Walker Boh's Guide to: Life Force on Nes Author: Walker Boh Real Name: Bryan Peterson E-mail: b-peterson@earthlink.net Life Force Technical Data: Name of Game: Life Force Medium: Cartridge Platform: NES Number of Players: 2 Genre: Action Save Ram: no What's in This FAQ? Author's Note Legal Mumbo-jumbo Intro Item/Powerup list Controls Story Walkthrough Cheats Comments Author's Note Most of you know me as Magic Emperor Ghaleon. Well, I changed that alias after reading the Shannara trilogies by Terry Brooks. Walker Boh is a Druid in said series. Besides, I felt it was time for a change, so now I'm Walker Boh. Then also, Hotmail has an unbelievably bad junk mail filter and their security isn't much better. Legal mumbo-jumbo This document is copyright 2000-2003 by Walker Boh. Don't do anything with this FAQ unless you make no profit from it. The consequences of such actions aren't worth it, believe me! The good people at Gamefaqs I'm sure will let me know of any attempts to rip off one of my contributions, and even if they don't I'll learn of it somehow, so don't try anything smart! However, you are welcome to distribute this among friends for free or post this on your webpage. Feel free to E-mail me about any mistakes I may make here, just don't remove my name from the document when you post it on your site or I'll have to electronically kick your ass! However, you are free to E-mail me concerning questions, mistakes and suggestions. Intro Life Force is part of the Gradius series, which has seen life on many different consoles. I've heard it's a direct sequel to Gradius for NES (which was originally an Arcade game), and though there is a Gradius 2 for NES, it was never released in the US as far as I know. So most people just say that Life Force is the sequel and leave it at that. Item/powerup list There really aren't that many items in this game, but they're there for the taking. When you kill enemies they will oftentimes drop a small power capsule. Collecting these will allow you to power up your weapons and speed. Here's how that system works. With each capsule you collect it'll show an icon for laser, ripple laser, missiles, speed booster or forcefield. When the one you want lights up hit A to equip it. Anyway, let's get on with the items. 6. Speed Booster: These are just great! Equip one and you can go faster for a while. Be careful though, if you equip too many at one time you can cause serious problems with maneuverability and get yourself killed. 7. Missile: Fires twin destructo missiles. 8. Laser: A plutonic laser beam, (my favorite weapon). 9. Ripple Laser: A more powerful laser which will take out enemies that are scattered. I also try to get this whenever possible. 10. Forcefield: Protection against enemies. 11. Note: you lose any powerups you have when you die, so be careful. 12. 4. Controls 13. Directional pad: moves your ship around the screen. 14. A button: power up your ship, (need power capsules to do this). 15. B button: fire weapon. 16. Start Button: Pause while in a game or start a game. 17. Select button: Select one or two players 18. 5. Story and Walkthrough 19. A long time ago a pair of aliens gave birth to a savage little son-of- a-bitch they named Zelos. As he grew older he got mean, and finally left the nest to go on an eating spree. He devoured a total of 400 planets and solar systems before anyone could stop him. Now it's your turn to become Zelos's next meal. Go and destroy Zelos before it's too late! 20. Full Walkthrough 21. OK, now that we know about the controls, items and plot of the game, let's get down to business! We gotta universe to save! I can't guide you through this game step by step, (not in the same way someone like Dingo Jellybean probably could anyway), but I will do my best to do it in my own way. Since this is to my knowledge one of the first FAQs for Life Force I'll try to be as detailed as possible, but you readers are free to E-mail me concerning any mistakes, and I'll try to correct them. Anyway, I think I'd better get on to the game itself or this will be very boring for you, and I don't want that! Here's what each section of the walkthrough will look like. 22. Level 23. Name of Stage 24. Enemies in this Level 25. Stage 1: 26. Cell Stage 1 27. Enemies in This Level: Balheim, Sharpcrosser, Death Hand, Octa 28. Oh Yeah! I just love the music in this level. Anyway, just work your way through the level and kill any enemies you meet, (trying not to get killed (, and be sure to collect the powerups and equip them by pressing the A button. Note: staying alive isn't going to be easy here, so don't get mad if you lose the first time, I myself can't complete this game without cheating, and I would recommend a Game Genie so you can have infinite lives, as even the thirty lives you get from the Conami Code will quickly wear thin. Anyway, you'll eventually reach a boss. 29. Stage 1 Boss: Golem 30. This guy's a wimp! Just get positioned where you can hit him and keep firing. Want a cool trick for playing two-player? Want to irritate player one? Well then player two, here's how ya do it! Get all the way to the right and then hold up and keep firing! Golem will die in an instant, and player one won't be able to do any damage! However, don't do this if you've got a friend who's got a temper. 31. Stage 2: 32. Volcanic Stage 33. Enemies in This Level: Ug, Balganis, Gremlin Same strategy as stage 1, but those flames are going to pose a real threat to you, so watch it! Kill off the monsters and get ready for the next boss, it sometimes takes a long time to die. 34. Stage 2 boss: Cruiser Tetron 35. Another easy one, just don't get close to those arms or you'll die. Keep firing at him and avoiding his arms and he'll eventually die. Note: The boss music in this game is just perfect, wouldn't you say? Anyway, after the battle you go on to stage 3, woo-hoo! 36. Stage 3: 37. The Prominence Stage 38. Enemies in This Level: Spitball, Prowler, Phoenix, Fire Sphere 39. This one can be kinda hard, since there's more of those flames from level 2. Just avoid them, (easier said than done), and kill off the enemies. Remember that if you have any powerups you will lose them when you die, so be careful, especially if your new weapon is one you really like. I know it always makes me mad when I lose the ripple laser. D'oh! Anyway, on to boss 3! 40. Stage 3 boss: Intruder 41. This guy's absolutely pathetic. Just keep up a constant stream of laserfire. The fireballs may take a few of your lives but if you are using a Game Genie and you keep up firing it won't matter, because you can take this guy down in way under a minute! Note: If you are not using a Game Genie then avoid the Intruder's fireballs in whatever way works best for you. After the battle it's time for stage 4, yippee! 42. Stage 4: 43. Cell Stage 2 44. Enemies in This Level: Bamuda, Jellyp This one's kinda annoying, but it really isn't any different from the other stages. The same rule applies, just fly through the level and kill stuff. Power up if you want to. Eventually you will come to a laser. Avoid it, (actually I think there are a few of them and they're spaced along the walls). Just avoid them, (I don't know if you can destroy them), and soon you'll fight the stage 4 boss. 45. Stage 4 boss: Tutanhamanattack 46. Easy as hell. Just fire away and don't get killed! After this you've reached stage 5, Woo-hoo! 47. Stage 5: 48. Temple Stage 49. Enemies in This Level: Crash Bam, Lash 50. Yuck! I hate this one! To me it always seems longer than the others, probably because of that damn mini-boss! By now you know the routine, fly around and kill stuff. Soon the music will change to a familiar tune. Recognize it? Have you played Gradius? This is the boss theme from that game. 51. Mini-boss: 52. This one's an absolute bastard as far as I'm concerned. He may be easy for you but I have trouble with him and so he annoys me. Try to take as little time as possible to kill him, since even though this is a good tune it'll get very annoying if you take too long. The general strategy is the same, just avoid him and fire away and you'll get him. After the battle you don't get to go on to stage 6! Doh! 53. Stage 5 Section b: Not much further. Kill what you can and don't die. Eventually you'll reach the boss. 54. Stage 5 Boss: Giga 55. This guy's easy, you just can't hit him until the ceiling stops falling. Shoot him with whatever you have and you will defeat him. After the battle you do get to go to stage 6! Woo-hoo! 56. Stage 6: 57. Mechanical City Stage: 58. Enemies in This Level: Amarkhand Heads, Iron Maiden, Glopter, Moay 59. This is it. You're at the final stage! Aren't you proud? You should be! This is no easy game by any means! Proceed, (as if I need to say it again), and you will soon reach your final battle! 60. Final Battle: Zelos! 61. Zelos has two forms, but first you have to fight his last barriers, which look to me like Easter Island heads. It's not always easy to destroy them, but it isn't super hard either. 62. Final Battle: Zelos's heart and soul 63. Form 1: The soul 64. This dragon-like being is easy, although he can be hard if you don't know what you're doing. Just avoid him, (I think you have to take kind of a long time on this guy to give his second form time to develop, but I could be wrong). Anyway, avoid its attacks and fire away at it to destroy it. 65. Form 2: The heart 66. Huh? The heart? Looks to me like a big giant eyeball. Just fire away at it and it'll be gone! Important note!! YOU MUST DESTROY BOTH THE DRAGON AND THE EYE OR YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BEAT THE GAME! 67. Note: The following information will spoil the ending of the game, but then I'm not forcing you to read ahead now, am I? Of course you don't have to continue reading! 68. Ending: After you destroy Zelos's two forms you wait a few seconds and a bunch of lasers will come out of the walls. If you use a Game Genie you don't have to avoid them, since even if you keep dying you will beat the game. If you aren't cheating though, avoid them in whatever way is best for you. After you escape it flashes back to the planet as it explodes. It also shows your jets flying away from the explosion. Then, to the accompaniment of rather weird music, the credits roll. Note: If you do not destroy both of Zelos's forms the lasers will still appear, but even if you avoid them you will be sent back to stage 4, so be sure you knock them both out. 69. Cheats: 70. I will provide the Game Genie codes I use most frequently when playing this game, as well as one other useful cheat. 71. Game Genie Codes: 72. GZKZILVI Infinite lives, (invaluable in my opinion 73. Peutstaa start at stage 2 74. Zeutstaa start at stage 3 75. Leutstaa start at stage 4 76. Geutstaa start at stage 5 77. Ieutstaa start at stage 6 78. 30-life code: At the title screen you can get 30 lives by pressing up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, and start. Note: For two players to have 30 lives, press up twice, down twice, left, right, left, right, B, A, Select and start. 79. Comments: 80. This has to be one of my all-time favorite NES games. I played it once when I was 14 and only recently found a copy of my very own. I wouldn't sell this game for anything, not even a million bucks! Anyway, I submitted a review for this game, and you can check it out at HTTP://www.gamefaqs.com. This is my second try at posting a FAQ for Life Force on Gamefaqs, (my first one was probably very unspecific), and that's probably why I didn't get posted. Of course, the only really new thing I put here was that I found the names of the bosses and enemies. The first time I played this game, I didn't know that Zelos had two parts, and so I would only kill one. It drove me insane when I could never beat the game. The ending music was a little weird but it did make one feel as if one was floating in outer space after a savage battle. Though a little weird it sounded very good to me after many years of not hearing it, (Yes, I just bought the game last year). Anyway, if anyone's interested I do know where you can get MIDI renditions of this game's excellent music, and they're very well-done in my opinion. To get your own copy of the MIDI collection visit the following web site: Video Game Music HTTP://www.vgmusic.com. And, as I said above, suggestions can be sent to b-peterson@earthlink.net. If you wantI'll credit you. However, unless you say otherwise in your message, I will put your name and/or E-mail address in the FAQ. You gotta let me know if you don't want to be reachable! Anyway, enjoy Life Force, and hopefully this FAQ was helpful to you!