Lode Runner(PSX) FAQ/Walkthrough
For game 1 of 2 on the disc, Lode Runner: the Legend Returns
Also valid for the PC version of Lode Runner: the Legend Returns
and the single-CD PSX version of Lode Runner: the Legend Returns
(cheats aside)
version 1.0.0 copyright 2003 by Andrew Schultz This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(use 'hamstrung')
================================
1. INTRODUCTION
1-1. ABOUT LODE RUNNER
1-2. ABOUT THIS GAME
1-3. SHORTHAND IN THIS FAQ
2. CONTROLS AND STRATEGIES
2-1. THE GOOD AND THE BAD
2-2. TEH MEGASPO1L3RZZZ!!!
2-3. BASIC STUFF TO TRY
2-4. HOW THE BAD GUYS ACT
3. ITEMS AND LANDSCAPE
4. LEVELS
4-1. LEVEL DIVISIONS AND MAP LEDGER
4-2. LEVEL WALKTHROUGHS
To search for the level you need help with, do ctrl-F in a Windows
browser and then search for #XYZ where XYZ is the level number with
leading zeros: 37 becomes 037, 6 becomes 006.
*NTR* = need to revise
5. HIGH SCORE LISTS
6. VERSIONS
7. CREDITS
================================
1. INTRODUCTION
1-1. ABOUT LODE RUNNER
1-2. ABOUT THIS GAME
Lode Runner: the Legend Returns was created in 1994 and actually
produced by Sierra of the famed AGI engine. It was a PC game but
transferred easily enough to the PlayStation. A sequel named Lode
Runner: Extra came out soon after but was much tougher and probably
turned off the masses. These were lumped onto one CD called simply Lode
Runner.
Loading times are great here and if you want a puzzle that has a lot
of action and even humorous skits to reward you for progress, this is a
good game. For a stiffer challenge, though, Lode Runner: Extra is
better.
The scoring is more or less random with no bonus for potting monks,
but it's neat to have that variation of treasures.
1-3. SHORTHAND IN THIS FAQ
Unfortunately a good deal of Lode Runner instructions can get
repetitive and dull so I wanted to write in something for when you get
more accustomed to the game. It doesn't start out like this but later on
it'll make sense(also I thought of some of this midway through the FAQ.)
4-3-2-1:
One-up trick:
Lumping:
Dig-down: from a ladder, start at the top, dig right, go down one, dig
right, etc. Dig-down two right, five times would mean to dig all the
holes below.
HXX
HXX
HXX
HXX
HXX
2. CONTROLS AND STRATEGY
2-1. THE GOOD AND THE BAD
Beware walking across a ladder. It screws up your timing. You'll lurch
a bit going on and off, and if you might fall off the other side, be
careful at first.
Saving can allow you to rack up some moderately impressive points.
Just get all gold chests in a lucrative level, save and reload. This can
be repeated often with no loss of life. However, cheating to go back
levels doesn't work as you'll get a big X by your score, and oh, it goes
down to zero as well.
There are also some weird bugs. For instance, if you bomb a square
below a ladder then you have to climb up the ladder before falling down
it. You may also be able to reach below your ladder without leaving it,
but you'll fall off for your next move.
2-2. TEH MEGASPO1L3RZZZ!!!
Hold down the R2 button and now to shift levels push one of the shape
buttons.
Triangle(up) = forward 15, or one whole set
Circle(right) = forward 1
Square(left) = back 1
X(down) = back 15, or one whole set.
If you land on 15x+1 you'll see the skit for that level. Also note
that although you keep the number of guys, your score is wiped out.
016: Jake drops a bomb(no, he didn't fart) and drops off a ledge which
then explodes.
031: Jake hides in
046: Jake climbs up the ladder, looks both ways, gets goo to the right,
goes left, pours goo on bad guys, sits in a chair and whistles as they
struggle
061: Jake, right of three snares, places a fourth. The monks come by and
get trapped in them. Jake pulls the right one back and lets it swing.
The end monks bounce around like one of those cheesy office toys.
076: Jake places traffic construction horses on each side and then
drills down.
091: Jake drops and fires a gas gun at the monks. Then he kicks one over
and high fives another as they stumble around.
106: Jake buries a bad guy under a cave-in with the help of his pickaxe.
121: Jake stumbles around in the dark(?)
136: Jake goes up a ladder, sees a monk to the left, runs right, sees
one to the right, gets in the teleporter and they fall down dazed. He
appears above and whistles for them.
In the latest Windows version(the-underdogs.org) you have a whole
catalogue of options in a pull-down menu that are also referenced by
hot-keys. It makes up for the awkward clustered controls which were OK
when Lode Runner was just about digging but not when there were new
actions.
2-3. BASIC STUFF TO TRY
After playing around a bit you'll find some ways to fake out bad guys
without digging all over the place. I tried to categorize the major
important ones below. I haven't included using any special items--those
deserve their separate sections.
Bomb feint: absolutely necessary to learn. You need to have a
placement of three units away from a bomb, or it will nail you. If you
are trying to bomb bad guys then you can get three but a separation of
two squares from you to the first bad guy when you release is optimal.
Ladder-on-the-other-side wiggle trick:
Looping around: Stand at the bottom of one ladder.
Underdogging: staying under bad guys but not quite at the bottom of
the ladder means they won't recognize you. What they do at the top of
the ladder
Running over bad guys:
Fall-fake:
2-4. HOW THE BAD GUYS ACT
Rather nastily, usually, especially how they seem to eat you when they
catch you(rim shot.)
But seriously, they're about half as fast as you, and if they can run
at you, they will, or they'll try to unless a wall is in the way.
If you're hiding they seem to have a fixed path back and forth, from
top to bottom. Although hiding immediately can switch the direction they
go in.
Digging a hole below another dug square will trap the enemy
permanently--UNLESS you got someone to fall in the square above. Doesn't
make physical sense, but there you go.
If you fall off a ladder, the enemies will as well. Sometimes when
they get to the bottom of their fall they may tangle together and get
stuck.
You can jump safely onto an enemy as you fall a bit faster than they
do. In fact you can run into their top parts while they are falling.
Enemies won't destroy you if they jump on you while you are drilling
unless you stop.
If you dig a bad guy and he coughs up a chest on top, and there's
already a square regenerating there, you'll have to dig that gold. [what
if bad guy drops in a hole with a gold piece already on it? I think his
vanishes.]
3. ITEMS AND LANDSCAPE
--you can't dig on regular ground under a ladder. You can dig under a
door. You can dig while on a rope but not the ground under the rope. You
can also dig under any gold piece or bomb. Digging a square concealing a
bomb doesn't set it off. You can walk on a ladder anywhere even if it's
suspended in midair. Bad guys can't leave gold on ladders.
--one odd ladder bug--if there's a gold piece just below the last rung
and you go down to get it, you can reach it while still on a run but
will fall through next thing you know.
--Bombs appear first on level 16 and take out all diggable ground and
people in a radius of two squares. The fuse takes one seconds to go off
during which you can run about five squares. Bombs can also cause chain
reactions, even with ones hidden in walls, if you let one off close
enough to the other. You cannot bomb while on a rope or falling through
the air.
--Caves appear first on level 31. You cannot dig below them. Bombing
doesn't affect them either.
--Pots of goo appear first on level 46. Using one hits three squares
directly to the left or right, unless there's a drop, and then the goo
touches the nearest square below.
--Big bombs first appear on level 146 and can take out drillable as well
as diggable squares. They have the same radius as a bomb.
4. LEVELS
4-1. LEVEL DIVISIONS AND MAP LEDGER
Every fifteen levels you're introduced to a new concept. A brief
humorous skit shows what you're supposed to do. They are detailed under
2-2.
** LEDGER **
[space] = area you can walk/fall through
X = square you can dig through/bomb
* = square you can only dig or big-bomb
H = ladder
~ = rope
V = trap door down
h = ladder that forms when you've got all the gold
S = sticky gooey square that slows you down
e = enemy
u = you
1 = 1 point treasure(chest)
2 = 2 point treasure(cart)
3 = 3 point treasure(skull)
4 = 4 point treasure(gold pile)
. = bomb
^ = hide-out/cave
; = pot of goo
| = snare
% = drill
& = stun gun
$ = block containing gold chest
# = block containing bomb
T/t = to/from teleporters. If there are more than one, they are
detailed below the map.
R/r = red door, red key
G/g = green door, green key
Y/y = yellow door, yellow key
[note: up through level 25 may not have accurate treasure.]
4-2. LEVEL WALKTHROUGHS
Level #001 TAKE THE GOLD!
+
h $$$$
h HXXXXXXXXXXX
h $$$$H $ XXXXXXXX
h HXXXXXXXX XXXX
h H XXXXX XXX h h hhh
h H h h h
h XXXXXH hhhh h
h XXXXXH h h h
h $$$ H h h hhh
h HXXXXXXXH
h H$$ H $$$
hXXXXXXXX H HXXXXX
h XXXXX H H X
h u H H XX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Given there are no gold to dig for or bad guys, the only question here
is how to do this most quickly.
R, U first ladder, L, D, R to get gold, L, U, R, U, L, U, R past
ladder, L back to ladder, U, R, drop for last 3. Ladder all the way L
and U.
17 gold * 1 point/gold = 17 points
Level #002 DIG A ROW
+ X
***XX******XXXXH **HX
HXXXXX HX
$$$ HX X HX
******** HX X HX
XXXXXX HXXXXXHXX X HX
X H XXXHXX$$$X HX
H HXXXXXX HX
$$ ~~~ H H HX
XXXX XX H HX
XXXX XX HXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXX X H XXXXXXXXX
X XX X H
X H XXH
u H XXH$$$$$$
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Here you're introduced to the concept of digging for gold. Which is
hard with your fingers on the PSX controller and not in your nose--
although this is still easy enough to solve one handed.
R, U, R, U, dig leftmost square, get chests, drop R, D, L to get
chests, R, U, R, U, dig center square to right, drop in, dig any square,
dig two rightmost squares, drop for the gold, L, U, L, drop, L, U, R, U,
L to door.
14 gold * 2 points/gold = 28 points
Level #003 TREE HOUSE
0123456789012345678901234567
+
u $ h
XXHXX h
H $ $ h
H XXXHXXXXXXXX h
H H h
H H h
H H $ h
H H XXHXXXXXXXh
H H H h
XXXHXXX H H h
H H$e H h
H XXXXX H h
H H h
H$ H$ h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
R to the gold, L, D, R, D, then U and drop R. Get the gold there(the
bad guy may have fallen off, but you can also wait for him to climb down
and dig a hole) then drop R from the top. Dig a hole for the bad guy
then take the stairs to the right.
7 gold * 4 points/gold = 28 points
Level #004 SIMPLE
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Xu$e $ +
X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHXXXhX
X X $ H$ XhX
X X XXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XhX
X X X $H $eX XhX
X X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXHX X XhX
X X X X HX X XhX
X X X X$ HX X XhX
X X X XHXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X XhX
X X X$ H $X XhX
X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHX XhX
X X$ H $XhX
X XHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXhX
X$ H e$hX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Surprisingly this lives up to its subtitle. All you have to do is to
climb up the stairs right away after you fall, then pick up the gold
chests to the side if they aren't quite on the way as you climb up. The
top enemy will drop right and then lose his gold at the bottom, and on
the way you'll have to dig a hole for one bad guy, but drop right at the
top and a ladder back up to the door will appear.
13 gold * 2 points/gold(?) = 39 points
Level #005 DIG 'N' WAIT
u
****
XXXX********
XXXXXXXXXXX
XXX*****
XXXXXXX**
XXXXXXXXX*****
+ XXXXXXXXXXXX***&
XXXXXXXXXXH
XXXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
$ H X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXHX
H H
H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H
e$ H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Here you have two choices--dig the rightmost square at the bottom and
wait for the bad guy to come over, dig a hole, and run over him, or wait
for him to go up and dig a hole under the ladder on the right. Either
way it is a pretty easy trek across once the monk is potted in a hole.
3 gold * 3 points/gold = 26 points
Level #006 MONDRAIN (after the abstract French artist Piet Mondrain)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+e H~~~H~~~~~H~~~~~~~~~~~~~X
XXXH$ H$ H$ X
Xe H$$$H$ H$ X
XXXXXXXH$ H$ X
X~~~~~~H$ H$ X
X$ H$ H$ X
X$$$$$$H$$$$$H$ X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXH$ X
X~~~~~~~~~~~~H$ X
X$ H$ X
X$ H$ X
X$ H$ X
X$ H$ X
X$$$$$$$$$$$$H$$$$$$$$$$$$uX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
L, U, L on line, D, R and back up and dig two holes R. Run over the bad
guys, U, R, drop D onto the gold, R, dig holes, run L over bad guys, U
and L where the gold is. U and L/drop to get gold, R, U, R, drop to get
gold. L, U, L, D and then to exit go R, U, L.
I was able to follow this path interrupted but you may have to dig
holes for bad guys a bit. Still, they reform in the bottom part usually
so it may be worthwhile to make sure they get stuck there and thus buy
some time.
61 gold * 1 point/gold = 61 points
Level #007 HIGH RISE
$
H
$ H
H $ H
H H H
$ H H H
H H H $ H
$ H H H H H
H H H $ H H H
H H H H H $ H H $
H H H H H H H H H
u H H H H H H H H H ee
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The heights are respectively 4, 6, 9, 3, 8, 2, 5, 11 and 2.
This level is a cute idea but fortunately there is a relatively easy
way out. Climb up to get the left three gold pieces. Then try to dig
holes for the bad guys--at least four. The monks will reappear in the
upper left, and you should have no problem clearing the rest by
climbing(leave dug holes behind just in case.)
Coming back is a bit tougher and this time you may want to climb up to
the very high ladder. One guy may follow you; drop when he's near the
top, go L to meet him if necessary and dig a hole for the other monk to
get by him.
Level #008 OGRE
0123456789012345678901234567
$ $~~ e+e ~~~$ $
H******* XXXXHXXX ******H
H XX H H
H X H $ H
H******H X XXXHXXXX H*****H
H X H XX H
$ H Xk H C H $
H******H XX H~ X H*****H
H XXXXHVX X H
H $ H XX$X $ H
H******H H XXX H*****H
H XXXXHXXXX H
$ H H X H $
H******H H XX H*****H
H XXXXXHXX H
H H H
There is some risk here that the bad guys may fall into the hole where
the gold is, in which case you are screwed. So be sure you don't spend a
lot of time on the second-lowest cement platform when they're near the
area where they can fall in. They'll try to.
Go left and up the stairwork to the top. Let the bad guys follow you
over and drop down the left side when they're close. This should allow
you to make it to the right at the bottom. Climb up that zigzag. Bad
guys will fall once again. Go through the center. Now go right at the
rope and dig right. Dig right again and wait for the bad guys to go
above you, then drop, get the chest, dig left, and drop. Wait a bit if
you want to get clever and drop the bad guys in the hole you've dug, but
you should be able to run left in any case.
To get the key you just run back up the stairs and then left at the
second highest turn. Drop left and push the triangle to pick up the key,
then go back to the top. Push the circle button to use the key.
Level #009 KILL 'EM DELIVERY
e $$h
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*Xh
h
h
$ u h
*****HXX h
HXX h
HXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXXH h
HXXH$ eH $h
HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH*****
HXX H
HXX H
HXX H
HXX H
$ H H $
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
L, R, D, L, R. Now you need to dig the bad guys into holes so that one
reappears on top and gets the other gold as he drops down. So dig L to
get out of the lower right if necessary, go left and dig right a bunch.
You'll probably have enough time to go up the big stair and L/D to get
the remainig gold you can. Then go left of where the bad guys run and
drop and wait for them to be near and dig twice right. The other gold
chest(s) will appear over the trapped guys. Now you can go up the ladder
that popped up without worrying about more than one regenerating. Be
sure to stand on a cement square to dig and do so in advance as it's not
tough to outrun the bad guy behind you.
7 1-pointers = 7 points
Level #010 THE LONG WAY AROUND
$e H* u+
XXXXHX * $HXHXX
X HXXXXXXXXXXXXHXXXHXXXHX4
X H HX XH HXV
X H HX XH H
XXXXXXXXXXHXH HXX XH H
X HXX*XX XH H
X HXX XH H
*HHX$ H H
HXXXXX***XXH**XXXXXXXXXXXXXV
HX X$ H $X XXXX XX
HX XSSSXXXSSX XX
HX ~~~~~~~~~~~
H *H He H
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXH***H***H
Here you're introduced to the concept of slow squares. When going over
the red squares you'll find yourself crawling slowly. So it takes some
thought to get each gold piece there.
The enemy on the bottom will go up the center ladder there. You may
want to get the two easy gold chests in your area before getting the
enclosed pile. Dig above the pile to get it and be prepared to fall
through the false surface. When the monk comes at you, drop down and he
will too. Then go right back up and left to get around him. Then LUR and
dig the rightmost square. Note the guy that should be to your right. He
climbs up and down the ladder in a certain area. Dig and when he's near
the top drop through the hole and dig right immediately. L, dig R to buy
time to get the gold chest over the slow areas. You may have to fall
through the hole to your right and come back around to where you dug to
get in here. Again dig when the bad guy's up high but this time move
left and dig. Then run right and dig left. This buys time to get the
other gold piece. Then climb up the stairs to the UL for the last gold
piece. R all the way from there and dig to fall back to the area where
you started. R to the second ladder, U, R to find the door.
1 4-pointer + 5 1-pointers = 9 points
Level #011 PLATFORM PERFORMANCE
*NTR*
XXXXXXX $ HXXXXXXXXXXH +
e u XXXXXH~~~~~ HXXXX
XXXH ~~~~H hXXXXXX
e HXXX HXXHh
XXXXH $ Hh XXH $
H hXXXh XXXXXH XXXXXV
$XX X H
XXh XXXH~~~~~HXXXh XXXXH
h h XH H
XXh h H $XXXH
XXHXXXhh XXXXh H hhXX H
e H $hh h $XXXhh HX
XX H XXXX XXXX h HXX
XHXXh ~~~h H
H XXXh HXXXXXh hXXXXH
$ H XXXXH h XX H $
Dig L to start quickly. R, U, L. Now you'll generally want to drop
into the lower left and sucker the bad guys into the area right of that
so you can loop around to the bottom right. One guy may follow you but
you can just dig to make him regenerate.
The bad guys will always go to the bottom--often bottom right--but
there is a way to fake them out. From the bottom left, U and drop R.
Climb U and when the bad guys are on the ropes drop down. Even if only
two drop, the third can be shaken off by digging. You can then make it
to the right.
In this way you can pick off all the gold chests. Some may require you
go to the top, and you should beware of the false brick if bad guys do
make it across, although you can wait for them to pigeonhole themselves
just right of you when you're in the DR corner.
Getting to the door is a potential problem if bad guys are coming
down, and you may not want to stay too long in the lower left with the
new ladders available. Go up two levels and dig to the right if
necessary to bag a couple baddies.
9 1-pointers = 9 points total
Level #012 THEY'RE COMING DOWN
He He He +
HH$ H$ H$ h
H H$ H$ H$ h
H H$ H$ H$ h
H H$ H$ H$ h
H H$ H$ H$ h
H H$ H$ H$ h
H H$ H$ H$ h
H$ H$ H$ H$ h
H$ H$ H$ H$ h
u H$ H$ H$ H$ h
XXXH H$ H$ h
XXXXXXXXXXXXX H$ h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX H$ h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX h
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The tough part here is navigating the stairs up; swift diagonal
movement isn't really possible as the PSX is aligned.
Go right and dig left. Then drop right down the leftmost diagonal
ladders and go right to the base of the stairs. It's important to get
the bad guys to fall immediately to make things quicker.
Climb all the way up them and then drop down, climb U/L and then D/R.
Dig holes for the bad guys coming down if there are still gold pieces to
get. Then you can lead them up to the top(climb there yourself) and
outrun them jumping down and going across. This also applies for getting
to the door in the upper right.
To get the gold in the center diagonal you may wish to get the top
half first and go for the bottom half later. In any case to slow bad
guys up be sure to dig to the left as you return to the DL. Eventually
one or two may even be dumped to the bottom which makes your task easier
until the end bit--when you had better sucker everyone left and
dig(three guys in the bottom right are untenable, so just dodge the last
guy.) The guy on the right will climb the ladder to the top so you'll
need to buy some time.
It may take a couple of tries to push left on the diagonal stairs, but
there is no real rush. You can drop down and go back right as long as
no-one is at the bottom of the rightmost diagonal; they will just circle
around there if you drop to the middle of the three ledges. In that case
you'll have to dig right a bit before dropping down.
37 1-pointers = 37 points total
Level #013 WITHIN
+
H
~~~$e$$~~~ H
XXXX XXHX XXXXX
X$$X H X$$$X
Xe$X H X$$$X
XHXX XXHXX X$$eX
H X$H$X XHXXX
H X$H$X H
H XHXXX H
XXXH H XHXXXX
X$$H XXXH XH$$$X
XHXX X$$H XXXXHX
X H X$uH H X
XX H XHXX H XX
XXX H H H XXX
26 1-pointers = 26 points total
For safety you'll want to start by going off to the right. Bad guys
will fall off ladders and you can climb up one. Usually they'll wind up
going left so get to the right height so that they do--experiment by
moving up and down. I think halfway up the second ladder is a good point
but you may have to sucker them quite far right first--and first it may
be nice to lump them in the center(two squares up on the bottom ladder.)
Now when they're all on the left structure, climb up the second ladder
in the right structure, fall off, and clear out the center structure.
Here you'll want to get parallel with the two gold chests just above
where you started. Now you can drop left to get the first and dig above
the one left of that. The next level of the center structure, just fall
left and right. Then at the top you can go right, dig, and drop to get a
couple of gold pieces. You'll need to drop back and climb up as before
three times to clear out the whole right side.
For the next part you'll want to sucker all three bad guys right. Then
U, L, wait. They'll all get on the right structure, so U, L, drop, and
go up the center structure and left at the top. Dig to get the gold over
there.
Then repeat(drag 'em left, then right, then go left)--there's a
possibility this may not go smoothly but you should always be able to
run to the center and up. You can probably outfox the bad guys by
dropping down and then climbing up the center. Let them follow you and
drop down from the rope and eventually they'll all get on the same page.
You can also beat a bad guy running from the right if you come from the
center and dig left--you may need to drop from the ladder, though.
But the important thing is to get everyone to the left and clear the
right/center early.
Level #014 STRANGE ATTRACTION
u
HXX**********************XXH
HX 4 e $ $ XH
H X**************SSSSSSSSX H
HXXXXX XXXXX XX XX X XXXXXXH
HX X X X XXX XH
HX$ $ e e $XH
H X**********SSSSSS******X H
HXXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXX XXXH
HXXXX X X X X XX X XXXH
HX $ e $ XH
H X*****SSSSSS***********X H
H XXX X XXXX X X XXX XXX H
XX + XX
****************************
[space below]
This level gets absolutely no points for being fun. The basic idea is
to dig down, attract bad guys close to you, dig down to the other side,
and run over to get all the gold chests. Given all the slow areas, this
takes a while.
Start by digging right and moving onto the slow area. Inch left for
the gold, and when the bad guy is near dig right and then drop that way.
Note that you will be moving much faster than he does here, just like
normal, only it's all slowed down.
Then you can dig on the left side. If he doesn't cough up his gold
soon then you'll just have to keep digging on one side and teasing him
over to the other, although usually he loses it pretty soon, leaving you
clear to get the gold on the other side once you tempt him to one.
With that in mind the second lair is tougher. Dig the square to the
right and above and the one below that. Drop in and go one left. Let the
bad guys come over as far as you can. Dig right and exit as before. Then
go around and pick up the two remaining gold that way.
Now when you drop left, there will be two squares to dig. Dig them
from the left. Then get the ones below them and you can get into the
thord level. Here it seems you have to let the bad guy get one gold
chest, but duck out once he's past the slow area. Circle around to the
right and use the similar digging on the second platform to enter from
the right. One gold chest should be easy and again wait for the bad guy
to come over. Then dig right, circle to the left, and get the bad guy to
cough up his gold. Let him get close before digging/dropping, and get
the final gold piece.
Through all this you need to be sure to goad the bad guys over far
enough to one side before going to the other. That's right: potentially
lots of waiting.
Dig at the base of a ladder to get to the door.
Level #015 IRONCLAD
HXk e X
HXXXXXXXXX
H*********
H H
*He H He H *H
******************H
H
H H
H* He HH*
H *****************
H
H
H
H e H H + u
****************************
This is an exacting but entertaining level. It involves running on top
of bad guys to avoid them.
First you'll need to climb to the top of the first ladder ASAP. This
causes one of the bad guys to delay just enough for you to make it to
the second ladder to your left. Once the bad guys are climbing U/D, go
down and then when the bad guy on the far left is about to hit the
ground, climb up. Run left when the other guy closes in. You can run
across him for a bit of a head start, and you'll make it to the ladder.
Run across the next guy as well, using the one-rung ladder to fake him
out. It's a very close shave here.
Get to the ladder on the left and go up one rung. The bad guys will go
left and up the center ladder on the bottom. Climb to the top of your
ladder, L, U. This will cause the guy to the right to run further that
way. Once he's under a one-rung ladder, floor it right and fake him out
climbing up the ladder again. Climb one rung up the right ladder and the
three bad guys will bunch together again.
U, R, U. Drop left and use the ladder-fake then climb up the big
ladder. Dig right, drop right, dig right. Climb on the sunk bad guy and
dig left. Go left to get out of there before the entrance closes and
you're trapped.
L, U, L, drop. Go one up the ladder and now you have a problem--there
are guys who have probably dropped near the gate you need to exit.
They're stuck now but how to get past them? Well, the first three you
faked out should be bunched together. U, L, U and they will go up and
drop left above where you can run past them. As you go right you'll also
go past the two who regenerated in the DR and you'll have plenty of time
to spare to avoid them coming after you. Push X to leave the jungly
area. Congratulations, you're 10% of the way there!
0 points here, only the satisfaction of a job well done.
Level #016 BOMB THRU
X.X.X
XX**XXX********************H
**** **** +* H
*** ** H************* H
** 44 H* H
********** H
* 4444 H
H*********H* H
.... u H****** H* H
*********X*********44 H* H
*********X***********H H* H
******** ******* *H.H* H
****** **** ***** H
****44444444 H
L for bombs, R, U, R. Drop bomb. Drop L. R, U, R and get the
gold/bombs below too. Bomb the same way you came in. Drop L and bomb the
only vulnerable spot. Move away then drop through it. R, U, L, bomb and
move back. There will be a chain reaction so you'll want to stay out of
the way for a bit. But once it's done you can drop a bomb on the middle
of the three vulnerable squares, feint and get the two gold below before
climbing U/R to the door.
Note you can't afford to waste any bombs through all this.
16 gold piles * 4 points/pile = 64 points total
Level #017 BOMB CHECK
u. *ee **** h
**4****** * X* h
. *X * h
4 * X* h
. *X * h
4 * X* h
. *X * h
4 * X* h
**********H*XX*************H
X X X X X*H*HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
X X X X *H*+XXXXXXXXXXHXXXH
X X X X X*H************4***H
X X X X *H . . . . H
X X X X X*******************
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Neat little reverse stripes and stars there.
Drop right and quickly run right four squares, drop a bomb, and go
left. Don't go down the stairs until the bad guys hit the wall on the
other side. In fact here you can get your jollies letting off bombs so
that you can pick up the ones below. Then run across the bombs and leave
one at the far right and go back left as the bad guy almost catches you.
If you leave one in the middle without ditching bombs it may set off a
chain reaction you don't want, because you'll have the maximum four
bombs already before picking up the last two.
Now you should be able to climb the ladder to the right, go left at
the whole row of ladders, and drop down for the only gold on this level.
You have the time to go to the far left below, bomb and retreat.
That'll allow you into the door that opens in the nook by the ladders.
4 points for just one chest.
Level #018 COMPRESSION
** ***** ***
** *** ***
~~~~~~~~** * ***
~~~~~~~** h+** ***
** h ****u ***
** h ****. ***
** h **** ***
~~~** h ** ** ***
~~~~** h * ** ****
** h *H* ** **
** h*X**H* *X*****
~~~~~~~** 2X H* X
~~~~~~*** ****H*********H
*** H H
*** H H
****************************
Drop right until you're over the vulnerable part. Drop the bomb then
drop left. After the explosion, R, D, L, U all the way, drop L for the
bomb. Drop the bomb immediately, fall left, and go back up the ladder
and left to get the gold.
R, U, wait for hole to heal, L, U, R leads to the door.
Total points = 2 for just one chest.
Level #019 BOMB THE MONK
* *
* * +
* * ***H
u .... * * H
**H********H * * ~~~~H
H H * *2 H
H H * *~~ H
H*H H * * ~~~ H
H H*e * *2 H
H H***** * *~~ H
H H *H* * H
H H*** *H* * ~~ H
H H *H* * 2 H
H H *H* *~~~ H
H e H 2222*H* * H
*****************H H
R, D, fall R should get you all the bombs and gold, and you should be
able to fake out the monk too--in fact waiting here brings him farther
up and away from when you drop down. You don't want to bomb him as that
will put two guys in the right and only one bomb at a time can get them.
But from the gold, L, U, R, U and fall R. Drop the bomb as close as
possible to the monk, when he is at the top of his bouncing on the
ladder. R, D, R, and a few squares up. The monk will go the wrong way.
Go to the top, fall L twice, fall D, then fall right and drop for the
final gold. R, U, L for the final gold.
Level #020 BOMB BAYS
** ** ** ** +
** ** ** ** h
u $** .$ ** $ e**$ .**e$ h
*H******H****H******H******H
H ** H ** H ** H ** H
H. **e H ** H ** H ** H
H $** $H ** H$ ** H$** $H
H******H******H****H*****H**
H ** H ** H ** H ** H
H ** H ** H **$H **$H
H $** H.$**$ H.** H ** H
**H*****H****H******H*****H*
.H ** H ** H ** H ** H$
H ** H ** H$ ** H ** H
H$** H$** H ** H$** .H
**xxxx**xxxxxxxxxx**xxxxxx**
Get the gold and two bombs before moving right. The place to do so is
from a chamber with the leftmost of the three ladders. But first go to
the top and make sure the bad guy has no gold; wait, and if he leaves
gold while in place then move down and up until he gets rid of it
otherwise. The way you can tell if a bad guy has gold is if there are
three pieces in his column. Also be sure he won't run over gold as he
runs toward you; goad him into the dead end before and have him leave
the gold elsewhere.
Place the bomb on the right edge of this chamber and run away. Then
entice the monk over by staying on the bottom of the ladder. Once he's
near climb up and drop right over him, then climb up or down the nearest
ladder to the right to throw him off your scent. You'll have to repeat
this four times, minus faking the monk out the last time. Fortunately
the door is in the upper right once you're done. No need to re-traverse.
Level #021 FORTRESS
+ . .
***************************h
***************************h
u . $$$$$. h
******H*********************
******H*********************
******H . $$$$$.
********************H*******
********************H*******
.$$$$$ . H*******
******H***H*****************
******H***H*****************
******H***H .$$$$$ee
******H*********************
******H*********************
H*********************
R to get everything, L, D, R. Don't get the treasure right but get the
bomb, wait, and drop it to disrupt the bad guys first. Then go ahead. L,
D, get the bomb and wait again to bomb the bad guys. You'll want to go
as far left as possible so that you can get the loot to the left.
The next part is tricky since monsters keep regenerating but
fortunately only one can follow you towards the final treasure. Bomb
again and take the right stairs down. Use a bomb but stay far enough
left to avoid a chain reaction. Then run right and you shouldn't need to
use another bomb.
With one bad guy stuck and the other behind you it's easy to get to
the top.
19 * 3 = 57 points total
Level #022 BOMBS AWAY
~~~~
XXH
XXH 4
XXH XXXXHX
.. XXXXXXXXXXX HX
XXX 4XXXX 4XXXX HX
XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX4 HX
e ..X .XXXVHX
e HXXX XXXVHX
e $ HXXX XXVHX
HXXX. . $ HX
HXXX. XXXX HX
HXXXX XXXX HX
$$$$$ u H HX
*********** HX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Here the point is to get the bad guys stuck on the left. If they get
to the right, you may have to bomb right and dig left as much as you can
until the ground to the right has healed.
R, U, R onto the stairs and drop L when you're almost caught. Run L
and leave a bomb so all three get killed(bad guy 2 spaces away) and go
to the left to get the gold. Then run right digging left behind you to
keep the bad guys at bay. R, U, L, dig the three rightmost after
dropping, then dig the three to the left. You can dig to get the bomb
and the bomb/gold beneath them.
One guy should follow quickly after you drop right. Go to the top and
dig to get rid of him. Drop down for the gold behind the false brick,
and go back up quickly again.
Now get to the top and at the top ladder dig left and go down until
you can drop to get the final two-point treasure. Fall left and you'll
have the time to sneak right. Dig left to discourage the bad guys in the
future.
From the top ladder go left on the rope and drop to get the bombs. Dig
the right two squares, drop, dig the center. Fall to get the gold chest.
You can make it across if you go hard right but use a bomb if you're
feeling sadistic. Dig left a way down from the top ladder to find the
exit.
The two bombs you didn't get aren't necessary, but you can pick them
up if you dig two squares to the right of the top ladder, drop, dig
right, dig the leftmost.
Level #023 FUN BOMBS
0123456789012345678901234567
~~~~~~ .
XXXXXXXX H 2XHX
XXXXXXXX H +XXHX
e XXXXXXXX 4H XXXHX
e XX 2XXXXXXHXX XXXHX
e XXXXXXXXXXXHXX H
. u XXXXXXXXXXXHXXXXX$XXXHX
XXXX HXXXXX XXXHX
XXXX H $XXXHX
X3 4 H XXXHX
XXVXXX XXXXXH .2 $XXXHX
XXVXXX ... XXXXXH XX XXXHX
XXVXXXXXXXVXXXXXH XX XXXHX
XX2 2 H HX
XXXXXXXXXXH H HX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Go right quickly falling through the trap door and then go up and back
left ASAP. The bad guys will all go to the right. You can use this trick
to get back in this position and work as follows:
--R, U, R, drop for three gold chests
--R, U, R, dig right twice, drop, dig left
--go up to the rope(don't have to wait for the bad guys to catch up,) 3
left digs, 2 left digs, 1 left dig. In the area, dig twice, drop, dig
once. Coming back right will get you to safety just in time. You can
also be fancy to pick up the bomb and drop down to where you were the
first time, but you probably won't need to.
X1234
X567X
X89XX
X0
--go up the rope, drop left, two digs and one dig to get the gold
furthest left.
None of the bombs on the level are necessary until the end, when
you'll need to drop a bomb to catch all three bad guys(cluster them
together, go down your ladder and right,) but they can be useful if you
don't get the setup you want. Once bombs are used, try to get the setup
I mentioned.
Level #024 THINK AHEAD
This level is a demoralizing early roadblock and introduces you to
several concepts you'll use--and fear--over and over(for instance, you
often worry--ARE THERE BOMBS IN THOSE WALLS?--and even after several
chain reactions that let you pass by, fear lingers on.)
You must get the two gold pieces on the top first. Go left, bomb the
two guys, go back to the center and dig. Leave a bomb over the guy when
he falls and clean up. Drop off to the left and drop right from the
rope. Down the ladder and place the bomb where you find the new one.
Walk away then left on the rope just above to drop for a tough gold
piece. Remember to wait for the chain reaction before going through with
things.
From there R, U, L, U, L gets you the rest of the toughies. Drop and
wait for the bad guys to chase, then go left and drop at the edge once
they're close. Now tend R/U and if you make it quickly enough the bad
guys won't be a factor again. Wait a long while and they may climb to
the UL. This allows you to get the gold in the far right as you did for
the left(place a bomb where you get one) and also get the gold to the
left(L, U, R, U, L and get it as you fall) and then go back U/R to the
top.
Dig the two rightmost squares on the platform above the rope and get
the bomb. Then climb back to the UR and use the bomb on the upper
ladder. Now a chain reaction won't occur and you can just get the gold
below. That should do it unless any bad guys have gold--in which case
it's pretty easy to let them chase you and leave a bomb. Exits to DL and
DR.
Level #025 FLYPAPER
R. Leave a bomb when the monk is close. L and R immediately after the
explosion go get the bomb, L, U. Head L/U and dig around the bad guys if
you must.
First task is to dig the 3 left squares at the top, then the 2 left
below them, and one below to get the first of the chests.
Now you'll have to go U/R and drop from the rope to get a gold chest.
You can probably climb down from the ladder and circle around twice
more, but the other chest on the left presents a real problem--bad guys
regenerate in the UL and you need to get there to dig for the final
gold. The solution is to go on the left ladder, drag the bad guys down
and toward you, and then circle back up. Digging holes for the bad guys
to get back past them shouldn't be too hard.
left chest: right chest:
H321XXH HX321XH
H54XXXH HXX54XH
HX6XXXH HXXX6XH
The final gold chest is another you'll have to drop from the rope for
unless you want to experiment with bombs. But my way is safer, I think.
123H
456H
7XXH
$
To get the bombs in the right(which are not necessary) you do a
standard 3/2/1 dig but make sure the bad guys are bunched together on a
horizon with you and drop left from the bomb's platform.
The ladder up to the portal is on the left.
16 points total.
Level #026 BLAST RADIUS
Easy enough to get started, get the five two-pointers, and all the
bombs. Place one bomb next to the wall on the second-lowest platform.
Run like heck to climb to the top and then wait for the final bomb in
the chain reaction to go off. Dig left after crossing the one 'soft'
square and then get the bombs on the far right. Passage will close just
in time to block the bad guys.
Now you'll need four bombs to complete the rest. First drop one on the
right soft square that you can. Then drop one on the only one in the
area below that and so on. You'll make it to the DR door soon enough.
10 points total(5*2)
Level #027 FOLLOW THE FUSES
Run left at the bad guy. Drop down when you're on a ladder and he's
close to you--you will want to wait a bit. You'll want him to get right
next to you so you can leave a nasty present. Let him climb on the rope
instead of crawling through the muck. Drop a bomb and climb up and go
back left--bad guys behind will get taken out.
Timing the rest of the bombs may be a bit tricky. If you don't get it
perfect you may have to run towards the bomb you just lit for a split
second before the first explosion hits, then run back. But the method
below should work without this.
Leave a bomb near the wall and run back a bit. Leave a bomb in the goo
after the first couple explode to discourage followers and then be
careful when moving forward not to do so too quickly. There is little
problem with this as no one should be chasing you from behind. Just be
sure to jump right from the far left ladder once the initial walls
reform, so you can catch the rope below and run R, U, R, U, L, U, L.
0 points total.
Level #028 QUICK EYE, SLOW FOOT
Note it's curtains if you get stuck on the bottom.
L until you get the gold piece, R and leave a bomb at the sticky part
by the wall, L to just R of the sticky part. Run right and you'll drop
down when you get the second gold piece.
On the rope drop left. Then go down to get the monk on the left to
fall. U, dig L, fall L, U, L, U, L for the second bomb, U, R, U at the
second ladder. R and fall a bit to get the next bomb. L, U, R and now
when the bad guy is turning left in his little cycle, drop down and fall
left. If you did it right he'll fall through the trap door to the very
bottom.
L, U, R, D, drop bomb on ledge, L, U, R and fall right to get the key.
R, U, R, U, dig left, L and leave the bomb by the wall. Run R and watch
the fireworks. Go to the left part on the sticky stuff and then when the
floors reappear to the left in order climb on them. Run hard left when
the second appears, and push the X button as you are about to fall to
open the door. Now you can't use the chain reaction to go back there
again, but what you can do is to drop left on the structure(monk may be
where you want to drop--climb down your ladder all the way in that case)
and work your way back up to the door that opened up in the UL. Leave a
bomb near the wall and go hard right. Then crawl back in.
4 points total.
Level #029 UP BOMB
Go all the way right and dig right. Drop through.
R, U, R to the edge, U, L, U, R, U, L, U, L, D, R(fall,) L(fall,) get
the key and dig. No risk here if you fall but it's tedious.
Now from the bottom ladder you want to fall left, go almost three
squares left, leave a bomb, and go back right. It should take out the
two bad guys.
It is possible to run left right after the explosion, and waiting also
works but is in fact tricky--go to the corner, then go between the two
bombs that get lit after the first three go boom. Use the key and enter
the door.
0 points total. Geez, they're getting stingy here!
Level #030 DIG YOUR GRAVE
Get the four bombs and use a 4-3-2-1 dig to get to the lower part.
R, D, L, U. Note the bad guy goes left when he reaches the bottom of
the top ladder, so you'll have no problem sneaking in. Go all the way
up, and he should get stuck in the right chamber.
From the top of the ladder you'll want to dig the four tiles to the
right, then the four below them, and so on until you can reach the gold
skull.
Now let's attack the left side. Run left from the ladder top and dig
the two leftmost. Drop, dig two left, drop, get the gold, dig two left,
run left, then dig right on the rope and drop/dig the left two squares
all the way to where you get the skull. Then dig the two right squares,
drop, dig the right, and immediately dig right. Run past the guy you
trapped and dig two to the right. He'll get consumed, and you can 3-2-1
dig yourself out. Drop on the right to be sure you make it to the ladder
before the guy on the right comes in, but you can make it either way.
The next thing to do is to exterminate the bad guys from the middle
chamber. One bad guy may follow you up the stairs and I'd recommend
digging a grave for him at the top. Then I'd dig the left side of the
ladder and heading down before you duck in and leave a bomb once you can
walk left without falling. This will take care of most of the bad guys,
although you may need to duck left again and leave another bomb to flush
more out. Stay on the ladder and if the bad guys reappear inside the
chamber, coax them into dropping down where they'll get trapped. With
each time this happens there's a good enough chance they'll regenerate
in the UR or below, where they are irrelevant.
You should be able to reduce the number to two with some effort. From
there you can either bomb or break down the left wall as before and
sucker bad guys over--for one that is stuck in the natural hole under
the final gold piece you may have to dig the two squares right of him
and go down and dig left and repeat until he's out of there.
Now the skull isn't bad to get with nuisances out of the way. Dig the
left side of the ladder, then dig the two squares left when you can. A
2-1 dig over the final skull you can't get to due to the trap will
dispatch that one.
Once this is done a 2-1 dig above the final chest will do it; the
point of this is that the door appears in the pit that would otherwise
trap you.
**note--you can get either of these done by digging the left wall of the
ladder and then 1)climbing over the bad guy for a 2-1 dig and 2)digging
the bad guy in and jumping down. But the way I mention is surer for
those less in tune with Lode Runner. Purists, however, may feel
different from unwashed ostrogoths... *sniff*
Now to learn about the pleasures of invisibility.
17 points = 5 3-pointers + 2 1-pointers
Level #031 RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT
Here begins the phases with caves/hidey holes. It starts with a
surprisingly awkward level, but the holes are great for shooing bad guys
away. There always seem to be a few tough squares to guard, though.
Enter the hole on the far left and wait for the bad guy to go right.
Then move to the next hole to the right. Continue whenever safe.
Eventually you can get on the rope and walk over. Move right cautiously.
The top part is not too bad if you go right, up the right part, and
then across at the top. Just watch that you have to fall left from the
rope, go L and U and R to get that one gold chest.
The only annoying chest to pick up is the one on the two-square
island. Perhaps it's best in the meantime to sucker the bad guys to the
bottom and drop a few bombs on them and get their loot, then go back up
for the final gold.
The middle of the far left ladder in the upper part is a good place to
hide from capture.
A fun trick here to glop the bad guys together is to appear when one
is on a rope above another. This helps keep them in line.
10 gold pieces total, 10 points. This is also important to note; as
there's no place to dig, you may wonder how many you need to get. So
just remember the last digit of your initial score and try to achieve
that.
You can also sucker everyone down and just wait for them to run around
and release gold chests, but it can be a bit tedious the second or third
times.
Level #032 DODGE THE POSSE
Run left immediately and try to dig to the right. This will trip the
bad guys up enough for you to loot below without distractions.
If things go pear shaped below you can drop to the bottom and climb
back up the second ladder to the left when the bad guys close in. Also
note that there are some soft tiles to dig to the right. Eventually
you'll want to get past the bad guys and go to the right so you can
sucker a few of them left and sucker or trap the rest.
If the bad guys are totally faked out then you can jump on the UR
island and dig its right part, drop to get the chest, then clean up all
but the leftmost chest. If not then get every other chest, fake the bad
guys out on the bottom, and come back up. Standard checks for chests and
using the lower right to dig should get any chests they're hiding.
Once you get the leftmost chest a stairway to the door appears to the
left.
Level #033 NOW YOU SEE ME
R, hide, let the bad guys get in the goo, L to get the gold, hide in
the R cave, wait for the bad guys to center in the goo, then R/U and
start gleaning gold.
Only thing making the level remotely difficult is that a bad guy may
take a chest. Go to the top and hide there and hopefully they'll cough
something up. But they are easy enough to give the runaround that
eventually they'll pass the chest backwards and the next time through
you'll get it.
The door is to the left of the long ladder. Dig right from the
leftmost tile at the top of the platform and drop.
Level #034 BY THE BOX
There are eight hidden gold chests here. They are in the 2x2 boxes
with bombs above and below. But first let's get the visible gold piece.
You can go down the L ladder and dig the two-platform and the tile below
that and then the one below that. Run right to get the gold and a bomb
and run back. You won't need that bomb on the stairs although you can
just make it out if you pick it off.
You can sink the bad guys inside the A structure if you want; drop off
the rope when they're over its pinnacle, which is a trap. They'll fall.
Unfortunately you can't get them to fall in the J that way.
You don't need to trap them all to pick off all the gold. I recommend
getting the left box first as it is the trickier of the two. You should
just dig the two tiles on one side to uncover gold and then fall into
the two gold pieces, but you'll need to pull the bad guy away a bit one
way or the other to be sure.
A ladder comes up the right side after you get all the chests.
9 points for 9 gold pieces.
A sort of bonus level--easy points, easy challenges.
Drop down--13 free gold pieces more or less. L, U, dig L. Run by to
get the next piece D alnd L and then run up the stairs U/L to get the
gold and the key(fall L off the ladder.) You can run around the bad guy,
digging a hole below where the key was. Go up the far left ladder, R, U,
and drop R. Then it is a run right although you may have to dig a bit to
ward off challengers. Eventually one will appear to the left even if the
timing doesn't work out, and it should be easy to take the stairs to the
green door. Use the key.
72 points for 18 gold piles.
Level #036 HEY FELLAS! OVER HERE!
Not much choice to start. Dig down and now you can drop. Do it quickly
so you can dig on both sides. Run right and scale the structure from
that side. At the top run right and at the far right is a trap. It gets
you where you want to go. L all the way, R to where you can dig right.
Do so and at the right edge dig left and dig the square on the far left.
Fall left off the rope to get the gold chest--you have time as the bad
guys will e bunched in the UR. Then go up the stairs, right and up to
the very top, drop left and dig above the final gold chest.
The key here is not to get exasperated by the far left chest and to
hit the right spots to dig in the central structure.
With the door in the UR and the traps on top you'll need to get on the
lower rope, drop when the bad guys are close, and run U, R, U while
they're stuck in the goo below.
Level #037 HIDEAWAY CITY
L, R quickly to get two right away. If you wait long enough the bad
guys will lump in the DL. Then you can cut R all the way, hide again,
and wait for the next place they congregate. Repeating the run-and-
hide-a-while strategy you should be able to plot which gold you want to
get and wipe out all the visible stuff quickly.
Now the annoying part is to get the bad guys to rescind their gold.
Let them get clumped, then reappear and wait in one corner for them to
come by--they will be on the same row as you--and when the first is
close, go down/up and run to the other side. You can make it down/up
pretty easily and in fact if you can get the bad guys to come all the
way down(little risk going on the bottom in this case since you're fast)
that is best--a long stretch where they can give up gold increases the
odds they will. Eventually the gold will reappear.
Level #038 STAY OUTA THE BASEMENT
First, watch it. There's no pause, so pick off a bomb on one side and
hit up immediately to get invisible. Appear and disappear briefly to get
a bomb and everyone should go to one side.
I'm assumineg the bad guys go to the left but you can mirror the
instructions if they don't. Make a break to the right and when a bad guy
is close, drop the bomb and go up the stairs. If you get him then it is
clear sailing. If not then go left, down the stairs, and let him follow
you before you circle around.
Get the bombs and gold on the right and place the bomb in the goo.
Follow the chain reaction at a safe distance.
For some reason when you pass the cave and climb up the bad guys run
to the left. Don't complain; take advantage of this to tend UR. At the
top you can go left and make it to the top left after digging the only
square you can to the left. Drop and let the bad guys follow you. Then
you can circle around and drop on the rope and then down quickly. Going
hard left should get you the two gold in that area, although you may
have to dig a bit to get rid of one bad guy.
You'll have a couple of bombs left over, which are useful in case one
guy is hiding some of them.
It's easy to find one of the two doors at the top as you'll probably
be on one edge or close to it with monsters still regenerating once you
get everything. Although you can always go to the left and climb down
the stairs to shake bad guys off a bit.
Level #039 THE BIGGEST DROP
Left past the goo, dig twice, run across and dig right and after a
detour in the chamber(use invisibility and not digging to escape as a
bad guy can appear in the UL.) Climb all the way up. There's a skull at
the top; DL of it, dig right three times for more gold. DL and drop for
two more then U, L, U, R, U, L(drop) for another bomb. L, U, L(drop,)
and now a detour. Leave a bomb and go L, U. Drop through the hole for a
gold piece.
Go back to where you dropped the bomb. L, U and dig L. Get the gold DR
and then walk over to get the red key, falling R, then UL.
Drop into what seems to be a hole below the rope. There's a trap there
you'll fall through. Dig right for another gold. Then open the door.
Level #040 ROUNDUP
Run right for the gold, dig and run left, and stay by the cave just in
case. Vanquished guardians appear down the shaft where they are
harmless.
The more challenging way(do this second if you don't want it) is to
clear the upper center first. R, U, L and drop. Get the skulls and get
invisible. When the bad guy is at the bottom of the ladder reappear and
enter the left cave. Do the same trick to go L, D, R for thee rest of
this(he'll go right a bit and then you should exit.)
Once you have the two gold in that area you can dig to get out. Now
the guy below is best handled by digging, running to the other side, and
repeating until you have everything. Dig on the far right to be safe.
Drop right to the main area. R, U, L and dig the far left square this
time. Two treasures; stand over the cave and dig left. Drop and at the
left edge dig rright. Standing on the bad guy dig each way and drop
right. Go L, U, L, U, L. Now you can just wipe the bad guy to the left
out if you want. Fortunately the bad guy goes right after he leaves the
hole although I suppose purists could dig right and left, drop left and
dig left to reassure themselves there's a way out.
Door in UL presents no problems but wouldn't it be a clever touch(and
less time consuming than some puzzles in the game) if it were 2 to the
right and you had to drag the bad guys right, dig, and then fall to that
area on the left side the next time?
Level #041 WILD CHASE
R, U, R, U, R and dig left at the top; the point of this is to get the
bad guys trapped, and it will take them so long to get down together.
Once they're both out of commission, go left of the long ladder and
dig the two tiles to the left of the long ladder at the bottom three
times. Now you've got a path to the gold there and the red key. Then
climb UR and dig twice to get the four gold heaps over there.
Put the bad guys out of commission and use two bombs to get to the red
door. Here you can drop a bad guy down the hole where the gold was to
make things even easier.
Level #042 ANOTHER DROP
You'll drop down the center to start. Go left and dig to get one monk
out of the way for a gold piece, then clear UL for more treasure. Walk
over to the UR next. Use the fall in the UR of the UL structure to get
around the baddies that follow.
Dig down so that you drop through the two gold carts--there's a trap
beneath them. Run right immediately and dig right and the bad guy will
remain stuck in there. Dig to work your way to the cave and disappear
until the coast is clear.
Go to the left of the long upper platform. Dig 2-1 and bomb on the
ladder below where some bad guys should be stuck. It may take a couple
of tries to weed out bad guys and bombs(one may require you to use a
bombed tile as a hole to wrench a skull from a bad guy) but once you do,
drop left of the rope to get the chests(a trap at the bottom again.)
To get to the door in the DR you'll need to revisit the bad guy around
there but you can probably sucker him all the way left and then drop
through the trap door to his right.
Level #043 LISTEN
Work right to the red door. Dig left, drop, dig right and take a big
fall. Dig left and wait for the bad guy; two gold in this sub-area. You
may have to snooker him a couple of times. He may regenerate above the
near ladder.
At the top of this ladder, dig left, down, dig left for more gold.
Then dig to drop and get another gold.
Wait around to bunch the bad guys on the left together and dig down to
the bottom with the two caves. Leave them a bomb and they should
regenerate far away from where you are. There may be some digging before
you can get the red key, but after that it's just dig and dodge until
only the UL is left. Climb to the top, dig left, down, dig left and run
across for the final gold piece. If you must shake monsters off go to
the bottom and just dig there. Then the path UR should be clear.
A bad guy may appear in the UR but you can bomb him without much ado.
Level #044 MORE HAPPY BOMBS
Run right immediately and then get the three bombs in the chamber.
Climb back down, and once everyone's dropped down to your level, drop
left and stay one above the bottom rung. If you did it right the bad
guys will get bunched together. Now D, R, U twice to get the bad guys to
stay in the DL(get on the second rung again.) Two more DRU's and you'll
be ready to clear the nasty far right(not as nasty as, say, Tom DeLay,
but...certainly a tough puzzle.) Now only one bad guy should follow you
around for the first part.
If this doesn't quite work you can probably dig and use bombs(you've
enough spares)--but try to sucker bad guys into inaction as much as you
can.
Drop one bomb U2L of the encased gold. Then come back down. Drop a
bomb on the skull and to its left. Climb up the ladder and go right at
the platform. You can now drop back left. Should be a piece of cake to
get the gold right of the ladder. Then go up and get the gold on the
left before a 3-2-1 dig allowing you to drop on the final one. Drop
right and climb back up.
The last part presents a problem; the ladder to the door may release
bad guys. My solution is to let them climb to the top and then drop left
from your perch and head to the DL corner. Everyone will head towards
the trap you fell through and eventually they'll go to the bottom. Then
it's easy to go back UR. Hopefully you won't have to pass more than two
on the way left, and you can dig to get rid of them, or even hide out in
one of the booths in the meantime.
Level #045 THE RIGHT ATTRACTION
Smoke the two sorry creeps on the left with four holes but only use
one for the fella on the right. You need him to survive so you can get
through this mess. In fact, let him climb up the ladder after you and
dig the left end square at the top.
Get both treasures and dig above the cave. Dig left when you've fallen
through. Run across and dig both sides at the ladder. Drop right and L,
U, L, U and drig left after getting the gold chest. Get the one below
and at the ladder dig left. U, L, fall, L, fall, R, fall. Get the skull
and go back to where you drop. Set the bomb and immediately go left and
hide. Reappear, go right to get the key, and dig.
Now you might want to wait a bit so the four trapped guys go all the
way right. And again only dig once to get past your final viable
opponent. Make sure he doesn't go up the center ladder when you go up
the right one. Dig above the center ladder after falling left from the
top. Dig below the gold piece left of the ladder, dig below that, and
fall in.
Dig to drop on the rope. Go left and get all the gold there; from the
rope, drop to get the left top gold and then at the right top gold, dig
left and drop twice. Dig left after you get the final chest. You've got
everything, so drop through the hole to the platform where the four
baddies are. Run left and use the key. You're on your way to the ice
world.
Note that if there were five guys in the pokey, the fifth would have
blocked your descent.
Level #046 I SAID STAY OUTA THE BASEMENT
Strangely you don't really need the goo until later. It's a bit less
concrete(in more ways than one) weapon than the caves. But the game
figures out what to get you to do with it as the fourth shift of the
game goes on.
You'll fall down and should pick up the bombs quickly; at the very
least, go to the side so the other bad guys don't drop in. Then you can
bomb the guy hanging around you and then bomb the very right side. That
should bring two guys in; take the ladder just right of the cave when
they're near and circle around to the right. Go one step up the ladder
so they turn around and get entombed.
The rest shouldn't be too hard. Go to the top and dig down to get to
the rope. Get the gold on the left side and move around to the right.
Now go back up along the side although you'll need to drop through a
trap first.
The goo isn't necessary or particularly useful here given my
walkthrough, so don't worry about it too much.
9 points total = 1 4 + 5 1's
Level #047 GOOP 'EM DOWN
X XX XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX X
XXXXXXX XXXXXX XX XXX
X XXX XXXX X XXXX XXX XXX
XXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXX XX XXX
X XX X XXXXXXXX XXX XXXXX
X XXX XXX XXXXXXX X XX XXX
XXX XXXXXXX XX XX XXXXXXX X
XX XXXXXXXX
33333333 U ;
********H*****
33333333H eeee
************ S*****SSSSSSSSS
+
****************************
3 ptrs = 16, gold sum = 48. One of your best levels if you calculate
by hourly rates.
L, R, D, L, R, and you should be able to fall down with ease.
Apparently the solution they want is to go right for the goop and pour
it, then follow my pattern, but why bother? My way is quick and simple
enough. This seems to be a bit of a broken level.
In fact, it's so transparent that if only two guys have fallen in the
pit you must go down, you can safely jump on them and off to the right.
Level #048 GOOEY MAZE
Another level where there isn't even any goo in sight for you to
schlop around. I start off going L, D and taking out the stuff in the
DL. Then I go right and dig holes for the bad guys and back up the
ladder. The UR is next. Jump left from the top of the right ladder and
dig down after you get the gold pieces in the immediate vicinity. On the
third-bottom platform dig a bunch so the bad guys get trapped before
taking out the DR area. Eventually you can move L to get the six gold
trays to the left, but you may want to use the cave to get the bad guys
to run the wrong way, then run at them and dig. That will buy time to
get the final six. The trek back up is tough but just let the bad guys
come down and follow whichever way only one of them goes--there are
three of them and two ways to go. Take the middle stairs up and go left
to the door.
Level #049 HIDE THE GOO
Now here is a serious challenge! R, get the goo, go down the stairs.
Pour the goo left so it just misses the stairs, then set off the bomb
where you picked it up. Get more goo and then hide in the cave. The bad
guys will run away. They'll wander around for a bit, but eventually
they'll go to the top where they're completely useless for stopping you.
I find they stop on top of the goo.
From here, go down the stairs to the right until you're one above the
basement. They'll run away--two will be completely useless, trapped in
the cubby hole you had to bomb your way out of--and now you can take the
short rope to the left to get all the gold above the chambers. With
monsters nearby you would have been trapped.
Head left on the platform with two goo strips and use a bomb at the
left edge. Run right and go back left on the explosion. Drop to get some
gold, then drop to the bottom for another piece. L all the way, U all
the way, R, U, and now a careful examination of textures should tell you
how to get the buried gold chest. Dig the squares 2U and L2U of it and
then the square at the far left in its chamber. Climb back up to this
area and go up the final ladder and this time use the bomb on the wall
between you and the skull. Hustle back right and go down. It should
bring the bad guys to their useless state at the top but you can always
go right and climb down the first ladder when they come near to make
them fall. There should be enough time to bomb the wall left of the
short rope.
Drop in there and now get the next bomb and bomb the right wall. Stay
back to watch the chain reaction. Two guys will bunch on your right, but
big deal. Dig beneath where the gold was. Drop R, L, U, R, U, and L to
the door.
Level #050 G'ROUND
Get the goo and keep going DLR until you're at the bottom. Now you can
inch your way right so everyone else tends DL and thus take out a huge
chunk of your work. Then U, L, U, R, U, L, U, R and after waiting for
the bad guys to lump together at the top you can dig for the remaining
four gold chests over there. Now go to the DR and the bad guys will
follow again. L, U, L for two bombs and then U, L and drop right.
If you get stuck between two sets of bad guys below, goop the set of
three in advance and dig your way away from the two.
The rest is digging or bombing. Again you can get the bad guys to come
to one of the long platforms and destroy them. With the door DL again
you can sucker them into a heap and then outwit them.
Level #051 GOO GARBAGE
Run right. Off the right ledge, dump some goo to the right. Climb down
the ladder, go left for all the chests, right, all the way up the
ladder, and left. Instructions are simple, but you don't have much time
to spare.
Level #052 GOO LAND
R for the chest, L, U, R and drop for the goo. Where you land, go one
left, dig right, and dig two left. Dig as you climb down the stairs and
then go right and dig so you drop in on the red key. Go left and you
should be able to dig the monk there but if not there's a hole handy. If
you head quickly UL to the gold piles the bad guy will get stuck trying
to climb into the hole, a great opportunity to clear the top of various
gold articles. Eventually drop to the left and here you may need to use
a bomb so you might as well get all three enemies by bunching them
up(stand 1 above the bottom) and climbing down. Sadly you cannot run
across the top of them and the best try to get out without a bomb is to
run under one enemy before he drops.
The next toughest part is when you want to get the skull that is in
the DL. Again you'll need to fake bad guys out; whenever possible climb
up and down a ladder until you see them running to the right.
Level #053 IN THE THICK OF IT
Wait, drop right, dig left, and then dig behind you as you head right
to the stairs. If all goes well you'll have an easy climb and just need
to dig ahead of yourself if anyone comes at you. The upper right should
be pretty free with a little digging, but be sure to note the trap to
the left of the gold pile and right of the key.
To get to the left I drop down to the bottom and enter the cave. Bad
guys should lump together, then let them follow all the way right. A
great place to use the goop is on the bottom right. This allows you time
to pivot and get the gold in tough places, especially the DL one. If you
have any doubts just pick up another goop bucket and goop more of the
bottom. You'll never need to fall down there anyway until you get that
DL gold piece.
You can shake off and even bury one guy--you may want to dig so that
you can stand on the bad guy, dig left and drop for the gold(he is still
trapped that way.) Then you can run right and after a long wade through
the goo you'll make it to the promised land.
Level #054 RUN 'N GOO
The right timing here can be vexing. At first I thought you had to
complete the UL in one fell swoop but in fact the rope in the UR drops
over it. This is very useful. You can stock up on goo that way too.
R, get goo, drop, get gold, R, drop, get gold(you should JUST have
time) and now do the best you can with the rest. Leave some goo to the
left before you head right from the bottom platform. Get the goo to the
right and when you drop, move quickly right to R2D from the goo, pitch
the goo you have, retreat and pitch the other goo right so that you now
have a continuous row of the stuff. Now the bad guys are really stuck.
Reel them in until you have to jump left and down. Then quickly run
around--remember only one square up gets the ones in the goo running the
wrong way. Get the key at the ladder top and drop right. Trade the key
for goo and get the other gold before you drop back down. Run right and
throw your goo left once you're in the goo. Now that platform should be
covered entirely. Run left and fall onto the rope. Climb all the way
left but don't fall. When the head guy is one-half square away from the
edge, drop left and run right. You'll just make it.
The rest would seem to be just clean up, and in fact you'll be
repeating a lot. Be sure to run decisively to get the three gold pieces
on the one platform--don't wait for the bad guy to catch up. You pretty
much need to bunch the bad guys together by climbing around the rope,
dropping to the UL, waiting and slowly weeding them out. Then have them
come over the gooped platform, drop left onto the rope and dig a hole
for the one coming in behind you before going D, R. Eventually the bad
guys will leave the gold lying around in your path, and you can get it.
Be careful with the ladders leading to the exit. It's probably better
just to dig on the far left side of the UL platform and drop.
Level #055 GOO SHELTER
This level is rather placid and confusing as to why it's there--until
the end when it's hard to get that last gold.
U, R, get goo, then dig down where a bad guy may approach. Dig him and
then get the DR stuff. There are three more skulls in the center to pick
up. Drop goop to the left of the ladder leading up to them as that is
where bad guys will come in. You can dig the guy still on the right til
he regenerates on the left and then sucker everyone into the goo and dig
down. They'll go RD which puts them out of commission--encourage them by
hiding and reappearing. Go UL and then back down after you get one gold
chest. Then the top left may be the toughest but again you can follow
the same procedure. The goo will help you make it in time and the bad
guys should tend UR anyway. You can clear the UL that way.
So the main problem here is to get the bad guys to cough up the gold.
They should be in the UR and I think the best way to dislodge them is to
climb up the long center ladder. Leave a bomb and go down. Then run
across the platform created. Now place bombs to the right of the ladder
that descends to a dead end and then stay left on the edge. Come back to
nab some gold(bad guys will either cough them up or fall in holes) or
you can also dig down to get past the goop and go to the DR and stay one
above the base. The bad guys will head left, and you should be able to
sneak onto the ladder and get the gold, after which you can probably
bomb/drop from the top again to get to the DR and into the door that's
tucked away.
Level #056 SPLATTER BOMB
Tough start to the level! Leave a bomb when the bad guy is on the
rightmost goo square. Quickly right and left and then head down to the
bottom. Take the rope before you use the ladder to sucker the monks into
dropping below. You can probably sweep all the way right but in any case
you'll want all the bad guys to go into a corner--on the platform above
simply enter the cave and they will putz around on the left. Let them
follow you right and then climb the right structure to get the gold.
Leave a couple goos if you're feeling sadistic. This should give you
time to complete the left structure but if not then get them all
together by hiding and try again. You'll probably have some gold to
clean up downstairs, and later you may find that you want the bad guys
to cough up gold. One way is via bombs; you can drop into the quasi-pits
for that once the bad guys are good and stuck. The other way is just to
keep leading them on goose chases until the back one finally releases.
With two exit doors it should be easy to get out.
Level #057 HIDE!
Fall right for 3 gold and glue in the structure below. Drop onto the
gold, dig right twice, run left and dig left. This opens the left side
to you but it's worth a bomb in case things fail. Now everything else
should be easy to get unless a monk regenerated in the far left; dig the
wall left of the big ladder and get the bad guy to drop in before
digging left above him and falling in.
Now after you drop, if three guys follow you use a bomb. Eventually
some will get stuck where they can't get to you easily, and you can get
out. Leave digs to the left if you can and circle back to the upper
right. If a guy is on the far right ladder then drop down and leave a
bomb in time to blow him up.
You'll want to get to the base of the ladder between the two long
ones. From there move up, let off another bomb and move away. The gold
in the far UR should be yours--even if a bad guy is to the right he will
fall into a hole you made, and you can walk over him. Just wait at the
top in case he regenerates in an awkward spot. You may be better off
with a 2-1 dig than taking the far right.
You can bomb pretty carelessly to ward off enemies and dig the rest to
get to the entombed door.
Level #058 GET TO THE DOOR
The best way to start is to go to the UL corner and dig left to drop
into the thin corridor. Set the bomb to the right of the goo and run
left. Then run back left and fall down and quickly go into the cave. Let
the bad guys wander and you'll eventually have a clear path. Best part
here now is that bad guys who regenerate in the corridor are now
irrelevant.
Once back at the start R, L, R, U, R getting the gold along the way.
Go to the far right and dig left/right when bad guys appear so you can
drop down, where you'll need to dig left immediately. Run across, get
the red key, and dig your way out leaving the monk trapped. Then dig
left a bunch to see if the bad guys can get stalled a bit. You should
get time to pick up gold and maybe some will regenerate in the area
where you got the red key. This is good. You can sucker them left by
standing where they can 'see' you. At any rate clearing out the bottom
part should be no problem.
The safe-n-dumb way is to stay at the UR and dig a few squares and
wait for bad guys(do leave yourself some space in case a hole fills up
at an awkward time and you have to backpedal or even dig right and drop
down.) But surprisingly it's better to decoy guys around and pick away
at what you can.
Once all the bad guys are potted you can dig the three squares above
the final gold cart. Wait for them to start reappearing and dig the
right one below them. Then dig the leftmost of the squares that
reappeared, fall left, dig right and escape.
Getting to the red door requires continual digs left as you come down
from the top.
Level #059 LOOK!
L, D, R, dig, get the key, drop down the stairs and go left, drop
after you get the skull, and drop right. Clear the DR area and now you
may want to get rid of the UR. Bomb the other side of where the bad guy
is trapped to remove him as an obstacle. Climb to the top, dig the
rightmost brick, and drop for the skull and drop right for the gold.
This should work unless bad guys keep reappearing in the right. The
right half is now pretty well cleared.
Make sure there's only one monk in the left edge, mid-height for this-
-if not go over before you drop there and place a bomb two squares from
the ladder. That'll kill somebody.
Climb up top and drop left from the rope. Get the gold and then the
goo and dig down for two more. Dig above right of the goo and drop the
goo there. Then dig to land on the goo and quickly dig right and drop.
Dig left, drop, dig left and then L, U, L and dig right twice. This
should allow you to escape the one monk, and now you can clear out the
area to the left. Someone may have gotten stuck in the far left so have
a bomb ready. Then dig the squares above the skull before dropping down.
Be sure to wait for good timing if bad guys are circling below and note
that there is a trap under the bomb, so you don't need to worry about
digging, etc.
Dropping below lets you circle through the lower part. Note that the
bottom platform has some undiggable squares so you may want to time your
drop so you can go right and safely dig where you need.
Not sure what the keys are for.
Level #060 GOO BAGIE
This is a rather short and succinct and nasty challenge unless you
happen to get a bit of luck at the very beginning.
If one of the pairs of monks leaves a gold chest behind, then simply
sucker the other pair of monks into the pit and have them run around.
Eventually they'll release the chest(go to the top and get some goo to
drop on the bottom just in case) and after always making sure to keep
them close together, go to the side where the enemies are still trapped
and run up and over them. Drop to get the chest and exit to the side
door.
It's a bit tougher if both sides do their jobs. Note the monks head to
the left on the bottom when in doubt. Therefore if both sides of monks
pick up some gold, you'll want to start with releasing the right side
guys first. It may pay to spread the goop out strategically initially.
Pour the two close to the center on the bottom before bringing the bad
guys in, and you can even nip to one side to get goo to cover the entire
bottom. Then just wait at the top of the structure, near the center
drop, to bring the right siders in. Fall left. Lead them in a
circle(when they're close to you on the ground on one side, move U, the
other way, D.) Repeat until the gold appears and you can grab it. Then
go to the left and stand one left of the center drop. Get the monks to
follow you, and four are in play now. It's trickier to get them to
follow you and you'll want the guy with the gold on the end. Try
wiggling up and down or even letting one bad guy climb the ladder before
he falls. You want the guy in back to hold the gold, preferably the one
on the right side, because then you can flip to the left, sucker
everyone, and come back and get it.
To get the enemies bunched up stay one square below the UR. Then fall
down the ladder when they're on the rope to make them slow and
predictable.
Level #061 ICE TREE
It's pretty obvious early that you have to hide in the cave you
dropped onto. The bad guys will flee to the top eventually. Once they're
lumped together get a snare. Leave a snare when four squares ahead of a
chasing pack--it takes a while to set up. Pick up the snares one by one
and then you will only have to contend with two enemies. You will have
to lead the monks on and a good place to do so is in the bottom. Once
everyone's dropped down the detour to get the snares above is hardly
arduous. Remember that the monks may not show any gold they give up
after falling into a trap, so walk by and rob them if possible.
At the top you can use the bombs you find there at the base of each
ladder to get the gold. There should be plenty of time if you've dropped
the bad guys to the bottom right and run up. They'll take the long way
left. Take out the left side if they're in nowhere land, since you can
drop a bomb by the right side and take the ladder up and the bad guys
won't run after you. Drop off the edge and get the gold piece on each
platform before dropping to the top of the ladder and starting the whole
merry chase again, getting a big jump(stay one rung above the bottom)
and taking out the other side. The ladders should appear. If not then
check the hanging monks and let the others run along the bottom and
hopefully leave something behind.
There's a rope to the center at the top, but it is hard to see.
Level #062 ROPES AND LADDERS
Right two squares, wait, and drop when the coast is clear. This gold
piece and the one next to it are the toughest to get, but the snare wil
help things easier right away. Place the snare anywhere on the bottom,
next to a ladder, and wait. Run at the bad guys a bit if necessary to
make sure you catch one.
Now you'll want to use the other three snares as well. If there's easy
gold, take it, but taking six guys out of commision changes the level
from impossible to laborious. Usually you can just climb to the near-
top(only the side ladders get you to the top) and then work your way
dropping down to get to the snare, but you'll need exact timing to hit
the triangle button to pick the snare up. Remember to look both ways
before dropping and repeat the previous trapping procedure. Lumping bad
guys with the one-up trick is again useful here.
Having to pick up all the gold is much easier if you bait-and-switch
and climb up the far right ladder.
Level #063 ONE CAPTIVE ENEMY
Important thing to remember: do NOT dig a bad guy and trap him. Only
dig once when he's near, if necessary, to pass by him.
Zigzag up the left structure. Then drop to the right at the top, up
the ladder and fall right again. If you wait to drop until the monk's at
the top of his range and then sit where you landed, the monk will try to
drop on you. No digging necessary! Climb to the top. Now go up and drop
left--be sure to be quick as the guy below may fall into a pit he can
guard well if you don't.
Next you'll have to come around as you did before. This time you may
want to lead the center monk to the top and jump off. Let him fall and
now you'll have a lot more time to dig to the right of the ladder that's
against the wall. You'll need to dig the three squares bordering on the
right. Drop down, go right and place the trap. Go left and wait, and you
can get the rest of the gold at your leisure.
Level #064 HANG 'EM HIGH
This is a really good level from a puzzler's perspective, although the
wait period is annoying. Again, focus on snaring what monks you can
before chasing the gold. Go R/U to the top of the ladder and then go
left. Beneath the ladder stay at the far right, dig left, climb on the
guy as he falls in, and dig l;eft. Now you can run across. Leav holes
behind you as you cross. You'll be able to knock off three guys easily
with the snares later even if they regenerate and create a roadblock at
the top.
The snares are encased, and unless you're getting the UL(I recommend
the bottom first so there's that much less digging to do later) you'll
need to dig two squares UL/U2L or UR/U2R and then the square next to
them after you drop so you have a square of space to dig yourself out.
Then you'll need to circle back to the very UR. Wait for the bad guys to
make it and run left. For your first snare you can run all the way left
and up the left stairs. Place the snare to the right. You can repeat
placing the snare on top of the snare next time you climb to the UR, and
the final one you may need to set the snare at the bottom of the stair
and then come around and wait for the bad guys to catch up. Dig as you
did to get the UL snare but wait to fall until one bad guy is caught.
For the UL you can get it after placing one snare at the bottom. Dig
the left part of the platform above, drop, place a snare, at the far
left, dig the rightmost square, and drop to get a snare quickly. You
have several seconds' breathing room here.
Now get the gold. On the ladder above the cave with four, dig right,
down, dig right and get the crate. Dig left to get the four and circle
back UR again. You just want to dig a hole for the next guy but you'll
still either need to wait or use exact timing digging the left edge of
the long platform below the top or just digging left. Don't even leave a
hole behind for him; just go up and dig to get the skull.
You'll have to do this again to get back to the door on top.
Level #065 ROPE DUO
After four toughies you have one soft level where you just need to
observe something right away, or just after you try to slug through the
level and realize there was something you had to do first.
R, U, R, U, R and now be prepared to fall through the trap and push X
as you go right to get the trap. You MUST run left to get the skulls
here. Drop down and set up one snare. The falling monk will walk into
it. The next one will come down the pike shortly and so set him up the
snare too. Then you can just pick the gold off. It's a long walk to the
DL door but you can thumb your nose as you run back past the month.
Level #066 TO TRAP OR BE TRAPPED
Quick early thinking takes a lot of guesswork out of where to put a
snare. Five snares, three monks--the odds are in your favor. Just don't
put one where a bomb can wipe it out--leave the monks well and truly
trapped. You can afford to waste a bomb, too.
Right, get snare, place snare at foot of stairs, climb, and drop left
when the bad guy's close. One down. Fall left, get the snare, place it
two squares to the right of the stair. Bad guys will come down. Dig
right from that bottom stair when they're near as the monk behind
respectfully pauses as his pal gets strung up and you don't want the
hole filling too soon. Now veer UR and drop into the pit with the snare.
Dig down and go back UR if you must to get the final bad guy to follow
you. Put the trap at the next-rightmost square and hide behind it to the
right. Left and dig right twice on the ladder to get the three gold.
Fall right onto the rope, get the gold to the left, and drop on one of
the gold pieces below. How nice of them to put trap squares there--
you'll have to loop to get the other and all the way up--there's a trap
that ruins the DR path and the obvious shortcut in the center. Get the
two bombs at the bottom on the way.
At the top of the very center ladder, leave a bomb to the left and
retreat R/D for the moment. Drop left and dig your way out, then go to
the UL where you started and snared the first monk. 2-1 dig the very top
and dig the right square of the enclosed chamber. That structure is
cleared now.
Bomb at the base of the nearest ladder UR of the two entombed gold
pieces. That creates a path and even misses the snared monk. To the
door: R to the edge and U.
Level #067 GOLD GALORE
Go left to get the snare. Go two more squares left, use the snare, and
back up. Bam, one down. Then get the snare at the top of the ladder,
fake out the guy to the right, and leave the snare left of the caves
where you can hide to catch your breath. SNAP! Another down. You'll get
a bomb along the way but don't use it until you need to remove a wall.
After hiding go R, U on the stairs on the edge and get the snare. Run
left and use it when a bad guy gets close if one is to the left, or just
leave it behind otherwise and wait for the bad guys to catch up.
The big trick to try here is to get the gold on the bottom. You can
dig holes to make bad guys appear in the UL and not impede the rest of
the game but this makes it MUCH harder to get out--for a small finesse,
sink one in there as he'll be destroyed by the final bomb.
Whatever you do, you can run them up to the top, circle around, and
dig in the DR. Since you're so fast you'll have no problems getting back
up. Use the ladders to fake them out. You can probably outrun them back
up but you can also hide to give the maximum distance/head start before
you get to the next part--the UL.
From the UL part you can access, bomb the wall to the right, back up
three squares, and run in when it explodes. REpeat this until you get to
the right and get the gold at the top. The door will appear in the very
UL.
To get rid of the bad guys, drop down when they're in the center
climbing the rope above the pits. Use the bomb where you pick it up, in
the upper left.
Level #068 BOMBS IN THE WALL!
L, U, then clear out the entire right side and drop down the pit. Dig
left, get the snare and use it just beyond the monk. Get the bomb and
use it. Wait for it to blow away the wall and then its bombs will take
out the bad guys who come running at you. Up at the first ladder, get
the gold.
