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SHIPYARD SEARCH 1-1
Collect the InfoPods in any order - no exact sequence needs to be met. There
are three weaponry powerups scattered around; be sure to find and collect them
all.
SUPERBRIDGE SHAKEDOWN 1-2
The tanks on the barges will reach the end of the bridge first, so if you'd
like to spend some time collection powerups then drive down the bridge
destroying all tanks except for the last two squadrons. Then annihilate the
tanks on the barges and explore to your heartаs content. A warning message
will be shown if the tanks are approaching the end of the bridge, so you will
have time to chase after and destroy them if that appears.
CRISIS AT HANEDA 1-3
If your chaffing skills are good, simply run around collection useful weaponry
and other powerups and destroy the ten transports at your leisure.
SKYBASE SHOWDOWN 1-4
The cloaked SkyBase is at (0,0) in your cockpit position display at around 350
meters up. You can point up and destroy a great many of its aerial protectors
from the safety of the ground before uncloaking it (do so by firing at it
repeatedly - the more shots that hit the quicker it will uncloak, so use
20mmаs and preserve your more damaging weaponry). Assuming youаve destroyed
most if not all of its hoverjet protectors (difficult to do in Hard mode), you
can simply fly slightly above and behind it and take out the blades one-by-one
once it gets moving.
TERROR IN SHINJUKU 2-1
The Brutus can collect all the hostages in one swoop and its firepower is
useful in the later stages of the area, so in general this is a good time to
use it. At the other extreme, the Ninja requires eleven hostage tripsс Try to
find a HyperSpeed powerup here to help in the next level.
MINE SWEEPER 2-2
If youаre in the Brutus, itаs a good idea to have a HyperSpeed powerup,
especially on Hard mode as one of the bombs is quite difficult to reach and
return in time otherwise. Since the bombs arenаt activated until they are
picked-up, you may want to hold-off and collect some powerups before tackling
the main objective of retrieving and transporting the four bombs.
BLOOD MONEY 2-3
If a transport makes it to the edge of the city, this stage will be lost. Use
the map to locate and destroy all the white symbols (they are the gold
transports). As the difficulty level increases, you have less time to spend
exploring and gathering powerups.
DAY OF RECKONING 2-4
Since only one hovertank is actively assigned to gold duty, find it first
(itаs the tank that doesnаt engage you but instead moves in a predefined
pattern) and destroy it. This gives you unlimited time to kill the two active
hovertanks and win the stage.
TOWER ATTACK 3-1
The amount that the towers are damaged by weapon impacts depends on the number
of shots hitting, not the weaponаs damage potential (although missiles take
more away in one hit). Although on Easy mode you can simply fly from one tower
to the next using 20mm's (preferably with high weaponry levels to get more
actual shots.) and disable them all in turn, on higher difficulty levels this
gets very hard, especially with a slow pilot/helicopter combination. In that
case, disable three towers almost totally (leave just a little health left)
and then completely disrupt the fourth. This give you more time to quickly fly
back and finish-off the remaining three towers (they never regenerate when
partially damaged, only after they have been entirely shut-down).
UNDER THE TOWER 3-2
The input goal for this stage is at the top of the center column. To get
there, you must fly down consistently until you find a pit that has a tunnel
with many barriers in it. This leads to a passage that rises all the way up to
the port area. Here you can run your helicopter into the port and successfully
complete the stage.
CYBERSCAPE 3-3
Tiamat resides just past a little maze and resembles a rotating tube with
occasional gaps that reveal the center core periodically. To destroy Tiamat,
you must time you Magnetic Pulse Weapon shots to go through the gaps and not
reflect off the surface - bouncing MPWаs will hurt you! Tiamat also blasts a
large amount of MPWаs once in a while which you should avoid (backing down the
entry tunnel works well).
THE BLUE ENIGMA 4-1
The blue enigma is always in one place towards the top of the map. Even with
maximum map magnification, it canаt be seen from the start location. Keep the
map on x60 mode while you fly around the outside loop and you will eventually
encounter it. Run into it to collect it and unlock the exit doors, which you
can then shoot and enter to win. At the end of the mountain mission, having a
HyperSpeed powerup will make winning the final stage much easier. Itаs a good
idea to collect and save one from this level or the following ones to prepare
in advance.
FIRE IN THE DARKNESS 4-2
You must destroy both door lock controllers to the left and right of the
starting area before the huge door will unlock. Shooting it will then cause it
to open, revealing the central corridor which leads to an apparently empty
plateau. However, flying around the area for a while will eventually cause the
red enigma to rise out of the top of the plateau, where once itаs fully
visible you can retrieve it to unlock the exit door and leave.
THE HUNT FOR THE BLACK ENIGMA 4-3
The black enigma has been loaded onto a battle train, so use your cockpit map
at maximum magnification to find the white object. This is the enigma. Follow
the most convenient tunnel until you can intercept the train, where you can
swoop down and collect the enigma. This unlocks the exit door and allows you
to win the level.
JORNEY TO THE CENTER OF MT. FUJI 4-4
The only way to destroy the GeoShunt is by disabling all four of its support
spokes. While dodging the lava blast the GeoShunt uses to defend itself, use
buzz rockets to quickly break each spoke (not having auto-targeting on helps
here so shots arenаt wasted at passing enemies). There are a couple of
weaponry powerups far above the GeoShunt which can come in handy for
dispatching it quicker. This is a good time to see if you have a HyperSpeed
powerup for the next level.
ESCAPE FROM HELL 4-5
The escaping lava rises very quickly, regardless of the type of helicopter and
pilot you are flying. If you have no HyperSpeed powerup, simply rush forward
staying near the ceiling to avoid the lava. Use buzz rockets to quickly knock
the blocking fans off their hinges. If you have a HyperSpeed, you can use it
to gain time to collect some powerups a little off the beaten track. At the
end of the room, fly up into the blue outside opening to win.
IN THE ARENA 5-1
Collect the weaponry powerups and quickly find the overhead door controller
(itаs white on your map). Buzz rockets work well in quickly destroying it to
win the stage from within its own barrier but be sure to destroy the
protecting gun turrets that will be around it first.
BRIDGE WAR 5-2
If a truck makes it out of the city, the stage will be lost. Use the map to
locate and destroy the six white objective markers that are your targets.
Thereаs a lot of area to explore here with some nice powerups but donаt get
distracted too long. You may want to kill all the truck but one then start
exploring and wait for a message indicating the truck is leaving the city
before tracking it down and killing it.
DEADLY SURPRISE 5-3
Ducking into the bay and destroying the protecting gun boats should be your
first step. This leaves you some time to take shots at the slowly-moving
tanker before a gun boar regenerates. Kill the gun boat and repeat until the
combat sub appears. Bobbing up and down is crucial here or the auto-tracking
on the combat sub will kill you fast. After it takes a certain amount of
damage (based on the difficulty level you are playing), it will try to flee to
the open ocean. If it makes youаll lose the stage. Pursue (a HyperSpeed
powerup helps here for slower helicopters) until it is destroyed.
DEVILаS ISLAND 6-1
This is an excellent location to collect good powerups, including weaponryаs.
Destroying the four shield generators and combat sub causes the main shield to
collapse, letting you enter the second portion of this stage.
THE OMEGA DOME 6-2
Once the shield is down, you can concentrate on and destroy the large gun
turrets (all eight of them) that ring the island. The three guardian
hovertanks must also be dispatched. Try to ensure you have at least one
Invincibility and Intensifier (a Rapid-Fire helps too) for taking on Giger
himself in the next stage.
HEART OF DARKNESS 6-3
The Giger Mech is quite tough. Destroying his missile-firing breastplates is
the first order of business. You can use the bobbing to help throw his hand
turrets off after this point. Destroying the large targeting pod located next
to his head will throw his aim off but this rarely helps you much. After the
missile launchers, kill his hand turrets to render him mostly harmless.
Shooting his legs and finally head polishes him off!
NETWORK PLAY
This is another important area where choice of helicopter makes a big
difference. Although the Ninja is nimble and can dodge and avoid well, one
missile will generally take it out. The slow Brutus, although it is able to
withstand a great deal of damage, may be too clumsy for many people. Jackie in
the Triton works surprisingly well for a blend of offensive and defensive
power.
The secret of network play is efficient use of powerups. Having some weaponry
powerups makes you more lethal when attacking, while Nova Restores and
Invincibilityаs will keep you from dying too quickly. The Cloak powerup is
excellent, as you are invisible and cannot be auto-targeted by your opponents.
The Conflict powerup will also disable auto-targeting while it is active,
although you can be seen. The Scrambler will redirect missiles locked-on you
to other players and also renders missile auto-targeting ineffective while it
last.
The Intensifier with a Rapid-Fire can make mincemeat of most other helicopters
pretty quickly. However, thereаs no thrill quite like rushing toward a clump
of players who are engaging each other and activating a Smart Bomb while
Intensified and close to them. Multiple helicopters exploding simultaneously
brings a warm feeling to the heart, at least until someone returns the favor.
Collect the InfoPods in any order - no exact sequence needs to be met. There
are three weaponry powerups scattered around; be sure to find and collect them
all.
SUPERBRIDGE SHAKEDOWN 1-2
The tanks on the barges will reach the end of the bridge first, so if you'd
like to spend some time collection powerups then drive down the bridge
destroying all tanks except for the last two squadrons. Then annihilate the
tanks on the barges and explore to your heartаs content. A warning message
will be shown if the tanks are approaching the end of the bridge, so you will
have time to chase after and destroy them if that appears.
CRISIS AT HANEDA 1-3
If your chaffing skills are good, simply run around collection useful weaponry
and other powerups and destroy the ten transports at your leisure.
SKYBASE SHOWDOWN 1-4
The cloaked SkyBase is at (0,0) in your cockpit position display at around 350
meters up. You can point up and destroy a great many of its aerial protectors
from the safety of the ground before uncloaking it (do so by firing at it
repeatedly - the more shots that hit the quicker it will uncloak, so use
20mmаs and preserve your more damaging weaponry). Assuming youаve destroyed
most if not all of its hoverjet protectors (difficult to do in Hard mode), you
can simply fly slightly above and behind it and take out the blades one-by-one
once it gets moving.
TERROR IN SHINJUKU 2-1
The Brutus can collect all the hostages in one swoop and its firepower is
useful in the later stages of the area, so in general this is a good time to
use it. At the other extreme, the Ninja requires eleven hostage tripsс Try to
find a HyperSpeed powerup here to help in the next level.
MINE SWEEPER 2-2
If youаre in the Brutus, itаs a good idea to have a HyperSpeed powerup,
especially on Hard mode as one of the bombs is quite difficult to reach and
return in time otherwise. Since the bombs arenаt activated until they are
picked-up, you may want to hold-off and collect some powerups before tackling
the main objective of retrieving and transporting the four bombs.
BLOOD MONEY 2-3
If a transport makes it to the edge of the city, this stage will be lost. Use
the map to locate and destroy all the white symbols (they are the gold
transports). As the difficulty level increases, you have less time to spend
exploring and gathering powerups.
DAY OF RECKONING 2-4
Since only one hovertank is actively assigned to gold duty, find it first
(itаs the tank that doesnаt engage you but instead moves in a predefined
pattern) and destroy it. This gives you unlimited time to kill the two active
hovertanks and win the stage.
TOWER ATTACK 3-1
The amount that the towers are damaged by weapon impacts depends on the number
of shots hitting, not the weaponаs damage potential (although missiles take
more away in one hit). Although on Easy mode you can simply fly from one tower
to the next using 20mm's (preferably with high weaponry levels to get more
actual shots.) and disable them all in turn, on higher difficulty levels this
gets very hard, especially with a slow pilot/helicopter combination. In that
case, disable three towers almost totally (leave just a little health left)
and then completely disrupt the fourth. This give you more time to quickly fly
back and finish-off the remaining three towers (they never regenerate when
partially damaged, only after they have been entirely shut-down).
UNDER THE TOWER 3-2
The input goal for this stage is at the top of the center column. To get
there, you must fly down consistently until you find a pit that has a tunnel
with many barriers in it. This leads to a passage that rises all the way up to
the port area. Here you can run your helicopter into the port and successfully
complete the stage.
CYBERSCAPE 3-3
Tiamat resides just past a little maze and resembles a rotating tube with
occasional gaps that reveal the center core periodically. To destroy Tiamat,
you must time you Magnetic Pulse Weapon shots to go through the gaps and not
reflect off the surface - bouncing MPWаs will hurt you! Tiamat also blasts a
large amount of MPWаs once in a while which you should avoid (backing down the
entry tunnel works well).
THE BLUE ENIGMA 4-1
The blue enigma is always in one place towards the top of the map. Even with
maximum map magnification, it canаt be seen from the start location. Keep the
map on x60 mode while you fly around the outside loop and you will eventually
encounter it. Run into it to collect it and unlock the exit doors, which you
can then shoot and enter to win. At the end of the mountain mission, having a
HyperSpeed powerup will make winning the final stage much easier. Itаs a good
idea to collect and save one from this level or the following ones to prepare
in advance.
FIRE IN THE DARKNESS 4-2
You must destroy both door lock controllers to the left and right of the
starting area before the huge door will unlock. Shooting it will then cause it
to open, revealing the central corridor which leads to an apparently empty
plateau. However, flying around the area for a while will eventually cause the
red enigma to rise out of the top of the plateau, where once itаs fully
visible you can retrieve it to unlock the exit door and leave.
THE HUNT FOR THE BLACK ENIGMA 4-3
The black enigma has been loaded onto a battle train, so use your cockpit map
at maximum magnification to find the white object. This is the enigma. Follow
the most convenient tunnel until you can intercept the train, where you can
swoop down and collect the enigma. This unlocks the exit door and allows you
to win the level.
JORNEY TO THE CENTER OF MT. FUJI 4-4
The only way to destroy the GeoShunt is by disabling all four of its support
spokes. While dodging the lava blast the GeoShunt uses to defend itself, use
buzz rockets to quickly break each spoke (not having auto-targeting on helps
here so shots arenаt wasted at passing enemies). There are a couple of
weaponry powerups far above the GeoShunt which can come in handy for
dispatching it quicker. This is a good time to see if you have a HyperSpeed
powerup for the next level.
ESCAPE FROM HELL 4-5
The escaping lava rises very quickly, regardless of the type of helicopter and
pilot you are flying. If you have no HyperSpeed powerup, simply rush forward
staying near the ceiling to avoid the lava. Use buzz rockets to quickly knock
the blocking fans off their hinges. If you have a HyperSpeed, you can use it
to gain time to collect some powerups a little off the beaten track. At the
end of the room, fly up into the blue outside opening to win.
IN THE ARENA 5-1
Collect the weaponry powerups and quickly find the overhead door controller
(itаs white on your map). Buzz rockets work well in quickly destroying it to
win the stage from within its own barrier but be sure to destroy the
protecting gun turrets that will be around it first.
BRIDGE WAR 5-2
If a truck makes it out of the city, the stage will be lost. Use the map to
locate and destroy the six white objective markers that are your targets.
Thereаs a lot of area to explore here with some nice powerups but donаt get
distracted too long. You may want to kill all the truck but one then start
exploring and wait for a message indicating the truck is leaving the city
before tracking it down and killing it.
DEADLY SURPRISE 5-3
Ducking into the bay and destroying the protecting gun boats should be your
first step. This leaves you some time to take shots at the slowly-moving
tanker before a gun boar regenerates. Kill the gun boat and repeat until the
combat sub appears. Bobbing up and down is crucial here or the auto-tracking
on the combat sub will kill you fast. After it takes a certain amount of
damage (based on the difficulty level you are playing), it will try to flee to
the open ocean. If it makes youаll lose the stage. Pursue (a HyperSpeed
powerup helps here for slower helicopters) until it is destroyed.
DEVILаS ISLAND 6-1
This is an excellent location to collect good powerups, including weaponryаs.
Destroying the four shield generators and combat sub causes the main shield to
collapse, letting you enter the second portion of this stage.
THE OMEGA DOME 6-2
Once the shield is down, you can concentrate on and destroy the large gun
turrets (all eight of them) that ring the island. The three guardian
hovertanks must also be dispatched. Try to ensure you have at least one
Invincibility and Intensifier (a Rapid-Fire helps too) for taking on Giger
himself in the next stage.
HEART OF DARKNESS 6-3
The Giger Mech is quite tough. Destroying his missile-firing breastplates is
the first order of business. You can use the bobbing to help throw his hand
turrets off after this point. Destroying the large targeting pod located next
to his head will throw his aim off but this rarely helps you much. After the
missile launchers, kill his hand turrets to render him mostly harmless.
Shooting his legs and finally head polishes him off!
NETWORK PLAY
This is another important area where choice of helicopter makes a big
difference. Although the Ninja is nimble and can dodge and avoid well, one
missile will generally take it out. The slow Brutus, although it is able to
withstand a great deal of damage, may be too clumsy for many people. Jackie in
the Triton works surprisingly well for a blend of offensive and defensive
power.
The secret of network play is efficient use of powerups. Having some weaponry
powerups makes you more lethal when attacking, while Nova Restores and
Invincibilityаs will keep you from dying too quickly. The Cloak powerup is
excellent, as you are invisible and cannot be auto-targeted by your opponents.
The Conflict powerup will also disable auto-targeting while it is active,
although you can be seen. The Scrambler will redirect missiles locked-on you
to other players and also renders missile auto-targeting ineffective while it
last.
The Intensifier with a Rapid-Fire can make mincemeat of most other helicopters
pretty quickly. However, thereаs no thrill quite like rushing toward a clump
of players who are engaging each other and activating a Smart Bomb while
Intensified and close to them. Multiple helicopters exploding simultaneously
brings a warm feeling to the heart, at least until someone returns the favor.