WM MM :. M rMMM MM MM M 0MMM7iM M M MMMMM M Z MMMMMMi rMMM 2MMM @ iMMZ MMMMZ M BMMM .M MM M8 MiMMMMMMMMM2 XMMMMMMM8 aMMM MMMMMM MS M W8 ; MMMMMMMW MMMMMMMMMM MM0M M M rM MMS Waa8WWWWWWW@MM MMM@MM XMMMMZ MM MM M MM 8MMMMMMMMMMMMMM M iX M7 M MZ MM ,X MMM . 2 MMMMMM MMMMZ MMMMMMMMMM WMW MMMMM MZ MMMMMMMMW MMMMM 8MMMMM MMM BMM MMMM,XXX2 MMM MM aa M BM MM MW M8 MM MM MM .MMM MM MM MMMMB MMMMM MM MMMMM MM MM 7MM MMMB MMM iM M MM M WM MM MMMMMM aMM MMMM MMM MMMM MM MM MM2 MMMMMM,MM8 MM XM A comprehensive guide to the action/shooting game for the Sega Master System. By Matthew Stephenson (Ringworm) ASCII created using ASCGEN (http://go.to/ascgen/) Version 1.01, 5 November 2004 Next update: Not sure, need to find a copy of the manual to get the names of vehicles. May just ignore this bit though. Table of Contents: See the 5 character code next to each entry below? It's there to make navigating this FAQ much simpler. Press CTRL+F together, type the 5 character code next to the entry you are looking for, and press enter twice. You'll be at the appropriate section. Awesome. This method works in many programs I have tested it in, such as Notepad and Microsoft Word. I'm sure it's similar in most programs though. 1. What's New in this Version?.............. AFWNV 2. Legal Info/ Contact details etc. ........ AFLCE 3. Introduction ............................ AFINT 4. Controls ................................ AFCON 5. Enemy Vehicles .......................... AFENV 6. General Hints and Strategies ............ AFGHS 7. Walkthrough ............................. AFWTH 7.1. Mission One ........................ AFMI1 7.2. Mission Two ........................ AFMI2 7.3. Mission Three ...................... AFMI3 7.4. Mission Four ....................... AFMI4 7.5. Mission Five ....................... AFMI5 8. Codes ................................... AFCOD 9. Frequently Asked Questions .............. AFFAQ 10. Concluding Remarks ...................... AFCRM 11. Version History ......................... AFVEH _________________________________________________ 1. What's New in this Version? (AFWNV) _________________________________________________ Version 1.01: Completely new format. I improved the ASCII header at the top of the guide significantly, and made a few layout changes. I didn't alter any of the actual information in the guide though. _________________________________________________ 2. Legal Info/ Contact details etc. (AFLCE) _________________________________________________ This FAQ is Copyright of Matthew Stephenson (Ringworm), 2004. It can be found on the following websites ONLY: www.gamefaqs.com Want to host this FAQ? Found it on another site not listed above? Let me know: ringwormrulez[at]gmail[dot]com I may let you host it. Ask. The only requirement is you post the ENTIRE FAQ, UNEDITED. No changing any of it, and it has to be all there. Try to keep it updated as well; the most recent version will always be found at GameFAQs. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION BEFORE HOSTING THIS! If not, you are in breach of the law. Obviously, you can not make profit from this guide by selling it or anything similar. Once again this is illegal. You can make a copy for personal usage though if you're that way inclined. I got no problems with that. It's your printer ink and paper you are wasting. Got a question or got some info you feel should be included? Again the best way to contact me is by emailing: ringwormrulez[at]gmail[dot]com I may take a while to respond, just letting you know. Also, make sure what you want to ask is not covered already. Generally, I respond to anybody that needs help. If I feel the FAQ makes it perfectly clear, and you just haven't read it properly though, I may not. IF YOU DO EMAIL ME: Include the game name, or something which makes it obvious what it's about. I will NOT read ANY emails with attachments, or ones with no subject line. I'd like to take some time to thank the people that have helped with this guide. Firstly, I'd like to thank Sega for making the game. The webmasters that host this FAQ should get a bit of credit too I guess, as you wouldn't be reading this otherwise. Thanks also to the other FAQers on the FAQ contributors board at GameFAQs, and especially Masamune3 and Joni Philips for running the SMS Completion Project. Without you, I never would have got the urge to write this guide. I'd also like to thank you, the reader, for choosing this guide, and I hope I helped in some way. All names, characters, games and related material are Copyright of Sega, 1986. _________________________________________________ 3. Introduction (AFINT) _________________________________________________ The aim of Action Fighter is to stop your enemies over 5 missions. Each mission involves you controlling your vehicle which can transform between motorcycle, car and jet plane (provided you collect the correct parts). All five missions have both land and air based sections, with different controls for each. At the end of each level, the screen will stop scrolling, and you will fight the 'boss' of the mission - the vehicles you need to destroy to complete your mission. I am warning you, this game is not easy. I hope to help out any way I can, but as the enemy vehicles you encounter change every time, I can only give a brief walkthrough for each mission. _________________________________________________ 4. Controls (AFCON) _________________________________________________ The game can be played either by 1 player, or two players (alternately, switching every time you lose a life). Road controls (Motorcycle and Car): Left/Right: Move your vehicle left or right Up: Makes your vehicle speed up Down: Makes your vehicle slow down Button 1: Fires a ground to air missile, for destroying helicopters (only after using two SEGA trucks without losing a life - See section 6) Button 2: Shoots your weapon. Button 1+2 together: Switches from motorcycle to car, and vice versa. You must have the four car pieces (Shown by the letters A through D) to perform this move. Air controls (Jet): Left/Right/Up/Down: Move your jet in the relevant direction. The speed is fixed. Button 1: Fires at ground based targets, such as tanks and boats Button 2: Fires at air based targets such as jets and helicopters _________________________________________________ 5. Enemy Vehicles (AFENV) _________________________________________________ Some of these vehicles are not available on all missions. "Boss" vehicles, or the ones that are required to complete a mission are also not listed in this section. I've split it into vehicle you see in the land based sections, followed by vehicles found in the air based sections. Vehicles on the ground have a (g) symbol, vehicles in the air are denoted by an (a) symbol. ******** Land Based Vehicles ******** Motorcycle (White) (g): Common, and easy to destroy. These are the only vehicles you can crash into as a motorcycle without losing a life. Ambulance (White with red cross) (g): Common, nothing special. Car (Black) (g): Common, Nothing special. Helicopter (Blue) (a): Not too hard to avoid, sometimes drops land mines, but can't hurt you otherwise. Car (Black with a bit of white) (g): Mission 2 onwards. Takes a few more shots to destroy than a regular car. Looks almost identical, but you can tell the difference if you look closely. Motorcycle/Sidecar (g): Mission 3 onwards. A motorcycle with a sidecar, that shoots at you. Car (White) (g): Mission 3 onwards. A large white car. ******** Air Based Vehicles ******** Invaders (Blue, sort of bug shaped) (a): Not sure of the real name for these, but they look like the enemy ships in Space Invaders. Two types exist - some shoot at you, some don't. Come in a group of 6. Jet (Red) (a): These come in a few formations, some shoot at you, some move diagonally to try to hit you. They can be quite tough to avoid. Helicopter (Blue) (a): You normally see these in groups of 4, but also come in groups of 2 and 3. They can fire homing bullets at you, and can also fly into you. They are very annoying. Car (Blue) (g): Does nothing, just for points. Raft (Brown) (g): Does nothing, just for points. Submarine (Blue) (g): Moves horizontally on screen, and fires at you. Tank (Blue) (g): Both are the same. Watch the direction the turret is pointing and make sure you are in line with it. Homing Missile (Looks like a missile. I'm sure you'll recognise it) (a): Comes down from the top of screen and will always target you. Shoot it from front on to destroy it. Gunship (a): Mission 3 onwards. Appear on one side of screen and fires in 5 directions at once. _________________________________________________ 6. General Hints and Strategies (AFGHS) _________________________________________________ Try to transform into a car ASAP. You will be much safer. Although you can transform back into a motorcycle at any time (for increased mobility), I very rarely do this. To transform between vehicles, you need to pick up the relevant parts (found by destroying enemy vehicles). Collecting the letters A, B, C and D will enable you to transform into a car. Collecting E and F will transform your car into a jet (at the next bridge). Parts are only available on the land based sections. The SEGA truck is invaluable, and you should make every effort to use any you see. You need to be going at around the same speed as it, and drive up behind it. If done correctly, you will go into the back of the truck, be moved to the centre of the road, and you should have extra firepower! One truck grants you rocket launchers (nearly essential for beating the game - it's MUCH tougher without these), visiting a second lets you shoot down helicopters, and a third time will give you around 20 seconds of invincibility! Obviously, you cannot get these trucks in the sky sections, however, there are occasionally pickups you can find. These work in much the same way, and are identifiable by a small P symbol. Use an emulator and ROM to play the game. It's almost impossible otherwise. Although I guess some people may be able to defeat the game without save states, it'd be extremely unlikely. I congratulate anyone that manages to do this. _________________________________________________ 7. Walkthrough (AFWTH) _________________________________________________ This section is brief for a reason. The vehicles you come across change every game, only the end of mission vehicles will be the same each time. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + 7.1. Mission One (AFMI1) + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mission Brief: Destroy 3 Big Submarines. You start the game driving a motorcycle. Accelerate to around the speed of the enemy vehicles (just below full speed), then shoot repeatedly. You need to collect 6 parts, A through F. I also suggest stopping in at least one SEGA truck before getting the sixth piece. Parts will be dropped very frequently, probably every second vehicle on average will have a part. Anyway, familiarize yourself with the controls, watching the road signs (stay near the middle unless you get a fork sign), and try not to hit other vehicles, or the edge of the road. Eventually you'll get all 6 parts, and will take to the skies. This section is reasonably long. It shouldn't take long to realise which enemy vehicles require you to press button 1 to destroy (land/sea vehicles) and which you shoot with button 2 (air vehicles). Once you get this figured out, it's all a matter of staying alive as long as possible, as the rockets from the SEGA truck are handy for the sky sections of the game. Dodging bullets is the key, anything else you can destroy is a bonus. Once you see a dock area on the right with blue barrels, you know you are near to the submarines you need to destroy. ******** Boss Vehicle Strategy ******** You will be constantly fired upon during this boss fight. Each submarine moves left and right, and also submerges below water every few seconds. You can only hit them when they are on the surface (button 1). Whilst all three subs are around, the firing rate is quite slow, and the bullets are easy to avoid. Once you destroy one sub, it picks up significantly, and after destroying a second sub, it's near continuous. Each sub will take three shots to destroy. My advice is to hit each one twice. After doing this, each one will only take one hit to sink. I advise you to make the last three shots very quickly, trying to destroy all three subs within about 5 seconds. If you don't do this, prepare to dodge a LOT of missiles. It is not all that tough really, but it may take a few attempts to work out what you need to do. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + 7.2. Mission Two (AFMI2) + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mission Objective: Destroy 6 green and purple tanks. This mission begins with you in the sky. Fly forwards for quite a while and you'll eventually land. You know this is about to happen not long past an island in the middle of the screen (quite noticeable). Back on land, you will have quite a long driving section. You will get to the boss not long after the second wide divided section (where the central divider is around the same width as the road on either side). If you time it right, you can get to the end of this section with invincibility still. This is helpful for the next boss section, but by no means essential. ******** Boss Vehicle Strategy ******** You will see the tanks roll at you from the top of the screen. Each takes around 8 rockets to destroy (haven't counted exactly). If you are very quick, you can destroy most before they even shoot at you, but I'll assume you don't. To defeat the tanks, I suggest moving in front of them, firing two rocket shots (quickly), then moving to the side. Wait for the shots to go past you and repeat. I find this section easy, probably easier than the one at the end of the first mission. With invincibility, it's even easier. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + 7.3. Mission Three (AFMI3) + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mission Objective: Destroy 3 red and blue helicopters. You start driving a car, and need to get parts E and F as quickly as possible. This time, only the more advanced vehicles will drop parts - helicopters, white cars and motorcycles with sidecar. Back in the sky, you have a long air section. The end is not far past an island (like mission 1), and comes after a string of missiles are fired at you. ******** Boss Vehicle Strategy ******** You will be destroying one helicopter at a time. Fire about 4 or 5 quick shots at it, then move to the side. It will continuously shoot at you, your aim is to keep moving, avoiding them all and shooting the helicopter when you get a chance. It's quite tough, but not impossible. Each takes around 12 rockets to destroy, I'm not sure how many regular shots it takes. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + 7.4. Mission Four (AFMI4) + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mission Objective: Destroy 6 red and blue tanks. You'll fly for quite a while to start the mission. Eventually, you will be flying over a large town. Just after you pass this, you'll see some clouds - this is where you will land again. You need to get the E and F parts again, as you will be taking to the sky again. Shouldn't take long, but it's likely you would of run out of time by this stage, and be onto your extra lives. You'll fly for a while. The vehicles you need to destroy appear when you see a beach on screen. ******** Boss Vehicle Strategy ******** This requires a fair amount of skill, but the tanks only take 5 hits to destroy each (they come in two waves of three). I start at the left, and work my way right. Get very close to the left hand side of the left hand tank, and go as far up the screen as possible. You need to move in front of the tank and shoot it with button 1. You WILL be shot at doing this, so it requires good timing, to move in between shots. I don't find it all that tough at all. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + 7.5. Mission Five (AFMI5) + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mission Objective: Destroy 2 large battleships. Fly for a long time. Not far past an oil rig (think that's what it is anyway), you will land. Driving, get parts E and F. Yeah, again. Back to the air again for the final time. Fly for a while. It's not all that far to the final battle. There's no real noticeable features of the landscape to let you know you are there sorry :) ******** Boss Vehicle Strategy ******** Final battle time. You face the two battleships one at a time. They are SEA based, so you need to use button 1 to hit them. Each takes a whopping 30 shots to destroy, so prepare for a LONG battle. A point to note is they won't start firing (and you can't hit them either) until they reach the centre of the screen. When they do, the ships fire three shots at once, then two at once, then repeat. There's no real delay between shots, you just need to keep moving. I suggest flying to one of the top corners, waiting for one lot of shots, then moving in front of the ship, hitting it once, and going to the other top corner. This pattern works a bit, but it is not foolproof. Keep at it though, and you'll eventually destroy them both (hopefully). If you can, you'll be finished with this very tough game! Won't ruin the ending, but it's a bit of a let down. _________________________________________________ 8. Codes (AFCOD) _________________________________________________ Codes are taken directly from gamefaqs.com, credit goes to the original people that posted the codes there. I have verified that these codes do work. CODE: EFFECT: SPECIAL. Start with ABCD, Bulletproof, 3 extra lives after timer runs out. DOKI_PEN Start with ABCD, rockets, ground to air missiles. GP_WORLD 3 extra lives after timer runs out. HANG_ON. Start with ABCD. Enter these codes on the name entry screen. These are the only codes I know of. Make sure you include the . or _ in the code, or it won't work. If done correctly, your name should be PLAYER 1 when you start the game. _________________________________________________ 9. Frequently Asked Questions (AFFAQ) _________________________________________________ None yet. Got a question? Ask me via email, and I'll be glad to help. _________________________________________________ 10. Concluding Remarks (AFCRM) _________________________________________________ To be honest, I am no expert at this game. It's a little bit hard for my liking, but I managed to finish it (on an emulator). If you have good reactions, and enjoy this style of game, you could probably finish the game reasonably easily, especially with the codes in section 8. This was one of the games I used to play occasionally when I was 7 or 8. Obviously, I wasn't very good at it then, but it's a game I've been meaning to pick up and try to beat for a few years now. When I saw the game had no FAQ for it, I decided to write one as I played through the game. That could be why it seems slightly disorganised (to me anyway), I may fix this one day. I'll try to track down the game manual as well, as I'm fairly sure it contains the proper name for each of the vehicles. _________________________________________________ 11. Version History (AFVEH) _________________________________________________ 1.0 (31/10/04): Initial Release. Complete. May be a format update soon, but this could be the only version. I think it needs a little bit of work still. 1.01 (5/11/04): Format change, ASCII improved, layout made more readable. Copyright Matthew Stephenson (Ringworm) 2004.