------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # ,#### ############# ########## ##### ,# ## ,#####....##....#...#..# #..#......##...# ##### ### ,##### ### ###..#........#...#...#..# #..#...#...#...# #...# #..##########...## #### ##...#...###...#...#...#..###..#...#...#...# #...# #...#...........## ##.## ##...#...# #...#...#...#...#..##...#...#...# #...# #...#...........## ##..## ##...#...# #...#...#...##.....##......##...# #...# #...#....######### ##...####...#...# #...#...#...# #...# #...#...#...# #...# #...#....# ##.....##...#...###...#...#...# #...# #...#...#...## #...# #...#....# ,# ##..........#...###...#...#...# #...# #...#...#...`####...# #...#....######### ##..........#.........##.....# #...# #......##.......#...###...#...........## ##...#......#...###...# #...# ##### ####### ####....#....#....#....####...## ##...##.....#...# #...# ### ######........#....# `##### ##...# ##...#...# #### ###.....#....# ## ##...# ###.#..## # ###.##....## ##...# ##### ###.....#### ,# ##...# ## ##.......#### ##...# ##.......## ##...# ##.....## ##...# ##...## ##.## #..## ### #### ## ## # # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Navy Blue ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- for the Famicom - A Guide by Lagoona - - - - - - This document was optimized for display in SHIFT_JIS encoding with a fixed- width font that displays the Japanese characters exactly twice as wide as the non-Japanese ones. - - - - - Table of Contents: ================== * Introduction _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0100.] * Game Controls_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0200.] - Getting started_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0210.] * Game Mechanics _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0300.] - Overworld_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0310.] - Ship/Weapon selection_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0320.] - Ship positioning _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0330.] - The Fight_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0340.] - Game Progress_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0350.] * Ships and Weapons_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0400.] * General Tips _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0500.] * Unlockables, Ranks and Passwords _ _ _ _ [.0600.] * Secrets_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0700.] * Questions_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0800.] * Version history_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.0900.] * Legal stuff_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.1000.] * Credits_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [.1100.] ------------------------------++++++++++++++++--------------------------------- + Introduction + [.0100.] ------------------------------++++++++++++++++--------------------------------- Welcome to my guide covering Navy Blue, a Famicom title only released in Japan. I am writing this FAQ as a part for the NES FAQ completion project running on the GameFAQs FAQ Contributors - General board. This game was developed by Use in 1989 and published by I'Max in 1992. Navy Blue is a strategy game where you try to sink the enemy's ships on a square grid field before he sinks yours, so basically an enhanced adaptation of the board game 'Battleships'. You're the commander of your fleet and have to fight through several battles from your own base all the way to the enemy base to capture it. Even though it's a Japanese game, it is very well playable also for english- speaking people after a short trial and error decisions - or with the help of this guide. Some of the in-game text is in english, anyway. -----------------------------+++++++++++++++++--------------------------------- + Game Controls + [.0200.] -----------------------------+++++++++++++++++--------------------------------- As a premise, here's the NES Joypad: |#| ________________|#|__________________________________ | _________________________________________________ | | | |_____________| | | | | ___ ,-------------. | | | | | | |_____________| Nintendo | | | | ___| |___ ,-------------. | | | | | ,-. | |SELECT START| ___ ___ | | | | |___ `-' ___| ;=============` |,-.| |,-.| | | | | | | | === === | |._,| |._,| | | | | |___| ;=============. '---' '---' | | | | |_____________| B A | | | ------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- (the cross in the left part is the direction pad) Game controls: -------------- Start - Start game or Password input on the title screen Select - Toggle through options A button - Confirm selected choice/location/password, add weapon B button - Open special weapon menu during battle, remove weapon Change orientation on ship positioning screen Direction pad: Up/Down - Toggle through options, move location cursor Right/Left - Move location cursor _______________ Getting started [.0210.] --------------- At the title screen you can either choose START for a new game or you can choose PASSWORD if you want to continue a previous game. When you start a new game, you'll first get a briefing from your boss (I guess) on the overworld screen. Scroll through the text by pressing A. He'll also tell you how many ships and weapon units you have at your disposal. After that, the actual game starts and you can select which square you want to attack. -----------------------------++++++++++++++++++-------------------------------- + Game Mechanics + [.0300.] -----------------------------++++++++++++++++++-------------------------------- _________ Overworld [.0310.] --------- As soon as you start the game, you'll see this overworld map: (without the numbers, but this will become apparent soon) +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | | | | | | | | | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | Enemy | | | | | | | | 8 | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | | | | | | | | | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | | | | | | | | | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | | | | | | | | | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | | | | | | | | | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | | | | | | | | | Home | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | | | | | | | | | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | Home - Home base, your starting point | | | | Enemy - Enemy base, capture it and you win the game | | | | Numbers indicate the number of enemy ships you'll | | face in the battle on the specific square. | ------------------------------------------------------- Now you can choose a square on the battlefield, or rather water. You can can only go horizontally or vertically to an adjacent square, not diagonally. This means that at the very beginning, you only have two option. After that follows the 'boat/weapon' selection screen, then you'll place your boat on the 8x14 squares wide area, then do the actual fight, and if you win you'll have conquered the overworld square you chose. The final goal of the game is to reach the enemy base and conquer it. _______________________ Ship / Weapon selection [.0320.] ----------------------- After you choose where to fight the next thing is to select your own ships and their arms. At the top of the screen it tells you how many ships you can have and how many units. These numbers gradually increase with the amount of battles you win. You have a total of 8 available ships to choose from, but they all are only available once. Each comes with its own set of special weapons you can equip them with using up your unit points. See the 'Boats and Weapons' chapter for a list of all ships and their weapons together with a discussion of their respective advantages and disadvantages. Generally, the bigger the ship, the more hits it takes to sink it, but the easier it is to find it. Each can be loaded with a freely customizable amount of its specific special weapon, as long as it's within the total allowed unit number. Generally, the larger the area of effect of a weapon, the more expensive it is. So consider well which weapons to take with you. Also keep in mind that, if during the actual battle a ship sinks with still a weapon loaded, the latter is lost, too. When you've made your choices and are happy with it, go on END and confirm ('A' button, then again for the upper choice). ________________ Ship positioning [.0330.] ---------------- After the ship and weapon selection comes the positioning of your fleet on the actual battlefield. Move your ships around with the direction pad, turn them from vertical to horizontal orientation with the 'B' button and place them with 'A'. When you're done and happy with the arrangement, confirm the question with 'A' (upper choice). While you're actually completely free to place your ships wherever you want them, overlapping doesn't work. Also, it is generally not a good idea with how the battle system works (see section 'The Fight') to clutter your ships in one place, placing them one beside the other. The AI will find and hit them much more easily. Also, ships placed on the borders can only be found from 'inside' - meaning there are less areas around it that can give them away. This is especially true for small ships. This is an arrangement that's more likely to let you win a battle: . . . . . . . . . . . . ._. . . . . . . . . . . . . |_| . . . . . ._____. . . . . . ._. . . . |_____| . . ._. . | | . . . . . . . . . | | . | | . . . . . . . . . | | . | | . . . . . . . . . |_| . |_| . . . . . . . . . . . . This is a setup that will almost instantly mean your defeat once the AI lands a single hit: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._._. . . . . . . . . . . . | | | . . . . . . . . . . . | | | . . . . . . . . ._____| |_| . . . . . . . . |_____|_|_| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _________ The Fight [.0340.] --------- After the ship placement, the real thing starts. For those not familiar with the 'Battleships' idea, here's a short summary: Each contrahent has a (here 8 x 14 squares wide) grid with his own ships. The opponent's grid is not visible, though. Then they interchangeably fire shots at specific squares of each other's grid, trying to hit the other's ships and sinking all of them before loosing all of their own. In Navy Blue, you play against the CPU. One thing that's the same for every battle is that the enemy always gets the first turn. Then it goes back and forth between you and the CPU. When you fire a shot, you get one of three possible 'answers': MISS - Miss おおなみ (大波) - Billow (near hit) You missed, but there's a ship on an adjacent square horizontally or vertically HIT - Hit - The symbol tells you you hit a ship but it didn't sink yet - The fire tells you the ship you hit has sunk (In case a vessel goes down, you'll get another comment: 撃沈 sunk or 撃墜 shot down ) The shots will leave their specific mark on the water grid: Black circle - Miss (and no ship nearby horizontally or vertically) Crosshair arrows - Billow (miss, but there's a ship on an adjacent square horizontally or vertically) Blinking symbol - Hit (the target hasn't sunk yet) Fire - Hit (the target has gone down) Below is an example of a battlefield after the use of an 8-hit special weapon (one I used always as a first strike): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . o . x . x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Hit . x . . . o . . . . . . . . o Miss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + Billow . + . o . + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . When you get something like this, you can be satisfied. It is very likely that there's an enemy boat positioned horizontally in the second row where you hit twice, so aim your next shot(s) exactly between (and if necessary right/left of) them. One more thing that can help you is when you observe the animations during your attack. If after a hit one boat swims out of the picture and another one comes in for the next hit, this means you got two different ships. If there's no ship changing animation, you hit the same vessel twice. What you can learn from the second column shot is that you needn't look for the enemy boat you hit upwards. The next shot should be aimed between the Hit and the Billow. If this is a not a Hit, this isn't bad - you know even know there's yet another ship near the bottom left Billow. Last but not least, the two Misses above and to the left of the bottom right Billow tell you that you needn't look for the nearby enemy ships upwards and left of the Billow, but either right or down of it. When it's your turn, you can either select a square to attack with your one- shot attack with infinite ammo, or you can go to the in-battle menu by pressing 'B'. There you've got two choices, ITEM or DAMAGE. ITEM lets you choose one of your bought and still available special weapons (toggle through them with the direction pad, select one with 'A', leave the menu without choosing one with 'B'). As long as you still have any, you'll get the following info: ノユリ Number - how many of this special weapon you have - the respective special weapon's name カーソル Cursor - how many shots it has (number of squares it hits) ? - (no idea what that indicates) If you have no special weapons left, you'll get: ナツ Empty DAMAGE lets you have a look at your own ships. Here the squares that were under attack already are marked by a water splash symbol for MISSes and BILLOWs, while the HITs are shown by fire. That's it for how the game works. Be aware that the AI is unscrupulous and seems to find your ships too easily. Thus use your special weapons while you still have them and try to inflict maximum damage with them (see also 'Ships and Weapons' section). It doesn't matter at all if you win the fight with all of your boats still intact or if you do so with your very last shot and only one last bit of ship left. All that matters is win or lose, no bonus for especially well fought battles. 敗戦 Defeat 勝利 Victory _____________ Game Progress [.0350.] ------------- As you win battles and progress in the game, your resources for the next battle will increase. You always have more units at your disposal, and from time to time a ship more or you unlock an additional special weapon. Just look at the list below to see how many ships and units you'll have for each successive battle. 1. Battle - 4 ships, 24 units 2. Battle - 4 ships, 26 units 3. Battle - 4 ships, 28 units 4. Battle - 4 ships, 30 units --- new weapon (3. weapon for Nuclear Submarine) 5. Battle - 4 ships, 32 units 6. Battle - 4 ships, 38 units --- one more ship 7. Battle - 5 ships, 40 units 8. Battle - 5 ships, 42 units 9. Battle - 5 ships, 44 units 10. Battle - 5 ships, 46 units --- new weapon (3. weapon for Destroyer) 11. Battle - 5 ships, 52 units --- one more ship 12. Battle - 6 ships, 54 units --- new weapon (3. weapon for Battleship) 13. Battle - 6 ships, 56 units 14. Battle - 6 ships, 58 units 15. Battle - 6 ships, 60 units 16. Battle - 6 ships, 66 units --- one more ship 17. Battle - 7 ships, 68 units --- new weapon (3. weapon for Aircraft carrier) 18. Battle - 7 ships, 70 units 19. Battle - 7 ships, 72 units 20. Battle - 7 ships, 74 units 21. Battle - 7 ships, 76 units 22. Battle - 7 ships, 78 units 23. Battle - 7 ships, 80 units 24. Battle - 7 ships, 82 units 25. Battle - 7 ships, 84 units 26. Battle - 7 ships, 86 units 27. Battle - 7 ships, 88 units The minimum battles required to fight to be able to win and beat the game is only nine. Battles are harder the bigger the difference between the amount of your ships and the number of enemy ships, and of course the lower your own unit number. However, I haven't found some kind of steady increase of enemy AI - all battles are hard, the may just become less balanced when you rush through the game. -----------------------------+++++++++++++++++++++----------------------------- + Ships and Weapons + [.0400.] -----------------------------+++++++++++++++++++++----------------------------- While during the battle, you have infinite shots with your default shot hitting one square, each ship can be equipped with three different special weapons. As described above, this is done in the ship / weapon selection screen. There you first choose your ships out of the 8 available ones, between four and seven, according to your currently allowed number of ships. Then you buy special weapons for them, using up your 'unit' capacity. While every ship can only be selected once, you can add multiple of the same weapon to them if you want. Below is a list of all eight ship types, together with their weapons and corresponding effect. I'll also discuss their advantages and drawbacks. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 空母 Aircraft Carrier | | .-------.------------------------------------| | 2 x 4 squares | Unit | Area of effect | | | costs | | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 1: ファントム Phantom | 10 | 4 single, freely selectable shots | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 2: トムキャット Tomcat | 18 | 5 single, freely selectable shots | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 3: イーグル Eagle | 24 | 6 single, freely selectable shots | | (unlocked after 17 battles) | | | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The most obvious feature of the Aircraft carrier is its size. This makes it | | easy to locate on one hand, but this also means that it takes more hits | | until it goes down, a factor that shouldn't be underestimated. Just imagine | | having to take this one out square by square - it would take you a whopping | | 8 turns. | | The weapons it can carry are quite powerful. However, they are extremely | | expensive. | | I always had one of them in my armada, just for its size, but I rarely gave | | it any special weapons. | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 戦艦 Battleship | | .-------.------------------------------------| | 1 x 5 squares | Unit | Area of effect | | | costs | | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 1: 16 インチホウ | 6 | 4 shots | | 16-inch ? | | x x | | | | x x | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 2: タロス Talos ? | 8 | 5 shots | | | | x . x | | | | . x . | | | | x . x | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 3: ポセイドン Poseidon | 18 | 9 shots | | | | x . x . x | | | | . . . . . | | (unlocked after 12 battles) | | x . x . x | | | | . . . . . | | | | x . x . x | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The Battleship is the longest of all ships and has a nice special weapons. | | However, the last one isn't available from the beginning - and it is quite | | expensive. The first two are worth considering, too, if you decide to go | | with this ship. | | However, compared to other ships (with cheaper weapons), this one is in my | | opinion not a top choice. I mostly chose others over it. | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 巡洋艦 Cruiser | | .-------.------------------------------------| | 1 x 4 squares | Unit | Area of effect | | | costs | | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 1: アスロック ASROC | 4 | 3 shots | | | | x . . . . | | | | . . . . . | | | | . . x . . | | | | . . . . . | | | | . . . . x | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 2: スタンダード Standard| 6 | 4 shots | | | | x . . x | | | | . . . . | | | | . . . . | | | | x . . x | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 3: シースパロー | 10 | 6 shots | | Sea Sparrow | | x . . x . . x | | | | . . . . . . . | | | | . . . . . . . | | | | x . . x . . x | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The Cruiser is four squares long and has a set of pretty awkward special | | weapons. They are ok for their price, but definitely not the best. | | However, they cover a pretty wide area, and the third one is a good starter | | for the early battles, when you don't have the 8-shot of the Nuclear | | Submarine unlocked yet. | | After battle #4, this ship became obsolete for me and I rarely used it. | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 駆逐艦 Destroyer | | .-------.------------------------------------| | 1 x 3 squares | Unit | Area of effect | | | costs | | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 1: アイカラ Aikara ? | 3 | 3 shots x x x (horizontal) | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 2: シーウルフ Seawolf | 5 | 4 shots | | | | x (vertical) | | | | x | | | | x | | | | x | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 3: エグゾセ Exocet | 15 | 1 shot, freely selectable | | | | When it HITs, it destroys | | (unlocked after 10 battles) | | a target ship completely! | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The Destroyer is one of two 3-square sized ships. Its first two special | | weapons are rather straightforward and relatively cheap cost-wise. The last | | one (Exocet) is pretty expensive, but - if used right - can be extremely | | effective. Make sure you do hit an enemy vessel and it goes completely down | | with this one single shot. This makes it the perfect weapon to take down an | | Aircraft Carrier. However, if you miss, there go 15 units down the drain | | without you getting more info that with a single normal shot. So it's up to | | you to decide if you want to invest in it or not. | | A sidenote: if you cheat and are using save states, check the area with a | | wide range special first to find enemy ships, reload, then take down the | | big ones with your Exocets for a rather fast victory. | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 原潜 Nuclear Submarine | | .-------.------------------------------------| | 1 x 3 squares | Unit | Area of effect | | | costs | | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 1: トマホーク Tomahawk | 4 | 4 shots x x x x (horizontal) | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 2: ポラリス Polaris | 8 | 6 shots | | | | x x x (horizontal) | | | | x x x | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 3: トラィデント Trident | 14 | 8 shots | | | | x . x . x | | | | . . . . . | | (unlocked after 4 battles) | | x . . . x | | | | . . . . . | | | | x . x . x | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The Nuclear Submarine is the second 3-square sized ship. And it comes with | | an excellent set of special weapons. The first one, Tomahawk, is almost a | | must buy, and also the second one, Polaris, is very nice to have. To top it | | off, after four won battles you get the last one, the Trident. This one is | | the weapon of choice to start a battle at least until you won 12 fights, | | that's when you get the Poseidon for the Battleship. Even then, I myself | | stuck to the Trident till the end and invested the 4 unit points into some- | | thing else. | | So all in all, the Nuclear Submarine is a must-have, especially after four | | won battles, with quite versatile weaponry. | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 爆撃機 Bomber | | .-------.------------------------------------| | 1 x 2 squares | Unit | Area of effect | | | costs | | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 1: ターター Taataa ? | 3 | 3 shots | | | | x (vertical) | | | | x | | | | x | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 2: 200ポンド 200 Pound | 6 | 6 shots | | | | x x (vertical) | | | | x x | | | | x x | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 3: 500ポンド 500 Pound | 12 | 9 shots | | | | x x x | | | | x x x | | | | x x x | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The Bomber is the first 2-square sized ship, or rather, plane. Its small | | size makes it hard to find and hit. However, once its found, it goes down | | very quickly - and all its nice weapons with it. | | Speaking of them, the Bomber's special weapons are all very useful. The | | first and second ones, Tataa (?) and 200 Pound, both have an extremely good | | price to shot ratio and are very effective against all kinds of ships. The | | third one is a bit more expensive and you'll almost never be able to land | | hits with all 9 shots, but it already covers a good idea. So if you have | | the unit points to spare, it's certainly not a bad choice, but this is not | | very likely at the beginning of the game. | | So all in all, the Bomber is another highly recommended unit, ranked in my | | opinion right after the Nuclear Submarine. | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 潜水艦 Submarine | | .-------.------------------------------------| | 1 x 2 squares | Unit | Area of effect | | | costs | | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 1: MK-71II | 2 | 2 single, freely selectable shots | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 2: MK-71III | 3 | 3 single, freely selectable shots | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 3: MK-71IV | 5 | 4 single, freely selectable shots | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The Submarine is the second 2-square sized ship. Like with the Bomber, its | | small size makes it hard to find and hit, but once its found, it goes down | | very quickly, with all its weapons. | | Similar to the Aircraft Carrier, the Submarine's special weapons are | | multiple individual shots. And the best thing is, they are all quite cheap. | | I always had multiples of the 4-shot MK-71IV on board. The free placing | | allows both a 'probing' of open waters and the concentrated bombing of a | | known target location. What more could you want? | | Admittedly, the maximum shots in one turn is 'only' 4, but the Submarine is | | still an absolute must-have just for its excellent and cheap weapons. A | | shame one can only have one of these per battle. | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 偵察機 Spy Plane | | .-------.------------------------------------| | 1 x 1 square | Unit | Area of effect | | | costs | | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 1: SP-4 | 1 | 4 scans | | | | o . . o | | | | . . . . | | | | . . . . | | | | o . . o | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 2: SP-5 | 2 | 5 scans | | | | o . o | | | | . o . | | | | o . o | |--------------------------------|-------|------------------------------------| | Weapon 3: SP-8 | 4 | 4 scans | | | | o . o . o | | | | . . . . . | | | | o . . . o | | | | . . . . . | | | | o . o . o | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The Spy Plane is the smallest of all vessels available, it only uses one | | square. This makes it very hard to find, as a very narrow grid needs to be | | searched when it's missing. On the other hand, it is of course instantly | | shot down once it's been found. | | The Spy Plane has no attack weapon to offer - which doesn't mean it has no | | specials. It can be equipped with radar. All three radar weapons are very | | cheap. However, hitting, or rather investigating, squares with the radar | | does not inflict any damage, but only gives information if there is an | | enemy vessel on said squares or not. You don't get the 'billow' info and | | you still need to follow up with real shots when you detect something. This | | makes the weapons a bit less useful. But if you have the time to 'lose' a | | turn without hitting anything, it might still be a good investment and give | | battle-decisive information of not-yet-found ships. | | It is really up to you if you want a Spy Plane in your armada - I never had | | one as long as I could only have four or five ships. But its worth trying | | it out once or twice to see if you like it. | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' ------------------------------++++++++++++++++--------------------------------- + General Tips + [.0500.] ------------------------------++++++++++++++++--------------------------------- Distribute your weapons a bit - and use them! Use the ones covering a large area directly at the start. Know which ship has what weapons, you can fire them off once the corresponding ship is found. No ship cluttering on the positioning part. The enemy doesn't necessarily have the same ships as you do. Know thy enemy! This means two things, concerning his remaining ships: If you're sure of the enemy's smallest remaining ship size, make sure to look for it in steps that are just the good width. That means once you've found his one- and both two-sized ships, don't shoot in places that already have a MISS symbol nearby. And when you've seen him use a special weapon you know what ship has fired it off. So you can start looking for it. Take out found and hit enemy ships quickly, as the AI is clever enough to fire off the special weapons of the damaged ships first. Don't speculate that it may not have any. Use your large area weapons in the very beginning to 'probe' an area as large as possible. My favorite ship was the Submarine. It's small and has a cheap (5 units) 4-hit special weapon you can distribute freely. You can use it to both 'explore and search' on a wider range as well as finish off enemy ships with well aimed shots. ---------------------++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------- + Unlockables, Ranks and Passwords + [.0600.] ---------------------++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------- ___________ Unlockables ----------- At the beginning of the game you may notice that not all ships seem to have three special weapons to choose from. Some only have two. However, these can be unlocked by winning a certain amount of battles. After battle 4 - トラィデント Trident (3. weapon for Nuclear Submarine) After battle 10 - エグゾセ Exocet (3. weapon for Destroyer) After battle 12 - ポセイドン Poseidon (3. weapon for Battleship) After battle 17 - イーグル Eagle (3. weapon for Aircraft carrier) _____ Ranks ----- When you beat the game, congrats, this was not an easy task. Now enjoy the ending, which shows every weapon in the game (three per boat type) get unloaded at the docks. But just before that, depending on how how many battles you have fought (won) when finishing the game by conquering the enemy's base, you'll be awarded one of several different final ranks. Below is a list of (hopefully) all ranks. Thanks to odino for the list and translation. 9 Battles: GN = General 元帥 (げんすい) 10-11 Battles: AM = Admiral 大将 (だいしょう or たいしょう) 12-13 Battles: VA = Vice-Admiral 中将 (ちゅうじょう) 14-15 Battles: RA = Rear Admiral 少将 (しょうしょう) 16-17 Battles: CP = Captain 大佐 (たいさ) 18-19 Battles: CM = Commander 中佐 (ちゅうさ) 20-21 Battles: LC = Lieutenant Commander 少佐 (しょうさ) 22-23 Battles: LT = Lieutenant 大尉 (たいい) 24-25 Battles: SL = Second Lieutenant 中尉 (ちゅうい) 26-27 Battles: ES = Ensign 少尉 (しょうい) I'm not 100% sure about the ranks when winning with an even number of battles. I've only confirmed a few myself, so if you find anything different, please let me know. _________ Passwords --------- I'll list a whole lot of passwords for you to use, should you choose to do so. The first series is from my 'complete' playthrough doing all 27 battles. For this I have assigned a number/letter to each square of the overworld map, from 1 to 9, then follows A to Q and finally e: 45BCJKe 36ADILQ e = Enemy base 179EHMP h = Home base h28FGNO The passwords are the ones you receive after the specific battles, meaning the corresponding overworld and all previous ones are beaten (so E means all 14 battles from 1 to E are won): 1: 3DHJW 2: 3DPJ1 3: UTTJG 4: QTAZG 5: KDLJ5 6: 9D4JO CFYVW SFIZW SFI8D SVYFD CFYLW CFI8W 7: KDCZ7 8: KD4ZI 9: 9TNJZ 10: 1DWZJ 11: TTWJZ 12: L25Z8 CVYPW CKIKW CKI8D (A) S1I7W (B) SKIHD (C) CKIHD 13: ALO88 14: LLDRR 15: TLDR8 16: L25RJ 17: ALORJ 18: L2WCZ (D) C1IXW (E) 1KIPW (F) KK7PW (G) KOBPD (H) 55BAW (I) O5UPD 19: T6DCZ 20: 2R5VR 21: A85X8 22: L8WE8 23: T8DER 24: 2ROXZ (J) 5OBTD (K) 5OUZW (L) OOU6D (M) 75UND (N) Q5DTD (O) QSEWW 25: T8OEJ 26: 2RWYZ In this series, you can start taking on the enemy (P) RSEND (Q) R9E3W base after battle 20 (K). To be able to beat the game in the minimum number of battles (9), use the following password: 2RLJ5 (8 battles won, enemy base can be done next) CLIGD To be able to beat the game in 11 battles, use the following password: LR4J7 (10 battles won, enemy base can be done next) C2YSW To be able to beat the game in 13 battles, use the following password: 28OZ8 (12 battles won, enemy base can be done next) SLIQD To be able to beat the game in 15 battles, use the following password: LR5J8 (14 battles won, enemy base can be done next) COINW To be able to beat the game in 17 battles, use the following password: 2RORR (16 battles won, enemy base can be done next) KOI4D To be able to beat the game in 19 battles, use the following password: L8OCR (18 battles won, enemy base can be done next) 15QRW --------------------------------+++++++++++------------------------------------ + Secrets + [.0700.] --------------------------------+++++++++++------------------------------------ The following secret was brought to my attention by odino, he found it on the site: http://cah4e3.shedevr.org.ru/cheatsbase.php#1049, so full credits go to both him and the site owner. __________ Sound Test ---------- After you beat the game, wait until the ending sequence has finished and you see the 'presented by I'MAX' screen. Now press the following button sequence to unlock a hidden sound test: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select (go through the music and sound effects by pressing the A and B buttons) -------------------------------+++++++++++++---------------------------------- + Questions + [.0800.] -------------------------------+++++++++++++---------------------------------- This section is dedicated to commonly asked questions. So far, there aren't many... But I will update it whenever I feel the need of it - which means as soon as somebody asks a question that isn't already answered in this guide. So if you have a question, or have found a mistake or would like to have something added, don't hesitate to contact me at: DrLagoona (at) hotmail (dot) com __________ Q: How did you find the patience and nerves to beat this game? A: Frankly, I cheated. I used save states for most of the battles so I could know in advance where the enemy ships were. This sped up the process a lot and saved me a lot of frustration. However, this actually also takes the fun out of the game. __________ ----------------------------+++++++++++++++++++------------------------------- + Version history + [.0900.] ----------------------------+++++++++++++++++++------------------------------- Version 1.0 - Game beaten getting two different ranks. Included all important (05/20/08) sections (basics, ships, weapons, tips, questions and ending stuff). Basic formatting performed. Version 1.01 - Formatting adapted to SHIFT_JIS encoding. Obtained one more (05/26/08) rank, but still quite a few missing. This is the first submitted version. Version 1.1 - Added the secret section with the hidden sound test screen. Also (06/05/08) added all obtainable ranks and some more passwords as well as a neat ASCII header. Finally, the guide was made searchable by adding tags to the chapter heads and minor formatting changes were done. -----------------------------+++++++++++++++---------------------------------- + Legal Stuff + [.1000.] -----------------------------+++++++++++++++---------------------------------- This guide is copyrighted 2008 by Lagoona. The only websites allowed for hosting and public display are up to now www.gamefaqs.com www.neoseeker.com No part of this file can be used without the permission of the author and credits to the author. To get permission to host this guide on your website, drop a line to DrLagoona (at) hotmail (dot) com, wait for an answer and abide to it. Of course, you can also use this address if you have comments or questions about my guide or if I missed something that should be included. Make sure you have in the subject line, or else I'll shred and eat the e-mail without reading it. ;-) -------------------------------+++++++++++------------------------------------ + Credits + [.1100.] -------------------------------+++++++++++------------------------------------ ...to the people of the NES FAQ completion project. ...thereof especially to odino, who translated the Japanese in-game text, helped me with the encoding and found the site with the sound test secret. He also made the framework for the ASCII header, which I then adapted. HUGE THANKS, odino ! ...to Use and I'Max for creating and releasing this game. ...to http://cah4e3.shedevr.org.ru (/cheatsbase.php#1049), they are the source of the sound test secret and offer a password generator. (If only I had had that before I had beaten the game...) ...to Osrevad - I slightly adapted his ASCII art of the NES pad. And thanks to CJayC for running GameFAQs. Well, actually, for having created GameFAQs - and to Sailor Bacon (aka SBAllen) for taking over and running it quite well now.