Zombie Hunter - Famicom Version =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Game Mechanics Guide =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= V 1.0 - 02/15/20 by B.L. Timmins AKA Master Higgins on Gamefaqs AKA Dr. Morbis everywhere else. V 1.1 - 02/20/20 Edited and renamed a few sections to clarify that this is primarily a game mechanics guide dealing with the more cryptic elements. INTRODUCTION Ah, Zombie Hunter for the Famicom, a weird little game that is virtually unknown in the West. And that's too bad, as it's actually quite enjoyable to play through, if - and this is a BIG if - you have some sort of idea what you are doing; and that's precisely where this guide comes in. Yes, there is an FAQ already posted here on gamefaqs, however it deals with a patched version of the game that is translated into English and thus does not address the small language barrier with the Japanese menus. Along with that, there are also two extremely important pieces of information that are not mentioned in that guide (a potentially game-breaking bug, and how and where to properly enter shops) that need to be addressed, among other things. Ergo, the scope of this guide is two-fold: one, to provide the tools necessary for non-Japanese speaking gamers to enjoy Zombie Hunter on an original Famicom without having to resort to purchasing a translated version of the game or running it through an emulator, and two, to teach them what they need to know about the various game mechanics in order to succeed. Here we go... THE HIDDEN GAME OPTION Well, nothing about this game is straight forward and obvious, it seems. So you pop the game into your Famicom and power it up and a stylized logo of the game's title appears on the screen, followed by a long story. Pressing start here brings you to a title screen that says, "Push Start Button." What the game doesn't tell you is that you can actually change the difficulty here by pressing SELECT. Your options are GAME A and GAME B. But again, things are not as they seem, as GAME A is supposed to be easier and GAME B more difficult, but that's not entirely accurate. Here's the breakdown: GAME A - Significantly easier at the start (better starting stats and gains) More difficult and time consuming in the long run, due to: ***Static Item Drops*** GAME B - Significantly harder to begin with (low starting stats and gains) Can be much easier and less time consuming in the long run, due to: ***Random Item Drops*** Now, if you've never played this game before, I strongly recommend playing it through to completion on GAME A to get a feel for the mechanics and how the items work. This is because the first ten minutes of play are rather straight forward on GAME A, whereas the first ten minutes of GAME B are a frustrating grind. As such, I have included a short guide near the bottom of this document that focuses on teaching the reader how to excel at GAME B. Note that regardless of which mode you choose, the game is essentially identical, aside from your character's personal attributes and the way item drops work (which is explained further below). But for now, let's move on to that which would otherwise be lost in translation. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Language Barrier =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= THE HUD AND ITS JAPANESE MENU Have you ever seen a larger heads-up display? It takes up literally half the screen! Anyway, most of the information here is pretty straight forward, as it's all in English. The only real quirk is with your life, or Hit Points, which this game calls POW. If that ever reaches zero, it's game over; no second life, no continues, nothing. So keep that in mind: if your health runs out an hour in, you're going back to the title screen. Where things get interesting, though, is when you pause the game. You see, the large box on the right side of the HUD normally gives you trivial information in Japanese about enemies appearing and subsequently dying and whatnot. But pressing start at any point during gameplay pauses the action and brings up a Japanese menu in this same box that must be navigated frequently as one is plowing through the game. Fortunately, though, there are only four initial options, all of which are very easy to work through: JAPANESE SUB-MENU TREE Items ---> Use/Equip = Use selected item, or equip selected equipment. ---> Drop = Drop selected item from inventory to make room for more. Weapons = Selecting this option let's you cycle through your inventory with the D-pad to change your active weapon. Equipment = Selecting this option shows all items currently equipped, along with the resulting stat gains (Left number is Defense, Right number is Energy, which is actually Magic Defense). Status = Selecting this option shows various character stats, as per below: Level:# Strength:# Defense:# Magic:# Energy:# (Magic Defense) MAXPOW:# (Maximum Hit Points at current level) Next Level:# (EXP amount at which next level-up will occur) As you can see, the bottom two options are merely informative, and the second option is just a roundabout way of doing something you can already do at any time during gameplay by pressing the SELECT button, so you'll be mostly using the top option the large majority of the time. Like I said, simple stuff. Now that we have the language issue out of the way, all that's left is the need to explain a few of the more cryptic aspects of the game mechanics, and you'll be well on your way to success... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Game Mechanics =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= SHOPS There are many shops in this game, sprinkled throughout the various stages. Each stage has a minimum of two shops, but some have as many as five or six. All shops are hidden to the naked eye and require the input of a code at just the right location to enter them: Up on the D-pad while pressing B. But even without a map, they are rather simple to locate, as pressing Up+B at every darkened archway you come across as you're making your way through the game will find you the very large majority of them. What's most important to remember, though, is that there is a hidden shop at the beginning of every stage. That's right, if you walk all the way to the left on any stage and press Up+B at the edge of the screen, you will enter a shop. Knowing this, you can plan out your game accordingly, whithout having to blindly hope you'll be able to jump through the top of the screen at some point to glitch your way into the nearest boutique. One other note about shops, they too have a Japanese menu, but it is short and sweet: the top option is "BUY" and the bottom option is "SELL." After you have made your selection, each item has an icon or picture so that you can easily see what it is you will be buying or selling. Once again, simple stuff. ITEM DROPS In GAME A, item drops are set in stone and will never change. What this means is that when a particular enemy group is defeated and you, by chance, receive their "prize" item, it will always be the same thing. For example in the first stage, the third enemy grouping's prize item is the Level 1 Armor. Most of the time, when you kill this enemy group, you will merely receive gold and not the prize item. However, every once in a while, you will randomly receive the Level 1 Armor. So a good beginner's strategy, since one does not start the game with any body armor whatsoever, would be to walk left after this battle, and then back to the right again to re-spawn this enemy grouping, and then fight it over and over for as long as it takes to randomly get the item drop you are looking for before moving on through the rest of the stage. On the one hand this is a positive attribute, as you know going in that if you grind long enough, you will eventually get the exact item you are looking for, in this particular case the Level 1 Armor. However, it will become apparent pretty soon that the way GAME B deals with item drops is much, much more advantageous to the player. So how does GAME B differ? Well, in GAME B most item drops are completely random. What's more, the item levels of the item drops are completely random as well! This means one could conceivably get a Level 8 item or weapon on the very first level, something I have personally experienced many times. And one does not need to have too much of an imagination to see how beneficial this can be for the player early on. The only problem, however, is that any advantage gained can just as easily be wiped out in an instant due to one tiny little oversight by a programmer many decades ago; yes, I'm talking about the almighty level-up glitch... THE LEVEL-UP GLITCH Sigh. Why does there always have to be a problem? That's life, I guess. Anyway, the major issue with this game is that it resets your defense levels after every level-up. That's right: after every single level-up the game seems to think that you have no equipment on whatsoever and are running around the countryside in your skivvies. Why? I don't know, but it does. To confirm this, pause your game and look at the equipment screen (the third selection down in the Japanese pause menu) right before a level-up, and note your "Defend" and "Energy" numbers. Now kill any old enemy group to level-up, then go back to this screen and check out those numbers again... Ta-da! They've suddenly become much lower than they previously were. What kind of level-up is that? Well, the standard kind in this game, but fortunately there is a workaround: equipping any equippable item AFTER a level-up forces the game to see everything you are currently wearing, and adjusts your defenses accordingly (until the next level-up drops you back down again; ad infinitum). It's definitely a bummer, but knowing is half the battle, and so dealing with this issue needs to be a central part of any game-winning strategy. And speaking of strategies, there are some good ones just ahead. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= GAME B Player's Guide =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Alright, it's time to put it all together and lay out your path to victory. Pop in the game, press select at the title screen so that it displays "GAME B," and then press ye olde start button. Now you're ready for... THE OPENING GRIND This here is by far the hardest part of GAME B. Get through this first ten minutes, though, and you'll be laughing. So the game starts you out much weaker than GAME A, in terms of both your defenses and your attack prowess, to such an incredible degree that any given battle can result in your demise if you are not paying close attention. It's so bad, in fact, that at first glance it can seem impossible. Of course it isn't, providing that one knows exactly what to do, and speaking of that, here's how you do it: Step 1 - Immediately make your way to the LEFT edge of the screen and press Up+B when you can go no further to enter the shop. Step 2 - Sell all of your equipment except for your sword, which you will need to attack with. Do not equip said items for two reasons: one, you would lose any upgrades in short order on your first level-up due to the glitch, and most importantly, two, you desperately need the money to buy food in order to survive your first few battles. Step 3 - Buy as much food as you can and note the prices of 30, 60, and 120 gold. You may be coming back here a lot in the early going to replenish your food stock, and so it would be pointless to head back with less than 30 gold. Step 4 - Go back out into the countryside and grind on the first two or three enemy groupings. Use your food liberally when needed, or you'll be back to the title screen in short order. Head back to the shop if you need to BEFORE running out of food, and keep this up until these first few battles become effortless. You are grinding for levels at this point, as level-ups increase natural attributes (strength, Max HP, etc) which are not lost through the level-up glitch. Step 5 - When you are feeling strong enough, begin venturing further to the right, but never past the tenth enemy grouping, and back again if necessary to pick up food. Save any equipment you receive from random drops in your inventory, but do not equip them yet. If you happen to find any really strong weapons at this point, you can head to Step 6 right away. Step 6 - When you feel you're strong enough (Level 4-8, depending on what random equipment and weapon drops you've received) head to the tenth enemy grouping, defeat them, and then equip all of your equippable items in preparation for the battle with enemy grouping number eleven. Now gauge how easy or difficult it was to defeat the three little blue buggers that make up that eleventh enemy grouping to determine if you should retreat and grind out some more levels or if you are ready to press on. Step 7 - When you're ready to press on, head toward the end of the stage, stopping on the screen with the three floating platforms that you can jump on. The top block has a hidden shop (Up+B while standing on the block) where you can replenish your food stocks as often as you need to. Now you're ready for the task of... OBTAINING AN OVERPOWERED WEAPON Your second and final objective on Stage 1, after surviving the harsh opening, is to obtain the Level 6 Key or some other very powerful weapon before exiting the stage. Accomplishing this task will make the rest of the game mostly a breeze. You see, the two stats that are most important to the success or failure of your game are your attack power and your defense. Successfully managing both will ensure an easy victory. First we'll deal with your offense. Managing your offense throughout the game is incredibly easy, assuming you can get just a little bit of luck with your item drops on Stage 1. Ideally, What we want is Key 6 or higher because - if you've ever looked at the item charts in odino's walkthrough you will know this - Key 6 has an attack power of 60, which is incredibly high for this or any other stage of the game. Key's 1 to 5 have an attack power of zero, but Key's 6, 7, and 8 are ridiculously powerful, and what's more, they never lose their potency like most other weapons do. So, long story short, what you want to do here at the shop screen with the floating blocks is grind out this enemy grouping (and the ones around it) until they randomly drop a Level 6 Key or some other overpowered weapon. And since you're on a screen with a shop, you can manage your health easily by buying food and making money from selling any useless items that show up in your inventory while you're at it. Now, since item drops are random, this can happen instantly or it can take forever. I've found a Key 6 on my first try before, but I've also farmed these enemies until my character was at Level 24 without getting a Key 6 or any other overpowered weapon, so it really is out of the player's hands as to how long this step is going to take. Keep in mind, as well, that if you do find a Key 6 as opposed to some other stronger weapon, you will then also need to have a Level 1 Key to open the door at the end of the stage, lest the game use the very key that you just spent all that effort in obtaining. Anyway, once you've found a weapon that's strong enough for your liking, throw it in your weapon slot and head through the big double door at the end of the stage and teach that first big boss a lesson. At this point, congrats, you've got your offense taken care of for most, if not all, of the rest of the game. Defense, on the other hand, is a bit more tricky. MANAGING YOUR DEFENSE AS YOU BREEZE THROUGH THE LEVELS From this point on, managing your defense boils down to being aware of the level-up glitch and dealing with it appropriately. Since your offense is now ultra powerful, the only thing that can ruin your day is running into an enemy grouping that can quickly drain your health. To prevent this, you need to do two things; the first is to make sure you always have a healthy stock of food in your inventory so you can top up your HP whenever you need to. Ideally, this will come from random drops, but if necessary, the shop on the far left at the start of every single stage in the game has food available for sale. Use these shops to top up when necessary, and manage the food in your inventory accordingly. The second defensive component you need to manage for the rest of the game is your equipment. Now it is true that your defensive power grows naturally as you level-up, but it is not nearly enough to fend off the enemies in the later stages; you need to always stay fully equipped. To do this, you MUST always have an equippable item in your inventory to use AFTER every level-up. As such, you must save equippable items at all times, and NOT equip them as soon as they are obtained, even if they are better than the equipment you currently have on. It is, in fact, better to be lesser equipped and have a whack of unused equipment in your inventory that you can use one-at-a-time as you gain each new level. This goes for lower level items too. If you are equipped with a Level 2 Ring and you get a Level 1 Ring as a random item drop - keep it! Having the ability to re-equip all of your equipment after a level-up is FAR more important than the loss of one level of magic defense. And furthermore, the game will see that the ring you are trying to equip is less powerful than the one you are already wearing, so you would not lose the level upgrade anyway. In sum, keep ALL found and purchased equipment in your inventory to use one-at-a-time after every level-up, save for a couple of slots for food items and one empty slot for random item pickups, and SELL any and all weapons you find that are weaker than your Key 6, or whatever other overpowered weapon you are working with, obviously trading up if anything more powerful comes along. And whatever you do, do NOT go through any boss door without having first found the key for THAT STAGE (ie: find a Level 3 Key on Stage 3 before going through that stage's boss door) if the Level 6 Key is your go-to weapon. Anyway, carry on in this way, slaying all manner of monsters you should happen to meet, until you have made your way to the final stage, Stage 6. THE FINAL STAGE Just a couple of notes here for the final stage. First, make sure you have found a second Key 6 before going through the door to the final boss, if that is your primary weapon. Otherwise, the game will use the Key 6 in your weapon slot and you'll have nothing with which to attack Dolgo (and that would not end well!). As for your defense, if you're running low on reserve equipment in your inventory, the shop on the far left at the start of the stage sells a Level 6 Necklace, so stock up on those if you're desperate. Also, note that the level cap for your character is Level 31, at which point there is a glitch (yes, another glitch!) that causes you to level-up after EVERY battle once you've hit 13,000 Experience Points. And due to the other level-up glitch you've already been dealing with for the entire game, this new glitch compounded with that one makes it essentially impossible to stay fully equipped once you've hit 13,000 EXP. The last normal level-up to level 31 happens at 12,000 EXP, giving you a final 1,000 EXP to take before this glitch is officially triggered. So the long and short of it is this: make damn sure you are at the end of the final stage and ready to go through the door to fight Dolgo BEFORE you reach 13,000 EXP. I know this makes it sound like you are in a race against the clock, but in practice this shouldn't really be an issue, just something to keep in mind as you're working your way through those final few stages. And should you happen to trigger this glitch by accident before getting to the final boss, all is not lost; just make sure to save a piece of equipment in your inventory to use right before going through the final boss door so that you'll at least be fully equipped for the fight against Dolgo. Easier said than done, of course, since the final level is extremely difficult to navigate when all of your defenses are down, but it isn't impossible. And finally, I know it should go without saying, but use everything you've got for the final boss fight. There's no secondary quest and the adventure doesn't continue after you beat the game, so equip every useful piece of equipment you've got before going through that final door. Also make sure to buy as much food as possible; there's no reason to save gold for anything else, and there's a shop (two actually, if you count jumping through the top of the screen) shortly before reaching Dolgo's lair. Okay, that should just about do it; the rest is up to you (and the RNG Gods, of course... ) May you fight bravely... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END This guide was made for display on www.gamefaqs.com and is copyright 2020 B.L. Timmins. I don’t care who distributes, displays or promotes this document, as long as it is left unaltered and wholly intact. I can be reached at bltimmins at symbol shaw dot ca if any mistakes in this guide are found.