Ice Mountain

Written by WebFox

From the warp stone

After bouncing around through space for a moment, you'll materialize on a warp pad. You can use this to get back to where you just came from, should you want to. Head out the small cavern and you'll be presented with a cut scene of a spaceship dropping off its cargo ­ a small, scared EarthWalker, which a pair of SharpClaw promptly begin poking at with their clubs before taking him inside and shutting the door behind them.

The area you find yourself in is fairly linear. There is a cheat token well here; however, it costs 20 scarabs and you can't carry that much yet. You'll have to come back later if you want it. Head forward after the cut scene and you'll find the door the EarthWalker was taken into. We need to find a way to open it.

Be careful! A cannon is nearby, taking potshots at you. Move when you hear it fire, or activate your shield by holding 'R' down. This doesn't consume any staff energy, though it looks like it should be.

From the door, turn around and you'll see a wooden fence. To the left of the fence is a rock-encircled area with a crate, as well as a fuel barrel generator. Notice how the barrel has a red light on it. This barrel has a short life expectancy after you pick it up. When the beeps start coming faster, get rid of it before it explodes.

Before you pick up the barrel, have a look around the rest of the area. If you turn and face the ramp, you should be able to see the cannon. Don't bother shooting at it, you can't hurt it. Head that way and you'll find there are some boxes you can't break or pick up. A little further is a bomb spore patch and a cracked wall. You can either plant a spore and blow the wall up, or you can run a fuel barrel over and chuck it at the crack. Beyond the wall is the cheat token granting well, as well as a fuel pod.

Time to open the path up. Go back, grab a fuel barrel, and run with it to the boxes you couldn't break. Toss it into them and they should blow up. Two blue SharpClaw are waiting beyond, just aching for a fight. Give it to them. After they're out of the way a red switch will appear above the locked door. Head over and shoot it once with the fire blaster, and the door will open. Run inside.

A cut scene will ensue. Fox interrupts the SharpClaws' taunting of the EarthWalker; the EarthWalker runs away, and the SharpClaw hop on rocket sleds to pursue him. Fox happens to find at his disposal a rocket sled, and mounts it to give chase.

The sled course is fairly simple. Watch out for obstacles, such as trees, rocks, and bombs dropped by the SharpClaw, all of which will slow you down. You can't get hurt or wreck your ride, but you lose the race if either of the SharpClaw beat you to the end. You can win by ramming their sleds (5 hits will make them explode) or passing them and getting to the end first. If you lose, you get to do it over.

There is a rather cheap way of blowing up the sled of at least one SharpClaw. If you can pass them before the first narrow cave, get inside and then apply the brake. They'll collide with you the required 5 times, then blow up. They aren't smart enough to try to go around anyone but each other.

When you win, Fox won't be able to stop and launches off the end of the course, falling into the hotspring below. After a brief conversation in dino, Fox's translator begins working and he can understand the EarthWalker ­ who happens to be Prince Tricky. It's now time to take him back to mom. There's only one path you can follow to head out.