Ninja Gaiden III
Game by Tecmo
For the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
General FAQ/Walkthrough
Written by Reverend Eric "Vegita" Johnson (
[email protected])
Version 3.14
Sections:
I - Introduction
II - Game Story
III - General Information
A - Controls
B - The Screen
C - Items/Weapons
IV - Walkthrough
V - The Bosses
VI - Various
A - Eagles, Flags, Drones, and You
B - Revision History
C - Thanks
D - No Thanks
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
--------------------------I: Introduction--------------------------
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
Welcome. My name is Eric Johnson, sometime answering to the moniker "Vegita"
and sometimes simply going by Reverend Eric. I see you want help for the
Nintendo game "Ninja Gaiden III". Good for you! This increasingly difficult
game is NOT an easy task, so there's no shame in turning to someone (even me)
for help. Besides, I've been playing this game ever since it came out, losing
myself at least once a year to the entire Ninja Gaiden trilogy. Hey, it's
tradition, and it's one that I've upkept for a while now. As such, I like to
think of myself as proficient in the game, beating it numerous times.
Therefore, writing a guide for it shouldn't be TOO much of a task...
First off, let's get one thing straight: Even though I like to think of myself
as Vegita (baha), I will try to write from an un-biased point of view (although
I still think I'm the best at everything). Second of all, if I catch anyone
copying all or part of this FAQ, ANY part of this FAQ (not counting little,
inconsequential sentences like "First off, let's get one thing straight), I
will destroy you. I will rip you limb from limb like the excessively weak
individual you are, and then I will sue you for copyright infringement. Well,
ok, maybe I'll just sue you, but if I got the chance I'd certainly go for the
ripping of limbs from other limbs.
Third of all, I do not own the rights to this game, the names of the characters
in this game or FAQ, or have any ownership whatsoever of this game (except for
the cartridge sitting in my room, that is). Those are the property of their
respective owners. If I find a website with this FAQ on it, and it has been
changed in any way, does not give me proper credit, or is selling it without my
knowledge and consent, then I WILL have my lawyers contact that site. Are we
clear (this means YOU, Vertsk8!)?
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
---------------------------II: Game Story---------------------------
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
The Ninja Ryukenden (original title, meaning "Ninja Dragon Attack Story")
series first appeared in arcades in 1988, initially created as an Arcade beat-
em-up game. This ridiculously difficult game depicted a single Ninja, named
Ryu Hayabusa (and - oddly enough for a ninja - unarmed for the majority of the
game), sent on a quest to avenge his father's death. Ninja Gaiden ("Ninja
Side Story", as the game was renamed for Americans) failed to capitivate
audiences, most likely due to its insane challenge rating, troublesome
controls, lack of plot, and general muddiness in gameplay. You would beat up
enemies, using the same few punches and kicks, then press onward to a boss that
could kill you in 1 hit. There's nothing quite like an excessively difficult
game, designed to suck the quarters out of your life, to make you appreciate
home consoles. Thankfully, the Ninja Gaiden saga did not end at the arcades.
Tecmo had enough foresight to know that home consoles were the way to go, and
so that is the way they went.
The following year, Tecmo released Ninja Gaiden as a Nintendo Entertainment
System cartridge. Shunning the previous style of game, Ninja Gaiden instead
took on a 2-dimensional platformer mode of gameplay. Once again thrust into
the role of Ryu Hayabusa, this time you were introduced to a plotline through
the use of cinematics within the game. It opens with a panning shot of a
field, where 2 ninjas are dueling. Upon one of them falling after a jumping
slash, we are given a narrative through text - the fallen Ninja, a man named
Ken, has left his son Ryu a note explaining where he has gone. Reading the
not, Ryu finds that - should Ken not return from his trip - he is to take the
family's sacred Dragon Sword and travel overseas to America. Once there, he
needs to meet a man named Walter Smith, whom was an aquantance of Ken's. This
is where the first stage picks up, with Ryu travelling down a street towards
Jay's Bar, combatting lowly enemies and using his impressive jumping, climbing,
and bounding skills to traverse the landscape. The plot of this game would
eventually take Ryu to caves, forests, lakes, ice fields, mountains, jungles,
and temples, and would have Ryu facing off against expert fighters, demons, and
a powrful magician - Jaquio - seeking to unleash a Demon's wrath upon the
world.
..of course, Ryu defeated Jaquio, killed the demon, and saved the girl. As
for his father, he may or may not have survived - it depends on whether or not
you read the "Worlds of Power" Nintendo book. Although short, I found the book
to be surprisingly well written, and suggest picking it up (although it does
try to avoid violence as much as possible, proof enough by the lack of a knife
in Ryu's hand on the cover of the book). Now, back to the story of the game.
Ninja Gaiden was a huge success, bringing wonderfully creative changes to the
platform genre. The cinematic elements helped tell the plot of the game quite
well, and the action within the game was top-notch - granted, the difficultly
could get insanely at some points, almost to the point of smashing a controller
out of frustration, but these sections COULD be bypassed. I still think it's a
true test of a gamer's skill and patience to be able to beat Ninja Gaiden I.
As you might have expected, Ninja Gaiden had a sequel. "Ninja Gaiden II - The
Dark Sword of Chaos" continued the plot of the first by introducing a new
villain, Ashtar, claiming that he was the master of Jaquio. Ashtar decides to
press onward with his plans, unimpressed by Jaquio's death and failure to
summon the demon. Elsewhere in the world, Ryu is attacked by men dressed in
the same garb as Barbarian (the first boss in Ninja Gaiden I). He fights his
way through the enemies, only to find himself facing off against a strange
monster named Dando in a trainyard. Upon beating his adversary, a blond man
from the shadows steps forward and tells Ryu of what he needs to do next
(before disappearing back into the shadows). Thus, Ryu is sent on another
quest, this one culminating in another gigantic life-or-death battle inside a
giant fortress (and, oddly enough, also taking place in a 3-part battle with
Jaquio...doesn't that guy EVER stay dead?). So Ryu defeats the madman again,
and everyone goes home happy.
Although lacking in the challenge of its predecessor, Ninja Gaiden II was still
a huge hit. Logically, NG III would follow shortly. Thus, let us fast forward
to Ninja Gaiden's opening story:
---Ninja Gaiden III: Prologue---
Irene Lew, the CIA operative that befriended Ryu in NG I and II, is snooping
around a factory in a rocky, cliff-edged landscape. Unfortunately, she is not
as secretive as she hopes to be, and is spotted by a shadowy figure. This
figure chases Irene to a cliff, where she is unfortunately left with no other
escape routes. Turning to see whom has been giving her chase, she is
shocked to find that it is Ryu. He laughs and wonders if she realizes that her
life is over. Wanting an explanation, Irene is instead treated to more threats
- anyone who has seen the inside of the laboratory is not allowed to live, and
so she shall now die. Irene, backing away, takes one step too far and slips
from the cliff, falling to her doom. "Ryu" looks over the cliff, then returns
to the factory.
Ryu (the real one) finds that Irene has gone missing, and sets out to locate
her whereabouts. In his searching, he finds that she has been murdered, and
that HE is the one that killed her. Knowing that he obviously did not, he
retraces her steps, arriving at the factory scene where she died. Ryu enters
the factory, and is immediately beset by strange creatures and machines...
..=-++x,. ...and thus, Ninja Gaiden III begins.
x##++x+=++x###
+## =xx++++++X#=
## -Xxx++++++++x#
# #x+====+++++=#
# #+=-x#+x++++++#
# -+-#x- ,,;;;=X# ~Ryu sez: "Let's take out these mad creatures
# .=############ and find Irene's killer, yo!"
;# =## -+#####-
#.-+#-+-,.. #
# - ++++++##+#
-x#,=+,==+xxx#.
### X ##X;,-##
##- #+x;+###X#.
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
-------------------------III: General Info-------------------------
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
Before we get to the walkthrough, it helps if you know how to control Ryu in
his plight. Therefore, let's discuss the controls of the game, how to read the
screen, and the various items you collect. How's that sound? But before we
get to that, I should probably give a quick rundown on how to play the game.
_____________
_~A~ Gameplay_________________________________________________________________
=============
Ryu Hayabusa (of the clan Hayabusa) moves about in this horizontal (and
occasionally vertical) platformer, using his weapons and maneuvering skills to
both dispatch enemies in his way and leap from platform to platform. Each
stage has a variety of powerups, items, and enemies, all located in the same
locations each time (thankfully, though, the "elusion" glitch has been removed;
for more info, go down to the "Various" section and read up on it); however,
the difficulty arises when particular combination of enemy types and their
locations are intertwined with the jumps you have to make. Predecessors of
this game, such as Castlevania and Super Mario Brothers, were among the first
to create such a concept...however, the Ninja Gaiden series took this
conceptual style and sharpened it to a point of mass difficulty. Enemies,
projectiles, and tricky jumps all combined into a wicked ballet of evil, your
ninja dancing about the screen as he fights for his life.
..but I digress. Ryu jumps, climbs, and slashes through his opponents, using
special attacks to handle enemies in different styles (above and below,
distanced, etc), ultimately allowing him to progress further in the stage until
he reaches the boss. These boss figures have a lifebar similar to Ryu's, and
he must work their lifebar down to zero while keeping his own intact (duh...to
quote Yogi Berra: "the best way to win is to have more points than the other
guy when time runs out"). If Ryu's life runs out, or if he falls onto spikes
or off of the screen into a pit, then he loses a life and is forced to restart
at the beginning of the stage (or certain checkpoints, if he has reached one);
he also loses whatever Ninjitsu Art he possessed, resorting to the Windmill
Shuriken again (it is his base art, and he always starts with it). If he loses
all of his lives, he must use a continue (you get 5) and then restarts the
whole stage over. Run out of continues and it's game over, chum.
So that's it - run out of life, lose a life. Lose all lives, lose a continue.
Lose all continues...and you lose the game. Wee!!!
_____________
___~B~ Controls_______________________________________________________________
=============
A BUTTON - Attack. By pressing the A BUTTON, Ryu will swing
the Dragon Sword horizontally in front of him.
This is his primary attack, never requiring
anything special to be performed. He'll never
lose his sword, so make good use of it. It may
not have that good range or damage, but it's a
weapon you'll always have.
DIRECTIONAL PAD UP + A - Ninjitsu Attack. By holding UP on the
Directional Pad and pressing the A BUTTON, Ryu
will perform a Ninjitsu Attack. Which attack he
will perform, as well as whether or not he will
have the energy necessary to perform it, depend
on what the most recent Ninjitsu Ability he has
obtained and how many Ninpo (ninja points) he has
picked up. More information in regards to Ryu's
Ninjitsu abilities will be covered in the "Items"
section.
B BUTTON - Jump. By pressing the B BUTTON, Ryu will jump
upwards. As you'll notice, his Ninjitsu training
gives him a very impressive vertical jump, which
you will use to traverse the landscapes and
levels. This is use (arguably) more than the
Dragon Sword, so you could say it's Ryu's #1
feat/ability.
DIRECTIONAL PAD LEFT/RIGHT - By pressing either of these, Ryu will run to the
left/right (corresponding to which direction you
press). Obviously, this is important, since it
allows you to move. You can control Ryu in the
midst of a jump (B BUTTON) by pressing LEFT/RIGHT
as well, giving him more control in directing
where he lands.
B BUTTON (TOWARDS A WALL) - Wall Climb/Jump. If Ryu jumps onto a wall, he
will automatically grab onto it (using hidden
"claws", which Ninjas were known for concealing
within their sleeves, to make climbing easier).
Once on a wall, Ryu can climb up or down it by
pressing the DIRECTIONAL PAD UP/DOWN (depending
on which direction he wants to go). Although Ryu
cannot attack his enemies with the Dragon Sword
while perched (apparently because it requires too
much work to unsheath, strike, and resheath the
weapon), he can still use a free hand to perform
any Ninjitsu Attacks he (might) have. While
perched, simply pressing the B BUTTON will cause
Ryu to use the Ninjitsu Art he currently has
equipped (LEFT/RIGHT will direct the attack in
their appropriate directions). To dismount from
the wall, simply jump off and direct Ryu to where
his landing point shall be, or climb all the way
off of the bottom of the wall (where applicable).
B BUTTON (ONTO AN OVERHANG) - Grab and Hang. Certain ledges and overhangs can
be grabbed onto by Ryu by holding UP when jumping
to them, allowing him to hang from and move
LEFT/RIGHT (depending on the direction pressed on
the Directional Pad). While hanging, much like
when perched on a wall, Ryu is relegated to the
use of his Ninjitsu arts instead of his sword. In
order to dismount, Ryu can simply jump down (Hold
DOWN and press the B BUTTON), jump to the left or
right (LEFT/RIGHT + B BUTTON) or jump up onto the
ledge (only certain ledges can be walked upon;
press UP + B BUTTON).
START - Pause. By pressing the START BUTTON, you pause
the game. Go ahead, take a breather from the
game!
SELECT - Nothing. What a waste of time! I wish they'd
implemented a "Ninjitsu Art Select" ability, via
the Select Button, that would allow you to switch
from art to art at will. Since he does not, Ryu
is forced to use the most recent art he has
picked up. I call this "Early Platformer
Syndrome" (EPS), since this sort of special-item
regime was also followed by Contra, Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Castlevania. Wait a
second...those are all Konami games! I blame
you, Konami! You influenced Tecmo to put that
idea into their game! YOU!!!
* - This begs the question of why can he NOT swing his sword while hanging from
a wall, where he has more stability due to his feet being planted as well? The
answer is simple - Ninjas could climb walls through use of their claws, small
pads attached to their hands, with spikes protruding. Unfortunately, you
cannot easily grasp a sword with these claws attached, so rather than drop the
Weapon, Ryu instead opts to not bother using it. Apparently, though, Ryu must
use these claws to remain stable when hanging as well, and thus you cannot use
your sword in those instances either. Strange, but that's just how the game
works.
_______________
_____~C~ The Screen___________________________________________________________
===============
Reading the screen is important; if you don't know what you're lookin' at, then
you might get confused...or something...yeah. Ok, so I include this just for
the sake of completion. Hey man, it's not like this is off-topic or anything,
eh?
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| [ 7 / 8 ] [ ] [ 9 ] |
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| That's Ryu! |
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| O / <--| |
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¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
1) Ryu's Score.
2) The current stage, listed by stage number (1, 2, 3) followed by section
number (1A, 1B, etc). This'll become important when you get to the
walkthrough.
3) Number of lives remaining.
4) Time left in the stage. These aren't counted in minutes, but rather a
count of seconds left.
5) Current Ninjitsu Art selected. Remember, Ryu starts off with the default
Windmill Star.
6) Ryu's remaining health. This is something you'll probably be monitoring
heavily throughout the game, as it reflects just how many hits Ryu can take
before he succumbs to icy death. Each hit he sustains takes off a certain
number of bars from the total, replacing them with an '0'. When they run
out, Ryu drops dead. Try to avoid that, eh? Ryu has 16 bars of health,
while most of the enemies (not counting bosses) take a single swipe to kill
them. Unfortunately, enemies can take off anywhere from 1 to 4 bars per
hit, so you're going to be in for a rough ride if you get hit more than 3-4
times.
7) Ninpo Remaining. The number on the left side of the slash is just how many
Ninpo points you have left to use Ninjitsu abilities with.
8) Maxiumum Ninpo. The number on the right side of the slash is the total
amount of Ninpo that Ryu can have. This is increased by nabbing Ninpo
Scrolls.
9) Bosses' remaining health. This only matters when you get to a boss, as it
is just how much life they have remaining. Unfortunately, Ryu's sword and
Ninjitsu arts only do 1 point of damage per hit, so you're going to have to
play the hit-and-run game a lot. Ryu simply can't tank like his opponents
can, so going toe-to-toe is pretty much ALWAYS a mistake.
__________________
_______~D~ Items/Weapons______________________________________________________
==================
One of the most integral factors of the game are power-ups, 1-Ups, and points
that Ryu can pick up throughout each stage. However, the most important series
of items he can lay his hands on are the Ninjitsu abilities, since they give
Ryu an added style of attack with which to destroy his enemies. Each one can
be found by slashing open a floating orb (or "Item-Holding Container") that
particular stage contains, and is picked up by simply walking over it (or
jumping through it, or whatever - you simply have to come in contact with it).
These orbs will flash what their contents are, allowing you to find out what
you'll be slashing at before you...uh...slash at it. Let's discuss the items
now.
---Ninjitsu---
The various Ninjitsu Abilities that Ryu can attack with all take a different
amount of Ninpo to use, and have different damage levels and properties all
their own. Unfortunately, you can only carry one Ninjitsu Ability at a time,
so make good use of the one you have, and make sure you don't accidently pick
up on you don't want!
By the way...yes, I do use bad ASCII art to display all of the various items
and Ninjitsu Arts. Hey, I never use ASCII art; besides, isn't it easier to
look at what eat item looks like rather than reading a description and hoping
that it looks (on the screen) how you imagined it? Oh yeah, and if you have
trouble seeing what each drawing is, try squinting - it works for me!
.=- ,====xxxx+=, WINDMILL SHURIKEN - 10 Ninpo
### # .# .. x## This more powerful version of the Shuriken is larger and
# #-- # #; more damaging, although it costs more to use it. When
# #,;== =######+ Ryu throws the Windmill Shuriken, it will travel
# #-,-##+..,; = horizontally across the screen (in a straight line)
# # ++ -x-+ .##, before halting in mid-air and returning on its original
##- +-++ -x. X, #. path. It's applications are a little different than the
-;..=##+,-# #. Shuriken, since you'll have to get in a little closer if
-######+ ;--.# #. you want to hit enemies in front of you; however, if you
# # -;# #, jump over the Shuriken as it returns, it will pass behind
##X #, # +##. Ryu, then turn around and boomerang back towards him
.+xXXXX+++=. -=; again. By keeping up a consistent jumping pattern, you
can have a veritable Windmill Shield that flits about
your Ninja, protecting him on a horizontal axis.
.=+xxx+==++xx+=, ART OF FIRE WHEEL - 8 Ninpo
### .. == . x## A more potent Ninjitsu magic than the Shurikens, you'll
# =##+ #, most likely find yourself using this against bosses due
# # -#..X+ # #. to its power and range. Ryu throws his hand outward,
# ; +#= ,## . #. sending several bursts of flame at a diagonal-upward
# #X, X#, #. level. These bursts expand, giving excellent anti-air
# x- =x #. coverage and doling out a good bit of damage (each burst
#=. #X. x# -#. hits an enemy, meaning several bursts can do a LOT of
# - = #. damage). Its Ninpo cost makes it a tad costly, but if
# xX, .x# #, you save up your points you should be able to tackle most
-,#X # ,#xX#= #.+#+ any problem with a little flame (several little flames,
X===++=----==++==#= actually).
.=++===+xxx==-=, ART OF FIRE DRAGON BALL - 8 Ninpo
### X#+ .. # -## The antithesis of the Art of Fire Wheel, the Art of Fire
# x x#, #, Dragon Ball provides a fiery offense at a downward angle.
# ,x#- =### #. Unfortunately, most enemies will be at either a level
#;+# ;## -, #. field with Ryu or above him - because of this, his
##x #+;x;x## ,#. opportunities to use AoFDB are quite limited. In order
#- ###=x-=# -##. to feasibly use it in most situations, Ryu will have to
# .= x#= #X;#. jump and fire off a salvo...which is usually not a wise
# #XXx .#=- #. maneuver, given the fact that he has to then concentrate
# #x = #, on jumping, connecting with the Ninjitsu attack, then
##+ # -#X x##. landing safely so that he isn't in harms' way. I'll
.===+xXXx+=+xx+; stick with the Art of Fire Wheel, thank you.
.=+xxx+--=xxx+=, INVINCIBLE FIRE WHEEL - 20 Ninpo
### +# x## Hoo boy...lemme tell ya about the Invincible Fire Wheel
# ###+ #++#+ #, Ninjitsu attack. For a fairly tidy sum of Ninpo, you can
# #, # ,; =#= #. have Ryu completely inscorled in flames, making him
# .# ,=# ,+x .##. invincible for a short period of time. That's right, you
#X, ,##X #-;=+#. can run through enemies and dispatch them simply by
#xx+# ## #. having this Ninjitsu art activated (although you can
# ## x###X . .X#. still die by falling down pits or onto spikes). If you
# # .+ #x #. have this art, keep it for as long as possible so you can
# ;#- #= #, save it for those trouble spots!
### #X#- +##.
.+xXXX+=-=+xXx+;
. .... . VACUUM WAVE ART - 10 Ninpo
+. ;x..+= +. Another oddity of an art, Vacuum Wave has Ryu shoot out 2
== #= -- ,# ;x crescent blades, above and beneath him, that weave up and
# # .#==X- #, # down before disappearing. Unfortunately, these provide
-x# .;. ;. X#= absolutely NO horizontal coverage, meaning you'll have to
# .## ##- # be directly above-below your enemies to use it. Also, if
=#, ,+### ###x; #+ you're directly above/below an enemy, you're ill-equipped
-x. .,=##+,, .x+ to protect yourself if the attack misses or fails to kill
# -# -;,- #= # them; thus, it's not all that good in terms of defense,
=- #- == .# ,x either. This attack it so situation-oriented for its own
x -# x+ +, good, and I highly suggest you not bother picking it up.
,. --. .,
---Items---
Although not quite as important as the Ninjitsu abilities, Ryu can collect
items to aid him in his quest. Some give him more Ninpo, some increase his
Ninpo Capacity, some restore health, some simply give points (good enough for
the gaining of extra lives), and some are 1-Ups. Let's look at each item, eh?
-----------;,+- BLUE NINPO
###x#########X#xx#- These handy little items are your primary source of
#x; .#x # Ninpo, given the fact that they are quite abundant
#= ;### ### -# #X # throughout each stage. By picking one up, you (re)gain
#+.; # -# #X # 10 Ninpo, not exceeding your maximum (your max starts out
#+,-;-;##x ##X #X # at 40, and can increase later on). Since each art takes
#+, ##.#;.=#+ x#x # a different amount of Ninpo, it's good to have as much on
#+ X#x ##x # hand as possible. However, if you don't need any, don't
#=.##x ####### xx # bother going after one if it means risking your life.
### .,..... ,##= # These are bluish in color, with white writing on them.
=+++xxxxxxxxx+=.-x# You'll have to excuse my rather shoddy ASCII art
,x+++++++++++=X### representation of it.
-;---------;,=, ORANGE NINPO
###+x#######x+#=+#, Even handier (and rarer) than the Blue Ninpo, Orange
,#=;. ,,x= # Ninpo icons fully restore your Ninpo count to its max.
X-.-### x## .# ++ x Of course, these are going to be harder to come across,
X=,-, # .# x+ x but in later levels where you depend on Ninjitsu
X=;= #X- ##x ++ x Abilities more and have a higher Ninpo total, finding one
X=- #X #;,;#= ++= x of these can be VERY beneficial. Don't forget, though,
X=. =x- #x= x that the folks who make the levels for this game realize
x-;x#+;######x.== x how useful Orange Ninpo is, and will often put them in
-+xX..,,,,,,,,,X+- + troublesome sports where you're likely to be ambushed or
-=============-..,X killed by going after it. Use judgement before you go
# .=------------=X## after one, ok?
X++++++-. HEALTH BOTTLE
+=------=+. Oh yeah, this thing is nice. Ryu will probably take a
,++++++; licking throughout the game, which is where this comes
.,,. into play - pick it up and you'll restore a good portion
,x=--=x; of Ryu's life (10 bars). For some odd reason, these seem
,x=--=x; to appear in places where you not only need the life, but
,x-..;x; can easily access them (as opposed to 1-Ups or Orange
######+.=xx+.=###### Ninpo). It's almost like the programmers began to
#+-xx#X+-,,;+X#xx-=# realize how difficult their game was, and therefore
,=x##x+-++++-+xX#x+, strategically placed these bottles to make the journey a
-x#x+,;------;,+x#x- little easier.
+xx=-..,,,,,,,.--xx+
#xx---;......,---xx#
#Xx+++=------=+++xx#
###x+;-++++++=;+x###
####X++x=;;-x++XX###
, ,x=+X= DRAGON SWORD UPGRADE
#-+==###+= ;==#x Ah, another wonderful addition to Ryu's arsenal, this one
#x-+###XX#..-X#=XX new to the Ninja Gaiden series. By picking up the Dragon
X#+ .#x,,-+ .,-# Sword Upgrade, Ryu's sword length is increased, giving
## =x,,..==;,,=X him a much needed range boost. Unfortunately, these are
+x. ;x +-+xX#;.;#+ VERY rare, almost as rare as Ninpo Scrolls. However,
xXX####= .X#x#,.;Xx don't let that get you down - by nabbing one of these,
#++xXx=;. x#x,=X#. you are pretty well guaranteed an easier time through the
##XX, ,x#x =-x## remainder of the stage. Extra range on your base attack
;x. +xxx,x= -# is a definite plus, believe me. To top it all off, you
#x-x##Xxxx=--# # even get to hit enemies that are slightly above and
,x++xx=, below your normal range, meaning you no longer have to
crouch to catch pesky, smaller enemies - you can slash
at them from a further distance without the trouble of
getting down on your knees! Yay!
#==+++=-;;;;-=+=; ONE UPS
###,. +######.,###. The quintessential item...One Ups are small items that
#. ##+.....;# #, are embroidered with Ryu's head, increasing his total
# ,#x;..;--;;.#+ #. count of remaining lives by 1. This means more mayhem
#.,#-##+..... =. #. from the rogue Ninja, and more chances for you to get
#. ;##+=#####X#; #. through the blasted game, so grabbing them IS in your
#, ==. ##X#X#= #. best interests. However, 1-ups are often placed in very
#, ###X . . =; #. troublesome places, meaning you have to practically risk
# +#X##X;;=+, #. your neck just to get one. Logically, it doesn't make
#####.=X.#=..##- #. much sense to die while gaining an extra life, now does
=;. x++- =##X.+#+- it?
#x++++..=xx+-..===x
NINPO SCROLL (Picture not available)
Ok, so I don't have a picture of these...big deal, eh? Arguably some of the
most important things you can get in the game (and the most difficult to
locate), the Ninpo Scrolls raise the total amount of Ninpo Points you can have.
These increments come 10-per-scroll, so finding them can become extremely
beneficiary to your cause. After all, having more points to use special
attacks with can be VERY helpful, yes?
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
--------------------------IV: Walkthrough--------------------------
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
Oh boy, the walkthrough! This should be MAD fun, yo! For each stage, I'll
give a brief plot summary, followed by if there is a Ninpo Scroll to be found
(and, if so, what stage section it's found in) and the name of the boss.
One final note - I use the term "Flag" quite a bit throughout this guide. If
you're not familiar with what I mean by it, then go visit Section VI-A.
_______________________
_~A~ Act 1: The Bio-Lab_______________________________________________________
=======================
Plot: Ryu has traced Irene's work to this factory. Upon entering, he is
attacked by a variety of strange robots and monsters, forcing him to
take action. He drops into the factory, ready to do battle with all
that dare face him...and then-some.
Scroll: None
Boss: Mantis Warrior
Ok, so this stage is just a warm-up for things to come. You can tell because
it's short, it's easy, and there are items a-plenty that are easy to grab.
Experiment with each item, getting a feel for how they work, and learn to
maneuver around each enemy (as well as simply slashing through them). Get used
to the controls, 'cause you are going to need to do so. Finish the 3 short
sections and you'll be treated to an easy boss fight. Sound good? No? Well,
though - that's how the game goes.
~~~~~Stage 1-1A~~~~~
Instead of a doing a step-by-step walkthough, I will instead give you
"bullets" of information per each area. If it's pertinent to mention, then
I'll do so; in later stage, I can pretty well guarantee that it'll get hectic
enough for me to (almost) constantly give point after point, but I'll try to
avoid placing information in-tandem as such.
°°°Stop before the end of the bar with the Spider Drone on top (and the Fire
Dragon Ball above), as a Running Alien is headed your way. Jumping blindly
will send you right into him, so halt, allow him to come to you, and slash him
before he can harm you. Removing him this way saves you precious health, so
don't risk it.
°°°Following cannister with the Orange Ninpo above it are 2 items that I highly
suggest you pick up and try to hold onto for most of the remainder of the
level: The Art of Fire Wheel ability, and a Dragon Sword Upgrade. Hey man,
nothin' beats being able to run through your enemies without fear of being
hurt, and having that much more range certainly ain't bad (even if this IS a
"basic" level).
°°°By the 2nd bar of this area, the screen will probably be getting crowded
with enemies. I suggest you drop down beneath the bar, dispatching the Red
Ninjas on either side (they usually have a break between them), then continuing
on without bothering the enemies above. You don't have to jump up to their
level (yet), so it's no worry.
°°°There's another Running Alien coming up, just after this bar on top of the
taller cannister. Run up next to the shorter cannister to initiate his
appearance, then slash him or avoid 'em altogether. As soon as you jump on top
of the taller cannister, a White Wave-Floater will appear; make sure you stop
and slash 'em instead of blindly running (this WILL get you nicked, unless you
stop).
°°°Falling down between the ninjas in between the cannister and the wall,
another Runner will enter from the Left side in an attempt to catch up. Wait
for 'em to jump overhead, then dice him...or ignore 'em, climb the wall, and
run off the right screen to the next area. It's your choice.
~~~~~Stage 1-1B~~~~~
°°°This is a vertical stage, meaning most of the work is travelling upwards.
Unfortunately, this means that you'll be clinging to walls quite a bit, so if
you want to attack your opponents without using any precious Ninpo, you'll have
to dismount the wall and attack. Make sure you remember, especially if you're
running low on points.
°°°There really aren't any specific things to mention here; there are a couple
of White Wave-Floaters, but they appear on the opposite side of the screen,
well before you reach them. As such, you should be able to dispatch them
before they can reach you.
°°°Roughly halfway up, you'll encounter a vertical climb to the left, whereupon
the top of the cannister is a Spider Drone and a Red Ninja. If you don't want
to waste any Ninpo, just climb all the way up (make sure neither are near the
edge, so you don't get hit), then leap to the wall on the Right before bounding
(and slashing) back left.
°°°Once again, scale to the top and exit right off of the screen.
~~~~~Stage 1-1C~~~~~
°°°Very, very short section, although rushing through it can cost you a few hit
points (if you're not careful). Move forward until the Running Alien and White
Wave-Floater appear; hack through them in whatever order you choose, so long as
you're not running into either. Walking further along the edge will cause
another Running Alien to enter from the left, so dispatch him as well. Drop to
the ground where a trio of Red Ninjas await, along with their pet spider-drone.
Await their demise, that is! 2 more Blue Ninpo and a Fire Dragon Ball are to
be had, followed by the exit stage right to fight the boss, Mantis Warrior (see
the Bosses Section for more info).
________________________
___~B~ Act 2: Desert/Caves____________________________________________________
========================
Plot: A mysterious figure has told Ryu that he knows about Irene, and that
he is perfectly willing to inform Ryu of all he knows...if he goes to
Castle Rock Fortress. Apparently, getting there requires that Ryu
travel to the middle of a desert and then into a deep cavern system,
because that's where this stage takes place.
Scroll: Yes (2-2C, along the left wall)
Boss: Night Diver
If you thought the first stage was a breeze, then you've been successfully
deceived as to the nature of this game. The following stages, starting with
Stage 2 (this one), are NOT easy by ANY stretch of the imagination. I hope you
don't fret too much...this isn't an easy game, nor should you believe it to be.
This stage starts off as a desert locale, with irritating enemies above and the
sand below you seeking to drag you underneath. Following this, you enter a
series of caves that are dangerously close to a flow of lava - fall in and
you're toast! Finally, you have to deal with another mechanical being, this
one known as the Night Diver. Joy.
~~~~~Stage 2-1A~~~~~
°°°Welcome to the desert. The first thing you'll notice onscreen (at least,
it's the first thing I noticed) is that there is a patch of ground in front of
you that appears to be scrolling downward. This is actually quicksand, and is
something you'll want to avoid standing in for too long. It impedes your
movement, slowing you down, and if you are dragged too far down then you'll
automatically die (as if you hit spikes or something). Don't that happen; by
jumping, you leap out of the quicksand and return to the top of the much. Play
it safe!
°°°The 2nd quicksand mess has a small, round creature standing on top of the
quicksand. These guys will quickly become an irritation to you, assuming you
do not wish to use a Windmill Shuriken to drop 'em. When you move close
enough, it will start leaping right and left, which is difficult to avoid since
the quicksand makes movement more difficult. Furthermore, it's a smaller
creature (which I have playfully dubbed the "Ball Bounder"), so hitting it with
your sword can be a challenge, too. My suggestion? Go ahead and use your
Windmill Shuriken, then jump over it and allow it to take out the Running Alien
(Version 2) behind you...and the next one to appear in front of you...and the
next...see, frequent jumping can be helpful!
However, if you don't want to use any Ninpo, then I suggest timing your jump so
that you end up following the Ball Bounder as it bounds to the right, slashing
it at the apex of your jump (which, coincedentally, is its apex as well).
°°°Shortly before the next quicksand spot, you'll come across an orb containing
the Art of Fire Wheel. This is what we like to call "foreshadowing", kiddies -
you'll probably have to deal with some airborne enemies when you see this (or
lower-enemies when you find a Fire Dragon, or a bunch of everything if you find
an Invincible Wheel). In the next quicksand pit, you'll find 2 more Ball
Bounders, shortly joined by 2 Sky Drones above you. If you wish to time it,
move far enough over for the Drones to drop down, then get the Ball Bounder to
jump and nail 'em all with a Fire Wheel.
°°°You'll soon come across another quicksand pit, this one with 2 more Ball
Bounders. Slice 'em to ribbons and move further forward, where a Running Alien
(ver. 2) will appear from the right. Most people seem to think that they can
simply outrun him, and this is where you're wrong - stop and dice him before
continuing, so that you don't end up with far, far more on your hands than
necessary. Moving forward again, you'll see another Bounder and a Blue Ninpo
above him - scroll the screen to flag the 2 Sky Drones to drop in, then Fire
Wheel the Bounder, Ninpo, and 1 of the drones (you can slash the left one with
your sword). Further down, you'll find another bounder, quickly joined by a
flying Insect. Remember the eagles from Ninja Gaiden I, the ones that would
quickly drive you nuts with their homing flight pattern? Well, that's what
these guys are. Don't give it a chance, just Fire Wheel him before he gets
close.
If you didn't do all this, then you have 2-3 Bounders, 2 Sky Drones, 1 insect,
and a Running Alien all crowding you. The insect makes it difficult to remove
anything else, since he effectively lands on you and stays on you...so a little
patience saves the day, eh?
°°°Once you exit the last sandpit, just keep running to the right. There will
be a Running Alien that jumps in, but he'll soar overhead and you'll be free to
continue on to the next stage.
~~~~~Stage 2-2A~~~~~
Welcome to the caves! You're probably not going to like them...see, there are
quite a few areas where the floor has been eaten away by lava, making a
volatile ground area to deal with; furthermore, the ceiling is covered in
stalactites (not stalagmites; those start at the ground and work up), and
touching these takes off a whopping 6 bars of life! No touchie!
°°°Running to the right, you'll see a Wave-Floater (brown) appear on the right.
Ignoring it, running leap onto the bar above the lava and slash the stationary
turret as soon as it opens up its doors (this should scroll the screen fast
enough to elude the Wave-Floater). If you need the Art of Fire Wheel, drop
down to hang from the bar, and wait for the soldier to move far enough to the
left to give enough room to drop down and hack at him. Remember, you cannot
hang-climb beneath the turret, as you'll still take damage from touching it.
°°°You see the guy on the platform to the right of the Bar, yes? Well, simply
wait until he moves far enough right so you can jump over and slash him.
Immediately crouch and get ready to slice the Spiney-Ball as it rolls towards
you, and then exit this area through the door to the right.
~~~~~Stage 2-2B~~~~~
°°°Here's a good ol' fashioned vertical stage, where you start at the top and
work down. Not too bad, as you'll often find yourself moving fast enough
(vertically) to elude a variety of enemies. However, don't think you can
outrun everything, since you might just be rushing into harm's way. That's how
this game works, you know.
°°°After your first step dropping down, you'll see a soldier with a Sword
Upgrade above him. For fun, take out the soldier and nab the upgrade rather
quickly, then hang out there. You'll see a Spiney-Ball that was following you,
only to roll right off the bottom of the screen (you hadn't scrolled far enough
for the next platform to appear; thus, you eluded it).
°°°Further down are 2 blobs on the ground, which - when given enough time -
will shoot little projectiles in 3 directions (left, right, and up). When you
near them, they magically sprout up and turn into Spiney Balls...but enough of
this, just run up and hack them to pieces. You'll also see 2 Spiney Balls drop
in above you and start rolling down to your level; you can either outrun them
and cause the screen-scroll to delete them, or stop and hack 'em up. Whatever,
man.
°°°This bottom section has another little blob, ready to shoot you or turn into
a ball and ram you. I would suggest using a Fire Dragon Ball to shoot 'em
down, so you don't have to put yourself in risk of taking damage. Also, there
is a Wave Floater (brown) here...but usually, your rapid descent from above
causes him to fall off the screen. For more information as to why this
happens, check out Section VI-A of this guide.
~~~~~Stage 2-2C~~~~~
It's the infamous lava-rising section! Have fun outrunning (and out-jumping)
your doom, Ryu!
°°°Really, aside from a few specific sections of this stage, it's rather self
explanitory - don't rush upwards, since enemies appear a half-second later than
their platforms do. Thus, if you jump all the way up to a platform, you might
still be in danger of an enemy appearing right on top of you. Haste is good,
but the lava is at the BOTTOM of the screen. Don't hurt yourself while trying
to avoid death, eh?
°°°Ninpo Scroll alert! Roughly halfway through this area, you'll find a long
platform extending into the left wall, with an opening along the right wall.
This platform contains 3 soldiers and a small blob, but more importantly...it
has a Ninpo Scroll above it. Dispatch the solders and blob, wait for the
screen to scroll, and nab that scroll! Yay, now you can have 50 maximum Ninpo!
°°°Just above this platform (with the Ninpo Scroll) is a bar. Jump up onto the
bar, then wait for the screen to scroll up enough for the soldier to appear on
the platform above. See, rushing onward can get you killed if you don't wait a
bit first!
°°°Above this soldier, you'll see to platforms on the left and right. Wait for
the soldier to appear on the right (and the turret on the left), then slash the
soldier and grab the 1-Up above him. Now, dealing with the turret is fairly
simple - you can leap from 1 platform to the other, so jump the gap and any
bullets it might have fired (in volleys of 2), slashing as you land to take
care of it. If your timing is right, you can even vault the Spiney-Ball that
drops in, successfully avoiding it as well.
°°°Above this turret is another turret, followed by a platform above it and a
platform left and up from this one (it has a Windmill Shuriken above it).
Immediately jump to this platform, as the next platform to appear has a soldier
on it...and if you don't make the jump before he appears, then you'll have to
contend with the soldier preventing you from jumping easily. You can use a
Fire Wheel to take care of him, but quickness (in this instance) can safe you
the trouble. Also, if you want the Fire Wheel to use against the boss, you'd
better not pick up the Windmill Star...it's the last Art to be found in this
stage!
~~~~~Stage 2-2D~~~~~
°°°You'll notice that there are lava pits that you can jump over. Yeah, you
can just tell that something bad is going to happen, so jump. Upon landing, a
ball of lava flies up and out of the crevasse, splitting into 4 balls that fall
on either side of the opening. I would suggest trying to position yourself
between the last two and crouching (while slashing the soldier in front of
you). By making yourself a smaller target, this makes it harder to hit you.
Makes sense, yes?
°°°Following this is a platform with another soldier on it. Inch foward until
you can slice the soldier across the way with your Upgraded Sword (you DO have
the upgraded sword, don't you?), then turn and slash the Spikey Ball that
dropped in behind you. Now, when you jump across to the platform, you'll be
greated by another Lava Ball (crouch to avoid it again). Now, move to the
other side of the platform, stepping to the very edge, and duck again...this
time the Lava Ball appears in front of you, but by moving all the way forward,
hanging 1 foot off of the platform and crouching, you'll avoid it. From here,
jump-slash the Soldier and Spikey Ball, and go fight a boss!
________________________
_____~C~ Act 3: Jungle/Caves__________________________________________________
========================
Plot: Upon finishing off the Night Diver, a video screen alights behind Ryu,
showing the evil countenance of Foster, an old enemy of Ryu's. He is
then informed that no one has ever gotten out of this area alive, and
he hopes that the next time they meet, Ryu is alive to see it. He
then fades out, leaving Ryu with no choice but to try and exit this
heinous area and work his way towards Castle Rock's outer perimeter.
Scroll: Yes (3-2C, along the left wall)
Boss: Great Koganei
Apparently, the caves that Ryu entered in Act 2 lead to a Jungle, 'cause that
is where Ryu starts off this Act. He travels above a rather dangerous river,
with oversized Piranha seeking to knock him into the water by hefty jumps into
the air. If you survive this section, you then enter another cave, this one
full of trickling water and strange blobs that harm you simply by being there.
Get through all this and you'll face off against another Mechanical Beast, this
one named the "Great Koganei."
~~~~~Stage 3-1A~~~~~
Welcome to the Jungle, baby! You're gonna die!!! (End bad Guns 'n Roses joke)
You will quickly hate this level, mostly because of the Piranha. They simply
MUST have a nibble of that Cool Ninja they see, and go to such lengths to
ensure a bite that they'll even leap out of the river once close enough.
Sometimes they fly high enough to run underneath, sometimes they don't...so
it's usually in your best interest to step back, let them fall, and slash 'em.
°°°Following the first bar you see is a platform with a ninja and a couple of
items. This is also your first introduction to the Piranha of the level, and
it's on fairly easy terms. As I said above, step back and hack at 'em after he
jumps, or let him descend and continue on however you like.
°°°After this first encounter, you'll see a rise/fall lift. Jumping onto it
causes a Piranha to appear behind you, heading right-to-left. Remember in the
first part of Stage 2, where you were clearly being pressured by the Running
Alien that appeared behind you? Well, this is just the same, so turn around
and leap back to the previous platform so you can dice the Piranha safely
before continuing on. Moving far enough forward on the first rise/fall lift
causes brings the 2nd one onscreen, as well as a reddish Wave-Floater. It's
pattern of flight tends to make it troublesome to slash from the 2nd Lift, so
stick to the first and wait until it's in range to destroy it (either that or
use a Ninja Art to vanquish it).
°°°When you come across a red Ninja next to a Vacuum Wave art, kill the ninja
and grab the art (don't do it the other way around...that could be hazardous to
your health). The bar next to it has a spider drone on top (kill it), as well
as one hanging from beneath, and a platform below it has a Ninja and an Orange
Ninpo. Walk to the middle, above the platform, and wait for all 3 enemies to
line up. Go ahead and use the Vacuum attack, since you'll immediately be
replenishing your Ninpo. Yay!
°°°Here's a little trap that too many people fall for - 2 diagonally-moving
lifts, with a 1-Up in the middle and a Piranha closing in. You want the 1-up,
but the Piranha tends to get you if you try for it...and so, many people think
of the 1-up as a trap meant to kill them from the attempt. This is not true,
and you don't need to resort to Ninjitsu to acquire it, either. What you do is
simple - wait until the Lift is at is highest, then jump onto it. Now,
continue running, falling off of the left side of the lift. That's right,
you're going to fall off...momentarily.
Immediately after you fall, hold right to force Ryu to grab onto the underside
of the lift (you can't hold down and press Jump to cling to the otherside,
since it is headed downward). The first Piranha - the one that has claimed
many, many lives from many players through countless plays - will soar
overhead, jumping too high to catch you. Once he's out of the way, jump back
up to the lift, leap across, and slash the 1-up as you land on the other lift.
°°°Lift #2 has its own strategy, as another Piranha seeks vengance for you
escaping their little trap. Cling to the bottom of this platform (or use
Ninjitsu, if you so choose, since you already have the 1-up and there is no
danger of shooting it down anymore) and wait for it to soar overhead, then jump
to the bar and slash the Spider Drone before it gets close enough to knock you
into the river. That's no fun, believe me.
Oh...and I've also heard that jumping prior to the Piranha's leap causes it to
jump super-high, making it whiff you...however, this just isn't consistent
enough for my tastes. Plus, the under-over-under lift switches just looks
flashier.
°°°There are a series of platform jumps just before the door, with a couple of
Piranha seeking one last attack at you. Thankfully, though, you can backtrack
a bit to handle them in a safer environment, then continue safely to the door.
If you played this area safely, you can get through it without any loss of life
and still have a good 200 seconds left on the clock!
~~~~~Stage 3-2A~~~~~
Welcome to the caves, where the background is...uh...weird, to say the least.
However, what should really be troubling you is the number of enemies that will
be invading your "personal space" in the hopes of destroying you in the process
(or at least knocking you into a pit). Also, the water flow in this area moves
you in 1 direction of the other, making movement in the correlating direction
faster and the opposite direction slower. Keep that in mind, since you'll be
facing tight quarters and small enemies that require precise aim.
°°°This platform in the middle is the beginning of the water trickle, and drops
off the left and right sides. I would suggest dropping down the right side,
where you will have more room to take care of the Ninja beneath and enough time
to get rid of the Spineys that follow you.
°°°The next drop-down is actually onto a Hang-Bar, with 2 more Spineys tracking
you. Kill the Ninja here, wait to dispatch the Spineys, then drop down past
the bar (don't bother hanging, you'll just get hit by the blob). You'll land
on another bar, with a pulsating red mass on top of it. Slash the mass, since
these things shoot projectiles that roll across the ground, then jump off the
right side. Heading right allows you to avoid the 2 blobs beneath this bar, as
well as the Ninja on the left-hand side (which often ends up directly below
you).
°°°Below this bar, you'll land between 2 more pulsating masses. Hack the one
on the left, drop down, and slash the 2 on the following platform while heading
right. After this is a bit of a drop down (it allows you to elude the Spineys
that were following you), where - at the bottom - you'll encounter 2 jumping
Mantis-like creatures and another Spiney. Dispatch all and exit stage Left
through the door.
~~~~~Stage 3-2B~~~~~
°°°Running to the left, you'll immediately see a bar with a blob on the
underside and a soldier on top, as well a bar beneath it with another soldier
guarding a Fire Dragon Art. Behind you comes a Running Alien, so jump up to
the bar, dispatch the Soldier, then wait for the Alien to run below you. He
jumps at the end of the platform onto the lower bar, so make sure you aren't in
his way when he does. It's important to make sure he passes and you don't have
that pressure from behind, trust me.
°°°Past this bar is an Orange Ninpo, floating above a small platform. Nab this
if you wish; I prefer to toss out a Fire Dragon to clear out the Soldiers on
the platform below it, as well as shoot down the Fire Wheel orb. Hey, it's
free Ninpo, so why not? On this lower platform, once you pass the midway point
of it (where the water trickle changes sides) you'll see another bar with a
soldier on top of it, and a Running Alien will enter from the each side of the
screen. If you're close enough to the left side of the platform, the one on
the right will soar right over you...the on from the Right, however, should be
killed so he's not pushing you into anything.
°°°Jump onto the bar left of the platform you were just on, and inch along
until the Insect appears on the right (and another Running Alien from the
left). The Insect will get to you first, so kill him, the kill the Alien and
move further left on the bar. Yet another Running Alien will appear on the
platform to the left; you can either jump over him or wait for him to jump up
and slice 'em in two.
°°°Another insect appears when you cross the midway point of the following
platform (the one with the Invincible Fire Art above it). Grab the Invincible
Art after killing it, the run to the right and initiate the Art once you land
on the next bar. You're going to find a difficult jump here, so you don't even
want to mess around with whatever's in front of you. An insect will appear
from below, and the small ledge on the far Left (in front of the door) has a
soldier guarding it...so you either Invincible your way through them, or you
wait on the Insect, kill it, then wait on the soldier, jump over, kill him, and
proceed through. Hey, patience is one thing, but I also want to have enough
time to beat the boss!
~~~~~Stage 3-2C~~~~~
°°°After a brief climb up, you'll find a bar that has Goo stuck on the bottom
of it, a Pulsating Mass on top of it, and 2 Spider Drones beneath it. My
suggestion is to jump over to the platform, kill the drones, jump up onto the
far right section of the bar, and immediately climb onto the bar and slice the
Mass before it can fire off anything.
°°°Health Bottle! If you need any health restored, grab this! It's above the
platform, to the right of the bar with the mass, the goo, and the drones.
°°°Ninpo Scroll alert! While climbing up the right-side wall, you'll no doubt
notice the Scroll above the platform on the left. In order to get it, you have
to climb up to the platform where 2 Pulsating Masses and a Spider Drone are.
Slash what you can...and remember, there's a bar directly above you, so if you
have to jump, just remember that you might accidentally grab onto the bar,
which is where the Goo will probably shoot you for your incompetence. Either
keep your distance and destroy the projectiles shot from the Masses (you can
slash through them), or be careful when jumping.
Anywho, just walk off the left side of this platform, kill the drone, and grab
the scroll. Yay, you're up to 60 now!
°°°Near the top of the screen is a bar with goo on bottom and mass on top (by
now, you should know what I mean by that), with a platform in the upper-left
where another Mass is. The door is on the right, where another mass is busily
pulsating away. Climb up the wall on the left, jump onto the platform, and
dice the mass, then turn and jump, dicing the mass in the upper-left. Finally,
jump and slash the mass in front of the door, and you're outta there!
~~~~~Stage 3-2D~~~~~
°°°The first thing that truly needs to be mentioned here, as it can be
difficult (and possibly deadly) is when you hit the series of small platforms
to leap from. Jumping onto the 2nd one, you'll quickly see a Running Alien
leaping onto the next platform. You don't have to bother with this guy; in
fact, you can bypass him, ignore the 2 Aliens above, AND elude the Insect
heading your way from the left. Just jump right from this platform (# 2,
slightly lower than the first tiny platform) past the next one onto the
platform directly below the Fire Wheel Art. Jumping to the next platform will
flag another Running Alien, which can be dispatched in midair as you safely
land on the platform and claim your reward - a Sword Upgrade.
°°°Great, you got the sword upgrade...now, to survive with it. After getting
it, another Insect comes buzzing in from the left, so jump and kill it before
it can get to you or Fire Wheel it, if you don't mind the Ninpo; there are 2
blue Ninpo on the platform above, so you'll readily make up for it. Jumping
back left, you'll flag an Insect from below when you land on the 2nd lower
platform (the one you skipped). Jump over him and continue onto the first tiny
platform, where another Insect will quickly appear from the left. The first
Insect - the one that came from below - will have to doubleback to catch you,
so you have time to slash the newcomer before dealing with him.
°°°Hopping to the small platform before the larger one (with the water flowing
off of it, above the Sword Upgrade), you will be accosted by 2 more Running
Aliens. Stop on this platform and slash them from a standstill to avoid any
further damage. After this, it's a straight shot to the boss(es)! Hopefully,
you've survived long enough to take more than 1 or 2 hits...if you can, then
taking these guys down is much easier, since having that extra room for error
is very handy. Defeat the Great Koganei and progress to Act 4, spud!
_______________________________________
_______~D~ Act 4: Castle Rock Defense Systems_________________________________
=======================================
Plot: After defeating the Great Koganei, Ryu's clone shows up and challenges
him. They duel, briefly, with Ryu (the real one) losing the draw.
His clone laughs, then tells him that he was the one that killed Irene
and that he is working for Foster. He then taunts Ryu and tells him
to come to Castle Rock Fortress if they want to meet again. Shortly
thereafter, Ryu arrives at the fortress defenses, ready to penetrate
the complex and find answers to his questions.
Scroll: Yes (Stage 4-1, along one of the metal railways; VERY easy to find)
Boss: Sandeater
First, you must cross a perilous path across large...uh...drill bits, followed
by a building positively full of traps. Man...I shudder to think about if
there was a more difficult route than this.
~~~~~Stage 4-1A~~~~~
°°°Yeah, there are moving scaffolds here. For the first set, I suggest
clinging to the bottom of the first, then dropping onto the 2nd one (it's a
more accurate landing that if you jumped). If you want the Fire Wheel, then go
ahead and get it by jumping onto the moving apparati first. I don't think
you'll need it, but hey, whatever you want.
°°°When you reach the scaffolds where 3 Sky Drones drop in, you're probably
going to wonder how to safely get past this without taking a hit (and possibly
being knocked to your doom). Well, there are a few simple ways to pass this
section.
1) Ride the platform, then ride it all the way back to the left (if you're
uncomfortable with how close they get, drop underneath the platform and
hang from beneath). Once you're back at the first platform, eliminate
them at your leisure.
2) Jump while riding the platform, causing the drones to start their
movement at a higher level and giving you more time to jump to the
following moving scaffolding.
3) 4 words - Art of Fire Wheel.
4) You can throw out a Windmill Shuriken and then jump over it, causing
the star to hit the drones behind you (and then the one in front, if
you're timing is right). From here, simply continue on.
°°°Hey, look - that top Scaffold has a 1-up! Uh oh, here comes another Insect!
The trick here is to not fret at all...just stay the ride until you can jump
onto the railway. If handled right, you'll land on the very edge (be ready to
slash the Running Alien headed your way) and the Insect will soar overhead and
right off the screen. Now you're safe again, and you're up another life!
°°°Ninpo Scroll Alert! It's right there, right on that very platform after the
1-up! You can't miss it!
°°°The following bit of scaffolding's danger is foreshadowed by the Fire Dragon
Art on the previous platform. Sure, the obvious way to dispose of the 2
Insects from below is to hit them with a shot of Fire Dragon...however, what
about the guy that doesn't want to use any Ninjitsu abilities? Well, it's a
little difficult, but here's how - jump onto the scaffold, riding it just long
enough to flag the insects. Now, immediately jump back to the platform,
landing between the Insects. Slash the one on the right, since it's the
closest, then get the left-side one as it tries to halt its path. Having
dealth with them, the path is now clear and safe!
From here, it's a pretty clear shot to getting inside the building.
~~~~~Stage 4-2A~~~~~
Interesting defenses this place has...the walls and floors have spikes in them,
and there are a variety of monsters inhabiting the area. Well, there's no
turning back now...and if there was, would you honestly want to ride those
scaffolds again?
°°°Important fact #1: the spikes in the floor/walls don't kill you, but they do
take off 6 hit points per touch. The lesson: do NOT touch those. Wait until
they retract into their holes, then dash across to the next non-spike area.
The first spike area is just past the entryway, so wait until the retract into
the ground before rushing across to the adjacent wall. Make sure you climb
high enough to avoid getting stuck in the behind, will ya?
°°°Ok, so you no doubt saw the Sword Upgrade hanging ominously above the Spike
Floor you just crossed. How do you safely grab it? The trick is in the
chain...you can hang beneath it, you realize, so go from standing to hanging,
jump-slash the sword, and try to grab it while reaching for the chain again.
If you miss it, then the Upgrade (and possibly you) will fall down onto the
floor, so time it so that even if you miss, you can still grab it without
worries of being spiked. You can also walk right up to it and slash it,
causing it to fall to the ground, then pick it up and book it back to safe
territory...but that just isn't flashy enough for MY ninja!
°°°In the next spike-covered area, there are 2 large chains dangling from
above. Wait until the spikes retract, then drop down, slashing the Ninpo as
you go, then jump to the next wall and climb up. The Orb-Eyes shoot bullets in
3 directions (just like the piles of Goo in stage 3), so be careful about where
you end up. The funny thing here is that the Ninja on top of the wall you're
on will probably be right in your way of climbing up, so you'll have to wait on
him...and there's an Orb Eye on the next wall on the right, which gives it a
perfect shot to hit you. Thankfully, there is a slight pause between when the
Eye fires and when the Ninja walks back, so you'll have time to get out of the
way.
°°°Finally, there is an Invincible Fire Wheel above another Spike area. If you
wish to get it, simply follow the same instructions that I gave for getting the
Sword Upgrade. It's pretty much the same situation, with the differences being
the item at stake and the lack of a wall on the right (it's a brick walkway
instead).
~~~~~Stage 4-2B~~~~~
°°°Spikes, small platforms, and a vertical climb...meaning blowing a jump is
going to be very painful. Wellsir, if your jumping skills are decent, you
won't have too many problems during this area.
°°°When you reach the first brownish Shield-and-Gunman, there will be a purple-
flying thing entering from the right. You can actually ignore this guy,
slashing through the gunman and continuing upwards (to effectively run the
Purple Flyer offscreen). Above this guy is another one on the right, with a
chain above his head...you can ignore him and jump straight to the chain,
maneuvering around the Spider Drone atop before continuing.
°°°Ok, now THIS Purple Flyer you have to deal with. These things usually start
out slow, stopping after a bit to fire off 4 bullets in each diagonal...but if
you move quickly to their horizontal line of movement, they'll suddenly speed
up and ram you (even if you're behind them, they'll throw it into reverse and
catch you anyways). Thus, be forewarned - when you jump to that little
platform, get ready to slash it just in case. If he moves slow, then...well,
just wait for it to come into range and chop 'em anyways.
°°°Here's another SaGunman on the right, with a chain above his head, this time
a small platform separating you two. Once again, you can ignore him and jump
straight up to the chain; the difference, though, is that he may have gotten a
couple of shots off first. Time your jump to sail over the bullets, then go
right the chain (and, once again, wait on the Spider Drone...look before you
leap!).
°°°At the top of this stage, you'll have a Purple Flyer near the bottom-left,
another incoming from the mid-right, and one right in line with the door on the
left. The only one that actually concerns you, though, is the one coming from
the Door, so wait on 'em until it's in range, slice it, and mosey through the
door.
~~~~~Stage 4-2C~~~~~
°°°Great, you're immediately dealing with another spikey floor. Ok,
then...wait until it retracts, jump over to the wall on the left, and climb up.
You're safe from the Eye Orb's line of fire, so simply jump up and cleft the
Brown Ninja in twain before he can get close to you.
°°°TThere is an Orange Ninpo above the next spike floor, if you're so inclined
to get it (it's practically on the way), and an Art of Fire Wheel is located
above the Next-to-Last chain in the stage, so feel free to get it if you would
like it for the boss. You can use it to take out the Eye Orbs on the chain in
front above the next set of spikes, which is immediately followed by a Blue
Ninpo...but if you don't want to waste it, you can simply ignore them and jump
ot the wall (it's not like they're in the way).
°°°The door to the boss - a creature called "The Sandeater" - is blocked by a
Spike Floor (go figure). Wait 'til they drop, then jump down off of the chain
and walk through the door to face the boss!
________________________________
_________~E~ Act 5: Castle Rock Fortress______________________________________
================================
Plot: Since Ryu has breached Castle Rock's defenses, Clancy keeps his word
and tells him what he knows about Foster's plans. He tells Ryu that
he and Foster had been working on the 'Biohazard' plan (Resident
Evil?), but he cannot work alongside him anymore. Foster has secretly
created a monster called a 'BIO-NOID", experimental humans that have
been transformed with life energy. Where does this life energy come
from? There is an "open seam between dimensions that was created when
the demon died," says Clancy. "An unlimited supply of LIFE ENERGY is
flowing from the seam inside the ruins of the fortress," and Foster
has been using this seam in his experiments. Furthermore, the person
that killed Irene - the Ninja-Clone Ryu encountered - is a Bio-Noid
(which explains how it beat him). Clancy then asks you to return to
the now-rebuilt ruins and stop Foster's evil plans.
And thus, Ryu is forced to return to the upper regions of the Amazon
and once again do battle in those, ruins, where the fabled battle
between Ken Hayabusa and Bloody Malth took place, the place where
Malth was struck down by Ken's son, Ryu, where Ryu ended the life
(temporarily) of Guardia de Mieux, aka Jaquio, and where the climactic
battle between Ryu and the Sealed Demon ended with Ryu triumphant.
Because of that last battle and Foster's involvement on the project,
the tear in dimensions was discovered and Foster began his experiments
within the ruins. Ryu, you'd better get out there and stop that mad
man!
Scroll: No
Boss: Ryu Clone
~~~~~Stage 5-1A~~~~~
Well, here we are...again. Ryu has returned to the scene of his final battles
from NG I, and although the layout has changed, the difficulty has not (in
fact, it is a bit harder than before). A heavy downpour accompanies your
task...but thankfully, it does nothing to actually, physically stop you. It's
just dreary, that's all.
°°°I don't know how many times I have to say this, but...look before you leap!
When you walk up to that first pitfall, stop short of the edge and wait for the
Running Alien to come to you. If you do not, you could very well be knocked
into the pit and die within the first 5 seconds of the stage. Don't do that!
Make sure you kill his 2 friends as soon as you land on the other side of the
pit, too.
°°°Following that trio of nuisances, you'll encounter 2 Sky Drones, 2 Rocket
Carts, an a Running Alien from the left. What's a Ninja to do? Well, start
off by jumping (and hanging) from the bar where the 2 Rocket Carts are, then
flip up between them and destroy them. By then, the 2 Sky Drones will have
reached your vertical level, so turn and wipe them out as well. A step further
to the right will cause 4 Sky drones to appear, 2 above and 2 below you. Jump-
slash the upper-left one, landing on the left side of the bottom one, and slay
the remaining 3 from here. Further along this line, finally, will flag an
Insect. You can elude him, lure him to one side and axe him, whatever you
choose.
°°°The next bar has its own set of irritants, which we shall now dispatch in a
particular order to ensure safety. First, jump across to this bar, causing the
3 Sky Drones and Ball Bounder to appear. Now, your safest route is to jump
back to the first bar, slashing the Upper-Left Drone as you do. From this
vantage point, you can safely get rid of the rest of the drones before
returning to face the Ball Bounder and the Rocket Cart. Now, a common mistake
is to try and crouch-slash the Ball Bounder...remember, it's a jumping
creature, which means it'll practically fly right into the path of your sword
if you swing while standing. Move in closer to take out the Rocket Cart,
avoiding it's three shots at the same time, then move back left to give
yourself space-enough to handle the remaining Drone (if it didn't follow you to
the left, which is fairly common).
°°°Continuing right, you'll flag a Running Alien (no problem) and - at the very
end of the bar - an Insect. Trigger the insect, slay it, and drop down to get
the next Bounder and the Soldier next to it. By touching down onto this
walkway, you'll trigger another Insect from above, which I would suggest you
kill before moving on. If you want the Vacuum Wave Art, jump back up to the
bar and the leap to grab it. Finally, be ready to slash the incoming Alien as
you land after the next jump. After him is the doorway.
~~~~~Stage 5-1B~~~~~
Believe it or not, this section is deceptively simple...unless you make a
mistake, in which then you are going to deal with a LOT of bad guys VERY
quickly. So let's start with the safe way through this area, and I'll see if I
can't come up with a way to handle the "I made a mistake" situation. You start
off seeing 2 Lifts, on moving Up/Down on the right side of the screen and a
Diagonal one on the left. Your first inclination would be to run over to the
right, then jump from that one onto the left...and you would be wrong. By
moving up to a certain height, you'll incur 2 Sky Drones and 3 Purple Flyers.
That makes for some hefty zoning, and you'll have to play a VERY patient game
to get around these guys.
°°°The safe way through is to jump up onto the wall above the Door, then onto
that platform. Since you're already on the left-side platform, you no longer
have to worry about the Drones (although, just to be safe, you might as well
slice through the closer one and the upper-left flyer). As soon as you see the
platform above this one, jump up and grab onto it, then leap from it to the
next platform (up and right from here). Now just jump from this platform to
the door, drawing your blade out (and through the soldier on the ledge) before
you land. Gee, that took all of 8 seconds.
°°°Ok, now what happens if you make a mistake and blow a jump, flagging the
enemies but not being high enough to avoid them? Well, now it's time to start
playing the patience game and waiting for your opportunity to kill them. If
you want to use whatever Ninjitsu Art you have on hand to make your troubles
easier, then feel free to...but I like to see if I can't do things without
having to use such weapons (unless it's flashy), so let's stick to swordplay
for now. In general, you should take care of the Sky Drones (use the platform
on the right), then wait for the Flyers to get within range for you to jump and
cut them down from midair. Now it's safe enough to jump up and continue your
ascent...well, safe enough. If you blow it again, climb back up and continue
onward - the enemies in the upper region will respawn, so there's no point in
killing them, dropping, then returning...they'll be back as well.
~~~~~Stage 5-1C~~~~~
°°°First step - after jumping down to the platform with the Blue Ninpo and the
Health bottle, immediately slash to take care of the point-blank flagged
Running Alien (how's THAT for a few adjectives?) and Ball Bounder. Also...hey,
that Health Bottle is probably going to come in handy after that last section,
eh?
°°°Don't like those pesky Bounders? Well, there's a fun way around 'em...but
first, you have an Insect to take care of. Jump and hang from the bar (right
after the Health Bottle), triggering the Insect; now, jump back to the previous
walkway and hack 'em in two. From here, you can toy with the Bounders without
putting yourself in any danger; see, Ball Bounders tend to try and follow your
general location. Since you're below them, all they can do is attempt to stay
on the same vertical axis as you, which means if you hang along the left side
of the bar, they'll drop onto the walkway...and if you move back right, they'll
bound right into the pit beneath. See? No muss, no fuss!
°°°Actually, there is is a small fuss...further along the bar flags a couple of
Insects to come and harass you, one from above and one from below. You have
enough time to wreck the upper mechanical moron first, then sidestep the second
and hack through that one as well.
°°°The next 2 platforms aren't terribly annoying, although 1 mistimed hit will
send you down a pit and that's just it (end rhymes). Hop down and decapitate
the soldier on the first jump, which will trigger 4 more Sky Drones and a
Running Alien (the alien comes from the left). Jump-slash the alien and the
Drone in the upper-left (you can get 'em both with 1 swipe), then jump back to
the bar and take care of the bottom 2 drones (you'll scroll the 4th off screen,
so you can deal with it later). Returning to the jumps, you now only have 1
drone and the soldier to contend with, so jumpslash the drone, land and coup de
grace the soldier, and turn to take out another Running Alien on the left.
°°°The final bar of this stage (just past the Vacuum Wave art) has a soldier
and a Rocket Cart, and is quickly joined by 1 Alien, then another. Hop up
quickly and take out the soldier and cart, then deal with the aliens as they
come. If you'd prefer, you can hang beneath the bar and flip up to surprise
(and demolish) your enemies, but I find it a tad more difficult to avoid the
rockets and safely climb up this way.
~~~~~Stage 5-2A~~~~~
"Welcome to the Rock." That's what Sean Connery said in the Michael Bay
'splodefest, and it holds equally true here...as 'true' as such a statement can
be. Well, ok, so you're in Castle Rock (no relation to any Stephen King
novels), and things are going to explode. Good enough?
°°°This stage is rather nondescript, although the enemy placement can sometimes
be frustrating. I would suggest stopping to take out the "high-jump" soldier
that enters from the left, so that you don't run into any crowding problems
with the other soldiers on the right.
°°°Say hello to the Laser Spiders, kiddies. These things suck. When you first
see one, you'd best just let it drop down the passageway so you can hack at
it...and I'd suggest a crouching slash, so that you don't accidentally get
caught by any lasers that might escape it's occular cavity. At the top of this
wall (the one that the first Laser Spider toppled off of) is another...and I
don't think you want to rush it and cram a sword down it's throat. No, I would
suggest walking up, ducking the laser, then dismantling it after the laser
passes overhead. Then, feel free to grab the Fire Dragon and Orange Ninpo
above.
°°°Ok, you are given 2 paths here - upper and lower. Which one do you want to
take? If you want the Vacuum Wave, then take the upper route (slash the
Soldier immediately as you land) and grab it, then double-back and fall down to
grab the Sword Upgrade. Continuing along the upper path is only going to give
you a headache, as you'll have to drop down into an area full of Laser Spiders,
Larger Ball Bouncers, and Soldiers. That's no fun, so take it 1 step at a time
and you'll end up surviving the encounter!
°°°All right, so you've decided to take the lower route. Good. First off, if
you did not go along the upper area first, then the Soldier above is going to
rebound off of the left wall and turn to run at you. I would suggest pausing
to kill this buffoon before you move onward; failing to do so will put you in a
bad position as the Laser Spider will pin you down with its laser while the
Soldier rushes you. Oh boy, isn't THAT fun? Grab the Sword Upgrade and
demonstrate the power of an improved weapon, ok kids?
~~~~~Stage 5-2B~~~~~
°°°This is a rather easy stage, especially if you have the Sword Upgrade (which
I don't know why you would skip). Simply climb the walls, jump-slash anything
in your way, and at the top simply wait until the Spider Drones aren't next to
the edge when you jump down and attack the Ground Turrets. Don't forget that
you can destroy the bullets fired by those turrets, so there's no fancy dancing
required to avoid 'em. Presto, nothing too difficult to figure out on your
own!
~~~~~Stage 5-2C~~~~~
°°°...and the last stage was simply foreshadowing what was going to come, eh?
Here we have a long bridge, with enemies constantly dropping in all around you.
The difficulty of the bridge, however, is that it disappears once you start
running on it, forcing you to continue moving across without stopping for too
long. As long as you keep a cool head, though, you can survive the bridge
without even encountering much danger. Keep running to the left, slashing the
soldiers in your way. The items above you - especially the 1-up - are meant to
entice you into jumping, which is where the Sky Drones will get you. However,
there is also a conveniently placed Invincible Fire Wheel Art on the bridge,
which you can then initiate and simply walk through everything else you see.
~~~~~Stage 5-2D~~~~~
°°°Once again, this is a rather lax stage, with situations that aren't too
difficult to work around. I feel I should mention the Health Bottle that is a
little ways up in the stage, which - if necessary - is a welcome sight for sore
eyes (and wounds). More Eye Orbs litter the walls, but you don't even have to
bother attacking them (for the most part)...just jump around them and work your
way to the top.
~~~~~Stage 5-2E~~~~~
°°°Well, it was bound to happen - more Laser Spiders and the return of the
"Insect"; it isn't known as an Insect anymore, though, despite the similar
flight style. No, this thing looks like a helicopter prop was slapped onto a
world globe. Whatever the case, you'll get your first taste of one if you rush
blindly towards the Laser Spider on the ledge just past the door. Instead,
take a couple of steps onto the ledge to trigger the Globecopter, then drop
back left and eradicate it before continuing on.
°°°You see the Orange Ninpo that was just beyond that Laser Spider? Wellsir,
don't get it just yet...instead, walk towards it. This triggers a Laser Spider
to fall down behind you; kill it and THEN get the Ninpo. See, it's playing
safe!
°°°Another jump and another Laser Spider await you, as well as a red Wave-
Floater, a red Ninja...and a Laser Spider that is about to fall off of the
ledge and join the melee. Crouch the laser from the first spider and chop
through the Ninja's knees, then take out the 2 drones as soon as the laser
passes. From there, turn around, take out the Wave-Floater...and for good
measure, jump and take out the Ninja on the upper level, too. That'll teach
'em!
°°°Further along this path will trigger a Soldier from the left, and another
Laser Spider on the floor. You can get rid of this guy before he can shoot a
laser, so there aren't too many worries about catching an eyeful. There's
another high wall with a Laser Spider on top of it, so I would suggest you
allow it to fall down to your level before massacring it. All that's left of
this stage is to drop down in front of the door, taking care not to land on one
of the two Laser Spiders down there, and finish out the level!
_________________________
___________~F~ Act 6: Subspace Rift___________________________________________
=========================
Plot: Ryu succeeded in destroyed his evil Bio-noid Clone, and now stands
before Foster, ready to confront him about his evil deeds. However,
from the background comes laughter, as Clancy steps forward and
congratulates you and Irene on your work. Even Foster is confused by
this turn of events, as Clancy informs you all that he intends to keep
the ruins for himself. Greedy for the secrets of the Life Energy and
the powers it can bestow upon people, he enters the rift...and Foster,
seeking to stop him, enters as well. However, Foster is ripped apart
by the sheer power of the Subspace Rift; thus, Ryu opts to enter
(stopping Irene from going, since it would probably kill her as well).
Thus, Ryu enters this strange portal, not knowing what he may face...
Scroll: Yes (Stage 6-2A, along the left wall)
Boss: Mutated Foster
~~~~~Stage 6-1A~~~~~
Subspace has 2 forms that Ryu must pass through: a crystalline passage where
familiar enemies exist (and were probably spawned) and the crystal-like ground
of the first section is slick enough to cause Ryu to slide, and a less-
corporeal area where Ryu sinks into the ground unless he takes care to stay
aloft. Well, let's get to it!
Ooh, and something to keep in mind - when you run somewhere on the Crystal,
you'll slide; however, if you jump, you'll land and there will be no sliding at
all. Thus, if you need a more precise stopping point, just jump.
°°°When you each the end of the first bar (the one you see when you first
enter), stop so that the jumping soldier doesn't end up tackling you in midair.
Continue to the middle of this Crystal platform, allowing the Soldiers beneath
to run along their merry little ways (without crossing paths with you), then
drop down to the lower level.
°°°When you hit the small platform jumps, you'll want to halt before making the
first of such leaps - remember the lava pools in Stage 2, with the spurts that
would rain down on you? Well, those happen to be here as well. Try to
position yourself so that you'll be in between the falling bits, then continue.
Jumping onto this platform, you'll quickly encounter another soldier, as well
as another splotch of lava. Kill the soldier, dodge the lava, and stick around
on the platform so you can take care of the Wave-Floater so that it doesn't
become a problem.
°°°The next platform has another Soldier (left) and Wave-Floater (right) coming
at you, which I would suggest waiting to kill instead of blitzing past. Once
gone, jump and hang onto the bar, then flip up and crush the 2 ninjas (Ninji?
Octopus, Octopi?). Following this bar is a small platform with another Ninja
on it; jump down, slashing him, then immediately jump back to the bar to
effectively take care of the Globecopter coming up from below. Aside from
that, there is nothing left of this area to challenge you.
~~~~~Stage 6-1B~~~~~
You start this area out by falling a good, long distance. It really shouldn't
come as much of a surprise that you must then climb back up the middle,
contending with purple flyers along the left and right walls and the occasional
irritation from directly above.
°°°Careful when you leap onto the 2nd bar up, as a Purple Flyer from the right
will come screaming at you. Slash him before he becomes a problem, eh? Now,
when you go to jump up to the next level, hold jump and immediately hold DOWN
on the control pad; this will prevent Ryu from grabbing onto the bar above him.
If he does grab onto the bar, then the Flyer on the right will crash right into
him; however, jumping without grabbing will flag the flyer without the physical
damage, and will allow you to deal with him, the Flyer on the left, and the
soldier above in a more timely fashion.
°°°The next 2 platforms are crystal, which means you'll be sliding on them if
you try to walk. As you might guess, both of them have their own respective
Flyers (the right one from the right, the left one from the left), so stop and
dispatch them both. The 2nd one has its own trap involved, though, due to the
sliding on the crystal - in order to stop, you have to either walk in the
opposite direction (and halt your progress, but probably get hit by the flyer),
slide right off, or jump...and once again, the game tricks you with another
overhang. Jumping here will cause you to grab onto another ledge, which has
its very own Flyer to irritate you once you latch on. Thus, if you're going to
slide off, you can jump...but make sure you hold DOWN when you do.
°°°The rest of this stage is more timing-based than anything. Jump up next to
the soldier on the bar above (go for the far left side, so you don't become
sandwiched), then take out the Flyer moving in behind him. Above this is
another platform, which I suggest you jump up on the left side so as to avoid
leaping onto another enemy soldier. Kill this soldier, destroy the Flyers on
the left and right side ofyou, and swat down the Sky Drones before you jump
down the right-side passage to get to the door. Oh, and do be careful when you
jump, since that crystal is awfully sharp. You don't want to land on it, it'll
hurt!
~~~~~Stage 6-1C~~~~~
°°°Careful! The first drop-off here has another lava spurt, so crouch and hope
you don't get hit! After that, THEN jump over and dice the ninja.
°°°You see that bar above, with the Goo underneath? Good. Jump to the
platform beneath it, landing on the edge (so you won't get hit by the shots it
fires). Now you can safely destroy the Wave-Floater on the right, and either
kill the approaching Soldier from the left or climb up onto the bar and allow
him to pass underneath.
°°°The next bar you find will have a pair of Globecopters fly up from
underneath. The funny thing about their flight pattern is that it really isn't
very threatening...they criss-cross their paths, one of them coming up from the
left (kill it) while the other comes from the right (also kill it). They
arrive at your level too far out to be effective, so you can destroy them both
without any frustration.
°°°The platform after this bar has 2 soldiers rushing you as soon as you land
(the first running, the second jumping). I am not impressed, and neither
should you...so just kill 'em and move on. Further along the platform, a new
Soldier will come from behind and another will jump in from the right; once
again, kill them both for their stupidity.
°°°After the next bar is a small platform with a red Ninja on it. Jump down to
kill him...and this triggers another Globecopter. Oh well...jump to the next
platform and drop the Turret as soon a it opens to fire, then turn and kill
ol' Globey as it flies at you from the left. Finally, there will be another
soldier coming at you from the left...but he can't possibly catch you, so
ignore him and keep running to get to...
~~~~~Stage 6-2A~~~~~
Remember that part where I talked about the strange, area where you could sink
into the ground? Well, you've just stepped into it (ha ha ha). Despite this
area's disturbing look (it resembles intertwining intestines), you shouldn't
find yourself having too much trouble...that is, unless you're jumping too much
and aren't paying attention to where you're landing.
°°°Unlike the floor, the walls are perfectly fine for climbing, so start out
the stage by moving up the right-side wall and jumping to the small patch
of...uh...STUFF above you. The black portion next to it is actually a pitfall,
which you can fall through (back down to the bottom), so jump over it and move
through the partition in the middle of the screen. Here you'll encounter 2
Ball Bounders, which you should remove ASAP.
°°°Ninpo Scroll Alert! Climb up the left wall, past the first break (where the
Skull Soldiers are) up to the second level is. Wait until the Skull Soldier on
this level (that's right, there's another one) moves toward the right, then
jump down and slash him. This will trigger the Sky Drones above (if they
weren't triggered before), so jump and slice them out of the sky before they
can become a threat (this will probably also cause the Scroll to fall onto
you...no problems with that, though). You'll also see a Pulsating Mass on the
ledge to the right (there's another pitfall, so jump over it), which is just
ITCHING to be hacked in half. Jump over (make sure it has already fired off
its shots before you jump) and kill it, then continue on to the wall. If you
want the Orange Ninpo, drop down and grab it...but be wary of what might be
down there.
°°°The remainder of this area is fairly easy, actually - on the next ledge up,
jump up and hack through the Pulsating Mass and Skull Soldier. Now, you'll
have to jump soon to avoid getting sucked down, so do so...and you'll end up
triggering the Sky Drones above you. Don't worry, they won't be a danger just
yet - continue moving left, take care of the remaining Mass, and jump onto the
wall. Scale the wall all the way up to the top, skipping that other junk on
the right, and then jump your way to the door. You don't need to deal with
anything, and 1 lousy Blue Ninpo is NOT worth the effort you'd put into getting
it.
~~~~~Stage 6-2B~~~~~
°°°Unfortunately, it's a horizontal stage, which means you'll have to do more
jumping just to make sure you don't die. Actually, the area isn't too
difficult for the most part, practically giving you an Art of Fire Wheel, an
Orange Ninpo, and a Sword Upgrade with no challenge toward getting them.
°°°So you've gone halfway through the stage and you see that 1-up hanging
around in the middle of the ceiling...and you don't know how to get it. Man,
didn't you just get the Art of Fire Wheel? Jump back left (if you have to) and
fire off a round, then collect the goodie as it falls to the platform beneath.
°°°The 2 platforms after this can be a little difficult, if you're not paying
attention. First off, you need to move forward enough to cause the Skull
Soldier to appear...then all you have to do is wait for him to move to the far
side (so you have room to jump), leap and slash, then take out the drones
overhead. Sure, if you're rushing through this area then you might have a
problem, but...why are you rushing? Haven't you learned by now that it's a BAD
thing?
°°°Ok, so you're off of the platforms and back on a larger stretch
of...intestine-based land. Just past the divider is a Ball Bounder...but
surprise, surprise, you've been caught again! When you move past the portion
that connects the top and bottom portions of the screen, 3 more Ball Bounders
and 2 Sky Drones drop in to play. As long as you stay stationary (i.e., don't
jump forward), you can safely destroy these fools and continue on to the boss
fight. Have fun taking down Foster, now in a Mutated Form!
____________________________________
_____________~G~ Act 7: The Ancient Ship of Doom______________________________
====================================
Plot: ...and Ryu has passed through the rift. He stands within a highly-
technological room, but his attention is drawn to the voice behind him
- Clancy, now showing a bluish skin color and an evil look in his
eyes, is impressed that Ryu survived the trip. "You're just a little
too late," Clancy says with a grin. "I've already made the energy
mine. I'll show the world the power of these ruins." He continues:
"Do you have any idea what these ruins really are? We're still inside
the ruins!! We're inside a dimensional warship!"
Clancy explains that these ruins are the foundation from which he will
create a new world, and decides to demonstrate the power of the
Warship by destroying a hefty section of the landscape. He then
informs Ryu about a new age is beginning...and he isn't to be
included. With that, a secret door appears beneath Ryu, and he falls
outside of the ship, landing on a metallic rung. Ryu must return to
the interior of the ship and stop Clancy!
Scroll:
Boss: Clancy (Form 1), Clancy (Form 2), Ancient Security Robot
~~~~~Stage 7-1A~~~~~
Congrats, you've reached the final section of the game. I'm sure it's been a
trip...and now, it's only going to get harder. Let's not waste time, so get to
it!
°°°The wind outside of the ship is constantly forcing Ryu back (i.e., to the
Right), which makes his running and jumping a little difficult. You just have
to learn to deal with it, I'm afraid. Also, you can grab onto the bottom of
the catwalk, so if you need to, drop down (and hold up) to avoid an enemy or
two.
°°°Stop at the edge of the first jump to trigger the Wave-Floater, then wait
for it to swing along for you to kill it. If you don't, then you're going to
have your hands full when the Globecopter and Turret show up. Jumping over
this gap will cause the Globecopter to rise up and the Turret (on the left) to
start firing. Getting out this one is simple, as you can jump straight up to
avoid the 'copter and it will sail right off of the screen. Now, rush the
turret and destroy it, then take out the Soldier creeping up from behind.
°°°Next up, you'll notice a bar near the top of the screen. Shortly prior to
it, you'll see an Art of Fire Dragon orb...and this, once again, is
foreshadowing the upcoming danger. Now, there are a couple of ways to get out
of this situation unscathed.
1) Jump up onto the bar and immediately rush left, slashing the Turret as
soon as its gate opens. The foreshadowing pays off here, where 2
Globecopters slowly loft up from the bottom of the screen. By
immediately going after the turret, you place yourself somewhat between
the 'copters as they rise (if necessary, you can run a little bit further
left to widen the gap). This allows you enough room to slash the one on
the right (it reaches your height first), then turn and destroy the 2nd
one before it can reach you. However, there is also a 2nd turret that is
on this bar, and by now it will have released a pair of projectiles; you
can either destroy these, or simply drop to a hang and climb underneath,
flipping up in front of it to destroy it.
2) You can run towards the Turret, flagging the Globecopters, then
immediately run back to the Right and jump down to the lower Bar. From
this vantage, you may safely dispose of the 2 'copters, then return to
the Turrets and dismantle those as well.
3) Same as #1, except you time a jump so that one of the Globecopters on
your X-Axis flies up and off of the screen. You are so high that they
are unable to stay level with you, and inadvertently elude themselves
right out of existance. However, this does not actually destroy them,
and so if you were to rescroll the screen back to their flag-points
again, they would be regenerated. You have to actually destroy them for
the flag to be removed (or simply avoid that flag altogether, whichever
is easier).
°°°The next higher-level bar you come across is ominously devoid of enemies.
Drop down to the small platform after it, then run forward until the Soldier is
triggered. Dispatch this rushing fool, then walk to the very edge of this
little platform to flag the Globecopter. It will float up, slow enough for you
to jump straight up and have it end up on your right side. You now have the
safety to destroy it at your leisure.
°°°The next small bar has an Art of Fire Dragon above it. Grabbing it,
however, flags a Soldier from the right and a Globecopter from the upper-left.
I've found that, while it is possible to get right of the soldier and still
have time to jumpslash the 'copter before it can harm you, the safer solution
is avoiding a direct confrontation. Drop to the underside of the bar and hang
there until the Soldier runs past, then flip up and destroy the 'copter as it
flies at you. From here, you can simply let the Soldier run straight off of
the screen and not worry about 'em anymore.
°°°When jumping to the next bar , you will trigger another Globecopter (gosh,
aren't these guys annoying?) in midjump. Thankfully, you should be able to
adequately clear it, grabbing the Blue Ninpo in midair. You have just enough
time to turn and dispose of it before it can become an issue, then shift your
focus to the turret on the other side of the bar. I enjoy the hang-to-flip
maneuver, avoiding the projectiles until you are right in it's face.
°°°The next bar has a Red Ninja (which you can dispatch by standing at the very
edge of this bar and slicing 'em as he walks to the edge of his own). However,
shortly past this Ninja is another Turret, and jumping from bar to bar will
cause a Soldier to appear from the right. I suggest you kill the Ninja, then
jump out just far enough to trigger the Soldier...then immediately hold right,
landing on the first bar again (not the one with the turret), dropping to the
underside as the Soldier runs past. Move far enough to the right so that the
Turret disappears from the screen, thus halting any more projectiles (until you
move back Left again). Once the soldier is clear, run back left, jump across,
and destroy the turret as soon as it opens. Sure, this may be a bit time-
consumning, but it's better than taking a bunch of unnecessary hits!
°°°Finally, the last Bar (near the top) has the door, a Turret in front of the
door, and a Globecopter floating up from the bottom of the screen. Since, at
this point, time is of the essense, I suggest not even bothering with these
two. Just jump over the Turret and enter the door.
~~~~~Stage 7-2A~~~~~
Welcome back to the inside of the Ancient Ship of Doom. Here is where you will
find the greatest ratio of enemies-to-screen, with more opponents bothering you
than flies at a picnic. Swat those you can, but remember that time is going to
become important very, very shortly. If you played the previous area quickly,
it might have taken you 30-40 seconds. You only have 250 seconds all-told to
get through the entire area and 3 bosses, which means in all likelyhood there
will be at least 1 death. Hopefully you've built up a nice reserve of extra
lives, 'cause this stage is going to drain you of them. Don't let it get to
your nerves, though, or else you'll NEVER survive the game.
°°°Immediately after entering, run to the right wall, climbing up to the first
platform, then jump onto it (triggering the 4 Sky Drones). You really can't
afford to stop and waste time with these ninnies, so jumpslash the one that
appears at centerscreen, then crouch on the upper platform and take out the
upper-left one. From here, jump up to the right platform (that extends to the
wall), taking out the Spider Drone in the process. If it's far enough over,
then you can simply ignore it, but it's usually going to be right in your way.
°°°Leaping off of the right wall to reach the next platform, you will be able
to see an Art of Fire Wheel (on the platform below you and on the left, next to
a Turret), as well as an Orange Ninpo. I wouldn't suggest bothering with the
Fire Wheel, and the Ninpo isn't a necessity either (you will get another one in
a much safer location shortly). Take out the Turret on the next platform up
(in the middle of the screen); jumping to this platform triggers 2 to 3 Purple
Flyers on the walls (1 on the left, 2 on the right...sometimes the left-side
one doesn't show up). You can actually ignore all of them, much as you did the
lower 2 Sky Drones in the beginning of the stage.
°°°From this vantage point, jump straight up to trigger the Skull Soldiers on
the left and right platforms (sometimes they don't appear; this is good for
you). Jumpslash either one (I would suggest the upper-left one, since it puts
you in the vantage point to grab a Blue Ninpo and you won't have to deal with
the right-side Flyer), then jump straight up again. This will trigger the next
platform's Skull Soldier and a weird, jumping creature (kinda looks like a
Praying Mantis). Jumpslash them both, then leap up to this platform.
°°°You notice that Art of Fire Dragon orb above this platform? Yeah, that's
foreshadowing. Jumping up to get it will flag 4 more Sky Drones (these guys
don't always appear, which is a definite plus for you); if they appear, stop to
destroy them, and if not...well, good! Jump to the Right Wall, above the
electricity field (careful jump!), then climb up until the platform above you
triggers the Skull Soldier. By now, you'll be able to see the Turret on the
Left, 2 more drones will have popped up from below, and a Purple Flyer will
have entered from the Left. There are a few ways to get through this,
depending on how much time you want to spend dealing with it, if you're willing
to take a hit, if you want to use the Fire Dragon you (probably) just picked
up, and what enemies show up.
Let's assume all enemies have appeared and you don't want to use any
Ninpo...then what? Well, start off by waiting for the Skull Soldier to move
far enough left for you to jumpslash, putting you onto his platform (and
putting him out of his misery). By now, the drones will be closing in, so all
you have to do is run off the left side of the platform, between the drones and
onto the lower platform where you can safely dispose of them. (It would be
good to time this so that you don't end up falling onto any shots fired by the
Turret.) Now, destroy them, jump back up, run over to the turret and destroy
it, then run underneath the Purple Flyer and exit this area. If you do manage
to take a hit by something (say, the projectiles), use the temporary
invincibility you have while flashing to run through everything and just get to
the door. Hey, it works for me!
~~~~~Stage 7-2B~~~~~
°°°Guess who's back? That's right, it's the Insects! No longer appearing as
floating amalgams of Geography and Aerodynamics (Globecopters), you are forced
to deal with mechanical representations of bugs! Joy...and the first one
you'll encounter will appear when you cross halfway along the small rise in the
first portion of this stage (before the level where the soldier is). Jumpslash
this pest, then run to the very edge of the rise to flag another one from the
right. Turn and dispose of this one as well, then drop down and coup de grace
the Soldier. Fun, eh?
°°°Despite its odd appearance, the machine you see on the Bar above you is
actually a form of Turret - this one, however, fires off balls of energy
instead of pellets...and that's about the only difference. You still have to
wait for it to open up its firing mechanism before you can destroy it, so wait
until it does before swinging wildly. Be careful when grabbing the Orange
Ninpo next to the electrical grate on the left, too...if you move too far over,
you'll get hurt just trying to grab it! I would also suggest getting that
Sword Powerup, since you will definitely require it to survive this stage.
Crossing underneath the bar, you'll encounter another Insect from below. You
barely have enough time to hand-over-hand past the electricity above, then leap
up and destroy the Insect before it can hit you. You'll probably want to grab
that Vacuum Wave Art, too, since there will be enemies coming up that attack
from above and below.
°°°You see the bar in the middle of the screen? Wellsir, when you jump to it,
you'll trigger 2 Sky Drones to appear from the top of the screen. Since they
automatically drop to your level, I suggest you jump onto the bar as high as
possible, then immediately jump back and destroy the upper-right one. You can
then wait a little bit until the Left one will move within striking distance,
then leap out and hack through the bar to destroy it. From here, climb
straight down onto the platform, killing the Soldier before you land (make sure
he moves left before dropping down; if you don't, he could hit you and send you
off the bottom of the screen for an instant death).
°°°All right, moving up the left side of this pillar will bring forth a Turret
on the top of the left platform, as well as 2 more Sky Drones from the bottom
of the screen. Since there aren't any enemies approaching from the top of the
screen, you can safely head up and land in front of the Turret, destroying it.
Move further left until you can see the Soldier on the platform across the way,
and wait until he moves left (so that you can leap out and kill him). This
will trigger 2 more Drones, these from the top of the screen; jump and take out
the upper-left one, then wait on the remaining ones and slash them.
°°°From here, you get to deal with the oh-so-wonderful moving bar below. The
problem with the this bar (and the one following it) is the electrical grates
blocking your passage. You'll have to maneuver around them, above and below
the bar, then jump to the upper bar and do the same before you can safely leap
to safer ground). I have 2 ways of safely getting past these annoyances
without taking any (probably deadly) hits.
1) Position your wary Ninja on the right side of the platform, then wait
for the bar beneath you to start heading left (have your rear foot at the very
edge of the ledge). Since you can jump a little bit faster (laterally) than
the bar travels, you'll want it to be be ahead of you so that you don't
overshoot it and plummet. If you jump left from here, you should be able to
pass between the electric bars on the upper track and the set just above the
lower track.
2) If your timing is all right, then this way might prove to be a little
easier for you... Perch yourself on the left side of the wall (where the
Windmill Star and Turret were located on top of), and wait for the bar to pull
as far right as it can go. Jump to it, then immediately hop over the first set
of electric bars. Following this, you can either hop over the next set, or you
can drop to a hang, then leap back up onto the bar after you pass underneath
the hostile environs.
After these, you'll have to contend with the upper bar; the important thing to
remember is that it is far, far safer to hang beneath the bar and flip up after
it begins moving left. By doing so, you won't have to worry about being run
into the Electric Wall on the right side of the track.
°°°Ok, so you see the 1-Up, and you want it. No problem, just jump out and
grab it...and you'll also take out an Insect in the process! Great! Now,
don't fret as you land on the small platform, as the Soldier on it is almost
always on the Left Side, which gives you enough room to land and kill him.
Pause after this (don't jump up and grab the Blue Ninpo), since the 2 Running
Aliens will be falling overhead and down into the pit. As long as you don't
jump, you won't be in any danger. Still, just to be safe, you might as well
move a little bit to the left...and crouch, if you're THAT insecure.
°°°Hey, you see that bar? The one with the Soldier on it? Wellsir, if you
grabbed the Sword Upgrade (which you SHOULD have), then you can jumpslash the
lower-ranking Military fool once he moves far enough right. If not, then
that's ok; just jump and hang from beneath, then leap up between the 2 Soldiers
patrolling the top of the Bar. I would suggest you kill the one on the Right
first, since an Insect will be coming from that direction as well (and you can
get 'em both in 1 slash). If you want, you can jump up and take out the one on
the left, then turn and get the 2 on the right...but whatever, man, you get the
gist of it.
°°°Hey, the door is just past this bar! However, don't leap after it just
yet...instead, walk to the left end of the bar, triggering the Insect from
below, then kill it. From here, you can leap the Soldier in front of the door
and run right past him.
~~~~~Stage 7-2C~~~~~
°°°A vertical climb, with the walls lined with electrical goodies. Oh
boy...looks like it's platform-hopping for you, Ryu! Start off by leaping on
top of the left Lift, then leap to the platform on the right. 2 Insects will
then fly up after you, which both can be temporarly delayed by jumping straight
up (causing them to pass beneath you). Careful, though, as you might
accidentally cling to the underside of the Lift beneath you; this won't help
much, so drop off. 1 of the 2 Insects will then elude itself by flying
straight off the Right, while the other will double-back from the left; I would
suggest destroying it before progressing upward.
°°°Leaping to the Diagonally-travelling Lift, an Insect will fly at you from
the left. Destroy it, then continue to ride the platform until you see the
Turret on the upper-right platform open up. This is your time to jumpslash it,
landing safely on the platform, grabbing the Orange Ninpo above it, and even
safely leaping over the 2nd Insect to appear during that platform's path. You
are now free to turn back left and destroy this Insect as well.
°°°The next platform will have 2 Insects coming from opposite sides in rapid
succession, meaning you'll have to kill the one on the left quickly before the
2nd one has a chance to hit you (you can't leap either of them, so it's out-
and-out physical confrontation here). Finally, there's 1 more jump to the
platform on the Left, which takes you up to the level with the door, a Soldier,
and another Insect from the upper-left. You can actually outrun this Insect,
but it's always good to be sure that you won't be hassled...so turn and destroy
it before moving on.
~~~~~Stage 7-2D~~~~~
°°°Yes, this stage DOES have a bit of an awkward "no-enemy" introductory
section. That's what is meant to throw you off - by now haven't you learned to
expect something like this? This entire first section is meant to get you into
a position where you will be forced to take a hit SOMEWHERE...so let's see what
we can do to avoid that. Moving forward towards the Soldier on the bottom
floor will cause 3 Ball Bounders and 3 Sky Drones to fall from above. As soon
as they fall, take a quick step back left in between 2 of the bounders (you
have plenty of room), then take out the 2 Bounders on the Right and keep moving
(you'll also get the Soldier, too, so there aren't too many worries here).
Jumpslash the Orange Ninpo (and a Sky Drone), then leap to the Right Wall.
Since you continue moving, this gives the Rocket Cart above you very little
time to try and fire off any shots at you. That's a good thing, trust me.
Leap up off of the right wall onto the level above, where a Ball Bounder will
be in mid-jump towards the right. Nail this guy with a midair slash, then turn
around and take out the Rocket Cart with another jumping slice. You will have
eluded 1 of the Sky Drones, but the other will be in hot persuit...so crouch-
slash this one, then (finally) jump up and grab the Health Bottle. After all
you've been through, this is a VERY welcome sight.
°°°Ok, so you see the Vacuum Wave art with the Ball Bounder beneath it.
Wellsir, you know that they always start out Bounding to the right, right?
That's your chance to drop down and kill it before it can head left and hit
you; furthermore, you might as well continue right and take out the next one as
well before it can become a nuisance as well. This will trigger a one-of-a-
kind enemy, the Face-Shield...and you'll probably end up destroying it with the
same Swipe that takes out the 2nd Ball Bounder. Oh well, it's not like this
guy is special or anything...it only appears once!
°°°Keep running to the right, leaping onto the Wall and immediately jumping
back up-left so you can destroy those 2 Rocket Carts on the above platform.
You don't want these guys making your life any worse, and besides...if you keep
running, you won't have to worry about the Aliens closing in from the Left.
Also, the 2 carts will have launched their salvos towards the Left (after
you've run underneath), giving you time enough to destroy them before another
Volley can come forth.
°°°After the Platform with the Blue Ninpo above it (to the right of the
platform the Rocket Carts were on), keep running and land on the Bar in front
of you. This will trigger another Rocket Cart on the bar, which should be
immediately destroyed. Now, drop to a hang beneath this bar, climbing over to
the Soldier on the platform in front of you; once he has moved far enough over,
drop down and kill him, then wait for the next Soldier to move far enough right
for you to jump to his platform and dispatch him as well. This gives you the
opportunity to grab a 1-up, something that you'll definitely need...after all,
you're most likely going to run out of time in this stage. Also, by
immediately dropping to a hang you will avoid the Running Aliens above, saving
you more precious health.
°°°Double-back to the bar, leap up, and head right to find the next Stage.
Now, if you die (which you probably will), you won't start all the way back at
the beginning of Stage 7-2.
~~~~~Stage 7-3A~~~~~
Welcome to the final leg of your journey, one that is quite the thorny path (ha
ha). The background has changed to a Bluish one, with White being the color of
the platforms...and the spikes the protrude from the walls, floor, and ceiling.
Safe landing areas are few and far between, while enemies are aplenty...and
seeking to drive you onto an (impending) impailing doom. Whee!!! Good luck,
mate...you'll need it.
°°°The spikes all along the edges here will retract back into the walls after a
set amount of time, then shoot back out after another pause. The first set, on
the Righthand wall, can be scaled past as soon as they disappear...but if
you're not comfortable with making such a quick climb, you can also leap to the
Right Wall, then wait for them to slide away before continuing. The 2nd set on
the Right Wall should be waited on, so that you can climb up to their
temporarily-vacant spot before leaping to the Left. Jumpslash the Skull
Soldier on this area, then grab all the goodies you see. Don't forget to
destroy the Orb Eye and Blob, so that you don't have to deal with any
projectiles either.
°°°You see the bar, right, the one with the Goo beneath? Well, jumping onto it
is (of course) going to trigger a few enemies, this time a trio of Sky Drones.
Take out the above one, then immediately drop back down to the previous spot
(where the Skull Soldier was), allowing you more room to take out the 2 lower
drones. Falling will cause the Purple Flyer to enter from the Right, on
roughly the same level as the above Bar; jump up and destroy it as well, then
wait on the spikes on the left to disappear. I don't just mean the Right side
of the Left wall (the spikes that almost extend to the Bar you're standing on),
I mean the far left Wall (on the edge of the screen). Trust me, you'll want to
be over there.
°°°After scaling this thing to the top, you'll see another Bar with Goo beneath
and a Skull Soldier on top, as 3 Sky Drones enter from the below the bar and
another comes from the Right. You can simply wait on the 3 beneath and crouch-
slash them, then destroy the last one as it comes toward you. Finally, wait
for the last section of Spikes to retract before leaping to the door.
~~~~~7-3B~~~~~
Ooh, you are going to LOVE this place!
°°°All right, so you're on the bar a short walk from the entry door, yes? I
hope I don't need to tell you that waiting to take out the Globecopter (yeah,
it's back to THOSE things) is a good idea. Leap to the next platform,
destroying the Ninja as you land...and you'll notice that the block you're on
immediately starts to disappear, just like the Bridge from Stage 5-2. This is
meant to make you panic and rush into danger, trust me. Jump and take out the
'copter behind you, then jump and land on the last Block of this decomposing
bridge. This will trigger 1 more 'copter from the right, which leaves you
enough time to destroy it and take a running leap for the wall on the Right
before the block beneath you disappears. Great!
°°°The next bar you see - apparently every single bar you find is going to be
dangerous - is followed by another set of blocks that disappear when you land
one 'em. Jump down and kill the Ninja, then jump to the first block of the
next set, slashing the Wave-Floater as you go. While on this single block,
it's safe to jump (almost) straight up and land on the block right next to it,
allow the incoming Globecopter to pass beneath you and elude itself right off
the screen. Jumping to the first block of the next pair will yield another
one; this one you will have just enough time to destroy it, landing on the next
block (much the same as the previous set), and jump to the next group of
disappearing blocks.
°°°Are we having fun yet? No? Oh well...kill the first Ninja on this set of
blocks, then jump-slash the incoming Globecopter and Blue Ninpo at the same
time. When you land, take out the next Ninja on the platform, then move to the
3rd block from the end of this bridge. This will trigger another Globecopter,
this one from the upper-left, which you should destroy before leaping to the
Bar above you.
°°°Leaping to this bar brings for 2 more 'copters (from beneath), so
immediately jump up and kill the Ninja, landing between the 2 'copters, before
you destroy them. Finally, leap down to the platform in front of the door,
killing the Ninja in front of it for his insolence...and continue on!
~~~~~7-3C~~~~~
°°°Wait for the spikes on the right wall to retract, then leap off of the wall
and onto the bar in the middle. From this vantage, jump to the platform in the
upper-left, then (once again) wait on the spikes to disappear before continuing
up. Simple enough, yes?
°°°Once you leap off of the left wall and onto the small safe area (with the
Orange Ninpo above it), I really should suggest that you make sure you are far
enough away from the wall so that the returning spikes don't catch you in the
back. Hey, it's happened to me before, so there's no sense in letting it
happen to you. I'm here to help, remember?
°°°Ok, so you slashed the Orange Ninpo and the Sky Drone...now what? Well, you
can wait for the next one to come into range, then leap up onto the bar above
and take out the Goo (watch out for projectiles!), then leap up onto the bar
and destroy the soldier as well. This, of course, is going to trigger more Sky
Drones - three, to be exact - whom you'll want to get rid of before
progressing. Remember, you can actually jump through the ceiling (provided
there aren't any Spikes in the way), so you can actually position yourself so
that you are jumping straight up THROUGH the spike-covered column when
destroying the 2 top Drones. There are 2 above this bar, and the left-side one
gives you a better vantage. After this, crouch-slash the remaining drone, then
wait on the spikes so you can leap up and onto the small Spike-Free area on top
of the right Column.
Note - to make leaping onto these columns easier, you can jump straight up,
then hold left (or right) to guide Ryu onto the wall. No sense in
attempting a horizontal jump that, if missed, will send you into a wall full
of tooth-like protrusions.
°°°All right, raise your hand if you did NOT correctly guess that 2 Insects
would come a-buzzin' at you once you jumped to this small No-Spike area.
Anyone? Oh well...jump straight up to avoid one, then destroy the other. Got
it? Oh, and this will trigger 2 Sky Drones in the upper-left; you can wait on
them, if you'd like. It does make things safer, after all.
°°°Jump up to the bar on the left, killing the Soldier as you leap, then wait
on the 2 Drones from below. It's safer to get rid of 'em now than to try and
outrun them, trust me. Now, all you have to do is wait on the spikes, climb to
the very top of the Left Wall (as far as you can go), then leap back right,
taking out the Insect as you go, then dispatch the 2 Soldiers and run for the
door!
~~~~~Stage 7-3D~~~~~
Thankfully, the last bit of the final Stage (that's this section, in case you
didn't know) isn't too terribly difficult...but it does have a couple of
sections that almost feel like they are guaranteed damage towards your hapless
hero. This isn't true, so let's see if I can't guide you to safety past these
Uncharted Waters, eh?
°°°Scale the first 2nd bar, waiting just long enough for the Skull Soldier to
move to the Right (giving you enough room to drop down and kill him).
Immediately move to the right side of this small landing, which will cause a
Sky Drone to drop in on both sides of the above bar (and, more importantly, you
can immediately elude the Laser Spider that appears on the Left). Should you
not move quickly enough, this Spider will fire off a Laser Bar that will
certainly get in the way of things and make maneuvering quite difficult (that
is, unless you're willing to wait for it to pass...but remember, time is of the
essense!). Jump and take out the 2 Drones before leaping to the next Bar.
°°°Ok, so this bar will flag 2 more drones, these coming from Below. What're
you gonna do? Well, climb up on top of the bar and drop down to the next
landing, where you will have enough room to take out these two pests. I would
suggest taking out the Skull Soldier as you land, too...you know, since that's
easier than ignoring him.
°°°You see that Blue Ninpo, just past this 2nd Skull Soldier? Don't grab it,
just walk up beneath it. This will trigger 4 Sky Drones (2 on each side), as
well as 2 Laser Spiders. Crouch and take out the Spiders, then wait on the
drones and destroy them as well (you'll probably have to continue ducking the
Lasers shot out by the Spiders, so be careful).
°°°Finally, there is 1 more Skull Soldier that you have to "drop in" on, and
past the stage is smooth sailing. Decide which Ninjitsu art you want - Fire
Dragon, Fire Wheel, and Windmill Star all appear here - and then go on to do
battle with the final villains.
~~~~~Indeed~~~~~
Congrats, you've gotten to the bosses of the Ninja Gaiden series! This is not
going to be a picnic, lemme tell ya...but getting this far is a testament to
your gaming abilities, no doubt. Now, finishing off all 3 with 1 life...THAT's
difficult. Let's see you do it without using any Ninjitsu, either!
..ok, don't worry about making the game any harder than it already is. That's
just unfair!
..=-++x,.
x##++x+=++x###
+## =xx++++++X#=
## -Xxx++++++++x#
# #x+====+++++=#
# #+=-x#+x++++++#
# -+-#x- ,,;;;=X# ~Ryu sez: "Good job, yo! You gotta be some sort
# .=############ of super Ninja to do all 'dis, yo! Woo!"
;# =## -+#####-
#.-+#-+-,.. #
# - ++++++##+#
-x#,=+,==+xxx#.
### X ##X;,-##
##- #+x;+###X#.
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
---------------------------V: The Bosses---------------------------
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
Hey, a boss section! If you don't know how to handle a particular boss, then
I'll do what I can to help. That includes what to do with each Ninjitsu art,
by the way, so there's no fretting over "Well, I don't HAVE that art, so what
do I do with the one I DO have?"
___________________
_~A~ Mantis Warrior___________________________________________________________
===================
A greenish-being, humanoid in shape (basically), but sporting 2 large Mantis-
like "blades" on its forearms. The Mantis Warrior has 2 modes: walking forward
with its armblades drawn in, covering its chest, and down so that it may spew
small bursts of flame. These flamebursts travel across the ground, in
intervals slow enough for Ryu to jump between them. Furthermore, Mantis stops
moving when it is creating these flames, which means you do not have to worry
about it pressuring you any further.
(Man)Handling the Mantis Warrior is rather basic - move in close, wait for him
to drop his arms, slash him a couple of times, then jump over the 3 flames. If
you feel confident enough, slash him while jumping over the flames; in this
case, having the Sword Upgrade is major bonus, since you can space yourself
further away and thus have more time to jump over the fire. Keep this up until
he's toasty (ha ha). Now, onto strategies revolving around Ninjitsu abilities.
Windmill Shuriken: Fairly simple - wait 'til it's throwing flame, then toss
a Shuriken down its gullet, jump the fire, and do it again.
Fire Wheel: Wellsir, thankfully the Fire Wheel has somewhat decent
horizontal range...however, you really should have a
different ability than this. Attack much the same as if
you were equipped with the Windmill Shuriken, but get a
little closer before unleashing your flaming fury.
Fire Dragon: Hang on the left wall, wait until he (it?) takes a couple
of steps forward, then pelt 'em as soon as he opens up.
Invincible Wheel: Bah! Not only do you ONLY get 2 uses of this (at max),
but it doesn't keep you invincible versus the fire...and it
immediately disappears after hitting Mantis once...AND it
only does 1 point of damage! This is probably the most
worthless Ninjitsu you could take into this fight! In all
seriousness, I suggest you not even ATTEMPT to use this
during the fight; just go out with your sword and hack him
down to size.
Vacuum Wave: This is NOT a good Ninjitsu to have; furthermore, just to
have it in this fight you would have to avoid picking up
quite a few items. The only way you can make use of this
is by jumping over the Mantis and hoping it hits him. Since
you'll probably end up trading hits with him doing this,
that means you're in even WORSE condition for having it!
Sword Upgrade: The Dragon Sword gives you that much range, which means you
don't have to get as close when he opens up to release his
ground flames. However, you shouldn't have to worry too
much about getting away from 'em when he moves forward
again, since he's rather slow and doesn't move too far to
begin with.
Preferred Ninjitsu: Fire Dragon. Hang out on the wall, pelt 'em with whatever
you have, then engage with normal weaponry. Sounds good to me, since it gives
you plenty of uses (compared to the others) and it leaves you nice and safe
while attacking. The Windmill Shuriken is good, but the only way you could
have it against him is if you didn't pick up any items along the way; this is
not too terribly difficult to do, but it's a lot easier to progress through the
stage if you hack down all the enemies you see. Sometimes, items get in the
way, and since the last one you can pick up is the Fire Dragon, it makes sense
to have it as your weapon.
________________
___~B~ Night Diver____________________________________________________________
================
Resembing a large, winged machine with a maw and 2 hands, the Night Diver is an
interesting creature to behold and fend off. Suiting the areas previous to
your locating him, the Night Diver enjoyed chucking fireballs at you...although
his flying is something of a quandry, as he is very far from the outdoors and
(logically) would probably not be a creature of flight unless he occasionally
visited the outside.
Regardless, let's talk of how he tries to hurt you. As with any other boss in
the game, physical contact will damage Ryu. Unlike the first boss, where he
moves slow and is generally VERY easy to avoid touching, the Night Flyer enjoys
flitting about the room, flying in a slightly off-kilter wave pattern;
sometimes the apex of his flight is in the middle of the room and near the
bottom, sometimes it is near the ceiling...you get the picture. That's not
all, though, as sometimes ol' Nighty likes to stop and chuck a volley of 5
fireballs down towards the ground. These don't have too terribly large a
spread, though, so you aren't in much danger from them.
You basic gameplan is just as you'd figure - don't stand underneath so that
you're not in danger of being set on fire. What else? Try to avoid getting
pinned in a corner by monitoring his flight plan, moving left (or right) to
keep away from him while he's coasting about. When he's low enough, take a
swing or two at him (preferably if he's stopped to chuck some fire), then move
back so that you don't get hit as he continues up back towards the top of the
screen. It shouldn't be TOO difficult, so let's get to the Ninjitsu abilities;
after all, these make the fight a LOT easier, n'est pas?
Windmill Shuriken: The Windmill Shuriken - although not as difficult to hold
onto as in the previous stage (since you can pick one of
these up prior to the boss battle) - isn't the best
applicable tool against him. It gives you more range in
terms of hitting him, meaning you can distance yourself
further away while pelting him for damage. However, you
still have to wait for him to come down to the ground, and
if you whiff the Shuriken then you either have to try and
boomerang it into him - which can be dangerous, given his
flight plan - or simply grab it and throw another one. A
wasted effort, as it is.
Fire Wheel: Do I even have to explain this one? Ok, then...the Night
Flyer is usually above you and (hopefully) in front of you.
The Art of Fire Wheel travels upwards and in front of you,
and covers a fairly nice spread...thus, walk into the room
and chuck those flames at your airborne nemesis.
Fire Dragon: This isn't TOO bad an art, although it's not my favorite.
Since his flight plan isn't the easiest to follow, this
means you're going to have to use the platforms to your
advantage when the Fire Dragon is in your possession. Wait
until he flies low enough, then lambast him with whatever
you have. It's important to remember that it's much, much
safer to drop to the ground instead of jumping, since
jumping puts you higher in the air and in a less-
maneuverable position. Bad news, especially if you have to
get out of the way when he's a-coming up.
Invincible Wheel: N/A. This doesn't exist in this stage.
Vaccuum Wave: N/A. This doesn't exist in this stage.
Sword Upgrade: By allowing yourself more distance, that gives you an
almost-free range to attack from without fear of being hit
when he hovers back up again. Still, don't be TOO
confident or you might get nudged and still take some
damage.
Preferred Ninjitsu: Fire Wheel, by far. This allows you the freedom to roam
about the room while still retaining the safety of attacking from a distance
and having a good shot at connecting with that attack. Plus, you get the most
number of attacks possible (assuming you have 50 Ninpo, you'll get 6 tosses),
so that's 3/8 of your opponents' life gone. From there, you only need 10 more
slashes to get the job done, and that shouldn't be TOO hard, eh?
__________________
_____~C~ Great Koganei________________________________________________________
==================
A strange, pink creature of sorts, the Great Koganei is a master of the leaping
tuck. While this might not affect you that much, just wait until you meet his
twin brother. The twin, invincible brother. The same brother that likes to
bound about the screen at the same time as the original.
Now, these two don't create much of a problem through their bounding. Granted,
the pools trickles of water on the platforms make it difficult to run and jump
accurately, but their leaping should be the least of your concerns. After
every 3 jumps, this dastardly duo stops where ever they are perched, followed
by the slinging of 3 Windmill-esque Stars. These stars don't boomerang, but
are each tracked to your location at the moment they are thrown. Thus, you
have 6 throwing stars all homing in on where you are, and it's best that you
avoid being hit by those. Following these, they return to their leaping
antics, rebounding off of the walls so as to stay onscreen.
How do you cope with this? Well, first off the only one you can hurt is the
one that starts off on the Right half of the screen. Thus, keep track of this
one; he's the one you should be gunning for. Your best opportunities for
attacking via swordplay are in the middle of his jumps, when he's about to
touch the ground - slash at him during these leaps and you should do fine
enough (when you first enter the room, you can run over and land as many as 6
hits before you have to jump away or become Shuriken fodder).
The most difficult thing about these two, however, is the fact that after a
while one of them will lose the timing that the second one has for throwing.
That is to say, eventually one will be throwing Shurikens while the other is
still jumping, then THAT one will start throwing shurikens...so you'll have
more than just 1 volley to deal with, you'll essentially be avoiding 2 sets of
blades being hurled at your head. No easy feat, what with those two jumping
and the watery platforms impeding your safe jumping.
With a little bit of luck (and the right Ninjitsu art), you should be able to
dismantle these two before they can get to their 4th volley of Shurikens. If
not...then good luck.
Windmill Shuriken: Ironic, eh? It's a big Shuriken Fest, and they are on the
winning team (trust me). However, with the Windmill
Shuriken, you can pelt the damage-able one from much
further away, giving you the ability to concentrate more on
dodging the other jumping fool.
Fire Wheel: Ah, another good fight...see, these guys like to jump at
you. Furthermore, they will sometimes find themselves on
the platforms above you. What does this mean? Duh,
stupid, that means they are right in the way of being set
on fire with your 1337 N1nj4 5k1ll2, yo.
Fire Dragon: Er...well, if you can hold onto one of these by the time
you reach the Great Koganei(s), then good for you - stand
on one of the platforms and pelt them from above, then run
away as those Shurikens come a-calling. However, clinging
to the wall and firing these off isn't the best idea, since
you have to jump down before you can successfully evade
their attacks.
Invincible Wheel: Despite how easy it makes some of this stage, I would NOT
suggest holding onto the Invincible Wheel up to these guys.
You're only looking at 1 point of damage per hit - which
means you only get a lousy 2 points of damage at max Ninpo
- but even worse is the range on it. Finally, you're not
protected from the Shuriken with this equipped, so you
still have to dodge them all. Not a good thing...you'd
best get a better Ninjitsu to suit your needs.
Vacuum Wave: This wouldn't be a bad Ninjitsu to have on hand if there
weren't a few problems with it. First off, there's no
difficulty finding yourself beneath one of these
two...however, you still have to avoid the Shurikens, and
it's better to NOT be directly below one of 'em (meaning
less room to dodge) when the Shuriken come out.
Furthermore, Vacuum Wave costs 10 Ninpo, which means even
your maximum number of uses will only give you 5 shots.
You get more with Fire Dragon or Fire Wheel...and they are
easier to keep ahold of, too (they appear more frequently
towards the end of the stage). I wouldn't suggest trying
to keep this, since it'll just make the entire stage more
of a chore.
Sword Upgrade: Wow...to be honest, the difficulty associated with getting
this sword upgrade actually makes up for itself by how much
easier it makes this fight. By giving you a greater range
of horizontal AND vertical damage, you can hit these two
bounders with a lot more safety. This means you have more
room to book it out of town when the stars start flying at
your head, and that's a definite plus.
Preferred Ninjitsu: Fire Wheel. They jump, which puts them in range. They're
usually above you, which means they're free for attacking. You get 6 tosses
(at max, although you'll probably only have 3-4 when you get here), and - best
of all - it's the last Ninjitsu before the door. You don't have to worry about
holding onto it or anything!
______________
_______~D~ Sandeater__________________________________________________________
==============
Man...honestly, these things don't look THAT weird, but they are pretty iffy
lookin'. Anywho, the Sandeater generally looks like a Turtle wearing a helmet
and sporting a couple of spikes on it's shell. The Sandeater is quite the step
down in terms of difficulty, when compared to the Great Koganei (the previous
boss)...and that's not really a bad thing, given how difficult this game can
be.
The Sandeater has 4 things he does - jump out of the ground, walk slowly across
the ground, burrow back into the ground, and chuck a few volleys of the Art of
Fire Wheel while underground before jumping back up. There are 3 platforms for
you to abuse, which I heartly suggest you do - by getting directly above where
the Sandeater is (throwing the Wheels from), you can pretty well avoid them
entirely; however, following these volleys, he will jump back up from the
ground again, attempting to spike you with the points on his back. Be ready to
jump to the side when he leaps back onscreen, as it is most definitely
hazardous to your health if you do not.
In terms of attacking...just wait for him to hop up, then slowly follow him and
hack away. If you're good, you can knock off 8-10 bars of life in just 1
sitting, then book it up to the roof and avoid the Fire Wheels before moving
off of the platform (where he'll be jumping shortly). Nick the rest of his
life off...and if you have to, go back up for another round. Be careful, as
he alternates between 5 and 3 volleys of Fire Wheel (first round, 5, second
round 3).
Windmill Shuriken: The Windmill Shuriken gives you the luxury of hitting the
Sandeater while remaining closer to a wall, so you can get
up to the top of the screen in a quicker fashion. Works
for me, eh?
Fire Wheel: The Fire Wheel allows you the ability to pelt him as soon
as he jumps, as well as the entire time he is on a
platform. Unfortunately, this time is brief - he quickly
drops back to the ground - so you'll have to make fast use
of it.
Fire Dragon: This should be fairly simple to figure out - he likes to
walk on the ground, so stand high on a platform and hit him
a few times without having to even get near the lout.
Plus, you don't have to run to a platform to avoid the Fire
Wheels - you're already there!
Invincible Wheel: N/A. There isn't one of these in this stage.
Vacuum Wave: One of the last Arts to appear in the stage, the Vacuum
Wave isn't too terribly bad to ahve on hand. When he first
jumps onscreen, the Sandeater lands on a platform. You
have ample time to run beneath that platform and unleash a
few Waves into his underside before hacking at his back,
giving you even more free damage. Heck, since you don't
really need Ninjitsu to win this fight, why not go ahead
and use it?
Sword Upgrade: Although not too terribly necessary, since Sandeater is a
slow buckaroo, but it IS nice to have; problem is getting
the blasted thing, which means you have to avoid the spikes
below it and survive the rest of the trip up to Sandeater's
quarters. Personally, I would suggest you not bother - it
doesn't aid that much in the stage itself (you can manage
without it), and you don't put yourself in a perilous
situation when trying to get it.
Preferred Ninjitsu: Fire Dragon, if possible. You have a safer vantage point
when attacking with it, so you can worry less about avoiding the Fire Wheels.
I'd say the Vacuum Wave is a good art, too, despite its extra cost...however,
you ultimately do not need anything except your Sword to win this fight, so
don't fret over which art you have and which one you MIGHT need. Any Art will
do just fine.
______________
_________~E~ Ryu Clone________________________________________________________
==============
I'm sorry, but THIS is a clone? Man...ok, granted, he transforms prior to the
fight, but still...maybe he's just going Super Saiya-Jin, eh? I mean, that's
what it kinda looks like...although it's all shadowy and such...ah, whatever.
The Ryu Clone is a bio-noid that was built to resemble Ryu, fight like Ryu,
talk like Ryu, cook a mean Quiche like Ryu...you get the picture. However,
upon transforming into this form, the Ryu Clone's only similarity to Ryu is
that he encorporates the Windmill Shuriken into his attack pattern. He jumps
twice on the right side of the screen, each time throwing a Shuriken at ground
level, then high-jumps to the center of the screen, dropping 3 flames at the
top of his jump, then jumps to the left side of the screen, depositing more
flames into the Bank of the Ground. He then jumps twice again and repeats the
pattern.
Now, there are several times where you may attack him during all of this. If
you jump the initial Shuriken, you have the opportunity to slash at him a
couple of times. When he bounds out to the middle of the screen, he's open
from the left side (or right side, depending on which side he's jumping to),
and then it's back to the Shuriken jumps. Another bonus is the fact that there
are deadspots between the dropped flames, which means you can stand between the
fireballs and continue attacking him. Hey, it makes for good maneuvering AND
easy attacks!
Windmill Shuriken: A taste of your own medicine, eh? The Windmill Shuriken
allows you the ability to attack him from much further
away. Since his attack styles seem to make it difficult to
get in close, this is a definite plus. Chuck one out for
an almost guaranteed hit, since you'll most likely be
jumping (and, thus, whiffing will soon be rectified by the
boomerang effect).
Fire Wheel: The Fire Wheel is a godsend here. Your clone enjoys
superjumping (maybe he stole Samus Aran's Power Boots?)
while attacking, then jumping around the room some more.
This puts him in absolute prime positioning for a few Fire
Wheels to be lobbed in his general direction. Plus,
they're fairly cheap to use (when compared to the Vacuum
Wave or Windmill Shuriken)!
Fire Dragon: Now this is NOT a Ninjitsu you want to have on hand when
you reach ol' Cloney (George?). It requires a downward
angle of attack, which means you can perch yourself on the
left wall and hit him for a whlie...but you have to time it
just right so he is grounded when you throw it (not too
easy), or wait until he gets closer to hit him. The 2nd
option puts you within physical reach, which isn't good at
ALL...so you'd best make sure you have another Art on hand
when you reach him. Hey, it's not like you can't get the
job done with just your sword...
Invincible Wheel: What do you plan to accomplish with this? You're not
invincible to his attacks, nor are you invincible to him.
Now, I can see how keeping the Invincible Wheel is a handy
idea - it makes the stage a lot easier to swallow - but the
boss fight gains practically nothing from your holding onto
this. No, you should drop it in favor of another art
before entering the room.
Vacuum Wave: Initially, I had thought this to be a worthless art;
however, I was actually wrong about that idea. Here's how
- you know how the Ryu Clone jumps across the room in 2
leaps? Wellsir, position yourself under him when he's
jumping and throw out a Wave Art. Hey, that's an easy hit,
a little easier than trying to get close enough to slash at
'em. Of course, it's not much, but there's a certain level
of safety it provides that makes one realize how handy it
can be.
Sword Upgrade: It's not necessary to the fight (duh), but it certainly
doesn't hurt to have that much more range on your physical
attacks against him. You can get further away from the
Shurikens when hitting him, and you don't have to get as
close (i.e., put in as much danger) when he bounds to the
middle and left/right side of the screen. I'd suggest
grabbing it.
Preferred Ninjitsu: Fire Wheel, as usual. You find a lot of enemies that are
airborne, so logically the best art to use is the one that has good range and
tags enemies in the sky. That's the Fire Wheel!
___________________
___________~F~ Mutated Foster_________________________________________________
===================
"Australian for Beer."
It's interesting to see that Foster was ripped apart by the Subspace energy...
and yet, he gets to come back stronger than ever. Ryu, on the other hand, is
strong enough to simply move about in the Subspace rift...but he gains no
powers from it. Bah!
So Foster got mutated, and seeks to kill Ryu. Gee, big surprise - it was about
"Boss Time" anyways. So Foster is a yellowish being forced to crawl along the
ground, with a big spike on the top of his head. He can open his arms (or
whatever's left of 'em) and fire off a fireball at you, forcing you to jump.
He then rams himself into a wall (spike first), causing several little
creatures to drop through the area. He then fires off another fireball before
ramming the opposite wall.
This fight can be difficult for a few reasons. First of all, the floor
continues to drag you down, meaning you have to jump to move quickly (and avoid
being pulled down). This means avoiding his fireball and dash attack is best
left to hanging on a wall. 2 problems arise with the wall, however...when he
rams it, you fall off (and, subsequently onto him). Furthermore, ramming the
wall - as I said before - causes several creatures to drop down upon you. This
means you to have to jump over him and avoid the creatures. This is a problem
because this is also (conveniently) the only time you get to attack him.
Joyous, eh? Well, at least you can destroy the falling creatures...it might
not seem like much, but there IS a way to handle them effectively (cough VACUUM
WAVE cough).
So here's the gameplan - jump on the wall, wait for him to ram it, then jump
off, hopefully avoiding any buggers falling from the ceiling. If you're safe,
then turn and slash him a couple of times, then start heading towards the other
wall. Your emphasis should probably be on avoiding the falling critters
instead of wailing on him, since that could get you killed rather quickly.
Finally...supposing you DO beat him, I suggest you cling to a wall - the floor
can still drag you under and kill you while you're busy watching Foster die.
Don't let that happen!
Windmill Shuriken: The Windmill Shuriken has the range that gives you a great
lead in this fight. You no longer have to worry about
landing anywhere near Foster, so you can avoid the beasts
from above and still manage to land a hit or two on him.
Good for you!
Fire Wheel: Ooh...probably not a good pick for this fight, since you
have to get rather close to make sure you hit him.
Honestly, when you're at that range, you're probably better
off just slashing the beast. However, it does redeem
itself by allowing you to destroy some of the falling
creatures. You get a little bit of protection while
attacking, but nothing major...after all, it's not directly
up, now is it?
Fire Dragon: Well, it's not the Fire Wheel, I'll give it that. The Fire
Dragon is actually near-impossible to use, since you have
to wait until Foster is vulnerable, then turn, jump, and
lob the blasts at him. If you could easily turn in air and
throw them, that would make dealing with this fool a lot
easier...but that just doesn't happen, so you're going to
have to make due.
Invincible Wheel: N/A.
Vacuum Wave: Surprisingly efficient, if you use it right. The trick is,
you're not supposed to use it as an offensive weapon; when
Foster rams the wall, drop down and start the Vacuum Wave
to take out the falling bounders. This means you are free
to hack at his hindside! Yay!
Sword Upgrade: The funny thing about this stage is that there are two -
count 'em, TWO - Sword Upgrades to be had. Grabbing a 2nd
doesn't increase it anymore, however, so it's not exactly
required that you survive long enough to get them both.
Still, being able to get further away from Foster means
you can worry less about the falling stuff and how precise
a landing you nail. It's just slash and jump, jump and
slash from here on!
Preferred Ninjitsu: I'd say my best bet is the Vacuum Wave, especially since
you no longer have to worry about the falling critters above - just use it as
protection instead of an offense, and you'll survive this encounter relatively
unscathed. However, the Vacuum Wave Art IS difficult to hold onto, so you're
probably going to have to just go at it with Ye Olde Sworde.
______________________
_____________~G~ Clancy (1st Form)____________________________________________
======================
You know, the cutscene prior to this fight depicts Clancy as...the Super
Shredder. Sure, I'm being facetious, but he DOES kinda look like 'em, with the
build and the spikes an' all...
Seeking to destroy all of Mankind, Clancy has harnessed the power of the
Ancient Ship of Doom and turned himself into a super-powered being. Offering
Ryu the opportunity to join him in the rebuilding of a new world, Clancy was
shunned by the Ninja due to his plans for mass genocide. Thus, it's time for
some ninja-thwomping!
Clancy's "super life power" body is quite different-looking than what the
cutscenes would lead you to believe. Instead of a yellow, mutated being who
appears as if his skin is ready to fall off, you instead fight a large, red
character that looks as if he is sporting a vest alongside a pair of Football
Shoulder Pads. Apparently, he has a jetpack on him somewhere, 'cause he enjoys
flying, too. Remember the Night Diver, that annoying cave boss from Stage 2?
yeah, well, Clancy flies in the same style of pattern; however, Clancy doesn't
go near the ground, which means you have to jump to reach him. That's bad news
for Ryu. He also likes to toss out 3 homing bullets, which - as the name would
dictate - track your location and attempt to hurt you. Thankfully, you can
destroy these bullets with a sword slash or Ninjitsu attack, so get 'em off of
your back in a hurry!
So guess what happens if you manage to hit Clancy? Well, he stops moving and
stops hurling projectiles at you. Believe me, this ISN'T a good thing - when
this happens, he calls upon the mighty power of Zeus and asks for a great rain
of thunder and lightning, the likes of which have NEVER before been seen, so
that they may raze the ground and destroy everything around him for CLANCY HAS
DECREED THAT THOU SHALT PERISH FOR THINE SINS, FOOLISH MORTAL! A HA HA HA!!!
..anywho, he stops moving, but this means you should START moving. 3 bolts of
lightning strike the ground, one at a time, at the near-exact location you're
standing. The trick is to move out of the way before you get hit, and keep
running so the second (and third) don't catch you either. If you run into the
corner, you'd better hope you can double-back in time to make it out of the
threat range, or else you'll be zapped good by a shock of electrical fury.
After these 3 bolts (which are QUITE difficult to avoid, so hope for the best),
Clancy returns to flying and throwing.
So in order to beat Clancy, you have to hit him; however, whenever you hit him,
he stops moving and starts up with the lightning. If you have the right
Ninjitsu, hit him a few times before the first Bolt hits the ground, then dodge
them and resume your attacks. If you have to attack via swordplay, then make
sure you are close enough to hit - you don't really have too much to worry
about, since connecting causes him to stop moving. It's frustrating to hit,
then run away, then hit again...but it's probably the safest method I know of.
Windmill Shuriken: The Windmill Shuriken, as usual, gives Ryu the luxury of
keeping his distance while pelting his enemies with
weaponry. Unfortunately, Ryu doesn't get as many tosses of
this as he does the Fire Wheel, which means he's going to
have to get in close with his sword more once the Ninpo
runs out. Quite dangerous...however, you have to jump and
slash at Clancy to hit him, while the Shuriken can be used
from the opposite platform or from a distanced jump. Yay,
it's that much safer! Heck, if you're daring, then you can
throw one out, jump over it so it'll boomerang, then dodge
the lightning bolts while it flings about, eventually
careering into Clancy's reddish backside. See, you can
turn any opportunity into a chance to attack!
Fire Wheel: Just like the Night Diver, you're fighting an opponent that
is above you. So once again, it's an optimal weapon for
the airborne foe...what else is nice, though, is that you
get a whopping 11 tosses at max Ninpo (that's almost 3/4 of
his life), it's easy to get ahold of (being one of the last
Ninjitsu Arts to be had in the level), and it tears through
those pesky homing projectiles and still socks Clancy in
the Mean Bean Machine. You can throw several of these,
dodge the lightning, resume throwing until you run dry, and
then slash him a scant few times to win the match. Not too
difficult; you should only have to encounter the lighting
2-3 times, if you're playing well.
Fire Dragon: This Ninjitsu is SUICIDE...but if it's all you have, then
you might as well work with what you've got. Jump up to a
platform, wait until Clancy flies low enough to be hit,
then jump and hurl as many Fireballs as you can before you
return to dodging lightning bolts. It's not the safest
maneuver, since jumping down from the platform can cost you
just enough time so that you could very easily be hit...but
hey, you're the one that kept the Fire Dragon. I mean,
seriously - you could have had the Art of Fire Wheel, which
was RIGHT before the boss's room...
Invincible Wheel: Well, it's not THAT bad...I mean, the Invincible Wheel
protects you from those homing bullets, which is good.
Unfortunately, those bullets only come out if he's not
being attacked, which is the direct antithesis of your
agenda in this fight. It's kinda handy to have, but I
wouldn't hope for it doing much offensively for you. It
does nothing versus the Lightning, either, so you're out of
luck there, too.
Vacuum Wave: Surprisingly good, given the fact that your opponent never
drops to a low-enough level to hit you physically. Thus,
initiating the Vacuum Wave and running beneath him is
pretty much a guaranteed hit. Of course, you still have to
dodge the lightning, but with the Vacuum Wave you are at
least assured a few hits while running back and forth.
Sword Upgrade: Very, very handy weapon. This allows you to not even
bother with the platforms, simply jumping and slashing a
couple of times from the ground level before dodging those
searing bolts of glory. No platforms means more time to
worry about where you need to be and when...plus the added
range is ALWAYS nice to have.
Preferred Ninjitsu: Fire Wheel, by far. It takes care of the projectiles,
it's an easy find, it gives you plenty of damage to inflict, and you have
relatively no aiming to worry about. It's not a true fire-and-forget...but as
long as you're not facing the opposite direction, you're pretty well assured
some damage. It can be very quickly fired off, giving you several hits before
you have to begin dodging the lightning...and that's a definite plus, eh?
______________________
_______________~H~ Clancy (2nd Form)__________________________________________
======================
All right, so you beat up on Clancy...and now, this weird thing in the back
wall has come to life and decided to try and obliterate you. Awesome. As Ryu
deftly informs the crowd, this is Clancy's real form, and is not one to be
trifled with. Resembling an Alien (from the "Alien" movie series), Clancy's
2nd form has him plastered to the back wall, with only his head and 2 hands
protruding. Despite he previous attire, this "true form" is yellowish in hue,
contrasting the reddish background he exists in.
His forms of attacking very basic, yet the can be very devastating if you are
caught off-guard. Shortly after the fight starts, you'll notice 5 balls of
energy that float up from the bottom of the screen towards one of his hands.
It is in your best interest to avoid these things, so that you don't get hit.
These are grasped within his claw, before he combines them and hurls them as 1
larger ball. This ball is sort of a dumbfire projectile, as it haphazardly
tracks your position; if it fails to hit, then it explodes on the wall/floor in
a fairly large blast. This is also good to avoid. He (it?) then summons
another group of 5 balls, this time to his opposite hand, and repeats the
attack.
So what's the best way to tackle this fool? First off, the 5 energy balls
always go to the left-side hand. There are 2 things you can do here - position
yourself between the 2nd and 3rd orbs so that you won't get hit by them, or
jump to the right platform and leap the 1 ball that comes close to you. To
avoid the large fireball, hop off of the platform and position yourself
directly below Clancy's head. As the fireball is released, move closer to the
hand that threw it - the ball will travel towards your original location, but
won't be able to correct its trajectory in time and will instead careen into
the floor. From here, simply jump back up to the opposite platform, avoiding
the balls, and repeat the whole mess.
Oh, and by the way - in case you hadn't figured it out, his face is his weak
spot. Jump and slash at the fool, man!
Windmill Shuriken: I have no problems with the Windmill Shuriken during this
fight, personally. If you position yourself on the
opposite platform, you have to jump over 1 of the balls to
avoid getting hit...however, if you have the Windmill Star,
you can put yourself far enough on the platform so that
you're not in too much danger when jumping (meaning you
will not be in close proximity to the furthest ball).
Fire Wheel: Fire Wheel can be very effective here; since the balls
start out spread apart and then slowly join together, this
means you can stand on the floor, where there's a larger
gap between hostile orbs, and rain fire down (up?) upon
your opponent's beleaguered head. Plus, you're already on
the ground, so maneuvering to avoid painful death from his
Tracking Fireballs is easier!
Fire Dragon: Despite the fact that your opponent is above you, you
actually can hold a bit of an advantage with the Fire
Dragon. See, Clancy 2 only has 1 way of hitting you when
you're above him (i.e., on a wall), and that's with the
tracking fireball. If you pelt him while Sol's Searing
Orbs (sic) are rising to his opened paw, you have free
damage...and then all you have to do is jump down and avoid
the incoming blast. Not too shabby, eh?
Invincible Wheel: Wellsir, holding onto this long enough to use it
is...rather humorous. Thinking it's going to be effective
is even funnier. Look - there's a REASON they put these in
certain locations, and that's to help you get through a
troublesome spot, NOT so that you'll have a powerful weapon
to use against the boss.
Vacuum Wave: This isn't too bad a weapon to have on hand, either. Much
like the Fire Wheel, you can place yourself on the ground
and use your choice Ninjitsu from below, scarring life off
bit by bit with those waves of death and destruction. You
don't get as many uses as the Fire Wheel, however...but
hey, it's your call.
Sword Upgrade: Very handy, VERY handy. With an upgraded sword in tow, you
can effectively stand between the rising spheres and jump-
slash Clancy's head several times, then dodge the blast and
repeat the process...but with more safety. Heck, with the
extra length, you can get more slashes in (safer),
practically killing him in 1 go!
Preferred Ninjitsu: Personally, I like using the Fire Dragon against this
form. However, it's the final boss of the game that's going to give you
nightmares, so Ninpo is a valued commodity...and thus, I prefer to not even use
ANY Ninjitsu on him and stick to stabbing and such. Also, I like to pick up
the Ninja Art I'll need against the 3rd form, which means...well, heck, you can
read it below!
___________________________
_________________~I~ Ancient Security Robot___________________________________
===========================
..ok, so I don't think it's really Clancy, despite what anyone else says. You
beat him once, then a strange monster - which Ryu informs us is the "True
Clancy" - comes out of the back wall, only to be hacked to smitherines by our
Ninja protagonist. So what happens then? My money's on the theory that the
Ancient Ship of Doom, as a security precaution, released this oversized monster
of a robot to take care of the onboard threat. Unfortunately for you, Ryu,
this means you're going to have to fight another boss.
Keeping in the tradition of the Ninja Gaiden series, this is the 3rd boss in a
row. Also in tradition, the first boss floats above you, the 2nd one is
stationary in the middle of the screen while attacks come from elsewhere, and
the 3rd is a massive creature in a large all-black arena, and you must destroy
it's maw to get to the red orb/heart/whatever to actually do damage to it. The
Ancient Security Robot is no different, as you'll quickly notice . It has a
red orb, which - if you're a fan of the NG series - you'll already know is your
target. However, you first have to saw through the large beak-like mouth
before the Red Orb can be accessed.
Of course, being the final boss in a game such as this, you cannot possibly
believe that to be an easy task, and it makes sure you work for it. First off,
it sports a strange elliptical pattern of movement, making the striking of the
jawline a task by itself. This is complicated further by the occasional wave
of energy that is sent along the floor (of slightly above it, depending on
where the Robot was in its flight when it released it); you now have to contend
with slashing at your opponent's mouth, but you also have to concentrate on
jumping over these waves. Sure, it's time consumning, but it works (you'd
better hope you got to the boss in a quick and expedient manner, then!).
However, even this can be toppled with a little work...and that's where the
lasers come into play. He ALSO shoots off small lasers that reflect off of the
floor, usually passing just overhead...and making it not possible to
effectively jump at certain locations. Now you're playing with fire!
Supposing you hit the beak 16 times (that's how many times it takes to break
it, just the same as if it had a full lifebar of its own). Great, now what?
Well, in destroying the beak, you also stop the wave machine and reflective
lasers from attacking. This is both good and bad, as the 2 larger laser
cannons are now put into effect. You'll notice the large arm-like extension to
the left of the beak (or former-beak location), with a portion pointed down,
yes? Well, this shoots laser blasts straight down, meaning you have to contend
with the movement of the Robot as well as the ever-changing location of the
laser shots. Furthermore, you'll notice a second limb on the right side of the
"head"...and, as you can guess, this shoots lasers as well. It fires them
diagonally down-towards you, leaving a very, very small spot that Ryu can stand
in. However, this spot constantly moves with the floating of the ship, too, so
you have to either stand to the far left or keep moving within this small
space. If you want to do any attacking, you're going to have to move to that
space.
Barring the use of Ninjitsu, how can you handle this beast? My suggestion is
this - as soon as the beak is gone, move next to the orb. There is a brief
period of time before the lasers start where you can get a few nicks in, so you
might as well take advantage of it. Keep moving back and forth within the
confines that the lasers create, and wait until it is either at the far right
or far left (when its momentum halts momentarily) and is close enough to the
ground to slash at. By doing this, you have effectively paired down its attack
strategy to walking back and forth and slashing from time to time. You'll have
to be progressively more careful, however, as it starts firing lasers at a
quicker pace. This means that there will be more little explosions on the
ground to contend with...and jumping over them is NOT an option, since you'll
most likely be jumping into another laser by doig so.
The only constraints you might receive at this point is if you didn't get to
the boss fast enough to have enough time to defeat him. Good luck, spud,
you're probably going to need it.
Windmill Shuriken: 1st Form) Well, you do have quite a bit of jumping to
contend with, which means getting close enough to
slash can be quite difficult. The Windmill Star allows
more focus on staying out of harms way while still
attacking, which is fine by me. Furthermore, it passes
through the beak of the Robot, which allows more than 1
hit per Shuriken. That's pretty nice, if I do say so
myself!
2nd Form) Remember that part where I said it's safe to
hang out on the far left, but it isn't possible to
attack from there? Well...I lied. This Shuriken gives
you just enough range to chuck a star at him when he
moves over to the left. Thus, you have free damage to
accrue...I'd suggest taking it.
Fire Wheel: 1st Form) The Fire Wheel gives you a ranged anti-air use
against this beast, which allows you to tag the maw of
the Robot without getting close at ALL. What does this
mean for you? Well, not only does this make jumping
obsolete (except for avoiding those pesky waves), but
you hardly have to even move to the right to peg him!
As long as it's not really far away and really low to
the ground, you're probably going to hit it right on
the head (sic).
2nd Form) Well, as nice as the Fire Wheel was for Form 1,
it really doesn't have much use against this form.
Sure, it gives you the option of hitting him when he's
further above you, but its range is nullified by how
low the orb is to the ground (much lower than the beak
was). Thus, you'll still have to get in close to hit
the orb, and while it IS nice to not worry as much
about how high it is (still no jumping involved), it
seems a little troublesome to have a weapon that puts
you in the same range as your sword. It's a marginal
increase over the Dragon Sword, and that just isn't too
good.
Fire Dragon: 1st Form) Well, when your opponent is on the other side of
the screen, you can either sock the beak or hit the
wave-producing gun below it. If the machine is low
enough, you can jump and throw out a Fire Dragon shot
or two and take a couple of hits off of the
Robot...however, there aren't any walls in this room,
so jumping is the only way you're going to get the
necessary vertical to use the Fire Dragon. That's not
too good for you, mate.
2nd Form) Uh...well, if you want to be close enough to use
the Fire Dragon, then you're probably going to have to
be right underneath the left-side Laser Turret...AND
you have to be jumping to make it connect. That's,
like, 3 or 4 strikes out, so you shouldn't even bother
with this.
Invincible Wheel: You know, I'm just going to pretend that you didn't get
this. La la la, I can't hear you, you didn't just tell me
that you held onto the Invincible Wheel this long AND
expect to use it in these boss battles...
Vacuum Wave: 1st Form) You know, I know that the Vacuum Wave art has
minimal horizontal range...but do you REALLY want to be
using this against the Ancient Security Robot? I hope
not. Grab something else, PLEASE.
2nd Form) WORTHLESS. Use your sword, do NOT use the
Vacuum Wave art. I don't care about the concept of
"Well, this is what I have, so how do I use it?" How
do you use it? Die, and THIS time grab a better
Ninjitsu before entering the room. Crikey, there's a
Windmill Shuriken and the Fire Wheel arts just before
you enter this fight, so why did you keep ahold of the
Vacuum Wave art? Man, this is like taking the
Invincible Wheel into the fight!
Sword Upgrade: 1st Form) As per usual, having more range means you don't
have to get as close to get your whacks in. For a boss
that has little reflecty-lasers that are usually close
to the very thing you're trying to hit, that means you
don't have to contend with such adversity as often.
That's a good thing, kiddies.
2nd Form) This is one of the few instances where having
the Sword Upgrade is nice...but not entirely necessary
(not that it matters that much; if you have it for the
first form, you'll have it for the second). Since
you're maneuvering in a small laser-free zone, you'll
want to have a little more range in hitting the Orb.
Your emphasis will probably be on moving between the
lasers and attacking when it stops moving, though,
where that much more distance is less of an issue;
thus, the upgrade is nice but not entirely necessary
(as I already said...great, I'm ALREADY becoming
redundant).
Preferred Ninjitsu: Wellsir, it's a bit of a tie as to which art I like to
use...the Windmill Shuriken makes the first form easier to swallow, while the
Fire Wheel makes handling the 2nd form a bit easier as well. It's a toss-up,
I'd say...grab the one that you think will help you against the harder boss
form, and go to work!
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
----------------------------VI: Various----------------------------
============================== Ninja Gaiden III ===============================
If it don't fit nowhere else, then here it is!
___________________________________
_~A~ Eagles, Flags, Drones, and You___________________________________________
===================================
There have been changes through the Ninja Gaiden series, some to improve upon
the way the games were constructed (to remove frustrating glitches and the
like) and others simply to make programming easier. Here's a brief coverage of
some of those changes.
~~~#1 - The Flag "Glitch"~~~
The Flag Glitch was one of the more frustrating aspects of Ninja Gaiden,
making one of the sections of the game nigh-impossible. Although not a true
glitch and rather a simple programming error, it has become the bane of many a
gamer's existance (this gamer included). To save room in the programming,
Tecmo decided to forego the idea of writing in the exact locations of each
monster and have a pre-existing enemy in each location; instead, they set up
"flags" so that when you reached a particular section, the programming would
automatically locate the specific enemy that had been "flagged" for that area
and immediately write it in. Thus, if you travelled far enough into Stage 1 of
NG III, you'd hit a point where the game had flagged "Spider Drone - Top of
Bar" (in layman's terms), and the game would write in that enemy at that
location.
So where does the "glitch" come into play? Well, if you were to scroll
the screen backwards (i.e., backpedal to a previous platform, area, whatever)
and then return a particular section, the same enemy would return anew. This
could be used to your advantage, but more often than not the game would become
increasingly difficult to handle. You had to deal with the enemies you faced
in the locations that you faced them, instead of being able to return to a
safer platform to do battle with them. If you did, then the enemies would
return all over again, and you'd be back at square one.
There was a section in Ninja Gaiden I where you had to make a series of
crucial jumps to progress to the last section of the game. However, 2 eagles
would appear to impede your jumping, as well as an enemy on one of the small
jumps. To handle the eagles, you might return to a previous platform and slice
them away from the safety of this location...but returning to these jumps would
cause the same eagles to return. In order to deal with them, you either had to
cause the increasing speed of their flight patterns to send them offscreen (see
#2) or simply try to deal with them in midair. This is a very, very dangerous
maneuver, as simply getting hit would cause Ryu to recoil and fall to his
death. Very difficult.
In order for Ryu to effectively pass these enemies, he could try a variety of
tactics...however, the most effective tactic I ever saw was forcing the enemy
on the platform to become "eluded" by scrolling far enough for him to appear,
but not far enough for the entire platform to materialize. By doing so, he
would continue to walk as if the platform kept going, and would stroll right
off of the stage - and, since the screen had scrolled far enough over that his
flag had already been set off, he would not reappear again. This left only the
jump and the eagles to contend with, allowing you to deal with the situation
with 1 less obstacle. It's using the "Flag" program against the computer, and
incorporated a rather effective flaw in the system to your advantage. Hey, I
think this would make a good segue!
~~~#2 - "Eluding" your Enemies~~~
Something to keep in mind about enemies that follow "seeking" patterns in
this game is that their location and travelling speed is relative to where Ryu
is onscreen; that is to say, they "hunt" Ryu to a certain degree, making
mathematical changes in their flight patterns to accomodate your movement.
I'll use the Eagles from Ninja Gaiden I as an example (although similar enemies
in NGIII include the Oversized Wasps in Stage 2 and the 'Copter-drones in
latter stages):
Eagles usually appear above or below you, and gain speed as they fly closer
and closer towards you. The further the eagle starts away from you, the more
speed they gain until they crash into you; however, they cannot make vertical
changes as rapidly as they can horizontal, which means if you were to jump one
after it had gained enough speed, it would sail underneath you; furthermore, if
you were to jump and move in the opposite direction it was travelling, you
could scroll the screen and cause the nuisance to sail offscreen...and
effectively be removed from the game (NGIII was not programmed to "remember"
enemies and their locations, instead using flags set up to simply create new
enemies when the scrolled screen hits a certain point). This was known as
"eluding" an enemy, a term which I believe was first used by Jeff Rovin (of
"How to Win at Nintendo Games" infamy) for the Mega Man games. If I'm wrong
about this, then someone please inform me of the correct origin of this
particular term (yes, I know the words "Elude" and "Elusion" have been around
longer than HtWaNG, I'm talking about the inclusion of such words into video
game terminology).
Now, this is all fine and good as long as your opponent is travelling fast
enough so that it cannot change its course in time. In quite a few areas, you
will find eagles/drones/bugs that do not start quite so far off, and thus can
home in on you easily. It is then in your best interest to positing them so
that they do not come directly above/below you, and instead have to meet you on
a horizontal path; this allows you to slice through them with your sword
without too much fuss. Not too bad, eh?
There are other enemies that follow a similar path, following Transversal
wave of movement that attempts to place the center of the wave on a horizontal
plane with Ryu. These things, such as the White Wave-Floater in Stage 1, are
easy to terminate - you can either wait until it's close enough to slash (no
biggie), or you can change Ryu's horizontal plane so that it has to attempt to
keep up. Now, the trick here is to move in the opposite direction that it is
headed, meaning that when it flies up to the crest of the wave, drop a level
(or jump when it falls to the trough). If you time it incorrectly - namely,
jumping when it crests - then it won't have to move, as it has already matched
your level. Increasing the distance it must cover can cause the amplitude of
the wave to surpass the length necessary for it to leave the screen - and thus,
in correcting its movement, the Floater flies right offscreen, removing it from
your worries. In a couple sections of the game, such as a portion of Stage 2
(the vertical section prior to the lava rise), this happens almost
automatically - you'll witness a Floater appear as you drop, practically
falling off of the stage just to keep up with your rapid pace of decent. See,
math can help you play video games!
_____________________
___~B~ Revision History_______________________________________________________
=====================
10-14-02: I sat down and started this FAQ today. Let's see just how quickly I
can get this thing done, eh? It shouldn't be too difficult to write
a FAQ up for this game...right?
04-18-03: After losing a good portion of the guide to due a saving failure, I
have restarted this project. Today, I completed the boss section,
did the first stage walkthrough, and filled in the "Eagles, Flags,
Drones, and You" section. It's more technical than anything, but I
find it important to include; plus, it balances out the cheesy ASCII
(filler) that I included! Please don't lynch me for indulging
myself just this one, fellow FAQ writers, please? C'mon, you know
how I am...I generally loath the stuff! Let me have my fun!
04-19-03: Well, I'm ALMOST finished...I just have to round out Stage 7's
walkthrough and I'll have a completed guide! Yay!
04-25-03: I took a little break from working on the guide, so that I could
focus on a few other matters (namely trying to get my car fixed)...
but now that those are taken care of, I returned to the guide and
finished it! Yay! Enjoy, folks!
___________
___~B~ Thanks_________________________________________________________________
===========
~~CJayC (
[email protected], www.gamefaqs.com) for putting this FAQ up.
~~Al Amaloo (www.gamewinners.com) for being such a cool guy, and having a
great site.
[email protected] for giving me a heart attack with your childish "I
stole your FAQ and sold it with my name on it" antics. Because of that, I
now do dozens of things to make sure people don't steal my work. If they
do, I know exactly what to look for to see if they took MY work or not.
~~Dungeons and Dragons' for the use of a few minor notes. Hey man, I wanted to
mix up certain descriptions, so rather than saying "ball" for the millionth
time, I opted to list a surprisingly accurate D&D spell (Sol's Searing Orb)
instead. I am not taking credit for this phrase; instead, I am giving due
credit to the creators of the moniker. I believe I may have also said "Bolt of
Glory" somewhere in this guide...that's not mine, either.
~~Uh...I can't exactly thank God for the role he's taken in my life, because
that would seem like I'm trying to force my religious opinions on someone
else (which I'm not). Therefore, I'd like to thank "Murray" for the role
he's taken in my life (Murray, you know who you are).
~~The music I listened to while writing this guide was NOT from Ninja Gaiden 3.
No, I opted to listen to a variety of tracks from the Castlevania series,
most prominently Super Castlevania IV and Symphony of the Night. Both had
excellent music, and are extremely great games in their own right(s). I'd
highly suggest checking them out if you haven't already.
~~HUGE thanks go out to
http://www.geocities.com/lsteele42/. This guy has the
endings of various video games, full of screen captures and such, which makes
for good reading (and nostalgia). However, he also has all 3 of the Ninja
Gaiden games fully reproduced through screenshots, retelling each plot point
and showing brief snippets of stages and bosses. Since I wanted to remember
the exact plot for certain stages, but didn't feel like going through this
game over and over, this made for a very easy, very handy refresher. Rock!
______________
_____~C~ NO THANKS____________________________________________________________
==============
If you write me asking for help with the game, I'll send you a link to my
FAQ. If you ask for specific help, I'll try to aid you. However, if you
ask me about something that is already covered in the FAQ, I will simply
refer you to the FAQ again. I wrote the FAQ so that your questions would be
answered here, not so I could repeat that FAQ bit by bit through e-mail for
the next few years. If you need clarification about something in the FAQ,
ask about it - but don't ask me to repeat anything.
===============================================================================
End FAQ
===============================================================================
The following are sites that can NOT use my work. If you see these sites using
ANY of my FAQs, please e-mail me ASAP. Each of these websites are sites that
have plagiarised myself or others in the past, or simply taken our work(s)
without our prior permission. Since they do not have enough respect for the
authors (or an ignorance of the law), I am expressly forbidding them from using
my work. I will not promote such sites that partake in these actions.
911 Codes
http://911codes.com
9 Lives
http://www.9lives.ru/eng/
Bean's PlayStation Dimension
http://www.bean.dk/psx/index.htm
Cheat Code Central
http://www.cheatcc.com
Cheat Index
http://cheatindex.com
Cheat Matrix
http://cheatmatrix.com
Cheat Search
http://cheatsearch.com
Cheatstop
http://www.panstudio.com/cheatstop/
CNET Gamecenter
http://games.netscape.com/Faqs/
Console Domain
http://www.consoledomain.co.uk
Dirty Little Helper
http://dlh.net
Dark Station
http://www.darkstation.com/
Dreamland
http://kirby.pokep.net
Games Domain
http://www.gamesdomain.com
Game Express
http://www.gameexpress.com
Games Over
http://www.gamesover.com/
Mega Games
http://www.megagames.com
Square Haven
http://www.square-haven.net
Ultimate System
http://www.flatbedexpress.com
VideoGaming.net
http://www.videogaming.net/
Cheats.de
http://www.cheats.de
(Taken from Jim "Red Phoenix" Chamberlin's FAQ Theft Guide, as well as added
onto.)
As I stated above, if you want to use one of my guides, I ask that you e-mail
me to gain my permission first. I like to keep track of which sites use my
work, so I know where to send the updates, and it's a little difficult to keep
you updated if you don't e-mail me.
This Document Copyright Reverend Eric "Vegita" Johnson, April 2003
