Caves and Corridors: Mystery Island

In his latest adventure, intrepid explorer Jake is scouring the shores, jungles and caves of Mystery Island in search of the mystical tiki idol, a lost treasure of the Kawillawoa Kingdom. The road ahead is paved with action, excitement and danger... and Jake wouldn't have it any other way.

Explorer Jake
That blue Mynci's got nothin' on me!

How to Play

Caves and Corridors: Mystery Island is a fairly standard action platformer game, in which you use the arrow keys and spacebar to climb on vines and jump between platforms. Each level contains several golden treasures or gems, along with a piece of fruit native to Mystery Island; collecting this piece of fruit will end the level. Gathering treasure increases both your overall score for the current play session and your top score for the level it's found in, which will allow you to unlock more levels.

Game Screen
What's treasure doing in a place like this, anyway?

Once you've beaten a level, you will be taken to a map screen, from which you can choose which level to play next. To advance in the game, you must unlock levels, which requires a certain number of silver trophies. Trophies are earned by achieving a high score in a short amount of time, which will give you either a bronze, silver, or gold trophy for that particular level. Reaching the game's final level will require a silver trophy or better from each of the first eleven levels.

Obstacles

Caves and Corridors isn't all treasure and trophies, of course. It wouldn't be an adventure without a little danger, and Mystery Island has danger in spades. No, not that kind. In fact, the obstacles Jake faces this time around all happen to be made of stone.

These unusually bouncy boulders will continuously fall from the top of the screen, bouncing through the level in random directions.

While these jagged rocks can safely be walked into, don't drop on top of them or stand above the holes that they sink down into.

Like pretty much everything on Mystery Island, these statues are trapped, and will shoot darts if you remain in their line of sight for too long.

If you take damage from any of these objects, or fall into the pools of water at the bottom of the screen, you will lose a life. If you lose all of your lives, you will get a game over. So long as you select "continue game" from the main menu, however, levels you've unlocked and trophies you've earned will remain.

Scoring

The scoring system in Caves & Corridors: Mystery Island is fairly simple, but it can be complicated when factoring in the way the game awards the "trophies" required to progress. Each level contains several pieces of treasure, which are worth various numbers of points; while getting the silver trophy will often require you to collect most or all of the available treasure, some of the less valuable pieces can be ignored when going for a high score. When you complete a level, your remaining time on the clock is cut in half and added to your score. Because of this, if you're trying for a high score you would want to avoid a 2 point piece of treasure that will take more than four seconds to collect. When trying to earn trophies within the game, however, you must finish the level with a certain number of points from both treasure and time.

2 points

4 points

6 points

20 points

30 points

40 points

When trying for a high score, we recommend that you have all of the levels unlocked and play level 13 last. While getting a game over will reset your score, all of the levels you've unlocked will remain available to you, so you won't have to worry about earning the silver trophies in them. Once you complete level 13, however, you will be prompted to send your score, and forced to start a new game.

Quick Tips

Each of the following codes can be used once per game:
Type the code gimmeabreak to gain an extra life.
Type the code freetime to stop the timer for the duration of the current level.
Type the code nomorerocks to prevent boulders from appearing in the current level.
When going for a high score, don't bother with low-value treasures.
Falling is faster than climbing down vines.

Level Solutions

Level 1

Climb up the ladders to the left, waiting for the boulder to pass if necessary, then jump to the platform on the right. Jump to the vines at the other end of the platform, collect the coins, then drop down to the Turihar Berry to finish the level.

Level 2

Climb the vines to the left and collect the coin, keeping an eye on the boulder. Depending on which direction it goes (and whether the spikes traps it on the left platform), you may need to wait on the long vine until it's not going to be a danger to you. Cross the vines on the right for the coins, then drop (don't climb) down to grab the golden Kougra idol. Climb the long vine again, and boulder allowing, jump to the platform on the left. While the spikes can be walked over while retracted, if you're not sure when they're going to pop up again you may want to jump over them anyway. Take the stack of gold ingots, cross the spikes and climb down the ladder, grab the second idol, and climb down the vine. The Islandberry can't be reached by dropping down onto it, so you'll have to wait until the spikes retract, drop down onto that side of the platform, then quickly collect the berry.

Level 3

This level may seems complex, but without the bouncing boulders to worry about, it's actually significantly easier than the last one. Start by jumping to the right and collecting the green gem, then jumping back to the left for the red one. Climb the vine up to just under the platform with the Goparokko statue on it (grabbing the coin along the way), then jump to the vine on the right. Jump to the platform, then quickly climb the vine for another coin; so long as you're not on the same plane as it for too long, the statue won't bother you.

Jump and walk back to the vine on the left and climb it to the platform with the other statue on it, jump to the platform, and quickly take the coin as you cross to the ladder. Climb up the ladder, follow the platform to the right, and jump to the vine. If you climb high enough on this vine, you should be able to jump down to the platform, where you can collect the golden reliquary before jumping to the Tangleberry and ending the level.

Level 4

With both boulders bouncing around and statues in line with the few safe spots, this level can be a little tricky. Climb the vine directly in front of you and jump across the platforms to the vines on the right, avoiding boulders as necessary. Collect the coins, then drop to the platform on the left and take the ladder up. Since there's a statue facing the platform at the top of the ladder, you'll want to spend as little time on it as possible, so run to the left (grabbing the Kougra idol) as soon as the way is clear of boulders. Take the coins as you climb the vine, then run along the platform and jump to the vine on the far right. Finally, jump down to the Rahkleaf Melon to end the level.

Level 5

Climb the ladder on the right, waiting for the boulder to pass if it went to the right, before walking across the center platform and climbing the first vine you see. Collect the coins as you move to the left across the vines, then return to the second vine from the left and climb it. Drop onto the platform on the left, climb the ladder, and take the gold reliquary from the platform at the top. Walk left to the long vine, shift over so that you're hanging off the left side of it, and slide down to collect the Oranella.

Level 6

Start by climbing the ladder, then cross the spikes to the small platform on the right. If you have to jump over the spikes, you'll grab the vines, which will slow you down a little. Jump to the vine, collecting the coins on either side of it, then drop off to the right; you should land between the spikes, without taking hold of the ladder. Take the red gem, climb the ladder, jump back to the vine, and climb to the top. Cross the vines, climb the one on the far right, then climb the ladder. Drop to the small platform on the left halfway up and jump to the platform in the center of the screen to find the Lemwart, clearing the level.

Level 7

Climb the vine next to you until you're just under the platform in the center, then cross the shorter vines, collecting the coins as you go. Once you reach the other side of the platform, climb up the first vine, then cross to and take the red gems. Slide down the leftmost vine to the platform, then slide down the long vine while hanging off the right side to grab the green gem. Climb back up so that you can reach the shorter vines, collect the coin, then slide down the last vine for the Islandberry.

Level 8

Jump and climb the vine, then drop to the platform. Quickly walk across the platform (lest the statue shoot you) and jump onto the long vine to the left, watching for boulders. Climb the vine to just under the platform, hanging to the right if a boulder is about to fall through the gap between the platforms above, then climb to the platform on the left for a Kougra idol. Cross the platform to the right, wait for any boulders to bounce out of the area, then drop to the lower platform. This area poses a serious risk in the form of boulders, so quickly collect the gold ingots while the spike is retracted and climb the vine. Drop to the platform on the right and take the ladder to the Harffel Fruit.

Level 9

Walk to the left (jumping the spike if necessary, though it's rarely up at this point) and climb the ladder. If you've got a good handle on the jumping mechanics, you can easily jump from the spike to the top of the ladder, saving a few seconds. From the platform above the ladder, jump to and climb the vine on the right. The boulders tend to drop to the left of this vine, so you may need to hang off the right side when you reach the top. Once your path is clear, drop (don't jump) to the platform on the left, climb the ladder, and cross the platform above. Jump to the vines on the right, collect take the green gem, then drop to the coins on the platform below. Jump to the vine on the left (make sure to hold the up arrow key, as you'll miss the vine if you don't), climb it, and cross to the Cocoa Juppie to finish the level.

Level 10

Completing this level quickly will require a series of precise jumps, so don't be afraid to spend a bit of time practicing here. Start by climbing the vine to the left about halfway to the top, then drop off to the left. If you aim properly, you can land on the ground in the bottom-left corner, which shaves several seconds off your time. Collect the red gem and climb the vines, swinging to the left for the gold ingots. Jump (don't drop) to the small platform on the right, then jump to the next vine. Climb it to the top, then drop to the platform and climb the vine on the left. Drop to the platform with the Goparokko statue, and quickly jump to the mid-length vine. Cross the vines for a gold coin, then jump from the long vine to one on the other side of where you started out.

Climb the vine, then drop to the platform below, trying to avoid grabbing the next vine, which will slow you down. Walk to the end of the platform, then jump to the vine immediately in front of the statue. Take the coins, then drop to the platform below. Drop (or slide, if you accidentally grab the vine) to the platform with the green gem, then the next platform down, before finally sliding down the vine on the right for an Islandberry.

Level 11

Jump to the vine, climb it to the top, and cross the vines to the left. When the way is clear of boulders, drop to the platform below, walk or jump over the spike, and jump to the vine on the left. Climb and jump across the series of vines, then climb the long vine to collect the coin. Drop to the platform on the left and climb the ladder for another coin. Watching out for boulders, jump from the very edge of the platform you're on to the small one with the red gem, then cross the vines for another coin. Drop to the platform on the right for a golden idol, then drop to yet another platform below. Take the ladder down and quickly walk to the left to collect the Blobbule.

Level 12

Start by climbing the vine to the left, then switching to the next vine once you're high enough. Don't worry about the statues; while they look intimidating, you won't be in one place long enough for them to shoot you. Collect the coin, the climb and cross the vines to reach the platform with the gold ingots. Continue across the vines to the right for another coin, then drop down to the statue's platform to grab the red gem. Quickly jump onto the longer vines on the right, take the coin, then drop to the platform below for a green gem. Drop once more, and you'll land on the platform holding the Banan.

Level 13

Climb the ladder and quickly walk to the far end of the platform, taking the coin as you go. Drop down to the lower platform, pass over the spike, and jump to the vine on the right. Drop to the ground for the reliquary, then jump back onto the vine and begin climbing. Climb to the top of the next vine over, collecting both coins as you go, then jump to the green gem on the platform below. Cross the vines, drop to the small platform, then climb the vine on the left for one last coin. Drop to the vine on the right, then climb it and jump to the platform to finally claim the mystical tiki idol.

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Glitchy Fun

Due to the way the game stores and loads the backgrounds for levels, the first time you load a particular background after loading the game itself, it will be set as the background all levels use. If you were to visit one of the cave levels first, then loaded a jungle level, the next time you went to a cave level it would have the jungle background. Using this trick, you can turn the stressful lava-filled final levels into a nice relaxing beach. Ahhh.

Background Switch

If you'd like to know what became of the mystical tiki idol after Jake returned it to the Kawillawoa Kingdom, you can read the next chapter of the story by clicking here!

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This game guide was written by Chesu and last updated on October 21, 2020.

Caves and Corridors: Mystery Island