A simple errand takes a turn for the surreal when our hero, forced away from the video game console and out of the house, stumbles down a hole into the middle of the earth where he is, of course, tasked with tracking down magical gems. The same thing happened to me the other day. A little bit retro, mixed with a healthy dose of metroidvania and high-difficulty platforming, and Kodachrome is a weird but appealing little challenge.
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Hmm, totally stuck in the lower right green section of the map. I have to jump to the right amidst falling rocks, no problem, but then have to jump left to the upper ledge to get out, and there's no way I can see to do that since the rocks will hit me no matter how I jump in that direction.
Yea. That one can be a little bit tricky at first.
It is very possible to do the jump to the left. You have to time it really well. Make your first jump just before the closest cannonballs are clear. then you have to wait and fall a little bit before you make the second jump. That way you will slide under the last cannonballs.
I managed to get all the gems, but only 4/5 of the gun upgrades so far. Really clueless where to find the last one :(
I tried it until I got tired of it, which wasn't terribly long, but was long enough to get a feel for how the game plays in general. It's..okay, but has some problems.
The height of a full double jump should be a little MORE than the height of a platform the player is expected to land on with it; every single double-jump in the midst of just trying to navigate shouldn't be a timing guessing game. I mean, it's fine to have some tricky jumps, but when every single high jump requires the player to time the second button JUST right, there's something wrong.
Dissolving platforms should have some graphic to indicate they are ABOUT to dissolve instead of looking perfectly normal until they cease to be solid, especially for the part where you have to time jumping OFF of them in order to make it up to a crystal.
I found all the crystals, and have wasted well over my time wondering around in search of the mayor. no luck.
I don't think it's that hard. There's a few moderately tricky jumps, but nothing completely unfair that I've encountered.
I'm stuck on the north east corner. A few screens ago there was a guy who said someone in the north east section would help if I'm lost, but the guy there never says anything useful, and the screen keeps repeating itself. There is a shrub that changes ever so slightly, but I can't figure out the trick behind getting whatever's useful here.
This is like platformer hell. I found it very difficult and totally addicting. I kept rage quitting only to open it up again a few minutes later.
@Isi
The guy who's actually in the maze isn't the one who can help you. The guy who can help you is in the topmost, rightmost room. When you think you're in the topmost, rightmost room, keep going right.
I can tell you what he told me:
East, North, East, South.
Ah, that explains it. I hadn't worked out how to get back to the blue area and didn't have the map yet, so I didn't know where I actually was.
The "hold the key down longer to jump as high as you can" control and the "double jump" SHOULD BE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. When they are put together, it can be difficult to realize why you get such inconsistent results jumping, and once you do understand it, it doesn't get any easier. Having to tap a key and tap it again at the highest point is a reasonable thing to expect. Having to hold a key for the right duration and near-instantaneously release it and hold it again at the right time is not.
It wasn't too hard to ignore this irritation while exploring the game proper (which is why, when I met the one part in the yellow zone that actually requires a shallow jump, it took me a while to realize such a thing was possible). But when you give me a tower of unforgiving double longjumps between little platforms that immediately fall when I step on them... well, my finger hurts from jamming it into the keyboard, and I'm afraid I'm no longer interested in meeting the Mayor.
Only 3.7 ? This wonderful and challenging platformer gets 3.7 and that polarbear snorefest gets 3.9? Are you people nuts?
Any hints or clues on how to get the gem stuck in the wall in the blue area?
Ah never mind, power of the post, I suppose. But just in case anyone is stuck there as well, here is a hint:
Look at your map and pay close attention to the room immediately to the right (east) of where the gem is located. It is the room where you must jump up a long tunnel with tiny platforms and guns along the wall. Follow the bullets trajectory.
I really should have noticed that much earlier than I did, come to think of it.
I read through the comments earlier to find a hint about the gem near where you get the map and was surprised by all the negative comments, considering I hadn't had any trouble jumping or double jumping at all. I thought the controls were very responsive. Even on IE which usually curls up all foetal and sucks it's thumb when it encounters pixel perfect precision platforming.
THEN I REACHED THE YELLOW LEVELS... but I didn't give up, I persevered and although it took a short while (forever) I finally made it to the tower.
This is when I realised the game was taking the piss. Has anyone reached the top of the tower? Me thinks it is impossible and now both Internet Explorer and me are curled up foetal.
I gave up after the first save up the tower. My middle finger is getting Carpel Tunnel from trying that messed up place again and again.
Yeah, that thing I said about this game not being that hard... that was before I got to the yellow parts. This game is seriously hurting my jumping finger.
My problem with the tower (a.k.a. the yellow levels) is that my double jump doesn't work as it should. I didn't have this problem elsewhere in the game, but here...well, I'm at a 60/40 success/failure rate. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. Maybe it has to do with Firefox? Regardless...frustrating.
Great atmosphere, but too hard at the end. Worth trying but probably not a game for the casual gamer - more of a distraction for a serious old school gamer
I'm also calling it quits on the yellow levels. I'm about half-way through them, but I need to go to bed. Chances are I'll come back and finish the game tomorrow or the day after.
Very enjoyable so far, even with the brutally hard platforming.
All the exploration reminds me a bit of Knytt.
Daring Do. I saw that.
Made it to the tower. Holy crap. I didn't think I would even make it to that point, but now I am DETERMINED. This is punishing, no doubt.
Yellow levels suck, at least on this machine. I'm at the one with the 5 platforms that scroll left to right and back again, each one with a key that turns on a vertial laser. Due to the bubble water below, this poor old machine runs so slowly that the pixel perfect landings are nigh on impossible for the entire level. Sigh.
I'm at the bottom of the tower, and have been for more than 2 hours now. I don't want to blame it entirely on the jumping mechanic (although I did experience inconsistencies throughout the game), or on my browser (Chrome on Mac 10.6, if it matters). It does feel like the mechanics are part of the problem, because even when I'm sure I've held the button down long enough, there are some jumps that peak lower than others.
But the truth is that the more I practice, the further I get on my best runs -- it's just that the platforming is so unrepentantly punishing at this point that "my best runs" still haven't come within even 5 jumps of reaching the stable ground that I assume will include a save point. And most of the rest of my runs end on the first couple of jumps, which I ought to be able to make consistently by now.
This is the first/only section of the game where (a) I've had to make perfect double jumps, in quick succession, many times in a row; and (b) missing almost any jump is guaranteed death. Given enough time and patience, I'm sure I could hit the right combination of luck and skill to make it...but that's feeling more and more like waiting for a bunch of monkeys with typewriters to recreate Hamlet.
Perhaps if the jumping mechanic were more predictable/forgiving (whether there's a glitch, or whether the controls just require a bit more precision than I can reliably muster), or if more of the jumps in the tower could be made with a perfect first jump, allowing imperfect ones to be salvaged (there would need to be more jumps total to keep the difficulty up), this would feel more doable. As it is, I'm worried that even if I do make it to a save, I'll only find that I have to spend X more hours grinding on the next section. And as much as I like this game, I doubt the ending could possibly be worth that effort.
in the blue room, how do you get the gem stuck in the wall? then how do you get out of this maze? the far bottom far right cave has a bug... if you go right, you come out the left side, if you go up, you come out the bottom and vis-versa...
atkman, see the spoiler in hothotpot's comment above for the solution to that gem.
As for getting out of the maze - there is a map, but the game does you no favors in making sure you pick it up early. I only found it after I'd explored most of the green area and finally found a way to loop back into the blue, but I'm pretty sure I could have grabbed it near the beginning.
The room where the exits loop...that's not a bug. It's a feature! Make sure you talk to everyone. One of the natives will drop a hint...but even with the map, it's tricky to make sense of it:
One of the natives references a guy hiding in the northeast corner who can give you a hint.
In the very top right room of the map (part of the blue zone) there is a passage that takes you very briefly through a room to the right, which is not on the map. Maybe that's not all that's unusual about this room?
Within that passage, if you jump up and move to the right you'll find a hidden passage that will take you to yet another off-the-map room. That's where you'll find a dude who will tell you the way through the looping room.
Speaking of
Hidden Entrances and Hidden Zones
How do you get the gem
six from left, third from top?
Ah, curse these yellow levels! I'm stuck on the one with moving floors and four crushers, where you have to dodge a row of four bullets until the second key comes down to you. Anyone have any tips on this one?
Anyone have timing tips on how to get the gem in the most top right corner? I've got all the gems except that one. It's sooo frustrating!
Eh, scratch that, just takes some seriously precise jumping around those shots.
Stuck on the tower now...and really starting to see the issues with the jump mechanic everyone's talking about. The game even occasionally decides not to actually jump when I hit jump, which of course means I die, since it's the tower and there's no second chances.
Made it to the tower... spent an hour trying to make those perfect jumps, only gotten pass three "screens" up only to have one of my double jumps failed on me. The inconsistent control works against the precision required for this part making this game impossible to beat. I'd love to see a perfect run through of this game if it's out there. Otherwise it's been fun up to this point. I see why its rating isn't as high as it would've been.
if anyone makes it to the end, please post a video! my curiosity is killing me but the tower just makes me wanna throw my laptop across the room >_
On a completely unrelated note, does anyone else get the Paul Simon game stuck in their head every time they come here to play? I do, every single time, without fail.
In any event, coming back to have a go at the tower again. I've gotten very close to the stable ground, and I'm pretty sure I can make it up there. I would really like to beat this game.
there is definitely a problem with the jumping mechanism. while at the tower as I am jumping to the left all of a sudden he stops moving left and falls straight down... it is like the left arrow key stopped responding even though I am still holding it down ... also since we are all having these problems, maybe you ease this ridiculous tower up a bit by fixing the keyboard problems and making the platforms not fall upon touching them...
Over and over and over and over... Uncountable deaths in the yellow tower. Ragequits ad infinitum and yet I keep trying - Maybe he was too lazy to make an actual ending and the tower is unbeatable? I mean it would be ridiculous and cruel but possible: to build it in that jumps are ruined at a random interval, the maximum interval ensuring no one ever reaches the top of the tower...
I think this game has driven me past the edges of sanity and the game being rigged is the only excuse that would allow me to retain a grip on reality.
Muscle reflex mayhem!
don't forget guys, once you reach the top of the falling platforms in the tower, that you can take a rest by hitting the map button. Sadly it's only half over at that point. You'll just have to flex that old school NES patience. (Oh no, I'm dating myself... and not in the good'ol "I'll take myself out to a dinner and a movie sense")
I made it to the first save point in the tower! It is possible!! Hopefully this means I'm at the halfway point...
I have discovered that, while frustrating, one way to improve your jumping success is this:
falling is considered the first part of a jump. I am in the yellow tower, past the mayor statue, and have been for the last day and a half. It is so frustrating when a jump that worked once fails the next time, but once I discovered that I just had to make sure I jumped before the platforms started falling, I got a much better success rate of double jumps.
I'm also stuck with only 4/5 gun upgrades. I can see the last upgrade:
in a high cave in a green room (on the map, it's 4 across, 3 down).
But it just doesn't seem possible to reach it by jumping. I'm wondering if there is a secret passage somewhere that I've missed. I've tried all the rooms nearby, and am yet to figure it out.
Power of the post. Got it!
Saviour-V teleports in....
Missed a gun upgrade. I've got 4/5, including the one you need to fall down and jump at the last possible moment to get.
Meanwhile, since I'm currently stuck at the tower....
Saviour-V pulls out a Playback Globe and activates it before teleporting out. The Globe then plays the following recorded audio over and over....
I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE screwy platform physics!
I think I've given up on the tower. I'm pretty good at high-difficulty platformers, but this one is simply too unforgiving. I make it to the top of the falling platforms one time in... 10? 15? And then because the floor continues to rise you have zero time to suss out how best to approach the next barrage of challenges; and since they're so heavily timing related any hesitation yields certain death from the floor spikes.
Add to that that I have no idea how much further I have to go to get to a save point, and it just stops being fun. Kind of a drag.
If I were the developer, I'd add a save point at the top of the falling platforms.
Hi, does anyone know how to get to the Yellow levels? I know that "East, North, East, South" will get me out of a cave maze, but I'm not sure which one. I managed to obtain all 5 gun upgrades, by the way.
From,
Hobcramwork
Just tested jumping in one spot, and the maximum height of your first jump is random even when you hold the button down the whole time. This means that a lot of jumps in this game are luck-based, which completely ruins it for me. 2/5 because the story was alright.
Wait, no, I take that back. 1/5 because that bug can kill you just about anywhere in the tower.
Ok, after a few weeks of this, I finally beat the game after the author posted a game update on Newgrounds where he made the tower slightly easier, the platforms delay a bit longer before dropping. I also found that I don't have any jumping control issues using IE when playing on NG... not sure why it wasn't working here on JIG or with Firefox browser ... Anyway, it does take quite a bit of practice until you practically get the tower memorized and perfect the jumping skills where yet the next surprise awaits .... overall a good game!
Thanks for the note. I've updated the version here to V1.21, the same as on Newgrounds. Perhaps the difference in control issues was due to the different version.
Hello to all.
Not sure how to put this, but since only one person has said anything, I just need to say: I have FINALLY beat the game. The ending it's somewhat disappointing, in my opinion, but I'll try to describe my actions starting from the "Tower Level" (kind of a walkthrough, though)
Have to say, the level of "precision jumping" required is absurd. You almost need to mash the up key every time you want to jump... I really hope my keyboard doesn't resent this.
Ok. So... The Tower Level:
1. Start by jumping to the platforms on the right until you reach the platform near the laser. From there wait (yes, wait... if not for the laser this would be more manageable, instead, this puts us really but really tight on time - no slip ups can happen from here to the next save point).
2. Jump to the next platforms. After the laser, after the second moving platform, you need to jump in a criss-cross pattern, afterwards it's nearly obvious.
3. By now I assume you have left the platforms and are now facing the moving spikes / bullet dispensers. In the first stage you need to go in between the spikes, then move on. If timed correctly, the second row of spikes is easy to run thru. Time the rate the bullets fire... essentially just move when the bullets hit the ground.
If you wait too long, the bottom spikes will get you, so... hurry.
4. Now you should be at the vertical shaft, where a barrage of bullets comes down on you. Jump to the side. After the last bullet has passed the "roof" of where you are, jump up then jump to the side. This has to be, again, precisely timed. Position doesn't matter a lot, time does.
5. Assuming you reached the save point, things will become slightly easier. Slightly.
6. Another shaft. Same strategy.
7. Next is a row of dispensers. Timed correctly, after the machine fires, run left, then jump then run right, jump (to evade both the bullet above and below you) then jump to reach the next row then run then jump to the stairway.
8. Jump on the left ledges. After reaching the 3rd one, jump to the right then jump in mid-air; you should reach the first (really near the spikes) or the second one with some luck. Go up.
9. Standard platform action. Not too hard.
After you reach the upper level, the spikes should stop and some things appear: people, a couple of save points and some weird circle things (they are springs).
10. Springs work kind of in this manner: you jump to them, then jump in them, to reach the above spring, and so forth, until you reach the upper level.
They work best when they are fully compressed (about half a second after you reach the spring). Again, timing is the key. Luckily no one is trying to kill you... yet.
11. Save and then jump to the last spring.
After the Tower Level you finally get to meet the great Mayor...
... Mayor, hmmm. Red color scheme, black character... Yup, he's evil, he wants the gems to increase his power and guess what: he wants to kill you. You know, for fun.
He is a character with roughly 3 times the height and 2 times the width of you. Kind of humanoid, with a coat, and with two horns.
The set is a flat stage surrounded by two columns, with some beveled bottoms. It's a great place to take cover. I prefer the right one.
The gems (20 of them) serve as the HP of the Boss. You can see them displayed on a platform above. With one damage upgrade, I needed about 3/4 bullets to take one HP away from him.
The fight consists of 3 phases. You are dead if you touch him or anything, having to return to the previous save point.
Phase 1:
On foot, he runs left and right for a while. As I said previously, you can take refuge in the columns. He has as far as I know two different weapons:
- A shotgun that fires three shots, that he fires about three times, aiming at you, while standing still. The bullets can be jumped but be aware of his rate of fire.
- He stops and he releases a "black bouncing blob" (don't know what else to call it) from either direction.
He moves on to Phase 2 as soon as he loses 7 or 8 HP (meaning he has about 13 or 12 HP left).
While he's moving from phase to phase he is invulnerable.
Phase 2:
He gets inside a UFO and starts flying in the set, in a sinusoidal manner (wavelike). After a while, he starts to shoot some energy balls (slightly larger than bullets) in a counter-clockwise movement from the center of the set. Easy to avoid, just jump in the right column.
Afterwards he starts dumping "the blobs" over the field, which is another reason to stay in the columns, where you can hit him.
He repeats this pattern until he has about 6 or 8 HP.
When he reaches this threshold, he becomes invulnerable for a second, then starts to move and shoot erratically. Easier to hit and to dodge.
When he gets to 3 HP, the third and final phase begins.
Phase 3:
He gets out of his UFO above the platform where the gems are displayed. He moves to the right and the jumps, precipitating a rock fall (at the same time spending one of the gems).
A set of six rocks start falling. The purpose is to avoid them. As the boss nears to his death, the rocks become more difficult to dodge. You can't dodge them in the columns, you have to be on the floor.
So, the basic mechanics are these:
1st round: Rocks fall at the same rate, leaving open spaces between them.
2nd round: All rocks fall, but at different rates. The strategy here is to go under the rock that is falling the slowest then dodge then repeat.
3rd round: 3 or 4 rocks fall, but in linear trajectories (like balls bouncing off the columns). It's relatively safe to be near a column and move when needed.
After this last round, the boss falls, a boom happens, and the game ends...
... no, not really.
After meeting the Mayor, one should expect to have a stairway back to the surface waiting for them. Well... it's not that easy.
Final Level:
The whole world is shaking. After you exit the boss's lair, you will notice two things:
- several chunks of rock (big and small) are falling, you need to dodge them
- the background and yourself are "glitching" colors.
So... you need to redo the Tower Level, except from top to bottom, falling. Actually this is easier than the alternative, even having spikes both above and below and falling rocks everywhere. Mainly because of the platforms and the fact you don't need to "precision jump", just to fall good.
The level is slightly different, to accommodate the fact you're falling.
After you reach the bottom, you enter the antechamber, where the statue of "The Mayor" has somehow changed names to "Someone". A stairway of sorts opens into the jungle levels, which means you have to go up again. This should be a cinch (albeit bothersome), but be careful of the following:
- Flashing blocks phase more quickly. Unless you take a wrong turn, you shouldn't have to deal with them. If you do have to, you need to time the jumps really well. It's possible though (I fell through the jungle abyss in the east, then made it back).
- All traps but spikes are deactivated, and the dungeon seems deserted. You still need to be on the lookout for falling rocks. Since they blend with the walls, be careful.
After reaching the first chambers you can see a part of the structure collapsed, allowing you to go back form where you came from.
After reaching the surface, the screen begins to flash intermittently until you reach your house (some interesting stuff is there). I believe this was uncalled for, but if justifies the epilepsy warning up front... kind of.
After reaching the TV screen, the game fades out, leaving you and the TV, flashing rainbow colors, reporting The End and Game Over.
Personal opinion. The game was enjoyable, as a platform, but it is hard to jump with the precision needed to get to most places. There was a side-story embedded in the game characters, that in the end was meaningless.
The game ends dryly. In the end, I believe you don't know if what you did was real, a game, or a hallucination.
It also bothers me that there was only one set path to get back up to the upper level.
Nonetheless, the game is fun and challenging (perhaps too most), although what ruins it for me is the controls and their precision, the general plot line and the fact that half of the models of traps are centered on the yellow levels.
And so ends my rant slash walkthrough slash bragging. I hope this helps other people to beat this "very unpolished gem" of a game.
Ugh. Maybe it's just my hardware, but it is extremely frustrating when I do a running jump (holding left or right and pres jump) and my horizontal movement just stops. For a game that requires such precision jumping, this is not acceptable.
This is a remarkably frustrating game - I haven't the patience to die umteen times, then catch a crystal, only do die immediately and have to do it all again.
ack ack ack.
I give up.
no wonder!
How do you get the gun?
Found it but game is too frustrating.
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