Xelloss's guide to THE VIOLINIST OF HAMELN Version 1.0 Written 6/8/2001 Questions: Email me at actionktty@aol.com LEGAL STUFF: This FAQ is the intellectual property of the author Xelloss, aka Lisa Watson, so please don't steal it or copy any portion of it for public viewing. If you wish to have this FAQ on your website, please email me at the address printed above. I can almost guarantee that I will give you permission to use it, but please ask, OK? OK. Contents: I: Game play Explanation II: Controls III: Items IV: Flute's Costumes V: Bosses ************************************************************************ GAMEPLAY EXPLINATION ************************************************************************ Yay, Hameluuuuuuuuuuu! You play as Hamel, a musician who travels the land defeating Mazoku with the power of his magical music. With him is Flute, his friend and companion who has costumes (Kigurumi) with special abilities. The object is to get through the level using Hamel and Flute's abilities. If Flute has 100% HP at the end, you get a two star bonus. Hamel is three blocks tall, Flute is two, so use this to your advantage. Hamel can push bolders and throw small blocks and Flute (Flute haters will love this!) Flute cannot jump, but she can climb one-block-tall things. Flute can be thrown at walls and enemies and take no damage. Please note: At this time I see no real need to provide a level-by- level guide, as it is a fairly simple platformer and I for one had no trouble solving any of the puzzles, it's really more of a skill and timing game, however, feel free to ask for help and who knows, maybe eventually I will put one up. Good luck! ************************************************************************ CONTROLS ************************************************************************ Here's a breakdown of what all the buttons do: D-pad left and right: Move left and right down: Duck up: (While jumping) Hamel slows down his fall with his cape Y: Pick up Flute and other throwable objects. Press Y again to throw. B: Jump, confirms choices A: Play violin X: Turns call Flute on and off, when she is in costume makes her normal again Start: Brings up Kigurumi Select screen. ************************************************************************ ITEMS ************************************************************************ There are various items in the levels that are very handy. Coins: Money that can be used in town. Berries: Restore one heart of Hamel's life Bunch of berries: Restore all of Hamel's life Star: Collect four and you get to go to a bonus room Note: Powers up Hamel's violin music. All note efects seem to be lost when you die. Hats: One-ups Hourglass: Gives you more time to complete the level Various defensive items: Items bought in towns, such as capes and shields, reduce the damage taken. (This isn't items, but towns also have inns which recover all Hamel's HP.) ************************************************************************ FLUTE'S COSTUMES ************************************************************************ Here's a list of Flute's costumes in the order that you get them, what they do, and how useful they are. Unless I say otherwise, they control basically like the ostrich as explained below. Osterich: The first costume you get, the osterich allows you to cross spikey pits. Jump on its back and go for a ride. Turn facing left and right to steer. It is very useful at the beginning until you run into pits with a wall or something in it. This is one of the fastest costumes, so later in the game it's still useful for crossing cleared pits. Rating: 5 Frog: This suit can jump very high and cross spikes. As with most costumes it is heavily used at the level you get it at. It's definitly the best suit for plain jumping, and great for hard-to-reach items. Even near the end you have to use it occasionally. Rating: 6 Robot: As seen in the Violinist of Hameln movie, this one crosses spikes and punches down walls when you jump on it. It is very handy and a lot of puzzles throughout the game involve it. The robot's only disadvantage is that it's really slow, and since the clock is ticking you'll probably want to ride the osterich over clear spike pits. Rating: 7 ********(I don't know what this is called, it looks sort of like those things people play curling with, that might be it): Dress Flute up in this and throw her, and she'll mow through everything in her way. There's only a couple of times when I've used this one, but gometimes it's good for getting items in corridors that Hamel's too tall to get. Otherwise it's useless since most of the time it's faster to just play music. Rating: 3 Orangutan: This and the monster suit are only used once, you show it to some guy to let you through. Since it's only a one use thing and it is necessary to use this for you to continue, I'm not going to rate it. But you gotta love the expression on Flute's face when she wears it. Penguin: This is a must for all traveling musicians trying to cross a lake. The penguin can walk on land and swim on the surface of water. It's great until you get the duck suit, because after that most places with water require the duck's abilities. The penguin is a lot faster than the duck, though. Rating: 6 Fish: I HATE this one! It's basically a flying suit you get after showing the man the orangutan. You seem to be able to control the up and down fine, but it does left and right on its own. It's a pain to control, but there are two sections that are only flying in the fish costume. I heard someone saying something about firing notes at it to make it go but I haven't had the opportunity to experiment. It's a necessary evil. Rating: 1 Duck: Like an upgrade for the penguin. It walks on land, swims on water, and when you jump on it it dives. Rating: 6 Monster: Like the orangutan only used later in the game. Frisbee: Throw Flute and she whirls around everywhere. I generally only use this to hit those big cat-like monsters with armor in the back while they're facing me and they're only in like one section, so it's not too useful. Rating: 2 Elephant: Like the robot, only instead when you jump on it it squirts water. Great for extinguishing jets of flame. Also like the robot it's slow. Only used in the world with all the caves. Rating: 6 UFO: This is by far my favorite costume. Don't bother to ride this one, it doesn't seem to be meant for it. It's really a safe way for Flute to tag along while Hamel jumps from ledge to ledge. Plus (and this is the best part) it fries enemies when they come in contact with her. Using this costume is the only way I can beat Sizer. Warning: Sometimes during precision jumps you will land on it as it tries to catch up with you. Rating: 10 Eagle: The ultimate in flying suits. It outclasses the fish in every department except when you want to go straight up for short distances. Goes left and right like the other costumes, but when you press down it swoops a little. The harder you press, the lower it goes. Absolutely essential for later levels. Moderately slow. Rating: 9 Octopus: Like the eagle in every way except under water. Only needed once. Rating: 8 Bomb: I've never gotten this one. More on it later. ************************************************************************ BOSSES ************************************************************************ Here's the bosses, what they do, and the Xelloss method of defeating them. Don't worry about keeping Flute at full HP. Boss 1: Big Lizard Dude (I need to find out his name) Basically a very large version of those lizards seen in the opening sequence at the beginning of the game. What he does: BLD will go across the screen. His head will be too high for you to hit until he goes down trying to hit you. Rocks will fall down at random areas of the screen when he's going back and forth. How to beat him: Avoid the rocks and stay away from the area directly below his head and hands, but close enough to be able to hit him. When he comes down, jump on Flute's head and hit him as much as you can. A few rounds of this and he's dead. Don't worry about keeping Flute safe because there's no bonus. Just concentrate on Hamel. Boss 2: Bassoon This is the worst boss in the whole game. There isn't really a good way to beat him. The bottom part of the screen has some water, and Bassoon is this Mazoku guy who looks a little like Drum only orange and with one head. What he does: Bassoon rides this little platform that goes up and down at three locations: left, center, and right. At the bottom he will shoot a volley of mace spikes, and then again when he's halfway up. In addition there will be a couple of snakes in the water. How to beat him: Avoid the first two shots of spikes, then see where he's comming down from. You can see the bottom of his platform when he's about to come down. Get a good distance away (in range) and stand on Flute's head. Shoot him as soon as you can as much as you can until he shoots his spikes, then duck. Avoid the second volley. Lather, rinse, repeat until Bassoon's dead. Actually, I think you might be able to defeat him more easily by hurling Flute at him. Boss 3: Fuagotto (That's probably wrong) Fuagotto is this skeleton dude riding a freaky flying horse. What he does: He mostly cruises around the top of the screen, he shoots various things and swoops down occasionally. There's also some of the pink ghosts that latch onto you and slow you down flying around. How to beat him: Ride Flute in the eagle suit and shoot him at the top of the screen. Watch out for all the stuff he throws and don't run into him. Go under if you have to. Boss 4: Sizer Sizer is the last boss. She's a fallen angel who works for the Mazoku. Raiel, Hamel's childhood friend, will help you fight her by playing his magical piano music. What she does: At the beginning, she'll just mostly throw her scythe blade and feathers at you as she moves back and forth along the top of the screen. After Raiel comes in she lunges straight down at you. How to beat her: Put Flute in the UFO costume. She'll take care of the scythe blades. Avoid getting hurt until Raiel comes in. He is almost entirely useless, but after he gets there Sizer's attack pattern changes. Now, stand still facing Sizer. When she lunges, get out of the way. If you do it right, UFO Flute will lag behind a little and shock her. Sizer will fall to the ground and sit there for a second. Hit her as much as you can and when she gets up again, repeat the process. Congratulations! You beat the game! If you stick around after the credits, you'll learn two neato super moves. Wasn't it fun? Xelloss's VoH guide (c) 2001 Lisa Watson