LUPIN III: PANDORA NO ISAN Famicom / NES FAQ / Walkthrough Version 1.0 Written by Mindtraveller mindtraveller at mail dot com TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction 2. Story 3. Controls 4. Characters 5. Gadgets 6. Walkthrough 7. Strategies and Tips 8. Conclusion and Contact Information 9. Version Info 10. Legal 1. INTRODUCTION ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading this Lupin III: Pandora no Isan FAQ/Walkthrough. It will guide you through the different stages of the game, providing tips and hints on how to make your gaming experience more enjoyable. Lupin III: Pandora no Isan was released in 1987 by Namcot. The game is based on the Lupin the Third manga and anime series. It could be best described as a platform / maze kind of game. 2. STORY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Clarisse has been kidnapped by an unknown fiend (or just disappeared) for mysterious reasons. It's up to you to rescue her and discover what secret lies behind this foul turn of events. You are Lupin the Third, thief extraordinaire. Along with your friends Jigen and Goemon, you'll have to travel around the world looking for information that will bring you closer to Clarisse's location. 3. CONTROLS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- At the title screen, press 'Start' to enter the character selection screen. Move the control pad up or down to choose Lupin, Jigen or Goemon and press 'A' to begin. During the game, press 'B' to shoot or attack, and 'A' to jump (or swim when underwater). If you press 'Up + A' you'll jump higher, and if you press 'Down + A' you'll jump down (if possible). Needless to say, you can jump and attack by pressing 'A' then 'B' (except with Lupin). The 'Start' button pauses the game and lets you select one of the six different usable gadgets by moving the control pad to the left or to the right. Once you go back to the game again, press 'Select' to use the gadget you just chose. 4. CHARACTERS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- There are three playable characters in the game. You can switch between them at any point of the game, as long as you have the correct device (the radio) for doing so. These characters are: Lupin - The skilled thief who travels the world in search for riches is the only one who can take advantage of the different gadgets found throughout the game. However, he has a short range weapon, shoots slow, and can't attack while jumping. Jigen - Lupin's right arm and a quick gunman, Jigen has the longest range shot of the three, he also can shoot quite fast. He appears to be more nimble and quick, too. Goemon - The descendant of a family of swordsmen, he wears a sword that can easily cut through almost any material. He has no use for fire weapons and relies solely on his sharp edged blade. This means, of course, that Goemon's attack range is the most limited. On your journey you'll come across two other important characters: Inspector Zenigata - He won't rest until Lupin is behind bars, and I mean it. Making his entrance in stage 2, he will appear from time to time and make your life miserable. You can't harm him in any way and he'll run after you incesantly in an attempt to catch you and put you under arrest, no matter what character you are playing. Fujiko - A mysterious woman who will help you (if you find her and have the right item), or at least that's what I think. You'll recognize her for the tight black outfit she wears. 5. GADGETS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Throughout the game, you'll come across white briefcases. Shoot them three times or slice them up and you'll get different gadgets that will aid you in your quest. Remember that Lupin is the only character that can use these items. The only exception is the radio, which any of the three characters can use. There are two different kinds of gadgets. Those that you select and those that activate themselves automatically when needed. You'll be able to tell them apart by looking at the top of the main screen. The ones to the left of your score are those that you can chose when to use. The ones to the right of your score are automatically activated. The above said, and for simplicity purposes, I'll list them in "left" and "right" groups: Left: Radio - You can use the radio to switch characters at any point. Bomb - Set up one of these, and after a few seconds they'll explode, killing all enemies on screen. They are also useful to destroy weak points of buildings, allowing you to get some hidden items. Spread Gun - This weapon causes a lot of damage to the enemies by firing five bullets that create a screen. Each gun lasts five shots. When using it, it makes Lupin move slower. Jetpack - Just what the name implies. Lupin attaches one of these to his back and is able to fly across the screen for a limited time. Necessary to gain access to certain parts of the game. Infrared Goggles - Wear these to see where certain "laser eyes" are. These "eyes" activate traps that will make an amount of bottles, screws, and similar objects fall from the roofs, causing you damage (or death). Right: Oxygen Tank - If you fall to the water, and you don't have an oxygen tank, you die. If you do have one, you'll be able to explore underwater and go through passages that will lead you to places otherwise unreachable. Balloon - These are helpful if Lupin falls from a cliff, as they will let him float towards safe ground again. Bullet-Proof Vest - By wearing this, Lupin will be able to take more hits before dying, the number of hits depends on how many vests you've collected. Ruby Ring - They will allow you to "bribe" certain characters you'll meet, gaining information that otherwise they wouldn't tell you. 6. WALKTHROUGH ----------------------------------------------------------------------- STAGE 1: MANSION You start at the rooftops and have to make your way to the mansion's top entrance. There are three basic things you should keep in mind: First. Pay attention to the top archway before reaching a sort of bridge, you'll notice a white thing that looks like a briefcase (seen from the side). It is indeed a briefcase, and you should shoot it (or slice it up) to obtain gadgets. You'll come across these briefcases all throughout the game, remember to destroy them to acquire the special items. Second. Use the sides of the roofs to run down and gain momentum when jumping from one building to the other. If you just try to jump in a normal way, you'll die most of the time by falling. Third. Whenever possible, go at a medium pace, do not rush your way, if you do, you'll probably die at the hands (or should I say 'claws') of some nifty black ninjas that will appear from the bottom of the screen, this is especially true when jumping from one roof to another. As soon as you see a small explosion of white light below, stop and shoot the ninjas before proceeding. Once inside the mansion, you are on the third floor, and you have to descend to the first. Again, there's one basic thing you should keep in mind: This is the part of the game where you'll become familiar with doors. You can press up to enter a room. There are six things that can happen when entering one: - Nothing. Your character will go out immediately. However, if you hold the control pad up, you'll 'hide' in these doors. Useful to get out of trouble. - Rescue captured friends. If one of your characters 'dies' (they are really just captured), sometimes you'll find him tied up in a room. Just walk up to him and you'll set him free. - Obtain gadgets. Some rooms contain many briefcases. Shoot them up and get the items. - Talk to characters. At different parts of the game, you'll come across many different persons and creatures. They'll give you some information. Some of them won't tell you what you need to know unless you bribe them. (See the Ruby Ring description in section 5 for more details) - Go to the next level of a stage. - Battle. You'll confront bosses inside a room. Ok, now that you know the basics about doors and rooms, let's continue. As stated before, you start on the third floor. The enemies here are not really hard to beat, just keep an eye on the ninjas and on the dogs, sometimes they will catch you off-guard if you are not careful. The guys in red are quite wimpy, but towards the end of the floor they might appear carrying a sword, which will block your shots at times; just keep shooting until you destroy them. In one of the rooms in this floor you will meet a butler. There's a room with briefcases, too. Once you've reached the staircases, just press up to go down. On to the second floor. Ok, if you've paid attention to the background so far, you may have noticed some knight armors; well, in this floor, many of them will come back to life and attack you. They have shields, so you have to look for a weak spot to get rid of them, usually the legs; or if they are kneeling, the head. Time for another basic thing to keep in mind: On this floor, you'll notice some sort of fireplace. Just place one of your bombs in front of it, and upon explosion, you'll see a hole has been created. Press up to enter it and obtain hidden items. Unlike briefcases, which give you one gadget, these hidden places will give you a bunch of them (I mean, it will be one gadget, but you'll get three or more of the same). There will be places like this on most stages, only that they won't always be fireplaces. Once you reach the first floor, you'll face most of the enemies you found on the third and second floors, so there shouldn't be much trouble in dealing with them. In one of the rooms in this floor you'll find a girl who will take away one ruby ring when you talk to her. This is the first example of a character that will tell you something different if you have a ruby ring. Anyway, keep an eye for fireplaces to get some bullet-proof vests and other goodies. Speaking of which, you'll find two rooms with briefcases; once you exit the second one, put on your infrared goggles and quickly make your way all the way to the right, ignoring any other doors (they don't have anything), and avoid touching the "laser eyes" you'll see on the walls. If you touch them, these will set off a trap: A lot of bottles start to fall from the ceiling. If you accidentally touch a red eye or don't have goggles, try to stand still and avoid them until the danger passes. (Once you have mastered the game, you might want to avoid them while you are actually running.) * Boss 1 - The Giant Knight * After you've made your way to the last door, enter the room and you'll face the first boss: A giant knight that throws clubs. He's fairly easy to defeat. Just use the radio to switch characters and select Jigen. Stay in the left side of the screen and shoot the knight like there's no tomorrow. He has no chance against Jigen. Power is Jigen. Once defeated, the guy who was inside the knight's armor will tell you something, which I think has to do with going to China. STAGE 2: CHINA Many people get stuck in this stage, and with a reason; it can be really confusing if you just wander around without a defined idea of what you are doing. So don't just run around trying to reach the 'end' of the stage by going far to the right. You have to follow a certain pattern to find your way through the stage. Again, there are three things you should keep in mind while inside the buildings of this stage: First. Enter every room you see, you'll meet many characters who will give you information; you'll also acquire a lot of gadgets when you get into a room with briefcases. Second. Sometimes the enemies will hit you and make you fall into the water (if your character is Lupin, that is). Try not to go through the building underwater, unless you are 100% sure that you will not miss an important conversation. Third. Look for spots with ripped wallpaper, you can further identify these spots by the wooden squares behind it. Set up a bomb to find the hidden stuff. Ok. The first thing you'll see when starting the stage is the entrance to a building, take it to go inside. You'll now have to go all the way to the right, looking for an exit; however, enter the doors you see along the way, there are many rooms with briefcases. You'll also meet Inspector Zenigata in one room, I don't know what he says, but I guess it's some sort of warning about how he's going to catch you. Anyway, the enemies in here are some kung fu fighting guys in blue, they are not that difficult to kill, but don't be overconfident, sometimes they'll leap around and hit you unsuspectedly. You'll also face some girls in pink who throw knifes, they are harder to defeat because they'll crouch and avoid your shots, even if you are kneeling; you have to be very precise and shoot them as soon as they are getting up again or getting ready to throw a knife. When you take the last door, you'll go outside again. Don't go to the right, instead, turn left and go through the first entrance you see. It can be identified by the ugly fluorescent green color that surrounds it. Again, make your way to the far right, enter the rooms to look for briefcases. A known enemy, the nifty and clawed ninja, will make his appearance in this building; he's his usual self, so follow the same advice given in the Mansion section to deal with him. After the second room of briefcases, you might want to put on your infrared goggles, because the old "laser eyes" are back to set off the falling bottles trap. Use the goggles whenever you go outside of a briefcase room for the rest of your journey through this building. Once you reach the last door, you'll meet Fujiko inside. You need to have a ruby ring or she won't give you the necessary information. After talking to Fujiko, go left and dive underwater right away. You can go through the water because you are returning to the original entry point, so it's ok. Anyway, underwater you'll face some swimming guys, just shoot them. Make your way to the left until you can't go any further. Get out of the water and continue left until you reach the entrance/exit door. You'll be on the outside again. Now make your way to the right, you'll reach the exit of the first building, ignore it and continue going right. You'll soon reach another entrance, this time you can identify it by its blue frame. Enter the building. This is where things start to get a bit harder. In this building you'll face the kung fu fighting guys and the ninjas, but in addition to this, rolling barrells will start to come on screen; you have to avoid them by jumping over them (or if you are playing with Goemon, just destroy them with his sword.). If this wasn't enough, this is where Inspector Zenigata will start to chase you incesantly (for the rest of the game), he'll also stop and throw handcuffs at you; you can't harm him in any way, so you have to avoid him at all costs. You can use doors to hide or lead him through a water opening, so he'll fall when he tries to cross it. He might disappear completely or reappear immediately. This is a random situation, and if he disappears, don't worry, he'll appear in the same way at some other point of the game (at random, that is). In this building you'll find a lot of rooms with briefcases. You'll also meet a redheaded guy with a ponytail. Talk to him. Keep going right until you get out of the building. Outside, go right and you'll see a brick wall. Be careful because here you'll find some phantoms dressed in black and with their arms extended, leaping at intervals. You have to shoot them twice to destroy them. Keep running to the right until you reach another entrance. (This time it should be a grey building. Go through the building just as you've done so far with the others. Here you'll find an old man in a green chinese outfit. Once you exit, you'll see you're outside another grey building, go left and enter the red building with green rooftops. You'll meet two more characters here: A woman with purple hair and a fat guy in red. Put on your infrared goggles after leaving the room of the woman, the "laser eyes" are here. Once you reach the end of the building, dive underwater and make your way back to the entrance. Now you'll be outside again. Go right and ignore the next entrance (which is the exit from the grey building), you'll see some sort of alley in the background and another building just to the right. Get inside that building. There you'll find another fat guy, but this one is dressed in light blue. When you get out, you'll be outside a grey building with dark yellow stripes and some green rooftops. Go right and enter the next building (a green one). A short guy in a red robe can be found here. Proceed to look for the exit. You'll be exactly outside the last building you can find by going to the right. Now turn left and enter the final one (it's red with three windows at the top). You'll find the last piece of the puzzle in the form of a girl wearing a purple dress. You need a ruby ring to get the correct information, so be sure to have one. Once again, after exiting the second briefcases room, put on your goggles whenever you are outside a room. * Boss 2 - Iron Butterfly Master * If you've followed the walkthrough correctly, the last room of the buidling will be where you meet the boss. Otherwise, it will be empty. This boss is a very tall man wearing typical chinese clothes. He will summon a bunch of iron butterflies that will fly towards you. You can't destroy them by shooting them, so Jigen and Lupin are not the best choice here (although you can defeat him using any of them, but you need to be very good); simply switch characters to Goemon, the butterflies can't hurt him at all, so all you have to do is get close to the chinese guy, and slice him up left and right until he is defeated. STAGE 3: DOCKS WAREHOUSE This stage is very similar to the first one, it shouldn't be very difficult to go through it, as it is quite linear. The docks will be your starting point, and from here you have to make your way to the warehouse entrance. The first enemies you'll see are some masked thugs with knifes, very easy to defeat. However, look for rolling boulders soon, especially one that comes out at the first big ship in the background (you'll pass two trucks and the ship will be exactly after the second one), just walk forward through the barrells and into the little platform spot. The barrell will fall and you'll be able to continue without trouble. Then you'll come across the "frog sailors", they can be dangerous if you don't measure their leaps correctly. Just one shot and they're dead, though. After those, you'll see another truck in the background, get ready for another tricky rolling boulder; you'll see two little platform at the bottoms of the screen, one formed by two squares and another one formed by three, just jump quickly from one to the other and you should be safe. Two new enemies will try to stop you. The little flying droids and the bazooka guys. Timing is the key; with the droids, stand still and just wait until they get close enough for your shot to destroy them, the bazooka guys will shoot at intervals, avoid their shots and try to shoot them quickly. The entrance to the warehouse should be quite near once you see those enemies. With the basic things you've learned in stage 1 and 2, you really shouldn't have any trouble getting through the inside of the warehouse. However, here are some things to remember: Go into every room. Even though in this stage it really isn't necessary to talk to anyone, you should enter the rooms to search any briefcases. Look for bar doors on the background, these are the ones you can blow up with a bomb and get special items. Most of the masked thugs who previously had only knives, will be carrying guns. Also, beware of the "bull sailors", they are gargantuan guys who will take a few shots before dying, and once you shoot them, they'll charge quickly. Attack fast. Keep an eye on the following: Rolling boulders - On the first three floors of the warehouse. Inspector Zenigata - On the third and fourth floors. Laser eyes - On the fourth floor. (You don't want to get screwed.) * Boss 3 - Fireball Robot * Once you reach the last door of the fourth floor, you'll enter the boss' room. This time you'll face a big robot that shoots fireballs through his eyes, as well as dropping bombs from time to time. It isn't that difficult to defeat, but here's how to get rid of it quickly: Select Jigen. You'll see there are many blue boxes on the room, concentrate on the three at the left. Position Jigen at the very edge of the first box (the one nearer to the door), and from there shoot the robot, kneeling when needed to avoid the straight fireballs it'll shoot towards you. STAGE 4: EGYPT So you thought stage 2 was hard? Try to beat this one. In order to be able to make the following part of the walkthrough work, you have to keep Lupin alive at all times (don't let him be captured!); you'll also need to have some oxygen tanks and jetpacks, this shouldn't be a problem if you've entered the rooms of the first three stages and collected enough gadgets. Also, the way this part of the walkthrough is presented is somewhat different from the rest, this is due to the nature of the stage itself. Ok, let's get started. The first thing you'll notice is that the game mechanics have changed, you are driving a car through the desert and you can see your character coming out through the car roof. It's better to select Goemon, for his sword can destroy the rolling rocks. Along with those rocks, you'll face the following obstacles: Stationary stones - Jump them by pressing "A" + Right on the gamepad. Bomb dropping vultures - Accelerate by pressing right on the gamepad, and when the vird drops the bomb, quickly press left to slow down. Ponds - You have to jump this with enough impulse, so accelerate all you can and jump. Bridges - Let the screen drive you at its speed, then jump whenever needed, except for the last jump, you have to accelerate to reach the next edge. Soon you'll reach some sand mountains (dark redish brown), beware of the small rocks at the bottom of these, you have to jump over them. After the drive, you'll reach the Pyramid, this is where things get interesting. All the skill you've gained through your journey will be tested to the maximum here. The Pyramid consists of four levels, all of them are really big mazes of rooms and passages. You can easily get lost and spend hours trying to find your way. Read the following instructions -carefully- in order to reach your goal. Level 1. (Brown) From the starting door, go left and take the passage, then go right and take the next passage, you'll be at an entrance "guarded" by two statues, from here, turn left and take the passage. Now, go right and you'll find the door to level 2. Enemies and obstacles you'll meet here: - Female Warriors with sword. (Easy to destroy, just shoot them.) - Blade traps. (On the floor, jump over them, timing is important.) - Rolling rocks. (Same as rolling boulders on stages 2 and 3.) - Animated Skeletons. (Shoot it at distance, it will 'explode' and its bones will damage you if you are close to it; two shots and it's destroyed; keep an eye on its jumps, too.) Level 2. (Green) Go left, take the first passage you see; go right until you find an entrance, go through it; go right and take the first passage you see, passing over the pond (if your ability at jumping isn't good enough, you might require an oxygen tank or a jetpack); go all the way to the left and take the passage; go left and take the first entrance; go right and take the first passage; go left and take the passage, you'll reach the door to level 3. Enemies and obstacles you'll meet here: - Female Warriors with sword. - Rolling rocks. - Animated Skeletons. - Archers. (Beware of his jumps, shoot him once to destroy him.) - Mummies. (Slow, but extremely resistant, 10 shots to destroy then (or two sword slashes).) Level 3. (Blue) Go right, take the first passage; go all the way to the right, take the passage; go left, take the passage; go right, take the passage; go left, take the passage; go right, take the passage; go left, take the passage; go all the way to the left and take the passage (you'll need a jetpack, an oxygen tank and a bomb here); go right and the door to level 4 should be there. Enemies and obstacles you'll meet here: - Archers. - Snakes. (Shoot them quickly if they are coming out of a container, if they are on the ground, kneel and shoot; otherwise, it's better to simply jump over them.) - Mummies. - Flying Seraphs. (Annoying, one shot and they'll fly away, but will come back faster to attack. Two shots to destroy them.) - Ceiling Crawler. (Try to stand over some rocks to shoot it, or jump and shoot/slice him; beware of the rocks it throws.) - Animated Skeletons. Level 4. (Gold) Go left, take the first passage; go right, at the first chance you have dive into the water and swim right all you can (you need one or two oxygen tanks here, depending on your ability), as you get out of the water, take the first entrance you see; go right and take the second passage you see (you might need a jetpack to cross the pond); go left and take the first passage (you might need one or two jetpacks, depending on your ability); go left, take the entrance; go right and take the first passage; go left, take the first entrance; go all the way to the right and take the last passage, the final door is here. Enemies and obstacles you'll meet here: - Snakes. - Female Warriors with boomerangs. (One of the hardest enemies of the game, you'll need to be very precise and agile; their boomerang serves them as a shield, so you have to wait for them to throw it, problem is it will usually hit you, best to avoid them if possible.) - Flying Seraphs. - Ceiling Crawler. * Final Bosses - Flying Sphinx Duo * When you enter the room, you'll notice you're inside some sort of temple or holy place. Two creatures that resemble a sphinx are sitting at the center, facing each other; they wear swords and shield and shoot fireballs in diagonal and horizontal directions. They are not that easy to defeat, however, your best bet here is, again, Jigen. As soon as you enter the room, move to the very left and jump into the first platform above the door, start shooting the left sphinx (by now it should be awake and flying), there will be a point where the sphinx will be on its back getting close to you, do not retreat, keep shooting it; after a few seconds, it'll try to escape by going upwards, jump into the upper platform and keep shooting relentlessly, if it tries to go down, return to platform above the door, and if it goes even lower, go to the ground, but keep shooting it. After a while, you should destroy the first sphinx, just as the second one is coming to life (or has been alive for a few seconds already). Do the same thing with this one. If any of them manage to "escape" from your shooting, try to concentrate on avoiding their fireballs whenever you think they might hit you. 7. STRATEGIES AND TIPS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Enemies follow certain patterns, study them to have an easier time fighting them. Remember to enter every room you can, some of the gadgets are really necessary, especially at the last stage. Look for captured friends in rooms, visit even those rooms you've already covered before. Use Inspector Zenigata to your advantage. Whenever he appears on screen, no other enemies will be there. If you have difficulty at a certain point, try to overcome it using a different character. 8. CONCLUSION AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I hope you found this FAQ/Walkthrough useful, if it made your gaming experience more enjoyable, then it has accomplished its purpose. As you may have noticed, there were parts where I wrote things like "I think this characters says this or that", this is due to to fact that most of the game's text is in japanese, and I can't understand it. If you can, and would like to make this document better, please get in touch with me. I'd also like to say that English is not my first language, so there might be some grammatical or spelling errors here and there, if you see some, please let me know. However, one thing I'd appreciate the most is if someone could make a style correction to the text. If you have any comments, suggestions, or further questions, don't hesitate to contact me at: mindtraveller at mail dot com 9. VERSION INFO ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.0 - First release. 10. LEGAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lupin the Third and its distinctive characters is copyright by Monkey Punch. All rights reserved. Lupin III - Pandora no Isan is copyright Namcot (Namco). All rights reserved. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. This document may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without my advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. This document is authorized to be hosted on the following websites: http://www.gamefaqs.com http://www.neoseeker.com If you want to put this FAQ on your website, please ask me first. This is just to keep track of where my work is being published. Thank you. This document is Copyright 2004 Mindtraveller (David V.B.). All rights reserved.