Legality:
This Guide is Copyright, 2008, Matthew McIntyre
This guide may not be used on a website or in any public forum
where it is protected by copyright without the consent of the author.
To contact me: entropiclobo(at)yahoo(dot)ca or chaos(dot)wolf(at)gmail(dot)com
Websites with permission to use this Guide:
www.GameFAQS.com
www.neoseeker.com
faqs.IGN.com
www.1up.com
www.honestgamer.com
Game by Hudson
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* Table of Contents *
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*To jump to a section, hold the Control Key and press F, then type in the
section number as it appears (ie type SSH1)
SSH1: Intro
SSH2: Gameplay
SSH3: Walkthrough
SSH3.1: History 1
SSH3.2: History 2
SSH3.3: History 3
SSH3.4: History 4
SSH3.5: History 5
SSH3.6: History 6
SSH4: Enemies
SSH5: Secret
SSH6: Credits
Starship Hector is rated "H" for "History." It contains scenes of scorned
sarcophagi and sarcastic statues. Player discretion is advised.
Many of the shmups on the NES stay in one orientation. Others, like the amazing
Life Force try to do alternating orientations. It's hard to pull this off while
keeping a reasonable amount of balance. Starship Hector manages to pull it off,
as it alternates between horizontal and vertical views. The themes are kept
consistent and there are enough differences between the scrolling types that
they are fresh.
Most sources point to Hector as being part of the Star Soldier series. If this
is so, it's vastly different fromt he rest of them. This is _never_ a bad
thing, to try something new.
The areas of Hector are more distinct than those before it and the bosses have
more identity. That's great.
It's a fairly standard NES shmup, all said and done, but that doesn't mean you
shouldn't give it a go by any stretch of the imagination. It's fun, after all.
Starship Hector is a standard shmup. You must fly through a level, called a
"History" int his game while fighting waves of enemies and dodging obstacles.
At the end of each level is a Boss, this boss once destroyed will end the
stage.
You have a life meter in the game, after which it runs out you lose a life.
Even though you have a health meter, you cans till only take a handful of hits
(three is a good average) and some enemies will knock almost all of your life
meter out in a single hit.
There is hope, however, as hitting certain structures will release small health
items that when collected restore a bar of health. Pretty piddling, but it
could save your hide.
Keep in mind, however, that once you die you must start fromt he very start of\
the level. Ouch.
Control Pad: Movement
A: Bomb
B: Gun
The bomb hits ground targets and the gun hits targets on the same plane as your
ship.
Now there are two types of scrolling - vertical and horizontal.
Vertical view means you are flying over objects and bombs are the only way to
harm ground targets. It is viewed from the top.
Horizontal means you must fly around targets and your bomb flies down in an arc
from the starship. This can still hit foes beneath you, but you can line up
with enemies for your gun to hit them if you must. It is viewed from the side.
*Scoring Modes are also available. Try to score as much as possible in the
given time (either 2 or 5 minutes).
There are six levels in all, known as "Histories."
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SSH3.1: History 1
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Orientation: Vertical
Remember, it's important to note that you have two attacks. One hits grounds
targets and the other strikes air.
As the first History starts, you are out over water. There are four black
structures here. Fall back and fire multiple times on each of them with your
bomb and fire your normal shot ont he two ships here. Stay back.
Sticking back, fire your bomb shots at the large plates in the ground that
open but fire your forward shot simultaneously to take out the aircraft. I'd
say pick the righthand side, and the top left one and you should be able to get
all of these. The black orbs that appear? Fire at them from afar as they can
explode. By the way, the plates generate these black spheres.
After the plates, there will be some turrets and blue, circular ships. The blue
ships sometimes have erratic movement but concentrate on the turrets as they
are more persistent and numerous.
Stay to the left as you fly forwards. Cells will start to arrive onscreen. They
can take a beating but ultimately are harmless. Fine, destroy the turrets and
then work on the cells. There will be two squids here as well. There may not be
enough time to destroy them, so worry about evasion. As you approach the
strange tree, which you must have seen previously by now, hit it with the
ground shot to release a few capsules that restore your energy.
Destroy the turret as youc ontinue, ignore the squid. Stay central on the
ground path here and destroy the ground plate asap. Once it is destroyed, pick
a side and work on those turrets. Even as you approach the cells ahead, stick
to once side and concentrate on the turrets - so yes, skip the squid.
As you leave, there will be a tree, so refill as much life as possible.
Destroy the turret to the left of the tree and the ground plate to the right.
Stay in the lower right corner as the pink brain arrives to dodge it's large
shield. It will compact the shield and send it forward. Start firing on this
shield right away until it blow. Pump a few shots intot he blue brain coming
forward then stay away from the bottom as the brown back robot arrives.
Instead of pursuing this robot, take out the middle string of turrets and the
ground plate toward the end. There's a tree to lick your wounds after the
ground plate. The squids, of course, dodge them.
Pull back at the end and shoot down one of the blue brains that arrive, at the
very least. Once both are down or at least one, destroy the two ground plates
ahead. Take care, as their black spheres will already be exploding.
Destroy all of the black spheres remainign while they are still a good distance
away. The white aircraft here will fire and fly on and off the screen.
Nevermind the squids, concentrate on the aircraft and any turrets.
Stay away fromt he very bottom of the screen when you see blue brains again.
They signal that brown robots will appear from behind. Try to take out the
turret on the right at this point as most robots gravitate toward the left.
Some small chaser enemies will arrive. Dodge them as they fly towards you, at
the same time pull back and fire at them. There's a tree at the end of this
area.
As you approach the pyramid, work on destroying the turrets in front of it,
then on top of it. Fire your air shot as well, but any ships hit are merely
casualties of trying to destroy the turrets.
The next pyramid has four ground plates. Start to maul them as soon as they
arrive. There's white ships and blue circle ships here but the ground plates
are the priority as you don't want that many black spheres in one general
area. But as per usual, you will be firing both guns so you should be taking
out ships in tandem anyways.
The boss is just ahead.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS
*******************************************************************************
This boss is essentially a battery of cannons. The central cannons can be taken
down last and the side cannons are the first target. Use the groudn shot. The
centrals fire masses of swirling shots while the side cannons fire normal
shots. So, you will sometimes have dodge away from what you are doing, though
mostly the swirly shot goes straight down the middle.
As you approach the boss, start to bomb the sides. Destory the bottom cannon on
each side, then the second cannon on each. Alternate between them. Once half of
the ground cannons are destroyed concentrate on destroying all of the cannons
on one side, then all of those on the other.
Now for the central cannons. Stick to one for at least three hits. When the
missiles appear in the turret, fire ground shots at the turret and it should
blow up a missile while still inside of the turret. Normally, you should hit
more than one missile, but either way use your air gun on any missiles launched
at you as you dodge away. Once the missile blows up, it can't fire missiles
from the same area anymore.
So, if you disable at least 3 on each side (or all) and then do the same on the
other turret, the two of them will be very easy to manage. But remember, the
missiles must be hit as they appear in the launcher.
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SSH3.2: History 2
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Orientation: Horizontal
I can't be certain, but I believe this one takes place underwater...? Either
way, this is the first horizontal level so get used to the difference in the
ground shot, it lobs forward like a typical horizontal shooter bomb.
As you head right, constantly fire both weapons. stay high, those statues will
fire at you and you won't be taking them down anytime soon. However, the white
fish will take after you and the pink molluscs will open to fire at you. The
white fish are priority. Take them out as you dodge the molluscs.
Further right, some pink enemies will fly onscreen and gravitate to the left,
fly up the side, fly forward, and explode into three shots. The best way to
destroy them is to fly to the upper left corner and drop bombs on them, dodging
any shots coming your way from other foes. That grey building will unleash a
few large white bolts, they can be bombed and offer no resistance. Just always
look out for those pink bursters.
The white pipe on the bottom launches out healing items when you bomb it.
Otherwise stay higher up. The small grey ovoid ships wil fly forward in a
slight sinousoid but the real threats are the grey jumpers. When they leap up,
start firing at them asap. They take a bit of a beating but are soon dropped.
You will approach a building now. Stay lined up with the door.
--Inside--
Inside here there are many white ships and yellow eyes. Stay high and keep
firing both weapons. Your bombs will roll down steps so yes, you are very much
prepared to fight those yellow eyes. You will start hitting these yellow eyes
from afar as your bombs travel across the floor. Gun them down when they jump -
and they jump when hit. Keep firing at white ships until an eye jumps, then
concentrate on that.
From behind, there will be an orange bird. Let it get a bit onscreen, then
dodge back as it will dive down at you. So move back and fire at it before
it flies back. The saucers to the right will fly up to the top and start firing
bursts of three shots.
Now, pink bursters will arrive fromt he right as the column of fire rages
through the cave. However, they are orange, but have the same behaviour. You
will need to take them out as they arrive, otherwise you will have to dodge
their burst. After the fire dies down, fly up and take the uppe rpath here.
The saucers on the bottom are a pain in the ass, but there's only bursters up
above past the entrance saucer turret.
The tunnel up ahead has three saucer turrets. Deal with them as well as you can
though dodging may be the best course of action. There's another column of fire
up ahead. There's two triple turret-esque enemies just ahead, they're paired.
Take the top guy, fly up in line with its body and it won't be able to fire at
you. The bottom can. We take the top guy in the event the turrets we just past
hit us as we are low and in their trajectory. The pair will remain, so bomb it
if you can, but don't worry about it.
There's a white pipe just after the pair, so refill a bit of life here. What
can I say about the section coming up? There's molluscs here so just dodge
when they open. When the yellow eyes pass by down below, stick tot he lower
half of the screen and take out the grey leapers with bombs. Destroy the first
turret before the tunnel coming up. This whole past section is very tight and
will require skilled flying.
In the tunnel, stay low and dodge the diving birds as they appear. Keep an
eye on the turrets, you can't destroy them all.
The purple section is the worst because a diving bird will take up the whole
tunnel making it impossible to avoid unless timed exactly right. Destroy the
first turret in the purple section then hug the ground. When the bird arrives
quickly pull up with the ship to avoid it then destroy the bird before it can
come back. Dodge the remaining two turrets by passing after they fire and you
will be at the boss.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS
*******************************************************************************
This guy's really a lot less trouble than his stage itself. The giant stone
worm will move up and down firing shots. When it opens its mouth, it shoots a
line of fire.
However, when it shoots this line of fire it is also vulnerable. So when it
opens its mouth, fire at it with the airborne gun. It doesn't take many hits
to down it.
When it approaches the top or bottom of the screen, and you are there, move
through the gap between its bursts of shots before it can blow fire. Patience
is key here.
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SSH3.3: History 3
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Orientation: Vertical
Many of the same enmies appear here as level 1, in different hues.
Take out the black structures with bombs as you move forward. WHite ships will
join them but focus on the structures evn afte rthe turrets appear. Dodge the
turret fire until a structure appears on the right side of the screen. Shooting
this will detonate the turrets onscreen. Finish up with the Ground plate just
ahead.
The white orbs here fly onscreen then fly until they hit a side and then back
at you. Concentrate on the ground plates, but focus solely on the white orbs
when the plates are gone. As you approach the turrets, focus on the orbs though
you will be using the bomb at the same time so some should be taken out.
There are green ships at this selfsame time. They fire and leave so concentrate
on the whites. There are a few back robots as well, but they won't cause much
trouble if you stay way from the bottom of the screen.
Stay to the right as you approach the vertical line of turrets on the left and
hit the detonator that appears.
The large cycling ships that appear can be destroyed as they approach or simply
avoided. Either way, fire at the ground plate on the right then head left taking
a few turrets out. Focus on the ground plate on top of the pyramid just ahead.
After the pyramid are some large beasts that fire and teleport. These suckers
should be taken down asap and are priority. If you see one materialize below or
near you, fly away. There are two of them, after they pass focus on the
turrets and white orb (priority here).
After the turrets there is a spiraling enemy. It fires a large radial spray of
shots. You can destroy these shots, so fire your way through them and make your
way past it. There's a horsehead just ahead, which spurts life-ups when you
hit it with bombs.
The back robots here can fire small chaser ships. They become priority. Stay at
the left, doding the shots from retreaters until you see a battery of turrets.
Shoot the detonator that appears in their midst, then head right and destroy
the ground plate.
Circle ships are the primary enemies ahead, though there is another spiral. As
before, shoot its atatcks and pass it by. Nevermind any black spheres here
until after you pass the spiral. You will soon approach some green ground.
Pass the spiral that appears over the river, yes, while shooting its shots
yourself. Black spheres will start to appear, destroy them as they come up to
your level.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS
*******************************************************************************
As you approach the boss, try to bomb one of the turrets that appear just ahead
before your each the boss proper. There are two more turrets behind the boss.
These turrets fire standard shots, and while easy to dodge having four active
turrets makes this kind of difficult to dodge. The turrets periodically
submerge and only fire when they come up.
The actual boss is a giant statue. This statue fires a spread shot forward and
a single standard shot towards your position. It is vulnerable in the eyes.
So now, one of the turrets at the bottom has been destroyed. Get to one side of
the statue so that the spread cannot hit you. Destroy the turrets above the
statue.
If you want to destroy one of the turrets at the bottom after the battle starts
you will have to stay right above it as it comes out of the water and bomb it
like crazy.
When there is minimal resistance, it's time to get on with the big guy himself.
Strafe back and forth, so that you fly pas him after the shots pass off the
bottom of the screen. Stay at the very bottom and strafe as such, firing
relentlessly with your aerial shot. His eyes close over and eventually explode
as the battle rages on. When both eyes are destroyed, the battle is over.
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SSH3.4: History 4
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Orientation: Horizontal
Another underwater deal here. Stay near the centre and destroy the white fish
as they appear. Watch for the sand to start moving. Grey leapers jump out of
the sand here and fire off small grey ovoids. The leapers are priority target
of course.
Purple ovoids will fly on from the left of the screen. Stay nearer to the
centre, just off left of it, you should be able to avoid and dispatch the
ovoids easily. There's a white pipe down below, stay up and away from it as
a mollusc will arrive from the left and grey leapers appear from the sand just
past the pipe.
So, while you dodge the mollusc and the leapers, your bombs will hit the pipe.
When the coast is clear, grab a few health items.
As you continue your approach, there will be more grey leapers. Deal with these
with bombs and evasion and just dodge the bursters that appear. They are not
equal to the threat of the leapers.
Enter the door in the wall.
--Inside--
There is a back and forth turret on the floor firing shots. Move above it while
dropping bombs. We move forward so that the ovoids coming fromt he left will
not hit us and the bombs should destroy the turret anyways. Stay ahead to avoid
the next pair of ovoids.
As you avoid this pair, you will say large stone sarcophagi. These are
invulnerable and fire shots from their mouths. Stay away from their heads and
dodge their shots while you deal the other enemies.
A white pipe is here if you need to refill a bit.
Molluscs appear from the left, on the top and on the bottom. Remember their
positions and you should be able to avoid getting crashed into. You don't have
insurance on that starship.
The grey structures along the bottom are no worry. Just bomb away and take
them out. There's a vertical path from bottom to top here. Fly up here before
the back and forth turret appears and shoot it down before it can fire at you.
Now many of the "grey structures" from now on will show their true colours as
triple cannons - firign a spread of three shots into the air - be careful. We
might get hit with one just ahead, but as you fly down, hug the right wall and
destroy the back and forth turret. Hugging the wall may get you hit by the
triple cannon, but at least will give you room to deal with the two diving
birds coming from behind...
The next portion with the sarcophagus is kind of tricky. Along the bottom there
is a triple cannon, grey leapers, and a yellow eye. It is best to dodge the
sarcohpagus' shot and head down near the bottom, firing and bombing the leaping
enemies *eye and leaper) before they can get airborne. Then you dodge the
sarcophagus' shot once more and head up as the white fish fly past.
Now the white fish are here in thick numbers as you approach the pillar of
flame. Deal with them with bombs if you can, but go along the ground and fire
at the back and forth cannon across the gap. You must destroy this before
crossing or you potentially set yourself up for a lot of damage. When you
start to cross the gap hold up so that you don't get singed as the fire may be
coming back already.
Once you are across the gap, bomb the remaining fish and the next back and
forth turret.
Stay near the floor as you fly forward, so that you have room to dodge the next
back and forth turret as you bomb it. When you see the yellow eyes, hold back
while you blast them. You will destroy two, the third won't come back to bother
you so head right to the white pipe.
Now, refill as much as you can on the white pipe, but shoot down the back and
forth turret next to it. Hit the next guy that was level witht he one you just
destroyed, and your bombs should hit the turret just below it.
Destroy the turret that's in the doorway as you head out into a larger chamber.
Wait for the grey ovoids to pass by then fly up next to the big yellow beast,
this is half of the paired beasts from History 2. Anyways, from up here you can
shoot this beast and the next one that shows up while at the same time bombing
all of the turrets below you _AND_ providing room to dodge and destroy the
diving birds. It's the way to go, young padewan.
Now you will be netering an area that has Egyptian style heiroglyphs on the
walls. Take the bottom path at the split, there's only two eyes down here.
The third will probably leap onto the wall and become a non issue. It may not,
however, so don't assume it will.
Stay here and keep bombing and firing until the yellow eye and grey leapers are
done for.
Stay beneath the ceiling of the lower path until a string of about three white
fish are destroyed. If you see one fo those molluscs that opens up and fires
appear above, then you must get out because a mollusc will come fromt he bottom
and ram you.
Dodge the mollusc's shots, then deal with one last diving bird as the boss
music begins.
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BOSS
*******************************************************************************
A large gold pharoah. This is the hardest boss yet, and is going to require
some pretty fancy flying.
I'm fairly sure his weakspot is the head, but you will be hitting him all over
his body in this fight so I could be wrong. Essentially, never stop firing or
bombing the whole fight.
The boss fires bursts of three shots from its mouth. You have to move between
every weave due to the necessity to dodge in this fight.
Every time he walks, stone blocks fall from the ceiling. This is extremely
troublesome when you couple it with its shots. This is why Is ay you will be
hitting the boss all over. The _primary_ task in this fight is to dodge shots
and blocks.
Now the blocks often have gaps far enough apart to fly through, but they might
not. Note that all the blocks fall at different rates. So even in a tight
cluster, you may see one or two break way from the pack. This is your ticket
to move on through.
This is also why we dodge through the gap between each burst of shots, even if
it's only slight - to get in position to fly between some blocks.
I know it sounds strange to just dodge the whole fight, but if you are firing
the whole time, it will drop.
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SSH3.5: History 5
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Orientation: Vertical
The ground disc just ahead will fire off black spheres just like the ground
plates did in previous histories. Bomb it, then move left while bombing to take
out a few turrets while at the same time allowing those big grey cycler ships
to miss you. You see, they track your position before they travel up now so
that they travel up in line with your position. Stafing to the left will take
out turrets -and- dodge them.
Heading up there's a ground disc on the left and a statue on the right. The
statue will provide healing items if hit but the ground disc is priority.
Destroy and any black spheres it spawns. Destroy the teleport beast that will
appear and take out the next ground disc up and left. Destroy the second
teleport beast and start working on the turrets.
Stay on the right for this long line of turrets so as to destroy the ground
dsic coming up. There is a statue here, but you may not be able to get through
enough resistance in order to make use of the healing. If a white ship is
coming up behind you, dodge out of the turret cluster.
There will be a load of white ships and circular ships now, with some
retreaters. Dodge the retreaters and focus on the smaller ships.
Soon, turrets will appear at the upper right, a ground disc is just behind it
so get over there and destroy the disc. Now, there will be grey cycler seeker
ships here, the big guys that cycle down and fly up in line with you. Anyways,
they're here. Dodge them and head left while bombing to destroy another ground
disc.
Hit the detonator right next to this disc to destroy the remaining turrets and
the next ground disc. Stay away fromt he bottom now as back robots will be
entering and flying up the lefthand side. destroy the chasers they launch as
best you can, but make sure to dodge them if it truly comes down to that.
Black spheres will be appearing from the gap. Destroy them as it seem black
spheres on this level do not fire off shots when destroyed. However, get out
of the way when the big ships that look like four leaf clovers appear. The
strange circular path of the first one makes it quite dangerous and they have
too much stamina to be arsed with.
After they pass, head to the left and take out the ground disc, and use the
statue on the right for some healing.
Past the statue there will be another ground disc (on the right) so get over
there and take it out. Dodge the few white orbs that appear and take out that
more central (though offset right) ground disc. Destroy the two teleport beasts
that appear along with it, but only have the disc is destroyed. Take out the
next ground disc just after them and get ready for some more of those big grey
ships.
Now, about three of the big greys come onscreen at once here. One goes right
and two go left. You can destroy the righthand ship and head up and left to
avoid the lefthand ships. You might get hit by a turret, but it's a small
sacrifice compared to the full bar of damage the big guys can do.
Okay, just ahead will be some small white teleport ships. These teleport only
when your shots are comign towards them so they are best off avoided. Stay on
the righthand side and eventually you will see a solid circle. Keep firing on
it to open it up and eventually gain a bonus. 100000 points, nothing to scoff
at.
Keep away from the green clover shaped ships here and stay on course after
getting the bonus to see a detonator in the ground. Hit this and dodge the
turret's fire as they are destroyed. You should focus on destroying some of the
black spheres while you dodge.
Destroy the turret justa head and get some energy fromt he statue. A few
clovers will pass by, leave them be. A large white ship also appears. Hitting
this guy a few times will cause it to dodge offscreen, so yeah you cand get
right in front of it.
A few white ships and a back robot to deal with ahead, and then the boss.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS
*******************************************************************************
This guy's actually pretty easy. It is a large spiked craft with a spinning
shield of orbs. It moves around the upper portion of the screen and will at
times fire off a single shot.
There are six turrets in the lava and they bubble up too quick to make a
difference. Since only one of them usually fires, it's best to just leave them
be. Note when they bubble up and dodge the shot they fire.
So essentially, you need to stay at the bottom of the screen, firing your shots
at the enemy and its shield. Eventually, your shots start to destroy the shield
and after it's gone the boss itself will take a pounding before being destroyed
utterly.
So stay at the back, keep firing, and only move forward when you have to dodge
a shot or two.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SSH3.5: History 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Orientation: Horizontal
Heading right in the night sky you will see a statue with a beard. It fires a
fireball up at you, which when it gets near you will start spinning in a
circular pattern. You should let it fire then bomb it as you fly back and up
until it is destroyed. Dodge the second fireball and head right.
After you dodge and start right, start bombing the two nautilus shells and the
grey leapers down here. Those sjhells can fire up at you so knock them down
with bombs before that opportunity presents itself. Avoid the bursting enemies.
Stay near the top and dodge the ovoids. Bomb the grey leapers and nautilus
shells.
Keep dodging as you head right. After the white pipe (probably too crowded down
there to take advantage of the healing items). You want to stay near the top
and bomb the grey leapers. When you see the door, fly into it to end this now.
--Inside--
The eye ships flying toward you dodge around you before they hit you. Shoot at
them, of course, but don't worry about them if you have to fight something else.
And something else comes quick. Those dastardly triple turets from History 2
are back. There are two up ahead. Fly over them and bomb them into oblivion
before they can float to the top of the screen.
However, it might be counter-intuitive but the next pair we will let reach the
ceiling. That face spills lava out of its mouth. Pull back and fire at the
bursting enemies (those that burst into three shots after reaching the left)
and you will take down about three of them.
Pass by the lava after it falls and before it falls again. Stay near the bottom
and you will only have to dodge the middle shot from either floating triple
turret. Stay along the bottom and bomb the hell out of the nautilus shells here
and dodging any bursters that make it through.
As you head up, dodge the small ships form the left and destroy the turret
lifting off of that metal pipe. Do the same for the next two turrets and hold
back at that stream of water.
When the water recedes, fly through and start bombing the next floating triple
turret. Move forward to avoid the bursters as they explode into their three-
way spreads and head back between the small ovoid ships before they close in.
Try to get some health out of the pipe now, your bombs should have prompted it
to fire some health-ups already anyways.
Nevermind the next floating cannon and go under the next pipe and up to the
ceiling - bombing and dodging the grey leapers as you do. What we want to do is
get up to the left of the large beast of the pair of beasts (the two yellows
that move slightly together and start firing) and destroy it.
Destroy it as quickly as possible and pass the next face as the lava falls.
Concentrate on bombing the two floating triple turrets betweent hem before they
can make it to the ceiling.
At the next face, let your bombs roll off the pipe and hit the next floaty
turret a few times. Pass after the lava falls away and bomb it the rest of the
way. Bombt he second quickly as the bursting enemies fly onscreen - avoid these
and focus your shots on the aforementioned floaty turrets.
Pass the next face after the lava falls past and before the next stream
arrives. Stay near the bottom and blast the hell out of the nautilus shells
down here.
Stay near the floor until you see the next metal pipe. Then you should head up
and pass the lava stream as soon as you can. Bomb the triple turret before it
can rise up and look out for the bursters.
When that turret is destroyed, pull back towards the metal pipe you just left
behind to avoid ovoids crashing into you. Try to hit the turret that has
already lifted to the top.
We're into an area with a black background now. Stay near the bottom and bomb
the blue blazes out of nautilus shells. don't worry about the two turrets
raising up there - being at the bottom will give you plenty of room to dodge.
Once you see some of those bursting enemies come onscreen, head up a bit and
try to shoot them before they can get to the left and bomb the grey leapers as
you see them as well.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS
*******************************************************************************
This is a large brain in a glass jar. It has one primary, though dangerous
attack. It fires many shots down, which then pull up at various speeds. So
basically, these shots are like balls thrown across the screen with various
values of gravity towards the ceiling.
It fires two volleys at a time.
It's hard to say if there really is a safespot in this fight. You can try the
following:
1. The lower left, just above the hill. No shot will reach you here in my
experience. So when the second volley is launched, head up, fire off a few
shots and retreat to repeat the pattern later.
The inherent problem is, if you are up, then some shots will be invariably
lobbed beneath you, meaning you can't keep the pattenr up for long.
2. The other method concerns staying above the brain.
B A |
______ |
/ \ |
\. \___|
/_..--.-
'.'.'.''
-Stay at A as it launches its volleys.
-Move to B and bomb the eye rapidly.
-Move back to A to dodge the Volleys aimed at B.
This is the most successful pattern in my experience though be WARNED there
will still be some stray shots falling short of B or far of A.
Once the glass breaks, you MUST hit the Brain in the eye so this second method
become smuch more attractive. The brain will LOOK up at your ship and so the
bombs will connect directly with its pupil-registering damage.
Keep it up, fly with evasion in mind, and it will die.
Enemies are listed by the history they initially appear in and when they gain
a considerable update to behaviour.
These are not official names, as always they are an approximation based on
appearance and behaviour.
*History 1*
---------
*Back Robot:
Arrives from the back and flies forward toward the top sometimes firing a shot.
Dangerous because you often stay at the very back.
*Black Structure:
Stationary, harmless, circular enemy. Use ground shots.
*Black Sphere:
Will explode when shot or over time resulting in a radial spray of shots. Take
them out from as far as possible and destroy their generator first.
*Blue Brain:
Flies forward in a small sinusoid and can take a beating. Not a priority target
but don't let them all get away.
Sometimes theyw ill fire, but due to their movement they remain low priority.
Be careful if you are near them however, as they can suddenly make erratic,
fast moves - even when just barely offscreen.
*Blue Circle:
Blue circles fire as they approach then dart off in another direction. Never
stay directly in front of them as they approach, but do get a decent distance
away (a few starship's worth) so as they don't ram you.
Their othe rpattern is a simple sinusoid. That should be easy enough to conquer
from a distance.
*Cell:
Moves forward in a slight sinusoid. High stamina, low priority.
There are also large cells witht he same behaviour that take even more shots.
*Chaser:
Small brown enemy that flies quickly toward your ship. Pull back to dodge then
destroy asap.
*Circle Turret:
Fires a shot whenever it opens. Stay back and dispatch immediately with a
ground shot.
This is only vulnerable when it opens.
*Ground Plate:
A large square that opens up in the ground. It blocks your shots and launches
black spheres. Destroy asap with ground shot.
*Pink Brain:
As it flies onscreen, get away from it. It erects a huge barrier which will
then compact and fire forward. The barrier can be destroyed, though the brain
will probably leave before you get many shots at it.
*Squid:
Blue squids that fly quickly through the screen. Usually too fast to destroy
without taking damage from something else.
*Tree:
Hit it with the ground shot to release life-restoring capsules.
*White Aircraft:
Fly towards you, with a slight sinusoid at times. Don't get directly in front
of one when it is up close, but instead use your air gun from afar.
Another pattern is to fly in then fly back out.
*History 2*
---------
*Diving Bird:
Flies forward then divebombs you or flies up after you. The best way to deal
with them, if you have the room, is to fly backwards underneath them and fire
at them when they are at the low point of their dive and before they fly back
at you.
*Grey Jumper:
A mollusc (?) that moves across the ground, leaps up, then flies forward. You
will want to hit them at the apex of their jumps.
*Grey Ovoid:
Flies quickly forward with a slight sinusoid to its path. Though it is usually
not a priority target, take care to destroy a smany as possible as you head to
the more dangerous targets.
*Paired Turret Beasts:
One from above, one from below each firing three shots. If you stay below the
point of fire of one of them, you can destroy it and just move on. The pair
will remain, however.
*Pink/Orange Burster:
Flies in form the right, up the left side of the screen, then forward. When it
flies forward it can burst into a spread of three shots. The best way to
destroy them is to bombt hem as they climb the side.
*Pink/Orange Mollusc:
When it opens up, it fires shots. So don't get too close to it and bomb it from
above. The shots are fired out the back of it and it arrives via the left side
of the screen.
*Saucer Turret:
Flies to the top of the screen and fires three shots down in a spread. Usually
best to avoid with everything else going on.
*Statue:
Big, invulnerable, and firing shots. Stay out of reach.
*White Aircraft (Horizontal):
Moves upa nd down firing shots. Don't line up with them for long, only long
enough to take them down.
*White Fish:
Chase your starship. They are fairly persistent, so make them priority.
*White Pipe:
Releases healing items when hit.
*Yellow Eye:
When hit, jumps forward. It's bets to start with a bomb from afar and gun it
in the air. It has a decent amount fo stamina, so don't get cocky and have it
ram you. Dodge if you must.
*History 3*
---------
*Back Robot Model 2:
These ones shoot little chaser robots. These are priority. They arrive from the
back corners.
*Detonator:
Shooting this with a bomb destroys all turrets nearby.
*Horsehead:
Head it with bombs for it to spit out healing items.
*Large cycler:
A large ship that cycles around the screen. If you can't hit it as it flies
down, you probably won't be getting rid of it before it retreats.
*Retreater:
Comes onscreen, whips its central cannon to fire a shot then flies off. Not a
priority target.
*Spiral:
Large enemy that fires a huge radial spray of shots. These shots are
destructible so it is often best to fire on them and make your way past these
guys.
*Teleport Beast:
Flies onscreen and fires shots. It will dematerliaze and reappear elsewhere.
Move away if you see it materialize near you just dodge away. Fairly high
priority on these guys.
*White Orb:
Flies across the screen until it hits the boundary, then changes course to go
for you. At this point, it again travels across the screen to repeat its
pattern. It will at times open up to fire.
Fairly high priority, but grounds plates should be destroyed first.
*History 4*
---------
*Back and Forth Turret:
Moves back and forth rapidly firing shots. It's often best to take it out with
a few bombs.
*Grey Leaper Type 2:
This variant leaps from sand and fires many grey ovoids. Bomb them as they leap
up, otherwise dodge them.
*Sarcophagus:
A large, invulnerable sarcophagus. It fires shots from its mouth. Stay away
from the head and you will have plenty of room to dodge.
*Purple/Orange Ovoid:
Fly on from the left of the screen and move across to the right, they damage
whent hey collide with you.
*Triple Cannon:
Stationary cannon that fires three shots up. Bombing is usually the answer.
*History 5*
---------
*Clover:
Will either fly forward or trace violent circles as it flies forward. High
stamina and best avoided.
*Grey Cycler Seeker:
Like the grey cyclers though they more fervently seek your position. When they
cycle down, they come back up in line with you.
*Ground Disc:
Like the ground plate except circular. It also launches black spheres (which
explode in a burst of shots) so bomb them with priority.
*Humanoid Statue:
Hit it repeatedly to make it spit out healing items.
*Square Turret:
A normal turret that opens and closes. Bomb it.
*White Dodger:
A slow, large ship that flies forward soemtimes firing. When hit a few times,
it will very quickly dodge off to the side and off the bottom of the screen.
*White Teleporter:
Teleports away form your shots. Otherwise, a slow moving ship that sometimes
shoots at you. Just focus on evasion, unless they're in front of you in which
case firing will get them out of the way.
*History 6*
---------
*Bearded Statues:
Shoot a fireball into the air with a circular path and are invulnerable. Note
their positions and dodge the attack.
*Dodging Eye
Flies toward you but dodges around you at thelast moment before hitting you.
Low priority because of this - go after bigger threats.
*Nautilus Shells:
Will fire a nautilus shell at you. Dodge them and bomb them. It is best to bomb
the shells before they ever fire.
Besides hidden score spots, Starship Hector has one main secret:
After you clear the game, start up another game immediately and your ship will
have changed into a humanoid robot.
This seems to have no impact on gameplay.
Just to flesh this out, look for structures in the game that are like closed
circles. When you fire on them enough they open up and a letter appears, and
you get some bonus points.
Thanks go out to Hudson for making this game and the Star Soldier series in
general. It's usually a pretty stellar series and Starship Hector is a vast
departure - hell it might not even be part of the series but all signs say yes.
Either way, it's something different fromt he rest of the series and it's fun,
so thanks.
Thanks of course go out to my hosts, as without them you would not be reading
this guide.
Websites with permission to use this Guide:
www.GameFAQS.com
www.neoseeker.com
faqs.IGN.com
www.1up.com
www.honestgamer.com
