Quick guide to... "Hero 3 mode" in: HALF MINUTE HERO (for PlayStation Portable) by Big Bear Introduction ------------ So, after fighting through a war spanning 500 years, the heroes have pulled through and defeated the Ultimate Evil Lord. Your reward? One last quest, to save the world in not 30, not 300 but 3 seconds. Sounds ridiculous, but is in fact quite doable, especially after the experience from earlier modes. Hero 3 mode is unlocked after finishing Hero 300 mode, which in turns unlocks after beating Knight 30 mode, again in turn unlocked after beating the modes Hero 30, Evil Lord 30 and Princess 30 modes. So surely, this is the last thing to do in the game. Its reward is nice enough, yet isn't gameplay related: press Select for a music test comprised of 65 tracks from all modes. (I recommend track 55 - Fight or Flight, the hub music for Knight 30 mode.) Basic tips ---------- Having just 3 seconds to work with, you will constantly be rushing to reset time again and again. Whereas this wasn't too exciting in Hero 30 mode, here the monetary fee will sky-rocket. Therefore you will need to perfectly balance time spent and money earned. This final area has several towns, all of which will need to be visited to buy equipment. Monsters roam the land between, of increasing strength (and of course of increasing rewards upon defeat). The basis of Hero 3 mode is therefore: 1) fight monsters around town 2) through the above: a) gain money to purchase equipments b) gain levels, to be able to fight the next monsters c) gain money to reset time 3) progress from area to area, to finally defeat the Evil Lord Keep in mind: - ALWAYS dash in battles - outside of battles DASH if you need to reach a town to reset time - outside of battles WALK if you need to encounter a monster - ONLY try two battles in a row if you can 1-hit-KO the local monster - time stops when in town: BREATHE! - always be sure you have enough money for the next reset before entering town - don't waste too much money on healing A note about healing: your health may appear dangerously low, but that's mostly due to a higher HP-MAX from leveling. Damage dealt to the Hero will be minimal, remember time is your biggest adversary, so you will only need to heal a couple of times during this quest. By the time of your first healing, you should at least have bought the equipment from town #1 and #2, don't spend money on healing before that time. At this point, it will become necessary, so heal between town #2 and your first encounter of enemy type D. Later on, you can heal when you feel current funds to be sufficient, but at least once more before fighting enemy type F is likely. At that point, the remainder of the quest is smooth sailing, so heal at leisure. Another note about healing: one thing you DON'T want to happen, is not being able to dash when needed, due to having only 1 HP. That's never worth it. Area map -------- Below is an ASCII rendition of the map, where Hero 3 mode takes place. It shows the starting position of our hero, the final destination (the castle of the Evil Lord that needs vanquishing), location of towns and where which monsters will be encountered. _______ | | | Evil | | Lord | ___|_______|___ |XXX| F | F |XXX| |___|___|___|___| | 4 | |___| | | ___|___| | E | E | ___|___|___| | A | E | E | ___|___|___|___| |XXX| A | A | ___ ___ ___ ___|___|___|___| | 2 | C | C | A | A | A | 1 | |___|___|___|___|___|_*_|___| | C | C | B | B | ___ ___|___|___|___|___| |XXX|XXX| | |___|___|___| | D | D | 3 | |___|___|___| Legend: #1~4 = Town #A~F = Monster area * = Hero starting position XXX = Mountain (can't walk here) Towns ----- Each town has a Time Goddess statue to reset time (requires 100 gold for first use and fee is increased by 100 on each subsequent use), a piece of equipment to buy and the option to fully heal for a price (with one exception): town #1 - 400G for a weapon, 100G to heal town #2 - 800G for a shield, 200G to heal town #3 - 2000G for a weapon (stronger than the one from town #1), no healing! town #4 - 800G for armor, 200G to heal Monsters -------- There are 6 different monsters on this map (7 including the Evil Lord), of varying levels and rewards. Below a list of these enemies with some additional information. The letter signifies where on the map the monster will be encountered. While you might feel, an indication of how strong the next enemy will tell you when to move to the next location, TIME is far more the deciding factor and time is money. Hence, not monster levels tell you where you should be, but whether you can still reset time with money that local monsters drop. A - Jelly, can be defeated at the Hero's starting level of 1. You will only fight two of these to raise funds for the first weapon and reset, after that they are merely waste of (PRECIOUS!) time. B - ???, don't fight these, don't even walk on the B area on the map. You should be able to beat them after having killed two Jelly, but there is just no reason to go there. C - Big Scorpion, no problem even after killing just two Jelly. D - Hammer Troll, can be hard after first encountering them. If so, you most likely travelled to town 3 too soon and should have fought a few more battles against two Big Scorpion in a row. E - Big Crab, no problem when you first arrive in the area, after having killed a decent number of Hammer Troll, F - Flessberg, not much of an upgrade from the previous two enemies, should pose no difficulties at this point. Evil Lord: As the game will tell you when you can beat the Evil Lord, no further pointers are needed. I would advise, however, to gain a few more levels from that point and heal, just for some overkill. First steps ----------- To get a good start, here's a step-by-step guide: - as soon as the opening countdown is finished WALK left - a battle with an easy enemy will start, DASH through it - after battle, WALK right - another battle, DASH through it - after battle, DASH further right and hit town 1 - heal, reset time, buy the equipment, leave town - DASH left for a few steps, then WALK further left - thanks to the above move, a battle with the third enemy type will start - DASH through this battle - DASH left to town 2 and enter it - reset time and buy the equipment (don't heal), you should have enough money - leave town, encounter a C type enemy, DASH through battle and back to town - reset time That's basically it for the step-by-step good start, from here on: Fight enemy type C (one per 3-second slot) and reset time in town 2, until you can defeat it in a single hit (so you don't get pushed back in battle). Now continue fighting enemy C (two in a row per 3-second slot) until you have sufficient funds to both buy the equipment from town 3 AND reset time as well (there's no use in buying equipment, if a lack of funds makes you lose). Next, fight enemy type D to the left of town 3, the same way you did with type C (keep going till you can kill two in a single 3-second slot). For the next part, be well prepared; you will need to head to town 4 which is quite far away (well, in terms of a 3 second time limit, those few steps IS far!). To do this, head from town 3 to town 2 while fighting two type C enemies, to at least gain SOME funds. It won't be much, so leave town 3 with some money in reserve. From town 2, DASH beyond town 1, then WALK the remaining steps to town 4. That case, you will fight a type E enemy, with even better rewards. If this sounds intimidating, and you have enough money, you could make a stop in town 1 and reset time there, but that will hit you in the wallet hard. Once in town 4, it's smooth sailing. Enemy type F gives plenty of cash and isn't particularly hard to beat. At some point the game (as it did in Hero 30 mode) will tell you, that your current level is enough to defeat the Evil Lord. Go ahead and do just that, but I tend to gain a few more levels. At this point in the quest, I will typically reset time and still have money left to do it once more (and heal in between). Legal stuff ----------- Copyright 2010 B.J. Veuger This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. 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