Sky Shark FAQ, version 1.01
28 September 2002
written by melvinwang
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Legal
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This guide copyright 2002 Alvin Liang (
[email protected])
Read, print, or use it to play and win the game, but you may not alter it or
use it in any other manner without my express written permission, including
but not limited to distribution or posting on your web site. The only sites
allowed to post this guide are mine (Alvin Liang's) and GameFAQS.
Sky Shark is a trademark of Tatio.
NES is a trademark of Nintendo.
Other trademarks not mentioned are also acknowledged.
If you need to contact me, my address is above. It might change a lot.
I'm willing to help you with the game if you write in a reasonably literate
and polite manner (in plain English, ask nicely, no alternating caps, et
cetera). I guess I could take Spanish or something as long as Babelfish can
deal with it.
Contributors always welcome and credited.
This document is 78 characters wide and 330 lines long, I hope.
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Contents
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Legal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 005
Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 030
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 051
Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 072
Your plane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 082
Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 108
Scoring/enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 123
Gameplay hints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 185
Walkthrough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 209
first stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 215
second stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 228
third stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 249
fourth stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 269
fifth stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 293
Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 327
Update history. . . . . . . . . . . . . . line 333
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Introduction
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Yeah, I already wrote a guide out of boredom before. But hey, this is my first
guide that I'll be writing since a few people (don't know how many) requested
it on GameFAQs. Woohoo.
So, this is about the simplest game ever. You fly around, shooting things
while not getting hit by any of them. The NES version is based on the arcade
version, which is about as simple, but has nicer graphics. Unfortunately the
two player mode is alternating, making the replay value quite low.
I'm writing this without the instruction booklet, which I left at home, so
some of the basic info might be slightly off. It shouldn't matter, because the
game remains pretty much the same.
The game has only five stages, but they're pretty hard. Collision detection is
kind of bad, so the game is kind of frustrating. Luckily, if you're a glutton
for punishment you can continue four times, I think.
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Controls
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+ Control Pad - Move
A - Shoot
B - Bomb
How hard is that?
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Your plane
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Your plane is pretty crappy, one hit and it bursts into ugly gray flames. I
think it has a name (probably Sky Shark).
But it has pretty good weapons which you improve by picking up shot power-ups,
which I'll call S's from now on. (See below for more.) Here's a chart:
No. of S's Shot pattern
0 2 shots
1 4 shots
2 4 shots, wider
3 5 shots
4 6 shots
5 7 shots
6 7 shots, wider
The other wonderful weapon is the bomb. If only real fighter jets were this
cool. Basically by pushing B everything on the screen in front of you blows
up, including enemy bullets. Useful in a jam. You start with three upon death
and the start of a level, but you can get more. Strange, I didn't know bombs
killed things in the air. Oh well. Bombs do the damage of about 10-20 normal
shots.
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Items
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There's only two of them, so it isn't really that confusing.
Shot power-ups (S's):
They look like a square with an S inside. Makes you shoot more shots or the
same number of shots in a wider pattern. You can get up to 6 of them.
Extra bombs (B's):
They look like a copyright symbol but with a B inside instead of the usual C.
They, uhhhhh, give you another bomb. Extra bombs are worth 3000 points at the
end of a level too.
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Scoring/Enemies
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Extra life at 50000, 100000, 200000, 300000, etc.
3000 points for bombs at the end of each stage.
Blue plane 200
Real simple, they're blue planes. They might make a beeline for you or shoot
at you or both. Somehow, they shoot backwards and sideways.
Tank 400 (turret 160) (body 240)
They move in a set path and shoot at you unless you destroy their turrets.
A second shot destroys them completely. Incidentally I don't think tanks
usually have anti-aircraft guns.
Red/yellow plane 200
They also move in a set path. They don't shoot at you. Destroying a whole
group of them gets you one of those S power-ups, in the case of the red ones,
or 1000 points in the case of the yellow ones. Not particularly dangerous but
sometimes they block off parts of the screen with their flight patterns.
They're interchangeable depending on your power-up status or whether you die.
Small boat 100
The small boats in the first level don't shoot at you.
Bunker turret 100
They shoot quite fast, so look out. I wish they were worth more points, 'cuz
they're kinda hard to kill compared to a plane worth twice as many points.
Big tank 5000
The first level's boss. It fires a spread of three shots, with the center one
aimed right at your current position. Just weave back and forth and shoot it,
you shouldn't really need to use a bomb. He passes by if you take too long.
Big plane 1500
Kinda like the big tank except easier to kill. It has a really wide shot
pattern compared to the big tank.
Gunboat 260 (turret 160) (body 100)
It's basically a floating tank. It moves pretty fast.
Battleship turret 100
Like a bunker turret.
Bigger plane 5000
Shoots five shots instead of three, harder to kill. It can't aim, it only
shoots straight down.
Big tank "version 2" 5000
Like the bigger plane.
Big tank "version 3" 5000
Shoots a steady stream of bullets, then stops, then repeats. Quite dangerous.
Mine car 100
Usually contains a bomb. Not dangerous at all.
REALLY BIG PLANE 30000 + 30 per hit
It's a combination of the big plane and the bigger plane. Basically it can
aim its volley of five shots.
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Gameplay hints
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Keep moving, also don't hug the bottom of the screen too tightly because crap
comes from behind and it will really piss you off when you are hit by a plane
that's just entering the screen.
Don't be afraid to use your bombs, there's a lot of them to be picked up.
Try to use them right when a whole bunch of bullets are headed your way, or
when you know thy can be replaced by something you kill with them.
Kill things before they get a chance to fight back. They can block off parts
of the screen. Killing them also reduces the amount of crap you have to dodge.
Don't underestimate enemies leaving the screen, they have a nasty tendency to
fire a split second before they disappear, which is really frustrating.
Sometimes the enemy shots are hard to see, even though they flash. This is
frustrating, but also why you keep moving and try to kill everything.
Try to shoot the last of a group of red planes when it's near you so you can
get the S easily.
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Walkthrough
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Note: whenever I mention red or yellow planes it could be the other species.
* First stage *
The beginning's really quiet, but the action heats up when you reach the
network of cabins and bridges, where there's a group of red planes, two groups
of yellow planes, and a tank near the center of the screen with a bomb. Still,
keep moving and you shouldn't have trouble.
At about the midpoint of the stage you're back in the jungle, where tanks hide
in the trees and bunkers appear with groups of four planes coming at you.
Kinda difficult but not after a few runs. There's an S followed by a group of
four tanks with a bomb. At the end is the big tank, but the level's not quite
over, so don't let your guard down.
* Second stage *
You'll start against a shitload of tanks unloading on the shore, then a big
plane. After that, lots of gunboats, a chance for an S, then gunboats with
planes (including yellow ones).
Next come small battleships, first with big planes. There's a bomb on the
lower-left turret of the second ship. Next come battleships with stray
gunboats. Then, a big, big battle ship with a "bigger plane" (see enemies) and
a truckload of small planes. You'll probably die here unless you use a bomb.
There's a bomb in the last turret of the big battleship, and a group of red
planes right after it.
Finally you reach shore. You'll probably need another bomb here, because there
are two big "version 2" tanks here plus a lot of bunkers containing the normal
tanks. But, if you don't want the points you can just weave to opposite sides
since they only shoot straight down.
After that, four tanks and a small plane guard a bomb, then two more bunkers,
and you're home free.
* Third stage *
Planes combine with gunboats and tanks to cause immediate trouble. Watch out
for big planes coming from behind. There's a bomb in this area, then some red
planes as you first fly over the open sea.
Then large battleships with bunker turrets appear along with gunboats from
behind and big planes from in front. One bomb each on the first two battle-
ships, to replace the two you might use.
Next, fast moving gunboats on both sides and a bigger plane from behind on
the right, and a group of yellow planes. After that, an aircraft carrier,
loaded with turrets and complete with small aircraft, then another group of
yellow planes.
After that you approach what appears to be a dock, where a wrecked battleship
(which luckily doesn't have any guns) is anchored. There's small planes and
a large line of tanks on the left followed by a group of red planes that goes
around the outside.
* Fourth stage *
Easily obtained bomb at the start, in what looks like the enemy base. Just hit
the tanks and small planes. Then it's back to the jungle, opening off with a
group of yellow planes.
The jungle is just a little dividing point; it's then back to another enemy
base, and another easy-to-get bomb. Yellow planes fly in a wide circle coming
from the right. Alternating waves of blue planes and a big tank "version 3" on
the left train tracks. Watch for the next wave of yellow planes, they can
constrict your movement. This part is annoying.
After (or during) that little ordeal some sets of mine cars appears containing
bombs. Then big planes and tanks appear in a short jungle section, along with
red planes. You'll see big tracks; this can only mean a big tank "version 3".
It appears with big planes and tanks, and another well-placed line of yellow
planes.
In the next jungle section the big planes appear from behind instead of in
front, so look out. Lots of tanks also. Then lots of bunkers and planes, red
included. There's a bomb next to the lone bunker after the first line of
three. This is a really busy area, so you might want to use a bomb. The stage
ends right afterwards anyways.
* Fifth stage *
More enemy base. The blue planes now make a very, very conscious effort to try
to ram you. There are some mine carts with bombs, otherwise it's more of the
same, tanks and planes, blah blah blah, tanks and planes. If you haven't yet
noticed the rate of fire of the tanks and turrets has increased.
Then open sea, two battleships at once, this is why you have bombs. One extra
bomb on the lower-right turret of the right ship, another on the last turret
of the left ship. Oh, don't forget about the five-plane waves.
Next, big planes from behind, gunboats, and more blue planes. Then the beach,
with tanks, planes, blah blah blah. The yellow planes get in the way again.
After the river, two lines of tanks, one left and one right, at the same time.
Ouch. The lower-left one has a bomb. Easiest way to get them is to use a bomb
but you can swoop in really fast to get them also.
Back to the sea, starts with blue and red planes. Instead of alternating sides
they come right down the middle in a loose formation, quite difficult without
any power-ups. Another aircraft carrier, then more red planes flying in a
diagonal formation from the left. Then yellow planes in the same fashion but
on the other side.
Then, the big boss, the REALLY BIG PLANE. Actually it's not that hard to beat.
Just weave back and forth while shooting, or use your bombs. As usual, the
stage doesn't immediately end. There's some red planes, blue planes, and four
tanks.
In fact the game doesn't immediately end. After this the game repeats from the
second stage, and you can play over and over again. The enemies stay at the
current difficulty but reduce to the numbers of previous stages.
THE END. Not really, unless you lose.
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Credits
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Me - for playing this game for an hour.
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Update history
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I forgot to fill in the maximum number of S's you could get.
