o==============================================================================o _____ _____ __ __ ______ __ _ ______ | _ \ | ___| \ \ / / | __ | | \ | | | __ \ | |_| / | |___ \ \ / / | | | | | | \ | | | | | | | _ | | ___| \ \/ / | | | | | |\ \ | | | | | | | |_| \ | |___ | | | |__| | | | \ \| | | |__| | |_____/ |_____| |__| |______| |_| \___| |______/ ______ __ ______ __ ______ | __ | /__\ | ____| | | | ____| | | | | /|__|\ | |____ | | | |____ | | | | / ____ \ |____ | | | |____ | | |__| | / | | \ ____| | | | ____| | |______| /__| |__\ |______| |__| |______| B E Y O N D O A S I S Tips, Techniques, and Trivia Guide v6.5 +- For Hardcore Oasis Gamers Only -+ by VortexSpin (Nick Gibson) ©2010 o==============================================================================o TABLE OF CONTENTS o Legal o Viewing the Guide o Updates o Introduction o Coming Soon o Of Interest To the Hardcore o Quick Facts o Characters o Character Cards o Knife Moves o Mobility o Knife Combos o Weapons o Swords o Bows o Bombs o Easter Eggs o Sound Test o Hints from the Manual o Hearts o Classes o Records o High Score Tutorial o Spirit Calls o Item Guide o SP Regeneration o Glitches o Game Genie Codes o Mini-Game Guide o Efreet's Racing Track o The Secret Crags o The Secret Islands o The 100 Level Pit o The Hidden Waterfall o Challenges o Original Story of Thor Plot o Story of Thor Alternate Versions o Village Merchant o Enemy Artificial Intelligence o Enemy Guide o Spirit Guide o Boss Guide o Frequently Asked Questions o Special Items o Game Credits o Debug Mode o Links o Further Gaming o Contact Me o Thanks o Wrapup As you can see, it's pretty much random. Use "CTRL + F" or a similar search function to find whatever it is you want. Or just read it from beginning to end, which is what I had in mind when I wrote it. A lot of the best info is tucked away inside larger sections. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o LEGAL You all know the drill. Don't post this on any site without asking me first, and don't plagiarize any portion of it, either. Feel free, however, to print this out and/or distribute it, as long as you don't 'distribute it' to another site. In other words, you can print the document out or share the link with others, but don't upload the file anywhere without my permission. If you print it out with any modifications, then you must put in the phrase "Edited by [your name]" below the version number. If you do not, I will use my Golden Armlet powers to send my Spirit World bodyguards over to your house. They will not treat you kindly. If you are reading this file from any site other than the ones listed below, please contact me immediately! It means that they stole it! o GameFAQs.com (Because GameFAQs is part of the GameSpot network, odds are good that this FAQ is being hosted on multiple sites that are also part of that network.) o 1-UP.com o IGN.com All content herein is the property of VortexSpin, 2006. All rights reserved. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o VIEWING THE GUIDE NotePad isn't the best, and it's frustrating that I have to use it. But that's the way things work, so I'll have to put up with it. However, if you want to view this in Microsoft Word, then you'll have to change the margins. Go to FILE --> PAGE SETUP and change the left and right margins to .5 inches. That way, at least, the paragraphing will be correct and you'll be able to read this like it was meant to be read. Also put the font to Courier New so that all of the spaces are a fixed width. Otherwise the formatting will look like it was designed by an idiot. (Which I'm not.) o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o UPDATES v1.0 Initially posted. 8/25/05 v1.5 Incorporated Ginny's submissions on the Merchant and SP Regeneration. 9/16/05 v2.0 Big update. We have Enemy, Spirit, and Boss guides up - all three are major additions. Also a new link, this time from everybody's favorite online encyclopedia. Minor adjustments and tweaking as well, such as a new blurb on Story of Thor in the introduction. 10/24/05 v2.5 Added Frequently Asked Questions 11/22/05 v3.0 Touched everything up, modified the formatting and other little things. I think the look is much cleaner - this is my first FAQ, so bear with me. Also got rid of some old information and added two paragraphs to the Introduction that sum up my history in relation to Beyond Oasis. Now we have a Quick Facts section as well as a Character segment and an Item Guide. I've also stated the goal of this document in the header portion. 2/20/06 v3.5 Once again I'm updating! Now there's a Credits section and an entry on the sound test. More little brush-ups here and there, as well as a correction about the US packaging. Also some surmising about a possible debug mode. And my first ever ASCII art! --/--/-- v4.0 Thanks to Ganelon, we have some new content! He used a hex editor to rustle up the complete class listing, as well as some official names for the secret moves. I also changed out all the anime-style smilies for the good ol' American ones. Why? Because anime smilies don't look good in Courier New. D'oh! A new records section is up - get playing! Also a few notes on cheating in the Efreet Racing Track. New link, too, and it's a must-see! A Mobility lowdown is up, with a useful tip from Flame060. This is the final version of the document. Read the 'coming soon' section for more information. 3/09/06 v4.5 So much for finality... It's time to rethink the way you look at hearts and ranks, thanks to a contribution from Du. From the same source comes a strategy for the Old Dragon that makes one of the tougher bosses in this game nothing more than your plaything. Also cleaned up some incorrect information in the Quick Facts section. I rewrote the Documented Classes section to better reflect the information we have, and added in a new section for hardcore gamers who are new to the guide. 7/10/06 v5.0 All of you should remember the name Du, because we all really owe him at this point. He took up Ganelon's flag and did the experimenting required to get all the data about attaining certain Ranks. This guide is one step closer to 100% completion. I've renamed the "Documented Classes" section to, simply, "Classes" in order to better reflect what's going on. I've also reformatted the whole thing again in my attempt to give you all a cleaner read. Du's blazing fastest time is on the records page; speed masters should give it a try! 8/03/06 v5.5 The existence of a beta for Story of Thor has been brought to my attention by Ganelon, so there's a new section on that. Also a bit of information on a fanlation of the game. "Story of Thor Alternate Versions" is the place to check out. A big thanks to King Pie as well for showing me a new Dytto magic technique! Visit the Spirit Guide for the full story. 10/01/06 v6.0 More than a year has gone by... Wow. Joao submitted translations of the Spanish-language character bios - check them out in the Character Card section. Also an answer about Defenders of Oasis in the Quick Facts section. 01/18/08 v6.5 Dusted off this old guide to incorporate the final word on the long-lived debate over the original Japanese script. The answers aren't as exciting as we would have hoped but hey, it's finality. 07/16/10 o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o INTRODUCTION Hello, and welcome to the Tips, Techniques, and Trivia Guide for the Sega Genesis title Beyond Oasis. This guide is not a walkthrough. It's a compilation of gameplay hints and mini guides. In here you'll find all sorts of useful information, so just look around. Since some tips apply to multiple categories you'll find a bit of repetition, but it makes for easier access to the info you want so I'm sure you'll be able to live with it. =) A few notes before we begin: many of these tips aren't really that useful. Since Oasis is such a short game and because it's not hard enough to really merit a whole lot of 'strategizing', there are quite a few things in here that someone playing through the game for the first time won't really need to know. They're more along the lines of trivia, actually, but die-hard Oasis gamers who want to know everything about their game will be glad to see them included. Another thing: extensive playing and a bunch of grief on my part went into building this, so I'd appreciate a bit of credit if you find something here and either use it in a FAQ of your own or mention it on a board or something. Just an ego thing, really. But when you do the work, it's nice to see some recognition. Lastly, I want to say how spectacular a game Beyond Oasis really is. I do indeed own this cart, as opposed to a ROM, and I would urge you to go and find copy yourself. It's common and relatively cheap on eBay, so just use some common sense and everything will be fine. That may be a bit more work than just downloading the ROM, but believe me, it's worth it! It's great to play the real cart on the real console with a real controller, so go do yourself a favor and buy it! Just to give you some perspective on just how much I love this game... I was actually after a 6-button controller in 2003, and found a nice little auction that had two 6-button pads and three games - Super Battletank, Beyond Oasis, and Super Street Fighter II. I'd never heard of any of the games other than Street Fighter, but I won the auction on eBay for a little over $7 US. What a great purchase that turned out to be!!! It was a sunshiny day in the midwest - during early fall, I think. We had all the windows open and warm breezes were blowing in... The perfect day, and I think that it might have had something to do with concreting my fandom. I've gotten other great games on horribly cold or dreary days, but now I forever associate Beyond Oasis with sunshine and clean air. I also got to play for a then-unheard-of two hours (I was only twelve at the time), which was enough time for me to get a feel for it and start having fun from the getgo. Over the next year, I played it nonstop and beat the game a total of 18 times. For its 10th anniversary in 2005, I played it for the 20th time, and as of February 2006 I have played the game from start to finish a total of 23 times. Not to mention the fact that I have played certain levels/areas/minigames ad nauseum. Therefore I consider myself to be a true, diehard fan of this game, and that's the main reason I'm writing this guide. It's my contribution to a game that has literally given me hours of enjoyment. Note about controllers: I would heartily suggest a 6-button controller for this game. Find one that has a good D-pad and dive right in! You'll be able to change weapons on the fly and access menus faster! Not to mention that the stock controller's D-pad is abysmal. You'll need something with quality to pull off these combat moves fast enough! That's enough of an introduction. Let's get into the meat of this Tips, Techniques, and Trivia Guide! o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o COMING SOON Never say 'never', basically. This guide continues to change and expand. Do I know for sure there'll be more updates or what those updates will be about? No. So check in every once in a while and see. Long live Beyond Oasis! o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o OF INTEREST TO THE HARDCORE So maybe you're a longtime Beyond Oasis diehard, and you're wanting some new information. Well, to save you the effort of having to sort through all the stuff you already know, here's a small bullet list of things you'll want to check out. Maybe you already know this stuff, maybe you don't. Some of the following information is exclusive to this guide or at least pretty much unknown, so appreciate it, okay? Okay. o Undocumented Rising Revenge knife technique. (Knife Moves section.) o Useful Quick Jump technique. (Mobility section.) o Extremely neat Sound Test cheat code. (Easter Egg section.) o The truth about Hearts and Rank. (Hearts section.) o Test your might! (Records section.) o Great strategies for the bosses. (Boss section.) o Equally useful lowdowns on the enemies. (Enemy and AI sections.) o How to get the different classes. (Classes section.) 0 The original Japanese story revealed. (Original Story of Thor section.) That should get you started, but don't forget that there's a wealth of info hidden in with the rest of the content! And if you've got some awesome strategy or trick hidden up your sleeve, share it with the rest of us! My contact information is listed near the end of this document. I look forward to hearing from you. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o QUICK FACTS o Genre: Action/Adventure, with limited Role Playing elements. o Developer: Ancient, with assistance from an unknown Sega of Japan internal development team. o Publisher: Sega. o Cart Size: 24 Megabits. o Game Save: Internal battery. o Players: One. o Length: Approximately 6 hours for a first playthrough. o Versions: Called "Story of Thor" in non-US markets; no known re-releases or alternate versions for any systems. o Release Date (Europe): ??? (The Story of Thor: A Successor to the Light) o Release Date (Japan): December 9th, 1994. (The Story of Thor: Hikari o Tsugamono) o Release Date (US): December 8th, 1994. (Beyond Oasis) o Difficulty: Moderate. o Original Packaging: In the US it was a cardboard slipcase; black and white manual; registration card and advertisements. Europeans and the Japanese got plastic clamshells with color inserts. o Rating: 'KA' (Kids to Adults). Modern ESRB equivalent would be 'E' (Everyone). o Rarity: 4/10. (http://www.digitpress.com) o Expected Price: $8 US. (http://www.digitpress.com) Another note - this game is not related to Defenders of Oasis at all. Sam Vance dropped me a line and had this to say: "I got the roms for it and tried it in a Game Gear emulator. When I loaded the rom, the checksum said "English version of Shadam Crusaders." And it's a rpg that has a story about 3 rings. No mention of the Armlets anywhere." Thank ye kindly, Sam. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o CHARACTERS Although Beyond Oasis isn't really concerned with plot or characters to the degree of such games as Landstalker, the game still has a cast of characters and - to further the goal of making this the ultimate non-walkthrough source for Beyond Oasis - they are presented here, with short descriptions of each. o Reharl The original bearer of the Gold Armlet; fought the sorcerer Agito in a cataclysmic struggle that took place in the Shadowlands of Oasis, long ago. The tattered shreds of his spirit send Ali on his quest to defeat the bearer of the Silver Armlet. o Agito Evil wizard who fought Reharl in the ancient past and was destroyed along with his foe. Now the new bearer of the Silver Armlet is attempting to ressurect him. o Ali The young prince of the island kingdom of Oasis, and the character that you control during the game. Ali is extremely fit and proficient in the style of martial arts native to Oasis - two factors that will come into play very quickly. We don't know much about him, except that he enjoys hunting for treasure and is very determined, loyal, and heroic. o Villagers Goodly citizens of Oasis' coastline town. They all respect and admire Ali, and look to him for assistance during the calamatous happenings at the beginning of the adventure. o Mentor The man who instructed Ali from youth. His venerable guidance tempers Ali's initial brashness. Talking to him will give Ali a full HP restoration, and because of the Mentor's considerable knowledge, Shade can be summoned from his physical body. o Castle Citizens More law-abiding populous. o Guards Devoted defenders of the Castle who are prepared to fight to the death to protect the Royal Family. o Princess Ali's younger sister. Ali is very fond of her and is constantly concerned for her safety. Merely talking to her will give Ali a full HP restoration. o King The good and gentle King of Oasis who has ruled justly for many a year. His knowledge is vital during the start of Ali's quest. o Dytto One of the Wild Spirits who was originally sworn to the service of Reharl. Now she joins Ali with the purpose of cleansing the world of evil. She is the Spirit of Water. o Efreet The fiery elemental whose allegiance is bound to the Gold Armlet. He joins Ali, burning with rage against those who would consume Oasis. o Silver Armlet The evil servant of darkness who is using his namesake to create chaos and destruction. Destiny will surely demand a confrontation between the bearers of the Armlets. Until that time, though, the Silver Armlet is content to let his minions deal with Ali while he furthers the resurrection of his lord and master, Agito. o Shade The Spirit of Darkness who ties himself to Ali's life force in order to assist the young wielder of the Gold Armlet in his quest. o Hermit A strange man who lives on the western side of Oasis' volcano. He seems to possibly be related to Ali's mentor, as Shade can also be summoned from his lifesource as well. The Hermit gives Ali some news and an important item... o Gwyn Ali's older sister, who disappeared years ago along with the Psychoring. Everyone thought she was dead, but the Hermit suggests the contrary. o Bow The peculiar Spirit of Plants who dedicates his abilites to Ali in hopes of securing some tasty morsels. o Cube A geomagical device that has Agito's lifeforce sealed away inside of it. The King apparently hid it in the underpasseges of the Castle, long ago. How this all goes in the Japanese version, I have no idea. Tony Van said that he changed the main character's name to Ali as an Aladdin joke, not to mention the fact that he did what he wished with the storyline in general. That's one of the things I'd really like to incorporate into this guide - info on the original Story of Thor (Japanese version) storyline. If anyone can help me in this regard, please contact me...I beg you! =) o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o CHARACTER CARDS There exist this little Spanish cards that have bios and backstory of the characters of Beyond Oasis. Not much is known about them - I assume they were a promotional tie-in for TecToy's release of the game, but Joao Albertoni has graciously translated them for us in their entirety. Take a gander at this Spanish website: http://es.geocities.com/riou_healer/beyond_art.htm. And now from Joao, editorial notes in parenthesis: o Prince Ali: The young and courageous warrior is the son of King Philip. He is the heroes (sic) of this great adventure. Go to (means something between research and seek) the bracelets of legend, he has been able to recover the bracelet made of gold. Expert in use of all weapons, and a (sort of "merit-deserving" adjective) swordfighter. Frightening (+ly good?) archer, Prince Ali will be able to command, thanks to the bracelet, the magical elements. (Same "merit-deserving" adjective) combatant, Prince Ali will fight against various obstacles to "carry out to finish" his noble quest. o Bow: This carnivore plant represents the plant element. It moves under the earth, following Ali and reappearing under his request. It can attack the enemies, and destroy the grates of iron that block the passage in certain labyrinths. It inflates and bursts, liberating poisonous pollen. o Dytto: This adorable little fairy represents the element of water. It (worth noting that it refers to Bow and Dytto as male things) can create a bubble that paralyses enemies. It starts a "whirlwind of water" that sweeps all the enemies with its passage. It remakes (sic [should be refills?]) the life points of Prince Ali. o Efreet: The genie represents the element of fire. It turns into a devastating torch of fire. It creates a fire breath (breath of fire) that sets ablaze the enemies. It explodes in a multitude of fireballs. o Shade: This mysterious creature represents the element of shade. It protects Ali taking the attacks of enemies in his place. It doubles Ali and allows him to explore the surroundings in invincible state. It allows Ali to pass the big holes and grab objects at distance. o Silver Armlet: The frightening sorcerer is the most loyal servant of Agito. Vassal of King Philippe. He betrayed its sovereign and joined the forces of evil, formidable warrior, cruel, acheater, his magic powers are tenfold by his Silver Bracelet, he can fly like the bird, appear and disappear ar his convenience. Prince Ali will fight him in singular (one-on-one) combat to find the cave of Agito. From this capital (?) combat between the two greater warriors of Oasis, the luck of Poseidonia will depend. o Oasis/Poseidonia: The island of Poseidonia was previously a fertile and peaceful country, its inhabitants lived happily there in peace and opulence. The abundant crops and waters full of fish that bathe the coasts contributed to make one of the most beautiful and harmonious of kingdoms. But the demoniac forces of Agito, the wondrous mage owner of one of the two legendary bracelet, (something, "will change"?) all the country. The young Prince Ali, aided by the magical spirits representants of the four grand elements, the fairy Dytto, the Genie Efreet, the shade Shade and the plant Bow, will be able enough for this combat, to finally return the peace to the kingdom... Dytto is a man? What? O_o At any rate, thanks a lot to Joao for volunteering to do the translation and submitting it. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o KNIFE MOVES I figured that Ali's knife should get an entire subsection of its own. It has the most moves of any weapon, and although it doesn't deal the most damage, it's insanely versatile and fast. A skilled gamer can breeze through almost the whole game with the knife alone. At first the moves are a little tough to execute, but practice enough and you'll grow to love the knife with a passion! And about the name of the knife. If you look in the weapons menu, you see it's called the "Alt Knife". Pretty odd. What the heck does "Alt" stand for? My guess is that it's simply a typo that didn't get caught before release. I would say that it was supposed to be "Ali" knife, but somehow the 't' got in there. UPDATE: Actually, if you look at Beyond Oasis' prequel on the Sega Saturn, "Legend of Oasis", you discover that the main character's ultimate short sword is called the Altair Knife, and you get it by sacrificing one of the Spirits in the game (Brass). So actually, Beyond Oasis contains five spirits - the four main ones and then Brass in the form of the absolutely unbreakable Altair Knife. The more you know! Before we get to the moves, something needs to be said. Thanks to Du, we now know that gathering hearts (see the appropriate section) amps up your attack capabilities. That said, these attacks are all proportional: the Stab is our unit of measure, so in general the relationships between move damage should stay the same. Actual damage values will increase, but the ratios will stay the same. A slash should always be four times more powerful than a stab. *Should.* It's hard to test these things; hopefully I'm right. o Stab: This is easy. Just tap B once, quickly. Don't do it slowly, or it'll turn into a Slash, which isn't the same thing. The Stab is nice for stopping rushing enemies and maybe finishing off something that only has a tiny bit of health left, but otherwise it's pretty much worthless. Damage of 1. o Slash: Press B. Don't tap it, press it. There's a difference. This move is very useful when you need to get an enemy out of your face and don't have time to pull off something more fancy. Damage of 4. o Knife Dash: You know how to run, correct? Tap the direction you want to go twice, and then hold on the second tap for as long as you want to run. The Knife Dash is similar, except you tap three times, then press B. Ali will slide forward a little ways, knife out in front. This move is most useful as a finisher. Why? Because it neither knocks enemies away nor incapacitates them. If you don't kill an enemy with this move, your foe will be right there when it's over and be ready to knock you flat. Damage of 2 per impact. o Running Slash: If you can run, you can do this. Just run, and then press B at any time. Ali with do a big slash that knocks enemies down. This is a great, great move that is wonderful for setting up lethal combos. You can do a slash on something and get in really close when the enemy's on the ground. Then you can rip off Rolling Slash or something just as the target is getting up. Damage of 5. o Spin Attack: The first move that needs a decent D-pad. Sweep the pad in all directions clockwise, then press B. Make sure you roll the pad enough to hit all 8 directions. You can start at any direction no matter where you're facing, but for best results you should start and end in the direction you're wanting to go. A note on this move: some people call it "Ground Slash" for good reason. This attack will attack everything low on the ground and at your height. It will do nothing against airborne enemies like Bats. So use it against crawling enemies like Snakes, as well as ones on your level like Ogres and Soldiers. Don't try it against Gargoyles or Sappers. Damage of 3. o Rolling Slash: Forward, Backwards, Forward, B. This is one of the best moves in the game. Not only does it score great damage and multiple hits, but it also knocks the enemy away from you. (That can actually be a problem, as the enemy will go flying backwards and won't receive all the hits. It's best to get the target backed up against a wall for most damage. They can't get pushed out of the way of your blade!) I use this move pretty much everywhere, but it's especially great as part of a combo with the Running Slash. (aka Quicksand Fury. Look at the Combos section for more information.) Damage of 6. o Multiple Rolling Slashes: Do a Spin Attack, but don't hit B yet. First do the Forward, Backwards, Forward. Then hit B up to three times for up to three quick slashes. So, you a clockwise sweep, F, Back, F, B, B, B for a 3-flip combo. Great stuff here, especially when you tack on a standard Rolling Slash on the end for a 4-flip super combo! You can really trash the enemies with this, so practice up! Damage of 6 per flip. o Oasis Rage: A real cave-man move here. Doesn't require much brains, just tap B as fast as you can. Ali will start kicking high and low and stabbing very fast. Keep it up long enough and fast enough and Ali will do a jump kick. Damage of 1 per impact. o Kicks: Walk right up to an enemy (as in so close you're touching them) and press B. You'll do two very fast kicks. This is obviously not a good idea against enemies with fast reaction times, but it's a lifesaver against Snakes. o Jump Kick: Press C, then B while in mid-air. Do it while running for a Running Jump Kick. Usually not a good idea either way, as most enemies can knock you out of the air. (Especially Soldiers with swords.) Damage of 2. o Crouching Slash: Hold C to crouch, then tap B. You'll swipe with the knife. It causes minimal damage, but it's a pretty fast attack and therefore moderately useful, especially against those pesky Snakes and Rats. Damage of 1. o Rising Revenge: This move has been undocumented before this FAQ, I believe. Or at least, I haven't seen it anywhere. At any rate, it's useful. How does it work? Well, first you have to let yourself get knocked down. That's right, not just bumped, knocked down. Let an Ogre slap you, for instance. Now, normally Ali would just do a kip and be on his feet again, right? Well, there's something you can do during that animation! While Ali is jumping to his feet, you can execute a Knife Dash, a Spin Attack, a Roll. Slash, or Multiple Roll. Slashes (if you're fast.) Now you may be wondering why that's so cool. Here's the thing: you can do Rising Revenge even if you don't have the knife selected! So say you've a bow, and an Ogre gives you a knuckle sandwich. You drop to the ground, but then pull off a RR as you're coming up. Ali will pull out his knife just long enough for the move, then go back to the bow! If you do the Spin Attack or something, it will knock the Ogre away and you can switch to a close combat weapon! Isn't that awesome? On a technical note, you may find it a bit hard to pull off the move. You have to keep practicing in order to get the timing right, but once you've learned it you'll have gained an incredible new power. One last thing about these moves: Knife Dash, Spin Attack, Rolling Slash, and Multiple Rolling Slashes. There are two ways to execute these. If I do them the way I told you, Ali will move around a bit before he goes into the move because you're pressing the D-Pad. A better way to do it, probably, is to hold B so Ali goes into his Slash stance, then hit the D-Pad movements. When you release B, Ali will execute the move. Personally, I prefer the first method, but that's just because I learned how to do them all that way. Do whichever method feels best to you. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o MOBILITY Beyond Oasis has many jumping and running-related obstacles in the game, so it's imperative that you get comfortable with controlling Ali. It's not that hard, but everyone needs some help getting started. For those of you without manuals, here we go: o Walk: Press and hold the D-Pad in the direction you want to go. Ali cannot move diagonally, per se, but if you start walking in one direction and then slide your thumb to a related diagonal, Ali will strafe (move without turning) in that direction as he walks. o Run: Tap the D-Pad twice, and hold it down on the second press. As long as you continue to hold that direction, Ali will run. Be aware that when you let up he will skid a few more inches in his former direction of movement. Like the Walk, Ali can't run diagonally, but once again you can strafe to a limited degree. o Crouch: Press and hold the C button. As long as you keep the C button depressed, Ali will stay crouched. Release to stand up. o Crawl: Crouch, then press a D-Pad direction. Ali will crawl slowly in the selected direction. o Jump: Tap the C button. If you look closely, you can see that Ali crouches before he jumps. You might also notice a slight delay before he launches himself in the air. To bypass this, try a Quick Jump. Also notice that you can change direction in midair with this move. o Quick Jump: (Thanks to Flame060 for this.) Tap the C button twice very rapidly, and Ali will jump without crouching first. Useful for platform hopping! o Running Jump: Run, then tap C while jumping. You will travel further than a standard jump, but you cannot change direcion once you're airborne. Beware the skidding effect! o Wait: Stand in one place long enough, without pressing any buttons, and Ali will cross his arms and start tapping his foot. (Yeah, yeah. Not a move, I know, but you won't believe how many people don't know about this. Folks nowadays are in too much of a hurry! =P) If you're not very good at controlling Ali, just practice at the Secret Crags. (Where you get the Infinite Hyper Bombs). Once you beat that a few times, you'll be an expert! o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o KNIFE COMBOS Just like other fighting games, you can chain together attacks in Beyond Oasis by simply hitting in the next move while the first one is going on. By doing this you can unleash a string of unbroken assaults that leave the opponent without any time to respond. Here are some of the ones I find to be most useful. o Quicksand Fury: Running Slash, Rolling Slash. o Desert Wind: Knife Dash, Rolling Slash. o Blazing Knife: Multiple Rolling Slashes, Rolling Slash. o Oasis Fury: Running Slash, Knife Dash, Oasis Rage. o Agito's Bane: Knife Dash, Mult. Roll. Slashes, Rolling Slash, Spin Attack. If case you need an example, here's a step-by-step for the Blazing Knife combo: Do the roll and the forward, back, forward, B, B, B to get the Multiple Rolling Slashes. Then, while Ali is in the air on the third flip, quickly hit forward, back, forward, B. Ali will go straight into the Roll. Slash. Those are just the ones that I find myself using over and over. Basically, though, you can just put together whatever moves you want and put a neat name in front of it. =P o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o WEAPONS Beyond Oasis has a bunch of enemies in it. Odds are that you'll kill upwards of 1000 foes on your first play through. Some of them are pushovers, some of them are horribly strong. But you're going to have to kill them, nonetheless. Thankfully you're equipped with a variety of armaments to jazz things up with. This section will give you a look at all the different weapons, strategies for using them, weaknesses, strengths, and statistics. You can even find a damage estimation for each weapon in order to give yourself a better idea of how much of what will take down which enemy. (Damage will be indicated in multiples, as there are multiple strengths to each type of weapon.) It's important to note that the damage dealt by your attacks increases as you gather hearts. (See the appropriate section.) Look in the Knife Moves section for a more complete explanation about how this affects combat. Swords: Swords are incredibly useful things. Your dagger is nice, but it doesn't have a great range, and sometimes it just doesn't pack enough of a punch to fit the situation. Enter the various swords. These give you a longer reach and cause more damage. Not to mention you can pull off a move with them that you can't do with other weapons: o Chaotic Sword Slash: One of my personal favorites. The moves for it are the same as the Multiple Rolling Slashes: rotate clockwise, forward, backward, forward, B. Ali will let loose with five incredibly quick slashes at various heights. This move scores insane damage in a short period of time, not to mention how cool it looks. Another great thing is that it can be used to get more uses out of your swords than you're supposed to! So say you have a sword and there are only 2 uses left. Do a Chaotic Sword Slash and you'll get all 5 strikes. In the middle of the move your weapon (as indicated on the side panel) will switch to the knife, but you'll continue striking the enemy with your sword. Once you hit the ground again, you'll be holding the knife. This move isn't very useful for weaker enemies, as they'll die before they can take all of the hits, but it's a wonderful thing for Knight and Ogre slaying. *For the purpose of brevity, I'll usually refer to this move as a Chaotic.* Damage of 2x. Now, let's move on to the four different types of swords. o Sword: Your standard sword. Damage of 5. o Broad Sword: A bit more powerful. Damage of 6. o Death Sword: More powerful still. Damage of 7. o Omega Sword: The most powerful sword in Oasis. It sets enemies on fire, so it's great for generating Steak and Roast Beef from Rats and Ogres. This sword can be found in the Infinite variety. Damage of 8. Strategically, there's just not much to say with these things. They're considerably less versatile than the knife is: no 360 degree attacks, as well as a rather slow strike rate. Because of those two factors, you just don't want to get surrounded when using these. Keep your enemies on one side and be prepared to make quick switches back to your knife. Better yet, only switch out for a sword when you need to take down a single tough enemy or quickly subdue a large, clustered group of foes. (The Omega Sword is great for setting Rats on fire! They spread around the love, of course, and therefore it's possible to light up an entire legion of enemies with a single slash!) Don't forget that you can control the different types of slashes. If you attack while walking, you'll do a vertical cut. If you attack while standing still, you'll slash horizontally. A standing jump attack will yield a downward chop, whereas a running jump attack will result in a horizontal slice. Keep this in mind when fighting airborne enemies! You'll have to use the vertical cut or jump attacks to knock them out of the air. A horizontal slash won't help you. Lastly, remember that you can still do crouching slashes, kicks, and Oasis Rage while bearing swords. Bows: Bows are often overlooked by Oasis gamers, but in certain situations they're vital to success. Obviously you'll want them in order to take enemies down from afar, but what people don't really think about is that when used in the hands of a skilled and alert person, bows are a great traveling weapon. Here are the different types of bows: o Bow: Standard crossbow. Damage of 3. o Fire Bow: Bow that will set enemies aflame. Available in the Infinite variety. Damage of 4. o Metal Bow: A high-powered bow that will pass through multiple enemies. Available in the Infinite variety. Damage of 5. o Atomic Bow: To put it quite bluntly, a hyper bomb on a stick. Quite possibly the best weapon known to man. Available in the Infinite variety. Damage of 8. Your available attacks with bows are: jump kicks, kicks, and both standing and crouching bow shots. The difference between those last two? When you stand and press B, you can hold it down indefinitely to wait for a good shot. Not only that, but you can slide around with the D-Pad. If you crouch, however, you'll let off the bolt the instant the string is drawn, and therefore you can't adjust your aim. So about strategy. The standard Bow is basically only useful if you don't have any of the others. It scores minimal damage and has no special powers. You can find them pretty readily, though, so you don't have to worry about wasting ammo. I want to say right now that the Bow is not the best thing to use against some types of enemies. Agile foes like Raptors and Trolls will just slide out of the way and take you down! Swordsmen will reflect the bolt right back at you! (Which is why using an Atomic Bow on a Swordsmen is really, really stupid.) Learn which enemies are bow fodder and which ones aren't to be messed with. Use the Fire Bow and Atomic Bow to burn Rats and Ogres! You'll get great HP items! If you're using the Atomic Bow and need an explosion fast, do a crouching shot. The bolt will hit the ground faster and you'll get the fireworks you need. Remember that you need a bow to flip out-of-reach switches some times. Also don't forget that you have Kicks and Jump Kicks at your disposal when you have a bow. (Not to mention Rising Revenge!) A great technique to use while you're running around in the wild is to use the MODE+B trick to have a Bow at your disposal at any moment. Don't be afraid to switch out for easier kills! (See Easter Eggs for more information.) On the general subject of arrows: Dytto's Water Ball will knock arrows out of the air in flight. Efreet's moves will burn them up instantly, and Bow can sometimes luck into munching up an enemy arrow. Bow's Poison Pollen will also seriously cut down the range of your bolts. Bombs: These aren't very useful, to be quite honest, until you come across the Hyper type. They have their merits when it comes to puzzle solving, of course, but in general they're worthless until said variation. Still, you never know when you might find a need for explosives. o Bomb: Your standard bomb. Blows up pretty much on contact with the ground. Tiny blast radius. Damage of 3. o Power Bomb: A bigger blast radius, and it takes a moment for the fuse to burn down. Damage of 5. o Hyper Bomb: Huge blast radius, capable of inflicting two hits on enemies. Use these with extreme caution. Damage of 8. You either throw or roll bombs, depending on whether you're standing or crouching. The only difference is that they go farther when you throw them. When throwing bombs from above, you have to think about your alignment with the enemy. The bomb will land considerably further towards the bottom of the screen than where you are standing. It's the game's way of making things more 3D, but it means that you have to stand 'north' of your target. Mess around with this and you'll learn what I'm talking about. If you're fast, you can slash enemy bombs away from you. On the flip side, some enemies can send your bombs straight back at you! Beware the evil Swordsman and the vicious Raptor. Fire (including Efreet's moves) will make enemy bombs go off in midair. You can't short-fuse yours with this technique, though. Dytto's Water Ball will freeze fuses, making bombs drop to the ground dormant, at which point you can slash them or whatever. Once the freezing effect wears off, though, the bombs will detonate. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o EASTER EGGS Cheat codes, Easter Eggs, whatever. There are only four of them, so let's not get picky, shall we? o View Records Screen: Press B + START at the title screen. You'll be taken to a listing of the top five performances on your cart, sorted by Time (fastest first), Rank (lowest first), Kills (most first), and Jewels (most first). Nice, if you want to see what's been done by whom without playing through the whole game. o View Sound Test: At the Diary Screen, highlight an empty slot and press B + START simultaneously. You'll be taken to a sound test with musical tracks (complete with names!), and sound effects. Not to mention a nifty background. Also, do you notice all the Streets of Rage 2 sounds in here? (#19 is Vehilits, for example.) If you don't know this already, the company that made this game - Ancient - is Yuzo Koshiro's design team. They also worked on the music/sound for the Streets of Rage series, so it's my guess that they used the Streets of Rage sound library as a starting point when they were building Beyond Oasis. Thanks to Helldhaz for finding this in late 2005. Took ten years to find this code... Amazing. o Force Demo Mode: Don't want to wait for the demos to come up at the title screen? Press Down/Right + START. The demo will come up. Press START during a demo to get taken back to the title screen, at which point you can force the next one again. o Switch Weapons: You know in the weapons menu, how there's a blue highlighter for the active weapon and yellow cursor? Well, select the knife and then put the cursor on another weapon. Then unpause the game and resume play. Now, at any time, you can press MODE + B to switch back and forth between the knife and your chosen weapon. Unfortunately you have to keep the knife as the selected one. Why? For example, let me try to select a bomb and then highlight a sword. I go back to the game, and I can throw bombs. If I press MODE + B, it switches to the sword. So far so good. Now, if I press MODE + B again to revert to the bombs, I'm in trouble. It will go to the knife instead. Pressing MODE + B after that will simply switch between the sword and the knife. So this code is only good for alternating between the default knife and another weapon. Still, it's better than using the menu. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o SOUND TEST Here is a listing of the tracks and their duration, courtesy of DarkPulse. Go look at the preceeding section (Easter Eggs) to find out how to unlock it. 01 - Introduction 2:33 02 - Awakening 0:12 03 - To Begin 1:00 04 - Battle 0:56 05 - Peaceful 1:10 06 - The Story of Thor 2:19 07 - Holiness 1:29 08 - Aqua 0:57 09 - Burning Cave 1:14 10 - Fortress 1:17 11 - Vessel 1:31 12 - Indication 0:19 13 - Stone Place 2:01 14 - Boundless Cliff 0:39 15 - Raging Wind 0:34 16 - Abyss 0:31 17 - Mysterious Green 1:36 18 - Chaos 1:13 19 - Evil Territory 0:46 20 - Water Cave 1:45 21 - The Huge Creature 0:25 22 - Voice from Darkside 0:51 23 - Last Battle 1:17 24 - Triumph 0:06 25 - Item Get! 0:01 26 - Magic Jewel 0:00.6 27 - Encounter 0:38 28 - Requiem 0:06 29 - Concentration 1:55 30 - Fireball 0:32 31 - Deep Hole 2:08 32 - Confession 1:16 33 - Ending 5:20 34 - Master Mind 0:25 (Download the VGZ dump here: http://project2612.bandwidthmonkey.net) And to wrap up, here's an intriguing statement from DarkPulse's notes on the dump: "This is a RARE Koshiro Soundtrack in the sense that it uses no PCM." Pretty bizarre...Yuzo usually pushed the Genesis sound chipset to its limits. Why did he hold back here? Or rather, was it intentional? If you look at the sound test, there are three options: Music, SFX, and PCM. Sampling of the PCM and SFX selections would lead one to believe that the game engine uses the PCM chip to allow for more simultaneous sound effects. Now, I don't know a whole lot about Genesis hardware, so maybe I'm wrong. Still, it seems plausible to me, considering how many sound effect clips there are and how often they play. And another, even more interesting comment: "Odd little bit of Trivia: DJSW was poking in the ROM and found that the sound test code, including these tracknames, is identical to the US release of Crusader of Centy. Odder still, considering that code isn't present in the Euro or Japanese versions - only in the US one." This is strange for multiple reasons. First off, I didn't even know there was a soundtest in Crusader of Centy! (Can anyone supply me with the code for it?) Secondly, I can see how maybe the code might be the same, but the track names? Why the heck would they be identical? The games were developed by two totally different companies. (Centy was designed by Nextech, formerly Gau Entertainment of Ranger-X fame. Nowadays they're called Nex Entertainment.) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Centy came out a full year after Oasis, and if that's true, then it means that there was a little bit of code stealing going on, right? Very weird. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o HEARTS So...just how does that heart system work? Here's the lowdown on it. When you get to a very low health level - to the point where another hit or two or three hits will kill you - let yourself get hit once more by some non-boss enemy. Then kill the enemy that hurt you, and he'll leave a heart when he dies! It's that simple. To get another heart you'll have to heal up and reload the screen before trying again. It seems that 1/8th of your health bar remaining is the magic zone for generating hearts. Please keep in mind that you have to get an enemy to attack you first. Just killing an enemy when you've got low health won't do the job. Previously we all thought there was an invisible XP meter in the game, and killing monsters gave you XP points until you 'leveled up' - a lot like regular RPGs. But thanks to contributor Du, we know better now! Once you see a heart, you have two options: pick up the heart and receive not only extra health, but increased attacking strength! This is another revelation from Du: every time you get one, your attacks get stronger! If you do the math, the game's difficulty is halved merely by picking up ten hearts!!! The bottom line is that the damage/health stats for weapons and enemies should be used only to get a ballpark idea instead of a scientific representation. Back on topic: your other option is to leave the heart alone. Why would you do that? Well, that's the catch. You start out with a Rank of one (as you can see on the Diary menu), and every heart you grab bumps that up by one. You can get your rank up to 200 (info courtesy of Du). After that you can pick up hearts, but they won't affect your stats. At the end of the game, you will be ranked on a high score screen. (Look at the Easter Eggs section to find out how to see this before then.) One of the categories you'll be measured in is Rank, or the number of hearts you pick up. The lower your rank, the higher you will be on the list. So it's a tradeoff: the hearts will make it easier, but you won't score as high on the final screen. You probably shouldn't go for a rank of one on your first try, in case you hadn't figured that out yet. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o HINTS FROM THE MANUAL Lost your manual? Never had it in the first place? Well, many of us are in that boat when it comes to classic gaming. I happen to have one (no box, unfortunately), so - for posterity's sake - here are some of the hints and tips from the manual itself. I can't include the entire thing here, so you'll have to be content with the following. "The creatures threatening Oasis have specific orders to stop you from finishing your quest. You, on the other hand, have more to think about than a few ugly monsters with sticks and spears-all Oasis is depending on you to defeat the one who wears the silver armlet. You may find that the outcome on your goal is quite different when you concentrate on your goal and not the red herrings. Check out the results at the end of the adventure!" "On the other hand, you may be stymied at one point or another by locked doors or barred passages. When you're at a loss for what to do next, try clearing the area of monsters (you know how that works) and the answer may very well appear in front of you." "Remember to use Dytto's Healing spell whenever you have the chance (to save your food supply for more desperate times)." So maybe that was entirely pointless there, but...uh... Yeah. There you go. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o CLASSES One of the ongoing goals of this FAQ has been to discover what game results trigger the various end "classes" displayed during the ending sequence. Ganelon laid the groundwork by generating a comprehensive list of the possible classes and also donating some hexadecimal codes to make the process easier. Du then took this information and ran with it, resulting in a complete table of the classes and how to attain them. Let's give these two a round of applause for all their hard work! COMP. RANK TIME KILLS JEWELS DEATHS RANK CLASS 1 - - - 0 1 Super Hero >1 <2h - - - - Speed Star >1 >2h 1500~32767 - - - Berserker >1 >2h other 60 - - Treasure Hunter >1 >2h other <60 >99 - Undead 02~10 >2h other <60 <100 ? Champion 11~20 >2h other <60 <100 ? Samurai 21~30 >2h other <60 <100 ? Myrmidon 31~40 >2h other <60 <100 ? Hero 41~50 >2h other <60 <100 ? Swordmaster 51~60 >2h other <60 <100 ? Warrior >60 >2h other <60 <100 ? Fighter LEGEND 'Comp. Rank' = (Deaths * 2) + Rank. (1 Death equals 2 Rank hearts.) 'Other' = Numbers 0~1499 or 32768~65535. '-' = Value doesn't matter. '?' = Depends on the Rank you got at the results screen. Game Maximums = 200 Rank 65535 Kills 60 Jewels. Here's how to look the table. There are 6 priorities: o First, if Comp. Rank is 1 (Rank of 1 and no deaths), player's class is Super Hero. o Second, if Comp. Rank is greater than 1, check the game time; if it's under 2 hours, player's class is Speed Star. o Third, if Comp. Rank is greater than 1, time is greater than 2 hours, and the number of kills is between 1500 and 32767, the player's class is Berserker. o Fourth, if not any of the above, if the jewels is 60, player's class is Treasure Hunter. o Fifth, if not any of the above, check the deaths, if equal to or greater than 100 (> 99), player's class is Undead. o Sixth, if not any of the above, the player's class will be whatever range the value of the equation (Deaths * 2 + Rank) falls in. For example, if you died five times and picked up thirty hearts, the the result would be forty, which would just barely put you in the Hero range. Sometimes one game result will fit in 5 classes or more. However, only the highest priority one is chosen. The classes in the table are listed in order of priority from highest (Super Hero) to lowest (Fighter). o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o RECORDS Well, if anyone's interested, here's a place where you can send me your Beyond Oasis results and see how you fare against your peers! We won't do rank or jewels, since they're not really open-ended, but here you can show off your best Time, Kills, and Efreet Racetrack scores. [TIME] [KILLS] [RACING TRACK] 1) 1:07:09 - Du 1) 1866 - VortexSpin 1) 00:55:08 - VortexSpin 2) 1:31:19 - VortexSpin 2) ----------------- 2) --------------------- 3) -------------------- 3) ----------------- 3) --------------------- 4) -------------------- 4) ----------------- 4) --------------------- 5) -------------------- 5) ----------------- 5) --------------------- So go ahead - get playing and bump me off! (I'm most excited about my Efreet Racing Track score...hopefully it can't be beaten. Wishful thinker, I know.) Anybody with determination can easily clear the kills count, too. Du might have the Time area pretty much cornered, though. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o HIGH SCORE TUTORIAL Want to get on the top of all the lists? Okay, here's how. First, you must NOT pick up any hearts during the game. See the Hearts section for why. Secondly, you have to collect all 60 Spirit Jewels. See the Jewels section for more on that. Thirdly, you must kill more enemies than anyone else. (See how to check out the competition in the Easter Eggs section.) Lastly, you have to do it faster than anyone else has. Now, my personal copy of Beyond Oasis didn't have any records on it when I got it. I think it was originally a rental, and nobody had it long enough to beat it or something. You may not be as lucky. (Whoever gets my cart someday is going to have a heck of a time getting on that high-score screen! =P ) There is absolutely no way to get rid of the scores except to beat them. Tough, huh? There's really no way to win all of the categories in one go, so you're going to have to play through a few times with different priorities. Okay, to start off with, the Rank and Jewel categories are easy to bump off. Just get a Rank of one and all 60 Jewels, and you'll go straight to the top, even if someone else has the same thing. The most recent stat goes to the top in case of a tie. Easy to say, but how hard is it to do? Well, most of the jewels are easy to get. The ones in the 100 level pit are located early enough that - at the very worst - you could ditch the place after you acquire Bow's and before it gets really hard. (See the Mini-Games section for more on all that.) With a list of Jewel locations, you can get the 60 without a bunch of sweat. As for the Rank, well...that will take a bit more. Just learn how to fight, basically. Learn how to tear into enemies, learn how to take down the bosses without much damage. Sorry, but it all comes down to practice. Once you're good enough, you can get through the entire thing without picking up a single heart. Now for Time. You're going to have to trim off every single second you can. The infinite weapon mini-games are out, of course. And you can't backtrack to pick up jewels and weapons. You're going to have to become proficient with the knife and whatever other meager weapons that will be sitting in the middle of your path. Pick up any hearts you can in order to make it a bit easier. You should only attempt a time run after you know the game like the back of your hand. You can't afford to get lost, stuck, or deviate in the slightest from the quickest path. Enemies? Hehe... The thing is, the Kill count is entirely open ended. You can go as high as you want. So, if you invest enough time, you could get really high kill counts by simply playing the 100 level pit over and over and over and over. (Believe me, once you get the Omega Sword the first time, that pit is way easier.) The sky's the limit! Personally, I don't really care to smash Rats all day, so I don't have a great Kill score. Here's a note tacked on here: you know at the end of the game, when it shows how many times you died? There's absolutely no reason in the world that shouldn't be a big, fat zero. Why? Because when you die, the game does the same thing as reloading your saved game. So when you're dead, but before the "Game Over" screen, just reset the Genesis and reload your game. Same thing, but it looks cooler at the end. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o SPIRIT CALLS There is a Call for each of the four Spirits: a vial of water for Dytto, a lamp for Efreet, a reflective stone for Shade, and a seedling for Bow. You can select these from the Items menu to instantly summon the respective Spirit without having to find the correct element. Only thing is, you should never just select it from the Item menu! Always set it down on the ground (with START) and shoot your Spirit Ball at it. When you do it that way, not only will you gain the Spirit, but the Call will turn into an item! o Dytto Call (Vial): Roast Beef o Efreet Call (Lamp): Omega Sword o Shade Call (Oynx Stone): Heart o Bow Call (Seedling): Elixir o Lettuce: Mushroom (Not to be confused with a Toadstool. The Mushroom is the +1/4 SP and HP type.) So as you can see, Spirit Calls are pretty good things, even if you just want their byproduct! The only problem is that they take up valuable slots in the item menu. If you're getting cramped for space, I'd recommend ditching the Efreet Call for an Omega Sword and the Bow Call for the Elixir. (Efreet Calls are pretty much worthless once you have the Infinite Hyper Bomb, anyway.) You should always hang onto Dytto Calls, though, as you never know when you might need a fast heal. (Especially in the 100 Level Pit.) o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o ITEM GUIDE This section covers all the pick-ups you'll find that can restore your HP or SP. Yes, yes, I know this has been documented before. But hey, it's a step closer to a one stop source. o Cheese HP + 1/4 o Fish HP + 1/2 o Steak HP + 1/3 o Roast Beast HP to Full o Orange SP + 1/4 o Apple SP + 1/2 o Pomnegranate SP + 1/3 o Grapes SP to Full o Mushroom HP/SP + 1/4 o Lettuce HP/SP + 1/2 o Garlic HP/SP + 3/4 o Toadstool HP/SP to Full o Elixir HP/SP to Full You can get these simply by luring Fish enemies onto dry ground and keeping them there (just push them - you won't get hurt) until they die. You can slash them up a bit to hurry the process along, if you wish. Just make sure they die by asphyxiation instead of your knife. Tis is a great way to keep your Item stock full of tasty 1/2 HP Fish. I heal up and restock every time I see one. Steak and Roast Beast is often acquired from Rats and Ogres if you kill them with fire weapons. Lettuce Can be used to summon Bow. (See the Spirit Calls section for more info.) The Elixir is automatically activated when you die, essentially giving you another life. It can also simply be used like a Toadstool. There are only six of these in the entire game, unless you count the ones you can get as a byproduct from Bow Calls. I always try to have them all at the end, for no particular reason. Each enemy drops certain Items/Weapons, and none others. This is fairly common in such games, but you would do well to note it. Why? So that you don't waste your time trying to get HP items by killing Bats, for instance. (90% of the time they'll give you Oranges, which are hardly the most helpful things in the world.) Another item related tip is what I call 'swapping'. Say you've got about 80% health, and all you've got in your Item menu are a bunch of Roast Beasts. They're too valuable to just squander on 20% vitality. Then you happen across a Cheese. Here's the drill. Drop an item (highlight it and press START), then pick up the Cheese and use it. You're now at full vitality. Then pick up your Roast Beast again. This is the best way to keep yourself in top condition. On a related note, try not to fill up your HP meter. What I mean by that is, don't use a 1/2 HP (or SP) item if you aren't at 1/2 vitality. Let yourself get damaged a little more, then use the item so that you don't waste any precious revitalizing powers. Of course, if you find yourself given the chance to max out your gauges through Dytto, the Princess, your Mentor, swapping, and the like, then do so! Just don't use big items wily-nilly when - if you wait a bit - you'll get more bang for your buck. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o SP REGENERATION You probably know how certain bits of jewelry you pick up during your quest will allow you to regenerate SP and HP, correct? (See Special Items for more info.) Well, have you noticed that your SP regenerates at the beginning of the game even without the items? Pretty cool. So you don't need to worry about SP early on in the game. It will build up rather quickly whenever you're in a non-dungeon environment. I'll have to check, but I'm pretty sure this effect continues until you meet Silver Armlet, at which point you'll have to start using SP items. Ginny submitted the reason for this apparent anomaly with the recharging feature of the Armlet early on in the game. Here's what he says: "As for why the Armlet doesn't recharge your SP when you first meet Silver Armlet until you get the [Psychoring], I offer this simple explanation: the G.A. alone can only recharge SP in sunlight, which is why SP doesn't recover over time in dungeons early on. After the fight against the Gargoyles and up until you leave the cave, there is no sunlight, even when you are outside the cave. Note the weather; it's raining. Rain means clouds, and clouds make sunlight's job of reaching the G.A. very hard." Thanks to Ginny for that! And I must say that Beyond Oasis has to be one of the most detailed games of the 16-bit era. Seriously, that's a pretty cool bit of trivia. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o Glitches One thing you'll find about Beyond Oasis is that it's a very solid game. Some Genesis titles seem to have glitches and errors everywhere, but it's like you just can't mess up Oasis. I've seen very few, and most of those were impossible to trigger at will - they just happen. There is one fairly well documented one, however, that can be triggered whenever you want. o Zombie Mode: First you have to find a teleporter. The one at Efreet's Racetrack (see Mini-Games guide for more) is a good one since it doesn't have any enemies to mess you up and it's pretty early on, but any of them will work. What you have to do is get down to extremely low health. Use bombs on yourself, let enemies hit you, whatever. Just get within a few health points of dying. Now position yourself so that the next blast will not only kill you, but throw you back on the teleporter. Once you've been teleported, you'll find yourself in an odd position: no health, no SP. You won't be able to leave the screen, and you can't save your game. You can't use items, either. Not only that, but the next hit will kill you. Odd, isn't it? Thanks to GetSmart for that. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o GAME GENIE CODES Yes, there are indeed Game Genie codes for Beyond Oasis. WARNING-WARNING, DANGER-DANGER, DOCTOR ROBINSON!!! Before you use these codes, you need to know what the risks are. Here's a quote from "The Big Book of Game Genie Codes" by the Genesis Project: "The Game Genie is known to have particular problems with games that have a built in save game feature. You may not be able to start a new game or save your game when using Game Genie codes, also a few codes are known to corrupt or delete your save data which means you will lose any saved games you already had. In a few very rare cases this may even prevent you from playing the game even after you have removed the Game Genie as the game will crash when you enter the save menu, it is usually possible to fix this problem using the Game Genie itself by looking in the codes for an 'erase save data' code although you will again lose any saves you had." That's some serious stuff there, enough to prevent me from ever using the following codes. Still, they are provided for the curious and daring. Just one thing: there are no 'erase save data' codes for Beyond Oasis! You are using these at your own risk, and I cannot be blamed for damage! Now those who have emulators are in the clear, though: "This does not generally apply to emulators, the save data may still be corrupted but you should be able to use the emulator's own 'save game' features to bypass the problem although this isn't guaranteed to work with every game." And at the worst, you could just download the ROM again. (But you're not going to use ROMs, remember?) o Master Code: AABT-AA7R o Protection from most attacks: RFNA-A6YE o Start Game with 250 HP: 9JKT-AAH4, 9JLA-AAAA o Start Game with 500 HP: 8TKT-ACH4, 8TLA-ACAA o Start Game with 100 Rank: NTLA-AAAR o Start Game with 500 Rank: 8TLA-ACAR o Start Game with Omega Sword: 96KT-ALGT o Start Game with Metal Bow: 96KT-ATGT o Start Game with Hyper Bomb: 96KT-A0GT o Use MODE to cancel Spirit: NCFT-BNFT, BCFT-AAF0 o SP doesn't decrease: REPT-C6XL o Don't lose SP on 'Hold A' Spirit moves: REPT-C6YA o Almost Invincible: 83NA-AA2G o Ogres can't grab Ali: ACXT-CA6T o Worms can't grab Ali: AADT-EA30 o Untouchable (Regular Hits): AW8T-AAHT o Invincible: MXFT-AAF4 o Weapon turns infinite after use: 98CT-BE5J o Weapons are infinite: RGCT-A6XJ o Infinite weapons aren't infinite: ALCT-AA5E o Don't lose SP on 'Tap A' Spirit moves: REPT-C6VR o "Service Pack" for Walking on Air codes: ABWA-AA9T o Disable Active Zones: ALFT-AA4W o Walking on Air: AGRA-BT3L o Walking on Air (Alternate): ABPA-AA58 o Jump on Air: ABSA-AA6L Notes on the codes: o Master Code Use this code if you get a red screen when you use the codes below. Due to the lack of free time, I haven't tested the codes above through the entire game yet, but they worked fine in the early stages of the game. o Don't lose SP on 'Hold A' Spirit moves You still lose SP if perform 'Tap A' Spirit moves. o Almost Invincible Almost nothing can harm your character. Ali will not die even if his health is at zero! o Ogres can't grab Ali The "Almost Invincible" code successfully protects Ali from their regular attacks, but won't keep him from being hurt by their grabbing move. To prevent getting hurt, enable this code. o Worms can't grab Ali The same as the "Ogres can't grab Ali" code, only for the Worms. o Untouchable (Regular Hits) This code isn't really necessary when you have the first code enabled. However, you can enable this and observe how it works. o Invincibility This property is like the Doppelganger. When Ali goes to a new location, he gets this property, but it breaks after you jump. o Weapons turn infinite after use Choose your favorite weapon, use it one time and you will see the wonderful symbol of infinity under its picture. o Weapons are infinite You can use this code or the 'Weapons turn infinite after use' code, not both. o Infinite weapons aren't infinite Use this code if you want to finish up your infinite weapon. o "Service Pack" for Walking on Air codes If you go towards a wall (with the purpose of walking through it) that forms the invisible water or air stream, the Walk on Air code will not work. To fix this problem, use the following code with either of the 'Walking on Air' codes. o Disable Active Zones Disables "active zones", which include streams and invisible teleports to other locations. It means you can't leave current location when this code is enabled. o Walking on Air Problem is, if you press jump button, Ali will fall down. It's not necessarily a bad thing, as in some situations your character must fall down. The only difference between this code and the alternate one is that if you disable the alternate code while Ali is standing on the air, he will immediately fall. o Jump on Air Use it if you like to jump on the air. Don't forget to enable either of the 'Walking on Air' codes before this one! And there you have it: the Game Genie codes for Beyond Oasis. (Courtesy of GSCentral, slightly edited. Check out the originals at www.gscentral.com.) Like I said, I never use these, as I don't need the 'cheaty' ones and I seriously doubt there's anything interesting to be seen with the 'exploration' ones. If you use them, though, and find something cool, then by all means send me an email and I'll put it up here. (You'll be credited, of course.) o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o MINI GAME GUIDE Here is where you'll find tutorials for all five of the Infinite Weapon mini-games. These things may seem tough at first, but they are worth it. Learn the tricks of each one and soon you'll be a master. I haven't included the locations of the entrances, as you can easily get that information in other places. This guide is here so you can learn how to become proficient at them and get the prizes faster! Efreet's Racing Track (Infinite Fire Bow) This has got to be the most fun of the five mini-games. Not only that, it's also the easiest and yields an infinite weapon that can really save your skin during the course of the game. The point of this little place is to get Efreet around the track as fast as possible. As your time progresses, you'll be bumped down in placement, one a rank at a time. A rank of one gives a better prize than the fourth rank does. The faster you do it, the better the prize! From worst to best, the prizes are: cheese, an elixir, an Efreet call, an Efreet Spirit Jewel, and the Infinite Fire Bow. Needless to say, you'll want to play this game several times to pick up all the goodies. My personal record for this event is 55.8 seconds. I don't say that in boast or anything; I'm telling you that so you know that it is possible to get the faster times. At first, you'll find this race to be very hard. I'm no exceptional gamer, though, so if I can do it, you can do it. Okay? Now then... The first thing you should do before anything else is make sure you're using a controller with a turbo function and a quality D-Pad. Why? Well, think about it. You have to use Efreet's Fire Dash to race, and the command for that is A tapped twice. If you try to do it the old-fashioned way, I can guarantee you that you're going to mess up and make him do his Flame Breath. If that happens, you're totally messed up. So set that controller to turbo! Next-for convenience's sake, just cancel Efreet if you have him. It's easier to stand at the entrance, summon him from the campfire, turn to your right and start running (even though you won't go anywhere just yet), then hold down the A button (turbo enabled). That way, the second Efreet appears he'll do a dash to the right and he'll be in the track, nice and easy. You'll be teleported onto the island in the middle, and the timer will start. I have my own path I've figured out, and I'll show you how to do it here. After quite a few tries, I finally executed it flawlessly on all of the laps. (That's how I got the 55.8) I do believe, however, that there's still room for improvement. Can you beat 55.8? Send me an email, along with a picture (whether it be a screen capture or a digital photo of your television), and I'll put it up as the new high score along with your name! Here's my path: I dash four times along the bottom of the path, then up once, then left, then up, then left three times. (You can see where Efreet is by his shadow during that last step.) Then down once, and over. Here's a tricky part: You have to let him coast just a little to the left, then rocket him downwards so he just barely missed the edge and goes across the finish line. There's a lap. Now instantly put him back to the right four times, up, left, up, left, left, left, down, left, down, etcetera. The only hard parts are making sure Efreet goes up after the fourth dash on the bottom, as well as the bit near the finish line. To make sure he goes up when you want him to, hold the up button while he's in the fourth dash. Also, don't forget to hold down the A button the whole time! Turbo will be doing the work for you. The only time you should let up on the A button is at the aforementioned finish line section, when you want Efreet to drift along for a split second by himself in order to clear the corner. Lastly, you need to get good at running Ali around on the island. It's imperative that you be able to see where Efreet is on the track so you can time the turns. If you understand this pattern and can do it without making a mistake, you can get 55.8 seconds like I did. Obviously, once you're good enough you'll have to let Efreet sit around on the track for a few moments while the timer runs so you can get the 'lesser' prizes. Isn't it nice to have to hold yourself back? =) Today I was fiddling around with the racetrack, trying to figure out if there's a way to cheat by going counterclockwise, then back across the finish line for a quick lap. And it is possible, just not practical. The 'magic spot' that you have to cross in order to be able to go across the finish line is...eh, let me just make a diagram. _________________________________ ___| ___________________________ |_ |_ _| |_ | | |_ _| M_| | |___________________________| | START_________________________________| The spot that you have to touch in order to validate a crossing of the finish line is marked with the 'M'. As you can see, by the time you get there it would be even slower than just going normally. Now, something that might be interesting to do is to try the course backwards one lap, then forwards, then backwards, etcetera. It might actually be faster that way, but I have yet to test this. Secret Crags (Infinite Hyper Bombs) This one gave me nightmares early on. The troublesome platforming is hard enough, but when you add wind and Gargoyles, this thing can be plain torture. Nowadays I can get through it with only minor problems, but until you play through it enough you're going to be pulling your hair out. Turret Crags: The initial screen. Just jump from platform to platform. Make sure you have Shade and full SP. Let Shade take the turret hits, and Slash them when they come in range. Then just jump to shore. The Silent Crags: This is the second screen, and at first it looks deceivingly simple. No enemies, no wind, no moving platforms. Just four tiles in the middle of the air. Should be a piece of cake. Problem is, the platforms disappear rather quickly after you jump on them. Worse yet, they're positioned so that you can't just jumpy-jumpy down the line. Here's the trick: take a running jump onto the first one. Positioning is important here. You have to jump onto the extreme bottom edge of the platform, so you're practically falling off. Don't stop running! Hop from that one to the second one to the third one. Now, at this point you can either keep running and jump to the final tile and to freedom, but often times you'll find yourself skidding over the edge and plummeting to your doom on the final platform. A better technique is to stop running, QUICKLY jump off the third platform and onto the fourth, then take a running jump to the other side. When you stop running on the third platform, you have to be snappy! It's going to be falling out from under you before you can say "Ali", and therefore you need to abandon it fast. Same with the fourth. Being able to start running fast is a vital skill for this. If you fall (and you will), let Shade take you back to the right side. Then just walk to the former screen and back again to make the platforms reappear. The Windy Crags: There'll be leaves blowing into your face, indicating the strong headwinds. Not only that, but there will be multiple moving platforms. (Five, actually.) This is going to be tough. Even getting on the first platform requires a bit of skill. The wind is really going to nix your jumping power, so you have to use running jumps constantly. Line yourself up with the first platform, then make a running jump where you just barely leap before you fall for maximum distance. Not only that, but you have to time it with the platform so that you land when it's as close as possible. Once you're on the platform, you have to constantly walk forward to stay on it. Tap the D-Pad to prevent falling. After this, I really can't give a whole lot of advice. All of it is timing that you'll simply have to learn yourself. Remember that you don't jump very far because of the wind, and also keep in mind that you can just walk from the third to the fourth platform. You should also know that the fifth platform disappears like the ones in the Silent Crags. If you fall off, make sure to reload the screen so it comes back. The Gargoyle Crags: Okay, this can be either simply difficult or extremely difficult, depending on what weapons you have. Do you have a lot of swords, or a sword with a lot of slashes left? Good. Get it out, because you'll be needing it badly. If you don't, then be prepared to use Slashes as much as you can when the Gargoyles dive towards you, and get ready to let Shade take a huge beating. There are a handful of slowly moving platforms here. No wind, no disappearing stuff. The challenge is to get across without the Gargoyles knocking you off! A dive from one of them won't do it, but if you've got a bunch hitting you at the same time you'll go down. The key is to keep the numbers of Gargoyles at a minimum. If you have a sword, just Jump Slash them when they draw near. Use a horizontal slash if they shoot something at you. At all times, try to keep their numbers down. They will keep coming, of course, until there are four (or five?) of them. And since you're killing them, there will constantly be reinforcements arriving. Don't forget to cross the platforms as soon as you can. The faster you get out of here, the better. If you fall, reload the screen to get rid of all the Gargoyles. If you don't have a sword, you're in for a bit of fun. You have no other choice but to stand there and take it (or let Shade take it, rather). Slash them when they dive, but don't try anything fancy! Roll. Slashes and the like will send you to the abyss - you've only got about a square foot of fighting room here! The Final Crags: The point here is to make it across in a single try, using as few platforms as possible. That way when you come back there'll still be something to use. There's no wind to bother you, and just use normal jumps. Use the top three first. All but two of the platforms disappear, so be quick about it. The platforms will reload, remember, if you exit the screen and return, so use that if you mess up. At any rate, you'll make it to the other side. Use Shade's Shadow Claw to break the boxes and snag the goodies, then make your way back using the bottom layer of platforms. At this point, you'll have to go all the way back! Sheesh. No nice teleporter for you, eh? It's basically the same thing, except for the Windy Crags. Now you've got the wind to your back, so you've got some major jumping distance now. Don't be afraid to use the SP and HP items. The Infinite Hyper Bomb is very much worth it. The Hidden Islands (Infinite Atomic Bow) Instead of simply giving a tedious walkthrough of this, I'll provide you with a list of tips that will help you to get through the level. o Get to know the locations of the boxes. The whole point of this is to kill all the enemies without breaking a box, so you need to know what areas to try to keep the combat from entering! If you start trying to take on enemies right next to a box, odds are something's going to happen. o When you first drop in, let off a Spin Attack as you're falling. This is one of the few times in the game when standard Soldiers can kill you, so get them out of your face from the get go. You can continue to do a Spin Attack until they're dead. o Go slowly. Memorization really is the key to this. Once you know when the enemies will appear, you can keep the number of onscreen foes to a minimum, thereby making it easier for you. o You can use items here! Just not spirits! Use that infinite Fire Bow to generate some meat from Ogres and Rats when you can! o When you see a zombie, get a fire weapon out immediately and reduce it to ashes. o Beware of Raptors! Jump kicks and the Spin Attack are your best bet. o When you see a teleporter in front of you for the second time, you know that you're in for the final confrontation. Go into an Oasis Rage as soon as you touch ground to prevent the Knight from crushing both you and the box. (Which would be disastrous this late in the mini-game.) Better yet, slide on Turbo for a few moments, walk forward, and hold down B the instant you see the Knight. o On the final fight, there are two side alleys. Take the fight in there! You're less likely to destroy the box that way. o Be careful with your bombs and the atomic bow! You don't want to blow up a box! o You'll get an atomic bow from a Raptor around the middle. Use it before the end, because it's worthless once you have the prize! On the island with the single turret and the multiple Raptors, walk just far enough to load the enemies, then make it back onto the bridge before you're blocked by the turret! If you do get stuck, stay calm and don't walk left or right. The Raptors won't activate if you don't come close. That will give you the time to kill the Turret and get back onto the bridge. Then use your Hyper Bombs to activate and eradicate all of the Raptors. They'll get stuck on the walls on either side of the bridge, and you can throw a bomb to their sides. Try not to wake up more than one Raptor at a time. o Right after all those spearmen and the little group of archers and an Ogre, you'll fight three armored Knights. One of them will drop an Omega Sword! Be sure to pick it up! You might even want to play through this more than once for more firepower in the 100 level pit. Using those tips and your own skill, this mini-game should go down in one or two tries. The 100 Level Pit (Infinite Omega Sword): If you can actually complete this, then you'll find the rest of the game to be wonderfully easy. (At least compared to what it could have been.) Only problem is that this side quest is quite imposing and requires a great deal of dedication. Not to mention skill. The trick with this one is that you can't use any items whatsoever. That's right, no items. Much harder than the no Spirits deal with the Secret Islands, in my opinion. At any rate, you'll fight your way through 100 levels of random enemies to gain the Infinite Omega Sword. You have to do the entire thing in one go, by the way. It takes roughly 45 minutes for me, but it depends on how good you are at fighting. Here's another list of tips for this side quest. o You can use the stairs to go up to the surface, one level at a time. o Every ten levels, you'll fight a boss. When you come out victorious you'll get a quarter health refill and an item will fall from above. Not only that, but you'll be offered the chance to bail out via teleporter. o Although you can't use any items, remember that you can use your Spirit Calls. (See Spirit Calls for more information.) o Don't forget that you can indeed summon Shade from the Knights, but also don't forget that you have to get rid of him in order to progress. o Dytto is your best friend, as usual. Get her whenever you can from the Slime creatures and her Jewel that you will find. You can use her Call when you're desperate, but try to save that thing for truly horrible times. Don't use her for anything else except healing, by the way. You'll need that SP! o Use your swords when you're in a tight spot, as they'll become pretty much useless when you acquire the Infinite Omega Sword. o Pause the game, turn off the television, and take a break if you think you need it. o Remember that you'll possibly need an hour or more to beat this, so pick a day to try it when you'll have the time. o Efreet should be your constant companion, unless you're keeping Dytto for a while for heals. You can get him from the Infinite Hyper Bombs. o The Atomic Bow is going to be wonderful here. Use it any time you can get yourself at a distance from the action. o Use Multiple Rolling Slashes over and over and over on the Sapper levels. o Trick the Knights into massacring other enemies whenever you can. o When confronted by a group of enemies, quickly identify the biggest threats and eliminate them first. o When using Efreet, don't use his special moves too much. Just let him wander around and whack things, as the other moves use valuable SP. o All of your fighting skills are going to have to be used here. Hold nothing back, and don't be shy away from prolific use of cheapos. (Like jump kicking a Raptor repeatedly.) o It's better to take your time and get through on the first try than attempting to speed through it. Be aggressive, but remember that health is your most precious commodity. o The enemy setup for each level is random, but you'll find that it uses the same sort of configurations: three Ogres, a raptor, eight rats in a circle, two Knights, etcetera. Learn how to dispatch each group quickly. That's about it. Use your brains, be fast on the D-Pad, and keep in mind how terrific your prize is. The Hidden Waterfall (Infinite Metal Bow): Just between you and me, the Metal Bow isn't worth a whole lot. That said, you should do this one anyway for the jewels and Elixir. Besides, don't you want all the infinite weapons? Here are the items in the waterfall: o Green Gem o Lettuce o Omega Sword o Infinite Metal Bow o Dytto Gem o Shade Call o Elixir You can't get everything on the first go-round, but you don't have to fall to the opening of Efreet's shrine and make your way back up every time you want to go through again. When you see the Shade call, get ready to run to the right. That way you won't leave the area and you'll be able to run up some watery stairs to the top of the waterfall again. Don't get the Elixir until you've gotten everything else you want, because you probably won't make it to the stairs if you wait to run until after you get it. I usually do this minigame like this: First Pass: Green Gem, Infinite Metal Bow, Shade Call. Second Pass: Dytto Gem, Elixir. And I'm done. There's no point in getting the Omega Sword if you have the infinite version, and I'm not inclined to go to the trouble for a lettuce. This is actually even easier than the Racing Track, especially once you know to use the stairs. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o CHALLENGES For the skilled wanderer of Oasis there are many quests to complete. No, they don't give you anything except major bragging rights. But they are, anyway: the big challenges of Beyond Oasis. o Quest of the Proud Get a Rank of 1. You know how to do this. o Quest of the Perfect Don't die at all during the game. And no, you can't do the resetting trick. (See the High Score Tutorial for more on that.) o Quest of the Jewels Get all 60 jewels. o Quest of the Explorer Get all of the infinite weapons. o Quest of the Starving Don't pick up any healing items. o Quest of the Defenseless Don't pick up any weapons, unless you need them to solve a puzzle. o Quest of the Powerless Don't pick up any Spirit gems at all. o Quest of the Mighty Beat the 100 level pit right at the beginning of the game, before you get any spirits or do anything. o Quest of the Three Spirits Complete the Quest of the Mighty, and then don't get Efreet. Yes, it's possible. o Quest of the Merciful Kill only the enemies you have to kill in order to open doors, get keys, etcetera. Credit must go to GetSmart for the Quest of the Three Spirits, as his FAQ was the first place I saw that. Thanks, GetSmart! o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o ORIGINAL STORY OF THOR PLOT You probably know that originally Beyond Oasis was called "The Story of Thor: Successor to the Light" in Japan. Thor? There's no Thor in this game, is there? I often wondered about where the Thor thing came from, and my curiosity was only strengthened by something Tony Van (the guy who oversaw the US conversion) said on his website: "Beyond Oasis was another international game that needed a producer to port it over to English (but in this case, I was in charge of both American English and UK English!) It arrived with a badly-translated Japanese story, one that made very little sense. So when it didn't make sense, I created my own version of what I thought was right. I think it came out OK, nobody ever said anything!" Since then, I've always wanted to know what the original plot was. One with the knowledge of Japanese could obviously obtain the Japanese original and do a translation, but so far no one has. Do you know the original Japanese plot or any differences between the Japanese game and the US version? Drop me a line and I'll put it up in this section, along with a credit for you. (Also check out the links section for Van's website so you can see it for yourself.) I've made progress in this regard by securing a volunteer translator - now I just need a complete Japanese script for him to look over. If someone wants to do the legwork on that...by all means! I have very little time for such things, so it might be a while if I do it. I did discover that, in classic Japanese fashion, "Thor" is simply the name of the main character. Don't ask me what Norse mythology has to do with Arabia. UPDATE: All right, here we go. Pokeiyuu from the GameFAQs board rolled in on 5/26/2010 with the following megaton information. This is all pretty much his words verbatim since he expressed it so well. "I dumped the scripts from both the Japanese and English versions of this game and uploaded the results in an easily comparable spreadsheet. Difference notes: Ali is named Ruo in the Japanese. For some reason, the line from Efreet about how to summon him is not in the English. The Japanese gives more directions than in the English. For example, you're told that the castle is in the West after you're attacked in town, that the "hidden shrine" is behind the eastern waterfall and that the cave in Mount A-Rat (Mt. Allat) is to the north. The name "Thor" comes from the "word," 'toa,' which refers to a spirit world where no human lives. That is where the war between Reharl and Agito was waged. It's referred to in the English as "the non-entity." The armlets, when referred to, sometimes use their function as a modifier in the Japanese. So the bearer of the Gold Armlet is referred to as "The Governing Gold Armlet," especially by the four spirits, while the Silver Armlet is referred to as "The Creating Silver Armlet." The spirits never use the Prince's name to refer to him, deferring his identity to the armlet. The Prince's name is not known to the armlet when it is picked up. It is just speaking generically to whomever picks it up. What will bring the world to ruin is the revival of an ancient demon by the Silver Armlet. The conversation that the Prince overhears has a name in the Japanese. Shade's location is incidental in that conversation in the Japanese as well. This name, Kuuin, is very close to the older sister princess's name, Kuvinia. The conversation where you hear your older sister's name actually happens in reverse in the Japanese. The speaker admonishes you to go to the castle and just happens to see Kuvinia's necklace on you and then talks about it. The forest shrine is said to be in the northwest in the Japanese, while it is in the northeast in the English. The English is more judgmental. You're explicitly told that Agito was evil, and so is the Large Cube. When the bearer of Silver Armlet is "freed," that person doesn't say who they are at all in the Japanese. Right before the armlet bearers are separated during the ending, the Silver Armlet does say the relationship between them (not that you don't already have a notion as to who they are...) In the attacking instructions, the Japanese does say that a Low Kick is possible. For the "special attacks" except for the Spin Attack, it does not tell you their motions. Looking more at the script, the claim that the translator made up large portions of the English story is pretty much incorrect. He cleaves quite closely to the source material." The list of differences between the two scripts was originally posted here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tO6C-0o0GrE4yT6bE0tX3bA&output=html But in the case that it might be lost to time, here is what can be reproduced in a simple notepad document. (Just the English side.) I am Dytto, a water spirit. Water has the power to purify and can wash away evil. I swear that I am devoted to my master. I will come to serve you when I see the light ball on the surface of the water. Hi, Ali! Hi, Ali. What kind of junk did you dig up today? Digging in the mud again, Ali? Excavations, you say? What's the difference? Oh, Ali. Nice armlet. Where'd you find it? Prince Ali, are you all right? I don't know who they were, but you were their target. They may have attacked the castle as well. You must check on your family. Ali, I have a special today! Why don't you take a look? Ali defeated the hostile group which attacked him, and hurried to see his teacher. He found Dytto, a spirit of water who had been sleeping in the Water Shrine. Efreet is my name. I am fire which burns away anything unclean. The Gold Armlet is my master. Hey, take me to the ruins next time! Please! There have been many strangers around here lately. I don't like them. I appear from the void to become your shadow. My name is Shade. I pledge my allegiance to you, Gold Armlet. You may summon me from your own reflection. I'm Bow! You are my master. I can be found inside plants. Call me when there's lots to eat! He found Efreet, a spirit of fire who had been sleeping in the Waterfall Shrine. He captured the enemy base and sneaked onto a ship staying in the harbor. Ali defeated the gargoyles. He headed his boat in the direction where Silver Armlet disappeared. He defeated the monsters in the cave and picked up a necklace which had a mysterious radiance. He left for the wall fortress to continue after Silver Armlet. He defeated the monsters in the fortress and got the Warp Device. He defeated the old dragon in the crater and found Shade, a spirit of shadow in the Shrine of Darkness. It is said that there is a hidden Shrine where a Spirit sleeps. Ali, go up along the river to find the Shrine. He found Bow, a spirit of plants who had been sleeping in Forest Shrine. The stream lead into a dungeon under the castle. He obtained the Large Cube. Ali, did you find out who they are? It is our responsibility to deal with these rebels. Ali defeated the monster in the non-entity, and fell into a depth of darkness... Many ages ago, a devastating battle was waged in the shadowlands of the Kingdom of Oasis. It was between two powerful sorcerers, Reharl and Agito. Both sorcerers drew special powers from their magical Armlets. Reharl used his Gold Armlet to govern the spirits. Agito used his Silver Armlet to create chaos and destruction. The epic battle destroyed them both. The Armlets were presumed to be lost as well. Ali, I am calling to you. Please, pick me up. I am what remains of this Gold Armlet. I now entrust its power to you, for you have been chosen to undergo a difficult task. The Gold Armlet has its pair: a Silver Armlet, which has possessed the soul another. He will lead Oasis to ruin if you do not stop him. The powers of the Gold Armlet are now yours to wield. Find the four spirits this Gold Armlet governs, and stop the evil ambition of the one with the Silver Armlet. Prince Ali, good luck! Ali, have you been to the Water Shrine? Go to the east through the village. The Spirit is a trustworthy partner for you. My master, Gold Armlet, show me your light ball. Prince Ali! Welcome back! The King and the Princess are waiting for you in the main hall up the stairs. Ali, please go and read the books hidden in the back room before you go. I'm sure they will help you. Welcome back, my son! Let me see what you found. Hmmm, I've heard this story before...if this is really the Gold Armlet, then IT was the reason for that strange attack today. The Gold Armlet governs the wild spirits. Ali, go find the spirit sleeping in the Water Shrine. So you found the Water Spirit? Then the story must be true! I have instructed the soldiers to find out who these strangers are. I will receive a report sometime later. Ali, you must go to the East Waterfall before the soldiers come back. There must be another Shrine where a spirit sleeps. Find it to fulfill your destiny. Ali, the soldiers reported that some strange groups are camped out in the field northeast of the Water Shrine. You must investigate the area before they hurt the villagers. Gold Armlet, you are brave to come here. But unfortunately, I have no time to fool with you. I am Silver Armlet. You cannot stop me, and you will be sorry you tried! He caught a faint conversation from downstairs. ...is it to the north? Yes, in the wall fortress. It is the key to go to the west crater to see Shade... Ali, what did you dig up today? Ali, it's you! It has been a long time! Did you find anything interesting? Are you all right, Ali? I saw a strange group in the village and I was worried about you. It's not safe to wander around outside. I have not seen you lately, Ali. Where have you been? Hello, Ali. Do excavations still interest you? You've caught up with me much earlier than I expected. Well, let me reward you. Somewhere in this castle, there is a device which can move you through a warp of time and space. I don't need it, but you will. Show me your power, Gold Armlet. You must defeat my minions to gain access to the Warp Device! Welcome, Prince. Yes, I know everything. This is yours. That ring is a great help to you. The necklace you found belongs to Princess Gwyn, your elder sister. As you know, she's been missing for over ten years. This may mean she is still alive. Now, go back to the castle. Silver Armlet wants something from inside it, and you must hurry to protect your family. It was a sudden attack! Is the King all right? The underground passage there leads to the dungeons of the castle, but the entrance is blocked by a grille. My grandpa said that there is a Shrine in the northeast forest. Inside it is a monster that eats up anything! ............... (LOL - VortexSpin) Go north once past the East Gate. You will find a large cave in the mountain. Ali! Ha-ha-ha! Hello, Gold Armlet. I'll trade you a Princess for a Large Cube hidden somewhere inside this castle. Come to Mt. Allat with the Large Cube and I will trade you for your younger sister. You broke my Seal. I am the origin of Agito's power and the keeper of his soul. His ancient evil can be awakened by me. Oh, Ali...it's you. You found the Large Cube? It is evil, and I hoped it would never be recovered from the dungeon. Ali, you must do what you think is right. We...we are all counting on you... Prince Ali, we will get to the cave as soon as we can. Love is beautiful, isn't it? Ha-ha-ha! Give me the Large Cube first. Good. Now the Princess is yours. Take care of your precious sister, she tends to get lost easily! I'm sorry, you were unable to do anything against that foul creature because of me... I know that nothing I can say will stop you from following, but... Please take this for good luck. Come back safe and sound, Ali. Prince! Princess! Are you all right? It's dangerous around here. Please go back to the castle, Princess. Welcome to the non-entity, Gold Armlet. This is the border between the shadow and the human world. You cannot use the Armlet's power here. This is the end of your journey! I have been waiting for you. It's been an interesting game...but now it's time to finish it. You cannot stop the revival of the Creator of the Silver Armlet, my master, Agito! Well done. I must reward you for your persistence, Gold Armlet! I reward you with your death! You...won. I misjudged your superior...abilities. But...you will not defeat Agito. He has returned to resume his throne! Oh...oh...It's you, Ali. It's me, your elder sister, Gwyn. I...heard your voice...but...I could do nothing...I was possessed. Finally, I got back my...my...memories. I feel the power filling the world. Thank you, my master, Gold Armlet. You saved our world. But now we must remain here. I am proud to have both fought for you and beside you. You shall be remembered forever. Bow had fun time! Now this Warp will bring you home. Good-bye, friend Ali! Ali...wait. I destroyed things and killed people... Even though I was possessed and controlled...I must make atonement for my sin. Ali, tell this to everyone. Agito and the Silver Armlet minion have been destroyed forever. They will never endanger Oasis again. Now, let me say good-bye... and...thank you...my brother. Big Attack/Small Attack Press or tap Button B to attack the enemies. Ali jumps when C button is tapped, and ducks when Button C is held. Run Ali runs to the direction of the D-Pad. Ali jumps when Button C is tapped, and ducks when Button C is held. Spin Attack One of the special attacks with a dagger. D-Pad Forward, Left, Back, Right + Button B held. Rolling Slash A special attack with the dagger. D-Pad Forward, Back, Forward + Button B held. Double Rolling Slash Enhanced attack of Rolling Slash. Chaotic Sword Slash A special attack with a sword. D-Pad Forward, Left, Back, Right, Forward, Back, Forward + Button B held. Instructions Magic Bubble Tap Button A to generate a bubble that stuns enemies. Healing Tap Button A twice. Magic Storm Hold Button A for 1 second to attack all enemies with a water tornado. Press A,B and C buttons together to cancel the summons Flame Breath Tap Button A to create a stream of fiery breath. Fireball Attack Tap Button A twice to turn Efreet into a fireball. Melt Bomber Hold Button A for 1 second to cause a fire inundation. Press A,B and C buttons together to cancel the summons Dark Claw Tap Button A. Shade attacks enemies with his claws. Also can be used to grapple out of reach items. Doppelganger Hold Button A for 1 second to generate a duplicate which can move around the area. Ali becomes invincible. Press A,B and C buttons together to cancel the summons Bite Attack Tap Button A to make Bow bite his enemies. Move Underground Tap Button A twice to call Bow to where Ali is standing. Bow moves underground silently. Poison Pollen Hold Button A for 1 second. Bow blows up, scattering poison pollen which stuns the enemies. Press A,B and C buttons together to cancel the summons You have something nice, Ali. Give it to me in return for this, okay? Ali, you sure showed them! Thank you, Ali. What unsafe days! I'm so afraid...I cannot go out alone. Prince Ali. I'm relieved to see you safe! Have you returned to your castle yet? The King and the Princess must be worried about you. What was that? Teach me how to use a dagger next time, okay? Too many strange things happen these days! Prince Ali, I pray for your safety. Be careful. My bubbles can open this water gate, master. I trust the soldiers guarding the castle. Please be careful, brother. Father is very worried about you...I am too. Take care and come back safe and sound. I know you're very tough, but I'm still so worried. Please, please be careful. And that's pretty much all there is to say. In the end, you have to admit that the Sega of America team did a great job translating the game - it's almost word-for-word accurate to Pokeiyuu's version. Two opinions that say the same thing are good enough for me! Case closed, and thanks again to our man Pokeiyuu for putting so much effort into such an old game, especially now that the community is dead and gone. How many more secrets lurk inside this classic? As for Tony Van's claim to "Thor" being the main character's name (it's not, as Pokeiyuu points out above it's a Engrish-ized version of a term for the Spirit World) and his story that he had radically changed the plot of the game, well... Chalk it up to a bad memory or Van just not being as tightly involved with the localization as we had thought. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o STORY OF THOR ALTERNATE VERSIONS Ganelon gave me the heads-up about the existence of what seems to be a Beta of The Story of Thor. Very little is playable, and for the most part the game is pretty empty. That said, there are a ton of differences between it and the final product. Some things are simply not implemented yet, like functional menus, doors, scripted events, and special attacks. Others are clearly for testing purposes, like starting off with the Armlet and items lying on the ground all over the place. Only the Spin Attack is implemented, BTW, so no Rolling Slashes for you. Others are more interesting, like... o A totally different lineup of HP items, ranging from scallops to lobster. o A spear in the weapon menu. It grieves me to see that this was removed from the final game. The more weapons the merrier o A different system of weapon uses. No "Death 30", for example. Hard to tell what exactly is going on, since you can't select any of the weapons. It seems like the weapons were originally going to be infinite use. o The Ogre's sprite is completely different, and thank heavens for that. Instead of the hairy beast we know and love is a thin-limbed, decidedly dorky looking thing with a vaguely samurai-style helmet. o Different title screen art. o Totally different music - the tracks seem unfinished, and the themes do not exist in the release version. Probably just placeholder stuff until Koshiro finished the score. o Mostly different background art. Not very visible in the village and castle, but check out the mountains and seaside. o Only Dytto is avaliable since I can only find water summon from, and you can't dismiss her. All her magic capabilites are avaliable, however. o No lost health from falling into pits. o Villager sprites slightly different. o Ali runs much faster in the beta than he does in the final product. Not as much skidding/drifting, either. o Multiple sound effects from Streets of Rage are present. (You can still find them in the sound test of the commercial release.) o The Armlet light ball doesn't fall downward when you shoot it, meaning you cannot summon Dytton from the ocean. I had to get her from the water source in the Castle. o It might just be my emulator, but it seems like the graphics are much darker. In fact, I'm wondering if the beta uses the G/MD's infamous shadow/highlight mode and the finished game does not. The obvious question is if this is really a beta or instead just a fraudulent hack. I'm inclined to believe it's a legit development dump, and here's why. First, the Story of Thor/Beyond Oasis community is hardly large enough to merit the attention of pranksters. Secondly, it's not constructed like fake betas usually are - there is nothing that proclaims loudly 'this is teh be+a!'. At any rate, I encourage you to check it out and see for yourself. It's a neat little treat for fans. And in the process of finding the beta, I stumbled across an interesting little hack by Madcell and Ken, two MegaDrive enthusiasts. It's a Chinese fan translation of the Japanese original, and although that's not going to do anyone reading this document any good, it gives one a cozy feeling to know that someone out there likes the game enough to translate it. (Certainly no small feat.) There are a few different versions of this floating around. Some simply start up the game without further ado, but the one I saw had a neat little intro - a few lines of Chinese characters, then the message "By Madcell and Ken, Christmas 2004" rendered in the same 'dusty tablet' style as the credits. Then finally a screen with the Korean cover art and an option to select either the Japanese original or the Chinese translation. Let me reinforce what's been stated elsewhere in the guide - don't email me about ROMs! I'll ignore you and block your email address. It's not that hard to find, people, so get off your lazy backside and go use Google! It's no more difficult to find the ROM as it is to email me, and the latter course of action will get yourself excommunicated, so to speak. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o VILLAGE MERCHANT This mystery is a mystery no longer, thanks to a submission from Ginny. (Thanks, Ginny!) Here is what he says: "Anything you see in a game is an event (excluding non-moving things like terrain). This means Ali, bad guys, people, and items. Now each event has certain properties. One of these is the property of what occurs when you press the "A" button when Ali is near it. Sometimes, it will cause the object to "talk". Other times it will set off one of the Spirits actions, or if you don't have one up, fire an armlet ball. Now there are many other properties of objects, some that require button presses, some that are just coded into the object. Position, for instance, is coded in as automatic, as is how the object moves. But also what happens when the object is created is programmed in. In the case of the item in front of the merchant (or in reality, any item that is "dropped" when you kill a creature) is this sort of deal. The coding is set to be random. It gives a chance for something to happen, and if that fails, then the next thing is given its chance, and the next, until all others are exhausted. In layman's terms, when you come into the area, the item is set to pop up, but WHAT pops up is done by roll of the dice, basically. The die, unlike a real one, is weighted so that some things come up more than others. For instance, the most common object - nothing - has a higher probability of appearing than the apple, which appears more than the fish, which appears more than the mushroom, which appears more than the heart, which appears WAY more than the Dytto Call (I had that come up exactly once, and I have yet to see it happen again) There may be some truth also to the "If you beat the game and delete it, and start a new game in the same slot, the better items come up more often." I've done this one, and hearts seem to appear more often, though not often enough to make it worth beating the game two or three times to get the odds of one out of every thousand down to one in 650. (Just estimates, I didn't count). The easiest way to get the items to pop up is in and out of the beach, just go and come back...you can stack up the item screen with stuff if you're patient." So it is indeed a random event, although there might be ways to increase the odds of snagging something valuable. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o ENEMY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Understanding how the enemies think is key to success in combat. And since success in combat is the key to mastery of Beyond Oasis, it follows logically that getting a handle on your foe's AI is imperative. Here's the lowdown on the standard AI programming, divided into states: o Patrolling: An enemy's default state. He'll just wander around randomly and slowly with a bunch of pauses and changes of direction. o Locked-On: When you cross the enemy's line of vision or come close enough that the enemy can hear you (usually a few feet of game distance from his back and sides), the enemy will turn to face you. o Chase: This is once the enemy has locked on to you. If you try to run away, the enemy will pursue you at relatively high speeds - as long as you are within a reasonable range and you are inside a 180 degree arc projected in front of him. o Long-Range: If the enemy can see you and you are at a particular distance from him, he might attempt some sort of ranged attack. This means shooting an arrow for Archers, charging you for Pikemen, and rushing you for Knights. o Close Range: If you're very, very close once the enemy has locked on, he'll probably pull of an extreme-close combat move. (An example would be a Soldier's punch.) Some enemies will follow that up with a move that would usually be a medium range move, like the Swordsman's slash. o Medium Range: If you're outside of an enemy's close range and not far enough for a long range attack, it's possible the enemy will launch this move. Take a Swordsman, for instance. If you're at long range, he's got nothing. If you're at close range, though, he'll punch you. (And maybe follow it up with a slash.) But if you're at the 'sweet spot' distance in front of him, he'll just carve you a new throat without any messing around. o Defense: Some enemies have a defensive stance that will block your attacks. (The Knight's shield, for instance.) Some have evasion skills when it comes to certain attacks (like the Troll's ability to jump out of the way, the Raptor's insane dodging, and the Turret's hiding mode), while others are able to deflect things. (The Swordsman and you, for instance.) That's all part of the Defensive state, although some enemies like to chain a successful parry with a counterattack. (Raptors.) Those are the generic states for the enemies. Now, obviously some have more states and some don't even have all of those. And most enemies don't have all three types of combat ranges. However, those states are the big ones you'll be facing and you should keep them in mind while you read the Enemy section. If there's additional information about a particular enemy's actions, then I'll include it in the individual listing. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o ENEMY GUIDE One of the big parts of this guide. In the following section you will find descriptions, strategies, and miscellaneous bits of information on all of the minions of Beyond Oasis. If you want to know about bosses, then you should check out the Bosses section (which will be part of a future update.) For any other enemy, you've come to the right place. Something must be understood, though, before we begin, and that's on the subject of enemy colors. As you progress through the game, the color schemes on your foes will change. That's not just for variety! An enemy with a 'higher' color is going to be faster, more aggressive, take more hits, deal more damage, be better at defense, and may possibly even have different moves! And another thing - about those HP numbers for the enemies - you'll notice each one will be a range, and that has to do with the colors. The 'lowest' color type of an enemy might have health of 2, whereas the 'highest' color enemy of the same type might have a health of 10. That's what the 2-10 means. Also note that it takes fewer hits to kill an enemy as you gather hearts. Look at the Hearts section and the beginning of the Knife Moves section for a more complete explanation. Archer: Description: A soldier armed with a crossbow. Health: 5-10 Attacks: A punch for close range, and several types of arrows for long range. There are normal, fire, and atomic varieties of these archers. Strategies: These guys can shoot a lot faster than you can, so it's possible to get stuck in a never-ending stream of bolts that will send you to the big island in the sky if you're not smart. Don't stay in line with these guys! Either close the distance quickly and take them down or use bombs, as they have no defense against those. A stronger bomb is better, of course, but really you should just use the first strategy instead. Interestingly enough, it's possible to position Archers so that, even though they're firing, no arrows appear. First you need to get to the range that makes them fire constantly (stay a touch to the side!), then just back up a bit until you can just barely see them. At that point, you'll be able to see the animation for firing going on, but no arrows will appear! And yes, there are defenses against their arrows. You can jump over them, or you can pull out either a knife or a sword and actually block them in midair! (Don't do that for an atomic arrow, though, or you're going to find yourself in a world of hurt.) There are other ways to stop arrows, by the way, although it's starting to cross from the realm of usefulness in to trivia. You can use Efreet's moves to burn up arrows mid-flight! (Again, though, watch out for the atomic arrows.) Alternately, use Dytto's Water Ball to make arrows drop to the ground. You can't really use Bow, although sometimes - if you're lucky - you can get him to accidentally chomp one. And, on the subject of arrows, arrows won't fly as far when Bow's Poison Pollen is in effect. Use that to your advantage! Bats: Description: Black things that fly around. Come on, you know what bats are! Health: 1-2 Attacks: They will fly around towards you, and if they touch you you'll get bumped back and lose a little health. Strategy: Use a standard Slash, a jump kick, or maybe even a Roll. Slash to just knock you them of the air. They really shouldn't be a problem for you, unless maybe there's a group of them and you're getting bumped so much you can't fight. If a Bat is too close for comfort, just duck down until it passes. Then you can stand up and take it out. Slugs: Description: Little armored beetles with long tongues. Health: 5-8 Attacks: Shoots its tongue out at you, as well as propelling itself through the air at you. It can also hit you as it's falling from the sky when it first appears. Strategy: They just love to curl up when you try to attack them, so start off with a Slash. It will knock them over and you can do whatever you want with them. Beware-they do have a long range attack: they curl up and hurl themselves at you. Just because they look slow doesn't mean they can't hurt. Bombers: Description: Soldiers armed with bombs. Health: 4-20 Attacks: Will punch, like all soldiers, as well as throw bombs. These soldiers come in three varieties, corresponding with the three types of bombs. Watch out for the hyper variety: those fuses are shorter than you think. Strategy: You can use them to take out their own forces, but in general you want to kill them from long range. Alternately, close in fast and slaughter them. Just watch out for a bomb at your feet. Blob: Description: Big orange things with blue tentacles. Health: ??? Attacks: They float around and try to run into you. Strategy: You can't use arrows on them, and bombs are no good once they get small and fast. Use swords if you can, and watch your back! Don't let them surround you! Cave Rat: Description: Little squeaking things. Health: 10 Attacks: They take a crack at you with a bone every once and a while. Strategy: Fire, my friend! Use your fire bow, bombs, and Omega Swords on these guys to set them alight. They'll bounce around, setting everything else on fire. (Including you. Watch out.) Many times they'll burn away, leaving HP items. Flame Essence: Description: Strings of fire (blue or yellow) that wander around. Health: 8-12 Attacks: Similar to Blobs, they just crash into you and set you on fire. Strategy: If they're yellow, don't use fire! That means no Omega Sword, and ditch Efreet, too! If you use a fire weapon on them, they'll regain all their health. Now if you're fighting the blue variety, then just do whatever you want. I recommend plain old Slashes and maybe a Spin Attack or two. Don't get too close. Gargoyle: Description: A bat-like flying creature. Health: 10-18 Attacks: They shoot homing fireballs and often swoop down on you. Strategy: Get out a sword and just Vertical Jump Slash them until they die. When they pause in midair, they're about to swoop, so get out of the way. If you don't have a sword, just wait for them to dive and then damage them while they're on the ground with whatever attack you wish. With a sword, though, these things are pushovers. Troll: Description: Little hairy things with horns that make trilling noises. Health: 8-10 Attacks: Horn stabs, and Turret-like projectiles. Strategy: Fire will stun them for a few moments, allowing you to set up a killer combo on them. Arrows usually don't work - they're great at dodging. Use quick attacks to hit them before they jump away. Pikeman: Description: A Soldier armed with a spear. Health: 10-20 Attacks: As usual, a punch, but also a running charge. Strategy: Kill them from a distance if you can. You can't jump over or crouch under their charges, no matter what the instruction manual says. Don't let them charge if at all possible, but if they do you can use a Stab to stop them. (Or sometimes a Jump Kick, but that's risky.) Knight: Description: Huge armored warriors with maces. Health: 16-50 Attacks: A few different mace attacks, and then a devastating charge. Strategy: These guys look nasty, but actually they're your best friend. Coax them into charging at you through a whole group of enemies! Not only that, but you can summon Shade from their armor, which is absolutely wonderful. Keep that in mind when you need Shade and don't have any Calls handy. Lastly, they're wonderful tackling dummies for trying out neat combos, because they have high health and will take a bunch of damage before they die. Use a Stab to stop their charges. Some have shields, which means you'll have to either knock that out of the way or catch them off-guard. Usually you can duck underneath their maces, too. At any rate, Knights are just fun to kill. Treasure Box Mimic: Description: A treasure chest that shakes around every few seconds. Health: 9 Attacks: Bites you if you touch it. Strategy: Arrows, bombs, and swords. Or just knock the crap out of it with your knife. Ogre: Description: A big, hulking thing with a bunch of hair and a tunic. Health: 12-40 Attacks: It can backhand you, jump on top of you, or just pick you up and squeeze you into jelly. Strategy: Knock them down as fast as possible. Otherwise they'll smack you. Attack as soon as you get into range. Otherwise they'll pick you up and squish you. Don't linger at medium range. Otherwise they'll jump on you. A nicely well rounded enemy, as you can see. =P A Chaotic is very nice to watch on these guys. Use fire weapons if you wish, as you can get HP items out of them like the Cave Rats. Otherwise I suggest well-timed combos. Puddle: Description: A circle of gelatinous fluid that hops along on the ground. Health: 6-8 Attacks: Jumps into you, shoots glop at you from a distance Strategy: They can hit you from pretty much anywhere on the screen with their glop, so get used to dodging. Things like the Atomic Bow are great for crowd clearance, but otherwise just use Kicks and Crouching Slashes. Remember that you can summon Dytto from them. Snakes: Description: Come on, people. You should be able to tell what snakes are. Health: 5-6 Attacks: In general it just bites at you, but once they get low on HP they have a few different tactics. They swell up, and either 1) ram you, exploding on contact or 2) sit there, swollen, until you cross their path. Strategy: Same as puddles: kicks and crouching slashes, with an Atomic Bow bolt when you can. Jump out of the way of their suicide charges. Soldier: Description: A...soldier. I don't know what else to say. Health: 8-16 Attacks: Punches. Strategy: Don't really care. It'll all work. Probably the weakest enemy in the game, I would say. Spirit Sapper: Description: A bit of green fog in the middle of the room, until you summon a Spirit. It'll come to life and then go after your Spirit. Health: ??? Attacks: Once it's in range it will turn blue and begin to suck away SP. Strategy: Vertical Sword Slashes are the best, but Jump Kicks and even Slashes will work. Just try to keep a bit 'o distance between your precious Spirit and this fiend. Swordsman: Description: Soldier armed with a longsword. Health: 10-20 Attacks: A punch and a devastating slash. Strategy: These are probably the most advanced enemies in the game. They can reflect bombs and arrows right back at you, so you're only option is close combat. Stay on the ground-they'll knock you out of the air if you jump. Use Chaotic Sword Slashes if you can, powerful knife moves if you can't. Turrets: Description: Little columns that pop out of the floor with a glowing eye in their center. Health: 5-10 Attacks: Only one: a white projectile that will knock you around. Strategy: Turrets are fascinating little enemies, with multiple variations. There's the tracking kind that will turn to face you no matter where you go, there's the limited one that can only shoot in one direction, and there's the random one that just turns and shoots in a circle. They almost always come in bunches and is a serious pain in the neck. You'll notice that they often retreat into the ground. That's their defensive mode. If you try something fancy like a Spin Attack or a Roll. Slash, they'll sink into the ground before you can hit them. Smart little jerks, hmm? You have to take them down, though. Bombs and arrows rock: just stand so they can't hit you and then destroy them. If you do choose to get in close, though (and sometimes you have to), then I would recommend Oasis Rage, Slashes, or Kicks. They won't fire if you're damaging them, so if you can keep up quick attacks they won't even get a shot off. Remember that you can jump over their shots. Lastly - it's the cardinal rule of turret fighting - never let yourself get into the center of a ring of turrets! That's bad, bad news. Pincher: Description: Long, brown things with claws that pop out of the ground. Health: 16 Attacks: They grab onto you and suck life away for a long, long time. Strategy: If they grab you, hit B as fast as you can and roll the D Pad wildly. You might want to turn on Turbo for a quicker evasion. As for actually fighting these things, first you need to memorize where they're located. Then just tempt them out by crossing their path. If you're quick you can get a hit on them without getting grabbed. Needless to say, the art of Pincher slaying is a tad advanced. =/ Wizard: Description: Cloaked people that appear out of nowhere. Health: 5-8 Attacks: A variety. First they appear, and then they perform one of a few different magical attacks. 1) An electric projectile. 2) A homing fireball. 3) A homing flame spurt. 4) A flame spurt right underneath you. Strategy: Identify what attack they're using. (1) is easy to dodge. (2) and (3) require you to keep moving, and (4) requires you to move around right as he's using the magic. Ideally you want to hit them just as they pop up so they don't use magic at all and simply disappear again. Repeat until dead. Zombie: Description: An undead creature in ragged clothing and with a shaggy haircut. Health: 10-21 Attacks: They slash at you with both arms repeatedly until you die. Ouch. Strategy: Fire! A single touch will send them to ashes. Otherwise, uh... Avoid them? And if you can't avoid them, then try to use *big* attacks that will kill them quickly. You want to take out all of their HP without knocking them down. If they go to the floor with a bit of HP left, they'll swim through the ground towards you, jumping up to strike you. In that mode, they're a real pain in the neck and you'll want Spin Attacks and Roll. Slashes to finish them off. But...yeah. Fire is good. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o SPIRIT GUIDE One of the things that sets Beyond Oasis apart from many of the other Action RPGs of the day was the (mostly) innovative Spirit system. Obviously you'll *need* to know how to use them in order to beat the game: they're often used for puzzles. However, one of the requirements for truly mastering and enjoying the game is the ability to use Spirits in combat situations. It'll take a deft thumb and quick fingers, but if you work at it long enough you can actually take on huge groups of foes with only your Spirit. Believe me, there is no experience that can fully compare with mercilessly slaughtering fifteen minions with deft controls of Efreet. You ready? Read on, then, whether you're wanting to become a Spirit Master or you just want the know-how you need to get through the puzzles. Before you go though: all techniques use up SP! SP will gradually decrease even if the Spirit is idle, but techniques will sap the meter faster. You can regain SP in a variey of ways, like items and special trinkets. You'll want to keep it high, because the Spirits start to get sick if they get low on SP. Their moves will be slower and less effective than when the SP count is high, and if it gets to zero they'll disappear entirely. Jewels will increase your maximum SP count by five each, as well as amping up their respective Spirits. You can also summon Spirits from jewels by hitting the gems with your Armlet Ball. Here's a reference table: o Blue: Dytto. o Red: Efreet. o Black: Shade. o Green: Bow. There are 60 total (fifteen each), and you'll want to find them all! Button Presses: All of the Spirits have the same sorts of button presses. For simplicity's sake, the different types of controls are addressed here and are merely referred to by name in the actual subsections. o Press: Press the A button once, lightly. o Tap: Press the A button twice, very quickly and equally lightly. o Buildup: Hold the A button down until the eye at the top of the blue Spirit Power bar starts flashing. Then let go. o Automatic: A computer-controlled effect that you don't have to worry about. Now for the actual Spirits. Dytto: Description: Tiny, blonde, blue clothes, white wings. A pixie, duh. Location: The Water Temple - your first destination. Element: Water. Summon Objects: Ponds, rivers, fountains, Puddle enemies, waterfalls, Blue Jewels, steam, oceans, Vials. Follow Method: Tracks you rather well, floats a bit above you and off to the side. Will cut corners to chase you faster, but is generally slow moving and can get left behind rather quickly. Techniques: Water Ball - Press. An orb of water will float off *in the direction you are moving or the direction you last moved!* In other words, you aim with the D-Pad. This orb will extinguish fire, open water doors, and can freeze anything it contacts. Meaning it is very useful! For the puzzles you'll mostly need it for putting out fires, but it can still serve a vital purpose in combat. Why? Well, you can use it to set up a blistering combo of some sort on the harder enemies, or you can freeze bosses so that you can get in some major damage. If you fancy yourself a veteran, you could use it to stop bombs and arrows in midair. (Just keep in mind that she is airborne, and therefore her Water Ball will not hit crawling or crouching enemies. Also, you'll have to be great at timing if you're going to knock stuff out of the air. Beyond Oasis is much more 3D than you jaded modern gamers may realize, so just keep that in mind! =P The more jewels you get, the longer it will freeze those baddies. Healing - Tap. Probably the most important technique for any of the Spirits. Dytto will release a shining halo of light that will chase you down and restore some of your precious HP. This takes SP, so you can think of it as a tradeoff. The more jewels you get, the more health will be restored. Once you have enough jewels, a single dose will serve as a full restorative! Second Chance - Automatic. When you are dangerously low on health, Dytto will heal you if she has SP. This does not mean that you don't have to worry about health when you have her! Let me explain. If you get a big hit and you go from 25 HP to dead in a split second, she's not going to help you! Now, if you get lucky and go to, say, 2 HP, she'll Second Chance you. Better to keep an eye on the health and do it yourself, but this just might save your tail in rough encounter. Again, jewels will increase the amount of HP you receive. Waterspout - Buildup. Dytto will morph into a tornado of water and careen across the screen, sending foes to the turf and causing damage. While she's in this mode, you can't use any of her other moves, so just keep that in mind. This move is more lethal in cramped areas where she can really pinball and hit everyone. You can't control her, so in an open area you're going to have to wait for her to hit the target. More jewels means more time in Waterspout mode and more damage to enemies. Water Shield - Buildup. King Pie gave me the heads up on this one. What you do is start a Waterspout like normal: hold the button until the SP guage flashes, then let go. But now you immediately press the (A) button again and hold it down! Instead of roaming around and careening off things, Dytto will circle you extremely quickly, essentially setting up a shield of water around you. Pretty neat, no? Let go of (A) and she'll resume her normal bouncing movement. This is far, far better in most situations than a standard Waterspout. (Note: if you do this when standing too close to a wall, Dytto won't be able to complete her revolution and will instead arc back and forth in whatever free space is avaliable.) Jewels increase the time in Waterspout mode and the damage dealt to enemies, just like the standard move. Efreet: Description: Big, yellow, flaming mane. You can't miss him. Location: The Waterfall Temple - your second destination. Element: Fire. Summon Objects: Torches, open flames, lava, explosions, Flame Essences, Red Jewels, Lamps. Follow Method: Roams around the area you are in, generally homing in on opponents. Will often zip to your side every few moments before going back on patrol. Techniques: Flame Breath - Press. Efreet will let loose with a sweeping stream of flame in the direction you are moving. If you are stationary, he'll simply do it in whatever direction he happens to be facing. This move isn't entirely useful, but a savvy player can use it in a variety of ways during combat. It can be used as a sort of barrier, since arrows and bombs will be either burned up or set off on contact. The main problem is that it takes several seconds, during which you're on your own, pretty much. But it *does* have the potential of scoring a handful of successive hits on the target. Still, you probably won't use this move much; it's quite hard to aim properly. Jewels will increase the damage dealt by the fire. Fiery Punch - Automatic. When Efreet happens across an enemy, he'll dish out some pain in the form of a devastating blow. Needless to say, this makes Efreet very handy to have around. He'll work without you having to constantly control him, and the AI is smart enough to make him capable of saving your tail at crucial points. His punch, like I said, is very powerful. It can knock charging Knights and pikemen to the ground! Since it uses minimal SP to have him running interference, I would suggest that you have Efreet out when you can, especially in the later stages of the game when SP is not really a problem. Jewels increase damage. Fireball Dash - Tap. Efreet will curl up into a column of fire and fly in the direction you were moving at the time. Anything in his way will take damage. Great for making Efreet - who sometimes seems to forget his priorities and go off on rabbit trails - stay on task. And if you need some help, *fast*, this is the move of choice as well. Just jet him over to the scene and start tearing up the place. This move will incinerate arrows and set off bombs, as usual. Jewels amp up damage. Melt Bomber - Buildup. How fast the puffs of fire go, how far they travel, and how much damage they do is tied to your SP and Jewel count. If Efreet is tired (low SP), the attack will be much less spectacular. At any rate, this move is Efreet's best and is simply wonderful for clearing the house during an intense melee. Requires a lot of SP, though, so don't use it willy-nilly. It works best in confined areas with a bunch of enemies. Shade: Description: Thin, black, and big claws on his information screen. When he's on the job, though, he looks like you. Location: The Volcano. Element: Life/Death. Summon Objects: Ice, special reflective pillars, mirrors, Oynx Stones, Knight enemies, your Mentor, the Sage on the Mountain, Black Jewels. Follow Method: Sticks to you like glue, following a single frame behind your current animation. Techniques: Shadow Claw - Press. Shade will extend himself from you to grab on to special stakes or campfires; will also break open boxes out of reach and can be used to drag items to you. It *can* be used for combat, I suppose - if you're in a smarty pants mood. Jewels increase the damage it doles out, but even at maximum strength the effect is pitiful. Not worth it, as far as combat goes. Necessary for solving puzzles, though, and for getting to secret places. Doppelganger - Buildup. When you let go, Shade will take over your body (you'll be sitting in a meditative position on the ground) and you will be able to patrol the area you are in with your spirit form. You can take no damage in this mode, but there are serious drawbacks. You cannot leave the screen, jump, crouch, run, or attack in any way. So basically this is for puzzles and minor exploring only. (When you are in this mode, invisible Warp Cracks will become visible, which is pretty neat.) Jewels do not effect this technique directly, although more SP will allow you to stay in spirit form longer. Bodyguard - Automatic. When you are damaged, Shade will take the damage for you. It will tax the SP meter with every hit, though, so you're essentially trading SP for HP just like Dytto's healing technique. There are some advantages, however: mainly that you won't get knocked around and can therefore concentrate on combat, whereas with Dytto all you can do is take the hits, get thrown around, and then heal up. This makes Shade a real time saver for bosses. Be aware, though, that if you take too much damage too fast or too much in a single hit, Shade can't compensate fast enough and you'll get knocked down anyway. Un-Fall - Automatic. If you fall down a pit, Shade will grab you and take you back to the last point on on solid ground that you touched. It'll cost SP, but it's better than taking the HP damage. Just remember that midair platforms don't count as solid ground, so if you fall off in the middle of a jumping puzzle you'll have to go back to the beginning. =/ Bow: Description: A plant with teeth. Scary. Location: Forest Shrine. Element: Plants. Summon Objects: Lettuce, small Venus Flytraps in the ground, or Seedlings. Follow Method: Appears at the location of whatever he was summoned from, and will appear at your initial location every new screen. You have to make him burrow towards you if you want him to stay closer. Techniques: Burrow - Tap. Bow will dig into the ground and pop up at your feet, ready to do thy bidding. Jewels have no effect on this. Bite - Automatic. If anything...edible...comes near or if Bow surfaces next to such a thing, he'll give it a half-hearted nip or two. Jewels increase damage. Chomp - Press. Bow will zip out and start gnawing on anything he can sink his teeth into, whether it be doors or enemies. You can't use this to take out arrows or bombs, unfortunately, although Bow will accidentally stop projectiles if they hit him while in chomping mode. Jewels will amp up both damage and Bow's aggression. Poison Pollen - Buildup. This move is really only mildly useful in a tactical sort of way. It's an interesting concept, but there's not really any use in using it. It can help if there are Pikemen and other fast foes zipping about and you want to take a crack at them, but you slow down as well and so your advantage is limited. When in slo-mo, arrows will not travel as far, so it could be argued that this could cut down the effectiveness of enemy archers. But do you really want to bother with it? o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o BOSS GUIDE Beyond Oasis has lots of big, stompy bosses that can deal out some serious damage. They're also pretty hard to defeat on your first time through, so let's take a moment and look at each of the more important enemies you'll face along your journey. Aqua Crab: Description: Huge, purple, spider-ish, yellow claws. Health: Claw - 20, Body - 48 Attacks: Will spit semi-homing bubbles that you can jump over or slash away. Once its lost its claw, the thing might let loose with a barrage of smaller, non-homing bubbles that can bump you around. It can also pick you up with its claw and throw you against the walls (ouch!) or just jump on you. Strategy: I recommend dispatching the claw as quickly as you can, or otherwise you're going to keep on getting close-up looks at the wall. Multiple Rolling Slashes are your friend here, no matter what form the boss is in. Pick either the face or the claw and go for it, tying together the three quick flips with a bigger Roll. Slash. If the freak jumps into the air then stop attacking and get out of the way (watch the shadow to see where he is). Run to the top of the screen if you can - you don't want to get trapped near the bottom. Once he lands, he'll probably sidestep a bit before jumping back up to your position further north. Run down the screen to get away, then start smashing him when he lands. If you have a sword, use it. Homing bubbles will get knocked away by the Roll. Slashes, but if one is coming at you when you're standing, then Spin Attack it away. Most of all, don't let yourself get thrown! Rolling Slash if you see it coming at you. Throws are the biggest dangers, and that's why I suggest you get rid of the claw first. Now, assuming you do that, he'll start blowing masses of bubbles. You can either wade in again, or you can be a smartypants and pull out a bow. Your range is more than his bubbles, so... Just remember to get the heck out of Dodge if he jumps. Don't sweat it if you get hit a bunch - just talk to your mentor in the village to get full health again. Enough damage and he'll blow up into multiple pieces. Congrats! (Note: if you have a sword, use it! Chaotics aren't as safe as Rolling Slashes, but they cause more damage!) Flame Skull: Description: A black skull with horns and claws. Health: 80 Attacks: He spouts Flame Essences (up to three onscreen at a time), and will also swipe at you with his claws. Strategy: A progressively difficult fight. Get Dytto out as soon as possible and when the skull comes up, go into either multi Roll. Slashes or a single Chaotic. The point is that you want to get a bit of damage in very quickly *before* he launches flame. Once you've done a set of Roll. Slashes or a Chaotic, use Dytto to freeze him! Then lay in as much damage until he starts shaking. He'll come unfrozen soon afterwards and launch fire. You want to get out of the area when he shoots the flames. After he submerges, *quickly* hack up the flame so the screen is clear. At some point the claws will come out of the water and things will get tougher. If you haven't been cleaning house every time he releases an Essence, then it'll be that much more difficult. At any rate, your strategy stays the same, except now you have to worry about the claws. Jump over them or hit them to stop their charge. Try to get damage in on the Skull when you can, and don't forget to use Dytto whenever possible to both freeze him and heal you. This is a tough fight for novices, but hang in there and he'll go down. Rock Golem: Description: A stone with a sour expression and big fists. Health: 55 Attacks: Brings down parts of the roof on you, can smash you with its fists, will jump-smash you like the Aqua Crab, and can go into pinball mode and smash you around. Strategy: You have to fight him several times over the course of the game, and he's always a pain. I'll discuss several approaches, since each time you face the Golem you'll have more advanced equipment. No matter when you engage him, he's tough enough that you'll want some backup in the form of a Spirit. Shade, Efreet, and Dytto are all good choices. Bow is not a good idea. If you have Shade, the tactic will be quite brutal: get in his face and inflict as much damage as possible. Let Shade absorb as much as he can. If you select Efreet, then you'll have to fight like a man while Efreet gets in some hits when he can. If Dytto is your pick, then use her to freeze him when possible and heal yourself, of course. Now for the actual combat tips. When he goes into pinball mode, hit him out of it as fast as you can. If he hits you, you're going to be hurting bigtime. Efreet's Melt Bomber and Dytto's Waterspout work well for their coverage; jump slashes with a sword will suffice if you're on your own. When he jumps, you have to watch out for two things: the Golem himself, much like the Aqua Crab, and the piles of rock that come down where your standing. If you're moving, then you'll be okay. Once the rocks are gone, take the moment to tear into him with 'every fiber of your being', to quote Rurouni Kenshin. Watch out for that mean fist, though. If you're jumping, it can't hit you. As usual, Roll. Slashes and Chaotics are the attack of choice. If you're feeling a bit less daring, try throwing bombs or using bows from a distance: hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Just keep in mind that only Hyper Bombs are really going to give you the radius you need and that by the time you're far enough away to make these weapons practical, the Golem will probably be airborne. In summary, keep on the move, watch his shadow when he jumps, don't let yourself get smashed by that fist, and get damage in whenever possible. It'll be tough and will probably put a strain on your supplies, but with skill and wariness the Golem's arm will fall off and he'll disentegrate. Turtle Dragon: Description: You'll know when you see it. =) Health: 26 Attacks: Shoots rocks at you, reaches out and bites with another mouth (very Alien-esque), and tries to suck you into its mouth. Strategy: Keep running to the right, and don't stop the entire time he's spewing rocks or trying to vacuum you. You can move up and down the screen when running in order to dodge the stray rock or two that will reach you. At some point he'll send out the mini-mouth. Now's your chance, so hack it. You should get two hits in. Use your most powerful weapon. You don't want to get trapped against the far left side of the corridor, so try to dispatch this guy as quickly as possible. If you get trapped, it's much harder to dodge the rocks. It only takes four or five hits with a strong sword to send the Turtle Dragon packing. Old Dragon: Description: Big, red dragon with blue hair and horns. Health: 85 Attacks: Rams with its nose, blasts off three-way fireballs, and lets loose with a fearsome stream of constant flame. Strategy: There are two ways to approach this boss. If you want a challenge, then the first approach is for you. Be warned: this is a tough, tough boss. Her attacks are fast, unpredictable, and extremely difficult to dodge. Expect to receive damage, but hey: you're almost back to better pastures where you can regain your strength. The only way to damage her is to slash her face when it's in reach. Use a sword here - bombs and bows are useless and speed is of the essence. The longer you fight, the more health you'll lose. If she rams, attack. If she shoots a three-way, slash one to gain space or simply thread inbetween them. If she starts flaming, run across the screen away from her. Sounds simple enough, but try it all together. Very hard. I don't have much advice to give you. Sorry, but this is really going to come down to your individual skill and how many HP items you have. (Note: she's a dragon and very in tune with fire, so Efreet is ineffective against her.) However, if you want to just git 'er done and get on with the game, I offer this alternate strategy. (Courtesy of Du.) Get out Dytto before you enter the boss room - you'll have to use a call, but it's worth it. Then simply get her to ram you and use Dytto's freeze ball to stop her in her tracks. Now, instead of just trying to get some attacks in before the spell breaks, go for the gusto by positioning yourself *between* her head and the edge of the cliff. (You'll be standing underneath her neck.) Now just use vertical slashes with your sword as fast as you can. She'll keep cringing and will be unable to escape, even once the spell wears off. In a short time she'll be toast. Vernal Wizard: Description: Little guy on a crystal orb. Health: 40 Attacks: He releases a spiral pattern of electrical charges, but other than that he can't damage you. The problem is his big green brain/spore thing that follows you and bumps you around. The spore sac can't get you if you're crouching, and the charges can only get you if you're on the platforms. Strategy: If you have a bow (should be an Atomic Bow by now), then this is the easiest boss fight in the game. Position yourself just right on the edge catwalks that go around the perimeter of the room and let fly! Just a handful of hits and it's over! Now, if you're in smartypants mode again or if you don't have a bow, then you'll have to cautiously approach the wizard and slash at him when you get the chance. It isn't as simple as it sounds. Why? Because, like I said, you have to crouch in order to avoid getting knocked off the platform by the sporeball. You have to time your jumps so you won't get hit when you stand up to move ahead, but that's not the worst problem. The big ouchie is that when the charges hit you, you'll stand up. Often that means you'll stand right into the spore sac and you can kiss some SP goodbye. (HP if you don't have Shade out, although I assume you figured out that having him is a great idea.) It'll take some doing, but eventually you'll get up close and can send some crouching slashes his way. Since you need to kill him as fast as possible, use your most powerful sword. Having a bow is so, so, so much easier, though. Try to save one, eh? Non-Entity: Description: Huge set of three eyes. Health: 80 Attacks: Sends fireballs raining down on you, tries to draw you into a vortex, and shoots a hyperbeam at you with its third eye. Strategy: A tough fight, especially if you didn't obtain the Infinite Omega Sword, for whatever reason. The idea is you shoot the third eye with your Armlet Ball so that it opens, and then slash it with (preferably) a super-powerful sword. Repeat until defeated. The problem here is that the Non-Entity isn't partial to death and therefore will attempt to keep you from doing him in. (See Attacks.) Keep moving to avoid the fireballs, run north whenever the vacuum opens, and step away when the third eye glazes over - he's about to fire. All the while you need to be focused on inflicting damage. Forget about saving weapons, just hack him as fast as possible with your best sword. Hopefully you'll kill him before you get hurt too much. I realize that I haven't given you much assistance here, but this is another fight that's just based too much on twitch reflexes to really lend itself to a detailed tip guide. Silver Armlet: Description: Duh. Haven't you been paying attention? Health: 48 Attacks: Mostly he summons enemies to attack you, but he can also fry the area and slash at you with a mean blade. He also has a nifty move in which he hurls a dagger-and-chain weapon at you from medium range. Watch out! Strategy: The easy way? Get Shade from the ice pillar outside the wind room. Then dispatch the intial set of enemies that he summons. After that, stand right next to him and just start slashing. (This works best if you quickly corner him in the doorway where he can't sidle away.) Most of the time he'll dodge, and sometimes he'll even attack you. This won't matter, though, because Shade will absorb it and you won't get knocked over! Whenever Silver Armlet attempts to blast the room or summon a monster, you'll be right there with (preferably) your sword. If he seems to be perpetually dodging, just pause your attack for the briefest of moments so he'll try to summon a foe. Then nail him. This method won't require much time before the Man in Black is history. The other way is to try to kill the enemies and get up close to him and get in some damage when you can. This is the hard way, though, and you are only forced to do this when you're trying to use a different Spirit. Shade is great for the next battle, though, so you shouldn't use another one, anyway. Agito: Description: Hehe...I don't think I'll spoil this one. Health: 120 Attacks: Lets rip with an even worse stream of fire than the Old Dragon, summons puddly versions of itself that follow you and try to blow up at your feet, and zips off electrical puffs with its tentacles. Strategy: You're trying to separate the head from his massive body. You can only score damage against the neck when it's extended, and it's only extended when there *are no tentacles active!* You have to kill the tentacles before Agito will extend his neck and you can score some damage. (Use Rolling Slashes, as usual, if you don't have a Sword. If you do, then use Jump Slashes.) The tentacles regenerate quickly, so you have to keep running from left to right to dispatch them so you can deal damage to Agito himself. You'll know there's a tentacle up when your attacks start pinging off Agito with the same sound effect you get when you hit a Knight's shield. The tentacles shoot electric charges, but you can easily avoid them. The only real problem are the puddly things that crawl after you and explode. Keep moving and you should be relatively fine - they turn into items, anyway, so they can actually help you! With an Omega Sword this fight should be pretty anticlimactic. (Note: you should still have shade from the fight with Silver Armlet, but if you don't, then use a Call or something. You *need* him here to prevent being knocked flat constantly by all the crap flying around the arena.) The biggest threat is his flame breath. When you see him pull a face and wind up, GET OUTTA THERE!!! If you're trying for the Quest of the Proud, this attack will take off half of your HP!!! You can die in a mere second if you're on the wrong side of his neck when he lets loose with this. Luckily he only does it near the latter part the of the battle. Otherwise this fight would be a whole lot harder. Enough damage and you'll decapitate him. Kudos to you! Now sit back and enjoy the ending sequence. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Instead of a walkthrough, I've just gone through the game mentally (heaven knows I've played it enough) and formed up a Q&A section that covers all the big sticky parts of the game. Here it is: ->"All right. So I hopped out of the boat...what should I do first?" - You're perfectly safe on the beach there, so I recommend you start out by experimenting with the Knife attacks I list in a previous section. The fighting starts soon and will be a main feature of the game, so you might as well at least get comfortable with the keystrokes now before you have a horde of enemies in your face and after your guts. In particular you should get the knack of the Spin Attack and the Running Slash. When you think you're ready, head north to the next screen. -> "Help! There are a bunch of enemies in the village and they're killing me!" - Health doesn't matter right now - just get through the fight and there will be a full health refill shortly. Also, all you really need to do is slay the big Ogre. The rest are just minor henchmen and will die when their commander does. Refer to the Enemy Guide if you're still having trouble. -> "So I talked to my Mentor. Where to?" - You're heading to the castle, several screens to the left. Use the map. The flashing yellow pillar is where you want to go. -> "What can I do in this Castle? Anything interesting?" - Talk to the King and Princess. (Upon entering the castle, take the left doorway to the Treasury. There you'll find a Bow, Sword, Orange, and Fish. Take them all.) -> "I can't get past the room with all the Puddle enemies! The door's locked." - Kill the pink one in the upper left corner of the room. He'll surrender a key. -> "Anything else to do here?" - You'll want to snag the Sword and Elixir in the screen with the Ogre. Crawl along the two streams flowing through the room and enter two hidden rooms through low archways. You'll find a 50 use Sword and an Elixir. -> "Any secrets in this Waterfall Shrine?" - Look for a wall where the dirt has fallen away and some grey brickwork is exposed. It's in the second screen on the far north wall, and inside is a 100 Bow. -> "Anything else I should know about?" - You'll notice there are two bridges near the castle. Go under each and use the proper Spirit to solve the puzzle and get a jewel. -> "Where is this Efreet Racing Track thing I've heard about?" - After you have Efreet melt the ice column and you enter the muddy pond area, go up and to the right, staying on your current left and not mounting any stairs. You'll see another exposed wall that can be broken open. Inside is the racetrack. -> "Those switches on the boat - what gives?" - Flip the top one only. -> "Anything else?" - Search the area the enemies poured out of until you find a hidden Dytto Call. You'll have to do it blind, of course, but you should be able to find it quickly enough. I actually just discovered this in GetSmart's Walkthrough. I guess you learn something new every day... Thanks, GetSmart! -> "I'm in the Beach Cave: more switches!" - Press them so they face these directions, going from left to right: left, right, right. A hidden door will open. -> "Uh...I'm stuck in the second screen here." - Use a bomb to press the switch, then pick up the Roast that falls from the sky. Then kill the Knight, etcetera, to give yourself some breathing room. Now you need to *quickly* run over the switch and leap up the stairs before the steam comes back. -> "What's with the lone campfire?" - Light it with a fire weapon, then make waste. Once you kill them all, a new box will fall down. -> "I'm in the room with the switches and all the zombies. Those boulders just keep coming, and I don't know what to do!" - First flip the switch to stop the boulders. Now, if someone hits the green panel, the boulders will resume their fall. You have to either be fast and get through before a zombie trips the switch (unlikely), or kill *all* the zombies so they can't cause trouble. This is especially easy if you have the Infinte Fire Bow. -> "I've gotten to the Wall Fortress, but I can't get past the first screen with the wind and flames. What do I need to do?" - Kill the first wave of enemies. The wind makes it hard, but try to kill the last one when you're pretty close to the flames. The spouts will stop and you can *quickly* run through the gap before the Knights arrive. -> "In the Wall Fortress; two Ogres, two switches, and a teleporter behind a gate. Help!" - Ignore them if you've got a Hyper or Power Bomb, otherwise kill the one on the right. Get the bombs, then stand so you can throw a bomb on one and hop on the other so both are down simultaneously. You'll have to do this several times over the course of the game, so get used to it. -> "Got the Key of Time and Space, but I don't know how to use it!" Shoot the crack with your Armlet. Might take a bit of aiming, though. -> "So now I've beaten the Turtle Dragon, but I'm lost." After you obtain the Key of Time and Space and exit the Wall Fortress, head south to find a warp crack-it's centered horizontally on the screen, pretty much. Enter to go to the far left side of the screen. -> "Got to an area with some enemies and a Flame Essence. Help!" - Kill everything. The spikes will open up for you. Go *right* and ride the teleporter to get a key, then head left again. -> "I Beat the Old Dragon, but now the place is falling down around me and I don't know where to go. Directions?" - Exit the Boss room, then go south. Use Shade's Spirit Claw to grab the posts. When you end up back at the first room with the lava lake (that used to have a Wizard sitting on it), enter the door dead ahead of you. In the next area, do you remember that stake you saw off to the left past the decayed bridge? That's where you're going. Use Shade's Spirit Claw to grab onto it and pull yourself across. -> "Where are the Secret Crags?" - Find the Black Jewel towards the bottom of the screen. Jump down to it, pick it up, then jump south again, offscreen. -> "Yeah, yeah, so the Sage on the Mountain gave me the thingy and everything. I'm back at the Beach but now I don't really know what to do next." - Go South and then East, luring the Fish onto dry land to get some HP items back. Kill all in your path, then go up the stairs. At this point go back West and a bit North to find a treasure chest behind a fence. Get Shade from one of the Knights and retrieve it. Now you'll probably want to enter the Secret Islands and grab the Infinite Atomic Bow. The Warp Crack is a bit hard to find: it's in the middle of a peninsula to the right and a touch down from the treasure chest. There will probably be a Knight stomping around the area. If you can't find it, use Doppelganger mode to make it appear. -> "So how do I get into the Castle?" - Check out the house in the dock. (It's south from the Castle.) -> "Where's the 100 Level Pit?" - On the way to the Forest Shrine (assuming you don't use the Warp Crack near the Shade Crystal to get a Black Jewel), you'll go left past a bunch of Zombies, then have to switchback. Right before you go back to the right, there'll be a big tree standing by itself, off away from the rest of the woods. Try to walk into its branches - the leaves are hiding the entrance. -> "I've been wandering around the Forest Shrine for ages and nothing seems to work! AAAAAAARGH!" - Calm down and start lighting all the torches and campfires. This is where that Infinite Omega Sword will come in very handy. -> "I'm out of the Forest Shrine, with Bow in tow. Should I go back to the Castle now?" - (Yeah, I know nobody would ask this. But there's an important answer and I'm writing the questions.) No. First go back to the Beach (as in the very first screen in the game) and pick up the Bow jewel. Now go past the screen with the muddy pond and the Efreet Racing Track and back into that temple area. Remember that little Venus Flytrap that you couldn't use? Well, get Bow from it and use him to eat up the grill in the next screen. Fight the hordes to retrieve and big sack 'o jewels. Only do all this if you're after jewels and don't care about time, obviously. -> "The King kicked off. Now what?" - Exit the Castle to the right. Go up towards the crashing noise to find a stairway. -> "So where is this Waterfall mini-game?" - On your way up to the Non-Entity Shrine and the trade with Silver Armlet, you'll find a split in the path. Take a right and go to the next screen. Look familiar? Yep, it's the Mountain Castle. Go back to the ponds between the exit of the Beach Cave and the Mountain Castle and you'll see a Shade stake. There you go. -> "I'm in a room with four switches and the various elements. ???" - Come on! You could figure this out on your own, if you really tried. Each switch corresponds to a Spirit; hit the switches in the order you got the Spirit. (Dytto, Efreet, Shade, Bow.) -> "Um... I'm in the Shadowlands, but it seems to be a bit of a dead end." - This is complicated. First you need to kill all the enemies (Puddles and Gargoyles) in the screen with the spikes. You'll get a key, eventually. Now find the switch and flip it to the right, head up the stairs, use a bomb to press the plate beyond the guardrail, go back down the stairs, flip the switch back, and summon Shade. Go through the door on the left, then enter the yellow door. Use the Spirit Claw to get across and press the plate. Go back through and you'll find that the water has drained away, revealing yet another plate. Step on it and climb the stairs to the north to grab another key. Finally, go back through the yellow door and use the stake again. Dismiss Shade and forge onward! -> "All these switches in Agito's Castle...HELP!!!" - In the grand entrance, have the two switches on the left side of the screen facing the left and the one on the right facing the right. You can't get to the other right one yet - that'll come later. -> "I'm in a room with fire-breathing wall fixtures and two cannonballs." - This is the legendary "Shade Room" puzzle that had people losing all hope and becoming permanent grill fixtures on the nearest SUV back in '94. If you have Shade, just use Doppelganger to find a Warp Crack in front of you. If you don't have him, push the cannonballs on the plates to get a Shade Crystal. That should help you at least get through the game. Granted, this won't walk you through all the secrets or get you all the Spirit Jewels, but I think I covered most of the problem areas. If you need more help, I suggest you look at a FAQ/Walkthrough, particularly GetSmart's and Flip's. And if you want complete lists of Jewel locations and you don't want to wait for a future edition of this guide, go check out GetSmart's document. He has detailed descriptions of all seventy. For Warp Cracks, I suggest the appropriate section of the RPG Classics shrine. (See Links.) The pictures are a great help. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o SPECIAL ITEMS There are four special items you get over the course of the game that affect the way you regain HP and SP. Don't worry about missing them-they're all built into the storyline so you have to get them. At any rate, here they are. (see SP Regeneration for more stuff about getting back your points.) o Sunburst Pendant: This gives Ali the ability to get back HP when standing still in the sunlight. You got that right - standing still. Don't move at all. o Key of Time and Space: An attachment for the Armlet that allows you to use the Warp Doors. o Psychoring: Use this to regain SP whenever you don't have any Spirits active. o Sun's Charm: Build both HP and SP quickly when in the sunlight. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o GAME CREDITS Here are the wonderfully talented people responsible for Beyond Oasis! You may recognize several of them from such games as Actraiser (SNES) and Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis/MegaDrive) - Ancient has its people in lots of games. Tony Van's website is listed in the link section; you should check that out. You can also find Ancient's website there, too, but it's in Japanese. =/ Sega of America Producer Tony Van Localized Text Tony Van Product Manager Jaime Wojick Ancient Art Direction Ayano Koshiro Character Design Ayano Koshiro Main Program Yukio Takashi System Design Yukio Takashi Monster Program Hideki Koyama, Akitoshi Kawano Event Program Hideki Koyama Sound Program Hideki Koyama Visual Program Akitoshi Kawano Game Design Kataru Uchimura Main Planning Kataru Uchimura Map Design Tetsuya Kawabata Event Design Tetsuya Kawabata Object Art Hitoshi Ariga Object Illustration Hitoshi Ariga Background Art Hiroki Tatemukai, Hajime Chikami Producer Yuzo Koshiro Music Composer Yuzo Koshiro Story Writer Juri Ogawa o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o DEBUG MODE Now don't go freaking out on me here. I have no Debug Mode cheat code for you. The purpose of this section is to alert ROM snoopers and other such technically qualified people to the possibility of a debug mode in Beyond Oasis. Why do I think there's one? If you watch the demos, you'll notice that the demo player is toting an obviously artificial item and weapon selection. There are no 250 Hyper Bombs, for instance, unless there's some awesome secret area I don't know about. Also, it's just too tidy that in the one demo he has one of each type of Spirit Call. (For that matter, it's too tidy that he has 250 count of four different types of weapons that early on.) So I think it's possible that there is some sort of hidden debug mode that allows you to select inventory, starting level, etcetera. (Legends of Oasis has it, so there's a bit more evidence for the presence of one in Beyond Oasis.) If you know whether or not one exists or how to unlock it, please contact me for a big credit. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o LINKS Here are various Beyond Oasis related links that I think might be useful to you. You have to take what you read with a grain of salt, as in some cases it seems as if these people haven't played the game much when it comes to strategies, etcetera. Still, there's useful information to be had here. It took a lot of searching on Google to find some of these things, so you'd better appreciate them! The content of these sites is the property of their respective owners. Once again, please email me any cool links about Beyond Oasis you know of and I'll put them up, along with a thanks to you for finding it. o Ancient's Official Website: It's in Japanese, but you can use Altavista's Babelfish or something to get the gist of it. Those with knowledge of Japanese, I envy you. http://www.ancient.co.jp o Spanish Language Fansite: Possibly the only fansite for this game, and it has some truly wonderful content, too. There are what appear to be promotional trading-card style mini-guides to the game (all in Spanish, unfortunately) that have never-before-seen character art, as well as some great wallpapers custom made by the administrator of the site! (He drew over the screenshots in some to get better resolution - pretty nifty.) You must check this out, end of discussion. How this one escaped my Google searches for so long I have no idea. Enjoy! (Try using Babelfish if you need some help with navigation.) http://es.geocities.com/riou_healer/beyondoasis.htm o GameFAQs: The main page for Beyond Oasis on this site. You can find cheats, walkthroughs, and a forum here. Go check it out, and say hello! http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/data/586061.html o RPG Classics: Absolutely great if you want visual help instead of just a text walkthrough. This one's maintained by Dragon God and was originally created by Orakio, so give them both a hand! Not everything on here is quite accurate as far as strategies go, but the pictures are worth it. http://www.rpgclassics.com/shrines/genesis/beyondoasis o The Colonel's ASCII Maps: This site is old, practically from 'back in the day', and therefore you have to look at it. =) And there's more than just maps here, there's a veritable walkthrough/FAQ! Special thanks to Col. G. L. Sicherman for making this site. http://www.monmouth.com/~colonel/videogames/beyondoasis.html o GameLegacies: Formerly Gameamazon, this is the brainchild of Paulos. Once again, there are some errors here, but overall it's a neat place to look at, if only to say you've seen all of the Beyond Oasis sites. I don't agree with everything this guy says, but I respect him for the work he's put into his site. That said, here's the link to the Beyond Oasis section of his site. http://www.gamelegacies.com/beyondoasis.html o Tony Van: This is the man who did the US conversion of Beyond Oasis. There isn't much about it on his site, but you can find what information there is (and there are a few intriguing blurbs) at the following URL. http://www.goodspear.com o Wikipedia: A very short blurb on the game, but it's useful if you don't know what the heck Beyond Oasis is! =P http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Oasis o Sega-16: Your Home for Everything Genesis: This site has become the premier place for the Genesis gamer. There are reviews, of course, but also scanned print ads, television clips, dozens of links, and articles with tons of information that you just can't find anywhere else. Not only that, but the site has a forum with a fraction of the idiots you'll find on GameFAQs! Melf (the driving force behind it all) deserves as much credit as he can get. I'm also a staff writer there - Genesis Knight on the boards. Drop by and say hello! http://www.sega-16.com o Genesis Collective: The place was hacked in 2002 and died soon after. It hasn't been updated in ages, but all the old information is still there. Download the Genesis Collective Offline file *now*, while it's still avaliable! A great place if you want to look at scans and screenshots. http://www.genesiscollective.com o Genesis Project: Neat place with manual scans and "The Big Book of Game Genie Codes". Used to be dead, but now it's alive again! http://www.genesisproject.com o 100 Level Pit Walkthrough: Contributor Du will guide you through that treacherous Mini Game with both strategies and visuals. Pictures are worth a thousand words, or so they say, and you can't get a better teacher than Du. He's mastered Oasis combat and might just be your best bet for making it through alive. http://www.freewebs.com/beyondoasis o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o FURTHER GAMING Following are some titles that you might want to look into if you really like Beyond Oasis. It's hard to really find any games really like it, as it has such a wonderful level of depth. (Not to mention a signature fighting system rarely seen back in the day.) Do you know of a game that we wanderers of Oasis would like? You know what to do-send me an email to get it put up here along with some credit for you! Legends of Oasis: This is the prequel to Beyond Oasis. It's available for the Saturn, and I'm told it's not very hard to come by. It's even more interactive and in-depth than Beyond Oasis is, so that's a good thing. The main problem, from what I've heard, is that it's often difficult to find out what the heck you're supposed to do next. There are more Spirits, different items, and just a bunch of new things overall, though, so it's probably worth checking out. The only reason I don't have it is because of how insane the whole Saturn market is, and I don't like emulation. Another thing you might consider before you buy is that there really is no active fanbase for this game. There's a few walkthroughs here and there, but nothing in-depth. (Like this guide! =D) You're going to be entering largely uncharted territory, and the odds are that you won't be able to find answers to many of your questions. Crusader of Centy: The only other good, top-down action RPG for the Genesis, really. It's a great game, but it's got one of those one-move combat 'systems', so...uh...it's not really like Beyond Oasis at all. Nevertheless, it's a wonderful title that-although a bit short-is worth the price of admission. (Provided that price isn't too much. It's somewhat rare. I spent $10 on my copy, but then again I traded in some other Genesis games for store credit. You'll probably have to cough up $20 - $30 dollars for it.) Go find a copy if you like classic action RPG games. Landstalker - The Treasures of King Nole: Odds are - if you're active in the Genesis community - that you've heard of this game. It's got an isometric view, so it feels quite different from Oasis. And yet again there's that one-move fighting thing. (I'm starting to appreciate just how awesome the fighting was in Oasis.) That said, though, it's a jaw-dropping game. Great story, challenging gameplay, and quite a few secrets. It's also only a little bit more expensive than Oasis is, so you probably can find a copy rather easily. Light Crusader: The only other Genesis game to rival Beyond Oasis in terms of graphical prowess and attention to detail. It's a bit longer than Oasis, and has tons of dungeons, but therein lies its greatest drawback. Everything is underground - no overworlding to speak of. And considering that the emphasis on outdoor environments is one of the things I like best about Oasis, I don't think that Light Crusader can really compete. But it does have a great magic system and awesome graphics. Not only that, but it's probably the cheapest of all the games listed in this section - I got mine for $5 US, but I see it all over the place for even less. Beware, though, about the game save! I've heard from a reputable source that the carts were shipped with low quality batteries, so you should try to buy it from a place that you can return it to in case something goes wrong. Like I said, there just aren't very many games on par with good 'ol Beyond Oasis. We really do have a great game, don't we? Savor it, and hope for a third game in the series by Ancient and Yuzo Koshiro! o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o CONTACT ME I'm providing my email so that you can contact me for the following reasons: o to submit something to the guide. o to provide constructive criticism. o to give me compliments. =) o to make corrections to any errors in the guide. o to suggest things I should add to the guide. o to ask me a question about the game. o to just talk about Beyond Oasis. (Whether or not I talk back depends on whether or not you're an idiot. =D ) o to notify me of an incorrect or dead link. Basically anything intelligent and genuine. The following are emails that will get deleted and possibly get the sender blocked: o ads. o anything with pornography, profanity, obscenity, and the like. o anything not about Beyond Oasis or closely related subjects. o requests for ROMs, warez, and various illegal products. o "chattese", many grammatical errors, or general stupidity. o hoaxes. If I find out you're lying, you're done. Plain and simple. Basically anything that will (or is meant to) irritate me. That said, here's my email: godly_paladin[AT]hotmail[DOT]com. I look forward to hearing from you! o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o THANKS This guide owes its existence to more than just me, as once I, too, was a beginner who needed help. Therefore, here's a little section for me to give kudos and appreciation to those who have helped me out over my Beyond Oasis life: o Daniel and Brenda: My parents, for letting me get my Genesis and Beyond Oasis in the first place! o Victoria: For letting me jabber about my new discoveries at her without complaining. o GetSmart: His FAQ was what got me started way back when, and I learned a bunch of cool things from it. o Flip: Another cool FAQ-writer whose work got me out of a tight spot or two. o Black Eyes: Yes, another writer of FAQs who contributed to my first playthrough's success. o Ganelon: He told me about the 'Force Demo Mode' cheat and assisted me quite a bit when I was trying to figure out some things in relation to Spirit Powers and other trivia. Special thanks to him for also giving me the complete class listing and several move names! o Helldhaz: For finding the awesome 'Sound Test' cheat after all these years! o The Ancient team and Yuzo Koshiro: For obvious reasons. o Sega: For equally obvious reasons. o Ginny: For submitting such a great explanation of the Merchant in Ali's village and for his tidbit about the SP Regeneration. He's the first person to submit to this FAQ, too! Thank you very much! o Electronic Arts: I got the "Rising Revenge" term from their Return of the King game - which is an excellent one, if I might add. o DarkPulse and DJSW: For their VGZ dump of the soundtrack and their intriguing discoveries regarding the sound test coding. o Flame060: For the "Quick Jump" technique. Danke! o Du: For his revolutionary heart system information and the new Old Dragon strategy. Also for his work with the classes! Appreciated! o Madcell and Ken: For keeping the spirit alive over in China. o King Pie: For the uber-useful Water Shield move. o Pokeiyuu: For translating the original Japanese script to confirm the official English release. Thanks! And *no thanks* must go to some band named Oasis for filling all my Google searches with irrelevant topics. o==============================================================================o o==============================================================================o WRAPUP And there you have it: the Tips, Tricks, and Techniques Guide for Beyond Oasis. This game has needed something like this for a long, long, time now, and I suppose it finally has it. I hope you found out some things you didn't know, and I hope that this document inspires you to dust off that old black box and that purple cart! This game deserves a few more playthroughs, no matter how many times you've gone through it. There always seems to be something new to do and something interesting to discover. This is VortexSpin here, on a bright, sunny morning in the US midwest at 11:15 AM on 8/22/05, with only one thing left to say: Spinout. o==============================================================================o