R O L L I N G T H U N D E R
Written by endresults (
[email protected])
This document is copyrighted (c) 2004 by endresults. If you would like
to use any of the content in this FAQ, ask my permission at
[email protected]. Now, on with the FAQ.
VERSION HISTORY
2/27/04 - V1.1: Fixed a few spelling errors and a cheat.
2/25/04 - V1.0: Initial FAQ.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. ABOUT THIS FAQ
2. STORY
3. CONTROLS
4. BASICS
4a. Choosing an Area.
4b. Starting a Game
4c. Levels
4d. Ammunition
4e. Health
4f. Time
4g. Points
4h. Continues
5. ENEMIES
5a. Maskers
5b. Panthers
5c. Flamers
5d. Breakers
5e. Laser Cannons
5f. Bats
6. TACTICS TO REMEMBER
6a. Doors
6b. Turning and Shooting
6c. Leading Shots
6d. Conserving Ammunition
6e. Hiding
7. AREA GUIDE
7a. Story 1 Area 1
7b. Story 1 Area 2
7c. Story 1 Area 3
7d. Story 1 Area 4
7e. Story 1 Area 5
7f. Story 2 Area 6
7g. Story 2 Area 7
7h. Story 2 Area 8
7i. Story 2 Area 9
7j. Story 2 Area 10
8. CHEATS/TRICKS
9. ANYTHING I MISSED?
10. THANKS
=============================================================================
1. About This FAQ
=============================================================================
Rolling Thunder is a side-scrolling shooter released in 1986 by Namco. Side-
scrolling shooters were hardly rare during this period in arcade history, but
Rolling Thunder stands out even today as one of the best arcade games of the
era because of its visual style, excellent background music and samples, and
the game's simple drop-in-a-quarter-and-go gameplay. The visual and audio
aspects of the Rolling Thunder hold up well almost 20 years later. The game
bleeds style, with graphics that are obviously inspired by 70's and 80's
manga. The main character, Albatross, has a very distinctive, lanky look
about him, and all of his movements are beautifully animated. The soundtrack
of this game is absolutely extraordinary for the time, and helps create the
experience of playing through a comic book.
One of the greatest aspects of Rolling Thunder is its sheer difficulty. This
game is no picnic, and not many people are able to say they have beaten this
game, as the later levels can be mind-bendingly hard. Beating Rolling Thunder
takes a lot of nerves, patience, and precision. Depending on the version of
Rolling Thunder cabinet you play on, you have only a limited amount of
continues to work with, or may not even be able to continue at all. All that
being said, Rolling Thunder CAN be beaten with just one quarter. Even today,
it is something to brag about, and it will feel good if you can do it.
The whole point of this FAQ is to not only help you beat the game, but to
beat the game in as few lives as possible. Maybe even with one life. No
cheating or glitching, no save/load states if you use an emulator... just good
ol' fashioned skill and patience.
=============================================================================
2. Story
=============================================================================
(Taken from the Rolling Thunder Arcade Operator's Manual)
"Rolling Thunder is a one or two player (alternating) game where the player
controls the player whose code name is Albatross. The Story takes place in
1960 in New York City where the elusive Maboo, leader of the secret society
Geldra, is plotting to conquer the world.
Rolling Thunder is the undercover arm of a secret police organization. The
female agent, Leila, was sent on special assignment into Geldra's underground
headquarters. Her mission was to expose the treacherous conspiracy, but she
was captured.
Agent Albatross is the only man on the Rolling Thunder force who can possibly
save Leila and complete the mission."
=============================================================================
3. Controls
=============================================================================
Jump: Jump Button
Shoot: Shoot Button
Crouch: Down
Crouching Shot: Down + Shoot Button
High Jump/Change Floors Up: Up + Jump Button
Change Floors Down: Down + Jump Button while behind railing
Entering Doors: Up while standing in front of door
Moving Between Background/Foreground: Up or Down in front of doorway
=============================================================================
4. Basics
=============================================================================
--------------------
4a. Choosing an Area
--------------------
When you drop a quarter in, you will most likely see a screen that allows you
to select an area from the first story to start from. A very nice touch, but
I rarely use it. If there is an area you have trouble with, it's a good idea
to practice up on it by using this neat little area select feature.
-------------------
4b. Starting a Game
-------------------
When you begin a new game, you will notice your health and ammo indicators,
along with your score and player count (which should be set at 3 men) on the
top. It is pretty self-explanatory, but it needs to be mentioned that
whenever you die or start a new game, you start out with 50 handgun bullets.
In some areas, this puts you in a very tight spot, because you never want to
run out of ammunition, as you will soon see. Also, the health bar is a bit
misleading...
----------
4c. Levels
----------
Rolling Thunder is a side-scrolling shooter with a few quirks. Every area has
floors or levels you can jump up to or down from a la Shinobi, but some
levels also contain background corridors that you can walk into to avoid
enemies or obstacles, or simply to reach an ammo closet. In many areas, you
will find yourself leaping between floor levels to take out enemies, who are
a danger of leaping up or down to attack you as you walk under or above them.
It adds a little bit of depth over the usual tired shooters of the 80's.
--------------
4d. Ammunition
--------------
All areas will contain at least two ammo closets that you can enter to gain
some bullets for your handgun or machine gun. Doors marked "BULLETS" will add
to your handgun ammo count while doors marked "ARMS" will equip you with a
machine gun and bullets, or add to your ammo count if you already have one.
Ammo closets don't give you a set amount of ammunition. Some ammo closets may
give you 20 bullets, while others may give you 50. It isn't random, but it is
worth noting that later in the game, as the amount of enemies increases, the
amount of ammo in ammo closets may decrease, forcing you to make each shot
count. At the end of each area, if your remaining ammo is under 50 bullets,
it will be replenished to 50 at the start of the next area.
If you run out of ammunition, you aren't completely helpless, but as close to
it as you can possibly get. Your ammo indicator will show 1 bullet remaining,
but when you fire your weapon, you will find that the bullet fires at the
walking speed of Albatross. You will also be limited to having one bullet on
the screen at once, so you will have to get up close and personal with
enemies if you want to survive with the "slug pistol."
----------
4e. Health
----------
In the bottom-middle of the screen is your health, or life indicator. You
will notice that when it is full, it shows a long bar with eight green blocks
in it. This is very misleading, and is there either to fill up the bottom of
the screen to make it look good, or to fool new players into thinking they
can recklessly fly into firefights and take a few bullets in the process
without dying. In actuality, your health bar is actually TWO units or four
blocks each. Being hit by a bullet or grenade, falling into a pit or an area
without a floor, getting hit by a laser cannon, or running out of time will
kill you instantly. Running into an enemy or the explosion of a grenade will
cost you one half of your life bar, and running into one again will kill you.
Your life bar is replenished at the end of each area. As you can see, this
game is very unforgiving of mistakes.
--------
4f. Time
--------
Depending on the dip switch settings of the arcade cabinet, you will have
either 120 or 150 seconds to negotiate each area. If you die during an area,
the time resets to the default area time, even if you start at a mid-level
checkpoint. The recommended setting is 120 seconds according to the Rolling
Thunder Arcade Operator's Manual, but I have yet to see a cabinet not set at
150 seconds. 150 seconds to complete some areas is a tall order as is, and it
is recommended that you set your cabinet to 150 seconds if possible.
After the completion of an area, your remaining time is converted into points
at a rate or 120 points for each second remaining on the timer.
----------
4g. Points
----------
This game really isn't about the points, but I suppose it's worth noting that
you can gain extra men at 70,000 and 200,000 points or at 100,000 and 300,000
points depending on the cabinet settings. There is also a high score list,
and if you continue a game, the score doesn't reset, so you can add on to
your high score if you want. Here is the full list of point information.
|--------------------------------|
| Enemy/Time | Points |
|----------------------|---------|
|Common Masker | 300 |
|Goggled Masker | 400 |
|Ninja Masker | 700 |
|Bat | 800 |
|Breaker | 300 |
|Flamer Remains |800 each |
|Panther | 500 |
|Remaining Time |120/sec |
|--------------------------------|
-------------
4h. Continues
-------------
Unlike a lot of games that allow continues, Rolling Thunder will only let you
continue a game a maximum of six times. The cabinet has a setting that allows
you to set the max continues to three, but I've never seen it done. If you
want to beat the game, you will have to get good at it, rather than having a
lot of quarters at your disposal.
=============================================================================
5. Enemies
=============================================================================
-----------
5a. Maskers
-----------
Maskers are the most prevalent enemy in Rolling Thunder. They look human, and
wear colorful outfits, that presumably signify rank, but also serve to alert
the player of what attacks should be expected from them. In this guide, the
maskers will be separated and described by hood color. They come in three
varieties, and each variety has several different flavors. Some can attack
only by punching while others carry a gun just like Albatross. Some can even
lob grenades. Even still, the maskers who carry weapons will sometimes stand
and shoot while others prefer to crouch and fire, making you jump to avoid
the bullet and leaving you vulnerable to subsequent attacks by them or other
enemies. The maskers who crouch and shoot are the most dangerous, and should
be quickly eliminated before they are allowed to fire.
Common Maskers: Common maskers wear a simple hood and this is the first enemy
you encounter when you start a new game. They attack by either punching,
shooting, or by lobbing grenades at you. All common maskers take only one
shot to put down.
Goggled Maskers: Goggled maskers are a little sturdier than your common
masker, and take two shots to kill, but still follow the same attack patterns
as common maskers. These maskers can punch, shoot, and some can even throw
grenades, but they are still only marginally harder than common maskers to
kill since they are momentarily stunned after being shot once, leaving them
open to a follow-up shot.
Ninja Maskers: Ninja Maskers begin to appear at the end of the second area
and show up on and off throughout the rest of the game. When Albatross
happens by a stealth masker's position, they appear out of nowhere and
attempt an ambush attack. Most ninja maskers are relatively simple to kill,
but a few white ninja maskers near the end of the game take an amazing four
shots to kill. Be wary in places where stealth maskers show up, and you
shouldn't have any problems, save for a few tricky positions that will be
covered later.
------------
5b. Panthers
------------
Panthers are big, black cats that show up in various places throughout the
game. They are very easy to kill, taking only one well placed crouching shot.
These enemies are only tricky in numbers and in ambush situations where they
leap onto the screen from above. Occasionally, panthers will crouch and growl
at you, and a crouching shot will miss them.
-----------
5c. Flamers
-----------
Flamers are humanoid shaped creatures that leap up from lava pits and bounce
around the screen. Flamers are especially tricky, mostly because they show up
in situations where you are doing platform jumping. One shot will take down a
flamer, but after it is hit, it will break up into four separate fireballs
which will then fly up in an upward direction and off the screen. It is
important to know when flamers will appear and to take them down before they
get close. If you miss a shot at them and they leap right by you they will
bounce right back in Albatross' direction. Where on the screen you kill a
flamer is just as important as IF you kill it.
------------
5d. Breakers
------------
These can be one of the most annoying enemies in the entire game. They are
short impish looking creatures and are quick when attacking, which means you
need to hit them quickly with a low shot before they have the chance to
attack. Once they close in on Albatross, they leap at you, leaving you with
one chance to shoot them with a high shot before they hit you. While they
technically only do half damage, letting them get close enough to hit you
usually means death, as they are very fast and will usually hit you twice
before you have the chance to recover. It is very important to lead your
shots in areas that Breakers populate.
-----------------
5e. Laser Cannons
-----------------
Laser cannons are mounted to ceiling structures and shoot towards the ground
at regular intervals. Being hit by one is just like getting shot, which means
instant death. They start appearing in the second story of the game, and can
make some situations rather difficult. While they don't pose much, if any, of
a challenge on their own, sometimes enemies will attack just as you reach or
have passed a laser cannon, making backtracking difficult, and forcing you to
leap forward if shot at. Also, laser cannons sometimes show up grouped
closely together, forcing you to memorize their firing pattern and carefully
pass through each one.
--------
5f. Bats
--------
Bats show up in a few areas in the game, and are supremely annoying. They are
huge, and while they only take one shot to kill, they can be hard to hit.
Once a bat spots Albatross, it will fly back and forth on the screen a few
times and then swoop down to attack, where it can then be shot by a standing
shot. Bats are only truly dangerous in situations where you trigger more than
two bats at a time, when a bat appears near the bottom of the screen, or when
you miss your chance to attack the bat and take a hit.
=============================================================================
6. Tactics to Remember
=============================================================================
To be successful at Rolling Thunder, there are a few techniques and tactics
to remember before you get started. Some of these are pretty intuitive, but
some need to be practiced before they become second nature. I won't go in-
depth for every section of every area in the game, so it's important to use
them all the time, except for hiding.
---------
6a. Doors
---------
You will encounter a lot of doors throughout the game, and more often than
not, an enemy will exit a door when you approach it. It is ALWAYS recommended
stop for a second by a door you haven't seen an enemy already exit. Once you
start doing this regularly, it will become second nature. Using this tactic
will not only keep you from being surrounded, it will also save ammo, as you
won't need to shoot wildly from left to right to take down a few enemies.
Remember: You want enemies to approach from the right side ONLY.
------------------------
6b. Turning and Shooting
------------------------
There is an odd and sometimes frustrating quirk with this game that has to do
with the design of the joystick. It can only register one directional input
at once, so if you are ducking from and shot fired by an enemy on the right
side of the screen and enemy approaches from the left side of screen, if you
try to turn and shoot at the enemy, Albatross will stand up and turn before
shooting. You can see how this situation can cost you a life, but it can be
avoided. While you can't normally change directions while ducking without
standing up, you CAN do it if you're shooting at the time. Try it while
quickly firing with the handgun or while firing with the machine gun. This is
an extremely important tactic, but can be hard to master without standing up
into the path of a bullet a few times.
Remember: Ducking, turning and shooting is bad. Shooting and turning while
still shooting is good.
-----------------
6c. Leading Shots
-----------------
The enemies in Rolling Thunder can approach and react quickly once they
appear on screen. Some maskers can fire their weapon a split second after you
see them, putting you in a difficult position. This can be counteracted by
"leading" your bullets across the screen. Simply fire your weapon, and walk
to the right. Any enemy that appears on screen will be hit by the bullet. For
instance, at the very beginning of the second area, you will be approached by
a few common maskers, one of them being a white masker that will crouch and
shoot after he appears on screen. If you crouch and shoot a few times before
you trigger the maskers and walk to the right, than both of them will be
killed before they get a chance to attack, saving you from dodging shots.
Remember: Beating this game requires you to avoid situations where an enemy
has the chance to attack when possible.
-------------------------
6d. Conserving Ammunition
-------------------------
While ammunition is plentiful in the beginning of the game, you may find
yourself short on ammo later on in the game if you go crazy with the shoot
button. A great tactic to use is to remember how many shots an enemy takes to
die, and then crouching and firing that many shots, with a fraction of a
second pause between each shot. With the machine gun, remember to tap-tap-tap
the button instead of holding it down. There are a few situations where you
will use automatic fire, but in most situations, if you hold down the shoot
button, one bullet will hit an enemy and the subsequent bullet will be so
close behind the first one that it will pass right through the enemy. There
are many situations where hoards of enemies will appear on screen, and by
using just enough bullets to eliminate the enemies, you will save yourself
from having to use the dreaded slug pistol. After awhile, your simple
addition skills should be perfect, and lightning quick, too.
Remember: You DO NOT want to run out of normal ammunition. Ever.
----------
6e. Hiding
----------
It is possible to walk into a door and stay there (by holding up on the
joystick) to avoid enemies, who will then walk right by the door. You
shouldn't ever have to use this tactic. Hiding eats away precious time and
you should be able to kill anything that comes your way, anyway.
Remember to forget to hide: You're an agent in a secret organization, and you
have a gun.
=============================================================================
7. Area Guide
=============================================================================
This guide will focus primarily on areas that are tricky or tips that I have
picked up over the years. Don't worry about being left hanging during any
difficult parts, but this isn't going to cover how to defeat every single
enemy you run in to.
------------------
7a. Story 1 Area 1
------------------
You begin the game in what looks to be a dilapidated apartment complex (with
ammo closets) and you will be greeted almost right away by purple common
maskers and yellow goggled maskers. You'll soon come across a bullet closet
(x50) and an arms closet (x100...cha-ching!). Continue on until you reach the
set of stairs and leap or walk down. Beware of the gray masker hanging out on
a ledge opposite the stairs. Shoot your way through until you reach some
stacked tires. After killing everything you see, quickly leap into one of the
tires and duck. Kill a blue masker popping up and down shooting at you and
continue. From here until the end of the area, simply move forward and wait
for the enemies to come to you when appropriate. There is one purple masker
who figured out how to throw grenades and a few gun-toting maskers, but this
shouldn't be difficult. Head on to the door at the end. Area 1 complete!
------------------
7b. Story 1 Area 2
------------------
You'll quickly be approached by maskers at the start of this area, one of
which will be a white masker who will shoot low at you. Lead your shots and
kill him before he has the chance and move forward till you meet a gray
masker standing in front of an arms closet chucking grenades down to the
floor, walk by him, and see two more grays tossing grenades. Jump up and kill
them off, and jump over to the platform where the arms closet is (x80) and
jump back to the other platform. to collect the bullets if you want them
(x20). You'll soon reach a huge stack of boxes guarded by loads of purple and
gray maskers. Kill them off and proceed until you see an arrow pointing
upwards. High jump on the boxes a few times until you reach a platform. Kill
off the maskers on the platform opposite the gap and jump across. This
section is a long of stretch of stairways and landings guarded by maskers. A
good pseudo-trick to use here is to use the railings to jump down a level
when you can, thus saving time and avoiding maskers. When you reach the
bottom proceed to the right slowly. There are four ninja maskers who will
appear right by the exit as you near it. Kill them and exit. Area 2 complete!
------------------
7c. Story 1 Area 3
------------------
This area starts out in a cave, and you'll meet the breakers for the first
time. Be sure not to let them get close enough for them to execute their
leaping attack. Say hello, enter the ammo closet (x30) and proceed. Just
ahead is another ammo closet with arms (x80). Yet another ammo closet farther
up containing even more machine gun ammo (x80). Just ahead of the ammo closet
you will meet another new enemy, the panther. They are pretty simple to
defeat, so just crouch and shoot away and move forward to yet another ammo
closet with handgun bullets (x30) and get ready to shoot. Up ahead are more
panthers and three are prowling around in a cage in the background. You can
walk in and shoot them, or wait for them to jump out. Don't try to walk past
them. After this start leading your shots with the machine gun, as there will
be several dangerous shooting and grenade tossing maskers between you and the
exit. Kill them off and move on. Easy as pie. Area 3 complete!
------------------
7d. Story 1 Area 4
------------------
Still in a cave setting, and you will meet two more new enemies in this area.
This is also the first level where time is an important factor. Don't try to
rush through it. Just be quick and careful and you should do fine. Plow
through the maskers in the beginning of this area and enter the ammo closet
for some handgun bullets (x30) and proceed up the steps and say hello to the
bats. You can kill the first one from on top of the highest step. Drop down
and meet two more bats. They will fly from the left side to the right side of
the screen two or three times and then drop down to attack. Just stay
standing up and shoot them down. Kill another pair of bats and a few maskers
and enter the ammo closet for machine gun ammo (x40) and then get the bullets
(x30) from an ammo closet just in front of it. Just ahead you will meet up
with the ugliest maskers in the game, the green goggled maskers, and drop
down a series of ledges. Three ninja maskers will appear after you drop down
to the third ledge, just get as far out of their way as you can and shoot
them down, and kill one more ninja masker when you reach the bottom. At the
top of the second step just ahead, will be two more ninja maskers. Walk up
near the top step or jump onto it and back down to the first step to trigger
them, and then kill them and move on to kill yet another ninja masker and
proceed to an ammo closet for some handgun bullets (x30). Kill yet another
ninja masker on the top of the ledge just ahead and down to meet some more
panthers. One panther will try to pounce on you from the top of some steps.
Step back, shoot him, and climb up. Get ready to meet the flamers and do a
little platform jumping here. As soon as you land on the first platform, two
flamers will appear, but only one will be dangerous. Shoot it, and proceed to
the ledge. Kill another ninja masker up to his same old tricks, and get ready
for a little more platform jumping. On the second platform, shoot down a
flamer, and quickly duck and shoot another one when you reach the sixth
platform. On the ninth platform, shoot one more flamer, who will often get
caught up between the right edge of the screen and the steps, and jump to the
steps and kill two more flamers and quickly walk forward to the goal. This is
a tough area because of the time constraints and tricky enemies, but with
practice you should be able to make it with a few seconds to spare. Area 4
complete!
------------------
7e. Story 1 Area 5
------------------
As you have seen from the cutscene between areas, Leila isn't doing too well.
Time to step it up in area 5, which can be pretty tough. Time shouldn't be a
factor here, but don't dawdle too long. As soon as you start off, you'll
notice this area looks vaguely like area 1 in design, but there is a gated
area along the first floor which you can enter to pick ammo or to avoid
enemies in the foreground. Be sure to watch out when you are walking along
the upper level for enemies on the bottom in the background area, as they can
still jump up to the second level and knock off half of your health. Also,
the maskers move a lot faster starting in this area until the rest of the
game. Walk forward and you will see two ammo closets with handgun ammo. The
one on the first level in the background area has 30 bullets, while the one
on top has 20. I usually jump up to the top level, and move close enough to
the maskers on the bottom to get them to jump up, then kill them off, pick up
the ammo on top, then jump down to the bottom and hit the other ammo closet.
In the second gated area, move into the background and move into the ammo
closet for some machine gun bullets (x80), exit to the foreground, and
approach a stack of boxes. There will be a green masker on the bottom trying
to shoot you, but hits nothing but box. If no maskers jump over to try to
attack you, jump up onto the first box, kill any enemies you can, and then
jump onto the top box. A few more maskers will appear. You will need to jump
over the green masker, turn, shoot him, duck to avoid bullets from an orange
masker on your right and then finish off the maskers and move on. Up ahead is
an ammo closet with handgun bullets (x30). Move up a bit and you will
approach an area with two boxes stacked up to block your path on the bottom
level and a second level ledge. Quickly jump to the second level to avoid
grenades thrown by a gray masker, wait for the maskers to move away, then
drop down and kill them, walk into the ammo closet for some handgun bullets
(x20) and jump up to the second level and kill the maskers. Walk forward
until you reach the boxes, drop down, and move forward to a short open area
with a few doors with boxes by them. Get as close you can to the edge of the
box, wait for the masker to exit the door, shoot him, and move on. Repeat
this until you reach two stacked boxes, jump up to the second level, and get
ready to do some serious shooting. On the bottom level will be loads of
maskers of all types. Wait a few seconds for a few ninja maskers to move away
and one will stick around the boxes under you, jump off the ledge in such a
way that you just barely clear the edge of the ledge, quickly turn and kill
the stealth ninja on your left, and turn and fire while still crouching at
the maskers that will be quickly approaching on your right. Don't worry about
wasting ammo here, just fire until everything melts into the ground. Some may
get a shot off, and it is possible for two bullets to come at you from both a
standing shot and a crouching shot. If this happens, high jump, and do your
best to get a few shots off when you land. When you make it past that
firefight, proceed to walk to the exit. Congratulations, story 1 and area 5
complete!
------------------
7f. Story 2 Area 6
------------------
I bet you thought you were near the end of the game when you walked by the
huge monitor that Maboo & Friends hang out around in the attract screen and
cutscenes, eh? Sorry, only halfway there. Story 2's levels are designed very
similarly to story 1's, but have quite a few extra enemies and some different
architectural designs. As you start area 6, you'll notice that there is a new
background area, and later on, you'll encounter a few more surprises. When
you start off, kill of some maskers, jump up to the top level, watch out for
maskers jumping up from below, and enter the ammo closet for 30 handgun
bullets. You can walk forward for a bit to avoid the maskers below, then drop
down near the entrance to the background area of the first level, enter, and
grab 30 more handgun bullets, exit to foreground, and kill any maskers
around. Proceed to another ammo closet and get the machine gun (x40). Jump up
to the second level, drop down off the ledge, and you'll come to an area with
two doors on the bottom level, and five doors sticking out of the wall near
the top of the screen(?!?). Watch out for maskers jumping down from above,
kill them, and continue on. Jump up to the second level, kill a lot of
maskers and enter yet another ammo closet for 50 handgun rounds. Jump all the
way down the stairs and over the gray masker on the second step. Continue on
and you'll encounter a new obstacle to contend with: the laser cannon. While
it doesn't look difficult to get through, when you get close to the beat,
some maskers will appear. Kill them, and continue on. There will be more
laser cannons near some stacked tires. Kill all the maskers before you
attempt to jump through them, then when you are between the first and second
lasers, a blue masker will appear and pop up to shoot at you from inside the
tires. You can either jump over his bullets and return fire from between the
beams, or jump over his bullet and through the laser cannon into a tire and
kill him from there. More maskers at the next laser cannon. Kill them when
they approach. Jump over tire, through the laser cannon, and over a green
masker. Kill everyone and continue to the sandbag area. This area can be
tricky since enemies are behind the sandbags, and you can see their heads pop
up from the low points. Watch out for them and continue to the highest point
of the sandbags where you will be ambushed by breakers and maskers. Jump
back, but not to the low point of the bags where you can be attacked by the
maskers behind them, and kill them off and continue. Once over the high point
of the sandbags, with the exit in sight, three more maskers will jump up from
the sandbags. Carefully kill them off and exit. Time can be an issue on this
level, but if you are moving at a brisk pace, you should have at least 10
seconds to spare by the end of the area. Also, it's worth noting that if you
die at anytime during the sandbag or tire area, you will start at a mid level
checkpoint near the top of the stairs. If you don't backtrack and get more
ammo, you will be in serious danger or running out of ammunition near the
exit. Not good. Area 6 complete!
------------------
7g. Story 2 Area 7
------------------
Remember way back in story 1 area 2 when a white masker was waiting for you
at the start of the area? Well, not anymore. Two are waiting this time. Kill
them off and continue. On the platform with the machine gun ammo closet, two
gray maskers will be dropping grenades as usual, but they will be closer
together, forcing you to hurry through before you get hit. Same as last time,
wait for the maskers on the lower platform to jump down, kill them, jump up
and kill the grenade maskers, jump to the higher platform and kill the other
two, and step into the ammo closet for 80 machine gun bullets. Jump back over
to the other ammo closet for 20 handgun bullets, and proceed to the boxes.
Bats populate this area now, as well as maskers. Kill the maskers while the
bats are swooping overhead, and kill the bats when they attack. Jump up to
the platform, kill the maskers on the platform to the right, and jump across.
Kill some maskers, jump down over the railing to the landing below, and to
the next set of stairs. Three breakers will attack as soon as you reach the
foot of the steps. Quickly kill them and continue down the stairs. Lots of
maskers near the bottom here, as well as some ninja maskers Wait for an
opportunity to jump over them from the bottom of the steps (don't worry, you
can't be hit when you are on the steps by an enemy on the landing), and
quickly shoot them. Don't jump out too far though, as a ninja masker will
appear near the door on the right. More maskers further on, including a white
ninja masker, keep going down to the bottom while remembering to take the
pseudo-shortcut by jumping down over railings. When you reach the bottom,
three more breakers will appear, kill them and the ninja maskers who appear
near the exit and continue through. Area 7 complete!
------------------
7h. Story 2 Area 8
------------------
Back to the underground cave for round two against the breakers and flamers
here. Time is a huge factor in this level and you will need to practice often
to become fast enough to make it through without timing out. This is probably
the hardest area in the game, because not only do you have to move quickly,
but you need to do some platform jumping while dealing with enemies, which
isn't always a guarantee, even if you're doing it right. Move forward through
the breakers and maskers to an ammo closet with 30 handgun bullets in it, and
then ahead to another ammo closet for a machine gun with 40 bullets. Move
ahead to one of the trickiest areas in the entire game, at the staggered red
barrels. Here, there will be a few maskers and a breaker, but the big problem
is the green masker who will throw grenades over the barrels at you. There is
nothing you can really do if he starts throwing grenades. You can't dodge
them by ducking on the barrels or jump over them between grenades since he
throws them so quick. What you want to do here is jump on to the top barrel
BEFORE he starts throwing the grenades. If you miss your chance, which you
likely will the first few tries, backtrack to the ammo closet, and then
proceed back to the barrels. The enemies on the other side of the barrel will
reset, and the breakers and maskers that appear before you reach the barrel
will as well. Try again. Once on top of the barrel, quickly jump straight up
to avoid the grenade. The masker will stop throwing grenades, and you can
wait for a moment for the enemies to spread out and to kill a blue masker
that will appear from the left. Drop down, clean up, and proceed. It's
important to note that if you want a good chance of beating this area without
running out of time, you need to negotiate that part on the first try. Once
over the stump, you will be ambushed by bats who will streak straight for
you. Kill them and any maskers and can continue to the ammo closet for 40
machine gun bullets. Continue to the top of the barrels and kill a masker who
approaches, jump over, and watch for a goggled masker tossing grenades.
Proceed to some steps, and stop and duck on the second step. A panther will
try to ambush you, and then jump right over you. Avoid another panther ambush
and enter another ammo closet for 30 handgun bullets. Drop down and kill the
panthers and you'll come to a tricky area where you will need to enter the
background area to get around a foreground obstacle, but there are quite a
few panthers and a few maskers who may head back there as well. You can
either try to move back and forth between the background entrances and wait
for and opening to sneak in and kill the panthers or use this nice little
trick. Jump back up to the second level before the gated area and jump off
the ledge towards the right. This will cause the panthers to jump up, giving
you time to walk inside and move over a little so you can duck (pushing down
after you enter the background area causes you to exit back out) and kill the
panthers before they recover. Once past the obstacle, pop out into the
foreground and quickly kill the maskers there. Lead your shots here as there
will be some dangerous maskers from here to a set of steps. Jump up and
quickly jump down so that you land just to the right of the door, kill the
masker, and repeat this on the next drop. This time though, there will be an
orange masker who will shoot at you from behind a barrel on the right. A
masker will also walk out the door you just landed by as well, which puts you
in a tricky spot. It's very easy to panic and try to kill the masker who
exits the door, causing you to stand up into the path of a bullet here.
Instead, you can shoot once to the right as soon as you land, or face left as
soon as you land, duck, kill the masker who exits, and then take care of the
orange masker. After that, jump across the gap and onto the bridge. IMPORTANT
NOTE: If you're planning on beating this area in one life, it is important
that you have at least 40 seconds remaining on the timer before you reach the
bridge area. Even with 40 seconds left, you're still going to need to be
quick, and know exactly what to in the last part of this area to make it.
After you jump the barrel, walk past the door a bit to trigger a flamer,
quickly kill him, and walk forward to trigger a bat near the bottom of the
screen. You CAN jump down immediately if you don't hesitate and kill the bat
before it starts flying around, and if you're short on time, that's the
recommended course of action. Otherwise, wait a second for it to fly to the
left, jump down, and kill it. Jump to the next pillar. Move to the right of
the pillar to trigger another bat. Wait for it to fly to the left, jump up
the steps, and shoot it. Now, kill the maskers who come out the doors, and
get ready to run and jump. There will be three pillars with a door on each
one, but what you're going to do is jump through them before maskers have a
chance to exit the doors and attack. On the ledge before you reach this area,
don't move too far to the right when killing the last masker, or you may end
up triggering a masker to exit the door on the first ledge. Jump, jump, jump,
and then jump onto a narrow pillar and up onto another ledge with a bunch of
doors and an ammo closet. Don't worry too much if maskers who were on the
pillars shot at you after exiting the doors, since Albatross should just be
able to outrun them and leap onto the last pillar to avoid the bullets. If
you're trying to get through this area on the first life, avoid the ammo
closet. Stay standing up and shoot the two flamers and maskers. Try to get
through this part and onto the next ledge as quickly as possible to shave off
a second or two. When onto the next ledge, stay on the top and kill one more
flamer, and one more will appear on the bottom. It CAN hit you, so be careful
and navigate to the rightmost point of the ledge and quickly kill one more
flamer. If you're lucky, you may even be able to hit the flamer who's hanging
around on the bottom. Jump to the first narrow pillar and quickly shoot down
two flamers. Jump to the next pillar. On this pillar, you're going to need to
lead a shot and jump to the pillar that is a bit wider than the rest. You
need to make this shot because a flamer will appear on screen as you are
jumping and land on that pillar. It may take a few tries to get the timing
right, but if you make it, then jump onto the next pillar and onto the ledge
and exit. Whew! If you had 40 seconds left at the start of the bridge area,
you should be able to exit with 3-5 seconds left consistently when you get
the timing of everything right. Congratulations, you've just beat arguably
the hardest area in the game. Area 8 complete!
------------------
7i. Story 2 Area 9
------------------
Area 9 is unlike anything you've seen in the game as of yet, but after having
completed area 8, you should be ready for anything. Begin by jumping up to
the top railing, moving forward and killing a few flamers and masker. Move
through a laser cannon and up to a ledge, and drop down to another ledge.
Watch out for the next drop, as there are some ninja maskers waiting here.
Drop down and kill a ninja masker that appears on your left, and then drop
down to your left and kill a ninja masker on your right. Enter ammo closet
for 30 handgun rounds, and drop off the ledge. Kill a yellow ninja masker,
and move close to the laser cannons until another ninja masker appears on the
side of the cannons, kill it, and then move through the first laser cannon
and back to where you were. Kill the other ninja masker and go through
another laser cannon until you reach some steps with a laser cannon on top
and a small gap for you to fit through. There are a few shooting maskers
after you pass through here that will shoot when you land. Either duck into
the door, or shoot a few times and jump. Enter the ammo closet for 40 machine
gun rounds. Continue to some steps with two laser cannons next to each other.
Jump onto the first step when it is safe, and through the second one just
before the first one fires. You'll come upon an area with a bunch of shooting
maskers on the bottom. Drop down and kill them, or dodge some laser cannons
on top, and move through to another set of ledges. Drop down to your right,
then left, right, and then jump down to the left side of the next platform
where a white ninja masker will appear. Kill him and drop off to your left to
an ammo closet for 50 handgun rounds. Now jump to the small platform to your
right, and then to the next one, and drop or jump off to your right. Kill the
white ninja masker that appears, and drop off to your left. Another ninja
masker should appear and drop toe platform below. Jump down and kill him,
then move through the laser cannons to the edge of a platform where yet
another ninja masker will appear. Jump down and kill him, and move forward
and kill some white maskers and a flamer. Next up is two laser cannons right
next to each other firing in an awkward sequence. Memorize the pattern and
move through. Drop down and kill some maskers. Then jump up to an area where
three ninja maskers and some bats will appear. Drop down as quickly as
possible to avoid the bats, and either stun the maskers and make a mad dash
for the exit, or kill the bats and maskers and exit. Time really isn't a
factor in this area, and the real difficulty lies in the fact that if you die
near the end, you start back at the beginning. Area 9 complete!
-------------------
7j. Story 2 Area 10
-------------------
Here we are at the last area! It's a doozy, so get ready to plow through
anything that gets in your way. Start out by killing the breakers and maskers
and move to the background to an ammo closet for 30 handgun rounds. Jump up
to the top level, and to the end of the platform. Jump down past the red box
when the breaker moves, and kill the maskers that converge from all sides.
Move to the top platform and continue on past the red box and drop down and
into the background for 80 machine gun rounds. Use them sparingly; you're
going to need them. Exit back out and continue on to the cluster of red
boxes. Just like last time, kill any enemies that jump over, kill the blue
masker on the first box, and jump down behind the green masker when you have
an opportunity and clean up. There is one more shooting masker to worry
about, but it really isn't much harder. Move on to another ammo closet for 30
handgun rounds. Just pass the ammo closet is a bunch of breakers and maskers,
so lead your shots. Jump up to the top platform before the green masker
starts throwing grenades, drop down to the right when the coast is clear, and
enter an ammo closet for 50 handgun rounds. Jump up and move forward past the
obstacle on the bottom, and drop down again. Move past the doors and boxes to
another ammo closet for 20 handgun rounds, jump up to the platform, and get
ready to shoot. Drop down when the blue masker moves off to the right, and
when you shoot, stay STANDING. The breakers will attack before a crouching
shot will hit them so just kill them and start leading your shots through the
monitor area. A little farther up, you will be ambushed by three panthers.
Kill them and climb the stairs. Drop down when you have a chance, and stay
standing and firing to kill the breakers and ninja maskers that appear. Next
is another set of stairs where a bunch of ninja maskers will appear. The
first few are easy enough to kill, but a few near the top will lollygag
around the top without moving. To fix this, high jump to trigger them to move
towards you and quickly kill them or simply jump up and try to shoot them off
the stairs. When you make it over, you will see the evil, soon to be dead
Maboo, and Leila in shackles in the background. Kill any white maskers down
there, but don't hit Maboo. When they are all gone, Move to the far left
against the wall and fire your handgun as fast as you possibly can. If you're
doing it right, Maboo will fall before he gets to you. That's it! You don't
want to fight Maboo any other way than this. He must be part bull, because
all he will do is charge you for the whole battle. It's really quite
ridiculous. Time is a definite factor in this area, but the boss battle is
over so quick, all you need is 5 seconds left when you drop from the platform
to kill Maboo.
Game complete!
Hopefully this guide will get you moving in the direction to beating this
game in just one quarter. Women will throw themselves at you, guys will
respect you, and everybody will worship you.
=============================================================================
8. CHEATS/TRICKS
=============================================================================
I was initially reluctant to add this section to the FAQ, since the whole FAQ
is focused around beating the game legitimately in as few lives as possible,
but after thinking about it for awhile, I think it's fun to try them out
after you've beaten the game into submission. So, here you go...Enjoy!
--------------
8a. Extra Ammo
--------------
This trick can be useful in early areas, but not so much in later ones
because of time constraints. It involves visiting an ammo closet,
walking forward enough so that the game "forgets" that you've visited
the ammo closet previously, and then walking back and grabbing some
more ammo. This works on certain areas better than others, but the
whole gist of this trick is to take advantage of ammo closets
containing machine gun bullets in areas where you aren't severely
limited by time. You can rack up a TON (at least 800 bullets) of
machine gun ammo using this trick.
More coming soon!
=======================================================================
9. Anything I Missed?
=======================================================================
If there is anything I missed or misspelled, or am just playing wrong
about, please drop me a line at
[email protected], and I will
correct it and give you credit for it in the thanks section.
=======================================================================
10. Thanks
=======================================================================
Mom and Pops: For...you know....
The great group of people on the GameFAQS FAQ Contributors board.
