/ / / No More Heroes / -------------------------------------- / "Heroes will fall... /---------------------------------------- / and a new champion will rise..." / / ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Game Specs ----------------------------------- Platform: Wii Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture, Ubisoft (2008) Genre: Sword Fighter, Action Rating: M (Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language) //Walkthrough Specs ----------------------------------- Author: Georgi Samaras E-mail: SophiaLee04@yahoo.com Version: 1.39 Last Updated: March 21, 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Contents ----------------------------------- Introduction........................... [int] Controls .............................. [con] The HUD and Menu ...................... [hud] Santa Destroy ......................... [san] Battle Mechanics ...................... [bat] Death Blows and Slots ................. [slo] Beam Katanas .......................... [bek] Tips and Tricks ....................... [tip] Walkthrough Ranking 10 ......................... [r10] Ranking 9 .......................... [r09] Ranking 8 .......................... [r08] Ranking 7 .......................... [r07] Ranking 6 .......................... [r06] Ranking 5 .......................... [r05] Ranking 4 .......................... [r04] Ranking 3 .......................... [r03] Ranking 2 .......................... [r02] Ranking 1 .......................... [r01] Job Center Listings ................... [job] Assassin Side Missions ................ [asm] New Game + ............................ [ngp] FAQ ................................... [faq] Miscellaneous ......................... [mis] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Introduction [int] ----------------------------------- Welcome to the city of Santa Destroy: home to the United Assassins Association and the young man determined to reach its peak, Travis Touchdown. Using a beam katana he won in an internet auction, Travis determines to prove his worth after having been recruited and ranked 11th in the UAA. It's your job to help him become number 1 and to do it in one piece. If you've ever played a game called Killer7, then you may already have an idea of what you're getting yourself into. If not, I highly recommend it. Get ready for disturbing humor, unique graphics, and really, really addictive gameplay. Thank you, Suda51! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Controls [con] ----------------------------------- in battle (nunchuk): control stick: move Travis C: center camera behind Travis Z: hold to lock on to an enemy shake nunchuk: perform a Jumping Slash (technique must first be learned) in battle (Wii-mote): d-pad up: lock on to a different enemy (when locked on) d-pad down: dodge (when locked on) d-pad left: move camera, dodge (when locked on) d-pad right: move camera, dodge (when locked on) A: slash, charged slash (hold A) B: beat attack, charged beat attack (hold B) -: activate Anarchy in the Galaxy (if you have stock) +: open menu/pause game, skip cutscenes (press twice) 1: enter charge mode 2: toggle mini-map shake Wii-mote: help Travis get up after being knocked down *in battle, you will also be prompted to wave the Wii-mote and nunchuk according to on-screen arrows on foot (nunchuk): control stick: move Travis C: center camera behind Travis Z: switch to first-person view on foot (Wii-mote): d-pad: move camera A: interact B: dash (technique must first be learned) +: open menu/pause game 2: toggle mini-map on the Schpeltiger (nunchuk): control stick: steer C: cycle through camera views Z: hold to activate booster on the Schpeltiger (Wii-mote): d-pad down: dismount (while stopped) A: accelerate B: brake/reverse +: open menu/pause game 1: have a friend bring your bike to you in town 2: toggle mini-map B + A: burn out (release B to take off) Wii-mote up: wheelie jump tilt Wii-mote left/right + B: drift turn *on the loading screen, hit B repeatedly to play around with the loading star ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //The HUD and Menu [hud] ----------------------------------- Going into battle or driving in town, you'll notice a lot of clutter on the screen, your heads-up-display. Here, I'll describe what all that stuff means. I'll also detail the tabs in the menu, which is accessed by pressing the + button. Battle HUD ---------- heart: your health gauge tiger: Dark Side Mode meter (see "Death Blows and Slots") "High/Low" meter: tells you how you're holding your katana/remote and determines how Travis slashes and punches energy meter: the katana's battery power LB$: Travis' pocket money 777: Anarchy in the Galaxy stock, of which you can hold only three mini-map: shows paths and items of interest and can be modified to show enemy positions slots: only appear in the bottom center of the screen after a death blow (see the "Death Blows and Slots" section) City HUD -------- heart: your health gauge, although Travis never seems to lose health in town, even after crashing his bike energy meter: Travis' stamina (for dashing) and the Schpeltiger's nitro gauge LB$: Travis' pocket money mini-map: shows roads, event icons, and items L---R: shows which direction your motorcycle is turning speed: your speedometer, for those who love to know they're going as fast as possible while mowing down pedestrians Menu Tabs --------- map: a bigger version of the pixelated mini-map ranking: how much money you need for the next fight and how much you currently have side job: the terms of your current side job, if you've signed up for one config: adjust volume, camera controls, and toggle subtitles data: load save data or start a new game The rest of the stuff displayed on the menu should be self-explanatory. Note that if you want to keep multiple save files, you must let the game auto-load one and then access the other through the menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Santa Destroy [san] ----------------------------------- The city streets are where you're going to be doing much of your business. To make navigating easier, always make sure your mini-map is on in the lower right corner of your HUD. All the points of interest are marked by icons on that map. Here's a list of businesses in the city that are worth it to visit regularly. Motel "No More Heroes" ---------------------- This is Travis' base of operations. In the bedroom, there's: a closet: where you keep all of Travis' clothes you've found or bought a drawer: where all your weapons are stored a map: see the layout of Santa Destroy and your mission rankings a telephone/fax machine: gives you updates on your UAA rank and messages about video rentals In the living room, you'll find: the toilet: your only readily accessible save point the TV: watch various videos Travis has (mostly wrestling videos you bought) and play video games (after a certain stage) the fridge: open to replenish your health Jeane: Travis' cat and only family; press random buttons and wave the remote to play with her cards: trading cards that add to your otaku collection, as well as unlock concept art during a New Game + The motel's map icon is a house, and its flag is easily visible from several city blocks. If you ever need to get to the motel quickly, jump into the river in the middle of town or into the ocean off Iron Claw Point. You'll automatically be back in the parking lot, no worse for your ordeal. (Thanks to Josh L. for pointing this out.) K-Entertainment --------------- An advertising agency which also dapples in seedy contractual killings. Go here to take on assassin missions to earn some extra cash and to practice your moves. See the "Assassin Side Missions" section for details. Its map icon is, fittingly, a skull. Job Center ---------- If you'd rather not shed blood to make some extra cash, go here to earn your money with honest jobs. These are extremely varied and pay differently depending on what each job has you do. See the "Job Center Listings" section for more details. Its map icon is a white stick person on a pink background. ATM --- If you want to move up the UAA ranks, you need to pay an entry fee. Once you have the money, head to the ATM, marked by a dollar sign in a yellow circle, to pay. AREA 51 ------- Santa Destroy's one-stop clothing shop. If you're looking to fill Travis' closet, this is the place to go. Its map icon is a white t-shirt with "51" on it. Thunder Ryu Bldg ---------------- This is the office of Travis' sensei and where he goes to buff up. Each exercise costs a certain amount of money and has you perform simple tasks with the Wii-mote and nunchuk. Its map icon is a yellow kanji. Here's a list of exercises: Dumbbells: move the nunchuk and Wii-mote upward alternately; finish 30 in 30 seconds and the number of slices in your beam katana combo increases Bench Press: rapidly press A to lift the weights, but use your index finger rather than your thumb to make it easier; if you do 10 in 1 minute, your strength increases so you deal more damage Squats: snap both the Wii-mote and the nunchuk down at the same time; completing 20 in 30 seconds increases your maximum vitality so you take less damage You'll need to do a dumbbell exercise every time you get a new beam katana, and each exercise session will cost more money as your stats increase, but they're not pricey by any means. Naomi's Lab ----------- Naomi researches beam katanas and sells you new models or accessories. At first, Naomi will sell a beam katana of her own design but will make new ones if you give her certain items. See the "Beam Katana" section for info on how each one differs in combos and death blows. The accessories she sells either increase damage dealt or save battery power, and each katana except the Blood Berry has its own set. There's also an accessory to help detect treasure by marking it on the mini-map with light yellow circles and making the remote vibrate when you're standing over gold; this accessory is universal. Naomi's lab's map icon is a blue beam katana (that looks more like a popsicle) in a blue circle. Beef Head --------- This is the local video/game store, run by one of Travis' good friends, Bishop. Travis is mainly into wrestling videos (among other things, according to the messages on his machine). Watching the movies you buy here helps Travis learn new wrestling moves. The store's map icon is a pair of bull horns on an orange background. Gold Town --------- A bar located near Thunder Dragon's office, marked by a yellow mug of beer. Inside, Lovikov waits to teach Travis special techniques if he has the balls. Er, Lovikov balls, that is. Lovikov balls are scattered around Santa Destroy and will be marked on the mini-map with an orange dot after first speaking to Lovikov. They also emit a sort of humming sound when you're near one. Bring seven to Lovikov, pick your technique of choice, and he will teach it to you in his own special way. Here's the techniques: Memory of Three: displays position of enemies on the mini-map Memory of Demon: lets you perform a Jumping Slash by shaking the nunchuk Memory of Child: lets you perform a dash outside of battle by pressing the B button Memory of Woman: extends your Dark Side Mode limit Memory of Mask: increases the range of your grab for wrestling Memory of Tattoo: displays the "Max Chain" bonus at the end of ranking fights for extra money Memory of White: lets you perform a Jumping Down Attack on enemies on the ground Players of Killer7 may perk up at the number of techniques and balls each one costs: 7. Each of these techniques is named for each Smith assassin, and they also imbue Travis with powers similar to each Smith persona. Items can also be found on the city streets. When you see a dumpster, press A to kick it open for t-shirts or money. Any time you are walking on an unpaved area, press A to stab the ground with your beam katana to dig up money (and trading cards in a New Game +). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Battle Mechanics [bat] ----------------------------------- While the sword action in this game isn't just swinging the Wii-mote all over the place, some of the actions you can perform are sensitive to how you hold your remote. To perform a high attack, tilt the remote up. To execute a low attack, tilt the remote down. Below is a list of the moves you can execute while fighting, with the height-sensitive ones described as such. All of these tactics are laid out in detail in the game's tutorial at the start of the game. Slashes ------- To slash with your katana, simply press A. Slashes can be both high and low; slash high when enemies guard low and slash low when they guard high. Press the A button repeatedly to start a slash combo, and hold A down to do a charged attack. A high charge sends Travis slashing forward. A low slash has him attack enemies at his sides. Charged slashes are unblockable, but you are extremely vulnerable and lose your charge when you take damage. Charges also use up a lot of battery power the higher the charge. Beat Attacks and Wrestling Moves -------------------------------- To stun an enemy and break their guard, press B to slam them. Beat attacks can be both high and low; beat high when enemies are guarding high and vice versa. Beat attacks can also be charged by holding down B; enemies hit with charged attacks will always be automatically stunned. When stunned, they'll be dizzied, as indicated by them seeing stars, Looney Tunes style. Press B when near them to grab them and perform a wrestling move, which will have you move both the Wii-mote and nunchuk according to on-screen arrows. Once that enemy has been knocked to the ground by your mad wrestling skillz, hit A to use a down attack to finish them off. According to Josh L., inserting a beat attack in your combo will sometimes result in a dizzying uppercut or a kick that sends foes flying away from you, so try alternating between B and A when slashing. Weapon Clash ------------ When your attack meets that of an enemy, you will lock swords. The remote will appear on the screen in a circle. Rapidly turn circles with your remote to deflect their attack and execute a death blow. If you don't, your enemy gets a free shot at you. Lock On and Guard ----------------- Press the Z button to lock on to an enemy. Pressing the up arrow on the d-pad will change which enemy you lock onto. When locked on, Travis will only focus on that one enemy and will run circles around him/her as well as perform quick dodges when you hit down, left, or right on the d-pad. Travis is invincible during a dodge. Locking on also lets Travis deflect enemy attacks if he's not swinging his katana. On Sweet difficulty mode, auto-guard will be enabled, so Travis will guard even when not locked on. Charge Mode ----------- Since the beam katana runs on batteries, the power will eventually run out and they will have to recharge. Attacking enemies, using it to open chests, and blocking attacks all use some of the katana's power. Press the 1 button to enter charge mode. The game would have you wave the remote from side to side to recharge, but it's much more fun to mimic Travis and pump the remote up and down. ;) Travis is vulnerable to attack during charge mode. While in an area where you will have to fight, you'll see chests and icons appear on the field. Enemies will also sometimes drop replenishing items, but this is rare. Purple Chests ------------- These contain pizza which will boost your health. Small slices restore a little, while whole pizzas completely restore it. Blue Chests ----------- These contain batteries for your beam katana. Small batteries restore some of the gauge; large batteries fill it. Exclamation Points ------------------ These mark your destination. To activate them, you must meet a certain requirement, usually killing all enemies in the immediate area or picking up a certain item in a chest. Arrows ------ Small yellow arrows simply mark items of interest lying on the ground. S - These mark save points (i.e. - toilets). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Death Blows and Slots [slo] ----------------------------------- Depleting an enemy's health with basic slashes allows you to execute a death blow. This simply requires you swing the Wii-mote in the direction of the arrow on the screen. After the blood bath, slots will automatically appear and spin on the bottom center of the screen. If three symbols match, Travis will go into Dark Side Mode. This is Travis' Force: he becomes indestructible and will tear through anything in his path. Dark Side Mode lasts until the tiger in the upper right reaches the goal flag along the top of the screen. There are five different Dark Side attacks. "This is the end!" ------------------ Line up three cherries to slow down all enemies, allowing you to beat them to the punch. This one seems to be the most common Dark Side attack. "Strawberry on the shortcake!" ------------------------------ Line up three grasshopper icons and Travis will move like lightning and instantly kill anything in his way. Go up to an enemy, slash them, and an arrow will spin on the screen. Make circles with your remote to make mincemeat of your enemies. "Blueberry cheese brownie!" --------------------------- Line up three bells and a reticule will appear in the middle of the screen. Move it with the control stick and press the A button to fire waves of energy at long-distance foes. This is not an instant kill for tougher enemies like those with beam katanas. Travis will move really slowly during this, so just focus on getting enemies in your sight. "Cranberry chocolate sundae!" ----------------------------- Line up three Bars to see the screen go grainy. Walk up to an enemy and watch for a button by Travis' head. Match the button prompt and Travis will instantly kill the closest foe in style. Mess up and Travis will only taunt, wasting time. "Anarchy in the galaxy!" ------------------------ Line up three 7s (jackpot) to earn one stock, indicated by a 7 on your HUD. Press the - button to activate this awesome power, which completely destroys any enemies in the area and even all surrounding areas. This power does not work on boss fights and actually deals very little damage against your fellow assassins. Your stock does not carry over between ranking missions either, and Greg e-mailed me to point out that the game gives you LB$10,000 for each stock. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Beam Katanas [bek] ----------------------------------- As the game progresses, you can buy new katanas from Naomi by visiting her lab. This game is not one of those where the more expensive and newer weapon replaces the old. Each katana has a different style, and you should get to know each one so you can pick which one fits your style best. Your strategy can actually change depending on which katana you use. I experimented with them all to get a general idea of which did what. The results below are based on each katana with all of its unique accessories and a fully-buffed Travis (i.e. - strength and combo are maxed) on the Mild difficulty setting. The enemies I tried it on were the ones that appear in the Gamble Fight assassin gig. The numbers given should be good enough estimates to give you an idea of each katana's abilities. Remember that enemy vitality varies, and the katana's battery power may even have an effect on how powerful your blows are. Blood Berry ----------- Seeing as how it has no power-ups and is your original equip, this katana is just to get you familiar with sword fighting. On average, it takes about 6-8 swings to initiate a death blow. The death blows are simple swings, nothing too flashy. Tsubaki ------- This katana becomes available after you gain access to Naomi's lab. If you like wrestling moves, then it is for you. Its combo actually has automatic beat moves in it, so you'll see enemies get dizzy a lot without having to hit B. It takes about 5 swings to do a death blow, and they are basically wider versions of the Blood Berry's, most notably in the left or right blows. Tsubaki Mk-II ------------- After giving Naomi the US Military Secret, she'll build this weapon for you: the most physically powerful katana there is. If you want to finish foes quickly, this katana lets you enter a death blow in about three slashes. However, it is a little slow and has an over-powered first swing, meaning sometimes enemies will be pushed away from you and the rest of your combo swings will miss if you mash A. Because it has multiple "blades", this katana's death blows are capable of taking out nearby enemies as well as your target, even without charging it. Tsubaki Mk-III -------------- Give Naomi your Master's Japanese katana, and you'll get this powered-up version. Its combo is basic slashes, but Travis will twist and turn while executing them, slashing in style. It takes an average of 5 swings to get the chance to do a death blow. In some cases, when executing a death blow to the right or left, it will act as a sort of mini Anarchy in the Galaxy and completely obliterate any enemy near you: in front, behind, or off to the side. It may not be the most powerful katana, but its energy saving accessory makes it the best for long fights. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Tips and Tricks [tip] ----------------------------------- Battle mechanics are one thing, learning the nuances of combat is a different matter entirely. This is stuff you can't find out by reading the manual. If you ask me, this is where No More Heroes shines in its combat and replay factor. Below are a list of things that are just plain helpful to know and should give you plenty of options in how to go about a fight. Master the ways of the assassin, young apprentice. Surprise Slide -------------- I don't know what to call this, but it's one of the most important things to master in the game. We'll call it the Surprise Slide since it usually results in a question mark above your target's head. What this move is is a quick dodge that puts Travis behind an enemy, leaving them open for tons of free damage. To perform it, let the enemy enter a slash combo. Now run into it while guarding. During their combo, continuously double tab or simply press and hold left or right on the c-stick. If you're successful, you'll hear a sound as the screen turns dark, and Travis will slide along the ground to get in striking position. Now mash A and watch the hits pile on. This is invaluable against certain bosses but useless against charge attacks since you can't guard against them. Charged Death Blow ------------------ When performing a death blow, shake the remote when the screen is in slow motion. Triangles will appear around your beam katana and your target, indicating that the blow has become more powerful. It will deal more damage to your target and also any nearby enemies. This will not work during weapon clash death blows. (Thanks to Michael Green for this info.) Josh L. also says that the charged death blow does not use battery power, but I can't see a difference between it and a normal death blow. Windmill Recover ---------------- I'm not up to speed on my breakdancing lingo, but I'm pretty sure that's what that move is called. (Thanks to Codey for correcting me!) When knocked to the ground, Travis will spin his legs around to damage enemies while getting back to his feet. I'm not really sure how to perform this move. Josh L. says tapping A and B works. I've also been told that pressing A right before you hit the ground or swinging the nunchuk also works. I always perform it just by shaking the Wii-mote, but it only works when an enemy is nearby and, even then, only sometimes. Roosey e-mailed yet another way to pull off this move: "First the enemy has to do an attack that throws you on your back and on your front. Then as you're flying through the air spin the c stick around and you'll spin right back on your feet." The Killer7 Combo ----------------- Players of Killer7 know Dan Smith was a total badass. The Lovikov technique bearing his moniker is a powerful one. To perform the Jumping Slash, shake the nunchuk. This is an unblockable attack from long range that instantly downs a foe. It is similar to a charge attack though, so if you are hit while preparing to jump, the move will be interrupted. When you've knocked someone down, back away from them while staying locked on and press A. This will result in a Jumping Down Attack, Kevin Smith's move, which will instantly kill the target. And this, my friends, is how you kill all normal enemies in just two hits. (Thanks to Josh L. for info on the Jumping Slash.) Weapon Upgrades --------------- Don't underestimate the power of Naomi's wares. Her power and energy saver upgrades are life savers in certain instances, since every time you do an action with the katana, you pay for it with battery life. If you get Tsubaki Mk-III and buy the LB$999,999 upgrade, you will never have to recharge your battery. Josh L. puts this in a way I couldn't agree with more: "At first this seems like a minor improvement, because a player may think 'shaking the controller isn't so difficult' but really, having infinite energy means you can block bullets fearlessly, use the surprise move CONSTANTLY, and you can also use charge slashes and jump slash with reckless abandon." The Mk-III energy saver upgrade is almost mandatory in Bitter mode. Slashing High, Slashing Low --------------------------- For those who like to slash while holding the remote any which way, stop. The game developers put a "High/Low" meter on the HUD for a reason. There's a distinct sound you hear when an enemy is blocking your attack. When you hear this, you can either do a beat attack, jump away until they drop their guard, or you can switch your stance. Enemies can only guard one of two ways, and if they're guarding your high slash, tilt the remote down so you start slashing where they're not guarding and vice versa. This is a great way not to miss a beat in the middle of a combo and not lose your chain. (Thanks again to Josh L. for pointing out how important this is.) Pro-Wrestling Power ------------------- Travis' real strength lies in his wrestling moves. These will shave off good chunks of health on bosses and instantly knock down normal enemies. Using them on bosses is difficult since they don't stun easily; watch for them to stagger or guard. Since, in most cases, wrestling moves deal more damage in one blow than a slash combo, stop hitting A and go for B if you get the chance. You cannot kill bosses with wrestling moves (some moves can instantly KO normal enemies), but they really work to shave off the health and leave them open for a final, killing slash. There is only one enemy in the game that will ever turn this against you. Parry Attack ------------ This technique was first e-mailed to me by Kelly, who explains it thusly: "there's a technique where if you block an enemies attack the moment before impact the block sound is higher pitched and if you press A immediately after, it's like an automatic 'low' charge attack, where you go twirling through the air killing everything in your path, without having to charge up your sword or anything. ... i've only done it with the Tsubaki III, i haven't tried it with the other katanas yet." Butters then e-mailed me with more details: "Just run up to [enemies] without locking on, tap [Z] right as you come into range to block the attack, then instantly release [Z] and press A as the attack is blocked. Travis should flip up over the enemies and kill anybody within a 10-20 foot radius. I've also only done the move with the Tsubaki III, but I haven't tried with the other weapons yet." FER has also sent some info on this move: "parry attack probably works the same for every katana, tested it with mkII and mkIII and both work the same, also you pointed it produces quick battery loss, when its actually the opposite: an instant, fully charged low attack that barely consumes battery considering a low charged attack depletes your battery in 1-2 hits." Nitro Tricks on the Schpeltiger ------------------------------- Driving around Santa Destroy on Travis' beloved bike is really the only way to travel. However, when trying to earn quick cash, it can get tedious. If you can avoid buildings, trees, and other non-breakable landmarks, burning the nitro is the best way to get to your destination fast. However, the gauge depletes quickly. Andrew has e-mailed me some tricks to keep the gauge up: "if you pull a drift turn on Schpeltiger your boost meter instantly refills. Also, if you're boosting while you jump the bike you maintain your boosted speed but the meter doesn't go down at all." So if you need some fuel, pull off a donut and you'll be good to go! Also, when your nitro gauge is about empty, let up early and it will refill quicker or else it will wait a few seconds. This is just like when Travis runs: if you let the gauge go out, he has to stop to catch his breath. (Credit to Joanna for pointing this out.) 3-Hit Charge Combo ------------------ Equip the Tsubaki Mk-III and charge up a low slash. As soon as you see the katana's blade get an extra charge (i.e. - it starts glowing brighter), unleash your slash and start mashing A. Travis will then unleash an unblockable, damn near instant KO combo consisting of three charged slashes. All credit for sending in this attack goes to Gus6x, and I'll recreate some of the notes here for you: "It can only be done with Tsubaki-MKiii. Timing isn't too critical at all, you can basically just mash the A button after performing a full LOW charge slash attack. The 3 parts of the combo are the charged slash, 'flip slash' and then a final swing.' Only enemies with high vitality can survive the attack and not be beheaded. ... You are invincible as soon as you release (A) and the second 'Flip slash' automatically targets and homes in on the enemy so you get a free powerful and invincible slash that drops you right in front of them. You can start a regular combo from there." Thomas wrote in with info on this move as well and pointed out that it gives you some frames of invincibility after it has been executed. Jikosh sent in more notes, saying that there is a way to manipulate the move: "charge up the mkIII as usual, and only tap A the required 2 time to get in the air, the second you land, press a again. Instead of doing the horizontal slash, he'll jump in the air, allowing him to go just a little bit further, and then does the horizontal slash." This works, except I pressed A once, paused, and then started mashing it again to get it to work. Travis will do a little mid-air hop instead of the usual flip. The only problem with this move in general is getting up the charge without getting hit, but if you get an enemy that is slow in attacking (Bad Girl) or one who charges as well (Henry), you're golden. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Walkthrough ----------------------------------- This walkthrough was written while playing on the Mild (Normal) difficulty setting with strategy supplemented after finishing Bitter (Hard) mode. Due to its semi-open-ended nature, this game lets you go about your routine any way you want. The main part of the guide is concerned only with the ranking missions. Side missions have their own sections right after this one. Ranking 10 [r10] ------------------------------ Go down the motel steps to get on your bike. After Travis makes his impressive entrance at Death Metal's mansion, take the game's offer of going through a tutorial. The bare-bones gameplay of No More Heroes is purely fighting, since that's all Travis knows to do, so you need to get familiar with the ways of battle. It's rather long and is a lot to take in this early, but it's all stuff you really need to know. When ready, take out the thugs in the foyer and head upstairs. Through the first door, head down the small hallway to your right to find a chest with money. Go back and enter the room ahead of you with the pool for another brawl. This is a good place to practice a variety of moves. You should also note a purple chest here: get to know and love these because they contain health-replenishing pizza slices. Now head down the side hallway to the left. Up the stairs is a blue chest at the end of the hall; blue chests contain a free battery charge. In the small hall just behind you is a chest with TRADING CARD NO. 001. Enter the nearby room to get closed in. You'll have to fight several waves of enemies; make note of the purple chest in the room. Only open it when your health is about depleted. You'll also find TRADING CARD NO. 002 in here. When fighting groups of enemies like this, always keep the Z button held down, so even if an enemy attacks you, you will block it. Also, learn not to button-mash A. Travis can't guard in the middle of a combo, so wait until someone attacks you. Another helpful tactic is to turn the camera when Travis is performing a death blow. Since the game goes into slow motion, you can turn the camera to see enemies behind you so you know where they are. When you're done, exit out the door by the tiger skin rug. To your right is a chest with money. Go back downstairs; yes, we're backtracking. Be careful going down this hall because enemies will ambush you. Some have guns so keep that guard up and wait for them to reload. Take them out one at a time; don't rush or they'll all attack you at once. When you hit the pool room, go downstairs to the main foyer to enter the hall there that was previously blocked off. Down this hall, stop when an enemy shouts and gets up, so you can take them on one-by-one. When all are gone, a new enemy with a beam katana will appear when you approach the star on the floor. Do not underestimate these enemies. Always keep Z held and wait for them to attack first. They are extremely vulnerable after performing an attack. When they brace themselves and a red glow surrounds them, get ready to dodge since they're going to unleash a powerful charged attack, which actually leaves them even more vulnerable if you can avoid it. Fight defensively with these guys since they have more stamina than the average thug. When he's gone, step on the star. In this room is another free-for-all. The basic rules apply for the last shut- in: take them on in small groups if you can. If you're swamped, separate them by running away. You have more room to work with here, which is always good. Just make sure not to run away from one batch of enemies right into another. There's also a really good chance you'll activate Dark Side Mode numerous times if you haven't already. Get used to these attacks, as they are quite awesome. Clean up the chests when you're done; one of them contains TRADING CARD NO. 003. An enemy with a beam katana guards the exit. Outside, TRADING CARD NO. 004 is to your left. Enemies in single file are to the right. Most have guns, so use Z to block and do a forward slash with A while they run from you. Enter the new building. Travis will sheath his katana further down and you will get a call on your Wii remote from Sylvia Christel. At the end of the red carpet are a number of things. TRADING CARD NO. 005 is in a chest. A wrestling mask with a note is on the floor (indicated by the yellow arrow), which will help Travis remember an old wrestling move. The toilet, your save point, is marked by an "S". There are also chests here to fully replenish health and batteries. When ready, head for the exclamation point. Death Metal ----------- Note that you have both a health and battery chest, as you will in all fights like this. Save them for when in dire need, though this should be a no-brainer. Now, it's going to get old, reading what I'm typing here, but keep Z held to keep a lock on and to gain the ability to dodge. This guy will jump around a lot, so feel free to let up on Z to close the gap, but always keep it down when near him. His first round of attacks are slash combos. He's extremely vulnerable after one. Run or dodge around him until he's done, then counterattack. This fight is a perfect time to practice any special moves referred to in the "Tips and Tricks" section since Death Metal is here to get your feet wet. That doesn't mean you should sell him short though. When his health is at half, he'll make two duplicates of himself. This is where Z is imperative. Run to make room, but know that all three are not shy about attacking at once. On the flip side, they also take their sweet time guarding. Focus on the ones that have a full health bar: they're the duplicates and should go down quickly. Get them out of the way with basic attacks to get breathing room. When you're down to one ugly Englishman, it's a piece of cake. He'll have gained a new attack: a shockwave sent out when he lifts his sword high and slams it down. His combo will have also been extended, so you just have to dodge more. Dodge and counterattack; that's all there is to it. If you want to get more hits in, try a beat attack when you find him blocking, so you can use your new wrestling move. You get letter ranks for different areas of the stage (time it took to complete, how much damage you took, etc.), so you'll get lots of bonus money if you did well. That's really as far as those rankings go; this isn't one of those "try and S-rank every mission" games. Get the new chest for money and an increase in your maximum health, then hit the exclamation point. You're now ranked 10th in the UAA. You'll find yourself at home next. Get familiar with the stuff around Travis' cozy little living space. Outside, head for the limo to meet with Sylvia. After she kicks you out, you'll be in front of K-Entertainment. Enter to learn that you need a ticket from someone who can prove your worth as a hard worker. Outside, the Job Center will be available next. For now, just try to earn enough money to enter the next fight since that's all you can really do at this point. See the side mission sections if you need help, and I'll meet you back here when you've raised at least LB$150,000. ---------------------------------------- Ranking 9 [r09] ------------------------------ Did you make bank? Don't worry; it'll get better. Head to Destroy Stadium for your next ranking fight; it's marked by a yellow and black "IX". Upon entering, head to the left to clean up on this end. Some enemies throw baseballs as long range attacks, and one will have a beam katana. Grab the chests, including TRADING CARD NO. 006, and do an about-face. Clean up here and go up the ramp. Grab the chest to your right for cash. Some enemies in this area wield axes and seem to have a faster slash than Travis, so block the first slash and counterattack to play it safe. There's also an enemy with a beam katana here. In the next area is a frustrating little mini-game. Pitchers are lined up and will throw baseballs at you. Hit the balls back to knock them out. Swing hard enough and the ball will knock down the gate for you at the end of the hall. Miss any players and whoever's left standing will attack you. To hit the ball, hold the Wii-mote like a bat and swing (à la Wii Sports). Timing is everything, which is why this mini-game is so frustrating. To compensate for lag (either Travis' or your motion bar's), try swinging earlier than you normally would. There's plenty of chests down this hall, including TRADING CARD NO. 007 on the other side of the gate. Up the ramp, more of the usual awaits, with another batting mini-game after going through another gate. Beware, this time the pitches are a lot faster. TRADING CARD NO. 008 is further down the hall. Continue on, picking off more enemies (one with a beam katana) and picking up TRADING CARD NO. 009 before moving on. The next hall is narrow, with enemies just waiting for you to do away with them. The thugs usually thrust forward with a kick, so try blocking and countering again. Further down, two enemies with beam katanas will ambush you at the same time. You don't have a lot of room to work with, so keep the guard up and dodge to the side as best you can. There's also a third katana-wielder down the way, and he'll use long range charge attacks as well as close-range ones. Nab TRADING CARD NO. 010 and continue down the path to get a telephone call. At the end of this hall is the usual set-up with the save point, wrestling mask, and so on; get used to it since it'll be like this before every major fight. Note that the battery and pizza chests respawn after saving, so if you didn't get enough pizza to reach max health, visit the restroom to make room for more. Move on to see what exactly your LB$150,000 was for. Dr. Peace --------- The doctor is purely a long range attacker. Since you start far away from him, this is bad. His bullets make trails in the air; when you see them or hear the shots, stop running and hit Z to deflect them. Slowly make your way up to the pitcher's mound. Once there, never let go of Z! Run circles around Dr. Peace and use the left or right dodge to evade his fire. Once in a while, he'll holster his guns and prepare a charge attack. Back off a bit and wait until he glows white, then do a side dodge or simply keep running to stay ahead. If you are hit by this attack, the force of the shot will knock you back to where you started, and you'll have to make the slow trek back to the mound. After he fires, go in with your combos. When you're finished with one, watch for Dr. Peace to guard by holding up his arms. Kyle has pointed out that this is a great time to try a charged high attack to break that guard and throw him. The hard part about this fight is keeping the charge up on your katana, especially if you're blocking a lot of bullets. Only go for the blue chest if you're desperate or are sure you can get back to the mound safely. Wait for him to do a combo - the one that starts with him shooting wildly and ending by shooting with both guns at once is good - and then enter charge mode quickly. Dr. Peace's attack style does not change at all during the fight, so find a routine that works for you and stick with it. When you've dealt the final blow, Travis will get shot away. Go back up to Dr. Peace for a stand-off. Hit the correct button on the screen and Travis will emerge victorious. Grab the chest to move on. You are now ranked 9th in the UAA. After checking your messages, go outside to see that three new areas of Santa Destroy are available: AREA 51, Naomi's Lab, and the Thunder Ryu Bldg. There's also a new job available, as there will be every time you rank up. Do whatever you need to do, and don't come back until you've got LB$200,000. ---------------------------------------- Ranking 8 [r08] ------------------------------ If you've got the goods, then let's go, go, go. Head for the "VIII" marker at the school. Fight off the first wave of thugs in the gate, then head left. After that, clean up to the right of the entrance. Grab TRADING CARD NO. 011 in the chest and enter the school once all the enemies are dead. TRADING CARD NO. 012 is up ahead to the right after you deal with the ambush. You should have noticed all the yellow arrows on your mini-map by now. They're fire extinguishers. Why do you need them? Enemies in this hall wield lit torches. If they hit you, Travis will burst into flame and his health will steadily deplete. Go over to a fire extinguisher to put him out if this happens. In the second hallway on the right is an alcove with a health chest. Keep going down this linear hall while Killer7 fans around the world have Coburn déjà vu. Get the health chest at the end and move on. Here, Travis' beam katana will short out and he will have to, er, run all the way down the hall to turn off the sprinkler system. The "challenge" here is trying not to take damage since you're defenseless, but it's really more a time for you to reflect on why electronic weapons are not ideal. When it's off, grab the chest for a recharge and double back to take care of the thugs in the hall. At least their torches have been put out and now you can enter the area that was blocked off. Next is a free-for-all in the gym. There are three waves, with the last one being two guys with beam katanas. Use the wide space to your advantage and remember that you've got two chests to replenish health and battery. To the left through the gym is TRADING CARD NO. 014, and TRADING CARD NO. 013 is behind the stairs south of the gym. Go up those stairs to get a phone call. TRADING CARD NO. 015 is around the corner, down the hall, right before the pre- fight set-up. Definitely heal up and save, since this next one's a toughie. Shinobu ------- Guess what my first piece of advice is? Lock on her when you find her. You need to be able to dodge quickly when she blocks your slashes and to avoid hers. She is only really vulnerable after she performs an attack. She has several different charge attacks as well, both close and long range. Sonic Sword is the long range one; the others are just charged forward slashes, but they have a pretty good reach. When she yells "Sky high!", this means she's going to do a jumping attack. If this connects, she'll hit Travis multiple times and will leave him at death's door. Whenever she twirls her sword and it leaves red trails in the air, this is an actual attack, not just for show. You must play this fight defensively. Do not button-mash A. Always wait for her to make the first move; this is important. Combo when you can and dodge to the side as soon as you hear the metallic sound of your blows being deflected or quickly change your stance before she counters. When circling her, it is possible to get hung up on a pillar. Shinobu is agile enough that she can take advantage of that. Unfortunately, she is so agile that the Surprise Slide may not work as well as you'd think. Only in certain instances will any of your blows actually connect if you pull it off. During a weapon clash, Shinobu can also jump away if she's near a wall or pillar, avoiding the subsequent death blow and possibly using her own instead. As you whittle her health down, she gains more charge attacks and her old ones get more powerful. Sonic Sword will attack more than once and can really take a huge chunk out of your heart. There's also another which is practically an instant kill: when she sheathes her sword, run away from her backwards. If she catches you, she'll do the typical anime "slash you ten times in midair" thing. It's important not to run to the left or right because she'll follow your movements until she unleashes. Running away backwards is better since she'll have to work to close the gap. The worst thing that can happen in this fight is dodging right into a pillar, but the best thing you can do is be patient. Shinobu is patient as well. If you need a recharge or to look for a health chest, just beat feet away from her, and she'll usually wait until you get close again to make her move. HXC_mike has e-mailed me with another strategy: "The move that takes off the most damage against Shinobu is a suplex. It takes off about a little less than a 1/4 of her life. Well, you can not really do this off the bat, because she is a quick little girl. So, here what you do. You dodge her attacks until you find a really good opening. Hit her ONCE or TWICE. Shinobu goes backward stumbling like a drunk, but if you wait for the right timing, she will put her guard up. The trick here is learning the timing between her stumble and guard recovery. You have to use a charged Melee attack to dizzy her, so you have to start before she goes on guard for the timing. Once she is past half her life, hit her ONCE instead, and always be on gaurd. Remember, that although this is the quickest and surest way to kill her, you can not kill her with a suplex, so even though her bar is empty, you will still have to kill her with a slash!" I have tried this and can confirm that it works amazingly well if you can get your timing right. You're now ranked 8th in the UAA, but you've left your opponent alive. Maybe that will have repercussions? We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Outside, Gold Town and Beef Head are now open for your business, and the wares in the other shops around town will have been added onto. After going to Gold Town, Lovikov balls will be marked on your map. It's not a bad idea to get at least 14 so you can get two useful techniques: Memory of Three and Child. If you really want to tear normal enemies a new one, consider getting the Memories of Demon and White as well for the Killer7 Combo. The price of glory is on the rise. Meet back here when you've got LB$250,000. ---------------------------------------- Ranking 7 [r07] ------------------------------ Back from the daily grind? Then let's have some fun. Head for number "VII" on the south side of town. TRADING CARD NO. 016 is down past the turnstiles. TRADING CARD NO. 017 is down the stairs by your destination. Get on the train; there's nothing else here. Kill your way along the train. The second-to-last last car has three guys at once, and one of them has a beam katana. Bite the bullet and slash away; you can't do much to maneuver here except keep your guard up and wait for an opening. Before you go up the stairs after getting off the train, look on the north side by the tracks for a chest with TRADING CARD NO. 018. Then go up the only unblocked stairs to the west. Up here is TRADING CARD NO. 019. Leave the station. Approach the studio building and the doors will open for you. A blood bath ensues inside. The guys with the paper bags over their heads are nothing really special. They wield the same variety of weapons. Some will even have stop signs that love to block and have powerful swings. Go upstairs to see three guys with guns. Wait until they reload to attack. There's no easy way to separate them. Dodge in-between strikes to avoid gunfire. Go back down to proceed. To the left out here is TRADING CARD NO. 020. In the next warehouse, take care of the guys with guns first if possible. It's annoying to have a man-to-weirdo fight with guys firing at your back. Even more gunfire lies upstairs. Keep that guard up. Clean up the room and head out. Three guys with beam katanas are in the next warehouse. One will charge first, but it won't be long before you have three on your tail. Run to make room, and watch your stance. If they start to deflect your blows, quickly switch to the opposite height to knock them off and get tons more hits in. Two more katana- wielders are up top, and one more will spawn on the ground floor before you can move on. This last guy is also accompanied by a guy with a gun. Take him out first. Listen for the sound of the other's katana and dodge accordingly. If you have the Memory of Three technique, tracking enemy movements will be a little easier. Sylvia will call when you're done. What the hell kind of way is that to start a fight, Travis? We were spared this time because real heroes don't die in cutscenes. Destroyman ---------- Guys who shoot lasers out of their crotch make me go "ew". The helpful thing about this guy is that he yells out whenever he attacks, like any anime action hero worth his salt. He's got all kinds of moves. Destroy Cannon is a single energy blast. Destroy Beam is a laser that does a 180 around his head. Destroy Spark is a close range shock that stuns Travis. There's also a punch that he does that sends out shockwaves and hits if you're close, but I can't understand what he says when he does it. Sounds like Destroy Pow. Whenever he raises a fist in the air, that's the shockwave move. He's also got a normal punching volley. The area you're fighting in is awful. There's junk all over the place, making dodging difficult. Keep him in your sights, run, and counterattack every time he unleashes an attack. Travis can't block against the special attacks, except the Destroy Beam. You are invincible while dodging, so even if an attack hits or if you end up dodging into a piece of junk, you shouldn't take damage if you're in the act. You can't get many hits in before Destroyman gets his guard up. The good thing about this is that a charged beat attack usually stuns him. You can also try beat attacks in the middle of a slash combo. Halfway through, he'll go airborne along with some props and do nothing but fire his Destroy Cannon or dive bomb you if you're close. Get in front of one of the flashing panels on the walls to get him to knock himself down. You can also slash the panels, but it's more satisfying to have him do it. If you picked the right one, you'll knock him to the ground. There's also a chance that you might have picked a switch for the random junk instead. Don't leave yourself open while making your way from one switch to another. Rob has e-mailed me saying that, while Destroyman is airborne, it is possible to deflect his Destroy Cannon with a well-timed slash. This will knock him out of the air. I tried this and can confirm that it works, but it takes good timing. When he's back on his feet, it's the same old routine. His Destroy Beam will fire and rotate quicker, and he will now use the Destroy Buster, the crotch laser, which is basically a more powerful version of the Destroy Beam. He glows white before unleashing this one; drop your guard and run away in an arc since this attack causes mucho damage. Circle back in an arc because this is also when he's most vulnerable; he taunts after each blast. One last thing to note is that the junk scattered around the room can be used to your advantage. Put a box in between you and, say, a Destroy Buster, and it will block the attack. For putting the whiner out of his misery, you're now ranked 7th. w00t! You know the drill outside. Those money grubbers now want LB$300,000. ---------------------------------------- Ranking 6 [r06] ------------------------------ Alright, beach time! Hoof it over to number "VI". Sylvia apparently has Travis by the balls. Sigh. Let's do this. Take out the guys coming out of the sand. A lot of them have guns and will run from you, making it hard to actually land any blows. Lock on and give chase. TRADING CARD No. 021 lies at the far left end of the beach. Be careful of the guys down this way: they don't have beam katanas but can do charge attacks. A guy with a beam katana and one with an axe will spawn behind you when you try to go back. Once everyone's gone, target the barbed wire fence to break it down. More of the same lies in the next area. Grab TRADING CARD NO. 022 by the lifeguard stand. When you pass the red caution signs, look at your mini-map. Those yellow dots are mines. Listen for enemies to shout out when they see you so you know when to look up from your map and fight. If you have the Technique of Three, you can just watch for the red dots. Enemies can set off the mines while taking no damage and hurt Travis even if he isn't remotely close. The three guys here have guns but will still run after you, so coax them to wherever you need them to be if you can. After being so careful to mind the mines, Travis will step on one anyway after you knock down the fence. *facepalm* This also makes it impossible to backtrack. Hope you didn't forget anything! The enemy in the next area has a machine gun. Blocking still works the same though, and it looks rather impressive. These guys are actually easy to deal with. They'll pop up out of the sand one at a time. Clean up and three more gun guys will drop from the helicopter. Be sure to get TRADING CARD NO. 023 and all the chests scattered around before moving on because Travis will have found another mine. Holy hell, look at this next area. Watch your step. There are no enemies here, so just work on getting the three chests. If you want, you can actually carefully jump over the mines if you have the Memory of Demon technique. More enemies wait further in, at least one with a beam katana. Three guys with machine guns will drop down by the chest with TRADING CARD NO. 024. Be careful because deflecting their gunshots depletes your battery, so even if you're guarding well, there's a chance you'll be a sitting duck before long. But be sure to watch your map when you run away to go into charge mode! Sylvia will call after your last embarrassing mine encounter. Weave your way up to the beach house. Be sure to grab TRADING CARD NO. 025 up the stairs and heal, heal, heal! Holly Summers ------------- Now run forward and kill! Whoops. Travis will fall in a hole, demonstrating one of Holly's battle quirks: she has traps in the sand. You must either shake the remote or nunchuk or rapidly tap a certain button to get out of a hole. Holes will not ever appear on your mini-map but will be dark spots on the sand after Holly covers them back up. She's an arms lady, so she's going to be shooting missiles at you. These will home in on you, so run until you hear them detonate. She can also throw grenades at her feet, throw knives, and kick sand in your face. She'll leap around the field after an attack or two, leaving you to give chase and likely fall in a hole. A favorite move of hers is to blind you, then counterattack by throwing a grenade or using her shovel. Holding Z will at least save you from the shovel. Holly is only really susceptible to attack when she doesn't have her shovel in her hands at the ready (i.e. - when she's sending missiles your way or kicking sand). You need to be defensive more than anything since her missiles hit numerous times; that's probably her biggest source of damage. Try and stay close to her so she whacks you with her shovel, but this does not guarantee that she will not use her missiles. Her close range attacks are easily avoided, and the Surprise Slide will work. Holly has a blatant "weakness"; when her traps are uncovered, she'll run over and kick sand to cover them up. She is open during this, so drop everything and follow her. If you can get to her before she kicks the sand (i.e. - when you hear her yell), you can get a good number of hits in and you will have stopped her from covering the trap. This puts her in a bit of a loop. She'll keep running between traps to cover them, but if you always beat her to the punch, you'll keep her in this cycle and can keep swinging away. You can actually uncover traps without falling in by swinging your katana near them, so you can coax her into this cycle if you want. When she's about half to three-fourths had it, she'll run off and perch on a rock to throw more explosives at you. Just focus on dodging since you can't hit her when she's like this. You could also just fall in a hole. If you do, you won't see a prompt, but this is a nice way to avoid damage since, for the most part, you cannot be harmed with missiles while in a hole and need not fear Holly throwing a grenade while she's on her rock perch. (Thanks to Saul for confirming this.) When she jumps back down, resume keeping an eye on her and chasing her down. She may or may not do this running away tactic if you've been dealing a lot of damage quickly. Matthew has sent in another strategy concerning damaging Holly: "Run close and past Holly over and over again. When she does that spin that tells you she is about to launch rockets, quickly charge a low attack and spin into here. It will hit a rocket causing the rest of the rockets to explode. She will be unable to defend and you can get in about 3-4 attacks. Since she does this move alot, you can really bring her down quickly along with the trap covering move." I tried this and can confirm that it works, but only if you stay close to her. Don't run up and try this after she's started the attack since your charge attack will likely be too late. Well, you won. Not much of a celebration though... Carry Holly over to the chest to kick it open, then grab the US MILITARY SECRET next to it. Naomi would love some military secrets, being a scientist and all. When you get the chance, give it to her and wait around about 10-20 minutes to see the fruits of her labor. When you have your new weapon, leave and reenter the lab to get the upgrades for it. (Thanks to Dan and an anonymous e-mailer for pointing this out to me.) Check your messages at home to learn that the UAA message guy is turning into a real ass. He wants LB$350,000 now. Ugh. ---------------------------------------- Ranking 5 [r05] ------------------------------ We didn't get the info telling us where to go, but step outside and you'll see that someone's taken care of it for us. Follow the blood (or the "V" icon) to the wastelands of Santa Destroy. Down the ladder, look directly behind you for TRADING CARD NO. 026. TRADING CARD NO.S 27 and 28 are on either side of the end of the stairs. This path is so linear, you'll wonder why I even bothered writing this section. All along the way, you'll see a trench-coated shadow in front of you, which you can never catch. Thugs with beam katanas will attack intermittently. And that's it. Just keep going. Tantalizing, isn't it? Just wait. It gets better. TRADING CARD NO. 029 is further down, and TRADING CARD NO. 030 is sitting in the middle of the white-out. Letz Shake ---------- I was considering writing a faux strategy for this just to be a smartass, but I decided against it. Just watch the scene: the best cutscene in the entire game, if you ask me. If you felt cheated, good. By Travis' priceless reaction, that's what Suda51 wanted. Now the blood is boiling! Mr. UAA wants LB$400,000, so put some of that energy to use raising money. Be sure to go by Naomi's to pick up your new beam katana if you haven't already. And be sure to pick your best outfit for your date! ---------------------------------------- Ranking 4 [r04] ------------------------------ Follow the "IV" to the station entrance. Watch for the guys behind the turnstiles; one has a gun. Nab TRADING CARD NO. 031 before heading downstairs. Fight your way down the platform. Two guys with beam katanas wait at the very end near your destination. Coax them out one-by-one if you can and run back a bit to make room to fight. Get TRADING CARD NO. 032 and get on the train. This is a long train ride. It's time for a video game within a video game. Pure White Giant Glastonbury ---------------------------- Welcome to my walkthrough within a walkthrough! Remove the nunchuk and flip the Wii-mote on its side. This is a top-down scrolling shooter; the controls are as follows: d-pad: move A: release special attack 1: shoot, confirm 2: swing sword You get as many continues as you need and three lives to start. Keep the guns blaring and swing your sword to absorb enemy fire and fill your special gauge in the lower right. When it's full, you can release a special attack, this game's version of Anarchy in the Galaxy. Every time it is activated, all the enemy fire on the screen disappears, leaving enemies open for free damage. There are also power-ups floating around on-screen which give you more lives and improve your guns. The common, target symbol-looking enemies are easily shot. Whenever you see block-like things come down along the side of the screen, move up or down since they will go all trash compactor on you if you don't. The gray, spaceship-looking mini-bosses are easily shot out, just make sure you kill them before they disappear. Whenever you get missiles shot at you, simply weave for left to right and they will narrowly miss you. The final boss fires from every angle so shoot when you can but swing your sword to charge up your special attack quickly. Set it off ASAP to keep it from shooting. Fire constantly and you'll be done in no time. Thanks for reading this guide! If you have any questions, e-mail me at - whoops, the train's arrived. Go to your right to get TRADING CARD NO. 033 when you arrive at the platform. TRADING CARD NO.S 034 and 035 are up the stairs at the other end. Get all the goodies and freshen up before proceeding. Travis seems to have a showmanship gene; let's hope it helps. Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii ------------------------------- Every time Harvey says, "It's magic!" or "Watch this!", he's going to teleport. He's going to say this often, which makes locking on to him a hassle. (My Z strategy! Nooo!) He has an attack like Holly, where he laughs and sends out homing pigeons to go kamikaze on you. He will also do lunge and spinning attacks with his swords. His spinning attack is the most dangerous. Run away and counterattack when he stops since he takes time to twirl his swords. When he says, "Welcome to the nightmare", the screen will flip upside down and your directional controls will be reversed. If you can't handle the shift, just run around until it shifts back. If you want some free hits, slash him while he poses during the shift. Rob has also e-mailed me with an interesting way to counter the shift: try flipping yourself over on your back to stare at the TV upside down. This definitely makes the fight more fun. When he snaps his fingers and says, "Let's see what you're made of!", he just releases a pigeon. I don't know what that's supposed to do for him. It's a free combo for us! It is difficult to get a hit in on him when the fight starts. Watch his combo attacks and get to know them; he's different than anyone you've faced before. He pauses in-between lunges. Always wait and make sure he's done attacking before you counter. At first, I believed his combo style made him immune to the Surprise Slide, but I found out that Harvey leads with his right hand, leaving his left side open. When blocking, tilt to your right and voila! When Harvey says, "It's showtime!" or "You're finished!", a cutscene takes over, and so does Travis' showmanship side. The assistants will shut you in a box, and you'll be given an on-screen prompt to get out. If you succeed, take a bow. If you fail, you are instantly killed. This can happen multiple times but only more than halfway through the fight, and it can be avoided. Brenden has pointed out that if you want to avoid the stage trick, then avoid the spotlight. Run around the perimeter of the stage to stay out of the limelight. Wait until the music stops; that is the signal that you're in the clear. Nothing else changes after this except Harvey's pigeon attack: instead of flying at you all at once, they'll come in squadrons. After Harvey's exit, you're ranked 4th with a rousing ovation and a kiss to boot. At home, Mr. UAA wants his dough: LB$450,000! Better get workin'! If you'd rather play video games at home, the one we played on the bus is available when you select the TV. ---------------------------------------- Ranking 3 [r03] ------------------------------ Once we've paid our dues, we can head out. Arg, Travis! Jeane! Cat lovers everywhere weep at your irresponsibility! There's nothing to do about it now, so just head for the "III" at the bus terminal. Clear the area of enemies and be sure to pick up the chests, including TRADING CARD NO.S 36, 37, and 38. Hop on the bus #51 to Speed City. Who's driving? Oh my God, bear is driving! How can that be?! *ahem* On the bus, you'll be forced to fight, of course. However, the camera angle here may make things difficult. You can still dodge and all that good stuff, it's just harder to tell where you're going since the controls are normal (i.e. - as if you were positioned behind Travis). Get at least one good death blow, and you'll take out a whole group. One stunt they like to pull is surrounding you. Take out the one guy that usually gets behind you, then focus on the group. You can also try to keep at one end of the bus to keep this from happening. Sylvia will call afterwards. What happened to her confidence in our survival? In Speed City, follow Jeane and grab TRADING CARD NO. 039. Do your pre-fight meditation in the john and then step out in the street. Speed Buster ------------ All the old woman is going to do is fire her cannon down the street. If you're caught in the street when she fires, you can brace against the blast by following a button prompt, but this is not wise because it takes lots of battery power. So, besides this, what's keeping you from simply strolling down the street with your thumb on the A button? Even though you brace against it, the blast will still steadily deplete your health. Speed Buster will yell out before she fires the gun, so listen and take cover when necessary. Breakable doors down the street will appear as red dots on your mini-map. If you're caught out in the street with nowhere to go, look for a door and break it down to take cover. Some doors will break in one blow, others will take more than that. Also look for green paths diverging from the main road: they're alcoves. But enemies will be hiding in those alcoves. If you can coax them out in the main road and then run past them to safety, Speed Buster's cannon will take care of them. Just make sure you're not caught in it too. It was pointed out that you don't need the Technique of Three to have the doors marked on your map, but it still helps to have it since, if you see a cluster of red dots, you know there are enemies and can look for a safer place to hide if you have time. TRADING CARD NO. 040 lies in an alcove on the left side of the street behind several breakable doors. On the same side of the street, and actually up the same alcove, is a telephone pole marked on your map. Knock it down to break the old woman's gun. After this, just stroll right up to her. Travis will take care of the rest. If you have enough health to brace against one attack, you can approach Speed Buster without using the telephone pole. The result is the same. Get the JAPANESE KATANA, another treat for Naomi, and you'll be ranked 3rd. Check your messages at home. I really hope that UAA guy is somewhere on the list. He's asking for it. Go earn LB$500,000 and drop it in the ATM so he can put it to good use, like buying a summer home for the 2nd ranked assassin. Oh, and if you were wondering, Thunder Ryu's office is still open. It might be a good idea to wait around for Naomi to finish your latest katana since the last couple fights in the game can be tough. ---------------------------------------- Ranking 2 [r02] ------------------------------ Make your way to the stadium, but don't get off your bike. You need to go around the building, so jump the barricades to the left of the entrance by whipping your Wii-mote up, then burn your nitro all the way around to the right side of the building. Jump the barricade in front of the "II" to get on the field. This next part is f-u-n, fun. You're on the baseball field on your bike, surrounded by enemies. What do you do? Run 'em over! Use the drift turn (hold B and tilt the remote right or left) to do sharp turns to make sure you hit everyone. A lot of the guys in the infield (especially the bases) will have guns. If you take too much damage, you'll get knocked off your bike. Try and mow down as many as you can before this happens. (It will likely be the guns that get you.) When (or if) you've been kicked off your trusty steed, kick ass in the usual fashion. Now would be a great time for an Anarchy in the Galaxy, but most of us aren't that lucky. Make your rounds around the entire field, killing everyone. The chests contain TRADING CARD NO.S 41, 42, and 43. Wait until everyone is dead to collect them, since you get your dash back. When ready, head for home plate to head down to get a call. Sylvia seems more straightforward than usual... Heal up, get TRADING CARD NO.S 44 and 45, get your last wrestling move, and save. This next fight is a pain in the ass. Bad Girl -------- This is one of the more strategy heavy bouts, but there are so many ways to go about it that it should be one of the more enjoyable ones. Like with Shinobu, you must wait for her to make the first move. She's invincible until she lets her guard down, which is after an attack. It may sound strange, but stay close to her. Right now, her attacks are all just swings of the bat. She'll take a batting stance for one of her charge attacks; that's one time when you need to back away. Another brutal attack is when she swings her bat in one hand and slams it down while saying, "Go to hell!" or "Batter up!" Try not to get into a weapon clash with her because if you lose, she'll pull out a female's ultimate weapon. Yes, I'm talking about a swift kick to the groin. This will lay Travis up for a good couple seconds, but she'll just stand and watch you writhe in pain. If you've perfected the Surprise Slide, this is a great time to use it, but you actually have to pay attention to which direction you tilt the c-stick. When you are guarding against the single downward swing, go to the left. When you're guarding the multiple swings, tilt to the right. If you don't, you'll still slide, but she'll dodge your hits. Get ready to hit B if you see stars above her head for a quick suplex. This strategy will have you use a lot of battery power, but Bad Girl takes her sweet time, so you can safely run away and enter charge mode. (Considering how our opponent is dressed and the fact that we're in an S & M basement makes charging your katana seem reeeally awkward.) The reason this fight is so freaking difficult is that she loves to prance around. Since you need to wait for her to make a move, much of this fight is going to be a stare down. And with that face? *shudder* You knew this fight would be ugly. Stay close to her to goad her into attacking. Try charging a low attack, either wait for her to come to you or inch up to meet her, unleash it, and then combo afterwards. (Thanks to Tim for this strategy.) Dupre has pointed out that these charge attacks work really well since they cause damage even when she guards and move Travis forward when he unleashes, so she doesn't have to be right in front of you (which would mean she could attack first). They also grant a certain degree of invincibility, so even if you attack when Bad Girl does, she shouldn't damage you. This fight is ideal for the 3-Hit Charge Combo, but you can only do it if you've gotten Tsubaki Mk-III. After she's down to half her health bar (or close to it), she'll run over to the conveyor belt and yell "Home run!" This means she's hitting one of her minions at you, and they'll do tons of damage if they connect. She'll hit two to start, is nearly indestructible during this (moves like the Jumping Slash can do minor damage, Jase says), and will keep hitting them onto the field until you kill them, so just get those freaks out of the way. There's plenty of ways to approach this attack. You can do a dodge to the side and get rid of them normally. It's not likely that you will go into Dark Side Mode during this fight, so use wrestling moves to get them out of the way quickly instead of killing them for the slots. If you can pull off a wrestling move on the first guy, it will make you immune to damage when the second one flies at you if you time it right. Andrew has noted that you can use the Killer7 Combo in the same way. Knock down the first and wait for Bad Girl to yell; do the Jumping Down Attack to become immune to damage as the second one flies in. Another way to deal with them is to simply hit her goons back at her by hitting A at just the right time. If successful, shake the Wii-mote as if in a weapon clash and you can damage her and keep her from hitting any more at you. (Thanks to Thomas for pointing this out.) However, the key is good timing. I wouldn't try this on higher difficulties if you're not confident since those flying freaks do major damage. Also, as her health gets lower, she'll catch onto your little game and start hitting them back at you. (Thanks to Andrew and Jess for bringing this up.) Dan has noted that you can continue to counter her counter, as long as your timing is top-notch. Yet another way to handle this attack of hers is to stand close to her when she swings. She can't hit you with a goon if you're behind her, and when the weirdo comes up to you to attack, commence with the slashing. If you stay next to Bad Girl and do a death blow, it will hit her and deal good damage. (Thanks to Fragstoff and Brian for this.) If you charge up your death blow, you don't even have to be that close to her. Bad Girl will also gain an instant kill attack after a while: she will fall to the ground, apparently defenseless, and start crying. Sometimes this will result in her catching Travis by surprise and beating the ever- loving crap out of him with her bat in a cutscene. Other times, she is actually crying. To tell which is which, watch her hands. If she keeps one hand on her bat, she's prepping the instant KO. If both hands are on her face, feel free to go up and greet her with your katana. (Many thanks to T.J. and Anthony for pointing this out.) You can still get some hits in even when she has her hand on her bat. Whenever you hear her mutter, "Fuck!" and start to get up, run up and swing. She loves to do this attack when you are near her, goading her to attack, so it's easy to get caught in it unaware. When three-fourths of her health are gone, she'll set her bat on fire. She can't set Travis on fire, but she will deal more damage. It's very possible to defeat her before she does this; just deal damage hard and fast. However, she'll gain a shockwave attack without the fire, like every other enemy in this game, by jumping into the air. This hurts like hell, but remember that Travis is indestructible while dodging. Be patient, and don't miss your chance to strike. Psycho! At least she died happy. Get your health upgrade then get out of there! At home, contemplate how to save your video rental membership and then get your usual invoice. LB$550,000 this time. At least this is the last time. Be sure to get your new katana from Naomi and power it up if you haven't already. When you are done with your last stint of odd jobs, get ready to set out for one last mission. ---------------------------------------- Ranking 1 [r01] ------------------------------ Well, this mission didn't get off to a great start. Sylvia's been playing us for chumps. ...And then our bike gets stolen. If you don't have the Technique of Child, then I feel sorry for you. You have to run all the way to your destination, number "I", by the overpass on the south side of town. Collect your bike and get ready to ride. Enemies will now intermittently attack you on motorcycles. Run into them while using your nitro to kill them. If they come up behind you and hit you, you take damage. There are also obstacles in the road you can get them to crash into if they don't do it themselves. If they get too far ahead of you, they'll start throwing bombs in the road. If you're going to be jumping over the junk, know that you must tilt the remote up well before you come to the obstacle, or you'll hit it. Make sure you follow the path; if you try to stay on the interstate, you'll fall off and die. When on the wooded detour, make sure you time your jumps well over the overgrowth on the road. It's easy once you get the hang of it. On the straightaway, a laser will target you. Stay to one side of the road and let it lock on you. When it starts to widen and turn blue, move to the opposite side of the road. After you see the bridge, let your speedometer go up and hit Z when prompted. Then lift the remote when the game tells you to. Nice landing, ace. Look behind you for TRADING CARD NO. 046. Thunder Ryu's spirit will guide you through this area. Go the wrong way and it's back to the beginning for you. He says head right. Heads up: the enemies in this and subsequent areas will all have beam katanas. Thunder Ryu says go left after grabbing TRADING CARD NO. 047. Take care of more Darth Vader wannabes and get TRADING CARD NO. 048 and the health chest to your left. Go right to proceed, even though I didn't say "Thunder Ryu says". Four guys with beam katanas will attack at once if you charge into the next area. This is a problem. Inch forward and let them come to you. If you are careful, you should only trigger one or two at a time. If things go poorly here, you can always just run past them. Get TRADING CARD NO. 049 and go left. Thunder Ryu has one last message for Travis. Grab TRADING CARD NO. 050 and move on. Sylvia will call. If you didn't think the latter part of this game was Star Wars-y enough for you, just wait until you hit your destination. Jeane ----- Jeane is lightning fast and ends all of her combos with charge attacks. You must keep a safe distance but don't go so far that you can't keep her in your range. Her charge attacks are thrust punches; go in for your combos after them because she'll dodge any other time. Keep Z held down so Travis will turn on a dime to keep up with her. Listen to her grunts since they're different for each combo (e.g. - the longer thrust punch has an extended yell). This should help you gauge how to dodge/attack. To damage Jeane, go in for a combo after her punching attack or a kick. You won't get very many hits on her before she starts dodging. Don't be discouraged if you start swinging at mid-air. Jeane will spend most of her time dodging, meaning she can't attack. Even if you hear the sound of a charge attack prepping, keep swinging and she won't unleash it. This is not to say that she can't hit you; it just means that you can enter a combo without immediate fear of counterattack, which gives you time to hit the down button on the d-pad. Jeane is very dodge-happy. She will gladly drop whatever she's doing to dodge your attacks. You can also try charge attacks for damage if you can get your timing right. Since she isn't overly aggressive, you should have time to charge up a slash. You can also dodge out of harm's way when she combos and charge up a slash then; when she finishes, counter with your charge attack. (Credit to ghostwolfxiii for this.) John has also e-mailed in to say that if she combos after you unleash your charge, there is a good chance that you will evade some of her punches since charge attacks grant a short bout of invincibility. By far, the best strategy I've seen for landing hits is using the Surprise Slide. What you do is wait for her to combo and run into it guarding, but do not slide until the last couple hits of her combo. You must slide when she starts the charge attack, any sooner and it's no good. When you've slid into position while she's charging, do a charged beat attack. This should stun her right away, but do not take advantage of this with a wrestling move, as she will turn it on you and practically break your arm. Just use that time to get in some more combos or a charge attack of your own. (Many thanks to T.H. for sending in this strategy.) As you whittle away her health, she'll decrease the size of the arena two times. She'll also gain a shockwave attack (of course!); when she lifts a leg in the air, you should know to dodge. Her long charge punch will change each time she decreases the fighting area. The first time, she'll attack twice. The second, she'll attack three times. Instead of dodging these charged attacks, just run away backwards from her as far as you can so you are out of her range. It's either this or dodge until she's done. If your attacks should happen to meet and you win, Jeane will be dizzied. Again, don't wrestle. Slash instead. This is actually your best source of damage if you have a strong arm. What should happen is that she'll get dizzied, you combo her, she'll recover, you'll enter a weapon clash, you should win, she'll get dizzy again, you combo, etc. etc. This is actually how I beat her in Bitter mode with only a sliver of health. It works like a charm. However, if you keep this up and prepare to deliver the final blow, she will win your next weapon clash. Don't get mad. An old friend will drop in to help. Be sure to save afterwards. Three choices are now available to you. You can go back to town and run around, view the ending, or view the *real* ending. The real ending will only be available if you've bought all three katanas at Naomi's, so if you don't have them, go back to Santa Destroy and buy them. Then come back to the toilet to see the real ending option. If you have it, let's do it! (If you want to see both, view one and restart the game instead of saving your completed data. You could also save your clear data to a new file slot. To access your old data, let the game auto-load your completed data and enter the menu after skipping the beginning cutscenes.) Henry ----- REVENGE. Yes! The number of strikes and charge attacks in Henry's combo is through the roof. Henry is insanely quick and will do a charge attack followed right after a combo if he sees an opening. As for special attacks, he can send out homing balls of energy, do a forward thrust, a spinning attack, and an upward thrust when he holds his sword pointed downward if you get close. That last one is a good time to try a charged slash or the 3-Hit Charge Combo right in his face. Just watch your battery power. More times than not, when Henry runs towards you, he's going to do a charge attack so either counter with your own unblockable attacks or get ready to dodge. If you approach him while he's strutting around, he'll usually start his combo. For offense, go with defense. Henry's vitality is very high. VERY high. You need to conserve your health or you won't last. The Surprise Slide will work if you put weight on that c-stick and make sure you're trying to block a combo, not a charge attack. (Bitter mode players may want to tweak their sliding strategies, as sometimes Travis will slide early or not fast enough. For best results, try simply holding Z for the start of Henry's combo and then start hitting the c-stick when he's about done. This is exactly like the Jeane strategy.) Another important thing to keep in mind is that if you don't let up early on a combo, Henry can counterattack while deflecting your blows. This can be used to your advantage (keep reading), but it's best used to make breathing room if you need it for a chest or a charge attack. The only gimmick in this fight is an instant kill attack he gains halfway through. If you see him lean back with his sword held up horizontally, run away backwards to the right or left and don't stop. He'll thrust forward about the length of the fighting area, impale Travis, throw him in the air, slam him back down, and run his sword through Travis' chest again by standing on it. It's actually quite impressive to watch but not so much after he does it when you've very nearly won. My strategy involved circling Henry, waiting for him to do a charge attack, dodging it, and counterattacking. 9/10 times, he would do his slash combo right after, which gave me an opening to do the Surprise Slide. If the slide did not work, I'd start mashing A while tilting to the left on the c-stick, and Travis would actually break Henry's combo. After a possible wrestling move, Henry would jump away, and the cycle would repeat. This fight's gonna take a while, so try to find a reliable routine but don't let yourself get sloppy. All it takes is a few slip- ups for Henry to find an opening in which to rip you to shreds. For those who would like another strategy laid out for them, Daniel has sent one in: "when he does his lightning fast combo, only the last move (where he spins and glows while jumping) is unblockable. All you have to do is block the whole combo, and then dodge that move, and you can get a combo in on him no problem. The trick is timing your dodge, too soon and he'll hit you, too late and he'll be ready for your attack. The timing is right after the regular jump slash before the breaker. Here's the best part, if you press your attack in that combo, he hits your sword away and goes right into it again. So all you do is force him to use the combo that you can block and evade every time. Occasionally he uses another move, but those are pretty easy to evade. Also, his counter stance is vulnerable just at the very end, strike as soon as you see him move a tad at the end of it and you can engage him in the above pattern!" Unless you are looking to face Henry off in charge attacks, interrupting his only combo move is key. Most of the time, if you stay close to him, he'll keep using it. For winning, you get another revelation. Or two. Or three. And that's it! You've beaten No More Heroes! Be sure to save your cleared data. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Job Center Listings [job] ----------------------------------- In order to reach the top, you must start at the bottom. The basic way to earn money in Santa Destroy is in odd jobs. Sign up at the town Job Center and then go meet your client, wherever he may be. You are ranked after each job: bronze rank earns you nothing, silver rank lets you take on assassin missions at K-Entertainment, and a gold rank unlocks free fight missions. These missions are pretty easy and are just quick ways to earn cash; getting a gold rank on each should not be hard. For this reason, I did not spend countless hours trying to determine the conditions for each ranking. Free fight missions are located around Santa Destroy and are marked by a blue "M" in a white circle. They all follow the same rules: kill all the enemies without taking a single hit. You earn money for succeeding, as well as the usual dropped cash from a kill. To do away with enemies quickly, use the Killer7 Combo referenced in the "Tips and Tricks" section, but don't rush. You are timed, but if you take it easy and watch your enemies, you'll avoid that one hit that ends everything. These missions are ranked as well, but nothing is unlocked by getting a gold medal on them. You can do these as many times as you want; they will "reset" and reappear on the map after a while. If you ever want to keep tabs on your free fight rankings, check the map in Travis' room. Coconut Collector ----------------- Collect coconuts. Perform a rolling sobat against a palm tree to make coconuts fall. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$2000 for each delivery Tips: Walk around the palm trees until you see the "A" prompt, then start a punching combo. It says you are paid per delivery, but you're actually paid based on how many coconuts you bring back, so you can pick up multiple coconuts. Rapidly tap A to stagger back to the vendor. Lawn Mowing ----------- Looking for Lawn Mowers. Cut as much as you can inside the required area within the time limit. Time: 2 minutes Pay: LB$300 for each acre cut Tips: Not much to it. A is forward, B is back, tilt the remote left or right to turn, and press Z to make Travis do a sharp, fashionable turn. Garbage Collection ------------------ Clean up Santa Destroy. Pick up as much garbage as you can within the time limit. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$1000 for each piece of garbage Tips: Walk up to a piece of garbage and hit A. Whip the remote up to pick up the garbage. The garbage actually respawns, as garbage often does, so you can stick to one area. Gas Stand --------- Fill up cars with gas. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$2000 for each car filled Tips: Hold down B when a car pulls up to fill 'er up. Look at the gauge on the right to see a little yellow triangle to mark how much fuel the car needs. You can go over this mark but not under, or it won't count. Also, do not simply hold B down and fill it to the top. Travis will burst into flame if the gauge goes up to F. This is actually quite humorous, so I'd recommend trying it at least once. Mine Sweeping ------------- Clean up the mines buried in the beach. A bonus will be paid due to how dangerous the work is. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$2000 for each mine removed Tips: Just like hunting for treasure. Listen for your detector to beep, follow the noise, and hit A when you get the prompt. If you accidentally step on a mine and blow it up, it still counts towards your total. However, if you blow up too many times, you fail. Graffiti Cleaning ----------------- Erase graffiti from the walls. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$2000 for each tag removed Tips: I wouldn't attempt this until you've gotten the Memory of Child technique (a.k.a. the dash) from Lovikov. The graffiti is marked on your mini-map. Run up to a tag and hit A. Shake the Wii-mote and nunchuk to clean the wall. Rinse and repeat. Dash between tags to save time, but don't let Travis' stamina run out or he'll have to catch his breath, which wastes time. Meow Meow --------- Capture the escaped cats. Use some Foxtail grass to attract the cats' attention! Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$3000 for each cat found Tips: The cutest mini-game in the history of ever. The cats are marked on your map and are all little white fluff balls. Walk up to one and hit A, then wave the Wii-mote to get their attention. Follow the arrow prompts to distract them and then hit the correct button to pick them up. "Meow." Scorpion Extermination ---------------------- Take care of the poisonous scorpions. Put them into the basket on your back to safely remove them. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$3000 for each scorpion Tips: Definitely don't do this one unless you are confident you won't get stung or have the Memory of Child technique. If you're stung, you'll have 30 seconds (20 seconds if it's a red one) to get the antidote from your employer. If you go out too far, you won't make it back in time even with the dash. Tilt the camera down so you can see the little buggers on the ground, walk up, hit A, and whip the remote up. It's just like the garbage mini-game, except you can die a horrible convulsive death. Bike Jump --------- Jump your bike off the Point. Try to fly as far as possible. Time: 3 minutes Pay: as stipulated by contest rules Tips: First off, Lucas has pointed out that, to get to this job quicker, do the "jump in the ocean and respawn at the motel" trick near Destroy Stadium. Now, follow the markers in the road to the ramp, which is also on your map. As soon as you're on the straightaway, burn the nitro. Bring the remote up to do a wheelie jump before you actually hit the ramp. Any other time is too late. I can't tell how much you'll get paid; I jumped 2543 feet and won LB$50,000 if that gives you an idea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Assassin Side Missions [asm] ----------------------------------- Hah, I bet you thought the tag for this section would be "ass", huh? Fooled ya. Anyway, once you've gotten a ticket proving your ability to do a simple job, assassin gigs will be available at K-Entertainment. These are a great way to earn cash and practice your fighting techniques. Like with the odd jobs, I did not have adequate sanity to try and figure the requirements for each rank, but as the game progresses, these should get easier. Just kill, kill, kill, tiger. Pizza Butt ---------- Chain restaurant Pizza Butt plans to open up in Santa Destroy. To crush their plans, kill Pizza Butt's CEO. Time: 1 minute Pay: LB$30,000 Tips: You need to kill the CEO as quickly as possible. Killing others slows you down and earns you a lower rank. The CEO is marked with a target symbol and is armed with a gun. This mission is MUCH easier after you've gotten a weapon upgrade and increased your strength. Run around the lackeys and try to target the CEO. Snake Hall ---------- Kill until you die. Mission ends when your life runs out. Time: 2 minutes Pay: LB$2000 per kill Tips: One guy is armed with a beam katana, and that's the only noteworthy thing here. Even at an early stage and with one health upgrade, you should earn a gold rank with no problem. Hooligans Parade ---------------- Kill using wrestling moves only. No other moves are allowed for this mission. Time: 2 minutes Pay LB$3000 per kill Tips: Used charged beat attacks since those guarantee an instant stun. The first wave is spread out, so let them come to you and meet them with a beat down. Once the first group is gone, the second group will attack all at once. This makes it extremely hard to grab someone after stunning them since they bum-rush you. Try your best to separate them by running if you have time. Baseball Battle --------------- Go on a batting killing spree. Time: none, you only get 3 balls Pay: LB$4500 per kill Tips: Just like in the ranking mission. Timing is everything. Pizza Butt Returns ------------------ Chain restaurant Pizza Butt plans to open up in Santa Destroy. To crush their plans, kill Pizza Butt's CEO. Time: 1 minute Pay: LB$50,000 Tips: Some of the CEO's associates will be armed with guns, but nothing else has really changed. Just run up and target the CEO and only focus on him. Sword Master ------------ Kill as many as you can within the time limit. Mission ends when time runs out. Time: 2 minutes Pay: LB$4000 per kill Tips: Mostly guys with axes and swords. They like to guard, so be ready to change your stance if they block your slashes. Death Match 100 --------------- Kill 100 enemies. Mission ends when all targets are dead. Time: 5 minutes Pay: LB$90,000 Tips: This is made easier if you have the Memory of Three technique. Slash away at anything and everything. When you're down to your last couple kills, they will take their sweet time spawning. Watch your map and run to where the red dot appears, so you don't waste too much time. It only takes one or two hits to deal a deathblow. Shake the Wii-mote to give it more charge. The Memory of Demon (Jumping Slash) technique is also an instant kill against every enemy except those with beam katanas. Baseball Battle Round 2 ----------------------- Go on a batting killing spree. Time: none, you only get 3 balls Pay: LB$5000 per kill Tips: The pitches don't seem to be that much faster. It's practically a carbon copy of the first time. Dark Side Battle ---------------- Kill all the enemies within the time limit. Dark Side Mode will be activated. Mission ends when time runs out. Time: 1 minute, 30 seconds Pay: LB$3000 per kill Tips: The easiest and most fun assassin gig. All the enemies have beam katanas, but you're in Dark Side Mode, using "cranberry chocolate sundae", so this gig is basically a button-pressing game. If you press the wrong button, Travis will only taunt, not kill. Take your time to get your buttons right, and enjoy the show. If you are in the act of killing an enemy when the time runs out, the clock will stop, but Travis will keep on going. If you keep succeeding at the button presses, your number of kills won't go up, but you still get drop money for each thug killed. If you wait too long, Travis will auto-taunt and the game will end, so get your buttons right and be quick and you can earn some bonus money. (Thanks to Adriano for pointing this out to me.) Tiger Hall ---------- Kill as many as you can within the time limit. Mission ends when time runs out. Time: 2 minutes Pay: LB$3000 per kill Tips: Lots of guys with guns in this one. It's not a problem health- wise; it's just that they love to run from you. It's easy to waste time chasing them down. Don't go out of your way to give chase until they're the last ones left in the immediate area. Pizza Butt: The Finale ---------------------- Chain restaurant Pizza Butt plans to open up in Santa Destroy. To crush their plans, kill Pizza Butt's CEO. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$75,000 Tips: Everyone will have beam katanas (even the CEO), and he will nestle right in the middle of all of them, so look for the target symbol. The hard way to do this (and one that will not earn you a gold rank) is to slash at the group and hope for a death blow so you can knock down a bunch of foes at once and run (it will take more than one to actually kill them). I would use Tsubaki Mk-II since it is the most powerful and its death blows have a wider range. You can also run around and behind the group to try and target the CEO as best you can. Sometimes the lackeys will run to attack you and the CEO will stay put, leaving himself wide open. Brenden has written in to say that you can also try a Jumping Slash to knock most of them down to get room to run. Pro-Wrestling Contest --------------------- Kill with wrestling moves only. No other moves are allowed for this mission. Mission ends when all targets are dead. Time: 2 minutes and 30 seconds Pay: LB$5000 per kill Tips: Like the last one, go for charged beat attacks. It is insanely hard to bring down the guys with guns because they run too fast for a beat attack to catch them. Try to chase them into the water or against a wall so they run in place instead. If this doesn't work, guard against their shots and do the Surprise Slide to keep them still. Underground ----------- Kill as many as you can within the time limit. Mission ends when time runs out. Time: 2 minutes Pay: LB$5000 per kill Tips: Easy as pie. No more than three enemies per train car, with the toughest one being a beam katana guy in the second-to-last. Baseball Battle Round 3 ----------------------- Go on a batting killing spree. Time: none, you only get 3 balls Pay: LB$7000 per kill Tips: You really need to put some strength in that hitting arm of yours if you want to get any kills in. I can't tell if Travis' strength or yours determines how hard he swings. To be on the safe side, raise his strength stat and swing hard. Extreme Fight ------------- Struggle against all odds. Kill all targets. All other details will be a nice surprise. Time: 2 minutes Pay: It's a secret. (possibly LB$7000 per kill) Tips: Remember the fight with Harvey? When this gig starts, the screen will be flipped and your left/right controls reversed. You would not believe how hard it is to get through a narrow train door like this. I found it easiest to navigate by always pressing forward on the c-stick and using the left/right d-pad controls to steer via camera, but this is still tough. You've got plenty of time though. If all else fails, use Rob's trick of flipping yourself over. Armed Hoods ----------- Kill as fast as you can. Enemies are armed with live ammo. Mission ends when all targets are dead. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$7000 per kill Tips: Only the enemies in the first few cars have guns. They're easy to deal with in the small train cars. Guys with axes wait in the middle, and three beam katana-wielders are in the last car. With the cramped space and time limit, you can get by with mashing A. Speed Jack ---------- Kill all the enemies within the time limit. Mission ends when all targets are dead. Time: 2 minutes Pay: LB$5500 per kill Tips: Just like a normal bus ride. The only challenge may be dealing with the camera angle. Gamble Fight ------------ Kill all the enemies within the time limit. The type of enemy you will fight is a secret. Mission ends when time runs out. Time: 3 minutes Pay: LB$1500 per kill Tips: This one's fun and a great way to rake in cash since you should be able to get close to 100 kills on Mild. You're fighting outside the Gold Town bar, which isn't roomy. Lock on and slash away. Lucas has sent in a strategy to help rack up some good kills: "I find it the best possible strategy to simple use the low stance charge attack, with such a small space and three moves that are instant death more or less, combine that with the infinite battery power upgrade and you can kill upwards of 115 guys (around 175,000 LBs)." To corroborate this, the 3-Hit Charge Combo with Tsubaki Mk-III makes this the easiest way to earn the most cash. Single Strike ------------- Kill without taking a single hit from the enemy. A tough mission that requires all your skills. Time: 2 minutes Pay: LB$10,000 per kill Tips: If you've been doing those free fight missions, you'll have an idea what to do. The enemies here have machine guns. Try to fight one at a time and never let go of Z. You need to inch forward to get their attention. Always watch enemies behind or close to your target and only attack when you are sure no one is about ready to fire. Try the Killer7 Combo like in the free fight missions, still keeping an eye on the crowd since the Jumping Slash leaves you open. Rufio22 suggests using the Surprise Slide (or Dark Step, what have you): "It works. It works VERY well. You may not Dark Step them every time but if you are standing right up against your next enemy and the one behind him fires on you, you actually end up dark stepping the enemy closest to you." Good luck. This really is the hardest gig. Batting Killing Centre ---------------------- Kill all the enemies within the time limit. You'll face cloned humans. Time: 2 minutes Pay: LB$3000 per kill Tips: These are the guys that Bad Girl hit you with. They love to swamp you and are pretty good at guarding. Make sure to switch your stance often while slashing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //New Game + [ngp] ----------------------------------- Ah, the New Game +. In No More Heroes, loading a completed save file gives you the option of choosing a difficulty level (including a new Hard mode, Bitter) and then puts you right back at square one: 11th rank. However, you start the game with all your equipped items, weapons, techniques, stats, clothes, and even all your money from your previous file. New items are also unlocked in your new game. You will still find trading cards in your ranking missions but now, instead of adding junk to your wall, they unlock concept art and trading cards of the characters in the game. Trading cards will also now be buried around Santa Destroy and are marked on your map, leading to one hell of an item hunt if you want to find them all. The t-shirt selection at AREA 51 will have expanded as well. Another thing to note is that all of your old items carry over no matter what difficulty level you choose. You can start Bitter mode with Tsubaki Mk-III if you want, or you can try to tear through it with the Blood Berry, relying only on your strength stat (if you've built it up at all). The world, or at least Santa Destroy, is your oyster. Plow through it however you choose. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //FAQ [faq] ----------------------------------- Imagine that! This is the first FAQ I've written with an actual FAQ. I've gotten some questions through e-mail that I've tried to answer. Keyword: tried. If you know any clear-cut answers to the questions below or have something to add, please let me know! Q: What's the point of all the clothes? Do they have any special effects? A: I don't think so. This is just something to give players a high level of customizability. Q: What's the deal with the cat? And the fridge? And the phone? What's the point of selecting them? A: The cat is important for the story because of her namesake but playing with her doesn't seem to do anything except make cat lovers squee with joy (which is why I play with her every time before a mission). She's just like the other seemingly useless appliances: no real use for you. However, this is the game's way of making sure you feel right at home in Travis' living space. It also gives you a good look into his life: he's not just a mindless killer; he keeps and cares for a kitten. Ian has suggested that playing with Jeane raises Travis' stats, like vitality, but I haven't been able to prove this. Feel free to try it. As for the fridge, well, what bachelor pad would be complete without a fridge? It does restore your health, but you never need it. Q: Are the wrestling moves random? A: Christopher has sent in his findings concerning this: "what wrestling move you do depends on at least 2 factors, 1) what position you're in compare to the opponent (front, back, side) and 2) what position the opponent is in (bent over, lending forward or backwards)." The first point is definitely true, and as far as I can tell, the second is too. It's a little harder to test since most enemies stand up straight and simply wobble back and forth when hit with a beat attack, but some do actually bend over when dizzied, making them open to a different move. However, there is still a certain degree of randomness. I tested the two points on different enemy types and was about to state that what moves you did depended on the enemy, but I saw Travis doing the same moves on different enemy types in some cases. In short: position matters, but it's still somewhat random. FER has tested the wrestling moves as well and came up with the theory that enemies' health also determines what move is executed, so stunning right away and stunning right before the death blow may prompt different moves. Q: What happens if you earn a gold rank on every mission? A: Then you become very, very rich. I've gotten e-mail confirmation from Kelly that nothing special happens when you get a gold rank on all possible missions. Gold-ranking all the odd jobs means you unlock all the free fight missions, but for everything else, it simply means you get the most cash possible for your efforts. Q: What's the point of the trading cards? A: During your first playthrough of the game, not much. The manual says those are only the fronts of the cards. The backs are only available in a New Game + and unlock bonus content like concept art and information on all the characters in the game. Q: How long is this game? A: It all depends on how much you do in Santa Destroy. If you're looking to finish and get gold on all the sub missions, you're looking at an amount of time relative to your skill with a beam katana. If you just focus on the ranking missions, maybe about 12-15 hours, possibly a tad less? Joe has pointed out that it also depends on the difficulty you're playing. Sweet takes a lot less time than Bitter. Q: After buying everything at Naomi's lab, she starts talking about a new model that's not quite done yet. Is this a new weapon? A: I'm pretty sure it's a fluke. Since she's a scientist, she'll always be working on something new. She only made the Mk-II and Mk-III so quickly because you gave her materials to work with. There's nothing else to give her, so I think she'll be working on this one by herself for a while. This could also be part of the running gag concerning this game's [possible] sequel, but Sylvia already told us that that's not likely. Other businesses in town pull the same trick: Thunder Ryu won't let Travis train past 9 squares, Bishop teases us with videos we can never watch, the guy running Area 51 gives us a gift we can't seem to see, etc. Q: I missed an item! Can I go back and get it? A: After you rank up, you can't go back and get any items you missed during the mission. However, if you play through, finish, load your completed save data and start over, all the items you missed the first time around will be right where you left them. Where trading cards are concerned, since new ones appear in a New Game +, this means you will have to replay the game at least three times if you missed any and want them all (a second time to get the old card and a third to get the new one). Q: What's this Killer7 game you keep referring to? A: Killer7 was released in 2005 for the Gamecube and was then ported to the PS2. It is the reason I knew I would love No More Heroes. If you liked No More Heroes, Killer7 is definitely worth your time to at least try. It has a much more serious attitude than this game, and the plot is downright impossible to completely comprehend (which is why I can't offer a synopsis here), but it's still quite an experience. Q: So, of the two endings, I picked one, but I want to see the other. Can I do that without having to play the game again? A: Yes. If you didn't save your data after watching one, restart the game and then pick the other ending. If you do save your completed data, make sure you save it to a new file slot. Watch your ending and go through the motions of starting a new game. Use the + button to skip the opening cutscenes and access your old data through the menu when you can, and then you can pick the other ending. It's also worth noting that the real ending actually has the regular ending in it: the "fake" one ends right as Travis says, "You've gotta be shittin' me!" The only notable difference is in the credit sequence and what comes after. Q: Do you know the location of all the dumpsters in town? A: I direct your attention here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/No%20More%20Heroes/ sddumpstermap.jpg. This is from a really comprehensive No More Heroes site. It's for the Japanese version of the game, but I was able to find all the dumpsters using this awesome map. Q: Is there really a point to fighting Henry at all before moving on to a New Game +? A: I would say yes. If you're looking for game bonuses or something for winning, you'll be disappointed, as there are none. If you'd rather end the game quickly, go for the regular ending. However, the amazing flying Irishman is this game's true final boss, so if you *really* want to beat the game, then you owe it to yourself to fight Henry. You also get more plot afterwards, so if you want to know more about Travis, Henry, and even Sylvia, fight the good fight. Q: What's the quickest way to earn money? A: The Gamble Fight assassin gig. It's just a city block away from K- Entertainment, so you can quickly dash in-between the two, and if you're a proficient assassin, you can rack up a bunch of kills. If you have Tsubaki Mk-III, use the 3-Hit Charge Combo to get upwards of 120 kills, which equals LB$180,000 in one go. Q: How do I manage multiple save files? A: The most frustrating aspect of this game is the file management. The game auto-loads the last file you accessed. After that's done, open the menu by pressing the + button and go to the Data tab. There, you can load previous files and start new ones. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //Miscellaneous [mis] ----------------------------------- Hope you found the information herein useful. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, revisions, and all that (you know the drill), e-mail me at SophiaLee04 at yahoo dot com, but be sure to put No More Heroes in the subject line somewhere. I like to credit those who contribute, but I don't post people's e-mails, so if you want to be credited, please sign your e-mail. Version History --------------- 1.39 - 03/21/09: added another hint for completing Mission 19 1.38 - 04/02/08: info added on the Parry Attack and another theory on wrestling moves in the FAQ section 1.37 - 03/24/08: a couple updates regarding the last Pizza Butt gig, cash bonuses for Anarchy in the Galaxy, and some Q & A on data management; this FAQ is pretty much done, but this is not to say I won't still work on it and update it when possible 1.36 - 02/28/08: new host added in time for the Australian release of No More Heroes, as well as scattered updates in boss strategy and slight reformatting 1.35 - 02/24/08: lots of scattered updates I added throughout the week, mostly strategy for Henry and Jeane and a new move under the Tips and Tricks section 1.34 - 02/17/08: someone e-mailed me to say that wrestling moves are not random and even worked out how they work to a certain extent; it's all up under the FAQ section; there's also a way to avoid Harvey's instant kill attack 1.33 - 02/14/08: added the beam katana section because I finally realized what was off in my strategy in some places: it changes slightly for each katana 1.23 - 02/11/08: I keep getting some great e-mails; lots of little things have been pointed out to me, like driving tips, and I am still getting sent strategy for the Bad Girl fight; there's also a new host for this guide 1.22 - 02/07/08: lots more stuff added with regards to boss strategy, FAQs, and an interesting tidbit under the Dark Side Battle assassin gig 1.21 - 02/03/08: added the FAQ section and finished revising my boss strategy after having gone through on Bitter mode 1.11 - 01/31/08: undid the last update to create the "Tips and Tricks" section; sorry for the large numbers of updates in such a short amount of time, but I've been getting lots of juicy info for the new section, plus a hot tip on beating Shinobu and fighting Bad Girl 1.01 - 01/30/08: added info under the "Battle Mechanics" section about "hidden" moves Travis can do 1.00 - 01/29/08: walkthrough finished and submitted, with minimal damage to my GPA (can't say the same for my wrists) 0.00 - 01/24/08: walkthrough started Thanks ------ Wondered what all those random names were scattered throughout the walkthrough? Well, here's the answer. Below are people who helped make this walkthrough what it is for either making the game, supplying it, or helping buff up my info from "this'll get you through the game in one piece" to "this'll help you rip your enemies a new one". So major thanks go out to: Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture for this game. I don't know what it is exactly about your games, but they are incredible on several levels and always keep me coming back, which is just what video games should do. THANK YOU. Ubisoft for making it possible even to play this game. GameStop for letting me reserve this over the phone at the last minute while I drove through the snow to bring it home! Michael Green for info on the charged death blow. Josh L. for sending me an e-mail with a bunch of his in-game tips and finds, which led to the creation of the "Tips and Tricks" section. Codey, an anonymous e-mailer, and Roosey for helping with the Windmill Recover. HXC_mike on GameFAQs for the Shinobu wrestling strategy. That saved my ass in Bitter mode! Matthew and Saul for help with the Holly Summers fight. Thomas, T.J., Anthony, Fragstoff, Tim, Brian, Jess, Andrew, Dan, Dupre, and Jase for help with the Bad Girl fight. Rob for e-mailing me with interesting strategy for the Harvey and Destroyman fights. Brenden for sharing that there is a way to avoid Harvey's instant kill attack. Kelly, Butters, and FER for contributing info on the "Parry Attack". Kelly also gets props for gold-ranking all the missions and letting me know that nothing happens for it. Kyle for a tip for the Dr. Peace fight. Adriano for a tip on the Dark Side Battle gig and Lucas for a tip on the Gamble Mission gig. Andrew and Joanna for pointing out some helpful driving tips. Ian for trying to help me figure out what good it is to play with Jeane. Christopher and FER for sending in information regarding the wrestling moves and how they are not 100% random. Dan for pointing out that Naomi's weapons are time-released: that is, wait around long enough and she'll make it for you after you give her the goods. Joe for help with game length and data management info. T.H., John, and ghostwolfxiii for tips on fighting Jeane. Gus6x, Thomas, and Jikosh for experimenting with the 3-Hit Charge Combo and sending me their notes. Daniel for a strategy for Henry's fight. Greg for pointing out the cash bonus concerning Anarchy in the Galaxy. another Brenden for help nailing Pizza Butt one last time. Rufio22 for advice on Mission 19. everyone who sent in e-mails with questions or comments. you for reading this guide! all the sites under the next section for hosting my work. I love to write these things; thanks for making it possible to share the love. Hosts ----- The following sites have permission to host this guide, so you should only be able to find it on those links. I can't guarantee that all the sites below will have the latest version. Check the sites towards the top of the list for the latest if in doubt since I personally update those versions. GameFAQs, http://www.gamefaqs.com Neoseeker, http://www.neoseeker.com HonestGamers, http://www.honestgamers.com Super Cheats, http://www.supercheats.com GamesRadar, http://www.gamesradar.com MyCheats, http://www.mycheats.com Game Revolution, http://www.gamerevolution.com MyWii, http://www.mywii.com.au Gamer Database, http://www.gamerdatabase.com Gamer's Temple, http://www.gamerstemple.com http://thenumber35.webs.com/ Legal Stuff ----------- This walkthrough is meant purely for personal and private use. Please do not redistribute it for commercial purposes, alter it, or do anything with it that your mother would scold you for. A lot of time and energy goes into the writing process, and a lot of people have contributed to this as well. Please show respect for our efforts. Copyright (©) 2008, 2009 Georgi Samaras