The VC Advantage: Merlin's Mystery Shop

In River City, the streets, parks, and even high schools are populated by gangs of identical-looking, identically dressed teens who spend the day protecting their turf from any interlopers by beating them savagely with chains and throwing garbage cans at them. And yet, despite their efforts, turf can change hands from gang to gang in a fraction of a second -- leave the Frat Boys' area, turn right back around, and it's now the Generic Dudes' property.

Yet, to these violent, truant (except for the ones who inhabit River City High, but even they aren't in class or anything) teens, malls are sacred. A shopping center can stand between two gang warzones, and yet no Jock or Squid dares step foot into the Flatirons Mall. Shoppers walk through the center with impunity, unaware that the Internationals are just a few yards away, being kicked in the face by a guy who is standing on top of a fence and thus invincible.

Chances are those stumpy thugs would be even more reverent of River City's shopping options if they knew about Merlin's Mystery Shop. Conveniently located in the middle of the wall in the Armstrong Thru-Way Tunnel, Merlin's Mystery Shop offers rare items that provide pretty great stat boosts. We've got those items and their effects listed after the break, so you'll know just which items you'll have to beat up Benny and Clyde repeatedly to save up for.

Excaliber: $100 (Weapon + 30, Will Power + 48, Stamina + 99, Max Power + 24)
Zeus' Wand: $200 (Throw + 48, Strength + 48, Stamina + 99, Max Power + 24)
Rodan Wing: $100 (Defense + 30, Will Power + 48, Stamina + 99, Max Power + 24)
Gold Medal: $100 (Punch + 30, Will Power + 48, Stamina + 99, Max Power + 24)
Isis Scroll: $20 (Throw + 20)

Reader Comments (10)

Hell yea!
Gotta love jumping on the invincibility fences! x3

But what does Will Power add to?

Will Power is your ability to get back up after your stamina (i.e. Life Bar) is completely drained.

Thanks, Tacoman! :P

Rodan Wing? They didn't get sued by the Godzilla people for this?

Here's Another tip: Embrace capitalism! Buy as much as you can to keep your money low and you wont lose as much when you die.

Yea I forgot all about spend now from my NES era with this game. You can't take it with you when you die over and over again.

Also: IIRC, the text speed you choose on the options menu affects how much money you get. I think if you choose the slowest speed (which is pretty painful to sit through), you're rewarded with larger drops. Here's a test: find the 2 optional side bosses just before the bridge (their names escape me), who you can beat down over and over again. Beat them once on the fastest text setting, then again on the slowest one, and make a note of how much money you get each time. I'm not sure if picking a setting in the middle somewhere gives you somewhat more money or if you absolutely have to use the slowest one, or what. But it's a good tip to know.

Just as a follow-up -- I can't find this cheat/tweak referenced anywhere on the internet, so it's possible I'm remembering wrong, or that my brother was just bullshitting me (I was probably ~10 at the time), but I'm pretty sure I remember testing it and having it work consistently. If you don't want to wait until you get to the bridge, I think you can repeatedly fight the bosses in the park right near the beginning as well. Actually, if somebody has a chance to test this out (on the GBA version, perhaps? or a NES cart/emulator if not) and confirm/deny here, that would be great.

Actually (and at this point I'm in serious danger of having a rather drawn-out conversation with myself), I've been scrubbing my memory a bit more, and have another idea or two. I think it's some combination of using the slowest text speed and/or waiting until the boss is totally done talking to pick up the coins they drop. E.g., if you kill the boss, but pick up the coin while his "I'll get you next time!" or whatever text is still on the screen, it's worth substantially less than if you wait for his text to go away. Dammit, I wish I wasn't at work so I could test this out and report back.

You might be thinking of changing the text speed to slow when two people are playing. If one player dies, and the other player leaves the screen before the "RYAN has lost all of his power" text disappears, he doesn't lose half of his money. We used to constantly abuse this trick - one of us would walk off the screen, and the other would jump into a pit. The player that killed himself would immediately join his partner with full health and all his money intact.
I have fond memories of screaming at my brother, "leave! get out of this room, quick!" as my body began flashing. . .

The VC Advantage: Merlin's Mystery Shop

Reader Comments (10)

Posted: Apr 23rd 2008 7:32PM OMGITSJAD said

Posted: Apr 23rd 2008 8:00PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 23rd 2008 8:06PM OMGITSJAD said

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Posted: Apr 24th 2008 2:18AM Onomah said

Posted: Apr 24th 2008 6:49AM Qwikstreet said

Posted: Apr 24th 2008 9:13AM (Unverified) said

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Posted: Apr 25th 2008 8:48AM (Unverified) said

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