THE LAST STARFIGHTER NES FAQ

v1.00 - Completed 6/5/03

Written and maintained by Adam Lamontagne
Copyright ©2003 Adam Lamontagne ([email protected])

The Last Starfighter Copyright © 1983 Universal/Lorimar, A Joint Venture.
Program Copyright © 1989, 1986 GraftGold Ltd.  Presented on the NES by
Mindscape.  Designed and programmed by Andrew Braybrook.  Based on original
game concept of Hewson Consultants Ltd.



=-=-=-=-=-=-=
INTRODUCTION
=-=-=-=-=-=-=

This is a quick FAQ to the NES game The Last Starfighter.  The game itself does
not warrant a full walkthrough, as it is a fast-paced shooter in which the
reader would not benefit from a level guide, yet there are quite a few little
details in the game that need to be explained.  It is rather difficult and
confusing to figure out a few aspects of the gameplay, so a short FAQ should be
enough to get the player through the game...if you are skillful enough to pull
it off.



=-=
FAQ
=-=

Q1: WHY DID YOU DO AN FAQ FOR A GAME THAT NOBODY WILL EVER PLAY?

A: I'm in the process of playing through every NES game and had the misfortune
to run into a roadblock with this one.  I finally figured out exactly what has
to be done to beat the game, so I figured I'd share the wealth.

=-=

Q2: THIS GAME LOOKS FAMILIAR...I THINK I'VE PLAYED IT BEFORE, BUT I'M PRETTY
SURE I HAVEN'T SINCE I DON'T OWN THE LAST STARFIGHTER.

A: Mindscape took an old Commodore 64 game named Uridium, slapped a new title
screen on it and reprogrammed it as an NES title.  Mindscape did the same thing
with their Conan NES game, making one wonder why they couldn't create their
own, original stuff.  There are a couple pics of the C64 game here:
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics8/uridium.html

=-=

Q3: DOES THIS GAME HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE?

A: Not really.  If you didn't have the manual to the game or see the game's
title screen, there would be nothing to lead you to believe this game was
titled The Last Starfighter.  Mindscape should have just released the game as
Uridium, as I'm not sure that The Last Starfighter is that marketable a movie
franchise anyways.  Incidentally, Uridium is considered a classic in C64
circles, so they probably would have sold more copies of this game under its
original name.

=-=

Q4: WHAT IS UP WITH THE CONTROLS?  I TRY TO SLOW DOWN AND MY SHIP TURNS THE
OTHER WAY.

A: For a shooter, the controls are a lot more complicated than they should be,
but you do get used to them after awhile.  If your ship is moving to the right,
press Right on the controller to make it go faster or press Left on the
controller to slow down.  While pressing Left, when your ship reaches its
slowest speed, it will turn to the opposite direction and start heading that
way.

=-=

Q5: THAT MAKES SENSE, BUT SOMETIMES MY SHIP ACTUALLY ROTATES IN A SPIRALLING
MOTION...

A: You know, I didn't find any practical purpose to the rotating.  To rotate
your ship, hold the A button while pressing Up or Down on the controller.  You
can rotate it sideways or turn it upside down.  The enemies still smash into
you whether you are sideways, upside down or normal, so perhaps there are other
advantages to turning your ship.

=-=

Q6: DO YOU KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND THE MANUAL TO THIS GAME?  I'M INTERESTED TO
SEE HOW THEY EXPLAINED THIS GAME AS BEING A 'LAST STARFIGHTER' GAME.

A: Go here for the manual:
http://sardius.fefea.org/manuals/last_starfighter.txt

=-=

Q7: I'VE STARTED UP A GAME AND ONLY AFTER A FEW SECONDS I SMASHED INTO THE
BACKGROUND.  THE BACKGROUNDS ALSO SEEM TO CHANGE RANDOMLY...IS THIS GAME BUGGY?

A: Those backgrounds are a nuisance.  I don't recommend flying through this
game, though sometimes you will get chased by a spark and have to speed up to
avoid it.  This game certainly tests your patience, as you have to take it slow
to avoid barriers that look like they are in the background, but at the same
time you have waves of ships coming at you that you have to avoid and
heat-seeking sparks flying at you.  It is a game of repetition, meaning that
you have to get used to the level layouts of the game before you get good at
it.  It's definitely not your typical shooter.

=-=

Q8: ALRIGHT, I'VE PLAYED THE GAME FOR AWHILE NOW AND I CAN'T GET OUT OF LEVEL
1.  THERE WAS A "LAND NOW" MESSAGE FLASHING ON THE SCREEN AT ONE POINT.

A: To get the "Land Now" message you have to shoot down a number of enemy ships
or ground targets.  Once you have knocked out a certain number (usually between
10 and 20 targets), the "Land Now" message will flash.

=-=

Q9: HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU LAND???

A: This is one of those procedures that took me awhile to figure out, but when
you do it once you'll wonder why you couldn't ever figure it out...sort of like
figuring out how to walk through the wall to get to Minus World in Super Mario
Brothers.   Here's how you land: Work your way as far right in the level as you
can go. There are several landing zones along the way, with arrows facing to
the right on them. However, the only one you can land on is the very last one
all the way on the right (you will go as far as you can go and will
automatically turn around and head back left).

To land, approach that VERY LAST landing strip from the left side so you are
flying to the right.  The second you fly over that last strip with the arrows,
hold left to slow down and instead of turning back to the left you will
actually land, as the ship lowers itself down to the runway. You CANNOT land by
flying in from the right side. Once you actually achieve this it will seem
easy, but it actually seems really complicated to pull off.  They should have
just put a designated spot on that last runway that said "Land Here" or
something.

=-=

Q10: GREAT, I FINALLY FINISHED LEVEL 1.  WHAT IS UP WITH THE BONUS GAME BETWEEN
LEVELS?

A: The manual calls this THE FUEL ROD CHAMBER.  There is a pyramid of lights
and starting at the bottom you will see the bottom 2 squares flashing
alternately.  One has the word QUIT in it while the other has a number.  The
number is a bonus score.  You have to press A or B while the number flashes.
If you press it while the word QUIT is flashing, the bonus level is over.  If
you press the button while the score is flashing, you move up to the next
level, where QUIT and a higher bonus score are flashing faster.  Move your way
up the pyramid and try to get all the bonus scores.  Even if you don't manage
to get any points in the bonus round it doesn't affect the game.

=-=

Q11: I FINISHED THE BONUS ROUND AND NOW HAVE TO ESCAPE WHILE THE COMMAND SHIP
BLOWS UP.  IS THERE ANYTHING I HAVE TO DO HERE?

A: Nope.  You are on auto-pilot, though you can move your ship up and down as
it is flying ahead of the explosion.  The explosion is explained in the manual
as being caused by you activating the "Death Blossom" by playing the bonus
round.  The "Death Blossom" is an "explosive device" that "vaporizes the
Command Ship."  Good to see that Mindscape did get creative when writing the
manual.

=-=

Q12: NOW I AM IN LEVEL 2...IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL I HAVE TO DO IN THIS
LEVEL?

A: Every level is finished in exactly the same way.  Spend the first part of
the level destroying ships and ground targets, then when the "Land Now" message
appears, make your way to the last runway and land.

=-=

Q13: HOW MANY LEVELS ARE THERE?

A: There are 15 Levels in the game.

=-=

Q14: SO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH AND DO THE SAME THING 15 TIMES TO WIN THE GAME?

A: Exactly.  And just so you know, it gets harder as you progress.  Some of the
later levels in the game require you flying through passages about the size of
your ship.  Perhaps this is where the rotating of your ship comes in handy,
though I did play through the whole game without rotating the ship, so it is
not a necessity.

=-=

Q15: IS THERE A PASSWORD FEATURE IN THIS GAME?

A:  No, but there should be something.  The levels are really short if you know
what you are doing, but playing through a whole 15 levels on only 5 lives is
near impossible.

=-=

Q16: HOW MANY CONTINUES DO YOU GET?

A:  None at all.  You do earn extra lives as you beat levels, but once they are
gone you are finished and have to start over from the beginning.

=-=

Q17: ARE THERE ANY WORTHWHILE FEATURES TO THIS GAME?

A:  There is 2-player alternating gameplay.  Player 1 has a blue ship and
Player 2 has a green ship.  It would have been interesting to have this game as
a 2-player simultaneous game, but probably would have been impossible to pull
off and have it be the same game, due to the speed at which your GunStar
travels.

=-=

Q18: THAT'S IT FOR FEATURES?  NO CHEATS OR ANYTHING?

A:  Pretty much, unless you consider a high scores screen, called "The Hall of
Fame," a feature.  The high score to beat is 500,000 by ALX.  This is notable,
as the main character in the movie, played by Lance Guest, is named Alex Rogan.
There are a couple other registrants in the Hall of Fame that might be
interesting to anyone familiar with the movie.

This is one of the few games I would actually recommend playing on an emulator
because of save states.  I don't think I would have beaten it otherwise.  There
are no known Easter Eggs for this game, although there are a few Game Genie
codes.

=-=

Q19: GIMME THE GAME GENIE CODES!!

A:  Sure:

Both players start with 1 life:
PANENLIA

Both players start with 6 lives:
TANENLIA

Both players start with 9 lives:
PANENLIE

Player two starts with 1 life:
KEEAVLSA

Both players have unlimited lives:
SZVPATVG

Player one start on level 5:
GAVEKLAA
GZVENLSA
GZNAOLSA

Player one start on level 10:
PAVEKLAE
GZVENLSA
GZNAOLSA

Player one start on level 14:
IAVEKLAE
GZVENLSA
GZNAOLSA

No shaking:
GXUPLGSA

Not really sure what the No shaking thing is all about.  If someone tries it,
send me a line.

=-=

Q20: IS THE ENDING ANY GOOD?

A:  I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say if you have a good
hearty yawn right as the ending sequence plays out, you will most definitely
miss it.

=-=

Q21: ISN'T THE MOVIE ABOUT A KID PLAYING VIDEO GAMES OR SOMETHING?

A:  Yes, actually.  The hero, Alex, is a boy who actually masters a video game
called "Starfighter," which turns out to be some kind of training simulator
that was created to train star fighters.  Since he excelled at the game he is
picked to fight in the battle against Xur with other star fighters.  You get
the full explanation in the manual.  And to think that The Last Starfighter is
an NES game about a movie about a kid playing a video game.

=-=

Q22: HOW CAN I LEARN MORE INFO ABOUT THE MOVIE?

A: Go here: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0087597

There is also a FAQ for the movie, which is where I got the info on the game
Uridium: http://www.paulbunyan.net/users/wayland/arcade/laststar.html



=-=-=-=-=-=
DISCLAIMER
=-=-=-=-=-=

This FAQ is not endorsed by Mindscape, Universal, Lorimar, GraftGold, Andrew
Braybrook, Hewson Consultants Ltd or Nintendo of America.  The information
contained within this document is provided without guarantee.  All copyrights
and trademarks are recognized.

This FAQ may be reprinted, posted in newsgroups, or placed on web sites, as
long as the proper credit is given to the author.  The most recent version of
this walkthrough can be found at:

www.gamefaqs.com
www.vgstrategies.about.com

©2003 Adam Lamontagne ([email protected])