Destiny? Who needs it! Colgate's Cutie Mark might signify powers over time and space, but all the perky blue pony really wants is to be... a dentist. Which means that hourglass has got to go. Fortunately, everyone's favourite rhyming enchantress Zecora has a solution; if Colgate can track down the ingredients for a potion, she'll be able to "undo" her Cutie Mark. The problem? It's located deeper inside the dangerous Everfree Forest... and inside the mouth of an enormous monster! Colgate does what any good unicorn dedicated to good hygiene would do; she sets out with her enormous toothbrush (don't ask questions) for a platform adventure... Mark Sprague's Minty Fresh Adventure, that is!
Use the left and right [arrow] keys to move around, and the [Z] button to jump, while [X] attacks with Colgate's toothbrush, as well as interacts with nearby characters. To perform a long range attack if Colgate has enough magic in her blue bar, double-tap the left or right [arrow] key and quickly press [X] to hurl your toothbrush, sending it spinning out in front of you Darth Maul style to take out any enemies. When her magic bar is full, press and hold [X] and [C] at the same time until she begins flashing to "Clock Up", unleashing a spell that temporarily freezes all enemies as well as allows you to move even faster. Colgate can also draw a little inspiration from a certain Italian plumber and take out foes by jumping on top of them. Beating baddies adds to your high score, which is spent at a shop run by a certain someone, where you can pick up items to improve your abilities or provide... other effects. You can move back and forth between areas to build up points if you need to. If Colgate takes three hits, she'll have to start over from the start of the area you just entered, so make sure to chow down on any apples you find to replenish health. Oh, and you might want to steer clear of any Poison Joke flower you come across. And cockatrices. And timberwolves. And... well, let's just say we hope you're not just putting on a show when it comes to collecting that ingredient, my little pony.
Analysis: Packed with references, surprises, and humour galore, Minty Fresh Adventure is not only a great silly homage to the source material, but a vibrant and enjoyable game in its own right as well. Mark Sprague reaches impressive new heights in his Pony Platforming Project with this installment, which is impressively animated and considerably more complex than the first few trials. While players who have "joined the herd" will probably get the most out of it by recognising certain characters and references, Minty Fresh Adventure is fun and bright enough to be enjoyed by anyone looking for something light and silly. With multiple endings and secrets to uncover, it's a simple to play but surprisingly robust little game that can keep you occupied longer than you might think at first encounter.
The controls, unfortunately, are a little awkward at times; triggering Colgate's long-range attack can sometimes be accidental, or difficult to pull off in a pinch, making you wish it were bound to a separate key. It's also disappointing that for a pony, she's not particularly fleet of hoof, and as such the platforming and combat in general doesn't feel as smooth or natural as it might otherwise be. Fortunately, the developer is still working on this game as of this writing, and you can look forward to even more tweaks (and some new surprises) in the next big update. As it stands, Minty Fresh Adventure is still an extremely impressive example of fan-born dedication, and speaks very well indeed for Mark's future prospects as a developer. So come on... who needs semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers over time itself when you can satisfy Equestria's need for fresh breath and shiny teeth?
[Thanks to an anonymous reader for sending this one in, and to Mark Sprague for allowing us to host it!]
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
Walkthrough Time!
(Game's got a lot going on so this isn't 100%--but hopefully a good 95% start.)
Game only sometimes works on Chrome for me, but consistent on IE 9. Huh.
Basics, Enemies/Obstacles, Items
BASICS
Health/Mana: To replenish your three hearts (health) and mana bar, eat apples (red = health, green = mana; knock �em out of trees with X).
Colgate's controls: LR arrow keys, Z/C jump, X attack/knock/scrub
Look up/down: Up/down arrow (also useful for swinging the toothbrush around to attack)
Spinhit: Double tap L/R, + X. Good for taking out timberwolves and/or a whole screenfull of enemies, but requires some mana.
Clock Up: X+Z or X+C until mana bar fully charged and flashing, then release. Pauses all enemies while you continue to move, for about 10 sec. (Disappearing platforms pause, too.) Requires full mana bar. You can jump higher and move faster in Clock Up.
Lives: Unlimited. Every death, you regenerate the beginning of level/area (forest, cave, each boss). Money is halved each death; cleaned teeth, purchased/found items/characters are unaffected. (But no save function after you close browser/refresh page.)
ENEMIES/OBSTACLES
Killing enemies brings you points/bits. Killing a lot in one go (ex: using spinhit) gives temporary score multiplier (shows in bubble next to your score).
Poison joke: blue flowers; turns you into tube of toothpaste that can only walk/jump.
Cyclops spider: Shoots fire as you pass under. To kill, three jump-X jabs, or a single, carefully timed directed jump+X (jump + arrow L/R, + X).
Timberwolves: They crouch, then dash at you. 1-2 spin hits, or a lot of jabs. You can jump on them but they don't take damage from this.
Little green dragon: Very fast. Easy kill by jumping on them; otherwise, trickier.
Cockatrice: Don't actually follow you. Can turn you into stone if you're toothpaste.
Skeleton pony: Shoots bones at you. First jump/hit stuns it; you have to keep attacking a few times. (Exception: spinhit does the trick by itself.)
Big green dragon: Slow, good use of a spinhit (attack and run, repeat).
STORE
At the first poison joke field you find, a series of ledges leads up. Hop up, stand on the ledge closest to Trixie, X to talk. Arrows/mouse scrolls purchase options; X to select/buy; select Exit to leave.
Milk: (150) restores full health, undoes Poison Joke. Buying equals using --can't keep it in reserve.
Heart Armour: (12000) halves the damage you take for rest of game, even after you die.
Green Crystal: (5000) slowly regenerates mana without requiring apples.
Magical Tooth: (8000) immunity to Poison Joke.
PNN: (free) hilarious, 2 different �programs.� (Trixie throws her table into jokebushes at end of first�useful.)
Some store items are secret/not yet released. Apparently you can access these by pressing numbers (1-8) on the keypad while at the store. I haven't gotten this to work, but maybe you can.
It's hard to get back to the store without getting joked. To get through, jump from tree stump to Trixie�s table sticking out of the jokebushes.
Simple Walkthrough
There are many paths through life, my little pony; this is just one (straightforward/easier) way.
Part I: Forest
Find Shop. Go right to moving platform; ascend to Shop.
Listen to PNN (at least once). Now there's a table in the jokebushes below, so you can come back this way without becoming toothpaste.
Exit via the red X screen and land to right of jokebushes.
Grinding for Items (optional). Continue right, fighting enemies/eating apples, until you see poison joke field with ledges rising from it. Turn back for now, keep grinding until you have enough.
Getting points quickly: just past the first apple tree after the jokebushes, you�ll see a string of 8 owl bears and two cyclops spiders. Retreat to the right of the apple tree (so you don�t run into the spiders when you jump), and jump on all 8 owlbears in succession. If done right, it�s nearly 20,000 pts. Thank you score multiplier.
If you get turned into toothpaste, you can:
Go back to Zecora's for a potion fix,
Go to Store and buy some milk.
Note that you can't do anything fancier than jumping while in toothpaste form. (I.e., timberwolves are impossible to kill now--just leap them as best you can.)
When you have at least 5000 pts, return to store; buy Green Crystal to get regenerating mana.
Unless you're a master of the platformer genre, consider also getting Magical Tooth and Heart Armour--useful later on (esp. for bosses).
Find Cave. Go right, back to the field of poison joke. Cave entrance is on the other side.
If you don't have Magical Tooth, watch the timberwolf in the jokebushes...it crouches, then dashes at you. Jump on its back to get onto the ledges without touching poison joke (the only way).
If you're not at full health/mana when you enter, you can immediately exit and reenter cave to recharge to full.
Part II: Cave
Stone Molar 1. Go right from entrance, fall into first gap. You're at stone molar (#1) and a tree.
Polish the molar with X (dialogue screen appears when you've polished enough), eat your apples, etc.
Continue right, across platforms. Don't fall here; it's death!
See the first "staircase" of platforms leading up/left? FYI, that leads back to the cave entrance. Ignore it and keep going right.
Climb the cave-hill with a skeleton pony on top. From its top, jump right/up platforms, to long flat ledge with a big green dragon. Use your spinhit to vanquish.
Stone Molar 2 & Derpy. Continue right; follow next clump of ascending ledges up. At the very top, go left and you�ll find stone molar #2, and also Derpy Hooves (grey flying pony). Clean those teeth! Talk to Derpy if you like.
You�ll pass an apple tree on your right on your way up to Molar/Derpy. Detour if you need an apple fix.
Stone Molar 3. From Molar #2, go back to the right, up/across/down the ledges. At the apple tree you passed on your way up, leave the platforms and head right.
Pass three little green dragons and a peskily placed skeleton pony. Continue down/right, pass two more little green dragons.
Keep going until you see an impossible-looking jump (a big green dragon up on that ledge you can�t get to).
To find Stone Molar 5, stand on the middle platform in the impossible jump, use Clock Up, and make the jump! Pass the big dragon and keep going right/up�there's Molar #5.
Otherwise, try and fail the impossible jump�you fall onto Stone Molar 3. (You can also stand on the middle platform and step off the right.
If you need apples, go right from Molar #3 (you�ll pass another skeleton pony) until you get to an apple tree.
Stone Molar 4, Minty�s Sock, Disappearing Platforms, & Dr. Whooves. From Molar 3, go left (glimpse a ledge to left/down). At a flat spot (big and little dragons to the right), keep going left off he edge. Continue left and down (have faith), dropping onto one ledge, then another to find Molar #4.
When you're done scrubbing the tooth, go right/down onto a platform. Walk off the right side of it--you'll land on another platform.
If you go to the right, you�ll find Minty�s sock, a scrap of white/green on the ground. (See next section.)
To the left are the disappearing platforms. You can stop these with a timeshift and easily get across with your souped-up jump. Watch out for cockatrices.
To find Dr. Whooves, cross the vanishing platforms, continue right, up a big hill, and go left at hilltop, crossing to a flat area. Hey, TARDIS!
If you go left and down the hill that leads to Dr. Whooves� ledge, and keep going left forever, eventually you�ll arrive at the ascending platforms that lead back up to the Cave Entrance�or you�ll arrive at Molar #1, if you�ve overshot. This is an easier way to get to Dr. Whooves, if you don�t want to deal with the vanishing platforms.
Saving Minty. From Minty�s sock, fall into the gap directly to the right of the sock. You�ve found Minty!
Beat the guard (easiest way is spinhitting). (Note that you can jump onto the broken pillars, but that he can also (sometimes) reach you up there.)
Grab the key. When you�re done, you�ll teleport back up to where you found the sock.
Boss Hill. From Minty�s sock, continue right until you get to another big hill. Climb it�there will be three total skeleton ponies stationed up there. Keep going up. At the top, a flat ledge and a little green dragon. Go right. At the far end: sign says "Boss". Jump in. At the bottom, go right into another cave entrance.
Boss 1
Boss 1 is Ursa Minor.
It's mostly transparent: only the eyes, teeth, and claws are solid. Focus on these. The transparent parts won't hurt you. (Also, Clock Up doesn�t help us much here�it resets after every hit.)
General strategy:
Jump-X before it starts roaring to bonk it on the nose/eyes (you can also experiment with swinging the tootbrush handle using up/down arrows+X). That makes it rear in pain and back up, revealing its belly (only place that takes damage).
Spin-attack, or jump forward attacking (jump-X), avoiding claws and teeth. Back up as you hit, because Ursa shuffles forward while standing.
After it takes enough damage, Ursa rolls onto its back. You can't do damage now. Just watch out for its claws--when it comes back down on all fours, try to jump to avoid being smashed by its claws/teeth.
One possible rhythm: immediately run toward Ursa, bonk its eyes, run forward as it rears up and hit its belly then quickly start backing up, still hitting. When it rolls onto its back, aim to stand just a hair outside of its rear haunch, so when it gets up you don�t get smashed under its feet. (This takes some tweaking.) Jump toward its belly as it gets back up; then repeat (bonk eyes, etc.).
Boss 2
Boss 2 is Ursa Major. (Twilight Sparkle moment, anyone?)
Watch out for those claws.
Camera pans backward. Ignore it. You need to start running to the right as soon as you can, jumping up onto the stones and ledges before Ursa Major sweeps them away with a single swipe.
Stay ahead of her, get high enough to reach/leap into her mouth. This is a good thing!
Once you're in the mouth, use X to attack/scrub the rotten molars at either end before the mouth closes. (Finally, a use for the up-arrow!)
Spin-attack isn't the most helpful here, it�s too slow.
Poke the uvula to keep the mouth open longer if you need to.
Ta-da!
Extras
Ancient Shrine/Mana boost. To get to the shrine, you need to freeze the flock of cockatrices flying toward you to form a stair to a ledge high on your right.
Start charging your clock up as soon as you can as you walk into the cave. (Walk no further than the intro animation forces you to.) Let it go about half a second after you reach full. You won�t see the cockatrices at this point; they�re offscreen to your right.
Go right and try to jump up the cockatrices to the ledge. Adjust timing as needed. Sooner or later you'll figure it out...
Once you get to the ledge, keep platforming up until you see it (can't miss). X to interact with the shrine. Hello, superfast mana recharge! (Goodbye, green apples. :( )
Annoy Zecora. Unless you're toothpaste, just standing outside Zecora's door doesn't do anything. But if you jump-X to knock, she'll answer. Keep bugging her�it goes on for a while�until she realizes that nothing rhymes with �orange.�
Toothpaste warrior. If you haven't bought the Magical Tooth amulet, you can find some poison joke, turn into toothpaste, and complete extra-minty versions of the missions (save Minty, talk to Derpy, talk to Dr. Whooves). Dr. Whooves and Minty will each turn you back to normal pony.
Turning into stone. If you're toothpaste and you touch a cockatrice, you turn to stone. Shake it off by jumping/X.
Jet pack. I am told that if you press numerals 1-8 at Trixie's store, you can bring up items that you can't otherwise scroll to, like Jet Pack (#5). Haven't been able to get this to work, but passing it on.
Cutie Marks/Achievements
(Thanks to the discussion thread at ponychan!)
Blue Maple Leaf ("Never Give Up"): beat game with a whole lot of dying (in other words, the Canadian Pony award)
Three wrapped candies ("I Didn't Put These in My Bag"): don't buy anything from Trixie (apparently Bon Bon didn't, either)
Stopwatch ("Clockwise"): beat game without using Clock Up
Starman ("Invincible"): beat game without taking any damage
Captain Scarlet: beat game without dying.
Mega Man ("Master Platformer"): get across the Vanishing Platforms
Three mints ("Minty Fresh Heroine"): save Minty
"Tube of Pure Awesome": save Minty as a toothpaste tube (you have to really do it--doesn�t count if you die in the guard battle and turn back into pony, then save her)
Sonic screwdriver ("Plot Device"): talk to Dr. Whooves as toothpaste (he turns you back to a pony with it).
Red apple ("Healthy Eater"): eat lots of red apples.
Green apple ("Magically Delicious"): eat lots of green apples.
Three apples ("Fu- Forget You Ah Can Eat All These Apples"): eat a whooole lot of apples, period.
Tooth ("Dedicated Dentist"): polish all five stone molars. Brushie brushie!
Crossed-out scroll ("No Poet's Society"): knock on Zecora's door until she gets to �orange� and can�t rhyme it.
Compass ("Archaeologist"): Go up the cockatrice ladder to the ancient shrine. (see Extras in Walkthrough, above.)
Pony silhouette/statue ("Me Got Kicked in the Head Backstage"): Touch a cockatrice while toothpaste, so you fall into a gap as stone.
(Note: Sprague has said there are 17 achievements, with perhaps more additions; here are 16 that have been found so far.)
Endings
All endings begin with the same couple scenes of very nice animation. (Does Colgate fulfill her dreams and open her very own dental clinic? You bet she does.) But at final scene (depicting dental clinic opening), they diverge charmingly, depending on what you�ve done before finishing your quest.
1. �It�s all thanks to you!� (Talk to neither Dr. Whooves nor Derpy�or talk to them but without reading the letter.) Colgate breaks the fourth wall at the clinic opening, to which Pinkie objects.
2. �The Most Punctual Receptionist Ever!� (Don�t talk to Dr. Whooves, but talk to Derpy and read the letter.) Colgate runs into Minuette before the clinic opening and hires her on the spot, after warning her to definitely send the resume tomorrow lest she cause a paradox.
3. �Derpy Knows What She�s Doing!� (Talk to both Dr. Whooves and Derpy, including reading the letter.) Dr. Whooves and Derpy chat at the clinic opening,.
4. "A strange object that fell from space." (Complete the game after talking to Dr. Whooves AND either talking to Derpy as toothpaste, or not talking to Derpy.) Dr. Whooves and Colgate wonder where Derpy could�ve gotten to, since she was never found. Then Derpy reappears�and does what Derpy does to new buildings.
Posted by: vyrastra
|
April 14, 2012 1:10 PM