Contra: Shattered Soldier – FAQ/Walkthrough

Created By : John Malone (aka Chalupa Donny)

Contact Me @: swidly -- hotmail

NOTE: Please read the Frequently Asked Questions section before e-mailing me!

- Copyright Info -

The "Contra: Shattered Soldier FAQ for Playstation 2" is copyrighted, as of November 2002 by the author, John Malone, under international copyright law. If you wish to reproduce, distribute, or display this FAQ or use any part of it for any reason, permission given by the author (me), is required by law. All violations will be reported.

This FAQ is, so far, only authorized to appear at the GameFAQs website (www.gamefaqs.com). If you find this FAQ anywhere else, it is an unauthorized, (probably) uncredited copy of my FAQ, and is in viololation of copyright law. Please e-mail me for permission to reprint this FAQ (unless it is for personal use, not intended to be shown to any third parties, and not used for profit or gain).

- DISCLAIMER -

ALL of the information in this FAQ was thoroughly and painstakingly researched and written by myself, John Malone, and no part was copied from anyone else's work without permission. I took what names I could from the instruction booklet provided with the game and made up all the rest with a generous use of artistic license.

07/05/10 - Version 2.0

Converted to formatted FAQ. (Wow, nearly SEVEN years since the last update! Good times...)

07/07/03 - Version 1.3

*** WINNER *** Named 'FAQ of the Month' by GameFAQs.com for October 2002! Huzzah! This update includes a new strategy for the Snail boss in Stage 5, plus more new hints courtesy of other Contra fans.

01/07/03 - Version 1.2

I added a new "Frequently Asked Questions" section and corrected some info here and there. Check out the Credits for all those who helped me out!

12/04/02 - Version 1.1

Corrected some info and re-wrote a few passages. Most notably, the extra lives info was fixed. Thanks to those who e-mailed me about it!

11/26/02 - Version 1.0

FAQ completed! The world is forever changed!

I am in love with Contra: Shattered Soldier. I have been a fan of the series since the original and one of my favorite games of all time has been the seriously underrated Contra: Hard Corps for the Genesis. Contra: Shattered Soldier is easily on par with every previous game in the series, as far as difficulty and enjoyment goes, plus it's an homage to all the Contra's that came before it. In short, it's a Contra fan's dream come true.

In addition, Contra: Shattered Soldier surpasses the old Contras in many ways. The graphics, obviously, are a cut above the rest; a combination of 2D and 3D. The animation and attention to detail are simply jaw-dropping. The scale of the levels and the epic encounters are equally awe-inspiring. Many of the characters and enemies from old games make cameos here, plus the story ties together everything that's happened in previous games. No doubt about it, Contra: S.S. is a satisfying experience for Contra fans.

But if you're reading this FAQ, you've probably already played this game... so you already know what I'm blabbering about! SO, the question is: why am I writing this FAQ? My goal was to write something that was more in-depth, and therefore more helpful, than anything else out there. Hopefully, I have accomplished that. I hope you enjoy it!

- John

Included in this section are the options, game controls, as well as many other important aspects of gameplay.

The controls for this game are included in the instruction booklet, but a few details aren't in there. Let me break it down for you:

• Directional Pad - player movement, aim direction, menu select
• Left Analog Stick (L3) - player movement, aim direction, menu select
• Right Analog Stick (R3) - not used
• Square button - shoot (press and hold for continuous fire)
• charge shot (double tap and hold to charge, release to fire)
• X button - jump, confirm selection (menu)
• O button - charge shot (hold to charge, release to fire)
• Triangle button - not used
• L1 button - select weapon to left
• R1 button - select weapon to right
• L2 button - hold to lock weapon angle in place (character can still move)
• R2 button - hold to lock character in place (can still control firing direction)
• Start button - pause menu, skip dialogue

Special Situations

• Climbing Walls and Ceilings - When jumping toward a wall or ceiling, your character will grab on. You can move around with the directional pad.
• Jump Down - You can jump down and release your grip from a ceiling, wall, hanging bar, or from certain floating platforms by pressing down and jump (X button).
• While Hanging on to a Missile - During the first part of Mission 4, your character is hanging on to a flying missile. Pressing the X button will cause your missile to spin in place. Shooting while spinning lets you cover a little more area.
• While Hanging on to a Portable Helicopter - During the second part of Mission 4, your character is hanging on to a portable device with helicopter blades. Pressing the X button will cause your character to move upwards very quickly. You can hold the X button down to continue this effect.

Take a look at the Options menu. There are 2 levels of difficulty for Contra: Shattered Soldier. The game plays essentially the same in both modes except for some key differences, which are described here:

Easy Mode - You have 99 continues and 9 lives per continue, but you can only play through missions 1 through 5 and you cannot unlock any endings.

Normal Mode - You have 3 continues and 3 lives per continue, but you can access all of the missions and get any ending, if you are good enough. After playing a certain amount of time (see part VII of this FAQ), you will permanently gain an extra life, for a total of 4 lives per continue. This only applies to Normal Mode.

As you will see once you really get into the game, the Hit Rate System is all-important. The Hit Rate System decides what missions you will get to play and ultimately, which ending you get. So how does the Hit Rate System work?

In each stage it is possible to get a Hit Rate of up to 100%. This does NOT measure your shooting accuracy. Instead, this measures your success in destroying every possible relevant target in the stage. I say "relevant" because not every enemy counts towards the Hit Rate. A list of every target in every stage is found in Part VI of this FAQ.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Losing lives and using continues subtracts from your total Hit Rate at the end of each stage. For each life you lose, 2 points are subtracted. For each continue that you use where you start from the mid-point subtracts 10%.

Whenever you have the option to continue, it asks if you want to start from the "beginning" or the "half-way point". If you start from the beginning, the amount of lives you have lost are wiped clean and you are NOT penalized for using a continue.

After the penalties are assessed at the end of the stage, you are assigned a Mission Clear Ranking for that stage:

• 100% Hit Rate = S Ranking
• 90-99% = A
• 80-89% = B
• 79% or less = C

Your Total Ranking is the average of your Mission Clear Rankings from each stage. Your Total Ranking must be a certain number for you to access certain stages and endings.

This guide is written from the 1-Player mode perspective, but all of the strategies discussed in this guide still apply for 2-Player mode.

The only difference between 1 and 2-Player mode is that in 2-Player mode, all of the mini-bosses and bosses take more shots to kill. This makes sense to maintain game balance.

The problem comes when one of the two players dies, leaving the other player all to their lonesome. It will take the remaining player much longer to beat the bosses... about twice as long. Of course, this also means there will be a greater chance for that player to die, as well.

The moral of the story is to make sure that your game buddy is about equal to your skill, or neither of you will be having much fun.

You gain an extra life after getting a certain amount of points in the course of the level. The first extra life is gained upon reaching 15,000 points and you get another exra life every 20,000 points afterwards.

• It's important that you become comfortable with all of your character's abilities and weapons. Locking your shooting angle, locking your character position, charged shots, etc. are necessary skills for beating the game.
• Practice, practice, practice! Use Training Mode and play on Easy mode so you know what to expect before taking on Normal mode. It will save you lots of frustration.
• If you're aiming to get the best Ranking possible (an 'S' rank) and you screw up, hit Pause and start over from the beginning. It uses up one continue, but it gives you a completely fresh start and won't mess up your final ranking.
• There are many strategies for beating this game. I've included which weapons work best for me. It might not be what works best for you, though, so use what you're comfortable with if you perform better that way.

There are 3 main weapons in Contra: Shattered Soldier. Each one can be charged up (see Game Controls in Part II or the game instruction booklet), giving you a total of 6 weapons.

Unlike the other games in the Contra series, you start out with access to all of these weapons. They are permanently in your inventory. And you are going to need all of them to beat the game. Parts of the descriptions are from the instruction booklet.

Heavy Machinegun - Has a long range with a powerful repeating action. This is the most basic weapon, and it's a good one. This is a great weapon for when there's enemies quickly coming at you from different directions.

Fire Whip - This is a short-ranged but very powerful flamethrower. It goes through barriers and can destroy many projectiles. This is superior for short-ranged combat.

Diver Mine - It arcs to the ground when fired and then continues to roll along the surface. When it hits, it can burn and do continuous damage. As the instruction book says, it's good for getting those hard-to-reach targets.

These are obviously more powerful, but realize that they have a much slower rate of fire then the Normal Shot weapons.

Round Sweep - This is the Heavy Machinegun charged shot. A gun pod flies forward and then rotates and fires bullets in every direction. This is good for clearing out multiple enemies or even to get some hard-to-reach targets. I don't use this very much.

Energy Shot - This is the charged up Fire Whip shot. The Energy Shot shoots a very powerful shot that goes through barriers. It can hit large enemies multiple times. This is the weapon I use the most and it's extremely useful for any tough enemy.

Homing Missiles - Charging up the Diver Mine activates this. This is another invaluable weapon that launches several small missiles that heat-seek targets very well. This is a fairly weak weapon, however, so it's not good for every situation.

Who are the movers and shakers in Contra: S.S.? Let's find out...

The war hero from the Alien Wars (Contra III) was put into jail for crimes against humanity after wiping out 80% of the world population and killing his partner, Lance Bean, in cold blood. Also, humanity's only hope against the returning alien threat. What a guy!

A cyborg created by an evil genius by the name of Dr. Geo Mandrake ("the Doctor" from Contra: Hard Corps). The government took over the Doctor's plans and completed the Doctor's prototype, creating the ultimate soldier. She's Bill's new partner.

The mysterious leader of a new group of terrorists: "Blood Falcon". Who is this international man of mystery, really?

Apparently Earth in the future is ruled by these 3 guys: Commodus, Nero, and Gaius. Cybernetic implants give them prolonged life as well as the ability to share their thoughts telpathically. Why mention these guys? They gotta fit into it all somehow....

I've included the locations of the Missions as shown on the map in the stage selection screen, references to other Contra games and anything else, plus the Halfway Points of each stage. If you've gotten past this point and you lose all of your lives, you can continue from this spot (though it will cost you 10 points from your Hit Rate).

Location - Africa

References:

• The intro where your character crashes through some buildings while flying in an air transport and then bursts out at the end is very similar to the intro in stage 1 of Contra: Hard Corps.
• The Spider-Mech mini-boss looks like a modified-version of similar 'metal-spider' mini-bosses that have appeared throughout the Contra series, starting with the "Babalu" boss in Super C.
• The section with hanging bars and swarms of giant alien mosquitos is exactly like a section in stage 3 of Contra III.
• The Demon Turtle boss is the same first boss that was in Contra III.

The first part of this stage is classic Contra. Waves of soldiers will swarm you from left and right. Use your machine gun and blow them away as you run to the right. Kill the mortar soldier that you encounter from above. Blow up the parked truck while checking your backside.

Next is a twin-car motorcycle. It will past you from behind and then block your path from the right. Duck it's shots while continuously shooting it; try not to let it get away. Energy shots work nicely.

Climb the hill, but watch for a barrel with a sniper behind it. Duck his shot and blow up the barrel. At the top of the hill is another sniper and barrel, plus a mortar soldier above you. Blow up the barrel first.

Next will be some soldiers holding shields. Normally you should deal with the guys by using the fire whip to bypass their shields, but in this case there are some bomb-looking structures attached to the ceiling above them. Shoot these down from an angle (make sure you're not under!) and watch as the bad guys get toasted. There are two of these bombs, make sure you don't miss them if you want 100%.

Afterwards, climb up the wall and shoot down the 3 snipers to the left either with your machine gun or homing missiles while dodging their shots. At the top of the wall is another boss battle.

- HALFWAY POINT -

Whew! The things you'll do for that 100%. Plow past the next several bad guys and torch the final shield soldier. When you get to the bridge, a cut scene will take you to a snowboarding sequence.

Next is a series of jetpack soldiers. I use energy shots here; it takes two to kill each soldier. If you give them enough time, they will shoot a stream of bullets downwards at you. Get directly beneath them and kill them before they can fire. If you don't kill them all fast enough, they will fly away.

Almost there! Next you will be on some hanging bars and swarms of huge mutant mosquitos will come at you from all sides. Use your fire whip and move through here as quickly as possible. These guys don't count toward your hit rate, so only shoot at them if they grab you (and make sure you're over a grab-bar before they drop you).

Location - SW Former Russian Republic

References:

• The hover cycle vehicle that your character rides first appeared in stage 4 of Contra III.
• The Steel Runner boss is an updated version of a very similar boss at the end of the Train level in Contra: Hard Corps.

This is a tricky stage to get a 100% hit rate in, as some targets have a pesky tendency to fly away quickly. The first quarter of this stage starts off with your character riding on a hover cycle, battling a HUGE sub/helicopter.

Submarine

First it will fire a barrage of arcing energy bolts into the sky, which then fall around you. There are safe spots between the bolts, which you can see just before they hit the ground. Dodge two of these barrages.

Next the sub will shoot a laser along the ground, starting from the left and then suddenly sweeping to the right. As the laser charges up, move to the right side of the screen. Wait until the laser begins to move before jumping. This can be tricky, since the speed of the laser is random. The sub will shoot this laser twice in a row.

After the laser, the sub will dive into the ocean and then emerge on the left side of the screen, demolishing the bridge behind you. As the sub dives, keep to the far right of the screen and keep your gun locked aiming directly to the left.

When the sub emerges, use charged energy shots or the machine gun to pummel the gun turret that is mounted the nose of the sub. The gun will charge up and shoot two shots, one right after the other. Just jump over these with a single leap and keep shooting until the turret is gone. If you wait too long, the sub will repeat its first two attacks.

Helicopter

After the cutscene where the sub turns into a helicopter, switch to the Fire Whip if you're not on it already and charge that sucker up. As the helicopter begins to appear from the upper right, you'll see a guy riding a rocket appear in the background. These guys fly in from the left very fast. You can jump over them, but if you want to get that elusive 100% hit rate, you gotta kill them. ONLY the charged energy shots are quick enough to kill these guys. One shot should do.

Anywho, get rid of the rocket jockey that appears from the left, then quickly move to the right half of the screen and aim up. A rack that drops metal barrels will deploy from the back of the coptor. Use energy shots to destroy it, first aiming at the barrels directly above you. One shot will destroy the barrels before they drop on your head.

Stay on the right as the next rocket rider zooms in from the left. At this point, nodes will open up on the bottom of the coptor. Do not stay under them, as they will shoot lines of energy beams straight down. You can tell which one will fire next because a line of electricity will appear before it shoots the full beam.

You will need to kill all of these to get a 100% for this mission. You should focus on the nodes that are about to scroll off of the screen to the left first. It's smart to stay between the beam-shooting nodes, even if they're not firing. Lock your weapon at an upward angle and use energy shots to destroy them all.

As you get to the fifth and final node, the helicopter will slowly move downwards, limiting your movement. Stay in the safe spot on the left until the coptor moves up again. Two rocket soldiers are going to zoom in from the left again, so move towards the middle of the screen. If you need to jump, you need to make sure you don't touch the protruding underbelly of the coptor, which will kill you.

The final gun approaches above you on the right. Lock your gun at an upward and right angle. Energy shots still work well. Begin shooting it, but be ready to jump. The gun fires a shot that turns into two huge flames that sweep left and right after it hits the ground. Stay in one place, to the left of the gun. As it shoots, jump so that you land in the safe spot between the two flames that shoot to the left and right.

After the final gun, the helicopter will fly away. If you have destroyed all of its parts, the coptor will crash into the ocean instead. The next part is pretty hard, especially if you're going for 100%. A series of soldiers hanging on to missiles will come in from the right. They hurl grenades that leave big explosions when they hit the ground.

I prefer to use the energy shots here. A good strategy is to jump and shoot the charged shots straight. Two shots will kill one them. It's possible to hit two with one shot if they are lined up, since the energy shot bypasses barriers. You MUST kill them as quick as possible; not just for safety's sake, but also because they will leave quickly if they reach the left edge of the screen.

Tunnel

After six of those guys, you will enter a tunnel and you'll be facing a train on your left. The first car has a huge cannon mounted on it. It will fire blue shots that explode into three smaller heat-seeking balls upon impact. Ignore the first big shot; it's harmless. The three little balls that come afterwards are not, but they can be destroyed. If you don't destroy all of the balls before the next volley arrives, they automatically self-destruct.

There are two good strategies to use to survive this part. I prefer using two quick shots of homing missiles to take out the heat-seeking fireballs. This only works if you remember 3 things: carefully aim the shots to where they are needed (target the fireball closest to you), this process DOES usually require two shots, and these two shots must be fired one right after the other.

Another strategy is to stay on the right or left edge of the screen, lock your character's position, and sweep the fire whip around yourself to destroy the fireballs. This can be tricky as well.

After the cannon shoots several volleys of these, it will stop shooting and a target will appear on the cannon. Take this time to shoot it with energy shots, homing missiles, or whatever else. Wait too long and it will start shooting again.

The second car will launch soldiers on motorcycles, one by one. Simply use energy shots or your machine gun to take them out. They will either swerve from one side to the other in order to ram you or they will whip out a gun and shoot twice. If you don't kill fast, they will disappear after they attack. After five soldiers have been dispatched, the train car will disconnect itself.

- HALFWAY POINT -

Train

Now you will finally be on top of the train. Use your homing missiles for this next section. Move the screen just far enough forward so that the grenade-launching cannons are visible and your homing missiles can lock onto them. Then move back to the far left while firing away so that the grenades can't reach you. After the first cannon, continue forward and a gun turret will rise from the train. Stay on the level below it and shoot your missiles upwards to take it out. NEVER jump.

Edge forward and take out the two mortar soldiers who appear next. If they get a shot off, move to the left and jump over the raining bullets if necessary. Destroy the next grenade cannon, gun turret, mortar soldier, and the final grenade cannon in the same manner described above.

Location - New York City

References:

• Dogs (of the mutant variety) also appeared in the city level of Contra III.
• The mosquito-like Seeker Drone was also a mini-boss in stage 3 of Contra III.
• The roly-poly robots that appear in the slaughterhouse section also appeared in the beginning of stage 3 in Contra III (thanks to GAMEingguy2001 for that one).

The first part of this stage is similar to the beginning of Mission 1; i.e. you versus a whole mess load of soldiers. Use the same tactics as in Mission 1 to clear them out of the way. You'll need to duck to hit the soldier being eaten by dogs.

When you come to the first helicopter soldier, stop moving forward and focus on killing him ASAP. He will drop napalm bombs on your head if you give him enough time. Locking your position and peppering him with your machine gun is the best way.

Next will be some sandbags and a sniper behind them. Duck his shot but stand up to shoot him when it's safe. Do not forget to SHOOT ALL 3 SANDBAGS! The sandbags count towards your 100% hit rate.

Soon after that you'll run up against a truck with a sniper on top of it and another helicopter soldier hovering over you. Kill the sniper first. Either run under his first shot (never stop moving in that case) or jump over it. Next focus on the helicopter soldier before destroying the truck.

After that combo will be more sandbags and a mortar soldier behind them. Keep your distance to avoid his shots. There are several ways to get that hard-to-reach bad guy. One, charge up your machine gun and fire the round sweep over the sand bags. Two, use homing missiles. Three, jump and let loose a well-aimed diver mine. Use what you like. Again, make sure to SHOOT ALL OF THE SANDBAGS before leaving.

You are now at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Charge up energy shots for the next sequence. You will encounter roly-poly robots from the right. They first appear as balls, rolling along the ground or ceiling; they are invincible while in ball-form. After a few seconds, they open up and shoot at you, then roll back and continue.

When you first see one, stop moving and wait until they open up. When they do, move up close, line up your aim, and let loose with an energy shot. One hit will kill them. The first one appears on the ground on the right, the next one is on the ceiling, and the last one will be on the bottom of a hill, below you.

You can also stand back to avoid their shots and use homing missiles, but it will take more shots. Don't let any get away if you want a 100%. When you get to a conveyer belt, get ready for...

- HALFWAY POINT -

Make your way over the grinder and hop on a grab-bar. It's mini-boss time yet again!

Switch back to your energy shots, as there will be two more roly-poly robots as you continue to the right. Keep moving forward until you drop from a ledge. The first bot will appear from the top of the ledge on your upper-left. The next one will appear from the right, rolling on a hill at an awkward angle. Get close to him and fire or stay back and use homing missiles while dodging. When you run into a dead-end, get ready...

Location - Off the coast of Japan

References:

• The first part of the level where your character is holding on to a launched missile also occurred for the first time in stage 4 of Contra III.
• The alien eggs that are encountered throughout the level made their first infamous appearance in the original Contra's final level, which were in turn inspired by the spidery "face huggers" from the movie "Alien".

For the first section of this mission, you'll be hanging on to dear life from a flying missile. Immediately switch to homing missiles, move to the far right, lock your aim to the left, and let loose with those missiles. A swarm of rockets will fly at you from the left side of the screen at various trajectories. You can't miss a single rocket if you want a 100%! After many, many missiles, a HUGE mini-boss will fly in from above.

After a neat little cut sequence, you'll find yourself descending a long vertical shaft hanging on to a personal mini-helicopter. Quickly switch to your homing missiles and let them loose as soon as you see those little spider aliens crawling on the walls. Those spider aliens jump directly at you within seconds and they're very fast.

Destroy all of the alien eggs that you see attached to the walls, too, with homing missiles in order to get that 100% hit rate. Whenever you encounter a long vine with a fang-toothed mouth at the end, aim for the head and keep shooting as it retracts. To destroy these "viper vines", you'll have to keep shooting them until they retract all the way into the wall.

Once you reach the bottom of the shaft and let go of your one-man helicopter, switch to your machine gun and aim straight up to destroy it; you'll get 10,000 points for doing so. Switch back to your fire whip and proceed to the right.

- HALFWAY POINT -

Now go to the right and have your machine gun equipped. The next passage is populated with alien eggs, covering the floor and ceiling. Shoot each of them as you see them, killing the spider aliens that occasionally pop out. Lock your position if you need to. Avoid the water-filled pits and be sure to destroy the one viper vine that you encounter. He's hard to hit with your machine gun, so try using homing missiles.

When you reach the platforms floating in a vast lake of green water, equip your homing missiles and jump to the last one. After the freaky fish cracks the plate glass window in the background and the water starts to fill the area, bombs will begin to drift downward from the ceiling. If they touch the water, they will explode and send fragments every which way. So don't let that happen. Use homing missiles to take all of them down. You'll need to destroy each and every one of them to get a 100% hit rate. Once the water stops rising, switch back to the flame whip and prepare yourself...