PrinceWatercress plays World of Illusion (Donald's Path) - Part 4 of 5

I always liked this level, to be honest. Donald's section just makes it that much more awesome.

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We're back in the over-sized library! Castle of Illusion introduces this level theme, but this game revisits it a bit. The ink stamps will walk towards you, the fountain pens will fly at you, and the protractors will pounce on you.

The tubes of green paint squirts out green paint that slows you down if you walk into it, and the tiny green staples act as trampolines when you jump on them.

Be careful getting that 1-Up, you'll have to move quickly in mid-air to get that extra life. Also, when going up the cork board with the pins that act as platforms, watch out for that flying fountain pen.

You'll soon drop into a jar of sugar cubes. Go to the other end, and be ready to stun the cubes that leap back and forth. If you want, you can go back for the extra life to get another one.

After the jar of sugar cubes, you can enter two doors and enter a whole new area. If you can ride the measuring tapes that leads back and forth on the way, you can get some more health. Here, you'll face wolves that charge at you, eagles that dive at you and rocks that bounce around. Amazingly, the wolves, eagles and rocks are made up of letters that spell the word that they are supposed to represent, which pre-dates WordWorld by several years. If you see switches on the floor, hit them with the cape to get some pick-ups. One of them also lowers a drawbridge that leads into the castle at the end.

After this, you'll soon enter a cookie tin that leads to the candy world. Once again, this game revisits some things that were done in Castle of Illusion while adding some new ones.

The gummy planes will fly at you, and the gingerbread men will throw candy canes at you. The wafer enemies take two hits to defeat and just move back and forth.

The cloud platforms will move forward when you stay on them. Use them to get over the collapsible bridge and continue with the level.

The green plants will twist you around if you land on them, but they don't hurt you. They only stun you.

Donald's version of the level is mostly the same, but the part where you ride the bottle cork up into space doesn't show up for Donald like it does for Mickey, so you just go straight to the gelatin platforms that you're supposed to sink through.

Near the end, you can go left for an invincibility card. The gelatin blocks are soft and you will sink through them; you'll want to do that to reach the boss.

The boss is an evil witch who will fly around, dive at you and cast magic. Her patterns are really easy, and you can easily tank hits while absolutely decimating her. Beating her will give you the magic to command cards.

Before you enter the door, jump left over it for two cards and a piece of candy for health, then enter the door to enter an Alice In Wonderland-esque level for the final level of the game.

PrinceWatercress plays World of Illusion (Donald's Path) - Part 3 of 5

Not gonna lie, Donald's specific section is harder than Mickey's.

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In the third level, you'll be using the Control Pad in conjunction with the jump button, which you'll need to press repeatedly, to swim. You won't be able to attack while underwater, so your best bet is to avoid enemies at all costs, especially the small black sea urchins on the floors and ceilings.

If you see a wall of bubbles, there will be a clam nearby. Face away from the clam in order to get the clam to approach you. It will stop at the wall of bubbles and neutralize it.

You'll soon enter a cave. When you try to crawl inside, however, Donald won't fit. You'll be forced to go back, and when you do, you'll be rocket upwards out of the water. From here, you'll need to jump from island to island while also jumping on inner tubes and fighting fish. Some of the inner tube platforms will deflate and sink into the water when you land on them. Some of these platforms move, and others still will be shot into the air so you can land on top of the palm trees. The cans spin, but you can stand on them without worrying about being spun off into the water.

The blue card gives you temporary invincibility when you grab it, and it will be really useful here, since you'll need to jump off the very edge of the inner tube platforms to make some of the jumps. You'll eventually be able to cast a spell that takes you back underwater and to the sunken ship.

Aside from the starfish, you'll have to dodge some tridents. Some will drop down when you get under them; others will drop down a tad sooner. You'll also have sawfish coming out of the floor. They are like swordfish, but their bills are saws. Hit them when they pop up, and go slowly when you hear them pop up.

You'll have to run across the narrow area near the end to avoid drowning in the water that fills the corridor up.

The boss here is a shark. The shark is harmless when you only see its fin, but when it surfaces and comes after you, that is when you want to attack and avoid. After a second pass where you can only see its fin, the shark will dive down, leap at you and then chase after you for a second again. You can hit it while it is in the air.

You'll then learn how to teleport to another box. When you head left after this, you'll be sucked out of the water and you'll end up in an over-sized library.

PrinceWatercress plays World of Illusion (Donald's Path) - Part 2 of 5

The waterfall dodging section is a really nice touch.

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When you approach the cliff, Donald will try his new magic. When he says "Alakazam," press A, B or C. You'll produce a magic carpet.

From here, keep pressing C to stay afloat, and hold Left on the Control Pad to keep yourself from moving as fast, or advance further with Right. You cannot attack while flying, so avoid everything except the question mark bags. 

Donald then drops onto a leaf on a waterfall going down a mountain. You'll need to stay on the leaf and jump over obstacles while also crossing bridges that will fall down as you walk across them. Pressing C lets you jump straight up while still being above the leaves, though you will have to use the Control Pad sometimes. You will have to duck under things such as rock formations and flames that show up in the caves, however, as anything that can harm you will instantly cost you a life in this section.

You'll then be jumping from cloud platform to cloud platform. The cloud platforms with all the curves on them will break apart when you stand on them (the others don't), and the clouds with the faces will move forward. If you see birds, attack or avoid them before they attack you, and watch out for those tornadoes.

The cloud piano keys produce notes as you move around, and the notes will sometimes turn into top hats that give you 1-Ups, candy for health or even cards. Sometimes, they will turn into bombs. The bombs damage you. Don't run into bombs.

The boss here is a statue with six blocks. When you approach the exit, the wheel will start turning, and one by one, the block that is on top will turn into a gray dragon that looks like Puff the Magic Dragon. Avoid the fireballs by jumping over them, then attack when they leap forward.

You'll then learn how to make a magic bubble. Interestingly, you activate it much like you did the magic carpet, and from here, you can use Left and Right on the Control Pad to move and press the jump button continuously to stay afloat. You'll then be using your magic to create a magic bubble immediately.

PrinceWatercress plays World of Illusion (Donald's Path) - Part 1 of 5

I've already played Mickey's path, and now it's time to play Donald's path. Donald gets his own sections, and compared to the ones in Mickey's path, these sections are just as hard and equally as distinct from what it is supposed to deviate from.

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One night, Mickey and Donald were practicing for their big magic act. One of the magic tricks surprised Donald, and he fell backwards, tripping over some scenery. Behind the scenery was a mysterious magic box with a drawn curtain.

"Oh, Boy! If it works, we can use this in our magic act!" said Donald.

"Uh, I don't know if that's such a good idea...." replied Mickey, noticing a strange glow behind the curtain.

But he was too late. Donald had already stepped inside. Poof! The curtain fluttered and Donald disappeared!

Mickey stepped inside to inspect the box and...Poof!, he disappeared too.

Booming laughter echoed as Mickey and Donald fell through the darkness, and an evil voice said, "You are good magicians in your world, but here in my world of magic, you'll have to learn many more tricks to find your way home. If you can find and defeat me, I will show you a way out of this magic box."

At the main menu, you can choose between Mickey and Donald, and you can also input a password, check out the sound test and even change the controls between four different configuration. I will be using Control Type 1. Left and Right let you move around, A lets you run when held down, B lets you attack and C lets you jump. Also, holding Down and pressing C lets you crawl. Honestly, I wish you could double tap Left or Right to run rather than hold a button down, as it is more awkward on one of Sega's controllers from that era as opposed to the NES or Super NES controllers to hold down a button to do that, and it forces you to use two fingers.

You'll start in the forest. Attack the guards when they charge at you, and make sure your magic cloth touches them completely. If the sparkles touch them, they will simply stun them, but it will help defeat them or other enemies if you can't get close enough. When the leaf enemies wake up, hit them, too.

If you crawl under the branch at the start by holding Down and pressing C (under default controls), you'll get the question mark bag that you can't normally get. These bags contain either a card you can grab to get closer to a 1-Up, a piece of candy that refills one hit or a cake that refills all your hits. In this case, it's the cake. You start with five hit points, but you can go all the way up to eight, and if you lose all your hits, you'll lose a life, or as the game calls it, a try.

The mosquitoes will dive at you when close enough. Hit them or avoid them as they dive.

The log seesaws will launch you into the air when you jump on the high end.

Enemies will spawn behind you sometimes. Watch your back.

At the start of the second section, Donald will be whisked into the air when he jumps into the flower. You'll have to jump from leaf to leaf on the beanstalks, and if you want to stay at the top path, you'll need to jump from leaf to leaf and watch out for moving platforms. You'll find all the good stuff on the top path, as that is where the power-ups will be. If you fall down, you'll still hit the ground. You can use the magic cloth to attack the plants stuck in the ground to get them to sprout up, and you can use them as platforms from there.

You'll soon enter a cave. Go up at the start for one unit of health, and avoid the holes in the web platforms, as you will fall straight down into a bottomless pit with no way to control your character.

The spiders near the web walls act much like the block snakes from Super Mario World, as its web trail is like a moving platform that you can take to get to the other side. Thankfully, the spider producing it does not hurt you.

The boss here is a giant spider. It just moves around. When its back is visible, hit it with the cloth. If you see its underside, wait for it to leave the screen before attacking again. Interestingly, this boss doesn't attack you; he just moves around. After six hits, you'll beat the boss and get the ability to produce and ride a flying carpet.

In the next level, when you approach the cliff, Mickey will try his new magic. When he extends his arms and says "Alakazam," press A, B or C. You'll produce a magic carpet.

PrinceWatercress plays Busou Keiji: Cyber Cross - The Longplay

It's now time to play through this game in one shot, minus commentary. Enjoy!

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There's not much to a story to this one. Some aliens are trying to take over the world, and some guy with blue hair who can transform Super Sentai-style is the world's only hope.

Level 1

Left and Right let you move around, Down lets you duck, Button 2 attacks and Button 1 jumps.

There will be robots that fly around from right to left; you'll need to attack them in order to get the power-up inside. The first power-up you'll find - a red circle-shaped jewel - will let you transform from your human form and give you more moves. As an armored hero, you can use weapons and also hold Button 2 to perform a charge attack than can only be charged up and launched while standing perfectly still.

At the bottom of the screen is your score, your health and your charge meter from top to bottom on the left side of the status bar. At the right side of the status bar, you have your time remaining as well as red jewels. When you collect more than one power-up crystal, you'll get gold armor as well as a weapon. When these jewels are lit up, you will lose these instead of health whenever you take damage. Once you lose all the jewels, you'll lose your gold armor as well as your weapon.

The red power-up jewel will give you a sword, while the blue power-up jewel will turn your suit blue and give you a gun, complete with a more powerful charge shot. Just remember that you can have only one bullet on the screen at any given time.

Never stay still; always keep moving. Otherwise, flying enemies will show up and dive towards you to destroy you.

The enemies are pretty easy for the most part. The guys in the green armor mostly advance towards you, while the guys in the blue armor will shoot bullets at you that you can duck under. The flying guys will fly forward, but some of them will dive towards you, so keep an eye on them. If any flying guys are wearing blue, they will drop bombs. You'll want to stay away from the bombs as well as their explosions. 

The red, blue and green hexagon-shaped gems just give you bonus points. Hearts refill some of your health. Believe it or not, getting power-up crystals also refills a little bit of health. The square with the gold edges and the "T" in the center gives you extra time. The tube with the heart in it increases your maximum health.

In just about every level, there is one of the two main henchmen on a platform who will fly in, sic alien flies at you, and then leave. You can duck under them all in this level.

The rolling brown guys can be attacked with duck punches or attacks if they're close enough, although you can stay on the higher road to avoid most of them here.

The boss is a frog man. He will jump from one side of the screen to the center to the other side. Whenever he stops, you want to get close to him (but not too close) and crouch punch him to do damage to him and avoid his fire breath. Whatever you do, do not let him touch you. If you have the gun, he's even easier to defeat.

When you do enough damage to a boss, the music changes to even more victorious music. Keep fighting the boss, and eventually the boss will go down. You'll get bonus points based on how much time and health you have left.

You have only one life, and if you lose it, it's game over and it's back to the start.

Level 2

As you fight the brown rolling guys, you'll get a chance to get the green power-up crystal. This turns your suit green and gives you the boomerang, but you have to charge the attack up to get any real distance with it. As a result, I usually avoid getting it.

The tops of the trucks will protect you from the bombs from the blue flying guys, but you'll also have to deal with the brown rolling guys. Pick your poison.

The crawling guys that look like mantises will jump down from the top of the screen and also show up from the sides of the screen. They will move towards you, and occasionally stop. Let them come to you and keep duck punching until they run into your attack and die. Sadly, you have to stand back up to change direction before crouching again, which can make fighting these guys on both sides a little harder than it should be.

The blue guys with the guns now have mortar shots. Not only do the shots hurt you, but so do the explosions.

The boss here is some sort of squid man. After flying around, he will eventually land on the right side of the screen. Whether you have a weapon or not, have a charged attack ready to do some more damage before he attacks. He will attack you with his arms, but you can duck under that. He can jump at you, too, and it's hard to avoid since you have to be close to him to have that attack happen. From here, be ready to jump over the guy when he flies up into the air and then flies around the room. Keep a close eye on him, as it especially helps when he comes out from the upper-left and dives down at you on the way to the right.

Level 3

The mantis men will leap towards you. The sword makes it easier to hit them out of the air, but you can still kick them as they move around. The gun makes it easier to take them out from a distance.

If you see boxes moving on a conveyor belt, keep moving forward so the boxes don't hit you. Be ready to knock the guys hanging on the background walls off the walls.

The small red jewel with the gold metal tips on the corners gives you an extra hit point for your super armor. You can have up to five hit points for the super armor, and more super armor hit points equals more hits you can take before you lose your super armor and your weapon, leaving you back to punching and kicking enemies.

The signs that tell you to jump up signify the end of the first section; keep jumping to enter the second. Once you're at the rooftop, be ready to take out flying enemies, especially the blue ones with bombs.

The boss is the woman on the platform you've seen in the first two levels; she enters a bunny form. She will hop from one side of the screen to the other, then stand still. You can walk under her when she makes a narrow jump, but you'll need to jump over the flying kick. When she moves backwards, jump to avoid the fireballs. If you can get to the other side before she can and use a charge attack (especially if you don't have a weapon), you can take her out in seconds. If you have the gun, however, you should use it to take her down from a distance.

Level 4

At the beginning of this area, stick to the bottom; it will make it easier to deal with the enemies. When you see the bridge on the upper level, jump to it; falling into the pit takes you into a harder area with tougher enemies that you'll have to deal with. After that, go back down to the bottom when you're able to if you want the gun.

The guy with the robotic implants on his head from the attract mode intro will be sending the flies at you from the platform now. Don't worry, you'll be facing him eventually.

After this, you'll need to stick to the bottom to take out the mantis enemies. Keep sticking to the bottom with the rolling brown enemies show up so some of them leap over you. Jump to the second bridge, and watch out for the guys with the guns.

The boss here is a lobster man who can shoot at you from the sides of the screen. He can also stop at the center of the screen, so stay away from the center. When the lobster charges at you, use the charge kick if you don't have a weapon. If you have the gun, it will be easier to take him down from a distance, and you can also use the gun to shoot down the projectiles that he shoots from the sides of the screen instead of just ducking under them.

Level 5

The spider enemies will spit webs at you if they stand up, but you can easily duck under them. Wait for them to approach and keep crouch punching so you can easily take them out. The spider enemies can also jump around a lot.

You'll soon enter a cave. Watch out for the bats that are flying around, as they will make moving around in the cave miserable unless you take them out one at a time. As if the blue guys with the mortars weren't bad enough!

Falling into the pits in the second section leads to a more difficult section if you fall in.

The boss here is the guy on the platform, who turns into an elephant man who jumps around a lot. He will try to hit you with his trunk, which you can duck under and punch while avoiding. If he flexes his muscles, move back so the lighting doesn't hit you.

Level 6

Watch out for the laser turrets on the ceiling. It is very easy to anticipate where the lasers are going to go, but it can be still be easy to get hit by them if you're not careful.

Sometimes robots will come out of the doorways. They just move around, but they can 

It takes two hits to take out the turrets that move up and down.

Wait near the pits for the boxes to drop down before progressing.

Throughout the level, you'll see the frog and squid man bosses multiple times. Same strategies apply.

Be prepared to get a lot of health in this stage, because you're gonna need it if you can't get the armor.

The blue guys go back to shooting at you with guns again, so be ready to duck bullets at regular intervals.

When you get close enough to the scientists, they will look around before running away. The last one that you see will run towards you, and when he comes close to you, he will explode and potentially do damage. Be ready to jump to avoid the damage.

In the third section, the blue guys will shoot mortars again.

To defeat the snail man, you'll need to get close to him and crouch punch him if you don't have the gun. Having the gun against this guy makes things much easier. After throwing enough projectiles, he will hide in his shell and move around the room before he stops to attack again. If you can anticipate where he is, you can easily crouch punch him multiple times.

You'll need to attack the man in the chair several times to get him out of your way. He attacks with projectiles, but if you have the gun. After that, you'll have to fight the snail man. Same strategies apply, but once you defeat him, he's down for good.

Level 7

You'll get two hearts before the final battle. You'll need them.

The boss here is a bunch of heads that fly around in circles and shoot fireballs that travel to the right in sine wave patterns. They are fired three at a time, and the third one goes high. After the third one, get close, jump up and punch the faces a few times before moving back. You'll need to keep doing this until the boss falls. Once you get the pattern down, this is one of the easiest final bosses you'll ever fight.

Once you beat the boss, the game is over. You've just saved the Earth in Busou Keiji: Cyber Cross!

PrinceWatercress plays Busou Keiji: Cyber Cross - Part 3 of 3

And now, the conclusion to Busou Keiji: Cyber Cross!

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Level 5

The spider enemies will spit webs at you if they stand up, but you can easily duck under them. Wait for them to approach and keep crouch punching so you can easily take them out. The spider enemies can also jump around a lot.

You'll soon enter a cave. Watch out for the bats that are flying around, as they will make moving around in the cave miserable unless you take them out one at a time. As if the blue guys with the mortars weren't bad enough!

Falling into the pits in the second section leads to a more difficult section if you fall in.

The boss here is the guy on the platform, who turns into an elephant man who jumps around a lot. He will try to hit you with his trunk, which you can duck under and punch while avoiding. If he flexes his muscles, move back so the lighting doesn't hit you.

Level 6

Watch out for the laser turrets on the ceiling. It is very easy to anticipate where the lasers are going to go, but it can be still be easy to get hit by them if you're not careful.

Sometimes robots will come out of the doorways. They just move around, but they can 

It takes two hits to take out the turrets that move up and down.

Wait near the pits for the boxes to drop down before progressing.

Throughout the level, you'll see the frog and squid man bosses multiple times. Same strategies apply.

Be prepared to get a lot of health in this stage, because you're gonna need it if you can't get the armor.

The blue guys go back to shooting at you with guns again, so be ready to duck bullets at regular intervals.

When you get close enough to the scientists, they will look around before running away. The last one that you see will run towards you, and when he comes close to you, he will explode and potentially do damage. Be ready to jump to avoid the damage.

In the third section, the blue guys will shoot mortars again.

To defeat the snail man, you'll need to get close to him and crouch punch him if you don't have the gun. Having the gun against this guy makes things much easier. After throwing enough projectiles, he will hide in his shell and move around the room before he stops to attack again. If you can anticipate where he is, you can easily crouch punch him multiple times.

You'll need to attack the man in the chair several times to get him out of your way. He attacks with projectiles, but if you have the gun. After that, you'll have to fight the snail man. Same strategies apply, but once you defeat him, he's down for good.

Level 7

You'll get two hearts before the final battle. You'll need them.

The boss here is a bunch of heads that fly around in circles and shoot fireballs that travel to the right in sine wave patterns. They are fired three at a time, and the third one goes high. After the third one, get close, jump up and punch the faces a few times before moving back. You'll need to keep doing this until the boss falls. Once you get the pattern down, this is one of the easiest final bosses you'll ever fight.

Once you beat the boss, the game is over. You've just saved the Earth in Busou Keiji: Cyber Cross!

PrinceWatercress plays Busou Keiji: Cyber Cross - Part 2 of 3

This video took me three tries to nail down, as the lobster man can be nasty if you don't have enough health.

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Level 3

The mantis men will leap towards you. The sword makes it easier to hit them out of the air, but you can still kick them as they move around. The gun makes it easier to take them out from a distance.

If you see boxes moving on a conveyor belt, keep moving forward so the boxes don't hit you. Be ready to knock the guys hanging on the background walls off the walls.

The small red jewel with the gold metal tips on the corners gives you an extra hit point for your super armor. You can have up to five hit points for the super armor, and more super armor hit points equals more hits you can take before you lose your super armor and your weapon, leaving you back to punching and kicking enemies.

The signs that tell you to jump up signify the end of the first section; keep jumping to enter the second. Once you're at the rooftop, be ready to take out flying enemies, especially the blue ones with bombs.

The boss is the woman on the platform you've seen in the first two levels; she enters a bunny form. She will hop from one side of the screen to the other, then stand still. You can walk under her when she makes a narrow jump, but you'll need to jump over the flying kick. When she moves backwards, jump to avoid the fireballs. If you can get to the other side before she can and use a charge attack (especially if you don't have a weapon), you can take her out in seconds. If you have the gun, however, you should use it to take her down from a distance.

Level 4

At the beginning of this area, stick to the bottom; it will make it easier to deal with the enemies. When you see the bridge on the upper level, jump to it; falling into the pit takes you into a harder area with tougher enemies that you'll have to deal with. After that, go back down to the bottom when you're able to if you want the gun.

The guy with the robotic implants on his head from the attract mode intro will be sending the flies at you from the platform now. Don't worry, you'll be facing him eventually.

After this, you'll need to stick to the bottom to take out the mantis enemies. Keep sticking to the bottom with the rolling brown enemies show up so some of them leap over you. Jump to the second bridge, and watch out for the guys with the guns.

The boss here is a lobster man who can shoot at you from the sides of the screen. He can also stop at the center of the screen, so stay away from the center. When the lobster charges at you, use the charge kick if you don't have a weapon. If you have the gun, it will be easier to take him down from a distance, and you can also use the gun to shoot down the projectiles that he shoots from the sides of the screen instead of just ducking under them.