Lords of Thunder(TCD) - Walkthrough
Version 1.2
Copyright May/27/2008 by Apathy000
Update: February 15, 2009
[email protected]
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Turbo CD VS Sega CD Version
III. Game Story
IV. Options
V. Basic Controls
VI. On the Difficulties
VII. Pickups
VIII. On Taking Damage
IX. Shop
X. Armors
XI. General Strategies
XII. Dezant
XIII. Auzal
XIV. Llamarada
XV. Bosque
XVI. Helado
XVII. Cielom
XVIII. Dark Tower
XIX. Final Boss
XX. Music
XXI. No Death Run Video
XXII. Codes / Cheats
XXIII. Copyright
I. Introduction
Lords of Thunder is the possibly best shooter I have ever played. You
can maneuver a knight that flies and shoots stuff and can walk on the ground.
The music is incredible and really makes playing the game more exciting than
it already is. After five minutes I was hooked with this game. You will most
likely not be satisfied with Normal and will need to play it on harder
difficulties. The PC Engine CD version has the best difficulty increase,
because Super truly is a satisfying difficulty. The strategy elements when
selecting armor, and buying from the shop can nearly guarantee your victory or
destroy any chance you have. If you spend all your money before the hardest
levels there is almost no chance of defeating them.
Keep in mind that I really making this for the TURBO CD version, since
the SEGA CD version is a shit game in comparion. However you can use this
for the Sega CD version as well, since anything you find in the Sega CD
version is done in Turbo CD version.
I really hope you enjoy this game.
I put the first six levels in their order of difficulty.
II. Turbo CD VS Sega CD Version
I recently got to play the Sega CD version, and found it to be FAR
inferior to the Turbo CD version. Here is the list of things that were
different.
1) Sega CD version has much worse graphics, and has a really crappy looking
palette for most of the common enemies.
2) ALL the sounds are weaker on Sega CD. Maybe the Turbo CD has better
sound than the Genesis?
3) Unlike the Turbo CD version, here when you die on a boss, instead of
restarting on a boss you have to do the level over again.
4) No revenge shots in the Sega CD version.
5) In the Sega CD version there are less enemies. I mean entire waves of
enemies are missing. Lots of interestingly placed enemies are just not
there. Enemy's are not as aggressive. The only one that is more aggressive
than in the Turbo version is the little flying mechanical bird.
6) In the Sega CD version when you are hit you cannot move, and it's really
annoying. They may also have increased the time until you recover, and it
feels sloppy and is more frustrating to play the game.
7) In the Sega CD version the shop lady says something and she has the best
example of sound in the game. The only sound I would want to listen to in
this version.
8) In the Sega CD the bosses do not have as sophisticated attacks and they
have less health.
9) Cielom's boss has a lot more health it seems than in the Turbo CD verion.
10) Sega CD version has almost no flashing on the enemies to show that they
are dying. It also has less interesting deaths.
11) Bosses have almost no build up in the Sega CD version, they just appear
and start firing.
12) The ending is worse in the Sega CD version.
I have no IDEA what went wrong here in the release of this game to the
Sega CD console. Lords of Thunder took two years to get to Sega CD and when
they released it, it seems like they pumped it full of date-rape drug and took
a few turns with it before releasing it. The only thing that is an
improvement in this game over the Turbo CD release is that the shop keeper has
a sexy voice. That is it. EVERYTHING else is better in the Turbo CD
version! Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, Difficulty, and Replay value on higher
difficulties! Hell, even the PLOT is better! There is no possible reason to
play the Sega CD verion over the Turbo CD. The Sega CD version is trash
comparatively.
III. Game Story
The little man, Lord Landis, is supposed to fight and defeat the devil
Zaggart and his minions that are trying to resurrect him.
IV. Options
Difficulty - You can set it to Normal, Hard, or Super.
Music - listen to music tracks
Sound Effects - listen to sound effects
*There are two known cheats regarding this Option screen. These
cheats
work on PC-Engine CD, but are untested on the Sega-CD.
Cheat: 10,000 Crystals
At the Configuration screen, put the level on Super, the music to 02,
and the sound to 02. Finally, hold Select and press Button I.
Cheat: Fight the Bosses
At the Configuration screen, put the level on Hard, the music to 01,
and the sound to 01. Now hold down Select and press Button I. The exit
selection will change to Boss. You may now change your settings to anything
you want.
V. Basic Controls
1) You can fire constantly if you hold the fire button.
2) The man moves in any direction of the d-pad you press.
3) One button is to fire and the other is to use a Bomb.
4) Press Run(AKA Select AKA Start) to pause the game.
VI. On the Difficulties
I do have one thing to say about the difficulties when comparing the
Sega CD and PC Engine CD versions. When the game was released for the Sega CD
they decided to dumb down the difficulty. Super difficulty on the Sega CD is
like Hard on the PC Engine CD, although they really increased the amount
of bullets the mechanical looking birds fire on the Sega CD version.
Normal
Normal is an easy and fun difficulty for everyone. It's is not completely
easy but it is not overly hard. When I beat it I was enthralled with the game.
Enemies do not shoot that much, but defeating the bosses when first meeting
them was a challenge.
Hard
Hard really ups the ante. Enemies shoot fairly rapidly and there are more of
them trying to kill you. Some of the bosses get new attacks and each of them
gets upgraded attacks. A fairly challenging difficulty but still beatable
without getting too frustrated.
Super
Super difficulty is very difficult. After a few hours of playing it I was
wondering whether I could actually beat it. Enemies shoot more and as an added
bonus after they die they have revenge shots from the grave. So if you have
20 enemies on screen and each of them fires once you got 20 shots coming at
you. Kill them all and if each of them only shoots one revenge shot at you,
that is 40 shots on screen. With larger enemies they will fire even more
revenge shots after their death. Revenge shots from dead enemies also makes
it harder to collect the money you need to buy health, powerups, elixirs, and
shields. Health and powerups are not dropped by as many enemies on Super
difficulty. Bosses get another upgrade on top of their difficult levels.
It's bad enough that you will probably only get to the boss with a few bars of
health, but that they are tougher than before does not help things. Well I am
not familiar with the skill levels of others but this took me about two or
three times longer to defeat than Hard. I beat Hard in a day, and Super took
me about 2 days. This is recommended for those who really like this game (me)
or are just awesome at shooters.
VII. Pickups
Blue Powerup - This will give you 1 bars for power
Red Powerup - This will give you 5 bars of power
Heart - This will give you 3 bars of life. On Super, Hearts will
not drop from most enemies they used to. Ex: In Dezant a falling spire will
give you a heart on normal. On Super it does not.
Blue Jewel - 5 money
Red Jewel - 25 money
VIII. On Taking Damage
Knowing what enemies damage you the most is important. You can take 1
or 2 damage per hit, and you have 14 bars for Power and Health.
You lose 2 bars of health for these attacks.
1) Touching a tough enemy.
2) Getting hit by fire.
3) Getting hot by an obstacle such as a spiked ball, spikes.
4) And some other enemy attacks will take 2 bars.
You lose 1 bar of health for the following
1) Touching a weak enemy.
2) Getting hit by a regular shot or a revenge shot after their
death.
3) There is some oddness with if your character is pushed out
of the screen. You can either get hit (the game acts like you took a hit), or
you die. If your character cannot just take the hit and move slightly back
into the level he will die. At almost the last section of Llamarada a wall
abruptly moves forward and can trap you against the far side of the screen and
you will die. Or you will just be hit and you can continue the level.
***If you got stuck in a corner and you MUST take a hit, make sure to
get hit by a weaker attack.***
IX. Shop
The shop is the most important place in the game. You can buy
continues (AKA lives), elixirs, health, bombs, power, and shields. Here are
the list of stuff you can buy and their cost.
2 Hearts - 100
5 Hearts - 200
Max Hearts - 500 - most times it is better to buy 2, 5 heart upgrades
instead of this.
1 Hit Shield - 200 - protects against one hit
2 Hit Shield - 500 - protects against two hits
3 Hit Shield - 1500 - protects against three hits
Blue Power - 300 - 3 extra bars for Power
Red Power - 600 - 8 extra bars for Power
Bomb - 100 - Erases shots that touch it, and deals heavy damage.
Extremely important.
Elixir - 2000 - Best item in the game. When you lose all your health
it will restore it to full.
Continue (AKA extra life) - 1500
X. Armors
Each Armor has 3 levels of power. As the level increases the attack
changes and becomes more powerful. Each Armor also has their own unique
bomb. Using an armor is more a matter of choice of what kind of style you
wish to play as at the lower difficulties. As the difficulty increases you
may find that a particular seems to be more suited for a specific level. At
the Normal difficulty you can, without much difficulty, go through every level
in the game with it.
A. Fire Armor - Special Quality(s) - Strength - Good Range
Fire Armor is the cheapest armor in terms of power. It has by far the
best level 1 attack out of any of the armors. The level 1 attack shoots
forward and up and down at an angle. It is not as strong as the Earth Armor
at level 1, but the range is by far better. Level 2 armor is stronger than
any other armor but Earth, but it is the second worst level 2 (Wind Armor has
the worst level 2), because it only shoots forwards at a slow rate of fire.
However Fire Armor's level 2 does have the quality of piercing through and can
hits multiple enemies through obstacles which is definitely a plus. Fire
Armor's level 3 is very strong (possibly as strong as level 3 Earth Armor),
however it is the worst level 3 in the game. The range is poor and it will
not constantly hit the enemy you want it to because the two flames it shoots
out oscillates between forward and up/down. The Bomb is probably the best to
use on any boss if you need to hit the boss and at the same time not get hit.
A fire dragon comes out and will circle around the available weak spot and
will erase any shots coming at you. It lasts almost 5 seconds which also
makes it the longest lasting bomb.
Every armor has a forward shot that is not dependent on the level or
armor.
The only armor that can shoot backward is the Water Armor at level 3.
Pros
Level 1 - Range
Level 2 - Strength / Full-Ranged Piercing
Level 3 - Strength / Medium Range Piercing / Vertical protection
Cons
Level 1 - Lacks Strength / Lacks Piercing
Level 2 - No vertical or diagonal protection.
Level 3 - Lacks Range
All levels - no backward protection
B. Earth Armor - Special Quality(s) - Super Strength
This armor is my personal favorite, but it is also the hardest armor
to use not surprisingly. It is by far the strongest armor at all levels. The
reason why it is the hardest to use is that the range is extremely poor. It
has the worst defense of any armor. The Bomb is very strong but you cannot
rely on it to save you from getting hit. The Bomb makes large rocks fall from
the sky in two waves that have gaps in between them. It is the slowest Bomb,
but it covers the most area and it is the strongest out of any armor.
Level 1 has a fire-bomb that falls down slightly forward of Landis and
is very strong. The fire-bombs also have a slight vertical piercing. Level 2
adds a fire-bomb that flies upward slightly forward of Landis and is equally
as strong as the first one. Level 2 is truly a large improvement. Now you
have some upward coverage where before you had none. Level 3 improves the
fire bombs by giving them a medium length horizontal flame that can hit
multiple enemies and is piercing. Level 3 makes getting hit with Earth Armor
less likely because it gives it some more range.
Pros
Level 1 - Strength / Slight Range Piercing
Level 2 - Strength / Slight Range Piercing
Level 3 - Strength / Medium Range Piercing / Slight Backward protection
Cons
Level 1 - Lacks Range - No upward or diagonal or backward protection/Lacks
Piercing
Level 2 - Lacks Range - No diagonal or backward protection/Lacks Piercing
Level 3 - Lacks Range / Lacks Full-Ranged Piercing
C. Wind Armor - Special Quality(s) - Full-Ranged Piercing
Wind Armor has the weakest first two levels in the game. However, all
of its attacks are piercing. I do not like using this armor, because it is
only really effective at level 3. The bomb is the best at saving you from
getting hit. A column of thunder comes straight down upon around you. The
attack is not that great, but it is acceptable.
Level 1 is the weakest piercing attack in the game. It only shoots
forward at a slow rate and it can only kill one enemy per shot. Worst level 1
in the game. Level 2 however is much better. Level 2 has a fast forward rate
of fire and it can kill multiple enemies per shot. Level 3 Wind Armor is my
second favorite, right behind Earth Armor. Level 3 has a fast rate of fire
and adds two piercing diagonal shots that also give you a little horizontal
protection. Very nice for levels with a lot of enemies lining up with
obstacles in the way.
Pros
Level 1 - Full-Ranged Piercing
Level 2 - Strength / Slight Range Piercing
Level 3 - Strength / Medium Range Piercing / Slight Backward protection
Cons
Level 1 - Lacks Strength/No backward protection, and little horizontal
protection / Only hits once per shot
Level 2 - Lacks Strength/No backward protection or horizontal protection
Level 3 - No backward protection and little horizontal protection
All levels - no backward protection
D. Water Armor - Special Quality(s) - Shoots Backward and Forward at Level 3
- Semi-Piercing
The favorite of those new to Lords of Thunder. It is my least
favorite armor. The first reason is that it is only really effective when it
is level 3. The second reason is that it is not as strong as the other armors
at higher levels. The third resaon is that you can lose level 3 easily by
getting hit on higher difficulties. The fourth reason is that the Bomb. It has
a weak attack and short range (but it will erase and damage opponents around
you). The fifth reason is that is has no piercing qualities. However, when
playing through normal you will not get hit much (which takes away Power
bars), money is plentiful to buy back your level 3, and enemies are not that
tough. For normal I recommend this armor. For higher difficulties you will
probably not use it that much. Water can go through most obstacles, but
cannot pierce through spiked balls or enemies.
Level 1 has some horizontal protection, because the shots start above
and below you before they move forward. Level 2 increases the size of the
shots and makes them move in waves that cover most of the forward screen.
Level 3 mirrors the two shots that shoot in front of you to shoot behind you.
Level 3 is extremely effective at wiping out weak enemies, but it is easy to
lose.
Pros
Level 1 - Slight vertical protection / Stronger than Wind Armor at level 1 /
Semi-Piercing
Level 2 - Range / Semi-Piercing
Level 3 - Super Range - forward and backward protection / Semi-Piercing
Cons
Level 1 - Lacks Strength / No backward protection / Lacks Piercing
Level 2 - Lacks Strength / No backward protection / Lacks Piercing
Level 3 - Lacks Strength / Lacks Piercing
XI. General Strategies
1) Get hit as little as possible.
2) If you must get hit, get hit by something that will only take 1 bar
of health.
3) Experiment with armors. Despite what I recommend you may find
something more to your taste.
4) Practice the bosses until you can consistently kill them by getting
hit only once or not at all. Getting hit once is acceptable.
5) Practice tricky parts in the levels until you can go through them
easily.
6) Be miserly! Conserve your money and use it wisely.
7) Move in small jerks when a lot of shots are being fired at you to
avoid having shots all over the place.
8) The hitbox for Landis does not include much of his feet or back.
Its better to dodge above shots then below.
9) Destroying an entire wave of enemies will make the last one drop a
Blue Powerup(gives only 1 bar to Power) or a Red Jewel).
XII. Dezant
Level Difficulty - **
Recommended Armor - Fire Armor
Fire Armor is my recommendation for this level. This is the easiest
level in the game so you will not find many tough enemies trying to slam
themselves into you. There are tough guys but they can be avoided or
killed. The only really tough guy in this level is the armadillo when you go
underground. Earth Armor will kill him quite quickly but with Earth Armor's
limited range the level is more difficult.
A. Sand
This is the first section of the level. Kill all the flying birds in
a wave to get a one bar power-up or red jewel from the last one you kill. The
mechs flying around are dangerous. They shoot a
fast lightly colored wave shot across the screen so try to either kill them
before they shoot or do not go across from them. Mechs can also shoot a
string of shot at you so watch out. The antlions that pop up from the sand
are easy to slash to death.
A dragon monster will come rushing towards you at one point with a
mech on its back. Go above it and move with it so that you can kill the mech
quickly before shots fill the screen. Then keep Landis above the dragon's
head and fire until it dies. A sand mage will appear in the upper right
corner and fire a horizontal shot. Unless you have some vertical or backward
capability just leave it alone as it will disappear quickly. Birds will be
flying towards you and they are easy prey. More mechs and antlions and then
you have passed this part.
B. Cave
This is kind of difficult to not get hit here at all. The falling
spires and birds shooting at you will restrict your movement, and if its on
super it may be a good idea to not kill a lot of enemies. Otherwise their
revenge shots will most likely hit you at some point. When you see the ground
the armadillo will fall from above on the right side of the screen so be on
the left side. This is the second hardest miniboss in the game (the hardest
is found in the Dark Tower). He will be severely restricting your area by
shooting homing spikes and by jumping in to the air and spinning around and
trying to ram you. He will try to ram your current position so if you move
close to it before it starts moving you can move backwards quickly to avoid
it. If you bomb the armadillo once while dodging and firing and it will not
be a problem. The Fire Armor's bomb will protect you from shots while
damaging the enemy. It is a good idea to kill the armadillo because it will
drop money, health, and a red power-up.
The rest of the cave is fairly hard. Falling sand and exploding rocks
will be pushing you around the screen and into enemies and their enemy
bullets. Not as well planned out to severely reduce your health as in
Helado's cave, but still a pain. There are mages that shoot fire rings at you
and the sand mages that fire horizontal shots. The flying birds are still as
commonplace as ever. There are jumping centipedes that give you a nice amount
of money and a red jewel or a powerup.
As you are leaving the cave there are mechs and birds flying around
shooting at you. Falling rocks and spires can become a real problem if you do
not stay near the bottom to dodge when appropriate. And then you come to the
last section of the level before the boss.
C. Castle
This part is short, but filled with money and enemies. Birds and
scorpion enemies that cling to the ceiling immediately attack as you enter the
castle. A large jumping enemy with a sword will greet you as well. Do not
get to close to because he jumps forward and shoots a large wave forward.
That is his only move so just avoid that.
The birds and falling spires will continue to harass you alongside
mechs. There are walls that you have to slash to destroy that give you a very
generous amount of money. Two sand mages will appear to the right and can be
easily killed. And after that it is finally time for the boss.
D. Dezant Boss
Boss Difficulty - * to ***
Recommended Armor - Fire Armor
This boss is the most consistently easy boss in the game. Makes sense since
Dezant is the easiest level of any difficulty. The only way you will die on
this guy is if you are already heavily damaged from the level.
Lvl 1 or Lvl 3 Fire Armor / Lvl 2 or Lvl 3 Earth Armor / Lvl 3 Wind
Armor / Lvl 2 or Lvl 3 Water Armor
With the armor you can immediately start slashing at the blue jewel on
its chest. The beak on the bottom will shoot at you. If you move back and
then down you can easily avoid it. Then you can stay near the back across
from the beak and fire at an angle at the blue jewel. This is the easiest way
to hit it, and it makes it so you do not have to deal with its fire breath
attack and sword attacks. When it corners you against the wall use a bomb to
escape from damage when it fires at you and sword slash the jewel. If it
lasts this long it should be dead after this.
Other Armors at different levels
You will have a harder time of defeating the boss with anything else.
The boss has a lot of forward attacks and you will have to get across from the
jewel to hit it. Just bomb the thing to death and keep hitting it and
hopefully you will not get hit too much.
XIII. Auzal
Level Difficulty - **
Recommended Armor - Fire Armor, Earth Armor
If you have Fire Armor and especially Fire Armor at level 2 you can
destroy this level. Piercing full range attacks make this a piece of cake.
It has only a few enemies that come from behind in the last section that are
difficult to avoid.
A. River
There are dragon boats, water dragons, and mechs in this section. By
far the most dangerous are the water dragons. The water dragons will attempt
to ram you with its head first and then spew fire. If you are playing on
super you should destroy it when its head far from you, because the revenge
shots are very hard to dodge. The dragon boats rush you from the bottom, but
if you to the left and a little up you are safe being rammed and its
fireballs. There are units that fly up on its back, but is you stay in front
you will be safe from these. The mechs with their flying around and firing
are the largest problem in this section.
After you are past most of the enemies a waterfall will appear. Do
not rush into the waterfall. Enemies come out of the waterfall quickly. Kill
them all then enter when the waterfall when enemies no longer come.
B. Underwater Cave
If you have the forward piercing moves of an armor than you are as
good as gold. Water Armor at level 3 would be the ideal for this part because
lots of stuff come from behind and it would allow you to relax more. But as I
have stated before keeping the Water Armor at level 3 when you lose 3 bars of
a power-up per hit is difficult. Not to mention it is horrible for the mini-
boss near the castle and boss.
Once you pass through the waterfall mechs will come and odd frog
monsters that spit fireballs up into the air that then fall. Both are not
much of problem. A frog will sneak on screen from the left and is unkillable
unless you have vertical or backward shots. You will start to descend further
into the cave where squid fly up towards you. Near the end a small worm tries
to ram you, so move quickly to kill it. Now you get to fight another mini-
boss. This is possibility the easiest of the mini-bosses. Stay far to the
left across from it and keep firing. You will only need to move up and down
to dodge its shots. The water bubbles it shoots from its tail are destroyed
by your shots. It will die shortly and leave lots of powerups and money.
The level starts moving forward very quickly. You need to bust your
ass forward, or you will end up die or with much less health. Octopus come
from behind shooting across screen and leave bubbles that need to be destroyed
if you wish to move through them. Large stationary bubbles will block your
pass so jam your character into it or past it if possible. You can die if you
are stuck on the left side of the screen by bubbles or the land that appears
in the middle so do not even be there. Also be wary of the small worms that
try to ram you.
When the screen starts to slow down you need to get in the bottom
right section and kill the squid that are above and below the opening for you
to exit the cave. Worms and other squid creatures will come from behind. You
can dodge them by going to the right of the screen and up out of the water.
C. Castle
After the squid a couple of small worms will attack you. An
interesting little man with a hammer starts smashing the ground creating
holes. The water drains away after the first hole. After he appears on
screen kill him for the health he drops. Then you fight another little mini-
boss, a mech on a strange creature that shoots out spikes and tries to smash
you with its arm. You can go above the area where he will appear and kill off
the rider. Then hover over its head and shoot to kill it. If you are slick
you can pull it off without getting hit once which is pretty satisfying.
The castle interior is sparse with enemies and obstacles. There are
only a couple of spiked balls, mechs, and little Aztec looking guys that
slowly climb stairs. The Aztecs are the most dangerous enemy here so make
sure to kill them. Otherwise they fire homing fireballs at you. If you let
them keep firing the fireballs will take massive damage from you.
D. Auzal Boss
Boss Difficulty ** to ****
Definitely one of the harder bosses. It shoots out an annoying homing
fireball with other normal shots, and it also has these odd objects that come
at you when it is going back underwater. The only time you can hurt it is to
hit its mouth when it opens. The water blades it shoots out can be dodged by
being on the far side of the screen and moving below them. The bad thing
about that maneuver is that the homing fireball will be on your tail, and the
boss will try to kill you by shooting a fireball into the water that causes
water geysers. The best thing to do is to take this boss up close and
personal and use bombs whenever it opens its mouth. Dodge as few things as
possible and keep shooting or slashing its face. It will die quickly with
this method.
Earth Armor
With Earth Armor you can quickly destroy this boss. You bomb it from
above as it comes out of the water. Then you navigate to its head when its
fully out and use a Bomb the second you see it start to open its mouth. If
you are uncomfortable with possibly taking a take a hit, then just move
backwards and shoot it. Move back near it and repeat. If you do not kill it
fast enough object will come from the water vertically and try to smack you.
Be wary of them as each hit will take 2 bars of health from you. It will
eventually resurface and then repeat what you did before and it should die in
no time.
Fire Armor
The strategy is the same as above, but there is a fine trick with the
bomb of this armor that is worth explaining. If you fire it just as its mouth
is open you can get it to rotate in place on the enemy boss's body. This will
remove most of the shots and allow you to keep slashing it.
Any Other Armor
Modify the above strategy a little.
XIV. Llamarada
Level Difficulty - ***
Recommended Armor - Fire Armor
This level is not one of the toughest, but it is very near that thin line
from becoming a level like Bosque. The difference between this and Bosque is
that the enemies are more sparsely arranged here. The boss is no joke, and is
one of the toughest in the game. I recommend a ranged armor, but keeping a
nicely upgraded armor is hard, so just pick the Fire Armor. Fire Armor has
nice range at level 1, and has a good bomb. Armors that have short range and
no up cover will make your life harder than it needs to be. After you go a
little bit inside the volcano there will be falling rocks all over the place
until you get inside the castle.
A. Volcano Surface
The first part of this is fairly easy. Stay up away from the tortoise
and foxes that appear below and shoot the birds down as they appear. The
birds do little cartwheels so if you stay in one area and shoot you should be
able to kill them all.
The second part is where you will most likely get hit a few times. As
you start to ascend the volcano, mages will appear behind you and fire shots
forward. They start to appear from around the middle of the screen and
gradually go down. What makes this a bit difficult is that there are rocks
falling down. Some are large rocks that give you a powerup, and some are
small ones that give you a blue jewel. A little worm will appear from the
bottom of the screen after you destroy or avoid the mages. Some mechs come
flying in the middle of all these flying rocks, and it is a good idea to
destroy them quickly. Then fireballs come from the right and when they are
destroyed they burst into four little fireballs that shoot in the four
diagonal directions. Destroy these fireballs by hitting them directly across
from them. As a last resort a mage and some birds will try to keep you from
entering the volcano.
B. Inside Volcano
After the mage and the birds the miniboss will appear. He is a large
pod with two arms. The arm shoot out little homing fireballs and the center
shoots out a small blue fireball. While you fight it mages appear from behind
you and fire horizontal shots. If you destroy this mini-boss too quickly you
will be unable to get the heart, red powerup, or money it drops. This is
extremely annoying. I recommend two ways to deal with this boss. The first
is to continually slash it as it appears and then keep hitting it until it
dies. This way is good but you will probably take a hit. The other way to do
it is to wait until the mages appear and then use a bomb to take it out. Then
maybe hit it a little if it does not die. The second way is a very good way
to deal with it, but you lose out on using a third bomb on the boss.
After the mini-boss birds will come from behind you and in front of
you in waves. The revenge shots after they die disappear if they hit into a
wall so use the level to your advantage. The scorpions and mages can be a
pain if you fail to kill them quickly. After that little stuff the ceiling
rises away and rocks continually fall. Stay away from the bottom since foxes
jump on screen and spray fire. Also stay away from the upper left corner
since a worm appears from there. Destroy the mechs as soon as they appear.
You will want to concentrate on dodging the rocks.
C. Castle Inside the Volcano
The first part of this is the hardest in my opinion. Scorpions, mechs
and firebirds constantly move forward trying to push you back and corner you.
Do not let them. The enemies are in the upper, middle, and bottom positions.
I find the level 1 Fire Armor ideal for this, since its shots go to those
points. Any other armor at a higher level than 1 should do fine here.
Firebirds fly from behind you when you come to the section with lava streams
moving all over the place. The streams move to another opening in the floor
or ceiling. Stay in between these little openings and dash to the next safe
spot as they appear.
The level will stop giving you a lot of space to move around rather
abruptly. You will notice a scorpion and a small ax thrower in the first
small opening. As you go through this part try to get as far as you can each
time the sections open up. The level closes and will trap you in tiny boxes,
but will not kill try to kill you in this fashion until the end. At the end
there is a flame thrower guy who needs to be killed as soon as possible. The
bottom section of the level slams left and will kill you if were on the
bottom. When it moves left the flame thrower will move left as well and can
take a lot of damage. The final is simple. Avoid the worms that appear, and
the spiked balls that fall from the ceiling and you get the pleasure of
fighting the boss.
D. Llamarada Boss
Boss Difficulty - *** to ****
Recommended Armor - Fire Armor, Earth Armor
He is possibly the toughest boss in the game. All his moves take two bars
of health from you. As the fight progresses he becomes harder and harder to
kill. If you do not kill him before he turns into two invincible balls that
bounce around the screen for the second time you will most likely die. After
the second ball transformation he will not give you more than a second or two
damage him. He will use his fireball move and quickly transform into the
balls and bounce around the screen.
Fire Armor
To kill him I suggest Fire Armor because with it you can kill him without
getting hit with a reasonable amount of practice. Keep slashing him as he
appears and he will move to the upper right corner. When he touches the top
of the screen use a bomb and the dragon will circle around him. This will
erase all shots he will fire at you. Sometimes the dragon will only stay on
him a short time, but it will still do a lot of damage. Then he will
transform into the invincible balls and bounce around. He will reform in the
lower left corner. Use a bomb when he appears to get rid of the shots. Slash
at him and he should die before he gets off another attack.
Earth Armor
As above keep slashing him as he appears and use a bomb. Back off when he
turns into a ball. When he reforms from his ball form in the lower left
corner, stay to the extreme left and up a bit. Keep using the Earth Armors
lavabomb and bombs. He will die quickly.
XV. Helado
Level Difficulty - ***
Recommended Armor - Fire Armor
If you have Fire Armor and especially level 2 Fire Armor you can
destroy this level. Piercing full range attacks are important for the castle
section of this level. I suggest starting with level 1 Fire Armor and after
the miniboss you will get level 2. Although level 3 would also suffice for
the castle section.
A. Snow
You should maneuver to be hitting as many enemies as possible, while
trying to stay in the upper right side of the screen. Do not stay near the
edges since enemies will be coming into the stage. Try really hard not to get
hit here. There are a bunch of enemies but if you can get it down then you
have a high chance to get to the boss. You need to kill the lizardmen that
walk onto screen immediately otherwise they will shoot out tiny homing
fireballs.
The roc will most likely not be killable by you unless you have earth
armor or are powered up with another armor. Do your best to kill the enemies
while dodging the tough bird. Before going into the cave a line of weak birds
will fly in a semicircle coming from the left side of the screen. If you stay
down you can kill them easily as they swing around.
B. Cave
When you first go in here there are falling crystals, dragons, and
the fat birds flying around. It is not that tough. Then there are the flying
soldiers and they are a bit tougher to dodge because of crystals obstructing
your movement. And after them comes the currents.
This is one of the most challenging parts of the game. There is some
type of current that will push you around here. If you do not understand
exactly where to go, the currents will push you into tough enemies and into
the shots of enemies. At first you should stay down around the center of the
screen to avoid being pushed into the fat bird that would you would be pushed
into that comes from the left side of the screen. Then try to go to the upper-
left while shooting the enemies and the shots from a large antlion that pops
out from the top. Try to stay in the upper part of the map to avoid the
turtle's shots. If you only got hit a couple of times then you are doing
good. Next is the miniboss.
The miniboss gives you a breather and an opportunity to regain power
and health. Antlions pop up from the top and bottom that can be killed for
power. The miniboss itself is easy. It fires little fire balls that explode
into several slow moving shots. It also shoots small worms at you. You
should easily be able to get to level 2 here.
C. Castle
Level 2 or level 3 are important for this section. The piercing
quality will help you immensely here since there are so many obstacles and
walls in the way. I suggest staying back as much as possible and killing off
enemies before advancing. Several enemies will come from behind and it takes
perfect timing to be able to kill as many of them as possible, move forward
while dodging in the cramped space and not get hit. Getting hit three times
is a reasonable amount for this part. But make sure you do not get hit by
fire or the falling, rotating spikes as they both take two bars per hit. Right
before the boss is a straightaway with lots of the little weak enemies. Their
revenge shots from the grave can make this very difficult on Super to not get
hit unless you have a piercing weapon that can kill many of them at once.
D. Helado Boss
Boss Difficulty * to ****
Like the Auzal boss, this one is hard if you do not play it right. As the
difficulty of the increases he fires more, gets different moves, and uses them
more rapidly. He is only vulnerable when he opens his mouth to fire a shot.
The open mouth is also his only weakpoint.
Earth Armor
Earth Armor wipes him out before he can finish his FIRST shot. You
bomb it from above once it finishes appearing. Once it opens its mouth use a
bomb. If it does not die then your timing was off. It will then jump into
the air and open its mouth to fire another shot at you. When it jumps put
Landis across from it and fire and use a bomb. It should definitely be dead
after this.
Fire Armor
Hopefully you have level 2 when you get to this boss, because then you
do not have to be so precise when shooting it. If you have level 1 that is
fine as well, as long as you have 2 or 3 bombs. Be across from its mouth and
continue to shoot. When it opens its mouth use a bomb. After it jumps keep
shooting it and use a bomb. If it is not dead after this then it will become
a bit harder. It will shoot up little crystals and rush forward quickly.
After it rushes you will be on the upper part of the screen. Use your last
bomb if you have it and move back to your original position while dodging
falling crystals to fire at its mouth. Get in a few more hits and it will be
dead.
Any Other Armor
Modify the above strategy a little.
XVI. Bosque
Level Difficulty - ****
Recommended Armor - Earth Armor, Level 3 Wind Armor
This level is one of the true bullet curtain style levels in this game. So
listen to my advice carefully. When you see an opening you must jam your
little man in there. You do not want to let an opening like that go untouched
and unused. Keep jerking back and forth. The constant motion will prevent
you from being stuck. When you finally release your little man from that
tight cage you will not regret the effort it took.
The large amount of tough enemies begs for firepower, so bring it. I
suggest a pimped out armor, or just level 1 Earth Armor. If you are using the
Earth Armor try to stay near the top of the screen. You will just rain lava
bombs on all the enemies below and kill them in one or two shots. If you have
Fire Armor, place your character more near the bottom, so you can defeat the
enemies just lined up on the bottom for most of this level. To beat this
level your first time just bring all the stuff you can. Bring full bombs, a
shield, full power, full health, and an elixir. When you get better remove
the elixir and the powerup to preserve your money for Cielom and the Dark
Tower.
A. Jungle
The jungle area is full of enemies. Enemies fly in from the front,
bottom, and the back. The enemies are just lined up on the ground for pretty
much the entire section. If you are playing on anything besides Super, then
you can defeat this without much trouble with Fire Armor at level 3. However,
if you are playing this on Super, than you are going to have to play much more
carefully. The revenge shots will make this very difficult. You cannot just
stay near the front and just blast away. You have to kill the enemies rushing
you and dodge their shots. You will also want to get what they the drop. You
will have to go through this many times to learn a path that works for you.
If you have Fire Armor, place your character more near the bottom, so
you can defeat the enemies just lined up on the bottom. If you let them stay,
they will fill the screen with axes, bullets. and spores from the giant plant
that suddenly appear. With the Earth Armor play a high game. Since the Earth
Armor drops little lava bombs, you can rain hell down upon those below you.
When the jungle floor drops out a large mini-boss comes out from the
bottom. It has a central section that spits out little spores at you, and two
arms. The arms shoot out a large laser beam straight up. The right arm
contains a heart. Earth Armor will make short work of this. With Fire Armor
you may want to use a bomb if get trapped between the spores, the laser beam,
and the enemies coming onto the screen.
B. Cave
On Super difficulty the vines that block your path become a real
problem. They regrow fast and they seem to take more damage. If you manage
to get a long range piercing attack that has decent power you will not
experience much difficulty here. For example, the Fire Armor at level 2 is
ideal for this part. If you do not have much in the way of firepower you need
to jam your character through this mess carefully and quickly since you will
probably not have enough time to destroy the vines in time before they corner
you against the corner of the screen. Flying red monsters, birds, and spore
bombs further complicate this section. If you go near the spore bombs they
will become agitated and then explode shortly afterward. This is a good
tactic to use to clear out a few of these. Fly near a few then fly a little
bit away before they explode.
Be careful not get stuck against the ceiling or floor of the cave. It
has little grooves that make it impossible to run on the floor, or move
forward flat against the ceiling. If you get stuck in one near the left side
of the screen when the screen pushes you off screen you can die.
C. Castle
The castle is full of obstacles, spiky balls, and lots of enemies.
The area is extremely cramped so be careful not to destroy enemies that will
force you take a hit from their revenge shot. The first obstacles are
spinning metal poles around a central point, and a large flat pole that moves
along the ground or ceiling. The red flying monsters will fly into the
perfect position to be killed just as you need to get in an area to dodge
these obstacles. If you kill them, you will probably take a hit from their
revenge shots.
The rest of the castle is full of spiky balls dropping all over the
place and tons of enemies. A long range piercing attack does wonders here.
But if you do not have such a thing you must play very aggressively. Rush
forward constantly and try to kill as many enemies as possible. On Super, the
last section is crammed full of enemies so you may need to use a bomb to avoid
dying.
D. Bosque Boss
Boss Difficulty - * to ***
Recommended Armor - Any
This guy is tough only the first few times you fight him. He does not have
many tricks up his sleeve, and he does not have much life. He starts the
round with two long tentacles coming up out of the ground that will try to
touch you. They also fire little shots. Destroy these first. Now you can
hit the boss in his weakpoint without having to deal with the tentacles. The
boss fires a long stream of blue fireballs that will force you to dodge up or
down. While you are moving he will fire large fireballs at you. If you get
trapped up or down then use a bomb to erase the shots.
When the tentacles are destroyed little homing mouths will try to ram you.
They also leave a little trail down wherever they go that will restrict your
movement as well as blocking non-piercing shots. The tail of the trail only
remains on the screen for a second or two, but it still can get in the way.
Keep firing and this boss will go down in no time.
XVII. Cielom
Level Difficulty - *****
Recommended Armor - Earth, Fire, Level 3 Water or Wind Armor
Easily the hardest level in the game. Almost every enemy on this map
can take 2 bars of health from you. Birds fly in from all over the screen as
well as giant heads spewing fire in a circle. Mechs move on screen and fire
at you most of the time. But the giant worms and mechs that shoot the homing
fireballs really take the cake. To complete this level on Super will
basically require an elixir and full health at the bare minimum.
If you could possibly keep a Water Armor at level 3 this level would
not be bad, but the sheer amount of enemies firing and cramming themselves
onto the screen makes it difficult. On other difficulties besides Super this
level is still very difficult and will take up a lot of money to prepare. My
advice is to first beat the level before restricting your money. Spend on max
health, shields, bombs, powerups, and an elixir. With those you should defeat
the level. Then you should possibly go into the level without a shield, and
after you complete that, go through it with no power-ups. In this way you can
conserve enough money for the Dark Tower. The Dark Tower is also a difficult
level and you should have enough for an elixir and full health.
You need to do two things to succeed in this level.
1) Eliminate fireball mechs before they fire.
2) Eliminate the worms as quickly as possible.
A. Sky
-Concentrate on killing the fireball mechs.
-Avoid the giant heads that spew out fire.
B. Under the City
-Avoid getting hit by the worms at all costs. I suggest using bombs if you
are not good at dodging them.
-When you are seeing the city above you cut off, you will see three of those
blue flying obstacles. The one furthest from you contains a heart.
-When you start moving up again concentrate on killing the fireball mechs.
-Right before you are in the flying castle a large amount of small flying
enemies will rush you will firing. To avoid getting hit, stay near the top
and move in small jerks forward. Their shots go to your last position, and in
moving in small increments you can get yourself a lot of room to dodge.
C. The Flying Castle
-There are mechs that shoot out fire on top of towers. They are harder to
kill than their flying counterparts, because part of their body cannot be
harmed.
-Near the end a flying turtle will come from behind you. You can run on the
ground to go behind it.
D. Cielom Boss
Boss Difficulty - ** to ***
Recommended Armor - Earth or Fire
This boss will punish you good if you let it do what it wants. As soon as
it is vulnerable use a bomb and keep slashing it. And when your bomb runs its
course use another. If it is not dead, it will move a little down screen and
shoot out lots of fireballs all over the left side of the screen. Avoid those
and keep firing. Use another bomb if you have it. If you have not killed it
at this point you will be in some trouble. It will throw its bow at you and
it can be very difficult to dodge. But if you keep your cool and stay back a
little you should see where the bow is going and you can dodge it.
XVIII. Dark Tower
Recommended Armor - Earth Armor
One of the hardest levels in the game for a few reasons. One is that
there are mini-bosses all throughout it and if you are not ready to lay the
smack down you will take a few hits. It is also the final level before the
last boss and you will probably not have much in the way of continues or
money. Because of the high amount of tough enemies I recommend Earth Armor.
There are two part where you will be inconvenienced because of its lack of
backward fire and close range fire, but getting through the first section is
the hardest and wiping out enemies quickly is important. Water Armor at level
3 makes sense for a section of the level where the screen scrolls backwards,
but Water Armor's lack of power is a severe disadvantage here.
Use all the money you have to beat this level. You do not have to
worry about the last boss because he is extremely easy on any difficulty. I
suggest an elixir, and max health at the minimum for this level. If you have
more money than definitely use it to buy shields and power-ups from the shop.
A. Bottom
Obstacles abound here in the form of spiky balls, fountains on the
ground, and large moving blocks with spikes attached to them. You fight two
armadillo mini-bosses back to back almost immediately. Destroying these tough
enemies quickly is the key to success here. This is why I recommend the Earth
Armor. You really need those bombs for the miniboss right before the boss in
this level.
After you destroy the armadillos more enemies will start to appear and
be a bother. Destroy the last two fountains on the ground. You get a heart
and a red power-up from them. After a little ways and lots of spiky balls is
a tricky part with moving blocks. On Super the blocks move too fast to simply
move forward to dodge them. You have to move forward and then down a little
about halfway while moving forward the entire time.
More enemies and then our old friend from Auzal. The mini-boss with a
rider on its back that will try to smack you with its arms. With the Earth
Armor this guy can be killed in no time flat. Just stay near the top and when
he approaches kill the rider, and then keep hitting it on the head. Do the
best you can after this mini-boss. Spiky balls block non-piercing shots while
scorpions and little Aztecs climb stairs to shoot homing fireballs at you.
Kill as many as possible while hopefully not getting hit much. Try to clear
the ceiling in anticipation of the following part. The ceiling will then
disintegrate and any enemies hanging on the ceiling fall straight down on top
of you.
The mini-boss from Llamarada appears when the ceiling falls apart.
Slash him as much as you can and then shoot him until he dies. The position
of this boss is annoying in this level as well. Once you destroy it the
chance of you getting the items it drops is small. Shortly after it appears
the screen will start scroll backwards.
B. Backwards
Water Armor at level 3 here, but Water Armor's lack of power is a
severe disadavantage for all these mini-bosses. This section has flying birds
that fly from behind you and huge spiky balls that swing along the top. A
small spiked block also moves along the bottom occasionally to try to force
you hit into something.
The mini-boss is the one from Bosque, only the right arm does not give
you a heart. Just keep hitting that central section to destroy it.
C. Top
After that mini-boss is section with moving spiked blocks that move
left and right. The best thing to do is to wait until you can get into the
middle. Destroy all the birds that fly down the middle directly above you.
The last one gives you heart. Once you pass the moving blocks a few large
blue worms will attack you. They are easier than the ones you killed in
Cielom, and die in only a few hits. They also do not have any revenge shots
after you kill them.
The unique miniboss of this level is by far the hardest of the mini-
bosses. It is harder than most bosses. The only weak point of the boss is
its middle section. It is a really bad idea to spend a large amount of time
on this boss. I suggest using up your bombs to destroy the three middle
sections of this boss. If you want to conserve your bombs for the boss you
will need to learn how to dodge the attacks. It fires a large beam from the
center so attacking if from the front is risky. It shoots long yellow string
that home. Blue worms are constantly popping out and causing a problem by
trying to ram you. Once you destroy a section of the mini-boss's middle, the
destroyed section has revenge shots that shoot forward.
D. Dark Tower Boss
He has two forms which he switches between. The starting gundam form
is invincible. The second ball form is vulnerable.
First Form -
He is invincible as long as he looks like a gundam. He will jump and
shoot blue fireballs that do not home-in on you. A good spot to dodge them
is near his feet, or by a far wall. He will create blue orbs that will rotate
around him, and be a pain in the neck if you are cornered against a wall, so
try to stay away from him. He will occasionally shoot out a dragon-worm that
will be very easy to kill.
Second Form -
After some attacks he will break apart and a little ball will be on
screen. Use your bombs and keep hitting/shooting it, but be careful because
it will shoot out blue fireballs. If you do not use bombs at this point you
will be in a difficult position. This will probably take 2-3 times of the
ball being exposed to kill him.
XIX. Zaggart
Armor recommended - Any
At the beginning of the final level you get all your health and power
back, and this is the easiest boss in the game. :)
First Form - Stab the little man in the face until he dies.
Second Form - Avoid his balls, and when he throws his pole, use your bombs
and shoot him.
Third Form - Pull a Fern Gully and lodge yourself in its mouth. You will
take 4 units of damage or less, but that should be nothing. He will turn green
and die. Hey, it's just like the movie!
XX. Music
On one site it states Satoshi Miyashita as the one who did the music, but
in the credits of the game it says "T's music". I know T's music
also did the music for Super Darius 2.
The TCD music is better than the Sega CD version. The Sega CD is more
commercial sounding, not as harsh or emotional.
XXI. No Death Run Video
It was separated into 5 parts and put it on youtube. The sound did not
come out properly but that's ok. It was also not my best run, BUT since
the game was done without dying it was put up. Super difficutly with only
Earth Armor on TCD AKA Turbo CD AKA PCECD.
Even though the sound is drowned out, you can tell the superior music on
the TCD version compared to the Sega CD.
PART 1
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wktLIVTIkm8
PART 2
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4lzMBnzwJ4s&feature=related
PART 3
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7UaizEkBMHU&feature=user
PART 4
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yy981Tw-UmU&feature=related
PART 5
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fBcpxTZQUWI&feature=related
XXII. Codes / Cheats
These are tested and they work on the PC-Engine CD. I am not sure if they
would work on the Sega CD version.
Cheat: 10,000 Crystals
At the Configuration screen, put the level on Super, the music to 02, and the
sound to 02. Finally, hold Select and press Button I. Even if you put the
code in multiple times you will only get 10,000.
Cheat: Fight the Bosses
At the Configuration screen, put the level on Hard, the music to 01, and the
sound to 01. Now hold down Select and press Button I. The exit selection will
change to Boss. You may now change your settings to anything you want.
Got cheats from
http://cheats.ign.com/ob2/068/005/005580.html
XXIII. Copyright January/10/2008 by Apathy000 aka Michael Zacka
This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or
otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission.
Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public
display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by
their respective trademark and copyright holders.
Sites that have my permission to use this guide are gamefaqs.com.
