THE ROCKETEER HINTS EPISODE #1 - RACE AT THE AIRFIELD In order for Cliff to win at the airfield, he first has to choose the right plane for the right race. You need either a very fast plane or one with great cornering, the Caudron or the Gee Bee respectively. The Wedell Williams is just ok at both, and it's real work to win with. Following the tips for the Gee Bee will help you to win every time! - With the Gee Bee, clip the first turn close, then just get into a rhythm of turning and letting up at the last instant before you come around a pylon. If you watch the lower window, let up on your turn as soon as the pylon appears, then begin turning again when it goes by. We recommend using the keyboard to do this. Press and hold ENTER to keep maximum speed. Hold the down arrow to keep the plane at it's maximum altitude. Press the left arrow down to keep the plane in tight on the pylons. The only key you should let up on is the left arrow. As you approach a pylon to turn, let it up for a second to let the plane swing wide around the pylon, then press it back down in the straightaway to stay in tight. You should win every time! - With the Caudron, stay close to the ground, since climbing seriously undermines your speed. Take the first couple of turns very wide until the Caudron gets up to speed, then stay close to the ground and start trying to cut the corners more. - With the rocket pack, just be very careful of the other planes and the pylons in the first couple of laps. Use that time to climb as high as you can and get a small lead. Don't worry about crushing the other planes, since the biggest danger in this arcade is getting hit and crashing. Just take a half a lap lead and spend the rest of the time avoiding the other planes. EPISODE #2 - ATTACK IN THE HANGAR It's tough to use a mouse in this arcade because the cursor moves very fast and it's hard to follow sometimes. The keyboard works well, however. Get used to where the Nazis pop up, and use the rocket pack to get off the ground whenever you see a grenade land--they do far more damage than gunshots. Also, start shooting at the flying Nazis as soon as you see them. They shoot more often than the others and they are harder to hit. Not only that, but they score higher. If you're having a hard time dealing with the AFT, remember that AFT stands for Armored Flying Tank--it's too tough for your bullets to do any damage. But every plane has to have a pilot... Watch without firing one time and you'll never have a problem again. EPISODE #3 - BATTLE IN THE SKIES Stay low on the screen if you can. Your bullets come from slightly above your body, so you can still be hit from below. Shoot the Nazi paratroopers one time only and let them fall. If you rapid-shoot them they can keep coming at you and do a lot of damage if they hit you. Just let them fall. Shoot the Nazi rocketmen in the legs--they will be firing over your head and you can shoot them from the sky without taking any damage yourself. EPISODE #4 - THE FINAL FLIGHT Keep the Locust in the top left corner. This time your bullets are coming from slightly below you, so you are vulnerable from above. At all costs avoid being hit by the airmines and the V-2 rockets--they both do tremendous amounts of damage. Don't dive around in order to hit the airmines unless you have to. Just shoot until they start to fall and then let them pass. Dive the Locust as you shoot at the German AFT's--they will follow you downward and run into your bullets but you will not be hit by theirs. EPISODE #5 - BOX THE NAZI Since this arcade is tied to the Locust battle, it's not a separate episode, but it is a separate arcade. There are lots of clever ways to defeat the Nazi rocketmen. You can lead them into the range of the officer's grenades, where they will take damage as well, or you can just box the heck out of them. If you keep trying to box with the same fist, eventually you will lose. The trick is to alternate--one fist is good for maybe three landed punches before the Nazi will catch on. If the Nazi does land a punch, duck right away, then wait to stand until the Nazi is recoiling from a punch. This is a good maneuver if the Nazi is pushing your toward the edge of the tail fin (a very frustrating but circumventable move). Against the officer, the only issue is moving fast. You have a very short time to beat him up before the tail fin burns off completely (don't ask us why the Nazi guy laughs when you fall--he's doomed too). ----------------------------------------------------------- *** The Code Words *** These will help you proceed to each of the other levels. Level 1: Pilot Level 2: Shootout Level 3: Chase Level 4: Rescue Level 5: Banshees (If you've read in certain trade magazines that level 5 is "ARMADA", this was the case but has since been removed from the program.) ------------------------------------------------------------ Remember, for personal assistance, our voice line is (818) 841-3326 between the hours of 8am and 5pm PST.