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[][][][][][][][]
| |
| Table of |
| Contents |
| |
[][][][][][][][]

[1] Introduction
[2] Basics
[3] Walkthrough
[4] Endings

******************************************************************************

[][][][][][][][][][][][]
| |
| [1] INTRODUCTION |
| |
[][][][][][][][][][][][]

This is my sardonic and often heavy-handed take on conquering S.C.A.T. It was
done as a result of the motivationally ambitious and thoughtful NES Completion
Project over at GameFAQs.com's FAQ Contributors General forum. And of course
because I'm an NES nut.

S.C.A.T. is a very drab story of saving the world and tacky 80's sci-fi (hence
the sardonicism,) and, well, if I don't follow the usual FAQing format of
taking things seriously, I hope you'll understand. Otherwise S.C.A.T has
solid, innovative mechanics, genuine variation and a largely fair difficulty
curb in addition to being a lot of fun to plug away at. It's also graphically
impressive and in fact the name of the game itself may be the only aesthetic
shortcoming.

The deal is that you fly (yes, fly) around a tough Contra-looking guy with
what must be the equivalent of an invisible jetpack. In addition to his
regular weapons, which can be upgraded, you have the the ability to control
two cannons which orbit around him. These can be locked at various angles of
his body to provide specified fire or simply left to roam. Then you can
collect speed or recovery power-ups, fight huge bosses and generally just
create old-school shooter havok. The only thing in your way is a six-bar
health meter, but you have unlimited continues anyway.

******************************************************************************

[][][][][][][][][]
| |
| [2] BASICS |
| |
[][][][][][][][][]

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
[ General Tips [
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

- Press (B) to lock your orbital cannons. The usual position to do this is in
is directly above and below you. Doing so will make it easier to kill turrets
on the bottom and top sides of the screen. Otherwise it's usually not worth
the distraction to frequently lock the cannons, and besides, having them
constantly rotating will save your life more times than you'd think.

- The wave weapon is the best one in the game. If you get this, stick with it
and don't pick up any others. In other words, if you get a "W" don't pick up
anything but "R" and "S" power-ups. Until you die at least.

- Avoid lurking around the screen's edges. Lots of monsters appear there, so
it's generally not a good idea to linger.

- Always look for a "R", or recovery, power-up right before a boss. There's
one in every stage.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[
[ Power-ups [
[[[[[[[[[[[[[

[B] - Bomb Weapon - Fires bombs that stick to surfaces or enemies. Cause area
of effect explosion.

[L] - Laser Weapon - Improvement on the regular weapon. Instead of spaced
bullets, fires a continous stream of them. Or the graphical equivalent at
least.

[R] - Recovery - Adds health to your total.

[S] - Speed - Makes your character move faster and his orbital cannons fire
faster.

[W] - Wave Weapon - Rapid-fire waves of energy. The best weapon in the game.

******************************************************************************

[][][][][][][][][][][][]
| |
| [3] WALKTHROUGH |
| |
[][][][][][][][][][][][]

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
| |
| Level One |
| |
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

Level one is pretty easy, and rightfully so. Look for a power-up on the bottom
of the screen early on which contains laser weapons. You'll soon come to a
wall of power-ups. The top and bottom ones are speed. The center is wave. You
want to hold onto the wave weapon throughout the entire game if possible,
although it doesn't have to be this particular one that you hold onto :)

Make sure to get the speeds as well, as they will improve the rate at which
you move and at which your orbital balls fire. Watch behind you as you pass
these. There's a nasty, hard-to-kill capsule creature which will cross the
screen horizontally and fire homing missiles at you until it does so.
Eventually you'll hit a wall. The screen will start to scroll up here.
Definitely don't get this "B" power-up!

Just a little ways after you see the motion-detecting beam-firer on the wall,
go to the bottom-middle of the screen. 6 ships will emerge from there, and if
you're waiting on them you can easily avoid taking damage. Also be careful
when taking out the motion-detecting guy. As the screen tops out, it'll go
right again. With all these creatures hiding behind posts, simply go to their
back (the mobile silver robots will spring up in the air, allowing you an easy
way to kill them) and kill them from there, where the post is not protecting
them. Then the screen will begin to scroll down again at a point.

Watch out for another homing-missile capsule-creature coming from the top-
right edge of the screen here. At the bottom break open the power-up and get
the wave beam inside. The screen will go up and down again soon enough. Once
it gets to the bottom and you move a little ways, don't collect the first
power-up. It's a laser, which you certainly don't want! It's even worse than
bombs! Although if do get it, there's a bomb power-up not far ahead.

Better yet, you'll come across a "R" power-up soon. This stands for recovery,
and you certainly want this. Don't miss it right before the jumping silver
robot. Because not long after is the boss. Thankfully he's a wimp.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
] Boss One: Big Machine Thing ]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Hit this one in the center. Its bottom section has two phases. The first is a
dispersement of orbs. Destroy as many orbs as possible before they reach mid-
screen and blow. When they do blow a bunch of damage balls will come after
you. Evade by running in between them. Second, gun turrets will pop up and
fire at you. This is the easier of the phases. Wipe them out with wave beam
and get back to hitting the boss' core. It'll be dead in no time.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
| |
| Level Two |
| |
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

The main bugbears in this level are the chain robots. You have to keep a good
distance from them as you shoot at their heads. They spring out pretty far,
and if you're in their range you'll get hit. You'll also get hit if you don't
dodge its their flying links after they explode. Again, wave will help you
take out these links easier than anything else can.

Ignore the first power-up you see unless you don't have wave or bomb weapons,
since not only is it guarded by a nasty motion-detector, but it's also a bomb
power-up. However, the next power-up is a speed one, which you should get.
There are a lot of chain robots head, so be careful. Also take care not to get
stuck in uneven edges of the cavern as the screen scrolls, or else you'll die
instantly.

The next power-up you see will be at the bottom of the screen in a very small
crater-type indentation. You definitely want to get this one as it's a wave
beam. Hang towards the upper-backside of the screen now as you progress
further. Although creatures will come from the back as well, none will come
directly from the top, and you certainly will have plenty of advance notice
when chain robots are ahead. Plus you can avoid potentially deadly power-ups
like the laser one ahead.

Eventually you'll arive at a series of metal dividers. These will allow you
two paths, of which you should take the upper one. Not only can you avoid
power-ups you don't want this way, but you can also fight the chain robots
from more strategically sound locations(i.e. not right under their maw.)
There'll be a break in the dividers soon. You should avoid the laser power-up
here when there is. The next power-up will be when the walls of the stage turn
to metal. This is near the boss.

Take the speed power-up in this enclosed room, but do so quickly. If you
don't, it will get pushed into a wall and lost. Ignore the motion-detector
here if you want. The next power-up is grouped with another. Take the back
one, which is a wave beam. Or just don't risk it all if you already have a
wave beam, although you'll miss out on points.

The tricky part comes when the floor disappears. Stay as high up as you can in
this section, although a low ceiling will prevent you from going too high.
Ships will emerge from the pit, which you should be able to take out with ease
if you're prepared. Then you'll come to a difficult room. My favorite way to
get through here is to actually creep along the bottom. In this way you can
duck under the chain robot, come up behind the capsule creature and,
subsequently, the power-up, which is an "R" -- necessary for beating the boss.
Destroy the chain robot as you see fit and get ready for an even bigger one.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
] Boss Two: Chain-Snake Robot ]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

This guy has a pretty distinct pattern, although there's not really time to
determine it in the course of one battle. What he basically does is comes out
of one of the holes, spins around the center of the room, fires homing rockets
and then goes back into hibernation. The trick is that he comes out of and
goes into the same holes in a pattern every time. Here it is:

1) Enters through right hole. Exits through bottom-right. Fires 1 missile.
2) Enters through left hole. Exits through right hole. Fires 4 missiles.
3) Enters through top-right hole. Exits through right hole. Fires 2 missiles.
4) Enters through bottom-right hole. Exits through bottom-left hole. Fires 2
missiles.

Then the pattern repeats. All you have to do is hit him in the head and avoid
his swoops. It's not too hard. Take care to shoot down his homing missiles
though.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
| |
| Level Three |
| |
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

The level starts off pretty simple. Take the bottom path to get a speed power-
up. You'll eventually arrive in a green room. Once the screen fully scrolls it
will start to move up. You'll be in this area for most of the level; it's an
elevator. The first power-up on the left side of the screen will be a Wave
Weapon. Get that if you need it. Soon blue circles will appear all around you.
Hold down the trigger button, face right or left, and leave their circle when
a path is cleared. A big grey star-like creature will appear soon as well. The
only trick with these guys is that they fire a horizontal beam across the
middle of the screen every time they get to that area.

As long as you know to watch out for it, you can beat them easily. Beware the
big cluster of power-ups that awaits you ahead. They're all bombs, and you
really don't want to get saddled with those at this point. There will be
another wave of blue circles after some fights with ships. Then comes two red
robot wall-crawlers, which shouldn't be too hard. Don't forget to grab the
speed power-up that appears in between them. Next are two grey stars. Just be
careful not to pursue them when they're near the median and you should be ok.
Grab the speed between them if you can.

The next biggest foe is a five-wave assault of blue circles. With wave beam
they shouldn't be a problem though. The elevator will slow down next. You're
not totally in the clear when it does, but you should keep an eye out for a
power-up right as you ascend into space. This is a recovery, and as the level
three boss is pretty tough, you'll definitely want it.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
] Miniboss One: Beam Shields ]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

There's a trick to these. When you come to the narrow hallway of metal, hug
the top metal section. You'll come to two beam shields. Hold down the trigger
as you approach. The top one won't be able to hit you. It'll die soon. Then
stand directly above the bottom blue shield. Lock your orbital cannons to face
it and blast away. Dead -- and no damage taken.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
] Miniboss Two: Front Layer ]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

The next guy is a little trickier. He's equipped with two orb-firing arms on
the top and bottom and a nasty three-beam laser in the middle. Thankfully they
don't all start firing at once. The two orb arms will go first. You should
approach this boss in the middle so the first volley of orbs will both meet
there. Immediately after it's fired, go up and unload on the top arm with
Wave. It should die before it gets another shot off. Then quickly rush down to
face the bottom arm. You should be able to dodge its one orb as you wipe it
out too.

Then all you need to do is stand under the edge of the middle beam-launcher,
lock your orbs in place, and fire.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
] Boss Three: Core Defenses ]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

There is a doable pattern with this guy, but through repeat testing I've found
that unless you're really low on life, it's best to stand point blank against
the middle thing and hold down fire. The alternative way is to stand all the
way across the screen from the middle thing. This way you can destroy the
homing missiles when they launch and have adequate time to dodge the burst
shells. But that's easier said than done.

The homing missiles are easy enough, but the burst shells are a different
matter. I've found the best way to dodge them is just to ever-so-slightly move
up on the first one, and then ever-so-slightly down on the following one. This
will work for a bit, but unless you're really focused you'll probably get out
of rhythm. It also takes a lot longer to kill him this way.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
| |
| Level Four |
| |
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

As you progress through this level, keep in mind that the best way to take out
the ships-emerging-from-launch-pads is by destroying them. They lok like grey
cylinders. The first power-up you see will be speed. Get it.

You'll end up in space soon. Stay towards the bottom of the screen when you
do. Once the music changes, you're approaching the spaceship you'll be
assaulting. And it's outfitted with A LOT of cannons. The first batch is a
group of three. Continue to stay low here. As the screen scrolls, the
remaining cannons will be revealed. Once you see three, begin destroying them
after they fire.

Continue to stay as low as you can throughout the remainder of your assault.
Cannons WILL surprise and hit you if you don't. Your first encounter with a
big cannon is next. It's actually linked with other devices, so destroy it
expediently. Don't try to get tricky with dodging its laser though: Wait until
the beam is clearly out of range until you try to attack. If you try to second
guess it, you're liable to get hit unexpectedly. The hit detection is very
anal.

Staying low after you pass the big cannon, avoid this power-up ("B") and blast
the ship launch-pad past it. Continue to stay low after doing so. Don't be
suckered by the blue ships that fly by, or else you'll get hit by another big
cannon when it comes on screen. Get real close to the next ship launch-pad you
see. Don't worry, if you hug the ground to the left of it and hold down fire
you won't get hit. A small cannon is just past it, so remember the cardinal
rule here.

Next the screen will start to scroll upwards. After a time it will go right
again. There's another big cannon ahead. The next power-up is a wave beam.
Pretty soon the screen will start to scroll upwards again, but make sure
you're in the middle of the screen before you get to that point (in other
words, start ignoring the cardinal rule of staying low now.) This ascent will
continue for a while before you reach a surprise miniboss.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
] Miniboss Three: Surprise Installation ]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

With a wave beam this one is cake. Just stand on the opposite end of the
screen from the middle section, which is your target. The only difficult part
will be the fireballs it shoots out. They're similar to the last boss' burst
shells, so evade them accordingly (meaning: adjust your elevation only
slightly with every shot to avoid the fireballs and subsequently build up a
rhythm.)

As you get to the top of this area and it starts to go down, destroy the
incoming homing missiles until the screen is fully scrolled right. Then -- and
ONLY then -- move around and destroy the missile launcher. Otherwise you'll
get hit due to being in too narrow of a space. As for the rest of the descent,
there's a proven trick that you can stay at the very bottom-right corner of
the screen -- shooting left -- and never get hit. But if you aren't far enough
to the right ships emerging from the bottom will hit you.

At the bottom is speed and then a wave beam directly next to a bomb weapon.
Eventually you'll get to two power-ups. One is the very important recovery
power-up and the other is speed. You want both, but you have to take care to
get rid of the capsule creatures in the process. The boss is next after a
short descent.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
] Boss Four: Afterburner w/ Missiles ]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Hardest boss in the game here.

If you're interested in doing this the expert way, I'll give you some steps to
follow. Otherwise the general strategy is just to watch the beam's pattern
(it's obvious) and try to avoid the missiles while blasting away. Here is my
painstakingly honed, very precise, expert strategy:

(Wave-Weapon-tested only): Start the fight from the lower-middle quadrant.
Line yourself up slightly to the right of the bottle-cap looking thing at the
top of the screen. Fire away until you see a missile go along the very bottom
of the screen (and NOT the one barely under your feet which comes early on.)
When you see that, go down to the bottom section (still on the right edge of
the bottle-cap) and blast away until the beam fires off on the section above
you. Now start scaling up gradually.

Every time the beam fires under you, move up another notch. But do this all
quickly. Once you reach the top, you need to descend, but do it all in one
swoop (in other words, once the beam fires in the top section you should be at
the bottom.) Continue blasting away. Once the beam fires off above you, go
ALL THE WAY (meaning don't stop at the middle sections) up to the top again
and repeat. You might need to dodge some missiles on either extremity though
(top or bottom), and if you get through this unscathed you're one lucky guy.
The best I've managed is 2 hits, and that was using save states. But repeating
this strategy you should be able to do fairly well if you can focus.

Again, a warning: this is an expert strategy, intended for people confident
they can pull it off and concerned with getting a high score. If you can
accurately do this on your second or first tries against the boss, great, but
it's unlikely as it requires intense concentration and moderate understanding
of the boss. Or at least being able to understand these directions word-for-
word.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
| |
| Level Five |
| |
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

This first part of this level can be a bit tricky if you don't have a wave
weapon, which you very likely won't. Make sure to get the laser beam if you
don't. I only attempt to destroy one of the capsule creatures and just destroy
the other's homing missiles as I see them -- until it disappears off screen.
Watch out for the device firing electricity and scoot past when you can.
There's a surface-crawling robot that shoots damaging bubbles on the platform
ahead. Be prepared to kill it by shooting your weapon at surface level, but
only after you've taken out the swooping fleet of three ships.

Quickly kill the two turrets up top and line yourself up in the very middle of
the space you're in. A big robot will come from behind and fire missiles at
both the bottom and top extremities of the area. Blast away at its center
while you're out of range. The next obstacle is tricky. It's another
electricity shooter, but you have to situate yourself in the areas where its
electricity doesn't richochet to live.

For starters, lock your orbital cannons immediately above and below you. The
best immediate place to go is just past the metal pillar and in the bottom-
left corner on the right side of it, and you should do this IMMEDIATELY. After
the beam has passed once, move right as far as you can while firing. If the
orbs are situated right you should be killing all of the turrets. You'll be
facing a speed power-up, which you should pick up. A nasty robot will pass
over you and fire off some spinning disks, but you should be safe down here.

Stay down here until you see another spinning-disk robot pass by. You should
be able to sneak out from this little bunker just before you get crushed due
to the screen scrolling. Follow behind the spinning disks (but obviously not
TOO closely) and make sure to avoid that very nasty yellow matter. It'll make
you go bye-bye, instantly. There are three nasty ships just as the yellow
matter reaches about a quarter of the way back on the screen. You might have
to back-pedal or swoop down or up to avoid getting hit by one of these.

Up ahead is a dead-end with some turrets and an electric shooter above them.
Just don't get too close and you'll be fine. Destroy the turrets and soon
enough the screen will begin scrolling up. Here you need to watch out for
surface-crawlers. Don't get too close to the platform immediately above the
electricity shooter on your left. The beam will richochet off there, and you
need to be a good distance away to avoid it. Grab the bomb power-up if you
need it.

Scoot up to the top of the platform and destroy the surface-crawler the first
chance you get. Then stay on the top of the platform. This is a safe temporary
spot. Destroy the surface crawler just below the next electricity shooter. Be
careful how high you float while fighting it or you'll get zapped. Quickly go
back down and wait at the top of the platform you were just on. Until a
spinning-disk robot goes by, don't try to float up.

When one does, you'll want to have your cannons locked immediately above and
below you. Duck into the middle of the space above you, just out of the
electricity's range. Fly left while shooting to take out the turrets there
with your orbital cannons. Then face right and blow up those turrets too.
There's a wave beam to the left of the deadly yellow stuff. Careful! The
electricity fires directly below the power-up! Only go up there when you see a
break, but you better be quick or the yellow stuff will get you.

Just past the yellow stuff is three metal posts of varying sizes. Line
yourself up a little above the highest one and hold down the trigger. A
capsule creature will come first. It's dead. Then come two spinning-disk
robots. You'll take out the top one, but to avoid their attacks you'll have to
evade through the middle of the two disks. However, keep an eye out for the
big ships up ahead. They take several hits to kill and fire huge rings of
energy at you. With the wave weapon I like to linger just below these guys --
therefore out of their range -- and have the top of my wave hit the bottom of
their ship.

There's two of them. You also have to be mindful of the electricity shooters.
You'll pass some other annoyances including a nasty death-trap with two
opposing yellow things. But once you see some three turrets enclosed in a
metal shelter towards the top of a narrow corridor, lock your cannons again
directly above and below you. Wipe them all out, but watch out for the
electricity shooter. You're safe as long as you stand directly below where the
middle turret was.

Sneak up into the vertical shute when you can. Keep your orbiting cannons
locked. Watch where the electricity doesn't go, and where it does go. This is
the area you need to take rests in between killing monsters. When ready (and
you don't have TOO long,) run forward during a break and kill as many of the
turrets as you can with your lower orbital cannon. Quickly get to the rest
spot when you need to. Stay there until the screen starts scrolling up. When
it does, bolt right and get up close and personal with the surface-crawler on
that platform. Once he's dead you'll have a safe spot for a while. Well, as
long as you stay on the left edge of it.

Kill the other two surface-crawlers nearby now. Observe the pattern of the
electricity shooter above and kill the surface-crawlers above accordingly. The
next power-up is a wave weapon. Kill the next two surface crawlers and hurry
up to kill the isolated top one ASAP. You need to be on that platform or the
two electricity shooters about to appear will zap you. After they both fire
once, make sure your orbital cannons are locked directly above and below you
and scoot up in the area past the left one.

Keep your cannons locked so you can kill the ships that appear, and only
unlock them once you get to the big open space -- if you want to at all. There
are two electricity shooters past some surface crawlers. There's also a very
nasty trick planted here. You have to stand in a very narrow evasion area to
avoid 1) getting zapped and 2) picking up a bomb "power-up". This area is
right above the actual bomb power-up. Once the bomb power-up is gone, move
into the comfortable area between the two beams. But DO NOT go forward. Stay
back until you can dispose of the two surface-crawlers you'll soon see. Then
break for it once they're dead.

The beams won't hit you if you're in between the two big columns (they
richochet off into the two pits.) But some ships will come from the pits. Make
sure your cannons are unlocked for this part. Quickly prepare for two big
energy-ring ships next. I like to go the top part of this route 1) because
there's a wave beam up there and 2) because there's no electricity shooter or
nasty torpedo ships. You might want to lock your cannons at a forward arc to
kill the turrets and surface-crawlers ahead.

You'll pass a yellow death trap next. Just past this is a seemingly easy
corridor with turrets -- not so. Keep an eye behind you for a spinning-disk
robot or else you'll be in trouble. The next area is more than mildly
annoying. But see what power-up down there? That's a "R", which you NEED for
the last boss. Don't miss it. To dodge the first obstacle, move in and kill
the turrets from the left when there's a break in electricity (and fire).
Stand on top of the electricity shooter to avoid that whole nuisance. Then
pass by the death-trap when you can. Get the recovery power-up.

Ships will emerge from that pit, and not far ahead there's a big torpedo-
firing battleship. Then two more death-traps remain before the final boss.
Once you get in open space, you know he's (finally!) about to appear.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
] Boss Five: Obligatory Big Evil Thing That May Offend Women And Children ]
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

This guy has a pattern. He shoots two spread-shot beams and then fires a
direct flurry of bombs from his mouth (where the two legs part or whatever).
If you stand directly across from his mouth, you can beat him with minimal
damage by doing the following:

First spread-shot beam: This should always or at least usually miss you if
you're standing directly across from his mouth and firing.

Second spread-shot beam: Should be avoidable by moving slightly upwards from
your normal position.

Direct bombs: Don't stand in front of his mouth.

So the logical pattern is blast away until the second spread-shot, avoid that,
go in for a few more hits, move away for the bomb flurry and then repeat.

******************************************************************************

[][][][][][][][][][]
| |
| [4] ENDINGS |
| |
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Blue Character - Basically your CO tells you that the president has invited
you for lunch. The screen shoots to a picture of you viewing a great sunset.
You refuse. The CO gets upset.

Red Character - The president is having a parade in your honor. Once again,
the screen shoots to a great sunset with a silhouette of the character. You
tell your CO no thanks and to give the president the best champagne in your
honor. The CO complains, "that's my best champagne!" and demands you come
to the base.

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