|-------------------------------------------------| |Contra: Hard Corps | |Sega Genesis FAQ/Walkthrough | |Created by Dizzie | |Contact: dark.dizzie at gmail dot com | |-------------------------------------------------| |Guide Information: | |Version: FINAL | |Created: October 25, 2002 - June 10, 2005 | |Finished: June 10, 2005 | |-------------------------------------------------| ================================================== CONTENTS ================================================== 1. Introduction 1.1 Updateology 2. Legal Stuff (And All About Who Can Use What) 2.1 Where This Guide Can Be Seen 2.2 Disclaimer 3. Contra: Hard Corps Introduction 4. The Basics 4.1 Controls 4.2 Characters and their Weapon Sets 4.3 Bombs 4.4 Sliding 4.5 Shot Mode 5. A Word About The Walkthrough 6. Walkthrough 6.01 - Stage 1 - City In Distress [chc01] -SUB BOSS- - Giant Cyclops [bos01] -BOSS - - Deadeye Joe/Unmanned Bot [bos02] 6.02 - Stage 2-A - After That Joe [chc02] -SUB BOSS- - Mechanical Spider [bos03] -SUB BOSS- - Getaway Ship [bos04] -BOSS - - Deadeye Joe In Mech [bos05] 6.03 - Stage 2-B - The Research Center [chc03] -SUB BOSS- - Rocketman [bos06] -SUB BOSS- - Assault Plane [bos07] -BOSS - - The Builder [bos08] 6.04 - Stage 3 - Down in the Dumps [chc04] -SUB BOSS- - Junk [bos09] -BOSS - - Noiman Cascade [bos10] *SECRET B- - Simon Jr. [bos11] *SECRET B- - Big Mama and Jr. [bos12] *SECRET B- - Dimension Keeper [bos13] 6.05 - Stage 4 - Rumble in the Jungle [chc05] -SUB BOSS- - Waterfall Alien [bos14] -SUB BOSS- - Dance of the Dual Orbs [bos15] -BOSS - - Wrecking Machine [bos16] 6.06 - Interlude - Fight The Doctor [chc06] -BOSS - - Organic Accident [bos17] 6.07 - Stage 5-A - Alien's Lair [chc07] -SUB BOSS- - Umbilical Maggot Fish [bos18] -SUB BOSS- - Digger Slug [bos19] -BOSS - - Red Falcon [bos20] 6.08 - Stage 5-B - Bahamut HQ: Meltdown [chc08] -BOSS - - Doc in a Bot [bos21] -BOSS - - Big Magnum [bos22] 6.09 - Stage 5-C - Across The Ocean [chc09] -SUB BOSS- - Attack Jet [bos23] -SUB BOSS- - Mechanical Urchin [bos24] -SUB BOSS- - Driller Dolphin [bos25] -BOSS - - Go Go Power Tri-Morph Bot [bos26] 6.10 - Stage 5-D - Runaway Train [chc10] -SUB BOSS- - The Cannon Twins [bos27] -SUB BOSS- - Nail Cannon [bos28] -BOSS - - Big Blue Bucket O' Bolts [bos29] 6.11 - Stage 6-A - Bahamut/Alien Cell [chc11] -SUB BOSS- - Acrobat Soldiers [bos30] -BOSS - - Colonel Bahamut [bos31] -SUB BOSS- - Deadeye Joe [bos32] -SUB BOSS- - Bug Worm [bos33] -SUB BOSS- - Spewer Worm [bos34] -BOSS - - The Alien Cell [bos35] 6.12 - Stage 6-B - The Ultimate Being [chc12] -SUB BOSS- - The Spear Bot [bos36] -SUB BOSS- - Dr. Spider [bos37] -BOSS - - Ultimate Super Being!!! [bos38] *The -SECRET B- instances for Stage 3 indicate bosses that are only fought in that stage when certain conditions are met. They do not appear in the normal path. 7. Endings 8. FAQ: AKA The One Burning Question 9. Credits ================================================== 1. Introduction ================================================== Hello, I'm Dizzie (not an adjective) and this is the very first FAQ I've written and submitted to GameFAQs. I've had a bit of experience with reviewing games there for a bit (under a few other names) and while I'm not the best writer out there, I decided to give writing an FAQ a shot. Contra: Hard Corps for the Genesis is my first dissection. I'm going to take you through all stages of the game as well as provide information concerning items, controls, and characters, as well as their weapons and how to use them effectively. I'll also explain how the game splits down four different paths leading to many possible endings. Ultimately, I hope to guide you through the game in the most effective manner possible. ================================================== 1.1 Updateology ================================================== FINAL June 10, 2005 I updated with a new email address that I can be reached at. I will no longer be receiving or accepting mail at the old yahoo account, so please direct all email to me to the email address provided at the top and bottom of this document. AND FINALLY... Fleshed out the navigation to include direct jumping to boss sections. Added a bit to the one-question FAQ section to include information I've recently been asked about. With any luck in the world, that should wrap up the work on this FAQ/Walkthrough completely. The Layout could honestly use some work, but I think it works and don't really wanna mess with it anymore. So, with that said, this FAQ may now rest in peace. FINAL June 9, 2005 Added some small walkthrough navigation improvement. You know, those cool CTRL+F navigation things people seem to be doing all the time now (no that's not a complaint.) Basically, you can now jump to any stage of the game quickly. I'm thinking of breaking it down to boss-by-boss navigation as well, but for now this is the best it's gonna get. Who knows, it might even take me another year to get around to it, and maybe even finish that Operation C guide I started right after I finished the first version of this one, but I wouldn't hold my breath too long. FINAL June 7, 2004 This will be the final update to this guide, as I feel I've both neglected it for too long, and feel I've really covered all that can be covered. So, in my eyes, the guide is as complete as it can be. I've added some updates courtesy of Truncated. I got his feedback quite a while back and have only recently been able to work on the guide. I also added an FAQ containing only one question. The one question I get asked all the time. It will surely lay to rest all the myths. ver 1.2 January 3, 2003 Happy New Year! I added some strategies submitted to me by TortillaG and fixed a terrible spelling error that appeared throughout the entire guide. ver 1.1 November 3, 2002 No new walkthrough information, just fixed the horrendous table lengths that just didn't click at all when converted. Hopefully the update and new table margins I've specified will fix that problem. I'll be researching the game even more this week since I'm sill in the mood to keep playing, so hopefully some new strategies will emerge. ver 1.0 November 2, 2002 Finished up the guide and walkthrough and submitted to GameFAQs ================================================== 2. Legal Stuff (And All About Who Can Use What) ================================================== This FAQ is copyright 2002 by Jay Ell, and is protected under international copyright law. NO selection of this document should be reproduced in ANY way without my own personal written or verbal consent whether it be via e-mail and/or otherwise. Anyone noticing this document or any of its contents being placed anywhere not mentioned in the following section (2.1 Where This Guide Can Be Seen) without record of my approval should contact me via e-mail at dark.dizzie at gmail dot com. ================================================== 2.1 Where This Guide Can Be Seen ================================================== GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) ================================================== 2.2 Disclaimer ================================================== This entire writing is my own original work, and was not modified or copied from anyone else's. I put in the time playing the game myself to develop the strategies listed in the walkthrough. Character Synopses in Section 4.2 of this FAQ were taken directly from the CONTRA: HARD CORPS Instruction manual and are (C)Konami. ================================================== 3. Contra: Hard Corps Introduction ================================================== Contra: Hard Corps is the fourth major title in the Contra series. It takes place just five years after the events of Contra III: The Alien Wars. What makes Contra: Hard Corps so unique, is that it's the first and only game in the Contra series to appear on the Sega Genesis. And though, the series strayed from its Nintendo roots, the gameplay certianly didn't suffer one bit. Contra: Hard Corps is every bit as challenging and action packed as its predecessors. It even manages to pull out some crazy graphical effects, and a pretty decent techno/trance soundtrack on the somewhat limited Genesis console. This game also features incredibly challenging gameplay. The stages are chock-full of alien scum to waste, and the bosses are nothing short of impressive. The gameplay is certainly challenging, but not frustrating. It takes alot of practice to get really good, but that's the fun with this game - learning it all. I, personally, consider Contra: Hard Corps to be the ultimate 16-bit Contra package. Even more so than the acclaimed Contra III: The Alien Wars. Definitely give this game a look if you ever have the chance. It's kept me entertained for 8 years now, and I still find myself going back through it every now and then. ================================================== 4. The Basics ================================================== The following sections contain the meat and potatoes of Contra: Hard Corps. These are the basic controls, character explanations, weapon definitions, and other things you'll need to be familiar with. ================================================== 4.1 Controls ================================================== Contra: Hard Corps works with either a 3 or 6-button controller. While the functions available with a six-button controller are limited, they can make things a bit easier. Refer to the below chart for an explanation of the basic DEFAULT controls. --------------------------------------| Button | Game Function | --------|-----------------------------| A |-Switches between A, B, C, D | | and Bombs. | --------------------------------------| B |-Main fire button. Hold for | | rapid fire | --------------------------------------| C |-Jump button | --------------------------------------| A+B |-Switches between Shot I and | | Shot II Modes | --------------------------------------| X,Y,or, |-Switches between Shot I and | Z | Shot II Modes | --------------------------------------| Crosspad|-The Crosspad moves your | | character on the screen and| | aims in all 8 directions. | --------|------------------------------ Down + C|-This causes your character | | slide across the ground. | --------------------------------------- ================================================== 4.2 Characters and Their Weapon Sets ================================================== There are four available characters you can play as in Contra: Hard Corps. Each character plays a bit differently and has a remarkably different arsenal than the other. I'll explain each character below, and provide explanations of their various weapons. Each character has a set of weapons marked A, B, C, and D. During each stage, little Weapon capsules will fly by overhead. They'll drop little falcon emblems displaying a letter from A-D. Depending on the one your character runs over, that will be the weapon he/she obtains. Each character also has a slot labeled E. This is a stand-alone slot that is the same for all characters. When you obtain a Bomb from an item capsule you'll have an icon here and the number below the slot signifies how many bombs you have collected. -------------------- Ray Poward -------------------- Synopsis: Born and raised among the filth and pestilence of the city's slum, Ray at one time was the leader of a bunch of rowdy, delinquent youths. Recruited by the HARD CORPS for his unsurpassed combat skills and superb instincts, his cool exterior hides a burning lust for battle. Ray is a central figure in the HARD CORPS. Ray's Weapon Set: ------------------------------------------------------- |Weapon|Name |Effect | ------------------------------------------------------| | A |Vulcan laser |An alternative to the normal | | | |machine gun. It's a bit | | | |faster and powerful than the | | | |standard issue machinegun | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | B |Crash Gun |A short-range gun that fires | | | |small bombs that fly a short | | | |distance then detonate. Very| | | |powerful. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | C |Spread Gun |The original Contra favorite!| | | |The spread gun fires a fan of| | | |bullets in 5 directions | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | D |Homing Missiles |Fires a barrage of missiles | | | |on the screen that home in | | | |on your nearest targets. | ------------------------------------------------------- PROS: Ray's arsenal is pretty starightforward and really the best rounded of all the characters. He has a weapon for all situations and is a pretty good starting character. CONS: Because of Ray's all-arounded arsenal, and average height, it's really hard to find anything bad about him. -------------------- Sheena Etranzi -------------------- Synopsis: A fierce warrior whose abilities go far beyond those suggested by her appearance. Especially skilled in guerilla tactics, in jungle combat she alone is said to be the equal of an entire squad. Sheena's Weapon Set: ------------------------------------------------------- |Weapon|Name |Effect | ------------------------------------------------------| | A |Genocide Vulcan |This upgrade of Sheena's | | | |normal machinegun is about | | | |twice as powerful and the | | | |bullets are alot larger. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | B |Shower Crash |Sheena's crash gun is almost | | | |like Ray's, except her's | | | |fires in an arch and detonate| | | |upon touching anything. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | C |Break Laser |A powerful single-shot laser | | | |capable of penetrating | | | |barriers. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | D |Ax Laser |Sheena's Ax Laser has the | | | |Spread Gun effect, but its | | | |fire homes in on enemies | | | |all over the screen. The | | | |damage is toned down to | | | |balance the weapon out. | ------------------------------------------------------- PROS: Sheena has a great blend of the best slide in the game, and an arsenal that's both great for speed and power CONS: Sheena's power weapons might be a little too slow to get you out of a serious jam, and her Ax Laser is a little on the weak side for a tight pinch. -------------------- Brad Fang -------------------- Synopsis: The ultimate fighter-created using the latest in genetic engineering and cyborg technology. Always calm and collected, he is well-trusted by the members of the force. He is best at close-range, hand-to-hand combat. Fang's Weapon Set: ------------------------------------------------------- |Weapon|Name |Effect | ------------------------------------------------------| | A |Beast Shooter |The most devastating A | | | |Weapon in the game. It has | | | |an amazing spread effect and | | | |is fast and very powerful. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | B |Power Punch |Fang punches and a wave of | | | |fire is emitted. Very short-| | | |ranged, but extremely | | | |powerful. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | C |Flame Thrower |Another extremely powerful | | | |short-range penetrating | | | |weapon. Continuous fire. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | D |Psychic Blast |You have to hold down the | | | |fire button to charget this | | | |extremely powerful attack. | | | |When the fire button is | | | |released, so is the stored | | | |energy, based on how long | | | |the fire button was held. | ------------------------------------------------------- PROS: Fang's arsenal is definitely the most powerful in the game. CONS: Most of his hard-hitters have a very limited range meaning you've got to get close to the enemy threat. His slide is also the shortest of all characters. -------------------- Browny -------------------- Synopsis: Officially known as Model CX-1-DA300 Combat Robot, the members of the force refer to him as Browny because of his warm personality. His ability to link up with numerous data systems makes him an unsurpassed intelligence tool. Browny's Weapon Set: ------------------------------------------------------- |Weapon|Name |Effect | ------------------------------------------------------| | A |Victory Laser |A laser that shoots a V- | | | |shaped beam and waves like a | | | |water hose when you aim it. | | | |Penetrates barriers. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | B |Gemini Scatter |Short-ranged, boomerange-like| | | |bullets are fired, and when | | | |combined with rapid jumping | | | |you can flood the screen. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | C |Electro-Yo-Yo |The most powerful weapon in | | | |the game. The yo-yo floats | | | |around the screen doing | | | |massive damage to whatever it| | | |touches. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| | D |Shield Chaser |Holding down the fire button | | | |will cause a 6-orb shield to | | | |form around Browny which can | | | |protect from certain attacks.| | | |DONT DEPEND ON IT FOR EVERY | | | |ATTACK. When the fire | | | |button is released the | | | |remaining orbs will be fired | | | |at nearby enemies. | -------|----------------|-----------------------------| |press |Activate jet |This isn't really a weapon, | |jump |pack |it's a technique to | |twice | |counteract Browny's height | | | |jump distance. Once | | | |activated, Browny will double| | | |his jump height and then | | | |descend slowly to the ground.| ------------------------------------------------------- PROS: Browny's Jet Pack definitely separates him from other characters in terms of maneuverability. His weapons are extremely versatile and he has the most powerful homing weapon in the game. CONS: His height means he's going to have to jump to hit vital parts of enemies, and jump even farther over gaps. His yo-yo can only track one enemy at once which leaves Browny wide open for an attack from any other direction. *Thanks to Truncated for pointing out that I'd mistyped Browny's orb shield as having 5 instead of 6 orbs. ================================================== 4.3 Bombs ================================================== Bombs fit into the E slot of every character's weapon set. To use a bomb, you need to select over to it using the A button, and then use B to fire it off. A bomb dispenses a large circular field of energy around the screen doing incredible damage to anyone caught in the wave. Bombs are great for clearing out a screen full of enemies, and can easily dispose of some sub-bosses. Save them for when you're in a jam. Bombs leave you unable to fire your weapon for about a second. ================================================== 4.4 Sliding ================================================== Sliding is an essential skill in Contra: Hard Corps. It's mandatory for evading many enemy attacks, and in some cases, it's the only way to evade. You can make your character slide by pressing Down + C (default controls). What's so great about the slide is that not only is it a quick escape, but your character is completely invulnerable while in the slide animation meaning you can slide through enemies, bullets, fireballs, and bolts of energy and remain completely unscathed. The slide will also do a small amount of damage to whatever you happen to slide into. When coming out of a slide your character will be unable to make any other action for a quick millisecond, so make sure your slide won't leave you face to face with a bullet etc. Learning to slide, will save your hide during most boss fights and is an invaluable tool for surviving almost every attack in the game. NOTE: The only time your character can not slide is when he/she is hanging from a grab bar, or if they're riding a hover bike, etc. ================================================== 4.5 Shot Mode ================================================== The Shot Mode your character is in is located to the lower right of your remaining lives number. Contra: Hard Corps offers two different ways for you to attack. The display will show wither Shot I or Shot II to display your current status. Here's an explanation of both. Shot I: This is your typical Contra run and gun mode. Your character can freely move while shooting. You'll be in this mode for most of the game. Shot II: Shot Mode II locks your character's movement when you fire. This allows for a more concentrated stream of bullets in a particular direction when accuracy is needed. During alot of boss fights, changing between Shot I and Shot II mode can make things go by alot faster. Learn to be versatile and use both Shot Modes to the fullest. ================================================== 5. A Word About the Walkthrough ================================================== Writing an FAQ/Walkthrough for a Contra game is a bit of a large task. It's also quite different to read a walkthrough and actually go through the game itself, due to the nature of a Contra game. The Walkthrough information I'm providing below isn't intended for you to sit and read while trying to play the game. Consider it more of a study guide for each stage of the game, because the action in this game is non-stop. So, my recommendation for how to use the below information is to study it before you play, so you're better prepared. And don't be afraid to try the stages and bosses yourself first. The guide has now been updated to a bit of a "standard" which includes quick jumping through the guide to any stage. All you need to do is take note of the numbers in the brackets up at the top in the table of contents, then press CTRL+F on your keyboard and search for that specific string. For your convenience this navigation has now been setup so that you can now jump to any boss in the game (due to the game's extreme boss dependency) using the same method that you'd use to jump to specific stages in the game. The walkthrough is as complete and as accurate as I think it'll really get, short of me sitting by your side telling you when to jump and shoot, so I'll be taking no more new submissions unless they are completely and astoundingly breathtaking. Not that I don't appreciate the help, but I think all the tactics to beat this game are all here. So, here's to a successful mission! Enjoy! ================================================== 6. Walkthrough ================================================== Let's get this shindig started! ================================================== Stage 1 - City In Distress [chc01] ================================================== Your ATV slams through a barrage of enemy 'droids followed by a parked car which sends your character(s) flying out the windshield into the fray. Almost immediately you'll be swarmed by enemy resistance. The action in this section of the stage is extremely intense and you shouldn't expect it to get slower anytime soon. Now, do one thing for me and hold down the fire button. Good. Now you're not gonna be letting that go for the remainder of this FAQ. Ready? Okay, let's go. Begin your trek right while making sure you cover your back when enemies begin mounting from behind. When you come to the first area with two snipers up on platforms you can either keep running right while either shooting up at them or ignoring them altogether, or you can jump up to their level and waste them. A character with good height like Ray or Fang can do so effectively. Just make sure to clear a path when you're ready to jump back down to the street. Continue right and jump over the damaged car then pick off the sniper on a ledge that's waiting just on the other side. Jump over a set of barrels and pick off another sniper. In the midst of this little skirmish two Weapon capsules will fly by containing A and D Weapons. You have to be very nimble here as there's an android on a set of barrels just ahead flinging bombs your way. Put priority on saving your own skin rather than the weapons right now. You'll have a chance for more just a bit further ahead when the action cools off a bit. Continue over the set of barrels and to the right where you'll encounter another sniper on top of a Cement truck. Waste the sniper and then focus your fire on the vehicle while still watching your back. After the truck is demolished the action slacks off a bit and the random unmanned robots will no longer be a problem. You'll soon come to a giant 10-legged robot. He's not as menacing as he may seem yet he can still be lethal. Lock yourself into Shot II position and aim up at his head and just pelt him with bullets until you send the head flying. You should be able to waste him before he even gets to attack but if by chance you don't, he'll stand up on 6 legs and rain a slew of bullets to he ground. You can either just stand on the extreme left side of the screen, or be brave and slide under his fire and aim back up at him. Either way you should dispatch him with little effort. If by chance you don't kill him he'll walk off the screen and blow up anyway. Slide under his legs if this happens. Once you're done there, continue on and the ground will begin to quake and reshape under your feet. Don't sweat it, it's not harmful, just atmosphere. A weapon capsule will fly by carrying a Bomb so be on the lookout for that. When you come to a set of buildings in the background a 4-legged mechanical contraption will smash out of the background. This is another easy win if you just stay to the right side of the screen and not let off the fire button. It'll try to intimidate you when it first breaks out by spitting a stream of fire out of its top but it'll miss you completely. Just keep your fire concentrated until the top half ignites into flames and then when it dashes to the right at you in one final, futile attempt at termination, either jump over or slide through it and it'll slam into the building behind you knocking it over. Once the creature makes contact with the building, you're safe from the fire that spews out. Run up the side of the collapsed structure. Once you reach the top you'll see your next foe lumbering in the background. He'll put on a little display of lights then jump up to you for a closer view. -------------------- -SUB BOSS- [bos01] Giant Cyclops Difficulty Rating: Easy Strategy: While he appears to be a bit intimidating, he's quite a pushover. When he's pulling himself up to the ledge, his hands can't harm you. The boss has two attacks he uses in a set pattern, one right after the other. First he'll fire a laser beam in a 360-degree radius. The initial beam is harmless, but the fire that shoots up from under the ground isn't. Easy to dodge, just stay in the exact middle and keep firing up at the head. If, by some weird act of God you end up in one of the danger zones, you'll have a split second to slide out of the way or just move over. Really not a big deal though once you see it. For his second attack he'll pick up a car with his right hand and attempt to throw it at you. This car lands in the same exact place every time - right in the middle of the screen. Just jump to the left or right if he happens to actually get this far in the pattern. Just keep in the middle with your aim focused on the head and in no time he'll come crumbling down. Easy win. --------------------- As you move right two more Weapon capsules will come flying by containing B and C Weapons. Round em up and continue on till you see a pair of slowly spinning "bars." These should be familiar from Contra III. Anyway jump onto the first of the two spinning bars and when the timing's right jump onto the second one. Another one will come into view only it's not moving. Jump onto it and you'll be spun like a blender and come crashing down through a set of cars until it's destroyed by an energy blast. Once you're off your brief ride move further and another Weapon capsule will come flying from the left carrying a bomb. Run to the right side of the screen and stand there. Your first major boss fight is just mere seconds away. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos02] Deadeye Joe In Unmanned Robot Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: This fight has two stages to it. Part One: Dead Eye Joe will come crashing down on top of a blue car sitting right in the middle of the screen. He'll then jump to the right side of the screen where you're standing. Slide or run to the left to avoid getting crushed and then immediately lay down and begin your assult. He'll fire off a shot or two with his gun and then start jumping around again. If it appears he's going to land on you slide out of the way. He'll continue this pattern of jumping and shooting until you do enough damage. Try and avoid getting on the two platforms because you're much easier to shoot while there and easier to land on if he's jumping. Part Two: Once you do enough damage he'll fall over backwards, but the fight's not over. Use this opportunity to run to the left side of the screen a bit (if you're not already). He'll spring back up to his feet, sans gun and begin using his upper torso as a detachable helicopter blade to try and fell you. His first round trip should be pretty harmless as he's just showing off by destroying the buildings in the background, but he's still secceptable to damage. His first strike will fly off the screen to the right and then enter back through the left and re-attach itself to the rest of his body. As it re-enters on the left side, take all the free shots you can get before it attaches to the body again and get ready to do some dodging. ATTACK 1: He'll either launch the top half of his body at you once more, in which case you should duck to be on the safe side. Once it travels back onto the screen to return to his body repeat what you did the first time by taking all the free shots you can while it returns to his body. If he does this attack and he's fairly far away from you, duck it and when it comes back from the opposite side of the screen, stand up and follow it all the way back to his body while aiming up at it but be sure to give yourself enough space to prepare for his next attack. ATTACK 2: Or he'll dash punch at you across the screen. If he dashes either jump over him or slide through the attack and get ready because he attacks immediately afterward with either another dash attack or a helicopter attack. He does neither attack in a specific pattern so just be prepared. During the 2nd part of the fight if you've got a homing weapon availabie switch to it and just focus on evading Joe's attacks. He's not all that tough so you should have him taken care of after two or three attacks in the 2nd part of the battle. -------------------- ************* DECISION TIME ************* Once you defeat the robot, Dead-Eye Joe will emerge from the wreckage, taunt you and then fly off. You'll also get a distress call from the Doctor, stating that the research center is under attack. It is here you must make your first important decision that will effect your path through the game. Do you: 1. Go after Deadeye Joe. 2. Rescue the Research Center. Both decisions alter the storyline and stages you'll play coming up. Rescuring the center is the easiest stage. Just a recommendation for newcomers. If you choose "Go after Joe" then continue on to Stage 2-A If you choose "Rescue the Research Center" scroll down to Stage 2-B ************* ================================================== Stage 2-A - After That Joe! [chc02] ================================================== The majority of this stage will take part on a hoverbike/bird. Your character controls as he/she normally would only they can't slide. When they jump, the bike will follow their sprite on the ground so no worries. When you begin this stage there will be a carrier in the background that dispenses some flying robots to take you on. Stay to the left side of the screen and either use a homing weapon or jump up and spray them with shots to take them out. It won't take too long to ground these fellas. Once you've dispatched 9-10 of these little guys the carrier in the background will smash into a background but don't let that distract you for too long. Move to the middle of the screen and begin firing back to the left-hand side of the screen. A trooper carrying a very large bomb will come running at you and attempt to huck that big piece of metal at you. It's a good idea to switch to a more power weapon for this guy so you can take him out as quickly as possible. If he gets to throw the bomb, even though you take him out the bomb's impact will most likely kill you anyway so make sure he's shredded before he throws the bomb. You'll then cruise on into a tunnel and before long you'll be joined by a large and unfriendly mechanical arachnid. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos03] Mechanical Spider Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: As soon as you see this thing enter the top part of the tunnel, get to the right side of the screen. He'll then slide down to the left side of the screen and fire a small laser beam across the ground. Jump the beams carefully while maintaining your aim. He'll then go back to the top-middle of the screen briefly. Use this chance to get yourself all the way left. He'll then move down to the right side of the screen and start dropping little bouncing balls of energy from his back. The balls jump in different heights, but the strategy is still simple. Just maneuver between them. Browny is the only one you should even think about jumping with because of his double- jump, but even so, it's still safer to just dodge them. The battle can go one of two ways from here. Attack 1: He'll go back to the top-center of the screen once more and begin dragging his claw across the ground. The attack will hit the ground six times travelling right to left. Finding a safe place during this attack is easy. Just watch where the claw fell last and head that direction. Once it's hit the sixth time the spider will reel it back in. Attack 2: He'll float around the tunnel to the right and left trying to knock you off your bike. The pattern is really easy, just time it and rush right under him when he's over your head and then repeat when he comes back for another. You should have him finished before he completes this pattern. A homing weapon comes in handy here too if you prefer to focus on evasion. -------------------- The chase will speed up and you'll exit the tunnel hot on Joe's tail. But he'll escape into the bottom hatch of a geataway ship and speed off. The road will suddenly drop from under you, but fear not!!! Your bike sprouts a pair of legs and picks up the pace. Two Weapon capsules fly by containing A and C Weapons. Now it's time to stop that getaway transport. -------------------- -SUB BOSS- [bos04] Getaway Ship Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: The ship flies overhead from the left-hand side of the screen. Shoot the capsules overhead for A and C weapons and get back to the left hand side of the screen. The ship attacks with its own core. It'll expose this core from the belly of the ship making it an easy target. You should focus your attack on the core and just dodge the attacks. Once the core is exposed it'll send 1-5 shots of energy across the ground. Jumping these bursts can sometimes be tricky depending on how many he launches, so do your best to try and adjust your landing in preparation for his next burst if he does decide to shoot one. The entire ship will then fly back to the left side of the screen. You ride as fast as you can to the right and begin firing back to the left. It'll either launch a bouncey-ball energy attack similar to the spider's or launch another burst of shots across the ground just like the first one. If it's the bouncey-ball attack, just maneuver between the shots and avoid jumping them. The ship will then slowly begin to move toward you but don't be inclined to move just yet. It's trying to fool you into moving. Just stay in the corner until you see it fly high up into the air to the top-right once more, then make your move back to the left corner of the screen and continue working the pattern until the ship crashes. Once again any homing weapon can make this battle easier as you only have to focus on avoiding attacks. -------------------- Once the core is destroyed the ship will crash into your ride and you'll be thrown off and onto the highway. The game's view will now switch to a front view of your character running from a large mechanical contraption in the background. You can now move freely as you normally would. -------------------- -BOSS- Deadeye Joe In Mech [bos05] Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: Another two-part boss fight. Part One: You'll start this fight on the left-hand side of the screen. Stay there and lock yourself into Shot II mode for now and get ready for Joe to come up on the opposite side. Now switch over to your strongest weapon and when Joe catches up to you get as close as you can and lay into him while he's doing his little cooky dance. He'll then drop back to the background and wind up his left arm and sling it along the ground at you. Just jump out of the way. He'll wind up the right arm for the same drill. Just jump again. He'll gain some speed and then jump back up to the level you're on and land on the left side of the screen. Don't let him land on you. Jump, slide, or just run from him when you see him jump. He'll then wind up both arms at the same time and then slam both of his spiked-ball hands onto both sides of the screen and drag them left on the ground. Just stay in the middle of the screen when he perfmrms this attack and either slide right through the right hand or stady yourself in the middle to avoid being killed. He'll retract his arms and then fling six bombs across the screen from left to right. This attack is easy to avoid. Just either run to where the last bomb hit and exploded or slide to the right throught the bomb when it lands. Lock back into Shot II mode and get ready for him to catch back up to you like in the beginning and rain fire with your stronest weapon. If you're using the absolute strongest weapon, then by now his torso should go flying backward and the rest of the body should blow up. If you've not punished him enough just repeat the first pattern. There's a chance he'll change the side of the screen he runs up to but his attacks remain the same. Just adjust to his new position. Part Two: This part of the fight is fairly easy. Joe will bounce around the screen in his mech's upper torso trying to crush you. The pattern is easy. He'll bounce in the background twice and on the third bounce he'll get stuck at player-level. When he's stuck he'll just spin around all harmless so just unload with your strongest weapon. He'll be finished in no time. -------------------- End of the stage, now scroll down to Stage 3, you don't have to do 2-B since you chose this path. ================================================== Stage 2-B - The Research Center Rescue [chc03] ================================================== Most of this stage takes place in the air. You'll be riding a hover bike, and battling it out on top and bottom of a chopper. This stage is a blast and it's over just as quickly as you start it. One of my favorites. The stage starts with some dialogue. Suddenly a military (futuristic) chopper will come along and you'll grab ahold of the bottom rail (Ahh it's starting to feel like Contra III all over again :D) Soon a small transport will come from behind and smash into your abandoned bike destroying it completely, but that doesn't stop it from attacking you. The transport will start launching large pods from behind you. Don't bother trying to destroy them, just jump and let them pass under you then fire to the left. When the pods explode they drop out little soldiers with little laser guns. They can't sustain too much damage but make quick work of them anyway because their fire is lethal since you're less maneuverable. Once you destroy one of these bad boys they'll drop to the ground, roll, and smash into the transport (I found that quite amusing the first time I played the game.) It'll take launch 6 of them in a row and it'll take all 6 smashing into the transport to knock it out for good. The chopper will then ascend. Watch yourself, a surprise sub-boss is about to show up. -------------------- -SUB BOSS- [bos06] Rocketman Difficulty Rating: Easy Strategy: Yay a two parter, but an easy one. Contra III vets will remember this guy. He's gotten a bit rusty in 5 years though. Part One: Rocketman will shoot up from the bottom of the screen left- center and attempt to smash into your character. He's quite easy to evade. You can either move quickly or jump. Just make sure you're not speared by his grappling hook as he latches to the bottom of the chopper as well. [Submitted by TortillaG]: "In part one of his attack phase, there's a chance he'll pull himself all the way up to the bar you're hanging on and try to cut you with his sword. Also, some kind of shuriken will fly out of it..." I definitely remember seeing that attack in his first attack phase in Contra III, and I was unaware that he performed it in Hard Corps. I think there's a very small chance he'll perform it, becuase it took me over 20 minutes hanging on to get him to actually do it. When he does perform the attack, make sure you're not too close to him, and be prepared to jump the shuriken-like projectile he releases. He'll twirl and twirl and twirl around and then re-launch his grappling hook to catch a different section. The only real danger here is getting snared by the hook which shouldn't happen. Hang in the middle and either use a homing weapon or just follow him with your aim and he'll be gone in no time. Part Two: You'll now be fighting on the top of the chopper. This part of the fight retardedly simple as well. Use a homing weapon or anything for that matter and just avoid the single shot that he fires at you. The view switches around a bit to try and disorient you, but it's no big deal. When the view's changing and it appears that Rocketman is "touching" your character it's okay, you aren't hurt but most people jump over him by reflex anyway. Easiest boss so far. -------------------- Once Rocketman crashes and burns be ready for an immediate assult from above. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos07] Assult Plane Difficulty: Moderate Strategy: The problem with this boss is it's a bit on the sporadic side. It doesn't necessary follow a pattern but still it uses a few distinct attacks. It'll move left and right in random patterns and watch your step because the chopper you're standing on does its own share of moving around. The left and right wings are outfitted wtih a triple cannon. Each barrel fires one shot and all 3 shots fan out like the spread gun. It's easy to just find a place in between one of the shots while either shooting up at it or using a homing weapon. The nose is fitted with a Flamethrower that spits bursts of flame that curve with the flow of the craft so make sure that to either slide or run if it curves at you. A homing gun is really effective here but any weapon will do since the whole plane is succeptable to attack. Play some cat and mouse and it'll all be over in a matter of seconds. -------------------- Once the plane crashes down it makes one last attempt to thwart your plans by crashing into your military transport. The craft will crash down and you'll escape safely. Now that you're back on solid ground, shoot the two Weapon capsules that come flying from the right for C and D Weapons. Contine right and blow the door down to enter the facility. Rush past the doctor and into the hallway. You'll encounter many pistol packing guards here. Just mow them down as you go, taking care of any troublesom snipers and anyone who tries to get cute from behind. Once you get to the end of the hallway climb the wall. Once your character jumps to the other part of the wall, be aware of two snipers off to the left-hand side and either pick them off or just avoid them. Once you're at the top be sure to snag the Weapon capsules that fly in to get A and B Weapons then continue into the room to the right to face the boss. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos08] The Builder Difficulty: Moderate Strategy: This boss is quite original. He doesn't attack you directly, but he's got some lethal building blocks at his disposal. Here's the deal: You need to either stand in either the left or right corner of the room in Shot II mode and fire up at him from an angle, or cling closely to the bottom part of either wall and fire up at the creature's face while he's building his contraptions. You can not be harmed by the arms so feel free to scale higher up the wall if you feel safer that way. You CAN be harmed by the hands and non-transparent shoulders so be careful. He'll first show up, bang his hands on the ground (you can be hurt by this) which drops some debris to the ground (you can be hurt by this if it lands on you also). He'll then begin constructing one of four toys with the blocks. Once he's finished creating he'll scurry out of view and you'll have to destroy his creations. Easily done. He'll then come back infuriated and you have to repeat the pattern until he's gone. He always builds his toys in the same order so I'll explain each. TOY 1: A leaning tower of blocks. He builds a tower out of his blocks and they come crashing down left or right. If you happen to be in the way slide the the way the blocks ARE NOT falling and you'll be okay. Shoot em while they're down. TOY 2: He creates two sets of walking blocks that wobble across the ground. It's best to hang on a wall and shoot down at them. TOY 3: This one's a bouncey-ball. It'll bounce around the room until destroyed. Not too complicated. TOY 4: This one's a rocket that zooms around the room trying to hit you. Once he's defeated, his arms will break off and smash around the room but can't hurt you. -------------------- And now we're off to play in the garbage! ================================================== Stage 3 - Down in the Dumps [chc04] ================================================== You'll be briefed on your next mission and then it's off to the dump. At the very start of this stage there's a bit going on. Firstly, two Weapon capsules will shoot by containing A and C Weapons. However, in the background you'll see some more activity. Bikers are gunning down the hill and are about to ramp to the player level to try and bowl you over. The stage will start in an area you're not allowed to leave until cleared. There's a couple tactics that work here. One would be, that if you're taken care of as far as weapons are concerned then don't worry about the capsules and just press yourself against the left side of the screen and don't stop shooting. Make sure you're back is absolutely pressed as far to the left as possible because during the last wave of bikers two will shoot over the hill just pixels from where you're standing but they'll land right on the barrel of your gun and take the damage necessary. You can also just stand in the middle of the screen and fire a stream of bullets straight up to take care of most your problems but you'll have to make sure to mop up the extra riders that come from left and right. One last tactic is to stand on the right side of the screen and waste most of the riders. During the last wave, make sure to watch the background, because 2 more riders are going to be ramping right on top of you. When you see them coming down the hill just fire up and it'll take care of that. Once you've taken care of the riders you can now move on. Once you're able to move forward, equip either a homing weapon, or a wepaon that has a sweep range, or some kind of spread. Whatever it is, just make sure it's fast. You're going to have to run and gun with some robots that pop out from underground. It's easy to lose a life here because these little guys can be hard to see with all the debris flying around that they create when popping out. They'll pop out in numbers and arch over your character firing a small stream of bullets. Try to take them out as effectively as possible, but don't stop in one place too long and get overrun. Once you reach a small trench-like indention in the ground, be weary of exiting early without looking. There's a car on the other side that'll open its hood and try to shove a missile down your throat. It's easy to get caught off guard by this if you're focusing on the little bouncey guys so be careful. Lay waste to the missile car and continue forward. When you see a small incline in the ground ahead ready yourself for another immobile car flinging missiles. Take it out while avoiding the little bouncey guys. Now continue forward to another small indention in the ground and be on the lookout for a Weapon capsule to fly from the right revealing a Bomb. Proceed all the way to the right and prepare for a boss fight. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos09] Junk Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: A giant wave of garbage passes your character by and this guy shoots up from underground. He looks a bit intimidating at first but once you're keen on his pattern it's no sweat. Stay on the right hand side of the screen and either use a homing gun or jump up and shoot at his head to do damage. He'll spin his arms around his head once and then try to reach out and touch you with one of his spiked hands. Just duck it. Once he retracts his arm, get ready to make a swift move to the left-hand side of the screen because he's about to take a leap over to the right. He'll swing his arms around his head a couple of times and then begin trying to trip you up by swinging his tail across the ground in a 360 rotation. Jump it 3 times and he'll then burrow back underground to the left side of the screen to repeat the pattern. A rule of thumb while he's burrowing underground is to wait until the screen HAS STOPPED SHAKING before making your jump or slide back to the other side. If you're touched by the garbage he leaves behind and the screen happens to be shaking you're dead, but when the screen has calmed, you're safe. Just keep your shots focused on the head and in no time he'll be taken care of. -------------------- As you continue forward, you'll descend into the base. The only real resistance you'll meet here are some turrets on the walls. Contra vets will be familiar with these. Anyway keep going down the incline and you'll face right up on a wall turret. Waste it from your position and jump over or slide through any shots it may get off. Just below that one is another one which may or may not pop out at the same time as the first one depending on how far you advance the screen. Waste it in the same manner and continue on. Further down you'll face up on two turrets one on top of the other. Pump a few shots into them and be on your way. You'll soon come to three turrets on the wall in a triangle formation. Take them out as you would any other and be careful of blowing down the small door that's ahead. You now have 2 decisions. ************* DECISION TIME ************* You can either: 1. Go forward through the door and continue with the normal game. 2. Climb up that wall just before the first door and keep climbing to find a secret area and choose to fight in the arena. If you choose to continue the normal game continue with the FAQ. If you choose to fight in the arena scroll down to the ***STAGE 3 SECRETS*** portion after this stage's boss strategy. ************* Alright, continue on it is! Continue right by blowing down the two doors in the small hallway and you'll approach a rather odd looking man with a girly laugh. Don't let his appearance fool you, though. He's just the first in a long line of multi-boss enemies. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos10] Noiman Cascade Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: What makes this fight tough is that it's a big endurance match. Noiman Cascade uses 6 forms to combat you and each fights significantly different. One plus though, is that all of his forms lack the ability to take too much punishment so if you're well prepared with good weapons or well-versed in his patterns you should be fine. Also it should be noted that one bomb can destroy any one of Noiman's forms from the get-go, so if one in particular gives you fits, just pop off a bomb if you have one. Let's get started... His first 3 forms are constellations. They're not overly complicated but can be a bit troublesome. We'll tackle them in order. TAURUS: The constellation will form and then take a more detailed form as the head and front legs of a bull. You just have to be really mindful of where he is on the screen at all times because this form has no predictable pattern. He'll charge around above you for a short time and then he'll begin to stomp in the air rapidly. Be prepared for him to dive down at a sharp angle toward the ground. If you happen to be in the way, slide for your life. It's best to slide here because when he's done he'll return to the air for perhaps another quick lunge at you. So take advantage of the slide's momentary invincibility and get ready to slide again if you have to. Taurus is quick and can recover from lunging down at the ground quickly and can do this attack any number of times. Avoid contact at all costs. Try to keep your aim on him when he's nowhere near you or switch to a homing weapon and try to focus on staying away. Once you've done enough damage, Taurus will explode and drop an A Weapon icon. Grab it if you need it and get ready for round 2. SAGITTARIUS: This one's a bit easier to take care of but you should be just as cautious. He'll float above you and fire off arrows that slowly home in on your position so be extremely careful. If you have a Laser type weapon you can just stay directly under him and fire up and you'll take out his arrows before they're even fired. If you don't have a Laser weapon either use a homing weapon or stay direcly under the tip of his arrow and take them out before he can fire them. Another great tip brought to my attention by TortillaG is that the use of a Spread gun can work wonders on the homing arrows. You should be able to fell Sagittarius with little trouble. Once he's gone grab the B Weapon he drops if you need it. GEMINI: This is the hardest of the constellation fights. The Gemini twins float around the room in a particularly odd manner for a bit. If they're headed toward you try and slide through them at the last possible second. Any sooner or later and you're toast. Once they've floated around for a while, they'll settle on one location and begin to flood the screen with blue energy balls that bounce up then down toward you. The best advice I can give is to either be very far away and just keep shooting, or you're going to have to do some fancy footwork and dodge in and out of the rapidly falling balls of energy. This portion of the fight can sometimes be unnecessarily difficult because of the randomness of the twins' location, so it may be wise to just use a Bomb here if you have one once they're vulnerable. Once the twins fall they'll drop a C Weapon icon. Now the fight shifts gears, and Noiman fights you as a collection of blocks that form different things. Each object he forms has a glowing red "core" block. This is always the main target through the rest of these fights. Be extremely careful when Noiman is between creations, as the blocks fan out and cover most of the screen, then retract to the middle to form the next object. It's best to just stay to the left or right on the screen during these times. A homing weapon in these last portions of the fights is invaluable but not necessary. POGO: In the first block creation it's best to stay to the left on the screen and keep concentrated fire on the core block. After floating left and right a bit, Noinam will launch a T-shaped/Pogo Stick at your character from the right side of the square. It will bounce around on the ground 3 times trying to crush your character and then return to its original place in the square. It will then launch another one from the left side of the square that you dodge in the same manner. Just dodge and st ay focused on the core. Be careful as the blocks fan out and rotate once the first creation is defeated and get to the left side of the screen and lay down while still shooting right. TANK: If you have a tall character like Ray or Fang this battle won't be too difficult, and if you're a smaller character with a homing weapon you've still got an easy battle ahead of you. If neither of the previous are true, then this one might be a little more difficult than usual. Once the blocks form the tank it'll roll forward and backward firing a block at you as a bullet in a fixed rhythm 6 times then pause. If you're a character using a homing weapon just stay ducked down and don't let off the fire button. If you have the height but not a homing weapon take the opportunity between when the tank is firing and isn't to stand up and dish out some punishment then get yourself back down before it starts firing again. If you're either Browny or Sheena and have no homing weapon you're going to have to be really brave. Once the tank stops firing stand and jump a few times to put as many shots into the core as you can and then get back down as quickly as possible. If you have a spare Bomb at your disposal and lack the patience for jumping you can just set it off to end this one quickly. ***Alternate Strategy For Browny and Sheena*** Submitted by: Truncated "If you stay next to the tank all the time, you can stand up and just shoot it. This doesn't work for Fang." I've found this to be completely true. Granted you'll have to be a bit more aware of your position and make sure to stay out of contact with the tank's treads. You're playing with fire, so be careful. ********************************************** Now get prepared as the blocks once again fan out and rotate, then they'll form the last creation you'll have to face in this battle. HELICOPTER: The helicopter will fly around the top of the screen for a bit. When you see the rear propeller begin to jostle get ready because it's about to fire at you. When the propeller is fired at you it'll be heading in your direction. Just hump over or slide through it and you'll be okay. Just beware ending up under the helicopter itself because it'll be dropping off little blocks that can hurt you too, so the best course of action would be to jump the propeller, land, lock into Shot II mode and fire diagonally up at the helicopter's core and then get ready to repeat the pattern. It's easier than it sounds. Once you destroy the helicopter, Noiman will give up and the stage is over. -------------------- ***STAGE 3 SECRETS*** If you opted to climb up the wall to the secret area you'll see a guy in a suit and bow tie. He'll ask you if you want to fight in the Arena for some cash. If you shoose to stay and fight, you'll be confronted with 3 boss fights and you'll be rewarded with one of the game's endings. If you choose no, you'll be taken back down to Noiman Cascade's base to finish the rest of the game. This is your last chance to back out, once you're in the arena there's no turning back. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos11] Simon Jr. Difficulty Rating: Easy Strategy: The first Arena Boss will begin with a familiar musical snippet (Castlevania anyone?) And your opponent will emerge from a door at the right. Once the battle begins cling to the ceiling and shoot down at him with anything in your arsenal. He'll wander around at the bottom for a bit and then stop to throw his Boomerang Fish, which you don't even have to worry about since you're on the ceiling. Then he'll start walking around again and this time he'll jump up to where you are on the ceiling and try to knock you off with a Castlevania-ish whip attack. Just move out of the way or drop down to the floor to avoid it. Halfway through the fight you'll blow off his big helmet but he still fights the same. Don't worry about getting hurt by the water or whatever that emits from where his former headpiece was. Easy win. -------------------- -------------------- -BOSS- [bos12] Big Mama and Jr. Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: The second Arena Boss will come smashing in through the right door. This one's alot bigger than the first one. It's a mama alien and she's got her baby in a stroller. That stroller isn't all too innocent either as it's fitted with a rocket launcher on the corner. So first thing's first, get perched back onto the ceiling, preferably in the left corner and fire down at the rocket launcher first. This thing will be your biggest trouble here if you're not careful as its missiles home in on you quickly. Don't worry about the baby alien because its arm attack can only hurt you if you're hanging low onto the right wall. You should avoid the right wall this wohle fight really, as the mama alien is constantly banging the carriage against it. Next order of business is to shut Jr. up, which is relatively easier since the rocket launcher is gone. Just fire down at him until he explodes. Don't worry about the flames churning inside the carriage, Just climb over to the mama alien and give her a nice dose of heat too and shortly she'll blow up along with the carriage too. -------------------- -------------------- -BOSS- [bos13] Dimension Keeper Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: The door on the right will burst open and a ball of flames will emit from behind your character. A small dimensional portal will open and this being will emerge. He hovers around the center axis of the room with little balls of energy hovering around his body, but he's still succeptabie to damage. Once you gain control of your character switch to a homing weapon if you have one and cling to the lower-left corner of the left-hand wall but not on the floor. You'll take care of the missiles he fires in no time. He'll then float around the room, stop in the middle and flood the top or bottom of the room with a mass of energy balls. If you're positioned in the right section of the lower wall this attack will miss you completely. The key to your positioning here is so that when the boss is moving around the room he's just pixels from touching your character's head. Just keep up a stream of fire and you'll have him beat before he finishes the pattern. ***Alternate Strategy*** Submitted by: Truncated "One bomb will finish this guy if you are standing under him. It's your last chance to use it anyway." Once again, completely true, and very effective. So if you got a bomb in reserve, bombs away! *********************** If you don't have a homing weapon this one's gonna be alot tougher. You'll be moving around a bit more. As soon as the boss launches his missiles position yourself in one of the top corners of the room and try to fire down at them as they approach you. If you're quick with the aim you should remain untouched by them completely. For the 2nd attack he'll float in the middle of the room and flood the top or bottom of the room with energy balls. Just make sure you're nowhere near the to or bottom of the room when this attack goes off. Soon he'll open a portal and teleport to a different part of the room, but he's just going to repeat the same attacks for the duration of the fight. Once he starts exploding, the dimensional portal will be left open and suck your character(s) in. Contratulations, you've just been "rewarded" with ending #1 and a heaping helping of monkey lubbin. ================================================== Stage 4 - Rumble in the Jungle [chc05] ================================================== This stage gets started quick. Two Weapon capsules fly in from the right dropping A and D Weapons, but those might not be your primary concern at the moment because you're about to be ambushed by...MONKEYS!!! Not just monkeys, but monkeys that huck axes at you if they're on-screen long enough. The key to this small area is to either have a Homing gun at the ready or something that has a sweeping motion when you change directions with it so that you can hose the horde down as you move forward. If neither is true you're going to have to progress a bit slowly through this area doing a bit of jumping forward while never letting off the trigger. Don't accidently get stuck in Shot II mode here either. If you're in one area too long, it doesn't matter what gun you have, you'll get overtaken by the mass and it'll be hard to recover by the time your next life kicks in. So proceed at a moderate pace, taking out as many as you can, and if any get by your line of fire don't stop firing to dodge, just move out of the way. Fang's A Weapon is exceptionally good here, as is Sheena's Homing Laser. Ray might have some luck with his Homing Missiles too, and Browny should use only his A Weapon if available. If you're stuck with nothing, just do your best with your standard Machinegun and do the jumping thing to advance. Once you reach a rocky ledge in the background the monkeys will cease and you'll end up at the feet of a statue. The statue's head will fall to the ground but it won't hurt you. When the head touches down take position in the middle of the screen. Four insect-like creatures will fly from the ears of the statue's head. Make short work of them with either a Homing weapon or do the run and gun thing, running around the screen shooting them down one by one. If one's about to lunge down to hit you slide out of the way if there's more than 3. Any less and it might be safe to just make a jump, but the limited invincibility is usually always a sure shot. Once those 4 are taken care of, two more bigger ones will fly from the ears. Same deal as before, just hose em down. And lastly, one large insect will fly from the left ear. it's no more difficult than the other 2 sets, just a bit bigger. Once you've taken out all 3 waves of insects you'll continue right to a bridge and the first boss of this area. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos14] Waterfall Alien Difficulty Rating: Easy Strategy: Once the entire bridge is in full view, stand directly in the middle of it and start firing up. This monster will emerge from behind the waterfall. It has 2 giant hands it uses to grab ahold of the bridge and yank it upward. The alien itself is considered part of the background and can't hurt you from contact, but stay away from the hands. The boss' only vulnerable spot is the red spot on his head so keep your fire concentrated there. Once he's fully-emerged and taking damage, he'll use both hands to pull the bridge down then up toward him and then he'll let it go. You can't be hurt when he pulls you up to him so keep firing. Once he turns red you need to move, because he's about to try and shred you in half with a concentrated beam of energy. The best strategy here is to move over on the bridge one or two sections, lock into Shot II mode and then keep firing up diagonally at the creature. Once he's back to normal color go back to the middle of the bridge and continue your assult there and just repeat this pattern until he blows up and takes the bridge out with him. -------------------- Now your character will fall for a while and eventually land on the back of a large donosaur. Continue right, up its back and be prepared for it to start raining down little creatures that roll on the ground and up the donosaur's back. Switch to to a Homing weapon and just focus on dodging, or spray them down individually with concentrated blasts from any gun. They fall in different patterns every time, so watch the top of the screen and make sure you're not where they're gonna fall. If by chance any of the creatures has a chance to sprout from their ball form, they'll begin to crawl along the dinosaur's back and shoot out little slow moving bullets. Not hard to dodge, but their speed and wavy pattern might be something to watch out for. Once you've dispatched six of these little guys you'll be able to continue on. When the dinosaur's head is in full view, jump over to the ledge and be sure NOT TO FIRE at the dinosaur's face. If you do, it'll spray out a lethal dose of "Energy Snot" (I'm so creative) killing your character, or any team character you may be playing with instantly. If you happen to be playing the Japanese version, the number of HP you have will not matter. One hit, and you're toast. Continue forth and the screen will come to a stop, and a new playmate will enter the screen. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos15] Dance of the Dual Orbs Difficulty: Moderate Strategy: This is a rather odd boss to say the least, but he's just as lethal as anything else you've faced so far. A large metal orb will roll onto the screen from the right and settle in the middle. Two mechanical legs will then sprout out from the sides of the creature and it'll begin it's little "dance." This boss has no set patterns in which he'll attack and the battle takes place in two stages. Part One: Once the legs have sprouted, the fight begins. It should be noted here that the legs themselves can not harm you unless they're thrown as projectiles across the screen. Any other contact with the legs is harmless. This is true in both stages of the fight. Now that the fight has begun the creature will use any of five attacks. Since his pattern is random, I'll explain the attacks here. In between these attacks, he'll bounce around the screen. You'll easily be able to avoid him. ATTACK 1: He'll jump to one side of the screen, bend down on his "knees," and then sprout a cannon from the front. He'll lean back, then forward and send a wave of fire across the ground. Just jump it. He'll do this three times before changing attacks. A good way to jump this attack is to jump over it and then on your descent, follow the trail of flame backwards and land (but not on the flame). This'll give you enough time and space to prepare for the next one. ATTACK 2: He'll pull his legs in and bounce around the screen rapidly. This attack is easier to avoid than it looks. If you see he's going to land on you just slide out of the way. ATTACK 3: He'll jump to one side of the screen, or just stay in place and fall on his side. When you see him do this, duck! He's to attempt to launch both legs across the screen as projectiles. Just stay ducked down and you'll be fine. ATTACK 4: I call this one the Happy Dance. He'll still be standing straight up and sprout his cannon from the top of the ball. He's just gonna stand in place and spit some random energy balls into the air. This attack has very good range so don't underestimate it. This attack is really slow, so if you see him preparing it, you have more than enough time to get to the other side of the screen and either skillfully dodge between the falling balls, or slide if you're about to be hit. ATTACK 5: This isn't really considered an attack, but he'll walk across the screen in an awkward manner, leg over leg. Use simple evasion tactics here. Once he's taken enough damage, he'll lay there and spit fire out of his top for a few seconds, only to be joined by another orb which will attach itself to the original and sprout a pair of legs of its own. Part Two: This part of the fight really isn't all that complicated, but don't get lazy. The newly modified contraption will dance around the screen trying to bowl you over. Just stay on one side of the screen pummeling it with fire. When it starts to dance toward you, slide under him at the last possible second (not too quick or too slow or you'll be caught when he starts dancing back the other way). He'll also bounce around the room trying to crush you but it's really easy to avoid being struck by this tactic. Once it's sustained enough damage, it'll sit in place for a few seconds and take off like a rocket and just crawl around the screen harmlessly with fire shooting from its tail. The fire is harmless, but the body can still harm you. Lock into Shot II Mode and concentrate on him as he crawls by and this pest will be gone in seconds. I shouldn't even have to mention by now that a Homing weapon can make this fight loads easier. -------------------- As you run forward be careful and don't let off the fire button. You'll soon see a large flower-like plant sprout from the ground and elevate to the height of the screen. It'll wiggle back and forth and rain little energy pellets down on you. They're not really high in number but a good stray can easily take you by surprise. Just keep your aim focused ahead and once one is gone continue to the other. There are only three of these things to even worry about. Now that that's taken care of proceed forward and snag the two Weapon capsules that fly by for B and C Weapons if you need them and blow down the door. What's coming up is an extremely long and enduring boss fight. Hope you're prepared. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos16] Wrecking Machine Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: This battle takes place over a long period of time, and in some stages of the battle you can't even hurt the thing. Not only that but you have to be careful of how much you attack this thing because alot of its attacks are based on your actions, and many players, when first confronted with this bad lad, tend to meet their demise by their own hands (trust me, I know ;D) Some of this fight will be different depending on what path you chose earlier. Enough talk, let's get to disassembling this weiner. Part One: Part one of this battle will begin with an exchange of dialogue if you chose to rescue the research center earlier. If not, the fight will commence. The robot will first approach from behind. It's just a little pod that's attached to the ceiling and floor of the corridor you're in by a pair of legs. Once you begin, you'll be chased down the corridor as the robot begins to walk across the ceiling in your direction. He's pretty slow so you can either just leg it out on the ground or hang on the ceiling and move forward until the contraption stops. Once it stops, you'll take note of the red "eye" that is now facing right. This is the machine's weapon for this stage. The machine will sit idly for a few seconds, leaving you all the time in the world to take as many shots as you can, but be extremely careful. As you shoot this thing, the pod spins around rapidly. You have to be careful because once you see the pod gather energy (it'll have little flickery glowy things around it) it's about to fire off a few dozen rounds with its machinegun, and if this thing is left spinning, it'll cover the corridor in fire that's almost impossible to dodge. So the trick is to take your shots wisely while the pod isn't firing and make sure that it's stopped and NOT POINTING AT YOU by the time it starts firing. Once it's finished unloading it'll wait a few more seconds giving you time to pound it some more. ***Alternate Boss Strategy*** Submitted by: Truncated "In the first form, you can actually shoot him as much as you like and dodge the shots in all directions by standing in to the far right and sliding to the right. Also, Browny's yoyo or Fang's punch can take it out just before it starts shooting, if they are standing right next to it." Once again, I glance right over the simple solution. This does work, however I play a more "defensive" game as this guide might indicate. Thanks again, Truncated. ***************************** It'll finally blow up and lose its grip on the ceiling and floor. Make sure you're not directly underneath it when this happens, as the pod takes a small vertical hop which can kill you. Part Two: The pod should now be orange. It'll begin to pull itself across the ground with one leg, inching to the end of the first corridor. Stay behind it either on the ceiling or ground when it does this and just enjoy the ride. Don't bother firing here as he's completely invulnerable to all attacks. Once it reaches the end of the corridor it'll retract its leg and sprout a propeller and begin to fly up a long shaft. If you were hanging onto the ceiling you'll be on the left side of the shaft for this ride. If you were on the ground, you'll be hanging on the right wall. Once he begins flying upward, he'll hover around the shaft taunting you. DO NOT FIRE LIKE CRAZY HERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE. The boss is still invulnerable to attack and if provoked with a slew of bullets, he'll begin bouncing all around the tiny shaft and knock you off. He does, however provoke you by doing a little grinding on the walls with the propeller. If he happens to come close to you, use a small burst of fire to knock him back away from you, but like I said don't go crazy. Also, be sure to keep climbing up so your character does not scroll off screen or that's one life gone for no good reason. This little act will continue for a while and he'll once again reel himself up and ready to go down another long horizontal corridor. Part Three: This part gets a little tricky depending on what side of the shaft you were on. If you were on the Right just climb straight up and think nothing of it, if you were on the left of the shaft, it'll be a little trickier. If you find yourself on the left side, you're going to have to climb up and onto the horizontal floor quick and before he begins down the hallway. Once you see him launch the arm in the vertical shaft and begin to pull himself up, make a mad dash upwards and hold left to begin running. He's gonna be on your tail this entire shaft and you can't afford to fall behind at all or you're a goner. If you were on the right of the shaft just hang onto the ceiling and enjoy the ride. The whole time you're going up the small incline, the pod will be swinging back and forth rapidly. You'll come to a brief flat section of ground and then another large incline. This is where the camera will stop for now. IF YOU'RE ON THE LEFT RUNNING FROM THE SWINGING POD now is the time to make a very brave slide to the right, and down the incline. If you don't you'll be bowled over as the pod goes off-screen. IF YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT AND HANGING ON THE CEILING move yourself over to at least half-screen. Now get prepared for the pod to make a quick entrance from the left. He'll roll in rapidly. If you find yourself standing on the ground you're gonna have to either jump or slide through it. If you're hanging on the wall and you're all the way to the right you're going to be knocked off when the pod finally settles in that little corner because he takes a small hop before stopping, hence the move over. The boss is now vulnerable to damage. Once he's settled into the right corner, take note of where his laser eye is pointed. He's going to fire a lethal laser from that thing in a matter of seconds. It's not just a normal laser, but one of those dreaded bouncing lasers. Once it fires it'll bounce all over the place from surface to surface. It's not safe to say where because how he lands is never the same. If you see that the laser is headed for you just try to jump or slide out of the way and hope it doesn't bounce again. If you're on the ceiling and have to drop off because a shot is headed for you make sure you're not directly above the pod to avoid losing a pointless life from touching it. Once the laser has finished its course the pod will spin in place and take a rapid charge to the left. Jump over it or slide through it and get ready for it to come back for more. It'll repeat this pattern until you've done enough damage. Once you drop from the ceiling it's hard to get back up unless you're playing as Browny because he has the double-jump feature. Part Four: Now the pod should be red, and once again invulnerable to attack. Get ready for some fancy footwork. The pod is going to make another mad dash to the left of the screen which is easily jumped, and then he's gonna roll down another slope into another horizontal hallway. You'll now be able to once again grab onto the ceiling once you're in the completely horizontal hallway. This stage of the boss fight is a little different depending on what path you chose earlier. If you chose to pursue Deadeye Joe, then this section is smooth sailing. The pod will just pull itself along with its arm again and will be of no threat to you unless you touch it. Just sit back and enjoy the small ride. If you took the Research Center route, then you're going to have to contend iwth some heat seeking missiles being shot your way. They're easily taken care of as you'll have more than enough time to destroy them before they get close enough. Once you're at the end of this hallway, you'll once again be going vertical for a very short time. If you take the left wall up you're going to have it easy still as it's just another free ride, but if you went right this time, you're going to have to make the same ballsy move upward that you had to on the left side last time. If you're on the ceiling and on the left of the screen just take it easy, but if you're on the right just keep running right to avoid being hit. Now it gets even trickier if you're on the right. Once you're back on completely horizontal ground, the pod will still be moving slowly behind you, but now it's launching a rhythm of heat seeking missiles. There's no way you can dodge them or shoot them in such tight quarters while still moving right, so you're going to have to make a slide through the boss to the left so you can contend with them. Now, just knock out any missiles launched at you and eventually the pod will walk completely off of the screen giving you a few seconds to breathe. Very few. Part Five: Finally, this fight is almost over. The pod will return in the original form it had in the very first room of this fight. Don't worry about taking damage from the legs, you can touch them freely. Once the boss positions itself in the middle of the room it's now vulnerable to attack, and will remain quiet for a few moments. Be careful of shooting this thing if you're standing on the ground. Shooting it, causes the pod to spring back and forth depending on the strength of your weapon and if it's jostled enough it'll bump right into you. It's best to just take your shots from the ceiling. When you see the pod beginning to gather energy it's getting ready to attack. This attack isn't fairly complicated, but you're going to have to do a bit of moving around to stay alive. It will launch a continuous laser beam attack and begin rotating counter-clockwise from its starting position (which is LEFT). To avoid getting hit, just follow the laser from behind. Usually your running pattern should be drop from the ceiling, slide under the pod (Browny can easily run under it while firing), jump up to the ceiling, climb left a bit, drop down...etc. Repeat this pattern for a while and eventually the boss will finally be destroyed. Contratulations if you survived this one in one piece. -------------------- ================================================== INTERLUDE ================================================== Okay, here's where the game's going to spiral down one of many paths based on the decision you make now and the one you made earlier. You're given the following choices: 1. Fight to the end. 2. Surrender and fight later. The choice you make here depends on how the rest of the game is going to be played for you. Below is a chart explaining how your choices will effect the rest of the game for you. -------------------------------------------------- |Your Choices |Remaining Stages | --------------------------|----------------------| |Pursue Joe |Fight the Doctor, | |Fight till the end |Stage 5-A | |-------------------------|----------------------| |Pursue Joe |Stage 5-B | |Surrender | | |-------------------------|----------------------| |Rescue Center |Fight the Doctor, | |Fight till the end |Stage 5-C, Stage 6-A | |-------------------------|----------------------| |Rescue Center |Stage 5-D, Stage 6-B | |Surrender | | -------------------------------------------------- Here's how this FAQ is gonna handle this split-up. First, decide what path you're on based on the simple to use chart above. I'll then continue this guide in order of level number AFTER the Fight The Doctor scene. So, the guide will follow this kind of order: Fight The Doctor, then Stage 5-A > Stage 5-B > Stage 5-C > Stage 5-D Stage 6-A > Stage 6-B I'll list strategies for each stage in chronological order, but this is not the way the game goes. Depending on your choices, you'll need to jump to the section of the guide you're pointed to in the chart above. Got your path? Okay, let's get goin. ================================================== Fight The Doctor [chc06] ================================================== When you choose to stay and fight on either path this is your first stop. You're about to face off against some of the Doctor Mandrake's crazy experiments, and none of them are all that fierce. This is kind of like a mini battle royale. You'll face each of his experiments back to back. Ready? First, go ahead and get to the left side of the screen and get ready for the first creature to emerge. SILK WORM: This one's a pushover. He just floats around the screen slowly. He has no projectile attacks so just run around firing at him. He'll occasionally float to the bottom of the screen, but you can just jump over him or slide if he gets too close. Once he's gone run back to the left side of the screen. FLYING MONKEY MAN: This one isn't all that hard either. He flies around the top of the screen quickly and will occasionally swoop down at your character if you're directly under him. A slide is the key here. He can also charge a set of fireballs in his hands and lob them across the ground. This attack is easily jumped, and if you slide make sure to slide the direction OPPOSITE of the way the ball is headed. You can easily run around the room gunning up at him or lock into Shot II mode every now and then to take a few shots but be ready to slide once he's over your head. Run back to the left once he explodes. POLLENATOR: The Pollenator is a slowly floating flower that spreads his "joy" everywhere. All he does is float around the screen dropping off little shots of pollen everywhere. The pollen moves very slowly to the ground so you'll have adequate time to get out of the way. The only problem is he does this often and can make it difficult to dodge, so just slide through the pollen (which can destroy it), if you can, to a safe side of the screen. Avoid being hit by the stem or tail which hangs downward and shoots out the pollen. Locking into Shot II Mode can make hitting this guy lots easier, just be prepared for any stray pollen that comes your way. Same drill as before, run back to the left once he explodes. WEAPON CAPSULE FLOWER: DO NOT shoot at this one once it emerges from the chamber. He just walks along dropping off random Weapon types A-D and occasionally a bomb or two. Be sure to jump over him once he gets close. He can only hurt you by touching you. Left side, front and center. We're almost done. SLINKY: This one's pretty easy too. Just lay into him once he's out of the chamber with your strongest weapon possible and he'll be gone before he can even make a move. If he does get a chance to move he'll slide over to the left side of the screen first. Slide through his somewhat long body and immediately run to the right side of the room and rain fire on him from there. All this guy really does is slink around the room swinging his tail at you. Just slide through him or jump over him to avoid it. Now get back to the left once he's gone too. MONKEY POLLENATOR: This guy's a cross between the Flying Monkey Guy and the Pollenator. He'll sprout a long tail with a flower on its tip all the way to the top of the screen. Keep pumping shots into him until he makes a move left and then slide through him and run to the right side of the room and fire away from there. All this guy does is spray big red orbs of pollen into the air that fall slowly. These shots can easily be destroyed if you shoot them. If he starts moving your direction one more time slide through him again and just repeat the process until he's gone. Back to the left side when he's gone, soldier. Last one's coming up! -------------------- -BOSS- [bos17] Organic Accident Difficulty: Moderate Strategy: Once you've destroyed the last of the Doctor's experiments the machine will go haywire. One last plant-like creature will emerge from the chamber and have a snack. Get ready for some quick dodging. Once the creature has enjoyed his meal, he'll chomp his jaws together three times and then make a dash to the left at you. Jump straight up to avoid this and land. He'll then travel all the way to the right side of the room and if you happen to be on that side, do the same. When he comes back to the left and you're on that side, you now need to slide through him to the right. He'll then sprout a huge set of legs from each side of his body and another weird organic thing from his mouth. He'll be alot taller now. This creature is only vulnerable in one spot, and it's that little red sac at the bottom between the legs (Aww, perverted Konami!!!) If you have a homing weapon, now's the time to use it. This battle will be over before you know it. Just unload on him and duck in the right corner of the screen. He'll then spit a beam of fire down at the ground just below the sac and launch a barrage of pink spikes toward your side of the screen. Duck them. If you don't have a homing weapon, then check your arsenal for a weapon that can pass through walls. Most Laser weapons can do this easily. You'll have to take shots at the creature when he's not spraying off spikes. The creature will continue to jump around the room. If you find yourself caught under him and between his legs you can either slide through the nearest leg and then get ducked down afterward, or you can just lay down on the ground there but NOT TOO CLOSE TO THE SAC or the fire he spits will get you. If you're unlucky enough to not have a weapon that can either pierce or home by now you're going to have to get under him when he jumps, fire at the sac, and then lay down before the spikes start flying. Weapons that can either home in on the sac or pierce the legs and hit the sac are: Ray's D Weapon Sheena's C and D Weapons Fang's D Weapon Browny's A and D Weapons This one will be over quickly. -------------------- From here it's either to Stage 5-A or Stage 5-C depending on your path. Check the chart to make sure and then go to that section of the guide. ================================================== Stage 5-A - Alien's Lair [chc07] ================================================== You're in this stage if you opted to Pursue Deadeye Joe at the end of Stage 1, and if you chose to Fight till the end at the Interlude. And you're in for one amazing looking and difficult stage. This one's not gonna be easy your first, second, or even third time through. This stage is long and is home to some of the toughest normal enemies and bosses in the game. Even with this FAQ, you're still going to have to learn the layout and study the boss patterns thoroughly. It's frustrating, yes, but completing this one legitimately is something to brag about. And you might just find yourself coming back to this stage for fun every once in a while, like me :) Let's get started, shall we? After the cutscene be on the lookout for a Weapon capsule to fly by bearing a Bomb. Now, proceed slowly and carefully through this part of the stage. Don't rush ahead and try to avoid Homing weapons for now. That might not make too much sense to you right now, but Homing weapons are just too weak. You want something that's fast and can dish alot of damage in a short time span. As you approach the small alien cell on the ground ahead of you keep firing and proceed slowly. A jumping alien creature will hop up from the mess. If you don't waste him quick enough he's going to take a very quick dash in your direction. If he gets the chance jump over him, and then jump again because he'll quickly turn back. Once he's gone inch ahead further to find another egg on the ground and do the same thing. After you waste the first two these little hopping creatures will start rushing in randomly from both sides of the screen, but you need to watch the floor for another little alien egg. There will be another egg just as you begin to proceed. Inch forward taking out the swarms to your left and right, if necessary and once it hatches do the same. Once that egg's been destroyed continue right inching all the way, taking out the aliens. When the aliens stop running in at you get to the left side of the screen. A large alien creature will approach from the right. He'll slowly slide across the screen to the left. The only vulnerable part of the creature is the head, so you're going to either have to jump up and shoot at the head, using a Homing weapon or get a safe distance from the body, lock into Shot II mode and fire up at it. When he stops and rears his head back, he's about to pepper the left side of the screen with a hail of bullets. The best position to take here is to stand as close to the body as you can, and aim up at the head while continuing to fire. Once he's finished, he'll start moving to the left again. Run back a bit and fire back up at the head, and when he's ready to attack again, get back close to the body and fire up at the head again. Repeat this until the creature explodes. When you begin to move right again, you'll be swarmed by more of the jumping alien creatures from the beginning. They'll come at you in higher numbers than before so you'll want to be extra careful while proceeding. They'll come running at you from the left and right sides, as well as burst from capsules in the background. You have to move through this area at a faster speed while jumping and shooting the aliens as they approach. AVOID SLIDING because when you recover from the slide you'll almost instantly be killed by another alien that just got on screen. Occasionally if the aliens make contact with each other, they'll begin to devour one another. This can help thin out the ranks but not by much. You just have to be really careful while proceeding. A little further and two Weapon capusules will fly by with B and D Weapons. Be careful when going for these because of the extra alien activity in this area. When you're at the end of this little stretch get back to the left side of the screen. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos18] Umbilical Maggot Fish Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: Named so, because to me he looks like a fish hanging from an umbilical chord. He'll approach from the top-right ceiling. The Fish will bounce around on the right side of the screen while spitting out little maggot-like aliens that can take their own fair share of punishment. He'll spit out as many as 5 at a time so just stay on your side of the screen and just do the jump and shoot thing. After he spits out 5 maggots, he'll launch his arm at you across the screen and then draw it back to himself to try and nail you again. Your indicator that he's about to do this is is to just count the number of times you hear the little spit sound he makes. This attack can be somewhat difficult to dodge, depending on your location on the screen when he launches it. If he launches it while you're landing from a jump, when you land the attack will miss you completely. If he launches it at you while you're on the ground, jump over it, and when you land IMMEDIATELY lay down so that it'll shoot over your head. If you're standing straight up when he launches it, just jump it and lay down when you land. What's important to remember about this attack is that the arm itself won't hurt you, only the claw on the end, so you can jump up through and land through the arm itself, just don't get hit by the claw when he retracts it. -------------------- Once he explodes get ready to move right again. This section of the stage isn't too bad at all. When you come to the area with sets of eyes in the background, you'll see a grab bar on the right and 3 holes in the wall. Little mouths that spew spider-web looking projectiles will pop out of each of these holes. It's a good idea to take them out before proceeding, because their projectiles will home in on you. A Homing weapon will make this section so much easier. Once you've taking out the 3 mouths grab onto the grab bar. Jump over to the bar next to it and you'll see 3 more holes. Waste the three mouths here. If you're without a Homing weapon you may have to jump up and down and alternate between grab bars to take out all of them. Jump up to the top right grab bar, and then over to the next. Two more mouths are here. The one at the bottom might take some more work to fire at if you're without a decent weapon. Just jump over to the next grab bar and fire straight down at him. Jump over to the last grab bar and then onto the floor ahead and get ready for another boss fight. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos19] Digger Slug Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: This boss fight has two parts. Part One: This boss will emerge from underground to the right. He'll then quickly chage to the left. Jump straight up and you'll usually land on this boss' back. You won't die when you touch this boss, as long as you land on his back. While on top of him you can lock into Shot II Mode and fire directly down at him. He'll then charge back to the right. He'll then charge at you again to the left and rush back to the right one or two more times, then begin to burrow underground. When he does this make sure you're on the left side of the screen wether you're on the floor or ceiling. He'll then spring from underground and fly back to his original position on the left. Depending on how much damage you've done he'll either repeat the above pattern or switch to a new attack. His next set of attacks don't happen in any particular pattern. ATTACK 1: The boss will pull up on its hind legs and spit several balls of energy into the air which will then begin to rain down on your little head. You're going to have to skillfully dodge between them as they fall. It's a bit hard because there are so many falling at once, but it's not impossible. ATTACK 2: He'll call in another buddy of his who'll fall right on top of him. When he does this his buddy will continuously bounce on top of his back while the boss moves back and forth on the screen. This is extremely hard to evade. Sliding can work but I don't recommend it because the boss is so long. Quckly study the timing of when the companion slug bounces on the main one's back and get ready to make two ballsy jumps. You're going to have to quickly jump a bit over the main slug's back (you'll just touch the back end when you land) and then run off to the other side. Repeat this daring jump when the boss comes back the other way. Part Two: Once you've done about 3/4 damage, the boss will bounce around on his hind legs in place for a few seconds, and call in his companion slug which will land on him in a rather provocative position (Just...ewwwww) forming a ball. When he does this he's about to dart around the room in a ball in a counter-clockwise motion. I highly recommend staying off the ceiling during this portion of the battle because he gets extremely fast as you do more damage and you won't have enough time to react if you're hanging on there. You should take your place in the middle of the room or so. When he begins dashing around the room make sure you slide through him when he comes at you, don't jump. Jumping leaves you wide-open, especially when he speeds up. So, the plan here is to take shots when you can, and when he comes rolling toward you, slide through him, and prepare for him to come around again. You'll have to get really fast in this pattern of shooting, sliding, and preparing again. When he rolls across the ceiling, the debris that fall can't hurt you, they're just for show. A little practice and you'll have it right down. It doesn't take alot to take him out when he reaches this stage of battle, but you should still be careful. -------------------- Once the slug explodes, two Weapon capsules will fly by rewarding you with A and C Weapons. You'll then see two grab bars to the right. Once you jump on one of them the stage will begin scrolling upward. Stick to either the grab bars or the right wall and be on the lookout for little scorpion creatures that scurry down both walls of the chasm. If you're on the grab bars the only time you'll have to worry about the scorpions is if they decide to jump to the other side. A bit ways up, there will be a face, scrolling down in the middle of the screen. It's attached to the background wall and it springs left and right to eat anyone who passes by. A sigh of relief is that he also devours enemies for you, but don't think he's all hugs and generosity. He'll just as soon snap at you as he would any of them. So, as the stage scrolls concentrate some fire on the face while knocking away any scorpions that happen your way. Make sure to use a powerful weapon to do this because the face can take quite a bit of punishment, even from some of the strongest weapons. Don't get too wrapped up in your work that the stage scrolls you off the screen. If you weren't able to take out the face, you're going to have to be brave and try to sneak past it by climbing up. All I can say, is best of luck. It was also brought to my attention by Truncated, that the faces can kill you in one hit even in the Japanese version, in which players have 3 bars of health. Further up, you'll come to another face in the middle of the chasm, but it's dealt with the same way. This isn't the most difficult thing, you've just got to be nimble climbing up making sure you don't get scrolled off, and get really fast at aiming at scropions and the face. WHen the last face is gone you're gonna get a bit of a break. The scorpions stop coming and you'll soon be ready to jump on a platform to the right. Take a breather, and get ready. You're abou ready to face off against the Mother Alien itself. Red Falcon. Proceed right into the last chamber. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos20] Red Falcon Difficulty Rating: Very Hard This is a two-part battle and it's quite a difficult one. Fitting for the final battle of this path. This battle will take as much practice and patience as this stage probably took, so don't be too discouraged if it takes you a while to get it down. Part One: Red Falcom will spring up from the background, revealing a human female face with some brain mass sticking out of both sides of her head. The main creature will soon be joined by two floating tentacle arms which wave around randomly. Most of this boss is just background so don't worry about dying from touching it. The only part of it that is harmful to touch are the claws at the end of the tentacle arms. You can touch the tentacles and be just fine. Obviously the female face is the main target of this boss, but I'd advise taking out the arms first before focusing on the face. This will make the last portion of this stage of the fight much easier. If you have a Homing weapon, this stage of the fight is so much easier. You'll only have to focus on dodging attacks from the arms. The arms will swing around wildly as some alien eggs begin to fall from the top of the screen. They move slowly but they track you too so try and keep the screen from over-populating with them. The arms that are swinging around respond to your fire by bouncing up with the flow of your shots. Occasionally one of the arms will lock onto, then dive toward your character. Try and slide out of the way as best as you can. You can also try knocking the arm back with fire if it's coming at you, but sliding might be the better alternative. Occasionally one of the arms will begin to charge up. You'll see little energy particles swirling around it. Make sure you're not directly under it, because it's about to launch a continuous bolt of lightning straight down from its position. Once you've done enough damage to the face, it'll turn into that of a grotesque alien. The main section of the boss will then begin to bounce around the screen, but it still can't hurt you. If you've taken out the arms before this portion of the battle, just chase the face around the screen while firing or lock into Shot II Mode and blast away. Make sure to take out any of the alien eggs that come near you. Just use a Homing weapon here if you have one. You should be really safe. If you manage to survive this part of the fight, congratulations. Hope you have a few extra lives and a nice powerful gun for the last form of this boss. Part Two: Once the stage is set, it's easy to tell that the big, beating heart in the middle of the screen is your target. But it's not as simple as that. This form of Red Falcon attacks with a pair of eyeballs that are INDESTRUCTABLE and have a set of three different attacks. It will perform these three attacks in the same order until you or the boss is dead. ATTACK 1: The eyeballs will circle around the outer edge of the screen gaining momentum with each rotation. You're going to have to possess some fancy jumping skills because these things get so fast that it's almost impossible to dodge them. There's no secret place to stand on the screen to be safe, no sure-shot slide method, it's just all in your ability to control your landing and get back off the ground again so you're not hit. The method I use is I stand a bit to the right of the heart and jump the eyeballs normally, and when they speed up I jump to the left a bit and while I'm coming down, I pull my character back to the right while jamming the jump button to get an immediate jump when I land. I'm not sure if it's a legitimate technique, but I've often gone unscathed by doing it this way. Just a suggestion. ***Alternate Strategy*** Submitted by: Truncated "On the Red Falcon spinning eye thing, Browny can start double jumping when the balls go too fast. The other characters can start on the right side, and as the balls get too fast, start jumping left instead of straight up. This will buy a little extra time before the next one comes flying." ************************ ATTACK 2: The eyeballs reappear and are attached to one another by a chain of little grey balls. The eyes will smash around the screen trying to crush you. Once again, the best strategy that can be given here is to just try and stay between the eyeballs and if you're about to be crushed slide and pray they don't crash down at the end of your slide. ATTACK 3: This is the easiest of the 3 attacks to evade while still being able to plug the heart with as much lead as possible. The eyes will do sort of a walking motion, one over the other around the room. When it's ready to launch the third attack stand directly under the heart and blast away with your strongest weapon. The trick is to stay in the space between the two eyes when they're on your level. It's easy even though they gain quite a bit of speed. It's best to not jump during this attack and sliding isn't highly recommended. Just position yourself right. If you're using your strongest weapon you might only have to survive roughly 4 attacks total, but on average you'll need to survive about 7-8 in order to do enough damage to finally wipe this one out. It takes alot of patience and skill, but the strategies I've given you have led me to victory over this boss for years. Just stick with it and you'll come out on top. -------------------- Congratulations! You've just laid waste to one of the hardest bosses in the game and scored ending 2. See you next mission! ================================================== Stage 5-B - Bahamut HQ: Meltdown [chc08] ================================================== You're in this Stage if you chose to Pursue Deadeye Joe at the end of Stage 1 and you chose to surrender during the Interlude. This stage gets off to quite a start. After the cutscenes, you'll gain control of your character who is now being pursued by a giant wall of flame. I probably shouldn't have to mention that touching the wall isn't very good for your health. The stage will begin to auto-scroll left toward that wall of flame behind you. Start running soldier and DO NOT let off the fire button for even one seconds or you'll be overwhelmed by the hordes of leaping aliens that emerge from the right. If you keep your aim fixed ahead of you, they'll just jump right up into your stream of bullets killing them instantly. I suggest using A Weapons here just for the speed. Immediately a Weapon capsule will fly by bearing a Bomb. Your decision to try for it or not, but if you're well-to-do weapon-wise, just skip it and keep focused on moving forward and hosing down the alien threat. Soon your character will begin up a small incline in the floor. Aim your fire up-right in the direction you're running to keep the enemies at bay. Once you're on horizontal ground fix your fire directly in front of you once more and proceed forward to a downward incline. Just run down the incline aiming down-right to spray down some more of the little buggers. Right after the downward incline, you'll come to a ledge. Wait for another piece of land to come into view and then boldly make a jump for it. I highly suggest that when you make this jump you aim down-right in case any of the aliens try to jump to your landing spot. Once over the first jump, you're going to have to make another jump very shortly. Once again, let the other ledge you're jumping to scroll all the way in and then make your jump while shooting down-right at any opposition. On the other side you're going to have to make a small hop up to a higher piece of ground. When you make this leap clear out as many of the hoppers as you can, and then jump while aiming up-right at the opposition. You then have to hop back down to normal land on the other side. Walk off of the small elevated platform, being mindful of any aliens that might be down there. Another set of jumps are coming up. This is just a repeat of what you just did with the same elevated piece of flooring. On the other side you're going to have to make another jump, but the gap is a little bigger and the ledge you're trying to land on is alot smaller. Make the jump as you have the last series of jumps, fixing your aim appropriately. Jump from the small ledge over to another large piece of floor. Go up and over another elevated piece of land and ready yourself for another jump on the other side after you run across a medium sized flat area of land. Clear this gap and then take yet another hop over another elevated platform and drop down on the other side. Here you're going to have to make a series of quick jumps to some very small pieces of land. You're going to have to clear 3 of these little gaps, and then hop over to the main floor to end this action-packed portion of the level. The fire wall that was chasing you will now disappear off-screen and the hordes of enemy aliens will no longer be a problem. Continue to the right and two more Weapon capsules will fly in from above. They have A and B weapons. Proceeding further, the game will automatically lock you into a small room. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos21] Doc In A Bot Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: Two part boss fights are fun :D Part One: The first part of this battle involves the Doctor hopping around 3 key locations in the room. He'll first appear dead-center in the middle of the room, so don't be standing there when he first appears or you'll be crushed to little bits. He'll then begin a random pattern of hopping between the left wall, right wall, and the middle of the ceiling. So, for the duration of this point of the battle, it's recommended that you stay on the ground. The attack that this mech will launch at you, depends on its location in the room when it stops. These attacks are performed in no specific order and can be launched anytime he lands so make it a point to always be prepared. ATTACK 1 - LEFT WALL: The mech will launch two little, red rod-like devices that float randomly around the room. Keep an eye on both and be careful not to touch them. As they float around, they'll stop in a position and then extend out a good distance to try and hit you. There's not really a pattern in which they fly, so if you find yourself about to get stuck, try and get out of the way by either sliding or jumping if it's safe. The rods are indestructable, but will self- destruct once they've launched 2-3 attacks apiece. ATTACK 2 - CEILING: When the mech stops on the ceiling, it'll open a hatch and launch 5 small mechanical devices around the room randomly. These are also indestructable. DON'T be anywhere close to these things, because they quickly open up and swing a small blade around a few times trying to cut you. They re-position 2 more times and try this tactic and on the 4th time they re-position, they just self-destruct. There's no definite pattern here, as the little devices position themselves in different places every time, so if you find yourself in the way, do your best to get out of that area as quickly as possible. ATTACK 3 - RIGHT WALL: When the mech perches on the right wall, try to either get to the ceiling (if you're a tall character such as Ray or Fang), or position yourself directly under the mech (if you're small like Sheena and Browny). Once the hatch opens, it'll launch 15 little walking bombs across the floor which detonate when they touch the left wall. If you're on the ceiling, don't fire at the bombs, because once they explode they send a stream of fire directly upwards. It's best to just chill and let them crash into the left wall. And since they'll be crashing there, don't be hanging around the left side of the wall either. It's also possible to just stand on the ground facing the bombs and just shoot them before they reach you, just use a fast weapon. The other two strategies, however allow you to pump in some free shots on the boss while remaining unscathed. When the mech takes enough damage, it'll begin to rapidly bounce up and down in place. This is your indication that this battle is almost over...almost. Part Two: It's really not advisable to do any sliding during this portion of the fight. Now get ready for the boss to begin parading around the room clockwise. At first it's quite easy to avoid him, but as you damage him, you're going to have to work around the room even faster because the legs of the mech begin to get much larger making its pace around the room much faster and hard to avoid. Just keep following the mech around the room matching its pace while plugging him with shots when possible and it will soon explode. -------------------- The game takes over here. Soon the right door to the room you're in will open and your character(s) will automatically proceed down a hallway. Get ready to confront the final boss of this path. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos22] Big Magnum Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: At first this fight can seem almost impossible, but once you learn the secret, it's actually pretty easy. The trick is that all stages of this boss fight in their own never-ending, predictable pattern, so it's all in learning the patterns and then utilizing them. The only part of the Big Magnum that is vulnerable to attack is the gun or any other attachments that appear at the end of the little arm that extends to attack you. It'll only expose the weapon when it's about to attack, and this is your only window of opportunity to take as many free shots as you can before the boss launches an attack. Anything else you shoot, is just background. Part One: The first stage of this fight involves the Big Magnum using a series of 4 attacks in a specific order. Once you have the cycle down, then familiarize yourself with where to be on-screen when the attacks are launched, and you should be able to fell this one with few problems. The attacks, in order of use, are: ATTACK 1: The mechanical arm that the large cannon is attached to will begin to move up a bit and then settle in one place. Once it's locked into position it'll pause for just a quick second. You'll then see a burst of energy surround the barrel, then a faint line appear directly aimed at your character. IMMEDIATELY slide out of the way when you see this line because the cannon's about to saw you in half with rapid machinegun fire. Don't be anywhere on the walls when you know the Big Magnum is preparing this attack. You won't be fast enough to get out of the way once the line appears. You can also jump up to the walls or ceiling to get out of the way provided the cannon isn't aimed in that direction. ATTACK 2: The second attack is launched from generally the same location. When it fires, it'll send a large cluster of swirling energy balls that expand as they trave at wherever you may be standing, hanging, etc. When the mass of energy approaches you, you can either jump over it or slide through it. It'll then smack on the ground or wherever leaving a small, lethal explosion. Pretty straight-forward. ATTACK 3: When the cannon raises itself up to the top of the small room you're in it's about to launch a series of deadly energy balls right over your head. These balls will spread out just above you and then fall to the ground sending up a pillar of fire when they explode. Since this attack is launched so high, keep off the ceiling. And to make sure you're able to maneuver, stay off the left wall as well. The key when this attack is launched is that there will be a safe spot in between the energy balls that you have to get to. There's really no other safe spot to be when this happens, except in that space. It'll launch 5 sets of these, with the safe spot being different every time. ATTACK 4: The cannon will now stop on the bottom of the screen. When it does, take this opportunity to lay into it with your strongest weapon. It'll then launch a fireball that travels diagonally up-left a bit, then travels back behind the cannon, splits into 3 fireballs, and then comes screaming at you. Don't take any evasive action until the attack has split into three fireballs and is headed toward you. Then jump or slide to the right, through the attack to be safe. You'll be safe from the explosion that occurs when the attack meets the back wall after missing you. The Big Magnum will repeat all four attacks until its cannon attachment explodes. When it does, it'll send a small, flashing Weapon capsule to the middle of the screen containing an A weapon. Part Two: Now the gun attachment will be gone, and what emerges next sort of resembles a metallic version of Colonel Bahamut's head. This is a ridiculously easy portion of the battle This part of the fight only uses one attack. It'll launch a small energy ball that follows you wherever you go. The attack has perfect Homing capabilities, so sliding is out of the question. All you have to do is stay on the ground, running back and forth, while jumping over the ball when it's close to you. Keep this up and you'll have the attack stuck in a little circular pattern of flight, that lets you easily take shots at the boss. Once you do enough damage to the boss, there will be another miniature explosion, followed by another Weapon capsule appearing in the center of the room. This one houses a B Weapon. Grab it and get ready for the surprisingly easy final stage of this battle. Part Three: The Big Magnum will pop out another devious cannon-type device. This one will spray a small mess of energy to the middle of the room which then split off into 3 different little balls. Once these balls make contact with the floor, three beams of energy will continuously fire from the ball in the middle and these beams of energy will then begin to move clockwise around the room. It's not fiendishly fast and there are two great tactics for dealing with this. The first strategy involves alot of running around and climbing. What you need to do is position yourself between two of the beams and then begin moving with them around the room. So, basically, while keeping with the pace of their movement, you'll run to the left wall, climb up to the ceiling, climb over to the right while on the ceiling, take a second to fire at the cannon, make sure the path is clear and take a leap down to the floor in front of the Big Magnum and if you have time take some more shots. Then just repeat this cycle of running around the room between the beams, and shooting until the battle's finally finished. The second tactic involves positioning yourself on the floor where you can take shots at the Big Magnum without too much trouble. Keep firing off shots at the cannon until one of the beams is heading your way and then take a slide through the beam and re-position yourself to continue your assult. This is the easiest way to deal with the situation, but if you're not confident in your sliding skills, take the first route. -------------------- Upon defeating the final stage of the fight, you will have completed this path of the game...but at what cost. See you next mission! ================================================== Stage 5-C - Across the Ocean Battle Royale [chc09] ================================================== Buckle up, boys and girls, and get ready for a fearsome gauntlet of 4 tough boss creatures. You'll start out standing on top of a boat careening across the ocean. During the first two fights on the boat, be sure that you don't either slide or jump off of the boat. This pleasant ride won't last for long. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos23] Attack Jet Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: The Attack Jet comes screaming in from the right side of the screen and hovers in the air just above your character. While it's gliding around, watch for the gun on its side to begin rotating. Once the gun has finished rotating, DON'T be standing directly under it or you'll get shredded by gunfire. All you have to do is be mindful of when the gun's about to go off and either slide out of the way or run the opposite direction. Just watch for when the gun fixes on one position or the animation stops and get out of the way. Occasionally, the jet will fly off the right side of the screen. When it flies back to the left watch for the cluster of bombs he leaves in his wake at the top of the screen. These bombs drop slowly down the screen and eventually off. When fired upon, each bomb will drop rapidly to the deck of your boat from exactly where it was struck, sending a large explosion upwards. Be careful of using homing weapons during this attack. You could very well cause your own demise. It doesn't take alot of punishment to ground this fella. It'll fly left, off the screen with fire gushing from the top, once the battle is over. -------------------- -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos24] Mechanical Urchin Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: A mechanical sea urchin will swim in from the left under the boat. You're going to have to fire down at it by either jumping and shooting down at it, or locking into Shot II Mode and firing down. The urchin will swim around the water under the boat randomly. Watch for the urchin to stop moving. It will then retract it's tail and trade it for a set of petruding blades that cover the entire body. Be very careful, because it's about to launch a spiked tentacle up through the bottom of the boat at your character. Once the attack has reached your level, the boss will drag the tentacle left a bit while it's retracting. You'll have very little time to react to this, so either try to jump before the tentacle makes contact with you, or slide through it. It'll launch this attack two more times before going back to the random swimming. It's quite possible to take this boss out before it even attacks. Stand in the middle of the boat after you take down the first boss, lock into Shot II Mode, and fire down-left toward the Urchin's entrance point and unload with the strongest weapon in your arsenal. When the Urchin moves from its starting position, just follow with your aim and you'll sink this boss in no time. -------------------- The boss will send out a final, desperation attack that slams into your boat. You'll then have to make a jump or slide over to a platform that just happens to be miraculously skimming across the ocean surface. Once you're on this platform the boat will then sink off the screen to the right. You'll still be able to slide and jump just as normal while on this platform as well. After a brief breather the next boss approaches from the left. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos25] Driller Dolphin Difficulty Rating: Easy Strategy: This boss isn't too much of a challenge compared to other foes you've faced thus far. You're just going to be moving back and forth alot and occasionally jumping or sliding to keep from being hit. The boss has 3 modes of attack. ATTACK 1: The boss will first approach from the left using this attack. He'll be jumping up and down in the water while moving right. Either jump or slide through this easy to avoid attack. ATTACK 2: This attack is fairly easy to avoid because it's not even an attack at all if you're not on the right of left side of the screen. The Dolphin will jump up into the air on one side of the screen, fly completely over your head, and land on the other side. Just don't be on the left or right side and you're safe. ATTACK 3: The Dolphin will dive from one side of the screen much like the 2nd attack, but this time, it will perform a somersault in the air and then try to dive on top of you wherever you may be on the screen. All you really have to do is slide right as the Dolphin is about to crash on top of you. -------------------- Once the Dolphin blows up and flies off screen the game will briefly take control of your character. Your water ride will soon be over as you ramp onto a highway. Your water ride will then transform into a hover bike. Be warned that you can now no longer slide to avoid attacks. As you regain control of your character two Weapon capsules fly by revealing C and D weapons and the boss music kicks in. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos26] Go-Go Power Tri-Morph Bot Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: This is quite a fun boss fight, but just because it's fun doesn't mean that it's not difficult. The boss is a set of three different creatures comprised of the bosses you've just defeated. All three contraptions will approach from the left and then fuse together to form the first creation. Part One: The first form is a bizarre running man. Stay on the right side of the screen when it first forms, and either use a Homing weapon, or jump up and down spraying the chest with as many shots as possible. The running man has three different attacks that he'll perform at random. ATTACK 1: The first attack usually starts on the left side of the screen. The runner will begin to bounce end over end toward the right side of the screen. You're going to have to escape to the left side by boldly riding under him while he's airborne. REMEMBER, you can't slide. He WILL also perform this attack if you're on the left side of the screen, so be prepared to make the same move to the right when he starts bouncing. ATTACK 2: The robot will only perform this attack from the right side of the screen. He'll flip up onto his arms and begin launching a barrage of Homing missiles at you. You should be good at combatting attacks like this by now. Either use a Homing weapon of your own to dispatch the projectiles, or just jump up and down hosing the area with fire. Either method will take care of the threat. ATTACK 3: This attack will only be performed on the left side of the screen. When you see the boss run off the screen to the left, get over to the left side as soon as you can. The boss will then jump in from the left, slamming down onto the right side of the screen. He'll skid a bit and then you will have to jump over once he begins sliding toward you. Once you do enough damage, the 3 components will re-combine into a new creature. Part Two: The second form of the boss is that of a large bird that flies erraticly on the left side of the screen and occasionally on the right. It uses a set of 5 attacks in no particular order, but I'll provide strategies on avoiding each. ATTACK 1: The bird will land on the ground and run to the right toward you a bit. Just stay to the right and you'll be safe. ATTACK 2: When the bird flies off the screen completely, get to the side of the screen that he just exited and wait there. He'll swoop in and down to the opposite side of the screen. Then, listen for another "caw" type sound, because he's going to perform the same attack only in the opposite direction, which means you need to get to the other side of the screen. When he performs this attack, he'll repeat it 3-5 times. ATTACK 3: This attack will only be launched from the left side of the screen. The bird will float in place briefly, and you'll see a beam of lightning shoot across the top of the screen from its beak. When you see this, get as close to the bird's body as you can without touching it (you should be under the arch in the bird's neck) and stay there. Slip into Shot II Mode and unload on the body while you're close. When it finished this attack, get back to the right to be safe. ATTACK 4: If the bird happens to fly over you and over to the right side of the screen, he's about to perform a very amusing attack. Get ready to start jumping over some energy balls that the bird "drops" across the ground. Nothing fancy, just some timed jumping. ATTACK 5: If the bird lands on the ground and is running off the screen to the left, he's about to rush back in banging the ground with its beak. When the bird is closest to you you need to move a bit left to get in the spot between the beak and the body directly under the neck. This is the only place you'll be safe when he approaches you. When it's safe move back to the right. -------------------- When the boss' second form is defeated, the 3 former bosses will once again fuse together to create one last effort at destroying you for good. Part Three: The final form of this boss is a robotic upper-torso attached to a set of tank treads. This last form is quite formidable, as you have to be nimble to survive most of its attacks. Once again, the attacks are not performed in a pattern, so I'll help you evade them. ATTACK 1: If the tank-bot stops moving and begins flailing its arms up and down rapidly, get ready to jump for you life because the torso is about to detatch from its tank treads. The treads will then bounce around the screen trying to run you over. All you have to do is jump over the treads when they're coming your way. When the torso detatches from the treads, it'll always launch the treads to the right first so be ready to jump quickly, even if he has you pinned in somewhat close- quarters. ATTACK 2: If the tank-bot travels to the left side of the screen with it's hand-cannons aimed diagonally up-right, it's about to launch a hail of energy into the air. Once it's finished launching the attack a target icon will appear on screen. You have to position yourself on that target mark in order to be safe when the hail storm falls. ATTACK 3: For his third attack, the tank bot will pull out a large, metal javelin and hoist it above his head. When you see this, you need to move yourself to the right side of the screen, BUT NOT by the edge of the screen. You need to keep a small bit of distance between the nose of your bike, and the edge of the screen. Now the robot will bring the javelin crashing down on the right side of the screen, and with luck, you've managed to survive and you'll now be in a very tight space between the javelin and the tank treads. Okay, now the tank is going to move back and forth slowly. You're going to have to match its movements in order to survive. When the tank is slowly moving back to the left, the javelin can touch your bike and not harm you at all so you have a little slack here. As long as the treads or javelin ONLY touch the bike you'll be fine, but if your character sprite is touched, you're gone. It'll take a bit of patience, and practice the first couple of tries, but once you see it in action, you'll be nimble enough to survive this attack every time. The tank-bot will repeat all these attacks until the mini-bosses attempt to fuse once more and then finally explode into a twirling fan of flame indicating that this action packed stage is finally over. -------------------- Now, proceed to Stage 6-A. ================================================== Stage 5-D - Runaway Train [chc10] ================================================== You're in this stage if you chose to Rescue the Research Center after Stage 1, and if you chose to surrender at the Interlude. You'll find yourself on a fast-moving train in the back car. A note on progressing through is train is that the height of the cars is extremely limited. This can lead to some problems if you happen to say, jump an enemy shot and end up grabbing ahold of the ceiling. So just be careful not to grab a ceiling and end up a sitting duck. I shouldn't even have to mention that you need to be firing at all times. Begin your move forward. As you progress you'll be met with opposition from guards that carry both guns and little miniature energy knives. They'll rush you from both sides, and occasionally already be waiting for you in a few cars so watch from all sides and keep a steady stream of fire going. Immediately to the right, two Weapon capsules will float in bearing A and D weapons. You'll then start being swarmed by soldiers on both sides. A Homing weapon can make this little trek alot easier. As you move forward you'll have to hop up to the ceiling to make it over a little elevated piece of floor. Scale the ceiling over the platform and then make a hop down. Try not to get overwhelmed here, and make sure the coast is clear both before you jump up and before jump down from the ceiling. You'll have to hop over 3 more of these little petrusions using the same tactics as described above. Once you come to a dead-end, blow down the door to proceed. Now jump to the top of the gray car and continue right. As the train begins its climb out of the canyon hop up onto the little platform that's located in the middle of the screen. Two hooks will then descend into the hatches to the left and right of you and lift out... -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos27] The Cannon Twins Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: This is a pretty straight-forward fight. You should be standing on the platform in between both of the robots that are pulled from the car. The Brothers attack using two methods. ATTACK 1: Both Twins will rise up and down while alternately firing the cannon that's fixed to both of their waists. You'll know which brother is attacking when you see one of them raise their arms into the air and then back down, followed by a gun blast from the cannon. All you have to do is jump the shot that's fired. Next, the alternate brother will perform the same attack and it will alternate between them for most of the fight this way. ATTACK 2: When both brothers begin to hover at the same level, they're both about to try and smash into your platform using their cannons as blunt objects. The key here is when you see them swing inward (it'll be a little fast) just jump and repeat until they calm down. Once one twin is defeated, the one on the opposite side will slide off the chain (because the balance has been broken) and begin to scurry around the screen depending on which is defeated first. IF THE LEFT TWIN IS DEFEATED FIRST, then the right one will fall off the chain and jump around the room trying to crush you. This attack can catch you off guard if you're not careful. It'll continue bouncing about until you do enough damage to destroy him also. IF THE RIGHT TWIN IS DEFEATED FIRST, then the left one will fall off the chain and begin to scurry around the floor rapidly left and right until defeated. All you have to do is jump into Shot II Mode and aim down as he passes by under the platform. Easy cheese. The best strategy I suggest is to take out the right one first, since his attack is the most annoying to try and dodge if he's left alone. -------------------- Once the screen re-positions begin forward, and drop down to the little flat looking ledge that crosses across to the following red car. Instead of jumping on top of the car, this time there's a grab bar to your immediate right. Hop onto it and continue forward. As soon as you're over two Weapon capsules fly by dropping A and B Weapons. Try and shoot when they're over your head so they don't fall onto the tracks below and off the screen. Immediately enemy soldiers will then come roaring in on motorcycles from the left and right trying to pick you off since your manueverability is somewhat limited. Take them out as you slowly progress right on the long grab bar. A Homing weapon will work wonders here. When you reach the end of the grab bar, you need to take a hop up to the top of the red car and then proceed forward making sure you clear out any soldiers on bikes that might be a threat. A large mechanical device will then pop from the shaft in the top of the red car. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos28] Nail Cannon Difficulty: Moderate Strategy: This one's really unique! For starters you can't harm the mechanical device in the middle of screen, or the bouncing cannon with your normal fire, so don't even try. As the mechanical device emerges, out from its top will pop a large needle-like cannon attached to a chain. The Needle Cannon will flail around bouncing around the top of the car you're on trying to put a quick end to you. If it's bouncing your way, slide the opposite direction right through the needle. Once it's had some fun bouncing around it'll then begin to charge an attack. Simply avoiding this attack works just like all others similar to it. You can slide through it and be just fine, but that'll get you nowhere. On the device in the middle of the screen a quick countdown from 3 will begin. Before the cannon fires, quickly get to the middle of the screen where the mechanical device is. The cannon will fire its shot, hitting the mechanical device. It'll take 3 shots of the Nail Cannon's fire to take out the device in the middle. -------------------- Your character will then auto-run to the end of the red car. Get ready to rock one of the more entertaining bosses in the game. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos29] Big Blue Bucket O' Bolts Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: You'll soon see a big, blue man-looking robot run aside the train and on up the tracks. He'll then be a Mr. He-Man and force the train to a stop with his hands. A rather cool looking feat if I say so myself. But, don't spend your time being impressed, there's a fight to be won. This battle happens the same way every time. The first 4 attacks are scripted and occur in the same order every time, and his second pattern is quite simple once you learn it. The target of choice is the robot's head. Keep a steady stream of bullets locked onto it while dodging all of the easy to evade attacks for now. First the boss will launch a small barrage of Homing missiles from the little cannon on his shoulder blades. After a few shots, he'll then fire a laser beam from his eye. This beam is actually two laser beams that are moving along toward you together in a sideways figure-8. As you'll plainly see there's a clear safe spot between the beams as they come racing toward you. You can either get yourself to where you know the next safe spot will be, or you can slide through the beam. Your choice. The robot will then begin to rock the car a bit up and down, but it's nothing all that threatening. Next, he'll shoot some little cluster bombs out of the cannon on his shoulder blades. They'll arch in the air and then land on the now slanted train car. When they land they'll roll swiftly toward your character. Just jump over them as they come by. Sliding might get you hit by the next bomb that lands, so stick to jumping. He'll launch 5 of these puppies and then climb up to the top of the train with you. Lucky you :D The screen will scroll over to the right a bit, bringing most of the car back into view. Once our friend, Mr. Robot has climed up the back of the car, he'll launch another wave of Homing missiles when the screen is scrolling back. He'll then take a giant leap to the left side of the screen. You should either slide or run to the right. He'll then jump back to the right. He'll repeat this double jump once more and then take 4 giant steps forward to try and kick you. When he comes this close just lay down on the left side of the screen to avoid being whacked by that mammoth foot. He'll then take 3 steps backward, kneel down, and launch a large wave of fire across the top of the car. Just jump over it and get ready to repeat his easy pattern. He'll jump back and forth twice. Slide or run to stay out of the way. On the second time he lands on the right, he'll take 4 steps toward you and try to kick. Duck it. Then he'll step back 3 times and launch a wave of fire. Repeat. You can use a Homing weapon to make this one a little easier, but even so, working the pattern isn't all that hard. -------------------- The mechanical monstrosity will then fall backward off the train and get smashed to itty bitty pieces (well okay, they're still pretty big :P) Job well done, soldier. Move on to Stage 6-B. ================================================== Stage 6-A - Bahamut/Alien Cell [chc11] ================================================== We're winding down to the end of this path. This stage takes place in Colonel Bahamut's base, and then switches locales a bit later. This stage certainly isn't a picnic, but it's definitely exciting. Once you begin running to the right, three Weapon capsules will fly by overhead revealing a Bomb, an A Weapon and a D weapon. You're going to be swarmed by enemy soldiers as you continue right. Watch out for snipers up on the platforms overhead as you continue forward. You can either stick to ground level or run along the platforms up top. Either route is safe. As usual, if you need to, go ahead and go through this area with a Homing weapon equipped to keep the hordes at bat. Once you reach the end of flooring, the soldiers will stop pursuit, and you'll see a grab bar on your right. Jump over to it and begin the trek across. Be careful of the gun turret placed just under the 2nd bar you need to jump to. You'll either have to jump over and take it out, or just use a Homing weapon. Jump over to the second bar and climb across it as well. There are two more turrets below you you will have to contend with. You can either take them out if you have the skill, or just simply climb past them, drop down to the third grab bar and then hop over to the solid ground. Their shots should fly right over your head once you land. Continue on to the right and once the screen stops moving, stay to the left of the screen. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos30] Acrobat Soldiers Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: You'll soon see groups of soldiers sliding down the poles in the background and hopping into a formation on the right side of the screen. FORMATION 1 - THE BIG O: The soldiers will form a giant O and begin rolling toward the left side of the screen. Strategy is simple here. Just lay into it with your strongest weapon and it won't even come close to you before exploding. FORMATION 2 - THE BIG I: The second formation involves the soldiers creating a giant I. Then, the I will begin to curve end over end toward the left side of the screen, and then back to the right. As you'll easily see, the safe spot is right under the arch that they create as they're leaning over to touch the ground. As the I takes damage it'll get alot faster, almost to the point of seeming impossible to dodge. If you find you're about to be impaled by the I, just slide out of the way, recover quickly and then be ready to slide back again if you're in immediate danger. FORMATION 3 - THE BIG PYRAMID: Lastly the soldiers will create a pyramid. The only way you can destroy this pyramid is to take out the differently colored soldier on the top. The soldiers will steady their pyramid back and forth across the screen while the soldier on top fires down at you with either normal gun fire, or those lovable red and blue cluster bombs we've become so familiar with. If he fires his gun, odds are it won't even be close to hitting you. If he fires off the cluster bombs, they'll arch at the angle he shoots them from and fall to the ground to explode. Just run under them and keep firing up at him. Drop in and out of Shot II Mode when you see the chance. Jumping isn't a good idea, because the top 3 rows of soldiers will fire off guns too. So, stay back and try not to get hit by the soldiers balancing the pyramid, and evade the top soldier's attacks while firing back to win in no time. -------------------- Once that battle's over, you'll run to face Colonel Bahamut in the next chamber. ************* DECISION TIME ************* The Colonel offers you the opportunity to join his ranks. Your choices are: 1. Refuse. 2. Accept. If you choose to accept his proposal you get one of the game's endings, but the game isn't over. You simply lose all of your lives and weaponry, and can use a continue to start from the beginning of the stage if you so desire. If you refuse, then you're going to have to go through the Colonel himself! -------------------- -BOSS- [bos31] Colonel Bahamut Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: If ever there was a Contra fight resembling one from a Mega Man game, this one would have to be it. A mechanical machine will drop in to attach a large iron claw to Colonel Bahamut's arm. And now it's on! The Colonel will use all of his attacks in a pre-arranged order the first time, and then he'll mix them up. Between all of his attacks, he jumps around the room like a jack rabbit on crack, so if you're about to get landed on, it's a good idea to slide out of the way. He uses these attacks in order, then randomizes them: ATTACK 1: The Colonel will charge at you quickly with his claw extended in front of him. Slide through him or jump over to avoid this attack. It's a bit hard to know when this attack is coming, so it's always a good idea to have a fair amount of distance between you and the Colonel. ATTACK 2: He'll be on either side of the screen, and then jump up into the air and begin a spinning motion. He'll then dive down at you while in this ball form to try and cut you to ribbons, and then arch back up toward the other side. It's best to slide through this attack, since he has that exiting arch upward. ATTACK 3: He'll jump to either side of the room, and extend his claw all the way up to the top of the screen. He's about to huck a huge chunk of rock at wherever you may be standing. Either jump or slide though this attack. After this initial pattern, he'll switch the attacks up and sometimes perform the same attack back to back. Remember to stay nimble between his attacks because of his constant jumping pattern and be ready for him to launch any attack at anytime and you'll have the Colonel discharged in no time. -------------------- Now that the Colonel lays dead at your feet, it's time to get your heiny out there and stop that missile launch. Soon you'll be riding up toward the newly launched missile on a set of 4 separate missiles. You can freely hop between them. Soon you'll be faced with a rather easy boss fight. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos32] Deadeye Joe Difficulty: Easy Strategy: This fight hardly qualifies as a boss fight. All Deadeye Joe does is float around the set of four missiles and fire his little gun at you. Be careful, though. Even though this fight's easy, he can still catch you off guard with a random shot if you're not paying attention. Just plug Joe with enough lead and he'll finally be out of your hair for good. -------------------- With Joe out of the picture, get yourself over to the missile on the left side of the screen and wait there until the big puppy comes into view. As soon as you're able, go ahead and take a leap over to the huge missile and get ready for quite a trip up. As you begin your climb, three Weapon capsules will fly in containing A, B and, C weapons. Shoot the capsules once they're directly above your character or they're just wasted, because you can only move up and down the side of the missile. As you climb up the side of the rocket, you'll see that the alien cell has already begun to infest it. Small portions of the missile will break off reveailing little holes that spew out slow-crawling little spiked beetles. The holes are indestructable, but a Homing weapon will do the trick against the little buggers just fine. You'll encounter 3 more holes as you progress up the side and then part of the missile will burst into flames and the next mini-boss will pop out to say hi. -------------------- -SUB BOSS- [bos33] Bug Worm Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: The worm will be just above you, so avoid accidentally climbing up into it. Also, one of the little holes that spit out the little spiked beetles will still be serving them out below you, so you've got to keep an eye out for alot during this battle. All the worm does is launch out waves of bees, that fly back toward the missile at you. A Homing weapon is your absolute best pal in this fight with all that's going on. The worm can't take too much punishment, so you can either just keep unloading with your strongest weapon, or a Homing weapon, or a single Bomb will end this fight immediately. You've got to keep an eye on all the little critters swarming around and you'll do just fine. -------------------- Now finish your climb to the tippy-top of the missile. The head of the missile will ignite and blow off revealing yet another mini-boss. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos34] Spewer Worm Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: This isn't a terribly hard fight once you know what to do. The worm will move around left to right above you. Your target is the head. When you see a cluster of energy appear in the Worm's mouth, he's about to lay a trail of energy across the top of the missile toward you. All you have to do is wait for the trail to move almost near you, and then slide the opposite direction through it and pummel the head with shots while the attack continues on past you. After 3-4 of these attacks, the Worm will then dive in and try to bite you. It's easy to just run away from this attack. Try to avoid sliding if you're near the edge of the missile, because you can fall off. Occasionally, he'll perform this attack twice in a row, so be prepared when you see him diving in for another shot at you. He repeats these two attacks until you finish him off. -------------------- Now a small glass tube will emerge to the top, from inside the missile. After everything you've been through to get here, you're now ready to face the final boss. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos35] The Alien Cell Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: It all comes down to this final two-part fight. Part One: Talk about one ugly mofo. Anyway, this form of the boss, just flies around sprouting bone-like arms from its sides. If you have a Homing weapon, this part of the fight is a piece of cake. Just run around the top of the missile firing and watch the limbs just rain down from the cell. You really need to be careful of any loose bones that happen to hang onto the cell, because they can swing around and still hurt you. If you're not lucky enough to have a Homing weapon, you're going to have to be very careful around the limbs the cell sprouts. A spread weapon or any weapon with a fan-like radius will help greatly. The cell will fly around using its arms as its weapons to try and touch you. These arms are horribly accurate, so take them out as quickly as possible. After you take out its arms several times, the alien cell finally gets mad and unleashes its last form. Part Two: The Alien Cell will begin by dropping off multiple little brown maggots on top of the missile that slowly crawl at you. Take these out. As the Alien Cell begins to move around, you'll notice that it's now exposing its tail (which has a face... Ewwww). This is your new target, but be extremely careful when firing at it. Don't jump during this part of the fight if you're even remotely close to the Alien Cell. It's pretty big and will probably end up touching you since it moves around so much. The cell will then try to swing its tail down at you. Slide through this attack, and then get ready for the tail to drop off another swarm of maggots. This isn't too difficult, but the tail attacks can catch you off guard if you're focusing on attacking it. It'll repeat a pattern of swinging the tail and dropping maggots until you do enough damage to finally lay waste to this ugly son of a gun. -------------------- Congratulations! Path C is complete, and you've just saved humanity. Give yourself a nice, fat pat on the back. Job well done, soldier. See you next Mission! ================================================== Stage 6-B - The Ultimate Being [chc12] ================================================== You've reached the end of Path D, but the battle isn't over. Not by a long shot. This Stage is home to a pretty mean gauntlet of boss fights. All of your skills will be tested here. You'll find yourself in another one of Colonel Bahamut's underground bases/alien breeding facilities. Before you proceed, equip a fast and powerful weapon. As you continue down the hallway you'll note containers in the background holding some rather odd looking alien fellows. As you approach the 4th container, it's inhabitant will attempt to leap out at you. Keep a concentrated stream of fire going and you'll hardly notice it. Continue further, and three Weapon capsules will float by. One containing a Bomb, one a B Weapon, and the last, a D Weapon. The creature in the 6th container will now try to leap out at you as you try and collect the goodies. You know what to do. Also when you move forward be on the lookout for the next 3 containers' contents to jump out at you too. Once you've survived this brief area, you'll proceed into a chamber with the door slamming shut behind you, and the first boss of this area will appear from the right. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos36] The Spear Bot Difficulty Rating: Moderate Strategy: After the brief cutscene, the large, metallic orb will float to the center of the room. For now you should take a place under it. Part One: For the first part of this battle, the orb is indestructable. It will launch four large spears that first latch to the walls and then begin a pattern of poking around the room in a clockwise motion. The spears are the only part of the mechanism you can attack at the moment. All four spears are vulnerable to your attacks. Since you're standing in the middle, be mindful of where the spear on the right is at all times. That's the next one you'll have to dodge. Keep that in mind, because the spears are about to begin speeding up their motion around the room. While the spears are poking around the room, find yourself a comfy place in the room and stay there. If you see the spear on the right making a move toward you, slide to the right, and then get back to your position. You're going to have to continue pummelling the spears until one decides to go bang-bang. Part Two: Once one of the spears has been destroyed, the orb will no longer hang in the middle of the screen, and the spears will no longer chase you around. Now you've got a new problem to deal with. With it's stability taken away, the orb will now crash around the room with its spears flailing. You still need to focus your fire on the spikes. When you destroy a spear, this gives the boss more room to crash around randomly, so always be prepared to slide if you see it crashing your way, and ABSOLUTELY stay off the ceiling. You're going to have to detatch every spear from the boss to proceed. Once he's down to his last spear, he'll crash around the room in an even more frenzied manner. Just slide the opposite direction if he gets too close and watch out for that spear swinging around. It can still nab you if you're not careful. Part Three: With its spears gone, the orb will bang up and down in one position rapidly. The orb itself is your target now. Get ready to dance. The boss will split into two transparent forms of itself, and then reform above your character, wherever you may be. Just as he re- combines, slide under him, and his little temper tantrum of banging between the floor and the ceiling will miss you entirely. He'll repeat this pattern, getting extremely faster with the damage you deal to him. Just be ready to move when he splits and reforms, and you'll soon have this bot dismantled. -------------------- You'll have to run up an incline in the floor to reach the next chamber. The doors close behind you. After the cutscene, immediately prepare yourself for another boss fight. -------------------- -SUB-BOSS- [bos37] Dr. Spider Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: When the fight begins, you'll be faced with the smallest boss this game has to offer, but that doesn't make him any less lethal. The Doctor has been turned into a small spider. He'll begin the fight by crawling around the outer parameters of the room in a counter-clockwise pattern. As you shoot him, his pace will increase, so if he's headed at you, make sure you're prepared for his newfound speed. Once he lands in a place he finds fitting, he'll then fire a harmless beam of energy around the room that forms a pattern. This is his "spider web." he'll crawl along this web and stop at various points to launch his two main attacks. ATTACK 1: From his point on the web, he'll stop to launch a single white energy ball that locks onto your current position. Once it's travelled a small distance, it'll stop and then head toward you again, even if you happened to dodge through the first time. This isn't terribly difficult to dodge, as he seems to launch it way too far away from you most of the time, and you'll only have to dodge the 2nd time the ball moves toward you. He'll then attack with... ATTACK 2: The spider will create a wave of 8 energy balls around his body and then fire them outward from their originating angles. This attack is fairly easy to dodge because the space between each flying energy ball is pretty big, and sliding will almost ensure 100% safety if one of them is headed for you. Be extremely careful though. The balls, once they establish contact with the floor, ceiling, or walls, will remain in place for about half a second and are still dangerous during this time. He'll then collapse his web and begin travelling around the room in a counter-clockwise manner once again, and then stop to create another "web." Now that you have this simple pattern mamorized, keep plugging the spider with shots when you can. The spider can take more punishment than it may seem. This fight will go on a little longer than most expect. -------------------- Continue up the final ramp and snag the Weapon capsules that fly by with A and B Weapons. -------------------- -BOSS- [bos38] Ultimate Super Being!!! Difficulty Rating: Hard Strategy: You've come this far, and now you're about to be rewarded! Colonel Bahamut has fused with the Alien Cell and become the "Ultimate Super Being!!!" (he's so dramatic) You're now in line for a difficult three-part boss fight. Part One: Colonel will turn into a very large, muscular version of himself surrounded with blue flame. He performs a set of three attacks in order the first time, and then he mixes them up. You should start the fight on the left side of the screen. ATTACK 1: A timer will appear over the boss' head counting down from 3 to 1. Once the 1 disappears, prepare to jump over the boss because he's about to dash across the screen with incredible speed. After the first time, he can prepare this attack from either side of the screen, so be prepared when you see the timer appear. ATTACK 2: The boss will jump straight up into the air. When he does this, the safest part of the screen is directly under the boss, because he's about litter the opposite side of the screen with a hail of fireballs. When he jumps straight up jump, run or, slide to his side of the screen. ATTACK 3: When the boss is on either the right or left side of the screen, he'll bring both hands back to his side and fire a large fireball across the screen. You have to either slide through or jump this attack, because simply laying down won't be enough. The attack is too big. He'll fire off one or two of these attacks in a row. He'll continue to use these three attacks, until he loses control of his form. Part Two: Truly a grotesque side-effect of the Alien Cell. Make darn sure you're on the left side of the screen when this grotesque creation first materializes. What you'll see is a large pulsating mass, with one head on each side. The creature will first jump to the right. It will extend it's left head halfway across the screen and then bounce up and down rapidly. Little red and blue cluster bombs will begin to quickly fall from the top of the screen. You'll need to dodge in and out of the rain. It's a little thick, but very possible to maneuver in and out of the rain. Once this attack has finished, the boss will jump to the middle of the screen, and then over to the left. Slide under the boss when he jumps at you, and then run all the way to the right side of the screen. This attack is a bit tricky to dodge because of the timing. The second head will extend briefly and then begin to stretch across the screen. It's important that you wait till the absolute last second to slide through this attack. If you slide too early, you'll slide through the head, but it'll coil inward to hit you anyway. You need to slide at the absolute last second just before the head touches your character, and then slide through it. If you did it right, you should be safe and now standing directly under an arch created by the neck. If not, then the neck is coiled int oa circle and you lost a life. The body will now draw the head back. Once this attack has finished, the boss will jump back to the middle of the screen, and then back to the right to repeat the pattern. Shoot at both heads when you have the chance, and evade their attacks, and don't forget to move to the opposite side of the screen when you need to and this stage of the fight is a snap. Part Three: This part of the fight is fairly simple, and very much like the end boss fight in Stage 4. You are really more of a threat to yourself than the boss is. The boss is just a large floating heart encompassed by a mess of skulls. This terror floats around the room, and doesn't even provoke you at all. The only problem is when you attack it, the skulls expand outward. Obviously the skulls can hurt you, so you have to be careful with how you attack it. DON'T GO CRAZY firing madly at this thing. You have to attack in small bursts of fire, and then focus on getting away from the boss if the skulls pose a threat of touching you. If you're about to get hit, your best bet is to slide under the skulls. I recommend using a weapon that's not very powerful, perhaps an A weapon or your normal machinegun if you have it available. Alot of your B, C, D, and Bomb weapons will send the skulls flying like crazy across the screen. Chase the boss around the room, firing small bursts at it, and avoiding the skulls and with a little patience, you'll soon be the victor. -------------------- You've just destroyed the Ultimate Super Being and completed path D! Congrats, on a job well-done. See you next mission! ================================================== 7. Endings ================================================== Obviously alot of spoilers here. I'm really only putting the endings in the FAQ to make the guide more complete -------------------------------------------------- Ending 1: Back to the Past -------------------------------------------------- How to Obtain: Proceed up the wall at the end of Stage 3 and fight in the arena and win 3 consecutive battles. This ending entails your character(s) getting pulled through a dimensional warp and into the age of dinosaurs. Years later you become King (or Queen) of the monkeys, and no matter your sex, you get yourself a female admirer monkey. Mrrrrrrrrrow! -------------------------------------------------- Ending 2: I'll Get You Next Time!!! -------------------------------------------------- How to Obtain: After the first stage, elect to pursue Deadeye Joe, then at the interlude opt to fight until the end. Proceed to complete Stage 5-A. You've just torn through Bahamut's base, destroyed a bevy of bosses, and completely demolished Red Falcon and now you get to watch as Colonel Bahamut makes his escape aboard a chopper. Doesn't that just rule? -------------------------------------------------- Ending 3: In A Blaze of Glory -------------------------------------------------- How to Obtain: After the first stage, elect to fight Deadeye Joe, then at the interlude opt to surrender. Proceed to complete Stage 5-B, and confront Colonel Bahamut in the Big Magnum. You've destroyed the Big Magnum and Colonel Bahamut, and now his space station base crashes and burns. Like a hero, you go down with the ship and you're rewarded with a memorial statue of your character(s) after the credits. Job well done. -------------------------------------------------- Ending 4: For Peace! -------------------------------------------------- How to Obtain: After the first stage elect to rescue the Research Center, then at the interlude opt to fight till the end. Proceed through Stage 5-C, and 6-A and destroy the Alien Cell. You've done it all. You destroyed the treacherous Colonel Bahamut and stopped the Alien Cell from destroying the world. You'll fall from the missile containing the Alien Cell and be rescued by your friend from earlier during the Research Center rescue. Hoo-da-lay! -------------------------------------------------- Ending 5: What A Painful World -------------------------------------------------- How to Obtain: After the first stage elect to rescue the Research Center, then at the interlude opt to fight till the end. Proceed through Stage 5-C, and when you arrive in front of Colonel Bahamut in Stage 6-A, accept his offer. I hope you're happy. The world is now under the reign of that horrible, horrible man. But look on the bright side, you're now his right hand man/woman. -------------------------------------------------- Ending 6: Let's Get Outta Here -------------------------------------------------- How to Obtain: After the first stage, elect to rescue the Research Center, then at the interlude opt to surrender. Fight on the train, and then through the Colonel's base and then fight him one on one. You've laid waste to Bahamut's base, and now you get to look all cool and ride off on your hover bike like it was no sweat off your back. And we all know it wasn't, right? ;) ================================================== 8. FAQ - AKA The One Burning Question ================================================== Q: I've been wondering about this code I've seen on websites like GameFAQS.com and IGN.com that says that I can get unlimited lives. The way that both sites describe entering the code sounds vague to me. They both say something to the effect of "Before the game starts press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, B, A". I've tried this combo many times and in different places, and it never works for me. Would you happen to know when the exact place is that I would enter this combo and if this code even exists? Thanks for your help very much. A: The codes frequently seen for this game on all videogame code sites do not apply to the final US release of Contra: Hard Corps. These codes are the Unlimited Lives Code (which in reality only gives the player 98 Lives) and a full-weapon power-up code which gives your character all of their A, B, C, and D weapons. The codes ONLY WORK IN THE US BETA VERSION OF THE GAME AND THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE RELEASE. The US Beta version of the game is the copy that was released to magazines for review a month or two before the game was released. These codes WILL NOT work on a store bought version of the US release. They were taken out for whatever reason, as was a three-hit life gauge that was also present in the Japanese version. I hope this clears up some of the confusion and stops the insanity that all of us (including myself) have gone through trying to input these fake codes. Q: Do the level select and 70 life codes at GameFAQs work? A: No. I'm not sure HOW these codes surfaced, but rest assured, I've wasted enough time trying to enter the damn things, and they are false. Until I am given video proof of these two codes being used, and told exactly where and how to enter them, then they will be written off as fake until I am proven otherwise. NO MORE EMAIL ABOUT THESE CODES PLEASE! ================================================== 9. Credits and Thanks ================================================== I'd like to applaud the following for the listed reasons: Konami: For releasing such a wonderful product that has held my attention for over 8 years, and creating a series of games that has kept me entertained for even longer God: Because he's the big guy. Myself: For putting in the time to write this FAQ and actually finishing it and for having the patience it took to study EVERYTHING. GameFAQs: For so generously hosting this file. TortillaG: For the feedback and extra strategies submitted. And an extra special thanks for pointing out a terrible spelling error I'd make throughout the entire guide. Truncated: For being ever patient for me to update this thing. He's responsible for some added tidbits of info and corrections. They're pointed out throughout the guide. The Cookie Monster: For eating my i's. Well, I guess that's nothing to be thanked for, but I digress. Five: For being my Contra buddy for many years running. Dyran: For not being afraid to jump his character in to EVERYTHING to see if he'd die (intentionally or unintentionally.) I'd also like to send a special thanks out to everyone who read this guide, sent me feedback positive or negative, and submitted any of their own strategies. You guys rock! Thanks for reading! See you next mission! -Diz (C)November 2, 2002 - June 10, 2005 dark.dizzie at gmail dot com -end_of_transmission- -3969 lines of chewy FAQ/Walkthrough Goodness :9-