Dragon's Curse FAQ/walkthrough For play on NEC Turbografx-16 (also on Nintendo Wii - Virtual Console) Presented by Joseph Shaffer (Joe the Destroyer) Version 1.2 Last Updated: 11/22/2010 Phase: Technically complete (just needs stat increases for the items and a proofreading) If you are e-mailing me about feedback, questions, or anything having to do with any FAQ, please send it to thechowrocker@yahoo.com. IMPORTANT: If you are going to send me an e-mail regarding any FAQ or review I've written, please include the game's name in the subject, OTHERWISE IT WILL BE DELETED. THE FOLLOWING SITES HAVE HOSTING PRIVILEGES: HonestGamers (www.honestgamers.com) GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) _______________________________________________________________________ UPDATE HISTORY 11/8/2010 -10:48 PM Update Following my strange review for this game, I decided to do a couple guides for it. Expect to see another one on the way after this one has been completed. Currently getting all of the pieces together. Here's what's been done: Legal Bit added Walkthrough spans through the Lizard-Man section of the game Weapons, Armor, Shields, and Misc. Items added Big heart locations added Information given for Hu-Man and Lizard-Man in the Creature Forms section Questions added to the FAQ 11/9/2010 -11:09 AM Update Section 1A and B and 4C complete. Added a question to the FAQ. -10:19 PM Update Added more to the walkthrough. Currently at the beginning of the jungle. Also added a few more items and wrote more of Section 1. Question added to the FAQ. 11/10/2010 -10:37 AM Update More added to the walkthrough and the item sections. 11/15/2010 -4:53 AM Update Added more to the walkthrough and some more weapons and armor. -7:13 AM Update After an unsuccessful attempt to go to bed, I have returned to the FAQ. chances are good that I'll take a nap later on anyway, since today is my day off. More walkthrough madness and some more items added to the list. Probably won't turn this version in just yet. -5:00 PM Update Piranha-Man section complete, plus I added Piranha-Man to the Creature Forms section. Added more equipment, a couple more big heart locations, and... I think that's about it. Getting close to being down with this FAQ. 11/16/2020 -1:30 AM Update Well, I did add a few things before the gale force winds knocked out my power. Stupid bastard winds. 11/19/2010 -1:46 AM Update Back in the saddle again! Walkthrough updated. 11/20/2010 -5:00 AM Update Trying to finish up as much as I can. Walkthrough done. I still have a few small things to add before I declare this well and truly done. -11:30 PM Update Got some proofreading done, and I finally added proper stat information for all items and forms. 11/21/2010 -12:01 AM Update Joe......hate......proofreading..... 11/22/2010 -12:25 AM Update I don't wanna proofreading anymore! Wah! At least it's pretty much done. Contents According to Joe ------------------------- Section 1: Introduction 1A: Curse of the Curse 1B: Controls 1C: General Gameplay 1D: General Tips Section 2: Walkthrough 2A: Prologue (Hu-Man section) [DCS2A] 2B: The Lizard of Awes (Lizard-Man section) [DCS2B] 2C: Of Mice and Mice-Men (Mouse-Man section) [DCS2C] 2D: The Creature from the 16-Bit Lagoon (Piranha-Man section) [DCS2D] 2E: Paper Tiger-Man (Tiger-Man section) [DCS2E] 2F: Castle in That One Place (Hawk-Man section; end of the game) [DCS2F] Section 3: Items [DCS3] 3A: Weapons 3B: Armor 3C: Shields 3D: Misc. Items 3E: Big Heart Locations Section 4: Creature Forms [DCS4] 4A: Hu-Man 4B: Lizard-Man 4C: Mouse-Man 4D: Piranha-Man 4E: Tiger-Man 4F: Hawk-Man Section 5: FAQ [DCS5] Section 6: Legal Bit Section 7: Thank You and Goodbye ------------------------- / SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION \ ----------------------------- 1A: CURSE OF THE CURSE Dragon's Curse is a magnificent game developed by Hudson for the Turbografx- 16/PC Engine that combines platforming, action, adventure, and RPG elements to make a harmonious fusion. The game is actually a remake of the Sega Master System game Wonder Boy 3: Dragon's Trap. It's piece for piece the same, just a different title and improved graphics. Both versions of this game, the TG16 and SMS versions, are also avaiable on Nintendo's Wii Shop channel as Virtual Console downloads, and well worth it (I think WB3:DT is something like $5 and Dragon's Curse is something like $8). The game doesn't give you a whole lot of backstory, and having not played the first two Wonder Boy games, I'm not sure how this one is connected or if it continues where the first two leave off. You start the game pretty much en medias res: in the middle of a battle, right at the beginning of a huge fortress on your way to slay a dragon. After killing said dragon, you become a monster that breathes fire. Hence the "curse" or "trap" in the titles. This forces you to fight other dragons on a quest to get the Salamander's Cross so you can be restored to your human form. 1B: CONTROLS D-pad Up- Enter door D-Pad Left/Right- Move left/ right, move cursor D-Pad Down- Duck as Lizard-Man Select- Not used Run (+ button on Wiimote)- Bring up status screen; pause while in boss fight I Button (2 Button on Wiimote)- Jump; repeatedly tap as Hawk-Man to fly II Button (1 Button on Wiimote)- Attack; leave status screen D-Pad Down + I Button (Down + 2 button on Wiimote)- Use subweapon 1C: GENERAL GAMEPLAY This game plays like any side scroller you've played. In fact, you might recognize the mechanics as being very similar to Adventure Island. Fun fact: this game's Japanese title is "Adventure Island". As before mentioned, this game is part of the Wonder Boy series, which is a sister series to Adventure Island. Moving right or left builds momentum quickly, so stopping is not quite on a dime. You should really keep that in mind, as it's easy to overshoop jumps because your character tends to jump farther than you intend. This might require tapping back to control the jump properly. Combat is as basic as it gets. All you really need to do is learn your current form's attack range. You can easily norm yourself with that by getting into battles. Enemies will drop coins or items when killed. Grabbing these is essential to success. Coins can be used to buy new pieces of equipment or heal yourself in hospitals. Different items have different uses (see Section 3D), and all of them can aid you in battle. Getting hit means losing life. Your life is represented by hearts at the top of the screen. Getting hit does not necessarily drain an entire heart, but rather a portion of the heart (or sometimes even multiple hearts). Lose all your hearts and you die. The only thing that can save you from this is a potion. Potions revive you and give you back a random amount of life (if you want to fully restore life, hold down the attack button while it's restoring you). Sometimes they will completely fill your life, other times you'll only get a little life back. Dying also means you will go to a game over screen in which the game will ask you to push Button I. Do so and you'll enter a short mini-game in which an icon will spin across the screen. Should it land on a potion, then you will respawn back at town with a potion. The game is not laid out in levels or in a very linear flow. You must discover through exploration what areas to go to next. Throughout the game are several bosses. Defeating one will give you a new form. The only exception is the final boss, Vampire Dragon, which completely ends the game. 1D: GENERAL TIPS -Timing is paramount. This game is a fusion of several genres, platform and action being among them. Learn to time your jumps properly just so you can get over tricky pitfalls and hazards easier. Also, learn to time your attacks properly. Attacking too late can cause you to be nailed by an enemy. Even though you hit that attack button, if you were too slow in initiating the button the enemy will gain the upper hand and interrupt your attack. -Be smart about grinding. Look for places that have enemies that drop a fair amount of money. Use the Lucky Sword, as this increases the amount of money enemies drop. Also be sure to use the best forms you can while grinding. Grinding with the Lizard-Man is probably not smart since he sucks at combat. Grinding with Mouse-Man or Tiger-Man is your best bet. Depending on the areas you go to, you may not have the luxiary of picking a certain form. One of the best places to grind is deep under the water, just before you reach some moving blocks. The only way to get there is with Piranha-Man. -When shopping, try to get your CP as high as possible to unlock desired equipment. Sometimes this means going to the shop in the right form with the right armor on, other times it means waiting for later until you have better armor that has higher CP. -Be patient with fighting bosses. Learn exactly where their weak points lie. Use controlled jumps to nail them in said areas. Do not get too sloppy when fighting them. -Keep details in mind so that you can check them out later. It might not hurt to write down any odd things you notice just so you can get back to them later. i.e. If you see a breakable brick sitting there that you can't yet break, keep it in mind. -You do not need to equip the Thunder Sabre to break blocks. Just having it will bestow the block breaking ability to all your weapons. -Don't give enemies a chance to recover. If they're stunned, let them have it! At the same time, know when not to be too aggressive, as that can sometimes advance a tough enemy too far across the screen and aggro another tough enemy. Very seldom does that happen, but do be aware of it. -In some cases, luring an enemy back the way you came is a smart idea. Try to get them away from other enemies so that you can deal with them one-on-one. When they're away, crush 'em! ------------------------ / SECTION 2: WALKTHROUGH \ ---------------------------- 2A: PROLOGUE (HU-MAN SECTION) [DCS2A] I'm assuming you've hit Run or +, depending on which version of this game you're playing. I'm also assuming you've selected "New Game" rather than gawking in confusion at the password screen. The game should give you a very basic rundown without much backstory. It's a rather lazy way to set up a scenario, but honestly you'll probably forget about these unimportant screens within an hour or two anyway. Run right down the hallway. All in a row should be four green snakes. Slash them once each with your sword. Notice that you have the best equipment in the game right now. This means that anything you look at will leave a yellow puddle behind just before being bumped off the mortal coil. Just you wait, though... The hallway splits into two levels at the end. Don't take the lower route, as that will force you to start the hallway over again. Jump on the box down below with the arrow on it. This is a spring board and will launch you up to the higher route. Kill the blue snake up there and continue right. Head down the hall and kill the three cyclopses that appear. After the last should be a hole in the floor. Drop down there. Avoid the two flying creatures here and drop down the left side. Beware the headless skeleton that will come at you on the right side. Kill it and head left. Another headless skeleton will appear. Kill it as well. Continue left. Everything's gone high tech. Did we just wander onto a different game? Keep going left, kill four cyclopses, and you will arrive at a door. There is little preparation that needs to be done here. You shouldn't have taken much damage, if any, unless you really suck at this game. Open the door and battle the first boss. BOSS MECHA DRAGON Somewhere in a seedy Toho Studios parking lot, the monsters Gigan and Mecha- Godzilla had a one night stand. This is the result of their night of beastly pleasures. The Mecha Dragon is a wuss. Run forward, jump, and stick your sword right in his face. Run back and jump in the air to dodge the line of flames that he shoots at you. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Laugh as he begins his sentence of burning in boss hell. Seriously, this guy barely constitutes a boss. You can play total slop against him and still win easily. Doding is not imperative, since his attacks do very little damage. Just don't get so sloppy that you he kills you. That's just embarrassing. Coins will start falling and a blue flame will dance about the room. Dodge the flame as much as you can and collect as many coins as possible. You will have to touch the flame eventually, but this is a great way to rack up some money. You will become the Lizard-Man once the flame touches you. You'll be right outside the boss's room now. Head right and kill every cyclops you see. You'll eventually come back to the point you came from. Continue right and kill the first green cyclops. He'll drop a key. Use it to open the door right after him. Seems pointless, doesn't it? Continue heading right until you reach the end. Dodging the falling blocks is not very important, since they do so little damage. They're a nuissance more than anything. Press on until you reach the end. Wait for the blocks to pile up at the end until you can jump through the ceiling. Do so and you will be outside. Head left. You will see a locked door, but don't worry about that. You won't be able to go there until the end of the game anyway. Along the way will be a whole host of skeletons. Kill 'em all and keep heading left until you reach the end. Walk through the left side to the next screen. 3B: THE LIZARD OF AWES (LIZARD-MAN SECTION) [DCS2B] -TOWN- A cutscene will ensue and you will be placed in a town afterwards. Notice that your hearts are down to one. Also, if you look at your equipment, you will see that your Legendary equipment has been replaced with Ivory stuff. Stupid Ivory Sword! There should be a few doors to enter here in the town. 5 3 ______ ___ ___ | | | 7| | 6 _____ 4 2 1 ________________________________________________________ 1: This is the church. This is where you will come when you want to get your password or save your game. 2: This is the door that takes you to the coast, the first area you want to explore. 3: A shop that sells Mithril items. 4: Takes you to a big heart 5: Locked. Will eventually take you to a desert and another shop. 6: Hosptial. You can heal yourself here. 7: Shop. Can't be accessed until you become Mouse-Man. Alright, enter the church and save/get your password. That's part of what makes TG16 games awesome! You have the option to do either one, or even both. It meant you could play your game on someone else's copy of the game, or that this game doesn't become a total wash once the save battery dies. Genius! You can check out the shop at number three to see if you have enough money for anything in there. It's a better chance that you don't, as everything in there costs over 30 gold. For now, walk left until you come to a platform with checkered blocks and a locked door. Below that is a door that isn't locked. Jump over the spring board and enter the unlocked door. Head right and drop into the hole. Do not enter the door on the left just yet, but head right. There will be a chest here. You can open chests by simply walking up to them. Open this one and obtain a big heart! This will permanently increase your life by one heart. Return to the door on the left that I told you not to go through yet and enter it. It'll take you back to the last screen. Go back through the other door you came through before. Head right and enter the first door you see. This room will be a very familiar room to you before the end of the game. You'll be coming here a lot. Jump down the well on the far right side. Head all the way right. YOu won't be able to explore those areas at the top of the screen for a while, so don't worry about them just yet. -COAST- Don't enter the first door you see. This will just take you back to town. Breathe in that salty air! The coast has two different areas: above water and under it. No matter which way you go, both can take you to where you need to be. Dropping down and heading right will eventually take you to some spring boards that will allow you to jump out of the water. Above water, you will have to do some platforming and killing some red snakes and red crabs to advance. I recommend taking this time to do a little fast grinding. It shouldn't take you long to make enough money to buy the armor and shield you saw in town, so go ahead and slaughter as many beings as you see on the battle field here. When you have about 90 gold, which doesn't take long, head back to town. Equip the Mithril Armor right away to raise your CP and re-enter the shop. The Mithril Sword should be available now for 15 gold. Return to the coast. Head right once you arrive at the beginning again. I like to avoid falling in the water. The enemies down below can be a bit more of a pain to tangle with, but they do give you more money if you kill them. Not much, though. This means you have to jump from one platform to the next, which isn't hard. Advance to the next screen on the right. Take out the two red crabs as you enter. Continue right. Immediately drop down into the water and let yourself sink to the bottom. Kill the anglers that come after you and head left. Kill the octopus on the platform, and go to the next screen. There should be a door there. Enter it and you'll find a room with a chest. Open the chest for some money and some subweapons (1 of each). Exit the room and head right again. Continue right, killing any octopi and anglers that happen to come in your path. At the very end of the area is a door. Enter it. Head right, drop down, kill the green crab and the barnacle thing and press onward to the next screen. I recommend taking out every crab you see here. There will be several of the green and blue varieties. At the end of the path here is a lakitu wanna-be cloud that drops flames. These guys are a serious pain early in the game. Head as far right as you can until you reach the very end. There will be a door here. Enter it. There should be two doors inside, one of which is a shop that carries Goblin Mail for 180 gold. Buy it if you have the money, otherwise go back outside and grind for a while. Before you do that, enter the non-shop door and open the chest to receive a key! You might have noticed that there's an item in the shop that's listed as ?. This means you do not have enough CP to access it, and you won't for a while. Make sure you do get the Goblin Mail, though. Just be aware that it drops your CP in comparison to using the Mithril Mail. This just means that if you want to buy anything in the future, you're going to have to switch armors first. No biggie. Head back to town. -TOWN- Head to the locked door on the tower. You now have a key, so you should be able to open it. Jump on the spring board on the right as you enter. This should take you to another screen up above. There will be another spring board on the left that can spring you up to another door. Enter the door. You will be outside. Jump right onto a series of stair-like platforms. A door will be there. Enter it access the desert. -DESERT- To the left is the area you need to go. To the right is a land full of monsters that will likely rape your corpse. The red snakes on the left should be no problem. Continue to the next screen. The green snakes here are tad tougher than the red, and they can jump forward. Kill them anyway. Keep advancing left. You should come to a fire-spitting sunflower. Duck the shot and blast it in the face. Continue onward and deal with more of the snakes and another sunflower. The next screen will have an antlion throwing a fireball. Risk getting hit just so you can fall into the gap where the antlion sits. This should take you to a tunnel underneath the desert that stretches both ways. The right is a dead end. Head all the way left, taking out any green anglers or green crabs that get in your way. At the end of the left is a door. Enter it and open the chest inside for some money, several fireballs, a magic stone, a small heart to replenish your health, and a potion. You have a choice here. If you really want to explore the upper lands, you can head back to the first antlion all the way to the right. Otherwise, you can head back to the nearest hole and use the spring board to get you out of this tunnel. I recommend just taking the nearest one. You're not missing much up above. Head left and onto the next screen. There will be pyramids in the background and a killer cloud will come at you. It should be low enough for you to take it out without using an Arrow. Continue left, killing all sunflowers along the way, and you will come to two wells. Jump over both of them for now and climb up the stair-like side of the structure in front of you. Yep, you guessed it! It's a pyramid. Climb all the way up, continue left down the opposite side of the pyramid until you come to a sphinx. Kill the orc guarding it. He should handsomely reward you. Enter the sphinx and open the chest inside to gain a big heart! Exit the sphinx and head back to the two wells. Drop down the one on the right. The one on the left will just bounce you right back out. Go left, but don't go through the door. That will just take you to the area above, which is the left well. What did I say the left well does? I think you can figure that out. There will be three statues that shoot fireballs down from the ceiling. Take your time so you're not hit by the fireballs. Head up the staircase and let the spring board bounce you up into the next screen. Head left. You'll see an enemy that looks like Pac-Man with a witch hat. These guys are so easy to deal with it's not funny, but they appear in high numbers and just keep spawning. Use the spring board at the end of the hallway to bounce you up to the upper half of the screen. Head right. Use the spring board at the end of this hall to go up to the next screen. Head left. There will be a door here that takes you to a hospital. Only heal if you really need it. Spring board yourself up to the upper half, head right, and jump over the next spring board. Continue right and open the chest at the end of the hall to receive a key. Now, use the spring board you just jumped over and go up into the very top of the pyramid. It's a locked door. Hrm. What to do shouldn't be a mystery. Open the door and enter the Crypt. -CRYPT- Head left. The frogs are no trouble. Just don't let them start jumping. They should take one shot a piece. Keep going and you'll find more of those fireball-throwing statues intermingled with red frogs. Gasp! Time your run so you don't get hit by the fireballs, but be aggressive enough to take out the frogs before they have a chance to jump. At the end of the hall is a green frog. He also takes only one shot, but his aggro area is also much larger than the red frogs'. Wait for him to stop jumping like a baffoon and give him one well placed shot to incinerate him. Go left. The sarcophagi are just for atmosphere. There will be dips in the ground with red frogs in them and statues up above. You will have to aggro the frogs. Be quick and blast them as they hop, or be ready to dodge them if you miss. Keep advancing left. There shouldn't be anything to this hallway except timing your run so you don't get hit by fireballs. Two orcs are at the end, but they're easily dealt with. Go to the next screen on the left. Nothing but spring boards here. Timing is everything. Time your shot on the next orc so that you shoot when you're low enough. Otherwise you might wind up bouncing into him. Also time your bounce as you approach the statues, but don't take too long. It's easier to do this with a faster motion than with a slower one, since going slower makes it easier for you to run into the statues themselves. After the second statue will be non-springy land, but even more statues. You should be good enough by now to get past these guys. I mean, you got this far, right? Next screen... Quickly kill the flying enemy and duck underneath the oncoming fireball. More statues will greet you as you head left, only this time they shoot horizontally. Once again, timing and ducking are your friends. Just keep heading left, waiting for openings, ducking when need be. Walk all the way to the end of the hall and you will fall through the floor to the next screen. Immediately walk left to fall through the floor. Walk right and enter the door. No turning back.... BOSS MUMMY DRAGON Who would have ever thought to combine a mummy and a dragon? Why not, they have dragon zombies, dragon demons, elemental dragons... Why not combine dragons with any stock enemy? Next we can have bat-dragons. The Mummy Dragon's attacks aren't exactly ferocious. They do a little damage, but not much. He'll charge right at you and shoot what appear to be boogers. Shoot him in the face as he comes at you. He'll fly back and cringe, even raise up a few inches. Keep shooting him in the face until you cannot hit his face any longer. Duck and let him fly over you. He'll fly about the room and shoot more boogers. Just stay clear of those, more so him. Eventually he'll lower himself. That's your cue to shoot him again. I find it helps to give yourself as much room as possible. Act like you own the place. Don't let this gauze-wrapped ass corner you. Keep hitting him in the face until he dies. Do the same thing you did before. Try to dodge the blue flame while collecting as much money as you can. When it touches you, kiss Lizard-Man goodbye. You're a Mouse-Man now! You'll exit the boss room. Head back the way you came. You can go back to the chest that had the key in it to get another key. But really, just head back the way you came until you get to the next screen down. Head left. The Mouse- Man can walk on walls or ceilings that are checkered like the ones you're on right now. Use the control to run around the edge of the floor and crawl along the ceiling. Head left until you come to a wall with a small gap in it. There will be a door behind the wall there. Enter the door. There will be a shop, a regular door, and a chest. Open the chest to receive a ton of money and some magic stones. Equip the Mithril Armor and enter the shop. There should be a Dancing Shield in there for 430 gold. Buy it if you can. If not, it may help to go grind until you have enough money, as this will replace the Mithril Shield. Exit the shop and enter the door. You'll see another door with "Return" above it. This will take you back to town. 2C: OF MICE AND MICE-MEN (MOUSE-MAN SECTION) [DCS2C] -TOWN- A few things to take note of: -If you go back into the tower and climb up to the door that eventually takes you to the desert, you will see some checkered blocks on the upper right wall. Climbing those will take you to a shop where you will later be able to buy Crystal equipment. Sadly, you won't be able to buy anything there yet because your CP will not be high enough. Not for a long time. -There are checkered bricks right where the tower is sitting. If you look on the left side of these bricks, you will see that the go downward toward some brown blocks. These blocks can be destroyed later. Just remember this, because there is an item down there that is necessary for completing the game, not to mention that you will need to go down there later on when you become Tiger-Man. -You can now cross the checkered blocks all the way to the left of town that take you to the plains. Don't go there yet. Instead of going to the plains, go back to the desert and head right instead of left. This will take you down a path you haven't explored yet. -DESERT- Head right upon entering. Same story, green snakes, blah blah blah. Go to the next screen. Blue frogs. Yikes. These guys can be annoying. One hit might not do them in, and you might have to jump up to slash them, as they can be quite bouncy. Take them out and be careful for the next enemy coming: green cyclopses. These guys can do a lot of damage either with their bodies or with the boulders they throw. Be aggressive and time your attacks just right. You kind of have to have a rhythm to take them out. It might also be best to try to take them on one at at time. Don't force one back too far or you will have to fight both. If you can manage to push one all the way to the back of the screen and continually attack him, you can own his rump in no time. Advance right. -VOLCANO- A red djinn will descend from above. Take him out. You might notice lava as you advance right. Obviously, don't fall in the lava. It won't feel good. Use controlled jumps to leap from platform to platform. Don't overshoot them, and be careful as you land. Red djinns will descend at the end of each platform, so be ready to bust out an attack as you land. You may have to do something like this: jump, attack, tap back to keep from falling off. It should all feel like one fluid motion. Keep heading right and the game add some sunflowers to the mix. You should not be able to actually use your shield to block, unlike with the Lizard-Man. Just don't attack and any projectile attacks will be negated. Everything will be the same: platforms, djinns, sunflowers. Advance right. Hudson hasn't annoyed you enough yet. Now they've added green djinns to the mix. These guys take about three hits each using the Mithril Sword. Hitting them once will usually result in them retreating to the sky and throwing a boulder at you. Just stay clear of them and the boulder, which flies in an arc, and you should be fine. Don't persue them if they fly over the lava. Wait for them to come to you. Be careful of the blue antlion in the lava as well. Jumping to the first platform can be tricky because of him and the green djinn that appears near him. Use subweapons to deal with the djinn, and time your jump with the antlion. Wait for him to throw his fireball high in the sky before jumping. The next set of platforms could take you a few tries. If you fall into the lava, try to power your way to the far right. You can kill the antlions with your own basic weapon. If you don't make it to the far right, then retry. The hardest part is that some of the platforms have green djinns near them, and attacking them causes them to throw projectiles at you. Learn where to stand when they throw their projectile, and be sure to use either the fireball or boomerang to damage them from afar. Continue right after you get past the platforms. You'll meet a skeleton with a red top hat. These guys can be annoying. When you try to attack them, they'll jump over you from side to side. Nail them as they land, or wait for them to stop jumping like idiots before attacking them. Now you must be really careful when going across these platforms. There will be sunflowers on some of them, spitting fireballs. Time your jumps such that you will not be hit by a fireball before landing or while in midair. The last thing you need is to fall into the lava. Take out the sunflowers as you land on the platforms. If you fall into the lava, try to make your way back to the left. Heading to the right will not work this time, what with there being a huge wall in the way. Once you get to the wall, you can easily spring board over it. Just make sure you aim your jump so that you don't overshoot or undershoot the spring board. Enter the door after the wall. Immediately open the chest and receive your gold and thunders. Notice the two doors just to your left. The left one is a shop, the right is a hospital. Use the hospital if need be, then equip your Mithril Mail and enter the shop. There will be Dragon Armor for sale for 300 gold. This is a must have armor, as it will make you immune to lava. It's also stronger than the Goblin Mail, but it still keeps your CP sadly low. You're going to hate me, but... head back to town.... All the way back to town. -TOWN- Head all the way left, climb up the giant structure made entirely of checkered blocks. There will be a door tucked in the bottom left with a shop. You can't buy anything there yet. Continue left to the plains. -PLAINS- The next two screens are very easily explained. Head left and beware the pulsating blue things. We'll just call them blue balls (tee hee). The blue balls can be killed, but not at your current strength. A killer cloud should be overhead, too, and in the second screen he drops flames that chase after you. You can deal with those flames by either jumping over them a they approach you, or turning around and holding still to let them run into your shield. You'll come to a convoluted sturcture with some spiky enemies on it. The second gap from the top is the one you want to head to, so go there and walk left through the screen and into the jungle. -JUNGLE- Immediately drop down and enter the door. Make sure your have your Mithril Armor equipped and cough up 500 gold for the Shogun Lamellar. Exit and equip the lamellar, then re-enter. If you have the money, buy the Shogun Blade for 220 and the Shogun Shield for 460. You may notice if you buy the Shogun Shield that it's not as good as the Dancing Shield, and that's because you're the Mouse-Man. He gets an added bonus for the Dancing Shield. Once you become Piranha-Man, the Shogun Shield will actually provide more defense than the Dancing Shield. If you don't have the money, then stick around and grind until you do. I highly recommend it. Head left and avoid the green frogs. They're too much of a nuissance to try to kill. Jump over some more blue balls and kill a skeleton, then head to the next screen. This screen is very straightforward. There are no obstacles, but there are a lot of flying creatures, skeletons, and barnacles. This is where I do a good amount of grinding. If you're going to grind for the Shogun equipment, this is the best place to do it. Press onward! The next screen has towers made of checkered blocks. These should be easy to get around, except that they have spiky creatures crawling on them. Just be aware that when you jump from one tower to another that you might stick a little and throw yourself jump off. Time your jump and take into account the stickiness so you don't wind up accidentally jumping on the spiky creature. It might even be worth the effort to crawl downward from the top of the tower and wait for the creature so you can kill it and have it out of the way. There should be two sets of these towers, one with red creatures and one with stronger green ones, before heading to the next screen. Same story as the last, except there are more towers, all the creatures are green, and the occasional barnacle shows up. This time it will be worth your time to take the creatures out, especially in areas with large gaps between the towers. You'll eventually come to some towers that have spiky creatures only on the top of them. Drop down to the bottom of these towers, crawl up the right side, and attack the creatures as you approach the top. Get them out of your way before jumping onto the tower itself. Only a couple enemies in your way before you can get to the next screen now. Skeletons with flying heads and a red flying creature both greet you. Kill everything you see, especially the flying creature, as it drops a key. Run all the way to the left and you'll notice that the checkered wall leads either up or down. Drop down first. You'll be submerged in water. Run to the far right and climb up the the wall there to the door. Enter the door. The shop here sells potions, however it sells them at such a price that you cannot just load the game and buy a ton. It constantly resets the price. Only buy one if you really need it. Otherwise, grab the chest on the far right and receive a big heart! Don't enter the non-shop door just yet, as this takes you back to town. Exit the way you came. Go all the way to the left and climb all the way up the wall. Yes, by all the way I mean a few screens up and even past the locked door. Jump outward from the wall near the top and control your landing so that you land on the platform that the locked door is on. You should have a key if you killed the red flying creature below. If not, drop back down and kill the thing. It should only be two screens downward. At any rate, go through that locked door. -LABYRINTH- Nothing? Nothing? Nothing, tra-la-la? This place can be quite confusing, so try very hard to follow me. Head left and drop down into the hole. Continue left, drop down, head right. Careful for the green flyers here. Climb up the far right wall and loop back around toward the door you just saw. Enter it and open the chest inside for some health, tornadoes, and a potion. Exit the door and return to the beginning of the labyrinth. Instead of dropping down the hole, jump over it and head to the left from the beginning. I find it helps to stick to the ceiling here to deal with the green flyers. That and you'll need to to get around the first statue you see. There will be another one after that, but as long as you don't attack or turn around you should be able to block its projectile. Curve around to the top half of the screen. Wait until the statue on the right fires so you can block its attack, then let the left statue's shot fly over you before jumping on the ceiling and crawling past the right statue. If the left statue's shot comes after you, turn around and block it. Stay on the ceiling to deal with the blue flyer and to get around the next statue. Head upward around the curve and into the next screen. Advance left with caution. Red djinns will drop from the ceiling, some of them will stay on the upper half and some will drop down to the lower half. Advancing somewhat slowly will help you out here, so you can gauge which ones will be in the way. These guys should only take one hit to kill. Loop around to the top, head right, and advance slowly again until you reach the end. Head up. Stay on the bottom and take out the single hit Pac-Man wanna-bes. Don't get too caught up in fighting them, as they continuously spawn. Just head left and loop around again. Stay on the bottom yet again and head up when you get to the end on the right. The skeletons here can be a pain in the ass. Its best to fight them while on the floor. Loop around, head right, stay on the floor until you get to the blue flyers, and then jump on the ceiling to deal with them. Head up yet again. Go left and fight the green cyclops here. He should take a few hits to take out. Jump on the ceiling so that you are lined up with the statue. Block its shot and then carefully loop around so that you do not touch the blue orb. Once between the statue and the orb, jump on the ceiling and run right. Stick to the far right wall before going upward so you can avoid some creatures that will be on the left wall. Go up. You should see a gap in the wall leading into the black middle of the level. Go into that and drop all the way down. Head all the way right and you'll find an exit to this black middle. This next part can be tricky. Jump on the left wall, loop around, and you'll want to block the left statue's shot, then immediately jump on the ceiling and turn around to block the right statue's shot. It can be done. Stay on the ceiling as you head left, then drop down once you pass the next statue and continue to the next screen. Easy place, just head up. ...then curve around to the right. Continue right. This next are will be just like the one you did not long ago, except with green djinns. Advance slowly and kill them if they are in the way. Loop around and head left until you reach the next screen. ...then up. ...then right. Stay on the ceiling and kill the blue beasts as they come at you. Avoid the statues and loop around to the top half of the room. Stay on the floor until you get to the statue on the left, then jump on the ceiling when the coast is clear to avoid it. Head left to the next screen. Yes, yes, then up. Loop around and head right. This will be exactly like the room you just did with blue flyers and headless skeletons. Just loop around, head left, and then up to the next screen. Head right and jump on the left wall when you reach the curve so that you are in line with the statue again. Block its shot, curve around to the top, block the other statue's shot, then jump on the ceiling to get around it. Stay on the ceiling, run past the blue orb, block the next oncoming statue shot, and then head up. You'll see a door. Be sure you're quite prepared. You're at the next boss! BOSS ZOMBIE DRAGON Well, seems like we can't ever fight a live dragon. Instead we fight a mechanical one and two undead ones. You'll see the pile of bones that is the Zombie Dragon head toward you. Jump over it and wait for it to come back at you again. What you're going to do is continue to jump over it for a few rounds until it stops and takes form. When it does, immediately run forward and stab it in the face. Repeat this process until it's dead...er. No quarter! Its attack doesn't do a whole lot of damage, but it will attack such that you won't be able to move for a few seconds. This is the most annoying part about the battle is accidentally missing your hit and being stuck in an endless cycle of temporary immunity while the Zombie Dragon pelts you with goo. Just as I said, show no mercy and stab him in the face. Avoid the blue flame as much as you can and grab the money for a while. When it hits you, you will become Piranha-Man! ! :( You'll immediately exit the labyrinth. -JUNGLE- Drop down on the left side. Allow yourself to fall all the way down until you're in the watery area again. If you had the Dancing Shield equipped, then switch it out for the Shogun Shield, as the Dancing Shield gives Mouse-Man extra bonuses. Since you're no longer Mouse-Man, it will be of no use to you. Tap the jump button to swim over to the door. Enter it and then enter the non- shop door and head back to town. 2D: THE CREATURE FROM THE 16-BIT LAGOON (PIRANHA-MAN SECTION) [DCS2D] -TOWN- You have two places to go. The coast, which advances the game, or the desert/volcano, which is necessary to beat the game, but doesn't need to be done right now. Oh, doesn't NEED to be, but damn well SHOULD be. This will give you access to two new abilities. One, it gets you the Thunder Sabre, which you need to destroy pesky breakable blocks, and two, it gives you access to rooms which can allow you to switch between forms! Suffice to say, head back to the volcano area, all the way back to where you bought the Dragon Mail. Be sure to wear said Dragon Mail while in the volcano region, just so you can easily run through the lava and not have to screw around with all that platforming again. -VOLCANO- It's gonna blow, whoa whoa whoa! Volcano! As previously stated, head back to the place in the volcanic region where you bought the Dragon Mail. Keep that Dragon Mail on, because you're about to trudge straight through the lava. Head right, all the way right. The first screen after the shop will have skeletons with flying heads. Killing the bodies will not be enough to take them out completely, but dealing with the heads is a royal pain. Beware when the heads dip down, because they will soon jump back up and throw three sparks outward. Keep going. The next are has green orcs and projectile-shooting statues. You should know how to deal with these problems by now. Mainly, be aware that the orcs can do a decent amount of damage. Be ready to block their spears as well. Keep going right and you should come to a door. Enter it. Swim to the left and over the wall, then sink down to the door on the far left. Enter. There will be four doors in the next room. Enter the upper-middle door. Obviously, you can't enter the lower-middle door yet. Entering the upper-middle door will take you to a very colorful room with an orange platform in the middle. You'll immediately drop onto the orange platform and transform into the Lizard-Man. Jump up in the air one more time and land on that orange platform again. Now you'll transform into Mouse-Man again! Jumping on this orange platform will cycle between the forms you've gained. No, you don't have to come all the way back here to access this room. There is one that's actually accessible from town. That's a big part of the reason we're here right now. If you haven't already, turn yourself into Mouse- Man and drop down to the door on the bottom of the screen and enter it. This will take you back out to the room with four doors. Enter the far right door. Climb up the wall immediately to the left of the door, then latch onto the climbable wall at the very top. Curve around and position yourself such that you're sticking off the wall with the top of your head pointing left. Jump off and catch onto the wall on the left. Work your way up and curve to the right. Drop down and open the chest below. You now have the Thunder Saber! This will destroy troublesome breakable blocks for you. Note that you do not need to equip this weapon in order for it to work. Its block-destroying effects transfer to all weapons you have. Destroy the blocks on the left and drop back down. Go back to the room with four doors. Destroy all the blocks that are blocking the lower-middle door. Collect the items that fall out. Enter the door and go back to town. -TOWN- Ready to nab another sword that's required to beat the game? Make sure you're still the Mouse-Man at this point. If you are not, then enter the door that takes you to the coast. To your left should be a lone standing breakable block. Destroy it and grab the question mark that falls from it to access a door. This will take you to a transformation room there in town. Nifty! Head to the tower that takes you to the desert. Do not enter the tower, but rather jump onto the checkered blocks in front of it and climb downward, clinging onto the left side. Break the block and drop into the water. -SEWER- Head left until you come to some brick wells. You should also see a breakable block floating in the air. That block gives you access to a secret shop, but you probably won't have enough CP to buy the item that's inside (the Murasama Blade, which is highly recommended when playing as Tiger-Man). Don't bother with it just yet. Instead, drop down the very first well. You will land on some spring boards and shoot back up into the air. Hold Up on the control and you will cling to the ceiling. Walk all the way to the far left well, drop down, and enter the door. You will appear on the far right side and drop down into the next screen. Cling to the wall and start destroying bricks. Make your way right and drop down and start destroying the bricks there. You should now be on a checkered surface that's in about the middle of the screen. This might take a few tries, but jump up in the air and hold down to make sure you actually cling to the surface. Loop around until you are upside down and head left to where there is another block by itself. Destroy this block and a question mark will appear. Catch it and that will summon a door. Enter it. Once in the new room, run to the far right and open the chest. You now possess the Magical Saber! This will create bricks in certain areas. Unlike the Thunder Saber, you must have the Magical Saber equipped. Also note that the Thunder Saber's block destruction ability does not transfer to the Magical Saber. Equip the Magical Saber and begin stabbing the background to the left of the chest. This will create blocks. What you want to do is create a way up to the door in that upper right hand corner. I recommend building a simple staircase. Enter the door and you'll be back in town. -TOWN- Time to access yet another area for your benefit. Go to the door that's underneath the shop. Yeah, the one that takes you to the coast. Have any weapon equipped except the Magical Saber and destroy the block on the left that is within range. Grab the question mark that falls from it. A door will appear that you should enter. This will take you to the form changing room. REMEMBER THIS ROOM FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD!!! You will be coming here a lot from here on. Turn into Piranha-Man and exit the room. Drop down the well on the right and head right. You will see a place where you can swim upward and go through the top of the screen. Do so. You'll see a shop on the right surrounded by bricks. Destroy some of them such that you can enter the shop. If you have 1000 gold, buy the Samurai Armor. If you do not, then it's grind time. The Samurai Armor is better than the Samurai Lamellar, and will boost both your DP and CP. Exit once you've bought it and equip it. Re-enter the store and now you should have access to the Lucky Sword. I HIGHLY recommend this weapon, as it boost the amount of money you get from enemies and the chances that enemies will drop stones. This makes grinding much more bearable. Trust me, you'll be doing a lot of that coming up here. Drop down the well to the left of the shop again and re-enter the screen by swimming upward. This time, jump over the bricks and run to the right past the shop. There will be another door. Enter it and open the chest inside. You'll receive some money, stones, and items. Leave. Turn back into Mouse-Man, head back into town and go all the way to the left. With the Samurai Armor equipped, enter the shop underneath the checkered bricks. You'll find a Knight Shield there for 1140 gold and Prince Armor for 1600. Equip that Lucky Sword and go find your favorite grinding spot. If nothing, buy that Prince Armor because that will jack up your CP to nearly 140. This means that there will be a lot of shop items that are available to you. Unless you are a completist, you will not need all of them: Aqua Shield- Found in the coast. Right as you enter the coast, drop immediately into the water as Piranha-Man and head left. Swim up over the wall and enter the door that you see there. The Aqua Shield will be there for 430 gold. This is better than the Samurai Shield when you are Piranha-Man (gives an extra bonus to the Piranha, but the bonus dissipates when you are any other form). Master Shield- All the way at the very end of the coast where you found the Goblin Mail and the key that got you into the tower. Gives a bonus later on when you turn into Tiger-Man. Costs 1980 gold. Crystal Equipment- Very VERY expensive, but very worth it. These are all found at the top of the tower and can only be accessed with Mouse-Man. The cost for each item is outrageous, costing over 3K per item. I recommend grinding until you have enough for all of this even before you fight the next boss. It will take a long time, but as I said, it will be worth it. Do note that if any of these items are not coming up when you have optimized CP, then you may need to grab a few stones (I had about 20 at this point when writing the FAQ). They can be easily gained by killing enemies with the Lucky Sword. My recommendation is: -Buy the Samurai Armor to increase your CP. -Your CP increase will give you access to Lucky Sword and Prince Armor. Buy both. -Skip the Aqua Shield and Knight Shield. -The CP increase you gain from the Prince Armor will give you access to Crystal equipment. Buy all three Crystal items, but be aware that the Crystal Armor will have lower CP than the Prince Armor, but higher DP. -Only buy the Master Shield if you feel a 10 DP advtange is worth it later in the game. When you play as Tiger-Man, you'll have the Crystal Shield, which gives you 75 DP. However, the Master Shield gives 85 DP instead. The only drawback is that it's nearly 2K to purchase. Decision, decisions. Once you have all of the best equipment you can, turn back into the Piranha-Man and head back to the coast. -COAST- You remember the coast, right? Remember that there was a door at the very beginning and an arrow pointing right. Drop down in the water. Remember that left will take you to the Aqua Shield, but right will advance the game. Head right until you see four blocks stacked in a square formation, blocking a pathway that you previously couldn't access. Destroy the blocks and continue right, swim up over the wall and drop down. -DEEP SEA- The next screen is a straightforward romp filled with green barnacles and blue octopi. Block the projectile coming from the barnacles, and beware the octopi, as they leap up and down. Just be patient and time your attacks and jumps. Continue right. Beware the moving blocks here as you continue right. They can do minimal damage, but damage nonetheless. Continue right and swim up into the next screen. Go left, kill the octopus blocking the way, and enter the door on the far left side. Open the chest inside for money and items. Leave, head back to where you came from and go right this time, killing the other blue octopus. Be careful of the blue anglers and barnacles as you head right. You'll eventually come to an upside down ship with a door at the top of the screen. Don't go in the door just yet, but keep it in mind. Continue right. Swim up and over the wall, kill the octopus blocking the way, and descend into the well on the far right. Swim left, dodge the moving blocks, and take out the anglers that come at you. Continue left until you see a door. Swim around to it and enter. Open the chest inside for a big heart! Return to the sunken ship. Find the door at the very top of the screen, swim up to it and push up. -PIRATE SHIP- Walk left, but be wary. There will be wizrobe-wanna-bes (ghosts, I'll call them) here that pop up out of the floor. I recommend walking slowly and taking them out as they appear. Tread carefully to the next screen on the left. More ghosts, only of the green variety this time. These ones shoot projectile, but they're still just as easy to kill as the red variety. Just be ready to turn around and block their shots as they come at you. Continue left until you find the floating blocks. Dodge them carefully and head toward the door at the end of the hall. Head right. It's a straight shot. Lots of green ghosts and green cyclopses, though. The screen on the right after that is the tricky one. Ghosts will appear at different points, and there will be cleverly positioned statues shooting at you. Make good use of your shield here. Just be aware of the block at the very end of the hallway. Dodge the block carefully and enter the door at the end of the hall. Head left. Blue octopi occupy this area, as well as green ghosts. Again, timing is key. Continue to the next screen on the left. When you first enter, jump on the barrels and wait on the far left side of them for the green cyclops to approach you. Wait for him to jump and stab him. Dodge his projectile, wait again, and stab him again when he jumps. Repeat as needed. Blue ghosts will be everywhere. These guys do and take more damage. Kill them on sight, and be sure to block their attacks at all costs. Treading carefully will help immensely. Continue until the very end of the hallway and enter the door. Bet you didn't expect the boss battle to appear so abruptly. BOSS CAPTAIN DRAGON I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Captain Dragon is a cross between a pirate and a dragon. Our first few bosses were a robot-dragon, a mummy-dragon, and a zombie-dragon. The next two you fight will be a samurai-dragon and a vampire-dragon. Did the developers get the ideas for these bosses from a Halloween store? Thankfully, they didn't choose the French Maid costume. Fighting Captain Dragon means learning where his hooks will land. The guy jumps in the air and drops a long line of hooks that will bounce upward and come back down, effectively creating an arc. Learn where the hooks will drop in relation to his position. Learn where the arc of hooks will create an empty space and stand there for protection. After he throws the hooks, he'll jump in the air, either towards you or away from you. Run underneath him if you need to. As he comes down off the jump, leap into the air and stab him in the face. Your rhythm should go something like this: Cpt. Dragon throws hooks > Stand in empty space created by hooks > Captain Dragon leaps > Right when he comes down from the jump, leap in the air and stab him in the face. Repeat the process until you've sent Captain Dragon to a watery grave. If you took the time to save up for the Crystal Sword, then killing him will take no time at all. Grab the coins and dodge the flame again for as long as you can. When it touches you this time, you'll become Tiger-Man! Hell yeah! Be prepared for the hardest freakin' part of the game. D'oh! -COAST- You'll automatically exit the ship. You'll find yourself on the farthest right screen of the coast. Head right and enter the door at the very end. Yes, this is the place where you bought the Goblin Mail and (maybe) the Master Shield. Jump up in the air and destroy the brick you see there. Grab the question mark to access a door. Enter it and head back to town. 2E: PAPER TIGER-MAN (TIGER-MAN SECTION) [DCS2E] If you haven't purchased the Crystal equipment, do so now. If you have, head back to the sewer. It's the area to the left of the tower where the destructible bricks are, leading down into the water. You do not need to be the Mouse-Man to get down there, because Tiger-Man's attack can destroy these blocks easily. -SEWER- Remember those destructible blocks you passed before? You can destroy them now with the Tiger-Man and head down. Avoid the door on the left and head right. There will be more blocks there. Destroy them and gain access to the chest holding another big heart! Head back to the left, carefully jump and destroy the blocks and enter the door. You'll still be in the sewer, but you'll be to the left of the hole you just dropped down. Head left until you reach the wells again. Drop into the first well you see, leap back up into the air, and destroy the brick floating in the air on the right side. Grab the question mark to access store, but before going in equip the Prince Armor. Purchase the Murasama Blade inside for a mere 800 gold! It will be better than the Crystal Sword as long as you are Tiger- Man. Jump to the left and drop down the second well from the right. This will drop you into an area that will allow you to head to the left. Go that way. The first screen is a straight shot, but you'll have to rumble with some flying creatures and blue snakes along the way. You'll come to a split at the beginning of the next screen. Take the upper route and keep heading left. At the second split, take the lower route. Continue left to the next screen and take the lower route. After you get past the three yellow creatures with blue hats, equip the Dragon Mail. There will be lava down here. Carefully jump the platforms and try not to fall into the lava. Even with the Dragon Mail, it's still an inconvenience. Head left to the next screen. Take the upper route and you will immediately see lava again. The next three parts of this screen are exactly like the platform jumping you just did, only there will be enemies to make it a little harder. The first lava pit will have green flying enemies. Take it slowly here, and allow them time to come at you so you can kill them before they become a huge problem. The second pit has a blue ghost. This will be tricky. It will appear on the second platform, and you want to time your jump just such that you go over his projectile and land on the platform before he reappears. It might take a few tries. If push comes to shove, try using some Thunders to clear the board. The third pit will be exactly like the second, only there will be one more ghosts. There is one on the first platform, but he doesn't present a problem until you are past it. Do exactly what you did before, but beware before exiting the pit. There is a third ghost at the left end of the pit. It's this place that having the Dragon Mail can become kind of a pain, because getting hit with those projectile while wearing it means taking loads of damage. If you're good enough at the platform jumping in this game, then try it with the best armor you have. You might also just wait until you fall in the lava before equipping the Dragon Mail. It is possible to jump past all four pits without falling in. It's just very tricky. Try to reduce the damage you take as much as possible, because the next area is a veritable gauntlet. Continue left after the pits. The spitting sunflowers and evil clouds are back. Dealing with them should not be a problem. When you get to the split, take the upper route and walk it until you get to the next screen. On that next screen is a hidden door. Push Up in just the right place and you'll find a shop selling the hardest weapon to find in the game: The Tasmanian Sword. It runs for a cool 1480, but it's honestly not worth it. THe SMS version of this game, wonder Boy III: Dragon's Trap, had a secret involving this sword in which it would allow you to switch to other forms. This was not carried over into the remake. If you've purchased it, head back around and take the lower route. Gun it in this screen, take out enemies and only stop to block projectile. Take the upper path at the split, kill the flowers, and continue to the next screen. Be sure you make the next leap heading left, otherwise you will have to go back to the previous screen and try again. Continue left and enter the Japanese fortress. -FORTRESS- I hate... ...hate hate hate hate hate... ...HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE THIS LEVEL! Okay, it's not that hard, but I still greatly hate it. For starters, it's very straight forward. There's no direction I can give you except that you will either go left or right. You should know beyond a shadow of a doubt which way you're going. The only thing I can tell you is what's on the screen and how to deal with the enemies. The first few screens aren't so bad, but once the enemies (ninjas and samurai) turn blue, lordy lordy lord lord, that's when the swearing starts. I will give you this bit of advice: advance slowly. Do not run in guns... er, swords... blazing. Try to take on only one enemy at a time if you can. Otherwise, you'll be left with a real problem trying to dodge multiple enemies and their projectile. It's also a wise move to try to lead the enemy away from the place you encountered it. When you nail these guys, it sends them moving back a bit. This is especially so for the samurai. Doing so may aggro other enemies and force you into trying to take out too many of them at a time. Seriously, run backward and make the enemy chase you, take them far away from any other potential enemies, and then kill them. Screen 1- Heading right Red ninjas- Block their stars and give them ample room to jump. As they come down, slash them once. Attend their funerals. Screen 2- Heading right Green ninjas- Same as the red ones, except they do more damage. Some may also take an extra hit to kill. Do just the same against them as you did before. Blue orbs- You can actually kill them now. Make sure you have the Murasama Blade equipped and hack away at them. I recommend doing this so the ninjas don't throw you back into the orbs if you get hit. If you come to a point where there is a ninja and an orb on the screen at the same time, the ninja takes priority. Kill it first. Screen 3- Heading right still Red samurai- Will jump back if you try to slash them. Immediately run forward and slash them again before they have a chance to recooperate. Screen 4- Heading right... still... Green samurai- A little trickier. They will throw a projectile in an arc after they jump back. Avoid this by immediately running forward and hacking at them. Careful not to push the first one back too far, or else you will have to deal with two at a time. Blue flying creatures- You should already know how to deal with those. Go to the next screen by pushing up at the door way (black rentangular thing near the end of the hall). Screen 5- Heading left! At last! Green ninjas- You may have to leap a tiny bit in the air to block their shurikens, or to outright jump over them, otherwise they will hit you and do damage. Green samurai- If you see one, lead it back a little ways so you don't accidentally push it into a huge group of other enemies and have to deal with a lot at one time. Be patient when fighting them. Screen 6- Heading right... again... BLUE SAMURAI!!!! *falls out of chair*- Deal with them the same as you did with the green, but be MUCH more aggressive about killing them. They throw three projectiles in an arc, and one of them is very low. These are the guys that will really test you before you get to the boss. Floating blocks- Timing is key. Screen 7- Heading left Green ninjas- Same as before. They won't be elevated this time, so you won't have to jump to get around their shurikens. Blue samurai- Same as before. Be sure to lure them back before you attack them. Screen 8- Heading right Blue ninjas- Didn't see that coming, did ya'? They will take an extra hit to kill. Just be aggressive and try to not fight too many at one time. Screen 9- Heading left. Are we there yet? Blue samurai and ninjas. Again, try only to fight one at a time. Lure them right if possible. Only patience will win this battle. Or save states. Screen 10- Heading right No enemies! Just a door. Enter it and fight with honor. BOSS DAIMYO DRAGON This is a cheap bitch of a battle. There are times that he will unleash attacks that you flat out cannot dodge. If possible, try to get here with three potions. Immediately rush up and slash him in the face. Anytime you see his sword in the air like it is when you first enter, try to slash him in the face. If you can, control your jump just such that you move away from him. Hopefully, pushing him back should create a wide enough berth between him and his projectile (which he throws like the samurai you just fought) that you can avoid both him and the shots. Unfortunately, he will begin slashing right as you nail him, so the chances of dodging are pretty slim. This might actually come to being a constitution battle. Thankfully, he doesn't take many hits if you have the Murasama Blade. You will become the Hawk-Man once you've defeated him. -SEWER- Eqiup the Crystal Sword if you purchased it, as the Murasama Blade only bears a bonus for the Tiger-Man. With the Hawk-Man, you can fly by pushing the jump button repeatedly. This can be done infinite times. It's not like turning into the bee in Little Nemo where you can only mash A so many times. Fly directly upward into the next screen. Enter the door on the left. There should be a chest in here with some money and items and a shop with the Hades Armor for 2000 gold. Purchase it if you can. Go through the door here and head back to town. 2F: CASTLE IN THAT ONE PLACE (HAWK-MAN SECTION; END OF THE GAME) [DCS2F] -TOWN- Are you ready to rock? I can't hear you! I said ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!? No, you aren't. If you were, you wouldn't be reading this guide. You'd already know where the last four pieces of equipment are, and the last hearts. Before you go to the final fortress, it's best to search for the last items. They can only be accessed as the Hawk-Man. While in town, head right. Remember where the church was? Fly over the wall to the right of the church and into the next screen. You'll see a door just below you in between two walls. It's a shop. You may not realize it yet, but this screen is above the coast, the place where you bought the Lucky Sword. Equip the Prince Armor and enter the new shop. A Heavenly Shield goes for 3980, and a key for 250. Make sure you buy both, but especially the key. Fly right, past the Lucky Sword shop, past the door after that, and to the very edge. Drop down into the coast and head left through the next screen until you get to a gap in the ceiling just above the water. Fly through the gap and be sure not to touch the water. Open the chest there for a big heart! Drop back down, fly back up into the sky above the coast and head right. This next area should look familiar. -RUINED FORTRESS- This is where you started the game. Head all the way right, past the door, and jump into the well. You won't enter the fortress here, but there is a hidden shop that sells the Legendary Shield for 5440 gold. Make sure you buy both the Heavenly Shield and the Legendary Shield. The Heavenly Shield gives an extra bonus to the Hawk-Man, which makes it better for him than the Legendary Shield. While in the final area, you will switch back to previous forms, so it's best to have the Legendary Shield for then. Exit the well and enter the door. The walkthrough here is exactly as it was before, except with tougher enemies. -Head back to where you fought the first boss to receive the Legendary Sword. Equip it immediately. Go back in and reopen the chest to receive a ton of money. -Kill a blue cyclops on the way out to receive the Legendary Armor. There will be no fanfare when you receive it, so it is easy to not notice that you have it. Did you get everything? If you didn't, then make like that one crappy MTV show from way back and GRIND! This is what I recommend for the final area: -Legendary Equipment (sword, shield, armor) -Heavenly Shield (equip this when you are Hawk-Man, as it provides more defense than the Legendary Shield when as Hawk-Man) -3 potions if possible -As many Thunders as you can get -A key (needed to get into the final area) -All but one of the big hearts, as the last one is in the final fortress When you've collected all of those, head back to town and make sure you stay Hawk-Man. Fly up the tower to the next screen above. Head left a long ways from the tower and you should come to a locked door surrounded by breakable blocks. Destroy the blocks and enter the door (assuming you have a key). Once inside, equip the Magical Saber and stab the very middle star. It will change into a breakable block. Change back to a different weapon and destroy the block you just created. That should drop a question mark. Grab it and a new door will appear taking you to the final stage. -FINAL FORTRESS- Head right and enter the door. Continue right. If you time your flight just right, you should be able to simply fly past all of the statues unharmed. Land after the last statue and use the door that appears to access a hospital. Otherwise, carefully fly up into the hole in the ceiling. There will be statues to the right of the hole, so watch out for their fireballs. Land on the tiny ledge on the left and wait for the two blue enemies to come near you. Kill both of them before advancing. When they're laying in a pool of their own blood, head up and fly right. Go through the hole in the ceiling to the next screen. Don't fly too high, lest you be hit by the statue. Keep low, wait for its fireball to pass, and then fly up to the next floor. Walk right and keep walking. It may look like a dead end, but you can actually pass through the wall. Drop down and destroy the brick there if you want a heart. Head right and jump onto the next step up, stand on the far right of that step, and wait for the statue to fire. When it does, jump--don't fly, but jump--onto the step in front of the statue. Wait for it to fire again to block its attack. Fly onto the step behind the statue. Drop down and carefully fly over the next statue and rest between it and the statue after it. Wait for that statue to fire and then time your jump (don't fly) just right to jump over that statue and onto the step beyond it. There will be two more statues on the right firing at you. Once again jump (for god's sake don't fly) onto the next step. This will put you in the line of fire with the two statues on the wall, and allow you to block their fireballs. Drop down and enter the door. Once inside, turn into Mouse-Man and equip the Legendary Shield. You can see two sets of checkered bricks. Jump on the lower set of checkered bricks and curve around the top such that you are in between the two sets. You can pass through the wall yet again. Jump from the lower set to the higher set, curve upward, and jump to the right. Keep running right and you will drop down. Run as far right as you can and jump to the right again to exit the wall. Drop down and immediately turn around to block the statue's shot. Head right, timing your jumps and only going when it's safe. Try not to get hit by any of the shots. Run right, kill crabs as they come, but mostly push past this area. A killer cloud will drop flames on you, and really you just want to jump over or block them as much as you can, but push past them if as much as possible. Jump onto the next step up, but only that step. You should be able to pass through the wall there. Keep heading right and drop through the floor. You'll land on a square platform. Drop down on the right, head left. You can walk through the wall without having to jump up and mess with those statues. Drop down. You'll see a door with a red cyclops next to it. Kill the clops and enter the door. Open the chest to receive the seventh and final big heart! Exit, kill the clops again and head left. Use Arrows or Thunder if you have any to kill the evil clouds, and be sure to take out the other cyclops. When you reach the far left, break the block to reveal a spring board. Jump on it and push left. You can go through the wall. Walk left, drop down, walk right, drop through the floor. Same as it was before. Drop from the square platform and walk through the wall without having to mess with climbing up the stair-like pattern. Drop down to the next room. You're in water. Enter the door that you land in front of and turn into Piranha-Man. Exit, swim to the right, enter the door. Same story here, only with three anglers instead of one. Swim to the next door and enter it. This area should be just like the previous fortress you did with ninjas and samurai. Advance very slowly. Try to draw the ninjas away from the barnacles. You will come to a point with two barnacles side by side. Use either Tornado or Boomerang to take one of them out, and then deal with the other one regularly. Advance right, jump up the stairs, head to the next screen. Blue samurai should be here. Without Legendary equipment, this next part is VERY taxing. Use the same tactics you did before. Draw one away from other enemies and take them out one at a time, being very aggressive in doing so. Be careful of the blue ghosts here, too. Head all the way right, enter the door, turn into the Tiger-Man, and exit the room. Destroy the blocks on the right and drop down. Kill the djinns immediately, then drop down and carefully pick off the blue enemies. Work your way around to the hole and drop down. Walk right and beware of the ghost in the middle of the large platform. When he appears, turn around and slice him. Send his haunting ass back to the afterlife. Drop down to the bottom floor and then through the hole. This next room can be tricky. Walk to the right and drop off the square platform. Time your jump carefully and jump over the two statues. At all costs, do not hit the blue orb. Wait for the next statue to fire, jump right (this might mean hugging the left wall, jumping straight up and angling left) in front of it and don't wait for it to fire again. Move ever so slightly left without touching the statue and jump over it to the next step. Like I said, it's tricky. Drop down and through the floor. Great, darkness. Slowly head right. Only kill the orcs after they've thrown their spears and beware the ghosts. Continue right. I usually try to push past this area. Trying to meticulously deal with the statues and the ninjas is a royal pain. Run right until you reach a door and enter it quickly. Wait for the blue creatures to come to you so you can murder them. Walk left and drop down to where the ghost keeps appearing. No, you're not supposed to see the platforms. That's part of the challenge. Kill the ghost when he appears and then head right until you fall off the screen. Don't worry, you'll fall before you hit the sphere. Take out the blue creatures, drop down on the right, take out the last one, and wait for the ghost to leave an opening before jumping up and taking it out. This is just like the other rooms you've seen before with a square platform and stairs heading left. Jump up the stairs, drop down on the far left, then walk a tad to the right to drop through the floor. Light again! Walk to the right and you will fall through the floor. Push up to access the secret door. Change into the Hawk-Man and equip the Heavenly Shield. Exit the room and fly up the right path through the ceiling. If you have Thunders, use them here to kill the orc. Time your flight and go up through the gap in the ceiling past the statue. You're almost there! Time your flight carefully and land on the ledge up above without getting hit by a fireball. You should be able to block them now. Drop down one stair, block the fireball. Drop down another, wait, time it just right, fly up in the air past the statue, angle right, and land on the square just in the knick of time so you can block the fireball from the far right statue. Whew! Time it again and fly upward into the next screen. Fly to the left, up, and around to the right. Walk through the wall, drop down, and destroy the brick there for a heart. Walk all the way right. It's all come down to this. You've survived the greatest of hardships, fought off some of the staunchest dragons, swore, laughed, cried, and did you share of grinding. No more. This curse has to stop. Enter the door and be ready to break the curse with one last tango. FINAL BATTLE VAMPIRE DRAGON Oh, wonderful. Now we can have sparkly, romantic dragons. Pattern? What's that? This guy sure as hell doesn't know. He will fly about the screen, sometimes dropping on you when you run under him, sometimes not. Sometimes he'll fly high, others he'll fly low. It's erratic. Really, this battle is more about luck than anything. Luck and constitution. The only thing you should know is that when he flies low, jump up and stab him in the face... the higher up face. Have a lot of potions and a lot of persistence and all the best items. Beating this guy is not easy. You just have to be opportunistic, aggressive, and able to get around his attacks. Don't sit still, as that will allow him to damage you for sure. Move about and pay attention to where he disappears. If he sinks through the floor, chances are he will come back up from the floor and try to nail you. This is why you don't sit still. If you defeat Vampire Dragon, congrats. You've won the day! Now, get on Virtual Console and download The Dynastic Hero. It's not as fun, IMO, but still worth the download. There is also Monster World IV, which is kind of part of this series, but not available on Virtual Console. Let's just say that playing it outside of Japane requires certain programs. ------------------ / SECTION 3: ITEMS \ ---------------------- [DCS3] Note: The bonuses that each item gives are the same for all forms except for a select few. To see individual form bonuses, refer to the Creature Forms section below. To calculate a character's total stats, add the weapon bonus to their form bonus. 3A: WEAPONS IVORY SWORD (price: n/a): Gained after you complete the prologue. This means you will lose your Legendary sword. No worries, because you will get it back. Bonus: 3 AP MITHRIL SWORD (price: 15 gold): Can be purchased in Town for 15 gold. CP of 12 or higher is required to unlock it in the shop. Bonus: 12 AP SHOGUN BLADE (price: 220 gold): Can be purchased at the jungle for about 220 gold with 80 CP. Just another sword, but better than the Mithril one, so recommended buying at the time. Bonus: 35 AP THUNDER SABER (price: n/a): The weakest weapon in the game, but far from the least useful. Possessing this weapon will allow you to destroy the light brown blocks around the world. You do not need to have this weapon equipped for its effect to work. Found in the volcano region after you get Piranha-Man. Head all the way to far right and enter the door. In the next room, enter the middle door, use the form changing platform to become Mouse-Man, exit, go into the right door, climb up the wall and follow the path around to the chest. Presto! Bonus: Negates forms' base AP (all who use it will be at 0) Note: Unlike the Magical Saber, the Thunder Saber's AP will always be at 0, taking away any form's bonus. The Magical Saber MAGICAL SABER (price: n/a): Found in the sewers. You must be the Mouse-Man to find it. Drop down into the sewers as the Mouse-Man, head left and use the first well to shoot you up in the air. Latch onto the bricks on the top of the screen, head left, drop down into the well there, enter the door at the bottom, and make your way right until you come to a set of checkered blocks in the middle of the screen. Loop around such that you are walking to the left upside down and destroy a lone block. That will drop a question mark which opens a door to secret room containing the Magical Saber. This weapon can create blocks where certain backgrounds are present, and doesn't possess the Thunder Saber's block destroying attribute. Bonus: 0 AP LUCKY SWORD (price: 310 gold): Found the same place as the Samurai Armor (see below). Must have about 60-70 CP to access it. Costs 310 gold. This weapon increases the amount of money enemies drop and increases the chance that they will drop stones. Bonus: 40 AP CRYSTAL SWORD (price: 2980 gold): Found the same place as the Crystal Armor and Crystal Shield (see Crystal Armor below). Bonus: 100 AP MURASAMA BLADE (price: 800 gold): Found in the sewer (the area underground to the left of the tower, blocked off by destructible blocks). To gain access to the shop that sells it, drop down into the first well you see, leap back up into the air, and destroy the block that's floating there to the right of the well. Catch the question mark, equip the Prince Armor, and purchase away! It's cheap and awesome. Bonus: 58 AP 160 AP for Tiger-Man TASMANIAN SWORD (price: 1480 gold) Found in the sewer, after the lava pits. The first screen you come to where you face sunflowers and the killer clouds should have a split. Take the upper road and walk into the next screen. It may look like a dead end, but there's actually a hidden door there. Push up to enter the secret shop. Bonus: 74 AP LEGNEDARY SWORD (price: n/a) The ultimate weapon. Found in the ruins of the first area, in the room where you originally fought the first boss. To find the ruins, fly over the wall in town to the right of the church and keep going right until you can go no further. YOu'll recognize the place when you get there. Just be sure you have a key. Bonus: 155 AP 3B: ARMOR IVORY ARMOR (price: n/a): Gained after you complete the prologue. The Legendary Armor is now in the clutches of evil. It will be on temporary loan until you can kill said evil near the end of the game. Bonus: 3 DP; 3 CP MITHRIL ARMOR (price: 44 gold): Can be bought in Town. Bonus: 12 DP; 12 CP GOBLIN MAIL (price: 180 gold): Armor that will lower your Charisma to 0. Hey, it's not bad armor for early game armor. Just switch back to something with higher CP whenever you want to shop. Found on the very far right side of the coast. Bonus: 24 DP; 0 CP DRAGON MAIL (price: 300 gold): Sold for 300 gold at the volcano. Makes you immune to lava. 75ish CP needed, so be sure to have that Mithril Mail equipped on Mouse-Man. Bonus: 30 DP; 0 CP SHOGUN LAMELLAR (price: 500 gold): Can be purchased at the jungle. Recommended to buy and equip right away so you can access the Shogun Shield and the Shogun Blade. Bonus: 35 DP; 35 CP SAMURAI ARMOR (price: 1000 gold): Found in the outskirts of the town, just before reaching the coast. To get to it, you must have the Thunder Saber and be the Piranha-Man. Drop down into the brick pipe that leads to the coast, but take the first route you see that goes through the top of the screen. This will lead you to a shop surrounded by bricks. Bash your way through and the Samurai Armor will be there. Bonus: 47 DP; 47 CP PRINCE ARMOR (price: 1600 gold) Found on the far left side of town, in the shop underneath all the checkered blocks. Should have the Samurai Armor before purchasing. Bonus: 56 DP; 99 CP CRYSTAL ARMOR (price: 3140 gold) Found in town at the very top of the tower. You must be Mouse-Man to access it. Climb up the tower until you get to the door that leads you to the desert. You should see some checkered blocks on the right. Jump on the blocks and climb up them. Work your way around the spiral of checkered blocks there until you reach the shop. Shop away! Bonus: 75 DP; 75 CP HADES ARMOR (price: 2000 gold) Found in the sewer, just outside the fortress where you fought Daimyo Dragon. With Hawk-Man, fly one screen up from the fortress and enter the door there. There should be a shop carrying the armor in there. Wearing this armor along with the Heavenly Shield will restore your health when you fully run out. This ability only works once. Bonus: 63 DP; 0 CP LEGENDARY ARMOR (price: n/a) Found in the ruins of the first area. While heading down the long hallway out, you can defeat a blue cyclops that carries this armor. There will be no auditory indication that you found the weapon, so be aware when you do grab it. Bonus: 100 DP; 100 CP 3C: SHIELDS IVORY SHIELD (price: n/a): Gained after you complete the prologue. Sadly, your Legendary Shield is MIA. You can get it back at the end of the game...... for a price! Bonus: 3 DP MITHRIL SHIELD (price: 32 gold): can be bought in Town for 32 gold. Bonus: 12 DP DANCING SHIELD (price: 430 gold): Can be found in the Desert, right after you become a Mouse-Man. Drop down from where you fought the boss until you come to wall with a gap in the very top and a door behind the wall. Run along the ceiling to get through the gap and enter the door. There should be a shop inside that sells it for 430 gold. CP of 55 or greater to unlock. Provides extra DP to Mouse-Man Bonus: 45 DP (Mouse-Man only) SHOGUN SHIELD (price: 460 gold): Can be purchased at the jungle for 460 gold. 80 CP needed. May not be as good as the Dancing Shield for the Mouse-Man. Bonus: 35 DP AQUA SHIELD (price: 430 gold): Found in the coast under the water. When you first enter the coast, drop into the water and head all the way left. If you are the Piranha-Man, you can swim up and over the wall and enter a door that will take you to a shop that sells the shield for 430 gold. Bonus: 45 DP (Piranha-Man only) KNIGHT SHIELD (price: 1140 gold): Found the same place as the Prince Armor. See Prince Armor above. Bonus: 50 DP MASTER SHIELD (price: 1980 gold): Found in the coast, all the way at the very far right in a shop on land. You should have the Prince Armor purchased to have enough CP to buy it. Bonus: 85 DP (Tiger-Man only) CRYSTAL SHIELD (price: 3210 gold): Found in the same place as the Crystal Armor and Crystal Sword. See Crystal Armor above. Bonus: 75 DP HEAVENLY SHIELD (price: 3980 gold) Sold in the outskirts of town. As Hawk-Man, fly to the right of the church over the wall. The very first door you see will carry this weapon. Bonus: 110 DP (Hawk-Man only) LEGENDARY SHIELD (price: 5440 gold) Found in the ruins of the first area. See the Legendary Sword above to find out how to get there. Once you're there, jump in the well on the far right and push up to access a hidden door. It will lead you to a shop that carries this shield. Bonus: 100 DP 3D: MISC. ITEMS Keys- Unlocks doors. Be aware that unlocked doors will still have locks on them after they've been unlocked. You will not need a key to unlock them again, but the locks will remain there. Can be a bit confusing. Magic Stones- Permanently raises your Charisma by 1 point per stone. Randomly dropped by enemies. Potion- Instantly revives you when you die. The life you get back may vary. Gold coins/Money bags- Raise your gold, which can be exchanged for equipment or services like healing. Fireball- A subweapon that shoots a fireball that flies in a wave. Doesn't go all the way across the screen, but damages enemies nonetheless. Honestly, I almost never use these things. They're decent for getting hard to reach enemies once you lose the Lizard-Man, but otherwise they're not incredibly helpful. Tornado- A subweapon that summons a small tornado that travels along the ground and bounces off of impediments or enemies. Mildly useful, since it goes all the way across the screen and can help take out some enemies from afar. Arrow- Shoots and arrow straight up in the air. Good for taking out flying enemies like the killer clouds, but your timing must be perfect. Boomerang- Throws a boomerang out a little ways. Catching the boomerang on the way back will add it back to your inventory, meaning these things are unlimited as long as you can catch at least one. Thunder- Damages all enemies on the screen. 3E: BIG HEART LOCATIONS These big hearts are located throughout the game like Heart Containers in Zelda. Finding them is always a pleasant surprise, and very much wanted and expected. It shouldn't be hard to find all of them if you explore well enough. 1. In town, just after the prologue. Head left until you see a tower that has a platform with checkered blocks, a locked door up above, and an unlocked door down below. Enter the unlocked door and head right, dropping down into a hole. Continue right and you should see a chest. Open it for a big heart. 2. In the desert, head all the way to the left. You should see a couple of brick wells heading underground. Jump over those and climb up the stair-like structure. Continue upward and over the top, still heading left. You should find a sphinx with a door. Enter the door and open the chest. Voila! 3. In the jungle, head all the way to the end where you will find a checkered wall that leads either up or down. Drop down and you'll land in a submerged area. You'll also notice a checkered wall on the right that leads up to a door. Either climb up the wall as the Mouse-Man or swim up to the door as the Piranha-Man and enter it. There should be a chest on the far right of this area with a big heart inside it. 4. Underwater near the coast, you'll find a sunken ship. This ship takes you to the fourth boss. Don't enter the ship, but head right, swim up and over a wall and head downward into the next screen. Continue to the far left here and you'll find a door. Enter it and open the chest inside. All yours! 5. To the left of the tower in town is a row of destructible blocks leading down to water. Head there as the Tiger-Man, destroy the blocks, and go down. Head left and you'll see another row of destructible blocks covering a way down. Destroy them, head down, then head left. More destructible blocks, and a chest hidden in the back. Break the blocks and open the chest to receive another big heart. 6. As the Hawk-Man, return to the coast. Head left back into the room that was filled with water. You might remember there being a gap in the ceiling you couldn't reach before with water underneath it. Fly up throught that gap without touching the water and grab the big heart inside the chest. 7. Found behind a door in the main route of the final area just after you turn into Mouse-Man. You can't miss it. There will be a red cyclops near the door. --------------------------- / SECTION 4: CREATURE FORMS \ ------------------------------- [DCS4] Beating a boss results in gaining a new form. This also means that you will gain new abilities, advantages, disadvantages, and be one step closer to lifting the curse. Each form also has specific stat bonuses. 4A: HU-MAN You really don't spend a whole lot of time using Hu-Man. You only get him in the very beginning in the game, during the prologue. Once that's done, that's it. You'll never have him again. He excels in combat above almost anything else, but that could be due to the fact that he has the best equipment in the game from the start. 4B: LIZARD-MAN Lizard-Man is probably the worst and most disliked character out of all the forms you take. After you become Mouse-Man, there won't ever be a reason to use Lizard-Man again, as he has no real great advantage. His combat is piss poor, he has no special abilities beyond being able to duck (yank, yank) and shoot from afar. This should push you toward becoming Mouse-Man all the quicker, just to avoid playing as this schmoe. Advantages: -Greatest attack range -He's the only form that can duck Disadvantages: -Lowest stats -Tends to die a lot -Not necessary after you become Mouse-Man -Cannot block projectile with shield Base stats: 0 AP 0 DP 0 CP 4C: MOUSE-MAN Mouse-Man is a staunch fighter, the best you'll have for a while. He hits harder, absorbs more damage, and is much more charismatic than the Lizard-Man. However, he has the worst hit range in the entire game. This could be due to the fact that his sword is about the size of a butter knife. Because of this, you will get hit a lot. At least he has the stats to compensate for that. This guy is also the smallest character, making him the only one that can go through tight spaces. He can also crawl along checkered bricks like a bug. All in all, a great form. Advantages: -Relatively high stats -Can crawl through tight spaces -Can climb on checkered bricks -Very high CP Disadvantages: -Shortest attack range -Very small shield makes it hard to block some attacks Base stats: AP- 60 DP- 20 CP- 40 4D: PIRANHA-MAN Piranha-Man is kind of a downer after playing as Mouse-Man. Thankfully, you will have access to some of the best armor in the game when you play as Piranha-Man, because his stats are pretty sorry. This really doesn't become fully apparent until the very end of the game when you have to use the Piranha- Man in the fortress in the sky, guiding Piranha-Man against powerful ninjas and samurai. Piranha-Man also has a very big sprite, which makes him an easy target, but he has some great reach. His sword attack sticks out a good distance when he attacks. The best feature of Piranha-Man, though, is his ability to swim underwater. Advantages: -Can swim -Decent length attack range -Big shield (good for blocking projectile) Disadvantages: -Not the best stats -Large sprite makes him an easy target Base stats: AP- 50 DP- 40 CP- 10 4E: TIGER-MAN Tiger-Man is my favorite form! Sadly, his portion of the game is like a hard punch in the balls. I didn't have the luxiary of save states. No, I had to restart every time I died. Anyway, Tiger-Man is the best combatant out of all of the forms. His stats are the highest, and attack sweeps around in an arc in front of him. This means that he not only damages things directly in front of him, but also diagonally above and below him. If there is a golden block on the ground that you just can't destroy with any other form, then use the Tiger-Man. He can destroy blocks that are placed diagonally below you. Advantages: -Best offense -Best fighter -Can hit items that are diagonally from him (allowing you to destroy blocks that are below your feet) Disadvantages: -Large sprite = easy target Base stats: AP- 90 DP- 50 CP- 50 4F: HAWK-MAN After the amazing stat-machine that is the Tiger-Man, the Hawk-Man is a bit of a downer. His attack range is quite short, and his stats aren't quite that impressive. The one great thing about Hawk-Man is that he can fly. This means you can access areas you couldn't before, one of those being the final stage. While flying is great, it also means you're wide open for damage. He cannot block while in mid-air, so getting hit means being flung around a lot. Advantages: -Can fly -Not the worst stats Disadvantages: -Not the best stats, either -Is open for attacks when in midair -Hard to fight in midair Base stats: AP- 30 DP- 10 CP- 20 ---------------- / SECTION 5: FAQ \ -------------------- [DCS5] Q: Does CP lower the price of any items? A: No, all it does is give you access to certain items. Some items have a minimum amount of CP you must have in order to be able to buy them. Q: Are the fire-breathing statues able to be destroyed? A: No. Q: Is there a way to switch between forms? A: Yes. There will be rooms that you can gain access to that you must use in order to advance the game. There is one in town in the room that takes you to the Coast. Enter there with the Thunder Sabre and slash the far left brick. That will drop a ? block which will reveal a door that takes you to just such a room. To continually switch between forms, just keep jumping on the platform in the middle. Q: Can the blue pulsating orbs be killed? A: Yes, but you need to be the Tiger-Man with a very strong weapon, and it can take a bit. It's almost not worth it. Q: Is it necessary to buy all the equipment in the game? A: No. Unless you're a completist, some of the equipment is worth skipping. Q: Where is the transformation room in town? A: Enter the door that takes you to the coast. To the left should be a row of blocks as well as another block sitting by itself. Destroy the lone block and collect the question mark to access a door that takes you to the transformation room. Q: Does the Tasmanian Sword allow you to switch between forms like it did in the SMS version? A: It doesn't appear to. I've tried numerous times, but have come up dry. ---------------------- / SECTION 6: Legal Bit \ -------------------------- This FAQ is copyright 2002-2010 to Joseph Shaffer, aka Joe the Destroyer or JoeTheDestroyer. Any use of this FAQ for commercial purposes in any way, shape, or form without confirmed consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This can be used for personal use and freely distributed, as long as there is no profit being made off the FAQ without my approval before hand (this includes magazines). This also cannot be posted on any websites without my solid approval. Any failure to comply with said premises can, and probably will, result in legal actions. ---------------------------------- / SECTION 7: THANK YOU AND GOODBYE \ -------------------------------------- GameFAQs HonestGamers Hudson for this wonderful game (c) 2010 Joseph Shaffer