_ - - _
/ _ The
/
/ ___ _ LIQUID KIDS \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (c)
/ / /@\ ___ \\\\\\\ MIZUBAKU ADVENTURE
( (@@) / /\ / > > > > G U I D E < < < <
\_ (@/- _ ( (@@) / yet another Great Taito Game!
/ \_ (@/ /
/ \ / v1.5 beta
\ \ /
\ / -----------\ Latest update on 10/2/2006
- / \ by Victor Epitropou
\
--------------\ e-mail:
[email protected]
__ /
[email protected]
\ _____ / Also Creator of:
/\_ / \ The New Zealand Story FAQ
/ \-\ | The New Zealand Story Fan Site
\_____/ The Cadash FAQ
(p)&(c) 2000-2006 Victor Epitropou
DISCLAIMER: (Aka,the boring copyright,responsability etc. section.)
This Guide is freeware (you can use as you want, but I keep the
copyright). I would greatly appreciate it if you asked my permission,
before using it in public/no-profit stuff, whatever it could be.
I just wanna know,that's all.Commercial use is discouraged/disapproved.
(whatever commercial use could one make of THIS...if you know any tell
me! :-)
Free distribution of this Guide through ANY medium is encouraged,as soon
as the original contents are not altered in ANY WAY.
You may however transfer the Guide to AmigaGuide,HTML,or other hypertext
format,credit yourself or others for doing this etc. but never
alter,delete
or add anything from/to the Guide without my permission.
Liquid Kids/Mizubaku Adventure are registered trademarks of TAITO co.
Japan.Other trademarks mentioned in this Guide are property of their
respective owners.This FAQ is NOT an official TAITO product,is not
supported by TAITO in any way and the author is not endowed with TAITO
in any way.
Neither the author and neither TAITO or anybody else mentioned here
carries any responsability over material,physical and moral damage or
any possible problems and disturbances etc. etc. caused by this Guide
and the information it contains.
The author makes no guarantees,implicit or explicit over the contents
of this Guide.
If you don't agree with the above statements then just don't read/use
the Guide. (Boring things to say,but necessary.You never know...)
Basta! Let's move on to serious stuff...
==============================================================================
CONTENTS
[0] What's This?
[1.1] What's Liquid Kids?
[1.2] Why did you write this?
[1.3] NZS-LK comparison
[1.4] Other FAQs/sites
[1.5] Author Notes/Credits
[1.6] Revision History
[2.1] Story/Plot
[2.2] Game Basics/Mechanics
[2.3] Game Bonuses & Scoring
[2.4] Game Enemies
[2.5] Game Bosses
[3.1] Game Stages
[3.2] Game Secrets
[3.3] Optimal path
[4.1] Conversions
==============================================================================
[0] What's this?
This is a FAQ for a great,cute,fantastic TAITO game called LIQUID KIDS or,if
you prefer,MIZUBAKU ADVENTURE (WaterBomb Adventure).
The game was released in 1990 and was one of the last TAITO's arcade
platform games,if not the last one (or at least the last one to gain
some popularity,before the forthcoming arcade/platform market crash,
2 or 3 years ahead.
This FAQ is intended to give you genereal information about the game,sort-of
teach you all the basic and advanced control/playing techniques,tell you
about the enemies and traps and,as with the NZS faq,teach you all the little
sneaky secrets/warps of this game,too!
It's a great game,and IMHO it deserves a good FAQ/Walkthrough!
==============================================================================
-------------------------
[1.1] What's Liquid Kids?
-------------------------
Liquid Kids is a Platform/Arcade game by TAITO,released in 1990.
It is a very representative example of TAITO's gaming philosophy:
Colourful,cute graphics,Merry soundtracks,Awesome playability...as well as
a cute (although given for granted) plot.
Technically,the game uses TAITO's F2 system,which makes it a 16-bit game.
It uses more than 64 colors on screen,one layer of parallax scrolling,
animated/color changing backgrounds,hardware bitmap rotation,lots and huge
sprites on-screen,omni-directional smoothscrolling,and also a digital music
system (MOD,S3M-alike) as well as digitised SFX.
A great technical advantage compared to (NZS) New Zealand Story...why NZS?
Read section [1.3] to find out!
-----------------------------
[1.2] Why did you write this?
-----------------------------
You mean,10 years after the game was out ??? That's a good point.
And it also applies to the other FAQs of mine,New Zealand Story and Cadash,
both 10+ years old by now (2006).Yeah,why should one bother to write a FAQ
about such old games which only a handful of people still play?
Liquid Kids is one of the games I love very much,and IMHO it's a very good
game which deserves to be played and appreciated in all of its aspects.
Apart from that,I really believe in the idea that many games of the past
are still great to play.
For now,I don't have the time and programming skills needed to create
an emulator for any of the games I like. But I do know how to play them good.
I also know how to write a decent FAQ or Guide.
And since I believe that to really make a game "live" again,you don't only
need an emulator,but also a Guide,a FAQ,something to remind the "oldies" how
they used to play it and (hopefully) to teach at new people,maybe years
later,the art of playing that game.THAT I hope to offer with this and other
Guides.And THAT is what all those people mantaining emulation/ROM/classic
gaming sites and of course writing Guides and FAQs hope....
-----------------------------------------------
[1.3] New Zealand Story-Liquid Kids comparison.
-----------------------------------------------
Between us,this is a topic one can't avoid when talking about Liquid Kids
or New Zealand Story (NZS).
Well,hang on everybody: this game (Liquid Kids) can be considered the ONE
and ONLY heir/sequel to NZS.The many features they have in common,as well
as their differences and complementarities really enforce this point of
view.
Although technically there is some distance between the two games (NZS is an
8-bit game while LK is 16-bit),similarities begin in the display style:
Taito insists her cute (and a little humouristic) cartoonish style used
on NZS,enhanced with a more colourful look and emphasizing the humouristic
part (just look at some enemies or death sequences or expressions...)...
Even the screen font is the same,the one used for NZS (and re-appears only
in LK).
Music has been enhanced,as now every stage has it's own music (7 Stages,
7 Tunes) while NZS only had one.
Gameplay has been changed a lot.Here follows a comparison table,between
Tiki (NZS's hero) and Hipopo (LK's hero)
Weapons: Tiki had four weapons(more if you count some special vehicles).
Hipopo can only shoot water balls,changing only their quantity,
speed and power.But in Hipopo's game,water also operates machines
or traps or other uses,more like a very versatile "tool" than a
weapon.
Vehicles: Tiki could use a wide variety of vehicles stolen from his enemies
and so was able to fly. Hipopo's enemies however don't use flying
vehicles and so can't he.
Vehicles in general have been taken out from LK, with the exception
of some boats which allow Hipopo to cross water courses faster
than swimming himself.
Enemies: Tiki had to fight a lot of flying/shooting enemies but none of them
was very hard to pull off (one shot was usually enough) and also
he didn't have to worry about collision,as very few enemies killed
by collision.That was a notable exception amongst platform games,
an exception which LK didn't continue: COLLISION KILLS in LK!!!
Hipopo in fact has to face less shooting/flying enemies but many
enemies take several shots to be "freezed" or killed.Many of his
enemies are huge and bizzare,most of them are sneaky and subtle.
Swimming: Tiki could swim and dive (and drown) underwater,while Hipopo,
despite the great quantities of water,waterbombs,waterfalls,
waterpumps etc. found in this game,can't dive! Instead,he floats
on the surface using a life saver...strange,the platipus (see
section [2.1] to find out what this is) is supposed to be a
SWIMMING animal!!!
Traps: Both Tiki and Hipopo have to face a lot of spikey traps and wells,
as well as some confusing moving platforms.
Hipopo also has to face rotating platforms,water-operated traps or
bizzare machinery,like swaying wooden birds,falling ceilings,falling
floors,killer trains,wind blows,dropping spikes,rolling stones,killer
plants,storm clouds,invasive fires,etc.
However,in LK as in NZS,you can't die by falling "outside the screen"
like it happens in lots of platform games!
NZS was tricky to complete,but LK goes several steps beyond!
Heaven: Tiki had the opportunity,after losing his last life,to go to a
special "Heaven" round from which if he escaped,he was given the
chance to try again the round he was killed on...Hipopo doens't
have a similar chance.At most,the sixth stage looks like a sort of
"Heaven" although it doesn't feel like one at all...
Apart from the differences,there are of course similarities in the plot,
even the "geographical" area the two games take place,the fact that both
the kiwi bird (Tiki) and the platipus (Hipopo) are rare animals only found
in the Oceania area (Australia & nearby places),the control method (but no
flying in LK),the captive friends at the end of each round,the
round-stage-boss concept,the secret rounds,the warps...yes,warps! That's
the most notable common feature...more will show up as the FAQ goes on or
you start playing the game!
-----------------------
[1.4] Other FAQs/sites.
-----------------------
First of all,I'd like to say that I started writing this FAQ knowing that
another Liquid Kids FAQ,from Carl Chavez of Bub and Bob (www.bubandbob.com)
was around for a long time,but was not updated,and was by no means complete,
even to this day.
I based mine mostly on my knowledge and experience of the game,hoping to
fill in this gap,as I did with the NZS Guide,time ago,and with the Cadash
FAQ,more recently.
Some links:
Carl Chavez's historical Bubble Bobble and TAITO info pages, currently down.
http://www.bubandbob.com
http://www.bubblebobble.com
TAITO HQ, mostly information, link #2 seems to be down -_-;
http://thor.prohosting.com/~taito/
http://taito.overclocked.org/
--------------------------
[1.5] Author Notes/Credits
--------------------------
I'm Victor Epitropou,now quasi-graduate student of the Democritus University
of Thrace in Greece,in the Electronic Engineering course.
My first contact with videogames was at the age of 6,through my local
arcades, and they have become one of my favourite hobbies,although
I'm kind of getting bored of them,maybe due to the lack of decent games
today (or better,a completely new gaming philosophy,which as it seems
doesn't suit me and some other people which hang on to the past.) and
my almost nostalgic bond with the videogaming past.
Thank God and all people behind the emulation scene that those good times
can live once again (sometimes even BETTER than how we remebered them!).
Credits for the FAQ go to myself (one-man work from scratch),to Carl
Chavez (he influenced the creation of this and others FAQs,has set up
great sites!),to the RAINE team (for making one of the best emulators
EVER,which ran Liquid Kids as well as New Zealand Story back in the day...
and the MAME team, for making an equally great emulator. And TAITO, of
course, for making the game in the first place :-)
----------------------
[1.6] Revision history
----------------------
17/11/2006
v1.5 OK...I took my sweet time with this one, but it DOES have almost all
warp information by now, and includes almost all enemies, even some
bizzare ones found only in secret rounds. Added a short Amiga version
review.
29/9/2004
v1.4 (beta) (Unreleased)
A decent update at last,with many corrections,better layout and new warp,
boss,enemy and stage info. Better late than never!
The reason it's labelled "beta" is that the layout hasn't been completely
adapted to the new format yet,but I wish to release it anyway just for the
extra new info.
22/11/2002
v1.2 Not much of an update really,just typo,format and grammar corrections.
Also added a Saturn version 'review' (or I'd better say 'elogy'?) :-)
28/8/2000
v1.1 Added an enemy to the enemy section,just a general check.
v1.0 (Ready for a first release!)
Well,seems like there is enough info in here to attempt a serious first
release,at last! Time to kick a...ehm,time for action!!
27/8/2000:
v0.2 (Unreleased) Added the "Hipopo" ASCII-art logo.It's not the best,but...
25/8/2000:
v0.1 (Unreleased) Boss info is complete,started doing the warps section.
v0.0 (Unreleased) It's the main frame of the FAQ.I've finished the enemy and
bonus info, must yet fill in the Bosses and Warps,as well as the Conversion
section.
==============================================================================
----------------
[2.1] Story/Plot
----------------
The plot goes somewhat like this:
In the peaceful Woody Lake lives a happy community of cute little water
animals.
But one day,there comes the evil Fire Devil who kidnaps/kills all of
the creatures.
Only one manages to escape/survive: Hipopo,the hero of this game.
The Fire Devil destroyed his and his peoples' peace and first of all he
dared taking his beloved girlfriend,Tamasun,away from him!
But somehow,Hipopo is endowed with the legendary Water Magic from the spirit
of the Lake,in order for him to go on a journey to destroy the Fire Devil
and all of his minions and of course saving his friends and live in peace with
his beloved Tamasun...your goal,stage by stage,is to pass through each
round alive and rescue your captive friends at the end.At the end of a stage,
you have to fight a big boss,before passing to the next.
Hipopo is carried from stage to stage by a pelican friend of his and shoots
waterballs (mizubakus) to freeze and hurt the enemies.
If you take too much time in a round or a place,a "hurry up" message
appears,then a time-up monster (like a Joker with a scythe!) comes out looking
for you.If he fails in killing you (rare...) another one comes out,
and another,etc.
Also, as time passes in the round,the background (at least in "external"
rounds) changes colors from day to afternoon,from afternoon to night. Awesome!
Zoological note: Hipopo and all of his friends seem to be PLATIPI.
A PLATIPUS is a strange animal,which is hairy as a mammal,has duck-like
bill and feet,can swim and lays eggs like a bird or a reptile,and even has
a poisonous sperons on its back feet (only the male)!
(I may be wrong on the exact name or its plural form or both,correct me if
I'm wrong!).Anyhow,this animal doesn't classify neither as mammal nor like
a bird or reptile.In the evolution scale,it's more primitive compared to
modern mammals,and there is a special term to describe it,although I don't
recall it now.
This strange animal lives exclusively in Australia and is very rare,just
like Kiwis who live only in New Zealand (remember NZS...).
In NZS,Tiki was a lot cuter than the real wild animal which inspired him.
And so is Hipopo: He stands on two feet instead of four,has "hands",a big
bill,constantly smiles or jokes (Tiki was neutral or even looked
sad/worried).
Probably,he is not wearing shoes.His colour almost matches that of the real
animal (brown) (while Tiki was yellow,nothing to do with any real kiwi bird.)
This similarity suggests that the game's plot takes place in Australia or
a nearby place...Maybe New Zealand...again?
---------------------------
[2.2] Game Basics/Mechanics
---------------------------
Controls are fairly easy to learn, but need some practice to use the most out
of them and survive in most situations.
You move around (left and right) with the joystick. Up and Down doesn't work
in this game (another difference with NZS), or at least it doesn't seem to
be used.
You can jump with the jump button,and as with all good TAITO platformers,the
longer you keep the button pressed,the higher you jump,up to a max. height,of
course. This means you can do big leaps (to avoid a pit,for example) as well
as small, low, precise jumps (to avoid hitting spikes, jump on small platforms,
etc.).
I strongly reccomend that you get very well acquainted with that feature.
Then there is of course a fire button, with which you can shoot your Mizubakus
(water bombs). Hipopo always carries a mizubaku in his hand, ready to strike.
These "water bombe" have a double action:
a) They "hurt" or "freeze" enemies by impact.
b) After a few bounces, the mizubaku crashes, releasing water.
This water "freezes" or "hurts" the enemies it encounters until it's
completely absorbed. Bigger and stronger enemies seem to "absorb" more
than the small ones.
By holding down the fire button for a while, the mizubaku you carry starts
growing up to a maximum size and with a certain speed. Release the button
to shoot. Throwing larger mizubakus means:
a) They do more damage .
b) They carry more water .
c) They crash with less bounces (useful if you need a water stream).
d) It takes (usually) more time to shoot.
You must also learn to master your (only!) weapon:
First of all, you can't just shoot non-stop like you'd like.
Yeah, you do have infinite "ammo", but the maximum number of mizubakus on the
screen is four (4), after which you won't be able to shoot for a while, and
this may prove fatal...time your attacks well/always keep a mizubaku handy!
Also, for reaching some distant enemies or to affect a large number of
enemies, you need to generate a large quantity of water. The more you keep on
shooting, the smaller mizubakus get and the less water they carry, which can
also prove fatal or insuficcient.
Keep in mind that the smaller mizubakus bounce a lot on the ground before
crashing, while the bigger ones crash almost immediately.
You will usually walk on dry land, but Hipopo can also cross courses of
water. Jump/walk on water and Hipopo will take out his...lifesaver and slowly
swim on the surface. You can still jump (low) and shoot.
You can also ride water fountains which elevate you, and use some weird
water-powered "boats" now and then. They look like floating water pumps.
Just jump on their higher "step" and start shooting: your water will
operate their "wheel" and you will start moving much faster on water.
These boats will also kill the enemies they "sail on". Keep that in mind!
Also beware: many enemies can jump on the boats, and believe me, it's not
always easy to eliminate them...
In section [2.4] (Enemies) I will get back on how to kill your enemies.
-----------------------------
[2.3] Game Bonuses & Scoring.
-----------------------------
Yep, there are plenty of them,like in every TAITO game which respects itself.
Now, some give you just points, which, as you will see later, are quite
important. Others are more useful, and power up your "weapon"
(but never change it), speed you up, kill your enemies, protect you for a while,
up to giving you and extra life!
Some bonuses always wait for you in fixed places, being placed just for you.
Others need you to walk to a particular part of a round/area in order to
appear.
But they also do appear,dropped by fire doors,if you kill many of your
enemies in a row. The more you kill, the better the bonuses, in general.
In the enemy count, the "kicked" enemy counts as well.
If you kill up to 3 enemies in a row,the award will be a candy (below 1000
pts). For 4, the award is a 1000 pts candy bonus, standard issue.
Only for 5 and above do the "active" bonuses appear, especially the rarer
ones. The pt-awarding ones are usually all the kinds of fruits, sweets, cakes,
etc.
You shouldn't ignore them though, as they help building up a score.
Here's a list of the "active" ones:
Pistol:
-------
Enables you to shoot more than 4 mizubakus on the screen,you can now shoot
continuously,but mizubakus get smaller and smaller,unless you get the...
Pump:
-----
Makes mizubaku "charging" faster,almost instantaneous.
Not only,but your mizubakus always never come out smaller than their standard
size, i.e. they don't shrink as you keep shooting. Great if combined with the
pistol.
Bucket:
-------
Increases the maximum mizubaku size (by charging).
Combined with Pistol and Pump,it's GREAT!
Water Tap:
----------
Gives you Pistol,Pump and Bucket for a limited amount of time.
Not only that, but you always shoot max-size mizubakus!
Boot:
-----
If you have it, you become immune to your (or other) water streams.
It's life-critical in some places of the game, where water streams could
make you fall in a pit or on spikes, for example.
Train:
------
Makes you move faster. Watch out, coz this bonus is cumulative, and you can
end up moving too fast for your own good. :_(
The more you get, the faster you'll move. Luckily, there is a time limitation
on this bonus, too, but the cumulating effect makes it also last longer!
Pig Face:
---------
It only gives you 1000 pts,but it needs 5+ enemies to appear, so it's
considered a "special" bonus too, maybe improperly.
Single thunder:
---------------
An aqua sphere with a thunder in it, freezes (but doesn't kill) all the enemies
on the screen. It has, apparently, no effect on "no-frost" enemies, doesn't
even hurt them.
Double thunder:
---------------
A red sphere with two thunders in it, kills ALL enemies on the screen, except
for the big, strange ones, like the doll on stage 6-2 or the Mystic Platform
on round 4-2.
Power Pill:
-----------
Surrounds Hipopo with a flashing aura and makes him invincible for a while.
Also, enemies who touch Hipopo die. But, remember, duration is very variable,
and, usually, very short!
Extra Life:
-----------
One of the most wanted -and rare bonuses-. It should be obvious why ;-)
Mystic Lamp:
------------
Appears only in the secret round with the wooden swaying bird, but I don't know
what it does, maybe nothing. You can also make it appear more than once in that
round, if you want, but again, nothing special to be noted.
Note: this bonus might be a tribute to another TAITO's game, Cadash, where
there was a similar shaped bonus which however was far from useless: it made
the screen flash whenever your character was close to a hidden item or secret.
------------------
[2.4] Game Enemies
------------------
Back to the shooting matter: Usually, throwing water on small enemies will
"freeze" them for a while, Bubble Bobble style! While they are frozen, they
turn blue, and start flashing when they are about to un-freeze. You'd better
be quick and kick them to oblivion!
While they are frozen, touch one of them: Hipopo will give him a good kick
and send him flying to his death against a wall, or even better, against
other enemies, frozen or unfrozen, which will be hit and killed or damaged,too.
In this case,you are awarded progressively more points: 100 for the 1st,
200 for the 2nd, then 300, 400, 500, 800 and then 1000, from the 7th and on.
It's in your best interest to try and destroy many enemies together this
way, coz ,as you have seen in the Bonuses section [2.3], the more you kill
the better and more useful bonuses you are awarded.
This is the case of the usual, small, "everyday" enemies, which freeze with
a single hit or a small water stream.
In the game however,you will find now and then some more resistant
creatures, some of which don't freeze when hit, and keep attacking until you
hurt them enough for them to die, much like the game bosses.
Water streams and "kicked enemies" sometimes do damage at these creatures, but
not always.
What follows is a brief description of most of the enemies you will find in
the game, ordered by the stage they first appear on.
The names given aren't the "official" ones (sometimes there just aren't any),
but are mostly invencted by me in order to have a unique, intuitive and as
catchy description as possible (so you can recognize a particular enemy when
you see it!.
Some appear throughout the game,others on certain stages only or even just
in some secret rounds.
Keep in mind that in LK,unlike NZS,ALL enemies can kill you by collision!
Stage 1:
Pink Ball:
----------
A Pink ball with hands and eyes which just hops around.
Blue Ball:
-----------
Same as the above,only it carries a...slingshot which it carefully aims
before shooting! It shoots thorny wooden balls. As you will see, this
is just a taste of things to come.
Yellow Ball:
------------
Like the above two, only that it has a butterfly net and can catch your
mizubakus with no harm! Use a water stream to destroy it.
Slug:
-----
A slow, crawling slug. It can't shoot, but can climb vertical walls.
Bombs:
------
These living, walking bombs with huge grins are in reality big bastards, as
they try approaching you as much as they can before exploding, generating
fires which propagate along walls, floors, ceilings and if they touch you...you
are a toast Platipus! Use your water to put off the fires before crossing,
as even the smallest flame can set you on fire!
Flaming flowers:
----------------
Huge, fixed-in-place flowers: When they are "shut" they are indestructible.
When they "bloom" they light up a fire column, and toss flames left and right.
Shoot their fire column to kill them. When their flames are all put off,
the flowers die. Strange flowers indeed, and unique to stage 1.3.
Swirl Tosser:
-------------
Bizzare, swirl-like creatures which spin around themselves holding a spikey
ball, which from time to time they toss upwards and then catch it again.
They can't shoot sideways, only upwards, and they are usually placed in a
way that you have to walk above them. They are relatively rare beyond Stage 1,
though.
Stage 2:
Umbreller:
----------
A small white creature holding a yellow umbrella, which it uses to fall down
slowly and to block youw mizubakus. Again, a good water stream manages to
freeze it.
Note: these enemies might be a Parasol Stars reference.
Piranhas:
---------
The only "underwater" enemy in the game. Looks like a green man-eating plant
with fins and a large mouth. It swims FAST and it tries to attack you by
emerging from below you, or even jumping out of the water (it can move on
land but crawls slower than a slug.
You can only freeze it when it's near the surface of the water. Very common
where water is to be found.
Amoeba:
-------
One of the nastiest enemies: looks like a fluffy aqua cloud,but when you hit it
it splits in two smaller amoebas which can in turn split in two even smaller,
faster and harder to hit micro-amoebas. Unique to round 2.1.b , and a good
reason to avoid it (see section [3.1] for more info).
Fluffy clouds:
--------------
They first appear in stage 2,although you will see them a lot more often in
stage 5. They look like flying cotton buds,usually fly much higher than you
and sometimes carry spikey balls that drop on you. Are almost always seen
in groups which just fly or bombard all together, much like the Black Bats
from NZS.
Water wizard:
-------------
Looks like a wizard in an aqua mantle wearing an aqua cowboy hat. He juggles
some spikey balls above his head,and throws one at you from time to time.
Takes some hits to kill. Rare.
Stage 3:
Small Batteries:
----------------
They really look like yellow batteries with legs, hands and eyes!
They just walk around.
Large Battery:
--------------
It's larger than the previous ones, takes several hits to die, and from time to
time it opens up releasing Small Batteries. Rare, only seen in some place of
round 3-2.
Super Battery:
--------------
Looks a lot like the previous one, only it jumps around like mad and it
shoots some kind of electrified garbage against you!
Micro robots:
-------------
They are just small robots walking around (slowly), with a sleepy look.
As with other small enemies in this game,be careful: after they have come close
enough, they are hard to hit,especially with small mizubakus, and may jump on
you suddenly and make you lose a precious life very stupidly!
-"D-oh! I lost a life!"
-"How could that happen"?
-"Oh, it was one of those slow moving, sleepy-lookin' tiny 'bots!"
-"Microrobots are t3h pwn and t3h h4x!"
Alarm Clock:
------------
Yes :-) It's a wandering, big alarm clock which slowly moves around and
produces Micro robots.As you hurt it it loses pieces (wheels, bells,
hands,gears,etc.) and it starts ringing when it dies! It's one of the
funniest moments of the game, and there should be 2 or 3 of them
scattered around Stage 3.
Armored Shell:
--------------
A big, blue, armored shell,armed with a long chain which has a heavy spiked
iron ball at its end,which he costantly rotates and can also be thrown at you.
Takes many hits to die, and has a decent attack range.
Don't even try to approach him, you will be caught in the rotation of the big,
nasty mace.
Fight him from a safe distance (at least 1/3 of a screen).
You first get to see him in Stage 3, but you will have to fight with him a lot
more especially in Stages 6 and 7.
Robot Knight:
-------------
He looks like a knight using a garbage can/oiler for armor.
Takes a lot of hits to die, and wields a spear which he can throw at you.
Although it may seem funny watching Hipopo jerking with a spear in his eye,it
costs too much (a life or more!).
Try to kill him as soon as possible, or he could give you serious trouble.
He appears a number of times throughout Stage 3, and nowhere else.
Steamers:
---------
They are strange, short lived creatures which are constantly generated from
broken steam pipes and always travel in one direction,just to be squashed on
the first obstable...or on you if you are unlucky. They can be easily
destroyed/blocked with a mizubaku and are worth 10 pts each,so you know :-)
Stage 4:
Cobras:
-------
In reality,these "Cobras" are tiny little snakes which you will find in fairly
abundant numbers in this stage,and can only walk and jump. The only reason I
mention them here is that they are so small that after they have come too
close to you, they naturally stay out of your shooting range...they are so
small that standard mizubakus fail to touch them!
It's a pity to lose a life to them...yet it does happen.
Scorpions:
----------
Red scorpions which often appear in large groups, can walk on walls and
ceilings, are fairly fast and usually come from behind you! Always watch
your back...
Liche:
------
Not really an enemy, the Liche is some kind of robe-wearing skeleton
hiding underthe floor, and will try to reach for you and grab you with a pair
of giant tweezers! Yeah, you read that bit right!
When he succeeds, he will somehow "pull you under the floor", and dump you on
the first gap under him. He doesn't kill you this way, but he can either delay
you, or send you into a trap.
Mystic Shells:
--------------
They are a very particular kind of enemy. They move fastly on the ground and
climb low walls and pits. When you hit them,they freeze, but when you kick them
instead of dying, they change colour and start moving faster, until you beat
them up enough, and so they die. They start out usually green, then yellow,
then orange then red,then they die (4 hits). Be careful when they "rebound"
after a kick: they are still alive by all meanings, and if they land on you...
Mummies:
--------
What, an "egyptian" stage wouldn't have mummies?
Stone Golem:
------------
That's a tough one. A rock moster which carries a boulder,makes huge leaps and
can also throw his boulder at you (don't cheer up if he misses you, he carries
several of them just for you :-).Takes a lot of hits to die,and when he dies
stay away from him: he drops the boulder he carried and it can still squash
you to death.
Note: These enemies seem to be a Fairyland Story reference, as a similar enemy
appeared in that game.
Tut's Masks:
------------
Yeah,golden Pharaoh masks which roll on the ground.
Mystic platform:
----------------
There is only one in the entire game, in round 4-2, not far from the beginning.
It's a big golden cylindrical platform with 4 "horns" at it's vertexes.
It leaps up in the air, and at the apogee of its jump it rotates its horns
(which, one by one, you must hit in order to destroy it).
When it falls down, it makes a loud "PTOHM!" and generates two Tut's Masks,
leaps up again,etc.
That's one of the "score building spots" of the game. It's easy to "stock"
about 10-12 Tut's masks and to kill them all at once...for several times!
HINT: After destroying it, a strange "jug" with 4 arms will appear for a while,
dropping on the landing point of the platform. Follow the "jug" and wait right
where it lands: after a while, you will be awarded with a full Mizubaku set:
Pistol, Bucket, Waterpump and perhaps even a Tap!
Green sponge:
-------------
It's a sad-looking plant which looks like a sponge,and from time to time it
shoots (...or releases) a single,slow thorny ball. When you hit it it freezes
and shrinks, but soon un-freezes,"self-inflates" and keeps on shooting.
Hit it with no mercy when it's down!
Stage 5:
Fluffy clouds:
--------------
I know I already mentioned them before, only that they make a great impression
when a group of them drops its spikeballs to the rhythm of Stage 5's "Classic"
theme. OK, it's not exactly Disney's Fantasia, but almost!
Windworm:
---------
It's a strange worm which hangs from the branches, goes slowly up and down...
and when it opens its mouth a fierce WIND starts to blow, leaves start flying,
and you are swept away.
You don't die just for that, but you are pushed back and might fall in nasty
pits or on other enemies. It can be really irritating in certain parts of the
game.
Remember that you are more vulnerable to their blow when you are jumping.
Try to "hide" behing blocks. I mention this on enemy on Stage 5, although
it first appears in a secret round you can take from stage 1...
Wooden Batter:
--------------
This strange little fella only appears in round 5.1.b. He mostly stands still
on the top of some platform or branch wielding a baseball bat and SEEMS to be
able to "send you back" with this bat if you try to leap on him. He can be
killed very easily however.
Pinocchio:
----------
The only thing in common with the "Pinocchio" character from the omonymous
Carlo Collodi's tale, is that they are made of wood and they have long,
expanding noses. They only appear on round 5.1a and just walk
around trying to poke you with their long noses...and that's no lie!
Sometimes the fantasy of the game designers makes me wonder :-)
Carnivorous flowers:
--------------------
They look like slimy,green and magenta flowers,hanging from the branches,
lazily move up and down. But when you come close...they dash downwards opening
their "mouths" to eat you. They are indestructible, and practically act as
traps in your way.
If they get you, you can see the flower sending Hipopo upwards to its stomach.
To pass by them,when they are "high" enough,take a small step just below them,
so they will start "attacking".
Step back immediately, and after they have missed you (I hope they DID fail,at
this point) they will slowly "retire". During this phase, they won't attack yo
when passing below them, but you'd better be quick anyway!
So: Fake a step, step back, wait for them to retire and pass them by!
Update: You can also try to pass THROUGH them with a couple of jumps
at any time,as long as you don't land right UNDER them.
Dragon Plants:
--------------
Winged dragons (which closely resemble carnivorous plants, IMHO).
They make surprise attacks from the sides of the screen, usually 2 or more
at a time, and they spit a lot flames, which hit the ground and start burning
fiercely, setting everything on fire.
Gymnast apples:
---------------
Another comic part of the game. They are some huge apples (yes,APPLES!)
with strong, long hands which hang to the branches and do...exercises!
They pull up, they swing around,etc., all with a wide grin on their faces.
They are there to prevent you from going to a certain branch.
You, just stay away from them and make a distance attack, then watch them as
they fall down. They take several hits to die but at the end they fall down...
Yellow sponge:
--------------
Like the green one, only it's yellow and shoots 8 thorny balls at a time,
in all 8 directions. It's also harder to kill.
Stage 6:
Temple fanatics:
----------------
They are little men with blue helmets which have white crosses on them,and all
of them carry small spears, which they can throw at you. You will find a lot
of them in this stage, as they are the guardians of the heavenly temple.
Interestingly enough, in the PCE version of the game,the crosses on their
helmets were replaced with crescent moons......religious implications,maybe?
Cloud Riders:
-------------
They look like an enemy from Cloud Master (anyone,remembers the game with the
cloud riding boy?). They just move right-to-left and in set times they
discharge vertical lighting.You can't reach them and kill them but with a
thunder ball. It's actually easier to avoid getting hit by their lighting
and pass them by.
Cloud Formations:
-----------------
Groups of 4 clouds which suddenly form,move up and then discharge lightning.
They CAN be easily destroyed with a mizubaku,especially when they are
gaining height. They also are the only "enemy" you can touch without
dying (when they are not flashing).
Crystal ducks:
--------------
They are transparent, glass-like ducks which create ice cubes to block your
path. It seems like you can touch them somehow more than other enemies but
I wouldn't place much trust in that...it's easier to destroy them...and kick
away those stupid ice cubes!
Tanker bird:
------------
It's a strange flying bird with a rotor-butt. When hit, it opens its mouth and
it drinks (!) your water, filling a transparent sack (its belly?) with it,
which starts stretching.
The more you "feed" it, the more it stretches,when at a certain point it
explodes (Note: the water it drank is released into a stream) and dies.
Well,THAT's surely original!
Great Leader:
-------------
Despite the name,it's more of a bizzary than a serious enemy.
He is a huge doll,looking like the little blue men on this stage.
This doll has two fixed arms,at the ending of each one endings hangs
a big spikeball (the game's designers must LOVE spikeballs,in all forms
and sizes!), and the whole thing sways back and forward over a tall collumn
of tiny blue blocks. The balls generate little blue men.
Just stand out of the balls "range" and hit the blue blocks: one by one they
will move and fly away,until none remains, and the Great Leader lowers and
lowers till he dies. This "enemy" is just before the Boss room, in case
you missed it :-)
Stage 7:
Minor Fire Devils:
------------------
Miniatures of the Fire Devil, they fly around and throw flaming circles at you.
These circles set the ground and walls on fire, but can be blocked in mid-air
with a well timed mizubaku. From time to time,the Devils will try to "drop"
on you, and when they fly BELOW the floor (yes, they can, and even through
walls!) they will try to suddenly "rise" under your feet.
These are the best moments to attack them.
When they appear or attack,they make monkey-like sounds!
They are hard to kill, and the worst situation in the entire game is when you
choose the "hard" way to Stage 7 and you have to fight 3 of them all at once
in a small room. With the "easy" choice,you fight them already on stage 7-1,
but you fight ONLY them, you have room to move and fight, and, most important,
you can fight them ONE by ONE,and not ALL THREE TOGETHER!
Minor Shamen:
-------------
Reduced versions of Stage 4's boss, they are obscure creatures with a red
mantle and a white turbant, which fly around and from time to time they start
casting fire spells, setting everything on fire.
They can also disappear and teleport wherever they want, and fly through walls.
If you hit them when they are just flying,they will only take one hit and
teleport.
The best way to kill them quickly is to hit them while they are casting their
spells: while they do, they also take all the hits you can give them without
teleporting. It may seem riskier, but it's better than having them flying
around setting all platforms on fire...these are found only on stage 7-3
AND (update) also on round 4.1.b (the hard path).
Secret Rounds:
Those creatures only appear in secreat rounds, and most of them are
quite unique. Just finding them and fighting them is a challenge in
itself !
Defender:
---------
They appear in the secret round you are taken from the warp on 3-1.a.
There are 4 in total, and are just side-moving grey-green shells, which
cover up when a mizubaku comes close and don't freeze while they keep
covered. You need a good timing to freeze them.
Rolling Nuts:
-------------
They appear on the secret round with the swaying wooden bird (reachable from
round 2.1.a), just after you go down the ropes, trying to get you from behind.
They are thorny, tiny wooden balls which roll,and usually break (and die) when
they fall on the ground. Try to freeze and kill many of them at once, and even
better, jump around the ropes to make them reappear (you can do that 3-4 times
before the Time-up Joker appears). Free extra points!
Hungry Sunflowers:
------------------
They only appear in the secret round reachable from stage 5.1.a and are, well,
some large hungry sunflowers with a long tentacle-like tongue. They can't move,
but they can grab you with their tongue and then chew you to death spitting the
bones out when they're done! ;-]
To destroy them and exit the secret round,try to hit their petals: when they
lose all of them they die and get kicked out.
Hurry Up Monster:
-----------------
He looks like an awkward combination of a scythe-wielding Wraith and a Joker.
After the "hurry up" the music changes,and if you take it too late...the Joker
appears. Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight? :-)
He isn't really that hard to avoid, even considering your limited mobility,
and he is really dangerous only in closed spaces. If he misses you for too
long, another Joker appears, then another, and another, etc. Needless to
say, he is indestructible, and doesn't give up!
ABOUT HIGH-SCORES...
Unlike NZS,there's no way to "loop" back and forth between some rounds, and
scoring millions...and the points you are awarded by normal play are, well,
too few.
Also, in NZS this feature allowed you to more than make up for the score
you didn't collect from the rounds you ommited (if you used the warps to
their max extent!).
In LK, which also has warps, you can't make up for this, but considering
that the warps don't save you that much of a time (in fact you still have
to face 5 or 6 from the 7 bosses!) the difference isn't really that big,
and you still can get over the million (apart from the fact that
with a "normal" play,you'll probably end (by losing) the game much, much
before!
There are only a few rare points in some rounds where there is a
continuous enemy generation, and only there can you build up your score.
Round bosses also give you plenty of pts.,as well as some secret rounds.
In general,try to get all the bonuses you can and kill "the better" you
can!
You need pts,coz you earn extra lives that way, and the machine is usually
set to give extra lives at 30000,150000,900000 pts,which is -barely-
reachable!
So ok,the 30000 one is easy to get,the 150000 one only if you make it to
the Pyramid/Great Tree,and 900000 only if you finish the game with at least
four lives.
In fact,the only way to get over the million is this: get at
the boss room without having lost any of your four lives (I suppose you
start out with two and you manage to stock 300000 pts by then).
If you follow the "optimal path" you should have about 300000-350000+ pts.
If you are so good (or take it as challenge) to pass all stages one by one,
then I estimate that you can collect about 600000 pts till you reach the
final boss.
More than with the optimal path, sure, but how many lives will
you have left? (See below to see why this is important)
By destroying the boss in its first form you will get 50000 pts (or maybe
100000, I'm not sure) and the second one surely gives you 100000 pts, so
you should be at 450000-500000. Since you are awarded 100000 pts for each
"spare" life, this should take you to 850000+ (and that's it) or over
900000 (In this case, details DO matter!) in which case you will be awarded
the 900000 life and thus take an extra 100000,that's 1000000+ pts!
At least with this scoring/life award configuration, that's the only way
to do it. My record,for a "flawless" game,is about 1088000.The only way
to get over 1100000 is to find an extra life during the game,which is
very hard. With easier configurations,it might also be easier to get
over the million.
-----------------
[2.5] Game Bosses
-----------------
At the end of the final round of every stage,you will have to fight a big
boss,which is harder to destroy than other creatures.In LK,usually the
bosses are weird,funny,but also deadly!
When you fight a boss,his energy bar appearns on the top of the screen.
If you lose a life while fighting a boss,when you re-enter the boss room you
will see that his energy bar is just a bit more full than when you lost.
The final enemy is an exception,as you must always face his second form
with "full" energy.
Also,learning the techniques to destroy them quick is fundamental,since the
Bosses give you less trouble if you destroy them quickly,thus not giving
them a chance to use ALL of their arsenal and powers.It may sound (and is...)
riskier to be "quick" but "active risk" is better than "passive",believe me!
Stage 1
Flaming Bunny:
--------------
He's a spherical "bunny" with spring legs and arms,moustaches and ears.
He just bumps around and is indestructible until he "opens up":
the top part of his body "opens" (as you wil see,he is made of two emispheres!)
and from a metal shaft inside him spurt rotating flames!
That's the right moment to hurt him: Shoot him,and he will start filling with
water (you can even check that from the built-in window he has,or see the water
when he is about full!).
Of course, as soon as you attack him, he will try to close down, then open up
again, etc.
If you are good, you can take him down in three, or even two "cycles".
Please note,ears,legs,arms etc. of the bunny are not vulnerable: You must make
your mizubakus land on the "opening" of the bunny!
Stage 2
Acid Bottle:
------------
He is one of the weirdest enemies EVER in a videogame.
Flies around,and shoots loads of yellow,oozing,corrosive liquid.
His body is shaped like a bottle with many necks shaped as glass flowers,his
head is below the bottle's recipient,wears a mantle and papillon,and to shoot
he squeezes his head with his hands!
His weak spots are the tops of the "flowers", from where the liquid squirts
are shot. Beware of this liquid, coz it "sticks" on the platforms and it can
kill you even if there is one tiny bit left!
Shoot the liquid squirts with water, they will die out faster.
He has an attack pattern: he first enters the screen from the right,
moves to a lower corner of the screen and slowly moves up while shooting at the
same time. When he reaches the top,he swoops down again and changes side.
After doing three swaps,he starts flying around in circles,spraying liquid
everywhere, after 2 or three turns he completes his attack pattern.
To kill him quick,stand on the highest platform of his side of the screen
while he is "rising",but only for his first 2-3 hits,when the liquid still can't
reach you. Afterwards, move on the highest platform of the opposite side of the
screen and try to send your mizubakus bouncing on the platform you were sitting
before: the water falling on the "flowers" will damage them. If you are good
enough,you should be able to kill him or at least damage him very much before he
starts flying in circles, when it's easier for you to get hit by the liquid.
The best thing you can do in this case is to stand on the second-from-below
platform of either sides of the screen,and shoot him while he passes below you.
It's easier to avoid the liquid that way. Also,when you enter the boss room,
wait for him on the left side: he somehow shoots less liquid if you do that.
Stage 3:
Mechanical Monster: He is an ugly mechanical composition of wheels,gears,
exhaust pipes,etc.
This weird boss rides on wheels and always crosses the
screen from the same paths:low-right to low-left,exits
the screen then enters it crossing high-left to
high-right,exits the screen again,etc.
He has two sawblades on his head (hit them and they are
gone),two mechanical arms he uses to spawn Micro Robots,
(hurt him enough and they disappear),and when you leave
him weaponless he becomes redder,faster,and starts
throwing fire around! He is somehow boring and slow to
fight and there is no known way to kill him quicker.
Note than he never stops moving,so you'll have to kill
him with many light attacks.Only one hint: when he starts
throwing fire,avoid the upper portion of the level (which
he costantly sets on fire) and when he crosses the lower
one,hit him and hide in one of the holes of the
sub-floor, the part of the screen he never crosses,come out
and hit him again when he has passed over you,wait until he
crosses the upper part (DO NOT TRY TO PUT OFF THEFIRES!),
repeat the cycle.
Stage 4:
Riding Shaman: He looks like a mummyfied camel riding Shaman from hell,
as he rides a sort of skeletic camel with spring legs.
He makes huge jumps,casts fire spells,generates thunder
clouds and can also teleport where he wants.
Unfortunately,there's no secret for killing him quick,but
luckily,if you take the warp,you don't have to fight him.
And you better do,coz he is really hard,as in his boss room
you are stuck on the floor (no platforms!),while he sets it on
fire,jumps and casts thunders!
Stage 5:
Giant Pine Cone:
It's a big-big pine cone with a thorny body and long,flaming
arms it uses to hang from the branches of the great tree
(which are your platforms).
It can climb the branches and move along them,and from time to
time it shoots up to three thorny fruits (don't touch them,they
are not edible!).
His weak points,are his long,flaming arms.Hit them with your
mizubakus and his energy will quickly decrease.If you hurt one
arm enough,you will "put it off" and it will fall down,leaving
him with one arm.Now he can't move along the branches,only go
up and down and shoot like crazy.
The only hint to destroy him quick,is to find a spot in the
stage,where the water from your mizubakus will be channeled on his
arm(s).Some places are worst than others,as they block or reverse
your water.Others will take your water where it's needed...again,
SPEED is the key,before he gets REAL bad!
Sometimes,he can be killed really quick,if you heavily damage one
arm when he's trying to climb up or down a branch: the arms bend and
are particularly vulnerable then.If you 'kill' the arm holding the
body while he's in the mid of climbing...he will fall of the tree even
with a quasi-full energy bar (easier to do when he's just entering the
boss stage).
Stage 6:
Hell Clown: At first,you may think you will have to face not one,but FOUR
bosses at once.Relax:the boss is the big clown face (vulnerable),
and the three minor figures are just his sidekicks (invulnerable)
which just shoot from time to time,and it's difficult to get
killed by them,if you keep moving around a bit.
The Hell Clown face starts flying left-right on the lower or
upper (usually upper) part of the level,and the helpers respectively
on the upper or lower part,after some time they invert the parts.
The trick to destroy him quick is to "follow" him and attack him
continously,coz if you stick to one place he will stop and will
start setting everything on fire...and he uses plenty of it!
If you follow him,moving with him,he will also keep moving,not
attacking.Only his "sidekicks" keep bothering you but as I said
before,their hits are easy to dodge.
You just need to have a good timing at the edges of the screen,
where it's easier to "lose time" and so cause him to stop and
attack.
If you do it good,he will not even have the time to "invert" and
will make at most 3-4 "rides" left-right.
Stage 7:
Fire Demon: The final boss at last,at least ONE of his forms.
He looks like a big flying joker dressed up in bright clothes,
has a flaming body,a big red nose,evil eyes which glow in the
dark of his face,and a big magic Rod,which creates (what else?)
fire,lots of fire.
BTW,this fire rod looks like one of Tiki's weapons in NZS!
His weak part is the exposed,lower,part of his flaming body,
as well as his magic rod.
He doesn't seem to hunt you down or anything.He just materializes
either in the left or right part of the screen,attacks,and when
he's done he teleports to the other side of the screen.
He has only two attack patterns,which begin the same way:
He creates a ring of small fires,keeps it close to him for a
while,and then either he "sends" it forward making it expand
more,and more,and more...(much like the Mage's spell "Magic
Circle" in Cadash) or he makes it "compact",sends it in
mid-screen,and from there the small fires "explode" on the walls,
the floor,and ceilings and...on you,setting everything on fire.
The latter spell is easy to defend from,as you only need to hit
the fires (usually just one) which fly on you with a well-timed
hit,and the fires on the wall and ceiling usually give you no
trouble.
The ring is a bit more tricky,as you have to "dig a hole" in it
by shooting it while it rotates,and jump past it while the "gap"
you created passes in front of you...
Both attacks can be countered if you shoot the fire ring while
it's being summoned by the Fire Demon,so that the spells will
have less "elements" (this way,sometimes the "exploding" spell
becomes so weak it only manages to light up the ceiling,and the
ring spell is stopped before it even reaches you!).
Anyway,that's the thing to do each time he "teleports":
Hurt him a bit,defend from his attacks,then try to attack him
again (he never does more than one attack per teleport,but you
may not be able to hurt him that much),let him teleport again,
etc. There is nothing else to do,at least for THAT form.
The worst thing that can happen,is for him to teleport too
high above the ground,so you will only have to defend yourself,
without being able to hurt him.Better luck on the next teleport!
I have spoken about the final boss' forms because after you
defeat his "Joker" form,the "Joker" costume dies but the flaming
spirit of the Demon is still alive!
Fire Spirit: The big Fire Demon turns into a flaming creature with no form,
much smaller than before,but with a full energy bar,and the boss
room changes (now there are platforms) to move on.
This creature flies around,every now and then it stops and
starts "dropping" (WHAT else?) fire.
That's the best moment to attack it,since it will stand there
and take all the damage.
If you hit it while its flying around,it will just take one hit
and fly back a half-screen distance,sometimes OFF screen (and
that makes you waste time,especially when he starts dropping
fire OFF screen).
Fire Vortex: But your troubles ain't over yet...after you have brought him
to about 80% of its energy,here comes his THIRD form: the
creature will become smaller,like a medium flame,move to the
center of the screen and 4 flaming arms will come out of it,
dispose at 90 degrees from one another (in the PCE version,
there are only three arms at 120 degrees),and start rotating,
forcing you to move around the platforms,hitting the center
of the cross when you can.
Next follows an ASCII drawing of the final boss' round:
=========================================
| |
| # # |
| ----\--------------------/----- |
| A \ / B |
| --- \ / --- |
| \ /\ / |
| --- \/\/\/ --- |
| /\__/\ |
| --- / \ --- |
| / C \ |
| ------/----------------\------- |
| # \# |
=========================================
The rotating arms will force you to jump over the platforms
of one side of the screen to the large platform on the top,then
descend (or fall) to the opposite ones,cross the lower platform
in a hurry,etc.
Then when they have completed a circle,they will invert their
rotation sense,make another circle,invert sense again,etc.
and they speed up at every circle.
When the arms have have come out,you can only attack the boss
from the two spots marked A and B in the drawing (mizubakus
will fall over the central flame) or (more difficult) from
spot C,just under him,by jumping A LITTLE and shooting.
All this while the arms are persecuting you,of course...
Needless to say,they are invulnerable.HIT THE CENTER,NOT THE ARMS!
If you take too much to kill him,the arms will become too fast
for you to attack (you can only run from them).
Again,speed is the key: Try to hurt the boss as much as you
can while he is passing from form 2 to form 3,that means when
he starts moving in the center of the screen,before he creates the
flaming arms.If you manage to bring him to about 40-50% of his
energy
in that phase (it's not impossible,nor hard),then chances are that
you will make it,else...
Also,always attack at spots A and B with fully charged mizubakus...
show him no mercy,as he won't show you any!
After you take him down,he will start "extinguishing" and his
palace
going in ruins.In that moment,Hipopo's friend the pelican will take
him on his back,fly through the night (while credits are showing)
and return to Woody Lake to meet Tamasun...
"THIS PEACE IS FOREVER..." says the game's ending quote.
Does this quote put the end mark over the ending quote from
New Zealand Story,the famous
"YOU SHOULD KNOW WELL THE STORY AFTER THIS BECAUSE YOU WOULD MAKE
THE STORY BY YOURSELF..."
,which (apparently) hinted to a sequel,and also (clearly) suggests
that there will be no other sequel?
In fact,there has been no sequel to Liquid Kids after that,and no
other TAITO game can be considered a NZS sequel more than LK,so
the two quotes must be in some way connected,like the two games
are,after all.
==============================================================================
-----------------
[3.1] Game Stages
-----------------
The game has 7 stages,with a different number of rounds each.
Stage one has got three rounds (The Boss is on round 1-3),Stages 2 to 6 have
two (Boss is always the second stage) and Stage 7 has 4 (4 is the final Boss
round and room).Another difference from NZS,which had god a fixed 5 stages
with 4 rounds each.
The stages have each a different graphic/ambient style,like NZS.
When changing stages,you are shown a pic of Hipopo's world,unlike NZS's
New Zealand Map.Hipopo's world has of course lots of lakes,trees,forests,
but also factories,heavenly above-the-clouds worlds and even an "egyptian"
pyramid,as well as the unwanted Fire Devil's Palace up in the Sky.
Stage 1: Woody Lake
The first stage.Wooden platforms,water,plants,trees...that's
given for granted,don't you think?
Stage 2: Water Temple
Marble decorations,fountains,waterfall background,water pools
with pirahnas...
Stage 3: Factory
"Hi-tech" background,pipes,gears,mechanisms,ladders,metal
platforms,electric traps,steam exhaust pipes...
Stage 4: Pyramid
Yellow stone blocks,Egyptian-like decorations,haeroglyphics,
mummys,tunnels,plenty of traps.etc.
Stage 5: Great Tree
All the stage consists of climbing a big tree up to it's highest
branches,with fruits,leaves,traps...
Stage 6: Sky Temple
Heaven-like clouds,crystal blocks,temples...
Stage 7: Fire Devil's Palace
Looks like the "Pyramid" adapted to the fire devil:
Grey blocks,Fire Devil inscriptions on the walls,plenty of traps.
At the end of each round,you will find one of your platipus friends captive
and chained.Touch him and you will free him and clear the round.
At the end of last round of each stage there is a boss which you must
defeat to clear the stage and pass to the next.
At this point however,things start getting a bit trickier:
After you defeat a boss,you will be presented two possible exit doors,
which of course means that there are two variations of the next stage,except
for the boss round.(e.g. Round 1-3 leads to 2-1.a or to 2-1.b,2-2 is the
same no matter which way you choose)
It really MATTERS which door you will choose,as the game's difficulty may
vary considerably.
In other words,there is an "easy" and a "hard" (I would say VERY hard)
choice.
The "easy" one puts you in front of a series of "normal" rounds of the next
stage,while the "hard" one makes you face rounds of the next stage not only
with a different layout (GFX style is the same) but also with some extra
enemies (sometimes LOTS),traps,difficulties.
For example:
Stage 2: You have an extra enemy,the "Amoeba",which splits everytime you hit
her.The split parts jump on you,are small,hard to avoid or to hit.
You have to fight a big train.
These things don't appear at all with the "easy" choice.
Stage 3: More moving/falling platforms,more Knights,steam,electric traps...
It's just not the same thing.
Stage 4: More falling ceilings/floors,rolling stones,booby traps,enemies,
even the "Minor Shamen" from the final stage will await you here
MUCH before than usual! It makes a BIG difference,believe me...
Stage 5: Lots of massed enemies,more wind-blowing worms,dragons,many more
traps etc.
Also makes a big difference.
Stage 6: Fire falls on you from the sky now and then,while with the "easy"
choice this never happens.It's really hard to avoid or to block,
so please choose the "easy" door.'Nuff said.
Stage 7: The "hard" choice makes you first pass a small round crammed with
dropping spike traps,then a round with a lot of platform traps,and
even some rotating,undestroyable jugs which seem to hunt you down!
After which you will have to fight THREE Minor Fire Devils at once
in a small room.
Luckily,it's easy to learn which the "good","easy" choices are:
GOLDEN RULE: Always choose the LEFT door,except for the 7th,last stage,after
you completed the 6th: there choose the RIGHT door.
In this way you won't face unnecessary dangers and perils. (of which there
are enough already).
OF course,the above things mean that practically there are two games in one!
One using the "easy" doors,the other using the hard ones.
This guide will mainly focus on the "easy" ones,considering the warps used
to obtain an "optimal path" to end the game.
This also means that there are in total:
3+3+3+3+3+3+6=24 rounds
Stage 1 only has 3 rounds,stages 2 to 6 have two,the last one has 4.
In stages 2 to 6,the first round variates,while in stage 7 the first two
variate,the last two are in common.
To finish the game "normally" you will of course only play 3+2+2+2+2+2+4=17
rounds and face 7 bosses.The truth is you can lower on that,though...
------------------
[3.2] Game Secrets
------------------
NZS has a special place between platform games of all ages,thanks to its
"warps",hidden doors scattered throughout the game,which enabled you to get
extra bonuses,pass difficult rounds,discover cool sercets,skip bosses,etc.
and even play forever (at least in the "normal" arcade version) by looping
between two "connected" rounds,1-4 and 2-1.
In LK,warps do exist too,only that they have a different form.
They are water plants with a large leave and a red door on them which
appear if you "water" a special spot.In such spots,mizubakus break in mid
air,releasing no water.If you hit such a spot 5 times (same as NZS!) a
plant with a door will "grow".Jump on the plant and enter the door,and
you will be taken to either a part of the level you are on,a part of another
level,or even to a secret round (belonging to none of the levels).
Now,I will mostly talk about the warps (I'll use the same term from NZS)
which are found choosing the "easy" doors at the boss rooms.Not all
rounds have warps,and none seems to have more than two,at least
the ones I've checked out.This warp list is by no means complete,yet,and
some info may be inaccurate.Consider this work in progress.
This section talks about the arcade version's warps,but will also mention
some warps which are found only on the PCE version,specificating of course
when this happens.
Round 1-2: The first warp of the game is on this round.
After you cross the "falling bridge",the first is on the top
of the first wooden pillar: hit the top 5 times and the warp
will appear! It will take you to a round with pirahnas,two
waterwheels and an already open exit door.You can either
stay and kill the pirahnas (for points) or go directly to the
exit door.You will be ported to round 1-3,just before the boss
room. Cheesy,huh?
Round 1-3: It has a warp,only it won't be of much use to you if you take
the first one...Anyway,this warp in on the top of one of
the main wooden pillars just before you reach the area with the
water wheels:
______________________________________
| Start | B
|----- | A |
| -----| |------ | \|/
|------ | -----| ------|---- -O-
| -----| -----|-------| |/|\
| -----| | |
--------------------------------------
It's either spot A or B,and it takes you to a secret round
with many wind blowing spiders,which is pretty hard (or annoying)
to pass...and the exit will take you to 2-1.b,I think,where you
have to fight the Train.Not a really good choice,after all.
2-1.a: The warp here is just before the end of the round,before crossing
the last water fountain.Yeah,I mean it,it's ON the water!
So,stand near the fountain,turn left and shoot on the water,in the
spot marked X in the diagram
______________________________________
|
------------------| /\ /\ |
==================| | |
| |
warp | Level|
________________X_______|____|-| End|
WATER | |=====|
--------------------------------------
You will be taken to a secret round with a big,swaying wooden
bird which wears a hat.(This bird shows on the game's world map!
It's in the mid-left part of the map screen).
The bird sways up and down and from time to time it just pins its
nose to the ground.However,despite it's size,it's completely harmless.
It seems it's there just for your fun,as it can't harm you.
BTW,I found this bird to be an electronic replica of those decorative
"drinking birds",mechanical/water toys which sway back and forth if
you make them "drink" wate from a glass or bowl.
This is the round where the rolling nuts appear,just after you
go down the first rope...read the Enemies section [2.4] for a
description.In this round also appears the Oil Lamp mentioned on the
Bonuses section [2.3].
In this secret round you can:
a) Make the rolling nuts appear up to 3-4 times if you go back in the
rope area and jump "over" the lower rope (although you can't reach
it).
Sooner or later they will reappear,10 or more in number.They are
great for building up your score.
b) Make the Oil Lamp appear 3-4 times.In fact,each time you make the
nuts appear,the lamp appears too.
c) When the bird's head gets "pinned" to the ground,hit its hat:
it will come off and as it flies,catch it: Hipopo will wear the hat!
This secret round is pure fun! The exit will take you just before
the boss room of Stage 2.Cheesy,eh?
Round 2-2: In the area just before the two "Teacups" (another weird
enemy/obstacle) in this game there is a warp,in the lower right
"step" of the ladder to the upper part of the level.
______________________________________
| | Teacups | |
| ========================|
| |
| ==== |
| ==== |
| ==== warp |
| ==== X |
______________________=====|
_____________________________________|
This warp,if I'm not wrong,will take you to a secret round
with the block/platforms shaped as Tiki from NZS! (another link
between the two games).By killing all the enemies,the exit will
take you again to 2-2,but just before the boss room.
The same secret round is used in the PCE version instead of many
others (lack of space).
Round 3-1.a: After you pass the area with the falling platforms,you will
climb up to a place with an Alarm Clock monster.
Defeat him if you want the points,but on the platform on the left
of the monster's one,there is a warp: shoot the mid of the
platform and take the warp.
______________________________________
|
== |
--------- == == == == ====|
| warp == |
| X == Alarm |
| ======= Clock |
| ==============|
|
_____________________________________|
You will be taken to a secret round where the Defender shells
are,along with other minor enemy creatures.To destroy the shells,
try to get close to them and throw the mizubakus directly on
them,
as they will "cover" against flooding water.
After you destroy all enemies,the exit door to round 3-2 should
appear,again just before the boss room.(Cheesy...)
In plus,this secret round has two "secrets" to get a few more
points: There are two big bouncing platform un the lower part
of the screen.These will take you to the two square blocks which
have a candle in the walls near them.Touch the candles:
If you touch the left one,a bonus will appear on the right block.
If you touch the right one,an Armored Shell will appear on the
left block.You can get them both to appear.
Round 3-2: This warp is on the rightmost platform adjacent to the boss
room,in the area which is guarded by two Steamers.
______________________________________
| |
| A _ _ |
|====================|===========|
| = warp | = Boss |
========= == ===X==| = Room |
/\ /\ | = |
= ============================ =|
Steamers | |
_____________________________________|
In particular,if you have taken the previous warp,you will be
teleported just over the right spot! Shoot it 5 times,enter the
warp...you will be taken to a secret round with a "lake",many
pirahnas,umbrellers,and a water boat!Use the water boat to go
right and try to kill as many pirahnas and umbrellers you can.
This secret round is just for pts/fun,as the exit takes you
just over the place you were before taking it,that means
on the final way to the boss room (spot A)
Round 4-1.a: (PCE VERSION ONLY) there is a warp just after the first
"fall" in this level,in the place where the two falling rocks
end up,and where you fight the first Mystic Shells.
______________________________________
| | |
===========| =====|
| |
Snakes | |
| warp |
|-------| _____ _______X____|
Shells | | | |
________________|___|||||| |
_____________________________________|
It takes you to the Tiki Secret round (of course...) and the
to the Boss room...not a good idea, if you ask me, not even
in the PCE version...
Round 4-1.b: This is probably one of the hardest warps to TAKE in the whole
game, but not to make it appear: before you reach the very bottom
of the level, there's a sort of "box" with two Mystic Shells, and
a room on top of the box with some Cobras trapped above a falling
ceiling.
________________________________
|Cobras |
|-------| You
| | __________________
| WARP _|<-Step
| x |
|-------| |
| Shells| |
|-------| |__________________
| -> End of round
|_______________________________
You can get the warp to appear very easily by standing on the "step"
as shown in the fantastic ASCIIart (TM) diagram and watering the
spot shows. Eventually, the ceiling falls and so do the Cobras...now
the hard part is actually JUMPING in the room with the warp: the entry
is blocked by vertical columns, and you must time and adjust your jump
almost dead-on to survive. If you make it, you're taken to a secret
level using the "Mechanical city" tileset, for some reason, and full
with waterable plants sometimes giving bonuses, sometimes enemy plants.
Upon exiting the secret level, you will be taken just before the Boss
room...again, not a good idea.
Round 4-2: That's the last known warp in the arcade version.
It's in the place after the "crushing spikes" which hang from the
ceiling,on the last step-platform of the "ladder" after them.
_______________________________________
============== | Last "step"
<--- Rest of round =X=|<--warp
================================ |
= Dead end ===|
======================= |
= ===|
= |
================================= ===|
__|__ __|__ __|__ |
||||| ||||| ||||| ===|
_______________Crushing spikes________|
This will take you to a secret round with an "egyptian" theme
and a falling ceiling! Avoid the falling ceiling (it's not that
hard),take the exit (no enemies) and you will be taken to a place
of 5-1.a In other words,it lets you skip the boss!
Round 5-1.a: A solitary warp can be found here, taking you to the
"Angry Sunflowers" secret round :-p It's not far from the start of the
level: in the part where you see three platforms with the waterable
blossoms, there's also a curved "stump" on the right side of the screen.
Water it, and you will be taken to the "Angry Sunflowers" secret
round, which then exits to the mid of 5-2! A reasonably short route,
but I'd prefer skipping the 4th boss anyway...
Round 5-1.b: None I could find in all those years :-)
Round 6-1.a: (PCE VERSION ONLY) This warp is just a few steps right of the
water-plant "tree" in the mid of the level (the one you need
to water to make it grow,leaf by leaf).Needs no diagram to
understand! However,it takes you to that strange,unreachable
place in round 1-2 (the one above the falling bridge),only it
has no enemies this time,then exits to round 6-1.a again or
to round 6-2,I'm not sure...
Round 6-1.b: None I could find in all those years :-)
------------------
[3.3] Optimal Path
------------------
At last,here is what this famous "Optimal Path" mentioned throughout the
Guide is: In NZS,the wise use and knowledge of ALL warps in the game helped
you determine an "Optimal Path",which was a fine choice of which rounds
to pass normally,and which warps to take,as to go as far as possible in the
game with the least possible trouble,and in the least time possible.
In LK,such as Optimal Path exists,too,and allows you to skip big parts
of rounds/stages,a boss,many unnecessary dangers/perils,etc.
Here it is:
Pass Round 1-1 normally (like you could otherwise...:-)
Take the warp on Round 1-2...
Defeat the Flaming Bunny on Round 1-3 and choose the left door afterwards.
Take the warp on round 2-1.a...
Defeat the Acid Bottle on round 2-2.Left door,again.
Take the warp on round 3-1.a...(You can also take the warp on round 3-2
before the boss room,if you want,it's just some extra points and some more
time)
Defeat the Mechanical Monster on round 3-2,just after the warp.
Left door,of course...
Pass round 4-1.a normally...take the warp on round 4-2.
Voila'! You have skipped the badass Stage 4 boss!
And that's it! From then on,the only advice is to choose the LEFT door
again after you defeat the boss at 5-2,and the RIGHT one after you
defeat the boss at 6-2. That's as shortened and simplified as the game can
get!
More precisely,this way you skip most of round 2-2,most of round 3-1.a,
all of round 3-2,the boss of stage 4,you avoid unnecessary perils and you
surely have much,much,much more fun than when passing all rounds one by one,
you impress bystanding outlookers a lot (especially when you take the
hat off the wooden bird!) and surely many more chances of finishing the
game.
Well,maybe you can avoid fighting the poor Flaming Bunny if you take the awful
round 1.3 warp,but you will have much more trouble (tough secret round,
round 2.1b) than than with the good old bunny,and the game doesn't get much
shorter (or easier...). Besides,what kind of player would you be if you skipped
the very first boss???;-)
The secret is uncovered,make your choice!
==============================================================================
-----------------
[4.1] Conversions
-----------------
Unlike NZS,which has been converted for most consoles and home systems
(Amstrad CPC,ZX Spectrum,C64,Amiga,Atari ST,NES,SMS,Genesis/MD,PCE/TG16,
FUJITSU FM-TOWNS,X68000....) Liquid Kids has remained practically ignored
(and relatively unknown to the masses).
The only known conversions are: NEC PC Engine, Sega Saturn and Amiga.
It is also included in "TAITO Memories" Vol.1 (or Vol.2) but that's not
a conversion, it's the original under emulation.
The Saturn one is very recent, the PCE one was the only one avaiable for
many, many years. An Amiga version was under serious development but the
project was abandoned just before the final touches!
Update: the Amiga version was never officially released, but in 2005 the
programers released it to the public.
For the Mega Drive it doesn't exist AFAIK,but maybe I'm wrong: maybe there
is a "Japan Only" version of it (can you help?).
The FM TOWNS and X68000 are early 90s/late 80s homecomputers with superb
(NEO GEO level) gaming capabilities.Maybe they have a version?
PCE version: It has been the only non-arcade implementation of this great
game for a long time.Now,my question was,having seen the
mediocre PCE implementation of New Zealand Story
(which could have been a lot better),how could Liquid Kids
look on the PCE?
Surprisingly,Liquid Kids for the PCE is very good,I'd dare to
say even BETTER than NZS,although at some point the machine
shows its limits.
I think that it also rates as a very good PCE game
overall,considering the number of sprites,the colors on the
screen,the sound,the gameplay....
Yes,most things are there: The colourful graphics look very
close to the arcade,unlike NZS's poor color/palette usage.
The various mid-game story sequences are gone,replaced with
simple "sprite theatres".
The parallax scrolling is gone,as well as the waterwheels
bitmap rotation,the bosses look a bit "smaller" and the final
boss has only got three arms,but these "carences" are obvious,
considering that you have to deal with an 8-bit machine,
after all...they are much more justified than the lacks
of the NZS implementation.
I don't remember exactly if the colour-changing backgrounds are
gone too,but the animated "waterfall" background of stage 2 are
still there!
Also,most,not to say ALL enemies are there,unlike NZS's serious
"reductions".It's true however that some of the bigger enemies
have been "reduced" in size.
The mizubaku physics are OK,the scoring system works the same,
many warps are in common with the arcade,but many secret rounds
have been "changed" with the "Tiki" secret round (no more wooden
bird round!).Also,there are some new warps here and there,which
lead to different places.
Gameplay is very similar,and that's a very positive note,
although the Stage sequence is a bit different (not always
are there two doors to choose from,e.g. on Stage 7 there is
only one door,which (I think) coincides with the "good"
choice).
Sound and Music lose some points compared to the arcade
(how could one compare the PC Engine's synthesized sound with
the arcade's digitized music and sfx?) but the tunes are all
there,as well as the effects,in a way or another.
I've finished the PCE version,and I must say that I'm very
impressed: the machine is really giving most of it out,to
display and animate all the sprites,the water,the fires,and
all at a good speed,although there is some slowdown when the
action becomes "heavy".Considering the machine limitations,and
the fact that the whole game is contained in a 512K HuCard
(NZS for PCE was 384K),LK for PCE is a great programming
achievement,compared to the original game and its hardware.
The PCE isn't really TAITO's F2 system but it manages to
give the player a very good LK gaming experience.
Sega Saturn: Daniel White,an old arcade fan like me and lucky possessor of a
Sega Saturn and of LK,has descrived the experience to me!
According to his words,LK for Saturn is arcade-perfect in both
graphics,sound and gameplay! That is great,especially after those
depressing PC/Saturn/PSX versions of Bubble Bobble/Rainbow Islands.
A historical (even if lesser) TAITO game having been perfectly
converted.OK,it was not much of a tech challenge porting the
16-bit platformer to the 32-bit Saturn,but as we all know,
that is generally NOT a guarantee of coming up with a perfect port
of a given game,especially for what regards gameplay...see the above
Bubble Bobble/Rainbow Islands comment.
There's not much else to say about it...'arcade perfect' says it
all.An interesting note might be that the Audio tracks are not
MOD/S3M-like generated,but are played directly from CD,where they're
recorded.This means of course that you can listen to the beautiful
LK music even without playing (or even without having a Saturn,for
that matter!),and might save you bying a Zuntata (TAITO's music team)
CD with LK music (yes,it exists!). My only nag with the whole
issue,is that the Saturn looks more like (or is...?) a dying breed
to me,as Sega's diamond tip is now the Dreamcast,and at least in
Europe,it never outsold Sony's PSX. Pity...but if you own a Saturn
and you like this game,go out and look for it.It's worth it!
Even just for the music!
Amiga: I gave this one a short run, since it was freely released by the
authors as a commercially unreleased (but allegedly finished) product.
I was not that much impressed however: the screen size and scrolling
look almost like an 8-bit system, the music has been rewritten but
while the arcade and even PCE ones were superb, this one is a sort
of indifferent background tune...and the same holds for the sound
effects. Controls are sort of good, and there are warps, at least
up to the point where I bothered playing it. I'd definitively
suggest the arcade or PCE version over this one, if you have access.
I *could* bother playing it all through if you feel I'm a bit too harsh
with my judgements, but somehow the Amiga version doesn't live up to
the expectations, as it could be much better overall. The very least
I'd expect the digitized music and sound effects to be transferred
"intact" from the arcade version...memory constaints I guess :-(
Mega Drive: Possible Candidate.Unknown (can you help?)
X68000: Another possible candidate system (can you help?)
FM-TOWNS: Yet another candidate...(can you help?)
----------------------------- END OF THE FAQ -------------------------------
