Chojiku Yosai Macross, Ai Oboeteimasu ka? For Sega Saturn FAQ ver 1.1 Translation: Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Do you Remember Love? 10/12/2001 By Raymond A. Mendoza (rmendoza6@socal.rr.com) This Document Copyright Raymond A. Mendoza 2000 Please Distribute freely, don't pay for this in anyway, this was not done for profit or for someone else's profit. Again DO NOT reproduce or distribute for money. If you want to put this FAQ up on a site I wouldn't mind it if you e-mailed me telling me that you did. Outline 1.Notes 2.Menus 3.Controls 4.Weapons and Valkyrie Info 5.Option Plus 6.Adknowlegements and thanks 1.Notes Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Do You Remember Love? Is a 2- disc shooter that was released in 1997 for Sega Saturn. Based on the movie of the same name. It's a 2.5d game. Meaning your Valkyrie will always stay on the middle plane and attack enemies there, but you can also attack enemies in the background and foreground, giving it a psudo-3d effect. Also your Valkryie and enemies are rendered in 3d. The game also features a lot of Animated cut scenes from the movie and still pictures with narration, about 35 minutes I think, give or take 5 minutes. The animation is of a pretty high quality, but it's cropped at the top and bottom which gives it a letterbox look. The large amount of animation is why it's two discs. As for the story of the game it mirrors the movie of the same name. If you've never seen the movie or don't speak or read Japanese the game is still very easy to play. You play as Hikaru Ichijo in the game and you pilot a Valkyrie through the game in different situations from the movie. The Basic plot is simple, defeat the aliens trying to destroy the Macross. If you've ever seen the movie you know the plot. Most of the story is told through the cut scenes between and before levels. Gameplay is simple, easy to get used to. There are eleven stages, stages 1-5 are on disc one, and stages 6-11 are on disc two. Also this isn't a one hit you die shooter. You have a shield gauge in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Also in some stages a resupply ship will drop off energy capsules that replenish your shield gauge. When your shield gauge runs out you die, but you have unlimited continues so its not that hard of a game. You have a Gunpod, Micro-Missiles and four bombs per stage. There also is a boost button that just makes you move faster, it comes in handy when trying to dodge enemy fire. And there's usually a boss at the end of a stage. Pretty basic shooter type gameplay. 2.Menus Most of the menus are in English so most of it is pretty self- explanatory but some aren't so I hope this helps. The first thing you see is the title screen that says Push start button which when you push the star button brings you to this menu Start Option Picking start obviously begins the game, after a bit of narration and a cut scene the first level begins. Picking Option brings up this menu Load Difficulty Key Config Weapon Select Exit Load lets you load your game from where you last saved it. You can save up to three files. Difficulty lets you pick between easy, normal, and hard. Depending on how challenging you want your game to be. The default is normal. Key Config lets you change around button assignments. (See part 3 for greater detail) Weapon Select lets you choose what weapons you want your Valkyrie to use. The selections are ordered like this and have a picture and some Japanese text describing them. (See section 4 for greater detail on what the actual differences between weapons are) The default weapons are Gunpod-1, Micro-Missile-1, and Bomb-1. Gunpod-1 ---- Gunpod-2 Micro-Missile-1 ---- Micro Missile-2 Bomb-1 ---- Bomb-2 Exit brings you back to the first menu. That's all for the title screen menus. But after every level there is an intermission menu that looks like this. Save Weapon Select Next Phase Save lets you where you are into one of three slots so you don't have to go through the whole game over again. Weapon Select is just like the weapon select menu in the option screen. You can change you weapon types here. Next Phase just starts the next level. And after the end of level 5 you see this screen with a Valkyrie in Battloid mode in front of an all orange background with some Japanese text. This is just telling you to change discs. The menus on the second disc are the same as on the first disc. 3. Controls The controls are pretty simple and easy to get used to. This is the default controller configuration, but if you don't like it you can change it in the Key Config menu. A - Gunpod B - Micro-Missiles C - Bomb X - not used Y - not used Z - Boost L - Transform-1 R - Transform-2 Start - Pause Transform-1 and 2 just transform you Valkyrie but in different orders. Transform-1 = Fighter -> Gerwalk -> Battloid -> Fighter -> etc. Transform-2 = Fighter -> Battloid -> Gerwalk -> Fighter -> etc. 4.Weapons and Valkyries There are two different types of each basic weapon. Gunpods If you just hold down the Gunpod button you shoot a rapid-fire stream of bullets. If you push the Gunpod button twice quickly and hold it on the second push depending on what type of Gunpod you have different special attack. There is a gauge in the upper right hand corner of the game screen; the gauge shows how long you can you can use the special attack. The gauge refills when you're not using the special attack. Also you never run out of ammo so you can shoot as much as you want. Gunpod-1 (auto searcher) The Auto Searcher Gunpod automatically locks on to an enemy around you and keeps firing at it until it's destroyed then locks on another enemy. You can hit enemies in the background and foreground along with the middle plane with this weapon. But you can only use it in Gerwalk and Battloid mode. If you try it in Fighter mode you just keep firing forward in the middle plane. Also in Gerwalk mode you can only lock on to objects in front of you, not in back of you or directly on top or directly below you. So you can only lock on to targets inside an imaginary cone in front of you. Any targets in the foreground, background, and in front of you can be locked on with the auto searcher. But in Battloid mode you lock on to targets on top or directly below you, but not behind you. These illustrations should make it clear. The V is your Valkyrie. Gerwalk mode Battloid Mode ------------------------- -------------------------- | / | | | | | / | | | | | / lock on | | | lock on | | V area | | V area | | \ | | | | | \ | | | | | \ | | | | ------------------------- -------------------------- Gunpod-2 This Gunpod just shoots a stronger stream of bullets straightforward. They just do more damage than the normal Gunpod. You can't hit enemies in the background or foreground however, just the middle plane. You can use this weapon in all modes. Micro-Missiles Micro-missiles can lock on to enemies in the background, foreground, and in the middle plane. In order to lock on and fire the Micro-Missiles, you just hold down the Missile button to lock on to targets then let go to fire the missiles. Missiles lock on about one every half-second. You can use missiles in any mode and you can also lock on to up to eight enemies at a time with the Micro-Missiles, and you can lock on to them regardless of what plane they are in. So even if they are behind you can lock on to them as long as they are visible on screen. There is a green gauge under the Gunpod gauge in the upper right hand corner of the screen. As you hold the missile button it fills up the gauge, when the gauge is full that means you have all eight missiles locked on. Also like Gunpod ammo you never run out of missiles. The two Micro-Missile types are only different in the way they lock on. Micro-Missile-1 Micro-Missiles of this type lock on to multiple enemies at a time. But the eight missiles are divided amongst the amount of enemies on screen. For example if there are four enemies on screen two missiles will lock on to each enemy. If there's an odd number of enemies then one enemy will get one extra missile locked on it. Micro-Missile-2 These Micro-Missiles just lock on to one enemy at a time, so it's good for concentrating your firepower. But you can't lock on to more than one enemy at a time. Bombs Bombs are your most powerful weapon. As said before you get four per stage. There are two types of bombs for you to use. Bomb-1 This is a defensive type bomb. When you use it a large circular explosion will surround your Valkyrie. If you move the explosion will move with you. It basically makes you invincible for about the second that the explosion lasts. If the explosion touches an enemy it does damage, but only a little. Bomb-2 This is an offensive type bomb. It causes a bunch of little explosions, some head for the top of the screen and some head towards the bottom in a column like formation. The explosions won't follow your Valkyrie however. Wherever you set them off, that's where they stay. The explosions however do a lot of damage. But since it's a lot of small explosions, this bomb lets enemy shots get through. Different Valkyries During the game you get to use more than one type of Valkyrie. They are all fundamentally the same but there are some differences. Also all of the Valkyries use the same weapons, VF-1 This is the basic Valkyrie; all other Valkyries are based off of this one. It has all the basic weapons. You use it in stages one, three, eight, and nine. Super Valkyrie This is a VF-1 Valkyrie with Fast packs attached in order to increase firepower and speed. In the game it just takes a little less damage. It also has all the basic weapons. You use it in stages two, four, Armored Valkyrie This is also a VF-1 Valkyrie but in Battloid mode covered in large armored plating, which also has addition missile launchers in the armor. In the game when you use the Armored Valkyrie, you can't transform, but you have a more powerful Gunpod, the ability to lock on to sixteen enemies instead of the usual eight, and you take less damage from enemies. You can only use it in stage five. VT-1 Trainer Valkyrie This is a VF-1 used to train new pilots, so it has a two-seat cockpit. It also has extra fuel packs and boosters attached to it. It has no weapons however. This applies in the game also. You use it in stages six, and seven. Strike Valkyrie This is a Super Valkyrie with a slightly different weapon configuration. The Gunpod and missiles are normal but the bombs are more powerful. The bombs cause a full screen explosion that makes you invincible and does a lot of damage. The Strike Valkyrie also has a beam cannon; it shoots a beam of energy when you hit the Gunpod button. It won't work with the auto searcher; it only fires straight ahead. But you get to inflict extra damage. The beam cannon can be used in all modes. You can the Strike Valkyrie in stages ten and eleven. Different Valkyrie Modes Fighter Mode This is your basic jet mode. You can only fire your Gunpod straight ahead. Also on levels above the ground or over the ocean if you hit the ground or ocean in Fighter mode you take damage. This is the fastest of the three modes. Gerwalk Mode This is an in-between mode. You can still fly in this mode but if you don't push up on the control pad you fall. You can touch the ground or ocean in this mode and not take damage. You can use the Auto Searcher Gunpod in this mode. It has average speed. Battloid Mode This is the robot form. You can't fly in this mode unless you are in outer space, but you can jump by hitting the boost button. You can walk on the ground, but if you hit the ocean or are in mid air and hit the bottom of the screen you automatically change into Gerwalk mode. You can fire your Gunpod in any direction. Just hit the direction you want to fire in and the Gunpod button at the same time and hold the button down. You can also use the Auto Searcher Gunpod in this mode. 5.Option Plus After you beat the game once a new option appears in the first menu along with start and option on both discs. It's called Option Plus. (How many of you saw that coming haha) It's just a menu of new options. When you beat it once you only get two of the options. As you beat it more times more options pop up. It looks like this Movie Select (appears first time you beat the game) Picture Select (appears first time you beat the game) Phase Select (appears second time you beat the game) Muteki (appears fourth time you beat the game) View mode (appears third time you beat the game) Game Only Mode (appears third time you beat the game) Exit Movie Select lets you watch the cut scenes from a level with out having to play through the game. Obviously you have to have the right disc to watch the right movie. If you want to see the movies from levels 1-5 you have to have disc one in, and if you want to see the movies from levels 6-11 you have to have disc two in. Picture select lets you watch the still pictures with narration from a level with out having to play through the game. Again you have to have the right disc to watch the right picture. Phase Select lets you choose what level you want to start at. Again you have to have the right disc to play the right level. Muteki if switched on makes you invincible. (Muteki means invincible in Japanese in case you were wondering) View mode lets you watch all the cut scenes and the still pictures with narration in order without playing through the levels. Game Only mode lets you play the game without having to watch any of the cut scenes or still pictures with narration, and just play the levels. Exit just takes you back to the normal menu. 6.Adknowlegements and thanks I'd like to thank Bandai and all the companies involved in the creation of this game. Also Studio Nue and all the other companies involved in the creation of the Anime Macross. I'd also like to thank the maintainers of this website, the Macross Compendium, http://www.anime.net/macross/ ,I used this site a lot when trying to find out Valkyrie names and general info. It's a great site for all you Macross nuts out there.