Rampage 2: Universal Tour (N64) Darrin (forceXdistance) Copyright 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------- Obligatory standard boiler-plate disclaimer: This walkthrough may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is a FAQ for beating Rampage 2 Universal Tour for the Nintendo 64. The FAQ should be applicable for any difficulty, character, or settings (including beating hard-mode with the worst character Noobus (see below for details). This particular installment of the Rampage series requires some skill. Unlike other versions, the only way to beat this game is to do it WITHOUT any continues!! This can be a rather daunting task, but thankfully you can save your current progress and life reserve to the memory pak about every 5 stages. Rampage is not a game usually remembered for requiring brains (or even brawn) to beat. This version of rampage actually forces you to stop, think, and plan a bit (certainly not typical expectations for this posse of Godzilla or King-Kong wannabees). There are definitely subtle strategies that can be used to maximize your performance in this game. Without any knowledge or skill, the game could easily wipe out your life/guy reserves in a matter of only a few stages. When you choose a character, he/she will be your character throughout the duration of the game. As such, make sure you choose one that suits your needs in terms of speed, climbing ability, and strength (as shown by the stats-bars). Since each level of the game is very similar, I will opt to make this FAQ more user-friendly by simply describing a series of important topics. Suffice it to say that there are about 130 stages (i.e. 'days') in the game. Rampage games in general are fairly notorious for being 'repetitive,' but if you limit yourself to completing 1 or 2 continents a day, you may feel more refreshed to play again. Since the game does not have infinite continues, it is not as repetitive as one would think. It actually builds a sense of suspense and danger as you are forced to actually strategize to get to the end. In general, and in my opinion, the game is under-rated, especially considering it is one of the very few N64 2D platform-style games (along with only a few others like Mischief Makers, Yoshi's Story, etc.). The game is entertaining once you get into it and know what you are doing. The hand-drawn graphics are excellent, and are definitely more crisp and clean than a typical SNES title. The game is split up into 4 continents and a trip to space which acts as the fifth continent. After every continent, you rescue one of the three original Rampage team (George, Lizzie, and Ralph). After continent 4, you rescue Myukus. If you play as Myukus, you unlcock BIg Al (the most powerful character in the game). In the first 3 continents, you will face tanks, planes, 'normal" copters and jeeps etc....When you hit the 4th and 5 sections, you will face a ground spider-type walker and more agressive choppers. You may wish to read this entire faq before starting the game as it may help to keep some things in mind ahead of time. ---------------------Table Of Contents--------------------- 1. Completing levels quickly before the missile attack 2. Earning extra lives from point totals 3. The importance of health 4. Demolition basics 5. Stockpiling lives 6. Bonus round strategies 7. Hidden Targets 8. Vehicular dispatch strategy 9. Dispatching ground soldiers 11. The importance of finding items 12. Being the healthiest monster you can be 13. The importance of saving special-energy 14. Beating the ultimate Rampage 2 challenge ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Part 1: Clearing a 'country mile' in a 'NY minute' (i.e. Completing levels quickly before the missile attack) Do not waste too much time on any level. Time remaining is not displayed on the screen, but do not be deceived! After a bit of time the air-raid siren will sound, and soon after planes will start buzzing around waiting to drop a bomb with enough strength to almost eliminate an entire life. In other manner of speaking, do not waste too much time laying waste to helicopters, eating people, or destroying ground vehicles. When you hear the air raid sirens, it is time to get those buildings toppled. Now is the time to 'clean house, figuratively but definitely NOT literally! These monsters are freaks, but not neat freaks :) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 2: A useful 'point' about points (i.e. earning extra lives from point totals) Don't disregard or write off point items as unnecessary (like money and emeralds). At about every 50,000 points, the game awards an extra life. Bonus rounds are NOT the only way to attain free lives in this game. Of course, do not eat the dangerous items that hurt you. Every life counts. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Part 3: An apple a day keeps the veterinarian away (i.e. the importance of health) Keep your health bar up! It is important to make offense AND defense a priority in this game. Strike that balance between quality of health vs. quantity of destruction. Eating the green ball will fill you up completely, the food-stuffs will fill you up less, and eating people will give you a very small amount of health. Each monster has a "favorite food" item that will further increase the amount of benefit of consumption. The super-foods of these giants appear below: Boris: Salad Ruby: Fish Curtis: Cheese Lizzie: Eggs George: Bananas Ralph: Steak Noobus: Hot-fudge sundae ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 4: Some 'homewreckers' literally 'bring down the house'(i.e. demolition basics) Know the quickest way to destroy the buildings. For most structures, I have found it helpful to ascend to the top, and down-punch the top of the structure repeatedly until the building starts to fall on its own. However, it may behoove you to punch the occasional visible window on your way up if you are low on health and need some fast-food. I have not found ground-stomping roofs to collapse them to be all that helpful unless you want to lower yourself down a level or two so as to be in punching distance from a plane. However, ground-stomping can be useful for dropping gunmen from open windows who happen to be firing at you. For the low horizontal shaped structures, I have found that if you barely climb you can actually remain on the side. You can punch and drop the building much more quickly than bouncing up and down on the roof like a basketball. If bouncing, however, hold down for quicker bounces. If you see a narrow structure like Big Ben for example, it IS possible to topple them by down-punching the roof in addition to breaking it from the sides. Just stand at the edge until you start to lose balance and turn around. Now you can punch the roof!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 5: Smart ginormous monsters invest for their future (i.e. stockpiling lives) It is important not to lose more than about one life per 5 stages. Why? If you find it difficult to accumulate lives, then you gotta at least break even by gaining one life per each life lost (via gaining lives with bonus rounds or points). Preserve your life reserves by following tips 1,2,3,and 4. With skill, a good player can accumulate over 20 lives by the end of the game. It is a rewarding feeling when you start to rack up extra lives and realize that you might just beat this game after all. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 6: Not what Pat Sajak had in mind for bonus rounds (i.e. bonus round strategies) BONUS ROUND Skyscraper: To topple the skyscraper, ascend the side of the first base building and ground-punch it until you can hear it crumble on its own. Now, quickly ascend the second narrow building in the center and rinse/ repeat. Because Noobus is so weak, you will notice that even when successful you will only have about 5 seconds left! Toppling the buildings grant a free guy, full health, and a full health meter. BONUS ROUND Long-jump: This is risky, because the more you try to win the more you risk losing what you found. I find the flying somewhat difficult, so I usually opt to make a short hop down and settle for the full health gauge. BONUS ROUND Kicking/stomping humans: It is important to at least kick/stomp 15 people to acquire the free life. With some skill and luck, you can acquire 2 guys (possibly even 3). This is the most important bonus round to take advantage of. I like to stay in the middle of 1 building and kick the people as they hit the ground. Also watch for the random person running towards you from the other building or sides of the screen. I have generally found it a waste of time chasing after people running away from you. Don't sweat the small stuff. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 7: 'Train-spotting' and 'plane-spotting' (i.e. hidden targets) Remember that the train in the distance which seems like background on some of the game levels can be toppled! Just punch upwards at it as if it were in the foreground. Points help! Also get the trains in the foreground if they run by you. There are also bonus jets that sometimes fly past on a sloooow cycle. Carefully dispatch them and watch to see what surprise comes out of the box that drops out of them (for example, you can eat the contents such as a cow for example). The last stage has a space-ship version. There are also stationary targets that move when you get close to them. -------------------------------------------------------------- Part 8: 'Planes, trains, and automobiles'.......and tanks, helicopters, and alien ships (i.e. vehicular dispatch strategy) Jeeps: These can hurt you quickly if they come at you directly in front of you. The best thing to do is to stay above on a building till one drives by and chase it down from behind to dispatch it. Tanks: A 'think-tank' regarding how 'tanks-think' Tanks mean business. Unless you are very high and out of the line of fire, tanks are one of the most dangerous adversaries in the game. The bullets can knock you down, making it hard to get close enough to destroy them (or get away). As such, I have found it helpful to NOT waste the special-moves on buildings. For example, Noobus, Myukus, and Big Al lack heart but have a "keen eye" for cowboy diplomacy. He can remove it at will and easily destroy tanks (talk about looks that kill). Be careful, though, as not all the special moves can destroy tanks with a similar ease. The temporary safety items can also make it easier to destroy the tanks without too much trouble. Helicopters: The early versions like to hover around you like an annoying mosquito. They don't hurt you that bad, but it can add up especially if there are multiple ones firing at you. Usually hit them while clinging to a building or while standing on a building and punching upwards. Pesky bombers: Some levels start with PESKY BOMBERS that rush from side to side. I like to take them out immediately by ascending a building and punching them before they have a chance to knock you back to the ground. This can be done using upward punches or punching sideways toward/away from the building at the plane. You might have to move quickly. Space helicopters: (only found on the last two stages) These choppers are tougher than the regular ones. They shoot a larger stream of bullets, and are more aggressive. Alien GROUND WALKER: (only found on the last two stages) They are not as much of a threat as tanks, but the bullets can still wear you down. If you find yourself in a barrage of spider-fire while down-punching the top of a building, descend down the opposite side and the bullets may back off or miss you as you return to the prior "spot" to lay waste to the building. Also remember that in general you are more of an easy target when you are low to the ground. Being on high structures keeps you more out of harm's way. Civilian targets: Also feel free to take the time to hit civilian targets like ambulances, trucks, bystanders, semis, etc....as they will rack up more points. Be proactive! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 9: A 'few good men' vs. even 'fewer bad monsters' (i.e. dispatching ground-soldiers) Sometimes even ground soldiers can be deadly, especially when they wield rocket-launchers or other similar heavy artillery. Be careful as they sometimes like to hide behind graphics in the foreground. Humans and aliens alike can be dangerous. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Part 10: You are what you eat (i.e. the importance of finding items) Sometimes you can find a 'safety' item that renders you invincible for a short time. I like to use this time to knock out the ground tanks or army jeeps (and destroy the occasional point-target like a car or ambulance en route). Remember that all visible useful items in the windows are hard to acquire quickly as a building is falling and are gone altogether when a building is destroyed. Remember that clocks, "Safety", green/pink balls, food-stuffs, and extra strength powerups are often worth the effort. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Part 11: Taking some 'me time' (i.e. being the healthiest monster you can be) When you are low on health, be proactive! Destroy visible windows for food- stuffs or spend some time eating some people in a pinch. Keep in mind that sometimes soldiers hide behind the foreground and are hard to discern. Also remember that in addition to free lives, you can receive health (and special-move energy) from bonus levels. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Part 12: Dirty deeds not always dirt cheap (i.e. the importance of saving special-energy) Each character has a unique special move. Test them out to see which one suits your playing style. Remember that some special moves are better suited for taking out tanks (such as Myakus, Bigal, and Noobus). Others are better suited for destroying high buildings (such as Boris). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Part 13: Monsters should be seen AND heard! (i.e. final boss) This is more of a "structure" than a boss, but it does have an enemy life bar to deplete. Just down-punch as per usual until it is destroyed. You may lose a life or two in the process, but by now you hopefully acquired 10-20 extra lives. Enjoy the ending. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 14: ENCORE!! Beating the Rampage 2 ultimate challenge -Set the difficulty to HARD -Input sry3d and select "Noobus" (weakest character) -Input bvggy and select "1-life" and "90% building strength" This feat can be done using the same strategies delineated in this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks for reading!! Darrin (forceXdistance)