Game: Wardner
Format: Genesis
Author: Vince Taupin
Email:
[email protected]
Original typing date: 8th December 2001
Thanks to
Vatic: for the original faq
Olly: the only one who thought it was cool to do this and for proof
reading it
Mentrix Software: for making the thing in the first place
Version 1.0
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Walkthrough
3. Item list
4. Monster list
5. Boss list
6. Notes
7. Differences with arcade version
1. Introduction
1.1What is wardner?
Wardner is a platform game originally released in the arcade in 1990
(must check). For most od the game it is a left to right scrolling
platform game. It features a little man shooting fire balls to destroy
monsters in order to rescue his female friend ( sister or totty ). The
name wardner is derived fro the name of the final adversary, Mr.
Wardner. In some parts of the world, the game was named Pyros meaning
fire in some ancient language, most probably latin.
1.2 What about the genesis version?
This was released in 1991 (must check) by Mentrix software and licensed
by Sega Enterprises. It is a very good adaptation with some minor and
some large differences (see 6).
1.3 About the faq
I was originally helping on the arcade version faq of this game but
there were too many differences and when Ricey included my notes, it
kind of ruined it. Hopefully, that can be rectified and this will
compensate for genesis users. The reason I am writing this walkthrough
faq is because I think this game is great. It has a lot of secrets and
strategies for such a short game and has great attention to detail; some
enemies were created just to appear a handful of times and the varied
bosses and weapons were a novelty at the time (compare my monster list
with Super Mario bros featuring 10 monsters throughout the entire game:
goomba, koopa, pipe plant, fish, octopus, king koopa, beetle, lakitu,
spiny, hammer brother).
Around this time post Super Mario Bros and pre Street Fighter 2, there
were four games that stood out for me in the arcades: Wardner,
Wonderboy, Cadash and Magic Sword. All still play well today, however,
Cadash just didn't work well in the arcades as an RPG platform game,
Wonderboy is repetitive and over long, Magic Sword had a great ally
system and great graphics but at a price; it suffered from slow down and
frame skipping, becoming a very flimsy game as a result. Wardner is
currently the only game I still haven't got tired of.
2. Walkthrough
2.1 Level 1
This level is completely straightforward, it's a simple left to right
platforming stage. The first area of interest is where you first see the
mantle. You can either stand on the ledge to the left of it and use
jumps while holding down-right or go along the top and go round via the
green scooting things. I always go along the top as it is essential to
amass as much gold as possible on this level. Straight after that, you
will see a kind of inverted pyramid with shooting turrets in. On the
left side of this is an enclose containing a hidden 300 gold bonus. To
get the treasure guarded by the turrets, climb a short way up the ladder
to start the shooting, wait just below the level of the lower left
turrets fire and just after this passes you, jump next to this turret.
Wait until the top left turret shoots and immediately jump next to this
before the lower turret shoots again. Jump to the treasure chest and the
turrets will self destruct. Climb down the ladder to the right of the
next mini section for a point bonus.
When at the top of the grey brick bridge, six grey ghouls appear.
Steadily take them out one at a time from the top of the bridge and
collect their treasure. Crossing the next set of vines is easy when you
know how. Climb half way up the first vine and jump to the second,
holding up while in the air to grab hold of it. For all the rest, jump
from the bottom of each vine to the next so you don't hit the ceiling
and fall into the lava.
Let the owl carry you to the top of its flight for a point bonus. Jump
from just above half way up a vine to get on the next platform
collecting all the treasure and from the bottom of the vine to get the
large orb, always making sure the lightning cloud isn't about to strike
(ie when a cloud is not to the left or right of it's path). Crossing the
moving platform bit isn't hard and look to the boss section for how to
defeat the end of level dragon.
2.2 Level 2
It's quite obvious how the conveyor belts work, they move you the
direction of the little yellow arrow. The first thing to note is that
there is treasure after the spiked crawlers if you drop straight down
rather than jumping across and when you climb up the next but one
ladder, a ghoul appears above you. Watch where the rotors move to get
across them by ducking them.
The crushers are real nasty, look them up in the monster guide for
advice but you'll definitely need a bit of practise first time round.
After you get past the last skull gas vent, climb up the ladder and
travel to the end of the conveyor belt. Here there is a hidden 30 second
time bonus. Go back to the left and up the ladder. The star or moon
sword is best here; fire some shots and travel across the group of
conveyor belts. At the other end, jump to the pulley handle and glide to
the right, pressing down at the last minute to get the treasure and not
be impaled on the spikes. Go back to get the treasure you saw. The set
of rotors over a conveyor belt is the hardest part of the level. Just
make as much progress as you can between rotors by occasionally jumping.
You'll eventually get to a set of green platforms going down. Go to the
farthest one to the right at the top and drop down to the right to get a
fairy. Now jump to the left and go down to get a mantle. If you fall
down after you get the fairy, there are some point bonuses on the long
ledge on the right. Defeat the two bosses and go shopping.
2.3 Level 3
Get past the armoured flying skeletons and jumping sorcerers with help
from the monster section. If you have either the solar sword, 2600 gold
or more or less than 2 lives, get the ocarina from the bee and ride the
golden bird. If not, risk the level as you will probably not be able to
buy the solar sword after level 4 through dying and starting with no
gold.
After the second set of up and down platforms, a rock monster sprouts up
just to your right so be careful. A further three are hidden in the
grass in this section of the falling fire. The golden bird will also
make a couple more appearances if you got the ocarina but missed the
gold bird.
Don't miss the next bee's treasure as the sneakers will allow you to get
the treasure on top of the edifice. More up and down platforms followed
by fire geysers and another three rock monsters appear shortly after
this jumping session.
The large green dragon is the boss for this stage and it appears when
you walk within a few steps of the treasure next to it. See the boss
guide for guidance.
2.4 Level 4
Climb up the second ladder as the first leads to points followed by
death by falling rock. Do not go any where near the three rooms to the
right unless you have strangely not much time in which case go to the
bottom one and talk to the old man. Keep going up on the last hand side
until you see the fairy. Get this fairy by standing next to the square
on the right, holding down-left and pressing jump repeatedly. Ignore the
next treasure and climb up the ladder adjacent to the left hand wall.
Climb the ladder above that to get point bonuses along the top ledge but
go back down the ladder rather than falling off the ledge. Kill the
green dragon and jump to the gap on the right.
There's nothing but a point bonus if you go up and right so go down the
first or second ladder and down again. Kill the two zombies and go to
the right. Kill the three zombies across the gap and fall down to get
the large orb. You can get points in the ladder to the right but watch
out for the falling rock. Go back to the left and down the ladder. Kill
the zombie to the right of the gap and get his treasure but fall down
the hole in between rather than carrying on to the right. Fall down to
the right and you will see a large orb. Jump across to get this and jump
back to avoid falling down and fighting a red dragon. If you do fall
down, there are tips to beating it in the monster section.
Climb down the ladder and up the next one. Kill the rock monsters and
get the treasure. Go to the bottom right and get the clock. There is
sometimes a rock monster here and sometimes not, I'm not sure why. Climb
the ladder and go to the right but fall left into the niche to get a
hidden mantle. The next section is obvious but don't climb the ladder on
the left at the top, climb the very last one.
Follow the next platform section round and when you get to the upper
level, watch out for the three sprouting rock monsters and the red
dragon on the other side of the first gap. At the end of this path is
the tentacle eye boss in a little cave. See the boss section for how to
defeat it. The last shop in the game is up the ladder.
2.5 Level 5
You will only be skewered by the spikes if you are on the platforms as
they change from going down to up. After these, there are two birds
flying towards when you drop down to the floor. Jump over the gas
burning and drop to the very bottom left point of the level for a point
bonus. Now stand right next to the stair on the right facing right, duck
and hold right and continually press jump. You will enter a secret
passage and eventually reappear under the burners where there is a 30
second time bonus and a 1 up. Go back through the passage and up the
ladder.
See the monster guide for how to get past the egg creatures and get the
clock you eventually come to if you haven't already got one. Eventually
you will come to another pulley. Press down to get off it before you
crash into the spikes. The next challenge is some creeping flames and
then some rising ghost fire. Be extra careful not to fall down the next
gap or you will fall all the way back to the beginning of the level and
you will be more than a little angry. Make your way around and over the
thin platforms that drop when you are on them. Get past the rising ghost
flame over a larger gap and climb the ladder at the far right.
The next section is just like the last bit except with a pulley over a
pit of fire rather than more jumps over egg creatures. Eventually, after
the last set of rising ghost fires, you will come to the power up rock
monster. Good luck.
2.6 Level 6
I won't say much about this as all this involves is fighting monsters,
minibosses and bosses and all those involved are talked about in their
relevant guides. I will say something about the stairs you will have to
climb, they are very annoying. It is easier to jump left to a higher
stair than to the right so make all your left jumps count. Yes I have
got to the last stair and fallen all the way down again: very annoying!
This level is very long and it is very difficult to get through the
whole thing without running out of time if you don't get killed first.
Using an emulator and the save/load feature, I managed to make it to the
last boss with two fairies and a clock with just one second on the
clock. The time is reset when you talk to Mr. Wardner fortunately. The
princess Spider is particularly hard on this level as you have a very
short time to kill it before it traps you. There is a gold bonus, as if
you needed it, on the first sphinx room at the right hand side. Good
luck on the last boss, once you've defeated the old guy once, you'll go
straight to the creature if you die and start again, and then enjoy the
rather poor ending sequence.
The sequence of rooms is as follows:
Sphinx heads
Rock monster generator
Red dragon
Stairs
Ghosts
Sphinx heads
Rock monster generator
Red Dragon
Stairs
Ghosts
Small green dragon
Spider princess
Big green dragon
Stairs
Eye tentacle
Power up rock monster
Ghosts
Mr. Wardner and real Wardner creature
3. Item list
3.1 In-game items
Small money bag adds 50 gold
Treasure chest adds 20 gold
Small gold orb collect 15 for a weapon power up
Large yellow orb adds 1 to your weapon power
Magic mantle allows you to be hit by one enemy without losing
a life
Needle and yarn allows you to be hit by one enemy without losing
your mantle
Clock gives you an additional 30 seconds if your
time runs out
Fairy damages enemies it touches (up to 2 can be
collected)
Ocarina calls the big gold bird to avoid a large
section of level 3
Super sneakers allows one super high jump
3.2 Shop items
Star sword fires shots in a zig-zag pattern
costs 1500 gold
Moon sword fires in a loop pattern overhead
costs 2000 gold
Solar sword fires in a straight line very quickly
costs 3000 gold
Magic mantle as in game
costs 300 gold
Needle and yarn as in game
costs 200 gold
Clock as in game
costs 300 gold
3.3 Hidden items
clock on levels 2,5 adds 30 seconds onto current time up
to a maximum 4 minutes
magic mantle on level 4 just like a normal one, only appears if
you do not have a mantle already
point bonus adds 1000 points to your score,
useful for getting extra lives
1 up on level 5 adds an extra life to your total
gold bonus adds 300 gold to your total
3.4 Weapons
First Weapon Fires single shots in an arc starting with a slight
upwards movement and then dropping to the ground
Star Sword Fires single shots in a zigzag pattern
horizontally. This weapon fires quite slowly.
Moon Sword Fires single shots in an overhead loop. Jumping and
firing this weapon sometimes entails missing out on defeated enemy's
treasure.
Solar Sword Fires all shots at once horizontally very quickly.
The beam of shots also stays level with you meaning that if you jump,
the shots also rise. This can be useful but usually is not.
Weapon power is increased by collecting orbs up to a maximum of eight.
The weapon power dictates how many shots can be on the screen at the
same time. You start with a weapon power of one and there are six large
orbs in the game meaning you are almost guaranteed to have maximum
weapon power by the time you face the Wardner.
4. Monster list
a) name / description
b) levels on which it appears
c) attack pattern
c) how to defeat it
c) difficulty out of five stars
4.1
a) Grey jumping thing
b) Level 1
c) Jumps around, often only jumping either side of one spot.
d) One shot anywhere on its body.
e) * Can be placed in annoying positions but shouldn't ever kill you.
4.2
a) Red jumping things
b) Level 1
c) Jumps around following you.
d) One shot anywhere on it.
e) * Only novices would die by these.
4.3
a) Standing sorcerer
b) Level 1
c) Fires single fireballs in your direction.
d) Wait until it fires and shoot at it.
e) * Really very easy.
4.4
a) Little green scooting things
b) Level 1
c) Runs along the length of a platform in both directions.
d) Kill it from a safe point where it can't reach you.
e) * Can be hard to shoot but just don't go near it.
4.5
a) Machine gun turrets
b) Levels 1 and 4
c) Shoot horizontally when you trigger them.
d) You should normally try to avoid them as they are normally hidden in
a little crevice, however, one shot will kill them.
e) ** Just avoid the fire bullets.
4.6
a) Grey spirits
b) Levels 1 and 2
c) Appear from nowhere and fly around trying to kill you.
d) Time a well placed shot as they fly towards you.
e) * Very easy, even in a big group.
4.7
a) Lightning bolts
b) Level 1
c) Shoot from clouds at particular times.
d) Can not be killed so jump through the region after a bolt has
disappeared.
e) *** Can sometimes be troublesome.
4.8
a) Jumping crooked man
b) Level 2
c) Jumps forward mostly but can jump backwards.
d) Take it out with one shot.
e) Quite possibly the easiest monster to defeat in the game.
4.9
a) Moth
b) Levels 2 and 5
c) Sits on the ceiling until you come close then it flutters in an anti-
clockwise circle back to the ceiling.
d) Time a shot to hit it when it is near the bottom of its circle.
e) ** Can be tricky when near rotors and you will lose out on its
treasure if you shoot it when it is too high in the air.
4.10
a) Spiked crawlers
b) Level 2
c) Move left and right and rely on you mistiming a jump and landing on
them.
d) You'll just have to time your jump over it just as it starts moving
to the left.
e) ** These will definitely catch you out a few times.
4.11
a) Rotor
b) Level 2
c) Moves left and right, killing you if you are standing, or even more
foolishly jumping, as it passes.
d) Duck as it passes and make head way before it comes back.
e) **** The main threat to your life on level 2, especially when placed
over a conveyor belt.
4.12
a) Bird
b) Level 2
c) Flies left and right at head height.
d) One shot kills, you can shoot them from standing with first weapon,
star sword or moon sword.
e) ** Can be unpredictable.
4.13
a) Crushers
b) Level 2
c) Crash up and down. They kill by, funnily enough, crushing you.
d) Time your jumps to land on their platforms as they go up and jump off
the platform as soon as you can.
e) *** Can sap a whole credit if you haven't got the timing right.
4.14
a) Skull gas
b) Level 2
c) This shoots up from a vent. It is deadly only when the skull motif is
fully visible.
d) Time your jump to land over it just as the gas dies away and jump
away immediately.
e) * Poses little threat once you work out when it can kill you.
4.15
a) Flying armoured skeleton
b) Level 3
c) Flies at head height left and right.
d) Can not be shot in the front. With the fairy, just duck as they pass.
With the moon sword, face the way they are flying and shoot as they pass
you. With the solar sword, face the way they are flying and jump and
shoot as they pass. With the first weapon or star sword, just crouch as
they pass and continue to the right without bothering to kill them. They
take six shots to kill.
e) ** Can be easy, can take a while to get past.
4.16
a) Jumping sorcerer
b) Level 3
c) Jumps up and down firing a single fireball at your current position
whilst at the peak of its jump.
d) With any weapon other than the first, try to kill them as soon as
they are on screen. If that fails, just avoid the fireballs which is
quite easy and shoot them while they are near the ground.
e) *** Definitely harder than the non-jumping type.
4.17
a) Giant bee
b) Level 3
c) Flies on screen and follows a circle motion until you or it is dead.
d) These are shot easily. Make sure its treasure will be reachable from
the ground as the first bee leaves the ocarina and the second the super
sneakers.
e) * Not so much a monster, more a flying treasure.
4.18
a) Rock monster
b) Levels 3,4,5,6
c) Grows from a single stone and slowly marches towards you.
d) Get some distance between it and yourself and blast it. It will die
after six hits.
e) *** It is essential to learn where these pop up or they will sprout
right next to you.
4.19
a) Falling fire boulder
b) Level 3
c) A multitude of these fall from the sky at one patch of this level. If
they touch you, you will know about it.
d) Avoid them
e) **** Just the sheer volume of them makes it difficult to get through
unscathed, plus the appearance of three rock monsters in the vicinity
makes this area very tricky indeed.
4.20
a) Fire geyser
b) Level 3
c) These rise up, fall to midway, rise back up and fall all the way
down. One touch will kill you, even with a mantle as you will fall into
the lava.
d) Watch their pattern and jump over them when they are hidden in the
lava.
e) * Very easy to avoid.
4.21
a) Headless zombie
b) Levels 4 and 5
c) These walk left and right rather quickly.
d) Stand outside their attack range and blast them with 6 shots.
e) ** You must figure out which of them you can attack safely by where
they can walk.
4.21
a) Miniboss rock monster roller
b) Level 4
c) Fires rocks at you along the floor.
d) Jump over the rocks and shoot it 16 times I think.
e) **** The rocks are close together and hard to avoid. There is no need
to enter these three lockable rooms so just avoid this guy.
4.22
a) Miniboss red dragon
b) Levels 4 and 6
c) Fires shots at head height and floor height alternately.
d) Duck under the head shots and jump over the floor shots. With a
bought weapon, just keep shooting. With the first weapon, manoeuvre
yourself into a position where a jumping shot will hit him and fire when
jumping over the floor shots. It requires about twenty shots.
e) *** Only really easy with the solar sword. Note, a fairy will the
upper shots while you are ducking.
4.23
a) Egg creatures
b) Level 5
c) Fly up and down as you approach.
d) Shooting them will force them further in the way they are flying.
Shoot them as they are travelling down and jump over them when they are
sufficiently low.
e) * They just get in the way really. The hardest part is jumping the
gap in which they rest.
4.24
a) Creeping flames
b) Level 5
c) Just like the spiked crawlers only taller so harder to jump over.
d) Watch their pattern, treat them like a more dangerous spiked crawler
and jump over them when safe to do so.
e) **** It's amazing how often they catch you out. I hate these.
4.25
a) Rising ghost fire
b) Level 5
c) Rise in groups of three from a fiery pit, rising from the left,
right, left hand sides in turn.
d) Wait until three in a row have risen and use the momentary inaction
to cross over them.
e) * Very easy to avoid.
4.26
a) Spinning sphinx heads
b) Level 6
c) These bounce left and right quickly.
d) Set the ball rolling by shooting one of three, make your way right by
ducking them as they pass over you. They can not be killed.
e) *** The way you shoot them can yield unpredictable results.
4.27
a) Miniboss rock monster generator
b) Level 6
c) When shot, jumps up and down creating 4 rock monsters at a time.
d) With the solar sword, shoot it and the small rock monsters
continually. With the moon sword, stand at the far right of the room,
turn left and unload just enough shots so that he only creates 4 rock
monsters, shoot these relentlessly and repeat the process. With the star
sword, it is possible using the previous method but maybe a little
harder and also not all your shots will connect so it'll take more
"rounds" as well. With the original weapon, well done for making it this
far but without a fairy, you are doomed to failure.
e) ***** Easy with the solar sword, challenging at best with any other
weapon.
4.27
a) Ghosts
b) Level 6
c) I will consider these as a group in the way you will fight them. They
waft down from the top right and bottom left, floating towards you
across the floor and rising if you jump.
d) With the first weapon, star sword or moon sword, move to the middle
of the screen to activate the ghosts and then stand at the very right
facing left and shoot continuously. Alternatively, stand in the middle
of the screen and just keep shooting both ways, remembering that there
are fewer ghosts in the top right hand side so if you take care of those
first than it will be safe to shoot all those on the left. With the
solar sword you will need to shoot left and run left until you are about
to touch a ghost, then turn right and shoot and run right and so on.
With a fairy, shoot one way non-stop and the fairy will take care of the
others.
e) **** With the solar sword, * otherwise. Importantly, this is easier
with the solar sword than the rock monster generator is with the moon
sword, meaning the solar sword should still be your weapon of choice for
the last level.
5. Boss list
a) name / description
b) levels on which it appears
c) attack pattern
d) how many shots it takes to kill it
e) how to kill it with the first weapon
f) how to kill it with the star sword
g) how to kill it with the moon sword
h) how to kill it with the solar sword
i) the overall difficulty in killing it out of five stars
5.1
a) Small green dragon
b) Levels 1,2,4,6
c) Flies up, flies down, shoots a fireball across the ground, flies up,
fires a fireball at your position ( on first and second level, shoots at
a given angle), flies at you until stopped by a shot of your weapon,
repeats this process until defeated.
d) 24 shots
e) Stand right next to it, continually shooting and jumping over ground
fireballs. If he shoots homing fireballs while up in the air, move away
from him to avoid those.
f) Use the same tactic as above.
g) Stand with the nasty just inside the screen and jump and shoot so
that the weapon hits the dragon. It doesn't look like it's working but
fire enough of these, walk towards the dragon and as soon as he is in
range, he combusts.
h) Stand half a screen away, shoot at it and follow it up and down the
screen so your shots continue to connect. Dodge the high fireballs and
remember when it is about to charge so you can get a few good shots in
before he kills you.
i) ** Beginners will lose a few lives but if you replay the game, you
will get so much practise at these that it will become second nature to
defeat them easily. Note; if you jump and leave a fairy in the air, it
will block off the high blasts from the dragon.
5.2
a) Princess Spider
b) Levels 2 and 6
c) Morphs into a small spider, walks a few steps then morphs into a
giant spider, spits 3 fireballs then shoots a pool of fire onto the
floor reaching a little further than the last fireball. From then on it
spits five fireballs and then pool of fire.
d)
e) Stay as far from it as possible while still being able to hit it with
a jumping shot. You will have to continuously retreat to be able to do
this.
f) This is where the Star sword comes in very useful. Just stand at the
other end of the screen and continually jump and shoot while at the top
of the jump.
g) Tricky. Stay at the other end of the screen and jump-shoot. The
problem is, not a great percentage of shots connect with it and you
sometimes run out of space and it kills you. I haven't got a sure fire
way of killing it.
h) As above, the victory is not always guaranteed. Stand at the other
end of the screen and fire, jumping just before the shots reach it so
they hit it in the face.
i) Occasionally this'll kill you on the last level with the best weapon.
Anyone got any help here?
5.3
a) Big green dragon
b) Levels 3 and 6
c) Grows from a green orb when you get near it. It rolls a green orb
along the ground then bounces one on the ground so it goes up and down
as it travels to the left.
d) 24 shots
e) Stand in the middle of the screen so that the bouncing orb won't kill
you, jump over all the floor orbs and fire continuously.
f) As above.
g) As above.
h) As above.
i) ** There is an easy way to defeat it but that's only once you've
survived the first two attacks.
5.4
a) Tentacle Eye
b) Levels 4 and 6
c) Sprouts from the ground when you come close enough, moves around and
once every so often, emits a projectile from its eye which divides into
a number of smaller projectiles.
d) 34? Hard to tell.
e) Stand a small distance away from it and keep moving and jumping so
that you can shoot in its eye, its obvious weak point. When it fires
it's projectile, the safest thing to do is to hug the far wall and jump
over any stray splinter projectile.
f) As above.
g) As above, making sure that the shots will hit its eye after looping
around.
h) Here, the speed of the weapon means that you will want to stand extra
close so you can let rip more shots. Remember to jump so that you are
level with the eye. It is more dangerous this way but it will dead after
firing just one shot at you.
5.5
a) Power up rock monster
b) Levels 5 and 6
c) A large orb levitates in the air while pieces of rock attach
themselves to it. Once complete, the monster slowly marches towards you,
regularly firing 4 projectiles, similar to those fired by the tentacle
eye boss, at the height you are when the projectiles were being
launched. This continues until the monster is about 4 times the width of
your character from the edge of the screen and then he starts marching
backwards.
d) Around 60 I think.
e) The important thing for killing this boss is to jump before he fires
so at least two of his projectiles go in the air, allowing you to jump
over the others. Stand as far away from him as possible while still
being able to shoot the power up inside him (his weak spot), remembering
to retreat as he advances. Jump and shoot when no projectiles are on
screen and keep jumping when he starts to fire his weapon. When he does
start, retreat a little so you can jump over any low projectiles. Keep
doing this until he, or more likely you, is/are dead.
f) The same method can be used as above but now you can stay at the
other end of the screen giving you more time to react to his projectiles
and more time to jump and let his projectiles be of the high type.
g) Use the same strategy as with the star sword, the looping effect of
this weapon shouldn't make too much difference.
h) Shoot from standing at the back of the screen and jump before the
shots reach him. You will have to rely on luck as you'll spend a lot of
time jumping to force his shots into the air but still a lot of your
shots will connect and he'll go down quite quickly.
i) **** Note: to kill this guy with a fairy, stand a third of the screen
away as it assembles, jumping so that when the first projectiles are
fired, you can easily avoid them. Once those are out of the way, jump
towards the creature and when right next to him, jump up so that the
fairy is directly above you. He will fire some more projectiles when he
is right next to you. Don't duck these or your fairy will come down to
ground level, the projectiles will miss you. Then he stands right on you
but will connect with the fairies first and will die without you taking
any damage. I did this twice in a row so it wasn't a fluke.
5.6
a) Wardner
b) Level 6
c) After the brief conversation with old Mr. Wardner finishes, he will
fire lightning from his wand then jump around firing orbs at you. After
three or four of those, he will once again fire lightning then more orbs
and so on. When enough of your shots have connected, he will morph into
his "real" self, a screen high caped gorilla type thing. He will fire a
wave of shots to the left, then some right of the middle, then a pool of
fire in the middle of the room. When you shoot him enough times, he
turns to dust and drops his crystal ball containing your honey/sister.
d) who knows? I will find out though but it'll only be rough as I'll be
using the solar sword.
e) f) g) h) Duck under the lightening and jump over his orbs, shooting
while doing this. Avoid the orbs by jumping to the left. When he morphs,
stand in the middle of the screen and shoot him a couple of times. Jump
over the wave of fire to the left to avoid the wave on the right and the
pool of fire. Shoot whenever you can. This is the only attack pattern he
does and with a fully powered solar sword, he might be down after two of
his attacks. With the first weapon HA you'll be there forever if you're
good at avoiding his tricky attacks. With two fairies and a mantle (
chance in a million without using save/load ), stand underneath him as
he morphs and keep jumping. He has so much energy that he won't die
straight away but he'll only damage you once before the fairies beat
him. This might be possible with one fairy and maybe mantle and yarn,
but I haven't tried it.
i) ***** The hardest part of the game, but no where near as hard as the
arcade boss.
6. Notes
6.1 My strategy
Get as much treasure as you can on level 1 and (obviously) try not to
die. You should have about 2600 gold after this level. Buy the solar
sword. Complete level 2 with the fairy. You should have about 2700 gold
now. Don't buy anything. Complete level 3 with the golden bird shortcut.
You should have over 3000 gold now so buy the solar sword. And use spare
gold to buy a mantle and yarn. Don't buy a clock as you get one for free
on level 4. Now you're all set so try and keep fairies until level 6
where they're very useful for the ghosts. I wish you could buy fairies
at the shop at the end of level 4 but you'll have to spend your money on
a replacement mantle and yarn.
6.2 Requests
Please email me with any missed stuff, useful information, errors you
spot in my faq or any interesting stories you have about your experience
with this game. Please don't say my faq is crap, I'm really very
sensitive about stuff like that! DON'T STEAL MY WORK. If you wish to use
it, it can NOT be distributed for a profit, I must be credited with
anything you use on here, this faq must be reproduced whole, not with
any parts missing. If you wish to link to this, please email me first.
You may have a copy of this on your computer of course. Thanks.
6.3 Arcade version
There is a perfectly good faq for the arcade version of this game so see
that for information. All the monsters are the same as on this version
so this is still useful but some layout and bosses are different. See
the next section for more differences.
6.4 Odd things
I would really like to know more odd things that you have found in this
game. I have noticed that the left most tree on level 3 can be climbed
but I have found no use for this. Are there any more interesting ways to
defeat or avoid monsters? Please let me know.
7. Differences with arcade version
7.1 Major Differences
Levels 4 and 5 are merged into one level on the arcade version. The
portion from the top of the turrets on level 4 up to the ladder in the
tentacle eye boss room is deleted and there is an additional moth at the
top of these stairs. Also some of level 5 is erased to make the single
level suitably short. After jumping back over the rising spirit flames
for the first time you meet the boss.
The last level is also completely different. The order of rooms is:
Sphinx heads
Rock Monster Generator
Red dragon
Ghosts
Sphinx heads
Rock monster Generator
Ghosts
Small green dragon
The Wardner
This makes it much shorter and easier but the boss is much harder. The
flames from the wardner creature fall in a different pattern, making it
harder to avoid them and I still haven't been able to defeat him!
It can make quite a difference that you don't lose your gold at the end
of a credit. You are more likely to end up with the solar sword if you
use continues in the arcade.
If you continue on the last level then you start from the beginning of
it. This would be a nightmare if it were true on the genesis version but
is evident on the arcade version.
7.2 Minor Differences
The spider princess boss does not appear in the arcade, but is replaced
by a jumping crooked man on level 2. Also, you get a silver and gold key
for defeating the two 'bosses' on level 2 so these might be classed as
items on that version.
At the end of level 3, the arcade has a small green dragon rather than a
large one and the bird drops you to the right hand side of the boss
avoiding a confrontation. The large green dragon makes an appearance on
level 5 (level 4 in the arcade) and moves towards you with a different
firing pattern.
The hidden passage on level 5 does not make an appearance in the arcade
but is replaced by a hidden extra life in the last square of the fire
pit under the pulley. Where you would have fallen to the secret passage
through the burners (protected by a mantle) before, you now die
instantly, even if protected by a mantle.
The turrets on level 1 fire in a different order.
The green dragon is less deadly in the arcade, it doesn't fire on level
1 and only fires ground shots on level 2.
You do not get a point bonus on level 1 when climbing down a certain
vine.
There are less platforms and less treasure chests in the lightening area
of level 1.
When you fall off a platform in the arcade version, you always fall
straight down rather than falling horizontally for a while. This means
you have to careful, for example, on level 2 after collecting the
treasure at the end of the pulley that you don't fall onto the grey
ghoul.
The safety gap when crossing flame geysers and rising spirit flames is
shorter on the arcade version.
On level 1, I am pretty sure there are more monsters, especially at the
start, and the gaps between the platforms near the first mantle are
smaller.
The lava on level 1 can be jumped out of when playing this in the
arcade. However this is only really possible when you fall in near an
edge and if you press jump as soon as you touch the 'lava'.
The spiked crawlers on level 2 have different starting positions.
The skull gas on level 2 is also more deadly; it can kill you when not
quite fully formed.
I don't have precise details but I think the arcade version sometimes
sets you back further when you restart after losing a life.
A really very minor difference, the rotors move further outwards so
leave more room than you would before chasing after them.
The fairy doesn't kill the flying armoured skeletons on level 3.
The jumping sorcerers fire their weapons more quickly making them even
more wretched and dangerous on the arcade version.
I don't know what effect the dip switches have on the arcade version but
on the default difficulty, some monsters take different amounts of shots
to kill eg rock monsters take at least nine.
The gold bird does not make subsequent appearances if you miss it first
time round.
If you die an instant death while wearing a mantle, you get to keep the
mantle on the arcade version.
There is an extra clock on level 4 between the first two large orbs.
7.3 Cosmetic Differences
The arcade version has superior graphics throughout.
The arcade version makes you submit a 3 initial name at the start of the
game and has a longer introduction.
On the arcade version, the level ends when you touch the 'shop' sign or
get out the last door/room.
After defeating the boss before the basement level, you fall down a
chute and see a load of turrets fire when you pass them and it's
generally well cool.
The conveyor belts on level 2 don't have yellow arrows showing the
direction in which they are moving.
There is an information bar at the bottom of the screen in the arcade
version. This shows you your weapon power, your weapon symbol and any
items you have.
The contents of the three lockable rooms is still visible when you pass
them on the right hand side. Ooh, riveting stuff.
Copyright Vincent Taupin
Thanks for reading.
