Retro Gamer Ryan: RGR011 - The Rise and Fall of King Breager

The Candle of the Ghoul Realm made short work of the barrier just east of Lethe's palace, giving me access to my final goal, Goza's Palace. The palace entrance was a long string of spiked walls with a few little platforms in between, obviously a challenge designed for my newly-acquired Magic Claw. Partway through, a room with collapsing platforms threatened to seriously step up the difficulty by also including enemies that, when killed, cause the lights to go out... completely. For several seconds, all you can see on screen is yourself. A lot of careful dodging is in order, to stay on the platforms, as well as avoid those enemies. Looking back, the Magic Tornado might have made the room easier, since I could have just gone straight up from the center of the room instead of using the spiked walls to gain altitude.

On the other side, Goza was waiting on his throne, but had little to say before beginning our fight.

It'd work better if it were
spelled correctly.

Palace overlooking abyss... check.

His head looks soft and fuzzy.

Wow, thanks for not wasting my time.

Sixth Boss: Goza

Goza is... well, he's kind of a joke at this point. His size requires him to technically be part of the background, and the spiked wall on the left prevents him from moving. So he just sits there, shooting little laser beams at you. His weak point is obviously the jewel on top of his head, so after positioning myself on the highest floating brick in the room, I was able to use short floating hops to attack him continuously. His lasers can destroy individual bricks, but his aim is pretty rough, so the lasers rarely get anywhere near a brick.

Before disappearing, Goza warned me that King Breager has been fully revived, and that I'm not nearly powerful enough to destroy him. But as soon as I stepped away from the throne, a mysterious voice identifying itself as Demogorgon congratulated me on my progress, and proceeded to give me its power, upgrading my flight duration to infinite and my vitality to one unit short of full. The remainder of my power was then unlocked, giving me the magic of Darkfire. Again, that'll be the only thing that can hurt Breager.

You don't even move? Lame.

You've got something on your chin there.

If he fights like you, I'm not worried.

Woot! Super power!

All right, it's on!

Oh, don't flatter yourself.

I was then sent to King Breager's stronghold, a final spike-filled romp on the way to Breager's throne room. Now that I have unlimited flight power and the Magic Claw, though, spike walls are of no concern to me. Along the way, I found a gray vial that gave me my eighth and final vitality point. After fighting off several enemies and busting my way through a brick wall, I reached the door to King Breager's throne room, where he quickly challenged me to the final battle.

Final Boss: King Breager

The battle against King Breager is similar to the Goza battle, since Breager is also an immobile part of the background. The challenge here is that the floating bricks have been replaced with a single pillar that floats back and forth in the center of the room above a pit of spikes. Breager himself launches floating bolts of evil energy that move toward Firebrand. The strategy, then, is to get to the top of the pillar, hop up to eye level with Breager, fire off as many Darkfire shots as possible, and then drop back down to the pillar when the energy bolts get too close. If you miss the pillar, the only other foothold is the spikeless patch of floor on the left side of the room.

Honestly, though, it's not nearly as hard as it sounds. I was able to weave between energy bolts and cling to the side of the pillar as needed, and had little trouble with the battle (although, as you can see below, I did die once). Only one Darkfire bolt can be on the screen at a time, but if you get really close to Breager's face, you can launch them quickly.

Once Breager gave his inevitable vow of vengeance, he faded away, and I was whisked back to the King's throne room, where everyone once again sang my praises. The King thanked me for my bravery, and told me of a newly-created realm called Earth that I was welcome to conquer and rule. He sent me off to be the king of Earth, and my role as the Red Blaze became the stuff of legend.