============================================================================
(0) Revision History
============================================================================
2.2 - July 22, 2004
Found the truth about the mechanical bird from GameFAQs board users.
Moved the info up to the Advanced Tricks section, and added the Unlimited
Vitality trick to the Stage 5 walkthrough.
2.01 - July 9, 2004
Some minor tweaking.
2.0 - January 15, 2003
Rearranged Section 2, mostly adding weapon damage table and notes on
throwing bombs, plus an overhaul on some Stage 7 strategies. Then I decided
things look so different from 1.0 that I gave it a full version promotion.
1.5 - January 2, 2003
Some strategy tips from Edge AoM (another GameFAQs board user :)), and
a few more additions to boss strategies.
1.4 - December 29, 2002
Added tips contributed by Fale (a GameFAQs message board resident), the
"story" intro from the instructions, and almost totally rewrote some boss
strategies.
1.3 - December 27, 2002
Added more notes for fighting Pink Lobster, and stuff I forgot about
Unit of the Hammer.
1.2 - November 2, 2002
Added something I should've included the first time in the Curry and
Rice part.
1.1 - October 13, 2002
Minor additions to Advanced Tricks and Stage 5 notes, provided by
SaviourV (a user on GameFAQs message boards).
1.0 - October 2, 2002
Done!
0.9 - September 22, 2002
Everything that I wanted to include is in. Just waiting for 2nd
opinions before submitting to GameFAQs as ver 1.0.
0.0000001 - August 28, 2002
The day I decided to start writing this. :)
============================================================================
(1) Introduction
============================================================================
You're probably wondering why I thought the world needed another FAQ
for a game on a dead system. I wonder sometimes why I'm spending my time on
this too, since I really just started this on a whim. First of all, I LOVE
this game! Well OK, I'm not that obsessed with it, since I've played it a
zillion times over and I spend most of my time these days on RPGs. Despite
it being so dated, I love the kind of challenge it gives me on Hard/Expert
mode. It's just right for my skill level, without being cheap or scammish,
which is why it's my favorite 16-bit action game. Secondly, and even more
important, Hard and Expert modes are FAR steeper in difficulty. You can't
approach them the way you did in Easy or Normal. Some weapons that work
wonders in easier difficulties are weakened to the point of uselessness in
the harder ones, so your choice of "useable" weapons is much smaller.
Unfortunately, there are so few Gunstar FAQs out there and they don't cover
the finer points of higher difficulties in detail. The final thing that
convinced me was when I read the Gunstar message board on GameFAQs. I saw
that there are a lot of other players who do this game at my level, so I
finally knew that it was worth it. Besides, a game like this deserves a
specialized walkthrough like this. :)
One more thins: this FAQ is written under the assumption that you've
played the game before, and thus know how the levels are structured and what
the characters/weapons/enemies look like and what they're capable of.
============================================================================
(2) Gameplay refresher
============================================================================
-----
Story (taken right out of the instruction booklet!)
-----
Is there a Hero in the House?
Sometime in the future, somewhere not too far from where you live, an
amazing adventure takes place...
The Gunstar family has been the protector of the Gunstar 9 (G-9) for
generations. Professor White Gunstar, in his youth, defeated the Robot
Golden Silver, a machine that travelled millions of miles to suck G-9 dry of
all its resources. Professor White was able to extract the four famous
Mystical Gems (the robot's power source), and imprisoned the robot on one of
G-9's moons.
But now, years later, a new menace has arisen. Colonel Red, a vicious
dictator (and a very bad dresser), found out that the Gunstars knew the
location of the Mystical Gems. One day, The Colonel kidnapped the Gunstar
twins' older brother Green and used a mind control machine to make Green
obey his orders.
With Green's help, Colonel Red has amassed all four Mystical Gems, has
turned Gunstar 9's peaceful worker 'droids into deadly menaces, and is now
preparing to leave for Gunstar 9's moon to reactivate Golden Silver. As one
of the Gunstar twins, you must fight your way past Colonel Red's Empire Army
and retrieve the Mystical gems, or Golden Silver, the Destructor will rise
again and destroy your world! Are you heroic enough for the task?
Slide: While on solid ground (i.e. not on a platform, no floors underneath
the one you're on), press down + Jump. Make sure you're facing in the
direction you want to slide to.
Running Slide: On any surface, do a half circle motion towards where you're
sliding to (e.g. to slide right, quickly swing your thumb along the D-pad in
an arc from left to down to right) and press Shot at the end of the motion.
Climbing ledges/platforms: Jump up towards a ledge or platform, then hold up
to grab. You can shoot and move left or right while hanging from below.
Hold up and press Jump to swing yourself up onto the ledge. (this move can
do damage to enemies) Press down + Jump to swing down from a ledge/platform
and hang. You have invincibility frames while flipping up and down.
High Jump: Hold up while jumping to get extra elevation. Works on both
straight-up jumps and jumping left or right.
Body Attack: While jumping, press Jump again to do a dive attack or jump
kick. Doing this while jumping left or right will propel you further in the
direction you're going. Doing this against a wall will make you dive away
from the wall (kinda like Shinobi 3). With a Fixed Shot character, you can
hold down while pressing the Jump button in midair to make his jump kick go
diagonally down. (only if he's jumping left or right, not straight up!) As
an attack, these moves do damage on each difficulty as follows: Easy -
100/hit; Normal - 50/hit, Hard & Expert - 20/hit.
Grab: Get up close to an enemy (how close you have to be varies from enemy
to enemy), hold the D-pad in the direction you want to throw him, and press
Shot. Works on in midair on flying enemies too, even some vehicles!
Grabbing items: Crouch and press shot if it's on the ground. In Stage 6,
just get your ship to be in the same position on the screen as the item orb
(the orb will cover a portion of your ship from view) and press Shot.
Atomic Booster: In Stage 6, hold the D-pad in the direction you want to go,
then press the Jump button to quickly zoom a short dist
-------
Weapons
-------
Combinations: These are the true names taken out of the instruction manual.
Forget anything else you've read! :)
Force combinations
------------------
Force + Force = Double Fireball
Force + Lightning = Rapid-fire Lightning
Force + Chaser = Chaser Force Beam
Force + Fire = Exploding Fireball
Chaser combinations
-------------------
Chaser + Chaser = Star Chaser
Chaser + Force = Chaser Force Beam
Chaser + Lightning = Chaser Lightning
Chaser + Fire = Chaser Fireball
Fire combinations
-----------------
Fire + Fire = Ultra Flamethrower
Fire + Force = Exploding Fireball
Fire + Lightning = Lightning Saber
Fire + Chaser = Chaser Fireball
Weapon power: Here, I've divided weapons into 2 types. "Bullet" types are
ones that shoot lots of single pieces. These ones I'm able to
tap the Shot button lightly enough and get just one "bullet" to
come out. "Stream" types fire continuous solid streams that do
damage so long as they touch the enemy, and work in a way that
you can't isolate a single "bullet" piece by tapping Shot.
The damage on stream types is measured by the approximate
amount of damage they do if fired continuously on a boss for 5
seconds. Exploding Fireball behaves like both types, so it
gets its own section.
NOTE: Stream weapons were tested on Timeron in the Dice Palace. It stands
1/3 a screen length away when you stand directly under it, and long-
range Lightning weapons shot straight up must travel just over half a
screen length.
__________________________________________________________________________
| Damage per hit on bosses |
| Bullet weapons Easy Normal Hard Expert |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Force (*) 12 10 10 8 |
| Chaser (*) 12 10 10 8 |
| Force + Force = Double Fireball (*) 12 10 10 8 |
| Force + Chaser = Chaser Force Beam 8 6 4 2 |
| Chaser + Chaser = Star Chaser 8 8 6 4 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Approx. damage in 5 sec |
| Stream weapons Easy Normal Hard Expert |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Lightning 1100 900 550 550 |
| Fire 1700 1450 1175 1175 |
| Lightning + Lightning = Mega-Bolt 1750 1450 900 900 |
| Lightning + Force = Rapid-fire Lightning 1775 1450 900 875 |
| Lightning + Chaser = Chaser Lightning 850 850 600 300 |
| Lightning + Fire = Lightning Saber 2300 1750 1450 1175 |
| Chaser + Fire = Chaser Fireball 2250 1750 1250 1175 |
| Fire + Fire = Ultra Flamethrower 1750 1175 900 900 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Max. damage from one shot + explosion |
| Other Easy Normal Hard Expert |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Force + Fire = Exploding Fireball 160 109 89 89 |
|__________________________________________________________________________|
(*) - Though these shoot one "bullet" at a time, they seem to act like stream
weapons. (e.g. on Normal and Hard modes, watch a boss' Vitality while
hitting it continuously with one of these; the last digit is always
changing, which it shouldn't since the damage should be 10 at a time)
It seems even damage from a bullet depends on how much contact it has
with an enemy/obstacle. If a bullet "grazes" its target, the bullet
does exactly half the damage.
Advanced Tricks
===============
- When you do Body Attacks, you're almost invincible during the time your
characters arms/legs are sticking out. You can even jump through some
enemies as well as some of their attacks. The one most prominent weakness
of this move is small projectiles like bullets and lasers.
- You're also invincible when you're throwing an enemy or a thing (e.g.
bombs). If the going gets tough and you're surrounded or thrown, hold in
any direction and keep pressing the Shot button. (don't hold it down)
Tossing bodies/things around can be a life-saver.
- A footnote to throwing things: While throwing in general is a good thing,
tossing *bombs* at things close to you produces mixed/odd result:
(a) If there's an enemy standing right next to you and there's an incoming
bomb from above, you can throw the bomb at the enemy (straight left/right,
or diagonally up) and walk into the explosion "cloud" without taking damage.
(b) This also works if you throw the bomb, straight or diagonally up/down,
against an inanimate object (e.g. boxes, wall). However...
(c) ... if an enemy standing next to or near it gets hurt by the blast, you
get damaged too.
(d) Throwing a bomb in mid-air at a close enemy that's in the air hurts
both of you.
(e) Throwing the bomb *straight* down on the ground never hurts you,
whether you're on the ground or in the air and about to land. Unlike the
above cases, it doesn't matter if an enemy gets hit by the explosion, so
it's a great tactic for getting rid of too many soldiers near you. But...
(f) ... if your feet are on solid ground/flooring and throw a bomb
*diagonally* down - and the bomb has to hit the floor, NOT an enemy - the
explosion cloud WILL hurt you.
(These discoveries all started with SaviourV notifying me of what he thought
was a bug - throwing bombs straight down at your feet and taking no damage.
From all my testing, I can't figure out which are bugs and which are
intentional, so let's not bother trying to rationalize them and move on. :))
- Despite it being considered a short-range weapon, you can use Ultra
Flamethrower for long-range attacks. When you let go of the Shot button,
the flames fly straight in the last direction you were shooting in.
- Half the time that the game provides you with Vitality or Weapon orbs, it's
usually delivered by robotic birds. When you shoot them or they pass over
your head, one orb comes out. If you want any more after that, you must Body
Attack it from the side or toss enemies into it. Here's the tricky part -
you can knock infinite orbs out of it, BUT only 3 orbs can be on the screen
at once. What this means is robo-birds with Weapon Orbs will only give you 3
maximum, since you drop an orb onto the screen whenever you pick one up -
unless you're continuing or just starting, in which case you'll have one orb
so you can pick one up, and knock an extra one out. On the other hand, you
can *theoretically* knock out unlimited Vitality Orbs - as long as you keep
picking them up before Body Attacking the bird again. You can abuse this
best with 2 players: one keeps Body Attacking and the other collects the
Vitality. (just remember to save the last few for the guy doing the work :))
Practiaclly, the only point where this can truly be unlimited is in Stage 5.
(The 3 orbs max on-screen tip was alluded to by CLASSiC 2D on the GameFAQs
message boards, but the explanation came from VoidDragon.)
- The Chaser Fireball is the most challenging weapon to use in the game. If
you stand still and shoot it shot by shot, it travels on a path to the
nearest enemy much like the Chaser Force Beam. If you don't move and just
hold the Shot button down, it'll just travel in circles on the screen and
only change its course if something targetable appears. What it's best
known for is when you hold Shot down and move the D-pad around - it'll move
in whatever direction you're holding, even if the Fireball's off the screen.
What most players probably aren't aware of is that it cancels enemy bullets
and most projectiles, much like the Lightning Saber. It can make some parts
of the game much easier, but only if you have mastered controlling it. This
is NOT a recommended for beating Expert mode for the *first* time.
============================================================================
(3) Walkthrough
============================================================================
General Hints and Tips:
First thing you should get used to is doing the first 4 stages in a
different order than whatever you did them on Easy or Normal. Even though
I've covered them in order (from left to right on the stage select screen),
here's the order I recommend you do them in:
D. Dice Palace - If you can get into the maze with at least 30 Vitality,
you have a good chance of beating the maze first! You just
need a little luck in throwing the dice, and know how to
handle each Fight situation. Besides, Black as a boss is
the easiest of the first 4.
C. Flying Battleship - I know Orange is strong, but if you do things
right, you can get to him with at least 100 Vitality and
still beat him. (I actually do this part first)
A. Ancient Ruins - You can fight either Pink or Orange next. Do Pink
first if you already have the Lightning Saber. Otherwise
you may need the extra 20 Vitality to make up for not being
able to block bullets.
B. Underground Mine - No one in their right mind should face all 7 forms
of Seven Force early in the game. ;)
Once you know where you're going and in what order, there's the issue
of whether to pick the Free or Fixed Shot character. I prefer Free, because
the ability to run and shoot allows you to dodge attacks while continuing to
do damage. At the last stage, it almost doesn't matter which Gunstar you
use because you'll either be standing in safe spots or relying on non-weapon
attacks more.
Next is weapons. In Easy and Normal, you could pretty much use any
weapon you were comfortable with and whip the game. Kiss that luxury goodbye
in Hard and Expert cuz enemy defence is much higher, so you need to stick to
strong stuff.
Weapons to have for Hard/Expert:
Double Fireball (Force + Force) - Good weapon to start the game with.
Has vulcan-like range, rapid-fire, and power.
Exploding Fireball (Force + Fire) - I know it's annoying to use
because it explodes once you let go of the Shot button, but the
damage caused by ring of fire that results from the explosions
is pleasantly surprising. Plus, it's THE weapon to have if you
want any chance of beating Golden Silver.
Lightning Saber (Fire + Lightning) - For hectic parts of the game with
bullets coming at you everywhere, you may just have to swallow
your pride or desire to use flashier weapons and stick with this
solely for the fact that it cancels small bullets. Oh, and it
also helps that it's the strongest weapon in the game, but ONLY
if your enemy is within range.
Weapons to AVOID for Hard/Expert:
almost anything combined with Chaser - In most games, the penalty for
using heat-seeking weapons is lower damage per shot. That rings
as true as ever here for Hard/Expert. In Easy/Normal, you could
just hold your Shot button down and let a Chaser-combo weapon
do your dirty work while you stood in a safe spot. Anything
above Normal, and you'll find yourself waiting forever as grunt
soldiers in front of you absorb your shots, while a swarm come
in from behind and hold/throw you. The one exception to this
is the Chaser Fireball, and that's ONLY if you're good with the
Fixed Shot character. A semi-exception is a plain Chaser gun
not combined with anything; though its bullets are slower, it
deals more damage than a Star Chaser, and doesn't chase around
the wrong enemies. Otherwise, only take a Chaser orb early
in the game or if continuing, and they don't throw anything
better at you.
Knowing this, I prefer to start my game off with a Force gun - a standard,
machine-gun like weapon with moderate power, and combines to form decent
weapons with ALL other weapon orbs, including itself. These are important
properties if you die and have to continue. The game will usually provide
one weapon orb right away at the start of a stage or from the point you
continue.
Now with that said, on with the meat and potatoes of this FAQ! (i.e.
the stuff that you're REALLY reading this for :))
_______________________________________________
(3.A) ANCIENT RUINS
_______________________________________________
Try not to waste too much time with the small fry enemies. As weak as
the red-uniform soldiers are, you can find yourself overcomed if too many
are on the screen at once along with the flying drones. Make use of your
Body Attack to propel yourself faster. Also, ignore the natives' huts -
you're not gonna gain or lose points if they're destroyed or not.
Balloon Bomber - 2 damage each time balloon-shaped pollen lands on you
Mother Ant - 8 damage if the caterpillar it sends down runs into you
Strategy:
Pathetically easy in Easy/Normal, but can be a nuisance in Hard/Expert.
It'll depend on what weapon you have. Some weapons like Double Fireball and
Exploding Fireball cause it wave wildly side to side, making it frustrating
to hit. Chaser weapons will track it down no matter where it slides, and
Lightning weapons, Ultra Flamethrower, and even a plain Fire gun will keep
it in place and drain its Vitality fast. General idea is to stay in the
middle of the screen and shoot up, taking a little time off to shoot Mother
Ant when it appears. You may be forced to run around to find a safe haven
from mass numbers of Balloon Bombers. If you have Lightning Saber, you can
use it to get rid of Balloon Bombers while jumping up and hitting the plant.
-----------------------
After the 4th hut you come across, you'll have to climb up the side of
a pyramid. Take my advice: forget the flying grunts, forget the items that
the robotic birds drop - just hold right or up-right and keep jumping 2
steps at a time as fast as you can. On these harder difficulties, the
flying grunts can fill the screen with laser bullets and make it nearly
impossible to climb - but not if you keep moving away and keep the screen
scrolling up.
---------------------
Mini-boss: Bravoo Man
---------------------
Vitality: 3421
Points: 24092
Attacks:
Spinning Driver, Dragon Punch, etc. - 8 damage each time you touch an
"attacking" part of its body where the "cubes" change their color
Strategy:
Big difference from the easier difficulties - and I do mean BIG. Just
look at the size of it now! Best approach is to shoot it from a distance,
then Body Attack right through it when it gets close to get behind it, and
then keep shooting it from behind. If you're having trouble timing your
Body Attack, just slide at its feet and take whatever damage you're given.
Once you get behind Bravoo, it'll randomly decide to keep walking to the
edge of the screen, turn around, and walk back, or use its Spinning Driver
to heal itself. If it's the Driver, jump and Body Attack your way through
Bravoo. In Hard mode you can also slide between its spinning arms, but not
in Expert where its arms rotate too fast. Bravoo is noticeably weak against
Fire weapons.
Interesting note: The computer chooses Bravoo's attack arsenal/pattern
at random. Dunno if it's one pattern per fight, or if it changes every time
after it uses Spinning Driver. There are, however, a few times when it does
almost nothing but backflips when you get near it. In other words, you can
just stand in one place and shoot, and it'll almost never attack. Most of
the time tho, you won't be lucky enough to get this. (and in case you're
curious to find out, preventing the natives' huts from being destroyed does
NOT affect Bravoo's attack pattern!)
---------------------
The slide down the pyramid can be handled 2 ways:
EASY WAY (contributed by Fale) - Avoid damage altogether by standing at the
top of the slope right at the beginning. I'm not talking just below Player
1's status either, I mean right behind the status area. Either walk all
the way left, or just until your feet are out of view, and you'll be safe.
In this position, the bouncing soldiers go over your head and the sliding
ones shooting laser bullets can't hit you. For those who don't want to
sacrifice points for the sake of safety, shoot to the right to get the
bouncing soldiers and hold up and press Shot rapidly to throw the sliding
one when he comes along.
HARD WAY - If you prefer not to look like a chicken, stay in the middle of
the screen and fire up-left while jumping over any lasers shot at you. If
you're using a short-range weapon (Lightning Saber, Ultra Flamethrower),
stay near the top of the screen and wave your weapon above and left, and
get up close and throw the sliding one when he arrives. (if you've got the
Saber, it's easier to turn Lightning off and just use the Fire gun)
On the ground, try to get a Fire orb out of the bird, if you don't
already have one. Fire weapons make the next boss fight much easier. As
for the bee hives, destroy them from a distance if you can. Just keep in
mind that the bees only do 1 damage each time they touch you, while the
Pinky Roader's arm will do 10 damage, so if you have a short-range weapon it
may be better just to ignore them and run along instead of wasting time and
Vitality trying to get rid of 'em while getting hit by the arm.
==================
BOSS: Pinky Roader
------------------
Vitality: 3201
Points: 68000 + 2 per bomb destroyed + small bonuses for hitting gun arm
Attacks:
Hitman Shot - 3 damage each time you're hit with a laser shot
Iron Knuckle - 12 damage if the arm with a spiked iron ball touches you
(bomb) - 10 damage if you're caught by one of its heat-seeking bombs
other - 20 damage if it steps or lands on you
Strategy:
First order of business is to weave through the Hitman Shots that are
headed your way. Move left and right, slide or Body Attack off the wall
if you're cornered. Don't be
surprised if you don't get many shots on the Roader's body - unless you're
using Lightning Saber, which can protect you from the Shots and do
considerable damage. After Pink's tall goon's had his fun, the Roader will
either start stomping its way to the other side of the screen, or jump one
or more times to opposite sides of the screen and then stomp. You'll want
to get under it somehow before the Hitman Shots start happening again. If
it jumps, get to where it's gonna land and position yourself so that you'll
be between its legs when it lands. Crouch or (if you're not in position
yet) slide in the direction it's moving just before it touches ground.
(otherwise, the body will squash you for 20 damage) Shoot straight up and
watch for its next move. If it jumps again, repeat the process. If it goes
stomping, and you're not under it yet, you have to slide under its feet
(easy to do on Hard, not so on Expert). As it stomps, follow it while
shooting up at its body, which should also destroy the bombs it sends out.
Shooting the spiked ball on the arm that comes after the bombs will prevent
it from Iron Knuckling you. (you should be able to hit the ball and Roader's
body at the same time if you're in the right position; if not, wave your
weapon around) Once it stops stomping, it's back to the Hitman Shots.
Hopefully you've done enough damage by hitting it from below that it won't
be much longer until it's dust.
An alternate strategy, pointed out by SaviourV, is to get under the
Roader before the fight starts when it jumps out from the background. Best
way I find to do this is to stay close to the right edge of the screen when
the WARNING! for the boss comes up, then do a couple of quick Body Attacks
and a slide to the right as the screen moves right. Don't touch the right
edge or else you Body Attack will bounce you off it to the left. Once
you're under it, and if you have a Lightning Saber, it's very easy to block
Hitman Shots and damage the Roader at the same time. The gun arm stays to
the left of the Roader's body and can't extend above it, so most of the time
you can just wave the Saber around up and up-left. You can also use Chaser
Fireball to get the same results from this position - even if you're using
Free Shot, since your movement is limited by the Roader's legs.
A couple of side notes: First, you can hang from the underside of the
body. Dunno what advantage this gives you or if there's any point to it,
since you'll fall off whenever the body dips down. Secondly, hitting the
tall goon when he's out showering you with Hitman Shots gives you points.
It only raises your score 1 point at a time, so it's not worth paying too
much attention to. Dunno if this means you can destroy the gun arm (I've
tried - on EASY - but haven't been patient enough to find out).
==================
Not much to say, because there's no mid-bosses here (and for very good
reason, when you see Seven Force :)). Just a few things I should mention:
- The instruction booklet doesn't say, but you can slide in your mining
cart! On top of that, soldiers can't seem to block on their carts, so abuse
at will. (thanks to Fale for spotting this)
- You may find it pretty tough using a Fixed Shot character here because you
can't dodge laser bullets and jump kicks while shooting all over at the
hordes of soldiers high and low. If you're stuck crouching and shooting
while bullets come from above/below, rely on slides to escape.
- During the vertical section in the middle of the level, if you have a
narrow weapon (like most Lightning combo weapons) try to keep your back to
the wall while shooting the soldiers. Otherwise, you'll see your shots
going just by their heads while they continue to hit you with bullets.
- Be prepared for a long fight witht Seven Force if you're using a Lightning
Saber against it. The Soldier and Urchin forms must be fought with long-
range weapons, which means you'd have to turn off the Fire portion of the
Saber and rely on the weak little lightning gun.
For simplicity, I've listed the forms of Seven Force in the order that
the game's "Warning!" shows them in...
=================
BOSS: Seven Force
-----------------
(i) Soldier Force
Vitality: 4101
Points: 11111
Attacks:
Arm Vortex - 10 damage if its rotating arm extends and hits you
Arm Boomerang - 6 damage each time you touch any of the 3 projectiles it
throws high and goes right, then left
(bomb) - when it tosses 3 green balls onto the floor, it's 8 damage if
you touch them anywhere along the arc they're thrown along
other - 4 damage every time you touch his feet (e.g. when he slides)
Strategy:
In a way, despite its average-damage attacks, this is one of the more
dangerous forms of the 7. Even though it doesn't throw enough at you to
kill you, it can cost you a fair amount of Vitality if you don't get rid of
it quickly.
The 2 biggest differences in Soldier's attack patterns on harder
difficulties is its Arm Vortex and predicting what it throws. First of all,
its arm extends out much faster, and can attack in 2 styles - it can aim at
where you're at and attack you up to 4 times (you'll see this style most
often), or the arm will rotate a certain number of degrees (usually 180) and
shoot out every few degrees. Secondly (and this is what makes it dangerous)
it mixes up its projectiles more - even if you hang out on the ceiling more
often. You'll still see more Boomerangs than Bombs, but you may see odd
things like 2 or 3 bombs thrown in a row. Also, I've seen it throwing bombs
sometimes while jumping backwards.
Stay on the ceiling unless you're escaping Boomerangs, in which case
return to the ceiling as fast as possible to avoid its slide. When it
throws a projectile from the far left of the screen, at least you'll have a
split second to see what's coming before deciding whether or not to double-
jump. If it's throwing a projectile from the left-middle of the screen,
you'll just have to anticipate which projectile is coming as best as
possible. One thing you CAN rely on happening is when it jumps backward
from the right half of the screen, it'll only throw boomerangs. Try to come
out of this fight with at least 80 Vitality left.
----------------
(ii) Tails Force
Vitality: 4102
Points: 11111
Attacks:
Somersault Tail - 10 damage if its tail hits you when it flips backwards
Lightning Zap - 1 damage per hit of the spread of energy pellets it
shoots out of its top
other - 8 damage if you touch its body
- 10 damage if you touch its tail
Strategy:
It'll start the fight in the centre of the screen and leave itself open
for free shots, then make its rounds along the edges counterclockwise. Get
to the right side as it comes down along the left, then move to the top.
It'll start using its Lightning Zap when it gets to the bottom of the left
side. Double jump to the top left side as soon as there's room so you don't
get caught in the pellet spray when it shoots upwards, then follow its tail
down the left side so you'll be out of harm's way when it shoots to the
left. When it gets to the top right, it'll either stop shooting or continue
making another round along the sides. Get to the bottom right no matter
what happens. If it decides to stop going along the edges, you'll have just
enough time to quickly switch back to the left side before its tail moves
down on your head.
Next, Tails can do one or more of 3 different types of actions. Stay
in the middle of the left side of the tunnel and get some shots in while
waiting for its next move. You'll know the Somersault Tail's coming if it's
moving right up into your face. Move up/down at the last moment before it
stops, and its tail will hit nothing but air when it backflips twice. If
its head rears back, it's gonna do a Lightning Zap. Your position should be
level with its head and above the end of its tail before it shoots - maybe a
little higher if necessary. (don't be afraid of being hit with Lightning Zap
- the pellets do much less damage than touching the tail as it sticks out
left just before Tails shoots) Once the tail moves away a bit, quickly move
down a little and shoot right while the Lightning Zap's going on. After
either of the above attacks, it may decide to swing its tail while moving
randomly about. In this situation, just stay near the top left and shoot
its head.
When you see Tails tip its head forward, it'll start its clockwise
travel up, left, and around the sides again. Pretty easy pattern, huh? :)
-----------------
(iii) Tiger Force
Vitality: 4203
Points: 11111
Attacks:
Sight Laser - 8 damage per touch if the you're in its crosshairs when
its tail shoots an energy beam at you
Trace Zapper - 10 damage per touch of its reflecting laser
(grenade) - 20 damage per touch if you're within the outer range of its
its crosshairs when its tail fires an exploding energy ball
other - 1 damage per touch if its legs run over you on the ground
Strategy:
Everything Tiger throws from you is pretty straightforward. Stay on
the ceiling. First comes the crosshairs part. Just keep moving left and
right across the screen to stay out of the targets that follow you around.
If for some reason you're having trouble staying away from the crosshair
targets, then (a) try staying on the ground half the time, since running
into Tiger is less damage than being shot by its tail, and (b) maybe you
shouldn't be playing on Hard/Expert mode. :)
Second part of Tiger's attack is the 3 Trace Zappers. Most of the
time, it aims its reflecting laser so that it hits you somewhere along its
path. Sometimes, it just shoots in a random direction, possibly to trick
you into moving out from a safe spot to a spot along the Zapper's path.
It's up to your judgement where to move to. Just don't forget to lay in a
lot of damage to it while it's targetting its laser.
----------------
(iv) Eagle Force
Vitality: 4006
Points: 11111
Attacks:
Dance Dance - 8 damage if you touch any part of its body
Spread Laser - (doesn't use it until Stage 6)
Strategy:
What you do here depends on what position Eagle's in when it dances.
When it's vertical (i.e. its head is facing down or up), sneaking past it is
a little bit tricky. You have to watch its tail and arms as it moves up and
look for which side has either both a wing and its tail sticking out, or no
wing or tail. Get on that side of the screen, and move down below Eagle
when both its wing and tail move out of the way on that side. The other
side of it will always have either a wing or the tail sticking out. It's
not totally impossible to slip between them, but why go thru the trouble? ;)
Another thing I suggest is to always have your face towards Eagle. Even if
you get behind it, the tail might swing above your head and will touch you
if your back is to it. Facing in its direction puts you a bit closer to the
wall and out of the tail's way. Anyway, if you have a Fixed Shot character
you can hold down the Shot button and aim diagonally up at Eagle when you
get to the bottom corner. For a Free Shot character, you may have to wait
for it to move up a little so there's room for you to shoot.
It's a lot easier when Eagle comes at you horizontally (i.e. its head
is facing left or right. Just be aware of which wing it sticks out in front
of its beak and when. As long as you know how to avoid the wings, park
yourself in front of its head and have a blast. ;)
Once it's done dancing, it'll rise up, then come back down with its
wings extended out until it's near the bottom of the screen. Just sit at
the bottom corners and shoot into the middle as it passes by, then move up
to the middle of the screen or higher right away before it comes back for
more Dancing.
-----------------
(v) Blaster Force
Vitality: 4007
Points: 11111
Attacks:
Grenade Shoot - 4 damage if it "shoots" you with a blue bullet
Gold Bullet - ??? Perhaps when it's changing its bullet clip...
(Why not? A golden clip for a Golden Gun. :))
Strategy:
It does Grenade Shot several times before reloading on bullets (12 on
Expert mode). Also, on harder difficulties it only spins for half a second
between shots, and when it stops it fires right away.
HARD WAY --- To challenge your reflexes, stay at the bottom left of the
screen and time your jumps so that its Grenade Shoots fly under you. Get
under it and pound your weapon into it when it changes clips.
EASY WAY --- There are safe spots to stand under and above the centre point
of Blaster. If you can't see the "centre" right away, it's the ball part
that seems to stay still when it spins while the rest of the gun rotates
around that part. You don't have to stand directly under the centre. On
the ceiling, don't be more than half your body width left or right of it,
and on the ground you can be 1.5 body widths to the left without being hit.
Once you're in position, shoot straight up and lay a licking on it.
It might also be worth mentioning that touching any part of Blaster
will not harm you.
-----------------
(vi) Urchin Force
Vitality: 4302
Points: 11111
Attacks:
Hyper Sonic Spin - 4 damage per touch if you come into contact while
it's spinning and bouncing all over
Rush and Roulette - 8 damage if any of its energy balls hit you
- 4 damage per touch if you jump into its body
Strategy:
You've got to be alert here if you don't want to be runned over. Spend
most of your time on whichever side of the tunnel you're most comfortable
with during the Hyper Sonic Spin phase of this fight. (e.g. being a
righthander type, I like staying left and shooting to the right) When
Urchin appears, it stays still in the middle of the screen for a couple of
seconds, so get some free shots in, then move down. The idea is to stay on
your preferred side of the tunnel, and opposite of wherever Urchin's
bouncing back and forth. Shoot diagonally up a few times, but be aware that
it may move up or down after as soon as it bounces twice (once forth and
once back). If it goes up/down the wall you're NOT on, you just have to
move straight up/down to the opposite corner; but if it does come down your
side, you've gotta quickly double-jump to the other wall, move up/down away
from it, then double-jump back to your preferred wall. Hopefully you have a
decent long range weapon for this part. If you're a Free Shot character
using a Lightning Saber, have fun hitting it with your Lightning gun. :P
Once you finally get its Vitality down to 1500 or lower, Urchin uses
Rush and Roulette for the rest of the fight. It'll randomly appear anywhere
along the centre of the tunnel, then spin and form energy balls on its
spines. It stops at a random position and sends the balls straight out.
What you want to do is get right next to it and pound your weapon into it
until it stops, then see where the energy balls are and position yourself
between the nearest pair.
----------------
(vii) Crab Force
Vitality: 4505
Points: 11111
Attacks:
Crash Mine - 10 damage if the red balls collide with you and explode
Will o the Wisp - 4 damage if its white energy balls hit you
(wall) - 6 damage if the metal extending walls it sends smash into you
Strategy:
HARD WAY --- You'll need a long-range weapon here since you'll be keeping
your distance. (unless it's the Lightning Saber; read the next paragraph)
It throws 3 types of projectiles along the ground and ceiling. Stay at the
right side of the screen, keep your thumb on the Shot button, and keep your
eyes on whatever is materializing in its "claws." If it's a red metal ball,
it's the Crash Mine and will travel straight. You can just jump straight up
and let it pass under you. If it's a white energy ball, it's Will o the
Wisp and will travel to the opposite corner of the screen. (e.g. if it
appears at the upper "claw," it will travel diagonally down to the lower
right corner). You'll need to switch from floor to ceiling or vice versa.
If it's a red block, it will travel straight and extend into a wall. This
one you also have to switch between floor and ceiling to avoid. That's
basically all you'll do for the whole fight - shooting while jumping. The
skill involved is concentrating on the barrage of projectiles and reacting
right away once you recognize what's coming.
EASY WAY --- Survived up to this point with the Lightning Saber? Excellent
- you can just forget everything I just said above cuz now it's really gonna
pay off! Get in the middle of the screen, point your little sword at Crab
Force, and hold that Shot button down while you lounge back and relax! The
Saber destroys all of Crab's projectiles, and in the process turns it into
one of the easiest forms of Seven Force.
=================
When the screen starts scrolling up, kill the soldiers on the next 2
platforms that appear. Then get to the left side of the screen, face right,
and hold down the shot button. Keep jumping straight up the platforms along
the left of the screen, and you'll be killing the soldiers that appear on
every 4th platform at the same time. Stay near the top of the screen at all
times. The moment you see the top of the battleship, jump on it and shoot
left to take out the soldiers until the bombs and copter-pack yellow
soldiers come along. Stay near the right of the screen and shoot up or up-
left. If a bomb falls near you, grab and toss it up-left before it hits the
ground. Tossing bombs is fun cuz you can kill flying soldiers, and your
throwing animation is invincible against the laser bullets the soldiers
shoot at you.
NOTE: Try to clear the screen of as many soldiers as possible before the
battleship rises up and off the screen. The game has some bug where you
sometimes mysteriously take 20 damage on its way up. From all the tests
I've performed, my theory is that when the soldiers fly up just as the
battleship rises, the game somehow has them registered as objects that are
still hanging around just above the top of the screen. So if you stand
almost under the point where a soldier left the visible area, you end up
getting squished between an unknown object and the rising battleship.
Once the battleship is above the clouds, you'll meet a particularly
annoying flying soldier. He'll hover around, then stay still and appear to
shiver, the try to swoop at you with a flying kick. Now, notice that the
battleship has shifted left from how it was before it rose up, and there's
a slope on the right that's now on the screen. You can hide at the bottom
of that slope and the yellow soldier can't reach you there! The arc of his
kick never goes below the flat surface of the ship you were just standing
on. From there, just shoot up or diagonally to get rid of him. Should you
choose to take him head on, jump and use your Body Attack to go over him
while pummelling him with your weapon when he stays still. Get the 15
Vitality he drops and move on to the right.
NOTE: For high-score seekers looking to max out their points via the old
tape-down-a-button-and-leave-for-a-few-days trick, this part is for you.
Kill the flying soldier naturally (don't hide down the slope), and make
sure you're standing on the left half of the screen when he blows up. (so
the screen doesn't advance) Soldiers on foot start coming from the right
(and playing on Expert means there'll be lots of 'em). Hold your Shot
button down and shoot to the right. If your weapon is short range, inch
your way closer to the slope until it's in a comfortable position that it
kills all soldiers coming up the slope, while the left edge of the ship is
still on the screen (to prevent Soldiers from coming from the left). If
you're using Fixed Shot, you could even crouch and hold Shot down. From
there, apply your tape or book corner or whatever on the Shot button, hang
your Do Not Disturb sign on your control pad, and leave it.
Now, if you don't do this next part right, this can be one of the most
frustrating parts of the first 4 stages. There is a series of 4 round guns
sitting on "pedistals," then a sleeping soldier, then another gun. This
part means nothing in Easy or Normal because the guns don't shoot very
often. In harder modes, each one sends a stream of bullets at you. On top
of that, there are yellow soldiers coming at you from all sides trying to
kick, grab, or throw you. At worst, you'll find yourself being bounced
around all over the place and unable to shoot back. From the bottom of the
slope you just went down, jump and shoot while moving slowly right.
Hopefully you'll destroy the cannons as they come on the screen one by one.
If necessary, take some time to kill the soldiers so that they don't knock
you forward from behind and put more guns on the screen. Once there's no
more guns to worry about, don't waste time with the soldiers - Body Attack
your way to the mid-boss.
Reg Vulcan - each bullet it shoots out does 1 damage
other - 20 damage if you are caught under its feet
Strategy:
Not a threat. Its vulcans are too weak to worry about - just make sure
its feet don't step/jump on you. If you wanna save as much of your Vitality
as possible, try standing on one of its feet and shooting up at the Reg's
side. (be aware that you slip a little in one direction when it lands from a
jump) When its Vitality is below 1000, it uses its foot vulcans instead of
the centre one. It's all but dead - stand between its feet and shoot up.
For some fun, try jumping up to the "tightrope" above so that you're
guaranteed to avoid damage, then shoot down if you're a Fixed Shot or swing
down hang, and shoot left or right if you're a Free Shot. (if you do the
latter, make sure your body isn't placed in the middle of the Reg's main
section or its middle Vulcan will hit you) Two ways to grab onto the wire:
do a high jump to the right from the "pedistal" that the last round gun was
sitting on and Body Attack at the top of your jump while holding up, or
stand on one of the Reg's feet and jump up at the top of the Reg's jump.
-----------------------
----------------------
Mini-boss: Colonel Red
----------------------
Vitality: 520
Points: 23005, unless he kills himself :)
Attacks:
(bomb) - 17 damage if you touch a bomb's explosion
(After Burner (counter)) - an 18 damage counterattack if he flies
into you with blue jet fumes
other - 20 damage if you fall off the helicopter
The only tough part about this warm-up fight is predicting where his
bombs land. Watch him very carefully and try to judge the arc which he
throws them in. Don't be tempted into throwing him. After he's thrown,
he'll counterattack by ramming into you. Also of note is that the
explosions from his own bombs can hurt him, but you won't get points if the
final blow that hits him is his own.
----------------------
Rotor Press - 3 damage if you jump up while he's spinning on the copter
blades; 10 damage if he lands on you with his elbow
Hard Shoulder - 18 damage if he connects on his shoulder-block charge
Break Wind - 14 damage per touch of the blue exploding flame he throws
left or right; 9 damage per touch if he throws it down
while you're hanging below the helicopter wings
other - 10 damage if he jumps on you with a flying elbow
- 20 damage if he grabs and throws/suplexes you
- 20 damage if you fall off the helicopter
Strategy:
When you stand far enough from him, he'll either: (a) flex, then try to
ram into you with Hard Shoulder; or (b) occasionaly throw Break Wind. If
you're not too far, he'll either keep walking to you, jump and do an elbow
drop on you, or go into the Rotor Press.
SIMPLE WAY --- Just accept some damage - shouldn't be a problem if have
around 90-100 Vitality left. Let him hit you with elbow drops from the
Rotor Press, then grab him while you're flashing and throw him down or
straight up for 420 damage. If you've practiced enough though, you can
avoid the elbow and still throw him after he lands. Don't throw him off the
chopper though - he'll only take 40 damage, plus try to elbow you as he
jumps back on. Avoid Hard Shoulder by doing a Body Attack jump over him,
and hang under the helicopter if he throws Break Wind (do NOT try jumping
over it nor Body Attacking through it!). If you can't avoid an attack, take
advantage of your brief invincibility to get another throw in. And of
course, shoot him when you're far away from him, hanging below the chopper's
wings, or while he's swinging on the chopper blades.
'LEET WAY --- Another way is similar to Jamal Blackwell's strategy, listed
in Deeto's FAQ, where you have to utilize hanging under the helicopter to
avoid most of Orange's attacks. Keep holding up on the D-pad while you're
down there, then as he's about to walk above you (just before he throws
Break Wind down), press Jump to swing yourself up and KEEP holding up on the
D-pad. You're invincible as you flip up and Orange can't be knocked out of
his Break Wind animation at the start of it, so you'll sort of miss each
other (but Orange takes a little damage from your flip). Now you'll be
standing on the helicopter blades as he's throwing Break Wind down for
nothing, AND you're still holding up, so press Shot a few times until you
throw him straight up. Walk away a bit, swing under the chopper's wings,
and repeat the process. Reason why you swing up before he starts to throw
Break Wind is because if you do it as he throws it, your up-swing will cause
him to flash and you can't grab him - you'll have to get away fast before he
grabs you.
============
The first portion of the stage before you enter "Black's Base" is
teeming with soldiers and drones. Don't waste time or Vitality trying to
kill everything - use your Body Attacks and throws to plow your way through.
In Easy/Normal, you could take your time shooting the gunpod and the
soldiers running around. In Hard/Expert, the soldiers won't go away so
easily because of their higher defense. (see 'em walk right through the
gunpod's gunfire) Best way to clear enemy bodies from the screen is to
throw them into the gunpod as they come to you. Of course, sneak some shots
in when you're not chucking grunts to speed things up.
-------------------------
Keep trying to move right as fast as possible, unless a grunt gets
directly in your way. When you reach the 2nd hanging gunpod, you'll be
standing on top of a wall and there'll probably be a circus of soldiers at
the base of it. Best thing to do is jump over them and Body Attack through
the gunpod. (you'll either destroy it or take over half its health away)
For "Black's Base," I've listed every square on the dice board in
order. General rule for Fight squares is blue-green means a weak
enemy/task, yellow is medium difficulty, and orange ones are harder fights.
You can see both of its attacks coming from a mile away. When it coils
itself straight up, it'll try diving onto your exact location. When it
coils sideways, it'll dive down on the right side of the screen, then bounce
in arches to the left side of the screen. For the first attack, just run
away once you see it coming down. For the second, it lands in the exact
same spots every time, so just stand between those spots. Don't be tempted
to Body Attack it - its body's so long that you'll be touching it most of
the time when your Body Attack's over, and only the first half of its body
takes any damage.
------------------------
Square 2: Take An Item 1
------------------------
Item orbs: Force, Lightning, Chaser, 15 Vitality
(exploding seed) - 8 damage per touch of the explosion that comes out
of each seed
Strategy:
As the timer counts up to 10, keep shooting up, then move a few steps
to either side whenever it drops an exploding seed. When the timer counts
down, stand in an area with no seeds and shoot diagonally at Timeron (easy
to do with Fixed Shot; Free Shot may have to jump and shoot straight
left/right).
--------------------------
Square 4: Rush and Go!!! 1
--------------------------
To get through the maze FAST without running into the energy balls:
- punch twice right away to open the wall above you
- jump and punch, then jump and punch again to get to the top left cell
- punch once and move one cell right
- punch 3 times and move one cell right
- walk into the green wall to your right and punch it to make it disappear
so that you find yourself standing on top of one of the octogonal things
- make sure you're stand on the right half of the octogonal thingie, then
punch before you start sliding down
- punch the red wall on the right twice to open up the exit
If you don't feel confident you can get through without taking damage,
just sit where you are until time runs out. :)
NOTE: In parts of the Dice Palace where you can't use your weapon (namely
this one and Curry and Rice), there is an odd bug in the game. You can hold
down and press either Shot or Jump to slide, but if you use Shot, keep
holding the button down and you'll do a running slide right after (which
makes a wierd noise). This slide-bug does nothing though (it doesn't seem
to be considered an attack), so don't try it against Curry and Rice. :)
(projectile) - 8 damage from the starry crescent projectile he shoots
(jump kick) - 5 damage
(throw) - 20 damage
Strategy:
Get to one side of the screen, duck (to avoid Minion Shot), and shoot.
When he gets too close, do a Body Attack off the wall and get to the other
side ASAP. Don't be surprised if you find yourself running and jumping back
and forth between walls with him on your tail the whole way. Eventually
he'll stop and do something else - just be patient.
(exploding ball) - touching the energy ball it spits out is 25 damage
Strategy:
This mini-boss probably only has one purpose - to show off Treasure's
graphics back in the days. :) Don't take too long to admire the eye-candy
(there's plenty more of it elsewhere). If you don't destroy it right away,
it will eventually surprise you by spitting on you in 16 seconds. Its
pattern is to float in the middle of the screen doing nothing for 6 sec,
then follow you with its nose for 9 sec, and take one second to drop a ball
that'll bounce for a bit and explodes.
------------------------------
Square 7: gunpod under repairs
------------------------------
Vitality: 847
Just make sure you destroy the box on the left for 15 Vitality before
you blow up the gunpod. Don't bother destroying the other boxes, as you
don't get points or goodies out of them.
-------------
Square 8: Pit
-------------
Vitality: 384 each
Points: 2590 each + 20000 once they're all destroyed
Attacks:
(getting squashed) - 20 damage if either the bouncing balls land on you
or you're caught under the divider wall when it
extends itself down
Strategy:
Destroy the balls on your side of the wall as quickly as possible
before you get into a situation where they're all coming down and the wall
is moving towards you and cramming your room. If you feel like you're gonna
be trapped, you can either slide under the wall to the other side or try
jumping over or on top of a ball. You can hang from below balls too - not
that it's useful or anything, just thought you should know. ^_^
--------------------------
Square 9: Rush and Go!!! 2
--------------------------
Every weapon in the game should be able to attack the soldiers from the
other side of the wall, even without shooting all the way through. Either
shoot the wall to hit any grunts standing near it, or get so close that your
gun is sticking out the other side and shooting full blast at 'em. Kill the
first set of soldiers from where you are, then jump back and forth between
walls (like in Shinobi 3) to climb up the column. Repeat with the soldiers
behind the next wall.
-------------------------
Square 10: Take An Item 2
-------------------------
Item orbs: Fire, Force, Lightning, 15 Vitality
Nothing complicated. For fun, try tossing his bombs back at him. :)
After you whip his butt, don't forget to pick up the 15 Vitality he drops
before the screen fades out.
(laser) - 4 damage per touch of the broken laser beam that travels among
the orbs
Strategy:
The orbs light up in the order that the next Vortex Beam shot will
travel in. The idea is to use the orbs to figure out where to stand out of
the beam's path. On Expert mode though, they light up super fast. However,
the game uses the same path patterns on all difficulties, so you should be
able to recognize the pattern just by seeing what orbs light up without
minding the order. If you're not familiar with the patterns, try to see
what the first 2 orbs that light up are. The first is always the middle
one, and the 2nd tells you which way the beam will move from there, so all
you have to do be on the opposite side of the first orb. From there, you
should be able to wing it just fine. Don't forget to attack when you're not
dodging the beam - shoot straight or diagonally down with a Fixed Shot
character, or hang under the top platform to do the same with Free Shot.
(punch) - 8 damage if it punches you while you're in the air
(flip) - 20 damage per touch when it flips in the air and lands in a
squatting position
(squat) - 8 damage if it touches you during a split-legged squat
(head-bomb) - 20 damage if its head lands on you after it's beaten
Strategy:
If you stand close and in front of it, it'll drop down in a squat with
its legs sticking out. If you're airborne when you're close to it, it'll do
rapid left-right jabs. If you're close and standing under where its body
is, it'll jump and flip in the air.
There's two recommended ways to approach this. Simplest one is to get
near it to trick it into squatting, then walk a step in the opposite
direction before its butt lands on the ground, then quickly walk up into it
and attack it anyway you want. (punch does 40 damage, throw does 100) If
you don't think you can time it right, let it do a 2nd squat or a flip right
after, then move in quickly. If you're paranoid about taking damage, the
other way is to time your slides so that you hit it when its legs are
together while it's walking. After you beat it, its head will launch itself
in an arc (usually towards whichever side you are from it). It'll hurt you
big if it lands on you, but strangely the explosion it makes when it lands
on the ground doesn't harm you if you're near it.
For fun, you can try cornering it with punches! Get it in the corner
and stand right in its face before it gets up, then hold the Shot button
down. It should work for the most part, except when it flips as it gets up.
(exploding energy ball) - 17 damage if you come near the explosions
from the balls it drops behind itself
other - 20 damage if it jumps and lands on you
- 20 damage if you're on top of it when it does a high jump
Strategy:
You don't have to worry about the ball it drops behind itself unless
you're sliding under it to get to the other side. If you wanna get to the
other side to avoid being squished in the corner, it's better to do a Body
Attack off the wall to jump on top of it, then quickly jump to the other
side of it.
---------------------------
Square 15: Super Gondola
---------------------------
Vitality: 381 per part
Points: 710 per part
Attacks:
(blue beam) - 4 damage from a beam cannon's shot
(3-way shot) - 3 damage if you're hit by one of the laser bullets from
the round rotating parts
(blue fire) - 4 damage per touch of the exhaust part's flames
other - 20 damage if you fall to the bottom of the screen
Strategy:
There are 7 parts in the rotating Gondola that have to be destroyed,
plus a switch (which makes the Gondola rotate the other way every time you
hit it):
Eliminating the bomb-droppers should be your first priority. Their bombs
don't hurt you but they do destroy parts of the floor, and falling down the
holes does more damage than any part of the Gondola can do to you directly.
(this is especially important if you're shooting diagonally with Free Shot)
With a strong rapid-fire weapon (e.g. Double Fireball), you can just shoot
left or right to destroy bombs as they fall instead of being right under
them shooting up. Destroying the other parts is pretty straightforward.
-------------------------
Square 16: Take An Item 3
-------------------------
Item orbs: Chaser, Fire, 15 Vitality, 15 Vitality
-----------------------
Square 17: The Way Back
-----------------------
"Bye Bye!!" is right. It's back to Square 0 for you, literally!
---------------
Square 18: BOSS
---------------
At the end of the maze you get a Soul Bonus of 65816 points. You'll
get another 65816 for whipping Black next. :)
Red Fireball - 3 damage per touch of the stream of fire that travels
along the edges of the screen.
Yellow Laser - 2 damage per touch of any of the straight laser beams
Green Cutter - 2 damage per touch of the diagonally travelling beam
Blue Cracker - being near the bombs in the corner when they explode
does 18 damage
other - 20 damage if you're sandwiched between the body of the Stepper
and any edge of the room, or if it steps on you
- 17 damage at the end of the fight if you get hit by the fake
gem bomb Black tosses out
Strategy:
There is NO increase in difficulty for the Stepper on Hard/Expert. It
just takes a little longer destroy because of its higher defense. Its
pattern is the same: it takes as many steps as the result of the dice roll
(1-3), and activates whatever color weapon its left foot lands on.
Generally, you wanna stay within half a screen of the most of the time
Stepper, but not directly above or below it (unless you're jumping on top
and over it as it comes towards your side of the screen). Its attacks are
very easy to dodge. Yellow Laser and Green Cutter can be avoided by
standing in either lower corner. (for the Yellow Lasers, you can even stand
between the 2 vertical ones) When you know Blue Cracker's coming, just move
to the middle of the screen. Red Fireball requires a little more movement.
It always travels clockwise around the room from red section to red section.
If Black's on the right side of the screen, stand on the left platform, then
jump right so the fire stream passes under you. If Black's on the left
side, either (a) stand in the middle of the screen, then jump up to the
right platform once the stream is completely under the platform; or (b) hang
from the right edge of the right platform. And for whatever purpose it
serves (if you can find one), you can hang from the top or bottom of the
Stepper's "body."
After the fight, just stay away from the middle of the screen to avoid
the fake-gem bomb. (Then again, it probably doesn't matter if you get hit
cuz you'll have hardly wasted any Vitality on Black, right? :))
========================
Make sure you have a strong weapon for this part, because there are
LOTS of soldiers headed after you, and you need to get rid of them fast in
order NOT to get swarmed. Lightning Saber is quite helpful for blocking the
laser bullets from those annoying flying drones, but don't let that distract
you from the enemies on the ground. I wouldn't recommend the Saber if you
have a Fixed Shot character; it's much more useful with Free Shot - keep
running along with your Saber out, and wave it around once in a while to
clear away the pests.
As for how the level is structured, you'll see soldiers from the first
4 stages here, in order. You'll start with the red-pant grunts from the
Ancient Ruins, then black ones from the Dice Palace, followed by yellows
from the Flying Battleship, and greens from the Underground Mines during the
last long stretch of this stage. Each of the first 3 quarters of the stage
ends with a bomb-throwing soldier similar to Phantom from the Dice Palace.
The last quarter is a long run to the enemy battleship and the boss, filled
with even MORE grunts, drones, plus 2-legged vehicles. Scattered throughout
the level are boxes, platforms, exploding drums, and an infinite number of
soldiers. It's a fairly straightforward linear stage, so I won't detail
every step of the journey. Just a few notes:
- For the most part, keep running forward and avoid being in one place for
very long, or else the flying drones could corner you with bullets and
various soldiers can toss several bombs your way. Use your good ol' flying
Body Attacks to propel yourself away from uncomfortably large crowds of
enemies. It's your choice whether to stop to break open boxes that have
Vitality orbs in them. You DEFINITELY should stop when the robotic bird
with Vitality comes along. Read on for details...
- If you get thrown by a grunt, hold the D-pad in any direction and keep
pressing the Shot button. With all the enemies thrown at you here, there's
a good chance you'll end up throwing one of them in mid-air, which will
cause you to land safely and avoid 20 damage.
- Don't totally rely on your weapon for killing soldiers. Sometimes your
weapon takes too long and you need to get out of a jam fast, so feel free to
toss a few bodies around. Whereas your weapon takes an unknown amount of
time to kill a grunt, you can rest assured that a throw is instant death,
and can cause instant death to other enemies too. ;) You can also throw
bombs back at your enemies, or at boxes to destroy them quickly.
- Speaking of throwing bodies, you can even toss those flying yellow
platform ships that come along once in a while. Throw them down into the
ground to cause mass damage to soldiers and boxes.
- If you're using Fixed Shot, the weapon for you is probably Exploding
Fireball. Just keep running as much as possible and take an occasional
quick shot in front of you to clear soldiers in the way, and a shot or 2
above you if the flying drones are too numerous for comfort.
- At the end of this stage's first quarter, instead of going after the red
Phantom directly, get up on the top platform beforehand, then stay put
(except for getting rid of any minions close by) and let him come on the
screen and throw a bomb. The bomb will hit the drum on the ground, and the
explosion should kill the Phantom as it moves a little forward after
throwing the bomb. When he dies, so does all the other minor enemies on the
screen. This can be quite a time- and Vitality-saver for you.
- There's also a quick way to dispose of the yellow Phantom at the end of
the 3rd quarter. A flying platform-ship shows up just before Phantom
appears. Jump up to the top platform and keep moving right until the screen
stops moving and you know the yellow Phantom has appeared. Wait a little
for the platform-ship to get near you, then throw it straight down to kill
everything on the ground - and hopefully the Phantom will still be almost
directly under the ship when it crashes down.
- In the last quarter of the stage, there is a robo-bird with Vitality
that's easy to miss if you plough forward too fast. You'll come across 3
drums in this section, where the 3rd one's a soldier hiding in a drum who
walks away to the left. Shortly after it will come the bird, but from the
LEFT of the screen. You have to walk forward a few steps at a time or else
the bird will appear then disappear because it couldn't keep up with the
screen's advancing. Don't let yourself get thrown by soldiers at this point
either, or you'll fly to the right fast enough to make the bird appear and
disappear.
This point in the game is also known as the source of unlimited
Vitality, and can be accessed with either 1 or 2 players. Since this is the
only time the bird's going in the same direction as the action, it's possible
to get some orbs, destroy enemies in the immediate area to protect the bird
from being shot down, then knock more orbs out, and repeat to the end of the
stage. In practice on Hard/Expert mode, it's a HUGE challenge to keep the
bird safe from the barrage of laser bullets, bombs, and walking transports.
For 2 players, I recommend having a Fixed Shot character with Lightning
Saber riding on top of the bird to protect it from laser bullets and bombs,
while the other character's a Free Shot with a long-range weapon doing the
killing, hitting the bird, and orb collecting. Have the Fixed Shot come down
and collect some orbs when the coast is clear for a few seconds. When you
expect one of those tall bipedal walking transports to spawn on screen, the
Free Shot will have to run ahead of the bird (to prevent it from crashing
into the transports' legs) and eliminate the transport FAST.
For single players, the best way to knock out orbs is to throw soldiers
into it. There's no way you can effectively clear enemies off the screen,
Body Attack the bird, and collect Vitality at the same time on Expert mode.
Don't let the soldiers throw YOU into the bird though, as that would count as
an enemy attack and destroy it. I would feel more than satisfied to knock
out 5+ orbs and keep the bird alive up to the first transport.
- Also for the last quarter, if you're using a short-range weapon like
Lightning Saber and come across those tall 2-legged transports mentioned
above, you can take them down in one of 2 ways. Use a well-timed Body Attack
(either high jump directly into them, or jump off the left wall), or throw
any nearby soldiers into its cockpit. (just make sure they don't throw YOU
instead) Otherwise, you're looking at 20 damage when you touch its legs.
Spiral Head - 7 damage if you touch either one of the pair of fire
streams he shoots in a spiral
After Burner - 20 damage if he charges at you with blue exhause fumes
After Burner (counter) - an 18-damage charge that he counterattacks with
if you throw him while he's flying
Bravo Reg - he'll jump kick with his extendable legs to do 9 damage
(Chaser Fireball?) - 7 damage if you're hit by his heat-seeking fireball
(bomb) - explosions from the bombs he throws will do 17 damage to you
(throw) - he can throw you very high and far for 20 damage
Strategy:
His first fighting form is simple, much like when you fought him on the
helicopter. Stay to one side of the screen and keep shooting up and all
over the place and watch how the bombs are thrown. They're usually tossed
in a narrow arc in front of him, so if he's directly over your head when you
see him chuck one, you probably don't have to move. When you see him flying
backwards to one side of the screen to gear up for his After Burner, get to
the opposite side of the screen. You then have 2 options: stay on the
ground and jump over him when he charges at you, or jump up to lure him into
charging above you instead of along the ground. I prefer doing the former,
because then you can shoot him straight in the face while he's gearing up.
The latter is only if you're having trouble jumping over him. And of
course, don't try jumping up and throwing him!
For the 2nd part of the fight, the idea is to dodge his projectiles (if
possible) and not let him throw you. When he's walking around, get to one
side of the screen, shoot him as he approaches, then use your Body Attack to
jump over him to safety and get to the other side of the screen, and repeat.
If his Bravo Reg kick hits you, take advantage of your brief flashing
invincibility and throw him away for 380 damage. When it comes to his gun,
it's all a matter of luck. Ideally, you want to be between the high/low
points of his Spiral Head, and jump over the heat-seeker fireball at the
last moment. Not that simple though when he shoots these in the middle of
the screen. If he's fairly close, you're better off just standing still and
shooting him as much as possible, and hope that he uses Spiral Head and it
misses you. If you see a single large fireball coming, try to jump it.
Much simpler once he backs up to one side of the screen - you can use one of
2 strategies:
LONG WAY --- Being on the opposite side of the screen puts you exactly in a
spot where Spiral Heads will miss you, so all you have to do is time jumps
over Streaming Heads. A little tricky when he throws 2 single fireballs in
a row though. The angle which the 2nd one comes at you depends on how fast
he shoots it out and how high in the air you still are from jumping over the
1st one. You'll either have to duck the 2nd one or jump it.
SHORT WAY --- Stand about one body-width in front of him. Hopefully, he'll
shoot the Spiral Head, which will go over and under you, and leave him open
for you to walk right up and throw him into the edge of the screen. (make
sure you press the Shot button as you're about to touch him so that you
throw *him*, otherwise you'll get too close and he may throw *you*) If he
uses his Chaser Fireball imitation, just take the damage then throw him
while you're flashing and invincible. You can also go totally kamikaze on
him by ignoring what I just said, then just stand almost right next to him
and try to throw him the moment he sticks his gun out (since he can't throw
you while he's shooting). You may take more damage from using these up-
close strategies, but all the throwing will drain him quickly and shorten
the fight a lot. This is an ideal strategy if you're using the Lightning
Saber at this point, because if you did this the long way you'd have to
shoot from a distance with your meek little Lightning gun.
When his Vitality is below 800, he'll back up for good and shoot Spiral
Heads and Streaming Heads for the rest of the fight.
=====================
The spaceship portion of this stage is harder than Stage 7 if you don't
have the right weapon. The weapon of choice for it is Lightning Saber. Its
ability to block bullets and small laser shots is indispensible, since
you'll be seeing plenty of each on harder difficulties. If that's not
available, next best choice is Double Fireball for its spread range, but
you'll have to keep moving a lot more to avoid bullets. Speaking of moving,
note also that you can move your ship and shoot at the same time, even if
you're using a Fixed Shot character.
Memorize where and when enemies appear. This goes double for using the
Lightning Saber because you have to get in position and stick your weapon
right into cannons, missile launchers, and ships when they appear so that
the screen doesn't get too cluttered. For groups of ships that fly in a
pattern, centre your ship vertically and sit in a spot (left to middle of
the screen) where they'll all run into your Saber.
------------------
Mini-boss: Timeron
------------------
Attacks: (listed by clock time)
00:00:00 - it shoots small orange bullets at you for 10 damage each
00:10:00 - bullets come out from random locations on screen, except
within a certain radius around you, and head right at you
01:00:00 - number of random bullets increases
12:00:00 - the bullets come out in spread shots of 3's
20:00:00 - in addition to bullets, a small glowing orb appears above
it, then slowly chases you across the screen; coming into
contact with it instantly destroys you
22:02:00 - the glowing orb explodes and the spread shots come out in 5's
30:00:00 - the bullets shoot in random spread shots of 1-3 at a time
37:00:00 - bullets return to being single shots, but more of them come
out at the same time - sometimes from the same location
40:00:00 - another glowing orb appears and tracks you down
42:02:00 - the orb self-destructs
45:00:00 - the bullets become 5-way spread shots again
50:00:00 - bullets return to being single shots
- blue energy balls come out from random locations on the
screen as well; they bounce off the edges of the screen up to
4 times, and cause 11 damage each
60:00:00 - bullets disappear, more blue balls appear, and another
glowing orb shows up
62:02:00 - orb self-destructs
64:00:00 - blue balls replaced by bullets in singles and 5-way spreads
70:00:00 - single bullets disappear; all shots are 5-way spread shots
75:00:00 - spread shots disappear and are replaced by many single shots
80:00:00 - bullets are replaced by blue balls; glowing orb reappears
82:02:00 - orb self-destructs
90:00:00 - blue balls are replaced by 5-way spread shots
99:59:99 - "Give up!" "You open the - Satori Mind -"
As you've probably read in the Timeron FAQ by B. P. Galway on
GameFAQs.com, all there is to win are points and pride. :) Our goal however
is to survive the stage, not Timeron, so get rid of it quickly and move on.
If you're using an emulator or have a Game Genie, and want to "open the
Satori mind" real reeeeeeeeal bad, here are some Game Genie codes that can
help:
AJBT-AA5R Master Code for all Gunstar Heroes cheats
AM2T-AA4N invincibility
691T-AGHW start Stage 6 with 999 Vitality
If you're serious about taking the challenge and don't wanna cheat (WHY
NOT??? :P), I have but one tip. Mentally divide the screen into 4 quadrants
(top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right) with Timeron at the centre.
Bullets and blue balls materialize several times anywhere within the same
quadrant (e.g. for spread shots, 2 materialize in one quadrant, one after
the other), then another quadrant is selected - sometimes the exact same
one. The only quadrant they WON'T appear in is the one you're currently in.
Something to consider as you lure shots or prepare to move to safety.
------------------
When asteroids come along, keep shooting your weapon forward at them to
deflect them away. You'll suffer 10 damage if you hit a small chunk of
rock, 15 for a slightly larger chunk, and 18 for the bigger asteroids. The
asteroids are as big a piece of evidence as any that Chaser weapons are
mostly useless on Hard/Expert. Here, they'll chase after asteroids which
can't be destroyed, while the real enemies fire away at you unharmed.
After the first wave of asteroids comes a sequence of ships shooting
all sorts of crap at you. Not a problem with Lightning Saber if you're
memorizing where they pop up, but troublesome with any other weapon because
each one takes long to kill. For the latter case, I suggest only destroying
a couple of them (the first one that appears from the top-left, and the 6th
one that shows up from the top-right and shoots red shots), and dodging the
others' shots.
For the part where blue horizontal lasers are being shot at you from
the left of the screen, each laser is aimed most of the time to go *just*
above the position you're at when it's shot. If you have the Lightning
Saber as I recommended, you can sit at the bottom right corner of the screen
and watch lasers fly harmlessly above you, or at the top right corner where
they'll be shot off the screen and never get in your way. From there, it's
just a matter of pointing the Saber left to take care of all the drones and
their bullets heading straight for ya. (you can sometimes stand still in the
middle and have the lasers fly by above, but for some reason it only works
half the time) Now if you're not fortunate enough to have a Lightning Saber
at this point,s just keep moving up and down (and in between the lasers if
necessary) while shooting left and don't use your jet boosters unless you're
absolutely stuck.
After the 2nd asteroid wave, 3 sets of round ships materialize in a
circle around you and try to surround you with bullets shot inward. The
only way to avoid them is to use your booster and get out of the circle
before the ships fully materialize. With a Lightning Saber, you have
another option - point it in any one direction to block one bullet, move in
that direction, then point it in the opposite direction to take out the
opposite bullet heading at you.
When you see the soldier riding an asteroid "snake," you'd best use
your Atomic Booster and just run around the screen avoiding it. Unlike in
easier difficulties, you won't be able to destroy it before it flies off the
screen anyway so there's no sense in risking 15 damage each time it collides
into you.
(red shot) - 11 damage if you get hit by the large red shots; 6 damage
if the shot explode into bullets and one of them hits you
(yellow shot) - 2 damage if you hit the yellow horizontal lasers
(close-range bullet) - 6 damage per hit if you get too close to the gun
and it shoots you with standard bullets
other - 8 damage from a missile shot from one of the missile bays
Strategy:
The Gun aims right at you and shoots a moderate-speed red shot which
either goes off the screen or, when it's about 1/8 of a screen width away
from the right edge of the screen, separates into 8 bullets that go all
around. At the same time it shoots, the Gun sends out bullets above and
below it which form yellow lasers that travel right. If you try to get
close to the Gun - anywhere in the left 1/3 of the screen - it'll shoot a
continuous stream of slow, normal bullets at you in addition to the main red
shot. You also have to beware of the missile bays - one above and one below
the Gun - which will pop up every few seconds apart from each other and fire
3 missiles each in your direction.
HARD WAY --- To find the safe spots, concentrate on the position of the
yellow lasers and keep moving up and down between them while shooting to the
left. They're not real safe spots, since you'll still take a bit of damage
from the bullets exploding red shots, but they're better than letting the
red shots hit you in full. Don't totally ignore the red shots either - you
need to time your moves up/down so that you move out of the way of them, not
get stuck between yellow lasers with nowhere to go to avoid the cannon shot.
EASY WAY --- Got a Lightning Saber? Park yourself to the right of the Gun
and stick your sword right into it. You'll cancel the red shots, some
yellow shots, the close-range bullets, AND of course deal heavy damage to
the Gun at the same time. You still have to keep an eye out for the missile
bays though, even though you can destroy the missiles.
---------------------
Right after this, you'll have streams of ships flying along the top and
bottom of the screen. Ignore them and take out the 2 cannons that'll appear
from the right. After those comes a very tricky part. The streams of ships
criss-cross in front of you, with a cannon just past them. If you try to
shoot through the ships to attack the cannon, each ship will (like most
small enemies on this stage) throw a laser at you when it dies, so you'd
have to dodge cannon fire and laser bullets. To avoid all this, use your
boosters to propel yourself past the criss-cross wall of ships, then destroy
the cannon. You may still end up taking a bit of damage, but it sure beats
being trapped on the left side while the cannon uses you as target practice.
After some more ships, missile bays, and exploding missiles, you'll be
at the last thing standing between you and the only checkpoint in this stage
you can continue from if you die...
----------------------
Mini-boss: Seven Force
----------------------
Vitality: 4673
Points: 77777
Attacks:
Arm Boomerang - 13 damage if you're hit by a Soldier Force projectile
(charge) - 10 damage if you touch Tiger Force while it's charging
Somersault Tail - 8 damage from Tails Force's tail
Grenade Shot - 11 damage from Blaster Force's bullets
Rush and Roulette - 4 damage each from Urchin Force's laser
Crash Mine - 30 damage from colliding with one of Crab Forces' mines
Spread Laser - 4 damage each from Eagle Force's laser
other - 4 damage from colliding into Blaster Force
- 6 damage for running into Soldier Force or Eagle Force
- 14 damage if you crash into Crab Force
- 21 damage from touching Tails Force's head
Strategy:
General attack pattern can be summed up as follows:
- Soldier moves straight up and down, throwing its 3-way projectile to
whichever side of it you're on.
- If you're standing directly to its left, there's a good chance it'll
change into Tiger and charge right at you. It almost automatically
transforms if it's in Soldier form beforehand.
- It'll sometimes turn into Tails and do Somersault Tail in order to move
straight to the right.
- Blaster stays still and simply shoots Grenade Shot at wherever you are.
- Urchin stays still and shoots a 4-way laser in random directions.
- Crab mostly chases you around while tossing mines out its backside. (boy,
does that description sound... wrong o_O)
- Eagle flies after you while shooting straight laser shots in front of
itself.
Whatever weapon you're using, it's best to attack from a diagonal angle
against most of Seven Force's forms. With long-range weapons, it's easy to
keep your distance; but with the Lightning Saber which requires you to get
close, be ready to let go of the Shot button and use your boosters the
moment you see Eagle or Crab. It's possible to still attack them while they
chase you around by pointing the Saber opposite of the direction you're
moving in, but only if they come at you in a straight line. Think of
nothing but escaping with your boosters when you're near an edge of the
screen or need to make a turn. Crab can sometimes be led into a corner and
it'll get stuck there for a while. With Blaster, either stick the Saber
into it or concentrate more on dodging its shots rather than attacking.
----------------------
Before you enter the boss' lair, get a longer-range weapon than the
Lightning Saber. It's not impossible to do the next part with a Saber, but
you can save yourself time and trouble. Once you taken what weapons you
want out of the first bird that passes by, try to run, Body Attack, and
throw your way past the dark-uniform soldiers in your way. They take much
longer to kill than any other colored grunts you've come across, so don't
waste too much time shooting, especially if they're on both sides of you.
Remember to knock 3 Vitality orbs out of the next bird that flies by, as
you're probably drained from the space sequence.
Unit of the Hammer attacks:
laser bullets - 3 damage per hit (from both it and the little ships)
hammer crash - 9 damage if lands on you, or if you even touch it
spin around the core - 9 damage if you can't avoid it
Unit of the Dragon attacks:
fireballs - 8 damage per touch
Unit of the Runner attacks:
energy ball - 7 damage from its projectile
arm swing - 11 damage if you touch its arm while it's swinging
other - when the core throws out exploding drones between each fight with a
Unit, it's 12 damage each time you touch an explosion
Strategy:
The Hammer will do the most damage of the 3 Units. If you're aiming to
beat Hard/Expert with one life, then surviving the Hammer with at least 30-
40 Vitality left will give ya a good chance of surviving the other 2 units.
When the Hammer spins around, you should be able to tell from its
elevation in the background exactly whether it's coming high or low when it
swings to where you are. If you have to jump, remember to shoot down as it
passes under you! Beware of the large drone ships above that rain a stream
of bullets straight down. 1 in every 2 or 3 will appear right above you, so
you can't sit still waiting to jump the Hammer or not. After the Hammer
stops, take advantage to get as much damage in as possible, then get ready
to do some dodging as it starts crashing down. Sometimes it will do several
hammering attempts at you in a row, in which case you can just move in the
opposite direction each time then turn around and get some shots in. Other
times, it'll delay its drop so it can position itself to land on you. There
are 2 approaches you could take: (a) Try to anticipate when it'll drop, then
get out of the way. I suggest using Body Attacks instead of sliding to
dodge because they propel you further and the invincibility frames provide
some protection - but they don't always pay off if the Hammer's too close.
(b) If you're in good health, you could stay close to the hammer and try to
confuse it by walking back and forth fast (1-2 steps left/right) Since it
falls in an arc, once it commits itself, chances are you'll be walking the
other way when it lands. Even if you're not, you have a fraction of a
second to react anyway. Make sure you take at least a full step in each
direction - anything less, and the Hammer will consider you to be standing
still and drop straight down. When it has under 450 Vitality left, it no
longer tries to swing around the core, and the drones you saw while it was
swinging around the core appear for the rest of this fight. After it dies,
it will "heat-seek" you for one last attack if you're anywhere near it.
You'll be safe if you're about half a screen's length away, but if you like
living dangerously, just slide the moment it begins to fall.
Fighting the Dragon is much simpler, if you're a Free Shot user. Keep
shooting up or diagonally up while moving from one side of the screen to the
other to avoid the blue fireballs. For Fixed Shot users, you'll spend most
of your time dodging, then sneaking in some shots when the coast is clear of
fireballs. Don't be afraid to jump to avoid fireballs - touching the Dragon
doesn't hurt ya.
As ridiculously easy as the Runner is, you can't afford to attack it
recklessly. Stay on the left side of the screen, and jump over every
*other* energy ball it throws. If your weapon only shoots straight, take
jump shots whenever the coast is clear. Beware of when it gets too close to
where you're standing - duck in the corner, then jump ONLY if you know a low
energy ball is about to be thrown. This part is the reason I recommend a
weapon with better range than the Lightning Saber, cuz otherwise you'll have
to disable the Fire portion and use a normal Lightning gun to hit the Runner
from the left of the screen, which will take forever. Also, for thrill
seekers looking to make this fight more challenging, lemme tell ya that
trying to do Body Attacks through its spinning arm is hard to time and not
worth the risk. :P
=======================
If you survived the Core with a Lightning Saber, you deserve props for
your patience and skill! You can still make use of it for most of this
stage, but if you're not comfortable with its lack of range, try to form a
Double Fireball or Exploding Fireball with the weapon orbs in the boxes at
the start of the stage.
Heavy Vulcan Shoot - 3 damage per laser that hits you
Walking Press Eddie - 20 damage if it charges into you
other - 20 damage if it lands on you while jumping backward, and if
you're standing on it when its jump hits the top of the screen
Strategy:
Stay on the left side of the screen and shoot at Pink's goons before
they try to run you over. (for Lightning Saber users, turn off Fire and jump
and shoot with the Lightning gun) After the Battalion stops, duck the
moment you see 'em move no matter what their action is. If they charge you,
slide away to the right side. If they walk forward slowly, they'll try to
stop right in front of you and shoot down at you, so slide under them and
get to the other side before they have the chance. If they shoot to the
left, you'll already be ducking (and hopefully getting more shots in), but
then you have get ready for their next move once they stop. When you're
behind them, they'll jump backward while shooting down. Get as many shots
in as you can until both you and the Battalion are close to the right of the
screen, then time a slide under to the left on its next jump. (if you time
it right, none of the vulcan lasers will hit you)
When the Battalion is destroyed and the tall goon tries to annoy you as
best he can before meeting his demise :), you may be tempted to use long
range weapons and keep your distance. Problem with that is he's going to
jump towards you sooner or later. Best way to get rid of him quick and save
your vitality for more important fights is to throw him (294 damage) a few
times. Stand right where he is before he kicks the little goon off the
screen, hold up or down and press Shot repeatedly to throw him right away
when his Boss Vitality appears at the top of the screen. A couple of more
throws and he's toast. Whenever he's not close enough to throw or he's
flashing, duck and shoot to avoid most of his gun shots.
--------------------------
Afterwards, you'll be going through an area where a giant white energy
ball goes through the middle of the screen once in a while. After you get
rid of the wall of boxes (use slides to take it out; much faster than your
weapons), go a little up the slope right after to lure a white ball out,
then go back down and let it fly over your head. Walk to the right, but
hold up-right on the D-pad and High Jump up to the next platform above you
before the next white ball comes. Get the Vitality out of the red crate,
then walk to the end of the platform to let another white ball go by. Swing
down and move to the right, going *up* the slope of the ceiling. By the
time you reach the top end of the slope, another ball will zoom by. Fall
down, then jump and grab the next slanted ledge above you. Move down along
the slope until you're at the flat part to lure a white ball out, then
immediately hold left to go up the slope and avoid the ball. Continue hang-
climbing and go all the way to the right slope and up, and another ball
should go below you. The red crate below has a weapon orb - feel free to
change weapons if you like what's inside. (you'll only get one more chance
to between now and Golden Silver)
Next part is a set of platforms you have to jump up with a wall mounted
cannon on each. A lot of players jump up real fast either to save time or
cuz they think they'll be shot at if they stand around. Truth is each
cannon won't shoot until you jump off its platform, so you have the option
of destroying each one before ascending if you want a higher score.
Slash Chopper - when it raises its pincer and tries to club you down,
it's 20 damage if it connects
Slash Nipper - 20 damage if it jabs you with its pincer
Bubble Bomb - 20 damage if you drop to the ground after being taken to
the ceiling by a bubble
other - 20 damage if it jumps on top of you and you're not ducking
Strategy:
Though this fight isn't hard, you must be very careful here cuz ALL
of the Lobster's attacks do heavy damage, and you have much tougher fights
ahead that you have to conserve energy for. Again, I must stress the
preference for long-range weapons here, as the Lobster's attacks have
limited short-range.
Attack from the opposite side of the screen. Pink and her dorky driver
usually take a few steps then jump. When you see they're about to jump,
then either slide under the Lobster, or do an off-the-wall jump onto it and
then jump away behind it, and run to the other side of the screen. The
alternative is getting cornered and clobbered by its pincer. Be careful
when jumping on it though - you'll keep finding yourself sliding to its
front side, so get off of it ASAP. If they get too close for comfort and
don't jump, jump onto it and away anyway. Don't attempt sliding under when
it's not jumping - you can jump above the pincer's Slash Chopper, but the
Slash Nipper has priority over your slides.
Its Bubble Bombs can be a nuisance if you don't have a strong weapon.
However, you can escape damage by pressing the Shot and Jump buttons
repeatedly to get out of a bubble. You'll only take damage if you hit the
ceiling and land on the ground right after. You can even hit the ceiling,
land inside another bubble coming from below, then escape that one and not
get hurt. It's best though to just have a strong weapon and blast the
bubbles away so you don't have to bother going through all this. Don't try
shooting the bubbles though if Lobster's up close and your back's against
the "wall" - Body Attack off the side of the screen on and over it when you
see it lean forward to shoot.
When the Lobster's Vitality is below 2400 (and assuming you're not
standing anywhere near it), Pink & dork start walking backwards, then turtle
in a defensive stance on the other side of the screen. They stop blocking
and throw Bubble Bombs only when you get within a certain distance from it.
You can attack in one of two ways. Basic attack strategy for any weapon is
to move in, do as much damage as you can, then run away before you're caught
in a bubble and wait for the bubbles to get out of the way before repeating
the process. If you're using Double Fireball or Ultra Flamethrower, you can
use a much simpler strategy. Inch your way closer to the Lobster until it
drops its guard - about 2/3 the length of the empire's "monitor" away - then
stand still and shoot to hit it while destroying any bubbles in the way.
Should you be using Lightning Saber, Chaser Fireball, or Exploding
Fireball, I strongly suggest turning off the non-Fire part and just use the
Fire Gun as described in the simpler strategy (you'll have to creep in
closer, past the point where Lobster lowers its guard, in order to connect
with Fire). Lightning Saber is narrow, and if you're pointing it straight
left or right, it'll go under the Lobster. You'd have to get dangerously
close and wave it around to hit Lobster's body, and getting close to Lobster
during the 2nd phase of the battle means inviting it to whack you with its
pincer. (also, waving the Saber around doesn't destroy enough bubbles)
Exploding Fireball also shoots under Lobster, so either you'd have to jump
when there's no bubbles around or rely on the explosions from hitting
bubbles to damage it. In the case of the Chaser Fireball, and if you have
Fixed Shot, you could get to the drop-guard point, duck to avoid all the
bubbles, and just control your weapon from there - but why make your
thumbs go through the trouble? :)
==================
As you proceed after the next wall of blue crates, there are little
cannons that look like they have midgets manning them. First there's one on
the ground, then a pair covering the ceiling and ground, then one on the
platform above and one a little further to the right on the ground below.
BE CAREFUL not to overuse your weapon on the one below. Just beyond the one
on the ground is a red crate with a Vitality orb in it. If you destroy the
crate while it's off the screen, it won't drop the orb. To make sure you
don't miss out on precious health, get the above cannon on screen and shoot
up-right to get rid of it (don't let the other cannon come on screen yet),
then jump up to the platform above. Walk above the cannon below to put the
crate in view, then shoot down to get rid of the cannon.
Final Big Bang - 24 damage if he does his exploding attack up close
Ground Burning Draft - 12 damage per touch of the blue exploding flames
(Hard Shoulder) - 7 damage if he charges into you
(elbow drop) - 8 damage if he lands an elbow on you
(spiral energy) - the spiral attack he shoots upwards when he's below
you does 16 damage per touch
other - when launching himself into the air, he'll do 9 damage if you're
right above him as he's going up, and 11 damage if he lands on
you
- if you get caught in his 4-suplex grab, kiss 20 Vitality goodbye
Strategy:
Here, I don't think it matters what type of weapon you have, as you
will be relying on throws just like before. Long-range weapons can help
speed the fight up a bit, as you can hit him from above during the slower
points in the fight. First, let's go over what he can do and how to dodge
it. He has 2 attack styles: a slower, plodding one, and a faster, frantic
one. He'll start with the slow one for about 50-60 seconds, then use the
fast one for about 35 seconds, then cycle back to slow. When his Vitality
is below 1300, he'll use the fast one for the rest of the fight.
In his slow phase, he mostly stays on ground level and slowly walks in
your general direction. When you're on the upper level, he keeps trying to
get under you so he can throw his spiral energy attack up your butt. Keep
moving from one side of the screen to the other, then do a Body Attack away
to quickly escape from the spiral. Having a Fixed Shot character helps a
ton in this part, as you get in shots by shooting diagonally down - even
with Lightning Saber. A Free Shot character will have to resort to jumping
and shooting diagonally down. Don't get tempted to go down to ground level
to get shots in. If you're on the same level and far away, Orange will
charge into you then try to hit the Big Bang or a spiral. If you're on the
ground with him and close, he may keep walking slowly at you for a bit.
Eventually though, whether you're near or far, he'll jump onto the upper
level and throw multiple Ground Burning Drafts down to the ground, an attack
you MUST be on the top level to avoid. He can even throw a Draft while he's
on ground level to really cross you up! Hanging from below the upper level
does you no good either, as that guarantees he'll either get throw a
Shoulder or jump up and throw the Draft. (he can even grab and suplex you
from there) Once in a while, he jumps up to the platform instead of using
the spiral and charges at you to use the Bang. Treat it like you would
during his fast phase - drop to the ground, get some damage in when he drops
the elbow, then jump back up.
His fast attack style is potentially even more fatal, but is also the
time you can do the most damage to him. It starts when you see him pumping
his fists into the ground, then launching himself in the air to wherever you
are on the platform above. (and he'll do this EVERY time he's on the bottom
level and you're on the top) Swing down and drop to ground level, or else
he'll Big Bang you. Don't try jumping to a different area on the platform -
he'll just charge right after you and Bang ya again. (boy that sounded...
wrong :)) When you're on the ground, he may first do a shoulder charge to
make sure he's directly above you (only if he's not already), then drop down
to the ground with the elbow. This is where he's most vulnerable! If you
keep yourself moving and walk away from his elbow, he should land right
behind you. (don't slide, or you'll end up too far away to do what's coming
next) Once Orange lands, turn around, walk into him, and throw him left or
right for 420 damage. If you feel you're too far from him, or you're not
confident enough to grab him, use your weapon and hit him until he flashes.
To try to make things easier, when he's above you, move a little to one side
of him so he drops his elbow in that direction, then take a couple of steps
in the other direction to get behind him and voila, you can grab him without
waiting for the elbow animation to disappear. Otherwise, you have a window
of about half a second to do your damage.
Once you get your shots in, you can do one of 2 things. Safe way is to
jump back up to the platform immediately, wait for him to jump, then swing
back down to the bottom level and repeat the process. A faster way is to
stand right next to him after he takes his damage. Don't stand right where
he is or you'll get spiralled, and not more than one body-width away or
you'll be staring at a shoulder + spiral combo. However, standing next to
him for some reason (bug in the AI?) makes him jump to the top platform then
try to drop an elbow on you, from which you can repeat the process without
having to jump back and forth between platforms. Only do it this way if you
can stay comfortably close enough so that he jumps up every time you're next
to him.
ALTERNATE STRATEGY 1: A modified alternative to the above strategy is to
throw him diagonally up to the upper platform, then slide away opposite of
the direction you threw him in. By the time he gets back above you and
drops his elbow, his flashing invincibility should end so you can grab and
toss him back up after the elbow. Can't remember who on the GameFAQs board
told me this strategy, but I find it's not as effective as the stand-right-
next-to-him pattern above.
ALTERNATE STRATEGY 2: A non-throwing strategy for Orange's fast phase,
contributed by Edge AoM, involves hanging under the top platform. When
Orange launches himself up, swing down and then shoot up as he lands right
above you. Hit him until he flashes, then swing up just as he starts to
drop his elbow. Though he's flashing-invincible as he drops the elbow, your
invincibility while swinging up will allow you to pass through him unharmed.
Take a step left or right so you're not directly under him when he launches
himself back up (or TIME your swing down as he's about to go up), and repeat
the process.
============
Nothing much between Orange and Black. If you're using an emulator,
you may want to state save before destroying the red crates, as there are no
chances for weapon changes until you get to Golden Silver.
===============
BOSS: Black Fly
---------------
Vitality: 3920
Points: 61500 + 540 per mine destroyed + 10000 per light destroyed
Attacks:
Psychic Gambit - 12 damage each time you touch the energy balls attached
to a falling mine
Shadow Hurricane - touching any of its energy beam attacks will cost
12 damage
other - 20 damage if you fall to the bottom of the screen
Strategy:
Black starts the fight by leaving himself open for a bit of damage,
then floats up off the screen and drops Psychic Gambit attacks on you.
Dunno why they call it "psychic," unless it refers to the fact you can
memorize each pattern and predict the safe spots. If you're caught in one
spot with nowhere to go, try sliding at the last moment (mines and their
energy "arms" disappear once the mine touches the elevator) or shoot and
destroy a mine.
When the Fly's Vitality drops below 2900, and it must be below that as
it comes back onto the screen and not while you're attacking it whenever it
reappears, Black starts his barrage of Shadow Hurricanes. You can tell
what's coming by the 2 lights flashing under the Fly, assuming you haven't
destroyed them. If you're lucky, you'll see both flashing and he'll shoot
only one massive beam straight down below him, which leaves him open for
shots. More likely is that you'll see him use the 3-beam windmill attack
that spins clockwise if the left light flashes, counterclockwise if the
right flashes. This is the attack that gives most people problems on
Expert. On other difficulties (even on Hard), you could move in circles
around the Fly while staying between the arms of the "hurricane," but that's
not an option on Expert because the arms spin ridiculously fast. Looks
pretty hopeless, right? Even if you beat it, it seems you won't have
anything left in the tank for Green...
But wait, there IS a way to defend yourself: the trusty ol' Body
Attack! That's right, just do your dive or jump kick by pressing jump in
midair, and you'll GO RIGHT THROUGH the Hurricane's arms! OK, maybe it's
not that simple - you have to be attacking the Fly at the same time. Reason
for this is the Body Attack is only "invincible" for a limited number of
frames, and getting 3+ hits in on the Fly will help freeze some of those
frames a little longer to ensure that the Hurricane doesn't harm you. (you
can test this trick anywhere in the game - try timing a jump through the
white energy balls earlier on this stage!) So, here's what you have to do.
If Black spins the Hurricane clockwise (i.e. the arms swing from top-right
down to bottom-left), move yourself to the left edge of the elevator and
left of the Fly. Then as an arm is about to hit you from underneath, jump
straight up and press Jump again JUST BEFORE you reach the top of your jump.
You'll do a dive or jump kick that'll hit Black AND make you pass through
the arm. Likewise, when the Hurricane spins counterclockwise (i.e. from
top-left to bottom-right), stand at the right end of the elevator and do the
same thing. I suggest doing your body attack before the top of your jump
instead of right at the top because then your body will still rise for a bit
when you do the Body Attack, so you get an extra few hits in on the Fly.
Don't get overconfident yet because of this trick. There are times
when you'll find yourself bouncing off the Fly and onto the ledges on the
side, thus ruining your pattern. The fact that you can walk on top of the
Fly probably means that the game treats the Fly as a platform with a small
section of its sides as walls. This would mean that if press Jump in midair
at the wrong time (usually if you're too close to Fly's sides), you'll
bounce off the "wall" parts of the Fly. (even more reason to do the Body
Attack before the top of your jump). If this happens to you, get down on
the elevator and back in position ASAP so you limit the damage to one hit.
Those with mad skillz(TM) find using Chaser Fireball easier. I think
they developed that method before anyone discovered mine. If you're not
using a Fixed Shot character, then you must be a master of platform gaming
to use it effectively in this fight - and I'm sure most of you reading this
aren't one. :)
===============
If you've followed my instructions thus far, you'll hopefully have at
least 100 Vitality left, which is more than enough for...
===========
BOSS: Green
-----------
Vitality: 4602
Points: 77776
Attacks:
(throwing stars) - 2 damage each
(standing slide) - 8 damage
(uppercut) - 14 damage
(jump kick off the wall) - 18 damage
(grab & throw) - 20 damage
At the beginning, he will block any weapon attack you do to him. If
you approach him, he'll back up against the wall then go into a defensive
stance. Shooting him while he's in this stance will make him slide at you,
and if you get too close he'll uppercut you. Occasionally, he'll throw
stars at you. There are 2 ways you can attack him in the early going. (a)
Keep jumping up and down between the platform and ground level, which will
make Green jump straight up/down to follow you. He leaves himself open as
he lands, so get a couple of shots in. Or (b) get on ground level and force
him against the wall, then slide into him. Your slide will go through his
uppercut, and you can walk behind him and throw him as he lands for 240
damage. Even better: throw him against the right wall - he'll hit the wall
for 80 damage before hitting the floor for 240. (thanks to Fale for the tip)
When his Vitality is below 3900, he gets aggressive and tries to get
close enough to throw you. If you damage him to the point of making him
flash, he'll throw stars and try again. Sliding into him won't work - he'll
just grab you out of it. Jumping over him will make him uppercut you.
Occasionally, he'll hop around back and forth while throwing stars. If you
switch between platform and ground level, he may jump DIAGONALLY at you, and
can even throw you just before he lands. So how to approach this?
HARD WAY --- When you're at a distance, duck and shoot. If he walks up too
close, try to jump and Body Attack over to the other side, then get to the
other side of the screen ASAP. If he HOPS up to you too close, he'll leave
himself slightly vulnerable while his feet aren't on the ground. You can
try sliding while he's hopping, which will trip him and give you some time
to run away and get some distance between the 2 of you; or you could jump to
or fall from the platform, then quickly Body Attack your way to the other
side of the screen. You can also try to be brave by Body Attacking right
into him. If you do it from the right distance, he'll try to counter with
an uppercut, both of you will miss and you'll touch ground before he does,
so you can sneak behind and throw him as he lands. Another risky method is
to keep switching platforms and lure him into jumping. From a distance, you
can shoot him as he lands; but up close, you must be quick and throw him
before he throws you. Whichever method you use, the one important constant
in your strategy is to AVOID being grabbed by Green as much as possible.
His other attacks are absorbable if you got here with a decent amount of
Vitality (i.e. your status area isn't flashing red).
EASY WAY 1 --- STILL got a Lightning Saber by this point? Once again you'll
be rewarded! You can either stand in a corner (like the methods below) and
and let him run into the Saber, or (more preferably) you can corner him.
First, make sure he's knocked down, then hold the Shot button down and stand
anywhere between one body width away and the tip of your Saber. The
Saber will cancel all of his throwing stars, then stun him once he stops
throwing 'em and knock him down. Just inch forward to keep the Saber
sticking right through him as he gets up. Once he's backed up into the
corner, you can hold the Shot button down with one hand and grab a drink or
snack with the other, cuz Green ain't goin' nowhere. :)
EASY WAY 2 --- If you're using Double Fireball or Ultra Flamethrower, it'll
be you who has to back up into the lower-left or lower-right corner, duck,
and shoot. These weapons are just as fast-hitting and almost as powerful as
the Lightning Saber, so they'll pretty much stun him the same way, and their
range should keep him from hopping too close to throw you. You just can't
block his throwing stars, but that shouldn't be a problem as long as you
keep holding the Shot button down so he doesn't have much time to move
closer to you once he's done tossing 'em.
EASY WAY 3 --- If you have any other weapon, you'll need to turtle in a
lower corner like the above method, and duck and shoot while Green's at a
distance. When he closes the distance to within 1/3 of the screen (or
rather the Empire's "monitor") length, tap the Shot button repeatedly while
while holding down. This way, if he gets to close, the fact that you're
pressing Shot so many times AND holding the D-pad in a direction (down)
means you're almost guaranteed to grab him before he grabs you, and you'll
throw him straight down. Just get to the opposite side of the screen while
he's down and repeat the process.
===========
Now you can breathe a sigh of relief. There is NO SHAME in dying in
the next fight! Not only can you continue from this point, but your
Vitality is restored AND you get a 20 Vitality orb. The only people who
should be worried are those playing for high scores.
=========================
FINAL BOSS: Golden Silver (or Gold & Silver?)
=========================
Vitality: 9999
Points: 3714126
Attacks:
Golden Blast Nuclear - a short spread shot of 5 green balls will do
16 damage if you're within range
Earth Resolver - the exploding blue flames he sends along the ground
will cause 6 damage per hit
Jewel Strike - ??? (possibly the gem attacks below)
(fire gem) - each touch of the red gem's spinning flame does 18 damage
(force gem) - the blue star-shaped gem's horizontal machine-gun attack
does 5 damage per hit
(lightning gem) - the blue diamond-shaped gem's vertical laser does 12
damage per hit (and hits multiple times)
(chaser gem) - the green gem's homing shot does 11 damage if it connects
other - he does a slide-punch for 9 damage either from standing position
or while coming out of a teleport
- he has an anti-air jump attack that'll do 14 damage if it hits
- he can use his exhaust jets to propel himself forward to where
you are, and charge into you for 10 damage in the process
- when he grabs and punches you away (kinda like a throw), he
does 20 damage
Strategy:
First thing on your checklist when you enter the final room is having
Force + Fire as your combo weapon. Don't have 'em? Pick 'em up off the
ground! NOW! As you know by now, Exploding Fireball has that spiralling
ring of fire it creates after it hits something. At the beginning and end
of the fight, while the gems float above and leave themselves open, hitting
one of them will cause the fire spiral to hit the rest of them, resulting
tons of damage per shot. When Golden Silver has the gems circling around
him, his invincible body protects them from most weapons. Lightning Saber
isn't nearly as effective here as it has been against previous bosses -
you'd have to get right in Silver's face to do damage. Other Lightning
weapons can go through Silver's body to hit the gems but are too weak.
Chaser Fireball can also pass through him, but is useless because it moves
in whatever direction you hold, and you'll be too busy dodging to control
it. Ultra Flamethrower can go through him and works well until the last
part of the fight, where its limited range prevents you from dealing damage
while you're dodging both Silver and the gems' attacks. But with Exploding
Fireball, you just have to hold that Shot button down and shoot in the gems'
general direction. You'll hit either Silver or one gem, and the spiral of
fire from the "explosion" damages most (if not all) of the gems!
Now that we've got the weapon settled, let's talk actual strategy.
Unlike other bosses in the game, Golden Silver has the same agressiveness
and speed in all difficulty levels. Only difference is that since weapons
do less damage on Expert, each phase of the fight is much longer. First
phase starts when Golden Silver drops down and you have limited time to do
free damage to the gems. From where the gems are circling around above,
stand right below the left edge of the circle and shoot up. (don't stand
anywhere close to area right below the middle of the gems' circle, or Silver
will attack sooner) Silver will stand to the right of you and do nothing
for a few seconds, then do a random attack (usually a slide punch). After
that, it's a matter of being the right distance away from him. If you're
too far away from Silver, he'll throw Earth Resolvers or teleport or charge
at you. If the two of you are on opposite sides of the screen, he may even
use his rocket boosters to propel himself at you. Stay close (about 2 body
widths between) and he does nothing, except for a random attack once in a
while. Keep some distance though, so you'll have a little extra time to
react to that random attack. If you're practically touching him, he'll do a
Blast Nuclear spread shot or throw you. Also, if you try jumping over him
or at him (with a Body Attack, I hope!), he'll jump at you. When the gems'
Vitality is below 7700, the gems will surround him, but he will not break
out of his initial pattern until 6500. Until that point, stay at your safe
distance and get as much damage in as possible.
At 6500, Silver gets aggressive and walks towards you if you're within
that former safe distance. He'll also use his slide punch A LOT. His
other actions when you're too close, too far, or airborne are still the
same. This is the time you'll potentially suffer the most damage.
HARD WAY --- If you're planning to tackle him without taking advantage of
patterns, one strategy is to play a distance game. Try to get on opposite
sides of the screen as much as possible. This'll cause Silver to throw
Earth Resolvers, which you can just jump over while continuing to shoot.
But then you have to deal with when he charges/slides/teleports into you.
Whatever he does, jump straight up and Body Attack. Hopefully you'll knock
him down so that you can jump/Body Attack over him and run to the other
side. If he hits you before you can do your Body Attack, you'll most
likely be so close to him that he'll try to use Nuclear Blast on you. Do a
Body Attack again up close while you're flashing and it should knock him
down after he shoots it. Another strategy is to stay within the old safe
distance from Silver the whole time so he just walks towards you - then you
won't have to worry about him teleporting or using Earth Resolver. Just
walk away while turning around and getting a shot in once in a while, then
*high jump* and Body Attack of the wall to get over and to the other side
of him.
EASY WAY 1 --- Huh? There're easy ways to do this? Amazingly, yes! BUT
the first way's a bit risky... The trick is to get close enough to Silver
during the first phase of the fight (i.e. after you get your free shots on
the gems, and Silver makes his first move). I suggest doing it at this
point because it's much easier to get close than when he's aggressive. Now,
as I said before, he'll do Golden Blast Nuclear when you're right in his
face. However, there's a safe spot where you can stand between his hand
(that's shooting the spread shot) and his body where the Blast won't touch
you! The risk is that it may take several tries for you to get in the right
position, and you'll take a fair chunk of damage each time you fail, either
from the Blast or from being thrown by Silver. When you do find the little
oasis of no-damage, make sure you're holding down the Shot button. Because
you're so close, some of your shots will go behind Silver and miss the gems,
so with Exploding Fireball it's tempting to tap Shot repeatedly so your
shots "explode" right away up close. But doing so may cause you to throw a
gem (out of range of your shots) or Silver himself, and in the latter case
you'll have to reposition yourself all over again. Anyway, the idea is that
while Silver keeps doing Blast Nuclear because he sees you in front of him,
you'll be in his face the whole time without suffering a scratch, shooting
at him or straight up at any gems above. There you'll remain safe, until
the next phase of the fight...
EASY WAY 2 --- The second method involves mostly, if not totally of Body
Attacks, and requires patience and timing. Before I start explaining,
mentally divide the screen into thirds and place markers at each wall, and
just within the sides of the monitor/window above:
First, you need to stay within the "safe distance" right from the start of
when Silver gets aggressive, and lure him to one end of the screen. Let's
say you're to his left when he's under 6500 Vitality. You would slowly lure
him to point 2 by moving step by step to point 1 (you don't have to actually
reach 1, just get Silver to follow you). Now for the pattern:
(i) Just as he's a step or two away from 2, jump at him and do a Body
Attack *just after* the top of your jump to knock him down. You
should land a little bit left to the middle of the screen.
(ii) Take a step or so behind and away from him while he's down, depending
on how much hang time you got from hitting Silver and the gems. If
it takes you awhile for your feet to reach the ground, you may have
to do the next step right away and not stay on the ground long.
(iii) As he's about to get up on both feet, jump away and Body Attack (and
this time, do it well before the top of your jump). He should sense
that you're airborne and do his anti-air jump the moment he recovers,
but your Body Attack will propel you well out of the way. You should
land right between 3 and 4.
(iv) Walk to 4 (should only be 1 or 2 steps) while he's in the air, and
you'll hit the right wall during the top of his jump.
(v) Turn around and Body Attack just after the top of your jump. You
should end up hitting him just after he lands and knock him back down
just after he comes out of his hunched-over jump pose. You should
land past point 3 and just to the right of the screen's centre
(vi) Repeat the process from (ii) in the other direction.
The objective is to trap Silver between points 2 and 3 for this portion of
the fight. Continually knocking him down as he comes out of his jumps will
keep him from doing any attacks. If he starts to drift outside towards 1 or
4, throw him back in the middle next time you're at the wall he's closer to
and start the pattern again from (i).
NOTE: You may be tempted to conclude from this that you could skip a whole
bunch of steps and just corner him with Body Attacks in one spot instead of
moving left and right across the screen. Trust me, it won't work like that.
On top of timing them extra carefully, you'll need to have gems circling at
low altitude around him every time to help extend the invincibility of your
Body Attacks to avoid being hit by his jump attack or thrown out of midair.
Whichever method you choose, try to come out of that middle portion of
the fight with at least 3-digit health. At the 4200 Vitality mark, the gems
get personally involved in the attack. Good news is that Silver stays still
almost half the time, and he doesn't do Earth Resolvers, Golden Nuclear
Blasts, or even anti-air attacks anymore. Bad news is that at any point you
could find yourself between a moving Silver and an attacking gem. It gets
even worse if you're cornered. Here's what to expect from the gems and how
to handle them:
Fire Gem - The most dangerous of the 4 is the round one. If it corners you,
you may find yourself bouncing several times off its spinning flamethrower
and taking mucho damage. Evade the flames by running under it when the
flame swings up. Once you're behind it, you could retreat to the other side
of the screen (or stay relatively close to the Fire Gem if Silver's on the
other side), but there's an even better alternative - throw it! (thanks to
Fale again for the tip) For any gem you can reach without having to Body
Attack off the wall, throwing them will cancel its "turn" and a different
one will come to attack. Easier said than done though against the Fire Gem,
as the conditions have to be just right or else you'll be committing
suicide. (a) You have to get behind the Fire Gem to throw it, "behind"
meaning opposite of the direction it's moving in; (b) the flame must be
opposite of the side of the gem you're on, of course; and (c) noticing how
the gem dips slightly up and down all the time, you'll obviously have an
easier time reaching it if it's down. Don't try to jump and quickly throw
as your feet leave the ground; it rarely works and when it doesn't you'll be
landing on top of the gem and get bounced around. You also have to look out
for Silver if he's close to the gem. Should you walk into him and he throws
you, he may toss you straight into the gem's flame!
Lightning Gem - Next most dangerous is the diamond gem. From a distance, it
looks stupid shooting its laser down at nothing. But as you'll find out,
it's moving in your general direction and trying to get itself right above
you. It just can't move more than a certain distance without shooting.
This is good, in that you can predict when it's gonna shoot and move to a
safe spot ahead of time. However, if you get caught for whatever reason
(most likely cornered by Silver) and think it's about to shoot right down on
you, jump and Body Attack away (or off a wall). At least if you're airborn,
its laser can only hit you once; whereas if it hits you on the ground, it'll
do several hits which you can't break free from (kind of like getting hit
with a barrage of small laser shots earlier in the game) and you'll be
tagged for anywhere up to 100 damage!
Chaser Gem - The triangle gem's fairly easy to avoid. Try to place yourself
so that it's behind Silver and its shots hit him. Otherwise, you should be
in a wide open space when it fires at you, and all you have to do is jump
away as its green shot comes close. You can also block its shots with a
Lightning Saber, so you can try jumping up to attack it if you've got one.
Force Gem - For the 5-pointed star gem, you can avoid its fire by putting
Silver between you and it, and Silver's body will block its attack for you.
If you're feeling brave, shoot your weapon at it to nullify its machine-gun
fire. Lightning Saber and Ultra Flamethrower are great for blocking its
shots while dealing damage to it at the same time, but make sure Silver's
standing still since you're leaving yourself wide open to him.
And of course, when you have the time and space, shoot either the 3 gems
that are not currently attacking or the one that is. (usually easier to shoot
the ones that aren't, especially with Exploding Fireball)
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(4) Credits & Misc.
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Thanks go to:
- Deeto's FAQ for some alternate boss strategies
- the folks on GameFAQs' message boards for filling in extra tips and tricks
that I wasn't previously aware of (Fale, dragoon77, etc.)
- SaviourV (a.k.a. Ahmad Rizudin b. Izzudin) for proofreading this FAQ and
adding even more tips
- Treasure for making a game with lots of replayability, a steep difficulty
curve, but leaving nothing impossible in higher difficulties.
