-WELCOME TO DAN'S RIDICULOUSLY IN-DEPTH- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____ ____ ____ = / / / /\ / / / = = = /__ / / / \ / / / = = = = / / / / \ / / / = = = ___/ /___/ / \/ / /____ = 3333333333 DDDD 33333333333 DDDDDD 333333 DD DDD |\ | /\ ---- ----- 33333 DD DDD | \ | / \ | | 333333 DD DDD | \ | / \ | | 33333333333 DD DDD | / | | | | | 33333333333 DD DDD | / | | | |--- | 333333 DD DD | \ | |----| | | 33333 DD DD | \ | | | | | 333333 DD DD | / | | | | | 33333333333 DDDDDD | / | | | | | 3333333333 DDDD |/ ---- ---- Boss FAQ! v.1.0.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (So the ASCII art can't hold a freaking lump of candle wax to Dark Phenomenom's. Gimme a break, dis my first time, yo.) -----===== Menu du jour =====----- (1)..........Introductorial section. 1.1 Versions, list of updates. 1.2 Me, my current situation. 1.3 Why did I write this? I mean, specifically. 1.4 About the guide. (2)..........In which we kick-a ass. 2.1 How's this work? 2.2 The actual boss guides. 2.2.1 Green Grove 2.2.2 Rusty Ruin 2.2.3 Spring Stadium 2.2.4 Diamond Dust 2.2.5 Volcano Valley 2.2.6 Gene Gadget 2.2.7 Panic Puppet 2.2.8 The Final Fight (3)..........Ce n'est qu'un au revoir! 3.1 Final word and thanks. 3.2 Contact info. 3.3 **COPYRIGHT INFO, LEGAL ISSUES.** 3.4 Others, and final final word. Let's begin, shall we.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ==(1) INTRODUCTORIAL SECTION! or, duction of intro.== <1.1 Versions, list of updates.> Current version: 1.0.1 1.0 (12/29/2002): -Wrote all o' this. -Discovered that all zones have letter pairs for initials. -Dude... trippy.... 1.0.1 (10/23/2003): -Corrected the damn shameful typo "drop my a line". -Added a statement about one of the Final Weapon's attack patterns. -Made it "spiked shoulders", that's more accurate. -Apologized to CJayC for such a minor (but most probably last required) update. -Apologized to readers for some of the humour in this text, which I today deem somewhat dubious. You know what they say: You always feel smarter than yesterday, and are always dumber than tomorrow. <1.2 Me, my current situation.> Ah, Christmas has passed, now I gotta get to work on the "writing a book" project I chose to do as a last-year-of-high-school creation. Yeah. But see, I'm a naughty, naughty boy.. and I somehow keep getting sidetracked in whatever I do. Sometimes I start looking for music on WinMX, sometimes I read random stuff I find in the house and on the Internet, other times I'll just start staring at my hands in 20-minute stretches interspersed with 2-minute breaks in which I drool in strategic spots on the floor. And of course, there's the ever-welcome parental intrusions. Those always succeed in taking my mind off work for a while. Anyway, yeah, I always get distracted and start on something else whenever I'm planning to do something important. However, this time, I've really outdone myself. I've decided to write a FAQ (my first one, by the way) and call it "practice for the writing project". Hypocritical, aren't I? (And modest, too.) <1.3 Why did I write this? I mean, specifically.> Well, Sonic 3D Blast wasn't the most incredible, mind-blowingly beautiful, spectacular, tight-controlled, sweet-musicked, healthily challenging game I'd ever played back in the Sega Saturn days, but I never discarded it from my memory for some reason. Perhaps I just love all Sonic games. More recently, I got Sonic Mega Collection for Christmas, and eventually decided to play Sonic 3D Blast, just cause, you know, I felt like taking a stroll down memory lane. To my surprise, I 0wnz0r3d like all hell at it. "Whoa, thought I. It does seem like I 0wnz0r4t3d that game. I have a feeling I should do something now. Hm, what could it be?" Overlooking the 100-page project I had yet to begin, I decided, in my infinite goodness, that I should write a boss FAQ for S3DB and share my 0wnz0r4g3 with gamers around the world. Plus, I was bored. So basically, I'm writing for this game 'cause it just came out again (in Sonic Mega Collection) and people might need help with it. Plus, I was REALLY bored. <1.4 About the guide.> -As you've seen already, it's pretty text-heavy. i liek too ritel olz. -I assume, writing this, that you already know how to play the f00gin' game. -In the event that you do not know how to play the f00gin' game, read the f00gin' manual (RTFM)... -...or refer to Dark Phenomenom's great, big-ass FAQ. -Although I may be assuming you know how to play, sometimes the descriptions will get so in-depth that you might think I take you for a retard. This... isn't the case, for most of you. I only go to those depths 'cause I'm having fun writing this, and it might interest some people. "Overture, curtain, lights, This is it, we'll hit the heights, And oh, what heights we'll hit! On with the show, this is it!" -Looney Tunes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ==(2) IN WHICH WE KICK-A ASS! or, ment of develop.== <2.1 How's this work?> Under each zone name, there's going to be an in-depth text describing the boss and how to beat it. It'll look a little like this. Note on Easy and 3v1l l33t: Those 2 sections may not always be very elaborate. It's not always easy, making those bosses easier or harder! Also note that although 3v1l l33t is usually harder to perform, it often makes the battle much easier on top of stylish. So.. the easy sections are mostly empty... Eh.. let's go. <2.2 The actual boss guides> <2.2.1 Green Grove> -EGGMOBILE WITH (SPIKED) BALL OF STEEL- 5 hits Difficulty: 1 Visual scan report: It's the eggmobile. With a spiked ball on the bottom. Shape of the battlefield: Diamond-shaped place, medium size ('bout 2 screens long, 2 screens wide, I'd say). The ground is uneven: little peaks, plateaus and valleys are all over. Nothing dramatically sloped though, and you can still run around without too much trouble. Ya can't miss the rings. Check in the 4 directions. Things you need to know in this battle/battlefield: -When you jump from a slope, you don't go as high, but you move much faster horizontally. This is both good and bad: bad because if you're not careful, it can make you unable to dodge the boss' attacks properly (by tossing you into it instead of over it) and GOOD because that extra speed means extra style, which you'll need if you're gonna do this the 3v1l l33t way. Boss' attacks: -His one true attack is dropping his big ball near or on you. The ball will bounce a couple of times, always in your direction. Then it'll stop. -His "kinda-sorta" attack is lowering himself on top of the ball to grab it again. If you're standing right next to the ball, he WILL hurt you. And I'll laugh. Cause you knew that was coming. Ways to beat it. -Easy way: Well, this one's a bit too easy to have an easy way. Skip. -Normal way: Get out from under the eggmobile's shadow when the fight begins. Good. Now go grab a ring or two and start running around, always keeping the eggmobile or its shadow in a corner of your screen. Eventually it'll stop and drop the ball. The ball will follow you. Keep running around and make sure you always see the ball. When you see it stop, stand half a screen away from it. When Robotnik comes and lowers himself on top of the ball, whack him in the windshield. With proper timing and advantageous terrain, you could get two or three hits in, but that's better left to the 3v1l l33t gamers. Oh, one last thing: be careful if you're gonna try to jump while on sloped terrain. It can propel you into what you were trying to avoid or hit and you'll be the one taking damage then. -3v1l l33t way: Pretty much the same as normal, except that for added coolness, stay close to the ball as it follows you and make every dodge a close one. You can use the horizontal-speed boost bestowed by sloped terrain to move a bit faster around the ball, which is sure to make anyone who's watching you play go "oooh" or "aaah", or even "your mom is hot". Additional notes: -The ball doesn't seem to be affected by the terrain, by which I mean it can bounce as many times uphill as downhill. -Update: after a bit more research, I have determined that the height loss on your jumps from jumping off sloped terrain is far from being as dramatic as I thought it was. But the small speed boost does exist. Take that into account. <2.2.2 Rusty Ruin> -SIR SUCK-A-LOT, ARMORED EGGMOBILE WITH TIGER PAWS- 5 hits Difficulty: 2 Visual scan report: In a burst of inspiration, Robotnik went and embedded his eggmobile in the helm of a big armor statue made of a material that seems to be.. stone. The statue is, for whatever reason, equipped with a ball gun in the center of its base, and has two elongated tiger paws connected to the main body by long arms. Two of Sonic could stand on the paws. Shape of the battlefield: Diamond-shaped, small. When you stand in the center of the battlefield, you can see it all. The terrain is flat. The rings are on the side opposite of the boss. Things you need to know in this battle/battlefield: -YOU KNOW, THE PAWS AND BULLETS AREN'T THE ONLY THINGS THAT CAN HURT YOU. BEWARE THE ARMS. They're only dangerous because you never suspect them until it's too late... Boss' attacks: -His first attack consists of bringing one of his paws down fast, then, usually, bring down the other right after. Then the paws stay on the ground for a few seconds before going back up. This attack usually only hits you if you're wandering under the paws on ... purr-paws (sorry). -His second and last attack is shooting balls from the gun at the base of the statue. He shoots in a fan-shape, either from left to right or from right to left. He usually shoots when one or both paws are on the ground. The balls he shoots don't bounce. Ways to beat him: -Easy: Again, I don't have a super-special trick that makes it easier. And again, you wouldn't exactly need it. -Normal: When the battle starts, walk away a bit and grab a ring. Now stand near the right paw (the BOSS' right, not yours) and watch it carefully so it doesn't move to right above you, which should be easy considering all it does is move back and forth without ever moving sideways. Eventually it should pound the ground underneath (which is why I told you to make sure you weren't directly under it) and the gun will begin to shoot balls. Hop on the paw (CAREFUL not to slide off into the arm, because that'll hurt you) and wait till it goes back up. Use the extra height to jump and reach the eggmobile's windshield. When you fall back down, watch out for the paws and gun, and repeat till you win. -3v1l l33t: Again, same as normal, but when you're standing on the paw and about to attack, wait till the other paw slams down on the ground before attacking. That way, as soon as you land you can hop on it and there will be fewer breaks in the action, meaning added coolness. Ha. Alternatively, you could drop down every time and dodge whatever's coming at you (paws, balls) in a close, fast, skilled, frantic way, which is sure to impress the chicks too, eheh. Additional notes: -The paws don't always wait till you're under them to attack... blah -BEWARE THE ARMS! I wonder why I keep saying that, they're not even that dangerous.. eh well. <2.2.3 Spring Stadium> -TANTRUM-THROWING MINI-PAWED EGGMOBILE- 8 hits Difficulty: 4 Visual scan report: The eggmobile is now equipped with its own tigerish paws, mounted on arguably freakishly disproportionate spiked shoulders. The paws are smaller than Sir Suck-a-lot's, but are spread almost (ALMOST, not really) as wide, thanks to the shoulders. Shape of the battlefield: Diamond-shaped for a change, there are spike holes on the edges and in the center. I consider this stage to be large. About two and a half screens length and width, and there are two levels of height. That's right: in the top corner, there's higher ground that can only be reached by a spring at the base of the cliff. On that higher ground you'll find nothing but spike holes and total refuge from Robotnik's attacks. The rings are on and to the left and right of the center on the lower level of the arena. Things you need to know in this battle/battlefield: -VERY IMPORTANT. The spikes don't activate if you spend less than a half second on them. Therefore, when treading spiky terrain, NEVER STOP JUMPING. Simple as that; the spikes will never activate if you don't stay on them long enough. Boss' attacks: -Simple enough. He lowers himself a bit (to "cockpit reachable with a jump" height) and starts pounding the ground with his right paw, his left paw, his right paw, his left paw, etc., while following you as well as he can. The more damaged he is, the faster he moves. This attack can't hit you if you're on the second level of the arena. Ways to beat him: -Easy: This is long and tedious, but do it right and you can't get hit. When the battle begins, grab a few rings then go to to upper level, using one of the springs. Once you land up there, keep jumping so the spikes never activate, and stick close to the edge of the platform you're on. Stare at the bottom of the screen. If you see the eggmobile's windshield, jump at it. You'll hit and probably bounce back into some spikes, so keep jumping, go back to the springs, reach the upper level again, and repeat. Mind-numbing and slow, but as I said, do it right and you're invincible, though uncool. Why did you need an easy way anyway? ARE YOU JUST WASTING MY TIME ON PURPOSE??? IS THIS A NAZI PLOT TO SODOMIZE ALL MY GAMECUBE CDs WHILE I'M NOT LOOKING? DAMN YOU!!!!! DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -Normal: From the start, you'll need rings in this battle. Grab one. Then keep away from Robotnik and the spikes on the edges and in the center until the eggmobile starts flying lower and mutilating the poor ground. Jump at the windshield. Repeat from start. With every hit he goes faster though, so beware. -3v1l l33t: Same as normal, except you gotta move all over the arena, including the spikes and upper level, jumping the whole time and never slowing down. When you visit the upper level, make sure you jump off it into the eggmobile's windshield. Much more stylish. Additional notes: -The shoulders can hurt you too... sometimes it can be risky to jump at the eggmobile from anywhere else than the front or back. <2.2.4 Diamond Dust> -REFRIGERATALISATIONATING EGGMOBILE WITH KAMIKAZE SNOWMEN- 8 hits Difficulty: 3 Visual scan report: The eggmobile, with 8 klaxon-shaped ice-blast blowers arranged in belt formation on its sides. The blowers spin. Shape of the battlefield: What do you think its shape is? Medium-small, approximately one and a half screen length and width. The ground is flat, and the rings are located in the upper, lower, left and right corners. Things you need to know in this battle/battlefield: -To escape being frozen, jump repeatedly. -When you're frozen, you slide well. -Being frozen, as such, doesn't hurt you. -Getting rammed while frozen, does hurt you. -Those damn snowmen explode when you walk next to them, after a certain amount of time, or if you spin-dash into them. The latter case does not hurt you or throw chunks of snowman around. Boss' attacks: -Lowering himself to attackable height and moving towards you, ice-blasting all around, with the firm intention of freezing you and ramming into you right after. -Dropping a snowman that will detonate after a few seconds or if you walk right by it. He drops one after every hit you deal to him, and if he ever lowers himself and you don't hit him for a while and he goes back up, he'll drop two. Ways to beat him: -Easy: Come on now. -Normal: Always have at least one ring, duh. When the battle starts, move away from the shadow, duh the second. Keep away from him til he comes down, and then take a running jump at his cockpit. You should hit, get bounced back safely away from the ice-blowers, he'll lose an ice-blower, and he'll drop a kamikaze snowman after going back up to his "untouchable haven". Keep away from it. It'll disappear eventually. Just concentrate on keeping away from Robotnik until he can be attacked, then jumping way over the ice-blowers to attack him. -3v1l l33t: Eh, same thing except that whenever he drops a snowman, brush against it or roll into it to destroy it faster. Oh, and run around a lot, never stopping. Additional notes: -Ice cream good!! <2.2.5 Volcano Valley> -THE BIG.. THING IN THE CENTER.. WITH HOMING FIREBLASTS!- 8 hits Difficulty: 6 Visual scan report: The eggmobile's landed in a big thingamajig in the middle of the arena.. well, whatever it is, it has 4 pipes branching out from it in the 4 diagonal directions and it shoots fire from the center and from holes in the pipes. Shape of the battlefield: This one's a bit different. Sure, it's diamond-shaped too, but there the similarities to other arenas end. In the center, you'll find a big contraption with the eggmobile sitting on top. Spreading out from the center, 4 pipes that go up-left, up-right, down-left, and down-right. In the upper, lower, left, and right corners, there are little chunks of land. Between the chunks of land (meaning on either side of each pipe) there's lava. You can easily jump from one chunk of land to the other, with a running jump. The pipes spout fire straight up about halfway between the center of the arena and the outer edge of each pipe. I think I'll draw you a picture. S = Your starting point . EGG = Eggmobile / \ X = Lava / O \ F = Fire-spewing cracks / O O \ # = Areas you can't step / \ on or jump over / /#\ \ (invisible wall) /X\ /#####\ /X\ O = Ring /XXXXX\ /#########\ /XXXXX\ /XXXXXXXXX###########XXXXXXXXX\ / \XXXXXXXXX###########XXXXXXXXX/ \ /\ \XXXXXXX###########XXXXXXX/ /\ /XXXX\ \XXXXX###########XXXXX/ /XXXX\ /XXXXXXXX\ \XXX###########XXX/ /XXXXXXXX\ / \XXXXXXXXXX\ \X###########X/ /XXXXXXXXXX/ \ / \XXXXXXXXXX\ F\#########/F /XXXXXXXXXX/ \ / /############\F /¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\ F/############\ \ / O /################\/ \/################\ O \ / O /##################| EGG |##################\ O \ \ O \##################| |##################/ O / \ \################/\ /\################/ / \ \############/F \_______/ F\############/ / \ /XXXXXXXXXX/ F/#########\F \XXXXXXXXXX\ / \ /XXXXXXXXXX/ /X###########X\ \XXXXXXXXXX\ / \XXXXXXXX/ /XXX###########XXX\ \XXXXXXXX/ \XXXX/ /XXXXX###########XXXXX\ \XXXX/ \/ /XXXXXXX###########XXXXXXX\ \/ \ /XXXXXXXXX###########XXXXXXXXX\ / \XXXXXXXXX###########XXXXXXXXX/ \XXXXX/ \#########/ \XXXXX/ \X/ \#####/ \X/ \ \#/ / \ / \ / \ S / \ / . Cool, that pretty much sums up the whole paragraph.. (Note: this picture uses the upperscore ( ¯ ) character... sorry, I couldn't have made it any other way... -_-) Things you need to know in this battle/battlefield: -Lava bad! -If you hurt the boss after jumping at it without much momentum, you'll bounce right into the fire-spewing cracks. -You can't jump over the fire shot by the cracks. You have to time your attacks. Boss' attacks: -This one's fun! He shoots a little snake of fire at you, and it follows your every move, even your jumps (meaning you can't jump over it) for about 4 seconds before dissolving. Then he waits a while. And makes another one. After which he waits a while before making another one. That's all he does for the whole battle. Whee. -The four fire-spewing cracks take turns spewing fire. You can't jump over the fire, even though it looks like you should be able to. Ways to beat him: -Easy: I think there was only one boss for whom I had a really easy way.. This section is pretty much useless now, so I'll use it to convey secret messages to you! The first one: Ziggy's swiss cheese is the best! -Normal: At the start of the fight, you have a few seconds. Get a ring. When the eggmobile touches down in the center, start running around (oh, and try not to take all the rings yet). There's gonna be a snakey fireblast after you before long. Keep it in your field of vision (shouldn't be too hard, it's not exactly slow). Once you see it disappear, hop on the closest pipe, check to see if it's blowing flame, and if it isn't, attack the windshield. Then run around again to avoid the next fireblast. Repeat. -3v1l l33t: This is more complicated. Sure, the battle starts the same way; grab a ring, and avoid the firesnake. But then it gets different. Better, if you will. To attack, instead of hopping on the pipe then attacking, which makes you vulnerable to falling in the lava due to bad controls, here's what you do. Follow me on this one. Stand on the outer edge of one of the corner platforms, take a running start, jump towards a pipe, and once you're over it, make a mid-air turn towards the center and fly to it. You should hit it with so much momentum that you'll bounce back all the way to the edge of the level, ONTO THE PIPE, EVERY TIME, provided the freaking pipes didn't blow fire while you were headed for the cockpit at full speed. So basically: take a running jump over a pipe, and when you're over it and still high in the air, move towards the center. You'll hit the weak spot and bounce back far away, safe and ready to dodge the next fire snake. If you do this right, you're practically invincible here. And if you take that as being true, which I'm assuming you do because you haven't had time to think about it, that makes you the coolest person to have ever fought that boss, apart from me of course, haww.. *giggle giggle* .. I lack sleep. Additional notes: -While taking the running jump described in the 3v1l l33t way, careful not to take too many rings. Just in case. You might need them later. <2.2.6 Gene Gadget> -MISSILE-LAUNCHING EGGMOBILE ON DANGEROUS EXERCISING MACHINE- 8 hits Difficulty: 3 Visual scan report: The eggmobile has a "twin-missile" launcher on it's bottom, and you're on a treadmill that keeps pushing you into the spikes situated down-left, and there's a big machine behind the eggmobile (situated at the upper-right) that periodically spits out spikes. Shape of the battlefield: A rectangle-shaped treadmill carpet. To the lower left are the rings, and further down left are the spikes. To the up-right of you, the eggmobile is floating, high enough that you can't hit it. Behind it there's a machine mouth that will sometimes release spikes on the treadmill. Things you need to know in this battle/battlefield: -If there's something to the up-right of you, don't try to jump over it. You won't go far enough because of the treadmill. -This means: DON'T TRY TO JUMP OVER THE SPIKES, and DON'T TRY TO ATTACK THE EGGMOBILE FROM THE FRONT, JUST THE SIDES. Boss' attacks: -At first the eggmobile is high up, swinging left and right with pendulum- like regularity. Little spiked boxes will roll out of the machine behind it. Don't try to jump over the spikes. Dodge around them, without jumping. -Eventually it comes lower, still swinging left to right, and shoots missiles straight ahead. Nothing dangerous. And it's your time to attack. Ways to beat him: -Easy: Secret message #2: I am the Eggman, I've got a master, master plan! -Normal: While the treadmill isn't moving, go down-left and get a ring. Come back up-right and start running slowly when the treadmill begins moving. When spikes start coming your way, walk between them slowly and carefully, but don't take too much time or the spikes down-left will get you. About 5 seconds after you see the first spikes, the eggmobile will come down. Run to its left or right (depending on which side it's on) and attack the cockpit from the side, ensuring that you reach it. It'll go back up. Repeat. 3v1l l33t: Instead of walking carefully around the spikes, run, run all the way! Run the whole time! Additional notes: -Of course, don't be in front of the eggmobile when it comes down. It does shoot missiles, you know. <2.2.7 Panic Puppet> -ROBOTNIK HIDING IN A LONG, HARD, MULTI-WEAPONED TUBE- 24 hits Difficulty: 4 Visual scan report: 3 forms, each form has two arms whose shoulderlights you gotta bust with 4 hits each. Whenever you beat a form's arms, a trapdoor will open to the lower subchamber where you'll fight the next form. The arms are, in order of appearance: Spiked mace arms, Flamethrower arms, and Bouncy-ball-shooting arms. Shape of the battlefield: All 3 subchambers are U-shaped, and in the center of the U is the tube and its arms. The rings are on the sides. Things you need to know in this battle/battlefield: -When one out of two arms is destroyed in any form, it can still hurt you. Don't step on it, genius. Boss' attacks: --First form-- -Stand under or near one of the hammer arms and it'll move over your head, make a revving-up noise (that's your cue to move away fast) and smash down. It'll stay down for a while and the shoulder light will flash. Attack it. -If you stand JUST out of the range of the arms (and I mean JUST out of the area where it would detect you and move over you), the shoulder guns will start shooting balls that will always miss unless you run right into them. Not exactly life-threatening. --Second form-- -First, the right arm (ITS right, not YOUR right) will stop moving in circles, its shoulder will flash (HIT IT!) and it'll shoot one of those annoying homing fireblasts. Then when the fireblast dissolves, the left arm will do the exact same thing. Etc. --Third form-- -The right arm (ITS right again) will start shooting blue balls that bounce around A LOT. While it's shooting, its shoulder is flashing. If you hit it at the very beginning of the attack, it won't shoot anything. Then the left arm will do the same thing. And they'll repeat. Ways to beat him: -Easy: Secret message #3: If-it-won't-stop, there will be no future for us, its-heart-is tied down by, all the hate, gotta set 'im free! -Normal: Gawrsh, Mickey, I don't know. This time you're gonna have to do it MY way... -3v1l l33t: Take a ring. Wait for Robotnik to come settle down in the center. Stand near the right hammer arm. It'll move over your head and make a revving-up noise. MOVE. TOWARDS ITS SHOULDER. When it pounds the ground, its shoulder will flash. Hit it. Go near the left hammer arm. Do the same thing to it. Then go to the right one. Then the left one. Then the right one. Then the left one. Then the right one. (It dies.) Then the left one. (It dies too.) Congratulations! You've beaten the first form! Grab any rings left behind and hop in the trapdoor. IMMEDIATELY go stand under the right arm's shoulder (THE MACHINE'S right, not YOUR right, as always) and jump continuously until the arm flashes, meaning you hit it. Be careful though, it shot a homing fireblast. Dodging the homing fireblast, make your way QUICKLY to the other shoulder, stand under it and jump repeatedly again till it gets hurt. Run to the other shoulder, avoiding the blast, ETC. Eventually you'll have beaten that form too. Grab any extra rings and drop down to the last form. RIGHT AWAY, NO TIME TO LOSE, run under its right shoulder and jump repeatedly, exactly like in the previous form. Except that this time, it's way more important that you hit it. Because if you hit it before it starts shooting balls, it won't shoot AT ALL and you'll never have a chance of getting hurt. Once you hurt the right arm, run to the left one even faster than in the previous form since you have less time before it fires. Bash it, you should know how. Then move quickly to the right shoulder, etc. Simple, really. You beat-a it. Additional notes: -I don't know why I used so many caps for such an easy boss. I just like adding emphasis to my words, I guess ^-^ -Funny thing: If at any given moment you DON'T jump into a trapdoor when it's open, after 10 seconds Sonic will move to it and jump into it by himself. -Remember that dead arms, if the other one is still alive, can hurt you. <2.2.8 The Final Fight> -THE FINAL WEAPON- 10 hits, 5 forms Difficulty: 4 Visual scan report: Well, it has the color of an egg, it has a Robotnik-y face, it has the shape of an egg, and it has multiple arm/hand/weapon attachments that change in each part of the battle. Shape of the battlefield: A 6x6 arena at first, where rings are in the lower-right corner, and they're the only rings you'll get in the battle. Then an 8X8 arena, an 8X2, another 8X8, a U-shaped arena where the center of the U is pointed up-left, then it repeats from the start. Things you need to know about this battle/battlefield: -THIS IS IMPORTANT, I guess. Once you get a hit in, the Weapon will move to another part of the arena, and a sparkly orange bridge will appear somewhere on your platform. Once it appears, you have 10 seconds to cross it into the next part of the battle, after which you die. So, when a bridge appears, do hurry up in crossing it. Shouldn't be too much of a problem but still... -You don't get more rings. The 6 rings you see at the beginning are the only ones you'll get. Don't take them all the first time though, 'cause you'll visit this area one more time during the fight. The second time you visit, go ahead and take 'em all. -Don't jump towards the Weapon to attack before you're sure you'll hit it. Example: If you jump too early (before he moves into the battlefield), you will land in front of it, he'll move forward, you'll get hurt, and it won't get hurt. If you jump too late however, you won't hit it because it'll go back off the arena floor before you reach it and it will restart its attack sequence. Boss' attacks: One per form. -First: His hands will make beeping noises for 4 seconds, and they will always be moving to line up with you. After 4 seconds, they will shoot 3 lasers each. Then they'll start beeping again, try (again) to line up with you, and fire again. Then the Weapon will move forward into the arena floor, which means you gotta hit it. -Second: The Weapon will appear in the up-left corner, shoot a homing firesnake, then he'll appear in the up-right corner, shoot another snake, then he'll appear in the up-left corner again, shoot another snake, and come forward. HIT IT. -Third: Two spiked hands will be above you. They'll beep and try to line up with you, then they'll make a revving-up noise for 2 seconds and pound where they think you are. (But you moved, right?) They'll do that again, and again, and the 4th time they will each land on the edge of one of the two 8-squares-long rows and they'll dash forward. Jump over that. The Weapon will then come in the arena for a short time, hit it. -Fourth: The Weapon will shoot about 5 radar-guided missiles straight up. You'll see shadows where the missiles will land, and they'll always try to land on the square you're on. While the last missile is landing, the Weapon will come into the field for a really short time. Attack. -Fifth: The Weapon will shoot lots of bouncy balls, three times, then come forward. Hit it, and its attack pattern (and the arenas you visit) will start over for one last cycle. How to beat him: I think I pretty much covered that in the "attacks" section. But I can give you the secret message, and tips for some forms. -Easy: Secret message #4: Don't let it hit you, move, don't let it hit you, move, move, don't let it hit you, move. -Normal: First form, I don't have a tip for it. Try to make it so the hands are both in the center. That way, you'll see 6 beams being shot all next to each other, and that looks funny. Second form, well, here's something to consider when dodging the snakes: they don't start homing in on you until they've crossed 3/4 of the arena. Before that, they go straight ahead. Third form, here's a kinda-useful tip. Stand in the center, and one hand should come over your head. Let's pretend, in this example, that it's the right hand. So, the right hand is over your head and you're in the center. When it starts making the revving-up noise, wait one second then run to the right (up-left) corner. The hand will pound the center, stupidly. Fourth form: Run around the outer edge of the arena, the missiles simply cannot hit you. The only tough thing here is hitting the Weapon in the very short time it comes forward. Fifth form, easy. Stand in one of the branches of the U, in the corner of the branch that is closest to the Weapon. When he shoots balls, every time he shoots, there should only be ONE BALL coming your way. Jump over it. Or if you're really deep in the corner, don't jump. It might not even hit you. Easy as hell. But remember to come back forward to hit the Weapon after it shoots thrice. Then the whole pattern starts over as you go back to the first arena. 3v1l l33t: Don't get hit once. Or something. Additional notes: -That "Final Weapon" doesn't look quite big enough to take over the world.. ~~ 1.0.1 UPDATE! -About the bouncy-ball attack... remember what I said about standing in the corner, and maybe not having to jump over the incoming ball if you're deep in the corner? Simple geometry, common sense and sparsely profound research leads me (and should've led me in v.1.0) to tell you that it's not just the corner that provides sanctuary. Stick as close as you can to the inner edge of one of the branches of the U and you won't get hit, ever. Knowing this comes in handy if, say, you didn't have enough time to reach and attack the Weapon because you'd sat deep in the corner with your head between your knees for the whole duration of his attack, you pansy. Anyway..... ~~ Apparently, you've beaten the game. w00t. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ==(3) CE N'EST QU'UN AU REVOIR! or, this is just a goodbye.== (...) (you know, as in, just for now?) (as opposed to farewell forever?) <3.1 Final word and thanks.> Hope you enjoyed this. Blah blah, etcetera etcetera (of its correct spelling et caetera) and stuff. I had fun writing this too, I guess. My eyes hurt now. -I wish to thank Dark Phenomenom for inadvertently inspiring me to write my first FAQ. Maybe he'll read this and go "huh?" but that doesn't matter, heh. -I would also like to thank CJayC for hosting this, -I'd like to thank God because even though I fancy myself an atheist, everyone thanks God and it just seemed like the right thing to do, -I insist on thanking Seanbaby for being so bad-ass, and here is where the names of any useful contributors to my FAQ will go. In the event that anyone contributes usefully of course. Which is unlikely, since almost no one could ever have the patience to read this whole thing. Whatever. <3.2 Contact info> Why would you wanna contact me? Isn't this guide complete enough? I'll give you a fancy "Info square" about myself,just like Dark Phenomenom's, though. Should've put it at the beginning... Written by DaNuGuy _________________________________________________________________________ Guide Version : 1.0.1 Real Name : Guillaume Desgagné <--- d00d, accented e, careful Email : ... Last updated : October 23th, 2003 Homeland : New Brunswick, Canada Current Residence : Quebec, Canada What? You still wanna contact me? Maybe my guide isn't complete enough for you? You want me to add to it? Dude... fine, if you really really want to drop me a line, you won't mind spending a while deciphering my phonetically- written e-mail adress: jee - vee - kay - I - en - dee - I - jee - oh - ess - tee - ay - dee - zee at hot[opposite of femail] dot com There. Have fun. <3.3 **COPYRIGHT INFO, LEGAL ISSUES.**> (Let's see... What did CJayC recommend..) COPYRIGHT 2002-2003 GUILLAUME DESGAGNÉ This may be 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. The only site currently allowed to display my guide (and the only one I think would be willing to display it) is www.gamefaqs.com . If you see it displayed on any other site, please! Tell me, and I'll, well, do something. For example, if I catch anyone making money offa this, I'll sue their ass so bad. YOU MAY NOT ALTER THIS GUIDE, okay? ESPECIALLY NOT THIS COPYRIGHT BIT. I worked a lot on this thing, I don't want people changing it or whatever. Oh, oh! and Sonic 3D Blast is a registered trademark of Sega Enterprises All other copyrights are properties of their respective owners Thanks, Dark! <3.4 Others, and final final word.> Well, I absolutely HAVE to get to work now.. wasted enough time... gotta work. Too bad we bought Timesplitters 2 yesterday.. I really wanna play... AGH! I'll play at night, when the computer is shut down and I have nothing else to do. For now, I GOTTA WORK!!! D00d.. this sucks... Happy New Year, y'all.. nice meeting you ^^ -------------------------------end of 1.0 file..------------------------------- Hey, there's an SSBM tourney in a few days, and in the stead of my skillful but predictable Marth, I'm planning to use a blue Kirby. I shit you not, kids. My Kirby-playing is so damn cheap I've been forbidden to use him (as well as Marth, Ganondorf and Jigglypuff) by my friends. It predictably revolves around one easily-guessable trick (the suck-n-drop) but includes surprisingly effective "normal" combat as well, lest opponents counter too easily. Hey, Quebec's top SSBM players aren't as sucky as I made the mistake of thinking last time. Pro is pro, no matter what region of the world you live in. They could definitely hold their own against elite Statesian players. And, in the case of the more travel-inclined pros, they HAVE. For example, the guy who won last year with Yoshi and this year's May with Jigglypuff? That wasn't because everyone else sucked. He was just fucking HARDCORE. You may wonder why I'm "secretly" putting this at the end of my FAQ. You may even ask the question aiming to satisfy your above-stated curiosity in a disrespectful manner, such as "Why the hell is that dumbass saying stupid, useless and uninteresting stuff like that at the end of a FAQ?" Well, you sir aren't, as per the level of culture indicated by your second reaction, the type of person I'd like to communicate with. In other words, I'm not talking to you, drop dead. No, but if you're the type to just idly wonder, and possibly ask such questions in even a slightly more polite manner, I'll answer with this: some people go out of their way to make Livejournals and Blogs, I have this. Pictures of my being to be thrown in the great emotional nothing of the Internet. Why do we write such stuff? Do we even care that no one cares? Do dedicated Livejournalists wonder whether anyone reads what they write? Why do we use message boards? Other people generally care as much about our opinion as we care about theirs, and with a little introspection, we often find that we do not, as a matter of fact, give any importance to them. Why do we go on? Well, in any event, if you give a shit about how the tournament went, my e-mail's up there. Hey, spot the irony. -------------------------------end of 1.0.1 file..-----------------------------