%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

% %
% %
% Equinox (Solstice II) %
% %
% Walkthrough %
% %
% %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Version Completed
1.00 10 August 2008

1.50 15 August 2008

* I played through the game again from beginning to end, using
only this FAQ to guide me. I made several corrections to my
original version and was also able to expand on some explanations
that perhaps weren't as clear as they could have been.

1.60 24 August 2008.

* Corrected directions for room 07-07.
* Added information about secret room 07-02
* Cleaned up a couple of typos and
* Clarified directions in a couple of rooms.

1.70 25 November 2009.

* Corrected some minor mistakes in directions.
* Clarified a couple of room solutions.
* Added more information about the Overworld.

2.00 01 August 2011

* Reformatted this version revisions section -- doesn't it look a
lot cleaner?
* Corrected a minor mistake in the number of jumps required in room
04-10.
* Simplified the directions for defeating Pincha.
* Clarified directions for room 05-36.
* Added some additional (and hopefully definitive) information
about the glitch encountered when trying to warp to Afralona.
* Described how to defeat the knights in room 6-06 without using
Zap.
* Added some information about where in the Overworld you are dumped
after defeating Eyesis and speculated on what circumstances land
you in each of the two different locations.
* Corrected the red key count after room 8-38.
* Cleaned up the descriptions of several other room solutions.
* Re-labeled the sections of the guide.
* Added a tip about exiting rooms safely before moving forward.
2.10 01 March 2012
* Added a tip that makes room 07-0C MUCH easier.
* Re-wrote the directions for room 07-34.

Written by Bill Russell

This FAQ is copyright 2008 -- Bill Russell

This publication is protected by United States copyright law.

Permission to post this FAQ is granted solely to GameFAQs.com.
It may not be placed on any other web site or otherwise distributed publicly
without advance written permission of the author. Use of this guide on any
other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright. If you wish to post this FAQ or any portion of it
to any other site, please write to me first. My email address appears at the
end of this FAQ along with 2 simple guidelines for messages.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% Table of Contents %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I. Introduction [S01INT]
II. Tips and Strategies [S02TIP]
III. Level 1 -- Galdonia [L01GAL]
IV. Level 2 -- Tori [L02TOR]
V. Level 3 -- Deeso [L03DEE]
VI. Level 4 -- Atlena [L04ATL]
VII. Level 5 -- Quagmire [L05QUA]
VIII. Level 6 -- Afralona [L06AFR]
IX. Level 7 -- Ghost Ship [L07GHO]
X. Level 8 -- Sonia's Fortress [L08SON]
XI. Closing Comments [S11CLO]

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% I. Introduction [S01INT] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Having bought and completed the NES game Solstice when it debuted in the US in
1990, I was eager to try my hand at its sequel when it was released in 1993.
Completing Equinox proved to be a long-term project for two primary reasons.
First of all, the game contains a multitude of diabolical puzzles. In those
early days of gaming before online FAQs like this one existed, we pretty much
had to figure things out for ourselves, and in the case of Equinox this often
meant spending multiple days and dozens of lives trying to pass through a
single room or collect a single necessary item. Secondly, even when you know
what to do, some of the rooms, as you will see, are just plain difficult to
complete.

The game designers' concept of this game seems to have undergone constant
evolution right up until its final version. The Instruction Booklet makes
reference to various "kingdoms" through which you much travel, suggesting that
the original vision was of more of an RPG. However, in the released version of
the game, these "kingdoms" were merely areas of the overworld having different-
looking terrain but no population other than Trolls and Werebats. Thus, the
game we will be playing is more a straight-ahead puzzle game with the RPG
element of periodically being able to upgrade your weapon and magic. The
finished product, then is more like a Zelda game than a Final Fantasy game.

For all of its potential rewards, Equinox can be one of the most frustrating
games that you will ever play. The reasons for this become apparent if you
venture more than a couple of levels into the game, but here are the most
compelling ones:

* The 3-D rooms of the dungeons are presented in 3/4 view. This looks really
nice, but often it is nearly impossible to discern the location of that
block that you must reach. Thus, you will often lose several lives trying
to jump to a block that appears to be in the middle of the room only to
find that, in fact, it is in a corner of the room. Worse yet, the game
designers seem to purposely capitalize on this distortion of perspective
 just to make the game tougher. This is far and away the most annoying
characteristic of the game, and it is the primary obstacle that I hope that
my FAQ will help the reader overcome.

* The rooms are rotated 45 degrees from what you would expect. Think baseball
diamonds instead of squares. This means that you can never move in any of
the four cardinal directions but rather only along diagonals. You wouldn't
think that this would be a problem, and by itself it really isn't. However,
many rooms are filled with deadly spikes, and it is generally not at all
apparent where the spikes begin and end. Thus, you will be innocently
walking through a room and die for no apparent reason because you broached
that invisible boundary of the spikes. Sadly, I can't help you with this
problem much -- you will just have to get used to it.

* You are seldom able to see all of a room at once, a fact that can create
many different kinds of problems. Sometimes the block that you need to push
is purposely hidden from view. Sometimes you have to fight enemies that are
concealed behind barriers. Sometimes you will reach an item near the top of
a room only to find yourself unable to see where the safe areas are on the
ground below you. Worst of all during boss battles if you want to
consistently monitor the boss's position, you must occupy a central location
in the room which, unfortunately, is usually your most vulnerable and least
advantageous position.

* The tolerances on many of the jumps are minuscule. You will think that you
have a jump lined up and executed to perfection but will still die. The
first problem cited compounds this problem. When you miss a jump 4 - 5
times in a row, you begin to wonder whether it is poor execution or faulty
concept that is causing you to fail. That is, you begin to doubt whether
you are even jumping in the correct direction. One of my goals in writing
this guide is to provide reassurance that you are indeed jumping in the
correct direction, but the jump is just darned tough!

* The solutions to some of the rooms are, to me, unfair. There are far too
many rooms that are solved by jumping onto an invisible block, something
that can only be found by trial and mortal error. Knowing the locations of
these invisible blocks can save you hours of frustration.

In retrospect, I marvel that I had the patience to complete this game fifteen
years ago without any outside assistance. However, there is no reason for you
to endure the same level of torture that I did. With a guide by your side, the
game is still interesting and challenging, but you can spare yourself the
guesswork that is necessitated by the above-mentioned annoyances.

When I recently decided to try Equinox again, I was very surprised to find only
one complete guide for the game online. There is a beautiful html guide for
the game at http://www.flyingomelette.com/equinox/guide.html, and it has an
abundance of lovely screen shots as well as a wealth of information, oddities,
and history about the game. However, the walkthrough only details the first
five levels. Most other information about the game comes from Dan Engel. Dan
has posted (here on GameFAQs and elsewhere) a comprehensive and well-organized
guide as well as extremely useful color-coded maps of the eight dungeons.
Dan's guide gives a sequence for passing through the rooms of each dungeon and
then details for each room in the dungeon how to pass through it and obtain
any items it may contain. It is both thorough and well organized, and you
should consider it as an excellent source of information.

My guide is more step-by-step. Rather than list the rooms in numerical order,
I list them in the order through which I suggest you traverse them. Both
approaches have their advantages -- here is why I chose to write this FAQ as I
did. There are many rooms through which you must backtrack, and it does
occasionally happen that passing through a room in one direction requires a
different strategy than passing through it in the other direction. I have
tried to identify those rooms where this is an issue and give the reader
guidance for traveling though the room in both directions. In addition, I have
tried to fill in some of the gaps that I perceived in Dan's guide, perhaps most
conspicuously by giving more detail about how to win the boss battles. Despite
my efforts at thoroughness, though, I am sure that some of you will find some
of my descriptions either lacking in detail or unclear. In these cases, I
encourage you to refer to Dan's guide, where you will probably find the answers
that you seek.

For the record, I am basing this guide on the hand-drawn maps that I made 15
years ago when I first played the game, supplemented by the notes that I took
when replaying the game recently. While I cannot claim that I haven't read or
used Dan's guide or maps, I wrote this guide with only my own notes and maps in
front of me. In many places, the routes that I choose are different from his.
I do not claim that my chosen paths are better, only that they are different
and that they will indeed get you through each level successfully.

Finally, I would like to say a word about cheats and ROMs. That word is "No!"
It is well-known that you can enter a code at the beginning of the game which
will give you unlimited lives and magic, but it really isn't necessary. The
game provides sufficient resources to complete it without using this cheat (I
think that one word says it all, don't you?) Regarding ROMs, I actually like
playing SNES games in ROM version, primarily because my controller is better
than the standard SNES controller. However, if you play a ROM, I would advise
you NOT to use its "save anywhere" feature to make the game easier. Play the
game the way that the designers intended. Equinox is a challenging game, and
the satisfaction that you receive from completing it is directly proportional
to the effort you put into doing so.

I know that the previous paragraph sounds hypocritical coming from someone who
is writing a guide to facilitate your passage through the game. Well, I would
likewise advise you to use this guide as little as possible. A good compromise
might be to have Dan's maps available as you proceed (although you will find
that the maps don't always tell the whole story), and use this guide for
sequencing and/or help when you get stuck. Do as much as you can on your own
and at the end you will feel that you have really accomplished something.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% II. Tips and Strategies [S02TIP] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

In the interest of brevity, I am not going to list the spells, weapons, or

controls. This basic information can be found elsewhere (although, for the
record, some of the information in the Instruction Booklet is wrong.) Instead,
I offer the following general advice and information about the game:

* Rule #1 -- At NO point in the game is it possible to jump from the ground,

over a spike or a row of spikes, and then land safely on the ground on the
other side. Don't bother trying it -- this NEVER works. However, it IS
possible to "bend" a jump from the ground, over spikes, and onto a block
that is due N, E, S, or W of where you began. This may not seem logical,
but it is a cardinal rule of Equinox. When these opportunities arise, I
will alert you to their presence.
* Once you eliminate all enemies and collect all items from a given room AND
exit safely from that room the enemies are gone forever and will not
 reappear. However, if you leave even a single item behind and then exit the
room, all enemies will return with full strength when you reenter. Thus,
sometimes it is better to pick up a potion or an apple even if you don't
need it, just so the enemies won't return.
* The other implication here is that if the exit from a room is perilous, you
are often better off gathering the items and making a safe exit from the
room before attempting to proceed to the next one. I can't tell you how
many times I've had to repeat a difficult room because I stupidly walked
into a spike on the way out. Sometimes going backward before going forward
can save you a lot of time and frustration.
* Similarly, whenever you exit a room and then reenter it, all blocks will be
reset in their original positions. The positive side of this is that if you
mess up when solving a puzzle, you can usually just exit the room, then
reenter and try again. The down side is that you need to be careful around
doorways when you are moving blocks. One careless move can take you outside
of a room, thereby resetting all of those blocks that you so carefully
positioned and reviving all of those enemies that you labored to eliminate.
* The corollary to the last hint is that you need to be careful when walking
in front of locked gates when there are keys in your possession. You might
unwillingly unlock a gate prematurely, which can foul up our carefully
planned sequencing of obtaining and using keys.
* Your game is saved automatically every time you exit a dungeon. Use this to
your advantage! Unfortunately, this won't do you any good in the last two
dungeons because you can't exit from them anyway.
* Each dungeon contains a new weapon and a new spell. Be sure to get them
all! Besides upgrading your attack and your magic, these items can extend
your resources. Each new spell adds one more notch to your magic meter (and
completely refills your magic!) When you get a new weapon, if you use it to
defeat a Troll in the overworld, you will add one notch to your life meter.
* The overworld exists for two reasons. First, it provides a method of moving
from one dungeon entrance to another and from one level to the next.
Second, it provides a method of refilling your life and magic. Defeating a
Troll completely refills your life. Defeating a bat earns you a magic-
refilling potion in the following sequence: green, blue, pink, white.
Since the first three are insufficient to refill your magic completely after
about level two, you are going to have to fight many bats. Fortunately,
they are easy to defeat.
* Thus, before fighting a boss, it is usually a good idea to return to the
surface and fight a Troll and/or bats until both meters are refilled
completely. When you return to the dungeon, be sure to exit immediately so
that you save your game with your meters filled up. That way, if you have
trouble with a boss, you can start over without having to refill your meters
again.
* Trolls are relatively rare, but seem to be most abundant in the overworld
above the first dungeon. Werebats, on the other hand, will pester you with
equally annoying regularity throughout the overworld. As you progress to
higher level dungeons, the werebats in the nearby overworld get increasingly
difficult to defeat in two ways. First of all, it takes more hits to kill
them, and secondly you will have to fight them in smaller and smaller areas.
However, the werebats above the early dungeons remain easy to defeat, and
your more powerful weapons will take them out with a single hit. Thus, it
is occasionally worth your while to walk back to the vicinity of the first
dungeon if you need to fight these enemies. You lose some time walking but
the battles against werebats go MUCH faster, and you save time hunting
Trolls. If you encounter one on your return, just let it kill you and get
on with your quest.
* Falling from a great height will NOT harm you unless, of course, you land on
spikes.
* For each weapon, you can only have a certain number in the air at any given
 time. Once a thrown weapon strikes an object -- a wall or an enemy for
example -- you can throw another one. Thus, the closer you are to your
enemy, the more hits you can land in a given time frame and, therefore, the
faster you will be able to take him out. This is very useful when you have
a fixed amount of time to eliminate an enemy!
* In theory, as long as any portion of Glendaal's shadow overlaps the block on
which he is standing, he will not fall off of the block. For some jumps,
you will have to position him to where he is barely on the edge of a block.
Be aware, however, that if any portion of Glendaal's shadow extends beyond
the edge of a block, he is vulnerable to being hit by enemies moving around
beneath him.
* Always consider all of your options when trying to solve a room. Sometimes
a room -- especially one that depends on timing -- cannot be solved from one
entrance but it can be solved from another one. If you get stuck, then,
consider entering from another direction.
* Finally and possibly most importantly, if you find yourself having
difficulty with a certain room or a particular jump, take a break and then
come back and try again. You would be amazed what a difference it can make.
For example, as I was trying to finish this guide, I found myself having
trouble in a particular room. I'll bet that I tried to cross it
unsuccessfully at least 20 - 30 times. I turned the game off for the day,
and when I came back I made it across on the third try.

OK -- enough of this chit-chat. Let's grab the controller and get started
actually playing this game!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% III. Level 1 -- Galdonia [L01GAL] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How to get there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
No worries -- you begin where you want to start exploring.

^^^^^^^^^
Overview
^^^^^^^^^
This dungeon has 16 rooms and 3 entrances.

This is a nice, short, easy dungeon. You will get some practice navigating
through deadly spikes and jumping in this wacky 3/4 perspective. You will also
experience the role that the overworld plays as you must use multiple entrances
to collect all of the necessary items. This dungeon has a grand total of one
key and one locked gate that it opens.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Walkthrough
^^^^^^^^^^^
You find yourself next to a brown hut with smoke coming out of the top. This
is an entrance to your first dungeon. Move towards the hut and you will fall
into the dungeon.

0E -- You are circled by four green Ghosts but since you have no way to defeat
them, dodge them for now and go SW to 07. (NOTE -- you can always check the
number of the room you are in by pressing Select and looking in the red box in
the upper left corner.)

07 -- Climb up to claim your first weapon (Dagger -- one shot at a time --

average speed.) Notice that the gate through which you entered is closed and
flashing. Flashing gates open as soon as you defeat all of the enemies and
collect all the items in the room. Walk SW so that the Ghosts can't touch you
and finish off the two Ghosts, then return to room 0E.

0E -- Stand on the second tile NE of the entrance from 07. From here you can
safely kill the four green Ghosts. This would be a good time to return to the
overworld to kill a Troll and add a notch to your life meter.

Trolls appear from clouds, so follow one until you see a Troll and run into him
to engage him in battle. To damage a Troll, your weapon must be released from
the peak of a jump. Avoid his pathetic attacks but don't venture too close to
the perimeter. In this first kingdom only you can run from Troll battles by
just walking out of the arena, so avoid doing so unless you want to begin
again. When you have defeated the Troll, return to the dungeon, immediately
exit again to save your game, then re-enter the dungeon and proceed SE to 09.

09 -- Two green Ghosts are circling the room clockwise. You do the same,
throwing daggers as you go. When the Ghost in front of you is gone, head over
to the purple token (#1) and claim it, then get behind the second Ghost and
take it out also. Return NW to 0E.

0E -- Proceed NW to 06.

06 -- Climb up to the skeleton cage to the SW. From here, jump up and throw
daggers at the nearest green Ghost. Once it is defeated, jump up to the
overhead platform take out the other two Ghosts, and claim token #2. Proceed
NW to 05.

05 -- Grab the apple and the nearest token (#3). I know that it looks like
that other token is sitting on top of the spikes, but in fact it is on the
other side of them so don't bother trying to get it now. This is also an
example of an instance where the map alone can mislead you. On the map, it
looks like you can just Troll through this room. In fact, to get the other
token, we will have to use another entrance. For now, return SE to 06, SE to
0E, and go NE to 08.

08 -- Here you get to practice walking around spikes. Fortunately, you can use
your shadow and the floor tiles to guide you here (later, this won't be so
easy.) Carefully navigate around the spikes to gather the four tokens (#4 - 7)
and proceed NE to 0F.

0F -- You shouldn't need the apple, but pick it up if you want to. Notice that
again you cannot proceed any further, so backtrack SW to 08, SW to 0E and exit.
Head NE in the overworld to the entrance to room 0B.

0B -- Kill the 3 green Ghosts and head SW to 0A.

0A -- Behind the 3 green Ghosts is a blue Ghost who will be a little tougher to
kill. Carefully wipe them all out, then collect the token (#8) and the apple
(just so the Ghosts don't reappear). If you go SW, you can see the other half
of room 0F, but there is nothing further to collect there except another apple
that you don't need. Instead, exit NE from the N corner of the room to 0C.

0C -- Pick up the white key and exit SW to 0A.

0A -- Exit NE from the E corner of the room to 0B.

0B -- Keep going NE to 0D.

0D -- If you watched the demo at the beginning of the game, this is one of the
rooms shown. Getting to the top of the first platform is obvious enough, but
you now see your first instance of blocks whose positions are unclear. From
the top of the platform, jump NE to the next tower, then SE and SE again to
reach the last potion. A good jump SW from the top of this last tower will put
you safely back on the ground and past the spikes. For all of these jumps, I
would have about half of the shadow beyond the edge of the block. From here,
you can exit SW from the W corner of the room to see the other side of room 0C
(optional) or return SE to 0B.

0C(Optional) -- Immediately face NW and follow the green Ghost NW while

firing. If necessary, retreat into 0D and try again. Once the first Ghost is
gone, the other two are easy. Defeat all 3 and you get another apple and
can return to 0B.

0B -- Exit to the overworld.

Go W and a little S to find the entrance to room 04.

04 -- Kill the 4 green Ghosts to open the flashing gate NE to 00.

00 -- Make the easy climb to the top to get the Heal Spell, another notch in
your magic meter, and full magic. You can now trade Magic for Life. Return SW
to 04 and proceed SE to 05.

05 -- Remember that token that seemed to be floating atop a spike? Well now
you see it in front of you just past the apple. Collect the apple and the
token (#9) and return to 04, then go SW to 03.

03 -- Kill the 2 Ghosts and get on the small platform. Jump SW to the first
token (#10), then NW and NW again for the last two tokens (#11 - 12). You now
have all 12 tokens and are ready to fight the first boss, so return NE to 04,
exit (so that you save your game) and return to 04. Now head NW into 02.

02 -- As soon as you enter this L-shaped room, you will be pursued by 3 Ghosts
going clockwise. Immediately head SW then NW keeping a bit ahead of the
Ghosts. Don't worry about those green pillars on the NW wall -- you can't hit
them. Concern yourself with avoiding spikes and avoiding getting hung up on
the inside corners. When you reach the N end of the room, you should have
enough of a lead to turn and fire a couple of shots at the blue Ghost (your
primary concern) before continuing to run. Once you pass the crook of the L
and are headed SE, turn and fire at the blue Ghost. He will get caught up at
the crook and should delay long enough for you to finish him off. With him out
of the way, the green Ghosts will be easy. When you have cleared the room, you
might consider returning to 04 to save before exiting NE from 02 to the boss in
01.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
01 -- Boss -- Bonehead
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Like most bosses in this game, Bonehead moves in very predictable patterns. He
will inch slowly to one side, bounce back and forth along that wall, inch back
towards the center, bounce diagonally and very quickly around the room, then
return to the center, go into a trance, and release a pair of Ghosts. Once you
defeat those Ghosts, the pattern begins again only rotated 90 degrees. It
seems that he always moves first towards the SE wall, then in the second cycle
he moves toward the SW wall.
You can only damage Bonehead when you see the red in his eyes. It only takes
10 hits to put him down for the count, and with a little practice you can
easily hit him 5 - 6 times before he releases the first pair of Ghosts. It is
entirely possible to finish him off before he releases the second set of
Ghosts. Offense, then, isn't that hard.

The key to boss battles in this game is DEFENSE. If you take just ONE lousy
hit during a boss battle, you have to start over again, so your number one
priority is to avoid being hit. Bonehead is scariest when he is bounding
diagonally around the room because he moves so much faster than you can.
Fortunately, you have two safe points. At the South end of the screen, there
is a corner of the room that looks like an inverted letter V. If you stand
at either of the points of that inverted V, Bonehead cannot hit you! So, when
you see him going to the center of the room and pointing South, abandon all
offense and head directly to the nearest safe point until he completes his
diagonal sweep. Remember the location of these safe points -- we will use them
later in future boss fights. BTW, it is pretty easy to sneak in one last hit
just before he goes into his trance, even if he has already released the
Ghosts!

Your biggest danger is from the Ghosts. They do not move at uniform speed, but
rather speed up considerably when they hit walls. Watch out for this! Keep
your distance from them and take your time. You will never have to deal with
the Ghosts and Bonehead simultaneously, and you will not die if you run into
Bonehead when he is in a trance. Try to position your kill shot on the last
Ghost so that you are in good position to attack Bonehead immediately, and
always be aware of where he is headed next so that you don't get run over by
him -- that would be a real "bonehead" mistake!

You should only require a couple of tries to take him out. You will be
rewarded with another life notch and another magic notch, and you will be
dumped back into the overworld, ready for the next level.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% IV. Level 2 -- Tori [L02TOR] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How to get there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Head across the bridge to the SE (where there are a bunch of purple rocks). We
are looking for the entrance to room 18, which is at the far NE end of this
kingdom.

^^^^^^^^
Overview
^^^^^^^^
This dungeon has 34 rooms and 4 entrances.

In Tori, you will get the opportunity to hone your skills. You will get some
more practice walking around spikes and dodging falling gates, and you will
have to perform the more advanced skills of bending your jumps and performing
"edge-to-edge" jumps. The new spell that you find will greatly facilitate
passage through certain rooms, so you will learn when to use this to your
advantage. Also, for the first time you will be collecting and using keys of
different colors, necessitating that you match key color to gate color. This
dungeon has 3 green keys,1 blue key, 1 red key (that, it turns out, you really
don't need), and 2 white keys.
One thing odd about Tori is that it has three white gates but only two white
keys. Thus, we are going to have to leave one white gate closed. It turns out
that this isn't a big problem, but it will cost us a certain amount of planning
and a little backtracking.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Walkthrough
^^^^^^^^^^^
18 -- Climb as high as you can on the tower on the N side of the room. Now
back down one block and push to the SE. That next-to-highest block will drop
down and you can jump NE twice to get the green key. Use it to go NE to 19.

19 -- Knights can only be damaged from behind. Notice that the nearest one
only walks on the three squares on the SE side of his row. You can safely
attack then from the NW block. Eliminate the other Knight in a similar fashion
and proceed NE to 1A.

1A -- The two upper blocks farthest to the SE can both move. Push the one
nearest the S corner NE one square, then push the other one to where the first
one was originally. Push both blocks NE as far as you can -- so that
Glendaal's shadow barely overlaps the square he is on. You should now be able
to jump NE to the wall and retrieve the key. If you can jump back from the
lowest block, then you are a better person than I am. Make life easy on
yourself by jumping back SW from the S corner of the block that is just NW of
the one in the E corner (i.e., from the stack that is two blocks tall, which
henceforth will be called a "2-stack.") This kind of jump from the edge of a
block to the opposite edge of the next block (i.e., SE edge to NW edge) shall
henceforth be referred to as an "edge-to-edge" jump. Having established some
vocabulary, you may now return SW to 19 and then SW to 18.

18 -- Go NW to 0F.

0F -- There are 5 Knights to kill in here. The two on the platform are red and
will take more hits, but they move more predictably, so I would take them out
first. Just remember that when you are walking around the platform, do NOT let
you shadow go beyond the outer edge of the blocks or you will be hit by a
Knight below. Once you have eliminated these two, you have the platform
available in case you are pursuing a Knight below and he changes direction on
you. It will take a LOT of hits to take out the red ones because we still have
a crappy weapon, but we're getting ready to fix that. When all 5 disappear,
grab the token (#1) but pause for a moment. That flashing gate that just
opened looks enticing, but don't go through it just yet. Walk around the room
pressing up against the walls. If you push SW from the W corner of the room,
you will find a secret entrance to a room containing . . .

0E -- Look -- a new weapon! The Shuriken isn't any faster than the dagger, but
it is a bit more powerful AND you can have two of them in the air at a time.
(Note: The locations of the secret rooms in this game are generally
telegraphed to you one way or another. As we shall see, there is a perfectly
visible entrance to this room from the other direction.) Pick up your new
weapon and head SW to 0D. (BTW, If you're wondering whether or not you can
retrieve the weapon first and then use it to kill the Knights in 0F, the answer
is Yes, you can.)

0D -- You are going to have to time your movement through the double gate.
Notice that the two gates have different periods of oscillation. You want the
one closer to you to be slightly ahead of the one farther from you. After you
time your passage right, use your new Shuriken (Can I use my new weapon
already? Sure-I-Can!) to waste the blue Ghost and claim token #2.
I know that we skipped some rooms, but we will be back this way again with our
new spell. Until then, go NW to 07, exit, kill a Troll with your Shuriken, and
head W in the overworld to the entrance to room 04. Be sure to exit and re-
enter to save your game before proceeding.

04 -- Follow behind the white Knight throwing Shurikens until he goes down and
coughs up token #3. Exit SW to 03.

03 -- Follow the blue Ghosts while firing. Remember that you move slightly
faster than they do, so avoid getting too close lest you run into them. Jump
atop the central area if necessary. The second Ghost will give you token #4.
Exit SW to 02.

02 -- Climb the red tower and face NE. Jump and throw Shurikens until all the
Ghosts die and surrender token #5. Exit SE to 0A.

0A -- An easy one -- kill the lone blue Ghost for token #6. Exit and re-enter
the room to reset the portcullises. You should now be able to walk straight
through them NE to 0B.

0B -- Climb up and claim your new spell. The Slow spell causes all enemies in a
room to move more slowly for a few seconds. It consumes one notch from the
magic meter, but when you need it, it is really worth it. This will greatly
simplify many of the rooms that we skipped on our way here.

To the NE is room 0C which contains some magic-refilling potions. Since we

just refilled our magic, we don't need them now, but store this information
away for future use and return here if you run low on magic.

Backtrack from here to 04 (SW to 0A, NW to 02, NE to 03, NE to 04.) Exit and
re-enter, and we are ready to test-drive our new spell.

04 -- Go NE to 05.

05 -- There are four green Knights crowding that small space. Notice that
whenever they collide, the reverse direction. In particular, watch the Knight
at the SE end of the line and get a feel for how he moves. When he just begins
to head NW and will have maximum room to move before colliding, use the Slow
spell, jump onto the raised area, face NW, and throw weapons for all you are
worth. When he turns towards you, retreat and jump down. Repeat this one more
time and the first green Knights should go down. Once there are only 3
Knights, you shouldn't need the Slow spell any more. If you run short on
magic, remember that we left potions behind in room 0C. When you finish off
all four, they will give you a green key.

Wasn't that fun? Let's try our new spell on some Ghosts. Go NE to 06, time a
run through the Portcullis (the booklet's name for those blue gates), go NE to
07, and NE to 08.

08 -- Wow! Those red Ghosts sure can move fast, can't they? How are you ever
going to kill them before they run into you? As soon as the gates open and
release them, hit the Slow spell, and killing them off will be a piece of cake.
You may have to use the spell twice, but that's OK -- we're headed back to
those potions in a minute anyway. Notice by the way that the Slow spell also
affects the Portcullises. Exit NE to 09.

09 -- This room really isn't necessary -- it can be avoided altogether, but you
should get some practice navigating through spikes and gates. Try to get a
feel for where the boundaries of the spikes are. Unlike before, you don't have
floor tiles to guide you this time. If you run out of life and magic, you can
safely backtrack to 07, exit, and fight a bat and/or a Troll. From here go SE
to 0F, SE to 18, and SE to 21.

21 -- You need to kill the two Knights, a process that is complicated by the
Portcullises. (We could have done this earlier, but it goes faster with your
more powerful weapon.) Use the Slow spell if you must, but it shouldn't be
necessary. When both are dead, you can claim token #7. Return NW to 18, then
go SW to 17.

17 -- You see five Knights marching in a line across the room. From top to
bottom, they are blue, red, white, blue, and red. Since blue Knights are the
weakest we want to focus first on one of those. As soon as you enter the room,
cast the Slow spell and move SE so that you are lined up with the blue Knight
that is second from the bottom. Pound it with Shurikens as fast as you can,
remembering that if you follow closely behind the Knight you will get off more
shots and increase your chances of taking it out before it turns and becomes
invulnerable. Once you have eliminated one Knight, you have a safety zone and
the rest will go out easily, surrendering token #8.

You now have the option of attempting room 16 to the SW. Remember in room 1A
of this dungeon how we executed a jump that I called "edge-to-edge?" Well,
room 16 gives you a chance to practice it over spikes, making the stakes a
little higher. Even so, it is very easy to jump a nice straight NW path
through this room, and you need to learn how to do so. Position Glendaal so
that he is on the W corner of the first block. This would be much easier if
the "block" were actually rectangular instead of round, but such is the world
of Equinox. Don't overdo it -- there is some margin for error here, so don't
go so far that you fall into the spikes. Make a NW jump and you should land
safely on the NE edge of the block with the potion. Move NW so that you are on
the N edge of the second block and jump NW again, this time landing on the SW
edge of the third block. Continue across the room. Once you get the hang of
it, you won't even have to pause to position yourself before jumping. You can
just cross the room by smoothly alternating walking and jumping.

If you make it through 16, you can exit NW to 0D and then NW to 07. If not,
you can backtrack two rooms to 18. Either way, we are now headed to room 12,
which is an exit to the overworld just SE of 0A. You can travel the overworld
or underground, whichever you prefer. If you choose to go underground, use a
map or your memory to guide you. You can earn an easy apple by killing a
green Knight in room 01 (NW of 07) if you need life, and remember that we left
some potions behind in 0C, which is easily accessed from either 04 or 12.

12 -- The SE block moves so that you can jump onto the central post and exit.
Return to the dungeon, then go NE to 13.

13 -- What a breeze! When the gate opens, kill the blue Ghost and claim token
#9. Return SW to 12.

12 -- Use one of your green keys to open the gate SW to 11.

11 -- Kill the 3 Ghosts and proceed SW to 10. You shouldn't need the Slow
spell, but use it if you are having trouble here.

10 -- Oh boy! A real puzzle! See if you can solve this one without reading
any further. Stuck? Well, you can't jump over the spikes, the block the key
is on doesn't move, and the block against the NW wall is useless because you
can only push it into a corner. There is only one other possible approach.
Push the single block that is NE of the spikes to the SW. All three lower
blocks will move, giving you a stairway to the white key. Return NE to 11 and
NE to 12, then head SE to 1B.

1B -- Push against one of the gates (I used the one facing NE) until it opens,
then fire at the blue Ghosts while dodging them. Claim token #10 and proceed
NE to 1C.

1C -- Kill the 5 Knights and claim token #11. By now, these should be easy for
you. Use one of your white keys to open the NE gate to 1D.

1D -- Push the block forward so that you can safely jump over to the blue key.
Jump back and proceed NE through the white gate to 1F.

1F -- To get this last token and (unnecessary) key, we are going to have to use
a skill I call "bending" your jumps. You are going to have to use this
technique again and again in this game, so we'd best practice it now. You need
this move whenever you are jumping to a block that is due N, S, E, or W of you.
Since you can only jump NE, NW, SE, and SW, you are going to have to combine
two "angled" moves to end up going straight. For example, NE + NW = N. For
this jump, we are going to use SE + NE = E, since the block with the token is
due E of you (yes, it is also up one level, but that doesn't change our jump.)
Climb onto the SW block and overhang the SE edge about 50% or more. Jump SE,
then roll your thumb on the D-pad from SE (right) to NE (up) so that the jump
bends around the corner. Once you have done that, do a NE + NW = N jump to get
the red key. After a few tries, bending jumps will be easy and natural to you
-- until, of course, you are asked to perform some ridiculously difficult ones
later on, but we can work up to that.

You see a white gate ahead that leads to unnecessary room 20. Since we are
short one white key in this level, you can't open that gate, but it is no real
loss. Use a blue key to go NW into 1E.

1E -- Walk carefully around the spikes to the green gate. Notice that despite
being short one white key, we have a red key that wasn't necessary. The boss
lies ahead, so make sure that you are prepared, then go NW to 15.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
15 -- Boss (Sung-Sung)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sung-Sung appears from beneath the floor and moves around the room rolling
rocks at you. Sometimes he moves slowly and sometimes he moves very fast. At
the end of each cycle, he will go underground and then re-emerge several times
in a row before moving quickly around the room, then he will repeat his attack
pattern. It takes 15 hits with the Shuriken to finish him off, and you can
only damage him if you throw your weapon from the peak of a jump -- flat-footed
throws don't harm him. You can damage him from in front or the side but not
from behind.

Your safe spot in this battle is different than it was with Bonehead. There is
a similar V-shaped cutout from the floor in the upper left-hand corner. If you
position yourself at the NW edge of that V (just next to the leftmost green
pillar), you cannot be harmed. Remember how I said before that the key to
success is defense? That principle is just as true in this battle. Work your
way up to your safe corner, watch and learn the boss's movement patterns, come
out when it is safe to attack, and retreat when you are in danger. It's really
that easy. His movements are so predictable that you will quickly learn them
and know when to attack safely and when to head for cover.
When you land a hit on him, Sung-Sung stops for just a moment, and this is
probably your best chance to score multiple hits in just a few seconds.
Specifically, when he starts one of his slides from the SE wall to the NW wall,
if you can be just a bit ahead (NW) of him and in front (SW) of him, you can
get in several good hits. Jump and throw, then when he is shaking it off, move
a bit further NW of him so that you can repeat this. With practice you can
land 3 - 4 good hits during one of these slides.

Finish him off and your meters will both be refilled and extended a notch and
you will again be dumped in the overworld.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rooms avoided: 00, 01, 14, and 20.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
00 and 01 provide another conduit between 07 and 04. They are easy enough, but
are a redundant path so there is no reason to go through them.

14 -- An empty room connecting 0C and 13. If you look at the map, you see that
it too is a redundant pathway.

20 -- Room 20 is a shortcut from 21 to 1F but it requires a white key. Since

we are short one white key in this level, there is no reason to go into 20
unless you just want to kill 3 more Ghosts.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% V. Level 3 -- Deeso [L03DEE] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How to get there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You finished Level 2 at the SW end of Tori. You need to go N and re-cross the
bridge that brought you to Tori originally. From there, go North along the
coastline and then East across the bridge. We are headed for the entrance to
room 29, which is at the far NE end of this kingdom on a small peninsula.

^^^^^^^^
Overview
^^^^^^^
This dungeon has 45 rooms and 4 entrances.

In Deeso, you are introduced to a new enemy right away. You also
have your first encounter with conveyor blocks -- blocks that look normal
enough, but when you step on them, they pull you in a particular direction,
usually towards deadly spikes. The "bending" jumps that we practiced in Tori
will be used much more in this level, and we will master the skill of edge-to-
edge jumping. There are two rooms that I found especially annoying, but on the
positive side there are lots of fun puzzles in this level that really aren't
too hard. In the end, there is a relatively easy boss battle, so let the good
times roll!

^^^^^^^^^^^
Walkthrough
^^^^^^^^^^^
Our first priority is going to be getting our new weapon and spell.

29 -- Right away, we face a new enemy. The Instruction Booklet calls them
"Spinning Devils", but I agree with Dan that "Twister" is a more succinct
moniker for them. The Instruction Booklet says that they can only be damaged
when they stop spinning, but that simply isn't true. They will take damage
when spinning, but they move so quickly that you don't want to get down with
them when they are in motion. When they stop spinning, quickly get in as many
shots as you can, then retreat to high ground, remembering again NOT to allow
any part of Glendaal's shadow to overhang the edge, lest he incur damage.
Carefully eliminate the 4 green Twisters, claim the apple, and go SE to 2A.

2A -- Climb the stairs toward the SE. Leave the potion there for now.
Overhang the SW edge of the block furthest NW among the three top blocks and
jump below. You should land on the block inside the spiked wall. Exit SW to
2B.

2B -- There is a white Ghost racing along the NW wall, and he gives up a red
apple (that you probably don't need) if you kill him, but overall you might
just as well leave him alone and proceed SW to 2C.

2C -- Jump on the nearest block for safety. Take out the white Twister just
like you beat the green one, only remember that this one will take many more
hits to kill. If you and the Ghost are on opposite sides of the short block,
you can damage him, just be ready to get back onto the block if the Ghost comes
out from behind it. When he is defeated, you now have to figure out how to
ascend the blocks to the spell. Walk around a little and see if you can figure
it out. If you are stuck, read on. NE of the lowest block there is a sequence
of 3 concealed blocks that lead you SW to the lowest visible block. From
there, you can ascend SE to claim the spell (Damage). However, since claiming
the spell will refill your magic, you should first use your Heal spell to
refill any lost life.

The Damage spell causes -- well, damage -- to all enemies in a room. It is

rather expensive, especially compared to how little magic you have right now,
but it will have to do until we get the much more powerful Zap spell. You will
need this spell to clear at least one room in this dungeon. Return NE to 2B
and NE to 2A, use the block to jump over the spiked wall, and return NW to 29.

29 -- Follow the green arrow near the W corner to 24.

24 -- Those spikes are scary, but as long as you move in a straight line you
are safe. Exit SW to 22.

22 -- Leave the Ghosts alone for now and look straight ahead of you (SW). This
is a common location for a hidden entrance to a room, so remember what it looks
like. Walk SW through the wall to 23.

23 -- On the other side of that Portcullis are a blue Ghost that you can see
and a white Ghost that will be there in a moment -- just about when the
Portcullis goes up. Be prepared to cast Slow when the Portcullis raises and
gives you a clear shot at the white Ghost, and pound it into submission. With
the white one gone, the blue Ghost should be easy. Single gates like these are
easy to pass through. Just press up against them and pass through when they
open. It is OK to hit the bottom of the gate as it goes up. You only get
damaged -- well, killed -- if it comes down on you. Go through both gates to
get the token (#1). Notice that the block with the token pulls you to the SE
(try walking NW and you'll see what I mean.) This is an example of a "conveyor
block" that I described in the overview.

Return back through the gates to where you entered the room (which, in case you
forgot, is right next to the spikes, basically through the red pillar) and exit
NE to 22.
22 -- Now take out all 3 Ghosts safely from behind (or atop) the blocks. The
last one will give up a red potion to replenish the magic that you just used.
Retrace your steps NE t0 24 (you can grab the apple if you need to refill
your life meter) then SE to 29. This would be a good time to exit and save.
Afterwards, return to 24 and take the NW exit (the one by the apple) to 25.

25 -- Leave the Ghost alone for now and exit SW to 20.

20 -- Walk around until you run into an invisible block N of the visible block
(which, BTW, is immediately above the S corner of the room.) Jump up onto it.
There are two other invisible blocks directly S between this block and the
visible one, so you are going to have to do 3 successive "bending" jumps like
you did in room 02-1F. Fortunately, there are no spikes, so you can just keep
trying until you find your way up to token #2. Exit SW to 1E.

1E -- Ignore the white potion and go NW into 16.

16 -- Push the top block 1/2 square SW, then carefully push it NW onto the
spikes. It will travel around the perimeter of the room. Wait for it to come
towards you along the NE wall and hop on but be ready to hop off to the NE when
you get to the far end. Otherwise, an elevated block will knock you off into
the spikes. Grab your new weapon and wait for your ride to return. You can
just walk off the NE side onto the moving block, then jump off when you reach
the other end.

Your new weapon, the Axe, is much faster than your previous weapons and you can
have 3 of them in the air at a time. Wow! Exit SE to 1E.

1E -- Take the SW door to 1D.

1D -- Use the short block to jump over the spikes. It doesn't look like it,
but you can let your shadow overhang the edge of the block without running into
the spikes. Walk into the middle of the NW wall to enter room 15.

15 -- A new challenge awaits. All of those short blocks on your side of the
spikes work like little conveyor belts, pulling you into the spikes. Just for
practice, jump up on one of these blocks and notice that if you try to walk in
the direction opposite the pull of the block that you can stay perfectly in
place. Remember this! To get the token, start by jumping up (from the
ground, not from a block) and hurling your awesome new weapon at the two blue
Ghosts to take them out. Notice how quickly you take them out! The trick to
moving across conveyor blocks is simply to keep jumping. Jump on the nearest
block and then as soon as you land, jump again, aiming for the far edge of the
second block. If you overshoot, you will touch the spikes; if you undershoot,
you won't make it across on the next jump. As soon as you hit the second
block, jump over to the SW wall and claim the token (#3). To return, do the
same thing in reverse. Every time your feet touch a block, quickly jump again.
This may take a few tries, but this is another technique that you will use
again and again. Exit SW to 14.

14 -- Jump off of and, if necessary, back onto the block in the N corner, and
take out the red Ghost. Again, see if you can solve the puzzle in this room
without help. Push the block that is against the NE wall into the N corner.
Jump from here to the upper block to the SW, which should make that block move
slightly. Repeat the jump to the upper block and you should be able to get up
onto the block just below the one you moved to push the upper block onto the
ground. Push it into the W corner. Standing on this block, time a jump onto
the top of the Portcullis. When it reaches its highest point, jump NW to claim
token #4.
Since the next room to the NW (10) is an exit, this would be a good time to
exit, kill a Troll with your new weapon, re-enter, exit and save, and then re-
enter to 10 one last time.

10 -- Kill the 4 blue Ghosts and grab the apple so that they stay gone. Return
SE to 14.

14 -- Exit SW to 13, and prepare for one of the most obnoxious rooms up to this
point in the game.

13 -- Do you see that blue "block" that is circulating on the elevated

rectangle of green blocks? You have to push that onto the floor. This sounds
easy until you factor in that those are conveyor blocks (like those we
encountered in 03-15) that will be pushing you and the blue block NE while you
are trying to move the block NW. You have to accomplish this before the block
hits a wall, because that will re-center the block. When the blue block is
going SW on the SE side, get in right behind it. As you approach the W
corner, start pushing NW. You want to stay SE of the block and stay flat-
footed -- do not jump. This may take you many attempts, and there will be
times that you will swear that you see daylight between the block and the ramp
but it refuses to fall. Like I said, this room can be obnoxious, so be
patient. The next relatively minor problem is that when it does fall, it will
be concealed by the conveyor blocks, but you will be so glad that it's on the
ground that you won't care. Push it to the 2-stack near the W corner, claim
token #5, and exit NW to 11.

11 -- As soon as you enter, turn SW so that you catch the falling block on your
head. Face NE, wait until the white Ghost gets trapped in the E corner behind
the gate, and pound it with your Axe. You now need to "scrape" the block off
your head so that you can push it SW and use it to jump over the spikes.
First, we need to position the block properly on your head. Walk into the S
corner of the room so that your head is below the S corner of the block. Now
move towards the gate to the E so that the E corner of the block is just NW of
the SW corner of the gate. Now when you walk SE, the gate will scrape the
block off your head and you should be able to push it SW and NW. Collect the
apple and it's over the spikes and on to 0D we go!

0D -- Climb the steps and grab the white key. You can see why we entered this
room from this direction. Exit NW to 08.

08 -- Navigate NE through the spikes to take the NE exit to 0E.

0E -- This room really illustrates how difficult it can be to perceive the

locations of blocks floating in the air. Jump onto the block at the N end of
the room. Three jumps to the SE should put you in the E corner (the last two
blocks are hidden, but the margin for error is relatively big here.) Jump SW
to the line of 3 blocks and walk 2 blocks SE to the SE wall. Three jumps to
the SW put you in the S corner, and from here you can walk 3 blocks NW and jump
twice NE to claim token #6. If you want that red potion, jump twice SW back to
the SW wall and walk to the W corner, then jump NE once, NW once, and NE 3
times.

Our next quest is a very difficult white key. Frankly, it's optional -- you
can complete this level without it -- but getting it will give you some
practice navigating around rooms with floating blocks. So, head SE to 10, exit,
save, and reenter.

10 -- Go NW to 0E.
0E -- Go NW to 09.

09 -- This room is mostly difficult because you cannot discern the locations of
the spots to which you need to jump. I'm going to walk you through each jump,
but before reading my directions, first see if you can figure out which block
you need to access next and how you would get there. Then see if you guessed
right. It starts easily enough. Jump onto the statue head and then NW to the
first block. Position yourself on the west corner of this block and jump NW to
the E corner of the next block. This is a straight edge-to-edge jump -- no
bending necessary. The next jump has to be a bending jump to the N. For
example, you can jump NE and then bend the jump to NW or vice versa. Now do a
straight jump NW and walk NW to the adjacent block. Next, you need to do two
bending jumps to the W -- NW + SW = W. You are now on the block nearest the W
corner of the room. Do an edge-to-edge jump to the NE beginning from the N
corner of the block you are on. Two simple jumps NE and a simple jump SE
put you within view of the key (and some spikes!) One more simple NE jump and
you can now jump NE over the spikes and into the E corner. Make your way up
the blocks and claim the white key. To get down safely, simply jump SW from the
W corner of the block that had the key. You may want to go through this a
couple of times so that you understand how the blocks are positioned. Or not.
Either way, exit SE to 0E.

0E -- If you want to save, go SE to 10 and exit. Otherwise, follow the green

arrow in the W corner of 0E to 08.

08 -- Exit SW to 07.

07 -- Exit NW to 04.

04 -- Kill the green Ghost for an apple and use one of your white keys to open
the door to the SW, putting you in 03.

03 -- Kill the white Ghost nearest to you, then hop up onto the blue pedestal
for token #7. Jump over the spike and kill the other white Ghost, who will
drop a white potion (!) Before you grab it, remember to us Heal to refill your
life. Exit SW to 02.

02 -- We are here primarily to go SW to 01. You notice that this is an exit to

the overworld, but it isn't obvious how to get out. Get on the block on the SE
side and bend a jump N. From here you can hop over to the platform with the
potion. From the middle of this platform, you can jump to the center stack,
and from there you can jump to the opposite platform with the apple. When you
have had your fun, exit SW to 01.

01 -- First, be aware that most of the skinny green blocks -- including the two
solo blocks along the SE wall -- are conveyor blocks. When you enter the room,
head directly SW and stand so that your shadow overlaps the two skinny blocks
along the SW wall more or less evenly. Let the moving block fall on your head.
You want to scrape off the block so that it rests more or less where you are
now standing. Move to the NE corner of your block so that the block on your
head is SE of the overhead row but overlaps it a little at the SW end. Walk NW
and the block should fall as planned. From here, jump up to the overhead row.
Hold NE to fight the conveyor while throwing weapons to kill the Ghost. Now
walk over to the overhead row against the NE wall (which does NOT move.) The
two blocks between you and the token are actually against the SE wall and pull
you NW, so hop quickly across them to the SW to claim token #8. To get out,
hop NE to the two solo blocks and safely to the ground.
We now need to do some backtracking. Go NE to 02 (exit and save if you like),
NE to 00 (there are two doors on the NE wall of 02 -- use the one that is
further north), SE to 03, NE to 04, and SE to 07.

07 -- Jump/push the SW stack of blocks to make a stairway over the wall. Use
the apple if you need it, then go SE to 12.

12 -- An easy one! Jump onto one of the blocks next to the doorway, and when
the Twister winds down, descend and flatten him with your Axe. Head SE, and
next to the door you will find a block that you can push. Push the block to
the NW and use it to jump NW and then SW to claim token #9. Exit SE through the
white gate to 18.

18 -- Jump NE to the N corner, then jump SE along the NE wall. If you want
that green potion, head back NW along the staircase of skinny green blocks,
walking NW at the end to fall onto the block with the potion. Retrace your
steps and exit SE to 19.

19 -- All of these blocks look really confusing, but in this case the easiest
interpretation is the correct one. Get on the 2-stack near the S corner, then
jump NW to the 3-stack, NE to the 4-stack, and SE to the 5-stack to claim token
#10. Exit SE to 1A.

1A -- Start firing SE as soon as you enter, as a blue Ghost is ambling his way
towards you. After you turn SW, a second blue Ghost will come towards you, so
be prepared for it as well. Exit SW to 1B.

1B -- This is an exit to the overworld, so save if you like, but be aware that
we are only going to clear one more room before moving on anyway. Take the SE
exit to itty-bitty room 1C.

1C -- As soon as you enter, line up with the gate and the white Ghost. When
the gate begins to rise, cast Slow and pommel the Ghost into submission. You
can now get on top of the green block, bend a jump to the top of the
Portcullis, and let it lift you so that you can jump SW to token #11. Be
careful getting down! You may want to jump back behind the gate just to be
safe, or you can use my "falling through the door" technique, which is
described in the next paragraph.

Sometimes when you are above and to one side of a door that has spikes nearby,
your best option is to avoid touching the ground altogether. In this case,
walk off the NE side of the NW block, then as soon as you start to fall, hold
NW on the controller. You will fall through the door without touching the
ground (or the spikes!) and will be safely transported to the next room. Give
this a try, then go NW to 1B.

We now need to return to room 10, which is an entrance to the overworld. You
can either exit and travel above ground (it is almost due north of where you
are now) or you can travel underground according to the following path: from
1B, go NE to 1A; NW 3 times to 19, then to 18, then to 12; NE twice to 13 and
then to 14; NW to 10. Take your choice -- I'll meet you there.

10 -- Go NW to 0E.

0E -- Go NE (through the door that is barely visible under the overhead blocks)
to 0A.

0A -- Go NE a couple of steps, then jump NW onto the moving block as it is

coming towards you. Ride it all the way until it is NE of the 2-stack at the
other end, then jump SW onto that 2-stack. The next two blocks are conveyor
blocks, so jump quickly NW, then SW twice to reach the white key. To return,
jump quickly NE twice then SE to the 2-stack. Wait for the moving block to
return NE of you and walk NE back onto it. Ride it until you can jump to
safety. If you need a magic potion, exit SE to 0F and pick one up and then
return here. You can then go SW to 0E, SE to 10 and NE to 0F.

0F -- Cross the bridge, pick up the apple, and exit NE to 0B (not that you have
much choice about any of these).

0B -- Climb the steps and you are facing 3 blocks. Let's label them 1, 2, and
3 from Glendaal's left to his right. Push #2 NE and it will fall on the
ground. Jump down with it and move it slightly NW (1/2 square or so). Push #1
NE and it will fall where #2 fell originally, stairstepping with #2. Jump down
and push this 2-stack SE until #1 is in the E corner. Now push #3 NE so that
it lands on top of #1 and you can jump from #3 to get the key. Ext SE to 17.

17 -- Kill the four Twisters for an apple. Remember that you can damage them
from the opposite side of a short block. Exit NE to 0C.

0C -- Pass through the gates and head to the NW area of the room. This is
really scary unless you know how to do it. The conveyor blocks try to pull you
into the spikes and you can't jump because of the overhead spikes. If you
start from the far W edge of the first conveyor block and just walk NE, you
will reach the key safely. When returning, begin from the E side of the last
block and walk SW. Exit SE to 1F.

1F -- Push the green block SW onto the ground until there is barely room for
Glendaal between that block and the short one on which it was sitting. You can
now take out the white Ghosts safely since they can't fit in that space. Grab
token #12 and we'll go take on another boss. Exit SE to 21 through the
unmarked exit just SE of the blue pedestal against the SE wall.

21 -- The tops of these pedestals will pull you towards the spike in the
middle, so hop quickly around them to the SE exit.

25 -- Kill the white Ghost and grab the apple. Use the pedestal to hop over
the spikes to the SE exit to 24.

24 -- Recognize this room? Go up this side of the stairs and down the other,
returning to 29 by exiting SE.

29 -- Exit and save if you like. Hunt a bat if you need to replenish magic.
When you are prepared, exit through the door in the NW wall to 26.

26 -- Cast Slow as soon as you enter so
Ghosts. Carefully walk NW to the stack
onto the overhead row. When you get to
pushing NE. Your momentum should carry
and exit NE to 27.
that you can deal with the two white
of pedestals. Climb them, jump NE
the gap, just walk off and continue
you past the spikes. Use a white key

27 -- There are 4 Twisters in here, but you are protected from all but the
first. Take them all out, get an apple, and exit NW to fight your next boss
battle.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
28 -- Boss -- Qetzlcoatl
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This should be a really easy fight. This boss -- basically a stack of five
blocks -- doesn't take up as much space as the previous two, so there is a lot
more room to move around. It just kind of bounces around the room at different
angles and speeds, but it is ridiculously easy to avoid. You can hit it by
firing flat-footed (i.e., you don't have to jump) and it only takes 25 hits to
lay it to rest. Unlike the previous battles, there are no safe spots but
honestly you won't need them anyway. Stay in the middle part of the floor so
that you can always see it, and just keep moving outside of its path. Like all
bosses, it has a short recovery period after a hit when it is invulnerable, but
that just gives you time to get into position for the next hit. It only
becomes dangerous when it has taken 18 hits, because then it will sprout spikes
from all four sides of the one remaining block and will spin around the room,
moving a little faster than normal but occupying quite a bit more space. Be
especially aggressive when this happens because you won't be able to dodge it
as easily and, as I said, there are no safe points to my knowledge. After a
few tries, you'll put it down, get the usual rewards, and be again teleported
to the overworld for your next adventure.

BTW, when it is obvious that you have defeated this boss, walk up to it and try
to impale yourself on one of its spikes and see what happens (HINT: You will
NOT have to fight this boss battle again if you do.)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rooms avoided: 05 and 06.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
05 -- An empty room connecting 06 and 01.

06 -- A room "connecting" 07 (NE), 05 (SW), and 03 (NW). I use quotes because

it is a one-way room. You can go from 07 to 05 or 03, but not the other way
around. The connection from 05 to 03 runs both ways. If you enter from 07,
you can kill a blue Ghost for an apple. Wowee!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% VI. Level 4 -- Atlena [L04ATL] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How to get there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Remember where we first entered Tori (the second dungeon) -- at the NE end of
the kingdom? Return there and cross the nearby bridge to Atlena.

^^^^^^^^
Overview
^^^^^^^^
This dungeon has 47 rooms and 4 entrances.

This is a very strange dungeon. It has a multitude of locked gates and keys
(around 25 if I counted correctly), but many of them are unnecessary. I had to
wonder whether it was better to visit every room and collect every single key
and item or to try to economize and omit unnecessary items, even if it entailed
additional backtracking. Dan shows you how to do the former, so I thought
I'd be a bit creative and describe the latter. I don't think that it takes any
less time, and the puzzles that you miss are generally pretty easy ones, but I
guess I was trying to make a point. Even so, I'm pretty sure that I make you
collect some keys that you don't need. After writing this section, I tried to
go through this level using only my own guide and I was able to do so; thus, I
am confident that the path that I describe here does indeed work even though
you skip several rooms and several keys.
Other than encountering one new type of enemy, there isn't that much new here.
Oh, the game designers added a "mist" effect to further muddle your perception
of the rooms, the overworld is even more annoying than before to navigate, and
the tolerances on some of the jumps are a bit less, but overall these are minor
changes. The big difference, I think, is the whole key thing. Let's get
started.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Walkthrough
^^^^^^^^^^^
The first thing we are going to need is keys, and there are two in each of the
four entrances to the dungeon. The first entrance we pass (on the W side of
Atlena) goes to 24, so let's start there. After crossing the bridge go east
and then take the first path south.

24 -- Position yourself WAY out on the SW side of the top block and jump SW for
the red key. Climb back to the top, position yourself WAY out on the NE side
of the top block and jump NE for the green key. Exit and head north to the
entrance to 17.

17 -- Do jumps similar to those that you did in 24 to get the two keys. The
top block on the 3-stack on the SW side will push NE, allowing you to jump back
up to the top. Exit and head S to find the entrance to 0E.

0E -- All of these jumps are straight jumps, but you will need to get pretty
close to the edges of your starting blocks to make it across. From the block
you land on, jump NE to the blue potion. Walk SE then jump SE to the 4-stack,
then jump SW to the key. Return to the starting position, repeat your NE jump,
walk NW then jump NW to a 4-stack, then jump SW to the key. Exit to the
overworld and cross those little raft-like items to the NE, and enter room 1E.

1E -- Face NW and kill the white Ghost. Hop NE along the conveyor blocks and
jump NE for a key, then repeat this to the SW. You should now have two keys of
each color. Let's use a red key and go NW to 1D.

1D -- Oh, boy -- a new enemy! Blobs alternate between jumping straight up in

the air and jumping towards you. Unfortunately, since they are so close to the
ground, you can only damage them when they are jumping. They CAN jump onto
blocks and then over them, but it seems to take them forever to do so,
especially when you want them to. In this case, you may have some trouble
killing the Blob that lurks in that confined space. Notice that "aisle" at the
NW end of the room. It is a common indicator that there is a secret door.
Avoid the Blobs as necessary and try going SW and you find ...

1C -- A secret room with a new spell! First, you have to eliminate the red
blob, a task complicated by the tight space and the spikes, but you can do it.
Now you have to jump around counterclockwise to the spell. The problem is that
all of the stones except the last one are conveyor blocks. Thus, you need to
jump as soon as your feet hit the block. You can use the D-pad to alter your
position in mid-jump, sort of like bending a jump, but you have to be careful
not to stretch your jumps too far. Anyway, all of these are straight jumps
around the perimeter of the room. From the floor, you make 3 jumps SW, 3 jumps
SE, and 2 jumps NE. With your new spell (Freeze) you can make all enemies in a
room stop for a few seconds. The down side is that it takes twice as much
magic as Slow, but it can be really handy, as we will see. Jumping NW should
get you down safely. Return to 1D.

1D -- Immediately jump SE onto the red blocks so that the Blob doesn't get you.
Kill the Blob that is in the longer passage and return to the one in that tried
to kill you when you reentered this room. Wait until it jumps straight up in
the air, and when it is at its peak, cast Freeze. You can now jump down and
hammer it until it goes away. Eat the apple it leaves and try pushing NE from
the secret aisle.

04 -- Get on top of that pink thing (which, for lack of a better term, we will
call a "block") and jump NE onto the moving block. When it near the N corner,
walk NW off the NW edge. You should fall into room 02.

02 -- Grab the token (#1) and return SE to 04.

04 -- From the pink block you need to do an edge-to-edge jump to the key,
which would be much easier if you could actually tell where the edge is. Use
the 4 central tubes as boundaries (ignore the smaller tubes). Start from the
SW edge and aim for the NE edge. Once you have the key, you have to jump to
the moving block. When you get to the SE end of the room, walk off onto the
pink block and exit SE to 05.

05 -- Grab token #2, and return NW to 04.

04 -- Getting out of here is tricky. Get on the pink block, jump NW onto the
moving block and then SW to the pink block or the safe square SW of it.
Actually, with jumps of this kind it is often best to avoid trying to hit the
ground. Just aim for the doorway and you don't risk accidentally hitting
spikes after you land. From 1D, go SE to 1E. This might be a good time to
exit and save. To get to the rope ladder, climb SE on the stairway that is on
the NW side of the room that is a mirror image of the stairway on the SE side.
When you return, use a white key to exit SE to 1F.

1F -- Killing the green blob isn't a big problem. However, the problem is that
when he dies he drops a token, and if he dies while on the spikes, you won't be
able to retrieve it. You can lure him to the NE wall so that he dies on the
stones and you can get token #3. Use a white key to exit SW to 20.

20 -- You are protected from the white Twister, but you need to avoid the red
one. Be aware that the pink blocks are conveyors, so you'll have to hop or
walk against their pull to avoid being pulled down. Take out both Twisters and
claim token #4. If you look around, your trained eye should detect two hidden
entrances. Exit SE to 0C.

0C -- Jump NE onto the block in the N corner. From here, jump SE onto the
moving block and then SW to token #5. If you want the green potion, you can
fall off SE to get it and then use the moving blocks to get you back to the NW
side of the room. Either way, return to 20. From 20, take the secret NW
passage to 21.

21 -- Jump onto the moving block, overhang its SW edge, and jump SW to the
green key and the apple. Jump NW to exit NW to 2B.

2B -- Walk SW to the conveniently located blue key. Jump onto the overhead
stones along the NE wall. These will carry you to the end. Use my "fall
through the door" technique (see 04-04) to land safely, then return to this
room. Navigate through the spikes and exit SW to 2C.

2C -- The small confined areas make this red blob a pain. You pretty much need
to kill it to get out of the next room. Cast Freeze when the Blob is jumping
straight up and pound him with your Axe until he succumbs. Eat the apple and
move SW to 2D.
2D -- We are here to pick up the blue key in the S corner of the room. Get on
the round block at the SW end of the room and use it to jump NW onto the rising
block. From there jump NE to the raised platform. Push the top block SE, and
just ride the conveyor blocks behind it. You will land on the block and have
an easy bending jump to the S to pick it up. Make a bending jump N, then jump
NW to safety. Backtrack NE twice to 2B and follow the spikes NW to 2A.

2A -- Kill the two green blobs for a blue potion and exit NW to 28.

28 -- Kill the blue Ghost, but don't try to cross the room yet. Just NE of
that pink block with a spike is a secret NW entrance to 29. Use it!

29 -- Jumping onto the moving block is complicated by the conveyor action of

the stones, moving you around the block. Once you manage to get onto the
rising block, getting the white key and getting down safely are both pretty
easy. Return to 28.

28 -- Push the upper block in the 2-stack NW and use it to bend a jump to the
W, avoiding the corner spike. Fight the conveyor blocks to exit SW to 27.

27 -- Move quickly to the N corner of the room and wait for the green Blob to
jump to the floor SE of you. Pound it with your Axe to get an apple and clear
the way to the SW exit to 26.

26 -- Go to the SE corner and use the round block to jump SW onto the rising
block. Because of the spikes, you cannot let your shadow overhang the NE edge
of this block while you are waiting for the moving block. Time a jump NE to
the moving block. Time a jump NW onto the next moving block, which isn't as
easy as it sounds. Remember that you can use the D-pad to adjust your position
in mid-air. From here, it is an easy NE jump to the 4-stack with the key. Go
to the W corner of the room, and you will see another suspicious-looking gap.
Follow it NW into 18.

18 -- Jump SW onto the nearest moving block and then NE onto the rising block.
You will need to make this jump when you are moving away from your target
block, so overhang the NE edge. From here you can jump NW to get the key.
Position yourself on the W corner of the stone and time a walk (NOT a jump!) NW
onto the edge of the moving block below. From here, bend a SW + NW jump
through the door to 16.

16 -- Jump onto the block that is moving along the NW wall. Time a jump SW
from there onto the rising block. From here, wait until the rising block is at
the top and bend a jump to the E to get the token (#6) from the top of the 5-
stack. Use a green key to exit NE to 17.

17 -- Open the red gate to the NE and enter room 19.

19 -- Push the block nearest to you 2 squares NW and one square NE so that it
is between the spikes. If it won't push NE, it is hitting the spikes and you
need to realign it. Get on top of the stone near the NE red gate, and
jump/push SW. The top block should move. Push it SW until it lands NE of the
first block that you pushed. From here you can edge-to-edge jump to the token
(#7)and return to 17.

17 -- Exit and save.

In the overworld, go E and then S then W to the entrance to 1E. From here,
cross the "rafts" S and W to get to 0E.
0E -- Before we head towards our weapon, we need to pick up one more blue key.
Use a green key to open the gate SW to 0F.

0F -- Use the Damage spell 3 times to kill the green Twister and get token #8.
Use a green key to continue NW to 10.

10 -- All of the square red blocks except the one with the key are conveyor
blocks. If you are really good, you can do all of these jumps edge-to-edge,
but it is easier to just keep hopping and adjusting your position in mid-air.
All of the blocks are where they appear to be. I will describe these as if
they were edge-to-edge jumps. In order from the first red block, go NE 2
times, SE, NE twice, and SE to the key. It will take a few tries, but
mercifully there are no spikes underneath so you won't die trying.

When you have the blue key, backtrack SE to 0F and then NE to 0E. Exit and
save if you like, then return here to 0E.

0E -- Open the blue gate to the NE to enter 0D.

0D -- Kill the two red blobs, which would be a lot easier if you could actually
see the one NE of the central wall. The second one will drop token #9. Open
the blue gate NE to 0B.

0B -- A blue Blob jumps at you as soon as you enter. Cast Freeze when it jumps
high enough for you to be able to hit it, and pelt it with your Axe until it
coughs up an apple. We are going to make a detour to get one last blue key, so
exit NW to 0C.

0C -- Cross the spikes as before and exit NW to 20.

20 -- Use your last white key to exit SW to 22.

22 -- Kill the Blob. Push the red block from the 2-stack NW and jump from it
to the blue key. Backtrack NE to 20, SE to 0C, and SE to 0B. Use a blue key
to proceed NE to 0A.

0A -- Kill the blue Blob and prepare for more problems with perspective. Push
the central block NE and then SE until it hits the wall. The rising block is
actually above the spikes, so jump SW onto it. Jump straight NW to the next
block, then get WAY out on the NW edge of this block to jump straight NW to the
next one. Again, get WAY out of the NW edge and jump straight NW to the key.
From here, a NE jump will get you safely to the ground. Use a blue key to exit
NE to 08.

08 -- Kill the red Twister for an apple, then take the secret SW exit to 09.

09 -- Kill the red Blob. This time, we have to go clockwise around the room,
hopping on conveyor blocks and avoiding spikes. The conveyors will always move
you clockwise. From the first stone, make 3 jumps SW, 3 jumps NW, and 3 jumps
NE. After you grab the weapon, a good long SE jump will get you down safely.

Besides being extra fast, the Twin Knife will fire in two directions (in
front of you and behind you), a property that will come in handy later. Return
NE to 08, then use a blue key to head NW into 07.

07 -- Kill the two blue Ghosts for token #10. Use a blue key to head NW to 06.

06 -- Hop NE to get the green key that is zinging back and forth along the NE
wall. There are 5 more rooms ahead, but we have managed our keys in such a way
that we don't really need the 4 keys that can be found in these rooms. Before
proceeding you might want to verify that you still have 3 green keys, 1 blue
key, and 1 red key in inventory. Assuming that you do, you can now backtrack
SE twice and SW 4 times to return to 0E. Exit to the overworld and return to
room 17 to the N.

17 -- Exit SW to 16.

16 -- Use a green key to exit SE to 15.

15 -- Four blue Blobs slide down to the floor when you enter. You cannot jump
up onto the center platform, so you have to fight them down here. You can use
your Damage spell or just be patient. Take them out, eat the apple, and use a
green key to proceed SW to 13.

13 -- Kill the white Blob and go to the round block in the E corner. All of
these jumps are straight jumps NW. Just time them right. We really don't need
this key, but there are no spikes, so you're not risking anything by getting
it. Take the secret SW exit to 14.

14 -- These jumps are tricky, so be patient.
and time a SW jump to the next moving block.
moving block from which you can jump to token
more help on this one -- you're just going to
Walk NE off the edge and return to 13.
Get on the nearest moving block
Then time a SE jump to the third
#11. Sorry that I can't be much
have to use trial and error.

13 -- Use your last green key to take the SE exit to 12.

12 -- These are all straight jumps, but the margin for error is very slim.
Jump from the round block to the first red block. Get on the FAR SE edge.
Make your jump just before the rising block reaches its maximum height so that
you reach the block when it is at its lowest. Jump SE to the next stationary
block and then repeat the jump you made to the rising block. From there you
can jump NE to token #12. Sadly, you have to repeat the process to the NW
since we lack sufficient keys to go through the near green gate.

When you return safely to the start, backtrack NW 3 times to 16, then NE once
to 17, where you can exit to the overworld. To get to the boss, go back E to
the entrance to 1E. Be sure to fill your life and magic, because this boss is
a royal pain. Follow this path to the boss (I'm omitting details because we've
already cleared all of these rooms): SE to 1F; SW to 20; NW to 21; NW to 2B;
SW to 2C; SW to 2D; NW to 2E.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2E -- Boss -- Pincha
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For me, this was one of the hardest bosses of the game. You don't have to jump
to hit him, but you cannot damage him when his pincers are in front of his
face, which is most of the time. It takes 20 hits with the Twin Knife to
finish him off. He is very large and can move very quickly so, as before, you
must concentrate on defense because this is going to be a long battle and it is
very easy for him to hit you.

Fortunately, his movements are very predictable. He really only has the
following three attacks:

1. Moves to the center of the room, waves his claws very quickly, and then
sweeps through the room very rapidly. You MUST take a defensive position
when he does this.
2. A slow sweep where he goes NE, center, NE, and then slowly counterclockwise
around the room.

3. A slow sweep where stays mostly in the SE part of the room. These usually
don't last very long.

He alternates fast and slow, so his attack pattern goes 1, 3, 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 2

and so forth. It is important to always know what he is going to do next.

Remember your safe points for your battle against Bonehead? You are ALWAYS
safe there for attacks 1 and 3, but NOT for 2. Let's call these points "A".

Remember your safe point for your battle against Sung-Sung? You are ALWAYS
safe there for attack 2. Let's call this point "B".

Basically, you can hunker down near one of the A points except when Pincha is
about to execute attack pattern 3. This happens after every other fast sweep.
You MUST know when this is coming up because it takes quite a while to move
from an A point to the B point. The easiest way (for me, anyway) to keep track
of when you need to retreat to point B is just keep count of his fast attacks.

Pincha always begins with a fast sweep, so begin at a point A. I'm pretty sure
that he always follows this with a 3 attack, so as soon as Pincha parks himself
centrally after his first fast sweep, head directly to point B. Don't bother
attacking -- you really don't have time. Remember that this is all about
defense. Pincha should come dangerously close to you, back off slightly, and
then do a slow counterclockwise sweep that takes him through the S corner.
This is when you make your move back to a point A. Attack and retreat from
point A until he executes 2 more fast sweeps. After the second of these (his
third fast sweep overall), go directly to point B. Stay there until he sweeps
through that S corner again, then return to A and repeat this pattern.

I have read that you have to damage both eyes to defeat Pincha. From my
experience, I don't believe that this is true. When the first eye and claw go
away, everything still seems to work as if they were still there. Let's say
for example that you manage to knock off his left eye and claw. As long as his
right claw is protecting his right eye, you cannot score a hit. However, when
he moves his claw from in front of his right eye, you can tally a hit if you
hit the left eye socket. You may find this helpful if you can get a feel for
how to move safely from one particular point A to point B.

Your best opportunity to attack is after Pincha's first fast sweep after you
return to an A point. With some practice, you can score 3 - 4 hits while he is
just sitting centrally facing SW waving his claws. Just be sure not to get too
close lest one of those claws snag you.

The key to this battle is anticipation. Glendaal moves very slowly and
therefore you must plan ahead to get to your safe points in time. Do not
linger over your attacks, even if they miss. Just play defense and be patient,
and in time you will either prevail or give up and smash your Equinox cartridge
with a sledgehammer. Let's hope it's the former rather than the latter.

(February 2012 update) -- I recently returned to this game and found, much to
my surprise, that I was able to beat Pincha on the first try. It would appear
that once you learn his patterns, they are easy to recall, making him one of
the more predictable bosses to defeat.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rooms avoided: 00, 01, 03, 11, 1A, 1B, 23, 25.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
00, 01, and 03 are at the far north end of the dungeon. If you reach them, you
just have to backtrack out of them because they don't connect to any other
rooms. 00 and 01 contain unnecessary keys (2 whites, 1 red, and 1 green).

11 -- Connects rooms 10 and 12, but requires a green key on each side. We just
approached 10 from 0F and 12 from 13.

1A -- Connects 19 and 1B but requires a red key at each end. We avoided 1B and
approached 19 from 17. This saved 2 red keys.

1B -- Connects 1A and 1D but requires another red key. We avoided 1A and

accessed 1D from 1E. This room contains a green key, but avoiding room 11
saved us two green keys -- this one, and the one in 01, which we also avoided.

23 -- Connects 22 to 24. Room 24 is an overworld entrance, and we accessed 22

from 20. This saved us 2 white keys, the one in 00 and the one in 01.

25 -- Connects 24 to 26. This room requires no keys, but we went elsewhere

from room 26, so it was unnecessary to pass through here.

As I said -- I'm not sure that this route is any faster, I just had some fun
plotting a course that avoided that northern dead end.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% VII. Level 5 -- Quagmire [L05QUA] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How to get there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Go S from Atlena to the orange islands. Traveling here is a royal pain because
you can't tell what is and is not solid footing. Just keep jumping until you
find your way. We want to start in room 31, the entrance to which is in the S
central area of the map.

^^^^^^^^
Overview
^^^^^^^^
This dungeon has 62 rooms and 5 entrances.

If you didn't smash your game cartridge fighting Pincha, you might before this
level is over. The scenery is lovely, but it is really difficult to tell where
the spikes and blocks begin and end. You'll see what I mean.

Looking at a map, you can see the layout of this dungeon. We are going to make
a counterclockwise loop around the center section to pick up all 8 keys for
this level. Each of the other four entrances leads to a spiral of rooms such
that we will need to wind our way to the end and then backtrack all the way
back to the beginning. Once you have the keys, the order of traversing these
four loops is up to you.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Walkthrough
^^^^^^^^^^^
Again, our first priority is going to be collecting the keys.

31 -- Kill the green blob. Jump NE across the vegetation and enter the door
that faces NW at the N end of the room.

2D -- Push the block NW and bend a jump to the N ((NW + NE = N). Walk around
to the blue key, then push the block it was on to the SE. Bend a jump to the S
to exit back to 31.

31 -- Do an edge-to-edge jump from the block in the NE corner to get over the
spikes. Find the yellow arrow that points NE on the E side of the room and
follow it to 36.

36 -- Jump/push the far NE block enough that you can get to the other (SE) side
of the wall. Stand on the solo block in the S corner, and from here jump/shoot
to take out the red Ghost. Push the top block in the 3-stack to the SW 2
squares, get on it, and jump NW to the white key. Return to 31.

31 -- Exit SW to 30.

30 -- Kill the blue Twister and pick up the red potion. Exit SE to 34.

34 -- Kill the green Twister, eat an apple, navigate the spikes, and exit NE to
35.

35 -- Get on the block in the E corner. As the moving block goes away from
you, quickly move to overhang the NW edge. When the moving block returns, you
have to very quickly hop NW onto it and the jump NW up to the next block. Jump
SW and walk SW to the last block. Do an edge-to-edge jump NW to get the blue
key. Jump SE to get down and return to 34.

34 -- Get on the pad just SW of the door you just exited. Overhang the SE edge
and jump SE to the moving block. Walk off NE and through the door to 3A.

3A -- Kill both green Blobs (the one to the NW is going to take some courage).
Watch out for conveyor action on those pedestals. Exit NE to 3B.

3B -- Those white Ghosts are annoying, but they really aren't in the way, so
you can leave them alone for now and exit NW to 37.

37 -- Cast Slow and waste the blue Twister. From the NW corner of the stack in
the E corner, jump NW to the moving block. When it hits the SW wall, jump NW
to the green key. Return to 3B.

3B -- The center path has conveyors. Hop like a bunny right down the middle
and exit NE to 3C.

3C -- Take the not-so-secret NW doorway to 38.

38 -- Start firing right away to eliminate the red Blob, then time a run
through the gate. Those 3 pads closest to you are all conveyors. Jump onto
the center one, then quickly bend a jump to the N to get the key. Bend another
jump S to return to the center pad, then quickly jump to safety. Return to 3C.

NOTE: If you want to be a real wimp, you can now backtrack to room 31 and
continue the walkthrough at room 18. We now have at least one of each color
key, and that is all that we're going to use anyway. In fact, two of the rooms
ahead are kind of a pain, but they aren't so difficult that I'd go out of my
way to avoid them. The choice is yours, but even though you can completely
avoid a whopping ten rooms by backtracking, I would encourage you to push
forward and take on the challenges that lie ahead.
3C -- Take the "real" NW exit to 39.

39 -- Start by killing the green blob in front of you. Then, from the round
block in the SE, jump across the spikes, get on the red block, and do an edge-
to-edge jump to the NW to the moving block. Jump NW onto the floating block
before it knocks you off into the spikes and claim the apple. From here,
simply walk NW and fall through the doorway to 33.

33 -- Kill the blue Ghost immediately and then carefully pass through the two
Portcullises. Navigate the spikes and decide how badly you want that green
potion. There are no conveyors here, but you have to get it in one of your
first two tries to come out ahead. I'd leave it be and exit NW to 2F.

2F -- Kill the blue Blob, then hop along the conveyor blocks to safety. Follow
the yellow arrow SW to 2E.

2E -- Kill the green Blob and carefully navigate through the spikes to the
round block in the W corner. It will carry you to the green key. Hop back on,
then quickly jump NE to the center block. Drop off SE and exit NE back to 2F.

2F -- Exit NW to 29.

29 -- Waste the red Ghost. Let's go after the apple just to keep the room
clear. Push the lower square block slightly NW and use it to get on top of the
higher square block. Do an edge-to-edge jump NW to the platform and jump SE
from the center of the platform to the apple. Exit SW to 28.

28 -- Hop along the conveyor blocks to the N corner if you need the white
potion. Otherwise, exit SE to 2C.

2C -- From the pad just SW of the door, execute a bending jump S to the next
pad. Jump straight SE to the second block in the stairs. Jump NE onto the
third block which will move you towards the key. Jump NW quickly before you
get knocked off. Once you have the white key, jump SE back to the block, then
quickly bend a jump S to the second block. From there jump NW, N, and out the
door.

28 -- The red block will get you up to the conveyor blocks. From there, hop SW
and exit SW to 27.

27 -- Take the easy exit (the upper one) SE to 2B.

2B -- Kill the blue Blob coming from the N and climb onto the pedestal near the
E corner. Jump SW twice, then bend a jump S to get the red key. Bend a jump W
to return to safety, and return to 27.

27 -- The round block closer to the E corner will move, allowing you to get the
apple. Then push the block onto the floor and into the space just SW of the
opening to 2B. Jump over the spikes and exit SE to 2A.

2A -- Of course, these pads are all conveyors -- otherwise, it would be too

easy, right? No tricks here -- just keep hopping and remember to try to jump
through the door to the SE.

30 -- Exit to the NE and you are back where you started.

31 -- Exit to the overworld.

Well, that took a while, but it was productive. We got all 8 keys that are
available in this level, so now we can go wherever we want. Normally I would
choose a weapon upgrade first, but the spell in this level is really handy, so
let's go to the area where it is found. We want the entrance to 18 which is NE
of your current position.

18 -- Beware of conveyor action on the pads as you descend to kill the red
Twister. Use one of your red keys to take the NW exit to 15.

15 -- Jump SW onto the block in the S corner and overhang the NW edge of the
second pedestal. Jump NW to the moving block, and when the white Twister is
catching his breath, head SE to the pedestal. Now take out the Twister in the
usual fashion and exit NE to 16.

16 -- Take out the two Blobs and hop onto the conveyor blocks to get the apple
and the blue potion (we will backtrack through here later, so we want the Blobs
gone.) Exit NW to 13.

13 -- Kill the green Blob and -- are you kidding me? You get a token (#1) for
killing a lousy green Blob? Hey, I'll take it -- especially since we haven't
seen a token for a while! Exit NE to 14.

14 -- Start firing right away, as a blue Blob is headed right towards you.
Pick up the apple so the Blob won't come back, and take the overhead route to
the exit.

17 -- Take out the first red Ghost, then make 2 simple jumps SE. From here,
you can kill the second red Ghost. Angle a jump E, then do simple jumps SE,
SW, and SE. Walk NE off the pad and exit SE to 1D.

1D -- Start firing immediately at the green Blob in front of you and pass
through the gate. To get the red potion, you have to hop on the conveyor pads
SW of the gate and jump on top of the gate when it is down. From here you can
bend a jump N to the potion. Exit SW to 1C.

1C -- Nothing here -- exit SW to 1A.

1A -- Kill the 3 green Blobs and eat an apple. Exit NE to 1B.

1B -- Kill the red Twister as usual. Push the nearest block NW against the
spikes and then NE until it lines up with the other square blocks. Jump SE to
the pad and then NE to the token (#2). Exit NW to 19.

19 -- Use the handy front-and-back action of your twin knife to eliminate the
two Ghosts. Go to the E corner and jump NW onto the block. It will move SW,
and you will need to jump SW onto the next block before you get knocked off
into the spikes. Jump NW twice and walk NW onto the moving block. When it
hits the N corner, you can jump SE onto the block with the Spell.

Zap costs you 2.5 units on your magic meter, but it will eliminate every enemy
in a room! VERY handy indeed! Jump SE into the corner and backtrack ALL the
way to 18. That will be SE to 1B; SW to 1A; NE to 1C; NE to 1D; NW to 17; NW to
14; SW to 13; SE to 16; SW to 15; SE to 18. Here are a couple of special
instructions:

17 -- Jump SW to the corner pad then NW. Walk NE to the next pad, then jump
NW, W, NW, N, and W, then walk out the door.

15 -- You can use the pedestal by the red gate to get over the spikes and
through the gate.
18 -- You will notice that there is another red gate that we haven't opened.
It leads to 33 in the central loop of rooms that we already completed, so there
is no reason to go there again. Hop up the conveyor pads and exit to the
overworld.

Let's make a weapon upgrade our next priority. Go to the far SW corner of
Quagmire to find the entrance to 23.

23 -- Walk SE off the block and use a white key to exit SE to 26.

26 -- Jump over the moving blocks to avoid being pushed into the spikes and
exit SW to 25.

25 -- DO NOT KILL THE WHITE GHOST (yet). Climb the stairs and push the block
NW so that it falls onto the Ghost. If you start pushing when the Ghost is in
the W corner, the timing should work out just about right. Jump onto the
moving block and jump NE to get token #3. Jump down, feel free to kill the
Ghost, and exit SE to 3E.

3E -- Jump onto the block in the N corner. Push the top block in the adjacent
2-stack about 1/2 square to the SE so that you can climb on top of it. For
here, jump SW to safety and exit SW to 24.

24 -- Turn NW and start firing to stop the charging blue Ghost. Ignore the
Portcullis and walk NW so that you can shoot the white Ghost without
obstruction. Exit SW to 1F.

1F -- Kill the nearby blue Ghost and push the block against the SW wall and
then NW to the wall of blocks. Jump/push the top block in the SW 3-stack
enough that you can make it over the top. Kill the second blue Ghost, eat an
apple, and exit NE to 1E.

1E -- No, that isn't a secret path NE in front of you. Jump onto the moving
block which, BTW, is over the MIDDLE row of spikes, NOT the first row as it
appears. You then need to time a jump onto the other moving block (which also
is moving across the middle row of spikes), but this is going to take a few
tries. Once you've made it, jump NE against the wall to safety and exit SE to
21.

21 -- Did you already figure out that the tops of these pads have conveyors?
The jumps are as they appear to be: NE (onto the first pad), NE, SE, bend S,
SW, bend W (get the apple). Walk off NW and exit SW to 20.

20 -- Immediately jump NW onto the moving block before you get pushed into the
spikes. Jump NW from here to the N corner block, SW onto the moving block, and
then quickly SW to the W corner block. Jump SE onto the moving block. Time a
SE jump under the gate to get token #4. Walk NE off the block and exit SE to
22.

22 -- Again, you've probably figured out that these round blocks on top of the
stacks are all conveyors, so hop quickly. The first jump is really the hardest
one. You are going to do an edge-to-edge jump SW (NOT a bending jump), BUT you
MUST remember to jump again as soon as your feet hit the block or you will
quickly be pushed off to the N. From here just keep jumping -- SW, NW, and NE
to get your new weapon.

The Sword is a questionable improvement over the Twin Knife. It is much slower
and you can only have 2 in the air at a time as opposed to 3. Also, it only
fires straight ahead, not behind you. On the plus side, it has more stopping
power. Try it for a while and see how you like it.

As before, you now need to backtrack all
means: NW to 20; NE to 21; NW to 1E; SW
NE to 26; NW to 23. Remember to use the
as possible. It is generally MUCH safer
ground.
the way to the entrance in 23. This
to 1F; NE to 24; NE to 3E; NW to 25;
"fall through the door" trick as much
than trying to land a jump on the

1E -- To "fall through the door" from the moving block at the SE end of 1E, you
have to be careful because you are 2 squares from the door instead of just 1.
Position yourself on the SW side of the block, and when the moving block
reaches the SE end of its travel, jump SE and bend the jump SW through the
door. You CAN land a jump onto the ground, but it is scary.

23 -- Again, you will notice that there is a white gate in 23 that we didn't
open. This too leads to the central area that we already cleared, so opening
it is unnecessary.

We have 2 more areas to clear while collecting the remaining 8 tokens. Let's
begin N at room 06, so exit and travel there in the overworld. On your way,
remember to kill a troll to add a notch to your life meter.

06 -- Locate and kill the green and blue Blobs. If you want them to stay gone,
you also need to carefully navigate the spikes and collect the green potion on
the E side of the room. Use a green key and head NE to 07.

07 -- Jump from pad to pedestal and then NW onto the moving block. Time a jump
from here under the Portcullis to token #5. Start your jump from the SE edge
of the moving block, and notice that the 3-stack is not against the NE wall but
rather is 1 square SW of it. Good luck! Follow the yellow arrow SE to 09.

09 -- Jump from the stationary block to the moving block directly above it.
Time a jump NW to the second moving block and then time another NW jump to
token #6. Return to 07.

07 -- Exit NE to 05.

05 -- Jump/fire to defeat the red Ghost, then get on the blocks to defeat the
blue Ghost. From the NE block in this row of 3, walk NW into the pit and
against the wall, then carefully walk one square SW. Jump up onto the second
block and kill the white Ghost. Bend a jump N to the next block, then jump NW
across the spikes to the 3-row and the apple. Exit NW to 01.

01 -- Again, all of these blocks and pads are conveyors. Jump/shoot the blue
Ghost and jump onto the pad. The conveyor will move you around the room --
just remember to jump over the spikes near the end and then jump onto the
floor. Exit SW to 00.

00 -- Jump SW along the elevated row of pads and kill the Ghost from atop the
last one. Move to the NW wall and push SW on the D-pad to fall to the block
below. Eat the apple and exit SE to 03.

03 -- Immediately get on one of the blocks to the S to avoid the charging red
Twister. Retire him, then exit SW to 02.

02 -- This is a good place to test-drive your Zap spell. Use it immediately to

take out the two Twisters. Climb the staircase and fall SW off the top to
token #7. Those two floating blocks are to the SE, so make a simple jump SE to
reach them. Overhang the NE edge of these blocks to make a long jump NE to
safety. Return to 03.

03 -- Exit NE to 04.

04 -- Immediately jump SE onto the moving block. At the NW end of its travel,
jump NE to the next block. Overhang the NE edge and jump NE into the aisle,
remembering to stop pushing when you hit the ground. Walk SE and get on the
round block, then do an edge-to-edge jump to the NE. Jump NW to the next block
(which will move when you are on it) and then quickly NW again to the next
block. Overhang the NW edge and make a long NW jump to token #8. From there,
jump SW over the spikes to a block; walk SE and get on a round block; jump SW
into the aisle; walk NW and get on a round block; and finally jump SW back to
the first moving block. Exit and backtrack all the way to the entrance at 06.
The path is SW to 03; NW to 00; NE to 01; SE to 05; SW to 07; SW to 06.

00 -- Just keep making NE jumps along the NW wall. You will go from block to
block to pad to pad to the ground. Just try to overhang each edge enough that
you can make the jumps successfully.

06 -- The observant gamer will notice that there is a SW exit here that we did
not use. It goes to a room that is empty except for a green gate that we don't
need to open. You have to dodge many spikes to get to that room and back, so
I'm going to advise you to leave it alone. Exit to the overworld and head to
the SE to the entrance to 0B.

0B -- Ignore the green Blob for now. Exit NW from the W corner of the room to
3D.

3D -- Push the top block from the 2-stack NW and use it to jump onto the moving
block. When you are not above spikes, move WAY out to the SE end of the block
and time a SE jump to token #9. Ignore the blue gate -- you should know by now
where it goes -- and return to 0B.

0B -- Cross the conveyor blocks and kill the green Blob. Exit NE to 0C.

0C -- Kill the blue Twister. Push the block SE into the E corner and jump SW
to token #10. Exit NW to 0A.

0A -- Use the block in the E corner to jump over the spikes. Leave the apple
there for now -- we'll get it on the way back. Exit NE to 0D.

0D -- Quickly get on the first pad and fire SE to take out the green Blob.
Move NE along the pads and jump SE to the block, which will begin moving. Jump
SE to the wall and exit SE to 10.

10 -- Kill the two blobs and follow the yellow arrow SE to 12.

12 -- Gee -- do you think the tops of the pedestals are conveyors? You know
the drill -- keep hopping and remember the trick of falling (or in this case
jumping) through the door. You can re-enter to get the apple if you need it.

10 -- See if you can figure out how to get to the SW exit to 11. If you can't
maybe it's time to give up video games for something less challenging.

11 -- Take refuge on the pad until the red Twister rests, then waste him. Go
to the SW and jump on the round block which will move NW to SE. Overhang the
NW edge and time a NW jump through the door to 0E.
0E -- Kill the lazy blue Ghost. There is a movable block in the N corner
hidden behind the central blocks. Push it SW to the west corner. Stand on it
and jump/fire until the red Ghost dies. Walk out to the pad and do an edge-to-
edge jump SE to the central tower. From there you can do an edge-to-edge jump
SW to token #11, but you are going to have to start this jump from the EXTREME
S corner of the block. Exit NE to 0F.

0F -- The trick here is quickness. The elevated block only moves when you are
on it, and if it goes too far NE you will never make it back across the spikes.
So, do the following in one continuous motion: Jump NE onto the round block,
walk to its NE edge, and jump NE onto the raised ledge. Claim token #12 and
catch your breath. Now stand on the second block from the corner and overhang
the SW edge. Jump SW to the elevated block, and as soon as your feet hit it,
jump SW again.

It is now time to backtrack all the way to the entrance. Fortunately, most of
these rooms are much easier in reverse. The path is: SW to 0E; SE to 11; NE
to 10; NE to 12; NW to 10; NW to 0D; SW to 0A; SE to 0C; SW to 0B. Here are a
couple of tips for this journey back to the entrance:

12 -- This room was a real pain the first time, but in this direction it is
easy. Jump onto the pedestal in the W corner and exit from there.

0A -- Stand on the round block along the SW wall. Do an edge-to-edge jump to

the square blocks and another edge-to-edge jump to the apple. Jump NE over the
spikes and exit.

It is now time to fight the boss who is one room NE of room 31 where we began
this level. You know the drill -- refill life and magic, find your way to 31,
save your game, and get ready to rumble. NOTE -- In the past couple of boss
fights, you haven't really needed your magic because your life bar was probably
long enough to get you through successfully. However, at the beginning of this
battle, you definitely want your magic meter to be full, so don't overlook this
important preparation. Read on . . .

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
32 -- Boss -- Dollop
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is a relatively easy boss -- certainly much easier than Pincha. He just
kind of lumbers around the room, sometimes on the ground and sometimes by
jumping, but he is very easy to avoid. Just watch his shadow when he jumps.
I'm pretty sure that you are always safe from him when you occupy one of the
safety points from the Bonehead fight. He will move around the room for a
while, leap very high into the air (especially for such a mammoth creature!)
and then, like Bonehead, he will go into a trance and release a pair of
enemies, the difference being that Bonehead released Ghosts while Dollop
releases Blobs. At first these Blobs are green, but as Dollop weakens, the
Blobs work up to white ones. Once you defeat the Blobs, Dollop comes back to
life and the cycle begins anew.

To damage Dollop, you must jump when throwing your weapon. However, it seems
that when you are at the peak of your jump, your weapons go too high and do no
harm. That is, the shots that connect seem to be released from about one-half
maximum leap. You can only damage him when you see his eyes. One of the best
times to damage him is when he just comes out of a trance. He will stay put
for a few seconds -- long enough for you to land 3 good hits if you are
fortunate.

For me, the Sword is just too slow and releases too few projectiles for this
battle, so I fought it with the Twin Knife. The Twin Knife is also excellent
for fighting Blobs because of its ability to fire backwards. You can damage
them while distancing yourself from them. By my count, it took 30 hits with
the Twin Knife to lay Dollop to rest.

Almost every time that I died in this battle it was because I was careless when
fighting the Blobs, not because Dollop did anything to me. You know that a
battle is easy when your biggest danger is getting impatient. Be aware that
the Blobs CAN jump up onto Dollop, and from there they can get to you very
quickly. However, you really don't have to even fight the Blobs. Read on ...

Here is a REALLY handy tip for this fight. Although magic (other than Heal)
normally has no effect during boss battles, the Blobs CAN be taken out with
Zap! When Dollop goes into a trance, then, position yourself so that you can
attack him as soon as he returns to life, then cast Zap. The Blobs will be
gone and, as previously mentioned, you can land 3 good hits before Dollop goes
on the move again. Since your magic is limited to 11 notches at this point,
you can only use this trick 4 times. Thus, you may want to save it for the red
and the white Blobs and kill the greens and the blue by normal means.

One way or another, you should find Dollop in a smoldering heap in very short
order, and you will be ready to move on. However, . . .

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% WARNING! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! BEFORE YOU LEAVE THIS AREA, BE SURE TO %
% READ THE "HOW TO GET THERE" SECTION BELOW. IT COULD SAVE YOU MUCH %
% TIME AND FRUSTRATION! %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rooms avoided: 08
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
08 -- An unnecessary room that connects 06 (an entrance to the overworld) with
29, which is in the central area that we cleared independently.

If you wimped out and backtracked after getting the red key in 38, you also
avoided rooms 27, 28, 29, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2E, 2F, 33, and 39 -- but think of how
much fun you missed!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% VIII. Level 6 -- Afralona [L06AFR] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How to get there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You will notice that I have heretofore said nothing about the storyline. This
is primarily because the game has no storyline to speak of. The purpose of
this game is to solve puzzles and have fun. If you were expecting rich, deep
characters or an involving story, you bought the wrong game. It is worth note,
however, that defeating Dollop completes your set of "harp strings" -- I'm
really not sure why defeated bosses are giving you musical instrument
accessories, but that is beside the point. The point is that having collected
all five, you can now use those metal crosses in the overworld to teleport. In
fact, all of these teleport crosses except two are completely unnecessary.

The relevance here is that to move to the next dungeon, you must return to
Galdonia (the first kingdom) and teleport from the metal cross on the island in
the SW corner by hitting the Y button to play your harp. This action, however,
meets with mixed results. Instead of teleporting you to the next level,
sometimes this will dump you in the water E of Galdonia. It is easy enough to
jump back from there, but repeating the process may land you there again.

I have read differing opinions regarding the source of this glitch. Dan
reports that it may be caused by the "infinite lives and magic" cheat, but I
have never used that cheat and I have had this problem many times, so I
sincerely doubt that this cheat causes the glitch to occur.

Somewhere I encountered speculation that the glitch is caused by entering into

a battle with a Troll or a Werebat between the time that you leave Quagmire and
the time that you attempt to teleport. As far as I can tell, this is the true
trigger for this glitch. After beating Dollop, I saved my game and marched
directly to the teleport cross, being careful to avoid any overworld battles.
I did this probably 10 times, and every time I was able to teleport
successfully to the correct area. By contrast, every time that I engaged in an
overworld battle on the way, the teleport failed.

Be aware that the outcome of the overworld battle is irrelevant. You can win,
lose, or even run away from the battle (if you are in Galdonia). Once you
engage in a battle, the glitch is triggered. Even if you teleport
successfully, return to Galdonia, and enter into an overworld battle, the
glitch is still triggered. The moral here is that to avoid this glitch, you
need to avoid all overworld battles between the time that you leave Quagmire
and the time that you teleport. If you get caught in a battle, just reset the
game and try again.

For the record, it is possible to overcome the glitch if it is triggered. From

my experience, ducking into the Galdonia dungeon after engaging in an overworld
battle will undo the glitch and allow you to teleport successfully. However,
I'm not going to guarantee that this will work 100% of the time. My advice is
to take measures to avoid this glitch rather than try to undo it.

^^^^^^^^
Overview
^^^^^^^^
This dungeon has 75 rooms and 4 entrances.

Considering that this game was designed over 15 years ago for the SNES, the
graphics here are simply gorgeous. This Egyptian-themed level has beautiful
colors and sharp images and is a treat to the eyes. Unfortunately, we again
have problems of perception. The "blocks" we use to jump around rooms have
been replaced by spheres, and that just doesn't work. It was hard enough to
detect the edges of rectangular blocks, but for spheres it is darned near
impossible. I would really like to know how it is possible to stack spheres
anyway. Now throw in the complication that many of these spheres are invisible
or turn invisible as soon as you land on them, and the stage is set for much
frustration. Fortunately, your life and magic meters are much longer now, so
you can afford to die more times, but that just means that frustration level
will rise accordingly. So, be prepared to die many times and to take frequent
breaks to avoid going crazy. Even so, this may well be my favorite level in
the game. It is relatively simple to navigate, it's easy on the eyes, and most
of the puzzles are fun to solve. Follow that up with a relatively easy boss,
and we've got some good times ahead of us, so let's get started.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Walkthrough
^^^^^^^^^^^
Once again, our first priority is collecting keys. This dungeon has 12 keys
and gates, 3 of each of the 4 colors. You need 8 of these (2 of each color) to
unlock the last row of rooms to the boss. We begin our quest in the S central
portion of this area (almost due SE after you cross the bridge from the
teleport cross to the mainland) with the entrance to room 22.

22 -- Exit SW to 21.

21 -- Push the central sphere 1 square NW. Jump/push the top sphere from the
2-stack on top of it. Push this new 2-stack SE against the SE wall. Now push
the top sphere SW so that it rests on the spikes. You can now cross over the
spikes to get the white key and jump back onto the sphere to cross safely back.
Exit NW to 1D.

1D -- Kill the 2 red Knights (haven't seen any
sphere against the SW wall and then NW against
shaped blocks are conveyors, so hop quickly up
down, just jump over the conveyors. Jump back
21 and NE to 22.
of those for a while!) Push the
the spikes. All of the pyramid-
to claim a red key. On the way
to the sphere and return SE to

22 -- Exit SE to 26.

26 -- Push the central sphere against the SE wall and then NE to the 2-stack,
picking up the green potion along the way. Jump onto the 2-stack and
miraculously the top sphere will convey you to just E of the key. Bend a jump
to the W and you've got it! Exit NE to 27.

27 -- Jump along the platforms on the SE wall. Wait for an opening and fall in
behind one of the Knights. March with him while pelting him with your weapons,
then impose a similar fate on his buddy. Jump onto the basket in the N corner
and claim the key. Use the block along the SW wall to return SW to 26.

26 -- Go SW to 25.

25 -- This room has major problems with perspective. Find the two blocks that
seem to be adjacent (they aren't) between the token and the NW wall. You can
jump onto the one that is closer to the wall. Jump NW, NE, then SE to get the
apple. Jump back NW then NE and you land on something but you can't actually
see it. Jump SE to get back in sight. Overhang and jump SE to land on a block
somewhere near the door, then walk SE until you are blocked from going any
further and jump SE to again see where you are. A SW jump puts you on the 4-
row. Walk to the end and jump SW, then jump NE edge-to-edge to reach the token
(#1). Return to the SW block in the 4-row and jump SE to get the green potion.
I'm really not too sure where any of those blocks are supposed to be -- all I
know is that the above sequence works. Go back NE to 26 and NW to 22.

22 -- Exit NE to 23.

23 -- There is a blue Knight marching overhead along the NW wall, but you just
get an apple for killing him, and killing him entails either using Zap or
making multiple jumps between the ledge and the elevated block. I'd advise
leaving him alone. Use your blue key to open the gate to the NE.

24 -- Take out the 4 white Knights, eat an apple, and proceed NE to 40.

40 -- Use Zap to eliminate those pesky Ghosts before they get you. Stand on
the sphere just SE of the token and wait a few seconds. You will be lifted up
to where you can jump NW to the invisible sphere holding token #2. Backtrack
SW to 24 and SW to 23.
23 -- Go NW to 1F.

1F-- Immediately retreat to the E corner and start throwing weapons SW. With
luck, you can take out the white Ghost without using any spells. If you have
trouble, use Slow (it's cheaper than Zap). Jump onto the moving sphere,
overhang the edge, and jump to token #3. Sadly, you can no longer see the
sphere underneath you, but you can fix that by jumping up to reposition
yourself. Jump back to the moving sphere and then from there to the ground.
Use a green key to exit NE to 20.

20 -- Zap the Ghost and grab the apple to open the flashing gate. Exit NW to
1C.

1C -- OMG -- a gold mine of keys! The three against the walls can be reached
by straight jumps. You are going to have to bend jumps to get the green key
and get back again, but you should be getting pretty good at those. Exit SW to
1B.

1B -- Shoot your weapon across the spikes to waste the white Ghost and jump up
to the green potion to open the flashing gate. Use a red key to exit SE to 1F.

1F -- Exit SW to 1E.

1E -- Take out the red Twister and grab the red potion it leaves behind. Use a
white key to open the NW door to 1A.

1A -- Jump/push the sphere NW onto the spikes and jump NW from there to the
platform. Bend jumps N and then W to get the apple and exit NW to 28.

28 -- You can kill the white Ghost from the SW row of spikes or just leave it
alone and exit NE to 29.

29 -- Jump/push the top sphere from the closer 2-stack NW until it falls off.
Next push it 1/2 square NE and then as far NW as you can. Now go to the 2-
stack near the E corner and push the whole stack against the NW wall.
Jump/push the top sphere onto the spikes. It will be carried along the spikes
and wind up on top of the other sphere with enough room on the SW side for you
to climb up. Now execute an edge-to-edge jump SW to claim token #4. Jump down
to the SE and exit NE to 2A.

2A -- You can immediately use the Zap spell to take out all 4 blue Ghosts or
equip your Twin Knife and immediately start walking clockwise around the room
while firing to kill the Ghost behind you. Once he is off your back, the rest
is easy. Collect the blue potion and exit NE to 2B.

2B -- The platform in the E corner moves back and forth, and you need to jump
from here to the platform that is circling the token. You can all but
eliminate the motion of the back and forth platform this way: jump onto it,
then jump off when it is in a good position for jumping onto the rotating
platform. When the rotating platform comes near, quickly jump SE to the back
and forth platform and then immediately NW onto the rotating one, almost as if
the first one were a conveyor. Jump from the rotating platform to token #5,
then walk off the sphere back onto the rotating platform and jump back down to
the ground. I had my biggest problems getting down after getting the token, so
be careful there.

From the map, it looks like you can pass from here to 2C to 2D and then exit at
2E. That is only partially correct. Room 2E is an entrance only. As far as I
can tell, there is no way to exit from room 2E. It is possible to press onward
from here, but it will be a very long time before you are able to exit and save
again. I will describe that path first, but only do this if you are still
relatively fresh and your life and magic are in good shape.

2C -- I have no idea where these spheres are supposed to be located, but I

promise you that the following works. Get on the N corner of the sphere in the
S corner, and when it starts moving downward, bend a jump N to the sphere that
is moving in synch with it. From there a NE jump will put you safely in the N
corner of the room. Exit NE to 2D

2D -- March around the spikes throwing Swords at the 3 red Knights until they
go down. Take the sphere that is near the W corner and push it NW against the
NW wall, and then NE until it is against the spikes. Jump over to get the red
potion, then use the sphere it was on to jump back across the spikes. Take the
SE exit in the center to 2E. You can skip the next 3 paragraphs and continue
from there.

Our better option is probably to backtrack from here all the way back to
22. That will be SW 3 times to 2A, to 29, and to 28; then SE 3 times to 1A, to
1E, and to 22. All of these passages are easy except for 1A, which is
described below.

1A -- Get on the lowest platform in front of the spikes and bend jumps E, then
N, then W to get up to where the apple was. Jump SE onto the inverted pyramid.
Do an edge-to-edge jump SE to the single floating platform, then jump SE to the
platform next to the spikes. Walk off the SW side onto the sphere and the walk
SE off the sphere to safety.

When you get to 22, exit and save, kill bats if necessary to restore magic, and
travel N to the entrance to 2E, which is surrounded by purple rocks.

2E -- Look around and you'll see what I mean about your inability to exit from
here to the overworld. Exit SE to 33.

33 -- The pyramid in the N corner will lift you up so that you can jump SE to
the apple and the red potion. If your magic supply is good, you may want to
leave the red potion for now. Exit SE to 36 and read on for more details.

36 -- Zap the Knight. Token #6 will appear and will magically be transported
to ground level for your easy access. Try to avoid stupidly walking into
spikes and having to repeat this. I didn't use the red potion in 33, so I went
back and got it now. Exit SE to 39.

39 -- When the Knight is at the SW end of his travel, the gate should be up,
allowing you to pass through, head NE, and get safely past the Knight. Now you
can get behind him and kill him without using magic. Eat the apple and exit SE
from the E corner to 3D.

3D -- Kill the Knight and claim the red potion to replenish your magic from all
that Zapping. Does that gate ahead look suspicious to you? Pass through it
and push NE.

4A -- WOW! Cool red lighting! March in step with the Knights to take them out
and open the flashing gate. Exit NW to 3E.

3E -- Kill the white Twister and exit NW to 3A.

3A -- Quickly Zap the 4 red Ghosts, claim the red potion, and exit NW to 37.
If you can make it safely to the center of the room, the ghosts can't harm you
and you can kill them with your weapon, but since you get a red potion anyway,
you might as well take the easy way.

37 -- Take out all of the Knights and exit NW to 34.

34 -- AHA! So this is why we came this way! A new weapon awaits. A little
exploring will reveal a wall of invisible spheres around the weapon. The top
sphere in the 2-stack by the block will move. Jump/push it down and SE into
the E corner. I had trouble getting it to move SE, so I first moved it SW a
little bit. This seemed to loosen it up and made it easier to push SE. Once
it is in the E corner, jump onto the 2-stack there. You will be transported to
within jumping distance of the invisible spheres (either a straight or bending
jump will work.) Jump over to claim your new weapon.

The Scimitar is a major improvement over the Sword. It is MUCH faster and you
can have 3 in the air at a time, so equip it now!

You now need to backtrack to 3D. That will be SE 4 times and then SW once.

3D -- Exit SE to 43.

43 -- Jump onto any of the pyramids and then over the spikes. Get the apple
and/or blue potion if you need them. Notice that this is a one-way room -- you
cannot return directly to 3D from here. Exit NE to 44.

44 -- Jump NE, then SE, and then NE over the spikes. BE VERY CAREFUL HERE! If
you fall to the ground, you have to loop through 3 other rooms to get another
shot at exiting to the overworld. The next NW jump is edge-to-edge. Make it,
and you can exit and save. Return here when you are ready and exit SE to 46.

46 -- The top pyramid in the second 2-stack from the W corner will move.
Jump/push it slightly SE so that you can get to the other side of the wall.
Now jump/push it until it is 1/2 square NW of its original position, then
jump/push it NE until it falls to the ground. You should now be able to push
it NE against the spikes to claim token #7. If you want the white potion, exit
the room to reset the moving block and follow a similar process to push the
block near the potion. When you are done, exit NE to 47.

47 -- Jump NE from the sphere onto the nearest block, which will move, and then
NW onto the stationary block against the NW wall. The jump NE to the next
moving block is very close -- you must overhang the edge and time it just
right. Look along the NW wall. You should see 4 Pharaohs. Jump as soon as
the SW edge of the moving platform gets to the SW edge of the top Pharaoh and
is coming towards you. From there, jump SE onto the sphere and exit NE to 48.

48 -- Kill the white Twister. This one really doesn't look possible, but it
is. Get on the short block just S of the 2-stack with the token, and bend a
jump N over the spikes onto the sphere to get token #8. I know it looks
impossible, but keep trying and you'll make it. Carefully jump back down onto
a short block along the wall and then over the spikes to a corner sphere. Exit
SE to 49.

49 -- Start firing immediately upon entering. Have some fun with your new
weapon to waste the 5 blue Ghosts. Eat an apple and exit SE to 0D.

0D -- Quickly jump onto the baskets. Time a drop into the N corner and fire
like mad to the SW. You can drop the white Ghosts before they get to you. If
you need the red potion, get it. Exit NE to 0E.
0E -- You'd best get used to this room because you are going to pass through it
a total of 3 times! Bend a jump N to a platform. It turns invisible, but
remember that you can see it again if you jump up. Jump NE to the next
platform and then bend a jump N to token #9. Bend a jump S back to the N
platform, then jump SE to the next one. Getting out the door can be tricky.
You can just walk SW off the S corner, and then bend your fall SE to fall
through the door. Exit SE to 14.

14 -- From here you can exit and save. Note that the rope ladder is in the
middle of the square of platforms, meaning that you have to bend a jump to
reach it. When you get to the overworld, notice that you are on an island with
a teleport station and a bat cave. Remember this place -- teleporting from
here will get you to the next dungeon when you complete this level. When you
are ready to proceed, go back underground and exit SE to 18.

18 -- Beware of very fast conveyors on the tops of the baskets. Hop to the W
corner for the apple if you want it, but I would go as directly as possible to
the NE exit to 19.

19 -- Time a jump NE from the basket so that you avoid the green Ghost. Take
him out and collect token #10 for your trouble. Jump NW from the basket over
the spikes and exit NW to 15.

15 -- Take the underground route (not that you have much choice) and exit SW to
14.

14 -- Exit again if you want to save. Exit NW to 0E when you are ready.

0E -- Bend a jump W to a platform and then bend another jump W out the door to
0D.

0D -- Exit SE to 13.

13 -- Notice the arrow in the SW wall. Kill the white Knight if you want
(he'll be back because you can't get the blue key just yet) or dodge him and
exit SE to 17.

17 -- Get on the sphere and ride it until you are close enough to the spikes to
jump SW over them. Exit NW to 12.

12 -- Does this look familiar? Remember that arrow in the SW wall of room 13?
Push against the NE wall until you pass through to 13.

13 -- Jump on the platform in the N corner of this part of the room. Go up the
stairs to get the blue key, then come back down and go back through the wall to
12.

12 -- Again, there is no reason to kill the Knight yet. Exit NW to 0C.

0C -- Jump on the disappearing sphere to jump over the spikes. If you want,
you can Zap the white Ghosts and get a white potion for your trouble. Just use
the spheres to jump over the spikes. When you are ready, exit SE to 11.

11 -- Are you starting to get the idea here? Go through the wall to 12, get
the green key, return, and exit SE to 16.

16 -- This time you pretty much have to Zap the white Ghosts. All you get for
your trouble is a lousy apple. Pick it up if you want, then exit NW to 10.
10 -- Repeat the drill -- get the red key from 11 and exit NW to 08.

08 -- This room is hard, primarily because you are making jumps from invisible
spheres and cannot figure out where the edges are. Start by killing the white
Twister. Climb the baskets on the SE side of the room. The next 4 jumps are
all edge-to-edge: NW, SW, NW, and NE. From there jump straight NE to token
#11. To get down, jump SW and then do a SW edge-to-edge jump. From here, a
good jump SW will get you past the spikes and through the SW door to 0A.

0A -- Jump on the sphere and ride it SW to pick up an apple that you probably
need after that last room. Jump back on the sphere and time a jump SE to exit
to 0F.

0F -- You can push the inverted pyramid near the SW wall. There is no reason
to bother with the apple and the blue potion since you are about to refill your
magic when you get the new spell in this room. So, jump on the block in front
of you and waste the red Ghost. Push the movable block 1 square NE and then
all the way against the SE wall. Jump NE twice and climb the stairs to the
spell. You now have the ability to save the game any time that you are willing
to spend 3 notches of your magic to do so. Retrace your steps back and exit
where you entered to reset the movable block. Return to this room, kill the
red Ghost again, and push the block 2 squares NE. Use it to jump over the
spikes and pass through the wall to 10 to retrieve the white key. Jump over
the spikes from the block against the NW wall and kill the Knight, this time
for good.

Now you need to backtrack through all of these crazy split rooms back to 0D.
You can save yourself a lot of time if you just go through the walls and jump
over the spikes instead of weaving through every darned room. That is, just
keep going NE from 10 to 11 to 12 to 13. If you kill the Knights in the
process, you will get two apples, a blue potion, and a white potion -- an
embarrassment of unnecessary riches considering that you just refilled your
life and magic.

13 -- Exit NW to 0D.

0D -- From here, we need to backtrack to 44. The path is NW to 49; NW to 48;

SW to 47; NW to 45; SW to 44. You may need help in these two rooms:

47 -- Jump from the sphere onto the moving platform, then time a jump to the
stationary platform. From here, make a "leap of faith" SW along the wall. An
invisible block will appear, saving you from death on the spikes.

45 -- We haven't been here yet. Use your Scimitar to make short work of all of
these Ghosts and get an apple for a reward.

44 -- Make your way to the stack in the middle of the room. From here you can
exit and save. (Remember that the ladder is above the block sitting on a
sphere more or less in the middle of the room.) We are about to embark on our
final march to the boss. Make sure that you have 11 tokens as well as 2 keys
of each color and have your life and magic in good shape. Then exit NW to 3F.

3F -- There is an apple in here. If you want it, figure out how to get it.
I'm moving on NW to 3B.

3B -- Kill the red Ghost. Stand on the top sphere for a few seconds and it
will magically rise up, giving you access to token #12, proving once again that
patience is a virtue. Exit NW to 38.
38 -- Kill the white Ghost and get a (probably unneeded) blue potion. Exit SW
to 35.

35 -- Kill the two red Ghosts. Take the "secret" exit between the spikes along
the dark center area.

32 -- These are all just straight jumps -- first to the NE and then to the NW.
What a waste of potions and apples! Exit NW to 00.

00 -- I suppose you could kill the red Ghost, but what could you possibly gain
by doing so? Jump over the spheres and use a white key to exit NE to 01.

01 -- Zap the Knights and collect an apple. The stairs go straight NE. Exit
NE to 02.

02 -- If you catch the falling sphere on your head, you can scrape it off
against the platform with the blue potion and collect that potion. Either way,
push it into the S corner against the spikes and bend a jump E to land on the
sphere on the other side of the spikes. Push the sphere away from the red gate
and proceed NE to 03.

03 -- Invisible spheres block your progress NE. Jump onto them to cross the
room and to hide from the red Knight when he comes towards you. Jump down and
waste him when he heads SE, then take the red potion and continue NE to 04.

04 -- If you REALLY want that apple, just push the spheres into a stairstep
configuration. However, since there is a white potion in the next room, why
bother? Continue NE to 05.

05 -- Kill the two white Ghosts that you really can't see, get a white potion
that you don't need, and continue NE to 06.

06 -- If you stand just inside the entrance and throw your scimitar, you should
be able to defeat both knights to the NW. The one closest to you will take a
while, since you can only hit him when he turn in one direction, but it is
doable. You can then move SE and take out the other two in a similar fashion.
Me, I just Zapped them all and moved on NE to 07. Apple-eating is optional.

07 -- Kill the two white Ghosts. Since they dropped a white potion and we are
close to the boss, I used the Save spell and then refilled my magic with the
potion. On to 08.

08 -- I suppose that you could march with the Knights and kill them as usual.
However, since we're going to get our magic refilled after beating the easy
boss in the next room, you can be lazy like me and just Zap them. No more
Knights -- just a tasty apple. The Boss is next, so if you didn't save in 07,
so do now.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
09 -- Boss -- Eyesis
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is one of the easiest bosses in the game, especially given your experience
so far. He will roll out boulders in all 4 directions, stay in place long
enough for you to hit him 3 times, roll another set of boulders, spin around
the room, and then repeat this pattern. Some of his spins are fast and some
are slow, but it really doesn't matter. When he rolls that second set of
boulders, you are going to head to one of our usual safe points -- those pointy
corners of the room -- where once again you will be 100% safe from his sweeps.
You can fight this entire battle from the SW side of the room. There is just
no reason to stray very far from your safe points because he is easy to hit and
he always stops in the same place to roll boulders.

To damage Eyesis, your shots have to be released from the peak of a jump. When
you connect, he will spin around just long enough to lose his invulnerability
so that when he stops spinning you are free to hit him again. As mentioned
above, your attacks should come in threes before you retreat to safety.

It takes 30 hits with the Scimitar to lay Eyesis to rest, and after a couple of
practice rounds you should be able to take him out literally in a couple of
minutes. It's just that easy.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rooms avoided: 2C, 2D, 2F, 30, 31, 41
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

2C & 2D -- These rooms connect rooms 28 and 2E. It would actually have been
shorter to go through these two rooms rather than backtrack through 6 rooms at
the very beginning. However, since there is no way to exit room 2E, that route
would have made it a long time between saves. Having done the backtracking,
there was no longer a reason for us to pass through these 2 rooms.

2F, 30, & 31 -- Connect rooms 2E and 35. This is a useless path, as none of
these rooms contain needed items and we needed to take an alternate path to 35
to collect a token.

41 -- Connects rooms 40 and 42. We accessed 40 (a token room) from 24 and we

accessed 42 from 43. Since 41 contains nothing of interest and was an
unnecessary path, we skipped it.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% IX. -- Level 7 -- Ghost Ship [L07GHO] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How to get there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

After defeating Eyesis, you are deposited in the overworld, but from my
experience you are not always left at the same place. Sometimes you are placed
on an island next to a teleport cross just outside of the entrance to room 14.
If this happens, it is a good thing. You can just teleport, head NE, and board
the Ghost Ship.

Other times (more frequently from my experience), you will be left outside of
room 44. If this happens, you have no choice but to reenter the dungeon and
return to room 14. I'm sure that you remember how -- SE to 46; NE to 47; NE to
48; SE to 49; SE to 0D; NE to 0E; SE to 14. You can now exit and proceed as
described above.

The question is: What determines your location after defeating Eyesis? I
recently went through the game twice and was deposited at each location once.
The only difference that I can identify is that when I was deposited outside of
room 14, my life bar had one less notch than my magic bar (because I got lazy
and didn't fight a troll after getting my Scimitar), and when I was deposited
outside of room 44, both bars were the same length. I can't say definitively
that this is the determining factor, but it is certainly a possibility.
^^^^^^^^
Overview
^^^^^^^^

This dungeon has 70 1/2 rooms and 1 entrance.

Yes, I said 70.5 rooms.

If you look at Dan's map, you will see that there is no room 07-02 -- the
numbering goes from 01 to 03. Room 07-02 exists, but it is an empty room that
is inaccessible except by entering the cheat code 7E0F1CCA. Without this code,
you can't get in, and once you get in you can't get out, as there are no
portals into or out of this room. I cannot explain why this room exists in such
a form, I can only report that it does indeed exist and is pretty much useless
except as a curiosity. Therefore, I'm only counting it as half a room.

If you want to pursue this oddity further, here's how you do it. You must be
on the Ghost Ship somewhere. Enter the cheat code, activate it, and go through
any door. You will be in the aforementioned useless room. However, let me
advise you to Save your game BEFORE entering this code, because if you are an
idiot like me and save your game after entering room 07-02, you will lose all
progress in your current game and will either have to start the whole darned
game over again or revert to your most advanced save that is in a different
slot.

You will notice right away that this dungeon has one major difference from its
predecessors, namely that it has only one entrance. Now that you have the Save
spell, it is up to you to save as you go -- no more heading to the overworld to
take a break and get some fresh air. The good news is that there are many
magic-restoring potions scattered throughout the dungeon, allowing you to spend
your magic on Saving as necessary. Correspondingly, this level is more linear
than its predecessors. There will be less backtracking and we won't be able to
skip many rooms. There are only 4 keys -- one of each color -- and it turns
out that we can get through without the blue key. If you want to get it
anyway, I'll tell you when we get there.

I'm going to go on record as saying that I seriously dislike this level. It

contains some new challenges, none of which are any fun at all. For example,
we will now encounter sinking boxes -- boxes that fall as soon as you jump on
them to try to get up to a higher box. In many rooms, the floors will pull you
strongly in a certain direction, making it difficult to stay put. The whole
"Pirate Ship" theme is nicely executed visually, but these arbitrary elements
that serve only to up the difficulty level get really annoying after a while.
OK -- enough griping -- let's get started.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Walkthrough
^^^^^^^^^^^

06 -- Do you see what I mean? Right away, the room pulls you to the SE.
Oddly, this affects the crate on which you land, but not the crates with the
apple and the potion. Exit NE to 0A.

0A -- You will slide SE again. Shoot the Knight (a Knight on a Ghost ship?
Won't his armor get rusty?) in the back and struggle your way NW to 07.

07 -- At last -- solid footing! Jump on the crate in the E corner, then jump
NW and NW again and -- what in tarnation? The darned thing fell! This was the
sinking crate to which I referred earlier. You're going to learn to really
hate these things. Here's the trick. First of all, don't aim for that bare
spot in the N corner. You are going to make an edge-to-edge jump to the
barrel, so begin by overhanging the SW edge of the crates. Jump up and
slightly forward so that you just land on the S corner of the box. As soon as
you land, jump NW again to the W corner of the crate, then IMMEDIATELY jump NW
again. You have to hit these jumps quickly so that the crate sinks as little
as possible. There is VERY little room for error here. It would be more
humane if those spikes weren't underneath on our first attempt at this, but
again such is the world of Equinox -- no mercy. Once you hit the safe square
in the N corner, it will be easy to exit NW to 04. I advise you to skip the
apple, because retrieving it necessitates repeating that frustrating jump you
just accomplished.

04 -- You may want to equip your Twin Knife here since there is a blue Ghost
hot on your tail as soon as you enter. Walk NE while firing both ways and you
should take out two Ghosts at once. Carefully walk around the spikes to kill
the other two. If you have trouble, you can always Zap these guys -- you get a
blue potion, so you get most of your magic back anyway. Exit NW to 01.

01 -- Immediately head E and catch the falling barrel on your head. Walk into
the S corner so that your head is under the S corner of the barrel. Go to the
NW wall and use the 2-stack in the W corner to scrape the barrel off your head
and onto the row of crates. You have to be close enough to the spikes that the
SW edge of the barrel clears the 2-stack. The barrel will be conveyed around
the crate and will knock token #1 onto the floor for you to collect. You now
need to backtrack to 0A. In case you need help in 07, read on.

07 -- Push the barrel into the W corner and use it to jump over the spikes.
The rest should be obvious.

0A -- Go SE to 0D.

0D -- Get on the crate along the SW wall. Make a SE edge-to-edge jump to the
short platform. Jump NE onto the invisible crate, then bend a jump N to get
the green potion and exit NE to 0E.

0E -- Jump NE onto the invisible barrel, then SE to the door.

13 -- You can run laps around the room while firing your Twin Knife at the
Ghosts if you want to save magic, or you can be lazy and just Zap them. Ride
the conveyors to the SW exit.

0C -- Push the top two crates from the 3-stack SW. Quickly bend a jump W to
get on top and ride them to the spikes. You need to jump off (NW) before the
spike separates the crates. So far so good. Now it's time for more fun with
sinking crates. The first two crates will sink when you get on them, but
fortunately I recently discovered (March 2012) that you only have to deal with
one of them. Get on the floor and carefully move to the NE side of the crate.
Jump and push to the SW and you can actually move this floating crate far
enough to the SW that it will lodge onto the crate on the floor, thus
preventing it from sinking! Now jump onto this now-stable crate and stand in
the middle of the NE edge as far NE as possible. Quickly "pop" jumps NE and
then SE to get on the next stable crate. Now jump SE to token #2, then overhang
the SE edge and jump SE over the spikes to safety. Return NE to 13.

13 -- Exit NE to 14.
14 -- If you want to fight the 4 white Twisters, go ahead. Me? I Zapped them.
Exit NW to 0F.

0F -- Equip your Twin Knife, then race NW. You need to use that sliding crate
to jump up to the ledge of conveyor blocks before it slides underneath. Get in
line with the gate and the Ghost and hold SW (to counteract the conveyor
action) while firing behind you. You should be able to take out the Ghost.
Make your way through the gate, slide around clockwise, jump the gap, and claim
token #3 at the end. Return to 14.

14 -- Exit NE to 15.

15 -- Since there is a white potion here, you can just Zap the Knights. Refill
your life meter with Heal, Save your game, then grab the white potion. Jump
from the 2-stack in the S corner to the moving crate. Overhang the NW edge of
the crate and jump NW to the ground in front of the door. I missed this jump
about 4 times because I jumped when I was too far from the NE wall. Position
yourself NW and don't jump until you hit the wall. Exit NE to 12.

12 -- Jump/push the top two crates in the 3-stack, and they will go into
motion. When you are at the NW end of your travel, you need to push the top
crate onto the spikes and then quickly jump on top of it. Jump NW to the
corner for an apple and then fall through the NW door to 09.

09 -- Take out the two white Ghosts and push the crate NW against the spikes.
The next two crates don't sink, but they move only when you are on them. So
quickly jump NW, NE, NE to token #4, then walk off the SE edge to safety.
Carefully walk back through the spikes to 12.

12 -- The crate by the door will transport you over the spikes. Return SW to
15.

15 -- Use the invisible block in the N corner to jump over the spikes. Exit NW
to 10.

10 -- Jump over the barrels so they don't push you into the spikes. This room
is a great example of why the "pulling" floors are so annoying. Consider the
problems with trying to kill the Knight by normal means. I suppose you can
just ignore him, but I just Zapped him and replenished magic from the blue
potion he drops. Exit NE to 11.

11 -- Again, use your judgment, but I just Zapped the white Twisters because of
the confined quarters. Exit NW to 0B.

0B -- Kill the white Ghost and happily the barrel on its head goes exactly
where you need it to be. Use it to jump over the spikes. Get the apple and
exit NW to 08.

08 -- You can't jump on the sliding barrels -- you just have to dodge them to
avoid being pushed into the spikes. Get SW of the first one when it is headed
NE and just keep pushing NW. Reward yourself with a blue potion and exit NW to
05.

05 -- This is one of the tougher rooms in this dungeon. Overhead spikes make
this room extra challenging -- you cannot linger at the corners. The crate in
the E corner will rise when you are on it, so you can't just wait there. You
have to time jumps from the ground to the corner crate to the first moving
crate to the second moving crate. Try to watch the crate that is moving NW -
SE. Time a jump onto it as it approaches the E corner the 5th time. If you
make this first jump, the second crate should be coming towards you when you
get to the N corner, allowing you to jump to it. From there, jump SW to clear
the spikes. This is going to take several tries, but there is a white potion
awaiting you on the other side. Exit NW to 03.

03 -- DO NOT KILL THE BLUE GHOST! Jump onto the box in the S corner, then
jump NW twice onto invisible barrels (boooooo!) Jump NE to the platform. You
need to push the SW barrel onto the blue Ghost's head. Good luck. Having done
that, you now need to safely jump onto said barrel. If you straddle the two
blocks at the SW end of the line, the conveyors won't move you and you can time
this jump without interference. Finally, jump NW from the Ghost's head to
token #5. Kill the Ghost if you want, then exit SW to 00.

00 -- The overhead spikes make this intimidating, but if you let the first
crate carry you high enough, you can just walk along the NW wall and drop off
to safety. Exit NW to 20.

20 -- Take what you need and leave the rest. Exit SE to 21.

21 -- For now, you just need to make it to the N corner. Get on the crate in
the W corner. It will lift you so that you can jump from crate to crate along
the NW wall. The last one will sink, but that isn't a problem, since you can
just jump to the ground from there. Exit SE to 24.

24 -- Quickly jump onto the crate along the SW wall. Jump SE to the invisible
crate that sits atop the southmost spike. Killing the Twister is tough because
the floor is pulling you SE. You now need to take the top crate from the 2-
stack and push it NE without walking into spikes by fighting the SE pull of the
room, a really frustrating task. Get SE of the 2-stack, then jump/push the top
box VERY slightly NW. Get SW of the 2-stack and jump/push NE until you fall to
the floor. The box should be partially on the spikes but mostly overlapping
the floor. You are now going to repeat the following many, many times. Jump
on top of this crate, being VERY careful not to move it any further NW. Align
the SE edge of your shadow with the SE edge of the crate. Walk off the SW edge
of the crate and as soon as you start to fall, turn to face NE and push for all
you are worth. When the floor pulls you SE of the crate, jump back on and
repeat the process. Your progress will be slow but steady. Your only real
danger is falling off too far NW and hitting the spikes. Be careful and
patient, and you will move the crate NE far enough that you can use it to jump
up to the ledge. Once you are up there, walk to the N corner, jump SW to the
single CONVEYOR block that tries to pull you back into the spikes, then jump SW
to the white key. Walk off the SW side and fall through the door back to 21.

21 -- Use the crate on the floor to jump over the spikes. Return to the rising
block in the W corner and use it to jump SE to the blue potion. Exit SE to 22.

22 -- Kill the white Twister for an apple. Take the secret NE exit to 23.

23 -- This room is all about leaps of faith to invisible crates. Go towards

the W corner and bend a jump N. From the SE edge of this crate do an edge-to-
edge jump NE. Jump straight SE to the next invisible crate, then bend a jump E
to get token #6. Reverse this process to get out -- bend W; NW; SW; S. Return
to 22.

22 -- Exit SE to 25.

25 -- This was slightly easier for me starting from the room NE of here, so you
may want to go NE into 26 and then immediately return here. You have to do all
of this very quickly. Get on the NW edge of the crate along the NE wall. The
next block is a sinking one, so jump to the SE edge of it, then quickly jump
again to the NW edge and then to the ledge. Walk SW and jump to the quickly
advancing 2-stack of crates, then quickly jump to the blue potion in the
corner. Did you notice how many times I used the word "quickly" in that
paragraph? Jump SE to clear the spikes on the floor. Push the crate SE and
use it to jump over the spike to the white gate. Open it and proceed SE.

2B -- Take the top barrel from the 2-stack and push it to the ground. Push it
over to the 2-stack of crates and jump/push the top crate onto the barrel.
Push this new 2-stack over to the 3-stack of barrels and jump-push the top
barrel on top of this, making a movable if somewhat unstable-looking 3-stack.
Push it over towards the E corner, spread the crates and barrels out so that
you can climb up the stack, and jump over to token #7. Return NW to 25.

25 -- Use the pad and the crate to jump over the spikes and exit NE to 26.

26 -- Jump from the nearest crate to the invisible crate NE of you. From here,
get in the aisle, waste the Knight, eat an apple, and proceed NE to 27.

27 -- Avoid sliding into the spikes and exit NE to 28.

28 -- Jump NW from the nearby block to the rising block. Time a NE jump to the
moving block. Take out the white Ghost, go past the gate into the corner, and
jump SW to safety. Use the green potion if needed and exit SW to 2A.

2A -- When the white ghost gets released, take it out and eat the apple. Push
the barrel that is against the NW wall SW as far as it will go and use it to
jump over the spike. Push SW from the suspicious-looking space between the
crates.

29 -- Logically, there are only two possible solutions here: moving blocks and
invisible blocks. In this case, you have both. The box to the W rises, and
there is an invisible box SE from there. Get the red key and return to 2A.

2A -- To get out of here, you have to make a
square where the Ghost was (SW of the gate.)
corner of one of the crates (let's say the E
corner of the room) and bend a jump N. This
can be done. I found NW + NE easier than NE
Take the easy SE exit to 2F.
really tough bending jump to the
Position yourself on the EXTREME
corner of the crate in the W
may take a couple of tries, but it
+ NW, but that may just be me.

2F -- You can Zap the Knights for a blue potion or just take out the ones that
are in your way. Take the exit that is farther N to 2D.

2D -- When you enter, two boxes fall. Catch the one to the SE on your head.
Scrape it off against the platform with the apple so that it stairsteps with
the other fallen crate. Get the apple, but you can't cross the spikes from
here. Push the upper crate from your 2-stack SW onto the spikes, being careful
not to walk into them. You can now use this crate to get across the spikes
safely. Exit SW to 2C.

2C -- Kill the Knights if you want an apple. The door to the NE leads you to
2E (which is mislabeled on Dan's map as "2C") and then back to 2F. Instead,
exit SE to 32.

32 -- Kill the 4 blue Knights on the floor to get them out of your way (you get
nothing for killing the one on the barrels, so why bother?) Exit SW to 31.

31 -- The first red Knight won't hit you if you stand in the E corner. Kill
him when he turns. Carefully wind your way through the spikes and gates to the
SE exit.

34 -- Yes, you have to jump over the spikes from a sinking box. Start from the
far S corner of the box in the N corner of the room. Jump SW then immediately
SE. Have fun! Exit through the NE door to 35.

35 -- Kill the confused white Knight and walk NE through the wall where he was
standing.

36 -- Oh boy! A new weapon! You're going to have to work for this one. Start
from the N corner of the box on the ground. As you may have guessed, the other
two boxes sink, so make the following jumps as quickly as possible: NE to the
first box, NW to the SE edge of the second box, NW to the NW edge of the second
box, and SW to the weapon.

The Mace is slightly better than the Scimitar. Their speeds are about the
same, but with the Mace you can have 3 in the air at a time. Return to 35.

35 -- Push the southmost crate NE against the wall and walk NE through the wall
where the porthole is.

37 -- Push the N barrel NW onto the moving barrel and hop on board. Ride this
2-stack to the W corner and jump off NW to get the green key. Walk SE off the
platform back onto the barrels and jump off SE when you get to the NE wall.
Exit NE to 39.

39 -- Give that zippy red Ghost a taste of your new Mace and eat an apple.
Take the SW exit to 38.

38 -- Quickly (before the red Ghost gets released) jump/push the top barrel NW
enough to climb on top. When the Ghost gets out get on the NW side of the 2-
stack and push that top barrel back SE. You need to push it onto the head of
the red Ghost. When you have done that, jump onto the barrel, ride over to the
spell, and jump NW to claim it. You can safely walk NW off the platform and
waste the Ghost without whom you couldn't have reached the spell. That's
gratitude for you!

Reveal is possibly the most useless spell in the game. It is supposed to

"highlight all bricks in the room that are pushable or otherwise magical."
What it really does is flash a bunch of stars on the screen so quickly that you
can't discern what was revealed to you. What a ripoff! As expensive as this
spell is, these blocks should be outlined in color, and those outlines should
remain until you leave the room or die. (Historical note -- in the original
Solstice game, using a green potion had the same theoretical effect as Reveal,
but special blocks remained visible. One has to wonder why the designers
decided to change this.) Return NE to 39.

39 -- Take the NE exit to 3A.

3A -- We first want to exit NW, so jump on the moving crate and jump off to the
NW.

33 -- Catch the falling block on your head. Walk into the S corner to
reposition the block on your head. Push the other solo block NE very slightly
so that you can use the 3-stack to scrape the block on your head onto this solo
block to form a stairstepped 2-stack. Jump/push the 2-stack into the E corner
and climb this staircase to get to the other side of the room. Use your green
key and exit NW to 30.
30 -- Nothing fancy here. Kill the two lethargic Ghosts. Push the barrel from
the 3-stack SE as far as you can without knocking it off and jump NE from there
to token #8. Return SE to 33 and SE to 3A (collecting an apple on the way.)

3A -- Jump onto the moving box and exit SE to 3F.

3F -- Turn NE to kill the quick-charging red Ghost. Venture into the spikes if
you need an apple and/or red potion. Exit SW to 3E.

3E -- Go ahead and kill the white Ghost, but DO NOT KILL THE RED GHOST -- yet.
Push the barrel in the 2-stack 1/2 square NE to trap the red Ghost on the SE
side. Now push the barrel as far SE as you can. The red Ghost should be
stationary. There should be room for you to stand on the SW side of your
barrel and push the crate on the Ghost's head slightly towards the token. Jump
NE from that crate to claim token #9. Return NE to 3F.

3F -- If you didn't collect the items, the red Ghost will be back. Waste him
and then exit SE to 45.

45 -- Kill the Knights for an apple and exit SW to 44. Notice the blue gate
(for which we have no key) which we are going to avoid.

44 -- More leaps of faith to invisible blocks. I really hate these! First SE,
walk SE and grab the red potion, jump SE to the E corner, then jump SW and walk
off safely SW. Exit SW to 43.

43 -- Jump onto the invisible block along the NE wall just SE of the spikes.
Carefully jump into the aisle. The crate in the next aisle will lift you to
the green potion (and apple). Take the sneaky NW exit to 3D.

3D -- It doesn't get much easier than this. Jump and hurl maces at the red
Ghost. The barrel on its head will sweep token #10 to the ground for you.
Return SE to 43.

43 -- Let the box in the W corner lift you to jump back to where the green
potion was. Jump to the other moving crate and over the spikes, and proceed SW
to 42.

42 -- Kill two green Ghosts and use the invisible crate along the SW wall to
jump over the spikes and get the apple. Exit SW to 41.

41 -- Head straight for the raised central platform to avoid the Twisters,
which you can now take out at your leisure (and get a red potion for your
trouble.)

You are now as close as you need to get to the blue key because, as I pointed
out before, we really don't need it. If don't want it, use your red key to
open the SW gate to 40, and skip down to that paragraph below. For purists who
want that blue key, exit NW to 3B.

3B -- The floor is pulling you S and you need to face NE to kill the Knight.
Have fun. Be sure to get the apple or this Knight is going to make it very
difficult for you to return to this room. Walk through the NE wall at the
porthole.

3C -- Immediately jump to the first moving crate and then to the second moving
crate. Wait a moment, then jump to the invisible block SE of the platform with
the unneeded blue key. Jump NW to the key and be very careful getting out of
here -- you don't want to repeat this room, do you? I had a LOT of trouble
jumping onto the near crate without running into the spikes. Walk all the way
into the E corner facing NE (with your back to the crate), then jump and turn
SW and you should make it safely onto the crate.

You can now return SW to 3B and SE to 41, then use a red key to exit SW to 40.
If you didn't collect the apple in 3B, you are going to have to use Zap VERY
quickly to avoid being hit by the Knight.

40 -- Quickly get on the NW edge of the first moving barrel and jump to the
second moving barrel and then to the relative safety of the conveyor barrels.
Hop along the SW wall and jump through the NW door to 17.

17 -- Use the movable barrel with the apple to get over the SW side of the
wall. Eat apples as needed and exit NE to 18.

18 -- Kill the white Ghost SE of you, then jump over the sliding barrels. Go
to the NE wall and let the floor pull you SE while you hold NE on the D-pad.
You will enter room 19.

19 -- You need to approach this room from the other direction, so kill the red
Ghost, exit SE and reenter. You need to immediately get on the row of boxes
along the NE wall and catch the falling block on your head. Go to the N corner
and ride the elevator to the platform. Scrape the block on your head against
the NE side of the block with the spike to remove it, leaving some room NW of
it for you to get behind it and push it SE towards the token. Jump SE to token
#11, waste the red Ghost (for good this time), and exit SE to 1D.

1D -- Hop along the conveyor boxes along the SW wall. Jump over the gate and
kill the blue Ghost, then exit NE to 1E.

1E -- I really hate this stupid room, and you have to pass through it twice!
That double gate in the middle is deadly. This time, it is easiest to get
through both gates at once. When you finish getting killed by the
Portcullises, exit NE to 1F.

1F -- Let's save that white potion for later and just exit NW to 1A.

1A -- While being pulled N, you have to dodge spikes and get on the crate near
the W corner before the token gets there. That crate, BTW, will pull you SE.
Stay flat-footed (i.e., avoid jumping) on your way to the crate. Once you get
there, you have to be pretty well centered on the crate or the token will slide
past you on the side. Once you get the token (#12), getting down safely is a
major challenge. You need to jump NE into the space between the spikes. From
there, just navigate to safety with the D-pad. Return to 1F when you have done
this successfully.

1F -- Kill the Knights, refill your life (be sure to save at least 3 notches of
magic), save your game, and use the white potion to refill your magic. Return
SW to annoying room 1E.

1E -- The boss awaits you to the NW. It is possible but unbelievably hard to
stop between those two middle gates so that neither of them hits you. Do what
you can to make it through. My best advice is to try to jump under the first
gate at a time when the second one is down so that you know where to stop.
Good luck with that. When you finally make it through, Zap the white Knight
(why risk dying now?) for an apple and proceed NW.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
16 -- Boss -- Billy Bones
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is another tough boss. He rolls around the room shooting cannon balls at
you from his unlimited supply of same. He can change direction and move across
the room very quickly and can run over you before you know what hit you.
Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, there are no safe points in this
battle -- he can shoot you or run over you even if you hide in a corner. He
can fire straight and along diagonals, but when he rolls around the room, he
always goes either N-S or E-W. However, don't assume that he will always roll
in the direction he is facing. He can go backwards or, worse yet, turn on a
dime and roll at a right angle to the direction he was facing.

Offensively, at least you don't have to jump when you fire to hit him. Flat-
footed firing does just fine. You do have to hit Billy and not the cannon, but
you can damage him if you connect from any direction, even from behind. It
takes 30 hits with the Mace to reduce Billy to a smoldering pile of bones. The
good news is that the Maces that you throw will also stop his cannonballs, so
you want to continue firing at all times to get that extra protection.

The hardest part of this battle is that Billy will roll over to some corner of
the room where you can't see him and you won't know where he is. As soon as you
go looking for him, he'll come out of nowhere and run you over. It would be
nice if the game designers could have scaled down the view during boss battles
so that you could always see the entire room, but no such luck. Thus, you want
to try to stay as central as you can while keeping your distance from him and
avoiding his movements. I know that this is vague, but I haven't found an
effective algorithm for winning this battle. You just have to feel your way
through this one. Don't stay in any one place too long, and keep firing. This
one will take several tries, but win it and you are ready for the final dungeon
of the game.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rooms avoided: 1B, 1C, 2E, 3B, 3C, 46
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1B, 1C, & 46 -- These three rooms connect rooms 45 and 1F and basically just
close a big loop of rooms around the SE corner of the dungeon. We just went
counterclockwise from 45 to 1F instead, thus avoiding these rooms and making it
unnecessary to get the blue key that opens the gate to 46.

2E -- Connects rooms 2C and 2F and just closes a (much smaller) loop similar to
what was described above. Since 2E contains no necessary items, we could skip
this room.

3B & 3C -- Connect rooms 34 and 41 but primarily exist to get you the blue key
in room 3C. Since we didn't need that key, we could skip these two rooms.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% X. -- Level 8 -- Sonia's Fortress -- [L08SON] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How to get there
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This one comes automatically. After defeating Billy Bones, you are transported
to the icy lands where Sonia resides. Wander counterclockwise around the world
map until you find the lone entrance in the NW corner, between the eyes of this
skull-shaped island. BTW, calling this thing a "fortress" is a bit of a
stretch. I mean, we just walked right in. She really needs to hire a new
security firm.
I spent some time searching the area for a Troll to waste with my Mace, but I
never found one. At this point, your life should have 15 notches, which is
more than enough, but it would be nice to have the life bar and magic bar be
more symmetric. Anyway, if you can find a Troll, kill it. If not, it's no big
deal.

^^^^^^^^
Overview
^^^^^^^^
This dungeon has 107 rooms and one entrance.

If you look at Dan's map, the layout of this dungeon is relatively clear. It
consists of a central diamond with four arms radiating out from it. Each arm
contains 6 keys of a single color, all of which are necessary to open the gates
in another arm or in the central area. Thus, the sequence for going through
these rooms is pretty much predetermined -- there aren't a lot of options
available.

After the Ghost Ship, this level is long but relatively humane. For one thing,
those floors that pull you in a certain direction are behind us forever. We
still have sinking blocks -- your primary source of aggravation in this level -
- and a new surprise (blocks that explode after a couple of seconds) but
overall this isn't nearly as annoying as the last dungeon. The boss battle is
long but not overly difficult.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Walkthrough
^^^^^^^^^^^
46 -- Walk NW down the stairs being wary of the aforementioned exploding
blocks. Kill the 2 white Ghosts to open the flashing gate NW to 3A.

3A -- You have only one choice here -- exit NE to 3B.

3B -- See that corner with the apple? That blank square often indicates a
hidden passage. Ride the ice block around to the apple and push NE from that
square.

3C -- Jump clockwise around the room, making bending jumps at the corners and
being careful not to linger on the exploding blocks. The last jump to the key
is edge-to-edge from the SW (far) edge of the exploding block to the NE edge of
the block with the key. To exit the room, walk off the NW side of the block
and change direction to SW to fall through the door.

3B -- Jump onto the moving block and ride it to the SE exit to 3D.

3D -- Kill the white Ghost on your side and get on the block in the N corner.
It will rise, allowing you to leap SE onto an invisible block. Jump down from
there, waste the other white Ghost for a blue potion and exit SE to 3E.

3E -- Exit SE to 3F.

3F -- Jump clockwise around the room onto the invisible blocks. Starting from
the N corner of the room, the sequence is SE, SE, SW, NW, SW, NW to the key.
All are straight jumps. Return to 3E by jumping NE and falling NW through the
door.

3E -- Bend a jump S around the inside corner (the "crook" of the "L"). You can
then push the block in the SW corner to the NW to get on the rising block in
the W corner. From there, you can shoot the white Ghost and jump across the
spikes to get an apple if you are hungry. Exit SW to 40.

40 -- Jump SE up the stairs to token #1. To get back down, push the top block
SW, then quickly jump on it to be carried back to safety. Exit SW to 41.

41 -- Equip your Twin Knife and fire backwards while marching around the room
and shooting the blue Ghosts. You get a blue potion for your trouble. Exit SW
to 42.

42 -- The block with the key is going to explode, so get on a moving block and
jump quickly across to the key and then to the other moving block. Return to
41.

41 -- Exit NW to 43.

43 -- Take out the white Ghost and exit NW to 44.

44 -- Exit NW to 45.

45 -- Jump onto the rising block in the E corner, then time a jump NW to the
nearest moving block. The block with the red key will explode when you hit it,
so jump quickly to the key and then to the moving block to the NW. Jump back
to the other moving block and then into the E corner (or pretty much anywhere)
to get down safely. Return to 44.

44 -- Push the cupcake (I KNOW that it isn't REALLY a cupcake, but tell me that
it doesn't look like one!) against the wall to get on top. Get the blue potion
if you want it, then proceed NE to 3A.

3A -- This is where we began. Check to make sure that you have 4 red keys and
1 token, then wind through the maze, get the apple, and go through the NW door
to 39.

39 -- Ride the ice block to the other side. Wheeeee! Exit NW to 38.

38 -- This key is really hard to get, but you must get it, so let's see how.
You might want to save your game first. See all of those spikes on the floor?
There is an invisible block above each of them. Most of these will be simple
bending jumps, but look at the space between the one in the N corner and the
next closest one. That is going to be our challenge. Ascend the column of
invisible blocks with bending jumps. Position yourself WAYYYYYY out on the N
end of the third one. You actually need to see space between your shadow and
the block or you won't make the jump. Make your best bending jump N. If you
are lucky enough to hit the block, it will explode and send you plummeting down
to the spikes. So, what you need to do when you make it to the block with the
key is quickly walk over to the key, then jump down before the block explodes.
Good luck.

Before going any further -- and I cannot overemphasize this point --

make absolutely sure that you have 5 red keys in your inventory.
Backtracking to this area is no fun whatsoever, so do yourself a favor and
verify your key count before proceeding NW to 37.

37 -- Push the cupcake one square SW. Jump/push it onto the spikes, hop
aboard, and ride it across to the other side. Push the cupcake on this side
straight towards token #2 and grab it. Now you can jump edge-to-edge from
cupcake to cupcake, returning safely to the NW side. Exit NW to 36.
36 -- The center blocks explode, and the lower blocks are conveyors. The key
seems to be in the N corner, because if you just hop quickly down the NE side,
you will get it. Hop on over to the other side and out the door.

35 -- Jump SW from the pad to the first ice block. From there, jump NW to a
visible block, then NW twice more to invisible blocks. The jump down is edge-
to-edge, so move to the N corner before jumping down to the red potion and
exiting.

17 -- Kill the 2 white Blobs to open the gates. Our red keys will open the
gates counterclockwise (NE) from here, but first we have to make a side-trip to
pick up a token that would otherwise require a lot of backtracking. Exit SW to
18.

18 -- There is a serious glitch in this room. The top block in the 2-stack
near the W corner moves, but it isn't easy to get it started. You have to
jump/push just as quickly as you can, and even then it takes 5-6 good pushes to
get it started. Once you get the darned thing to move, push it SW just enough
that you can get to the SW side of it, then push it NE onto the floor. From
the NE edge of this block, do an edge-to-edge jump SE to an invisible block,
and you can jump/shoot the Knight from there to open the gate to the SW. Use
it.

19 -- You can jump and shoot the two white Ghosts or Zap them. Continue SW

1A -- At last -- our destination. The block in the N corner will lift you.
Jump SE to an invisible block and then up to the ledge. Waste the white Ghost
and claim token #3.

You now need to backtrack to 17. That's NE 3 times to 19, to 18, and then to
17. Yes, that means you have to fight that "movable" block in room 18 again.
Sorry, but if you continue clockwise you will encounter a wall that you cannot
cross and have to retreat anyway.

17 -- Exit NE to 16.

16 -- Kill the Knights to open the gates and exit NE to 15.

15 -- Start from the invisible block in the S corner. Those are both exploding
blocks up there, so bend 2 jumps N and then jump NE to the floor and exit.

14 -- Oh, joy! Sinking cupcakes. All of the jumps are straight NE. You know
the drill -- jump quickly and no cursing! You can start by standing on the
first cupcake. You will probably have to hit the last cupcake twice to make it
across to the block. Token #4 is your reward.

13 -- Jump/shoot the first Knight, then get on his pedestal. Walk NW onto the
invisible block and jump NW from there to the ground. Take out the second
Knight, eat an apple, and exit NW to 12.

12 -- Jump/push the top 2 blocks in the 3-stack at the SW end of the wall.
Stairstep them so that you can get atop the higher one and waste the white
Ghost. Collect the red potion from the floor to open the gates and exit NW to
11.

11 -- We're headed NE from here, so ignore the Twister for now (we'll be back)
and use one of your red keys.

59 -- Why try to time a jump onto the moving block when there is a nice
stationary invisible one waiting for you in the S corner. Use it to jump to
the conveyor pads and hop NE. Use another red key and exit NE.

5A -- Get on the block in the N corner. The four blocks between you and the
key are all of the exploding variety. Fortunately, there are no spikes below.
The jumps go SE, SW, SE, SW, then a bending jump S for the key. Ever onward to
5B.

5B -- Jump from moving block to moving block and use another red key.

5C -- Just after the falling block passes under the lowest block in the stairs,
jump NE onto it. The next two blocks explode, so quickly jump NW, NW, and then
bend a jump W to the conveyor blocks in front of the key. Get the key, jump
down, and proceed NE to 5D.

5D -- Wait in the SE corner for the first block to come close to you. Jump
onto it and then bend jumps N to go from block to block, then jump NE to the
conveyor blocks on the other side of the spikes. Exit NE to 63.

63 -- Kill the white Ghost and take the easy SE exit to 67.

67 -- Kill the white Ghost. Go through the NE exit and then reenter
immediately. Push SW through the gap in the ice blocks before the moving block
fills it.

66 -- Jump SW onto the moving block and then SW to the key. Push the block NE
to the wall to get out and return to 67. I really can't explain why this first
jump is so hard, but it seems to take a few tries.

67 -- Exit NE to 68.

68 -- Kill the nearby white Twister. It looks impossible, but you can bend a
jump E to get on the pedestals. Refill your life, Zap the other white Twister,
save, claim the white potion, and exit NE to 69.

69 -- Kill the white Ghost, push the block against the cupcake wall, go over
the wall and exit SW to 6A.

6A -- That key is on a ledge in the S corner of the room. Catch the falling
block on your head, take it to the SW side of the room, and use the ledge with
the key to scrape it off so that it falls NW of that ledge. Jump up SE to get
the green key and backtrack ALL the way to 63. The path is linear, so I am
confident that you can find your way. Below are some tips for 68 and 69.

69 -- There is an exploding block hidden behind the NW 2-stack in the wall.

Quickly use it to get back over the wall.

68 -- Mercifully, there are no spikes in the square at the N end of the center
arrangement, so you can get up on the pedestals with a simple jump.

63 -- The top 2 blocks in the SW 3-stack will move to allow you over the wall.
Exit through the NW wall to 5F.

5F -- Walk NW into the "notch" in the W wall to go to 5E.

5E -- There are invisible blocks in the 4 corners of this arrangement of

pedestals. None of them are high enough to get you up to the key. However,
the one in the N corner will rise after you stand on it for a few seconds,
allowing you to do an edge-to-edge jump to the center pedestals and get the
green key. Return to 5F.

5F -- Race the moving ice block to the NE door to 60.

60 -- This seems like a nearly impossible race to win, and it probably is --

except for the invisible block over the spikes along the SE wall. Jump on that
and you win easily.

61 -- Time a walk NE past the moving block through the secret entrance to 62.

62 -- Kill the 2 hyperactive white Ghosts and start looking for invisible
blocks. Happily, there is one right where you need it -- in between the two
spiked pedestals. Bend a jump to it, and then bend a very close jump N to the
key. You cannot allow any portion of your shadow to extend beyond the edges of
the block for this last jump or you will get spiked. Getting back down is
easy. Return to 61.

61 -- Jump across the ice block to get an apple and exit SE to 65.

65 -- Kill the two white Ghosts for another valuable white potion. You know
the drill -- refill life, save, THEN pick up the potion. Exit SW to 64.

64 -- Take out 4 white Ghosts and make a disturbingly easy climb to get tokens
#5 and #6.

Check your inventory. You should now have 6 green keys and 6 tokens. If you
do, then it is time to backtrack ALL the way to room 11 at the junction between
this arm of the dungeon and the central square. Again, this is a very linear
junket -- just don't bother returning to those sneaky rooms in the corners (5E
and 62.) I'll detail anything unusually difficult that you may encounter.

60 -- You may need to wait for the moving block to stop and then hop your way
around the conveyor blocks to the door. I don't think that you can jump back
onto the invisible block that you used to get over here.

5F -- If you duck briefly into 5E, it is much easier to beat the ice block to
the door.

63 -- Go SW through the red gate.

5D -- You are going to have to jump onto the middle moving block and then jump
(or walk) through the doorway before it gets blocked. You will need to jump
onto that middle block BEFORE it starts sliding SW, because once it starts in
motion you won't be able to catch up with it.

59 -- Same as 5D -- get on the moving block and jump through the door. The
conveyors help pull you SW and can help you outrun the block.

11 -- The top block against the NE wall moves to get you up on the wall. Jump
down to kill the white Twister for an apple.

You are now back to the central square. The green keys unlock gates in the arm
directly opposite where you are now, so we are going to work our way
counterclockwise from here to room 1D, picking up 2 more tokens on the way.
Since the path should be obvious, I'm going to leave out comments like "Exit NW
to 0E" until you have to actually make a decision about where to go. Start by
exiting NW to 10.

10 -- Push the ice block SW onto the spikes, then wait for it to move NW of you
and jump on. You can either get off at the other end and Zap the Knight (those
are close quarters in there) or jump in, fight him directly, jump back on the
moving block, and jump off NW.

0F -- Jump quickly NW across the exploding blocks.

0E -- Again, the solution here must be either moving blocks or invisible

blocks. Stand on the block in the W corner of the array of 9 on the floor and
wait for it to lift you up. Kill the white Ghost and jump up to the ledge to
claim token #7.

0D -- Mace the hyperactive Ghosts and eat an apple.

0C -- The two blocks over the spikes will explode. From the block between the
2-stack and the 4-stack, bend a jump S, jump SW twice, then bend a jump W back
to the wall. When you reach the ground safely, Zap the white Ghost.

0B -- We're halfway to 1D. Notice the blue gate and the white gate that we
can't open yet. Jump/push the top block nearest the S corner to get to the
potion and apple and open the gates.

22 -- The rising block can lift you up to where the 3 white Ghosts are, but
that track has conveyors that move you around clockwise. You can jump/shoot
them if you are patient or you might just want to Zap them to open the gate
and move on.

21 -- The cupcakes try to pull you onto the floor with the white Twisters.
Jump in place for a while, then blast the varmints when you can and move on.

20 -- All 4 cupcakes will move, so jump/push them into a stairway to reach

token #8.

1F -- Kill the 2 Knights. We will backtrack through here later, so only take
those items that you really need.

1E -- You can just Zap the Ghost if you're lazy. Alternatively, the cupcake in
the S corner will rise. From there you can bend a jump E to an invisible
cupcake and then jump NE to another invisible cupcake. You can now reach the
Ghost and take him out manually to open the gate.

1D -- You can ignore the white Ghosts and use a green key to head SW to 47.

47 -- What a joke! Kill 3 Ghosts and get a red potion. Onward SW to 48.

48 -- Wait on the cupcake in the E corner of the grid, and when the moving
block slides onto the block SW of you, push it as much as you can to the SW.
Instead of hitting the floor, it should overlap the other moving block. Now
push this 2-stack against the NE wall to get the blue key. Continue SW to 49.

49 -- That blue Twister is awfully close. I just Zapped and moved on.

4A -- I don't think this room can be solved from this direction. Exit to room
4B to the SW. When you re-enter, just plow straight ahead. You will catch the
three falling blocks in a stairstep arrangement. Push it NE and then NW to get
up to the key. Exit SW to 4B.

4B -- Kill the three Blobs for an apple and proceed SW to 4C.

4C -- Kill the white Ghost if you like, then exit NW to 56.

56 -- Kill the white Ghost, zigzag around the ice blocks to the W and kill the
other white Ghost. Walk NE through the wall.

57 -- From the SE edge of the cupcake, hop up the exploding blocks to the key.
Jump SE from the top to clear the spikes and return to 56.

56 -- Walk back to the W side of the room and exit SW to 55.

55 -- Kill the Twisters and take the red potion. Exit SW to 53.

53 -- Kill the nearest white Ghost and jump SE onto the northmost ice block.
Walk and make bending jumps around the corners to get to the S end of the room
and kill the other white Ghost. Score the blue potion and take the unmarked NW
exit to 54.

54 -- Jump onto the block, which will start moving E-W. When it is at the E
end of its travel, jump NW to an invisible block. Get the key, jump back to
the moving block, and return to 53.

53 -- Exit SE to 52.

52 -- Immediately point SW and start firing at the advancing white Ghost.

Chase down and waste the other white Ghost. Get on the block near the E corner
and jump NW onto an invisible block. Drop down and get token #9. Walk off the
blocks NE to the secret entrance to 58.

58 -- Go to the E corner and push the top cupcake onto the head of the blue
Ghost. This is complicated by the fact that you can only see this Ghost about
10% of the time. FYI, the Ghost hits your corner about once every 9 seconds.
Jump (don't walk!) to the moving cupcake and ride it to the NW edge of the wall
and dismount. Walk around to your last and best weapon, the Twin Sword.

The Twin Sword is fast and powerful and shoots both forwards and backwards.
Equip it and return to 52.

52 -- Jump SW to where the token was and then back onto the invisible block
(SE). Exit SE to 51.

51 -- Repeat what you did in room 53. The secret passage to 50 goes SW.

50 -- Jump onto the block. It will have an unusual movement pattern, but it
should be easy to jump NW to get the key and then return to safety. Return to
51.

51 -- Exit NE to 4F.

4F -- Give the two Twisters a taste of your new weapon. Get on the row of
blocks along the NW wall. Jump NE onto the invisible block just above the
spikes. From there you can get to the other side of the wall, get the apple,
and exit NE to 4D.

4D -- Does this look familiar? Kill both Ghosts, then use the secret passage
SE to 4E.

4E -- Jump along the exploding blocks NE, SE, SE, and then SW to the key. Jump
SW to clear the spikes and return to 4D.

4D -- Exit NW to 4C.
We are now back where we began this circuit. Make sure that you now have 6
blue keys and 9 tokens. We are going to backtrack NE 6 times to 1D and then go
clockwise around the central diamond to 0B. Room 0B is the one with a blue
gate to the W and a white gate to the E. Remember that we left some items in
room 1F. You will have to use them all now to open the gate.

1D -- We left 3 white Ghosts bouncing around in here. Since potions lie ahead,
you can just Zap them and be done with it, then head NW.

0B -- Open the blue gate NW to 23. In fact, until further notice we are headed
NW.

23 -- From the SW edge of the pedestal, do edge-to-edge jumps across the

exploding blocks to reach the apple and the gate.

24 -- Jump NW onto the first exploding block and then quickly NW, NE, SE, and
NE to get the white key. Jump NW to get down safely.

25 -- This is slightly nerve-wracking but not that hard. There is an invisible

block at one end of each aisle, and you have to use these to jump into the
aisles. Begin each jump overhanging the edge about 50% and release the D-pad
as soon as you hit the ground each time.

26 -- Kill those 4 crazy Ghosts first. Then, from the pedestal closest to the
N corner, do a simple SW jump to get the key.

27 -- These are all sinking blocks except the last one which is an exploding
block. Despite appearances, all of these are just straight NW jumps, but you
probably have to hit each sinking block twice (once to the near edge and then
again to get to the far edge) to make the jumps. Have an apple for your
reward.

28 -- This can be one of the more difficult rooms in the game -- and you have
to go through it twice! You probably want to save before attempting this room,
because it will take you several tries. It is similar to the last room -- 4
sinking blocks -- but this time the jumps have to be edge-to-edge, meaning that
you are moving diagonally across the room. You're still hitting each block
twice, but this time that second jump has to put you on the SW edge. Have fun!
When you get to the end, there is a much-deserved white potion that you can use
now or pick up on the way back.

32 -- Kill the blue Ghost and bend a jump S from the exploding block to reach
the entrance to 33 (next to the apple.) Get the apple unless you want to kill
the Ghost again in a minute when you return.

33 -- Zap the Ghosts and climb the cupcakes for a white key. Return to 32.

32 -- Use the pedestal to clear the spikes and exit NW to 31.

31 -- Killing the white Ghost will send the block moving SW across the spikes.
You can jump on now or exit the room and have a more leisurely crossing when
you reenter. Proceed NW to 2F.

2F -- Walk around counterclockwise to the NW exit.

30 -- Kill the 4 Knights and climb the easy stairway for a key. Return to 2F.

2F -- Now you begin behind the Knight and can easily waste him. Move on NE to
2E.

2E -- Dodge the green Ghost and go stand in the space NW of the 3-stack. The
sliding blocks will stack. Kill the green Ghost from here, then walk out SW,
moving the new 2-stack into position for you to get token #10. Proceed NE to
2C.

2C -- Start walking SE and firing to hit the red Twister behind you. Eat the
apple and exit NE to 2D.

2D -- Zap the Twisters and climb the easy stairway to the white key. Return to
2C.

2C -- Exit SE to 2B.

2B -- Kill the Ghost (it only takes one hit with your Twin Sword) when it is
near the midpoint of its oscillation. Push the block NW until there is just
room for you to jump NE of it. Now push it SW and SE until it is opposite the
red potion. Jump across and exit SE to 29.

29 -- Kill the blue Blob for a blue potion. Walk your way around the room to
the SE exit to 2A.

2A -- Zap the Blobs and make the easy climb to the white key. Return to 29.

29 -- Exit SW to 34.

34 -- Go up to the platform and wait in the E corner for the revolving block.
When it arrives, jump/push like crazy to the SW. When it covers the block in
the S corner, it will move to the NW and then fall off the center of the SW
edge of the platform. Quickly hop onto the block before it falls and ride it
down to the ground. I'm pretty sure that it is possible to jump onto this
block after it has stopped moving, but the conveyor blocks make it very
difficult to line up that jump. My experience has been that it is easier to
descend with the block. From here, you can work your way up to the spell.
Descend SE and jump NE to return to safety.

The Unlock spell is necessary because you only have 6 white keys for the 8
white gates that lie ahead. We can avoid opening one of these gates, but on
one we will have to use the spell. Otherwise, it is pretty much useless this
late in the game.

You now need to wind your way back around this circuit counterclockwise
(avoiding those rooms in the corners) to room 28, then head directly SE to 0B.

28 -- This room is just as annoying in this direction as it was the first time.
You made it once, you can do it again. Observe the gaps in the spikes that are
below the blocks and notice that in this direction your edge-to-edge jumps are
to the SE and not the NE.

27 -- In this direction, the first block explodes and the rest sink. Jump
accordingly.

0B -- Use a white key to open the SE door to 0A.

0A -- Go around the invisible central barrier. Refill, save, use the potion,
and move on.

06 -- Your path in either direction is blocked by an invisible barrier. Let's

go NE. Get on the FAR N edge of the short block and bend a jump N to clear the
spikes, then go to the NE wall. Jump SE to the invisible block and fall
through the NE door to 05.

05 -- Kill the blue Ghost, take the blue potion, and exit SE to 04. Notice how
natural it is for you to maneuver through the spikes now!

04 -- After all that you have been through, this one should be easy. Jump onto
the moving block and then from there to token #11. If you have trouble jumping
onto the moving block, try doing so from the N corner -- it seems to be easier
when the block is moving towards you. Jump back to the moving block and then
over the spikes to exit SE to 03.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I ran into an odd glitch in this final portion of the game.
In some of these last few rooms, the spikes on the floor became invisible! As
you can imagine, that makes it much more difficult to navigate safely. So, if
you fail to see spikes on the floor of any of these last rooms, first try just
exiting and re-entering the room. If that doesn't work, reload your game and
try again.

03 -- Kill the white Twister, save your game, pick up the white potion, and
walk through the maze of spikes to exit SW to 02.

02 -- Quickly step one square SE, then turn SW and fire at the white Twister
and you might take him out before he gets to you. Or you may want to Zap him
and be done with it quickly, especially since there is another white potion
coming up in the next room. Maneuver through the spikes and the invisible
barriers to exit SW to 09.

09 -- This room is a mirror image of 03. Kill the white Twister, use the white
potion appropriately, avoid the spikes, and exit NW to 08.

08 -- Jump NW from the first (exploding) block to the second (sinking) block to
the top where token #12 -- the last token of the game -- awaits you. You can
jump safely back across the spikes from the SE edge of the sinking block.
Backtrack to 02.

02 -- Walk NE until you hit an invisible barrier, then NW to the wall and NE to
the gate. Use your last white key to exit NW to 01.

01 -- Walk straight through the room and eat the apple. The spikes aren't an
issue as long as you move only NW. You are now going to have to use 7 notches
of your magic -- 3 to save your game and 4 to unlock the NW door to the final
boss of the game.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
00 -- Boss -- Sonia
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sonia will teleport around the room in a predictable manner. Each time she
stops, she will release 2 slow-moving globs that drift around the room. After
she has done this 3 times (hence leaving 6 globs floating around), she will
sweep diagonally across the room twice and then begin the pattern again.

Her movements always follow the same patterns. On all odd-numbered rounds
(1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.), she will start in the N corner facing SE, move to the W
corner facing SE, then move to the E corner facing SW. On all even-numbered
rounds (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.), she will start in the N corner facing SW, move to
the E corner facing SW, and then move to the W corner facing SE. Her sweeps
always go first NE to SW and then NW to SE.

Offensively, you again have to jump and shoot to hit Sonia. However, there is
more to it than just that. You can only damage her when she is leaning forward
to release globs or do a sweep, so there is some timing involved with hitting
her. You have to pause slightly after she materializes, then jump and shoot so
that the shots reach her when she leans forward. Unfortunately, the globs that
she releases can block your shots, so you want to fire before she releases
them. It will take some practice to get this timing just right. It is
possible to damage her from the side, but your position and timing have to be
just right, so don't count on getting many hits from the side. I counted 31
hits until she was defeated, but I'm guessing that I miscounted and that magic
number is actually 30.

Maintaining defense in the battle is again the hard part. Sonia herself is
very easy to avoid. You will always know where she is going to materialize
next, and her sweeps are equally predictably. The problem is that the room
gets very crowded (since Sonia is rather large and there are as many as 6 globs
to avoid) and there is little room to move. It is possible to kill the globs
with your weapon, but it takes a lot of hits to take one out and, since many of
them are moving diagonal to your movement, you simply can't get in a lot of
hits. Thus, I would not recommend depending on this as a primary element of
your strategy.

The good news is that when Sonia does her sweeps, she wipes out any globs that
remain from that round. This means that you want to get in as many good hits
as possible when the room is least crowded, namely just after she does her
sweeps. After a sweep, get in position so that you are facing her when she
materializes and can get in a good shot. Repeat this when she materializes the
second time. When she materializes the third time there will be 4 globs in the
air, and you need to abandon offense and start playing defense. Once you move
to a safe position, if you want to throw Swords like crazy in hopes of taking
out some globs, then by all means do so. Just remember that dodging is your
primary strategy. If you can get in 2 hits per round and play good defense,
then you are doing what you need to do to win this fight.

Defeat Sonia and you will be treated to some mind-numbing blather about saving
your poor weak father, but your true reward for your efforts is your sense of
satisfaction. This is a tough game, and if you completed it without using any
cheats you should be quite proud of yourself. Congratulations!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rooms avoided: 1B, 1C, 07
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1B & 1C -- These two rooms "connect" room 1A (which contains a token) with room
1D, which provides a path for collecting the blue keys. I put quotes around
the word connect because neither room 1D nor room 1C can be traversed from SE
to NW, due to high walls with no movable blocks. These rooms contain no
necessary items, so we just avoided them.

07 -- From room 06, we progressed clockwise, collecting the last token in 08.
Room 07 (which contains no necessary items) leads back from 08 to 06 through a
white gate for which we didn't have a key anyway, so we just skipped it. Had
we chosen to proceed counterclockwise instead, we could have avoided room 05
instead.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% XI. Closing Comments [S11CLO] %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
As usual, I really learned a lot from writing this FAQ. Writing this guide
forced me to study the maps, analyze the possible paths, and test my
hypotheses. I did my very best to be accurate in my descriptions, but I'm
certain that among the 175,000+ characters that I typed there are some
mistakes. I am sincerely interested in fixing these, so should you have any
suggestions for improving this guide, I would be happy to hear any such
comments, provided that they are communicated according to the following
two simple rules.

* Courtesy first. With email messages, as with life in general, more heed is
given to comments that are made with courtesy and respect Thank you.

* I really prefer emails that are written with proper spelling,

capitalization, and punctuation rather than the indecipherable drivel that
passes for written communication sent via text messaging and the Internet
these days. I invested a lot of effort in writing and proofreading this FAQ
so that you could understand it. If you have something to say, please take
the time to say it articulately. By doing so, you will represent yourself
as a person of intelligence and education, and as such others will give more
credence to your input.

In case you want to contact me, my name is Bill Russell and my email address
is:

brussell15@austin.rr.com

My information about secret room 07-02 came from a posting on the GameFAQs
board by "loaf", who credits the (unnamed) person who established the
flyingomelette.com site (referenced earlier in this FAQ), who, in turn, credits
"Helder" at gshi.org. I hope that I didn't overlook anyone.

Finally, I would like to extend a special thank-you to Dan Engel whose previous
postings about Equinox are irreplaceable sources of information. Let me give
you some idea of Dan's accomplishments. Over the past several years, I have
now written and posted a grand total of 5 game walkthroughs. Writing and
updating these and keeping up with the email that they generate has been very
time consuming. By comparison, Dan has posted 176 complete guides, not
counting such things as maps and other images and codes. His contribution to
the gaming community is simply amazing, and I appreciate that he let me make
reference to his works in mine.

Thanks for taking the time to read through my guide. I hope that you found it
useful and entertaining. Having completed the game now, perhaps at some point
in the near future you would enjoy going through the game again using only
Dan's maps as your guides or, better yet, using only your wits and your own
hand-drawn maps. Whatever path you choose from here, have fun!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% THE END %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%