Copsmic Epsilon FAQ/Walkthrough 1.00 By Andrew M. Evans aka AndrewM (AndrewM@NESHQ.com) Version 1.00 Released January 27, 2009 Looking for anything NES? Visit my hopefully-but-probably-not comprehensive NES Site at www.neshq.com! --== Table of Contents ==-- Section 01 ----- Revision History Section 02 ----- Disclaimer Section 03 ----- Introduction Section 04 ----- Basic Controls Section 05 ----- Playing the Game Section 06 ----- Stage 1 Section 07 ----- Stage 2 Section 08 ----- Stage 3 Section 09 ----- Stage 4 Section 10 ----- Stage 5 Section 11 ----- Stage 6 Section 12 ----- Stage 7 Section 13 ----- Stage 8 Section 14 ----- Game Credits Section 15 ----- High Scores Section 16 ----- Closing Notes --== Section 01 - Revision History ==-- 01/29/2007 v1.00 Original FAQ --== Section 02 - Disclaimer and Requisite Legal Junk ==-- This FAQ is intended for private use and may not be reproduced on any sites or in any publications without my prior consent, which I may or may not (I don't see why I wouldn't) grant by having you e-mail me at AndrewM@Neshq.com. If you should fail to do so and I see my FAQ posted somewhere I shall be forced to sue you into litigation Hell with my army of high-powered lawyers. Actually, this whole bit is a bunch of nonsense. If you want to post or reproduce this FAQ go right ahead and do so, just leave me my credit and the shameless self-promotions for my NES Site, www.neshq.com (in case you have yet to see!). Oh yea, and if you somehow get hurt using this FAQ I am in no way responsible (is this even possible?). As a matter of fact, by even opening this file you have officially absolved me of any responsibility in my entire life. Ok, well it was worth a shot...... --== Section 03 - Introduction ==-- Howdy buckaroos, and welcome to Cosmic Epsilon. If it's not too late I'd highly suggest you consider a strategic retreat from the depths of crapitude that is this game. In other words, unless you have some sick idea of fun that entails playing terrible NES games you should stop playing this game. Immediately. I personally feel like the graphics aren't too hot, the gameplay isn't much fun, and the actual interface of the game is slightly off due to the bad graphics. Oh well, whaddya gonna do? Well, as you may have guessed by now, I'm not a real big fan of Cosmic Epsilon. This atrocious bit of 8-bit programming is brought to you by Asmik Ace Entertainment, Inc. It's a pretty basic shooter, and you'll be equipped with a cannon and homing missiles. Other than those tidbits of information there's not much of anything else you really need to know about the game. This FAQ was undertaken as part of both my ongoing effort to contribute new material to my website (NESHQ.com) and help with the NES FAQ Completion Project. --== Section 04 - Basic Controls ==-- The controls for Cosmic Epsilon are as follows: D-Pad - Move around menus, move your robot around in-game Start - Pause the game Select - Change game speed (?) A - Fire beam (hold A to power up beam) B - Fire homing missile. --== Section 05 - Playing the Game ==-- Playing the game can really be summed up by the controls. Honestly. It's a pretty basic game so there's not a whole lot to expound on here. The object is to get past all eight levels. Some of the levels have little twists in them while some are exactly like others. The premise is the same as most shooters; dodge enemy fire while blasting the enemies that come your way. You'll be aided in the latter part of this mission by a beam with limitless ammo and homing missiles, which you have a limited supply of. One thing to be careful of is the interface of the game (as noted above) - since the graphics are a bit off enemy fire kind of pops out of nowhere. Enemies are, at times, hard too see, so be careful in that respect as well. Other than that there's really not much else to say. Below I've divided the whole game up by section, for a complete walkthrough of the game. --== Section 06 - Stage 1 ==-- Level Strategy - This being the first level the game programmers were kind enough to make it nice and easy. This is a good introduction to the game since you'll see the poor level graphics, lame enemy graphic, and poor gameplay. The level itself kind of looks like you're over water with some kind of wasteland-style city background. There's nothing too technical here, just breeze through the level until you get to the boss. Boss Strategy - The boss kind of looks like a poorly-drawn skull. Simply build up a full-power shot and blast the boss in the sweet spot. Four full-power shots should be enough to wipe him out. --== Section 07 - Stage 2 ==-- Level Strategy - This level is a bit more plausible, with an outer space theme. You'll face some more difficult obstacles on this level, namely in the form of forcefields. If you get in the zone of the forcefields you'll die, so make sure to be a little proactive in avoiding them. After clearing the first set of forcefields be sure to get the blinking triangle-looking thing, which acts as a sort of shield. After this you will have to go through a second, more difficult set of forcefields. Again, just try to be proactive in avoiding these since they come up quickly. Boss Strategy - This time you'll be facing a spaceship. The spaceship will shoot out a slew of bullets and then open up and release some mini- spaceships. Seriously, they're small and they might even be cute if they weren't trying to kill you. But I digress... Save up for a full-power shot and when the spaceship opens up like this blast the center of it. After shooting it with a full-power blast nail it with as many regular shots as possible before it closes up again. About five cycles of this will destroy the boss. Cut Screen - After beating stage 2 you'll see a cut screen where your robot lands. During this cut screen the following text is also displayed on the screen: 'Good Job you have broken through the enemy defences of "Aria"' Soon after this you enter Planet Aquarius --== Section 08 - Stage 3 ==-- Level Strategy - Stage 3 looks a lot like stage 1. About halfway through you descend down into ice world. There's really not a whole to this level and, aside from some difficult enemies, there's no real challenge to it. Boss Strategy - The boss for stage 3 looks like a giant blob (cue ominous music). The Blob will shoot a bunch of bullets and then jump to a new position. The secret here is simply to keep moving, particularly in a circular motion. This will avoid The Blob's bullets, and while circling power up your own shot and then blast The Blob when it lands. --== Section 09 - Stage 4 ==-- Level Strategy - Stage 4 is supposed to be Ice World. I think. Maybe? Regardless of whatever the graphics are supposed to be, the board is really pretty easy. Just keep an eye out for the volcanoes and this level is a breeze. Boss Strategy - The stage 4 boss looks like another spaceship, this time only larger. The ship will shoot out a homing shot, a bunch of bullets, and then another homing shot. After this sequence it will disappear and then reappear a little way away. The eye is the vulnerable spot on the spaceship, and I recommend building up the power-shot while avoiding the boss's homing shot and then hitting the eye when the boss reappears. --== Section 10 - Stage 5 ==-- Level Strategy - Right after stage 4 you'll teleport to stage 5. In this level you'll be flying through some rocks that are pretty unforgiving. Like the volcanoes on earlier boards you can't actually destroy the rocks, so dodge them carefully. You might even consider using some of those missiles since they'll enable you to hit some of the enemies without flying around the rocks to do so. Since the level designers apparently got lazy you'll get some more force fields after some weird swirly fire. Right after this you'll get to the boss. Boss Strategy - The level 5 boss is a cross-shaped spaceship with a bouncing tentacle that fires at you. The middle of the cross is the sweet spot on this rascal. The easiest way to beat this boss is to stay in motion in the form of a square. The top of the square would be a straight line across from the left side of the screen to the right, just below the sweet spot (so firing right below will hit the sweet spot. The other sides of the square are the sides of the screen and the bottom of the screen. While in motion charge your beam to full power and release the shot just in time to hit the sweet spot. About 2/3 of these will get blocked by the tentacle but stay patient and keep going around in a square to avoid the enemy fire. Cut Screen - After stage 5 you'll see another cut screen where you'll once again land at your base, this time the caption reads: 'There is still a chance for planet "Aquarious"'Following that you enter Planet Technos --== Section 11 - Stage 6 ==-- Level Strategy - Stage 6 (Planet Technos?) appears to be some kind of patterned desert. Ahem, lazy level design rears its head again. There are some missiles early on - just move once these fire out of the ground and they're pretty easy to dodge. Later on in the level be wary of the tornadoes, which will slow you down and make you an easier target. When in the grasp of the tornado use missiles to hit enemies which would otherwise be difficult to hit. Boss Strategy - This boss looks like a giant brown turtle. It'll shoot rockets up that will fall down as rocks and then shoot bullets out of its mouth (I guess it's a mouth?). When the boss shoots these bullets you can inflict damage, but only on the mouth. The easiest way to beat this Boss Strategy - especially important since you'll need to conserve lives - is to avoid the falling rocks, move in and blast the boss while he's vulnerable, and then move in once the bullets come in. --== Section 12 - Stage 7 ==-- Level Strategy - Following stage 6 you'll blast off for another space level. There's really nothing new here, except that for the first time I'd recommend simply avoiding a lot of the enemies rather than trying to fight them. Boss Strategy - This boss is a giant floating robots. Sometimes he shoots bullets and sometimes he shoots homing bullets. It doesn't matter what he shoots since you'll need to dodge them about the same either way. You can hit the boss when it's shooting at you, so hit it and get it out of the way. Keep up and this boss is a breeze. Cut Screen - After stage 5 you'll go to yet another cut screen. Yep, same cut screen as always, where you're landing at your base. Of course there's another caption: 'You are getting close to battle moon "Aria"' Following this you enter Battle Moon Aria --== Section 13 - Stage 8 ==-- Level Strategy - Level 8 looks like some sort of cosmic volcano. After blasting through the volcano portion of the board you'll head into another portion that resembles a two lane road tunnel. This is one of the hardest parts of the game because of the force fields that you'll have to fly through. Once you get through this you'll be at the final boss. Boss (1) Strategy - The first boss looks like a lava tube that shoots bullets at you. One the side of the screen are sliding guns that shoot homing bullet at you. The enemy is vulnerable in the box are where the bullets are shot out of. The best move here to to build up a power shot while circling around and then shoot the sweet spot. After this start building up power while circling around. Keep this up until you defeat the lava tube. Boss (2) Strategy - Once you defeat the lava tube the brain of the enemy main boss is exposed. This will shoot some kind of circular bullets at you which are easily dodge. Apply the same strategy as on the lava tube; circle around, build up power, and shoot once you've got a target on the middle of the brain. Ending - After you defeat the brain you'll see your robot flying out of the tunnel and then see Battle Moon Aria exploding in the background. Finally you'll land at your own base where your robot poses and 'Mission Accomplished' flashes on the screen. --== Section 14 - Game Credits ==-- And now that you've beaten the game, let the credits roll: Main Programmer - ????? (Japanese) Sub Programmer - Alice Main Designer - Wozl Sub Designer - Gell Gee Sound and Music - Endooo Special Thanks - RZV DNA Presented By - Asmik --== Section 15 - High Scores ==-- I always try to include a high score section in my FAQs. So far the only high score I have for this game is my own, which I wasn't even wise enough to record. If you have a high score, e-mail it on in to me. --== Section 16 - Closing Notes, Credits, and Thanks==-- Please be sure to check out NES HQ at www.neshq.com, which is the most popular NES-specific site on the Internet. obviously GameFAQs gets a ton more visitors than NES HQ, but as far as pure NES sites go it's numero uno. Maybe you'll feel compelled to contribute to it as well and help build the most comprehensive NES resource on the net. And finally, send any questions to me at andrewm@neshq.com.