Armored Warrior/Powered Gear By Benandanti Version: 1.5 Disclaimer: The information within this guide is for PRIVATE and PERSONAL use only. This FAQ is to be distributed for FREE with this disclaimer attached. If you are going to put this FAQ on your site (I'd be grateful ^_^) or use any data within for some kind of non-commercial publication, please inform me before doing so. This guide is Copyright 2001 Benandanti (Filiasnuggler@hotmail.com) Armored Warrior / Powered Gear is copyrighted (C) Capcom Japan All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged This FAQ can be found at www.gamefaqs.com This FAQ is best viewed on a computer with the power switched on. Since there is no guides on this title at the moment, I had a feeling people might be interested in a few details about the game. Revisions: Version 1.0 30/4/01 : Yes, this is the first revision, and yes it's crap, I'll be honest. ^_^ Been wanting to play the game a lot more, but I'm kinda swamped at the moment with work so any contributions would be more than welcome. Version 1.2 1/5/01 : Quite a lot of feedback on this one, thanks guys. ^_^ Added more stuff to the weapons sections and a few changes to the controls, it actually looks a bit more substantial now. And I guess it really was a Shield Arm after all.. 6^_^ Version 1.3 8/5/01 : Added a couple of additions to the moves, and changed the weapon names to their proper versions... and I've still to play the damn game properly ! *sobs* ;_; Version 1.5 9/8/01 : Roger Hutchings has added a walkthrough to the faq and a few boss strategies, which gives me an excuse to update this thing again. 1. What is Armored Warriors / Powered Gear? Armored Warriors was a side scrolling beat'em up that was released by Capcom in 1994. It was unique in the way that you could pick up items to equip to your mech, and the fact that with multiple players, you could team up your mechs to create one HUGE mech of terror (Just like Voltron. hehehe ^^). 2. Any games I can compare this to? Well, the closest I can think of is that other side-scrolling, part-swapping game Cyborg Justice for the Genesis, but that doesn't play as smoothly as this. The mech designs in here are replicated in Capcoms later one-on-one beat'em up Cyberbots. Purists will be probably a bit annoyed that Jin wasn't the original pilot of the Blodia VA, but hey, what can you do? ^^ 3. What's the game about? You mean the story? Well...here it is.. (Taken from the flyer) In the year 2281, the war spanning half a century over territory between the United World Forces and the Raian Kingdom had at last come to an end. But this peace was not to last. A year after a truce was signed between the two forces, former Raian army captain Azrael, who has converted himself into a cyborg in an attempt to become "the perfect warrior", has marshalled several thousand other cyborgs and declared war against the Raian Kingdom. Robbing mobile weapons from the army, this group of rogues has invaded the Raian capital of Merkid and begun to abduct the civilians. The United World Government, receiving an emergency message from the planet Raia, has but one choice: to organize and dispatch an army formed around its elite corps, a squadron of warriors called "Bloody Armor", to eradicate the enemy forces and rescue the civilians. And so, in October 2282, the United World Forces begin to embark attack upon the planet Raia. The most intense battle in human history is about to begin... (And there was me thinking this was a mindless beat'em up. 6^_^ AND for some reason they call the squadron Red Shield in the game, but hey) 4. So who do we get to play? Name: 1st Lieutenant Jeff Perkins Callsign: Rash Mech: AEX-10M BLODIA Details: Developed as a hand to hand combat unit, Blodia is capable of operating under various conditions through the use of optional equipment. Story: Belonged to the 32nd ground squadron stationed at Campella Base in the southern hemisphere as part of the Unified Solar System Space Force. The perfect example of a reckless warrior, he always takes front position during raids on enemy strongholds. Personal Opinion: Blodia is your average mech, no real strengths or weaknesses. Jeff himself reminds me a little of Marco from Metal Slug in his bio pic, though that's just my warped imagination. ^_^ Name: Captain Ray Turner Callsign: Justice (Justis) Mech: SVA-6L REPTOS Details: Originally a Raian army unit. The armor plating itself forms the main framework structure, and is directly coupled with the drive system. This weight-reduced design makes it capable of high-speed combat. Story: A Raian military bureaucrat dispatched to Earth upon the conclusion of the peace treaty with the Raian Kingdom in 2281, as an "Ambassador of Eternal Peace". Personal Opinion: Reptos seems to be a little bit faster than Blodia, and in turn seems to be a bit weaker. It's really a matter of preference who you choose. Name: Major Glenn Reed Callsign: Grey (Gray if you're a Yank ^^) Mech: AEX-10H GULDIN Details: Because special generators are built into each arm as well as the main body, this unit has overwhelming power and particularly shows its worth during fortress raids. Story: Surviving member of the 13th Special Squadron (a.k.a. Gods of Death), the most feared by friendly and enemy forces. Bitter over the loss of most of his subordinates and colleagues during that time, he is known to take an excessively strict attitude towards his own men. Personal Opinion: Ah, the hulking mech. Basically the strongest in the game but also the slowest, though since everyone can dash everywhere, that's not such a handicap. Name: 2nd Lt Sarah White Callsign: Siren Mech: AEX-12J FORDY Details: In addition to the use of a Light-Class frame, the unit itself is of very compact design, resulting in extreme mobility. Story: The child of a human mother and a Raian father, she grew up in a slum camp. Though spirited and spunky, she occasionally shows tenderness to others. Personal Opinion: Fordy is the hyper little robot of the team, which jumps around like no one's business. One of the fastest and most maneuverable, it's also the weakest, just bear that in mind. And she bears an uncanny resemblance to Meryl from MGS ^_^ 5. The Mech Users Handbook (NB - Not affiliated with the AAA) Thank you for your purchase of the Strategic Variant Armor Equipment system. Here are a few pointers to help you become a better, more efficient warmonger. /=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Walk | Move the joystick (*smacks forehead*) |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Dash | Moving the joystick twice in one horizontal direction will make you dash. | | eg -0 -0 is dash right |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Attack | A button (Default: standard arm) |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Special Attack | Direction + A (Depends on arm type) |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Dashing Attack | Dash + A |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Jump | B |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Downwards Attack | Down + A (in the air) | | Can inflict a few more hits depending on leg type. |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Subweapon | C button (Default: Vulcan) |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Desperatation 1 | A + B | | A small desperation attack, which has only a little power and range; causes | | a group of rings to surround you. This uses up a little of your life bar if | | it hits. This is more of a defensive attack to get you out of a jam. |=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Desperatation 2 | B + C | | Activates a large desperation attack, which has more power and range, and | | uses up more of your life bar whether it hits or not. Use this like a smart | | bomb to clear the screen or damage a boss. \=---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In case of emergency (and terminal stupidity), this FAQ can be used as a floatation device, but we wouldn't recommend it. 6. Weapons - Arms Power Knuckle - Your default weapon. A - A punch in the direction of the enemy Forward + A - Extends two rods from the arm that hit multiple times and has pretty good range. Notes: One of the few weapons you can grab opponents with. If you changed this weapon, you can get another one by taking a teammate's if they drop theirs. Yoink! ^_^ Death Drill - An industrial drill attached at the end of the mech's arm. A - Mech stays still and starts the drill spinning. A (moving) - Lunge forward with the drill spinning, causing a multi-hit attack. Forward + A - Causes the drill to open up and fire missiles. Notes: There is a difference between the above attacks, make sure that you're pressing the direction at the right time whilst doing it. Chain Spark - Electrically charged metal pincers that deliver a shock to the enemy. A - Fires a large ranged horizontal blast of electricity that stuns opponents, though does little actual damage. Forward + A - Causes you throw a ball of electricity towards an enemy. This can be charged by holding down the A button. Notes: You can grab a person with this, and keep shocking them and anyone else in range by holding down the "A" button. While you're holding onto them, press left or right to move them around; if they come into contact with another mech, they'll take damage as well. Laser Blade - A sword created by a laser that'd make even the most jaded jedi knight proud. ^_^ A - A quick swipe with the sword. Forward + A - Causes you to dash forward with a large slash. This can be charged like the Pincer arm with the A button to do an even larger slash with a larger dash. Up + A - Your mech fires a projectile forwards and upwards. Notes: Because of the nature of the projectile attack, it's only best used up close, or against tall opponents, like the bosses or certain large regular characters. Force Claw - An industrial claw that seems more at home on a JCB than a mech. A - A grab with the claw. Forward + A - Not much really, just seems to increase the range. Notes: You can either press a direction and A to smash them behind or in front of you to hit enemies, or keep pressing A to smash them until they explode, you decide. The last method also lets you keep shaking more items out of them. ^_^ Shield Arm - Apparently a shield and not a flame-thrower, sorry!!! 6^_^ A - Fires a salvo of missles at your opponent. Forward + A - Fires plasma shots. Down + A - Fires a missile spread starting from a low angle. Up + A - Fires a missile spread starting from a high angle. Back + A - Puts up your shield Notes: The shield doesn't protect from area weapons like Bomb. 7. Weapons - Legs It seems that all the different tracks give your character a new rushing attack and also change your characters jump and jumping attacks. Dashing: Dash attack Jump: Stationary jump Jumping: Direction and jump Flying: Forward + A while jumping Downward: Down + A while jumping Treads - Your mech gets tank like treads. Dashing - Your mech turns into a giant wheel and rolls over opponents for heavy damage. Jump - Your mech turns into a giant wheel that bounces into the air. Good for close range attacks. Jumping - Your mech extends their treads, coming down on your opponent for multiple hits. Flying - Rush towards the enemy. Downward - Your mech descends as a giant drill for many hits and big damage. Note: This means you can perform combos on bosses such as dashing attack (several hits), jump attack (about 3 hits), then either jumping attack - the whole combo doing about 10 hits or so. Turbo Jet - Your mech hovers slightly above the ground. Dashing - Your mech turns into a giant drill and races across the screen. Jump - Press A to fire shots down in a spread at the ground - good for keeping enemies away at bay. Can fire multiple shots. Jumping - Spinning flame attack. Power Bug - Your mech walks around on mechanical spider-like legs. Dashing - Your mech spins its legs about like a spinning blade, hitting repeatedly. Jump - Like the rushing attack but much shorter and in the air. Downward - Your mech descends and hits any enemies below it for lots of damage. 8. Weapons - Subweapons Vulcan - Your standard subweapon. Ammo varies per mech: Reptos and Fordy get 40 rounds, Blodia gets 50 rounds, and Guldin 60. Missiles - Fires missiles at a slower rate than the Vulcan, but are more powerful. 10 shots. Guided Missiles - You get more of these than the regular ones and they home in, but are pretty weak. 16 shots. Laser - You don't get many of these, but if you quickly move from the bottom to the top of the screen, you can hit many enemies at once and everyone is knocked down. 5 shots. Bomb - A bomb that causes a moving wall of flame. Similiar to large burning oil in Dungeons & Dragons 2. 12 shots. Napalm - The most powerful subweapon, it hits basically everything on the screen. 6 shots. Flame-thrower - Can be applied much the same as the laser, but no knock down effect. Good for attacking repeatedly but with low damage. 12 shots, equals 12 seconds of flame. Note: A great suggestion with all these weapons is to continue moving around while firing, which means you can use some of these weapons to clear the screen by quickly moving from the top to the bottom firing as fast as you can. Radio pack: If you have more than one person playing, this should allow you to join your mechs at a later point. I'll add more information about this later. 7. Advice for the morally challenged (Cheats.. ^_^) Team-up Change When the demo appears for joint machine, the player who gets the radio machine must enter the following codes. Beta-Cannon Hold left-up or up or right-up. Gamma-Battler Hold left or right. Alpha-Fortress Hold left-down or down or right-down. Different Weapons At the stage title screen, hold B+C for over a second, then press the following directions: Death Drill Up Missile Right-up Force Claw Right Laser Right-down Chain Spark Down Flame-thrower Left-down Laser Blade Left Bomb Left-up By doing this, you can select both sub-weapon and a main weapon, but picking two sub or main weapons will only cause the last one to be selected. Also, if you die, you respawn with a Vulcan as normal. 8. Walkthru Mission 1: Deserted Town 'Unit Red Shield, begin planet fall immediately! Raian city "Coorl" has been captured by the enemy. Your mission directives are to liberate the city and its people.' Area 1 (2:30) Kill the S Balls (helicopter ball things) for the radio. Just hit everything else and pick up the Drill Arm if you like :o) Area 2 (1:30): *BOSS* - Warlock 1 This is the first of three times you have to fight this guy. His attacks are a dashing sword kick and a twin vulcan spread. Just pummel him senseless. Mission 2: Win Back 'Unit Red Shield, this is Galager. According to our latest information, a large number of enemy units have landed on Earth despite our armies resistance. Return to Earth and reinforce them immediately.' Area 1 (3:00) Beat stuff up, and watch out at the end for loads of missiles flying your way :o) Area 2 (1:20) This round is a time attack; you have to kill everyone within 80 seconds or you get an earbashing from Galager and no free energy/weapons at the end. Area 3 (1:30): *BOSS* - Agmiss A big octopus mech, which loses arms the more you damage it. Attacks include hitting you with one of its arms; spinning its arms and moving across the screen; firing little homing drones which fly around for a bit and then drop for damage (you can tell when it's about to do this cos a little light flashes across the black band on its body, Knight Rider-style :o); a jumping attack which uses the spikes on its tentacles to cause damage; producing a current which pushes you across the screen with a propeller which extends from its body; and firing pairs of missiles (which I *think* don't home). Mission 3: Chase 'Enemy units have gathered at the scrapworks in Los Angeles. Red Shield, pursue and destroy them!' Area 1 (3:30): Shooting Area Your Vulcan is set to infinite for this round, and you just have to shoot down the S Balls, for each of which you get 1000 points at the end, with a Perfect bonus of 20000 if you get all 50. Area 2 (4:30) Just hit things and don't be in the way of the R Gori when it rolls or jumps :o) Area 3 (1:30): *BOSS* - Rad A huge tank, basically. You can attack its missile arms separately from its body to disable those attacks. Attacks include main cannon shot; jumping slam; missile arm strike and missile shots. Mission 4: Forgotten Ruins 'Unit Red Shield, return to Raia, proceed to inland area through the ruins of "Ol Poto". Be on guard for the enemies' radar network!' Area 1 (4:30) Standard bashing. Look out for the Insect mech near the beginning (Power Bug legs); don't try and kill it, it appears near the end of the next area. There is also a Jage mech about halfway through from which you can get Turbo Jet legs. Area ends with two R Gori mechs. Area 2 (4:30) More bashing. Nothing special, except the opportunity to get Power Bug legs near the end. Area 3 (1:30): *BOSS* - Sculd Lizard mech, which changes colour every so often (green, red, blue, blue/green flashing). Attacks include electrifying the floor in front of it combined with a couple of short Vulcan bursts, a rapid multi strike with its front arms (either stationary or dashing), tail laser (single shot and sweep), and a jumping slam. Mission 5: Railroad In Flames 'The enemy forces are transporting their weapons by way of the old Raian rail system. Red Shield, destroy the system and stop the flow of weapons!' Area 1 (4:00): *BOSS* - Warlock 2 Standard stuff most of the way; you can get the Shield Arm at the beginning. Round ends with another battle with Warlock. Warlock has more energy this time round, and can do a flying napalm drop, a flying dive, and has a Chain Spark instead of its attacks in its previous incarnation. Area 2 (3:00): Shooting Area Another shooting round. Just keep shooting the train, and move out of the way when you see its lasers charge up. You get a bonus for each Neam (spinning mech) you kill, and 50000 for the train. After the train, you get a boss :o) Area 2: *BOSS* - Helion Half-helicopter, half-mech. Attacks include a charged double laser cannon, homing mines, a smaller double laser, a flying bomb drop, a flying claw charge, a double vulcan, and a short range laser blade. Note that you can still hit it while it's flying; aim for its shadow. Mission 6: Truth 'Red Shield, enter the enemies' base and rescue all captured Raians. Make sure to destroy all equipment in the base including their cybernetic manufacturing center!' Area 1 (4:00) Just beat stuff up, nothing unusual. Smack the forklift at the end for some health. Area 2 (5:00) More beats. Hit the prisons at the back of the screen, and pick up the people for a bonus at the end. After you jump down from the upper level, watch the shadows on the floor to see where the mechs are going to fall (and get out of the way :o) Pick up the civilians and VIPs again, look out for the Insect (it can kick and shoot missiles at you as well this time). Area 3 (3:30) Starts off with two R Goris. And that's it :o) Area 4 (1:30): *BOSS* - Warlock 3 Final showdown with Warlock, who's been running the cybernetic experiments on the Raians. More energy again, and a new attack: he can grab the floor and send homing shocks through it to electrocute you (just keep moving) as well as its previous attacks. Final Mission: Starry Ocean 'Red Shield, this is Galager. The enemy's main forces are trying to escape from Raia into space. Infiltrate their battleship and destroy it before they can reach deep space!' Area 1 (10:00) The battleship's engines fire every now and then, so stay out of their way (about half a screen) or take damage. Just keep going until you jump up a level. Make sure you hit the S Balls and get the radio, then after a few more mechs, you come to the first incarnation of the final boss, M Brain (Mother Brain?). This has two arms which spit out fireballs which cause walls of flame to shoot up when they hit the ground. Just keep hitting the middle section with dashing attacks and subweapons. The leader then retreats and jettisons the rear deck to try and escape. This time round, you have a pair of guns at the top and bottom which can shoot a moving laser beam vertically across the screen, a drone arm (ESP Claw), and two electric arms which can fire balls of lightning, laser shots from above, and create S Balls. Just keep up the jumping attacks, and you should stay out of the way of most of it. Now just watch the credits! 9. Stuff to do. (or reasons why the author is a lazy "best-head") Well, that was, as we say in my country, mince. ^_^ This needs an awful lot more work done to it, especially in these areas : More to the radio team up section. No public outcry, guess I might add more strange humour then... *grins evily* ^_^ A lot more things. So if you can help, I'd be glad to hear from you, and if you want to complain, just remember, it was this or nothing. ^_^ 9. Standard ego-centric credits section Me: for putting this together, I can thank myself can't I ? ^_^ The team at CPS2Shock: Where I got the cheats and flyers from, and probably for supplying the reason why you're even reading this.. ^_~ Abby15: For nothing, stupid girl.. :P The guys at Abertay Uni : For making these past 3 years seem less like a waste of time. ^__^ Ryouga, Chris Chambers, lo_wang_ngn, Zardoz, Ming-Chin Hsieh, but in particular Cmoon for all the contributions they made towards the weapons sections, thanks guys. ^_^ Roger Hutchings (roger.hutchings@altavista.net ) for the walkthrough and bosses information. Kayama: For those Sakura Taisen translations he keeps putting out. Please girls, donate generously to his Nyan cause, pweese... *bats his eyes* 0_0