You are the Parasite, a squelching land squid from the stars who sees profit opportunities where a less sophisticated alien might see bunnies and butterflies. Your goal in this new platform game from Nitrome is to destroy all of the world's tree spirits (played here by the supporting cast of Princess Mononoke) and replace them with mining structures. Your space ship is a cross between a hot rod and a coal boiler. Your weapon of choice is zombification. You strut when you walk, you break wind freely, and you feed on the life-blood of planets. If you had bones, you would be bad to them.
Move your soft, squishy, vulnerable body around with the [arrow] keys and jump with the [up] key. In a break with the Nitrome tradition of three-unit health bars, anything you touch will kill you. Your best survival strategy then, as a morally flexible space parasite, is to find a medium-sized creature and jump on its head, thrusting your tentacles into its skull and steering it around by tugging on its brain-meats. Ha ha ha haaaaa, fun!
Once you have enslaved a creature, press [Z] to use its unique ability (if it has one) and [X] to abandon it to live out the rest of its days in peace and prosperity. Or rather, to explode into chunks. Possibly peaceful ones.
Most of your victims will take one of three forms: a kitten with insect wings, a silverback bear-monkey, or a gob-horking pig. Most of the gameplay over the course of the game's 20 levels revolves around using the natural abilities of these creatures to overcome obstacles. For example, the kitty-fly not only serves as an air taxi, it can transport crates and other objects with its tail.
Analysis: Parasite is yet another great-looking game from Nitrome. Although the mainly purple-and-green background color scheme had a depressing effect on me over time, I could never get enough of the character animation. The purposeful slither of the alien, the clumsy toddle of the bear-monkey, the way your enslaved subjects drool with soulless malevolence — if you have even a touch of the arch-villain in you, this game will charm you down to the core of your thin, waxed mustache.
The central concept is so good, I wish that the level design supported it better. Having a bruiser, a helicopter, and a projectile vomiter at your disposal, you'd think there would be more puzzles involved. But Parasite mostly wallows in platforming and reflex challenges, sometimes the exact same challenges several times in a row. It's maddening to me that the pig's spitballs can rebound off of walls to hit difficult targets, but there are only two such targets in the entire game. That you get to ride an acorn like a guided missile, but the screen is too small for you to see oncoming hazards in time. And then there are three full levels about flying that horrible acorn. This game is an action platformer wearing the clothing of a puzzle platformer, and neither role fits comfortably.
There are enough moments of real ingenuity, though, that I can still recommend that you play some Parasite. When I drop an exploding bee hive on a pack of armored snails, or when I navigate a maze of wooden barriers and tunnels with a pair of zombie slave bears, I can feel the same kind of exuberance and love that went into Fat Cat or Final Ninja Zero (the same production team worked on all three games). The controls feel good enough, the lead character has a powerful presence, and the music does a nice trick where it gets sinister whenever you zombify a subject. All the pieces are here for an amazing game; they just need to be put together more cohesively. Here's hoping for a sequel.
Walkthrough Guide
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PARASITE WALKTHROUGH
Level 1:
Spirit 1:
Go right, up the trees and left.
Spirit 2:
Jump atop the tree left of the checkpoint, go up and far right. It's okay to fall to the ground. Go right.
Spirit 3:
Fly the winged kitty far up and right.
Level 2:
Spirit 1:
Go right while jumping over the water.
Spirit 2:
Go right jumping the thorn vines until you reach the edge. Up the tree and fly the winged kitty to the top of the big tree to your right.
Spirit 3:
You can keep the same kitty or grab another. Just fly left horizontally, then slightly up.
Level 3:
Spirit 1:
Go right, fly the winged kitty up the simple maze avoiding the thorn vines. It's a backward E. Stay along the borders and you'll be fine.
Spirit 2:
You can keep the same kitty or grab another, as there are plenty. Fly right, down to solid ground and right until you see the stick barrier then fly up.
Spirit 3:
Dispose of the kitty and ride the bear beast right. Smash stick barrier and walk to the end. Smash down, go left and smash down again. You'll land on the spirit.
Spirit 4:
Go right, punching the other bear and smashing the stick barrier. When you reach the wall, ditch the bear beast, jump up and grab the next one. You need to be atop the bear to reach, so if you don't time your jump properly, go left, grab another bear beast and repeat. Keep going right, punch a bear, smash a barrier and punch the last bear.
Level 4:
Spirit 1:
Go right, grab a bear beast and continue right smashing a stick barrier and punching snails as needed along the way. Dismount and jump to the platform.
Spirit 2:
Grab another bear beast and continue right punching two bears and a stick barrier until you reach the pink heart barrier. Continue right and down, grab the next bear, go left and smash down. You'll land in pink hearts killing the bear and the spirit is on the left.
Spirit 3:
Go left through the trees avoiding the snails. There's only a few so it's easy. When you reach the grassed stone wall, the spirit is at the upper left.
Level 5:
Spirit 1:
Go down, right and up until you reach the crate. Go up the tree, take a flying kitty back down to the crate and place it on the button. Ditch the kitty and go through the open door on the right.
Spirit 2:
Grab the next kitty, fly up through the simple maze avoiding the thorn vines. The spirit is at the top.
Spirit 3:
You can smash the snails with the crate here as the parasite suggests, but it serves no purpose. Keeping the same kitty or grabbing a new one, pick up the crate and go right to the gap where the pink hearts are. Just dive right down killing the kitty and dropping the crate because that's where you both need to be and there's no other way down. Grab the bear beast on the right and punch or push the crate left until it covers the button, opening the double doors. Ditch the bear, jump through left and down.
Spirit 4:
Grab the bear beast on the right and continue right until he steps on the button, opening the double doors. Ditch him, jump through to the tree and grab a flying kitty. To your right are six tall trees in a row. On the topmost of the outer tree on each side is a crate. Grab and place both on the two buttons on each side of the base of the two middle trees. This opens the door on both sides at ground level below exposing the last spirit.
Level 6:
Spirit 1:
Head right and up through the trees to the platform with the horking pig. Jump aboard and continue right shooting snails in your path until you reach the trees. Ditch the pig and climb up to the right platform avoiding the snails. You can actually kill all the snails in the trees (even those off-screen) by shooting straight up or at an angle (using up arrow) and moving back and forth under the span of the tree clump. Just remember it takes two shots to kill one, and up to three snails can occupy the same spot, so you'll want to take your time and fire many shots.
Spirit 2:
Go right and drop onto the trees. You can make your life easier here by using the pig below to kill all the snails in the right tree clump. Climb up, go right, jump on the pig continuing right and shoot the button on the wall opening the door (sometimes, once you go right with the pig, another appears behind you and can kill your pig. Just shoot him). Head right through the door (shooting snails along the way), to the pink hearts and jump down in them. You'll land on the spirit.
Spirit 3:
Go left, grab a new pig and continue while shooting other pigs and snails in your path. Make your way down the tree, still riding and shooting, and go right once you reach the ground. Shoot both buttons. Ride through the open door.
Level 7:
Spirit 1:
Go right jumping the water and avoiding the acorn cannons until you reach the tree. Climb to the next level and head back left doing the same until you reach the flying kitties. Grab one and fly to the upper right platform.
Spirit 2:
Keeping the same kitty, fly right avoiding the cannons and thorn vines. Fly up to the top avoiding the cannons, then left.
Spirit 3:
Go left jumping the thorn-filled gaps and avoiding the cannons. Climb up the tree and go right.
Spirit 4:
Jump in the cannon and shoot right horizontally until you hit the wall. You'll fall through pink hearts onto treetops. Jump in the left cannon. Again, shoot straight right horizontally until you reach the last spirit.
Level 8:
Spirit 1:
Go right jumping the gaps and avoiding the giant ladybugs. Jump in the cannon, fly all the way up and left.
Spirit 2:
Go left to the cannon. What follows is a series of flights maneuvering through a maze to get to the last checkpoint. There are many cannons so you can't end up out of your way. But instead of relying on them all, you may as well hone your flying skills here because you're going to need them later. Some skill will enable you to actually do this in just a few shots, but I'll write it out from cannon to cannon.
Don't worry about the ladybugs at the start, you'll annihilate them. Jump in the cannon and shoot up, turn right at the top then down at the wall. An upside down U. Jump in the cannon on left wall and shoot straight right. Jump in the cannon, shoot up and turn left. Jump in the cannon, shoot up and turn right. Jump in the cannon on right wall and shoot left, turn down and right. Jump in the cannon and shoot up. Avoiding the pink hearts, turn left then down, then right. You can crash either into the spirit on the platform below or into the pink hearts above it.
Level 9:
Spirit 1:
Go right over the treetop and take the moving bongo logs all the way down and left. Continue left under the large piston log.
Spirit 2:
Go left to the tree just before the spike ball squirrel. Jump to the LOWER level and jump on him from there. Go ahead and swing the ball around (using left-right arrow keys) to kill ladybugs to make things easier in case you restart. When dismounting, press the right arrow key when pressing X. Go left and jump on the horking pig. Continue left through the trees shooting snails and ladybugs. Again, you may as well kill them if case you restart. Ride the pig onto the log (you'll need him at the end) and navigate up, right and up. Since you probably won't get this in one try, take the time to kill the ladybugs up here because they will be a pain. Once you take the second large log up, go right and shoot the button.
Spirit 3:
Go right, hop on the crate, then the second level of the trees. As spike squirrel approaches from below right, drop onto him. There's scores of ladybugs here and when you think you got them all, you don't. So repeat as necessary because you'll probably use the path below often. Go right, grab the kitty and back left to the crate. Fly up, right and up. You'll see the buttons on the right but you need to take the crate left. Go through the large piston logs (I found it easier to go over rather than under when carrying a crate) and drop the crate on the button. Get the new crate, go right through the logs and use it to cover TWO buttons. Go back, get the other crate and do the same.
Level 10:
Spirit 1:
Go right avoiding the small piston logs until you get the log squirrel. Hop aboard and use him to slide along pushing the snails off the platform. If you restart, he'll stay where you left him. So if you hate snails, take the time to get rid them now. Dismount at the far right, climb the tree, avoiding the few snails, to the very top right.
Spirit 2:
Ride the bear beast at right and make your way down the tree punching ladybugs as needed. At the bottom, smash down through the stick barrier. Ditch the bear, head right through the pink hearts and under the logs.
Spirit 3:
Go right and jump atop the big log squirrel. Go up, killing the ladybugs by pushing them against the walls if you want (not really needed as this is an easy part). When you get to the top, dismount, climb the tree and go left jumping over the snails. Jump atop the little log squirrel, ride him all the way right and down onto the button. Dismount and go through the open door on the right.
Level 11:
Spirit 1:
Grab a flying kitty and a beehive and drop on the snails below as needed to clear the entire area around the spirit. Don't bother with the snails on the far right section.
Spirit 2:
Hop left across the little logs and past the harmless beehive. Yep, it's that quick.
Spirit 3:
Grab the kitty, fly up and do a kitty suicide run through the ladybugs into the pink hearts (you can use the beehive below to off the ladybugs, but it serves no purpose; kitty's going to die anyway). Facing left, there's a whole mess of two dozen moving logs and small platforms ahead and below to negotiate. Since you want to go down and right, you don't need to mess with it. Taking care not to be squashed by the top log, just drop down the two "stairs" then drop straight down and right until you're next to a beehive.
Go right and down again and commandeer the kitty. Use beehives to eliminate the ladybugs at right and snails below, grab the crate nested in the ground at lower left and RELEASE and DROP it on the button at right. Do not dismount yet. Grab the crate again and drag it through the open door. (Note: Placing the crate and not releasing can cause you, kitty & the crate to lift off the ground, requiring leaving the scene and returning again.)
Spirit 4:
If you didn't bring the crate with you and the door is still open, use the kitty at right to get it. (If for some reason the door is closed with the crate on the other side, you must restart). Avoiding the thorn vines, fly the kitty and crate up, right and down and place on the button. Again avoiding the thorn vines, go up through the open door and maneuver the simple maze to the last spirit. You'll encounter ladybugs at the end but can fly through them. You'll sustain some damage, but will still make it. If your flying skills are poor and you sustain damage easily by bumping into the vines along the way, bring the beehive with you to kill the ladybugs.
Level 12:
As with level 16 below, all the checkpoints here are reachable by cannon only. The particular order below isn't necessary as they can be attained in any sequence. Feel free to follow your own paths, if desired. If you crash during your attempts here, you'll likely survive. So if you want to return to your last point, kill yourself by jumping into the water.
Spirit 1:
Go right and jump into the cannon, Shoot straight left horizontally. At the wall, turn up and when you see a tree branch turn right. You'll probably crash into the wall and land at the entrance. Head left, then while avoiding the ladybugs, jump left over the cannon, continue left and down.
Spirit 2:
Head back up and right to the cannon. Jump in and shoot straight right. As soon as you exit the tunnel, turn up following the tree trunk and left into the entrance above. Go left and jump into the cannon on the wall. Shoot up and turn right.
Spirit 3:
As this checkpoint was in relation to the previous one, your next destination is above you on this same left side. This time, space bees are going to give you a hard time. Go left and drop down, then into the cannon on the wall again. Shoot straight right, turn down then right again once the wall on your right ends. Go up using the vertical tree trunk as a guide. It helps to zigzag around the bees rather than going straight up. They won't charge at you if you pass them far enough to the side. Turn left as the tree does at the top then follow it like a road going left, and then up, then left again.
Spirit 4:
Your next destination is best reached from the original starting point so you want to get there. Jump into the cannon and backtrack out. Shoot up, turn right then down and right again flying straight out. It doesn't matter where you crash, you'll land close to the start point if you survive and fall. If you die, you'll return here so just get out to the entrance, crash and jump far off the edge pushing the right arrow button. Then you'll land at the start. From there, jump into the cannon and shoot straight right horizontally. The tree branch above you provides a perfect road map so just follow it. At the wall, turn up then right into the tunnel (just keep following the tree trunk) then up then left.
Spirit 5:
If you stand right below the cannon on the left wall, you'll see the last spirit on the other side of the wall to your upper left. Jump into the cannon and shoot straight right, turn down, then left out of the passage. Maintain a left horizontal path and turn up when you see the vertical tree truck then right at the top to the last spirit.
Level 13:
You'll meet rolling armadillos for the first time here. They will always roll rapidly toward you once they face you. A tip is to follow them and not jump over until you can reach an elevation on the other side of one. Otherwise, follow slowly until they turn around and charge; then jump. Nevertheless, they are not entirely predictable because once rolling, they often reverse direction at the end of their path while still rolling. Other times, they can appear off-screen from a location where there were none before. Shaking ground and rumbling sounds will alert you. Patience is key.
Spirit 1:
Go right and hop up on the tree. Continue right to the end and up, then left and up.
Spirit 2:
Avoiding the armadillos, go right and up, then left and up.
Spirit 3:
Go right, jump up and again over the armadillo and go right to the safety of the ditch. Continue rightward in this manner.
Spirit 4:
Go right, through the large piston logs. Continue through the large sliding logs until you reach the bear beast and hop on. Turn around and head left on the large sliding logs punching the stick barriers as you go (they will push you off if you don't punch them). At the end, smash down on the stick barrier. Turn right.
Spirit 5:
Dismount while jumping right and up onto the platform and the bear beast. Go left, drop, turn around and punch out the armadillo and stick barrier. Continue right in this manner twice more. Drop down onto the tree, turn left and again punch out the armadillo and the stick barrier Continue left in this manner once more. At the end, ditch the bear on jump to the last spirit. If you die at any point, go back up for another bear.
Level 14:
Spirit 1:
Go left and jump avoiding the acorn cannons. Grab the flying kitty, fly up and right. Do not dismount.
Spirit 2:
Fly back down where you came from and right through the acorn cannons. Your destination is high up, directly above the original checkpoint. But you have helmeted flying gladiator kitties to deal with now. Avoid them while flying up. If you die at any point, go back for another kitty to the left of the acorn cannons.
Spirit 3:
Fly right, ditch the kitty (or fly into the pink hearts) and jump on the platform. Go right, jumping to avoid the thorn vines. At the end, leap over the gladiator kitty. You'll land on the ground below next to the spirit.
Spirit 4:
Go right, grab a kitty and fly right and upward following the small stair-like platforms to the top platform while avoiding the gladiator kitties. In theory, you could probably hop there yourself, if you could get past those helmeted cats from hell. If you get stuck here without a kitty, drop straight down off the right edge for another.
Spirit 5:
Fly your way back downward and left to the 3rd checkpoint. Your final destination is a straight horizontal line left (then down). Best bet: Using a fresh kitty, just make a suicide run straight through the gladiators. You'll probably survive long enough to pop off and jump down to the last spirit on the ground to the right.
Level 15:
Spirit 1:
Go right, down and jump on the horking pig. Head left, drop and shoot the armadillo (three rapid-fire shots in quick succession). Turn right and down onto the large elevating log. Shoot up some ladybugs. Ditch the pig, grab the kitty to the right and pick up the crate. You may as well note here that you will be taking this single crate with you everywhere you go for the rest of this level. Fly STRAIGHT up hugging the right wall to avoid the ladybugs. At the top, go slightly right and drop the crate ON the sliding bongo logs (wait if needed). Ditch the cat and follow the logs, which will automatically drop the crate onto a button (opening a useless door). Follow it down.
Spirit 2:
Jump on the bear beast at left and punch (or push) the crate to the right where it will drop. Go back left and smash down through the stick barrier. Left again and smash down again to the ground. Ditch the bear.
Climb the narrow tree-ladder at left to the top (you'll see pink hearts), go right past a bear and the checkpoint and drop down. Jump on the bear at right and punch the crate left. Smash down on the stick barrier behind you. Go right and smash down again to the ground. Ditch the bear.
Go right and climb the narrow tree-ladder at right to the very top. Go left past the checkpoint, hop on the bear and drop left. Turn around and punch the crate right where it will drop again. Ditch the bear.
Go left, climb the tree ladder to the top and go right past the bear and the checkpoint. Drop down, jump atop the bear at right, drop right then turn around and punch the crate left. Turn right, drop down to the ground, turn left, punch out the snails and punch the crate right. Ditch the bear. Go right to the tree-ladder and climb to the top. Go left past the checkpoint, grab the bear and head left down and left down. On the ground, go left through the newly opened door and punch through the stick barrier to the next spirit.
It all sounds confusing and redundant and writing it out was just as repetitious. However, each step is tested and required.
Spirit 3:
Ditch the bear, grab the kitty and the crate and fly left. Place the crate on one of the large sliding logs (top or bottom) and go through the pink hearts. Grab the kitty on the other side, transfer the crate to the small sliding bongo logs and go through the pink hearts again. Grab the next kitty and the crate, continue left to the large elevating log, place the crate on top and ditch the kitty. At the top, hop aboard the bear beast at left and punch the crate right to cover the button. Through the newly opened door above, climb the trees to top platform, board the horking pig and get the spirit to the right.
Spirit 4:
Ride the pig right to the trees and make your way down shooting snails and armadillos as needed. On the ground, board the bear beast at right and head left, down and punch through the stick barrier. Ditch the bear, go back up for the kitty and return for the crate. Fly up and right, put the crate on the button and through the door to the last spirit.
Level 16:
This is a very large and wide-open area in the sky. You'll be using acorn cannons to fly around to the seven different checkpoints accessible only by cannons. Unlike other levels, there's plenty of room to fly around. You'll be hitting different buttons on walls to open doors to spirit checkpoints and more cannons. The green arrows will point you in the general direction you need to go to get all of them, and the order doesn't matter.
Plowing through the ladybugs is fun and permanently eliminates them for future runs if you die and go to the last checkpoint. But it really isn't very necessary to kill them. You'll probably never form an accurate visual orientation of all the destinations, but the repetition of the last checkpoint will give you some short-term familiarity of your bearings. The directions below are only my offering. Feel free to follow your own paths.
Spirit 1:
Jump in the cannon at left and shoot the button on the wall. Jump back in and fire straight up making a right turn as soon as you clear the doors directly above you. You'll smash into a wall and land into another cannon. Fire left and double back to hit the button right above you if you weren't lucky enough to hit it the first time. A door will open above and to the right and you'll land back in the cannon. Fire up, do a quick U-turn right and down through the open door.
Spirit 2:
Jump in the cannon, fire up and turn right as soon as you clear the doors above. Angle about 45 degrees down right and you'll crash into a sunflower-covered rectangular platform. Either you'll crash into the left wall where you'll instantly be in a cannon, or you'll crash on the top. Either way, the button is at the top right of the rectangle with a cannon an each side. Shoot and maneuver to hit the button at top right. You'll probably drop onto the right cannon so fire again and double-back to the now open door on the left side of the rectangle to the spirit.
Spirit 3:
Jump in the cannon at the bottom left, not the one inside. Fire straight up and when you see a horizontal tree branch (not the one immediately above the cannon), turn right, crashing into the button on the left wall of the square platform to your right. You'll fall back down to above your last checkpoint. Drop down and right, then get back in the same cannon. Fire again and follow the same path, but this time enter through the open door on top of the square.
Spirit 4:
Jump in the cannon, fire up and turn right as soon as you clear the door. Angle about 45 degrees down right and you'll crash onto the top of another square platform. Walk right and drop down off the edge past the ladybugs to the cannon below. There's a button right above you so fire and double back to hit it. You should end up on the threshold of the now open door, but if not, fire again and enter the door.
Spirit 5:
Jump in the cannon on the left wall and fire straight right through the open door. Angle about 45 degrees down right and you'll crash into a small platform with a tree obtaining the next spirit.
Spirit 6:
The platform you're on has a tree on it and a cannon on each lower side. Drop onto the left one and fire straight up. You may crash into some large sliding logs, but your destination is the large square platform above them. Separate walls at the top and right sides frame it. The button is on the inside of the frame at top right. Whether you start from the last checkpoint below or one of the three cannons positioned around the structure, maneuver to hit that button. When activated, the door at the bottom right of the square will open, but you'll need to use another cannon and fire again to enter the door. Once you do, fly in heading left, turn up and right. The opening at the lower right is tiny; the one at top left is larger but requires two extra turns. Take your choice.
Spirit 7:
Drop down left and walk right to the cannon. When the large sliding logs are clear, shoot down, immediately turn left and fly horizontal. You most likely crash into a checkpoint you've visited before (the 3rd checkpoint). That's okay; your destination is straight left at the same latitude. Jump in any cannon and head that way: straight left and horizontal (you can follow the horizontal tree branch as a guide). You'll crash into the right side of a small solid square platform (there'll be ladybugs) and into a cannon. Fire again to reach the 7th and last spirit right above you.
Level 17:
Spirit 1:
This is not as hard as some make it. There's a horking pig to the left, some small elevating logs and lots of immensely frustrating space bees. You don't need to mess with any of that noise. Stay away from the left side altogether. Just grab the kitty and fly him up, hugging the far right border to avoid the space bees. Once you're at the top (do not hug the top edge though because you'll get pinned by a bee), fly left through the bees then up and right over the platform through the ladybugs above. Your kitty will die, but you'll survive long enough to reach the spirit. Quickly jump into it before the armadillos steamroller you.
Spirit 2:
Go right, hop aboard the bear beast and continue right to the large sick barrier platform. Smash down to open up the pink heart covered down path at lower right. If you find yourself floating in the air, walk and punch left or right. Just get to that opening and jump into it, killing the bear. Drop down and repeat smashing to clear a path to the opening at lower left and jump in, killing the bear. Drop down onto yet another bear and zigzag down to the lower right, punching armadillos as needed. Smash down through that barrier to the ground below.
Spirit 3:
Ditch the bear and go right through the large piston logs. Continue right and up negotiating the small bongo logs. A tip here is to press against the adjacent logs coming down so you will move onto them as soon as possible without being squashed. At the top, go left to the next spirit.
Spirit 4:
Go right, grab the kitty and fly down between the large logs as they open and close. At the bottom, fly right and up through those large logs. At the top, fly right to the next spirit. Whatever you do, don't get wanderlust and move through the pink hearts to the left of the spirit. You'll end up in a placid area with nowhere to go and no way to die, forcing a restart.
Spirit 5:
Ditch the kitty, drop down through the narrow gap and maneuver through the small sliding logs. It helps to NOT press against them while waiting the opportune jump. Make your way to the ground below.
Level 18:
Spirit 1:
Grab the bear beast and punch your way right through the ladybugs and other bears ahead and behind you. Make it to the large stick barrier and punch through and down.
Spirit 2:
Go ahead and keep the bear, as he will help you sustain damage as you go left through the acorn cannons. Punch or switch bears as needed to continue left to the stick barrier. Smash through and down.
Spirit 3:
Ditch the bear and grab the kitty. Disregard the crates you see around you, they are not needed. Fly right to the pink heart barrier and jump onto the snail covered trees. The spirit is to the right of the top of the tree. As simple as this part is, the snails are thick and you're kind of on your own. A tip is to use the pig at the beginning to fire blindly right at upward angles and you will eliminate some snails off-screen.
Spirit 4:
Head right through the snail covered trees. Your destination is lower right, but if you go upward, you can grab a horking pig and use him to help you make your way down and right. A tip would be to just stay as far right as possible and fall as quickly as you can to the ground. Once there, dismount and go right through the large logs, running and pressing right against them. The spirit is at the end.
Spirit 5:
Commandeer the bear beast, ride the small bongo elevator logs up and punch out the sticks in front of the entrance to both the lower and upper rooms. Ditch the bear at the top entrance and jump into the cannon above. Ride the acorn in and up the passage of the upper room, and hit the button on the wall. If you're not lucky enough to get both at the same time, ride another acorn up there again.
Spirit 6:
Go back down, grab a flying kitty to take the crate on the left wall into that room and place it on the floor button. The best way to get one is to ride a bear up the elevator and launch yourself from there. This gives you the height you need to reach a kitty. Once you've done that, it's simply a matter of riding a bear-beast into the lower room through the now open door to punch your way to the last spirit. It may take several tries because there are lots of enemies but you're home free at this point.
Level 19:
Spirit 1:
Jump in the cannon at right and shoot straight up, then turn right at the ceiling while avoiding the pink hearts. You'll crash right into the spirit.
Spirit 2:
Go right and jump into the cannon. Shoot straight up but keep an eye out to for an opening through the pink hearts to your left. When you see it, turn left into it. As you're traveling left, crash into the platform below when it appears for the next spirit.
Spirit 3:
At this point, your cannon (below right) is surrounded and trapped by pink hearts. Jump into it and fire straight right. The acorn will explode at the hearts and you'll drop back onto the platform with the first checkpoint. Go right and jump into the cannon. Again, shoot straight up but this time keep going up. Then turn right at the clearing, then straight down to the spirit on the ground. You're tracing an upside-down U shape and the path is pretty clearly defined by the pink hearts.
Spirit 4:
Drop onto the cannon at lower right. Shoot straight right, then up at the wall, right at the top, then straight down and turn right at the water. Fly horizontally to the platform and the next spirit. It's another upside-down U shape but you turn right at the bottom. Or, you can fly diagonally down and right at about a 45 degree angle from the apex.
Spirit 5:
Go right, jump into the cannon, shoot straight up and maneuver avoiding the thorn vines. At the top, crash down either onto the platform or into the pink hearts above it causing you to fall straight down onto it. You do NOT want to go any further than this point on that acorn. Jump onto the flying kitty at right. Transfer to the next kitty at right and continue in this manner through four more kitties. On the last one, fly right to the spirit on the treetop.
This part can be tough because there are pink heart barriers and acorn cannons between each kitty. A tip is to fly higher than the kitty to your right (but not too high due to the pink hearts above), then fly into the vertical heart barrier. Your cat will explode, sending you on an arch. Position yourself toward the center as you fall and you'll land on the kitty. Take your time and just keep repeating this process across.
Spirit 6:
Ditch your kitty and make your way down the tree to the bottom leftmost branch. From there, jump on the kitty at left and do what you did before, transferring left through three kitties. On the last one, fly to the lowest rightmost point you can. There's another kitty on the other side of the heart barrier. Jump through onto it, fly down and left through the acorn cannons to the platform and the last spirit. (Note: It is possible to end up here without having attained all the spirits. If that's happened to you, then you're stuck and must restart. Sorry, but there's no other way.)
Level 20:
There's no need for separate entries for each spirit as they are dispersed in clumps throughout this relatively easy level.
Spirits 1 through 2:
Head up the gigantic tree from either the left or right side. The first part is the hardest as you jockey for time and position upward through the snails. You'll be constantly jumping over both sides of a snail as you await the opportunity to jump to the next one above, but there are benefits to moving up quickly. You'll get a breather and two spirits at a centered point above.
Spirits 3 through 6:
Armadillos here. Just jump the rolling suckers and get two spirits at left and two at right.
Spirits 7 through 14:
You'll now have to use one of the cannons at far left or right. Shoot up and head inward. You can use the rocket acorn to clear out tons of kitties, ladybugs and others if you want, and I recommend doing so. Eventually though, you'll have to descend into the chaotic madness on your own. But it's not so bad. Although for example, you'll have a heck of time trying to commandeer a bear beast, there are so many spirits that even as you are trampled and die, you appear right back in the action. The last two spirits are above among the armadillos. Have fun!
Posted by: Bad Dog
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July 17, 2009 6:16 AM