Juusou Kihei Valken, aka Assault Suits Valken FAQ/Guide (SNES)
6/13/2005 v1.1
dammit9x at hotmail dot com
Copyright 2005
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#### This guide has NO story-related spoilers. ####
| I was 22 years old when |
| I enlisted in the United |
| Pacific States Marine |
| Corps. Unluckily for me, |
| around the time I'd |
| finished my Assault Suit |
| training, the war had |
| spread to the far |
| reaches of the Earth- |
| sphere. |
| Nobody remember exacly |
| what started this war |
| any more. It continues |
| because people still |
| fight over control of |
| what little fossil fuel |
| remains on this planet, |
| and over territorial |
| rights on the moon. |
| Our leaders have no |
| intention of sharing |
| what little resources |
| they retain. |
| I do not fight out of |
| patriotism, a desire for |
| justice, or any other |
| sort of silly personal |
| ideal. I fight because I |
| am a soldier, and the |
| only way a soldier can |
| survive is to fight and |
| defeat his enemies. |
This game was released, only in Japan, in 1992 by NCS, the same developer
that put out Assault Suits Leynos (known as Target Earth in the American
release) two years earlier. At some point, the translation group "AGTP" (Gideon
Zhi and Ian Kelly)released an English translation for the ROM. The translation
makes the story understandable for English speakers. However, you don't need to
know how to read to play the game. The only part left undone is the name entry
feature in the option screen. As such, I don't know what the main character's
name is. The excerpt above is taken from the AGTP translation.
It is unclear to me why NCS failed to port the game to American markets.
Compared to Leynos, Assault Suits Valken has tighter controls, more interesting
gameplay, character advancement, multiple endings, character design by Satoshi
Urushihara, and is overall a classy game.
* Gameplay
Controls:
Shoot (default Y)
The hero fires the currently selected weapon in whatever direction he's
aiming. Except for the punch, all weapons can be fired rapidly or continuously
by holding the button.
Jump (default B)
The hero jumps. Holding the button while airborne fires the booster pack,
resulting in a higher, longer jump or a slower descent. After a few seconds the
booster overheats and can only be used to slow the descent, but it can be used
again in the next jump.
Dash (default A)
The hero moves at double speed, and his profile is lowered slightly. After a
certain distance the dash ends, but you can push the button again. An
alternative way to dash is to double tap right or left. You must have your feet
on solid ground to dash. Some auto-scroll sequences are in dash mode.
Weapon Select (default X)
Cycles through available weapons. You can do this while the game is paused.
Hold (default L)
This causes the hero to hold the direction of the gun constant, regardless of
what's going on with the D-pad. So you can do things like fire at the enemy
while withdrawing, or hover over the enemy while firing down on them. This is
extremely useful and should be learned early.
Shield (default R)
The hero actually holds up a shield. This prevents all damage, from any
direction, even from behind. Most but not all attacks can be blocked. However,
being hit will still cause you to recoil. You must have your feet on solid
ground to block. The punch meter does not rise, and the vulcan and laser do not
reload while the guard is held.
Gravity:
Some areas have normal gravity, which means you walk and jump around
normally. Some areas are lo-grav, so you can move in any direction with the
D-pad, and the jump, dash and shield buttons don't do anything. However, if you
plant your feet on solid ground in a lo-grav area, you can use those moves.
Power-Ups:
"H" Energy chip
Recovers two bars of health. That's 20%.
"P" Power chip
Brings your currently selected weapon one step closer to the next level.
"W" Weapon chip
Adds a new weapon to your arsenal.
Lives:
If you lose all your energy, fall down a pit, get crushed in an auto-scroll
segment, or fail a critical objective, it's game over. You can continue from
the last checkpoint 3 times. Checkpoints occur where there are area changes.
Most levels have a few.
* Option Mode
NAME ENTRY
As mentioned earlier, the name entry feature is still in Japanese. The hero's
name never comes up in the game, however.
MESSAGE: FAST
SLOW
Controls the automatic speed of the pre-mission and in-game messages. You can
always make the pre-mission messages go faster by pushing a button.
SOUND: STEREO
MONAURAL
Controls stereo/mono sound.
CONTROL: TYPE A-D
There are four available control schemes, including two in which the shoot
button always holds the aim steady.
* Weapons List
There are four weapons in the game. Two you start with, and two are found in
the missions. They all start at level 1 and can be upgraded twice, by
collecting power chips. The number in parentheses is the number of power chips
required to upgrade. Picking up a power chip when the selected weapon is at max
level does nothing. You can pause the game and cycle the weapons to decide
before picking it up.
Punch (start with it)
L1 (5): This is a close range weapon that cannot be aimed. It can be extremely
powerful, more powerful than the vulcan because it all comes out at once. The
power depends on how high the meter is when you release the punch. This means
that rapidly pushing the button releases only weak punches and is a bad idea.
At level one, the meter goes up to 50%.
L2 (6): The meter now goes up to about 80%. At this power, the range is
increased slightly.
L3 (-): The meter goes to 100%. The punch is huge at this power. This weapon is
formidable and should not be underestimated.
Vulcan (start with it)
L1 (4): Rapid fire gun that fires in a spread pattern. When the clip (19 shots)
is empty it reloads itself after about 1 second. When you shoot a solid
surface, the shots bounce off and can hit enemies around corners. This is the
basic weapon you will use most often.
L2 (8): The shots are bigger and more powerful. Rate of fire is increased and
reload time is reduced. (Slightly.)
L3 (-): Further improvement in size, power, rate of fire and reload time.
Missile (Found in Mission 2)
L1 (4): You have 39 missiles which can be fired fairly rapidly. This weapon is
somewhat more powerful than the vulcan. You don't get any ammo refill until the
next mission, so don't waste them.
L2 (6): The missiles are now homing. They're not very good at hitting small
targets though, and they get confused when there are a lot of targets.
Basically, they should be saved for bosses.
L3 (-): The missiles can be fired at a faster rate.
Laser (Found in Mission 5)
L1 (3): This fires a focused yellow beam. The laser can only be maintained for
about 4 seconds but it recharges quickly. It is superior to the vulcan and does
more damage, especially against large opponents because it penetrates and
damages multiple locations. However, the beam doesn't reflect like the vulcan
shots.
L2 (6): The laser is wider and more powerful.
L3 (-): The laser is now enormous.
* Two Endings
There are two endings for the game, a good one and a bad one. Which one you
get depends on what happens at the end of level 5, Twilight Pursuit. That's all
I will say.
* Mission Walkthrough
Note: The placement and contents of the chests in the levels is predetermined,
but some items are dropped by enemies. The exact enemy that drops the item
varies, but the item will always be found in the same general area.
1. Colony Invasion
This level is quite easy and you should take the opportunity to get used to
the controls: hovering, dashing, blocking, and holding aim steady. Remember
that enemies don't come back after you kill them, so you can take your time and
explore. The boss is at the far right and clearly marked on the radar.
Power chip locations: On the first large gray block to the right of the
starting point there is a chest [1]. Not far to the right of the chest some
enemy will drop a chip [2]. There's a chest on the floor under some red
machinery farther to the right [3]. The second platform past the red machinery
has a chest on it [4], and an enemy containing an energy chip is nearby. Past
the next gray block there are a bunch of cannons, two energy chips can be found
in nearby enemies. Just before the final gray block that leads to the boss
there is a chest on a platform that has the final power chip [5].
The boss is a huge engine suspended from the ceiling. It starts near the
bottom of the room and gradually moves upwards. It has a smaller, lower section
which is destroyed first, and a large upper section. You must destroy both
before it reaches the top, or it's game over. It attacks by sending down guns
from cables on either side. The guns will be replaced if destroyed so try not
to waste too much time on them. Whichever weapon you upgraded in this level,
you should use that one against the boss.
2. Orbital Hideout
This is a lo-grav level, and the first part is autoscrolling. Not a difficult
as it looks, just blast away with the vulcan at approaching missiles and red
enemies. Small asteroids can be shot up, but don't get caught behind big ones.
No power chips to worry about here, but if you're lucky you may find an energy
chip. When you reach the end of this area your boosters cut off.
In the second part, if you haven't learned how to hold your aim, now is the
time; otherwise you will have a hard time hitting your targets. Watch out for
proximity mines, which are red discs on the surface of asteroids. They can be
safely detonated by approaching until they are triggered (the top part
retracts), then backing off to a safe distance. Be certain to pick up the new
weapon on this level.
Power chip locations: In a chest on the first large rock beneath you, between
two mines [1]. In a chest on a small rock above and to the right of the
previous one [2]. In this area, somebody should drop another chip [3]. There's
a chest on the large rock below that has an energy chip. The new weapon
(missile) is in a chest on a rock that houses a cannon shooting purple blasts
[W]. A bit to the right of the new weapon blow stuff up to find an energy chip.
A bit more to the right is another chest with a power chip [4]. And around this
area someone should drop another power chip [5]. Further on, in front of a
purple blaster cannon at the bottom of the screen (the third cannon, right
before the boss) is a chest with the last chip [6].
At the far right you'll meet the boss. In fact it will start shooting
missiles at you before you reach the far right. He has a halo of asteroids
spinning around him, some with guns implanted. If you destroy the asteroids
more will just come later. Since you don't want to get close, avoid using the
punch. Aim carefully and blast away with your missiles, which probably aren't
homing yet. Try to make them go between the rocks instead of hitting them and
the boss will be dead in no time. If for whatever reason you run out of
missiles, just finish the job with the vulcan.
3. Fall of Arc Nova
The first part of this level is lo-grav. You will be starting at the upper
left and navigating fuel platforms while heading to the lower right. A new
enemy here is the homing laser cannon. They take a lot of damage while offering
a small target. Even worse, they retract into the platform between shots. The
safe way to deal with them is to approach with the vulcan blasting and back off
when the laser gets close. This will require several tries before the cannon
dies. The big circular fuel tanks can be destroyed, and in some places you need
to blow them up to get through. At the lower right you will find a door. Blast
it and go through.
Power chip locations: One of the cannons on the green platform near the start
should drop one [1]. A chest at the upper right on a rock wall [2]. A chest at
the left tip of the second green platform [3]. A cannon on the underside of the
second green platform has another [4], and there's a chest near number four
with the last chip [5].
In the second part, the interior of the base, there is normal gravity. You
will be navigating a lot of narrow corridors, and banking your vulcan shots off
the walls is very useful. (Notice how the surface gets dented up when it gets
shot.) Keep an eye out for the little people armed with guns. Unlike in Leynos,
you can't kill them just by stepping on them. You will find a needed energy
chip a few doors into the base. When you reach the hub at the right end, the
gravity disappears and you must fight a trap that has two devices rotating
around the sides of the room, shooting beams. Occasionally they line up at the
top and bottom and shoot a giant beam between them. I recommend you use the
punch and keep nailing one of them. When you kill one, the other will die. The
gravity returns to normal, and you can proceed. In the next area, heading left,
watch out for the floating round things. They are mines and they hurt. They
approach relentlessly and can float through walls. Back up when you need to and
keep blasting with the vulcan. Or you can use the punch if you prefer. Make
your best effort not to fall down through the holes in the floor because if you
make it all the way to the left you will find chests with an energy chip and
power chip [6]. On the next floor down there are some spider bots and all the
way to the right is an energy chip, in the control room. From the control room
you must proceed all the way to the left and drop down to proceed.
At this point you must choose which path to take to the bottom of the base.
(a) You can head to the right, which takes you through a corridor with soldiers
and a zig-zag shaft with mines. This leads to the lower right corner of the
base, where there is a chest with a power chip [7]. To proceed to the left, you
must dash by flame traps that explode when you get near. Or, (b) you can go
down through the two doors to the missile tubes. This will put you in the path
of the missiles as they are being launched. It is possible to avoid being hurt
if you move in after a missile passes and then start dashing. In a nook about
halfway across there is a power chip chest [8]. Proceeding down one level and
to the right there is another nook with another power chip [9]. On the next
level down, in the middle, there is an energy chip. From this point you can
drop down on the right side, which leads to the same place the first path did,
or drop to the left, which will let you bypass the flame traps entirely. It is
possible to get the items from both (a) and (b), but when you enter the part
with the flame traps there's no turning back.
Now you need to drop down a long wide shaft, and there will be explosions
following you. Halfway down (use your radar) there is a shaft leading to the
right that has two chests with power chips [10] [11]. To reach it you must fire
your boosters a little before passing the opening and float in. It's easy to
screw up. If you miss it, just proceed to the right at the bottom, avoiding the
flame traps. Both paths lead to the boss.
In the next area, you have two minutes to defeat the boss and destroy the
engines. To take the boss out, start by unloading your missiles. They should be
at level 2 by now, so you won't need to worry too much about aiming. If he's
not dead when you run out, finish him with your other weapons. He only has one
attack, launching out his arm. It's easy to dodge, and it's a valid target too.
You need to take him out fast, so don't worry about finesse. Now you need to
head to the right, then all the way up and to the left to reach the engines.
There are four in total. Just bash the part at the bottom with the punch to get
it done.
4. In the Atmosphere
In the first part of the level, you will be dogfighting enemy suits in
lo-grav (free-fall, actually). Every one of the enemies you kill during this
part drops a power chip! There are two gray suits, and when one dies another
will take its place. The red one won't die, so don't bother with him. It lasts
about 30 seconds, so make it count. Use your missiles if you want. You should
be able to bag about four chips, or more.
For the next part, you can't really do anything. There will be some scenes,
then the end of the level.
5. Twilight Pursuit
The first part is autoscrolling with the boosters, like in level 2, though it
doesn't last long. Avoid the little gray missiles. Soon enough, you'll land.
Once on the ground, you'll be up against some heavy equipment as you proceed
to the right: tanks, bomber aircraft, and mobile cannons. Don't bother with the
bombers unless you have a strong punch. Otherwise, just block. I find it easier
to use the punch here. Later on, before reaching some buildings, you'll find a
chest with a new weapon, the laser which will be your new best friend [W].
Watch out for the pit at the bottom of this area. Falling into it will kill
you.
Power chip locations: One of the vehicles you meet before reaching the
buildings drops a chip [1]. At some point before reaching the pit one of the
vehicles on the platforms should give an energy chip. A power chip will be
dropped by a vehicle in the upper left part of the building [2]. A chest is on
the upper level near the front of the building with another [3]. Towards the
right end of the pit on the highest platform there's a chest with another chip
[4]. One floor down there's a chest with an energy chip, and someone close by
should give another power chip [5]. There's a little island in the middle of
the pit. You can reach it by jumping and hovering from either side. There's a
chest on it with a chip [6]. There's another island to the right of this one
with another chip, but it can only be approached from the right [7].
When you're done exploring, head through the narrow passage at the right and
the music will change. This whole next room is for fighting the boss, but you
won't need that much space. If you've upgraded the laser once, this will be an
easy battle. You don't need to do a lot of jumping around, so you can stand
your ground and block more than in the previous battles.
In the next room, there's a chest on an island at the bottom with a power
chip [8]. Proceed to the lower right to the exit. The level isn't over yet!
Time for the real boss.
Now it's lo-grav again. This boss has two mounted turrets shooting at you,
and there are also booster suits attacking with well aimed lasers. When you
kill the suits, they will be replaced. Regarding each pair of suits, one of the
two carries a power chip, and each gun has an energy chip, but you need to
catch the chips before they fall. You can try holding your aim up and getting
underneath the enemies. You can't keep it up forever, tough. Eventually the
shuttle will escape if you don't take out its rockets. The laser is the best
weapon for this job. If you fail to kill the shuttle, you will still proceed to
the next level. It doesn't affect the gameplay but you will get the BAD ENDING
after the last level.
6. Summit Firefight
You start out in an autoscroll segment. It's not lo-grav, but auto-dash. The
machines that attack you are very tough and the grenades they throw hurt a lot.
If you get in front they'll fire lasers, which you can't block because of the
dash. Try to focus on not getting hit, because you don't get anything for
killing them. Eventually this section will end. Kill a few mobile cannons,
which are especially annoying because they're hidden, and enter the facility.
It's dark in here and your radar doesn't work. Neither does your punch or
laser! You have a light though, which is pointed in the direction of your gun.
When you reach a room with a waterfall, you'll be attacked by a giant burrowing
centipede. The thing likes to burrow up underneath you, and you can't block its
attack. Before you get too excited, you may want to grab the power chip in the
chest at the far right of the room [1], though your available weapons may
already be fully upgraded. The missiles don't work well if fired haphazardly
because they detonate on the body and only the head can be damaged. To do it
right, get on one side of the room and get him to chase you across. You should
be flying backwards, firing missiles at his head. He will die pretty fast this
way. When he's gone, a floor will open up on the left side of the room. Down
the hole and to the left is another chest with a power chip [2], and to the
right is an energy chip. One of the annoying mobile cannons (they like to jump
right on top of you now) should drop another power chip [3].
Soon there will be a fork. If you take the (a) upper path and follow it to
the right you'll find a bridge. Watch out for the glowing brown orbs; those are
mines. You can shoot them. Going up and left will take you to a nook with an
energy chip. To the right is a hole with some mines and a power chip [4].
Proceed to the upper right to the exit. If you go (b) down instead, and explore
to the right you'll find a dead end with an energy chip. All the way down and
to the left, you'll reach a couple long pits under a low ceiling. Hovering
across the pits takes you to chests with two energy chips and a power chip [5].
Don't fall in the pits. Proceed to the lower right corner to reach the exit. Of
course you can explore both paths but this place is annoying and your available
weapons are probably maxed out by now. If they are, you should head straight
for the exit.
Both paths meet up in a sideways shaft, where a drilling machine will chase
you to the right. Jump up to the platform at the end. To the left is another
power chip chest [6]. All the way up and to the right is another [7]. To find
the exit head for the lower right.
Once out of there you can use all your weapons again. Now you need to take
out all the gun emplacements, which are harmless to you unless you jump into
the line of fire. Soon a mobile wing will arrive. He attacks by dropping blue
stuff on you, and occasionally coming down to the tracks and ramming you. When
he does this, he hurts just by touching you. Jump to avoid it. If you take too
long to take out the guns, it's game over, but you should have enough time to
handle the boss first. Missiles and lasers work well on him. Once you've
wreaked havoc all over the whole place, the mission ends.
7. Soldiers' End
You get thrown right into the action here. You will be attacked by little
people and all kinds of ragtag vehicles, but they are more agressive than
before. You may wish to rise above and blast down with the vulcan to start out.
They are really much more dangerous than they look, so proceed with caution.
Continuing to the right, you should find five power chips, more or less evenly
spaced, from killing enemies [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
The next area is more of the same, but now they like to come from behind as
well. You'll find two more power chips [6] [7], but no energy chips. There's no
reason why all your weapons shouldn't be maxed out by now.
Boss time. He shoots bullets from his gun, and has two satellites that also
shoot bullets. He also uses an unblockable shoulder rush when on the ground.
Each satellite drops an energy chip when killed, so you may want to go for them
first. Also, your booster won't overhead for this battle, so you can use the
whole room to dogfight. You can use this to your advantage, because he can only
fire his gun horizontally. I know of a couple cheap tricks: get him to stand on
the stairs facing the middle of the room and fire up at him from ground level,
or get him underneath the stairs and fire down from above. Stick to the laser
or vulcan here. Once he's done there will be another scene, then more action.
In this auto-scroll, auto-dash segment, you will be attacked by hovercraft,
some of which conveniently leave energy chips. Stay facing to the right, so you
can blast the closing doors instead of crashing through them. Heads up when the
explosions start, because you need to jump over all the holes that appear. Now
another boss. You're still auto-dashing and you need to avoid the obstacles. He
attacks by shooting lightning at your position every couple of seconds. Try to
time your jumps so the lightning misses every time. Use the laser for this one
and keep it pointed horizontally. Just before the exit, you'll find two energy
chips.
Last boss. Lo-grav. He has several parts: A cannon near the bottom, a
swinging arm, and the jet thruster area at the bottom. That cannon's got to go
first. Ignore everything else and watch the cannon's timing. Blast it when it's
not firing, and dodge when it is. When it dies it drops an energy chip so try
to catch it. Fire UP at the cannon so the chip falls on you. Once the cannon's
dead, the chin and forehead will start shooting homing fireballs. But don't go
up there yet. You can hit the jets and the arm from complete safety. The arm
shoots non-homing fireballs once it breaks, so don't kill it yet if you'd
rather deal with the punches. To attack the chin, move up, fire at it, then
retreat down before you get hit. Repeat. It'll die. At this point the mouth
shoots a big laser periodically, which can reach almost to the bottom. To hit
the forehead/mouth, it's better to stay near the top and dodge carefully. Start
moving right before the fireballs zoom toward you and you should avoid them.
Once he's dead, you've finished the game.
* Closing
This document is my own work. Any questions, comments, corrections or
complaints should be addressed to the address below, with clear indication in
the subject line that the email is concerning this FAQ.
Given that I prefer to write for obscure titles, I enjoy hearing from people
who read my guides. If you've played the game and used the FAQ, feel free to
drop me a line and tell me what you think.
