BONESAW: THE WALKTHROUGH Written by DarthMohawk1 Version 1.1 Introduction to Bonesaw: The Game: The Walkthrough [IO] Welcome to my guide to Bonesaw! I’m your host, DarthMohawk1! As you may or may not be able to guess, this is a guide to completing the game in question without expending too much time and energy agonizing on how to do certain things, such as collecting the Golden Pucks or defeating the bosses. I have added a handy search feature so you can navigate my guide more easily. Just use Control-F and type the letters between the brackets. Make sure to include the brackets as well, or you might not get there immediately! If you read through this guide and still have questions, I have a YouTube account by the same name, “DarthMohawk1” (which is hosting a Bonesaw VIDEO walkthrough!!) to which you may send PMs if necessary. No, my real email address is not up for grabs, so you won’t be getting that. Table of Contents 1. Introduction [IO] 2. Version History [VH] 3. Walkthrough a. Tutorial Level [00] b. Area 1 – Plains c. Area 2 – Forest d. Area 3 – Bridge and Ice e. Area 4 – Mountain f. Area 5 – Sky g. Area 6 – Space h. Area X – Secret Levels i. Final Showdown [??] j. Viewing The Best Ending [END] k. Save File Manipulation [NG+] ***To find the walkthrough for a level, type the number of that level with brackets around it. Secret levels are denoted as X1, X2, X3, X4 and X5. 4. Appendices a. Secret Levels Script [XSc] b. Secret Rooms [SR] c. Title Screen Achievements [TA] 5. Credits [CD] Version History [VH] v0.2: Wrote a level guide for the first few stages. v0.3: Started walkthroughing the stages from the 4th world. No, I didn’t write this guide in the right order. Why do you ask? v0.4: Completed Worlds 4 and 5 in the walkthrough. v0.5: Wrote most of worlds 4, 5 and 6, as well as the details on some of the levels X. v0.7: Finished the secret stages and wrote a guide for the hidden boss and level ‘??’. Also updated boss HP levels to match data provided by Xerus. v0.85: Finished the levels in worlds 1 and 3. Only 3 stages remain, as well as two boss strategies. v0.93: All standard levels done; two boss strategies and two secret room details remain, as well as some merging from the damage value guide I wrote. v0.95: The bosses are complete. The secret rooms remain. v0.96: Secret rooms completed. v1.0: Finally finished writing the walkthrough!! Ohh yeahh!! v1.1: Had to fix the wrapping issues... for some reason, they don't wrap automatically in a TXT file. Introduction: Tutorial Level [00] When you start a new game, you will have to play through a short Tutorial stage. This level is designed to offer you basic training on your character’s abilities. You will start by viewing a short cutscene where the evil Ref M, this game’s antagonist, appears in the middle of a Clarkson Golden Knights meeting and put all the visible players into an “interdimensional penalty box”. After the Ref leaves, you will gain control of your character. A few notes before you start anything… You use the Z Button to jump, the X Button to attack, and the Arrow Keys allow you to move. Press Up to enter doors. Go forward from the start point. Do everything the tutorial text will tell you to. After you knock out two bomb blocks, climb the new platforms to reach a switch. This switch unblocks a gate to your right, so make haste to the gate. Enter the door on the other side. Use the uppercut to knock out the bricks above you, then jump over the tall structure and meet your first ball. You’ll be hating these things later; for now, simple attacks are all that is required to get it onto the pedestal. Past the gate is your first enemy – the generic SLUzer! Do note that enemy reaction times are very fast, so if you stand next to him and punch, he’ll probably score a blow himself. Fortunately, his attack only does 8 damage. Once he is dead, enter the door. Be careful! You only have 100 HP to work with, and the various enemies you will meet can deal between 8 and 16 damage, or more if it’s a boss character! (The first boss can deal 20 damage by jumping on you, to put it into perspective.) Do a low jump to get through the spikes (hold down when jumping, or just tap the button lightly). You never want to touch those if you have a choice about it – they deal 15 damage, more than almost any other generic enemy in the game. Then drop down into a fight club. First you defeat 2 SLUzers at once, then 4. When another 8 SLUzers drops down, press Spacebar to activate the secret weapon of the Golden Knights, the almighty BONESAW!! Using this weapon, you can easily carve up the enemy SLUzers and move on. Note that if you try to be sneaky and save your suddenly-full Bonesaw energy for later, your attacks will do nothing to the SLUzers. The ***BONESAW*** is a massively powerful weapon. While wielding its awesome might, you can use X to perform a basic slash, or blast a wave of Bonesaw energy forward by pressing X while moving. You can also do a spin attack with an aura of Bonesaw energy in the air. All three of these attacks deal massive damage to all enemies and bosses; the Bonesaw wave and spin can even deal damage to blocking enemies! In addition, while wielding Bonesaw, your health will regenerate itself at the rate of approximately 2 HP per second! Unfortunately, once active, the red Bonesaw bar starts to empty out naturally. When you run out of power, the weapon vanishes until you can regain enough power to summon it again. Fortunately, you can earn the required 2000 Bonesaw points by attacking enemies and taking damage. This is also a good time to mention the small orbs dropped on occasion by defeated enemies. Small yellow orbs add 8 HP to your health bar, small red orbs add 25 points to your Bonesaw bar, and small blue orbs restore both 12 HP and 50 Bonesaw! Also, if you find a LARGE yellow orb, pick it up for a full HP restoration! If you find yourself dying a lot and you need extra lives, there is only one way to get them: by killing things. For every 25 enemies that fall to your mighty blade, you will receive an extra life! Having said this, you should now go up the new stack of blocks and enter the door. Use the next screen to get a better handle on how Bonesaw plays by killing more SLUzers with it. The tutorial level ends after you exit through the last door. Area 1: Plains Level [01]: Hint: Be quick through the doors, and get those SLUzers! After completing the tutorial level, you probably still have between 500 and 1000 points of Bonesaw energy left. Go forward, kill a SLUzer, and climb on top of a brick structure to collect your very first Golden Puck. Drop down, kill a second SLUzer, and jump over the spike pits. Spikes deal 15 damage is you touch them, which is pretty hefty for this point in the game. In any case, go forward, take a Chicken-Cheese Steak worth +25 HP, and enter the nearby door. Now use a jump kick to knock out the bomb block and get the second Golden Puck. The move forward through the breakable bricks and kill a SLUzer. Drop down, bust a few more blocks and kill another SLUzer. Climb the ledges and come face to face with a green switch. Hit the switch ad scramble through the temporarily open green gates. Enter the next door. Continue forward through the level and knock out another bomb block. You will see a second one nearby – hit it with a jump attack to make the third Golden Puck fall down to where you can reach it. You will then see a Tough Puckie on the bridge-like structure to your right. It can breathe fire at you if you let it, so jump around and kill it from behind. Then go forward to the flagpole. If you continue past the flag, you will notice a bomb block stuck deep inside the wall. What’s up with that? It’s a mystery to be solved later. Anyway, the first real level is complete! Level [02]: Hint: GOLDEN PUCKS will make the Bonesaw charge faster! Yes, it’s quite true! With all 105 pucks, you get ~200 Bonesaw for executing an uppercut combo and 40 points for getting hit! Whereas with 0 pucks, you get quite a bit less – obviously at lower levels, you’ll be relying a lot more on getting red and blue orbs from dead SLUzers, Tough Puckies, and the like. There are 3 pucks hidden in every level – the more you can grab, the better! Start by going right and following the path as it goes along. You’ll have ample opportunity for fighting SLUzers and Tough Puckies here. When you see spikes on the right, make three jumps across them. The first will net you a Chicken-Cheese Steak. The second will land you farther across the spikes, and the third will net you Golden Puck #1! The jump back across the spikes and go left and up to enter a door. Hit the bomb block to unseal the path and create a colorful bridge across the gap, the drop down and go right. You’ll have to do some jumping to get across a long gap; fortunately the platforms are wide and the ‘!’ sign warns you of the dangers of falling (You Die). You will see a switch you can’t reach, so drop down and go around the sides instead. Climb up the shaft with the spikes on the right, eat a Chicken-Cheese Steak, and jump up to a ledge next to a bomb block. You can’t hit this block yet (not without Bonesaw, anyway), so more than likely you’ll have to skip it your first time through. If hit, the block takes you up to a ledge with a SLUzer, a few spikes and a Golden Puck! In any case, go left and drop down to land on the red switch, which unseals the doorway you must go through while sealing the path you took to get to the switch. Break the block walls to get to the next door. From the start, go up the triangular ceiling and left from there. The third Golden Puck is guarded only by a cannon which shoots explosives at set intervals. If you get hit, worry not, for a Chicken-Cheese Steak is ready for use to the right. Climb the breakable-block wall, then touch the flag. Level [03]: Hint: There’s no penalty for slashing in this game. Start by going forward. There are a few bricks obstructing a bomb block which, when hit, will drop the cannons to the right into shallow holes. To the cannons’ right you will see a crack in the floor. If you have Bonesaw, you can break this now; otherwise you’ll have to wait until later. Needless to say, Golden Puck #1 is down there. Climb a vertical shaft with a few Bombsnails on the left sides. At the top, a SLUzer and a Tough Puckie await you; do with them what you will. Knock out the bomb block to advance down and past the cannon to the right. Grab the Chicken-Cheese Steak if you need it, then enter the door. Break only the top two rows of this wall; if you do, you will be able to jump up a narrow cliff face to reach Golden Puck #2. When it is yours, drop down and go forward. You will see a glowing red hockey stick. Touch it to claim it as your own! The ***SLASHER*** is your first hockey weapon. As its name implies, it is a standard beat-em-up hockey stick. The Slasher will allow you to strike from a slightly longer distance away and hit bricks embedded slightly into a wall. It also increases your damage output considerably. Also, your jump kick is changed into a Slasher spin attack, somewhat akin to the Bonesaw spin, except that it isn’t nearly as wide and doesn’t negate enemy defense. Be careful, though – if you get hit while carrying the Slasher, you will drop it and must retrieve it before it disappears! Anyway, use the Slasher to hit the bomb block on your left, releasing about five SLUzers from above. They should be no trouble to take care of now. You may enter the next door once all five are dead. Go right, take a Chicken-Cheese Steak, and kill a pair of enemies. Break a part of the block walls to get over the solid bricks to the right. Kill or avoid two Bombsnails, hit the bomb block, and leap to the right where the sign tells you to. Avoid the two cannons and shimmy down to the right. If you still have the Slasher, you should be able to hit the bomb block to make a bridge. If you don’t, you’ll need to make a precise jump to the right and land on a one-block-wide ledge before entering the next door. Start by destroying all eight of the breakable blocks to your right. When you hit the bomb block, you must race to the right and catch the third Golden Puck as it falls from the ceiling into the gap. If you miss it, you should only jump into the pit and die if you aren’t also missing the first Puck. Success or failure, touch the flag. Level [04]: Hint: Bouncing the ball to the pedestal will open doors. Start by attacking the bomb block to make some platforms. You will eventually need to go up and hit the red switch, but the switch is on a timer and there are a lot of SLUzers on the path ahead, so wait until you kill them all to do so. When you flip the switch, dash to the right, collect Golden Puck #1 on the other side of the two gates, then double back to enter the first door. If the gates shut when you’re on the right, you will appear above the door at the end of the room two paragraphs down, and unless you have a Slasher or Bonesaw, you won’t be able to grab Golden Puck #2. Break the blocks in your way as you progress right. The only obstacles on this screen are a cannon and a Tough Puckie. Break some more blocks and drop down past a gate. You need to insert a ball into a nearby pedestal to convince this gate to rise, while avoiding a cannon and some Tough Puckies as you go. Double back when the task is complete to collect your prize, then forge a path to the right. Use an uppercut to take out the blocks above you, kill some SLUzers and jump over the Tetris blocks to arrive at the next door. Yes, I said Tetris blocks. Xerus’s mind works in mysterious ways. When you hit the bomb block, a Chicken-Cheese Steak falls down, as well as some bombs. You can use these to blow a hole in the wall to the right, but it is much better to use jump attacks to remove the breakable bricks above it, which will reveal a hidden door. If you took the hidden door, Golden Puck #3 is yours! Whether you grabbed it or not, mosey on down the line and jump past some Bombsnails. Don’t fret if you fall – there is floor under the platforms, as well as some SLUzers. At the far right of this screen is the flag! Level [05]: Hint: Attacking head on may not always work out. This is your first boss encounter. The boss levels always are divided into 3 segments: a pre-boss area, the actual battle, and a power-up area. Each section has 1 Golden Puck in it. In this level, go right until you see the boss door, but don’t enter it yet! Instead, hop into the bushes nearby and hit a hidden switch, which will make some blocks appear at the left side of the screen and allow you to access the first Golden Puck. The go back to the door and enter it. Drop down and approach the middle of the arena. A large SLUzer will drop down from the sky as the music changes, talk some smack, and decide to rough you up. If this is your first time visiting 05, the following text will appear: “What do you think you’re doin’ out here, kid? “You look like you’re from that team that’s a lot better than SLU… “SO I BETTER CRUSH YOU!!” If you’ve beaten him before, he will say this instead: “What, you again? “You want a rematch after I DESTROYED you last time? “…what?” Regardless of whether you’ve been to 05 or not, the fight now begins in earnest! ***BOSS: Slushie HP: 205*** Slushie has a mostly simple pattern, but you should take the time to familiarize yourself with boss mechanics as you fight. For starters, bosses are not usually vulnerable to your attacks, except at specific times. Indeed, if you step up to Slushie and try to punch him, he’ll uppercut you for 12 damage and send you flying to the top of the screen! Obviously that’s not a good idea, so don’t try it. If you want to hurt Slushie, you need to hit him when he is vulnerable. Secondly, bosses usually deal a lot more damage than regular enemies! This may not be immediately apparent with Slushie, but you don’t want him to stomp on you after he jumps, because that will deal 20 damage! For comparison, the average SLUzer’s punches deal 8 damage, and the Tough Puckie does 12. Slushie’ shockwave attack does 10 damage, but that is an acceptable amount as it is not his primary attack, and he is only the first boss. Thirdly, as bosses lose health, they gain additional attack methods! For Slushie, once his HP is about halfway through the yellow bar, he’ll start dropping large boxes down after landing from his jumps, which will then careen around the area until they break. You can hit these boxes with quick reflexes and hope to hit him with one, but it’s hard to do and a much easier method of dealing damage is available for this fight. Now that I’ve yammered on about bosses in general and Slushie in specific, you’re probably wondering how to defeat him so you can try your hand at the next world. Slushie is vulnerable after he uses his shockwave attack, which occurs after he jumps and lands. If you jump over him to dodge the attack, you’ll see him stop for a moment to catch his breath. You can take advantage of this time to attack! If you have a Slasher, that’s good, because your damage output should be increased, meaning it takes less time to beat him. Slasher is good for another reason, but it has nothing to do with the fight, so I’ll refrain from saying what it is quite yet. If all else fails, use Bonesaw!! Bonesaw does so much damage to everything that it’s funny. Just use the spin attack to get past Slushie’s guard, and he’ll die in just under the speed of a hockey puck put into the enemy net by a Clarkson forward player. As you whittle Slushie’s health down, keep on jumping around him, as he is not very mobile. Eventually, you’ll defeat him, which will trigger a long-winded explosion cutscene. The thunder in the background will stop, and stairs up to the right will appear. If you still have Bonesaw or the Slasher, you can hit a bomb block to make an additional step appear, yielding you the opportunity to take Golden Puck #2! Then enter the door. (Duh.) ***END BOSS FIGHT*** Hit the first bomb block you see to drop Golden Puck #3 down. If you try to be clever and hit the other one, you fail, because now you can’t get the puck. There are two Chicken-Cheese Steaks available for healing on this screen. Take them and touch the flag. One world down, and several more to go! Area 2: Forest Level [06]: Hint: Trouble with the ball? Try the jump kick. Start by dropping down from above. Destroy some blocks and a SLUzer, then go right to a door. There is a bomb block above the door, but if you don’t have a weapon (apparently the Slasher is just long enough to hit it), you can’t hit it get up to Golden Puck #1. Go right across the logs, killing some Tough Puckies as you go. You need to go clockwise through this screen, eventually going down and left to a bomb block and a switch. Then go back to the top-right and break through the cracked blocks in your way, passing through a gate to the next door. This screen is simple – get the ball into the hole. As the hint suggests, use a jump kick if necessary. Above you is a cannon. It is very possible to jump onto the platform it is seated upon, which will grant you access to the top half of this section. On the far right of the top is a Slasher, which is very useful. The next step is to jump into the spikes, be bounced back onto the ledge, and jump through while you’re still invincible. This will let you grab Golden Puck #2. Then you can drop down and start going towards the bottom of the area, where you will go right and up. At the far-right of the screen is a door and a bomb block; hit that with your Slasher to open a path to the top. You will be able to snag Golden Puck #3 from there. Once it is in your pocket, go back to the door and enter it. Go right from here and trigger the bomb block to grant you access to the switch you will pass on the way. Go back and press it, then go right, climb up and hit the other switch. You will then have a few seconds left to get under the gates. On their other side is the flag! Level [07]: Hint: Be careful in the dark! Gravity also works. Start by going forward. Avoid or blow up a Bombsnail, then approach the nearby bomb block. When you hit it, it will remove the floor from beneath your feet. Make a quick jump to the left to snag Golden Puck #1 before you fall. You can also use the Bonesaw’s ranged attack to hit the brick from afar as well. Kill a Catepillar, jump to the right and use the spring to ascend the shaft. At the top are two SLUzers for you to beat up, followed by a door. As you can tell, this room is dark, making it harder to navigate. (If you’re playing on a low-end computer, it might also slow down the framerate.) The gist of this room is to find and hit the two switches that activate the gates blocking access to the door on the right side of the room. You can also find a pair of Chicken-Cheese Steaks with the switches. The obstacles you need to worry about here are a number of Catepillars and a single cannon towards the bottom of the room. If you start going right, as you are wont to do anyway, you will find your progress impeded by a rather large wall in your way. Drop down and go to the right underneath it to find the source of the problem: a bomb block above a spring will remove the wall when struck. However, if you just drop down like a mediocre platformer might, the spring won’t be able to shove you high enough into the air for you to reach it! You need to jump on the spring from slightly higher off the ground to get enough momentum to reach the offending block. Once you’ve hit the block (or fallen down while trying), go back to the left. You can take another Chicken-Cheese Steak if the Catepillars or SLUzers roughed you up a bit, then arrive at a curious block structure with a cannon, some bombable bricks guarding a switch, and Golden Puck #2 behind the gate it activates. Now, you have two options here. Option #1, actually trying to solve the puzzle the way it makes itself sound like it should be solved, will involve a lot of frustration and therefore you shouldn’t do it. Option #2 is far more satisfying: use Bonesaw’s curved energy blade to hit the switch without bothering yourself about the bombs. Or you could come back later with the weapon you'll be getting next level and use it instead, if Bonesaw isn’t ready. When you’re done with the bottom area, climb back up to the top via a spring and some jumping, and pass through the wall that isn’t there anymore. You’ll meet a pair of SLUzers before the next door. Go up from your starting position. A fourth Chicken-Cheese Steak is available for the taking (wow, four in one level?), but your target is just above it: a ball inside a block cage. Release it from its prison by hitting the bomb block, then start hitting it towards the right. You may need to use the jump kick a few times to get it over the land; the switch is on the right side, near a second bomb-block and a wall. Victory earns you the third Golden Puck. When it is safely stowed (or you’ve given up, in which case Bonesaw may be too awesome for you to be playing safely), exit the screen via the next door. Avoid or kill the SLUzer, then use two springs to get over the large gap and arrive at the flag! Level [08]: Hint: Try not to bash your head into those spikeys. Four Bombsnails stand between you and a spring which, when used, takes you straight to a door. Don’t fall down, as there are spikes there. Go forward from here, navigate the spike-filled passage, and hit both bomb blocks. Then jump up onto the left-side blocks and flip the switch, which will create a platform for you to stand on to reach Golden Puck #1, if you can get back to the top. You may have to take damage when climbing up the shaft because of the spiked ceiling, but it’s in the name of a good cause, so there. When that business is taken care of, go back down the shaft, drop down on the left and fight a few enemies before arriving at the door. Go right, drop down into the fight club and take the glowing green hockey stick! The ***CUTTER*** is your other hockey weapon. While it doesn’t add significantly to the amount of damage you can do at once, it does offer a very handy ranged attack extending almost to the visible edge of the screen! And after the stick goes flying, it will return to your hand without fail every time, letting you hit SLUzers coming and going! Like the Slasher, though, you don’t want to get hit while the stick is hand your hand, as you will drop it. On the other hand, it’s OK to get hit while the Cutter is doing its thing in the air – you’ll take the damage, then catch the stick as it boomerangs back to your hands. Once you’ve grabbed the Cutter, a bunch of enemies will fall from the sky. You will have to face, in order: 5 SLUzers, 12 SLUzers (or thereabouts – there’s so many I can’t count them all!), 5 Tough Puckies, 4 Catepillars, ~8 Catepillars, and a Super SLUzer. Hmm… that’s 34 enemies right there, which means that you’ll earn at least one 1-Up, and possibly two if you were more than halfway to your next one anyway. Fortunately, the Cutter was designed specifically for destroying mobs, so you shouldn’t have much trouble, especially if one of the enemies is kind enough to drop a large yellow Max HP orb. You may have some difficulty with the Super SLUzer, though – he likes to block your attacks. Fortunately, he can’t jump and block at the same time, so jump and throw the Cutter at him when he jumps as well. Eventually he will die, awarding you Golden Puck #2, and a Chicken-Cheese Steak will fall from the sky as blocks appear on the right for your use. This screen is one long obstacle course. You will need to avoid spikes and kill Catepillars as you run, jump and bounce your way from one end of the screen to another. Some cannons also lie in wait for you to come near so they can shoot you. Try to keep the Cutter on hand; it makes things easier in later levels. At the far end of the obstacle course is a door. There is a Chicken-Cheese Steak above the start point in the next room for your use. Then go left and hit a bomb block embedded deep within the wall to rise up to the third Golden Puck. On the other side of the start point is the goal flag. With the Cutter in hand, now may be a good time to go back and get some of the pucks you couldn’t get on your first pass in earlier levels. In particular, the first puck in Levels 3 and 6 stand most out in my mind. You could also go back to Level 01 and open the bomb block you saw at the end of the level previously, but even though it leads to “Level ??” in my walkthrough, you won’t be able to do much there yet. Either way, you’re probably about a quarter of the way through the game at this point, so you’re doing well if you even got this far! (Most people give up on Slushie, or so I am told) Level [09]: Hint: Don’t stand still under that cannon, it’s after you. To the left of your start point is a spring, covered by a pair of bricks so that you cannot use it. To unblock that spring, you will need to find the switch, which is on the far right side of the screen. To get there, you will pass by a few spikes, SLUzers, and other miscellaneous enemies. Eventually you will arrive at the door, which you should skip for the moment. Look down when you see the ! sign to find the switch in question, then go back to the left side and grab Golden Puck #1. An X sign and a cannon on a clothesline are just to your right. Obviously, what the game wants you to do is go right across a series of platforms and avoid falling into the death pits beneath you. On your way there, you will need to attack a few bomb blocks to remove obstructions in your path. Of course, the rogue cannon is something to worry about as well – it shoots straight down and tries as hard as it can to follow you. On the far side of the chasm is another door. To progress in this room, you need to go down and right to find a blue switch first, then go back around the other way to reach the door. You’ll need to watch out for a pair of Bunnehs lying in wait for you to step near them. If you don’t want to risk death at their hands, they shouldn’t be that hard to avoid. The Cutter is highly useful for attacking these foes, and you can also use Bonesaw if you need to, but if you do and you are without a Cutter, you may regret it later. Specifically, when you get to the blue gate, nearby is a set of blocks suspended over a bed of spikes that should only be broken with the Cutter, as it is unsafe to do otherwise. Snag Golden Puck #2 from there if you are able to, then move on. A door right next to you! Oh, but the bomb block just covered it. Well, you were kinda expected to take the long way around anyway, so it’s no big deal. Jump from a bed of crumble blocks to obtain a Chicken-Cheese Steak if you need it, then drop down. As you work your way around the spikes and enemies, you will find a second Chicken-Cheese Steak on the other side of a cannon – possibly more trouble than it’s worth. Eventually your counter-clockwise circuit will be complete, and the door will be available for use. Go left first – all that stands between you and Golden Puck #3 is a pair of jumps across a rather forgiving set of crumble blocks. You don’t even need to jump back – the bomb block nearby sets up a bridge for you. When that’s taken care of, go back to the right for the flag. Level [10]: Hint: Score a puck by beating the boss without Bonesaw. Start by going right. You will hear the ominous pre-boss music playing. Jump to the right onto a ladder of crumble blocks. If you have skill and persistence, you will eventually be able to climb up this ladder to get Golden Puck #1. There are no obstacles in your way other than that. Jump across the springs and onto the battle stage. A purple bush-like caterpillar will rise up and grow clawed hands. He’ll talk some smack before the fight begins. “I thought I smelled human. “What gives you the right to trespass in this forest, beating up innocent snails and catepillars? “Let’s see how you like it, shall we?” Or, if you’ve played this level before: “Why have you returned to this place, human? “I’ll be sure to properly show you the door this time.” Regardless of which block of text you read, now you have to throw down with the second boss! ***BOSS: Muzzy HP: 360*** Stop! Don’t touch that Spacebar yet!! As the hint is kind enough to tell you, using Bonesaw during this, or any of the following boss fights, will prevent you from earning the second Golden Puck! And if you’re going for 100%, you’ll have to do it at some point, so practice up now! Muzzy is a greater challenge than Slushie ever was, by a landslide. He has a fair amount of HP, although it shouldn’t take more than four combos to kill him, and his attacks do moderately high damage. Just as attacking Slushie head on was futile, so too with Muzzy – step to close and he’ll slash you with his claws, knocking you back into the spikes. This does 18 damage, so don’t get hit by it! The spikes themselves are an ever-present danger, although you’ll only hit them if you jump on the springs. For his other attacks, Muzzy will walk back and forth on the small arena before eventually stopping to perform an attack. He can either charge up briefly before spitting out poison gas, or shot a number of bouncing explosives at you. The gas attack can do a lot of damage, but if you can stand behind him he won’t be able to hit you with it at all. The same goes for the bouncing ball attack. When Muzzy’s HP is low, he will ramp up the number of exploding balls he shoots, as well as using a number of shining stars as projectiles. These only deal 9 damage, but there are a lot of them, so be careful and dodge like a pro. Having described the boss’s attacks in full, I now explain how to defeat him. In order to make the boss vulnerable, you need to knock him backwards into the springs, where he will bounce up, bonk his head on the spikes, and be stunned onto the area for a short time. Unfortunately, none of your regular attacks (sans Bonesaw) will shove him backwards at all. Therefore, to open him up for a beating, you need to hit one of the bouncing explosives he makes so that it crashes into him instead. Use a grounded kick for best results, and stand about 4-5 blocks away for the best positioning. Once you hit him, he’ll be bounced back onto the small arena, where you can start cleaning his clock. Just be aware that if you hit him back onto the springs, his stun timer does not reset and he’ll probably get up again anyway! To avoid this, always uppercut him towards the center, and when he stops flashing his “weak” palette, step away so you don’t get hit with a flying fist to the face when you’re done. If you aren’t killing Muzzy fast enough for your liking and you didn’t complete the first secret stage, you might want to consider doing that. It’s obviously hard and challenging, but the increase in damage output is very noticeable – perhaps as much as a 50% increase. I didn’t make this game, so I don’t know the exact values. Eventually, Muzzy will run out of life, and explode in a spectacular 15-second-long cutscene! If you didn’t use Bonesaw, good job – Golden Puck #2 is now yours! If you did, oh well – you’ll have to come back another time, preferably when your Strength is higher. Anyway, the spikes no longer hurt you, so go through the door on the right side. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** Again, there are two Chicken-Cheese Steaks to be had on this screen. The first one is in plain sight, while the second one is not. To get both it and Golden Puck #3, you need a weapon (anything will do, whether it be Bonesaw, Slasher or Cutter) so you can break the bomb block while standing as close to it as you can. Bricks will rise up from beneath you, allowing you to access the goodies up top. Collect them, then jump down to the right and touch the flag. World 2 complete! Area 3: Bridge and Ice Level [11]: Hint: Pay attention. Breakable blocks may hold secrets… Yep. This is the bridge level of the “Bridge and Ice” world. Nothing too fancy, except that Kyle decided to put two Bunnehs into the first screen, along with a smattering of other foes. The jumps on this part of the level aren’t too challenging, either. Eventually, you’ll arrive at a door. If you want Golden Puck #1, you will hate this screen. Look up above you – that’s a ball pedestal there on the roof of your starting position. Guess where the ball is? On the other side of the screen, of course! Anyway, dodge a few cannons as you progress right, then drop down through some crumble blocks and press a switch suspended over some spikes to open a gate up top. Climb up on the left side of the pit area, then go right. If you use the spring, you can get a Chicken-Cheese Steak above the cannons. To the right is a Bunneh; kill it, of course. Past that is a Tough Puckie and a bomb block which you don’t want to hit, because to its right is the ball. You need to use a series of jump attacks to get it to the pedestal; get rid of your weapons first, though, because trying to move a ball with the Cutter is like eating your own foot with barbecue sauce drizzled on top – no matter how good it looks, you’re still eating your own foot. And, for that matter, avoid using Bonesaw on that ball, no matter how good it looks – it’s not going to ricochet into the hole like it sometimes does on other levels. (Yes, I tried it. The results weren’t pretty.) Once you either get the ball into the pedestal and grab the Puck or give up, drop down into the hole made by the bomb block and stop! (No, it’s not Hammer Time.) Use a jump attack to knock out the breakable blocks above the door and enter the other door. If you took the hidden door, a Cutter is yours! Now enter the other door. Go up, kill a SLUzer, and drop down. Make your way past the field of spikes and Bombsnails, then go up, kill some SLUzers, and enter the door behind the breakable blocks. Go forward, kill stuff, and drop down through some crumble blocks. You will land near a death pit, on the right side of it. Use your shiny new Cutter to break a bomb block suspended over the pit and cross the new platform to arrive at Golden Puck #2’s hiding place. Then go forward more, cross some spikes, and spring up to a door. Break the blocks, but do it in a way that lets you get up to the top of the wall on the other side. (That means only knock 2 blocks out of the top row and leave it at that.) If you did it right, Golden Puck #3 will be available for taking. If you did it wrong, you fail, and need to touch the flag to slink off unnoticed. Either way, Level 11 complete! Level [12]: Hint: Some enemies like to hide in snow, watch out. The first screen of this level is fairly plain. While the ground has many ruts and plateaus on it, there are few dangers, as the only immediately visible enemy is a Tough Puckie. Four SLUzers jump out of the snow in the background, though, so watch out for them to avoid getting slapped! At the far-right of the screen is the first door. Go right, cross the bridge of crumble blocks, and drop down along the right edge when you reach it. You will see Golden Puck #1 behind some blocks, but nothing to help you get at it. After you fall down, you want to go left, across some slippery ice and some spikes. Three SLUzers are hiding in the snow here, so watch out. Climb up and to the left, avoiding the cannonballs, and you will reach a bomb block. Hit that to gain access to a red switch. When you have it, you can go back to the right and jump on a previously blocked-off spring to reach another bomb block. If you haven’t gotten Golden Puck #1 yet, the bomb will make a small outcropping for you to fall onto if you go back up and around to reach it from the top. Fight two Tough Puckies and enter the door. Avoid or kill two Spikeys as you pass through the corridor. Go up and down through it, collecting a Chicken-Cheese Steak as you go, until you see a door with a bunch of blocks under it. Look above the door and jump onto the ledges on the upper-left wall, then break through a block tunnel to get Golden Puck #2. Then drop down and hit the cracked blocks (but not the bomb block, or you lose access!) to open up another door. If you took the bottom door, you will be rewarded with a Slasher. Use it to kill 5 Tough Puckies and a SLUzer, all of which jump out of the snow. Then enter the door. If you took the top door, you’ll have to go through an enemy-infested area with a blue switch at the top-left. You need to press that to open the blue gate preventing access to the door. Whichever path you took (and it had better have been the bottom one!), break some bomb blocks, fall down and go right. You see the bomb block stuck into the wall? Hit that and ride the elevator of blocks up to the top, then make a blind jump to the right to land on a pedestal with Golden Puck #3 on it. If you mess up, go kill yourself on the spikes and try again… but wait, you need a weapon to try again, so you can’t! Blargh!! Go right and touch the flag. Level [13]: Secret Room #1: Within a Deep Forest Room is located within this level! Hint: It’s getting a little windy… just go with it! The first screen is a standard screen. Just go right, kill a few enemies, including a Tougher Puckie that spits a lot of energy orbs at you as its method of attack, and enter the door on the other side. This screen has erratic wind on it. To progress, you will need to find and kill all the SLUzers hidden in the background. But if you want the first Golden Puck, you may skip the kill fest entirely and use the springs at the right side to get above the door and claim a Chicken-Cheese Sandwich. Wait until the wind blows left, then hold left, rocket past two platforms and jump to a ledge with a door on it! In this small room, fight a Super SLUzer to get Golden Puck #1. You will then appear in the room that you would be in if you hadn’t taken this detour. Ah, a cannon! You need to give the cannonballs a kick at the proper locations (e.g. the single block in the snow) to get it to the bombable wall. If you’re slightly more daring, you can follow the cannonball to its usual destination and try to blow yourself up to the ceiling, where the hidden area is located. In any case, pass through the door when you’re done. The wind blows against you here. Jump across the slick ice until you get out of the tunnel, at which point the wind stops. Go find a red switch at the bottom of a shaft halfway through to make some blocks appear, which will allow you to get up to an ice tunnel leading to the next Golden Puck. Beware of the Jumpers that pop out of the background; they like to bounce around leaving fire trails in their wakes. Fortunately, they don’t deal much damage, and are very easy to kill. When you want to move on, go to the far-right of the screen, spring up to a blue switch and race back to the blue gate at the bottom of the shaft. To get there faster, only use low jumps. When you hit the bomb block, immediately use the spring before the passage is sealed. Try as many times as necessary to get Golden Puck #3 before killing two Pengweens and arriving at the flag to end this level. Level [14]: Hint: That pesky ball is back. Relax, and take your time. Start by going forward and passing by a Bombsnail. The bottom path has spikes on it, so you’ll need to jump off of the ice blocks and avoid the two Tougher Puckies to get to the other side of the pit. Continue on the path, past a Pengween, and drop down beneath a cannon. At the end of the path with the spikes is a door. On this room, you need to flip a blue switch and get a ball to a pedestal. To do this, stat by dropping down on the left and going left. Jump to the small outcropping slightly to the left, and climb a short shaft. A Spikey and a Pengween guard the switch, which also has a Chicken-Cheese Steak near it. When it is flipped, you can go the rest of the way to the left to access the ball. It will be difficult to maneuver across the ice, but if you hit the ball with Bonesaw at the apex of its bounce from the starting position, it will fly straight to the pedestal, saving you a lot of time and effort. But don’t do it if you haven’t opened the gate yet! That would lead to a lot of time-wasting. Hit the bomb block, stand still for a moment (or you’ll get shoved through the roof and be forced to commit suicide to continue due to a strange glitch!), and then go through the red gate and the door on its other side. The wind is blowing erratically here… If you aren’t armed, break some of the bricks on the left side of a Chicken-Cheese Steak to find a Slasher on the other side of a door. Go around and up, then go right a bit, ignoring the blue switch. Use the wind to build enough momentum for a long jump over to an outcropping on the wall which hides Golden Puck #1. The go back to the switch, press it, and run to the blue gate on the right before it closes. If you get stopped by the Pengweens, kill them and try again. Go right, kill a Pengween, collect a Chicken-Cheese Steak, and thread your way through a corridor with spikes in it. Use whatever weapon you have on hand to break the right-side blocks of the bridge to access Golden Puck #2, then hit the switch near the door. And when I say “switch”, I of course mean “bomb block”. Anyway, use the wind to get up to the new platform and carefully cross the high-up platforms to get to Golden Puck #3 on the left side. When all that is done, enter the door. Hold right on this screen to get across the spike pit. Touch the flag to clear the level. Randy Savage, please stop shouting in my ears. Level [15]: Hint: Spikeys made of ice aren’t as strong… Okay, it’s time for another boss fight. Climb up the ledges on the right, jump over the boss door when you get to it, and break through the wall on the right. Flip the switch, then go all the way back to the left and climb a new set of blocks for Golden Puck #1. The go all the way back to the boss door and enter it. Drop straight down from your starting point. If you don’t trigger the boss cutscene from there, walk to the left until it happens. You will see a large penguin jump onto the medium-sized platform and talk some smack. “’sup dude! “I’m a flying penguin, what’s up with that? “I’m the boss around these parts, so that means we have to fight!” Or if you’ve been here before: “Yo man! What’s new? You came back for another fight? Well let’s go!” Either way, it’s time for some more boss fighting! ***BOSS: Penguino HP: 480** You’ll notice the relative smallness of the battle area as compared with the size of the room. Several of Penguino’s attacks are designed to knock you off the platform, which will lead to your untimely demise, so try to avoid those. For his part, Penguino has 3 attacks. He can raise his arms (wings?) briefly before flapping them and causing both wind and ice spikes to fly in your direction. You can break the ice spikes with attacks, although it’s obviously a lot easier with a weapon than with your fists or feet (the Cutter is best suited to the job, as you can bounce it off Penguino’s body to ready it for another spike much faster). He can also do a slide much like his Pengween brethren, which, while not that dangerous in terms of health lost (16 damage), will cause you to go flying in the direction he hits you – jump to avoid it or face possible death. Fortunately, Penguino telegraphs this attack by rubbing his nose for a moment before charging. Finally, the ice world’s boss can charge up with ice energy, during which time if you touch him you will take 10 damage, followed by shooting an ice beam which will freeze the ground (and you if it connects), making it more slippery for a while. When his health is low, Penguino will shoot 2 ice beams instead of one, making it that much harder for you to avoid it. How do you beat Penguino, you ask? Well, like Muzzy before him, if you use Bonesaw at all during this battle you won’t get Golden Puck #2, so that’s not an option. Instead, wait for him to use his ice beam, then attack his nose while it flashes red briefly. This will stun the boss for a while, allowing you to lay into him with a few combos and/or your hockey stick of choice, assuming you haven’t dropped it yet. If your strength is Lv3 at this point, it only takes 3 passes before he goes down for the count; if it’s Lv2 or Lv1, it will take significantly longer to beat him down (especially at Lv1). Just be careful not to knock him off the platform while roughing him up, because he’ll just fly back onto the stage and end your window of opportunity for attacks. When Penguino is dead, grab Golden Puck #2 if you earned it, then exit to the right. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** On this screen, take the Chicken-Cheese Steak, the hop to the right. You see a bomb block and a hole in the ground near some ice. Yes, you have to catch Golden Puck #3 before it falls in after hitting the block. If you fail and have lives to spare, hop in the hole and try again. Regardless of your success or failure, take another Chicken-Cheese Steak and touch the flag. You’re a little under halfway there! Area 4: Mountain Level [16]: Hint: Watch your step, that lava will drain your health. The first screen of this level is fairly straightforward. Just go right from the start, knocking down two bomb blocks, and face off with a Tough Puckie and two Tougher Puckies. While the Tough Puckie may be skipped, the Tougher Puckies may not. Then enter the now-accessible door. You will go forward a bit before crossing some crumble blocks above a spike bed. A Jumper and a Spikey are there to confound you, so kill them with caution. Two more Jumpers and a Bombsnail are near and to the right of a cannon. Beat them and continue onwards. Step on a crumble block to access a bomb block, which unblocks a spring for your use. Spring onto the platforms above the door, then jump back onto the spring and go left. The only thing between you and Golden Puck #1 is a Tough Puckie. When he is dead and the Puck is stowed safely in your pockets, enter the next door. Kill the Tougher Puckie you see here and drop down after it. Cross the treacherous lava lake, collecting a Chicken-Cheese Steak along the way. With some skill, you can get onto the pipes above you and enter a door blocked off by a breakable wall. Kick down a bomb-chain wall and bust a hole in the pipe wall. Defeat a SLUzer and go right. You see a ball on a pedestal near two Catepillars; kill or avoid them as you jump-kick the ball onto the ledge above and to the right. Golden Puck #2 is your prize; collect it and flip the orange switch to make some blocks appear to the far left, enabling you to get back to the entrance door. You obviously can’t fall through the fire streams nearby, so jump around them and cross the lava again. If your health is low, grab the Chicken-Cheese Steak again – it respawns each time you reload the room, whether by dying or enter/exiting the door with the second Golden Puck behind it. Continue across the lava, killing a SLUzer on the way and obtaining an additional Chicken-Cheese Steak. If you should chance to knock an enemy into the lava, it will die instantly, so make use of that. Ascend the right wall, passing by the fireball pipes, then use a jump kick to flip the orange switch. Make haste under the matching gate before it closes (this problem is made much easier with the use of a Cutter, but unless you went backwards after defeating Penguino, you might not have one). You see the lava flowing from a tube – it’s every bit as dangerous as the lava pools. In any case, descend the shaft and go right, watching out for enemies and obstacles along the way. You will eventually come across a Slasher; use it on the nearby Bunneh. Then hop up the breakable block formations and jump over the visible wall – you should just make it. On the far right of the screen is Golden Puck #3. Once it is safely stowed, return to the left side and defeat two more Bunnehs. Incidentally, this is a good place to use Bonesaw, although you might want it more for level 17. There’s not much more to this level – just jump over the lava pit and touch the flag. Level [17]: Secret Room #2: Lyle Room is located in this level! Hint: How about a game of hide and seek in the dark? The first room is fairly simple; you’re going counterclockwise around it until you arrive at the first door. The only foes here are two SLUzers and a cannon. This room is dark – as the hint implies, the Tough Puckies are hiding, and you must seek them out to enter the next room. Drop down from the start and go around, avoiding spikes and killing stuff on the way. There are a number of Chicken-Cheese Steaks hanging around the room, typically behind breakable walls, so if your health drops too low you can refill it fairly easily. When you kill the third Tough Puckie, you’ll see a blue switch. You can flip that and run through the path created by the bomb-block to get a shot at grabbing Golden Puck #1. (Use a low jump to get through the blue shutter before it closes.) When that’s done, you can go up, right and down to reach the last Tough Puckie and, eventually, the door. More darkness. Break the bricks in front of you and kill a Bombsnail. There’s a switch here you need to press, but don’t flip it quite yet. Instead, perform a jump attack against the blocks above and slightly to the left of the gate, which should reveal a door. Jump across the lava pits and grab Golden Puck #2 on the left side. If you have Bonesaw, you can go left here (yes, across the lava – Bonesaw makes you immune as long as it is in effect) to reach a well-hidden door leading to the Lyle Room. Otherwise, go back to the right and reenter the other dark room. Defeat all the enemies here again, then use the switch to access the door behind the gate on the right. If you want more Bonesaw power, you can use the door trick to respawn the SLUzer and Bombsnail any number of times. It is no longer dark. Blow open a bomb block to make a path for cannonballs from a cannon to the right, then blow open access to the spring. Use it to reach another bomb block, which allows you to climb up the wall’s side. Do an uppercut to grab Golden Puck #3 from there. Past the cannon, you may see a suspicious-looking bomb-block, but even if you knock it open with Bonesaw or the Cutter, it’s not a real door – more specifically, it’s the exit door from the Lyle Room, and the door only works one way. Continue to the right, destroying enemies as you go, including two new ones – Bugger, a grub-like enemy that shoots fireballs from its sides, and Lavonym, a round foe which jumps into the air when you approach and sets itself on fire while gliding down into you. On the far side of the room is the door. Jump through the jumping fireballs and fireball pipes to reach the next flag. Level complete! Level [18]: Hint: There’s gotta be a way to get up on that ledge, right? Advance to the right from the start point. Knock down a bomb block, then face two Lavonyms. Go down and around past the cannon; you’ll have to fight a Bugger shortly. Use the nearby spring and climb up and to the right by knocking out a section of pipe. You must then flip an orange switch and hastily cross a lava bed to grab Golden Puck #1. Jump back to the left, kill two more Buggers, and enter the door. You can go two ways here – left or right. Star with the left side, since there’s a hidden door to be found there. Work your way down and around on that side; you’ll have to avoid some fireball-spewing pipes, a SLUzer and a Lavonym. You will come upon a green switch. You can press it if you want, but if you plan to enter the door behind the cracked blocks it won’t matter. Jump through the moving spikes and across the lava to acquire a Cutter. Jump further to the right and use it on the bomb blocks embedded in the walls to make ledges for you to climb. You will then be able to access a door hidden behind some cracked blocks. Enter it to appear on a ledge above the two gates you need to go through with Golden Puck #2 in sight. Then drop back down. Flip the green switch again, or go to the right side. There are a few Bugger guarding the red switch, as well as four synchronized fireball tubes. When both switches are pressed, go back to the left side and enter the door behind the two now open gates. Take a Chicken-Cheese Steak as you progress to the left, then get ready to do some fighting, as a SLUzer and four Buggers will jump out of the background. When you climb up and to the left, drop down the wide hole – it’s not deadly by itself, and indeed, Golden Puck #3 can be found there. Just be cautious, as low ceilings and lava do not make for a good combination, especially with crumble blocks involved. Then use the spring to go back up and to the left. You’ll then face three more Buggers and a turtle-like enemy known as Mr. Big. He is slow, and ground-bound, but if his uppercut attack hits you it takes off 16 HP, along with causing high knockback. His health is also somewhat high, so either use Bonesaw/Cutter or try to juggle him as best you can. When he bites it, the wall goes down, allowing access to the next room. Oh sizzle my frizzle, it’s a white ball! Before you start moving it, I’d recommend that you knock out some of the bricks in your way first, so you don’t have to chase the ball all across the room trying to get it to do what you want. When it is in place, the relevant gate opens and you get a Chicken-Cheese Steak for your troubles. Fight 3 more enemies as you progress to the right. When you reach the far side, the flag sits in the open. Touch it and clear the level! Level [19]: Hint: Just don’t panic and blast your way up! Advance to the right. Use the bomb blocks to sink the cannons into the lava, destroying them. You will then encounter a Lavonym; do with him what you want. Then go through the door. Clear out some of the nearby enemies before you attempt the jumping challenge leading up to Golden Puck #1, as you don’t want them to be in your way. You need to climb a ladder of crumble blocks and jump to the left with pinpoint precision to grab it. After you grab it, or 10 minutes pass (whichever comes first), drop down and pass through the fireball gauntlet, then climb up the ledges to the next door. This is the rising lava room. From the start, drop down and go right. Knock out as many bricks as you can reach before you press the switch. If you want to grab Golden Puck #2, you need to stay mostly on the left side. Continue to bust down the blocks and eventually you’ll reach the top. Take two Chicken- Cheese Steaks at the top and skedaddle! Hop to the right, knock a hole in the wall and take the Cutter stick presented to you, then use it to flip the switch from a distance and pass through the gate and the next door. Jump to the right and advance until you see a switch and a Lavonym. Don’t attack the enemy yet; instead, lure him onto the switch so you can obtain Golden Puck #3. Once you have the puck, feel free to kill him and, at the right side of the level, touch the flag. Level [20]: Hint: You have to be fast if you want to survive this one. The pre-boss screen is fairly straightforward. Just go right, and knock out the blocks next to and above the second bomb block you see to gain access to the first Golden Puck. Then jump across the lava pits and eventually meander your way down to a door, which you will have no choice but to enter. Now go right and approach the Bugger in the middle of the room. It will flash for a moment before changing shape into the form of a more boss-like creature. He’ll talk some smack before deciding to rough you up for the crime of being in his room. “Greetings, boy! “You’ve overstayed your welcome in these parts. “Allow me to show you the door. Or the lava in your face. Either one is fine. Or, if you’ve been here before: “Perhaps my message wasn’t clear last time. “You won’t be leaving this place alive this time!” Boss fight go! ***BOSS: Beetlebarg HP: 575*** Beetlebarg has a variety of attacks. He jumps around erratically; you generally don’t want to be near him when he’s doing that, because he could start actually attacking you. Also, there are lava flows on the sides of the room that you really don’t want to touch; a tricky feat to accomplish due to Beetlebarg’s attacks having moderate to high knockback. To start with, Beetlebarg is very mobile, and move just as quickly as you do. He can’t do much to you if you’re in the air, short of jumping into the air himself and dropping fireballs on you. While on the ground, he can shoot a variety of types of projectiles. The deadliest of these is the fire wave – it only does 12 damage, but if his fist contacts your body you will be knocked straight into the lava flow, which will easily add 20 to 30 more points of damage to you in a hurry. He can also create two fireballs that start out slow but gradually pick up speed and will attempt to home in on your position. While jumping, Beetlebarg can create a spiral of fireballs which is fairly easy to dodge, or shoot two large fireballs straight across that drop lesser fireballs down as they move. Obviously, the safest place to be during that attack is directly under the boss. Finally, Beetlebarg can shoot two pairs of pink orbs that hover in place for a moment before exploding – this does 15 damage, somewhat more than his lesser projectiles, which tend to do 8 or 12. When Beetlebarg’s health enters the green area, some of the floor covering the lava will break away, greatly reducing your workspace. Beetlebarg takes no damage from the lava – indeed, if he steps in it, he catches on fire for a while and does 8 damage if he touches you. The key to defeating this boss is the pink exploding orbs. Sure they hurt if they touch you, but if the explosion touches Beetlebarg at all he will be stunned and unable to move for a while, giving you a chance to combo him for some good damage. As in previous boss fights, if your strength level is at its attainable maximum (here that would be Lv4), you can polish him off in 3 or maybe 4 rounds. You really want to avoid touching the lava, because that will deal the most damage to you. Eventually, he’ll die, and you’ll be awarded the 2nd Golden Puck for the level. Eat 2 Chicken-Cheese Steaks as you progress right, then jump over the flag and knock a hole in its base on the right side. You’ll enter a tunnel that leads around to the third Golden Puck. Then jump back over the wall and touch the flag. Act 4 complete! Area 5: Sky Level [21]: Hint: You gain a lot of speed from those springs… There are two springs to your left – one to send you up and one to send you to the right. The rest of the screen is fairly linear – just avoid or kill two SLUzers and take note of the transparent blocks. Enter the door on the far side. Climb up and to the left. You can go over the cannon, and should, but when you hit the red switch start going down further. There is a door down there you should enter. Avoid the spikes, make the jump, and grab a Cutter stick. Jump right further and use your new weapon to deal with a Super SLUzer who, when defeated, will drop the first Golden Puck. Then use two more springs to get back to the door. Hit the bomb block to make a path back up to the top. Go back around to the red switch and use it, then hit the spring and run to the right. If you do it right, you should be able to take a flying leap past the door on the right side all the way over to Golden Puck #2. If you do it wrong, you’ll either stop short or die. Either way, exit the room when you’re done with it. You now need to go clockwise around this room. Eventually you’ll be able to get up to a spring set and a green switch, which will open the gate you must pass through somewhat to the right. You then go further to the right, fight some SLUzers, use two springs, and enter the door. The sign says to go down, so do so. Use the spring set to get around with a bomb following you to blow open the wall leading to the next door. Climb over the door, however, to reach another area. You must use a Cutter stick to knock open a new platform for you to land on to eventually get to Golden Puck #3. (No Cutter, no luck – a flying spinkick breaks the bomb block but send you plunging to your doom.) Then return to the door and enter it. Use the spring to dash across the crumble blocks and through the red gate, then touch the flag. Short and to the point, this level. Level [22]: Hint: Keep up your speed if you want to succeed. Take note of the lava at the bottom of this screen. Your objective is to make your way up and around to the bomb block visible from the start. To do this, go right, then up and left, avoiding fireballs on the way. When you see springs covered by bomb blocks, knock them out and go up. Somewhere at the top of the level is the first Golden Puck. When you have it, drop straight down on the left side to reach the blocked-off spring you were headed to. The use the springs to make your way to the right. As the hint for this level implies, when you go flying in a direction you should hold down the relevant button so you can continue onwards. You’ll encounter a couple more SLUzers before more springs bounce you left and up to a door. This screen is very large. To start with, make your way through the heavily spring-laded area, then go right for a while. Near the right edge of the screen, you’ll see a spring and a sign pointing left. Use it. With a bit of skill and two precise jumps, you’ll go flying far enough to the left to grab the second Golden Puck to the left of a red switch. Use another spring to go back and hit the switch, then climb up the spring shaft nearby and pass through the red gate before it closes. Grab a Chicken-Cheese Steak to your left, then start crossing the lava. You’ll need to knock out parts of the pipe walls to advance in some places. On the far side, use the two springs to get up to a long flat area with two Cloudy enemies. These clouds chase you around while dropping fire bolts; they can be very annoying but as they don’t have much life and only deal 8 damage per strike, it’s not that hard to kill them with a jump kick or any weapon. When you’ve killed them, go left, use the switch and spring back to the gate before it closes. When going back to the gate, try to use only low jumps so the time you spend in the air is decreased. You’ll see a door; go past it and to the top to find a Slasher, a cannon and a Cloudy. (You can ignore the ledge if you’re already armed.) On the next screen, climb up to reach a ball. Ugh. Before you do anything to it, knock out the cracked blocks above it and enter the hidden door there. Cross a transparent block bridge to reach a Golden Puck and a bomb block. To get this puck, you have to hit the bomb, then fall in such a way that you never get stuck on an outcropping, grab the puck while in midair, and then pivot to the left to get back on solid ground. If you miss the puck on the first try, just go back up to the door, exit and reenter to try again. Now hit the ball to the right and do your best to help it get through the spring maze. When you get through it, bust a pair of bomb blocks and enter the door. Cross a transparent block bridge and do some fighting! (Or ignore the enemies… whatever floats your boat.) At the far side of this screen is the flag. Now that 22 is complete, you can go left from the location of 23 to access Secret Stage X4. Of course, you need to have missed no more than 5 pucks to actually play through it at this point. Level [23]: Secret Room #4: Soko-Doko Room is in this level! Hint: There are many ways to kill an enemy… Oh noez, a ball puzzle right at the start of the level! Not to worry, young Padawan! Just activate Bonesaw and hit the ball from its starting position and it will fly straight to where it needs to be! Then all you have to do is walk to the right until you reach where you need to be! On this screen, you’ll see a blocked-off Cutter stick – how does one grab it? Anyway, go right for a while and eventually you will arrive at some transparent block ledges. Climb them, then go left. You’ll have to do some springing up and to the left and cross a few more platforms to get Golden Puck #1. If after grabbing it you hold Left as you fall, you should be able to snatch the blocked-off Cutter. The make your way back to the transparent blocks and go right. You’ll have to do some springing to activate both switches long enough to get through two gates to the next door. On this screen, drop down and prepare to find and kill five Lavonyms. Their collective deaths will open up the ceiling of the left side, letting you jump out and go left. Go above the door and use the spring to gain some speed and jump across a pit to acquire Golden Puck #2. You will have to make two jumps; you made just one? Oh well, you dead. When you’ve got the puck, go back to the door. If you’re interested in some ridiculously hard platforming for a nice reward, go left without spring power and when you see the chains, drop down onto one of them. In that direction is the Soko-Doko Room. Now carefully go left, avoiding or killing the two Cloudys. You’ll reach a spring on the left; use it to bounce to the right. Flip the red switch, drop down and use it to run right across the crumble blocks. Then spring up and to the left to reach the door. There’s a Chicken-Cheese Steak above it for your use. Break open all the bomb blocks, then go past the flag and use the spring there to bounce across all the springs and reach the third Golden Puck above the spikes. Then go back and touch the flag. Level [24]: Hint: Sometimes you just have to hold right. Start by taking out the Bunneh on the ground floor. Your objective is to get to the top-left side of the room. You can do this by climbing the platforms and breaking bomb blocks. There are also some springs on the right to give you a boost of speed to reach the door outright. You can go over the door if you want, but nothing is there except death. This room is an obstacle course. You have to go right while avoiding death by cannonball, Bombsnail, jumping fireball and lava. Fun, yes? On the right side, there is a door hidden behind some blocks you can go into. Break all the bomb blocks you can see, then go back to the cannon. For it to be at the right trajectory to blow up the blocks on the left, it has to be pointing partially up, so jump lot and hope not to get shot too much. Also, on the second pass, you’ll need to kick the bomb at some point to nudge it over enough to blow up the second half of the wall. Success awards you a Golden Puck. Then go back to the door, exit, and take the door I had you skip previously. Start this room by holding right as you cross the lava and grab a Chicken-Cheese Steak. Go right across the precarious platforms, then climb the spring shaft. Kill two SLUzers, then use the very top spring to bounce left far enough to crash into a stop platform very close to the 2nd Golden Puck. Take it and go back to the springs, the drop down to the left and enter the door there. Hold right on this screen as you fly straight to the next door. OR DIE!!! On this screen, avoid the Catepillars and the Bombsnails, then use the spring on the right to blast back to the switch and jump to the red gate. Knock out a few walls, then claim Golden Puck #3. Exit via the path created by the bomb block, then jump left to view some graffiti saying “Obey Wick”. Huh. Anyway, you need to go right from here, use springs, yadda yadda yadda. Kill a Mr. Big, then touch the flag. Ugh, I did not like writing this level. Level [25]: Hint: Don’t get caught up in that dive-bomb attack! Start this level by going to the right. Cross a platform under the high-speed power of a spring, then bounce off of two springs to get to a higher platform near Golden Puck #1. If you mess up, you can use the other springs and drop down on the left-pointing one to give yourself another chance. Use a few more springs to get around and to the right, then cross a transparent bridge to arrive at the boss door. Drop down to the bottom of the very tall arena and go to the center. The boss music will start playing as a rather large dragon falls down and challenges you to a brawl. “Holy crap, a dragon! “You were totally thinking that, right? “You know, it’s great that you got this far. Really. “But now, I’m going to have to break your face! Or, if you’ve been here before: “Yeah, so… sorry about before. “I know, I overreacted… but hey, if you want to fight me again, I won’t try and stop you.” Boss fight go! ***BOSS: Dragonia HP: 700*** Dragonia is rather large, and tends to stay hovering a short distance off the ground as long as you don’t walk directly underneath her. (Jumping through her is OK, though.) If you do, she will immediately try to fall down and stomp on you, although it won’t hurt all that much. She tries to follow you around as much as possible, although if you can stay out of her crosshairs for long enough, she will ready one of several attacks. Her biggest and most dangerous of them is the dive-bomb attack, where she will glow red for a moment before slamming herself into the ground in your direction. You can dodge this by jumping, or by standing directly underneath her, since her probable path of motion is diagonal until she actually hits the floor. Do not get hit by this attack! It deals 30 damage and sends you flying into the air – three such hits and you’re pretty much dead! Most of Dragonia’s other attacks involve shooting fireballs. She can spit out an array of glowing green orbs, which explode after hanging in the air for a moment. This attack (and all of her fireball attacks, actually) is telegraphed by her glowing green for a moment before attacking. Contact with Dragonia while she is charging the attack will also cause damage. Sometimes she will spit out a fireball which runs across the ground while spitting fireballs straight up into the sky at regular intervals. At lower amounts of health, she will turn herself transparent and obey the mechanics of the transparent blocks you’ve seen in this world – e.g., the closer you are to her, the more invisible she becomes. Obviously, this can be troublesome if she decides to try to dive-bomb you, since unless you catch her glowing red, you’re not likely to be able to dodge out of the way of her path and avoid taking a truckload of damage. Dragonia’s dive-bomb attack is her strongest method of offense, but it is also her weakness. After crashing onto the ground, she will lie on it for a moment before getting back up. This is your chance to run over to her face and hit her horn, which is glowing red for the moment. A successful hit will allow you to start beating up the boss with a series of combo attacks. Unfortunately, if you’re too close to a wall when Dragonia drops onto you, she will probably embed her weak point into the other side of the wall. You can try to use a few kick attacks to jostle her away from the wall enough to hit her, but it will be difficult and most of the time you will fail. The Slasher’s extended melee range is highly useful for this task, as it reduces the distance you need to move the boss before she gets to the optimum range. When Dragonia’s health bar reaches half yellow (the bottom layer), she will turn red as the floor crumbles away, revealing a bunch of springs (and a bed of lava beneath them). The boss will take to the air, stopping to spit out fireballs occasionally. To get high enough to hit her, you need to use the springs on the sides of the room to lift yourself vertically. Dragonia tries to stay slightly above you, so you’ll probably have to chase her halfway to the top of the room before you can begin to spinkick her. Your attacks do not deal much damage, but since Dragonia has very little health left it shouldn’t take too long to finish her off. After a successful run up to the top of the room, drop back down to the bottom on one of the sides before you climb up again so that you can avoid getting hit by an errant fireball. Admittedly, your chances of defeating the boss are much higher if you can keep a lot of your health available for the second half of the fight. Eventually, Dragonia will fall, and so will you (fortunately the lava hardens when this happens, so there’s no danger from dying while the boss death cinematic plays). Collect Golden Puck #2 if you earned it, then exit the room to the right. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** This last screen is very basic. The terrain is completely flat except for a ledge on the right side with the flag, and a hole in the bridge where the third Golden Puck is housed (as well as a spring; just try not to fall down and die while grabbing it). Area 6: Space Level [26]: Hint: Lasers will fry you instantly, even with Bonesaw. Start by going right and using the launch pad to blast over to the right. See that laser beam there? Blow up the bomb block and watch it destroy some SLUzers. Yeahhhh. You don’t want to touch those, because if you do, you die. Even Bonesaw has no effect on the lasers of death. Continue to platform right until you reach an upwards-facing launcher. Use it, then enter the door located where you land. You’ll see some more lasers ahead. These will switch from on to off and back again every second or so, so if you have to pass in front of their path, be quick. The smaller lasers that appear just before they fire in full force are a warning not to be there when they do switch. When you traverse the terrain, you’ll have two SLUzers to beat up. Then use a right-facing launcher to go in a circle before busting through some Speed Blocks and hit a pinball triangle to be sent flying up. You want to fall left when you hit the ceiling. Grab a Cutter if you want one, then fight a Super SLUzer and a Toughest Puckie, the last member of the Puckie trio. He shoots lasers with very high knockback out of his mouth – fortunately, they don’t kill you on impact like the lasers of death do. When they are dead or dying, go left a little bit further and climb up the red blocks for Golden Puck #1. Then use the other launcher down below on the right (near the pinball triangle you used) to send yourself flying to the right. Pass by a SLUzer, four lasers, and then take a launcher up to a bomb block and a Toughest Puckie. Kill him, then enter the nearby door. Grab the Chicken-Cheese Steak if you need it, then fall down the hole and pass by a number of environmental hazards, such as lava and lasers. Eventually you’ll reach the bottom of the shaft, where you should cross the lava pit and, at least for the moment, skip the next up-launcher. Instead, go right across the transparent blocks, and… well, that’s an interesting piece of background. It’s shaped almost exactly like a door! Why not go inside? The gist to this room is simple: Make your way around to the top of the platforms ahead. You’re going to be moving counter-clockwise, and so are the rotodiscs. At some point, you’ll be able to claim another Golden Puck. Then use the small blocks to make your way back to the weird doorframe that works like a door. Go back across the transparent blocks and take the launcher up. You now have to climb up a long vertical shaft to reach the next door, but you also have to avoid being in the middle while the lasers are firing. Oh no, a bomb-snail! Kill or explode it, then go to the right through the narrow laser gate. You’ll have to fight 2 Toughest Puckies here, so try to avoid being knocked backwards into the laser, because that would not be very good. When they are dead, you can cross over and hit a red switch, kill another Toughest Puckie, and then go back to the start of the door to access a previously-blocked-off launcher. It will shoot you to a small fight club, where a SLUzer and a Super SLUzer must be fought to access the next room. Creep through a laser gauntlet to start this room off. Eventually you will see a sideways-facing launch pad. Jump over it and cross a few transparent platforms to get Golden Puck #3. Then double back, use the launcher, and land right next to the flag. Level complete! Level [27]: Hint: There’s more than one way back to that door. From the start point, go right, blow up a few bombs and Tough Puckies, then use the launch pad you unblocked. If you don’t touch the controls, you’ll be sent to the left, where the red switch to unblock the other launcher is. You’ll have to fight a Drogan, though. If you manage to hold right and hit the other pinball triangle when you’re going up, you’ll be knocked to the right and land near a Tougher Puckie. Defeat him, then go right to collect Golden Puck #1. Then go back across the platforms and drop down from where the Tougher Puckie used to be to get access to a Cutter. Finally, use the down launcher to land near a Super SLUzer. Beat or dodge him, then go left through the laser to reach a door. This is a tricky platforming segment. You’ll notice a number of small platforms in the air, a bunch of permanently on lasers, and some rotating laser orbs. Avoid those like they’re Satan himself, since they’ll screw up your jumping and knock you straight into a death laser. Anyway, go right through the platforming nightmare (nothing on X5, though, as you’ll find out soon) and eventually the lasers will clear out. When you are able, jump atop a laser block and start climbing a blue brick ladder. Eventually you’ll arrive at an up launcher; use it to get to Golden Puck #2. Then take the down launcher to get back to the blue block ladder. Fall down it with caution – you do not want to land on a laser or miss the platforms altogether. When you hear Drogan, don’t panic – there’s some solid ground ahead for you to duke it out with him on. After he’s dead (or maybe not if you run fast enough), you can go through the door on the far side of the screen. Use the launchers to blast yourself down and around to the next part of the screen. You should fall left after flying up, where a Toughest Puckie is waiting to shoot its laser beams at you. Punch him out as a thank-you, then climb up and to the left. As you can see, there’s a red switch you need to press, but as it’s on a timer, you want to make it back to the right without getting hit by a rotating orb. Incidentally, the door the hint is referring to is this one, and it’s telling you in its usual oblique manner that if you fall down from the switch’s location, you can catch a ride off the launch pads back to almost exactly where the red gate is located. Once you’re through, use the launcher to the right (and hold right or you’ll fall down and die). Then hop onto the blue bricks and do battle with another Drogan. The platforming that comes after him isn’t too hard – you shouldn’t have any problem progressing to the next door. Jump to the left and kill a Tougher Puckie, then go left more. Ice and lasers together make for a great combination – be very cautious near them. When you’re through, there’s a penguin available for killing, as well as a (lava world orb enemy). You can hop to the left for a Slasher after that, or if you’re already armed, go through the door. What door? Oh, right, there’s no immediately visible door here, is there. Well, find something near where you got that Slasher that is shaped even a little bit like a door frame and go through that. Hold right until you’re next to the wall and go through another not-immediately-apparent-that- it’s-a-door. Now you’re on the bottom of that tricky section with lasers and ice blocks. It’s a lot easier to pass through this gauntlet than it was to do the first one. When you fall down, the first lava pit you see is quite fake, but the second pit is very real (and it bubbles as proof). Enter the next door. Jump past the double-orb blocks and the lava streams until you see a ‘!’ sign. Contrary to popular belief, there IS floor underneath that gap, and it lands you to the left side of the flag. Unfortunately, if you fall, you can’t get Golden Puck #3 on that life, as it is found further into the screen. Specifically, you need to make that jump and then make it past a few more rotodiscs and a lava pit or two before you reach the launcher that shoots you straight there. When you’ve got it, just follow the path until you reach the flag. Huzzah, you’ve done it again! Incidentally, Secret Stage X5 is now accessible from the map, although unless you’ve followed this guide to the letter and missed no more than 6 pucks, you probably can’t begin the level proper quite yet. Level [28]: Hint: Those SLUzers may seem smart, but they’re not. Secret Room #3: Static Room is located in this level! Start by going to the right and down. You will land near a blocked-off launch pad. Unblock it with the red switch on your right after killing the Toughest Puckie. Then hold right as you ascend with the launch pad to hit a pinball triangle and collect the first Golden Puck. Drop down to the right and continue going right until you see another Toughest Puckie and a blue switch. Flip it and use the left booster to fly up to the top of the screen. Go around in a circle, kill another Toughest Puckie, and hit the green switch. When you launch yourself down, you’ll pinball to the left back where you started. You can now go further left, climb some transparent blocks, and enter the next room. As you can see, there are death lasers and rotating orbs here – a dangerous combination. Make your way through the short gauntlet and hop across the lava pit. You’ll see another Toughest Puckie there – kill or avoid it as you please. Cross over the suspicious floor made of Speed Blocks, then get ready to jump and run, because you have 5 Super SLUzers to destroy. Fortunately, they can be tricked into jumping into the lasers under some of the gaps, so avoid falling into them yourself and you’ll be fine. When they’re all dead, pass up the launch pad and go right instead. There’s a door past some transparent blocks you can enter. When you enter this room, drop down to the right and fight a group of Toughest Puckies. When all of them are dead, you can climb a red-block ladder on the right side to get Golden Puck #2, then use the launcher to blast yourself back to the entrance. Use the launcher I told you to skip now. You’ll pinball to the left atop a high platform. Then use the leftward launcher and hold left to crash into another pinball triangle and bounce through the Speed Blocks you walked over previously. Take the Slasher if you aren’t armed, then enter the door on the right. Walk right and fight a Drogan. You can use the Slasher to great effect here. When it’s dead, go right and drop down through three lasers. Then go left, fall past the lava pool, and go right across the rotating orbs and the bricks they are tied to. Climb up the next set of platforms until you reach an up- pointing launch pad. If you hold left as you fly up, you’ll go in between the two pinball triangles; stop holding left when you pass between them and you should crash through a few breakable bricks to get to the third Golden Puck and a Cutter. Drop down carefully, make your way over to the bomb block you saw earlier, and hit it to make platforms on the other side of the wall. Use the launch pad nearby to return to the left side, the climb up them and use another launcher to gain access to a door barred by Speed Blocks. Blast yourself down and climb a pair of laser-firing towers. When you see the laser stop firing, jump to the next one before it activates on you. At the top of the tower is the next door. On this screen, you should first use the booster to bounce across the pinball triangles and break through a short wall of Speed Blocks, which will lead you to the Flag. If you’re looking for the secret rooms, you should, instead of touching the flag, double back to near the booster. Climb a series of transparent blocks to get to a higher-up launcher. Use that to blast yourself so far to the right that you land at the base of another laser tower. This one is less forgiving than the one you climbed previously, but if you reach the top, you’ll see a doorframe with two blue blocks as the giveaway. Enter it to reach the Static Room. When you’re done there, you can exit the room and use a conveniently-placed launcher to blast your way back to the flag. Two more to go! Level [29]: Hint: Time for the Boss Parade. Are you ready? Drop on down to the right and use the launch pad to blast yourself down further. As the hint and the scary face above the door on your left suggest, this level includes a rehash of all five of the bosses you’ve faced thus far. It also includes another gimmick, though – infinitely-spawning, low-level white SLUzers. Hop to the right across a transparent block and you will see a portal. You can beat up the SLUzers until your Bonesaw is charged (or longer than that if you want extra men) here, then hop back across and go through the door. Fight a grayscale version of Slushie here. Use Bonesaw if you want – he’s easy enough even without it. Then go through the door. Climb above the right-facing launcher and destroy the bomb blocks. You can go up further than that to reach a second portal if you desire. When you’re done there, blast through the speed blocks and enter the next door Fight a grayscale version of Muzzy. Then go through the door. Do note that if you are unlucky enough to die on any of these boss fights, you will have to repeat the fight from scratch and hope to ready Bonesaw as you go. Go right on this screen, then climb up a pair of blue blocks and destroy a bomb block. Use the new red bricks to get to a right-facing launcher. Use it to blast yourself to the right (but don’t jump – otherwise you’ll sail right over the first Golden Puck). On the other side of the next door is a third portal for all your Bonesaw-charging needs. When you’re done killing SLUzers for no good reason (and to be honest, do you really need one?), enter the door. Fight a grayscale version of Penguino. Be careful not to fall off the cliff and die – that would be very embarrassing and could cost you time, health and possibly another life. When he’s down for the count, enter the next door. Go right. Be careful not to fall, because then you’re quite dead. When you get to the low-ceiling area, note that red blocks will crumble under your feet, splashing you into the lava. As you approach the next door, look down for a path of transparent blocks leading under the door to another SLUzer portal. You can bust the obvious wall down to get Golden Puck #2. After killing a few enemy hockey players, enter the next boss door. Fight a grayscale version of Beetlebarg. Try not to finish him off above a lava pit if you don’t have at least half of your Bonesaw bar left, because it might disappear midway through his explosion, leaving you to die from touching the lava. Blast your way down, then hold right when you get directed to the left so you retain enough momentum to go up at the other pinball triangle. Doing so nets you Golden Puck #3. Then drop down again and cross the transparent blocks to get to an upwards launch pad. You will land on the right side of the boss door. Go left and cross a pair of transparent blocks to get to the last SLUzer portal. If you missed the third puck, hold left as you jump on the up-launch pad and you’ll go flying past the ceiling and off the screen (you might see some glitched graphics because Xerus didn’t think anyone would be foolhardy enough to do this… don’t worry, they don’t affect game play or cause a game crash). Then keep holding left until you see the puck, and then make sure you land on the ceiling above it. You can then hop down to grab it on the left side. When your adventuring is finished, enter the door. Fight a grayscale version of Dragonia. Nothing special about this fight at all. Use the launcher to the right. When you start going to the right, make sure to hold that direction so you don’t fall and die like an idiot. The climb the staircase and touch the flag. Not too bad, right? Your next challenge is Ref M himself, so get Bonesaw (and a Slasher) ready! Level [30]: Hint: The final battle awaits. Is Bonesaw ready? To be honest, it doesn’t matter if Bonesaw is ready or not for this fight – but you might want to bring a Slasher (but not a Cutter) with you. Start by completing a simple platforming segment of the level. There’s only one path to take, so you can’t get lost. Yes, that was the third boss you saw bust the blocks for you. Yes, that lava is fake. Yes, it really does say ‘That’s all, folks!’ if you look down when standing to the right of the boss door. Yes, you will die if you go down there. Yes, I tested it to make sure. Note that there weren’t any Golden Pucks to be had before the boss door. That’s because Ref M himself managed to get his hands on three of them, and he’ll be dropping them as the fight goes on. When you enter the boss door, drop down to the right to be greeted by the Ref himself. Why is he driving a Zamboni? That’s not a good sign… See that arrow pointing to the right? It’s telling you to run like heck because the shoe-shaped vehicle doesn’t have any brakes. And it shoots lasers and missiles, too! Obviously you don’t want to get hit by either of those, but if you did, there’s a Chicken-Cheese Steak available near the end of the chase scene to refill your life a little. Also, when you reach the drop, stand on the left side so that Ref M’s Zamboni doesn’t land on you. If you accidentally lose the Slasher during the chase, it’s not that big of a problem – Ref M can be beaten without one. If you kept a hold on it, congrats – you can almost skip this next part of the fight. When the Zamboni crashes, Ref M will talk some smack before getting ready to throw down with you. “Ah, so the final Golden Knight has finally arrived! “Don’t worry, you’ll be joining your friends soon enough! “With you out of the way, the secrets of the Bonesaw will be mine…” Cue the epic final boss music, part one! ***BOSS: Ref M HP: 500*** Ref M has a variety of attacks. The most important one to remember, though, is his red orb of Antisaw energy. You may remember him using it on the coach in the prologue. If this orb is fired, it will home in on you and, when it hits, reduce your Bonesaw energy to 0. You can interrupt this attack by throwing a punch or kick in his direction while he is still charging it, but if he fires the orb, it will behave much like a thrown Cutter stick – it is impossible to avoid once launched. The Ref’s main attacks are simple – he acts almost exactly like a non-jumping Super SLUzer, with a few additions. First of all, he likes to teleport around. It requires about a quarter of a second of charging before he appears on your left side (always the left side, for some reason). In addition, the Ref will sporadically unleash a short wave of energy that will knock you away from him at high speeds. This ‘attack’ does not deal damage, or even cause you to drop your hockey sticks – it’s just an annoing way for the boss to get more elbow room to execute his attacks. When his HP is lowered to a certain point, he’ll start jumping and spinning in the air, which will cause a number of slow-moving projectiles to appear and move in your general direction. They aren’t that difficult to dodge. After his HP is lowered further, he will also occasionally create a ball and chain which will spin around him until either it times out or you successfully deal damage to him. How do you kill the Ref, you ask? Well, it’s not that easy to do, because most of the time the Ref is moving towards you, and if you try to attack him head-on he’ll just block. The only time he is vulnerable, in fact, is for a quarter of a second after he teleports. Therefore, to do damage, you need to be facing left when he teleports, then mash the attack button to get some damage in. Ideally, you will be facing the left wall and he will teleport right next to it, allowing you to combo him for some heavy damage. If you have the Slasher and he does this, as long as you continue to press X he will never be able to get out of your infinite combo – no fancy directional wrangling required. If you don’t have it, you’re going to have to shimmy over to the right a fractional amount every time you uppercut him so you can continue to strike, because the uppercut moves you to the left a bit when executed. Keep your assault up for long enough and you’ll eventually best him, since his life bar is not that long (you may recall Dragonia, and even Beetlebarg, having a longer one; not taking additional Strength upgrades into account). ***END BOSS FIGHT*** “That was a nice warm up, wasn’t it? “What? You didn’t think the final boss would be that easy-- did you? “THE FINAL BATTLE BEGINS NOW!!” When the Ref goes down, though, he’ll taunt you some more before teleporting to the middle of the room and absorbing more energy, transforming himself into Robo-Ref 2.0, a fearsome machine of bad hockey calls! The floor breaks away, leaving you to freefall for a while while dodging the Ref’s attacks. (You can’t do damage to him while falling, so don’t try it.) During the fall, your controls are limited to sideways movement and the useless spinkick. The Ref, on the other hand, hovers at the top of the screen shooting a number of energy blasts that break into smaller orbs after travelling a certain distance. He will also occasionally slip down to your level and perform a spin attack of his own. After avoiding his attacks for a while, your freefall will end as you land in Cheel Arena, the home ice of the Golden Knights and the arena for your last boss fight! “Take a good look around… “…for this will be the last place you ever see. “These are your last minutes, boy. So try to make them count!” Cue the epic final boss music, part two! ***FINAL BOSS: Robo-Ref 2.0 HP: 1000*** Ready to fight off this guy and restores the glory of the Golden Knights? Well, you can’t do that just yet, because right now, the Ref is invincible. Yep. Nothing you do or say to him will cause him to take even half a point of damage. No, not even the Bonesaw works on him (if you even HAVE Bonesaw, that is). And if you do step close to him, he’s likely to just knock you away with a powerful slam of his meaty fists. The Ref retains his ability to teleport around, and will do so at will. He can also jump into the air and shoot an array of laser blasts at you, which are not that difficult to avoid. Sometimes he will stand still for a moment before blasting a laser into the sky above him and shooting two blue Antisaw cutters to his sides. The laser blast itself does stupidly high damage, so don’t jump into it; the cutters are easy to dodge but have the potential to do a lot of damage, approximately 8 points at a time. Of course, the Ref’s most annoying ability is his red Antisaw orb, which now requires next to no charging up at all to use. Ergo, unless you are very lucky, you won’t be able to use Bonesaw in this fight. That’s plenty enough bad news for now (trust me… it gets worse later) – now let’s detail how to kill this behemoth! You may see a pair of shining spheres floating around the room, generally trying to stay on the other side of the Ref, although they aren’t too good at doing that. One of these is green, while the other is blue. It is these that power the Ref’s shield of Antisaw power. If you attack them until they both turn black, the Ref will stop glowing, and you will be able to attack him and cause actual damage! Unfortunately, this is not a permanent condition – after enough time passes, the Ref will reignite his shield and once again become invincible. Fortunately, each time one of the two shield generators is revived, it will drop a blue HP orb to aid you in your fight. You also have another factor aiding you in this fight: the crowd. This is the home ice of the Golden Knights! And every so often, if you are not armed with a hockey stick, a pair of fans will throw a Slasher and a Cutter into the arena! The two sticks bounce around for a while before disappearing, but you have plenty of time to choose your weapon and take it. The Slasher falls from the left side, while the Cutter falls from the right side (or vice versa – I forget). Both weapons are equally useful for this fight: the Cutter adds range to your attacks and is not as easily lost as the higher-damage Slasher. Now, you may remember me mentioning that the Ref himself has three of your precious Golden Pucks. Well, his hands are not so firmly wrapped around them that you can’t hit them out of his hands during the fight. As the boss becomes weaker, he will drop all three of the Pucks in the middle of Cheel, allowing you to scoop them up for yourself. If you see a Golden Puck drop out of the Ref, take a second to grab it before resuming the fight – you don’t want to accidentally defeat the boss while the third Puck is lying on the ground, forcing you to redo the fight again to get it! Once the Ref’s HP is depleted by a certain amount, he will again begin to use his knockback special, as well as fire missiles. If you get his HP down further than that, you will probably see the fight stop for a moment as the Ref speaks: “You’re just so eager to die… “Well all you had to do was ASK!!” …followed by shooting a laser of WTFPWNHAX at you. The Ref tries to get a lock on your position before firing. Again, this laser does stupidly high damage, but since you can see where the laser will be going, you have a chance to dodge or otherwise contrive the circumstances such that the laser is not where you are. After the first one, the Ref will not pause to speak to you anymore, but the laser will remain in his arsenal. When the Ref’s HP is very low (perhaps less than 250 points), he will change his color to red and enter bullet-hell mode. All of his attacks will be made much more difficult to dodge, from shooting a lot more small laser orbs at you, to spawning a few cannon-bombs from his own position. He also creates two small laser turrets that shoot at you at fixed intervals while sliding around the screen. Duing this phase, you are almost guaranteed to take a lot of damage, so you had better hope your health is high when the Ref goes Terminator on you. Fortunately, the power of Bonesaw will inevitably allow you to become the victor, and Robo-Ref 2.0 will be defeated! His boss-death explosion is as flashy as any other – congratulate yourself as he reverts back to his usual appearance! You’ve completed the game of Bonesaw!! Now all that remains is for you to watch the credits! ...And if you want to read the script for the after-death cutscene, scroll down a bit. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** “…you……you cheated! “…this isn’t over! I still have one more trick…” *He gathers his energy and stands up.* “Now then! Into another dimension you go!” *The Ref creates a portal, which starts to malfunction.* “S…somethin’s wrong.” *The portal continues to oscillate wildly.* “This can’t be! I don’t have enough energy… argh!” *The portal finally explodes, spewing out all the captured Golden Knights.* “My plan… it’s ruined…” Coach: “Face it, ref! You’ve been defeated by THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS!! “You’ll never hold the secrets of the Bonesaw, just give it up. “Your reffing days are over plus you’re facing 15 counts of interdimensional kidnapping.” Ref M: “Mark my words… someday the Bonesaw will be in my hands… and victory will be mine!” *He disappears.* Coach: “Now that that’s over, it’s time to defeat those SLUzers! …And feast on some pulled-pork sandwiches.” *The Knights begin cheering “Let’s go Tech!!” as the screen fades.* …is that it?... …YOU HAVE MORE GOLDEN PUCKS TO COLLECT!! The Secret Stages So, you’ve beaten Ref M, have you? Or maybe you’re just down in this area because you’ve got the first 15 or so Golden Pucks and Gamed Over on X1 because you had no idea what you’re up against? Well, regardless of your rationale, you’re looking at the stage guides for the 5 most difficult levels in the entire game! These are long, arduous levels that will surely cause your death more than once with some downright cruel platforming! I go into more detail on that subject in the preface to X1. One other thing: the Secret Stages help to explain some of the backstory of the game, as well as the significance of the Golden Pucks. I don’t reveal these details in the following section – instead, I have placed the entirety of the plot explanation into one section close to the bottom of the walkthrough. If you feel like spoiling what plot there is, or if you need to reread the story, go there, not here. This is a section only concerned with how to clear the five secret stages. Level [X1]: 15 Pucks Required Hint: … As you can see from the text I put next to the level’s title, you need a certain number of Golden Pucks to access any given secret stage. In this case, you need 15. The earliest you can access his level is after clearing Level 06, so if you do it at the earliest possible time, you will need to have missed not more than 3 pucks. Incidentally, without backtracking, you have access to exactly 15 pucks up to 06 unless you were very lucky with activating Bonesaw a lot. The other thing about Secret Stages is that they are always a lot harder than the normal levels in the area they are located in. Examples of Xerus’s, ahem, creativity with the deathtraps include, but are not limited to, lots of crumble blocks located above deadly objects such as spikes, lava, or lazers of WTFPWNHAX, as well as inconveniently-placed Golden Pucks and tricky platforming jumps which require almost pinpoint accuracy to avoid toppling off the screen to your doom. Even the level hints offer no help whatsoever – they just give you an ellipsis of thought. Having said that, X1 is not nearly as hard as its later cousins, and bringing just 7 or so lives into it should usually be sufficient to clear for a first-time gamer. Experienced pros could easily get through with just the 3 offered to you at the start, plus a possible bonus life for killing a bunch of foes. Also, do yourself a favor and wait until you’ve beaten 08 and obtained the Cutter – it makes the level a lot easier to clear. When you enter the level, you must cross a plain field with ground that turns gold as you approach the door. You will see a golden Knight statue and a number engraved in the blocks under it – in this case, 15. If you don’t have 15 pucks, entering this door puts you back onto the level map. If the Pucks are in your pocket, however, you will be initiated into the trials and suffering known only as the X Stages!! Muahahahaha!!! [/melodrama] You start atop a high ledge. There’s a Golden Puck above you, but you can’t get it yet (duh), so drop down to the right and sneak by the moving spikes with precision. Try not to get hit much on this screen, as you can only take six hits safely right now, and there are a lot more spikes nearby. You will need to climb up a series of crumble blocks suspended over a bed of spikes, with a number of other irritating obstacles scattered around the screen to make life more interesting. At some point (assuming you get this far without dying or giving up!), you will arrive at a spring. Use it to get to the left. Look just above you for a Chicken-Cheese Steak (eat it, fool!). Now you can make a pinpoint jump across a gap to get to the first Golden Puck! If you fall down either on the way there or on the way back, you fail at jumping and have to redo the first segment again!! Make it back to the spring, go right, and climb up. Finally, solid ground! Kill a SLUzer, then drop down and hold left to get to the first door. Huzzah, progress! Drop down and grab a Slasher if you feel it necessary, then proceed to beat up some enemies in a wide fight club. You face four SLUzers, four more SLUzers, three Tough Puckies, four more Tough Puckies, and a Bunneh. You’ll likely acquire Bonesaw during the fight, so use it against the first Bunneh to unblock the wall at the top-right. Then drop down and use it against two more Bunnehs! Spring up on the right, hit the red switch on the left (made easy with Bonesaw, just jump on its left side and spin away! If you run out of Bonesaw or just don’t activate it, you have to go further left and take care of some jump-type business there, alas), and go right through the gate. Make three VERY tricky jumps to the right on blocks suspended over a pit! You see a door, but you don’t need it yet; go up on the right and bust down the wall at the top to claim Golden Puck #2! The fall down with caution and enter the door. More progress get! Drop down in the darkness. You have to get the red ball into the hole, which is of course far away. Before you do that, though, I recommend that you get rid of the obstacles first, such as a breakable wall and a bombable wall which, conveniently enough, has a Bombsnail near it. Then maneuver the ball through the darkness and pass by the gate. Jump over the spikes. What? There’s no exit? Hah, I kid you; those last 4 spikes flasheth not, so you can pass through them to arrive at the door. Drop down here and use a series of falling Bombsnails to blast a large enough hole in the floor for you to pass through, then use a cannon on the next tier to do the same thing. Collect the Chicken- Cheese Steak at the bottom, then move past the next obstacle – crumble blocks en mass. You need to make a long jump to the right, climb a ladder, jump left, climb another one, and then get to the right onto solid ground, more or less. Above the door is an infinite supply of Tough Puckies so you can hit one of them into the spike-filled hole and hold the switch down. Once that’s done, you can pass through a nearby gate for Golden Puck #3, followed by going back down and left until you see a few blocks that can be broken to find a door. Silence. The path here is linear, so grab your Chicken-Cheese Steak and enter the door at the far side of the area. More silence. Drop down through some crumble blocks to arrive in what appears to be a sacred chamber, complete with the guy in black armor to fight you. This is the Dark Knight, the spirit of the former #9 on the real-world Clarkson Golden Knights hockey team. He compliments you on your platforming skills, then summons the Bonesaw to his own hands, using whatever amount of Bonesaw power you had in your Bonesaw bar. Uh-oh. Boss fight go! ***BOSS: The Dark Knight HP: 6 Special*** The Dark Knight has the Bonesaw, and you don’t. Joy. And he’s completely invulnerable right now, too! How are we going to defeat him? Well, the myriad of red orbs he leaves behind while attacking should be a big hint… Anyway, onto the Dark Knight’s attacks. Basically, anything you can do with the Bonesaw, he can do as well. The wave of Bonesaw energy? Yep. The spin attack? Ditto. He can even teleport! Needless to say, you want to avoid him like the plague (or Ref M, whichever you find scarier). If you get hit by his spin attack, it’s not too bad (besides the horrendous knockback that you should have associated with Bonesaw by now), but if you get hit by the saw directly, you’ll lose 30 HP! Also, the yellow Bonesaw waves do varying amounts of damage depending on how far they shove you. Sometimes it can be just 7 or 8 points, other times it seems like you just lost half of your health. As I pointed out earlier, you want to grab as many of the red orbs the Dark Knight generates as possible. These are spheres of pure Bonesaw energy, and it takes a lot of them to refill the bar to its maximum (each of them adds +6 or possibly +12 if I miscounted). Fortunately, the Dark Knight drops them in great quantities; more specifically, he leaves them behind as a trail when he moves, so you want to try to be in the places he just was, without getting so close that he clubs you in the face with the saw. Eventually, Bonesaw will be ready, at which point you should activate it. Now the Dark Knight will stand still and shoot a spherical wave of energy at you. You have the Bonesaw now, so you can and should hit it back as many times as it takes for him to take damage. Perform this feat of tennis mastery six times and the Dark Knight will admit his defeat. You will then hear the first of five parts of the Bonesaw’s back-story. When the Dark Knight finishes his monologue, he will release some glowing gold and black power orbs, powering up your attacks to Lv2, before vanishing. Exit the chamber through the door on the right. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** Exit the temple area and touch the flag to clear the first of the five secret stages. Ohh yeahh!! Level [X2]: 30 Pucks Required Hint: … Cross the land in front of you. There are no ways to die here. At the right side is a gold block structure. Enter the door beneath the gold Knight statue. This part of the level has wind blowing to the left at all times. Drop down to the left at the start. You will see a blue switch, a cannon, and two Pengweens. Kill them while avoiding the cannonballs. Then hit the blue switch. You need to make precise jumps up the slope on the right to get past the blue gate. Make a low jump to the block just before the top of the ledges, then jump to the right from there. Hold left as you go through the gate, then jump. You should pick up speed, rocket past some spikes, and fall down a shaft before hitting a spring and bouncing up to a door. Enter it. The wind is erratic here. Climb up the ice blocks, then face a Tougher Puckie and a Spikey. When they are dead, go right to another door. Drop down to the right, then hold left as you hit the crumble blocks on the edge. You want to jump off one of the platforms under the ledges to another door. Failure will cost you a life. Success takes you to a lower-down part of the room you just left. Hit the red switch at the outset. This clears away the blocks at the top of the shaft you are about to climb. Now make your way up to the top, cautious of the wind blowing you about. With luck, you will reach the top. Now use a new set of blocks preventing you from going to the right to the door you entered previously and climb up, then left. There is a door on the top-left of this room you can enter. Be wary of the Tougher Puckie again, since he has respawned. Break some blocks and fall down into a fight club. You must face, in this order, 2 Pengweens, 3 Pengweens, 2 SLUzers and a Tougher Puckie, and a Tougher Puckie with a Bunneh. The arena does have spikes on the sides, so don’t walk into those. When you’re done, climb up the right side and take a Chicken- Cheese Steak if necessary. Your next task is to use a cannon’s bombs to blow open a wall – not very easy if you have a Cutter. Jump over the hole in the ground after it and progress to the right. Two SLUzers jump out of the snow; kill them. Then jump across a few ice blocks, the last one of which will crumble beneath your feet, and arrive at the location of Golden Puck #1. Try not to fall down, because, paradoxically, there is lava there. Then go back the way you came and drop down the hole I told you to skip, collecting another Chicken-Cheese Steak. Enter the door there. This room is dark, but the wind is mercifully absent here. Knock some blocks out and enter an ice maze. Drop down into it, then to the left. You’ll see a cannon down there; avoid its bombs long enough to knock out a nearby wall. You need the cannonballs to get rid of another wall further into the tunnel (through the wall), so use them. Then grab a Cutter and go back to the start of the ice maze. Do an uppercut into the top blocks there, and climb a spike-filled shaft for Golden Puck #2. (Actually, you can do this BEFORE grabbing the Cutter.) When you’re finished with the puck and armed with the hockey stick, go right from the start of the maze. You can then start climbing the maze and collecting Chicken-Cheese Steaks (2) as you go. At the top, hit the Tougher Puckie to the right, or just use the Cutter to activate the switch to grab Golden Puck #3. Then enter the nearby door. Silence. Eat your Chicken-Cheese Steak, climb the shaft and enter the door. Aha, it’s the sacred chamber again! Drop down and face the Dark Knight in PITCHED COMBAT!! …Of course, he has to throw his three cents in first. BUT STILL!! ***BOSS: Dark Knight HP: 7 Special*** Once again, you lack the Bonesaw, while the Dark Knight is endowed with its mighty powers. This is going to be a common theme every time you visit a new Special Stage: avoid the boss as he runs and teleports around while grabbing the red orbs he leaves in his wake. Granted, he will be a bit more offensive in his attack style, but that’s pretty much all you need worry about for the moment. Eventually you will have enough power to summon Bonesaw back to your hands, at which point phase two of the fight starts. Knock the glowing energy balls back at the Knight seven times to force his abdication. He will then tell you the next part of the story, power up your Strength to Lv3 and disappear, opening the path to the exit from this temple. Oh, and if you forgot how to fight this guy, check the walkthrough for X1, at the bottom. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** The wind has finally stopped! Exit the temple grounds and touch the flag to clear the second Special Stage! Radical, dude! Level [X3]: 50 Pucks Required Hint: … I hate this level, and after you’ve played through it a few times, you will too. Start by crossing the lava pit and traversing up to the door beneath the gold Knight statue. Go down the strangely Bowser-castle-esque stairway and jump over the pit of lava. Fight off a Tougher Puckie, then go down through a grey block mini-maze. Break all the breakable bricks, then go back up top. You need to knock out a piece of a wall to jump up to a switch. Hit it, then hurry back down to the red gate at the bottom before it shuts itself. There’s a cannon around here you need to avoid while jumping to the right. Try not to get killed by the (round enemy) on the second platform, because dying is bad and you’re going to be doing a lot of it later. Anyway, flip the blue switch and go back across the pit, then knock out some blocks and pass through the wall over the red gate. Climb back up to where the red switch is and you will see some new bricks allowing you to get past the wall there. There are a number of fire-spewing pipes you must weave between here. Once you’re done there, don’t go through the door yet! Instead, hop above it to grab a Cutter stick and the first Golden Puck. When you have both, drop back down and enter the door. Dodge a few spikes while going down and eventually you’ll enter a fight club. You must fight and defeat a Bunneh, 3 SLUzers, two Mr. Bigs and four Lavonyms. If you can knock any of them into the lava on the side, they will die instantly – just don’t touch it yourself, because it will be very painful. When all ten foes are dead, some of the floor melts away, leaving you near a low ceiling, a lot of jumping fireballs and some lava underfoot. Get across the pit as best you can, and take courage in that there are two Chicken-Cheese Steaks available for your consumption. Then climb up top and do some fancy jumping to get to the next door. Break some blocks and enter the next door. If you have a Cutter, throw it away briefly to do an uppercut, then grab it back. Don’t fret if it disappears, since you can get another one very soon. Make two exact jumps through the spikes to get across. The lava pool you see next is fake, so hop in and walk to the right across its bottom. Take a Cutter if you don’t have one, then enter the door. The door you start next to takes you back to the Cutter room, so if when you die, you can go back and grab it. Anyway, you need to use the boomerang to knock a black ball down the shaft while avoiding death at the hands of bomb-snails. If you lose the Cutter at any time in this room, go back and get another one, because it is required to progress. Also, if the ball gets stuck in the sides of the room, leave and come back to reset it. Eventually you’ll reach the bottom of the shaft and put the ball in the hole, which opens a gate to the right. Ouch time. ***This next part of the room is INSANELY difficult! You’ll see why shortly.*** You will see a switch on the far right, as well as lava beneath you. Once that switch is flipped (and you should hit it with the Cutter at maximum range or you might get singed), the lava in this room will start to rise. Furthermore, you then must rush back to the left and start climbing. Many of the one -brick platforms you see here break when you step on them, so if you mess up, you will likely die! Furthermore, once you reach the top, you have to jump across a sequence of these crumble blocks with a low, uneven ceiling to reach Golden Puck #2! Fortunately, once you’ve got the puck, you can safely pass over the lava on solid ground and get to the exit door. Don’t f*** this part up, because if you do, you will seriously regret it! You only have one chance at this next puck, because if you mess up, you will lose the Cutter stick required to get to it! Knock out some of the bricks above your starting position and climb up them. Go left through a narrow passage you can create in the wall to the left. Now stand on the very last block, jump, and throw your Cutter to create another platform to step on. Make a long jump over to it, repeat the process a second time, and then leap to the next ledge. You have to use a bomb to blow yourself upwards for enough lift to get to the third puck. When you’ve got it, take the Chicken-Cheese Steak nearby and go back the way you came. You then must pass through a double helix of fireballs and climb a short vertical shaft with sideways-jumping fireballs to reach the next door. Drop down to the inner sanctum area where the Dark Knight is waiting for you. Listen to his comments, then prepare to once again face him in PITCHED COMBAT!!. ***BOSS: Dark Knight HP: 7 Special*** This fight is pretty much exactly the same as the previous one, down to the number of tennis hits the Dark Knight requires to be beaten. Possibly the only difference between this fight and the last one is perhaps a slight increase in the Dark Knight’s offensiveness. I doubt I need to write out any more boss strategy for this fight (you can just read the previous two entries). ***END BOSS FIGHT*** Now that your offensive power has been upgraded to Lv4, just exit the area by hopping across the gray pipes in your path. Fortunately, there is no way to die on this screen. When you hit the flag, the level is complete! Now, as long as you didn’t miss any pucks, you’ll never have to come back here again! Level [X4]: 70 Pucks Required Hint: … Jump on the spring and hold right to land on a platform. Make your way across the other platforms, then enter the door beneath the gold Knight statue. This is the hub room. Each time you arrive here, you can take either a Slasher or a Cutter. Usually you’ll want the Cutter. Anyway, use the springs to get up into the upper-right-hand corner of the room. You will see a (cloud enemy) here. Kill it, then cross over to the lava pit. Reach its other side, then pass through a wall to get access to a switch. You can now go down a long vertical shaft, avoiding moving spikes as you go. When you see the cannon on the left, go down further. You will see another cannon and some bombable bricks. When those bricks are destroyed, you will have access to Golden Puck #1. Make your way back up the shaft and get to the cannon you passed. You’ll need to blow another hole in the wall on the left to get enough of a lift to reach the door. Flip the green switch, take the hockey stick of your choice, and then use the springs to bounce up to the upper-left side of the hub room. Now comes a more difficult part. You can use a Cutter to clear out the cloud enemies before they become too big a problem, but the platforming is difficult and unless you know what to look for, the platforms are invisible. You will notice dark spots in the background – these denote where the platforms are, except one block higher than that. Once you have reached the left side, you can start climbing a mini-maze of transparent platforms. At the top, drop down to where the Tough Puckie is/was (depending on whether or not you Cuttered him through the wall), and go through the spike traps to flip a switch and eat a Chicken-Cheese Steak. Then go back to the left, use the spring for some momentum, and try to make the jump through the curtain of spikes. If you fall in the lava, jump out ASAP, then enter the door. Grab the Chicken-Cheese Steak, then use caution! If you fall down here, you’ll end up back in the hub area and be forced to redo the last two areas! If you are armed with a weapon, you can use it to break the bricks around Golden Puck #3. Yes, 3 – you’re ‘supposed’ to get it later into the level. After that, use the springs to get access to another door on the other side of the gap. Blow the bomb block up and progress into the room. You will see a number of fireball pipes and a few crumble blocks. The point to this room is that you need to jump from block to block waiting for the fire to stop. If you fall down, you will land on a bed of spikes. At the far right side of the corridor, the last 6 spikes are fake and can be passed through. Now comes a tricky part. You need to bounce off the spring on the side of the wall while retaining enough momentum to make 2 jumps in rapid succession. Don’t stop on the first platform because you will be left with no option but to fall to your doom! When you get across, use an uppercut attack to break a gray brick, then climb above the door on a ladder of transparent blocks. Lure a Lavonym onto the switch, the cross to the other side and collect Golden Puck #2. When that’s done, you can drop back down to the door and enter it. Take a Chicken-Cheese Steak if you need one, then use the launcher to fly into the air. Come back down if you need a weapon, the fly up again and enter the door. You can use the launcher to break the bricks guarding Golden Puck #3 if you didn’t grab it the first time. Silence. Hold right when you fall so you don’t accidentally step on the blue switch and set off the rising lava. Go right, up, left, up, and right again to reach the next door. Yep. Time to face the Dark Knight again. Hop on down and ready yourself to run away like a chicken with its head cut off… by a Bonesaw. ***BOSS: Dark Knight HP: 8 Special*** I doubt I need to say anything here. Just beat the Knight and move on. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** Well, your strength has been upgraded once again, and now all you need to do is walk over to the flag to end another challenging level. Level [X5]: 90 Pucks Required Hint: … Use the launch pad to blast yourself across the crumbling blocks and up to the doorway with the gold statue. After touching the pad, don’t hold a direction – it should launch you up to a pinball triangle to set you down safely. In the first room, you have to destroy some Bunnehs. Cross the first jump safely, then be careful around the lava and rotating orbs. The first Bunneh is nearby – kill him. Climb across a small pit, then go above the rotating laser to find and kill Bunneh #2. Drop down and go right for the third one, then make a few more jumps to reach the fourth. When all 4 are dead, a wall will break. Pass through a low tunnel, collect 2 Chicken-Cheese Steaks, then make a few jumps across transparent platforms with rotating lasers nearby. If you fall, you can make your way back up on the left side, as there IS ground there. Reach the other side, then drop down for a bit and fight some Toughest Puckies. When they are all dead, the floor opens and allows you access to the next room. The next area is filled with deathtrap lasers and crumble blocks. Be very careful here – if you mess up even one jump, you fall and die on a laser. After the tricky jumping section, use the launch pad and drop down a good distance. Go left for the first Golden Puck, but be careful – not only do the laser balls rotate, but the blocks they sit on move as well! When you’ve got it, go back to the right (or die, but then you have to redo the lasers). Now jump right across some tricky, but stable platforms. Beware of the Drogan flying around – if you can, lure him back to the left so you can kill him. When that’s done, you reach the dreaded 4-door area. Why dreaded, you ask? Well, you will see the 4-door arrangement four times throughout this level, and if you pick the wrong door, you will have to redo the screen you just cleared. That ain’t so good, now is it? Fortunately, you’re reading my guide, and I trial and error’d my way through, so I know the correct sequence of doors to take, and in about two sentences, so will you. For this first screen, choose the LEFT door. If you take any other door, you are sent back to the lasers at the beginning of this paragraph. Room Three! See that cannon? You need to kick the cannonballs it shoots on their SECOND bounce to clear away the bomb-only blocks in your way. Then use the launch pad to send yourself flying to a platform near lava and a lot of fireballs. Get past them with skill and precision, then arrive at another, upward-shooting launcher. The gimmick with this is that you must weave right, then left to get through some 2-block-wide gaps, otherwise you have to fall down and try it again. Next, you must go past a series of transparent platforms. You can grab a Cutter off the top of the roof if you died previously, then go right. You might see some fireballs – those are generated by the snail enemy near a cannon. To get Golden Puck #2, you need to get into the launch pad trap and jump as soon as you hit the LEFT pad to get up to the right. Go back, use a bomb to blow up the blocks in the middle, then enter the TOP door of the four presented. Holy smokes – you’re upside down! Not really, though – this is actually a different room. Go down through the lasers (on the left side, preferably), and note the red blocks guarding the breakable blocks. We’ll be back for that, don’t worry. After falling down, cross the hazardous rotator-orb area while being on guard for another Drogan to show up. Kill or avoid him (kill if you managed to keep your Cutter), the go up. Walk off the edge of the launch pad to shoot through the blocks in your way. Choose the BOTTOM door this time. The game gives you a Chicken-Cheese Steak at this point. Eat it and enter the next door. Hmmm… Now you’re upside-down a second time! Drop down to the left (yes, floor is there), then go through the right-side crumble blocks. Use the launcher to shoot yourself up and to the left. To progress here, you need to jump to the right and get around to the top of the pinball triangle. Cross the orb bases, but watch out for Drogan again! Drop down to left, got through the lasers, and arrive at another 4-door array. Before you go through, though, use the nearby platforms to get above the doors and go through the left wall! You can press both switches to blow up some bricks (the upside down ones are connected, so you can press either one for the same effect), the go to the right. Remember when I said we’d be back? Well, we’re back. Go to the right through where the red bricks used to be and grab the third Golden Puck, then go back where you came from and enter the RIGHT door. Note the silence. The last encounter with the Dark Knight approaches. Blast off and hold right (you’ll fall and die otherwise). Take the Chicken-Cheese Steak and climb the winding staircase of crumble blocks. Enter the door. This is the last time, I promise! ***BOSS: Dark Knight HP: 9 Special*** Given the number of hits the Dark Knight requires, I wouldn’t be surprised if your Bonesaw ran out before you finished him off, so you may have to recharge a second time if you aren’t quick about it. But that’s about all that’s different here. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** Now that you’ve bested the Dark Knight once and for all, use the launch pad to reach the top of the bricked-up shaft. Touch the flag. Wasn’t that fun? I thought not. But hey, you’ve got at most 12 pucks to go now before you’ve finally got them all! The Final Showdown …So you’ve gathered all 105 Pucks, eh? And let me guess – you want to go about finding this ancient entity that the Dark Knight was talking about, and engaging him in pitched combat, right? Are you suuuuuure you want to do that? The secret boss does not go down easily – not even with Bonesaw! But if you’re a gung-ho, die-hard, must-get-100%-so-I-can-view-the-extended-credits kind of gamer, you’re probably going to try it anyway. Well, if you insist, then I shall direct you to the last level in the game… and it starts on the far side of Level 01. Level [??]: Hint: WICK Once you have all 105 pucks, return to Level 01 with a Cutter and a full Bonesaw bar. You may recall seeing a bomb block within Cutter range past the flag, as I mentioned several times earlier in this walkthrough. Hit that and ride the blocks up to a door with some strange crystals protruding from a metal frame surrounding it. Enter the door and proceed right. These glowing blocks can only be destroyed with the energy from a Bonesaw spin attack or a Bonesaw wave attack. Activate the saw and break them, then enter the door beneath the silver Knight statue. If you try to enter this door without all 105 pucks, you will be teleported back to the map screen. If the pucks are yours, however, you may proceed into the level. The thing about this level is that, after you proceed past the first drop, you will have infinite Bonesaw energy for the remainder of the level, which is handy. You’re going to have to reactivate Bonesaw if it runs out before you get to that part, though, because you have to use it to destroy a few more glowing yellow blocks. The progress further to the right and begin a fight club. You will notice that all the enemies here (Bunnehs, Toughest Puckies, Super SLUzers) are glowing yellow and neon green. This is due to a strange surge of power from this area, dramatically extending their lifebars into major-boss territory (they have, as my best guess, between 500 and 800 HP). In any case, you have the Bonesaw, so just use a few spin attacks to beat them up. When they’re all dead, the right-side wall will crumble, allowing you to progress further into this mysterious cavern. Three Tougher Puckies will drop down from the sky as you move to the right. Cross a brick bridge after beating them, then fight three Toughest Puckies and a Drogan. Go right and make a jump across a pit to fight three Super (Hyper?) SLUzers. Continue to the right until you see a ladder of transparent blocks and climb it. Two more Super SLUzers and two Lavonyms are your last opponents. When they are all dead, the bridge beneath a down arrow will crumble, allowing you access to the next room. Whoa… those are some trippy 3D effects, man. Go right until you reach a door and enter it. If you hold down, you can see flags that say WICK on them… and the hint says “WICK” as well. Who is ‘WICK’? Enter the door to find out. You drop into the final chamber. An old man greets you, congratulates you on your work, shapeshifts into a large human-shaped being wearing a hockey mask, and puts the challenge forward. As he himself reveals in the pre-boss dialogue, Wick is the ancient entity revealed to you by the Dark Knight, and it was he who sealed the Bonesaw’s true powers. Only here, in this sacred temple, does the saw resonate with its true inner fire (e.g. this is the only place where you get infinite Bonesaw). The stage is set, and the gloves have been thrown down to the floor. As Wick himself asks, will you join the ranks of the mighty? Or will you fall with the cowardly? Secret final boss battle go! ***SECRET FINAL BOSS: Dr. Wick HP: 15,000*** No, that is not a typo. Wick really does have 15000 HP. Obviously this is going to be a long fight indeed. The bigger problem, though, is your inability to figure out about how much HP Wick has left, as up until the moment he dies, the bar in the corner will always, always, ALWAYS be white. To remedy this problem, Xerus decided to put his HP into his room as a background object. See that horizontal Bonesaw-energy-colored bar? That’s his health meter. Yep, this is going to be one of those obnoxious ten-minute fights. Good thing you have the Bonesaw around to help you out. (Incidentally, if you die during the fight, you don’t have to reactivate Bonesaw after dropping into Wick’s room – the game does it for you, without the distracting charge-time cutscene to boot!) Wick has a plethora of attacks he can use against you. In his normal form, he can fly about at will, and if he lands on the ground after flying, he’ll create two shockwaves on either side of him – jump to avoid them. While on the ground, Wick can extend his hand and send a shockwave of explosions across the floor, which is simple to avoid. In the air, Wick will sporadically generate two different types of energy explosions attacks. The first one is a large field of red dots. After they stop in mid- air, they spawn arrowheads and home in on your current position. Getting hit by a red dot does 25 damage, but the dots don’t hurt until they spawn the arrowheads. Wick’s other explosion attack is far more deadly – he creates a large amount of green pixels which go to random positions around him and generate dangerous green energy fields. If you touch a field at all, your HP will lower itself dramatically, so try to stay away from them. Fortunately, it is very possible to see the green pixels as they appear, which gives you an extra second to find a safe spot to stand. Wick’s last normal attack is to generate a red disk and throw it in your direction. It goes a set distance before creating a large, red energy- draining field similar to the ones created by his green dot attack. When the disk is done attacking, it will go back to Wick’s hand. Wick’s other attacks involve him transforming into the shapes of the bosses you’ve fought before. If he takes the shape of Muzzy, he’ll stand still on the ground for a moment before spitting out a number of poisonous bouncing orbs. These orbs are not destroyed if you attack them – they just go flying around at extreme speeds, doing a lot of poison damage before timing out. As Penguino, he will spit three blasts of ice energy at you in rapid succession. If one of the blasts or the center of the resulting field of ice energy hits you, you will be frozen. As Beetlebarg, he will blast 3 waves of purple energy in a straight horizontal line to whatever side of him you’re on. When Wick’s health goes below a certain amount (approx. 60%), he will add two new attacks to his repertoire. He might take the shape of Dragonia, charge up briefly, and shoot a seeking energy ball. This orb can shoot itself at you about 5 times before timing out; aside from its range (extended) and the fact that it can hurt you even before exploding, it acts similarly to the energy blasts manufactured by the Drogans. Wick can also turn into the Grim Reaper and swing his scythe at you – if the attack hits, your HP is immediately reduced to 1. Try very hard not to get hit by that attack, especially since after taking the hit you don’t have an invulnerability period to fall back on! If you make it to the 2/3s mark of the battle, Wick will gain one more attack. He will charge a golden orb of energy and hit you with it, causing the screen to flash yellow and green and the background to change to the “Obey Wick” sign from the static room. In addition, two deadly yellow orbs will slowly move toward you from opposite sides of the screen. You can knock them back with your attacks, but if they get too close you will start taking damage rapidly (not quite as badly as the red disk, but it takes off 8 HP each time it hits, and it only moves backwards a small amount per hit). So those are Wick’s attacks. How do you beat him? You have the Bonesaw at your side – use it! The spin attack does the most damage to him, so use it if (when) the opportunity presents itself. Wick is never invulnerable to your attacks, so go crazy on him! Pull back if he’s using the green explosion attack, though – you don’t want to be anywhere near him when he does it. The best time to beat him up is when he is mimicking Muzzy, because you can do a couple of spin attacks, then stand next to him and mash X to take off up to 4% of his life bar. Of your offensive options, the grounded cutter is least effective, since there isn’t anything in the fight that can be pushed back (except Wick, but he can fly…) and it does pathetic damage compared to the slash or the spin. As Wick’s HP falls, you want to spend more of your time moving as opposed to standing in place, because his Death attack won’t usually hit you if you’re moving, but it’s almost sure to connect if you stand still. You can dodge his red orb explosion by using the spin attack a few times, and his Penguino form’s ice blasts can be dodged by running away and jumping over the 3rd shot. If your own HP is low, try to stay away from Wick for a while so you can regenerate your health with the Bonesaw. To that end, you want Wick to be just barely onscreen, which is far enough away for you to see his red disk or green explosion attacks coming, as well as close enough to know what he’s going to do next, such as shapeshift into Death. Seeing the Beetlebarg or Dragonia form is bad news because those attacks are hardest to dodge and deal somewhat high damage to boot. Eventually, you will see Wick’s health bar fall to zero, at which point you may rejoice, for Wick is defeated! He’ll admit his own defeat, praise you, gift you with a black suit, and leave to torment freshmen. The ***BLACK SUIT*** is a wondrous hockey uniform presented to you by Dr. Wick as a gift for defeating him in pitched combat! It is specially designed to increase your defensive capabilities – more specifically, you regain 1 point of health every ~3 seconds, and you take 6 less damage from all non- continuous (see: lava, poison, Wick’s green explosion attack) sources of damage. Unfortunately, you have next to no use for it, since you’re pretty much set in the ‘find the game’s secrets’ department. Even so, it looks pretty cool, doesn’t it? When Wick’s dialogue ends, so does the level – you are ejected onto the empty red square at the start of the map screen with your new black suit. ***END BOSS FIGHT*** Viewing the Best Ending [END] Now that you’ve gained all 105 Golden Pucks, you may return to Level 30 and confront Ref M again. He should be no trouble to defeat with your handy new Black Suit, especially after the hell you went through confronting Wick. When he goes down for the last time, instead of the usual text, you will see the better ending. The full transcript is as follows, starting from the point at which you defeated Robo -Ref 2.0: “… you … … you cheated!” “… this isn’t over! I still have one more trick…” *Ref M gathers his energy and stands up.* “Now then! Into another dimension you go!” *The Ref creates a portal, but it begins to malfunction.* “S… somethin’s wrong.” *The portal continues to fluctuate wildly.* “This can’t be! I don’t have enough energy… argh!” *The screen flashes, and Randy Savage appears in the background as time stops.* “It’s time to end this! OHH YEAAAH!” *You automatically summon the Bonesaw. When the weapon is in your hands, hit the Ref with it, which will cause him to explode into a number of dark red and black orbs. These orbs are sucked up by the portal, which then explodes, releasing the 15 captured Knights! The coach then drops down from above.* “Hey! Uhh… what happened to that ref?” “Hmm… very strange. Oh well!” “Now that that’s over, it’s time to defeat those SLUzers! …And feast on some pulled pork sandwiches.” *The crowd starts cheering ‘Let’s Go Tech’ as the screen fades.* After the Ref is dead, if you attack the other hockey players, your Bonesaw bar will charge itself. (No, they don’t take damage.) Once the screen fades to black, you will see the extended credits. Once that’s done, you’ve completely cleared Bonesaw: The Game! Well done! The only thing you could have left to do at this point is to find the secret rooms and get the last title screen! …or is it? Save File Manipulation [NG+] Indeed, I have learned the secrets of hacking the game’s save and data files, and in these pages hereby pass them on to you! If you came down here to get a quick fix for your save, you probably need to go elsewhere, because this isn’t that kind of save file hacking. It’s more along the lines of data manipulation. The Save and Data files found in your Bonesaw/bin folder each contain certain kinds of information. The “Save” file contains information on your current # of lives, achievements earned (see below for details), suit color (brown vs black), and current location, while the “Data” file contains everything else (# of pucks collected, current location on the map screen, current Strength level, Bonesaw bar, Health, and current equipment… I think that’s everything of importance). Therefore, if you replace one of those files with another from a different game (especially one from having just cleared the Tutorial level), you can cause all manner of weird and strange effects on the game and wreak havoc on it! But a warning to those players who would try this!! ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR SAVE FILES SO THAT YOU DON’T ACCIDENTALLY LOSE ALL YOUR PROGRESS AND HAVE TO START FROM THE BEGINNING AGAIN!! Also, make sure that the last level you beat or exited out from was Level 01, or else you run the risk of preventing the completion of the entire game!! …But wait! What about Wick’s black suit? It seems a waste to be unable to use it until you’ve already beaten the game, doesn’t it? Well, intrepid gamer, I have a treat for you! If you start up the Bonesaw game, select Continue, back out to the title screen, and then start a New Game, your new file will keep the Black Suit as a present, allowing for a “New Game Plus” of sorts! (It also keeps all achievements cleared on the Title Screen except for the silver star and the enemy-killing ones. Unfortunately, despite what the Pause menu would have you believe, your attack power does not transfer over.) This works because when you start a New Game normally, the program only overwrites some of the data files, expecting the rest of them to be blank. But if you load a Continue file, the game loads up your Continue data, even if you exit back to the title screen, thus allowing for the transfer of otherwise illegal goods! Appendices Secret Level Script [XSc] If you wanted to reread the text for what the Dark Knight and Wick say, this is the place where I put their monologues. Therefore, there are obvious SPOILERS here (as if a game like Bonesaw had anything that could be called ‘spoilers’). On-screen effects or text-triggering flags are listed inside sets of triple asterisks. Dark Knight Encounter 1: I’ve been expecting you. It’s truly impressive that you made it to this sacred chamber, but your test has only begun. You may have been given the power of the saw, but do you truly deserve it? ***You lose 1940 Bonesaw energy as the Dark Knight powers up*** Now, Golden Knight, prove yourself to me. ***If you gain Bonesaw*** Now we see. ***Beat him*** Enough. Well done… It’s amazing that this all-powerful weapon began with the fans of Clarkson Hockey, isn’t it? By extending their arms and acting out a sawing motion, they began to harness its power. It wasn’t long before the players themselves began embracing its fury. But… for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Golden Knight, please accept this energy to help you on your journey. ***He releases some black and gold energy*** Find the Golden Pucks, find knowledge, find power, and find this game’s real ending. ***Your Strength increases to Lv2 as the Dark Knight disappears*** Dark Knight Encounter 2: We meet again. You have completed another challenge, but I must once again test your combat skills. You have been given the power of the Bonesaw, so use it wisely! ***You lose 1940 Bonesaw*** Now, Golden Knight, prove yourself to me. ***If you activate Bonesaw*** The fun begins. ***Beat him*** Enough. Even better… When this weapon was forged by the energy from Clarkson University fans, something else happened. To set things right in the universe, negative bonesaw energy was created… This Antisaw energy soon became embraced by enemies of the Golden Knights, and the Ref. However, this Ref needs all of the Knights eliminated before he can truly harness the Antisaw power. As long as you remain, he should be one step behind, so I shall aid you with more power. ***He releases some black and gold energy*** Find the Golden Pucks, find knowledge, find power, and find this game’s real ending. ***Your Strength increases to Lv3 as the Dark Knight disappears*** Dark Knight Encounter 3: You’re getting good at this. I hope your journey here was not too hard. I’m sure you handled it like a true warrior. Are you prepared for another battle? ***You lose 1940 Bonesaw*** Now, Golden Knight, prove yourself to me. ***if you gain Bonesaw*** Let’s see what you’ve learned. ***beat him*** Enough. A champion in the making… With the power of the Bonesaw came our weaponry, but with Antisaw came a different power. The power to shift and bend dimensions come to those who are synchronized with Antisaw. This power may even enable someone to transform into something from another world… You must be prepared for anything, even situations where your trusty blade may not be at your side. With this power, your strength continues to grow! ***He releases some black and gold energy*** Find the Golden Pucks, find knowledge, find power, and find this game’s real ending. ***Your Strength increases to Lv4 as the Dark Knight disappears*** Dark Knight Encounter 4: Welcome home. I was beginning to worry, finding the Golden Pucks at this point must be growing difficult. I don’t think I have to remind you about what’s coming next. ***You lose 1940 Bonesaw*** Now, Golden Knight, prove yourself to me. ***if you gain Bonesaw*** Bonesaw is ready!! ***beat him*** Enough. Yet another glorious battle. This is not the first time the Golden Knights have faced such a threat. I was once in your skates, holding the saw to defend our honor, and winning ECAC championships. When my time with the Knights ended, the Bonesaw’s true power was sealed away in Golden Pucks. With all of them in your collection, you may be able to destroy the Antisaw forces for good. Accept this gift of power, Golden Knight. ***He releases some black and gold energy*** Find the Golden Pucks, find knowledge, find power, and find this game’s real ending. ***Your Strength increases to Lv5 as the Dark Knight disappears*** Dark Knight Encounter 5: Back so soon? You truly are a master of 2d platformers, Golden Knight. This will be the final time I summon my saw. ***You lose 1940 Bonesaw*** Now, Golden Knight, prove yourself to me. ***if you gain Bonesaw*** Let’s go! ***beat him*** Enough. Perhaps you really are the one that can end this. There is one more challenge you must face before you gain ultimate power. An ancient and powerful being that was able to divide the saw’s power into the Pucks you possess. You will find him once you have all of the Pucks in your possession. I have hope for you… You remind me of the great 9th Golden Knight… This is my final gift of power to you. ***He releases some black and gold energy*** The ultimate challenge is waiting somewhere out there. Find it, and banish the Ref forever! ***Your Strength increases to Max as the Dark Knight disappears…*** Wick Encounter STUDENT. YES, IT IS I. THE ONE YOU HAVE BEEN SEEKING. YOU MAY KNOW ME IN MY CURRENT FORM AS WICK. BUT AS YOU WILL SOON SEE THIS IS JUST A FAÇADE. ***Wick shapeshifts into his true form*** I really must congratulate you on making it here. It must have taken a lot of hard work. All those hours spent seeking the pucks, knowing that it would finally lead to this. The ultimate final battle, hidden away for only the elite players! Will you join the ranks of the mighty, or fall with the cowardly? The answer is waiting up ahead… ***beat him*** I AM DEFEATED… STUDENT, YOU ARE TRULY A MASTER OF THIS GAME. ACCEPT THIS FINAL GIFT… (Omit this line if you already have the black suit.) ***You gain the Black Suit!!*** (or, just a flash) NOW, I MUST RETURN TO TEACHING PHYSICS, AND DESTROYING THE SOULS OF FRESHMEN. I HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED YOUR JOURNEY, STUDENT. ***You are returned to the map screen, on the red level marker with no flag*** Secret Rooms [SR] There are four secret rooms scattered among the thirty-six levels of Bonesaw: The Game. Three of them are required to visit in order to get the last title screen, while the last one pretty much voids the possibility of Gaming Over ever again. Naturally, all four of them are hidden very, very well. Secret Room #1: Within a Deep Forest Room This room is not a room by itself, but it can be found in level 13. About halfway through the level, you will see a cannon and a sign with an image of your character performing a side kick. Go to where the cannonballs explode, and time a jump so that you get knocked in the direction of a small outcropping on the ceiling of the right side of the area. Yes, I’m telling you to take damage from a cannonball on purpose. If you screw up too much, you will likely die, unless you have Bonesaw available for healing or you’re doing this with the Black Suit. This gimmick is unfortunately not unique to this level…. In any case, you should be able to land on it without too much of a hassle. On the top of this area are a Cutter stick, two Chicken-Cheese Steaks, and at the far side, a bouncing blue ball with a face on it! You can hit this ball if you want, although there isn’t a pedestal for you to put it on. I think that in order to receive credit for visiting the room, you need to hit the ball at least once. Secret Room #2: Lyle Room To start finding the next secret, head to Level 17 with a full Bonesaw bar. It’s OK if you only have about 1500 points as you start, since there are some enemies to be found, and if all else fails, you can take damage repeatedly to build it up. Progress through the level as normal until you reach the room with Golden Puck #2 in it, then activate Bonesaw while standing as far to the left as you can. When Randy Savage stops ringing in your ears, go left. But there’s lava down there, I hear you say! Well, Bonesaw affords you immunity to lava, so nyah! Go left across the lava until you reach a pipe jutting out from the wall. Break the bricks there and enter the door-shaped indentation, which conveniently works exactly like a door if you press up. You will appear on the top-right side of a large pipe structure. There are two Chicken-Cheese Steaks available for eating if you lost some health. You should go all the way to the left, drop down through the pipes, and fall a long way through a long vertical shaft. You will land on a block structure with a golden image of the titular protagonist of Lyle in Cube Sector, holding a block above his head which, incidentally, has a Cutter stick on it. To his left and his right are two colorful orbs. The yellow one on the right refills your life meter to its maximum. The red one on the left causes Bonesaw to become ready!! (Don’t touch it while Bonesaw is still active, as that would be a waste.) When you’re done marveling at the room, use the black space directly under Lyle to exit his room. Secret Room #3: Static Room To get to this room requires some good jumping skill – something that any competent player of Bonesaw will have by the time he reaches Level 28, the site of the third secret room. Make your way over to the end of the level. On the last screen, instead of using the launch pad to blow through the pinball triangles and the speed blocks, hold left and climb on top of the blocks above it. Above some transparent blocks is a different launcher. If you use it correctly, you can dash over the goal flag and cross a wide, empty space to reach the base of a laser tower! This is harder to climb than the other tower because as soon as one laser shuts off, the other laser switches on… killing you if you haven’t jumped out of the way. Assuming you make it to the top of the tower, you will see two blue bricks marking a door which would otherwise not look anything like a door except for its shape. Go inside to view the Static Room. On the inside of the door, the music stops. Go right and you will see a large projector. The background will show a large number of images, one at a time. If you can’t see the top of the screen, jump onto the transparent block in the middle of the room. Feel free to watch the slideshow for a while – you may eventually see a hint as to how to get to some other rooms. For instance, an image of your player character holding the Bonesaw, while ducking down and looking at an arrow over a lava pit. When you’re finished in the static room, you may exit the same way you came in, and use a nearby launch pad to get back to the flag. Of course, once you do that, you can’t go back in until the next time you play the level. Secret Room #4: Soko-Doko Room The most difficult of all the secret rooms to reach, the Soko-Doko Room can be found in Level 23. Progress normally through the level until you reach the screen with five Lavonyms. Defeat them, then climb to the top and go left. You will see four blocks of ice in the ground; drop down onto a small platform, far beneath the chains that are visible from the top. Go right a bit from there and you will see a spring. You need to jump onto the spring and bounce yourself onto the next four springs, then use the last one to get enough of a boost to run across a transparent-block platform and make a leap of faith onto a still-transparent ledge with a door. Failure at any of these points will result in your untimely death. There is no easy way into the room; you must pretty well memorize where the springs are to get to the door safely. On the inside of this door, strange music plays! The colors of the blocks and balls inside the room change chaotically, and the graphics look heavily messed-up. (None of them will mess the game up irreparably, though.) Go right and you will see a large white poster in the background with the phrase “SOKO-DOKO” emblazoned on it, along with the image of a creepy old guy. Attack the poster until it is destroyed, and your remaining lives will instantly be set to 99! When you are done in the Soko-Doko room, exit through a door in the upper-right-hand corner. You will fall from the sky onto a raised ledge just to the right of the flag. Unlike all of the other secret rooms, Soko-Doko does not unlock anything on the title screen. Title Screen Achievements [TA] The Title Screen, as you will inevitably notice, changes over the course of time. While the image behind the title screen menu changes, there are also 11 boxes at the bottom of the screen, each of which is filled in by performing a certain feat in the game. The Title Screen changes as follows: Progress no further than Level 04: Basic title screen Clear the first world: BG changes to dark forest (World 2) Clear the second world: BG changes to the bridge level Clear Levels 11 through 14: BG changes to ice world Clear the third world: BG changes to mountain/lava world Clear the fourth world: BG changes to sky world Clear the fifth world: BG changes to space world Defeat Ref M: BG changes to Cheel Arena, the home ice of Clarkson U! Achieve all 11 icons: BG changes to the pixelart from the extended credits!! And how do you get the 11 boxes on the bottom to fill up, you ask? In order, the icons are: Defeat Ref M for the first time: Bronze Star Collect all 105 Golden Pucks: Silver Star View the extended credits: Gold Star Defeat 100/250/500/1000 enemies: Skull with a 100/250/500/1k beneath it Visit the Lyle Room: Lyle Icon Visit the Within a Deep Forest room: Bouncing Ball Icon Visit the Static Room: Static Icon Defeat Dr. Wick: Black Suit Icon Does collecting all 11 achievements do anything else? Nope. Once you’ve gotten them all, you’ve cleared the game 100%, unless you’ve never been to the Soko-Doko room. Credits [CD] To wrap up this guide, I’d like to thank Kyle Pulver, the creator of this game, without which we would be missing a good freeware platformer (and I’d never have written this guide, either). He also helped me find a couple of the last secrets for the title screen and filled in some of the developer-only knowledge, such as boss HP counts. I am also indebted to the Bonesaw Brigade for inspiring many followers of the Bonesaw to great deeds because of it. Randy Savage gets props just for existing. The world would be less interesting, and far less filled with Bonesaw, without him. Finally, I thank the readers of this guide, who give my many hours of work meaning. Thanks for reading – may your saws stay sharp!