Astro Robo SASA/Gameplay

Controls

 * : Use the D-pad to direct Sasa and Nana to face up, down, left or right. When you are standing on the ground, pushing left or right will direct your player to walk in either direction.
 * : Press A to fire your gun. When you are standing on the ground, and fire left, right, or up you will not move.  Only when you fire down will you launch into the air.  Once you are airborne, firing in any direction will propel your character in the opposite direction.  Momentum can be increased by rapidly firing in a single direction.  Likewise, momentum must be overcome in order to reverse your direction.
 * : The B button is only used in a 2 player game. Each time a player pressed the B button, he or she transfers 100 points of energy to the other player.  Use this strategically to keep either player alive, because energy capsules are worth 2.5 times more when both players are alive.

Mechanics
Sasa and Nana are the heroes of this game. In a one player game, you will only control the blue outfitted Sasa. In a two player game, the second player will control the pink colored Nana. Both players are controlled the same way. Each player must use their gun to propel themselves through the air and closer to their goal, the collection of the energy capsules. In some cases, the energy capsules are available to be collected merely by touching them. But in many cases, the capsules are contained behind barriers that must be destroyed in order to collect them. Every shot that a player fires costs him or her one unit of energy. Barriers typically require 20 shots to fully destroy (four shots to degrade the barrier, and five levels of degradation.) That count does not take into account the number of shots that you inevitably have to fire in order to correct your position with respect to the barrier so that you can hit it.

These are the energy capsules that you are attempting to reclaim. In the one player version of the game, each capsule that you collect will reward you with 100 extra units of energy. You must touch the capsules in order to receive the energy. The capsules can be shot, and if they are shot, they will count towards the completion of the stage, but you will miss out on the energy, and every bit of energy is too valuable to lose so carelessly. When a single capsule is beneath a barrier, if you end up spending more than 100 units of energy to remove the barrier, you will be operating at a net loss of energy. This isn't always a bad thing and, in some cases, seems inevitable (as with underwater stages 10 through 12), so it's all the more important to minimize energy expenditure in the early rounds where collection of energy is easier. In a two player game, each energy capsule awards the player that collected it 250 units of energy. However, this is offset by the fact that players can freely trade energy between each other by pressing the B button to transfer 100 units of energy at a time. It is important to remember this since the two player game is intended to be cooperative in nature--you both stand a better chance of completing the game if you work together.

Maneuvering your player throughout the screen generally takes some practice to get the hang of. In the beginning, you are likely to spray bullets everywhere while you attempt to stay in one place. Once you get the hang of the acceleration and the momentum, you can become more economic with your shots, and subsequently, your energy. The idea is to shoot as little as possible to achieve your goal. The game provides the player with more energy than is necessary to complete all 16 stages, but not in abundance and only if you shoot wisely. There is, however, one thing that you can rely upon to make control over your character a little easier. Whenever your player hits a static object or obstacle, such as a wall or the top of the screen, your player's momentum automatically cancels. That means you will no longer be propelled in whatever direction you were going. So if you are going too quickly in a direction you don't want to be going, try to hit something that will stop you instantly. Then you regain control over your player, and can resume play.

It is equally important to remember not to touch any object that moves (unless it is, of course, an energy capsule). Any object that moves will generally sap 50 units of energy from you whenever you touch it. Additionally, the players can take 30 units of energy away from each other by touching, or one player can cost another 30 units of energy by hitting the other with a bullet. You must be equally conscious of the position of potentially harmful objects as you are of your position with respect to a capsule. Once you get the hang of the motion, avoiding moving objects will become less difficult, and you can often shoot many of them (and the bullets that they fire) for extra points. Beware of shooting everything, however, since some objects break apart into smaller pieces that are even more difficult to avoid than if you left it alone.