Secret of the Stars (SNES) Walkthrough
Begginer town (or, what the heck is all this about?)
Head for the mount and explore it with your hero (i'll call him Lance), untill you find the red fountain. Here you'll aquire the STAR CREST, and with it become PENNON, some kind of begginer Aquitallion. Every time you meet an Aquitallion descendant, if you have the crest he will become PENNON also.
Now explore the vocano (you may get some items with David, as Aquitallions can't cross the green lights as Kustera do). At the end of the volcano path, beat the mad Doctor and watch the scene (you're saved by Bosen and carried to Old Hill).
Old Hill & the city of dogs (or, Bad-Bad the bad)
Now go to the nearest city and talk to everybody. Seek some lost children in the basement of a house, and in the same house talk to an old man in the bed, who will tell about the dissapearance of Tina, a mysterious girl. Go south, then east, then south again until you reach a city full of dogs. Head for the church, and save the Priest from the bandits. You'll meet Tina here, and she'l become PENNON also. The priest will ask your help to turn people (the dogs) back to normal, so accept and go south. Follow the path, enter a cave and explore the place untill you find Bad-Bad; defeat him and search the place where he tried to escape first. Here you'll find some treasures, and the Dog Pill.
Thw two bad brothers (reminds me of Abbot & Costello)
Return to the village, and talk to the Priest. Now you can talk to people and purchase some things. Also, in the southwestern house you can now (after talking to the man there) enter a secret passage that leads to a cave. Exiting the cave, go south till you reach a small castle. There are two very bad brothers here, so search them and kill them. The village will be very grateful, and besides, a script will make a worker in a distant house decide it's time to take off some barrels. Search the city untill you find Ryu, the Kustera ninja. He will join you.
The constructor (and the worker)
Exit the city and head northwest; evade the snow, and followinf the path you'll reach the constructor's house. Talk to him, enter the house and talk to the Boss. He will allow you to contract the constructor (worker) to make some new houses in Old Hill, and order him to take off some barrels in the west exit.
Giant & the Big City (or Baz, the fabulous farmer)
Continue west, then south (you'll see a city to the right; they won't let you in). In the southwest coast you'll reach Giant, another small village. Talk to everybody, and specially to a man into a house that mentions Dynamite, the inventor in the big city. Now go to the village entrance, and follow thr right row of trees, but remaining OUT of the village. You'll find a hole, and into it a crazy man. Talk to him and he'll make a hole to enter the big city for 100gp.
If you enter with any Kustera, you can bribe the administrator (there is a bug here, instead of 1000gp he only can be bribed with LESS than 1000gp, and actually only takes 100gp), and he will order the guards to clear off the entrance. Head north, and enter the poor city. Look in the northeastern house, and a woman will ask you to help her husband to quit drinking. Accept, and go back to the normal city. Here there is a cafe (actually there are two; you must go to the northern one); enter and search for a man with white robes, and talk to him. He is another Kustera (Ben), and will join you.
Purchase anything you need and search the laboratory. Head upstairs and talk to Dynamite, who will aid you if you accept him in your new city (in Old Hill). He will give you a gadget to minimize giants, and that's what you need to defeat the big bad giant in the village of Giant. Go there, and when you meet him, use the gadget. Then fight, fight, fight until he runs away. Rescue Baz, the farmer, and allow him to join your city. This will trigger the circus arrival in the big city.
The Circus (or, the talking Lion)
Go to the big city, and head to the eastern section. Explore the buildings, untill you enter the votation chamber. Talk to the candidates, and then to the man near the voting box. One of the candidates will give a paper, so give it to the man, and the votation will be over. Search the house of the winner (it's near), and talk to him. He will give a ticket fr the circus.
Enter the circus, and head north. Here is an unseen labrynth, and if you reach the top, look for a secret passage, with a VERY powerful item (at least for now). It's a special costume, that reduces fire damage (it's also quite good for this part of the game). Now head upstairs, explore the upper circus section and take the stairs up (when you find them). You'll meet Garados (a bad man), with a poor talking Lion (he's really Cody, the third Aquitallion, and you must save him). Garados and Cody will dissapear, (with the entire circus), so it's time to seek them.
Talk to the priest in the church (Cody was his apprentice), and he'll tell you some hints. Visit the hospital, and talk to a nurse; if you city already has a hospital, she will offer to go (and carry a doctor with her). If not, come back later.
The bridge & The golden-legged man (Or, The Monstruous moustache)
Go back to Old Hill, look how nice is getting the city, and head south. There is an opened bridge here; enter the nearby construction, and talk to the man there. He will tell you that the key was lost and a crazy man digging holes seen. Go to Giant, enter the hole of the crazy man, search the east wall untill you find a tunnel, follow the tunnel and ask the digger for the key. Go back to the bridge and use the key. Pronto! the bridge lowers and you can access another patch of land. Go south, cross the mountains to the west, and continue south untill you reach a house.
You'll meet a man with his legs turned to gold. Accept to help him, exit the house and head to the southwest. Enter the forest (very easy to see, a bunch of trees in a small clearing) follow the maze and kill the monster to get his moustache. Return to the man with the golden legs, and give him the moustache. He will step out of the way, and you can exit through a cave in the other side of the mountains.
Kiling Garados (or, the golden Lion)
Head south, and then east until you see a city surrounded with snow. Enter (the snow hurts a little), and talk to everyone (purchase some better equipment also). When you are ready (Garados is a tough opponent), purchase the fur coat and equip it in your two heroes, then head for the cave that is at the south of the city. Follow the caves untill you reach Garados (the fur coats will protect you from his snow storms), and kill him. Unfortunately, with his last grasp he will turn the talking Lion into gold. Take him anyway, and head to the house of the man with the ex-golden legs.
Ask for help, then go back to Old Hill. Enter the temple and step in the center icon (by the way, stepping in the central incon of the temple will heal your party and restore full mana); the lion will then back to human form, and Cody will become PENNON (and join you).
The fourth member (or, Leona)
Go back to the big city, and talk to the priest. Go to the poor section, and look in the houses in the north. Entering the middle one, talk to the guys there, and see as Leona (the Fourth Aquitallion) comes, then how one of the four biggest baddest bosses kidnaps her and leaves you wondering... Talk to the kids, and one will suggest looking in the rich section. Go to the east in the poor section, head down near the small water canal, then (hidden by the wall) go to the right until you can't go furhter.
Now, TALK to whoever is there (you can't see anything), and he (she?) will sell you a nice bomb. Use it in the wall east of the poor section (in the weakes part), and it will blow into pieces. Explore the houses (one has lots of money), until you find a house with a sleeping man. He claims to hear strange noises, so search in the bed to his left (ENTER the bed), and you'll discover... A SECRET PASSAGE! Meet Leona, and she will join you (and become PENNON).
New horizons (or, the Three Kustera brothers)
Now, what else can you do? There is nothing more to explore, so you can just wander and make some experience... until you come back to your nice city and see how is it going. Talk to averybody, and look for Baz (the farmer) in the north area. When you talk to him, the mad digger appears and leaves behind a tunnel. Follow the tunnel to reach another continent (actually it's a few meters from Old Hill). Explore the new continent untill you reach Box City. With your toughest hero (usually your first), buy the punching gloves and the speedshoes, and challenge the box champion (actually he is a Kustera who decided it's better to rule than to serve). If you aren't powerful enough (it's a one-on-one fight, no hostile magic allowed), go make some XP's and come back later.
Continue exploring untill you reach Sleepers, another town. Challenge another Kustera (a Witch called Arthur, he is brother of the box champion) in one of the houses, and with your three big heros you should defeat him easily.
Go further to the south to a small village, and meet the Storekeeper; he is the third Kustera brother, and will be willing to help. Tell him you defeated his selfish brothers (you did, didn't you?), and the three will crush some stones blocking the desert entrance. Also, the selfish brothers will now willingly join you, and the third one will work as a storekeeper in your beautiful city.
The desert (or, the oasis nightmare)
Head south, then west, then south again, and enter the desert. Search for a small city in the middle of the desert, enter and explore its many entretainment places. When you try to exit, you'll notice you've fallen into a trap of DRAM (the guy that kidnapped Leona, and is trying to slow you down so he can kill the last Aquitallion). Arrrgghh! You go in circles, and cannot exit the damn desert! What can you do? Call for help! Switch to the Kustera party (ha! they ARE useful after all!), come to the same city in the desert and meet Bosen, the mystery man. He tells the city where your heros are trapped in is an illusion, and to exit it they must go SOUTHEAST.
Well, it's supposed tha parties are not telepatically connected, but as YOU are some kind of Munchkin God, now they know. Enter the city (any of them), then head SOUTHEAST and enter again in the city there. That should take you out of the nightmare. Run southeast to the small city (in the fringes of the world, as everyone claims), and you reach in time to see the bad guy bombing the city. Look for an old well in the north of the city and enter there.
Explore the little maze, swith on all the switches, and when you reach a nice room with some people inside, be sure to be at full health, with some nice spells, with lots of any good weapons and so (maybe you can just go back all the way, cure yourself and come back - now you don't need to flips switches and make all that exploring). That is becouse when you talk to the man, DRAM (one of the four big bad bosses) will appear and try to kill you. He just hits you (hasn't magic), so hit him back and heal yourself untill he's dead.
He tries to kill you, but the little boy (Dan) that was watching the scene will save you; he is the last Aquitallion , and now you're complete (well, sort of). But... HOMNCURSE (The fattest, biggest, baddest, smelliest, ugliest, eviliest and whatever 'est' guy) will blow your nice city in revenge.
Ooohhh... such a nice city, now all in ruins.... the guy really likes to be hated! If he was a bad guy, now he is a bad guy + 1.
Ships & Elemental Spirits (or, upgrading your characters)
Make lots of Xp's, as your characters must be powerful enough to challenge some tough foes in one-to-one combats. You can also talk to Shark, a Kustera Fighter in a house southwest of the cave where you killed Garados (he joins you only if he sees the five Aquitallion are united).
You hero - He must challenge the Fire Spirit, that is in the shrine near Old City, just in the southeast. To kill this sonofabitch, use the special suit you found in the circus (it reduces fire damage), and get the BEST weapon you can buy. Then hit him. A lot. And heal yourself with magic. (It's useless to cast fire at him, of course).
Tina - She must challenge the Water Spirit, that is in a shrine west of the bridge (the bridge is south of Old Hill). Wear the best armor & weapon you find (Holycane, or maybe a Powercane), and go in. Don't cast damage spells, just try to weaken the spirit with SLOW, and make yourself better with FAST. After some rounds, keep hitting the spirit until it falls down.
Cody - He must challenge the Wind Spirit. It is in an archipielago, and you can reach it going south of the town where was the Storekeeper (where there were some rocks blocking the way), then ALL to the west and exploring the small patches of land you can walk into. Or you can look into the next section to obtain a boat and arrive by sea. The Wind Spirit are actually two. The Red one will debilitate you and heal itself up at the same time (I think it's better to kill this one first); the second one just makes damage (whirlwinds). Cast POWER a few times to hit harder, then kill them.
Leona - She must defeat the Earth Spirit, that is in a shrine in a frozen island north of the constructor's Boss house. The only way to reach it is by sea. To do this, talk to Dynamite in your city, and he will ask for a gold pin. Talk to the constructor, then to the Boss, then search the wall outside the house of the Boss in the spot with the 'X', and get the goldpin. Give it to Dynamite, and he will finish the construction of two boats. Now you can travel by sea, so go to the frozen island and beat the Spirit.
Searching Dr. Ash (or, the BALLS)
Once the four spirits are beaten, you must search for Doctor Ash, the only man who might know what the hell is happening. For this, you must go to the big city, enter the laboratory (where Dynamite was before), and head downstairs. Talk to the man and ask about the fuel. He tells you must kill some kind of special monster. Go into the boat, and go by the seas untill you reach a small island with a city in the middle. Seems Hawaii or something alike... enter the temple, and talk to Murray. If you have beaten all the Spirits, he will ask a favor.
You must go to the Ghost cave north of the island and retrieve a golden idol. So, go there and retrieve it. Of course, you'll have to kill some big boss to do it. Murray (another Kustera) will join you and give you the BLUE BALL (don't underestimate the power of the unknown... I almost trashed the stupid ball).
Search more, untill you find another island with TWO cities filled with japanese. In the northern city, go to the upper part of the castle and talk to the man there (king? mayor? whatever..). He asks you to defeat the other city champion to avoid war, and in return he'll give you a fabulous treasure. So, you go there, defeat the champion -actually ANOTHER Kustera, this time a Samurai that will join you after you defeat him. Return, and you'll get... the RED BALL!
Now, with your two precious BALLS (he he) head for a cove (some kind of Gulf) that is south of the house where you met Shark, the Kustera. In the water, there is a funny spot (be sure you're at full before going), so go there, and the terrible Kraken arises attracted by your BALLS. Kill him and get his whateveritwas, and give it to the scientist in the basement of the laboratory in the big city. Fianlly, the rocket arises (hopefully, with you inside), and you reach the Mystery continent, hovering some kilometers above the common continents. Talk to everybody, and specially to Dr.
Ash, who is so sad he lost his wife that you will have to kill TWO of the FOUR toughest bosses in the game to actually TALK to the old man. In one of the houses (the southeastern), a Kustera thief will join you. The most useless character I ever had.
Booth (or, the second of the FOUR biggest, baddest & more guys in the game)
Head west, and explore untill you either find a castle or a city. If you found the castle, head north to fond the city, purchase some nice items, arm yourself to the teeth, be sure to have good healing magic and enter the castle. At the top, BOOTH, one of the FOUR toughest bla bla bla is waiting. So kill him.
Gara (or, the third of the FOUR baddest, etc. guys in the world)
Now, go back and talk to Dr. Ash again. He is still somewhat sad, but will give you the Niagaron (or Niagaran, or something like that), which will allow your party (ONLY the Aquitallion, not the Kustera) to fly above the waterfalls in the north. Go there, fly up and head northeast, to the thief village. Talk to everybody, and look for a girl with a bunny suit. Talk to her and agree to help her. Buy 3 bunnysuits from her, and put them in your party's men (so all will look like women). Go to the west, and when you reach the city of women, your disguises will allow you passage and work...
for about ten seconds. When you get trapped, agree to everything, and TWO more Kusteras join you. Arm yourself well (try to obtain those nice and expensive Silver Armors to reduce lightning damage), and go to the castle's basement; you'll exit near the castle of GARA, another of the FOUR bla bla bla... Look for her, and anihilate her. HOMNCURSE (The biggest baddest and eviliest guy) will explode the entire upper continent trying to kill you, but good Dr. Ash comes to the rescue, and will give a copter for free.
Homncurse's secret (or, What next?)
Go to the lower continent, and explore the land in your new copter. There are TWO cities you haven't seen yet. One is Hidon, near the shrine of Winds (where Cody fighted); here, you'll discover the secret past of HOMNCURSE (you already know hes the baddest, ugliest, etc). Go to the secret laboratory in the mountains (a hole in the north of the city leads there), switch the switch (what a quote!), and watch...
Now, look for the second city, Donto, that is at the EAST of the city near Old Hill (where everyone was turned into dogs). Here, men work into a secret lab (he.. you already should know where the secret lab is). To enter the lab (that is in the big city, but DON'T GO THERE! Remain in Donto!), just talk to a worker in the northwestern house, who will then go to work. Follow him, enter the building and step into the portal that will teleport you to the secret lab.
Explore all the holes/elevators untill you fall into a room with FIVE machines (actually big squares of wall with a small part with moving animation), deactivate the FOUR machines around the central one, then deactivate the central machine... and BLOOOOMMMM!!!! All blows into pieces. Poeple of The big city is afraid of the bad guy's vengueance, and asks you if you let them live in your city (which by now is quite reconstructed).
When you come back to your beloved city, men are boasting around, thinking they can boss everyone. Talk to the mayor, and he will explain they are establishing THEIR new city here. Then he kicks you out of YOUR city. This is where I'm sorry there is no NPC killing in this games... really! Well... with the chopper, go to the shrines island (just north of Old Hill), and enter the building. The last of the FOUR bad guys will explode everything (I want that bomb!), and leaves uncovered a passage. Get in and explore around untill you find the FOURTH (last of the FOUR baddest guys). Kill him (you were prepared, weren't you?), and get the AQUITALIUM (or something like that).
The strange machine (or, the Alien point-of-view)
Go back home, and by now the children have kicked all the invasors out (hey! I wanted to do that!). Talk to Dynamite, who will show you a hidden door. The shrine is actually a ultra-modern construction, with computers and everything. You must gather four more components (one was the AQUITALIUM) to make it work. Only the Kustera can gather them, so get some and go to every temple where your characters fighted with the Fire, Water, Wind and Earth spirits. After completing the four mazes, you should have four elements called DINIRIUM, PATARUIM, .. mmmm ... no... well,,... something finished with 'IUM' will work.
Enter the secret room, go to the main console and push button. Brrruuuuummmm... BRRAaaaaammm.. BROOOMMMM.... everything trembes as all the city is rised (yes, ALL THE CITY) into a ufo that was hidden somewhere (obviously another game I played, "Breath of Fire 2" has stolen the idea of the city and the flying thingie from here).
Homncurse's Lair (or, those four fools AGAIN?)
The nice UFO will go by itself to the Island where the game started (remember the volcano exploded?), and enter the volcano. HOMNCURSE (The evil, etc) will show you how he can actually RESURRECT the FOUR guys you had so much work killing out. You must kill them AGAIN (actually, they're bionic imitations made just to lower your morale, and of course they are a LOT more tough than the real ones). The labrynth must be made with aid of the Kusteras, as there are doors only they can pass. After each labrynth, One of the bionic bosses awaits, so be at your best and kill him.
When you kill all four, the entrance to HOMNCURSE's lair will be open. Enter, follow it to the end (don't bother arming or being healed) and ATTACK!!!!!! The JAGUAR, an ally of HOMNCURSE -he is actually Bosen, the mystery man- will revel now his story, and help you. And then HOMNCURSE appears...
Now, as I was saying,... ATTACK!!!
Banzaiiiii!!!! PIm! PAf! OUch! BAng! FIzzzle! CRackle! BOOOM! Swash! Slash! ... Everything you try will not work. So ... lay down, show him your tongue and let him beat you up.
The final Battle (or, how to kill da Boss)
Bosen will heal you back, and explain you need some special sword to hit HOMNCURSE. He gives you something and tells you to go to the red fountain. If you have a good memory, you'll know where it is. If you don't, then just exit the volcano (just pass over the white square with the UFO) and land outside, near the volcano. Go toan old mount in the eastern side of the volcano (remembering...?) and make the same route you made at the very beggining of the game.
When you reach the red fountain, a ghost of your fater will give you the megasword (It's called differently, but I call it megasword), and a little sphere (let's call it THE SPHERE). Now, head back all the way to HOMNCURSE, this time be at full, with the best weapons money and cheating can buy (just joking! money is enough! 😊; be sure to have lots of MOONDROPS (those you collected during the game) and go towards the throne. When he appears, use THE SPHERE, and he will show his true form (red instead of blue - what a disguise!).
Hit hard, and when he dies, you will realize the battle has just begun. He comes again, and now he is REALLY he, not just that stupid red ghost. Ok... hack him down (the MEGASWORD is good at it, but you can make the others help a little if cody casts lots of POWER (Level3) on the fighters). Finally..... the end!...... watch it yourself (I can't believe I actually finished this stupid game!)
Final Note (or, a wasted idea that obviously didn't work)
Note: Altough the game line leads to meeting with some cool warriors called Kustera, the main bosses and game sections are played exclusively by the Aqutallions.
To be brief:
The Kustera are the MOST USELESS characters, so don't bother in pumping them up. Just use them to aid your main characters (the ones who really fight) in the three places they are needed (the Oasis town, collecting the machine 4 pieces and aiding in the ending mazes), and RUN from complicated fights (mainly the lasts ones). My finishing characters were level 28-29, and my Kusteras were level 8-12.
by Igor M. Comba
