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                             Gunstar Heroes
                              Gameplay FAQ
                               version 0.4
                written by Sherwin Tam ([email protected])
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---CONTENTS---
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Introduction
Version Changes
Game Actions
Free vs. Fixed Shot
Weapons
Disclaimer
Credits



------------------
---INTRODUCTION---
------------------
This is a small FAQ for one of my favorite old Genesis games, Gunstar
Heroes.  Gunstar Heroes was the first game designed by Treasure, who went
on to become one of the most original game designers around.  Gunstar
Heroes is a take on the run-and-shoot genre exemplified by Contra and
manages to be quite varied and funny while being quite difficult at the
same time.



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---VERSION CHANGES---
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0.4 (10/30/99): Found a new block move, although I'm not quite sure what it does.

0.3 (10/23/99): Jmangamer was nice enough to inform me about the confusing
slide, so the Counter Slide has been replaced by Power Slide.  Also
changed information on the Throw.

0.2 (10/22/99): Standard typo fix, and a few more comments here and there.

0.1 (10/20/99): First version.



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---GAME ACTIONS---
--------------------
--Basic Actions--
Run: Just hold down left or right on the directional pad.  Gotta use this
 to get places.

Crouch: Hold down (down/back or down/forward will also work).  Useful for
 avoiding enemy fire from the ground troops, most of which will go
 sailing over your head.

Select Weapon: Hit the Select button (usually A).  This will cycle through
 your left weapon, right weapon, or both weapons combined, assuming you
 have two weapons in your inventory.  This is useful for choosing which
 weapon you want to replace when picking up a new weapon or when you need
 the abilities of only one of your two weapons and not the combination.

Shot: Hit the shot button (usually B).  Shoots your currently chosen
 weapon.

Jump: Hit the jump button (usually C).  If you're running in a direction
 already, you'll jump diagonally forward; otherwise, you'll just go
 straight up.  Note that jumping is one way to overcome your limitations
 from Free Shot and Fixed Shot, since you can always shoot in any
 direction while in the air, and you can always jump while shooting.


--Advanced Actions--
Throw: Hit Shot when an enemy is near.  There are two things to note when
 throwing.  First is that anything that can be picked up can be thrown --
 and there a lot of things you can pick up in this game: enemies, skull
 bombs, even your partner!  Second is that the throw direction can be
 controlled by holding down a direction as you throw an enemy.  This can
 be quite useful for throwing enemies and other objects at each other. So
 when someone throws a skull bomb at you, catch it in mid-air and throw it
 right back!

Pick Up Items: Hit down and Shot when near an item.  Essential for picking
 up new weapons and extra life (hearts).  Note that if you already are
 carrying two weapons and pick up another weapon, the new weapon will be
 pushed from the left, i.e. you will lose your right weapon, your left
 weapon will be pushed to the right, and the new weapon will be added to
 the left.  If, however, you only have one weapon selected instead of
 both, the new one replaces the selected weapon, allowing some more
 control over which weapons you want to keep.

Low Slide: Hit down, down/forward or down/back and Jump.  This can also be
 done while crouching.  The Low Slide is quite powerful compared to normal
 shots and can take down enemies that get too close.  Note, however, that
 enemies in the later levels can block the Low Slide.  Also useful for
 sneaking past high attacks and other nasty things tossed at you.  If
 you're on a platform, make sure to use a diagonal direction to slide, or
 else you'll end up hanging instead.  Also note that you can slide while
 shooting if you're using Free Shot (Fixed Shot won't because you can aim
 down).

Power Slide: An undocumented move.  Do a half circle forward (back,
 down/back, down, down/forward, forward) and hit Shot.  This slide travels
 farther and seems more powerful than the Low Slide, allowing you to clear
 out more enemies.  However, it doesn't avoid attacks.  You cannot do the
 Power Slide while shooting.

Hanging: If on a platform, hit down and Jump.  You'll drop from the
 platform to hang on the underside.  This can also be done by jump
 underneath a platform; you will automatically grab the platform if it is
 close enough.  It is possible to move while hanging, but it's slower
 than the standard run.  While you are hanging, you operate like you have
 Fixed Shot; you can fire in all eight directions but must stop to fire.
 This can be useful if you have Free Shot.  To stop hanging, either hit
 Jump to climb back on the platform or hit down and Jump to drop to lower
 ground.  The flip you do to climb back on the platform counts as a short-
 range attack.

Body Splash (Free Shot only): Hit Jump while in the air.  Smash enemies on
 your way down.

Jump Kick (Fixed Shot only): Hit Jump while in the air (while going up).
 I think it also works when you hold up while jumping and hit Jump.

Drop Kick (Fixed Shot only): Hit a downward direction and Jump while in
 the air.  Can also be done if jump is hit while coming down from a jump.
 If down/forward is used, you will move a tad faster while kicking.

Wall Jump: Hit Jump while close to the edge of a wall or the edge of
 the screen.  You will grab hold of the wall and jump from the wall.
 This can be used to climb enclosed spaces and to gain extra height on a
 jump to reach high platforms/enemies.

Block: hit Shot and Jump together.  Seems to reduce damage taken from enemy
 shots, but doesn't prevent the enemy from throwing you.  I'm not sure
 whether other attacks such as bombs or those claws from Pink's level are
 affected.



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--FREE VS. FIXED SHOT--
-----------------------
When you first start the game, you're given the choice of Free or Fixed
Shot.  The differences are as follows:

Free Shot: You can move and shoot at the same time.  However, you can only
 fire in three directions, namely forward, diagonally up/forward, and up.
 (You can actually fire in five directions total, it's just that to fire
 in what would be the back and diagonally up/back you have to change
 directions, so it's just you firing forward while facing in the other
 direction.)  This has the advantage of great mobility; you can
 continually move and avoid enemy attacks while maintaining an attack.
 However, you can't shoot below you unless you jump in the air; thus,
 it's better to stay on the ground to keep all the enemies within firing
 range.

Fixed Shot: You can shoot in all eight directions, but must stop to shoot.
 Also, while you're shooting, you cannot crouch if you are already
 standing, since hitting down will simply shoot down.  Fixed Shot does
 better when you're on the higher platforms, since less enemies will jump
 on the platforms to get to you and flying enemies will be a lot closer
 and thus easier to shoot.  It is still possible to move while shooting
 by jumping, but even then the mobility is limited.

So, which one is better?  It depends partly on the style of play you like,
the weapon you have, and the enemy situation.  I've found that it's easier
to clear normal enemies when using a Free Shot, but that many of the bosses
are easier on Fixed Shot, due to the Fixed Shot ability to continue
shooting the opponent without bumping into it.  When playing two-player,
it's a good idea for one to be Free and one to be Fixed, since you can have
the advantages of both.



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--WEAPONS--
-----------
There are four different types of weapon available.  To make life even
more interesting, Treasure has given each character two weapon slots, so
that each character can have two weapons.  If both active, these weapons
combine their abilities into a new weapon with new abilities.  Unlike many
other games, you do not lose your weapon if you are hit, and you are free
to switch between either weapon and the combination at any time.


--Basic Weapons--
Force: Fires rapid shots of little orange balls.  Basically a speedy
 version of standard game weapon shots.  Works well with both Free and
 Fixed Shot.

Lightning: Fires long blue-white streams.  The advantage to lightning is
 that unlike other weapons, lighting will continue through enemies,
 meaning so long as you can aim at something you can hit it, regardless
 of what's in the way.  The rate of fire, however, is slow, so there are
 large gaps between the lightning pulses.  Works well with both Free and
 Fixed Shot.

Chaser: Fires small green triangles.  Chaser's claim to fame is, as the
 name indicates, that the shots all home at enemies.  Thus, one never has
 to aim with Chaser.  The standard Chaser will split its attention among
 all the enemies on the screen.  This, coupled with the relatively weak
 power, means that it might take a long time to clear the screen.  Works
 well with both Free and Fixed Shot, although since you don't have to aim,
 using this in Fixed Shot is somewhat wasteful.

Fire: Fires short stream of flame.  The most powerful of the standard
 weapons, Fire also has the shortest range.  Unlike Force and Lightning,
 Fire has no angle restrictions, i.e. it doesn't shoot _only_ in one of
 the eight directions if you rotate your aim, although your aim will
 eventually lock in one of those directions after you're done rotating.
 Fire works much better in Free Shot, since you must constantly move close
 towards your enemy.


--Weapon Combinations--
(I made up some funky names for fun)

Force + Force ("Writhing Blaster"): Shoots large orange balls in a stream
 that constantly wavers in its aim.  This makes it quite easy to hit
 enemies, since the wavering extends the area of effect.  Works with both
 Free and Fixed Shot.

Lightning + Lightning ("Laser Beam"): Same as the normal lightning, except
 that the beam now has no breaks.  Works with both Free and Fixed Shot.

Chaser + Chaser ("Star Chaser"): Works the same as the normal Chaser,
 except that the triangles have been replaced with stars and the speed and
 power have been improved.  You can keep a reserve of stars by shooting
 while no enemies are around; a number of stars will circle you for
 awhile, ready to head towards the next target you see.  Works with both
 Free and Fixed Shot, although again the lack of aiming makes Fixed Shot a
 bit pointless.

Fire + Fire ("Flamethrower"): The normal Fire effect, just double the range
 (which is quite an improvement).  Works with both Free and Fixed Shot;
 the extra range gives Fixed Shot some more to play with.

Force + Lightning ("Laser Blaster"): Shoots rapid bolts of blue lightning.
 The shots can go in any direction, meaning the spread is much larger if
 you wave around your aim, as bolts will go flying in every direction.
 This does slow down your turning speed as you change your aim, however,
 so if you really need to take down that enemy behind you _now_, you
 should stop firing, aim behind you, and then start firing.  Works with
 both Free and Fixed Shot.

Force + Chaser ("Homing Blaster"): Shoots a stream of large orange balls
 that have limited self-aiming abilities.  Note that unlike the other
 Chaser combinations Homing Blaster will not hit all of the enemies, just
 those within the general direction of where you're aiming, so there's
 still a bit of aiming work involved, although you can usually get enemies
 up to 60 degrees or so of where you're aiming, so it's pretty lenient.
 The one large problem with this weapon is that it is the only Chaser
 variant that can only focus on one enemy at a time, making it inefficient
 for clearing the large groups of enemies you will undoubtedly see.  Works
 with both Free and Fixed Shot; the need for (some) aiming gives this
 weapon some benefit in Fixed Shot.

Force + Fire ("Grenade Launcher"): Shoots the large orange balls we all
 know and love.  The firing rate is the slowest in the game, but the
 orange balls this time are explosive -- if they hit anything, they
 explode into a large-radius attack.  This makes the Grenade Launcher a
 great crowd clearer.  Also, the ball can be blown up at any time.  Just
 hold down the Shot button to fire, then release it when you want to
 detonate and the ball will automatically explode.  This allows for a
 great deal of control in your shots; you can rapidly tap the Shot button
 to get a short-range shield of explosions, or you can wait until you
 shoot two balls before detonating both.  You can also take out enemies by
 shooting in the general area and detonating the ball when it gets close.
 Works with both Free and Fixed Shot.

Lightning + Chaser ("Circuit Chaser"):  One of the most interesting weapon
 combinations, where the lightning will travel in a squarish paths around
 the screen hitting enemies.  What's nice about this weapon is that it can
 hit anything at any time due to the lightning, and it self-aims.  Also,
 it is one of the most efficient weapons; if an enemy takes a long time to
 kill, the Circuit Chaser will gather in a small square around the enemy,
 which doesn't waste any time since it doesn't travel from your gun.  Note
 that the Circuit Chaser will try to focus on any target, however, so at
 times it is necessary to re-aim because it's stuck on some unbreakable
 sandbag or other inanimate target.  Also, it is sometimes necessary to
 re-aim when enemies get too close and the weapon's somewhere else on the
 screen to keep your character from getting punched.  Works with both Free
 and Fixed Shot, although again Fixed Shot is less useful.

Lightning + Fire ("Lightsaber"): The Lightsaber is the shortest-range
 weapon in the game, forcing you to get _very_ close to cause damage.
 However, there are some redeeming features.  For one, the Lightsaber is
 the most powerful weapon as well, so if you _do_ get close you can lay
 down an enormous amount of damage.  The other benefit of the Lightsaber
 is that, similar to its namesake, you can protect yourself from enemy
 shots.  Unfortunately you can't reflect the shots back, but if you wave
 the Lightsaber through enemy laser shots or small particle shots, the
 shots will disappear.  This opens up some new techniques where as a Free
 Shot you simply run towards enemies with the Lightsaber extended in front
 of you; shots from enemies in front of you will be absorbed by the
 Lightsaber, and it goes right through enemies as you run into them.
 Needless to say, this weapon is vastly more useful in Free Shot.

Chaser + Fire ("Fire Dragon"):  The strangest weapon in the game, Fire
 Dragon fires a large pulse of flame that then travels around the screen
 mowing down enemies.  While it's extremely powerful, the "dragon" is
 quite slow, so if you're surrounded by enemies it might be a problem
 unless you continually tap Shot to re-aim the dragon.  Further
 complicating matters is that the dragon can be controlled by tapping a
 direction while holding down Shot.  Unless you've got a handle on
 controlling the dragon, however, this can be quite dangerous, so avoid
 this weapon until you spend some time to practice with it.  Fire Dragon
 works better with Fixed Shot, since you won't be running around and
 possibly dropping off platforms and whatnot while you're controlling the
 dragon.



----------------
---DISCLAIMER---
----------------
(c)1999 Sherwin Tam
This is my personal handiwork, and I took a lot of effort to write it.
Please do not use this commercially or alter it in any way.  Also, please
ask me if you plan to feature it on a web site or something of that nature,
as I'd rather not come across it one day and go, "Hey, how did that get
there?"



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---CREDITS---
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Treasure for making a great Genesis game.

Jmangamer for telling me how to do the Power Slide.

Seishino(Chris) for reminding me about all the things you can throw.