Mega Zone(Arcade) FAQ by Andrew Schultz
[email protected]
version 1.0.0 copyright 2007
Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.
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OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS
3. ENEMIES
4. WALKTHROUGH
5. VERSIONS
6. CREDITS
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1. INTRODUCTION
If Mega Zone were a kid, it would be the product of Galaga and Vanguard, two
pretty good games, but sadly Philip Larkin's "This Be the Verse" would apply
to it. I don't use profanity in FAQs, so I can't recite the poem, but you can
search for it on the web easily enough.
In Mega Zone, you control a tank that can roam through the bottom 2/3 of the
screen while the enemies scroll down at you. Obviously you have to avoid
missiles but the enemies are also pretty good at tackling you. You do have an
advantage in that if you get 12 dots in a row, you get super powers and your
small tank becomes a big one. Plus there are multiple branches the game can
go through, and while it doesn't add to the number of monsters, it's kind of
fun to replay through once you get the hang of it, especially since the non-
first levels have wrinkles(map and enemies) the first doesn't.
The bad news? 1) you lose a guy and 2) when you are hit, you go back to
normal and frequently get killed off right away as there is no
invulnerability period. In a game with as many surprises as Mega Zone, this
is not cool.
Mega Zone is a lot more fun with cheats. I remember as a kid trying to play
the game and FINALLY getting the big power up. So I recommend that you try
the cheats. With them, it is fun to work through once or twice, after which
it gets repetitive. So I recommend using the MAME cheat for infinite lives.
While it's possible to get kicked way back, hopefully this guide will
illustrate really cool things you can do so that doesn't happen.
Save states are a bit iffy as Mega Zone doesn't really keep track of the
background well, so if you get killed and want to reload a state, you see the
background of where you got offed instead of where you last saved. It's a bit
disorienting especially since you won't be able to see any dots ahead. But if
you are playing to keep your mega power, you probably will be able to get it
pretty quickly at the very start after a few tries.
A basic rule to the game is generally not to be too direct with the trickier
monsters. Let them run or fire at you then move out of the way. Of course
some monsters you have to charge. But patience is a virtue.
2. CONTROLS
Generally staying as far forward as you can is good policy. The more you know
the terrain ahead, the further forward you can go. However, if you have shot
an eyeball, then wait until its teardrop left behind is as far down as
possible, so you can kill enemies without effort when you pick it up.
3. ENEMIES
Dots--10 points. Run over twelve in a row and you an get the "MEG" powerup
which costs a ship but gives you lots of firepower, if you can hold it.
Binkies--50 points. They go down a bit and fan out and fire once. They are in
formations of 3 or 4. They fire down at you
Jigglers--50 points. The second level's improvement on Binkies. They carry
two missiles they fire off diagonally.
Bases--100 points. They are stationary but fire right at you.
Big bases--150 points. usually more inconveniently located and shaped like a
maltese cross. They fire about the same amount as bases.
Zaggers--shaped like H's, they move back and forth and fire missiles when
they are at the edge of their moves back and forth. 50 points but easy to
kill because of their predictability.
Missiles--150 points. These appear out of nowhere and ram you diagonally. So
move perpendicularly and diagonally to best avoid them and gun them down.
They appear in waves and move to the short side. So it pays to move up
whenever you can, then move away from them. They appear with insta-
walls(below) to mess you up.
Straits--500 points. If you walk through these when they are not bouncing a
missile back and forth, they are destroyed.
Eyeballs--100 points, + x*1000 points up to 5000 for the teardrop you leave
behind. You have to shoot an eyeball when it is facing down. It doesn't
attack you, but it can block you from shooting other enemies. Fortunately,
you can shoot it if you stay at the very bottom in front of it. You may wish
to wait to pick up the teardrop, which also gives you points for every enemy
craft on the screen that it blasts when you pick it up.
Giant eye--3000 points. It rotates like its smaller cousin shoots out large
rays that can be deadly unless you fire rapidly or are in mega mode. Each of
the rays is worth 50 points, but fortunately you can cheat up and kill stuff
by noting what is at the bottom of the screen and lining up and firing early.
The hull left behind may block you from full movement, so make plans to get
around it. If you should kill a giant eye and die, only its hull will appear
next time. Its rays are also worth 50 points and can block you from shooting
the eyeball, so if you're not mega you may need to get in close.
Metal ball--500 points. Requires 5 hits in small mode, 3 in giant mode, and
you may need to back up and continue to fire at it to kill it, so if you're
too far back, you can't shoot it.
Twirlers--50 points. Very obnoxious but again you can go to the edge of where
one moves and shoot it down that way.
You don't get points for enemies that run into you and kill you, but you do
for those that run into you when you are mega.
Insta-walls are nasty surprises that pop up right in front of you before
stable walls, so it pays to move left and right, or even back, till the walls
disappear. It's risky to move forward, though.
Fishies--50 points. They don't have any special powers, but if you don't
shoot them right away, they fall from the top of the screen and try to go
kamikaze right at you.
Diagonal bees--200 points. These bounce off the side, bottom and other side
and out the top. It's tempting to run straight away from them but it's
probably best to figure which way to run diagonally.
Spirals--200 points. These come in waves from the side and they move at you
when they are horizontally aligned. You need to move down when one
approaches, then shoot it--or move up and back down quickly. A diagonal move
here helps save time too.
Swerving crosses--200 points. They come in sest of 4 and move in figure 8s.
They also pause a bit at the bottom.
Spinning flowers--100 points. Once level with you, they circle down and
horizontally to you and go back up. So you can run at them or a bit up and
then move in. You can also move away if there is space at the edge. They
often appear in pairs, necessitating a big sweeping movement.
Metal mechs--these take a few hits so if you're not mega, don't worry about
them. But the first gets you 500, the next 1000, then 2000 for any further. A
teardrop takes them all out for 500. They don't actually fire at you, but
they can get in the way.
Boss eyeball--5000 points. Opens up every few seconds and releases a mobile
rotating eyeball that bounces off the screen and right at you. The key to
beating it is not to wait just below it, when it will shoot an eyeball at you
that you can't kill, but to get close to it, just diagonally, then move
horizontally and fire.
4. WALKTHROUGH
Pick up whatever dots you can find. 4 binkies come from the left, 3 from the
right. Shoot them and the bases before getting the other dots. Eventually a
purple eye will appear. You can wait until it's at the very bottom to shoot
it and get the bonus.
A formation of V's will come down later. You don't have to kill it, but your
best bet is to get slightly off center and fire when they come down. After
that it's another purple eye. Be sure to get the dot at the bend in the river
just before it first. You can try to move through the straits if you clear
enough quickly. You should see the MEG powerup ahead.
After that you have more trivial monsters to shoot down before a mix of
missiles and zigzaggers. Kill a missile and move to the side and let the
zigzagger run into your missile just before it gets to the edge. Try to tend
towards the left, because there will be a wall ahead and to the right, and if
it pushes you to the bottom of the screen, that's it for you.
After the twirlers there will be another eye. Shoot it and then there will be
a fork in the game path.
4-1-L.
Metal balls come down at you. You can shoot them easily if you are mega, and
they are not blocked by the shrubbery too much, but otherwise you will want
to let them go. Then eyeballs and a cross. There are also spinning flowers
that come after you, and they are a nuisance. You need to move around, up and
down, so that they are misguided. Once they turn back up and miss you, they
are easy to shoot.
You can also gun down the metal mechs as much as you'd like. They are good
for big points. After this, twirlers and binkies as you go back right. Now
you rejoin the mainstream. Push forward in anticipation of the next bit.
4-1-R.
4-2.
Now you have another round of missiles, but this time insta-walls join them.
Move side to side when necessary, and when you see the real wall you can move
forward to get beyond it, going left(the fishies are no trouble) then go DR
so that you can blast the eye just as it appears. You will want to stand just
left of the eye for the next wave of enemies--v-ships and flowers. Don't
worry about the 2000 bonus, though it's possible if you're mega. You should
be able to duck to the left and move back into the center for the next round
or two. If you can kill one side of the V's and drift into the corner as the
other V's come over, that generally works okay too.
4-3-L.
Move to the left when yu see the bush ahead as otherwise the twirlers will
get low and close to you. Now there is a round of diagonal bees and straits.
There will also be stars that move in in an S. Don't worry about the stars--
concentrate on the eye ahead, because if you get that, everything else blows
up. Move up close to the eye, but you can wait to collect it.
The straits to the left are a bit risky unless you plow all the way forward
and swoop DR. Even from the right you may need to go up, fire, wait and pull
back to kill the final fishies, as they are bunkered by that big bush in the
middle.
After beating up a few easy monsters you get an introduction to spirals, who
go down until they can see right/left to you and then go right at you.
Obviously you need to adjust moving up/down when you can, and you need to cut
diagonally between spirals and shoot what's above. Stay in the middle because
after this are two quick insta-walls. Then there are metal balls you can
shoot down with a retreat.
After that it is pretty much smooth sailing though you do have to watch for 2
insta-walls before the next eye. So stand to the side of the eye before they
appear, then fire away.
The teardrop probably won't net you many points, but you can use it to move
ahead and take out the twirlers and go DL to shoot the bases and take out the
eye above easily. With zigzaggers you need to move from under the eye pretty
quickly and once you do it's an easy trek UR to where the walls narrow. Move
ahead to the top of the narrow passage(backa bit to shoot the metal balls)
then DL to shoot the base and go up.
U DR and shoot some more bases. Now you can risk the straights and shooting
metal balls for big points, or you can just go to the left and shoot bases to
play it safe.
Whatever you do you will have tough going with the flowers. You can shoot the
first one as it comes down, then move immediately to the left. But not to the
edge. Let the other flower come past you and then sweep clockwise and fire at
the bases and shoot the first flower as you go right, then loop over the
other two. The figure-eight stars will be easy.
After that, there's another eyeball in the center. Shoot it and you can
probably get a 2000 bonus for a V formation with it. Take out a few spinning
flowers as well. After the second group of V's you'll face 4 insta-walls but
fortunately there aren't many enemies.
After this if you are mega there will be several V's that are very easy to
mow down. Just watch for when the fishies shoot and stay to the right of
center. Take out two straits.
Now stay on the left side and move backwards and gun down the first diagonal
bee. Then move forwards and fire away at the eye when it first shows up. If
you do it right you can get the teardrop and wipe out everything else just as
several enemies are about to reach you.
Go up a little bit(stay to one side) then down to get past the spirals coming
at you on each side and hit what you can. There are some bases after this,
then some missiles. Then comes the big boss and all you can do is put
yourself in position to kill one of the eyes(halfway from the center) and
shift to kill one of the other eyes. Best to go into the center immediately.
Then once you killed one eye(you really don't have to take out both) you can
go into the center. Time things so that you make your final move when the big
eye is about to open up, then go right and fire. That should work, but
beware. The other eyes stay in orbit until you kill them, and when they
bounce off the walls, they run right at you, so you have to move around a lot
for the next segment.
4-2.
So keep avoiding the enemy eyes until you can get to the first stationary eye
and then wipe everyone out. There are wigglies replacing the binkies, and
while they are as predictable, they have two shots and hold them for longer.
Other than that you have a few more V-formations too. The paths ahead are
different.
End of FAQ Proper
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5. VERSIONS
1.0.0 sent to GameFAQs 6/25/2007, with the first wave through. The second
wave is just the first wave with mustard, and then the game loops, so I
consider this guide completed. I would like to detail the right-hand path
through later.
6. CREDITS
Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they
are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done.
Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow
Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and
others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message
board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of
mine.
Special thanks to Spencer and Michael, who do not remember me, and, well, not
really Spencer because he tried to steal my money while I was playing this
game, and he introduced me to this game which probably wasn't as good a bang
for my buck as other games and made me lose confidence over lunch hour for
the pascal course I took("If GAMES are this hard, programming must be worse!)
Eh, okay, I remember them and the passage of time blah blah blah.
