Rush 'N Attack FAQ/walkthrough
Arcade game FAQ version 1.0.0
by Andrew Schultz
[email protected]
This document looks to cover a walkthrough of the first four scenes of
Rush 'N Attack, Arcade version, up to where you rescue the POW's. It is
NOT an NES FAQ. It is probably a final draft as I have used the MAME
emulator to play it and really have only a 24 hour period in which to
play the game. The material herein is copyright 2000 Andrew Schultz and
may not be reproduced for profit without my consent. If you wish to
post this on your website please send me a mail addressing me by my
first name and I will likely respond positively.
****AD SPACE****
My page:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/
My old games page:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/games/games.htm
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OUTLINE
BASIC STRATEGIES
POINT SCORING
LEVEL 1 (MISSILE)
LEVEL 2 (HARBOR)
LEVEL 3 (BRIDGE)
LEVEL 4 (POW'S)
THE GREAT YONDER
MISCELLANY
VERSIONS/CREDITS
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BASIC STRATEGIES
The walkthrough is easier said than done, and there are some moves
that will be useful throughout the game. They are listed below, along
with some things you don't want to do and quirks of the game that you
may be able to use to your advantage. Some of these may be re-stated in
the walkthrough, but these general principles should get you pretty far.
--Don't stand under or above ladders. As a corollary, get the hang of
moving up/down them quickly.
--Hanging around near the left of the screen(except during the first
boss scene) is bad as enemies jump out from there at regularly timed
intervals. You should be pressing forward anyway, and you can't outrun
your opponents either.
--Crouching's a lot better than jumping to avoid bullets. You are
invulnerable except to jumpers.
--With a gun, you must crouch to nail mines or nail weapons guys that
are crouching.
--A grenade clears off a half-screen to the right of where you've thrown
it. So if you go right, back up, and throw it, you may not get guys on
the edge.
--If there is a weapons guy above you, he will go to the left and look
for a ladder, unless there is none, in which case he will go to the
right. Note that if he is going to the left and you run to the right so
a ladder is no longer in view, he will switch directions. This can gain
you a few shots you might otherwise have lost.
--Also, weapons jump out to the right of a guy who was just killed.
--You have a lot of leeway jumping past(broad jump) or over(standing
jump) a soldier.
--On the other hand, you may need to jump early in order to get the guys
who jump at you. Knifing at waist level when their body is above you
means curtains for you.
--As the game goes on, you can't waste your special weapons as much. Be
aware, though, that at the end of a wave you lose all charges you had.
--If you don't go forward for a while, the game sends three jumpers and
a shooter to spur you into action.
--If you do die, you are usually reset to a place just before a weapons
person. Until the last level.
--Orange/blue guys will attempt to follow you, although grenadiers just
try to stay on the same level.
--You can get a bunch of guys following you as it takes time for the
orange guys to kneel and fire.
--With a missile launcher, always run forward unless you're shot at from
behind. Who knows how many opponents you may take out?
--Opponents who go slightly off the screen are still in the computer's
memory. But you can still outrun them.
--Parachutists may follow you from behind, and if they do it's a good
time to use a weapon on them.
--Never, never jump forward to knife someone with a ladder in the way.
You'll catch on to the ladder. This goes double for jumpers. Stand,
wait, and kill them.
--You can turn around pretty quickly on the ground to knife enemies.
But you can't do so in the air.
--If you see a guy crawling toward you, run at him. They're very slow
and if you wait to knife him, someone sneaking up from behind will get
you.
--If you are forced to crouch and people are coming at you at the same
time from left and right, don't worry. If you're quick both of them
will fall. You can turn and knife fairly quickly standing up too.
--You can jump over mines if you're careful--you can even pick up
grenades that are over them!
--If you blow up a weapons guy who is on a ladder, you may have to go
upstairs to get the good stuff.
--If you go by a cannoner by walking above him, be prepared as he will
turn the cannon the other way and fire at you some more.
--Some versions of Rush 'N Attack put a time limit on each level.
POINT SCORING
NOTE: if you hit a bunch of guys with a special weapon, the point
totals change. They are as follows:
--350 points for every guy you nail with the flamethrower
--350 points for the first guy you hit with the grenade/missile
launcher, 400 for the next, and add 50 for each subsequent
0 points for blowing up a mine
40 points for the guy guiding the dogs at the end of the harbor scene
40 points for the guys in the auto-gyros
100 points for crouching soldiers
200 points for orange/blue gunners
200 points for grenadiers(orange/blue)
200 points for standard soldiers(brown coats) whether fast or slow
200 points for soldiers with bazookas(brown coats)
200 points for all dogs at the end of the harbor scene, brown or white
300 points for guys who give you weapons("weapons guys")
350 points for jumpers(light beige coats)
450 points for parachutists, who become jumpers
500 points for flamethrower guy you beat to rescue the POWs
Estimates for point totals:
20K to get through level 1 without losing a guy
45K for level 2
80K for level 3
~120K(?) for level 4
LEVEL 1 (MISSILE)
This one isn't so bad. While in front of the bridges everyhting is
straightforward. It isn't until after the second weapons
guy/flamethrower that you get your first real challenge. Some joker is
firing a cannon and you must make sure it doesn't hit you. There are
two solutions--time your run or nail him with a flamethrower. Both work
well enough, especially considering the number of blue guys there are to
kill to get a new flamethrower. After the cannon, you'll want to duck
down and blow up the mines as that is much easier than jumping. From
there the rest of the level is pretty straightforward. Remember to take
out the orange guys if they get on your tail and don't bother climbing
on the trucks--they're not worth it. After you kill a weapons guy in
front of the trucks, you may want to hold off on using your
flamethrower, as that will make the boss scene very easy and there isn't
much else left to challenge you. When you get to the missiles a truck
will drive by. Go all the way to the left. Fire just before you're
about to get hit. Three of these will knock out fourteen guys(including
two jumpers) and take you to the next level.
You should have this level down cold if you want to make a serious
run to rescue the POW's.
LEVEL 2 (HARBOR)
Some new enemies are introduced here, but they are pretty much
isolated, so they shouldn't be a problem. Crawlers can be taken out,
but remember they're slower than walkers. Also, the first grenadier may
be a problem. Just run at him and retreat, and he will be as easy as a
regular soldier. When the sheds change you'll want to climb up to knife
the weapons guy and get your first missile launcher. These are really
the best weapon, as you can follow them and make them last a bit longer.
There will be a few of them to pick up on the upper level, so stay
there. When jumpers come by, you may wish to stop running and meet them
straight up in the air. Remember it's better to jump too early than too
late, but if you're really in a squeeze and have a missile, use it.
When you must jump off the second level, always test the edge first and
go back. It may cause a parachutist to jump down early, which is one
less nuisance to deal with, as you can just wait for him to pass by.
Again whenever possible make it back up to the second floor, except for
when you get to the third(?) set of sheds. In that case climb down when
you get to the pointy shed, as there's a cannoner there who will cause
you no end of grief if you try to run above and past him. You'll also
get to use grenades for the first time, and while they may be the least
useful, they can save some hassles, and you'll need to get used to them.
One good trick is to throw them and move away. I don't believe you get
killed for throwing a grenade and running into it, but it doesn't look
smart and I never tried to waste a game on a suicide mission. Anyway,
once you see a submarine behind you, you are close. The sirens(and your
inability to move the screen right) signal that the dogs are coming.
Stand up while you knife to the left. Then crouch and knife to the
right. Repeat four times, and you're done with this.
Although this level has more complex challenges than level 1, you
should be able to make it through unscathed more often than not.
LEVEL 3 (BRIDGE)
The action heats up here. With a brick wall in the background and a
platform above you will find that the enemies get a lot tougher. There
weren't any cannons in level 2, but they come back with a vengeance in
level 3. You'll be doing a lot more running/retreating than you did in
the first two levels. Special weapons are the safest way to dispose of
the cannons, but knifing them is not a bad way to improve your
skill(you'll need to learn it for the next level, anyway.) You may have
to face shooters, jumpers and a cannon all at once so I must reiterate
the need to proceed with caution. You'll know you're near the end of
the brick background when you see a flamethrower. There are double-
cannons here, which definitely require a few attack/throw grenade/feint
combinations in a row. The tall barbed wire fence background will
appear soon after, and you'll want to climb up the stairs. Don't use
your flamethrower(if you die on this scene, it will be TOUGH, but do-
able) until you see the jumpers, then take them out. The next guys to
take out are the grenadiers. Before you get to the edge of the
platform, you may want to crouch when the parachutist falls down and get
rid of him. Then drop off(be aware you drop straight down) and try to
jump over the mines instead of shooting them. When you get to the log
platforms climb up them. There is a weapons person right after two
grenadiers, so follow the usual procedure for taking care of them.
There will also be some jumpers and a standing jump may work best to
take care of them. At some point there will be a bazooka along with
other special guys and you want to be sure to duck and fire, since it is
tough to see the missile against the background of white trees, &c.
You'll get a weapon just before the bridge which isn't really useful as
the autogyros aren't so tough in any event. Although it is tough to
judge when they move up and down, when they are almost touching the
ground, it is not too tough to jump and nail them. Be aware that they
throw grenades at regularly timed intervals and always throw them
forward. Thus they are really rather predictable.
Losing one guy on this level is not the end of the world. Your
score should be over 70,000 now, so four guys will make it a lot easier
to get through the final level.
LEVEL 4 (POW'S)
Whoo, boy, the difficulty picks up here. The first part of the
scene consists of a bunch of barns. You will get to the first
ammunition guy, a blue guy, and when you knife him the grenade may fall
over a mine. No big deal. Just before the mine, do a broad jump, and
you'll get the grenade. Yay! Now I prefer to climb up the stairs and
over a mine before falling off, to save grenades, but during the early
part you can be profligate as more weapons guys will appear. Towards
the end you should find a guy with a missile launcher, but be sure to
watch out for the double-cannons. Use grenades on them and run. Once
you get the missile launcher, take off to the right. Some jumpers and
gunners will follow you, so you'll want to turn around and give it to
'em just before you get to the platform. Climb on the platform and
watch out for the usual. If you can hold onto the missiles, great, but
chances are you won't be able to. This will probably make things tough
when you are forced to drop down to ground level again. There's a mine
with a cannon behind it. Timing is tricky here, but if you can jump
over it and knife the guy you should be all right. This will probably
repeat before you finally get to a weapons guy. Once you get to the
cells where the prisoners are held it's pretty much downhill. There are
a few more jumpers than usual but standing jumps will take care of
them(just watch your back so a soldier doesn't nail you!) You'll run by
a brick fence with barbed wire, and once you get all the way to the
right, the final boss fight awaits. It's not too bad. There are three
flamethrowers, and each moves the same way. His preferred pattern is to
fire waist high, move right, fire waist high, move right, and fire at
your feet. If you commit too early to ducking he will fire low, and
it's a bit of a nuisance to time your jump, so wait until you see the
level his gun is at, then DUCK. Before he fires at your feet you may
want to jump early as he is so close to you. Once you've jumped, he's a
sitting duck. Repeat three times, and you'll have rescued the POW's.
Congratulations! Oh, BTW, don't blink or you'll miss the ending. A
soldier must be alert, blah, blah.
THE GREAT YONDER
After level 4, the game recycles to level 1, except soldiers come
out in threes instead of pairs. There are also trebles of jumpers at
planned intervals, and the boss scene at the end features a lot more
jumpers as well. I couldn't get past level 6 so I don't know what all
the boss scenes are like, but evidence strongly suggests the game gets
considerably tougher once you've beaten the first cycle.
MISCELLANY
This game is different from the Nintendo in many ways, but any
difference between the two will go in my Nintendo FAQ, if I can ever be
bothered or if I remember them. The observant reader will certainly be
able to detect the more relevant differences. The most relevant ones to
strategy may be the crouching soldiers and the revelation that weapons
guys you shoot still cough up their weapons in the Arcade, unlike the
NES. And the graphics are clearly more detailed in the arcade even if
NES has a cooler soundtrack. A rough level map is below, as well:
MISSILE<-->NES level 1
(NONE) <-->NES level 2
HARBOR<-->NES level 3
BRIDGE<-->NES level 4
POW'S<-->NES level 5
(NONE)<==>NES level 6
After the harbor, an offbeat but catchy "remix" of La Marseillaise
plays.
VERSIONS/CREDITS
1.0.0 Completed 12/13/2000, submitted to GameFAQs.com 12/20/2000
Thanks to emux.com for having the ROM's and for pointing out this game
was strictly legal for only 24 hours. 'Cause I could waste too much
time on it otherwise(Actually, I did anyway :) )
I also don't want to forget my competitors/partners I played this game
with at the US Naval Academy(no, really!) in the summer of '90, Bowen
Kerins and Royce Peng. We took over the high score list rather nicely,
and I think one of them got to the flamethrower...but until now I never
got that far.
