The Hunt for Red October Game Boy Developer: Beam Software Publisher: Hi-Tech By: GammaBetaAlpha ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Table of Contents -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ How to Play [HOWT] Walkthrough [WALK] Passwords [PASS] Donations/Amazon [DONT] Contact Info [CONT] ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- How to Play -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ [HOWT] It is easiest to think of The Hunt for Red October as a classical horizontal-view shmup game. While you play as a submarine, it operates much like a shoot-em-up would. There are a few differences from the norm - for example, whenever you try to move the submarine Red October up or down, you get some 'drag' from being in the water. The view, while side-scrolling, does not force you along either: you can move back and forth along each level as needed to retrieve pick-ups. The Red October has a powerful radar that shows up on the game screen. The radar will show the movement of enemy ships, aircraft and submarines as they move around in the water. Pick-ups are also denoted on the map as flashing dots, so it is definitely a very useful system. Learn to use it and the game can be significantly easier. It should be noted that it is possible for pick-ups to be destroyed, both by the Red October and by enemies, by firing at them. Be sure not to get into dogfights right around power-ups: lure enemies away from them so you do not risk getting an item destroyed. Controls -------- A - Fires a regular torpedo B - Fires a submarine missile (limited missiles) Select - Activates the Caterpillar Drive for a limited time Start - Pauses and Unpauses the game D-Pad - Move around in the four main directions Right/Left - Tap either button to turn your submarine to face that direction. The tapping for this is EXTREMELY twitchy so it make take several times to pull off Items ----- (M) - Gives you three extra missiles (Five prong star) - Gives you fuel for a use of the caterpillar drive (Wrench) - Repairs damage done to Red October (Heart) - Gives you an extra life ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Walkthrough -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ [WALK] To get to a specific level, search [LEVx], where x is the number of the level you want to go to in numerical format. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level One -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [LEV1] Move forward at the start and grab some missiles. Dip downwards slightly to destroy an enemy submarine as you continue right. Take the down path past the large rock in the middle of the way, grab some more missiles, then dip down. Ignore the wrench for now: instead, head right and wait for another foe to come from above it. Destroy it, return across the narrow section of water and then grab the wrench pick-up to restore your ship's health. Continue on right again, up slightly, then forward between two more rocks. Once you sneak out into open water again, immediately shoot out three missiles that will direct themselves at a ship sailing above the surface, then retreat behind the two rocks. Missiles shot by the ship should explode on the rocks, leaving you unharmed. Once the enemy cruiser is down, proceed right again, picking up Caterpillar drive fuel from below before taking on another submarine. Retrieve three more missiles before heading right again on the bottom of the ocean into a tiny space. Destroy another submarine (do not worry too much about taking damage) and grab yourself some missiles and another health-repair pick-up. Now, guide your submarine just right so that the missile port on the top of your submarine is diagonally across from the small break in the rocks, and shoot a missile through to take out the submarine hovering above. Double back left a bit, head up in the water, then take out an incoming submarine. Continue up and break the surface of the water, then dip back down while going right to get some fuel. Shoot out three missiles to destroy the cruiser ship. Move forward to get some missiles to replace the ones you just used up, then shoot out three more to destroy a second cruiser missile and back up behind the last rock to dodge return fire. Once the second cruiser is destroyed, continue on into open waters, shooting out another missile to destroy a submarine coming from the right. Head left into the trench you ignored earlier to obtain some more missiles, then head back out right into the open area again. Head down, ignoring what appears to be a cruiser ship on the radar (it is actually a giant rock on top of the surface of the water), and grab a repair kit and an extra life-up from the bottom of the ocean. Take out a submarine near the end and then grab some missiles. Head up to eliminate another enemy submarine, and take some Caterpillar Drive fuel from the narrow strip of space enclosed by rock to the left and some missiles above the rock. Move up some more, and slowly head right, and fire off three missiles to destroy another cruiser ship above the water. You may wish to use the Caterpillar Drive here to avoid taking damage from the ship's own missiles. Continue right and destroy a submarine that should come at you. Head down to get what may be a needed repair kit and another three pack of missiles, and take out any enemy submarine that comes at you. Follow along the bottom to grab a Life-Up and then destroy another submarine. Go straight up to grab yourself another repair kit, then head back down and continue along right. Navigate your way through a tricky passageway, obtain some more missiles and destroy another (possible) submarine, preferably with a newly-gotten missile. Turn around to face left and then continue up the passageway, destroying at least one submarine with a missile (do not bother using torpedos as it will take too long to turn around), possibly a second submarine if you did not destroy it earlier when grabbing the missile pack. Take your time to turn around and face right. Be sure to grab the Caterpillar Drive fuel, then head on to take another submarine from up above with a missile (do NOT go up or else you risk it destroying the missile drop), and grab yourself another pack of missiles. Head down to get a wrench, then slowly go up and pause. Watch the radar to see something in the sky moving left and right. Once it has touched the far left end of its range, quickly move up, grab some missiles, then head down to the right and into another narrow passageway, quickly destroying another submarine. This way you can avoid the airplane which will drop seeker missiles if you get too close when it is around. This is also an acceptable time to use the Caterpillar Drive if you have to. Grab yourself a repair kit, then turn Red October around so it faces left. This next part will be messy: look at the radar and you should see a cruiser ship and two submarines lurking around. Head right just far enough so you can fire some missiles without getting them destroyed on the rock ceiling, and move back and forth until you can destroy the cruiser ship: if the submarines start coming after you, quickly move back inside the narrow passageway and take them out with missiles again once they come in close. Once the ship and submarines are destroyed, face right and exit out the right side. Go to where the Life-Up spot is, and STAY in that small nook. Move out, shoot out three missiles, and then quickly get back under protective cover: if you did it correctly, then the airplane that is flying overhead should be destoyed by the three missiles while the torpedoes it drops on you will hit the rocks around you but not the actual Red October. In any case, one the airplane is destroyed, make a more peaceful voyage rightwards. Destroy any incoming submarines, then fire off three missiles if you see another airplane approaching you on the radar. Dip deep down into the ocean again to face off against another possible submarine, then grab a repair wrench from the bottom. Head up to the underside of the large ship to obtain a Life-Up and some Missiles, then back down again for some more missiles. Proceed right once more. Along the way, you should expect to face a few more submarines, but no more cruiser ships or airplanes. Nearing the end of the level, you should find another repair kit and some more missiles: grab them before you finish off the level. ---------- Boss Fight ---------- As is traditional for shmups, each level must end with a boss fight. In this case, I honestly have no idea what the boss is supposed to be. It appears to be some sort of underwater fortress, which has four circular 'knobs' that shoot out missiles, along with four prongs coming out at the diagonal directions. Your mission is to shoot at each of the four prongs until all four of them are destroyed, at which point the fortress is then destroyed. Fortunately, the boss can only shoot out one missile at a time, and it travels around rather lazily: start off by shooting at either the top-left or bottom-left prong. Once a missile comes at you, start by moving up or down to the other prong, and then get in closer or move away and wait until the missile eventually detonates on its own, then build some distance between yourself and the fortress to escape receiving damage from the next missile. Once the left prongs are destroyed, go over top of the fortress to the side (after making sure it has shot out a missile to give you leeway time), then turn to face the left on the other side. Repeat the strategy as before to destroy the remaining prongs and finish off the boss battle. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level Two -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [LEV2] Wait for a few seconds at the beginning for an enemy submarine to come to you and down it before it can get a shot off at you. Afterwards, head right to get some missiles, then go up, fire three missiles at the cruiser ship, and gain yourself an extra life. Continue on to destroy a couple of submarines. When you get the chance, lower yourself down and head left for a repair kit and some missiles. Proceed right again to destroy a few more submarines and grab some Caterpillar Drive fuel and missiles. Watch the radar to spot a plane coming left and right. Wait for it to go right past the large ship, then break the surface of the water. Once it starts to come back, wait for it to get to where the ship is again, then send out three missiles and destroy it. Go right and quickly grab a repair kit. Head down now and destroy another submarine in a dangerous trench to get some missiles. Once you safely escape, obtain some more missiles from above, then continue, destroying yet another submarine and grabbing an extra life as well, then wipe out another submarine. You will have a bit of tricky navigation through the next little bit of rock, so watch how you dip and dive as you continue to destroy your foes while making through the passageway. Continue on to destroy another possible submarine and grab a Missile pack. In a tricky segment following, take the DOWN path, and grab some Caterpillar Drive fuel underneath the giant rock. Sneak out to the right, and fire some missiles that should destroy either a cruiser or an airplane. Repeat again to take out the other vehicle. Once both of them are safely destroyed, head around to the top side of the rock for a repair kit, then continue right into open waters for another missile pack. Once you dip into the next subcavern you should face off against another submarine. Destroy that and retrieve another missile pack as your reward, and you may encounter yet another sub before being able to grab an extra life. Continue your journey east until you can get some Caterpillar Drive fuel and destroy another submarine. Scoot up to the nottom path when next you come to a split to grab a thing of Caterpillar Drive fuel again, then retreat and take the top path. Take some missiles on your way, then stop shy of where the ceiling above you ends and turns into plain water. Shoot out three missiles to destroy the cruiser ship above before you go any further. Break out to the top, then slowly dip and dive back down once you continue right. Grab a pack of missiles while destroying a possible pair of submarines, then go left from here deep into another cavern that contains a repair kit and missile pack at the dead end. Go right again, taking out any opposition in your way, then head down into another large cavern area when you can. From the left side here, grab a bunch of goodies that include another repair kit, more Caterpillar Drive fuel and another three-pack of missiles. Exit the cavern, and go right slightly. Shoot out three missiles that should leave the water to hit the cruiser ship to the east, then back up to avoid the ship's own missiles. Once it has been destroyed, make your way east to pick up a Life-Up and a Missile Pack: in so doing, you should encounter another ship, but this one is not a cruiser. As a result, it cannot fire tracking missiles at you, and will only drop bombs that sink straight down. Weave around the bombs and shoot three missiles out at it to destroy it. Continue along past a steep rock, then destroy some more submarines while picking up Caterpillar Drive fuel and a pack of missiles close to each other. Make your way past another narrow strip of water to grab a repair kit and more missiles, then shoot out three missiles to destroy the cruiser on top of the water. Dip up to replace the three missiles you just used, then continue right to get more missiles. Pick off any submarines that come at you, and then proceed to grab a repair kit and Life-Up at the end before initiating the boss battle for this level. ---------- Boss Fight ---------- This is much less of a boss fight than the last one, operating more as a 'sequence battle' than a real fight. To start, shoot the black thing on the wall of the enemy ship at the start. Dip down and go past the door that will open up with the destruction of the black knob. Watch carefully at the two set of electric transmitters, and float up, making sure your timing is such so that you can dodge getting blasted by electricity. Look at the direction and angle that a bullet is shot out at you: it will always come out at this angle. Move left so that you can get behind the trajectory of the bullet, and look to your right to see a machine with four guns shooting out bullets. Wait for the next large beam to subside, then quickly get right above that. Set yourself between the bullets that the guns will shoot out left and the beam, and shoot at the gun-machine until it is wrecked. Once you have done so, proceed right, then lower yourself past the charge beam and three more electric beams (if you have plenty of health you do not need to worry too much, as the gun was the only real segment of a 'boss battle'. You will probably end up taking damage from one of the top two beams anyways). Break open the door at the bottom and head out to finish the level. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level Three -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [LEV3] You finally get some new scenery in this level, which is nice. In this level you will also get a large amount of aircraft carriers which will constantly deploy aircraft. While the first few planes are not so bad, later on it gets annoying with little coral cover and planes patrolling over most of the map, so you will need to make extensive use of your Caterpillar Drive. Wait a while and two submarines will come towards the Red October. Take each of them out in turn, then head right to grab a pack of missiles and then some Caterpillar Drive fuel. Swim over the large coral reef and fight another submarine before grabbing yourself a repair kit. Proceed east in the ocean to eliminate another foe, then grab a Missile pack and Caterpillar Drive fuel again. Advance right from underneath the large chunk of reef, then shoot out three missiles. Retreat underneath the coral reef again to dodge seeker missiles, then once the cruiser ship is destroyed above the surface of the water, continue onwards. Take the lower path for a repair kit and Life-Up. Head back out left into water, and wait for a plane to cross by before shooting a missile out at it. Once it is destroyed, continue on rightwards, taking out several more enemy submarines. Activate the Caterpillar Drive just shy of when you come to the giant ship on the radar, and send out a couple of missiles to destroy the next plane coming over the horizon. You are not going to get much leeway time before the next ship comes off the aircraft carrier, so continue dipping down to the east to grab some Caterpillar Drive fuel, taking some submarines out quickly if you come across them. Head right some more and dip down again to get a repair kit, followed up by another tin of Caterpillar Drive fuel after that. Do not bother trying to down any more enemy ships or aircraft here. Instead, use the Caterpillar Drive at least three times to quickly rush east, because if you try to stay around you will get hit with an onslaught of ships and aircraft and submarines, which can quickly drain you of missile (by contrast, you should have plenty of fuel from the generous amount of pick-ups in the game). Once you get into shallow waters, take out the small cruiser ship from behind you. Grab another Life-Up, then continue right, eliminating another ship and grabbing some missiles again. Continue on quickly to get a second Life-Up before and then a missile pack from on top of another large piece of coral reef and destroy a couple of enemy submarines in the process. Once you have done that, dip back down into the ocean and start off by building up your supply of Caterpillar Drive fuel again. From there, head right to pick up another missile pack and repair kit. If you see a plane flying overhead, activate the Caterpillar Drive once more to bypass a dogfight with the plane, and sail again going right to pick up another pack of missiles and more Caterpillar Drive fuel. Head over the bulge in the coral reef into another narrow niche for a Life-Up and pack of missiles, and activate the Caterpillar Drive again as needed to dodge fire by the pesky airplane. Wait for the plane to head left or disappear off the map before rising and then continue east. Destroy some submarines and a cruiser ship, then drop down before the airplane shows up to grab a pack of missiles again. Continue up and right and down again, then head east along another long strip of deep water. Grab a repair kit and a pack of missiles again, and use the Caterpillar Drive to sneak past a few more enemy submarines and exit the level. ---------- Boss Fight ---------- Back up immediately once you start or you risk getting destroyed by a cannonball. This is once again another fairly easy boss fight that can be punishing if you do not look at the patterns of the bullets and cannonballs that the weaponry shoot out. Stay where you start at for a few seconds to track the path of the cannonballs and bullets the various guns shoot out. These will not change at all during the course of the battle, so you can weave and duck around them. Be careful, however, as the cannonballs will instantly destroy the Red October. In any case, there are six parts that you have to destroy: two 'doors' on each side of the ship and two guns on top of the ship. Head up and go right to destroy the two bullet-guns on top of the ship first, so that you can get two out of six guns out of the way before continuing the battle. To destroy them you have to shoot the actual guns, and not the stands that the guns are on. With the destruction of the guns, lower yourself just to the left of the left gun, and you should see a sort of white tiled door opening and closing. Shoot this one until it destroys, then watch the cannon to the left of the Red October. As soon as it has fired, head left down some more and destroy the other tiled door. Once both doors on the left end have been destroyed, head over to the right side and destroy the two tiles over there to finish up the boss battle and the level as a whole. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level Four -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [LEV4] Dip down at the beginning to grab yourself a missile pack, then head back up. Wait a while for an enemy submarine to approach you before destroying it, then pick off the static submarine near the surface of the water. Continue to move east, and shoot off three missiles to destroy the overhead cruiser ship. Proceed right to replace the missiles you just used with a missile pack, and then some more Caterpillar Drive fuel. Float up and take on a couple more submarines. Ignore the next cruiser ship lying in wait on the radar, and instead enter the large underwater strait that awaits the Red October. Pick up a three- pack of missiles right away. Head right and destroy any enemies that come at you, then go down to grab a repair kit. Head back up again while still keeping the rock ceiling as cover for the Red October. Wait until the airplane above heads left on the radar before rushing east. Dip down and quickly send out a missile to take the one immobile submarine right south of you, then grab another missile pack. Destroy the next enemy that is waiting for you at the bottom of the trench, then continue on right to obtain some Caterpillar Drive fuel. Sneak out to the edge of the trench, then activate the Caterpillar Drive to avoid the attention of the overhead plane. Quickly rise up, go right, and rise down again. Destroy the few submarines here with missiles to take them out quickly, then go down to the left side of the sunken ship for more Caterpillar Drive fuel. Grab another pack of missiles from the right side of the ship before continuing on and take out another submarine at the next ship, then retrieve a pack of missiles. If you want to, you can rise up to the surface of the water here and go left for a Life-Up. After you grabbed the extra life (if you did), continue down underwater going east, and eliminate another submarine. Sneak right to the next section of trenches while avoiding bombs being dropped by the overhead cruiser (no seeker missiles) and grab a repair kit, fighting a possible enemy again. Take the middle path at the next intersection and rush past the ship dropping bombs to obtain some more Caterpillar Drive fuel and a Life Up. Return west, then drop down to the bottom to avoid having to shoot up or dodge fire from either of the cruisers overhead. Once you go through the underwater trench and take out a couple of submarines and get a Missile Pack. Rise up to the surface, then head right. Shoot your torpedoes and blitz the cruiser ship that is on the right side of your submarine as you pick up a repair kit. Eliminate a second cruiser before descending, where you should run into numerous submarines while inside the underwater cavern. Take out the opposition, then proceed right to get Caterpillar Drive fuel and a pack of missiles. Shoot out three missiles again to destroy the cruiser waiting above the exit, then head up to the surface again and go left for a repair kit. Continue on right from here and destroy another cruiser. Stick around up top and wait for a couple of submarines from the next cavern to come up and approach you. Eliminate the two submarines, then head down and enter the small cavern they were previously in for a pack of missiles and a Life-Up. Head back up and over top the rock spire, then destroy the submarine that comes around. Activate the Caterpillar Drive, then head right and grab some Caterpillar Drive fuel. Head down and pick up an unknown pick-up (if the overhead plane does not destroy it first) then back up. Quickly rush right for a repair kit, activating the Caterpillar Drive if you have to, and ignore any foes that are around as the level end is right after the repair kit. ---------- Boss Fight ---------- This boss fight is kind of a merger of levels one and two's boss fight. Start by shooting at the black knob at the beginning, then go down and enter the inside of the building. Wait for the first electric beam right above the Red October to subside, then quickly move up past the four beams until you get to the top. Eyeball the trajectory of the bullets being shot around by the two guns. Wait for the charge beam to stop, then sneak up to the left side of the first gun. Destroy it (you may take a hit, but since you should have picked up the repair kit right at the end of the level it should not be too bad). Once it is destroyed, wait until right after the charge beam has finished for a few seconds, then rush over to the left side of the second gun. Once the second gun is destroyed, head down to the next four electric beams. You will have to take a hit from at least one of them: to minimise damage, wait until right after the top beam has stopped and then rush down. This way, you should only take damage from one beam. When you make it down, shoot the door and then head out to finish the level completely. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level Five -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [LEV5] As always, wait a bit for a submarine to come to you and take it out, then eliminate a static submarine as well. Destroy a cruiser waiting overhead, and proceed east to collect a thing of Caterpillar Drive fuel, a pack of missiles, and then another pack of missiles a short drift away. Activate the Caterpillar Drive to sneak past the airplane that will be flying around. Destroy an immobile submarine on your way getting underneath the aircraft carrier to give you cover against the aircraft's fire, and grab a repair kit and another three missiles. Once the airship starts going left, dip down to the right side of the cruise ship and grab yourself more Caterpillar Drive fuel and quickly rush east as far as you can. Eliminate the one cruiser ship above you, but do not use the Caterpillar Drive just yet: wait until a bit later as you begin to approach another aircraft carrier, then activate the Caterpillar Drive. Retrieve a pack of missiles and a repair kit as you destroy another immobile submarine. From here, ascend a bit while keeping the carrier ship as cover, and destroy a static ship if you see one off in the distance. Wait until the aircraft disappears or go left, then quickly rush east, grabbing some more missiles. Destroy a few more submarines and an aircraft as you make your way right some more, and obtain a Missile Pack and Caterpillar Drive fuel for your efforts. Continue on from that segment to obtain yet more missiles and a repair kit again. Destroy any submarines you come across while crossing into shallow waters, as well as a cruiser ship, then lower yourself into a trough for a life -up. Proceed again from here, and grab a pack of missiles and then a repair kit in the troughs of the ocean, while fending off another overhead airplane. This time you should attempt to destroy it as there is no cover for a while. Continue east destroying another airplane (but do not bother with a third one), then get under the carrier ship for cover. Take out a couple of submarines while underneath here and grab a Life-Up and Caterpillar Drive fuel. Going out the right side, activate the Caterpillar Drive and grab a repair kit and then a missile pack. Continue to plough through enemy submarines until you come to another Repair Kit and Missile Pack. Activate the Caterpillar Drive once more if you have the fuel for it, and head up to destroy the cruiser and a submarine. Finally, grab a Life-Up and Repair Kit at the end of the level before finishing off the normal segment and heading onto the boss battle. ---------- Boss Fight ---------- This is similar to the boss battle from the first level, but with one key difference: the four 'knobs' on the fortress will shoot out enemy submarines that will trail you one at a time. Thankfully, there will only be one submarine out at a time, as well as only one tracker missile at a time, so here is how you should go about doing things: start off by heading right, and shoot the left knob (yes, it can be destroyed). Once a seeker missile comes out, dodge and weave around it. Use a missile to quickly destroy any submarine that comes out, then head over and destroy the left knob. Once that knob is destroyed, everything will easily click into place. Destroy the two horned prongs on the left side of the fortress, then go up and left. There is a sweet zone where you can shoot at the top knob and cause it damage, but it will not respond or send submarines out at you. Use that sweet spot and damage it until it is destroyed, then head right and use your bullets to destroy the top-right prong (remember that your bullets will eventually drop down to gravity after a while so make sure to take that into account for your aim). With one prong left, quickly rush over to where the last prong is after turning your ship so it is facing left. If you have plenty of health left, you can go right in and spam bullets. Thanks to game physics, as soon as one bullet hits the prong, you can instantly fire another one off right away, and repeat until the prong is destroyed, ending the battle. You may want to use the Caterpillar Drive if you are low on health, though. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level Six -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [LEV6] Once again, wait at the beginning of the level for a submarine to approach you. Once it is destroyed, grab the missile pack, then head into the cavern. Wipe out the next ship and obtain some Caterpillar Drive fuel, then continue on into the underwater trench, picking up some more missiles before heading through a narrow passageway. When you emerge, send out a missile to destroy a pest submarine, then continue east, destroying yet another submarine and getting another 3-pack of missiles. Once you get close to the exit of the trench, target an immobile submarine from afar and wreck it before exiting out completely. Send out several missiles to destroy a moving cruiser ship along with another larger cruiser ship. Once both of them are out of commission, exit up to the surface and head left along the trenchline to grab a repair kit and Caterpillar Fuel. Head right again while above water to pick up a Life-Up from the top of the shoreline. Double back and then head down into another lengthy underwater tunnel, picking off a couple of submarines early on before they can become truly troublesome. Enter and grab a missile pack and Caterpillar Drive fuel as you proceed right, while also destroying a few submarines. Wait before you leave the protection of the trench. Fire out three missiles out the right exit to destroy a cruiser ship on top of the water, and take out any other pesky Russian submarines lying in wait. Once you get out of the trench again, break the surface of the water and go west for a few seconds to obtain a repair kit. Move right while still above to get some Caterpillar Drive fuel, then retreat west again. Descend down to the bottom of the ocean and head east to obtain a pack of missiles. Follow along, destroying any targets along the way, then head up along the forty five degree angle of the trench. Break the surface of the water again, and head left for a missile pack. Continue on right from here and submerge and head underneath the aircraft carrier for cover away from the aircraft's line of fire. Collect Caterpillar Drive fuel, another missile pack and a repair kit. Activate the Caterpillar Drive and quickly rush to the right, until you come into another underwater cavern area with a rock roof for cover. Grab yourself another missile pack while sniping a few enemy submarines. Deeper into the tunnel, grab yourself a Life-Up followed by a Repair Kit. Leave the trench shortly, fending off a couple more enemies, and grab another Missile Pack close by. Destroy a ship on the surface, and break the water again before going left for a missile pack and a Life-Up. Go back down to the bottom of the ocean again to avoid another ship, then head right through a short passageway, grabbing a repair kit and pack of missiles while you are passing through. Once you leave the tunnel, destroy any opposing submarines in the way, but ignore the ship overhead as you motor on right (all it would get you is a pack of missiles which you would have used up on the cruiser ship, and a repair kit, which you should have just picked one up). Pick yourself up a missile pack, followed shortly thereafter by a Life-Up. If you are low on health, and have lots of missiles and Caterpillar Drive fuel stocked up, activate the Caterpillar Drive and use your missiles to pick off two static-position submarines while swimming through. Otherwise, take the hit to destroy them in turn with a missile. Grab a final pack of missiles before finishing the level off. ---------- Boss Fight ---------- Much like how levels four and five had boss fights that were basically extensions of previous levels, it should not be unexpected that level six is the same. In this case, you will encounter the boss of level three, except it is bigger, and can send out submarines from the port doors. Unfortunately, you cannot destroy the cannons sending out the cannonballs. You can, however, keep roughly the same strategy as before of going up to the top and destroying the what is now four guns on top of the ship. Use missiles to destroy and submarines that come at you until the top four guns are destroyed. With those out of the way, a significant part of the difficult is erased, making the battle easier. Lower down to the left side while making sure not to get hit by a cannonball, and make sure you stay a significant distance away from the port doors. There is a sweet spot where you can still hit the doors while being far away not to set off the submarine trigger, and if the submarine still comes out you can shoot a missile and destroy it long before it becomes a threat to you. Once the doors on the left side are dealt with, float up to the top, switch directions to face left, then destroy the two port doors on the right side and finish the battle. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level Seven -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [LEV7] Immediately grab the Missile Pack lurking right next to you at the start of the battle, then wait for two submarines to come to the Red October, one at a time, and destroy each of them in turn. Start swimming east through the ocean water, and pick up a Caterpillar Drive and Missile Pack from two subsequent troughs. Emerge up to the surface from the right side (no, not the left) and destroy the cruiser ship, before finally heading left and snagging yourself a repair kit. Head right and down and up a sharp U-turn, picking off any submarines that come at you. Be sure to grab the missile pack from the bottom of the U-Turn, and use the three missiles you get to destroy the cruiser on the surface in the next segment. Quickly drop down once you get over the large rock spire for a Life-Up and Missile Pack. Destroy any enemy subs that attack you and follow the blinking dot on the radar back up and right a bit for a repair kit. Sink to the bottom of the ocean again and go right through the natural doorway. Grab yourself a repair kit on the other side, then activate the Caterpillar Drive. Shoot out three missiles at the overhead cruiser ship while you travel to the other end of the open space of water for another missile kit to replace the three missiles you just used up. Go over the next large cropping of rock, then drop down for a Life-Up. Rise back up, and active the Caterpillar Drive. Head right and shoot at the cruiser ship while the Caterpillar Drive is still on. Replace the fuel you just used up as well as grabbing yourself a missile pack. Swim into the open water segment. Destroy any opposition that awaits you here, then heal up with a repair kit and obtain another missile kit. Enter a narrow trench line again. You should face some more submarines here, but do not let it worry you too much: a generous second repair kit in a short time is here again, with a missile kit as its companion. After you have both items, head up to the right to obtain some Caterpillar Drive fuel. Activate the Caterpillar Drive and surface the Red October. Head right and shoot several torpedoes at the cruiser ship to destroy it. Continue east and snipe down a couple of submarines before descending and grabbing Caterpillar Drive fuel. Head back up and then go right. Fire off some missiles from afar to destroy a cruiser ship, then sink down the right side of the one floating rock for a pack of missiles and a repair kit. Make your way east again, eliminating any enemy submarines that stray across your path. Proceed across a large outcrop of rock, and lower yourself to grab Caterpillar Drive fuel. Head along the bottom of the water, destroying enemies again, and pick up a Life-Up again. Come close to the surface on the left side, using the carrier as cover, and grab a Missile Kit. Wait for the airplane to go left, then quickly dash out from the right side of the aircraft carrier. Activate the Caterpillar Drive and eliminate a pair of static submarines waiting at the entrance to another U-Turn. Go down and heal up with a repair kit, then make your U-Turn. Continue on, grabbing a missile kit while you go along. Once you exit the trench, head up and obtain yet another missile kit. Use the Caterpillar Drive to get through one last annoying segment with two cruiser ships. Go down the rock bottom for another thing of Caterpillar Drive fuel, followed up by a repair kit, until you finally hit the regular level ending and initiate the boss fight. ---------- Boss Fight ---------- This is kind of an unusual boss fight, in that there is no distinct enemy, nor is there any sort of missile attack that targets the Red October. Instead, what you get is a fortress with several rooms. In each of the room, there are four main components to be aware of: on the left and right walls, there are several guns that will shoot out balls of energy that will travel in a horizontal straight line. These guns must all be destroyed to continue on in a room. In the center of each room there are also several circular things that shine brightly. I assume these things are power supplies of sorts, so I will refer to them as such. They must also all be destroyed to finish a room. Finally, on the bottom of each room there are a few more guns that will fire balloons out. It is important not to get caught in a balloon or else it can drag you to the ceiling, the fourth component, which has spikes that cause damage if the Red October comes in contact with it. The balloon guns do not have to be destroyed, but it is recommended. Anyways, to start the battle, hang outside of the fortress. Shoot your torpedos through the door until at least one gun stops firing out the door. Remember that your torpedos will eventually decline in altitude as they travel, so you can try to eliminate as many of the balloon guns as well. Once you cannot destroy any more guns from outside the fortress, enter the first room. Move around and find a safe spot where you will not get shot by any energy shots or hit by any balloons. To shoot the remaining guns, move the Red October up or down for a split second to get 'drag' that causes the submarine to go at an angle, and shoot then, before returning back to your original position. Repeat a few times to destroy a gun. When the first room is destroyed, hit the second room as hard as you can before continuing. It will be more difficult than the first since you cannot pre-destroy as much stuff before entering, but the subsequent rooms are the same as the first, and so it should only be a matter of time before the fortress is finally finished. At the end, go out the door in the lower right when it opens to end the penultimate boss battle. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level Eight -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [LEV8] Grab a missile pack quickly, and fend off two separate submarines as they come hunting for the Red October. Continue on just a bit, and shoot out three missiles off at the cruiser in the distance, retreating to avoid any missiles it may shoot out. Advance onwards for some fuel for the Caterpillar Drive. Press forward and destroy another submarine before you can snag a missile pack. Shoot up another pair of submarines as you make your way east some more, then sink down. Grab a repair kit from a tricky niche in the rock wall, then go to the bottom of the tower for another missile kit. Head through the small hole near the tower's bottom where the ropes are severed, and quickly destroy yet another pair of foes once you hit the other side. Send out three missiles to destroy the cruiser ship lurking in wait, then head up and grab yourself a repair kit. Continue right past more ropes to come to a missile kit, then slay another foe. Do not bother taking the shallow shoreline to go east - all it gets you is a missile kit that you will have to use up anyways versus a cruiser. Instead, sink down and grab a Life-Up. Head right and shoot a static submarine from afar to avoid it shooting torpedos out, then continue on for a repair kit. Make your way right again, snagging another pack of three missiles. Destroy several more enemy submarines as you make your way up. Ignore the cruiser at the top, as it only drops bombs, not seeker missiles (Unless you took a large amount of damage since the last repair kit - in which case, destroy the cruiser and go left on the shoreline for a repair kit). Quickly rush through the ropes past the rig tower instead. On the other side, head down the right side and shoot a missile at the same time to destroy a submarine before you enter a small cavern with a Life-Up and missile threepack. Head back up left, then take the shoreline passage going east. If you encounter any enemy submarines, wait for them to come right underneath a tower to get a clearer shot at them before navigating your way through the tricky bases. Once you make it out into open water, stick around and fight off any enemy submarines that come at you until your health gets low, then sink down to the depths and grab a missile pack and repair kit out of a small cavern. Go back up and activate the Caterpillar Drive to rush east until you get underneath the cover of the aircraft carrier. Go down from there, destroy a lone immobile submarine and obtain some Caterpillar Drive fuel and a missile pack in a tricky niche to the lower left. Head back up and go right, destroying several submarines on the way, and pick up a missile three pack as well. After a while, go down when you are above a flashing dot on the radar to pick up a Life-Up. Quickly go up and right and destroy another enemy submarine before getting underneath a tower to act as cover against an enemy aircraft. Grab the Caterpillar Drive fuel on the other side of the tower, then dive down to the lower right. Fend off an enemy submarine close by here. Approach the tower, and weave back and forth until two more foes start coming around. Take them out as well before they can become anything more than a nuisance, then finally swim out to the right of the tower. On the other end, dive into the small underwater cavern, where you will find what is probably a desperately-needed repair kit and a threepack of missiles. Head out of the cavern and then up. Shoot out three missiles to destroy a cruiser off in the distance, then continue east and down a couple more submarines. If you are feeling lucky, try sinking down where you see the first flashing dot on the radar. I say feeling lucky because squeezing into the ropes is an extremely tight fit, and once you pick up the Caterpillar Drive fuel, you have to turn left to go back up without taking any damage. Overall, a hard thing to do. I would not recommend it. After that little bit, continue on east and grab a missile pack. Hover around the tower and wait for the enemy submarine to come underneath the ropes before firing a missile off at it. Go through the tower and pick up some more Caterpillar Drive fuel. Head right again and activate the Caterpillar Drive just before you cross through the tower. Shoot out three missiles to destroy the lurking cruiser as you pick up a repair kit and a missile kit to replace the three you just used up. Wait for enemy submarine(s) to come to you again and pick them off, then continue east. Head down a narrow passageway after a short while, and pick off some opposition as you lower yourself down. Once you hit rock bottom, turn left to enter a small cavern with a Life-Up and Missile Pack. Turn around again and swim back up to the shoreline, then continue east once more to finish the level off. ---------- Boss Fight ---------- Start the final boss fight off by immediately activating the Caterpillar Drive to avoid the fire of the incoming aircraft, then sink down past the four charge beam guns. Grab a Missile pack and Life-Up, then head into the fortress. Stop just shy of the gun dropping a flame down on you. Watch for a bit and you should see that there is a second gun higher up dropping fire down. Swim past the area affected by the two flames, then turn around left. Dive up to the next safe spot, then turn around right and continue in your zig- zag fashion until you can get into the upper hallway. Head right across the hallway, then down, while employing a zig-zag pattern where possible. And so continue to navigate your way through the long hallways. Unless you are feeling pride about trying to beat the game without losing any lives, do not worry too much about losing a life or two trying to get through if you have a good stockpile. Once you finally make it out of the fortress, activate the Caterpillar Drive, and shoot out several missiles to take out the overhead aircraft. Rise up to the surface and stay a short ways away from the gun on the upper right, and shoot at it until it is destroyed. With that, destroy the remaining four bulbs at the right side of the fortress, and pick up a repair kit from the center of the water if you need to. With the destruction of the four bulbs the game will finally be over and you shall have completed The Hunt for Red October. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Passwords -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ [PASS] Some credits to users on GameFAQs for these. Note that some of what GameFAQs lists for controls are inaccurate. 25 Fuel Units Press + Hold A + B, then press Left, then Right (while on the Map Screen) 25 Lives Press + Hold A + B, then press Select, Up, Down (while on the Map Screen) 25 Missiles Press + Hold A, then Press + Hold B, then press Up, then Down (while on the Map Screen) Stage Select Press B, Select, Left, Right, Start (while on the Title Screen) ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Donations/Amazon -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ [DONT] I don't really care too much about donations, but if you are feeling generous, feel free to send one via PayPal to gammabetaalphafaqs AT gmail DOT com Alternatively, if you ever order any items from Amazon.com, go to the link below. You do not have to buy anything right away, but (if you do not clear browser cookies often) any items you buy within the next 90 days will count as a 'referral order' to me, meaning I get anywhere from 4-6% as a referral/affiliate payment of what you ordered (ie. order $100 worth of stuff, I get $4-6 from Amazon.com) www.amazon.com/?&camp=212361&linkCode=wsw&tag=raofavigafa-20&creative=391881 Other than that, considering this FAQ is for an obscure old game, if you have any other obscure old games that you do not play anymore, consider sending them to me (I will even pay the shipping cost!). I write FAQs for plenty of obscure old games with no FAQs, and having a physical copy of the game (and even better, a manual) is superior to not. You can email me if interested at gammabetaalphafaqs AT gmail DOT com ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Contact Info -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ [CONT] Although I believe I have found everything there is to find in this game, there is occasionally the possibility of some super secret level in an obscure game that was never found because it was too obscure, or the like. If you have anything that you feel needs to be includes, feel free to email me at gammabetaalphafaqs AT gmail DOT com If you have any other information to contribute or notice any errors, again, shoot me a notice at gammabetaalphafaqs AT gmail DOT com If you wish to host this guide, or use information from it, consider the FAQ semi-public domain: you can host it without asking and derive information from it word-for-word if you wish, but keep the document unchanged if hosting it and give credit where due if using information ________________________________________________________________________________ ©2011 GammaBetaAlpha FAQs