No-Death Wish: A 100% Guide, Alpine Skyline (in progress)

Overview

Bird isn’t the word for this high-up skyline, but the pretty views best not distract you from your impending death, doom, and destruction. Still, camera mode is nice if you want a moment to embrace your lovely surroundings.This is part 4 of a 5 part guide for Death Wish, for organization’s sake. This one features Alpine Skyline. You can find links to the other guides in the “Before You Begin…” section.

Before You Begin…

Looking for a different location’s Death Wishes? You can find them here:

• Mafia Town
• Battle of the Birds
• Subcon Forest
• Alpine Skyline (you are here)
• Miscellaneous (to be completed)

This guide is completed as I complete Death Wish myself, so if a mission is missing, that is why. Please bear with me as I update more and more when I can! At the very least, the increasing bloat of my guide is offset by the insta-jump Table of Contents on the right side. Give it a click for quick skips!

horheristo has already done a guide on the hardest Death Wishes and their completion, and they cut straight to the point. Check them out here! If my verbose guide is too much (which I completely get, my writer’s side is showing haha), you might prefer theirs!

I order this guide from one Death Wish to the next, generally in order. When paths split, each part of the path will be next before it leaps to the next parts of each path.

If the title and reputation of Death Wish wasn’t obvious, you are going to die. A lot. Death Wish tracks your death count as well. Please keep in mind you’ll need some practice before you start nailing these missions on the head, so you are going to die. A lot. (I cannot emphasize this enough)

Bonuses in Death Wish do not have to be completed at the same time. You can complete one bonus without the other being obtained, and you don’t have to re-obtain them in order to earn the other.

There is no penalty for using Peace and Tranquility, asides from the consumption of the oft-collected Pons. Specifically, it requires 77 Pons. Pons are common as dust, so don’t sweat it! (Thanks to mariosonicman1 for pointing out the update)

You can turn off Peace and Tranquility if you wish to challenge yourself again; be aware it resets your progress on that Death Wish, AND locks all Death Wishes tied to its progression until you complete them. Don’t worry though! Any progress made on any re-locked Death Wishes is saved.

Most importantly: PACE YOURSELF. This is a game mode you have to play off and on. Excessive frustration only leads to further mistakes, and being in a panic for too long (looking at you, Mafia Rift Collapse) isn’t great for your well-being. So listen to Peace and Tranquility, there’s no judgement in taking a break to come back later. This isn’t a game mode you finish all at once, so take your time.

Bird Sanctuary: Assault and Birdery

The two bonuses in this Death Wish are quite the conflict of interest; for one, you must find and defeat the 6 Mafia hidden in the level, and for the other, you must complete the mission with the One Hit Hero Badge. Unless you’re a “mad lad,” I would recommend choosing one or the other to complete at a time. 6 Mafia takes longer but is far safer, and the One-Hit Hero is the reverse.

The 6 Mafia are located in the following locations:

• Follow the platforms going down near the beginning of the level into the birdhouse, where the first egg bombs appear
• Down the Dweller platform path
• Climb up to the breakable box in the way and follow the path. Careful not to get bullied!
• Follow the Ice Cap hopping path
• Instead of crossing the two round platforms to hookshot-glide to the giant bird, take a left and follow the path to the red horn
• At the same fork as above, go right and follow that path

The 6-Mafia run in action:
The One-Hit Hero run:

Snatcher Coins in Alpine Skyline: Nice Climbers

Reward: Hiking Shorts Costume (equipable in color schemes)

Coin 1: atop the starting peak when you enter through Free Roam. It seems hard to climb, but head to the Twilight Bell’s flaghook point and use the wall to hop atop the tall tree. From there, simply follow the path.

Coin 2: on the third level of the Lava Cake, to the left of the cannon at the end.

Coin 3: climb the windmill until you go outside again. Use the box’s rotation to climb up atop the wooden bar, then scale the trees to get to the top of the tini peak.

Rift Collapse: Alpine Skyline

Out of all the Rift Collapses, this one definitely is the easiest in my opinion. The game gives you plenty of time to find all the Pons and move on. The real question is, can you gather them all, or finish it quickly?

Map 2:

1. Scamper up the tree to your left to grab the first Pon.
2. Sprint over to the hookshot and swing on it. Grab the Pon and climb up the path.
3. Climb further up until you grab the Pon. Then, turn around and jump off, using the hookshot to swing to the hatch’s peak.
4. Use a sprint-jump into dive to wall-climb up. Make sure you touch the ground for only a small amount of time to avoid the cats as you grab the Pon.
5. Jump and dive to cross the gap. Use the hay to hop onto the tree and grab the Pon.
6. Hop across the hay in the cat section and use another haybale to climb up and get into the hatch.

Map 3:

1. Sprint-jump and dive to cross the gap and grab the first Pon.
2. Climb up this peak’s path to grab the Pon in the bird’s nest.
3. Keep climbing and hookshot across the gap. Grab the Pon on the tree with your magnet as you pass.
4. Leap down to grab the Pon atop the birdhouse.
5. Double-jump and dive, then grab the hookshot at the earliest opportunity. Swing near the Pon to grab it, then descend to nab the final Pon under the waterfall.
6. Circle around and leap into the hatch.

Map 4:

1. Jump to the right and land on the Pon below.
2. Climb up the water path, then leap into the birdhouse. Climb the ramp and grab the Pon in the bird’s next.
3. Follow the path out of the birdhouse and leap to the first cog. From there, jump to the giant block. Leap from the giant block to the lower small block, and scale them to grab the Pon.
4. Leap from the waterfall path to the Pon atop the gate.
5. Make your way down and grab the Pon at the small birdhouse. All Pons collected!
6. Turn around and make your way to the hatch.

My video of the all-Pon bonus completion:

Map 2:

1. Hookshot across and grab the Pon.
2. Climb up and grab the second Pon, then leap over the pit and use the hookshot to swing to the hatch’s peak.
3. Sprint-jump into dive and climb up the fence. Ensure you’re not on the ground long as you grab the Pon to the right and make your way to the next one.
4. Leap across the gap and use the haybale to hop atop the tree and grab the last Pon you need.
5. Turn around and use the haybales/bush to leap to the hatch’s peak. Use the haybale there to climb up and leap into the hatch.

Map 3:

1. Leap across the gap and nab the Pon.
2. Climb up this peak to grab the Pon in the bird’s nest, then swing across with the hookshot to the fiery peak.
3. Grab the Pon with the magnet as you fall and then grab the Pon atop the birdhouse.
4. Fall down into the hatch. Make sure you don’t miss!

Map 4:

1. Run straight ahead and climb the broken pillars to get to the Pon near the small birdhouse.
2. Climb the stone turbines and grab the Pon atop the gate.
3. Leap to the small top stone box and grab the Pon up there.
4. Leap down and use your second jump and dive to land straight into the hatch.

And this here is the 30+ seconds left bonus in action!

Wound-Up Windmill: Mechanical Mastery Overload

Like several other levels, this Death Wish is a mechanical mastery challenge, paired with endurance. Clearing the Death Wish alone is a feat; the Bonuses are especially challenging as well. Here are some tips to save your bird bacon:

• There are two Heart Pons halfway through the level. This is useless for the first Bonus but good to know for your initial completion.
• The Sprint Hat will cancel any momentum gained by moving platforms, keep that in mind!
• There are many, many shortcuts in this level. This includes, but is not limited to:
• At the birds cog, using one jump to wall climb, then your double jump to turn around and grab the ledge.
  
• Hop directly onto the lower pipe instead of the moving platform, allowing you to use it as a platform while the moving one is not there.
  
• Jump when the hay-lifting platforms are near the top of their movement arc and you can fling yourself high into the air, letting you skip the first set of sand bags and the fast cogs below.
  
• On the third flat floor with the fire, you can leap onto the rope and metal at the end of the moving wall climb platform and use it to skip that entire section.
  
• The fire on the third flat floor has a glitch where taking damage from it will have you respawn at the checkpoint right before the rotating boxes. If you get hit on your 4 minute run by the fire up here, your run is over.
• To land on the rotating boxes without falling off, make sure you land on the side that is rotating onto the top as the next top platform. This will give you time to scale them if necessary.
• The hanging spiders after the outdoor section are most definitely the biggest run ender, until you consider you can use the Brewing Hat to blow them away if you get the timing just right.
• To avoid the double spiders without the Brewing Hat, use a single jump to land the Homing Attack, then kill the other one promptly. Use the second jump to stall for the platform’s return.
• Alternatively, as the timing above is brutally precise for the first set of double spiders, you can leap around them altogether and dive for the next platform. This requires less precise timing and more so better positioning. So… good luck! Man I hate these spiders.
• The power of persistence will make you go the distance. This level is such a marathon that practicing it off and on, like I have, will generally help your sanity as well as your performance.

Completing this Death Wish with no hats and the One Hit badge (boy was this one tough):

Completing the Windmill in less than 4 minutes:

Camera Tourist: The Errand Run

Reward: Camera Filter- Movie Poster

This one is simple and straightforward, a downright breath of fresh air after Wound Up Windmill. Confused on enemy locations? Visit Mafia Town’s “Snatcher’s Hit List” for the details of various enemy locations.

If you find you’re missing a couple of bosses, know the Conductor and DJ Grooves count as two separate bosses, meaning Killing Two Birds is your only chance to snap both. Additionally, the purple illness plants in The Illness Has Spread count as a boss too.

Snapping a picture of three different enemies is actually quite easy, despite how difficult it sounds. In the Mafia Town Chapter “She Came From Outer Space,” you can gather the raccoon, the bird, and the Mafia all together to take a picture. Here’s a visual example, taken from my Bonus achievement:

Community Rift: The Mountain Rift (under construction)

The Illness Has Speedrun (under construction)