Knight Rider FAQ/Walkthrough 1.0 Written by Keith VanZandt (c) copyright 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: This document may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site other than those listed below or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Sites with permission to use this FAQ http://www.gamefaqs.com All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Game Information III. Controls IV. In game display V. Weapons and Items VI. Tips VII. Mission Walkthrough 1. San Francisco 2. Seattle 3. Salt Lake City 4. Denver 5. St. Louis 6. Chicago 7. Toronto 8. Boston 9. New York 10. Washington D.C. 11. Miami 12. Houston 13. Phoenix 14. Las Vegas 15. Home ---------------------------- I. Introduction ---------------------------- This is my first FAQ I've written for a game. I chose Knight Rider for the NES for a few reasons. First, I played this game a long while back and beat it and it still remained one of my favorite games. Second, it caught my eye and attention again when I found it listed at the top of the NES Requested FAQs page on GameFAQs. I decided since I had played this game quite a bit in the past I could write up a FAQ and maybe take care of that request all at once. ---------------------------- II. Game Information ---------------------------- When the title screen appears you have two game modes - MISSION and DRIVE Choosing MISSION will give you two options - START and PASSWORD If you choose START you'll start a new game. Choosing password lets you continue your game by inputiing a password that Devon gave you. MISSION mode is made up of a series of missions that take place in different cities as you chase criminals and terrorists. Along the way, you are given the ability to add upgrades to Kitt to assist you in your missions. The other game mode, DRIVE, lets you drive through each course. ---------------------------- III. Controls ---------------------------- Upgrade Screen SELECT - Cycle through choices A - Choose upgrade Driving UP - Accelerate DOWN - Brake LEFT - Move Left RIGHT - Move Right B - Booster Jump A - Shoot selected weapon SELECT - Cycle through weapons START - Pause ---------------------------- IV. In Game Display ---------------------------- Let's take a quick look at the cockpit of Kitt. Starting at the top on the left side is your Time, which tells you how much time you have remaining to reach the boss area. After reaching the boss area, it changes to show how much time you have to beat the boss. Below your Time is your score. This constantly increases as you drive. Below your score is a meter marked by a blue S. This is your Shield meter. Notice that it isn't full? That's because by default the Shield and Gas meters start out a little over half full and will be completley full once you get all the upgrades for each. Anyways, if this meter is depleted you're shield is gone and you lose one life and have to start the course over. Now, to the right of the center you have at the top a curved line which is your tachometer but don't worry about it. It's just for show, as is Kitt's voice display near the center of the cockpit. Below your tach is your current Speed. Then you have another meter marked by a blue G. This is your gas or fuel remaining. If you run out of fuel you'll be starting the course over so keep an eye out for fuel pick ups if this gets low. Below your gas meter is a horizontal black line with 6 blue dashes and a red box. This tells you your distance from the boss area. Once the red box moves completely to the right side of this, you'll be at the boss area. On the far right is your radar. This shows you as a yellow dot and any vehicles as a red dot. It's useful when you're doing a booster jump and want to make sure you don't land on anything when you come down. It can also help determine which lane a car is in coming around a corner. Below all this stuff on the right is what weapon you have selected. When you start out this is set to GUN. Pressing SELECT will cycle through your weapons (you can also cycle through your weapons while the game is paused). When you have Missile or Laser selected the number of ammuntion you have for that weapon is displayed as a number. The GUN never runs out of ammunition. ---------------------------- V. Weapons and Items ---------------------------- GUN - This is your basic gun that fires bullets from alternating sides of the car and the bullets meet about halfway down the road. MISSILE - These fire from alternating sides of the car and will also fire up at any aerial vehicles. Stronger than bullets. LASER - This fires a red beam from the center of the car hood and is your most powerful weapon. The following are items you can get from Yellow Vehicles and Black Knight trucks. T - Adds 30 seconds to your remaining time G - Refills some of your gas R - Repairs your shield M - Adds 20 Missiles L - Adds 20 Lasers 1 - 1UP (Extra Life) ---------------------------- VI. Tips ---------------------------- - Avoid crashing. Roadside objects will damage your shield and stop you completely. Worse, you have to wait for the game to move you back to the middle lane before taking off again which seriously hurts you time wise. Other vehicles can slow you down or stop you when you hit them and damage your shield. Projectiles fired from enemy vehicles don't stop you but do hurt your shield. - The Yellow colored enemy vehicles give you an item icon when you destroy them. The Black Knight trucks will toss out an icon when you get near them. Do not pass these vehicles as they will not reappear if you do pass them. - On sharp curves decrease your speed to less than 130 to prevent sliding. If there are no other vehicles you may want to go ahead and slide if you're starting from the inside lane. If you are near the edge of the road you can also use the area off the road to slow down as long as there are no roadside objects will only slow you down greatly. - Don't destroy Blue vehicles. They don't attack you and destroying them will penalize you 5 seconds. The same goes for the Black Knight trucks. - You're awarded an extra life every 10000 points - If you run out of time but still have gas and you're near the boss area try this. Hold the booster jump button to keep your speed up and stay far off the side of the road to avoid cars. If you run out of fuel try to land back on the road so you can attempt to coast the rest of the way to the Boss Area where you will get more shield, fuel, and time. - If you need to you can drive between two vehicles if you're on a straight (curves make this harder). ---------------------------- VII. Mission Walkthrough ---------------------------- Before each mission you will be briefed by Devon and Bonnie. If you want you can simply skip these by pressing START. ******** 1. San Francisco ******** Course Time - 2:25 (it will show 2:29 at the beginning but it actually takes 4 seconds before you can control Kitt so it's actually 2:25) Devon informs you that a terrorist group attacked a U.S. army weapons center and stole weapons, ammunition, and the P.I.V. bomb which has enormous destructive power. I'd recommend getting Shield for your first upgrade. Without it you're shields will be half strength. You'll need to get all 3 Shield upgrades to get a full meter of Shield. The same goes for Gas too. The Red and Yellow Cars on this course fire off 2 bullets at you. You can either stay to either side of the car and pick them off after they fire their bullets or you can try to shoot them before they get close enough to shoot and then dodge in case they manage to get a shot off. Once you get a half mark away from the boss area on your distance guage, you'll also encounter Red Trucks which aren't much trouble. Just deal with them the same way you dealt with the Cars. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Semi Truck Weapon - Bullets ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When you reach the boss area of a level you're time is reset to 1:00 and your shield and has are refilled. Your first boss is a Black Semi Truck that fires a stream of bullets. If you look at the tail light of the Semi Truck you'll notice they are blue. This is it's Health indicator. As you damage the Semi Truck it will change from blue to yellow to red. Once you defeat the Semi Truck it will take off and your remaining time is added to your score as a bonus. A good strategy to beating the Semi Truck is to just stay slightly to the right of him to dodge his bullets and shoot him as he swerves to the right. You can use missiles or lasers if you picked some up on the way here from destroying a Yellow Car. If you don't have either your Gun will work just fine. This shouldn't be too much trouble as long as you avoid the bullets and don't stay right behind him. ******** 2. Seattle ******** Course Time - 2:30 For this mission you can choose either Gas or Shield. The Red Cars will not be tossing sticks of dynamite out at you which can hurt you more than bullets so watch out for those. You can either brake hard or swerve to avoid them. The Yellow Cars thankfully still shoot bullets. This course also throws in a new annoyance. When you get about one and half a dash away from the boss area, the Blue Cadillacs (The cars with the round white area in the middle of their back end... The other cars I call Mustangs) will start to switch lanes. If they're in the left or right lane they'll switch to the middle and if they're in the middle they'll switch to either the left or right lane. I suggest driving up behind them in their first lane so that they'll move out of your way instead of swerving in front of you. Keep in mind though that if they try to switch lanes and another vehicle is in their way they will go back to their original lane. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Semi Truck Weapon - Dynomite ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Fight this battle the same way you did last time but this time the Semi Truck will be tossing dynamite instead of simply shooting bullets. 5 or 6 hits will knock your shields out so just keep slightly to the right of him as you fire your weapons. If he swerves in front of you just move to the right, remember you can drive off the edge of the road where he can't reach you. After you defeat the Semi Truck he'll take off again. ******** 3. Salt Lake City ******** Course Time - 3:15 I'd go ahead and get Gas this time if you haven't got any before. Right from the start you'll have to deal with lane switchers. This time it's the Blue Mustangs causing the problem... And the road has plenty of them. Just work your way past them by driving up behind them and keeping an eye out for their switches. The Red Cars still toss dynamite while the Yellow ones still shoot bullets. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Semi Truck Weapon - Missiles ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Now the Semi Truck is getting serious. You now have to avoid a string of missiles. However, by now you should know the drill. Hang to the right (especially if he's up close) and keep picking him off. This time however when you defeat him he'll be destroyed in a long explosion that stretches down the highway. After this level, Devon will congratulate you can off you a chance to take a vacation. If you choose YES he'll give you a password which you can use to continue your game later. If you choose NO he'll admire your dedication and you don't get a password. Use SELECT to choose your choice and press START to confirm it. ******** 4. Denver ******** Course Time - 2:55 You now have to chase down a stolen Air Force X-5 Jetcopter. I would choose Gas unless you already have 2 Gas upgrades. Otherwise you can take another Shield upgrade. This should give you 2 Gas and 2 Shield upgrades. This course is icy which means your steering, acceleration and braking will be affected so be aware of this as you will slide around on this road. Luckily, this is the only icy course in the game. The Cadillacs and Mustangs have been replaced with what looks like Jeeps and Corvettes and they also don't switch lanes. That's a relief as you'll have enough trouble with the road itself. The Red Cars now shoot bullets again instead of tossing dynamite which also makes this a bit easier on you. A new addition starting this level is aerial units. Specifically, helicopters that also come in the blue, red, and yellow variety. The red and yellow ones shoot bullets and can be annoying if they decide to hang around. If you want to try to destroy them you'll need to be going a decent speed and Booster Jump to be able to shoot them. Missiles will lock onto them from the ground though. I wouldn't recommend taking out every helicopter though as the Booster Jump depletes your Gas. I'd simply concentrate on getting Yellow Helicopters if any. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS X-5 Jetcopter Weapon - Bullets ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This boss is in the air and shoots down at you. Since you're gas is refilled the easiest way to take care of this guy is to keep Booster Jumping as you shoot him with whatever weapons you have. This also manages to keep you safe from his attacks as they seem to hit when you're on the ground and not in the air. The Jetcopter will change color from blue to yellow to red before being defeated and will fly away. ******** 5. St. Louis ******** Course Time - 3:00 Choose either Gas or Shield for your upgrade. The Yellow Helicopters will now be tossing dynamite. The Red Cars will shoot bullets at first and switch dynamite half way through this level. (At about 2 dashes from the end.) The lane switchers are also back. This time it's the Blue Jeeps and they start to switch lanes at about the same time the Red Cars start tossing dynamite. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS X-5 Jetcopter Weapon - Dynamite ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Use the same strategy as last time. As long as you stay airborne most of the dynamite should miss you and you'll be able to easily keep hitting him with your weapons. ******** 6. Chicago ******** Course Time - 2:35 At this point I'd reccomend picking up an Engine upgrade as you'll need the extra speed to help get through the course in time. The Blue Jeeps are still switching lanes right from the start. Red Cars will toss dynamite once you are 2 and half dashes away from the end. The Red Helicopters will start tossing dynamite at that time as well. The Blue Corvette's will start lane switching at about the same time the Red Vehicles start tossing dynamite. The Jeeps will stop their lane switching. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS X-5 Jetcopter Weapon - Missiles ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Again, use the same strategy as before. Jump up and pummel the jetcopter. It's missiles don't do much to you in the air so just make sure you move to the side as you come down and line up the helicopter when you jump to blast it with your weapons. Once you beat the jetcopter it will be destroyed. Once again Devon will congratulate you and offer you a vacation password. ******** 7. Toronto ******** Course Time - 2:50 Devon now sends you and Kitt to investigate a dead data-link with the Foundation's research lab. Doesn't sound too exciting, but okay. Take Shield, Gas, or Engine depending on what you have available. The helicopters have been replaced by planes. They shoot a volley of bullets as they fly past. The Cadillacs and Mustangs are back and the Blue Cadillacs will be lane switching. At about 2 and half marks from the boss area the Red Cars will start tossing dynamite again. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Semi Truck Weapon - Bullets ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Similar to the previous Semi Truck you fought earlier but this one is more agile. Hang to the right and pick him off but be careful as he can move right in front of you quickly. You can use missiles or laser if you want but the gun should be enough for any Semi Trucks. ******** 8. Boston ******** Course Time - 2:00 Engine should be your choice of upgrade this time around. You only have 2 minutes starting out this time so you're going to have to be careful and make sure to get the Yellow vehicles in an attempt to grab as many Time icons you can get. The Blue Cadillacs will be switching lanes from the beginning. Both Red and Yellow Cars will be tossing dynamite but occasionally they'll shoot bullets instead. The Planes will be shooting bullets still. Near the end of this run, the Blue Trucks will start switching lanes instead of Cadillacs. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Semi Truck Weapon - Dynamite ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Once again he's quick at moving and will be tricky to shoot with the laser. Also, the dynamite makes it harder to line up shots so just try to keep hitting him along the side or try with the laser to get some lucky shots in. ******** 9. New York ******** Course Time - 1:50 By now, you only have one choice for Gas, Shield, or Engine so pick whatever is left up (On the next missions we'll be picking up the weapons). It's night time here. This can make it a little harder to see vehicles coming and you can't see your hood so determining how close objects are to the sides of your car is difficult. You also start off with little time. The Blue Cadillacs will be switching lanes. The Red Cars will be tossing dynamite. You'll also find Yellow Trucks that shoot bullets. They still give out power ups like any Yellow vehicle. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Semi Trucks Weapons - Dynamite and Missiles ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Semi Truck tosses dynamite again but this time you can't see your hood so be careful on judging where they're gonna land. You should be able to handle him without much trouble though. After you defeat him he'll be destroyed... SURPRISE!! There's two of them. You get another 1:00 on the clock and your shield and gas are refilled again. This one however is packing missiles. Repeat the same strategy that's served you well to this point and you'll have both Semi Trucks destroyed easily. Devon once again offers you a vacation if you want the password to continue. ******** 10. Washington D.C. ******** Course Time - 2:40 Devon informs you that the "enemy" has now hit the Foundation's warehouse. Could it be an inside job? No time to ponder that now, we've gotta drive. Grab some missiles or lasers. Whichever you prefer. Nothing too serious to watch out for on this course. The Red Cars will be tossing dynamite and the Blue Jeeps will be switching lanes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Jetcopter Weapon - Bullets ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This boss is much like the Jetcopter you fought before, but it is now quicker and darts in and out very fast. Your best bet is still to just keep Booster Jumping and hitting it with whatever you got. Again, it's bullets are useless if you stay airborne. ******** 11. Miami ******** Course Time - 2:50 Devon doesn't have anything new to say but Bonnie will tell you that even though they don't know the full capabilities of the enemy, they have seen some of their secret weapons. What secret weapons? A Semi Truck and a Jetcopter? Again choose either Missile or Laser for your upgrade. The Red Cars will again be tossing dynamite. The Blue Jeeps will be switching lanes. When you are about 2 dashes away from the boss area you will encounter Red Trucks which toss dynamite and the Blue Mustangs will switch lanes instead of the Jeeps. You may also find one or two Yellow Trucks. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Jetcopter Weapon - Dynamite ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Just keep jumping while you fire your weapons at the jetcopter. By now you should be able to knock these bosses out pretty quick. ******** 12. Houston ******** Course Time - 2:45 Once again pick up a weapon upgrade. The Red Cars will be still tossing dynamite. The Blue Jeeps will start out switching lanes. At around 2 dashes before the end you'll encounter a new problem. The cars will disappear and there will be barrels that appear in different places, including in the road. Dodge these or you'll be hurting for time. They don't show up on the radar either. Your best bet is to take it a little more cautious through this area. There will be an occasional Yellow Car or Helicopter to take out for a item pickup. If you do run out of time your best bet is to hold down B and Booster Jump you're way to the end, keeping far off the road to avoid barrels. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Jetcopters Weapons - Dynamite and Missiles ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Once again the Jetcopter returns tossing dynamite so hammer away with your weapons. After destroying one Jetcopter, you'll get more shields, gas, and time to destroy a second Jetcopter that launches missiles. Both of them are fast moving but if you keep jumping and firing at them you should make it just fine. If you want to take a break, Devon is willing to give you a vacation and password to continue your game later. ******** 13. Phoenix ******** Course Time - 2:25 Devon reveals to you that the enemy is Karr and as soon as you finish talking to him Bonnie will tell you that Karr kidnapped Devon. Man, that Karr works fast since you just spoke to Devon a second ago. Anyways, time to grab another laser or missile and head out. Blue Trucks will be switching lanes right from the start and there are a number of them. The Red and Yellow Cadillacs will fire bullets but you should be more concerned about the Red and Yellow Jeeps that fire Missiles(!) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Semi Truck and Jetcopter Weapons - Bullets and Dynomite ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When the Semi Truck appears, use the same strategy you've used before on it. It only has bullets so hammer it with lasers or missiles. After the Semi Truck leaves, the Jetcopter will arrive tossing dynomite. Again, simply keep jumping and firing whatever weapon you choose at it and it will fly away soon enough. ******** 14. Las Vegas ******** Course Time - 3:15 Karr apparently has contacted you by radio to let you know he's in Las Vegas. Awful considerate of him isn't it? Choose missiles or laser again. This course is another dark night time level which means you'll have a hard time seeing your hood again. The Red Jeeps will be tossing dynomite. The Red Trucks will switch lanes and shoot bullets. The Blue Cadillacs will also be switching lanes. There is going to be many enemies on this course so you better get your trigger finger ready or they may gang up on you. As always, be sure to make an effort to get the Yellow vehicles as they have the item pickups. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS Jetcopter and Semi Truck Weapons - Bullets and Missiles ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Jetcopter isn't too much trouble as it's only shooting bullets. Make it go away by simply jumping and shooting it. The Semi Truck however, is packing those Missiles and needs a little more caution. Use either missiles or guns as it's very difficult to get clean shots with the laser without putting yourself in danger. ******** 15. Home ******** Course Time - 1:50 Devon gets in touch with you long enough to tell you he's in L.A. Hmmm... wasn't he always in L.A.? I mean the destination is even called Home. Oh, well. Bonnie wishes you luck and you can grab for the last time an upgrade. You have 1:50 to reach the boss area and it's a good drive so make sure you grab any Time icons that you can. The Red Jeeps will be tossing dynamite. Red Helicopters will shoot a bullet or two. The Blue Trucks and Cadillacs will be switching lanes. More than likely you will run out of time before reaching the boss area. Just head to the far side off the road while holding down the Booster Jump to keep going. If you run out of gas doing this, try to land back on the road so you can attempt to coast the rest of the way. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOSS 2 Semi Trucks, 2 Jetcopters, and Karr Weapons - Bullets, Dynomite, and Missiles ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Despite the fact that you have to fight 5 bosses this time it's not too tough as the Semi Trucks and Jetcopters you've fought enough times to be experts at taking them down. You also get your time, shields, and gas refilled after you destroy each one. Use your guns on the Semi Trucks. Use your missiles and guns on the Jetcopters. Use Lasers if you got them on Karr. Karr is a very agile car. He moves fast and fires bullets which do more damage than the usual bullets so I recommend staying in the right or left lane and fire your laser at him as he enters the lane and then quickly move off the road to avoid the bullets. If you really need to, you could drive along the edge and pick him off with the gun while you stay clear of his line of fire. However, you may not have enough time to do this without getting some good hits with the laser in first. After Karr is destroyed, sit back and read the ending. You've saved Devon and destroyed Karr. Congratulation!