The tusk attack can be performed by quickly tapping the dash button after the user has held it down for a continued dash.


While most objects will be destroyed with any of Tembo's attacks, some of PHANTOM's trickier installations can take multiple hits. This is where the tusk attack comes in - it deals 2 hitpoints of damage to anything applicable, such as barricades, tanks, and the mech minibosses. For example, by using the tusk attack, Tembo can break through this barricade immediately instead of coming to a stop:


In addition to taking double damage, tanks have a special reaction to getting hit by the tusk attack if they haven't been damaged before. The tank will flip over, rendering it permanently harmless. This can make most tank encounters quicker and safer.


The double damage window lasts for the entire animation of Tembo swinging his tusks, so timing it is a little easier than it looks. However, if the tusk attack is used right next to a tank it will usually be both flipped over and destroyed in the same hit.

You may be wondering if there is a way to deal extra damage to helicopters too, as they have multiple hitpoints but are too high up to be hit by the tusk attack. I'm happy to report that if you land on a helicopter from above with a ground pound, you'll take them out in one hit! You often have to go out of your way to get above them, though...

This one is usally found within the first few levels due to its simplicity. When you're spinning in the air at any time, except for being launched by a cannon, press the water spray button to shoot water in all directions.


The sprinkler spray is useful in cases where you have to act fast with your water and don't have time to aim. The water droplets that are sprayed underneath you are especially helpful, as they can ensure that you land safely after a bounce.


Unlike the other methods of spraying water, which use up water continuously for as long as the water spray button is held down, this techinque uses a small chunk of your water meter all at once. Because of this, it's inefficient on your water in most cases. If you only have a tiny amount of water left, less than enough for how much water the sprinkler spray would normally require, you'll still get one last sprinkle out of it, but it won't be a full circle.

Starting from the ground, simply hold down the dash button and the water spray button at the same time. If you're in the middle of a dash jump, you can start the water shield by holding the spray button there too.

It doesn't matter whether you start by spraying first or dashing first, and the water shield will end when you stop either action, so you can dash and activate the water spray for short periods of time if necessary.


The water shield dash combines the properties of the dash and the water spray. This is very useful in levels requiring frequent use of the water spray, as it enables you to do things like remove fiery obstacles and water plants without having to grind to a halt each time.


It also makes certain enemies, such as flamethrower guys, much safer to approach!


The only downside to the technique is that it uses up water slightly faster than spraying water does. In most cases, though, this is manageable as long as you only use the water shield before you need it. It's a good habit to get into activating the water shield right before you're about to collide with fire or a plant.

The midair uppercut is performed similarly to the regular uppercut, by tapping the dash button while holding the up button in the air.


On first sight, the midair uppercut acts identical to the regular uppercut. It does a couple things to make it worth differentiating from the regular uppercut, though. One thing the midair uppercut is notable for is that it is able to hit things from a height that an uppercut from the ground couldn't hit. Since Tembo can move around in the air before using it, the midair uppercut is generally a safer option for dealing with aerial PHANTOM units such as gliding bomb throwers and helicopters.


Midair uppercuts can also be used to exit a spinning position. After the midair uppercut is over, the player can execute other actions, such as performing another dive spin, or spraying water without sending it in all directions. If the player likes bouncing around, they can perform two dive spins in a row with a midair uppercut in between to bounce for greater distances, as shown here:


This technique cannot be used during some special events that use the spinning animation, such as being shot out of a cannon, but it can actually be used after being bounced by a bumper. This allows for slightly finer control in bumper sections.


In the latter half of the game, some aerial PHANTOM units cannot be reached at all without use of the midair uppercut. This makes using the midair uppercut non-optional if the player is trying to complete the secondary mission of destroying all of the PHANTOM installations in the game.

This one can be tricky to get used to due to the timing. Start by doing a dive spin, but hold down the dash button as you're diving. A few frames before you hit the ground, press up, and you should go right into a regular dash instead of bouncing. (Notice the small impact shockwave in the image to the right of the dash.)


This technique is good for speedrunning, as you can use it to get out of the air quickly and go right into dashing without having to worry about that slow bounce at the end. Nothing else to this one, really.

Time for something that's very special and, due to the weird graphical effects that occur when using it, something I'm not even sure is something you're intended to be able to do! Doing a superjump uppercut is similar to the bounce cancel - start with a dive spin and hold the dash button. This time, you want to press up JUST AS or RIGHT AFTER you hit the ground.

Like with the bounce cancel, you've only got a few frames, and it can be easy to do a bounce cancel instead by accident, so this one is extra hard. You'll know you did it right if Tembo uppercuts, but the whirling effect from the spinning state is on him, and he swings his tusks in the air at the apex of the jump.


Normally, Tembo can jump about three and a half blocks high. Well, this jump goes 1.5x as high as a normal jump, reaching just over five blocks. There is a lot of shenanigans you can do with this, from bypassing parts of a level to breaking puzzles if you mess them up. Here's a wall you can get over in the Phantom Express level, for example, in a section early on where you'd otherwise need to ground pound: