Vertical Force

******************************************************************************* Vertical Force for Virtual Boy FAQ/Walkthrough by BHodges Version 1.1 Created 05/02/03 Updated 09/18/08 This document Copyright 2003-2008 by Brian Hodges. This FAQ is not to be posted without explicit permission by me. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. ******************************************************************************* Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Adjusting the Virtual Boy III. Automatic Pause IV. Background Story V. Getting Started VI. Basic Gameplay and Controls A. Controls B. Basic Gameplay VII. Powerups VIII. AI Drones IX. Level Walkthroughs A. Stage 1 - Space Battle 1. First Half 2. Bratt 3. Second Half 4. Boss B. Stage 2 - Desert Battle 1. First Half 2. Bratt 3. Second Half 4. Boss C. Stage 3 - Ocean Battle 1. First Half 2. Bratt 3. Second Half 4. Boss D. Stage 4 - Battle in Mittgard's Fortress 1. First Half 2. Bratt 3. Second Half 4. Boss E. Stage 5 - Showdown with Mittgard 1. First Half 2. Bratt 3. Second Half 4. Boss X. Game Review XI. My Best Scores XII. Version History XIII. Contact Information ******************************************************************************* I. Introduction This is a FAQ/Walkthrough for the Virtual Boy game Vertical Force. It contains a list of controls, level walkthroughs, and a mini-review. ******************************************************************************* II. Adjusting the Virtual Boy If you have never used a Virtual Boy before, here is how to adjust the screen. On the screen that says 'Virtual Boy' and has squares in the corners, turn the dial on top until you can see all four squares. Then use the sliding bar until the screen is in focus. ******************************************************************************* III. Automatic Pause If you turn this on, the game will automatically pause at the end of each level and remind you to take a break. ******************************************************************************* IV. Background Story This is the background story from the instruction book: A battle that will either wipe humanity or machines from the universe has begun! The year is 210 SE (Space Era) Humankind has prospered beyond the wildest imagination of the earliest space explorers. Waves of human colonists have advanced to thousands of planets all over the universe. Each colony built is provided with a caretaker computer and equipped with Android Industrial (AI) Drones to control the planet and mine resources. The materials collected are sent back to Earth. Now, something has gone terribly wrong and the caretaker computer of Odin, (planet #0326) has spontaneously reprogrammed itself. Instead of serving humans and sending minerals to Earth, it seems its new mission is to slaughter humans and make minerals of Earth. The corrupted caretaker, calling itself "Mittgard," has declared war on all humanity. His mechanical army of "AI Drones" is headed toward Earth, and he has equipped them with a ray that will render the strategic computers and weapons of the United Earth Army inoperative. As a result, wherever the army has tried to intercept the AI Drones has suffered total defeat. As luck would have it, a xeno-archealogy team working on Ragnarok (planet #1562) has just made a most fortuitous find. Among the ruins of an alien civilization, a battle machine has been unearthed. Because of its alien design and construction, this battle machine is not affected by the Mittgard rays. The most fortunate stroke is that it is equipped with a device that allows it to reprogram some AI Drones and use them against Mittgard's forces. After taking possession of the Ragnarok battle machine, The United Earth Army has called on its number one flying ace, YOU, to rid the universe of the menace posed by Mittgard. ******************************************************************************* V. Getting Started When you press start on the title screen, you are given a choice of three options. Use the left control pad to highlight the one you want, then press A. Game Start Start playing the game. Config Here you can set the difficulty level and change the control setup. Select the one you want to modify with the left control pad and use left and right on the pad to make changes. To return to the title screen, highlight EXIT and press A. Brightness Change the screen brightness. Use the A button to make the screen brighter and use the B button to make the screen darker. When you are finished, press down on the left control pad to highlight (EXIT) and press A to return to the title screen. ******************************************************************************* VI. Basic Gameplay and Controls ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Controls Note: These are the controls for Control Type A Left control pad Move the ship Right control pad Exchange AI Drone R and L buttons Shoot A button Switch altitude B button Blow up AI Drone Start Pause Select Change AI Drone settings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Basic Gameplay Each stage takes place on two levels: high altitude and low altitude. Each stage has four parts: before Bratt, Bratt, after Bratt, and the boss. The before and after Bratt parts are the main parts of the stage. Your goal is to make it through alive. Bratt is the mini-boss that you fight halfway through each stage. At the end of each stage is a boss. Energy Meter Your energy meter is displayed in the upper left of the screen. It will decrease whenever you are hit. When the meter reaches zero, your ship is destroyed and the game is over. Game Over When the game is over, you are given a chance to continue. If you have beaten Bratt, you will start out right after him. If you haven't beaten Bratt, you will start out at the beginning of the stage. When you continue you lose all of your drones and weapon powerups. Your score is also reset to zero. You can continue as many times as you like. ******************************************************************************* VII. Powerups There are three types of weapon powerups. Each powerup has three levels. Each time you pick up a powerup for the current weapon, that weapon's level will increase by one. If you pick up a powerup for a different weapon, you will now have that weapon at the same level. If you take damage, your powerup level will decrease by one. Collect a powerup by flying into it. Laser These are the powerups with a L. More powerful than the wide shot, but slower rate of fire. When it is powered up, the beam becomes wider and more powerful. Wide Shot These are the powerups with a W. When this weapon's level increases, it will shoot in one more direction. Shield These are the powerups with S. This weapon is the same as the one you start out with except there is a sphere in front of your ship to protect it. At level three, it will spin around the ship. ******************************************************************************* VIII. AI Drones AI Drones look like smaller versions of the enemy and they move side to side like powerups. You can have a total of four drones at a time, one active and three in reserve. Active Drone When a drone is on the screen it is active. It will automatically attack enemies. You can only have one active drone at a time. Drone Reserve You can have up to three drones in reserve. The drone reserve is displayed in the lower right of the screen. A damaged drone will recover energy while it is in reserve. When a drone is recovering in reserve, it will flash. To your active drone in reserve, press left, up or down, or right on the right control pad to place the drone in the first, second, or third box respectively. If the box is empty, the drone will be placed in the box. If it has a drone, the drone that was in the box will be brought out. Drone Energy The active drone's energy meter is displayed in the lower left of the screen. When it reaches zero, the drone will be destroyed. If you place a drone in reserve, its energy will slowly recover. Drone Settings Press select to change the AI Drone settings. Keep pressing select until you get the combination of settings you want. The settings are displayed by the icons next to the drone energy meter. The two settings are Altitude Change (the icon with the up/down arrow) and Drone Reserve( the icon with the squiggly arrow pointing to the lower right). If the Altitude icon is displayed, then the drone will automatically change altitude as it sees fit, if not it will always stay at the same altitude as your ship. If the Reserve icon is displayed, the drone will automatically go into reserve when its energy reaches one. I recommend turning both of these off except where noted in my walkthrough. Powering up Drones If you collect a powerup and have an active drone, that drone's weapon will also powerup. If the drone is damaged, it will lose one powerup level. Self-Destruct Press B to cause your active drone to self-destruct. The explosion will damage all enemies on the screen. Laser Drone This drone fires a laser. Wide Shot Drone This drone is armed with the wide shot. Repair Drone This drone has the weakest weapon. It will only attack while you are firing your weapon. If you are not firing your weapon, it will dock with your ship and slowly refill your energy meter. ******************************************************************************* IX. Level Walkthroughs Here are walkthroughs for each level. I have also listed the number of each powerup available in that level. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Stage 1 - Space Battle Powerups: Drones: Wide Shot 5 Wide Shot 2 Laser 3 Laser 0 Shield 3 Repair 1 ............................................................................... 1. First Half The first thing you will see is a wide shot drone on the bottom level. Go down and get it then grab the wide shot powerup. A squadron of enemies should then appear on your right. Afterwards, there will be a wide shot powerup on the bottom level. Shoot the guns on the ship, then grab the wide shot powerup. Immediately go to the top level and take out the guns on the ship to the right. The bridge (behind the big turret) contains a laser powerup. Then take on the ship on the left. The bridge contains a shield powerup. Go to the bottom level and take out the enemies. Quickly take out the carrier on the right, it will launch additional enemies. Stay on the bottom level and ignore the enemies above you. Take out the carrier on the left. Head to the top level and take out the enemies and the ship, the bridge contains a wide shot powerup. Now it's time to take on Bratt. ............................................................................... 2. Bratt The first time you meet Bratt, he will be armed with a laser. His weak points are the two guns on his sides. When you hit his arms, they will flash. Avoid his fire by moving left and right and changing altitudes. For an easy victory, set your drone's altitude change to auto, then bring out a Wide Shot or Laser drone. Then all you have to do is stay at the opposite altitude of Bratt and let your drone take him out for you. Once Bratt's arms are destroyed he will retreat. ............................................................................... 3. Second Half After Bratt, head to the top level. You will see a wide shot drone and a wide shot powerup. Then head to the bottom level. You should see a repair drone on your left. There will then be a laser powerup on your right. There will then be a wide shot powerup on your left. On the top level you will see a shield and laser powerup. There will be another shield powerup on the bottom. There will be a few more enemies, then the boss. ............................................................................... 4. Boss The boss of Stage 1 is Pheylar. He is attached to four pillars. At first he will split in two and the two halves will move up in down in altitude. Target the sphere in the front of each halve. These will flash when hit. After the spheres are destroyed, the halves will join. Now target the sphere in the back. Destroy this sphere to beat the boss. This is a very easy boss and is a joke if you have an AI drone. Set the drone's change altitude to auto, then move your fighter to the lower right corner. None of Pheylar's attacks will be able to reach you here. All you have to do is wait for your drone to finish Pheylar off for you. Just be sure to put your drone into reserve so it can recharge its energy when it gets low. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Stage 2 - Desert Battle Powerups: Drones: Wide Shot 4 Wide Shot 1 Laser 5 Laser 1 Shield 6 Repair 0 ............................................................................... 1. First Half Go to the bottom level and shoot the first box you see to reveal a laser powerup. Stay on the bottom level and kill the two groups of enemies. Shoot the box in the center to reveal a wide shot powerup. There is another box directly behind it that has another wide shot powerup. Continue on, all the while blasting enemies. After you pass the platform on your right, there will be an box on the bottom level containing a shield powerup. Behind and to the right of this box is another one containing a laser drone. On the platform directly to your left is a box containing a shield powerup. To the right on the bottom is a whirlpool, it will suck you in and damage your ship if you are not careful. Stay away from these by moving to another part of the screen. If you are on the top level and travel over a whirlpool, it will suck you down to the bottom one. A little ways forward and to the left, there is a box containing a laser powerup. There is another laser powerup in the next box. There is a shield powerup in the box on the left side. Now it's time to face Bratt again. ............................................................................... 2. Bratt Bratt is armed with a laser in Stage 2. He also moves faster than in Stage 1. Aim for the arms like before. If you have a drone, set it to auto altitude and avoid Bratt. Be sure to put it in reserve when its energy gets low. Bratt will retreat once his arms are destroyed. ............................................................................... 3. Second Half Go forward blasting enemies all the while. The box in the center of the screen contains a shield powerup. Now travel to the top level to cross the giant platform. Keep going until you see a box on the bottom level, it contains another shield powerup. There will then be a box on the left containing a wide shot powerup. You will then see a box containing a laser powerup. Directly to the left and hidden under the ledge is a box with a wide shot drone inside. Go forward a little ways and you will see another box. Inside is a shield powerup. Directly to the right and hidden under the ledge is another box containing a wide shot powerup. Go forward a bit, you will now see two boxes on opposite sides of the screen. The one on the left has a laser powerup, the one on the right contains a laser drone. Now it is time to fight the boss. ............................................................................... 4. Boss The boss of Stage 2 is Molwarf. Molwarf is actually two bosses. While they are underground you can't hurt them. When they come out, there will be one at each altitude. The one at the high altitude will move in a circle and fire a shot in each of the eight directions. The one on the bottom fires homing missles. You can't destroy them so avoid them as best as you can. These missles will stay at low altitude so go high if needed. You can hit Molwarf anywhere to damage him. Take out the one on top first. Then get the one on the bottom. Molwarf will stay out for a while, then head underground. If you have a drone, first set it to manual altitude. Take out the enemy at high altitude. Once that one is destroyed, set drone altitude to auto and let it attack the one at low altitude. When your drone gets low on energy, bring it back into reserve to recharge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C. Stage 3 - Ocean Battle Powerups: Drones: Wide Shot 5 Wide Shot 1 Laser 5 Laser 0 Shield 4 Repair 2 ............................................................................... 1. First Half The first thing you will see is a wide shot powerup on the top level, immediately followed by another one on the bottom. Then the enemies show up. Continue forward, blasting everything in sight. You will soon see an island on your lower left with a box on it, it contains another wide shot powerup, be sure not to get trapped behind the rock formation when you try to grab it. Soon you will come to a larger island with a box in the center of the screen, it contains a repair drone. You will soon come to another island with rock formations at the end of the island, there are two boxes on opposite sides of the screen. The one on the left contains a shield powerup and the one on the right contains a laser powerup. The next island has a large stone archway, you will have to go to the bottom level and fly under it. You will soon come across three boxes. The one on the left contains a shield powerup, the one in the center contains a wide shot drone, and the one on the right contains a laser powerup. Continue over the open water for a bit, all the while blasting enemies, then get ready to take on Bratt. ............................................................................... 2. Bratt Bratt is armed with a wide shot in Stage 3. Use the same strategies as before to beat him. Once his arms are gone, he will retreat again. ............................................................................... 3. Second Half Continue on, taking out the enemies. The first island you come to has a box with a repair drone inside. Go low so you can fly under the diagonal archway. You will then see a wide shot powerup floating around the top level. Stay at the top altitude to fly over the rock formations, then go low to get under the next archway, then go high again to get over another rock formation. You will see a wide shot powerup floating around the top level. You will see a box on the ground containing a laser drone. You will have to go low to get under the next two archways. You will then see four boxes on opposite sides of the screen. The two on the left contain laser powerups and the two on the right contain shield powerups. Continue on and get ready for the boss. ............................................................................... 4. Boss The boss here is a robotic snake. Shoot it in the head to damage it. Like usual, the best strategy is to set a drone to auto altitude and let it attack while you stay at the opposite altitude of the boss. The boss will attack by shooting at you or trying to hit you with the four segments of its body, either by spinning them around or detaching them with two on each altitude level. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. Stage 4 - Battle in Mittgard's Fortress Powerups: Drones: Wide Shot 3 Wide Shot 1 Laser 5 Laser 1 Shield 3 Repair 1 ............................................................................... 1. First Half One thing you have to watch out for is the pipes, you will have to change altitude to get around them. Continue forward, blasting everything in sight. You will then see two boxes on a platform on the top level in the middle of the screen, the one on the left contains a laser drone, the one on the right contains a laser powerup. A bit later you will see two boxes on opposite sides of the screen at the top level. The box on the left contains a wide shot powerup and the one on the right contains a shield powerup. After these you will have to go to the bottom altitude to fly under the pipe blocking the top level. Immediately after the pipe there is a box with a laser powerup on the right side of the top level. Continue on and you will soon encounter Bratt. ............................................................................... 2. Bratt Bratt is armed with a hyper arm in Stage 4. He will charge at you, then afterwards shoot shots in the other directions. He will also shot a spread at you. Use the usual strategies to take him out. Once his arms are destroyed, he will retreat again. ............................................................................... 3. Second Half After Bratt, continue on, taking out everything like usual. On the bottom level you will soon come across FIVE boxes. They contain a wide shot, two laser, and a shield powerups, as well as a repair drone. Continue on and you will see two boxes on opposite sides of the screen on the top level. The one on the left contains a shield powerup and the one on the right contains a wide shot powerup. Continue on and you will soon see two more boxes. The one on the left contains a laser powerup and the one on the right contains a wide shot drone. Continue on and get ready for the boss. ............................................................................... 4. Boss The boss here is a robotic skull. There will be three minions around to make life miserable, they are invincible, so ignore them. Shoot the skull to damage the boss, his eyes will light up to let you know you are hitting him. Sometimes one of the drones will emit a giant laser beam and sweep across one of the two altitudes, be sure to go to the opposite level. Your best bet is to move around constantly while get in as many hits as possible. Having an AI drone is also a plus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E. Stage 5 - Showdown with Mittgard Powerups: Drones: Wide Shot 4 Wide Shot 0 Laser 4 Laser 0 Shield 4 Repair 1 ............................................................................... 1. First Half There will be one laser, shield, and wide shot powerup here. I recommend getting the laser. ............................................................................... 2. Bratt Bratt has gotten an upgrade, he now has four arms. The inner two shoot lasers and the outer two shoot homing missles. Destroy his four arms the usual way. This time Bratt will NOT retreat. He will fly around shooting a spread at you. Shoot his body to send him to the scrap heap. ............................................................................... 3. Second Half There will be a repair drone and three wideshot powerups high, then three shield powerups low, then three laser powerups high. I recommend going with the lasers. Having a repair drone is vital to beating Mittgard, so be sure to grab it. ............................................................................... 4. Boss This is it, the fight with Mittgard. He has three different forms. If at anytime during the fight you get low on energy, be sure to bring out your repair drone and stop shooting so you can recover energy. Mittgard attacks in a very predictable pattern so you should be able to avoid his fire. In the first form, he is a plane with six guns, you need to destroy all six of them. Once they are destroyed, shoot him anywhere to damage him. After you do enough damage, he will then transform. You can damage him by shooting him anywhere. Avoid his attacks and keep shooting. After he takes enough damage he will transform into a battle suit. Mittgard now has a devastating attack where he will move off screen and sweep both altitudes with wide laser blasts. He will also leave six AI drones on the level he will sweep second. The lower left corner of the bottom altitude is a safe place to hide from the lasers. If the drones are on the bottom level, you will have to avoid their fire. Don't worry too much about them, they will be destroyed by the lasers. Your first objective is to destroy Mittgard's legs. Next destroy his four guns. Now you can shoot him anywhere to damage him. He will try one final laser attack with six drones on BOTH altitudes, then will explode. Congratulations, you have won! ******************************************************************************* X. Game Review This is a fun game. If you own a Virtual Boy and are a fan of top-down shooters like 1943, you should definitely get this game. Pros - Fun and fast-paced action. - The short cinema scenes between levels are a nice touch. - The AI drones add a little more to the traditional top-down shooter. Cons - No two player mode. - Graphics-wise, this game looks like it belongs on the NES instead of a 32-bit system. - Game is very short, only five levels and one of these is just a boss level. ******************************************************************************* XI. My Best Scores Easy 540,700 Normal 271,900 Hard 484,800 ******************************************************************************* XII. Version History 1.0 05/02/03 Created FAQ 1.1 09/18/08 Added some more legal stuff to the header. Expanded the Table of Contents and section labels. Made some formatting changes. ******************************************************************************* XIII. Contact Information You can contact me at Bhodges080@aol.com I would appreciate hearing what you thought of this guide and any thoughts you have for improving it. Be sure to let me know if I have missed anything. ******************************************************************************* End