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Over Horizon 1.00 By Andrew M. Evans aka AndrewM (
[email protected])
Version 1.00 Released January 11, 2009
Looking for anything NES? Visit my hopefully-but-probably-not comprehensive NES
Site at www.neshq.com!
--== Table of Contents ==--
Section 01 ----- Revision History
Section 02 ----- Disclaimer
Section 03 ----- Introduction
Section 04 ----- Basic Controls
Section 05 ----- Playing the Game
Section 06 ----- Stage 1 (Opening Stage)
Section 07 ----- Stage 2 (Industrial?)
Section 08 ----- Stage 3 (Ice)
Section 09 ----- Stage 4 (Stony)
Section 10 ----- Stage 5 (Water/Last Stage)
Section 11 ----- Game Credits
Section 12 ----- Editing Options
Section 13 ----- Advanced Strategy
Section 14 ----- High Scores
Section 15 ----- Closing Notes
--== Section 01 - Revision History ==--
01/09/2007 v1.00 Original FAQ
--== Section 02 - Disclaimer and Requisite Legal Junk ==--
This FAQ is intended for private use and may not be reproduced on any sites or
in any publications without my prior consent, which I may or may not (I don't
see why I wouldn't) grant by having you e-mail me at
[email protected]. If you
should fail to do so and I see my FAQ posted somewhere I shall be forced to
sue you into litigation Hell with my army of high-powered lawyers. Actually,
this whole bit is a bunch of nonsense. If you want to post or reproduce this
FAQ go right ahead and do so, just leave me my credit and the shameless
self-promotions for my NES Site, www.neshq.com (in case you have yet to see!).
Oh yea, and if you somehow get hurt using this FAQ I am in no way responsible
(is this even possible?). As a matter of fact, by even opening this file you
have officially absolved me of any responsibility in my entire life. Ok, well
it was worth a shot......
--== Section 03 - Introduction ==--
Hola. Welcome to Over Horizon. Over Horizon is a little gem that mostly flies
under the radar as far as classic NES games are concerned. I think the game
had the potential to be a big name game and occupy a spot in the hearts of NES
enthusiasts save for two problems. Firstly, the game was never actually
released in the US of A. I'm not sure why it never did get released here in the
US, but that certainly is a major pothole on the road to world wide acclaim.
Secondly - and this may be a part of the game's never having been released in
the U.S. - the game was released by Hot-B (not exactly a household name).
Despite this Over Horizon is a somewhat advanced and rather enjoyable NES game.
It was released in both Europe and Japan during the twilight years of the
system's production run, so it benefited from a little more expertise in game
design, programming, and artwork. As a result the controls are very responsive
and easy, the game doesn't suffer from many flaws, and it has above average
graphics.
The game itself is a side-scrolling shooter. You're in command of a spaceship
that is battling aliens. OK, well that part is pure conjecture on my part. To
date I've only been able to get my hands on a manual in German and my German
is, well, nonexistent. But the space ship battling aliens seems pretty
plausible so we'll go with that.
This FAQ was undertaken as part of both my ongoing effort to contribute new
material to my website (NESHQ.com) and help with the NES FAQ Completion
Project.
--== Section 04 - Basic Controls ==--
As noted above, the controls for Over Horizon are really quite easy. There's
no need to over-complicate this, so:
D-Pad - Move around menus, move the ship in space
Start - Pause the game
Select - Change the speed of the ship
A - Fire forward
B - Fire backward
A+B - Change sidecar positions
A+B (Held Down) - Circulate sidecars from position 1 to postion 2 continually
--== Section 05 - Playing the Game ==--
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Hmm, so you thought you were going to a timeshare sales pitch and next thing
you know you're in a spaceship trying to save the world. What to do? Don't
worry, I'm here to help.
When in the game there's no limit on ammo and you can only have one weapon at a
time, which greatly simplifies things. You have four types of weapons:
Standard Cannon - A weak weapon that you start the game (or new lives) with.
Laser - The laser is the most powerful weapon but has no homing and no blast
radius. It's represented by the R power-ups.
Bomb - The bomb, like the laser, has no homing capabilities, but it does create
blast, which enables you to damage multiple enemies at once. Very useful for
parts of stages where there are hordes of enemies.
Homing - As the name suggests, this is the homing weapon. It's a little bit
weaker than the bomb or laser weapons, but actually homes in on enemies.
So which is best? Well, it really depends on where you are. Certain parts of
the game are easiest with the force of the laser, certain parts are easiest
with the homing, and certain parts are best served with the added damage of the
blast radius. One thing is sure though, always be sure to use a power-up since
they provide a clear advantage over the standard cannon.
One other very helpful thing you'll discover along the way are your sidecars.
These are represented by the other power-up, which is a spinning ring around an
orb. When you get a sidecar power-up you get a sidecar ship which will also
shoot whenever you do. You can have up to two sidecars at a time and using them
wisely will also make your quest a little easier. Note that the sidecars can be
put in two different positions, and you can change them from one position to
the other by pressing A + B simultaneously. Also note that if you hold A + B
the sidecars will rotate from position 1 to position 2 continually. Perhaps the
best feature of the sidecars is that they will absorb enemy fire and don't go
away until you die. Remember this tidbit, as in the later stages it becomes
very important to use the sidecars as a shield against enemy fire.
And now, with the basic ins-and-outs out of the way, a stage-by-stage
walkthrough of the game:
--== Section 06 - Stage 1 (Opening Stage) ==--
Level Strategy:
This being the first stage it's really quite easy. You won't need any kind of
nuanced strategy to make it through this level.
Boss:
The boss looks like, well, I have no idea what the boss looks like. Make sure
to keep blasting away at the boss, not the worm thing that squiggles around
while you're fighting the boss. Regardless of whether you have bombs or lasers
make sure to knock out the spawned enemies as they come out, otherwise it gets
a little too crowded on the board with the spawned enemies and the worm. As
soon as you've cleared each round of spawned enemies blast the boss until it
spawns again. This is indeed a pretty easy boss and he'll go down quickly
fighting him like this.
--== Section 07 - Stage 2 (Industrial?) ==--
Level Strategy:
This stage looks like some sort of 21st century... wait, it's already the 21st
century. Let's try that again. This stage looks like some sort of 25th century
industrial wasteland. As for the level, keep an eye on the blast doors, as
sometimes blasting open one door causes another to close quickly, meaning
you'll need to scoot through the open door and go through the next door before
it closes. I recommend using the homing gun as there are a lot of nooks and
crannies which it does an excellent job getting into.
Miniboss:
The miniboss on level 2 moves up and down and fires off some spawns/missles.
He's really easy, just dodge whatever you can't kill and get your hits in while
you have the option.
Boss:
The boss in level 2 really depends on what ammo you have. He doesn't spawn off
any new baddies, but he does fire pretty rapidly and the walls constantly
change. If you've got the homing weapon this is simple - just stay out of his
direct line of fire and, when the walls switch, move to a place where you'll
stay out of his line of fire but have a shot. If you've got lasers or bombs
then you'll have to dodge his attacks and move in and fire between attacks.
Laser and bombs make this a little more difficult but this is still a pretty
easy boss to take down.
--== Section 08 - Stage 3 (Ice) ==--
Level Strategy:
You'll run into some ice blocks. These can actually be moved by firing into
them, which causes them to move until thr run into something else. At a couple
places on the board you'll have to shoot one and quickly move past it before it
returns to its original position. Additionally, there are some other ice blocks
which look slightly different that you can actually blast away. I recommend
using the homing gun on this board as well since, once again, it does an
excellent job of getting into the tight spaces.
Boss:
The boss on this world has a hard outer shell, a soft center (the actual
target), and two arrow type things. It doesn't matter which type of weapon
you're using on this board. With all three you're going to blast through the
outer shell. Once you blast through the outer shell you can start doing damage
to the soft center. Meanwhile the boss will bounce around and the arrows will
shoot out towards you. The more damage you do to this boss the faster he goes.
This won't make the boss any more difficult, and the only real concern here is
avoiding the arrows. If the boss is closing in fast just make sure to go around
and blast from the other side until you can get back in front.
--== Section 09 - Stage 4 (Stony) ==--
Level Strategy:
One very important thing to know going into this stage is that you can indeed
blast the rocks. Also, the little towers that pop up attract floating rocks to
them then they flash. Other than those two observations this is a pretty
straightforward stage. I recommend switching from the homing gun to lasers on
this board since they blast through the rocks a little bit better.
Boss:
The stage 4 boss is a major craft with four pods out in front of it. The main
craft will fire its guns several times and then the pods will fire their guns.
The main craft and pods do blink before they fire, so keep an eye on them to
know which is going to be firing next. With that in kind this is a very easy
boss - just keep clear of the active guns and you'll be fine.
--== Section 10 - Stage 5 (Water/Last Stage) ==--
Level Strategy:
Watch out, this is the toughest stage to-date. The real difficult part of the
water board is the waterfalls, which push you down into the water when you run
into them. Other than that you're in for a long board with two mini bosses and
a pretty difficult boss.
Miniboss 1:
In keeping with the actual stage, the miniboss is the toughest thing to beat
that you will have faced so far. The miniboss is only susceptible to damage in
the eye in the back. It'll also shoot five bullets out in a spread formation
from the front. After shooting several spread shots the boss will move forward,
giving you a shot at the eye in back. Unfortunately the boss shoots out like
spawns that you can't shoot. The secret when shooting from the back is to avoid
these spawns rather than focusing solely on shooting the eye. One very useful
note here - you can destroy the spawns by running your extra ships into them.
This proves to be immensely useful in dealing with them and not getting
blasted.
Miniboss 2:
This guy has two tentacles and a mouth that both shoots lasers and is your
target. This boss is pretty easy (especially compared with the last one). Just
watch out for the lasers, steer clear when he comes close, and blast him when
he's not shooting the lasers and you should be able to take him down quite
easily.
Boss:
The final boss is a bit nasty, with two sweeping tentacles and a main component
that shoots various bullets. If you see five large balls that will: go straight
in a line; go spread; go random. If you see a line of bullets they'll just come
straight at you, giving you just enough time to dodge them. And if you see see
a small line come out it's going to turn into a big line and go in a random
direction. As for killing this boss, there's a sweep spot that's pretty
obvious; just keep nailing it here. It will take quite a number of hits to
destroy it but the actual fight is pretty easy. One other thing I recommend -
by now you should have a number of extra lives, so if you die you can just go
right up to the sweet spot and blast away, this will allow you to maximize your
shots and pack more into a shorter time frame.
--== Section 10 - Game Credits ==--
And now that you've beaten the game, let the credits roll:
Produced By - Y. Tonomura
Directed By - Sabu
Game Design By - Miya: Yoshi
Graphic Design By - Miya: Yoshi
O. Yasuhisha
Nekomata. K
Programmed By - J. Osa
Metal Jun
Kuwa
Music Composed By - Rezon
Sales Divison - Hiroshi Imai
H. Kuroyanagi
Special Thanks - Saitake
Kemono Itasu
Yunker Kotei
Paipo
Presented By - Hot-B
--== Section 10 - Editing Options ==--
Over Horizon offers an editing option that was a little ahead of its time for
such a game. Off of the main menu choose the 'EDIT MODE' option. From here you
have a few options:
Weapon Edit:
This allows you to edit each of the three weapons. You get five points to give
each weapon more homing, bomb radius, or laser. The homing obviously gives the
weapon more homing ability and the more points put on homing the higher the
percentage of shots that will actually home out enemies. Putting points on bomb
causes shots to have a larger blast radius and hit multiple enemies at once.
Lastly, putting points on laser causes shots to be more powerful and continue
going even after hitting an enemy.
Option Edit:
This allows you to edit the positions of the sidecars.
Test Mode:
Allows you to test any new configuration options you've set.
--== Section 10 - Advanced Strategy ==--
This section is mainly for the Option Edit, to give some interesting
possibilities for sidecar positioning. This will use the key as follows:
- - Empty square
0 - Sidecar
X - Ship
Keeping in mind that the sidecar editing screen is a 9x9 grid and your ship
can't be moved there are 80 possible (9x9=81, 81-1=80) squares to put the
sidecars in:
Default Sidecar Position 1:
---------
---------
---------
---0-----
----X----
---0-----
---------
---------
---------
Notes: This default position isn't bad, but most threats come from in front so
this configuration won't fully utilize the sidecars' ability to absorb hits.
Default Sidecar Position 2:
---------
-----0---
---------
---------
----X----
---------
---------
-----0---
---------
Notes: This actually works better than it looks since this allows the sidecars
to fire substantially higher and lower than the ship without putting the ship
in the line of fire. Unfortunately it kind of minimizes the sidecars' defensive
capabilities.
Front/Back:
---------
---------
---------
---------
---0X0---
---------
---------
---------
---------
Notes: This is, in my opinion, the best configuration possible in the game. The
sidecars are close enough to prevent almost all frontal and rear attacks and
having them on the same level as the ship provides a pretty big punch when
firing. Using this configuration actually almost makes the game to easy.
Frontal Protection:
---------
---------
---------
---------
----X----
------0--
-----0---
---------
---------
Notes: This works especially well if you grab the homing power-up and sit at
the top of the screen, since it covers the bottom front of your are and
allows you to actually run the sidecars into oncoming fire for protection.
High/Low:
--------0
---------
---------
---------
----X----
---------
---------
---------
--------0
Notes: This allows you to really hit enemies far in advance but pretty much
eliminates the defenses of the sidecars.
Defense (1/2):
---------
---------
---------
---0-----
----X----
-----0---
---------
---------
---------
Defense (2/2):
---------
---------
---------
---------
---0X0---
---------
---------
---------
---------
Notes: If you set up these two and then hold A+B while playing the sidecars
orbit the ship and provide some very, very solid protection. It's not perfect
but it proves excellent protection. This one, like the front/back above almost
makes the game too easy!
--== Section 14 - High Scores ==--
I always try to include a high score section in my FAQs. So far the only high
score I have for this game is my own, which was 1,027,360. If you have a high
score you'd like to add just e-mail me.
--== Section 15 - Closing Notes, Credits, and Thanks==--
Please be sure to check out NES HQ at www.neshq.com, which is the most popular
NES-specific site on the Internet. obviously GameFAQs gets a ton more visitors
than NES HQ, but as far as pure NES sites go it's numero uno. Maybe you'll feel
compelled to contribute to it as well and help build the most comprehensive NES
resource on the net. And finally, send any questions to me at
[email protected].
