Before Round 5, it's back to fisticuffs again! Bonus Boxing Fight!! Same rules as last time.

To tell you the truth, I've only ever won this against the computer once. Pretty sure it was a fluke.



The next round is... Texas? Now I've never been to Texas either, but I'm guessing this is Cartoon Texas.

Although, if the internal sound test is any indication, this round was originally supposed to be called Western.



... Yep, the internal title makes a lot more sense.

There's actually three new enemies here- the sombrero-wearing guys, the native Americans, and the stampeding cows. All three of them are fast in their own way- the first two have the fastest projectiles in the game and are very annoying, and the cow will move slowly at first, then zoom across the screen at a frightening speed. You're best off just avoiding all three of them, but fortunately this is an option- the path splits early on, and outside the sombrero enemies at the very start, if you take the lower path you won't have to deal with any of them (there's an impenetrable set of fire columns that makes you think you have to jump back to the top, but you can use a rock to sail over it instead).



... OK, this boss is probably my favourite in the entire game, and I really wish they were all this goofy. The King of Penguins- yes, this really is the mid-boss of the Western-themed stage- marches on-screen with a group of penguin buddies who intermittently launch blocks of ice at you. The trick is to take out the penguins closest to the King of Penguins so that you're safe to stand still, then knock seven bells outta him. The penguins will respawn but you should have enough time to damage the King before then.

Throughout this, the King of Penguins will occasionally say "Yes."

There is no explanation for this, and that's the way I like it.



For the route split, you're definitely better off taking the lower route, which only has the native American enemies and not the sombrero guys or rushing cows. Additionally, a lot of it goes downhill and you get a flamethrower which, if you can keep for as long as possible, will really help you take care of the crowds of dogs and homing-missile enemies. Additionally, the end of this route (which you can't get to if you take the upper route, it's not that close to the end) has a homing missile launcher which will really help you out in the boss fight. The one disadvantage is you can fall off the stage because there's no safety rail here. The upper route has less weapons, more annoying enemies, and a fire geyser near the end that will hit you because of the confined space you have to inch through to get past it. So, yeah, lower route this time.



As for the boss... Oh. It's this guy again.

It's a little different though, honest! There's no guard rail to stop you falling off the level, which means you can't do what you did in the first round and camp at the bottom of the screen as you might fall. However, if you took the lower route as I said, then you should have a homing missile launcher to hand, so as the fight starts, let 'im have it. From there he should be weakened enough to make short work of, but it's best to get in close when the stones are swirling then backing off before they come back and hit you. Don't worry, we won't have to fight him again!



The final round is just called Achacha, and the setting for our climactic battle with Achacha the Great.



For this stage, there's no miniboss, and no upper/lower route either- just gotta get to the end and knock seven bells out of Achacha. The structure is a little odd though, as enemies appear strictly one type at a time- a horde of dogs, then a horde of moose, and so on- with very little mixing of enemy types. There's also no new enemies beyond a monochrome version of the mole enemy which seems a little faster, but every other enemy in the game- beyond the flying bomb from Round 4- reappears for another pop at the ducks! You get a flamethrower right near the start which helps, and almost every other weapon shows up at some point, but as there's no miniboss to stop you, you can peg it if you think you can get away with it. Otherwise, take it slowly and don't leave anyone behind! You don't want to have to outrun homing missiles, do you?



Oh, and these mysterious statues show up near the end. Their purpose is unknown.



Achacha's first form is probably the toughest- it's a repeat of the stone golem from Round 3, but this time it's shiny and chrome and Achacha is seated on one of the arms. The attacks are the same- the punch and the fire-breath- beyond a new stomp attack if you're too close to it, but as it's metal rather than stone, you can't punch its legs until it all collapses. This time, the weak spot is the conspicuously-bronze orb Achacha is sitting on. You can't charge your punches up in the air, but charge on the ground, then jump and lamp it.



Weirdly, the fight actually gets easier from this point on, as Achacha really can't do much. He'll scuttle about, then open his mouth shortly before launching a spread shot of goo blobs that explode against the walls. Thing is, this attack is exactly the same as that weird time-bomb enemy from Round 4, so it's incredibly easy to avoid- stay in the centre of the screen and jump when it launches and you won't be hit. You just need to avoid Achacha when he scuttles about, charge-punch him when you get the chance, then jump at the right time. Hit him enough times and he'll devolve into an even smaller form where he can't even do the glob attack! He still moves around, so just don't let him bump into you and whack him when he sits still. Try and use fully-charged shots where you can and this battle is over very, very quickly.



And that's that. Achacha's reign of bizarre terror is over!

Let's save poor Lucy on the next page, OK?