Wrath of the Black Manta

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)


BlackMan

Rate: 3 out of 5
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Played: 10/26

Opinion: Wrath of the Black Manta is an okay game. It's not that difficult to beat which can be done in mere hours, but the final boss in Part 5 is annoying because of the buttons. You have to do it perfectly; otherwise, you'll be through this...A LOT...despite the best of your intentions. Making matters worse is the repetitive gameplay by going in and out of so many doors. In the long run, I think, in theory, they don't matter unless it's important to get maximum number of bars for life. Many people who try out Wrath of the Black Manta for the first time will probably be put off by the menu of arts; it's important to understand this before proceeding forward.



Technical Notes

Basic Moves
♦B is to throw a shuriken.
♦A is to jump; pressing it longer will make you jump higher. If you press DOWN and then A while above something, you will fall down to the next platform.


Arts
This is very imperative to master, and make sure you understand how. When you press SELECT, there's a menu of arts you are currently proficient in. You may be confused by the letters: A, B, C, and D. That's just an index order of the arts. Now, to perform each, you must do the following:

♦Shadow: Press B longer than normal which will let you have an invisible clone of yourself atop you. Ditto for Fire Bomb and Lightning.
♦Fire Ring: While going LEFT or RIGHT, press B longer than normal which will let you shoot a fire ring. Ditto for Invisibility (the most important art of the entire game).
♦Ground Fire: While going DOWN, press B longer than normal which will let you shoot a fire on the ground. Ditto for Spider.
♦Missile: While going UP, press B longer than normal which will let you shoot a missile. Ditto for Fire Rain and Teleportation.

When you are in the menu by pressing SELECT, push DOWN to see additional arts that will be given to you beginning in Part 2 and swap them out. For example, by going to Option B, you have a choice of either Fire Ring or Invisibility. If you pick Invisibility, what you did for Fire Ring above applies for this swapped art.



Part One



What To Do
♦Overall, there are five parts in this game.

♦To gain maximum bars for life, go to any door with three enemies inside and kill them (this doesn't work if there's a hostage). You can keep repeating this. Don't worry about being hit; the bars are easily replenished. Occasionally, you will find L which accomplishes the same thing.

♦Make sure to practice different arts during this part to be familiar with them. They will be important in the long run.

♦Finding POWs will sustain the usage of an art longer.

♦You gain extra life for every 5,000 points earned. However, the maximum lives you can have is 4. When you die, you'll start with three shitty bars (thanks!).

♦Tiny: I hate this boss. You can try using the Art of Shadow, but I find it too long to implement while trying not to be hit by falling brick. So I recommend using the shuriken, and take your time until Tiny's head has been hit enough. Make sure to enter the room with maximum life; you'll need all the bars possible.

Four Secret Rooms
♦POW: As soon as you enter underground, it's to the left on the top platform. Just keep shooting shurikens at the wall until you are inside.

♦POW: As soon as you enter underground for the second time, it's to the left on the top platform.

♦POW: In the same underground but all the way to the right, it's on the top platform just before the diagonal stacked crates.

♦L: When you are finally outside the underground, be atop the door, and it's to the left. Whatever you do, once there, do not open the first door; that will lock you out for good.



Part Two



What To Do
♦To start off, use the Art of Fire Ring on the flying red ninja and then grab his cape; you can't do this with a shuriken.

♦If you are low in bars for life because of Tiny, just avoid as many flying green ninjas as possible by staying high to the left. Always press down B to have the Art of Missile ready.

♦By the time the flying part is over, switch to the Art of Invisibility through SELECT (Option B) and use that constantly (now you see how immensely useful that is).

♦Four Totem: This is a much easier boss; use the Art of Invisibility to defeat him plus crouching for the bottom totem.

Three Secret Rooms
♦POW: As soon as you go down after the flying part, it's all the way to the left; just crouch next to the wall.

♦POW: As soon as you enter underground, it's all the way to the bottom and to the left. Crouch this time.

♦L: After you get the letter, go all the way to the top and crouch on the left side.



Part Three



What To Do
♦When you are at the top of the waterfall, use the Art of Ring Fire to kill the flying red ninja and then grab his cape.

♦The rest of the way is pretty easy.

♦Voodoo Warrior: Use the Art of Invisibility and hit him as often as possible with shurikens, using the top platform.

Five Secret Rooms
♦L: On the docks at the far right of the ship, crouch next to the wall.

♦POW: As soon as you enter underground, it's all the way to the bottom and to the left. Crouch this time.

♦POW: In the same underground, it's all the way to the right, and you crouch.

♦Rescue: After you get the letter, go all the way to the right and crouch.

♦POW: As soon as you enter underground, it's all the way to the bottom and to the left. Crouch this time.



Part Four



What To Do
♦Prior to the up-and-down wrecking ball, use the Art of Invisibility.

♦Three Robots: Use the Art of Invisibility (although for some reason you receive damage, and this will happen a lot going forward) and hit all robots as often as possible with shurikens while using the Art of Invisibility.

Four Secret Rooms
♦L: As you start out, go to the far right and crouch.

♦L (Twice): When you reach underground that's labeled B, you go above the ground and then all the way to the right before crouching. Look both ways afterwards.

♦POW: In the underground, crouch underneath the label D.

♦POW: After making to the top labeled E, go all the way to the right. Crouch this time.



Part Five



What To Do
♦There are no secret rooms here.

♦The choice of which elevator doesn't matter, but once in there, bullets can be stopped with a shuriken, but you must react quickly in two or three possible directions. There will be four floors in the building, and number 4 is the final stop.

♦There's nothing you can do about the distant door in each middle.

♦Four Possible Doors: You'll see the same bosses, one in each door, that were previously defeated; now, you have to do it again, but choose the easiest: bottom door on the right for the Four Totems. Same tactic as before.

♦El Toro (Final Boss): To win, the correct order of arts must be: Fire Bomb, Fire Ring, Spider, and two Missiles. Honestly, it's very frustrating to pull this off because of the buttons which will accidentally shoot off a shuriken. Watch the bars on the top right to see what I mean. If you pull off the right art, one bar is taken off; otherwise, you have to redo the arts in the correct order.