Level Analysis

Los Angeles
Considering it's the first level in the game, L.A. is surprisingly complex. Shaped vaguely like a capital letter "B," the level is encircled by a stretch of freeway that sits lower than the center of the level. The most important things to know about any level are how many healths there are, where they are located, and which ones tend to disappear first. In L.A., there are five healths, and the one above the road near the lightning generator almost always disappears first. Usually, the other four will be yours for the taking. The best advice for this level is to know your vehicle. If you're one of the faster cars, then stick to the roads, where the lower location will hide you from the cars in the center. The big guys should stay in the middle; try to keep up with the speed burners on the road and you'll just end up looking silly. L.A. has a lot of power-ups that regenerate at a good rate, so picking up weapons shouldn't be a problem. One more note: the Hollywood sign can be scene in the corner by the electrical generator. (If you can't find it, try using helicopter view.) You can blow it up with a couple of missiles.

Moscow
Moscow is one of the hardest levels in the game. There are only three healths in the entire level, and two of them will be gone within thirty seconds. In addition, the level is very small, and if you get in trouble, there's nowhere to run to. Obviously, this level favors the big boys. Lightning can be a very powerful weapon in Moscow; when fired, it will hit anyone on the ramps. But be sure to fire off all your lightning before leaving the level, because there are no generators for the next several levels. In fact, you can't use it again until Hong Kong. So until you get there, they'll just be taking up space in your weapons bay.

Paris
First of all, if you haven't figured it out yet, you can blow up the Eiffel Tower by setting off a remote bomb inside or underneath it. It looks way cool, and the tower becomes a bridge you can use to get to the rooftops. I don't reccomend doing this until after you kill a couple of bad guys, though, because if you do then several of them will congregate at the top of the tower, waiting for you to come up there and die. And the odds are you will need to get up there, because two of the level's four healths are located on the rooftop. The healths are all usually available for your taking. There are pick-up weapons everywhere, so don't be afraid to unload on people. Be careful not to be cornered in the streets or the super-narrow alleys, and avoid big crowds of bad guys. Oh, and by the way: kill as many mimes as possible.

Amazonia
Easiest way to beat this level: Load up on homing missiles, then use the ramps at the end of the bridge to get on top of the building. Then rain fiery death down upon your enemies. There are four healths on this level. The only one that is likely to be taken is the one on the bridge. There are also a ton of pick-up weapons available. One neat trick is to lure somebody into the lava, hit them with freeze blasts, and let the lava burn them away. After you beat the level, you'll be pitted against Minion, the boss from TM1. Minion is a massive Hum-Vee, whose special weapon is a combination freeze blast/Patriot Missile (see Warthog, Character Profile). Also, he does a ton of damage by running over you. Fortunately, his pattern is fairly predictable. He pretty much always stays on the roadway, out of the lava. You can wait on one of the larger flat areas at either end, waiting for him to come to you, and feel safe that he won't fire until he turns the corner and is pointed right at you. The idea is to freeze him before he gets there, hit him hard and fast, and then run away. Once you get the hang of it, it's not terribly difficult.

New York
Watch where you're going, that first step's a doozy. The bad news is that there are only three healths on this level. The good news is that all three are well protected and are likely to be there when you need them. the easiest way to rack up kills in New York is to load up on ricochet bombs and power missiles and blast people off the edge. It's also great to get into the swimming pool, get the remote bomb in the locker room, and set it in the pool, waiting for some poor fool to come falling into your trap. One more tip about theus level: kill Spectre first. Otherwise, he'll put three walls between you and him and nail you with ghost missile after ghost missile.

Antarctica
Antarctica is similar to New York in that it's easy to fall off the edge. There's also the added difficulty of the ground occasionally dropping out from underneath you. There are four healths on the level; two are almost impossible to get, and two are out in the open and often get picked up by your opponent. Pick-ups are plentiful, especially homing missiles. I recommend staying out of the trench, only zipping through it quickly to get the ricochet bombs and turbos located there. The cheesiest way to beat this level: Get all the ricochet bombs and power missiles you can find, then take the teleporter out to the island, where there's two more ricochet bombs and power missiles to pick up. Then, wait for some poor sap to 'port onto the island, and blast him to an icy demise. Heh-heh.

Holland
This, in my opinion, is the most fun level in the game. It's also the most simple: It's a big rectangle, perfectly flat, with a couple of windmills. There are a ton of power-ups (including a health) in the top of the windmills, so take a teleport up there and load up. Both windmills can be blown up, eliminating all those power-ups, so get them as quick as you can. There is also a health located next to the windmill with the health up top; this health, too, is almost always picked up before you can get to it. There are three other healths on the level that are usually available for your taking. While this level is a lot of fun (especially for the fast guys), it's also very difficult, because there is nowhere to hide, and a whooooole lot of bad guys to kill.

Hong Kong
Probably the hardest level in the game. Healths are plentiful (six in all) and are usually missed by the computer players. The exception is the health in the middle of the street by the waterfront, which is often picked up by a bad guy due to complete random chance. The bad news is, you're going to need every single one of them, because you are going to get pounded. The level is pretty damn big, with a temple and a subway to hide in (both places contain healths, too), so running away is almost always an option. But eventually, you'll have to come out and fight. Power-ups are fairly minimal, except for the waterfront area, where there's a bunch of toys to play with.

Dark Tooth
Oh, shit. Dark Tooth, the boss of the game, is a black ice cream truck with pink polka dots. He is positively massive: about half a block long, and two stories high. And the scariest part about his size is, he likes to jump on you. Oh, god, it hurts. There's not a lot of advice to give here. The general pattern is to throw up a force field, freeze him, hit him with everything you've got, and then run away. The problem with this is, he's usually faster than you, too. You'd better be packing a hellacious amount of armor, or you're in for a tough fight. (Come to think about it, you're in for a tough fight even if you do have a hellacious amount of armor.) A quick note: it took me an hour and a half of solid playing (probably 25-30 games) to beat Dark Tooth with Grasshopper, but she has unquestionably the coolest ending in the game.


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