============================================================= __/\ \__ [Version 1.1] __ /\_\ \ ,_\ __ _ __ ___ ___ /'_ `\/\ \ \ \/ /'__`\ /\`'__\/ __`\ / __`\ /\ \L\ \ \ \ \ \_/\ \L\.\_\ \ \//\ \L\ \/\ \L\ \ \ \____ \ \_\ \__\ \__/.\_\\ \_\\ \____/\ \____/ \/___L\ \/_/\/__/\/__/\/_/ \/_/ \/___/ \/___/ /\____/ ___ ___ __ ___ \_/__/ /' __` __`\ /'__`\ /' _ `\ /\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \L\.\_/\ \/\ \ [Master's Play FAQ] \ \_\ \_\ \_\ \__/.\_\ \_\ \_\ [Hurball Interactive] \/_/\/_/\/_/\/__/\/_/\/_/\/_/ ============================================================= [1.0][Contents]============================================== [2.0] Version History [3.0] Introduction [3.1] The Hurball Company [3.2] About The FAQ [4.0] Gitaroo Man [4.1] Normal Mode [4.2] Master's Mode [4.3] Controls & Tips [5.0] Master's Play [5.01] Panpeus [5.02] Flying-O [5.03] Mojo King Bee [5.04] Ben-K [5.05] Mecha Ben-K [5.06] Kirah [5.07] Sanbone Trio [5.08] Gregorio III [5.09] Kirah [5.10] Zowie [6.0] Experience [6.1] My Thoughts [6.2] My Best Scores [7.0] FAQs [8.0] Other Stuff [8.1] Disclaimer & Legal Stuff [8.2] Contact Information [2.0][Version History]======================================= Version 1.0: First draft of the FAQ. All sections completed and checked over for errors. Version 1.1: Whole document made a little wider and easier to read. New difficulty ratings added for every level, as the last ones didn't really sum up them properly. [3.0][Introduction]========================================== [3.1][The Hurball Company]----------------------------------- Before I get on with the fic, it's worthwhile pointing out that the Hurball Company is not a real company, and we haven't ever produced anything of note. Basically, the Company was a bit of fun for myself and a mate, for us to make CDs, comics and the like. We ended it a while back, but I've kept it going, mainly for things like this FAQ. [3.2][About The FAQ]----------------------------------------- This is the first FAQ I've ever written, so bear with me if there are any errors within it. I decided to write it due to two things - one being the amazingness of Gitaroo Man, and two being the fact that there wasn't any real help for Masters Mode at all on the internet. Normal mode on the game was a doddle, and its Master's Mode where the help is really needed. And so here's the FAQ, hopefully it should be of some minute help at least... [4.0][Gitaroo Man]=========================================== [4.1][Normal Mode]------------------------------------------- The basic mode of Gitaroo Man, this is the only mode you'll be able to play when you first put the disc in the console. I won't go into detail, because there are already FAQs for this mode. The game, put basically, follows the progress of a boy (U-1), as he learns from his dog (Puma) that he is in fact the last in the line of the legendary Gitaroo Man, and that his destiny is save the planet of Gitaroo from the clutches of evil. Yes, the storyline is poor, but everything else about the game is superb. Instead of boring old fighting, U-1 must defeat his foes with the use of his Gitaroo, using killer riffs to dispose of his enemies. As a result, the game is superb and ends up being one of the trickiest games you'll ever play. The first level is a training mission, where Puma gives a decent tutorial of how to play the game. Move the left analogue stick to follow the trace line, and press the circle button to play each note. Dodging is also covered here, where the circle, x, triangle and square buttons must be pressed as they move over the central point of the screen. After the training, it's straight into battle for U-1, as a demon (Panpeus) attacks him. Beat him and it's on to the next level, and so on. I won't cover any more of this mode, and if you've yet to complete it, then this FAQ isn't going to help you! [4.2][Master's Mode]----------------------------------------- Once you've completed the original game, you'll notice that the title screen of the game has now changed, and now included in the menu is a new selection: "Master's Play". Clicking on it, you'll be taken to the first level once again. But this time around, things are a lot harder. You have to play the guitar for every note now, and also you'll have to bend each note where they bend (if that makes sense...). The trace line now moves a lot faster than it did previously, and defending has changed the most. You'll have to dodge at least double the number of attacks you did on normal mode. Sounds fun doesn't it? After pretty much strolling through the normal game, I didn't expect Master's Play to be as hard as it actually turned out to be. You have to be a decent player to complete the first mode, but completing Master's Mode will require a lot more. Sorry if all that sounds ominous, but that's how the game is! [4.3][Controls & Tips]--------------------------------------- By now you'll be familiar with the controls for the game. The game has some optional setup schemes for the controller (look in the manual, and if you can tell what the difference between Type A and Type C layouts is, e-mail me!), but for this guide, I'll talk as if you're using the default setup. You may have noticed that you don't have to use the circle button for the guitar bits of the tune. There's no problem with using another button, just use what suits you best. I used the circle button, but I know some people who've used X instead. There's no downside to using a different button, and I won't try to claim otherwise. Tip #1: Some players seem unsure about whether this works, but I've tried it, and it definately does. When you're playing the Gitaroo (attacking or charging), for the longer notes, instead of holding down the circle button until they're finished, let go of it just before the note ends. This deals more damage/heals you more. I don't know why this is the case, but it is. I tried not using this method (holding down circle until the note's finished) on the charge bit of level 2, and despite getting every note, I didn't have full health. Trying again, with this tip, I got full health easily, even with a couple of misses. Tip #2: Don't try to use 2 hands for the defending. It doesn't really help, and when I've tried it, I just get confused and miss more than I would usually. Tip #3: For some bits of defending, it helps to change your grip on the controller. For example, if the screen suddenly fills up with opposite buttons (triangles and xs, circles and squares), the best way to hit most of them is to not use your thumb, and use your index and middle fingers, hitting both buttons as fast as you can. This helped me numerous times, but for it to work you need to learn when the bits are that you need it for, otherwise by the time you've changed your grip, it's already too late :-( Tip #4: If you miss one, don't let it get to you. Get yourself together again, and start the next lot fresh, without suddenly bashing every button in sight and missing a lot more than you had to in the process. The worst thing that usually happens is that I miss one and lose the beat, but if I can forget about the miss and move straight on to the next bit, I'm usually okay. Tip #5: Don't be afraid to press circle for the guitar more times than you have to. Pressing circle for ever note perfectly is an impossible task, and when you get a long line of small notes, the best thing to do is to get the analogue stick lined up, and press circle as many times as possible. Tip #6: If you feel your thumb slipping off the analogue stick (this happens to me a lot in the first and second Kirah levels), wait for a longish note, and hit it, but then let go of the analogue stick for a second, just to get your grip back. Tip #7: Perseverence is good, for the most part. If a level beats you, play it again, if it beats you again, have another go. But if you start to get frustrated or your hands start to tire, then the best thing to do is to take break from the game, and come back later for another go. Well, there are all the tips I used. If you have others, feel free to let me know about them. And with all that out of the way, let's move on to the main part of the FAQ - the Master's Mode guide! [5.0][Master's Play]========================================= [5.01][Panpeus]---------------------------------------------- Level: 1 Track: Twisted Reality Difficulty: Attacking: *** Defending: *** Overall: *** The first level. Straight off the back of completing normal mode, this might not be too much of a problem for you. But you'll definately notice the way the level has changed. More defending, harder attacking, a faster trace line, and there are fewer misses allowed. But it isn't too difficult. For a Master's Mode level, it's relatively slow, and after a few plays through you should have no trouble with the defending part or the majority of the guitars. Watch out though, because you can't miss that many, and the Final may well prove a little long as you can still lose health in it. Overall though, not too bad. A decent level, and if you can't beat it first time, keep on trying at it and you should complete it eventually. [5.02][Flying-O]--------------------------------------------- Level: 2 Track: Flyin' To Your Heart Difficulty: Attacking: **** Defending: **** Overall: ***** A massive step up from the first level. The defending isn't too much of a problem here, and the attacking is fine too. But the main difficult here is the fact that you can only miss a few throughout the level. Any miss whatsoever will result in a hefty chunk of your health to disappear. Becuase of this, the charge phase is vital. And it isn't easy to get full health. If you hit them all, you should have full health (see Tip #1 in the previous section). The two most important notes are the two longest ones (the ones that follow the two quick taps of the circle button) and if you hit these you can afford to miss some of the smaller ones, but if you miss them you can kiss full health goodbye. Hitting them proves more difficult than it should be, I can't remember the amount of times I tapped circle for the notes before, and missed the most important one afterwards... The attack phase isn't a hard track, but you'll have to play it through a few times and learn the defending parts. There's one difficult bit of defending early on (usually the second or third bit), but other than that, if you persevere you should be okay. Even if you reach the final completing the level isn't a foregone conclusion. Keep your concentration and make sure you don't miss more than a couple, and if you do miss one, make sure you don't start a big chain of misses- that would certainly kill you. [5.03][Mojo King Bee]---------------------------------------- Level: 3 Track: 'Bee' Jam Blues Difficulty: Attacking: ****** Defending: ****** Overall: ****** (yes, six out of five...) Once you complete level 2, you'd have thought things wouldn't be quite as difficult now. Unfortunately, you're wrong. This level is by far the most annoying, most difficult, most frustrating level in the game. I spent months stuck on this, and as a result Gitaroo Man found itself unplayed for a long long while. The main difficulty lies about 3/4 of the way through the track, when Mojo unleashes a crazy attack that I have still yet to defend properly. One minute the song is alright, and things are going well, the next minute the screen is filled with circles, xs and squares, and your health has vanished. And that's the thing about the level - it's fine until that point, and because that point is so far through you'll end up having to play most of the track until you die, and trying again, and again, and again... Going over the rest of the level, the charge is pretty easy, you can miss a fair amount and still have full health. And defending isn't too bad on the whole. If you know the tune, getting the timing right on the defence isn't a problem. The attacking is a little more difficult, there are high numbers of quick short notes, so you'll have to be good at tapping circle quickly as well as getting the analogue stick facing the right way. The Final is a doddle. Once you see Mojo lean back with a shout of "ha!", all that's left is easy long notes, with a quick burst of short ones right near the end. But it's getting to the Final that's the hard thing, due to that one bit of the song. The main thing to do is to keep at the level. It varies A LOT, right from the beginning of the attack phase. If you keep on playing, you should be getting further each time, and if you manage to reach the impossible bit with a decent amount of health then you should be okay to reach the Final. And note that he doesn't always play that bit. Sometimes it's replaced with a wall of xs and traingles which isn't as bad, if you're expecting it - see Tip #3 in the previous section. However, he has done that bit and then followed up with the impossible bit straight after to me. Cruel. Good luck with this! [5.04][Ben-K]------------------------------------------------ Level: 4 Track: VOID Difficulty: Attacking: Defending: ******* Overall: *****1/2 Not quite as hard as the last level, but still very difficult. There are some very hard bits of defending to be done here, but as it's a short level, and as there isn't the added problem of attacking, it's not too frustrating. The level starts off relatively easily, but after the opening bits quickly moves into a long middle section of a difficult pattern of defending. The trick here is to learn the pattern. At first I was bashing all the buttons as I saw them appear, but I then noticed the pattern to the defending, and have been able to get past this bit of the track easily since. The pattern is: x, x, triangle, x, square, x, circle, x and then back to the start of the pattern again. There are slight variants of it throughout, but you should be okay with them once you get the timings right. After that bit, it's not too long before the end of the level. But there's some seriously hard defending to be done before. I can't really give specific help for this bit, and all I can say is for you to have a high amount of health before you reach this point, and you should make it to the end. And good news for you once you do complete this level - the rest of the game won't be anywhere near as hard as the last two levels... Well, excluding one or two of the later ones ;-0 [5.05][Mecha Ben-K]------------------------------------------ Level: 5 Track: 'Nuff Respect Difficulty: Attacking: ** Defending: **** Overall: *** The easiest level in Master's Mode. Maybe it's just me, but after struggling through Mojo King Bee and the last level against this guy, this level is remarkably easy. It's a slow level, and with the longest notes in the game. Remember, with the long notes, as long as you hit them you won't lose any health. If you can keep them lit all the way through you'll do more damage or get more health, but it isn't the most important thing in the world - not losing health is! The defending parts should be a walk in the park for you after the last level, and there are numerous charges in the track too, to make things even easier. I completed this level first time, and I'd expect anyone who'd just completed levels 3 and 4 to waltz through this too. [5.06][Kirah]------------------------------------------------ Level: 6 Track: The Legendary Theme (Acoustic) Difficulty: Attacking: *** Defending: Overall: **** Another relatively easy level. No defending here, so it's all down to your Gitaroo skills (or more precisely, your analogue skills). Not much has changed from the normal version of the level. It's slightly faster, and there are a few extra notes to play, but otherwise you should know the track instantly. The main problem here is that you can hardly miss any. I think the most notes you can miss is 6, though I did miss 4 and somehow managed to get an A ranking... But if you keep your concentration all the way through this track, and don't let your thumb slip off the analogue stick (see Tip #6 in the previous section), you should get past this level easily. [5.07][Sanbone Trio]----------------------------------------- Level: 7 Track: Born To Be Bone Difficulty: Attacking: ****** Defending: *****1/2 Overall: ****** (another six out of five...) Looking on the internet, it appears as if most players find this level the hardest to complete on Master's Mode. And whist it is an incredibly hard level, it's nowhere near as frustrating as Mojo King Bee was. I completed it on my fifth attempt, and overall it wasn't the crazily difficult level I'd expected. You start off without your Gitaroo, and with the Trio attacking you, all U-1 can do is defend. The defending isn't too hard, and if you keep at it, you should get past the start after a few attempts. After this, the song becomes a little harder than most, as the guitar parts are incredibly hard to get. Even tapping circle as fast as I could, I wasn't hitting all of the notes. In the charge bit this wasn't too much of a problem, but I did lose a fair amount of health from missing attacks. The best thing to do, as usual, is to keep at the level and just do as well as you can. Hitting them all can't be possible... Surely! I didn't actually get full health after the charge phase (you may have to not miss any of the defending bit in order to have a chance of getting full health), so don't worry if you haven't got 100% health to begin with. As defending goes, the level's not too bad. There is one hard bit of defending (a bit with mostly xs and triangles in an unusual combination, you'll notice it when you see it), but otherwise the defending should be no problem. You'll lose far more health from attacking, bizarrely, but if you stick at the level, you should complete it after a few attempts. The Final isn't too hard, and is similar to the one on normal mode. NOTE: It seems that I may have been slightly fortunate to finish this level as quickly as I did. I've tried completing it again, but to no avail, though I blame this on my lack of any Gitaroo Man practice recently. I completed it when I was perhaps playing the best Gitaroo Man of my life, and even then I had flashing health by the end and scraped a C ranking. The main tips I can give anyone about this level is to persist with it. Master the starting bit and get used to hitting the circle button as fast as possible for the attacking, and you should get better over time at the level. And another little hint - find a video of someone completing the level on YouTube, watch it, and learn some of the defending or attacking patterns from it. The main thing though, persist with the level and you'll at least get better at it. Good luck! [5.08][Gregorio III]----------------------------------------- Level: 8 Track: Tainted Lovers Difficulty: Attacking: **** Defending: *****1/2 Overall: *****1/2 Another difficult level, again not as frustrating as Mojo King Bee, but close to Sanbone and Ben-K in the difficulty rankings. You get two charges here, with an attack of your own in between, without reply from Gregorio. After these, you'll be on (or at least near to) full health, with a chunk of health knocked off your enemy. From this point on, there are two different ways the level can go. Usually, he'll start off with a relatively easy bit of defending (it starts with a circle, I believe). If he starts with this, you should have no problem getting up to the last few bits of defending in the level. These are Bee Man-esque in their impossible-ness, but get enough of them, and you'll reach the Final no problem. The second way Gregorio starts the attacks is with a trio of very difficult defending combinations, and you'll probably die very quickly. I couldn't actually get past these bits, and have no idea if the track actually gets any easier afterwards. Basically, if he starts with these combos, you're probably going to die. Don't get frustrated though, most of the time he uses the easy defending bits to begin with. The main difficulty with the level is the last two bits of defending (assuming he started off with the easy ones). The best thing to do is to reach them with a decent amount of health, and hit enough of them when you reach them so that you stay alive. The Final is very near, and isn't difficult at all, so if you reach it, you should've completed the level. [5.09][Kirah]------------------------------------------------ Level: 9 Track: Overpass / The Legendary Theme Difficulty: Attacking: **** Defending: **** Overall: ****1/2 My favourite level in the game, amazing from start to finish! The level is split into two parts, the first is a normal battle, the second is purely guitar, no defending at all. The first part is the more difficult of the two. You start on low health, and you can only really miss 3 things before you're dead. Luckily, it's only a short piece of the level, and you should get past it after a few tries. Now it's on to the second part of the level. First up is a charge, and this blends in to the next attack phase in such a way that they're both pretty much the same. You may or may not get full health on the charge (I think you may have to not miss any of the start in order to have a chance at full health). Full health is desirable, but not really necessary. The rest of the level is just guitar, and it's not too bad. You're only allowed a small number of misses, but if you keep your concentration the level should be fine. [5.10][Zowie]------------------------------------------------ Level: 10 Track: Resurrection Difficulty: Attacking: ***** Defending: ***** Overall: ***** The last level at long last! Having completed all the previous levels, this shouldn't be too much of a problem for anybody, but it isn't an easy level by any stretch of the imagination. As in the normal version of the level, you get a fair amount of charges dotted throughout the track. But unlike the normal version, you barely get any health back from these at all. You could get all "Great"s on the charge bits, and still only get a little health back. Because of this, you can only miss a few things during the whole track. But luckily, there isn't a single part of this level that's as hard as the defending on Ben-K, or the guitar on the Sanbone Trio. You should be okay at getting the defending fine, and the guitars shouldn't be too bad either. You'll probably lose health over the course of the track, don't expect your charges to get you back to full again. But equally, don't miss too many, or the level will wear you down until you die. Ideally, try to keep your health above 75% as long as possible. Once you reach the Final, the level's in the bag, and you've completed Gitaroo Man on Master's Mode! And your reward for doing so? Nothing, not even a new completion message. Bah, but at least you can rest more easily now it's done! You truly are the true Gitaroo Man! [6.0][Experience]============================================ [6.1][My Thoughts]------------------------------------------- I decided to include this just to give you an idea of how I went about completing the game, and to show that I'm not an uber gamer of any kind. I started off rubbish at this game, and only practice at it made me any good. Completing Master's Mode was something I never actually thought I'd be able to do, and once I completed it, I decided I'd write a FAQ to help other people do the same. As I've already said, I breezed through the game on normal mode, and completed level 1 on Master's Play without much difficulty. Level 2 followed after a fair number of retrys, but it was Level 3 that stumped me. I was stuck on the level for ages, and the game went back into its case for months before I gave it another go. This time around it was perseverence that got me past the level. For a couple of weeks I played the level a few times in the morning and a few times at other points during the day. I kept getting further through, but it was the last bit of defending that got me every time. Somehow, I got past it, struggled to the final with no health, and managed not to miss a single other note to complete the level :-D After that it was level 4 that I was stuck on, but not for as long. A fair amount of trys on the level and I got past it, and from then on the game wasn't too bad. It was difficult in places (especially Gregorio), but the majority of the levels I completed first time - including the final two levels. Master's Play was very difficult, yet this made it more worthwhile to complete it. However, I do think that some levels - especially the insane level 3, are a little too hard. I know numerous people who've given up after reaching that level. Going back on normal mode after completing Master's, is crazy. Everything is in slow motion - you're waiting for the buttons to go over the centre, and usually miss them because they're going too slowly! If completing the game on Master's does anything, it's to improve your skills more than I ever thought possible! [6.2][My Best Scores]---------------------------------------- Will be included in the next revision of this FAQ. Don't expect anything amazing, I have yet to get an A No-Miss or an S ranking in any level (though I have come close). [7.0][FAQs]================================================== Will be added in the next revision of this FAQ, when I actually get questions to answer... [8.0][Other Stuff]=========================================== [8.1][Thanks]------------------------------------------------ Firstly, a great shoutout to Koei, for creating one of the most enjoyable games I've ever been lucky enough to play. It's good to see the game's not been forgotten about (with the recent release of Gitaroo Man Lives!), and hopefully another console version will be released in the future. Thanks to my brother, who decided to buy the game. And thanks to all my mates who've been beaten by us at the game over the years :-) And a huge thanks to Voton, who's FAQ on this game was very helpful indeed, and gave me the tip about releasing circle just before the note ends. Nothing has been copied from their FAQ, but it helped greatly. [8.2][Disclaimer & Legal Stuff]------------------------------ All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Nothing except the document itself is owned by me, and this is a non-profitable document. This FAQ is allowed on GameFAQs.com, but as of yet nowhere else. If you wish to use this FAQ on your site, feel free to contact me with your requests. [8.3][Contact Information]----------------------------------- Feel free to contact me with questions, queries, tips, whatever, at my e-mail address. Because I hate spam, and have managed to keep this address free of it for a while now, you'll have to remove all the # signs. a4###r##0##n@hotmail.c###o.u###k Otherwise, thanks for reading the FAQ, and I hope it's been of some use :-)