-- BEGIN NES Life Force Manual -- NES-LF-USA HOW TO PLAY LIFE FORCE (TM) KONAMI (R) - 1 (front cover) - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ KONAMI INC. LIMITED WARRANTY [ Omitted ] This seal is your assurance that Nintendo (R) has evaluated and approved the quality of this product. This game is licensed by Nintendo to play on the Nintendo Entertainment System (R) Nintendo and Nintendo Entertainment System are registered trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. - 2 (inside front cover) - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONGRATULATIONS! You have just purchased the authentic Konami home version of Life Force, one of Konami's many original arcade hits. We suggest that you read this instruction manual thoroughly before playing the game. Introduction/How to Play................ 4 The Starships........................... 5 Controlling The Action.................. 6 Galaxy Screen........................... 7 Powering-Up............................. 8 The Six Terror Zones.................... 9 The Enemy Defenses...................... 10 The Enemy Mayors........................ 12 Taking Care Of Your Game................ 14 - 3 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BIRTH OF ZELOS COULD MEAN THE DEATH OF ZILLIONS In a remote quadrant of the universe there was hatched a hideous creature. His proud parents, Ma & Pa Deltoid, named their only son Zelos, which in alien lingo means "one mean son of a gun." As Zelos grew into an adult space monster, his appetite turned ravenous, his temper became ruthless, and his name proved an understatement. It didn't take long for Zelos to leave the nest and go out on his own, devouring everything in sight, including three galaxies, four hundred planets, two trillion life forms and a side order of stars. Then your innocent galaxy appeared on Zelos's menu, and he chowed on an entree of roast Gradius, with the planit Latis for dessert. Now, the only chance these civilizations have of escaping from his digestive tract lies with you and your starfighting partner. But your odds look pretty grim, for Zelos is full of floating armada terror zones, which are cities that have become a part of Zelos after being eaten. Each of these zones is loaded with tremendous firepower and unbelievable destructive suprises. You'll also find that Zelos's heart and soul are positioned safely behind his traitor fleet. That means you'll have to devastate the six Terror Zones and pblast away their grotesque mayor before reaching Zelos's main artery and putting an end to his eating binge. HOW TO PLAY Soaring on the fringes of the Gradian Galaxy in an ultra-blasting, warp speed starship, your mission is to destroy Zelos at all costs. Success won't come easy, though, as you dodge thousands of alien attackers, utilizing your tremendous flying skills. You better have an itchy trigger finger as well, because you'll gain bonus weapons by wasting certain enemies, capturing their pods and then powering up. (See Page 8) - 4 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Life Force can be played by either one or two starfighters. If two play, you fight as a team to save the galaxy. To pilot the Vic Viper from the planet Gradius, choose Controller (1). To pilot the RoadBritish Space Destroyer from the planet Latis, choose Controller (2). THE STARSHIPS OF HEROES [ Image of Vic Viper ] The Vic Viper Constructed at the cost of 60 trillion Gradian Dollars, the Vic Viper is the pride of all Gradius. A pilot can pull 600 G's at a warp speed of 9 in this baby and still feel like he is lounging in a La-Z-Boy (R). [ Image of RoadBritish ] The RoadBritish Space Destroyer The people of Latis have always been known for their wondorous engineering skills, and the RoadBritish Space Destroyer proves it. In fact, this is the only starship in the galaxy to have beaten the Vic Viper during time trials. - 5 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONTROLLING THE ACTION [ Image of Controller ] Control Pad Use to guide your starship. B Button Press B button to fire your weapons. A Button Press A Button to power up Select Button Press at the beginning of your missoin to choose either a one player mode or a two player mode. At the end of your mission, press to continue or end. (You can continue for a maximum 3 times) Start Button Press to begin your attack on Zelos. Press during the middle of your mission to pause the action. - 6 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE GALAXY'S BATTLEFIELD [ Image of game screen ] [ Lower right ] Vic Viper's power-up select sign [ Under select sign ] Vic Viper's score [ Lower left ] RoadBritish's power-up select sign [ Under select sign ] RoadBritish's score [ Centered under both scores] Up-to-date High Score -7- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HOW TO POWER-UP Blast certain enemy craft and red power pods will appear. Capture these pods, because they will move your power-up potential from speed up to force field. When the power up you desire lights up, press A Button to activate it. Choose From a Variety of Weapons and Force Fields Speed Up Allows you to maneuver more quickly. Missiles Enables you to fire twin Destructo missiles. Ripple Laser Wipes out enemies who are attacking from scattered positions. Plutonic Laser We're talking serious destruction capabilities with this sucker! Option This gives your ship up to two extra attackers. If you're teamed up with a partner, you can have two Options between you. Force Field When activated this gives you awesome protecttion against enemy fire. - 8 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE TERROR ZONES Cell Stage 1 The first terror zone you'll encounter comes from the Phenom Galaxy. Awaiting you here is the dreaded death hand, a menace that has proved fatal to less skillful starfighters. Volcanic Stage Terror Zone II is a disaster area from the Baltic Galaxy. This is one of Zelos's favorite allies, since he gets his jollies having molten lava spit in your face. The Prominence Stage Scorching fire creatures rage out of control in Terror Zone III. And of the hundreds of previous pilots, only a handful have blasted outta here without getting their tails burned. Cell Stage 2 Tiny life forms from the Ithaca Galaxy roam Terror Zone IV. It's here that you'll also be pitted against ferocious internal cells that'll zap you when you least expect it. Temple Stage Oh no! The ancient city of temples from the planet Latis has turned against you. What a heartbreaker. Whoever is piloting the RoadBritish will be flying low, as he'll have to blast these expatriates. Mechanical City Stage Zelos's final barrier is naturally his most destructive. If you make it past here you only have the mighty one's heart to destroy. For the sake of millions, let's hope you survive. - 9 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE ENEMY DEFENSES - UNIVERSAL SCUM [ Originally in no order -- organized by Zone ] ZONE 1 Belbeim Sharpcrosser Death Hand ZONE 2 Ug Balganis ZONE 3 Spit Ball Prowler ZONE 4 Jellyp ZONE 6 Moay - 10 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZONE 1 Octa ZONE 2 Gremlin ZONE 3 Phoenix Fire Sphere ZONE 4 Bamuda ZONE 5 Crash Bam Lash ZONE 6 Amarkhand Heads Iron Maiden Glopter - 11 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE ENEMY MAYORS AND THEIR MIGHTY GOVERNOR Golem Cruiser Tetron Intruder - 12 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tutanhamanattack Giga Zelos's heart and soul - 13 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Treat Your Konami Game Carefully - This Konami Game Pak is a precision-crafted device with complex electronic circuitry. Avoid subjecting it to undue shock or extremes of temperature. Never attempt to open or dismantle the Game Pak. - Do not touch the terminal leads or allow them to come into contact with water or the game circuitry will be damaged. - Always make sure your NES Control Deck is SWITCHED OFF when inserting the Game Pak or removing it from the NES Control Deck. - Never insert your fingers or any metal objects into the terminal portion of the expansion connector. This can result in malfunction or damage. - 14 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMPLIANCE WITH FCC REGULATIONS [ Omitted ] SCORES [ Several blank lines to record scores ] - 15 (inside back cover) - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LIFE FORCE Konami (R) is a trademark of Konami Industry Co. Ltd. Life Force (TM) is a trademark of Konami Inc. Nintendo (R) and Nintendo Entertainment System (TM) are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. (C) 1988 Konami Inc. Printed in Japan - 16 (back cover) - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Transcribed by Jake Adamo (shdwflt@banet.net)