_____ ______ __ ___ ______ ____ __ ___
/ ___// _/ / / //_/ | / / __ \/ __ \/ |/ /
\__ \ / // / / ,< | | /| / / / / / /_/ / /|_/ /
___/ // // /___/ /| | | |/ |/ / /_/ / _, _/ / / /
/____/___/_____/_/ |_| |__/|__/\____/_/ |_/_/ /_/
FAQ copyright © Ryan Lynch, AKA Hyakutaro
Silkworm and all other applicable trademarks are copyright © Tecmo 1988
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Version #
- Introduction
- Story
- Enemies
- Power-ups
- Levels
- Secrets
- My Opinion
- Reach Me
- Special Thanks, etc.
-Version #
0.1 - 9:28pm EST. May 26, 2002
Hey! I just started! <Listening to: Offspring - Starring at the Sun>
0.9 - 10:43pm EST. June 2, 2002
All done. Just need evil email to go back up so I can fix my email account
<Listening to: Anipunk - Zankoku na tenshi no thesis>
1.0 - 1:12pm EST. June 25, 2002
E-mail me at
[email protected] . Man, went though a system crash, plus
Evil email kept delaying sign-ups.
<Listening to: Bon Jovi - You give love>
-Introduction
Silkworm was a Coin-op side scrolling shooter that showed up in arcades in the
late eighties. Its graphics were quite fair for the time, though lagged
somewhat when compared to other games like Super Contra. Sound was good, but
nothing special. It sported what looked to be as standard shoot-em-up
gameplay. Nothing too exciting. However, where the game's uniqueness stood out
was in it's 2 player mode. While 1st player controlled the normal Helicopter,
2nd player controlled a jeep with jumping capabilities and a controllable
mounted turret. This created a whole new definition of a two player game.
Different strategies had to be used depending who played first or second. It
was possible to be a master of the helicopter part of Silkworm but still be a
beginner in the Jeep part. Beside adding replay, it strategically made more
sense, plus it was much more fun for both people playing. Though mostly
overlooked, it was quite a fun game, managing a port to the NES and
Commodore 64. Overall, a fun, challenging game that perfectly lived up to
what an arcade game should be.
-Story
The supercomputer MCH2, just cause it has nothing better to do, goes berserk
and decides the world in need of some good old fashion annihilation. To
accomplish its goals, it sends wave after wave of drone helicopters, tanks,
jets, little flying thingies, startling similar bosses and silkworm missiles.
To counter this threat, two vehicles code named B-Panther and G-cobra are sent
to the 2 dimensional plane of side-scrolling to battle the forces of MCH2 and
destroy the out of control super computer. The heroes Stacy and Robert pilot
the Jeep and Helicopter to battle the forces of evil and save the world.
-Enemies
Remember that as you further into levels, things that didn't shoot before will
now fire, and things that did fire will fire more. I can't explain how every
eneime's shots progress. Just be careful and watch out. :)
Suicide Helis - This includes all forms of helicopters, jets, freaky flying
thingies and such. They occasionally take a shot at you on its mad dash
towards the left of the screen. If you are a jeep, they will drop little
circular things that roll towards you. A simple jump will take you out of
harms way. These are your best choice for taking out enemies so you can pick
up power-ups
-Multi-part Heli- The ones that give you power-ups. They will fire a missile
every once in a while. Take them out as the heli by firing below or above its
armored head and then moving below or above your shot. It'll move its head
according to where you are, exposing its vital area. As the jeep, simply move
below it and aim the turret.
-Hill-mounted missile launcher- These show up sticking half way out of a
hill, ground or like earthly medium. They fire missiles that home for a
second and then follow a set linear path. Not much of a threat.
-Scarab missile launcher- Sit there and mainly only pester the Jeep.
Occasionally fire a missile but mostly harmless. Takes a lot of shots to
kill.
-Light tank- Drive in for a slow moving suicide run for the jeep. At later
levels it will actually aim its turret and fire a couple shots. Not a huge
problem, but watch out.
-Heavy tank- Much bigger than most enemies, the heavy tank mainly only gets
in the way. It doesn't fire, so its only a problem to the jeep.
-Mine- Not really much of an enemy. Use downward fire from the heli and
jeep to take them out. No threat to the heli and not much to the jeep. Grab
the sparkly for temporary invincibility and shoot it to kill all regular
enemies on screen.
-Tri missile launcher- Placed likewise as the Hill mounted missile launcher,
it fires missiles in three directions. Take them out as the can impede free
movement for both jeep and heli.
-Parachute tank- These tanks parachute in from no where and once they land,
they just leave. Easy for the heli to handle, but make sure you take a few
out as they will consign the jeep to death if he has no where to land after
his jump.
-Missile silo- Only in a few levels and not that dangerous. Fires missiles
straight up out of the ground. Can't take out the silos, but the missiles
can be shot down
-Side mounted rotor heli- Can't think of a better name for this physically
impossible flying machine. Fires in a 360 degree manner. Takes a few shots to
destroy. A real danger if left alone.
-Hoppy heli thingies- These guys take to the screen hopping up and down.
They don't fire but can be a hassle for the heli and a serious threat for the
jeep.
-Unfolding mobile missile launcher- They suddenly appear from the left and
fire five missiles in a 90 degree angle. Very dangerous, as the appear with
no warning and can't really be taken out by the heli. The jeep can aim
backwards, but that takes concentration off avoiding everything else. Jeep
can avoid by not jumping, but the heli's in for trouble.
-Black Mechs- They don't fire, but take a beating and are a huge problem for
the jeep. When the jeep jumps, the top half of the mech will jump too! Time
your jumps with the mech and you can clear it without taking it out, but be
careful. They will sometimes show up in packs, and you can only clear one at
a time.
-Ridiculous sized helicopter- Show up first in level 4. They can't be
destroyed so don't bother. The real problem is the little buggers it
launches.
-Ridiculously sized little buggers- Launched from the ridiculous sized heli,
they fly around in a circular pattern, causing trouble. Simple for the jeep
but as the heli you'll be in for problems.
-Boss large missiles- These show up commonly right before you face a boss or
it'll launch em at you during the fight. They simply have a compulsive need
to get to the left side of the screen. Most likely you will just avoid it
without trying, as they don't aim for you. They can't be destroyed.
-Black Spheres- Permanently stuck upon the Y-axis of life, they float up
and down doing nothing. However, they take forever to kill, and are
commonly in the way.
-Bug catcher tanks- Or something. Don't know exactly what they think they're
doing. It looks like they try to grab hold of your jeep. Not a problem for
the heli, and not to hard for the jeep.
-Black Heli- This boss shows up on every single odd level. Lame.
It can fire homing missiles, regular fire, jeep deterrent rolling thingies
and the boss large missiles
-Super tank- Shows up every even level as the boss. Ugh. Fires homing
missiles, jeep deterrent, regular fire and cannonballs.
-Boss on crack mode- Very rarely, when you are fighting a boss, they will
inject themselves with the mechanical version of military grade PCP. They go
crazy firing millions of homing missiles while shaking cause they're rapidly
going into drug withdrawal. No way to survive this. Very cheap. If anyone
knows how boss on crack mode is caused or what you can do about it e-mail me.
-Power-ups
All power-ups are acquired in the same way. A flaming effigy of some sort
appears on the right side of the screen while random part of an aircraft fly
over and connect to the effigy thingie. When complete, you can blow it up.
Doing this release 1 or 2 power-ups, depending if your playing 1 or 2 players.
1st Level - Twin forward fire/Dual Turrets Heli/Jeep
2nd Level - Rapid fire/Rapid Fire
After level 2, power-ups give you nothing but points and a higher rank.
However if you manage to fill your stripes 3 times, you are awarded a golden
bird (not sure what rank this is, e-mail me if you know). This gives you the
ability to die and keep your twin and rapid fire. But don't count on this
happening though. Each level you can only mostly get one power-up ship,
and you must get at least 12 power-ups to achieve this rank. Only the best
of the best players would be able to survive long enough to get this many.
-Levels
Silkworm is separated into 11 basic levels called waves. Each wave really
doesn't have any major differences. Same music, hardly different background,
and always the same bosses. The only real changes between levels are the
enemies, and the volume in which they appear. The 12th wave, for some
unfathomable reason, features a level that continues forever, simply looping
over and over. The first 2, the 6th and the 11th are perhaps the only
important levels in the game.
Level 1 - Pretty simple, and the best designed level in the game. The ships
are not to hard to deal with, so try to destroy as much of them as you can.
The boss features a large, black helicopter
Level 2 - A bit harder than the first, offering slightly different enemies
that are slightly faster. Again, take out as many enemies as you can so you
can power up your Heli or Jeep.
Level 6 - After this level, the ability to continue is taken away. Counter
this by starting a 2nd player game right before you lose your last heli life
and switching off when your lives get low. If you lose your last life without
starting a 2p game, you'll have to start over.
Level 11 - At last, the final level. This is marked by a noticeable change in
decor and much harder enemies. When you have finally vanquished all enemies,
you reach the source of the mayhem: MCH2. Not that you fight em. Nope! You
fight another bloody black heli! Jeez, they really needed to get some new
ideas.
Level 12 - This lame continuation of the game is good for only practice. It
loops forever and the fact is pretty noticeable. If you've spent enough time
getting here, turn away from the machine and cry, cause you suck.
-Secrets
As far as I can tell, there are no secrets in the game. No shooting in certain
places for bonus points, no MA MA MA MONSTER KILL for quick shooting, no
nothing. If you know some top secret scoring technique or some bugs in the
game send me a message and i'll update this FAQ, with your name in the thanks!
-My Opinion
I first played Silkworm at a Star Skate World sometime around 1991. I
instantly loved it. From the power-ups (omigod! TWIN fire!) to that weird
spike of music that would happen no matter what level you were on. It was a
classic. Nowadays, you'd more likely be hit by lightning than find a working
machine, unless you own the machine (he he) or have the NES cart. I, for some
reason have never seen the NES version, but I heard through the grapevine
that its even better than the Arcade incarnation (Read: Faididi, special
thanks, his review) Send me a mail if you feel like elucidating me upon the
improvements.
-Reach Me
More questions? Extra info? Where do I live? What did I eat for dinner? E-mail
me at
[email protected] . This is my first FAQ so I want to get it
right. If I missed anything or my legal disclaimer isn't enough or you feel
like I've taken your work send me a ring and I will fix it immediately.
-Special Thanks
Big thanks to Faididi and his review of Silkworm. Don't know where the hell
he got all his info on the plot. Plus I didn't know about the Silkworms being
copies of Russian Styx surface-to-air missiles. Neato. Also thanks to Chris
Viloria and his Jedi Starfighter FAQ for layout examples and the link to the
ASCII generator. ASCII art rocks. Along with this is my thanks to Jörg
Seyfferth at
http://www.network-science.de/ascii/ for the ASCII. Don't let
the willingness to do stuff for free die.
(Hardcore rock riff in the background) AWOOOOOOOOOOO!
