One Hour In -- Episode #8
By ssj4raditz 2 Comments
Howdy y'all! A Happy Mother's Day to you and yours. I hope you all did something nice for your moms on this day. I had a nice lunch with my mommy, and we're going out to the movies later this week as my present to her. Hey, it's what she wanted! So, I guess you're eager to delve into my next entry in this series. Well, I can assure you, we'll be getting to that right... NOW!
Zack & Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
I've had this game for quite a while, but I never actually played it. I don't know why, I just didn't. So, looks like it's time to remedy that! Let's start up this sucker.
We first meet our heroes flying along in a rickety old plane, piloted by Johnny Style - a bunny. Zack is snoozing away. Wiki, a golden monkey who can fly and shape-shift, attempts to wake Zack. His efforts are in vain, until he tricks Zack into waking up by announcing there's a load of treasure! We learn that These guys are a part of the Sea Rabbit pirate crew. They're on the way to seek out treasure, fame, and fortune! Unfortunately, their current mission is interrupted by an attack! The Rose Rock pirates, lead by Captain Rose, ambush our heroes. It seems Rose is after a treasure map that's in the possession of the Sea Rabbits. The Rose Rocks fire, and Thugs #1-#7 hop on the plane and begin pounding away with mallets. Johnny Style decides it's a good time to get out of there, so he ejects, leaving Zack & Wiki to fend for themselves. The pair open the plane's rear hatch an leap out as the craft explodes!
Now the two are falling through the sky. Fortunately, some of the supplies that were on the plane are falling around them also. Scanning the boxes, I grab an old umbrella and slows his descent. The pirates land in the jungle below, partially unscathed. Zack has to free himself from being snagged in a tree. Hey, Wiki points out a rather large treasure chest just across a gap. That looks promising! But what's this? Uh oh, looks like part of the plane has landed in a fast-flowing river above. Searching around, there appears to be a tree nearby that could help get the pair across to the treasure chest. How to topple it, though? Suddenly, a giant centipede drops out of the trees. With a quick ring of Wiki, (that's right, you can ring him like a bell.) the bug turns into a saw. Don't ask me how, it just does! ! pick up the saw and cut the tree down. We're able to get to the treasure now. It appears that there's a curse placed on the chest. No problem, Wiki is able to dispel the curse with his ring. Opening the chest, we discover a golden skull inside. Alright, our first real treasure! What's this, though? It can talk! The skull informs us that his name is Barbaros, a legendary pirate captain, and he needs our help. His body was cursed and split into pieces. If we can find all the parts and put him back together, he promises to take Zack & Wiki to the fabled Treasure Island (no, a different one) and hand over his famous pirate ship! What a great deal! Zack agrees. What could possibly go wrong?
We return to the Sea Rabbits' hideout, and meet the rest of the Rabbits (who are, literally, rabbits). Captain Hulk is the leader, and we have to go through him to start our adventure. So, I'm off to find more pieces of Barbaros. I find myself outside a locked door. Searching around, it appears there's a key to the door hanging up high, but it's out of reach. I look around, and discover a pot with a snake in it. Using Wiki's bell ring, the snake is transformed into a grabber. I can grab the key now. Using it to open the door, I go inside the small underground chamber. There's a pit of spikes below a rickety lattice of wooden beams. Looks like I'll fall through it if I walk on it. There's a chain hanging from the ceiling. I use the snake grabber again, pulling the chain. The ceiling collapses, filling in the spike-filled pit, and allowing me to get to the treasure chest. Another part of Barbaros! He sounds eager to be reassembled, so I want to help him quickly.
The next puzzle involves dancing goblins, a chest on fire, and mushrooms. I can't be seen by the goblins, or they'll eat me alive! So, I take a look around. There's a gondola that I can take across to the other side of the stage, or gain access to the chest. Unfortunately, the chest is on fire, so no getting to it right away. I get all the way over to the other side, avoiding the gaze of the goblins. There's some palm trees over there, with coconuts hanging from them. I shake one loose, and haul it back across the way. There's a hole under a large boulder with a snake at the bottom. I drop the coconut down the hole. I bonks the snake, who slithers out of it's den, scaring off the goblin chef who's been working on a pot of stew. He drops his ladle. I pick up a mushroom that will induce sleep, and take it down to the pot. Dropping it in, I then ring Wiki at the snake, who turns into a grabber, just like the last one. I use the grabber to get the ladle. Since I saw the goblin chef summon his friends with it by hitting the gong, I do the same thing. I skitter up a nearby vine while the goblins come running for dinner. They partake of the drugged stew, and quickly fall asleep. I pick up their leader's flute and use it to play a tune that extinguishes the fire surrounding the treasure chest. And another piece of the legendary pirate is recovered!
The next challenge appears to involve fishing, waterslides, and frog bombs. Hmm, interesting. But unfortunately, my hour is just about up, so I won't go into further detail on the third stage I face. Suffice to say, it looks like a good, puzzling challenge!
And that's it for the first 60 minutes of Zack & Wiki. I hope you enjoy joining me on the treasure hunt. I wonder what the future holds for our pair of pirating heroes? What will happen when they put Barbaros back together? Where did the Rose Rock pirates get to? What connection does Wiki have to Barbaros, if any? These question, and more, will be answered as I play (well, hopefully!).
I thank you for joining me this time. Tune in next week for another addition of this blog. I wonder what game I'll play then? Who knows! I'm thinking I might go back to something older, like a PS2-era game, maybe a N64 game. Let's see what happens! Any suggestions? If so, please let me know if there's anything you'd like to see.
Also, I'm trying to look into making banners, or something to spice up this thing. Also, a couple more sections at the end. Still a work in progress, but keep an eye out! See you all next time! WOOHOO!!