Xelloss's guide to

Xelloss's guide to

THE VIOLINIST OF HAMELN

Version 1.0
Written 6/8/2001
Questions: Email me at [email protected]

LEGAL STUFF: This FAQ is the intellectual property of the author
Xelloss, aka Lisa Watson, so please don't steal it or copy any
portion of it for public viewing. If you wish to have this FAQ on
your website, please email me at the address printed above. I can
almost guarantee that I will give you permission to use it, but
please ask, OK? OK.

Contents:
I: Game play Explanation
II: Controls
III: Items
IV: Flute's Costumes
V: Bosses

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GAMEPLAY EXPLINATION
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Yay, Hameluuuuuuuuuuu!
You play as Hamel, a musician who travels the land defeating Mazoku with
the power of his magical music. With him is Flute, his friend and
companion who has costumes (Kigurumi) with special abilities. The
object is to get through the level using Hamel and Flute's abilities.
If Flute has 100% HP at the end, you get a two star bonus. Hamel is
three blocks tall, Flute is two, so use this to your advantage. Hamel
can push bolders and throw small blocks and Flute (Flute haters will
love this!) Flute cannot jump, but she can climb one-block-tall things.
Flute can be thrown at walls and enemies and take no damage.

Please note: At this time I see no real need to provide a level-by-
level guide, as it is a fairly simple platformer and I for one had no
trouble solving any of the puzzles, it's really more of a skill and
timing game, however, feel free to ask for help and who knows, maybe
eventually I will put one up. Good luck!
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CONTROLS
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Here's a breakdown of what all the buttons do:

D-pad left and right: Move left and right
down: Duck
up: (While jumping) Hamel slows down his fall with his cape

Y: Pick up Flute and other throwable objects. Press Y again to throw.

B: Jump, confirms choices

A: Play violin

X: Turns call Flute on and off, when she is in costume makes her normal
again

Start: Brings up Kigurumi Select screen.

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ITEMS
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There are various items in the levels that are very handy.

Coins: Money that can be used in town.

Berries: Restore one heart of Hamel's life

Bunch of berries: Restore all of Hamel's life

Star: Collect four and you get to go to a bonus room

Note: Powers up Hamel's violin music. All note efects seem to be
lost when you die.

Hats: One-ups

Hourglass: Gives you more time to complete the level

Various defensive items: Items bought in towns, such as capes and
shields, reduce the damage taken. (This isn't items, but towns also
have inns which recover all Hamel's HP.)

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FLUTE'S COSTUMES
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Here's a list of Flute's costumes in the order that you get them, what
they do, and how useful they are. Unless I say otherwise, they control
basically like the ostrich as explained below.

Osterich: The first costume you get, the osterich allows you to cross
spikey pits. Jump on its back and go for a ride. Turn facing left and
right to steer. It is very useful at the beginning until you run into
pits with a wall or something in it. This is one of the fastest
costumes, so later in the game it's still useful for crossing cleared
pits. Rating: 5

Frog: This suit can jump very high and cross spikes. As with most
costumes it is heavily used at the level you get it at. It's definitly
the best suit for plain jumping, and great for hard-to-reach items.
Even near the end you have to use it occasionally. Rating: 6

Robot: As seen in the Violinist of Hameln movie, this one crosses
spikes and punches down walls when you jump on it. It is very handy and
a lot of puzzles throughout the game involve it. The robot's only
disadvantage is that it's really slow, and since the clock is ticking
you'll probably want to ride the osterich over clear spike pits.
Rating: 7

********(I don't know what this is called, it looks sort of like those
things people play curling with, that might be it): Dress Flute up in
this and throw her, and she'll mow through everything in her way.
There's only a couple of times when I've used this one, but gometimes
it's good for getting items in corridors that Hamel's too tall to get.
Otherwise it's useless since most of the time it's faster to just play
music. Rating: 3

Orangutan: This and the monster suit are only used once, you show it to
some guy to let you through. Since it's only a one use thing and it is
necessary to use this for you to continue, I'm not going to rate it.
But you gotta love the expression on Flute's face when she wears it.

Penguin: This is a must for all traveling musicians trying to cross a
lake. The penguin can walk on land and swim on the surface of water.
It's great until you get the duck suit, because after that most places
with water require the duck's abilities. The penguin is a lot faster
than the duck, though. Rating: 6

Fish: I HATE this one! It's basically a flying suit you get after
showing the man the orangutan. You seem to be able to control the up
and down fine, but it does left and right on its own. It's a pain to
control, but there are two sections that are only flying in the fish
costume. I heard someone saying something about firing notes at it to
make it go but I haven't had the opportunity to experiment. It's a
necessary evil. Rating: 1

Duck: Like an upgrade for the penguin. It walks on land, swims on
water, and when you jump on it it dives. Rating: 6

Monster: Like the orangutan only used later in the game.

Frisbee: Throw Flute and she whirls around everywhere. I generally
only use this to hit those big cat-like monsters with armor in the back
while they're facing me and they're only in like one section, so it's
not too useful. Rating: 2

Elephant: Like the robot, only instead when you jump on it it squirts
water. Great for extinguishing jets of flame. Also like the robot it's
slow. Only used in the world with all the caves. Rating: 6

UFO: This is by far my favorite costume. Don't bother to ride this
one, it doesn't seem to be meant for it. It's really a safe way for
Flute to tag along while Hamel jumps from ledge to ledge. Plus (and
this is the best part) it fries enemies when they come in contact with
her. Using this costume is the only way I can beat Sizer. Warning:
Sometimes during precision jumps you will land on it as it tries to
catch up with you. Rating: 10

Eagle: The ultimate in flying suits. It outclasses the fish in every
department except when you want to go straight up for short distances.
Goes left and right like the other costumes, but when you press down it
swoops a little. The harder you press, the lower it goes. Absolutely
essential for later levels. Moderately slow. Rating: 9

Octopus: Like the eagle in every way except under water. Only needed
once. Rating: 8

Bomb: I've never gotten this one. More on it later.

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BOSSES
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Here's the bosses, what they do, and the Xelloss method of defeating
them. Don't worry about keeping Flute at full HP.

Boss 1: Big Lizard Dude (I need to find out his name)

Basically a very large version of those lizards seen in the opening
sequence at the beginning of the game.

What he does: BLD will go across the screen. His head will be too high
for you to hit until he goes down trying to hit you. Rocks will fall
down at random areas of the screen when he's going back and forth.

How to beat him: Avoid the rocks and stay away from the area directly
below his head and hands, but close enough to be able to hit him. When
he comes down, jump on Flute's head and hit him as much as you can. A
few rounds of this and he's dead. Don't worry about keeping Flute safe
because there's no bonus. Just concentrate on Hamel.

Boss 2: Bassoon

This is the worst boss in the whole game. There isn't really a good way
to beat him. The bottom part of the screen has some water, and Bassoon
is this Mazoku guy who looks a little like Drum only orange and with one
head.

What he does: Bassoon rides this little platform that goes up and down
at three locations: left, center, and right. At the bottom he will
shoot a volley of mace spikes, and then again when he's halfway up. In
addition there will be a couple of snakes in the water.

How to beat him: Avoid the first two shots of spikes, then see where
he's comming down from. You can see the bottom of his platform when
he's about to come down. Get a good distance away (in range) and stand
on Flute's head. Shoot him as soon as you can as much as you can until
he shoots his spikes, then duck. Avoid the second volley. Lather,
rinse, repeat until Bassoon's dead.

Actually, I think you might be able to defeat him more easily by hurling
Flute at him.

Boss 3: Fuagotto (That's probably wrong)

Fuagotto is this skeleton dude riding a freaky flying horse.

What he does: He mostly cruises around the top of the screen, he shoots
various things and swoops down occasionally. There's also some of the
pink ghosts that latch onto you and slow you down flying around.

How to beat him: Ride Flute in the eagle suit and shoot him at the top
of the screen. Watch out for all the stuff he throws and don't run into
him. Go under if you have to.

Boss 4: Sizer

Sizer is the last boss. She's a fallen angel who works for the Mazoku.
Raiel, Hamel's childhood friend, will help you fight her by playing his
magical piano music.

What she does: At the beginning, she'll just mostly throw her scythe
blade and feathers at you as she moves back and forth along the top of
the screen. After Raiel comes in she lunges straight down at you.

How to beat her: Put Flute in the UFO costume. She'll take care of the
scythe blades. Avoid getting hurt until Raiel comes in. He is almost
entirely useless, but after he gets there Sizer's attack pattern
changes. Now, stand still facing Sizer. When she lunges, get out of
the way. If you do it right, UFO Flute will lag behind a little and
shock her. Sizer will fall to the ground and sit there for a second.
Hit her as much as you can and when she gets up again, repeat the
process.

Congratulations! You beat the game! If you stick around after the
credits, you'll learn two neato super moves. Wasn't it fun?

Xelloss's VoH guide
(c) 2001 Lisa Watson