Wart's walkthrough levels 1-5

[Guest Darth Wart]

Jedi Power Battles (for Sony Playstation)

Unofficial Strategy Guide/Walkthrough

 

Not copyrighted.

 

Sixth Revision (7/19/00)

 

Text by Darth Wart. Images by Jedi Kanigget. Compiled from postings to the Jedi Power Battles forum at Jediknight.net, and from e-mails I’ve received. Important contributions were made by liquidkid, ShadeShifter, Jericho, xler8, qui-phuerton, Pizza the Hutt, decriss, Shinigami, Jedi Kenobi, Darth Killa, Jedi YerSIN, 84Elan, AcidRain, Thermal, Cloud, Jedi Dire, ChosenOne, Clash GXZ4, Jedi Kanigget, Djih’Ef, mtw4, bsmyth, klangham, and others (whether they know it or not).

 

Warning: this is a highly detailed guide that takes most of the fun out of the game. This guide also assumes you’re familiar with the characters and know how to work them. If you’re not, consult Appendix E: “If You Don’t Have the Manual.” Also note that the following walkthrough applies to single-player, Jedi mode. Although almost everything is similar in twoplayer, there are exiguous differences (such as the location and nature of many powerups). There is, however, no difference whatsoever between “Easy” mode and “Jedi” mode.

 

CONTENTS:

 

LEVEL ONE: TRADE FEDERATION BATTLESHIP

LEVEL TWO: SWAMPS OF NABOO

LEVEL THREE: CITY OF THEED

LEVEL FOUR: THEED PALACE

LEVEL FIVE: TATOOINE

LEVEL SIX: CORUSCANT

LEVEL SEVEN: RUINS

LEVEL EIGHT: STREETS OF THEED

LEVEL NINE: PALACE CLIFFS

LEVEL TEN: FINAL BATTLE

 

LEVEL ELEVEN: DROIDEKAS

LEVEL TWELVE: KAADU RACE

LEVEL THIRTEEN: GUNGAN ROUNDUP

LEVEL FOURTEEN: SURVIVAL CHALLENGE

 

APPENDIX A: NOTES ON THE CHARACTERS

APPENDIX B: FAQ

APPENDIX C: GAME SECRETS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS

APPENDIX D: THINGS THE AUTHOR DOESN’T UNDERSTAND

APPENDIX E: IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE MANUAL

APPENDIX F: CONVERSATIONS WITH THE HINT LINE

APPENDIX G: THE JEDI TRIALS

APPENDIX H: WEIRD PLACES YOU CAN GET TO

APPENDIX J: GAMESHARK CODES

APPENDIX I: REGARDING OTHER CODES AND HOW TO CONTACT ME

 

 

LEVEL ONE: TRADE FEDERATION BATTLESHIP

 

When bursting forth from this first door, most everybody uses their special force attack to kill most of these droids at once: L2 + Triangle. Feel free to blast the C3-PO thing, too, though he’s only worth a measly 10 points. There’s nothing to the left, nor can you return from whence you came. So keep going right.

 

Make your way down the hall, killing everything in sight. Don’t neglect that little detour hall. And don’t waste your time whacking at the walls in here; they’re just decoration.

 

If you’re unfamiliar with your character and his/her moves, now’s a great time to press all the buttons, once you’ve quieted the hall, of course. One basic thing you gotta know before you get started at this game, if you press L1 (saber block) just at the moment a laser’s about to peg you, it’ll be deflected straight back at the shooter. (I’m always surprised to learn how many people don’t know this.) If you keep L1 held, though, the bolts will just be deflected in random directions.

 

Continue down the hall, killing everything in sight. This part is pretty much obvious. But when you get to the very end of this first hall system, make sure you get those goodies BEFORE you kill the last droid, or the animation sequence which takes you into the next room might load before you have a chance to, thereby swindling you of those points.

 

THE GIANT COMPUTER ROOM

 

Remember to smash every computer and console that you can. They’re all worth points, which can translate into a more powerful Jedi for you when you complete the level. That green platform more or less in the center of the room cannot be smashed. On the other hand, its control console can. And don’t neglect the computer consoles facing that; many players don’t realize they’re there.

 

There are some goodies behind the first monitor visible (in the right of the room), “long saber” and an extra credit. Incidentally, many characters have trouble smashing the giant computer screen against the far wall. Some characters can solve this by, while running up to it, pressing triangle triangle. This should cause your character to leap up and knock it out. But some characters (like Adi) can only take out this board with extreme difficulty, at least not without the later Jedi upgrades. But don’t fret about this monitor; if you follow the strategy outlined below, you’re going to rack up enough points on this level to get all the bonuses easily.

 

Beware of the next room! Kill everything in sight, including monitors. (I know it gets boring but you can just pretend they store people’s credit records or something.) Be sure to get the giant monitor on the right side of the intermediate level just before the entranceway to this room; one giant blow should do it. THEN get the checkpoint. This way, if you die (which is an strong possibility in the next sequence) you’ll retain all those points you got before touching the checkpoint, whereas you wouldn’t if you touched it first, like I used to.

 

On the treadmill, keep going. Double jump through the gaps in the treadmill. (What in God’s name is the purpose of a treadmill with gaps in it?) Keep running right; don’t screw around; don’t engage a droid unless totally necessary. Keep going right and do not get distracted. But what about all those juicy droids over on that balcony, you ask. Can’t I jump over there for some valuable points?

 

Technically, yes. But this is highly dangerous, as some characters have trouble making these jumps, and even those that can have trouble doing them regularly (especially the coming back part). Plus, with the sneaky trick I’m going to show you just before the end of this level, you’ll have enough points by the end of this maze to feed the entire population of Bangladesh. (Don’t worry about “cheating” on the game; believe me, the game cheats just as much on YOU.) So don’t bother. NOTE: if you do bother, the second platform seems consistently more doable.

 

Although I say run, there’s no real urgency to making your way down the treadmill. So if a droid’s about to shoot you, do whatever’s necessary to avoid his laser blast. Run back, jump, run in circles; whatever works for you. Otherwise you’re likely to get pegged in mid-air, which everybody hates.

 

Two impossible things: one, getting those rolling battle droids in the distance. Ain’t happening, even if your character’s got a laser (even if you managed to nick one of them, you’d still have 5 more hits to go, remember? Using her long-range goo, however, Adi can sometimes make one of them stop and face her). Also, hopping up to the balcony where that droid is, the one who says, “There they are; get them!” I know you can sometimes see him, but he’s just for show. You simply can’t get up on that balcony. Everybody has tried. (I warned you, reading this strategy guide will take all the fun and enchantment out of discovering this stuff for yourself. On the other hand, some people ain’t in the mood for “discovery” when they play these games; just action.)

 

 

THE MECHANICAL MONSTER WITH THE SPINNING ARMS

 

No, this isn’t the end of Level One. Sorry.

 

When fighting in this room, try to stay at 6:00, roughly where you were first placed. Do not run around the monster; that’s everybody’s first mistake. Stay at 6:00, but up enough on the screen to see your character and give you some space to retreat if you need to. And you will need to in a moment.

 

You can stand here forever if you know how to work against the monster’s pattern. First he swipes with his left; you must double jump. (You can sometimes clear an arm with a single jump, but this is risky.) Remember to jump the second time at the height of the first jump; you get more altitude that way. Don’t simply press circle circle quickly.

 

Stand between his arms. The secret is standing well within his range and simply jumping when he swings, NOT evading his range (except during his panicky swinging fits right after you’ve scored on him).

 

Next the monster swings with his right. You must double jump again.

 

Then the monster seems to take a breather. This is your only opportunity for attack. You must attack that red eye; not the arms directly. Make one attack; if it fails to connect, get back to 6:00. Do not keep hacking away or you’re asking to get miffed. There’s no timer; there’s no hurry.

 

Please note that during this breather is the only time that this monster will “accept” damage. If you try to damage him at any other time, the program probably won’t register it and you’re just exposing yourself to risk. I don’t care if you shoot an ICBM at him; it’s simply not going to count (although if your bent on it, you can sometimes damage him when he’s swinging his arms, this is highly risky, unless you have a laser).

 

You damage the creature in stages: first, his right arm comes off, next the left, etc. Do not fantasize about doing the creature in with one thrilling blow. Won’t happen. This creature, like all boss monsters, dies in stages. The last “stage” is when he’s got no arms. One more hit and he’ll turn around and crash into a hole in the wall at 12:00.

 

Note that after you land a meaningful blow, the creature throws a fit and windmills his arms. You can tell when you’ve made such a hit because the monster will jolt back (except on the first hit) . This is your cue to get the heck back, because he’s about to start windmilling. You can’t double jump to avoid this; the arms go around simply too fast. You’ll get caught by the second arm. The only solution here is to simply get out of the way. WARNING: he can still nail you with his stumps.

 

His next move is wussy: ol’ stumpy balls up and rolls around the room. Easy to avoid, this. Just make sure if you’re playing two characters that you guys are in the same spot, running the same way -– counterclockwise or clockwise, whatever. This monster can make mincemeat out of two otherwise good players if they make the understandable mistake of being on opposite sides of it. (He can “magically” do an instant 180 which will throw you off.) On two-player mode, you guys practically have to be holding hands throughout this room.

 

The Prima strategy guide has this to say about attacking this beast: “This Loader Droid’s attack has three stages; it’s most vulnerable between them. Aim for its eye and use your triangle attacks. It’s hard to get in close, so heavy attacks prove the most effective.”

 

Characters differ in their oomph against this monster; Qui-Gon, for example, can eat it for lunch with his running XX combo, which stabs straight outwards. Other characters, such as Adi, need to lock on before landing a blow. Careful with this, though; once you land the blow, UNLOCK and get out of there! The last thing you want your Jedi doing is a bunch of idiotic rolls when you’re trying to high-tail it out of there. Locking on can be very effective with this monster, but you must UNLOCK before you try to flee his swinging arms. Hit R1 fast (once) to unlock if you need to run. Best to find out if the character you’re using has an effective stabbing (directly forward) motion BEFORE you get to this room.

 

Sometimes you can manage to get some of the droids from the treadmill to follow you into this room. They won’t be damaged by the monster’s swinging arms, though. [Jedi Dire]

 

Get the goodies in this room before leaving, if you haven’t already. You ain’t coming back.

 

THE CORRIDOR OF THE GIANT ELECTRODES

 

Get the checkpoint. Jump onto the catwalks. TRIVIA: I theorize that Lucasarts originally made this room more difficult than it wound up being in the final version. My evidence? The screen shot on p. 36 of the Prima strategy guide. Notice something missing?

 

Please note that at the checkpoint, if you try double-jumping up the walls to your sides or behind you, the view will oddly change for a moment, perhaps suggesting there is something to be discovered here. If you find out what it is, let me know. (r_allust@postoffice.pacbell.net writes, “you were wrong; it doesn’t change view, it’s just that the wall—or a ceiling—gets in the way and the camera just shows it and you are behind it.”)

 

Anyway, according to the Prima guide, the way you’re supposed to do the (electrode) room after this, is by safely (double) hopping across the tops on the side, against the wall. That will definitely work.

 

If you fall onto that “lava floor,” however, don’t panic and try to get back up on those electrodes. The truth is you can simply dash across this floor (if your character is reasonably undamaged) until you get to the end, where you double jump up to that short hallway, where you’ll be able to repair your health. Some characters (like Amidala) seem to have problems making this final double jump up to the safety of that ledge, however. Most people simply single-jump across the abutments lining either wall until they reach their destination. This part is definitely more frightening-looking than it is dangerous. There’s no reason to get hit by that blue lightning, but it’s weird: if you do, you are given ten points! -- Jedi Dire)

 

From here, go up to the short hallway with the elevator platform. There’s a powerup behind one of the walls in this hallway; get it before stepping on that platform.

 

PISTON ROOM

 

Killing everything in this room is obvious and easy; the hard part is jumping across the pistons to get out of it. Remember to smash all smashable computers and get the force-up below the second piston. NOTE: There is nothing dangerous (or exciting) about getting in the little circular area below each piston.

 

First get the extra life, high up to the left on the platform left of the first piston. The computers by the red and blue droids can be destroyed twice for double points. [Jedi Calypso]

 

So here’s how to do the pistons. (Rest assured, everybody died a million times before they got the hang of this.)

 

Probably the most common mistake you’ll make when you first do this part is thinking that you can double jump directly from piston to piston. Although somebody proved to me this is possible, I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners.

 

Instead, access the piston system from the balcony, NOT by force-jumping onto them from below. Program glitches will likely result in an inexplicable death for your character should you somehow manage to get a handhold halfway up the piston. It sucks. So get the to the balcony. (When I first got this game, I thought this part was so difficult, there HAD to be a shortcut around it. There is, but it’s almost as dangerous as doing it the way you’re supposed to.)

 

Double jump to the first piston just at it reaches the lowest point of its up-and-down cycle. Use your second jump to orient your shadow on the piston. When you land, position yourself in the center of the piston; not on any of the edges. SINGLE jump to the next ledge at the moment when the piston you’re on is about 75% of the way up. Use a double jump if necessary to make sure you land on this black ledge. From these black ledges, you must SINGLE jump to the next piston, I said SINGLE JUMP. Two jumps and you’re going to meet your maker, most likely. There’s a fine art, of course, to WHEN to jump to the next piston; my advice is, just when you can’t see the platform; i.e. it has either just gone below the screen or is just about to enter the screen. (I should note that this position conceivably changes from television set to television set.) And remember to jump from the CENTER of the black ledge on which you’re standing; not the right side, as many dead Jedis will tell you.

 

The important thing is that you jump onto the pistons from the front center of the black ledge; not the right wall. When you jump, though, hug that wall. Only use the second force-jump to correct. And if that’s what you have to do, watch your shadow, not your character. These flagitious ledges produce something of a trompe l’oeil; the vari-colored part immediately before the blackness is NOT part of the ledge you’re standing on. Careful.

 

Words are words; you’re simply going to have to die a bunch of times before you get the hang of the piston system.

 

Next: the final piston. Once on it, the view changes and you can see a droid on the ledge to the right. Do not continue to jump to the next platform yet; first take care of the droid Deflect his laser fire. Take your time. Better to have him gone when you decide you’re ready to make this critical jump. (Deflecting laser fire is definitely crucial to success in this game; in addition to being one of its most well-programmed and playable aspects. The manual that comes with the game should tell you all about it; it’s definitely something that you get better at given practice.) If you find yourself falling off the piston, of course, you can double-jump to cushion your fall (or perhaps leap back), in which case you will find yourself on the main floor unharmed. However, the criterion the program uses for allowing this seems to do with the height from which you originally fell (i.e. sometimes if your first jump is from high enough, you won’t be allowed to make a second jump at any point. So this double jump thing is no panacea.

 

Note: “liquidkid” really took me to school on this part after I posted the above text. Aside from pointing out that extra life to me, he says: “In that room, I have no trouble jumping directly from piston to piston. If you move over to the right enough, you can see where the other one is. Also, if you just wait till the piston you are on has just reached the top and is starting to come down, the other one should always be low enough to get onto.” Liquidkid, this does indeed work, and is definitely more efficient than the strategy I suggested above.

 

So there you have two ways of doing this room. Here’s a third:

 

“There's a great way to totally bypass all of the pistons except the first one, (the extra life), and the last one. Get the extra life. Then jump down to where the pistons come down, and the bottom is outgassing. Go to the side of the farthest right piston opposite the wall. Wait until the piston comes down to its lowest point, and double jump pressing upwards. Your Jedi will grab onto the side of the piston part way up. Possibly most of the way up if you're Obi or Mace. Anyway, continue double jumping up the back side of the piston until you're either on the top of it, or you're on the side pulling yourself up to the top. As long as you continue double jumping, you won't fall down, and you won't die if you do. Once you get on top of the piston, continue as normal. I've died here occasionally by falling off of the piston. But lately, I've been pulling it off flawlessly.” [courtesy BJavaGod and Bob Cesca]

 

I knew about this strategy, but I had abandoned it after falling into “invisible voids” near the rear part of the piston too many times. Since BJavaGod elucidated, however, I’ve been avoiding these most of the time, but there’s still a risk. Just make sure you don’t move when you’re double-jumping.

 

AFTER THE PISTON ROOM

 

Droid gone, double jump over to where he was. You can make this jump directly or jump on the long last black ledge; your call. Continue down the hall, getting all the goodies behind the pillars. This next section is obvious; my only general tip; blocking laser fire is far more health-bar friendly than brute combat if you happen to be low on that stuff. This is a slower process, but remember, there ain’t no timer on this level. You can stand here in these halls all day if you want, provided no one's shooting at you. There are no “wandering monsters” in this game. So best to take them on one at a time in this long hallway.

 

At one point in the ensuing hallway there’s an obvious yellow powerup right in the middle of the road. A short distance after that is a 50-point yellow power up also in the middle of the road, but you’ll never see it because it’s hidden just below a ledge you have to drop onto (about the point where the hallway starts to look like the lower half of a giant tube). You can still get it, though.

 

At the end of the hall, there’s another room. No dirty tricks here; just kill droids. Jump to the next level up, kill the droids (did you know you can’t fall through the center in here, even if you wanted to?), and jump up again to the next level after that (the entrance wall for this is 180 degrees from where you pick up that force-up), cutting a swath of destruction as you go. Kill the C3-PO here too; he’s not doing anybody any good. Finally there are some smashable computers on this third tier; there aren’t any on the two tiers immediately preceding. (Master Jedis get the goodies [like the yellow thing and the forceups] last, if they’re in no immediate danger of dying. You’ll learn why they do this when you make the mistake of unnecessarily getting a 100% power up when you're already full, and then turning to face innumerable hordes of monsters with no relief in sight. Generally speaking, kill droids first, then get the goodies.) There are a couple of ledges in here that you can jump up onto for no purpose.

 

When you’re sure you’ve wreaked all the destruction you can in here, proceed right, into that red hallway; you ain’t coming back this way, at least not on this life.

 

UP THE ELEVATOR PLATFORM

 

Go up and down the three levels of this blue platform thingie; killing everything in sight; don’t forget to get the extra life at the very far right and back of whatever it is you’re standing on. (By the way; no need to be cautious here; the blackness behind the extra life is one of JPB’s famous “invisible walls.”)

 

Note: don’t go into that lighted hallway yet; once you pass it, it’s a “point of no return.” So get everything you need before you enter that hallway (the hallway just before which there are two droids standing guard).

 

A bit of advice: don’t go wild with the giant lightsaber. Aside from the many perilous jumping sequences, I think these lightsaber powerups can be the most dangerous things in the game. They encourage you to enter wild frays, fighting recklessly, yet the “effect” of these powerups is negligible (the “ultimate lightsaber” is a different story; sell your family into slavery to get that thing), and there’s certainly no benefit to your health. I get them for the points, but I pretend I don’t have them; instead I proceed cautiously. You’re able to fight well enough with your normal lightsaber.

 

There are goodies in the areas below each of the four pillars leading out from this platform; from left to right: a challenge icon (if you do get it, get it FIRST, so the other goodies will counteract its bar-halving effects); an ultimate powerup (definitely); a 1,000-point bonus, and a force-up. Getting down there is not as tricky as it looks. Walk, don’t run, obviously. And drop gingerly (don’t leap) onto the giant lamp below. When the goodie is around the back, best to approach it counter-clockwise –- you seem to retain a better view of your character that way (except on the fourth lamp).

 

Right before you enter that hall, there’s a deep blue sloping ledge at 6:00. You CAN hop on this ledge, but there are no prizes there. Note that there is no corresponding opposite ledge.

 

In this hall, kill everything. Don’t hit the checkpoint yet; you can get it after you take care of the battle droids. The battle droids are best defeated by judicious (even craven) blocking. Actually, they’re a lot easier than they appear, or than the movie would have us think.

 

But immediately after the battle droids are dispatched, double back and get the checkpoint. If you don’t, and you proceed down the hall, getting goodies and killing droids, you won’t be able to come back.

 

Once you have the checkpoint, continue down the hall, cutting your now-famous swath of destruction. (Note that if you’re completely afraid –- or low on life -– you can simply run past the battle droids and they won’t bother you again. I used to do this until I learned what paper tigers they were.)

 

Proceed into next room. You know what to do. No need to be careful around that giant red view-window; you couldn’t fall off if you wanted to. And it isn’t electric, either, as its menacing color might suggest. [Note: if you’re Amidala or Panaka, make sure to kill everything that moves in this room. If you don’t, it may cause lockon problems for you during the Boss Plane section.]

 

Finally, down the next hallway. After you lose sight of your character for a second (take it slow your first time through this blind spot), you’re standing there looking at another checkpoint. Grab it and jump immediately off the NORTH edge of the catwalk (never the SOUTH edge).

 

You heard me. Do not continue down the catwalk, hit the checkpoint, then make the sign of the cross and leap. (Don’t worry; you don’t get anything extra for finishing the level with lives to spare.)

 

The reason for this is because you will be resurrected at that exact spot and now you can retrace your steps through the maze, killing all the monsters again. It’s probably a game quirk; I don’t know, maybe they meant for us to do this. I just know that (if you can spare the life) this strategy will definitely enable you to rack up the 24K needed to get all the bonuses from this level so you don’t have to return. If, after going back, you’re still 2,000 or so shy of 24K, you might be in trouble, because you can only go as far back as those three droids just inside the hallway before the battle droids. Another reason to get everything you can in every maze. WARNING: Don’t touch that other checkpoint again!

 

But if you do this right, you shouldn’t have problems. NOTE: This time stay alive. This strategy must be practiced; because if you die on this guy before you complete the level, you have to go back into the maze and kill all the monsters again. Going back is your way of assuming that you’re going to finish the level on this guy; so don’t bother if you know certain death awaits you at the boss monster (and it does if you’ve never done him before).

 

Once you’ve gone back and killed everyone again, proceed down the catwalk from the point where you jumped. Make sure you’re ready for the boss monster; you’re about to pass a “point of no return.”

 

THE BOSS PLANE

 

You must deflect the plane’s own laser shots back at it. The central challenge of this is that there is an endless supply of droids trying to kill you during this operation.

 

The plane needs three hits to change it its second, “spider” form. Then an additional 6-8 hits (it seems to vary) to be destroyed utterly.

 

Different Jedi play this level differently. Some go all-out in an unbridled testosterone attack. This can be efficient if you know this part well. However, the basic strategy the droids use against you is swinging on you at the exact moment you’re getting ready to deflect those laser blasts. Screwing up their timing one way or another is the key to success here.

 

While swinging at these droids; remember that you’re defenseless. The characters in this game cannot immediately pull out of mid-swing to assume a defensive blocking position; they must complete their swing.

 

I prefer to patiently stand and block, waiting until the plane gives me a break before taking the droids out. (The combined hits of everybody whaling on you simultaneously are rarely enough to max out your blocking meter.)

 

“Liquidkid” suggests that if you’re low on points at this stage, or you haven’t doubled back where I told you to, you can simply choose not to deflect the plane’s fire back at it, and instead kill enough of the (endless) droids until you make up the points you need. Good idea. Two problems: 1) Every so often you’ll end up deflecting the plane’s fire back at the plane whether you mean to or not; and 2) It can take an agonizingly long time to rack up even a few thousand points this way.

 

And ”ihatecrosswinds” writes, “One trick I’ve noticed when fighting this boss is to stay towards the upper left of the platform. In the second phase of the battle, the rifle droid coming from the left side seems to get stuck or something like that, so only the droid from the right comes to attack. This makes the battle a little easier, and allows you more time to focus on blocking the shots the boss shoots at you.”

 

I should note that this stage is incredibly difficult with Captain Panaka (and to a lesser extent with Queen Amidala), for the simple reason that these characters won’t aim up. On the JPB forum I once described how to get Amidala through this level; reviewing that post now, I see no reason to alter it:

 

“No sooner have you won Queen Amidala than you’re freaking out how efficient her laser is and how significantly it changes the game. You breeze through level one, ignoring her ability to kick and punch in favor of this groovy laser. (Fortunately she comes with all her powers and combos the minute you get her, because she is incapable of smashing things, like, say, the huge video screens in level one, and thus racking up appreciable scores. But that’s okay, she doesn’t need to.) You’re laughing with glee, hehehe, but then you get to the end of the first level. Having her go against the boss monster is definitely a feat, for the simple reason that the bimbo won’t aim UPWARDS!

 

“Fortunately, there’s a trick. The first thing you must avoid is shooting the droids that come out; let the plane do that. You won’t get the points, but they’re meaningless with Amidala anyway. You accomplish this by running around in vast, repetitive circles until the droids (who obediently follow you) are caught in this fire. This can certainly get repetitive but it’s the only way to do the level.

 

Every time you’re sure there’s nobody on your heels, make to the upper right side of the platform. Directly facing away from the camera (NOT necessarily at the plane), fire straight ahead. Don’t shoot the pole, but make sure you’re standing roughly on the line of that pole.

 

I don’t know why, but every time you do this, Amidala’s third shot is aimed upwards, and every so often, it’ll get the boss, if he happens to be in that part of his circuit. Like I said, don’t worry about specifically aiming at the plane; it’s enough that you fire thrice when the plane is more or less in that area.

 

This is the only strategy I know with Amidala, and it takes about half an hour!”

 

The HINTLINE operator recently told me that all you have to do to get her to aim up is get further back on that platform; more to 6:00. This is also time-consuming, but it has occasionally seemed to work better, though definitely not with Panaka.

 

Once your view goes to widescreen, you’ve won!

 

On a related note; if you are unfortunate enough to kill the plane at the precise moment that you yourself die, the game will freeze up and you’ll have to re-start your Playstation. And that goes for any level.

 

 

LEVEL TWO: SWAMPS OF NABOO

 

Welcome to Naboo. This level can be a lot of fun, particularly if you enjoy falling to your death.

 

First thing: go right and kill everybody. Any questions? My only warning is that by the time you reach that health-up in the middle of the road (roughly where you fight the last two droids of this section), you’d better have everything picked up and/or dead, since an irreversible animated sequence will begin once you move about twenty yards right of this point.

 

Don’t miss the health-up behind the far computers (or whatever they are). And don’t bother trying to smash these computers. You’re not allowed to. I don’t care how much you paid for the game.

 

As for the animated sequence, on the JPB forum we call it the “Jar-Jar Stampede.” Basically run -– down and to the right is the key, while keeping to the left edge of the screen. (The creatures don’t seem to get you as often there.) The second your character appears on screen, he’ll take exactly one hit of damage automatically; there’s no way I know of avoiding this. Don’t bother trying to jump over the animals or the vegetation. Do not stop to fight the juggernaut, to swipe at the beasts, or at Jar-Jar. Just run. Do not think you can safely run in the space between the beasts and the machine; this is more dangerous than simply keeping up with the beasts and getting whacked once in a while (since any contact with that machine will kill your character outright). NOTE: Plo Koon is extremely slow at this part. On the other hand, if your Jedi happens to be particularly quick (like Obi-Wan or Adi Gallia), there’s a danger that you’ll run ahead of the camera, so to speak. Don’t. Keep your character on screen at all times; failure to do so will kill you after 5 seconds.

 

In the movie, you might remember that Qui-Gon tackled Jar-Jar and that that giant machine ran over them. Don’t try anything like this here.

 

Once the stampede is over, get the checkpoint (the “doubling back” point on this level is later on). If you want, you can knock yourself out taking swipes at Jar-Jar at this point (many people enjoy this), but tragically, he’s impervious to your lightsaber.

 

Proceed right, killing everything. Don’t miss the powerups in the bushes far back there, especially the “ultimate powerup,” which is right there. Don’t worry about leaving anything behind here; you’ll be able to return all the way up to the point where the stampede ended, should you need to. NOTE: There are several reasons why you might want to bypass this section – you aren’t in the mood; points are meaningless to your character (Darth Maul, Amidala, and Panaka); or you simply want to get to the part where you can practice with the mushroom tree (more of which in a moment). So go ahead. Run right. By using Darth Wart’s famous “mad-dash” mode, you can simply run past all these droids. Only at the end, near the tree stump, will you have to kill two at least before the camera will let you progress. And if you’ve been “delayed” a lot during your run, you might have quite a crowd on your heels by the time you get here. DON’T miss the extra credit immediately behind the tree stump. The randomizer on top is your call.

 

THAT DUMB MUSHROOM TREE

 

Down to the bottom of the mushroom tree. Have fun dying. (Specific instructions: two hops to the “starter” mushroom. Two to next. One to next. From this one, I recommend jumping twice to get to the one immediately above it, but you’ve got to start from the edge of the one you’re on for this to work. Try to hug the “wall” of the tree whenever you jump. From there, precisely two jumps to mushroom at upper left. From here, two jumps to the green part of the tree. HUG THE TRUNK when you’re airborne.)

 

(Try not to take any “lessons” away from this stupid tree; it doesn’t mean anything. Sooner or later you will learn that this game is devilishly inconsistent regarding what heights you can drop from safely, and which ones you can’t.)

 

The catwalk to which this tree leads isn’t nearly as precarious as it looks; the hard part is the jumping you just did. (Actually, there are “invisible walls” to each side, if you can believe it.) My first born for a checkpoint right here!

 

Jump over and begin deflecting droid fire. If you can’t make it out on your monitor (my TV is only 12 inches); that’s a “challenge” on the green pillar back there. Get it and your health and force bars will “do the Maul;” i.e., be cut precisely in half (an unfortunate inchoateness in the game manual; see p. 20)!

 

Proceed right, one droid at a time. Obviously, wherever the fire’s coming from, that’s where the droids are.

 

General tips for this section: don’t line the droids up so that one shoots his buddy, as is frequently possible; you don’t get any points for that. (Save this shenanigan for Level 14.) Same thing if you use some kind of attack (such as Qui-Gon’s L2+Triangle) that blows them off the cliffs. The program doesn’t credit you pointwise with these deaths, even though you were clearly responsible. So try to work around that if you’re looking for points.

 

Another thing (and this also goes for Tatooine and Coruscant): before you jump to any perch, make sure there’s not a droid there. Stop. Listen. Try to attract attention to yourself by moving around or jumping in the air like an idiot. You’re trying to draw their fire so you can deflect it; that way they’ll be gone and your landing area will be free of enemies when you need it. In cases where you simply can’t deflect their fire (off-screen enemies tend to fire too high, for example), time your jump immediately after they’ve discharged their round(s). The monsters in this game are (usually) predictable that way: they don’t suddenly double-fire simply because you’ve made your move. Learn their rhythm. (Should you choose to ignore this advice and leap like a lusty billy-goat from cliff to cliff, sooner or later you’re gonna get pegged in mid-leap.)

 

When you’re jumping from ledge to ledge, watch your shadow on where you’ll be landing. This helps to align your jump. Also cuts down on the vertigo.

 

Also: in the far background; you can sometimes see (such as when you’re on that pillar with the two droids, the yellow thing, and the special item) a distant green ledge, the exact color as the one you’re on. Many people have theorized that it’s possible to “get there from here.” It is, but you need a Gameshark (and there’s nothing there when you do).

 

Note that there’s a mysterious white points icon (for only 1,000) high up on the screen between the second and the third big ledges (not counting the little detour ones). I say mysterious, because the only way I’ve ever been able to get it is with a Gameshark with infinite jumping (I didn’t even know it was there until I bought the Gameshark). Although I’ve tried to get it the normal way, I can’t; I have no idea how this is supposed to be done. You can’t even SEE it without the Gameshark helping you.

 

After that long-awaited checkpoint, I would advise working your way slowly right, picking up everything as you go along this time. The reason for this is because you’re going to pass a “point of no return;” specifically, between two of the brown things that appear to be muddy ponds but are actually solid ground. So don’t count on having those powerups there for you after the battle.

 

Next a little animated sequence rolls and four droids attack. I freaked out when I first saw this, but they’re easy. Kill them, move to the right and kill their programmers. Ignore the computers and get everything you need here; for when you move right from this computer area, you’ll again pass a “point of no return.”

 

Down to the mushroom bog. I’ve racked my brains trying to figure out what the purpose of this bog could be (I thought you were supposed to jump on the mushrooms, and from there up again to some special surprise. If anybody has discovered a secret something about this bog, please e-mail the creators of this page and we’ll change this paragraph), but apparently it’s just the backdrop for a forgettable droid battle. Remember, one at a time. Incidentally, don’t slaughter the innocent little hopping things; doing so actually subtracts from your score, as the implications of the Jedi Weltanshauung would suggest (the secret characters, however, do get a few points for each one killed).

 

After the mushroom bog, there’s a bridge. Walk, don’t run. Kill the droid. Hit the checkpoint and jump into the abyss once again, because THIS is the “redoubling” point for this maze. Go back and kill all the droids again in the mushroom bog, then come back and continue your journey. (Remember, this strategy assumes you’re going to live with this very character till the end of the level, something a neophyte can hardly guarantee.)

 

Continue right, one droid at a time. At the point where you see Jar-Jar running back there (about when he makes that final cawing noise; you can't get at him); there are two very special items down in the crevices. Getting them is much easier than I at first thought; the key is, don’t JUMP down. Position yourself just over them (maybe one body length from the wall) and simply walk off the edge VERY carefully. If you screw up, double-jump like mad, with the paddle all the way to the left. Otherwise a normal double jump to get back out. The first of these items is a Gungan artifact (only 50 points, but get the other two and you’ll unlock level 13: “Gungan Roundup.”). The second is a point bonus for 2,500 big ones! You only need 21K to max out this level, so don’t risk it if you’ve already passed that mark.

 

Weasel comments: “After my first time completing the game with one character I read through your walkthrough to see what I missed. The gold credit in level 2 confused me totally because you said it was in the second crevice before the worm. The trouble I had was there is (working back from the worm) one crevice, two holes, etc. until you get to that crevice. I took the holes as being crevices and couldn't find the gold credit. I did so later only by randomly jumping into crevices for fun. Maybe I'm the only one who isn't clear on this but you may wish to clarify its position a bit. Besides that, if you were playing the game for the first time (granted you shouldn't be reading the strategy guide) you won't know where the worm is until you get to it and by then its a little too late to go back. “

 

The next little crevice never fails to kill me once in a while. Stand about 5 feet back. One jump. Pause on the middle ledge. Then two jumps to the other side. It takes some getting used to. Then hug the far wall until you run into Jar-Jar again. (Don’t get the yellow thing just yet unless you’re practically dead.)

 

THAT GIANT CENTIPEDE THING

 

If this giant worm is causing you problems, you’re not alone. And it’s not you; he IS extremely difficult at first. But once you have his attacks memorized he’s probably the easiest of the boss monsters.

 

There are two stages to the attack. In the first, he slithers out and blows poison breath at you. The key here is running around in idiotic circles until it dissipates. After it does so, you can launch into his belly with a running, forward stabbing attack, whichever one that is for your character (usually a running X). DO NOT lock-on to this beast. His next stratagem is to whip his tail around in a circle: get out of the way, and stab him in the belly when he rears up. After you stab him, get out of there. Don’t get greedy; one stab per opportunity. If you blow it, don’t keep swinging, get out and wait for your next chance. If your character runs slow (Plo Koon, for instance), I wouldn’t advise stabbing after the poison breath, no; after the 360 (the window of opportunity seems to be open longer after the 360) is when Plo should act. When I do this guy, I always position myself in the lower center of the screen; that way, when I’m ready to attack, he’ll rear up toward me (more or less), and I can get a better look at what I’m doing. WARNING: Do not touch any part of his body except his belly, even with your lightsaber. It’ll only hurt you. Also, don’t bother attacking except during the “rearing” sequence. I don’t care how devastating your attack is, it won’t register. And if you get hit by the poison breath, you’re probably going to be hit by ALL the poison breaths of that attack. When this happens there’s not much else you can do but stand there and take it.

 

One more thing: he’s only vulnerable to attack when he rears up, like I just said. But note well that this is when he rears up AND DOES NOTHING. He also rears up to spit his poison breath at you, but he’s not vulnerable at that point. So it’s not SIMPLY the fact that he’s reared up.

 

During the poison breath attack, two players need to run together, keeping very close. Decide how large your circles will be and in which direction you’ll run them before you enter this fray. If you don’t, his poison breath will follow you crazily all over the screen and you both are more likely to get nailed that way.

 

It takes three definite hits before he’ll move on to the next stage. If you haven’t got that yellow thing, do so now. You won’t be able to come back here (at least on this life).

 

The second stage is more difficult; there’s less room to maneuver. Three more hits from here will win you the level, but they’re trickier to score at this second stage. Be careful when moving to the second stage arena: it’s possible to fall off the 6:00 edge when you are between the two stages [r_akkyst@postoffice.pacbell.net].

 

The first attack he (or perhaps she) will use here is again the poison breath, this time more of it. Same game. Run around in circles till it dissipates. (The circles can be surprisingly small.) After the poison breath, that’s when you attack. NOTE: you do not have the option of making him face you at this second stage.

 

His other attack is to unleash a horde of giant roaches on you (technically they’re called “kreetles”). Lock and whack with your fastest attack (NOTE: some lightsaber strokes do not go anywhere near the ground; use one that does.) These little pests can do some serious damage to some characters. Amidala, in particular, is almost helpless against them.

 

On two-player, the second stage here has a glitch: one of the characters will run up and stab the worm in the belly. Then, that character will sometimes “freeze” for a full second with the saber deep in the entrails of the beast, while you hear a chilling zapping noise. This does not count as even a single hit, sadly, and I know no way of avoiding it.

 

During the second stage, it’s possible to hide behind Jar-Jar during the poison breath part of the worm’s attack. When I was first told this (by “Darth Scythe” and “semprini”) I couldn’t believe that it was possible, or, when I tried it, how well it worked. Even two players can fit back there. (alaughter@ciit.org proved that you don’t have to stay behind Jar Jar the whole time; actually, all you need to do is run past him and the mist should go to him. There’s no need to stand and pause behind him, although that’s probably safer.) The one drawback to this hilarious strategy is that when you run out to stab the worm, you won’t be able to get a good look at what you’re doing (i.e. how far you are from it).

 

I’ve also received reports (e.g. from rosac@mindspring.com that if the worm falls on you when you kill it, the game will glitch up and freeze you on that screen. I’ve never been able to get this to work for me, though. But it does go back to what I said about Level One: if you happen to die at the precise moment any boss monster does, the game’ll freeze up.

 

If you’re shy of the points needed to max this level out, you can simply not stab the worm for the sixth time. Every kreetle you kill gives you 100 points, and though you could theoretically keep this up for as long as necessary, I suspect the bugs would wear you down before you racked up even a couple thousand.

 

I would not advise going to the right side of the screen during either stage of this boss monster; your work is on the left.

 

 

LEVEL THREE: CITY OF THEED

 

Probably the funnest level, especially if you like blowing stuff up.

 

Starting the level, make to your left immediately for your special item. A disgruntled droid should fire what seems like a meteor at you. Ignore him; evidently there’s no way to get him, save with Adi’s lightning (or a Gameshark).

 

But you can get everyone else in this courtyard. Do so now. Your key to success in this courtyard is merciless swordsmanship and one-at-a-timesmanship. Rifle droids are always priority.

 

After that, drop down into the area with two trees. Yes, simply jump over the side. On other levels (like Theed Palace) a comparable distance would kill you, but here it won’t. The game is definitely inconsistent that way. (Lightsaber powerup at 6:00 before you jump, though.)

 

Save the maiden simply by touching her. (On this level you usually you must kill the maidens’ captors before the maidens themselves can be rescued.) It doesn’t happen very often, but if these droids start shooting her you’ve got to prevent this. Get the goodie on the stairs behind her.

 

Continue right. Another courtyard. The guy with the cannon is priority. Don’t forget the thick lightsaber behind one of the pillars. Then get the checkpoint.

 

THE “NEW ORLEANS” SECTION

 

I found this section pretty confusing when I first went through it. Specifically, I thought there was some way of “quieting the streets.” There isn’t. You simply have to avoid the cannon fire; it cannot be deflected, even with the “ultimate lightsaber.” You can kill some (but not all) of the droids firing the cannons above you. (Note: to resolve this question once and for all, I did this level with Captain Panaka. His laser could kill some of those rifle droids, but only the first few. The others apparently didn’t “exist,” only their missiles. Suffice to say you aren’t expected to kill them, just evade their cannons.)

 

Make your way right along the street. Prepare to engage four battle droids. Remember, keep them just off screen while you block. As with other droids, you can tell when they’re right about to fire by a distinctive movement they make.

 

An interesting GLITCH: if, after you kill the four battle droids, you move about twenty feet right, and then proceed left again, the last two battle droids you just killed will be reincarnated. But so what? Double the points (or double the danger, depending on your situation).

 

Go down to the end of the street, killing anything robotic. Rescue the maiden but take care not to touch that checkpoint yet. Remember to go down the little alleys along the way to get various goodies; sometimes they’re not visible till you’re near the alleyway entrance. By the way, there’s nothing at the bottom of the screen at any point along this street.

 

Now go back to where that other checkpoint was. There’s a green awning you’re supposed to jump up onto. From there, jump across the roofs, killing stuff and doing the obvious. Note: not every droid you see is “gettable,” even though they (and I am thinking of two in particular) can shoot YOU. (Although you CAN get them if you have a Gameshark with the “infinite Jedi jumping” code.)

 

Rescue the maiden up here. Then hop down and get that other checkpoint you postponed. From here climb the stairs. Get the force-up near the last tree. Also don’t forget the extra life in the bushes, a little ways back to the left of where your tank appears. It’s hard to see because it blends in with the grass and trees.

 

A little animated sequence will begin; a giant AAT will come around the corner and you’ll have the opportunity of commandeering this thing simply by jumping onto it. The droids that guard it are pansies. (Note: the controls are different here and take some getting used to.) You can’t kill it, and this is the only one you’re gonna be able to commandeer. And commandeer it you must, as the next section is practically impossible on foot, unless you’re a really good player. (Although, because I am an idiot and didn’t know anything about that AAT, I did the next section on foot and got killed many times before it occurred to me to wonder why the camera goes so high. Then it clicked.)

 

EASY POINTS: This works with Plo, and maybe others. When the tank first pulls around the corner, kill the three pilot droids. Then, locking on to the tank, fire your L2 + X. You’ll be unable to destroy the tank, but you’ll get about 500 points for every blast! If your force meter is full at this point, you can rack up several thousand points this way before you deplete it. Strangely, you can only do this BEFORE you hop into the tank.

 

Blast your way through the fence; this can take some doing. Enter the next section. Kill the two battle droids. It’s probably best to hop out of the tank here and rescue the maiden on foot before continuing; this way you avoid accidentally blowing her to smithereens during the melee.

 

FUN WITH GLITCHES: After you steal the tank, you enter a courtyard with a maiden. Towards the left of this courtyard, there are two droidekas. Kill the droidekas. With effort, you can jump onto either the first or second balcony from the bottom left (the second one up has a dangerous hole). From there, if you DOUBLE JUMP just right, you'll suddenly and mysteriously wind up on the roof! From there you can get to some very interesting places, and you'll get a very revealing view of the world. Invisible walls stop your fun before too long, though.

 

Continue having fun with tank; scour the next “town” section for all villains, and the extra life. It is impossible to die or deplete either of your vital bars while you’re driving this tank.

 

As for the other tanks, they take two shots with your main cannon, or several with square. (Incidentally, you can’t hurt these tanks with your lightsaber, but it’s possible if you have a laser gun, eventually. Destroying your own is not possible.)

 

My favorite attack here are those “energy shells.” Press circle. I can’t believe they give you an unlimited supply! But perhaps the most effective attack (except against the other AAT’s) is square. It aims for you.

 

You’ll need to hop out of your AAT to get all the goodies you see, though.

 

So far I have found nothing “hidden” in any of the buildings, although (curiously) a few of the doors can be lightsabered for points. I have never been able to get on any of the roofs here without a Gameshark. Even WITH a Gameshark, it is virtually impossible to get on all except a couple of the roofs here; they’re sealed off with high invisible walls.

 

Once you’re sure you’ve decimated this section, get out of the AAT and go up the stairs. Rescue the maiden and stuff. As always, run at these droids in a zig-zag pattern. Don’t bother jumping, that doesn’t discombobulate them, like in other games. Note: Here’s the “going back” point for this maze. After you get the checkpoint, you can get yourself blasted, which will enable you to do the “town” section again. The only bummer: you have to go way back and get the tank from where you first got it. But the double points you’ll get also apply to this particular maiden; a good thing to know if you happen to miss or kill any. (You need seven maidens to be able to progress to the boss monster of this level; if the boss monster begins to load and you ain’t got the goods, you’ll be told “Objective Failed,” and you’ll be placed again at THE VERY BEGINNING of this level, minus one life! So get the broads.)

 

There’s a ultimate powerup behind the wall of that long pool where the yellow thing is. [shadeShifter] Take a minute to cool your heels; this is some of the only water you can walk through in the entire game.

 

When you finally continue up the stair system, be sure to get the extra credit inside the stairs. But it ain't free: there’ll also be a couple of droids waiting to ambush you there. And don’t forget yon maiden, just a jump up the hedge to the lower left of these stairs.

 

One other thing: in this section of the maze, it’s possible to get (at least) three extra lives, every time you “regress,” and you can do this all the way up to just before where you were given the tank. Unfortunately you still lose one life for dying, obviously. My point is that your net gain will still be two lives every time, thereby enabling you to rack up as many lives as you feel you’ll need for the boss monster (up to a maximum of 9; after that, the “extra credit” icons are good only for the 200 points.) And sometimes the program will even let you return to the very beginning of the “New Orleans” section, if you’re the scrappy type. (There are similar tricks to this on some of the other levels.)

 

In the bushes next to the very last maiden is a 2,500-point bonus. Don’t miss it.

 

STOP. Do not progress unless you have seven maidens, or you’re gonna regret it (although there is one more I know of up to the right a ways). But you should easily have seven right here (usually I have “14” right here, thanks to the doubling-back thing). There are nine total.

 

Continue. Eventually you’ll get to the “flame droids.” There’s no need to elaborate on what the Prima guide says: “Hurry and engage these flame droids. If you let them get a shot off, it’s going to hurt. Be on your guard, and remember, there’s no blocking their fire! Get around behind the flame droids and sink in your saber! Use running attacks you can retreat from and charge with again.” Note that just because your character’s not moaning and reeling doesn’t mean that he’s not taking damage from these flames. If you ain’t in the mood, you can usually run right past these bozos without engaging.

 

TURRET DROID

 

The boss monster. Run around him in circles (staying close; approximately one body-length away from his blue bubble; closer than that will get you nailed), keeping one step ahead of his pesky lasers. When he regroups, he’s vulnerable to attack. Stay in close. As you’ve probably guessed, he’s immune to any attack while he’s got his blue bubble on. However, if you have some kind of stim pack (like Plo and Adi), you can run against him with it on even during his blue bubble phase. You won’t cause any damage, but watch what happens to your score! (Many players don’t realize that it’s okay for you to walk inside his blue bubble.) Even other attacks can add to your score during this blue bubble phase, just not as dramatically.

 

Then he’ll turtle up and shoot out “energy balls.” If you stay close, they will all land too far from you. You can whack him several times during this stage; the blows won’t count damagewise, but usually they will pointwise. Keep running around him in circles (although he has a “folding up” animation, he doesn’t have a corresponding “unfolding” animation; when he’s done with the balls, watch out: he’ll be back up on his feet and shooting lasers instantly.)

 

The only time I ever get scathed when I do this guy is when I forget I’m locked on. Be careful about that: watch to see if your circle is there beneath the droid. You want it gone when you skedaddle, obviously.

 

Remember, one blow per opportunity. Don’t get greedy.

 

After you whack him enough times, one of his “ears” will come off. The next stage is actually easier; just follow him REALLY close and nail him when he puts out that pink laser. (He was invulnerable when he was shooting those red bolts at you, but he CAN be damaged whenever he’s using that long pink laser.) Only the end of the laser can hurt you, so stay close and whack away. Common mistake: trying to run away from or jump over this laser. Ineffective. Simply stay close, and you can follow him all day safely until you decide you’re ready to take him out.

 

NOTE: Do not climb the balconies here. Although possible (with effort), program glitches will result in your death.

 

 

LEVEL FOUR: THEED PALACE

 

The first part about running around the ballroom and killing everything is obvious. I would only note that you get 50 points for each potted plant you whack (apparently these potted plants are in the service of Darth Sidious). Only be aware that any bushes, windows, consoles (or anything like that) take out with certain techniques other than your lightsaber (like thermals) don’t give you any points [courtesy Darth Nemesis].

 

Don’t forget to break the windows open (more mysterious points) and get the stuff in each little area behind them. You can get two extra lives and some other stuff this way. Every window can be hit twice, for 50 points each. Don’t scoff; two of those windows equal one droid.

 

Stand in front of the tall silver door. Sometimes you have to whack it with your saber for it to open.

 

GLITCH: If you throw a grenade just right at the second light fixture from the left of this silver door (occasionally this can be done when you deflect a laser shot), you can open up a bizarre hole in the wall, through which you can see the next hallway! If you jump through this hole, though, you’ll die. [shadeShifter, Maul Clone]

 

Go into the hallway that was opened up. If your fighting technique basically consists of running into the middle of a crowd of droids and hacking away like an L.A. cop, this hallway was specifically designed to trap folks like you. Instead, block the waves of droids as they approach; don’t go running after them. Most of them can fire non-stop here, and this can devastate you berserker types—you won’t have a chance to get your character out of a constant string of pain-induced oooh’s and aaaah’s and the consequent immobility that these produce. We’ve all seen it. Deflect them one at a time.

 

After the two battle droids at the end of the hall, you’re gonna go to the right, obviously. BEWARE: as soon as you’ve stepped through that threshold, you’ve passed a “point of no return.” So take care of all business in this hall before you progress.

 

After getting the extra life, enter the room everybody hates (you’ll find out why in a second). Killing everybody on the ground floor, THEN get that checkpoint.

 

A couple of people (“bsmyth” and “klangham”) have alerted me to a possible strategy here: kill yourself and then go over to the plant trough near the paned windows. The droidekas will be there on the other side, firing away at you. If you stay there long enough, they’ll shoot the windows out, and you’ll be able to hop through them, thereby avoiding the “point of no return” established at your point of entrance. You can then proceed down the hall, killing all those droids again for the extra points. Two problems with this strategy: A) you’ve got to survive the ENTIRE jumping sequence coming up with this guy or you’ll have to do all of this all over again, and B) when you jump through that window, be prepared to find yourself in the middle of a battle royal.

 

THEED PALACE CLIFF JUMPING

 

Okay, starting from where you take that checkpoint (by the way; kill everybody you can before touching that checkpoint; the points will stay with you when you die, which is coming up).

 

From that checkpoint, you've got to jump up to that first cliff with the droid. If possible, jump to draw attention to yourself and then deflect his lasers until he’s quite dead. Possibly a STAP is flying around shooting at you (although usually this isn’t triggered until you jump up on that first little post just under the first cliff). Jumping up on this cliff, you should approach from the right side. Why? The potted plant on the left side has a computer glitch that could result in your death; you can't get out of it, and can be helpless against STAP fire from above.

 

But wait! The right half of that cliff was blown off in the fray, you cry. Not to worry. You’ll still be able to jump on it, only you’ll have to aim further back towards the wall to gain a purchase.

 

Once up, you're going left. [if you know this part; skip this section. This is not the part that confuses everybody.] It goes without saying that you should have made sure everybody in this room is dead. If you haven't, this may come back to haunt you later in the form of getting shot in mid-air by some distant droid. Another thing that goes without saying is that you need to smash or shoot out all the windows behind you on those platforms. One thing I like to do is just stand here until I have deflected the STAP into oblivion. It takes time, but if you are playing JPB in a hurry, you're practically asking to be sent into a towering rage. And a third thing that goes without saying: always fight these droids with your back to the windows.

 

So, like I said, go left, two jumps. Break windows. Another left, two jumps (try to avoid hitting your head on that little ceiling, something caused by the usually good habit of hugging the wall), break windows. Try to deflect droid on right. [AS ALWAYS, IF YOU'RE UNABLE TO DEFLECT DROID FIRE, WAIT UNTIL IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE SHOOTS BEFORE YOU JUMP.] And naturally, make sure you’re not in lock-on mode before making such a perilous leap. Then right two jumps. Break windows. Try to deflect other droid on right. Break windows. Then jump left twice. Kill two droids on this platform and get the powerup.

 

From here, it’s possible to make out two conceivable landing points for your next jump: either of TWO platforms on the left. Listen to me carefully: YOU'RE AIMING FOR THE ONE ON THE LOWER LEFT. (You'll get to the upper one in just a second.) It's best reached by TWO JUMPS, just make sure to hug the wall in mid-flight and delay for as long as you can before pressing the second jump. Remember, if you die, you’ve got to go back and kill everyone (including the potted plants) on the ground floor again.

 

From here, two jumps up left to platform with the force up. Now there's a droid to your right. I've tried everything, including calling his mother names, but he just won't shoot at you—although if you're Mace or Adi, L2 + X likely has the problem solved. Otherwise he’s going to shoot you the instant you land, but that's pretty much unavoidable with this particular droid. So just two jumps right and engage. Then two more jumps right to the empty platform. By the way, you’re remembering to break windows, right?

 

From here, you seem to be facing a sheer wall to the right. Nevertheless two jumps right brings you up onto a much wider platform with potted plants and killer droids. My left testicle for a checkpoint here!

 

Your immediate business: taking out the grappling droid. Then, kill everybody else on this platform, including the potted plants, which, remember, serve the dark side.

 

From here you have to go to an identical section on the right by means of two jumps. Do not do these two jumps unless you're on that little banister, close to the wall. And make sure the left side of your body is as close to that wall as you can get it. (The safest way for getting on said banister is by jumping with your back to the camera, away from your point of view, if you know what I mean.) Do not bother trying to break these windows.

 

Kill the 5 droids on this platform and head right again. The doors here don't mean anything.

 

Another identical jump to a near-identical section. The problem is there's a droid waiting here to shoot you. Only Mace (I think) can take him out with L2 + X. Occasionally I can swing it with Adi’s orange goo. The rest of you (including Panaka & Amidala, who fire too low) have to time your jumps until right after he fires. (Note: once on that banister, waiting to leap, do not dilly-dally. The droid's third shot will knock you backwards off that banister, forcing you to get up there again, and possibly causing your death in a frantic jumping panic.)

 

Kill droids in this section. There are 5 droids, something worth 50 points by the leftmost potted plant, one special Jedi weapon, three plants, and one yellow thing.

 

OKAY, HERE'S THE PART THAT CAUSES SUCH CONFUSION, AND RESULTS IN SO MANY PANICKY MESSAGES TO THE JPB BOARD...

 

Stop a minute. Look around. Specifically, move your character down to the bottom of the screen (running futilely against the banister) till you can see the 4 platforms on the wall behind you. That's where you're going. Memorize the terrain.

 

See the one furthest left? There ain't nothing more left than that. So, once you get to that one, you're going to have to jump back up to the one which is highest up on the wall (as seen from this position).

 

So go do it. Two jumps down to the platform on the right. Pause to deflect droid to lower right. Then ONE jump down to the platform he was on, to the lower right. Get the three goodies. Note: DO NOT TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH TO THE RIGHT FROM HERE. If you do, you'll wind up an atheist.

 

Now, jump back up left to the very same platform from which you came. This is what everyone means when they’re discussing this and they say "retrace your steps."

 

From here, it’s entirely possible to (erroneously) think you’re jumping to the UPPER left. You ain’t. Your eyes are playing tricks on you. Instead, from this platform, make ONE jump (it's a doozy) down to the platform to the LOWER left of you. Block droid. From there, ONE jump down to where this droid was, to the lower left. Once there, you are standing on the lowest of the four platforms that you could see from up there with the potted plants.

 

From here, ONE (long) jump to the lower right platform. There should be one droid here. And repeat again: ONE (long) jump to the lower right platform and dispatch the droid that's on that one.

 

From here you can see the ground! One more droid below; if you have a thermal grenade or something, this is a great place to throw it; just aim into the corner. You don't want anyone distracting you when you're trying to do this just right.

 

Once that droid's history, drop down onto the potted trough (or whatever) he was standing on.

 

From here, no explanation is needed. Proceed to the ground and start fighting. However, I usually run like mad to get the checkpoint just in the next room so I don't have to do this all over again. (Don't worry; there won't be an "invisible wall" behind you once you touch it.)

 

Please note that, even I, wart of warts, died like ten times during this sequence while writing this. You're not alone. All across this sickeningly well-connected globe of ours, people (mainly Star Wars geeks, just like you) are falling into the exact same abysses, and yelling THIS STUPID GAME! WHY CAN’T I SAVE MY GAME AT THE CHECKPOINTS? (Frankly, because if you could you’d probably be able to finish it in one day.) So you ain’t alone.

 

One more suggestion. People are moaning and groaning about how it ain't possible to get 39K on this level. It is, but you have to use trickery. Risky trickery.

 

Specifically, ask yourself right now: how long can I live on this guy I’m on? If you think you can battle the next room without touching that checkpoint yet, do it. Then, when you purposely die trying to rack up points, you'll still have those scores. The only thing is, if you die in that room without having touched that critical checkpoint, it's all the way back to cliff #1. A classic gamble. Happy decisioneering, and save that ultimate powerup for when you really need it.

 

If you do gamble, you can usually work your way all the way forward to the room where the sarcophagus is. Just don’t jump down there yet. Sometimes, however, a game glitch will prevent you from re-entering that windowed hallway (the one with those four battle droids). The “invisible wall” seems to be created when you begin killing the droids in the next room, but this can vary. Rumor has it that Lucas browbeat the programmers into having the game ready to match the same release date as the video; consequently the program has innumerable glitches like this (wait till you see the one on level seven). Nothing we can do about that now, though. Nor can I verify that that rumor’s even true. Maybe the upcoming DC version will be more solid. (Note to the folks at LucasArts if you’re reading this: your fans would much rather wait and have a higher-quality game, than get a game full of glitches sooner. Take your time. If it’s for testing and general QA, we don’t mind.)

 

Remember that part where you finally jumped down from the series of ledges? On the ledge with the plants opposite that (toward the bottom of the screen, just outside of the room), there’s an extra credit. You’ll have to jump over some invisible barriers to get it, though.

 

When you’re ready for the sarcophagus room, here’s how you avoid dying unnecessarily:

 

Jump onto that floor directly and you will die. This can be frustrating, since elsewhere in the game your character can drop easily double this height and nothing happens. But oh well.

 

Here's how to do it. Looking at the right edge of the "pit," there seem to be two pillars you can jump down onto, and from there to the floor.

 

The thing is, you can't jump onto the taller pillar; the game won't let you. There's an invisible wall that will prevent you from jumping over the banister at that point, forcing you to select the shorter pillar (the one with the extra life on it) as your destination. The problem is that it's difficult to judge space and distance here, and you're sure to lose a few guys trying to “get it right.” Where to drop? From middle of the stairs? The top of the stairs?

 

Here's my advice: go up to near the taller pillar and use that invisible wall to your advantage. Keep trying to jump (or fall) into the pit. It won't let you, but keep trying anyway as you slowly make your way down the banister. As soon as it'll let you drop, you'll drop neatly onto the shorter pillar, and from there to the floor. Just don’t jump during this process. If you haven’t dropped to the floor from that shorter pillar yet, you can do so now without incident. Just make sure you fall forward from that shorter pillar, NOT to the rear. I lost like ten guys trying to get this right before I figured out the secret.

 

Once you drop into that sarcophagus room (and live), however, you can’t go back.

 

An animation will load, and you’ll have to do a room full of pipes. There’s no danger here that I know of, though the door after that checkpoint is an immediate “point of no return.”

 

Having trouble getting the animation to load? Scurry around at 12:00.

 

As for the next part, Darth Wart must admit he’s a little confused as to what happens. Here’s why: Queen Amidala has no voice on my game. I haven’t seen others complaining about this, so I assume it’s just my disk (or my TV). She gesticulates like she’s talking to my guy, but no words come out. All she says is “Help!” (Actually, “Hell!”) Perhaps her droid captors cut out her tongue, who knows?

 

I gather you’re supposed to protect her as she walks her little course, right? Well, you can take your time, because despite her heart-wrenching cries, the droids won’t hurt her at all if she’s not on the same screen with you. Even then they rarely hurt her (on purpose). But don’t whack at her; she’s definitely killable.

 

Presumably you’re supposed to kill the droids just in front of her as she walks, but (like I said) if you dilly-dally she’ll be just fine. Other forum members have spoken of a timer (?!?) right here, but there’s not one on my disk. I just clear everything methodically in that room (and there’s lots of goodies near that fancy desk or whatever it is) and then casually make my way up the spiral walkway. (NOTE: when battling on said spiral walkway, don’t fear jumping. An invisible wall prevents any suicide, intentional or not, until you reach the very top.) The challenge (theoretically) to this sequence is that Amidala is likely to get nailed by droid fire if you’re working IN FRONT of her. So work behind her. At least that’s the way I do it on my game. And there seems to be no penalty for this stratagem; I max out this level every single time.

 

By the way, when she’s standing near that window, if you can get the droids to shoot out the panes (you yourself are not able to), you can jump through them to your death.

 

Don’t forget there are goodies toward the back of the short hallways on each balcony; they’re best gotten after the queen begins to walk toward the spiral staircase.

 

If you hug the near wall as you make your way up this staircase, there’s a 50-point force-up you may not have seen.

 

WEIRD DETAIL: “Nutegunray” complains, “Right when I get to the spiral stairway leading to the plasma droids, I inevitably see some sort of black shadow quickly run across the bottom of the screen and then vanish without any rhyme or reason.” I have not seen this myself but my friends assure me it exists. So does anybody know what this is?

 

Enter the last room and do your duty. As always, touch the checkpoint last. There’s nothing hidden in either alcove that I’ve ever been able to find.

 

THE PLASMA DROIDS

 

These boss monsters take six hit points each; less if your character has earned an “attack bonus” or if you’re playing with Plo.

 

Players rarely have problems with these guys. Needless to say, steer clear of the funky green stuff. Your only possible problem here is that that green stuff seems only to exist in two dimensions, whereas you exist in three, so it can get you if you’re behind it in terms of the camera’s perspective, even though the green goo was fired in the other direction. So steer well clear. Like most monsters, they take a break. That’s when to attack, although they are vulnerable to damage when they’re greening too, unlike the last boss. Adi’s bubble does well here—L2 + S. (If you’re on “ultimate saber,” it’ll only take one bump apiece).

 

There seem to be no hidden goodies in this room other than the health-up, which you can plainly see.

 

A jump toward the rolling green hills in the distance will result in your death. Try it.

 

 

LEVEL FIVE: TATOOINE

 

Welcome to sunny Tatooine. That city you see in the distance (Mos Espa) is just the background. Invisible wall. You’re going right.

 

Coming into the level, engage the sandpeople quickly. If you run from them, they’ll start whaling on young Anakin. (Given that he later grows up to scourge the galaxy, they ought to be given awards for their providence. However, you will lose a life if they beat him to death.)

 

Incidentally, if you have the “ultimate lightsaber,” best to turn it off during this phase. One or two whacks with it will kill Anakin outright. On the other hand, if you already have the “ultimate lightsaber,” what do you need this guide for?

 

Personally, I think this part of the game doesn’t play very well: you’re telling me that this kid, a veritable prodigy on the podracing circuit and crafter of working protocol droids, doesn’t have the sense to stay clear of a lightsaber battle? Come on.

 

So take the battle as far away from Anakin as you can; nevertheless he’ll follow you closely.

 

Just before the Jawas, Anakin runs away from you offscreen. There’s nothing you can do to prevent this, nor can you scroll right till he’s good and gone.

 

As for the sandpeople, the critical thing to know is that you can’t deflect their projectiles back at them (although they can be blocked), so don’t waste your time trying. This can be a hard habit to break. These guys can get off a second round disturbingly quickly, but their “rhythm” is predictably regular. Approach them zig-zaggingly.

 

You shouldn’t need my help killing the Jawas. I will only note that since these little sand rodents can get a round off so fast, you’re probably best deflecting them one by one, though you have to be in fairly close to each one to do this, due to their short range. Running into a crowd of them and hewing away on the theory that, compared to them, you’re gigantic and scary—that’s probably not a good idea.

 

After the Jawas, you must walk onto a landmine and watch an animation as the Jawas take Anakin, or at least he follows them somewhere. There’s no way to get around this part. You’ve simply got to sit through this before you can continue. (I’d like to mention that Maul looks especially sissy-like when reeling from the blast here, if that kind of thing amuses you.)

 

HOW TO GET ONTO THAT CATWALK THAT YOU SEE ANAKIN RUNNING ON

 

After the moisture vaporators, the ground slopes down. Right at that point, double jump to the cliff and walk along the rocky face until you're on the catwalk. There are two sandpeople you can kill. NOTE: after the second sandperson, the program has a bug which causes you to fall to your death even though you're obviously on terra firma. Learn (the hard way) how to jump over these invisible voids and continue on your way. The view of the world will break down, so to speak, and you’ll be able to see the blackness behind the program facade. One tip: if you keep losing guys in that invisible void, hit the checkpoint right before the jumping sequence; it's a shorter run. (Note: If you manage to get there before Anakin and his captors do, you’ll find that they’re just insubstantial phantoms and cannot be lightsabered.) And you're only gonna score 4 sandpeople total by having gotten up to these glitch-ridden ledges in the first place. Enough to say I don’t think the programmers intended for you to get up here.

 

(Credit where credit is due: although I theorized that this was possible, I had never actually done it, until “Lord Majere” roundly assured the JPB board that he can and had done it.)

 

THE IMPOSSIBLE JUMPING CANYON WHERE EVERYBODY DIES

 

Be sure to take the checkpoint just before this. Although this could be a legitimate “doubling back” point for this level (given that from here you can return almost to the very beginning of the maze if you wish), that would assume you’re going to live though the ensuing jumping sequence and make it to the NEXT checkpoint all on ONE guy, which I don’t think I’ve ever done.

 

So get the checkpoint.

 

This next canyon has killed many a Jedi, many a Jedi. (Frankly, I find it hard to believe you still have to jump across these mesas; the canyon below should have filled up with so many Jedi corpses by this point that you should be able to simply walk across the stacked, rotting bodies to safety.)

 

As you run right, approaching this infamous canyon, the first item on your agenda is getting that powerup. Immediately (if not before) you’ll have to deflect the laser fire of the two orbicular droids above you. Now for the jumps. One careful jump to the first little mesa. Pause. Deflect droid fire. For the jump to the next mesa at two o’clock, make sure you’re positioned at the very edge of the mesa from which you’re jumping, and only hit the jump button once. Also wait for the sandy chap to shoot before you attempt this, or he’ll drop you in mid-air. From here, two jumps onto the larger ledge with the first two sandpeople. Send them to their maker and get your Jedi’s special item.

 

These jumps are a great time to use your Bubble of Invincibility if you’re Adi, or your orange body thing if you’re Plo. You cannot be shot down from mid-air when these things are on.

 

Then go to right edge of mesa. Pause. Deflect the orbicular droid’s fire (technically known as “Sith Probe Droids”). NOTE: Some people (Padawan Ian) have suggested simply double-jumping to the next section of that ledge, and from there along the north wall, thereby bypassing a perilous section of this whole jumping sequence, if not, essentially, the entire jumping sequence. Although that is possible (and I would suggest it if your veins are popping out and you just want to finish the level), it would result in you not getting a lot of the goodies, which is the whole purpose of this writing.

 

So, instead, one jump six o’clock to next little mesa, having, of course, waited until right after the sand person shoots the rock wall behind you. Once on mesa, deflect droid fire. Two jumps the next mesa, at two o’clock. Pause. Deflect droid fire. From there walk (no need to jump here) four o’clock onto larger mesa. Pause. Deflect droid fire until he’s toast. Get yellow thing.

 

Now, here’s where it is. The terrain immediately south of you appears certain death, but the Gungan artifact lies that way. Some people have said that “the view changes” when you get to this point, but more precisely, it changes only once you jump. Simply walk south, jump if you want, although it isn’t necessary. This is the famous “leap of faith” on Tatooine that everybody discusses so much on the JPB forum (or used to, until we crafted this walkthrough).

 

Proceed south. Kill the Jawa and raid his house. (God knows what this Jawa’s been smoking.) See if there’s anything good in the fridge. Get all the goodies. The much-ballyhooed Gungan artifact is in the house. Exploring the bottom of the screen at this point is fruitless but will not kill you. Then go back the way you came; two jumps back to that platform where the yellow thing was. (If it amuses you, it is possible to get on that top-right wall that separates this area from the rest of the board. Just find an area that you can jump onto the cliff face and then to the top—ShadeShifter)

 

The rest of the jumping sequence is as follows:

 

Wait until both sandpeople have fired simultaneously, then two jumps to the next little mesa. If you have an appreciable L2 + X (like Adi); I’d suggest using it here.

 

Otherwise two jumps on to next ledge, then two (for safety’s sake) down to the platform where the sandpeople are. Kill them, but be warned: it’s been my experience that that randomizer rarely fails to screw you. Could be just bias of perception, though.

 

From here ONE jump (two will overshoot the mark) back to the pillar from which you came. Time the sandperson’s shooting, then (and this is perhaps the single most dangerous jump in the game, so hard is it to judge depth perception here) ONE jump to the next little mesa. You probably won’t be able to deflect the next droid’s fire from here (although if you leap straight up you can get him to nail you), so your next jump will just have to be timed against it.

 

And that jump is TWO jumps to the next little mesa. The black droid is right in front of you now. Deflect him and jump down to what seems like safety (it’s not over yet).

 

From this plateau, deflect the droids (all three, if possible) before moving on. When you do move on, up or to the right (not going up will cause you to miss only one yellow thingie and one kill), make sure your jumps are timed against the projectiles.

 

As for that next little mesa to the right, no need to jump onto it; simply DROP. At this point, use L2 + X if you have it. Otherwise one carefully timed jump to the next mesa, and from there, two to safety (or immediate combat). Don’t mull it over: get the checkpoint immediately.

 

More battling. On the next ledge you jump down onto, there’s something behind the rock.

 

The boulder avalanche is easy: they come in waves of the same number, although that number seems to vary (once when I counted it was twelve, then ten, then another time six). Hang back for a second and find out what number you’ve been given. Evidently the guy who starts the avalanche has an endless supply of these things, so don’t wait around assuming the avalanche is “almost over.” Stay against the wall in one of those little recesses until each wave is over. DON’T try to play Donkey Kong against these boulders, as they cheat depth-wise and get you when you swear they shouldn’t have.

 

After making your way to the top to kill that guy, go back. There’s an extra credit toward the bottom of the screen you may have missed while hugging the wall.

 

That next section with the caves up there? It’s true, with effort (and many dead guys) you can get up there and walk around in the caves. But once again, program glitches will cause you to fall to an inexplicable death. There’s nothing up there I’ve ever found up there that justifies taking the risk; this is another area I don’t think you were supposed to be able to get to.

 

THE SARLACC PIT

 

When you’re fighting the dude over the Sarlacc, that’s my vote for the coolest-looking screenshot in the whole game.

 

Once you’ve killed that guy, there’s a ledge to the lower (upper) left of the pit with a thousand-point bonus. And it’s not as precarious as you think getting the goodies against the far wall; you can actually walk on some of the “wall.”

 

Get the checkpoint and then turn around and kill yourself. THIS is the “doubling” back point for this maze; a strategy that if employed successfully will guarantee that you’ll have the 34K necessary to get all this level has to offer. (One fun way to do this is by jumping into the Sarlacc pit, but if you choose to SLIDE down into the Sarlacc pit, you’ll discover that it’s surprisingly difficult to get killed by him. Nor is it visually interesting—your health meter simply depletes slowly while you’re in his mouth. Disappointingly, the Sarlacc cannot be damaged by any means.)

 

When you’re resurrected, you can go as far back as the sandpeople right before the avalanche (which will load again, magically teleporting you to the bottom of the slope, and frequently omitting the cave section immediately right of it), and conceivably earlier. This includes the extra life I mentioned above, so the net loss of your Sarlacc suicide will be zero.

 

Then continue up the slope system killing sandpeople and droids. From the top slope there’s a perhaps-not-obvious ledge you can leap to (toward the left) with a health thingie and a sandperson. Watch your health bar judiciously; mine always seems to be dangerously low by the time I get to the top of these slopes.

 

When you get the next checkpoint, the points you’ll have gained by your Sarlacc suicide will be cemented. Now you just have to live through the level any way you can, ‘cause that’s the last checkpoint on this level.

 

THE ROLLING ARMADILLO GUY

 

Get the checkpoint right before this guy or you’ll be sorry.

 

This armadillo is like giant Mr. Worm in that you can’t touch him anywhere except where you’re supposed to (on this guy, his sternum), even with your lightsaber.

 

Don’t run around. Wait for him to come to you.

 

Near the entrance where you’re placed, there’s a wall to the right. Hug it, at the lower right part of the screen (not near the bigger section of wall where the boulders fall; no, you should be up against the smaller section, the part which vaguely suggests a triangle in shape). To get there simply keep running down and left from where you find yourself when placed next to the monster. You’ll know you’ve found the right spot when you’re able to position yourself in such a way that you’re facing 6:00, but visible behind you is that wall he later crashes into.

 

From here, you can observe this guy’s attack: he rolls around, then stops, swishes a 180, then rears his head. You can only damage him when he rears his head (like the worm on Naboo).

 

Wait for your moment, then run in with a stabbing attack (for most characters a running XX), not any swishing attack. One attack per opportunity, please. Then retreat to your little area, where you can stand doing your nails until you’re ready to make your move (occasionally the guy WILL nail you with his tail even when you’re here; it is extremely difficult to jump just right to avoid this, although it is possible. Nevertheless, this seems the safest place to stand during this section, and moreover this tail-smacking only happens once in a while. It can even be a little refreshing after all the monotony.).

 

A note about the boulders: they always fall in the same exact position every time. Also observe that it’s difficult to tell visually when you’ve landed a hit on this beast; i.e., he doesn’t moan and reel as much as some of the other boss monsters.

 

There have been some erroneous rumors about this monster, i.e. that his head and arms are green if you’re on “Easy” mode and purple if you’re on “Jedi.” This would be useful to know, since there is apparently no other way of checking to see which level you selected when you started the game, supposing you forgot. Well, this is false. He’s always purple. The only way to make him green is by changing the color on your TV.

 

You know that part where he crashes through the wall? Whatever you do, don’t be standing there when he does, or funny things may happen glitchwise with your game. And get the goodies before leaving the arena.

 

Everybody I know kills the sandpeople in the next section before getting the ultimate powerup. That’s the last thing you do before going over the wall, although it’s possible to get back up over the wall if you need to. As for dropping from the wall, there’s no “trick.” Just jump or fall anywhere. I think the only way you can die is by double-jumping down, something which is obviously unnecessary.

 

Get the “hyperdrive.” (My what big pockets you have!) If you don’t, Anakin will gripe and groan till you run back the other way and get it.

 

DARTH MAUL

 

Here’s where you get your first taste of how your character’s going to stack up against Maul; just be aware that it’s typically easier for your character to spank him right here than it will be in level ten (this is especially true of Adi and Plo).

 

Note the powerup behind the right pillar. Use when necessary.

 

Bob Cesca tells me: “You can beat Tatooine Darth Maul very easily as Plo Koon. Be sure to have the "Body Electric" weapon power up - even two or three or four. Just corner Darth at the invisible wall in the far back right of the screen, engage the electric body weapon and wail on him while running into him. He'll retreat after only about 30 seconds and the level ends. Of course, you don't get as many points this way (I think).”

 

I can clarify that, Bob. How many points you get for whacking Maul (here or on level 10) depends on your attack. For example, Qui-Gon can kill Maul with assurance merely by locking on and continuing to hit X. But he only gets 5 measly points for each of the dark lord’s ooomphs! On the other hand, Qui-Gon gets 440 points every time he produces the very same oomph with a grenade. Unfortunately, Plo’s “orange body” thing produces absolutely NO points against Maul at any time, even if you’re continually running into him with it on, despite the fact that it can be used to terminate the level quickly.

 

Also note; this fight has no “ending.” Once a couple of minutes pass, the starship animation will load abruptly, without explanation. This ends the level. If you are nearly dead and just want to get through the level, you can simply run around in circles avoiding Maul and the level will end by itself. You don’t have to hit him once. (I apologize for having asserted this wasn’t true in every previous version of this guide.)

 

This Maul is the one you get if you play the game through with Qui-Gon; not the maul with two lightsabers at the end. Sucks. On the good side, you WILL have all those wacky force powers he uses against you here; it's just that they’ll seem wimpier when they’re finally yours (for example, you won’t be able to do that thing where he leaps to attack while twirling his double-bladed saber, probably because you won’t have such a saber.) Also, Maul’s “force bar” is limitless when you fight him, but when you ARE him, it depletes as normal.

 

If you’re drooling to get Darth Maul and wondering meanwhile who he most “plays” like, the answer is Obi-Wan. He runs precisely as fast (which you can verify with two characters on the treadmill) and when he double-jumps, it’s the exact same flip. In fact, they play SO much alike that I’ve been led to theorize that the programmers simply got lazy and replaced Obi’s icon with Maul’s, after changing a couple of other things. Otherwise they’re the same character. A bit of evidence for this: notice when you play level 8, it’s Obi’s face that you see when loading, not Maul’s. “Also, Maul’s XXX combo is the exact same as Obi’s SSS combo. Further, Maul’s XXXS is the same as Obi’s SSST. Their jumps are the same too.” [Jedi Dire].

 

 

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Wart

 

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