Strategy Guide - Guide for Silent Bomber

Silent Bomber FAQ Version 1.0
by Saviour-V, a.k.a. Ahmad Rizudin Izzudin of Malaysia.
E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected]

Date started: Friday, 10th December 1999.
Time started: 8:30 (24-hours) Malaysian Standard Time.
Date finished: Sunday, 2nd January 1999.
Time finished: 0:00 (24-hours) Malaysian Standard Time.

Legal Claptrap: 

You know the drill. No unauthorized copying of this FAQ for profit or personal 
credit. You know what CJayC would do to racketeers. Also, if you see this FAQ, 
and want it on your site, ask nicely and I might give it to you for a small fee 
in US Dollars or equivalent currency, since I'm doing this as a labor of love 
alone. OK, cancel that "small fee" thingy (although I could use a bit of cash 
to fund my Internet bills here in Malaysia). 

Personal Comments:

Considering that Bandai hasn't actually released it in other places, I'm glad 
that the pirates got hold of the Japanese version of this game. According to 
VideoGameSpot, graphics-wise, this game is OK, and the speed of this game is 
relatively fast.

And now, the overall FAQ.

When starting out, keep a maximum of 3 free memory card slots, as I haven't 
fully unlocked the secrets of this game. This game possesses 14 levels at this 
time, not including the Prologue: Training Level, unless I (or someone else) 
find out otherwise.

After the intro movie (or if you skip it by pressing Start) the title screen 
will appear, and you can select the following options:-

1. Data Load.
2. New Game.
3. VR Arena.
4. Options.

Note: You cannot access options 1 and 3 unless you have a memory card with a few 
saves of your progress on it.

Explanation:

Option 1: Loads your save for you to continue playing from where you left off. 
My 1st favourite option.

Option 2: Starts a new game. You will start in the Prologue: Training Level, 7 
years before the real missions begin. Here you learn how to use your controls, 
and fight enemies and a relatively easy boss.

Option 3: My 2nd favourite option. While playing the real game, if you find Data 
Chips, you can save them to your memory card after the current level is over. 
This is during the Intermission. 

If you load a saved game with these chips, you can play a 2-player fighting 
match in the VR arena with the characters contained on these chips! In the real 
game, you can get 8 Data Chips, but the available slots for the chips is 12. The 
1st data chip you grab will be the Clod, the boss from the training level, which 
is the 2nd character, for Jutah Fate has the first slot. After the real game is 
over, you will have 9 characters altogether, but there are more secrets than you 
think....

Option 4: Usual options: key config, sound, screen setup, captions, vibration 
setup (Dual Shock only), you get the idea.

General Playing Tips:

1. Make full use of your training level to practise your controls and movements. 
In the real game, your skills acquired from this will be useful.

2. Try to acquire every single E-Chip you can. By the time you reach the 14th 
level and face Benoit in DANTE's Brain Room, you should have enough E-Chips to 
maximize your Shields to Level 6 (60% defense), your Bombs to Level 4 (6 Bombs), 
and your Range to Level 3 (9 metres).

3. Stacking Bombs helps against very tough opponents. In fact, you can stack 
different Bombs on each other to produce devastating results. 

4. Keep an eye on your Special Bombs in the upper-left corner, you only can 
bring up to 20 of each Napalm, Paralysis or Gravity type of Bomb.

5. Keep a sharp trigger-finger when using the Lock-On Mode to maximize the 
number of Bombs you can shoot onto a target.

6. Combo wherever possible. This means if you make another consecutive kill, you 
get the same points multiplied by 2 or more, depending on how good you are. If 
you're really good, you can get a maximum multiplier of 10 against your points. 

Hint: some projectiles can be destroyed, so you can use these to start the 
combo. If your opponent fires these at you, run in another direction, dropping 
and exploding Bombs as you go. You'd be surprised at how far you can go before 
you kill your opponent. Also, if your enemy uses smaller targets to distract 
you, if you can destroy them, do so to raise up your multiplier. Against some 
bosses, which usually deliver about 10000 points to your score once killed, you 
can increase this to 10000 x 10, which is a lot more than usual.

7. Customize your E-Unit often. This can even be done during a fierce battle, 
e.g. against the Blue Mists in Mission 8, where they will normally fly in close 
to use their Beam Guns against you, to which you can reply with a lot of Bombs 
supported by long Range. When they attempt to use their Plasma Shots / Balls, 
you might need to increase your Shields to avoid damage. But don't just take my 
word for it, try other strategies too...

8. To save time, skip cutscenes by pressing Start. If you're going for higher 
ranks, this might be useful.

Achievements:

1. Completed the game once with a gameplay time of 7 hours++ since 31st October 
1999 (completed 13 levels in 2 days, but level 14 took some more time), and a 
second time with about 1 hour++.

2. Gained all 8 Data Chips from the full game.

3. Gained Data Chip 9 (Mercury) once I got 10 A ranks and 4 B ranks in Advanced 
Mode on the 4th of December 1999.

4. Gained Data Chip 10 (Benoit Mandelbrot) with 13 A ranks and 1 S rank in 
Advanced mode on the 13th or 14th of December 1999. 

5. Currently have 13 S ranks and 1 A rank since the 16th of December 1999.

6. Gained Data Chip 11 (Tail Concerto's Neko Tank?!) with all 14 S ranks 
achieved on the 19th of December 1999, at about 15:00 Malaysian Standard Time. 
Mission 11 was tough alright, but I got through. Can't believe that Bandai put 
this character in the VR Arena...quite a funny one, I might add.

Controls:

X button - Jump. To do a mid-air Dash (the Buster Drive) press Jump again in 
mid-air.

Square button - Drop Bombs, hold down to use Lock-On Mode to lock on to targets. 

O button - Drop Special Bombs, which cannot be used to lock on to targets.

Triangle button - Explodes all Bombs.

L1 and R1 buttons - Switches between Special Bombs (Napalm, Paralysis, and 
Gravity).

Note that with any Bombs you use, the maximum number of Bombs you can place 
depends on the number of hexagons in the upper-right corner. You start at 2, but 
you can gain up to 8 hexagons by obtaining sufficient E-Chips.

You may reconfigure your controls at any time during the game by pausing and 
selecting Options from the menu that pops up.

Mission FAQ: 

 1. Prologue: Training Level.
 2. Mission 1.
 3. Mission 2.
 4. Mission 3.
 5. Mission 4.
 6. Mission 5.
 7. Mission 6.
 8. Mission 7.
 9. Mission 8.
10. Mission 9.
11. Mission 10.
12. Mission 11.
13. Mission 12.
14. Mission 13.
15. Mission 14.

Note: Basically, you'll be getting D ranks throughout the game if you follow the 
basic methods listed below. To get better ranks, maximise your score (by 
destroying a lot of enemies, and boxes too), keep your health intact as much as 
possible, and finish the level real fast.

Mission Rundown:

1. Prologue: Training Level.

I really shouldn't be covering this level....

This relatively short training level will teach you the basics of using Jutah. 
First, you will be asked to drop a normal Bomb Marker close to a target, and 
then detonate it. The next target that you come across will need a normal 
Stacked Bomb to be detonated (drop both Bombs on the same spot).

Once this is detonated, a crate in front of you will need to be destroyed to 
give you the Lock-On Unit. Pick this up, and get ready to kill the helibot 
flying towards you. Hold down the Bomb button to use Lock-On Mode, then make 
sure that you have locked onto the target. Let go of the Bomb button to place a 
Bomb onto the bot, and detonate it. Pick up the orange object that it leaves 
behind to receive your first Material-Liquid Bomb: Napalm. Use it in much the 
same way you did with your Normal Bombs, except that you must now use the 
Material-Liquid Bomb button to drop one Napalm Bomb. Then detonate it.

Basically, Material-Liquid Bombs do NOT have a Lock-On Mode, so remember this. 
One more target lies in front of you. Use all your learnt techniques to blow it 
up. Run forward.

You must now fight 4 helibots, and this time, they will be firing missiles at 
you. Luckily, however, you can now do a mid-air Dash by pressing Jump a second 
time whilst in the air. Good for avoiding most attacks. After destroying all 4 
bots. the Boss of this Level will appear.

Level Boss: Clod.

Armaments: 
Chain Gun (highly inaccurate),
Cannon (try to avoid the shells),
Missiles (very rare),
Treads (just avoid getting flattened).

Boss Difficulty: Too Easy.

If you detonated the other targets in the area (cars and oil drums) you can get 
a few Napalm power-ups from them. However, these Bombs will only scar the Clod, 
so you have a better chance with Normal Bombs, preferably locked onto it. 

After defeating the Clod, a cutscene plays. It seems that Jutah apparently was 
unwittingly ordered to kill the whole city's populace (Credit to VideoGameSpot 
for the slight plot information here), which he does. When he realizes what he 
has done, it's too late. Cutscene ends.



2. Mission 1.

Once you start, you will notice some boxes. Destroy these for E-Chips or other 
power-ups, and try to destroy the drones and their production lines before you 
destroy the Beam Gate. Once the Beam Gate's down, destroy the 3 rocket launchers 
(these make up for 3/11 of your targets) and everything else here before you 
destroy the next Beam Gate. Keep a sharp eye, though, because , there are 2 
drone production lines located on the right side, with 2 boxes near them, one of 
which has a 50% health bonus if you need it, as well as one area you need to 
climb up to get the bonuses within.

After the 2nd Beam Gate's knocked out, destroy the 2 big laser turrets (which 
make up 2/11 of your targets) and perhaps combo in the smaller turrets and their 
projectiles if you wish before going up the ramp. 3 drone production lines are 
here, as well as 6 big laser turrets (a total of 6/11 of your targets), and 4 
smaller ones. In addition, there is a 50% health bonus in one of the boxes 
located on the right side. After all targets are down, an EXIT marker will 
appear to indicate the area's exit location. Prepare yourself for your first 
real boss showdown.

Level Boss: Fire Ox.

Armaments:
Beam Cannon (stay close to avoid it),
Beam Slugs (combo the slugs to get a X 10 multiplier),
Missiles (try to avoid or combo - I'd normally avoid them),
Shields (when activated, your attacks won't do any damage),
Straight Dash (when the Boss uses Shields, it'll try to run you down).

Boss Difficulty: Relatively Easy.

Try to concentrate on either the legs or the centre of the Fire Ox, in order to 
maximise damage on it, but remember that going for the legs and the missile 
turrets causes more damage. When it uses the Beam Slugs, combo these in and keep 
inflicting damage. Be careful, though, for this Boss will use Shields to injure 
you with a Straight Dash, when it has 50% of its health left. It is possible to 
get 10000 X 10 points against this boss. 

After the Fire Ox is down, a cutscene will appear, which you can skip if you 
want. Head for the Exit.

3. Mission 2.

Here, if you keep a sharp eye for it, you will find your 1st Data Chip by 
busting a few boxes here. Other than that, try not to concentrate heavily on the 
small gun turrets and drones (unless you want to combo them in) because a yellow 
and black Mech controlled by Mercury is going to blast the Exit door and 
challenge you before you reach it.

Level Sub-Boss: Mercury.

Armaments:
Buster Rifle (a royal pain, because of its beam and accuracy),
Missiles (VR Arena only),
Rifle Swing (VR Arena only).

Escorts: Gunner Mechs X 2.

Armaments:
Beam Gun (not too much a pain)
Missiles (VR Arena only).

Sub-Boss Difficulty: Relatively Easy.

If you want to get to the Exit quickly, just focus on Mercury, and hammer him 
with either Normal Bombs or Stacked Paralysis Bombs (these work really well). If 
you want a nice score, combo in the 2 Gunner Mechs effectively before quickly 
destroying Mercury. Cutscene from Mercury, who threatens to fight you again, and 
then the Exit door for your second boss fight.

Level Boss: Large Laser Cannon.

Armaments:
Short-Charged Laser (destroys or injures anything in its line of fire),
Long-Charged Laser (destroys or injures anything in a sweep, and is much 
larger),
Shields (negates Bombs, usually used before charging up).

Escorts: Drone Production Lines X 6, Small Turrets X 2.

Boss Difficulty: Medium.

Destroying the boss won't be easy because you have to watch out for the drones 
and the smaller turrets, but concentrate on the Laser Cannon itself, and it 
should be a little easier. Also, this cannon has two blind sides on the left and 
right of it, but it will defend them with the drones. However, very 
occasionally, when it uses the 2nd attack, it will often destroy both drones and 
production lines alike, but you will get their score bonuses. Also, don't 
concentrate on the smaller turrets. Although they may first use Beam Slugs 
(green), when constantly destroyed, they will then use Homing Beam Slugs (red) 
and things will be much tougher then. Again, it is still possible to get 10000 X 
10 points against this boss.

The Laser Cannon will eventually blow up. Enter it, quick cutscene plays, and 
then head for the Exit.

4. Mission 3.

The first part of this level will have you running through several flying 
drones, 3 large drones, and several cyborg guards and barricades. Keep an eye 
out for the Data Chip contained here before heading for the Exit. Also, when the 
guards come at you, Stacked Normal Bombs against one of them will usually kill 
all 4. Some even drop a 10% health bonus, too.

The second part contains 19 power generators, which must be destroyed. In some 
places, Armoured Carriers will appear, one of which happens to be under a 
walkway. All Armoured Carriers may be destroyed by using about 6 Bombs or more. 
If you happen to be low on health, focus on destroying the cyborgs that come out 
of them. With luck, some of them will cough up a 10% bonus, but you can keep 
doing this if you wish. It works better if you use a lot of Bombs on one target, 
but time it so that the other cyborgs are close to the one you've put Bombs on. 
That way, when you explode your Bombs you can kill the others too. Also watch 
out for 2 Beam Gates, 2 large drones, and 3 Solid Hunters guarding 14 of the 19 
generators at the top part / end of this level. Luckily, no Bosses are in this 
mission, so once all 19 power generators are down, proceed to the Exit quickly.

5. Mission 4.

This area is relatively confined to 4 floors, with 3 elevators to take you 
either up or down. But in order to activate the elevators, the targets on one 
floor must be taken out first. Except the top floor, all others have 3 targets 
each. These targets are Samurai Mechs. 2 of these are kept in square frames, and 
a few more happen to be kept in holding areas (either underneath or in the 
middle of every 2 Small Turrets you see. Keep an eye out for a Data Chip hidden 
in one of those Small Turrets.

On the 1st and 2nd floors, destroy all targets and anything else you see. Aside 
from the Samurai Mechs in the frames which are harmless, Gunner Mechs will 
attempt to slow you down. If you hesitate for too long, a Samurai Mech will be 
launched from the holding area between 2 of the Small Turrets. 

Once you get to the 3rd floor, you will be facing Red Samurai Mechs, a.k.a. Hard 
Shell Mechs. These Mechs possess large shields, and make 2 consecutive sabre 
strikes instead of one. Worse still, they can shrug off Locked-On Bombs, so you 
may either need to use Material-Liquid Bombs (such as Gravity or Paralysis), or 
you will have to stack your Normal Bombs on the ground and explode them when the 
Mechs get too close. On this floor a 50% health bonus is here, but keep your 
eyes peeled for 10% health bonuses that randomly occur throughout the previous 
floors as well. Once cleared, the elevator will take you to the 4th 
floor.....and unfortunately ("Kore demo kurayore!!")... Mercury. He's still a 
Sub-Boss, but this time, he's got 2 Hard Shell Mechs guarding him now.

Level Sub-Boss / Boss: Mercury.

Armaments:
Same as Mission 2.

Escorts: Hard Shell Mechs X 2.

Armaments:
Beam Sabre (swung twice to cause more injury, also knocks you down).

Sub-Boss Difficulty: Medium.

The Hard Shells will come between you and Mercury to make sure that Jutah can't 
lock onto Mercury. Sometimes they will dish out some damage as well, but 
remember that Mercury's Buster Rifle hurts the most. A good strategy is to use 
Stacked Gravity Bombs, and a few well Stacked Paralysis Bombs will do very 
nicely as well. With luck, you may be able to get a 5000 X 3 bonus from Mercury 
if you combo in the Hard Shells. Mercury loses his gun arm again in the next 
cutscene. Exit the level.

6. Mission 5. (Will be completed soon)
7. Mission 6. (Will be completed soon)
8. Mission 7. (Will be completed soon)
9. Mission 8. (Will be completed soon)
10. Mission 9. (Will be completed soon)
11. Mission 10. (Will be completed soon)
12. Mission 11. (Will be completed soon)
13. Mission 12. (Will be completed soon)
14. Mission 13. (Will be completed soon)
15. Mission 14. (Will be completed soon)

Sorry about the remaining missions, but my 3rd semester in college is about to 
begin. I'll update the FAQ when I've got the time.

Credits and Acknowledgements:

1. Mr. John of Man-Man Enterprise, Carrefour Hypermarket (Subang Jaya branch), 
Selangor, Malaysia for selling me this nifty game.

2. Bandai Japan for producing this gem. Can't say too much about your Digimon 
World, though...and why DID you guys have to put in that Neko Tank from Tail 
Concerto in the VR Arena??!!

3. Datel, for putting up your irritating GameShark cheats, which prompted me to 
make this FAQ. In fact, that's why I made my Metal Gear Solid: Integral FAQ in 
the first place. Oh, and BTW, I do NOT put up GameShark cheats on my FAQs unless 
I use them myself, and, I'm pleased to say that I didn't even use one cheat to 
get all my S ranks.

4. My younger brother, Abdullah Izzudin, 9 years old, who provided me with moral 
support, especially during Mission 11, when I was trying to get both my A and S 
ranks for that mission.

5. The rest of my family who tried, unsuccessfully, to remove me from my 
constant gaming. Yep, I'm a game-a-holic, I confess.

6. And then, of course, anyone who reads this FAQ for info. And when I say info, 
I mean, NO UNAUTHORIZED COPYING OR PIECE-TAKING WHATSOEVER, UNDERSTOOD?

7. Finally, to those who do copy this FAQ, for breaking the rules. Hope you rot. 
And die. In the worst kind of way. In Jutah's own words, "Ikiru tame ni, hakai 
suru!" ("Attempt to stop me, and I'll destroy you!" - more or less)

Quick Quotes:

If anyone can complete the game with all S ranks WITHOUT CHEATING, I'll have 
your name posted up here. Also, since I understand some Japanese, I think I 
might need a bit more help in translating the quotes and mission briefings. 
Anyone interested? You know what to do. 

E-mail me at the addresses above. Also open for questions, but no obvious 
plagarism, OK?

And BTW, CJayC, please use the nicks "Saviour-V", "A.Rizudin", or more 
appropriately "Rizudin" when quoting my FAQ on your site.

Well, that sums it up a bit. To anyone playing this game, good luck. 

Keep your eyes on this FAQ. It will be improved and updated, I assure you.

Saviour-V,
a.k.a. Ahmad Rizudin Izzudin of Malaysia.