========================================= T C A O I N Walkthrough L C Guide for E US Playstation R Version 2.0 T O ========================================= Written By: Outsyder (doutsyder@aol.com) ********WARNING-SPOILERS AHEAD********* This walkthrough contains spoilers into the game and its basic premises. If you have not played the game or don't want to know what lies ahead, please read at your own risk. *************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS 1) Quick Disclaimer & Version Info 2) Brief Intro 3) Characters 4) Police Robo Controls 5) Walkthrough -RESACA -FERZEN -AIRLEAF -ARCHEONIS AIRSHIP -GRIMTO -ABANDONED FACTORY -SECRET BASE -ROUTE TO COOLANT -ROUTE TO FLYING FORTRESS -AFTERMATH OF FORTRESS -THE IRON GIANT 6) Disclaimers & Copyright Info 1) Quick Disclaimer & Version Info =================================== This FAQ is copyrighted to me, Outsyder. There will be no unauthorized distribution, posting or profitable selling of this FAQ. If you wish to use the FAQ for your webpage, please e-mail me for permission. If anyone did post with no permission, then the person is untrustworthy in all due respect. Please e-mail me with any questions dealing with walkthroughs, Bosses and enemy battles at the address above. Compliments are also accepted. To those who played the game, please do not ask me for locations of photograph pieces, for I myself haven't a clue which pieces you find in each area. A FAQ dealing with this is located at Gamefaqs.com Copyright disclaimers will be found at the end of the FAQ. Being a fan, I do sometimes have my own little musings via some parentheses they can be humurous or critic-wise. No flames please. VERSION 1.0: Main information written. Most of walkthrough completed VERSION 2.0: Minor fix-ups. Walkthrough completed. 2) Brief Intro ================= Tail Concerto before you even open it can be said to be a "cute anime" game. However, it is a very fun and challenging game with one of the best storylines with heart and personality that would give many RPGs a run for their money. Aside from the basic "run and capture" element prevailing this game, the later levels provide many challenges that only one with dead-eye accuracy could pull off (like leaping from pipes, navigating with a jet-pack, etc.). The character concepts and personalities are amazingly well-done, as well as the outstanding anime cutscenes (Kudos to Mr. Nobuteru Yuuki!) and the US voice-acting is excellent (with a few certain exceptions *cough*TheKing*cough*) If you look beyond the cutesy characters and simple gameplay actions, gamers of all kinds will find at least one thing they would love of this game. This game is worth having in your little collection ...aw, enough with the intro and let's get down to the walkthrough! 3) Characters ================= Here I describe each major character in the game you play or interact with. (WARNING- SPOILERS HERE) WAFFLE RYEBREAD --------------- A Dog-boy and hero of the game. He's a cop for the Praire Police Dept and pilots a Police Robo walker. He's a friendly and devoted sort who thinks of others before himself. His only pet peeves are the badgering of his Grandfather Russell of helping him in research and the annoyances of Panta, and later Cyan, in trying to act big. Strangely, the only clothes he has are his police uniform and his PJs (which he still wears on his day-off)... ALICIA PRISS ------------- A Cat-girl and leader of the Black Cats Gang. Nobody knows a lot about the past of this eye-patched tomboy (the eye-patch is just for show. She does have an eye underneath it.), except she has a deep rooted hatred of the Dog-People. Apparently a champion for the rights of the Cat-People, she and her Gang make mischief and look for 5 crystals which a mysterious benefactor says will help Alicia build a new country for Cat-People everywhere. Underneath her rough exterior, she is a good-natured girl who apparently knew Waffle when they were still kids. PRINCESS TERRIA --------------- A Dog-girl and daughter of King Hound III of Praria. She is strong-willed and stubborn, which makes life difficult for Chamberlain, her personal companion, as she flies on her airship to anything that sparks her curiosity. When we meet her, she is kidnapped (or is it Dognapped?) by the Priss Sisters for ransom of crystals. She also brings out the jealous side of Alicia when she spots Waffle and Terria together, which leads to some very funny confrontations. All in all, the Princess is a nice character but apparently, not Waffle's love interest...now Cyan on the other hand. FOOL ----- A strange Cat-man with a righteously-given name due to his later actions. Fool is a weapons and arms dealer in the black market of Praire. He is the one who provides the weapons and vehicles to the Black Cats Gang in exchange for their...services in retrieving the 5 crystals. Although to the sisters he claims to help them on their behalf, his motives are more secret, and name-wise, foolish in the end. FLARE PRISS ------------ The youngest of the 3 Priss sisters of the Black Cats Gang. Flare is a spunky girl who treats the job the Gang do as fun. She is a troublemaking, naive and a spoiled little girl. However, she eventually becomes friends with Waffle later on briefly. STARE PRISS ------------ The "middle" sister of the Black Cats Gang. As her name implies, Stare only stares on at all around her. She is quiet, emotionless and unsociable. Her past is also unknown and she cares nothing about the troubles between Dog-people & Cat-people. She is only in the Gang to look after Alicia & Flare. At certain points, she can be pretty hilarious. CYAN GARLAND ------------- Captain of the Prairia Guards, Cyan takes his job very seriously in the name of the King and especially Princess Terria. His only shortcomings is his ego and his blundering actions. Despite his pompous and foolish shortcomings, Cyan is brave and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. RUSSELL RYEBREAD ----------------- Waffle's Grandfather is an archeologist whose main study involves the legends of the Iron Giant and the ancient civilizations of Praire's ancestry. An adventurer at heart, he goes out wherever there are relics to be studied and tries to solve ancient mysteries. He apperently is also "rivals" with Gray, Cyan's own Grandfather. CHAMBERLAIN ------------ The monocled valet to Princess Terria. Aside from his Droopyesque voice, he is always suffering at Terria's reckless behavior. He may not be strong, but he certainly knows how to help Waffle with information when the time comes. PANTA ------- This little runt (literally) is also a Prarie police officer like Waffle, but doesn't pilot a Robo. Even though he means well and tries many ambush attack attempts, his methods of capturing bad guys are very sub-par. Still, he's the official "saving point" of the game aside from the Robo's balloon. When Panta shows up, there will be a boss battle ahead. For a chuckle, check out his "victory pose" when he does it. KING HOUND THE III ------------------ The ruler of Prarie and father of Terria. He is a benevolent leader whose wisdom and gratitude to Waffle is better than his voice...Be grateful the game has text! POLICE CHIEF ------------- Waffle and Panta's boss. He places Waffle as the officer of the Black Cats case despite Waffle's objections for a day-off. Though he acts rough, he apparently has a soft spot for the kittens as players soon learn. KITTENS --------- These little guys are the helpers and followers of the Black Cats Gang. Originally orphans, Alicia and her sisters took care of them. Now they follow their every command and generally cause mischief in their own fashion. There are three varieties of Kittens. The Red Vest variety which are basic "grunts" and can run fast to avoid capture. The Blue Overalls variety which act as "drivers" for many of the vehicles and machines the Gang use. Finally, the Black Shirt Kittens are the slightly more dangerous variety as they mainly toss skull bombs as their attacks. 4) Police Robo Controls ======================== Ok, here's where we learn the basics of Waffle's trusty weapon/walker on the beat. Robo Movement: Press the direction buttons! (Duh) Arms: Press the Circle Button & the arms extend out to grab. Tap the button once for a left-hand grab, tap it again immediately for a right-hand grab and once more for a double-armed grab. These are good for grabbing furniture, boxes, power-ups of all kinds, mischeivous kittens, and enemy weapons. When you hold the button down, the hands begin to spin around in a vertical formation. This hand spin is great for destroying breakable items (and slapping wardrobes without having to tap the button again and again), as well as attacking certain enemies. However, don't let an enemy get close to the Robo as the spin continues. Defualt, the button serves to speak to people and do other actions as well. Bubble Blaster: Pressing the Square button shoots out bubbles. These are good for three things. Capturing fleet-footed kittens, destroying breakable items and damaging enemy weapons of all kinds. When you hold the button down, an "aiming line" will appear where you can aim the bubble when you left the button go. This is great for capturing kittens when they don't run right away. In the final parts of the game, you get something better than bubbles which you can shoot... Jumping: Press X. The longer you hold it, the bigger the jump. While in the air, continously press the button to have the Robo flutter and float clumsily back to the ground. This is good for a little extra boost of distance or for saving yourself from becoming a Dog & Robo pancake if you fall from a great distance. Flutter at the right moment when you fall and you won't get hurt (some of the time...) Grasping: Sometimes the Robo can grasp and hold on to something, be it a ledge, pipe or chain-link roof automatically. Here's the basics of grasping. Ledges- Press left or right on the pad to scurry from one side to the other. Press up and the X button to climb up. Press down and X to let go and come down (sometimes it's good, but mostly it's bad!) Pipes- Press up or down to slide up or down the pipe. Pressing left or right will move the Robo around the pipe. The X button plus a left/right direction will let the Robo from the pipe towards a safer area (or a free fall if you miss your calculations). Chain-Link Roofs- Jump up and the Robo will grab it. Press any direction button and the Robo will move in that direction. Press X to drop down. Dive Thrust: Near a wall, press X and the direction away from the wall and the Robo will "rebound" from the wall. Not many good uses for it, if you ask me. Forward Walk: Press R1 to move the Robo in the dirction Waffle faces. Backwards Walk: Press R2 to move the Robo backwards from the direction it faces. Watch out for a platform edge! Viewpoint Change: Pressing L1/L2 lets you raiser or lower the viewpoint of the camera. Not very good to be honest... The Jet-pack: Dr. Jones, an inventor in Airleaf, gives Waffle this adaptor. Sadly, you can only use it in Airleaf only. The controls to pilot the Robo with this on are slightly different. As explained below. Forward Actions- First jump and continue holding the X Button. Soon the engines will come to life and off you go! Press Up to move down (descend), Down to move up (ascend)and Left or Right for steering motions. You can fly as long as the motor doesn't blow up. Soft Landing/Rocket Propulsion Blast- Let go of the X Button and the Robo will fall. If the islet ground is too far down from when you shut off, tap the X-button softly to descend slowly. Holding the X-button however, propels the Robo straight up in the air, making the landing even more painful if the engine blows up from that high up. 5)Walkthrough ============= REMEMBER FOLKS. SPOILERS ABOUND. AS WELL AS THE MUSIONGS OF A FAN. READ AT OWN RISK. (ALSO PLAYED THE GAME AT NORMAL DIFFICULTY SO A FEW CHANGES MAY BE SEEN IN EASY & HARD) The game starts with an anime cutscene. Apperently set in the past. A little cat-girl recieves a pendant with a strange blue crystal in the center from an overly friendly dog-boy as gift for her to stop crying. Cut scene over, the stage sets on the island of Porto and the dog-boy, Waffle, already grown up. The cut scene is a dream of his past and is looking forward to a day-off until he get a call to action. The Black Cats Gang, a group of troublemaking pirates, are attacking the island of Resaca and Waffle gets sent to investigate and stop the Gang. So much for his day-off... With some last touches to his Police Robo, our hero begins his mission. As he flies off, we have yet another anime cutscene about the land of Prarie and the mysterious civilization that lived before as well as the strange crystals they left behind. Cut scene over, Waffle arrives in Resaca. ********************* * RESACA * ********************* Resaca Harbor-As soon as he enters, the camera pans to a giant orange machine that looks like a hot-air balloon with two giant hands piloted by three cat-girls. The machine flies off to a floating island in the distance connected by a tower. Waffle goes after them. Talking to the populace (and a very jittery mayor who is worried about his wine), the first thing Waffle must do is clear the warehouses of the kittens inside. First Warehouse- This building stands next to the warehouse that was blown up by the machine at the start of the level. Press the action button near the door and enter. Inside you find 6 Red Vest Kittens and three boxes. These kittens offer little resistance, constant playful taunting, and a speedy escape dash. Due to the size of the warehouse, you can try chasing after them and catching them with the Robo's arms. But if you wish to save time, just fire the Bubble Blaster and the kittens will be yours for the nabbing. When you capture them all, you'll hear a tone telling you the area is kitten-free. Always listen to it in case you find yourself without any visible kittens you nabbed, only to learn a few are hidden around. One of the boxes contains a whistle. Second Warehouse- The door next to the first warehouse. Here you'll meet one of the early level's most frustrating enemies. The Black Shirt Kitten. These don't bother running and will throw Skull Bombs at you. Luckily, their "reload" rate is slow so you can just avoid the bomb by moving aside. Grab it and throw it back at the Black Shirt. Once unconscious, you can catch it just like any old kitten. However, since the Kitten is in a very low area. You can just go right in and nab it, or bubble-capture it and nab it. Also, there is a group of 15 barrels here. Some of these are shaking. Pick them up one by one and you find 4 Red Vests hiding around. Once you break open their hiding spots, they will be momentarily stunned letting their capture be easy. Once you get them, leave. Final Warehouse- The warehouse with a red awning on top. This one is the last challenge of the "first" area. Two Black Shirts high on top of catwalks (no pun intended) and 3 Red Vests scurring around the floor. Ignore the Red Vests and go after the Black Shirts. As Waffle hinted, grab the bomb, hold down the button and an aiming line will appear. Jump and toss the bombs to the Black Shirts and they will be knocked off the catwalks. Once they are out, go get the Red Vests. Once you nab that last Red Vest, suprise! 4 more Red Vests pop up. Capture these little guys and the warehouse area is now kitten-free. Before leaving, break one of the barrels in the corner to get a First Aid Kit in case you got hit by a bomb. With the Harbor clear of kittens, the mayor talks about the three cat-girls that are going towards the floating castle ruins above the tower and the door next to him opens up. Onto the next area. Resaca Central Plaza- This area is huge. One lonely house in the center, two houses near the edges of the island, two double doors which are locked tight at the other side, and a giant tower with a floating island on top. After the monologue, 4 Kittens (2 Red Vests and 2 Black Shirts) hop down. Also, there is another Red Vest & Black Shirt doodling graffiti nearby. The area is bigger and more open than the warehouses, so you should use the Bubble Blaster to catch them all. Strangely, these Black Shirts are not the normal variety as they don't toss skull bombs and run around like the Red Vests do. Seems once you capture these easy small fry, the worst is over. Is it? No. From behind the tower, 2 Blue Overalls Kittens appear in planes which constantly drop Skull Bombs from below. To make matters worse, touching the planes will hurt (not seriously but will be annoying). You can do 2 things: Grab a bomb and lob it at the plane before it detonates or fire the Bubble Blaster constantly at it. Either way, once the plane starts to shake and sputter, it will crash-land, rendering the Blue Overalls pilot unconscious. Fail to get them and they will run around like a regular Red Vest. With the planes and their pilots gone, you recieve a bag of coal. With it, enter the Tower. Before you do, look around the houses near the island edges and you find bones. Use them in case the "Dog fights" with the planes caused damage. Resaca Tower & Ruins: The dog-man worker needs the coal the kitten was carrying to make the elevator work. With it, the elevator becomes operational and Waffle goes up. Once up, you meet the runt cop Panta. As annoying as he can be, his presence means a big battle is near. Use the radio to Save the game and walk towards the door. Another cutscene appears. Meet the Priss Sisters. Alicia the eye-patched leader, Flare the spunky baby sister, and Stare the silent middle sister. It seems they found a Red Crystal and Alicia chides Flare for having her chocolate-covered hands dirtying the crystal. Cut scene over, Waffle appears. Before he gives them their rights, Alicia & Waffle apperently recognize each other (Yes, these are the same two "kids" from the opening cut-scene). Waffle openly admits that but Alicia says she doesn't know him. Instead, she and her sisters prepare to fight. FIRST BOSS: BLACK CAT MECHA-I (The Two-handed Balloon) This boss has three attack forms. The first is skull bombs tossed by the arms (which are "telegrammed" when Flare says "Here I come!" and Stare's unenthusiastic "Yah..."). The second is a forward charge followed by a grab-and-toss move if Waffle is too close to them (it will be coming when Alicia says "Here I come!"). The final attack is a series of three cat-shaped bombs with legs that drop from the bottom of the Mecha which home in on the Robo, pump themselves up and explode (These will be coming when Alicia says something gibberish. Still haven't figured out what she says...) Strategy is simple. Catch the skull bombs Flare & Stare toss and throw them back at the Mecha. Run to avoid the charge and catch, and get a headstart from afar when the cat bombs come your way. Catch one immediately and throw it at the mecha. If one gets near you and is ready to explode, you *can* still grab it in its pumped-up form and toss it. Just don't let it detonate. If all else fails, or just for additional damage, use the Bubble Blaster. Sadly, this is the only boss battle in the game which features power-ups like Bones and Food cans just in case your energy runs low. After a long bout, the Mecha will become scrap. Bruised, beaten, burnt, but not giving up, the girls beat a hasty retreat in a Red Vest's balloon. Alicia finally calls Waffle by his name and vows revenge. Flare unwittingly agrees, but it's Stare's comment which brings a chuckle and the house down at this point. Waffle ponders over Alicia and gets the Red Crystal they left behind. Suddenly Panta shows up and the Police Chief talks to Waffle through the radio. The chief places Waffle on the Black Cats case, much to Waffle's burst bubble of a vacation. Waffle mentions the Crystal but the Chief pays no attention to it. Message over, Panta tries to make Waffle feel better and agrees to help him out. Waffle decides to talk to the people now that Resaca is Black Cats-free. However, we cut to the Sisters in their room. Alicia is brooding and Flare whines about being dirty. Suddenly, trouble comes their way. A purple-dressed cat-man named Fool appears and chides the girls about their defeat. He also mentions about their deal in collecting the "five crystals" and Alicia sticks to their bargain. With a small sales pitch of his reputation, he leaves. The scene ends with Flare complaining about Fool's "smell". Downtown Resaca- Remember the locked double doors? Well, they are open now and you can enter Downtown. One word of warning. Don't get hit by the car. It will damage you! Here, there is not much action just talking to people. Talk to a Dog-man in a business suit to learn the location of the Ferzen mine. Note the first reference to the Iron Giant here. A Dog-lady will tell Waffle about the Airleaf islets. Now there are two locations. First, go to the Ferzen Mine. Return to the harbor and board the airship. In the map screen, move towards the bright spot of Ferzen and you are there. FINAL NOTE: Should you decide to go to Porto first to view any photos you get here, an SOS will come when Waffle returns to the Robo about the Airship Archeonis is in peril, thus it gets opened here. But let's go on a regular walkthrough and go to Ferzen first. ****************** * FERZEN * ****************** The action begins even before Waffle arrives in Ferzen. High in the skies over Ferzen, a bright white airship is on its way to the mines. Its occupants Princess Terria & her valet Chamberlain. Terria is apparently curious about the Iron Giant's head in Ferzen and goes to see. Chamberlain however isn't too happy at Terria's recklessness. Before he could complain any further, a gigantic orange cat-headed airship looms overhead and surrounds the little royal ship... Ferzen Camp- This is where Waffle dock his ship and soon as he lands, Chamberlain comes limping towards him. He tells Waffle of Terria's kidnapping by the Black Cats and is excessively worried. Waffle agrees to go save her. Start off by climbing the stairs and walking on the building's roof. Follow it around to reach the catwalk. Walk across and you see a flat cliff face. Jump on and keep walking. You see another flat cliff face but it's too high, leap at it with the direction pad right on it and the Robo's arms will automatically grab it. Hoist yourself up and walk some more, jumping into another building roof. The next jump is tricky since the roof is high. Jump with the directional button directly towards the roof ledge and hopefully the Robo grabs it. If it doesn't grab on, start fluttering quickly to avoid getting damage from falling from that great height. Go around the tight ledge to see a door above another roof......and a familiar cat balloon docked there. Grab that next ledge, hoist up and enter the door to the 2nd Mine. 2nd Mine- Keep walking to reach the door. Cue the cutscene. Alicia begins to gloat over capturing the Princess and Terria begins complianing and to let her go. Alicia is surpised at her bravado and asks Stare is she really *is* a Princess. The response only angers Terria and baffles Alicia. Before the scene gets any messy, Flare announces someone arriving as the cut-scene ends. Waffle bursts through the doors demanding the Princess released. Alicia takes advantage and asks Waffle for two things. One to return the Crystal (which he does) and the second to find the second Crystal in the mine. Once he finds it, they will let Terria go. Alicia warns Waffle that the gang is already looking for it so he'd better hurry. Waffle leaves after that. With the conversation over, go back out to the Camp. Once out, drop down back to where you began and go down the slope to another door next to a Dog-miner. Open the door and enter the following door to reach the 1st Mine. 1st Mine- The entire Ferzen Mine Complex is divided into 9 sections. A map nearby tells you about it. The number in red is where you currently are and shows directions to get to other mine levels. Press Circle near a cart or jump on them to get going. If you jump too far, the Robo will sail off the cart and plummet to the pits below so it's safer to just press Circle. To save time and round trips in mine carts, go this way for the first part: 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 (4 & 5 leads to photo pieces and like I said earlier, I will not get into photo-pieces). Hop on the cart with the sign 2 and let's roll. Mine # 2- You are greeted first by a group of 6 Red Vests and one lone Black Shirt. The Red Vests will run. The Black Shirt will toss bombs. Since it's in no high place, just grab or bubble trap it and then grab. Once captured, 3 pillars of smoke will come from the ground and with it will appear 3 Blue Overalls driving Drillers. The drillers' only attack is slowing ramming into the Robo. With no bombs around, the only way to destroy the drillers are with bubbles so start blasting. Once their machines are gone, grab the Blue Overalls kittens and you're done here. Move onto Mine # 3. Mine # 3- This is an interesting formation. 2 Red Vests. 2 Blue Overalls pushing chariots with 2 Black Shirts on top. Whatever offensive you pull on the chariot-duo (bombs or bubbles), you will hit the Blue Overalls first. Grab them. Once they are gone, the chariots stand still and the Black Shirt will lob bombs. Destroy the chariots and those bomb-tossing kittens will be KO'ed and yours to capture. Onward to Mine 6. Mine # 6- Now *this* is a challenge. 3 Red Vests, 2 Black Shirts and 2 Blue Overalls Drillers. Ignore the Red Vests at first, get bombs from Black Shirts and toss them at the Drillers. Once there are no machines, bubble trap them all at your leisure. Once they are done. Head to Mine 7. Only a miner and a door there. Go through the door and you'll find yourself on a bridge above the mine. Go across to another door and enter the 3rd Mine. 3rd Mine/ Mine 8- This mine has two parts. 8 and 9. You start at 8 and ride the rails to 9. Along the way, you see a good shot of the Iron Giant's head. (Looks more like a shark if you ask me...) Mine #9- A pedestal like the one you saw back at the Resaca Ruins is here and broken into as well. 4 Red Vests are here and one of them has the crystal. When you get it back. You have two ways to go see the sisters. One is going through the cart nearby and taking a risk with a well-timed leap on your part to reach the 1st Mine entry....or go back all the way through your original cart and leap off the bridge. Your choice. Anyways, get back to the 2nd Mine and hand over the Crystal to get Terria back! 2nd Mine Return- Waffle hands over the 2nd crystal and Alicia releases the Princess but not without revealing her hatred of the Dog-people. Once they scatter, Chamberlain reappears and is glad Terria is okay. She herself gives you thanks. With the royals out of the way, time to go find the Sisters! The door behind them leads to a ladder. Climb down and reach an overturned cart. The cart bursts open and reveals Panta once more. After the interchange, save the game and take the first-aid kit from one of the nearby boxes to boost up your energy. Once past the door, the sisters appear with yet another Mecha to try and destroy the mine...and Waffle along with it. Round 2 starts now. SECOND BOSS: BLACK CAT MECHA-II (Drill-handed Long-tailed Machine) Now this boss is tricky and versatile in offense. Its attacks include a high speed drill charge that rams into the mine walls (it's coming when you hear Alicia's "gibberish") that also knocks a few rocks lose that might hit the Robo, a giant tail spin that swings the long tail at you while moving (when Alicia says "Here I come!"), a series of drill headed bombs that will follow you around, dive into the Robo when close and detonate when landing (they will appear with Flare's "Here I come!"), and finally a series of Skull Bombs thrown by Stare when you get too close to her little seat on the long tail. The strategy is simple here. Once you hear the drills moving, stay away from being in front of them *and* being close to the wall so it doesn't ram you. If a rock that comes down doesn't hurt you, pick it up and throw it at the mecha. Not exactly a bomb but does damage. The tail spin attack is avoidable from afar, but if you are close, jump over it as it spins past you. Finally, just move quickly to avoid the lock-on of the drill bombs. Some of the times, these bombs won't denote after crashing, giving opportunity to pick them up and throwing them at the mecha. And finally, just for added bonus, use the skull bombs Stare tosses at you when near her. Through the rocks, drill bombs and skull bombs, the mecha will be history quickly. With their new toy broken, the girls again retreat, but not without Alicia accusing Waffle about not siding with the Cat-people. This confuses him but before she can give him answers, she leaves. Waffle then finds the two Crystals left behind again and takes them. The scene cuts to the Camp and the airship dock. Princess Terria & Chamberlain are there already (seems Terria is excited about being kidnapped once. Geez, this girl would also like being poisoned as well?!) and thank Waffle for his help by taking him to Prairia Castle for a special thank-you from the King. Prairia Castle- A nice cutscene of the castle and its surrounding city is shown with flair and we switch to inside the castle where Waffle gets thanked personally by King Hound III (on a side note, this guy's voice makes Scooby Doo sound understanding!) With that done, Waffle leaves...only to be stopped by a red Robo and its driver, Cyan Garland the Captain of the Praria Guards. He challenegs Waffle to a contest in capturing the Black Cats for Terria's admiration to Waffle's indifference. Anyways, with that done, the map screen appears again. With all the action of Ferzen, there is little bit left to do...unless you remember the second location you recieved news from in Resaca. The islets of Airleaf. Time to go there. **************** * AIRLEAF * **************** Islands. Islands. Islands. That's what Airleaf's made of. Waffle lands his ship on one of the bigger ones with a house on it. Upon stepping in, Dr. Jones, the inventor who lives there, begins to fiddle around with the Robo and adds a jet-pack to it! Sadly, the jet-pack will only be around in Airleaf and no other place. No kittens or Black Cats here to find, just someone lost who is lying under a "TARGET" sign. This is a difficult stage due to the distance between islands as well as the engine power dying every time you fly. The yellow bar under your life bar is the jet engine power. If it goes out completely, the jet-pack explodes and you plummet. If an island is beneath you, no problem as the jet-pack recharges itself. If only sky is below (no need to bother pointing that oxymoron), say good-bye to some of the Robo's HP. To start off, head "east" from Dr. Jones's island to reach an "s" shaped island with two trees (you have to pass another S-Island with power-ups as well as an islet with a photo piece to get here). From here, go to the next S-shaped island with two boulders at each side (look to the west for this island while still in the island with trees). Next, fly high up and to the southwest and you reach two islets with one shaped like a moon and the other as a star. Carefully hover to the star islet to get a good head-start to the next landing area. From here, fly to a circle of islets with a cross-shaped islet with a bone in the center. Get the bone if you are running low on Robo HP. Hop to an islet next to the cross-shaped one until you see two different areas ahead. The target island area shown to your upper left and a set of islands to your upper right. Fly to the upper-right islands first and try reaching one of its stable areas when the jet-pack blows a fuse. A good landing zone is the heart shaped islet directly between these two island sets. From here, go left and you see your target. Land there and you see a broken airship and an unconcious figure. Talk to the figure and it wakes up. Waffle recognizes the old dog-man as his own Grandfather, Russell. After a light scolding from the grandson, Russell asks him to help in research of the Iron Giant. Russell leads Waffle towards the Egg Stone. Egg Stone- Nothing here except a giant round-shaped object known as...the Egg Stone (duh). Russell at first is indignant at Waffle's attitude about his work but Waffle quickly apologizes and wonders of the legend. Russell then explains it to him via a very dramatic cutscene which shows the Iron Giant in its past glory around a fiery inferno. Cutscene finished, Russell leaves to continue his research. Waffle should also leave and return to the case..but where to next? Maybe Porto holds some help. Porto Return- Asking around gets him nowhere so Waffle boards his ship again, only to recieve a message from the Chief. Word is the Black Cats gang hijacked the luxury airship Archeonis and is circling around Resaca. The Archeonis is therefore the next stop. Board the airship and head over there on the map. (As mentioned above, after you return from Resaca and have the choice of going to Ferzen or Airleaf, returning to Porto lets you choose the Archeonis as well. But I decided to leave it last among the first missions. Going back and forth to Porto is a great way of getting new places to go as well.) ************************* * AIRSHIP ARCHEONIS * ************************* Archeonis Exterior- Remember one of the laws of physics when walking across the outside of the Archeonis. The wind will constantly try and knock you off so keep a steady balance as you walk. You land on the wing of the Archeonis and have to reach its center. Walk up and around a large turret until you see two long red pipes at the sides of a walkway. Do not touch the pipes as they are "piping" hot! (Sorry bad pun!) Walk carefully along the center avoiding the pipes and wind currents and you reach a ladder. Climb down to enter the Archeonis. Archeonis Interior -Passenger Deck & Engine Room- Once inside, you can go talk to the passengers and crew and then have two ways. Through the door or down below to the Engine. The engineer there says he is unable to fix the engine due to his missing tool box. You must find it for him. With that info, go through the door. Archeonis Interior- Main Hallway- Here, you find 3 Red Vests and 3 Blue Overalls piloting Balloons. Unlike their Drillers or Planes, these Balloon kittens drop blue firecracker balls that are impossible to grab and toss back, and will explode on contact. The good thing about them is that you can damage them with the Robo's arms! Hold down the Robo's arms and they will go into spinning mode letting you mow down the Balloon. Just avoid the firecracker balls and touching the balloons head on. If they are impossible to hit with the arms, just Bubble them down. From here, you can go straight to the Cockpit, the West Passenger rooms and the East passenger rooms. Head to the West Passenger rooms first. Archeonis Interior- West Passenger Room Hallway- The hallway is home to 4 more Red Vests and 2 Blue Overalls Baloons. Mow down the Balloons before the firecrackers become hazards and go into the closest room to the door to the Hallway. Seems the Kittens want to play Hide and Seek again like they did in the Resaca warehouses. There are two very visible Blue Overalls kittens hiding under a chair and sleeping atop a bed, a Red Vest kitten is hiding in the chest of drawers and one final Red Vest kitten is hanging one of the lamps along the wall. (This is one of the few times you see Blue Overalls kittens without piloting a machine!) For laughs, and becuase the room is extremely small, grab hold of the chair the Blue Overalls is hiding under and you see it hang from it as you hold it. Once you uncover these four, leave. The room next door holds a First Aid Kit and a Whistle just in case the Balloons drained you out. With the West rooms clear, head now to the East rooms. Archeonis Interior- East Passenger Room Hallway- No kittens in the Hallway this time. A lucky break for once. Head into the nearest room. 5 Red Vest kittens jumping around the room are seen. Capture them right away or at your leisure. The next room has more hide-and-seeking kittens with a Red Vest running around, a Blue Overalls hiding under the table and another Red Vest hanging from the upper pipes. Catch the Red Vest scurring about and the Blue Overalls under the table. Eventually, the last Red Vest will tire and drop down allowing you to capture it. When you capture the last one, you find the missing tool box. Head back to the Engine room and the engineer will fix it. Now time to head to the cockpit. Archeonis Interior- Captain's Room & Cockpit- The Captain is apparently allergic to cats and his wild sneezing fits at the control is what is causing the ship to go haywire. Help out his sinuses by ridding him of the 4 Red Vests and 2 Blue Overalls Balloons surrounding him. With all the kittens gone, the Captain is able to talk well now. Apperently the kittens were to take the Archeonis to a factory. Waffle thinks that could be their hideout. With a final thanks from the Captain, Waffle hops to his Airship and resumes his investigation. No new areas pointed out so head back to Porto. Porto Return 2: This time on the airship radio when you enter, Chamberlain tells Waffle that informants learned the location of the next Sisters' sightings on the Island of Grimto. You're now Grimto-bound. Head back to the map and land on the newly opened spot. ************** * GRIMTO * ************** Main Area- The feature you will see first as soon as you enter will be the gigantic sword of the Iron Giant stuck at the center of this forest-like island (guess he wasn't called a Giant for nothing!) Waffle lands and he is greeted by Chamberlain and...the Princess! Guess she got adventurous again and wants to help out. Waffle is more sensible and asks for her to remain put. She reluctanbtly agrees. We then have a cutscene of Alicia spying on both Terria & Waffle and the elder Prisd is angry at their "flirting". Flare wants to see what is happening and Stare mildly chides Alicia to not spy. Alicia retorts with "watching the enemy" and the vein starts popping to Stare's dismay. With the humurous scene done, you regain control. Checking the gate to the left shows it's locked. Go then to the right area. Right Grimto, Pedestal- As soon as Waffle enters, he spots 4 Red Vests surrounding another broken crystal pedestal. They soon see him and they go running off towards the opposite direction. Follow them! R. Grimto, Passage 1- The 4 Red Vests are here...and they brought a bodyguard! A flying head with wings and gnashing teeth named Gubgub! This "Black Cats mascot" is completely invulnerable to the Robo's attacks and the Bubble Blaster! You must carefully capture these kittens while avoiding Gubgub. Once you capture them all, leave, and then return. Gubgub will be gone! Now you can explore the area without trouble. The R. Grimto passages are like a maze but fortunately you can always find the way out by finding the opening with the arrow sign. This area has two unmarked opening, to the left and straight ahead. Let's go left for now. R. Grimto, Passage 2- Gubgub is back and it again protects 4 more Red Vests. Capture them, leave (via the marked sign) and return. There is a south and north entrance in this area. Go north. R. Grimto, Passage 2-N- Gubgub and 4 Red Vests again. Luckily, there is a bone hidden nearby to regain any energy you lost with the strange beast. Capture, leave and return. Nothing new here. head back to Passage 2 and head South. R. Grimto, Passage 2-S- A strange box with a flower on top is here and will begin hopping all over the place. Another kitten perhaps? When you get close, hit the Circle button and your little buddy Panta will bust out from the box with the flower still stuck on his head! The runt's always a riot. Save if you want, there's no threat around for now. Leave and head all the way back to Passage 1 (use the signs) and head North. R. Grimto, Passage 3- More Gubgub mayhem! Capture the 4 Red Vests it protects and you get the Purple Crystal! Get the bone if you want if you are running low and leave. There's no more openings here. Head all the way back to the main area. Main Area Return- Chamberlain meets Waffle as soon as he arrives and says Terria has disappeared and possibly kidnapped again! (This girl has a serious problem...) Head immediately to the locked gate and Cyan will be waiting there. He scolds Waffle for not taking care of Terria and then opens the gate to walk in and take command of the mission. Before too long, a terrified scream from Cyan will be heard. Go through the gate to see what happened. Forbidden Forest- Was Cyan ambushed? Was he dead? Nope. He got stuck in a mudhole! You can sit back and hear his "brave" dialogue as he struggles until you decide to walk to him. He claims he got himself trapped in "quicksand" to "warn Waffle of the trap". (As Waffle would say, "Right....") Cyan then tells Waffle to take the lead. Leave Cyan wallowing in the muck and grab the bone near the mudhole in case you need extra energy. Now is a good time to go save so head back to either Panta or the Robo's balloon to do so. Then return to the Left passage and head towards the opening in the back. Clearing- Waffle finds the Princess minding her own business in the open. She claims to have seen the sisters and followed them. Before anythign else, a loud rumbling is heard and a giant tank with a cat's head and six legs leaps from the forest and lands in the clearing. Alicia comes running from the Mecha towards the two dogs. She begins to fight with Terria about her stalking him. Terria answers back to let Waffle. The dog-boy cop tries to calm the two ladies only to meet death glares from them both. Finally, Alicia accuses Waffle of flirting with the princess and then goes on the rampage. Time to fight! THIRD BOSS: BLACK CAT MECHA-III (Six-legged Tank) If you paid close attention to the introduction sequence before you begin the game, this was the Mecha you saw the sisters piloting. Now you get to fight it at last. This boss can turn out to be tough especially after the two easier bouts with its predecessors. To make matters worse, there is only one "wall" and the rest lead to edges that the Robo can fall in. The battle will be long and hard, and if you aren't careful, you'll use a whistle or two. The Mecha's attacks are a barrage of cat bombs that will continously be launched from the tank's gun (they will be shot when Alicia yells " Darn it! Fire!"). If you are too close to the Mecha, Alicia will say "Here I come!" (or her "gibberish") and slap one of the legs down on you. If it connects, it does a lot of damage! And with the tank constantly homing in on you, expect to get plenty of hand-slaps attempts. Now for the strategies. Even though some cat bombs do not explode when they land, they will be hard to find due to one of this game's most dangerous enemies, the camera! You must look for these bombs while both watching out for the tank *and* the cliff edges if you aren't too careful. If there are bombs that didn't detonate still on the clearing, the Mecha will launch bombs that will detonate. It's best you find them and use them. Once you get a bomb, walk a few feet away and aim the bomb at the tank. This will be the main way to damage the Mecha aside from constant bubble barrages. Another innovative way to have the bombs explode on the Mecha is to "lead" the Mecha towards a bomb and time the hand slap to accidentally hit the bomb and explode on them! This is very tricky and requires plenty of luck and accuracy on your part. The battle will be long and hard but if you keep your energy up and move without stopping to avoid slaps, you will succeed. With the Mecha totalled, the girls once again try to retreat in a Red Vest's balloon. This time though, Flare loses her grip on the ladder and falls back down to the clearing. When she lands, Cyan comes charging in and makes the arrest on Flare! (Idiot...) Alicia tries to get back down to rescue her, but Stare stops her and they leave. Waffle then reappears with Panta, Terria & Chamberlain, with the Princess fuming over Cyan's brazen behavior but the valet claims Cyan was doing his duty protecting her and even Waffle admits that Cyan was the one who arrested Flare. When the royals leave, Panta comments on Waffle's charm with the ladies (and does his explosive victory pose). Praria Castle Prison- One of the few moments of pure RPG reflection and charm we find in the game. We cut here with Cyan keeping watch over Flare. He asks her where the Black Cats' hideout is but get nothing but defiance from the young Priss sister. He comments on her stubborness and leaves, with poor Flare crying (This was a moment I felt pity for the poor girl. Honest). Then Waffle shows up sans Robo and Flare also tells him she won't squeal on her sisters, but that isn't on Waffle's mind. They talk about Alicia and why she is the way she is. Through Flare, we learn of the true "sisterhood" of the Priss trio and Alicia's dream. She nearly gives away the name of the one who is helping them (but we all know who *that* is, my friends), but stops short before she tells the entire plan. He soon leaves after reassuring her that Dog-people don't hate Cat-people. After that sentimental scene, Cyan returns asking if she finally will cooperate. Flare appears to get sick and Cyan starts to panic, opening the cell and going in to try and cure her. The resourceful girl then gets up while he's muddled and goes out, locking the door behind him. With her escape at the hands of Cyan's stupidity we close the scene. On the map, head back to Porto. Porto Return 3- When you check on the Robo's airship, the Chief radios in a message. The Archeonis-captured kittens gave info that they were taking it to their weapons factory for spare parts. Asking how the kittens cooperated, the Chief shows us he ain;t that tough. Signing out, get on the Robo and head to the map. A few inches above Resaca is the Abandoned Factory. Head there and be very prepared! ************************* * ABANDONED FACTORY * ************************* Ok, sports fans. This is the first major challenge area of the game. If you aren't careful or accurate enough, be prepared to use quite a few whistles here. Various perils such as dangerous jumps, tanks, and other threats will test the Robo's limits. Keep your nerves steady cuz here we go. Factory West Side 1- The door is locked (big surprise) so Waffle suggests using the pipe to the left of the entrance. The pipe will begin to flash when you approach it, jump on and hoist the Robo up. Jump off to the right when you reach the top and you will land on a platform above the door. Walk a few feet and you reach a group of pipes. This is the first series of many difficult jumps you will make here. Climb on the first pipe and slide to the right just a bit, calculating where the next pipe is and jump off with the X and right buttons. If successful, you grab hold. If not, then watch out below! From here, have the robo face in a south-east position from Pipe 2 and jump towards Pipe 3. Here nudge the robo to the "bottom pipe platform" where a bone awaits. Take it if you made several errors while jumping. Grab hold of the pipe near the bone and nudge the Robo in a northeast trajectory with the following pipe. Jump off and cling to it. A solid platform with a door is found when you leap from this final pipe. Land and go through. Factory Passage 1: Here you see 4 Red Vests...and 2 Tanks! These tanks slowly move across the floor while the guns home in on Waffle and shoot out Skull bombs his way. Unlike other Skull bombs, these explode on impact with Waffle or the floor. There are two ways with dealing with these tanks. Take the long and hard path by using bubbles *OR* if you are daring and lucky enough, place yourself between two tanks and they will accidentally fire bombs into each other while trying to hit the Robo. Once these bad boys are destroyed, the Blue Overalls kittens piloting them will be exposed and you can nab them. With all the kittens captured, the left-hand door is unlocked. Go through. Factory West Side 2- Pipes and a bone (in case the tank battle was hard) to the left of you and a elevator platform to the right. If you try to climb the pipes from here, the scalding steam coming from the vents will damage you. First go up the elevator platform and headleft. You find a red valve there. Use the Circle button near it and Waffle will turn the valve, shutting off the steam in a vent above you. Head back down and climb the pipe with the vent. before reaching the steam vent, carefully turn to the south-west and
 jump to the next pipe. Swing around in a space where the steam won't hit you and climb
 up. Once out of the steam's range, swing to the north-east and jump back to the first 
 pipe and climb on up. The next jump is a bit tricky. You must face in a spot between
 north east and east itself (tough to describe, huh?) and leap to the pipe that had the
 steam shut from the valve. Climb until you find another platform with a door. Enter.

Factory Assembly Line 1- Jump onto the treadmill and immediately get off at a solid
 catwalk located south at the end of the treadmill. If you keep going down, you find a
 much-needed First Aid kit. Go back to a wall with a shutter in front and jump up, the
 Robo will latch itself to the railing roof. Carefully swing through the roof while
 avoiding the steam bursts from the vents. Wait until the vent in front of you stops
 before going further. When you see a solid catwalk below you, press X to let go.
 Another treadmill, going in the opposite direction is here, with steel pounders going up
 and down trying to flatten unsuspecting Robos. Carefully walk and keep momentum on this
 opposite-motion catwalk while avoiding the pounders. When you reach a pounder that has
 landed, keep holding the right button and once it starts to go up, try doing small jumps
 to give you a bit more boost. When you reach a solid space, you see ahead a broken
 treadmill. If you stay more than a second on top of these broken platforms, they will fall
 with you on them. Jump and move across them until you reach a high ledge. If you are
 lucky, you landed on the third broken platform and is ready for a final jump to the
 ledge. Hoist the Robo up from the ledge and you reach a door. Go in. 

Factory Passage 2- Again you face 4 Red Vests and 2 Tanks. Use the same strategy as
 explained above. Head right when the doors unlock.

Factory East Side 1- Go the rightmost pipe and you find a platform with a Food Can. Take
 it if your HP is low. Then go left. Hoist up this pipe and jump off when you face west.
 Climb up Pipe 2 to have a clear jump away from the steam vents and jump off when you
 face westward. Jump from Pipes 3 and 4 also facing west while avoiding the steam. When
 you are finally on Pipe 5, you see platforms coming in and out from the wall. Jump as
 soon as the first platform starts coming out and quickly move towards the second platform
 part. When Plat. 1 start to move back in, jump towards the incoming Plat. 2. Do the same
 while moving to Plat. 3 and you find a solid platform when you get off. A bone nearby 
 will replinish your energy. More pipe-climbing action awaits! Here, check the design in
 the center of the platform and move towards the center of the upper "cross" and carefully
 face right. Here, use the R1 button to have the Robo move towards the edge. Take "manual"
 control from hear and jump off! If you did it correctly, the Robo will latch onto the 
 pipe. Climb up and up until you see a pipe to the left. Jump off from a south-west angle
 and climb up Pipe 2. Here, swing until you face west and slide down until you land on a 
 tiny pipe platform. It will be easy to jump to Pipe 3 from here. Here will one of the
 toughest jumps. Face the west and jump in a north-west angle and you might catch hold of
 Pipe 4. When you do, a platform with a door are here. Go in. Rejoice as these are the
 last set of pipes with sky below as your challenges!

Factory Assembly Line 2- Three treadmills are here. The first one goes up so keep moving
 down to avoiding falling at the top. The second treadmill goes down and will contiously
 drop Skull bombs with short fuses on you. My advice is go compeltely down on the first
 treadmill just near the edge. Face right and as you automatically go up, jump towards the
 second treadmill when you have a clearing between bombs. The next treadmills also goes
 up, but with a tank on the solid platform next to it! However, this tank is colored 
 purple so it doesn't move and only fire. These tank-types are compeltely automated so no
 kittens to nab when you destroy them (The orange-hued tanks however are controlled by
 Blue Overalls kittens). It will be a challenge to attack it while you're on the treadmill
 so keep moving down when you reach the top of the treadmill, shoot bubbles with no
 stopping and avoid the skull bombs it shoots. With the tank destroyed, climb any of the 
 two pipes you see up. A treadmill with bombs going down is at the top. Wait until you
 have a clear jump and go for it. Next you have a platform with a railing the Robo can
 latch on below. The trouble is if you try to jump onto it when you are below or above
 the range of the platform, you will not be able to. The trick is to move up the
 treadmill, jumping over the bombs until you are at the exact center of the treadmill and
 stay there. Soon the platform will come and you can latch on to its bottom. Ride it out
 and drop when you reach a stable platform with a ladder. Climb up and you find a First Aid
 Kit. Take it and wait until the top of the sliding platform comes towards you and get on.
 When you reach the opposite side, you find a door protected by another Purple Tank.
 Quickly get out of its range and get on the platform it's on. Move around it as you blast
 it with bubbles and it will be destroyed in no time. Go in through the doors.

Factory passage 3- A trio of Red Vest and a Trio of Orange Tanks are here as your final
 threats before goin further. Go through the final set of doors when you clear the room
 of the kitties. Here there is a box and a ladder. Break the box to get a Food Can and 
 climb up the ladder to the Top Floor.

Factory Top Floor- Waffles notices the Black Cat Mecha-III on his arrival to the top.
 He deduces they just keep rebuilding the robots he scraps. Before he could ponder some
 more, Blue Overalls kittens riding Planes appear. Waffle then chooses to destroy the 
 Mecha first before it becomes operational. A boss fight begins!

FOURTH BOSS: UNFINISHED BLACK CAT MECHA

   This is possibly one of the easiest battles if you keep your wits about you. The Mecha
 itself does no damage but the Planes dropping Skull bombs do. You can't damage the
 planes even if they get to your level. Just avoid them and their bombs. Also, a wrecking
 ball in a crane will ride around the floor attempting to drop the heavy iron ball on
 Waffle. Since it is so slow and with the ball's shadow visible, you can easily avoid it.
 However, the impact of the ball landing will send out a shock wave that Waffle must jump
 over or it will damage the Robo. 

    You can damage this Mecha by either Bubble Blasting it or grabbing the Skull bombs
 and chucking them at the Mecha. Just keep an eye out for the wrecking ball and planes,
 and leaping over the shockwave. When the Mecha blows up, it damages the entire Top Floor.
 Taking the Planes and the crane out of commision!

   Amidst the rubble of the Top Floor and dazed kittens, a voice laughs at Waffle from
 afar. The voice is impressed at his "entrance" and will keep an eye on the cop. Waffle
 demands the voice to show itself and we pan to a purple balloon in the distance. The
 occupant goads Waffle to catch him (you already know who *this* is) and the dog-boy
 obliges. We now head towards the Secret Base.

*******************
*   SECRET BASE   *
*******************

Entrance- A view from afar show this to be an island occupied by a giant cliff with two
 waterfalls at its side. Upon landing, Waffle suggest to save and I suggest you do it too.
 After braving the dangers of the Factory and what will happen soon, it is imperative you
 save! After doing so, Waffle walks towards the entrance and a trap door opens up beneath
 him!

Cellar Entryway- You really won't get hurt when you land but the "voice" will taunt Waffle
 for coming. He then says he will be waiting for the cop in the study on the top floor...
 if he can make it. Brush off that threat and climb up the pipe towards a door above you.

Piston Room- Pistons repeatedly going up and down as elevators are your only way of
 getting to the next door. But your "friendly ally" camera will make going through this
 room a tough one. Not to mention constant steam vents blowing the scalding stuff
 everywhere. Wait until the initial steam vents stop until going towards the main piston
 area. Carefully get on one of the first pistons and accurately do a short jump
 towards the next one despite the bad camera angles. Keep doing accurate small hops and
 you reach the door. If this gets frustrating and you get scalded a few times, there's a
 First Aid Kit here to heal up.

Cellar Chamber- For lack of a better name, this is the Cellar Chamber. When you enter, hit
 the pink panel and it will turn green. Get on the piston and go up. A chain-link platform
 will move from side to side here. Grab hold of it when it is near and swing until you
 reach an extension of another chain-link platform if you move fast enough, you latch unto
 this new platform before the one you currently are on moves back towards the piston. From
 here, move left and up (while avoiding a steam vent shooting steam up) until you reach a
 hidden alcove with another panel. Smack it and the platform you were recently on begins
 to move. Get on it and ride while avoding the three steam vents towards the "front below"
 area where a stationary chain-link platform awaits. get on this one quick and swing
 towards the door at the end. Before you leave though, get a good head start in the small
 break of the platform near the door and leap. You will be on top of the platform and you
 can grab hold of a Bone, Whistle and Food Can respectively. Just avoid the vents!

Heat Panel Chamber- The entire floor of this room has red hot heat panels that will harm
 the Robo and make it jump if touched. There are two ways of going about this chamber. Use
 the moving platforms to ride it through to the next door *or* take punishment by leaping
 *INTO* the heat panels until you reach platforms near the door. Your choice. There is a
 Food Can and a whistle lying around here as well. Once you head through the doors at the
 other side, the real danger begins...

Danger Room 1- When you enter, the voice commends Waffle on reaching this far...and 
 presses the Self-Destruct switch for the base! You now have exactly 5 minutes to find
 your way out or else you will find out really if all dogs go to heaven (bad pun again)!
 From here go straight towards the pipe and climb up towards the sliding platform. Wait
 until it fully extends before jumping  towards another sliding platform. Move north to
 another pipe. Jump towards its curve and you land a firm area. Climb up the pipe to
 find another platform with yet another pipe to climb. When near the top you see an
 elevator platform move up and down with steam vents  shooting out at random. Carefully
 jump on and avoid the vents. Keep moving and you see another elevator platform with more
 steam vents. Carefully jump here and avoiding being steam sprayed. You don't want to head
 back all the way down! From here, ride up to reach one final elevator platform. Once at
 the top of this one, walk towards the door.

Danger Room 2- Here you must make your way through the sliding platforms while avoiding 
 gigantic spiked balls on pendulums. Should they hit you, you get knocked down the floor.
 Don't fear because a ladder leading back to the start of this room is nearby. Just 
 remember you are on a timer so be careful. Wait for opening between platforms and
 pendulums and you will make it. A bone & First Aid Kit will tantalize you nearby. If you
 have more than 3 minutes left on the clock, you can be daring and get them. If you make
 it, head through the doors.

Danger Room 3- This is short but tricky. Climb up the ladder and you will see spiked 
 panels coming in and out of the wall. Stand close to the edge of the first panel when 
 it extends and start moving when it is both moving back in and where the spikes don't
 hurt you. You will make it across all four panels easily if you keep moving. Once out
 of harm's way, climb up the pipe (if you go all the way up, a whistle will be waiting
 for you at the end of the horizontal curve), and land on top of the fourth spiked panel
 as it extends out. If you move quickly you will make it across the other three before 
 they all move back into the wall. Leap from the first panel and you will land on the
 platform with doors. Go in.

Top Floor- You may be at the study but of course your "host" is nowhere to be found. There
 is nothing of value here except books (and a picture of your host). Go quickly through 
 the other set of doors since you are still on a timer. Once you go out here, you escape
 from the base in the nick of time as it explodes.

  As Waffle escapes, the purple balloon piloted by Fool (if you didn't guess he was the
"voice", then you have trouble...) is seen. He commends Waffle's luck and vows they will
meet again. Congratulations my friend! You have passed one of the hardests "arcs" of the
game. Time to relax with something a bit simpler now. Here you return to the map. Head to
Porto.

Porto Return 4- When you go to the airship this time, a message from Russell comes 
 through. He wants Waffle to meet him at the Ferzen mine and hangs up before Waffle can
 answer back. The dog-boy reluctantly agrees to go with the hopes he can take the
 Crystals for analysis. Here, the next "arc" begins.

***********************
*   ROUTE TO COOLANT  *
***********************

Ferzen Camp- Talk to Russell at the entrance. He was searching the Giant's head and wants
 Waffle to go see a man named Gray, who has translation references Russell wants. He also
 says they don't get along well so he wants Waffle to do it for him. Gray, he says, is
 doing research in the northern island of Coolant. Before leaving, Waffle gives Russell
 the 3 Crystals to check them out. Russell says these crystals were made with the same
 technology as the Giant. A connection perchance? Perhaps. For now when the conversation
 ends, head back to the airship and go to Coolant. It's way up north on the map. You
 can't miss it.

Coolant Main Area- This place looks more like a floating iceberg than an actual island.
 When you land, you find the Black Cats already here as you face 2 Red Vests and 2 Blue
 Overalls-driven sleds with Black Shirts on top. Use the same strategies you used against
 the Ferzen mine chariots here. Once kitten-cleared, enter the doorway in the middle of
 the island.

Gray's Shack- As Russell says, Gray isn't too hospitable and asking him for the references
 will result in nothing. However, if you get all the kittens from the island, he might be
 more willing to help. Head out.

Coolant Main Area Return- Before reaching the doorway at the far end, 4 Blue Overalls
 Balloons show up. Unlike their Archeonis cousins, these do fire Skull bombs instead of
 firecrackers and you can still damage them with the spinning Robo Arms. Get rid of them
 and their pilots and enter the far end doorway.

Inside Iceberg 1 - This is the only area of the game where Red Vests fight back! If you
 leave them be for too long, they begin to make snowballs on the ground and throw them at
 you. If they land on the floor, they will roll and get big. If these snowballs collide
 with the Robo, you get damaged. Get all 6 Red Vests before they start making snowballs.
 If one already holds a snowball and you grab it, the snowball the Red Vest was holding
 wil be thrown and you get hurt. Wait until the Red Vest throws it and dodge or jump out
 of the way. With the kitten pack gone, you can go on ahead. Hmm...another broken crystal
 pedestal is here. That means you must get every kitten to get the Crystal they stole.

Inside Iceberg 2- 6 more Red Vests with snowball throwing abilties are here. The walls
 surrounding this area are covered with spiky icicles so stay clear from them. Once you
 nab the final Red Vest, you get the Yellow Crystal. Go back to Gray.

Gray's Shack Return- Gray reluctantly congratulates you on your feat and gives *YOU* the
 references and not really to Russell. Talk about a rivalry! Well, you got what you came
 for so head back to Ferzen and Russell.

Ferzen Camp- When the references are delivered, Russell will solve more mysteries of the
 Giant. He will pronounce his findings when they both return to Porto.

Porto Return 5- At Waffle's house, Russell arrives to unveil his research on the Giant.
 From how the parts found in Prarie and the ancient civilizations at war to actually
 what the Crystals were used for. In a dramatic anime sequence, we learn how the ancestors
 of Prarie's people made the Iron Giant as a weapon to aid them in the war with the other
 civilization, but the Giant was too strong to be controlled and destroyed them all. The
 survivors took to the skies and waited for the Giant to sleep. When they did, they took
 from the Giant its power source, the *FIVE* Crystals and scattered them. Hopefully to
 make sure nobody would collect them and reawaken it. Still in the cutscene, we cut to
 Waffle and Russell as the dog-boy deduces that the Black Cats apparently want to reawaken
 the Giant. Before anything else happens, an explosion rocks the peaceful island and we
 see the same Airship Fortress that we saw during the beginning of the Ferzen episode with
 Terria attacking Porto! We close in on the ship to see the sisters (with Flare back) at
 the helm. Alicia boldly demands Waffle to surrender and return the Crystals. Waffle
 knows he can't do that and takes to his airship to stop them. In pure cinematic fashion,
 he zooms in on the Fortress and flies around its side towards the back, ending the anime
 sequence. The final battle with the Black Cats Gang is about to take place!


*******************************
*   ROUTE TO FLYING FORTRESS  *
*******************************

Flying Fortress Backway- Waffle lands here and swears he will stop Alicia. Before going
 inside, head back to the ship and save. Go right in afterwards.

Fortress Passage 1- Upon entering, Alicia talk to Waffle through an intercom and a shutter
 opens up above the doors on the other side. 7 Planes fly out. With such a multitude of
 planes tossing bombs and with the tiny space you're in, you're bound to lose some HP if
 you aren't agile enough. Capture the 7 Blue Overalls pilots and the door below the
 shutters open.

Fortress Hangar- Well, seems we found the hangar where the Planes are. They are all lined
 up ready for you to Bubble Blast them to scrap. Unfortunately, 2 Purple Tanks are here to
 guard them from saboteurs. Also the Planes still will damage you if you walk into them.
 You can destroy the tanks right away or have their bombs accidentally destroy the planes
 or themselves (if you're fast enough) for you. With the tanks and planes gone, head
 through the doors the tanks were posted at.

Trapdoor Passage- Do you see the grap squares on the floor? If you step on them, they open
 up and you fall the floor below. If that happens, just climb the ladder nearby and you'll
 be back at the Hangar. This passage also has 3 Purple Tanks that will try to blast you
 into the trapdoors if you aren't careful. To make matters worse, cat bombs are also
 present and will run after you, pump themselves up and explode just like in the first
 boss battle. Try running along the safe areas of the floor while blasting the tanks.
 You can try grabbing the cat bombs and lobbing them at the tanks too, but with constant
 running, it will be hard to aim. When the tanks are gone, go through the doors or go
 back down to the cellar to grab the many power-ups and the whistle here in case you got
 hurt. Once back at the passage, both tanks and bombs will be gone.

NOTE: A new strategy I learned is to "lead" the cat bombs by having them follow you and
 stop around a tank. When you stop, the bombs will stop, pump and detonate, damaging the
 tanks! Of course, you'll take some damage, but this kamikaze strategy will mostly drain
 you out of 30 or 40% of energy rather than countless higher percentages if you just blast
 them with Bubbles while avoiding the trap doors!

   When you enter the next passage, Cyan comes charging in from behind and decides to
 go on ahead of you. (On a side note, how did Waffle know of Fool? The only instance when
 he even heard the name was in the conversation with Flare. Guess the scriptwriters made
 a goof. But eh, why should I nit-pick?) When he goes through the next door, you hear
 his bloodcurdling scream, kitten voices and plenty of explosions. He then goes out,
 bruised of both his Robo and ego. He claims he was ambushed and his Robo breaks down.
 Leaving Cyan to rest nearby, Waffle goes on ahead.

Fortress Passage 2- Cyan may have been ambushed but he possibly might have cleared some
 of the enemies here. You fight here 6 Orange Tanks. These move unlike their Purple
 versions so keep moving, blasting with bombs or trick them to fire at each other.
 Capture their kitten drivers and go on through.

Fortress Underside- You are now underneath the Fortress. Jump up from where you stand and
 you will latch onto a chain-link platform. While swinging, you see short-fused skull
 bombs falling down on top of the platform and detonating. Keep moving to avoid having
 them blow up on you. Once you a solid platform below you, drop down immediately. You'll
 have another chain-link fence with more bombs here. Use the same strategy and you reach
 a platform with doors.

Fortress Ramp Complex- This is place is truly a puzzle. If you are below a ramp, giant
 cannonballs will roll down the slope attempting to squash the Robo. Go up the ramp on
 head to the left. From here go down the next ramp and go through the door on the right
 ( to Waffle's immediate right from this point). Then go all the way up the new ramp to
 the doors in the middle.

   Upon entering, the "voice" (Fool) talks through speakers and congratulates Waffle on
 making it this far. He then apparently says he will defeat you personally and the boss
 music starts up...only for it to die down and the "voice" saying he won't defeat him
 after all and leaves! Waffle goes through the door as he hears an explosion. He then sees
 that his section of the Fortress has been detached from the entire ship! As the back part
 of the Fortress explodes, Waffle manages to get to his airship and leaves.

  We then cut back to Porto with Waffle safe. He wonders where the Fortress went and
decides to investigate. Talking to a Dog-lady outside tells him that the Fortress flew off
to Airleaf. Hence, that's where we are headed for.

Airleaf- Upon entering, Waffle is talking with Dr. Jones and learns the doc has seen the
 Fortress. Dr. Jones then installs on the Robo his newest invention, a Fortress Detector
 which will show the Fortress on the map. He also fixed the jet-pack to hold more power so
 it won't break down as quickly as it does. You finally can be able to explore Airleaf
 better (for the photo-pieces of course) or go straight to the map to find the Fortress.
 On the map, you see the familair cat-headed ship. Land there.

  Before Waffle even arrives, we have a small anime cutscene with Alicia in her room
holding the same blue pendant she recieved from Waffle many years ago (or in the first
cutscene of the game. You make the call). She holds it close to her and sighs. Guess she
is not as tough as we thought. She then gets startled as the door opens and finds no one
there.

Fortress Backway- As Waffle enters he is resolved to capture them, but has worries if he
 is doing the right thing. He enters. Pass through this small area to the next doors.

Fortress Arena 1- Just as soon as you enter you find Stare & Flare waiting with a strange
 looking mecha that has the cat's head, a magnet for one hand, a mallet for the other, and
 two legs. Flare says they must fight. Waffle tries to talk her out of it but she is
 adamant in her resolve to do what Alicia says. Waffle then asks Stare if she will fight
 and she says she wants him to "show his beliefs through his actions" (very cryptic words
 from her...). "Prepare" she finally says and that's what you must do. The fight begins!

FIFTH BOSS: BLACK CAT MECHA-X ("Magnet/Mallet" Walker)

   This fight is possibly even harder than the one with the Mecha-III. The boss has three
strategies and that's all it needs to put Waffle out of commission. When Flare says "Here
I come!" she starts up the magnet and attracts the metallic Robo to her. Hold down the
direction button opposite to the attaraction of the magent to avoid getting pulled in
close to the Mecha. While the magnet is on, and even if you are near or close, Stare will
pound the mallet down with her "Yah..." towards the ground. If it connects with you, it
does *MASSIVE* damage! Even if it doesn't connect, the pound sends out 3 shockwaves like
the wrecking ball back at the factory. The shockwaves can hit you up to three time if they
hit. To avoid them, jump as soon as the first shockwave is almost beneath you and start to
flutter, you will avoid all three of them with this move. Stare may pound the mallet once
or twice depending if you are far away from the magnetic field.

  When the magnet turns off and the mecha walks, the mallet may continue to be pounded.
Soon, the cat's head will begin to move and the mouth opens. Flare says "Fire!" and a
cat-headed homing missile will shoot out directly for you! This missile will prove to be
a hard weapon to avoid at any time. You can try to fake it out by jumping aside as soon as
it nears you (but it's tricky) or you can actually wait until it's close and accurately 
grab it before it hits. If successful, the missile will take the Robo around the arena
in a crazed path. When you have the Mecha in front of you, let it go and it will explode
on the Mecha.

  After the missile is launched, the magnet will be turned on again and the pattern will
be repeated. This will be a long and hard battle if you use only bubbles, but if you are
careful enough to avoid the magnet and mallet, and successful in grabbing the homing
misssiles, you'll pull through. 

NOTE: A new strategy I found is to be extremely far away from the Mecha when the magnet
 turns on and immediately hold down the R2 button (backwards motion) while facing the
 Mecha. The robo will be able to avoid the majority of the magnetic pull and be drawn to
 it at a very slow speed. While holding the button, start blasting with the bubbles.
 However, once you see the mallet start to lift, be ready to jump and flutter. If you are
 too close to the Mecha even with the R2 Button held, revert to manual directional button
 movement. 

   With the Mecha destroyed, Flare asks if they will be arrested and Waffle answered he
 will wait for the day they become friends with the Dog-people. The two girls soon leave
 with a final word from Stare that they will meet again. Two down and one to go! Go on
 through the door and leave the arena.

Fortress Passage- When you enter you see a box shaking in the center. Head to it and it
 starts to hiss and explode. High on a beam, Panta appaears and does another explosive
 victory pose. Another failed ambush attempt it seems. When he comes down to talk, he
 mentions Alicia possibly behind the door in front. Save right now and take the First
 Aid Kit from the box in the corner. After fighting that Mecha piloted by Flare & Stare,
 you need it! Once you are ready, head to the door and voices will be heard.

Fortress Arena 2- Alicia is talking with Fool here with the latter having a plan to both
 destroy Waffle and get the Crystals. Alicia seems hesistant until Fool reminds her of 
 their deal. The Crystals will be the key to create a homeland for Cat-people, just what
 Alicia wants. Waffle immediately burts in and Fool introduces himself (here is the
 formal intro to his name unlike earlier with Waffle & Cyan...), and Waffle recognizes
 the name as that of a illegal relics merchant. He tries to sweet-talk saying he is a
 "warrior for Cat-people". Alicia then gets defiant and has Fool leave so she can take
 of Waffle herself. When he leaves, Waffle tries hard to make her stop becuase she's being
 used, but she doesn't listen and is ready to fight. The second boss battle in minutes
 starts now.

SIXTH BOSS: BLACK CAT MECHA-X mk.ii (Megaphone/Mallet Walker)

  Seems Fool made two walkers for the gang and here's the second. However instead of a
magnet, this one has a megaphone for a hand. You may think without magnet capabilties
that this fight will be easy right? Not a chance. If you see the megaphone reach the
Mecha's head and you hear static, DODGE LEFT OR RIGHT IMMEDIATELY!! Alicia will send out
powerful insult soundwaves that does huge damage. (She packs three different insults, by
the way. But you'll have to play the game to know what they are). The soundwave doesn't
do as much damage as a direct-hit mallet pound but it's close! Aside from the megaphone,
she also pounds the ground with the mallet sending shockwaves (you hear her gibberish)
and of course shooting the homing missile when the cat head opens and she yells "Fire!".

  Same strategy works here. Move to avoid the mallet and jump & flutter to pass the
shockwaves. Avoid the missile or be lucky enough to catch it and throw it back. Just
remember you have to avoid the soundwaves from the megaphone too! Depending on how fast
you move and fire the Bubble Blaster, this one should be easier than the  first Mecha-X
battle.

  When the Mecha explodes, Alicia gets thrown out rather painfully. Waffle pleads with her
to stop, but she still is no mood to talk and feels hurt. The arena roof opens and Alicia
flees via a balloon piloted by Fool. When the two leave, the Fortress starts to self-
destruct and Waffle hightails it out of there. Once on his airship, the Fortress starts
to explode and is no more. The Black Cats Gang is officially destroyed...but what about
the Priss Sisters and Fool?

*****************************
*   AFTERMATH OF FORTRESS   *
*****************************

Porto- Waffle is back here and ponders over Alicia and wishes things between them could
 be like before. He resolved to go look for her. Back on the streets, talk to a fat 
 Dog-man and he will tell Waffle about a story of his past involving a certain Cat-girl.
 After this dialogue, we now know just why she hates Dog-people so much *and* why she was
 crying in the first anime sequence of the game. Arriving at his airship, Waffle recieves
 a message from the Chief congratulating him on breaking up the gang and to go look for
 the 3 sisters, who fled in seperate balloons. That's Waffle's new mission. Time go to
 find them. Head to the map.

Ferzen- No sisters or airships here.

Airleaf- Nothing here except Dr. Jones and the jet-pack.

Coolant- Gray is still researching here. Besides, it's too cold.

Egg Stone- Nothing but the enigmatic relic. Hmm...two places left...

Grimto: A-ha! A blue airship is seen. That means Stare is here. Simply head right to
 the broken pedestal passage and she is there. Up to the point, Stare asks Waffle what
 he thinks of Alicia. Stare goes on to say how Alicia feels and how her heart aches over
 her youth (Remember the story of the dog-man in Porto) and asks if he is capable of
 healing that pain. He is doubting but says he's a good listener. He tells if there is no
 way to talk about your feelings that it will be painful. Stare admits his honesty in
 return and agrees to follow him. They both return to Porto.

Porto Return- Waffle lets Stare stay in his room despite being small and she comically
 responds to his words. He then goes to find the rest. Already there is one last place
 to go.

Resaca: You probably wouldn't come back here right away since it has been a while since
 Waffle came here. Anyways there is a yellow airship which indicates Flare's here. No
 Flare at the harbor or in the Central Plaza. Going up the tower to the ruins also shows
 nothing. There are two places to go now. The locked house in the middle of the Plaza or
 the servant's entrance found aside the doors in the Downtown district. Either door you
 choose you will lead to the same thing. A ladder going down where you see Flare in the
 corner. (Note: choosing the servant's room entry will lead to a group of pounders you
 must carefully watch out for. The other entry will give you a clear path).

   Waffle now talks with Flare. She is saddened over everything and wonders if she is
was wrong in follwing Alicia's mode of thought that Dog-people would harm Cat-people.
Waffle restates his claims that they don't hate each other at all like he did at their
prison chat. She agrees and Waffle takes her back to Porto.

 NOTE: You can take either one of the girls in any form you choose. You can get Flare 
first in Resaca and then Stare in Grimto or do what I wrote above. Getting Flare first
provides a less-humurous reply that the one Stare gives. For laughs, bring the silent
middle sister first. Either way, it will take you to the next step.

LAST WARNING: If you need to find any more photo pieces, do not find the second sister
 yet becuase from here on, the game will take over.

  With the two younger Priss girls reunited Waffle wonders about Alicia. Nighttime soon
arrives to Porto and Alicia appears pacing back and forth in front of Waffle's house until
she finally knocks on the door and he answers. He brings her in to see her other sisters.
They tell her Waffle brought them here and she seems quiet and softspoken. He then 
announces he will talk to the King and Flare gets scared if they will go to jail. He says
to not worry if they feel sorry and pay for the damages they caused. Even after the talk,
Alicia still looks quiet. Stare asks what's wrong and Alicia just silently says she's 
fine. Waffle proposes for them to rest. During the night as Waffle sleeps in the Robo's
garage, he feels the presence of someone who was there and finds the Crystals gone! We cut
to the outside with Alicia running towards her airship and apologizing for what she did.
Waffle then appears and sees her balloon flying off and calls her name in vain. (RPGs, eat
your hearts out!)

Egg Stone- We cut here with Alicia arriving and running up to Fool. She gives him the
 four Crystals as her promise. He cackles and says his plan is finally coming together.
 Alicia yells that he should escape since Waffle is on his way, and the arrogant cat-man
 says with ultimate power there is no need to run to Alicia's surprise. Waffle then
 arrives a moment too late. In one of the most dramatic anime sequences of the game, Fool
 announces he will finally awaken the Iron Giant and he tosses the four crystals into the
 Egg Stone and they start to shine. As Alicia is perplexed over all this, Fool laughs and
 announces the fifth and final Crystal was....the pendant! Alicia gasps as she finds it
 no longer with her. Fool snickers saying the Crystal was "under his nose" all the time.
 he tosses the last Crystal in the center and the Egg Stone starts to shine brightly while
 Fool cackles wildly. From all around Praire, the pieces of the Iron Giant begin to come
 to life, breaking apart the islands they were enshrined in and start forming the
 formidable behemoth. It then walks towards the Egg Stone and the trio. Fool starts to
 command the Giant to kneel before its new master and starts to smile as the monster
 approaches him. Waffle tells Alicia they should leave right away. Fool's smile turns to
 fear. His name comes through as he forgot one fact Russell gave us: The Iron Giant could
 never be controlled by anyone, let alone a stupid-named cat who awakened him! It grabs
 the island with Fool still on it, crushes it, and swallows the Egg Stone. The camera goes
 for a faraway shot as the Iron Giant roars ending the sequence.

Praria Castle- Waffle announces the Giant is back to life and destroying Prarie. He 
 wonders what everyone can do about it. Here, you find your allies and Flare and Stare.
 Alicia & Cyan are nowhere to be seen. Talk to everyone but leave the King for last. When
 you talk with Hound III, Panta runs up to give Waffle a message he recieved. In an anime
 sequence, Alicia is on her balloon and says she's going to ge the pendant back despite
 Waffle's warning. She get swallowed by the giant and Waffle is shocked. We then cut back
 to the initial cutscene of their childhood. Waffle now realized what Alicia meant by
 being the only one who cares for the Cat-people and we return to the present. Terria
 snaps Waffle from his thoughts and says to him to go after her. The scene cuts to outside
 as the Giant draws near. The castle rumbles at his coming and Waffle bravely goes towards
 the Giant. The behemoth fights back with its sword and it proves impossible for him to
 enter. Who should appear but Cyan! He wants some of the "glory" as well and will be
 distracting the giant while Waffle enters. The dog-boy sees an opening and goes inside 
 the  Giant and after Alicia with the anime sequence ending. This is the final level!

********************
*   THE IRON GIANT *
********************

  Waffle lands in the liquid interior of the giant. His airship no longer working. he then
looks up and we see a series of different platforms above him with Alicia's airship at
the top. That's where he should be going now. The controls are different here inside the
Giant. When you jump, it seems like you are in a zero-gravity zone so it makes precise
jumps difficult. Don't worry about falling from heights here. It's liquid so you'll float
down. Also, the Bubble Blaster no longer fires Bubbles, but Plasma Shots! Awesome! Use
these to destroy the strange worm creatures that float around the Giant. These will hurt
you if you aren't careful!

  First head off towards the green platform surrounded by four spikes. Don't worry, there
is ground as you walk to it. When you walk into the circle on its center, you are
instantly teleported to a higher level. A series of blue platform float around this area.
Jump carefully into one and ride it out, shooting any worms that approach you. You can
jump off to a red teleporter from here or try jumping from platform to platform to reach
a light-green one. I explain walk throughs through each of the teleporters.

Red Teleporter- You arrive in an area with red platforms placed at different heights. Jump
 on from one to another until you get to a yellow teleporter.

Light-Green Teleporter- Two red platforms await here. When you step on one, it carries you
 to another set of red platforms. Keep going until you get to a yellow teleporter. Step
 right in.

Yellow Teleporter- A green platform below you. Step on it, and a bridge of green platforms
 forms. Carefull jump from each one to reach Alicia's Airship and a blue teleporter. You
 made it!

Iron Giant's Core- You get teleported here and find Alicia lying unconscious nearby. 
 Waffle runs towards her and a drop of energy drops from the ceiling and onto the ground.
 Soon, a giant robot begins to appear from below and appears in front of Waffle. This is
 the Guard for the Core and it won't let Waffle through without a fight! SAVE WHEN YOU
 HAVE A CHOICE OF DOING SO AND HOPE YOU BROUGHT ENOUGH WHISTLES!

FINAL BOSS: IRON GIANT CORE GUARD

   The robot has a pattern that will be repeated throughout the battle. First he will 
hover around and shoot a laser at the floor. Where the laser went, a trail of fire will
burst forth. Try to avoid being on the path of the laser so you won't be burned by the
incoming fire. His next tactic is to tuck in its arms and form a series of bombs, which he
then launches at the Robo in a row. This can be easily avoided if you jump away in the 
nick of time to the sides. The final and most difficult attack to avoid is its "torpedo
charge" where it will spin and ram into you. Try running and jumping to dodge this attack
and don't ever get cornered! If he misses you, it's a perfect time to retaliate. After
this attack, he returns to sending the laser and starts the pattern all over again.

  Your only weapon (and that's all you need) is the Plasma Shot Blaster. Keep firing them
at it when you can. If you hear a loud explosion while shooting it, it means you disrupted
that attack pattern and will switch to the next. For example, if it shoots lasers and
"explodes", it will send out the bombs in a few seconds. Follow these strategies and the
Guard will be sink back to the ground!

  Waffle goes to check on Alicia and sees the Egg Stone (the "heart" of the Giant, of
course) glimmer and starts to beat. Suddenly, the 5 Crystals appear, begin to swirl...
AND BRING THE CORE GUARD BACK TO LIFE WITH FULL ENERGY!! (I panicked and broke into a
sweat at this point!) Here you are with minimal to almost empty HP and the boss completely
revived! What do you do? If you notice this time around that the Crystals are exposed.
All you must do is shoot or slap away at one of them and destroy it. With one of its 5
Crystals destroy the Giant can't function properly and the Guard will disintegrate!
(What a relief!) The Crystals fall to the ground and the Iron Giant collapses!

  Watch the final anime sequence (even I won't spoil this one!) and the credits soon
after. Oh, and save soon after to enjoy the "bonus" section. Congratulations!! You have
officially won the game!!  


6) Disclaimers & Copyright info (Where Credit is given where Credit is due)
===========================================================================

BANDAI: Aside from Power Rangers and the humungous action figure line-up, thanks for
        creating the game!

Nobuteri Yuuki: For creating wonderful characters and visual eye candies this game can't
                do without.

ATLUS: Thanks for bringing this game to the American Shores for the fans to enjoy!

SONY & PSX: For having the game in the console.

GameFAQs: For hosting this walkthrough for all to read and enjoy

The "Man Above": For all He is...



FINAL WORD
============

Let's hope the sequel do the game justice!