Milon's Secret Castle: "getting started" walkthrough
It seems many people who play Milon's Secret Castle give up on it after just a few minutes, getting frustrated or bored right away. So this page is to help you get the hang of the game. It basically covers how to pass the first floor, plus a little help passing the second floor as well.
First off, enter the first door of the castle.
Right off the bat, might as well enter the bonus area, so go to the right and bump your head to make the box appear like below..
Now "get" the box. In the bonus area, run from side to side collecting the music notes (1 point) and #'s (2 points).. they are good. Avoid the b's (-1 point).. they are bad! After a few seconds, you'll be rewarded with some $ depending on how well you scored.
Ok, back in the room, run around shooting bad guys and bricks/walls (looking for hidden $). Once you've got at least $16, go to the bottom right. You see in the pic above where there's a dark colored block between two light colored blocks? Shoot the light blocks, collect the $, then push on the dark block for a few seconds, back away and shoot at where the dark block originally was. A door will appear to a shop where you can buy spring shoes.. Now you can jump higher where the springs are set (the picnic table looking things).
Back in the main room, be sure you get the homeycomb hidden on the left side of the room.. see pic below..
.. That will boost your life meter a bit and fill it up. It also wouldn't hurt
to get the bee (see other above pic.. shoot near where the bee is pictured
and he'll appear.. but be quick because he flies away fast). The bee will give
you a shield that'll help protect you; the bigger it is, the more times left
for it to protect you. If it gets small, collect more hearts to build it up.
Continue running around shooting bad guys and collecting $. (Don't worry about
that $ area in the upper left.. you can't get in there till later in the game.)
After you kill a few bad guys, you'll hear a little noise ring, letting you
know the key is out, so go get it (near where the bee was). Once you have the
key, go through the door located in the upper right (again, see above pic),
bang, you've passed the first room!
Now back outside, go to the next room.. you should have at least $5 on you, which is good because here's a shop where you buy the shrinking medicine for $5. If you don't have $5, don't worry about it.. you can get it later.
Back outside, the next opening is a window.. it might be empty, but if you've done everything like I've mentioned above, the boss will be in this room waiting for you! If you're up for the challange, take him on (you can exit the room any time).. but it'd probably be a better idea to go through room 2 first.. even though you don't really need to, you should go there to collect $ as well as the 2nd honeycomb.
Outside again, enter the door on the far right.. now you're in room 2. Make your way up, then over, then down to the big staircase looking area, all the while shooting enemies and bricks (still looking for hidden $).. Oh, there's also a shop hidden around the top left.. if you didn't buy the shrinking medicine yet, and have $5 now, find the shop (again, shooting blocks, pushing blocks, shooting where block was.. like room 1), but if you already bought the shrinking medicine, don't worry about this shop, just go over and down to the staircase thing. Shoot out the blocks at the bottom of the staircase.. there should be the key waiting for you at the end (if not, kill a few bad guys then come back when you hear the noise).
The honeycomb and bonus locations are pictured below.. (to get the bonus box to appear, you need to have the spring shoes and jump on the spring to bump your head on the ledge.) (oh, and nevermind my $ total in the pic.. yes, i was cheating with genie codes! :)
.. If you've got the shrinking medicine, go up to the right and hit your head on the glove to shrink.. now shoot up the blocks up there and collect the $. There's also a shop in the wall.. but it's just selling a lantern (something you don't really even need) for $50.. and you can buy it cheaper later in the game.
So push the odd brick to fall out of that little area, then enter the door at the top of the staircase to leave room 2.
Back outside.. Time for the boss. Be sure your life meter is full or
at least almost. Enter through the window and there he is, bouncing and spitting
at you. Jump and shoot him in the head (you'll hear a groaning noise to let
you know when you hit him).. while doing this, avoid his attack by staying down
when he shoots high, and jumping when he shoots low. (Tip: If your controller
is a NES Advantage or any other with a "slow motion" button, you might
want to use it during the boss battles.. it'll give you more time to avoid the
fireballs.) You can leave the room at any time and go fill up your life meter
by killing enemies in the 1st two rooms that you already beat, but the boss will
be back to full strength when you re-enter. After about 10-15 hits, you'll kill him and you'll get the 1st
crystal and access to the 2nd level of the castle.
[Now when you die, just hold LEFT and press the START button at the title screen and you'll continue your game without having to start over.]
Hopefully now that you passed the first floor, you have a feel for the game and rest of the rooms will be easy for you to figure out (but don't kid yourself, it's a tough game!). In the next rooms, do like what you've been doing.. shooting around looking for money, shops, honeycombs, etc. Once you pass the two rooms on the 2nd floor, jump down the well to the right of the castle. Be sure you bought the vest to help protect you from the fire. The boss of the well is pretty tough, but stick with the strategy you used for the 1st boss (he's basically the same, just quicker and stronger).
When you beat the well boss, your bubble will become bigger and more powerful, plus you'll get the hammer, letting you enter through certain parts of the castle wall. To get out of the well, either climb back out all the way, or kill an eye octopus thing.. that'll turn into a red balloon, and if you grab it, it'll warp you out. Once outside, go left and back down to the ground floor of the castle and enter the wall on the second ledge to find a shop where you get the saw, letting you enter the dark (barred) windows. While you're down on the first floor, you'll probably want to re-enter the first room just to kill bad guys and get some hearts to fill up your life meter. Now go back to the second floor (through where the first boss was). Enter the dark window on the right. There's the next boss for you! Beat him like you've been doing, then you're up on the 3rd level of the castle.
Here's help on part that a lot of people get stuck on later in the game. There are 2 fake princesses that turn into crowes when you touch them. You can't beat them until after you get the ice bottle by beating the boss in the right tower. As for the left tower, no, it's not a neverending trap. Go all the way down, then once it takes you back to the top, shoot out the blocks in the upper right, then jump up and over through the hole you made.
OK, that's enough for this "getting started" walkthough. Good luck! ...you're gonna need it. I admit that even I can't get very far without using Game Genie codes to make the game easier. So if you manage to beat the game "fairly", that's definitely something to be proud of!