The Game Boy version of this game is faithful to the NES version up to a point. While the action is as good as ever, the jumping isn't quite the same and you can't move and shoot at the same time.
Anyway, the evil Steelbeak is up to no good again. It's up to you to stop the crime wave that's swept the city thanks to him!
After getting your mission briefing from J. Gander Hoover, head honcho of S.H.U.S.H., you'll go to the map screen, and there will be three missions - one on the bridge, one in the center of the city, and one on the other side. Choose from one of them, and Launchpad will fly you over there. Guess what? We're starting with the bridge.
Bridge - Stop Quackerjack!
In this level, you have to stop the loony criminal jester Quackerjack before somebody gets hurt.
If you leap into the undersides of the levers, you'll cause a platform to drop down that you can use to move further.
As you shoot down enemies, you'll get power-ups sometimes.
Diamonds and gold bars give you points.
Containers with hearts on them refill your health. You have a heart on the upper-left corner that shows how much health you have. You have four hits before you lose a life. If you see a briefcase with a heart on it, it will completely refill your life.
Containers with the letter G on them are ammo for your power-ups. The big ones give you more energy (ten Gas Points) than the small ones (only one).
Also, jumping feels different in this game. When you reach the apex of your jump, you start falling almost immediately, as opposed to having a little bit of float on the NES version. Because of this, I get very nervous with some of the jumps.
The icon with the circle is the Heavy Gas. The Heavy Gas falls to the floor when shot, then splits into two shots that travel to the sides across the floor. This uses two Gas points.
The icon with the thunderbolt is the Thunder Gas. This lets you shoot two bolts diagonally at the expense of three Gas Points.
You can block attacks by holding Up on the Control Pad. Also, to hang on a hook, a zip line that will move you forward or the underside of certain platforms, simply jump or fall into it. If you're trying to jump to a hook, be ready to hold A for deal life when you jump so you can ensure you grab it, as you don't have much hangtime here as you do on NES. You may have to travel a little further ahead of the center of the hook to ensure you get to the next one.
The enemies here are pretty easy. The guys with the guns are vanilla enemies and go down after two hits. The turtles that zoom into you can be damaged when they stick their heads out. The green guys that throw daggers can only be damaged when they let their guard down to throw a dagger at you.
Quackerjack
Quackerjack isn't too hard. He runs back and forth across the screen and switches platforms whenever you're on his level. His puppet, Mr. Banana Brains, is another story. He's alive (which is weird, since he was actually possessed in one episode but never alive), and he throws banana peels at you from above. Pay attention to where both of these are going, and time your movements so the banana peels don't get you. Quackerjack is pretty easy, and he goes down in a couple of shots.
Unlike the NES battle, you only have two levels of platforms to work with instead of three. If you have the Thunder Gas and plenty of ammo, you can position yourself somewhere where Mr. Banana Brains' banana peels will fall straight down in front of you (as opposed to onto you), and you can snipe Quackerjack with the Thunder Gas until he goes down. This is easier if you're on the lower level. If you run out, follow Quackerjack and keep shooting him without getting hurt yourself.
City - Stop Wolfduck
The guys that hide in the ground can be shot at when they expose their guns.
You'll have to keep moving while you're on the tires if you want to take a ride on them.
The banana peels don't damage you, but they stun you for a second or two.
It should be noted that you can only carry one gun power-up at a time.
The turtles throw their shells at you like boomerangs. They take six hits to kill with the normal gun, and the only time you can damage them is after they've thrown their shells.
Once you inflate the balloons by stomping on the switch, you can hang on them and take a ride.
The guys that bounce around have only one weak point - the blinking light on their heads. Keep shooting at them, as they'll keep on ducking your shots. You'll eventually get one in on them, though.
Wolfduck
When the moon is uncovered, you'll see Wolfduck's monstrous form. He'll throw crates at you. Just avoid them, and don't worry about damaging him here, as you won't be able to hit him here.
You can shoot down the crates, but be quick about it. The fragments of the crate will still hurt you when the crate splits into four.
When the clouds moves back to the moon and covers it, he'll be a regular duck and start running around like crazy. Avoid him as he runs around and shoot at him. He'll go down in no time.
Sewers - Stop Liquidator!
The Arrow Gas exists after all! For three gas points, you can shoot an arrow-shaped platform that will stick to the wall and can be stood on like a platform.
The grates on the wall act as hooks. Be ready to hold the A button down while jumping for them to make sure you grab them like you did the hooks. There's one in particular that requires you to hold the A button down like your life depends on it.
The eggs come down on parachutes. When they land on solid ground, they sprout legs and come straight at you. You're better off just jumping over them, as they're very quick.
The guys hiding in the ceiling will strike the ceiling with a hammer and cause two pieces of debris to drop down from the sides of the hammer. Wait for the debris to drop down before passing.
If you have the Arrow Gas, you'll be able to get your hands on two extra lives at the start. You can hang on the underside of the platforms that slowly move back and forth as well as stand on top of them. Watch out for the guys with the hammers, as the debris that drops down after they pull their hammers away can damage you. There are also alligator guys that come at you, but the Arrow Gas wipes them right out.
Remember how the metal platforms work; you'll need to be both on and under them when necessary to avoid the spikes.
In the next screen, the screen will go dark. There are switches you can hang onto to turn on the lights, but they go back off when you let go. The eyes you see will be blackbirds that fly up and come at you.
The kangaroos only throw bombs at you if you shoot at them. Otherwise, they'll just sit there.
Liquidator
Liquidator hangs out on the surface of the water, because he is the surface of the water. Avoid him as he sinks down and moves across the screen. When he resurfaces, he'll blow a horn to call out some fish-shaped water droplets that rise up before coming down on you. Thankfully, they can be shot down easily with the regular gun. Shoot at Liquidator while he's blowing the horn, and get as many shots in before he sinks into the water again. It's not really that hard.
Once you beat the first three stage, three more will open up.
Tower - Stop Moliarty!
Moliarty is going to unleash a monstrous machine at the top of the tower in the center of St. Canard!
The robot dogs will come at you and take six shots from a crouching position to defeat, but they will more than likely speed away from you before that can happen.
Hang on to the switches in order to uncover a ring, which you can jump up to, hang off of and continue on from. Don't take too long, or you'll have to hang on to the switch to uncover the ring again.
The basketball players toss basketballs at you after two or three dribbles. They're not that hard.
The light fixtures act as the hooks for this stage.
Moliarty
If you destroy either one of the machines, Moliarty will stop moving around and go immediately to it to fix it. Use this as an opportunity to get some extra damage on the guy. Be careful not to get burned by the flame bursts that the machines shoot at you, as they will home in on your current location at the time they fire.
Moliarty can also throw wrenches at you, but they're pretty easy to avoid. As a matter of fact, so are the flame bursts from the machines. Believe it or not, this battle is scaled down from the NES battle, leaving you with two machines that take turns firing at you instead of three, and if you have the Thunder Gas and enough ammo, you can defeat Moliarty easily if you're a crack shot from the top level of the screen.
Forest - Stop Bushroot!
Something strange is going on in the woods. It just might be the work of Bushroot.
The plants that climb up the trees send their flowers (with monstrous teeth) at you if you're close enough. Shoot at the vine part to take them out in five hits. Likewise, the dogs in the doghouses will come at you when you're in range. The dogs are obviously much easier to take out, as they'll just stand there if you're far enough away even if you're shooting at them. They take three hits to beat.
The birds fly upwards when you get close, then they come at you. They're pretty slow on the draw, so you definitely have an opportunity to defeat them. They take two hits to beat.
When you enter the cave, jump through the waterfalls so you don't fall into the hidden pits. You'll then be using logs going down the waterfall as platforms, a la Super Mario Bros 2/Doki Doki Panic. If you can keep jumping over waterfalls, you can get some pretty cool stuff.
The fat birds deflate after you hit them once. Be prepared to shoot at them or jump over them when they do. Thankfully, they go down after a second hit.
The green suits of armor take two hits to destroy. Shoot at the head to defeat them. When you hit them once, the helmet falls off and there'll be a mouse at the controls.
Bushroot
Every time you hit Bushroot, he'll leap to the top and call a branch out of the tree to throw apples at you. Avoid the fruits and wait for Bushroot to come down before shooting him again. Repeat. If you (somehow) have the Arrow Gas, use it to make this battle mercifully short. If you have the Thunder Gas, taking care of him from the ground is even easier, assuming you can avoid the fruits.
Wharf - Stop Megavolt!
Megavolt and his henchmen are robbing warehouses along the wharf, and it's up to you to stop them!
The magic lamps contain genies that breathe fire at you when you get too close. If you duck down and shoot at the lamps, you'll take them out easily in three hits. You'll have to get the genies to come out before you can destroy them, though.
The squirrels with the giant shoes try to leap at you, but you can destroy them as they rush at you. The Heavy Gas makes very quick work of them.
The flying carpet guys fly around and shoot a fireball at you before they fly at you. They can go through walls as they do this, but they only take one hit before they go down.
Megavolt
Stay on the two platforms, and avoid the spark that whisks around the lowest level. Avoid the sparks he shoots out and shoot him down.
He may shoot a spark that goes upwards, which forces you to go left and right in order to avoid it. Stay on the move when you see it.
Megavolt is easier to beat up than he is get to, believe it or not. If you're on the move, he's arguably the easiest boss in the game. If you have the Thunder Gas, you can nail him from the lanterns in the center of the room, and you can switch to your normal gun when he leaps up onto the platforms for additional damage.
When you beat the second three stages, you'll open up one more stage. This is the final level of the game!
Floating Fortress - Stop Steelbeak!
This is it! The final fight! All of the enemies here are from other levels, but there are some new ones here too!
The guys standing on the cannons won't fire them unless you're close enough. They take five hits to take down.
The slugs go down after one measly hit.
The knights on the hobby horses can be hit in the back as they move back and forth.
The ducks with the buzzcuts turn into robots and walk toward you after six hits. If you damage them after that, their heads will eventually bounce around before you destroy it for good. This is easily the most difficult (and most aggravating) enemy in the game.
If you use the Arrow Gas against these "Terminator ducks," you'll destroy them without activating their third and final form of the bouncing heads. This is very useful, especially if you want to survive.
To take care of the guys in the barrels, avoid the barrels, then shoot the guys that appear under them.
Steelbeak has two forms, if you can even call the first form a form. For the first one, get on the top chandeliers and shoot at the protective window in front of Steelbeak. Use the left one you can also shoot down the ever-spawning flying robots that go down in one hit at the same time and not take damage.
For the second form, wait for him to throw the steel panel at you before you shoot him. He's pretty quick when he's not holding one, so hold on to one of the chandeliers and wait for him to throw it.
If you have the Heavy Gas, you can simply shoot it from the bottom chandelier after he throws the steel panel. Since he'll always stay on the ground, this makes the second form dreadfully easy. The Arrow Gas also works really, really well here.
When you beat Steelbeak, you'll stop him - for now - and save the city of St. Canard!
