1) Introduction
2) Frequently Asked Questions
3) How to play
3.1) At the Main Menu
3.2) Screen Layout
3.3) Controls
3.4) Game System
3.5) Scoring
4) Training Mode
5) Character Info
5.1) The Gunners
5.2) The Boss Family
6) Secrets
6.1) Unlocking Secrets
7) Miscellaneous / Et Cetera
1) Introduction
---------------
This game is an original flight/shooting game for the Playstation 2. It came
out on September 27, 2001 for 5800yen, only in Japan. It looks like a comic/
aniem between the action sequences. The style is very cute. It is based
off
of a fantasy world that seems to resemble Europe around the Industrial
revolution. Most of the names seem to be based off French, but in Japanese
it's always hard to really tell! Please note that this FAQ will only cover
the Japanese version of the game.
2) Frequently Asked Questions
-----------------------------
Q) Can I play it without much knowledge of Japanese?
A) Well, it isn't that bad. There is a lot of text in the game in Japanese.
The Story Mode plays like a comic between the action sequences. So if
you
want to just look at the pictures, you're fine. The story isn't incredibly
interesting, so I don't think that you are missing much. As for gameplay,
you don't need to know any Japanese. Hopefully by reading this FAQ, you'll
be fine.
Q) What is the game like?
A) It is like an arcade flight simulator and shooter. For example, flight
is
fairly easy to control, you don't have to land, etc. Collision with
objects
does not cause damage. The major task of the game is to shoot enemies
with
your gun, not to control a real plane. It is not like Panzer Dragoon,
because you actually control the movement of the aircraft, it is just much
simpler.
Q) How do you destroy the robot after freeing the museum?
A) Fire your crosses into the robot. Once there are 6 of them, fire your
guns
to destroy them all. It takes some luck and a bit of co-ordination from
your wingman. Keep trying, it can be done! (from Dreadwing13, ndufer)
Q) How do you defeat Rival?
A) Put a fully charged cross in him and make it explode. Try anything you
can
to finish him off after that. (from ndufer)
Q) Is the game any good?
A) Yes! It received Silver ranking with reviews of 8,7,7,7 in Japanese
Famitsu
magazine. Famitsu PS gave it scores of 8,8,7,6. And finally, Playstation
magazine gave it scores of 70,85,85,90. I think that it is a good game,
but
I am really disappointed in the fact that slowdown occurs often!
Here are the game's good/bad points:
+ Fully animated intro sequence
+ Interesting characters
+ Battles are fun to play
+ Good scoring system
+ Interesting game mechanics
+ 5 different playable characters
+ Simple controls and arcade feel (not like real flight simulator)
- Controls can still be very confusing at the start
- Only one view to play from! (I'm dying for a cockpit view)
- No upgradeable weapons
- Slowdown occurs when too much happens onscreen!!
3) How to play
--------------
This section deals with how to play and control the game.
3.1) At the Main Menu
---------------------
At the main menu, you have the following options:
Story Mode
Training Mode
Time Attack Mode (unlocked)
Survival Mode (unlocked)
High Scores
Album Mode
Options
Data / Load or Save
3.2) Screen Layout
------------------
The screen layout is as follows:
Your aircraft is always in the center of the screen.
You move your attack cursor (a clear square) around the screen.
In the top left, you see your current multiplier and score.
In the top right, you see your target and the other targets in the battle.
On the left side, there are two meters. The Red one is Heat meter.
Beside it is your altimeter.
In the bottom right, there are several two circles.
Below the left circle, there is your Balance meter.
Beside the left circle, there is your aircraft's HPs and damage.
The right circle shows your current Optional Weapon and its ammo.
If you have targetted an enemy, there will be circle around them.
At the bottom of the circle, you will see your enemy's HP and damage.
On the right you will see LOCK ON, if you have your Optional Weapon locked
on.
At the top, you will see the Optional Weapon you will receive after destroying
your enemy.
3.3) Controls
-------------
This section deals with the control of the game.
The Basic Controls
------------------
The left analog or keypad controller is used for navigation of the aircraft.
It is used to change the direction of the aircraft and move the attack cursor.
L1 - Change the Optional Weapon
L2 - not used
R1 - EX Action
R2 - Change to a target offscreen (All commands must be set on)
Square - Fire Machine Guns
Circle - Lock-on and Fire Optional Weapon
Triangle - Change Targets (onscreen or emergency) hold for behind view
X - Boost
Select - Skip to Action Sequence
Start - Pause and Save the game
Advanced Controls
-----------------
You can perform a Powerslide by quickly changing to the opposite direction
quickly from the direction that you are travelling. This is used for defense.
It is also used to rotate to face an enemy.
EX Action: Every character has an EX Action by pressing the R1 button. They
are different depending on the character.
Branche/Femme: Active Turn. Press the R1 button along with a direction
to
turn quickly in that direction.
Avenir/Ciel: Steam Brakes. Press the R1 button to quickly brake. Useful
for avoiding enemy missiles.
Shubri/Copain: Rolling. Press the R1 button to roll. Also useful for
avoiding enemy missiles.
Fantome/Rival: Steam Brakes. Press the R1 button to quickly brake. Useful
for avoiding enemy missiles.
Courage/Hardi: None
3.4) Game System
----------------
This section deals with the various mechanics of the game.
Game Over: You have three continues and may save the game during any mission.
If you re-load, you will start at the start of the chapter.
Views: There are two different views, normal and behind view.
Targetting: You can change targets in different ways. If you drag your attack
cursor over a target and press triangle, you will change targets. If you
press the R2 button, you can scroll between all of the available targets
in
the battle, including aerial and land-based ones, bosses and regular
targets.
If there is an emergency, you can change to the emergency targets by
pressing
the triangle button. You will hear a siren sound and a dialog box will
appear
when there is an emergency.
Lock-On: You must lock-on your Optional Weapon to fire it. You must press
the
Circle button and once you have locked-on, you may fire. It is not an
automatic hit, if there is a structure blocking its path, it will not hit
the
target. A green square will appear in your targetting circle when you are
in
range for machine guns.
EX Action: Every character has an EX Action by pressing the R1 button. They
are different depending on the character.
Branche/Femme: Active Turn. Press the R1 button along with a direction
to
turn quickly in that direction.
Avenir/Ciel: Steam Brakes. Press the R1 button to quickly brake. Useful
for avoiding enemy missiles.
Shubri/Copain: Rolling. Press the R1 button to roll. Also useful for
avoiding enemy missiles.
Fantome/Rival: Steam Brakes. Press the R1 button to quickly brake.
Useful
for avoiding enemy missiles.
Courage/Hardi: None
Optional Weapons: There are five optional weapons in the game. They are
the weapons used best against bosses. They inflict more damage than the
regular machine guns, but you only have a limited number of them and
increase
your Heat meter. You start with a small amount at the start of each
chapter, but you receive more by defeating waves of enemy aircraft. Each
character starts with three optional weapons out of the five: Fireworks,
Cross and Groundhog. Others can be found during the game.
Overheating: Once you fire an Optional Weapon or use your EX action, your
Heat
meter will rise. If it rises too high, you cannot fire, boost or use your
EX
action. You have to wait for it to cool down after a period of time.
Losing Control: If you are hit after losing your balance, you could begin
to
crash. You must press the buttons and move the joypad as quickly as possible
to recover. If you do not recover in time, you will crash.
3.5) Scoring
------------
The scoring system for the game is quite advanced and also important to the
game.
Hit Bonus
-If you hit several targets at once, you will receive a bonus=#hits x score
-For example, 5 hits=5(1000x5)
Chain Bonus
-If you hit consecutive targets in a row, you will receive a chain bonus.
-You don't actually have to hit the others, it's like dominoes.
-The chain bonus multiplier increases exponentially. For example,
1,2,4,8,16..
-For example, 5 hits=1000x2 + 1000x4 + 1000x8 + 1000x16
Bonus Count
-If you shoot an enemy, your bonus count increases
-As your bonus count increases, so does your score multiplier
-Your bonus count slowly decreases otherwise, as does your multiplier
Scoring Multiplier
-All your points are multipled by this multiplier
Clearing a Chapter
There are several bonuses for clearing a chapter.
-Clear Bonus
-Event Bonus
-Enemy Bonus
-Battle Bonus
-There is a pentalty for the number of Optional Weapons used.
Game Clear / Ranking
-You will receive a rank after clearing the game
4) Training Mode
----------------
This teaches you how to play the game. It is in Japanese, but the controller
is displayed with the controls, so it is still useful. You must choose your
character before starting the Training mode.
Here are the Training Missions:
1) Navigation
Here you will learn how to navigate and boost.
Fly through five rings to clear.
2) Basic shooting
Here you will learn how to shoot the machine gun.
Shoot 3 balloons to clear.
3) Losing Control and Powersliding
Here you will learn to control your balance and powersliding.
Avoid 4 missiles to clear.
4) Targetting
Here you will learn to target enemies
Target three enemies to clear.
5) Optional Weapon / Overheating
Here you will learn the controls of the Optional Weapons and Heat basics.
Destroy 5 targets to clear.
6) Bonus Basics
Here you will learn the difference between Chain and Hit Bonuses.
Destroy 6 targets to clear.
7) EX Action
Here you will learn how to control your EX action.
Destroy 4 targets to clear.
8) Final Mission
Here you will leaern the rest of the game basics.
5) Character Info
-----------------
There are three groups of characters in the game. There are the gunners,
the
Boss family and everyone else.
5.1) The Gunners
----------------
There are four members of the Gunners. They are Copain, Ciel, Femme and Rival.
The main leader of the Gunners is Hardi. Rival becomes a member of the
Gunners later on.
Character: Femme
Ship: Branche
Difficulty: Easy
Ex Action: Active Turn
Character: Ciel
Ship: Avenir
Difficulty: Average
Ex Action: Steam Brakes
Character: Copain
Ship: Shubri
Difficulty: Hard
Ex Action: Rolling
Character: Rival
Ship: Fantome
Difficulty: ???
Ex Action: Steam Brakes
Character: Hardi
Ship: Courage
Difficulty: ???
Ex Action: None
- cannot be used in Time Attack or Survival modes
5.2) The Boss Family
--------------------
There are many members of the Boss Family. The main enemy is Ventre. He
has many henchmen, called Poulet.
6) Secrets
----------
6.1) Unlocking Secrets
----------------------
Here are the secret codes and how to unlock them:
Unlock Time Attack Mode - Clear the game with Ciel ranking 1st
Unlock Survival Mode - Clear the game with Copain ranking 1st
Unlock Extra Gunner (Copain) - Clear the game with Femme
Unlock Extra Gunner (Rival) - Clear the game with Ciel (not losing to Rival)
Unlock Extra Gunner (Hardi) - Clear the game with Rival
Unlock Scene Select - Clear Story mode
Unlock Free Camera - Clear with SS rank
7) Miscellaneous / Et Cetera
----------------------------
Sky Gunner Homepage: www.scei.co.jp/sd2/skygunner/
Sony Homepage: www.scei.co.jp
This FAQ is not associated with Sony, Pixel Arts or any of its products either
software or hardware. The respective companies retain all copyrights of
their
products mentioned in this FAQ.
There was a demo of the game released to local video game retailers in Japan.
It allowed you to play the first level with two of the gunners.
You could also win the demo of the game off the game's website.
Feel free to email any advice or suggestions! Due to time constraints, do
not expect a reply on email. Do not email about the US version, please!
