PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal, Again) - Part 7 of 7

In this entry, we take on the boss rush again, then face Golden Silver a second time. Thanks for watching.

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Here, you'll fight a bunch of bosses while the bad guys watch in the foreground. Shoot down the blue boxes and you'll face the first one: the Duck Battalion. Duck and shoot at the boss to avoid the laser chaingun, and be ready to wall jump when it runs at you. Once you destroy the mech, one of the guys on it will shoot at you with the chaingun. Wall jump over him when he gets close, stay very close to - or very far away from - him when he shoots in mid-air and duck down to avoid being blasted at from ground level.

The white balls will hurt you; stay away from them and grab onto the undersides of floors or the ceilings themselves to avoid getting nailed. You'll eventually enter an area laser turrets all the way to the right. Keep high jumping and grabbing the undersides of all the floors, and destroy all the turrets without being left too far behind that you lose health and get shot back upwards onto the screen.

You'll soon face Pink Lobster. Wall jump to avoid getting cornered, whacked or hit with a bubble blast, and keep shooting. It is possible to get far away enough so that the Pink Lobster just stands there and does the bubble blast when you get close enough. 

The next boss is Orange. Orange will follow you around and try to hit you with a fireball if you're directly across from him. If he is on your level, switch levels. Also, never be directly above him, he will either jump at you or hit you with a double helix fireball upwards. If he is almost vertically lined up with you, get away from him immediately. You may have to run around the room in a circle to avoid him.

The next boss is Black Fly. You will have to move around the room clockwise, and even walk on top of Black Fly itself. Avoid the mines and the fireballs they produce that may or may not move around. When Black Fly shows up and shoots that fireball spiral, you'll have to move around the room in a circle - and even walking on top of him - while firing at him when you can. 

You'll then face Green again. You'll have to switch levels when he is on yours, and you'll have to keep doing this while firing at him. When he throws the blue stars, stay far away from so you can avoid them, and do not let him get close or else you will be thrown around. Make sure you always have as much distance between yourself and Green as possible. The red star he drops when defeated does a lot of damage, so don't be near it.

You'll then meet the General, who then tries to use the gems only to get fried. The gems then enter one final room. Grab any power-ups and health you need, then get ready to face Golden Silver, the final boss in the game.

Keep firing at the gems while avoiding the robot and its attacks. Jump over or wall jump over blue fireballs when they travel across the ground. Run away to avoid the teleport punch. Keep as much distance from Golden Silver as possible to avoid the green fireballs and most of Golden Silver's attacks.

The gems do attacks of their own, but they can be easily avoided.

Once you beat Golden Silver, the game is over. The Gunstars go after Golden Silver, then the General and his men try to correct what they have done by confronting Golden Silver only to be annihilated. Green comes out of his brainwashed state and fights Golden Silver himself. From there, the game ends.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal, Again) - Part 6 of 7

Now that I know that you can move the turrets by moving the ship without firing, let's try this again.

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This time, you're in a spaceship, and you're in horizontal shmup mode.

The Control Pad lets you move in eight directions. Pressing C in conjunction with any direction lets you dash in that direction. B lets you shoot, while moving around while not shooting lets you rotate the turret towards the direction you are currently moving (I did not even know you could rotate the turrets while playing; thanks FusionVolt).

Aside from all the soldiers and spaceships that you'll have to watch out for, you'll also have things on the backgrounds to shoot down, too.

You'll face Timeron, but in this battle, you have to last as long as possible without destroying it, and the longer you go, the more points you get.

The asteroids are not indestructible, but they also bounce around when you shoot them, so you'll have to be careful.

The laser walls are indestructible; your best and only bet is to fly between them.

The circle of yellow satellites just fly away from you have you show up.

To beat the 1000mm gun, point the turret at the boss and move around so the fireballs and the eight-way shots that explode and split into do not hit you.

You'll soon face Seven Force again. Move carefully in a semi-circle to avoid the shots from the gun, phoenix and mine-laying forms, and remember to dash to avoid being shot at or run into when necessary.

You'll then be in the ship proper. After fighting a bunch of mini-boss soldiers, you'll face the Core Guard System. The room spins around as you fight this boss, and it's rather neat to watch when you're watching footage of the game. Keep shooting at the Hammer form while running away from the lasers, and run away when you get cornered when so you don't get squashed. and jumping straight up when the form spins around faster and faster keeps you from getting hit on the ground. When it goes down, stay away from the center of the screen so you don't get hit.

To beat the Dragon form, slide to avoid the blue fireballs as you shoot upwards while the boss is close up. This is probably the easiest of the three forms.

To beat the Runner form, avoid and shoot down the spaceships as they move towards you. After that, the Runner form shows up. The runner stays in the background and throws fireballs after rotating its arm three times. Stay on the ground to avoid the high throws, and jump over the low ones (which are always red). Keep shooting at the head as often as you can, and when the boss gets close, dive or kick into it to do a ton of damage (thanks FusionVolt). After this, the Core Guard System is down.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal, Again) - Part 5 of 7

Now that we've completed the first four levels, we're on rails for the rest of the game. The first stage in all of this is a pretty long stage where we have to deal with a lot of enemies and a couple of boss battles.

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This long stage is split into four parts, and I only split it into four parts based on soldier color: red, then blue, then yellow, then green. It's the same hovering enemy/soldier combo from the ruins.

Believe it or not, double Chaser is a very good weapon; it's easier to target multiple enemies with it than with Lightning + Chaser, as powerful as the latter weapon combo is. Double Flame also works as an effective crowd control weapon.

The boxes get in the way, and sliding into them with Down+C gets rid of them quickly; some of them will give you power-ups and health, thankfully. The oil drums explode after you shoot them enough.

There will be enemies on hover platforms that throw bombs which will fly towards you. I didn't know this at first, but you can get on the platforms and throw the guys on them off (thanks FusionVolt).

The mini-bosses who give you health will now have orbs that rotate around them.

The "green soldier" stretch has soldiers on mech, but you can easily shoot them down, especially with double Chaser.

Near the end, there is a power-up bird that flies in from the left side of the screen rather than the right. If you see it, dive into it; you'll be able to get a few health power-ups and get a ton of health for what's up ahead.

The boss here is the Final Great Soldier, who...just dances. Smash Daisaku shows up immediately to dispose of him and fights much like he has in earlier stages. Wall jump over him when his jetpack exhaust turns blue, and stay on the move while aiming upwards to deal with the bombs. He will have a second form after this. Wall jump (or stand in that sweet spot) to avoid the double helix fireball. As for the fireball that homes in on you, jump early, then get under it to avoid being hit by it. Don't get too close, or else he will jump up and kick you.

Once you beat Smash Daisaku, you'll meet the General of the Empire. We are forced to exchange the gems for Yellow's life, then the General escapes while the villagers of the ancient runs overpowers Smash Daisaku.

Gaming Palooza Empire reviews Gunstar Heroes

As you can see...it's not a bad game.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal, Again) - Part 4 of 7

In this second trip to the Dice Maze, I saw a few new things!

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Dice Fortress

You'll start by heading towards the building containing the dice maze itself. The enemies here are the same enemies on copter blades and the soldiers that you saw at the beginning of the Ancient Ruins stage, but you'll have to dive to go up slopes and jump over bottomless pits. The two giant turrets can very easily be destroyed and avoided; you just have to worry about the enemies swarming in at the same time.

You'll eventually be in the dice maze. Just grab the die like you would an enemy and throw it. You'll be able to move either one, two or three spaces. From there, you tackle what you need to tackle and then roll again.

The following things are the spaces I land on and have landed on in past guides; therefore, this list will not be all-encompassing. 

Valvalion

This is a yellow worm that flies around. Stay away from it as it moves. Lightning + Chaser tears this thing apart.

Timeron

This boss moves around and drops bombs, and after ten seconds, everything that has happened then takes place in reverse...and can still hurt you. Stay on the move and remember how everything went as you shoot at this boss.

Rush and Go!!! #1

Hit the buttons on the wall to open certain-colored walls to reach the goal and avoid the fireball. Even if you don't make it before time runs out, you'll be able to clear it, anyway.

Minion Soldier

This is a tiny soldier. Be sure to wall jump in case you get cornered, and shoot at him when he comes at you. Again, Lightning + Chaser is a very good weapon for this. He may split into multiple clones, but the clones go down in one hit. The explosive missile can be avoided with a wall jump, but it packs a punch.

Destroy!!

Here, you get to destroy a ship with a soldier in it. It's like a Street Fighter II mini-boss here. Destroy the boxes first for power-ups. You'll get a time bonus afterwards.

Pit

This is four balls and a wall that constantly changes size. Use a weapon that doesn't home in so you have an easier time and shoot at the balls while avoiding everything that moves.

Rush and Go!!! #2

Here, you just need to dive, wall jump and slide through the soldiers to get to the goal.

Take An Item #2

There are four power-ups you can pick up, one of which is health.

Vortex Base

Keep shooting at the core at the bottom of the room, but watch the order in which the red circles flash so you don't get hit by the laser. Lightning + Chaser is excellent here.

Curry and Rice

The "no-gun symbol" is this fight. When Curry and Rice approaches you, you have to dive into his face, then immediately get away. Using B to throw punches is pretty useless, honestly. Make sure he's not swatting his hands up and down or somersaulting before attacking

Super Gondola

This is a series of turrets and bomb droppers in the ceiling that moves around. Avoid the things that everything shoots while shooting upwards at everything, and this battle will go more simply as you do damage.

Abarenbou Gel

This guy will stand in place, jump forwards and drop a bomb with a face on it. When it corners you, slide so you can get under him.

Take An Item #3

Once again, more power-ups, including health.

The Way Back

This takes you all the way back to the start. Thankfully, this can only happen once, and any "Clear" spaces just let you roll again.

Boss

This takes you to the battle with Black. Stay on the move and shoot at Black. The number on the die signifies how many steps Black will take before firing at you, and the color that flashes indicates what will fire. Red is a fireball that travels across the red spaces, Yellow is a set of lasers that travel in a straight line, Green is a straight line of balls that travels across the green spaces, and Blue is a set of bombs that pop up and explode all around the room.

When you beat Black, Black throws a gem, but it explodes. Stay away from it and shoot Black to get the real gem.

When you beat the first four stages, you'll find out that The Professor has been tied up and that Yellow has been kidnapped, and that she will only be freed if you give up all the gems.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal, Again) - Part 3 of 7

It's back to the airport for the third part of this replay. I've always liked this stage.

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Airport

At the beginning, you'll have to keep leaping upwards with Up and C to do a high jump in order to get up to Captain Orange's flying battleship. The vertical auto-scrolling starts out slow, but it gets faster the closer you get to the top of the battleship. You will need to get onto the battleship as quickly as possible, and when you see the yellow underside of the top platform, you'll be able to get on the battleship itself. You'll also need to shoot upwards to take out the enemies on the way up to the battleship, so keep that in mind.

The yellow guy with the copter on his back is a mini-boss. Keep away from him and you should be good. Afterwards, you'll be able to get a bunch of weapons if you need them. Lightning + Chaser is a good homing weapon that does a lot of damage, but sometimes it can lock onto something

The Swapping Reg is a stomping robot with two turret legs and a bunch of turrets on the body. Be sure not to be underneath when it has less than 1000 hit points so you don't get flattened.

You'll eventually fight Smash Daisaku, who you've met before on the train in the last level; just avoid him and watch where he drops his bombs as you fire at him, and you'll eventually beat him.

You'll then face Captain Orange. If he looks dead at the screen and flexes, you'll need to jump over him to avoid his clothesline. If he looks at your character, he will grab onto the helicopter blades and grab on. If he leaps into the helicopter blades and grabs on, be ready to avoid him when he lets go so he does not hit you with his elbow drop.

You can wall jump off the side of the screen by jumping into it, holding the Control Pad towards the screen and pressing C again when you run into the side of the screen, but you can also hold Down, press C and grab onto the underside of the plane you fight Captain Orange on, which is something I don't do here.

If you get too close to Captain Orange, he can suplex you, and he can also blow up a bomb that has an explosion that travels towards you.

Thankfully, there are infinite continues in this game, so don't give up.

Once you beat Orange, you'll get another gem.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal, Again) - Part 2 of 7

Hoo, boy. This level again. I really should have cut out all of the fail when I kept dying just to show off a weapon. Maybe next time. But hey, at least I have all seven forms covered.

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Mine

In this stage, you'll be riding on a modified mine cart while shooting at enemies that will be all over the place. Having the double Chaser really helps here, as well as Lightning + Chaser.

The mine layers take more damage than the soldiers, but they eventually go down.

Hitting the robot bird with melee attacks such as the dive nets you more powerups. (Thanks FusionVolt)

Combining Chaser and Fire gives you a fireball that you can control with the D-Pad as you hold the fire button. Chaser and Lightning gives you a shorter-range lightning shot that does even more damage than regular lightning. Double Fire will give you a longer-ranged flamethrower

If you need to switch between the floor and the ceiling or between walls, hold the Control Pad towards the wall/floor/ceiling you want to jump to and double tap C to double jump over there.

There will be barriers you will have to jump over; thankfully, a normal jump will do it.

You'll eventually reach the train. Shoot down all the soldiers, then shoot down the guy in red - whose name is Smash Daisaku - on the train.

The boss is Seven Force. Here, you'll face only six forms that are randomly determined, but on the hardest difficulty setting, you'll face all seven.

The running robot form can be taken down if you stay far away from it as possible while firing at it. Jump to avoid the slide attack, and double jump to avoid the boomerangs. When it has its arm extended outward, double jump to avoid the extending punch.

The snake-like form (Tails Force) with the rotor tail moves around the room. Use the double jump to avoid it, and watch out for the tail. As long as you're not lined up with the head, the rapid fire shot won't hurt you.

The gun form shoots at you like a real gun and also reloads like a real gun. Be ready to double jump as it shoots. It will take a little bit of time to figure out when the gun will fire, but with some practice, you'll be able to avoid the shots.

The spiral form (Urchin Force) moves back and forth in an attempt to hit you. Keep yourself from being lined up with it as you continuously fire, and watch which spines have fireballs so you can keep yourself from being lined up with them, too.

The cat form (Tiger Force) continuously runs. If you see the target reticle, stay away from it so you don't get fried by a laser. Also, if you see a line of blue sparkles, stay away from its path as it will telegraph where a laser will fire and bounce off the floor and ceiling.

The bird form will slowly crawl up to the top of the screen. The direction is faces will be random, but you definitely don't want to touch the wings or the tail feathers to get to the bottom. If you can get to the bottom, do some damage. When you get to the bottom, you'll have to move to the top again and keep the moving and the firing going.

The red form (Crab Force) shoots out parts of itself that turn into walls as well as red spheres that act as bombs. These things flash before being laid down, so you'll be able to figure out if you need to jump or switch between the floor and the ceiling by double jumping. The fireballs bounce off the floor or ceiling once as they come at you at 45-degree angles.

You'll eventually get a gem from the brainwashed Green.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal, Again) - Part 1 of 7

An evil empire is trying to take four powerful gems so that they can take over the world with an ancient power, and the Gunstars are the only hope of stopping this evil plot...

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Note: This is a replay. I will be keeping the notes from the first play of the game and adding to it when necessary.

If you leave the game on the title long enough, you'll get more details on the plot.

The Control Pad lets you move and aim, A lets you switch between weapons, B lets you shoot (and throw enemies in conjunction with the Control Pad) if they get too close  and C lets you jump. Jumping in mid-air lets you dive, and Down+C lets you slide. Down+B lets you pick up items off the ground.

When you start the game, you can choose between Red (who can move while shooting) and Blue (who cannot). Both characters have slight move variations besides movement. You'll then be able to choose between four weapons: Force (the default Contra-style machine gun shot), Lightning (which is strong and can fire through enemies), Chasers (a weak homing shot) and Fire (a close-range flamethrower). By combining your default weapon with another type as well as mixing other weapon combos, you'll get different shot types. There is no ultimate weapon, and by experimenting with weapon types, you can find the best weapon combos for certain situations.

After this, you'll be able to choose the order in which you can play the first four stages. If you have a stage selected long enough. We'll start with the Ancient Ruins on the far left. 

Ancient Ruins

Pinks' mining machine dug up a gem. We need to get that gem back and stop Pink!

Your current score and your current health will be at the top, along with your two weapon types. If you press A, you'll be able to choose between your first weapon, your second weapon and both weapons combined.

The game starts with an endless swarm of enemies. Most are soldiers, but others are red droids that fly around. The orange bird robots will drop a random power-up shot.

Combining Chaser with another Chaser will give you a stronger homing shot.

Combining Force with another Force gives you a stronger, larger and faster version of the Force weapon.

Combining Force with Fire gives you a rocket-launcher like fireball that shoots forward and explodes if it hits something, doing damage with its ring of fire to anything with it in its wake.

The red masked guy will chase after you, but as long as you stay on the move, he can't touch you. He drops health when he dies; pick it up.

Papaya Dance is easy to defeat. Just stay on the move, don't let anything touch you, and shoot down the caterpillar that is spawns.

You'll eventually reach a pyramid where you will constantly have to jump right in order to get up. Watch out for the enemy as you gradually jump your way up the pyramid. At the top, you'll face Bravoo Man. Keep firing and keep away from it. If it kicks at you, jump over its foot. Bravoo Man can also heal itself; take him out before he can do it.

You'll then start sliding down the pyramid after beating Bravoo Man; stay just right of the center of the screen and be ready to fire at enemies while also jumping over their lasers. If you see the gun fire, be ready to jump.

Afterwards, you'll be at the ruins. Avoid the claws and shoot down the wasp nests; you may get some power-ups.

The boss here is the Pinky Roadster. Stay on the move and watch those lasers, and don't forget to slide to avoid some of the lasers. If you end up below the roadster, shoot down the bombs, keep shooting at the body - which is the weak point - and duck to avoid the spiked ball punch. When you beat the Pinky Roadster, you'll get one of the four gems.

When you beat a boss, you'll earn 20 health for the next stage. (Thanks FusionVolt)

Gunstar Heroes - The OST

Here is every track from Gunstar Heroes for the Genesis and Mega Drive!

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal) - Part 7 of 7

And now...the final battle.

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Here, you'll fight a bunch of bosses while the bad guys watch in the foreground. Shoot down the blue boxes and you'll face the first one: the Duck Battalion. Duck and shoot at the boss to avoid the laser chaingun, and be ready to wall jump when it runs at you. Once you destroy the mech, one of the guys on it will shoot at you with the chaingun. Wall jump over him when he gets close, stay very close to - or very far away from - him when he shoots in mid-air and duck down to avoid being blasted at from ground level.

The white balls will hurt you; stay away from them and grab onto the undersides of floors or the ceilings themselves to avoid getting nailed. You'll eventually enter an area laser turrets all the way to the right. Keep high jumping and grabbing the undersides of all the floors, and destroy all the turrets without being left too far behind that you lose health and get shot back upwards onto the screen.

You'll soon face Pink Lobster. Wall jump to avoid getting cornered, whacked or hit with a bubble blast, and keep shooting. It is possible to get far away enough so that the Pink Lobster just stands there and does the bubble blast when you get close enough. 

The next boss is Orange. Orange will follow you around and try to hit you with a fireball if you're directly across from him. If he is on your level, switch levels. Also, never be directly above him, he will either jump at you or hit you with a double helix fireball upwards. If he is almost vertically lined up with you, get away from him immediately. You may have to run around the room in a circle to avoid him.

The next boss is Black Fly. You will have to move around the room clockwise, and even walk on top of Black Fly itself. Avoid the mines and the fireballs they produce that may or may not move around. When Black Fly shows up and shoots that fireball spiral, you'll have to move around the room in a circle - and even walking on top of him - while firing at him when you can. 

You'll then face Green again. You'll have to switch levels when he is on yours, and you'll have to keep doing this while firing at him. When he throws the blue stars, stay far away from so you can avoid them, and do not let him get close or else you will be thrown around. Make sure you always have as much distance between yourself and Green as possible. The red star he drops when defeated does a lot of damage, so don't be near it.

You'll then meet the General, who then tries to use the gems only to get fried. The gems then enter one final room. Grab any power-ups and health you need, then get ready to face Golden Silver, the final boss in the game.

Keep firing at the gems while avoiding the robot and its attacks. Jump over or wall jump over blue fireballs when they travel across the ground. Run away to avoid the teleport punch. Keep as mch distance from Golden Silver as possible to avoid the green fireballs and most of Golden Silver's attacks.

The gems do attacks of their own, but they can be easily avoided.

Once you beat Golden Silver, the game is over. The Gunstars go after Golden Silver, then the General and his men try to correct what they have done by confronting Golden Silver only to be annihilated. Green comes out of his brainwashed state and fights Golden Silver himself. From there, the game ends.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal) - Part 6 of 7

We've got to get the gems back, and to do that, we've got to go into space and enter the Empire's spaceship.

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This time, you're in a spaceship, and you're in horizontal shmup mode.

The Control Pad lets you move in eight directions. Pressing C in conjunction with any direction lets you dash in that direction. B lets you shoot, while moving around while not shooting lets you rotate the turret towards the direction you are currently moving (I did not even know you could rotate the turrets while playing; thanks FusionVolt).

Aside from all the soldiers and spaceships that you'll have to watch out for, you'll also have things on the backgrounds to shoot down, too.

You'll face Timeron, but in this battle, you have to last as long as possible without destroying it, and the longer you go, the more points you get.

The asteroids are not indestructible, but they also bounce around when you shoot them, so you'll have to be careful.

The laser walls are indestructible; your best and only bet is to fly between them.

The circle of yellow satellites just fly away from you have you show up.

To beat the 1000mm gun, point the turret at the boss and move around so the fireballs and the eight-way shots that explode and split into do not hit you.

You'll soon face Seven Force again. Move carefully in a semi-circle to avoid the shots from the gun, phoenix and mine-laying forms, and remember to dash to avoid being shot at or run into when necessary.

You'll then be in the ship proper. After fighting a bunch of mini-boss soldiers, you'll face the Core Guard System. The room spins around as you fight this boss, and it's rather neat to watch when you're watching footage of the game. Keep shooting at the Hammer form while running away from the lasers, and run away when you get cornered when so you don't get squashed. and jumping straight up when the form spins around faster and faster keeps you from getting hit on the ground. When it goes down, stay away from the center of the screen so you don't get hit.

To beat the Dragon form, slide to avoid the blue fireballs as you shoot upwards while the boss is close up. This is probably the easiest of the three forms.

To beat the Runner form, avoid and shoot down the spaceships as they move towards you. After that, the Runner form shows up. The runner stays in the background and throws fireballs after rotating its arm three times. Stay on the ground to avoid the high throws, and jump over the low ones. Keep shooting at the head as often as you can, and when the boss gets close, dive or kick into it to do a ton of damage (thanks FusionVolt). After this, the Core Guard System is down.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal) - Part 5 of 7

From here on out, we're on rails...and this stage is pretty long.

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This long stage is split into four parts, and I only split it into four parts based on soldier color: red, then blue, then yellow, then green. It's the same hovering enemy/soldier combo from the ruins.

Believe it or not, double Chaser is a very good weapon; it's easier to target multiple enemies with it than with Lightning + Chaser, as powerful as the latter weapon combo is.

The boxes get in the way, and sliding into them with Down+C gets rid of them quickly; some of them will give you power-ups and health, thankfully. The oil drums explode after you shoot them enough.

There will be enemies on hover platforms that throw bombs which will fly towards you. I didn't know this at first, but you can get on the platforms and throw the guys on them off (thanks FusionVolt).

The mini-bosses who give you health will now have orbs that rotate around them.

The "green soldier" stretch has soldiers on mech, but you can easily shoot them down, especially with double Chaser.

The boss here is the Final Great Soldier, who...just dances. Smash Daisaku shows up immediately to despose of him and fights much like he has in earlier stages. Wall jump over him when his jetpack exhaust turns blue, and stay on the move while aiming upwards to deal with the bombs. He will have a second form after this. Wall jump (or stand in that sweet spot) to avoid the double helix fireball. As for the fireballt hat homes in on you, jump early, then get under it to avoid being hit by it. Don't get too close, or else he will jump up and kick you.

Once you beat Smash Daisaku, you'll meet the General of the Empire. We are forced to exchange the gems for Yellow's life, then the General escapes while the villagers of the ancient runs overpowers Smash Daisaku.

CGR Undertow reviews Gunstar Heroes

It's time for another CGR Undertow review, this time with Gunstar Heroes!

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal) - Part 4 of 7

Watch this page get longer and longer as I eventually play through all the difficulties and cover the game numerous times on this blog. Also, we get the fourth and last of the gems from Black after the maze in this stage makes the journey ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

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Dice Fortress

You'll start by heading towards the building containing the dice maze itself. The enemies here are the same enemies on copter blades and the soldiers that you saw at the beginning of the Ancient Ruins stage, but you'll have to dive to go up slopes and jump over bottomless pits. The two giant turrets can very easily be destroyed and avoided; you just have to worry about the enemies swarming in at the same time.

You'll eventually be in the dice maze. Just grab the die like you would an enemy and throw it. You'll be able to move either one, two or three spaces. From there, you tackle what you need to tackle and then roll again.

The following things are the spaces I land on; therefore, this list will not be all-encompassing. 

Valvalion

This is a yellow worm that flies around. Stay away from it as it moves. Lightning + Chaser tears this thing apart.

Rush and Go!!!

Hit the buttons on the wall to open certain-colored walls to reach the goal and avoid the fireball. Even if you don't make it before time runs out, you'll be able to clear it, anyway.

Timeron

This boss moves around and drops bombs, and after ten seconds, everything that has happened then takes place in reverse...and can still hurt you. Stay on the move and remember how everything went as you shoot at this boss.

Minion Soldier

This is a tiny soldier. Be sure to wall jump in case you get cornered, and shoot at him when he comes at you. Again, Lightning + Chaser is a very good weapon for this. He may split into multiple clones, but the clones go down in one hit. The explosive missile can be avoided with a wall jump, but it packs a punch.

Destroy!!

Here, you get to destroy a ship with a soldier in it. It's like a Street Fighter II bonus round here. Destroy the boxes first for power-ups. You'll get a time bonus afterwards.

Pit

This is four balls and a wall that constantly changes size. Use a weapon that doesn't home in so you have an easier time and shoot at the balls while avoiding everything that moves.

Rush and Go!!! #2

Here, you just need to dive, wall jump and slide through the soldiers to get to the goal.

Take An Item #2

There are four power-ups you can pick up, one of which is health.

Vortex Base

Keep shooting at the core at the bottom of the room, but watch the order in which the red circles flash so you don't get hit by the laser. Lightning + Chaser is excellent here.

Curry and Rice

The "no-gun symbol" is this fight. When Curry and Rice approaches you, you have to dive into his face, then immediately get away. Using B to throw punches is pretty useless, honestly. Make sure he's not swatting his hands up and down or somersaulting before attacking

Super Gondola

This is a series of turrets and bomb droppers in the ceiling that moves around. Avoid the things that everything shoots while shooting upwards at everything, and this battle will go more simply as you do damage.

Abarenbou Gel

This guy will stand in place, jump forwards and drop a bomb with a face on it. When it corners you, slide so you can get under him.

Take An Item #3

Once again, more power-ups, including health.

The Way Back

This takes you all the way back to the start. Thankfully, this can only happen once, and any "Clear" spaces just let you roll again.

Boss

This takes you to the battle with Black. Stay on the move and shoot at Black. The number on the die signifies how many steps Black will take before firing at you, and the color that flashes indiciates what will fire. Red is a fireball that travels across the red spaces, Yellow is a set of lasers that travel in a straight line, Green is a straight line of balls that travels across the green spaces, and Blue is a set of bombs that pop up and explode all around the room.

When you beat Black, Black throws a gem, but it explodes. Stay away from it and shoot Black to get the real gem.

When you beat the first four stages, you'll find out that The Professor has been tied up and that Yellow has been kidnapped, and that she will only be freed if you give up all the gems.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal) - Part 3 of 7

For this entry, we face Orange on an airplane and hear one of the most frantic pieces of music in the entire game.

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Airport

At the beginning, you'll have to keep leaping upwards with Up and C to do a high jump in order to get up to Captain Orange's flying battleship. The vertical auto-scrolling starts out slow, but it gets faster the closer you get to the top of the battleship. You will need to get onto the battleship as quickly as possible, and when you see the yellow underside of the top platform, you'll be able to get on the battleship itself. You'll also need to shoot upwards to take out the enemies on the way up to the battleship, so keep that in mind.

The yellow guy with the copter on his back is a mini-boss. Keep away from him and you should be good. Afterwards, you'll be able to get a bunch of weapons if you need them. Lightning + Chaser is a good homing weapon that does a lot of damage, but sometimes it can lock onto something

The Swapping Reg is a stomping robot with two turret legs and a bunch of turrets on the body. Be sure not to be underneath when it has less than 1000 hit points so you don't get flattened.

You'll eventually fight Smash Daisaku, who you've met before on the train in the last level; just avoid him and watch where he drops his bombs as you fire at him, and you'll eventually beat him.

You'll then face Captain Orange. If he looks dead at the screen and flexes, you'll need to jump over him to avoid his clothesline. If he looks at your character, he will grab onto the helicopter blades and grab on. If he leaps into the helicopter blades and grabs on, be ready to avoid him when he lets go so he does not hit you with his elbow drop.

You can wall jump off the side of the screen by jumping into it, holding the Control Pad towards the screen and pressing C again when you run into the side of the screen, but you can also hold Down, press C and grab onto the underside of the plane you fight Captain Orange on, which is something I don't do here.

If you get too close to Captain Orange, he can suplex you, and he can also blow up a bomb that has an explosion that travels towards you.

Thankfully, there are infinite continues in this game, so don't give up.

Once you beat Orange, you'll get another gem.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal) - Part 2 of 7

In this entry, we take on Seven Force, one of the more interesting bosses in the game.

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Mine

In this stage, you'll be riding on a modified mine cart while shooting at enemies that will be all over the place. Having the double Chaser really helps here, as well as Lightning + Chaser.

The mine layers take more damage than the soldiers, but they eventually go down.

Hitting the robot bird with melee attacks such as the dive nets you more powerups. (Thanks FusionVolt)

If you need to switch between the floor and the ceiling or between walls, hold the Control Pad towards the wall/floor/ceiling you want to jump to and double tap C to double jump over there.

There will be barriers you will have to jump over; thankfully, a normal jump will do it.

You'll eventually reach the train. Shoot down all the soldiers, then shoot down the guy in red - whose name is Smash Daisaku - on the train.

The boss is Seven Force. Here, you'll face only six forms that are randomly determined, but on the hardest difficulty setting, you'll face all seven.

The running robot form can be taken down if you stay far away from it as possible while firing at it. Jump to avoid the slide attack, and double jump to avoid the boomerangs. When it has its arm extended outward, double jump to avoid the extending punch.

The snake-like form (Tails Force) with the rotor tail moves around the room. Use the double jump to avoid it, and watch out for the tail. As long as you're not lined up with the head, the rapid fire shot won't hurt you.

The gun form shoots at you like a real gun and also reloads like a real gun. Be ready to double jump as it shoots. It will take a little bit of time to figure out when the gun will fire, but with some practice, you'll be able to avoid the shots.

The spiral form (Urchin Force) moves back and forth in an attempt to hit you. Keep yourself from being lined up with it as you continuously fire, and watch which spines have fireballs so you can keep yourself from being lined up with them, too.

The cat form (Tiger Force) continuously runs. If you see the target reticle, stay away from it so you don't get fried by a laser. Also, if you see a line of blue sparkles, stay away from its path as it will telegraph where a laser will fire and bounce off the floor and ceiling.

You'll eventually get a gem from the brainwashed Green.

PrinceWatercress plays Gunstar Heroes (Normal) - Part 1 of 7

An evil empire is trying to take four powerful gems so that they can take over the world with an ancient power, and the Gunstars are the only hope of stopping this evil plot...

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If you leave the game on the title long enough, you'll get more details on the plot.

The Control Pad lets you move and aim, A lets you switch between weapons, B lets you shoot (and throw enemies in conjunction with the Control Pad) if they get too close  and C lets you jump. Jumping in mid-air lets you dive, and Down+C lets you slide. Down+B lets you pick up items off the ground.

When you start the game, you can choose between Red (who can move while shooting) and Blue (who cannot). Both characters have slight move variations besides movement. You'll then be able to choose between four weapons: Force (the default Contra-style machine gun shot), Lightning (which is strong and can fire through enemies), Chasers (a weak homing shot) and Fire (a close-range flamethrower). By combining your default weapon with another type as well as mixing other weapon combos, you'll get different shot types. There is no ultimate weapon, and by experimenting with weapon types, you can find the best weapon combos for certain situations.

After this, you'll be able to choose the order in which you can play the first four stages. If you have a stage selected long enough. We'll start with the Ancient Ruins on the far left. 

Ancient Ruins

Pink's mining machine dug up a gem. We need to get that gem back and stop Pink!

Your current score and your current health will be at the top, along with your two weapon types. If you press A, you'll be able to choose between your first weapon, your second weapon and both weapons combined.

The game starts with an endless swarm of enemies. Most are soldiers, but others are red droids that fly around. The orange bird robots will drop a random power-up shot.

Combining Chaser with another Chaser will give you a stronger homing shot.

The red masked guy will chase after you, but as long as you stay on the move, he can't touch you. He drops health when he dies; pick it up.

Papaya Dance is easy to defeat. Just stay on the move, don't let anything touch you, and shoot down the caterpillar that is spawns.

You'll eventually reach a pyramid where you will constantly have to jump right in order to get up. Watch out for the enemy as you gradually jump your way up the pyramid. At the top, you'll face Bravoo Man. Keep firing and keep away from it. If it kicks at you, jump over its foot. Bravoo Man can also heal itself; take him out before he can do it.

You'll then start sliding down the pyramid after beating Bravoo Man; stay just right of the center of the screen and be ready to fire at enemies while also jumping over their lasers. If you see the gun fire, be ready to jump.

Afterwards, you'll be at the ruins. Avoid the claws and shoot down the wasp nests; you may get some power-ups.

The boss here is the Pinky Roadster. Stay on the move and watch those lasers, and don't forget to slide to avoid some of the lasers. If you end up below the roadster, shoot down the bombs, keep shooting at the body - which is the weak point - and duck to avoid the spiked ball punch. When you beat the Pinky Roadster, you'll get one of the four gems.

When you beat a boss, you'll earn 20 health for the next stage. (Thanks FusionVolt)