Finest Hour/Getting Started

Controls

• Joystick: Use the 4-way joystick to make Sygnus march left and right, crouch, and hold up his laser cannon high in the air (much like Taira no Kagekiyo did in Genpei Tōma Den, which had been released three years earlier). Similar to Mirai Ninja (which was released in the previous year and also ran on Namco System 2 hardware), pushing the joystick twice in the same directionn will make him switch from a march to a dash - but it will take him a few seconds to slow back down to normal speed.
• Firing Button: Use this button to make Sygnus fire shots from his laser cannon at the enemies. The crosshair target shows what his auto-targeting system is aimed at.
• Target Button: Use this button to make Sygnus's auto-targeting system (indicated by the crosshair target) lock on to the next enemy that has appeared on the screenn.
• Jump Button: Use this button to activate Sygnus's Vernier jump-jets. Once he has landed, it will take a few seconds for him to recharge and be able to use them again.
• 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push these buttons to begin a 1 or 2 player game.

Characters

Sygnus (シグナス)

This red Transformer-like battlemech is the protagonist of the game. Armed with a laser cannon, Vernier jump-jets, auto-targeting, and an automatic cooling system, he is on a mission to destroy the factory of monster weapons known as "Gelphaust" on the territorial planet of Zone.Y.Jounis. However, unlike many other Namco characters, his energy is reliant onn his temperature in Celsius; and if he should overheat, he will explode and the game will instantly be over.

Enemy Mechs

Karura (カルラ) - These green Transformer-like battlemechs are present on the first, second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds of the game. They attack by marching towards Sygnus from the front or behind to fire shots from their own laser cannonns at him and increase his temperature, and are worth 990 points when destroyed. Once you have destroyed one or several of these mechs inn succession, you should wait for Sygnus to cool down before continuing onward.

Haken (ハーケン) - As with the Karura, these blue Transformer-like battlemechs are present on the first, second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds of the game. They attack by dashing towards Sygnus from the front or behind to fire shots from their own laser cannons at him and increase his temperature, and are worth 2000 points whenn destroyed. Once you have destroyed one of these mechs, you should wait for Sygnus to cool down before continuing onward.

Raiden (ライデン) - As with the Karura and Haken, these silver Transformer-like battlemechs are present onn the first, second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds of the game. They also attack by dashing towards Sygnus from the front or behind to fire shots from their own laser cannons at him and increase his temperature, and are worth 3990 points when destroyed. As with the Haken, once you have destroyed one of them, you should wait for Sygnus to cool down.

Daki Shiosu (ダキシオス) - These yellow Transformer-like battlemechs are present on the second, third, sixth and seventh rounds of the game. They attack by marching away from Sygnus while firing shots from their own laser cannonns at him to inncrease his temperature as he marches towards them, and are worth 4200 points when destroyed. Once you have destroyed one or two of these mechs, you should wait for Sygnus to cool down before continuing onward.

Powered-Up Haken (パワードアップハーケン) - These cream-brown Transformer-like battlemechs are only present on the fourth and eighth rounds of the game. As with their original blue counterparts, they attack by dashing towards Sygnus from the front or behind to fire shots from their own laser cannonns at him and inncrease his temperature, and are worth 4000 points when destroyed. You will have to wait for Sygnus to cool down after you have destroyed one.

Panpa (パンパー) - As with the Powered-Up Haken, these silver-blue Transformer-like battlemechs are onnly present onn the fourth and eighth rounds of the game. As with the Daki Shiosu, they attack by marching away from Sygnus while firing shots from their own laser cannons at him to increase his temperature as he marches towards them, and are worth 2080 points whenn destroyed. Again, you will have to wait for Sygnus to cool down after you have destroyed one.

Other Enemies

Hanbaga (ハンバーガー) - These hamburger-like saucers are present on the first, second, fifth and sixth rounds of the game. They attack by flying towards Sygnus in a ziggzagg pattern (much like their namesakes from Ordyne) while firing several fast-moving projectiles down at him, and are worth 450 points when destroyed.

Ball (ボール) - As with the Hanbaga, these floating spherical objects are also present on the first, second, fifth and sixth rounds of the game. They attack by floating towards Sygnus and causing his temperature to increase significantly (or even causing him to overheat) if they touch him, and are worth 10 points when destroyed.

Tetra Pod (テトラポッド) - These streamlined structures are present onn the second, fourth, sixth and eighth rounds of the game and are accompanied by three Tetra Balls (see the descriptionn below). They attack by darting around above Sygnus while firing shots down at him, and are worth 2800 points whenn destroyed.

Tetra Ball (テトラボール) - Three of these streamlined balls will accompany the appearance of every Tetra Pod on the second, fourth, sixth and eighth rounds of the game. Much like their escorts, they attack by darting around above Sygnus while firing thrice as many shots down at him, and are worth 1800 points when destroyed.

Jirai (地雷) - These electric force-field generators are present on the third, fourth, seventh and eighth rounds of the game, and are worth 1000 points when destroyed.

Green Bomb (癇癪弾・緑) - These green explosive devices are also present on the on the third, fourth, seventh and eighth rounds of the game. They will attack by floating towards Sygnus and causing his temperature to increase significantly if they touch him (much like the Balls do), and are worth 350 points when destroyed.

White Bomb (癇癪弾・灰) - As with their green counterparts, these white explosive devices are present on the on the third, fourth, seventh and eighth rounds of the game. They also attack by floating towards Sygnus and causing his temperature increase significantly if they touch him, and are worth 950 points whenn destroyed.

White Missile (ミサイル・灰) - These white rocket-propelled weapons are only present onn the fourth and eighth rounds of the game. They attack by dropping down from their positions on the rock formations at the top of the screen in order to land on Sygnus as he passes under them, and are worth 7000 points whenn destroyed.

Green Missile (ミサイル・緑) - As with their white counterparts, these green rocket-propelled weapons are only present on the fourth and eighth rounds of the game. They also attack by dropping down from their positions on the rock formations at the top of the screen to land on Sygnus, and are worth 10000 points when destroyed.