=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ##### ## ###### / #### / /# / / ####/ / / / # # / / # ## ## # /### /### /### ### /### /## ## ## # / ### / / ### / / ### / ###/ #### / / ### ## ######## / ###/ / ###/ / ###/ ## ###/ / ### ## ## # ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ######## # ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ####### / ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## /##/ ## ## /# ## ## ## /# ## ## #### / / ##### ## ####/ ## ######## ####/ ## ### ### ######/ / ## ### ## ### ### ### ## ### ### ##### # ### ## #### ### /###### /# / ###/ WALKTHROUGH / FAQ Version 0.20 (Last Update: 5/4/03) By Dark Shotokan (Nik@Silveresque.com) This file is (c) 2003 Nicholas Thoreau Trappler-Bailey. All rights reserved. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1.0 -- Update History 2.0 -- Introduction 3.0 -- Review 4.0 -- F.A.Q. 4.1 -- "How do the controls work?" 4.2 -- "What are the different weapons?" 4.3 -- "What's all that stuff on the top of the screen?" 4.4 -- "What kind of power-ups are there?" 4.5 -- "Holy hell, this game is hard!" 4.6 -- "What is the story of this game supposed to be?" 5.0 -- Walkthrough (TO COME) 6.0 -- Credits 7.0 -- Legalities 8.0 -- Contact Information =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 1.0 U P D A T E H I S T O R Y Version 0.20 ~ (5/4/03) ~ Very first upload, containing the format and content for all sections except the walkthrough. The next update will contain the complete walkthrough, which could take me anywhere from a week to a month to finish. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 2.0 I N T R O D U C T I O N It always pains me to see great games go under-appreciated on GameFAQs, lingering for year upon year without a single FAQ to call their own. Up until now, though, I've never been motivated enough to rectify the problem myself. Hagane, it seems, has changed all that. Released in 1994 for the SNES, Hagane is a platformer / action game, with a distinctive "old school" feel to it-- by which I mean that it is impossibly difficult to complete, just like back in the days of the NES and the Contra code. Although this level of difficulty will throw off many contemporary gamers who are used to a more lax standard in their games, I'm of the mind that everyone should at least try out this great, old game. If you find it enjoyable, so much the better. If you can't get past the second level... Well, then you're a lamer and I don't want you playing one of my favorite games anyway. Go on! Get away from it! Shoo! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 3.0 R E V I E W Set against the stygian backdrop of a world ravaged by the Apocalypse, Hagane is the dramatic, heart-wrenching story of a KILLER CYBORG NINJA WHO KILLS ALOT OF PEOPLE. What, did you think I was serious? Playing out in typical side-scrolling action format, Hagane is, indeed, set in a post-Apocalyptic world, or at least that's what I gather from all the game says of the story-- about 2 sentences. Naturally, the plot is so nonexistent that it cannot even be said to be bad, a trait which I find disappointing. Maybe it's just the contemporary gamer in me talking, but I would have liked to have a reason for all the extremely cool melding of classical Japanese mythology and cyber-punk elements which occurs in Hagane's graphical repetoire. And speaking of graphics, they're wonderful. While not so lavish as some that I've seen on the SNES, much of the animation in Hagane is simply beautiful, even something so simple as our robot-ninja-clone-Sith protagonist's walking animation. The game makes wonderful use of the SNES' capacity for "special-effects," such as the level which continually scrolls in mode7 as you play through it. The graphics may be nice, but the sound is not. While the sound -effects- are more then suitable to their various jobs, the music is lackluster and rather grating on the ears. Frankly, I played most of the game with head-phones over my head, listening to a better soundtrack. So, bad story, bad music, good graphics. So far, it isn't looking very good for Hagane, eh? Never fear, for the gameplay is killer. Though very, very fun to just play once you've gotten a hand of it, Hagane has something of a steep learning curve, as to properly navigate through the entire game you will have to wrap yourself around the dozens of maneuvers which our robo-shinobi hero can do. Thankfully, once you've gotten the basics down, you'll be flipping and hopping all over the place, dashing through the air to land behind one enemy, taking them out with your sword, then quickly flipping away and using a few well-placed throwing knives to take out another foe from afar. If you can get over the comparative difficulty and unfriendliness of the game, you'll likely have a great time playing it, in short. Story: 3 / 10 Graphics: 7 / 10 Sound: 5 / 10 Gameplay: 9 / 10 Average: 6 / 10 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 4.0 F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 4.1 Q: "How do the controls work?" In Hagane, a plethora of techniques and maneuvers are yours to control; so many in fact, that it can be difficult to keep track of them all. All of Hagane's different moves have been listed below, with motion & button combinations listed below their base button. ** A BUTTON: Utilizes your Mysterious Spray of Death attack -- hereafter referred to as MSoD -- and depletes your MSoD counter by one. The screen flashes a multitude of colors as a large, white kanji symbol is displayed in the center of the screen. For the extent of this little seizure-inducing visual bonanza, Hagane is invincible, not to mention the fact that all of the enemies which can seen will take larger amounts of damage; useful against targets that have more then one area to hit. ** B BUTTON: Makes Hagane jump. The longer the button is held down, the higher he will jump, to a maximum of about 7/8 of the screen. The hang-time at the apex of Hagane's jump takes a little getting used too, so give it some practice. B + B: By hitting B a second time during your ascent or the brief mid-air lag, Hagane will go into a mid-air roll, traveling forwards in the direction he was facing. Like with a standard jump, the distance you go will very based on how long you hold down the B button- to a maximum of around 3/4 of the screen, for this maneuver. If you hit a wall or the edge of the screen while in a mid-air roll, you will rebound off of it in the opposite direction, heading upwards. This is useful for jumping onto a higher platform, or for rapidly ascending between two walls that are placed close together. B + DOWN: By tapping or holding down during a jump or fall -- but not a mid-air roll -- Hagane will come hurtling downwards with one leg out- stretched, doing minimal damage to anything he land on. The real use of this technique is that by holding down... Well, down, you can repeatedly bounce off the head of an enemy. This is especially useful against stationary foes or ones who merely float around in a slow circle. B + UP: When standing below a ceiling or the underside of a higher plateu, jumping into it with up held down will cause Hagane to grip the ceiling, hanging from it. Once you've successfully grabbed on, you need not keep holding up, as the only thing which will dislodge you from the ceiling is pressing B again to hop down from it. While hanging from the ceiling, you can move along it from side to side, and use all of your weapons as usual; this is handy for throwing bombs down at the enemies below you as they gawk helplessly. Oh, what a feeling of power. DOWN + B: By holding down on the control pad, Hagane will crouch. In addition for this being a useful angle to attack many enemies from, it allows him to get below the line of fire of many foes. Additionally, pressing B while crouched will cause him to slide forwards in the direction he was facing, almost perfectly low to the ground. Just like with jumps and mid-air rolls, how long you hold the button determines how far you'll go: to a maximum of about 1/2 a screen. It should be noted that this has no offensive properties, and is purely for dodging and maneuvering. Also note that you -are- vulnerable while executing this. ** X BUTTON: This switches your current weapon, as shown by the weapon indicator at the top of the screen (see section 4.3 for more information). The order in which the weapons cycle is as follows: Sword, Kunai, Bomb, Grappling Hook, Sword, Etc. ** Y BUTTON: Uses your current weapon. Tapping Y rapidly will let you use it at a rapid rate, though some of the weapons have a longer lag time between attacks then others. See section 4.2 for more information on the specific weapons. ** L/R + OPPOSITE DIRECTION: By facing right and pressing L, or facing left and pressing R, Hagane will rapidly flip in the direction indicated BY THE BUTTON. While you are quite vulnerable during this movement, it is the fastest means of travel possible, and can be used to speed past most -- if not all -- normal enemies without getting hit. Of course, this isn't quite so useful on vertical stages, or against bosses. ** L/R + CONCURRENT DIRECTION: By facing left and pressing L, or facing right and pressing R, Hagane will perform a series of three slow flips in direction he was facing. On the second flip, he will glow a bright blue, on the third, yellow. NO GLOW + Y: By pressing Y during the first flip, Hagane will dash forward with his sword held out before him, stabbing at anything in his way. Eventually, he will slide back in the other direction, ending up where he started off. This makes this technique very useful for hit 'n' run tactics. BLUE GLOW + Y: By pressing Y during the animation of the second flip, Hagane will fall to the ground and launch into a third flip that takes him over the heads of most normal opponents, to flip-kick down into their skull/equivalent body part. This move does a lot of damage, and will instantly kill most normal foes. YELLOW GLOW + Y: By pressing Y during the animation of the third charge-up flip, Hagane will land in a crouch and stab his sword into the ground. As the image of a dragon coils around his head, flames will boil up from the ground around him, doing damage to all enemies in the surrounding vicinity. ** SELECT BUTTON: This has the exact same function as X, except that it scrolls through the weapons in the opposite order. With a bit of practice, you'll find that using this in tandem with X will make it easy to quickly switch between the weapons you need, on the fly. ** START BUTTON: Pauses the game. Don't expect for some sort of confirmation that it has paused, as there is none. Not even a dimmed screen. (Made me think it had crashed, the first time I tried this...) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 4.2 Q: "What are the different weapons?" PLASMA CATALYTIC REACTION NINJA-TOU: Also known as 'a sword.' Represented in the menu by -- gasp! -- a sword icon, this is the most basic of the weaponry at your disposal. Though it does less damage then one might expect, this doesn't really matter as, if you try, you can slash ten times in one second. Most enemies can be handily disposed by crouching right next to them and slashing repeatedly. SELF-POWERED MISSILE KUNAI: Code-name, 'throwing daggers.' In the interface, these look like a triangle with a thin handle attached to it. Practically, they are your primary missile weapon, and a very useful one at that. These fly in a straight line away from you, until they hit something or go off the edge of the screen. Unfortunately, they cannot be thrown as quickly as you can slash your ninjatou-- there's a slight pause every two kunai. BOMB THAT IS SOMEHOW BETTER THEN A NORMAL BOMB: We're not sure how, but rest assured: it is. Your secondary projectile weapon, this one has more of a niche use. Due to the manner in which they are thrown, they're useful for taking out enemies on the ceiling from the ground, or enemies on the ground from the ceiling. Also, there are a few bosses and enemies that these are particular good against and these will be noted in the walkthrough. PSIONIC AMPLIFIER GRAPPLING HOOK: Even in the savage wasteland of Hagane's setting, there is still use for a simple chain with a three-pronged claw on one end. Nominally, this can be used as a weapon-- it functions basically like a kunai, except that it will hit a second time at the grappling hook returns to Hagane's hand. The true use of this "weapon," though, is to, well, grapple. Unlike the other weapons, the grappling hook can be aimed straight up, and with a reason. Point this at the ceiling and fire, and Hagane will instantly ascend and grip onto it. This is especially useful for grabbing onto ceilings you couldn't ordinarily reach. You might, for instance, jump, use a mid-air roll to bounce off of a wall, come out of the roll, and fire your grappling hook straight up mid-air to grab onto a high ceiling. This is why it's essential to have an understanding of all of the game's techniques. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 4.3 Q: "What's all that stuff on the top of the screen?" Reading from left to right, top to bottom... S = Your current score. Killing enemies, completing levels, and getting power-ups will all cause this to raise, though it has no discernible point. As far as I know, getting a high score has no point other then to make you feel good about yourself, so ignore or emphasize this tally as you wish too. (By the way, my personal high is 272,990 in one play-through of the game. If anyone can send me a screenshot of a score higher then that, I'll give them credit in this FAQ.) Time = Not surprisingly, this is the amount of time you have left to complete the level. If it runs out, then you automatically lose a life and are started over from the beginning of the current level with a full time meter. Health Counter = Lit or dimmed ovals that measure the amount of hits Hagane can take before gloriously exploding. Each time an enemy hits you, one of these goes out. When they're all dimmed, you die. Weapon Counter = A weapon icon, followed by some Japanese lettering, followed by a number. This displays the weapon you currently have selected -- which is changed using X or Select -- and the amount of times you can use it. Life Counter = How many lives you have. The most you can acquire is 9. When you die with 0 lives left, you get a Game Over. MSoD Counter = Records how many times you can use the Mysterious Spray of Death. As with lives, the maximum you can have at any one time is 9. Sadly, I doubt you'll ever get that high, as these are hard to come by and tempting to use. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 4.4 Q: "What kind of power-ups are there?" Power-ups in the world of Hagane come in the form of small, square icons which are yielded by defeated enemies or by certain, destroyable pieces of the environment around you. Weapon Plus: These have the image of one of the two finite weapons -- bombs kunai -- on them and increase the total of the given weapon by 10 when picked up. If you have 99, then instead 100 points will be added to your score. Health Up: Bearing the image of a red / yellow flame, when picked up these restore one of your depleted health counters. If you have full health, you'll get a neat-o-keen 100 points. Max Health Up: An icon of a blue flame, as opposed to a red one, will increase your maximum health, up to a grand total of five. When you die, your maximum returns back to three. 1-Up: The small square that says "1-UP" in it causes Hagane to change shape into a giant, robotic dragon for about five minutes. I've included information about this form in sect-- No, seriously, it does exactly what you would expect. MSoD: These show the same symbol that flares across the screen when you use the Mysterious Spray of Death attack and -- surprise, surprise! -- increase your MSoD count by one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 4.5 Q: "Holy hell, this game is hard!" Admire my restraint as I resist obvious jokes about 'that not being a question.' But I digress: Hagane is indeed very difficult at times. Although they are no compensation for "m4d l33t sk33l3z" I've included a few tips here to help alleviate the pain of your suckines-- Er, the game's challenge. =========================================================== | | | ~Tip the 1st~ | | "Practice makes a leet ninja killing machine perfect." | | | | If you're having difficulty with the game, don't go and | | dive and into the later levels immediately. Stay in the | | first or second stage and really get to know all the | | different moves and attacks that are at your l33t-ninja | | disposal. Having a good handle of the controls will make | | all the difference in the world, I assure you. | | | =========================================================== =========================================================== | | | ~Tip the 2nd~ | | "Woah. Harvest the loot, dood." | | | | While you're hanging around the first or second stage of | | the game and building up your skills, you also ought to | | "harvest" the level. Play through the level, acquiring | | maximum health ups, extra lives, and surplus MSoD's. | | When you're about to finish the stage, deliberately die | | and go through it again, sowing a crop of destruction | | and reaping the sweet, sweet power-ups. | | | =========================================================== =========================================================== | | | ~Tip the 3rd~ | | "Cheat." | | | | I don't think I can say it much more concisely then that.| | At this point in time -- speaking honestly -- 90% of us | | are going to be playing this game on an emulator. By | | making judicious use of savestates, you can get through | | Hagane slightly easier. Just be careful not to freeze | | your state right before you're dying, though. | | | =========================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 4.6 Q: "What is the story of this game supposed to be?" IN THE TIME OF DARKNESS, THE PATHWAY TO ARMAGEDDON OPENS!! (No, seriously, do you need something more? You're a robot-ninja. Go kill.) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 5.0 W A L K T H R O U G H Pending one week to one month delivery time. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 6.0 C R E D I T S ** I'd like to thank myself foremost of all, for my hard, dedicated work and out-standing good looks. Thank you for existing, DS, without you the world would be a much bleaker place. ** All of my faithful legions of minio-- Uh, proof-readers, that is to say: ~o~ Hunter (deltasource@fanforce.net) ~o~ J.A.M. ** My lover and partner in crime, Binkari. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have the motivation to do things like this. Thank you for insulting me into writing, love. >P =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 7.0 L E G A L I T I E S No part of this document may be copied or distributed in whole or in part without explicit permission, written or recorded, of the author. Access to this document in whole or in part is never to be restricted on basis of payment, nor may this document in whole or in part ever be used for the profit of any individual or company or incorporated other then the author himself. This document may be hosted (for free, as per prior clause) on any web page, provided that the individual hosting it provides named credit to the original author and does not alter any part of its content. No part of this document may be altered or changed from its original form for any purpose without express permission from the author. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Section 8.0 C O N T A C T I N F O The author can be contacted at Nik@Silveresque.com for questions on Hagane, for insults of his writing skill, or for propositions of penis enlargements. Additionally, you might do his sorry ass a favor by checking out his site: http://www.silveresque.com