Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv4 Thieves' Town

Thieves' Town is small, uncomplicated, and doesn't have too many dangerous enemies, which makes it one of the easiest Dark World dungeons. What it does have is a great puzzle involving the boss that can take a long time to figure out the first time. I don't believe there is any other dungeon in the series where you can stroll right into the boss room and then find that the boss isn't even there.

Blind is also one of the hardest bosses in the game. Once there gets to be two heads flying around the room it becomes even crazier than the Mothula fight. But, being as awesome as I am, I still managed to do it without getting hit. (Admittedly, I did use sword beams this time, unlike my previous video.) I thought for sure I was going to get hit by that last fireball at the end, though. I checked the recording and I turned to face it only two frames before it impacted (that's 1/30 of a second), and I also swung my sword on the same frame that it got blocked by my shield.

I only used one re-record this time, in the conveyor belt corridor. I do say to take it slow in there but, with the way the enemies were moving the first time I went through, it was just getting ridiculous. I finally got impatient, tried to dash through to the door, didn't make it, and decided that it should be redone. I doubt anyone would've wanted to watch me sit there and wait ten seconds for the cloud enemies to finally move into a position where I could safely kill them.

As a side note, it's actually possible to beat Thieves' Town directly after the Dark Palace, which lets you get the Tempered Sword early.

Finally the dungeon I've been dreading, the Ice Palace, is next. I think it will be, by far, the hardest to produce a good video for and will also likely require two parts due to its length. The game can be roughly divided into thirds (Light World, levels 1-4, levels 5-8), each section stepping up the difficulty a significant amount, and the Ice Palace marks the beginning of the last third. This is where the game stops being a cakewalk for me.

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Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv4 Thieves' Town

My complete Level 4: Thieves' Town walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+ with re-records used to optimize video length.

Equipment checklist: 14 Hearts, Red Shield

You can upgrade your shield (as well as the boomerang) at the Waterfall of Wishing, which is just outside Zora's Waterfall in the far northeast corner of the Light World.

[00:37] Bunny Link
If one of these spinning, flashy things touches you you'll transform into bunny Link for a short time and be unable to use your sword or items. Ironically, bunny Link also cannot dash.

[01:47] Conveyor belt corridor
Take it slow and careful in here and kill the cloud enemies as you go. If you try to run through and dodge everything you'll most likely get trapped between multiple enemies.

[03:10] More conveyor belts
You can walk along the edges of this room without getting carried away by the conveyors.

[04:30] Boss: Blind
Blind has three heads and each time you knock one off it'll start flying around the room while shooting fireballs at you. If you can manage to keep full hearts, stand back and return fire with sword beams while dodging the fireballs. Otherwise, move in close when you find an opening and hit Blind's head with your sword, either from the side or, when Blind moves to the bottom of the room, from above. Never try to swing up through Blind's body because you're likely to get hit in doing so.

I also have another no damage video, that doesn't use sword beams, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c1tsbAzx7c

Guide: 08/18/08 | By: Desbreko | 5 comments | Zelda | Tags: video games, youtube, zelda

Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv3 Skull Woods

Skull Woods is an interesting dungeon in that about half of it is completely optional and only there to confuse you. If you know what to do you can go straight to the big key, then the big chest, then the boss, which I do in the video here. The rest of the rooms that you can drop into through the holes in the ground simply lead you back to the main entrances. Normally I like to show as much of the dungeon as I can, unless a room is nothing but a trap, but in this case I decided not to bother because there's no reason to go to the other areas and people can explore on their own if they really want to.

I show a handy little trick you can do with bombs, to blow yourself across pits. It's useful in a few places and you'll see me use it again in Ganon's Tower. As well, I show how you can use the bounce from dashing into a wall to cross pits, though obviously you need a wall directly opposite and close to the pit for it to work, which makes it less practical.

I use Bombos a lot in this dungeon because the Gibdos take a ton of hits to kill otherwise. And, besides, if you've got 1/2 magic it only takes one small magic jar to replenish the magic used by Bombos, which you'll usually get from a room full of enemies.

Mothula is one of my favorite bosses in the game because of the sheer craziness that the moving floor adds to the fight. You really have to be on top of things to use its movement to your advantage in dodging instead of trying to fight it. Mothula got one hit on me because the bugger bounced back off the spikes and ran into me when I slashed it away; it's nearly impossible to tell when that will happen.

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Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv3 Skull Woods

My complete Level 3: Skull Woods walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+ with re-records used to optimize video length.

Equipment checklist: 13 Hearts, 1/2 Magic, Bombos

The 1/2 Magic upgrade can be obtained by jumping down the well next to the smithy's shop in Kakariko Village and sprinkling some magic powder on the statue within. You can get Bombos by traveling west from the Swamp Palace and warping back to the Light World in the area marked off by posts, then using the Book of Mudora to read the text on the monolith up on the hill in the desert.

[00:16] Burn them all
Gibdos (the mummies) take a lot of sword slashes to kill so I prefer to burn them all at once with Bombos.

[00:27] Wallmasters
These giant hands drop from the ceiling and will carry you back to the dungeon entrance if they catch you. Watch for their shadows to avoid them.

[01:32] Bomb propulsion
Stand at the very edge of the pit with a bomb at your back and it will blow you across to the other side. Don't touch the control cross until you're all the way across or else you'll fall in.

You can also get to the big chest by dropping down the hole in the bushes outside.

[03:41] Boss: Mothula
This giant moth inhabits a room with a moving floor and spike traps lining the walls, which makes movement and dodging highly complicated. Try to keep your distance, dodging the spike traps and Mothula's beam attacks as best you can, and return fire with the Fire Rod when you get a clear shot. If Mothula gets too close, bat it away with your sword.

I also have a no damage video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmrvOpqg_1E

Guide: 08/17/08 | By: Desbreko | 5 comments | Zelda | Tags: video games, youtube, zelda

The Des in Its Natural Habitat

Hey, guys! Ever wondered what the Des's room looks like? No? Well, too bad, you're going to see it anyway! Shinmaru's post got me interested in doing this so I totally ripped off the idea from him.

View from the door
My room's door is back in a little alcove due to my closet taking up the rest of the space at that end of the room, so you can't see anything in the corner off to the right. Which is good because that's where I hide all my por—wait, what was I saying?

Apparently I keep my room relatively clean compared to most guys. And there's actually a decent amount of open floor space in here. Though there are pockets of untidiness, such as the closet. And my bed is almost never made unless I've just changed the sheets.

That tin on my dresser, in front of the printer/scanner, has chocolate covered espresso beans in it, which I've slowly been working through since I got them at Christmas. Those things are incredibly strong and potent, to the point that I can only eat a few at a time, and they're the reason I'm on a caffeine high as I write this. It normally takes two or three shots of straight espresso to make me feel caffeine at all so you get the idea.

The computer desk
Beautiful Miku-chan graces my two monitors' wallpapers and President Aria, Pikachu, Raichu, Poliwhirl, and Meowth plushies adorn the tops. The secondary (right) monitor is usually used for chatting through Trillian or theO chat while I do most other things on the primary monitor. It's the reason I frequently watch anime and stuff while chatting at the same time.

That SNES controller is connected through a USB adapter so that I can use it with emulators, such as when producing my Zelda and Super Metroid videos. Nothing beats the SNES pad for old Nintendo games. And I can also connect GCN, PS1/PS2, and Xbox controllers.

The mug sitting between the monitors is perpetually filled with either coffee or tea. It just doesn't feel right to be at my PC and not have coffee or tea to drink.

My speakers are crappy and barely get used. I much prefer my headphones.

TV and game systems
These are directly to the left of my PC so that I can either angle the TV out and play games while sitting at my desk or sit across from the TV on my bed. Currently, only my Wii and PS2 are hooked up and the others are put away in the closet. I hardly ever use the TV to actually watch TV.

The black box on the floor is a system house thing I ordered out of a Nintendo Power catalog years ago, during the N64 days. It stored my N64 and then my GCN for a long time and now it stores my Wii and GCN controllers, some cables, and my N64 games. (My N64 games being Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 64, Mario Party 2, Perfect Dark, Gauntlet Legends, and Pokemon Stadium 2.) Behind it on the shelf you can also see my Guitar Hero II controller and PS2 multi-tap.

The movies on the bottom shelf consist of...
DVD: UHF, Super Mario Bros. (Yes, I own the SMB movie.)
VHS: Some Cold Steel promotional video, The Mask, Mad Max, Star Wars Episode I, Brain Donors, Spaceballs, a bunch of Looney Tunes cartoons, The Hobbit (the animated one), Pokemon 2000, a bunch of Pokemon season 1 episodes

Yeah, I don't own or watch many movies. And the ones I do watch I usually get through Netflix or see in the theater.

On the shelf above, from left to right, we have...
PC: PlanetSide: Aftershock, Guild Wars plus its expansions, and SimCity 3000 in a stack
Stack o' Zelda, which is all of the pre-GCN Zelda games, with some empty GB and GBA game cases in front of it
SNES: Super Metroid, Final Fantasy III (aka FFVI), Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart
PS1: Chrono Cross, Discworld II, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy Tactics
PS2: 007 NightFire, Final Fantasy X, Guitar Hero II, Hard Hitter Tennis (NightFire and Tennis came used with the system)
GCN: Animal Crossing, FF Crystal Chronicles (I lent out Skies of Arcadia Legends for this and haven't gotten it back...), F-Zero GX, Zelda: Collector's Edition, Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Master Quest, Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Tales of Symphonia
Wii: Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wii Sports

Also, that handle hanging on the wall above my TV is my throwing axe. I was sad that I couldn't squeeze it into one of the pics but I didn't want to take another just for it.

Upper shelves
On the left of the bottom shelf in the picture is my anime binder, which is filled with numerous DVDs. Though it's still not even half way full; I think it holds somewhere around three hundred discs. To the right of that, under the monster plushie, is my portable CD player and a couple smaller CD wallets, in front of which is my old and crappy digital camera. I actually yoinked my mom's camera instead to take these pics because my camera can't handle the crappy lighting in my room.

In the middle is a disorganized mess of various cables. I think there's even an old, original Game Boy link cable in there.

Then we have my DS, which is sitting on top of a carrying case (it's yellow because it's Pikachu themed) inside of which is my original model GBA. My GBA SP is sitting in front of my DS games, with my battery charger on top of it.

The games are...
GB/GBC: Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2, Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Gold, Pokemon Trading Card Game
GBA: Super Mario Advance, Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy IV Advance
DS: Animal Crossing: Wild World, Final Fantasy III, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart DS, Super Mario 64 DS, Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt

The top two shelves are filled with old issues of Nintendo Power and EGM, and strategy guides. And an Eevee plushie sitting on an Altoids tin. And I still have no idea why my mom gave me a miniature bottle of Brute in my stocking last Christmas.

On the top left are a couple old socket 478 Celeron CPUs and a heatsink/fan. There are more old computer parts on top of the shelves, too, though those ones are dead. I also have a stack of Calvin and Hobbes, and Dilbert collections up there.

The other desk
This is that other corner that you couldn't see from the door. The desk in it is another haven for old computer parts as well as old school books and binders. That motherboard is the bastard that ruined the Lucky Star marathon I had planned out last October when it died on me the day before the marathon was supposed to happen. It still pisses me off when I see it sitting there and remember that.

Shelves above the other desk
On these we have more old computer parts, some in boxes; some boxes for current computer parts; board games; a carpet deodorizer box that does not, in fact, contain carpet deodorizer because we have no carpets in the house and that would just be stupid; other random crap; a monkey stuffed animal... My mom loves buying me monkey stuff—it's a long story—and there are actually a couple others around my room that didn't make it into the pics. Also, Gengar sees all.

Posters above the bed
These are, um, posters ... that are above my bed. I wish I had better ones or some nice wall scrolls. Though the Zelda: A Link to the Past overworld map is still rockin' even if it is all beat up; I believe it's from 1994.

The carved coconut monkey head hanging from the shelves is pretty awesome, I gotta say.

The Big Box
Sitting in front of my closet here is the box that Guitar Hero II shipped in, with the GHII packaging box (which normally goes in my closet) next to it for comparison. As you can see, it's about five freakin' times the size of the packaging box. But that's not even the best part. No, the best part is that the GHII box was at the very bottom of the shipping box with all the packing material on top of it. Seriously, Amazon, WTF?

Also, on top of the Big Box is the box that my latest pair of steel-toed boots came in. They're Wolverines.

And that concludes the tour. Please vacate the premises in an orderly fashion. The ninja attack monkeys will be released in two minutes.

Life: 08/17/08 | By: Desbreko | 7 comments | Tags: images

Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv2 Swamp Palace

The difficulty is rising along with the Swamp Palace's water level. It's still not too incredibly hard but there are a couple rooms that should start to show off my mad skillz. And then there's the 1F room that you drop from to get the Big Key. At one point, back when I was doing my minimalist run, I had a route worked out for running through that room without getting hit since I didn't have the Cane of Byrna. But I didn't care enough to try and figure it out again since using the Cane is so much easier and more reliable.

The Hookshot is fun and one of the best weapons to use against those annoying, electric jellyfish. Did you know that you can't be hurt while you're using it? It's a neat trick but rarely useful.

Arrghus has got to be the second easiest boss in the game, coming in second only after the Armos Knights. I get hit during this fight maybe one time in ten unless I mess around with trying to get it to land right next to me during the second stage of the fight. I did a bit of that in the video here but wasn't too risky.

Only two more to go before I get to the frozen hell that is the Ice Palace. At least Skull Woods will be fun and Thieves' Town will be short.

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Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv2 Swamp Palace

My complete Level 2: Swamp Palace walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+ with re-records used to optimize video length.

Equipment checklist: 12 Hearts, Flippers, 1/2 Magic, Cane of Byrna

The Flippers must be bought (for 500 rupees) from King Zora in Zora's Waterfall, in the far north-east corner of the Light World. The 1/2 Magic upgrade can be obtained by jumping down the well next to the smithy's shop in Kakariko Village and sprinkling some magic powder on the statue within. The Cane of Byrna can be found on Death Mountain in the Dark World by jumping off the cliff just below the warp tile by the Mountain Tower and entering the cave on the ledge below.

[00:00] Raise the water level
To go beyond the first room of the Swamp Palace you must first warp back to the Light World and open the Watergate, which will also open the gate in the Swamp Palace and allow you to swim across the channel. This was done prior to the start of the video.

[00:29] Floor blobs
These little guys pop up all over when you walk across the floor tiles they inhabit. They're a good source of hearts.

[00:40] Four-way fireballs
These brown fireball turrets will shoot at you whenever you use your sword.

[02:44] Crystal Switch: Red
It's tempting to leave the switch blue and take the shortcut at the bottom of the room but don't do it. Return the switch to red before you leave.

[03:26] I am invincible!
This room is a huge pain to get through undamaged so use the Cane of Byrna to make yourself invincible while you run through it.

[06:28] Water striders
Bombos, Ether, and Quake are the only things that can damage these water striders since they're below you in the water. You can either kill them that way or use the Cane of Byrna to avoid getting hit as you swim past.

[06:53] Boss: Arrghus
An oversized jellyfish with floating puffballs in tow, Arrghus is the easiest of the Dark World bosses. Just make sure to stand to the side of it while hooking the puffballs away so that they won't hit you, and watch out for it to spin them around in a ring. Once you destroy all the puffballs, charge up a spin attack and keep moving so that you'll avoid Arrghus when it leaps into the air and tries to land on you. Release the spin attack when it gets close after falling into the water and repeat until it dies.

I also have another no damage video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvlsezCEK4U

Guide: 08/16/08 | By: Desbreko | 4 comments | Zelda | Tags: video games, youtube, zelda

Super Metroid - Phantoon (Charge Beam)

I took a break from the LttP walkthrough to slap down the idiots in my original Phantoon video's comments. I've always been well aware that using super missiles is slower than charged beam shots but apparently people think they're hot shit when they point out the obvious. So I decided to make this video showing the faster method and see if they'll shut up about it already.

I hope to get the Lv2 Swamp Palace video done either later tonight or tomorrow.

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Super Metroid - Phantoon (Charge Beam)

Video response to: Super Metroid - Phantoon (Super Missile)

Phantoon beaten using the beam swap method. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+.

This is the faster but more damaging method of fighting Phantoon. Unlike using super missiles, charged beam shots and missiles won't make Phantoon throw waves of flames at you. Here's the damage breakdown, courtesy of Foxhound3857's FAQ on GameFAQs:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/file/588741/39375

Damage values vs. Phantoon (2,500 HP)
Missile: 100
Charged ice/spazer: 180
Charged wave/spazer: 210
Charged ice/wave/spazer: 300
Super Missile: 600

If you hit Phantoon with a charged ice/wave/spazer shot it will disappear immediately. However, if you use charged wave/spazer, Phantoon will fly around the room and allow you to hit it with two more charged shots. Swapping in ice/wave/spazer for the third shot won't make Phantoon disappear any sooner but will allow you to do more damage.

In this video I swap in the Ice Beam only once and then finish it off with a super missile at the end to save time.

1st round: wave/spazer x2, ice/wave/spazer (720)
2nd round: wave/spazer x3 (630)
3rd round: wave/spazer x3 (630)
4th round: super missile (600)
Total: 2,580

Guide: 08/16/08 | By: Desbreko | 1 comment | Metroid | Tags: metroid, video games, youtube