___ ___ ______ _______ ____ __ ____ | | | | | _ \ / \| / / / | | | | __| | ) )/ ||/ / / | ' | |_ |/ / / ( ( | | | /| / \ \ | | _| \| ( ) ) | ^ | |__ \ \ / / | | | | | |\ ; \ / / |___| |___|______|___| \__/ \,___\ \___/ __ ___ _______ _ ___ _______ __ __ _____ ______ ____ /\ | --\ \ / | \| ' ' || | \| | / / / \ | \/ __| _ _ || | |) ) __|/ / / \ | |\ |_ | | | | || | /| |_ ( ( / \| |_) | | | | | | || | / | | \ \ / /| | | _| | | | | || | \ | _| ) ) / `' ' \ | |__ _ | | | | || | \| |__ / / / __ / \ /| | | \ | | | ' ` ' | / / /____/ |___ __--` \/ |______|__| \| |___| \____/|__|\__,______\___/ =-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-= - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Herc's Adventures - on Sony Playstation A Complete FAQ/Walkthrough presented by ~: Syonyx :~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - =-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-=~=-= ___________________ ___________ =================== =========== TABLE OF CONTENTS GAME INFO =================== =========== 1. Introduction Title: Herc's Adventures 2. Playing the Game Genre: Action/Adventure 2.1 Controls Platform: Sony Playstation 2.2 Characters Players: 1 or 2 (co-op) 2.3 Gameplay ESRB Rating: K-A (Kids to Adults) 2.4 Weapons Developer: Big Ape 2.5 Items Publisher (NA): LucasArts 2.6 Enemies Release Date (NA): 31-Jul-97 3. Walkthrough 3.1 A Hero Appears 3.2 Assignment: Seek the Help of the Gods ____________ 3.3 The Caledonian Boar ============ Boss: Caledonian Boar GUIDE INFO 3.4 Journey to Elis ============ 3.5 Town of Elis 3.5.1 Circe's Island (Optional) Author: Syonyx 3.6 Retrieving the Sacred Cow Version #: 2.0 3.7 Return to Lerna Completion Date: 17-Apr-06 3.8 Road to Athens 3.9 Meeting with Poseidon 3.10 Labyrinth of the Minotaur Boss: Minotaur 3.11 Minoan Encampment Boss: Talos 3.12 Egypt 3.13 Eastern Islands 3.14 Return to Egypt & Escape from Islands 3.15 Land of the Amazons 3.16 Back in Athens, Finally 3.17 Meeting with Athena 3.18 Lair of the Medusa Boss: Medusa 3.19 Ice Lands 3.20 Macedonia 3.21 Swamp Lands Boss: Boar of the Tundra 3.22 Once More to Athens 3.23 Dionysus' Quest 3.23.1 Retrieving the Passwords 3.23.2 Journey to Crete 3.23.3 Completing Dionysus' Quest Boss: Hydra 3.24 Seeking Hades 3.25 Quest for the Golden Fleece 3.26 Colchis Boss: Giant Snake 3.27 Final Preparations 3.28 Into the Underworld Boss: Cerberus Boss: Hades 4. Underworld Journeys 5. Closing Info o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o- The evil Hades, lord of the underworld, has kidnapped Persephone, goddess of spring, launching the world into a period of famine and death. Can a single hero stand up to the armies of the dead and restore balance to the land? And if he or she can't, can two heroes do it? Rooted in ancient Greek mythology (though taking many artistic liberties with the source material), Herc's Adventures thrusts you into the role of Hercules, Jason, or Atlanta, as you journey to distant lands, fight legendary monsters, and meet the pantheon of gods. This game has the distinction of being one of the few 2-player cooperative games released for the Sony Playstation. It is also an excellent, challenging 1-player game as well (and I think most people will play it solo, since you would always need both players on hand for a 2- player game). This game was released on both the Sony Playstation and the Sega Saturn. This guide is based on the Playstation version, but aside from the control scheme, it should apply equally well to the Saturn version too, just in case anyone's still playing on that thing. And a little bit about the author: I am Syonyx, though in my non-gaming guide life they call me Marc. This is my 21st (I think) complete video game walkthrough, most of which have been for relatively obscure Playstation games. I hope you enjoy reading this guide and that it helps you get through a fairly challenging game. My contact info is posted at the end of the document if you have any questions or feedback. VERSION HISTORY: 1.0 - 13-Feb-06 - All basic gameplay and walkthrough completed. 2.0 - 17-Apr-06 - Complete revision of walkthrough. Many more secrets added. Greatly improved final boss fight description. Added Underworld Journeys section. o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. PLAYING THE GAME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o- ============== 2.1 CONTROLS ============== D-pad: Move character. L1: Use secondary weapon. X: Jump. L2: Scroll through secondary weapons. Square: Attack (tap). R1: Use item. Charge attack (hold & release). R2: Scroll through items. Triangle: Run (hold). Start: Pause and view map. O: Pick up/throw/talk to NPCs/buy. ================ 2.2 CHARACTERS ================ PLAYABLE CHARACTERS: ~~ Hercules ~~ Starting HP: 50 Weapon: Wooden Club Starting AP: 70 Charge attack: Club boomerang throw Herc, the title character of the game, is the strongest of the three playable figures. Though the others can increase their max AP quite easily, Herc initially has the best capacity for picking up and throwing objects. His charge attack is the least useful overall, since he cannot move until his club has returned to him, leaving him vulnerable to attacks. However, the club throw has the ability to hit multiple targets in a line. His spoken lines are by far the cheesiest of the three. Well suited to your first play-through. ~~ Jason ~~ Starting HP: 50 Weapon: Short sword Starting AP: 50 Charge attack: Sling attack Young Jason, if he survives this adventure, will grow up to lead the Argonauts. In the meanwhile, though he's just a kid, he's just about as effective a fighter as Herc. His direct physical attack is identical, and his charge attack charges quickly and he can move immediately after using it. Unlike Herc's charge attack, though, Jason's only hits one enemy at a time. ~~ Atlanta ~~ Starting HP: 50 Weapon: Bow & Arrow Starting AP: 40 Charge attack: Rain of arrows The warrior woman who can be tamed by no man, Atlanta is the only character to use a distance attack as her main attack. Armed with bow and unlimited arrows, she damages enemies from a distance, giving many of them no chance to counterattack. Her charge attack is impressive, raining multiple arrows down onto a target anywhere on the screen, and she can move the moment the attack is unleashed. Her main weakness would be that her attack form is awkward when faced with enemies from multiple directions. Her main advantage is that she is the only character who can hit targets scattered throughout the world that grant special prizes, usually extra Drachmas, without consuming her inventory. OTHER CHARACTERS: Zeus: Ruler of the gods, but not really a figure worth looking up to. Being a horny bastard, he spends most of his time chasing pretty young mortals. Maybe if he was doing his job, Hades couldn't have pulled off his coup in the first place. Hades: Lord of the underworld, domain of the dead. By kidnapping Persephone, he hopes to ensure the death of all mortals through starvation, swelling his armies beyond any point of resistance. Persephone: Goddess of the spring, and responsible for the renewal of the bountiful earth come the end of winter. Her abduction by Hades has left the lands in an impoverished, hungry state. Hera: Bitter queen of the gods, and wife to Zeus. There's no love lost between those two, thanks to Zeus' philandering, but Hera hasn't made loyalty an easy job either. Athena: Warrior goddess and daughter of Zeus. Though not related to this game, she is also the goddess of spinning (as in thread). Just a little bit of trivia for y'all. She respects strength in battle above all else. Poseidon: King of the seas. He's the one to blame whenever you're being slowly killed off by those nasty biting fish. Dionysus: God of wine and debauchery. Those ancient Greeks sure knew how to pick a deity. ============== 2.3 GAMEPLAY ============== Herc's Adventures plays as a three-quarter-top-down free roaming adventure game. After selecting your character, you are dropped into the middle of ancient Greece, and from there on you can go wherever you wish within the limits of the geography. Over land and sea, you will walk or run about, kill or avoid monsters along the way, ultimately trying to meet all of the pantheon of gods and receive their help to eventually reach and defeat Hades. Your health and stamina are shown in the top left corner of the screen. The top bar represents your health, and the bar will shorten as the number displayed drops whenever you take damage. This can happen by getting hit by enemy attacks or by environmental hazards. You regain health by either eating Gyros, found or purchased throughout the world, or more rarely by walking into a magical healing pool. You can also find Health Hearts which will increase your maximum health by 10 to 25 points, as well as completely refilling your health bar. Below this is the blue stamina bar, or Action Points meter. This bar is gradually consumed whenever you run, or whenever you pick up and throw an object or enemy. Liftable items have varying weights, and you may need to increase your maximum stamina before you can lift certain objects. You can do this by finding Dumbbells in various hidden places throughout the game world, or by paying Muscle Men to train you up. Stamina is recovered slowly over time whenever it isn't being consumed (i.e. whenever you're not running or carrying any heavy objects). Eating a Gyro also gives you a small stamina boost. Advancing through the game world requires at times keys, which may be generic or specific to certain doors. These latter are often given to you by the gods after you complete a specific task for them. At other times, you will need to lift heavy objects, which may require an increase in your maximum stamina before you can proceed. Some situations require you to obtain specific objects to trade for passage. As you go along, you gain access to more and more of the game world. Once an area has been accessed, you can return to there at any time, though the journey may be a long one depending on your current position. Make sure to explore all corners of the world and make note of currently impassable areas, to which you can return once you've gained the required skills or objects. Combat occurs in real time and is fairly basic. You can hit enemies with your normal attack, or using special weapons accumulated throughout the game. Whenever an enemy is injured, damage numbers will appear over them, depending on how powerful the weapon you used is. Each enemy type possesses a set amount of health. Experiment with different approaches with each enemy type to find the most efficient and safest way to dispose of each. But though it may be tempting to use your most powerful weapons in many situations, the wise player will use only the minimal required force, saving up special weapons for later in the game when they are more desperately required. When things are getting hairy, though, don't panic. If you die, you go to the Underworld, and the first few times you show up there you are able to fight your way out and return to the land of the living, with your health fully restored. Do this too often, though, and you'll reach Game Over for good. You will also collect many items, such as Gyros, that can be used at any time. Some of these will make distracting targets for your enemies, some are traps for enemies to wander into, and others exist simply to trade for other items or weapons that you need in order to advance in the game. Throughout the game world you will find traders offering a variety of goods. Some of them want Drachmas, which you can find in various places throughout the world, while others want weapons or items in exchange for whatever they're offering. Keep in mind that not all trades are to your benefit. For some, the cost is not worth the reward. And finally, you will also notice many platforms carved into the rock walls as you travel, with a gold column on either side and either a heart, coin or lightning bolt emblem on the ground. These are Bonus Pedestals, and you will find prizes here for accomplishing various tasks, such as hitting distant targets and eliminating certain enemies. All playable characters are able to accomplish these tasks by some means or another, though it is often easier for one particular character or another, so experiment to figure out what works for you. Some of these pedestals also serve as restart points for when you return from the Underworld. Basically, you will walk around the world, exploring new areas and fighting various foes along the way. Do your best to avoid taking damage wherever possible. Be patient when approaching a difficult enemy and always take the time to dodge foreseeable attacks. Also, check out every corner of a new area, and lift up whatever objects you are able to. You never know what valuable goodies might lie underneath. ======================= 2.4 SECONDARY WEAPONS ======================= SPEARS: These simple weapons fly in a straight line until they hit something, doing 5 points of damage each. Common and easy to use. 20 spears per pickup. GARBAGE: Fish bones, tin cans, rotten tomatoes, twigs, rocks... sure, they don't hurt much (at only 1 point of damage each), but you can throw them in quick succession, and they bounce along the ground, sometimes ricocheting off walls, until they make contact or bounce off the screen. Weak, but it has its uses, don't you worry. 50 shots per pickup. BOMBS: Great for eliminating several weak enemies at one time. Toss a bomb into their midst for area-effect damage (10 points each). Their power is offset by their limited throwing range. These are the only weapons that can damage those nasty biting fish. 20 bombs per pickup. PEPPER BREATH: Chew on one of these to add some fire to your breath. Each burning cloud does only 1 point of damage, but they automatically home in on the nearest enemy, and you can fire a continuous stream by holding down the L1 button. Very useful for safely eliminating pesky bees, and in situations where you don't have the chance to take careful aim. 99 shots per pickup. FROST BREATH: Represented as a big block of ice, this weapon works in the same way as Fire Peppers, but freezes rather than fries you enemies, immobilizing them momentarily. Causes no damage on its own. 99 shots per pickup. THUNDERBOLTS: Zeus sure doesn't seem to care just what he leaves lying around! Throw this lightning to generate a sustained blast of power in the spot where it first hits something or someone. EVIL TABOO: This rare device fires a blast of eldritch energy that affects most of the enemies in the game. Multiple targets can be hit with one blast, causing them to shrink down to a harmless size, at which point you can bash them into jelly or just walk over them to finish the job. 30 shots per pickup. TRIDENTS: The favored weapon of Poseidon, these work the same way as Spears, except that they do twice as much damage. 20 per pickup. RAY GUN: This anachronistic weapon packs a very powerful punch, launching an energy beam in a straight line that goes clean through opponents, ideally to hit other targets behind the first. Causes 20 points of damage to whatever it hits. 30 shots per pickup. ROCK SPIT: Thanks to the game's audio, it may sometimes sound like Herc's mouth is full of pebbles. With this weapon, it's kind of true. Spit out bouncing rocks in rapid-fire succession to hammer an enemy. SNOWBALLS: Another orally-launched device, when one of these snowballs hits a target, said target is frozen briefly. Very briefly. Still, it's and improvement over the Frost Breath, since it actually does a tiny bit of damage. MEDUSA HEAD: If you manage to acquire this deadly item, you can automatically turn most enemies to stone, killing them instantly. This weapon fires somewhat slowly, but has unlimited ammo. It is ineffective against undead enemies and bosses. Unfortunately, you will only have this weapon for a relatively short period of time. =========== 2.5 ITEMS =========== GYROS: One of the most important items of the game. Eat these to restore up to 75 points of health and 20 points of stamina. HAWKS: Using this sets a flying friend circling the air in your vicinity, distracting and occasionally damaging enemies. 1 per pickup. FROGS: Once unleashed, frogs will hop around and cause minor damage to enemies they come in contact with. They move about randomly and don't hurt all that much, so they're not hugely useful, serving only as a minor distraction at times. BOAR TRAPS: Set one of these down in the path of your enemy and chuckle as they walk over it, causing 10 points of damage. Fortunately, you cannot be damaged by your own trap. Some powerful enemy attacks can destroy set traps before they can be triggered. MAGIC POTIONS: Drink one of these Circe specialties to transform into a pig temporarily. While in porcine form, you cannot run, jump, attack, or do much of anything except fit through smaller holes than you normally can. INFLATABLE COWS: What the...? Whatever. Place a blow-up cow to create a distracting target for your enemies. Useful when you're being assaulted by spears or the like from all angles. PANDORA'S BOX: It looks like a gold chest, but once opened, it will unleash a devastating torrent of pain that flies around you and causes fairly heavy damage to any enemies that get too close. Once locked on, it'll stick to an enemy and continue to cause damage until its power runs out. =============== OTHER PICKUPS =============== DRACHMAS: They look like Drachmas, and they even have a 'G' inscribed on them, but since were in Greece they're called drachmas. The only currency of this part of the world, required to buy secondary weapons and items, and also needed to save your game at the various Scribe locations. HEALTH HEARTS: When you're getting into trouble in the game, you can breathe a sigh of relief when you spot one of these babies. Pick it up to not only completely restore your health, but also increase your maximum health by 10. DUMBBELLS: Grab one of these for an instant workout with tangible results, permanently increasing your maximum AP and restoring your AP meter to full. KEYS: They open locked doors (duh). Some are generic, while others are specific to doors sporting one of the letters A, H, P, D, or U. Each key can be used only once. ============= 2.6 ENEMIES ============= CYCLOPES: Yes, that is the plural of Cyclops. These one-eyed giants are big and strong, but terribly dumb. If you get close, they may try to grab you. This effort is preceded by a roar, so dash away when you hear this. If they are hit several times in quick succession, they will be stunned momentarily, letting you move in quickly for even more damage. They take a lot of hitting, but they do die eventually. SKELETONS: The skeleton hordes of Hades are not physically powerful, but they make up for this with their vast numbers. Sometimes, you'll knock one's head off, making it attack even more viciously, but blindly. Some will grab you from underground and hold you in place, and some will jump on your back, throwing you off until you shake them off. Despite all of this, they don't pose much threat. They usually just slow you down. HAGS: Crazy cackling witches. They don't move very quickly, but if they reach you they'll bite your leg. Not very painful, but it can be tricky getting far enough away to attack them with distance weapons. BEES: A sting does only 1 point of damage, so they're more of an annoyance than anything. A sword or club strike will destroy them, but Atlanta will have a hard time aiming at one. The Fire Pepper is the most useful weapon for eliminating them. Beehives can be picked up and thrown, eliminating the persistent threat of bees for good, and causing decent damage to any enemies hit. BABY BOARS: These little ankle biters squeal and burst out of bushes, racing across the screen horizontally. They die with a couple of hits, but it's easiest to just avoid them when you hear them. FISH: These aquatic denizens of the lakes and oceans of the world can be a major pain. They swim faster than you, and will repeatedly bite you until you jump out of the water again. If there are several together, they may prevent you from swimming in the direction you want to go. They can only be killed by using Bombs, or by Atlanta's charged rain of arrows attack, or by a carefully aimed thrown object. STYMPHALIAN BIRDS: These birds of prey are mostly beyond your reach to harm them. Territorial creatures, they will fly about and swoop down at you if you stray too close to their nests. They will hover above the ground for a moment and launch wing blades at the ground. Just keep on the move and they will not likely be able to hit you. Avoidance is key, as it's more trouble than it's worth to try and kill them. WOOD NYMPHS: Symbiotically bonded to their trees, they can emerge from the trunk and fire a gob of chlorophyll that will ricochet off of solid objects. You can stop them from firing by hitting them. It takes several hits to kill one, and even then you have to lift and throw the remaining trunk out of the way. SEA NYMPHS: Another very annoying creature, these sea hags hang out near beaches, waiting until you approach before leaping up out of the water and spitting bubbles at you. These bubbles will float towards you, and cause minor damage if they make contact. You can destroy the bubbles by hitting them with a weapon or making them strike a wall (by placing one between you and it). Sea Nymphs can be 'killed' (you don't actually see them die, they just stop appearing) by hitting them with any attacks while they're out of the water. SOLDIERS: Spear-toting troops from various nations. Some throw spears into the air to drop on you from above, while some stab you with them from medium range. These last attack straight on, so approach them from a diagonal to get past their defenses. Bombs are great for eliminating groups of them. Some of the ones encountered later in the game take more damage to kill. All of them can be picked up and thrown for an instant kill. CENTURIONS: These bulky warriors carry broadswords, and are strong enough to smash down walls and gates. They attack on a diagonal, so stay directly above or below them to attack. After a few hits, they'll fall over, but they get up twice before going down for good. MINOANS: First, they will toss barrels at you from a distance at a fairly slow rate, drawing on a nearby stack until it's depleted. Move in between tosses and slash at them until their next throw. Once they're out of barrels, they come at you with ball and chain, attacking on a diagonal. ALIENS: Exactly what these beings are doing in ancient Greece is anyone's guess. Their bodies are weak, falling after only one hit from most secondary weapons. They make up for this with their alien technology, i.e. ray guns. These weapons shoot a wide energy beam straight across the screen, zapping you good if they hit. I suggest tossing a spear at them and then quickly moving aside before their beam hits you. LAMIAS: Hybrid snake women, capable of slithering across the ground at high speeds to slash you with their claws. Since they move so quickly, you'll need powerful distance weapons to take them down. AMAZONS: These acrobatic warriors can stab with their staffs, trip you up with leg sweeps, or use their staffs as a pole to launch a kicking attack. They can attack straight on or on a diagonal, so you have to keep moving between every couple of hits to avoid getting countered. Or, you can just pick them up and throw them for an instant kill. REALLY BIG AMAZONS: These big mamas are as tough as they are fat. They usually start off throwing a large object at you, then stomp in to attack you directly. If they get close enough, they'll grab you in a bear hug and crush you, so keep away and pelt them with spears or other distance weapons. They take a lot of damage before they go down. SNAKES: Measly enemies that slither along the ground fairly slowly, requiring only one hit with any weapon to make them vanish. Less of a nuisance than bees, and less common. BARBARIANS: Populating the northern regions, these bulky fighters are similar to Centurions. Stay directly above or below them to avoid their attacks. You have to knock them down 3 times to make them stay down for good. MAD THIEF: The Thief can't physically hurt you, but can cause you a lot of trouble regardless. He will dash about quickly and try to shoulder-charge you. When he makes contact, you drop a couple of items from your inventory. If you don't pick them back up quickly, he'll steal them for good. Also, he can only be harmed by the Evil Taboo or Medusa Head. If you don't have either of these, then the best strategy is to avoid him and run away, fast. PAN: Half-goat, half-man, this creature lives for mischief and music. He won't attack you directly, opting instead to play his pipes (or pan flutes, if you will) and put you in an involuntary dancing trance that causes quite a bit of damage and also temporarily leaves you open to attack by other enemies. He doesn't do this often, though, and he's slow enough for you to just walk up and bash him until he vanishes in a puff of air, perhaps to reappear later in a different location. HARPIES: These monstrous bird-hags are perhaps the most difficult non-boss creatures in the game. One trick to killing them is to use rapid-fire weapons, so that you're continuously hitting them and they don't have even the brief moment they require before they can unleash their energy beam on you. If you're only facing one, position yourself carefully to avoid their energy beams, which they shoot in 8-way positions around themselves. If desperate, break out your most powerful weapons and just let loose. o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. WALKTHROUGH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o- Choose 'New Game' from the title screen and select your hero by highlighting them and pressing X. If you have a second player, they can join in by pressing Start on a controller plugged into the second port while you're choosing your hero, or during the 5-second countdown that you see afterwards. Press Start to skip this countdown if you're sure you only want a 1-player game. Now on with the fun! O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.1 A HERO APPEARS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Walk down from the top of the mountain (how did you get up there in the first place?) and pick up the DRACHMA on the next plateau below. Keep going down and meet your first opponent: a Cyclops! These guys are tougher than you would expect for a first enemy. Just keep hitting him, but be ready to dash away (hold Triangle to run) as soon as he growls, because he'll try to grab you and smash you then. When he has stars around his head, he is stunned for a moment, so use that opportunity to bash him with abandon. Eventually (after about 100 points or so of damage), he'll fall over dead. You can also pick up the SPEARS in this area to use against him (press L1 to use your secondary weapon), or you can pick up some sheep and throw them at him too. Read the 'you are here' sign in the upper left and see if you can figure out the logical error inscribed on it. **SECRET: The girl shepherd in this area will sell you 20 BOMBS for 3 Gold Coins, though she doesn't tell you about this option. Use the O button to talk to her when you have enough gold in your possession. Assuming that you didn't let the Cyclops eat her, anyway. END SECRET** Go down some more to a clearing with a few houses. If you're playing as Hercules, you can pick up the houses to find a DRACHMA and some more SPEARS. Also pick up the HAWK on its perch by walking into it. The sheep in the bottom left corner also has a DRACHMA underneath it. Go back up to where you fought the Cyclops and head to the right. Avoid the next Cyclops throwing boulders at you, and keep following the path until you reach a second Cyclops that you can fight. He also throws boulders at you, so just move around to dodge them once they're airborne. Eliminate him as you did the previous one, then head right. **SECRET: If you're Atlanta, you can kill the Cyclops on the high ledge by using your charged rain of arrows attack. With the other characters, you have to hit him with 10 Bombs, bought from the shepherd girl as described in the previous secret. Doing this gives you a valuable HEALTH HEART on the Bonus Pedestal just past the gate ahead. END SECRET** By the gate, there's another HAWK, and underneath the house below, you find SPEARS and a DRACHMA if you're Hercules. But that's not all! If you're playing as Atlanta, use your charge attack to shower each archery target on the right side with arrows, granting you a DRACHMA for each one. If you're Hercules, throw the house at one of these targets to get the same prize. Jason can only hit the targets by throwing Bombs (as can any of the other characters, of course, but this consumes your inventory). Since you still need a key to open the gate, go back to the left and jump off the cliff. On the beach below, walk into the catapult to be launched to a landing with a KEY (you can also find GARBAGE under the house on this beach, if playing as Hercules) Go down from here, get the 3 DRACHMAS under the rocks and sheep, and drop down. Retrace your steps back towards the gate, which you can now unlock and pass through. **SECRET (Dangerous!): Before you unlock the gate, drop down the beach again. Hop into the water and swim left along the cliff wall (Do your best to avoid the fish, but you're going to get bitten regardless). You'll reach a small beach with a broken-down boat, which you can lift up to find 2 PEPPER BREATHS. Now, if you keep going left along the cliff wall (and around a single boulder in the water), you'll reach another beach. Use the key on the gate above to enter a small area with another KEY (to replace the one you just used up) and an old man who will sell you an EVIL TABOO for 6 Drachmas. If you already bought the Bombs, then you'll have to playing as Hercules to have enough coin at the start of the game, assuming that you found all of the Drachmas under the houses in the main area. You can also get SPEARS under the house behind the old man. Now, you've probably lost a lot of health doing all this, and swimming back with the fish is certain death. So your options are: let yourself die and fight back through the first level of Hades (see below the main walkthrough), returning to the land of the living with your inventory intact, or wait a while in the game until you've picked up another key and a Gyro or two to restore yourself with before coming back to take this path. Or, alternately, just forget about it altogether (though the Evil Taboo is pretty rare). Actually, if you must know, you can get here via a different route much, much later in the game, so it's up to you whether or not you want to give it a shot now. END SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.2 ASSIGNMENT: SEEK THE HELP OF THE GODS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Once you're through the gate, pick up the GYRO and go right, then down, and throw aside the rock in your path. Drop down on the mud (I suggest jumping repeatedly to get through mud more quickly). Follow the beach until you get a visit from Zeus, then just keep on going. **SECRET: Swim to the right a very short distance after meeting Zeus to get a bonus DRACHMA on a sandy island. END SECRET** You'll run into your first Skeletons before long, once you reach the DRACHMA on the main beach. These only take a couple of hits to destroy, but they have strength in numbers. Plow your way through them (try the Evil Totem on them if you got it), and pick up the GYRO and PEPPER BREATH under the boat at the top of the beach. **SECRET: At the fisherman, swim up along the right side of the land to find an area with a GYRO and BOMBS. Swim back to the fisherman to resume. END SECRET** Go left, lift the rock and get the SPEARS behind it. At the naked man, you can go left below the woods to reach some SPEARS, or just go up and fight your way through the skeletons in the mud. Go left and up to meet Hades. **SECRET: On the way up to meet Hades, there's a lone Undead Warrior on an isolated rock landing to your left. Kill him with a Bomb or Atlanta's charge attack to receive a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal above where Hades appears. END SECRET** Once Hades is finished gloating, defeat more of his undead army, then head through the tunnel in the rock wall ahead to reach a HEALTH HEART and some GARBAGE (Hopefully, you haven't needed to use any Gyros up to this point, and you can just use the Heart to restore your health to full). Go back down through the tunnel, then continue to the right. Jump up to the landing along the cliff wall and head left, to another mud field full of skeletons. Fight your way up through there, jump up to the dry land just above and get the DRACHMA, then go back to the mud, left and up past the rock. Behind the dead trees, go right and up the slope (be careful not to fall down the ledge when it crumbles as you pass), go left and jump down the waterfall. **SECRET: Before you jump down the waterfall, kill the Undead Warrior on the far side with a distance attack. This yields a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal just to the right behind you. END SECRET** Swim out, then watch out for the Hag! She moves quickly, so a hit-and-run or distance approach works best to keep her from chewing on your leg or head. Hags get distracted by rats, which they stop to eat, so use those moments to your advantage too. You can pick up the boat and throw it at her as well, and collect the GARBAGE underneath it. Watch out for the Hag hiding under the house at the top of the field, she'll come after you if you lift if up (as Hercules, of course). Another house hides a GYRO, so be sure to get that one if you're Hercules. Before you continue upward, go straight down below the waterfall, fight a couple of skeletons in the mud, then go right to find the invaluable SCRIBE!! Save your game!! (Talk to the Scribe using the O button). There's also a DRACHMA hiding behind the rocks in the bottom right corner of the mud patch. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.3 THE CALEDONIAN BOAR O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Head up from the village into the woods. You'll run into your first Wood Nymph. Avoid the ricocheting bullets and get up close to the Nymph, then just keep bashing on it until it dies. When it does, back away for a moment, because the debris will cause damage if it lands on you. You have to pick up and throw the stump remaining after killing a Nymph if it's blocking your path. For the tall trees that spring up, hit them once, then get out of the way as they fall over. Again, watch for the resulting debris to settle before continuing onward. Follow the muddy path through the woods until you reach the "Danger - Go back" sign. Do not obey it, go ahead instead to find a couple more Wood Nymphs. The one at the top of the clearing has a GYRO behind it, definitely worth killing for. Ignore the mud path off to the right leading up, it leads to a gate that you don't have the key for yet. Follow the signs leading to the Boar. -------------------------------- = Boss Battle: Caledonian Boar = -------------------------------- = Drop down into the 'arena', and pick up the Boar Traps on the ground beside - the hunter. In addition to your main target, you also have to avoid the = smaller boars that run across the screen, squealing. You can kill them with - a couple of hits, but they're easier just to avoid. Their runs are always = preceded by the sound of the bushes rustling. If your health is low when - you start, there's a HEALTH HEART you can pick up. Take the first left = after jumping down the ledge, then go up the dark hole in the bushes, then - right to the heart. Now for the Boar: You want to stay out of its path as = much as possible, approaching it from the side or the back instead. If it - catches you head-on, it'll swallow you whole, and you have to press Attack = repeatedly to escape. The best time to attack is when it unleashes its - energy breath attack, as its flank is wide open and it won't move for a = moment. At other times, keep moving around it and hitting it in the side - whenever you can, then getting out of the way as it turns towards you. If = possible, get it into a wide-open space without too much mud, to give you - more maneuverability. Watch its health bar in the lower-right corner to = see how much damage you're doing. Use your items to good effect too, like - the Boar Traps you picked up at the start of this fight, and watch the Boar = run right into them. Once you kill it, pick it up to automatically add its - carcass to your inventory. Also grab the 'A' key it spits up. Now, retrace your steps out of the boar's arena and up to where the lady is selling Frogs. The other person here is exclaiming that he could eat a whole boar, so give him one! Talk to him with the boar in your inventory, and he'll reward you with another HEALTH HEART! Now, with the 'A' key in your possession, you might think that you could take that path that branched off a bit earlier, but you'd be wrong, you need something else first to get very far on that path. So for now, it's off to Elis! O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.4 JOURNEY TO ELIS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Go back into the Boar's arena. You need to head to the upper left corner to find the path to Elis. If you find the hunter who says, "Hera can help you on your quest", you need to go more to the left. If you find the guy who's selling spears, you need to backtrack and go up some more, then left again. The proper spot is a hole in the bushes at the top of a large mud field. Above, kill the Wood Nymph and get the GYRO behind him. Note the "Short Cut" sign here, you'll use it later when you're coming back from Elis. For now, head to the left into the mountains. Jump up to new ledges as they present themselves until you reach the water's edge, then down on the far side. You have entered an area protected by vicious Stymphalian Birds. Hey, they're just defending their nest, you're the intruder here. Just avoid them as best as you can. When a path splits off to the right, keep going straight down instead. Stick to the left wall until you come to a THUNDERBOLT, a little gift from Zeus. Keep going down the narrow path and enter a hidden tunnel at the bottom. You have to move to the right a little bit half-way down, then continue out the visible exit below. This brings you to a PEPPER BREATH. Once you've got that, retrace your steps to above the rock where you found the Thunderbolt, and keep going down the main path. Drop down the first ledge, take the path with the rocks that you have to throw out of the way, then go right through where the sign says "Path". Keep moving down and to the right until you find a little path going down through some trees. Just to the left of there, you can stand on the rock sticking slightly over the pond, and kill some fish to make your life easier later on (use Bombs for Herc and Jason, or Atlanta's charge attack). Go through the trees. Out the other side, move down into the ruins. Kill the first Cyclops on the ground, moving to a position low down where the other Cyclops' boulders can't hit you. Once the first one is dead, go up and take his brother out. Ignore the Mathematician walking around here until your enemies are dead. Climb up the stairs that the second Cyclops was guarding and get the DRACHMA and the HEALTH HEART. **SECRET: After you kill the Cyclops on the stairs, you receive a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal by the path through the woods. To pick it up, when you reach the fisherman (see a couple of paragraphs below), go up and right to the trees' edge. END SECRET** Now, go pick up the brainy guy mumbling to himself, and bring him over to the gate at the bottom left of this clearing. He'll tell you the code to open the gate. Enter the code by walking onto the buttons in front of the four panels on either side of the gate. Step repeatedly on the panels to keep changing the numbers (or rather, numerals) displayed to match the code that the nerd gave you. Go inside and ride the catapult to reach another DRACHMA. Go up from this landing and walk right towards the fisherman (watch out for the Cyclops on the left, he can grab you even though there's a wall between you if you're not careful). Pick up the BOMBS, then jump into the water and swim to the lower right corner of the pond. You can get rid of the Fish again by throwing Bombs, or using Atlanta's charge attack. On the other side, avoid the Cyclops' boulders (or if you want to kill him, it's Bombs or rain of arrows yet again) and move to the left. **SECRET: Go to the bottom right corner of this area and walk down through the rocks. There's tunnel that emerges at a FROST BREATH weapon pickup. Walk back up through the tunnel once you've got it. END SECRET** Talk to the man by the bush to give him 2 Drachmas (it's a good thing that there were 2 to be found in this area, eh?) to open the entrance. Go up, kill the 2 Cyclopes one by one, and then follow the path to Elis (don't swim at the first beach half-way along the path). Take the short swim at the end that goes up and to the left, then continue on foot. At the entrance to the town, Zeus appears again and gives you some not-very-useful advice. **SECRET: Killing the lower Cyclops after paying the open the path above produces a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal way back at the top of the mountain. You can wait until you're on your way back from Elis to pick it up, if you like. END SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.5 TOWN OF ELIS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Among the friendly folks and shopkeepers, there are also a few Soldiers wandering around here, so just keep an eye out. Hercules can find SPEARS and GARBAGE underneath some of the houses. Go up a little bit after entering the town to find two extremely important characters: the Scribe (Save Your Game!), and the Muscle Man. Pay the latter to increase your AP bar by 20. Ultimately, you want your max AP to be 100 or greater, as this will allow you to lift the large boulders that have been too much for you to handle up to this point. You don't have to spend all your money now doing this, however, as there are some power-ups ahead that will help in that respect. **SECRET: On the right side of this area, there are 2 targets for Atlanta to shoot with her charge attack, and for Herc and Jason to throw objects at to earn 2 DRACHMAS. END SECRET** **SECRET: From the very top left corner of town, use Atlanta's charge attack to hit the target in the water above and to the left. This yields a HEALTH HEART on the Bonus Pedestal just outside of town, back the way you came in. END SECRET** Follow the rock path up the middle of town to reach Hera's temple. Stand on the Welcome mat to receive a task from Hera. Go to the lower left corner of this level of town to find another DRACHMA underneath the market stand. Go down from the middle of town to start your new quest. **VERY BIG SECRET: From this point on, you may notice that items, houses, enemies and such all regenerate when you leave and re-enter certain areas. Whenever the world music changes, this signifies such a regeneration point. Note when the music changes as you walk through the mud going down from the town. If you then come back up, all of the Drachma and other pickups available in town (except for those obtained by hitting distant targets or from Bonus Pedestals) will have returned. Use this fact to increase your Drachma and Gyro inventory in particular. This can be done in many points throughout the game world, though some are more convenient than others. END VERY BIG SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.5.1 CIRCE'S ISLAND (OPTIONAL) O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O This is a little side area. I recommend having a Key in your possession before coming up here, and you should also have a maximum AP of at least 80, so this might require waiting until you've gone partially through the Spartan fort as described below. Go to the right side of Elis from the top level, past the woman who asks, "Are you a good archer?". Fight past the Soldiers, and follow the winding mountain path to the beach. From there, there are two places to go. Swim straight to the left to find an island with Skeletons aplenty. On the top level, lift up the house for a DRACHMA. That's it. Swim straight up to find Circe Island. Kill the Cyclops guarding the entrance and go on in. You'll find a MAGIC POTION on the ground, and you buy more from Circe for 1 Drachma each. Now go through the gate on the right (remember how I recommended that you have a Key before coming here?) and pick up the THUNDERBOLTS and ROCK SPIT inside. Now you can return to Elis and resume your quest. Note that there's a Cyclops on the beach on your way back, and that Zeus makes an appearance to chastise you for not following the main quest. Who asked him anyway? O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.6 RETRIEVING THE SACRED COW O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Go down from the center of town and fight some Soldiers. **SECRET: Stick to the left once you leave town and you'll find a path through a patch of trees. Above, there are some SPEARS and a Bonus Pedestal. There are also several more Soldiers, so be prepared. Also, if you go down the ledge on the left side of the forest, then down through the middle of the trees, you'll also find a DRACHMA and a lazy soldier who sells Frost Breath (not a good purchase, in my opinion). END SECRET** Go to the right once you reach the bottom of the field. Most of the platoons of marching soldiers can be avoided if you don't want to get stuck full of spears. Now you're at the fort (which you can easily identify by its smooth light beige walls. **SECRET: Stay along the bottom of the Spartan fort to reach the lower right corner. Arrow or bomb the target on the wall there to receive a DRACHMA on the ground below it. END SECRET** **SECRET: Below the fort on the right side, there's a large boulder. If your maximum AP is at least 100, you can lift it and follow the path to some GARBAGE. Not much of a prize, I know. END SECRET** Inside the fort, lift up the houses and market to stands to find bonus DRACHMAS, GYROS and SPEARS, and especially for the DUMBBELL under a stand near the top left of the fort. Go up and left until you reach the top left corner, up a small series of steps. Kill the soldiers and grab the HAWK from its perch, then head straight down along the top of the wall. At the end of this short path, kill the last soldier to receive a GYRO. Retrace your steps to the top left corner of the fort. To the right, there's a man offering something in exchange for 80 Spears. Take him up on his offer (there's plenty of spears to be found around these parts, by killing soldiers and lifting up houses) as many times as you can, because for each 80 Spears, he gives you a valuable GYRO. **SECRET: Because the Soldiers outside the fort regenerate constantly, and killing them often yields Spears, you can keep stocking up on Spears and trading them for Gyros for a virtually limitless supply. END SECRET** Now go back to the entrance to the fort and go right along the bottom (from where there's a diagonal line marking where the paving stones start), then up to reach a couple of wooden gates/doors. If there's a hole in the wall beside the left door, go in. If not, get the attention of the Spartan Centurion inside, and watch as he smashes through the wall to get to you. Go inside the pen and lift up the boulder to find a KEY. **SECRET: If you haven't already, lead this Warrior around or find another behind a wall somewhere in the fort, and lure them into smashing walls for you. Along the left edge of the fort, there's a DRACHMA to be found once the correct walls are busted open. END SECRET** Go back to the vendor trading Spears for Gyros and move straight down from his position. Walk right along the top of the wall. Some Soldiers from below will try to grapple up to your level, but one hit will knock their grapples free from the wall, sending them plummeting back down. At this point, you need to fight a Centurion or two that are in your way. The best position to fight them from is directly below them, as they will swing their swords diagonally and miss you from there. Or better yet, use distance attacks so that their counterattacks become a non-issue. Knock them over 3 times to kill them. Enter the gate with the Key you collected earlier, or alternately, the KEY that the warrior guarding the gate drops when you kill him. Now you're in the cattle pens. Go to the far right and up through the hole in the wall, slashing the inflatable cow to destroy it. Grab the KEY here. Be careful not to approach any of the gates in this area without meaning to, using up your precious Keys. Enter the gate beside the fat lounging man. Now, in the back part of the pens, use the Centurions to your advantage. Lure both out and watch as they break open most of the passageways that you want them to. Along the right side, you'll find a DRACHMA in the top corner. Go through the gate on the left marked 'Daisy' to get an invaluable HEALTH HEART. Then, enter the door marked 'Io' to pick up your main target. You may want to make sure you've killed both Centurions first, however, and make sure that they've at least smashed open the upper wall to the left of Io's pen so that you can get out. Now that you've found the cow, you have to carry it back to Hera. Pick it up like any object, walk with it, and throw it if you need to rest to restore AP, or if you need to fight. On that note, throw Io at enemies to cause heavy damage. Io can take it, don't you worry. Okay, you've picked up the cow, so walk up through the broken gates to exit the fort. Follow the grassy path left to reach another Spartan Centurion, kill him, then continue to the left (again, with the cow). When you reach a larger clearing with a boulder and a pair of soldiers, throw the cow off the edge of the cliff below you. Before jumping down yourself, be sure to pick up the boulder to find DUMBBELLS to increase your AP. Throw the boulder at the target in the upper right corner of this clearing too for a bonus DRACHMA (or just charge attack it with Atlanta). Jump down the cliff to rejoin your cow (if you jump or fall down without tossing him over first, you have to retrace your steps back through the fort and across the cliff tops again to rejoin him). Head back up to town. Once you cross the lower wall, Hades appears to taunt you again. Just ignore him and keep going. Return to the temple of Hera and stand on the mat with Io in hand to receive your reward: the 'H' KEY! Whoop-de-doo. And might I suggest saving your game at the Scribe again before moving on? O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.7 RETURN TO LERNA O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Now, you have to retrace your steps back to where you fought the Boar. Head right out of town from the area with the Gyro vendor, and swim in the water to reach the lower beach. Hop back up onto the cliff and follow the path through the mud. At the end, instead of jumping up, you could go down to a beach, but you can get to the same area more safely just ahead (see next secret, below). Follow the sign and kill the two Cyclopes in your way. The path through the rocks below is just to the left of the right-most rock peak. Out the other side of this tunnel, note the heavy boulder to the left, which you can now lift up. **SECRET: Lift the boat to find some GARBAGE, then ride the catapult to the center island to get some BOMBS and BOAR TRAPS, then swim to the upper right beach. From there, swim out straight left a short distance to find yet another beach and jump up onto the cliff. Go up, pick up the heavy boulder, and throw it at the Cyclops just ahead. To get past him, you'll need to use distance attacks, since you can't jump up to his level and attack him directly. If you're Atlanta, this is easy, but the others will have to use charge attacks or secondary weapons to do the job. Go past his vantage point to find a HEALTH HEART, which will restore all of the damage from the biting fish, then return to the first beach, jump up twice, and retrace your path away Elis (follow the signpost towards Athens). END SECRET** Go back through this area. You have to swim across the pond again, getting bitten a couple of times in the process unless you take the time and resources to kill the Fish. From here, just keep heading up until you're out of the eagles' nesting grounds. At the top of the mountain, pick up the heavy boulder to find a DRACHMA. Keep following the path until you reach a Wood Nymph, kill him, and then enter the woods behind him where the sign says "Short Cut". Cross straight right to find a catapult. **SECRET: Don't ride the catapult yet, jump up to the cliff above it first and throw the heavy boulder out of the way. Follow the mud path, and go up when the path splits. Follow the path to reach a clearing with a pool of water. Walk through the water to be fully healed! Retrace your steps to where the mud path split and take the downward path. Go left to a beehive, pick it up and throw it away so that the bees will stop bothering you. Continue up the mud path. When you turn left, note the small cave below you. Use a Magic Potion to turn into a pig and walk through that cave. Drop down, get the THUNDERBOLTS and the HEALTH HEART on the shrine. Drop down the ledges to return to the mud path. You can return to the catapult if you want. If you choose to continue up the mud path past the small cave, you'll return to Elis after killing a pair of Wood Nymphs, grabbing a DRACHMA and swimming along a river, then down from Circe's island. END SECRET** Back at the 'short cut', ride the catapult to the area above the Boar's arena. Head right from here, then follow the sign to Athens, going up the mud path on the right. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.8 JOURNEY TO ATHENS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Follow this path, destroying trees in your path, to reach a gate. Open it using the 'A' Key that you received earlier from defeating the Boar, then ride the catapult on the other side. **SECRET: Shoot the target on the left with a Bomb or Atlanta's charge attack after clearing out the Soldiers, and you will receive a DRACHMA. END SECRET** **SECRET: Open the door above here with a Key and follow the path to the left to receive a PANDORA'S BOX. If you drop down the ledge from there, you return to the healing pool above the 'short cut' catapult you used on your way back from Elis. You'll have to retrace your steps back towards Athens if you decide to use it. END SECRET** Ride the next catapult as well to land in a camp. Kill the Soldiers and grab the GYRO. Since you're in close quarters, try picking up a Soldier and tossing him at another. Be careful not to touch the fire, lest it burns you. Go up through the woods, then go left and down a bit on the left to find some hidden SPEARS, then go right. Jump up to the cliff, killing the Soldier on top, then go left and enter the cave. Follow the path and throw the heavy boulder out of the way (see why you needed to go see Hera first?) to continue onward. Follow the road, killing the Wood Nymphs along the way. Here, one can shoot you while you're attacking another, so either be prepared to dodge or just take a few hits, since they don't hurt very much. When you reach a hole in the woods, go left a bit more, then jump across the stone platforms to cross the water. **SECRET: After jumping straight left, jump diagonally down-left, then follow the path. In the woods above you, throw a Bomb or use a rain of arrows on the target to receive a DRACHMA. Also, if you drop down the ledge, you can follow the path to the left to a PANDORA'S BOX, if you didn't get it earlier between catapult rides. END SECRET** **ALTERNATE ROUTE: If you want to bypass the Nymphs completely, when you reach the water's edge swim up the right side and jump to the landing. Jump up- right, then up-left from there to reach the cliff wall. END ALTERNATE ROUTE** Jump left, then up-left twice across the pond, then up to the cliff wall. Kill the Wood Nymph at the top. **SECRET: From the left side of the waterfall, jump up to note a THUNDERBOLT on a ledge high above you. So far I haven't found a path to it, I suspect you may reappear there if you die in this area and fight through the Underworld. END SECRET** You now have to jump right across the platforms behind the waterfall. On the second such platform, get ready for a lot of bees! I recommend the Fire Pepper to take them out on your way across. Once on the right side, jump up to the beehive, pick it up and toss it. Go up on the right side, eliminate the soldiers, and go down on the other side of their clearing. Destroy the Cyclops (feel free to use the boulders lying around). If you have an extra Key, you can enter the small fort on the left for a GYRO and a HAWK. Welcome to the entrance to the grand city of Athens! Actually, before you go in there (to the right), go down in the area where you just fought the Cyclops and note the sign pointing to Poseidon. Now, go right from the upper right corner and fight your way through some soldiers. Go up at the wall to find another Strongman (and why not upgrade a couple times while you're here? Because it's damn expensive, that's why!) and, more importantly, a Scribe! Save your game! O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.9 MEETING WITH POSEIDON O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Again, in the field where you just fought the Cyclops, go to the lower right corner and jump down the ledge, after throwing the boulder out of the way. Follow the zigzagging path until you notice that some not-so-nice fellows are trying to throw barrels on your head. Go down and take the Minoans out up- close and personal before they run out of barrels and start swinging their morning stars instead. Just walk up, hit them, and briefly dash away when they throw more barrels. Repeat until they fall. Go down along the left side of the fort and approach the wooden 'H' gate with a Minoan behind it, which will automatically drop thanks to the 'H' Key that Hera gave you. Take this guy out, then climb up to the catapult beside him. Whee! **SECRET: Before you ride the catapult, kill the Minoan throwing barrels from the top of the fort on the left side, using Bombs or Atlanta's charge attack. Doing this gives you a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal above, back through the gate. END SECRET** Now you have to maneuver your way across the water in the bay. Move left to the dock, dodging the barrels that the Minoans below you are tossing. You can swim down and jump onto their boat from below its left tip and kill them to receive a DRACHMA, or just ignore them. From the first barrel off the starting platform, carefully jump from barrel to barrel upwards. You can take a moment to try and kill some Fish if you feel like it. If ever you fall into the water, you can jump back onto a barrel, or onto a dock or boat. Swim up to one of those, and you'll automatically jump out of the water onto it. Once you make it all the way across the barrels, fight the Minoans at the dock. Killing the one on the boat below the dock gives you a set of TRIDENTS, a more powerful form of spear. At the top of the paved stone area, lift the market stand beside a Minoan (once you kill him) to find more TRIDENTS. At the bottom of the same area, another stand hides a MAGIC POTION. At the very bottom edge, cross left to find a soldier who will open the gate there for 2 Drachmas. Doing so creates an open path back to Athens if you like. Anyway, once you're done playing here, take the uppermost dock out to the right, then jump straight right to another dock. Get the DRACHMA underneath the cart, and kill the last Minoan on the right. Walk right to find Poseidon's altar. Stand on his emblem to talk to him. Go down from the sea altar to find the Giant Tuna that Poseidon promised you. Be sure to jump square on its head, you can fall off of it if you're not careful. Don't move as it swims straight down all the way to Poseidon's Temple. Jump off at the end and get ready for your next challenge. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.10 LABYRINTH OF THE MINOTAUR O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O The entrance is at the right side of the landing, by the beehive. Be sure to jump over the threshold to avoid landing on the floor spikes below! This labyrinth contains many traps to catch the unwary, so watch your step! Once the path widens, stepping on the square floor panel that is clearly visible releases a pair of spiked balls that roll around the labyrinth. They don't do much except hurt you if they hit you, so avoid this if possible. On the right side of the maze, a mask shoots out fireballs that travel down periodically, but this is easily avoided. What you most need to watch out for are the spike walls around the rim that the Minotaur can push into you if you're both in the right positions. The ones at the bottom that are pushed up are most troublesome, because you can easily get stuck between one and an alcove that you can't escape from, leading to inevitable death. Try to lure the Minotaur out by triggering a spike wall where you can easily dodge out of the way, then stay around the outer rim of the maze, behind the spike walls, unless the Minotaur comes out in the center to meet you on his own. One easy place to do this is at the upper left corner. Walk up and grab the DRACHMA, then run down again as soon as you hear the Minotaur's deep raspy voice and the scrape of the push wall. In the bottom left, in an alcove below some floor spikes, you can find some BOAR TRAPS as well, but they're not especially useful in this fight. There's also a GYRO behind a spike floor down the left side of the arena. ------------------------- = Boss Battle: Minotaur = ------------------------- = Once you get this guy to engage you in hand-to-hand (or something like it, - anyway), as opposed to just pushing spike walls into you, the real fun = begins. You may try using various special weapons and direct attacks - against him, only to note that a hit from even your most powerful weapons = does only 1 point of damage. This would suggest that this is going to be a - looooonnngg fight. It can be done this way, I've defeated him using only = garbage (since you tend to have tons, and it doesn't normally do more damage - anyway). But if you don't have all day, here's the trick: After he throws = his axe at you, dodge it, then quickly run to where it lands and pick it up, - then immediately throw it back at the Minotaur. Hitting him in this way, = with his own weapon, does 28 points of damage. You have to be pretty quick - to pick it up and throw it before he reaches you, though. You can pretty = much just keep the Minotaur in a specific area going back and forth like - this. Eventually, he gets enraged and starts charging quickly, so do your = best to dodge at these times and wait until he engages you normally again. - He'll fall after roughly 10 axe tosses back at him. Be sure to grab the = 'H' key and his big bull head! After your victory, there are 2 ways out of the labyrinth, both being 'H' doors: in the upper left and lower right corners. If you enter the upper left door, you'll be in Crete, but there's not really anything you can do there right now except for picking up a replacement 'H' key. So head to the bottom of the arena and to the lower right corner instead. If you find yourself curving back up the path on a grate that leads up to a fireball spout, you need to go left along the bottom again until you can move down another row, then right to the prisons. Head through the prisons and open the next 'H' door with the 'H' Key lying right in front of it (they really aren't making finding these keys difficult any more, are they?). If you have extra Keys, you can open the upper left cell for a GYRO, the lower right one for a DRACHMA, and the lower left one for some GARBAGE. You get no reward for freeing the lady there, so it's up to you whether or not to leave her to rot. You might as well, really. Pass through the second 'H' door and head up and right through the exit that the skinny man has dug to return to the great outdoors. And now... Save Your Game!!! O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.11 MINOAN ENCAMPMENT O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Pick up the BOAR TRAPS and INFLATABLE COWS, then go down and drop down to find a GYRO. Go right, then up to find an area with some helmeted Minoan Soldiers. These lads are a little tougher than their earlier counterparts, with 14HP instead of 9. Use distance weapons to maintain your edge. Above the well, pick up the BOMBS and SPEARS underneath the barrel and house, and throw them at the Soldiers for easy kills. **SECRET: Kill the Soldier throwing spears on the ledge on the right at the very start of the wooden walkways. This gives you a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal down from your current position. END SECRET** Walk all the way around the wooden platform, fighting your way through, and lift the cage at the end to find a MAGIC POTION and release some prisoners (though I don't see what good this does; they just run, sit down and disappear). Enter the cave in the top wall. **SECRET: Jump down into the middle of the quarry/mine/whatever this is, to find a target to hit with your charge attack. Atlanta can do this from anywhere, while the others must launch their attack from the lift that goes up and down. Hitting the target with any attack gives you GYRO below the slave worker. Jump back up onto the lift to get back up top. END SECRET** When the platform splits, the left side leads to a dead end with some Soldiers, lots of SPEARS and a MAGIC POTION, and also a GYRO under a barrel. Go right, then down if you want some GARBAGE, then back up, then left along the top of the square. Go into the cave in the middle briefly for a DRACHMA. Go right to find a couple of DRACHMAS underneath stuff in a small clearing, then go left to the end of the wooden platform. The guy there offers to show you the exit for 2 Drachmas. This way leads to the next boss arena. Conveniently, there were 2 Drachmas available underneath the liftable objects in the clearing to the right. Instead of spending your hard-earned money, though, there is another, better way to get through to the next area... **SECRET: Where the man offers to sell you the exit, go left through the bushes instead. Go up on the other side. Straight up, you can get some ROCK SPIT underneath the stand. To the left, there's a small cave that you must use a Magic Potion to get through. Get the KEY, and also lift the statue of Bob to find the THUNDERBOLTS. Go through the door above (consuming the Key; easy come, easy go) and onto the beach. You can trade 60 Spears for Frost Breath from the castaway, but it won't be of any real use in the upcoming fight. Definitely grab the GYRO regardless. You can't swim anywhere, so go right and jump up to the mountain path. Follow it along until you land in the arena. END SECRET** Whether you took the secret path or just paid for the direct route, you enter the arena and the golden warrior awakes! ---------------------- = Boss Battle: Talos = ---------------------- = First of all, be sure to grab the GYRO underneath one of the statues in the - middle. Now for the fight: Talos is practically invulnerable due to his = armor. If only he had a weak point... While staying away from him (but not - too far away) to avoid his spinning sword attack, you must hit him several = times with most weapons (4 to 6 times, it seems), or usually just one time - with a bomb. Doing so knocks off his helmet. As he bends over to pick it = up, he reveals his polka-dot boxer shorts. While they're exposed, smack him - in the ass! This is the only way to cause him damage. Don't approach him = until his helmet hits the ground, or else he'll still do his spin attack. - Once he recovers, throw another bomb at him and hit him again. After a = couple of rounds like this, he'll retreat to his pedestal and throw bombs - all over the place. Just keep moving (walking speed is fine) and you'll = avoid them. In order to get him to stop, however, you'll need to throw - bombs back at him. If you're out, just keep dodging and once in a while = he'll throw one with the fuse unlit, ready for you to pick it up and scroll - to it in your weapon inventory. Once he's back on the ground, repeat the = previous strategy. He sometimes moves faster, so run if you have to to - stay out of range. At some point, he'll go nuts and dash all over throwing = more bombs around. Just keep moving to avoid getting hit and keep throwing - bombs at him until he returns to normal. Keep hitting him in the ass = whenever he bends over, and you'll eventually emerge triumphant. Be sure to grab the 3 DRACHMAS and the 'D' KEY once Talos has fallen apart. Use the key in the top right corner to proceed. Follow the path and kill the Soldiers for some SPEARS, and lift the rock for another DRACHMA. Drop down on the right end of this plateau. Did I mention that you can't get back up this way now? That's okay, because there's nowhere else for you to go. Now all you have to do is find a way back to Poseidon so you can show him the freakin' Minotaur's head. You'll get there eventually, but there's plenty of stuff to do along the way. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.12 EGYPT O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O From the beach you land on, you can only swim to the right. Note the mysterious music that begins playing. Oooohhh. From the first island, kill a few Fish with Bombs or arrows and jump over the rest as best as you can towards the bottom right, and swim the rest of the way down-right to the next piece of dry land. Go down from here past the pyramid. **SECRET: You can destroy the UFO! And since this halts the barrage of Aliens, it's definitely worth taking a little time. Make your stand below the pyramid, or along the bottom of Egypt where there's a circle in the sand with 3 round lights in a diagonal line across it, or anywhere that the UFO drops off Aliens once you've killed all of the ones in a particular area. The UFO will soon come down to your level to drop off more Aliens. As it does so, you can hit it several times before it flies away. Kill the new Aliens, and repeat until the UFO is gone for good. END SECRET** **SECRET: If you kill a couple of Fish and swim left and down from the beach to the left of the pyramid, you'll find an island with INFLATABLE COWS. Sure, not much of a prize, but it's better than a kick in the pants. END SECRET** Go down and around the wall along the right side here, and up to the Strongman. Buy strength from him until you can lift the Very Heavy Weight (unless the whirlwind has picked it up and flung it away already), about 160 AP ought to do it. Pick up the ROCK SPIT underneath. Now, watch out for the Aliens as you move through this land. A quickly- thrown spear will take them out before they zap you. Of course, if you took out the UFO as indicated above, you don't have to worry about them. Go right and down from the Muscle Man and jump down onto the sand. The machine to your left will take your photo, then send out little robots with your picture on them. Destroy the machine and throw it aside for a DRACHMA. Kill the little robots too while you're at it. Up the right side there is a vendor who will sell you a RAY GUN. At 8 Drachmas, it's pretty expensive, but it's a powerful weapon too, so I'll leave it up to you. You will be able to pick one up not too far ahead for free. Go down past the camera-robot's position. Find the SPEARS to the left of the Sphinx. Explore this area, clearing out some Aliens and destroying their machines. Shoot those from afar to avoid the spinning energy balls, and throw the machines aside once destroyed. You'll find a couple of DRACHMA underneath them. There are two on the left side, and three on the right. Once you've cleared out the enemies, explore this area a little. Especially note the woman in the red dress who offers her help for some lipstick. Hey, a girl's got to look her best in the desert, right? **SECRET: In the bottom left corner of this area, look for the broken yellow brick path. Follow it down through the rocks to an area with a DRACHMA and SPEARS. END SECRET** **SECRET: Walk straight down from the woman who wants lipstick, passing between the rock outcrops to find a powerful RAY GUN! END SECRET** Now, go to the right edge of Egypt and up along the rocks. Before you jump up to the landing above, swim left and slightly up to find... a Scribe! Save your game! Side Note: Why are there aliens in Egypt exactly?? O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.13 EASTERN ISLANDS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O From the Scribe, swim back right and down to the rightmost edge of Egypt. From there, jump up onto the landing above, throw the rock out of the way, and follow the path upward. When you come to the Whirlwinds, run past them up the right side. You arrive at another beach. Kill the two Fish to get by safely. **SECRET: Swim straight up after entering the water to find another beach above. Enter the cave. At the back, there's a valuable Healing Pool. Be sure to stop off here every time you pass by! Also, Bobby wants a buck, or a Drachma in other words. Talk to him to acquiesce. This opens up a cave over the beach back down below, so swim down back to the beach on the right and enter the cave to find a RAY GUN and a HEALTH HEART! END SECRET** From the beach, swim left to another sandy island. Avoid the Whirlwind as you go down to the lower edge, then jump up onto the landing above. Keep jumping up to reach the Very Heavy Weight, and lift it (provided that you beefed up as I instructed at the Muscle Man in Egypt) to find a KEY. **SECRET: This is another area where you can regenerate valuable items by leaving the section and returning. In this case, swim back to the beach on the right and follow the path until the game music changes. Turn back and return to the Very Heavy Weight to find another Key. Repeat as many times as you like. And don't forget about the Healing Pool from the previously described secret, which you can use to recover any damage taken from the Fish or whirlwind as you go back and forth. END SECRET** Go back down to the beach, and jump left to the floating barrel, then to the next, then to the boat. Kill the Soldier and hop up onto the moving platform as it comes down to you. Above, cross the walkway, eliminating the Soldiers as you go along. Grab the HAWK in the top left corner and the DRACHMA. Drop down to the beach below. Go around the enclosure with the Lipstick visible inside. You'll need to return here once you find a 'P' Key. Go up to the top of this beach, and hop to the next beach just above. You may notice a floating platform to the left beside the enclosure with the Lipstick. This takes you to an island with a catapult locked behind an 'H' door, for which you don't have a key, so don't worry about it for now. **SECRET: Before you jump to the next beach above, swim up-right and jump onto a floating platform. From there, throw a bomb or rain arrows on to the target up-right from your position. This sounds the reward chime. Go back to the island where you lifted the Very Heavy Weight to get the Key, where you will now find a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal. END SECRET** Jump up to the landing and ride the catapult there. Go left on the island you land on. The old man there wants 2 Gyros to open the gate. If you've got them, you can just give them to him. If you don't, or if you want more, swim left and slightly down to a rectangular island, then jump down at the bottom to another. Go left to the adjacent island with the enclosure. You need a Key to enter and reach the Gyro Vendor. If you have that Key from lifting the heavy weight earlier, you can use that. At the price of only 1 Drachma, these Gyros are a steal. Go back to the old man if you took this route. **SECRET: From the island just down-left of the old man seeking Gyros, jump left to a floating platform, then again when another platform moves down to you. Ride that one to the top and lift the Very Heavy Weight at the beach to find a MAGIC POTION and TRIDENTS. Swim down a bit and jump back onto the moving platform when it returns, then jump right to the island that you started this brief side journey from. END SECRET** Give the old man the Gyros to unlock the door and go to the top of the beach beyond it. Jump up-left to the small island with the Whirlwinds, dodge them, and jump up again to the next piece of land. Here, you find your first Lamia! She's tough, so use your Ray Gun if you want to kill her without taking much damage yourself. Alternately, you can just ignore her and use the catapult (the other item of interest here is a locked enclosure with a man who will trade 4 Gyros for an EVIL TABOO. Pricey, but worth it, since it will destroy the Lamias and other enemies in one hit. You can also grab a PEPPER BREATH in the enclosure). The catapult will launch you to a pen with 2 Lamias (!) in it, so definitely unleash your Ray Gun or Evil Taboo on them as quickly as possible. **SECRET: Before riding the catapult by the Lamia, swim right from the top of the island to reach another locked enclosure containing a PANDORA'S BOX, two beaches over. Of course, retrieving it requires that you use a Key. END SECRET** Grab the 'H' Key and the 'P' Key and go down through the 'H' door (so much for that key), dropping onto a floating platform. Jump left-down and left again to reach land once more. This is the island past the 'Gyro' door. Go back down through that door and swim down-left to an island, then down again to another pair of islands (this is where the Gyro vendor is, in case you didn't come down here earlier). From the right island of this pair, jump right to the floating barrel, then keep jumping along them all until you reach the boat (if you fall into the water, just swim past them all to the boat). Just above the boat, there's an island with a DRACHMA. Ride the catapult on board to reach an area with a pair of Soldiers. After eliminating them, drop down on the left half of the break in the wall at the bottom. Grab the BOMBS, then jump across the gaps to the right to reach a landing (if you fall in the water, quickly swim left to reach the boat with the catapult again). Kill the Soldiers and go down to yet another catapult (if you go up, a military man demands a Password to drop the bridge. You don't have one yet, but you can come back later when you do). Take the catapult. You land in water, near a floating platform. (Hey, I just figured out that you can jump back onto objects floating in the water if you fall in! Wow, that'll save me a lot of fish-induced pain the next time I play the game). **SECRET (2nd iteration): If you didn't get this one earlier, shoot the target with any character's charge attack to receive a DRACHMA at the Bonus Pedestal below beside the Very Heavy Weight that previously hid a Key. END SECRET** Swim left from here to return to an earlier island. Go to the left edge and down to reach the enclosure, then use your 'P' key to open the door. Enter and pick up the LIPSTICK. Talk to the man to find out where the Password is. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.14 RETURN TO EGYPT & ESCAPE FROM ISLANDS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Go to the bottom-right part of this beach and jump right to the floating barrel, then to the platform, then swim left and slightly up to reach the boat. From there, keep jumping across the floating objects towards the right to return to the island with the Whirlwind on the right side. Remember the secret Healing Pool in a cave up-right from here (check the secrets listed earlier if this is new to you), then swim back down to the beach on the right side of the world map. Follow the path along the right edge of the world back down to Egypt. Go all the way to the bottom and then a little bit to the left. Where you see a short gold brick path, follow it down to a cave. This one is barred by a gate, but you can see intriguing items inside. Go left some more (you have to jump up the small ledge) and up slightly from the lower wall to find the girl in a red dress. Talk to her to hand over the Lipstick and you hear the reward chime. But what did she do? Well, go back to that cave marked by the brick path and lo' and behold, the gate is open! Go inside and grab the PASSWORDS (you get 2 of them), THUNDERBOLTS and 3 DRACHMAS. Nice haul. Go left along the bottom wall a ways to find another brick path, and go down to get SPEARS and a GOLD COIN. Yes, not as exciting as the last find, but at least it's better than dog food. **SECRET: Kill all of the Aliens along the bottom of Egypt to have the UFO come back around. Stand in the ring of lights on the ground, near the left side, and shoot the UFO repeatedly as it comes down to drop off more Aliens. Kill them and repeat, until the UFO is destroyed and the reward chime is heard. This gives you THUNDERBOLTS on the Bonus Pedestal up-right from the Scribe's island. I know that I described destroying the UFO during the first visit to Egypt, but for me the Thunderbolts didn't appear until I killed it again upon returning here this time. END SECRET** Now might be a good time to save your game again, so go up either to the right of the Sphinx, or along the right edge of this area, and swim to the Scribe's island to do so. And now, finally, to leave these cursed lands. It's still not a direct route, so bear with me. From the right edge of Egypt, jump up to the landing and follow the mountain path to the top. Swim over to the left (and remember the Healing Pool in the secret area up-right from here, and also remember to get another KEY underneath the Very Heavy Weight above!) and jump across the barrels to the boat. Kill a couple of Fish and swim left some more past a floating barrel and platform to reach the island with the enclosure that held the Lipstick. Move to the top of this island. Jump up to the next island and ride the catapult above. Go down from your landing area and follow the 'Food' sign down-left across the water. Jump down- right to the next island, then hop along the barrels to the right to reach the boat with the catapult. From the new landing, drop down on the left side of the gap, jump right across the gaps, and up to the guy guarding the bridge. Talk to him to give him the Password to lower the bridge (note that even though your inventory showed 2 Passwords, you now have none). On the other side, lift and throw the Very Heavy Weight. Go to the bottom right corner of this plateau and drop down. Jump across the floating platforms to the next beach and go up through the cave. Welcome to a new area! **SECRET: After dropping down on the right after crossing the drawbridge, swim far out to the left and down a little bit. You'll likely want to draw at least a couple of fish over to you first and kill them. Upon swimming out there, you'll find a boat with an EVIL TABOO on board, definitely worth a few Fish bites. END SECRET** Go down to the beach, avoiding the Whirlwind, and swim left to the island with the grove of trees. **SECRET: To get to the Healing Pool inside the trees, simply use a Magic Potion. In pig size, just walk through the bushes from either side and be fully healed. Walk out again, and wait for the effect to wear off before attempting to enter the water. Did you know that entering water as a pig is instant death? I didn't before I tried it here. Whoops. END SECRET** Go up-right from the island with the trees, then right across another island to reach solid land once more. Go past the Whirlwind and up the path. Prepare to fight the Lamia ahead (again, the Evil Taboo and Ray Gun prove invaluable against these foes). After killing the first, you have two choices: simply jump up the root-covered cliff above, or take the less direct route that nets you a couple of pickups. For the latter, go down along the left edge of the clearing to find another Lamia, and a catapult (there are also BOAR TRAPS underneath the house on the left). Search behind the rocks to the right of the catapult to find a hidden DRACHMA. Ride the catapult. Where you land, kill both Snake Women to recover the BABY. Talk to the woman who claims that the Lamias stole her baby (even though she's carrying another one, and really doesn't look like she can care properly for even just that one. What is this ancient world coming to?), returning it to her and lowering the bridge in exchange. **SECRET: Before you cross the bridge, jump up to the ledge to the right of the bridge, lift the house and toss it at the target in the corner. After crossing the bridge, go back to the area with the catapult and jump to the Bonus Pedestal in the top left corner. Here, you'll find another BABY!! This is a valuable find that will help you accomplish a task later in the game much more quickly. END SECRET** Cross the bridge and go back up to the first Lamia-laden area. At the top, jump up to the root-covered rocks, then walk over to the base of the tree. Jump up to the bunches of leaves where the sign indicates 'Path'. Jump up at the top of the plateau and follow the path back and forth up the mountain. Follow the path to reach... the land of the Amazons! Geez, are you ever going to get back to Poseidon? O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.15 LAND OF THE AMAZONS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O At the 'Men Stay Out' sign, keep heading to the right. When you reach the gate (which will remain closed to you), the first Amazons come out to fight. They're able warriors, so keep your wits about you. Lift the pedestal to the right of the gates to find SPEARS. Go right some more to reach a catapult that will toss you over the wall into a literal no-man's land. Go up, fight the Amazons, and get the GYRO from the upper right corner before going up the stairs. Once you do, get ready for a fairly big fight. The Big Amazons on their own are bad enough, but you also have several of their little sisters to contend with at the same time. I recommend using some Thunder Bolts to thin out the herd, as they cause some area damage, until the smaller Amazons are all gone. After that, use Spears against the Big Amazon, always keeping a fair distance away, until she falls. Alternately, one hit from the Evil Taboo will shrink the Big Amazons and allow you to crush them underfoot. There's another Big Amazon waiting in the upper right corner, too, so eliminate her in the same way. Pick up the SPEARS underneath the pedestal by the barrels, which may or may not have already been thrown by you or the Big Amazons. Now, you can talk to the Scribe beside the stairs above through the bars. Do so to save your game! **SECRET: Go to the right edge of this wide space and down past the diagonal row of columns (a row of columns?). Use a Key to open the door below and grab the HEALTH HEART. END SECRET** Go up the stairs and to the left to the green 'Exit' sign. If you want to leave now (which I don't recommend), just continue to the left and follow the path. Pay the girl 1 Gold Coin to create rocks in the water and jump across them. Go left on the other side, and find the GARBAGE under the beach umbrella. Go back to the where the girl was, and there will be a MAGIC POTION there instead. Go up again past the beach, and lift the house in the top left corner. Jump up behind it and drop down to the beach, where a boat awaits to take you back to the mainland. From where you dock, go down and left into the woods, then go through the trees just below the beehive. Go down from there and you'll find yourself in Athens! If you would rather keep looting the Amazons' fort, go down at the green sign, then down the stairs to the left to find a large trap floor. The best way to cross it is to cross it slowly, taking small steps to reveal the floor pikes. Once they retract, keep crossing downward. Grab the 'H' Key from the middle of this floor and use it to open the gate at the bottom. Go left to the large space and fight some more Amazons, including one big one. You can lift the cages to free the men, but the only real point is so that you can then throw the cages at the women. Grab the BOMBS to the right of the jail cell. **SECRET: If you acquired the second Baby in the area with the Lamias before reaching the Amazons, give it to the jailer in front of the cell to open the door. Give the prisoner inside a Gyro to receive PASSWORDS. END SECRET** On the left side of this space, go up between the fireball spouts in the upper wall and take the left branch of the path. Stay to the left, and jump down the gap. Free the men from the cage to get a hint about weapons in Crete. Now, you can jump back up to the ledge above and retrace your steps. To the right along the grilled walkway, there's a door above that can be unlocked with a Key. You can choose to ignore this path for now if you want, as you can return later from Athens, but any consumed items will be replaced if you choose to pursue it. If you go through the door, ride the catapult and go left when you land. Lift the boulder to find a DRACHMA. Pay the girl 4 Drachmas to receive a KEY and drop down the ledge below. Go right and take the upper path when it splits, jump over the spikes and follow the mud path until you fall into the jail. Lift the boulder at the back and enter the cave behind it. Take the upper path and follow it to reach some Skeletons and a visit from Hades. Go up from there to see Zeus, then grab the 'H' KEY from behind the tree on the right, and get the 3 DRACHMAS. Retrace your steps and take the lower mud path to the right when it splits. Go down through the cave at the end of the path. **SECRET: Hit the target on your right before jumping down after coming out of the cave with a rain of arrows or Bomb. Go back up to where you just say Zeus and get the THUNDERBOLTS from the Bonus Pedestal there. END SECRET** Drop down after emerging from the cave, fight down to the 'A' door and open it with your key. You are now back where you started. Return to the area where you last fought a Big Amazon. There, go up to the walkway in the lower right corner and follow it (fighting your way through as needed) to reach some land. There's a DRACHMA in the corner under a pillar. There's also Marcia, who will take 5 Drachmas in exchange for a PANDORA'S BOX. Swim left from here to reach a catapult on an island that will toss you all the long way back to Athens. Finally! Follow the strips of beach when you land. From the lady who takes Frogs in trade for Boar Traps, swim straight to the left. Welcome back to Athens! O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.16 BACK IN ATHENS, FINALLY O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O You can get some GARBAGE by throwing away the beach umbrellas and a pillar on the way through this area. Go up past the girl and soldier to the large stairs at the top of this area. There are TRIDENTS underneath the market stand to the right of the stairs, behind the soldier selling Bombs. Watch out for Cassandra's predictions! Most of them cause the predicted objects to rain from the sky (safes, pizzas, frogs); you can see their shadows to get out of the way before they land. A prediction of Clowns summons several who will follow and try to bash you until you strike them. A prediction of Bees causes a large swarm to come after you, so get your Fire Pepper ready! And finally, a prediction of Coins is a rare boon to your coffers, so milk that one for all that it's worth. As soon as Cassandra makes a prediction, you can prevent it from being realized by hitting her. After going up the wide stairs, go to the lower right corner and go down the long walkway to find a HAWK. Go back up, then follow along the bottom of this area to the left side, and jump down the gap there. Pick up the ICE BREATH and jump over the pool without getting wet, then lift the house to find a KEY. Now you can dip into the pool to transform into a pig, and leave via the hole in the lower wall. Go back up the wide stairs and go left just about all the way to the end. Just above, you can find a PANDORA'S BOX inside the open-air temple. Go down through the gap in the short white wall below, lift the stand to find PEPPER BREATH, and keep heading straight down to reach a mud path. Go up at the end, fight past a few Soldiers, and head left. Does this area look familiar now? Go down past the Cyclops (you could use your Key to get the GYRO and HAWK in the enclosure if you didn't open it earlier, or just save it for later) and jump down at the lower right corner, then follow the signs towards Poseidon. Once you reach the Minoans' fort, you could fight your way through as you did the first time you were here and ride the catapult, or you can go down along the left edge through the now-open gate and cross the top of the fort to reach the upper right dock. From there, jump right off the end to the next dock and over to Poseidon's altar. Talk to him to return the Minotaur's head and receive a 'P' Key! Please Note: At any time, you can return to Poseidon's altar to find the giant tuna below it at the dock. Jump on board to return to the entrance to the Minotaur's Labyrinth way down to the South. Why you would want to do this though, I'm not certain. Go back through the Minoan fort to the lower left corner and sneak up the side to return to Athens proper, via the winding mud path. Go up past the first detachment of Soldiers to return to the Scribe. Save your game! O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.17 MEETING WITH ATHENA O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Go straight down from the Scribe and Strongman, fight past the Soldiers, go past the columned temple and take the mud path where it leads you. Go up on the paved terrain and enter the large columned pavilion from the lower right end to pick up a PANDORA'S BOX if you didn't grab it earlier. Go right and down from here, then cross to the next area in the lower right corner, past the off-duty soldier standing there. Watch out again for Cassandra's predictions as you go up slightly to Athena's altar. Step on the 'A' to summon her. She gives you the quest of defeating the horrible Medusa, and it won't be terribly easy. All of this just for some lousy keys. Oh well, what can you do about it? Stop playing? Not at this point, buster! You've got to go on. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.18 MEDUSA'S LAIR O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O I recommend having a minimum of 2 Gyros in your inventory before you start this quest. Use the 'P' Key to enter the door just up-left from Athena's altar. Grab the GYRO and ride the catapult quite a fair distance. From your landing point, go down to the water's edge, jump in, and swim directly left to reach the Edge, a.k.a. Medusa's Lair. Head left and down along the wall. Run between the pair of Wood Nymphs and hit them one at a time as they emerge from their trunks, to prevent them both from shooting at you. Once they're both dead, head left and up. **SECRET: Swim down and left from the beach to find an island with a single statue on it. Toss it aside to find PEPPER BREATH. END SECRET** At the edge of the arena, a couple of Hags come to get you. Just keep a few steps away at all times and shoot them full of spears. Once those two are out of the way, head up to the wall. You can see Medusa (at least her bottom half) on the other side, so start attacking her with your most powerful weapons right away. ----------------------- = Boss Battle: Medusa = ----------------------- = There aren't any real tricks to this fight, as Medusa will take damage no - matter what you throw at her. All you have to do is stay alive long enough = to wear down her health bar. Sounds easy enough, right? I recommend using - your most powerful weapons, such as the Ray Gun, Thunderbolts, and Bombs. = Lots and lots of Bombs. These have the added advantage of doing area damage - to the snakes she sends out after you, and also you don't need to aim = precisely to hit her with them. Aside from her snakes, she naturally also - possesses her petrifying gaze. Get hit by this laser beam and you'll = solidify momentarily, causing 20 points of damage. Avoid this by always = staying in motion and out of Medusa's line of sight. - = After she takes a bit of damage (about 1/5 of her life bar), she'll fly off - to another area. Take this opportunity to rest and build your AP bar up. = Go up the left side carefully, and note how the lightning creates a hole in - the ground. If you fall into one of these holes, it's instant death, so = take care! You can jump straight over holes, or go around them. You will - also need to lift and throw the statues occasionally to proceed. Use every = tool at your disposal to help you out here, such as Inflatable Cows to draw - some of her fire. But above all, keep those bombs coming, and stay out of = line with her eye beams. Once she drops to 1/2 of her life bar, she will - sometimes fire in a circle. Keep a short distance away and slight to the = side of a line directly above or below her to keep from getting hit. Keep - pouring on the damage and push her back down the wall on the left edge of = the arena (here, the lightning doesn't cause holes at least). She'll be - cornered at the bottom, along with a Hag, so watch your health in case it's = almost out, and let her have it. - = If you're still having trouble... the only real trick to this fight is - learning the angles that you can stand at in relation to her position, so = that her eye beams can't hurt you. Get that part down, watch your step - around the holes, and the rest will fall into place. After the fight, pick up her head from the part of the arena at the bottom of the long wall you came down towards the end. Go back through her arena (at the top of the long wall, drop down on the right side and go down to a DRACHMA), still avoiding those holes, and return to the beach. Watch out for the Mad Thief! He'll knock you over and make you drop some stuff. Avoid him as best you can, and pick up your stuff right away if he does manage to check you. He can only be stopped by using the Evil Taboo, so hopefully you've got one, because he'll be appearing again shortly. Swim to the right straight across to the beach, then go up and get the HEALTH HEART up above! **SECRET: Scroll through your inventory looking for the Medusa Head. Note that it appears in your weapon inventory, and that there's no ammo number attached to it. The Medusa Head is an unlimited weapon that can turn any enemy to stone! Some, you will then have to toss out of the way, while others will just crumble on their own. Use it with abandon for the sections up ahead! END SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.19 ICE LANDS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O To the right of the landing area (from the catapult way back in Athens), go up the mud path and keep following it until the sky clears and you reach the snow- covered mountaintop. Eliminate the Hag that emerges from the cave here, then go right and kill the Wood Nymph. Lift up and toss the snowman to reveal SNOWBALLS. There's another Hag just to the right here. Jump across the snowy landings, and note the caveman warming by the fire. He wants a Green Egg in exchange for a 'P' Key. Now where are you going to get a Green Egg? Go down the ramp below you, and jump left to the moving ice floe. At the left end of its path, jump down to the next floe moving up and down. Jump to the first landing on the left to find FROST BREATH under the snow boulder. Jump back to the ice floe and ride it all the way down, disembarking on the left. Go left past the 'H' door, and jump left then down to another moving floe. Jump off at the bottom. Go to the bottom of this area, and run and jump right over the ice spikes. Fight the Barbarian (who unfairly seems to be able to walk right over the spikes without damage), then lift the broken boat to receive the 'H' KEY. Retrace your steps to the 'H' door and enter it. Go up the ice ramp (you can throw the penguins if they're in your way) and ride the catapult. You land in an area with 3 Hags (!), so have a suitable weapon prepared (I'll let you pick what you like, just remember that you're fighting in close quarters. Fine, you want a hint? Maybe Thunderbolts or bombs. You'll probably take a few hits anyway, but they're more annoying than harmful). Pick up the 'H' Key, and especially remember to lift up the snowman to find... a GREEN EGG! Go through the door at the bottom and drop down, jump down-left twice to the moving ice floe and get off at the left side, go up and ride the floes all the way back to the old caveman by his fire. Talk to him to make the exchange, then go back to where you fought the Barbarian and found the first 'H' Key. Open the 'P' door and enter. Grab the bag of FROGS, and buy some GYROS if you want to. Go up the ramp on the right after tossing the snow boulder out of the way. **SECRET: This is another location where you can leave and return to regenerate valuable items. In this case, you can get unlimited 'H' KEYS and GREEN EGGS, which can be exchanged for 'P' KEYS. To do this, once you've got at least one of each, leave via the snowy path along the top, past the Hags' caves. Go down the winding path until the music changes and the sky darkens, then return. Use the catapult on the left side to return to the enclosure with 3 Hags, a Green Egg and an 'H' Key, then go back to the old caveman to trade in the egg, then keep going back out past the caves if you want to do it again. Repeat as much as you have patience for. The extra keys will come in very handy late in the game. END SECRET** Follow the path, defeating lone Barbarians along the way. The second one can be killed from the ledge above by lobbing Bombs at him. Go down the ramp on the right side and throw the boulder out of the way. On the slippery path, avoid the ice spikes and head up along the left edge. Jump over the spikes, then jump left over the water to another icy patch. You have 3 Hags to fight off here, then a Barbarian who comes from the right. Follow the path up the slopes, across and down. There are 3 Barbarians just ahead, you can kill them off by staying just at the top of the slope down into their area and throwing Spears to the right. Go down to reach the villager who welcomes you to... Macedonia! **SECRET: Just above the area with 2 Hag caves, there's another Hag walking around on an unreachable ledge above you. Kill her with Bombs or arrows, then retrace your steps back over the large group of ice spikes to find THUNDERBOLTS on the Bonus Pedestal over the water to the right. END SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.20 MACEDONIA O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Remember to use the Medusa Head as your main weapon throughout this area to make passage infinitely easier. Defeat a couple of Barbarians along the path until you reach a small village clearing. Pick up the first hut to find a DRACHMA. **SECRET: Use a Magic Potion and enter the hole in the trees above the first hut. On the other side, you'll find SPEARS, THUNDERBOLTS and a DRACHMA. The pool will also transform you into a pig (sorry, it's not a healing pool), ensuring that you can get back out again. If you don't have a Magic Potion, to the right at the top of the clearing, there's another cave with several Barbarians running around outside of it. Inside there, there's another pool to transform you into a pig. END SECRET** Quickly run to the right edge of this clearing to avoid the Mad Thief, or use the Medusa Head on him to eliminate his threat. There are wooden gates that can only be opened by a Barbarian smashing them open. Stay above the fire pit to fight the Barbarians, as they can only come up to you one at a time through the space beside the fire. And remember that they can only hit diagonally, so stay directly above them to avoid any damage. **SECRET: After the Barbarians smash the wooden gates, enter the next area and go straight down from the campfire. You'll enter a hidden cave with a HEALTH HEART on the other side. END SECRET** Go down, then left and down again, fighting your way through as needed. Past the woman and her baby (you can give them a Gyro, but all you get are some SNOWBALLS; not a great exchange for you), lift the hut for some SPEARS and grab the HAWK perched above to the right. Go down and wait at the water's edge along the right side until you see the floating platform come up to you. Jump to it and ride down, then jump off and take out the Wood Nymph. There are also three Barbarians on this field to fight, and some SNOWBALLS and ICE BREATH under the hut. Once things are safe, go and see the Scribe. Save your game! At the left edge of this field, jump onto the next floating platform, then from the top of its path to the right to another platform (you may need to wait a couple of cycles to see it). Jump off that one on the left side. If you go straight up and move along the top of the beach to the Wood Nymph, you'll avoid the notice of the Mad Thief hiding down below (though using the Medusa Head or Evil Taboo, he really poses little threat). You can throw the Nymph's stump at the trees to knock them over and let you pass. Follow the path towards the left. Eventually you'll drop down onto a muddy strip on the edge of a forest. **SECRET: From the muddy patch here, jump in the water and swim down as far as you can go, then swim left. From the small beach found here, jump up to find a hermit who will sell you an EVIL TABOO for the low, low price of 6 Drachmas. END SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.21 SWAMP LANDS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Go down the mud strip and defeat the single Wood Nymph, followed a little later by a pair of Wood Nymphs. If you try to fight both at once, you'll also get attacked by bees and likely lose a small amount of health. It might be easier to launch distance attacks at the right Nymph from above, then move down to deal with the other one head one, smashing the bees as they approach. Keep going down, fight another Wood Nymph, and then, surprise... ----------------------------------- = Boss Battle: Boar of the Tundra = ----------------------------------- = This one just doesn't compare to the first one you fought way back when. - Stay at the top the area where he first appears, on the strip of land beside = the woods. You can kill him using only Boar Traps if you like, just lay them - along both sides of the path and wait for him to walk right into them. Just = stay out of his way, which is easy enough to do, leading him in a square - pattern onto more traps until he dies. Do pick up the boar's carcass to add his head to your inventory, just like the last one. **SECRET: If you return to this area after returning to Athens, riding the catapult back to Medusa's lair and fighting through Macedonia, another Boar will have appeared (this might require that you save and reload a game in Athens first). With more Boar Heads in your inventory, you can trade them for something nice later on. END SECRET** Go down to the bottom of this area, then right past the Bomb vendor. Kill the Wood Nymph, then go up and right past the Pepper Breath vendor. Up and right a little further is another Wood Nymph, and down from him, some trees to knock over to reveal the path ahead. Go down a short distance to see some Undead Warriors waiting for you. At the bottom of this path, the ground will collapse. Pick up the DRACHMA, triggering 4 skeletons to leap out of the dirt in the pit with you. Note that the Medusa Head is ineffective against these undead warriors. Kill the skeletons on the right side, then jump out of the pit. Down from the bottom right corner of the muddy patch, you can find a PEPPER BREATH in a dead-end. Go back up and follow the muddy path upwards. When the path turns to the left, you can jump above to a small plateau with a hunchback selling Boar Traps. Go left past the beehive and kill the Wood Nymph (while also dealing with the occasional bee), then get ready for the stinging of your life. Equip the Fire Pepper and run up, then follow the winding path through the woods as lots and lots of bees come after you. Keep firing your Fire Pepper to kill most of them before they can reach you. Once you're clear out the other end, you have more Undead Warriors to kill. Just below the first batch, there's also a new enemy: Pan! He's easy to kill, but do it quickly before he plays his magic flute, causing you to dance uncontrollably for a short time, causing quite a bit of damage and leaving you vulnerable to attacks. Jump into the mud pit and kill the skeletons, then enter the cave above. **UNDISCOVERED SECRET: There's a GREEN EGG to the left along the bottom below the cave entrance, behind a row of trees. Anyone figure out how to get there? END UNDISCOVERED SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.22 ONCE MORE TO ATHENS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Go up, knock over the first trees and eliminate the Wood Nymph. Pass some more trees, and jump up to a landing. Just ahead, there's a Mad Thief, so run like crazy until you're past his region. Jump up a couple of ledges at the right end of the path and follow the mountainside until you reach a dead end with a coded door lock. Go down the path beside the rocks until you find the Mathematician with his abacus. Walk back up a little bit, and he'll follow you and start to speak the code. Enter this code by stepping on the panels on the ground in front of each display to unlock the door below. Go down, and do NOT pick up the market stand. It'll release bees! You can, however, go right along the fence to find Pan, and some Spears in the corner behind the house. There are two ways to get down from here. The first is to drop down through the gap in the trees below the market stand. The other is to jump down from the wall at the right end of the path. If you opt for the first one, you land in water. Swim left, jump out and follow the path to some THUNDERBOLTS on a ledge above the waterfall west of Athens. Jump right across the waterfall to return to Athens via the previous route. Go to the Scribe and save your game. If you choose the latter path, jump down over the wall from this end and swim to the right. Kill the Cyclops on the beach (and yes, the Medusa Head works on them too!) to hear a little 'victory' sound, but I don't honestly know where the bonus pedestal for that one is yet. Oh well, regardless, jump back into the water and swim down around some rocks, and straight down and right until you reach another beach. Hey, you're back in Athens! Go right to the Scribe and save your game. Now pay attention: under normal circumstances, you would at this point return to the god who assigned you your most recent quest, give them the prize and receive a key in exchange. In this case, you need to give Athena the Medusa Head to receive your reward: another stinking Key, with big shiny 'A'. BUT, after this you obviously no longer have the Medusa Head with all of its fantastic killing power. So, if you've played the game before (and if you're using this walkthrough without at least trying it on your own first, shame on you), you know that there are a couple of side tasks necessary to accomplish the next main quest, which can be made quite a bit easier through use of the Medusa Head. So hold onto it for now! O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.23 DIONYSUS' QUEST O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O If you decide to hold onto the Medusa Head for now, ignore the next paragraph and skip down instead to the tasks you need to perform to fulfill Dionysus' quest (even though you officially don't know what it is yet). If you ignore my advice above and exchange the Medusa Head for Athena's 'A' Key, what do you do with it? Well, there's still one of the gods that Zeus told you to get help from left to visit: Dionysus. So let's figure out how to reach him, shall we? First of all, go back through Athens to reach the area with the Scribe and Muscle Man. Jump up to the ledge above them and follow the path to the left around the pool. You will encounter a series of Cyclopes who like to toss boulders around. Take them down one by one. Above the pair of Cyclopes who attack you at the same time, you'll find TRIDENTS. Past them to the left, you will reach the 'A' door. Go on through it, then go left and follow the path through the fenced area, across a plowed field, underneath the lattice, and past the wine barrels to reach the D-man himself. Stand on the X by the GYRO and GARBAGE to have him appear, the drunk old pervert. If you check your world map (press Start), you can easily spot Lerna and the bunch of grapes (look just below the image of the giant boar). Getting there is easy enough, but I'll save you a bit of time and tell you that you're not ready to go there yet. If you do go, you'll find out from some of the locals there that A) the Hydra hates fire, and B) Fire weapons are made in Crete. If you went to Crete after defeating the Minotaur earlier, you may also remember a soldier there who demanded a Password to let you by. Now's the time to check your inventory: If you have any passwords, then your life is made much easier. This will be the case if you have been following this walkthrough, and you obtained the second Baby prior to reaching Amazonia, allowing you to enter the jail and exchange a Gyro for the Passwords. If that was the case, please skip ahead to the 'Journey to Crete' section of the walkthrough below. If you don't have a Password in your possession, then your route will be a little more roundabout. You may remember a certain jailed man in Amazonia who offered to trade you for some Passwords. You may also remember that his jailer was complaining that Lamias stole her baby. So to summarize, before you can face the Hydra you must: -get a baby; -return the baby to the Amazon; -trade the man for a Password; -take the Password to Crete; -get the fire weapons; -return to Athens. Sounds easy enough, right? O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.23.1 RETRIEVING THE PASSWORDS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O FIRST FOR THE BABY: From Dionysus' altar, go back out the way you came in. After a visit from Hades, you'll find that some Undead Warriors have sprouted up to bar your path, so just smash your way through. Stay on the top of the cliff and return to the open 'A' door. Above there, there's a ledge you can jump up to. Follow the winding mud path to reach a junkyard of sorts. Pick up the BABY and SNOWBALLS, then head back along the same path. Go back down into Athens. NOW FOR THE AMAZONS: Go up and right from Athena's altar to find the express boat to Amazonia. Step onto the boat, then sit back and wait until you're across the sea. **SECRET: Towards the end of the voyage, you'll see a target in the water above the boat. Ready your charge shot and hit it to receive a DRACHMA that will appear just ahead once you land. END SECRET** Go up from the beach and follow the path to reach the first Amazon. Do NOT lift the barrel here, as this will unleash some snakes. Jump over the spikes and continue downward until you drop into a prison area. From here, lift the boulder in the top right corner and enter the cave behind it. When the path branches, keep going up and follow the mud to another cave on a ledge. Keep going through here. Eventually the way will widen, and the sky will darken. At the large mud field ahead, Hades will make an appearance and you have to fight some Undead Warriors. Go straight up and through the hole in the trees to another clearing, where Zeus appears and tells you that there's an 'A' KEY behind the tree to his right. Grab this and the three DRACHMAS, then fight your way through the skeletons back the way you came. Return to where the narrow mud path branched, and take the lower path to the right. Go down at the end to drop out of a cave. Get the DRACHMA and fight your way down to the 'A' door. There's another locked door below, so ride the catapult first to an area with another DRACHMA, and a girl who will sell you a key for 4 Drachmas. It's a good thing there were at least 4 coins in this area, eh? Anyway, make the purchase and go down, dropping down to fight a trio of Amazons. Go right and take the upper ramp to return to the prison. Go back through the cave and through the 'A' door, then through the next door below, consuming your new Key. Fight your way to the left on the other side. There are some SPEARS that you can grab up above, then take the path leading down between the fire spouts. Here, you have to fight a Really Big Amazon (stay at a distance and pelt her with Spears or other special weapons). Go to the right after that and you'll find the Amazon who lost her baby. Speak to her to return it. Now you can enter the cell and get a PASSWORD, provided that you brought a Gyro to trade for it. You did bring one, didn't you? If not, then head to the right side of this area and slowly walk up past the spike floor, then go up to the walkway. Follow it all the way to the right, then down into a wide arena with lots of Amazons and a Really Big Amazon. Once they're all done for, go down to the fire spouts, and grab the GYRO from the corner on the right. Go back up towards the prison cell to make your exchange (and in the top left corner of the big arena, you can save your game by talking to the Scribe through the bars. As long as you have some gold, I recommend doing so). **SECRET: If you have a key, in the wide arena where you just fought all of the Amazons, go the right wall and down all the way past the pillars. Unlock and enter the door there to find a valuable HEALTH HEART. This assumes that you didn't get it already on your first visit to Amazonia. END SECRET** With Passwords in hand, go to the right and up through the spike floor area, walking slowly. At the top of the walkway, follow the 'exit' sign to the left. Follow the path up the mountainside. At the swampy area at the top, if you passed through here earlier the rocks will still be in place under the water's surface for you to cross. If not, then pay the girl if able to, otherwise swim straight up through the Fishies. Go left on the other side and lift the house at the left edge of this area. Go above it and jump up to the ledge, then drop off the other side. Trade with the vendors if you want to (if you're low on gold, then hold off), and climb into the boat to row back to the West. From the beach you land on, go down to the bottom, then left into the woods. Watch for Soldiers, Bees, and Cassandra's predictions. When you see the BAG OF FROGS on the left, walk through the trees to get it. Then walk straight to the right under more trees to reach the other side of the path. At the beach, jump down from the lower left corner, and follow the muddy path back to Athens. Remember to get the PANDORA'S BOX from inside the columned pavilion if you never collected it earlier. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.23.2 JOURNEY TO CRETE AND BACK O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O One possible way to get to Crete is to ride the giant tuna down from Poseidon's altar and entering through the upper left corner of the labyrinth, using an 'A' Key. But a better way exists, with more rewards. This requires that you first return to Elis. Leave Athens via the West side (in the area where the Cyclops throws boulders at you) and follow the path to return to the waterfall. Jump down to the lake and jump up the rocks in the lower left corner. Follow this path, and go left when you reach the fort. Follow the mud path to a Healing Pool. Go down from there and take the downward fork in the mud path. Keep following the trail until you drop down to some Wood Nymphs. Above them to the left, jump up to the ledge and go left to a DRACHMA. Drop down below here into the water and swim left. This brings you near Circe's island. Swim down the right side of the lake to reach a beach, and follow the path into the town of Elis. Collect whatever goodies you can. Now, go down through the down and down towards the Spartan fort. Stick to the right side after you're past all of the mud. This leads to a smaller fort. A door there that was previously closed to you is now open, as you are a 'friend of Poseidon'. Enter it and drop down to a winding path. At the end, swim right to a beach, then go down and jump onto the boat. The rowers will take you Eastward to Crete. At the right end of the dock, give a Drachma to the soldier who 'cannot be bribed' (yeah, whatever) to open the gate. Jump up to the ledge above the spike floors and kill the Cretan warrior. At the first intersection, go down, jump over the floor spikes, kill the Soldiers, and grab the HEALTH HEART at the bottom. Go back up and move right along the top, then drop down at the end. Circumvent the catapult for now and go down, jumping over the row of floor spikes (these are popular traps hereabouts, apparently). Give the Password to the soldier at the bottom to open the next gate. Through the gate, jump up to the platform on the right and go up to get the BOMBS, then return. Go left and down, lifting the first house you reach to reveal a DRACHMA. Go down a little further on the right. Now, if you took the short mud path to your right and followed where it led, you would return to the Minotaur's maze, consuming a 'H' Key in the process (unless you opened that gate earlier). There's no advantage to doing so, but if you only go part way along that path until the music changes, you can return to Crete and the various pickups will have regenerated. Go left from the bottom of the short mud path and down slightly to where the path splits again. Go left here and follow the road to reach a 'H' KEY. Go back to the last split and go down. Go right at the bottom. Give the soldier at the end another Password to drop the gate, then go up, jump to the platform, drop down on the other side. Talk to the Blacksmith to buy FIRE SPEARS! You can also get DUMBBELLS below the house beside him, and ROCK SPIT in the upper right corner. With Fire Spears in stock, it's time to go back to Athens. Go back through the town to the catapult above the row of floor spikes. Ride it to land on a very small island. Swim up and left to reach another small beach, then up and right to one more. From here you have two options. The first one is to take the catapult on the beach. Doing so drops you onto a path that leads to the right side of the Spartan fort. If you really want some more Keys, Spears, Drachmas and Gyros, feel free to go back there and use the reappearing item trick to gather them to your hearts content. Personally though, I prefer the second option from the beach, described next. If you fight the Cyclops on the ledge above, jump up and follow the path past another Cyclops, you can drop down into an area with an old man selling EVIL TABOOS. There are also BOMBS under the house, and a KEY just sitting there waiting for you. Now you have to swim right along the upper edge of the water. There are Fish in there, and you can lure a couple over to your beach and kill them, but there will always be more, so you're gonna get bit. Swim to a second small beach with BOMBS and SPEARS, then to the right some more to return to what is hopefully a familiar area. Lift the house in the upper right corner to get a GYRO and ride the catapult back to the starting point of the game. No matter which character you're playing, you can now lift all of the houses to get lots of prizes, like Gyros and Drachmas. There are more Cyclopes than before, but you can handle them (especially if you kept the Medusa Head up to this point). **SECRET: Remember to kill the unreachable Cyclops on the ledge throwing boulders at you, using rains of arrows or bombs, because doing so gives you another HEALTH HEART on the Bonus Pedestal just through the gates up ahead. END SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.23.3 COMPLETING DIONYSUS' QUEST O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O You now want to return to near where you fought the Caledonian Boar, way back at the start of the game. If you took the catapult from the beach upon returning from Crete, you need to go back up to Elis and journey East, take the 'Short Cut' catapult to cut a little time off of your journey (by bypassing the Boar's hedge maze), then head to the right and down to the first 'Certain Death - go back' sign, straight down from the signpost to Elis and Athens.. If you took the other path and ended up in the game's starting area, just follow the only path available until you reach that same 'Certain Death' sign. Below there, throw the boulder out of the way and drop down. Talk to the ex-heroes to learn what you already know. Now it's boss time, he's waiting for you just below. You can take the catapult from below the wheelchair-bound ex-hero to launch right into the arena, or just walk down from above. ---------------------- = Boss Battle: Hydra = ---------------------- = Now, if you've read up on your mythology, you'll know how this fight has to - work. Traditionally, the Hydra is a multi-headed monster who grows 2 heads = to replace every one chopped off, making it seemingly indestructible. The - Hercules of lore, however, figured out that by burning the stump of a head = just removed, it prevented any regrowth. The same principle applies here. - You have to damage the Hydra's heads enough with any means to destroy them, = then use a Fire Spear to sear the stump and prevent it from growing back. - You must do this while avoiding the Hydra's attacks, which consist of = spitting green goo (easily avoided by staying constantly in motion), bites - from each head (just don't get close enough for it to do this a lot), and = giant floating fireballs. These last are the hardest to avoid. Your - choices are to keep circling the Hydra and hopefully not be in the direction = that the fireballs are moving (if you are far enough away, they'll disappear - before they hit you), or just take the hits and continue a relentless = assault. I recommend the latter as long as you have at least 2 Gyros in - your possession (you might only need one if you're efficient). Hit the = Hydra with whatever you've got. Bombs are handy since they don't need to hit - precisely, and the Fire Pepper breath is good for its homing ability too. = Keep moving around to avoid attacks, but keep the Hydra in view so that you - can see when one or more of its heads have temporarily vanished. When they = do, quickly equip your Fire Spears (it's helpful to note before the fight how - many R2 presses they are away from whatever weapon you plan on using, so that = you can switch over to it quickly), and toss one across the missing head(s). - You'll know that you were successful when you see a black charred stump = instead of smooth green skin. Go back to your other attacks, and repeat for - the next head, and again until all 4 heads are history. Pick up the GRAPES that spill out of the dead Hydra's stomach, and grab the BOMBS from the lower right corner of the arena. Walk on out of here with your head held high. But before returning to Athens... **SECRET: If you go up and left to the boy who says he can eat a whole boar, above the Caledonian Boar's hedge maze, you can exchange your new Boar's Head from the swamp lands for another HEALTH HEART. Bet you were wondering why you were carrying that thing around. In fact, if you go back to the swamp lands after saving and reloading a game in Athens (via the catapult to Medusa's lair), you can get yet another Boar's Head and come back and exchange it again. END SECRET** Go up to the signpost pointing the way to Athens and return there via the same route you took the first time you went there. Check earlier in the walkthrough if you get lost repeating these travels. And finally, it's time to go and see Dionysus. At this point, if you haven't done so already, you must finally hand in the Medusa Head to Athena in order to get her precious 'A' key. With that in hand, go back through Athens to reach the area with the Scribe and Muscle Man. Jump up to the ledge above them and follow the path to the left around the pool. You will encounter a series of Cyclopes who like to toss boulders around. Take them down one by one. Above the pair of Cyclopes who attack you at the same time, you'll find TRIDENTS. Past them to the left, you will reach the 'A' door. Go on through it, then go left and follow the path through the fenced area, across a plowed field, underneath the lattice, and past the wine barrels to reach the D-man himself. Stand on the X by the GYRO and GARBAGE to have him appear, the drunk old pervert. If this is your first time visiting him, he'll skip right to his congratulatory speech. You get the 'D' Key for all of your trouble. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.24 SEEKING HADES O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O On the way out from Dionysus' altar, you'll find a Drachma and a visit from Hades himself. After that, some Skeletons come out to play, and Pan makes an appearance as well. Fight your way through them all. When you pick up the boulder, several Skeletons emerge from the ground below, so throw it at them to clear the way. Before you pass back through the open 'A' door, jump to the ledge straight up from it and follow the path upward. You'll reach a kind of treasure trove, with a Baby and other items. This is where you would have come to get another Baby had you not been following this walkthrough and taken the most efficient actions earlier in the game. Talk to the sculptor to hear an important message, then go back down along the same path that brought you here. Go down on the left and drop down to the beach. Kill or bypass the Cyclops and swim left past the rocks, then down and right to emerge back in Athens by the Scribe. Save your game! And now for the final act: taking on Hades himself! Before you do, though, there's another use you can put the 'D' Key to... **SECRET: Go back to the Amazons (use the boat near Athena's altar). There, from the prison, go up through the cave behind the boulder, take the first right, go down at the end and through both open doors, then go all the way to the right and up to find a 'D' door. Open it with your key, and inside you'll receive a GREEN EGG, an EVIL TOTEM, and another 'D' KEY to replace the one you just consumed. Return from Amazonia using the other boat to the North (check the 'Retrieving the Passwords' section of the walkthrough above if you need more specific instructions on this point). And if you skipped the part of the walkthrough above that sent you back to the Amazons because you already had the Passwords, note the target in the water above the boat on your way to Amazonia, near the end of the voyage. Shoot it with a charge attack to receive a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal ahead. END SECRET** **SECRET: From the beach below Iolcus (after going down through the trees past some bees), swim right to a small island, perhaps after killing off the Sea Nymphs and Fish. Shoot the target down-right from there to receive a DRACHMA on the Bonus Pedestal back on the main beach. END SECRET** **SECRET: From the top of Iolcus' beach, swim to the right, after eliminating some Fish and Sea Nymphs. You'll find another small beach. Jump up from there, and move to the right side of the landing. Hit the target in the water to receive THUNDERBOLTS on a Bonus Pedestal inside the Iolcus fort. END SECRET** Upon returning from the Amazons if you did the secret above, or by going up from the left half of the Athens town common (i.e. the large area around Athena's altar), you find yourself on a beach in front of a long wall. This is the town of Iolcus, haven of Hades worshippers. Use Bombs to kill the spear- throwing Soldiers atop the palisades. At the top of the beach, there's a man saying 'Only friends of Hades can enter'. If you try to talk to him, he'll tell you that you don't have enough gold (I've tried it with 30 Drachmas in stock, and that wasn't enough, I don't know if he ever gives you anything). Further to the left along the same wall, there's a small hole that you can enter by using a Magic Potion. Inside, talk to the lounging soldier and give him 3 Drachmas to open a door in the wall. Enter it. Before you open the 'D' door, go up on the right side of it. Fight a couple of Soldiers, pick up some SPEARS, and keep following the path until you reach the Gyro vendor. Buy some if you want to, then go down at the lower left corner of this dock. Get the BOMBS on the boat. That's all you can do here, so go back to the 'D' door and enter it now. Jump up to the ledge behind the door and follow the path past a 'U' door (?) and down on the left. Drop down and head left past Hades' promotional sign, fighting your way through a large number of Undead Warriors. Go up through the gap in the wall and stand on the 'H' to have a lovely conversation with Hades. Go back out the way you came (go straight down from the open 'D' door to find the hole in the wall; walk into the pool to transform into a pig so that you can fit through it) and move along the wall to the right. The door that was closed to you before (since you weren't a friend of Hades' yet) is now open. Go on through and move along the docks, going down just past the boat-in- progress to find another boat that will take you where you need to go. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.25 QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN FLEECE O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Get off the boat when it reaches the end of its run, and swim a short distance to the right to find a beach. **SECRET: From the left edge of the beach, if you jump you can just see a GYRO in a cave on a ledge that is slightly too high to jump to. The only way to get this Gyro is to die! When you return from Hades' realm after dying in this region, you'll reappear on this ledge, allowing you to grab the Gyro and jump back down to the ground. END SECRET** Grab the GARBAGE and head up the ramp to find the most annoying monsters you've encountered in the game to date. The Harpies are vicious and tough to kill. The only time you get a momentary reprieve from their attacks is immediately after they get hit with one of your attacks. So, the trick to defeating them without taking too much damage yourself is to use your rapid-fire weapons. These include Garbage, Rocks, Snowballs, and Fire Peppers. To really maximize your performance, you want to get a Harpy into a position where you just hold the R1 button while moving up to it, then just hold there until it dies. The only difficulty is if a second Harpy is around, so do this in a position where the other one's beam attack isn't actually hitting you. This may require luring one of them back the way you came a short distance. Alternately, another strategy is to just try to avoid them altogether. They're pretty easy to run around, unless one is blocking a narrow path. Anyway, once you've reached the top of the ramps, enter the caves to pick up 2 DRACHMAS. Follow the path until you reach a pavilion with a Cassandra walking around. Continue to the right at the bottom of the pavilion. Cross to the right edge and go up the lift in the top right corner. Grab the PEPPER BREATH, pick up the Mathematician, and throw him over the edge past the lift. Drop down to meet him. You'll likely have to fight the 2 Harpies that have appeared down here, but fortunately for you, the Sage draws some of their fire. Deal with the one on the floor first, staying out of range of the one on the stairs, then move on to the latter. Once the way is clear, pick the Mathematician back up and walk to where Cassandra is hanging out. Go to the bottom right corner of this area and throw the Sage over the edge again, then jump down to meet him. He will now give you the combination to the door lock down here. Step on the foot panels to enter it, then go through the opened door below. You'll find another Harpy, a 'P' door and a catapult. Ride the last up to a cliffside ledge with a red-robed man and another Harpy. The man wants 2 Gyros in exchange for the 'P' KEY. If you've got the Gyros, make the trade, then jump off the ledge below and make your way back to the area with the catapult. Use the 'P' Key on the door, and skip the next paragraph. If you are truly short on Gyros, then you must kill the Harpy, walk left along the ledge it was on, drop down on the other end, then jump back up on the left side to get the KEY. Go straight down from here and jump into the water, swimming left and up. This brings you to the tip of the docks in Iolcus. Go back out the 'Hades friends only' door and use a Magic Potion to fit through the hole in the wall to the left. Take the right path up from there again to reach the Gyro vendor, and stock up with them. I also recommend saving 2 Drachmas and going back to the Scribe in Athens to save your game, as you've got a lot of danger ahead of you, and I would hate for you to have to restart way back from your last save file. Once you've stocked up and have saved your game, take the boat from the dock at Iolcus back to the Northeast, and follow the path through the Harpies to the area with the catapult. Enter the 'P' door to the right of the catapult (or, use the catapult to reach the man who trades Gyros for the 'P' Key if you didn't have enough earlier). Once through the door, jump down to the beach and jump to the next beach to the right. Mount the boat from here that will take you the rest of the way to Colchis. **SECRET: In case you haven't discovered it for yourself already, you can speed up those boat rides by striking the drum in between the drummer's beats. This prompts the slaves to row faster. Not much of a secret, but a fun little tidbit at least. END SECRET** O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.26 COLCHIS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Head up the ramp from the beach and note the hole in the brick wall above. Don't use up any Magic Potions to go through it at this point. Move left, killing as you go along (note that these Soldiers are the toughest ones yet to kill, but you can still always just pick one up and toss him). Once you've eliminated the Soldiers on the stairs, enter the magic pool beside them to grab the MAGIC POTION. Wait until you revert to human form and go up the stairs. Note the Serpent Priest insisting that you find his horn. Heh-heh. Also note the monk on the left side. Talk to him to receive a door code. Remember it! Also make sure to grab the GYRO below the monk. Make sure that the way to the hole in the brick wall is clear of enemies, then step into the magic pool and head for that hole in pig form. Walk through the hole all the way up until you can see yourself again. Wait to revert to human form. Now, enter the code from the monk in the door lock to your left (if you forgot it, there'll be another monk up ahead who will also give you the code). Next, head to the right and go down the path, killing Soldiers on the ground and on raised platforms to the sides. When you reach a large barrel, lift it to find... the HORN. Now bring this back to the Serpent Priest. He opens a door in the wall behind him to reveal an 'A' KEY. Grab this, and head back to where you found the horn, then keep going down, fighting your way past many Soldiers. Enter the 'A' Door and ride the catapult. From where you land, lift the boulder blocking the mud path above and follow it until you reach paved ground, grabbing the DRACHMA along the way. Stay at the edge of the mud path and either use your Evil Taboo if you've got enough to go around, or throw Spears or something at the Lamias to the left. They won't enter the path, so that's a safe zone for you to attack from. Do NOT walk into the pools in this area, they are pig pools, not healing ones, and you don't want to be left vulnerable to attacks. Go down the left side and kill 2 more Lamias below. You can retreat back to the mud path if one of them gives chase. Once you've cleared them all out, go down to get a DRACHMA, and go to the upper right to get the 'D' KEY. **SECRET: Kill the Fish in the small pool to the right of the Key pedestal to receive a HEALTH HEART on the Bonus Pedestal above. END SECRET** Another Lamia will have appeared on the way back to the mud path, as well as on the other end of the mud path. Kill them or avoid them. From the end of the mud path (closest to where you landed from your catapult ride), go down and drop off the ledge. When you land, walk to the right and go back up into Colchis proper. Head all the way to the right and down to the bottom again, then open the 'D' Door and fight a whole bunch more Soldiers. Pick up the barrel past them to find a GYRO. Follow the winding path down from here, pick up a DRACHMA and jump over some spikes, then receive visits from both Hades and Poseidon. Then, drop down the ledge just past the pool of water, and away we go! ---------------------------- = Boss Battle: Giant Snake = ---------------------------- = This will be a long, drawn out fight, so feel free to pause the game and - collect your wits from time to time. The reason that the fight is so long is = that both you and the snake will only be able to whittle each other's health - down bit by bit. In other words: you will need to hit the snake a whole lot = in order to kill it, but fortunately its attacks each do only a bit of damage - to you, too. And to complicate matters, the whole fight takes place in mud, = limiting your mobility, and bees frequently fly out from either side to raise - the annoyance factor throughout the battle. Just keep your Gyros ready to = use when you see your health starting to get dangerously low. = - When you first land, the snake will be slithering around in a seemingly = random pattern. It'll take a moment for you to get a feel for how it moves. - If it makes contact, you'll be knocked over, and it'll keep circling over = you, making it hard to get up. If this happens, try to get in the middle of - the circle it creates, and wait for it to stop before slipping out through = the gap between its tail and its head. The best way to avoid it completely - is to stay along the bottom of the arena, moving left and right. Here = the snake will always turn away from you after approaching, at which time you - can attack it as it moves away. The snake is made up of several body = segments, each of which must be worn down in turn. Start off by attacking it - wherever you can hit it. When you see sections turning brown, you've = destroyed the initial layer of skin in that section. You then need to do the - same to all other sections. Watch the snake, because when it stops, it'll = spit three gobs at you. Just keep moving in one direction to avoid these. - You don't even need to run. = - Please note that the environment gives you a couple of items that you can use = to your advantage, namely two beehives and a log. Throw these at the snake - to cause some damage. Hey, every little bit of help is appreciated. = - Once you do a fair amount of damage, the snake will start slithering in a = circle in the middle of the arena, and will send LOTS of little snakes out to - pester you. These are easily destroyed with a swipe of your weapon, but they = just keep coming. Fight your way through them to the big snake, then stand - beside him and hit his body as he rotates, intermixed with bashing the little = snakes as they get close. Just make sure that you're not standing where the - big snake will run you over. You'll know when you're causing the big snake = damage when you hear its little scream and the damage counters appear. - Target your attacks on the sections that are still green. = - After you've gotten rid of most of the green segments, the snake goes back to = slithering all over the field. Move to the bottom and take out the last of - the little snakes (he's stopped generating new ones), and then you have to = chase the big snake a bit to be able to hit his remaining green segments. - Try some Boar Traps lain randomly around. They'll trigger as a healthy = segment moves over them. After a while, he goes back to emitting snakes. - This guy's a real pain. Smack your way through them to reach him. The = segment just behind his head is probably the most difficult to reach. You - can try the homing Fire Pepper when that's the only one left. = - Once all green segments are destroyed (except for his head, that will always = stay green), then you can start destroying the next layer of tissue to expose - the bone. Again, you must destroy each individual body segment. The snake = will continue to use the same attacks, but the frequency of gob spitting is - intensified. Keep moving straight left or right as a round of spit is = volleyed, and use whatever weapons you like to hit him. If he's staying in - a circle pattern, it might be best to just use your regular weapon, saving = your special weapon for when he moves around the arena more. - = Eventually, you'll find it harder and harder to hit the remaining healthy - segments with your special weapons. At this point, stay along the bottom of = the arena, and when the snake turns away from you, move up to it and hit it - with your normal attack. In this way you can get rid of most of the rest, = but likely the last one or two segments behind the snake's head will remain. - Again, the Fire Pepper will make it easier for you to hit these, but each hit = won't do much damage. Actually, this segment will be damaged if you hit the - snake directly on the head. He doesn't want to let you do this, however, and = to that effect start spraying short-distance bursts of his spit attack to - keep you from getting in front of him. Keep your distance and plan your hits = well, and eventually you'll wear him down to nothing. - = Playing as Atlanta makes this fight a little different. She can more easily - hit the snake, even while just firing blindly from one side of the arena. = When the snake's circling and sending out little snakes, have her run around - to avoid the latter and use charge attacks in the big snake's path to do a = lot of damage to the segments. Once several of them are damaged, though, it - becomes more difficult to target the rest successfully. After the fight, go to the upper right corner of the arena and jump up where the rock is broken. Take the GOLDEN FLEECE, a well-earned reward. Ride the catapult just above here. When you land, throw the large boulder out of the way and jump up to the other ledge with a boulder. Get the GYRO at the other end and jump down. Does this area look familiar? It should, if you've been doing your homework in Amazonia. Go left past the trees and lift the house in the upper left corner, then jump to the ledge behind it. Note that the vendors here are actually buying, not selling, meaning that you'll receive Drachmas for the items in question from your inventory. Unload some useless Frogs in this manner. Climb onto the boat from the beach and enjoy the ride back to Iolcus. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.27 FINAL PREPARATIONS O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Return to Iolcus and use a Magic Potion to enter the small hole in the wall in the upper left corner. If you want to go and buy any more GYROS, take the right door and follow the path to the docks, but be warned! If you don't have any more Magic Potions, you need to save 3 Drachmas to buy one shortly. If you just want to get on with your quest, go through the open 'D' door on the left. Jump up to the ledge above and follow the path. Fight your way through the Undead Warriors to Hades' altar. Now you have two choices: you can go straight into the Underworld by using the Fleece in front of the entrance above, or you can ignore Poseidon's advice and give Hades the Fleece. I recommend the latter. Even though it'll take you 15 or 20 minutes to return to this point again, you get another Health Heart out of it, increasing your maximum health and fully recharging you. So stand on the 'H' to summon Hades and give him the Fleece. In exchange, you receive the 'U' KEY (U for Underworld, I suppose). Go back through the Undead Warriors and up to the 'U' Door. Inside, keep hitting the man with the 'Kick Me' sign until he gives up the current location of the Fleece. This is the area near Dionysus' altar where a Baby was found earlier. But before you go, make sure to go below that whipping boy to grab the ever-important HEALTH HEART! Go back down through Iolcus into Athens, up to where the Scribe and the Muscle Man are, and jump up to the path that leads to Dionysus' altar. Once you pass through the opened 'A' door, jump up to the ledge above and follow the mud path to Hades' storage area. Walk to the FLEECE to pick it up (you may need to pick up and toss the weight underneath it to reach it). Take the quick route back to Athens by jumping off the ledge onto a beach from inside the fenced area leading to Dionysus, then swimming back to the Athenian Scribe. **IMPORTANT!: At this point, you really want to make sure that you're very well stocked first of all on Gyros, and also on powerful damaging weapons. For the former, you can go back to Elis and use the music-change item regeneration deal to go up and down through the town and the Spartan fort. In doing so, you'll collect lots of Drachmas which you can trade at the Gyro Vendor in town, and you'll also get lots of Spears, which you can trade for Gyros in the fort. For weapons, if you're really short you can try going through Egypt and the Islands again. You can get there by using the giant tuna below Poseidon's altar. Please take this point seriously, as you're going to need a lot of healing power to be able to complete the game successfully, so it's worth spending an hour or so to stock up if you don't have at least 10 or 12 Gyros going into the Underworld. END IMPORTANT** Make your way back to Iolcus once again. At this point you could very well be fresh out of Magic Potions to fit through that hole again. If this is the case, you can enter the door to the right along the same wall and go up until you reach the soldier selling them for 3 Drachmas. If you're not rich enough, you can either go out and get some coins (e.g. hang around Cassandra until she predicts money, take the boat to the harpies, kill them and loot the caves there), or try to find a Magic Potion elsewhere (e.g. taking the long trek back to Elis and swimming up to Circe's island). Once you have a Magic Potion, walk through that hole as a pig again and take the path leading to Hades' altar. This time, do NOT step on the 'H' summoning him. Instead, go straight up to the entrance to Hades, cycle through your items and 'use' the Fleece. You'll be surrounded by a ball of energy, and you can walk safely through the barrier. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O 3.28 INTO THE UNDERWORLD O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O You're in hell! Or the ancient Greek equivalent of it, anyway. If you've died during the game (and come on now, I know you have), it should look pretty familiar to you, except that you're approaching it from the opposite end this time, and you're not a horrible pasty green colour. If you've got any Evil Taboo ammo, now's the time to use it! Go down, fighting past the legions of Undead Warriors, and jump down the ledges on the right. At the 'Welcome to the Underworld' sign, go down, then take the crumbling ledge to the right at the bottom of the stairs rather than jumping down again. Follow the mud path and run past the spitting cherub statues, grabbing the GYRO between them and continuing to the bottom-left. At the next crumbling ledge, drop down. Take the steps down on the right to get some SPEARS, then come back up and go down along the path of the fire spout. Make sure to clear the Undead Warriors out of the way to the first alcove first, though. A couple of Bombs tossed downward should do the trick. At the bottom, go right, then keep following the path downward to another area with a couple of flame spouts. First, go to the left and jump up to the cave on a ledge. Follow the path behind it to some BOMBS, then return to the flame spouts. Run right past them, and get ready for another boss fight. ------------------------- = Boss Battle: Cerberus = ------------------------- = Ah, the legendary 3-headed dog guarding the gates of Hades. Watch out for - lightning strikes as you walk up through the massive doors to behold the big = red dog. You'll need to use distance attacks as you avoid the small - fireballs that each head spit out. These don't burn for long, so you can = just walk around them and keep attacking. In very short time, Cerberus will - back up slightly, and the ground shaking will knock over some of the pillars = on the sides of the path. Back off until they've fallen, then move up and - keep pelting Cerberus with whatever's on hand. You can even do so while he's = off the screen, just watch the boss life meter in the lower right corner of - the screen, as its eyes will flash when you hit him. If they stop flashing, = it means that Cerberus has backed off some more and you need to give chase. - = After moving back a couple of times, a few lightning strikes will come down. - You can't really see them coming, so just brace yourself. When he backs up a = little further, you'll hear a little voice saying, "He's going to barf", at - which point you need to move into one of the side alcoves to avoid the giant = fire breath that will blast down the pathway. After backing off from here, - the heads will start spitting laser beams that ricochet off the walls down = the path. For this, get to the top as soon as you can and attack while - standing right up against Cerberus. = - A little further up, the fireballs turn into wide simultaneous sprays, but = just stay on the move and you can still avoid them. Up ahead a little more, - Cerberus employs both fireballs and lasers. Stay up close and keep moving = around the small space in front of Cerberus where the lasers don't cross to - the other side of the path yet. You'll likely take some damage here. Above, = it's back to big fireball barfing. Stay in the left alcove, where you have - room to move to avoid the smaller fireballs. Stay down here and keep firing = Spears up when Cerberus backs off, you can get several hits in (according to - the boss life meter) until he's out of range. = - After that, it's more lasers and fireballs, more barfing... just watch out = for the alcove on the right that has a floor pike trap. Keep jumping out - between barfs and keep pelting him with spears, and he'll fall into the green = pit of ooze behind him. You win! Continue up the left side of the pit. To your left are an 'A' door and a 'P' door. If you spent some time in the Ice Lands gathering extra keys, you can open the 'P' door at least to receive SNOWBALLS and a MAGIC POTION, neither of which will be particularly useful at this point in the game. Go up the ramp on the right. At the top, run past the two spitting statues until you hit the next group of Undead Warriors. Kill them, then run up past another statue. Go left after this one to find the 'A' KEY. Go back along the path to the 'A' door and enter it. Get the FIRE PEPPER and INFLATABLE COWS, but more importantly, note the number inscribed in blood above them on the wall. Follow the path up through the spitting statues, jump over a set of floor pikes past where you found the 'A' Key, and enter this code into the door lock. You have to do this while avoiding the spitting statue, so just run across the two rightmost triggers until they're correct, then set the first one in peace. Go through the door below. Go up a mud path and fight some more Undead Warriors to reach an area with more doors, for which you may or may not have keys for. The first 'H' door hides BOMBS and a PANDORA'S BOX. The 'A' door has SPEARS and a RAY GUN. The first 'P' door has a GYRO and PEPPER BREATH. The 'H' door at the end has a HEALTH HEART and FIRE SPEARS, so save that one for last. The catapult at the end marks your last chance to turn back, but if you're really not prepared at this point, you're better off just reloading your last save file and stocking up some more on Gyros and powerful weapons before trying the Underworld again. Upon taking the catapult ride, from where you land, go down then left to a GYRO and a whole lot more of those skeleton warriors. Fight your way up the path, then pass some sconces to find... the big bad himself!! Before you engage him, rid your inventory of useless weapons, so that it'll be easier to scroll to the ones you want. Use up all of your Frost Breath, Garbage, Evil Taboo, and maybe Rock Spit, Snowballs and other low-damage items. Pepper Breath could still be useful due to its homing ability and rapid fire rate, letting you run around trying to dodge attacks while still causing damage. Well, here we go: --------------------- = Final Boss: Hades = --------------------- = This is going to be one tough battle. You are fighting a god, after all. - You can't get up to him without taking some damage from the giant fireballs, = but they look worse than they feel. Nevertheless, you're going to take a - beating, and there's nothing for it but to hit back hard and heal as often = as needed. Quickly hammer him with the best stuff you're carrying: - Thunderbolts, Ray Guns, Bombs, you name it. After you do a bit of damage, he = switches to some lightning based attacks. You can try to dodge a little, and - especially don't get close to his hands. Throw weapons upward whenever you = get a chance. Watch your health and use Gyros whenever it drops to half. - If you need to back off and recoup, feel free. His attacks can't reach you = past the burning sconces at the bottom. Throw in a Pandora's Box before you - back off, so that it'll keep causing damage. Basically, all you can do is = just keep pummeling him from the center while using Gyros to keep yourself - alive. = - Once you get his health down to about 1/2, his true form is revealed!...??? = Just keep pounding him until smaller minions are released, then back off and - kill them all. Hades is invulnerable until you kill all of the little guys. = Once they're done for, he resumes his attack, and so should you. Keep laying - on the pain and you'll kill him before too long. Afterwards, talk to Persephone to finish the game, restoring Spring and nature to the land, yada yada yada. Afterwards, enjoy the very creative end credits. Oh, and congratulations! o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4. UNDERWORLD JOURNEYS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o- As you have likely discovered, death on the surface world is not automatically the end of the game. Rather, as a bona-fide hero, you can potentially fight your way through the Underworld, realm of Hades, and emerge back in the mortal realm as good as new, fully healed and with all of your pre-death inventory intact. Not only that, but any pickups in the area you return to afterwards will have regenerated, but so will the monsters. At times, this can work to your advantage, if your health is getting very low and you are short on healing Gyros, but you can only take this path a few times before it's 'Game Over' for good. And each time you visit the Underworld, the going gets a little tougher. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O FIRST DEATH O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Go right past the sign and go up. Jump up the steps when you reach them. If you wait for the skeletons above to jump down, you can then jump up and avoid fighting them altogether. At the top, Hades appears and taunts you. Fight your way up through the last little area and make a break for the sunlit opening at the top. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O SECOND DEATH O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Walk down past a couple of depressing souls and drop down to beside the same sign that you started at last time. Go right and up until you reach the realm of the living once more. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O THIRD DEATH O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O You start off in a locked pen with endless Skeletons, occasional Drachmas and a headless figure at the top who offers to let you out for 20 Drachmas. Keep fighting and picking up the coins until you have enough (you'll get a 'You're Rich' message on-screen), then talk to the headless man. Go up through the gate, up at the stairs, then right and up to reach the exit as before. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O FOURTH DEATH O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O This time around, there are a lot more Skeletons directly in the way that you have to deal with. Go up, then run right around the spitting statues, tossing the boulder out of the way at the start of the mud path. Carefully cross the crumbling ledge and keep heading upward. Go right and up to reach that familiar sign, the right and up until you exit. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O FIFTH DEATH O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O Go up and right to get a visit from Hades, then bash the many, many Skeletons to get through the cave above. Go right at the top, drop down the first crumbling ledge, then carefully shimmy left across the next one. Go up, right and up to once again reach the Underworld sign, then fight to the right and run past the spitting statues. Go up, cross the crumbling ledge, go up and right a bit, then up to the sign again. Fight your way right and up to the light. Count yourself lucky that you've been able to escape death this many times. O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O SIXTH DEATH O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O As Persephone wails, walk to the bottom of the words to see Hades bask in his victory. That's it for you. o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5. CLOSING INFO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o-=-o- =============== ONE FINAL TIP =============== I found this little tidbit at http://www.playstationalley.com/ps/hercs.htm "Start a two player game, and pick Atlanta and Herc (You need 2 players!!). Then, after you beat Hades and do all of the tasks for the rest of the Gods, go back to Hera. Go to her and she will talk to you. Do this for all the Gods and then go to Egypt. The first Martian you kill will die and come back to life as Jason! He will now be controlled by the computer. He will follow you around and help you. And he's invincible, so send him head first into battle." Sounds pretty neat, but I haven't tried it myself, and I'm not really sure what is meant by 'beat Hades', since doing so ends the game. If anyone can confirm or deny this trick, that would be appreciated. As for myself, no gamer friends handy enough to play through the whole thing 2-player with. Sad, I know. ============= THANK YOU'S ============= I just wanted to give a very special thanks to DarkHorseRequiem, who sent me information after version 1.0 of this guide. He first tipped me off to killing the fish, using the Medusa Head and exploiting the reappearing items trick. Also, thank you to Synthetic for providing me with the listings of the proper names of things as outlined in the manual, as my copy of the game sadly came without one. I generally don't buy games not in complete condition, but this one was a special exception. I guess thanks also need to go out to LucasArts for publishing this fun game, and to Gamefaqs.com, just for being the best gaming site around. ============ LEGAL INFO ============ This document is copyright (c) Marc Lalonde, a.k.a. Syonyx. It is provided for free personal enjoyment only. Any use of this guide in whole or in part for financial profit or in the hopes of such profit is strictly prohibited. Webmasters wishing to post this guide may do so only if it unchanged in any way, all original indications of authorship are intact, and it is available for unlimited viewing by non-paying visitors to that website. ============== CONTACT INFO ============== I am always happy to receive mail about my guides. This particular document is still less than 100% complete, as there were several secrets that I wasn't able to figure out yet (despite having found dozens more while updating to version 2.0), and I would love to hear from you if you've found anything new. Please send any contributions, comments, suggestions, or intelligent criticism to: syonyx_faqs[at]yahoo[dot]com Any contributions included in a future update of this guide will of course be fully credited. I am an avid video game guide writer and have produced many quality guides for a variety of games, mostly semi-obscure Playstation titles. Please see my complete body of work at: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/35729.html And in closing... this was a difficult game to write for! First of all, the game is fairly challenging to start with, but add to that the many optional pathways and roundabout routes and it quickly becomes much more complicated than its cartoony appearance would suggest. But I'm glad that I was able to both complete the game and complete this guide, and hopefully my work will be able to help many retro gamers navigate this unexpectedly fun piece of software. Thank you, and good night. Syonyx 2006.