Contra: Hard Corps
For Sega Genesis
By Chalupa Donny (AKA John Malone)
swidly@hotmail.com
- IMPORTANT INFO -
The "Contra: Hard Corps FAQ for Sega Genesis" is Copyrighted, as of July 2002 by the author,
John Malone, under international Copyright law. If you wish to reproduce, distribute, or
display this FAQ or use any part of it for any reason, permission given by the author (me),
is required by law. All violations will be reported.
This FAQ is, so far, only authorized to appear at the GameFAQs website (www.gamefaqs.com).
If you find this anywhere else, it is an unauthorized, (probably) uncredited copy of my FAQ,
and is in viololation of copyright law. Please e-mail me for permission to reprint this FAQ
(unless it is for personal use, not intended to be shown to any third parties, and not used
for profit).
- DISCLAIMER -
ALL of the information in this FAQ was thoroughly and painstakingly researched and written
by myself, John Malone, and no part was copied from anyone else's work without permission.
I took what names I could from the instruction booklet provided with the game and made up
all the rest with a generous use of artistic license.
-- VERSION INFO --
8/5/02 - Version 1.1 I fixed some spelling errors and rewrote awkward
writing wherever I could find it. I also added a
new Survival Tip and movement technique (found
under the GAMEPLAY BASICS: CONTROLS section) that I
had previously overlooked.
7/7/02 - Version 1.0 The FAQ is completed! If you see any errors, please
e-mail me at swidly@hotmail.com and let me know.
____TABLE OF CONTENTS________________________________________
I - CONTRA HARD CORPS
II - GAMEPLAY BASICS
III - CAST OF CHARACTERS
IV - THE STAGES
V - THE ENDINGS
VI - RANDOM OBSERVATIONS
VII - CREDITS
____I - ABOUT CONTRA: HARD CORPS_____________________________
Contra: Hard Corps by Konami is seriously one of the most underrated and overlooked
games of all video game history. Hard Corps was the only Contra game to be published for
the Genesis, and it's totally unique from any other Contra game in many respects. For one,
you can save and select up to 4 different weapons. There are also four playable characters,
each with unique attacks. And the most important new feature is that there are FOUR different
paths to choose from, each with different endings and unique stages and battles.
Sure, the graphics and music were not as hot as the now classic Contra III for the SNES,
but the Konami programmers did the best they could with Sega's limited game system. The
animations, and the stage and boss ideas range from average to ingenious. Plus, throw in
6 different endings and some really challenging gameplay, and you've got some great replay
value.
Perhaps it was the toughness of the game that prevented CHC from becoming a hit. Even
those notorious reviewers of the EGM crew said that this game was nearly impossible. This
game is hard, but it's far from impossible to beat. If I can do it (and I am far from the
greatest game player to ever live), then just about anyone can. But it's going to take work,
perseverance, and patience. And perhaps a few tips and strategies from my FAQ.
All of this brings me to an important question: Contra Hard Corps is very old by video
game standards and the production of Genesis and its games has been discontinued. So why
am I writing a FAQ for this game at all? There are several reasons. First, I like to write
FAQs, and this was one of my most favorite games back in the day. I don't know what exactly
I like about it, but it has captured my heart. Second, there aren't any detailed FAQs on
CHC that I can find ANYWHERE. I think this game deserves one, even only if 3 people actually
use it.
And finally, I'm writing for all those who still play this game but who need help. Maybe
you collect old videogames. Maybe you got a Genesis all those years ago and still haven't
had the will or the means to buy a new system. Or perhaps you have downloaded the ROM version
(remember, ROMs are only for archival purposes and can be used only if you own the game -
otherwise it is illegal!) and you're playing Contra for the same reason that I do, for
nostalgia's sake. No matter what the case, I've also written this FAQ for you. I hope you
enjoy it!
- John
____II - GAMEPLAY BASICS_____________________________________
Included in this section are the options, game controls, as well as many other important
aspects of gameplay.
- GAME OPTIONS ------------------
On the Contra: HC title screen, there are 3 choices: 1 Player mode, 2 Player mode, and
Option mode. There are a few things of interest in the Option mode:
- Players: Choose the amount of lives you start off with per continue. You can choose either
1, 2, or 3.
- Music Test: Listen to all of the background (BG) music tracks in the game. Clicking on
this option will open up another screen. Move left and right to switch tracks, then press
your button on Start Music to get things going. Pressing Stereo will switch your speakers
to Monaural, and vice-versa. There are a total of 29 BG tracks.
- Sound Effect: Lets you listen to all of the sound effects. They're arranged in hexadecimal
form to save space (A = 10, B = 11, C = 12, D = 13, E = 14, D = 15), which also counts 0
(zero) as a valid choice, so there are a total of 16 choices per slot. Do the math, and you'll
see there are 200 sound effects total.
- Control: Here you can switch around the functions of the A, B, and C buttons.
- Exit: Gets you outta here.
- DIFFICULTY -----------------------
Notice that the Options menu (above) does not have a 'Difficulty' setting that you can
change. Contra: HC is just plain tough. But you can make it a little easier or harder depending
on which character you choose. The characters are like the Difficulty level of the game:
Browny is the easiest and Fang is the hardest (see the Characters section for more info).
- CONTROLS -----------------------
After starting the game, this is how you control your character on the screen (I am
assuming you left the controls on their default settings):
- Directional Pad -
Up: Aim Up
Down: Duck
Right: Walk Right
Left: Walk Left
Up + Right: Aim Diagonally Up and Right while running Right
Down + Right: Aim Diagonally Down and Right while running Right
Up + Left: Aim Diagonally Up and Left while running Left
Down + Left: Aim Diagonally Down and Left while running Left
- Buttons - (default setting; you can change these in the Option menu)
A: Select Weapon
B: Shoot
C: Jump
While standing on a floating platform, Down + Jump: Jump down through platform (does not
work on every platform; generally there must be a floor below to perform this move)
Hold B: Continuous Shooting
Hold B, press A: Switch to Shot I / Shot II
- Special Moves -
Down + Jump: Slide
While Jumping, press B again: Double Jump (Browny only)
After Double Jump, hold B: Slow Fall (Browny only)
- SLIDING --------------------------
Sliding is one of the most important techniques in the game. Performing a slide makes
you temporarily invulnerable. By using this move, you can slide through projectiles and other
attacks and come out unharmed! Sometimes the only way to survive an enemy attack is by sliding
past it. You can also slide through enemies, damaging them in the process. Learning to use
this technique wisely and well is essential to beating the game.
- TYPE I AND TYPE II SHOT------
There are 2 types of shooting controls: Shot I (or Type I), which is the default, and
Shot II (or Type II), which you can switch to at any time by holding your 'shoot' button,
then pressing your 'select weapon' button. Switching to Type II shooting means that whenever
you hold down your 'shoot' button, pressing any of the directional pad buttons will aim your
gun in that direction. Of course, this also means that you cannot move while shooting in
Type II mode.
For Type I, being the default, this means that when you hold your 'shoot' button, you
will also move in whatever direction you are aiming at. Whenever you have to aim at tough
angles or when it's critical to stand still while shooting, you should consider switching
to Type II shot. Note that it is possible to beat the game without ever switching to Type
II shooting, especially if you're playing Browny.
- ALL ABOUT WEAPONS ---------
Each character has 5 slots to hold weapons, labeled A, B, C, D, and E, which are located
at the top of the screen. You can choose a weapon by pressing the 'select weapon' button.
This will move a red cursor to a slot that is filled with an available weapon. If you die
while a weapon slot is selected, you will lose that weapon; this does not include your default
machine gun or Bombs.
When playing through the game, be sure to shoot down the item capsules that occasionally
fly on-screen. Item (or weapon) capsules are yellow football-shaped flying objects. Shooting
the capsule will cause a weapon upgrade to drop from it. The weapon upgrades are red icons
with a letter on it. Collecting this will fill the appropriate letter slot in your arsenal.
Every character also has their own unique weapons; one for each slot (except E, see
the Bombs section). Everyone's default weapon is a no-frills machine gun. Collecting an A
symbol will upgrade your character's regular machine gun to a more powerful one. The B, C,
and D weapons are different for everyone (see the Characters section below for more).
- BOMBS --------------------------
Bombs are very helpful items indeed; using one will set off a circular explosion centered
on your character. This explosion will kill all enemies on screen and moderately damage
mini-bosses. Bombs will barely hurt anything more powerful than that.
The E slot is reserved for Bombs. Bombs appear from item capsules, just like weapons
do. Everyone can collect bombs, and you can hold as many as you can get (although you will
probably never find more than 9 in the game, even if you don't use, miss, or lose any).
- 1- UPS ---------------------------
You get an extra life after the first 2000 points you earn and then another one every
6000 points afterward.
- CONTINUING ------------------
If you lose all of your lives, you will have to use up a continue to keep playing. You
start off with 5 continues. When you use a continue, you lose all of your saved weapons and
bombs.
Your new starting location depends on how far you got in the stage before you died.
If you passed the Part 2 or Part 3 marker, then you will start from that point. If not, then
you start back at Part 1 (see the Stages section below for more on Parts).
- ONE PLAYER VS. TWO PLAYER MODE -
IMPORTANT NOTE: this FAQ is written from the 'one player' perspective. Going at it one
player was much easier for writing an FAQ, and I am guessing that most people play this game
on 1 player mode anyway. The game is just too long and demanding for 2 players to go all
the way, without a lot of difficulties.
Playing Contra on two players is fun and offers more firepower, but it also hampers
you somewhat. The main problem is that the screen will not proceed unless both characters
are moving forward. If one person is constantly lagging, he or she is bound to get both of
you killed.
- SURVIVAL TIPS ----------------------
- The most helpful weapons in the game, as I'll mention over and over again in the FAQ, are
the kind that can 'heat seek' or 'sweep/spread'. Having one or both of these weapons on-hand
at all times makes the game twice as easy.
- When not using a valuable weapon (such as those mentioned above), switch to a less important
one. That way if you die in an unforeseen accident, you won't lose something valuable. I
do not recommend switching to Bombs unless you are about to use one; the danger of setting
one off by accident is too much.
- Pause the game when switching weapons or switching Shot type (from I or II). This will
give you a breather from the action while also not splitting up your concentration between
2 tasks.
- Learn how to slide! I cannot stress how essential sliding is to survival in this game.
- Remember the quickest and generally safest way to get down from a floating platform is
by pressing Down + Jump.
- Every stage is tough, simply because you don't know what to expect. It is for this very
reason that you're guaranteed to use a continue every time you get to a new level. That's
the hard truth... unless you're using this FAQ! If nothing else, reading this will give you
an idea of what to expect.
- Face it, this game is mainly about one thing: non-stop shooting!!! So I will assume that
I don't have to tell throughout the FAQ that you should be shooting here or there. Your finger
never need let go of the B button during the entire play session! Especially during boss
fights, unless I specifically say not to, you should be shooting at your opponent every
opportunity you get.
- And finally, relax and have fun. If you're all tense and/or sweaty-palmed while playing,
it's going to make things all the more difficult. Losing isn't the end of the world. Just
enjoy the game!
____III - CAST OF CHARACTERS_________________________________
There are four playable characters in Contra: HC and a handful of supporting characters:
------------------------------------------------------
RAY
------------------------------------------------------
Ray is the blonde-haired dude who looks like a clone of Mad Dog and Scorpion (the 2 guys
from the other Contra games). Ray is a good character with solid weaponry and is recommended
for intermediate-level players.
- Medium heighth
- He has a medium-length slide
- Good selection of weapons
Weapons:
slot occupied - name - description
A - Vulcan Laser - A quick, repeating laser that replaces the default gun. Simply a more
powerful version of his machine gun: nothing more. Bonus: this projectile passes through
barriers.
B - Crash - Exploding missiles that fire in a straight line; Crush is Ray's most powerful
weapon. Save it for powerful enemies and bosses.
C - Spread - Woohoo! Ray's got the monopoly on the classic Spread gun. Fires a spread of
red bullets in a wide arc, and is very helpful for sweeping the room.
D - Homing Missiles - Pretty self-explanatory. These babies fire fast and home-in on enemies,
but they are extremely weak.
------------------------------------------------------
SHEENA
------------------------------------------------------
Sheena is the female counterpart of Ray. Physically, she's much like Ray (except for the
long hair and female genitalia) but her weapons are quite different. Like Ray, she's a good
character and is better for medium-level players.
- She's a tad bit shorter than Ray
- She also has a medium-length slide
- Also has a good range of weapons
Weapons:
slot occupied - name - description
A - Genocide Vulcan - Like the Machine Gun upgrade from previous Contra games. This gun fires
larger caliber machine gun bullets that are a bit more stronger.
B - Shower Crash - Like Ray's Crash, except in a downward arc. Kinda like a rapid-fire grenade
launcher. Powerful, but the short range is very limiting.
C - Break Laser - Same as the original Laser gun upgrade from Contra games of yore. Fires
a single, long laser beam in a straight line that can pass through barriers. Quite powerful,
but clumsy.
D - Ax Laser - A cross between Ray's Spread and a laser beam- except this also has homing
capabilities. It's weak, but extremely helpful, nonetheless. Good also for sweeping the area
clean of scum.
------------------------------------------------------
FANG
------------------------------------------------------
Fang is a mutant hybrid: part wolf, part man. A very eccentric fellow, he wears sunglasses
and has a gun in place of a hand on his right arm. Fang is definitely suited for expert players.
- Fang is the tallest character, making him a big target
- He has the shortest slide
- He's got the most powerful weapons, but many are short-ranged or slow
- No homing weapon
Weapons:
slot occupied - name - description
A - Beast Shooter - This is a neat looking weapon! This gun fires balls of flame in a stream
of fire that ripples up and down. It is strong, passes through some barriers, and also works
good for sweeping.
B - Power Punch - One of the top three most powerful weapons in the game, alongside Fang's
charged Psychic Blaster and the Bomb. Fang punches forward, creating a short-ranged shockwave
of fire. This can only be fired to the left or right! Beware: it's slow and the range is
VERY short.
C - Flame Thrower - Ah yes, the beloved Flame Thrower. It's the same as in previous Contras:
a short stream of continuous fire. The range is only average, but the thrower has good power,
helpful sweeping properties, and can pass through barriers.
D - Psychic Blaster - Like the Power Punch, this move can only be fired to the left or right.
Ordinarily, just pressing fire will shoot a small blue ball. Hold down the fire button, and
the Psychic Blaster will store energy. Wait until the energy is orange, then let go, to produce
a huge and devastating laser blast. Pretty cool! The only downside is the slow rate of fire.
------------------------------------------------------
BROWNY
------------------------------------------------------
Browny is a diminutive, plucky little robot. He also just so happens to be my favorite
character. And he should be yours, too, if you're a beginner, because he is definitely the
easiest to use out of the four.
- Browny is the shortest character, making him harder to hit
- Browny has a long slide
- Browny has some very powerful weapons
- Browny is the only character with a double jump! When jumping, press jump again to do it.
Hold the jump button and he will hover slightly, making his descent slower. This is a huge
and very useful advantage for Browny.
Weapons:
slot occupied - name - description
A - Victory Laser - A great machine gun. This fires blue arrow-shaped projectiles in a
continuous stream that is superb for sweeping the area. Plus, it passes through barriers.
B - Gemini Scatter - This fires a stream of grenades which return back to you after a short
distance, like a boomerang. If you're not there to catch them, they will fly around in random
circular orbits around you, possibly hitting enemies. They are strong, too.
C - E.M. Yo Yo - Or 'Electromagnetic Yo Yo'. Despite first impressions, this is arguably
Browny's most useful and powerful weapon. The Yo Yo will heat-seek in the general area of
an enemy and swing around, trying to hit them. All you need to do is hold down the button
and forget about it as it does the dirty work. Doesn't work good on crowds, though. As an
added bonus, it passes through barriers like they were butter.
D - Shield Chaser - Yet another homing weapon, except this is much faster and also doubles
as a shield. Hold down the fire button and five balls will surround and circle Browny. These
will damage opponents and block certain projectiles (e.g. missiles). A ball will disappear
after it hits something. When you let go of the button, the remaining balls will shoot off
and home-in on an enemy. Not so strong, but endlessly useful.
------------------------------------------------------
OTHER CHARACTERS
------------------------------------------------------
- Colonel Bahamut ----
Once a hero from the Alien Wars, now a notorious villain infamous for staging a failed coup
d'etat. The whereabouts of the man are unknown, as are his plans. One thing's for certain,
though: he's a certifiable nutball.
- Deadeye Joe -----
A mercenary for hire as well as an unrepetant, relentless killer. He likes to use vehicles
to get the job done and also wears a jet pack for quick escapes. He won't kill unarmed enemies,
but his thirst for vengeance knows no bounds.
- Noiman Cascade ----
Supposedly "the best hacker on the Net", Noiman is a piggish lump of a man who would sell
his soul to the highest bidder.
- The Doctor ----
I'm not sure what his real name is (or if it's ever even given), but this guy heads the Research
Center in charge of keeping an eye on the Alien Cell. He's also enjoys doing experiments,
the nature of which are unknown.
- The Alien Cell ----
Captured after the Alien Wars 5 years ago. Currently contained in the Research Center and
being monitored by the government. It is extremely dangerous with unpredictable mutagenic
properties.
- Chief -----
In charge of your division at the Hard Corps, the Chief debriefs you before most missions.
- Air Police Pilot ----
You'll run into this friendly gent a couple of times during the game, depending on which
path you choose. He flies some sort of futuristic aircraft and is always happy to lend you
a hand.
- Random Soldier ----
Aside from being your basic enemy, occasionally a random, faceless soldier will speak up
during certain cutscenes.
- Alien Recruiter ----
You'll find this strange fellow on a secret path. He'll try to get you to fight in the
Interdimensional Fighting Arena, shouting profanities if you refuse.
____IV - THE STAGES__________________________________________
The coolest part of Contra is that depending on what decisions you make, you will get
to go on different paths where you will encounter new levels, new enemies, and completely
different endings. In fact there 6 different endings in Contra: Hard Corps. You can read
them in detail in the next section (part V).
- STAGE MAP -------------------------
What follows is a rough map of the game, including all of the different paths. There are
two ways to read this. If you already know which path you want to take, look at the END and
take note of the letter. To get that ending, follow the paths on the map that have your letter
on it. So if you want to take path (A), then that means beat stage 1, follow Deadeye Joe
so you can play stage 2 (ab), beat stages 3 and 4, then choose "Give Up" so you can play
stage 5 (a), which is the Space Showdown. Notice each stage title has an (a) in it.
Or you can just play through the game and follow my directions to see what's coming up
next. Everything's pretty much self-explanatory once play the game and see for yourself.
- You can only get endings (A) or (B) if you followed Deadeye Joe after the 1st stage. Likewise,
you can only get endings (C) or (D) if you chose to rescue the Research Center after the
1st stage.
- Access to stage S is explained in the level 3 (abcd) section and the Secret stage section.
- To get the bad ending, see Part 2 of stage 7 (d).
START *give up v*
| follow Deadeye -> (5 a) |END A
V ->(2 ab)- / *fight v*
/ \ /-> (5bd)->(6b) |END B
(1 abcd)- ? -< >-(3 abcd)->(4 abcd)- ?-<
\->(2 cd)-/ \ \--> (5c)-> (6c) |END C
rescue R. Center \- (S) | END S \ *give up ^*
\->(5d)->(6d)->(7d) |END D
*fight ^* \
--- Stage Key ------ \-|bad END
1 abcd = City Under Siege 5 c = Runaway Train
2 ab = The Chase 6 b = Red Falcon Redux
2 cd = The Rescue 6 c = Area 52
3 abcd = Junkyard Tussle 6 d = Ocean Pursuit
4 abcd = Welcome to the Jungle 7 d = Countdown to Armageddon
5 a = Space Showdown S = Hyper-Dimensional Hijinks (secret)
5 bd = Arena ? = Decision Point
Here is an example level that demonstrates the format that I will use througout the Stage
Guide:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE X (abcd)- Sample Stage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The parenthesis after the stage number contains letters. These letters determine whether
a certain path (path A, B, C, or D: see the Stage Map above) plays through that level. Three
of the stages (1, 3, and 4) must be played no matter what path you're going on, therefore
the parenthesis displays all 4 of the path letters. If you're trying for path A and the stage
heading says (bc), then you're looking at the wrong stage. Note that some paths have more
stages than others.
Cutscenes and dialogue are surrounded by stars like so:
*************************
Ralph: Me flunk English? That's unpossible!
You: <--- means whichever character you're playing (the dialogue's all the same)
*************************
Every stage in the game is also divided into 2 or more parts:
PART 1:
you will start here if you have to use a continue before getting to Part 2
PART 2:
if you have to use a continue after this point, you will start from here
PART 3:
one or two stages even have a Part 3!
Plus, every stage contains some mini-bosses and a final stage boss, denoted very
obviously:
- Mini Boss: xx
-- Stage Boss: xxx
or, if you're on the last stage of your path:
-- Final Boss: xxxx
The end of the level is marked with a:
STAGE CLEAR
followed by directions on where to go to next. Simple, huh? Then let's get to it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 1 (abcd) - City Under Siege
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first stage sets the intensity level for the rest of the game. The initial difficulty
might turn off a lot of players, but just give it a chance! It might take a lot of tries
to get used to the quick-paced action, but once you do, you'll be ready to take on anything
else the game can throw at you.
*************************
Chief: Our security system has been breached by an unknown hacker. An unmanned robot is
running rampant throughout the city! I want you to proceed to the area ASAP and restore order!
*************************
PART 1:
The stage starts off with a parade of enemies on screen doing their thing. Suddenly
an ATV comes crashing through, smashing everything in it's path to bits. Finally, your
character jumps out as the ATV comes to a sudden halt. That's a hard intro to live up to!
This first part is basically platforms and a whole bunch of robots coming at you from
every side. It's VERY easy to die here, even for me. There are two kinds of bots: the blue
robots punch at you if they get too close, and the red ones will fire single shots at you
if you give them the time to. Both are equally lethal.
The horde of robots that come at you are infinite in number: in general, just keep
shooting forward and backwards while slowly making your way forward. After walking a short
distance, you will encounter two red sniper robots on perches above you. They take more than
one hit to kill, but still should be no problem. Just before encountering them, begin shooting
diagonally up while moving forward (don't stop). This should kill them both. If not, just
keep going and beware their bullets.
After jumping a few barrels, two weapon capsules will appear, containing A and D upgrades,
just as you hit the third sniper perch. These are important to get, so make sure the screen
is as clear of enemies as possible before you try to get them. Next there will be a couple
more snipers, plus a grenadier robot perched on a barrel on the path in front of you. Kill
him quickly. After this is a gas truck blocking the path with a sniper bot on it. Kill the
sniper first, then blast the truck while shooting behind you periodically to get rid of
backstabbing enemies.
Next is the Metal Centipede you saw from the intro. His only attack is to walk forward
and then shoot a stream of projectiles at a downward angle in front of him, which is easily
avoided by standing right next to him. Just shoot at his head before he gets the chance.
As you proceed, the ground will shake and raise itself in broken columns, but there's
nothing to fear here, just jump on through. Be sure to shoot the item capsule and get the
Bomb right after this part. When you come to nondescript section of building in the background,
be prepared for:
-Mini Boss: Electric Babalu
Looks like a rotating metal spider with a periscope on top. Kinda like the infamous
Babalu Defense Mechanism from Super C (hence the name). First stay on the far right side
of the screen before he appears. The wall will blow up and Babalu will emerge from the hole
and begin to shoot flames. Next he will slide left, then right, and he will also start to
jump if you don't kill him fast enough.
Just keep your distance to avoid the flame thrower. It shouldn't be too long before
he bursts into flames from your shots. At this point, Babalu will immediately move the far
left (if he's not there already) so jump or slide past him if you need to. Once he's on the
left, he will pause for a moment then immediately slide to the right again and crash into
a building. Just avoid him again then wait as the building falls over. Easy!
Climb the fallen building and prepare to fight boss numero dos:
-Mini Boss: Cyclops
This giant one-eyed robot may look intimidating, but he's really a pushover (c'mon,
it's the first level!). First he shoots a sweeping laser across the ground which causes
columns of fire to explode from the ground, moving from the far left to the right. He will
then dance for a few seconds and then reach down, pick up a car, and throw it at the center
of the screen. After that, he'll repeat his laser attack.
As the Cyclops is jumping from the background to the foreground, stand in the middle
of the screen and aim your line of fire up so that when he lands, you will be shooting right
into his eye. Don't move as he shoots his beam, the fire columns should move right past you.
If, for whatever reason, it seems like you're about to get hit by a fire column, you can
dodge it by sliding to the left just before it reaches you.
Just keep shooting up and Cyclops should die before his car attack. If not, just move
to either side as he picks up the car and you'll be safe.
PART 2:
Immediately after this battle, two more item capsules will appear, giving you the B
and C upgrade. Next are two rotating platforms. Use well-timed jumps to maneuver to the third,
stationary one. This one spins you around, flies forward, and then gets itself shot by a
mysterious, off-screen assailant.
*************************
-The camera pans up to the top of the building, where a robotic figure is standing.
You: That's not the unmanned robot! Somebody is inside that thing!
-The robo-suit jumps down onto a parked car, smashing it to pieces.
*************************
-- Stage Boss: Blade
For the first part, Blade is carrying a gun. He will jump to various parts of the screen,
including the two raised platforms, periodically shooting at you while standing or ducking.
All you have to do is stay on the ground and duck the bullets when you have to. They only
move straight, so this should be easy. After you blow away his gun, the mysterious robot
will jump back up and laugh. This means he's about to switch attacks.
This is the really dangerous part. Stay on the ground, under one of the raised platforms.
First, his torso detaches, sprouts blades, and then flies up and chops the skyscraper in
the background in half. When the torso re-attaches itself, he'll immediately do the attack
again, except he'll be aiming at you. You can avoid this attack by staying on the ground
and ducking. As soon as he re-attaches again, jump onto one of the raised platforms to avoid
the series of dashes that he performs next. After 2 dashes, his attack pattern is random.
Keep using the tactics above and you should quickly win out.
*************************
-The suit explodes, revealing the pilot.
You: What... or who are you?
Deadeye Joe: Heh heh heh. You can call me Deadeye Joe. If you want to know more than that,
then come and get me!
-Deadeye Joe flies off to the right on his jetpack.
The Doctor: The Research Center is under attack by an unknown group! Please, come and help!
You: Damn! What should I do?
( ? ) DECISION:
-> Go after Deadeye Joe
-> Rescue the Research Center
STAGE CLEAR
*************************
If you choose to go after Deadeye Joe, go to stage 2 (ab).
If instead you choose to rescue the Center, your next stage is 2 (cd).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 2 (ab) - The Chase
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you choose to go after Deadeye Joe, you will be taken to this stage. This level and
2 (cd) both feature your character traveling at fast speeds on vehicles, facing off against
a series of enemy encounters. The Chase may be a little harder than the Rescue (2 cd), if
only because for a significant portion of this level, you can't slide (see below).
PART 1:
As the stage starts your character is riding a hover bike, riding east. It's important
to note that while on your hover bike, you can jump like normal but you can NOT slide! The
game just won't let you! So when it comes to dodging, you're going to have to do it the old
fashioned way.
The first enemy you'll encounter is a zeppelin in the background, among the skyscrapers.
The blimp isn't your main target, however, since it shoots off metal capsules into the
foreground to the upper right, out of which pop out jetpacked-robots, in groups of 1 or 2
at a time.
Stay to the far left of the screen and jump up to shoot them as they emerge from the
capsules. They try to fly close and shoot you with a downward angled stream of bullets. The
flying robots are variously colored blue, brown, or red. Blues are weakest while the Reds
take more hits. After you kill about ten or so robots, the zeppelin will crash itself into
a building. Oh, the humanity!
Now immediately move to the far right and start shooting backwards with your machine
gun. A tiny android will come running in from the left, carrying a BIG bomb. If you don't
shoot him down fast enough, he will throw it to the right and you can pretty much kiss a
life goodbye. A dozen shots ought to do him in (he'll still drop the bomb, so be sure you're
not nearby).
- Mini Boss: Iron Spider
As you enter a long tunnel, a metal spider will appear on the ceiling from the right,
clinging to the ceiling. The Spider is small, but he's surprisingly resilient and has some
tough attacks. A homing weapon is recommended so that you can concentrate on dodging. First
move quickly to the far right. The spider will move to the bottom left and shoot a series
of single laser shots along the ground. Carefully jump over them.
When he stops, move to the far left as the Spider moves back up to the ceiling. Now
he will do one of two attacks. Usually he floats back to the ground on the far right and
fires bouncing energy balls from his behind. Since you can't slide, try jumping over the
low-bouncing ones and moving under the high ones. If you're Browny, you can double jump over
groups of them.
If you've damaged him enough, he will follow his initial laser attack with the following
move; he will also do this attack after the bouncing ball assault. The Spider moves back
up to the middle ceiling and begins to spin his claw around in a circle. Beware: he's preparing
his dreaded bouncy claw attack.
After a moment of spinning, he will drop his claw on the far right where it will bounce
up and down on the ground, slowly moving to the far left. Find the timing of the bounces
and then move under the claw when it's in the air. The Spider always follows this by weaving
up and down while moving back and forth in the tunnel. When the claw attack ends, stay just
below his body and to the left. He will move to the right, then back to the left. Get his
pattern down; when he gets close and there's adequate moving room, zoom under him. After
weaving, his attack pattern becomes random, but he should be dead by now.
After dispatching the Spider, you exit the tunnel and catch up with Deadeye Joe. A blimp
will swoop down from above and Joe will fly inside, then both of them take off.
Suddenly the ground falls away and you're hoverbike will sprout legs and begin to run
along the ground. You still can't slide, but if you're playing as Browny, you also can't
double jump! Beware, if the vehicle's legs are damaged, you will perish as well.
PART 2:
As you run along the ground, 2 weapon capsules will fly in from the right, containing
the A and C upgrades. Stay to the far left, as the Joe's Blimp will suddenly make an appearance
and move to the right.
- Mini Boss: Blimp Core
While on the right, a red core will drop down from the bottom of the Blimp and shoot
a series of blue beams along the ground. Shoot the core continuously until it begins to fire
on you, then concentrate on dodging. The Core will randomly shoot 1 to 4 beams at you. It
shoots them very fast, and it's almost impossible to jump over more than 2 without getting
killed. No secrets here, just pray that you can jump really well! After it shoots, the core
will retract and the Blimp will move to the left. Move quickly to the right and prepare for
a repeat of the above.
After the core retracts a second time, STAY IN PLACE. The blimp will again move to the
right, but it will dip down in the middle and crush you if you move too early. Wait till
it starts to move back up, then move to the far left quickly. Now when the core drops it
will fire gray bouncy lasers. You will probably get killed here if you let them reach you,
but if you've been shooting the whole time, the core will explode before the lasers can touch
you (once it's dead, the lasers will cause you no harm). The exploding blimp will bump your
vehicle, knocking you off.
-- Stage Boss: Spike
Wow, this is probably one of the most creative boss fights I've ever seen. You find
your character running along a highway, towards the screen, while the scenery scrolls quickly
backwards, like a racing game in reverse. Chasing you in the background is Spike, a large,
anthropomorphic robot with spikey ball-and-chains for arms, piloted by Deadeye Joe. There's
no way to hurt him when he's behind you; wait until he moves into the foreground (that is,
the same playing field as you). This is an easy fight once you know the drill.
Spike's first action is to run into the foreground and shake his arms up and down. He
will stay in his lane, so stay on the opposite side of the screen and shoot at his weak spot:
the torso. Next Spike recedes into the background and starts swinging one of his arms in
a circle. After a moment he flings the spike ball at you, keying in on your position. Stay
in place, then move to the side when he lets it loose and he should miss. He does this attack
twice.
See the lane Spike is running in? His next move is to jump into the foreground, landing
in the opposite lane of the one he was just running in. Simply stand in the lane where he
won't be (in other words, stay in the lane where he was before he jumped).
Now he'll be running close behind you. Spike will swing both of his arms out and the
spikey balls will smash into the ground on either side of you and remain there a few seconds.
Just stay directly in front of Spike and you'll be safe.
For his last attack, Spike launches spikey bombs into the foreground, starting from
the far right and sweeping to the left. I hope you've been practicing that slide, because
the only way to get past this is by sliding to the right when the explosions get close to
you. Finally, Spike will run into the foreground again and shake his arms in aggravation.
This is when you let him have it! After this he will repeat the exact same pattern above
until he's dead.
After enough hits, you'll blow his limbs off and all that will be left is a robotic
torso. But it ain't over yet. The torso will bounce around in the background and then try
to jump into the foreground to land on you. As long as you keep moving, he should miss. This
is your chance to shoot him. One shot will stun him (allowing you to pummel him multiple
times) before he eventually jumps back. Continue this pattern until victory.
*************************
-As the robot explodes, Deadeye Joe is left on the ground, injured.
You: You can't get away now! Give yourself up!
Deadeye Joe: Heh heh heh... you fool! I'm nothing more than a decoy! By this time my friends
have arrived at the Research Center and have gotten their hands on the Alien Cell!
You: Alien Cell?
Deadeye Joe: Now begins the true horror! Ha ha ha ha ha!
-Deadeye Joe hari-kari's himself with a sudden explosion.
You: Damn! He blew himself up!
STAGE CLEAR
*************************
D'oh! Go to stage 3 (abcd). And remember! From now on, you can only go on paths A or B since
you chose to chase Deadeye Joe.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 2 (cd) - The Rescue
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you choose to rescue the Research Center, this will be your next level. It's a lot
easier than The Chase, especially since you can slide. The only weapon you'll really need
for this stage is a fast weapon like a machine upgrade (in slot A).
PART 1:
This stage starts out like 2 (ab), with you riding on a hoverbike across a highway,
except this time you're moving west. Immediately there is a cutscene:
*************************
You: Damn! At this speed, we'll never get there on time!
- A flying vehicle with a rail on its bottom lowers itself and hovers above you.
Pilot: Hey bro! Looks like you're having some trouble. Grab onto my machine and I'll take
ya where you want to go!
You: The Air Police... you guys sure have good timing!
- Your character jumps from the bike onto the railing of the vehicle.
Pilot: Look out! One of the bad guys is coming up from behind!
- A tank suddenly plows through your bike, blowing it up, and then maintains a position on
the far right side of the road.
*************************
The tank on the right can NOT be hurt by your weapons. You'll have to kill it indirectly.
As soon as you can move, go the left side of the grab-bar and have your character face the
left.
The tank will launch a missile your way, pause, launch, etc. Jump over the missile,
still facing left. When the missile reaches the left side of the screen, it will break open
and a guy wearing a jetpack will pop out. These guys have guns and will shoot you if you
wait too long. No need to worry, though, because one shot will drop them. As you fire, prepare
to jump over the constantly on-coming missiles. As you kill the jetpack soldiers, they fall
onto the ground and hit the tank, damaging it. The tank launches these missiles in sets of
threes and it will take six jetpack guys to kill it.
Next the jet will lift you up through the clouds, leaving the highway behind. After
a few seconds a lone soldier sporting a jetpack will fly on screen. Just stay on the middle
of the rail. The guy will use a grappling hook to grab onto one side of the railing and then
spin around in wide circles, before letting go and re-launching his grappling hook. As long
as you stay in the center and keep shooting him, you'll come out unscathed.
Next your character will jump on top of the body of the aircraft. The jetpack soldier
will reappear for an encore, this time chasing the plane and shooting occasional downward
angled laser beams at you. Jump whenever he shoots a laser, even you don't think you're going
to get hit, because the jet sometimes suddenly moves up and down, putting you right in the
path of the laser. After a barrel of shots the chump will crash and burn.
- Mini Boss: Hydra Plane
This boss is a little unpredictable, so be extra careful here. The Hydra Plane is a
huge blue aircraft that suddenly descends from above. It wields a flamethrower on its nose
and a tri-barreled gun on each of its wings. The guns fire large fireballs in a three-way
downward spread. When it first arrives it usually fires the gun on its right. You can try
standing between the fireballs, though this is risky since the plane beneath you
unpredictably shifts left or right. You can also slide to avoid them. The flamethrower on
its nose covers much less area and moves in a slightly curved line downwards, so just stay
off to the side when it fires.
This boss really has no pattern; just try to the sides of the wings and be ready for
any of its various attacks. Luckily the Plane's entire body is vulnerable, so you can shoot
at the rather large wings and still kill it. As the Plane is going down in flames, it smashes
into your jet, bringing you down with it.
*************************
Pilot: Rats! We took one. We're going down! It'll be a rough landing!
- The plane skips across the ground a few times before finally crashing and skidding to a
halt, whereupon you are suddenly thrown onto the ground.
*************************
PART 2:
Luckily for you, the plane crash-landed right at the doorstep of the Research Center!
Upon landing, two item capsules are carrying C and D weapon upgrades. Walk up to the Research
Center and blow the door open for another cut scene.
*************************
- Inside the Center you encounter the Doctor, surrounded by a squad of soldiers with guns.
When they see you, the soldiers hesitantly run away, leaving the Doctor behind.
You: Are you okay?
Doctor: I'm fine. But you must stop them! They're after the Alien Cell!
You: Alien Cell!?
Doctor: We got it from the Mother Alien in the Alien Wars five years ago. It's very dangerous,
so we are keeping a close eye on it!
You: So the rampaging robot was just a clever diversion!
*************************
Now it's time go after those soldiers. As you enter the next chamber you are swarmed
by soldiers left and right, sniper soldiers on platforms are taking shots at you, and other
soldiers on platforms are jumping down on you. The soldiers, except for the snipers, who
take a couple of hits and are stationary, are infinite in number and are brough down by one
shot. If a ground soldier gets next to you, they will pause and then slash at you with a
laser sword.
This is kinda like the first part of the first level, except here a homing weapon won't
help so much. The enemy is so overwhelming that you can easily be overrun if you're not very
skillful. You may be better off with a spread/sweep weapon. Be sure to shoot at every angle
as you make your way through. If you're too outnumbered, slide on through them!
After you get past several platforms, snipers, a grenadier soldier (just kill him fast),
and tons of soldiers, you will run up against a sheer wall. Climb up the wall. After the
slope changes and then straightens back to vertical again, two snipers on platforms on the
left will be taking potshots at you. If you have a homing weapon, kill them quickly. If not,
I suggest climbing quickly past them and just avoiding any bullets.
When you get to the top, you'll be on solid ground again and two more item capsules
will appear, this time with A and B weapon upgrades. Enter the room on the right.
*************************
- You enter a large chamber with an exit on the right and a large glass containment unit
in the background which has been smashed open. The remaining soldiers here escape through
the door on the right. Both of the doors close, forming one, large single chamber.
You: Oh no! I'm too late!
*************************
-- Stage Boss: Master Builder
Another very interesting boss. Master Builder is a huge metal robot that looks like
a skeleton, reminescent of the big robot boss in Contra III. He emerges from the ceiling
and remains above you for the duration of the fight. Notice that his arms are transparent;
this means you won't get killed by touching them. Aim for the skull during this fight.
His whole spiel is this: he knocks down pieces of junk, which fall from the ceiling
onto the center of the chamber. He then uses his arms to construct the blocks into something.
Once he's finished, he exits the screen through the gap in the ceiling while the newly
constructed 'thing' fights you. If you destroy it, the boss reappears from his hiding place,
red with anger, and then builds something else.
He's really not too hard if you have some good weapons. All you have to do is hang on
to the bottom of the left wall and continuously shoot diagonally upwards at his head. When
he disappears, quickly take out his construct so that the main boss reappears, then keep
shooting. If you have a powerful weapon, he will die after building only one or two constructs.
If you dilly-dally or don't have a powerful enough weapon, the match will get a little tougher
as he builds the later constructs, so kill him quick. Here's how to deal with each construct
(NOTE: he always builds them in this order, repeating the cycle if necessary):
First - Collapsing Column: This is just a string of blocks that will fall either to
the left or the right. Equip a powerful weapon, don't move (the closer to the ground you
are, the better) and just fire away.
Second - Twin Crawlers: Three piece blocks that just crawl along the ground, back and
forth. Crawl about mid-way up the wall and shoot down at them. Move back down before the
Master Builder returns from his hiding place.
Third - Jumping Wheel: Usually Master Builder won't get this far, and a good thing,
too, because it's tougher. This circle of blocks will move either left or right and jump
very high. Don't stay on the walls; get on the floor and shoot it. Keep a good distance and
slide when it gets too close.
Fourth - Rocket: Looks kinda like a sword. This thing flies around slowly, usually along
the walls, so stay off them. The same tactics you used for the Wheel will work here.
STAGE CLEAR
Go to Stage 3 (abcd). Keep in mind that from now on, you can only go on paths C or D since
you chose to rescue the Research Center.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 3 (abcd) - Junkyard Tussle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This stage is not too much tougher than the previous stages, but the meat of this level lies
in the boss fight. It will give you a first taste of the numerous multi-part, epic boss battles
that you'll encounter later in the game. Also, the path to the Secret level can be found
in this stage (see Part 2 of this section for more).
*************************
Three Days Later.
Chief: We've indentified the hacker who breached our security. His name is Noiman Cascade.
He's the best hacker on the Net! He used the panic caused by the robot as a diversion so
he could steal the mother Alien Cell from the Research Center. It's very likely there is
an organization working behind him. His hideout is under a garbage dump. Don't screw this
one up!
*************************
PART 1:
The stage starts you off in a junkyard, where the sun is setting behind an enormous
hill in the background. Two item capsules appear immediately from the opposite sides of the
screen, so shoot them quickly to get the A and C weapon upgrades. At the same time, you will
see oncoming streaks of dust coming down the hill towards the foreground. These are a bunch
of guys on motorcycles (this whole scene kinda reminds me of Mad Max), and you can't proceed
until you kill them all. After getting the weapons (if you need them), immediately walk to
the far right and have your machine gun equipped.
All these guys do is jump up from the background, land, and then try to run over you.
All you have to do is face to the left and shoot continuously. From here, you will kill all
the bikers except for the last 2, which you will see coming down on your side of the screen
after several seconds. You can either stay on the right and just shoot upwards as they appear
(kinda risky), or, before they jump onto the screen, quickly move to the left (make sure
ALL of the rest of the bikers are dead!), then face right and slaughter them.
Walk forward through the next section and you will soon encounter small jumping robots
that emerge from the junk. Stop and kill them as soon as they appear! If you let them get
close, they'll quickly jump over you and shoot a barrage of bullets downwards. The attack
is very hard to dodge if you're surrounded... so don't let them get close.
You will also periodically encounter a junked car blocking your path. Duck as soon as
you see it, because it launches frikkin rockets from its hood. Make sure there are no jumpy
robots around you before you set out to destroy these cars. After the second car, the ground
will slope down. Keep walking and a item capsule with a Bomb will appear. When you pass by
flocks of black birds, prepare for a fight!
- Mini Boss: Wrecker
Don't let his large appearance fool you; this guy's a kitten. The Wrecker has two spiked
balls on his tentacle-like arms, a long tail instead of legs, and a Cyclopian head (his weak
spot). First walk all the way to the right. The Wrecker will bust out of the ground from
the left and stand around. Take this time to shoot him. When he makes a hissing sound and
starts moving differently, duck. He will fling his snakey arm out, and it will stay there
awhile, so keep ducking. When he lets up, get ready to quickly walk or slide to the far left
of the screen as the Wrecker jumps to the right.
He will pause again, so shoot some more. When he starts to move differently again, he's
about to sweep his tail around on the floor. This part's like jump rope: look for the timing
of the swings and then jump over the tail until he stops. Next the Wrecker will dive into
the floor and move to the left again, starting the cycle anew. When he's diving into the
ground, wait till he's all the way in before you move to the right, as the spike balls on
his protruding arms can still kill you.
PART 2:
Continue forward as the ground slopes down sharply, descending underneath the junk pile.
While inside this strange underground base, the only enemy you'll face are a number of gun
turrets. They are located along the wall and don't open up until you get close. Once open,
they will shoot bullets onto your position at regular intervals.
The most reliable way to get through them unharmed is by first edging the screen forward
just enough so that the turret will open. Doing it this way makes sure that you won't be
facing more than 2 turrets at a time, and it will leave a lot of room for dodging on the
left side of the screen.
After a bunch of turrets, you will encounter a wall on the right with a door that you
can shoot open on the bottom. If you don't want to get to the secret stage, go through the
first door, enter the next corridor and then shoot open the second door to get to the stage
boss. Skip ahead the next part until you reach the Stage Boss section.
** SECRET **
If you DO want to play the secret stage, do NOT shoot open the first door. Jump onto
the wall above the first door and climb all the way up. This reveals a secret area! Keep
climbing until you reach the niche where the alien dude in a top hat is standing.
*************************
Alien Recruiter: Hey you! Wanna make some money in the battle arena?
( ? ) DECISION:
-> Give it a try
-> Forget about it
- If you choose 'Give it a try':
Alien Recruiter: Well, good luck!
- Neato. Now go to the Secret stage section.
- If you say 'Forget about it':
Alien Recruiter: Ha! Spineless jellyfish!
- You are sent back to the room below, no worse for the wear.
*************************
** END SECRET **
If you go past the second door, you will find yourself in a chamber with machinery and a
piggish man standing to the right.
*************************
You: You're that creep, Noiman Cascade!
Noiman: Hee! Hee! Hee! Why don't you try this on for size?
- A large column of light radiates from a machine in the background and the screen turns
white. When the light returns to normal, your surroundings have changed. The dark steel metal
ceiling and floor seem to stretch on into infinity and a mist covers everything.
You: Where in the heck am I?
Noiman: Welcome to the Virtual Zone. I hope you enjoy yourself!
*************************
-- Stage Boss: Noiman Cascade
Prepare for a strange and lengthy battle. It helps if you have at least one Bomb, a
weapon that can pass through barriers or a sweeping/spread weapon, and a homing weapon of
some sort. Noiman Cascade has a total of 6 forms. The first 3 are zodiac signs... come to
life! Yow, I bet your horoscope didn't see that coming!
First Noiman turns into a cluster of stars that forms the constellation of Taurus. The
stars come to life, turning into the front half of a bull. This part is difficult because
he's just so darn unpredictable. The bull will hang around at the top of the screen,
erratically moving back and forth. Try not to jump when he's moving this way. Soon he will
stop and begin stomping. This means he's going to swoop down for a dive. You can slide through
these (recommended) or jump over him (risky). The more damaged he is, the more frequent and
rapid his dives will be. Try to keep your distance and shoot relentlessly; it's a miracle
if you don't die at all this part. I recommend just using a Bomb when he first appears; this
will automatically kill him and save you loads of trouble. Be sure to collect the 'A' upgrade
he leaves upon his death.
Next Noiman's star form will transform into Sagittarius, the pegasus archer (my sign!).
It is highly recommend you use a sweeping weapon for this fight, or failing that, one that
can pass through barriers. Sagittarius will move across the air, pause, and then shoot a
heat-seeking arrow. Once the arrow clears the bow, it is EXTREMELY fast and it heat-seeks
very well. So once you have the appropriate weapon, stand under Noiman and aim up at his
bow so that you will destroy the arrow before it can get going. Keep following him as he
changes positions and never let him get an arrow off. He will drop a B upgrade upon defeat.
Noiman's last zodiac form is the dreadful Gemini. This is another very unpredictable
fight, so you may want to just use a Bomb and be done with it. As soon as Gemini forms, the
twins will quickly zoom around the room in random, sweeping directions. If they come your
way, don't try to jump because you will almost always die. Slide away and you may be able
to get away from them.
Once they find a place they like, they press together and tip their bowl, shooting a
stream of blue energy balls onto the ground which bounce high into the air and fall in every
direction in the general vicinity like a deadly rain storm. The only way to survive this
is to be far away, and even then, you may have to dodgea few stray projectiles. I recommend
using this time to jump and shoot them from a distance (only try this at this time!). The
Gemini twins will leave a C upgrade on their death.
*************************
- Noiman reverts to human form.
Noiman: You fight well, fool! But let's see if you can handle this!
*************************
Now Noiman will form into a large floating collection of yellow squares, with one red
'eye' square in the middle (the weak point). Apparently this is supposed to be the real fight
since the BGM switches to the boss theme, but I think the next 3 fights are actually much
easier than the previous ones, that is unless you don't have a homing/spread weapon. Also,
Noiman won't drop any weapon upgrades when he dies this time.
Noiman starts off as a collection of blocks arranged in a large square, hovering in
the center of the screen. Stay on the left and take this time to shoot the middle block like
crazy before he attacks. Noiman suddenly strikes by sending out a cluster of blocks shaped
like a Tetris piece (a T shape), which will jump from the top of the main square and bounce
around, following your position. After one block bounces 3 times, another block will take
it's place. The main square will also slowly move to the left in an attempt to pin you, so
be aware that you will have less room to work with. When you inflict enough damage, Noiman
will regroup his blocks back to the center. If one of the jumping Tetris pieces is to the
left of you, the suddenly returning pieces can kill you as they return to the main body.
Slide through them or make sure to kill him when the pieces are on your right to avoid this.
After resuming square shape for awhile, Noiman will morph into a tank. The turret fires
blocks in a downward arc while the tank itself rolls at a steady rate back and forth. All
you have to do is stay close in front of the tank, walking with it as it moves back and forth.
This way you'll avoid the turret's bullets. This is where it really pays off to have a homing
weapon, as the vulnerable red block is very hard to hit without it. A sweeping/spread weapon
works almost as well. If you have none of these, be brave and switch to Shot II, and try
to hit the red block as best you can.
Noiman will regroup into a square shape one more time before turning into a helicoptor.
This form flies back and forth at the top of the screen for a while, then stops and drops
rows of blocks from the foot rail while simultaneously firing off its buzzsaw tail blade.
The tail blade drops diagonally down in your direction, skims across the ground past you,
and then returns to the tail of the helicoptor by crossing the air. Stand to the side to
avoid the falling blocks, then jump over the tail on its way towards you. When it flies back
to the helicoptor, you may have to duck it as it flies overhead.
Whew! After beating the final form, the blocks disperse and Noiman reappears in his
normal form, leaving both of you back in his hideout.
*************************
You: It looks like it's game over for you!
Noiman: Don't hurt me! I'm just trying to make a buck! It's not personal!
You: You can save your sob story for the people at headquarters!
*************************
Think that was bad? This party's just getting started! Onto stage 4 (abcd).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 4 (abcd) - Welcome to the Jungle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This stage is much harder than the ones before it at first glance: the enemies and
mini-bosses are tougher and Part 1 is very long. Plus another multi-part boss fight at the
end. No bones about it, this level takes practice. As an aside, this stage is the same no
matter which path you on, but the boss fight is slightly different, depending (more on that
later).
*************************
Chief: Noiman told us who's in charge. Colonel Bahamut... I believe you've heard of him.
He was a hero who fought during the Alien Wars. But two years ago, he planned a coup d'etat
to overthrow the government. The coup d'etat was stopped in time, but the Colonel fled. Until
now, we had heard nothing of him. He's a dangerous man. I wonder what he's planning to do
with that Alien Cell... His hideout is deep in the jungle. Good hunting!
*************************
PART 1:
The stage begins quick enough, with 2 item capsules appearing immediately, containing
the A and D upgrades, and behind them: an endless wave (literally) of ravenous monkeys. If
you don't have a sweeping weapon equipped (or at least a very, very fast weapon), you will
be hopelessly overrun here. The monkeys come in jumping, running in clumps, hanging on vines,
and heaving axes at you if you give 'em half a chance. Don't let it come to that. Kill the
damn, dirty apes! The best way to proceed is at a slow pace, jumping forward in short hops
while continuously shooting forwards. If you have the right weapon, this should safely get
rid of all comers.
Once the horde lets up, the screen will soon stop at the feet of a large stone statue.
Without warning, the head of the statue will come crashing down (don't worry, it's harmless),
and out will pop 4 dragonfly-like bugs (hereafter called 'SuperFlies'). They hover about
in the air and dive down in your general direction. With a good weapon, you can easily dispatch
of all 4 before they can even attack. Next will pop out 2 slightly longer-lengthed SuperFlies.
Stand under the left one and shoot up until it dies. Then jump up and shoot the other, dodging
if it dives. Finally, one very long SuperFly will pop out from the head. Use the same tactics
to kill it.
Upon proceeding further, you will encounter a wooden bridge that spans a large waterfall
in the background. The screen stops and you will see a large dark shape looming from behind
the falls. I think you know what's coming up.
- Mini Boss: Waterfall Thing
A very disturbing alien creature. Two large, detached hands emerge from the waterfall
first, then the rest of the thing. The head looks like a cross between a trilobite and a
WWI-era gas mask. Freaky. But not hard. The creature has 2 attacks. The first is grabbing
the bridge with his hands, and then thrusting it up towards its body. Touching the hands
or the body will kill you. The second attack occurs when the Thing grows red. The head will
try to aim at your position and then fire a quick stream of red projectiles in a straight
line.
The worst thing you can do is get beneath it. Stay to the very left of edge of the screen
throughout the fight and neither of his attacks will be able to reach you. If you have a
homing weapon, just keep running to the left (normally the stream of bullets will jostle
the bridge and can knock you into the path of his attack; running will prevent this), shooting
your gun and eventually it will die. If you don't, then run to the left when it shoots at
you. When it pauses or it's grabbing at the bridge with its hands, turn around, jump, and
let him have it.
Upon its death, the bridge will collapse and you will find yourself on a steep green
slope. As you climb to the top, the screen will pause and you discover that you are standing
on the neck of a creepy-looking brontosaurus. Don't worry about him, though; there's a bunch
of rolypolys about to barge in from off-screen. Equip a homing weapon if you have it. The
first rolypoly will roll in from the bottom left. The second will drop from the top of the
screen and the third will roll in from the right. The next three will follow that exact same
order, except they will appear in quicker succession. Don't let them unfurl themselves, as
they will fire a stream of acid at you. If you don't have a homing weapon, jump over their
rolling bodies and position yourself so you can get a good shot at them. Try using Shot II
to get a better aim, if necessary.
After you jump off the bronto (try shooting his nose for fun - but do NOT stand in front
of him if you do!), The ground will level off and pause again. It's time for another rousing
boss battle.
- Mini Boss: Aphex Twins
A small metal ball will roll in from the right and stop in the middle of the screen,
sprout 2 skinny legs and then stand up. Don't take this guy for granted: he's very dangerous,
he's unpredictable, and he's surprisingly resilient. This guy has several attacks, but no
pattern. And no single type of weapon is especially useful against him. One thing about him
is that if he walks toward you and you're near the edge of the screen, sometimes he won't
attack. Instead he'll either jump away to the other side of the screen or hop around and
do a weird dance. The game programmers have a twisted sense of humor.
I always stay towards either the right or left edge of the screen and attack from there.
If he gets up on his legs and points a nozzle upwards, he's about to spray his surrounding
area with a shower of energy balls. Usually they will fall away from you, if not, try to
get as far away as possible. If he falls onto the ground with his feet sticking up in the
air, he's about to shoot his legs at you. He fires one after the other, both returning to
him like boomerangs. Simply duck to avoid both of them.
If he jumps to the very edge of the screen and sprouts a nozzle, he's about to shoot
flames along the ground. Keep your distance and carefully jump over them (sliding won't work).
This is his roughest attack: the flames are pretty big and the timing's tricky. I find that
it's easiest to stand at the opposite edge of the screen while jumping.
And finally, sometimes he will suddenly turn into a ball in mid-air and start bouncing
off of every surface like a pinball. Simply stand against the very edge of the screen and
shoot. If he's about to hit you, slide towards the edge of the screen just as he reaches
you and you'll pass through him safely.
After enough hits he'll catch on fire and lie prone. Don't celebrate just yet; his twin
will come helicoptering in from above and attach himself to the top of his brother. Now the
attached pair will walk back and forth, crazy legs flailing. It's dangerous to jump over
them unless you're Browny; anyone else should slide under them when he/she needs to get past.
If you don't kill them fast enough, they will begin jumping around. Stay to the edges of
the screen in this case. After many more hits, the bottom twin will sprout a nozzle from
his bottom, shooting them both off like a rocket. The pair fly off screen, then slowly zoom
in ever-closing circles back towards the ground. Track their position with a fast weapon
and finish the jokers off.
PART 2:
Equip a fast and strong weapon (an A slot weapon is preferred) and immediately start
blazing away as you walk right. You will encounter a group of 3 very large flowers. This
should destroy them before they can loose their deadly rain of pollen. If you don't have
a strong or fast weapon, edge forward just so that the flower barely appears from the right,
and attack from there. This should give you enough room to dodge if need be. After the trio,
2 more item capsules appear, this time carrying the B and C weapons, and guess what? It's
already time for another boss fight.
-- Stage Boss: Omni Bot
The Omni Bot appears as a chrome gray pear-shaped pod, tipped with a red eye which shoots
lasers. You can only hurt the Bot at certain parts of the battle; the rest of the time you'll
be traversing a single long corridor while avoiding his attacks.
As you enter the long tunnel, jump onto the ceiling. When the Bot appears from the left,
what happens next depends on if Deadeye Joe is still alive or not.
- If you chose to rescue the Research Center, then the body spins around and opens a hatch,
revealing its pilot with a short cutscene before the melee begins.
*************************
Deadeye Joe: So we meet again!
You: It's Deadeye Joe!
Deadeye Joe: This place will be your graveyard!
*************************
- If, instead, Deadeye Joe was killed, then the pod will just spin around and the battle
will commence.
Either way, the Bot slowly walks to the right on the ceiling with two clawed legs. Stay
ahead of it. Shortly it will stop and extend its other leg to the floor, blocking the left
part of the stage, as it prepares to shoot a rapid fire laser. You can now damage the boss.
While hanging onto the ceiling, equip a slow firing, non-high impact weapon. Why? A weapon
that is too fast and/or powerful will set the main body spinning wildly so when it shoots
its laser, it will spray in every direction and be impossible to dodge. Try experimenting
and find a weapon that only causes the body to turn slowly as you hit it. It should stop
spinning when you stop firing. Once you have found a suitable weapon, stop firing only just
before the laser would hit you.
Eventually he'll explode and turn an orange color. Drop to the ground and move right
as the Bot sprouts a clawed arm and drags itself to the right. Climb up the wall that you
run into and stop partway. Helicoptor blades will grow from the top of the Bot, lifting it
slowly skyward. As the screen scrolls slowly upwards, the Heli-bot will occasionally drift
towards the sides, tearing its blades into the wall. To avoid this, stay near the bottom
of the screen, climbing up just enough that the scrolling doesn't drop you off the bottom
(the Bot can only go down so far). When the boss sprouts a claw that reaches straight up,
climb up the wall to where the slope changes and then wait. The tunnel now veers to the left
with the Bot leading the way, swinging back and forth on the ceiling. Follow carefully behind
him, keeping an adequate distance in between.
After a distance, the screen stops, the boss continuing to the left and moving off-screen.
As he re-emerges from the left, rolling on the ground, be sure that you stay on the ceiling
and to the far right. Omni will pause, then pull a Sonic and roll very quickly down the slope
and come to a rough stop on the bottom right. From there he will charge up and fire another
laser; this time it's a long beam that reflects off of walls. Stay directly above him and
fire down, moving only if it appears the beam is heading straight towards you. After several
bounces the laser will disappear and the Bot will roll back up the hill and start the whole
process over again. After adequate damage, the Bot will explode and turn an angry red.
The robot's pissed. It will quickly roll to the left and the screen will move very quickly.
It's easiest to just jump down and follow him from behind, staying to the far right. His
speed is a little erratic here, so be careful. Soon he will stop rolling and start "walking"
to the left at a steady rate. Note that if Deadeye Joe is piloting this vehicle (you chose
to rescue the Research Center way back when), then during this section the Bot will be firing
a constant stream of homing missiles. If Deadeye Joe is dead and is not in the vehicle, then
the Bot will just be walking.
If he's firing missiles at you, shoot them down using a homing or spread weapon if you
have one. When the corridor reaches another vertical wall, the Bot will use its claw to climb
straight up. Walk quickly to the far left wall and crawl up. Wait for the Bot to start swinging
itself to the right before you follow him at a safe distance. When the ground levels off,
the Bot will suddenly drop and continue crawling towards the right. During this final walking
section, it will fire homing missiles at you (no matter if Deadeye Joe is piloting or not).
Just stay on the ground, following behind, and protect yourself from missiles. The screen
will stop and the Bot will walk off screen; take this time to jump back onto the ceiling
and once again switch to a slow, non-high impact gun.
As it re-emerges from the right, its arms will once again be spanning the ceiling and
the floor, with the pod in the center of the screen. He is again vulnerable to attack and
this time you can crawl through his arms without harm (notice his claws are retracted). Omni
charges up, then fires a continuous lightning beam pointing left, which then turns
counter-clockwise around the screen a couple times. Before he fires, stay above the pod and
to the left, with enough room to drop to the floor safely. Just like in the first part of
this fight, hitting him too strong will cause his body to jostle back and forth violently.
While this is not inherently dangerous, it's hard, if not impossible, to dodge past his body
during his laser attack without getting killed. When the Bot begins to fire, concentrate
on dodging. Move around the room in a circle to stay ahead of the blast, sliding under the
pod to get from left to right. When he stops firing, resume shooting. Repeat until he's toast.
- If Deadeye Joe was piloting the Omni Bot, he will fly away just as the boss is exploding.
STAGE CLEAR
Congratulations. Now for the fun part: where the game splits off into various directions
and you discover the different storylines. The fate of the game hinges on this next
cutscene...
*************************
- Your character walks down a metal corridor when the wall behind him suddenly opens up and
a sinister laugh rings out. Behind the wall stands a large raised platform topped with dozens
of well-armed soldiers and, at the center, the Doctor and a mysterious man in armor are
standing.
Bahamut: This is the end for you!
You: Damn! A trap!
Doctor: Just as we planned, Colonel.
You: Doctor! What's going on!
Bahamut: Just as you can see, the Doctor has been "assisting" us.
Doctor: I am sick and tired of this weakling government! Having obtained something as
magnificent as the Alien Cell, they squander the opportunity by locking it away in a vault!
The Colonel feels as I do, and will help me achieve my plans. Now I can carry on with my
dark experiments!
You: Why you treacherous little...
Bahamut: Well Doctor, I will leave the rest up to you.
Doctor: There is no way to escape. You must surrender peacefully.
( ? ) DECISION:
-> Fight to the end
-> Surrender and fight later
*************************
If you choose 'Fight to the end', next up is stage 5 (bd).
If you choose to surrender, then your next stage depends on what choice you made during the
first decision point in the game.
If earlier in the game you chose to go after Deadeye Joe, and you choose to Surrender now,
then go to stage 5 (a).
If, instead, you chose to rescue the Research Center, and you choose to Surrender, then go
to stage 5 (c).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 5 (a) - Space Showdown
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you chose path A, then congratulations, you're already at the last stage. To
compensate for the shortness of your journey, this level culminates with the toughest boss
battle in the game. And the mini bosses aren't too easy, either. The rest of the stage can
be pretty intense, too. You didn't think it would be easy, did you?!
*************************
Doctor: Ha ha ha! Take them!
- The screen goes black and your character appears, tied up, in a room surrounded by soldiers
and a huge monitor filling the background. On the screen is Colonel Bahamut's big head.
Bahamut: Welcome to my headquarters. Is it pleasing to you?
You: You can drop the smirk. I'm gonna trash this place!
Bahamut: There is no need for that. Unfortunately for you, my plan is in its final stages.
I have transferred all functions to this space station. The headquarters is of no more use.
It will soon be detonated.
Random Soldier: But Colonel, you can't...
Bahamut: Ha! Your existence means less than nothing to me, you flea! Farewell. We'll not
meet again!
- The screen goes blank and the room starts to disintegrate as the soldiers flee in panic.
Your character breaks loose and exits the room.
*************************
PART 1:
As you enter the next corridor, you're immediately in for another cutscene:
*************************
- The camera pans farther down the corridor, where it's total pandemonium as the soldiers
are running amok. The Doctor appears from above, hovering in his patented Mech Walker.
Doctor: Don't move! This is what happens to cowards like you!
- The machine gathers energy and fires a blast at the ground. The Doctor flies away as the
injured soldiers mutate into hopping, tadpole-like mutants.
*************************
In the next section, the screen scrolls to the right while a wall of blazing fire covers
the left half of the screen and a stream of tadpole-soldiers bum rush you from the right.
Piece of cake! For this part, any weapon that isn't slower than your average machine gun
will see you through. First shoot down the item capsule that immediately flies in from the
right and nab the Bomb. When dealing with the aliens, just stand and shoot straight ahead
until there is enough room in front of you to maneuver, then move ahead. When you encounter
pits the aliens will jump over them en masse, but don't panic. Keep firing forward and wait
until you are nearly touching the fire wall before you jump the pit. If the ground slopes
upwards, THEN you may shoot diagonally up, but otherwise you should always keep your sights
aimed forward. Eventually the fire wall will recede to nothing and the screen stops
auto-scrolling. So much for Part 1.
PART 2:
Two more item capsules will appear, this time carrying the A and B upgrades. Keep moving
and your character will enter a metal room with a giant window for a wall. Suddenly the
entrance shuts behind you and it appears, from the clouds falling past you in the window,
that you're on some sort of Super Elevator on it's way into the stratosphere. And you're
not alone for the ride.
- Mini Boss: Mech Walker
The Doctor is piloting the Mech Walker, which is simply a gray pod on two reverse-jointed
legs. When he first appears, stay on the ground as the Mech will jump around randomly onto
3 sides of the room: the ceiling or one of the walls. Although the Mech starts out on the
floor, it will never jump there again once it starts moving, so it's a safe place to be during
the jumping. Never get on the walls or ceiling when the Walker is jumping around, unless
you want a good squashing. Eventually the Walker will stop on one of the 3 sides of the room
to attack. The attack is different depending on which surface he stops on.
Left Wall: A hatch opens on the Mech and two orange rods will fly out. They will zoom
randomly about, suddenly stopping to expand their bodies like a spear in an attempt to skewer
you, then shrink back to rods. Touching them at any time means death, and they are
indestructable. There's no trick here; they can get you from any location on screen, so will
just have to be good at dodging. Try staying on the floor and to the right. The 2 rods will
try to spear you 3 times before self-destructing.
Right Wall: A hatch opens and a queue of tiny walker mechs jump from their daddy and
run along the ground towards the left wall. If any of these suckers dies for any reason
(whether from running into the wall or you shooting them), they explode into a huge column
of flame. Beware, these explosions can kill you. As soon as the main Mech initially stops
on the wall, jump to the ceiling (the only time you should do this), then aim diagonally
down while shooting. You should be safe from all explosions. As soon as the Mech stops the
attack, immediately jump down from the ceiling again.
Ceiling: The hatch opens once again and out pops several little balls. They spread
quickly across the screen and freeze in a random pattern. These harmless balls then briefly
turn into spinning fan blades before reverting back to balls and re-arranging themselves.
They will do this 3 times before self-destructing. The pattern is random, but I find that
just standing directly below the Mech and shooting straight up is fairly safe. If any of
the balls are near you when they attack, slide to the nearest empty area. Note that the balls
also act as shields against most of your weapons.
After dealing enough damage, the Mech will wiggle up and down, indicating he's about
to switch attack modes. From now on, the Mech walks along the 4 sides of the room in a
clock-wise manner. The catch is, the more you shoot him, the longer his legs will grow. The
legs will eventually grow so long that you will have to be moving very quickly from surface
to surface to stay ahead of him. Try to match the Walker's pace and shoot whenever possible.
After the Walker explodes with the evil Doctor inside, the elevator stops and the
blackness of space is visible through the view-port. The wall on the right pops open...
PART 3:
*************************
- And your character unflinchingly enters the final chamber. Another huge window overlooks
space, with the planet Earth dominating the view. A large gun turret extends from the window
and is pointed at Earth. To the right, the ground and ceiling drop away and a huge
bio-mechanical device occupies the right 1/3 of the screen. It looks like a capsule containing
a large alien head, attached with wires and other doo-dads. To the front of the capsule is
a tentacle-like appendage that ends in a pod, and standing in that pod is... duh-duh-dum!
Colonel Bahamut.
Bahamut: You've done very admirably! But you're too late! I've used the Alien Cell to create
Big Magnum! He will reduce the planet to charred cinders!
- Energy gathers at the gun turret which then fires a huge projectile towards Earth. The
bullet eventually fades before an enormous explosion is seen at the point of impact.
You: I'll stop you!
- Bahamut descends into the pod, ready to duke it out.
*************************
-- Final Boss: Big Magnum
This is arguably the roughest of all boss fights in the game. There is little time for
resting and zero room for mistakes. Big Magnum has 3 forms total. Notice as you defeat each
form, the alien in the glass container looks more and more weakened.
First Form: Gun Pod
The Gun Pod can only be damaged when it opens up. Problem is, it only opens up when
it's attacking you. Shoot when possible but make sure dodging is your priority. The Gun Pod
will always attack in a repeating pattern. First the Pod will open at about a medium height
on the screen and a dotted line will appear extending from the Pod to your current position.
It then immediately shoots its machine gun along this line. To dodge, stay in one position
as the 'test line' appears, then simply move away before it fires.
For the second attack, the Pod will again open around the mid-point of the screen. It
gathers energy and then fires a spinning projectile on your position. The projectile expands
in circumference as it travels, so use the same tactic you used for the first attack, but
make sure you move far enough away to avoid the growing projectile.
Next the Pod will open up at the very top of the screen and release a line of glowing
balls along the ceiling. The balls will then shoot a column of energy straight down from
their respective positions. The formation of energy balls will always leave one space open
in their line; this is where you should be standing! Keep in mind that sometimes the safe
position is to the very far left or right. The Pod will do this attack 4 or 5 times in a
row before quitting.
Finally, the Pod will open up in the middle of the screen again and fire a comet-shaped
projectile backwards. The projectile will then split into about 3 smaller comet blasts and
then shoot back to the left, all 3 impacting either on the top, middle, or bottom area of
the wall. To dodge this, climb on the wall and stay in the middle as the Pod first shoots
backwards. When the projectile splits and fires forward, it is pretty easy to see whether
the group will hit the top, middle, or bottom. Wherever they go, you are in a good position
to get out of their way. After this, the Pod will start again with the first attack.
After destroying this form, it releases a stationary item capsule that contains the
A upgrade.
Second Form: Metal Head
This form is not nearly as complex as the first one, but it is just as hard. Instead
of a pod, now the tentacle appendage is tipped with a large steel face in the likeness of
Colonel Bahamut. It only has one attack: it fires a rather large, comet-shaped projectile
that heat-seeks you. And it does so quickly and intelligently. It can turn very sharply,
so there is basically no guaranteed-to-win tactic here. My only tips are to stay off the
walls and ceiling as much as possible, as they tend to slow you down. Try getting it to follow
you in an endless circular loop, jumping and sliding to avoid it when necessary. A homing
weapon is extremely helpful for this and the next part. After killing this form, it releases
another item capsule, this time with the B upgrade.
Third Form: Resistor Plates
This form also has only one attack, but it's not as hard as the last one. Now the metal
head is replaced by two long, spikey metal plates that are facing each other. Their first
(and only) action is to release a sphere which floats to the middle of the screen. Three
harmless lines radiate outwards, like spokes, centered on the sphere. Stay between these
lines because immediately afterwards the sphere will shoot a continuous tripod of lightning
bolts, their starting points positioned exactly on those lines. The three bolts will spin
clockwise around the sphere like a wheel and they move pretty fast. You will have to stay
between these bolts and shoot whenever you have the chance. The trickiest part is when you're
climbing on the ceiling: do not jump down to the floor until the bolt behind you (moving
to the right) is almost at you and the bolt moving to the left below you is clearly out of
the way.
STAGE CLEAR
Now wasn't that fun? Go to Ending A in the Endings section... it's Miller time!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 5 (bd) - Arena
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prepare for a fight: gladiator-style. This stage consists of a procession of fairly
simple mini-bosses, followed by a slightly more difficult stage boss. Just take a deep breath
and enjoy the strangeness.
*************************
Doctor: You poor fool! Now you will be prey for my experiments!
- The background platform scrolls upwards, revealing a new backdrop with 2 holding cages,
a large door in the center, and above it all, the Doctor sitting on a throne to watch the
spectacle.
*************************
Fight 1: RolyPoly + SuperFly = SuperRolyFly
This is basically a really long flying worm. It has no special attacks, just its very
long, snakey body to get in your way. It flies very slowly, so all you have to do is equip
a quick or powerful weapon and pound away at its cumbersome length.
Fight 2: SuperFly + Monkey = SuperMonkey
A creepy-looking monkey torso with bug wings. The thing flies around until it is directly
over you, then it dives straight down. Next it will fly to the side and shoot 2
SuperMonkeyBalls that will fall downwards and run along the ground, moving in your direction.
Just constantly shoot up, slide when he dives at you, and jump over the ground projectiles.
Fight 3: Flower + SuperFly = FlyingFlower
A flower with tiny wings! How cute! This peaceful fella will flitter back and forth...
spewing glowing balls of pollen in a rain of death and terror! Equip a powerful weapon or
a heat-seeker, and pound the deceptive bastard before he gets close to you. Stay to the far
sides of the screen, and you should be safe from the falling pollen.
Fight 4: RolyPoly + Flower = JitterBug
Finally, genetics works in your favor! This little creature will slowly move in your
direction, throwing random weapon upgrades and bombs on the ground until he's moved
off-screen. Careful! His friendliness only goes so far... his touch is as deadly as everything
else in this game.
Fight 5: Monkey + RolyPoly = Monkeypede
The upper-half of a monkey with the lower half of a centipede! That dastardly Doctor!
Despite his fearsome appearance, this guy is really quite simple. Equip your most powerful
weapon and the sinister Monkeypede should be dead within a few seconds. Actually, he doesn't
have any attacks. If he gets to close to you, just slide past him.
Fight 6: Flower + Monkey = MonkeyBlossom
A monkey torso crawls along the ground with a freakishly long flower growing out of
his rear. While the monkey rushes back and forth, the flower will once again rain terrible
balls of pollen at your head. These fall faster than normal, but this time they are
destructable. Stay to one side of the screen and duck, while shooting. Get ready for the
creature to suddenly dash at you, then slide past it. Shoot the pollen if necessary, and
prepare for the MonkeyBlossom to dash at you once or twice more before dying.
*************************
- Something's wrong with the Doctor's gene splicing machine. As it repeatedly joins random
creatures together, it begins to explode. From the door emerges a strange, flower-like
creature. It opens a gaping maw at it's top and a large vine grabs the Doctor and swallows
him whole.
*************************
-- Stage Boss: System Overload = Chimaera
You can't hurt the mutant quite yet. Stand in the far right corner of the room as the
Chimaera runs quickly in your direction, then jump over it at the last second, as it will
run back the other way after it touches the wall. Or you can slide to the right. Careful,
he's very fast. After it touches the left wall and it starts running back to you, move towards
the middle of the screen, jump over it one last time and then stay to the left. The Chimaera,
which should be on the right, will turn into a hulking monster with 2 large insect-like legs,
a monstrous head on top, and a dome on the bottom.
First the creature jumps at you. After landing, the dome will open and shoot a beam
of energy straight down, while the face simultaneously fires a continuous line of spikes
that moves horizontally with a slight angle upwards. This is the only time you can harm the
Chimaera. If you have a weapon that passes through surfaces (like a laser), then stay away
from the Chimaera as it jumps (slide away from it if necessary) and fire at the core through
the legs when the dome opens up. If you're a tall character, you may have to duck as it fire
spikes at you.
If you don't have a laser-like weapon, you will have to get under the beast. When it
jumps, carefully get under it. If you're tall, once again, you'll probably have to duck the
spikes. Wait till after it shoots the column of energy down, then position yourself so that
you can shoot the core while avoiding the spikes. Either use a homing weapon or switch to
Type II shooting and aim up at the weak spot while ducking. The beast should go down without
too much trouble.
STAGE CLEAR
The stage you go to next depends on what choice you made during the first decision point
in the game. If earlier in the game you chose to go after Deadeye Joe, then your next stage
is 6 (b).
If, instead, you chose to rescue the Research Center earlier in the game, then go to stage
6 (d).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 5 (c) - Runaway Train
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cool! A train. A pretty crazy train, at that. Not as difficult as many of the other
stages, but pretty fun.
*************************
Doctor: Ha ha ha! Take them!
- The screen goes black, then the scene enters on your character, trapped and weaponless
in a sealed room on a moving train.
You: He even has a military train.
- The wall on the right blows open and Deadeye Joe enters, holding your weapon(s).
Deadeye Joe: You are pathetic! Take these and get out!
- He throws you your stuff.
You: Huh?
Deadeye Joe: Don't misunderstand. I am only freeing you in order to destroy you. I will be
there to watch you draw your last breath!!!
*************************
PART 1:
After taking in the strange scene with Deadeye Joe, move to the right. Two item capsules
come in from the left, holding the A and D upgrades. The next scene is you moving through
the narrow train cars while fending off on-coming soldiers from the left and right. You should
have no trouble here; a sweeping gun or a homing weapon work very well. The only trouble
you may have is from unintentionally grabbing onto the ceiling or one of the many protrusions
sticking out of the ground. There is no way to avoid this, just try to regain your bearings
before the soldiers overrun you. After blasting through a couple walls and mowing down scores
of troops and a few snipers, you will soon exit the train. Jump on top of the next car to
face the infamous...
- Mini Boss: Cyborg Bros.
If you played the legendary Alien III on SNES, then you may recognize these fellas,
since they made an appearance (sorta) in that game. I say 'sorta' because this attack is
significantly different. This encounter consists of a floating platform in the center of
the screen and 2 cranes, one on the left, the other on the far right, each hefting a large
robotic torso on a chain. These torsos are facing each other and are equipped with rather
large guns on their underbellies.
Jump on the platform and shoot only the guy on the RIGHT. Each will take turn firing
shots from their cannons. You will know which and when because one of them will raise their
arms before firing. If, as the Brothers are moving up and down, it appears that one is about
to shoot directly at you, simply jump over the blast. When both of them rear back on their
chains, immediately jump down, off the platform, and duck on the ground. The Brothers will
smash into each other repeatedly for a few seconds. Afterwards, jump back up and continue.
When the Brother on the right dies, the one on the left will fall off of his chain,
onto the ground and slide back and forth. As long as you are on the platform, you are safe.
Just shoot down on him until he's cooked. Lucky that was so easy, right? Remember, if you
had killed the robot on the left first, the Bro on the right would've fallen off of his chain
and he doesn't just crawl on the floor. He will jump around like there's no tomorrow. So
just kill the guy on the right first and spare yourself the grief.
PART 2:
Move right and 2 more item capsules appear, dropping an A and a B. Next, jump onto the
rail on the side of the train and continue forward. As you're hanging on the rail, soldiers
on motorcycles will zoom past you along the ground from the left to the right. Then they
slowly drift back to the left, coming off-screen from the right, firing bullets at you. If
you have a homing or sweeping weapon, just keep moving and shoot down whenever one of them
becomes bothersome. If you don't have one of these, you will have to go more slowly, taking
aim and shooting down every couple of seconds to kill them before they start shooting. Soon
the hand rail will end. Jump on top of the next train car and continue onwards, then move
to the far left when the screen stops.
- Mini Boss: Rail Cannon
A large module with a large digital number display will rise from the top of the train.
Above the module is a huge cannon, connected to the module by a chain. This sucker is so
strong that none of your weapons can pierce its steely hide. Your job is to teach the Rail
Cannon that its worst enemy is itself. As soon as the number display starts counting down
to zero, move so that your character is standing directly under the main body of the gun.
When the display hits zero, the Cannon, which is aiming at you, will accidentally shoot its
own body. The Cannon will fire 3 such shots before it moves to its second form of attack,
which is flailing itself around from its chain, banging along the ground and flying through
the air randomly. When it does this, quickly move to the far left or right side of the screen.
This will cause you to avoid most of his flailing but occasionally he will smash right down
into the corner of the screen. In that case, slide towards the edge of the screen just before
he hits you. Soon after, he will go back to shooting you. Get him to shoot himself 3 times
and he's out for the count.
Move to the right a little bit more and you're in for one more fight:
-- Stage Boss: Steel Blue Runner
The Steel Blue Runner, yet another giant man-like robot with one eye, jogs alongside
the train, then runs ahead of it and pushes the train to a stop. Ain't that some s**t? Pay
attention, though, because this is where the fight starts. His weak point (need I say?) is
the eye. His first action, while still grabbing the train, is to fire a volley of homing
missiles. These will most likely sail right over you if you are standing close to the boss.
Next, move to the far left, as ol' Blue will be firing a double laser from his eye. The beam
is in the shape of a helix (as in DNA) turned on its side. To avoid the laser, stand in between
one of the gaps made from the 2 spiraling beams. Now the boss shoots a series of little
'molecule' balls that roll across the ground towards you. Jump over these as they come.
Now the Runner puts the train down and gets up on top of the train with you. Time to
boogie. He starts off with another series of homing missiles, which you will have to shoot
down. Now he will start on a new attack pattern, which he will loop over and over again until
his demise. He starts the pattern by jumping, very high, back and forth. Run to avoid him
and slide out of the way if he's about to crush you. Try to not move to far to the right,
for reasons evident in his next attack. After several jumps, Mr. Runner will land on the
right side of the screen, run to the left and kick. If you're not close to the left when
he starts this, he WILL outrun you. So stay to the far left during this and then duck the
kick. Now he will jump back to the right and smash his arm on the ground, creating a long
trail of flames along the ground which moves to the left. Carefully jump over this. After
that attack, he will start jumping around again.
Pound him enough, and the Steel Blue Runner will fall backwards off the front end of
the platform and be smashed to bits by the train. A pretty cool ending.
STAGE CLEAR
I hope this last level didn't soften your skills, because your worries are far from over.
Scroll down to Stage 6 (c) to see what I mean.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 6 (b) - Red Falcon Redux
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If stage 5 (a) had the hardest boss fight in the game, then stage 6 (b) is by far the
toughest stage. The length is longer. The enemies are stronger. The bosses are bossier. Even
if you're using this FAQ, this level's going to be difficult. Buck up, though; this is the
last stage for path B.
*************************
- The scene: Bahamut's headquarters. Bahamut and his men are standing around when suddenly,
the door on the left blows off its hinges and your character struts inside.
You: You can't run any further, Colonel Bahamut!
Bahamut: A bit more time and I would've created the ultimate bio-weapon!
- A random soldier runs in from a door on the right.
Random Soldier: Terrible news! The Alien Cell has broken free! It's running amok and
threatening the entire headquarters!
Bahamut: What? It was stupid to proceed without the Doctor.
- The bad guys exit stage right, with you following on their heels.
*************************
PART 1:
The Cell must have spread quickly, because the whole of Bahamut's headquarters looks
exactly like the final stages of all of the previous Contras. In other words, it looks like
you're actually inside some bizarre, gargantuan alien. Organic walls and platforms abound.
And some freaky monsters are lurking nearby, but we'll get to those later. This is a very
long section; you'll have to defeat 3 mini-bosses before you get to Part 2.
As a foreshadowing of the difficulties to come, the stage starts you off with one measly
item capsule: a Bomb. Walk to the right and you're going to face a slew of nasty running
aliens. They come from both sides, take a couple of hits kill, and are rather fast. A homing
weapon is okay but you may be better off with just a machine gun upgrade or a sweeping device.
Interestingly, if 2 aliens are running at you from the right and the left at the same time,
jump over one of them, and when the aliens run into each other, one of them will eat the
other! After a short while, you'll run up against the first boss.
- Mini Boss: Xeno Slug
This freaky-looking giant slug seems intimidating, but is actually the easiest battle
of the stage. The Slug appears from the right, and slowly slithers its way to the left.
Continuously shoot at the head until it comes to a stop. Stand very close to the body and
you will avoid its attack: a projectile vomit (literally!) that shoots downward at an angle.
Be ready to get out of its way quickly after it's done shooting, because he starts moving
again pretty quick. It will continue moving left but then stop and reverse itself before
it gets to the edge of the screen, so don't worry about getting crushed. Nothing too
complicated.
After you melt the slug, don't miss the 2 item capsules that fly in, containing the
B and D upgrades. Negotiate a trail to the right, where you'll encounter even more running
aliens (use the same tactics as above) and you will soon run into the next boss.
- Mini Boss: Wedge Head
A truly alien creature, this boss consists of a wedge-shaped head (hence his creative
name) attached to a thick "stalk" that is attached to the ceiling. He immediately comes
crashing down without warning, so when the screen stops moving, run (and stay) to the left
to avoid being squashed. He continuously releases floating nautilus-aliens that slowly
follow you and will periodically shoot out his long, claw-tipped arm to skewer you. If you
don't have any good weapons, this part will be very difficult. A sweeping weapon works best
here. Kill the nautiluses when they get too annoying and jump over the arm when it shoots
out (only the claw at the end of the arm actually hurts you). Keep firing and eventually
you'll win out.
The next section is a little dangerous if you don't have any homing weapons. The ground
abruptly ends, leaving a wide pit and those dreaded grab-bars floating above to help you
get across. Climb right and you'll see large holes in the background wall, from which
fang-toothed maws will periodically poke out and shoot homing spike-balls at you. Stay back
and unleash your homing weapon on each of them until the way is clear. A sweeping weapon
will work too. If you have neither, gather your courage and shoot them from up close or just
move past them ASAP, shooting down any pursuing spikes along the way. Soon you'll have solid
ground beneath you again, which means it's time for yet another boss.
- Mini Boss: Claw Beast
This flat, vaguely crustacean crawly thing is the toughest battle yet. He has many
hard-to-dodge attacks and no pattern to speak of, but on the plus side you can stand on his
back without getting killed. First chance you get, jump onto the ceiling and shoot down at
it as it scuttles from left to right. Sometimes he'll sink into the ground, then reappear
somewhere else and jump. You'll be safe from this on the ceiling or by standing to the far
left. If the Claw Beast rears back on his hindside, he's about to fire a rain of fireballs.
Jump to the ground and dodge the falling balls as well as you can (it's tough, since the
rain is pretty thick and falls fast), then jump back to the ceiling when it's clear. The
rain is easiest to dodge if you're standing on the left edge of the screen. After about half
of its life is gone, the Beast's twin brother will make his appearance.
The first Claw Beast will move back and forth while a second Claw Beast will drop down
from the ceiling and repeatedly bounce up and down on the bottom's back. There's only one
way to get through this attack, and that is to go between the two while the top Beast is
airborne. The safest way to do this is accomplished by the following: make sure you're on
the ground, and move to either edge of the screen. When the bottom one gets very close, jump
up just before he's about to crush you against the edge of the screen (the top guy should
be in the air). Upon landing on the bottom one's back, immediately slide towards the edge
of the screen you're closest to. This will prevent the top guy from crushing you.
After many more hits, the Beast will change attacks one more time. The brothers will
join together in a ball, forming a yin-yang of death, and proceed to roll along the 4 sides
of the room, moving clockwise in speedy bursts. The easiest thing to do is just jump over
them when they're rolling across the ground and make sure you're not jumping while they're
on the ceiling. Also note that they move faster and faster as their energy is depleted.
PART 2:
You've finally made it to Part 2! You're rewarded with two more floaty-things, this
time with the A and C upgrades. You will encounter a pit ahead of you and a vertical shaft
with hang-bars interspersed as you go up. You can hang on to the walls or use the hang-bars;
either way is good. The screen will auto-scroll upwards, so you'll have to move quick. On
the way up you'll encounter small scorpion aliens (they look like those 'face-huggers' from
the Aliens movies) crawling down the walls from the left and the right. You only need to
shoot them if they jump across the walls onto you or if one's in your path.
You'll also soon encounter a dinosaur-skull that's poking out of a hole in the background
wall. It stretches its neck left and right and does you a favor by eating some of the scorpions;
unfortunately, this motion will also kill YOU if you're in the way. I usually stay on the
right-hand grab-bars, get right under the skull-head and shoot up with a strong weapon until
it dies. It does take a lot of shots, however, so you can also try moving past it by sticking
to a wall and killing the scorpions in your way. You'll encounter one more dinosaur head
on your way up, soon after the first. Once you get to the top, move right and you'll encounter
an area with what looks like a huge broken egg in the background. This can only mean one
thing...
-- Final Boss: The Alien Cell
If you have the right weapons, the first part of this fight is a snap. As for the second
form, well, it's all about skill, brothers and sisters. You will have to have dodging, jumping
and sliding down to an art form to survive. This is a very hectic battle. And fun, too!
First Form: Mother Alien
This boss' first form is that of an enormous hourglass-shaped creature with the face
of a woman near the top and two large clawed hands attached to tentacles, also near the top.
This boss exists entirely in the background; the only parts of it that can hurt you by touch
are the hands. During the battle, a constant stream of canneloni-shaped aliens will fly in
from the top of the screen and slowly follow you. A sweeping or homing weapon will easily
keep you safe. The hands sweep back and forth and occasionally let loose a lightning bolt.
Although it is the main weak point, ignore the face and eliminate the hands first. If
one of the hands begins to glow and gather energy, stay away from that part of the screen
to avoid the lightning. After blowing off it's hands and significantly damaging the head,
the human face will turn into a nasty monster's visage and the Alien's body will jump back
and forth while unleashing a non-stop wave of pasta mutants. Keep shooting the face until
the Mother Alien is no more.
Second Form: Red Falcon
Look familiar? The Alien Cell's final performance is in the form of a large, beating
heart, located in the middle of the screen. The heart itself is considered part of the
background and is therefore harmless. But it's not alone. Red Falcon utilizes two large,
grayish balls (get your mind out of the gutter) to defend itself, which appear soon after
the battle begins. The balls are indestructable, so focus your attacks on the heart. The
balls have 3 attack forms, which occur in a repeating pattern; master the pattern and this
boss is a snap. First the balls will appear hovering on opposite sides of the screen and
then start spinning in a clockwise orbit around the heart. Stand to one side of the heart
and simply jump over the balls as they come at you. This becomes very tricky as they start
going faster; at this point just concentrate on jumping. After this the balls will disappear
briefly behind the heart.
When they return, they are attached to each other by a short chain. Now they will crash
randomly about the room, bouncing off the surfaces. Unless you have a homing weapon, I would
mainly focus on dodging. Move to the very edge on either side of the screen and duck. When
one of them gets too close, slide towards the edge of the screen. After bouncing around awhile,
they'll disappear briefly and then reappear again, this time both settling on the ground.
In a deadly game of leapfrog, the balls take turns jumping over each other, moving in
a counter-clockwise motion along the surfaces of the screen. You mainly don't have to worry
about them until they're approaching the ground level. Notice that they always move a set
distance apart from each other. When they get on the left wall, stop shooting and look for
where the gap between them will be, then quickly move there. Simple in theory, but this can
be tricky. After this attack, they'll go back to doing the spinning circles (see above).
Keep firing to give Red Falcon a well deserved coronary.
STAGE CLEAR
Wow, after all that hard work, you're sure to get a good ending, huh? Yes indeedy. Check
out ending B in the Endings section for that taste of well-deserved (but not quite earned)
victory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 6 (c) - Area 52
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The final stage of path C is far from the toughest of all stages, but it ain't the easiest
either. You'll be up against another hit parade of bosses; some of which are the trickiest
around.
PART 1:
No cutscenes here; this stage throws you right into it. Moving right, you will soon
encounter 3 item capsules, containing a B, a D, and a Bomb. In the background are glass tubes
filled with strange fluids. Not to mention aliens. These raisin-looking creatures burst out
of their capsules whenever you get close. There's nothing fancy to them; they just hop
forwards. They do take quite a few hits, though, so be sure to equip an appropriate weapon.
After taking several of these guys, you will enter a chamber which promptly seals itself.
*************************
- An iron machine roughly shaped like a sphere appears mid-air on the right. Deadeye Joe
rises from an opening on the top to say hello.
Deadeye Joe: The time has come for you to meet your maker! Let's go!
- Joe descends back into the sphere and promptly ends all discussion, yelling: "Die!".
*************************
- Mini Boss: Spear Sphere
The Sphere moves to the center of the screen and sprouts 4 long spears from its surface,
each spear-arm extending all the way into the walls (or ceiling or floor). Now each spear,
one-by-one, retracts into the Sphere body, then moves forward some distance and spears back
into into the wall. This process starts out slow, but will get faster and faster until it
is virtually impossible to simply dodge out of the way, then the process slowly winds down
again. The order of the spear movement is clockwise. This boss is extremely difficult if
you don't know the trick, which took me a while to figure out. There is no single safe spot
on the screen; the spears can get you from anywhere if you stay still.
What you have to do is stay on the floor and shoot whatever spears may be nearby. The
safe spot, when the spears around you are starting to move, is to stand next to a spear that
has already moved! Two spears are never directly next to each other, so by standing next
to a spear that is not moving, you guarantee that a currently moving spear will not shish-kebab
you. When things start moving fast, it gets hairy, but it's still very possible to not get
killed. After destroying one spear-arm, the tactics change. Now the Sphere will be floating
around the screen aimlessly while the spears, half-extended, spin around it randomly and
grind into the walls. This form is more tricky because it is so unpredictable. There really
are no safe spots here either, but it is generally safest on the ground, in the far left
or right corner. If a spear heads right for you, a well-aimed slide may save you.
Once you destroy all of the spear-arms, the Sphere changes attacks once again. This
time it will split into 2 transparent copies of itself, then suddenly join together in a
spot that is directly above your head. Once the images come together, the Sphere is solid
again and will bounce vertically against the ceiling and floor EXTREMELY fast, then split
into 2 again. This is actually very easy to avoid, since the Sphere telegraphs exactly where
it is going to reappear. When it comes together, make sure you are not directly below it,
then shoot at it. Simple as that. Keep in mind it is invulnerable when it is split up.
*************************
- The machine explodes, tossing Joe's crumpled body to the ground.
You: You've lost. Now give it up!
Deadeye Joe: Ugh!
- Bahamut appears on screen, hovering above Joe on a personal-sized floating platform.
Bahamut: Worthless fool! I do not have time for losers like him!
- Bahamut dives down with his platform, destroying Deadeye Joe in an explosion.
You: You treacherous scum!
Bahamut: Meet me on the top floor for the ultimate battle!
- Bahamut teleports away and the door on the right opens.
*************************
PART 2:
Climb up the gently sloping tunnel to enter another chamber.
*************************
- Bahamut, on his platform, has the Doctor tied up with rope and hanging below him like a
worm on a hook.
Doctor: Aaaaaahhhhhh!!! Colonel, please stop!
Bahamut: Why? You should see the damage that your research has done!
- Bahamut's platform forms energy and zaps the Doctor, who falls onto the ground. Bahamut
flies off.
Doctor: N... N... NNNNOOOOOO!!!
*************************
- Mini Boss: Spider Mutant
The Doctor is now a pitiful, squat little lump of gray flesh that crawls along the walls
and ceiling. Don't go into this fight thinking it's going to be easy, though. Not only does
he have tons of vitality, but he's also very unpredictable and, therefore, dangerous. The
Spider Mutant crawls along surfaces counter-clockwise. Note that when you shoot him during
this time, he experience a brief burst of crawling speed, so if you're both close to each
other, make sure you're not in his path when you shoot him. After crawling a little bit,
the Spider will raise his body and shoot a line towards the middle of the screen that bounces
whenever it hits a wall. Keep an eye on this line, for it is the path that the Mutant will
walk on, like a spider on a web.
While walking along the web, the Spider will stop at points to deliver more attacks.
He will alternate between a multi-shot burst of fireballs, which shoot off of him from every
direction (though usually with plenty of gaps in between so you have room to dodge), and
a single white fireball which chases you in a straight line, pauses, re-evaluates your
position, then goes after you again. If either of these attacks touches a wall, the fireball
will remain there for a few seconds, still deadly to the touch.
The most powerful tip I can give you is to just know what his attacks are, because there
is no guaranteed win against this guy. Whenever the Spider creates a path, make sure you
are not in the way and make sure there is plenty of room on all sides of you for dodging.
Stay on the ground when possible, as you will need to move fast. His multi-fireball attack
has gaps in it which are visible on his body just before he fires. When he shoots a homing
ball at you, be constantly moving. A homing weapon helps a lot (as always). Good luck!
PART 3:
With the Doctor's demise, there is only one matter left to take care of. Travel up the
corridor to the right and shoot the 2 item capsules that appear here to get the A and B weapons.
Continue on to the final room, where Colonel Bahamut is waiting.
*************************
Bahamut: I must admit that I am shocked that you have made it this far! But it seems you
are too late. My plans have been realized. I've joined my spirit with the corporeal qualities
of the alien and in the process created the ultimate super-being!!!
- Bahamut's form shifts and melts, becoming a tall, athletic (yet nude) figure with huge
muscles but unmistakeably alien features.
*************************
-- Final Boss: Neo Bahamut
Once you know the drill, this guy is much simpler than the previous 2 bosses. Neo Bahamut
consists of 3 forms, with the second being the toughest:
First Form: "Ultimate Super-Being!!!"
In his first form, Bahamut has 3 attacks, which he performs in order the first time,
but after which his pattern becomes random. Bahamut will start on the right and you should
start on the left. Numbers will begin to count down over Bahamut's head. When they reach
zero, you had better jump, because Bahamut will dash forward to the other side of the screen
with blazing speed. Now Bahamut will usually jump high into the air. This means move close
to him, as he's about to unleash a stream of fireballs diagonally down, pummeling the opposite
corner of the screen. After he lands, back away again because next he will rear back and
gather energy in his hands. This means he's about to shoot a series of large fireballs. Stay
near the middle of the screen and carefully jump over them. Like I said, the attack pattern
after this is random, but he's pretty easy to dodge since he telegraphs each of his moves.
*************************
- After many hits, Bahamut jumps to the center of the screen and holds his head like his
brain's about to explode.
Bahamut: Ugggghh! ... Too much power! ... Cannot maintain my form!
- Neo Bahamut's body changes again, this time his statuesque form melts into a large, bulbous
alien monstrosity with 2 bald, vaguely humanoid heads situated at either side of his bulk.
*************************
Second Form: Two-Headed Freak
This form is very tough if you don't have an exact strategy in mind. Be sure to aim
at his heads, which are his weak spots. At the start, make damn sure you're on the far left
part of the screen, because Bahamut immediately jumps to the right. Only half of his body
and his left head will be exposed. The head extends a short distance on a long neck and then
bangs up and down repeatedly, shaking molecule-shaped projectiles from the ceiling to rain
down on you. Stop shooting once the rain falls (unless you've got a homing device) and stand
on the left edge of the screen. This will avoid most of the rain, but inevitably some will
fall your way. If it's a lot, then weave between the pieces, but stay to the left if possible.
If it's just a few pieces, wait till they're upon you, then use the tried-and-true method
of sliding towards the edge of the screen.
Once the rain stops, the creature will quickly jump to the middle of the screen. Make
sure you're on the left, and ducking right next to the thing. Slide to the right as it jumps
to the left half of the screen, and walk all of the way to the right edge. After the head
extends on its neck, it will begin to slither out like a snake. Here's a sure-fire way to
avoid getting killed: stay on the absolute right, facing left. Wait until the snakey-head
is just about to touch you, then slide to the left. You will pass under and through the head,
which will continue on to the right, off-screen, and you should be standing in a gap between
his coils. When he retracts his head, move back to the right when its safe. The beast will
jump to the middle again. Stay next to it, then slide to the left when it jumps again to
the right. His attacks now repeat, so just follow the above pattern and you'll survive.
Third Form: Cerebrum Swarm
Neo Bahamut's form will shift one more time, this time he becomes a huge, pulsating
heart (Red Falcon!), floating in the air, surrounded by a circular shroud of bald alien heads
wrapped tightly around it. Not only does this part look cool, but it's also very simple if
you have patience. This form has no real attacks, it just floats back and forth, bobbing
up and down. The catch is, every time you shoot the heart, the globe of heads around it will
briefly expand. If you keep shooting with wild abandon, the sphere of heads will grow so
large that it's impossible to avoid getting hit. All you have do is shoot it a few times,
leaving the sphere at a manageable size, wait for the globe to shrink again (which it
inevitably will), then repeat. Upon his death, you are treated to a cool scene as the swarming
heads form an exploding whirlwind around the heart.
STAGE CLEAR
What a rush, huh? Go to Ending C in the Endings section and crack open an ice-cold Coke while
you're at it. Ah, nice, refreshing Coca-Cola! Nothing better!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 6 (d) - Ocean Pursuit
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
While the other paths are winding up, path D is just getting started! Even after this
stage there is still one more left (and a big one at that). As for the contents of Ocean
Pursuit... you knew it was coming. The All Boss level! Nothing but one mini-boss after the
other, culminating in a big multi-sectioned boss blitz. Lucky for you, this stage is sorta
fun and not too tough.
*************************
Chief: I never imagined that the Doctor was working for the enemy! But because of that, we
now know where their headquarters is. We will take an overseas route to strike at them. This
time we'll take them out with extreme prejudice!
*************************
PART 1:
The stage starts off on a large boat with your character standing on deck, surrounded
by the deep blue sea. Exercise caution, as the boat has limited walking space and it is
possible to accidentally jump overboard and plummet to your death. After a little cruising,
the screen pans upward so that you get a get view of the sky as the first boss makes his
appearance.
- Mini Boss: Falcon Jet
The Falcon Jet appears as a smallish, red-trimmed plane, with a gun turret on each wing.
The Jet flies in from the left and then matches speed so that it is hovering above the boat.
He has two attacks: in the first, both of his gun turrets will start spinning around quickly.
They will lock-on to your current position, then begin to fire a stream of machine gun bullets.
Stay near the edge of the boat while the turrets are spinning, then move under the Jet after
the turrets lock-on and start pounding it from below while it fires at nothing.
When the Jet flies off the screen to the right, prepare for his second attack. He will
fly back on-screen, zooming from the right to the left, and drop a series of molecule-shaped
bombs that will float softly downwards, swaying like falling leaves. Shooting a bomb will
cause it to immediately dive straight down, which leaves a tall column of fire when it hits
the water. Unlike most explosions in this game, this fire column can kill you. Either weave
between the swaying bombs without shooting (since the Jet will be temporarily off-screen),
or shoot the bombs above you and quickly move aside as they fall. After several dozen hits
(or a single Bomb), the Falcon Jet bursts into flames and drifts off the screen.
The boat will cruise a little longer, then the screen will pan down so that the ocean
is the dominant part of your view. A blatant foreshadowing of where your next attack will
be coming from.
- Mini Boss: Saw Fish
Looks like a ball with 2 blade-like fins behind it which propel it through the water.
This can be an annoying boss for some, so you may consider just Bombing the guy (one should
do the trick). If you have some good weapons, its worth your while to kill him the old fashioned
way. The Fish will swim aimlessly back and forth for awhile; try switching to Type II shooting
for easier aiming if you don't have a homing weapon. Soon the Fish will pause and then turn
into a buzzsaw in preparation for its attack. The Saw Fish shoots a long blade-arm at your
position 2 to 4 times. This is pretty easy to dodge; stand on the right part of the ship
and then move to the left just as it flings its arm at you. Keep moving left, because the
arm continues moving left as the Fish retracts it. After it retracts the arm, move back to
the right edge of the boat and repeat.
Upon death, the Fish fires a saw blade at your boat, crippling it. As the boat begins
to drift off-screen to the left, a platform will float towards you from the right. Get on
it. This skiff, besides keeping you from drowning, also allows you to slide and jump just
as if you were on solid ground. Before you even get time to breathe, the next boss approaches
from the left.
- Mini Boss: Aqua Drill
When you hear a repeating splashing sound, that means the Aqua Drill, a bug-like machine
with a steel scorpion tail and a drill for a nose, is approaching. If you haven't learned
how to slide yet, you certainly better learn now. The Aqua Drill first appears on the left,
jumping in and out of the water in a series of short dives as it moves right. When it approaches
you, slide past it to the left and stay there. The Drill follows that with a series of arcing
jumps that take it high into the air before it comes diving back down on your position. It
either jumps out on the left and lands on the right or vice-versa. Simply slide to the opposite
side of where it is landing, just before he dives on top of you. Repeat this as he jumps
back and forth while shooting him. That's all there is to it!
After defeating this bozo, you'll finally hit dry land, where your skiff turns into
a pair of running robo-legs (like in stage 2 [ab]). Remember that while riding on this thing,
you can NOT slide!
PART 2:
After hitting the highway, 2 item capsules immediately appear, carrying C and D, and
before you can say "Jimminy Christmas," it's already time for the climactic boss battle.
-- Stage Boss: Tri-Force
As if you didn't get enough of them before, the 3 mini-bosses you just defeated reappear
and combine forces for the sole purpose of making your life miserable. Frankly, I don't see
how it's possible to survive this boss the first time around, because his attacks are totally
unpredictable and some of the dodging methods are even counter-intuitive. But I digress.
This boss fight is trivial if you have a homing weapon, and a little tricky if you don't.
Form 1: Jogger
The 3 mini-bosses, with the help of their patented Tri-Power(TM), form together and
morph into a very tall running guy. Since the 3 appear on the left side of the screen, it
should be obvious that you should be staying on the right side of the screen. You should
be constantly shooting at the Jogger's waist, which is its weak spot. The Jogger has 3 attacks,
performed in no particular order: first, he will begin to do flips, starting from either
the far left and going to the far right, or vice-versa. These flips are slow and occur with
a certain rhythm. Since the Jogger's body is so big, the only way to survive this attack
is by going under him when he does a flip. Get very close to him, watch the timing, and as
soon as he jumps up, move quickly under his airborne body to the opposite side of the screen
of where he is going. You will always be cutting it close, so be particularly careful here.
His second attack, which he will only do if he's on the right side of the screen (in
which case you should be on the far left), entails the Jogger jumping on his hands and firing
a stream of homing missiles at you as he's walking. Shoot these down. His third attack he
only does when he's on the left side of the screen. The attack begins when he slowly drifts
off-screen to the left. Immediately move to the far left edge of the screen and duck. The
Jogger will hurl himself forward, landing face first on the right half of the screen (his
flying body should pass right over you). After he lands, jump to the right, over his sprawled
body, as he drifts back to the left (this is fast, so watch out).
Form 2: Buzzard
After you deconstruct the Jogger, the 3 will re-arrange themselves again, this time
turning into a giant bird. Once again, you should normally stay on the right side of the
screen here. The bird's weak spot is his chest. Like the Jogger, the Buzzard has 3 attacks,
though this form is much easier. His first attack (which he will usually start with, but
not always) starts off with him flying up and off-screen. The Buzzard will perform a series
of dive attacks, first swooping down on the right half of the screen, then the left, then
the right, etc. So when he flies off-screen immediately move to the left, wait for him to
dive (he will let out a screech just before he does it), then move right, etc., until he
flaps back on-screen and stays there.
The Buzzard telegraphs his second attack by landing on the ground and then drifting
off the screen to the left. When he runs back on-screen, he's going to be repeatedly pecking
the ground while moving all the way to the right, then back to the left. The only way to
dodge this attack is to look for a gap in his pecking motions, move to the left when his
head is up so that you are between his head and his body, and then stay in that area, moving
with the big bird as he moves. When he starts running back to the left, look for another
gap in his pecking then move back to the right. For his final attack, Buzz will gather energy
in his mouth and fire a stream of lightning bolts while arcing his head up and down. Stay
right next to his body while he does this and you'll be safe.
Form 3: Mr. Tank
The last form of the trio has the top half of a robotic man (with 2 very large pincer
hands) and the bottom half of a tank (that is to say, the treads). The weak point is his
top half. This last guy also has 3 attacks, but only one of them should give you any trouble.
Always stay on the far right unless I note otherwise. In his first attack, the Mr. Tank's
top half will detach from the bottom and hover in the air while the treads suddenly go crashing
left and right really fast. All you have to do is repeatedly jump over the treads when they
come your way.
In the second attack, Tank will raise his arms and shoot a barrage of energy pellets
into the sky. A large blue target will appear on the ground. Contrary to common sense, you
want to move directly into the target instead of avoiding it. After a few seconds, the pellets
will land and shower the screen with flames in every spot EXCEPT where the blue target was.
His last attack is very tricky. First a long metal spike will appear in Mr. Tanks' hand.
Move to a spot about 3/4 of the length of the screen from the left (next to the right edge
of the screen) and wait there. Tank will rush forward and drive the spike into the ground.
If you positioned yourself correctly, you should be just between the spike and his tank treads.
Now Mr. Tank will move back and forth while in this position. You will have to move with
him without touching either the treads or the spike, or you will die. This is very difficult
as the safe space is unbearably tiny. Hopefully you will kill him before it comes to this.
Vanquish the last form and you're treated to some nice pyrotechnics and a trip to the
last level. Don't relax yet, because it only gets crazier from here on out.
STAGE CLEAR
The end is nigh! Go to stage 7 (d) and face your destiny.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE 7 (d) - Countdown to Armageddon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is it. The truly epic finale to one heck of a tough game. The last level of path
D is a little easier than the other final stages, but remember you've got to put the term
'easy' in perspective when it comes to C:HC. This stage is like two levels in one and is
sure to keep your interest piqued up to the last second.
PART 1:
Things start off brisk, dropping you right into the center of Bahamut's headquarters.
You should immediately encounter 3 item pods, one right after the other, containing the A
and D upgrades and a Bomb. Do not miss these! That might be tough, though, as you are
immediately set upon by waves of soldiers and a few well-positioned snipers. These guys are
just like the ones you messed with in Stage 2 (cd), so the same tactics will apply.
Unfortunately, when you throw turrets (the same ones from stage 3, part 2) into the
mix, things are bound to get a little hectic. You will have little time to sit still, so
be sure you have a homing weapon or your A gun equipped as you duck and weave. Ground obstacles
such as pits, walls, and other obstructions will complicate things further, but they should
be nothing really new by now.
If you survive this first onslaught, you will stop where there are 5 "fire poles" in
the background.
- Mini Boss: The Elite Guard
Relax, these guys are simple. This boss has 3 forms in all. Squads of soldiers will
slide down the poles and jump on top of each other's shoulders to form a shape and attack
you (like cheerleaders! Except for the attacking part). First they will form a large wheel
and try to run you over. You can't dodge them, so when they first appear, be sure you are
standing on the far left, equipped with a fast or powerful weapon, and blast away. It moves
slowly, so you should easily kill it before it can get to you.
Next, more men will jump together and form an "inchworm" shape. Like an inchworm, the
arch o' soldiers will bend over, end over end, and walk along the ground. There is a rather
large gap between the 2 ends of the 'worm'; just stand in this gap and fire away. You don't
even have to move, since the gaps don't change position.
Finally, the last group of men will form a pyramid, with one red soldier on top. This
red guy should be your target. The pyramid will walk back and forth, while the red soldier
occasionally attacks. If he just has a pistol, he will shoot single shots in various
directions. If he switches guns to a grenade launcher, he will fire several arcing shots
onto the ground. When the lead soldier waves his arms up and down, do NOT jump, because the
soldiers will begin to fire horizontal shots, starting with the top guy and going down, row
by row. To dodge all of these attacks, simply keep yourself close to the pyramid and stay
on the ground while firing up.
Next you will enter a large room with a large hawk insignia on draped banners. This
looks like it...
*************************
Bahamut: I didn't think you'd make it. You have ruined my plans! But a warrior as strong
and brave as you are deserving of praise! I have been looking for a soldier such as you for
a long time. Join with me! The world is waiting for people such as you and I to lead them!
( ? ) DECISION:
-> Refuse!
-> Agree.
- If you choose 'Refuse!':
Bahamut: You stubborn buffoon! Prepare to die!
- A huge, mechanical claw is lowered onto Bahamut's arm. It's time to duel or die.
- If you choose 'Agree.':
Go to 'The Bad Ending' in the Endings section. Shame!
*************************
- Mini Boss: Colonel Bahamut
This part is way harder than you might expect. Bahamut is a fighting machine and is
hardly phased even by several Bombs. He will take a lot of hits (even with a power weapon)
and plenty of dodging on your part to survive, and you will probably die once or more. The
Colonel has several attacks, no pattern, and he gets a little faster as the battle nears
the end. When not doing a specific attack, Bahamut will be hopping back and forth,
occasionally taking a large leap towards you. Keep your distance and slide to a vacant part
of the screen if he tries jumping on you. If he stops jumping and pauses, he's about rush
at you quickly with his drill-hand. Either jump or slide past this.
If he jumps and starts spinning like a saw, he's about to dive down on your position.
Stay on the opposite side of the screen, then slide to the other side as he drops at you.
Sometimes he will pause and his claw will grab at the ceiling and pull a chunk of rock out.
He then hurls it to the middle of the screen, where it shatters into pieces (which can also
hurt you) upon impact. Simply stay near the edge of the screen to avoid this attack. With
a lot of firepower and a little luck, you'll eventually pull through.
*************************
Bahamut: Ugh... You've beaten me... but this will be no victory for you! When I die, a missile
armed with the Alien Cell will take off. You will see the world burn in the flames of Hell...
uhhhhhhhhh
- The scene cuts to outside, where large silo doors open on the ground and an enormous rocket
armed with the Alien Cell lifts off. Four smaller missiles shoot off behind it with your
character on one of them, giving chase.
*************************
PART 2:
Just the idea of this part of the game is brilliant. Konami... I salute you!
*************************
- No sooner have you lifted off when suddenly a familiar face catches up to you.
Deadeye Joe: This is the final battle!
You: The Colonel is already dead! Stop this foolishness!
Deadeye Joe: I could care less about the Colonel. I'm going all the way!
*************************
- Mini Boss: Deadeye Joe
The only battle where you face Joe mano-a-mano, with no wacky robot contraptions
involved, and it turns out that Joe's a wimp. Joe flies in circles, pausing at the left and
right side of the screen to shoot a small laser blast at you. These are easily ducked or
jumped over. The main danger here is accidentally falling off of the rockets, but you won't
even have to adjust your position to KO Joe. After too few shots, Joe is done for.
Jump to the left-most mini-missile and watch as the remaining 3 flash and drop off-screen.
You finally catch up to the main rocket, which you will have to jump onto, since the last
mini-missile is also about to fall. As you climb up the side, 3 item capsules will fly in
from the right, carrying the A, B, and C weapons. You will probably need these very badly,
but getting them is tricky since you can only move up and down. Wait till each one is directly
above you before shooting them down.
You will immediately encounter several mouths which will burst through the wall of the
missile. The mouths can't hurt you, but they continuously spew beetle-like aliens that slowly
crawl towards you. A homing or spread weapon is almost mandatory for this part and the
mini-boss, so hopefully you didn't miss those item capsules.
- Mini Boss: Spawn Worm
A large worm will suddenly burst from the wall of the missile above you, blocking passage.
The worm doesn't attack, but instead releases swarms of bees that slowly fly towards you.
In addition to this, there will be one or two mouths below you, still spewing out beetle
creatures. Without a good weapon, you are almost guaranteed to be overwhelmed. Clear the
screen of as many critters as you can before focusing on the worm. If you only have minimal
weapons, you will have to dodge out of the way of the mini-creatures as you clear them out
before going for the worm. Type II firing will help, in that case.
Climb steadily to the top, ignoring any 'mouths' that burst out to annoy you. Reach
the apex and it's time for the final battle.
-- Final Boss: Living Warhead
This battle is only hard if you don't have a homing/spread weapon. Even if you don't,
it's not impossible; just a little more work is involved.
Form 1: Megapede
Upon reaching the top of the rocket, the tip explodes and a huge centipedey creature
pops out from the top and looms above you. The creature only has two attacks. He starts off
with the first, a long stream of fireballs. The stream starts directly below the Megapede,
then sweeps towards whatever side of the screen you are standing on. Either stand on the
far side of the missile, opposite of where the boss is and hope the stream doesn't reach
you, or simply slide through it. Sometimes he pauses, then dives down with his head to bite
you. You should easily be able to walk or slide away to avoid him. Move fast, shoot hard,
and he will soon fall.
Form 2: Grotesque
Now the top of the missile will raise up, revealing the missile's payload contained
in a tall glass capsule. This huge, floating mass of quivering flesh is a disgusting composite
of ugly, roughly human faces in various states of decomposition. The mass will burst from
the container and float to the top middle of the screen. You cannot directly hurt the main
body yet. First it sprouts huge clawed, skeletal arms from its left and right sides. These
will spread out and then reach down to swipe at you. A spread weapon really helps here, just
sweep left and right with it repeatedly. If you don't have one, focus on shooting off the
outer 2 segments of each arm first. The last segment is too short to grab you. Even after
you completely shoot off both of his arms, he will sprout more and more pairs until you have
shot off a certain number before he switches attacks.
Next a long, snakey creature will appear from the bottom of the main body, the tip ending
in a hideous human face. The pattern here is very predictable. First the mouth will spit
out a swarm of maggots, which will slowly crawl towards you, then the face will open up,
revealing an enflamed red core. This is the weak spot of the boss, be sure you get it good!
After a few seconds it will close up, then the head will sweep to the opposite side of the
screen and repeat its pattern. When it sweeps across, you will have to slide past it to the
opposite side of the screen to stay safe. The maggots are easily disposed of with any weapon.
Before you know it, the main body will die and the Alien Cell is done for!
STAGE CLEAR
Go on with your bad self and check out Ending D in the Endings section. What it is, jive
turkey!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECRET STAGE - Hyper-Dimensional Hijinks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hijinks indeed... get ready to fight some of the weirdest enemies in video game history.
Where do they come up with this stuff? This level is essentially 3 boss fights. They are
pretty simple with good weapons but tough without them. Note that there are no item capsules
to be found here; you get whatever you come in with. You can play this stage by making a
critical decision in Part 2 of stage 3 (abcd). Choosing this path also earns you a secret
ending.
Your character enters a strange arena with a variety of alien spectators in the bleachers.
A door opens to the right and your first opponent enters.
- Mini Boss: Phish Fan
I don't get it. Does this guy have any meaning to Japanese audiences, maybe? At any
rate, maybe you can figure it out for yourself: he's a short guy with hippie clothes, a guitar
case strapped to his back, sunglasses, a large metal helmet, and he throws fish and wields
a ball-and-chain. As soon as he enters, he jumps up and whacks a candle on the wall with
his ball-and-chain (I guess this is from Castlevania?), which drops a fish. He collects the
fish and starts to glow, then the fight begins. What the f*** is going on here?
While you're thinking it over, don't let this punk kill you. Jump onto the wall, climb
to the ceiling and move to the far right as fast as you can. This way you'll avoid the first
of his 2 attacks: he jumps into the air and lets loose his ball-and-chain to hit any airborne
characters (including anyone on the ceiling). Alternatively, you can stay on the ground when
he first appears, sliding through him if he gets too close, and then jump onto the wall AFTER
he does the chain attack. Either way. After the chain, he will walk around, stop, and throw
a fish like a boomerang. The ceiling is the safest place for his fish attack. Then he will
walk some more, then do his jumping attack again. The only tricky part is getting his timing
down on when he does his jumps; you need to make sure you are far away when he shoots out
his chain (or on the ground). Other than that, he's a snap. Shoot him until his head explodes,
then keep shooting some more until he dies.
- Mini Boss: Mutant Miner
A boss almost as strange the previous one, this guy is a huge skeletal-looking mutant
pushing a very large mine cart in front of him. His only attack is to smash the mine cart
on the left wall, after which he pauses and a blue blob rises from inside the cart, then
shoots out a stretchy arm at a downward angle. Additionally, on the front of the mine cart
is a small gun that continuously fires homing missiles. As soon as you can move, jump on
to the left wall and climb up to just slightly above the joint where the wall goes from 90
degrees vertical to slightly angled upward (at about 45 degrees). From this point, just fire
diagonally down. If you are at the right spot and have a fast enough weapon (even your regular
machine gun will do), you should automatically destroy all incoming missiles, and
additionally damage the gun and the blue blob, all without having to move.
If you have a spread weapon, you don't have to be so precise; anywhere in that area
on the ceiling should be safe from the cart and the blob. After you kill the blue blob, the
Miner will continuously ram his cart up against the wall. If the missile turret isn't
destroyed yet, focus on that. With both of those gone, move into a position on the ceiling
where you can shoot the Miner in the head easily, then finish the job.
-- Final Boss: The Overlord
The last boss ain't too bad, even if you're weapon-less. The Overlord consists of a
large, floating alien face, surrounded by horny protrusions and energy. He constantly moves
back and forth and teleports around the screen after he attacks, using multi-colored,
self-generated dimensional portals. He only has 2 attacks, only rarely doing the same attack
twice in a row. In his first attack (which he usually starts with), 6 spikes will protrude
from his head on all sides, then fire off. These spikes weakly home in on you, but they can
be easily destroyed with one shot. If you don't have a spread or homing weapon, keep some
distance between the two of you as he prepares to shoot, and when he does, jump up and shoot
straight. If you don't kill all of the spikes right then (you should get most of them), dodge
the rest or shoot them if they are easy targets.
For his second attack, Overlord drops a black ball on the ceiling or floor. It then
splits into 2, moving to the left and right along the surface and leaving a shadowy trail.
Either way he aims this move, you're totally safe on the walls. Just make sure you're not
on the middle portion of the wall, because he often touches that part when he's flying around.
He's not too tough; a decent amount of shots and he's gone.
STAGE CLEAR
Wow, that wasn't too bad. If that stage wasn't weird enough for you, check out the Secret
ending in the Endings section.
____V - THE ENDINGS___________________________________________
What follows is a description of each ending of the game. The order of these only makes sense
if you follow the Stage Map above. These descriptions reveal everything, so if you don't
want anything spoiled, you technically shouldn't even be reading this introductory text.
------------------------------------------------------
ENDING A
------------------------------------------------------
- Big Magnum explodes, taking Bahamut with it. The game cuts to a scene showing the Space
Station, connected to Earth via the freakin long elevator, exploding and collapsing.
Bahamut: Ugh! Just one more step and I would have been a God!
- The credits scroll over a vista of Earth from outer space. Soon, a large metal falcon symbol
slowly descends from above and stops in the middle of the screen. After the credits end,
there is a scene depicting a gold-plated version of your character in a triumphant pose.
THE END
A tad bit unsatisfying, eh? Get used to it, if you're going to play for the other endings.
To sum up: You defeated the Big Magnum, killing both Bahamut and the Alien Cell. The Space
Station was destroyed. Unfortunately, a large chunk of Earth and an untold number of people
got blown to smithereens.
In terms of storyline and human casualties, this is the second-to-the-worst ending you can
get (ending B is a little worse).
------------------------------------------------------
ENDING B
------------------------------------------------------
- As the Red Falcon chamber explodes, your character exits to the right and arrives on the
roof of Bahamut's HQ, where a helicoptor is transporting the Colonel away on a hanging ladder.
Bahamut: It looks like I lost this time. But, I will be back. Next time we meet, the outcome
will be far different. Ha! Ha!
You: Ha! I'll take you on anytime!
- The helicoptor takes off. Next is a screen that depicts a helicoptor flying off into the
distance, towards mountains and a sunset as the credits roll.
- The final screen shot is that of Colonel Bahamut and your character posing together. This
can only mean...
THE END?
Yes, it took all that effort to get the WORST ending the game. Actually, it is a bit more
substantive than ending A or C, but you got to admit that it sucks. What about a final
helicoptor battle against the Colonel? Or something? Anything?
Here's the game score: You have once again beaten Red Falcon and destroyed that rascally
Alien Cell. Colonel escapes unharmed via helicoptor. The world is saved... but for HOW LONG????
(cue dramatic music)
Storyline-wise, this is the worst possible ending.
------------------------------------------------------
ENDING C
------------------------------------------------------
- Cuts to a scene with your character standing in the foreground, outdoors. In the distance
a large fortress crumbles to the ground, rocked by explosions.
- The next scene depicts your character riding a jet bike to the left, with mountains flying
past in the background, as the credits scroll down. Unlike the other endings, there is no
ending image after the credits are over. It's just...
THE END
This one's even worse than ending A, as far as drama and storyline, hell... by ANY standards
this ending just plain sucks. But as far as plot goes: You have simultaneously defeated both
Bahamut and the Alien Cell (since they were merged). You destroyed Bahamut's headquarters.
Crisis averted... and no innocents were hurt!
Technically, though, this is the second best ending behind A (in which perhaps millions of
people were killed) and B (the bad guys get away), but not as satisfying as ending D by any
measure. Therefore: second best.
------------------------------------------------------
ENDING D
------------------------------------------------------
- Your character is left free-falling through the air when suddenly an aircraft sweeps below
you to pick you up.
Pilot: Hey brother! Sorry to keep you waiting!
You: Thanks for the lift!
Pilot: Congratulations! You're in for a hero's welcome!
- The missile is seen exploding in mid-air. Next you see your charcter on the plane flying
through the sky as the credits scroll down. The last scene is a picture of your character
posing and the words "Good Job!".
THE END
The ending, like all of them, is nothing great, but the story arc of path D is, in my opinion,
the best. Your new re'sume': Defeated Colonel Bahamut in single combat after turning down
his devious offer. Chased down a missile armed with the Alien Cell and detonated it in mid-air,
thus saving countless millions of human lives.
This ending, full of action and drama of epic proportions, is less like a game and more like
a movie. A decent conclusion to the longest path of the game.
------------------------------------------------------
SECRET ENDING
------------------------------------------------------
You get this ending by beating the Secret stage.
- A dimensional portal from the Overlord is still on-screen.
You: Curses! The inter-dimensional portal is still open!
- Your character is drawn in, then suddenly appears in a lush, green prehistoric setting,
with bug-eyed chimps jumping up and down in the background.
You: Ouch! It looks like we've somehow come back through time!
- On a black screen, it says:
"Several years later..."
- The next scene is your character sitting on a primitive throne, dressed as a jungle king
or queen. Next to you is another throne where a dolled-up female chimpanzee is sitting with
cartoon hearts are floating above her and, in the foreground, more chimps are jumping up
and down in celebration. The credits roll...
THE END
Hmmmm... what a strange (but funny) way to end things. And strangely fitting, considering
the general strangeness of the secret stage. Obviously, this has no real place in relation
to the other endings, so it's pointless to compare.
------------------------------------------------------
THE BAD ENDING
------------------------------------------------------
You get this ending if you agree to join Colonel Bahamut's cause in stage 7 (d).
- There is a dark picture of the Colonel and your character posing against a black background,
and then the words:
"And thus the most evil dictator was born... And the world was propelled into an age of
darkness and gloom..."
THE END :(
Actually, this isn't really 'The End' unless you're all out of continues. Getting this ending
reduces all of your lives to zero, but lets you use a continue, thus giving you a second
chance to pick a somewhat less depressing ending.
____VI - RANDOM OBSERVATIONS_________________________________
Here are some tidbits of info that don't really fit anywhere else:
- The dialogue sometimes refers to "they" or "them", even if you're playing the game on one
player. Was it too hard to program the game to detect for 1 or 2 players and change the dialogue
to make sense?
- The dialogue sometimes refers to your character as "Bro", even if you're playing as Sheena.
- The secret ending depicts your character sitting with an 'in-love' female queen, even if
you're playing as Sheena.
- During the first boss fight in the Secret stage, a remix of the Castlevania theme is playing
(it also plays when the credits scroll after beating the Secret stage)!
- Morals have nothing to do with a "better" or "worse" ending (except if you choose to join
up with Colonel Bahamut in stage 7 [d]) when it comes to making decisions. For example, even
if you rashly go after Deadeye Joe and then take the cowards way out by surrendering at the
Arena (path A), you still get a much better ending than if you had fought at the Arena (ending
B). What's up with that?
- The dialogue in this game is so natural (for the most part), it's as if they had Americans
programming it (which they didn't). A great job on Konami's behalf.
- The endings are all disappointingly short and un-rewarding, although the same could be
said for most games these days, sadly.
- This FAQ took a damn long time to write... way longer than I had planned!
____VII - CREDITS____________________________________________
- First I would like to thank Konami for making such a great game that I could waste a lot
of time on. Thanks!
- The very excellent Gamefaqs website for publishing my FAQ and my other FAQs. It means a
whole lot to me. That's http://www.gamefaqs.com ... check it out!
- I would like to thank my family, and especially Mom for always supporting me and bringing
me into the world.
- Thanks to Dan, Jeff, and Justin for being there.
- Thanks to Gladys O., who changed my life.
- And thanks to everyone else. You know who you are. Go you!
- This FAQ was written and researched entirely by me, Chalupa Donny AKA John Malone
<swidly@hotmail.com>. Lastly, I would like to congratulate myself on a job well done.
Until next time... peace.
Any resemblance that this FAQ bears to other FAQs or writings is entirely coincidental, as
no other FAQs or writings were used to create the FAQ that you are now reading.
The game Contra: Hard Corps, all other Contra games mentioned, and all characters mentioned
are a registered trademark and property of Konami. EGM and the Review Crew are a registered
trademark and are property of Ziff-Davis publications. All movies, TV shows, and other
references made herein are the properties of their respective owners. Thanks to all.
Copyright 2002 - Last Updated 8/5/02
