Here are some good strategies, Deven, since I made 2 advanced games....
1. Use items. There are two things you can do with these. The first is you can enter areas only with certain items. The second is to interact with your items at every page. A good example for this is if a page tells of something & you can use your items to cause a special interaction.
2. Give point requirements. Some pages can only be entered if you have a certain amount of points. Don't give the person about 2-4 points per correct action. Offer them a 50-100 point bonus for what they do (if they beat a cretain boss).
3. Give the person a chance to explore the place every now & then. Use the points system to reach the next area.
4. You referred to an ancient emperor being the source of all Spazoids. If you want to battle him, the player must work hard on getting everything. You know, adding a bonus. But if they can't do it... at least give the player an intresting "final" battle.
5. Offer puzzles, but don't give it all away. I made that mistake in Los Angeles... twice. Let the player think a second.
