The House of the Dead Boss Survival Manual For the Sega AM1 Arcade Game Compiled by Mark Kim (Agent Falcon) Gamma A.1.d Date of Last Update: June 11, 2000 (No Time Given) Date of Public Release: June 11, 2000 (No Time Given) Copyright Information --------------------- Unpublished work trademarked (tm) and copyrighted (c) by Mark Kim. All Rights Reserved. This file is SHAREWARE and is strictly for entertainment use. In addition, this file can only be HTMLized by the sole owner of the file (Mark Kim), regardless whether the content is good or bad. To top it all off, this file can only be shown at the following websites: * Verasnaship Interactive (http://www.verasnaship.net) * GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) * Secrets of the Game Sages (http://www.gamesages.com) It is a criminal act to reproduce and/or retransmit this file in any way, shape, or form (regardless of the medium) and it shall be a criminal act to to use this file at a password-protected site where either user accounts are utilized and/or money is made through these accounts. It is a direct felony to use this file for any profitable (even if you fail to make any money out of it), promotional, and/or commercial transactional purposes (including but not limited to giving this file as some sort of bonus, gift, or any other means to generate any money out of this document). 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Any breach of copyright, trademark, and/or patents (which includes but not limited to plagiarism, stealing, laming, pirating, or otherwise) and/or using this document for any other purposes other than personal and private purposes, and/or illegal mirroring of this file (other than the five aforementioned URLs as described in the beginning of this disclaimer) is a direct violation of all applicable copyright laws, International Treaties, Patent Laws, US Title 107, and the Berne Copyright Bill of 1976. Violators and Transgressors shall face severe civil and criminal penalties through the maximum extent possible by law. Mark Kim acknowledges and respects all copyrights, patents (pending or not), and trademarks whether if it's mentioned or not somewhere in either the FAQ Text File and/or site as no copyright infringement was intended. If for any reason I MUST USE any copyrighted resource, then credit will be given at the Acknowledgements Section for the common part. Note that whenever I give credit, I WILL NOT REVEAL ANY E-MAIL ADDRESSES AND/OR OTHERWISE in order to protect the privacy of the people for whom I give credit to. This file has been carefully written by Mark Kim in respect to all copyrights, patents, and trademarks. THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY. MARK KIM ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR ANY INCIDENTIAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH, OR ARISING OUT OF, THE FURNISHING, PERFORMANCE, OR USE OF THIS DOCUMENT. The House of the Dead, The House of the Dead 2, The Original Sin, Agent G, Sophie Richards, the DBR Corporation, Thomas Rogan, James Pennington, Gary Riordan, Magician Type 0, Emperor Type Alpha, Roy Curien, Caleb Goldman, Amy Crystal, Harry Harris, and all House of the Dead-related characters, sceneries, stories, and other House of the Dead-related events not mentioned in this file are registered trademarks, patents, and copyrights of Sega Enterprises Limited. All Rights Reserved. House of the Dead 1 and 2 were developed at Japan under supervision and direction through Division AM1. Published solely by Sega. This document has been created by Mark Kim in respect to all AM1 Properties and Sega Properties as no copyright infringement was intended. Note: Special thanks to Guy Type R for pointing out notes about Amy and Harry. I'LL MAKE THIS SIMPLE: THIS FILE IS MINE AND THERE IS NO UNAUTHORIZED USE OF IT!!!! I DIDN'T WRITE THIS FILE SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE ANY CRAP MONEY OUT OF THIS WORK!!! I DIDN'T WRITE THIS FILE SO THAT SOME SORRY CRAP-WRITER CAN JUST PLACE ANY SINGLE DROPLET OF THIS FAQ INTO A COMMERCIAL PUBLICATION, SLACK-OFF, AND GET PAID FOR IT!!! AND I DIDN'T WRITE THIS FAQ SO THAT SOME COPYCATTER CAN JUST CLAIM CREDIT FOR IT, WHICH IS CONSIDERED STEALING AND PLAGIARISING. ONLY FIVE WEBSITES ARE ALLOWED TO MIRROR THIS WORK BECAUSE EITHER I OR ANY OTHER FAQ WRITER THAT I KNOW HAVE TRUST IN THESE SITES (a.k.a. The websites I've mentioned in this copyright header). I don't want to waste my voice anymore on this paragraph, though. It is to remain in one piece, free of charge, and in its original state at all costs. ======================================================================== GENERAL INFORMATION Make: The House of the Dead Developer: AM1 at Sega of Japan Publisher: Sega of America Available Screens: 27-inch Monitor Upright, 50-inch Deluxe Controller: Light Gun Usual Cost per game: $1.00 US per game (Prices will vary) AAMA Classification: Very strong Life-like Violence. Not appropriate for minors under 18 years of age. Release Date: 1996 for the Arcade Versions Genre: Light Gun Number of Players: Up to two players can play at once in the same cabinet. Features: Continue Feature ======================================================================== HISTORY OF THIS FAQ July 26, 1999 ------------- In order to help you become cost-efficient players of a Light Gun game that requires quick reflexes and instant reaction time, I have come up with a Boss Guide that should help you beat the bosses in a cost-effective way. House of the Dead isn't an easy game mainly because the Zombies are rather quick and resilient and the Boss Characters can be cheap at times. I have managed to find a way to prevent you from spending too much money on the bosses by writing this important Boss Strategy File. October 31, 1999 ---------------- Some updates due to legal considerations. Can't spoil all the fun for you, should I? June 11, 2000 ------------- This isn't a real update. Since I don't have enough time to spend with the Internet at the weekdays anymore (I have a full-time job as of this update), I won't be able to create a PDF version of this one after all. I will only be creating PDF Files for reasonable games. This game was popular because of a lot of blood but I don't play this game anymore because it's boring. Please do not beg me for a PDF Version of this guide because I have no intention of doing so. I'd rather create PDFs for reasonable games. Let's just move on to other reasonable games, shall we? ======================================================================== CONTENTS OF THIS FAQ * Newsflash * Why I am creating a Boss Guide? * A reason why I'm not going to make a PDF File for HOTD and HOTD 2 at all. * Who makes House of the Dead Mastery Possible? * Chariot Type 27 * Hangedman Type 041 * Hermit Type 6803 * Magician Type 0 * Some Afterthoughts * Do's and Dont's * How to suggest suggestions * Resources of this FAQ * Acknowledgements * End of Document and One Final Warning ======================================================================== NEWSFLASH Please be warned that this FAQ can only be shown on the following locations: * Verasnaship Interactive (http://www.verasnaship.net) * GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) * Secrets of the Game Sages (http://www.gamesages.com) Instant legal action will be taken if for any reason I see this work mirrored on any site other than the above sites (which is also mentioned in the Legal Disclaimer and near the end of the document). Please let me know if this work is at another site other than the listed above. This has been a policy ever since I've adopted this and I will always use this policy in my future works. I'm not trying to be mean but for the interest in having only latest versions, this is necessary. I appreciate your cooperation in this matter. As always, newer versions of this FAQ can be found first at my own web site located at http://www.verasnaship.net. If you have any fixes or any other tralala you want to share with me, then use the convenient e-mail form at http://www.verasnaship.net/emailme.html. I grant you permission to e-mail me at the aforementioned URL as described herein. E-Mailing me directly to my mailbox using an E-Mail Client is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. Now please be aware that any fix suggestions are subject to verification. All tactics and strategies will be test-driven by myself. If my analysis comes that the fix suggestion isn't effective and/or cost efficient, it will not be noticed on this document. Both House of the Dead and House of the Dead 2 is NOT SUITABLE for minors under 18 years of age due to very strong life-like violence. This document, like all Video Game FAQs on the Internet, must be viewed in a monotype font or the alignment will not be correct. If the alignment isn't correct for any reason, then please follow these procedures: 1. On Netscape Communicator, click on Edit, then Preferences. 2. Click on Fonts at the Appearance Section 3. At the Fixed Width Font, select Courier New, and select size 10 point font. 4. If you see this sample bulk of writing aligned correctly, please proceed: 1234567890 ********** It is strongly advisable that you *do* view this document through the DOS Application Edit.COM or through the Apple Text Viewer SimpleText for alignment purposes. If you are planning to view this through the Windows Interface, then you are highly advised to open up WordPad and then open up the Text File. Set the font face to Courier New and set the font size to 10. ======================================================================== WHY I HAD TO WRITE THIS BOSS GUIDE FOR HOUSE OF THE DEAD? For three years, this game has been released. Many scrubs who wander throughout the arcades might have ran into this game called The House of the Dead. This is not an easy game. Sometimes you do get wiped out before you even get started and that's why quick reflexes are important if you want to beat this game with the least amount of tokens and/or swipes of the Game Card. If there was a real reason why I have to offer this guide, it's because of Magician Type 0. He's the hardest boss there is in this game and I often ask for permission before playing a 2-player game just because I want to save some skins of the scrubs. Also, to contribute to much of House of the Dead's income, many scrubs don't know that the HEAD is the quickest way to kill a zombie. Although zombies may take more than one head shot (for about 64% of the time), it's the cost-efficient way of disposing a Zombie. The best way to reduce the cost of playing House of the Dead is to kill Zombies at their heads (and nothing else but the Head) and to read this guide before having to waste more money at your local arcade once again. For this guide, I will assume that I am a surviving scientist of the DBR Corporation. ======================================================================== A REASON WHY I WILL NOT BE MAKING PDF FILES FOR HOTD AT ALL Listen, I've been receiving e-mails regarding about releasing PDF Files for House of the Dead and House of the Dead 2. The reason why I have not been able to release them is because I now have a full-time job at Romeoville, IL USA. This means that I won't have a lot of time to spend around the Internet. Another reason why I won't be able to release a PDF version of this Boss Guide is because this game can become boring right after you master this game. I have not been an avid fan of this series because overtime blood can become a bore, and I think that the Zombie theme has been overly used (next to the First Family-protecting manifesto). I have not been playing House of the Dead ever since I've been overdosing myself with other games such as Silent Scope, Crisis Zone, Dark Silhouette, Mr. Driller, and other reasonable arcade games (not to mention that most of the classic arcade games are now available in its entirety for most consoles). This guide will always be here for archival purposes but please keep in mind that I don't want to talk about this game anymore because I am now bored with this one. Whatever you're trying to tell me, PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME E-MAIL REGARDING ABOUT HOUSE OF THE DEAD ANYMORE. It's time for me to move on. But still this guide will be up. ======================================================================== WHO MAKES HOUSE OF THE DEAD MASTERY POSSIBLE? * Tyrone Rodriguez (E-Mail Unknown) * Tristan Kinslow (His work is at http://www.gamefaqs.com) My highest score so far: 72,165, Rank 1 (Special Agent) I was expecting a bug-free Ranking list from FValenzuela (His House of the Dead 2 Document can be found at http://www.gamefaqs.com) but since there were some errors, here's the actual ranking list: * Rank 8-Rookie Agent (You suck or played 2-player) * Rank 7-Average Agent * Rank 6-Standard Agent * Rank 5-Leading Agent * Rank 4-Master Agent * Rank 3-Expert Agent * Rank 2-Top Agent * Rank 1-Special Agent (And that's YOUR GOAL) Using Tyrone Rodriguez's and Tristan Kinslow's "Ending Model", the whole thing goes: * If you finish the game with less than 62,000 points and if the number of continues end with a 0, then you will get the "Sophie is a Zombie" ending. I rarely need to see this ending just because I always finish the game with the number of continues ending with anything but a 0. * If you finish the game with less than 62,000 points and if the number of continues does not end with a 0, then you will get the "Usual" ending. * If finish the game with at least 62,000 points and if you qualify for the Rank 1 (Special Agent) Rating, then you will get the "Sophie is Alive" ending. That's your goal. My note: I was able to verify whether or not you will get the "Bad" ending if you beat the game without continuing. This was done playing a game of House of the Dead 2 FYI. Unless you meet the minimum score as stated above and unless you earned the Rank 1 (Special Agent) Rating, you will get the BAD ending even though you tried so hard to beat the game without continuing. In House of the Dead 2, I was able to beat the whole game without continuing, and I still got the "good" ending simply I scored the minimum amount of points required to get the "good" ending. A rant about continues: Usually, you complete the game with the number of continues not ending with a Zero. If for any reason the number of continues will end with a Zero and if for any reason the Magician's life bar is less than 15% full, just "Game Over" the game and start the game all over. I don't think you want to see the bad ending because it's kind of scary. Still, I have to do a test run on this to see whether it's worthwhile to see the bad ending for once or not. Also, if for any reason you beat the game with only one credit, you should be able to earn at least 62,000 points with a Rank of 1 in the usual case. If you don't continue at all, then you should be able to reach the Sophie is alive Ending since the ingredient to clear the game without spending too much money on this game is to do head shots all the way. If the calibration was reminicent of House of the Dead 2's then your accuracy will be better. Remember, accuracy counts and the quicker you take out the enemies and the higher your accuracy, the better your score. ======================================================================== CHARIOT TYPE 27 Appearance: End of Chapter 1 and before the caves of Chapter 4 Defense: Somewhat Moderate Speed: Very slow Persistence: Rather poor Attacking Power: Rather poor (Even though he's close enough to slam you up, he can only chop off a life from one player only). After destroying two Zombies, Rogan was in the verge of having poor Sophie run out of the house alive, but all of a sudden a huge monster with a GIANT AXE came down from the ceiling and the monster (who don't care about Rogan's intentions of marrying Sophie) and hacked Sophie right in her torso!!! This angered Rogan but G realized that there's something more to this. Being a good friend of Rogan, G promised that right after he defeated Chariot that "Curien will pay for what Chariot has done to Sophie". Weak Point ---------- The Small, Red Crystal somewhere at his chest. It's really hard to see so try to slam only at the Red Crystal. After he loses his armor, LOL right at Chariot and hit him anywhere you want! Patterns of Attack (This applies to both Chapters 1 and 4) ---------------------------------------------------------- 1. Chariot will try to get close to you and swing his axe to prevent you from slamming him at his weak point. If he's close enough, you will feel the unwelcome touch of that axe. 2. If Chariot takes too many hits at his chest, he'll try to lean down for a while to block any shots that would land at nothing but his weak point. 3. Chariot will repeat step 1 until he loses even more energy. 4. If Chariot loses more energy right after he repeats Step 1, then he will lose his armor. 5. Chariot is defenseless so he tries to punch you in the face in spite of his slow movements. He'll try to land a punch at you and he'll keep on trying until he's defeated. Boss Strategies --------------- This boss should be the easiest boss in HOTD 1 (though some people says that this boss is really cheap). All you need to do is keep on slamming on his weak point continuously. When Chariot ducks, hold your fire. When he resumes Step 1, slam on his weak point once again. When he loses enough energy, he'll duck and his armor will tear off. Chariot is totally defenseless without the armor so all you have to do is shoot him anywhere you want until he pays for killing Sophie. Notice that G claims that it isn't over until Curien pays for Sophie's death by Rogan's sake. You should be able to make through Chariot without any life loss at all. The only complaint I had during the fight against Chariot at times is of course, the calibration of the Gun. The gun control is reminscent of Virtua Cop 2 and sometimes I lose a life even though the nozzle's aiming up at Chariot's weak point not because I didn't tag Chariot on time, it's because of the poor calibration of the gun used in the game, derived from VC2. ======================================================================== HANGEDMAN TYPE 041 Appearance: End of Chapter 2 and at the caves of Chapter 4 Defense: Poor (Know that he can't guard his weak point even with his confusing flying patterns and his charging deck-up) Speed: Rather high (His flying movement makes it difficult to lay the smack down on him) Persistence: Moderate (The bats and his charging scratch can really be a big pain at times) Attacking Power: Rather poor (His scratch can only injure one player and his bats can be nullified since the bats give time for error) Rogan approaches poor Sophie Richards at the outside of the Mansion. G tells Sophie to run behind their back but suddenly Hangedman drags Sophie back inside the house to warn that NO ONE escapes the House of the Dead alive. Rogan wants his Sophie back, but G will stop at nothing to help Rogan retrieve Sophie unscathed by trying to lay the smack down on Hangedman. Sadly, Rogan lost Sophie to the cold-blooded Chariot but G promised both Rogan and G that Curien will pay for this. When a scientist (rescued by Rogan and G) notifies that "They're still upstairs", Rogan and G climbed up the ladder only to know that Hangedman dropped two scientists to their death. Hangedman told Rogan and G that this is as far as they will go and tells them that he will finish both AMS-ers here. Hangedman is quite tough but with this guide, you will do some cost-effective smack-down on this cheese ball. Weak Point ---------- Hangedman's defense is rather poor because his entire chest is his weak spot. He doesn't guard his chest at all which is a good thing but his fast movements make him a hard target to hit so try to get some good slam-downs on his chest. Patterns of Attack (End of Stage 2) ----------------------------------- 1. Hangedman will throw bats at you. You can either shoot the bats for a higher score or lay the smack down on Hangedman while he's wide open. For beginners, I would lay the smack down on Hangedman (be sure to kill the coming bats), but for Advanced Players, you can score more points as outlined by Tristan Kinslow on his FAQ at http://www.gamefaqs.com. 2. When he loses enough energy and/or loses all of his bats, he will then deck you with a charging scratch. 3. Hangedman will travel in a pattern that will make it difficult to lay the smack down on his chest and then will try to deck you with a Charging Scratch. 4. Hangedman repeats step 3 until he's near-death. 5. When he's near-death, Hangedman will try to drag you out of the floor, but you are able to survive the fall. 6. Now Hangedman will try a headbutt at you. 7. Hangedman will now do Step 3 once again until he dies. Patterns of Attack (The caves at Stage 4) ----------------------------------------- 1. Hangedman will throw bats at you. Negotiate this like you would with the end of Chapter 2. 2. When he loses enough energy or loses all of his bats, he will then deck you with a charging scratch. 3. Hangedman will travel in a pattern that will make it difficult to lay the smack down on his chest and then will try to deck you with a charging scratch. 4. Hangedman repeats step 3 until he dies. Boss Tips --------- The very first stage gives you a choice between laying the smack down on him by slamming his chest continuously or by just nullifying his bats down. For beginners, I personally would slam his chest continuously (but be sure to knock down his bats) but for Advanced Players, you can just knock down all of his bats (just try to nail as much energy as you can so that you don't have to deal with plenty of his charging scratches later on). Once he loses all of his bats or loses enough energy, then he will try his first scratch on you. Hit him at the chest repeatedly so he can't scratch you. After his initial scratch, he will travel in a pattern that's hard to get a clean shot. Slam him even before he charges for a deadly charging scratch and when he does his charging scratch again, slam him at the chest just about enough so he can't do a scratch at you. If you are playing against him at the caves, just keep on slamming at him until he dies. If not, then once he's near-death, you can't injure him anymore until he drops you one floor. Once he does so (Don't worry you'll survive), then slam him before he does his headbutt at you. Now he will do his charging scratches with much better persistency. Keep on slamming him and nail him before he nails you until he dies. You don't have to destroy the bats during Stage 1 of Hangedman. However, if you believe that you want a higher score during this point of the game, then go ahead. You only need to defeat Hangedman himself in order to move on. If you are a usual high-scorer, then the bats wouldn't matter anyway. ======================================================================== HERMIT TYPE 6803 Appearance: End of Chapter 3 Defense: Moderate (Know that he can guard his weak point using his arms and legs) Speed: Moderate (Hermit can try to get close to you and jack you with a scratch or bite) Persistence: Moderate (Hermit has close-range and long-range attacks) Attacking Power: Moderate Rogan and G meets up with Curien for the first time but Curien doubts that Rogan and G will be able to defeat him and wants to see how good both Rogan and G are as he disappears from the scenario all of a sudden when a giant spider known as Hermit appears. Rogan and G cannot proceed until they can defeat this tough spider. Weak Point ---------- The head of the spider is the weak point. It's fairly small so try to lay the smack at the head. Sometimes the Hermit will guard his weak point when he's close to death so marksmanship is the key to prevent the Hermit from scratching or biting you. Patterns of Attack ------------------ 1. Hermit will try to get close to you and bite or scratch you if he gets too close. He doesn't guard his weak point from this point so try to lay the smack at Hermit as much as you can. 2. When Hermit loses enough energy, he will escape. You continue to chase Hermit. 3. If Hermit is too far from you, he will then throw his spider vomit at you. The Spider Vomit Balls can be nullified. 4. Hermit will try to scratch or bite you but this time around he will guard his weak point with his arms and legs so be sure that you make your marksmanship skills count by laying the smack down on Hermit's Weak Point. 5. Hermit repeats steps 4 and 5 until he dies. Boss Tips --------- This boss shouldn't be that difficult. All you need to do is to slam his weak point continuously. All Hermit does on his first stretch of attack is trying to get close to you so he can scratch or bite you from up close. Just lay the smack down on his weak point and he won't be able to attack you. He won't guard his weak point so just slam on him until he loses enough energy to escape. Now the final stretch of his attack is tricky: If he's too far, then he will use his rear-end and throw Spider Vomit at you. Nullify his spider vomit first and then lay the smack down on his weak point once again. It's harder to keep the Hermit from a distance during the final stretch of the battle since he now guards his weak point with his arms and legs. Marksmanship is the key to slam the Hermit's weak point while he's guarding it. Keep on slamming at the Hermit's weak point until he's no more. Warning: Because the Spider Vomit will throw your attention towards the Hermit's weak spot a bit, this is something to worry about because right after he finishes throwing vomit, he will charge at you and then lay the smack out of you. You need to quickly destroy the vomit and then slam the Hermit before he gets you. ======================================================================== MAGICIAN TYPE 0 Appearance: End of Chapter 4 Defense: Very High Speed: High Persistence: Very High Attacking Power: Excellent As Rogan and G approached Curien at his own turf, Rogan and G came out in full force so Curien won't escape. However, Curien doubts that Rogan and G will defeat him, so he decides to show Rogan and G his masterpiece (Magician Type 0). But a bug on the Magician's Programming also marked the death of Curien and Rogan and G tried to destroy it before it does something bad beyond their control... After a long and hard fight, Magician was defeated and G has made note about the boss's weak points. The chaos was over, and Rogan and G condemned Curien while poor Rogan bid a fond farewell to the now-deceased Sophie Richards as they left the mansion. REALLY, IF THERE WAS A REASON FOR ME TO WRITE THIS DOCUMENT (WITH CREDIT GIVEN TO TRISTAN KINSLOW AND TYRONE RODRIGUEZ), THEN IT'S BECAUSE OF THIS ONE BAD ASS, SO GET READY TO RUMBLE. Read this section and you won't have to waste too much money on the Magician through your subsequent plays. Weak Points ----------- Although neither the DBR Employees (nor Sophie Richards) knew about Curien's masterpiece, the file Rogan and G read were billed as UNKNOWN. However, right after I read Tyrone Rodriguez's article in Tips and Tricks Magazine, it turned out that the Weak Points are anywhere outside the Shining Blue Armor. This means that you should try to shoot him where the black wires are moving at. To tell you the truth, it's the left upper arm, the right lower arm, the left thigh, and the right shin. This is also outlined in Tristan Kinslow's document at http://www.gamefaqs.com. Pattern of Attack ----------------- 1. Magician throws an array of fireballs from his hands while spinning around. 2. Magician charges his left hand (He only turns around slightly) and lets loose with a Reppuu-Ken (Wind Slice). 3. Magician charges both of his hands with fire and then when fully charged, Magician lets loose with a wide-ranged Force Wave Attack. 4. Magician repeats steps 1-3 until he loses enough energy. 5. Magician then dashes three times and then charges at you. When he's about to hit you, he then does a decking Dragon Hook. 6. Magician will continue to do the Three-Dash Dragon Hook until he YET loses enough energy. 7. Magician will then once again throw an array of fireballs from his hands while spinning around. 8. Again Magician will charge his left hand (he will only turn around slightly) and follow that up with his Reppuu-Ken (Wind Slice). 9. Now Magician gets desperate by charging both of his hands with fire and when fully charged, he will toss a Fire Force Wave at you. 10. Magician repeats 7-9 until he loses enough energy. 11. Magician will then do his trademark "Heave-Ho" Tri-Dash Dragon Hook attack at you again. Only this time Magician will be a lot faster. 12. If Magician is close to his death, then he will find a spot where he can charge a high amount of raw, blistering droplets of fire. Now he charges up (leaning down) and when he's fully charged, he then unleashes the droplets of fire at the sky: Inferno Shower Desperation Attack. 13. Magician repeats his Inferno Shower Desperation Attack until he is defeated. Tips on defeating Magician -------------------------- Magician will dash around between attacks so you can't injure him while he's dashing. When Magician does his turnaround Reppuu-Ken (Turning around and tossing his fire fists at you), it's nearly impossible to hit him anywhere at his weak points so just concentrate on hitting his fireballs for now. When Magician does his higher-charged Reppuu-Ken (He doesn't turn around but charges his left hand with fire before letting loose), hit him at either the left thigh or the right shin before he can let loose with those damn fire waves. After he throws his fire waves at you, hit the fire waves. Now right when Magician charges both of his hands for a desperate Wide Range Fire Force Wave, you will have time to hit him at either the Upper Left Arm, the Lower Right Arm, the Left Thigh, or the Right Shin. Hit him at his weak points before he lets loose with the Force Wave and when he lets loose with his force wave, nullify his fireballs. If you are playing 2-player, one should nullify his fireballs while the second player tries to nail Magician at the left thigh or the right shin. Now if Magician loses enough energy, get ready because it's Dragon Hook Time! Magician will make three dashes from left or right and from the left or right side of the screen he will charge at you and do a flaming Dragon Hook at you which will damage both players. If the Magician is charging at you from the left side of the screen, then you should try to aim for his lower right arm or at his right shin. You can hit him at his left thigh, though it is not recommended. If you don't hit him, then he will deck both players. If you don't hit him, then you don't have to worry about sustaining a hit. If he's trying to deck you from your right, then it's the left thigh that you should hit. You can try to deck the Magician at his upper left arm, but that's the arm he uses to deck you with his damn Fire Hook so other parts of his body would be fine. Just remember the safe spots to deck Magician at. Magician will repeat his Reppuu-Kens after losing enough energy for his first time aroundside his Dragon Hooks. Magician will go through a faster chain of Dragon Hooks when he loses more energy through his second chain of Reppuu-Kens. When Magician is getting close to his death, he will start a chain of his trusty desperation attack, called the Inferno Shower. While he's charging for his Inferno Shower, land shots at either his upper left arm or his lower right arm. When the shower starts, just concentrate on nullifying his fireballs. Accuracy counts when nullifying the fireballs. After nullifying his fireballs, Magician will keep on doing his Inferno Shower again and again until he's defeated. All you have to do is to just jack Magician at his upper left arm and his lower right arm and nullify his shower until he's toast. A note to Beginners: Even though the file says UNKNOWN, don't shoot Magie anywhere since his blue armor protects him from bullets. The only area you should concentrate are the areas with the wires around it. This is important to know at the final stage of Magician's attack because if you don't know where to tag Mage at, then he could be impossible to defeat. ======================================================================== SOME AFTERTHOUGHTS Neither of the bosses were too hard. I have read EGM's coverage of House of the Dead and found out that most of their work was unreliable in nearly all cases. "Big T" Rodriguez did a great job pointing out some of the hardest spots in House of the Dead, thus making T and T more reliable than EGM's publication. Right after reading Big T's article regarding about House of the Dead, I began to realize that the game isn't too hard. The only thing hard about the game were the speed of the zombies and the poor calibration of the gun. However, I saved some money on certain bosses by learning how to defeat them in the first time I've been playing this game. Chariot didn't take me too many tokens because he was kind of slow and he's pretty easy to stun aloft. I found Hangedman and Magician to be the most difficult bosses of the group because of their persistent patterns and their ludicrous fighting patterns. Later against the Hangedman fight, I found out that I had to pound Hangey on his chest before he punched me on the eye. Hermit seemed to be the laughable boss since he's quite easy despite his high defense rate and multiple projectile attacks. I only lost one life due to my carelessness and impatience. Since the Magician was a tough boss, I had to help some beginners at Dave and Buster's to neutralize this cheeseball. I told a lot of players at D&B and GameWorks that the weakest spots of the Magician are the areas outside of his armor. Not too many beginners believed me on this so I had to join in to help them out. If you are an expert and if some beginner is on a fight against Mage, then please ask them if you can join in because the Magician can be a tough ass for a beginner. ======================================================================== JUST A REMINDER... Again, this FAQ can only appear in the following sites: * Verasnaship Interactive (http://www.verasnaship.net) * GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) * Secrets of the Game Sages (http://www.gamesages.com) This is strictly enforced. If you see a copy of this FAQ other than the sites listed above, please notify me PDQ. Thank you. The latest version of this FAQ can always be picked up at my website first (http://www.verasnaship.net) since I run that website and I always post them instantly right after finishing a version of my FAQ. GameFAQs does a good job keeping the files up-to-date at all times and is regarded as the most visited "stable" for FAQ-related walkthroughs, original work, and the like. Secrets of the Game Sages is a "Code-related" partner to GameFAQs since both GameFAQs and Secrets of the Game Sages share the same information, links, and tricks-to-date. From time-to-time, I might elect to do PDFs on certain games. You can always get the latest version at Verasnaship Interactive (that's my website) and I'm planning to give GameFAQs my permission to mirror my PDFs in the near future. A few things to keep in mind: * DO NOT PLACE THIS FILE IN YOUR WEB SITE. Only the sites that are listed are allowed to place this file in their sites. * You can make a link to my FAQ Library Page. The only rules that I would like to enforce is that you link ONLY to an HTML or an Interactive Web Page. The link to this page is: - http://www.verasnaship.net/text/arcade.html For more details regarding about this matter, please visit the following URLs: = http://www.templetons.com/brad/linkright.html (Brad Templeton's Linking Rights Essay). ======================================================================== SUGGESTING SUGGESTIONS AND OTHER TRALALA Sending UCE to any of the mailboxes that I have is not tolerated. Period. I report any incidence of spamming by checking the header on where you originated the message at and then report the incidence to the server you originated your message at (which is more likely to get you in deep trouble) or I can just slam you by sending complaints to the following: The server you originated the message at, to your provider, or possibly the Free-Mail Service that you use. Don't spam me. It's not worth it. See http://spam.abuse.net to see why it's bad. ======================================================================== RESOURCES OF THIS DOCUMENT * Tips and Tricks Magazine, courtesy of Tyrone Rodriguez (Exact Date and Issue Number Unknown) * Tristan Kinslow (His FAQ can be found at http://www.gamefaqs.com) * Secrets of the Game Sages (http://sages.ign.com) ======================================================================== ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS * AM1 for creating a Light Gun game which requires fast reflexes. * Tyrone Rodriguez, FValenzuela, Tristan Kinslow, YC Tan, and Tips and Tricks Magazine for useful House of the Dead/House of the Dead 2 Mastery * Dave and Buster's and GameWorks for 50-inch versions of House of the Dead and House of the Dead 2. AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you are hungry, I would go ahead and eat something before playing this game. I would eat a Salad or anything that provides Vitamins A and B before playing this game. And only Dave and Buster's and GameWorks have restaurant-type food that you can eat in the event you become hungry. * Enchanted Castle Pizza for their past stocking of the 27-inch version of House of the Dead. * Great Odyssey Naperville for being the first arcade to have House of the Dead at display. * Myself for the many test runs while fighting the bosses of the House of the Dead * GameFAQs for being the largest stable of original work * Kao Megura for being the most prolific FAQ Author * Finally Magician Type 0 for being the central reason why House of the Dead became an arcade hit!!!!! CHEESEY ATTACKS AND UNDESCRIBED WEAK POINTS!!! This document is dedicated to the loving memory of Princess Diana of Wales and Fashion Designer Gianni Versace. We need to stop destroying people for a stupid reason right now. ** END OF DOCUMENT AND ONE LAST WARNING ** This Electronically Published Document is copyrighted (c) 1999 Mark Kim. All Rights Reserved. This document is protected by applicable copyright laws and international treaties. Unauthroized reproduction, retransmission, and/or a breach of copyright, partial or full, may result in civil and criminal penalties and is subject to maximum punishment and prosecution to the highest extent possible by law. Please credit Mark Kim as Vesther Fauransy where credit is due. This document is the sole property of Mark Kim. House of the Dead and House of the Dead 2 (c) Sega. All Rights Reserved