Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
Once you make it to the guy in charge, you'll have to play through the game one more time before you can finally confront him.
Stage 8
From here on out, you'll be going through the seven stages of the game again. This time around, you'll have to be extra careful, as there are even more enemies compared to last time.
Thankfully, the helicopter here is just as easy to take out.
Stage 9
This stage feels mostly the same as Stage 2. You can still kill the boss with a single grenade.
Stage 10
This time around, you'll be attacked by dogs! It wouldn't be very annoying if they're weren't all in a straight line and coming for you.
Stage 11
Just like last time, you'll want to play this stage like you did the first time and get the spread gun so you can kill the boss off.
Stage 12
This one plays just like last time. The bad guys may kick at you and throw grenades at you, but you can easily avoid the grenades and avoid the kicks just by taking advantage of the range of your punch whenever you duck.
It still takes two grenades to beat the boss here, by the way.
Stage 13
This stage is mostly the same as Stage 6.
Stage 14
Just like last time, you'll want to conserve the laser gun. This time around, when you meet the leader, you'll fight him. He just moves towards the wall and tries to shoot at you with a pistol. That's it. Just walk to him when he's not firing, and punch him once. That's all it takes to bring the final boss down. That's it.
Here's an interesting one. It's a 1989 arcade-only Konami beat-em-up that combines the playstyles of Space Harrier, Devastators, Rolling Thunder and the beat-'em-up genre all into one game. In two short parts, we see a mysterious Japanese player known only as "ZEK." blow through the entire game.
You're a spy who has to destroy a nuclear warhead in order to preserve world peace! You'll have to make your way to an isolated island and make your way to the missile silo to shut these plans down before nuclear winter happens somewhere!
Stage 1
Of course, you've got to get to the island first. What better way to do that than to get over there in a jetpack, Space Harrier style?
You'll start out with a gun that can only shoot one bullet at a time, but if you shoot down the orange guys, you'll be able to get machine gun bullets for rapid fire as well as "Fire Balls," which act as screen-clearing bombs.
The enemies will shoot rockets at you, but if you're staying on the move throughout this stage and paying attention as you do so, they shouldn't be much of a problem.
Shortly after you see a helicopter send out a bunch of bad guys (whom you can shoot down for power-ups) you'll take on the helicopter itself.
Stage 2
You'll now be in what looks like a Spanish village in a beat-'em-up style stage, where flunkies in purple and orange dog your every mode and are littered everywhere.
You'll be able to fight unarmed against the purple guys that appear in every stage, but you'll be able to get pistols, machine guns and grenades from the orange guys again. You can only carry one of the three weapon types at any time.
The fat guys take more punishment than the generic thinner guys, but they go down easily with the explosion from a grenade.
You'll reach the front gate of a large estate before you know it, and you'll face some guy who looks like Duke Nukem in a trenchcoat. You can move around the guy and punch him, and also use weapons against him, but he goes down easily with a grenade.
Stage 3
The next stage has you moving towards the background similarly to Devastators, right down to the controls: you'll have to hold Up in order to progress through the stage.
Once again, you'll be able to find machine gun bullets and screen-clearing fire balls here, which you'll have to pick up with the . The bombs work wonders here, as the enemies will be all over you in seconds and there are quite a few vehicles on the warpath that want to destroy you by any means necessary. With that in mind, the playfield can get quite cramped.
At the end, you'll see that stupid helicopter again, and some guy with a missile launcher will be running around as you hear nothing but the helicopter engine for music. When he stands still, he'll be firing the missile launcher. Stay out of the way, then keep up with him and shoot at him again. You'll still be dealing with the purple and orange guys, but as long as you don't stay in one place, you should be okay.
Stage 4
It's back to beat-'em-up mode as you meet up with some new enemies: martial artists and fat guys that can breathe fire. If you can get your hands on a machine gun, you can blow through this stage.
Near the end, you'll find a gun that shoots a five-way shot. This thing has only ten shots and is only time you'll find this in the stage, so hold on to it!
The boss here is some martial artist with a bo. The spread fire gun will make short work of him if you still have it. Otherwise, you're going to have to kick the crap out of him. When you beat him, the head bad guy in charge will press a button to make the room self-destruct, but you'll be out of there in a hurry.
Stage 5
You'll jetpack your way onto another part of the island. This time around, you can only move left and right and leap up to reinforced steel platforms similarly to Rolling Thunder. You'll spend the majority of your time ducking and punching at these guys to get through the area scot-free. Just remember that you're still on a timer here.
If you have a machine gun in your hands, you'll be able to stop the warmechs that walk at you with cannons ablaze stone cold.
When you reach the top of this mountain, you'll be back in beat-'em-up mode in the blink of an eye. You'll also take on a tank with some sort of scientist manning a machine gun at the back. If you have a machine gun or some grenades, you can take this guy out really quickly.
Stage 6
It's Contra-style corridor time again. As you get used to the Devastators-style controls again, you'll be turning around when doors close and you'll also meet...ninjas! Of course, there'd be ninjas.
Just before the end, you'll also be seeing cars with guys shooting rockets at you. Thankfully, staying to the side really helps, and you won't have to deal with them for long.
The boss here is another ninja. This guy is a real pain, as he splits into five, and tries to cut you down as you unknowingly attack his little shadow clones. If you have any screen-clearing fire balls, use them here. Using the weapons works wonders as well.
Stage 7
It's Rolling Thunder time again as you make your way up the missile silo. There are women in blue that seem to have their number as they kick at you, as well as women in white with acrobatic skill and plenty of throwing knives, but a machine gun will do them all in.
You'll find a laser gun along the way. If you can find it (and use it sparingly), you'll be able to power through enemies with it.
When you reach the top, you'll be able to enter the control room and take out the bodyguard stationed there: some guy who looks like Jaws from the James Bond film. If you've saved that laser gun, you can destroy him much more easily.
When you beat the Jaws look-alike, you'll meet Mr. "Hey, look at me! I look like Joseph Stalin!" This is obviously the leader of this evil organization. He'll take off in his jetpack chair, and you'll have to play through the game over again.
The next room is it - the final boss battle with the Kingpin. I'm surprised the carpet doesn't catch on fire when he throws his cigar down.
The Kingpin is huge. He actually takes up about half the screen! The Bogarts here are his flunkies at the beginning, but his next two have guns. Throw enemies at him, break the furniture to get weapons you can use against him, and when the game allows you to, try to shoot Kingpin with your gun. Unless you're saving your bombs for a high score (the bombs give you a 20K bonus for each one you have left at the end of the stage when you win), use your bombs when you're low on health. His slap has some range, and he'll also attack you with his cane. His leap attack (in which he tries to sit on you - what the crap, seriously, Capcom?) is also pretty dangerous, too. He can grab and throw you if you're too close, and he'll also smoke a cigar and breathe the smoke on you! What a jerk!
One of the more interesting ways to beat him is to trap him in a corner and use your super on him. You'd better be ready to avoid his grab attack, though.
Of course, the most interesting way to do it is shown in the final battle ad nauseum. Just throw him, roll up to him, throw him again, roll up to him, throw him again, rinse, lather, repeat.
When it's all over, the King Hotel collapses. Enjoy your ending, as well as two digitized photos that didn't appear in the Western version. I think it's easy to figure out why both of them were omitted when the game came to the West.
Richard Fisk is hiding in the King Hotel. It's time to bring him to justice.
Last Stage: Final Punishment
Kingpin is hiding in the King Hotel, and with a well-placed rocket launcher shot, you'll bust your way in and give Kingpin and whatever's left of his goons what's coming to them!
You'll fight a bunch of enemies with guns before kicking your way through several walls. When you destroy the last wall, you'll set off an alarm, and enemies will flood the room.
There are suit of armor around that you can get some devastating Lances from, and the columns in the foreground are actually breakable if you're close to the bottom of the hallway.
At the end of this section, you'll fight Scully again. Same rules apply here. Also of note - the Saxon here carries nunchaku. Thankfully, you have immediate access to weapons this time around, so this battle is definitely easier.
When you beat him, you'll bust down the elevator doors and drop to the roof of the elevator inside. As you fight off the thugs, bundles of dynamite will drop down. You can use them as weapons if you want, and throwing them away from your general area makes sense, but don't get so greedy for points that you unintentionally blow yourself up.
You can also break the glass walls for points. Also, there's another new enemy here - a green version of Gaillee named Jigsaw, who also carries an M-16. Like Gaillee, Jigsaw only appears in one-player mode. When you beat him, you'll knock out a steel panel in the ceiling and enter a control room.
You'll beat up some more enemies, both armed and unarmed, before you reach a dead end. Along the way, you'll find some nice power-ups in the crates (including two M-16s!) before you fight four ninja girls and a Gus at the end.
The Kingpin has you where he wants you...or does he?
Stage 5: Kingpin's Wrath
Kingpin has had enough of your meddling in his affairs, and has somehow managed to find your hideout.
Jagger is pretty full of himself now that he's located you. Thankfully, your gun is enough to shut him and his cronies up. So much for the first section.
The second section takes place in the sewers. More low-level baddies here. You'll meet Hawke, who is basically Saxon in blue pants. Doors 1 and 3 have bad guys while Door 2 has nothing. Wow-Cat is a red version of Red-Lamp, and he's just as nuts. Grab the flamethrower before you go to the next section.
The third section has you fighting Gus and Red - the latter being a red version of Gus. After you take them out, you'll face four Pretty Boys. One of the barrels where the first fight here takes place gives you another Lance, which is pretty nice. You'll find a flamethrower at the second one.
The fourth section will take you into the wilderness. If you picked up the flamethrower before entering the fourth section, you'll definitely be able to power through a lot of thugs at the beginning. Thugs will come in through the trees...but they're weak anyway. The Yun Lee here has some nunchaku, so watch out when he swings it around.
When you see oil drums rolling toward you, try to break all of them - the rewards are worth it, as you can replenish your health, get more weapons, and get a lot of points.
You'll meet Mizuri, Midori and Luna at the end again. Unlike the other foods, the Meat you'll find nearby refills your entire health bar regardless of how much you have left.
When you beat them, you'll come across an old log cabin...and Guardroid2! Even though it has armed goons accompanying it, the same tactics from last time still apply. You can even shoot at the boss this time!
Your journey takes you into the criminal underground - literally - leading you to a huge opium poppy field and a mobile factory in an underground cave in Arizona.
Looks like a lot of stuff is going to get destroyed.
And no, I'm not changing this description, because it's awesome.
Stage 4: Death on Rails
The first section is really simple. Grab everything in the crates and shoot up all the bad guys.
The second section has you getting on the underground train. As soon as you jump on, the train will leave its station, giving you a full invitation to tear everything up.
You'll find a bag of cement almost as soon as you get on the train. It may be a slow weapon, but if you're on a roll here or you just don't give a crap, it makes an interesting weapon. You'll also meet another ninja chick - Luna.
As soon as you finish off all the enemies here, you'll leap onto the roof of the train. Punching the rods on the roof will cause them to explode in a matter of seconds. You'll meet another new enemy on the roof - Bakosu, a variant of Leon with a longer health bar. You'll also find another new weapon - the Bizen Orafune, a katana that slices up your opponents.
Anyway, when you're finished on the roof, you'll drop down to the lower level of another train car to take on another Gus as well as a bunch of Bakosus. The knives they carry will work quite well against Gus, and if you got the flamethrower before you entered this segment of the train, that will work well against him too.
When you're done with all of them, you'll expose the inside of the train car and come face to face with Bushwacker. Of course, the only question on my mind is - why is there a country fireplace inside the car, as well as a lounge seat, a bearskin rug and a suit of armor near the controls? I can understand if that's where you put the coal that powers the train, but I don't see a coal bin, either. Maybe I'm nuts?
Anyway, Bushwacker is very powerful. His arm can transform into a rocket launcher, he can both punch and grab you, and he has an amazingly high leap. Throwing enemies at him, as always, works best.
You may meet another enemy here if you defeat enough regular enemies here. Misa is just like the other ninja girls, but she has her brown hair in a tight bun as well as - you guessed it - a longer life bar. Talk about efficiency.
If you destroy the suit of armor, you can take the lance from it. This is a very good weapon, as it does a nice amount of damage when you throw it into an enemy, especially Bushwacker!
When you beat him, you'll leave an exploding train as a going-away present for the Kingpin.
I have never seen that many men get shot so quickly as soon as they have come out of a car. With a pistol. In a video game. During gameplay.
Stage 3: Waterfront Warfare
Our heroes will soon find out that the Kingpin's drug trade is blossoming on the ship docks. Time to put the local drug trade on ice!
If you can destroy the cars, enemies won't be able to pop out of them, and you'll get more points.
Trench is a red variation of Cool, while Jagger is Jack in a blue shirt. They aren't just mere sprite re-colors, though; these guys have bigger life bars. Gus fights like Scully, but he's a tad weaker. He's far from a pushover, though, so be careful and fight him like you would Scully.
Another new weapon shows up at the beginning: a boomerang. Even though it can be used eight times, recovering it after you throw it is a little tricky.
Gaillee is another man with a machine gun and has just as much HP as Gus. He only shows up if you're playing a one-player game. He's slower than Cool and Trench, but he's as tall as Gus and he can pack a punch. When you beat him, you can pick up his M-16 and shoot enemies with it.
When you reach the corner, you'll meet the Pretty Boy robots. The red ones have half the HP of the gray ones. When they show up, your character will pull out his gun. As you chip away at them, their human-like masks will deteriorate, then their metallic heads will get knocked off, followed by their torsos. When they become a pair of walking Pretty Legs, finish them off with a few more shots to get rid of them. You'll want to avoid their extending arms as you fight them off, as they are their only attack.
The robot heads, also known as Pretty Heads, can be used as single-use weapons. Watch out when they flash, however - they'll explode, damaging anyone near it, including you. There's also a piece of Cheese here if you need the health.
In the second section, you'll break into a building and fight some more flunkies. There's a pizza here if you still need some health.
After fighting all the enemies, you'll drop down and fight Bone Breaker - part man, part mechanical tank. The crates he crashes into give you a rock, an extra Bomb and a baseball bat, which help if he gets near you.
Keep your distance, as there are gun-toting enemies and Pretty Bots here, and take him out with your gun. His flamethrower may not have much range, but his rockets reach a little further, so watch it if you're picking at Bone Breaker from the other side of the screen. If you need to knock him back, use a jump kick.
When you finish him off, his upper half will be knocked off of his chariot...which blows up. Sucks to be you!
Bonus Stage
This one is just really easy. Just keep shooting an keep the cursor near you. If any barrels stray, get those, then get the ones near you as quickly as possible. It takes practice, but once you pull it off, you'll be getting easy perfects on this in no time.
Let's play another beat 'em up involving Marvel superheroes, a wide variety of weapon pick-ups...and guns!
I could have used the original version of the playthrough along with its videos, but Blogger decided to be ass and not let me use the videos despite the fact that they are available. What the hell. So you get the Japanese version with a Japanese player doing crazy stuff while being a lot more careful. This time around, it's not just one credit, it's no deaths.
This playthrough shows off even more of the game than last time. If an item contains an item, it gets destroyed. Bosses are made to look easy. Most importantly, enemies are taken out very, very efficiently.
Stage 1: Back to the War
The stage titles are different if you play as Nick Fury, but I'm using the Punisher stage names because that's who the player is using. This is the Japanese version and I used the English translation that Capcom actually gave us for these, and I'm not changing the titles.
In the first section, there are a bunch of money bags and some destroyable objects lying around. When you have to stop to fight enemies, you can also move backwards up to a certain point. You're not stuck in the one screen unlike other beat 'em ups - you really have some room to move, which is a nice breath of fresh air.
When you beat up all the enemies, Bruno will show up, spot you, and run away.
In the second section, you'll give chase only to come across some armed enemies. When enemies with guns show up, your character will automatically pull the gun out. Pressing the attack button, of course, fires the gun. The cross hairs make it easier to tell where you're aiming, even though most of it involves simply facing the enemy and opening fire. You can also shoot unarmed foes as long as you have the gun out. When you kill all the armed enemies in the vicinity, you'll put the gun away. When robotic enemies show up later on, you'll use the gun on them as well.
The pistols that the Jacks and Jaggers carry just give you points...though there are other projectile/gun weapons in the game you can use.
When you pick up a weapon, there will be a usage counter above your number of bombs remaining. When that number hits zero, the weapon breaks and can't be used again. Weapons you'll see here are tires, knives, and a baseball bat.
I forgot to mention the enemies, didn't I? Max, Dean and Chrys are just your standard flunkies, Jack tries to shoot you with his pistol, Leon carries knives, Shone wears a hat and usually carries a weapon, and Yan Lee is your stereotypical karate guy.
You can also pick up an enemy when he's down. From there, you can throw him into other enemies or jump and smash him into the ground, which is pretty interesting to pull off.
You also have some special attacks in this game. Pressing Attack and Jump simultaneously gives you a super attack that attacks all the enemies right near you in exchange for a bit of health. You'll also flash pink for a short time while using it, rendering you temporarily invincible. There's also a grab special as well as an air slam special. Nice.
Also, if you double tap the joystick in any direction, you can roll. This helps you avoid a lot of attacks and can be a lifesaver, and you can also perform a kick attack that sends enemies flying back while in a roll if you need to.
If you press Down, Up and attack, you'll do an attack that surrounds your enemy in blue flames. There is a jump kick that also sets your opponent ablaze in blue fire, but it turns out this jumping kick is Japan-only, and removed from the Western versions.
In the third section, you'll break through a school bus window and face Bruno's goon, Scully. If you have enough health, you can trap him near a wall, use the super attack repeatedly and finish him off easily. Otherwise, throw enemies into him and weave your way diagonally towards Scully - don't go straight towards him as his attacks have some range and his kick seems to home in. Don't get knocked down, either, as his ground kick does a lot of damage.
If you press both buttons in mid-air, you'll use one of your bombs. To replenish your bombs, find hand grenades throughout the stages. Also, why Scully is the same size as a regular enemy when he's on fire, I'll never know.
At the end of every stage, you'll get a bonus for beating the boss. You'll get 300 points for every second left on the clock, a random number of points of every unit of health left, 5000 points for every bomb you have left, a random number of points for every weapon pick-up you've used, food you've eaten, containers you've destroyed and valuables you've collected. The more items you pick up and the more weapons you use, the more points you get for the item bonus at the end of each round.
You'll interrogate Scully, and find out that Bruno is in Castle Pantaberde in Florida. After that, the Punisher will shoot him (if you're playing as Nick Fury, you'll just knock him out). All the while, the bus driver will give you the thumbs up. Bus driver, y u no be perturbed by the situation?
During the run of the first stage, the player actually picks up a barrel and somehow manages to carry it all the way to the boss just so he could have health for the fight...and dominate the game from the get-go. That's incredible.
Stage 2: Raid on Pantaberde
You'll sneak into Castle Pantaberde through the drain pipe of the swimming pool. Then you'll come out through the pool and set off the alarms, sending a bunch of goons straight for your throat.
New items and weapons include rings, battle axes, and cheese.
You'll also meet Rusking (another version of Shone), Saxon (a white, blonde-haired American version of Yun Lee) and two ninja chicks, Mizuri and Midori. The ninja girls carry swords, and not only do they have a spin attack and a jump kick, they also run very fast and teleport in and out. They also drop rings when they're defeated, which is actually very nice. Pick them up as soon as you see them, as they're worth a lot of points.
When you're done with the enemies in the first section, you'll smash through the window. You'll be in for some more gunplay in here, as you'll fight off two Jacks as well as some new bad guys with guns: Cool (the guy who peeked his head out the door in Stage 1; his machine gone does some fast damage), B. Hannigan and Luis Allegre (guys in suits and hats that sometimes use pistols; other times they'll use their fists), and Kolsky (he wears a suit but not a hat; he appears with the gun sometimes, other times he uses his fists)
There are also three jail cell doors on the wall. Breaking the first one frees a girl named Barbara who will refill some of your health, the second one has nothing and the third one has another girl.
Dylan is yet another weak thug, and is easy to deal with. Red-Lamp is something else. This guy not only grabs any weapon he can get his hands and use it against you, he'll also grab rings as well. He'll go for the flamethrower, and (thankfully) whenever he fires a shot from a gun or hits you with a weapon, it won't count towards the number of times that weapon can be used if you can get it away from him. If he picks up a ring, you'll have to kill him to get him to drop it. You'll also find a hammer off one of the enemies, which makes for a nice, fast weapon.
When you bust through the door after finishing off all the enemies, you'll meet Bruno and his goons again. A laser will fire from behind them, killing all four of them. You'll then have to face a giant robot known as the Guardroid.
The Guardroid will rush at you if you're far enough away, and it'll also jump in an attempt to shake the ground and knock you off your feet, causing damage. Its attacks are staggered, but they hurt. When it spins its head, roll out of the way and to the side, as it'll shoot lasers both in front of it and behind it. The lasers have shadows, and if you touch those shadows or are general in their paths, you'll take damage. When it's down to quarter health, nail it with some bombs. It's over.
