Yep, it's another Contra/Gunstar Heroes clone.
Believe it or not, Tom Mason's Dinosaurs For Hire started out on Eternity Comics and went for nine issues. When Eternity was absorbed into Malibu Comics, it went for a full year between February 1993 and February 1994, with the game coming out in October of 1993.
In the options menu, you have three difficulties (Easy, Normal and Hard), and you can choose between having zero, three, six and nine continues.
The D-Pad aims in seven directions, ducks, looks up and moves (left and right). A attacks enemies up close with the butt of your weapon, B fires the gun and C jumps.
When you start the game, you'll be able to choose between the three main characters of the series: Archie, Lorenzo and Reese. Left and Right switches between the three characters, and Up and Down let you read the character bios. To confirm your selection, press Start. Despite the different appearance between the three characters, they all control and perform the same.
When you start the game, you'll see a giant dinosaur climb up Hoover Dam, and you'll need to shoot it down. Climb down the ladder a bit and shoot the hand down, then get back on the platform, jump up and shoot at the head. If you're fast enough, you'll take the boss down. If you go down before the boss does, that's okay; this is the only battle where it does not matter if you win or lose. After the battle, you get a little bit of the credits, then the credits stop, Cyrano the pterodactyl shows up, and you'll find out this is a fake ending and that the real beginning of the game starts now.
Tenement House
You can fire the gun to get rid of the ninjas and the bikers, but if the ninjas get too close, press A.
The green crystals contain power-ups. Shoot the crystals to get the power-ups. The three fireballs will give you a two way shot and eventually a three-way shot, while the big fireball will increase the size and power of your shots. The food and drink will recover your health all the way to full regardless of how much or little you have left.
If you die at any point, you'll go back to the single shot with the weakest power level, and you'll need to get power-ups to power up your shot again.
At the bottom of the screen, you'll have your energy followed by your lives below it. To the right is your current amount of smart bombs and your current score. If you press A, B and C simultaneously, you'll set off a screen-clearing smart bomb. While it works on enemies, it does not work on bosses.
By climbing the ladders, you can get on the balconies. Use Up and Down to climb the ladders. Some of the windows will have guys with flamethrowers burst out, and you'll need to take them down so that their upward-arcing shots don't hurt you. From the balconies, you'll want to get to the left, then get to the top of the building. Be ready to take out any ninjas that drop down from the hang gliders.
On the right side of the building, climb your way down to face your first mini-boss. Avoid the hole in the right side of the ground, and be ready to avoid the shots that come out of the turret that you need to shoot at while taking out the ninjas to reduce their numbers. It is is possible to stand in the right spot so the shots from the turret don't hurt you, but it can be a bit tough.
Subway Part A
Here, you'll deal with skateboarders throwing Molotov cocktails, parts of the ceiling coming down to block your path with live wires ready to shock you, battle cars of death on the lower level ready to shoot you down and giant mutant cockroaches that can spit acid projectiles you'll need to jump over.
Hold Down and press C to drop down to the lower lever. Hold Up and press C to switch back to the upper level. Make sure there is not a column in your way while jumping your way back up.
You're better off being on the upper level and following the battle cars while shooting down at them to take them out. The more powerful your shots are, the faster this will go. Keep firing to take out the skateboard dudes and the cockroaches, and keep a look out for parts of the ceiling that will collapse.
The dinosaur icon in some of the crystals give you an extra life.
Subway Part B
For this one, you'll want to get as high as you can and stay there. If you see any platforms moving around in mid-air, ride them. If you see any turrets or their shots, stop advancing and take out the turrets, whether they are in the walls or on the platforms.
Hold Down to climb down ladders from platforms.
The dinosaur footprint with the S is a shield that gives you temporary invincibility.
You will always move while aiming diagonally, so be ready to move back and forth while also simultaneously avoiding things.
When you make it as far right as you can go, drop down and head to the right to get out of this section.
Subway Mid-Boss
The mid-boss is an even bigger car that shoots flames upwards while moving back and forth. Be ready to follow it while shooting diagonally downwards at the car as much as possible. The more damage you do, the faster the car will go. There are two power-up crystals, the left contains a mushroom cloud that gives you a smart bomb and the right contains food to fully refill your health; break them and get the food when you really need it.
Empire State Building
Jump on the platform to get it moving. Shoot down everyone that you can, and when you see enemies coming down from the top, be ready to move back and forth while shooting straight ahead to ensure they all go down. When you see smoke coming out from above, be ready to aim forward so that you can take out the ninjas when they land. When you reach the top of the building, jump to the door.
To beat the Mega Minotaur, stay to the left of the door where you show up to avoid the laser, then head to the left and be ready to avoid the mace when it is thrown. Shoot at the throwing hand before the mace returns. Once you do enough damage to the hand, stay to the left of the door to avoid the lasers and shoot upwards to shoot at the Mega Minotaur's head. From here, go all the way up and keep jumping as the Mega Minotaur switches positions so you don't get knocked down and - if you're not careful - off the lowest level and off the building, costing you a life. You still have health and lives here, even if you cannot see them in these battles.
When the other hand starts shooting missiles, avoid the lasers as well as the missile, then shoot down the other hand and try to shoot down the missile, which will home in on you. If it shoots any more missiles, shoot them down as you shoot the arm. Once that arm is down, it's time to shoot down the head and avoid the lasers. Once the head is done, you've defeated the Mega Minotaur.
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