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         ____                            ____
         |   `,                          |   `,
         |  _ |                          |  _ |
         `|| || ___    ____  ____  ___   `|| || ____   ____   __ TM
          ||_|||   |  |    ||    ||   `,  ||_|||    | |    | /  ` |
          | _< |  _|  | __ || __ ||  _ |  | _< |  _ | | __ ||  ___|
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         _||_||_||_| |||__||||__|| ||_|| _||_|| ||\\_ ||__||__--.`,
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         |____,|_____||____||____||____; |____;|__|__||____||_.___;|_|
                                                     FAQ v1.0 BdR 2001
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1 - THE GAME
2 - THE CONTROLS
3 - THE BONUSSES
4 - THE TINCAN
5 - GENERAL HINTS AND TACTICS
6 - LEVEL INFORMATION SUMMARY
7 - TACTICS PER STAGE
8 - HOW TO CHEAT
9 - ABOUT THIS FAQ

________________________________________________________________________________
1 - THE GAME

If you got this FAQ you probably also know the game, but okay.. a short
game-info section.

Blood Bros by Tad Corporation was released in 1990. The game is sort of a sequal
to Cabal which was also done by Tad Corp. Cabal has a military theme whereas
Blood Bros had a Western theme. The PCB manufacturing was done by Tecmo,
although i'm not sure. It reads TECMO on front page of the Service Manual, so
Tecmo is involved somehow.

Some technical information taken from MAME (www.mame.net):
CPU:    68000 @ 10MHz
       Z80 @ ~3,58 MHz (sound)
Sound:  YM-3812 @ ~3.58 MHz
       OK-6295 @ 8 MHz
Screen: 256 * 224 pixels (V*H) 60 Hz

There are some, not much, other arcade games with similar game-play to Blood
Bros:
Cabal (1988)           by Tad (Fabtek license)
Nam 1975 (1990)        by SNK
Spinal Breakers (1990) by Video System Co.
Alligator Hunt (1994)  by Gaelco
.maybe some other games I don't know about

Some games try to copy the gameplay, for example "Rambo III" and "G.I.Joe", but
in these games the hero can't move independantly from the crosshair. This makes
for different gameplay, because it's harder to dodge bullets and shoot targets
at the same time.

________________________________________________________________________________
2 - THE CONTROLS

Joystick - move the crosshair
        \ move hero (left and right only)
Button 1 - shoot, hold this button down (or rapidly tap it) to move the
crosshair while keeping the hero stationary
Button 2 - jump, hold joystick down-left or down-right while pressing to roll.
Button 3 - throw dynamite

________________________________________________________________________________
3 - THE BONUSSES

Points     - Shooting buildings, big enemies, such as planes and blimps, and
the tincan will result in point-bonusses falling down. You can get 1000, 2000,
5000, 7000, 10000 and 20000 points bonusses.

Dynamite   - Shooting the orange hog, inocent people or the tincan you will get
you dynamite bonusses.

Shotgun    - Shooting the grey hog and in some cases the tincan gives you
shotgun bonusses. If you pick up several shotguns I think you keep it a bit
longer, but I never timed it so I'm not sure. The shotgun is the most powerfull
weapon but it's slower (shooting frequency) than the machinegun. This can be
overcome by rapidly tapping the shoot button, instead of just holding it down.

Machinegun - Shooting the pink hog or the little indian, and in some cases the
tincan, gives you machinegun bonusses. If you pick up several machineguns I
think you get to keep it a bit longer, but I never timed it so I'm not sure.
The machinegun is the fastest shooting weapon but it's a bit weaker than the
shotgun.

1-up       - Shooting the tin-can 8 consecutive times on the first try on
level 1-1 or 4-1 will give you a 1-up bonus. Also if you die, the game
encourages you to insert another coin by spawning a 1-up bonus, usually along
with a machinegun bonus. In 2-player-mode the other player could also pick up
(steal) these bonusses.

________________________________________________________________________________
4 - THE TINCAN

The tin can is an important element of the game. If you shoot it 8 consecutive
times without it falling back on the floor, and you get a special bonus. Shoot
the can to make it fly up in the air, then keep shooting it while it is in
mid-air. The first 3 hits in mid-air award you with 1000-points bonusses, the
next 3 shots get you dynamite bonusses and if you can hit it after that while
it's still in the air you are rewarded a special bonus. If you shoot the
tin-can like this without it falling back to the floor right on the first try
in a certain level, you are rewarded a special bonus. See the table in section
6 (LEVEL INFORMATION SUMMARY) in column TINCAN to see what those special
bonusses are. For example on stage 1-1, if you shoot the tincan 8 consecutive
times on the first try you get a 1-up bonus, after that you will get 10000
points bonusses.

________________________________________________________________________________
5 - GENERAL HINTS AND TACTICS

You can't die WHILE you jump or roll, this means that you can jump through
bullets and explosions. This comes in handy when you get to stage 2-4 with the
blimp. You don't have to shoot the bomb that are thrown at you. When it throws
bombs from right to left just jump to the right through the explosions (and
vise versa).

You can shoot bullets, although this can be difficult sometimes it comes in
very handy. Shooting bombs that are thrown at you gives you dynamite bonusses.

You can hold a maximum of 99 dynamites. If you have 99 dynamites and you pick
up a dynamite bonus nothing happens, you still have 99 dynamites. So if this
happens just throw a dynamite anywhere (it's bound to hit something) and then
pick up the dynamite bonus. This way it won't go to waste.

Right at the beginning on the last screen on every stage, there is a little
indian that runs across the screen from right to left. Shoot it to get the
machinegun.

If you get a machinegun you can take full advantage of the tincan. Just shoot
it while moving the crosshair up and you'll easily get the special bonusses.
For example, you can get the machinegun on stage 1-4 from the little indian at
the beginning, after that you can get lots of 10000 points bonusses from the
tincan. Remember to pick up all the bonusses before shooting the tincan again,
because somehow bonusses won't appear when there are already too much bonusses
onscreen.

The easiest way to get bonusses from the tin can without the use of the
machinegun is as follows. Hold down the shoot button and move the crosshair up
slowly (repeatedly tap the joystick a bit up). When you've hit the tincan about
4 or 5 times this way, it's at the top of the screen. If it goes up and out of
the screen, it will fall back, but you don't know if it will appear to the left
or right of the crosshair. So before it goes out of the screen, let it fall
down a bit and then hit it again. Another good way, is to rapidly tap shoot,
and then tap joystick up. By shooting this quickly, you can hit it 8 times
before it reaches the top of the screen.

Dynamite is not very effective on end-of-stage bosses. So unless you are on you
last life or desparate, it's a waste of dynamite. However, it is wise to throw
all your dynamite at the final boss because any extra help on the final boss is
no luxury, and besides it is at the end of the game, there are no extra levels
after that.

After you defeated the last screen of a stage, an end-of-stage-boss will
appear. If you are playing in 1-player mode you must defeat it in one go. For
example, say you almost defeated the boss, its life-meter is almost empty. If
you die at that point and are out of lives, you can continue the game by
inserting another coin. However, the life-meter of the boss will fully fill up
and you'll have to start killing the boss all over again. This problem does not
occur when playing with 2 players, unless you both loose your last life at
about the same time (doesn't matter if it's not EXACTLY the same time).

________________________________________________________________________________
6 - LEVEL INFORMATION SUMMARY

Here is a summary of the level features. The column TINCAN displays the
bonusses you get for shooting the tincan 8 consecutive times on the first try
and for the next tries. Gun1 means shotgun and gun2 means machinegun. BONUSSES
shows what bonusses can be earned by shooting hogs or inocent people.
THINGS-TO-DESTROY shows what background elements can be destroyed. If it reads
(no points) it means that something can be destroyed but you get no points for
it, for example the tipi's on stage 2-3 or the four boulders on stage 3-3.

+-----+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------------+
|STAGE|TINCAN   |BONUSSES     |THINGS TO DESTROY                               |
+-----+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------------+
|1-1  |1-up 10k |gun1 dynamite|2 buildings front, 3 buildings back, 3 barrels  |
|1-2  |gun1 10k |gun1         |2 buildings, windmill                           |
|1-3  |   ---   |gun1 dynamite|2 bridges, 2 mountains                          |
|1-4  |gun2 10k |gun1 dynamite| -nothing-                                      |
+-----+---------+------------+-------------------------------------------------+
|2-1  |gun1 10k |gun2 dynamite|2 walls, stalactite, rock                       |
|2-2  |20k  10k |gun1         |2 grey mountaints left/right, 3 brown mountains |
|2-3  |   ---   |gun1         |2 mountains, 'rockbridge', tipi's (no points)   |
|2-4  |gun2 gun1|gun1         |2 buildings, water trough                       |
+-----+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------------+
|3-1  |gun1 10k |gun2 dynamite|Wall,cabinet, 6 barrels,6?bottles, 3 chandeliers|
|3-2  |gun1 gun2|gun2 dynamite|2 buildings (left and top-right), 2 barrels, box|
|3-3  |20k  gun1|gun2 dynamite|Train (in 3 parts), 4 boulders (no points)      |
|3-4  |gun1 10k |gun2 dynamite|Covered wagon, 4 cactus (no points)             |
+-----+---------+------------+-------------------------------------------------+
|4-1  |1-up gun2|gun2 dynamite|2 buildings, 3 fences, 3 catus (no points)      |
|4-2  |20k  gun2|             |Treetops, 2 fences                              |
|4-3  |20k  gun2|gun2         |2 machines, 2 overhead pipes, 2 groundpipes     |
|4-4  |20k  gun1|gun1 dynamite|stalactites                                     |
+-----+---------+------------+-------------------------------------------------+
|5-1  |gun2 10k |gun1         |2 buildings, 3 barrels, 4 buildings wayback     |
|5-2  |gun2 10k |gun1         |Front building, 3 slingshots                    |
|5-3  |gun2 10k |gun2 dynamite|Ground, 2 stalactites, mining wagon             |
|5-4  |gun1 10k |gun2 dynamite|7 slingshots                                    |
+-----+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------------+

________________________________________________________________________________
7 - TACTICS PER STAGE

__[ STAGE 1-1 ]_________________________________________________________________
If you're any good at this game you must get the 1-up from the tin-can right at
the beginning. For the rest this level speaks for itself, you could try to get
many 10,000 bonusses from from the tin-can. If you shoot the 2 big building in
time (right at the beginning) a man-on-toilet (left building) and a kissing man
and women appear (right building) will appear. Shoot them for dynamite and
1000-points bonusses. Shoot one building and then, when it almost completely
gone, shoot the other building. This way the man-on-toilet and
kissing-man-woman won't appear at the same time and you can take full advantage
of both for bonusses.

__[ STAGE 1-2 ]_________________________________________________________________
Also a real breazer. You can stockpile dynamite by shooting the bombs that are
thrown at you. If you destroy the 2 buildings in time a bathing woman (left
building) and an guitar playing indian (left building) will appear. Shoot them
to get 1000-points and shotgun bonusses. Just like on stage 1-1, time the
moment that you shoot these 2 building to get as much bonusses. You can also
cheat on this screen (see section 1.6 of this FAQ). Get the shotgun from the
grey hog and notice how easily you can shoot bigger enemies, like planes and
blimps, it only takes 1 shot.

__[ STAGE 1-3 ]_________________________________________________________________
You can shoot the 2 mountains on the left and right hand side using a shotgun
or by throwing dynamite. Best is to wait for the grey hog to appear at the left
hand side of the screen. Carefull though, at the same time a big indian will
appear at the right hand side. Shoot the grey hog to get the shotgun and use
it to shoot the mountain tops, it'll save you on dynamite. Start at the top and
shoot/bomb your way down. The mountain on the lefthand side is a bit weird,
after you shoot the top off, you have to shoot the little part sticking out to
the right before you can destroy the rest of the mountain..

__[ STAGE 1-4 ]_________________________________________________________________
Try to shoot the indian at the beginning of the level to get the machinegun,
after that try to get as many 10,000 points from the tincan. At certain moments
lots of enemies appear at once, creating a hazardous rain of bullets. Avoid
this by making sure you shoot or throw dynamite at them in time before they
crowd the screen.

__[ THE TRAIN ]_________________________________________________________________
The first boss is easy. First shoot the train as it moves down the screen. Then
as it gets closer shoot for the cannons or throw dynamite at them, preferably
in between two cannons to take out 2 at once. Finally when it comes out front,
just keep shooting the cowboys that pop-up, don't waste any dynamite on the
boss (see section 5).


__[ STAGE 2-1 ]_________________________________________________________________
This is the stage to get big points, you can get about 250,000 points on this
stage. Wait for the first pink hog and get the machinegun, then concentrate on
the tin-can and get as many 10000-points  bonusses as possible. Don't aim for
the enemies, except maybe the biggun-man. This way, the stage will last longer
so you can squize as many 10000-points bonusses from the tin can.

__[ STAGE 2-2 ]_________________________________________________________________
The 2 big mountains in the front, left and right, can be destroyed (only the
top) by starting at the top with a big gun or throwing dynamites and then
moving on down. The indians can really sneak up on you on this level because
they can pop up from the left or right and then shoot from close range, making
it hard to dodge.

__[ STAGE 2-3 ]_________________________________________________________________
There's no tin-can on this level. Try to shoot the fish for a few shotgun
bonusses. The tipi's in the back can be destroyed but you don't get any points
for them. You can get a few 1000-points bonusses from the shipwrecks, if you're
going for the hi-score.

__[ STAGE 2-4 ]_________________________________________________________________
Try to shoot the indian at the beginning of the level. You can get a shotgun
from the tin-can, try to get it at the end of the level so you can easily
defeat the blimp. Look out for cetrain moments, when a lot of cowboys appear
who all shoot at once. The nearest buildings can be shot up but you won't get
any points.

__[ THE BLIMP ]_________________________________________________________________
If you didn't get the shotgun, just shoot the blimp and jump though the
dynamites that are thrown at you, again don't waste dynamites on this (or any)
stage boss. You can stockpile dynamites by not shooting the blimp and only
shooting the tanks and their bombs. You can throw a dynamite at them and get 2
or more back if the tanks are close to each other. If you got the shotgun you
can take out the blimp within about 10 seconds. Right at the start, aim the
crosshair on the middle top of the screen and start shooting because you can
damage the blimp even before it appears on screen.


__[ STAGE 3-1 ]_________________________________________________________________
The guys in the barrels are a real pain in the ass. Although you can get the
machinegun on this level, it's not a good idea to go for 10000-points bonusses.
If you concentrate on the tincan and not on the enemies they'll quickly fill up
the screen with bullets and bombs.

__[ STAGE 3-2 ]_________________________________________________________________
Try to get the first special bonus from the tincan which is the shotgun. With
the shotgun you can easily take out the 3 blue soldiers. For the rest, this is
relatively easy level because once you get the machinegun, you can re-supply
yourself with it by shooting the tin-can. Just shoot some bad guys, then from
time to time shoot the tincan again before you loose the machinegun. At the
end, only if you've destroyed the building on the lefthand side of the screen,
a guy with a gunnysack on his back appears. He runs from the righthand side
into the ruins of the building. As far as I know you can't shoot it or
anywthing, it's just some interlude.

__[ STAGE 3-3 ]_________________________________________________________________
Don't underastimate this level just because there mostly are footsoldiers, it's
still difficult. Enemies can pop up from left and right side and then shoot you
from close range, so keep away from there. Also it can get very crowded at
cetain moments, just thow dynamites and watch em fly >:) This is also a good
level to stockpile dynamite, just keep shooting the bombs that are thrown at
you.

__[ STAGE 3-4 ]_________________________________________________________________
Try to shoot the indian at the beginning of the level. every now and then, a
covered wagon appears which sits in the middel of the screen and shoots
cannonbals. You can easily bomb it before it starts shooting.

__[ 3 PHOENIXES ]_______________________________________________________________
If you concentrate on the main bird, it'll start throwing eggs while the helper
birds are still there. Three birds plus all those little birds is just too
much. Therefor you should first go for the 2 helper birds untill they're dead
(exploding birds? what's with that.. :) Near the end of the stage, the main
bird will start throwing eggs. Try to shoot the eggs before they hit the
ground. If the eggs land on the ground, they'll hatch spawning little fire
throwing birds. Try to avoid this because then it's hard to avoid all these
little fires.


__[ STAGE 4-1 ]_________________________________________________________________
Get the 1-up from the tin-can, don't shoot it right at the beginning, but wait
for the first wave of enemies to attack. After that, shoot the can half way up
the screen (about 4 or 5 times) then let it fall a bit down and shoot it again
before it hits the ground again to get the 1-up.

__[ STAGE 4-2 ]_________________________________________________________________
There are lots of 'footsoldiers' here. That sounds easy but they appear in
dozens at a time. And just like on stage 2-2 they can pop up right in front of
you from the left or right and then shoot from close range. So be prepared to
quickly jump or roll to dogde.

__[ STAGE 4-3 ]_________________________________________________________________
Also a very crowded level, on certain moments many enemies pop-up all at once.
You can easily get the machinegun to mow em down, and also you should time your
jumps to avoid bullets.

__[ STAGE 4-4 ]_________________________________________________________________
Try to shoot the indian at the beginning of the level. Watch the water turn red
with blood towards the end >:)

__[ THE COBRA ]_________________________________________________________________
This is a difficult one. If you can, try to get the shotgun so you can quickly
end this stage. Just like with the bird shoot the fire balls and poison gas
bubbles before they reach you. Only shoot the ones that are actually dangerous,
don't waste time shooting fire balls or bubbles that are way across the screen
from you. At first, position yourself to the lefthand side of the screen,
because the cobra enters from the right. Try not to jump or roll because fire
and poison gas is falling down constantly.


__[ STAGE 5-1 ]_________________________________________________________________
The grey hog with shotgun bonusses appears from behind the fountain in the
middle quite often. Shoot it because a big gun is no luxury on this level.
Watch out for the green-ninja lady (or whatever) who crawls up the flag pole
from time to time. She (or he?) throws a boomerang that sweeps from the left
side all the way across to the right. You could dodge it by jumping to the left
when it passes by, but it is easier to take her out before she trhows it. Use
dynamites because it's hard to shoot her down in time (unless you have a
shotgun).

__[ STAGE 5-2 ]_________________________________________________________________
Try to get the machinegun from the tincan at the beginning of the level (this
is pretty difficult). A lot of airplanes appear on this level. After you shoot
the front building, emediatly take out the three slingshots. Watch for the nice
thunder effects in the background ;)

__[ STAGE 5-3 ]_________________________________________________________________
If you've destroyed the floor of the cave, beware of the group of cowboys that
can appear from it. They jump up from the hole in the ground and spray bullets
all over the place. Make sure you take out enough of them before they get a
chance to shoot. The mining wagon that rolls into the screen from the left
gives you a machinegun when you shoot it.

__[ STAGE 5-4 ]_________________________________________________________________
Try to shoot the indian at the beginning of the level. Take out the 7
slingshots as quickly as possible, because they constantly throw bombs at your.
You can do this with the machine gun but a quicker (and thus better) way is to
just throw dynamites. There are no defenses on this level, it's one wide-open
area. Enemies can pop up right in front of you from the left or right and
shoot from close range, so try to keep away from the far right and left. Time
your jump and rolls carefully because it will rain bullets and bombs on this
final level. You could accidentally jump into bullets or bombexplosions.

__[ BIG BAD JOHN ]______________________________________________________________
Big Bad John can be intimidating, but just keep jumping to avoid the
cannonballs, and keep shooting and throwing dynamites at him and you'll defeat
him..

________________________________________________________________________________
8 - HOW TO CHEAT

Here is a cheat with which you can get infinite points, and subsequently a lot
of lives. It was copied from "The definitive arcade video game cheat sheet"
which was last updated on april 28, 1992.

<START QUOTE>
Get to the second screen (preferably without dying on the first screen). Shoot
the building on the right hand side of the screen and start shooting the trees
in the background on the right. 20,000 points fly out from each bunch of trees.
Just keep shooting the trees and keep collecting the 20,000 points. That is
basically it. A few problems occur and here is how to counter them:
a) 5 men run across the back from the left and throw grenades.. just shoot the
grenades before they get to you eventually they come out less often, and will
stop altogether

b) the men on the right come out from the edge to shoot you same as above..
they stop eventually

c) a plane flies over and drops bombs. Same as a). It stops after some time.

d) After a certain amount of time a bird comes out to kill you; let it. Only 2
birds ever come out (sometimes only 1) and then they also stop coming. This is
why it pays not to die on the first screen.

Another hint.
on the first screen, the tin can be shot many times ( immediately ) to give you
a free man.  If you miss it then don't bother trying again, you only get one
chance. Also the game can be set to give free men every xx000 points, if it is
you are lucky and will continue to get plenty of men.
<END QUOTE>

The "Another hint" bit about the free man (1-up bonus) also applies to stage
4-1.

________________________________________________________________________________
9 - ABOUT THIS FAQ

I always liked this game in the arcades and I thought it was too bad that there
wasn't any home conversion (only Wild Guns, which is also a pretty cool game,
came close). So recently, I bought the original Blood Bros arcade PCB :) After
looking for some documentation I noticed that there was no FAQ describing the
best gameplay tactics and hints so I decided to write it down myself. I think I
got all the info here (it's a relatively simple game) so there probably won't
be any updates.

________________________________________________________________________________
                                                  Bas de Reuver, september 2001