---------------------------------- Metal Slug Advance Walkthrough/FAQ -Willis Kong -started 12/21/04 -Current Version: 0.50 ---------------------------------- ============================== Table of Contents ============================== P1. Introduction P2. General Information -Controls -Weapons -Vehicles -Tips P3. Walkthrough (3/6 finished) P4. Cards -WIP P5. Boss Strategies B1,2,3,4,5 P6. Version History P7. Frequently Asked Questions -WIP P8. Contact Info P9. Credits N' Thanks P0. Legal Stuff *Use Ctrl+ F and input "P#" (number of your choice) to skip to each section. ---------------- P1. Introduction ---------------- Hello readers! I'm Willis Kong (known as WK016 on aim, WK11239 on the forums, don't ask why) and this is my first time writing any kind of FAQ or walkthrough whatsoever. I haven't seen a lot of information at all for Metal Slug Advance on GameFaqs, so I decided to write up something myself (I've been pondering on it for a while and I've gotten most of my ideas planned out). Welp, I won't bother you any longer, run along to the information you seek. *Hrm, I should be doing my homework... ----------------------- P2. General Information ----------------------- ---Gameplay Controls If you haven't checked the manual, here's a refresher course in my own words. D-Pad Run and aim in your desired direction. The Metal Slug's Vulcan Cannon can be aimed in many ways, depending on its angle and the direction you press. The jet you get in Mission 5 can only aim forward in a 90 degree angle however. A Jump/Jump (can be enhanced with the Thruster+ card) No use for the jet. B Fire current weapon or melee attack an enemy. On the File Selection Screen, you have the option of turning on turbo fire where you can hold down the B button and you will fire rapidly just by holding down the B button. This can cause you to accidently waste ammunition however like firing the weapon right after knifing an enemy. I'll leave this for you to decide. L-Shoulder Useless on foot. Kamikaze attack for vehicles (you Button automatically leave the vehicle and your vehicle rushes forward exploding upon contact). If you have the Stealth card, you can use L to turn Stealth mode on and off. Note that the jet can't use Stealth mode and WILL kamikaze. R-Shoulder Throw a grenade while on foot. Fires your vehicle's Button Cannon/Missile. Start Pauses the game and brings up a menu with the options "Continue" and "Return to Camp," which abandons the current mission and brings you back to the Main Menu. Select Nothing ---Weapons All weapons can be enhanced with cards (clip size and/or damage). If you pick up the same gun, you will only get half of the # of bullets that you would normally get if you were picking up a different gun. Handgun Your standard gun with infinite bullets. Good for slowly taking down enemies at a distance. Fire it as fast as you want. Knife Very powerful melee attack when you're on foot. If you have the S.S. Sword card, you can knife vehicles, stationary targets, and anything else that's not hidden. You can still damage hidden targets with the knife by attacking an enemy standing right in front of a target (as well as anyone who's stupid enough to stand next to said enemy). Grenade Powerful explosives of limited quantity. Use them when you can't reach an enemy safely. You get 10 bombs per pickup (or 20 after you get a card). Heavy Machine Ahh. A classic Metal Slug weapon. Comes with 100 bullets (200 Gun with card), fires 4 shots per B button press, and can be angled (costing 3 extra shots) using up or down. It's not as common here as the other Metal Slug games, but is still useful for killing many enemies at once. Shotgun A classic. Very powerful short range gun. It pierces many shields and can finish many enemies in 1 or 2 shots. It comes with 15 shots (30 with card) and a slow firing rate. Rocket Launcher Another classic. It comes with 15 rockets (30 with card) and a decent firing rate. I personnaly don't recommend it as it's hard to aim with as each rocket slightly veers off when an enemy is nearby, potentially causing you to miss. Useful for big or high hp targets. It's even more useful if you learn how to aim properly with it. Having it veer off can hit some hard to reach targets. Drop Shot Fires bombs that bounces on the ground until it explodes. Comes with 15 bombs (30 with card) and a fast firing rate. Not very useful except in a few places. You can instantly kill shielded soldiers (with proper aiming) and soldiers on higher platforms by aiming up. If you aim well, you can time the bounces so they will strike an enemy and kill others with the resulting explosion. Iron Lizard A weird mechaniloid explosive firing weapon. It rushes forward on the ground until it hits an enemy, falls off, or hits a wall. It comes with 15 Iron Lizards (30 with card) and a fast firing rate (2 or 3 on-screen until one explodes). It's useful for killing enemies on higher or lower platforms. Enemy Chaser A rocket launching weapon that does what its name says. It comes with 20 rockets (40 with card) and a fast firing rate. It's ease of use varies from time to time, depending on the location of the enemy. The rockets tend to veer off and is best used in open areas. Can be used on hidden targets too. Flame Shot A weapon that fires a large ball of flame that veers upward and disappears into the air. It comes with 15 shots (30 with clip) and a slow firing rate that is compensated by its power. The flame lasts quite a bit, piercing whatever it hits. Great for large enemies, many weak enemies, or something that normally takes a lot of punishment. Laser Just what it says, a laser gun. It's similar to the Heavy Machine Gun in ammo and firing rate (though actual ammo consumption is slower) except it travels across the screen instantly. It's good for killing many vulnerable enemies at once, or for focusing on one target. The drawback? You can't angle its shots like the Heavy Machine Gun. Super Grenade A VERY VERY rare and powerful weapon. Each rocket is equivalent to, if not better than, a grenade. It comes with 10 (20 with card) rocket shells. Each rocket flies forward very quickly and causes an explosion similar to a grenade which can kill many enemies at once. It is very hard to find and should be used for tough opponents (like say... the Mission 3 Boss?). ---Vehicles Vehicles are essential to survival in this game. In classic Metal Slug games, you'd die from one hit unless you were riding a Metal Slug (which would explode after about 3 hits). Here, you can reduce damage with armor cards. If you can't find any gas and you're in an area with many shots flying everywhere, it'd probably be a good idea to kamikaze your Slug. Upon entering or leaving your Slug (down+A), you have about 1 second of invincibility (VERY useful for avoiding shots) like in the other Metal Slug games. You can throw grenades from your vehicle if you hold down on the ground. Every vehicle but the jet has a card that transforms your standard Metal Slug into its respective type (toggled on/off in the card menu). Standard Comes with a Heavy Machine Gun-like vulcan cannon that can Metal Slug turn 360 degrees. The explosive cannon shells are very powerful but comes in a very limited quantity (no clips!) as there is only one spot in the entire game where you can grab more cannon shots. It travels a short distance and arcs downward. You can cause it to fire straight ahead with the A.P. Shot card. You can run over soldiers without any problem. If you have the Crawler+ card, you can run into any mechanical enemies to damage them greatly (Boss 1 card anyone?). Type-R The same as your standard Metal Slug, except it's yellow and aims the vulcan cannon in the opposite direction. The card itself is found in Mission 4. Jet You can only get this at the beginning of Mission 5. It's vulcan cannon can only aim forward in a 90 degree angle. It's missiles are very powerful and can arc towards enemies. Save your missiles for tanks and other powerful enemies as you won't find anymore missiles (not that you would need to). You have to abandon it at the end of the second area. Slug Gunner Can only be activated with it's card found in the Dungeon. Anyone who played Metal Slug 3 is familiar with this one. It has a Heavy Machine Gun like weapon, a melee attack, a standard cannon, and a transformation to allow it to move faster (crouch). I don't like using it as they kinda dumbed it down in this version. Black Hound A miniature version of a boss from Metal Slug 5 (correct me on this one). The vulcan cannon is replaced by a rocket launcher that follows any nearby enemies. Very useful and my personal favorite. It hits hidden targets as well. You can find the card at Mission 5. ---Tips -There are many hidden targets in walls, ceilings, background items, and many off-screen prisoners. Look carefully. -Grenades should be used sparingly, but don't hesitate when fighting a boss or when trying to kill a hard to reach enemy. They are thrown at an arc, so you can easily throw it over obstacles. -It's a good idea to grab as many power-up cards as you can before tackling the boss cards or cards held in tough areas of missions. -Use the Metal Slug's eject to your advantage. I cannot tell you how many times ejecting has saved my life in the other Metal Slug games. -Learn to dodge! Most shots tend to fly at you at slow rates. Don't worry if you can't seem to dodge anything. You'll get the hang of it. -Knifing enemies is a good idea when you wish to conserve ammo, especially for those tough boss battles. -Enemies respawn very easily in this game. A few steps offscreen, turn around, and they're back! Be careful with your movements. You can also respawn an unrescued prisoner however. Also, some enemies can not spawn at all, depending on how many enemies are onscreen and how fast you move (most evident in the second part of Mission 5 with the jet). -You don't have to take everything a prisoner gives you. You can rescue the prisoner then run/jump away so you don't replace a more beneficial weapon. -The Crawler+ card makes things much easier. Run over anything you please with it! -Remember to toggle your cards based on each mission area and boss! --------------- P3. Walkthrough --------------- Create your file, choose your character, select your mission and have fun! If you feel like it, die in any mission without killing a single enemy to get card #85, "Washout." *You will receive Soldier A, Soldier B, Soldier C, and Soldier D cards throughout your game for killing 100, 200, 300, and 999 foes respectively. *Hard mode has the same number of enemies, but they have different attack patterns and faster firing rates. --------- Mission 1 --------- Start off by shooting the soldier in front of you. Right above you at the start point is a hidden prisoner all the way at the left. Keep firing until he comes down and he'll give you the "S. Clip" card. Run forward, shooting all the soldiers and freeing the prisoners. The first prisoner you come across has a Heavy Machine Gun. Dispatch the nearby soldiers and free the next prisoner (bread). Jump over the trenches and fight the tall tank. Jump over the explosives and keep firing. You can throw 4 grenades to instantly destroy it. A prisoner will appear (holding a bomb clip) and you can see another prisoner a little further ahead (holds Canned Food). Dispatch the two soldiers in the trench (and the one that jumps in), free the prisoner (Rocket Launcher), then jump back up onto the ledge. Jump up to find an off-screen prisoner (more Bread). Go forward to reach some small towers (prisoner with even more Bread in front of the first one). Watch the incoming explosives and kill that soldier crouching inbetween the towers. Crouch where he was firing at you and fire at the tower on the right to find a prisoner with Walter's character card. Kill anyone who remains and proceed to the right to encounter a bombing helicopter. Sidestep its bombs and keep firing at it. Once it goes down, go to the bottom left of this trench, crouch, and fire to reveal a prisoner holding Tyra's character card. Do the same at the other side to find a prisoner with a Red Jewel. Jump onto the small ledge, then jump to the left. Looking up, you can see an off-screen prisoner (Heavy Machine Gun). Kill the soldiers ahead and proceed to the next area. Go forward and kill the three rocket soldiers. Jump up the platforms to reach a box with bananas (Banana card). Jump towards the left and go up the small hill (watch out for bombs). To your left is a bird's nest. If you need health, shoot it for a turkey (Turkey card). Keep jumping up the platforms to reach a box with an Iron Lizard weapon. Use that on the tank and any visible soldiers (go directly under the tank for the best effect). To the right of the tank is another bird's nest (with another turkey). Jump up the wooden platforms to find a prisoner (Shotgun). Jump on the hill and dispatch the soldiers. Jump on the platforms (from here, there is a box with a Heavy Machine Gun weapon on the left). Right above you is a tank. Destroy it and proceed to the next area (two Shotgun blasts should be enough). Yay! Your first Metal Slug! Get in and go forward to meet another tank (Hold down + forward and keep firing so you don't have to bother with dodging). Go foward and up the stairs. Run over the soldier and hold forward at the end of the screen. A tank will emerge but can't move since you are holding it there. Destroy it. Another tank will appear under you. Eject out of your Metal Slug (down+A) and destroy it with two Shotgun blasts. Jump back in and get to the box for some gas. Up ahead is a small ambush consisting of several soldiers and two tanks (1 tank on-screen at once, 1 per side). They shouldn't give you too much trouble, so just repeat previous strategies and move on. Right past that ambush is a window in the background. Fire at it to reveal a prisoner with bomb/cannon ammunition (run over it with your Metal Slug for Cannon ammo, or run over it while ducking for grenades). When you reach the stairs, you'll be attacked by two attack helicopters. Two shotgun blasts each will do em' in (try to get em both with each blast). Take the canned food and bread they drop and go up the stairs to the boss fight. Oh, if you ejected from your Metal Slug under the stairs, you can't get back in since the stairs block your entrance. -Here is an alternate path. After getting the Tutor's Love card from the Dungeon, you can go past the stairs to find a hidden area. In here, there are two red soldiers, a hidden card and a prisoner. You'll have to abandon your Metal Slug before you can enter though. -Boss 1: Formor- Formor is a much larger version of a Metal Slug. It's vulcan cannon will fire single shots every once in a while which can be dodged simply by ducking. It will occasionally fire explosives at you which can be dodged by running to the side. Other than those two attacks, it will try to jump on you and try to run you over. Formor doesn't act very differently in hard mode. More information in the boss section (B1). -MISSION 1 COMPLETE!- Cards awarded: M1 Clear, Prisoner A --------- Mission 2 --------- Oh boy, a mission where you can grab everything without having to return! Let's get started shall we? Run forward and shoot the two soldiers guarding the Metal Slug. Jump in and move forward. Go up the log, jump forward, and fire foward to free a off-screen prisoner (Drop Shot Clip card). You'll encounter a tall tank (if you landed a little towards the back, you can go on to the next card first). Try pushing it to the end of the screen before it gets to the middle of the screen and it won't get a chance to fire. After you destroy it, it'll release a prisoner with a Heavy Machine Gun weapon. Go back to the log you saw before. If you can't get up the steps, hold back and your Metal Slug will go on a slant. That's when you jump. Fire at the end of the log to reveal a prisoner with the Iron Lizard clip card. Keep going forward until you see a turret at the end of the road (if you stop right when you see it, you won't trigger the ambush just yet). You'll be ambushed by several bomb soldiers and a bombing helicopter (IMO, it's easier if you leave the Metal Slug for this). Once your done with them, fire at the remains of the turret to reveal a prisoner with Gas for your Metal Slug. Jump up and kill the nearby soldiers. You can find bread in the box. Get to where the box was and jump up. You'll be able to see a prisoner hovering above you with Marco's character card. Go up the next log to find another prisoner (L.1 Armor card) and to avoid several enemies. Go forward and up the next log to find a prisoner with a rocket launcher weapon. Jump left and fire up+left to free an off-screen prisoner (Drop Shot+ card). After going up the steps after the last log and killing several soldiers, you'll be ambushed by an attack helicopter and a tank. After you're done with them, go forward and leave the area. Go forward to the second large tree in the background. Jump up and fire straight up to reveal Rumi's character card. There's a prisoner up ahead with fire bombs surrounded by two pits with rocket scuba soldiers. Kill them and grab the fire bombs. Stay on the prisoner's platform and jump up while firing straight up to reveal a prisoner with a Heavy Machine Gun weapon. Go forward until you see a pit with wooden platforms. Here you have two choices. You can either, abandon your Metal Slug and grab every card and prisoner in one go, or keep going with your Metal Slug, save all your current cards, and replay the mission. In either case, drop down to the first wooden ledge and shoot at the corner of the cliff for the Metal Slug card (note: It's REALLY EASY to miss it up here so you might have to drop down to the bottom to get it). -No Metal Slug path Grab the Metal Slug card then shoot at the left side of the bottom wooden ledge (if you lost your Metal Slug a ways back, you can jump shoot it, or throw a grenade) to reveal the Rocket Launcher+ card. Enter the cave. Kill the soldiers and go all the way to the left. Ignore the dynamite (I've been trying to reveal a secret path here for a while, trust me, it doesn't do anything) and keep going left until you can't go left anymore. Fire straight up to reveal the S.S. Sword card (toggle on/off at the card menu). Go a little back to the middle jail cell. See those two prisoners hanging up there? You can get them by angling Heavy Machine Gun shots or throwing fire bombs up there (aim carefully with your bombs. You don't want to throw them under their platforms or their arcs will be interrupted and land on the ground instead). The prisoner on the left has a Laser Gun weapon and the prisoner on the right has canned food. Leave the cave. -Rest of the mission Jump to the wooden platform and you'll be attacked by what appears to be a submarine. Pound on it with firebombs or Metal Slug cannon shots and it'll go down in no time (roughly 8 firebombs should do the trick). Let the bomb soldiers run around like little idiots or knife them to finish up. Ahead is a bunch of suicidal terrorist-like soldiers (if anyone has their proper names, drop me a line). Anyway, it's your best idea to kill them from a distance and as fast as possible since they drop bombs on you, run at you with swords, and explode when you kill them. On the next platform, (there's a prisoner hanging on it with a Rocket Launcher weapon) shoot the second (first if you only count by foreground) support bamboo pole to reveal a prisoner with an Amber Jewel/card. Now, hurry and get through the stage, killing whatever you can while being chased by an attack helicopter. Don't worry about cards or prisoners, there aren't anymore until the end of this area. At the end, the attack helicopter that was following you will either leave, or explode from your attacks. Another attack helicopter will appear to ambush you. Waste whatever bombs you have left on it and free the prisoner ahead for a turkey. Now gather your wits and fight the "Twins" boss. -Boss 2: Emain Macha aka "Twins"- "Twins" is a huge tank with a heck of a lot of life. It's vulnerable spot is that turret at the top right portion of the tank. Occasionaly, a bazooka soldier will emerge from the top left and fire at you. Dispatching several of these soldiers will bring a bazooka soldier of a different color. Dispatch him for a Laser Gun. The turret will constantly fire explosives at you in several different patterns. They fly straight down from the turret's position and angle and can be easily dodged by stepping to the side or jumping. These explosives sometimes cover 2 ground tiles, so watch out for those. Oh, once you destroy the tank, another one emerges from the back (it's called Twins for a reason!). This one is faster, has more attack patterns, and has higher grade soldiers. If you survived the first one, you can survive this one. The second tank moves MUCH faster in hard mode. Just stay calm and concentrate on dodging. Oh, if you're wondering, you can't throw bombs high enough or shoot it with cannon shots. More information in the boss section (B2). -MISSION 2 COMPLETE!- Cards awarded: M2 Clear, Prisoner B --------- Mission 3 --------- Yay! A gold complete icon! If you haven't already, save your game and get to Mission 3. You're treated to a short animation of your character freeing a prisoner then falling down a trapdoor. Your boot camp instructor just so happens to be working for the other side. Goodie. After a long drop, you'll be attacked by two bats and several bird masked enemies. Dispatch them quickly and free the prisoner on the higher platform. Drop down to the first lower platform and shoot the right side of it to reveal a prisoner with a Flame Shot weapon. The prisoner you freed earlier has a turkey. Proceed further ahead to a pit. You'll be ambushed on both sides. Stay on the left and knife everyone there. Flame the guys on the right when they get to the leftmost part of their side. Repeat until you can move. -Path Break If you had the ruins cards, you could jump on a platform to go higher to a hidden area. When you stop at the top, shoot straight up to reveal a prisoner with a Heavy Machine Gun weapon. Go left for more enemies, a prisoner, and several cards (those cards can only be accessed if you have another secret area card). Return to the elevator platform and jump off to the left to that large hole in the wall. Shoot up for bananas and a card. - Proceed forward killing everything in your way. When you reach the Go sign, stop. See that prisoner? You can get him with properly aimed Flame Shots or by throwing a grenade at an enemy while he's standing in front of the prisoner. Go back and rescue the prisoner for a banana. Return to the Go sign and fire upwards at the torch to reveal an Enemy Chaser weapon. Proceed to the next area. -Note: This part of the mission is pretty brutal. Choose to get which cards carefully and return for the cards you missed at a later time. Start off by crouching and killing the soldier ahead. Drop down to the ledge and fire at the indent on the left side to reveal a prisoner with the Heavy Machine Gun Clip card. Jump up the ledges. -Here there are several walled off indents in the walls. If you have the cave maze card, the walls will be gone and you can enter them. The one on the right leads to an H shaped room. Fire straight up for a card and throw a grenade at the right for a hidden prisoner. Kill everyone to leave. The one on the left is easy. Get to the left side to trigger an ambush. Go back to the right side and knife everyone. Free the prisoner and fire straight up from there to find a card. Kill the soldiers. In the box is a Drop Shot weapon (don't get it yet). Drop down the first pit and kill the soldiers there. Jump to the left side and fire straight up to reveal a prisoner (Grenade Clip card). Be careful when you jump down as there are many cracks in the cave that emits poison gas (3/4 of your health, ouch). Get back up to the top. This time, jump over the pit. Kill the bat and carefully kill the bazooka soldier. Free the second prisoner to get the L.2 Armor card. Jump to the box for the Stealth card (toggled in the card menu). Get to the bottom floor, killing any enemies running around. To your right is a small cave with a crack spewing out poison gas (these poison gas emitters can be left unspawned if your lucky). Shoot at the ceiling where it's spewing gas (very dangerous!) or throw a grenade at it to reveal a prisoner with Tarma's character card. Get back to the left, avoiding thrown torches, worms, and gas. Kill the guy hiding in that small cave. Shoot the bottom left to reveal a prisoner with a Super Grenade weapon (best not to use it, too little ammo). Get back up the ledges. This time, grab the Drop Shot weapon and free the first prisoner for another Drop Shot weapon. Go all the way back up but this time, jump over all the pits to get to the right side. Here you'll be ambushed by a whole bunch of bats. Duck by that small ledge on the ground and they'll all fly over your head. If you're not feeling confident, melee attack them as they fly over your head. Once your done, go to the left and jump up the platforms to get to a prisoner with a turkey (thank God!). Now proceed forward and leave the area (whew!). Act fast! Throw a grenade over that tall tank! Killed that soldier? Alright then. Destroy that tank and claim that Metal Slug. The rest of this mission will be a breeze. Shoot/run over everyone, grabbing the ammo from the chest along the way, until you reach an ambush (3 platforms, a chest on the right). Stay on the left and fire right to kill everyone without any effort (hold forward to run over anyone touching you). Once they stop, jump to the second platform and fire straight ahead to kill the scuba soldier. Get back to the first platform and do what you did before to finish up the ambush. Claim the turkey from the chest when everyone's good and dead. Go forward a screen to be ambushed by a whole bunch of soldiers of varying colors (circle your shots for fun). Once everyone's good and dead, kill that last rocket soldier ahead and proceed to the boss. -Boss 3: Kaladgolg A railroad tank with a giant laser cannon (which is apparently, also its vulnerable area). It'll start off with firing its gatling guns. The bullets hit the ground very slowly so you have plenty of time to jump or run away from. It'll adjust its position along the bottom of the screen so try not to move too much or you'll end up disorienting yourself. When it's done, it'll fire off a few mines and charge up its main laser cannon. The mines can be destroyed with jump shots or vulcan shots. The giant laser will follow you until you reach the edge of either side of the battle area. When it's almost destroyed, it will move faster and fire more often. It's slightly faster and more aggressive in hard mode, but not that much more difficult. More information in the boss section (B3). -MISSION 3 COMPLETE!- Cards awarded: M3 Clear, Prisoner C Whew, long walkthrough. I got Soldier A and B from this one. --------- Mission 4 --------- Next update. --------- P4. Cards --------- Work In Progress. ------------------- P5. Boss Strategies ------------------- All bosses have two levels of aggressiveness. After damaging enough, they will start smoking and move slightly faster and attack more often, signaling that said boss is almost dead. Before going after the boss cards, grab as many weapon power-up cards as possible. *Metal Slug veterans should be able to recognise mose of the bosses =) --------------------- B1. Mission 1: Formor --------------------- Formor is a much larger version of a Metal Slug. It's vulcan cannon will fire single shots every once in a while which can be dodged simply by ducking. It will occasionally fire explosives at you which can be dodged by running to the side. Other than those two attacks, it will try to jump on you and try to run you over. Formor doesn't act very differently in hard mode. You should've brung the Metal Slug you saw earlier with you to this fight. If you haven't, then you should have a shotgun and a decent stockpile of grenades. Go nuts with both of them while crouching, taking some time to dodge its attacks now and then. You should have enough health to last throughout the fight without dying from the bread and canned food from the two helicopters earlier. Boss Card Strategies: You should upgrade your Metal Slug and have gotten the Crawler+ card. Simply take your Metal Slug and fire both the vulcan and cannon while holding forward to run into the boss. Trying to jump and "stomp" Formor just wastes time (I learned this the hard way). -------------------------------------- B2. Mission 2: Emain Macha aka "Twins" -------------------------------------- "Twins" is a huge tank with a heck of a lot of life. It's vulnerable spot is that turret at the top right portion of the tank. Occasionaly, a bazooka soldier will emerge from the top left and fire at you. Dispatching several of these soldiers will bring a bazooka soldier of a different color. Dispatch him for a Laser Gun. The turret will constantly fire explosives at you in several different patterns. They fly straight down from the turret's position and angle and can be easily dodged by stepping to the side or jumping. These explosives sometimes cover 2 ground tiles, so watch out for those. Oh, once you destroy the tank, another one emerges from the back (it's called Twins for a reason!). This one is faster, has more attack patterns, and has higher grade soldiers. If you survived the first one, you can survive this one. The second tank moves MUCH faster in hard mode. Just stay calm and concentrate on dodging. If you have it, the Metal Slug is very useful (particularly the Black Hound), especially when armed with the Thruster+. You can't use any grenades or cannon shots, so feel free to use them to ensure your safe passage to this fight. If you have Thruster+ turned on, you can jump up to improve your aim a bit. Concentrate on dodging and killing those bazooka soldiers and both tanks will go down in no time. Boss Card Strategies: Grab as many Metal Slug power-up cards as possible before trying (Hyper Vulcan is a must). As described above, use Thruster+ to help your aim. If you have it, toggle the Black Hound so you don't have to bother with aiming at all. Dodging doesn't really concern you unless your on foot as Metal Slugs can't get their vulcan cannons interrupted (that only happens with their cannon shots). If worst comes to worst, finish it off with the Laser Gun (you do have the Laser+ and Laser Clip cards right?). ------------------------ B3. Mission 3: Kaladgolg ------------------------ A railroad tank with a giant laser cannon (which is apparently, also its vulnerable area). It'll start off with firing its gatling guns. The bullets hit the ground very slowly so you have plenty of time to jump or run away from. It'll adjust its position along the bottom of the screen so try not to move too much or you'll end up disorienting yourself. When it's done, it'll fire off a few mines and charge up its main laser cannon. The mines can be destroyed with jump shots or vulcan shots. The giant laser will follow you until you reach the edge of either side of the battle area. When it's almost destroyed, it will move faster and fire more often. It's slightly faster and more aggressive in hard mode, but not that much more difficult. Hopefully, you grabbed the Metal Slug from the last area by killing the soldier before he pushed it into a pit. You can get it by throwing four grenades at the tall tank and dispatching the soldier or throwing a grenade over it. If not, you should have some Drop Shots left. In any case, conserve ammo until you reach Kaladgolg. Boss Card Strategies: This one is really picky about time. It's possible to get the card by using 50 Drop Shots (both enhancement cards) but that takes too long in my opinion. Grab the hidden Super Grenade weapon from area 2 and knife or grenade everyone that gets in your way. Use the Metal Slug for safety and grab the ammunition in the middle of the third area. You should have 30 Super Grenades when you reach Kaladgolg (any less and you won't finish in time). Jump out of your Metal Slug and start jump shooting Kaladgolg's laser cannon. Make every single shot count, and the card is yours. ---------------------------- B4. Mission 4: The Keesi III ---------------------------- A giant bomber boss with no invulnerable areas whatsoever. It has two turrets on each side that fires at you periodically. The bullets travel pretty slowly so dodging shouldn't be a problem (though the plane follows you like Kaladgolg so don't disorient yourself). It releases soldiers to attack you now and then with the occasional different colored soldier that grants you a weapon. It changes its attack pattern after you damage it enough. It will occasionaly fly offscreen and come back firing shots straight down until it reaches the other side of the screen. Quickly go inbetween the shots to dodge them. The Keesi III has one really annoying attack. It will sometimes fire shots all around the screen, open up some hatch-thingy, reveal a large missile, and crash the missile into the ground. It is very hard to avoid. Try your best to keep away from it. It moves much faster in hard mode. Flame Shot is a good weapon here as the Keesi III is a REALLY BIG target. Knife it with S.S. Sword and throw grenades when it's low enough and fire whatever weapon you have upwards at all times. You can quickly get rid of soldiers by throwing grenades into their exits. Not that hard of a boss, but some attacks are pretty annoying to dodge. Boss Card Strategies: Grab the Flame Shot weapon from the last area. Don't fire it at all until you get to the Keesi III. You will need 30 power-upped shots to get the card. Bomb and knife everyone that stands in your way. Once you get there, start shooting straight up. If you missed once or twice, finish it off with grenades. This card isn't that hard to get. ----------------------- B5. Mission 5: Cabracan ----------------------- Ahh... such a very annoying final boss. The little red light at the very top is its only weak point. Its first attack is to surround it with a force field while releasing two mechanical enemies that fly around shooting blue orbs at you. Try not to touch them as they have electricity going off around them. Two concentrated laser shots should do em' in. Every two you kill will grant you a Heavy Machine Gun. After you dispose of the flying objects, it will give you about 3 seconds before it opens its bottom hatch and shoots out blue orbs of its own. These can be dodged if you crouch at the bottom left/right or on the bottom left/right platforms (the platforms change from 2/2/1 to 2/1/2. 2/1/2 is the one I'm describing). If you are good at dodging, you can throw grenades while jumping to the other side to avoid the orbs. After it stops, it gives you enough time to get to the top to attack the red light. It charges a giant laser and destroys the platforms (this attack hurts!!!). You'll be forced to the bottom. It'll start firing a bunch of blue lasers that reflect off the walls. It takes practice, but you can jump and duck under the lasers while shooting the red light. Once you hit level 2 of the boss, it will gain a new attack. It fires dual lasers in opposite directions in 360 degrees. It's rare, but very hard to avoid. Try and stand inbetween the lasers (the middle is not safe!). Now it sends out more mechanical enemies in total (2 onscreen at once) and fires faster lasers. In hard mode, the blue orbs can reach the bottom floor and the 2nd level of aggressiveness has even faster attacks. Avoid the blue orbs by going to the bottom corners of the floor. Each mechanical enemy can be taken out by one standard grenade (but not a fire bomb for some reason) each. Throw grenades at the light whenever you can. Use S.S. Sword if you wish to save some grenades for later. If you can, bring the Metal Slug and abuse the eject invincibility technique. After Cabracon's second attack, always jump to the top to attack (you don't want to risk getting hit by that laser anyway...). Save about 40 Heavy Machine Gun bullets to take out the mechanicaloids (16 if you are using Laser Gun). Try not to use any ammo until it destroys the platforms (you don't want to trigger the second aggression level too early or you'll be fried by lasers). Keep trying and this annoying boss will go down. Boss Card Strategies: Take the Metal Slug along with you (preferably Black Hound). Make sure you have Thruster+ on so you can jump to the top left of the boss room. Move a little to the right so you can properly throw grenades at the light. Keep throwing grenades as fast as you can and the card will be yours. If you are using the Black Hound, fire missiles while you're throwing grenades. Damage shouldn't concern you as the fight will be over surprisingly quickly. Oh, try not to waste that many grenades until you get there (30-40 should be enough ^-^). -Thanks shiftingsilver! I didn't think that throwing grenades from a Slug would reach the red light. ------------------- P6. Version History ------------------- 12/21/2004 v0.00 First started. 12/24/2004 v0.25 First Submission =) 12/28/2004 v0.50 Mission 2 and 3 completed. The alternate path cards will be filled in as I get to them in my replay. -------- P7. FAQ's -------- Work In Progress. ---------------- P8. Contact Info ---------------- Contact me if you have questions, ideas, or suggestions! Aim: WK016 (is on all the time, will respond a.s.a.p.) E-mail: Williskong@aol.com (please refrain from spamming this e-mail address. I get enough of that from weird bots and shtuff) Put Metal Slug Advance in the subject line or your e-mail will get deleted or placed in the spam list or something. --------------------- P9. Credits N' Thanks --------------------- The family - should be obvious why =D Nintendo - For making too many fun consoles and games. SNK, Playmore, staff, etc. - For making the awesome Metal Slug series. The people of GameFAQs - For hosting oh so many guides. The forum-goers of GameFAQs - For helping whenever help is needed. shiftingsilver - Cabracon card strategy, yay! --------------- P0. Legal Stuff --------------- Copyright 2004 Willis Kong This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site other than www.GameFaqs.com or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission by me. 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. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.