______ _________ ______ ______ ______ _________
| ____| |___ ___| | __ | | ____| | ____| |___ ___|
| |____ | | | |__| | | |___ | |___ | |
|____ | | | | ___ \ | ___| | ___| | |
____| | | | | | \ \ | |____ | |____ | |
|______| |_| |_| \_\ |______| |______| |_|
_____ _ _____ _ _ _______ _____ _____
| ___| | | | _ | | | | | |__ __| | ___| | _ |
| |___ | | | | |_| | |__| | | | | |___ | |_| |
| ___| | | | | __ | __ | | | | ___| | __ \
| | | | | ||_ | | | | | | | | |___ | | \ \
|_| |_| |_____| |_| |_| |_| |_____| |_| \_\
___ ____ __ ____
/ _ \ / __ \ /_ | / __ \
|/ ) | || || | | || ||
/ / || || | | || ||
/ /_ ||__|| | | ||__||
/____| \____/ |_| \____/
"The Final Fight"
______________________________________________________________
Walkthrough v1.4
By Deathspork
[email protected]
______________________________________________________________
New for version 1.4: Went through and gave it an overall edit,
both for grammar problems and to add some strategies, and I also
added a new section: Expert Tips. This is for those who are good
at the game and want to attempt a perfect or near-perfect run.
New for version 1.3: Added new tips sent in from Chad Davidson,
covering the use of the orb power-up, level 16 and a part in
level 18. Thanks a lot, I've been very surprised by input of
the readers of this FAQ.
New for version 1.2: Added a tip from Pat Zajac (thanks goes
to him) plus fixed the ascii art which was messed up last time
I updated.
New for version 1.1: Additional strategies for the final boss
and the sand cave boss have been submitted by a guy named Luis
Torres. Thanks a lot! You can find those in thier respective
sections of the FAQ.
________
Contents
________
--Intro
-Story
-Play Mechanics
--Walkthrough
-In-betweener Levels
-PLANET ONE
--Level 1
--LV 2
--LV 3
--LV 4
-PLANET TWO
--LV 5
--LV 6
--LV 7
--LV 8
-PLANET THREE
--LV 9
--LV 10
--LV 11
--LV 12
--LV 13
-PLANET FOUR
--LV 14
--LV 15
--LV 16
-PLANET FIVE
--LV 17
--LV 18
--LV 19
--Expert Tips
--FAQ
--Notes
--Legal
******************************
******************************
** Intro **
******************************
******************************
Street Fighter 2010 is widely known as the 'red-headed
stepchild' of the series, and was met with a lukewarm reception,
to say the least, as it came out around the same time that the
mega-hit Street Fighter II was hitting arcades. That's
understandable, since this is the farthest thing imaginable from
the average Street Fighter game, being a futuristic action side-
scroller, but I think it's unfortunate that this game had to be
put to such high standards, because the game itself is pretty
good. Just don't expect Street Fighter gameplay.
Instead, expect one of the biggest and toughest (sometimes
frustrating) games to be released on the NES. If you're the type
who loves to play a game where you sit and press the same button
over and over again as you listen to some hypochondriate named
Cloud's emotional problems, stay far away from this game. In
fact, be wary of this game if you don't like boss battles,
detest slow-down (there's globs of it) or are a Street Fighter
enthusiast (you won't like the path they took with the
storyline), but if you're reading this FAQ, I would think you've
already decided to have a go at the game, so let's begin..
_____
Story
_____
You play as Ken, of Street Fighter fame. The year is 2010
(who'd a thought?), and someone has broken into the lab of Ken
and his colleague Troy, while Ken was away, killing Troy. What's
worse, they stole the "top secret invention" (ooooh) which turns
out to be a substance that, in small doses can cure many forms
of disease... Of course in large doses it turns ordinary beings
into super-powerful evil life-forms. Soon an epidemic breaks
out, and a the appearance of these powerful aliens marks the
killers path. As Ken, you must collect the energy given off by
these beings, and use it to open portals or make the jump to the
next planet. But not before undergoing bionic transformation.
Geez, is it just me or did developers in the 80's have no faith
in humanity at all? Why are the cataclysmic apocolypses always
happening in 2010 or 199X, that's not all THAT far off from the
late eighties/early 90's.
There is some controversy over the fact that the Ken in this
game is the same Ken we all know as Ryu's nemesis. The objectors
to this fact usually cite that, in the Japanese version of the
game, Ken was a man named Kevin who was a part of an
intergalactic police force. I think what we have here is just
another case of the storyline being changed in the U.S.
translation, such a thing is not uncommon. They could have
thrown Ken in to act with the Street Fighter fanaticism of the
time, if they changed the part about the police force why not
that? This quote from the opening scene is enough proof for me:
"It's been 25 years since Ken was king of the Street Fighter
circuit"
So for all intents and purposes this FAQ will assume it is the
famous Ken, but you can infer what you want on the issue.
______________
Play Mechanics
______________
The game is basically a fast paced action game with a smidge of
martial arts thrown in. The player can jump fairly high, cling
to walls, and shoot projectiles that go increasingly farther
with each 2 power-ups you collect from capsules. It's not your
conventional sidescroller, as it could be argued that the game
is almost nothing but boss battles.
It plays a little more loose than what you're used to, so the
first time player should take a little time, try out all the
moves, and get a good feel for the controls. Here's a quick list
of the basic moves:
MOVE THE HOW-TO
____ __________
Jump 'A' button
Shoot 'B' button
Cling to Press A when you're touching a wall
walls
Jump from A and 'away' when stuck to wall
wall
Backflip Jump from standing position and press 'back'
(opposite direction from what you're facing)
Curve your Hold 'towards' and fire rapidly, it will curve
projectile down a few times then curve up and alternate
between the two.
OR
Hold 'down' and fire rapidly, it will curve up a
few times, then up, and alternate between the
two. If you have a fully powered-up gun this
move will shoot powerful discs of energy that
move around you for a short while
Shoot down Do a backflip and shoot in midair, useful for
when you jump over an enemy
Slash kick Only doable with a very rare power-up, perform a
backflip and you hurt anything you hit. Not all
that useful, a normal shot seems more powerful
Overall you'll find the gameplay is very versatile. You can
climb up and down walls as well as jump on top of them, shoot up
and to both sides and guide your jumps to where you're just out
of harms way (provided you have the skill). As stated before,
boss battles are the main attraction in this game. A large part
of the levels have the boss visible from the start, almost
justifying the claim on the back of the box "head-to-head
action". No matter how impossibly hard a boss may seem to you,
there's always a pattern. You'll find that usually after beating
a boss once or twice, you can defeat him with the slightest of
ease the next time through. The game is wierd like that (though
that may not hold true for some of the later levels). The main
idea is to stick with it, when you get frustrated you are
usually not too far off from beating the boss. Just move a
_little_ bit quicker, add a _few_ more hits and that might do
the trick. Then you can start all over again on the next level..
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A tip emailed to me from Pat Zajac:
"When you have enemies like the "seekers" and "drones", instead
of taking 2-3 shots to kill them while on the ground I found it
was a lot easier to jump in the air and fire one shot that
destroys them immediately."
thanks Pat, indeed, shooting in mid-air is more powerful
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Another great tip sent in by Chad Davidson:
"The use of the orb:
Very helpful against hunters and seekers, because they will
stupidly kill themselves on your back. Especially useful in
level 7 (there is one near the top of the climb on level 6,
guarded by a spider), because the vines make it so difficult to
stay still; the orb simply kills them on contact. It's also
kinda nice if you can have one in the final level for killing
those platform guys that give health, although very difficult
to keep that long. Most enemies that take more than one blow
will be knocked down to 1 health with this"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
******************************
******************************
** Walkthrough **
******************************
******************************
For each level I've decided to put up a difficulty factor, from
1-10 IMPORTANT NOTE: The difficulty factor is completely
relative, meaning it will be assumed you will have gotten the
certain amount of skill required to pass level B from beating
level A and all the levels before it. Say, for instance, level 1
and level 19 both recieved a 6 in difficulty, this would NOT
imply that both levels have the same amount of challenge, but it
would mean that both levels would take about the same amount of
time to beat considering the players projected skill level up to
that point (I hope someone out there got that).
___________________
In-betweener levels
___________________
About every 2-3 levels you come across what I call an "in-
betweener level", these are distinguishable by thier lame
backgrounds, annoying music and overall pointlessness. These
are a big downside to the game, and are not worth covering
individually. The vast majority can be beaten in about 5
seconds, they may be just a few enemies or sometimes nothing
at all, just a portal to the "real" level. My only explanation
for these is that the bosses son was slacking off on the job
back at Capcom, and since no one had the cohones to fire him,
they gave him the task of producing these mindless levels to
keep him out of thier hair.
**********
PLANET ONE
**********
This is easily the most diverse planet, and seems to be a post-
apocolyptic Earth. The levels are set in torn down urban
settings, you can see pinball machines and arcade cabinets in
the background of level 2 and neon signs of (what appear to be)
nude women in a provocative pose in the ledges of level 1. How'd
THAT get past the Nintendo censors!?
_______
Level 1
_______
Difficulty: 6
The game pulls no punches from the start, giving you a pretty
difficult stage for your first battle. The boss won't show up
for a minute, so you'll want to use your time powering up. Head
left from the start, pick up a power-up from the first capsule
you come across (the top one), climb the pillar and get another
powerup on the right edge of the ledge just above that. Now go
all the way across the stage on the top platform, and on the
very right side will be another, just below that is another. Now
you should have your gun powered up to 2, you can make it 2 and
a half if you want by getting another one near the center under
the top platform.
You should notice by now the "seekers" swarming all around. Note
thier pattern, as they are a very common enemy throughout the
game. They can only move in short spurts, diagonally,
horizontally and vertically. You can predict where they are
going to move (they always move in the direction putting them
closest to you) and shoot them down.
After a bit the boss comes down to wreak havoc. He has a
definative pattern, he'll move and then stop 2-3 times in a row,
then he'll rear back and make a swooping attack while he's
invincible. Starting off, get a few hits on him before he begins
to move, when you know he is about to fly towards you (or see
him moving) jump out of his way, preferably over him, get a few
hits, and repeat. After a bit of that, he'll do his invincible
swooping move. Jump over him, it's as simple as that. If
circumstances don't allow it, you may want to try and drop down
a level, both are effective measures, but jumping is more
reliable. After that, get even more hits in on him. He will also
use his swooping move if you hit him many times in a row, it is
best to keep him swooping and avoid his awkward stop-n-go
pattern. Keep the pesky seekers away with tips from the above
paragraph. After a handful of good shooting sessions on him, he
falls to the ground, giving you his energy and opening the
portal to level 2, which will appear just left to the middle of
the stage. Level 2 is a lot easier with a powered-up gun, so
make sure you have it.
_______
Level 2
_______
Difficulty: 3
Compared to level 1, this is a piece of cake. The level is
*really small*, and the boss is *really slow*, the challenge
here coming from his grapple arm, which the guy will use to
shoot straight at you, or hook to the ceiling and swing across
the room toward you. This is fine and all, but he's just too
slow, you can get up next to him and mindlessly blast away at
him, even taking all of the hits he won't hit you but 4 times at
the most before you prevail (assuming you have a fast finger).
The key here: Fast shooting. Also, there may be slowdown, which
you can use to your advantage. Sometimes he'll start out the
fight by immediately using his grapple arm, and this usually
means he'll stay aggressive throughout the fight. Fire as fast
as you can and stay just barely in range of him, so you can jump
out of the way in case he aims right toward you. If he doesn't
use his grapple arm immediately, you should be able to predict
when he'll fire, and jump over him when he's about to shoot his
arm at you. Maybe 1 out of 5 times he'll anticipate your move
and fire up, taking off one point of life. But it really doesn't
matter how much finesse you use, just get past him. The game has
unlimited continues so it doesn't matter :)
_______
Level 3
_______
Difficulty: 7
If you think this is a sign of things to come, don't worry. This
is in fact one of the longest levels in the game, and one of the
only auto-side-scrolling levels. Starting out, avoid the
seekers, shoot them if you have to, and pick up powerups from
the last 2 capsules on the first platform. Now you'll have to
make some jumps across small odd white platforms, they will
break if you stand on them too long so be light on your feet and
keep jumping up. Now we get to the inside of a building, destroy
the elephant statues with a flurry of hits, climb the wall and
keep going. You'll come across another powerup and then there's
a tight spot where you've got to make an S turn, and destroy a
white platform blocking the way before you get trapped and
crushed. Stick to the right side of the screen as this part is
approaching, jump up as soon as you can and take out the
platform fast. If you DONT make it, there's still a chance, so
don't give up. There's a glitch that will let you pass through
the right wall as the screen is closing in on you, if you jump
*just* at the right time, it's worked for me a few times, less
often than not. After that part you can take a small risk for
another powerup in the back of the block of 3 capsules. Now you
will see 2 rolling enemies, fake them out by dropping to the
bottom, getting just close enough to make them start coming
towards you, and go back. Climb the wall and you're through with
that part. Now you'll be surprised by 2 explosives that come
down from the ceiling, wait for the screen to finish scrolling,
and hurry past. Now we come to more small platform jumping.
Walk off the edge and you'll land on the first platform, to
defeat the enemies on the pillars jump up and hit them once, and
then deliver the second, fatal blow as you're jumping into them.
This ensures you get any life power-ups they were holding. After
that, there's powerups in the first 2 capsules of the bottom
platform and the last capsule of the top. Now after a couple
more white platform jumping, we FINALLY come to the boss.
The boss seems tough for the first few times you play him, but
relentless button mashing always prevails. As soon as you reach
his place, jump on the second pedestal, stick to the very left,
facing right. He'll drop down right in front of you. Fire away
and don't stop until he raises his arms, then drop down to the
floor. Hopefully he'll miss you as he throws a large cube, and
watch out for a whole slew of cubes that fall from the cieling.
After that, he'll jump down to the ground, then onto the lower
platform, then on to the ground again. Hit him every chance you
get, and when he finally settles on the ground again blast away
at him again, this will get the job done.
_______
Level 4
_______
Difficulty: 5
This level is comprised of a large room filled with electricity
conductors, a lot of walls and ledges, and a boss that wants to
take you out. He'll jump around, and then get to one side of a
conductor and make it shoot a wall of electricity in 3
directions. Where you want to try and get to is the opposite
side of the conductor before he sets it off. If you can do this
just once and hit him while he's standing still, you'll have
enough time to kill him. Starting off in the level, climb the
first wall to the right and stay right there. This will lure the
boss over to you, as he's coming for you jump the nearby
conductor to your right, and he should stop on the left side to
set it off, giving you your chance. Sometimes he doesn't follow
this pattern, in which case you've got to improvise, but he
should never get too tough. Avoid as much as possible until you
get a clear shot. The portal will open up on the left side of
the stage near the top once you're finished.
**********
PLANET TWO
**********
Going into planet 2, we see a cut scene featuring the first
appearance by our villian, with only a mysterious pink eye
showing (OOOoooh). Maybe that's what made him do it, his
agonizing case of conjuctivitis. Ken and the mysterious pink
faced man will square off in a short war of words, then it's on
to planet 2, the plant planet. The levels here are mostly set
in alien-looking vinelands, but the last level takes a turn and
apparently has nothing to do with plants at all.
_______
Level 5
_______
Difficulty: 5
The first of many levels where you have a quota of normal
enemies to kill. The target here is seekers. There's 2 powerups
on the right side of the stage, and there are new plant enemies
that pop up at random and come toward you until you kill them.
Stay light on your feet, trick the seekers by jumping, and get
thier pattern down in your memory. Other than that, there's not
much to say about level 5. The portal opens up near the right
side of the stage
_______
Level 6
_______
Difficulty: 8
Ah, my favorite level for some reason. I don't know why, maybe
it's the kickin' music, or just the cool interface. The in-
betweener level should have given you 2 fresh powerups before-
hand, gearing you up for a pretty tough level. The entire level
up until the boss scrolls upward automatically. You'll have to
act rather quickly. Starting off, get the powerup in the capsule
to your right, and climb the wall, I tend to stick near the
right side of the screen for the first half of the level. Climb
the vines on the right side, when you come to a part where an
enemy is blocking your way and there are 3 capsules on the
adjacent vine, fake him out by starting off on the right side of
the vine, when he switches over quickly go to the left and climb
just over him and switch to the right again to get the powerup
in the middle capsule. Not long after that, a new type of enemy
makes it's appearance, a strange tulip-looking thing that can
only move upward. You'll want to get to a position below these
things, and as far away as possible. If you can, wait for two to
appear, lure them to one side, then jump over and climb down to
safety, When they open up you can land on them and use them as a
platform, but that's risky. Some parts of the vine are slick,
and will force you down, so be careful. Now after that whole
fiasco we come to the tail end of a rocky crevice, climb up,
looking out for more vine enemies on the way. You'll see 2
capsules on the right side of the screen, both are housing
powerups. Get them quickly if needed. And now, we come to the
boss.
The boss is a plant monster that has a clear pattern. He'll jump
3 times, then spew off a few rocks at you. After you hit him
a few times he'll ball up and fly back and forth in a zig zag
pattern until he leaves the screen, then he'll re-emerge. Hit
him any way you can, from the side or from below. There's also
2 more powerups here at the boss. If you're fully powered up,
this shouldn't be too much trouble, just act quickly and
accurately.
_______
Level 7
_______
Difficulty: 8
Agh, how I remember how hard this level was for me when I first
played. There's a lot of things to look out for in this level,
there's a solid wall on the left and right sides, a vine in the
middle, platforms that fall out a few seconds after you step on
them and a trampoline-type branch, with spikes lining the
bottom. Starting out, jump onto the thick part of the
'trampoline' branch. A seeker will come from above, take care of
it without stepping out onto the springy section. Just after
that, a 'hunter drone' appears, these are your targets for this
stage. He'll be coming at you at about shin level, so lure him
a little higher by jumping up, and you may be able to hit him on
your way down. After that, there's no patternization to the
level, you're on your own. Seekers and hunters will swarm you,
try and keep the fight concentrated on the thick part of the
branch and keep jumping to lure hunters into your aim. Use the
entire playing field if needed to avoid enemies, and steer clear
of thick concentrations of enemies. Remember that everything
disappears when they leave the screen, so if you find yourself
in a heap of trouble, drop down all the way, if possible, wiping
the slate clean. Kill a handful of hunters and the portal opens
up at the top of the screen.
_______
Level 8
_______
Difficulty: 7
Now this is a unique level. The cieling is in constant movement,
swaying up and down, and attached to it is an eyeball, as well
as 6 cavities that release a glob of goo every few seconds that,
when in contact with the ground, turns into solid matter. This
builds up and creates constantly growing pillars. Along with all
of this, you have to put up with more seeker drones. At the start
of the level head right, wait in the right side of the
screen for the pillars to build up. Take out a seeker or two,
then head to the pillar just right of the eyeball. Jump up and
hit him a few times, when you see goo about to fall then move
out of the way, preferably to the pillar just right of that one,
and then back on, and repeat. You can get the seeker going in an
endless octagonal path around you which will keep him out of
your way, for the most part, but if you cant quite pull that off
then just kill them. After 10 or so hits, the eyeball will come
out and move around, at this time move to the pillar just to the
right of you, and repeat the previous pattern, only you won't be
able to hit the eye 100% of the time because he may be out of
range. Fire relentlessly and a couple sessions of rapid hits
will befell the eyeball boss.
************
PLANET THREE
************
Again we meet up with the myserious pink eye, and exchange
threats. He will then challenge you to come to the planet
Sanddune. As you can probably infer from the name, this is a
desert planet, and that is the constant theme here.
_______
Level 9
_______
Difficulty: 8
Level 9 takes place in some kind of underground arena. Along the
bottom are constant waves of sand moving to the left, and a
sprinkling of capsules serve as the only stable land. Skeletal
fish jump up at random, and only the highest capsules are out of
thier range. The target here is threefold, first the same boss
from level 1, and then 2 of them at the same time. It will be
tough and take some practice.
At the begining, be aware of the skeletal fish, and get a
powerup from the capsule just left of you. Skip the next one,
and the capsule after that is the elusive slash kick powerup,
and the one after that another powerup. Collect all of these,
then head back to the right and wait on the highest capsule
(this is the only point that the skeletal fish can't reach),
facing left, with your foot hanging off the edge. Standing in
this way, the boss should come down right next to you giving you
a clear shot from the start. Shoot, and when he swoops jump over
him, stay on that capsule until he's dead.
Now for the hard part, you must take on 2 more of these at the
same time. There is always one of them that you can pull off a
few hits on right at the beginning, but after that the battle
gets pretty hairy. The sand is a safe spot compared to capsule
jumping, when one boss is low enough shoot them from below. In
some cases you'll find it useful to use the jump slash powerup.
You ARE invincible when performing it, so it can be used to get
out of a tight spot. When one boss is gone it gets a lot easier.
The portal will open up right in the middle when you're
finished.
________
Level 10
________
Difficulty: 1
After level 9, this should take 2 tries at the most. I beat it
on my first try and took one hit, and that's the only hit I can
remember taking on this level. From the beginning, hug the walls
with rolling enemies on top of them, they'll roll right over
you, and that's the end of that. Now climb down the chasm into
the sand pit. Get the first powerup by shooting the first
capsule from underneath, and from that same point jump onto the
sand pillar and climb on top of it. Theres another powerup just
above your head. Now jump right in the middle between the 2
pillars and onto the second pillar. From there you're in the
clear (I bet the guy who made all the in-betweener levels
developed this one also). There's one more powerup at the top
of the tall rock wall.
Now we come to the boss. Theres one more powerup on the right
side (bottom one), but I suggest waiting until after the fight
to pick it up. For defeating the boss, make your way to the top
of his lair, and stick to the rock wall, I tend to use the right
side but either would be fine, I suppose. When he shows up on
your left side, shoot him unrelentlessly. When he shows up to
the right of you, let go of the wall, turn right in mid-air and
get one hit on him. If he continues toward you then you can hit
him even more. When he disappears reattach to the wall and
repeat. Simple.
NOTE: For the in-betweener level that comes up next, jump on top
of the enemies to make it to the portal. Do not kill them.
________
Level 11
________
Difficulty: 9
Wow, our first stage with a difficulty of 9. This is a toughie,
but once you get it down it can be quite simple every time you
play thereafter. The stage is the exact same as level 9, with
the powerups in the same place (powerup to the left of you from
the start, a slash kick to the left of that and another powerup
past that). The boss here is a small alien skull that rises up
on a body of sand, and sends his good buddy out to stop you.
His 'buddy' will take a lot of practice getting used to. He's a
*little* bit slower than you are, making him the fastest enemy
in the entire game. He can move in all directions and will stay
right on your tail at all times, plus his long body is hard to
jump over. Shoot off a few sections of his body, but try not to
finish him off completely, as the boss will just send out
another one in perfect condition. Stay moving at ALL TIMES to
deal with this guy.
The boss himself has a distinct and easy to follow pattern,
he'll come toward you until he passes you, do the same thing
again, and then rise up for a second. The most effective
strategy I've found is to concentrate the fight around the left
wall. Head for it right at the beginning of the battle and make
sure to destroy the capsule there to get it out of your way. Now
jump onto it when the skull is making his first move, jump away
during his second move, at the end of which he'll rise up. Get a
couple jumping hits in on him each time. It's easy to avoid the
centipede if you stick to this pattern (especially after
shooting off a few sections), you'll have him moving around in
circles. After many agonizing attempts, you should do him in and
move on.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
I was emailed this tip from Luis Torres"
"The Sand Cave worm throwing boss is easy to defeat. 1st, power
up with the items in the cave (assuming you are at low power),
the boss makes 2 runs back and forth and then rises and shoots a
worm. The trick is to stay in the middle of the room (with the
moving sand and all), backflip and shoot down into the skull as
it passes under you (takes a little timing), after the second
pass, you know he's going to rise, so walk away until he's off
the screen, wait for a few seconds, and the caterpillar will not
be shot. Continue the pattern until he's defeated, it works 95%
of the time."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
________
Level 12
________
Difficulty: 4
After that last level, this seems like a reward. The level isn't
too hard, but it's pretty cool. You are constantly moving down
on an endless wave of sand, remember that you'll always land on
the same level that you jumped from. You have 6 of those
centipede things from the last level, but this time you're not
in closed quarters. At the start of the level, the first one
comes out to attack you. Simply get a few hits from the side,
and when he's closing in on you jump over him. Estimate exactly
where he'll be coming back down from, and if you are in the
right place shooting up, you'll be able to kill him with no
trouble at all. Use this pattern on most of the centipede
monsters. As you pass the first rocky cliff on the left side,
get the capsule on top of it for a powerup, just before the
second centipede is coming from the bottom. After you kill him,
there's another powerup on the bottom capsule of that cliff.
Now you come to a wide open area. Note the faster streams of
sand. Skeletal fish will attack from the bottom as a third
centipede attacks, and shortly thereafter a fourth. All I can
say is stay light on your feet to avoid skeletal fish attacks. I
find that starting off on the very left side of the screen
always leaves me with ample time to react.
After this we come to a narrow rock chasm, just before the fifth
centipede attacks is a capsule to the left with a powerup. The
5th one should be killed by sticking to the left wall, shooting,
and jumping over him when he closes in. beating that one will
open the portal, but a sixth centipede attacks as you're coming
upon it. Don't worry about attacking him.
________
Level 13
________
Difficulty: 6
Here's yet another unique stage. It's fairly small, you'll see
that there's a sand wave covering the top portion of the room
with just enough room on the bottom to stand up. There's a
second wave pushing across from right to left. The boss will
make his entrance riding on a centipede, stick to the left wall
at the top and jump over the pair when they close in. Run. The
boss will eventually drop from the centipede, at which time you
can take out the centipede easily. Don't worry, he's not coming
back this time. After you get this done, the boss is a piece of
cake, as long as you know exactly what to do.
The boss will spin into a tornado, a'la Tazmanian Devil, stop,
shoot a slow projectile at you, then repeat in the opposite
direction. It can take a while to get the hang of, but to defeat
this guy: Jump as far up as you can into the sand wave and
travel to the ground in a zig-zag, or 'Z', pattern, to where you
land right next to him after he gets done spinning. Get a few
hits in on him and then jump back up into the sand, evading his
weak attack. Repeat as many times as it takes. This can be
especially tough if you don't have your weapon powerups from the
last stage, as getting close to him is dangerous. Overall,
though, nothing an average gamer couldn't do with a little
practice, and if you made it this far I know you can do it.
***********
PLANET FOUR
***********
Next up is a cut scene that shows Ken looking remarkably like
Duke Nukem. He then whines and complains about how his body is
starting to hurt and then we move on to planet 4. Planet 4 has
to do mainly with aquatic settings, but has a lot of plant life
as well.
________
Level 14
________
Difficulty: 3
Here you have a quota of dorky fat pink guys to kill. Coming
from below are a lot of jellyfish you can use as platforms.
You wont need to power up, but if you want to do so, there's a
powerup in the clump of capsules just above the start, and two
more in the lower left side of the area. On the right side is
the pod powerup. Just stay on one ledge and shoot all of the
pink guys that come around. You should beat it in no time flat.
Be careful not to get hit by falling pink dorks on your way to
the portal.
________
Level 15
________
Difficulty: 5
This is the most graphic intensive and cool looking stage in
the game. Because of this, it suffers from slowdown, but it's
never too much of a hassle. It's an automatic side-scrolling
level, and it sways back and forth, making it genuinely unique.
At the beginning, kill the first enemy and then get a powerup
from the capsule on the above ledge. You'll soon find that
these enemies regenerate, but you have an advantage, they often
give you life powerups. This is a good level to get some life
back on. After that brief skirmish with 2 of those enemies, we
get to a hard part. There's a structure with 2 enemies
constantly shooting at you, it's hard to cross without getting
hit, even for me. It makes it easier if you kill one of them
first. After you cross, the screen starts to sway back. Stick to
the right side and fight off attacks from the enemies. When it
reverses again, you see a tall wall with 2 capsules on the other
side. Don't attempt to cross it yet, just wait right there for
it to reverse 2 more times. Make sure you cross as the ceiling
is moving up and do so quickly. There's a powerup in the bottom
capsule on the other side.
Now there's just a couple more enemies and then the pathetic
boss. The boss will come whirling by either below or above you,
stay to the ground. Every 2-3 times he passes you he'll stop
and float around. This is when you tear into him relentlessly.
He almost never lunges straight at you, always missing you.
After only a few sessions of heavy hitting, he'll keel over,
float down and explode. Very cool.
The in-betweener level after this is actually tough, it's the
level 10 boss without a safe wall to cling to. First get a bunch
of hits in until he disappears. After this, he'll almost always
reappear in the air, so get some jumpings hits in on him, then
back off so you have time to avoid his row of pillars (just find
an opening and jump in between two of them). If he chases you,
you'll have to keep hitting him to make him disappear, either
with more jumping shots or upward curved shots.
________
Level 16
________
Difficulty: 10
W-WHOAH MOMMA! You're in for it, that's all I can say. This
level, while not unmasterable, is very hard. I still have a
little trouble with it myself. There's so many things to disect
about this level. First there's the boss, which is a crustacean
which opens and closes every few seconds, and hides his weak
spot on the inside. He shoots 2 VERY dangerous projectiles that
then each split into 2 and go back in the opposite direction.
There's an giant alien/worm/thing that breaks up through the
crystalline floor often and in random positions, when he
catches you, he drags you down to an underlevel and you must
start all over when you get back out. You also got to watch out
for the holes he makes. All this is going on as the entire
stage is fluctuating up and down. As you can probably imagine,
there's massive slowdown unbearable to all but the most
stead-fast NES gamers.
There's a powerup to your immediate left just as you start the
stage, get it before the floor rises too high, there's one on
the middle ledge (left), one in the very right side and one
hidden in the 4th section of the left pillar. There's 2 more
powerups in the underlevel, but they are certainly not worth
getting. Now that that's all covered, onto the fight..
Just after you get the first powerup, cling to the left wall,
climb up and jump over the boss onto the middle level. This is
where you want the fight to be concentrated at. Note that you
can only effectively deal damage by hitting the boss *right* at
the tip of his innards, from where he shoots his projectiles.
Keep him going in an '8' pattern, jumping on the left and right
pillars and back to the platform again. When he opens up you
can usually get a couple of hits before having to retreat or
get hit. Use upward curving shots to tag him from the side. The
most effective position is right under him, when he's open. When
the floor is rising, make it quick, when it's going down and you
have a clear shot, consider yourself lucky and fire
unmercifully. A few open shots like that and you could do him
in! The alien worm has a minute chance of catching you while
you're on the middle platform, but it tends to happen every now
and then. If you feel you just need more fire-power, jump down a
hole and quickly come back up. All the powerups will be back, of
course you'll have to start the fight over though. The key word
here: Practice. Don't expect to steamroll through this level.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
This tip has been sent by Chad Davidson, hopefully this will
make it a lot easier on you:
"There is a trick to killing this clam thing on a new life in
just a few seconds! Immediately kick the cases to your left,
then quickly jump to the ledge on the right and get the powerup.
Go back to the center at the bottom of the screen, aligning
yourself under the clam so it is traveling straight down at you.
When it opens attack straight up as fast as you can. You should
destroy it before it closes, but there's one last step. You
usually have to move immediately afterwards or the claw will eat
you. You must be very nimble for this to work, but hey, you get
infinite tries."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
***********
PLANET FIVE
***********
The next cut-scene depicts Ken wincing in pain, as the
mysterious pink face taunts him some more. He then asks Ken to
join him, and in return he'll heal his pain. There's no response
from Ken, the cut-scene ends and we head for planet 5, which
isn't a planet at all but a gigantic space station. Graphically
and level-design-wise, this entire 'planet' is a masterpiece.
________
Level 17
________
Difficulty: 4
Another quota level. Here you have to defeat hunter drones,
while dealing with the ever-hated centipedes at the same time.
This is the only level in the game in which capsules housing
powerups are completely random. There are, however, 2 special
powerups that are constantly found in the same place. The slash
kick powerup can be found on the left side in the middle of the
clump of 3 capsules. The pod powerups makes a final appearance
in the bottom of the left hand side.
To defeat the hunters, cling to walls, wait for one to come
along, jump off and hit it on your way down. That's the most
effective way in my experiences. Also jump up and lure them, you
know, the usual, you should be able to do it if you made it to
this point (although that regenerating centipede doesn't help
matters. Knock a few sections off him).
________
Level 18
________
Difficulty: 5
This level has the same interface as level 3, it's a straight-
forward auto-side-scroller. At the beginning they try to throw
every enemy in the book at you. When you begin, ignore the
powerups to the left as there's no way you can get them. Now
pick up one powerup from the second capsule and after that,
you're thrown into the thick of things. Namely 2 seekers, 2
hunters and 2 rollers, all on the screen at the same time. Avoid
the first seeker who will come down on you from above, jump up
to the top platform, jump the roller, drop down and then get
onto the next platform. From there there's not too much trouble,
I'm not saying you wont get hit but just try to maintain at
least 2 and a half points of life throughout the level. You'll
see why later.
From the point you're at now, you'll see a thick wall with two
pillars holding it up. Drop down and hook the left pillar.
You'll want to act as quickly as you possibly can without
getting too close to the edge of the screen. From there switch
over to the right side of the right pillar and jump on top of
that platform there. Do not try to hook the side, you will miss,
it must be a glitch in the game. Now you need to do a lot of
pillar jumping, there will be enemies on every wall, the kind
that move down toward you. Move quickly, jump before they reach
you, but make sure the screen has scrolled over enough to
justify your leap.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
For this next part, refer to these tips sent to me by Chad
Davidson
"There is a way to dodge the rollies in the corridor, too! When
you enter the corridor, notice that you are on a pipe: that
means you can jump down. But there's no panel below you- that's
suicide isn't it? Wrong. When you flip down, immediately press
up (but don't hold it too long) and you will grapple on the
ledge, safely below the rollies. Press up again and you will
flip back on top of the ledge. You have to do this twice. Note:
Don't do this unless you have less than 2 and a half health
because it can get you killed if you don't press up at the
right time!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
After that, there's a part with a lot of moving platforms over
an open space. Luckily, there are capsules scattered across the
top to serve as sufficient ground. The quickest and easiest way
across the chasm is to wait on the main platform at the
beginning of the sequence. 2 moving platforms will come at you
just above the height of your head. Ignore them, and then when
you see the third approaching at about that same height, make
your move. Jump onto that one, and then onto the one right after
it, and to the above capsule to make it to safety. Jump one
moving platform that will be coming at your shins, and you're in
the clear. Shortly thereafter you hear the stage clear music and
a portal opens. "What!?" you surely say, "no boss?". Yes I know,
it's very unconventional for this game. But then again, this
game is pretty unconventional altogether.
=================
Level 19
"The Final Fight"
=================
Difficulty: 10
This is it, the end-all be-all of battles. No more playing
around, everything up to this point was just the pre-test, this
is the final exams. This calls for an ASCII map:
_______________________
| | | | | |
___|x | | | | | | | |
| 1____|_|___|__|__ x | _ C |_| |
| |_______________ |_ | __ _()______ |
|______________ ||2 _|_ _ | ____|()|___
____________ | ||_ | |_ _|- | |
| A | | || _|___||___ | |
|x ___ x| | ||_ | () | | |
| __ |_| || _| | | ??? |
| __ ()_||___()_____B_|____|___________|
|_ _|- 3
|________|
---
Key
---
A: Level 16 boss
B: Level 2 boss
C: Level 10 boss x 2
x: Powerup
#: Key points for the walkthrough below
(): Door
???: ??????????
The level is basically a rat-run of difficult challenges, but
while it's hard, it's very patternized. When you beat it a few
times you should have little trouble every time thereafter (at
least that's been my experience). It's also the only level
where the time limit really counts. You'll run out of time if
you don't have the level down pat. With the constant challenge
and crunching time limit, this will take some practice to over-
come.
ROOM A: I know what you were thinking when you read in the key
that you must fight the level 16 boss again. Don't worry, this
time he's about 20X easier, as there are no variables and no
slowdown at all. In fact he is probably the easiest part of the
level. The room is out of proportion in the above map, it's not
quite that big (a little bigger than room C, actually).
When you begin, get the left powerup immediately. Now drop down
and get 2-3 hits on him as he's coming down and opens up, then
go for the right powerup. The rest is improvisation, but he has
a simple pattern. Keep him near the ground, shoot from below
when he stops in the air to shoot at you (you'll always destroy
his projectiles in the process so don't worry) and hit him from
the side when he's moving along the bottom while open. His
projectiles often give valuable life powerups. There are a
couple things to remember in this level, don't try to jump
above the screen, though you can't tell, there's a ceiling
there, and don't try to shoot upward while under the bottom
ledge, its too low and you'll hook it when you don't want to.
After that guy the door busts open. Climb up and over to the
left and you come to point 1. Make sure to get the powerup here
and jump from pillar to pillar, avoiding the hunters that come
from the right and top. Make sure you get the powerup, it is
imperitive that you get every powerup in the level. Now drop
down the ledges at point 2, here you see a couple of the tulip
enemies from level 6. It's not really difficult at all though.
Go through the door and we meet our good old slow buddy from
level 2. My how things change..
ROOM B: Here you have almost no room to work with, and worse
yet, the boss is considerably faster and, seemingly, smarter
from the slow idiot he was way on back in level 2. Use the same
philosophy though, tag him unmercifully with shots as often as
you get the chance, jump over him before he shoots his
grappling arm at you, and use the walls to your advantage. With
some practice (and luck) you'll be able to beat him. When he's
gone, the jellyfish enemies start coming up from point 3. Don't
go up immediately, you will probably need to gain some life
back. Kill the jellyfish, about every 1 in 4 will give you a
life powerup. Keep an eye on your timer, however (I usually
leave with about 80 seconds to go regardless, you'll need the
time). When you're all ready, ride the jellyfish and jump
through the top door to room C.
ROOM C: The level 10 boss doesn't seem like such a chump this
time, and now there's 2 of them to put up with in one fight.
However, I've found a very easy way to get past them, simply
make your way to the top right wall, and when both of them are
off the screen, climb up to the very top (while still remaining
on the screen), when the first of them reappears, climb down a
few notches and from there you can hit them. They always
reappear the same distance from you. Don't let one of them make
it over to the right side of you, or it could be trouble. Once
one is gone, it becomes a lot easier. After this fight, step
through the door and meet your mysterious nemesis.
SPOILER WARNING: if you haven't gotten this far into the game
and don't want the mystery of the big pink face spoiled for you,
don't read any further.
..
.
