- Updated Sept 22nd, 2006 2:45 PM CST
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Gimmick! FAQ/Walkthrough
For the Nintendo Famicom
Version 1.1b
Written by Pseudonym
Email: shdwswrm@hotmail.com
_______________________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
-----------------
Revision History
Copyright
FAQ
Introduction
Game Basics
Walkthrough
Closing
===============================================================================
Revision History
===============================================================================
Sept 22nd, 2006; Version 1.1b
The walkthrough rewrite is now a little ways through level 3. Fixed and adjusted
some other stuff in the guide that’s been bugging me for awhile.
----
Sept 18th, 2006; Version 1.1a
Decided to rewrite the entire guide; up to the level 3 at this point. Fixed the
errors I could find in the walkthrough and I delineated the special item and the
regular path in each level.
----
Oct 27th, 2005; Version 1.0
The walkthrough is mostly done as well as most of the everything else. The rest
of the walkthrough and whatnot will be completed in due time.
===============================================================================
Copyright
===============================================================================
This document is licensed for public use according to the GNU Free
Documentation License, available at [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fd1.txt]. If
you'll read the license, you'll see that it allows for inclusion within another
work, provided that the other work in turn maintains the license.
Some key parts of the license:
This license applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that contains
a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the
terms of this license. Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free
license, unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated
herein. The "document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member
of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". You accept the license
if you copy, modify or distribute the work in a way requiring permission under
copyright law.
A "modified version" of the document means any work containing the document or
a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or
translated into another language. You may copy and distribute a modified
version of the document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above,
provided that you release the modified version under precisely this License,
with the modified version filling the role of the document, thus licensing
distribution and modification of the modified version to whoever possesses a
copy of it.
To summarize, you may use my guide in part or whole, without any additional
permission from myself, provided that the resulting guide is similarly released
under the GNU FDL. If this is problem for you, I would be happy to give you
separate permission, PROVIDED THAT I AM GIVEN CREDIT. The latest version of
this guide can always be found at GameFAQs. It's the responsibility of any
other site that has this guide to get the latest version, and no, I won't send
updates to sites already hosting this guide.
Copyright 2006 Tim Courchene aka Pseudonym. All rights reserved.
===============================================================================
FAQ
===============================================================================
Q: How difficult is it to get the special items?
Most of them are quite difficult to collect and may take multiple tries in order
to get them.
Q: What are the differences between the Euro and the Japanese versions?
There aren’t many major differences between the two games. Of what I noticed you
start with 7 lives (Euro) compared to 3 lives (Jpn). You also get an extra life
at 10,000 points and every 20,000 points afterwards (Euro) compared to 10,000
and 25,000 points (Jpn). The music also seems slightly different and there are a
few extra sound effects in the Euro version.
===============================================================================
Introduction
===============================================================================
Gimmick is one of Sunsoft's lesser known titles since it was only released in
Japan and Europe in limited quantities. The game is different than most earlier
Sunsoft games that they were involved in with it’s colorful and cute graphics,
up-beat music, and weird bosses and enemies inhabiting this strange world. This
guide is written for the Japanese version of Gimmick. There are a few
differences between the two regional versions of the game which are detailed in
the FAQ and a few parts of the walkthrough. If you have any suggestions,
comments, or constructive criticism, please email me at shdwswrm@hotmail.com
with the heading Gimmick. All flames, threats, childish comments and the like
will be deleted and your email address may be filtered.
===============================================================================
Game Basics
===============================================================================
Controls
--------
A Button : Jump
B Button : Toss a Star
Up + B Button : Use an item
Start Button : Pause the game
Select Button : Not used
Directional Pad : Move Gimmick around
Down Button : Switch the item in the middle slot to the left slot.
Screen
------
Score: It shows you how much points you have.
Rest: It shows you how many lives you have left. You start with 3 lives. You
gain an extra life at 10,000 points and every 25,000 points afterward.
Health: The colored dots show you how much health you have left. You start each
life with two dots and every enemy in the game takes away one dot each time
you are hit. You can add more health when you find it to a maximum of four.
Item: It shows you which items you have collected. You can hold onto three items
at once, however, you won't be able to pick up any more until you use one of the
items you have in storage. The active slot on the left is the item you can use
immediately and you can switch them around by pressing down.
Gimmick
-------
Jumping: You will slide a little each time you jump, making a lot of the jumps
in the game harder. Sliding can be mostly counteracted by holding back on the
directional pad for a second as soon as you land to stop yourself from falling.
Other than that, you can just gauge your jumps carefully.
Star Attack: Your Star Attack is the usual way to defeat enemies. It has to be
fully charged before it can be used and has an odd trajectory which makes it
slightly unwieldy at first. You should get used to the way it bounces around in
the first level before you continue on. You can also jump onto it and let it
carry you to a part of a level that is unreachable without it.
Terrain
-------
Spikes: They are the pointy, tall things that kill you when you touch them.
Simple enough.
Traps/Obstacles: You will find these all throughout the game. Traps don’t look
natural against the background or otherwise so you can mostly see where they are
and try to avoid them.
-Mini-Bomb: The Mini-Bomb appear on the ceiling of the underground sections of
level 1 and drop onto you when you pass under them. You can walk or jump past
them if they are high enough, otherwise you will have to make them fall and
then move out of the way.
-Cannonball: The Cannonballs will appear out of the port holes of the pirate
ship in level 2. Stand on one side of the boat and walk left/right just as you
pass under the port hole to avoid getting hit. You can also just move out of
the way when you see them come out.
-Rock Slide: A couple of rocks will come tumbling down a cliff near the
beginning of level 3. Just run away from them or jump over them.
-Arrow: You will find arrows in the turrets scattered around the underground
sections and in one place from the walls in level 3. You can either jump
upwards or run away to avoid them.
-Proximity Mine: The single Proximity Mine in the game is a little way through
the underground section of level 3. It will explode if you touch it.
-Spike Trap: The Spike Trap appears on level 4 when you pass through a
suspiciously narrow part of a wall. A long row of spikes will slowly come down
from the top and make their way to the ground. If you don’t make it before the
spikes reach the bottom you will die.
Steep Slopes: You will slide down these obviously but you can hold back and jump
to climb back up most slopes, provided they aren’t too steep. There are spikes
or a series of little blocks over a field of spikes which you can sometimes
avoid by jumping at the point where the slope meets the flat ground again.
Items
-----
Yellow Vial: It will add one to your health. There are two types of these
potions: one will add one health and one with completely fill your health. The
ones that fill up your health completely are rare and are usually well guarded.
Pink Vial: When you find one, it will completely restore your health to the
current maximum when you are in critical health (pink dot). This vial is most
effective when you have more than two health as it will obviously restore more
health than usual. Still you should use it when you need it.
Black Vial: Black Vials add one bomb to your inventory. Bombs are thrown much
like your own star attacks. When you use it, it will arch upwards and then fall
to the ground where it will explode and damage any enemies near it.
Red Vial: The Red Vial will add one fireball to your inventory. Fireballs will
fly straight out from the direction you are facing and damage the first enemy it
comes into contact with. Since they have a simple trajectory, they can be better
than your star attack when it comes to certain enemies.
Special Items
-------------
Each level in the game contains a secret area with a special item that you need
to grab in order to see the real ending. They are all well hidden and tough to
get because since they involve both quick jumping and using your star attack so
you have to be good at both skills. When you collect the item the flag at the
point where each level was found will be red instead of the usual white.
Enemies
-------
Blob:
Worm:
Shelly:
Fuzzy:
Fox:
Nessie: You will meet Nessie in the fourth level. It’s likely just some generic
dinosaur who’s name I can’t even pronounce so I will refer to it as Nessie here.
It will shoot fireballs at you at the start but once you do some damage it will
become docile and take you across the ocean.
Cloak:
===============================================================================
Walkthrough
===============================================================================
Prologue
--------
A girl gets a new doll for her birthday. The other dolls become jealous because
they get demoted to a box beside the door and the new doll, Gimmick, is sitting
on top of the dresser. In the middle of the night the other dolls come to life
and kidnap the girl, carrying her to another dimension. Gimmick, who comes to
life afterwards, jumps through the same type of portal to try and rescue her.
Level 1 - Underground
---------------------
The first level is a basic introduction to the game but it’s not exactly easy.
Walk to the right and throw a star when you reach the raised ground just before
the two platforms with the conveyors. It should bounce off the ground and slide
into the Blob coming in from the right. If not, you can hit it from on top of
the higher ground where the Blob comes, or even back to the start and bank a
star off the wall to kill it. When it’s gone it will leave a complimentary Pink
Potion for you. Grab it and the Yellow Potion on the tiny block ahead.
Stay on this little block and try not to fall off because it is really small.
Stand on the right side and toss stars at the numerous Blobs that should start
coming from the right. After the two or three more Blobs are gone, drop to the
ground and throw a star to the right to clear out the four or so Blobs waiting
further ahead. Follow that star so that the path will clear a little. If it’s
not and it won’t, keep tossing stars forward or jump over them until you reach
the high portion of the ground with pipe and the second tiny ledge on the wall.
The special item can be collected if you make it to the aforementioned tiny
ledge. I’ll explain how to get to that ledge of course. The regular route
through the level is to take the pipe going down. Scroll past this section here
to read about the regular route. Use a save state here if you are using an
emulator because these parts tend to be difficult. The standard ‘covering my
back’ procedure if you end up dying or frustrated. =)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GETTING THE SPECIAL ITEM: In order to get onto that ledge, you have to throw a
star against the wall of the high portion of the ground so that it bounces
upwards near the ledge. You will have to jump onto the star and then jump off
onto the ledge before the star is too far away. It’s tricky jump to be sure. Use
the checkerboard grid in the background to help you. I find that standing inside
the third block of the grid from the wall and then tossing a star at the highest
point of your jump is the best way to do this part.
All you need now is to jump forward a little bit since the star should pass
right beside you. This will happen quickly so you have to be quick yourself.
Once you are finally up there (it will take a bit of time) the music will
change. Jump straight up to see the platforms above and then get onto the big
platform there. Be careful when you jump to the first little platform since you
are prone to sliding after you jump. The next series of little platforms should
be simple to get onto because they are about the right distance away.
Once you get onto the bigger platform there will be two little platforms that
seem tough to reach but you can if you jump when you are right at the edge. The
high one will seem impossible but you can do it. When you get there, four more
platforms, this time ones that move, will be waiting. Time your jumps with care
and they shouldn’t be too hard to reach. The first one goes up-down which is an
simple enough jump. The second one goes left-right pretty much in-sync with the
first one so there’s a second simple jump.
Wait until the first one is close enough and the second one goes down before you
jump. The third platform is a little tougher and it goes up-down again. Do the
same thing that you did with the second and you should be okay. The fourth one
is another left-right but it’s pretty simple since it appears close to the third
at an optimal jumping point. Jump onto it until I reaches solid ground and then
jump off. The special item is in the nook in the wall just ahead. Grab it for a
cool 50,000 points which is enough to get you two extra lives.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other special items aren’t nearly as simple and you will likely need those
extra lives. In other words, you should be prepared and you shouldn’t have too
much trouble with these areas. Now there is the matter of what to do next. You
can fall off the side and you will appear right at the start of the level again,
or you can make your way across the platforms up here until you reach the pipe
on the far right. Either way, head into the pipe to get taken under ground.
Walk to the left and do a short leap over the pit and avoid the Mini-Bombs on
the ceiling along the way. If you keep walking it should be easy to avoid them.
There will be another hole ahead followed by a Canon high on top of a block.
Don’t bother with the Cannon – stand about halfway up the slope and wait for it
to start firing out Cannonballs or the occasional Blob. Once an object comes out
of the Canon and starts down the slope, jump over it and make your way to the
top. You have be quick because the Canon fires pretty quickly itself.
Now drop down into the pipe. When you come out the bottom jump and hold left to
reach the Bomb at the top of the slope. Head down the slope and jump when you
reach the bottom which should give you enough momentum to carry you right across
the pit to the bottom of the slope on the right. Make your way up this slippery
slope and run down the next much gentler slope to avoid the Mini-Bombs. There
will be another pit with two more Mini-Bombs just itching to hit you.
Walk forward until you activate the first Mini-Bomb and then retreat a little so
that it will fall harmlessly to the ground. The second Mini-Bomb is more
difficult to avoid: you have to jump under the second Mini-Bomb to activate it
and then hold left to land on the ground again. You can also jump past the
second Mini-Bomb which will should put you at the top of the slope to avoid
getting hit. With this strategy though you run the risk of getting hit. Ok,
hopefully you are now at the top of the hill between the two pits of death.
There will be a Cannon at the top of another platform on the right. You can make
it to the Cannon platform by allowing yourself to slide down the slope and then
jumping while you are near the top. That should land you right beside the Cannon
which you can move off the right side where it will slide down and not bother
you anymore. Otherwise you will have to walk past the small tempest of
Cannonballs dropping from above you. It will be a Cannonball barrage.
Or even a Cannonball Run. Ok, the bad jokes aside you should wait under the
Cannon until it fires a Cannonball which will then drop to the ground. At this
point jump over it and quickly jump into the pipe on the right. It’s in your
best interest to just push the Cannon off the ledge and continue on from that
point. You will be underwater on the next screen but you will be safe since
water is mostly damaging to small, magical plush toys from other dimensions. Or
any toy really, I guess. Walk right past the fish until you enter the next room.
It has a suspended platform over which there is a pit of spikes. Jump onto the
platform and let it take you part of the way across – which is definitely before
the middle or it will drop you into the spikes making you much more holey than
before. Head into the pipe which leads into the adjoining room where there will
be a Blob coming from the platforms on the right. You need to quickly move out
of the narrow space where you are at the moment and jump up the slope above you.
The Blob will just continue right until it goes down the pipe. Toss a star at
the Worm walking around on the platform on the left. Afterwards you can get to
the bottom again by either sliding down or jumping while you are sliding down.
You should press back when you reach the platform or you’ll fall off and land on
the spikes. Now continue into the pipe on the top left and wait for the Blob to
walk past you. It shouldn’t fall onto you so you don’t have to worry about that.
Hit the Blob with a star while it’s jumping around on the blocks. Afterwards,
try to get the Yellow Potion on the right. If you have full or a good amount of
HP you don’t have to but you might need it. Once that’s done, jump onto the
block beside the pipe to reach the higher ground and then make your way into the
pipe where you will be above ground again. As soon as you pop out of the pipe an
Electrode Blob will come out of the windows in the towers in the background.
Get out of the narrow spot you are in at this point and jump onto the ground
right above the pipe. You should avoid the Electrode Blobs completely since they
will create a surge of electricity that will damage you and you can’t jump onto
them like the other ones too due to the electric rods on their heads. If you
want that Bomb, you have to stand away from the star-block and jump and toss a
star against it. You should fall right onto the star if you are the right
distance away which will give you the opportunity to jump and grab the Bomb.
Whether you got it or not, continue left and avoid the Electrode Blobs that jump
out of the windows. Try to get them to go down the pipe on the right or they
will follow you around which will be trouble further ahead. Speaking of which
there will be a long series of tiny blocks ahead and several Blobs coming from
the left. Start across and when you reach the second one a Blob will come. Wait
until it’s on the block next to you and then jump and toss a star at it.
You could try to jump over them or even onto them but it’s easier to just defeat
them. Jump onto the next block and defeat the Blob the same way as the previous
one. The last small block ahead is followed by two (gratefully) larger blocks
like the ones you seen when you came out of the pipe. There shouldn’t be any
more Blobs at this point so it should be clear sailing until you reach the boss,
who is in the next room. Take those last jumps carefully and then enter the hole
in the wall and get ready to rumble.
BOSS: King Electrode is a simple boss but it will likely get in a cheap hit at
----- the start. It will toss out an initial barrage of Blobs that can be
avoided if you stay on the right and toss a star just as they are over you. A
Bomb would work too if you have one. The boss will continue to throw out Blobs
now and then but they should be easier to avoid now since it will only be in
groups of one or two. Stay mobile and keep jumping around to avoid the Blobs on
the ground and start tossing stars at the boss. Bounce them in a way that will
make them jump over the hole and hit the boss. Or you can just jump to the
platform where the boss is and hit the boss from there. It will take three hits
to take it down for good.
Level 2 – Pirate Ship
---------------------
You start out on a group of islands punctuated by water. Jump right onto each of
the little islands and wait for the Shelly on the larger island to start walking
back to the right. Hit it with a star to flip it over and again if you want to
defeat it. On the other end of the larger island there will be an island that’s
higher up with another Shelly on it. Bounce a star on the island you are on so
that it lands on the higher island and hits the Shelly.
You can then jump up there and jump onto the boat which will carry you to the
pirate ship. Ignore the tiny little spit of land beside the boat or you could
miss it somehow and fall into the water. You will drift to the right for a bit
and then the pirate ship will come into view. The open portholes on the ship
will drop Cannonballs when you pass under them so you will have dodge them. You
can stand in the middle of your boat and move out of the way as you pass under a
porthole. This is the easiest method in my opinion.
Or you can stand at either end of the ship and walk to the other end just when
you are under the porthole. This is a little harder but some people I’ve talked
to prefer to do this. The Cannonballs will fly up a bit and then fall quickly
out of each of the portholes so you have to be quick. After this gauntlet you
will see a final island that’s low in the water and a series of blocks leading
upwards. Jump onto the larger platform and carefully make your way up.
You can also jump onto the island and go right to get a nice little view of the
water on the right but there’s nothing else there. When you are on the second
little block near the top of the screen jump straight up to see the next
platform and then jump onto it. You are now on the pirate ship but you may be
asking where the pirates are. They are further ahead but you can take a short
cut to finish this level quickly but you will have to forget about the special
item here. The pipe to continue this level the regular way is on the left.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alternate Route: You can cheat a little to finish this level quickly by using a
star to get across that hole where the first got onto the pirate ship. You have
to use the wall on the left to bounce a star off it and wait on the right near
the platform until it comes back. After that you have to jump onto the star
before it reaches the platform and with a little luck you will make it to the
other side. This will cut a great deal of the level out and leave right at the
doorstep of the boss.
The trick is that the star has to land on the little platform before the hole or
you won’t be able to make it. Stand roughly halfway between the wall and the
hole and throw stars to the left to see where they bounce when they reach the
little platform. After that jump onto the stars and wait until they get close to
the platform on the right and jump onto it. The jump isn’t that hard really.
Once you are there all you have to do is walk right to meet the boss. Scroll to
the end of this level to find the boss strategy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you went down the pipe on the left, you will end up inside the ship with
several Blobs each carrying around a Cannonball. Hit the two that you see from
the pipe so that you don’t get damaged by a Cannonball. Fall to the ground and
jump up the steps to get a Yellow Potion and possibly a Fireball from one of the
Blobs. Head left where there will be two more Blobs at the end: one on the
barrels carrying around a Cannonball and another on the block near the exit
pipe. Hit the first Blob at a distance and jump over the Cannonball.
Now jump onto the barrels and hit the Blob and then jump into the pipe. On the
top charge up a star and walk left to meet Mr. Fuzzy, a curious looking fellow
who looks like he’s a relative of Cousin It from the old Adam’s Family show. He
will chase you and jump at you when you jump but not much else from what I’ve
seen. Don’t worry about him jumping since he doesn’t do it often, just avoid him
and pummel him with stars. It will take three stars to finish him off.
Once he’s gone you can jump up the steps on the left and the barrels further
ahead until you reach a large Cannon sitting at the end of the ship – which
seems like a odd place to place it in a videogame. This is where you will find
the second special item in the game. The idea is that you have to get onto one
of those Cannonballs that this metallic monster is firing out. You can’t fall
here either or you will either die or end up near the beginning of the level
again. In other words: use a save state here if you are using an emulator.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GETTING THE SPECIAL ITEM: Push the Cannon left until it falls off the side and
onto the little platform below. Get onto the Cannon now and inch your way left
until you are on the very edge of it. Wait here and time how long it takes for
the Cannon to fire – and now the hard part – press left a split second before a
Cannonball comes out so that you walk onto it. The Cannonball will carry you to
the far, far, far... left where there will be a platform and a wall that extends
a ways down but you shouldn’t have any trouble.
That wall is the reason you couldn’t just leave the Cannon at it’s original
place because you would hit it and fall onto the islands below. In this case you
can jump onto the platform once the Cannonball gets close and head into the pipe
on the left. Grab the special item and continue on until find the large black
and lanky-looking bird. Wait for it to start flying away and jump onto its body
and not the wings or any other part of it’s body. It will carry you to the top
sail of the ship where there will be an item waiting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once you are back on the ship, or the top sail to be exact, you should charge a
star and continue right. There will be two Blobs will be waiting there right
away as well as a Blob of the flying variety. Toss your star to get rid of them
and the flying one if you want but it’s a quick little bugger. A couple more
Blobs should appear further ahead and after that the platform will come to an
end. A second bird will be on the right which will then fly toward you if you
wait a bit. Jump onto it when it gets close enough and grab the Yellow Potion.
If you missed the bird and you want to get the Yellow Potion you can jump to the
left to get back to the start of the ship. You will have to trudge all the way
back to where the bird was found and do it over again. If you miss again I
wouldn’t bother going for it unless you really want it. Heh. Whether you get it
or not fall off the side and when you land at the bottom – on the other side of
where you first appeared on the ship in fact – walk right to meet the boss, none
other than a second Fuzzy but this one has a sword.
For those people playing the European version of Gimmick an Alarm-Clock Blob
will appear on occasion. It will be asleep but wait up and start ringing which
then wakes up the boss. The Blob will to start to walk around making a general
nuisance of itself until you defeat it. I haven’t seen this happen in the
Japanese version yet but I found it funny enough to mention it. Just another nod
in favor of the European version. Now to beat down the boss...
BOSS: Pirate Fuzzy is relatively tough boss. This guy has a sword that he uses -
----- both to attack you with and to block your star attacks – he will also rush
at you with his sword and afterwards start to jump at you. He will mostly move
away from you and rush at you when you get too close. If you corner him he will
jump over you – this is an easy way to get in a hit but you have to be careful
to not get hit yourself. There are three practical ways to do this battle with
as little trouble as possible. First off, get close, jump and then toss a star
while you are in the air.
The star should pass over his sword and hit him in the head. Getting close
enough to do this without getting hit yourself is tough but it’s the quickest
way to get in a hit. The second way is to bounce stars along the ground and
especially while he’s swinging his sword to get in a few hits. The third way is
to hit him whenever you see him jumping around. A quick and cheap way to defeat
this guy is to make him fall off the ship on the right. You have to be
aggressive and push him toward the edge and then hit him to make him fall.
Otherwise it will take five hits to defeat him.
Oh yeah, don’t touch his sword once he’s gone because it will still damage you.
Level 3 – Forest
----------------
Level 3 has you trail blazing through the forest. And a tough forest it will
turn out to be in fact. This level is quite a bit harder than the first two
because of all the cheap hits and hidden (or hard to avoid) traps. Walk right
and hit the Foxes that will fall out of the trees. You can just toss a star and
it will hit them but they also jump once in awhile. Keep throwing those stars
and you should clear them out in no time. It will take two hits to defeat each
Fox and there will be three of them.
They will usually drop a Bomb after you defeat one which you will need to get
the special item. When you reach the water and small portions of land, jump
across each until you are at the cliff. Some rocks will come tumbling down that
cliff which you can avoid by jumping back to the left. One of the rocks will
likely reach you there so you will have to jump over it at some point. Once
that’s done you can climb the cliff to reach the underground waterfall – where
there are a series of blocks to cross of course.
Wait for a moment or two when you jump to each of the small platforms for a log
to fall down. A group of Ball enemies will start jumping across the small
platforms after you. You can continue jumping to the right or just hit the Ball
enemies as they get close to you. Once you're on the opposite side of the
waterfall, head right until you reach the Bug enemy at the bottom of the slope.
I hope you have a Bomb handy as it's the only item that can defeat the Bug.
Stand on the edge of the slope and jump and throw the bomb down. It should blow
the Bug to bits and let you grab the special item through the tunnel below.
Grab it quickly since a bunch of arrows will shoot at the platform it's on and
then continue down to exit.
Grab the Yellow Potion on the platform to the right and then head left until
you reach the top of the waterfall. You have to quickly jump across or the logs
will take you to the bottom, where the platforms were, or possibly kill you. On
the other side there will be two Electrode Ball enemies waiting and path
through the ground further ahead.
You have to proceed carefully through the cave since there are cheap hits and
deaths aplenty here. Walk left until you're standing just to the right of the
gray rock. When the gray rock falls the piece that breaks off should miss you.
Jump onto the platform over the spikes and jump up again to avoid the arrows
that the Cannon fires from the left.
Jump up the slope to the curious looking item on the ground. That's a Mine.
Don't step on it or you'll be sorry you did. Instead, jump over it and the
explosion that will likely follow after you clear it. This next part can be
tricky so listen up. You have to slide down the slope and jump when you reach
the part where it's less steep, to the patch of ground ahead.
After that, you have to quickly jump again to avoid the gray rock overhead. On
top of the slope is a tough enemy that throws little rocks at you. It will also
block your shots with the leaf that it's holding. Stand midway on the small
part of flat ground between the slope and the spikes and jump and shoot a star
toward it. The star should bounce off the slope and hit the enemy on the head.
A couple more shots like that and it will be killed, leaving behind a Yellow
potion. Drop into the hole ahead and continue forward until the first gray rock
falls. The next group of gray rocks are harder to avoid since there are a whole
bunch of slopes leading down toward them. The second one can be avoided by
jumping onto the top of the slope there and then again when it falls.
In order to avoid the next two, you have to carefully jump over the slope,
slide down a tiny bit and then jump back to the right to avoid getting hit. It
requires some precision but it can be done. Once you make it through, jump into
the hole to reach a whole new area of the stage - an underground lake. Stand on
the edge and shoot some stars downward to kill the Worm moving around below.
The second Worm can be killed by jumping onto the tree below but on the left
side so the worm doesn't jump toward you. Shoot a couple of stars at it and
continue on to the right. There will be some more Worms ahead but you can just
jump over them easily enough or kill them. Just to warn you though, a few of
them might chase you if you don't do them in.
Soon after that, some mutated-looking insects will start flying by. You can
jump onto them if you need to, and you might, since they have a tendency to get
in your way. Keep going until you reach the hole in the wall after a series of
steps. The boss is inside the room past the small hole in the wall. Just
ahead... up the sloped platforms. If you just jump and don’t slide back down you
should be just fine. I hope you have your health and an extra potion on hard.
BOSS: The Snail is a pretty TOUGH dude. You might want to consider saving state
right here if you using an emulator. Pray if you are actually using the real
cart. The Snail will crawl out of the water and start to continually fire a beam
of energy at you every few seconds. It will keep moving toward you until you hit
it at which point it will slide back into the water. At this point you should
position yourself near the top of the slope and jump over the beams as they come
toward you. Once you are ready, allow yourself to slide down a little until you
are under the part of the ceiling that’s crumbling and toss a star at the Snail.
It should hit the boss directly without bouncing if it’s close enough. It takes
three hits to finish off the boss.
Level 4 - Ruins
---------------
Walk to the right and throw a star at Nessie, who will be waiting for you in the
water further ahead. It will start shooting fireballs out of its mouth but once
you do some damage, it will become docile and take you across the ocean. Avoid
the Pterodactyls on the way since you can't really kill them but you can jump
on them if they get in your way. Jump off when you reach the opposite shore.
Further ahead there will be an ostrich with a Blob on it. You can knock
the guy off of the ostrich to avoid the other Ball enemies along the way. If
you didn't hitch a ride, you should just avoid the other guys and make your way
to the temple wall. Jump to the left when you're on the small ledge and fire a
star ahead to clear out the first Ball enemy with the bow and arrow.
Take care of the other two Ball enemies on the ledges ahead and continue to the
left. When you reach the top, shoot a star down the hall to knock the arrows of
the Ball enemy ahead out of the way. Don't jump when you fire it or the star
might disappear in a poof of smoke and you'll get hit in the lull. There will
be some more Ball enemies ahead and then a hole in the ceiling.
Head through the hole and head right. Notice the white lines in the narrow
passageway ahead? Those are spikes that will pop up or down as you get close to
one. Jump over the low ones but don't take too long or you'll get the point
from the spike wall moving from the left to the right. Keep going and then jump
across the hole to nab the sought after Yellow Potion on the ledge.
Jump to the left, fall off the side and then jump over the two flames shooting
out of the ground. Yet another Ball enemy, this one with a headdress, will come
from the left at this point. Jump up and toss a star at it to knock it out and
the two other Ball enemies that come after you ahead. When you see the second
set of flames, stand next to the first one in the set and jump over it.
The third set of flames should be simple to avoid and another bunch of Ball
enemies will accost you once you get past the flames. You can just avoid them
if you want since there will be a reasonably high piece of ground ahead that
they won't be able to reach. There will be a fourth set of flames ahead, this
time they are somewhat high from your position so you'll have to star power.
Stand a little bit to the right of the pillar in the background and bank a star
off of the lowest part here so that it shoots back up. Jump onto it and then
jump again to clear the first flame and ultimately the second flame. Continue
through the hole in the wall to reach a mini boss of sorts - a large Ball enemy
with an axe. He's a tough customer. Be careful.
It will jump around and throw its axe at you, which will fly back to the Ball
enemy when it stops momentarily in mid-air. You should jump around and toss
stars at it when it's on the ground. Jump over it's axe and keep you're eyes
peeled since the guy is rather quick and has no problem bouncing around while
the axe is still flying.
It takes three hits to vanquish the punk and after that just continue on until
you reach the screen with two different paths. The top path leads to the
special item and all of the frustrating jumping puzzles therein. The bottom
path continues on with the stage. In order to get into the top path, you have
to face the wall on the left from the edge of the raised ground.
There will most likely be some trial and error before you find the exact
position but once that's done, toss a star while you're in the air, jump onto
it, and then jump into the hole where the top path leads. Head right and fall
off the edge but don't go anywhere yet. Stand a little to the right of the
opening you just fell through and toss a star at the wall on the left.
If you do it correctly, the star will bank off of the wall and bounce off the
edge further to the right. That's where you have to jump onto it when it
starts sliding but jump to the small platform on the right when it falls down.
After that is a series of platforms that fall not long after you jump onto them
so you have to move quickly. On the far end is the special item.
Now, fall off the side and jump over the gray blocks since flames will shoot
out after you walk over them. Continue up until you reach the opening you where
you came in from. Face right in the opening, close to the lower wall, and jump
and shoot a star against the wall on the right. That should make the star
bounce around and hopefully with you on it to get to the top.
You can finally go down the lower path now. Continue on down and then left
until you reach the small platforms leading up with a few Ball enemies. Ignore
them and head upwards to the boss of the stage. A rather charming egg awaits
you that soon hatchings into a pain in the ass bird that's fairly difficult to
defeat.
BOSS: The Little Bird starts out in an egg but it will quickly hatch.
Stand on the side of the screen and wait for the egg to hatch. It reciprocates
your movements almost exactly: you move left and it will move left; you move
right and it will do the same; you jump and it won't do anything worthwhile...
but tossing stars at it is another story. If you toss it low, the Bird will jump
and upon landing will shoot a row of tiny birds at you. If you toss it high, the
Bird will just jump over it and shoot more tiny birds out at you. There's a
fairly simple way to defeat this boss though. Walk toward the boss, jump and
then shoot a star at it. With a little luck, the star will hit it and kill some
of the tiny birds the boss will likely fire at you. Three hits will knock the
boss down but it will get back up and attack more aggressively. Two more hits
will do the boss in for good. Yay!
Level 5 - Mines
---------------
The Mines are hard, hard, HARD, and the boss is a real bitch to defeat too.
Head right, jump onto the platform provided and let take you down. There will
be a Fuzzy waiting on the right ledge here, firing missiles at you. There are
two ways to do this part. You can jump down onto the ledge below the Fuzzy and
fall into the hole further on to clear a tricky spot below. You have to do this
quickly or the Fuzzy will drop down and hit you.
You can also dodge the missile the Fuzzy fires at you by jumping onto the
platform that's going up, waiting the missile to get close and then jumping
back onto the first platform. This is tougher to do but it's your choice. When
you make it to the bottom, jump across the water and you'll be in the clear for
awhile. The key to getting the special item is here too, via the switch.
To get to that switch you have to use the second method of going down with the
platform and dodging the missile. Stay on the platform afterwards and let it
take you back up to the top. When the platform reaches the right side but while
it's still near the top, jump to the right and land on the top ledge where the
Fuzzy was standing. Notice I said was. The Fuzzy shouldn't be there anymore.
When you get in there, jump across the gab and then jump onto the switch to
pull it down. That will open up the area where the special item is found. Now
you can continue on for awhile. Shoot the Frog sitting on the ledge and
continue on to find a whole bunch more Frogs sitting on a bunch of little
ledges. Carefully jump across but don't take your time.
The Frog you're standing on will eventually start jumping around itself,
carrying you with it. You can always just hit them. When you make it to the
other side, jump onto the tram cart, ignoring the Torch Ball enemies below.
You'll have to jump off again right away when you reach the water hazard ahead.
There will be another tram cart just beyond the water hole though.
Take it for a ride and jump off further ahead when the other water hole
appears. Another Fuzzy will be waiting on the ledge ahead. It will fire two
missiles at you that you'll have to jump over and walk under to avoid. Don't be
afraid to jump around on the ledges the dodge the missiles, the Fuzzy won't
damage you any further if you don't touch it.
After awhile, it will run to the left and into the water. Grab the Yellow
Potion ahead and go down the tube, where you'll land on another tram cart. Let
it take you for a ride. After traveling for awhile, another guy on a tram cart
will chase after you. It will fire bullets at you so it might be best, if you
can't dodge them, to jump off and hit the tram a few times to destroy it.
Kill the Ball enemy as well and continue on your way. Stand on the left side of
the tram and jump off to the left when you come up to the huge hole in the
track. Head down the tube further to the left after that. You'll be in a
different area now. Jump onto the non-conveyor platform and hit the Torch Ball
to knock it into the water.
Hit the Torch Ball off the higher conveyor and the other one on the lower
conveyor into the water. Grab the Yellow Potion on the small ledge and continue
to the right. There will be several conveyor platforms and a bomb hanging on
the ceiling at the end of the second one. The hole here is the path to the
special item if you pulled the switch earlier. Jump into the hole.
There will be a platform with a spring on it below. Jump to the left, over the
water and grab a few Bombs moving around on the conveyor. They will come in
handy for the boss, trust me. Once you've filled up your item slots, head back
to the right until you reach the small platforms hanging over the water. The
first two conveyors you see turn left.
Just walk against it and jump when you reach the edge. The third and fourth
conveyors turn right. Carefully jump across the two of them until you reach the
next group of conveyors that alternate between left and right until you get to
the special item sitting on a platform. In order to get up there, face right on
the small platform so that one of your feet is off of the edge.
Now, jump and toss a star against the platform so that it bounces and picks you
up in turn, and then quickly jump off onto the platform. Finally, jump onto the
moving platform in the right corner to get taken all the way back to the start
of this jumping gauntlet. It won't spring open on you. =) Head back to the left
a bit and jump onto the spring to reach the previous area again.
Press left as you're going up to reach the conveyor on the left. The conveyor
on the other side is too high. Jump across the hole and the two platforms
ahead, including the one where the bombs are hanging from the ceiling over it.
Jump forward a bit to activate the bombs close to the top when you're safely
onto the triangular shaped platform.
Do the same thing when you're going down the slope on the opposite side and
then jump over the water pit below. Continue over the small conveyor ahead and
jump onto the last piece of scarce non-conveyor ground before the boss. A whole
carload of cannonballs will start rolling down the slope. They won't start
appearing in force until you're safe so that shouldn't be a big problem. Head
right to meet the boss.
BOSS: Laser Guy
The two bosses that you encounter here are pretty damn tough so I hope you
grabbed some bombs from earlier in the level and still have most of your health
intact. But enough of that lets get this train wreck over with. The first boss
appears in a box that moves along the top of the screen that fires lasers down
on you.
The laser will speed up slightly each time you hit it, until it's nearly
impossible to avoid it. You have to go between the lasers and then jump onto
the conveyor to the right and toss a star or a bomb at the boss. You can only
really damage the boss while you're on the conveyor so you have to time your
attack carefully to avoid getting damaged.
After you hit the boss five times, it will blow and move off the screen to make
way for the second boss. The second boss is a large machine with quite an
armament, but it's easier to defeat than the last guy. It alternates between
three different methods of attacking. The first and second attacks are bullets
that go straight forward or in a spread formation.
The third is everyone's favorite attack... missiles that home in on you.
First you have to dodge the bullets and missiles, and then you have to jump and
toss a star between the bullets to damage the boss. The boss will also
gradually move to the left so you have to be quick. After four additional hits,
this boss will be wrecked and you'll finally be done with this level.
Level 6 - Tower
---------------
You start out having to take a stroll across an icy surface and over
(presumably) sub-zero temperature water. Oh, and of course, enemies that are
scattered here and there. Start walking right and blast the Fox and the Fuzzy
further ahead. Getting rid of the Fuzzy is simple enough but oddly, the Fox can
be a pain in the ass. It will follow you around, even jumping over the water.
You can jump onto it though or just try to goad it into jumping into the water
to be rid of it. Continue to the right, grab the Yellow Potion, and then enter
the tower. Walk right a little bit and the statues in the middle of the room
will come to life. You have to kill them to open the gate on the far right so
there's a bit of a battle ahead.
They use their maces pretty well, which gives them a long reach and you can't
really attack them from above because of it. Furthermore, they jump around a
lot while swinging their maces around so you should be jumping around as well
to avoid getting hit. Keep them on one side and wait for them to jump, and then
toss a star so that it damages them when they land.
It takes three hits to do each of them in. After which, the gate will finally
let you into the interior of the tower. Jump into the tube and then the group
of blocks beside the Ball enemy with the bow and arrow. Face away from it and
toss a star. It should bounce toward the Ball enemy and do it in so that you
can continue on.
Jump up the wall to the left and take out the first Ball enemy on the gear. Get
rid of the second one on the smaller gear by bouncing a star off of the big
gear. If you get impatient, just jump onto the big gear and hit the other Ball
enemy from there. Continue across the gear and enter the next tube on the
right. You don't have to bother with the Bomb on the ledge though.
When you emerge again, toss a star to the left to get rid of the two Ball
enemies on the gear ahead. This next part can be tough. It's a jumping marathon
across a long field of spikes. Make your way across and enter the tube and then
jump across the gears in the next room to the screen above. Stand on the edge
and jump left slightly to get onto the small platform there.
It never hurts to get more health so it's a good idea to nab the Yellow Potion
near the ceiling. Once you grab it, you can just jump down onto the small gear
and continue on until you reach the springs ahead. Jump onto the first one and
then the next, and then the small gear leading to the tube. You can also wait
on each spring to get your bearings and then jump up again to continue on.
The tube will toss you out and if you don't press back when you first enter,
you might fall onto the spikes below. Once you're safe, fall onto the big gear
below and continue onto the tube on the right. Walk left and stand close to the
left wall. Jump and toss a star against the wall and ride it to the tube
sticking out of the ceiling. Jump into it when the star gets close to reach the
area where the special item is found.
Er, not really, but you're really close now. If you have a Bomb on hand, push
the spring toward the right side of the Cannon and use the Bomb on it. If you
don't have a Bomb, you'll have to use the spring to reach the ledge where the
cannonballs are falling and wait until the Cannon shoots out a Bomb. Grab it
and do the part that I already mentioned.
Now, push the spring back to the left wall and jump onto the Cannon. I think
you know what you have to do next and it's not pretty. Basically you have to do
the same thing you did to get the special item on level 2, that is wait on top
of the Cannon until a cannonball comes out and then walk onto it and ride it to
the opening in the wall. If you can push the Cannon forward a little do so.
It will help. As you did before, you'll want to use a save state here if you're
using an emulator. When you make it, cross the spikes via the spinning
platforms and grab the special item. Head back across and enter the tube in the
room below. Ignore the item on the other side of the spikes and head down and
left into the next room. Jump onto the moving platform and then onto the big
gear ahead.
Keep jumping onto the next moving platform and grab the Pink Potion when you
see it further on. Jump back onto the moving platform and wait for the other
moving platform to get close and then jump onto the reach the end of this room.
You're near the end of the level and therefore it's necessary for a sub boss or
two, or even three... just kidding. Or am I?
Anyway, the first sub boss appears in the next room. It's a cloaked enemy
that floats around and shoots bubbles at you. The bubbles will trap you and not
allow you to use your star power on it. Just jump around and avoid them if you
can and throw stars at the guy when it's close to the ground. It takes three
hits to finish it off and then some blocks will appear.
In the next room, another cloaked enemy will appear but it's tougher than the
last one since it will drop icicles onto you as well as the bubbles. Do the
same thing that you did with the last one and you'll be alright. After you kill
it, a couple of blocks will appear again and you can continue on. The next
couple of rooms are empty but the final boss appears in the room after that.
BOSS: Cloak
The boss of the level is really a large version of the last two sub bosses. And
it attacks pretty much the same way as well, only it's much more aggressive. It
will stay fairly high off of the ground and start shooting bubbles at you like
crazy. If you get caught in one, it will start flying close to the ground to
try and hit you but it will do that anyway if you manage to stay clear of them.
It's pretty simple to avoid getting hit but actually hitting Cloak because of
the way it attacks is tough. The most effective way to damage it is to
purposely get caught in a bubble after tossing a star out. That way you'll get
Cloak to come near the ground and the star might run into it, causing damage.
It takes five hits to finish it off.
Ending 1
--------
If you didn't collect all of the special items in each of the stages, you'll
get this ending. All of the dolls were defeated but you couldn't find the girl.
The game starts over from the beginning at this point.
Level 7 - Castle
----------------
If you DID collect all of the special items in each of the stages, you'll be
able to play this level. It's a pretty simple level really. Walk to the right
and avoid the large white enemies that resemble a tooth and the Cat Blob
enemies. You can't jump onto the Cat Ball enemies because they will damage you
unfortunately. Continue on where you'll find a few more enemies and stuff, and
a tube on the far right.
Continue up the steps and enter the conveyor tubes ahead. Walk right two
screens until you reach a large open room with several potions sitting around.
You should grab the Yellow Potions and just ignore the other potion. Jump up to
the next room. Ignore the Cat Ball enemies inhabiting this area and just head
left. Toss a star at the ones in your way to make them run away.
At the far left, a Cat Ball will be waiting on small platform ahead. Get close
and it will jump off and chase you. Just jump over it and continue upwards.
Jump over the Cat Ball on the white enemy ahead and continue on. Further ahead
there will be a few more Cat Ball enemies and another white enemy, and you'll
be at the final boss of the game.
BOSS: Shadow
The final boss is a tall lanky fellow who's dressed in a black cloak which
obscures most of his body. He only has one attack at this point, a wall of wind
that moves away from him, but you can jump over it at the right distance. After
he attacks, he will teleport to a different spot. The easiest to damage him is
to wait until he teleports and does his wind attack.
Stand fairly close to him when he reappears and jump over the wind attack as he
uses it. And finally toss a star at him to do some damage. After you hit him
three times, he'll lose the cloak and start doing some crazy ninja moves as
well as a new attack. The new attack is just a volley of small white balls that
home in on you but they are easy to dodge.
He will start jumping around as well which makes it more difficult to damage
him. The best way to damage him now is to wait until he jumps and toss a star
at him when he lands. You likely won't be able to damage him any other way.
Keep away from him when possible and just toss stars when he lands. It takes
five more hits to defeat him where he'll explode into what looks like confetti.
Congrats. That's the end of the game. Enjoy the real ending.
Ending 2
--------
Gimmick will start walking through the palace until he comes to a door. He
finds the girl inside and she hugs him after he walks inside. The palace starts
falling apart as they both start walking outside and escape into their own
world just as the palace disappears. They end up back in the girl's bedroom and
they look out the window. After that the credits will roll.
===============================================================================
Closing
===============================================================================
Final Comments
--------------
Goodbye. It's been fun writing this thing for you all. Well, not really, but I
had to have something nice to say since this guide is almost at the end. Heh.
Just kidding. If you have any suggestions, comments, or constructive criticism,
please email me at with the heading Gimmick. All flames,
threats, childish comments, etc. will be deleted and you're email address
filtered. If you're planning on using this guide for your site, I'd appreciate
it if you emailed me first.
Credits
-------
Sunsoft for creating this game.
Pepsi and Mountain Dew for keeping me awake while I'm writing, as always.
And you for reading. Thanks.
Anyone else who contributes will get a nifty spot here, so don't delay,
contribute today!
End of Document________________________________________________________________
