Varth Operation Thunderstorm (arcade version).

Varth Operation Thunderstorm (arcade version).

. FAQ FOR THE ARCADE GAME
/ \
/ \ ___________ __________ ____ ____¬®
______ _ / \ |_ |_ ´ | .| |. || || |
\ \ // / . \ | | . ; |/ | | \|| || |
\ \ // / / \ \ | |_´ _´ | | | || |
\ \ // / / \ \ | |_ ; | | | == |
\ / / /=====\ \ | | | |___| |___| || |
\ / /_/_______\_____\|____| |_________________|____||____|
\ /
\/

Copyright ©2002 Williams Jiménez García
All Rights Reserved

===========================================================================

by Williams Jiménez García (a.k.a Lord Willow) <[email protected]>
Wrote on 1 June 2002
Version 1.4
===========================================================================

This is my firts a very basic Varth FAQ which includes only what could fit
in text only format. For screenshots, movies, *.cmx files for playback,
game glitches, coming soon in my home page and the next version 2.0.
This FAQ is for private and personal use only. It can only be
reproduced electronically, and if placed on a web page or site, may be
added as long as this disclaimer, credits and the above copyright notice
appears in full. This FAQ is not to be used for profitable/promotional
purposes; this includes being used by publishers of magazines, guides,
books, etc. or being incorporated into magazines, etc. in anyway without
my permission. This FAQ was created and is owned by me, Williams Jiménez
García.

All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged that are not specifically
mentioned in this FAQ. Please give credit where it is due.

============================
VARTH FAQ INDEX
============================

1.- About Varth
2.- History
3.- Controls, Boms, Pods & Weapons
4.- Planes, Stages & Bosses
5.- Hidden icons
6.- Bonus & Secret Bonuses
7.- Tactics, Tips & Tricks

=============================================================================
1. About Varth
=============================================================================

"Varth" is an arcade vertical shooter scrolling game wrote by Capcom in 1992.
You can be a one of two smalls planes, you have a lot of weapon, bombs and
upgrades, and two protective Pods like in R-Type, R-Type2, X-Multiply, etc.
You had to fight your way a through 30 stages for defeat a DUO the ultimate
stage. the game have certain complexity, is not too simple. I will assume
the reader is already familiar with the basics movement in vertical shotter
games.

Some technical information:

cpu: 68000 , 10.00MHz
cpu: Z80 , 4.00MHz - for audio
audio: YM2151 , 3.58MHz
audio: OKI6295 , 7.58KHz

Video
Screen: raster
Orientation: vertical
Resolution: 224 x 384
Frequency: 60.00Hz
Audio

Channels: 1
Input
Players: 2
Control: joy8way
Buttons: 3
Coin Slots: 2

Varth is supported by the following emulators and plataforms:

GAME EMULATOR PLATAFORM

Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) Calice32 Windows
Varth - (92/06/12 - ETC) Callus DOS
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) Callus95 (Patched) Win95
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) Final Burn Alpha Windows
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) Kawaks Windows
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) MAME (Multiple E.) Arcade M.
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) Nebula Windows Windows
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World)
[sound only] Nebula Jukebox Windows
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) RAINE DOS
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) RCPS (RiscCPS) RISC OS
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm
[sound only] tROMbone Windows
Varth - Operation Thunderstorm (World) Ultracade - Capcom ?
Classics 2
Name Rom: varth.zip
Size: 2119Kb

Rank: 7

=============================================================================
2. History
=============================================================================

The colony-planet "VARTH" was located in a remote region of the galactic
system.
On this planet everithing was controlled for the 6th generation "DELTA-7".

Suddenly the evil spirit "DUO" appeared and took over "DELTA-7".
Duo orderd "DELTA-7" to manipulate the humans so that they would start the
final
war and destroy each other.

As people had lost the ability to thinks for themselves and had total faith of
in
the computers they had no choise but the start the war.

The colony lost the 80% its population. But that wasn't enough for DUO, DUO
then
commanded his robot army to exterminate the remainig humans.

In the aftermatch, only two planes were left undestroyed because they were
equip_
ped with old 4th generation computers,and thus could not be controlled by
"DELTA-7".
These two planes, TANIKURA-SABER and DAKAO-SCIMITAR are the last hope of the
people of Varth.

This is "OPERATION THUNDER STORM".

Hearing a loud explosion, people looked a DELTA-7. Seeing nothing left but a
huge
mushroom cloud, the people realized the war was over.

It was said that the explosion of "DUO" whit-in a 50 mile radius leaving only a
huge crater behing...

The end.

=============================================================================
3. Controls, Weapons, Bombs & Pods
=============================================================================

3-1) Controls:
- Joystick or buttons(if you use a pc emulator): move the plane in 8
directions.
- Button 1: principal weapon fire.
- Button 2: lauch bomb.

3-2) Weapons: it´s of tree types:

- Machine Gun Shot: standard weapon whit built-in rapid fire.
- Laser Shot: powerful piercing shot.
- Wide Shot: attacks enemies in a broad range.

3-3) Bombs:
You have a tree types of bombs, depending of the weapon that you uses.

- Frontal fire and 4 explosion whit splinters (weapon -> wide shot).
- 5 homing plasma (weapon -> machine gun).
- 5 central explotions and grid of thunders (weapon -> laser shot).

3-4) Pods: when you star the game following a pod select screen, it show two
selections:

- Smart-fuzzy pod.
- Fixed-front pod.
They protect the plane against enemis's bullet and can shots missiles:
- Homing Missile: chases enemy and destroys it.
- Normal Missile: goes straight ahead.
- Napalm Missile: does extensive damage!

=============================================================================
4. Planes, Stages & Bosses
=============================================================================

4-1) Planes:

Data Player #1

Code n°. EK-0131S
Aircraft TANIKURA F7W -SABER-
Engine J33S -KINSEI- (9032 lb)*1

Wingspan 31ft 09in
Length 29ft 06in
Weight 12ft 04in 9992 lb

Maximum speed 553kt
Ceiling 55256ft
Range 4096nm

Armament V61k 30mm Vulcan
HLC-5 Zoom Laser
WR-7 A.A.Rocket
2 smart Pods

Data Player #2

Code n°. SD-D819HGS
Aircraft DAKAO M-2451 -SCIMITAR-
Engine HR0 4D2-MAX- (6773 lb)*2

Wingspan 32ft 04in
Lenght 35ft 11in
Height 10ft 03in
Weight 12671 lb+1000 lb

Maximium speed 492kt
Ceiling 55773ft
Range 4128nm

Armament V61k 30mm Vulcan
HLC-5 Zoom Laser
WR-7 A.A.Rocket
2 smart Pods

4-2) Stages & Bosses summary

+-------+---------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------
| STAGE | PLACE | BOSS | BONUS pts.
+-------+---------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------
| 1 | CITY RUINES | SPIDER | 10000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 2 | CITY-HIGHWAY | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 3 | OVERFLOW CITY | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 4 |MECHA-SATELLITE| SATELLITE | 24000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 5 | CITY OUTSIDES | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 6 | CITY | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 7 | NOCTURNAL CITY| DRAGON FLY| 24000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 8 | SKY | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 9 | OCEAN | NONE | PERFECT BONUS + *B.S. AND/OR **P.Cl.
| 10 | CITY HARBOR | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 11 | OCEAN |CROBER FOUR| 36000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 12 | LAVA'S OCEAN | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 12+1 | DUNE'S CITY | NONE | BOMBER AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 14 | FOREST | NONE | BOMBER AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 15 | RAILWAY |STELL GOLEM| 35000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 16 | CITY-HIGHWAY | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 17 | LAVA-DESERT | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 18 | FOREST´S DIKE | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 19 |RANGEOFMUNTAINS|BLOODY HAWK| 40000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 20 | OCEAN | NONE | BONUS STAGE + *B.S. AND/OR **P.Cl.
| 21 |MECHA-SATELLITE| SATELLITE | 10000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 22 | DUNE'S CITY | DRAGON FLY| 30000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 23 | OCEAN |CROBER FOUR| 60000 + BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 24 | RAILWAY |STEEL GOLEM| 100000 +BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 25 | OCEAN |BLOODY HAWK| 150000+20000(SMALL PLANE)+BS. AND/OR P.Cl
| 26 | BASE OUTSIDE | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 27 | HANGAR'S BASE | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 28 | HANGAR'S BASE | NONE | BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
| 29 | DUO'S BASE |DUO1stSTAGE| NONE
| 30 | DUO'S BASE |DUO (final)| 850000(max) + REMAINING STOCK BONUS +
+-------+---------------+-----------| BOMBER STOCK AND/OR PODLESS CLEAR
+----------------------------------------
*B.S: Bomber Stock
*P.Cl: Podless Clear *Mecha=mechanic

=============================================================================
5. Hiding Icons
=============================================================================

All stages have hiding icons, but i can't tell you all for now, however the
most important are ever the flags, helmets, race car, astrofighter, the green
duck and in minor matter the small stations.

- Flag: these asimmilate a finish flag of the F-1, Indy races. These appears
on formation of 5 in the stages 4, 20, 24.

- Helmets: most of appears on stage 20.

- Race car: this appears on the pair stages from stage 2 to stage 20.

- Astrofighter: this icon assimilate a astronauta armado.

- The green duck: read secret bonuses.

- The small stations: for activate them, you must go through besides him.

=============================================================================
6. Bonus & Secret Bonusses
=============================================================================

At the end of each stage appear the screen of "stage clear", this is a summary
whit the bonus for concept of bosses defeat, bombs, especial bonus and podless
clear.
If you want more information relation the defeat bosses bonus see separated 4-2
(Stages & bosses sumary).

6-1) Bonus:

a) Bomber stock bonus:
+-----+------------+
|Bombs| Bonus pts. |
+-----+------------+
| 0 | NO BONUS |
| 1 | 1000 |
| 2 | 3000 |
| 3 | 10000 |
| 4 | 20000 |
|5-MAX| 30000 |
+-----+------------+

b) Especial bonuses:
- On the stage 9 if you derived the 5 planes at the final of stage you obtain
a Perfect Bonus = 100000 pts.
- On the stage 25 when you defeat the boss "Bloody Hawk", after explode the
cockpit transform in a plane, if you destroy him obtain 20000 pts.
- Bonus stage at stage 20. This have hidden icons, helicopters with powers-up
and boats with bombs. If you continue the game on stage 29, first appear a
extra stage similar to bonus stage.

c) Podless clear: if you defeat the boss and appears the stage clear screen
without pods obtain = 50000 pts.

6-2) Secret Bonuses:

- Ryu (Street Fighter II)1000 pts: on stage 4 Mecha-satellite, first our plane
combat
around the Mecha-Vulcan. When arrives at South-East of Mecha-Vulcan appears
4 tree and then converge 2 tanks, shoot quickly on West trees and appears
shining on the ground. If you do it appear Ryu with his DRAGON PUNCH "Shou
Ryu Ken" [Rising Dragon Punch/Fist]. While Ryu shout "Shou Ryu Ken!" continue
shooting quickly and will appears icons, items, cars randomly.

- The Green Duck: on the bonus stage (20), move to the left and shoot quickly
then appears a green duck if you shooting quickly this change to pod items.

=============================================================================
7. Tactics, Tips & Tricks
=============================================================================

I will assume the player is already familiar with the basics of such a game,
i.e. how to use diagonals to dodge, close combat, etc. For now i just tell you
essencial tips, because i'm preparing a complete summary, this will be in the
version 2.0 just wait!.

- If you are expert, uses the smart pods however never protect of the all
bullet.

- Remember the distance of the pods to plane make a "death point" when you uses
the fixed pods.

- Warning with the enemy planes when appears for the sides of the screen, they
ever shoot laterally.

- Become useful the time of invincibility when you bomb and catch powers-up,
bombs, pods items, flags, helmets, etc. Except the small stations.

- Careful with the stages 10 henceforth, some tank and enemy planes and the
bosses shoot lasers. Anyhow are unprotected against them.

- When you need close combat, i recommend uses Napalm Missile (some bosses).

- The bombs means point, however those can be charged when you carry 3 or less.

- If you have a partner, when the planes are together the pods spin around the
planes, but be careful. One time separated depending the time together will
have a explotion or a plasma shoot.

- Sometimes if you dead, appears a windmill take and restore the full power.