The initial stages shouldn't pose any problems whatsoever. Just take care
when jumping overthe stepping stones - the water is deadly- and hack down
anycreature stupid enough to get in your way.
The first real problem is encountered in the castle - the ropes. These swing
in a set pattern, so just be patient and wait untlill the timing is right. To
get on to the first rope, stand at the edge of the lava pit and Rastan grabs
the rope automatically.
You must be on the end of the rope to make any progress. The second rope
takes precision timing, but once out of every five it swings a little
further, and this is when you should time the jump. The third rope isn't very
difficult.
When you come to the up/down spikes, walk under them and duck when they drop
-they're pretty harmless. To dispose of the evil guardian at the end of the
level, jump onto him and keep jumping up and down and thrusting up and down
with your sword.
Onto the next level now. The rafts are the first problem, and to tackle these
just jump if the next raft is coming towards you. If you do this you should
cross safely. When you come to the stone pillars in the river, wait until the
second rock comes up just before the first, and then keep jumping across -
and don't stop. In the castle, it you don't do the jump from the rope
properly you have to go down all the way down the steps to the bottom, or the
rope disappears. Deal with the up/down spikes as on the first level.
The real problem comes with the javelins, which are avoided exactly like
this: keep one hand on the space bar and time your passage between the
spears, if it looks like you'll be stabbed, press space. The spears continue
to move but Rastan is paused and can't be harmed. Once these are negotiated,
go up the ladder at your leisure. By the way, you can't go straight up the
rope because the second spear doesn't move unless you are level with it.
When you come to the bridge with the fireballs, just bob down and hack at
them with your sword. The fireballs vanish. Do this to them all and you can
get safely across.
Kill the second guardian as you did the first. When you try to kill anything
be it snakes, Gigas, warriors or whatever, always duck as this stops them
using their weapon. The only exception to this is the winged man who is
killed by doing a diagonal jump and swinging your sword at the last second.
It you are confronted by bats follow the procedure for killing guardians.
What are you waiting for? Go for it!
