FIST OF THE NORTH STAR FAQ/WALKTHROUGH by Squall Strife (squallstrife420@hotmail.com) This FAQ is copyright 2000 Squall Strife. It may be used at the following sites without my permission: GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) Video Game Strategies (http://vgstrategies.about.com) Any other site that wants to use it, just send me an email-unless you’re one of those online cattle rustlers down at Megagames.com. Then don’t bother. Update: 10/13 - Derek Boyer was nice enough to clarify the name of Kenshiros' fourth brother, Toki. He also included information about Raoh, but not wanting to be spoiled I skipped that part. Rest assured though, when I do get to that point in the manga/series, I shall update once more. “Why, Squall?” you ask. “Why would a promising young FAQ writer like yourself be doing writing a FAQ on this, a game condemned by many as one of the worst games in history?” Good question-it’s cause I like FOTNS, dangit! I like the movie, I like the series, I love the manga-which can be even more violent then the movie sometimes, ie: Kenshiro punching *through* Shins’ hand. >_< OW! Ray slicing a Fang Clan member into *sixteen* pieces! The grisly demise of a lone Fang Clan member, as Kenshiro punches him, *then* Ray slices him. The result? He falls apart, and the pieces explode! In fact, I shall dispel some of the myths about this games’ badness. Someone, interview me please! Yes, you, the Saiya-jin in the reporters’ outfit with the big book of reviews slung on your shoulder! Q: All the enemies look the same! A: Not quite, they do differ from stage to stage. And the lack of variety is actually in sync with the anime. All the baddies of the FOTNS world that aren’t important-the bikers that I simply call Fist Fodder-pretty much look alike-big shirtless guys with mohawks, warpaint, shoulderpads, suspenders and leather pants with kneepads, and the occasional iron mask/helmet thrown in for variety. Q: You can’t die! A: Again, in sync with the anime. Kenshiro is pretty much indestructible. Q: The first stage never ends! A: All the stages can seem that way. What you have to do is go through the doors when you see the little girl, Lynne. Just hold A & B (or the corresponding buttons on your emulator) and press up. Make sure you don’t miss her, or the stage really WILL go on forever. Q: Why would anyone even NEED a FAQ for this game?! It’s incredibly easy! A: Well, yeah…but like I sad, I just love FOTNS, so I can’t stand by and let its’ game go on without any FAQs, can I? Hope that cleared some stuff up! ^_^ Anyway….in this game you control Kenshiro, master of….“Gento Karate?” WTF? It’s Hokuto Shinken, you heretics! Your Hokuto Shinken is a marvelous power indeed. It allows you to strike at the 708 secret power points of the human body-called Tsubo in the manga-and destroy a foe from within, making his head, chest, or whatever you hit swell up like a balloon and explode in a gruesome shower of bloody chunks. This does have other uses besides blowing people up (healing the disabled, controlling peoples’ bodies, etc) but the head-poppin’ is the main use of Hokuto Shinken in this game. And suprisingly, for an NES game the effect is replicated quite well! Your opponents will pulsate, tear apart and explode! Delicious! In this game, you can slaughter your foes in three ways. 1-Punch them to blow them up in a spray of gore. 2-Kick them to send them flying off the screen to their doom. 3-Hit or kick their flying projectiles to send them back into the enemies’ head with splattery results! Before we get started, I should also explain the controls (since you’re more than likely playing this on a ROM) A = Punch B = Kick Up = Jump A + B + Up = Go in doors OK, on to the walkthrough! As a little touch of my own, I’ve added bios of all the bosses. (they actually make up the bulk of this FAQ) I should get special credit for being able to recognize them from those graphics…. STAGE ONE: Note: Due to the fact that you cannot die and can simply walk through your enemies, the stage walkthroughs will pretty much be about which door to go in. I know, you can tell which door to go in by where Lynne is, but hey, I have to have *something* for the stage walkthroughs, don’t I? First, go in the first door you come to. Then, go in the fourth. Go to the left to meet Heart. BOSS: HEART This could be an interesting fight if your fists could get stuck in Hearts’ super-absorbent belly like the anime/manga Heart. Sadly, it is not the case. Just punch, punch and kick to blow Heart into fatty chunks. Hearts’ bio: Known as The Martial Artist Killer, Heart was one of Shins’ four generals, along with Spade, Club and Diamond, and was the last one to die. Shin counted on Hearts’ Blob-like ability to absorb attacks to kill Kenshiro, for each of his punches would be encased in flesh and stopped before reaching power points. This might have worked, but Kenshiro used the Soft Breaking Slash of the North Star (manga) / North Star Death by Soft Strikes (anime) move to defeat him. A series of rapid-fire kicks rippled and parted Hearts’ flab, giving Kenshiro a clear shot at a power point. Heart was blown to smithereens, his gift almost good enough to beat Hokuto Shinken-but not quite. STAGE TWO Go in the second door, then the second door, then the third door. BOSS: SHIN Shin will hop around with strange sorts of ballet moves while flinging knives at you. Just hit or kick him rapidly when he lands-for some reason kneeling attacks hit him more often than standing ones. And kicks will also work well. Pound his health into nothing and he’ll pulse rather nicely before exploding all over the screen. Shins’ bio: Shin, the Fist of the South Star and undisputed master of Hokuto Shinkens’ opposite school, Nanto Seiken, (gouging and slicing people apart with his bare fists and feet) used to be a friend of Kenshiros. However, he was in love with Yulia (series) / Julia (movie) / Yuria (manga), Kenshiros’ fiancée. This spark was spurred on by the evil Jagi, who corrupted Shin in his crusade to take everything away from Kenshiro. Shin then confronted the happy couple, defeated Kenshiro and tortured him until Yulia said she loved him. The two then went off together, leaving Kenshiro bleeding in the desert. He then took the name of King and formed a massive army known as the Kingsmen, ruling all he surveyed until finally confronted by Kenshiro again. They fought, and this time Shin lost. Kenshiro pounded out the Bloody Cross (Shins’ symbol) on Shins’ chest in power points. Shin talked for a moment of his love for Yulia, and then flung himself off the balcony to his doom rather than die by Hokuto Shinken. STAGE THREE Go in the first, third, fourth, second, second, and second doors. I know these one-line stage walkthroughs may seem a little strange, but remember, this is a game that can be beaten in less than ten minutes. BOSS: JAGI Jagi’s a sucker for kicks. Just give him as many kicks as you can muster and he should be in pieces before he can even attack. Jagi’s bio: A scheming, evil man, Jagi tried out for the Fist of the North Star position along with Kenshiro, Raoh and Toki. Upon hearing of Kenshiro being chosen, Jagi confronted him in rage, with the result of Kenshiro becoming soundly fed up and wiping the floor with Jagi effortlessly, ending with a punch that wasn’t a head popping punch but just enough to cause his skull to swell and pulsate with intense pain for the rest of his life. Kenshiro sent him on his way, but it would have been batter had he finished him off. Wearing an iron mask and inflicting seven scars on his chest, Jagi took Kenshiros’ name and terrorized the innocent with what he knew of Hokuto Shinken. Eventually Kenshiro heard of this and came looking for him, and in the resulting battle, Kenshiro used a furious flurry of punches to end Jagis’ evil with a glorious full-body explosion. STAGE FOUR No doors, just walk to the left to meet Joker. BOSS: JOKER He moves a lot like Shin. And like Shin, your best bet is to wait until he’s landed and hit him with a flurry of kicks. Enough feet to the face and Jokers’ heart will explode, followed by the rest of him. Jokers’ bio: Shins’ second-in-command, Joker appeared only in the series. A man of many tricks, Joker could control birds, teleport and fling razor edged playing cards by the hundreds. He was usually Shins’ messenger, but eventually he engaged Kenshiro in combat when he thought him to be weakened. He miscalculated however, and after a VERY short fight, Kenshiros’ North Star Fist of Lingering Regret let a large amount of daylight into Jokers’ skull. Pity, I rather liked him… STAGE FIVE Now THIS stage can be frustrating as hell, because the door with Lynne is not always the right one. You may want to write this down: Go in the third, ninth, third, third, second, and first doors, then continue left to meet Raoh. BOSS: RAOH Let Raoh get you against the wall. That way, he won’t use his sonic waves. Then just punch and kick till Raoh is no more. A winner is you! Raohs’ bio: The only person in the world more powerful than Kenshiro, Raoh is practically a god. Though he didn’t receive the full knowledge of Hokuto Shinken (there is only one Fist of the North Star in the world at one time) his power is enough to beat Kenshiro to a pulp. And that’s exactly what he did in the movie. (I haven’t seen him in the series or manga yet) In fact, he would have killed Kenshiro, if Yulia hadn’t interfered and set up a meeting between the two of them in a desert oasis, and here the movie ends. I don’t know what happens to him in the series or manga, though. And that’s not an invitation to email me a spoiler. ^_^ After that, “enjoy” the ending. :P I don’t mean to sound disillusioning, but Vegita (the reporter from before) said it best in his review. “I didn't know it was physically possible, but this ending simultaneously sucks AND blows.”