HOW TO PLAY
CONTENTS
Basics
Doors/Switches
Skills
Items
Passwords
Badguys
Scoring
The
basic premise of Nik Jam Violator is to make it to the end of the level. The
game is played like an overhead adventure game. You will know you've made it to
the end when you see the fin coin. [
]
The catch is, you have only 5 minutes, or 300 seconds, to make it to the end of
the level. Luckily there are things to help you out. (SEE BELOW) You must also
navigate through mazes and obstacles and battle enemies using the power of
gemstones to help you out. If Nik runs out of rubies, drowns, or runs out of time,
Nik will lose a life. Nik starts out with 5 lives and if he runs out the game
is over, but more lives can be received.
Sometimes
you will find that the next path you must go to is blocked by a door. Most
doors have a keyhole in it. [
] Therefore, one must
locate the key that matches the color of the door.[
]
Once you find the key just simply touch the door and the door will disappear!
Not all doors work like that. Doors that look like this [
] must be
destroyed with an Emerald Blast!
Finally,
all other doors must be opened by using the Emerald Blast on a switch. [
] Sometimes, switches
may be used for other purposes, like making keys come out of nowhere or
controlling currents. Sometimes, you may find black switches. This will make
previously invisible switches appear. Find all 4 (they are Red, Blue, Green,
and Yellow) and destroy them in a pre-determined amount of time to get the
result that would normally require one switch. You can feel the switches even
when they are invisible. Use that to locate switches before you begin the
timer. If time runs out, you must find all 4 switches again, but they are
always in the same place!
The main (and I guess only) ability Nik Jam has in this game to defend himself is the Emerald Blast. To do this, simply hold the shift button and Nik will shoot an Emerald out of his hands. This assumes that Nik is carrying at least one emerald. If he is not, then nothing will happen!
Nik also has the ability to walk underwater as long as he is carrying a Sapphire. He will absorb a Sapphire upon entering the water, and it lasts about 3 seconds (if Nik gets out of water and goes back in, the Sapphire will still have the same power it had when he went out). If Nik doesn't have one, he will drown, so look for Sapphires!
Finally, Nik has the power to absorb all pain, as long as he is carrying Rubies. He's a total weakling if he doesn't have enough and will die. Nik can find rubies all around the stages. The number of rubies Nik will lose in a hit, depends on the hit and the power of it.
There are a variety of items to help Nik Jam out on his quest to save Fire Island!
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Rubies - These red gems are collected to help Nik Jam absorb hits (See Skills) which are really useful in the game. Collecting a gem will give you one ruby, and a box will give you 10. If you are running low and can't find any rubies around, look for a pipe. They will shoot out a ruby every 3 seconds if you have less than 10. (Don't abuse it, because there is a time limit in the stages!)
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Sapphires - These blue gems are collected to help Nik Jam breathe underwater (See Skills) for long periods of time. Collecting a gem will give you one sapphire, and a box will give you 10. If you are running low and can't find any sapphires around, look for a pipe. They will shoot out a sapphire every 3 seconds if you have less than 3. (Don't abuse it, because there is a time limit in the stages!)
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Emerald - These green gems are collected to help Nik Jam shoot badguys (See Skills) to progress through the game. Collecting a gem will give you one emerald, and a box will give you 10. If you are running low and can't find any emeralds around, look for a pipe. They will shoot out a emerald every 3 seconds if you have less than 5. (Don't abuse it, because there is a time limit in the stages!)
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Clocks - In a level you have only 300 seconds, or 5 minutes, to complete the level. This is rarely ever plenty of time, so you'll need to find clocks to restore time to the timer. Collecting the Bronze clock gives you 60 seconds of extra time. A Silver clock gives you 90 seconds and a Gold clock gives you 120 seconds. Some are straightforward to find and some well.. aren't.
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Extra Lives - You start out with 5 lives in the game. Once you lose them all the game is over. Thus, it would be helpful if you could collect something that would give you an extra life. Well, you're in luck! There are two extra lives hidden in every stage, plus a bonus third extra life if you beat the level with a high score (See below)
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Warp - A staple in all Gem Island games, the warp allows Nik Jam to warp somewhere in the level. You don't know where you're going to go, unless you've been in that specific warp already, since it's not random... most of the time... Usually it allows you to escape a difficult area but it can be there to make mazes more complicated!
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No Emeralds/Sapphires - These take away ALL of your Emeralds or Sapphires, respectively. These are usually in narrow areas so they are unavoidable. Why would I do such a thing? To make an area more challenging, of course... May not be fair, but life isn't fair.
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Often times a pathway may be blocked or a key must be found and it's nowhere to be seen. Well, there may also a tile on the ground wtih a P on it. That's called a Password Tile. Stand on it and type out a command and suddenly, what you need to or where you need to go will become clear. What should you type though? You'll have to find that out for yourself. Look at your surroundings to find a phrase under some bushes. Maybe it's clear as day in a corner, or maybe it only shows up when you've beaten all the badguys in the area...
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Of course it wouldn't be an adventure game without the baddies, badguys, enemies, whatever. These goons will get in your way and try to hurt and you stop you from getting to the Finish Coin. Well, luckily for you it's easy to dispose of them! Most badguys will be ridden with a single Emerald Blast! Some will take more than one but that's okay because there's plenty of Emerald Blasts to go around! However, there are some epic enemies known as "Bosses" that take a lot of your Emeralds away. I won't spoil them for you. Also, one more thing: A lot of the baddies shoot fire, which will really hurt you. Avoid the fire at all costs. You can however shoot the fire with an emerald blast to put it out.
At the end of every level in Story Mode, a screen will appear detailing how much Gems and Time you had at the end of the level. All four factors are multiplied by ten and you are received money in the form in the Total Score. Also, if you have a certain amount of points at the end of the level (depending on the level), you will receive an extra life. The money you have is saved into an INI, and you can use the money to purchase Bonus Levels!