Bomberman MAX: Red Challenger Boss FAQ
For Nintendo Gameboy Color
By Victor Li aka MetalWarOdin
Unpublished work Copyright 2002 Victor Li
This document is protected by US Copyright Law, and the Berne
Copyright Convention of 1976. It is for private and personal use only-
-it cannot be reprinted in part or in whole, or reproduced in any way
or in any form (written or otherwise). It is a free document that
cannot be used in any sort of commercial transaction, including selling
it or giving it away as a gift. This FAQ cannot be referenced, altered,
or used by anybody (including webmasters, publishers, and magazine
staff) without my express written permission. This FAQ was created and
is owned by me, Victor Li <VicLi226 (at) aol (dot) com>. It can be
found exclusively at (www.GameFAQs.com). All copyrights and trademarks
are acknowledged and respected that are not specifically mentioned
herein.
Bomberman MAX: Red Challenger is (c) by Hudson.
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Table of Contents
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1) Bosses
A. Colossus, boss of Zaurus Star
B. Kabukibot, boss of Secret Star
C. Tankbot, boss of Battle Star
D. Tian Lung, boss of City Star
E. Brain, boss of Future Star
2) Frequently Asked Questions
3) Thanks
In each world of this game, the last 3-5 levels are boss levels.
Although each world only has 1 boss, the only differences in these
levels are the backgrounds. And yes, you do have to beat all of them in
order to get 100% clear status.
It takes about 6 or so bomb blasts to take down each one, the only
exception being Brain, the final boss. Each time you hurt a boss, they
will be transparent and be invincible for 2 seconds. You also get one
random power-up (Extra Bomb, Fire Up, and Speed Up). If you touch a
boss, you will die (duh).
Each boss level looks somewhat like a grid, thanks to obstructions.
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I I
I O O O O O O I
I I
I O O O O O O I
I I
I O O O O O O I
I I
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O = Hard Blocks
Throughout this guide, I will refer to the open spaces as columns
(vertical) and rows (horizontal).
This boss is flanked by four minions (and don't worry, touching them
won't kill you), that don't do anything unil Colossus attacks. Colossus
spends most of his time hovering around in the middle of this stage.
After about 5 seconds, he'll make a downward swoop, so stay out of the
middle when he does so. Occasionally, he stops, raises his arms, and
his minions disappear and reappear on the edges of the level. They
shoot a beam that reaches to the opposite edge of the level. Luckily
there's only 4 minions. These are all the ways that the minions attack
and how to evade them:
1. The minions reappear on the left side of the level, and shoot
through the rows. This is one of the most frustrating. You have
to get into a column (with hard blocks to the left and right of
you) and you'll be safe.
2. The minions reappear in the corners and shoot the beams to go
around the outer edges of the level. Easy to evade, just don't
hang out at the outside edges.
3. The minions reappear in the first, second, second to last, and
last columns and shoot downwards. Stay in the middle for this one.
4. Two minions reappear on the top, and two minions reappear on the
left. The top ones shoot downwards and the left ones shoot to the
right. Stay in the middle of the stage for this one.
This shouldn't be too hard, or hopefully isn't too hard. This is the
first boss of the game.
B. Kabukibot, boss of Secret Star
Kabukibot wanders around the stage (although I've never seen him to go
the bottom half of the stage), unlike Colossus. He has two attacks,
which both start with him taking short hops horizontally. The first
(which always happen every odd time he hops) one is where he summons
coins after every second hop. These coins follow you, trying to kill
you by touching you, but disappear after a matter of seconds. Don't
bother killing these unless you're about to be cornered and you're
desperate. The second (which happens every other time) is, after his
last hop, he stands still and two water orbs fall and snake through the
columns and rows to the bottom of the level. These don't kill you, but
if you're caught in one of these, it will take some of your power-ups
and scatter them around the level. It also makes you invincible for 2
seconds after you stop swirling in the water. This shouldn't be too
hard either, unless you keep getting cornered.
C. Tankbot, boss of Battle Star
Gosh, the difficulty in bosses leaps between Kabukibot and Tankbot.
Anyway, Tankbot wanders around just like Kabukibot, although he wanders
in the bottom half of the level as well as the top. He has three
attacks. One, is where he shots a flamethrower, which reaches as far as
the outer wall of the level. The second, is where a cloud of gas comes
out of him. This is actually helpful. It chases you and when you're
caught in it, you lose some of your power-ups just like Kabukibot's
water orbs. Eventually it goes away on it's own, similar to Kabukibot's
coins (geez, same manufacturer or something?). However, this fight is
much more extreme, and the fact that you're invincible for 2 seconds
may save you countless times. The third is where he launches a grenade
into the air. It wanders around and if you get near, it stops and
explodes twice, reaching as far a fully fire-upped bomb. It doesn't go
away until you detonate it, but it shouldn't be your top priority.
However, what makes this battle so hard, is that Tankbot occasionally
"goes berserk". What I mean is, he starts chasing you and goes two
times faster. This is where it helps to be caught in a cloud :). Don't
worry if you die countless times on this boss, eventually you'll get it.
D. Tian Lung, boss of City Star
This guy starts in the middle of the stage, then jumps up, and burrows
through where he was staying. Then he burrows out somewhere else, and
burrows back in. Eventually, he jumps back to the middle of the stage,
and his segmented sections form a ring around him and he (practically)
bounces around the stage. He doesn't go too fast, but he's like a ball
in an enclosed space, he is redirected by the wall and basically has no
control of where he goes. He just sort of bounces along. Occasionally,
he shoots a small ball at where you're standing at the time he shoots.
During this phase, RUN! Don't try to bomb him unless you have a GREAT
opportunity. Always wait until he's diving around, and try to bomb him
for power-ups until you can set up bombs around the place until he has
a 70% chance of being hit ^_^. Eventually, you'll beat this.
E. Brain, boss of Future Star.
Can you say ARGH? This battle is TOUGH. There's three phases in this
fight. In this battle, you'll want to go out of your way just to get
power-ups. Most likely, you won't beat it starting out with no power-
ups, so collect as many as you can, die 1 or 2 times, and try again.
Phase 1
Brain takes up a large section of the top half. Turrets on the left and
right side of the level go up and down, and then shoot a beam (which
acts like a bullet so don't worry) along the rows. Then there's the
flamethrowers in Brain. Each of these take one hit in order to be
knocked into submission, and to pass this phase, you must destroy all
the flamethrowers. The circles turn from blue to red, then fire through
the columns. The fire doesn't detonate your bombs weirdly enough. The
best times to detonate each flamethrower is right after it stops
spewing flames, or right before. The flamethrowers are invincible while
they're shooting, so it will stop shooting right before your bombs
explode this way. The only places that are safe during this phase, are
the columns guarded by knocked out flamethrowers. After destroying each,
the large structure containing Brain will disappear, and Brain will
appear in a tank-ish vehicle.
Phase 2
While he's appearing, put a bomb right "inside" him (don't worry, you
won't be hurt by him as long as he's transparent). Or even, after
getting an extra bomb power-up, put two on either side and watch him
try to escape :). Anyway, he goes around like Tankbot and goes berserk
like him, but he goes slightly faster. He also has 4 magnetic shields
on each side of him which go back and forth. These repel bombs, but
they're small and you CAN blow him up (duh). Anyway, his only means of
attacking is pushing bombs back at you (which is done by accident) or
going berserk and running over you. If there's no hope, you're gonna
want to set a bomb while running, so he's stop for a few seconds and
(most likely) is blown up. Hopefully he'll go back to normal after it
explodes. After blowing him up a bit more, he (it?) will escape in a
helicopter sorta vehicle, and float to the top left of the screen.
There, he'll separate into 3 more helicopter vehicles.
Phase 3
These guys just float around. These go berserk as well, but they don't
follow you (Thank GOD!). After a while, they all stop and shoot flames
north, south, east, and west. The "fake" ones' flames only reach a
short range, while the "real" one shoots farther. This one is the one
you want to bomb, as bombing the others won't do you any good. Be
patient, and don't worry if you spend hours just to beat this. I did :P.
Q: I can't beat (insert boss here)! How can I beat him?
A: Follow my instructions carefully and keep practicing. Eventually
you'll beat it.
Q: My friend got some awesome charaboms that can't be gotten in the
normal game or by merging! How do I get these?
A: The best charaboms, Ox Battra and Shardra, can only be obtained in
bonus games. You access these in levels where you have to "Step on the
hidden tile!" to beat the level. After stepping on it, use a remote
control and aim it at the infrared port on your GBC, and press any
button. You will be taken to the bonus game. These charaboms can only
be obtained in certain bonus games.
Q: What made you want to write this FAQ?
A: Well, I was bored. My brother wants me to practice piano and read as
long as I play PS2? Bah! Forget it! I'm on a break now, he's
restricting my PS2 time. So I decided to write this. Of course I didn't
do this just for the recognition <_< >_>.
