Propeller Arena: Air Battle Championship FAQ Last Updated: May 15th, 2004 By: Xanathis (xanathis@gmail.com) http://xanathis.cherryroms.com ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Table of Contents: ================== 1. Introduction 2. Quick Basics 3. Teams/Planes 4. Modes 4a. Training Arena 5. Items 6. Tricks 7. Copyright ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. Introduction: ================ Back in the final days of the Dreamcast market, a number of games that were set for release in the United States were cancelled. Most people remember Shenmue 2 being canned, but another title that was canned was Propeller Arena. The game sprung from the mind of the famous Yu Suzuki and was being produced by AM2. It is questionable why the game was cancelled as it was basically complete. At the time, it was a little after the events of September 11th and Sega claimed that they did not want to release the game over sensitivity for the public. Whether that's really why it was yanked, I suppose we'll never know. So what is Propeller Arena? It's Yu Suzuki's take on the idea of WWII dog fighting with propeller planes. The main draw of the game was to be it's ability to be played over Sega's network with friends. Think of it much like Alien Front Online but in the air and you'll have the general idea. This was a game that nobody believed would ever be seen. Fast forward to 2004. An enterprising group was able to get their hands on a basically finished version of the game (as far as I can tell it's finished) and rip an image of it to spread around the internet. It's unfortunate that the only way one will be able to play such a fantastic game (with great graphics and featuring music from bands at Fat Wreck Chords) is through downloading the image and making themselves a copy. As for the game, it does not need a true walkthrough. It's very straight-forward in that the idea in the main mode of gameplay is to shoot down opponents and have the most kills. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 2. Quick Basics: ================ Default Controls: Thumb Joystick - Changes the plane's direction (turn left/right, angle up/down) Note: The Y-axis is inverted, so when you move the joystick up the plane angles downwards. D-Pad - Up and Down on the D-pad changes camera view between three views. Right and Left are not used. L - Brake R - Accelerate A - Machine Gun B - Voice X - Tricks Y - Use Weapon Item You can change the control setup in the options as well as listening to the songs in the game, and changing options for a couple of the modes. The general gameplay is that of a death match. You have your plane and there are several opponent planes and the goal is to have the most "kills" within the time limit or reach the point limit first (10 in Championship mode and whatever you set it to in Quick Battle). To do this, you make use of items, tricks, and your gaming abilities. Items and Tricks are listed further on in this FAQ. When you play, you will see in the bottom middle of the screen 3 bars - Power, Speed, and Damage. When you perform tricks, they drain energy from your power bar. When you're out of power, you will be unable to perform tricks. It slowly recharges over time. Speed is obviously an indicator of your speed while Damage is how much health your plane has left. To the left of these bars is the logo of your pilot as well as a number next to it which indicates how many kills you have. In dog-fights, the top of the screen will be lined up with the logos of your opponents. Under their logos is their health bars and to the right of the logos is the number of kills they have. When you lock on and approach a target, a number will appear under them. This number indicates the target's distance from you. As you get closer, a circle will appear around the crosshairs. At this point, you will be in range of them and be able to shoot them with your machine guns. When you score hits, it will say "HIT" in the middle of the screen. If you get really close behind an enemy, a larger circle appears around them and the screen will say "Press X". If you hit X at this point, you will zoom in on your enemy and be able to kill them with ease. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 3. Teams/Planes: ================ Eagle Jam - P51D Mustang Shameless Cats - P51D Mustange Muscle Bros - P38J Lightning Pizza Fat - P38J Lightning Pengo Jets - Bf 109E 8-bit Beat - Bf 109E Hex Candy - Spitfire Mk Vb Golden Knife - Spitfire Mk Vb Some teams have specific tricks that only they may do. The one's I've noticed are in the tricks section. I can't tell much difference between the pilots/planes so if anybody can submit info on this part, that'd be great. Just send an email to Xanathis@hotmail.com with what you've discovered. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 4. Modes: ========= Championship: In championship mode, you pick a team and then battle through each of the 8 battle maps to achieve victory. Each battle is decided by whoever has the most kills at the time limit or whoever gets 10 kills first. Points are awarded based on rank and the team with the highest point total after all the battles is the winner. Quick Battle: This is for playing with friends on the same machine. Up to 4 players may play a battle on split screen in this mode. Each player picks a pilot then you pick one of the 8 battle maps (Airport, Red Valley, Tower City, Sky High, Ice World, Volcano, Old Castle, or Phantom Island). Then it's off to the battle where you play in the same way as championship achieving the most kills by the time limit or by getting to the point limit first (which can be set in the options menu from 1 to 10 kills). Network: Like Quick Battle mode, but played over the network. Training Arena: This is the most interesting mode with 3 types (Propeller Stunt, Propeller Challenge, and Propeller Agility). Each mode has different missions (one for each of the battle maps). This mode is useful to learn the game and get some experience before taking it to the battles. More information on this mode is below. 3a. Training Arena ================== As mentioned above, there are three types of modes under the Training Arena. Each mode has 8 levels to play, one based in each of the battle maps. One thing to note is that in the training arena, you have infinite power so use your tricks to the fullest to achieve the goals. Propeller Stunt: After choosing a level, you go to the battle map. In the left hand side of the screen will be a box that lists tricks. The goal is to perform all the tricks presented to you within the time (there's a time bar under this box). As you go up the levels, the tricks get more difficult and more tricks will need to be done. If you fail to finish a set of tricks, it counts as a mistake. If you make 3 mistakes, you fail the mission. Propeller Agility: The Propeller Agility mode of the Training Arena tests the gamer's ability to maneuver the planes. Each level has a path of rings that you must fly through to get to the end within a certain time limit. As you go up in levels, more rings are added and the paths become more complex. There are two types of rings, green which are the normal ones of the path, and a red ring at the end symbolizing the finish line. Each ring you miss gives you a 1 second penalty to your time, so you really want to avoid missing any rings. You will also want to stay close to the path, as if you wander far off of it and rejoin with it later on, the game will still be waiting for you to go back for the rings that were earlier on. This prevents gamers from charging their planes to the finish ring and just taking a large time penalty. Propeller Challenge: The most interesting mode of the Training Arena is Propeller Challenge. Each of the 8 levels has a different mission requiring all the skill and abilities available to you. Level 1 - Destroy 10 missiles in 120 seconds before they hit the ground (You can miss twice) Level 2 - Collect all the blue items in the stage in 90 seconds (Blue items add 5 seconds to your time) Level 3 - Collect all the blue items in the stage in 150 seconds (Again blue items add 5 seconds to your time, but plane controls are reversed) Level 4 - Destroy the giant meteorite in 120 seconds (The key here is that you have to use missiles to destroy it, so head straight for the red item boxes rather than waste time trying to damage it with machine guns) Level 5 - Destroy the group of unidentified planes in 150 seconds (There are 25 planes in total that you must destroy) Level 6 - Collect 10 blue items in 120 seconds as they fly out of the lava (Blue items work as mentioned before) Level 7 - Use napalm to destroy each bridge in 75 seconds (Like stage 4, you need to go for the item boxes. When you drop the napalm, clear out quick as it can destroy your plane quickly which costs you precious seconds) Level 8 - Collect all the blue items in 90 seconds (Same as before for the blue items, but the catch here is that you will occasionally get hit by Freeze Controls which results in you not being able to control your plane temporarily) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 5. Items: ========= There are 3 types of item boxes in the normal game - red, yellow, and green. Each color represents one type of item. Red are for weapon items, yellow are , and green are . There is a 4th type of item box in the Training Arena in a couple of the Propeller Challenge levels. This 4th type is a blue box which contains an item that extends your time limit by 5 seconds. To collect an item, you shoot the box open to reveal the item and then fly into it to pick it up. Weapon items are used by pressing the Y button while other items work automatically on pick-up. Red: Bomb (bomb icon) - Drops a large bomb below you. Homing (4 small missiles icon) - Fires off a set of homing missiles at the enemy. Hot Potato (spiky ball icon) - When you launch the hot potato at an enemy, it fires off a barrage of spiked balls that bounce around between opponents before damaging one. Missile (missile icon) - Launches a large missile that does heavy damage to a target. Yellow: Freeze (diagonal slashes icon) - Freezes an enemy's controls for 5 seconds Hard-Bolt (* icon) - Gives you a stronger machine gun for 25 seconds Reverse (arrows icon) - Reverses an enemy's directional controls for 5 seconds Stealth (blank icon) - Renders your plane invisible for 30 seconds to prevent enemies from locking onto you. Green: Hyper (circle icon) - Creates a shield around your plane for 20 seconds Power (lightning bolt icon) - Restores your power bar Recover (black cross icon) - Recovers some of your plane's health. Recover All (green cross icon) - Restores all health to your plane ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 6. Tricks: ========== The following is a list of the tricks and the gamepad commands needed to execute them. Right 90 Turn - Down, Down-Right, Right, X Left 90 Turn - Down, Down-Left, Left, X Right 180 Turn - Down, Down-Right, Right, Up-Right, Up, X Left 180 Turn - Down, Down-Left, Left, Up-Left, Up, X Right 360 Turn (8-Bit Beat)/Left Barrel Roll (Shameless Cats) - Left, Right, X Left 360 Turn (8-Bit Beat)/Right Barrel Roll (Shameless Cats) - Right, Left, X Lightning Dash - R, R Air Brake - L, L Corkscrew - Right, Left, X Up Loop - Up, Down, X Down Loop - Down, Up, X Air Lift - Up, Up, X Air Pocket (Muscle Bros) / Cobra (Golden Knife) - Down, Down, X Right Side Slide - Right, Right, X Left Side Slide - Left, Left, X Right Double Slide - Right, Left, Right, X Left Double Slide - Left, Right, Left, X Right Spin Attack - Left, Down-Left, Down, Down-Right, Right, X Left Spin Attack - Right, Down-Right, Down, Down-Left, Left, X Kulbit (Golden Knife) - Down, Down, X, Down, X Up Immelman Turn (Pengo Jets) - Up, Down, Up, X Down Immelman Turn (Pengo Jets) - Down, Up, Down, X ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 7. Copyright: ============= FAQ ©2004 Xanathis. Websites are free to display/distribute this on their sites as long as they follow the following rules: 1. It is not done for commercial gain. 2. The content remains fully intact without editing. 3. Credit is given properly and is not claimed as your own work. If anybody wishes to submit info for the FAQ, feel free to email me or leave a message on the message board on my website. Addresses are given at the top of the FAQ.