M I C K E Y M O U S E ;'"""'"'; "%############@M%" ;O@###################O M#######################M '##########################o o###########################M '############################# @############################# "%@######@@@O #############################M ;%@##############%" #############################o %###################M; %##########################@O %######################' ;@#########################" O########################" '@#######################%"'ooooOO' "#########################M O####################@OO" 'OM@MMMo' M#########################% ;oM###############o ;%@##@@@MM"; '@#########################o ;;;"#######M" "" ;;o%oO@########################@ "@####@o "@#########################% ;@#####%; "O"; M#######################@ ;@@###@% O' @' "o" %###################@#@ o######O O' #o o' o O####################O O@#####% "o #o " " M###O%@#########@Mo "#######' M M "; " M###% '""o"""o' '########; "O % 'O " @####' o########; O 'Oo M M ;o @##### ;@########; OO##@;; 'MO#" O M##### '@O"'''"OM; '##@@' "###@"O M####M "; ;'MMMo';;o###@" %####@ O ;; ;;;";''o%M %####@' o ;''''; '%@@####@@Mo ;O@#####O o; ; o ;; @############@' O@###### o 'o @@###########@" 'M@##' O 'o %@#########O" '; "M' "' '%; ;';''; oo" " ;o M@%' ;'; ;' O; OO'; OMM@%" ;'"; o' ;Mo O''"M@@Oo" ;""Oo; 'o O' %"'''O@@M@@#######@Mo' 'oO o ;O''''"'''oOM@##M"; '"o' oO "o''''''''"%"' 'o ;;'"oo'; '%" ;;;;'';; ;"o'";; ;OOO"''"oo"' C A S T L E o f I L L U S I O N =============== ASCII Art by sWiCKy =============== Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion Sega Genesis written by: David "Zoop" McCutcheon / Andrew Schultz e-mail: zoopnova@aol.com / schultza@earthlink.net version: 1.0.1 date: 08/10/03 this document is Copyright 2003 David McCutcheon and Andrew Schultz. ______________________________________________________________________ /~ NOTE ~ Due to new regulations, this document will ONLY BE HOSTED BY\ | GAMEFAQS.COM, NEOSEEKER, AND IGN.COM! Do NOT post it without my | |permission. I DEFINITELY WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTION, as my lawyer is one | \of the BEST IN THE STATE OF MISSOURI. Thank you. / ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ ______________________________________________________________________ /~ NOTE 2 ~ Andrew Schultz's side comments will appear beside [AHS] in \ | the document. In case you're wondering, anything from the last three| | worlds is probably written by Andrew, the first two by David. | \_____________________________________________________________________/ ~ Revision History ~ ~ 1.0 ~ Started this as something to do in between Return To Castle Wolfenstein and Wario World. I hope you enjoy. [given as 6/23/2003] ~ 1.0.1 ~ [AHS] Took over main control of this FAQ from David. Edited some of his comments for up until Toy Land, stage 2. Wrote document up through Toy Land. [8/7/2003] *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* T A B L E o f C O N T E N T S *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* ~!~NOTE~!~ If you need to find a certain something in the guide, press and hold Control (Ctrl) and press the F key. Type out the word you are looking for, and search. This is a tremendous time saver as opposed to scrolling through it all. If you're too lazy to do this, don't bother e-mailing or IMing me. Thank you. Table of Contents: I. Introduction Ia. Contact Me II. Controls/Game Basics III. Story IV. Walkthrough IV.a Forest IV.b Toy Land IV.c Dark Canyon IV.d Library and River IV.e Castle and machinery V. Villains VI. Items VII. Points VIII. Credits IX. Disclaimer ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION I. - INTRODUCTION ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: Howdy gang. As usual, I am writing for an old classic that practically everyone loves, and if they don't, they are insane. This is one of those few games that draw you in with extremely simple gameplay, and keep you drawn with how addictively fun it can be. The stages are varied, and are very fun to run through several times, and I do hope you find this FAQ/Walkthrough to help you through the "tough parts" of the game. [AHS] I disagree about the nostalgia. I had **** like Othello for the Atari 2600. Seeing people with nostalgia this good irks me especially since I never had an NES, wah, wah. At any rate even with nostalgia removed this is still a fun game. It might not be the sort you want to spend too much time on, so I thought this walkthrough could also be an easy out for people to see how to get through it once, as the sights are surprisingly intricate. Back to David... As always, here is the basic run of what this FAQ/Walkthrough will cover: In the Controls/Game Basics section, you can expect to see the entire controls list (wow, very huge) and with the game basics, little tips for here and there that you should know. In the Story, I will use the Story section from the actual instructions. In the Walkthrough... Well, I think you get the drift of what that is there for. The Enemies section will list all of the enemies in approximate order that they appear. The Items list is a short list of the items in the game. I hope that you find this FAQ/Walkthrough as satisfactory as a player's guide you might be charged for, despite the text restrictions. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, feel free to e-mail [either of us] with some feedback. I always read all of my e-mail practically every day. Thank you, and have a good one! -David "Zoop" McCutcheon I don't have the same nostalgic perception, but from a review of runinruder/Dark Fact's(he took them all down, sadly) I saw how someone else would enjoy the game. I'd always wanted to look at it and when David offered to give me co-authorship I figured it was a great motivator. Of course it took me a few weeks to get down to business, but overall I was pleased. The anti-sound crank in me got a bit ruffled, but it's still a fun game even if a bit too much is based on remembering to hit the C button twice and not once. You can get lulled into forgetting, and--oops. But fortunately there are many second chances and recharges. MMCI is overall a nice game without too much violence, and it's worth a go through. The second should be comparatively easier but you really feel like the pressure is off then. I can't vouch for finding all the secrets later on in the levels, but I did try to write down everything that got done and pitfalls I ran into. Hope it all helps. ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: *** *** *** *** SECTION I.a - CONTACT ME *** *** *** *** ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: If you need me for anything whatsoever that IS NOT covered in the guide, and that means SEARCHING THE GUIDE by pressing Control and F together and typing out what you are looking for, and then hitting enter[AHS: try only one keyword at a time, but you should also be able to figure what info is where as not many walkthrough writers jump from World 3 to World 1 to World 4.] But as long as it has to do with the game. Sorry, but I don't feel like hearing about how cute your kitten is if I don't really know you, yanno? Actually, kittens are cute... Ahem. You can contact me via e-mail, or sometimes IM. I check my e-mail several times a day; so don't hesitate if you have a question! But please read the long paragraph below my contact info. E-Mail address: ZoopNOVA@aol.com AIM: Zoop NOVA Please only e-mail me if it's something you do NOT see in the guide. Try to look for it; If it's not there, feel free to e-mail me. [AHS: I'm particularly interested in secrets I may have missed. I assume I'll have janitorial duties on this guide, which I don't mind, and it's always neat to hear more about a game. Sometimes a FAQ acts as a great net to harvest new ideas that way.] If you don't know how to e-mail me, just simply bring up a new, unwritten mail (this varies with different services. It should say "Write Mail" on the button, though) and write out my e-mail address. For the subject, copy and paste this: Castle Of Illusion FAQ. In the body of the mail, write whatever you like, even hate mail! Just one request: Only e-mail in English. Any foreign language e-mails will be discarded. Sorry, I'm not smart enough to know a second language. [AHS: I'm going to pretend to be a right wing crank and say it's just in the name of national security. But seriously, languages in different character sets or with cool letter accents are far out. I'd like to learn a few. But I haven't yet--hint, hint.] I don't care what you send, but positive feedback is always nice. But if you're into the hate mail thing, I can dig that, too. [AHS] Um, ditto, sort of, as to how to contact me. I'm really rather bad about checking my email. I guess also you might want to give pause before writing us about where to find ROMs. My AIM list is also closed because I'm not that terribly social and meaningless conversations drive me up the wall even more in cyberspace than in real life. But saying thanks for the guide is way cool. Just don't get chatty with me about Reality TV, gossip about celebrities, or why I should convert to your religion or buy an XBox. ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION II. - CONTROLS/BASICS ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ____________________ /______CONTROLS______\ <<>> A Button = Shoot B Button = Shoot C Button = Jump C Button + C Button = Jump Attack Directional Pad Left = Moves character left Directional Pad Right = Moves character right Directional Pad Up = Nothing Directional Pad Down = Makes character duck downwards Note that you can move Mickey while in the air, which is a key. Your momentum also affects the direction you start jumping in, which will seem nasty, but most of the time you'll be able to figure out what you need to do, and it should feel intuitive pretty soon. You can also jump back up and bounce on several bad guys in a row. But you'll need to hit C again. Mickey will also put on a big act if you're close to falling off the ledge. But he'll stay there. This is sometimes the most advantageous place to be, especially if you are climbing up stairs. __________________ /______BASICS______\ <> * Hold down the C button if you want the maximum height--and potential length--to your jump. * * The most common way to destroy a villain is to jump on top of their heads while holding the C Button. Remember to press and release. * * If you do not hold the C Button while you jump atop a villain's head, the villain will take you for one red circle of your health. You're invincible for a short time after that so if there's a tough area you can make a brief intentional sacrifice. * * Chain reactions when you jump on villains' heads also work well. For instance you can take out three mushrooms when on the ground. If you jump exactly you can kill two mushrooms with one bounce, but don't worry about it. * * Remember to use your throwing objects at enemies where you cannot jump on top of their heads, or it is impossible to jump on top of their heads. * * Remember to collect as many icons along the way as possible, as there aren't any bad ones, although some may be rather cruel traps. * You can reach taller areas by bouncing off a villain's head, which will usually be a platform that you can't see any other way to. * * If you move far enough away from monsters on the screen, they will regenerate. However, stuff that gives you health won't. * * Mickey will bounce nastily if he hits a ceiling. So in tight quarters it is better or necessary just to throw stuff. * ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION III. - STORY ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: It's a lovely day in Vera City. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the sweet fragrance of the flowers fills the air. Mickey and Minnie are happily dancing in the meadow. But suddenly, thick, gray clouds cover the sun, and the birds fall silent. A musty odor overcomes the pleasant fragrance of flowers. Mickey glances up to see a witch on a broom hovering above him! It's Mizrabel, the evil witch who is jealous of Minnie's beauty! Her bony fingers clench Minnie's arm! "This pretty thing is coming with me!" she shrieks. "Hee-hee-hee- hee- heee!" And away she flies with Minnie. Mickey chases the fleeing witch through the forest and past towering mountains. Finally he reaches the Castle of Illusion, perched on a high, craggy cliff. At its gate, he meets an old man, bent over with age. "You must rescue Minnie before it's too late!" says the old man. "Mizrabel is going to take Minnie's beauty for herself. She'll make Minnie look mean and evil, just like her! You can defeat her only if you have the seven Gems of the Rainbow." "Where are those gems?" asks Mickey. "You'll find them in the castle," the old man replies, "but they are guarded by the Masters of Illusion. They have created strange worlds and bizarre creatures to keep you from reaching Minnie. You must be careful!" Mickey thanks the man and hurries through the gate. In the castle, Mickey opens every door to every room. Each door leads to a different world of illusion. Can Mickey find the seven Gems of the Rainbow in time to rescue Minnie? It's up to you! Wander through creepy caves and dark dungeons. Splash into a cup of tea and leap across frosty ice cream swirls! Knock down chocolate chips, juggling clowns and crawly caterpillars with Mickey's bounce attack. Minnie needs your help! Hurry! [thanks to the instruction manual for this information.] ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION IV. - WALKTHROUGH ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: Here, you will find an advanced walkthrough for each stage in the NORMAL difficulty of the game. I do hope you enjoy this, and if you have any suggestions, please e-mail me. X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X IV.a --------------------- THE FOREST X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X Welcome to the wonderful world of Mickey Mouse's Castle of Illusions! After watching a nice, lengthy introduction, we are off to start in our mystical adventure! Start out by trailing to the right, which is what we do in most platform games back in the NES/Genesis/SNES era. Jump on top of the Tree's blocky ol' head after it drops down, holding C at the top of your jump(Interesting they start out with a marginally tough jump.) Keep on moving along to the right, and you will encounter a tall platform. Jump up to it to avoid the Tree below, and collect the five apples. After you have collected the five apples, continue along to the right and carefully jump onto the swinging vine by jumping towards the very bottom of it. You can jump off whenever you wish to do so. If you do happen to fall in the pit, there are three Mushrooms down here. They are very easy to kill; just stomp on their heads. They're a bit less useful than in Mario, but then they aren't particularly nasty. Just be sure to push C when you land on them. There's a star below and in fact it's not a bad idea to fall and miss the vine, hit the mushrooms, and then jump up for the star. Next, there will be a Tree villain that sways backwards and forth throughout the screen. Up at the top, there will be a Pellet Plant. This is a nasty plant that spits pellets at Mickey. You can kill it by throwing an Apple at it from two platforms away. Once this is all over, keep marching forward. You will encounter the Tree from earlier that you avoided, as well as a couple of Mushroom enemies. Stomp on all three of their heads with the Jump Attack move, which will lead you up to a higher platform, if you are holding over to the right. Collect the two Apples, and carry on. You will now encounter another one of those pesky Pellet Plants. Whenever I say a word that starts with a letter three times in a row, I feel like a cartoon character. Anyways... Destroy it(jump and throw the apple quickly) with one of the two Apples that you just picked back there, and continue along your journey. You will find three Mushrooms directly back to back to back[they don't have backs, they have roofs, but anyway see if you can hit them with a combo.] Next off, we have a Pellet Plant on a semi-high platform that you can walk under. Do so, or get DL of it, make a small jump up and ambush it. There will be a Tree enemy down here, as well as a Pellet Plant up above. Another jump and shoot should work here although you can also get close, wait for a pellet, and jump on the plant. Next there's a long jump where you can get three apples on the way down. [brief fade-out interlude] ----------------------------------------------- [fade back in] We will be thrown into battle with two Tree Enemies. Destroy them by jumping on top of their heads. After this, jump up the platform and begin walking towards the right but wait for them to fall down a platform. Now here you will have to jump across a series of long platforms and swing across a series of vines. You will encounter Leaf Birds, which can be killed by swinging into them from the vine, so don't worry about getting hit. In fact I like to swing back and forth once so that they either pass you or die. For jumping over the pits, just give it all you've got, moving in midair, and it should be no problem. To get on a vine stand on the edge of a platform and jump up just before the vine reaches the left end of its swing. Eventually you will get to an area with mouse ears to the right. That is an extra life, and it's not too tough to get to, actually. Just jump when you start on the upswing, and you'll land in the area below. You can also swing back and forth until you touch the mushroom, but even with it there it's an easy two jumps back up above it, and reckless jumping to get to the ears is not punished. Carry on, and we will soon encounter a slope that you must run down very quickly to avoid being crushed by the huge apples that come down from the trees. You can hide inside of the large crease in the ground and no get hit, or better yet you can just run right and when you hear rumblings, jump right and come back left and follow the apple down. Remember that these things will flow unlimitedlessly (hey, I made up a new word!), so you better get out of here quickly. Run to the exit(duck in the pit--and be pushing down--then jump right when the next apple rolls past to make sure of the timing,) and you should make it before another apple comes. [end stage one] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin stage two] At the start of stage two, we will fall down into the treetops, or so it seems, and through some spider webs. Icky. We will land on a few leaves, thankfully, so let us continue our mission by trailing to the right! Certain Leafs will carry you from one spot to another, so look out. The first leaf you jump down on will spin you over to another leaf. Jump onto it, and it will stay still. Jump down again, and the next leaf will take you to another area, so jump onto it. You will notice a Spider in the area. You can just wait for it to go up or jump on it(try not to shoot it unless you're really having trouble.) Now, we will soon find out that the leafs have sort of a pattern. The next leaf you jump onto will not take you to a new area, but the one after it will. The leaf after that will not carry you to a new area, but the one after this one will. See my point? You will also encounter another Spider enemy that you can easily avoid with foresight. If you are traveling on a leaf and a spider comes down, either jump immediately and try to land on top of the spider, or just duck. Climb up and collect the Star icon. A Bird Leaf will fly by, and you will notice another Spider to the right of you, followed by another one once you jump over to the next leaf. So be prepared to jump. Next you'll see four leaves next to each other. That Bird Leaf will probably still be in the area, as well as another Spider villain down below. Jump onto the first leaf, and although you can't duck to avoid the spider, there's no movement. You can wait to walk under, or just jump over it. A second Spider villain is located one leaf over from the last, so avoid him, as well as the Leaf Bird that appears, by jumping over to the next leaf, which moves right. You can collect the Star icon below, if you want to die. I didn't think so. So instead of dying for the Star icon, I suggest jumping over to the next leaf--it's a long jump, and then the leaf will move, so you may want to jump immediately again to land on the Spider villain. You can avoid the next Spider above him by simply not going near him, but bouncing on him means you won't have to make a huge long jump from the bottom leaf to the exit door. In this next area, we will be dropped from the sky into a more "nice forest" area. This is no forest ghetto, no sir. Actually, it just turned really dark. Hold me! [AHS: I didn't agree to *this* when I said I'd co- author the FAQ. Ahem.] Climb up the four tree branches whilst[AHS: it's too foreboding for poetry] collecting the Apple icons, and jump over to the next platform from here. Slide down, and jump during your descent, while you have momentum, to reach the tree branches to the right. A Ghost appears! Now I truly am scared! This was the Resident Evil before Resident Evil existed, I swear. [AHS: no it's not. Where are the hot babes with guns? Minnie Mouse wouldn't count even if armed.] But without them you could not get to the cave on the other side. You can use the Ghosts as platforms to reach new areas by bouncing off of their heads in order. If you happen to fall down from way up here, you will land around four ghostly Mushrooms. Just be sure to hold down C as you land, jump over them, and climb back up. Bounce off the five Ghosts' heads in succession, and you will land on two tree branches that contain goodies beyond your wildest dreams, including some Diamonds. Be sure not to run right when you land(tap the jump key instead) or you'll fall down the trunk. A careful jump should get you to the right side anyway. After you grab all of the goods, it's time for a pleasant little diversion. Jump downwards and walk over to the left. Go into the hole down below, and stomp onto all of the Mushrooms' heads. Follow to the left through the invisible wall that is right there, and you will find a whole bunch of Diamonds and other goodies inside! And when I say "a whole bunch," I mean A WHOLE BUNCH! After this, exit through the way you came in at (from above) and trail on over to the left again. Climb the tree yet again and bounce off of the Ghosts' heads again, as well. After you bounce as much as Tigger in Winnie The Pooh, alternating between trees and ghosts, you will reach a small tunnel area inside of the big rock. [Note that if you fall down, go back left, up and right. You may have to jump over a few mushrooms.] Go inside, and stomp a few of the Mushroom villains on the head as you make your way to the right. You may want to wait until they're on the right so it's easier to jump on them. Collect the Throwing Item Bag, and drop down. Ignore the lone ghostly Mushroom to the left, as he just leads back to the jumping trees, and fall down to pick up the extra Throwing Item Bag. By now, we have at least twenty extra Throwing Items, or in this level, Apples! Sweet deal! Keep going down, and you will see frozen Mushrooms that will not walk, but simply pop out from the ground or ceiling. You can avoid them by timing the way that you walk, or you can just throw apples/jump and throw to take out the bottom/top. After you walk through the whole Mushroom ordeal, continue to the left, and jump up onto the upper platform to reach another Throwing Item Bag. 30 Throwing Items (Apples) now! Wow, we are getting up there, especially if we had more than 20 just before. That's a bonus of 1000. You can go through another set of the frozen Mushrooms to the right, and drop down to find a Star icon, as well as a Bat villain. Jump slightly before you shoot the Bat with an Apple, and grab the icon. Make your way back up and to the right, and now drop down in the middle from here. Go to the left to end this stage, and begin your first boss battle! Good luck! [end stage two] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin boss battle] The first boss that you will encounter is the Faceless Tree. This thing used to scare me as a child, which probably proves as to why I am a huge sissy today. This boss looks extremely like the Tree boss in Kirby's Dream Land. There are two ways at him, and the most direct one involves using apples(be sure to have ten left.) [David's strategy:] The Face of the Tree will fly out of the stump of the tree and roll towards the left (towards your character, at that). You will have to jump over the Face of the Tree and land as far to the right as possible. The Face of the Tree will begin rolling back to the right, so jump back over. The best way to jump is to slightly tap the Jump Button. It is at this point that the Face will have caused an avalanche of acorns fallings down from the treetops! Ahhhhh!!! There will be around five acorns per hit from the Faceless Tree to drop down, and they will all be in a random order AND random in numbers. You must dodge the acorns by standing in between a set of them. You will also have to damage the Faceless Tree, which is something like you have to do against any boss in any game ever. SO, how about we damage him, right? When the acorns are falling, turn to the right and throw an Apple at the Face of the Tree. You will, sadly, have to do this around ten times. After you destroy the Faceless Tree, collect the Red Jewel. [Andrew's strategy:] Stay on the left. When the tree rolls over to you and is three body- lengths away, jump as high as you can. Wait for the acorns to fall. There are six slots where they can fall and it's possible they'll all be filled. But even so you have more than enough time to run right and bounce on top. Then you can run back left and jump against the left side. Wait for the acorns to fall, jump, and repeat. This seems to take fewer hits(5 or 6) but you do have to get in a bit closer. X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X IV.b ----------------------- TOY LAND X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X As we begin in Toy Land, we will be faced with a slight problem as we travel along to the right side of the screen, and that problem is the fact that the exit door is right there, but there's no... well... door! The frame for the door itself is there, sure, but we need an actual door to get through this stage, you know. We probably shouldn't have expected it to be easy. Begin jumping up to the left platform, and you will encounter some Nutcrackers in the region. These enemies are fairly easy. Just jump on top of their heads, and that will do them in. Generally you'll want to wait on the right side of the stairs and once they drop to the stair above you, jump up and over to on top of them. Begin climbing up the platform steps, killing the Nutcrackers along the way, and you will soon encounter a Jack In The Box enemy. A few, in fact. You can avoid them right now by jumping just after they retreat. If there are a couple in a row you can jump just when one below starts to appear, and that will destroy it. Once you're at one edge/top of the stairs you will usually need a running jump to get on the jack in the box square, but you can also jump on the jack in the box. After you get across the Jack In The Boxes (which you can also destroy using the Marbles, once you get some), begin climbing up the platforms on the right, and you will find two Nutcrackers. Pop the first by jumping on its head, and connect it to the second. From here, connect the second kill to a third with an Airplane enemy above. The Airplane enemies are almost identical to the Leaf Birds in the Forest level section of the game, but they are more annoying since they can often block jumps you need to make. Wait if need be for them to pass you by. Anyways, you can climb a few lone, floating platforms to the left to collect a Star icon in mid-air on the far left near the top. Jump back over to the right(hold C too just in case,) and continue climbing up towards the top. You will soon encounter more villains in the area, including two Jack In The Boxes that will lead you over to the left side of the screen. It's easiest to destroy the Jack In The Boxes by jumping on top of their head, using the Jump Attack, anticipating when the side one will bounce out. After you make your way over to the left side of the screen, you will find three Nutcrackers on top of the building block platforms. Destroy all three of them. Guess what we will encounter up on top of here? Yes, more Jack In The Boxes that lead to another area! Wow! How non-redundant and original! There will be three Jack In The Boxes lined up here, waiting for your arrival. Cross over them, destroying them along the way, and go straight up top. You will run into another Airplane along the way, and a Throwing Item Bag. At the end, grab the Star icon and jump down to the far right. Continue jumping along to the right, and stomp on the two separate Nutcracker villains, and make your way to the top. YES! MORE JACK IN THE BOXES! OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY! There will be three Jack In The Boxes towards the left, so jump across them carefully, and begin climbing the platforms yet again. Take out the Nutcracker that will begin coming down from towards the top. In fact, there will be three more Nutcracker villains that will soon follow from towards the top that you can eliminate all the way through to the top. Collect the Key at the top of the level, and BAM! The platforms are now slides. Slide all the way down, collecting the Diamonds along the way(for best results be sure to jump just before the slide ends. Points don't really matter, so don't worry too much, although for the last set of diamonds in the arc you can jump back right on the slide and then left to add to momentum,) and now you can not only see but also go through the exit door. [end stage one] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin stage two] As stage two begins, head over towards the right and quickly bounce up on the spring, and hug the left to reach the next set of platforms. You don't have to push jump to get the full bounce from the spring-- concentrate instead on getting onto the next level. Also try to make sure the jack in the box above has just popped back into the wall, just in case you didn't push far enough left. An airplane should fly by, but ignore it. Jump and blast the two yellow bricks above the base to make your way to a hidden power up. Jump up onto the spring at the left, which will take you over to the high platform to the right, if you go hard right. After this, keep on going to the right, and destroy the three lined up Nutcracker villains. After this, begin climbing the stack of platforms to the far right. You will soon encounter a Jack In The Box to the right, which will spring out and take up the space on the far right and the middle, so hug to the left. Speaking of the bricks, you will likely recognize these bricks from the widely known game Sonic The Hedgehog. The bricks to the left and right will move at the same time, and the middle brick will move in a different direction. Get on the middle brick, drop left when it's at the bottom(here you may wish to jump at first so you land on the jack in the box that may hit you in the middle,) get on to the next middle brick, and drop left when it's at the bottom. After you get through with the whole "brick" fiasco, jump onto the spring and hug to the right. This will take you into a hidden compartment that, after you blow away the bricks with your Marble throwing items, you can collect a Star icon in the bottom right that will heal you or get you a few more points. Just throw twice. Begin traveling over to the right, and destroy the two Nutcrackers by jumping on their heads. You may not want to do it right where the ceiling goes up, because an airplane will appear overhead and get you. After this, begin walking up the platforms. The airplane I warned you about is up above, and a big Jello mold to the right (Odd, I'm watching the E! True Hollywood Story on the Cosby Show right now. There's always room for Jello!). [AHS: Good lord, I hated that channel. You should get a small monthly refund for including it in your cable package. It made me gape for an hour or so before I pulled away from its spell and wondered why I watched that. Plus AJ Benza who hosts True Hollywood Story is a bona fide fartknocker. But now I'm thinking how long it's been since I had Pudding Pops. Mmm, Pudding pops. OK, I'll let you off the hook this time.] This big Jello mold is extremely tricky to get around. You will have to jump constantly to get through without sinking into it. If you do happen to get sunk into the Jello mold, you will kill Mickey Mouse instantly. On the way to the right, you will be faced with a few Airplanes that can crash into you, as well as some annoying Jack In The Boxes that are placed in between the Jello molds themselves. You can time things so you jump on the Jack in the Boxes, or you can wait until they're gone and then steer right for the jump onto solid ground. You can also save time by jumping onto an airplane and using the bounce to make it across the jello, but it is tough. Solid steady progress is good enouh. Now that we have reached the far right, you will have to jump onto the Sonic The Hedgehog bricks (yes, I know that is a very trite name to call them), go towards the left and collect the Throwing Items Bag, and blow down either brick to the left. Sorry, no hidden bonuses here. Continue along and climb the platforms. There will be a couple of Nutcrackers to the right, and a Clown to the left. The Clowns are a very dangerous enemy, simply because of the fact that they use pellets to juggle to hit you, if need be. So eliminate or jump over them as soon as possible. Sadly, the unicycle that they are on will run amuck, and help to destroy Mickey Mouse. It may come back to the left, too, so keep an eye on the right edge as you travel left. Hit the spring on the far left, and jump hard right to reach the higher platform. After this, carry on to the right. Kill the two Nutcrackers to the right, and blow the two bricks up(no bonuses here.) Now that this is over with, jump over the huge gap between the two platforms, and land safely. Blow away the two top bricks(the second gives power back,) and watch for the Jack In The Box square and any nasty surprises. Enter the Exit door. [end stage two] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin stage three] As we continue along our journey, Mickey must jump on two nutcrackers. Then up the stairs to get a bag of marbles(you should be getting 1000 bonuses for each one now) and watch out for the airplane behind as you drop. You can use the up/down arrow here to turn everything around although it takes a bit of time to get used to the, uh, perspective. If you don't there are three nutcrackers to take care of and in fact if you want to be slick, jump over the nutcrackers and the up/down, go right, wait for the clown to show, and go back left. Booyah! Monsters all gone- -that was easy. An airplane(walk under,) two nutcrackers and another clown you can use up/down on to reverse the screen to normal and get rid of it. Go up and down another platform. [Note: you don't need to worry about if the screen is inverted when you exit. It'll turn right side up for the boss fight.] There'll be nothing for a while and all of a sudden airplanes and nutcrackers and a clown will appear--along with an up/down you can and should jump for. Jump up/down to get to the ledge you can't reach by walking. There will be two bags of marbles there and a power up. Throw a marble left at the airplane and then get the star when it's gone. Go back left and 'drop' down. The next part is a bit tricky. The clown comes out with the nutcrackers and you may be best off just using the up/down to dispatch them. You can try to jump on them to get the star and the marble, but this is very hard. It's a better bet just to nail the clown and jump over the unicycle if you can't reach the up/down in time. Up/down stairs to another platform. Here there's an up/down above you can get to only by jumping on a nutcracker, and you can wait for that or just double back to jump over the clowns. Strangely the ones from behind are a bit less quick to deal with you, but even if you goof up your original jump you can bounce on one to get the other. Next up is a lightly gradated ramp with a drop on the right. Nutcrackers patrol this, but they shouldn't be a problem now. The next up/down will be between two clowns. Just keep marching through. There will be two marbles ahead in the place you don't need to jump to, but it's a dead end. So get them and then jump and eventually fall right. The last part has a star near the ceiling. Go under it and wait for a nutcracker to come, and use the bounce to get that star. The next star is over a platform and a relative freebie. This is all to prepare you for the boss fight next. [end stage three] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin boss battle] Here the best strategy is actually to run at the bad guy. If you are right next to him when he lands, then you can just duck and wait for him to punch out. Then when the boxing glove goes back into him, move a bit away so the corkscrew springs don't hit you. Jump on them and then butt bounce the boss, then jump to the side and duck again. Running away is a bad idea except at the beginning where you may need to avoid the first jump. You can also run under the bad guy to get away. There's more strategy in the villains section. You should know that the boss punches after two to three jumps. So you can just duck after the second landing. If the bad guy moves you can just run under where he was unless he's too far, then run away. In general you just want to avoid the corners to keep your mobility and avoid the trick-shots of the boss bouncing off the wall. X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X IV.c -------------------- DARK FOREST X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X Fewer scenes here, but the jumps are more treacherous, and there are some roadblocks that you can't just sacrifice a bit of power to get past. Here you can start off by going down the stairs. There'll be a secret door to the left, just like in the first forest. Lots of treasure and stuff to throw. You can then jump all the way back up and continue right. Now there will be pools ahead. You'll fall in them if you miss a jump or stay on a bridge too long, but it's not lethal unless you know how to navigate the fishes. The fishes generally tend to follow you, and the best strategy is to hit C(jump) to swim to the top and sneak under the fish. In pools you will try to find a stream that will kick you back to the surface. Ok, the debriefing's finished, so note across the first gap there are five mushrooms. They aren't that tough by themselves, but the problem is that a bat waits for you if you bounce too far right on the mushrooms, and he'll nail you. So, just to be careful, whenever you jump on a mushroom, don't go right while in the air. The first pit past this is the end of a gulf stream. When you get through one of these, incidentally, you get a big jump, and you can make use of it so you don't have to jump normally. A rope bridge is up next and if you fall through, just lure the fish to the top and then sink down to the stream below. It's the part where water replaces the lake floor. You'll wind up at the fountain you just passed. Be sure to run over the rope bridge although you can jump to comfort your paranoia of flying fish. The next gap also leads to the same lake, but it's a bit tougher to get out as you must go to the top, sink, go left, go to the top to distract the other fish to the left, and then sink down. So be sure to get a good jump over. Complicating things is that bats fly in from each way, but actually if you go to the edge and wait, they'll fly under, and then you can run back left a bit and make a running jump right. Next there's a fountain to jump over along with some mushrooms. The next bridge is not worth falling through as it leads to the previous fountain. You may want to jump halfway through to avoid the jumping fish, and then there are some mushrooms to take out. However the very next drop leads to the end of level via a long gulfstream, and you can just take that if you're not worried about seeing everything. In fact I find it the safest way, but I'll go on if you're interested in seeing it all. DETOUR IN SCENE 1 --------------------------- Make a long jump instead of falling in. The gap looks wide but there's a safety ledge below. It'll fall if you don't jump off quickly. The next jump is even trickier. You'll need to time the fish's ascent and bounce on it when you get to the other side. It's three seconds between fishes, and you'll want to jump a second before it appears on your screen. A fountain's in the next pit. The next drop and rope bridge lead to a nasty lake, so jump onto and off the bridge. Now you will have to jump on the mushroom to get to the ledge at the top where the two stars are. You'll slide into the lake, so just stay at the surface then veer downwards when the fish get near. From the fountain you'll again need to time your jump as before, except you're going the other way. There's another jump like that to the left before you can just fall left and take the gulf stream to the end of the level. [end stage one] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin stage two] NOTE: you can be under a platform and jump through and onto it, even if it looks solid and harmful. Start walking right. Then duck at the waterfall to avoid one bat and when the next appears, jump. Then there's some UL jumping to do on platforms(3 to be precise) and a long walk right. Then you can just walk right to fall down the platform. Keep a head up for a bat to jump over. He'll come from the right. Then two jumps up will get you to another long platform. There's a bat to the left and you'll want to jump up near the platform to trigger him. Don't land until your next jump. Then jump up again. Jump across the two waterfalls and you'll see a bag to pick up. The next waterfall will damage you, so wait for it and then half-heartedly jump past the next one or a bat may damage you. Two very long jumps get you past the next big waterfall, then a short jump down right gets you inside the next. Your vision is obscured here but your purpose shouldn't be. Drop down until you're right of the waterfall. Now you'll have a bunch of precision jumps. When Mickey's over the narrow platforms, just stop pushing right, and hit C to 'jump' when he lands. It will stabilize him, and he won't slide off. Here you'll need a bit of faith and judgement as to when he is lined up for some of the jumps down(don't worry, you've got a decent window, but I should mention you only want to hold right for 3/4 of the way.) The jumps up require more quickness but less faith. Again even if you miss a jump when you let go of the left/right there is a platform below that you can catch so you can try again. Well, the first time you miss, anyway. When there is a wide platform to the right, beware of the big waterfall coming your way. Near the top you will have a well earned power up. Get it, then jump right. Soon you'll see platforms as wide as Mickey himself! Just keep jumping. Four jumps, back to narrow platforms, four jumps and watch out for that damaging waterfall! Once it's gone, jump to the exit. [end stage two] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin stage three] Here you have to time your runs on the bottom so the water doesn't push you back, which will damage you and force you to try again. You can get a bit of a head start trying to fall into shallow water(blue and white crest showing only,) but you'll have to use a lot of patience here. Run right and duck the bat once you get to the rightmost tile on your platform. Jump over to the next one, and when the water subsides, run right and jump onto the next platform. Duck to avoid the bat. Then, drop and jump onto the very narrow platform and wait some more. Here's a tough jump. You'll get some marbles but you'll probably have to jump before you reach the platform and hope you 1)don't hit your head and 2) get far enough to the right. It may take two cycles of waves to get to the high narrow platform past the waterfall with the star. Once you do, wait for the water to show blue and white and drop right. Run right and you'll probably need a running jump to make it to the next platform. This is the toughest jump, and you'll also want to duck if you land to avoid the bat. From here there are three not too hard jumps. The last platform ahead is bogus. There's no way to reach it. Instead you can just wait for the water to subside and jump right. You get a bit of a break with this as if you catch the edge, the game gives you the benefit of the doubt. [end stage three] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin boss battle] Here a fish will jump out, bounce around, and punch at you. It's similar to the second boss, but it will punch on the ground, so ducking is out. Also the fish is smaller than the other boss. Maybe you can jump on him? The basic solution is pretty simple. Jump whenever you see the fish and are close and he is at the top of his jump. Move in close and you should get a hit in. Five or so and the statue, which reduces each time you hit a fish, is toast. Oops, I mixed my food groups, but you get my point. The trick is to have a buffer between when the fish jumps two times and when he jumps three. Now there are a few things to note: you really need to get on top of the fish, so that means you will Also the fish's range is not so great, so you can probably run under and away from him. It's important to note that if things go awry they can get slippery(bad pun) quickly and the best strategy I find is to retreat and wait for the fish to bounce towards you. Then after he's punched, run at him and when he's at the top of his jump(which may be his second,) nail him. A quick way to do things(but not always successful) is to note the fish can be nailed with the following waits: Stay at the third full tile in, jump up and tilt right when you hear the 'boing' that signifies the fish has been sent out Repeat twice more. Move to the second tile and wait a half-second after the noise. Move to the first and wait a second and a half. There's some break after you kill a fish, so you can position yourself based on this data(just notice how many pieces of the statue are left. There are five total) and restabilize if one fish in particular gives you trouble. X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X IV.d -------------- LIBRARY AND RIVER X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X The music gets a bit annoying here, and so do some of the jumps. The first few are easy, but on the other side of the jumps, just run past the A's and then pay attention to where the slugs are. It's best to wait until the one to the right on the books between the jars is at the left of his patrol. Then you'll enter a milk bottle with a small jump(jump against it and hold right and you'll get in.) This leads to a Willy Wonka sort of area. Jumping in the river takes one power away but also vaults you in the air for a quick try again. [end first library scene] -------------------------------- [begin first river scene] The first jump is standard, but the next needs accuracy. Watch where the cupcake bobs up and down, and jump on it. Don't worry about it sinking. Mickey won't be damaged by it. To land safely, Mickey should be between two cakes in the background. There's another intuitive jump(you can jump while the platforms are bobbing down so you can see it) and then a running jump right will get you on a stable platform. Another jump right but now you have gummi dolphins to contend with. When the one is about to land in the water, run right and jump over it. When Repeat for the next(see the dolphin about to fall) but do get a running start. Jump onto the bridge, which will collapse, and it may be safest to jump across it. Another stable platform with bobbing cupcakes ahead. You know the drill but the specifics merit attention. The first jump is no problem but the second needs your full jump. Again don't worry too much about getting hit once here if you're at full power, although perfectionists will want to make a jump as the dolphin is about to descend into the water. For the third jump, once it's passed overhead, jump to solid ground with all you've got. There's another bridge after a short jump, but it's just wobbly. Still jump through it and be prepared to butt bounce. On the other side after another platform and collapsing bridge, sugar wafer platforms go in circles. Don't worry about the apples too much although they're not hard. Note that Mickey can go into the water while on the platform if you miss your timing. First jump can be after you got the third apple. Then you can circle for two more and jump as the wafer goes straight up to get the third. Then jump right as the wafer goes right to get the next apple. A surprise: a green gem without even a boss fight! Congratulations. You're 4/7 of the way there. [end first river scene] -------------------------------- [begin second libary scene] It's all a bit tougher the second time around. For the first time you have to go LEFT to get somewhere. That slug is again a nuisance. Wait 'til he's come right and jump on him, then bounce UL and then to the platform up top. Grab the rope but beware. It's a light cord, and the place will go dark. Swing back and forth on each light cord to get rid of airplanes flying around, and make a big jump to land. Jump once you're on solid ground, too. The shelf is going to give way under you. Now there are some tricky jumps, an airplane to avoid, a slug to wait for. You'll want to try to catch the edge of the ledge with the second slug, and be sure to hold the C button down. There's not much wiggle room, and if you're hit, don't sweat it. You'll get it all back. There's an UR jump to a section with falling books. Don't stop running right except to jump over the one gap so you don't get stuck in a rut. (If you do, then duck.) An UL jump from the green book gets you to the next platform. Now you can wait for the slugs to come right, or you can speed left and quickly tap C three times to get rid of them. I prefer the first choice. Once past them, jump onto the teacup and then take a jump right...unless you want to try for some bonus diamonds inside the teacup. [BEGIN TEACUP # 1 DIAMOND DETOUR] ----------------------------------- Here you can let Mickey float right while at the top(hit C a bunch,) and you might have to wait for one of the blocks to move down before the first cluster of diamonds. Tap C a couple times so you don't sink too fast to get them. Now there's a problem ahead: a block just stays in your way! Here you can just go under(the screen will scroll down a bit) and get the diamonds from below. Follow the box that had guarded them and steer right quickly once you've gotten them all. The other boxes shouldn't be tough to navigate. The teacup will be closed now. [END TEACUP # 1 DIAMOND DETOUR] ----------------------------------- From the teacup, long jump right and then run left and jump. You must be halfway off the platform for this to 'take.' Hold left. If it works you'll get a bad of items, but if not there's little risk in retrying besides frazzled nerves. Two UR jumps later, you'll want to UL jump and hit C to bounce on the slug. The next part is tricky. I like to jump and fire an apple at the slug to the UR, then jump with the coast(wait, the water scenes are close, but, oh never mind) clear. Dropping down means you have to do it over again, but there's some nice treasure there. So you may want to just jump and drop hard right. DECAFFIENATED BONUS STUFF DETOUR -------------------------------- Take the rope right and jump on the two slugs after you jump off. Run past the four A's and you'll find a power up to the right. Wait for the plane to pass overhead. Drop down the first gap back and jump on the slug. Then drop right being careful of enemies directly below and start running right. The door will take you to a secluded area. In this secluded area you will want to jump on the A's before they approach(they leap at you when a certain horizontal distance away regardless of how high you are in the air) and then you can jump on the slugs above. Don't worry if the slugs hit you. You can knock them out and get the power up there for a net gain. Plus you can also get the sack of marbles. Be sure to hit C on the way down, then make your way back up. Run past the letters, jump on the slugs, and go back to the apple(up and left.) Be sure to let the A's on the bottom come back right before running under them, and run quickly up and left to avoid the ones above. Fortunately taking the light cord triggers the apple. BACK TO BUSINESS ---------------- As you go down the slope, jump so that the plane doesn't touch you. At the bottom you can enter the teacup if you want. [BEGIN TEACUP # 2 APPLE DETOUR] ----------------------------------- Sink to the bottom. Mickey won't drown there. Once near an apple, wait to see the box guarding it. When the box goes up, tap C and push right. That's three apples. Continue along the bottom. When under the first of the other three apples, swim up to get it, then push right. The last apple may be closely guarded by a box, so go left and right quickly to wait for that. Glide along the bottom and leave. [END TEACUP # 2 APPLE DETOUR] ----------------------------------- You can either jump over the jars to where the slug is, jumping when he's not at the edge, or wait for the letters to walk by under the jars and run. Either way there's another milk bottle beyond. [end second library scene] -------------------------------- [begin boss fight scene] This next boss may spring up from any of four places. You can bounce on his head at any time although he does tend to pull away rather quickly. There are three platforms that you can stand on, with four places the dragon can attack from, covering more than a screen. I just go to the second left. Now the bad guy has several moves. He can come over two platforms quickly, or he can loop in the air in a circle. If you are in the center then there are two attacks you can nail: the looping one from either side. If the monster seems to peek out quickly and run at you, just jump. You should get through this way, but in fact there's even a quicker way to go about things. The boss has a pattern. far left : center left: far right : far left : center right : repeat After the serpent goes back into the water, jump on a platform next to where he will come up. Then take a leap of faith, hold C, and nail him. Repeat. Up another flight of stairs to the last room. X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X IV.c -------------------- DARK CASTLE X=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=+=--=X The first and third holes to drop through don't lead anywhere. Take the second. You can clear out the knights on top and pick off candles as you bounce off their heads, and it's good enough for practice, but it can be a bit tedious. Watch for the spikes they throw and try to jump just after they have done so. Jumping down the middle, you can take a detour right. Go to the third- bottom stair and then follow the knights AFTER they turn right. Combo- jump them to get to the narrow passage above. There are four candles(to throw) and two power stars there. The knights won't be waiting when you return. Off to the left are falling blocks. Walk briefly under the first and back out. As it's going up, walk in further to tip off the second. Then when both crash and fall, run through to the left. The last two blocks will be a bit late. Go down the stairs, but jump at the last one to get past the knight that will chop down at you. Another set of blocks above. Here 2 and 4 don't come down, so just tease 1, 3 and 5 to drop(get just to the right) and slowly make it through. The next set of blocks is even easier. Get right of 1 and when it goes back up, run through. Jump a bit before the stairs so you don't stumble and get clipped by the last block. Drop down on the platform. Just wait a bit. If someone seems to be throwing a mace below you, jump. Jump onto the next platform and run after the big bowling ball. Jump after it as it comes back. Then jump up after the knight has thrown his weapon and shoot him. Do the same for the one to the upper right. Now go down the slide. Put the brakes on and go left so you don't fall in the water. Then jump left onto the slide and jump right over the gap. Another bowling ball. Follow it and duck into the second hole and then jump right. There are solid ledges above you that will fall with your weight. Avoid them at first. Jump and shoot the nearest knight, get on the ledge and fire right, and then jump left onto the next one. From there you can either jump left, get the diamonds, jump right(you won't make it to the next area) and stand on the edge below, jumping UL to start and pulling right. Or you can just jump right and forget about the diamonds. There are four torches you can jump up for to the right, and then you don't have to bounce on the bubbles but they can get you to the upper right of this area. It doesn't seem to hold anything, though. Fall right and then push left as the platform goes down. You'll land safely, away from the water. Now there are three platforms that will sink, but four quick jumps that will do the trick. On the other side two knights will greet you. Jump up to 'greet' them back. On the next part the bubbles are annoying especially since the platforms on the pool will sink, so don't worry about taking one damage. Bouncing on the bubbles is in fact equally nasty as you can hit the ceiling and head down too quickly. The water is death, but the bubbles are just damage. So just push left quickly. Beyond the wobbly bridge(where you'll want to jump as bats come by) you'll find the next gem. Yay! [end stage one] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin stage two] Mickey's swimming as you start out. Go down and right. Mickey has a choice. The bottom and center are a loop so take the passage up. Drop down at the end as a fish will follow behind! Next you can go on the middle path to get some fireballs(return the same way to avoid fish,) or you can go to the bottom to get on with it. After your second close call, swim up to the top. Note that Mickey's speed varies. That's because of the current. The bubbles show which way the current is going. [end stage two] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin stage three] Get ready for some heavy duty platforming. Jump over the first pile of bricks and then onto the second gear with the platforms. You'll hit your head if you go under them so wait at the bottom of the gear and time your jump. Move right onto the platform if you want. Now you'll need to jump UR to the toothed gear. The bat shouldn't get in your way for the first few revolutions of your gear, but once you jump you'll need to make a couple of other jumps UR onto the rotating flat gear, which won't fall. If you do fall, the gears will reappear when you jump back up, but it's a bit of a hassle. Next are four up-left jumps in quick succession back as you came. The stakes are higher if you fall(no damage, just tedium) so jump precisely. You have a bit of time to get a running start but don't push it. On the final jump, hold left even if you run into the ceiling of where you'll wind up. The plungers are easy to get past. The first drops down, then the second, so sneak under the first and wait for the second to come back up. The second set, just wait 'til they're both up. More gear jumping is next, but with a twist. Avoid bumping your head with a jump(try running left to get on the first gear.) It will push you left once you're on it, and if you get stuck on the side, jump right quickly twice. The next gear pushes you right but you may want to go right first and pick up the power ups. You'll need to jump off it and onto the circling platforms above. The best time to jump from the gear is when one platform is at the bottom, but you also want to time things so that dorky bat doesn't nail you. Of course you'll need to jump onto the gear when the circling platform is at 4:30 or so(DR.) Now there's a power up to the upper left(two simple jumps that way) but you'll probably wind up falling back down, so you may want to pass it. The next task is to land on the pendulum above to the right. It's tricky and you may just want to lay off when it is floating around. Let your intuition guide you and try to jump while it's at the far right and to land on the far left. Don't twist in mid-air. From there it's three quick jumps to another flat gear, where you don't get a total break as bats tend to come flying by. Watch for them from the right. Jump up-right and then take four up-left jumps. Again you'll need to veer left while and after you can't. The plungers are easy to avoid as they work in unison. The bats aren't. Make sure you're clear of them before jumping. After you can jump UL and UR to get two power-ups. Then you can jump left three times to get to another flat gear. Then left, don't worry about getting thrown into the wall until the coast is clear, and then three right jumps. Past the synchronized plungers. Four jumps right, of the sort you should find easy now. Watch for the bat just before you hit the multicolored door. [end stage three] ---------------------------------------------------- [begin boss fight] This boss is a guy with a bad bowl haircut and a knife. What's worse, he can block you almost at will. He tends to be a bit slow on the attack, though, and he can't do two things at once. So here's the solution. Get close to him(watch out early on. He jumps. You may just want to go right a bit and wait to see how he gets near.) Watch his facial expression. When he bares his teeth, jump up, and when you're above him, push right. Be sure to have tapped C(it's easy to forget, but do it on the way up,) and he'll take a hit. Move to the other side and repeat. The key is not to move in too close initially and not to push right in your jump too soon. Note the boss's face gets redder as he takes more hits. Eight should do it. FINAL FIGHT: MIZRABEL ------------------------------------------------- Mizrabel is tough to figure out, and in fact if you don't realize you can bounce on her missiles, she seems impossible. Her activity is as follows: 1) buzz around a bit 2) land on one of four locations in a diamond 3) pulse a thick shield in and out three times 4) release missiles in a hexagon First of all you can get a quick hit in on her by jumping UR and UL and UR and waiting on the small ledge. Stand on the left and when she releases her missiles(you'll need to learn to anticipate this,) jump right and push C to bounce on her. Then go back up to one of the side ledges. If she appears there, move quickly away and otherwise just jump over to a good poaching point. You can use the topmost ledges to get from one side to the other but if she appears on top there's nothing to be done. Just skulk on the side and jump if she fires anything that might hit you. If she's on the sides then you can get close to her and jump on the shield continually(stand a bit inward from her though) and when she shoots missiles, move directly on top of her and push C. Then get on a ledge and wait for the next place she shows up. She should take five hits. Watch the finale: she turns into an old lady who's only too happy to give Mickey and Minnie the broom to get out. The mice dance. Minnie kisses Mickey, who falls down in the field. Credits scroll. We see 'the end' and a movie theater. One mouse in the front has a bow. It's Minnie. She and Mickey turn around and wave at you. ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION V. - VILLAINS ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: Here you will find a combined list of all of the enemies inside of the game. The boss strategies are in the respective sections in the walkthrough. >---------------------< > NAME OF VILLAIN < >---------------------< > STAGE THEY ARE IN < >---------------------< ======================= >---------------------< > AIRPLANES < >---------------------< > TOY LAND < >---------------------< The Airplane enemies are a lot like a Toy Land version of the Leaf Birds in the Forest level section of the game. Because they bob up and down, they can be a bit annoying. Just wait until they are heading down, and you should be able to jump on them. They'll turn into decent springboards. But if that doesn't look practical, and you don't need to go up, jump and shoot them. >---------------------< > BATS < >---------------------< > VARIOUS < >---------------------< The Bats are the second extremely annoying Villain that you will encounter in the game (the first being the Clowns). These guys are tough to kill with the Jump Attack, so I suggest jumping and throwing items at them. Or just ducking. They don't buzz back at you if they pass over. >---------------------< > BUTTERFLIES < >---------------------< > VARIOUS < >---------------------< The butterflies appear in the forest, when you are swinging on vines. If you manage to swing from one to the next easily, they will just die when you swing past them. Otherwise you may want to jump in the air when they're about at eye level as they tend to flutter down quickly. >---------------------< > CLOWNS < >---------------------< > TOY LAND < >---------------------< The Clowns are the first really annoying enemy that you will face off with in the game, because they juggle bouncy balls that can hurt Mickey. They are like plants, but mobile. They are not that hard to defeat with the Marbles, though, although you will want to do so from a distance, as you must watch for the unicycle they were riding. It will come after you and then bounce around from in back. Note that their unicycles will also kill enemies, so you may just want to throw and jump. Also if there is a wall nearby, the unicycle will bounce off it and come back at you, so be warned. Clowns generally know when to fire at you, too. If you try to jump over them too soon, they'll release a shot. When they're about three body lengths away, jump over and at them. This should work if you're out of ammo(be sure to get the timing right, though.) The up/down arrows will probably work best to get rid of them of all the methods, since both entities only appear in one scene. >---------------------< > SKELETON FISH < >---------------------< > DARK CANYON < >---------------------< Skeleton fish are very annoying and will jump out at you. Fortunately they only appear on the right part of the bridge, and you can just jump up in the air to avoid them. They will also chase after you if you go underwater. You can fake them out with the C button(swim up) and then floating down and going under them. They're more annoying than dangerous if you know how to exercise caution. >---------------------< > FACELESS TREE < >---------------------< > FOREST < >---------------------< The first boss that you will encounter is the Faceless Tree. This thing used to scare me as a child, which probably proves as to why I am a huge sissy today. This boss looks extremely like the Tree boss in Kirby's Dream Land, in that you must attack his face with Apples. The Face of the Tree will fly out of the stump of the tree and roll towards the left (towards your character, at that). You will have to jump over the Face of the Tree and land as far to the right as possible. The Face of the Tree will begin rolling back to the right, so jump back over. The best way to jump is to slightly tap the Jump Button. It is at this point that the Face will have caused an avalanche of acorns fallings down from the treetops! Ahhhhh!!! There will be around five acorns per hit from the Faceless Tree to drop down, and they will all be in a random order AND random in numbers. You must dodge the acorns by standing in between a set of them. You will also have to damage the Faceless Tree, which is something like you have to do against any boss in any game ever. SO, how about we damage him, right? When the acorns are falling, turn to the right and throw an Apple at the Face of the Tree. You will, sadly, have to do this around ten times. After you destroy the Faceless Tree, collect the Red Jewel. [AHS's non-sissy strategy:] I found a quick and safe way to beat up the tree-head by jumping on it. Go to the left side and jump up when the head is rolling towards you as a log, three body widths away. Stay over at the left and see where the acorns fall. If a lot fall on the left, you can jump over them to get a head start but in fact you can just wait for them to fall, run, and jump/butt bounce of the tree head. Then you can run right, jump when the log rolls near to you, and repeat the process. It should take five hits. I can't fully recommend staying in the center because sometimes acorns will fall through all six slots they possibly can, and you'll take a hit then. >---------------------< > JACK IN THE BOX < >---------------------< > TOY LAND < >---------------------< The Jack In The Box is a tricky enemy that appeared, in one form or another, in practically every single platformer from 1988-1992. Here they will pop out of boxes labeled with a question mark, regardless of if you are standing atop of it or not. Fortunately they peek their heads out first, and you have time to jump on where they were. Jack in the boxes come in two flavors: sideways and upwards bouncers. For the sideways ones you can jump on their heads and get a bounce. But you can't touch the spring or you take damage. >---------------------< > JACK IN THE BOX MAN < >---------------------< > TOY LAND BOSS < >---------------------< This is the second boss, and he's not a total duffer, but fortunately there is a good procedure to beat him. He will bounce two or three times and then these four springy stools will burst from him. You must jump on them and butt-bounce his head. Repeat several times, and you'll have won. Mickey has many safe ways to avoid this bouncing gift box. First, if Mickey's near the edge, he can run under the box. He can also run away. The key to running, though, is that Mickey will want to position himself very close to the box-man after the second bounce. Then he will duck. If the box-man punches, let Mickey cower until the glove comes back in and the springs come out. Otherwise let Mickey run under the Box-Man's jumping path and duck again when he's safe. Mickey's jump should be such that, when he bounces, he moves far away from the box-man. Otherwise Mickey may be caught by the jump attack. The box-man's first jump should get him close to Mickey, and you should calculate running under the box-man(if you're close to the edge) vs. staying on the same side and ducking. >---------------------< > MUSHROOM < >---------------------< > VARIOUS < >---------------------< The Mushrooms usually tend to flock around in groups as they would be totally easy alone. These enemies are extremely easy to destroy. Just use the Jump Attack and you can probably take a few out in a row. The only times they can be dangerous are 1) when you are falling a long distance. Hold C so you don't get a surprise damage when you hit the ground. 2) when you are in a narrow corridor. Wait for them to get VERY close and bounce. Don't try for multiple hits here. >---------------------< > NUTCRACKER < >---------------------< > TOY LAND < >---------------------< The Nutcrackers are one of the first enemies that you will spot inside of Toy Land, and despite their height advantage to Mickey himself, they are actually prone to a good Marble throwing, and not to mention the fact that you can stomp them out with the Jump Attack, too! When they are on the stairs coming down Mickey will probably want to stand on the edge, but he jumps so high that anyone with the timing and moves of even a Carleton Banks should get Mickey to bounce on them easily. You can also do combo butt bounce jumps on these guys. >---------------------< > PELLET PLANT < >---------------------< > FOREST < >---------------------< The Pellet Plants can be found in the Forest section of the game, and you really are better off not using the Jump Attack move on them. It is possible, but you need good timing. And you'll need to move in slowly. Pellet Plants will spit pellets into the air to hit you. Use the Apples from a distance on their roots to kill them, or without any Apples, you may wish to sneak under them and jump and knock them out. Some have annoying positions where you'll have to fire at them on the jump. >---------------------< > SPIDER < >---------------------< > FOREST < >---------------------< The Spiders are a nasty enemy that you will first encounter in the second stage of the Forest. In fact, they are the only enemy that you will find in that stage, but they are tough customers to the uninitiated. Spiders move up and down on their strands, hanging from their webs. An apple should take them out, but you can duck and wait for them to go back up, too. If you're really impatient or confident, or if your leaf moves you on a collision course, you can jump on them and kill them from above. The bounce from this can propel you through the level quite rapidly. >---------------------< > TREE < >---------------------< > FOREST < >---------------------< The Trees in the game are the very first Villains that you will spot. They can be easily destroyed by using the Jump Attack technique. Just be sure to watch out for when they randomly jump up high and into the air, though. In other words, as you start your descent, hold down the 'C' button. And if they are on the ledge above you, wait for them to drop down, so they have no chance of out-jumping you. >---------------------< > DARK KNIGHT < >---------------------< > CASTLE < >---------------------< Dark knights fire small morning stars at you. But they have a set pattern and so they can be attacked from behind. Plus they only fire at certain intervals. ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION VI. - ITEMS ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: In this section, you will find a complete list of every item (including the level-themed ones) in the entire game. Take a load off and enjoy. APPLE ------< The Apple is the first version of the throwing objects in the game. After you collect one of these items, you can throw it at villains or objects. DIAMOND --------< The Diamond is a proudly charmed jewel that many seek, and it will give you lots of really nice bonus points for picking one up (or walking/jumping into it, whatever your 16-Bit logic may be). [AHS: even two-bit logic will tell you these aren't important but for special effects. They do tell you how far along you are in the game. They are: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.] KEY ----< There are a few keys in this game to collect. They will unlock the exit doors for a few stages. MARBLE -------< The Marble is the second version of the throwing objects in the game. After you collect one of these, you can throw it at villains or objects. It's not fundamentally different from the Apple. CANDLE -------< It's the sequel to the marble, with the same use. It just looks more orange. MOUSE EARS -----------< The Mouse Ears are a simple item that you will run into every now and then that will give Mickey Mouse an extra try (or extra life, for platforming purists.) STAR -----< Collect Stars and you will be rewarded with an extra health point. They appear in out-of-the-way areas and you can have up to five red dots(health.) Stars won't protect you from falling, though, and some are put in a void area to trick you. THROWING ITEM BAG ------------------< The Throwing Item Bag contains ten throwing items designed for each individual level section (i.e. Apples in the Forest, Marbles in Toy Land, etc.) You can have up to thirty items to throw. UP/DOWN ARROW --------------< This causes your enemies to turn upside-down and is only used in the one toy scene. They are all vanquished, and you get points for it. You just need to adjust to seeing the screen turn upside down. You can also retreat and activate the arrow again, something you usually don't see with items in this game. A NOTE ON RETREATING IN GENERAL --------------------------------< Enemies reappear when you move back, but power up items don't. ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION VII. - POINTS ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: Points are pretty straightforward. You get 200 for each bad guy that's not terribly harmful and 300 for each that has an attack. 200: most mushrooms, airplane, soldiers, airplane, jack in box 300: dark knights Clowns give 400, and their cycles give 100. You get 1000 points for finding a power up and having power at 5 as a result. You get 1000 points if you achieve 30 items, your maximum. Bosses are worth 10000, and you get a 10000 clear bonus just after. Mizrabel is worth 50000. Technical points depend on the power you have left. 1 - 1000 2 - 2000 3 - 3000 4 - 4000 5 - 10000 Secret bonus can be from 0 to 30000. It depends on the diamonds and power ups you find. Extra mice at 40000, 90000, and every 50000 thereafter. ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION VIII. - CREDITS ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: First off, I would like to thank the wonder Jeff "CJayC" Veasey, despite the fact that Microsoft Word NEVER wants to leave that "J" in "CjayC" capitalized. See what I am saying? [AHS: bet you don't like that stupid Paperclip as office assistant either. P.S. Tools:Auto Correct provides options to turn nonsense link this off. Use your knowledge wisely. Power to the People. And may your Lucky Charms have disproportionately many of your favorite marshmallow color.] Secondly, I would like to thank Stephen Ng over at IGN.com for his constant support and the like. He is a great man. I would also like to thank my girlfriend, Valerie Meerschaert. She recently became an FAQ writer, so look up her FAQ from her contributor name, QuarterLifeCrisis. She finally got a job since moving here, and this place is extremely dull and boring without her, hence why I decided to write this FAQ/Walkthrough. [AHS: and go on to leave me to pick up the pieces :).] I miss you when you're gone, honey. Thanks goes out to Seth (HangMe2002) and Steve McFadden (Psycho Penguin) for providing me with some competition on the FAQ/Walkthrough. This helped me strive to make a great product, which I truly believe I have done with this FAQ. Thanks guys! Thanks to Sega for creating such awesome games, much like this one, on the Sega Genesis. Boy, that was an awesome system. I highly suggest checking out games like Cyborg Justice, Atomic Robo-Kid, and Alex Kidd. These are some great titles for this valued system. [AHS: Rolo to the Rescue is awesome, too. Well, the Genesis had a lot of good ones--even the lame ones looked cool.] Lastly, thanks to an awesome musical act, Café Tabuca. They are a Spanish band that does not have a U.S. release, however, if you enjoy obscure pop music, I highly recommend importing their albums from a record store online. They rock! [AHS] First, eighties music, eighties music. And another thanks to sWicky for the ASCII art, something on which I am clueless. And to CJayC for the whole GameFAQs site thing deal, without which I would not have met people like David or been able to explore so many systems in-depth. It's helped structure my writing and ideas in general. There are also the usual suspects that are named in some of my other guides. Thanks to David of course for offering this game as a part-FAQ. I think I used it to get me motivated for other projects, big and small, FAQing and non- FAQing. Thanks to the GENS emulator too which helped me pinpoint the timing for some of the tougher jumps and fights and probably saved me lots of anguish in other ways, too. ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: ::: ::: ::: ::: SECTION IX. - DISCLAIMER ::: ::: ::: ::: ::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---::---:: This document is Copyright 2003 David McCutcheon and Andrew Schultz. It may not be reproduced nor retransmitted in any form. It may not be altered, published, sold, given as an incentive to buy, etc. without advance permission from the author. Violation of the above terms can and will result in a lawsuit. Thank you.