"You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing,
and using a timing which the enemy does not expect."
--Miyamoto Musashi (legendary master of sword fighting)
Feel free to read, distribute/share (please give credit where credit's
due), or improve this guide.
---Basic Principles---
This game is already quite challenging. However, if for some insane
reason you want to make the game much harder, you can try beating it using
only your knife as a weapon (with one exception--grenades, for the last
boss). Playing RAMBO in this manner is very challenging, but if you can
tough it out, the satisfaction of overcoming such a challenge will make it
worth your while. And, to help you in this very difficult eneavor, I've
made a Knife Only guide. Let's begin with some basic principles:
Essentially, everything in RAMBO can be geometrically measured in units;
you will understand this after a short time of playing. John Rambo stands
a little more than two units tall (or a little more than one, if he
kneels), so that any enemy attack between where he stands and three units
above that (or two, when kneeling) can harm him. An attack with Rambo's
combat knife has a range of one unit forward, in the column either two
units above where he stands, or one unit above where he's kneeling.
Timing is important. Rambo can attack with his knife about 1.5 times a
second. Additionally, an attack isn't immediately effective, but takes a
fraction of a second to strike the enemy for damage. Timing is especially
important for enemies that fly toward Rambo.
Your combat knife is the most powerful weapon in the game, able to kill
any non-boss enemy in one, sometimes two, strikes. Using only your combat
knife, though, it is best to deal with only one enemy at any one time.
Checkpoints must be used wisely in Rambo. If--no, WHEN--you die and
choose to "continue," you will return to the last place and situation
where you talked to someone--your checkpoint. During a conversation, you
can also press START and copy the password it gives you to return to that
checkpoint. Although having plenty of LIFE is important throughout the
game, it is especially important to have good health at checkpoints.
Finally, if you want to make the knife only game less difficult (and
nobody will ever blame you for wanting so), then allowing yourself to use
throwing knives as well as your combat knife will make things much, much
easier. The power of your throwing knives will increase with your level,
so if you use them, levelling is important.
---Defeating Specific Enemies---
Tigers: If you can, don't bother with them. They aren't worth it. Their
jumping makes it difficult to determine whether to stand or kneel while
attacking, and their speed makes timing difficult. If you must attack,
remember: strike early.
Ghost Heads: These are usually worth killing. First, you can stand at
ground level, stand still, wait for it to fly by, jump up, and strike it.
This method requires precise timing. Another meathod is to stand three
units above ground level, and wait for the ghost head to fly by you. This
is easier, but requires a platform. Try not to get hit by these (both of
my methods of killing them are 100% safe, so long as you don't mess up);
they cause a lot of damage.
The Big Spider: You should only attack the big spider if you have at
least 80 health. A good way to get into the cave and to the spider with
that much health without using medicine is to rescue the kid first, leave
the cave without killing the spider, bring him home, and his home will be
a free rest area. To kill the spider, you should go to the left of the
spider, stand a unit and a half in front of it, and keep striking it until
it dies. Doing things in this manner, you shouldn't have to use medicine.
Fish: Don't bother with them if you don't have to.
Big Birds: Best avoided. If you must attack, attack low.
Teal/Blue/Orange Kicking Soldiers: When they get close to you, they will
attempt a jump kick. Their kick will cancel out your knife attack, and
will hurt you a lot. To kill them, let them get about two units away, and
let them try to attack. When they try this, run a few units away, let
them land, then turn around, and attack. The orange ones won't kick
unless you are almost a unit away, which is their kicking range. Allow
them to chase you, at a distance of about 1.5 units away from you, until
they kick. Then, let them land, turn, and kill.
Teal/Blue/Camoflauged/Pink/Green Shooting Soldiers: You can avoid their
fire by ducking. They attack at a predictable, slow frequency, and
killing them's a breeze. Don't mess up, though, or they'll hurt you bad.
Big Men With Big Clubs: Let them come to you. They strike at regular
intervals--strike them *just before* they are able to strike you.
Traitors at Boat: You cannot kneel to dodge their bullets. The best
thing to do for them is to either lure them near the boat, stand on the
boat (where they can't hurt you), kneel, and stab them. You can also
stand in the water, wait for them to fire, jump toward them over their
bullet, and then quickly kill them. Remember that the best thing to do is
deal with one at a time.
Orange Guards, Rocket Launcher Guards: You will meet the guards
immediately after Co helps Rambo escape imprisonment. You cannot kneel to
dodge their bullets. You must try hard to deal with only one of them at a
time. They are much like the Traitors, and shoot at regular intervals,
but they can jump, so you can't just attack them from a higher platform in
safety. Try to let them shoot, jump toward them over their bullet, and
then kill them quickly.
Grenade Throwers: They will throw grenades at you when you are a few
units away. Let them throw, run away from their grenades, then run back
and stab them.
Motorcycle Boss: Start battle with at least 200 LIFE, preferably more--
then, don't bother with medicine. Aim low as he comes toward you, and
strike at him like crazy. You will almost die, but if you do it right you
won't. After this battle, just run to town (two areas to the right),
running away from any enemies. These enemies can't be safely beaten with
your combat knife. At town, you can rest to make up for any damage
recieved.
Fire Tiger: Get rid of falling spikes to left and right of S square. The
tiger's to the left of it; lure it over to the S square area, and then
continue in one of the following ways. If using throwing knifes, just go
in with life as full as possible (preferably above 300), and throw knives
at it like crazy 'til you win. If using combat knife, go in with life as
full as possible. Keep striking in the direction of the tiger as it runs
through you (face it as it runs through, and then turn around when it's on
the other side). Every time it runs through you twice, check your LIFE.
If it's below 100, heal. If you have no medicine when you go in, you'll
just have to use throwing knives.
Flying Fire Ball Machine Boss: Before you start, make sure your health is
above 400, and ignor your LIFE for the rest of the battle. Destroy the
gate to get through, and stay on the groun the whole time after (no
jumping or climbing). Continually attack the machine. If any pink dude
tries to attack you while you do this, kill him of, and quickly continue
killing the machine. Again, stay on the ground. Fight furiously enough,
and you'll win with plenty of LIFE to spare.
Spike Ball: Can't kill it while it's jumping around. When it lands and
stays still, destroy it with your combat knife.
Yashin (boss): He is easy to beat with your combat knife. Just cut boxes
in front of you like so:
RS
R#
##
...with intact boxes shown as #, stand at R, and stab at S as Yashin
approaches.
Blue Camoflauged Soldiers: They will stand to shoot if you stand, and
duck to shoot if you kneel. Just treat them like you did the orange
guards. You can also stand on a platform two units above where they
stand, kneel (so they shoot too low to hurt you), wait for them to come,
and kill them.
Men With Flamethrowers: They just walk forward, and shoot at regular
intervals. You can stand two units above where they stand, wait for them
to come, kneel, and stab them in the head.
Helicopter: Since we're already using the grenades for the boss, let's
just use them for everyone. Occassionally, a dude will jump in to try to
kill you from either the left or right, the former having grenades, and
the latter having arrows (useless). Kill them both with grenades whenever
you can, to cut down on the confusion that will almost certainly result
from trying to switch around weapons. When both men are dead, throw your
grenades at the helicopter until you have three left; save those for the
soldiers. This is one of the few boss battles where you should keep an
eye on your LIFE. Whenever it reaches 200, heal if you can. This is a
tough battle, and you should feel no shame if you fail the first few
times. Keep trying, and you'll get it! And remember: ENJOY YOUR VICTORY!
---Other Tips---
--Both LIFE and medicine are precious and rare, especially fighting Knife
Only. Try not to loose too much of either.
--Beat every boss you can for hearts, which give you extra LIFE. Try to
start a battle with a boss with nearly full life. Try not to bother
yourself with using medicine during the fight. Fight them wildly, and
don't worry about your LIFE. One of you will eventually die, and it will
almost always be them.
--At the first mountain area (the one with falling boulders, at which you
arrive in the process of getting to your helicopter), there is an ape to
the right of the S square which can be easily killed for some medicine.
Do that a lot to get lots of medicine. You'll need it.
--Once you beat the fire ball machine, go right one area (to the area with
the spike balls), and get into that building. Go one room left, use the S
square in that room, jump down to the bottom level, us the N square to the
left, and then go left to the boss. Don't worry too much about damage in
traveling from the fireball machine boss to the next boss ahead--a boss
battle is coming up, and it's going to be 100% easy and safe. Enter the
room to the furthest left of lower level of that room, and the boss battle
for the keys will begin.
