David Crane's "The Rescue of Princess Blobette" FAQ version 2.0 (8/12/2001)

by Mike Messersmith ([email protected])  Please send me any changes or
additions you might have.  Enjoy!


**********************
Contents

0.1 Changes in this version of the FAQ
1.0 Story
1.1 Characters
2.0 How to Play
2.1 Controls
2.2 Jelly Beans
3.0 Quick Walkthrough
4.0 Other Stuff
5.0 Acknowledgements for additions


**********************
1.0 Changes in this version of the FAQ
There are a lot of changes as it turns out I found and exploited a bug to beat
the game rather than play it the intended way.  I've added an "INTENDED WAY"
section as well as kept the original way I found to beat it (now called "THE
BUGGY WAY").  See the acknowledgements below for those responsible for setting
me straight.


**********************
1.0 Story

Princess Blobette has been captured and is locked in a cage high above
a pot of boiling water.  It's up to the Boy and his Blob to work together with
a bunch of different flavored jellybeans to solve various puzzles and free
Blobette!  There are also 19 treasures scattered about the castle, pick up as
many as possible while you're at it.


**********************
1.1 Characters

Boy - yep, that's his name, simply "Boy".  He is the character you control
     throughout the course of the game.  He can only run left or right, he
     can't jump or duck at all.

Blob - Your trusty Blob and quite reminiscent of Shmoo (for you Hanna Barbera
      fans).  Blob follows you wherever you go and helps you by morphing
      into different objects when you feed him different flavor jelly beans.

Blobette - The princess.  Someone decided it was a good idea to have a boiled
          blob and put her high above a boiling pot in a cage.  It's your job
          to set her free and reunite Blob with her.

Jumping Worm - These things jump back and forth and will kill you immediately
              if you touch them.  I believe they are invincible.  On a side
              note, these move very much like the poison frogs from Pitfall II
              which is also by David Crane...


**********************
2.0 How to Play

"The Rescue of Princess Blobette" is an action/puzzle game.  To solve puzzles,
you have to feed different flavors of jelly beans to Blob to morph him into
other objects.  Some puzzles are fairly obvious whereas others are just plain
frustrating and nutty.  Each treasure is worth points, but they are apparently
useless otherwise.  You can easily finish the game without ever getting most of
them.


**********************
2.1 Controls

Control in this game is a little squirrelly and you frequently have to be super
careful to not kill Boy by running off the edge of something.

Left/Right - Makes Boy run left or right.  Once you start running, he will gain
             momentum and slide a ways to stop.  You can press the opposite
            direction to stop him too.  This will also allow him to move a
            little while in mid air at the peak of a jump.

Up - Normally will do nothing, but when used in conjunction with some of Blob's
    forms it will make you move up the screen.  Examples are when you're on
    the trampoline, keep pressing up and you will continue to jump higher.
    You can also climb Blob as a ladder and move up when in Blob as a bubble.

Down - More or less the same as up, but in the opposite direction.

A Button - Throw Blob a jelly bean.  If Blob is in some form that you can hold
          and you're holding him, this button will drop or throw him.

B Button - Whistle for Blob to make him come to you.  If Blob is morphed, this
          button will tell Blob to turn back into a blob.

Select - Cycles through the different flavored jelly beans you have in
        inventory.

Start - Pause the game

NOTE:  A+B+START+SELECT does not reset the game.


**********************
2.2 Jelly Beans

These are listed in the order they cycle in the game.  You will not start the
game with all of these.

Punch = Hole
Mint = Ice
Licorice = Ladder
Strawberry = Bridge
Coconut = Coconut
Cola = Bubble
Banana = Monkey Wrench
Apple = Jack
Lime = Key
Vanilla = Umbrella
Tangerine = Trampoline
Root Beer = Rocket
Honey = Hummingbird
Ketchup - When you throw it, Blob will warp to wherever it lands.


**********************
3.0 Quick Walkthrough

Try everything everywhere - you'd be surprised at some of the funky things
this game has in store for you.

Room where you start - Use a tangerine to turn blob into a trampoline.  Jump on
the trampoline (hold up while doing this) and after 3 jumps, you will see a
little platform with a bag on it.  Get to the platform and get it - it's full
of
jelly beans.  You can run off the platform and fall down back to where you
started.  Turn Blob back to normal.  Next use a Lime and unlock the door.  Fall
down to the platform on the screen below.  Walk off the right side of the
platform (slowly so you don't go too far and die) and you'll land on one below.
Walk to the right and you'll get another bag of jelly beans (these bags count
as treasures).

If you are going for the quick solve (or if you don't need extra lives),
you can skip this paragraph.  Walk off that platform to the right and you'll
be on top of the castle.  There are coins floating at various parts above the
castle.  For every 5 you get, you get an extra life.  There are nine (that I've
found) here.  They are located on every other screen starting with the one just
to the right of where you fell from.  There are two ways to go about getting
them.  Apparently the winds above the castle are pretty strong so if you jump
off a ledge above the castle with the umbrella in hand, you can fly around.
This only works ablve the castle otherwise you will need the trampoline to get
them.  You can find them by positioning Blob just under the "T" at the top of
the screen.  If you have problems doing this, use a Vanilla to turn him into an
umbrella, pick him up, then drop him where you want him and whistle.  The 8th &
9th coins here are just off to the left and right of the "T" at the top on the
last screen when running right.  After you get these coins, go all the way back
to the left and use the trampoline to jump back up to where you originally fell
down from.  To get blob to come back to you, use either a Honey to turn him
into a hummingbird or a Ketchup (I recommend using the Honey since you have
more of them).  Whistle to turn Blob back to normal if he isn't already.

Next you need to fall off the left side of the platform but the fall is too far
to do it alone.  You can use either the Vanilla to turn Blob into an umbrella
or
the Cola to turn Blob into a Bubble (I recommend using Vanilla since you have
more, but if you do, be very careful to inch off the edge so you don't hit the
torch on the wall on the way down).  Once at the bottom, run all the way over
to the right.  (You will notice that one of the rooms you pass through has two
thrones in it.)  The diamonds in the air are treasures.  You can use either the
trampoline or the licorice to make a ladder to get these (I recommend the
ladder
since you can place it right between and use only one jelly bean to get the two
diamonds on the left).  To get the diamond on the right you need to extinguish
the torch.  You can do this by strategically placing Blob just to the right of
halfway across the screen and turning him into a trampoline.  While on the
trampoline, throw a mint jellybean at the torch.  If you have trouble with this
be sure to save at least one mint for later otherwise you can't finish the
game.

There are two ways to move on at this point.  One is the intended way while the
other exploits an apparent bug and allows you to finish the game much faster
than you're supposed to be able to.


THE INTENDED WAY:

Go this way if you want to see more of the game.  Run all the way back to the
left.  Use a Punch jellybean to turn Blob into a hole and fall through.
If you position Blob about in the center of the screen and fall through, you'll
pick up a coin on the way down.  As a precaution, you should probably turn Blob
into an umbrella and carry him to the next room.  If you don't, there's a good
chance that after you enter and he follows that he will push you into the
stompers and you'll lose a life.  So carry Blob in and drop him just underneath
the platform on the left.  Whistle to bring him back to Blob form, then feed
him
a licorice jellybean to make a ladder.  Climb up and off, then whistle again.
Next feed Blob a coconut jellybean, pick up the coconut and (without running)
throw it at the switch on the right side.  You can then proceed to the right.
Once on the next screen, whistle for Blob again and feed him a banana jellybean
to turn him into a monkey wrench.  You need to throw the wrench into the gears
to stop the stompers.  When throwing the wrench, don't stand right next to the
gears otherwise Boy will just set Blob next to them and not throw him in and
you will waste a banana jellybean.  After turning off the stompers, whistle
again and feed blob a tangerine (licorice won't work here - or at least I can't
get it to work anyway) and jump up to the stompers.  Before running off to the
right side, whistle for Blob again and feed him a honey jellybean and it's off
to
the right again.  If you ran to the right before whistling you will have to use
a ketchup to get Blob to come to you.  In this next room there is a gate with a
mechanism above with a keyhole in it.  To unlock the gate, position Blob just
under the keyhole (use the umbrella to position him if you must) then feed him
an
apple jellybean.  The gate should then open.  Before leaving the screen,
whistle
for Blob and then turn him into an umbrella and carry him to the right two
screens (but be careful entering the second screen).  Carefully run off the
edge
(not too slow or too fast) and you should land on the elevator (if you start
about halfway across the left ledge and run just as the elevator passes you,
you
should be fine).  The elevator will lower you 5 screens.  The first four have
torches that extend out and try to hit you.  To avoid them, move to the side of
the elevator opposite the torches (just past the chain in the middle is fine).
On the fifth screen you need to act fast or you'll die.  Quickly run off the
elevator to either side (you can do it to the left faster, though) and you
should
land on a platform above some water.  You can also try falling from the ledge
above in the bubble and if you do it right you should be able to fall and avoid
the torches and land in the water.  To move around in the water you must become
the Boy in the Bubble.  Drop Blob on the platform such that he won't push you
off.
Then feed him a cola jellybean and get in the bubble.  You can then move around
under water with no problems.  (NOTE: There are a lot of places to explore and
pick up treasures, however I am only covering how to solve the game so I will
skip
those and tell you only what you need to know to finish the game.)  Ride the
bubble into the water and one screen right.  Move up to the platform and get
out
of the water. Whistle for Blob (once out of the water) and move one more screen
right.  Position Blob under the platform above and feed him a licorice.  Climb
the
ladder and whistle.  Do this two more times with the two platforms on this
screen
(Position yourself just to the left of Blob when doing it, but not too close to
the
edge of the top platform).  Climb up to the next screen and you'll see a
jumping
worm.  Whisle for Blob, then feed him a strawberry jellybean to make a bridge.
Carefully run under the jumping worm (when he jumps away, get about halfway
across
the bridge and when he jumps back towards you and starts to cross over you,
finish
crossing the bridge).  Run one screen to the right and hit the switch.  Run
back
to the left and without crossing the bridge, whistle for Blob.  Go ahead and
run
off the edge (avoiding the jumping worm) and back down to where you left the
water.  Next, feed Blob a cola jellybean and ride the bubble back to the
elevators
and notice that they are moving up now.  You need to get back up to the top.
There are a few ways to do it, but the easiest is to ride the bubble onto the
right ledge.  Whistle for Blob and turn him into an umbrella so you can
position
him on the edge of the ledge. Whistle again, then feed him a tangerine (be
careful
to not fall off the ledge when you whistle).  Do three high bounces and then
move
to the left.  If you do it right you'll land on the elevator.  Watch out for
the
torches again.  Stay to the left after the fourth torch and when you get to the
top and when it gets almost to the top run off to the right so you'll land on
the
right ledge.  Go to the next room and fall off the platform to the right.
Skip "THE BUGGY WAY" below to continue.


THE BUGGY WAY (This is continued from just before "THE INTENDED WAY" above):

You need to fall through the floor here but you cannot do it by making Blob
into
a hole (Punch).  Instead, get Blob to go all the way over to the right so he's
right against the wall (if you have problems with this, do the umbrella trick
from above to position him).  Use a Strawberry to turn Blob into a bridge.  If
you do it wrong, he will slide over and appear to cover a section of floor. If
you do it right, he will turn into one tile on the floor.  Now run to the left
and don't stop - you will fall through the floor onto a platform below and to
the left of you.  Whistle to turn Blob back to normal, but he cannot get to you
since the floor above is still there.  Fall off the platform to the right.


CONTINUING REGARDLESS OF WHICH WAY YOU TOOK ABOVE:

Carefully move to the next room and you'll see the pot of boiling water.
You need to cool it off.  You can do this by throwing a Mint into the water and
it will freeze over making it possible to walk on it.  Whistle for Blob, then
use a ketchup to get Blob down here (just left of center on the ice).
Use a Tangerine and start bouncing up.  You will see a bag of jelly beans
on the left side, on your next bounce, move to the left to land on that
platform
and get them.  Now whistle to turn Blob back to normal.  You must use a Honey
to
get Blob to fly up to you as there's no room to use ketchup.  Time it properly
and whistle to turn Blob back to normal, then use a Vanilla to turn him into an
umbrella and fall off (don't run off unless you want to end up on a blank
screen)
the ledge back onto the iced over pot.  Position Blob just about center on the
pot and turn him back into a trampoline again.  This time jump as high as you
can
go and you'll jump right past Blobette and her cage.  Land on the platform to
the
left of her.  Back up into the bars, whistle to turn Blob back to normal, then
throw a Honey down to him to turn him into a hummingbird.  Be patient as it
will
take longer for him to get to you, but when he does, he will unlatch the bottom
of the cage and free Blobette.  Blobette will then fall all the way down and
run
away (that's gratitude, huh?).

At this point you need to reunite Blob with Blobette at their throne to beat
the
game.  There are two ways of doing this: The intended way or the cheating way.
Please note that the cheating way will ONLY work if you used the BUGGY WAY
above
to rescue Blobette.


THE INTENDED WAY:

Turn blob into an umbrella, fall off the ledge to the iced over pot, then go
back
to the left and position Blob about the center of the screen and turn him into
a
trampoline.  Jump back up to the room where you got the diamonds and go left to
the throne room.  Whistle to turn Blob back to normal then use a ketchup to get
him into this room.  Blob will take a seat and Blob & Blobette will be reunited
and "You Win" will appear at the bottom. Congratulations!

THE CHEATING WAY:

The quickest and easiest way to do this is to actually fall off the
platform you're standing on and die.  When you start your next life, you will
be where you started the game.  You can then go back to that room where the
thrones are (see above if you forgot how) and Blob will take a seat and "You
Win" will appear at the bottom of the screen.  Congratulations!



**********************
4.0 Other Stuff

If you use the Root Beer in the room just below the one where you start the
game, you can ride the rocket right to where Blobette is, but you will die.
Not
only will you die, but you will lose all your lives too and the game ends!

If you fall more than about a screen and a half, you will die.  If you move off
the trampoline at a high altitude but still land on it, or fall off a platform
from a high altitude and land on the trampoline, you will still die.

You cannot stand where Blob is.  If Blob comes to you, you will move out of his
way in the direction you are facing.  Take this into account when trying to
position both yourself and blob on a short platform.

Keep exploring - there are a lot of interesting places in this game that you
can
easily miss by simply rescuing Blobette.

There are 19 treasures in total, but getting them doesn't affect the outcome of
the game.


**********************
5.0 Acknowledgements

Thanks to Douglas Scheinberg for pointing out a few items I wasn't aware of:
Using the umbrella to fly around above the castle.
Using mints to put out the torches.
Using the punch to drop on the correct screen (which allowed me to write the
whole "INTENDED WAY" section).

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