World. You'll need to get on them in order to take them wherever it is that they go.

The dynamite is a timebomb that you can lay down and have an enemy run into to get rid of them. Be careful with the use of weapons, as enemies will re-spawn after some amount of time.

The yellow mummies can go up and down ladders. Keep that in min, and try to use this ability to your advantage and see if you can lose them somehow. Just like the white mummies, they will cover a specific area of the level.

The yellow circle with the shield in it allows you to move past metal blocks when you use it as an item.

The brick floors can only be walked across three times. After the third walk across them, they will break. 

The corn enemy will spit corn seeds at you if he sees you.

PrinceWatercress plays American Gladiators (GEN/MD) - Part 2 of 3

...and again...

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There's not much else to say regarding the game, so I might as well repost the rules and controls for each game.

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 2 of 4

Things get a little more difficult in Stage 3, but it can be overcome.

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Stage 3

This is where the game starts getting a little harder.

You'll have to deal with a lot of tanks and turrets. You'll need to duck to shoot down the tanks and avoid their bullets, but you'll need to alternate between jumping and dodging when you barely have enough room between the bullets to begin with. 

The flames have really suspect hitboxes that extend further to the sides than you would think, just like in Stage 2. Be careful when jumping over them.

You'll want the three-way shot throughout this stage. The spires with the diamonds at the top shoot downwards in random directions, but if you have the three-way shot, you can take them down from a distance.

The boss is a missile launcher. Avoid the missiles by standing under the high ones and ducking under the low ones, and hit the turret at the top. This is dead easy if you still have the three-way shot at this point. Hold Right on the D-Pad after the boss is defeated to move on to Stage 4.

Stage 4

There will be a lot of rolling balls, scorpions, humanoid enemies and pterodactyls coming at you from the right. The balls and the pterodactyls will dive in from the right, while the humanoids and scorpions just move towards you. Keep heading right and keep shooting. There will be plenty of opportunities to get invincibility and health here compared to the last stage.

To beat the skull boss, jump over the blue skulls that it spits out and shoot it in the eye.

For some reason, if you move to the left while jumping in this boss battle, you will suddenly drop straight down.

PrinceWatercress plays Hydlide - Part 2 of 5

Now that we're leveled up a bit from the slimes, it's time to complete some tasks in order to get further along in our quest and get ready to level up again!

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Overworld Map (by Starfighters76)

Underground Maps (by Starfighters76)

Head west of where you start and open the chest you see to find the Cross. The Cross is needed for what we're about to do. From here, head east of where you start, then get a password and save your game. Go to the hole near the castle and press A to go into it. Avoid the bats as you go through the maze. To the south of where you came in is a vampire. You'll need to attack him from behind or the side, or else he will annihilate you as soon as you run into the front of him. This takes some doing, but it's not impossible. When you defeat him, you'll get the lamp, which lights up the rest of the underground areas in the game. Now save and get another password, then get out of there and make the save and password again.

Once you get out of the castle, recharge your health, then enter the hole to the north of the castle. Save and password (I'll call it this from now on) before you go in. Watch out for the fireballs as you travel through the maze to get the sword, which increases your strength by one level. You'll need to get even stronger and fight tougher enemies earlier. Save and password, then get out, save and password again, and recharge your health again.

Head south of where you started. There are ten big trees on the screen. Save and password, then run into them from the south end while holding A. All of them contain wasps that hurt you and fly away when they go off-screen, but only one of them contains a Fairy. The tree that contains the fairy is random each time you play. Keep your health high, and remember which trees you ran into. It makes getting this fairy a lot easier. Eventually, you'll get Fairy 1. Once you get Fairy 1, get out of there, save, password and heal up.

Head to the maze north of where you found the cross. You'll need to go around the perimeter to find the entrance. From there, stay in the open field, and attack the Ropers - the blue octopus enemies - that move around from the side of behind. You'll need to do this until you level up two more times. Stay in the open field to heal up in case your health is low, then get back in there to farm for experience again when your health is good. Remember save and password as soon as you level up.

HH9PP5MBL3ZJVTJ7 - before the vampire

76XBBBKLLGJ90887 - vampire dead

57WH95MGHGD9GH54 - at north hole

G6HKK6LJG9TN7640 - sword get

BKK9G6N5JB7DDG42 - fairy trees

N6KPG5J9N5K7GH66 - octopus maze

PrinceWatercress plays Mogul Maniac - Part 2 of 3

Do you have the need...the need for speed?!?

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Course 4

Gates: 63

Max Speed: 34

This course is a little faster compared to the first three, and is definitely more my speed. I'm surprised I was able to take a few of the turns.

Course 5

Gates: 63

Max Speed: 36

Now this is fast. I ended up running into one of the gates and got some flashing colors as a result, and it's good to know that the game gives you some nice feedback in case you hit something or miss a gate.

Course 6

Gates: 63

Max Speed: 40

This one give some trouble at the max speed. If you can get through all 63 gates at top speed, you can clear this course in under a minute. I always have trouble near the end here. 

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 2 of 5

It's time to play another stage, and what better stage than the one with the flying boss?

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Pteranodon

The pterodactyls will fly around in the background before eventually flying above your car. Be ready to shoot them down, especially if they're about to divebomb into your car.

When the Pteranodon shows up, keep shooting at it. This will cause it drop the rock that it is about to drop on your car early, then keep shooting it as it divebombs so it doesn't hit you.

In the action stage, you'll have to go through a series of doorways to get to the upper-left corner, take the zipline, and head to the next area. Thankfully, figuring out which doors take your where isn't particularly difficult. Just watch out if you approach the left side of the screen, as spitters will show up and try to hit you with their projectiles. If you see one show up, duck and shoot with the shotgun so the projectiles go right over your head.

The Jurassic Park icon is a commemorative coin that gives you a few thousand points, according to the manual.

While using the platforms that move back and forth, you may have to duck under ceilings as well as climb on ceilings in order to stay on the platform or keep up with it. Remember that you can press Down on the D-Pad to drop back down onto the platform from the ceiling.

When you reach the zipline, watch out for boulders. Hold Up while you jump to grab the zipline, and don't press Down until it comes to a complete stop. Once you take the zipline, you could go back to the exit, but you can also explore the area below where you land for an extra life and a first aid kit. Keep climbing across the ceiling to get the extra life, and use the rocks to make your way back.

In the second action area, equip the rocket launcher and fire at the pterodactyls when they dive at you. Eventually, the ground will start lowering, and you'll need to keep moving in order to get through this part without losing a life.

To beat the Pteranodon, equip the rocket launcher and be ready to fire at the Pteranodon when it is above you. The Pteranodon may dive at you; the rocket launcher is perfect for a counter-attack. Remember that you can grab onto the undersides of the tree branches and pull yourself up in order to keep up with the slowly scrolling screen.. If you have to duck and shoot when the Pteranodon gets too close, do it. It'll keep the Pteranodon away for a short while. Eventually, it will go down, and you'll have two stages left.

PrinceWatercress plays Air-Sea Battle - Part 2 of 7

Now that we've shot things down out of the air, let's take to the seas and shoot down ships in a submarine!

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Torpedo Games

The torpedo games encompass Game Modes 7-12. In the torpedo games, you can move your submarine left and right with Left and Right on the joystick while firing straight upwards with the fire button. The player on the left cannot move past the left half of the screen, while the player on the right cannot move past the right half of the screen.

Multiple targets will move from left to right, and you'll want to shoot them all down as quickly as possible to get new ones as well to achieve as high a score as possible. Timing is key to shoot down as many targets as you can in addition to your position on the screen.

In Game Modes 7-9, each target shot down awards one point.

Game 7

This is the standard two-player mode. After firing, your torpedoes travel straight up.

Game 8

Game Mode 8 introduces guided torpedoes that can be guided with Left and Right on the joystick.

Game 9

The game goes back to having standard missiles, and is a one-player mode versus the computer. The computer controls the left submarine, while the player controls the right submarine with a joystick in Controller Port 2. Once again, the computer player continuously fires.

In Game Modes 10-12, different targets will have different point values. The PT boats (which have three small lines sticking out of the top) award four (4) points, the aircraft carriers award three (3) points, the pirate ships (which have two lines sticking out of the top) award two (2) points, the freighters award one (1) point, and the mines award no points and just serve as an obstacle.

Game 10

Just like in Game 7, the torpedoes fired by the submarines always shoot straight upwards.

Game 11

Just like in Game 8, you can guide the torpedoes with Left and Right on the joystick to move them left and right.

Game 12

This is a one-player vs. computer mode with the player controlling the submarine on the right with a joystick in Controller Port 2. Once again, the computer player continuously fires.