From: crs1219@inforamp.net (Donny CHAN) Newsgroups: rec.games.video.arcade,fj.rec.games.video.arcade Subject: [TIME CRISIS] Tips Date: 20 Apr 1996 18:24:55 GMT More Time Crisis rambling. [960418] Saw Time Crisis (Namco) at Fairview (Toronto) for 50c/50c. It's a one-player Time Crisis. Don't know if there's a two-player Time Crisis? It's a gun-shooting game like Virtua Cop 2 (VC2), except Time Crisis has an Action Pedal, and the gangsters aren't marked by Lock-On Sights. When the player RELEASES the Action Pedal, the character dodges and reloads. The player doesn't reload the gun by pointing it outside the screen and pulling the trigger! When the player steps on the Action Pedal, the character stands up and can shoot at the gangsters. The Time Crisis gun is the same as the Point Blank gun, and the constant cracking noise it makes when the player pulls the trigger is annoying at first. The "death dot" that marks the spot where the player's shooting at is small, like the death dot in Area 51 and Point Blank, and unlike the spark in VC2. Later, the player may focus on where the death dots are, and ignore the cracking noise. (Personally, I hold the gun with both hands, the same way I hold the VC2 gun: one hand on the grip, the other on the underside of the gun. IMO more stable, but slower, than holding the grip with both hands.) The magazine holds just six shots. 8( Don't know if there are hidden weapons somewhere in the game? Time Crisis has a timer, and the character has life points (four at Fairview). When the character clears a corridor or room, his timer is extended, like a racing game. It's Game Over when the timer reaches zero, even when the character has some life points left. Time Crisis has an animated demo, intro, ending, and scenes between each of the three Stages. During the animations, the dialogue are dubbed and subbed in English. In each corridor or room, the character can't shoot at the gangsters until the announcer says "Action!" The gangsters use many kinds of weapons: anti-aircraft guns, car, claws, grenades, gunships, kicks, knives, pipes, pistols, rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, &c. Some have shields. (IMO the character designs are inferior to VC2 and most 3D fighting games.) At the end of each Stage is a boss who takes multiple hits to take out, but unlike VC2, the game doesn't show the boss's life meter. Overall, the Time Crisis feel is more dynamic than VC2, because the character and gangsters are constantly dodging and running. However, the gangsters' movement isn't random. A veteran player can memorise the pattern and take out the gangsters quicker. The Time Crisis voice actors are: Lynn Harris, Michael G, and Scott M. More Time Crisis rambling. [960418] I played only one game, but saw two players who kept pumping coins into the Time Crisis at Fairview (Toronto) until they finished the game. Here are some observations. Depending on the volume of the game, it may be hard to _hear_ and count how many shots you've fired because of the cracking noise from the gun. I had this problem when I transitioned from Virtua Cop (VC1) to Virtua Cop 2 (VC2), because the VC2 revolver isn't as loud as the VC1 revolver. Thus, I feel and count the number of times I pull the trigger, and reload before I fire six shots. The gangsters usually (NOT always) miss their first shot or two. When the announcer says "Action!", don't be afraid of the tracers from the gangsters' guns. (To quote Murphy, "Incoming fire has right of way.") I suggest you step on the Action Pedal, see where the gangsters are, then shoot at one gangster two or three times. If you take out that gangster, and the other gangsters miss you, shoot at another gangster two or three times, then release the Action Pedal and reload. If you miss the first gangster, shoot at him two or three more times, then release the Action Pedal and reload. To extend the timer, hit the gangsters who wear RED berets and ORANGE suits for a few seconds of bonus time! Beware of gangsters with pipes who appear right before the character. Prioritise these gangsters because of their proximity. If a gangster has a shield, hit the shield anyway. Two hits loosens the shield and the third hit takes out the gangster. Learn to distinguish between the grenades thrown by the gangsters and the pistols dropped by "wounded" gangsters. Both grenades and pistols are grey-and-white: a grenade has a grey handle and white head, while a pistol has a grey body and white grip. If a small grey-and-white object drops on the ground near a gangster, it's probably a pistol. If a small grey-and-white object flies through the air and towards the character, it's probably a grenade, in which case, DODGE! Don't know if we can shoot down incoming grenades and knives? When a gangster who wears claws is jumping about and out of sight, look for his shadow on the ground. In Stage 1, hit the crate on the yellow forklift truck. The crate will explode and take out the gangsters beside it. In Stage 1, instead of dodging the car, we can hit it several times and cause it to land on its side. Don't know if we need to hit its tyres or not? In Stage 1, hit the twin-engine Huey about 15 times. In Stage 3, hit the twin-engine Huey 40-50 times. Remember to dodge incoming fire (duh!), battle axes, hooks, and mobile crates. Don "DON" Chan +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | crs1219@inforamp.net (Donny CHAN) | | University of Toronto Mechanical Engineering 9T3+1 ERTW | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | Fighting Vipers: Candy, Jane, Raxel | | Samurai Shodown: Tam Tam | | Samurai Shodown 2: Cham Cham | | Soul Edge: Sophitia, Taki, Seung Mina | | Street Fighter 2: Blanka, Dhalsim, Chun Li, Guile | | Tekken 2: Roger, Jun, Nina, Lei | | Virtua Cop 2: 604,227 (Rank 1) | | Virtua Fighter 2: Pai, Sarah, Kage, Wolf, Akira, Shun, | | Lau | +---------------------------------------------------------------+