Rush 'N Attack FAQ/walkthrough Arcade game FAQ version 1.0.0 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net This document looks to cover a walkthrough of the first four scenes of Rush 'N Attack, Arcade version, up to where you rescue the POW's. It is NOT an NES FAQ. It is probably a final draft as I have used the MAME emulator to play it and really have only a 24 hour period in which to play the game. The material herein is copyright 2000 Andrew Schultz and may not be reproduced for profit without my consent. If you wish to post this on your website please send me a mail addressing me by my first name and I will likely respond positively. ****AD SPACE**** My page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/ My old games page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/games/games.htm ************************ OUTLINE BASIC STRATEGIES POINT SCORING LEVEL 1 (MISSILE) LEVEL 2 (HARBOR) LEVEL 3 (BRIDGE) LEVEL 4 (POW'S) THE GREAT YONDER MISCELLANY VERSIONS/CREDITS ************************ BASIC STRATEGIES The walkthrough is easier said than done, and there are some moves that will be useful throughout the game. They are listed below, along with some things you don't want to do and quirks of the game that you may be able to use to your advantage. Some of these may be re-stated in the walkthrough, but these general principles should get you pretty far. --Don't stand under or above ladders. As a corollary, get the hang of moving up/down them quickly. --Hanging around near the left of the screen(except during the first boss scene) is bad as enemies jump out from there at regularly timed intervals. You should be pressing forward anyway, and you can't outrun your opponents either. --Crouching's a lot better than jumping to avoid bullets. You are invulnerable except to jumpers. --With a gun, you must crouch to nail mines or nail weapons guys that are crouching. --A grenade clears off a half-screen to the right of where you've thrown it. So if you go right, back up, and throw it, you may not get guys on the edge. --If there is a weapons guy above you, he will go to the left and look for a ladder, unless there is none, in which case he will go to the right. Note that if he is going to the left and you run to the right so a ladder is no longer in view, he will switch directions. This can gain you a few shots you might otherwise have lost. --Also, weapons jump out to the right of a guy who was just killed. --You have a lot of leeway jumping past(broad jump) or over(standing jump) a soldier. --On the other hand, you may need to jump early in order to get the guys who jump at you. Knifing at waist level when their body is above you means curtains for you. --As the game goes on, you can't waste your special weapons as much. Be aware, though, that at the end of a wave you lose all charges you had. --If you don't go forward for a while, the game sends three jumpers and a shooter to spur you into action. --If you do die, you are usually reset to a place just before a weapons person. Until the last level. --Orange/blue guys will attempt to follow you, although grenadiers just try to stay on the same level. --You can get a bunch of guys following you as it takes time for the orange guys to kneel and fire. --With a missile launcher, always run forward unless you're shot at from behind. Who knows how many opponents you may take out? --Opponents who go slightly off the screen are still in the computer's memory. But you can still outrun them. --Parachutists may follow you from behind, and if they do it's a good time to use a weapon on them. --Never, never jump forward to knife someone with a ladder in the way. You'll catch on to the ladder. This goes double for jumpers. Stand, wait, and kill them. --You can turn around pretty quickly on the ground to knife enemies. But you can't do so in the air. --If you see a guy crawling toward you, run at him. They're very slow and if you wait to knife him, someone sneaking up from behind will get you. --If you are forced to crouch and people are coming at you at the same time from left and right, don't worry. If you're quick both of them will fall. You can turn and knife fairly quickly standing up too. --You can jump over mines if you're careful--you can even pick up grenades that are over them! --If you blow up a weapons guy who is on a ladder, you may have to go upstairs to get the good stuff. --If you go by a cannoner by walking above him, be prepared as he will turn the cannon the other way and fire at you some more. --Some versions of Rush 'N Attack put a time limit on each level. POINT SCORING NOTE: if you hit a bunch of guys with a special weapon, the point totals change. They are as follows: --350 points for every guy you nail with the flamethrower --350 points for the first guy you hit with the grenade/missile launcher, 400 for the next, and add 50 for each subsequent 0 points for blowing up a mine 40 points for the guy guiding the dogs at the end of the harbor scene 40 points for the guys in the auto-gyros 100 points for crouching soldiers 200 points for orange/blue gunners 200 points for grenadiers(orange/blue) 200 points for standard soldiers(brown coats) whether fast or slow 200 points for soldiers with bazookas(brown coats) 200 points for all dogs at the end of the harbor scene, brown or white 300 points for guys who give you weapons("weapons guys") 350 points for jumpers(light beige coats) 450 points for parachutists, who become jumpers 500 points for flamethrower guy you beat to rescue the POWs Estimates for point totals: 20K to get through level 1 without losing a guy 45K for level 2 80K for level 3 ~120K(?) for level 4 LEVEL 1 (MISSILE) This one isn't so bad. While in front of the bridges everyhting is straightforward. It isn't until after the second weapons guy/flamethrower that you get your first real challenge. Some joker is firing a cannon and you must make sure it doesn't hit you. There are two solutions--time your run or nail him with a flamethrower. Both work well enough, especially considering the number of blue guys there are to kill to get a new flamethrower. After the cannon, you'll want to duck down and blow up the mines as that is much easier than jumping. From there the rest of the level is pretty straightforward. Remember to take out the orange guys if they get on your tail and don't bother climbing on the trucks--they're not worth it. After you kill a weapons guy in front of the trucks, you may want to hold off on using your flamethrower, as that will make the boss scene very easy and there isn't much else left to challenge you. When you get to the missiles a truck will drive by. Go all the way to the left. Fire just before you're about to get hit. Three of these will knock out fourteen guys(including two jumpers) and take you to the next level. You should have this level down cold if you want to make a serious run to rescue the POW's. LEVEL 2 (HARBOR) Some new enemies are introduced here, but they are pretty much isolated, so they shouldn't be a problem. Crawlers can be taken out, but remember they're slower than walkers. Also, the first grenadier may be a problem. Just run at him and retreat, and he will be as easy as a regular soldier. When the sheds change you'll want to climb up to knife the weapons guy and get your first missile launcher. These are really the best weapon, as you can follow them and make them last a bit longer. There will be a few of them to pick up on the upper level, so stay there. When jumpers come by, you may wish to stop running and meet them straight up in the air. Remember it's better to jump too early than too late, but if you're really in a squeeze and have a missile, use it. When you must jump off the second level, always test the edge first and go back. It may cause a parachutist to jump down early, which is one less nuisance to deal with, as you can just wait for him to pass by. Again whenever possible make it back up to the second floor, except for when you get to the third(?) set of sheds. In that case climb down when you get to the pointy shed, as there's a cannoner there who will cause you no end of grief if you try to run above and past him. You'll also get to use grenades for the first time, and while they may be the least useful, they can save some hassles, and you'll need to get used to them. One good trick is to throw them and move away. I don't believe you get killed for throwing a grenade and running into it, but it doesn't look smart and I never tried to waste a game on a suicide mission. Anyway, once you see a submarine behind you, you are close. The sirens(and your inability to move the screen right) signal that the dogs are coming. Stand up while you knife to the left. Then crouch and knife to the right. Repeat four times, and you're done with this. Although this level has more complex challenges than level 1, you should be able to make it through unscathed more often than not. LEVEL 3 (BRIDGE) The action heats up here. With a brick wall in the background and a platform above you will find that the enemies get a lot tougher. There weren't any cannons in level 2, but they come back with a vengeance in level 3. You'll be doing a lot more running/retreating than you did in the first two levels. Special weapons are the safest way to dispose of the cannons, but knifing them is not a bad way to improve your skill(you'll need to learn it for the next level, anyway.) You may have to face shooters, jumpers and a cannon all at once so I must reiterate the need to proceed with caution. You'll know you're near the end of the brick background when you see a flamethrower. There are double- cannons here, which definitely require a few attack/throw grenade/feint combinations in a row. The tall barbed wire fence background will appear soon after, and you'll want to climb up the stairs. Don't use your flamethrower(if you die on this scene, it will be TOUGH, but do- able) until you see the jumpers, then take them out. The next guys to take out are the grenadiers. Before you get to the edge of the platform, you may want to crouch when the parachutist falls down and get rid of him. Then drop off(be aware you drop straight down) and try to jump over the mines instead of shooting them. When you get to the log platforms climb up them. There is a weapons person right after two grenadiers, so follow the usual procedure for taking care of them. There will also be some jumpers and a standing jump may work best to take care of them. At some point there will be a bazooka along with other special guys and you want to be sure to duck and fire, since it is tough to see the missile against the background of white trees, &c. You'll get a weapon just before the bridge which isn't really useful as the autogyros aren't so tough in any event. Although it is tough to judge when they move up and down, when they are almost touching the ground, it is not too tough to jump and nail them. Be aware that they throw grenades at regularly timed intervals and always throw them forward. Thus they are really rather predictable. Losing one guy on this level is not the end of the world. Your score should be over 70,000 now, so four guys will make it a lot easier to get through the final level. LEVEL 4 (POW'S) Whoo, boy, the difficulty picks up here. The first part of the scene consists of a bunch of barns. You will get to the first ammunition guy, a blue guy, and when you knife him the grenade may fall over a mine. No big deal. Just before the mine, do a broad jump, and you'll get the grenade. Yay! Now I prefer to climb up the stairs and over a mine before falling off, to save grenades, but during the early part you can be profligate as more weapons guys will appear. Towards the end you should find a guy with a missile launcher, but be sure to watch out for the double-cannons. Use grenades on them and run. Once you get the missile launcher, take off to the right. Some jumpers and gunners will follow you, so you'll want to turn around and give it to 'em just before you get to the platform. Climb on the platform and watch out for the usual. If you can hold onto the missiles, great, but chances are you won't be able to. This will probably make things tough when you are forced to drop down to ground level again. There's a mine with a cannon behind it. Timing is tricky here, but if you can jump over it and knife the guy you should be all right. This will probably repeat before you finally get to a weapons guy. Once you get to the cells where the prisoners are held it's pretty much downhill. There are a few more jumpers than usual but standing jumps will take care of them(just watch your back so a soldier doesn't nail you!) You'll run by a brick fence with barbed wire, and once you get all the way to the right, the final boss fight awaits. It's not too bad. There are three flamethrowers, and each moves the same way. His preferred pattern is to fire waist high, move right, fire waist high, move right, and fire at your feet. If you commit too early to ducking he will fire low, and it's a bit of a nuisance to time your jump, so wait until you see the level his gun is at, then DUCK. Before he fires at your feet you may want to jump early as he is so close to you. Once you've jumped, he's a sitting duck. Repeat three times, and you'll have rescued the POW's. Congratulations! Oh, BTW, don't blink or you'll miss the ending. A soldier must be alert, blah, blah. THE GREAT YONDER After level 4, the game recycles to level 1, except soldiers come out in threes instead of pairs. There are also trebles of jumpers at planned intervals, and the boss scene at the end features a lot more jumpers as well. I couldn't get past level 6 so I don't know what all the boss scenes are like, but evidence strongly suggests the game gets considerably tougher once you've beaten the first cycle. MISCELLANY This game is different from the Nintendo in many ways, but any difference between the two will go in my Nintendo FAQ, if I can ever be bothered or if I remember them. The observant reader will certainly be able to detect the more relevant differences. The most relevant ones to strategy may be the crouching soldiers and the revelation that weapons guys you shoot still cough up their weapons in the Arcade, unlike the NES. And the graphics are clearly more detailed in the arcade even if NES has a cooler soundtrack. A rough level map is below, as well: MISSILE<-->NES level 1 (NONE) <-->NES level 2 HARBOR<-->NES level 3 BRIDGE<-->NES level 4 POW'S<-->NES level 5 (NONE)<==>NES level 6 After the harbor, an offbeat but catchy "remix" of La Marseillaise plays. VERSIONS/CREDITS 1.0.0 Completed 12/13/2000, submitted to GameFAQs.com 12/20/2000 Thanks to emux.com for having the ROM's and for pointing out this game was strictly legal for only 24 hours. 'Cause I could waste too much time on it otherwise(Actually, I did anyway :) ) I also don't want to forget my competitors/partners I played this game with at the US Naval Academy(no, really!) in the summer of '90, Bowen Kerins and Royce Peng. We took over the high score list rather nicely, and I think one of them got to the flamethrower...but until now I never got that far.