Thunder Force IV / Lightening Force
Boss FAQ
Sega Genesis/Megadrive
By Kenshin Zlash (
[email protected])
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Contents
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I. Legal Info
II. Introduction
III. Controls
IV. Weapons
V. Bosses
VI. Closing
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Update Info
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12/23/02-v0.5--Guide started. Only have two bosses on here.
12/29/02-v0.6--Still working on it....
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I.Legal Info
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This FAQ is property of Kenshin Zlash. This FAQ is only allowed to be put
up on: (1) gameFAQs.com, (2) any site owned by the author. No one except
the sites listed may use this FAQ. PERIOD!
You are allowed to print and distribute this FAQ freely as long as no
money is paid for it. If anyone makes money off this FAQ, it better be me.
Anyone caught taking his guide as their own at any time will be severely
punished.
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II. Introduction
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If you look in the version info, this FAQ was started before Christmas.
I was so bored waiting for Christmas I actually started writing a FAQ to
kill off some time. This FAQ covers the bosses of Thunder Force IV.
This game is great, and I just wanted to write up a FAQ for it.
One reason that this game's bosses are so easy is that most of them give
off warnings to you for what attack their gonna use. It may not be
obvious at first, but after a while you won't be caught by surprise.
So I just wrote this FAQ to tell what's the best and easiest ways to
kill each boss.
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III. Controls
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Controls are easy enough to learn.
Button Function
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D-pad Moves ship in the corresponding direction.
Start Pauses the game. Your weapons and speed can be changed
while the game is paused. Very useful.
A Increases ship speed by 25%
B Fires weapon
C Changes weapon
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IV. Weapons
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You have a total of 7 weapons in this game. You can get them by shooting
tiny red ships.
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Twin Shot
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Your basic shot. Unlike most other games, your normal shot is actually
useful. This is probably the one you'll use the most. Shoots two twin
machine gun shots forward.
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Blade
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An upgrade of your twin shot. It shoots two rows of red spinning blades
forward. This is a very good and powerful weapon.
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Back shot
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This is another basic weapon you always start off with. Your twin shot is
turned into a single shot,and you shoot machine guns forward and back. Not
too powerful.
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Rail Gun
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This thing is utterly powerful. Two lasers are shot from the back of your
ship. This is the upgrade of your back shot. Too bad it can't be shot
forward....
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Freeway
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This one shoots missiles in the OPPOSITE way you press your d-pad. I don't
use it, as it's very weak and very hard to get to shoot where you want
without getting killed.
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Snake
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I've maybe only used this oncee during a boss fight. Two long chains of
bombs are shot from the top and bottom of your ship. Good for taking out
enemies above and below you, but nothing else.
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Homing
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Ah, the great homing shot. Tons of weak, but useful homing shots are
sprayed out from your gun. Great for clearing out the screen. Beware
this makes the game very easy, so beware.
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Other
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Claw - These are two orbs that circle around your ship, doubling up your
amount of shots. I highly recommend not losing this when you get
it.
Shield - Does what it says. Shields you from shots. Takes a certain amount
of damage, but after losing it you are temporarily invincible.
Thunder Sword - A charging weapon. After level 5, every time you aquire a
claw, you are able to use this. You simply do not shoot, and it
will charge up. Pressing the fire button will release a huge beam
of lightning (or lightening in this game's case) out. Two smaller
shots will also be shot at an angle. Very powerful.
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V. Bosses
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Rules
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-When shooting a boss with a weapon other than blade, BLUE means the
boss is not taking any damage, RED means they are.
-Bosses take a while to die, so make sure you have some lives in reserve
and some time before even playing this game.
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Air-Raid Boss - Ratt Carry
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It's a simple cargo ship. You must first destroy the top part first, the
front and back, then the bottom.
Attacks
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Wave Beam - While moving left, the boss will shoot these wave beams at you.
They are move very slow, but can block your weapons.
Missiles - When he's on the left side of the screen, he'll shoot missiles at
you. They can be easily destroyed. If you have a rail gun, this
is your best opportunity to do damage.
Three Way shot - When the top part is gone, the bottom half of the boss will
shoot a three way shot forward.
Multi Missiles - Four missiles are shot out of the boss. They follow you.
They only take one hit to go down and move very slowly.
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Strite Boss - Gargoyle Diver
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Beware of this thing's tail. It can catch you by surprise.
Weakpoint - The glowing blue ball by his tail.
Attacks
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Tail Fire - He does this while he's still on the big battle cruiser. Shoots
five fire balls that slowly advance towards you. They take one
hit each. When he jumps off the ship he continues this attack.
Discus attack - Takes his glowing blue ball off and throws it at you like a
frisbee. It glows red, and can be easily dodged.
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Daser Boss - Fomalhaut
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I don't know what this thing is even supposed to resemble. It looks like a
dog or something. But this guy is very fast, so beware...
Weakpoint - Body
Weakpoint II - The Head
Attacks
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Shield - The boss forms a shield around himself that circles around him. He
is only vulnerable at some points. He will shoot it out sometimes.
Missiles - There are two forms of this attack. When he sticks his "ears" out,
do not have your ship in front of them, since he's ready to shoot
out a VERY fast missile. The next is when he moves up and down the
screen while shooting the missiles out. Even without his ears up
he still may shoot them out.
Fireballs - He shoots out some fireballs out of his body. If your ship is right
in front, the fireballs will go right around you. If not they will
curve around and hit you.
Shield ball - Once he takes a bit of damage, the boss stops putting out shields
and starts shooting out those shield balls at you. They follow
you around, but can be easily dodged.
Once the body is destroyed, the boss will no longer do the fireball attack. He
will do plenty of missile and shield ball attacks though.
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Ruin Boss - Hell Arm
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Weakpoint - The arms
Weakpoint II - The Center
Attacks
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Homing Missiles - As soon as the battle starts, a whole ton of those tiny homing
missiles will come at you.
Normal Shots - The center will shoot out some of those little red shots that can
be blocked by your claw.
Double Shot - Out of both arms, two big blue shots are shot at you. If your
directly in front, they'll close in on you.
Flamethrower - When one arm is gone, the other will turn into a flamethrower.
It shoots out long blue flames straight across the screen.
Three way shots - Those big blue double shots are now shot out of the other hand.
Now it shoots three of them in which ever direction your in,
in four waves.
Sword beam - When both arms are destroyed, the either one will thrust out at you
with the flame like a sword. The center starts shooting out three
way normal shots at you like crazy. The center is now the weakpoint.
A trick would be to go right behind him and use your rail or backshot to shoot
the center of the boss. He won't touch you.
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Stage 5
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There is not level 5 boss. You basically chase around that ship that was in the
Strite stage. At the end, you'll meet one of the final bosses you'll fight later.
He'll run away and the rest of the Thunder/Lightening Force will reach up with
you and give you the Thunder Sword.
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Stage 6 Boss - Super Hell Arm
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This one seems to be a more advanced version of the Hell Arm.
Weakpoint - The "arms"
Weakpoint II - The Center
Weakpoint III - Whatever is left...
Attacks
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Splitting Fireball - The boss shoots out a few HUGE fireballs that, when shot,
split into four, and fly out in four diagonal directions. They
can be shot.
Phantom Shot - He brings his arms together and generates a big fireball. Then alot
of fireballs are shot out in different directions.
Fire Shield - After both arms are destroyed, The boss creates a large shield that
keeps you from attacking him.
Multi-shot - Everytime the boss comes back from being off the screen, he'll release
a multi-shot from behind him.
Spinning Shield - When the boss is down to a tiny little peice, he'll release four
fireballs that circle around him and expand out of the screen.
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Stage 7 Boss - Lava Turtle
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Your best be during this fight is the snake weapon (during the first form).
Weakpoint - Head
Attacks
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Rock Burst - Turtle shoots up a whole ton of rocks into the air that can be shot
down or dodged. The more damage he takes, the faster the rocks get
thrown up into the air.
Turrets - Every once in a while, a gun turret will be placed on the ceiling or the
floor, constantly shooting little pellet shots at you. Your best bet is
the Snake weapon.
Homing shots - When the turtle gets into it's second form, he shoots four homing
shots at you that can be shot down, but they are very fast.
Slam - In the second form, the boss constantly slams down at you. Stay in the
corner of the screen to avoid this.
Big Fireball - He rarely does this, but in his second form, he'll shoot out a
large fireball that homes in on you. It's very fast, so dodge it.
Multi-Shot - Tons of little red pellet shots are shot at you.
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Level 8 Boss - Bug King
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This stage consists mostly of mini-bosses. I'll see if I can add the mini-bosses
later, but that'll be a while since my school schedule is gonna be very tight once
it starts again.
Attacks
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Tentacle - This guy has two very long spidery tentacles that he stretches out at
you. On each one is a purple spot that you must shoot to destroy it.
Fly - This is a very unique attack. The boss constantly releases little tiny flies
that, when shot, fall to the floor and release a burst of air upwards. The
air does not kill you, but pushes you up towards the ceiling. You must hold
down to survive this. Later on, as the boss releases more, it gets almost
impossible to avoid hitting the wall.
Spinning Lasers - When the boss comes out of the cacoon, his little flies will
carry him up towards, the ceiling, then drop him as he spins
around shooting lasers. The lasers are VERY fast and very hard
to dodge.
Explosive Acid - When the boss calls his moth to carry him around, he drops acid
that explodes when it touches the ground and will hit you up, but
not as powerful as those little flies. The moth also shoots
lasers forward. This is probably his easiest form.
Final Attack - Once the moth is gone, the boss will shoot a ton of shots up into
the air before going down. Good luck on this one...
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Level 9 Boss - Robot Crab
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This is the coolest fight in the game. You'll need a rail gun for the first part
to destroy his back lasers, then whatever you want for the second.
Attacks
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Back Lasers - Huge back lasers are shot at you. Each laser shooting thing can
be destroyed with your rail gun or back shot.
Multi-shots - Once all the back lasers are shot off, the boss shoots tons of pellet
shots, homing missiles, and missiles forward. All can be blocked or
shot, but their numbers can overcome you.
Flamethrower - Opens his claws and releases two waves of flames. Yes they look
nice, but don't look too long. These flames are pretty fast and
hard to dodge. You have to be incredibly close to the bosses face
to avoid it completely.
Claw Punch - Once you destroy the face, the boss starts punching his claws at you.
Just stay back.
When one arm is shot off, the other arm will shoot tons of multi-directional
missiles forward.
Flamthrower II - With his remaining arm, he shoots out a flame that goes around the
entire screen. Your only choice is the circle around the boss
to avoid it.
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Level 10
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Final Boss #1
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The first guy you fight is very easy, but has some tricks you might get
caught by if your unaware of them. First off, I hope you've collected all
the power-ups, cuz your gonna need them.
Attacks
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Three way shot - He shoots two rounds of three way shots which ever direction
your in. Just keep moving up and down along the screen to
avoid them.
Beams - Very easy attack to avoid. This guy just sits there and shoots
beams from the bottom of him, and they go straight across the screen.
Just make sure your not on the bottom part of the screen as the beams
are too fast to go through.
Curving Beams - Shoots long beams out of his face that go straight, then curve
down where ever your ship is at. Simple to dodge, just move
your ship to the robot's body. The lasers will simply go past
you.
Missiles - Shoots a bunch of missiles at you. They all travel in one straight
line, easy to shoot down.
Cannon Shot - This isn't exactly one of his attacks, even he has to dodge it!
Anyways, every once in a while you'll see the boss go off the
screen momentarily. When you see this, you MUST go as far up
or down on the screen as you can. You'll see a huge fireball
go past you.
Swirling Chain - Once you reach the cannon, every once in a while the boss
will go into the cannon and throw out his two balls (c'mon
stop laughing) and the will spin around attached by a chain.
You must move around with them to avoid being killed.
Absolute Final Boss: Rynex
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The final boss is a giant rocket ship. You must stop him before he blasts out
of the place. (don't worry folks, it doesn't end).
Attacks
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Missiles - Rynex will continuously shoot missiles up in the air that will come
back down to hit you. They split into three. The easiest way to
fight them off is to use your snake gun.
Homing Missiles - Every once in a while he'll shoot out six or so small homing
missiles. They can be shot down in one hit.
Bouncing shots - He shoots 3 to the left and 3 to the right. They bounce around
the screen until shot.
Slam - He just slams into either wall. Very easy to see coming, as he veers over
to one side very slowly, then slams into the opposite wall.
After destroying both sides of the rocket, it will stretch out it's arms and
begin climbing up the shaft. Now, you must keep shooting at the rocket.
Bouncing shots - This guy will shoot A LOT of blue shots towards the bottom of
the screen. You can destroy them. The ones that aren't shot
down will bounce around the screen until destroyed.
So just keep shooting at him until he's dead. It's not too hard...
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VI. Closing
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Hope you enjoyed Thunder Force IV and this FAQ. C ya!
