Time Crisis II FAQ Developed, Published, and owned by Mark Kim a.k.a. Vestiroth Co-Authored by IronFrost (ironfrost@yahoo.com) Version 2.05b Last Update: 17October1998 Street Date: 17October1998 Newer versions of the Time Crisis 2 FAQ may be picked up at the following locations: - http://www.verasnaship.net (My Primary URL) - http://vestiroth.home.ml.org (My mirror, which I felt like pointing this one to http://members.tripod.com/~allarge after all!) - The REC.GAMES.VIDEO.ARCADE Newsgroup. For those of you trying to get a hold of IronFrost, he apologizes for NOT being able to answer back right away. The key reason for this is because of the iNAME e-mail account that he's holding right now won't allow him to receive e-mail in a flash. Hopefully, the e-mail change taking effect in this non-update would be the last. Hope that new Yahoo Mail Address works well. If this is your first update you have seen for a long time, then I suggest that you read the "History of this Document" secion of this work--YOU'LL BE LEFT IN THE DARK WITHOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are encouraged to see Namco's graphical walkthrough on their Time Crisis 2 Folder at this location: - http://www.namco.co.jp/main/aa/vg/timecrisis2/index.html. The reason why I'm encouraging you to do so is because they have a graphical walkthrough of the game. Even though you can't read Kanji, it's a good idea to stop by and see the graphical walkthrough. If you have any corrections, fixes, or suggestions with this guide, then please e-mail me with the subject of "Time Crisis 2 FAQ Fix" at either of these e-mail addresses: - Time Crisis on the Internet Feedback (timecrisis@verasnaship.net) - Verasnaship Interactive Video Game FAQ Library (vgfaqs@verasnaship.net) Please be informed that I will not accept any spamming whatsoever. Period. If you want to know why I hate spamming, you should visit either of these sites before you e-mail me: - http://spam.abuse.net: Explanation why Spamming's a Crime - http://www.cauce.org: Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail I have moved to Interspeed.NET after finding out that CGI Perl is an important skill to master. You will also know that these two e-mail accounts were addies from my domain transfer. The domain remains the same, though. Time Crisis is SUPPOSED to be 4 tokens ($1.00) to start and to continue and isn't supposed to drop down to 3 tokens (75 cents) until sometime next year. However, a recent visit to Aurora meant that there were some Namco Locations authorized to lower the tariff to 3 right now. The purpose of the lower tariff is to generate more money to cover up the expenses. NOT ALL NAMCO CYBERTAINMENT LOCATIONS have Time Crisis II stocked in their shelves yet. You must give Namco Cybertainment some time before the distribution finishes up. Now I'm going to go off the subject for just a moment so please bear with me on this: Please read the Index.HTML page of http://www.soulcalibur.com for reasons why Namco's heavy in limited distribution models. Enchanted Castle seems to be the only Non-Namco owned Arcade that proudly stocks Time Crisis II, but I have yet to see what cabinet they are stocking. All of my Time Crisis FAQs that I have in stock will be available as ZIP files as well. If you are downloading this file from Netscape, then you will need NetZip in order to download this ZIP file. If you are running the ZIP file from MSIE, then you will need WinZip, which is more powerful and economical than the pain-in-the-ass NetZip. It's more likely that I will censor some parts of this FAQ if I have to HTML'ize this one because I don't want to offend some of my visitors at Time Crisis on the Internet! If there is a score-breaking tournament in your region, then I HIGHLY recommend that you attend--you'll be left in the dark unless you prove yourself that you are the greatest arcade player in your region!!!!!! As with all FAQs in the 'NET, this document must be viewed in a monotype font like Courier New or the alignment will not be correct. If you see this work viewed in a different font or if the font is slightly too large, then (I'm assuming that you are using Netscape Communicator 4.0+) here is what you do: 1. Start Netscape Communicator, go to http://www.verasnaship.net 2. Click on the JPEG picture, then locate the link to my FAQ library 3. Locate the hyperlink to my Time Crisis II FAQ 4. If the alignment of the FAQ doesn't look right, then follow these substeps: - Click on Edit, Preferences - Expand the Appearance section, then click on fonts - At "Fixed Width Font", choose Courier New, and set the Fixed Width Font size at 10. - The document should be aligned correctly! - This document may look different on any Apple Macintosh System Legal Notice: This electronically published document is a trademark (tm) and copyright (c) 1998 Mark Kim in association with Anthony Tran. All Rights Reserved. This electronically published document was intended for free circulation throughout the use of IRC, HTTP, FTP, Telnet, Usenet, Newsgroups, and if used for HTML at the website, may be "broken up into pieces" as long as the contents are unmutilated, unpirated, unmodified, and as long as this fine print is included provided that the content of this document remains original. In NO EVENT shall this document be used for any monetary compensation via selling printouts, gaming magazine publishing (EGM, GamePro, et. al.), video game guides, and any other non-electronical forms that exist as this constitutes a direct violation of the Byrne Internet Copyright Law, United States Title 107, and all other forms of Internet Copyright Laws that exist. Stealing any of this work, rewording this work, or any forms of plagiarism constitutes a serious violation of all applicable Internet Copyright Laws and a severe criminal act. Violators of all Internet Copyright Laws and International Treaties face severe monetary fines as well as time in jail as well as dishonorable shutdown from the ISP hosting the violator's access. This document is developed, published, operated, and is the sole property of Mark Kim and has been co-authored pursuant to Mark Kim by Anthony Tran. Any copyright that is not listed in this document is acknowledge and respected by Mark Kim as no infringement was acknowledged. This document was created by Mark Kim under compliance with all applicable Internet Copyright Laws and International Treaties, with the addition of United States Code 107 and the Byrne Internet Copyright Bill, constituting "fair use" under US Code 107. If for any reason you must find anything in this work under violation of any applicable laws and treaties, copy and paste the infringing material and e-mail me with the subject of "Copyright Infringement" at the following e-mail address: - feedback@verasnaship.net The fine print was loosely based upon Kao Megura's fine print. The Kao Megura Fine Print is a trademark (tm) and copyrighted (c) 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 Kao Megura. All Rights Reserved. This fine print was carefully created and prepared by Mark Kim in respect to Kao Megura Properties as no infringement or plagiarism was intended. Time Crisis 2, Keith Martin, Robert Baxter, Christy Ryan, Jacob Kinisky, Buff Bryant, Ernesto Diaz, all Time Crisis 2 characters, and all other Time Crisis-related events are registered trademarks and copyrights of Namco LTD and Namco America Inc. All Rights Reserved. Vestiroth, Verasnaship, the contents of this FAQ, Kingdom of Verasnaship, Verasnaship Interactive, Verasnaship.NET and Vestiroth's Nest are registered trademarks and copyright 1997, 1998 Mark Kim. All Rights Reserved. IronFrost is a registered trademark and copyrighted (c) 1997, 1998 Anthony Tran. All Rights Reserved. This FAQ was authored by Mark Kim in association with Anthony Tran in respect to Namco Properties, as no infringement was intended. ======================================================================== HISTORY OF THE FAQ Version 0.3 (June 29, 1998) Finally, Time Crisis 2 has hit my region! I have to go as far as Aurora to play this new masterpiece from Namco. At a price of 4 tokens a credit, you can bet that I (and you) will be spending a fortune on this game. I've spent $20 on this game already! Please be warned that there will be some bugs in this game because this version is taken from my first-day experience with the game. Version 0.67 (July 9, 1998) I've also included some of the bios from Time Crisis on the Internet. Also take heed that I have included some fixes because as I said before the first update was bound to contain plenty bugs. Please be aware that this site is still under construction as I have a lot of bugs to fix. If you want to assist me in error-trapping this work, then please feel free to e-mail me. Otherwise, I recommend that you use my new Message Board facility at this address: - http://www.insidetheweb.com/messageboard/mbs.cgi/mb8984 Version 0.71 (July 10, 1998) I've added a Bonus Guy Eaters Section in the event that you want 5000 extra big ones (and a chance to go inside the Bonus Area on a Solo Mission), but actually, I'm assuming that these are based upon a Linked Game. Still, I'm asking you to cooperate with your partner in general, and this should be done only by two expert snipers because what this section does is lead you to high-risk greediness that may destroy you! Kudos to Anthony Tran a.k.a. IronFrost for contributing this section. BTW when I play even more games of Time Crisis II maybe some parts of the GLANCE sections will get fixed so I'm getting close to kill all the bugs in this FAQ. Version 0.77 (July 12, 1998) With the help of IronFrost (Anthony Tran), I posted some new tactics with regards to Wild Dog, and the final two bonus men were revealed. Also, some Bonus Guys tactics from the Bonus Guys Eaters section was fixed depending on the severity of the bugs. Also, you may notice that some of the sections have been moved. Version 0.8 (July 14, 1998) Minor Bug fixes in this version, including payment information on the top of this work. Also, please check out a bio of Porter Davis (that I have added on this work) while you read this update. Version 0.83 (July 15, 1998) Boy, I've been given so many bug fixes on several days. Also, having played enough games on Time Crisis 2, I minus well help you out on the same fashion I did on my Time Crisis FAQ. I found out on some parts of the FAQ I "re-bugged" on some occasions, which I'm trying to fix here. Good-sized update for this one! Version 0.85 (July 16, 1998) Just some minor updates, with some better explanation of the final stretch of Stage 2-1 with the help of Kevin Williams. Also, IronFrost pointed out that Marksmen poses the greatest threat in the game. Version 0.91 (July 18, 1998) Yesterday, when I fought Wild Dog on Solo Mode (and when I double-teamed him), there were Bonus Men trying to assist Wild Dog with something. Well, there may be reasons, and I have added this reason on this FAQ. Also, I have added a Bonus Path Section which should cover the procedures on how to get inside the three bonus paths in the game. Sadly, I am feverishly trying to get inside the Bonus Path at the final stretch of Stage 1-2, so I will need your help in getting the prerequisites on getting inside the hard-to-reach Bonus Path for Stage 1-2. Version 0.95 (July 21, 1998) A prototype (and unconfirmed) condition to land the hard-to-reach bonus path at Stage 1-2 has been given at the Bonus Paths Section. Notice that I have fixed one bug on the Bonus Guy Eaters. I have finally pointed out a weak spot for the tank, and I have given an additional pet peeve in regards of keeping the game away from the reach of young children. Version 1.01 (July 23, 1998) I have also stated another prototype prerequisite on how to get into the hard-to-reach bonus room at the final stretch of Stage 1-2. Notice that this tactic was picked up by Tony Indrali , who posted this tactic at the REC.GAMES.VIDEO.ARCADE newsgroup. I'm still accepting any e-mailed corrections for this. I'm not sure about this so I still need your help on this. Also, I have mentioned some additional but possible prerequisites for the third bonus area of the Solo Game. Version 1.02 (July 23, 1998) Minor update, adding tips and tricks with regards to the Knife Men who may be of sudden annoyance to all of us. IronFrost caught me of my un-fair ways at the Bonus Guy Eaters Section. The reason why I adjusted this is because I want to have Keith and Robert have 8 bonus men, but I also tried to make shooting the two Bonus Men during the Cannon Pop-Up scene (at Stage 2-2) safe and fair so Keith and Robert could go 50/50 without having Robert lose a life. Version 1.06 (July 25, 1998) Since Time Crisis II runs on the System 23 engine, I realized that TC2 played a lot faster than the original (with the help of extra RAM) and you don't have to wait as long as you had to wait on the original TC to extend your ammo. I've modified the Action Pedal section a bit and for the first time in this FAQ, I'm going in-depth on the Bonus Room Prerequisites in the Bonus Path Section. Notice that I have added a section regarding about my comments on the System 23 board. Version 1.1 (July 28, 1998) Got some of the bugs in this FAQ fixed. Too dizzy to talk now. Version 1.2 (August 1, 1998) Added the Non-Gunners Section after the Tips section (with IronFrost's recommendation), and added another pet peeve courtesy of Kenta Kusaragi. I've also tried to fix as many Bonus Guy Eaters Section bugs and as many Ernesto Diaz Battle bugs as I can. Don't panic if I can't get every bug fixed! If you still see a bug needing of attention, then please e-mail me. Even though I can't reply to your letter (simply because I usually take action there), just keep the bug-busting e-mail going. Of course, if your bug-bust turns out to be an issue that I may think about, then you may be seeing a reply regarding about the Gameplay or whatever tralala issue. Be sure that you check out the fixed Keith Martin, Robert Baxter, and Christy Ryan bios as well. This will be the final update before the GameFAQs hiatus starts! Version 1.3 (August 16, 1998) Attempted to go in-depth on AT LEAST the first stage of the game. Notice that I have also stated how to take whatever the tralala could be on the Solo Mode of the game. Some of the bios have been updated to keep track with my Time Crisis site, Time Crisis on the Internet. Officially told my readers that I have performed a domain transfer and supplied new e-mail addresses for any further fixes. The domain should work now! If not, then it will take some time before your ISP or whatever the tralala could be finishes updating. There's plenty of secrets that I have managed to reveal. Version 1.72 (September 4, 1998) Fixed the document so the six-inch standard for Windows 95 Text Files can be adhered to. Also, I have to fix some of the regular walkthrough and the procedures on how to get inside the third bonus path in the Solo Mode. Version 1.8 (September 15, 1998) Got the third Bonus Path fixed. Special thanks to IronFrost for being a part of this FAQ. :) Please be sure to check out the fixed bios as I found out that Keith is NOT from Delaware, and Christy worked for Ernesto Diaz in lieu of seeking authorization for the VSSE to thwart Neodyne's Starline Network. Version 2.0 (September 28, 1998) Named IronFrost the Co-Author of this FAQ from now on. You'll notice that the copyright information was based on Kao Megura's well-placed copyright (OK, SUE ME IF I BASED THE FINE PRINT ON KAO MEGURA'S FINE PRINT). Some unnecessary stuff removed from FAQ as far as legal issues are concerned. Added the Tournament Secion of this work. Version 2.04 (September 30, 1998) Re-arranged the Tournaments involving Time Crisis II after realizing that I have messed up on the organization. Small-sized update, with tactics that could lead to a higher score. Pronounced a new e-mail address for IronFrost. Version 2.05 (October 12, 1998) Non-update. Had to notify you the reason why IronFrost wasn't able to answer you right away because of the iNAME sending/receiving problem. On October 10, I've walked away with 200 Tokens at Yorktown! I've finally got first place!!!! Hopefully, IronFrost would take home first place as well and have his name entered in the Time Crisis 27" cabinet drawing. BTW I'd like to tell you that I'm also entered in the Time Crisis 27" cabinet drawing because of my first-place finish just now. Version 2.05b (October 17, 1998) Non-update. I'm just hoping that IronFrost can tame the Yahoo Mail Address well. Hoping that this e-mail change will be the last. ======================================================================== CONTENTS - What is Time Crisis 2? - System 23 Board - The Rules - The Game Modes - Action Pedal - Light Gun - Scoring System - Tournaments involving Time Crisis II * Summer Tournament * Chance to win the Time Crisis 27" Game - Vestiroth's Pet Peeves - Stage 1 in a glance - Stage 2 in a glance - Stage 3 in a glance - "Bonus Guy Eaters" Section - Bonus Paths for Solo Mode - Tips so far - Non-Gunners - Duke of Dispersion's Time Crisis 2 Review - Biographies as determined by Vestiroth * Keith Martin * Robert Baxter * Christy Ryan * Jacob Kinisky * Buff Bryant * Wild Dog * Ernesto Diaz * Porter Davis - Mirroring this work - How to submit an updated copy of this work to GameFAQs.com - Credits ======================================================================== WHAT IS TIME CRISIS 2? Time Crisis II is the sequel and follow-up to the highly successful revolutionary arcade hit of 1996. Although most of the original's success came from the use of the action pedal to perform the hiding and reloading (and much of the fact that Time Crisis combines the 60fps capabilities of Tekken and the fun of Sega AM2's Virtua Cop at a faster pace), people complained about the fact that there wasn't a two-player feature in the game. So this would be the time for Namco to go back to the drawing board, think about what they would need to meet people's needs for Time Crisis, think about some scenes that people would like to undergo, rework the Time Limit System a bit, all that framework stuff. Finally after months of deciding, Takashi Sano has declared that he needed two Action Pedals, two Monitors, a System 23 Board, a change of rules in hiding forever, an even more sinister storyline, a train shootout, a boat chasing scene, and what he would thought that would satisfy the hunger of all the gun nuts at the Arcades. The result is Time Crisis II, a 2-player, cooperative link game that has a more innovative use of the Action Pedal, a Machine Gun to take out tanks, System 23 Hardware, and a sinister storyline that involves a sattelite project doubling as a nuclear threat (You gotta love Video Game Plots). All of the gameplay mechanics has been carried over from the Original, and the most noticeable new feature of the game is the rendition of two-player linked cooperative play via linked cable. There's even a more involved use of the pedal, and better graphics/animation for the game. ** Not your typical two-player light gun game ** What sets Time Crisis II apart from other two-player light gun games is the use of a link cable and two monitors makes it possible that you can take different paths, thus catching your foes on a crossfire at times, and that means that you can also see the other player as you move further into the game. However, even with revolutionary two-player feature (similar to race games), you have to cooperate with your partner, and you have to be very careful with your aiming as you may accidentially hit your partner at times. Although you can still play Solo Mode on Time Crisis II, the Linked Mode is what really helps Time Crisis II set the path of cooperative play for Light Gun Games. It's now important to back-up your partner in the event they may be able to face stiff resistance. ** Story of the Game ** It's been two years since Richard Miller rescued Rachel MacPherson from the grip of the Garo Family and the Wild Dogs. Sadly, Wild Dog is still alive (according to Christy Ryan), and a new plot issued by Ernesto Diaz involves a sattelite network bent on the destruction of peace of the planet by launching a nuclear sattelite into space. This project is called Starline Network. Ernesto Diaz runs a megaconglomerate paramilitary organization called Neodyne Industries LTD, which operates some of the most advanced nuclear weapons ever seen to man. VSSE recommends that cancellation of the launch is necessary, and has sent agents Keith Martin and Robert Baxter to perform the cancellation, but their mission won't be easy because Jacob Kinisky has kidnapped Christy Ryan as an action to taunt that the VSSE will fail. It's up to both Keith and Robert (That's You and your partner!) to rescue Christy Ryan and to save the planet from a possible Nuclear Catastrophe. ======================================================================== SYSTEM 23 BOARD The System 23 Board is Namco's follow-up to the System Super 22 Board with TR3. IMO the System 23 Board is Namco's first 64-bit Arcade board, with the ability to negate slowdowns even better than the System Super 22 thanks to the additional RAM in the board. The System 23 board was first used in Namco's own Motorcross GO. The System 23 can handle 60fps animations much better than the System Super 22. Polygons are also smoothened for a more realistic look. The processor speed of the System 23 enables faster game play in Time Crisis II, such as refilling your 9-bullet clip without having to wait until you completely hide (as opposed to the original). System 23 also allowed extra data capacity for the chase scenes (i.e. Jet Ski Chase, in which the Original didn't permit) and scenes where you have to attack while moving. The System 23 also displays more colors than the System Super 22 did. Play Motorcross GO to explore the amount of colors that the System 23 can display at once. Overall, the System 23 is just new, but should be successful in use with Namco's newest Deluxe Machines because 60fps on these games are pretty much a standard for all of Namco's video games, ever since Tekken came to the arcades with 60fps features. ======================================================================== RULES This part of this FAQ is a carryover from my Time Crisis (The Original) FAQ, but there are some rules that has changed, so I recommend that you read this portion of this work carefully. As with the original, you start each part of the area in "Hide" mode. Press the pedal and use your gun to attack the baddies on the screen (They will hide from you periodically so make sure that you react fast). Whenever you encounter heavy gunfire in a scene, release the pedal to hide but keep in mind that you can't attack while you are "ducking" but the benefits of hiding is that you can't take any direct hits either. In a heavy-strafing situation, you will want to use the "Dodge and Counter" method of counter- attacking your enemies. Watch your ammo because if you use up all 9 bullets, you cannot fire anymore rounds. Release the pedal and PATIENTLY wait for the gun to restock. Once you reload the gun, you can shoot 9 more rounds. BTW everytime you hide from your enemies, you not only heal yourself from the temporary damage done to you, you also reset the amount of shots you can shoot as well! Anyway, once you destroy all the enemies in that part, proceed to the next part with time added to your clock. As with the original TC, you cannot shoot while you move from one part to the next. Every time you take a direct hit from your enemy (i.e. A Marksman shot you with his magnum, you didn't crouch when a dead-center bullet (red) is on the screen), you lose a life. The game ends when you lose all of your alloted lives. Try not to do too much hiding in one part because Namco infested a strict time limit to prevent this pelicular occurrence. As opposed to the original, you lose one life if the time limit runs out, so be sure that you act fast. Don't ever try to hit your partner because now that Time Crisis II runs under a Points System, you will lose points every time you hit your partner, which means that you must be careful with your shots whenever you see your partner from the cabinet you're playing! You earn points depending on how quickly you kill the enemy, and where you shoot the enemy at. Hitting the enemy at the head earns the most points since Namco has made it clear that head shooting is the key to clearing each part in Time Crisis II more quickly. You also earn more points if you can clear the area fast enough, so try to be the fastest spy to earn big points! Please be warned that you will lose 1000 points if you happen to either hit your partner by accident or on purpose. Also to state, you will lose 5000 big ones if you happen to hit Christy Ryan by accident or on purpose, so you NEVER, EVER, EVER shoot a woman. :) ======================================================================== THE GAME MODES Time Crisis II features either a Solo or Linked Mode instead of a Story or a Timed Game. Solo Game: Locks out all two-player games in progress, you begin the game at Stage 1 no matter how far the other player is at. Different Paths may be taken depending on how you clear the area. I find that this is the most difficult mode to play because you face a lot of heavy resistance. Linked Game: If one player starts out solo, then the other player can join in according to how far the continuing player went. You will be taking different paths (like Capcom's Resident Evil/Biohazard), and at times, your partner may be facing extreme resistance so close cooperation is necessary. I would start the game in this mode because you should be nice to others (especially ladies) who want to join the fight against Ernesto Diaz. Once you get better in the game in the Linked Mode, then why not see how bad-assed you are on the Solo Mode? ======================================================================== THE ACTION PEDAL This part of the FAQ is a 95% carryover from my TC Original FAQ, so read only if you forget, or if you are new to the world of Problem-Solving Espionage This is often referred to me as "Namco's Espionage Simulation System." When you release the action pedal, you can duck to avoid taking any direct hits from your enemies, and reload your gun automatically. You have nine bullets in Time Crisis II as opposed to six in the original. Keep in mind when the pedal is released, you can't shoot. Press the pedal to attack your enemies. Once all of your enemies are defeated in that section, you will move forward with some time extended in your clock. Time Crisis II has a more involved use of the pedal, such as having to stick your head from a moving train to see if Robert Baxter's gonna face stiff resistance, having to hide your body within the safety of a Jet Ski during a Boat Chase, and having to stop while moving around a forest to reload and hide, so it's about time that you slightly relearn the pedal. If you already have learned Time Crisis, then you should be fine. All I'm asking of you is not to press the pedal too hard as you may be responsible for the damage caused by the machine. Also, when you are given the priviledge to use the Machine Gun against a Tank, you will have unlimited Ammo with Full-Automatic Firing, so the only time you will need to hide is whenever you are about to get toasted. It's important to release the pedal whenever a bullet turns red or a foreign debris tries to nail you as it can destroy a life from your reserve. A note from Vestiroth: If the Action Pedal feels too unresponsive or if you cannot attack even though you have the pedal pressed or if the pedal has been abused too much (i.e. if the Pedal happens to stick), then it's time to talk it out with your Arcade Operator. Expensive games MUST be maintained with care and you are paying for it. Since Time Crisis II runs under System 23, reloading your gun has never been faster. Now instead of having to just wait until you hide completely to refill your clip (as opposed to the original), you can just release the pedal slightly and almost immediately attack again, thus allowing even faster and more flicker-free gameplay! The reason why I'm stating this paragraph is because Time Crisis suffered from having Richard Miller hide completely to reload his gun. Now that more RAM and more Data Capacity's there, I see no reason to see Keith or Robert just hide completely before they can fire 9 more rounds! Don't do it too fast as you will run out of bullets if you do so. All I'm asking you to do is to do "touch of the pedal" in the method of reloading the gun. Refer to Pet Peeve 8 for more details. ======================================================================== THE LIGHT GUN As with the Action Pedal section of this FAQ, this is a 95% carryover from the original FAQ for Time Crisis for both Arcade and PlayStation. Read this ONLY if you forgot or if you are new to the world of problem- solving espionage. Namco's Time Crisis II comes with this gun which is probably the most accurate light gun in the industry. The procedures for the gun is simple: A chip stores a huge portion of the image inside the lens, and then the lens "reads" the screen one pixel at a time, thus waiving the need to rely on the same-old infrared sighting that most light gun games use. As you move the gun's lens to other places within the screen, the chip reads a new portion of the image, so everytime the image changes, the chip changes the image, keeping the image fresh, and keeping the accuracy from pixel-to-pixel high. The light gun also comes with the blowback feature, which simulates gun recoil. Please do not attempt to break or block the recoil because you will be responsible for damage done to the machine. Also, you may want realism when playing Time Crisis and Time Crisis 2. If this is the case, then you will have to get used to the Blowback feature of the light gun. This is the feature (second in importance to the Action Pedal) that made Time Crisis popular. The gun was tested so many times to prove its accuracy before it's even used. This practice ensures that the gun is reliable to use. You have used this gun before in Point Blank and in Time Crisis. Make sure that you are aiming at the right spots when playing Time Crisis II because if you experience that the gun's not working right, it's time to pay a visit to your operator regarding about the Gun Problem. If the Recoil's not working, contact your operator. All I'm asking you is to leave the recoil alone, since it makes blasting bad guys realistic. Much to my anger and irritation, the Recoil (along with the gun) gets the most abuse in the game. I've seen this asshole try to hold the top of the gun to negate the recoil. YOU DO NOT HOLD THE TOP OF THE GUN WHILE THE GAME IS ON PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! This damages the gun and you may have to pay up for the damage caused by this. Also, keep the gun away from kids under 5'3" tall. They tend to do the most damage to light guns, and light guns are indeed sensitive to abuse, so it's time that we refrain from using the light gun except during play. Let your operator know if you have a problem with the gun or aiming, and ask your operator to make sure that the gun and recoil is working properly. The operator MUST at all times keep the gun in good standing. ======================================================================== THE SCORING SYSTEM: Time Crisis II features a totally different scoring system from other light gun games. The scoring system is supposed to be time-sensitive, meaning that you earn more points by killing enemies the fastest possible and adds up if you hit them repeatedly. You earn more points by hitting them in the head. Your opponents are worth 200 points a piece when they first hop on the screen and less and even lesser afterwards. The sooner you kill them (Head shooting nets the most points), the higher your score. You can hit your opponent more than once if you want to earn more points, but there are some bosses who can't be hit more than once. Jacob Kinisky, while he's riding on the boat, cannot be hit more than once, and you can't hit Ernesto Diaz more than once. While Wild Dog and Ernesto Diaz double- teams you, you can't hit either of the bosses more than once. As opposed to the original, accuracy counts. You will get a streak bonus for every 10 consecutive hits. Although the Hit Multiplier will reset if you get hit or wait too long, as long as you do not miss, the streak count will be valid. Kudos to TC Chavez (Quizmaster v.4.0) for this valuable section. You will get a higher score for clearing the area of the stage faster, so remember, the faster you can prevent the launch, the higher your score. This could be the reason why Namco called this game Time Crisis. Now if Namco would just go back to the Time Completion measurement system (and if they restore the Time Limit back to its old strict self from the original), and if Richard Miller returned to the game, then it would then really be called Time Crisis. My tips on how to get the highest score on the Solo Mode: 1. Make sure that you have a feel of the gun. I'm getting sick and tired of everybody say that Keith's side is more enjoyable to use than Robert's side. Besides, I'm fed up with this cabinet difference crap. At first, the only way to get the highest possible score was to play either game on Keith's side, but later on, I found out that there is a pointer to all of this. 2. No matter what side you are on, TRY TO SHOOT ALL ENEMIES AT THE HEAD AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. Also, it helps using the Gunsight for enhanced aiming. 3. If you are an arcade operator, please be sure that you test out the IO of the Light Gun ON BOTH CABINETS every month or week. This ensures that the replay value would be significantly higher, and higher competition ensues. 4. The cabinet in which you can aim and play well should be your "home" cabinet. Dominate the competition using your brute force to your advantage. Remember that you should not try to hide and reload too fast. I did this several times, and realized that I had to ease up a bit. 5. There are some instances where you can increase your score gradually, but you have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to do so. 6. NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER HIT YOUR PARTNER OR CHRISTY RYAN!!!!!!!! (THIS IS NOT VIRTUA COP, LETHAL ENFORCERS, ET. AL.) 7. Try to be as accurate as you can. The streak bonus gets higher every time you keep on hitting 10 in a row, starting at 500, and growing to a maximum of 5000. One miss and the streak will reset. ============================================================================ TOURNAMENTS INVOLVING TIME CRISIS II 50-Token Blowout ---------------- Last Summer, a 50-Token Time Crisis II Summer Tournament occured at all stores bearing the Aladdin's Castle, Time-Out, CyberStation, Space Port, and any other arcades that were owned and operated by Namco Cybertainment. There were two Time Crisis II Tournaments at Yorktown. I got 3rd place in the first tournament and 2nd Place in the second tournament. Although the tournament's over, I would like to stress out some rules: - Single Round Elimination - Person who gets farthest by the time both players lose all lives advances - No continues - Solo Play Only - Score is used ONLY to break a tie 50-Token Blowouts were held every Saturday with a featured game being targeted as the perfect game for a player to win the Grand Prix. Some were held in 12pm, others held it later. Time Crisis II Blowout ---------------------- Namco Cybertainment is holding a Time Crisis II Blowout to see who's the best player from each store!!! The top-ranking player in each store will be entered upon the 27" Time Crisis Cabinet drawing. The Time Crisis Cabinet is hard to win because your chances are 1 in 257 because ALL STORES are doing it. Now in order to avoid any confusions, here are the rules: - Double Elimination - Person with the highest score at the end of Stage 1, Area 1 wins - Solo Game Mode Only - 5 Lives per play - Player pays the tariff described on the Coin Chest Box to play At the past, linked mode applied but it was considered unfair because of personal reasons the company had. The two top players for the four weeks are then invited to the finals October 10th at 3pm. ======================================================================== VESTIROTH'S PET PEEVES: 1. If you are new to Time Crisis 2, play the Linked Game First. Then as your experience grows, experience the mission with the Solo Game. Both cabinets should have the same settings and difficulty. If the settings doesn't agree, please contact your arcade operator. 2. It's crucial to cooperate with the partner or your success may be all for naught. This is because during times of the Linked game, it may be possible for Robert Baxter or Keith Martin to face stiff resistance on one part and less resistance on another part. For example, if Buff Bryant attacks Robert Baxter with nothing but dead-center bullets, then Keith Martin should pound on Buff while Robert hides to avoid getting his tail roasted. 3. Encourage any ladies to play the game on Linked Mode, and cooperate with the lady by lessening any resistance they may face on one part. Allow any ladies to join in when they ask you if they want to "join the fight against Neodyne's Starline Conglomerate". I'm just saying this because I'd rather be easy and nice on them. Refusing their services to join in or failure to cooperate or help the ladies may result in fights that no arcade manager is willing to see. 4. Do not attempt to destroy the recoiling feature of the gun. The recoil feature stimulates enjoyment of the game. If you destroy the recoiling feature, then you will be responsible for the damage done to the controller. 5. Don't press the Action Pedal too hard because the Action Pedal doesn't love to be pressed on too harshly. If you press the Pedal too harsh, then you may break the pedal and may be responsible for the damage done to the machine. 6. Incomewise, please encourage anyone who makes $10K a year or less to start the game on a Linked Game Mode Start. This will ensure that any other players or any rich players (making AT LEAST $35K a year) to help you out liquidating the Starline Plot (The Ernesto Diaz Threat), and that the other player will help you whenever you face extreme resistance from your enemies. Cooperation betweenthe low and high income player is important, since the lower income player does not want to waste too much money on a good light gun game. 7. Don't be pissed just because you used up your bullets this quickly. You get 9 bullets per clip as opposed to 6 in almost all gun games. Because of the extra 3 bullets from the original, the enemies won't find much time to lock on to you and make the "dead-eye" sighting. Since the lackeys need some time to get their shots right, you should not try to do too much reloading (since you have to "crouch" and get up). You should benefit from the larger clip this way. Just be careful as some of the lower-accuracy (or lower-powered) lackeys will be lucky enough. 8. As opposed to the original, you don't have to duck all the way just to reload your bullets, just let go and step back on, but not too fast. The extra RAM and Data capacity in Time Crisis II allows this feature. Please see the System 23 and Action Pedal sections of this FAQ for more details. 9. The only time you need to crouch all the way is when the red sighting (dead-eye sighting in my case) comes on from the marksmen, Sage RPGmen, and machine gunners. Marksmen tend to do the most damage of the three because they don't need to waste too much time to hit you dead-center. The reason why I'm mentioning that the Marksmen do the most damage of the three is because these guys have magnums, which can instantly chop off a life even though they don't hit you in the center. Sage RPGmen are faster than the Machine Gunners, but not as fast as the Marksmen are. Although Machine Gunners are the slowest of the three high- threat lackeys, you must act fast because they have a bad habit of spreading lots of shrapnel to increase their chances of hitting you dead-center. I recommend that you shoot all of these three as soon as you see them so you won't have some serious problems. 10. Practice makes perfect. You have to play plenty of games and go through the drudgery of continuing several quests, but as you get better, you'll continue less, and eventually, you will be able to beat the game without continuing at all. 11. Whenever you see the word "WAIT" in the screen, the Time Limit resets to 40.00, and does not run until after Keith or Robert says Action. The Time Limit System has been made more lenient because there were plenty of complaints in the original that they've been running out of time in most places. 12. There's a section devoted to your hunger in "eating" all the bonus men courtesy of IronFrost (Anthony Tran) in the event that you want to reach the bonus area that you may want to "lick" later on the game. I'd say that this section of this FAQ is expert level and should only be done by experts because I found that in the original Time Crisis shooting all the bonus guys are a pain in the ass. If you can take advantage of Time Crisis II's lenient Time Limit (Be sure to follow the accuracy principle as described in Pet Peeve 10), then you may be able to find yourself in that area. However, your performance must be solid in order to do this. 13. If you want to nail all of the bonus guys in the Linked Portion of the game, please share chances of nailing all the bonus men. Keith should nail 8, and Robert should nail 8. So that's half (and fair) for both of the two. If shared properly and sincerely (Please follow this rule definitely if you are playing the game with a lady), then you should be able to catch all of them. 14. Never, ever, ever shoot Christy Ryan because you lose 5000 big ones if you do so. Ernesto has a bad habit using ladies as shields to your shots. Also, in some situations, your partner may act as shields to bonus men, so you have to be careful when trying to send the bonus guys into hell. Sometimes Ernesto won't fight at all while he's holding Ms. Ryan because he doesn't want to feel your lead. Don't shoot him at the arm he's carrying Christy because it's more likely you'll hit Christy. 15. Shoot the Sage RPG Soldiers as soon as you see them. Although they seem to give virtually no escape at first when they start shooting, these missiles come out one by one, meaning that you are given some time to counter-attack before they launch another one. The key to defeating the baddies in Time Crisis II is Teamwork. You must help your friend in shooting bad boys in all ways as possible. This is one of the most obvious pet peeve. Save your partner's lives, especially ladies. ;-D 16. If you have enough tokens, make sure that you insert four tokens (I prefer that you do this during a cinema display) so you don't have to waste time during the Continue Countdown to insert your tokens. This way you can just continue as soon as you see the Countdown Card ringing up. Try to insert 8 tokens during a Cinema Display. By doing this, you don't have to miss killing some of the more important enemies that you want to kill. Kudos goes to Ey Wuz Hear for this pet peeve. 17. Shoot enemies repeatedly, even if they are already dead because each hit nets extra points and really adds up. Credits again for Ey Wuz Hear for this Pet Peeve. HOWEVER, try not use up too much bullets on just one enemy as to most problems and resistance that you have you're gonna have are multiple enemies to deal with. Even if you got 9 bullets it is still a risk to do somthing like this. I would suggest that you use 3 bullets on an enemy, though you can do more like 6 or somthing. But if you use 3 bullets, you will have 6 left and if you're facing multiple enemies you will be on the safe side especially if a marksman is in that group too. Otherwise, lose a life and regret what you did. "Lives are always more valuable than a mere high score." ---IronFrost 18. IronFrost recommends that you carry your Hit Combo onto the next enemy on because they appear at the same time and they confront you as fast as a bunny. 19. If there is a red suit or RPG soldier shooting at you, odds are that your partner (if you have one) can pick it off fairly easily, since they can only shoot at one person at a time. If so, take the time to duck and say "Get the red guy!", or something to that effect. It just might save your life. (All bets are off, however, if you're in an area where the partners are split up, such as Stage 2, Part 1, Scene 2, the forest, or Stage 3, Part 1, Scene 3, the crates.) Kudos again to Quizmaster V.4.0 for this Pet Peeve Addition. 20. Marksmen poses the greatest threat to any VSSE agent in the game. There are times that your partner can't save you from the red suit the instant he/she sees them. Sometimes it's better to shoot them immediately after they pop up. You shouldn't give them a chance to fire at you. If the red suit fires a Magnum Bullet (causing Red Sight Outbreaks), then you MUST release the pedal right away. 21. Keep Time Crisis, Time Crisis 2, and Point Blank out of reach of young children because they tend to smash the gun into the ground, which can destroy the blowback feature. This is one expensive game and must be given extreme care. Do not try to play with the gun unless the game is on play. You will only damage the gun if you play with it while the game is not on play. 22. The Tank's weak spot is the firing mechanism, which does the majority of the damage and attacking at you. Try to aim nearly all of your shots at the firing mechanism as you may want to shave off as much time as you can. On the final stretch of Stage 1-2, you may not be able to see the mechanism as you see two Sagers attack you from inside the tank. Both Keith and Robert should pound on the firing mechanism at the same time during the "priviledge" at Stage 2-1. 23. You will be taking Keith's path or Robert's Path on the Solo Mode based upon your performance. For example, you will be taking Robert's path from one point and Robert's path once again on one game, and you may be taking Keith's path on one point and Robert's path on the next point. There may also be certain unknown conditions that you may have to be aware of, so keep on shooting to discover all the conditions that you may discover to take a certain path (i.e. Keith's paths). 24. To really take the advantages of the System 23's increased RAM in terms of pedal use, put the toe area of your shoe on the outside, top corner of the pedal. You don't know what the hell I mean at first but when you feel AT LEAST one part of the pedal you are touching, then you'll know what I mean by this. This takes immense practice so I recommend that you bring a roll of tokens before mastering this. Kenta Kusaragi should be credited for this pet peeve addition. 25. On the Glances guide, anything that is replaced by Orange Foot Soldiers on the Solo Mode will be imprinted in all caps. On the HTMLized edition, the location of all Orange Foot Soldiers on the Solo Mode will be bolded for description. These weirdos usually appear at the left and right side of the screen and determine who's path you're going to take in the Solo Mode by just shooting whoever first. Usually, shooting the left orange lackey first prompts you to take Keith's path, while hitting the right orange lackey first prompts you to take Robert's path first. However, there is time when you're forced to take somebody else's path whenever you don't want to. On this instance, it's the orange lackeys during the fight at the gazabo. 26. Being a fun-loving VSSE cooperative, I recommend that you follow these rules to maximize the enjoyment of playing Time Crisis 2. ============================================================================ STAGE 1 IN A GLANCE Now that we are finished discussing some issues, I would like to get through with the general walkthrough. We see Christy Ryan calling Porter Davis or Terrence Deletzke regarding about this Starline Incident. Porter has made it clear that Keith and Martin are on the way. Needless to say, Jacob Kinisky isn't too happy to see what Christy is doing at this point. Christy, taunting Jacob that the Neodyne Conglomerate isn't going to succeed at all, gets gut-punched and bitch-slapped by Jacob! As the abuse progresses, Keith and Robert comes in and the story begins from here... A note from Vestiroth: I hate seeing any form of female abuse being portrayed in any video game. Especially the bullshit Jakey committed just as Keith and Robert interferes. I'm pretty sure that the ladies will complain to Takashi Sano for this. :P Stage 1, Area 1 --------------- On the first area, regardless of who you play as or what path you take in the solo mode, shoot Jakey first, then shoot the next two lackeys just left and right of the center. Next, shoot the commander at the middle, then the blue lackey concealed in Christy's liquor shelf, then the lackey concealed at Christy's Laptop desk. FINALLY, SHOOT THE LACKEY AT THE CENTER, THEN HIT THE LACKEY AT CHRISTY'S LIQUOR SHELF, THEN THE LACKEY AT CHRISTY'S LAPTOP SHELF. If you want to take Keith's path on the solo mode, here's what to do with the final three lackeys: Hit the lackey in the center, then shoot the lackey at Christy's laptop shelf first then hit the lackey next to Christy's liquor shelf. To take Robert's path on the Solo Mode, hit the lackey at the center, and hit the lackey at Christy's Liquor Shelf and then the lackey at Christy's Laptop desk. Note: You can shoot any household belongings inside Christy's apartment for 50 a pop, but I HIGHLY DON'T RECOMMEND THIS. If you are taking Keith's path, then you may have to hit the Sage RPG at the top of the screen next to the telephone booth first before going on to hit the other lackeys. Hit the Sager first (but sometimes he's replaced by a lowlifer coming from the top-right), then hit the two blue lackeys and the commander at the dining table, then go on to hit the lackey concealed in the telephone booth. Try to hit the bluesuit and the commander at the left side of the Telephone Booth before you're forced to move on to the next part in Keith's path. On the next part, you face a red lackey next to the garbage can, a knifeman (or blue suit) next to the telephone booth, and two bluesuits concealed in the black car. Taking Robert's path, hit the lackey just right of the table first, then hit the lackey and the commander next to the table and then hit the blue suit hiding behind the telephone booth, being aware that a bluesuit's coming from just top of the center. You may have to face another blue suit inside the table before you move onto the next part. Right where you move to the next part, you have to hit the commander and bluesuit first and you will face a marksman right at the trash can and either a knifeman or a blue suit next to the Telephone Booth. Now you will face two more foot soldiers on top of the black car. In the restauraunt, there's only one minor change between paths. If you are taking Robert's path, then you should be able to dump the bluesuit near the closest table with ease. Actually, the fight begins with a bluesuit coming at the table next to the restauraunt, followed by a foot soldier soming at the right table, and a marksman coming at the left side of the screen. Now you have a commander and a grenadier to chew at the table closest to the restauraunt. You will also need to chew on a machinegunner at the left side of the screen inside the restauraunt, and a blue suit at the right side of the screen inside the restauraunt. Finally, hit the marksman at the right side of Keith's screen, and the foot soldier at the left side of Robert's screen. On the fifth part, just shoot the gasoline tank just behind the two cars to shave off some time, and release the pedal if the screen hasn't moved already. You get 10000 for blowing up the gasoline tanker. Right when you arrive at the Gazabo to do some gazabo fighting, you will see a Machine Gunner and two sagers at the center of the screen as well as a Commander standing within the gazabo. You will see two foot soldiers at the left side of the gazabo and a grenadier will throw a grenade from the right side. If you kill the two foot soldiers at the left side of the gazabo, a grenadier will show up at the left as well as a *bonus guy*. If the middle troopers at the start of the Gazabo fight dies, then three more bluesuits will be attacking from the right side of the screen. After these bluesuits are slayed, TWO *CONCEALED* LACKEYS HIDING AT THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE OF THE GAZABO PILLAR WILL ATTACK YOU AND IF THESE GAZABO SUITS ARE SLAYED, THEN A FINAL BLUE SUIT WILL SHOW UP FROM THE NEAR-RIGHT. You will take a split after this part is complete. If you hit the *concealed* lackey at the left in Solo, then you will take Keith's path. If you hit the right lackey, then you will take Robert's path. Keith will fight up-close and personal against a commander, two weaklings in blue, and a marksman near a clothing store. Hit the Blue Lackey inside the store first, then hit the marksman at the right, then the Blue Lackey and the commander for the finish. Please be warned that either of these lackeys can get lucky to get a red sighting. Don't be surprised if Robert happens to help you! At the start of the bank battle, hit the first three lackeys next to you, then hit the other two hiding behind the bank pillars. Now take care of the Marksman next to the bushes, then the rest of the lackeys *concealed* within the outer Bank pillars. Now if this applies, hit the lackey near the bank door first, then the lackey next to the bushes, then finally the final two lackeys left to the entrance door for the finish. Even though the final enemy who shows up left of the door is a Sager, you shouldn't give him a chance to fire because you can spread shrapnel and give him a wake-up call before he gets a chance to use a rocket at you. And don't be surprised if Keith Martin helps you (see the red hits on your screen as the enemies die under Keith's Magnum). A Truck will skid and fall to the floor. Jacob Kinisky will decide that he'll try to pick on you during his two assaults. As Keith Martin, you should pump some lead on Jakey before he gets a chance to fire near the top of the truck. Then you will face two foot soldiers before you get a chance to see three Sagers (they will take two hits) attack you on top of the truck. Robert Baxter will see plenty of foot soldiers attacking from inside the truck, while some will attack you near the center. After Mr. Kinisky gets hit from trying to attack Robert, THERE WILL BE TWO MORE LACKEYS BEFORE A MARKSMAN APPEAR. After the death of these three lackeys, one more foot soldier will attack you before the truck blows up into nothing. Note: In Solo Mode, no matter whose route you take, you will always see two "Path-Decision" Lackeys in one point of the part. To get inside Keith's path, hit the left one. To get inside Robert's, hit the right one. Stage 1, Area 2 --------------- When you start the first part of Stage 1, Area 2, you will see nothing but barrels falling towards you. Make sure that you have a very fast trigger finger as you need to hit all the barrels in order to avoid losing lives. After the first set of barrels fall down, you will see a blue suit at the left, a blue suit at the right, and a machine gunner near the wall. After the machine gunner's death, two more bluesuits from the left and the right will attack you before another set of barrels come up, only to reveal that two blue suits are throwing these barrels to pose problems. After the death of two bluesuits responsible for this, you will face two blue soldiers who have their heads visible with the touch of the slant as well as a commander just right of the center. Now you will face two more blue suits throwing barrels at you before you hit Jakey at the center for the completion of the first part. You will be facing a lot of camera angles during your fight on the corridor of a beautiful residence hall. At many times, it may be possible that your partner may be disrupting your flow of killing of enemies, so while you are on the corridor, it's crucial that you be careful where you are firing at. Cooperation with your partner and letting your partner know when he/she is in danger is very crucial in this part since you and your partner will face different resistance levels throughout the corridor battle. As your chase for Jacob Kinisky continues, you will eventually put up a fight near the wall, which leads to the boat chase at Area 3. During the near-wall fight, you have to face two grenadiers, each who will be throwing a kink at you. Try to shoot these grenadiers immediately, and once you kill these grenadiers, you will face a knife soldier up close and personal on both screens. Afterwards, if the foot soldiers land on the well, then there should be no problem taking out the trash for the remainder of the area. Otherwise, be prepared to take on a marksman at the top of the weird bridge at the top of the screen. Jacob Kinisky leaves you with nothing but a tank for you to deal with. You will also face stiff resistance so high nearing the end of Area 2 that you will split up. Robert will take the Machine Gun and take out the tank (This is the Solo Path) while Keith holds out the foes while hiding the weird bridge. If you are Robert Baxter, just keep on pounding on the tank (You have unlimited ammo, and you can just fire with a pull of a trigger) and definitely release the pedal when you see some redsights. Keith should come out shortly and help you destroy the tank for the kill. You will see two Sagers inside the Tank, but since you should be firing fast, then they should not have a chance to fire at you (unless you're sloppy). Keith will have to reload his gun every time he fires 9 bullets (BOO!) so Robert should do the majority of the damage here. Both should keep pounding on the tank on and on no matter what weapon you're holding! TIP: As Robert takes the Machine Gun, he should try to fire at the Firing Mechanism (Weak Spot) just before the Sagers attack from the inside of the tank (and just before Keith joins in) while steering clear of the dead-red- sights. Once the firing mechanism is visible once again (after Keith joins in), Robert should land his final shots on the firing mechanism (avoiding any Red Sightings he sees) while Keith covers up for Robert. :-) Meanwhile, Keith will have to face four foot soldiers near an exotic wall, a marksman hiding behind a window of a building, and a Sager hiding behind the exotic wall. A fast VSSE cooperative should make short work out of these easy people. Be sure to release the pedal if the Marksman has a red sighting. Then Keith should join the fight against a bad-ass tank for the awesome kill! NOTE: Courtesy of Tony Andrali and Oop, there is a pain-in-the-ass bonus room (filled with only Bonus Men who are willing to fight you) that you can take. Please refer to the Bonus Path Section for details. Stage 1, Area 3 --------------- Jacob wants to know who are those two following him, and realizes that the lackeys have taken Christy to General Diaz as of now, and he wants to stop the two right now! Just before the chase, you will see a foot soldier boarding Jacob's boat, a foot soldier attacking you from a Jet Ski, a foot soldier attacking from the closest Boat House followed by a Machine Gunner, and Jacob trying to power the boat up. Again, fast reflexes will make short work of this first group! Now here's the event you've been waiting for in a Time Crisis Game: A Boat Chase! Early in the Boat Chase, you will have to destroy the two gatling guns on the back of the boat. Then after you destroy the gatling guns, you will have to deal with various soldiers attacking you in Jet Skis too. Be careful while taking on the soldiers on the Jet Skis because it's really easy to hit your partner in this point. After you off all the Jet Ski Lackeys, you will face three to four Aqua Soldiers who will mug you up close and personal, and you can't kill them while they are submerged. Jakey will attack you once he has had enough of you from this point. After Jakey's attack, you will have to pound on the boat because lackeys will be attacking you from Jakey's boat. While trying to trash the Boat Lackeys, both Keith and Robert will have to contend with an Aqua Soldier so watch it. After the boat lackeys are killed entirely, you need to jack Jacob Kinisky three more times before Jakey crashes into a boathouse. Jakey can be hard to hit in this final part of Stage 1 because not only is his Machine Gun accurate, but he's hard to hit because the animation of the chase can deter your shots by swinging back and forth at certain times. The third and final shot to Jakey is the worst because you have to shoot him several times before you can see Jakey die under a boat accident. A note from Vestiroth: I found this part to be much harder than I thought because the animation of the boat scene can really screw up your accuracy at times, and it's sometimes hard to get a clear shot because the boat wiggles a lot just to ruin a clean shot. ======================================================================== STAGE 2 IN A GLANCE After Jake's death, Keith and Robert finds out that the Neodyne Conglomerate is planning to launch nuclear sattelites into space, and Neodyne's using a train to transport all these sattelites! It's time to cut off Neodyne's means of transportation and exports of all those damn sattelites before it's too late. Stage 2, Area 1 --------------- On the first part of the area, you will face a commander and a foot soldier at the left and right side of the bark. Eventually, you will have to deal with two foot soldiers at the right side of the left bark, and then right after the death of the first four soldiers, A COMMANDER AND A FOOT SOLDIER NOT TOO FAR AWAY FROM THE BARK will slay you. Get them flying to move on. If you shoot the orange lackey at the left side of the middlemost bark, you will take Keith's path. If you shoot the orange lackey at the right side first, then you will take Robert's path, which IMHO is a hard path to take. The next part is where the split occurs. You have to move around while killing your enemies. Now be warned if you release the pedal during this part you will stop walking. Try to take out most of your enemies just before the stop occurs so you don't have to face too much resistance when the animation stops. Just be careful of the Knife Soldiers, Marksmen, and Sagers who love to attack you during the stop-motion portion of this part. Killing certain enemies during the move portions (just before your shots get blocked by the trees) will reduce the cha-chi of the foot soldiers. The third part is one of my favorite parts because here is where you can practice your cooperation skills here. All you face is Machine Gunners and you need to be quick in order to avoid getting shot. In the fourth part, you will be using the Machine Gun to take out the tank guarding the Train reception center. While taking out the tank, be careful of the barks falling down and watch out for the missiles. Keep on it until the tank is destroyed. BTW when you are using this "infinite priviledge", you have to shoot the guys that appear other than the big tank, their accuracy is really good so shoot them down as soon as you can, and steer clear of the dead-eye bullets and foreign objects. Here's a tip for Experts to use: When you get the "priviledge", don't hide from the falling bark, and keep on pounding on the tank (taking advantage of the unlimited auto-firing) until the last second or 2. If your timing is awesome, then you shouldn't be hurt. You have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to do this, though. DURING THE POUNDING OF THE TANK, YOU'LL BE FACING FOUR SOLDIERS, TWO RIGHT AFTER THE BARK FALLS DOWN, AND TWO LACKEYS JUST BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TANK. IF YOU WANT TO SEE ALL FOUR SOLDIERS, THEN DON'T BOTHER HITTING THE FIRING MECHANISM. NOTE: Either mode, you should be aiming at the firing mechanism, which you should be able to see all the time during the tank fight. If you are on dual mode, then both of you should try to pound on the firing device. After the barks fall on Linked Mode, one of you should keep on pounding on the firing device while the other does some covering. On the solo mode, just before the destruction of the tank, you will see two orange lackeys close to the destruction of the tank. To take Keith's path, hit the orange lackey at the left side. To take Robert's path, hit the orange lackey at the right. It seems that the orange lackey at the right shows up first before the left one does. Just before you get inside the train is where the split occurs. Robert Baxter will be taking the stairs while Keith stays on the first floor to hold out the enemies on the first floor. Robert will have to steer clear of the two marksmen hiding behind the windows and the machine gunners who walks from the left side of the screen (The stairs is part of the Solo Game). All Keith has to do is to dispatch all the enemies from various parts of the screen as fast as possible while trying to stay clear of the Knife Soldier trying to club him just near the start of the split. While Keith cuts off the soldiers at the first floor, Robster will have to deal with another Knife Soldier while facing the first floor. Be sure you hide from him if he happens to throw a knife. Now onto the final stretch of Area 1. At the lift, When the enemy appear standing on a crane platform, shoot the black and yellow hock in the middle of the platform, which should destroy the platform in an instant, killing all enemies in a flash and helping you shave off time. An impressive time saver to have. For Keith, it's just about at the left-top, and for Robert, he probably has a good "glob" of the OSHA hock at the middle. Both Keith and Robert can destroy the OSHA (black-yellow hock in Kevin Williams' case) hock, but I suggest that you do it instantly after you start the first part of the final stretch. Kudos to Kevin Williams for some better explanations about what is holding the Platform that kills all enemies in the first part of the final stretch of Area 1 in one shot! Just before you arrive at the back of the train, there is a barrel that can kill all enemies with one bang to shave off seconds! I just like a good double-whammy in any shooting game, and Time Crisis II is no exception. If you are facing the train, then shoot the barrel at the far right of the screen. If you are not, then the barrel is at the far left side of the screen. Both the Platform Support Trap and the Barrel Explosion proves to be the best parts in the game because they pisses your enemies off! Once you destroy the barrel (Either Keith or Robert can destroy the Barrell for a good ba-boom), then all enemies just at the end of the area will be destroyed! A SPECTACULAR FINISH! Again, I would like to thank Kevin Williams for some more detailed explanation of this paragraph. A note from Vestiroth: According to Naleks Incubus, both of you can shoot a barrel on a 50/50 basis for some even more fun blasting the enemies in one shot at the end of 2-1! Have Keith blow up the barrel just right of the center and have Robert blow up the barrel at the extreme left. Both of you must have fast triggers and should fire at the same rate in order to make this work. Keith's View: If you hit the barrel just right of the center in Solo Mode, then you will take Keith's Path. Hitting the barrel at the extreme right takes you to Robert's path. Robert's View: Hitting the barrel at the extreme left sends you to Keith's path and hitting the barrel just left of the center takes you to Robert's path. You get 10000 points for destroying the Platform and 5000 points for blowing up the Barrel BTW. Note: You can blow up both barrels by landing two shots at the right barrel, and then three shots at the left barrel, and quickly land the final shot at the right barrel and combo up any enemies, but you have to be a dead-eyed sniper to do this. Vestiroth: I just love a good double-bang on light gun games, honest. :-) Stage 2, Area 2 --------------- From here on until the death of Buff Bryant, you will be fighting inside a train (Brings back memories of the railline shootout from Virtua Cop 2, right?). Just before you board the train, you will be facing the majority of lackeys on the same floor the train is in, but you will also have to face some of the lackeys who are on the second floor attacking from above. Nearing the transition from the first part to the fight inside the train, you will have to deal with a Machine Gunner from the back of the train. There is a bonus guy hanging out just left of the train, but he's hard to reach because you may be finished with the first part of Area 2 when he shows up. During the next few parts, you will be facing lackeys within the seats of the train, but be careful when you have to face the marksman on one of the seats. Actually, the first marksman's death will trigger the appearance of yet ANOTHER MARKSMAN and a Knife Fighter from the car exit. After taking out the lackeys from your car, then it's time to see Buff Bryant shatter all of the windows from the car you're riding in and it's time to do battle with another train from here on. On the beginning of the fourth part, you will see two bonus guys who will see you, but it's rather hard to hit them because the animation of the other train will be quick that nothing may happen. If you succeed in tagging both of the bonus guys (just before you see a commander), then you will be taking Robert's Link Play Path if you are playing the game on solo. Watch your shots while you are trying to kill the enemies on the other train as the metal makes it easy for enemies to hide from your shots. There are two marksmen who would benefit from the other train's concealage so you will need to shoot them as soon as you see them. If they happen to get a good red sight, THEN RELEASE THE PEDAL RIGHT AWAY! Once the final blue lackey gets toasted (This part is a good exercise to hit your foes in the head), then have Keith stay on the first train to off any resistance Robert has to face while Robert goes to the other train to face more resistance. If you shot the two bonus guys while the second train was moving fast and before the commander orders a fight, then you will go to the other train to face a chance to kill all bonus guys. Thanks to Oop originally known as Maurice Ng for pointing this out. NOTE: If you are playing the game in Solo Mode and if you have killed the two bonus guys just before the Commander ordered a train-to-train fight just before the split, then I've dedicated a section to this Bonus Path on the Bonus Paths Section. From now on, all bonus paths will be on that section. Actually, the next part is the split where Keith offs Robert's resistance on the first train while Robert takes on even stiffer resistance on the second train. Robert will be facing plenty of marksmen in this part so it's obvious that Robert kills them before he gets toasted. Overall, Rob will be facing a marksman on the top of the screen, one just right of the center, and one at Keith's train. However, Robert will have to use extra caution when taking out one of the marksman because he'll be facing a Knifeman who will be backing the Marksman up, so if you are Robert, then you may want to take a note of this! Keith will have to dodge three train poles doubling as Danger Indications. The first danger indication happens just right after Keith and Robert split up. The second danger indication happens right after Keith kills all the lackeys trying to make mincemeat at him, and right after a marksman shows up from the other train. The third danger indication occurs as a commander orders an attack from the top of the other train, but it's possible to hit the commander just before you must release the pedal. Then Keith should hit the bonus guy and the final lackeys on the first train just before both VSSE agents move on to the next part (as they will be boarding the same train afterwards). Robert should try to watch out for the marksman from the top of his screen because that is where all his worries could be from. While Keith offs all dangerous lackeys, Robert should release the pedal until Keith says, "It's alright, Robert." You will face four foot soldiers (with moderately good-eye accuracy) and a bonus guy on Keith's side just before a cannon (with a commander) shows up to blow you away. While the cannon attacks, a bonus guy from Robert's side will signal even more Blue Lackeys and tell the cannon to fire at the VSSE agents. Try to destroy the cannon as that's where most of your problems will be at during the sixth part. Afterwards, kill the rather-dangerous foot soldiers and move on to the seventh part, where the second train is smoking and lackeys attack you from the first train. On the seventh part, the train will be smoking from the cannon's demise, so it's time to play accuracy crisis since the smoke may disrupt your shots. Marksmen love to hide under the smoke so stay on your toes at all times. The commander is your cue to tag the Marksman who should be at the left side of the screen (assuming that you are Keith) and after several few other blue lackeys get shot from the close-to-the-engine-room car, then another red suit will show up just left of the obstacle (only this time he's a little harder to hit). After about two or three foot soldiers, a Machine Gunner will try to hit you. All the lackeys right after the Machine Gunner's fast-animation assault should be a piece of cake, so you should have a good practice hitting foes at their heads as quickly as possible, but be careful of any Knife Soldiers who will attack our heroes up close during one point of the battle. Anyway, after the final two foot soldiers are destroyed, then you will see Buff Bryant swearing allegiance to protect the killer sattelite and he'll try to toast you very bad with that Gatling Gun he has! Stage 2, Area 3 --------------- Buff Bryant will attack rapidly with virtually all shots that will kill you! While Buff's attacking your partner, give Buff a taste of lead and release the pedal when Buff fires at you. On a solo mode, Buff will attack you first, but in Linked Mode, Buff will attack Robert first, and Keith should do the lead pumping. When Buff's about to toast Keith, Robert then should pump all the lead. Once you strip Buff of his trusty Gatling Gun, then Mr. Bryant will lift up a missile and he'll try to wham you with it! Buff will attack Robert first, so if you are Robert, then you should pump up some lead, then hide when you sense that Buff'll come tumbling down with the missile. Keith should meanwhile pump unlimited lead to Buff. While Buff attacks Keith, then Keith should pump up some lead and then hide when the missile's about to hit him. Robert then should pump up lots of lead to Buff. Be careful if Buff has to swing the missile as he will hit both VSSE agents that way. Also, if Buff has to hit you, please be aware that he may prefer to swing the missile, SO STAY ON YOUR GUARD AT ALL COSTS! After you strip Buff from the ICBM, then it's time to off Buff from his chopper. During the first two parts of the fight against Mr. Bryant, cooperation with your partner is important. Buff will get desperate from the final part of the fight. Now he will attack you by helicopter. Your shots must be landed carefully as Buff is a moving target now (I just wish you had a shotgun in this game as well!). The force of wind, helicopter, and that damn gatling gun will give you the creeps! Hide from his gatling gun when it will hit you dead-center and give Buff some lead when you see him. Usually on the first and third tries, he will attack you far and away, but the second try he will attack you up close and personal, so please be aware that any of Buff's shots can become deadly. Continue to use the "duck-and-counter" method of attacking Buff until he can't handle it anymore! ======================================================================== STAGE 3 AT A GLANCE The final shot on Buff made Buff destroy his own chopper (and land his own death as well). CRASH AND BURN! The chopper lands on the tracks, making a cliff for all train cars, forcing Keith and Robert to escape the train before all is lost! Although the enemies got lucky, Keith and Robert survived the train fall long enough to steal one of Neodyne's helicopters for a trip to Neodyne Industries, LTD. Now it's time to infiltrate Neodyne and to place Ernesto's dreams of a nuclear catastrophe to flames while rescuing Christy Ryan as well. Stage 3, Area 1 --------------- On the first part of the area, you will see two lackeys walking just on top of the screen and you'll see plenty of enemies who have increased their accuracy since the beginning of the game. Be aware of the Sager and the Machine Gunner at the top-right of the screen. BTW just as the part is beginning, you should hit the blue lackey at the closest right box to shave off some time, but please be aware that all foot soldiers have increased their accuracy, so stay on high alert at all times! Both Keith and Robert will have to face a marksman shooting at them on the second part, and it's obvious that cooperation is taken to trash out the enemies. Be careful of any enemy that are on top of the boxes or coming from the top of the screen since they have pretty good accuracy here. Once you off all the enemies on the second part, then you will be taking separate routes once again. Keith will face a Sager on top of the screen and a Marksman up close and personal, just to name some of the most dangerous spots on his routes. Everything else should be cake for Keith. Some of the enemies will run to the left quickly so if you want to kill them, please do so! You should always remember the early-as-you-see-them tactic when undergoing Keith's part of the third part. Robert will have to face a rather quick marksman on the top of the screen and if the red suit happens to fire, then it's time for Robster to release the pedal. The only thing I'm asking for Robert Players to do is watch out for the marksman at the top of the screen, since this is where all of Robert's worries are at. Robert may have to face more or less dangerous enemies depending on who shows up on his corridor. The fourth part is a moving part where you continue to glance all over Neodyne back and forth. Follow the basics in this part: As soon as you see any enemies, don't hesitate to kill them right away! Most importantly, your problem soldiers are the two Knifemen when you glance at your left for the second time (the most annoying Knifeman is from the top of the screen as you glance at the top), and the Marksman who shows up by surprise as you glance at the right at one point of the part. Once the final foot soldier and the Commander gets wiped-out (with all enemies), then it's time to face Wild Dog, who has lost an arm (replacing it with a gun-arm) because Richard blew him up sky high on the first TC. Wild Dog will attack you from the top of the screen, but you will have to worry about hitting the two Sagers from the left and right top of the screen as well. Also, watch out for Wild Dog attacking you from just bottom of the right and center because he'll shoot you with his gun-arm with good accuracy. Steer clear of the foot soldiers who will deter your shots as Dog finds a way to escape. However, close to the split, A COMMANDER FROM THE TOP-MIDDLE AND TWO FOOT SOLDIERS FROM THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE OF THE COMMANDER WILL HELP WILD DOG GET A RED SIGHTING ON YOU FROM THE FARTHEST CENTER. Note: Robert will face too much resistance in the first part of the Wild Dog fight because he's bound to face a lot of red sightings in this scene. Keith will face less resistance (although he has to be concerned about the sager at Wild Dog's left) so have Keith pound lead at Wild Dog's much-needed double-teamers while Robert does the lead pounding at Doggie. Teamwork is important here because lives are really important. Also, Robert will be facing a knifeman during this scene, so be careful. To take Keith's path, hit the orange lackey on the left, then the orange lackey on the right, and finally the personal troop at the center. To take Robert's path, hit the troops on the following order (as Wild Dog does some *controlled* firing): Right, Left, Center. Keith and Robert will be taking separate routes once again, with Keith doing the majority of the damage during the second part of the Wild Dog fight. As Keith, you will have to be careful of three Knife Soldiers if they come up close to you and personal. Dog will attack you twice and you should try to hit him as soon as you see him. Also, there are some hard-to-reach foes lying to hit you. Be careful of the Knifemen who try to club you up close and personal as Wild Dog chooses to pick on Robert. Robert will be facing a trial of Foot Soldiers and Personal Soldiers just before Wild Dog chooses to pick on Robert. Any of these lackeys can get lucky with their aiming, so it's really important that you kill them as fast as you can and as soon as you see them. They are somewhat hard to see because some of them attack you as far as the area where you will be facing Ernesto and Doggie at the same time. The third part of the First Area Wild Dog fight is when you double team Wild Dog. Keith and Robert will catch Dog on a crossfire, but you need to be careful with the gun-arm and the Magnum because it seems that he doesn't get the warning sighting right away, so there is a good chance that he may surprise you. The gun-arm does the most damage and has the highest accuracy but the Magnum isn't as deadly as with the first TC. The Magnum does the least damage and has the least accuracy. Nailing Dog while he's looking at you is OK but it might be a risk and this is more of a Professional tactic as I speak, (like any sharpshooter like IronFrost or any expert) and you have to use your instincts, and your partner should pump some lead without any trouble at all, unless Wild Dog's head turns to him. Unless Dog gets lucky enough, the Magnum should be virtually harmless as long as you hide and reload every 6 to 9 shots Dog lands. Still Dog can surprise you by loading up lots of shrapnel at you. Practically, his Gun-Arm is capable of dead-center bullets at random. Now if the magnum is pointing at you, and so is Wild Dog's face, then both players should have no trouble at all (a good advantage to have)! Most people would consider his Magnum from TC1 a deadly threat and would think that it is accurate than his Gun-Arm. Mr. IronFrost want you to know that Dog's magnum is harmless, unless he gets REALLY lucky. Just keep in mind that his Gun-Arm does more damage than the Magnum. Be sure that you dodge the red bullets at all times. If his Gun-Arm is shooting at you, but he isn't staring at you then you should be safe and out with the lead! IronFrost has seen both players barge in and shoot Wild Dog at the same time, even IronFrost does. Just be aware of the commanders who does some interferring, though. To make the magnum harmless, I just keep doing a lot of hiding and reloading to reduce the chachi Doggie commits with the Magnum. IronFrost can't be fooled by the weakness of the Magnum but the Magnum bothers me (though not as much as the Gun Arm). NOTE: There's a way to replace the personal soldiers with some much-needed yellow lackeys to interfere with Wild Dog. Please see a hyped-up section regarding about this manifesto. A note from Vestiroth: Although Wild Dog's gun-arm does the most damage, the magnum can get you if you're sloppy because Wild Dog usually variates his accuracy with every shot, no matter if he's using his gun arm or his magnum. However, IMHO his accuracy (and his chances to get a red sighting) increases whenever he's looking at you because he can at least aim better. I consider this double-teaming effort to be horrible because Wild Dog's variety is tremendous. =P Stage 3, Area 2 --------------- Because you have to face Ernesto Diaz and Wild Dog simultaneously for almost all of the area, this is something to worry about because not only Wild Dog will nail you with the Gun Arm, but Ernesto's dead-eye accuracy and his Sage RPG will give you the creeps! Between the simultaneous show-up of Dog and Ernesto, you should shoot Ernesto first because he does the most damage and has the highest accuracy. Wild Dog still has grenades and he will nail you with a Karate Punch much faster than his of the original TC! Hopefully, with patience and caution, you shouldn't have too much problem with Dog. I just don't like it when Dog tries a Karate move on you because then he gives enemies in a shooting game a bad name. Note: Right after Wild Dog karate kicks you, he'll try to Karate Punch you. If you can shoot Wild Dog at his fist, then you will get 5000 points, but the only way to confirm this is to see a "+5000" green sign in display. I consider this VERY DANGEROUS to do because you risk losing a life from this. It works either in Solo or Linked mode, although beginners shouldn't try this because by doing this you also risk losing a life. If you want to know why this is DANGEROUS, please read Pet Peeve 17 with IronFrost's quote for a good reason why this is a good sign of greed. If you manage to wait until Wild Dog attacks you, then if you happen to hit his fist, then you will get 10000 more points instead. Either way, this is a sign of extreme greed. Before you even try to get 10,000 more points, read Pet Peeve 17. There's one part where you have to destroy three helicopters, but these vehicles shouldn't be as prosperous as the helicopters are in the original TC. Just be careful of the shrapnel, though. The helicopters in Stage 3, Part 2 take 6 shots each to bring down. Kudos to Quizmaster V.4.0 for pointing out the amount of shots it takes to destroy the helicopters. As the helicopters are destroyed, Ernesto will attack you with a SAGE kink and Wild Dog will throw a grenade. NOW YOU WILL FACE TWO PERSONAL SOLDIERS JUST BEFORE ERNESTO ATTACKS YOU FROM A DIFFICULT ANGLE WHILE WILD DOG WILL FIRE AT YOU DEAD-CLOSE. Here, I usually take care of the right orange lackey and the left on solo mode, but that prompts me to take Robert's path throughout the Ernesto-Christy fight. If you want to take Keith's path, then hit the left orange lackey first, then the right. Hopefully, you've nailed Dog enough and scared Ernesto off just to see him move Christy to somewhere else! Now land the final shots to Dog and silence Dog forever! Note: To earn 100 points a pop, Hit Ernesto AT THE LEFT OF CHRISTY just before you're forced to silence the Doggie forever. Be careful not to hit Christy or that shot right at Christy will count as a miss. If you had a streak, then hitting Christy will reset the streak! Stage 3, Area 3 --------------- Ernesto will use Christy as a shield in the final area of the game and you will lose 5000 points if Christy takes a hit. Try only to aim at one of Ernesto's body parts. While undergoing the first two parts of the "Hit Ernesto and not Christy" fight, you will face some of the stiffest resistance in the game. You have to be careful of the Machine Gunners, Knifemen, Marksmen, and even Sagers because they can really put the hurt on you. Also, Ernesto has dead-eye-candy accuracy, so you should treat Ernesto like a Marksman: When he fires any red shots at you, you should release the pedal immediately. Sometimes Ernesto doesn't want to fight while using Christy as a shield! You will need to have your hands full while waiting for Diaz because there will be times when Ernesto won't pop up instantly with Christy, and there will be times when he will trick and hold Christy up first before he attacks and any careless shooting will ensure that you will hit Christy all the time. So expect this to happen. The solution against Diaz is teamwork. Again you must help out your partner when Diaz is focusing his shots at him. Diaz doesn't want to fight at times because he wants to see if you can hit Christy instead of him! IronFrost found this solution the best when going against Diaz. Sometimes Diaz may shoot twice instead of once while he's holding Christy Ryan! Here's an even more in-depth outlook on how to deal with Ernesto Diaz. When you start, four weak lackeys (now with improved accuracy) will jump into the platform. After the death of these lackeys, Ernesto will pop out with Christy as a shield trying to shoot at Keith first. This is when you should hit Ernesto at the left of Christy. Now Ernesto will do the same thing to Robert, but hit Ernesto at the left of Christy again. Make sure that you release the pedal when Ernesto fires because his accuracy tends to be really high. The next time Ernesto will attack you is when a Machine Gunner tends to get you within only a few shots (because he tends to fix himself as he continually fires at you), and some few foot soldiers who tend to get a red sighting at you. WARNING: SEVERAL BLUE SUITS TEND TO DO A LOT OF DAMAGE HERE AND IF ERNESTO DIAZ ATTACKS YOU AT THE SAME TIME THE BLUE SUIT GETS THE RED SIGHTING, THEN YOU'RE OUT OF LUCK! BE SURE THAT YOU KILL ALL ENEMIES BEFORE THEY CAUSE ANY MORE PROBLEMS! TEAMWORK IS A MUST HERE! The time when Ernesto will fire at Robert is just before a foot soldier and a Clubmen team up together to double-team the agent taking Robert's path! When Ernesto gets up close and personal, Robert can usually hit Ernesto before Mr. Diaz gets a chance to fire at Keith while Keith has to wait until Ernesto fires at himself to tag him in order to avoid hitting Christy. The time when Ernesto won't attack is when three machine gunners interfere with the party and fire at you. This is something to worry about because they have even deadlier accuracy! When Ernesto took enough hits just to move on, you will see this part be concluded by two more accurate foot soldiers, and on this area, it's important to do teamwork during the first half of the Ernesto holding Christy as a shield fight to minimize the amount of damage these Neodyne twits do! You can take out any lower lackeys before Ernesto pops out but don't waste too much time because you still got Ernesto to worry about. And be aware that there are times (like when the Blue Suit interfere with Diaz) when Robert should take out the trash while Keith crouches for cover to avoid getting his hide roasted. Teamwork comes handy here. Tell me if you find anything new here, because with all the 266MHz action paired with 60fps, it's hard to stay in track of this game. Be careful of the moving pillar in the third part because that's when Mr. Diaz will benefit from the extra protection. When Ernesto's ready to throw Christy off a cliff, YOU WILL SEE TWO FINAL LACKEYS MAKE THEIR SHOW OFF just before Ernesto does a last ditch effort to trick you into shooting one of your fellow VSSE agents! Once Ernesto's through holding Christy as a shield, he'll throw her off a cliff and it's good that Keith and Robert are quick enough to save Christy from the fall. Christy will tell you to go after Diaz and stop the launch of the killer sattelite, so you have to do what Christy says and not let her down! Note: To take Keith's Dual Mode path during the Sattelite fight, hit the orange lackey at the left first. If you want to take Robert's path, then hit the orange lackey at the right first. On the fight against Ernesto on top of a prototype sattelite, there will be two gatling rocket launchers on both sides so when the rockets launch and if the rockets are aimed at you, just duck down and wait until the rockets are finished passing you. Be careful with the Laser Cutter because it's certain that it will always get you if you don't release the pedal in time. At one of the parts, you will have to dodge the sattelite while it's coming at you and you have to release the pedal as the sattelite spins while spitting some laser at the same time! Afterwards, the final rockets are being launched, and the laser will prevent you from cancelling the launch of the rocket. Ernesto's accuracy isn't as bright as when he held Christy as a shield so I would deem Ernesto harmless (unless he gets too lucky) during the Ernesto in the Sattelite fight. The prototype sattelite is what you should really worry about. I'll leave the rest up to you. A note from Vestiroth: I discovered that the sattelite's beam is deadly when it starts firing at the right, and then swerve into the left side of the screen. It's tricky to anticipate the pattern of the sattelite's beam since the sattelite variates its pattern game after game. ============================================================================ BONUS GUY EATERS: This section works for either of the game modes available in the game. According to IronFrost, there are AT LEAST 16 bonus men in the game. Please be aware that certain Bonus Men requires switch of roles, so pay special attention when trying to hunt them down for a total of 80000 bonus points! Note: Bonus Men are always worth 5000 points when you first kill them and may be worth less afterwards. There are some instances when you can get 5000 per hit, though. Try to hit the Bonus Men anywhere in the first hit, and try to hit them in the Head or the Torso. This is tough, but give it a try! Stage 1, Area 1 --------------- After the 3 vehicles, you will have to shoot a bunch of bad boys, but once you shoot some of them, if you will look at the left your screen you'll see a bonus guy scared of the action (That guy's chicken!), shoot him. This runaway can be shot from both Keith and Robert. Stage 1, Area 3 --------------- If you see the boathouse on top of there, sooner or later that guy is gonna pop up and say hi and back into the house, shoot him for a easy 5000. This shy baddie can be shot by both Keith and Robert. During the Jet Ski Chase (The scene where you go after Jacob and his boat using a jet ski), when you see the aqua soldiers going across you, (you can't shoot them because they are still in the water and you can't jump ahead that fast) the main thing you should focus on is Jacob's boat, and when the scuba guys are about to get up, the yellow suited man will appear wondering "Is it over yet?" Shoot him for yet another 5000 point bonus. WARNING: Don't get so greedy with points just because you forgot to nail the aqua soldiers. This watcher can be shot by both Keith and Robert. Stage 2, Area 1 --------------- During the period while Keith and Robert take different paths, 1 bonus guy will appear one 1 path, and another bonus guy on the other. Taking Keith's path, as you travel the forest with him and right after you pass the house, you will see that chicken, and fast he his, nail him. Taking the Robert path, as you stop and shoot baddies behind the X shaped log, you will see a nice bonus guy on the right, a marksman on the left, quickly shoot the bonus guy and hide and wait, until its safe get back up and shoot the marksman without any trouble. Robert's situation is much harder than Keith's so if you are Robert and if you want a high Linked Game Score, then YOU MUST KILL THE BONUS GUY AND RELEASE THE PEDAL IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES! Stage 2, Area 2 --------------- Here is a good way to increase your chances of meeting both Bonus Men: Shoot the lackeys in front of the train first in the head. Now shoot the lackeys at the top-right of the screen. Now shoot the lackey at the bottom left, and the Machine-Gunner at the door. A bonus guy should be showing up at the left side of the train. Now hit the lackey at the right side of the tombstone-shaped pillar (just right of the center) and the bonus guy should pop-out left of the tombstone-shaped pillar just right of the center. If you are quick enough, then you should be able to see both Bonus Men here. However, the second bonus guy shows up and hides quickly like a bunny so it's important that you tag him as soon as you see him. Watch out for any red sightings though. When you are inside the train, after Buff Bryant shatters the train windows, you will have to be fast here, because the train's motion is sudden and you gotta be quick for that, and it's possible that you may have some trouble here! There will be 2 bonus guys but it's difficult to nail them both because the train moves to the left so fast. Despite the suddenly fast motion of the other train, both of these guys can be shot by both Keith and Robert, although Robert will need to be quick like a bunny for the first one. NOTE: There will be in practice one bonus guy at the left side of the train that you're about to get in, and one bonus guy at the hard-to-see tombstone shaped pillar. The guy at the tombstone-shaped pillar is probably the most dangerous bonus guy to have because right over here, any enemy can cause decent amount of damage to your agent simply because there are way too many enemies in this part. If you want both bonus guys, then share the pie of the pizza. Let the expert take on the most dangerous bonus guy while you leave the bonus guy at the left side of the train to the poor scrub. In practice, I would miss the bonus guy at the tombstone-shaped pillar because there are some foot soldiers and machine gunners who can't wait to get a good shot at you. Please remember IronFrost's ultimate quote at the Pet Peeves. Unfortunately, the yellow guy at the tombstone-like pillar will appear at random and only on linked mode. He's pretty hard to see and should only be tagged by two expert snipers. Here is what you do if you are playing as Keith Martin or if you have failed to kill the hard-to-tag two Bonus Men after Buff Bryant shatters the glass: When you begin the part immediately, you will see a train pole that is about to hit you. Dodge the danger indication and kill three foot soldiers and a marksman. Now dodge the second danger indication and kill the machine gunner and the other lackeys who you can see just before the third danger indication and a commander shows up. Afterwards, a Foot Soldier and a Bonus Guy will pop up on top of the same train you're in. They're hard to see so the only way to confirm that you killed the Bonus Guy is to see the "+5000" appear on the screen. Assuming that you are Robert Baxter or if you have killed the two Bonus Men right after Buff Bryant shattered the windows, here's what you do: Shoot the first two wimps, then be prepared to get toasted by the Marksman on the top of the screen. Kill another set of wimps and face another red suit behind the canisters. The Marksman who will be attacking you from Keith's train will be teaming up with a Knifeman who loves some good double teaming. After both of them are destroyed, a bonus guy will be walking on Keith's train (just right of Keith Martin) but you are cautioned that this Bonus Guy mirrors the Ernesto with Christy Situation at 3-3, so be sure that you kill the bonus guy before he gets a chance to walk right into Keith. Remember you lose 1000 points every time you accidentially hit your partner so I consider this bonus guy expert-level. On the part right after Keith jumps to the next train along with Robert (unless you finished the bonus area, then the COM jumps with you, if you're in a linked play, this is supposed to happen the right way) and you climb up the 2 ladders. There will be 2 bonus men here and each side, but they don't appear at the same time. The bonus man in the left side (Keith's) is going to appear first, the other (Robert's) second. Sooner or later after you shoot about 2 enemies, the bonus man's head on Keith's side will so up, but only the eyes, now BOTH Keith AND Robert can shoot him, except that Robert is going to have a harder time shoot him because the man is on Keith's side, he is a bit far away from him, worst of all, you have your own partner in the way! This bonus guy is one of the riskiest bonus guys to get in the game since this situation is like having to deal with Ernesto while he's using Christy as a shield. So I suggest you let Keith have it. Don't be greedy and try to shoot him because you might only get 4000 points only or less (Remember, you lose 1000 precious ones everytime you hit your parter either by accident or on purpose). When that darn big cannon pops up, a bonus guy will show up on Robert's side. Although either agent can shoot him, Robert will have a difficult time here because he has to deal with the cannon while the bonus guy is on the far right, and the cannon's about to fire directly AT ROBERT! Since the cannon's not picking on Keith, maybe you should leave this bonus guy to Keith. Kudos to IronFrost for the fix on this. NOTE: Why not let Robert shoot the second Yellow Suit (during the Cannon Pop-Up Scene) just before the foreign kink hits him? This is more of an Expert Level risk because by the time Robert sees a Bonus Guy at his side, the missile will already be at him. So YOU MUST HIT THE BONUS GUY BEFORE THE KINK HITS YOU GOOD! Otherwise, let Robert hit the Bonus Guy before the Cannon Pop-up, and let Keith hit the Bonus Guy after the Cannon Pop-Up just to make things safe and fair. Stage 2, Area 3 --------------- There will be 2 bonus guys who will show up early during the fight against Buff Bryant, and perhaps these two could be the most dangerous targets for bonus points because your main concern is Buff Bryant, who does nothing but use his brute strength to chop off a life away. Of Course, there are 2 bonus men because you're catching Buff on a double-team. So Keith should have the first few laughs on Buff while Robert crouches to avoid getting his hide toasted. While Buff is picking on Keith with those damn red bullets, a helicopter with a Bonus Guy should appear but it's just way too dangerous as Buff is done trying to shoot Robert and at the same time he'll try to roast Keith's hide. YOU MUST ACT FAST TO CATCH THE BONUS LACKEY ON THE HELICOPTER AND IMMEDIATELY HIDE TO AVOID GETTING YOUR HIDE ROASTED BY BUFF BRYANT! Otherwise, Buff will roast you the sooner or better. While Buff picks on Keith, Robert should counter-pick on Buff, but a chopper will appear again and a nice bonus guy will show up. Why not pick on that shy bonus guy up there and continue the shooting, even if you lost some time to pump some lead up Buff, 5000 is still worth it, as it is a better value than multiple shots (It takes about 20 shots in a row to get about 5000 points) so don't worry what you're missing out, at least its not as risky like the trouble Keith has to undergo for 5000 points, but justgive Robert some easy stuff too once in a while. These guys are expert-level thanks to Buff Bryant's Gatling gun annoyance! Stage 3, Area 1 --------------- In the final part of this area that you will encounter bonus guys again, but please be aware that you'll have to deal with Ernesto and Wild Dog at Area 2, so there will be no bonus guys there and on forth. Now when you start to take different pathes again on the metal boxes there are once again 2 bonus guys, one on each path. Both will do the same thing, run across from the screen while enemies are here. It's rather difficult to nab these guys since you got other baddies away, but at least there's no risk! When you both team up again you will face a stubborn marksman and a bonus guy next to each other, don't be afraid shoot the bonus man first and then the markman, because somehow IronFrost discovered that this red scrapper seems to be slower than the rest of the marksmen throughout the game! I never seen this guy have a red sighting before! Unless you're slow as a snail of course. Afterwards, there will be no more bonus men from here on, so if you took a chance in killing all of the bonus men in this section, then you should get a good score. Just make sure that you try to shoot all of them in the head and as quickly as possible because Namco has made the points system time-sensitive! Stage 3, Area 2 --------------- During the Pain-in-the-ass fight with Dog and General Diaz, you will notice that Dog will double up as a bonus guy while he tries his nonsense karate moves on you. When Dog tries to karate-kick you, try to hit him as much as you can for 100 a pop, but duck under to avoid having him kick you. Now when he tries to punch you, wait until he starts punching you, and then hit Dog and almost immediately release the pedal. You will get either 5000 or 10000 depending on the timing. If you hit Dog before he tries to punch you, then you will only get 1000. Not a real Bonus Guy, but it helps. Stage 3, Area 3 --------------- Right after you save Christy Ryan (awwwwwwwww) from the high-rise downfall (and after she tells you to kick Ernesto's ass for her), it's time to fight Ernesto Diaz and the prototype NDI Sattelite. You should be able to increase your accuracy streak right here. Miss one shot, and the accuracy streak starts over again, so if you wish to combo both Ernesto and the NDI Sattelite out, then IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT MISS. Try to hit the sattelite as much as you can without missing because you can earn as much as 300,000 points overall on Stage 3-3, and it could be possible to bump the score by as much as 600,000 points on a 2-player game! Not a real Bonus Target, but it's great to boost up your accuracy a lot, and to score some much-needed points! This, however, doesn't guarantee that you are going to be the fastest spy here, though. Special Note: You can destroy parts of the sattelite for extra points, but please remember not to miss. When the laser cannon is about to break loose (on the first part of the Diaz inside the Sattelite), then break it for some points, then keep on pounding on the sattelite again. ============================================================================ BONUS PATHS Up until now, I've been admitting that there's only one bonus path in the game. Well, there's three. I'm not gonna list any bonus path that I have not found yet, and that is when you normally get the "priviledge" against the Tank at the final stretch of Stage 1-2. I'm feverishly trying to get the prereq on landing the Bonus Path just before you join the fight against the Tank (which is indeed Keith's Path in Dual Mode), so if you know what the Prerequisites are, then please e-mail me. Kudos to IronFrost for the prototype prerequisite. Stage 1, Area 2 --------------- On the end 1-2 there are some yellow dudes, but you could never get there cause of the tank problem. This hurts, but there is a way to get in, and this is the hardest Bonus Path to get in IMHO. In order to get inside this bonus path, you must hit Jakey (every time he attacks you) at the Hat and knock the hat off his head ALL THE WAY. I know this is sarcastic, but let me help you: Shoot all the barrels about to hit you when you start the first part. Be sure that you kill the enemies as fast as you can. If you are taking Rob's dual path, then one foot soldier will double as a marksman, so make sure you take the necessary precautions. Kill any foot soldiers trying to throw barrels at you right away, and kill the two foot soldiers and the Commander from the slant. Finally, when you meet up with Jacob Kinisky at the end of the Barrel Trap part, make sure your shot knocks the Hat off his head. The only way to confirm this is to see that if Jacob loses his hat when you shoot him. It's pretty much a chore since you have to rely on the gunsight to knock off Jacob's hat away from him, but it's much more fun than having to shoot Jakey at other parts of his body because you finally get to see his bald head! :-) Try to shoot Jakey at the hat and knock the hat out of his head here! I promise you'll love to see his bald head! Right as you fight through the hallway of the apartments, assuming that you are taking Keith's dual path, when you meet up with Jakey the second time during the fight at the corridor, you should have a good view of Jakey just before two foot soldiers and a Commander attack you. Don't hesitate to hit Jakey anywhere else but the hat, and once again reveal his bald head. This is an easy get if you are taking Keith's Dual Path when you see Jakey for the second time because AT LEAST YOU DON'T HAVE TO WASTE VALUABLE SHOTS JUST TO KNOCK HIS HAT OFF! If you are taking Robert's Path, then it's fairly hard since both paths has one point where Jakey shows up next to you and the other time Jakey shows up fairly far. Anyway, the only way you can confirm that you are getting closer to the easier bonus room is to see Jakey's Bald Head while his hat gets tossed to the ground! Robert had a clear view of Jakey when he meets him the third time on the Dual Mode. Now assuming that you are using Robert's path, Jakey's hat should be easily accessible! If you are playing at Keith's Dual Mode Path, then you may have a hard time hitting Jakey's hat since you are fairly far and away from him (and since you can see your partner in this part). Just after two Knifemen get their ass whooped, you will see Jakey show up for the third time. Hit him in the hat. Remember if you are taking Keith's path, the only way you can confirm this is to make sure that you see his bald head along with his hat being knocked away from his head. Robert's path is the creme de la creme for the third time because YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO COMMENCE HIGH ACCURACY AND TOO MANY SHOTS JUST TO REVEAL JAKEY'S BALD HEAD! WARNING: The closer you are to Mr. Jakey, the more likely you risk having Jakey get a good red sight on you, so make sure that if you are close to Jakey, hat-strip him before he gets a chance to fire! The fourth time around is the hardest next to the first one. Jakey's body will be covered by some Foot Soldiers who will negate your view of Jakey but the positive side is that you have a rather good view of Jakey. Make sure to hit him ONLY IN THE HEAD to reveal his bald head. He may appear at the same time the foot soldiers attack you, but just before the Machine Gunners and the Grenadiers attack you. NOTE: If you are taking Keith's path, then you may have a hell of a hard time hitting Jakey because not only will he get the red sighting as fast as you can count to three, but foot soldiers are covering him! If you are taking Robert's path, then the intensity of having to hit Jakey on the hat shouldn't be that bad, but you still have to worry about the foot soldiers covering parts of Jakey's body. If you have successfully knocked Jakey's hat out of his bald head every time you see him (making sure that you see his hat fly out of his bald head), then prepare to commence a high-scoring fight with the Bonus Men! As a reward for this pain-in-the-ass effort, you don't have to fight the tank with the Magnum, instead you can move onto the next area right after you off all the bonus men. (YAY!) This is the safest bonus room (after having to go through the ass-kicking effort of going in there) because you don't have to face any Marksmen or Knifemen, and you don't have Wild Dog to chew up. You should see AT LEAST 9 Bonus men on this bonus path, for a total of 45000 points. You should be able to hit the Bonus Men multiple times for 5000 a pop, so you may be able to walk away from this room with as many as 100,000 points! A note from Vestiroth: At the final round of the tournament, I got hit by a Bonus Trooper! Bonus Troopers RARELY get a Red Sighting, as their accuracy is the worst in the game. Make sure that you dodge any red sightings the Bonus Troopers may commit. Stage 2, Area 2 --------------- Although this Bonus Area is easier to reach than the first one, it's rather hard to hit them because of the animation of the train, and you need to kill them as fast as the train is moving (just before the battle begins). Just right after Buff Bryant shatters the windows and after you decided that there will be enemies on the other train, two Bonus Men will stare at you and they disappear fast because the motion of the train is rather fast. I found these two bonus men hard to reach because your timing has to be tight to get both of these shy men. The only way to confirm that you have killed these two men is to see the green +5000 two times in a row. Be sure that you kill them just before the fight against the main enemies begin or you won't be able to go inside the Bonus Path. If you do, then you will take Robert's Dual Mode Path, where there will be plenty of Bonus Men, but just to caution you that there are some pretty good marksmen who is both quick and can catch you in a fraction of a second, so take the necessary cautions when nailing some yellow suits. Also, be careful of any Knifemen who loves to club you up close and personal. Your main concern is the Marksmen who will attack you from the top of the screen and on the train that you first boarded on. On this room, there should be AT LEAST 8 Bonus men, including the risky bonus guy from Robert's path on Linked Mode. Please don't get too greedy because 3 marksmen are going to show up like jack in the boxes with the third teaming up with a KNIFEMAN! :P At first I thought that landing this Bonus Area was done by actually having a good performance but I later found out you need to have shot both Bonus Men just before the concealed battle begins. Look for the +5000 card as you kill both Bonus Men. Afterwards, begin to kill all the enemies who love a Train-to-Train fight, and definitely watch out for any marksmen. WARNING: THERE ARE THREE PRETTY GOOD MARKSMEN WHO LOVE TO RUIN YOUR DAY AND THE THIRD MARKSMAN IN THIS PATH IS TEAMED UP WITH A KNIFEMAN WHO LOVES TO PUNCH YOU, SO I CONSIDER THIS A VERY DANGEROUS BONUS PATH TO TAKE. There are 8 Bonus men in this area, good for 40,000 points. It's really hard to reach the 100,000 manifesto right over here simply because you have Foot Soldiers, Marksmen, and Clubmen to worry about. You may wish to combo your hits for an enhanced score, though. I would say that you should be able to get AT LEAST 40,000 points here if you catch all the bonus men (including the bonus man from Robert's Dual Path). Note: Before Stage 2-2, here's what to do to ease the pain of entering this bonus room: If you are taking Keith's path, then hit the barrel just right of the center at the end of Stage 2-1. If you are taking Robert's path, then hit the barrel at the extreme left at the end of Stage 2-1. This way, you can get a crispier view of the two bonus men right after Buff Bryant's Krystallnacht. Stage 3, Area 1 --------------- Before I give out the true way to replace the personal soldiers with some much-needed bonus men, I'll give you a history of what I thought: - Shoot both bonus men that you see in the path. That is. Shoot the yellow lackey on the split, and the other yellow lackey just before the fight against Wild Dog. If you did so, then you should see some brave Yellow Lackeys interfering with your double-teaming effort. - Later on, I didn't shoot all the yellow lackeys just before the Wild Dog fight (Wild Dog music time!). Even though I didn't kill both bonus men before the Wild Dog fight, I still saw the bonus men interferring with my double teaming efforts at the conclusion of 3-1, meaning that having the yellow lackeys interfere with you was based upon how your performance was. - And even later, I thought that you have to keep all of your lives before the fight against Wild Dog. I also assumed that you need to avoid losing lives during the fight against Wild Dog as well. However, all theories that I had in stock was wrong. Now nuff said. - I thought that you have to shoot the Path Decision men at a certain order in order to unveil the bonus men. Later on, both IronFrost and myself were wrong about this. - Ligo told me that there was another way to get to the Bonus Path, and it involved pounding the Doggie with lots of lead. However, he had to go to his arcade to confirm this. Fortunately, IronFrost has finally found the Antidote for this mystery (though he's pissed that Lily Doung is in First Place). The official word from IronFrost (IronFrost, I read your message with Eudora Pro Version 4 for Windows 95 and NT!!!): You need a good amount of bullets to land on Wild Dog, but there's a specific order (I think) you must follow regardless of the path you are taking in Solo Play. Here is what you need to do RIGHT AFTER the Wild Dog Cinema (He's still alive!!!!): 1. Shoot the Sager left of Wild Dog, and Shoot the Sager right of Wild Dog. Now shoot the Blue Lackey committing the red sighting at Robert's path. While taking on these lowlives, be sure that you are striving to aim all of these punks at the head. Forget about hitting these soldiers multiple times since Wild Dog will eventually catch the red sighting if you are slow and sloppy. 2. After Item Number 1, hit Wild Dog until he's stunned. When the Doggie jumps out of the cliff, pound Doggie with some lead (but if you are taking Robert's path then you have to be careful of the Knifeman clubbing you out, hit him in the head for the best results). Ignore the three punks at the top platform (Be sure that you dodge any red sightings or you'll be sorry!!!). 3. Eventually Wild Dog will stand next to the pillar that he's about to hide and will attack you. Hit him enough times and you have forced him to hide to rest. This is extremely dangerous to do because your main concern is negotiating with the insane amount of red sightings during the first part of the Wild Dog Fight. If you don't believe me, then maybe it's time that you go up to the Vestiroth Pet Peeves once again and read IronFrost's Quote at Pet Peeve 17. 4. Once Wild Dog decides he can't take it (and I mean when Wild Dog decides to rest in the pillar that he's hiding from), hit the Orange Lackey at the left first, then hit the Orange Lackey at the right, and then hit the Personal Soldier at the middle. Forget hitting either of these three multiple times because you've gotta hurry up before Ernesto Diaz succeeds in launching the killer sattelite. The best you should do is hit these top lackeys at their heads as much as you can. 5. When Wild Dog decides it's time he has had it with you, hit him as much as you can, and even before the WAIT sign shows up (he's trying to run somewhere else), you can hit Wild Dog for more points. 6. Since you shot the left Orange Lackey first, you should go to Keith Martin's path. If not, maybe either you shot the Right Lackey or there must have been an Error Macro in the game. 7. There will be two lackeys (One at the top and one next to you) before Wild Dog shows up at the left side of the screen to attack you again. Shoot the lackeys at the head (preferrably), and pound as much lead as you can on Wild Dog to make him hide once again. 8. When a Blue Lackey left of the pillar Doggie hid from during the second part of the fight, Wild Dog will attack you again. Again, hit the blue lackey at the head, then pound the doggie with lots of lead. 9. When another blue lackey comes to the location Doggie used to reside at, it's time to pound some lead to Doggie as he departs to Robert's path. Just almost immediately after Doggie makes his departure, three Knifemen will try to attack you. The rest is cake and you can combo any of these lackeys as much as you want. 10. If you see the Bonus Men teaming up with Wild Dog, then that's great! Be sure that you hit the Bonus Men as much as you can at the head. 11. IronFrost tested this condition several times to confirm this, and I have yet to try this. As long as you follow this, then you should get the bonus men no problem. Kudos to both Ligo and IronFrost for this (even though Ligo was the one who came up with the Doggie-to-lead Ratio, and IronFrost had the Order of Operations Idea for this one). He's assuming that you are on Keith's side. However, here is how I do things if I'm at Robert's side: 1. Hit the Sager left of Wild Dog and hit the blue lackey just left of the center. They pose the greatest threat but be careful with Wild Dog because he doesn't catch any Red Sightings, but can really harm you if you are not fighting conservatively. 2. Hit the Sager right of Wild Dog and pound Wild Dog with as much lead as you can. As Wild Dog walks to the floor escaping to the Pillar, keep on pounding Wild Dog (but watch out for any red sightings that the Orange Men and the Personal Soldier commits) and when he gets hurt, pound the orange lackey at the left, then right, and then the Personal Soldier. At times, it may be necessary to hit the lackeys at the top first to ease the pain. 3. Now keep on pounding Wild Dog with as much lead as you can. You should be going to Keith's view. As Wild Dog departs to attack Robert's side, try to pound on Dog as much as you can before the Knifemen comes up close and personal with you. 4. The only way to verify that you have pumped enough lead is to see that the bonus men are showing up. There are *AT LEAST* 4 very brave Bonus Men who are willing to interfere, but they're worth 5000 a pop, for a total of 20,000 points. You can triple hit any Bonus Guy for 15000 overall (5000*3), but if you saw the Bonus Men back up Wild Dog at the end of 3-1, then you should be able to walk away with AT LEAST 20,000 points. You earn points on Bonus Men depending on the area of the body you hit. If you see 5 Bonus Men instead of 4, then you get AT LEAST 25,000 points. Tip: Right after Wild Dog decides he has had enough (GOD!!! I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE!!!!), combo the final blows on Doggie and the two Bonus Men (be sure you hit both Bonus men at the head, and then hit them to dissipate them quickly) for a slightly better score. ============================================================================ TIPS Always make sure that you are hitting any target that has a red sighting and make sure that you hide when you see red bullets or any bizarre shot coming at you. Also, be careful of anybody trying to club you up close, and steer clear of any cyberhazardous weapons. Try to shoot the enemy as early as possible as with the original Time Crisis to save you some time. This is so because your score depends on how fast you can kill your enemy and at times, you will be given more points because you have cleared the area faster than the par. Please KIM that the yellow suited men poses no threat, but that doesn't excuse you from killing them since they wield 5000 extra points if you kill them. They move as quick as the bonus guys in the first TC so you must kill them as soon as you see them. Some of these guys appear at blind places so act fast! If you have played Sega AM1's House of the Dead, then you will know that the only way to move fast was to shoot the enemy at the dead center of the head. Well, this is true in Time Crisis II as well. If you can shoot them at the dead center of the head instead of somewhere else, not only you will shave off time but you will also earn more points this way. Kudos to Anthony Tran for this paragraph. :) You should also try to do multiple hits on a boss and try to use the classic dead center on the head tactic, and shoot quickly. Anthony Tran once landed 57 head blows on Buff Bryant. Although the maximum hit streak is 99 for any time, your score will still multiply if you are fast enough. In Anthony Tran's IMO you can't do a 99 hit with a regular gun, but the machine gun is a sure thing, especially in late stage 1, area 2. You could do this in the forest too, but a little bit more difficult. However, you can 99-hit the sattelite at the end! Star on top of name: Beat the game on solo or linked mode without having to continue during your tourney to destroy the launch of the killer Neodyne Sattelite. ============================================================================ NON-GUNNERS Up until now, I just kept my mouth shut regarding about non-gunners. I've managed to pull off this section just now. Notice that some of these parts were carryovers from my tips section. Knifemen -------- If the Knifemen throw a blade with some red colored stuff behind it on the handle, its going to hit you, if not, its not. This is really hard to tell because the red handle on the blade is small, but the handle is dark red. The problem with the Knifemen is that they don't commence red sightings, which can cause some can of worms on some Time Crisis II players because Red Sightings help us know if we are about to lose a life or not. IronFrost has something really weird on this paragraph: "At one point in the game their shots are always ugly, and another point in the game they suddenly act like marksman. This is true, and every game you play the knifeman does the same thing over and over, accurate or not. So you can actually "expect" their shooting accuracy. Find out which ones are marksman-like and which ones are "blind". Really effective. It might take expierience (and money BTW), but its worth it especially in a game without continues. Remember you can tell if the blade is going to hit you or not by looking whats behind. What is good is that these things are easy for you to hide, but can suprise you and before you know it one life lost." IronFrost's solution for these knifemen is Teamwork (always)! If you know which of the knifemen's ready to hit Keith or Robert, your partner who the knifeman is not aiming can shoot him easily. However, if they miss their shots don't be thinking that they are going to keep missing the next, like all enemies, they take time to get their shots right, never think that these guys are different. Clubmen ------- It's important to know that the Clubmen always hit you because they are right in front of your face! So kill them as soon as they appear. If you hide from their clubs and get back up they won't fight anymore. They really do. But if you're fast enough get up and shoot this scary cat. But these guys are harmless, after they take their shot of course. IMHO Clubmen are actually Knifemen who attacks you up close and personal. Aqua Soldiers ------------- Aqua Soldiers are actually Clubmen who love to attack you up close and personal to deter you from your efforts during the Jet Ski Chase. Aquamen usually love to either charge up to you or attack you up close. Aquamen usually only attack once so if you think you are unable to attack them, just hide from them to avoid having them cut you in half. This may hurt your high score, but you should be safe. Refer to the Clubmen for more details regarding about this. Grenadiers ---------- Grenadiers throw grenades at you and then revert to using their Colts after throwing one because usually they only have one grenade to throw at you. Although Grenadiers throw a grenade to one agent at a time, I've managed to crack the code on who's gonna be the victim of some big hurting throughout your mission to halt Neodyne's evil ways (Remember the best time to kill Grenadiers is to hit them before they get a chance to throw a grenade): Stage 1-1, in front of a restauraunt: The grenadier will throw a grenade from the middle table right onto the player taking Robert Baxter's path on Solo Mode or if the Player is playing as Robert Baxter. Stage 1-1 at the Gazabo: The left grenadier will throw a kink at Keith Martin, while the grenadier at the right side of the Gazabo will throw a kink at Robert Stage 1-2: Just at the final stretch of the area, there will be two kink throwers right after a machine gunner gets killed. The left grenadier will throw a kink at Robert, and the right grenadier will throw a kink at Keith. Stage 3-1: At the beginning, a grenadier will show up on Robert's path. This grenadier will throw a kink at Robert Baxter. Kill this grenadier before he throws a grenade. Stage 3-2: Wild Dog will throw a grenade at Robert Baxter or anyone who's taking Robert's path on Solo Mode. Hit Wild Dog before he gets a chance to throw a kink at you. Sadly, there isn't much to talk about Grenadiers since there are only a few of them in the game. Depending on your greed for a higher score, you can shoot the Grenadier before he throws the kink at you, and it's possible that Grenadiers can miss (but I think they rarely miss)! It's pretty a risk to shoot a grenade since the 60fps animation makes it hard to time your shots. If you hide, and if the Grenadier failed to hit you, they will double up as foot soldiers, and even though this hurts your score (because you failed to neutralize them quickly as you can), you are AT LEAST careful! The reason why I have included these pointers on who's the victim of the grenades on each section that you're bound to meet grenadiers (including Wild Dog) is that you can plan on teamwork, which seems to be the only solution in Time Crisis II (and Takashi Sano really mean it!). ============================================================================ DUKE OF DISPERSION'S TIME CRISIS II REVIEW This message was first seen in the discussion facility at Time Crisis on the Internet. I decided to record this message down because I seem to like what Duke of Dispersion says, and this message kicks ass! BTW This message was posted on the 15th of June 1998. I managed to discover a Time Crisis II cabinet in my city. If anyone is curious, TC2 at the arcade in the Sea World at San Diego, CA. Hopefully some of you San Diego Time Crisis fans have Sea World memberships so you don't have to pay the high fee to get into the park. It cost me $1.00 to start, $.50 to continue. Not bad. Anyway, on to the game! TC2 is really awesome. For one thing, the graphics are much more detailed and smooth than TC1 (Its running off the hot new System 23 board). Its really good eye candy. The two player mode is really fun. Really like the double-team idea added to TC2. In TC1, you only shot while standing still, while in TC2, sometimes you'll have to shoot while moving. The boat chase scene is really impressive. The pace of the game is faster and more dynamic. Also, red circles appear on the enemies that will shoot you with a bullet that'll sheds off one of your lives. Plus, there is.... THE MACHINE GUN! You only get to use it when you have to destroy armored vehicles. But it's really fun hosing off all the foes coming after you. The first boss is this dork in a derby hat who you chase throughout the first level until you finally kill him on his boat. The second is this black guy on a train who is really strong (He lifts up a small ICBM missile and trys to whack you with it!). ** SPOILER ALERT ** In the last part, you have to face off against ol' Wild Dog and the other new guy. At one point with both of them shooting you at the same time. He has a gun arm now since he lost it when ol' Richie blew him sky high in the first TC. The other guy lugs Christie around and has a missile launcher he shoots at you. Misslemen are more common in the game too. Well, the first level is where you chase the guy around a town and then chase him in a speed boat along with your partner. The second level starts off in a forest at a train station. Then you hop on a train and start blasting guys on it. Then you face off against the buff dude, then shoot him down in a helicopter. The final level takes place on a launching platform in the middle of an ocean, ready to launch a big-ass missile. I almost beat the final boss, but alas, I ran out of dinero. :( I noticed that the game did kinda feel shorter than the original. Plus the gun sounds are SWEET! It sounds like a warzone whenever you have a Time Crisis II machine in an arcade. Literally! People walking by will wonder if WW3 is inside an arcade. I noticed that I never ran out of time once during my game. I think the timer is a tad bit more lenient than it was in TC (Well, then again, I AM an ace at the previous one). Time Crisis II is an awesome follow-up to the original, and I can't wait for other arcades here to get it soon! I hope they also get a Virtual On Oratorio Tangram (VO2) machine here. It'd be arcade gaming heaven for me all summer. Oh, and I'm personally glad that they don't have the dorky looking guys in the berets and jumpsuits anymore. The shock troops with body armor look much cooler. Is it just me or are the Red guys a tad bit slower? The guys that got me most often were missile guys. Thanks for the message Duke! :) ============================================================================ THE VESTIROTH SCROLLS OF THE WORLD OF ESPIONAGE I will state the bios ONLY on the characters that appear on Time Crisis II. If you want to see even more bios, then you are encouraged to stop by at Time Crisis on the Internet (http://www.verasnaship.net/vidgames/). In the future, it will be possible for me to create an FAQ focusing ONLY on the history (Rekishi) in the world of problem-solving espionage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- KEITH MARTIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catch Copy: Lethal Inferno=Eden's Guardian Date of Birth: February 14, 1971 Place of Origin: London, England Occupation: VSSE Operative Cherub (Prior to VSSE-hood, part-time police) Height: 5'9" Weight: 154lbs Blood Type: A Legal Status: Citizen of the United States Hobbies: HTML and Javascript Authoring Likes: Arresting Criminals (This is a carryover from his police years) Dislikes: Slow Learners ** One of the two agents who destroyed the Neodyne Conglomerate ** Yep, it's Keith Martin, and he happens to be one of the two agents who saved the public good and the planet from a possible nuclear threat that may have destroyed the entire planet. Keith's persistence combined with Robert's intelligence creates the ultimate duo which proved to be too much for the Neodyne conglomerate to react. ** Strong, Steady, and Shrewd ** Known as Cherub within the agency only, Keith has earned high appraisal as a part-time police officer and has solved lots of crimes during these years. While studying at college (and keeping the criminals at bay), Keith developed a well-being standard that even influenced the VSSE and the public good as well. The first time he developed eyes-only clearance was during his first arrest attempt on Ernesto Diaz, who then was a drug lord working to supplement Fenzanchov Yaushiryaqueris's "Yourbalewski" drug supply. Keith was angry to find out that this addictive substance was used to create cyberpowered arms and powerful handguns (that was ordered by Kantaris [Lina D'Zarrineau] later on). Keith was born from a security guard-oriented family at the London Area and during his childhood, he learned much about Security Guarding and Armory Protection during his childhood. Four years after his birth, Keith was taken to a Shotokan Karate studio to learn self-defense in the event that his father's house was to be looted. However, his parents felt that schooling is the fuel that Keith needs to follow the path of good at all times, so Keith started his schooling at the age of 4. As Keith "aced" his way up to high school, he later on felt that serving to protect the public good would be the fuel he needs to fight for what's right. Eventually, Keith moved to Delaware of the US when he was still tee young, finished his schooling, served the Sercian Aerial Squad (Keith got accepted under a "Money For College" basis), attended Illinois University Northern, and finally received his Bachelor's degree. Keith was then referred by Brian Mallard to land an operative job at the Vital-Situation, Swift-Elimination branch at Chicago, and that would be the moment Keith would prove his faith to the public good. BTW Keith is a good friend of Robert Baxter, who serves in VSSE (Chicago) only to avenge the death of his family for the love of the public good. Keith sadly mourned the damage of his car when Trevor committed a hit-and- run felony against the VSSE in the 28th of July. When Trevor bumped the back of Keith's car, he just then ran away and Keith told the driver to stop, and after the hit-and-run, he called 911 declaring that he is a victim of hit-and-run felony. When Robert Baxter and Jennifer Lutzenkirchen arrived, Keith told Robert and Jenn that some psycho just hit his car at the back and then ran away. At the self-same instant, Christy Ryan came into the scene of the hit-and-run felony Trevor committed. Christy told Keith that as she was looking at her laptop, Trevor Akhemliecycle is the one who did this. Here is what happened when Keith found out that Trevor was the one who committed this hit-and-run: Keith: "Who was that mother-&*^%$ who crashed my car, and ran away?" Christy: "Calm down, Keith. Here are the pictures of the one I saw on my laptop who did this." (Keith looks up at the pictures Christy saved on her hard disk as Trevor committed the hit-and-run) Keith: "Who is this guy?" Robert: "Trevor Akhemliecycle. The one who destroyed our New Chicago Commons not long ago." Keith: "Trevor..." Jennifer: "Trevor Akhemliecycle is the one who has been causing the chaos on the New Chicago Commons. He started hacking after having to go through the running-away of our very own Jana Aensland, who performs up stage as Shanelle. Shanelle attempted to avenge the destruction of the NCC by killing Trevor, but her skills weren't up to par with Trevor's. After the death of Jana, we decided to have Tara Aensland take over her spot." Keith: "Shanelle. She's the one who attempted to first seek out the truth behind the Neodyne incidents!" Christy: "Jennifer has implanted your hard disk with information regarding about Trevor and has made a carbon copy to Mr. Deletzke and Mr. Davis. You should be able to receive these files shortly. I suggest that you look at these files over and over again as you'll be left in the dark without it." Keith: "So it's Trevor who might have done this because he thinks I'm Shanelle's boyfriend?!" Christy: "Wrong, Keith. You'll see why Trevor's all mad and crappy when you look at your laptop when you get back home. I know that you have to have your car towed away because of the damage. We already have filed charges to Trevor Akhemliecycle, who I was able to catch with my laptop via the VSSE sattelite." Keith: "Sadly, I'll have to take the bus back home." Robert: "Hey, Keith. What are buddies for? Let me take you back home. How about it?" Keith: "Splendid, Robert. Maybe we'll make Trevor pay." Jennifer: "I have to add this into my diary." ** End of the crime scene ** Keith has made a public announcement to the VSSE that they have insufficient evidence to prove that Trevor is a VSSE-related criminal pursuant to Porter Davis and Terrence Deletzke. This may be sad, but Keith, Robert, Christy, and Richard still have some evidence-shopping to do before commencing Porter's a