The Legendary Axe/Zone 5

Outside

The fifth zone is broken up into two parts, first outside a fortress, and then inside the labyrinth of fortress rooms. Surviving the trip to the front door won't be easy. As soon as you begin walking, a pure white nomad will sneak up behind you. Like the red nomads, they remain crouched. Clear this one away and proceed to the right. If you thought it wouldn't be too soon before you saw another spear wielder, you were wrong. One will approach you next. Since there's only one, use the same strategy as at the end of the last boss fight: back away until you are at full strength, then run in, and jump attack the enemy before backing off and repeating the process one more time.

One more white nomad will approach you from the right before you begin to drop down a set of stairs. Three item statues all offer health items if you already have full axe power. The next section is extremely dangerous. You're about to fight a squad of brown nomads. These nomads jump up in the air before throwing their axes at you, either high or low. These axes will actually boomerang back. To make matters worse, you most jump over a gap to reach them, and if you are not careful, the nomads or their axes can hit you and shove you backwards, falling through the gap to your death. It is recommended that you jump over the gap without hesitation, and then squat down as soon as you land. The nomads typically toss their axe high first, so it should sail over your head. Then stand up and approach them when it's safe. You must survive five platforms like this. The first, third, and fifth platforms only contain one brown nomad, while the second and fourth contain two.

When you reach the end, you'll see two item statues at the bottom of a climb up to the level above. Now you must traverse far to the left in order to reach the next section. Along the way, white nomads will appear and attack you continuously. You may be inclined to fight them all, but you might actually be better off ignoring them as long as you have some health. The game will never allow more than three big enemies on the screen at a time, so once three of them have shown up, they will chase you and negate the appearance of any more nomads. Jump up to the steps with the item statues to get away from the nomads, and proceed to the right.

If you kept the three white nomads alive as you climbed up the steps, they will actually pursue you on the level below, preventing any other enemy from appearing until they can't follow you any longer. If you cleared away the nomads, you will be attacked by a new enemy, a rock throwing ape that busts out from behind a wall to attack you. They carry large stones over their heads which they chuck at you when you get close. The safest strategy to employ should be the familiar tactic running away to the left until you strength meter is full, turning around to attack, and then running away again until your meter is full.

After you drop down some stairs, you'll face another spear wielder. Following him will be two rock throwing apes, and then a second spear wielder. Use the same strategy of hitting them with two full powered strikes to defeat them. You will see three item statues on the ground. Pay special attention to the scenery when you hit an enemy with a fully powered strike as it causes some of the background to become transparent, revealing two item statues near the ceiling on either side of the middle ground statue. Proceed to the right to reach the interior of the fortress.

Inside

The interior of the fortress is actually composed of several rooms. 23 to be precise. While most connect in a linear fashion (for example, A to B to C), others loop back around to earlier rooms, or may contain wells that drop down to lower portions of the room which you need to access in order to find the room where the boss is waiting. Use the following map to track your progress through the fortress.

A

The first room is a simple long corridor occupied by nothing by a stream of bats.

B

The next room is occupied by two brown bears and a lizard. Each one can be eliminated with a single 100% strength attack.

C

This room contains nothing besides a pair of item statues. Crack them open and continue.

D

You won't have to travel far before you encounter the first well. You will need to drop down here, but before you do, travel all the way to the right to find two more item statues at a dead-end. Then turn around and drop down the well. Down below, you will face two golems and a rock throwing ape. Defeat them or get past them to reach the door on the right.

E

At first, this room will appear like a repeat of room A, with the abundance of bats. But as you reach the middle, you will be attacked by three tribal warriors. Fill up your strength meter before confronting them and attacking them with a jumping strike. You will reach a well here. Dropping down is the correct way to proceed, as going forward will only get you through a few rooms before you ultimate return to this room. The drop down the well will advance you to room I. Be sure to hit the two item statues down there before you approach the door.

F

Two tribal warriors will confront you as you attempt to pass through this short room.

G

Several red nomads will approach you from either side and attack you as you progress through this hallway. You will eventually reach a well. Dropping down will send you back to room E while going forward sends you to room H, which is just a short room that sends you back to E anyway.

H

This short room only contains a few bats, and leads back to E.

I

The color of the scenery will change from gray to light blue. Along with a single item statue, there are several Frog Men hidden below the floor who will leap up to spit a fireball at you.

J

As soon as you arrive, a demon eyeball will race over to you. Be prepared to knock it out quickly. Then advance cautiously as several more eyeballs will attack you from either direction. Do your best to eliminate any eyeball that's present before you advance and attract another one. You may be tempted to jump down the well to advance, but don't do it; the door below will send you back to room D! Instead, continue walking ahead, fighting a few more eyeballs along the way, to reach room K.

K

Along with a few bats, you are greeted by a new enemy. What appears to be a maiden walks forward carrying an item. When she gets close enough she stops and tosses the item to the floor, which breaks apart into three orbs which bounce in several directions. Be aware that when you kill these maidens, they transform into a bat and fly toward you. So strike them with a full strength hit, and dodge or attack the resulting bat. Maidens will approach from both directions. Attack any that get in your way, or leap over them, and advance to the next door.

L

This room will truly test your skill and your patience. It is by far the longest room, and it contains the most sustained attack. In the end, you are faced with a choice that will either send you closer to the end, or stuck in a loop. During your walk through this hallway, you will be attacked by maidens. You will encounter a new type of enemy, a fireball spitting statue that even arcs a fireball upward in case you attempt to jump over the straight fireballs. You will encounter demonic eyeballs, and you will encounter white nomads. Item statues are littered through the hallway, but the effort to obtain them will likely put you in harms way. As always, clear away any threat present on the screen before advancing to find more, or you will surely be overwhelmed. Patience is the key to your survival. When you reach the well, you have a choice to make. Dropping down will send you to room T. Going straight will send you to room M.

M

Accompanying the bats flying around in the room are three tribal warriors in close proximity to one another. It may seem like a daunting task to lure them over one at a time, but it can be done if you move just close enough to attract the closest warrior and no others. Remove each one separately, and then advance through the door.

N

This room starts off with kindness. You can jump down the well to find three item statues that should replenish some health, and then you can climb up the ladder back to the floor above. Walk to the right to the next door, and you will be attacked by two eyeballs from either direction. Clear them away and proceed.

O

The background will turn red, and this room becomes dangerous very quickly. There are two tribal warriors off to the right, but you will be immediately attacked by an eyeball first. Defeat the eyeball, and carefully approach the first warrior. As you do, you may trigger the appearance of a second eyeball. Defeat both of these threats before attracting the attention of the second warrior.

P

The fireball spitting statues make a return in this room, accompanied by a white nomad. When you reach the well, definitely drop down. If you do not and proceed through the door, you will be returned all the way back to room H. Instead, pass through the door below the well to reach room Q.

Q

Three spear wielders will attempt to stop you as you pass through this room. Fortunately, they are spaced out, so you can easily stand back, wait for your strength meter to fill, and jump attack them twice at max strength to remove them. When you reach the well, do drop down. If you were to proceed through the door to the right, you would be sent to room T and be forced to loop back around. Instead, pass through the door below the well to find room R.

R

There are three item statues you can attack for extra health. See the boss section below to read how to fight Panda.

S

After successfully defeating Panda, climb up the stairs to reach the final zone.

T

Three lizards will drop down from the ceiling. Rather than fight them, you can squat down in front of the first one, let the projectiles they shoot go over your head, and then advance to the right when they begin to leap over your head. You should reach the door before they have a chance to jump back and attack you.

U

You will first encounter an item statue that is likely to contain a large health item. A white nomad will appear beyond the well. You should drop down this well, as it leads to a room with another item statue and two brown nomads. Unlike most wells, this one offers you a ladder to climb back up. Dropping down the second well will put you on a path to room O and brings you closer to your goal. Going straight will send you to V.

V

In this room, you will face a tribal warrior, a lizard, and a golem.

W

You will see a well very early. Jump over it and proceed along the top to the right. You will be attacked by red nomads and eyeballs. At the end of the path are two item statues, one of which is likely to contain a large health item. Then return to the well and drop down, and advance to the door to reach room M.

Boss

The boss of this zone is a wizard named Panda. This powerful wizard has two spells at his disposal; a fireball spell, and a teleport spell. He likes to cast the fireball spell around four times, and then use the teleport spell. When he casts the fireball spell, he summons a large flame that loops above the floor in a circle. These circles slowly drift to the right, regardless of which side of the room the fireballs were summoned from. When he teleports, he may appear on the far right or far left side of the room, or he may materialize in the center. The good news is, he can be defeated with just three 100% full strength hits from your axe. The bad news is, you have to find an opening to get close to him and hit him. On top of that, his feet are invulnerable, so you can't attack low. You must attack his body or head. The best chance to attack him is right when he rematerializes from teleporting and before he has shot any fireballs. You can clear away any fireballs that get close to you with a swing of your axe, but that resets your strength meter, so it's best to wait in the far left corner for as long as possible while you can. Just be aware that Panda may teleport there. If he does, cross over to the right and remove fireballs until he leaves the left.