In 1992, Hasbro’s G.I.Joe toy line was winding down. Having enjoyed a solid decade of popularity, the toy line ventured far from its roots. Rather than a military force wearing olive green and camouflage, you had characters kitted out in pastels. Instead of battling a “ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world”, you now had “Eco-Warriors” battling pollution and a “Drug Elimination Force” fighting drug dealers. I suppose that the writing had been on the wall ever since Cobra-La (at least, Larry Hama seemed to think so), but by this point the brand was getting ready to go into hibernation.
Into this decline, Capcom launched what is perhaps the greatest video game the G.I.Joe brand has ever seen. A platformer for the Nintendo Entertainment System (a system that itself was getting a little long in the tooth by 1992) that imitated some of the mechanics of Taxan’s 1991 game (titled simply “G.I.Joe”), Capcom’s foray into the franchise featured a world map, greater differentiation among the Joe team members, and a system for permanently upgrading your team.
I had years ago posted a walkthrough of the game, replete with pictures – quite possibly the only content of consequence on Calthaer.com. When I switched to WordPress, I noticed that there was some web traffic looking for that walkthrough…so I decided to re-create and re-vamp that in an effort to provide retro-enthusiasts the best possible information on how to enjoy the game. I’ll be adding to this page as I complete more sections of the walkthrough, rather than waiting for it to be fully complete before posting.
Table of Contents
How to Play: The Basics
Controls
How to Play: The Basics
Here are some of the key aspects of the game, in a few bullet points.
- G.I.Joe: The Atlantis Factor is a standard, side-scrolling, two-dimensional platformer, with many of the same basic movements as other classic platformers (Super Mario Bros., Contra, Metroid, etc.).
- You advance the game by completing areas – levels of the game, each with their own geography and objective.
- There are two types of areas: bases and routes.
- In a route, your objective is to make it from the start to the end without dying. At the end of a route, you will always collect a “radio,” each of which allows you a one-time use of a “support” Joe, who will aid you in various ways (healing, restoring ammo, etc.).
- Bases usually contain different objectives – oftentimes defeating a boss enemy, but sometimes you must plant explosives or rescue hostages.
- Some bases and routes will unlock new features for your game – Joe characters and weapons for your team.
- You collect power-ups as you go along. Some of them permanently upgrade the character who grabs it; others replenish resources.
- Your final objective is to reach the final Cobra base and defeat Cobra Commander. You do not need to go through every route to accomplish this, although you may wish to do so just to see the entire game.
Controls
Each Joe character has one or more signature moves or abilities that differentiate them from the others – and the game’s controls reflect that. Here are the button combinations that will allow you to unleash the full power of your G.I.Joe strike team.
Basic Controls
- Left + Right – walk left or right
- A – jump
- B – use currently selected weapon (can be used while jumping)
- Select – switch through available weapons. The order is hand-to-hand, machine gun, pulse, laser, missile
- Start – bring up the character selection screen, where you can switch between the characters that you’ve selected for the current mission
- Up + B – shoot upwards (must have a gun equipped). Only works with Duke.
- A, then Down + B – jump and shoot downwards (must have a gun equipped). Only works with Duke.
- Down + L/R (while standing)- crawl left or right. Only works with Roadblock.
- Down + A – jump down to a lower level (only works on certain platforms) or submerge underwater (when on the water’s surface). Submerge only works with Wet Suit.
- Select + L/R – switch between the Atlantean Orb and the radio
- Select + down – activate either the Atlantean Orb or the radio
Hand-to-Hand Controls
In G.I.Joe: Atlantis Factor, Hand to Hand operates differently than the other weapons. There are two different types of hand-to-hand controls – the “Joe” style (used by most characters) and the “Ninja” style (used only by Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow). Each style has different moves that are unlocked as you level-up your hand-to-hand skill.
Joe Style
- B – punch. When pressed repeatedly, the Joe punches with their right fist, then left fist, then an stronger uppercut, which is gained when hand-to-hand is powered up to level 2.
- B + L / R – kick. Stronger than a punch. Gained at level 3, along with the jump kick.
- A, then B + L/R – jump kick (or flying punch), with your character flying left or right. Be careful with this move, as you can’t control your jump once you kick – you could end up on some spikes, jump into enemy firepower, etc. The jump-kick is also a good way to travel – you move faster while jump-kicking than you do when you walk. Gained at level 3.
- A, then Down + B – Knee-drop (or body slam). This is a downward attack that’s great for mauling enemies beneath the Joe. In the “Joe Style” hand-to-hand, the knee drop usually bounces the Joe off of the enemy they attacked instead of allowing the Joe to drop through the enemy. This is important because it places the Joe safely away from their foe so that they don’t take a hit when the foe “stops blinking” from being hit. Gained at level 4.
Ninja Style
- B – sword slash (ninja magic). At level 1, the Joe will simply slash forward with their blade. At levels 2 and above, the sword will emit a “ninja magic” wave that’s a long(er)-range attack. This is the only ranged attack that uses no ammunition. A slash / magic attack can also be used while jumping.
- R / R or L / L (rapidly) – ninja dash. Pressing B repeatedly while using the ninja dash will allow multiple attacks to be launched as the ninja waves their sword about dramatically. This also allows rapid-fire “ninja magic” beams to be launched at an opponent. Gained at level 3.
- A, then Down + B – downward stab/kick. Both ninjas will go through an enemy when this downward stab is used, and because they will it’s best if it’s only used when it’s going to finish the enemies off (otherwise the stab ends up landing you in the enemy’s lap and they damage you). Gained at level 4.
- Down + A – “snake attack.” This only works with Snake Eyes. He’ll do some sort of pounce that does quite a bit of damage and will kill most Vipers that you come across.
I’ll start adding back mission-specific content as soon as I can.