The cactus is back-tus! Cactus McCoy, spikey green distributor of western vengeance is back, and this time he has competition. He's met up with technicolor bird lady Ella Windstorm who spins him a tale of the Volados: a fallen civilization laid waste to by a mysterious cult known as the Reptaras. It seems that there's a secret vault that contains the lost treasure of the Volados, including the magical Serpent Blade. With Ella kidnapped, it's up to McCoy to find the vault before either the Volados or his old friends the Enemigos do, recover the Serpent Blade, save the love interest, and make out like a cactus-y bandit with all the loot he can carry. A worthy sequel to the original Cactus McCoy released in March, Flipline Studios' Cactus McCoy 2: The Ruins of Calavera will steal as many hours of action-platforming as the first one did, pardner.
Controls are nearly the same as the original: The [arrow] keys move you left and right. [A] makes you jump onto platforms and ladders and [S] makes you attack, either with your fists or any of the dozens of weapons you'll come across. [Down] + [A] drops you down a platform. To pick up a weapon, you crouch over it with the [down] key, and can aim it around by holding the [up] key along with [left] and [right] for a diagonal shot. Likewise, you can pick up boxes and other large objects with [down] and either place them by hitting [down] again, or chucking it with the [A] key. There are various types of weapons: punching ones, throwing ones, swinging ones, whipping ones, thrusting ones, and shooting ones. A new element is the barrel rockets, which take you on a speedy rock blasting ride and are controlled (barely) by either the [right and left] or [up and down] arrow keys depending on which way it faces. Defeating Enemigos gives you coins to collect, and with them, you can purchase upgrades between each level.
Cactus McCoy 2 is the best kind of sequel: one that expands and refines the original without sacrificing what made it great. In this case the expansion comes mainly in gameplay mechanics. There are a host of new weapons to find, each with it's own particular style of use, there are a ton of new baddies to fight, all highly punchable, and the new levels to explore are large, detailed and fit in perfectly with the series' demented presentation of the old west. Nice new touches include the arsenal, which allows you to purchase and equip whatever weapon you prefer at the start of the level, rather than waiting for an enemy to drop it, and the health-refilling checkpoints now sprinkled throughout. Best of all, the hidden treasures and achievements that were the highlight of the original are back and more varied than ever. To give you a taste, they include such things as "Take out Alpaca Jack with his own Revolver", "Kill 20 enemigos with a moving mine cart" and "Eat 10 piranhas with your chainsaw alligator". Classic. Whether you were addicted to the first, or this is your introduction to the series, Cactus McCoy 2 will prove an ol' west showdown that's bursting with the new.
Walkthrough Guide
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Chests! (Levels 1-12)
Level 1: Tumblewood
You will walk right past it on the first screen as part of the 'tutorial'.
Past the save point, jump up on the platform occupied by a enemigo with laundry hanging overhead. To the left of the laundry are some metal rungs. Use these to climb up the building, then backtrack over to the left and go through the upper path to the previous screen. Continue straight and you will find a chest under a board. Drop down (down arrow + A) and open the chest. Jump back up.
Continue left from the last chest. Drop down the middle board to a largish cavern, then go left down the narrow tunnel. You will find a chest. Drop down and find yourself back near the beginning of the level.
This one is a bit annoying as you will need to backtrack all the way to where you dropped down to get the last chest. Keep going left and make a leap of faith from the very edge of the ground to catch hold of a horizontal rope at the left hand side of the screen. Grip yourself across the ropes and jump into a high tunnel where you will find the next chest. Afterward, drop down and find yourself at the very beginning of the level.
Run back to the platform where you can access the climbing rungs you climbed to get to the previous chests. This time, when you get to the highest platform, go right. Step on the trigger pad first. This will open a gate to the right. Keep going past the enemigo with the crates and drop into the previously blocked room for the final chest.
Level 2: Dustbin Road
Drop off the ripline right away, kill the enemigo with the steel crates, then use a crate to jump up onto a rope and wooden rung at the left end of the pit. On a small platform you will find your first chest.
Head right to the next screen and climb up to the first ripline there. You will need to bail (jump) off the ripline in time to snag a second ripline heading back left. Ride that down under the ground to find chest #2.
Drop down and head right. Kill your way through until you get to the end of the pit, then climb up the high ladder past the alpaca flag. On that building, head left and make a leap over to the horizontal ropes that will take you to a high platform supporting a beautiful, golden chest!
Go past the save point and onto the next screen to the left.Ride three riplines down and bail at the end of the third onto a platform. Make your way left and when you are standing on a wide wooden platform in front of a rope leading to an alpaca flag, drop down for the fourth chest.
This one takes some work. Once you've killed the Hobo gang at the end of the level, a steel box will drop. Resist your urge to destroy it for potential loot and instead pick it up and carry it to the right. Drop it next to the building with a wooden right arrow on it. Use it to access the roof. Jump up on an adobe building, then keep going left using a series of ropes to get up into a cavern. Activate the switchplate there then keep going left to discover another steel box. Pick it up and go left to drop down to the Hobo Clown gang rumble arena. Go right back to your other steel box and use the second box to access the roof of a building to the right of the one with an arrow. A platform and a ladder will give you access to a second switchplate. This will open the barrier to the chest, which you get to by descending, picking up the second box, jumping up onto the arrow building using the first one, then using the second box to get up onto the roof of that higher building and finally opening that darned locked-up-tight chest!
Level 3: Thistle Trail
After escaping with a powder rocket, go right and drop down into a wide pit. A powder rocket and two enemigos are at the bottom. Kill them, then pick up and toss the rocket to the right. You can throw rockets before they ignite to reposition them (you will need to do a lot of this to access secrets). Throw it to the right a couple of times, then use it to fly up to a platform over your head to get the first chest. You can also try just steering the rocket right to grab the ropes and shimmy to the platform. You might practice these maneouvers here to get a feel for the capabilities of the rockets.
You will see this chest as you climb up to the overhead platforms, but you will not be able to jump high enough to reach the ropes. Never fear! Keep going through the screen, up and around using rockets to break the blocking stones. Before leaving the screen up top, drop down under the wooden platform just before the wooden "go this way" arrow. Use more rockets to break your way back left, then depress the switchplate to open the barrier under you. Go left and down to that rocket. "It's pointing the wrong way?" you say? Just pick it up and face the direction you want to fly (in this case, right) and it will go that way. You might steer it up slightly to make sure you grab some horizontal ropes at the top of the cavern when it pops. Shimmy along these ropes to open that wily chest!
Go up and through to the next screen. Use the rocket to break through the barriers and fight your way to a rocket positioned up. Pick up and toss the rocket back to the left to where there is a horizontal rope over your head (about three tosses). Use the rocket here to fly up and find the third chest.
There are a couple of ways to get this chest. The easiest is to take the "up" barrel rocket that you land next to after taking a sideways rocket and tossing it down and to the left to between the tall post supporting the rungs you used to climb up to the sideways rocket. Ride the up rocket to the next higher platform where you can see the chest over your head when you ride the sideways rocket.
Once you've gotten the previous chest, the next one is pretty easy. Use the up barrel rocket right next to it to ride up along the left edge of the screen. You should catch a zipline at the top and ride down to a platform. Go right and up and jump across a series of small platforms to find the last chest. Go you!
Level 4: Prickly Prairie
Go left and up, though a Crusher until you get to a chicken next to a flower. Use the chicken to fly right and find a high platform with the first chest.
On the next screen, use the barrel rocket to fly right (instead of left through some breakable blocks) to a platform with chest #2. You will need to time your flight to pass through the Crusher.
The third chest is on a platform above your head when you climb the ladder to the highest level on this screen, above an upward-left pointing arrow. This is easy enough to access, just use the rung and rope to get to the platform, but you need bombs to break the barrier. Either start the level with bombs or keep going and break a crate on the next screen to get some, then backtrack and get the chest.
As your adventure continues, you will find an up barrel rocket in a tunnel guarded by a tough enemigo. Play Punch-Out with them, then ride the barrel up to a left-pointing barrel. Ride that to an up barrel. Ride that up to the glory of the fourth chest.
The last chest is gained by returning to your friend the up barrel in the tunnel and throwing it to the right until it is next to the save point. You will be happier if you have killed all the enemigos in this area first. Ride it up and to the right to a small ledge.
Level 5: Southwind Express
In the second car, use the first luggage chest to climb up on the left side of the car to some chains that will allow you to access the roof. Go to the smokestack and use the rungs to find the first chest.
Go through the first three cars and then use the chains to climb up onto the third car where there is a large chest. Rather than using this chest to crush an enemigo in the car, push it to the right to the edge of the car, then use it to jump over the smokestacks of the fourth car. Go right and find a zipline. Ride this into the next car and jump off onto a platform. Use the ladder to open chest #2.
The next chest is over your head when you activate the save point at the beginning of the next section of the level. To get to it, you need to toss an up barrel from the third car of this section over to where you can see some cables coming down to the first car. This is tricky because you want to throw the barrels onto the smokestacks, not onto the fire valves. Be patient and when you finally get a barrel over to the left end of the smokestack/fire valve car, ride it up to the overhead platform with a chest. Pro tip: You can just drop down into this car where the enemigos ride the barrel rockets up.
This one is tough. There is a second way to do this one with chickens, but I'll write up what I think is the easier way. When in the train car with the two switch buttons and the chickens, do NOT depress the second button to drop the large luggage down. Keep going through until you find a barrel in the next room on a platform. Four of them obscure a barrel rocket. Throw the barrel rocket down and pick up a barrel. Go back and put the barrel on the small wooden block at the end of the car with the chickens and the upper level with the chest. Go get a chicken, then get up on the barrel, throw the chicken into the upper level, then use the rung to climb up yourself. Grab your chicken and use the luggage to climb up onto the platforms that will give you access to the roof. Use the chicken to fly over to the left to the car behind you where you will find a chest on the second smokestack.
Go back to the car with the up barrel rocket and the fire valves. Throw the barrel rocket down and use it to fly up the third shaft full of breakable blocks. At the top is the final chest. Are you having fun yet?
Level 6: Blackstone Tunnel
You see the first chest during your hellish descent into the mine. It is on the top right of the second screen. You cannot get to it while in the elevator. Rather, survive to the bottom, then drop down a small hole with a barrel and head left and up. A few jumps across will take you to the chest. The hard part is finding a barrel. Oh that's right, you can't. However, you should note during your descent that on the left hand side of the shaft, the narrow path up the side that you can climb by way of spaced chains is blocked by a steel crate and two TNT barrels. You should also note a narrow hole through which you could shoot and explode the barrels. I hope you didn't use up all your machine gun ammo!
You will find the second chest in the process of fighting your way through the hidden enemigo gang in the "Rumble in the Tunnel" challenge. To get there, use the first minecart to access some rungs. Climb and find a minecart which you will need to ride all the way down to the bottom (using the down key to speed it up) and push it under a low overhang. Climb up and around and discover the hideout.
This one looks harder than it is (that's what she said?) Get yourself a bazooka somehow and then stand on the high spot just before you get to the exit to the last screen. If you jump up, you should see an up barrel rocket. Shoot up at it and you'll break the block it's sitting on. It will fall down and you can ride the rocket up the right hand side of the cavern to open the third chest.
Chest #4 takes some doing. When you get down to the level where there are some breakable blocks, break them all with the barrel rocket (you will have to throw the rocket a couple of times to get the last two). Then climb up the shaft killing all the enemigos and pick up a weapon with some range such as a gun or whip. Crouch down and ignite the barrels through the gap, then drop down the very small gap (yes, you'll fit) and pick up the steel crate in there. Take it back out by the small gap and use it to weight down on of the buttons exposed under the breakable blocks. Stand on the other and a second steel crate will drop down. Take them both back up to the room where you got the first one and use them to weight down the buttons in that room. This will open a trap door and will give you access to a chest therein.
Just before the Cave Crawlers boss brawl, use a cart to depress a button at the far left of the screen. This locks some overhead platforms so you can jump up and to the right to find the last chest.
Level 7: Prickly Prairie
To get the first chest, you'll need some explosives. The easiest thing to do is to go into the level equipped with some bombs. An enemigo or crate at the top of the shaft also drops some cherry bombs. Explode out the breakable blocks down, to the left, and up to expose the first chest. You have just enough ammo to do this so don't use it up to kill an enemigo first.
Ascend in the room with the falling boulders until you find a boulder-flinging enemigo. Kill him but don't destroy all the boulders there. Use one to carry down a level and put at the edge of a floor so that you can jump up to get to a platform attached to a chain. Shimmy along the chain to a zipline. Ride that all the way down to a tunnel with the second chest.
In the bottomless pit room, ride the sideways barrel rocket down and over to the left to find the third chest.
The fourth chest cannot be accessed until a hidden button is depressed above it. To do that, keep ascending in the last cavern until you find a mine cart. Push this right until it drops down a narrow hole with a torch in it. Then descend a few levels and walk across to a small room that your cart fell into. Push the cart across to hold down the button. Descend another level and you will find the platforms to the chest have now flipped up so you can use them.
To get the last chest, find some explosives (TNT, fuse bombs, etc) and cross the long spike floor. Drop down through the wooden platform into a pit with an up barrel rocket. Use the explosives to blast out the breakable blocks, then use the barrel rocket to get up onto the platform. Keep blasting your way through to the treasure.
Level 8: Port Scamwell
The first treasure is tricky. First, you have to find a button to flip up a platform, then you have to raise the floor in order to open the suspended chest. First, climb up the level until you get to a wooden floor and go all the way to the left. You will pass a hole with a rope hanging down. This is where the chest is, but you'll just fall through right now so jump over it. Go down a smaller hole to the far left and step on the switchplate. Then, climb back up on the building to the floor and push a chest found to the right over to the left and down the hole with the rope. Then, drop down and open the chest.
At the top of the climb where there is a swinging ball and two Crushers. Head right, fight off the axe enemigos and scale the buildings until you reach a zipline. You will need to bail from the zipline onto a metal rung about halfway down, then climb up to the chest above.
The only way I found to get the third chest may not be what the developer intended, but it worked. The third chest is in the left area of the level under the long wooden floor. When running left at the swinging ball and Crusher room, you will move into the left area along a long wooden floor and you will see a place to drop down onto several small floors. You can see the chest here, but you can't jump high enough. If you go around to the other side there are several coal cars that you can push down and send across the spikes. I did this, but I could not get the spikes to retract. Instead, I found a wooden crate in the Dumbbell arena at the end of the level. Prevent him from breaking it and you can transport it back to the chests, drop down the floors and use it to jump over the wall. Hey, whatever works, right?
JiG reader BB also points out: "You can just ride on the coal cart across the spikes, they won't retract but won't hurt you either as long as you stay on top of the cart." Thanks BB!
You will come to a room as you ascend the level with some katana fighters and a lot of single-unit flippy floors. Jump up and to the left on the flip floors and you will find a chest.
Dumbbell will help you get the last chest. During your protracted fight with him, get him to ground pound the breakable blocks you will see around the multi-level arena. Coax him down to a lower floor and get to him wall charge two breakable blocks at the left side of the area. Behind them you will discover the final chest.
Level 9: Gridlock Canal
The first chest is above your head at the beginning of the level. To open it, jump across to the ship with the first leak. Kill the enemigos and push the chest across the deck so that you can use it to jump up between the ship's smokestacks. Use the ropes to climb up and head left. Make a leap of faith across to the left to grab a zipline and slide your way to success.
Weighting down the four switches on the tall masted boat where you meet with a gang rumble will flip the platforms leading up the mast and give you access to chest #2.
The third treasure chest is relatively easy, being inside the large boat with the cannoneers. Drop down to it through the roof where the fire valves are.
The fourth chest is behind some breakable blocks on the lowest level of the ship just after the cannoneer ship where you found the last chest. Use explosives to expose it.
Yeah, you know where it is. After you've cleared out the last rumble room, go to the right and retrieve the metal crate from a small ledge over your head. Drop it on top of the raised metal box on the deck and use it to jump up to the platform with the barrel rockets. Pick one up, jump, launch, then aim up and to the left. Grab onto a rope there and lift yourself up to the last chest and sweet treasure victory.
Level 10: Makopa Jungle
Because they had jungles in the Old West. Really.
Use the ladder spears to climb up and over to the chest tantalizingly out of your reach at the very beginning of the level.
The second chest takes a bit of work. First, you need to get to a deep pit where there is a long shaft down with an up rocket at the bottom. Use the rocket to go up and over the right barrier through a Cactus McCoy-sized hole. Drop down to the TNT fuse box, then drop down again keeping the right arrow depressed. You want to get into a downward-stepped tunnel in the lower right of the screen. Descend the tunnel and set off the TNT there. Then, backtrack to the beginning of the room where you met with the first automatic flip floor. There, jump over the thin upright and drop down a shaft at the lower left of the screen. Set off more TNT to release a boulder that depresses a switch. This switch released a mine cart which is now waiting for you to the right. Go get it and ride it left, letting it go under a low overhang to depress another button. This one will release a spiked swing ball that will drop a rocket. Ride the rocket up. I hope you brought a gun because you need to shoot diagonally to set off the TNT and gain access to the second chest. Whew!
In the Jungle pit with the long shaft containing a up barrel rocket at the bottom, ride the rocket up to a hole in the shaft on the right. Drop down and activate the TNT which exposes a zipline. Ride the rocket up again and jump on the zipline, which carries you to a chest. Alternatively, use your mad skillz to hold the barrel and drop down to the floor out of the shaft. Toss the rocket across the floor to the left and ride it up to a ledge where hides the third chest.
The fourth chest is a serious pain. It is to the right of the toothed stair as you ascend the level. You need to arm yourself with a latter spear and take a mighty leap off the edge of the toothed stair platform, launching a ladder spear into the wall. Then, go get yourself a parrot, bring it up to the same platform and jump off, flying over to your ladder spear. Jump off the parrot and then use ladder spears to climb up and over so you can crack open yet another golden chest.
At the very top of the room before the final brawl is a long passage with many ups and downs. At the end of this, just before you leave this room for the brawl room, is a seeker rocket launcher. Wait for a seeker rocket to start chasing you and lead it all the way along the tunnel to the right to blast away the breakable stones there giving you access to the last chest. Alternatively, you can pack your own explosives, but where's the fun in that?
Level 11: Whiplash Rapids
Shut up, they had rapids too.
From the room in which you set off some TNT to drop stepping stones into the rapids (this is the room right of the one you splashed into at the beginning of the level but two to the right of where you climbed out), jump into the rapids and ride them downstream. They will wash you over to the first chest. NOTE: You will probably not find this chest first, but you see it for a second when the level starts.
In the first room (which is actually the left-most of the main rooms where you can first jump out of the rapids by way of low ropes), head up until you get to a zipline. Ride it down to a wooden platform and cross right to a green step with a wall overhead. Use a ladder spear to climb up the wall over your head to chest #2.
This one is no fun. At the top of the room with the automatic flip steps, you can make your way left, jump on a narrow ledge, then jump across left onto some steep steps. There is a barrel rocket here. Ride it right and up to a high platform with more automatic flip steps. On this level you'll come to a section where the left leads to a barrage of seeking barrel rockets and the right has swinging spiked chains and tiny flip floors. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to jump on these tiny flip floors and hang by precarious rungs, all the while avoiding the swinging spike chains. The chest is at the top. I can't help you with the jumping part.
You will come to a room as you continue going right where you cross the rapids on a rope while dodging piraña fire valves. You've climbed up and you see a cliff with TNT barrels and three tiny flip floors. Destroy all the barrels to the left and expose under the farthest barrel a zipline. Take a leap of faith from the platform to the right, nab it and zip your way over to a chest! Bam!
On the screen with the seeking barrel rockets and the small platforms, jump all the way across the screen picking up some ladder spears. Before exiting the right side of the level (the next screen is the Hangmen rumble), build a ladder going up the shaft over your head. There is a barrel rocket there. Ride it to the left and break through some breakable blocks holding back boulders. Drop down and use the right boulder (the left boulder is complicated by a swinging spike chain) to jump across and access the fifth chest from below.
Level 12: Calavera Ruins
Access the first chest, which you can see in the first room above where you found the first steel box used for weighting two switches further on, you will need to pick up and bring around the ladder spears you find when you drop into the pit opened by depressing both switches with the steel boxes found around the room.
The second chest is found by climbing broken, overhead ladder before you exit the second room. Jump to it from the right, you'll make it. Climb up and over, pushing a skull switch to drop a statue head from under you and pushing a luggage chest off to depress a button below. Keep going left through a now-open barricade, jump onto another broken ladder and trigger the TNT fuse. This has dropped an up barrel rocket down. Jump down to the platform below and ride the rocket up and slightly to the right.
In the second room is a zipline. Bail off it onto some wall rungs just ahead. Climb up and jump left discovering a shiny golden chest!
The fourth chest is behind some breakable blocks at the top of the third room. As you progress right and up, following the arrows, you will find a sideways barrel rocket. Ride it across and sharply up to break through two breakable blocks to land on a small platform. Jump up and run right to find the chest.
Last one! So you've progressed through the level to where you've jumped across on two sets of automatic flip floors and the trail is bending back to the right. Just before you're fixin' to cross some fire valves, turn back and make a jump from the left end of the platform to a metal rung on the forest wall. Climb up and over to step on a switch. This will lift a barrier below (it will show you). Retrace your steps back and down, going past the seeking barrel rocket, leaping across and up to the left, then using the rungs on the forest wall to pull yourself to a platform with a headless tiki. Jump to the right through the now-open barrier, climb up and open your last chest. Huzzah!
Posted by: roomiller
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October 12, 2011 4:15 PM