Just for you, Calrissian

[Guest Darth Wart]

LEVEL NINE: PALACE CLIFFS

 

Hidden to the left of you as you begin is a 1,000-point bonus. Don’t miss it.

 

You know those little ledges near the beginning that “crumble” when you step on them? You’re SUPPOSED to step on them, then glide off. If you avoid them by jumping, you’ll waste precious time and increase your chances of croaking (the game is ridiculously unforgiving about permissible falling distances on this level).

 

The best suggestion I have for acclimatizing yourself to this level is going at it once, leisurely, without worrying about those stupid pilots. Take your time, get everything, kill everything, learn how the terrain is laid out and where you’ll need to be going. You can always adopt my “mad-dash” mode once you know the layout well.

 

Probably your first mistake will be to assume you’ve got to kill everything that moves (including getting those unpleasant randomizers) in order to reach the 14K necessary to max out this level. Not true.

 

This is another one of those levels that everybody plays differently, yet NOBODY I know frees five pilots first and THEN goes looking for points, so don’t do that Such a strategy does not strike me as very efficient (if you free all six pilots, the round will end anyway before the timer does).

 

Here, more than on any other level, you’re going to have to develop a modus operandi that allows you to glide effortlessly from perch to perch, knowing when to jump, knowing when to drop, knowing when to pause so the droids miscue their fire. Smooth it out. Take the time to explore and learn where those stupid invisible walls are. Currently I can max this round out and rescue all six pilots with 156 seconds left! (I should note that’s on “ultimate lightsaber.”) If you want to get all your characters to 10/100 and unlock that special Sith bedpan, you’re going to have to master this level at some point too. It’s easy; what would be hard is if the route changed every time you loaded it (you didn’t hear that, Lucasarts!).

 

And that’s another thing: you only need to rescue five of the six to proceed to the final battle with Maul. There have been some doubts about this on the JPB board; I can assure you, if you’re not worried about points and only want to progress to monsieur Maul, you only need to rescue 5. If you don’t believe me, rescue five and stand there until the timer runs out. Make sure you have five, though. Then watch what happens. I should note, however, that I’ve never played the game on “easy” mode, so things might be different on that setting.

 

Despite the fact that the manual says you’re going to “climb” the cliffs leading to the palace, the first thing you’ve got to do is DESCEND, before the true climb begins on the other side. This confused me at first.

 

When you climb to the other side, there’s a pathway leading more or less up to the left just about where that yellow thing is. Your path is to the right, but if you do go to the left, you’ll score a few more kills and an extra credit. Don’t do this if you’re in a hurry; only if you know the level well and are trying to max it out.

 

PROGRAM GLITCH: You know that series of tiled patios at the very “bottom” of this cliff system near the huge waterfall, where the extra life and all the potted plants are? Work your way up the cliffs to the right. Kill that rifle droid and get the yellow thing on the solitary ledge behind him. Continue again on your way right; you’ll come to another tiled balcony, then another, one flight of stairs up. Be extremely careful climbing the next two little cliffs up from that; the ol’ invisible void problem. Try to perch your guy on the outermost part of these ledges. If you move too close to the “wall,” you’re history. This glitch really yanks my chain, too, since it’s clearly right in your way. With most of the others one could always argue that you were asking for trouble straying off the beaten path like that (although I would retort that the game encourages such exploration).

 

As for the pilots themselves, pick the easy rooms first. The upper middle one is the hard one, but there’s an “ultimate powerup” just outside. There is, however, no obligation to enter the room once you’ve grabbed that powerup.

 

Annoyingly, your time is ticking away while these despondent-looking pilots go through their “thank you” animation. Your paddle should be all the way to the right or left during this, so you can hit the ground running the second this pleasantry is over.

 

[Guest LandoCalvresian]

you da man darth wart! you da man