(RAMBO) for the Nintendo Entertainment System --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Strategy Guide and Walkthrough by BossBird - Kevin Wolf Contact: kevinwolf82@gmail.com Version 1.1 *************************************************************************** -TABLE OF CONTENTS- I. - Disclaimer & Legal Stuff II. - RAMBO'S REVENGE (Introduction) III. - Controls IV. - Items V. - Enemies VI. - THE RAMBO WAY (General Tips, Hints, and Comments on THE RAMBO WAY) VII. - Walkthrough VIII. - Maps IX. - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) X. - Fun with RAMBO XI. - Beastiary XII. - About the Author & Closing Notes I. DISCLAIMER & LEGAL STUFF This guide is copyrighted (c) 2013 to Kevin Wolf. This guide is protected under International Copyright Laws, and it is prohibited to take any piece of this document and reproduce it in anyway without the written consent of the author. It is also expressly forbidden to steal my RAMBO jokes and pretend like you made them up in front of your friends to sound cool. But all scary/tough legal jargon aside, just email me if you want to use the guide for something. I am OK with sharing. Just be polite about it. Please also note that while this document is meant chiefly as a guide to the game, I also throw in a fair bit of humor, bits of Vietnam war history, and occasional commentary on the gameplay experience. When writing a lengthy text document, the writer oftentimes become bored with repetitious tasks. So adding these diversions isn't meant to make this a creative writing piece. IÕm simply trying to keep myself sane, and entertain and inform you. If you prefer straight-laced, no nonsense guides, go read something thing else. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. RAMBO'S REVENGE (Introduction) To properly introduce RAMBO for the Nintendo Entertainment System, we need look no further than the first pages of the gameÕs manual. It's a tad long, but necessary for the epic adventure that is to come. "You're making a big mistake, Murdock," said Colonel Trautman to the man who just intentionally left two Americans prey to the vengeance of the Viet Cong. "Yeah, what mistake?" was Murdock's heartless reply. "You're not dealing with an ordinary man, Murdock. You're dealing with RAMBO. RAMBO'S REVENGE You are Rambo. The most decorated Green Beret hero of the cold, cold Vietnam War. The war has been over for quite some time now, but for guys like you, whose skills are survival and human endurance, the war has never ended. You left buddies behind, guys who didnÕt make it back, guys who you believe are still there and still alive. But now you've been given a chance to go back. Back to the war that was never really quite finished. Back to what it is you do best. You accept a reconnaissance assignment headed by the paper-pusher, Murdock. "All we need you to do, son, is take a few photographs. Nothing else," warns Murdock. Somehow you don't trust him. Once back in the rainforests, you look for your contact, who may turn out to surprise you. If you get to the POW camp, to rescue at least one of our guys. And in spite of the insurmountable odds, see if you can make it to the extraction point at the precise moment that Trautman and his team helicopter in, or there's no telling when - or if - they'll come back for you. And even if you do make it, guess what? They may not pick you up anyway. Remember Murdock? Just maybe he had a reason for not wanting you to rescue any of the POW's. And here, after 36 hours of hell, is where your mission really begins... So with this great backstory in mind, you are now prepared to play RAMBO. Why you are choosing to play this game I don't know. Maybe you liked the movie(s). Maybe you like playing retro-NAM videogames. Maybe you enjoy cuss-inducing map systems. Rambo is a mixed bag, so please accept it as such. Overall, Rambo is a sometimes-functional action platformer based off the 1985 movie starring Sylvester Stallone as John J. Rambo. The game does an excellent job of recreating the events of the movie, but the poor gameplay, bad graphics, and hackneyed translation have earned it widespread negative reviews. I wouldn't say it's a bad game, though I definitely won't say itÕs a great game either. But if you look past some of the flaws, and enjoy NES games with strange content and guerilla warfare, Rambo can be a lot of fun. --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð III. Controls D Pad = Move RAMBO around. Pressing up by an S or N block will send you in the corresponding direction. Pressing up will also let you enter doors and talk to people. Unfortunately, you cannot talk to Lieutenant Colonel Padovsky about his hair (he is busy shooting you) In addition to directing your furious jog about the jungle, you can also press down to make Rambo duck!! This helps a great deal when dodging the uniformly waist-level bullets shot by the Viet Cong and Russians. A = Jump. Jump around! Hold down + B to jump down to a lower level. B = Slash/shoot/slpode stuff Start = Pause the game. During a dialogue sequence pressing start will show your current password, life, EXP, and the game timer. Don't worry about the timer and the whole "you've only got 36 hours" bit. You'll win or quit before then. Select = Select items. The controls, while frustrating in certain aspects, are fairly intuitive and get the job done. Once you've figured out the subtle nuances of moving Rambo around while killing stuff that is. But items...man items are tricky. --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð IV. Items Combat Knife = Rambo's preferred weapon. Awkward to use due to Rambo's obsessive usage of the 'Swing-the knife-overhead-then- down-like-an-executioner' style, as opposed to the more practical 'Just-stab-the-guy-directly-in-front-of- you' style. Most people use that one. You may notice some numbers exploding out of those dead baddies. ThatÕs Rambo's Combat Knife level slowly rising. Even if you used a hand grenade to blow up a spider, all defeated foes yield knife experience points. Well ho-hum, a levelled up knife, you might say... Using the arcane arts of THE RAMBO WAY, your powered up combat knife will eventually become more powerful than anything else in your arsenal! That's right. The mightiest KGB commando unit that withstands 5 exploding arrows or three hand grenades will fall to one swipe of Rambo's blood-drenched Combat Knife. Throwing Knife = ItÕs like the Combat Knife...but you throw it!! Actually, the Throwing Knife is more like the arrow weapons, but suffers the same 'swing-overhead-first' handicap of the Combat Knife, which causes many a bullet torn hand when ducking and throwing. Bow & Arrow = RAMBO's silent killer. Good against the early soldiers. Exploding Arrow = Arrow + KaBOOM! With some nice area damage upon impact for when you catch those coy VCs holding hands. The best all around weapon for damage and ranged fighting. Machine Gun = Oh yeah!! Eat hot lead you commie scum!! BUDDDAA-BUDDDA- BUDDAA-KERPLOWW!!!!! Hard to find early on, and less effective in the late game... but it's still fun. Hand Grenade = While blowing up stuff is neat, the grenades go mostly unused due to a low storage capacity. And since you can only carry nine, your hand grenade pizza party wonÕt become a reality until the final boss, where you'll be too preoccupied avoiding a helicopter missile to the face to enjoy a slice of pepperoni with your explosives. Medicine Bottle = These red elixirs instantly restore 100 life. You start with 5 of these. Hearts = When a major baddie goes down, he leaves you his heart as a token of understanding. This is war. Shit happens. You gain 100 max life and your life is restored to full. J-Blocks = Lets you jump, HIGHER!! for a little bit. S-Blocks = Lets you run, FASTER!! for a little bit. Since Wal-Mart closed its Saigon branch in 1975, Rambo can't buy his favorite weapons in Vietnam. He has to KILL for them!!! Dead enemies drop items at various points throughout the game. And a few crates contain them as well. But let's focus on the enemies for now, because they are communists and therefore evil. Or they're just bugs and stuff. --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð V. Enemies <-Critters-> -Spider- Eight legged death. They occasionally jump Arachnaphobia style. Duck and slash to dispatch them. Squishable through Rambo contact, but you take damage. -Wasp- Bugs hate RAMBO. Sometimes they float down to the level of your knife, and other times they fly about incoherently pummeling you in the head. -Bird- Death from a beak. They always fly down to knife level. -Fish- The fish hate Rambo. Hop over em, or duck nÕ slash. -Flamingo- Man, even flamingos hate Rambo. And these guys are pissed!! Shoot from a distance or avoid. -Snake- Squirming on the ground and falling from the trees. Just duck and slash. Also squishable with the same deal as the spiders...actually it looks more like they explode upon contact, having the same animation frame as the exploding arrows. Good job Acclaim. -Fire Snake- JERKS!! Spitting fire and blocking the way?! I hate you fire snake! Found in caves, these guys are seriously annoying. Hit them in the mouth, or hop over them and run. Better to avoid than to fight. -Bat- It's a BAT! And it hates Rambo. And it flies in a quick diagonal swoop, which youÕll need to grow accustomed to for item-harvesting. -Tiger- I think this tiger is just generally upset about the political climate in 1980's Vietnam. War with Cambodia. Nike sweatshops. Purges. YouÕd be ticked yourself. Consequently, the tiger does NOT hate Rambo. It just wants to maul anything remotely human. And it's an endangered species. -Guard Tiger- Like his jungle brother, this furry menace pounces quickly across the screen. But unlike his jungle brother, he is green, and does a lot of damage. -Gorilla- They hang out in the mountains and hoard medicine bottles. Their Hominidae attacks hurt worse than the guard tiger's. Use caution in gorilla warfare. <-Undead Foes-> -Flying Skull- Vengeful wraiths of commies you and your homeboys killed in the prior two decades. They borrowed their flight pattern from the medusa heads in Castlevania, so be wary of their zig-zaggery. -Skeleton- This one is too good... The skeleton is found in the 1st Russian warehouse. His movement is identical to that of the gorilla, and he drops a machine gun when he dies. If you find the above description utterly ludicrous without further embellishment, please move on to the next item. If, like me, you find the above description not ludicrous enough to describe an extremely strange and hilarious video game enemy, please email me your own (-Skeleton-) description for inclusion in this guide. This is a comedy gold mine folks. Please experience the skeleton in-game first. Then, when your sides stop hurting, write me about your experience, or make-up your own description Ñ because the manual's just isn't sufficient. ÒAs eerie as he looks.Ó <-Inanimate Foes-> -Stalactite- The stalagmites are all cool with boss covert mission. So what's up with their vertical brethren? I could easily make a decent communist joke here, but I have to save some for the actual communists, not these pseudo- Trotskyite-rock things that heavily damage RAMBO when they thump him on the head. On the plus side, you can stab a stalactite for 50 EXP. -Log- It's a log careening down the waterfall. Beware. -Boulders- THEY CRUSH YOU!!! But you canÕt crush them back. Avoid them as best you can in the mountains, and run like hell in the waterfall jumping sequence as they will knock you down to gorilla valley. -Bubbles- Yeah... bubbles. They hurt ya. Are they deadly swamp bubbles? Nope. Naturally occuring gas, or biogas, is symbiotic in nature unless absorbed through prolonged exposure. Noxious posion-swamp bubbles? Very likely. As part of Operation Ranch Hand, over 20 million gallons of chemical herbicides were dumped over Vietnam during the war. Rambo could join the class-action lawsuit against Monsanto and Dow Chemical, but the lawyers would screw him in an out-of-court settlement, giving him only $12,000 spread out over 10 years to deal with his lung cancer, leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, liver cancer, prostate cancer, and any birth defects that may occur in potential junior Rambos. Or just some random bubbles that Acclaim threw in to knock Rambo off the bridge and annoy the player? Most likely. So yeah. Bubbles. <-Communists-> -Green Soldier- The recruit VC, he has yet to earn his stripes, or a gun. He jogs threateningly at you and jump kicks yo ass. And if you're above or below him, he will try his darndest to hop to your level. Those jump kicks do hurt. So either avoid these guys or shoot em from a distance. Or learn the sacred art of Rambo's Combat Knife. -Blue Soldier- A souped up green solider. He hangs by the first POW cell. -Red Soldier- A super souped up green soldier. He runs faster, jumps higher, and is tougher to dispatch. These abilities work in tandem with his superior Marxist doctrine. You will notice Rambo's blind faith in imperial colonialism grants him only average physical abilities. Only with the chemical enhancement of J-blocks and S-blocks can Rambo hope to beat the Red Soldier at the annual Vietnam veterans track meet. -Blue Officer- He's got a gun! And he always shoots it at waist level. Counter with crouch-attack. -Green Officer- Same as Blue Officer, but takes an extra arrow or throwing knife to beat. -Red Officer- You're getting this, right? -Mercenary- Not a communist. More of an opportunist. After selling Rambo and Co. out to the VC, these traitorous chaps shoot bullets that you cannot duck. So jump and then slash/shoot your way to some payback! -Clubber- Also not a communist. A leftover from Capcom's 1985 title 'Trojan', where these 'Musclemen' tried their best as being a stage boss. They were later hired out by the KGB to round out the Russian commando program. Their clubs really hurt. -GSG- Or guy standing guard by Rambo's cell. Shoot em with an arrow for knee-slapping immolation fun. -Grenadier- These pineapple tossing punks have serious range. Getting hit by their 'nades herts sumfin furce. Their leader is a clown who rides a motorcycle. -The Asian Racial Stereotype Grenadier Whose Grenades Resemble Waterballoons- Just so. -Russian Officer- Like their VC counterparts, they shoot you with a gun. But unlike the mercenaries, you can duck their bullets. -Purple Russian Officer- A suggestive palette swap straight from Siberia. -Dark Green Russian Officer- Sigh... -Machete- When the skeletons are on break from guard duty in the warehouse. -Bazooka Soldier- No longer satisfied with bullets and jump-kicks, the Russian force has decided to shoot bazookas at Rambo. They always duck when firing, so hop their glowing mortar and chop em down. -Russian Commando- Ok! A semi-worthy opponent. Unlike every gun-toting enemy in the game, this elite cadre can DUCK AND SHOOT!! They actually respond to your movement!! They are mean. They are feisty. And they guard the last POW in the game. So give them a pat on the back before you knife them in the gut. -Boxer- Russian heavyweight rejects, or elite melee fighters? I don't know, but their animation frames look demented. Easy knife fodder. -Kickboxer- These guys just love to kick! They kick air, kick Rambo, and will kick your ass to death if you don't carefully move towards them, PAUSE, wait for them to kick air, then quickly Combat Knife them to death. Your other option is to shoot them with 5 exploding arrows. -Helicopter Soldier- Not content with just letting the Mil 21 bomb Rambo from on high, these loyal troops jump into the missile bombardment (which they are immune to) and toss in some extra bullets and grenades. Rambo is actually thankful for this, because he needs their extra grenades to blow up the helicopter. <-Communist Minions and Others-> -Mine- Not yours, its a mine! But you can destroy them point blank with your knife. -Spike Ball- Ivan is getting medieval here. These things bob up and down, then rest on the ground while changing red, which is when you stab them. Co. used to wear some as earrings during her goth phase. -Predator- I'm not making this stuff up people! The frigkin Predator is in Rambo! In the second warehouse with the bazooka guys and the kickboxers. He never comes out of his translucent 'cloak' form, or uses his laser or claws...but I know in my heart that the Predator is there. And just like in his own game, he's a total pushover. One jump stab and he's down. -Gun Turret- Automated and lethal. They track your movement, shoot in different directions, and have high resale value. -Ceiling Laser- A gun turret stapled to the ceiling. -T-100 Robot- You thought Skynet invented the Terminator to wipe out mankind? Wrong! The good ole Ruskies were messing about with Terminators way before John Connor did his 'savior of mankind' schpeal. As the first generation of mechanized death-dealers, these things look more like that maid robot from 'The Jetsons' than a metal endo-skeleton covered with living tissue. But they shoot scary fireballs. ********** <-Bosses-> ********** With 1.5 notable exceptions, the bosses in Rambo are super wimpy. It's kind of a let down. They're mainly upgraded versions of the basic enemies with slightly different attack patterns and new animations. A few get spinning fire projectiles that do piddling damage. But there's nothing especially interesting or challenging about any of them. Your logical response of 'dodge their attacks and shoot them until they die' is more than sufficient for victory. But for those 1.5 exceptions, and for those of you who desire crushing strategems for each boss, here's a few pointers for ya. -Giant Spider- Found scuttling about in the cave near the missing child. Rambo should take this fire-breathing monstrosity out pretty easily if he has decent weapons. Rescue the kid, approach the spider, the jump over him to the left. You'll likely get hit, but you now have a clear shot to work with. Duck and shoot exploding arrows until he explodes, and rewards you with your first heart! Giant Spider qualified as the 0.5 exception because he's kinda scary. Now go return the kid to the village -Mercenary Leader- After slogging your way through the first POW camp, rescuing your buddy, and slogging it back twice as far, this guy is a total joke. You reach the boat, Co. tells you that 'something seems wrong' and Rambo suddenly engages three mercs and their leader (your former friendly boat operator). While these guys do shoot faster than the regular grunts, and you CANNOT duck their fire, a quick salvo of exploding arrows will end the fight in seconds. If you lure the guys in the water over to the ship, you can attack without being hit. Collect heart #2, then haul ass up the mountain to the extraction point. -Biker- AND THE THIRD BOSS IS........a clown on a bike. At least I think it's a clown. You meet him after Co. springs you from your cell and are heading out towards the village. The biker cruises back and forth, occasionally popping a wheelie. Crouch, shoot an arrow or two as he approaches, then jump as he passes under you. Rinse and repeat. The only frustrating part of this fight is the unending line of grenadiers entering from the right. A staple in boss fights to come. Grab heart #3 (400 life now!) and head east to the village. -Fire Tiger- Beneath the waterfall lurks Fire Tiger, the meanest kitty in the jungle. Before engaging Fire Tiger, slash the stalactites to the right a couple dozen times to raise your combat knife level. Then slowly edge over to the left, trigger the stalactite to fall, and out comes Fire Tiger! He's like the other tigers, but throws a swarm of fireballs in your direction while pouncing back and forth. A large volley of machine gun fire will quickly end Fire Tiger. Just keep mashing the B button so he canÕt get past and launch more fireballs. If he does, slowly walk towards him and take em out from a distance. Collect heart #4 and head east through the caves. -Flying Robot - This guy reminds me of Mac Tonight, that old McDonalds character that was supposed to appeal to adults. Its the crescent moon shape. Not the fire orbs. You meet this guy guarding the Russian compound. Chop down the fence, exterminate the foot soldiers, and commence your arrow/machine gun barrage. He'll go down after about 15 shots, best taken from the mid-level barrel, so you can catch him moving up and down. Collect your fifth heart and head all the way east to find the helicopter (you need a key) BEFORE entering the compound.Checking the helicopter acts as a check point. -Sergeant Yashin- Poor Sergeant Yashin...he never had a chance to strangle RAMBO to death. Because RAMBO, being a guerilla warfare specialist, hid behind some crates and shot Yashin with his projectile weapon of choice until Yashin died. RAMBO took no damage, got his 6th heart, and booked ass to the helicopter. We will always remember you Sgt. Yashin. We will remember your fuming anger, and your adorable bobblehead. -Lieutenant Colonel Padovsky- On your way out of the 2nd POW camp, you fight Russian mastermind Lieutenant Colonel Padovsky, the machine-gun bobblehead. If you have over 200 life, walk right up to old Pad and unload on him with the machine gun until he croaks. If you have less than 200 life, you can try grenades or even jumping! Either way, once Padovsky goes down, you collect heart #7 (800 life) and the home stretch is in sight. Go east, kill a few more soldiers, and then go south to get to the chopper!! -Mil 21 Flying Fortress- Meet Mil 21 - the Flying Fortress, and the sole respectable boss fight in this game. It's sort of a given; the final boss of a game being a badass. But if you hoarded your medicine efficiently, even this intimidating sky-tank will go down easily, though not quickly. The Mil 21 takes about 40 grenades to beat, and grenades are the only thing that will cause damage. Milly unleashes an endless supply of missiles while soldiers drop down from both sides to shoot bullets and throw grenades at you. It looks hellish at first, but once you get into the rhythm of tossing a few grenades, kill the soldiers, toss a few grenades, kill the soliders, you only have to dodge the incoming missiles. Heh. Dodging missiles. But be patient. Don't run wildly around lobbing grenades, smacking yourself into missiles and soldiers. Try your best to dodge the missiles (they hurt the most and quickly kill soldiers as they appear. Toss grenades at the boss only when the soldiers aren't harassing you. The soldiers to the left replenish your grenade supply, which youÕll need repeatedly, but the soldiers on the right just drop arrows and irritate you. Kill both with grenades to avoid switching back and forth between weapons. Watch your life and chug medicine as needed. Before you know it, Mil-21 is in pieces and you're on your way home to the U.S. of A!! If you go in unprepared, lacking medicine and/or having low life, you'll likely get creamed. Worry not. You'll continue from where you rescued the 2nd POW. Go to the medicine cache in the south where you entered the camp, restock to 9 medicine and 800 life, and CAREFULLY work your way to the Mil-21 and have at em! --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð VI. THE RAMBO WAY (General Tips, Hints, and Comments on THE RAMBO WAY) THE RAMBO WAY is Acclaim's section of the game manual that offers tips on how to play the game. For the most part, it's pretty good advice. And since I like quoting the manual, let's review THE RAMBO WAY with my commentary in ()s. <-BEGIN MANUAL EXCERPT-> "Part of what makes RAMBO who he is, is his uncanny sense of resourcefulness Ñ both in combatting the enemy and in simply keeping himself alive against the hostile forces of nature. Here are a few tips for surviving the way RAMBO would. - Explore everything you can. Artillery, supplies, even help can be found in the most unusual place. (A simpler phrase might be - kill every enemy and crate at least once to find stuff.) - Take your cues from people you talk to. It's often necessary to perform one person's command or suggestion before youÕre allowed to go on. (Solid advice.) - Use your COMBAT KNIFE as oftern as you can. Rambo is so accustomed to and "in tune" with his knife that it's almost like an extension of his body. And with it, many enemies can be overcome with just one strike. (Also good advice. But in the early camps, use your arrows, as the knife is clumsy and you have little life to waste fighting hand to hand.) - If you have a choice between fighting something and avoiding it, fight it. Because in doing so you may be awarded valuable weaponry, experience points or life energy." (Not-so-good advice. They put this in here so people wouldn't skip bosses, and miss out of life points. You should fight every boss, but aside from that, you need to learn for yourself when to fight and when to flee.) <-END MANUAL EXCERPT-> Pretty decent tips, except for the last one. But they don't prepare you for some of the confusing and inconsistent parts of the game. So I've added a few proverbs to THE RAMBO WAY that will see you through from beginning to end with minimal frustration. Some points could be considered cheap, or playing it too safe. Use whatever seems applicable to your style of play. - Make a map of some sort. Or just follow the map in this guide. You REALLY NEED a map. Without a map, you are guranteed fits of rage and despair. - Hoard medicine bottles as if your life depended on it. Because it does. Find a medicine-dropping enemy/crate and stock up to 9. At all times. - Hoard ammo, then use it sparingly in tough situations. Like boss fights and enemy camps. - Pick your battles. Like the manual says, you should fight most enemies to get EXP and supplies. But some enemies give little to no reward and will quickly drain your life. Also, if youÕre in the midst of an enemy camp and low on ammo/life/patience, it may be advisable to avoid enemies. - Practice with the knife early on. You can slash about at bugs and snakes in the beginning to get accustomed to the delayed movement. Towards the end, your projectile weapons grow less and less effective, so you need good knifing skills to advance efficiently. - If you're at a checkpoint and not sure what to do next - scout ahead using only your knife. Gather some intel, and then die on purpose. You may then progress with a better plan and still have all your supplies. - When playing the game, wear a red bandana at all times. Consider running around to get yourself really sweaty and pumped up. If you're ripped as hell, consider taking your shirt off to add to the effect. - Avoid caffeine and sugar as they will increase the likelihood of eruptive cuss-storms. You're going to be cursing your head off at this game regardless, so donÕt make it any worse. - But maybe get some pretzels and an iced tea or something. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. Walkthrough Time to get serious folks (well, sort of). The walkthrough is very specific with instructions and locations of weapon caches, as this is crucial to finishing the game. IÕm pretty general about basic enemies, as you'll quickly learn to dispatch them through trial and error. If you've seen the movie, or any action war movie for that matter, you have a good idea of what will happen in regards to the story, but I'm going to avoid discussing cutscenes for those who detest spoilers. Bosses, tough enemies, confusing areas, weapon caches, and various weird things are mentioned as they come. Quotes are taken directly from the movie script, not the game's. Those that directly overlap aren't used. The quotes I did use are here because they are awesome. Onwards! <-Introduction-> You start the game with Rambo talking to Trautman at a military base. Accept the mission, walk to the left, and go south. Talk to Murdock, the fat guy in green, to learn more about your mission. He directs you to the armory, which is a door to your right. Find the correct door (there are a couple) and enter to talk Ericson. Head back north and talk to Trautman, and your mission begins! (Take note of how the 2 screens will wrap around to each other if you exit to the left or right. This phenomana, though sometimes useful, can become downright hellish later in the game when youÕre unclear on where to go. It also only occurs on certain screens, and to top it off, it sometimes only occurs if you exit from a certain direction. Sound confusing? Just wait...) Trautman: John I want you to try and forget the war. Remember the mission. The old Vietnam's dead. Rambo: Sir I'm alive, it's still alive, ain't it? <-Area 1-> Here you meet Co., your contact in Vietnam, and practice some gameplay basics before beginning your mission in earnest. A small intro area. You'll meet your basic jungle baddies here, begin your knife training as you head east, then north, then east to find the boat. The guy here doesn't like strangers, so go all the way west, then work your way north to meet Co. Talk to her, have a chuckle as she mimicks your every step and hop, then head south twice to the boat. With Co. in tow, you may now cross the river. You do actually have to move east in the water to enter area 2. If you get lost, consult the map. If you die, don't worry, you have infinte continues from your last checkpoint, and you get to keep your knife EXP plus any weapons you picked up (only a few arrows and throwing knives so far). DO NOT USE ANY MEDICINE as those do not reset to 5 after dying, and you need all of them for later. Co Bao: Why did they pick you? Because you like to fight? Rambo: I'm expendable. Co Bao: What mean expendable? Rambo: It's like someone invites you to a party and you don't show up. It doesn't really matter. <-Area 2-> Here you save a missing child, infiltrate the 1st POW camp, free the POW, retrace your steps to the beginning of the area, then climb the mountain to the extraction point. Area 2 is LARGE, so try to remember where you are if possible. You can item-farm to full ammo/medicine at any time in area 2. I recommed farming all at once, either right away, or directly after the village checkpoint. Before you go storming off to save the day, talk to Co. on the boat. Then head east into a field to meet Co. again. She suggests going to the village. The village is to the east, north, north in the dark cave, then east again( on the screen with the floating skulls. In the village enter the hut to learn of the missing child. This is your 2nd checkpoint. Talk to the villager just east of the hut to receive the lamp. Now you can see inside the caves! At this point I would highly recommend item-farming some enemies to get some weapons and more medicine for the upcoming caves. You don't have to now, or ever really if you find it tedious. But getting stuck later on without a good supply of arrows and medicine will make things ugly. First thing is to go ALL the way back to the boat where you arrived with Co. From there go left. And then, oddly enough, go right. (This is one of the horrible map shenanigans that I alluded to earlier. When you leave the boat screen to the left, you effectively move west three screens, and have to now backtrack east) Go north to reach gorilla valley. The first gorilla to the right of the OSO holds a medicine bottle. This guy is clutch, so remember where he is. Go east. You will meet some tigers. The first tiger you encounter has a machine gun. So between medicine gorilla and machine gun tiger, farm back and forth until you have 9 medicine, 99 bullets, and full health (using medicine as you take damage). Go back to the boat. Head as far east as you can go. The 2nd of two bats on this screen drops exploding arrows (me favorite). Farm those to 99. Head back to the floating skull area just outside the village. One of the two skulls drops regular arrows. Farm to 99. If you want grenades, theyÕre in a few places, closest of which is in a random wasp one screen east of the field with Co. These arenÕt the only locations for these items, and you may find some areas you prefer to gather supplies. I've described these specific areas as I find them the easiest to locate and collect quickly. As always, check the map for reference if you need help or get lost. If you've done all that, or even just the medicine and a few weapons, you're clear to head to the caves and save the kid! From the village, head east, then north into the caves, north again, and then east into (GASP) fire snakes and falling stalactites! Avoid both of these as they do heavy damage. Keep going east until you see a long vertical pit. Fall down it. Now it's time for boss no. 1 Giant Spider! Before killing giant spider, go east from where you fell to talk to and rescue the missing child. Now go left, hop over the giant spider and his fire balls so youÕre on even ground, and shoot him to death with arrows. Heal if necessary during the fight. Once he dies, you get +100 life to your total life (200 now) and your life is restored to 200. This excellent life bonus occurs after every boss. Exit west, then south out of the caves, then back to the village. Your health is restored and youÕre now raring to go find the POWs!! At this point I insist you stock up on medicine, arrows, and exploding arrows. YouÕll want them. Go back to the field by the boat with Co. Go south to enter the water area. Go east and then south at the first junction. You are now at the first part of bubble bridge, and the bubbles do hurt. (As do the angry flamingos) Go west, then south, then east. You are now at the second bubble bridge, but this time, you have to cross the entire bridge WITHOUT getting hit by bubbles. Absurd and Zelda 2-esque, you have to deal with it. After the bridge, keep heading east until Co. stops you and Rambo heads into the POW camp alone (apparently sheÕs been behind you, or riding in your pocket this whole time). Here in the POW camp, shit is about to get real. You now fight HUMAN enemies! And they have GUNS! And jumpkicks and clubs and lots of anger towards Rambo. Head east, using your arrows to dispatch soldiers from a healthy distance. Go north at the first junction. Head west, smiting communists and clubbers for freedom, then go north again. This is the top, or northernmost section of the camp. Careful crossing the bridge section as you are knocked down if you get hit by anything (All bridges in Vietnam are as thin as balance beams, so it's hard to stay on when you get shot.) Go all the way east to find the POW! You have to cut away the fence with your knife to talk to him. Instead of following MurdockÕs orders, choose the honorable route. You now have to escape with your POW buddy, and go ALLLLL the way back to the boat where you first arrived with Co. This is hard. Because now every screen is filled with murderous Viet Cong, not just fish and flamingos. You essentially retrace all of your steps from the last two paragraphs. But there are two shortcuts to speed things along. The first is just west of the POW cell. Go south instead of west across the bridge. Then work your way back to bubble bridge. Jump down in the water, and if you look, thereÕs an ONO path leading up to the first bubble bridge area!! From here go east, north, west, and north, slogging your way through VC, missile bombardments, and of course, angry flamingos. When you finally make it back to the boat and Co. talk to her, and you get to fight boss #2 Ñ Mercenary Leader!! Jump off the boat to the left, slash his buddy with the combat knife, and then slash him. He should die in 1-2 hits. After dealing with these chumps, head west and north to gorilla valley, where you farmed medicine and machine guns earlier (hopefully). Stop for a bit to restock medicine, and machine gun ammo if you like (BUT ALWAYS RESTOCK ON MEDICINE WHEN YOU CAN!!!) Go east, north, and west to arrive at the boulder cliff. Here you have to do a bit of fancy jumping to get across the rock platforms while avoiding the boulders. If you get hit and fall, you go back to gorilla valley and have to try again. If you make it, keep going west, and youÕll say goodbye to Co. Run to the right under missile bombardment to meet the helicopter! Jump, then press up to make contact. (DonÕt hold up on the d-pad before jumping, you have to press up in mid-air AFTER hitting A to contact the chopper. Except you don't quite make it. Rambo is captured by a Russian commando force and imprisoned. Things aren't looking good for the team here. But a friend soon comes to the rescue. Lt. Col. Podovsky: [while torturing Rambo] You may scream. There is no shame. <-Area 3-> In Area 3, you control Co. for a short bit to spring Rambo from prison, escape east to the waterfall, infiltrate the Russian base, and fly out on a stolen helicopter. There are four bosses in area 3, but the layout is a bit more linear, almost exclusively going east towards the end of the Russian base. Some difficult new enemies appear, and you need to upgrade your combat knife to at least level 4 to navigate the Russian warehouses with ease. So slash bad guys when you can. The area begins with a scene with Rambo in prison. You then take control of Co., who walks slow, canÕt fight, but does look pretty sexy in a Vietnamese Ao Dai (a silk dress). Anyway, start by having Co. enter the hut to her right to get some medicine. Then talk to the guy further to the right. Pick the dress option. In your suggestive new outfit, head west into the Russian prison area. Talk to the guard at the left to gain access inside. Now you need to enter the large house to pose as the generalÕs wife to some officer guy. After gaining his trust, and the prison key, go all the way west to spring Rambo and get back to business (the business of slaughtering communists and wildlife while looking for POWs to rescue). AAANNNNDDDDDD we're back to playing as Rambo! But he's in the middle of a prison camp. Fortunately, the Ruskies set all of Rambo's stuff just outside of his cell, so the instant you get out, you can start firing away at Uncle Ivan's cronies. Work your way east out of the camp towards the village. Halfway there you meet boss #3 N Biker Clown!! (I have yet to confirm Biker Clown's status as an actual clown...but he sure looks like one, so that's what we're calling him. Besides, Biker Clown is a much better title than just "Biker" or "Russian on a Motorcycle". Visually, audibly, and conceptually, I think we can all agree that this boss should be named Biker Clown.) Kill the first coupla grenadiers in the area, then approach Biker Clown. Duck and shoot stuff as he wheelies toward you. Jump over him, duck, and shoot some more until he dies. We'll miss you Biker Clown. As you keep moving east, avoid the grenadiers or dispatch them quickly. They hurt quite a bit. Get to the town, go in the hut, and Rambo gets some his fighting mojo back (his health is restored). Head out east over the waterfall, but like the bridges in area 2, donÕt get hit or youÕll fall and have backtrack. Move to the center of the waterfall jump down, and look for an "N" block that leads into a cave. Hop down and over the ÔNÕ, and get ready for boss #4 Fire Tiger!! Fire Tiger is a Buddhist tiger that attempted to protest the Vietnam war by burning himself to death in Saigon. Much to his chagrin, Fire Tiger quickly discovered that he was immortal, and could not self-immolate. Ashamed of his failure, Fire Tiger fled to a distant waterfall cave, where he hid until Rambo found him. When you enter the cave, slowly move to the left to trigger Fire TigerÕs blazing fireball pounce attack. You'll take some damage as he is rather quick, but a quick volley of arrows will bring him down. Now at 500 life (yay), proceed east through the cave, being careful NOT to fall down in the green muck. As you likely guessed, this knocks Rambo down, and youÕll have to backtrack. Once out of the cave, you'll move east and be on top of another waterfall. Drop down on the far right. You'll see Co. in her fancy dress at the bottom, but DO NOT TALK TO HER. This does act as a checkpoint, but you don't need it because you have plenty of medicine right? You've still got 5+ bottles right? If youÕre close to death with no medicine, little ammo, and youÕve already killed Fire Tiger and Clown Biker, then go back to village (or just die intentionally) and heal at the village hut. From the basin of the waterfall where you see Co. and Russian soldiers, go east. You're now at the Russian base! Most soldiers here are strong vs. all of your projectile weapons, so itÕs time to bust out the combat knife. Work your way east until you hear the music for boss #5 Ñ Flying Robot! You first have to cut down a fence with your knife, then eliminate the foot soldiers, and then tackle Flying Robot. Jump up to a mid-level barrel (he flies up and down diagonally so this allows you to hit him more frequently). and unleash your machine gun volley of death. He explodes and you get a heart. Now proceed all the way to the east to find a helicopter. Press up in front of it. You'll find you require a key to operate this whirlie-bob. More importantly, you just made a checkpoint before you go a-looking for said key, which is hidden deep within the Russian warehouse complex (the buildings you ran by earlier). Head back west and select your target: warehouse 1 on the same screen as Flying Robot has ammo and medicine. Warehouse 2 is just to the east, by the spiky balls, and holds the helicopter key. You must go through warehouse 2 to proceed to area 4, but warehouse 1 is optional. I personally recommend just going for the key and getting out of there as there is easily accesible ammo and medicine in area 4. But if youÕre really low on ammo, or just want to explore a Russian warehouse full of weird enemies, read on. If you want get the key, skip the follwing paragraph. Warehouse 1 is strange, both in layout and in how you access the 2 different parts of the layout. Despite entering through the same door on the Flying Robot screen, the direction you enter this screen determines which of the 2 parts you'll enter at. To clarify, if you enter from the east, from Warehouse 2 and the helicopter pad, you'll begin Warehouse 1 next to some machete guys. If you backtrack across the screen, then enter from the east, you'll trigger the boss music (though Flying Robot is no more) and can now enter Warehouse 1 and begin near some hopping skeletons (the best enemy in the game Ñ see enemy section for details). You want to enter by the skeletons, as this entrance allows you access to MEDICINE, which you always want. Ammo of various types can be found by slashing various foes throughout the entire warehouse. It's plentiful, so IÕm only going to describe how to get to the medicine and get out. Enter by the skeletons, pause for a savor their unique existence, then go west. Intentionally drop down a screen, then on the following screen, hop down through the orange platform. Proceed east and stop. You now want to bait the soldiers over to you slowly so you ARE NOT knocked down a level, and thus miss your medicine cahce. Slowly lure and kill all the soliders, then proceed east to a screen with many barrels. The second skeleton to your right drops a medicine bottle. Restock, heal, and restock some more. When youÕre ready, go back west, drop down, and exit to the east, past some machete dudes. Warehouse 2 is where you'll find the helicopter key...and Predators. From the entrance head east and up the steps, the go south. On the new screen, drop down and head west, quickly taking the north junction. From here, go west, and you'll be in an odd room with spiky balls, several doors, and some ledges to drop down in the middle. Drop down to the bottom level of the same screen, break some crates, and enter the door. Rambo gets the key, and Sgt. Yashin appears from somewhere to challenge you. As boss #6 D Sargeant Yashin boasts a mean, lunging bear hug attack...or something. Knock out some of the crates and shoot him to death from behind your blockade. Goodbye Yashin. Drop down again in the center, and drop down again on the next screen. Now keep heading east and go north at the first junction. Go west and you're back in the entrance area with the cuttable fence and Predators. Exit, head east, and enter the helicopter! John Rambo: Sir, do we get to win this time? You do now. <-Area 4-> In area 4, you infiltrate the second POW camp, rescue your buddy, fight swarms of beefy Russians, and a pretty tough end boss. Area 4 has two boss fights, plenty of ammo and medicine, tons of bad guys, and packages it all into one relatively small map (double-yay!) You may have noticed another helicopter flying behind yours in the jungle cutscene. But it doesnÕt engage or help you...strange eh? You'll meet up with mystery chopper soon enough. But first a POW rescue is in order! Go south from the helicopter screen and get ready to slog it out with Russia's finest commandos in the Nam. The first screen you enter with bad guys contain a medicine bottle in the central stack of crates. REMEMBER THIS. Stock up to max life and bottles, then head west. Go north at the junction, work your way east over the bridge (you can get hit and drop down here, as one of the enemies has J block for ya), and go all the way east to rescue the POW! Head all the way back west (3 screens) and go north. Go east one screen to meet boss #7 N Lieutenant Colonel Padovsky. Feed him 15 bullets and he's back to Mother Russia. You obtain heart #7 and max out your health at 800! Move east while trying your hardest not to take damage, and then go south to encounter your mystery helicopter friend from earlier, it's boss #8 - Mil-21, The Flying Fortress!! Unlike every previous boss, this guy is one tough son of a gun. You NEED 9 medicine and 500+ health to have a good shot at him. I've wrote at length on how to tackle this sky-tank in the enemies and FAQ sections, so I'll keep things simple here. Kill the soldiers as soon as they drop, keep throwing grenades, and dodge the missiles as best you can. You needpatience to win this one. Stay calm, heal as necessary, and you'll eventually bring em down. Enter your own helicopter to head back home to the U.S. of A.! <-Conclusion-> Back at the base, make sure to confront Murdock and speak with Co. prior to talking to Trautman, as his conversation triggers the final scenes. Don't forget to shoot Murdock, and enjoy your victory! --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð VIII. Maps --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð ***These maps are taken from Arocoun's Map Guide on GameFaqs*** As it clearly states in his guide, anyone is free to use or expand on his work. Overall I think they're great. They might seem confusing at first, but once you find a landmark to establish a reference point, they can be a HUGE help in navigating the game. I only changed a few things, mainly for clarification of the confusing areas. ---Map Legend--- ==========COMPASS========== |/N\ UP | |w+E and occasionally ^v | |\S/ DOWN| =========================== _ = One area ___ = Field (a series of areas of same height/latitude) -_ OR Means when you go through side of field with the dash, you go to _- = the opposite side of the field (or sometimes just the opposite side OR of the area) -_- # = An important note, and advisable order of progress ^ <_> = One way trip from area (v can mean you fall, too) v _ | = Area above and area below connect (with doors or N/S squares) _ _ \ = Means a fall from the area above _ <-Area 1-> 0--Start 1--Co 2--Boat (need Co before you can proceed) 1 | ___ | v __2 | 0_ <-Area 2-> 0--Start, boat; you get betrayed here after you leave base, then boss battle and heart; 0 dissappears after betrayal 1--Co 2--Dead end; a bat has explosive arrows 3--Small cave, dark until you get lamp 4--Village, lamp, rest (after rescue) 5--Cave with kid, need lamp 7--Fall from 6--Kid, Giant Spider, go left to get out 9--Bridge; get to 9 through 8 to cross; safest to jump under the bridge and go north to leave base A--Enemy base (you leave Co behind) C--Bridge; get to C through B to cross D--POW E--Repeating dead end, just go right to leave F--Medicine gorilla G--You say goodbye to Co; jump to heli and press up; get abandoned -_6- | \ G___ -5- 7 v| | __ -_4- | | F_ -3- | | E___01__2 | ____ BC_D v| ||v ___ ____ || | 89_<--->A___ <-Area 3-> 0--Rambo starts here 1--Biker Clown 2--Town, rest 3--Cave, Fire Tiger 4--Basin of 2nd waterfall. Co. is here 5--Robot Guard; door leads to 6 if you enter the screen from the west (boss music playing) Door leads to 7 if you enter the screen from east 8--Door leads to area 9, the building where key is A--Key, Yashin B--Helicopter (need key first) 0_ 6-or-7 (continued) | | __1__2__ 3____ |9 (continued below) ^ \| \ \ || | _ | 4__58B | \v |<---_ ======= | _6 | | v | | __M | Warehouse 1: Ammo and Medicine | v | M = Medicine Cache | _7 | ======= ======= | A_9_| | v| || Warehouse 2: Helicopter Key | ____| A = Key ======= <-Area 4-> 0--You land here; after you rescue POW, 0 is helicopter boss 1--Bridge 2--Go east for POW 3--Padovsky (heart) _3__ | v _120 ^ vv ____ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ð IX. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Q: Why is RAMBO a Zelda 2 clone? A: RAMBO's story goes like this: The game's developer, Pack-In-Video, released RAMBO in Japan on December 4, 1987 and in May of 1988 in North America. Nintendo released Zelda 2 in Japan on September 26, 1988, and in North America on Decmber 1, 1988. Looking at these dates, RAMBO precedes Zelda by about nine months, making Zelda 2 a clone of RAMBO! But wait, thereÕs more... Nintendo's FIRST release of Zelda 2 was for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan on January 14, 1987. From a video clip IÕve seen it looks identical to its NES counterparts. So Zelda 2 WAS ACTUALLY FIRST, dispelling all this AVGN, internet nonsense. The logical conclusion is that in between Zelda 2Õs initial Disk release in January of 1987, and Pack-In-Video's release of Rambo in December of 1987, Pack-In-Video saw, and then reverse engineered Zelda 2Õs basic coding structure to create RAMBO, which was then published by Acclaim. It's highly unlikely that Nintendo, a well-established gaming company in 1987, would rip off the interface of Pack-In-VideoÕs first NES game ever. While they did make several decent MSX games earlier, RAMBO was their first NES title. A firstborn game-child that was, in fact, a Zelda 2 clone, hastily constructed to cash in on a movie license. But everybody's gotta start somewhere eh? They did choose a great game to clone, thus placing RAMBO above other truly despicable NES movie based games. And Acclaim, the game's publisher, made amends to the gaming world for this theft by bringing us all the bloody glory that is Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat 2. As for Pack-in-Video, they made more mediocre Q: WhatÕs the best weapon to use to fight (x) enemy? A: The short answer is to use your combat knife on most enemies to conserve ammo for bosses and difficult areas. But also take into account your life, your medicine bottle count, and how far you have until the next checkpoint. You may need to use 80 exploding arrows in a row if youÕre surrounded by communists and far from help. Q: Do the throwing knives equal the power of the combat knife? A: Sadly, no. At higher levels the combat knife is almost always more powerful than any of your projectile weapons, grenades included. Except in boss fights. Then damage ratios go out the window, and most bosses adhere to the Ô15 hits from something and IÕm deadÕ rule. Q: Who's that miniature guy that randomly appears from the top of the screen in the Russian compund? What does it do when I get him? A: Not sure. A viewer of a Youtube ÔLetÕs Play Rambo NES' suggested that he was the Konami Man. But this isnÕt a Konami game, though there is a resemblance to Konami man. It doesnÕt seem to do much of anything. Q: Why doesnÕt my password work?!? A: The letters in the password section use a horribly confusing font. Letters and numbers can easily be misinterpreted, and so hours of work can be undone because the lowercase "l" looks very similar to the number "1". Some people have even said that they were 100% CERTAIN their password was correct and the game still didn't accept it. I wouldn't be surprised. Some of the programming in this game is absolutely terrible. The solution to this debacle is to keep multiple passwords for each spot...or if playing on an emulator, use savestates as a backup. Q: ARRGGGHHH!! That @#$%ing chopper is impossible!! Help!! A: IÕve seen some posts where people seem to have real trouble with beating the Mil-21 helicopter final boss. I think this is a result of the game being fairly easy otherwise, and thus the player has no experience fighting tough bosses. In addition to what I wrote in the boss strategy section, IÕll simply reiterate and expand on two points: 1. Enter the fight with 9 medicine bottles and 600+ life. If you take more damage than that getting to the boss area, go back, restock on life/medicine, and CAREFULLY work your way to the boss. Shoot a lot of exploding arrows to quickly eliminate enemies. Having near full life/medicine will greatly help. 2. During the boss fight, kill the soldiers ASAP whenever they appear, then attack Mil-21 while dodging the missiles to the best of your ability. Weaving through missiles while tossing grenades takes practice, and you will get hit. Just stay calm, keep fighting at a reasonable pace, (though you do have to keep up a fairly steady grenade barrage Ñ this guy takes 40 hits and if you focus mainly on dodging, heÕll outlast you) and heal when you get low on life. You are RAMBO. You CAN destroy that super-helicopter. Q: How do I save Co. from dying at the waterfall? A: Don't talk to her there. If you don't open up the conversation window, which serves as a checkpoint, then the scene where Co. is killed never takes place. You then save Co. and she appears in a few subsequent scenes. Q: What's with the glowing kanji RAMBO shoots back at the base?!? What does it mean? Why does Murdock turn into a frog? A: In the movie, RAMBO extracts a much more violent revenge on Murdock than the folks at Acclaim probably wanted to depict, so they added the glowing kanji to tie up loose ends. From what I can gather on Wikipedia, the character means "rage, anger, passion Ð a slave to oneÕs passions". So after returning home to confront Murdock, RAMBO's anger is unleashed in a representational glowing kanji format. Not sure about the frog...his punishment for betraying a tempestuous Vietnam veteran and his POW friends I suppose. Q: WhatÕs up with all these weird enemies? Why are the cutscene animations so awful? And the Bobble-head bosses? Fire-Tigers? Angry Flamingos? What the... A: For a full discussion regarding the many colorful oddities and non sequiturs found in RAMBO, please read the following section. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð X. Understanding RAMBO <-SPOILERS-> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please note that this section is not meant to belittle or trash RAMBO. That's what game reviews are for. This section is here to try and explain why this game turned out the way it did, and to enjoy some of the weirder aspects of the game. Part analysis, part history, and part humor. Enjoy. Good lord where to begin... If you havenÕt noticed by now, this game is pretty darn strange. Even for a early Nintendo game based on a movie (those usually turned out a bit funky). There are three main reasons for this. 1. Lazy programming - As evidenced by the fact that Pack-In-Video/Acclaim ripped off the gameÕs interface from Zelda 2, itÕs obvious the creators did not place a high value on originality. The game makes clear that whenever something from Zelda 2Õs lexicon did not mesh easily with RAMBO's, they just made up some gibberish or used stock bad guys to fill in the blanks. EXAMPLES: The skeleton, the machete guy, the angry flamingo, fire tiger, etc. 2. Poor translation Ñ Standard Engrish translation from overseas. While many games, even very good games, suffer from this disease, Acclaim has no excuse as the source material was English to begin with. All they had to do was copy the script from the movie into abbreviated cutscenes. EXAMPLES: Trautman: What are you going to do now? Rambo: Day by day. Villlager: Oh, what's on your mind, just let me know. Would you like to buy this dress? Co.: I can't go without this rifle. Russian: You must be the general's wife. Co.: No. I'm looking for some. And my personal favorite Ñ the final congraulatory message. "Thank you for trying" 3. The programmers wanted a laugh - How else do you explain racist bobbleheads and RAMBO telling Trautman, ÒI feel better in prison.Ó Not really digital Easter Eggs, more of a blatant sabotage of the gameÕs overall aesthetic. My personal theory is that the companies realized they had a pretty mediocre game on their hands, so they let programmers put in some oddball humor for kicks. Nowadays, in-game humor is commonplace in many titles. But back in the eighties, you fought bad guys, rescued the princess, and saved the world. No jokes allowed in the 8-bit realm. The only laughs you could find were from bad translations, bizarre game glitches, and horrible animation Unintentional stuff. A few games tried to be kind of goony Ñ Tiny Toons, Solar Jetman, some of the Disney games, but not like RAMBO. I mean this is some ridiculous shit. EXAMPLES: RAMBO's deformed yokel-esque cutscene animations. RAMBOÕs kanji attack that turns Murdock into a frog. RAMBO asking Co. "What do you think of me?" when they first meet. --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð XI. Beastiary Enemy Damage EXP ----- ------ --- spider 4 1 wasp 4 2 bird 4 1 fish 4 2 tiger 4 2 b. tiger 12 5 ape 16 20 flamingo 8 5 skull 6 10 bat 8 2 swoop bat 8 2 fire snake 6 or 16 5 stalactite 20 50 boulder 8 n/a bubble 8 n/a log 20 n/a missile 12 5 green s. 12 5 green o. 4 5 clubber 12 20 blue s. 12 5 blue o. 12 5 red s. 12 10 red o. 16 10 merc 12 10 fire guy 12 20 grenadier 16 10 water balloner 16 10 russian o. 24 10 fire sentry 24 1 purple russian 24 50 or 2 skeleton 24 item machete 24 item kicker 28 100 or 2 bazooka 28 100 or 2 mine 36 0 spike ball 28 100 predator 28 200 shield guard 28 200 celing laser 28 1 boxer 32 200 robot 32 500 dark green o. 32 200 purple commando 32 200 helicopter dude 24 item Bosses Fire Spider 12 Heart Mercenary Leader 12 Heart Clown Biker 16 Heart Tire Tiger 20 Heart Robot 24 Heart Yashin 28 Heart Padovsky 32 Heart Mil-21 32 VICTORY --------------------------------------------------------------------------Ð XII. About the Author & Closing Notes Whew it's over. This is my first ever video game strategy guide/FAQ. I choose Rambo of all games because it made me laugh out loud more than a few times. The awful/weird aesthetic of certain Nintendo games has a special place in my heart. I am a fan of retro-gaming, mainly NES titles, but anything with unique or fun gameplay will likely hold my attention. I teach art, draw comics, and enjoy a spicy Bloody Mary. Please feel free to write me with any comments or questions Rambo related. Put something in the title like, 'Rambo-FAQ Question' so I know its not spam. And I'm waiting for those skeleton jokes people. Thanks to Warhawk for help with editing, and organizing the bestiary. Thanks to Arocoun for his excellent maps. Thanks to Pack-In-Video and Acclaim for making this game. And for you dear reader, I give the same final words of gratitude offered by the game's translators upon Rambo's victorious mission... THANK YOU FOR TRYING!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------