You call this Archeology? Lets Play: Tombs & Treasure

Hey, so... it looks like I saved after hitting a point where I really shouldn't have.

It's going to be a few days for the next update.

Damn, had I read about it earlier, I would have told you that if you go down there too early in the game, you are seriously boned and might as well restart.

This place is a bad place, go there when you've gone everywhere else or just don't know where to turn next.

And save-state before you enter.
A WISE DECISION!

Hey, I think I may have screwed up again and re-petrified the Jaguar before taking the Key.

It may be another little while.

PREVIOUSLY!

The Dude and his companions managed to turn a jaguar back into a statue, find the lost Sun Necklace and unlocked the keyhole behind the mummy form the start of their adventure. They found the legendary Akbal Jewel, but were sealed inside the labyrinth beneath the High Priests Tomb!

Chapter Five: The Hidden Stairway to Treasure!



It… it looks like we’re stuck here. Game over man. GAME OVER! The Dude and friends probably run out of air before they starve to death… so yeah.

Meanwhile: In a totally different Universe, The Dude and his companions didn’t go to the High-Priests temple after dealing with the Jaguar. They went to the Court of Columns instead.


Incidentally, along their way, they discovered that you CAN lose fights that you’re assured you can win…


…and found the secret Nunnery where you can speak with Kukulan. He says to heed his words. But that’s all he says. He doesn’t really specify what needs to be heeded.


Back in the Court, there is apparently a different column shining then before, even though the exact same graphic is used. I take the games word for it and set about bashing the ground again.



And we find a head. A genderless head. I don’t know what to say. There are no words. We take that noggin and get going.



We don’t have any real destination, but The Dude noted another ruin just outside the Warriors Temple, so we enter… The Ball Court!


The Ball Court is guarded by Hornskull, who you may recognize as being Cadaver, except colored differently.

Of course, as powerful as a palette-swap of an existing monster is, he’s no match for a Level 15 The Dude armed with a Blue Jewel in his sword.

The fight goes as to be expected, with ol’ grey bones being a chump. Now, lets take a look around here.

Looks like there’s a mechanism built into the wall there, but it’s missing some pieces and can’t be used. Working with adventure game logic, this means I’m either going to find a gear at some point, or fashion a gear out of something I already have.



However, nothing I currently have is… geared for the task.

OH GOD THE WIT! I shall have to lie down until the giggling ceases.


That’s better. The Ball Court seems a lot bigger then other ruins, since this is the second screen and it still seems to keep going. There’s a blue block on the wall of this second room, which is described as being blue and glowing.



The dude confirms that the Blue, Glowing Block is, indeed, a Block, which is glowing blue. This is weird, but it doesn’t look like I can do anything with it at present, so we leave the block alone.



We continue into another uninteresting corridor. But Looking at a wall causes Jose to comment that you should look at it with a mask. How does he know things like this? Well, regardless, I can’t use my One-Eyed Mask on it, perhaps Jose is talking about a different Mask. We can’t continue, either, since the path is too dark. Alas.

We decide to head back to El Castillo, since that’s the only place The Dude remembers encountering a headless statue, and this thing is heavy.



Success! Re-capitating the statue causes a new path to open up under the Treasure Room! I love you, headless, gender-neutral statue!


Nice lighting in this secret basement. And look! More treasure! There’s a bag of Incense (inside the box) and two flasks. We Get Ye Flask!


At the suggestion of the Intenet (since I seriously had no idea what I was supposed to do next at this point), We return to El Coracol and take back the Golden Globe, as well.



I also hit the wrong button (see above note, re: being stuck) and end up switching to Jose, who informs me that he can help. Heck, I’m not complaining. He pushes the pedestal which opens up a new staircase.

The second floor doesn’t look particularly different from the first. But there are two windows now. The windows, incidentally, point to the West and Southern forests.


The Silver Globe doesn’t fit on the pedestal, but the gold does, so we place it on there and let Notta Toot like the wind!



Which… I guess doesn’t work this time? I guess the Pedestal isn’t musically inclined. Oh right, right, the jewel is black, so it’s midnight. I guess we have to wait.



After hours that seem like seconds, it is noon, and the light bursts out the window, hits the globe and is redirected back into a brick in the wall.

Said brick is quite frail, possibly as a result of having a laser shine on it, and quickly crumbles into dust. Inside, we find a Crystal Key. Score! Jose assumes that this is the key to the Mummys coffin!

This is as good a spot as any to leave our heroes for the day…

…Stay Tuned! Adventure Lovers!

I do like how the game tells you that you're essentially screwed, which is kind of nice. On the other hand, the fact that you can screw up that badly is a pretty glaring game design problem. The puzzles seem a little... obtuse though, is that because we're not seeing all the text, or is it because it really is just wander around, try to find stuff and attempt not to encounter any points of no return?

OH! I remember now!

DON'T do something with the gears on the wall unless you're properly outfitted, or else you will be boned again.

Yeah... yeah it's pretty obtuse a lot of the time. I'm transcribing damn near everything. This is why Save States are important before you enter any ruins. Luckily, unlike most point and clicks, they list everything you can interact with, so there's no actual pixel hunting.

And thanks for the hint, danowar. I will keep it in mind.

Dead ends and obtuse puzzling! I'm shocked that this wasn't the hottest title of the NES's history.

That is a pretty rare combination for an adventure game.

On our Previous Thrilling Adventure!
The group discovered a set of secret rooms in the Castillo and Coracol ruins, ultimate leading to a Crystal Key, which Jose thinks might fit under that skeletons head. Of course, Now-Dead-Parallel-Universe The Dude knows that the Rusty Key will also fit in there, but we’ll trust Jose on this. He hasn’t steered us wrong yet.

Chapter 6: The Return of the Mystery in the Mummys Maze

We take the Golden Globe back, in case we need it for something else later. I’ve noticed that when the game gives you this option, it’s usually a good idea to take it up on it.


Apparently Jose is full of crap. The Crystal Key doesn’t fit in there, unless, of course, Jose is talking about a different Mummy which we haven’t encountered yet. Honestly, I wouldn’t put past him. He has a tendency to not tell me things that I need to know.

Incidentally, the Crystal Key doesn’t let you get the Jewel under here either. You still end up trapped and dead. But this time I saved before going in, so we’re fine.


After copious amounts of running around the map, we learn that the lake that The Dude had ran around so many times is, in fact, another ruin. Specicially, it’s the Well of Sacrifice that Professor Imes’ stuff was found in. This seems like as good a place as any to investigate.

Looking at the murky water causes Jose to give us a happy little tidbit that the Mayans used to sacrifice young girls like Notta here for purposes of summoning rain, and those who survived the drowning were able to talk to Kukulan.

He also mentions that the Professor found a secret chamber underneath the lake. This is somewhat more useful information, albeit less educational.


I’d also like to note that the game mentions that there’s a Cliffside nearby, even though the lake is the middle of a field.

Well, I can’t wash anything in the pool, Jose isn’t saying how the Professor found any secret rooms, there are no left-over items from the expedition, and odds are that Notta isn’t keen on drowning herself to see if Kukulan will help us, so here we are.

On a hunch, we return to Caracol.



I was wondering if we were ever going to use that stand. This raises the Golden Globe ever so slightly. Now lets wait and see where the miracle of light refraction leads us.


All right, now we’re cooking. The beam shines out to the window! Go west Young Man, and… older man… and anime girl.

Of course, on further inspection, the light is coming FROM the window, not going out through it. That complicates things.



Another quick analysis around reveals that music still works on the Globe! I really wish the game would make up its mind about that. Anyhow, music makes the globe reflect the light onto another brick in the wall (all in all).

That looks more pink then red to me. One wall-ass-kicking later…


We gets a Censer! I guess that’s what the stone tablet from Castillo meant about digging it up at dusk. This Censer, incidentally, is supposed to be able to wake the dead. Neat.


We head back to the Ball Court, mostly on a whim and a prayer. While that blue block was immune to the effects of smashing it, it was not immune to the effects of taking it. This time, at least. Adventure Game Logic kicks in again, and removing that block causes a new door to pop open. This is at least more sensible then other bits of Adventure Game Logic, so we’ll let it slide.

Oh… the Ball Court leads directly under the Tomb of the High Priest. That’s pretty unlikely. However, it makes it pretty obvious how to get that crazy-ass jewel! Back to the outside!


All right, doubling back and entering the Akbal Chamber properly means that there are now two doors to enter and exit by. Lets finally get us a Demon-Weakening piece of jewelry!


HA! Take THAT Ancient Mayan Deathtrap! Taking the Jewel only closes one entrance, so we’re still free to leave by the Ball Court. Life is GOOD!

Now we have the Akbal Jewel, which I’m sure will come in handy in the near future, and we have a large square block. And as I recall, El Castillo had a large square hole roughly the same size.



As should not be surprising at this point of the game, putting an object into a hole opens a new door. Jeez, El Castillo is loaded with treasure. I wonder what is down those stairs.


Oh… I was kind of expecting another mountain of treasure. A bunch of gears is nice and all, but I’m a bit let down.

Now, I recall the advice of another saying not to put those gears in the Ball Court, so I guess I’ll just give it a crank.

Jose proves to be mighty enough to move the crank, but it is damaged and quickly returns to its original state as soon as he lets go. Now, I COULD ask Jose to just stay here and hold that crank in place for the rest of the game, but then who would provide exposition?

No, no I think we’ll need to solve this puzzle.

Taking the handle causes it to break, rendering it useless forever.

Wait… no, no, no. That’s not what happened, let me start over.


We leave El Castillo and head back to The Ball Court. Again. We take the Pawl from the gear mechanism, which also seals up the rest of the ruin forever. Man, I hope there wasn’t anything else important in there.


All right, we put the Pawl in the Castillo gear assembly, which lets us move the gear properly.


Turning the crank causes water to rush out of somewhere. Since we’ve been everywhere we can go, and only found two bodies of water, it shouldn’t be too difficult to puzzle out which it was.


Got it in one. The Sacrificial Well is now dry, so I guess we can descend into the unknown depths!

What mysteries lurk within? Treasure? Horror? Love?

We’ll find out… soon!

Oh my god, I think you broke the game again. :-/

If I remember correctly, in the path where the blue block is, there is something at the end of the path...I think.

I think you had to
1. take the blue block
2. take the pawl
3. use pawl somewhere else
4. go down from other side to the Akbar jewel.
5. go behind the now closed path.
6. there is something now???

EDIT: A quick glance at an FAQ proves me WRONG.

In our last episode the intrepid adventurers finally got that stupid Akbal Jewel, repaired a gear assembly and completely drained a lake, probably causing irreparable environmental damage in doing so. Under the lake, however, was another ruin. Which is where we find them now.
Chapter 7: The Betrayal?



As we attempt to descend into the bottom of the lake, Jose once again pipes up with some helpful advice at the last possible second. Specifically, everyone who tried to reach the bottom of the lake is imprisoned in crystal by a golden light. He suggests not going down unless we have a golden mirror, the crystal key, the Jewel of Akbal and the Blue Jewel. Of course, he knows we have all those things, he helped us get them.

Oh Jose.



He also suggests that Notta stay behind. I’m sure that’s going to work out well for everyone involved.



Notta objects so Jose stays behind as well, leaving The Dude to enter the ruin at the bottom of a sacrificial well alone. That… that may be much worse.



Notta, as usual, is quite concerned for your well being.



Nice place, a bit cramped, though. And damp... and Skeletony.



…and demonic-snake infested.


Venum is the first monster to have any sort of description beyond “He’s too strong” or “We’ll have to win, somehow”. Specifically it mentions that he’s vulnerable to green light (?). Well, lets show him some him some.



I… don’t really know how much using the Akbal Jewel helped, but Venum went down pretty easily. Taking a look around, it doesn’t look like there’s anything particularly exciting. There is nothing but a sealed door, a few scattered bones and statues of a happy old Woman and angry old man.



Also, trying to escape from the pit reveals that nobody is answering. FORSHADOWING!



After using every command on every thing in this room, The Dude moves the head of the statue and the door opens. Hm. He also moves the other head, but that didn’t have as noticeable and effect.

The new chamber consists of a coffin, a single ray of light shining down and a crystal notch in the wall. Looking at the coffin shows us its contents, but first things first, I know a Mirror Puzzle when I see one.



Using the Mirror causes the light to reflect and opens a new door. Awesome, but first, lets take a look at that coffin.



Ewww. Well… he’s well preserved. This… fella is wearing a mask with two eye slots. Hey, we only have one slot in our mask. His is better! Lets take it! Of course, he’s cocooned in a crystal coffin, so taking it will be difficult. There’s a notch in the side of the coffin, however. Lets try fitting our Crystal Key in the side of it.



Bingo. The Crystal Key opens the coffin of THIS Mummy, not the other one. Jose WAS holding out on me afterall. We take the Mask, causing the light vanish, but the door is still open. We exit the tomb.



And find ourselves back in El Castillo. Are all the ruins here connected or something? Anyway, the Dude is feeling lonely without his friends, and heads back to the Well.



You can’t tell (especially from a screen shot), but the overworld music has changed. It’s a bit more menacing then before. FORSHADOWING!



Oh, Jose, taking a nap on the job. What would Notta say if she saw that? Erm… where IS Notta, anyway?



Oh… I see. It seems that “They” beat the hell out of Jose, kidnapped Notta and headed off to the Ball Court, which, as previously noted, is now sealed forever. So it shouldn’t be too hard to catch them then. Come, Jose, The Game is afoot!


Hmm, the door is still sealed and no sign of any demonic hoard. Well, we COULD try reassembling THIS Gear assembly, I guess.

There we go, we take the Pawl and the Crank form the Castillo assembly, put them in here, and reopen the Ball Court. Lets us away, Jose!


This room had an inscription that required the Two-Eyed Mask to read. After jamming both crystals in the eyeholes a white block appears.



Said White Block is a button, this time. And, of course, pushing it causes another door to open nearby.


Well, this room looks a bit different from the rest of the court.


What the hell is that thing? Well… it’s Tezcat, apparently, but that doesn’t really answer my question.


Whatever it is, Tezcat doesn’t share Venums disdain for the Akbal Jewel, so it looks like we’re fighting it the old fashioned way. With swords.


Durable jerk, but he went down all the same. Now that we’re not under attack from a multi-limbed red… cat(?) we’re free to look around. The wall and ceiling are made of a “Rare mineral”, which isn’t particularly helpful information, but the little pyramid is another matter.



There’s key inside the temple. Not just any key, but the Sun Key! The hunt for this thing is what started this whole mess! But the Temple is teeny-tiny and The Dude can’t get it. There must be some hint at some point in the game about dealing with tiny, tiny openings.

Oh right. There was.

Now, there are two bottles of potion I found, one bottle is quite large, the other is small. Now… what was it that the Dormouse said? We back up, and take a swig of the Large flask.

WHAT! Jose was a demon all along? That’s… genuinely unexpected. He goes on to explain that he helped kidnap Notta, stole that ring she had, is now borderline invincible, will soon rule the world forever, will overthrow Tentacula and demands we give him Ye Flask.

I Am. Not. Giving. Up. This. Flask.



And so, we charge into battle with Jose ne Scareface. Like Venum, he is vulnerable to the power of the Akbal Jewel.


And so, Jose is dead. Not before ripping out about 5000 HP from The Dude, mind. If Tentacula is more powerful then this guy…


We retrieve the Ring of Itza from Scareface’s shredded remains and resume swigging down that potion.

But what happens next? Did The Dude pick a healthy potion, or a foul poison? Is Jose really dead? What are the repercussions of an anime girl being kidnapped by a monster named Tentacula?

Stay Tuned, true believers!

I'm actually surprised that Jose was a demon, it's kind of a neat little plot twist.

I think my favorite thing about the game is Notta's line "You're no good, The Dude, here". Mainly because it sounds like she's insulting you, and then trying to cover it up by adding here at the end.

I love the delightfully banal descriptions.

"Just an everyday ceiling" indeed!

On our previous adventure, The Dude entered the dank, smelly depths of the Well of Sacrifice alone, upon returning, he discovered Jose unconscious and Notta missing. Jose and The Dude tracked the kidnapping monsters to The Ball Court and uncovered a secret entrance. Just then, Jose reveals himself to be Scareface, Tentacula’s second-in-command. The Dude is forced to kill his old friend, but he finds the legendary Sun Key. Bravely, The Dude takes a drink from a flask of potion to try to shrink.

Chapter 8: An Audience with the King



Luckily, drinking the large flask is exactly the thing to do. Now that we’ve shrunk down, The Dude can easily enter the temple and open it up to take the key.



Wow, that Key is quite large, now. Conversely, the Temple of the Sun is quite small indeed. Not really a whole lot is in here though. There is, however, a keyhole which is significantly smaller then the Sun Key, and I do have a Silver Key which hasn’t been used up until now.



Luckily all the items in my inventory didn’t shrink with me, as then I wouldn’t be able to unlock the temple. Which of course begs the question of how I managed to get any of the items in there in the first place.


A quick quaff of the Small Flash returns us to our former size, with a now open Sun Temple. We shove the temple aside and take the Key.



Taking the key then causes the Temple to close up. Forever, presumably. All right! We found the Sun Key! Now we have avenged the horrific deaths of every single person associated with this expedition (possibly except for Jose) and can go off to become rich and famous!




Then the Ball Court starts shaking and The Dude cries like a little girl.


It seems that the Temple of the Sun (and by extension, the Ball Court) was built on top of Tentacula’s Shrine. And taking the Sun Key causes the whole shebang to collapse? Anyhow, we appear in a small cell with a green haired girl. Is that?



Before we can check to see if Notta’s all right, we ar met by the man of the hour himself. The Dark Dread King, Tentacula: God of the Underworld. He kind of looks like one of those “Yop-Yop” Martians from Sesame Street.

Honestly, being killed and sacrificed is a hell of a lot better then what I would think would happen with a monster named Tentacula.

And so, we fight the devil incarnate.



As per usual, we make sure the Blue Crystal is fitted in the Sword, we use the Akbal Jewel, and just for good measure, we use the Ring of Itza too. Now lets punch a god from a time long dead!

Take that, squiddles!



Ha! Can’t perform unspeakable acts on someone you can’t catch.



After a downright ludicrous number instances of Badly Damaging Tentacula, we successfully kill a God. Good for us. And now to check on Notta, to see how alive and undefiled she is.



Looking at the stand shows us that Notta is resting peacefully after her ordeal. Surprising that the battle against a timeless horror from the mists of prehistory didn’t wake her. Also, who changed her clothes?



I’m not sure if it’s denial on The Dudes part, or poor and bizarre censorship on Nintendos, but we’re quite assured that Notta is alive. But we should use that Censer that can raise the dead on her, just to be on the safe side.



We Put the Senser on the Floor, put the Incense in the Censer, and use our Lighter to Light the Incense. I was starting to think we were never going to use that lighter.



All right, we managed to break the… “spell”.

Well, yes we did.







All right then, one Key Thrust coming up.
Did… did she know that Jose was a demon and is now dead? Did she even ask?

And so, Tentacula’s shrine collapses in a shower of pixels.




It seems that we are now in the Mayan Civilization as a result of using the Sun Key? I guess there’s time travel involved?

And Professor Imes is also alive and well, and a high priest in New Mayaland.





And we are treated to the wedding (possibly) of The Dude and Notta, as they are the conquering heroes what killed Tentacula.



And so, everything turned out the best for everyone involved. Except for Jose, who is dead, and Tentacula, who is also dead.

Ultimately the whole experience left me with a single question:
How the heck did anyone beat this game without some kind of a hint guide? Seriously?

Everyone seems proud that The Dude, Sr. is now a Mayan High Priest, but isn't he performing live sacrifice and eating hearts?

Or was that just the Aztecs?

You can't really tell in the screens, but that thing in the middle of the altar is spurting a lot of red stuff. So maybe he just finished?

Also, I think that was the Aztecs.

Or, at the very least, the Thugee.

Kali-Ma, Kali-Ma

Modderam Suggeram...Modderam Suggeram...*chant*

Good god, better you than me. I'm glad I didn't run into this game as a kid. I was annoyed enough by Goonies 2.

Great LP! I looked forward to your updates. Thanks!

It's gonna suck when they realize that the Mayans didn't have things like tampons or deodorant. Or indoor plumbing. Or air conditioning. Etc, etc, etc.