MORE Mysteries Revealed!

 

I have received more answers to the questions that I posed way back in DP #33:
Q. Is there a second screen/level in Ghostbusters II (2600)?

A. Thanks to Markus Graf, “You simply have to stay on the bottom and press the joystick in the down direction, do not move left or right”.

Simple right? The instructions do not tell you that, but state that you must collect the three pieces of the shovel. Then they mention that you have to scoop up the slime from the bottom of the shaft (by digging around I assumed). Actually, you have to stop swinging and continue holding the joystick down. After a while you hear some music and the title screen comes back, only this time it says NEXT LEVEL / BROADWAY. Then you press the fire button and you appear on the left side as a parade float representing the torch of the Statue of Liberty. Actually, you control a small spark of that flame which is just in front of it. This is a side scrolling shooter contest and it is a lot of fun. Too bad you have go through hell just to get that point. There is a screen capture on the back of the box. There are at least four types of ghosts that you must face before you face the final boss (2 circling skulls). I was never able to get past that screen. It kept repeating the whole sequence until all of my lives were gone.

Markus had posted a message on the Atari Age bulletin board asking how to get past the second screen? I contacted him and sure enough that was what he was talking about and he was able to solve my dilemma. The only thing that I could suggest to him is that maybe you have to build up your inventory on Screen I and use the proper defense when facing the tougher ghosts on Screen II. I noticed that you can cycle through the bomb, bullets and shield, but only the bullets take effect on the initial screen. So possibly the others were meant for the second screen. It may take some experimentation, but this game might have an ending.

Since the first screen is very frustrating, I would only recommend this game to someone with a lot of patience and persistence. I have reached the bottom of the well about once in every 50 attempts. Here are some tips I can offer:

· Start out by dropping straight down like a plumb line.

· The only thing that must be collected is the shovel.

· If it looks like you can’t get past a pitchfork, move up, then back to make it shift to the other side. It may be easier to swing pass this way.

· To kill the sawing hand, rapid fire straight up. Try not to climb too high also.

· Use the plumb line method to coax the pitchforks then pull up out of the way.

· Part I of the shovel is on the left. Part II is on the right. Part III is on the left.

· You can tell what is on a ledge because it shows up on your status when you are close.

· There is one ledge on the right that will replenish your lifeline. It is orange.

· There is no way to fix a rope that has been badly cut. You may as well hit reset.

· You have to face about 3-4 sawing hands. More if you are forced to backtrack.

· As soon as you touch the bottom, hold the joystick down.

Q. In Grover’s Music Maker (2600 prototype), what are the musical selections?

A. Here are some more additions that I got from Scott Stilphen and the Atari Age BBS.

G= My Hat Has Three Corners (Must be. I can’t prove it myself as I couldn’t find a reference copy, but I have had another person tell me the same thing)

M= Go Tell Aunt Rhodie (I was able to verify this one) The next line after repeating the title is “Her old gray goose is dead”. (lovely!)

R= unknown. This was wrong. It isn’t Farmer In The Dell. (agreed)

That would leave N/P/R/S/T. By the way I erroneously called this game Grover’s Music Machine last time. (Sorry!)

The only major issue left is the mystery word TEALPEHN in Blueprint. This was supposed to be a clue to a coming attraction. Besides anagramming into “elephant’, another theory is that it could be “the plane”. That was the phrase that Tatoo used to yell out to his boss from the watchtower on the Fantasy Island TV series. Could they have possibly grabbed this license? Or was this referring to the upcoming Wings cart?

The free software in cereal continues! Now you can get the complete PC CD-Rom game, Atlantis: Search for the Journal in the large size Kelloggs’ Corn Pops. There are editions of : Monopoly, Boggle, Chutes and Ladders, Operation and Yahtzee in various General Mills cereals.

 

Go to Digital Press HQ
Return to Digital Press Home