1-2P, Arcade, Shooter
"Elfazar is hailed as a great magician, but his captive animals are ready to strike back!"

Heya! I had fun playing this short little shooter, and I didn't see many guides or references online, so I thought I'd throw together my notes real quick to help y'all out!

I hope you get something nice out of it (and get to save the all the animal friends) =)

Red Eye = BOMB A & B
Purple Heart Ankh = LIFEUP & EXTEND
Green Crescent Moon = SHOT A & B
Blue Star = SHLD (SHIELD) = SHLD A & B
Orange Brimstone = OPTN A & B

BOMB A (2 of 3 match)


BOMB B (3 of 3 match)


SHOT A (2 of 3 match)


SHOT B (3 of 3 match)


SHLD A (2 of 3 match)


SHLD B (3 of 3 match)


OPTN A (2 of 3 match)


OPTN B (3 of 3 match)

Top Tier Upgrades: SHOT B, OPTN B, EXTEND, & LIFEUP

Try to get
3 Green Moons for SHOT B,
3 Orange Brimstones for OPTN B, and
3 Purple Ankhs for EXTEND
FIRST!

Then keep 2 Purple Anhks in your deck for when you take damage, so you can heal up immediately with the next card.

BOMB is too unreliable for damage (though it is fun), and the SHLD (while nice) is also too unreliable when it's better spent on offense and using your dodge for defense.

Holding your shoot button down will maintain your current facing allowing you to dodge more easily while maintaining damage. However! If you have a turbo option you'll actually get significantly more shots out than just holding the button:

Holding Shoot Button:


Turbo Shoot Button:


This can really help out when you've recently lost all your upgrades, or for pumping out damage against bosses or chunky enemies (at the cost of the ability to strafe while shooting)

If you hit the Dash/Dodge button while Shooting, you'll maintain your current facing.

You can also Dash/Dodge in order to cross bottomless pits!

You also get invincibility frames during the dodge, so you can slip right past some enemies and bullets. You can get a feel for what invincibility frames (I-frames) it gives you by practicing in Stage I (just reset if you get hit)

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3336732363

There are 9 total Golden Tickets in the entire game:

• 3 on Stage I (1)
  
• 3 on Stage III (3)
  
• 3 on Stage IV (4)

See below for all the locations! You'll need to shoot the empty area where they are briefly (which plays a very distinct sound effect) and the ticket will reveal itself for you to pick up!

Be careful if you scroll the screen too far, as you'll miss your chance to snag one for another try at the bonus stage.


















Dash to cross the bottomless pits without falling

For every Golden Ticket you've gotten on a Stage, it'll count as 1 extra life for the Bonus Round, which in turn gives you chances for extra lives in the regular game!

You can also bank these tickets for later. For instance: if you say "No" to the Bonus Round after Stage I, next time on Stage III you'll have those tickets + any additional tickets you've picked up:



To easily practice the Bonus Round without having to get any Golden Tickets: Enter pause menu and activate the UFO 50 Terminal. Enter the code SIDE-SHOW to play and practice the Bonus Round endlessly.

• Don't use your diagonal directions at all. Treat UP as forward, LEFT as towards the top left of the screen, RIGHT as towards the bottom right of the screen, and DOWN as backwards.
  
• Try to adjust facing before you land, otherwise you may end up going a direction you didn't intend.

If you play your cards right, you can get up to 7 additional lives after Stage I, then max out your lives after Stage III at 9; maximizing your chances of securing the Cherry Cart for Elfazar's Hat!

Still having trouble? Check out this full casual walkthrough of Elfazar's Hat with all Golden Tickets found and meeting the requirements for the Cherry Cart!

Hopefully there is a technique or two not explicitly covered in the guide above that will help you accomplish your goals.

Enable subtitles/closed captions for the full contextual play-by-play!

For the Garden gift:
EARN A CONTINUE IN THE BONUS ROUND
Find at least one Golden Ticket, then make sure you collect enough coins in the bonus round for an extra life

For the Gold cart:
DEFEAT ELFAZAR

For the Cherry cart:
DEFEAT ELFAZAR WITHOUT CONTINUES
Even though the human Elfazar is the boss of Stage IV, that's not the end! Be careful not to go too reckless with your lives during that fight, as you've still got Stage V and another boss fight to do!

• ELFA - The shortcode for Elfazar's Hat. Combine with commands like HELP to make and enter HELP-ELFA (lists a bunch of additional possible commands)
  
• SIDE-SHOW - Play the Bonus Stage endlessly. Great for practice before the real deal! Also great for showing people who say "Hey, what was that game in the Attract Mode that I didn't recognize?"

About a hidden secret code: if you get a Red Ankh, a Blue Star, and a Green Moon (in that order), then you'll see a code for SIDE-SHOW flash briefly on your screen:



This UFO 50 Terminal Code will allow you to play the bonus mini-game, endlessly! (which is great for practice runs)

1. Elfazar's Hat - Intro[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
2. Elfazar's Hat - Map[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
3. Elfazar's Hat - White Pea[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
4. Elfazar's Hat - Bonus Round[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
5. Elfazar's Hat - Train[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
6. Elfazar's Hat - Boss[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
7. Elfazar's Hat - Frostin Town[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
8. Elfazar's Hat - Suspense[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
9. Elfazar's Hat - Grand Palace[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
   
10. Elfazar's Hat - Final Boss Intro[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
    
11. Elfazar's Hat - Final Boss[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]
    
12. Elfazar's Hat - Special Boss[phlogiston.bandcamp.com]

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