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Import Games |
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IN THE
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Koukaku Kidoutai -Ghost in the Shell- FAQ
Updated: 9 November 1997 (Sunday)
Created: 24 August 1997 (Sunday)
By Don "Gamera" Chan (crs1219@inforamp.net)
Caution: This game isn't suitable for players allergic
to motion sickness.
Disclaimer: This FAQ is based on the Japanese NTSC
version of the game. This FAQ may contain elements
derived from Zhou Tai An's Ghost in the Shell -
Player's Guide. Zhou's permission has been secured.
(OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if parts of this and
Zhou's FAQs re-appear verbatim in some paper vidgame
mags.)
(Thanks to Alex van Vucht for the ASCII logo.)
INDEX
0. Wanted
1. Controls
2. Screen
3. Training
4. Missions
5. Movies
6. Voice Actors
7. Miscellaneous
8. Thanks
9. References
__
0. WANTED
This GITS PS FAQ requires these stuph:
- A map of the bombs in the Mission 3 areas, preferably in
ASCII art.
- A table that lists which terrorist units need how many
missiles or Vulcan bursts to destroy.
- Any known bug, code, trick, and urawaza.
- In the anime sequence before Mission 1, what did Bateau
say before Togusa said "Kawaisou"?
- Info about Class B and SS in Training Mode.
- Info about Movie 13 and 17.
- Kusanagi Shousa's measurements. ^_-
- The boss mecha's names.
- The main characters' full names, if any.
- The terrorist units' proper names.
- YOUR Training Mode and Mission Mode best scores.
("Kimi no ai wo matteru ze!" - Greenwood no minna-san, Koko
wa Greenwood)
- A 1997 MLB AL Cy Young Award for Toronto Blue Jays
starting pitcher Roger "Rocket" Clemens (W-L 21-7, ERA 2.05, SO
292). ^_- (Go Argos Go! (CFL, W-L 15-2 as of 1997.10.18))
1. CONTROLS
The GITS controls are:
SELECT button: Inside view or outside view.
START button: Pause, continue, restart, or quit.
Joystick/keypad: Movement. Up is forward, down is backward,
left is turn left, right is turn right, &c. The Fuchikoma can
climb onto most walls. (Remember: "You meet a better class of
people in the vertical (axis).")
L1 or L2: Slide left.
R1 or R2: Slide right.
(L1 or L2) and (R1 or R2): Pressing both L and R buttons
prevents the Fuchikoma from sliding left or right, but increases
its forward and backward speeds. Useful for retreating from an
enemy's weapon range.
(The player can combine the joystick/keypad and slide
left/right buttons to manoeuvre the Fuchikoma such that the
direction it's facing and the heading of its movement are
different. Essential for keeping its line-of-fire at a target
while it's dodging the target's weapons. Overall, reminds me of
the IBM games MechWarrior 2 and System Shock (eg, stop before a
corner, turn towards the wall, slide into the new corridor while
firing the Vulcan, then slide back into the old corridor), except
the Fuchikoma can climb onto most walls.)
Jump: Also a quick way to reset the Fuchikoma's orientation
after it climbs onto a building or wall, causing the player to
lose his/her situation awareness.
The Fuchikoma receives no damage no matter how far it falls.
Also, the player can control the falling Fuchikoma's movement.
Eg, the Fuchikoma can jump off a skyscraper and stick back to the
wall before it lands on the ground.
Vulcan: Each button-tap is a burst of six autocannon shots.
Short range. Unlimited ammo.
Lock-On Missile: Hold the Vulcan button. After the Vulcan
burst, the Lock-On Marker on the target will turn red. A Lock-On
Gauge appears at the centre of the bottom edge of the screen.
Each orange block in the Lock-On Gauge is one missile, up to 6
missiles per barrage. Medium range. Unlimited ammo.
While the Fuchikoma's Lock-On Gauge is charging, but hasn't
locked any missile on the target, incoming fire that hits the
Fuchikoma will abort the Lock-On Gauge. OTOH, if white lock-on
sights have already appeared on the target, incoming fire that
hits the Fuchikoma won't abort the Lock-On Gauge, and the
Fuchikoma can release its missiles at the target.
The player can hold the Vulcan button to activate the
Lock-On Gauge, then move towards the targets to lock missiles on
them, then release the missiles. No need for getting into missile
range and provoking the targets ("Incoming fire has the right of
way." - Murphy's Laws of Combat) before activating the Lock-On
Gauge.
If a target needs fewer than six missiles to destroy, the
Fuchikoma will lock fewer than six missiles at the target. Eg, a
Vulcan turret needs only four missiles.
Missile kills give fewer points than gun kills ("Real Men
use guns only." - Flight sim veteran players). Also, in Training
Mode, missile kills don't change the Fuchikoma's Hit Rate. (In
Training Mode, an excellent Hit Rate affects the Fuchikoma's
Class. See the Training and Movies sections below.)
Grenade: Area-effect weapon (bomb). Short/medium range.
Limited ammo, up to 3 Grenades.
2. SCREEN
The screen defaults to the outside view, and shifts between
the outside and inside views when an object or wall behind the
Fuchikoma blocks it from the player. (The programmers did this
instead of making the object/wall transparent.) To manually
choose one of the views, press SELECT.
In practice, the inside view gives the Fuchikoma a better
line-of-sight when firing at a target that's behind a corner in a
corridor, or a corner of a building.
The features in the GITS head-up display screen:
Upper left corner: Timer (eg, in Training).
Upper right corner: Number of targets remaining (eg,
keycodes in Mission 1, bombs in Mission 3). Or, Direction
Indicator that indicates the direction (duh) of the primary
target in the mission. (The DI isn't as easy to read as one may
think; see Mission 10.) Or, the boss mecha's Energy Gauge.
Lower right corner: Radar. The Fuchikoma is at the centre of
the 360-degree Radar. Red dots are hostiles. Small white dots are
also hostiles. Tiny white dots are hostile weapons, eg, rockets
and Vulcan rounds. Big green dots are entrances. Small green dots
are Items, ie, Energy Packs and Grenades.
The short arc that spans from the 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock
positions of the rim is the threat warning indicator. It turns
from green to yellow when a hostile is nearby.
The long arc that spans from the 1 o'clock to 8 o'clock
positions of the rim is the Energy Gauge.
The yellow icons between the Radar and the lower right
corner of the screen are the number of Grenades remaining, up to
three.
Centre of bottom edge: Lock-On Gauge. See above.
Lower left corner: Score.
Above the Score is the Message Screen. All messages are
already in English.
3. TRAINING
Six stages.
Objective: Destroy as many targets and as fast as possible.
The target's colour doesn't matter; all targets are hostiles.
Green targets (in the screen, not in the Radar) are immobile,
white targets are mobile, and red targets shoot back at the
Fuchikoma.
When the Fuchikoma moves towards a projector that projects a
red target, the Fuchikoma has enough time to fire one Vulcan
burst at the red target after it appears, and before it begins to
shoot back at the Fuchikoma. ("When the enemy is in range, so are
you." - Murphy's Laws of Combat)
There are a few ways to take out a red target:
- Jump towards the projector. When the Fuchikoma's landing,
fire a Vulcan burst at the projector.
- Move towards the projector, fire a Vulcan burst at the
projector, and jump the Fuchikoma.
- Move towards the projector, fire a Vulcan burst at the
projector, and slide the Fuchikoma back or to one side.
In theory, half of a red target's burst will miss a jumping
Fuchikoma, and the Fuchikoma's Vulcan burst will take out the red
target before the rest of its burst tracks the Fuchikoma. In
practice, stuph happens. The Fuchikoma may shoot too earlier, the
Vulcan burst may miss, the red target may survive the Vulcan
burst, &c.
After satisfying the victory condition of a Training stage,
go to the check point (the green dot(s) in the Radar) to get a
time extension (like a racing game) and enter the next Training
stage.
The Fuchikoma can get some Grenades in some stages. Don't
get target-fixated on a Grenade. If you can't get it in one or
two passes, don't waste any more time. Satisfy the victory
conditions first.
OTOH, the Fuchikoma can't get any Energy Pack that heals the
Fuchikoma, so it depends on the player's skill to conserve its
energy.
IMO, the purposes of the Training stages are to familiarise
the player (who's a new member of Kusanagi Shousa's team) with
the manoeuvreability of the Fuchikoma, and the opportunity,
range, and uses of its armament. (Kusanagi Shousa, Bateau, and
Togusa call the player Shinjin or "New Guy.")
Training 1: 60 seconds. Destroy 16 of 22 targets, on
buildings and on the ground.
"Reberu appu! Reberu appu! [Level up! Level up!]"
- Fuchikoma
Training 2: +40 seconds. Destroy 18 of 18 targets, in the
corridor.
Training 3: +60 seconds. Destroy 20 of 26 targets, on the
sides of the building.
The front and back sides of each building have five targets
each. The outside of each building has two targets. The inside of
each building has one target. Destroy all targets on the front
side of one building, then one or both targets on the outside of
the same building, then all targets on the back side of the same
building, then enough of the targets on the front and back sides
of the other building. Afterwards, move the Fuchikoma to the
inside of the building, jump off, land on and get the Grenade,
and dash for the exits.
Training 4: +50 seconds. Destroy 18 of 22 targets, amongst
the rocks and trees.
Begin from one corner of the area, and sweep the area from
the entrance side to the exit side. Use the Radar to search and
destroy the targets.
Training 5: +50 seconds. Destroy 20 of 26 targets, amongst
the containers. Some targets are panels on the sides or tops of
the containers that don't appear till the Fuchikoma's near them.
Begin from one corner of the area, and sweep the area from
the entrance side to the exit side. Use the Radar to search and
destroy the targets.
Training 6: +50 seconds. Destroy one of one target, a
hostile Fuchikoma.
This area is enclosed, and the hostile Fuchikoma has attacks
similar to the player's Fuchikoma: non-area effect but
unlimited-ammo Grenades and Vulcan; no Lock-On Missiles. As the
hostile Fuchikoma's weapons are both forward-mounted, slide
around the hostile Fuchikoma to avoid its weapons and attack it
from its sides. (I prefer to engage it with missiles because I
don't need to always point my Fuchikoma at the bandit.)
While sliding the player's Fuchikoma, move towards the
hostile Fuchikoma whenever possible to keep it in missile range,
and to keep the player's Fuchikoma away from a corner or wall.
When the player's Fuchikoma's about to slide into a wall, prepare
to release the L or R button, tap Jump+(the other side button) to
reverse the player's Fuchikoma's sliding, and to avoid the
hostile Fuchikoma's weapons. The Fuchikomas can't climb onto the
walls in this area.
When the player's Fuchikoma's in the hostile Fuchikoma's
rear arc, pause and Vulcan the hostile Fuchikoma. Observe which
way the hostile Fuchikoma's turning, then slide the player's
Fuchikoma accordingly and beware of the closest wall.
(One-point advice: To achieve a high Hit Rate, the player
needs to know the effective range of the Fuchikoma's Vulcan.
Instead of carelessly strafing at a target as the Fuchikoma
dashes or slides, keep pointing the Fuchikoma at a target (esp
mobile white targets), and make sure all rounds in its Vulcan
burst hit the target. Destroy each target with one Vulcan burst
to keep the Hit Rate as close to 100% as possible. (Back in
Falcon 3.0, I sometimes Fox Two at a bandit in guns range,
switching to guns if the bandit defeated my heater.)
In Training 6, against the hostile Fuchikoma, to maintain
the Hit Rate: point the player's Fuchikoma at the hostile
Fuchikoma, and while the player's Fuchikoma slides away from the
hostile Fuchikoma's front arc, fire a Vulcan burst at the hostile
Fuchikoma. Correct the player's Fuchikoma's facing to make sure
most of the Vulcan burst hits the hostile Fuchikoma. Then hold
the Vulcan button to lock missiles on the hostile Fuchikoma. Keep
the Fuchikomas in short to medium range from each other. Don't
panic when the hostile Fuchikoma's Grenade or Vulcan hits the
player's Fuchikoma. When the player's Fuchikoma's about to face
the hostile Fuchikoma's front, keep sliding and jump once over
the hostile Fuchikoma's attacks. (Optional: To spoof the hostile
Fuchikoma's aim, jump the player's Fuchikoma whenever the
player's Fuchikoma releases its missiles.)
Also, getting and NOT using the Grenades is critical for a
high score. As of 1997.10.23, I haven't achieved Class B.)
4. MISSIONS
12 stages.
Mission 1: An Assault. The Bay Area.
Destroy all blue robots (those equipped with beam lasers,
not missiles), then enter the warehouse (the green dot in the
Radar) to destroy the boss robot. Reserve as many Grenades for
the boss robot as practical, or don't use any Grenade to get some
bonus points.
The background objects outside the warehouse are
indestructible. Eg, the buildings and fencing are laser-proof.
9_9;
To easily destroy a blue robot that's behind a fence, lock
missiles on it, jump up but not forward, and release the missiles
while the Fuchikoma's in the air and higher than the fence.
To destroy a helo, climb onto the wall of a building under a
helo and look up. Vulcan the helo when it's above the building.
("Neutral will ultimately triumph over Evil and Good because
Neutral is cheap!") Or, use Lock-On Missiles. In both cases, make
sure there's no hostile behind or under the Fuchikoma that will
poke the Fuchikoma's back.
(One-point advice: For new players with a fetish for gun
kills and thus higher scores, here's the "low and slow" method of
bullying less aggressive terrorist units, eg, immobile Vulcan
turrets, mobile white AFVs with Vulcans, and mobile legged robots
with missile launchers. (More aggressive terrorist units are ones
that pursue the Fuchikoma, eg, green cyborgs with automatic
rifles and spider-like robots with beam rifles.) First, fire a
Vulcan burst at a target. If it doesn't hit, move forward one
step and fire a Vulcan burst again. If it hits, fire another
Vulcan burst or two until the target's destroyed. Prepare to jump
or slide to one side (eg, tap L1+Jump or R1+Jump once) if the
target returns fire.)
Mission 2: Black Water. The Sewer.
Move towards the green dot in the Radar, where the boss
robot is. En route, destroy as many hostiles and mines as
possible.
Search all corridors for Items: Energy Packs and Grenades.
To destroy the flying robots and Vulcan turrets in the
tunnels, hold the Vulcan button before entering their tunnels.
Activate the Lock-On Gauge, move towards them or slide into their
tunnels, lock-on and release Lock-On Missiles, then retreat. They
buy the farm after four or five missiles each.
To destroy the cyborgs (humanoid targets), strafe them with
the Vulcan once or twice, then dodge or withdraw from them.
Repeat till they explode. Be advised that, with light
amplification on, their flamers may look like explosions. Check
the radar to see if the dot representing the target is present.
The boss robot has five weapons: beam laser (medium range),
electricity (long range), fire (short range), missiles (long
range), and Vulcans (long range). The electricity, missiles, and
Vulcans are direct-fire weapons; the Fuchikoma can easily avoid
them. The beam laser strafes the tunnel twice at a time. The
electrical attack only affects the water channel on the floor of
the tunnel.
The safest way to destroy this boss robot is stay just
inside the Fuchikoma's Lock-On Missiles range and brass up the
boss robot with missiles. Place the Fuchikoma at the lower left
or lower right corner of the tunnel. When the beam laser strafes
the tunnel, the Fuchikoma should jump over and towards the
direction from which the beam laser came. Eg, when the beam laser
strafes in a counter-clockwise direction, the Fuchikoma should
jump towards the left and over the beam laser. When the Fuchikoma
is on the walls of the tunnel instead of at the lower corners,
the Fuchikoma may hit the ceiling as it jumps, and the beam laser
may hit the Fuchikoma. Whenever the Fuchikoma isn't jumping, hold
the Vulcan button to achieve lock-on.
(Comment: By staying at the lower left or lower right corner
of the tunnel, jumping over the beam laser, and staying at the
extreme range of the Fuchikoma's Vulcan, it's simple to Vulcan
the boss mecha to destruction. To avoid the boss mecha's
lightnings, missiles, and Vulcans, don't stay too close to the
channel on the floor.)
Mission 3: Firecracker (aka "Frustration Central," IMO). The
Complex.
This mission has four areas. The Fuchikoma must destroy all
bombs in one area within a time limit to get a time extension,
then enter and destroy all bombs in the next area. After the
Fuchikoma destroys all bombs in the third area, the timer is
disabled, and the Fuchikoma must destroy the boss robot in the
fourth area.
One Vulcan burst destroys a bomb. Strafing (spreading a
burst) at multiple bombs may not cause enough damage to destroy
all of them at once. To save time, use Lock-On Missiles to
destroy a cluster or row of bombs--but only when there's no
bandit near the Fuchikoma.
Also, one Vulcan full burst destroys a cyborg, but strafing
at a cyborg may not cause enough damage to destroy it. Yaw to the
left or right of a falling cyborg because it still has time to
fire a rocket or two at the Fuchikoma. A Vulcan turret takes
about four missiles to destroy.
When moving in an area, avoid bumping into and climbing the
buildings and structures. The player will waste precious seconds
to jump off the building and recover his orientation, even when
he pauses the game.
(Fortunately, DarkLord's article in Game Weekly Magazine has
a crude map of the areas and bombs. m(__)m The following tips
presume the player's familiar with the terrain in the first three
areas, and are the procedure I destroyed the bombs. Your mileage
may differ.)
Area 1: Assume the Fuchikoma begins at the south end of the
area. The exit to Area 2 is at the northwest corner.
There are four bombs north of the Fuchikoma. Vulcan the bomb
directly before the Fuchikoma. Vulcan or missile the cyborg, then
destroy the other three bombs. Get the Grenade.
Move to the northeast and destroy the two bombs beside the
building. Face west and move to the southwest to destroy the two
bombs south (left) of the nearest Vulcan turret--ignore that
Vulcan turret. Face and move to the southwest. Activate the
Lock-On Gauge, get into missile range of the Vulcan turret to the
southwest, and missile it. Vulcan the bandit if it survives, and
destroy the two bombs near it. Face north and move to the
northwest. En route, ignore the Vulcan turret to the Fuchikoma's
northwest (left front). Destroy the cluster of four bombs near
the northwest corner. Get the Grenade. Face south and move
(slide) west, towards the northwest corner, to open the entrance
to Area 2 (big green dot in Radar). Activate the Lock-On Gauge
just before entering Area 2.
Area 2: Assume the entrance from Area 1 is at the southeast
corner. The exit to Area 3 is at the southwest corner. (After the
Fuchikoma exits one area and enters the next area, the entrance
closes and doesn't re-open. The Fuchikoma can't climb onto or
over the wall between two areas, AFAIK.)
Get into missile range of the Vulcan turret west of the
entrance and missile it. Face north and destroy the row of five
bombs north of the Vulcan turret. Destroy the cyborg north of
(behind) the five bombs. (When I write "destroy a bandit," unless
the bandit's already at short range, I mean try to missile it
when it appears out of the haze and is beyond Vulcan range, then
Vulcan it.)
Face north and move to the northeast. Destroy the two bombs
between the column and the building. Face northwest and move to
the northwest. Destroy the Vulcan turret and the cluster of four
bombs near it. Sight the cyborg north (right) of the four bombs
and destroy it. Face west and destroy the row of three bombs on
the platform.
Two more bombs are on a bridge above the centre of Area 2.
The Fuchikoma can't missile them from the ground; the missiles
will hit the bridge. From where the Fuchikoma destroyed the
cluster of four bombs and row of three bombs, face southeast,
move southeast, and climb onto the north side of the nearest
column. This column should be higher than the bridge, and the
bridge should be north of the column. When the Fuchikoma is high
enough on the column, activate the Lock-On Gauge, turn around and
face the ground, lock-on the two bombs, and missile them. Jump
off the column, face southwest (left rear), and move to the
southwest, towards the west wall. Move south, along the west
wall, to open the entrance to Area 3 at the southwest corner. En
route, ignore the Vulcan turret south (left front) of the
Fuchikoma. Activate the Lock-On Gauge just before entering Area
3.
Area 3: Assume the entrance from Area 2 is at the southwest
corner. The exit to Area 4 is at the centre of the east wall.
Destroy the two bombs to the northwest from the entrance.
Face east and move east. Sight and destroy the cyborg behind the
columns. Destroy the row of three bombs east of (behind) the
cyborg.
Two more bombs are on a bridge above the west (left) half of
Area 3. From where the Fuchikoma destroyed the row of three
bombs, face southwest, move southwest, and climb to the top the
nearest column. This column should be the southeast corner of the
bridge, and has a Grenade on its top. Missile the Vulcan turret
at the centre of the bridge and the bomb east (right) of the
bandit. Move towards the opposite end of the bridge and missile
the other bomb. Face northwest, jump off the bridge, and move to
the northwest. Destroy the Vulcan turret and the row of three
bombs north of it. Face east and move to the east-southeast.
Ignore the cyborg northeast (left front) of the Fuchikoma, but
avoid its rockets. Move into the alley south and east of (behind)
the brown columns to destroy two pairs of two bombs in the alley.
Face south and sight the Vulcan turret and a row of three bombs.
Destroy the bandit. (To save time, I Grenaded it.) The three
bombs are actually south of (behind) the rail south of the
bandit; the Fuchikoma can't missile or Vulcan them from north of
the rail. Move south and onto/over the rail, and destroy the
three bombs. (To save time, I Grenaded them.)
One more bomb is in the corridor *inside* the round building
south of (behind) the row of three bombs. The entrance of the
building is to the southwest (right) of the three bombs, on the
northwest side of the building. Destroy this final bomb to
disable the timer.
After the timer is off, and before opening the entrance to
Area 4 in the east wall (northeast of the entrance of the round
building), collect the two Energy Packs and two (?) Grenades in
Area 3 (small green dots in Radar). Beware the regenerated
bandits in the Area (white dots in Radar).
Area 4: This is an enclosed area like the Mission 1
warehouse, but smaller. As in Mission 1, slide around the boss
robot and keep hitting it with Vulcan and missiles. If the
Fuchikoma bumps into a wall as it slides, reverse the direction
it's sliding. Don't press both L and R buttons at once, or the
Fuchikoma will stop sliding.
The boss robot has four weapons: Bits (Gundam jargon for
remote-control weapon-pods) equipped with lasers (long range),
fireballs (long range), missiles (long range), and Vulcans (long
range). When it fires its fireballs, it can raise and rotate its
body about as fast as the Fuchikoma can slide. But its feet stay
on the ground, so slide around and shoot at its nearest foot and
its Bits when it raises its body and fires its fireballs. (If you
feel overwhelmed by the Bits (improbable as the Bits have poor
tracking), Grenade them.)
When the boss robot hovers, the white circles on the ground
are harmless.
(Thanks to Michael Mi Wang and Mike Tsui. BTW, yes, I had a
full-job documenting work instructions and test procedures before
the company relocated.)
(Comment: It's simple to slide around and Vulcan the boss
mecha to destruction. Instead of wasting any Grenade, missile the
boss mecha's Bits.)
Mission 4: Chase I. On the Sea.
In this mission, till the Fuchikoma engages the boss ship,
the Fuchikoma's always moving forward on a straight path.
However, the Fuchikoma can change its facing and jump, and has
limited movement to its left and right. At either edge of the
path are rows of mines over which the Fuchikoma can jump. It's
probably more advantageous for the Fuchikoma to stay near the
left edge of the path.
Before the Fuchikoma reaches the boss ship, the Fuchikoma
meets laser tripwires, cyborgs with rocket-launchers on jet skis,
flying cyborgs firing beam rifles (their mecha design reminds me
of the Power Loaders in POWER DoLLS, but their annoyance reminds
me of the Floaters in X-Com), and a flight of four bombers.
The Fuchikoma can jump over the tripwires, or destroy the
buoy at one end of a tripwire to disable it.
A cyborg with rocket-launcher on jet ski takes two Vulcan
bursts to destroy. When the Fuchikoma's Vulcan is shooting at
this bandit, it's fairly simple to visually spot and evade (dodge
or jump over) the yellow dot that is the bandit's rocket, as the
Fuchikoma isn't releasing its missiles and the Fuchikoma's
missiles have smoke trails. (Reminds me of the hostile missiles
in Sky Target and Virtua Cop 2.) Also, it's safer for the
Fuchikoma to shoot at this bandit from directly aft of (behind)
the bandit, because the bandit's rockets fly laterally a bit
before they track towards the Fuchikoma.
A flying cyborg takes six missiles plus a Vulcan burst or
two to destroy, or *several* (read: too many) Vulcan bursts
without missiles. If the Fuchikoma doesn't quickly destroy this
bandit, it'll hover above the Fuchikoma. Then it's hard for the
Fuchikoma to shoot at it because the Fuchikoma's Vulcan has no
elevation at close range (game design flaw, IMO), and the bandit
prevents the Fuchikoma from jumping over the tripwires. To
destroy the flying cyborgs: anticipate their appearance (esp
before the bridge, and the channel between the two freighters),
slide away from but rotate the Fuchikoma to face them, soften
them with six missiles when they are in-range, then jump and
Vulcan them. (I hate off-boresight, two-dimensional, visual range
furballs.) Their beam rifle has a charge time. Ready to jump over
the beam rifle shot when the beam rifle is glowing.
There are four bombers. (B_lls. Where's the ASDF when we
need them? Or, are those fratricidal ASDF bombers?) The first one
flies parallel to the bridge, and perpendicular to the
Fuchikoma's path. Then a flight of three flies on top of the
Fuchikoma's path, and in the opposite direction. When the bombers
roll in, hot, avoid their bombs and don't move the Fuchikoma
under the bombers. (I don't know if we can shoot down a bomber
with missiles. They tend to disappear into the haze before I
could see if I'd shot down one. OTOH, we can shoot down a
retreating flying cyborg.)
Missiles are important in this mission. Eg, when the mission
begins, activate the Lock-On Gauge, turn the Fuchikoma around,
and blow up one of the jet skis. Slide behind the other jet ski
and blow it up. Then activate the Lock-On Gauge again to brass up
the first flying cyborg.
In this mission, there are two Grenades. Soon after the
above engagement, there's a Grenade just left of the rightmost
support of the girder that extends from the left edge of the
screen. Before this Grenade is a row of four mines, and behind
the Grenade are a row of three mines and a laser tripwire.
There's another Grenade in the channel between the two
freighters.
When the Fuchikoma reaches the boss ship and its two escorts
(no, I don't treat these ships as female), a timer counts down
from 60 seconds. Destroying an escort gives a time extension of
30 seconds. Unless the Fuchikoma sinks an escort, it can't slide
around the escorts and the boss ship. (Remember this condition!)
As soon as the Fuchikoma sinks an escort, it can slide around the
boss ship and the other escort. Try not to stay at the left or
right edge of the path, or an escort might ram the Fuchikoma
that's at the edge and can't jump or slide away from the escort.
Each escort alternates amongst three weapons: missiles
(direct-fire, long range), rockets (indirect-fire, long range),
and Vulcan (medium range). When evading its weapons, jump
laterally. If the Fuchikoma jumps straight up and down, two
rounds in each burst of Vulcan might hit the Fuchikoma. Attack an
escort from its sides. Reminder: When the Fuchikoma's shooting at
an escort with missiles and Vulcan, the other escort (and the
boss ship when it's near enough) will be shooting at the
Fuchikoma.
After the Fuchikoma sinks the escorts, the boss ship has
three weapons: mines (in pairs, aft only), rockets
(indirect-fire, long range), and Vulcan (medium range). The
Fuchikoma has more flexibility around the boss ship, so change
the Fuchikoma's facing more often to keep its line-of-sight at
the boss ship. Missile and Vulcan the boss ship, and dodge or
jump over its weapons. Don't let it ram the Fuchikoma. (Some
players prefer to sink the boss ship with the Vulcan because of
the Vulcan's continuity. I prefer fewer Vulcan and more missiles
for the missiles' better damage.)
Mission 5: An Invisible Shadow. The Old City.
The Fuchikoma must destroy a boss cyborg equipped with
kougaku meisai or Optical Camouflage. When the boss cyborg is
Optical-Camouflaged (invisible), the player can see its movement
by the splashes on the water, and the red dot in the Radar.
Unlike the Mission 1 boss robot, the Fuchikoma can't lock
missiles on the invisible Mission 5 boss cyborg.
The Fuchikoma chases the boss cyborg in an urban area
(reminds me of the Sham Shui Po district in Hong Kong), populated
by robots with missiles (direct-fire), rockets (indirect-fire),
or Vulcan (direct-fire), and cyborgs with rocket-launchers
(doesn't remind me of the Sham Shui Po district in Hong Kong).
Beware of these bandits when the Fuchikoma's engaging the boss
cyborg. Also, a bomber regularly rolls in and pickles a series of
iron bombs. OTOH, the Fuchikoma can climb onto the buildings
(small comfort). 9_9; (BTW, the Chinese signs on the buildings
make sense and aren't as idiotic as those in Kowloon's Gate.)
Energy Packs and Grenades are available on the ground and
the roofs of the buildings.
Each time the Fuchikoma seriously damages the boss cyborg,
it switches to Optical Camouflage and runs to another area in the
Old City. After the boss cyborg repeats this routine a few times,
the Fuchikoma's final fight with the boss cyborg is in an
enclosed area entered through an alley between two tall
buildings. After the Fuchikoma enters this enclosed area, it
can't exit this area. (If the boss cyborg runs into the
Fuchikoma, it'll push back the Fuchikoma.)
The boss cyborg has two attacks: SF2 Guile's sonic boom (two
at a time) and Grenades (after the boss cyborg dashes towards the
Fuchikoma). The Fuchikoma can slide away from the sonic booms and
jump away from the Grenades.
When the boss cyborg's standing, missile or Vulcan it. When
the boss cyborg's dashing towards the Fuchikoma, slide to the
boss cyborg's rear and missile or Vulcan it. Repeat this tactic
till the boss cyborg buys the farm.
Another way to take out the boss cyborg: Keep the boss
cyborg at the extreme range of the Fuchikoma's Vulcan. Don't move
the Fuchikoma, keep firing the Vulcan at the boss cyborg, and
wait for the boss cyborg to react. When it fires a sonic boom at
the Fuchikoma, dodge it, stop the Fuchikoma, and keep firing the
Vulcan at the boss cyborg. When it dashes towards the Fuchikoma,
slide the Fuchikoma to the boss cyborg's side or rear, stop the
Fuchikoma, keep firing the Vulcan at the boss cyborg, and adjust
the Fuchikoma's distance from the boss cyborg. Repeat this tactic
till the boss cyborg buys the farm.
Mission 6: Chase II (aka "Spy Hunter 3D/G", IMO). The
Speedway.
In this mission, the terrorists' order of battle are: AFVs
(armoured fighting vehicles) with turreted Vulcans, gunships
(attack helicopters) with missiles and Vulcans, and bikes with
mines and multiple missile launchers.
Use the Radar to anticipate the AFVs and gunships. When a
white dot appears, turn to the terrorist, slide the Fuchikoma to
one edge of the speedway, lock-on and release missiles when the
terrorist's in range, slide to the other edge of the speedway to
evade incoming fire, and Vulcan the terrorist.
Jump when the Fuchikoma's releasing its missiles, to disrupt
the terrorist's aim. Eg, if the Fuchikoma's jumping when an AFV
begins to fire at the Fuchikoma, this may cause the AFV to aim
too high and miss the landing Fuchikoma.
The terrorist bikes are harder to detect on Radar. Listen
for the exhaust note of a bike (if your TV is good enough), and
missile the bike ASAP. If it survives into close range, prepare
to L1+Jump or R1+Jump to evade its mines and missiles.
The speedway has a junction. The left branch has more
terrorists. The right branch has fewer terrorists, but the
Fuchikoma has to jump over some gaps in the speedway. If the
Fuchikoma fails to jump over a gap, the Fuchikoma takes some
damage and climbs back onto the speedway.
When the Fuchikoma reaches the boss tractor-trailer, a timer
counts down from 60 seconds. The boss tractor-trailer has three
parts: the second trailer (rear), the first trailer (middle), and
the tractor (front). Destroying a trailer gives a time extension
of 30 seconds. Unless the Fuchikoma destroys both trailers, it
can't slide around the boss tractor-trailer.
(I don't know what happens when the Fuchikoma survives till
the timer reaches zero. Does the Fuchikoma self-destruct? Or does
the boss tractor-trailer accelerate away from the Fuchikoma?)
The second trailer has two pile-drivers that punch holes on
the ground as the boss trailer-tractor slides from side to side.
One method to deal with this is to keep the Fuchikoma in one
lane, face the second trailer, and continuously Vulcan/missile
it. When the second trailer's in the Fuchikoma's lane, jump
straight up to avoid the holes. (I kept the Fuchikoma in the
rightmost lane, held the R1 button, and jumped whenever the
second trailer moved into the Fuchikoma's lane.)
The first trailer has a continuous beam laser and
rear-mounted Vulcans. The Vulcans prevent the Fuchikoma from
staying directly behind the first trailer, while the beam laser
strafes from side to side. One method to deal with this is to
slide the Fuchikoma to one side to avoid the Vulcans, while
pointing and firing the Fuchikoma's Vulcan at the first trailer.
When the Fuchikoma reaches one edge of the speedway, or when the
beam laser almost catches the Fuchikoma, L1+Jump or R1+Jump (not
left+Jump or right+Jump) to jump laterally over the beam laser
and Vulcans, and to slide the Fuchikoma towards the other edge of
the speedway.
The tractor has rear-mounted missiles and front-mounted
Vulcans. Jump laterally or slide around to avoid the missiles.
(Sliding around the tractor is easier than sliding around the
Mission 4 boss ship because the speedway has visible edges to
remind the player of the Fuchikoma's heading and its relative
position from the tractor.) Missile and Vulcan the tractor till
it buys the farm.
Mission 7: Villains Lurking in the City. The City.
In this mission, note the terrorists' order of battle
include red, spider-like robots with beam rifles, like the
Mission 1 blue Keycode robots, that can climb onto walls.
To engage the boss robot, the Fuchikoma must first destroy
four beam cannon/missile launcher turrets in the city. Some of
these turrets are on the bridge or on the roof of a building. The
safest way to deal with them is to climb onto a wall below and
perpendicular to a turret, and missile the turret. Or, climb onto
the wall, stop the Fuchikoma just below the top edge, and wait
for the turret to strafe with its beam cannon. When the beam
cannon passes by the Fuchikoma, climb over the edge and Vulcan
the turret for a gun kill.
When the Fuchikoma engages the boss robot, any nearby
terrorist unit will self-destruct. (No back-poking to worry
about.) The boss robot has a beam machine gun, cluster bombs, a
flamer, and shock waves.
The cluster bombs are centred on the boss robot, so don't
keep the Fuchikoma too close to the boss robot. OTOH, if the
Fuchikoma's too close to the boss robot (and if you've Newtype
potential), manoeuvre the Fuchikoma between the cluster bomb
explosions to minimise damage.
The boss robot always jumps before it causes a shock wave.
The Fuchikoma needs to jump over the crest of the shock wave.
Prepare to jump the Fuchikoma just before the boss robot lands.
Mission 8: The Encounter in the Darkness. Underground
Passage.
In this mission, the terrorists' order of battle include
cyborgs with triple missile launchers, and rotary-wing robots
with beam machine guns.
The Fuchikoma can lock-on and missile the terrorists at
maximum range, for no or little damage to the Fuchikoma. (Eg,
hold Vulcan button, L1+R1+forward, lock-on and release missiles,
L1+R1+back, and check Radar. Repeat when necessary.)
Moving the Fuchikoma on the ceiling may improve the
Fuchikoma's line-of-sight. Eg, at the spot where the Fuchikoma
switches to light intensification and must destroy four targets
behind a low wall, the Fuchikoma may climb onto the ceiling
before the low wall, switch to inside view to see the four
targets, and Vulcan them for some gun kills.
The boss robot's area is a cylindrical room. The Fuchikoma
and the boss robot can climb onto the ceiling and wall.
The boss robot's an improved Fuchikoma with flares,
Grenades, Optical Camouflage (ach), spread beam, and Vulcans.
(Gee, what's with all these Gundam jargon? @_@ Since I'm writing
this FAQ bit by bit (ach, another Gundam term), I may conform all
the weapon names later.)
The flares hover briefly before they guide towards the
player's Fuchikoma. Thus, spend a second to see which way the
flares are tracking before jumping or sliding the player's
Fuchikoma.
Unlike the Training 6 boss Fuchikoma's Grenades, the Mission
8 boss Fuchikoma's Grenades have a blast radius.
Most of the boss Fuchikoma's attacks are 2D, linear attacks
(eg, Vulcan turrets and white AFVs), so the player's Fuchikoma
can climb onto the wall or ceiling to avoid them. OTOH, the boss
Fuchikoma can also climb onto the wall or ceiling, and its flares
are a 3D attack. To (try to) avoid the flares, jump then slide
the Fuchikoma, or slide then jump, to dodge the early flares and
to spoof the later flares.
Mission 9: Wormwood. Aeropolis II/Geofront.
In this mission, the terrorists' order of battle include
AFVs with spread missiles, cyborgs with automatic rifles, battle
axes, or triple missile launchers, flying cyborgs with beam
rifles, and the usual turrets.
Most of the terrorists' weapons are 2D and linear (eg,
spread missiles and Vulcans), so the Fuchikoma can climb onto the
ceiling and ignore the terrorists that aren't in the Fuchikoma's
way, or aren't guarding Items.
The Fuchikoma can't climb onto the ceiling or walls of an
elevator. (Actually, when a Fuchikoma that's on the outside wall
and looking down at the floor slide into the elevator, the
Fuchikoma may remain on the elevator wall as the elevator moves.)
In one area, there's a chasm where the Fuchikoma can simply
jump down to a lower floor, instead of climbing onto and moving
down the wall. Jumping down the chasm may be a bad idea because
waiting on the lower floor are AFVs and turrets.
Just before entering the boss mecha's room, the Fuchikoma
steps onto a moving platform. While the platform is moving, the
Fuchikoma can't get off the platform, and encounters four flying
terrorists.
In the boss mecha's room, a Timer counts down from 60
seconds, and the Fuchikoma must destroy eight columns on the
floor. Extending from the ceiling above each column is a robot
arm with a beam laser.
The Fuchikoma can destroy the eight beam lasers, but the
Fuchikoma must hit the beam laser at the end of a robot arm.
Shooting at the robot arm causes no damage and wastes time.
Destroying a beam laser gives a time extension of 20 seconds.
When the timer has fewer than 10 seconds, "Move quickly!" appears
in the Message Screen.
To clear this boss mecha, climb onto the ceiling and first
take out all eight beam lasers. (In fact, the Fuchikoma can jump
onto a beam laser for inappropriate fun.) Remember to slide away
from the beam lasers and to NOT jump, or the Fuchikoma will land
on the floor. Also, don't move the Fuchikoma into the force field
around the core of the generator.
After the Fuchikoma destroys all beam lasers, destroy the
columns.
After the Fuchikoma destroys four columns, the generator
will attract the Fuchikoma towards its core and into its force
field. Keep moving or sliding the Fuchikoma away from the core.
Eg, place the Fuchikoma between a column and the wall of the
room, face and Vulcan the column, and move the Fuchikoma
backwards. The "snowflakes" are harmless.
After the Fuchikoma destroys six columns, the generator will
also produce random chain lightnings.
After the Fuchikoma destroys eight columns, the generator
will play dead.
After the Fuchikoma destroys nine columns, the Fuchikoma
will switch to Optical Camouflage.
BUG. When the Fuchikoma steps onto the platform and it just
begins to move, the Fuchikoma can move off the rear edge of the
platform and onto the empty but texture-mapped floor below the
platform. The platform continues to move towards the other end of
this area. Though there are grooves between the tracks, the floor
is actually flat: an invisible surface covers the grooves. (If
this sounds too good to be true, well, it's true, but the
programmers or debuggers were annoyingly exact. When the platform
reaches the other end of this area, a gate opens to let the
platform enter its dock, then closes behind the platform. The
free Fuchikoma can climb onto the rear edge of the platform, but
it can't move through the closed gate. The Fuchikoma can't climb
through the walls at this end of the area either, though it can
see the entrance to the boss mecha's room through the wall.)
Mission 10: Cutting of the Central Nerve. Aeropolis II/The
General Floor.
(This Mission has the same BGM as the OP animation.) ^_^
New units in the terrorists' order of battle include: mobile
mines, red Bits with beam rifles, and brown terrorists with
flamers.
The mobile mines will track towards the Fuchikoma, and
self-detonate if the Fuchikoma is on the floor or wall. They
won't self-detonate when the Fuchikoma is on the ceiling. Thus,
for most of this mission, the Fuchikoma should be moving on the
ceiling. When the Fuchikoma's Vulcan blows up a mobile mine,
don't rush the Fuchikoma into the explosion, or it'll damage the
Fuchikoma. Also, the explosion won't destroy any nearby mobile
mine. OTOH, if a mobile mine's on the floor under the inverted
Fuchikoma, the Fuchikoma may: ignore the mobile mine and move on;
or dash back and Vulcan the mine again; or lock-on the mine, dash
back, and release missiles at it.
Note: When the Fuchikoma's on the ceiling, the big green dot
in the Radar is also reversed. So fly by IFR and trust the
Direction Indicator at the upper right corner of the screen. But
sometimes it's hard to discern if the Direction Indicator's
pointing to the Fuchikoma's front or back. So if the Fuchikoma
encounters empty corridors, or terrorist units that it may have
destroyed before, clear the corridor, jump onto the floor, and
check the Direction Indicator and Radar.
The terrorist with flamer needs two Vulcan bursts to
destroy.
As soon as the Fuchikoma enters the two boss robots' room,
climb onto the ceiling. Each boss robot has four weapons: beam
shotgun, beam sabre (like the ones in Virtual-On), mines (three
per shot), and missiles.
The mines can't hit the inverted Fuchikoma. Keep sliding the
Fuchikoma to avoid the boss robots' other attacks. When the
Fuchikoma slides, try to keep one of the boss robots in the
Fuchikoma's front arc. Vulcan, then lock-on and release missiles
at one or both boss robots. Repeat. When the boss robots' energy
is down to 1/4 or 1/2, one of the boss robots will probably
explode.
The doors through which the boss robots enter the room won't
open when the Fuchikoma stands on them.
(BTW, the note about a ninth column in the previous Mission
was disinformation. In Mission 9, there was no ninth column. Just
checking if you vidgame reviewers are really playing this game.
But the note about the moving platform bug was true.) 8P
"Joudan ya. Sugu shinjin'na, BOKE." - Inuzuka
Saori to the protagonist, Sotsugyou Vacation
(PlayStation, 1997)
Mission 11: Push Up from the Bottom! ("Up yours!" IMO.)
Aeropolis II/The Duct.
New units in the terrorists' order of battle include: mine
droppers.
This mine dropper appears as a rod on the ceiling or wall.
When the Fuchikoma's in its range and under the mine dropper, it
drops multiple mines on the Fuchikoma. Unlike the dumb mines in
previous Missions, this mine dropper has unlimited ammo. OTOH, it
doesn't activate when the Fuchikoma's on the ceiling and standing
right next to it, or when the Fuchikoma's on the wall and above
it. Unless the Fuchikoma's in a narrow duct, the mines from a
mine dropper only hit the path directly under it, but there may
be one mine dropper on each wall at one spot in the duct.
Again, as soon as the Fuchikoma enters the boss mecha's
room, climb onto the ceiling. The boss mecha's a two-parter. It
begins with four weapons: energy balls (five per shot), energy
waves (up to four per shot), lightning (two-hit), and missiles.
WRT the quintuple energy balls, dodge the first one or two,
then move towards the boss mecha to force the others to overshoot
the Fuchikoma as they guide towards it.
WRT the energy waves, they have little elevation, so they'll
probably miss the Fuchikoma on the ceiling, unless the
Fuchikoma's in medium range from the boss mecha.
WRT the lightning, a cone of lightning appears before the
boss mecha, then it releases a stream of lightning that only hits
if the Fuchikoma's directly in front of the boss mecha.
When the boss mecha's energy is down to 1/4, the boss mecha
becomes a hovering locust-like mecha with continuous beam machine
gun and missiles. Avoid the boss mecha's front arc and missiles,
and Vulcan/missile it.
(Thanks to Kee-Hyun Paik for Mission 11 and 12 tips.)
Mission 12: The Darkest Hour is that Before the Dawn.
("Frustration Central II", IMO.) Aeropolis II/The Rooftop.
New units in the terrorists' order of battle include: Bits
with spread beam guns. The double missiles from the turrets in
this Mission seem to have better agility than previous missile
turrets. Also, beware of multiple dumb mines.
If the Fuchikoma moves beyond the outside edge of the (brown
and yellow) floor, it'll fall off the building and Game Over,
instead of climb onto the outside wall of the building. For
reference, the gunships are always parallel to the ground, and
there are two landing spots for choppers (the "H" marks (Ecchi?))
on a balcony way below the Fuchikoma's floor.
Behind the gate guarded by one missile turret and three
Bits, note the wall (actually an underside) with two rows of four
mines (and a gunship behind the mines) through which the
Fuchikoma must move through is dark grey, not light grey. While
destroying these mines and gunship, remember the Fuchikoma's
upside-down and don't jump!
This Mission has three checkpoints. The first is three
platforms in a row across which the Fuchikoma must jump. The
second is a gap across which the Fuchikoma must jump. The third
is a narrow bridge.
((Be advised: You may ignore this paragraph.) Why did the
[censored] programmers at Exact must be such [censored] sadists
to include the [censored] Super Mario jumping from platform to
platform [censored]? The last time I did some of this [censored]
was in Origin's Ultima VIII for DOS. I didn't like it then, and I
don't like it now. I [censored] wasted over two hours and 20
minutes to complete this otherwise physically short Mission (and
my Fuchikoma engaged the boss mecha only three or four times
during this duration) because I [censored] at trying to jump
across those three [censored] platforms. (Actually, it was
effectively two [censored] platforms. See below.) My Fuchikoma
had [censored] fallen short, overshot, missed to the left ("Just
a little bit outside!" - Major League), missed to the right, AND
slid off the [censored] middle platform so many times it wasn't
[censored] funny. (About the only thing I didn't do was to try
jumping across those [censored] platforms while the Fuchikoma's
inverted, to see if the Fuchikoma can stick to the undersides of
the [censored] platforms, which I doubt.) Maybe there are easier
ways to jump across those [censored] platforms, but I didn't
waste more time to figure out them. (I usually play fighting
games and RPGs. I don't usually play shooting games, except the
Virtua Cop series.) OK, I could've been less frustrated if I
wasn't in a rush to finish this game to free the PS for Sotsugyou
Vacation. (OTOH, a friend seems to have similar problems with
Dark Forces II for WIN95. At least he can save game during a
mission.) Fortunately, for a 3D graphics-intensive PS game, GITS
has a relatively short load time, possibly from efficient
programming.)
Anyway, here are some tips for players more used to action
games. There are (at least) two ways to jump across the three
platforms. One, jump from the top edge of the wall facing the
platforms. Two, jump from the half-platform on the wall facing
the platforms. (I tried both, and prefer the first option,
because it involves one fewer platform than the second option.)
BTW, the Fuchikoma can't climb beyond the yellow borders of the
walls (or it'll fall off the building), or climb onto the cables
suspending the platforms.
Before trying to jump across the platforms, line up the
Fuchikoma with the line on the floor, or the half platform on the
wall facing the three platforms. A slight yaw to either side will
amplify when the Fuchikoma jumps and cause the Fuchikoma to miss
the middle platform.
Move back the Fuchikoma, L1+R1+Forward to dash forward, tap
Jump when the Fuchikoma's at the top edge of the wall facing the
platforms, release L1+R1 and hold Forward for a second, before
the Fuchikoma lands on the middle/second platform. If L1 or R1
isn't released evenly, the Fuchikoma will yaw in mid-air. If
Forward is held for too long, the Fuchikoma will slide off the
platform. When jumping from the second platform to the third
platform, jump from the forward half of the second platform. When
jumping off the third platform, aim for the wall to the
Fuchikoma's right (1-2 o'clock), where there's a light and one of
the cables is anchored.
Guarding the entrance of the corridor after the three
platforms is a missile turret, near an Energy Pack. Inside the
corridor are mines and a spider-like robot with twin beam rifles.
Between this corridor and the next is a gap.
One way to cross the gap is dash forward the Fuchikoma
before it jumps. Another way I didn't try is climb to the top of
the wall facing the entrance of the next corridor and jump
towards the entrance. Even if the Fuchikoma falls short of the
entrance, it may stick to the wall around or under the entrance.
Inside the next corridor are two green terrorists with
automatic rifles. These are annoying because their hits abort the
Fuchikoma's Vulcan bursts, and the Fuchikoma can't run over them.
(So I Grenaded the both of them and got the Grenade in the next
corridor.) Between this corridor and the next is a narrow bridge,
guarded by a gunship.
The bridge has four mines on it: two on top side, one on
left side, and one on right side.
(Comment: On second thought, and after some calm tries,
tapping L1+R1+Forward+Jump to hop from the brown platform on the
wall facing the grey platforms to the platforms doesn't seem as
hard as I first thought.)
In the boss mecha's stage, slide at will. The Fuchikoma
can't fall off the rooftop.
The boss mecha's another two-parter. In Part I, it has five
weapons: cluster bombs, shock waves, spread missiles, two mega
beam swords, and Vulcans. Also, it can slide.
The cluster bombs, spread missiles, and Vulcans are easy to
avoid. Keep the sliding Fuchikoma in short to medium range from
the boss mecha. When the boss mecha slides and possibly gets into
the sliding Fuchikoma's way, prepare to slide the Fuchikoma in
the opposite direction.
The shock wave and mega beam sword(s) are harder to
vis-ident. The shock wave has a short execution time. When the
boss mecha raises one or both arms, instead of wait and see if
it's drawing its mega beam sword(s) or energising the shock wave,
jump the sliding Fuchikoma anyway. When the boss mecha's energy
is empty, it grabs the Fuchikoma, and both fall off the building.
When both are falling, the Part II boss mecha has only one
weapon: continuous Vulcans. It restarts with full energy, but
Grenades do good damage to it. Slide the Fuchikoma away from the
Vulcans, and tap the keypad to move the Fuchikoma towards the
boss mecha's top, bottom, or sides. It shouldn't take long for
the Fuchikoma to Vulcan the boss mecha to destruction. (When the
timer reaches zero, do both the boss mecha and the Fuchikoma hit
the ground?)
After the boss mecha buys the farm, it's Labatt time. Sit
back, relax your thumbs, and enjoy Movie 6 and 7.
5. Movies
The following conditions of the movies might be incorrect.
Movie 1: Opening.
The OP animation.
(Hey, the hostile Fuchikoma has a flamer and Optical
Camouflage.)
Movie 2: Mission-1.
Before Mission 1.
(What did Bateau say before Togusa said "Kawaisou"?)
Movie 3: Mission-2.
Before Mission 4.
Movie 4: Mission-3.
Before Mission 7.
(The sound effects person at the af-reco (after-recording)
studio certainly did his/her job. Listen for the scraping sound
when the Fuchikoma scratches its head. BTW, is the Fuchikoma in
Aramaki's office supposed to be the player's?)
Movie 5: Mission-4.
Before Mission 10.
Movie 6: Ending.
After Mission 12.
Movie 7: Staff.
After Mission 12 and Movie 6.
Movie 8: Training-1.
The Fuchikoma is destroyed in Training 1 and gets Class E.
To destroy the Fuchikoma before the timer reaches zero, stop the
Fuchikoma on a target.
Movie 9: Training-2.
The Fuchikoma passes Training 4, fails Training 5, and gets
Class C.
(The player gets Class C even when the Fuchikoma's an Hit
Rate of 93% and 104 destroyed targets.)
Movie 10: Training-3.
The Fuchikoma passes Training 3, fails Training 4, and gets
Class C.
Movie 11: Training-4.
The Fuchikoma fails or passes Training 1, isn't destroyed,
and gets Class E.
Movie 12: Training-5.
The Fuchikoma passes Training 1, fails Training 2 or 3, and
gets Class D, even when the Fuchikoma's Hit Rate is 82%.
Movie 13: Training-6.
Kenson Yee reported the conditions of this Movie are Class B
and a score of 800,000-900,000.
Movie 14: Training-7.
The Fuchikoma fails Training 5 or 6, and gets Class C or D,
even when the Fuchikoma's Hit Rate is 93%, with 104 destroyed
targets.
Movie 15: Training-8.
The Fuchikoma passes Training 6 and gets Class A, even when
the Fuchikoma's Hit Rate is 90% (!), with 99 destroyed targets.
Achieving 100 or more destroyed targets don't get achieve Class
S.
(Maybe my Fuchikoma didn't get Class S because it was
heavily damaged.)
Movie 16: Training-9.
The Fuchikoma passes Training 6 and gets Class S. An Hit
Rate of 84%-87% and 96-98 destroyed targets help.
Movie 17.
(I can only presume this Movie is titled "Training-10" and
is for Class SS.)
According to the Production IG official homepage (see
below), the OP animation of the game is about two minutes long,
and uses 4,000 cels. The total length of the animations between
missions is about 10 minutes, and uses 3,500 cels. Production IG
states, for comparison, a 30-minute OVA uses about 7,000 cels.
IIRC, Production IG claims they produced the animations at 30
fps, but have to accommodate the PS's specs and play the
animations at 15 fps in the game.
While it's not the GITS PS OP animation, we can download a
promotional QuickTime MOV file from the SCEI (Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc) official homepage at:
http://www.scei.co.jp/cgi-bin/title.cgi?pnum=3Dscps10043
(If one hasn't watched the real game, he/she might notice in
that MOV file the Fuchikoma's ability to climb onto buildings,
but IMO he/she might not appreciate the Fuchikoma's axis-turns
and lateral slides.) BTW, the above URL is just a frame. The
formal URL of the SCEI official homepage is:
http://www.scei.co.jp/soft/fr.html
We can use its SCEI-only search engine to search for the
advertisements, front and back cover illusts, and MOV files (if
any) of other PS games. (I tried it on 1997.09.22, and it didn't
(seem to) have any info about NOeL 2 and Sotsugyou Vacation yet.
T_T Sabishii.)
Calvin Choi suggested we can use the Psxvideo for WIN95 util
to view the Movies. I've that util (v1.06, 1997.02.17), but
haven't tried it with the GITS game CD.
6. VOICE ACTORS (Seiyuu)
Kusanagi Motoko TSURU HIROMI
Aramaki Itou Souichi
Bateau Ogawa Shinji
Togusa Suzuoki Hirotaka
Ishikawa Kobayashi Kiyoshi
Saitou Hiyama Nobuyuki
Fuchikoma Miwa Katsue
Sawamura Takiguchi Junpei
Thanks to Doi Hitoshi (the usual suspect -_-; WRT seiyuu
stuph) for the transliteration. Gundamaniacs may remember Suzuoki
Hirotaka as Captain Bright Noah in Gundam (and now Saitou
Hajime/Fujita Gorou in Kenshin).
The staff roll in Movie 7 has the complete list of
characters and seiyuu, but I may or may not transcribe those
later.
(Anyone has the GITS main characters' full names?)
7. MISCELLANEOUS (Free Talk)
Seems the non-Japanese NTSC version has a front cover that
has (somewhat) less bondage than the original front cover. Wonder
if the (apparently) full-body nudity in the OP animation will
survive in the foreign NTSC version? (IMO, probably not, given
the previous changes to the Sophitia in the OP animation of
Namco's Soul Edge, uh, Soul Blade.)
In a Mission, when the Fuchikoma stands still and does
nothing (I was enjoying the techno BGM, OK?) one of three
reminders regularly appears in the Message Screen:
"Keep working!"
"Pursue your mission."
"What are you doing?"
In a memory card, a GITS save game is one block in size. The
icon shows the sweating head of a Fuchikoma, blinking its
mono-eye.
After the player completes Mission 12 and saves game, the
save game title becomes "COMPLETE", instead of "MISSION #".
In the ROOT sub-directory of the CD, there's a SYSTEM.TXT
file written in JIS. Seems like a config file, but the
STARTUP.PEX file it mentions isn't executable under MS-DOS.
A friend's comment when he first saw Kusanagi Shousa: "Why
is she not wearing pants?" -_-; (Me: "No comment.")
BTW, to annoy a GITS PS player while he/she is concentrating
on sliding left and right to dodge incoming fire, hum or sing the
old Spiderman cartoon theme song.
The following is the track list of the Ghost in the Shell
PlayStation original soundtrack CD, released by Sony Music
Entertainment. (Thanks to Norm and Oichoich.)
1. Takkyu Ishino "Ghost in the Shell"
2. Mijk Van Dijk "Firecracker"
3. Brother from Another Planet "Ishikawa Surfs the
System"
4. Hardfloor "Spook and Spell" (Fast Version)
5. Westbam "Featherhall"
6. Joey Beltram "The Vertical"
7. Scan X "Blinding Waves"
8. The Advent "The Searcher"
9. BCJ (aka CJ Bolland) "Spectre"
10. Dave Angel "Can U Dig It"
11. Derrick May "To Be Or Not To Be" (Off the Cuff
Mix)
Sierra Hotel (high scores), as of 1997.11.08. For
simplicity, only one pair of high scores per player are listed.
Training Mode Score Class Name
1,021,000 S KEN
1,000,100 S DON
888,600 A SLI
Mission Mode Score Destroy Name
1,322,000 435 DON
748,800 326 SLI
370,600 109 KEN
(SLI =3D Slim; KEN =3D Kenson Yee; DON =3D Don Chan.)
8. THANKS (Social democracy in action)
Alex van Vucht (For the ASCII logo.)
Calvin C. "SAInt" Choi (For Training 1-6 and Movies info.)
DarkLord (For Mission 1-12 tips.)
Doi "Toshi Nibunnoichi" Hitoshi (For seiyuu info.)
Don "Gamera" Chan (Kusanagi Syousa no koe sukkyanen.)
Fran Kan
Gilbert Wong
Katou Masayuki
Kee-Hyun Paik (For Mission 11 and 12 tips.)
Keith Miyake
Kenson "Tenshi" Yee (For Training 6 and Mission 9-12 tips.)
Lee Freedman (For Mission 4 tips.)
Michael Mi Wang (For Mission 3 tips.)
Mike Tsui (For Training and Mission tips, and watching me
play this game.)
Nagano Satoshi
Norm (For info about the GITS PS OST CD. (Huh?))
Oichoich
Ralph Jenkins (For identifying the GITS PS Kusanagi Shousa's
seiyuu.)
Slim (zouggari)
Takizawa M
Tamar Pandi
Zhou Tai An (For his Ghost in the Shell - Player's Guide.)
No thanks to the following Geschlechtskrankheit:
Neil Trumbie (GhostHacker@mindspring.com, Neil@Trumbie.com)
9. REFERENCES
These are mainly Usenet newsgroups and Websites about this
game. I exclude Websites about the GITS anime movie that don't
necessarily have info useful to the players of this game.
Anime PlayStation
(http://www.aiai.com/~freddy/animepsx/action/gits.html,
http://www.aiai.com/~freddy/animepsx/cheat/code/gitscode.html).
Atelier Kaia (http://www.angelfire.com/tx/kaia/).
Digital Magazine GAME BUSTERS / GAME NEWS
(http://www.busters.or.jp/gb/news/1997/m07/d30/sp01.html).
Game Cheat Workshop
(http://home.hkstar.com/~cplo/psx/ps_g.htm).
Game Players Magazine, No.53, 1997.07.18 (Cineaste
International Ltd).
[GARAGE] SOFTWARE SCPS-10043
(http://www.scei.co.jp/cgi-bin/title.cgi?pnum=3Dscps10043).
Ghost in the Shell Official Homepage
(http://www.iijnet.or.jp/mmedia/gits/top_frame.html).
Ghost in the Shell PlayStation
(http://www.csnsys.com/john/ghost.htm).
National Console Support, Inc
(http://www.ncsx.com/gshell2a.htm).
planet 32 (http://www.cart-mart.com/planet32/index.html).
PlayStation Magazine, No.15, 1997.08.08 (Tokuma Shoten Co
Ltd/Intermedia Company).
PREVIEWS - International
(http://www.diamdcom.com/previews/international/ghost.html).
Production IG Official Homepage
(http://www.production-ig.co.jp/topmenu2.html).
PSX Power Preview: Ghost In The Shell for PlayStation
(http://www.psxpower.com/previews/64.html).
SCEI SOFTWARE [?USk<<@"(r)'=85 Ghost in the shell]
(http://www.scei.co.jp/sd2/ghost/index.html).
Secrets of the Sega Sages (http://www.segasages.com).
Seiyuu (voice actor) database
(http://www.tcp.com/doi/seiyuu/seiyuu.html).
Shooting Star!!
(http://www.ipe.tsukuba.ac.jp/~s960654/seigetsu/).
VideoGameSpot: Ghost in the Shell (Import) at a Glance
(http://www.videogamespot.com/psx/shoot/ghostits/index.html).
www.gamefaqs.com (http://www.gamefaqs.com/).
=9FS=9F"=9FN (http://ac2.aimcom.co.jp/~irino/cd.htm).
=15d'=E13/4=F6=F8E=14=0F
(http://www.gamars.com.tw/buster/code/ps755.htm).
?USk<<@"(r)'=85
(http://www.sme.co.jp/Music/Info/SonyTechno/feature/9707/).
alt.games.video.sony-playstation
fj.rec.games.video.home.playstation
hk.rec.videogame
rec.arts.anime.games
rec.games.video.sony
PS As I said before, I'm interested in this game not because
I'm a GITS fan (read its manga years ago, and didn't watch
its movie, but I'd watched other Oshii-directed anime
before: Dallos, Patlabor 2, and Urusei 2) or a Shirow
Masamune fan, but because I'm a TSURU HIROMI fan. ^_^; (To
paraphrase the Fushigi Yuugi OP song: "Konomi no seiyuu no
tame ni, ima nani ga dekiru kana?") I wouldn't be playing
this game if Tanaka Atsuko remains as Kusanagi Shousa's
seiyuu (no offense to Tanaka-han or her fans intended
though).
PPS Yes, I've written longer game FAQs before (eg, Falcon
3.0 and Ultima VI). My other current consumer game
projects:
- Sentimental Graffiti link list, last updated on
1997.11.01.
- Sotsugyou series link list, last updated on
1997.07.10. @_@
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