STRIKERS 1945 PSX/PSOne FAQ Version 1.01 by Warming Blasters -- Original FAQ dated 5/11/01 (buckrobotron@optonline.net) *************************************************** 1) About this FAQ a) Changes 2) Strikers 1945 or Strikers 1945 II? 3) Gameplay (story, stages, scoring) 4) Player Planes 5) Stage Notes 6) Ending 7) Other Great Shooters 8) Thanks/Sources *************************************************** 1) About this FAQ ----------------- This FAQ is an independently owned and created production by me, Warming Blasters, with supporting descriptions from the official Agetec manual included with the U.S. version of the game. It can be found exclusively at my own sites or at Gamefaqs.com. Sites other than my own that have been granted the revocable right to present this FAQ may do so only in plain text form in singular identifiable locations on the WWW. No rights to this FAQ are granted for any other printed, archival, or other media distribution or presentation. That having been said, hopefully those who do properly find this FAQ will find some useful information in dealing with Strikers 1945. 1a) Changes **Update 5/22/04 -- changed name and contact information; added a couple recent DC favorites to "Other Great Shooters"; otherwise left as it was in 5/2001, for now 2) Strikers 1945 or Strikers 1945 II? ------------------------------------- Strikers 1945--released March 2001 by Agetec for Sony Playstation--is really Strikers 1945 II in other markets. Concerned that U.S. buyers might be confused as to why a sequel has arrived to a game we never officially saw, Agetec chose to call this game--Strikers 1945 II, mind you--Strikers 1945 in the U.S. I, for one, would love to see the marketing studies that supported this (but suspect a couple of junior marketing execs decided it for themselves). For instance, many of us have had no qualms in buying Square's Front Mission 3, despite earlier iterations not having been released in the U.S. In this FAQ I will heretofore reference the U.S. Strikers 1945 as Strikers 1945 (II). In its welcome move here to the U.S., one major change has been made.The Japanese release of Strikers 1945 II on both PSX and Saturn had an optional third mode of presentation: the flip-mode, arcade-style scroll for those who can flip their TV's. The U.S version only keeps the 2 "Original" modes, including the debated self-scroll, letterboxed "Original 2". Finally, comparing the PSX versus Saturn in other ways, we get a few surprises. Surprise number 1: the PSX has dramatically LESS slowdown; that alone makes the PSX version the one I prefer. Surprise number 2: the Saturn version has slightly crisper sound. Surprise number 3: the introductory video from the Saturn version is not on the PSX version (though it seems to show shots from that video at the ending credits!). For those who've seen or owned Strikers 1945 II on Saturn, you'll know this does not exactly signal the end of the world. 3) Gameplay ----------- Strikers 1945 is a prime example of 2D shooter gameplay as designed by Japan's Psikyo. Strikers 1945 (II) fits neatly as the 2nd most- advanced of Psikyo's Gunbird/Strikers series (Gunbird, Strikers 1945 I, Strikers 1945 (II), Gunbird 2). The basic formula starts with classic 2D-sprites on 2D-backgrounds, bullets-everywhere, shoot-for-high-score shooter gameplay. The atmosphere/story, such as it is, centers on a post WWII-era threat (as in the end of 1945) to all previously warring nations. Apparently, a group called CANY is in possible cahoots with the "FGR" and has chosen to not let the war subside after all. So, apparently 4 of the major warring nations (based by planes that would be U.S.A., Great Britain, Germany, and Japan) band together with their best fighters to eliminate the new threat. [Sometimes it's better to not even think about a shooter's storyline...] Now to the gameplay system: There are a total of 8 stages in Strikers 1945 (II) 4 EARLY STAGES - the first four stages are randomly pulled from a set group of 4 when you start a new game. Those 4 are (complete with original misspellings): --GLIATH - "Armored Train" - this stage has a very Rust-Belt look, with trains and train tracks all about --SYUMI Type O - "Huge Flying Boat" - this stage is primarily fought high up amongst clouds --IRON CASKET - "Battle Air Ship" - graphically diverse, primarily afternoon over a devastated town --GRAF ZEPPELIN - "Super Carrier" - over the deep ocean with icebergs and battleships all about 4 FIXED STAGES - the last four always follow as stages 5 to 8. Their titles: --ROMMEL - "Fortress" - another devastated town area --CROSS SINKER - "Gigantic Submarine" - diverse area, over craters and valleys --BLOCK-ADE - ????? - enemy industrial complex --????? - ????? - enemy headquarters, with some aliens There are a total of 6 planes in Strikers 1945 (II) --P38 Lightning - modeled on a production American fighter --F-5U Flying Pancake - a prototype American fighter --Focke-Wulf Ta 152 - modeled on a production German fighter --Ki84 Hayate - modeled on a production Japanese fighter --J7W Shinden - a prototype Japanese fighter --DH98 Mosquito - modeled on a production British fighter that was actually made of wood! There are several methods of points gathering: --Bonus Gold Bars - it is more important to time the pickup of one of these than to haphazardly collect a couple. Why? Because depending on the state of the reflection on a goldbar it can be worth significantly more. To wit: 2000 points = Pick up Gold Bar just as it begins a flash 1000 points = Pick up Gold Bar a little too early on the flash 500 points = You missed the flash by a good bit 200 points = You completely missed the flash, and thus get 10x less than you could have --Various points values for different enemies, bosses, and boss parts. Such as... 5000 points = destroy first form/shield of a boss 2000 points = heavy ground gun turret 500 points = average ground tank 200 points = average one-hit enemy plane ...and many more --Powerups starting with your fifth (during one active life) each yield no additional firepower but do give 2000 bonus points. --"Powerdowns" knock out one level of firepower per contact with an enemy ship. No, you don't die from hull contact, though bullets and lasers of course will kill. Finally, there is a Bomb icon that adds a unique "Bomb" powerup to your plane, with up to nine in storage at one time. 4) Player Planes ---------------- Strikers 1945 has a great selection of quasi-realistic planes to pilot; and with which to lay explosive waste to the enemy. Each plane possesses 2 everpresent attacks (Main Weapon and Sub-weapon); a life-saving "bomb" attack (Support Attack); and 3 levels of a Special Super Shot (built up in a three-level meter which fills more slowly as it approaches a Level 3 attack). Obviously this adds a nice, refreshing degree of variety between the planes, especially when combined with noticeably different speeds and body shapes. There is also a nice bit of strategy in figuring when is best to unleash what attack. Can you get through the boss with only the 2 regular weapons firing? Maybe use a couple of quick-recharging Level 1 Super Shots? Wait for a Level 2 or even longer-wait for a Level 3 Super Shot? Need to call in a "bomb" Support Attack RIGHT NOW?! Here are descriptions of the planes and their usefulness (weapon names come from the Agetec manual; sources for fact tidbits at end of FAQ): P-38 Lightning - The U.S. Lockheed P-38 was a very successful twin-engine fighter featuring (in real life) one 37 mm cannon and 4 guns (two 12.7mm and 2 rifle-grade). These were all in the nose and no German or Japanese pilot wanted to have a P-38 pointed at it. -----Main/Sub-Weapon: thick forward shot/Homing Missile -----Super Shot: Equipped Missile Type II -----Support Attack: Mustang Assault Formation The P-38 Lightning is the "classic" period shooter craft, featured most prominently in Capcom's 194x series. In this iteration, it has a strong direct main weapon and a great homing missile Super Shot. When at Level 3, the Super is a mushroom-cloud layin' $!@(&%!$. On the other hand, the P-38 is a wee bit slow and the wide body causes trouble in tight enemy bullet formations. Ironically, its Support Attack of 6 small Mustangs is a little weak (despite the P-51 Mustang being one of the best fighters of WWII). Overall a good fighter (my second favorite), and a good choice for beginners and pros alike. F-5U FLYING PANCAKE - Actually intended to be an easy fighter plane to maneuver aboard carriers, it was streamlined for speed but could still slow to as little as 40 mph. However, the Navy passed on formal testing of this unique prototypical craft in 1948. Time for the Jet Age. -----Main/Sub-Weapon: very wide forward spread/Search Laser -----Super Shot: Buster Laser -----Support Attack: B-35 Assault Formation The F-5U is the "mascot" of Strikers 1945 (II). The small, unique shape and futuristic laser Sub-Weapon and Super Shot see to that. It is also the fastest of the bunch, albeit sacrificing power to three widely spread streams of attack. The Support attack brings in two giant Flying Wings that act as wide shields but don't do much offensive damage. The Super Shot looks great but really gets a big boost at Level 3, where it sends out a long-lasting, extremely wide laserblast that also eliminates enemy bullets (which it does not at lower levels). Another good fighter, though the speed will make beginning players run into bullets they might otherwise avoid with the small bodyshape. FOCKE-WULF TA 152 - An interesting story behind this short-lived but semi-successful high-altitude fighter. The Germans sold the design in mid-1945 to Japan to help ward off B-29 Superfortresses, but it was far too late to try. -----Main/Sub-Weapon: forward shot/Large Rocket -----Super Shot: Plasma Mine -----Support Attack: A9A10 Rocket The Ta 152 is as much a defensive fighter as an offensive one. It is on the weak side in speed, Super Shot, and even ship-size (a little spread to the wings can collect bullets). However, when properly used, the misnamed Plasma Mine Super can be used as a good shield; at Level 3 it travels slowly away and is fairly large, providing good cover. Another sore point is the Support Attack. It does great damage when connecting, but the single monstrous rocket travels slowly and can miss a boss that travels from side to side. All in all, this one's recommended for advanced players and/or those not bored by the relative lack of pyrotechnics. Still, the Large Rockets do pound those hulls pretty nicely... KI84 HAYATE - Apparently a very important and successful fighter for Japan, over 3500 Ki-84's were ultimately built. -----Main/Sub-Weapon: forward shot/Syusui Attack -----Super Shot: Syusui concentric fire -----Support Attack: Fugaku cover fire The entire theme of the Hayate is "support fire". Sub-weapons, Super Shot, and Support Attack all utilize support planes to add their firepower to the Hayate's. As such, this plane can be a little boring with the singular theme of attack. It can be quite powerful, however. Let out a Level 3 Super Shot and you'll get 4 little support fighters that up your damage-dealing levels quite impressively. A minor negative to all this is that the group of support fighters chooses targets independently, and not always wisely. A fun but flawed fighter. J7W SHINDEN - Another attempted response to have a high-altitude fighter go against the devastating B-29, this dart-shaped fighter was actually planned for production. Minus the plasma bolts I'm sure... -----Main/Sub-Weapon: concentrated forward shot/Syusui Attack -----Super Shot: Syusui concentric fire -----Support Attack: Fugaku cover fire My third favorite fighter, the Shinden is a powerful, fast fighter. It neatly fills the "very powerful but with narrow line-of-fire" niche (think of Ruby's Carmine in Giga Wing; the blue laser in Raiden I/II; Tavia in Gunbird 2, etc). The Shinden ALWAYS hits hard in a straight- ahead line, with a thankfully wide Support Attack spread of "Fugaku cover fire" when you really need the help. The Syusui is a great Sub-Weapon, acting as slow-moving "plasma" shots that slowly bore through enemies before passing up the screen. The related "plasma"- like Super Shot is extremely potent at Level 3, audibly ripping right through even most bosses! A great plane overall. DH98 MOSQUITO - Quite popular, the adaptable British DeHavilland DH98 "Mossie" ended up serving Americans, Australians, and Canadians as well. -----Main/Sub-Weapon: wide forward shot/Rapid Rockets -----Super Shot: Royal Napalm bomb -----Support Attack: Mosquito Assault Force Finally, the Brits give us the DH98 Mosquito, which in Strikers 1945 (II) is potent indeed. The Mosquito has a wide forward shot (less so than the Pancake) and a very slow speed, two things that are rarely winners in my favorite shooters. However, it does provide the most of what we do all like in shooters--lots of firepower. The Rapid Rockets are plentiful and hit hard. Most impressive is the Royal Napalm bomb. At any level, it sprays forth a staccato stream of fire up through the screen. Of course, at Level 3 the loud, wide swath of literal firepower is devastating to behold. Due to the slow speed and weak regular shot though, this one is not recommended for beginners. My favorite fighter. 5) Stage Notes -------------- THE 4 EARLY, RANDOM STAGES - difficulty of the stage increases depending on when it comes up. Thus, if GLIATH is your first stage things will be much easier than if you encounter it as your fourth stage. The stages are here numbered for convenience sake. 1--GLIATH - "ARMORED TRAIN" The train-track, Rust-Belt stage is fairly straightforward. Still, watch out for the alternating fire patterns of the Stealth-like bombers you meet throughout the stage. They also take a bit of punishment. There are a lot of gold bars buried under buildings and trains here, but you'll have a heck of a time timing their pick-up if the Stealths aren't sent packing quickly. More than any of the other first 4 levels, you may need to take a "power-down" collision to get through this one on higher levels. After a fairly short level, you'll find Section 1 of GLIATH, the front shielding of the train. This defensive formation is pretty offensive in actuality. Blow this armnor fast or one too many of a ton of arced bullet streams is heading your way. Section 2 (only 2 for GLIATH) is a real bastard on higher levels, laying down carpets of arced bullet streams, while this transformed- mech launches firing support drones from his shoulders. You can do the classic periodic sidestep across the screen to get through the arcing streams, but GLIATH's shoulder-borne buddies may muck it up for you if you didn't whack them at inception. 2--SYUMI Type O - "Huge Flying Boat" This stage is primarily fought high up amongst clouds and can be thought of as the "plane enemy" stage. There is no shortage of larger planes that can take punishment here. About 1/3 through the level you'll en- counter a very large, 6-engined plane that can take more punishment than most boss' Section 1 or Section 2. Fancy footwork will help deal with the big guy and his supporting contingent of medium and small pests (the Shinden with the "burrowing Plasma" works very well here, wearing down the big guy while you smite the remora). Soon enough you'll encounter a three-pack of resilient mid-sizers, as well. Stay in one place and you die. Also watch out for descending planes that shoot fast- moving rockets at you that take multiple hits to eliminate. Remember the fleas in Centipede/Millipede? Same idea. Type 0 tail section arrives as Boss Section 1. Take a minor breather, stay primarily exactly center-screen and you'll be on to Section 2, the main body. Same thing, with a little more dodging of an additional array of bullets. Two relatively easy boss sections leading to the not-so-easy "one-eyed, flying alien gun robot" (let's say OEFAGR), aka Section 3. Another pesky high-output strafer, it may be time for Super Shots with this fellow, maybe even a Support Attack. Be precise though, using the Shinden's narrow Syusui fire on Level 3 (or the Focke- Wulf's A9A10 Rocket) will have you uttering expletives if you miss this quick boss. 3--IRON CASKET - "Battle Air Ship" First thing to watch out for here are the ground gun turrets. They fire quickly and accurately and should be taken out quickly as the appear. On higher levels, a couple turrets and a large plane shooting at you at once can be a real chore. Secondly and not much later, you'll have a large array of ground-based turrets on both sides of a resting IRON CASKET. On higher levels these guys lay down a wall of firepower that can be navigated only with precision. Now is a good time to let loose on an offensive Super Shot that weakens one side while you dash over and work on the other. Finally, you come upon IRON CASKET itself. Section 1 is a mid-rear array of 5 cannons, not too hard. Section 2 is forward-mid ship, with 6 guns and helicopter launch pads; somewhat tricky at higher levels. Section 3 transforms into a separate robotic attack form. It can lay a wide swath of firepower, confusing the issue by strafing side-to-side. It's specialty is circular bullet patterns between strafes and an occassional rush/charge directly at you. Don't worry about the rush, stay centered and down as far as you can go. He won't hit you if you made it downscreen, but the bullets he sprays about very well may... 4--GRAF ZEPPELIN - "Super Carrier" This is a fun stage and a great one to show off the lack of slowdown in the PSX version compared to the Saturn. As you start off in this iceberg/ocean scenario, you have an easy time with a couple submarines and a static destroyer; then as you progress you'll encounter two active destroyers moving down-left while supported by several larger planes. This is where the Saturn slows as badly as SNES Gradius III did! The PSX doesn't stumble a bit, making this a bit more challenging. Remember NOT to hit the control towers on the destroyers until taking the guns out first! Under the guns are Bonus Gold Bars that WILL NOT appear if you destroy the control towers first. After some more flak and another destoyer, you'll come to a large icepatch busted through by....GRAF ZEPPELIN. GRAF ZEPPELIN the "Super Carrier" starts with a Section 1 of cannons galore. Concentrate on wiping out the uniquely large central cannon before anything else, as when it swings round to you there will be some fast firepower to dodge. There will also be a pest of a large plane contributing it's own brand of bullets from the upper right. Toss him out of the ring ASAP as well as you move to Section 1b. his section shouldn't last long as you pound the control tower on the left. Now the fun starts as Section 2 reveals a dual-armed robotic structure (looking for all the world like a seafaring automobile manufacturing robot). One side is a 5-gun, small-bullet discharger; the other, smaller gun shoots larger, less-plentiful bullets. Watch for them as they rotate and switch sides. The 5-gunner is easier to target and take out first. Once both are taken out, we're at Section 3, wherein the central hub transforms into a mobile circular gun array. Joy! Don't fool around too much with this one and its surplus of firepower and firing patterns, use a Level 3 Super Shot or a couple lesser Super Shots. STAGES 5 to 8 5--ROMMEL - "Fortress" The first of the preset stages starts of with a bang. Literally, if you're not careful. The stage basically starts off with a sub-boss, a relatively huge tank that shoots arrays of bullets left and right in the hopes of trapping you in the turret's line of fire. You'll be toast if you stand in front of the turret for a spare moment, so weave in and out. Adding to the fun is an advanced flying-wing enemy plane that can take punishment pretty well too. On higher levels, help the sub-boss tank meet its make with a Super Shot. One Royal Napalm bomb straight up! As you progress through Stage 5, you'll note the annoyingly accurate turrets that pop out of the buildings around you. Smite them at your earliest convenience, and never stop moving. Likewise with an equally annoyingly accurate mid-sized tank perched atop a tower. Your first few introductions to Stage 5 will likely have you cursing, especially if you are new to the world of Psikyo, whereby if you need to continue you are sent back to the beginning of the stage (on stages 5 to 8). Finally, we come to Section 1 of the Fortress: little cannons, medium cannons, medium-large cannons, and one big-ass cannon center-ahead. Constant strafing is necessary here, as most everything aims to box you in to the center for a blast from the big-ass cannon. A familiar theme, yes? Take note that if you do get lined up, just tap left or right. The cannon's thick fire will spread just enough left, center and right to give you a chance. After destroying the front of the Fortress, Section 2 of this boss fight reveals a giant scorpion-mech-tank. The real threat with this fellow is the cross-diagonal fire set off by the pincers. Easy enough to avoid the first swath, but the cross point draws progressively lower. At higher levels, only some very fast pattern maneuvers will avoid and work through it. I usually have a Level 3 Royal Napalm ready just to squish this naughty boy. 6--CROSS SINKER - "Gigantic Submarine" This is the first truly challenging level as a whole. Right off the bat, to the right of the cratered valley you begin over, there will be the first of two "gun-buildings" that you should wipe out immediately with the help of a Level 1 Super Shot. The next appears soon after on the upper left. Ideally, you'll only see the rubble and 4 gold bars as it comes into view (the first "gun-building" yields only 3 gold bars). Progress through some airborne opposition and you'll come upon a dam, complete with two very resilient gun buildings--one left, one right-- and a track-limited tank that strafes side to side. It is recommended that you go right for the tank and give it all you've got. Killing it blows the dam wall and takes out the "gun-buildings" as well. Watch out as you pass the dam: first, multi-hit missiles will rain down, again like the flea in Millipede requiring lead time to destroy or just avoid them; and secondly, especially on Difficulty 4 and higher, circular enemy discs will lay out a hard-to-avoid spray of fire. Their wide spacing can make it tough for planes with densely packed straight ahead firepower, so using a Support Attack here can be appropriate. CROSS SINKER appears, with section 1 of the boss-fight showing the sub's dagger like form. It's shot array unites previous arcing patterns with the dual gun cross-hatching. Gets nasty on higher difficulty levels. Fortunately, Section 1 doesn't take much punishment. Section 2 reveals a new dual-armed "crab-like" mech antagonist. With a red claw on the right that darts down-left (firing large fireballs back to the right), and a left claw that fires a wide-spread to the right, this boss has an obvious modus operandi: scare the player into the right hand corner. Always watch out for this combo. 7--BLOCK-ADE - ????? Things get very interesting on Level 7. After all, the boss is "?????". This and Level 8 are relatively lengthy levels that also feature strong mid-bosses. Level 7 uniquely delivers TWO sub-bosses for your shooting pleasure. First, though, there's a gauntlet of construction machinery to get through. None of these new threats is too rough, with the exception of the snub-nosed, reddish-brown tanks. These pop up out of predefined trap doors and take a lot more punishment than the average tank. Though not so hard to kill if by themselves, you'll have so much else going on that these resilient crack-shots WILL have at you. Despite everything else, concentrate on offing the snub-noses before anything else. There's one 1/3 in and another 2/3 in. Interestingly, between snub-noses there is a platform bound mech apparently nearing end-of-construction. The interesting part is it can be one of two designs; I don't know what triggers what design. The first is a typical square-shouldered mech with two oval shaped blue shields around it. Blow the shields first, then take the mech out. The second mech is a darker design with bat-wing like protuberances. It has no shields but fires more accurately and with the support of multiple iterations of the shoulder-launched drones as first seen in GLIATH. Now, on the way to Sub-Boss 2 prepare for more of the circular enemy discs last seen on Stage 6 after the dam. Sub-Boss 2 is apparently a giant mechanical claw that takes offense when you blow up the gigantic canister it is toting. Sorry, old boy! For an industrial claw it has a surprising number of guns and lays down a thick spread of fire. This is likely a Support Attack moment. Let the claw take offense at that... Good job! Now it seems that the crane holding the now-obliterated claw has taken offense as well, so it proceeds to build a storm- trooper-like mech with a big shotgun and a suspicious backpack. Not only does he lay out a wide spread of shot, but his backpack will pop open and deliver exploding mines right to thine face. If that didn't work, he'll grant you a meeting with dual-pronged laser beams, strafing all along to make sure you don't make the meeting. Best advice is to always stay focused on traveling with the trooper in the center of his laser beams, taking care to eliminate other threats between laser firings. 8--????? - ????? - Level 8: Enemy Headquarters. Lots of new threats here, on the way to a regular boss-strength mid- boss and a 4-Section final boss. First, you'll be traveling up through a corridor with turrets on each side. Off them quickly, as very soon three large, orange, flying turrets will be making life very interesting. Easily the most annoying "mid-sized" enemies in the game, the flying turrets are quick, fire wide spreads accurately, and can track you up and down the screen. Best way to deal with them? Get in close-to-mid range and track them unerringly with your firepower as they travel down- diagonally to track you. Be prepared to dart away from at least one or two volleys from each flying turret. After defeating the flying turrets, you'll come upon a cannon embankment surrounding a dormant enemy. Grab the gold bars under each defeated cannon quickly, as the floor surrounding the formerly dormant enemy (and holding the gold bars) will be sliding off the screen to clear a path. This is the strongest mid-boss by a wide margin, with the most effective and "blink, you're-dead" laser in the game. Never let this large flying laser cannon get a bead on you just below or you'll be vaporized. In fact, first thing is it will try to fry you, so stay clear. Then one or two standard bullet sprays later it will try again! Now you'll have 6 uniquely shaped bullet sprays to avoid before the next attempted vaporization, being especially wary of the fifth, a trapezoidal configuration. If you were careful and only used the standard/sub- weapons, you should have IT vaporized just before or after the 3rd blast. All clear?! Not quite. A ring of circular enemies (yes, the "dam" enemies) will encircle you like a lead carousel. Don't be afraid of taking a "power-down" to avoid a bullet here, though if you start wiping them out from 12 o'clock and move clockwise you should be okay. Clear yet?! No, how 'bout two more flying turrets while you're relaxing? These are even faster than before, though apparently no tougher. Stand still for a micron and you are toast. Now for the big finale. Yes, it is an impressively monstrous alien purple brain/octopus that seeks to start WWII the 2nd! Since the brain matter does not appear very convoluted, this dolt should go down easily...or maybe not. Section 1, the alien in all his/her/its glory sprays cross-hatched waves of bullets at our trusty ship. A steady hand can pass this test, though endurance might falter. Try to save the Support Attacks for later, but don't be shy about a constant stream of Level 1 Super Shots. The final boss is (initially) so big that anything will hit it. Section 2, and the alien has lost some fat, revealing a nice set of mandibles intent on masticating YOU. It is very important that one stay right in the middle, bottom center during every chomp. This can seem intimidating, as every chomp results in a spray of bullets as well. But since these bullets shoot outward you'll be OK. Into the frying pan to avoid the fire, so to say. Between chomps is the problem, with cross-hatched arcs of mid-sized fireballs aiming for you. a deft hand strafing and moving forward/diagonal at key junctures can save the day. Or, more so than the next two forms, use a Supporting Attack or two (you were stingy with these earlier just for this occassion, yes?). Sections 3 and 4 are increasingly smaller iterations of the purple mass. Though it shoots bullets at a furious rate, the patterns are somewhat easier to navigate. Section 3 possesses green hands where mandibles once were, opening palms of firepower upon you. Use any remaining optional attacks here rather than on Section 4 if the choice must be made. But choose carefully, as a continue will take you back through the entire Level 8 gauntlet! 6) Ending ------------------------ The ending includes clips and snippets from the video that was included in the intro for the Saturn version. You'll also be rated on your performance on each and every stage, with gold emblems and/or medals signifying a new best finishing time, gold collected, or points for that stage. There are also some WWII-oriented b&w images for every 2 stages and a nice look at the models for the final sections of each stage boss. Maybe you'll get a glimpse of the pilot of your winning ship... 7) Some Other Great Shooters ---------------------------- Border Down - G.Rev (Dreamcast) Zero Gunner 2 - Psikyo (Dreamcast) Mars Matrix - Takumi/Capcom (Dreamcast) Gunbird 2 - Psikyo/Capcom (Dreamcast) R-Type Delta - Irem/Agetec (PSX) Axelay - Konami (SNES) Robotron 2084 - Williams (Arcade/various) Tempest 2000 - Atari (Jaguar) ThunderForce V - Technosoft/Working Designs (PSX) Batsugun - Toaplan/Banpresto (Saturn) G.Darius - Taito/THQ (PSX) Raiden Project - Seibu Kaihatsu (PSX) Layer Section - Taito/Interplay (PC; aka Galactic Attack on Saturn) Radiant Silvergun - Treasure/ESP (Saturn) Gaiares - Renovation (Genesis) Blazing Lazers - Compile/NEC (TG-16) Time Pilot - Konami (Arcade/various) and many more are out there... 9) Thanks/Sources ----------------- Thanks to Agetec for bringing this to the U.S. and to Psikyo for some great shooters. Oh yeah, and thanks to Buy.com for initially mispricing Strikers 1945 at $9.99. ;) Sources of plane info: P-38 > AVIATION, 1980 by David Mondey, Ed F-5U > http://www.netaxs.com/people/ebailey/xf5u.html Focke-Wulf > http://members.aol.com/pelzig/ta152.htm Ki-84 > http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_other/ki-84.html Shinden > http://www.214th.com/ww2/japan/j7w/ Mosquito > http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/air_power/ap18.htm ##