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Tendrils FAQ v. 1.0:

Frequently Asked Questions about the game Tendrils.



The FAQ keeper: Stephen Tanner ([e-mail])

(please e-mail all updates and corrections!)



Table of Contents:



    [1] What is Tendrils?



    [2] How do I win?

    [2.1] The beginning

        [2.2] The clocktower

        [2.3] Street City

    [2.3.1] What is the Ultimate Combo?

    [2.3.2] How do I throw Chun "the one" Li's bracelets?

    [2.3.3] What is the "cleavage fatality"?

    [2.3.4] Where is the bonus stage?

    [2.4] Final Fantasy Star Control 14

    [2.4.1] How do I upgrade my stuff?

    [2.4.2] Who are the "stunt doubles"?

    [2.4.3] How do I find Ernest Namingway?

    [2.4.4] How do I beat Chronic the Hedgehog?

    [2.4.5] How do I defeat Rasa?

    [2.5] Surviving in E-space

    [2.5.1] How do I pass the "musical level"?

    [2.5.2] How do I pass the "color level"?

    [2.5.3] How do I pass the "spooky level"?

    [2.5.4] How do I get to the "boss level"?

    [2.6] How do I beat the game designer?

    [2.6.1] What is V-hold?

    [2.6.2] How do I fight the final form?



    [3] What are people saying on the Spooky Level?



    [4] Who are The Cleaners?



    [5.1] Where can I buy Tendrils?

    [5.2] Is this the end?



[1] What is Tendrils?



 Tendrils is a new game for the Sony PlayStation, designed with the

 new Yaroze system.  A version of Tendrils is scheduled to be released

 for the Nintendo 64 in September, and a PC version is also rumored

 to be in the works.



[2] How do I win?



 This section contains a walkthrough for most of the hard spots in

 the game, and also points out some of the secret stuff.  There are

 lots of SPOILERS, though, so you might not want to read all of this

 if you aren't stuck!



[2.1] The beginning



 There isn't much to do in the first part of the level.  The main thing to

 do is make sure you run away from all the monsters when the first

 Plasm Gate opens.



 The mob of monsters chasing you includes: A koopa troopa from Super Mario

 Brothers, a man-in-black from Elevator Action, a barrel from Donkey Kong,

 a ninja from Legend of Kage, a wind-up monster from Bubble Bobble, a

 "killer Christmas tree" from Legacy of the Wizard, paratroopers from

 Time Pilot and from Airborne!, a vulture from Dark Castle, a

 knife-thrower from Kung Fu Master...and lots of others!  (Thanks to

 [e-mail] for submitting a lot of these!)



[2.2] The clocktower



 When you get into the clocktower, attack the switch and the door will

 close.  The game will say "You are safe...you win!" and start playing

 happy music and rolling credits.  Then all the monsters break the door

 down and continue chasing you (make sure you're ready!)



 Hint: You can ascend the tower faster if you climb on the credits!  But,

 the letters collapse if you stand on them too long.



 Bonus: If you get to the top of the clocktower fast enough, some music

 from Castlevania II will play, and Simon Belmont will walk by, saying

 "I must carry the vampire's butt, butt it is very heavy."

 (Thanks to [e-mail] for sending this in!)



[2.3] Street City



 During the first part of this level, you have practically no fighting

 moves, so it's best to avoid everyone.  Watch out for the green blobs

 (they're supposed to be frogs)--when one of them jumps onto the street

 and the "doo,doo,doo,doo,doo...doo" music plays, it means that a big

 truck is about to run by and smush it.  If you don't jump, you'll

 be smushed and say "UH-OH!  THE TRUCK HAVE STARTED TO MOVE!"



 The flashy red cars that keep driving by (and the drivers) are from

 the arcade game NARCs.  [e-mail]



 After you learn kung fu from the old man (in the house that looks JUST

 LIKE the one from Zelda 2), you should go see Sushi the Bushi (press

 Select--his house will be marked on the map).  Go upstairs and into

 his apartment.  "I fought to avenge my master.  I fought to avenge

 my father.  I fought to avenge my dog, Sparky.  Why should I help you?

 Here, have some tea."  Then you walk over, to get the tea, but you trip

 and knock a flowerpot off his window sill, which falls on the head

 of a girl below.  Sushi yells: "YOU KILLED MY GIRLFRIEND!" and chases

 you off.  He keeps tracking you throughout the level, and the rest

 of the game.



 After you both run off the screen, the girl gets up and rubs her head:

 "I awoke to the pain of a new existence.  Hey, where'd everybody go?"



 After the fighting-your-way-through-the-subway section, she shows

 up again, and says, "Beware, I live.  Why didn't you guys just take a

 taxi?  There were no bad guys up here--I checked.  Seems silly to

 fight all those guys when you don't have to."



[2.3.1] What is the Ultimate Combo?



 If you get a perfect on the Yamo, then Lee (from Tekken 2, with a REALLY

 HUGE head) will jump in from off-screen and offer to teach you the

 ultimate combo.  Say yes, even though you only will be able to use it

 on the next boss, Bad Badtz Maru.  (If you say no, he'll just teach you

 how to have a giant head, which makes you turn into the Stage 1 boss

 from the NES game Kid Niki)



 The code for the ultimate combo is: up up down down left right left right

 B A Start.  Do it, and you will start beating on Bad Badtz Maru.  The

 screen fades out, then fades in with "Meanwhile...", where you see Sushi

 getting fired from his job at Salaryman Inc.  Sushi then goes and beats

 up his boss's car (the beat-it-up car from Street Fighter II).



 The game pans back to you, still doing the combo.  Then the game cuts to

 a screen of "Mortal Wombat", where Spiral uppercuts Jax.  Jax flies up

 through the ceiling, breaking a big hole.  Then he breaks a hole in

 another ceiling.  Then he breaks a hole in a highway overpass.  Then he

 breaks a hole in a Chuck-E-Cheez restaurant.  Then he just keeps flying

 on into space.



 Finally the game pans back to show you STILL DOING the combo--the

 sun is setting now, and all the spectators have left.  The

 words "FINISH HIM!" appear.  You run off, plant a seed, run back,

 get in a few more hits, run off, water the seed, run back, get in

 a few more hits, run off, pour a gigantic bottle of "QUICK GRO" on

 the seed, run back, get in a few more hits, run off, chop down

 the now-mature tree (while dressed in drag--a bit of the Lumberjack

 Song plays), run back, get in a few more hits, run off, sit in a

 wood-shop sanding down a branch of the tree (with Bob Vila in the

 background), run back, get in a few more hits, run off, get your

 newly-made baseball bat signed by Babe Ruth (this is stock

 footage of Babe Ruth--note that Forrest Gump is drawn in in the

 background), run back, put on a cap marked "LAPD", and beat Bad Badtz

 Maru over the head with the baseball bat.



[2.3.2] How do I throw Chun "the one" Li's bracelets?



 If you remove the cd, and put in a Kate Bush cd (any of them seem to

 work), Chun Li will be able to throw her bracelets.  (This can also be

 done on arcade machines by pushing all six buttons and the coin return

 at the same time--this works only on the original Street Fighter II,

 however!)



[2.3.3] What is the "cleavage fatality"?



 If you get beaten by Daisy (the girl who looks like Orchid), she'll

 get ready to do Orchid's bare-breasts fatality, but she's facing the

 camera!  She reaches, and is about to pull the cloth apart...

 ...and then the "intermission" from Pac-Man plays, complete with music...

 ...and then you see Daisy fixing her outfit.



[2.3.4] Where is the bonus stage?



 If you finish the third stage using only jump-kicks, the screen clears

 and says WELCOME TO BONUS STAGE.  This section is about like Donkey

 Kong, except that the barrels at the bottom are being destroyed by

 Street Fighter II characters.  If you don't finish fast enough, then

 the evil guy from Space Ace will show up!  He zaps Donkey Kong with

 the Infanto ray, turning him into Diddy Kong.  Then he zaps Diddy Kong

 to turn him into Baby Kong (from Donkey Kong Country III).  Then he

 zaps the Street Fighter characters to turn them into Puzzle Fighter

 superdeformed characters.



 If you DO finish the bonus stage in time, you get to see Sofia (from

 Toshinden), Blaze (from Streets of Rage), Rose (from Street Fighter) and

 Mai (from Fatal Fury) in the locker room, changing into their outfits.

 Sofia is making fun of Rose for being a 2-dimensional character.  Rose

 says, "Ha!  You think you're three-dimensional?  More like

 ONE-dimensional, Ms. Styrofoam-Breasts!"



 Mai laughs.  Sofia mocks her: "What are you laughing at?  Everyone gets

 bigger breasts when sequels come out.  Except you!  In the Super Nintendo

 version, you even lost your jiggle-factor!"  Finally they all start

 beating each other up.



[2.4] Final Fantasy Star Control 14



 Make sure that you save Princess Spirolina!  Then, Mifa and Spiz join

 your party.



[2.4.1] How do I upgrade my stuff?



 The first hard point is buying equipment--all you have is a bamboo

 stick, and if you go to the shop, the shopkeeper doesn't accept

 your money.  "What's this crap?  Dollars?  Look, I take gold pieces,

 zenny coins, meseta, p-chips...I've seen it all!  But don't try to

 use that fake stuff on me!"  You will need to go to the Fire dungeon

 (hidden to the west of town).  There, you can find a grizzled

 old shopkeeper who will sell you stuff.



[2.4.2] Who are the "stunt doubles"?



 The battle versus Dr. Bad (right before you rescue Princess Helvetica)

 is done Phantasy-Star style, with all of your characters facing away from

 the screen.  If you push all of the buttons on the SECOND controller at

 the same time, they will all turn around--but they don't look like the

 actual characters!  "Yes, we're all stunt doubles," says the girl who

 looks like Alys from behind.



 "After all, these battles are the sixth most dangerous thing in the

 world!"  Then the real Chaz the Spaz peeks in and says: "Don't mind her,

 she's just arbitrarily saying stuff."  Then that weird guy from Mortal

 Kombat peeks in and says, "Whoopsie!"



[2.4.3] How do I find Ernest Namingway?



 This is the first really hard part.  You must visit the moon.  Go to Rutz

 with your airship (which used to be a submarine, which used to be a ship,

 which used to be a skiff).  It will be converted into a giant robot!

 Take the giant robot to the Teardrop Tower.  There, your giant robot will

 be able to get into the cockpit of the EXTRA-GIANT robot, and pilot

 it around.  Then go to Death Mountain, where your EXTRA-GIANT robot

 gets into the MEGA-GIANT robot, and pilots it around!  Now you are

 ready to take off!



 As you fly up into space, you pass the tank from Blaster Master (which

 is in hover mode), a cow (from Earthworm Jim), and Jax, who was punched

 into space earlier (see section 2.3.1).



 While you are flying, the game cuts back to the grizzled old shopkeeper

 in the Fire dungeon.  Sushi the Bushi is there, still tracking you

 down.  "Why do you have a shop in such a dangerous place?" yells Sushi.

 "Who would ever come here to buy stuff?"  "Well," says the shopkeeper,

 "Come to think of it, business has been pretty slow."  "Of course,"

 Bushi comments, "You could always try selling stuff to the monsters."

 "Really?  What kind of stuff?" asks the shopkeeper.  "Hmm..." ponders

 Sushi, "I recommend Mentos and skin mags."



[2.4.4] How do I beat Chronic the Hedgehog?



 Any time you hit him, hundreds of little yellow rings fly up.  You should

 attack the rings, rather than the hedgehog himself.  Eventually, his

 last ring will break into lots of little pieces.



 Chronic will run away and grab tons and tons of rings (from Ringman, from

 Mega Man), and then he turns into Super-Chronic: shiny and invincible!

 But then Gokuh (in Super-Saiyajin form) comes and beats him up.  "Stop

 turning shiny and yellow-haired and invinicble!  That's MY thing!

 Copycat!"



[2.4.5] How do I defeat Rasa?



 After gathering the Magic Cap and the Mogic Cap and the Meegic Cap,

 and the four elemental swords, and the seven crystals of fate,

 and the ten triforces, and the sixty bonus coins, and the two-hundred

 shiny bananas, you will be able to fight Rasa, the evil wizard.

 But, Rasa has just finished summoning Bad Guy from another dimension,

 so you must also fight Bad Guy.  It's a Final Fantasy-style battle.

 For the first couple of rounds, none of your attacks hit Bad Guy.

 Finally he says, "Why are you swinging your sword in the air?  I'm

 OVER HERE, dummy!"  After this you can hit him.  Also, if you do

 over 1000 points of damage in one hit, he looks down at the numbers

 popping out of his body and says, "Mmmm...impressive!"



 In the victory celebration, Spiz offers some soda to Mifa, and Mifa

 gets mad.  "Soda?  Soda!?  Ten-to-one that was BOOZE in the Japanese

 version.  Sheesh, this is just like in Crono Trigger, where the

 sake-drinking contest became a SOUP-drinking contest.  Or Jumping

 Flash 2, where instead of liquor they get Root Beer Fizzies.  I bet they

 won't even get to visit the brothel in Final Fantsy 7.  Well, I'm mad as

 hell, and I'm not going to take it any more!  I'm going

 back to the Japanese version of the game!"  She leaps into a nearby

 interdimensional gateway, and everyone else follows.



 After walking around for a while, Spiz says (in English) "This is

 pretty cool and all, but every time we talk to people, all those

 bushes pop up on the screen."  (he points at some kanji)  He convinces

 Mifa to go back.



 The long bit of Japanese text here says (rough translation)

 "You must be a total hermit-fanboy-freak to have gone to all the

  trouble to figure out what this says."

 (Thanks to [e-mail] for the translation!)



[2.5] Surviving in E-space



 The camera pans across an ominous space station.  Ominous organ music

 plays...skips, plays...skips, plays...  Cut to a view of the interior,

 where the diabolical Mr. Bison (the "M" stands for "Mister") goes over to

 his phonograph and moves the needle over.  The ominous organ music

 continues.



 The little dog facing the phonograph, like in the old Victrola logo, is

 Pete from Earthworm Jim.  -- [e-mail]



[2.5.1] How do I pass the "musical level"?



 The first part is pretty easy--just avoid the red things, and keep

 shooting the blue things.  Also, notice that in the middle section,

 the enemies' positions correspond to to music that's playing--high

 notes mean an enemy will come from high up on the screen, low

 notes means ships will fly across the bottom.  Just learn the

 song, and you'll be prepared!



 Then, you'll come to the transforming battle station.  At first

 it will fire lots of guided missiles.  Then it will turn into a

 big humanoid robot.  A voice says, "Modular bridge transformation

 completed, Captain.  It's really improved our reception."  The guy

 with an X on is head from UN Squardrom will then appear and say,

 "That's your chance to score!"



[2.5.2] How do I pass the "color level"?



 Now you must defend Space Station Lupita!

 In this section, you control a cannon at the bottom, which is always

 firing a white laser.  There are satellites (which slowly drift across

 the screen from right to left), and enemies (which fall down on you, and

 cause damage if they hit the ground)



 If you aim your beam at a satellite, it will "pick up" the color of

 that satellite--red, yellow or blue.  Now, instead changing the angle

 of the cannon at the bottom, you change the angle of the colored beam

 emerging from the satellite!  (press B to stop streaming through that

 satellite, and aim with the cannon again)



 You can also bounce the beam through multipe satellites to get new

 colors--purple, orange, green.  Use red beam to destroy red enemies,

 green beam to destroy green enemies, etc.



 Hitting satellites with all three colors at once will make them all

 explode, so be careful!



[2.5.3] How do I pass the "spooky level"?



 When you get to the big pit, play the Blue Flute, and then the words:



 "Just wanted you to know we're thinking about you.

                                                  --The Game Designers"



 will scroll across the bottom of the screen.  You can climb on the

 words, and ride on them as they scroll by.



 The main thing to worry about is the boss: Make sure that you have lots

 of spare weapons, and don't waste them on the first form!  After you

 pass all the signs saying "DANGER" and "WARNING" and "HEAD GUY AHEAD",

 you'll fight the main boss, who's extremely wimpy.  Then, after the

 standard time-bonus and health-remaining-bonus, the big Grey Demon

 jumps in! (but the happy victory music keeps playing throughout the

 whole fight)



 This is where Sushi fights with Manta.  After they yell at each other

 a bit, the camera starts cutting back and forth.

 We see Sushi running.

 Then Manta running.

 Then Sushi running.

 Then Manta running.

 Then Sushi jumping.

 Then Manta jumping.

 Then Sushi flying through the air.

 Then Manta flying through the air.



 Then you see them both swinging at each other--kashing!  Time jumps

 like some magic rebound.



 Then the camera pans back and you see that both of them have

 unthinkingly jumped above a big chasm.  They both fall down and

 make ninja-shaped craters in the ground.



[2.5.4] How do I get to the "boss level"?



 If you go down the secret tunnel behind the purple wall, you will be

 able to play a special level--on this level, YOU control the big

 space station, and YOU send out all the legions of wimpy ships against

 the lone attacker.  He dodges a lot, and even after you blow him up,

 he'll come back, saying "Na na na na-na, I had an extra life!" and

 "Neener neener neener, I had a continue!"



 Try to make sure he doesn't get many powerups.



[2.6] How do I beat the game designer?



 The game designer has multiple forms.  In the first form, he jumps around

 the screen, drawing in anvils (which fall on you) and erasing bits of

 the floor (where you can fall down).  Just keep firing, and make sure

 you blow him up quickly before too much of the floor is gone.  (If

 you have killed Gutman from the Megaman area, you can pick up and throw

 Tetris pieces for a lot of damage)



 After you have hit him enough, the designer yells, "Such strength!  But

 remember, there are guys like you all over the world!"  Then he says,

 "Let's see how you do with no V-hold!"  Then, the picture gets messed

 up like it would if the V-hold was off.  In this form, the designer

 is harder to hit--it's best to use the Spin-cycle Kick you learned in

 Bad Dudes (during the "Why-are-there-always-Ninjas-in-the-sewers" saga).



[2.6.1] What is V-hold?



 Vertical Hold is one of the controls on old TVs.  If it's messed up, then

 everything on screen will keep scrolling up and re-entering from the

 bottom.  If you have an old TV, you may be able to mess up your own

 V-hold to counteract the Designer's v-hold attack!  (Email me if this

 actually works!)



[2.6.2] How do I fight the final form?



 If you hit him five more times, he says, "Come on!  We don't need to

 fight.  Join me and we can end this destructive conflict, and rule the

 galaxy!  I could even write a cute babe into the script for you

 right now.  You know you want to!  Search your feelings, you know it

 to be true..."  (As he says this, a little sign behind him lights up,

 reading "This scene is the world's one-millionth ripoff of Star Wars

 Trilogy dialog"  Then, if you say "no", you can kick him into one of the

 pits.



 (The stuff that happens if you say 'yes' is copied directly from

 the NES game Dragon Warrior  [e-mail])



 "Uh-oh," says Mifa, "I hope killing the designer of our own game doesn't

 screw stuff up."  Suddenly, tiles from the background art will start

 to fly at you.  It's best to wait till the last second, then jump

 away.  If you avoid all the tiles, then nothing will be left except for

 you, a black screen, and your status bar.  Then, the status bar will

 swoop in and attack!  When it growls at you, it's about to charge, so

 run away--the rest of the time, you should shoot it as much as

 possible.  After you hit it enough, Spiz will say, "Hey, we aren't

 damaging it.  I can tell, because it isn't flashing.  It must not have

 a weak spot."  He jumps into one of the pits.  "SPIZ!" yells Mifa.



 He falls, and falls, and falls...then lands on a pile of dead ninjas and

 dead warriors and dead Italian plumbers.  He finds the game designer, and

 grabs a paintbrush from his body.  Then, he jumps way, way, WAY up back

 to the surface.  "Wow!  I haven't seen a jump that cheesy since the

 beginning of Super Mario RPG!" yells Mifa.  Spiz draws a big eye on the

 status-line-snake.  Now, whenever the eye opens (to shoot lasers at

 you, of course) you can shoot it and do damage.



 Finally, if you win, Sushi the Bushi runs in.  "At last, I've found

 you!" he yells.  "Now you must die!"  But, his girlfriend rushes in.

 "Wait!" she shouts, "Killing them won't bring Charlie back!"

 "Lisa!" shouts Sushi, "You're not dead!  You were alive all along!

 And you're not making any sense!"  "Now you realize the flowers are

 possessed," comments the girlfriend, "I will mediate and then deploy

 you!"  "Uh-oh," says Sushi, "I think that flowerpot hit her a little too

 hard.  Let's go to the doctor."  They walk off together.



[3] What are people saying on the Spooky Level?



 It's a little hard to hear, especially since it's all whispered.



 Here's a rough transcription of the dialog, courtesy

 of [e-mail]:



A: Duhhhhhhhh-dump!  Duhhhhhhhhh-dump!

B: Shhhh!  <giggles>

...

B: Do you think he sees it coming up behind him?

A: Don't give it away!  <laughs>

...

A: <makes Twilight Zone noises>

B: I think he's really going to like this boss.



[4] Who are The Cleaners?



 These little guys show up in a lot of different places.  You can see

 them:



 --On the Super Mario Bothers level, putting mushrooms into bricks.



 --On the Raiden level, cleaning up tank debris.



 --On the Gradius level, tidying up the tunnels.

   At this point, one of them turns to the camera as you scroll by, and

   yells, "Hey!

   You've got it easy, pal.  You just sit back and enjoy--it's WE

   who have to clean up your mess, and hide powerups everywhere, and

   recycle all the dead monsters!  I hope you're grateful for..."

   (at this point, he scrolls off-screen)



 --Some other spots, too.



[5.1]  Where can I buy Tendrils?



 Well...you can't.



 It doesn't exist.



 If it did, it'd break more copyright laws than SM Records and Damaged

 Cybernetics combined, but that's another story, for another time.



 Of course, I'd kill for a job designing a game like this.



 If you liked this FAQ: I'm working on a homepage for video game dialog,

 and I can always use more quotes.  Send some of your favorites

 (either because they're funny, or because they're cheesy, or because

 they're just plain good) to me.  If possible, include where the quote is

 from, etc.



 Anyone who got more than half of the inside jokes:

 You rule.  If you're female, I hereby propose marriage.



[5.2] Is this the end?



 Yes.  That is my belief.  At least for now.



 Very Thanks..!! to: Robert Goodwin, FFFF, and alt.religion.kibology,

                       where I stole all the best jokes from.

                     COFFEE GUYYYYYYYYYYY!

                     The Dumple, wherever he is.

                     Everyone on the Alphaville, Space Ghost,

                       and Substantialism mailing lists.

                     AND THE HERO: YOU!





 SEE YOU NEXT

              --TECMO



--

Stephen Tanner ([e-mail])