________ _ ____ _____ _ _ ___ .'_____ _) ' ||__ ' / ____ | ||||___\ |'---. || .'.||| || |'--. | - || || ___|| ||.'. ||| // _____.'||... ||.--- (____.' |_' ._. \_______/ | ||||| _.._ _._ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ | |. | |'.| |. | | /| \ /| \ /| \ | | | | | | '| | / | |/ | |/ | \ | | | | | | | |/ | | | | | \ | | | | | _____/ | ___ | |_ __/ | --- | | _____ | | |__| | | |____ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '--' | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---- | | | | | | | ___ | | | | | | | | | -- | | .-----' | | / \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | '_____ | '---' | | | | -- | | _ _| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |\ \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \ \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \ \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \ \ |__|__|___|__|_______|___|__________|____|_____|_____|_______|__|___|___\___\ :.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:..:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:. Starship Hector Version 1.0 (10/04/2008) Version History: 1.0: Basic Guide Complete - (10/04/2008) Written for the NES FAQ Completion Project - faqs.retronintendo.com .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:..:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:. Legality: This Guide is Copyright, 2008, Matthew McIntyre This guide may not be used on a website or in any public forum where it is protected by copyright without the consent of the author. To contact me: entropiclobo(at)yahoo(dot)ca or chaos(dot)wolf(at)gmail(dot)com Websites with permission to use this Guide: www.GameFAQS.com www.neoseeker.com faqs.IGN.com www.1up.com www.honestgamer.com Game by Hudson ****************************************************************************** * Table of Contents * ****************************************************************************** *To jump to a section, hold the Control Key and press F, then type in the section number as it appears (ie type SSH1) SSH1: Intro SSH2: Gameplay SSH3: Walkthrough SSH3.1: History 1 SSH3.2: History 2 SSH3.3: History 3 SSH3.4: History 4 SSH3.5: History 5 SSH3.6: History 6 SSH4: Enemies SSH5: Secret SSH6: Credits Starship Hector is rated "H" for "History." It contains scenes of scorned sarcophagi and sarcastic statues. Player discretion is advised. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | SSH1: Intro | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Many of the shmups on the NES stay in one orientation. Others, like the amazing Life Force try to do alternating orientations. It's hard to pull this off while keeping a reasonable amount of balance. Starship Hector manages to pull it off, as it alternates between horizontal and vertical views. The themes are kept consistent and there are enough differences between the scrolling types that they are fresh. Most sources point to Hector as being part of the Star Soldier series. If this is so, it's vastly different fromt he rest of them. This is _never_ a bad thing, to try something new. The areas of Hector are more distinct than those before it and the bosses have more identity. That's great. It's a fairly standard NES shmup, all said and done, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a go by any stretch of the imagination. It's fun, after all. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | SSH2: Gameplay | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Starship Hector is a standard shmup. You must fly through a level, called a "History" int his game while fighting waves of enemies and dodging obstacles. At the end of each level is a Boss, this boss once destroyed will end the stage. You have a life meter in the game, after which it runs out you lose a life. Even though you have a health meter, you cans till only take a handful of hits (three is a good average) and some enemies will knock almost all of your life meter out in a single hit. There is hope, however, as hitting certain structures will release small health items that when collected restore a bar of health. Pretty piddling, but it could save your hide. Keep in mind, however, that once you die you must start fromt he very start of\ the level. Ouch. Control Pad: Movement A: Bomb B: Gun The bomb hits ground targets and the gun hits targets on the same plane as your ship. Now there are two types of scrolling - vertical and horizontal. Vertical view means you are flying over objects and bombs are the only way to harm ground targets. It is viewed from the top. Horizontal means you must fly around targets and your bomb flies down in an arc from the starship. This can still hit foes beneath you, but you can line up with enemies for your gun to hit them if you must. It is viewed from the side. *Scoring Modes are also available. Try to score as much as possible in the given time (either 2 or 5 minutes). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | SSH3: Walkthrough | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= There are six levels in all, known as "Histories." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SSH3.1: History 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orientation: Vertical Remember, it's important to note that you have two attacks. One hits grounds targets and the other strikes air. As the first History starts, you are out over water. There are four black structures here. Fall back and fire multiple times on each of them with your bomb and fire your normal shot ont he two ships here. Stay back. Sticking back, fire your bomb shots at the large plates in the ground that open but fire your forward shot simultaneously to take out the aircraft. I'd say pick the righthand side, and the top left one and you should be able to get all of these. The black orbs that appear? Fire at them from afar as they can explode. By the way, the plates generate these black spheres. After the plates, there will be some turrets and blue, circular ships. The blue ships sometimes have erratic movement but concentrate on the turrets as they are more persistent and numerous. Stay to the left as you fly forwards. Cells will start to arrive onscreen. They can take a beating but ultimately are harmless. Fine, destroy the turrets and then work on the cells. There will be two squids here as well. There may not be enough time to destroy them, so worry about evasion. As you approach the strange tree, which you must have seen previously by now, hit it with the ground shot to release a few capsules that restore your energy. Destroy the turret as youc ontinue, ignore the squid. Stay central on the ground path here and destroy the ground plate asap. Once it is destroyed, pick a side and work on those turrets. Even as you approach the cells ahead, stick to once side and concentrate on the turrets - so yes, skip the squid. As you leave, there will be a tree, so refill as much life as possible. Destroy the turret to the left of the tree and the ground plate to the right. Stay in the lower right corner as the pink brain arrives to dodge it's large shield. It will compact the shield and send it forward. Start firing on this shield right away until it blow. Pump a few shots intot he blue brain coming forward then stay away from the bottom as the brown back robot arrives. Instead of pursuing this robot, take out the middle string of turrets and the ground plate toward the end. There's a tree to lick your wounds after the ground plate. The squids, of course, dodge them. Pull back at the end and shoot down one of the blue brains that arrive, at the very least. Once both are down or at least one, destroy the two ground plates ahead. Take care, as their black spheres will already be exploding. Destroy all of the black spheres remainign while they are still a good distance away. The white aircraft here will fire and fly on and off the screen. Nevermind the squids, concentrate on the aircraft and any turrets. Stay away fromt he very bottom of the screen when you see blue brains again. They signal that brown robots will appear from behind. Try to take out the turret on the right at this point as most robots gravitate toward the left. Some small chaser enemies will arrive. Dodge them as they fly towards you, at the same time pull back and fire at them. There's a tree at the end of this area. As you approach the pyramid, work on destroying the turrets in front of it, then on top of it. Fire your air shot as well, but any ships hit are merely casualties of trying to destroy the turrets. The next pyramid has four ground plates. Start to maul them as soon as they arrive. There's white ships and blue circle ships here but the ground plates are the priority as you don't want that many black spheres in one general area. But as per usual, you will be firing both guns so you should be taking out ships in tandem anyways. The boss is just ahead. ******************************************************************************* BOSS ******************************************************************************* This boss is essentially a battery of cannons. The central cannons can be taken down last and the side cannons are the first target. Use the groudn shot. The centrals fire masses of swirling shots while the side cannons fire normal shots. So, you will sometimes have dodge away from what you are doing, though mostly the swirly shot goes straight down the middle. As you approach the boss, start to bomb the sides. Destory the bottom cannon on each side, then the second cannon on each. Alternate between them. Once half of the ground cannons are destroyed concentrate on destroying all of the cannons on one side, then all of those on the other. Now for the central cannons. Stick to one for at least three hits. When the missiles appear in the turret, fire ground shots at the turret and it should blow up a missile while still inside of the turret. Normally, you should hit more than one missile, but either way use your air gun on any missiles launched at you as you dodge away. Once the missile blows up, it can't fire missiles from the same area anymore. So, if you disable at least 3 on each side (or all) and then do the same on the other turret, the two of them will be very easy to manage. But remember, the missiles must be hit as they appear in the launcher. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SSH3.2: History 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orientation: Horizontal I can't be certain, but I believe this one takes place underwater...? Either way, this is the first horizontal level so get used to the difference in the ground shot, it lobs forward like a typical horizontal shooter bomb. As you head right, constantly fire both weapons. stay high, those statues will fire at you and you won't be taking them down anytime soon. However, the white fish will take after you and the pink molluscs will open to fire at you. The white fish are priority. Take them out as you dodge the molluscs. Further right, some pink enemies will fly onscreen and gravitate to the left, fly up the side, fly forward, and explode into three shots. The best way to destroy them is to fly to the upper left corner and drop bombs on them, dodging any shots coming your way from other foes. That grey building will unleash a few large white bolts, they can be bombed and offer no resistance. Just always look out for those pink bursters. The white pipe on the bottom launches out healing items when you bomb it. Otherwise stay higher up. The small grey ovoid ships wil fly forward in a slight sinousoid but the real threats are the grey jumpers. When they leap up, start firing at them asap. They take a bit of a beating but are soon dropped. You will approach a building now. Stay lined up with the door. --Inside-- Inside here there are many white ships and yellow eyes. Stay high and keep firing both weapons. Your bombs will roll down steps so yes, you are very much prepared to fight those yellow eyes. You will start hitting these yellow eyes from afar as your bombs travel across the floor. Gun them down when they jump - and they jump when hit. Keep firing at white ships until an eye jumps, then concentrate on that. From behind, there will be an orange bird. Let it get a bit onscreen, then dodge back as it will dive down at you. So move back and fire at it before it flies back. The saucers to the right will fly up to the top and start firing bursts of three shots. Now, pink bursters will arrive fromt he right as the column of fire rages through the cave. However, they are orange, but have the same behaviour. You will need to take them out as they arrive, otherwise you will have to dodge their burst. After the fire dies down, fly up and take the uppe rpath here. The saucers on the bottom are a pain in the ass, but there's only bursters up above past the entrance saucer turret. The tunnel up ahead has three saucer turrets. Deal with them as well as you can though dodging may be the best course of action. There's another column of fire up ahead. There's two triple turret-esque enemies just ahead, they're paired. Take the top guy, fly up in line with its body and it won't be able to fire at you. The bottom can. We take the top guy in the event the turrets we just past hit us as we are low and in their trajectory. The pair will remain, so bomb it if you can, but don't worry about it. There's a white pipe just after the pair, so refill a bit of life here. What can I say about the section coming up? There's molluscs here so just dodge when they open. When the yellow eyes pass by down below, stick tot he lower half of the screen and take out the grey leapers with bombs. Destroy the first turret before the tunnel coming up. This whole past section is very tight and will require skilled flying. In the tunnel, stay low and dodge the diving birds as they appear. Keep an eye on the turrets, you can't destroy them all. The purple section is the worst because a diving bird will take up the whole tunnel making it impossible to avoid unless timed exactly right. Destroy the first turret in the purple section then hug the ground. When the bird arrives quickly pull up with the ship to avoid it then destroy the bird before it can come back. Dodge the remaining two turrets by passing after they fire and you will be at the boss. ******************************************************************************* BOSS ******************************************************************************* This guy's really a lot less trouble than his stage itself. The giant stone worm will move up and down firing shots. When it opens its mouth, it shoots a line of fire. However, when it shoots this line of fire it is also vulnerable. So when it opens its mouth, fire at it with the airborne gun. It doesn't take many hits to down it. When it approaches the top or bottom of the screen, and you are there, move through the gap between its bursts of shots before it can blow fire. Patience is key here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SSH3.3: History 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orientation: Vertical Many of the same enmies appear here as level 1, in different hues. Take out the black structures with bombs as you move forward. WHite ships will join them but focus on the structures evn afte rthe turrets appear. Dodge the turret fire until a structure appears on the right side of the screen. Shooting this will detonate the turrets onscreen. Finish up with the Ground plate just ahead. The white orbs here fly onscreen then fly until they hit a side and then back at you. Concentrate on the ground plates, but focus solely on the white orbs when the plates are gone. As you approach the turrets, focus on the orbs though you will be using the bomb at the same time so some should be taken out. There are green ships at this selfsame time. They fire and leave so concentrate on the whites. There are a few back robots as well, but they won't cause much trouble if you stay way from the bottom of the screen. Stay to the right as you approach the vertical line of turrets on the left and hit the detonator that appears. The large cycling ships that appear can be destroyed as they approach or simply avoided. Either way, fire at the ground plate on the right then head left taking a few turrets out. Focus on the ground plate on top of the pyramid just ahead. After the pyramid are some large beasts that fire and teleport. These suckers should be taken down asap and are priority. If you see one materialize below or near you, fly away. There are two of them, after they pass focus on the turrets and white orb (priority here). After the turrets there is a spiraling enemy. It fires a large radial spray of shots. You can destroy these shots, so fire your way through them and make your way past it. There's a horsehead just ahead, which spurts life-ups when you hit it with bombs. The back robots here can fire small chaser ships. They become priority. Stay at the left, doding the shots from retreaters until you see a battery of turrets. Shoot the detonator that appears in their midst, then head right and destroy the ground plate. Circle ships are the primary enemies ahead, though there is another spiral. As before, shoot its atatcks and pass it by. Nevermind any black spheres here until after you pass the spiral. You will soon approach some green ground. Pass the spiral that appears over the river, yes, while shooting its shots yourself. Black spheres will start to appear, destroy them as they come up to your level. ******************************************************************************* BOSS ******************************************************************************* As you approach the boss, try to bomb one of the turrets that appear just ahead before your each the boss proper. There are two more turrets behind the boss. These turrets fire standard shots, and while easy to dodge having four active turrets makes this kind of difficult to dodge. The turrets periodically submerge and only fire when they come up. The actual boss is a giant statue. This statue fires a spread shot forward and a single standard shot towards your position. It is vulnerable in the eyes. So now, one of the turrets at the bottom has been destroyed. Get to one side of the statue so that the spread cannot hit you. Destroy the turrets above the statue. If you want to destroy one of the turrets at the bottom after the battle starts you will have to stay right above it as it comes out of the water and bomb it like crazy. When there is minimal resistance, it's time to get on with the big guy himself. Strafe back and forth, so that you fly pas him after the shots pass off the bottom of the screen. Stay at the very bottom and strafe as such, firing relentlessly with your aerial shot. His eyes close over and eventually explode as the battle rages on. When both eyes are destroyed, the battle is over. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SSH3.4: History 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orientation: Horizontal Another underwater deal here. Stay near the centre and destroy the white fish as they appear. Watch for the sand to start moving. Grey leapers jump out of the sand here and fire off small grey ovoids. The leapers are priority target of course. Purple ovoids will fly on from the left of the screen. Stay nearer to the centre, just off left of it, you should be able to avoid and dispatch the ovoids easily. There's a white pipe down below, stay up and away from it as a mollusc will arrive from the left and grey leapers appear from the sand just past the pipe. So, while you dodge the mollusc and the leapers, your bombs will hit the pipe. When the coast is clear, grab a few health items. As you continue your approach, there will be more grey leapers. Deal with these with bombs and evasion and just dodge the bursters that appear. They are not equal to the threat of the leapers. Enter the door in the wall. --Inside-- There is a back and forth turret on the floor firing shots. Move above it while dropping bombs. We move forward so that the ovoids coming fromt he left will not hit us and the bombs should destroy the turret anyways. Stay ahead to avoid the next pair of ovoids. As you avoid this pair, you will say large stone sarcophagi. These are invulnerable and fire shots from their mouths. Stay away from their heads and dodge their shots while you deal the other enemies. A white pipe is here if you need to refill a bit. Molluscs appear from the left, on the top and on the bottom. Remember their positions and you should be able to avoid getting crashed into. You don't have insurance on that starship. The grey structures along the bottom are no worry. Just bomb away and take them out. There's a vertical path from bottom to top here. Fly up here before the back and forth turret appears and shoot it down before it can fire at you. Now many of the "grey structures" from now on will show their true colours as triple cannons - firign a spread of three shots into the air - be careful. We might get hit with one just ahead, but as you fly down, hug the right wall and destroy the back and forth turret. Hugging the wall may get you hit by the triple cannon, but at least will give you room to deal with the two diving birds coming from behind... The next portion with the sarcophagus is kind of tricky. Along the bottom there is a triple cannon, grey leapers, and a yellow eye. It is best to dodge the sarcohpagus' shot and head down near the bottom, firing and bombing the leaping enemies *eye and leaper) before they can get airborne. Then you dodge the sarcophagus' shot once more and head up as the white fish fly past. Now the white fish are here in thick numbers as you approach the pillar of flame. Deal with them with bombs if you can, but go along the ground and fire at the back and forth cannon across the gap. You must destroy this before crossing or you potentially set yourself up for a lot of damage. When you start to cross the gap hold up so that you don't get singed as the fire may be coming back already. Once you are across the gap, bomb the remaining fish and the next back and forth turret. Stay near the floor as you fly forward, so that you have room to dodge the next back and forth turret as you bomb it. When you see the yellow eyes, hold back while you blast them. You will destroy two, the third won't come back to bother you so head right to the white pipe. Now, refill as much as you can on the white pipe, but shoot down the back and forth turret next to it. Hit the next guy that was level witht he one you just destroyed, and your bombs should hit the turret just below it. Destroy the turret that's in the doorway as you head out into a larger chamber. Wait for the grey ovoids to pass by then fly up next to the big yellow beast, this is half of the paired beasts from History 2. Anyways, from up here you can shoot this beast and the next one that shows up while at the same time bombing all of the turrets below you _AND_ providing room to dodge and destroy the diving birds. It's the way to go, young padewan. Now you will be netering an area that has Egyptian style heiroglyphs on the walls. Take the bottom path at the split, there's only two eyes down here. The third will probably leap onto the wall and become a non issue. It may not, however, so don't assume it will. Stay here and keep bombing and firing until the yellow eye and grey leapers are done for. Stay beneath the ceiling of the lower path until a string of about three white fish are destroyed. If you see one fo those molluscs that opens up and fires appear above, then you must get out because a mollusc will come fromt he bottom and ram you. Dodge the mollusc's shots, then deal with one last diving bird as the boss music begins. ******************************************************************************* BOSS ******************************************************************************* A large gold pharoah. This is the hardest boss yet, and is going to require some pretty fancy flying. I'm fairly sure his weakspot is the head, but you will be hitting him all over his body in this fight so I could be wrong. Essentially, never stop firing or bombing the whole fight. The boss fires bursts of three shots from its mouth. You have to move between every weave due to the necessity to dodge in this fight. Every time he walks, stone blocks fall from the ceiling. This is extremely troublesome when you couple it with its shots. This is why Is ay you will be hitting the boss all over. The _primary_ task in this fight is to dodge shots and blocks. Now the blocks often have gaps far enough apart to fly through, but they might not. Note that all the blocks fall at different rates. So even in a tight cluster, you may see one or two break way from the pack. This is your ticket to move on through. This is also why we dodge through the gap between each burst of shots, even if it's only slight - to get in position to fly between some blocks. I know it sounds strange to just dodge the whole fight, but if you are firing the whole time, it will drop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SSH3.5: History 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orientation: Vertical The ground disc just ahead will fire off black spheres just like the ground plates did in previous histories. Bomb it, then move left while bombing to take out a few turrets while at the same time allowing those big grey cycler ships to miss you. You see, they track your position before they travel up now so that they travel up in line with your position. Stafing to the left will take out turrets -and- dodge them. Heading up there's a ground disc on the left and a statue on the right. The statue will provide healing items if hit but the ground disc is priority. Destroy and any black spheres it spawns. Destroy the teleport beast that will appear and take out the next ground disc up and left. Destroy the second teleport beast and start working on the turrets. Stay on the right for this long line of turrets so as to destroy the ground dsic coming up. There is a statue here, but you may not be able to get through enough resistance in order to make use of the healing. If a white ship is coming up behind you, dodge out of the turret cluster. There will be a load of white ships and circular ships now, with some retreaters. Dodge the retreaters and focus on the smaller ships. Soon, turrets will appear at the upper right, a ground disc is just behind it so get over there and destroy the disc. Now, there will be grey cycler seeker ships here, the big guys that cycle down and fly up in line with you. Anyways, they're here. Dodge them and head left while bombing to destroy another ground disc. Hit the detonator right next to this disc to destroy the remaining turrets and the next ground disc. Stay away fromt he bottom now as back robots will be entering and flying up the lefthand side. destroy the chasers they launch as best you can, but make sure to dodge them if it truly comes down to that. Black spheres will be appearing from the gap. Destroy them as it seem black spheres on this level do not fire off shots when destroyed. However, get out of the way when the big ships that look like four leaf clovers appear. The strange circular path of the first one makes it quite dangerous and they have too much stamina to be arsed with. After they pass, head to the left and take out the ground disc, and use the statue on the right for some healing. Past the statue there will be another ground disc (on the right) so get over there and take it out. Dodge the few white orbs that appear and take out that more central (though offset right) ground disc. Destroy the two teleport beasts that appear along with it, but only have the disc is destroyed. Take out the next ground disc just after them and get ready for some more of those big grey ships. Now, about three of the big greys come onscreen at once here. One goes right and two go left. You can destroy the righthand ship and head up and left to avoid the lefthand ships. You might get hit by a turret, but it's a small sacrifice compared to the full bar of damage the big guys can do. Okay, just ahead will be some small white teleport ships. These teleport only when your shots are comign towards them so they are best off avoided. Stay on the righthand side and eventually you will see a solid circle. Keep firing on it to open it up and eventually gain a bonus. 100000 points, nothing to scoff at. Keep away from the green clover shaped ships here and stay on course after getting the bonus to see a detonator in the ground. Hit this and dodge the turret's fire as they are destroyed. You should focus on destroying some of the black spheres while you dodge. Destroy the turret justa head and get some energy fromt he statue. A few clovers will pass by, leave them be. A large white ship also appears. Hitting this guy a few times will cause it to dodge offscreen, so yeah you cand get right in front of it. A few white ships and a back robot to deal with ahead, and then the boss. ******************************************************************************* BOSS ******************************************************************************* This guy's actually pretty easy. It is a large spiked craft with a spinning shield of orbs. It moves around the upper portion of the screen and will at times fire off a single shot. There are six turrets in the lava and they bubble up too quick to make a difference. Since only one of them usually fires, it's best to just leave them be. Note when they bubble up and dodge the shot they fire. So essentially, you need to stay at the bottom of the screen, firing your shots at the enemy and its shield. Eventually, your shots start to destroy the shield and after it's gone the boss itself will take a pounding before being destroyed utterly. So stay at the back, keep firing, and only move forward when you have to dodge a shot or two. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SSH3.5: History 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orientation: Horizontal Heading right in the night sky you will see a statue with a beard. It fires a fireball up at you, which when it gets near you will start spinning in a circular pattern. You should let it fire then bomb it as you fly back and up until it is destroyed. Dodge the second fireball and head right. After you dodge and start right, start bombing the two nautilus shells and the grey leapers down here. Those sjhells can fire up at you so knock them down with bombs before that opportunity presents itself. Avoid the bursting enemies. Stay near the top and dodge the ovoids. Bomb the grey leapers and nautilus shells. Keep dodging as you head right. After the white pipe (probably too crowded down there to take advantage of the healing items). You want to stay near the top and bomb the grey leapers. When you see the door, fly into it to end this now. --Inside-- The eye ships flying toward you dodge around you before they hit you. Shoot at them, of course, but don't worry about them if you have to fight something else. And something else comes quick. Those dastardly triple turets from History 2 are back. There are two up ahead. Fly over them and bomb them into oblivion before they can float to the top of the screen. However, it might be counter-intuitive but the next pair we will let reach the ceiling. That face spills lava out of its mouth. Pull back and fire at the bursting enemies (those that burst into three shots after reaching the left) and you will take down about three of them. Pass by the lava after it falls and before it falls again. Stay near the bottom and you will only have to dodge the middle shot from either floating triple turret. Stay along the bottom and bomb the hell out of the nautilus shells here and dodging any bursters that make it through. As you head up, dodge the small ships form the left and destroy the turret lifting off of that metal pipe. Do the same for the next two turrets and hold back at that stream of water. When the water recedes, fly through and start bombing the next floating triple turret. Move forward to avoid the bursters as they explode into their three- way spreads and head back between the small ovoid ships before they close in. Try to get some health out of the pipe now, your bombs should have prompted it to fire some health-ups already anyways. Nevermind the next floating cannon and go under the next pipe and up to the ceiling - bombing and dodging the grey leapers as you do. What we want to do is get up to the left of the large beast of the pair of beasts (the two yellows that move slightly together and start firing) and destroy it. Destroy it as quickly as possible and pass the next face as the lava falls. Concentrate on bombing the two floating triple turrets betweent hem before they can make it to the ceiling. At the next face, let your bombs roll off the pipe and hit the next floaty turret a few times. Pass after the lava falls away and bomb it the rest of the way. Bombt he second quickly as the bursting enemies fly onscreen - avoid these and focus your shots on the aforementioned floaty turrets. Pass the next face after the lava falls past and before the next stream arrives. Stay near the bottom and blast the hell out of the nautilus shells down here. Stay near the floor until you see the next metal pipe. Then you should head up and pass the lava stream as soon as you can. Bomb the triple turret before it can rise up and look out for the bursters. When that turret is destroyed, pull back towards the metal pipe you just left behind to avoid ovoids crashing into you. Try to hit the turret that has already lifted to the top. We're into an area with a black background now. Stay near the bottom and bomb the blue blazes out of nautilus shells. don't worry about the two turrets raising up there - being at the bottom will give you plenty of room to dodge. Once you see some of those bursting enemies come onscreen, head up a bit and try to shoot them before they can get to the left and bomb the grey leapers as you see them as well. ******************************************************************************* BOSS ******************************************************************************* This is a large brain in a glass jar. It has one primary, though dangerous attack. It fires many shots down, which then pull up at various speeds. So basically, these shots are like balls thrown across the screen with various values of gravity towards the ceiling. It fires two volleys at a time. It's hard to say if there really is a safespot in this fight. You can try the following: 1. The lower left, just above the hill. No shot will reach you here in my experience. So when the second volley is launched, head up, fire off a few shots and retreat to repeat the pattern later. The inherent problem is, if you are up, then some shots will be invariably lobbed beneath you, meaning you can't keep the pattenr up for long. 2. The other method concerns staying above the brain. B A | ______ | / \ | \. \___| /_..--.- '.'.'.'' -Stay at A as it launches its volleys. -Move to B and bomb the eye rapidly. -Move back to A to dodge the Volleys aimed at B. This is the most successful pattern in my experience though be WARNED there will still be some stray shots falling short of B or far of A. Once the glass breaks, you MUST hit the Brain in the eye so this second method become smuch more attractive. The brain will LOOK up at your ship and so the bombs will connect directly with its pupil-registering damage. Keep it up, fly with evasion in mind, and it will die. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | SSH4: Enemies | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Enemies are listed by the history they initially appear in and when they gain a considerable update to behaviour. These are not official names, as always they are an approximation based on appearance and behaviour. *History 1* --------- *Back Robot: Arrives from the back and flies forward toward the top sometimes firing a shot. Dangerous because you often stay at the very back. *Black Structure: Stationary, harmless, circular enemy. Use ground shots. *Black Sphere: Will explode when shot or over time resulting in a radial spray of shots. Take them out from as far as possible and destroy their generator first. *Blue Brain: Flies forward in a small sinusoid and can take a beating. Not a priority target but don't let them all get away. Sometimes theyw ill fire, but due to their movement they remain low priority. Be careful if you are near them however, as they can suddenly make erratic, fast moves - even when just barely offscreen. *Blue Circle: Blue circles fire as they approach then dart off in another direction. Never stay directly in front of them as they approach, but do get a decent distance away (a few starship's worth) so as they don't ram you. Their othe rpattern is a simple sinusoid. That should be easy enough to conquer from a distance. *Cell: Moves forward in a slight sinusoid. High stamina, low priority. There are also large cells witht he same behaviour that take even more shots. *Chaser: Small brown enemy that flies quickly toward your ship. Pull back to dodge then destroy asap. *Circle Turret: Fires a shot whenever it opens. Stay back and dispatch immediately with a ground shot. This is only vulnerable when it opens. *Ground Plate: A large square that opens up in the ground. It blocks your shots and launches black spheres. Destroy asap with ground shot. *Pink Brain: As it flies onscreen, get away from it. It erects a huge barrier which will then compact and fire forward. The barrier can be destroyed, though the brain will probably leave before you get many shots at it. *Squid: Blue squids that fly quickly through the screen. Usually too fast to destroy without taking damage from something else. *Tree: Hit it with the ground shot to release life-restoring capsules. *White Aircraft: Fly towards you, with a slight sinusoid at times. Don't get directly in front of one when it is up close, but instead use your air gun from afar. Another pattern is to fly in then fly back out. *History 2* --------- *Diving Bird: Flies forward then divebombs you or flies up after you. The best way to deal with them, if you have the room, is to fly backwards underneath them and fire at them when they are at the low point of their dive and before they fly back at you. *Grey Jumper: A mollusc (?) that moves across the ground, leaps up, then flies forward. You will want to hit them at the apex of their jumps. *Grey Ovoid: Flies quickly forward with a slight sinusoid to its path. Though it is usually not a priority target, take care to destroy a smany as possible as you head to the more dangerous targets. *Paired Turret Beasts: One from above, one from below each firing three shots. If you stay below the point of fire of one of them, you can destroy it and just move on. The pair will remain, however. *Pink/Orange Burster: Flies in form the right, up the left side of the screen, then forward. When it flies forward it can burst into a spread of three shots. The best way to destroy them is to bombt hem as they climb the side. *Pink/Orange Mollusc: When it opens up, it fires shots. So don't get too close to it and bomb it from above. The shots are fired out the back of it and it arrives via the left side of the screen. *Saucer Turret: Flies to the top of the screen and fires three shots down in a spread. Usually best to avoid with everything else going on. *Statue: Big, invulnerable, and firing shots. Stay out of reach. *White Aircraft (Horizontal): Moves upa nd down firing shots. Don't line up with them for long, only long enough to take them down. *White Fish: Chase your starship. They are fairly persistent, so make them priority. *White Pipe: Releases healing items when hit. *Yellow Eye: When hit, jumps forward. It's bets to start with a bomb from afar and gun it in the air. It has a decent amount fo stamina, so don't get cocky and have it ram you. Dodge if you must. *History 3* --------- *Back Robot Model 2: These ones shoot little chaser robots. These are priority. They arrive from the back corners. *Detonator: Shooting this with a bomb destroys all turrets nearby. *Horsehead: Head it with bombs for it to spit out healing items. *Large cycler: A large ship that cycles around the screen. If you can't hit it as it flies down, you probably won't be getting rid of it before it retreats. *Retreater: Comes onscreen, whips its central cannon to fire a shot then flies off. Not a priority target. *Spiral: Large enemy that fires a huge radial spray of shots. These shots are destructible so it is often best to fire on them and make your way past these guys. *Teleport Beast: Flies onscreen and fires shots. It will dematerliaze and reappear elsewhere. Move away if you see it materialize near you just dodge away. Fairly high priority on these guys. *White Orb: Flies across the screen until it hits the boundary, then changes course to go for you. At this point, it again travels across the screen to repeat its pattern. It will at times open up to fire. Fairly high priority, but grounds plates should be destroyed first. *History 4* --------- *Back and Forth Turret: Moves back and forth rapidly firing shots. It's often best to take it out with a few bombs. *Grey Leaper Type 2: This variant leaps from sand and fires many grey ovoids. Bomb them as they leap up, otherwise dodge them. *Sarcophagus: A large, invulnerable sarcophagus. It fires shots from its mouth. Stay away from the head and you will have plenty of room to dodge. *Purple/Orange Ovoid: Fly on from the left of the screen and move across to the right, they damage whent hey collide with you. *Triple Cannon: Stationary cannon that fires three shots up. Bombing is usually the answer. *History 5* --------- *Clover: Will either fly forward or trace violent circles as it flies forward. High stamina and best avoided. *Grey Cycler Seeker: Like the grey cyclers though they more fervently seek your position. When they cycle down, they come back up in line with you. *Ground Disc: Like the ground plate except circular. It also launches black spheres (which explode in a burst of shots) so bomb them with priority. *Humanoid Statue: Hit it repeatedly to make it spit out healing items. *Square Turret: A normal turret that opens and closes. Bomb it. *White Dodger: A slow, large ship that flies forward soemtimes firing. When hit a few times, it will very quickly dodge off to the side and off the bottom of the screen. *White Teleporter: Teleports away form your shots. Otherwise, a slow moving ship that sometimes shoots at you. Just focus on evasion, unless they're in front of you in which case firing will get them out of the way. *History 6* --------- *Bearded Statues: Shoot a fireball into the air with a circular path and are invulnerable. Note their positions and dodge the attack. *Dodging Eye Flies toward you but dodges around you at thelast moment before hitting you. Low priority because of this - go after bigger threats. *Nautilus Shells: Will fire a nautilus shell at you. Dodge them and bomb them. It is best to bomb the shells before they ever fire. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | SSH5: Secret | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Besides hidden score spots, Starship Hector has one main secret: After you clear the game, start up another game immediately and your ship will have changed into a humanoid robot. This seems to have no impact on gameplay. Just to flesh this out, look for structures in the game that are like closed circles. When you fire on them enough they open up and a letter appears, and you get some bonus points. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | SSH6: Credits | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Thanks go out to Hudson for making this game and the Star Soldier series in general. It's usually a pretty stellar series and Starship Hector is a vast departure - hell it might not even be part of the series but all signs say yes. Either way, it's something different fromt he rest of the series and it's fun, so thanks. Thanks of course go out to my hosts, as without them you would not be reading this guide. Websites with permission to use this Guide: www.GameFAQS.com www.neoseeker.com faqs.IGN.com www.1up.com www.honestgamer.com Game By Hudson