Zelda Infinite

Attacks:

• She will raise her claws above her head and bring them crashing down on you. Plenty of warning, and all you have to do is move out of the way. (1/2 heart)
• She will also release Gohma Larvae when she crawls onto the ceiling. These hatch quickly and are annoying - kill them before they can hatch. (1/2 heart)

Strategy:

Like Navi says, you need to attack when her eye turns red. This happens just before she attacks, and for a few seconds afterwards, while her claws are stuck in the floor. During this period of time, hit her with the slingshot. The Deku Nuts also work, but will only stun her for half the time. While stunned, her eye will turn green. This is your chance to hit her repeatedly.

Once you have hit her, or after a while if you walked off, she will crawl up the wall and onto the ceiling. If you can, keep a Z-lock on her while she does this, but if you can't, it doesn't matter. Her eye will turn red once she stops moving, and you can shoot her with the slingshot. She will fall and be stunned, normally for long enough to finish her off.

If you didn't hit her while her eye was red, she will start giving birth to a trio of Gohma Larvae. They fall to the ground as eggs, and hatch after a few seconds. Save yourself some trouble and kill them before they can hatch. Once you kill all the Larvae, she will drop to the floor and attack as before. Repeat until she dies. Queen Gohma takes 10 hits.

Other notes:

• Gohma Larvae take two hits with your sword, or one jump attack. But if you get to them before they hatch, the egg will shatter with one hit.
• There are several bushes around the outside of the arena. Chop them down for slingshot ammo or health.
• She's the first boss in the game, and while she may appear daunting at first, she's really rather a pushover.

For the interested:

• Hitting her with a Deku Nut stuns her for about 2.5 seconds
• Hitting her with the slingshot stuns her for about 5 seconds
• Hitting her while on the ceiling stuns her for about 10 seconds

Attacks:

• He will take a deep breath, fire will form at his mouth, and he will shoot a blast of flame at you (1/2 heart)
• He will attempt to run you over by curling into a ball (like a Goron) and rolling around (1/4 heart)
• There is a large pool of lava in the centre of the room (1/4 heart)

Strategy:

Again, King Dodongo looks big and scary but there's not much to it. When he stops and opens his mouth, chuck a bomb (or bomb flower if you've run out) in and let it explode. Run up and slash the stunned beast. You can only get one hit in, but if you make it a jump attack you can kill him faster.

You can avoid his roll attack by standing on the sloping area between the path and the lava or stading in a corner. Make sure not to step in the lava. You can also avoid his flame attack while next to the lava, although not in the corner.

Repeat until one of you dies. Four hits (or three jump attacks) is all it takes to defeat this oversized dinosaur.

Other notes:

• If you run out of bombs, there are bomb flowers in each corner.
• While he is charging up the flame attack, hit him with a Deku Seed to stop him.
• If you have the Hylian Shield, you can use it to avoid being hit by his rolling attack

Attacks:

• He will attempt to run you over (1/2 heart)
• The rotating platform in the middle has spiked sides (1/4 heart)

Strategy:

As he tries to run you down, hit him with the boomerang to stun him. Then you need to hit his green weak spot. The only problem? It's on his back, which isn't so accessible if he's facing you.

There are two viable tactics. The first is to run the same way as him, and when you eventually get close enough to hit him with the boomerang, he'll be facing the right way. The second is to stun him as he charges towards you, move back a bit, and wait for him to recover, with the boomerang ready. Some of the time, he will change direction, and if you're fast enough, you can hit him without having to chase him down. If he doesn't change direction, stun him again before he can hit you.

When he's stunned and facing away from you, attack the weak spot with your sword. Repeat the process until death occurs.

Attacks:

• Zaps you with electricity (1/4 heart)
• Spinning jellyfish (1/4 heart)
• Touching the main body (1/2 heart)

Strategy:

As always, the first thing to do is target it. Once you lock onto the tentacles stuck to the ceiling, whip out your boomerang and hurl it skyward. Cut down all three tentacles like that and Barinade falls down, and the jellyfish attached to its body will start moving. Throw the boomerang at its main body and it will freeze, and then pick off the jellyfish with your boomerang or sword. Note that Barinade won't be static (har har) for long so you'll have to stun it more than once.

Once you've killed all the jellyfish, Barinade will come up and start moving more, swinging around its second ranks. You need to use the same method to kill this lot; it's just harder to hit the main body now. When you kill these jellyfish, Barinade will be getting scared and will start madly spinning and blasting you. Just stay calm and hit its body with the boomerang again, then move in close and give it everything you've got with your sword. After a while it will sink into the ground and you'll have to back off for a short period. Repeat this last bit until Barinade explodes (eww).

Attacks:

• Covers the floor with electricity (2 hearts)
• Throws magic attacks at you (1 heart)
• Charges at you on his spear (3 hearts)

Strategy:

This is quite a difficult boss unless you know particularly what you're doing, and even then it can still cause trouble. Phantom Ganon has two sections, and he starts off on his horse. So just stay where you are and watch him. He will disappear into one of the pictures, so keep watch all of them and look around with your bow rather than C up. When you see him come back down, just wait until he reaches the edge. If a portal appears, fire an arrow at him, but if he turns back, look round quickly to find the real one, as there is a real one and a fake.

If you see the fake and then can't centre back on the real one fast enough, don't worry. If you're placed right -- right back against the spikes surrounding the arena -- the electricity shouldn't hit you so you'll be fine. Just watch him disappear and wait for him to come back again. When you do get him a few times, his horse will go into the portrait, but the phantom himself will not.

This is the second part of the boss. Now target him and move so you can see well. Get your sword out. Watch your enemy until you see him throw a spell at you. The timing is tricky on this, but you have to hit it back with your sword; press B as it's in the air towards you (don't wait until it gets close). If you're having difficulty, it seems that you're still invulnerable if you stay by the edge of the arena; however you can't see very well and it's far less exciting.

When you send it flying back at him, he will usually respond by hitting it back even faster, so be prepared to do something about that. Eventually he'll be hit and fall to the ground. Batter him with your sword (jump attacks are most effective) until he rises into the air again; then back away and repeat.

Attacks: This guy needs some nice minty gum or something, so avoid his fiery breath and if you touch his body that'll hurt too, and he'll try and drop rocks on you from the ceiling; just dodge them. He's also pretty powerful when he's coming out of the hole so don't get close up straight off.

Strategy: Volvagia isn't too hard to send the way Phantom Ganon went, but it can be very damaging. Volvagia starts off with a pretty impressive flying display and then disappears back into one of the nine holes on your fighting arena. Soon as you're in control, pull at the hammer and position yourself so you can see all nine holes. Wait until you see one of the holes burst with flames, centre on that one but don't approach it. Volvagia will burst out and whip its head around. If you're too close you can lose three hearts in one go. When it stops run in and hit it with the hammer, which is fun in itself. Now pull out your sword and deliver a good blow. As soon as the monster disappears again, move back into a position where you can see all the holes. When it comes out this time it'll come all the way out. Keep moving away from the body and dodging the flames as best you can. When it disappears again, it might start trying to fool you with which hole it's going to come out of. Just be patient until you know the real one, and keep out of the way anyway, until it stops and you can go in again. Then when it comes out the fourth time it will fly right up out of sight and you'll have to avoid the rocks falling down. It's pretty easy; just watch the shadows. Then attack again, then dodge, then attack, then dodge the rocks, and so on until Volvagia bites the dust.

Attacks: The actual boss is the little nucleus. This can control the water, thus you see tentacled monsters. The nucleus will form tentacles from the water and try and grab you. On no account let it. It will squeeze you and you can lose a lot of health, and then it chucks you away and if you hit the spikes, you're in even more trouble. Having said that, if you do avoid the attacks this thing is easy to take down.

Strategy: Although the effect of controlling the water is pretty cool, this thing should be the easiest boss you've fought since King Dodongo. As soon as you're back in control of Link, head into a corner. There are no spikes in the corners, and if you keep in the corner, the tentacle can't get you. As soon as you can, Z-Target the nucleus and get back into the corner. As the tentacle tries to get you, the nucleus should move up it. Hit it with your longshot and drag it to you then (naturally) hammer it with your sword. Repeat and that's about it. As the thing takes more damage it gets harder to get it but don't worry too much. It also sends two tentacles at you, but keep right in the corner and they won't get you. Then you're off to the Chamber of Sages with a new heart container.

Attacks: Grabs you and squeezes you, the two hands come at you like fists, basically lots of attacks using its hands. The only way I can describe it's other attack is that it throws itself bodily at you.

Strategy: As with several of the other bosses in this game, Bongo Bongo is big and forbidding, and very powerful if it gets you but can be handled without too much fuss. I do not mean by saying it is terribly easy though. It's not as hard as Phantom Ganon but probably harder than Volvagia. So anyway, start off by making sure you have both your bow and the Lens of Truth on your C-buttons and we can get going. After it plays a nice little rhythm on the drum you're stood on, it'll start attacking. Target one of the hands and get out your bow. Shoot both hands (preferably before they attack, it does save trouble) and then get out the Lens of Truth. If you're facing the right way you should see Bongo Bongo's main body coming straight for you. This is the bit that may remind you of Gohma. Yep, you guessed it. Shoot the eye, and then attack with your sword, again on the eye. Repeat and stock up on arrows as they get dropped. If you get knocked off the drum, just climb back on as quickly as possible. And congratulations on beating the Shadow Temple, the dreariest place in Hyrule a part from of course the Market.

Attacks: They'll blast you with fire and ice magic.

Strategy: Okay, pretty limited on the attacks but these old hags are possibly the most enjoyable boss in the game. And definitely the funniest. As soon as you start make sure you can see them both. I advise you to stay on the main platform; it's easier to run. As the two witches descend on you just watch out for them to start they're attack. They'll do it one at a time. If you see it coming, then get out your Mirror Shield ready to deflect the attack. DO NOT Z-Target. When whichever it is attacks, simply reflect the magic on her sister. So if Koume attacks with her fire hit Kotake with it and if Kotake attacks with her ice hit Koume with it. If you're not fast enough to get ready before she attacks, this is why I suggested staying on the main platform with room to run. I believe it's four hits all together before they go for a new tactic. They will become one: Twinrova. Now use Z-Targeting and again, have your Mirror Shield ready. This time when they/she attacks the spell will be absorbed by the shield. Now, here's the important bit. If the first attack is fire, and you absorb it, and the second attack is ice, dodge the ice. Never try and absorb different types. But don't worry too much, they generally don't bother varying. Three spells in your shield and the magic will start being released. Hit the two witches with it then hit them with your sword. So now you've beaten all the Temples and it's time to head back to Hyrule Castle.

Attacks: He'll hit the floor and make slabs fall away, and attack you with lightning. There's also and upgraded version of this where he'll attack with lots of lightning balls at once.

Strategy: So here we go, the big bad, the one it's all been up to. Straight off turn and run. Head into the corner (the floor there won't fall down), and get your sword ready. The general principle is the same as the tennis with Phantom Ganon but this time it's around it's harder. Ganon himself will take longer to hit than his ghost and the speed of the balls is increasing as you hit it back and forth. However, when you do hit him, he will not immediately fall to the ground. Blast him with a Light Arrow and he will. Now you can either get to him with the longshot or simply jump across, it doesn't matter; just get on with battering him with your sword. Then run back or use the Hover Boots, and it carries on. If he starts building up the more powerful attack, there are two ways to deal with it. Either shoot him with a Light Arrow while he's still building up power, or alternatively (and this way's a little bit more fun and teaches Ganon a lesson) build up power yourself in your sword and do a spin attack when he looses the big attack at you. This will send all the balls back and he can't block them. Then finally Ganondorf chokes, complains, yells, and dies.

Attacks: Slashes you with his huge swords.

Strategy: Oh no! He's not dead! This is really a quality piece of gaming; the atmosphere of the ruins, the hulking best, Nintendo really did well here. As soon as the battle begins and you lose the Master Sword, get out the Megaton Hammer if you haven't got Biggoron's Sword. I say get out, I mean have ready. If you haven't got any magic potions, it's best to leave this for a little later, but if you have and can replenish your magic (blue potion works best), then get out your bow. A light arrow in the face stops Ganon and you can peg it round the back and slam either your Biggoron's Sword or Megaton Hammer down on his tail. Now dodge out the way. You really have to work to dodge those swords, and it's very annoying how every time you take a hit Zelda screams. Ignoring this, simply carry on and wait until he's walking to shoot another Light Arrow. That's the best time to do it. Having said that, my preferred way of fighting Ganon is to charge, not Z-Targeting, and roll between his legs. It doesn't do wonders for your orientation when you're round the other side, but it is more fun. I can't tell you either way's really easier, but probably the light arrow one. Repeat until he falls down and drops the wall of flames. Run and get your sword and go back to the battle. You have to use the Master Sword to finish Ganon off. This is also a good opportunity to use your potion if you have it. If you haven't, you shouldn't have been using light arrows up to this point because you're going to need them now. As you re-enter the battle, Ganon's speed picks up. You can beat him without Light Arrows, but it's harder, and more painful for Link. Continue in the same way you were before, until finally Pig-Man falls over again and Zelda attacks with her magic. When you're told to, just attack him and the game takes over. Well done. You just finished The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.