Bionic Commando (NES)/Area 12


 * Required items: Communicator δ (Yellow)

Part 1
Be sure to select the Bullet Proof Vest you acquired from ../Area 11/ before you enter for better protection. You arrive at the top of the first elevator section shown above. You may be tempted to explore the area to the left and the right, but there's nothing else around. Ride the elevator down, and enter communication room A.
 * Communicate: Super Joe informs you that this area is divided by two electric barriers, and that in order to break the barriers, you must destroy the power systems.
 * Wiretapping: Two soldiers appear to be completely surprised by something taking place.

When you're done, exit the room, and head to door B on the left. When you enter it, you will appear through door C on the map shown to the right. This room contains electrified floors. You must time your progress along each platform so that you don't get electrocuted and lose health. Drop down to the next floor just after a spark has passed below your position.

Your next goal is to reach door D midway down the room. When you get there, enter the room, and you will see what looks like an area core in a small room with a turret above. Use the springs to boost you into the air, and grapple on to the platform above. Pull yourself up, but don't climb to the top. Fire at the core while hanging from the platform until it explodes. The first barrier will then power off.

Exit the room, and continue making your way down to the bottom, When you reach the bottom, pass through door E, and you will exit from door F at the bottom of the elevator shaft where you started this area. The bottom corridor will be occupied by enemy soldiers on devices that allow them to avoid your shots and occupy whatever height you don't. Use the technique of firing just before climbing up to the ceiling to trick them into getting hit. Then cross all the way to the right, and the electric barrier should be disabled. Grapple swing across it to reach the elevator at the end. Ride it down to the second section.

Part 2
In this next area, head immediately for the communication room behind door G.
 * Communicate: Super Joe declares that he is already going to try to destroy the area's power source and defeat the leader.
 * Wiretapping: Enemies are already reacting to Super Joe's presence.

Once you're done, ride back up a floor and pass through door H on the right. This will send you to door I at the top of another electrified area, shown to the right. The first platform you arrive on has a large boulder that drops from a chain. Get off the floor to avoid colliding with it (although it can't hurt you), and let it drop down to the floor below before continuing. Once again, time your descent to the level below by waiting for a spark to pass below you first.

As you make your way down to the bottom, you will see door J. You are not required to enter this door. Inside, you will find a shielded man with a long vertical grappling hook like the one you fought as the boss of ../Area 4/. Even if you defeat him, nothing will happen, you will simply have to leave the room. Instead, ignore door J and keep making your way all the way down to the bottom. The space between the next two platforms below door J is so small that you have to duck underneath the power spark above, but stopping will likely cause you to get hit by the spark on the floor. Move through this section as quickly as possible.

Upon reaching the bottom, you will find door K. Inside this door, you will find another power source like the one you destroyed earlier. The only difference here is that enemy soldiers will parachute onto the screen in an effort to stop you from destroying the source. Don't let them take your focus off of the power source, and destroy it as quickly as you can.

Once you succeed, exit the room. Now you must climb all the way back to the top and exit through door I in order to return to door H in the elevator room. Ride the elevator down to the bottom, where a couple of basic soldiers are waiting for you. Run all the way to the left to find another elevator. Take it down until you reach a floor covered with spikes. You must grapple swing along the ceiling in order to reach door L at the end. Keep your grapple short so that you don't swing into the spikes below.

Boss
Upon entering the final door, you will arrive in a room where a body is suspended in a tank on the left, and the general of the enemy army, who you may have met in ../Neutral Area 15/ before, stands before him without the guard. He announces to you that the Albatross weapon has been completed without the need to revive the one person who had key knowledge in order to make the project succeed. He tells you that he has turned off the machine that would revive this person, but he is suddenly attacked by a surge of electricity. Then the person in the tank comes out and speaks with you. He tells you that he will take over the world, but when you appear to challenge him, he tells you that he will show you the horror of the Albatross.

You will then be transported to the area where the Albatross is currently activated. The Albatross is actually a rather large vessel that floats back and forth across the screen. It contains five jet propulsion engines, and an energy core in the upper right portion of the vessel. Four of the propulsion engines face down to the ground, while the fifth blasts a jet of flame to the right. Each engine blasts in regularly times intervals, one after another until the cycle repeats itself. Touching the flame jets will cost you one bar of health.

The only way to destroy the Albatross is to shoot it enough times in the yellow power source in the upper right. In order to shoot it, you will have to hang from the small portion of ceiling positioned to its left, which happens to be right in front of the fifth horizontal propulsion jet. Therefore, you will only have so much time to hang there and fire at the power source before you have to escape (or get hit by) the fifth propulsion jet.

The fastest way to reach this ceiling is to grapple straight up to the third propulsion jet from the left along the bottom (not the jet which is immediately below the power source, but just to its left). Grapple up to it and immediately grapple up to the portion of ceiling directly above it. This will allow you to hang from this location and shoot the core until you get knocked off. Once you are knocked off, you will drop to the ground and be forced to repeat the sequence until the Albatross is destroyed. Naturally, if you brought the rocket launcher into this stage, you will be able to destroy the power source with the least number of shots.

Once the Albatross is destroyed, you will automatically advance to the final stage of the game.

Famicom Differences

 * The iron ball in the second electric shaft has been replaced with a hulk soldier throwing balls. He's a piece of cake when you enter, but a trouble when you are leaving.
 * There are no paratroopers in room K.